#(usually November is one of my more productive reading months - but not this one)

[writerly-ramblings]

Books Read in November:

1). Antarctica (Claire Keegan)

2). Dottie (Abdulrazak Gurnah)

3). Almost English (Charlotte Mendelson)

4). Things to Come (Hester Styles Vickery)

5). The Dear Departed (Brian Moore)

6). The Child that Books Built (Francis Spufford)

7). Mr. Fox (Helen Oyeyemi)

8). Wild (Cheryl Strayed)

[jsprnt]

a date at the local spring fair seems to bloom your situationship into a relationship

trent alexander-arnold x reader

A/N: based on this request! Also been dyinggg to go to my local fair, so I immediately came up with this idea!! 🫶🫶 (does this photo of trent not make you weak in the knees?? 😭)

W/C: 1.804

your eyes dart to your phone screen again, reading the last text message your date sent you. he said he’d be there in a minute, so you shove your phone back into your jacket.

the fair isn’t very busy today, most likely due to it being a weekday. the weather had started picking up these past few days. gloomy, rainy winter days replaced with sunny, warm spring days.

you’d missed seeing the blue sky and the pretty, colorful flowers in the park. you had noticed most people were much happier and of course, just like the little lambs being born, symbolizing a new life- your own life seemed to also flicker to another chapter.

you and trent have known each other for a couple of months now. first meeting through a mutual friend at a small, intimate party on a rainy november night. you hadn’t thought much of it at first. of course- he was handsome, and that wasn’t something you could look away from.

you knew who he was, as a football player for one of the world’s best clubs- you’d assumed he would be too busy interacting with other people to notice you.

obviously, you also were too busy speaking to the people you did know. until- one of your mutual friends had introduced him to you.

unbeknownst to you, he’d been eyeing you across the room since he’d caught sight of the pretty smile you’d flash your friend when they said something funny. at first glance, he had almost choked on his unnecessarily expensive tequila, it burning horribly in the back of his throat.

he barely recovered from the shock before one of his best mates had dragged him across the venue, insisting he’d talk to you. only, because he thought ‘you two would be a great couple’.

you were caught off guard at first, but the looks your friends were sending you- had given you enough courage to speak to him without being flustered.

you two only hung out more after that night, accepting frequent invites to his games, and random visits to each other’s place, which only increased when trent got injured.

you look up at the shout of your name, turning around to see trent walk up to you. he’s dressed nicely as usual, comfy enough for all the rides and games you’d planned to play.

“hi!” you beam, greeted by his pearly white smile. his lips turned up when he makes eye contact with you.

“hey, you alright?” he asks, his scouser accent familiar as he gives you a warm hug. you bury your face in the crook of his neck for a moment, smelling his signature cologne.

“I’m fine, how ‘bout you and your knee?” you question, knowing that he didn’t have to wear a brace anymore.

“better, I can walk properly- at least..” he replies, the both of you starting to walk past the various games and food trucks.

it doesn’t take long before you’re both immersed into the money-grabbing games available. from popping balloons with darts to a donut-eating contest. which you won, that left you with powdered sugar all over the corners of your mouth. prompting trent to gently wipe the sugary product off with his thumb and a raised heartbeat he had difficulty controlling.

“let’s try that roller coaster over there..” you suggest, pointing up to the least intimidating one.

“you don’t want to go in the one that goes upside down?” he asks, pressing the bunny plushie you had won into his chest. you hold back a chuckle at the sight, shaking your head.

“nope, don’t trust going upside down on a rollercoaster that’s practically been pulled out of a suitcase..” you state, lining up with him so you can get on the attraction.

he chuckles at your explanation, glancing at your impatient expression. thankfully, it’s your turn after a few minutes. you both strap in safely, making sure the bars are as tight as possible against your chest and stomach.

“aren’t you scared?” he asks, looking at your giddy expression. you shake your head almost immediately, making sure your pockets are zipped so your phone won’t fall out.

soon, the cart you’re in slowly starts rolling up. your breath hitches in excitement, wind starting to blow into your faces. you glance at trent, who’s sporting a less excited expression, so you shout in excitement when the cart drops and goes up multiple times. hoping your happiness will be infectious and cheer him up.

it works! the couple of looks you sneak, tell you he was pretty satisfied, cheering and shouting along with you.

you take a deep breath when the cart stops. the both of you slightly dizzy when you step out.

“you liked that one?” you ask, fixing your jacket as you both start walking away, walking past other attractions.

“i did! i was nervous for a moment, won’t lie..” he replies, scouser accent thick and laced with excitement.

“good, I’m glad you liked it- oh look!” you suddenly exclaim. pointing to the haunted house, fake skeletons, and more ‘scary’ props used to decorate the entrance.

“you want to go inside?” trent asks, raising a brow at you. he wasn’t aware that you were such an adrenaline junkie, or were you?

“yes, let’s go!” you urge, paying the entrance fee, and stepping inside. the bunny plushie now pressed into your side as you both start walking into the dark maze.

“i can’t see anything..” you murmur, eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. your arm grazes trent’s, which in turn makes your breath hitch. your temperature rises, despite the coldness of the room you’re in.

“me neither..” you hear trent mutter, he glances at you in the dark. your arms touching each other every now and then. the numerous fake spiderwebs and bone-chilling moving skulls making you freeze up often.

entering another room, you’re immediately greeted by a zombie. the special effects props and makeup, too good not to jump and scream.

“shit!” you exclaim, back pressing against trent’s chest when you take a step back.

“what the fuck!” you hear the scouser shout against your ear. it hurts for a moment, but you’re too focused on the zombie trying to get close to you to care about it.

you feel strong hands grab at your jacket. instinctively you know it’s trent, so you keep scuffling forward. trying your best to ignore the groaning and gurgling sounds coming from the too-talented actor.

walking through the empty hall, you look at him, his grip on your jacket loosening.

“you’re such a coward..” you accuse, laughing when remembering how he shouted in fear.

“you’re the one who yelled first..” he retorts, and you can make out a smirk on his face.

“here, take my hand.” he offers, holding his hand out. which you can only see because of the green lights strung along the dusty hallway.

your heart skips a beat or two, stopping you in your tracks. you feel your face heat up, and you’re glad he can’t fully make out your dumbfounded expression in the dark. you quickly shove away that lovesick feeling, trying to compose yourself.

“that’s a really weird way to propose, but okay..” you tease, your fingers intertwining with trent’s. knowing you’d probably made him more dazzled than he made you flustered.

“wait, no- i meant-" he stutters, mind going totally foggy as he forgets how to form a proper sentence in his state. you hold back a smile, knowing his brain was probably running kilometers an hour.

“wait, did you say you’d marry me?” he suddenly questions, face contouring into confusion and a dumbstruck expression.

“uh, no?” you feign your upmost innocence, thumb grazing his knuckles. a sweet, comforting touch, but it only makes the short circuit in his brain worse.

you smirk to yourself, carefully dragging him along. mindful of his injury as your hearts beat in unison, like electric sparks flying off the pads of your fingers.

the hold on each other’s hands only gets tighter, until the last jumpscare. this time, your entire front is pressed against his back, it scaring you a bit too much. you thought the cackling clown was the end of the attraction.

you catch your breath when you finally step outside, trent’s hand on your back. soothing rubs helping you calm down faster.

“why- why would they think using a knife prop was a good idea?” you pant, questioning if the ten-pound entrance fee was worth it.

trent squeezes into your hand, reassuring you with his touch. “you’re good, it’s all fake- remember?” he rationalizes your thoughts, slowly pulling you away to the food trucks.

he sits you down on a small wooden bench and table, eyes roaming on your face to check up on you.

“are you alright?” he asks, face inching closer to yours. his breath hitting your lips.

“I’m fine, really..” you reassure, squeezing into the plushy for comfort.

“let’s have something to eat, then we’ll get on the ferris wheel. is that okay?” he asks, voice patient and sweet. the kindness in his expression and words cheers you up a bit. so, you smile, nodding in agreement.

“i’ve heard that they have really nice tacos. want to try?” he suggests, glancing up at the food truck in question.

“sure, let’s try them.” you answer, he nods walking away to order and collect your food. he comes back fairly quickly, placing the delicious and warm tacos on the table. not to forget, the extra cups of guacamole, lime and sour cream.

“eat up before they get cold..” he says, the both of you digging into your food and drink of choice. a comfortable silence ensues, with soft hums and small comments made in delight.

“i love fair food..” you hum, taking the last few sips of your drink. trent nods in agreement, leaning over to wipe some of the sour cream off your lip.

you pause your movements at the action, eyes darting to his brown ones. his touch is delicate and careful, and he folds the napkin after pulling away.

“there, all clean..” he mutters, cleaning the table off and coming back from the recycling bin.

“do you want to go on the ferris wheel now? it’s getting dark, and the view will be nice..” he asks, unconsciously holding his hand out for you to hold.

you nod excitedly, clutching onto his warm hand as you both make your way to the ferris wheel. your bodies touching as you lean them against each other, waiting in line for the last attraction of the night.

it’s imminent that a sweet first kiss will be shared, right? a flicker to the next chapter of your life. the city lights witnessing a love blooming like a patch of yellow daffodils in spring.

[jellazticious]

“You can’t rush art”

I think everybody can recall the quote from Toy Story 2. From the most satisfying part of the movie where we see a montage of Woody getting restored by a toy maker. It’s one of my favourites too, I absolutely loved looking at the different procedures used to fix a single toy. The toymaker’s precision and care were found mesmerizing by everyone. As a multi-hatted artist, one that can draw, sculpt, animate, and write, I can say that it’s spot on that there’s so much to do for a single piece of work. HOOO boy, you should see how me and Beefy are organizing Cursed to Charm, there’s so much.

For the upcoming webcomic, we design characters, give each and every one of them their stand-alone story, design different clothes, create the map, draw renders and posters, polish scripts for the episodes, plan to program the comic’s own website, make the backgrounds eventually, etc. To people who aren’t artists or take art for granted, to them, art is stroking a paper using a pen and BAM instant masterpiece. No no, it’s more than that.

Another thing I’d like to say about the comic is that the progress is very slow yet very fruitful because of the time taken. Me and my co-author came up with the idea at late November, which makes the comic four months old now. However, with all that time passed, we have already finalized the list of nine episodes of season one. We have also written seven out of nine summaries from that season before actually writing the dialogue in detail. We have a rough four seasons worth of story progression in the span of four months. Nyeh, excuse the little ramble about CtC, I’m just giving insight of how much should be done for the production of anything which leads us to the next point.

Art production in general.

Movies, animation, shows, video games, books, comics etc etc

All of these are part of art, some people would deny because it isn’t sophisticated like they’re lead to believe art is supposed to be. Art is literally just creation man, can’t get any simpler than that 😩 if you made something, then you made something woohoo! Congratulations you made art, cooking included. It came free with your fucking humanity.

Anyway, just like the webcomic, every single one of these listed also have a set of different procedures that will piece together the final output.

Let’s take Disney movies as a specific example, I want to talk about something real quick.

So one time, I was watching Tarzan with my parents and we stuck around for the end credits. My mom pointed out the animators are divided into sections and there’s so much names on them. There are different teams of animators for each character and these teams are divided in two for the storyboarders and the clean up artists. When the credits rolled a bit more, it showed that the background artists and colorists also have their own sections too. There’s so much people working on different body parts of a movie. I got the habit of reading end credits of every movie I watch, animated or live action, then I would compare the credits of old and new movies. Boy, let me tell you that the work space on old movies are FILLED compared to newer movies. One thing I noticed about Disney movies although, is that the old movies have more sections compared to new ones. The major difference of old Disney and new Disney are the length of the credits and the time gap of the movies. I’m really not trusting the way new movies have way shorter end credits while the publish time of new movies are getting narrower and narrower. Before the 2000s, movies usually come out twice a year and sometimes there’s a two-year hiatus before the next batch of movies are published. Now there’s at least two or three movies that publish yearly while also releasing a bunch of shows in the middle of it. I really don’t understand business talk with the way it sacrifices quality over quantity. Like I get having money is great and all but what’s the use of hoarding it? Especially when there’s so much news of people about to be in poverty and mass layoffs. Why should companies earn money if they’re not going to redistribute it back to the economy at all? This is a little off topic but I want to point it out that people in the 80s used to buy whole houses by being a janitor but nowadays people could barely afford a one room apartment even with three jobs. The Simpsons is an example of this because it was set in the 90s and the family is constantly reminded of how “poor” they are. They even created an episode that talks about the same job that supported people’s fathers will no longer support you nowadays (Poorhouse Rock ep22 s33). It’s fishy and I’m salty about it especially because I hear so much people complaining about how they’re not being given a chance to work. Anywho! Let’s go back to art.

I’m just spitballing my thoughts here but somehow they’re connecting either way. All I’m trying to say is that for the people who care so much about the quality of art, it’s noticeable that they get downgraded, not just by the look but by the way they’re written.

Example.

Clone High.

Jesus Christ, the new show is a nightmare and an insult to the original Clone High. The difference is clear with this one. The original Clone High was heavy satire of every single high school trope used in shows and movies. Every single character was meant to have one personality and that personality is the butt of the joke. The original did not care about making the characters appealing because the appeal is found in the way they interact, they clash so much and a lot of them are idiots. The writing is funny because the dialogue flows so easily unlike the renewal. The renewed Clone High takes itself too seriously and it tries too hard to be relevant. It’s funny to me that fans can draw the original’s art style more accurately than the animators hired. What’s even more frustrating is that concept art was released from the art head and the concept art looked way better than what they decided on the final designs. Other than the art style that tries to be marketable, the writing is insufferable with the way they try to be “relatable” without understanding why the original jokes were funny to begin with.

Now we’re all familiar with this cheap tactic of using the title of successful franchises to grab clicks and views. It’s every live action Disney film, it happened to Scooby Doo, Marvel shows, FNAF, some Cartoon Network shows, Megamind, and now even Kung Fu Panda. Basically MILKING. It would have been better if the productions TRIED to understand the original’s intentions which they forgot about. They ended up being disappointing at best and soulless at worst. I won’t be explaining much cuz I’ve already reached the minimum word count lmao. I’m just rambling here, I better not see anyone interrogate me in asks or replies. ANYWAY, I’m gonna get to the point real quick.

Back to the quote at the start of the post, people tend to forget that. Art is a skill, not a button people press and it gives you pretty pictures or videos. Art is a job and an effort. While art is subjective and it differs from person to person, one thing for certain is that art that is made ingenuinely will never be better than art that is made because the artist loves art. This is why the Tom & Jerry reboots with the lineless art style even if they had a storyboard artist who understood the cartoon wackiness (which were discarded for a “cleaner” and faster style). This is why it’s so frustrating to see concept art of movies which have more appeal than the final 3d models. This is why FNAF Security Breach was nearly unplayable.

Because they all rushed art.

They rushed in favour of what is marketable, no matter how unappealing it is. Everything could have been better, some final products are good, but all of them could have been better. As good as what were released pre 2010s when production had a passion. You can’t spell heart without art.

I’m just really passionate about art in any form since it’s everything that created me too. I will not be here at this point in time if it weren’t for me learning that there’s so much beauty in the world if you could just squint and appreciate why that’s so. I’m defined by my works and it only hurts and infuriates me that people who have the ability and accessibility to create better art than I do waste it for their personal gain or selfish intentions. Everyone could be a better person because of art just as it did to me. Again, it came to us the moment we’re born, art isn’t just a pretty picture, it’s everything we create out of love, passion, time, and effort.

But really, to the wise words of Chef Saltbaker, “like any good bake, heart and soul is the secret ingredient”

You can’t rush art.

[princesscolumbia]

And now for something different from my usual!

Normally, I write some variety of fanfiction, and I'm 100% proud of nearly everything I've ever written. (Yes, even THAT one.) If I could, without any sort of IP complications, write just for fanfic I'd streamline my process and chunk out words for fanfics all day long, get a book contract, and quit my day job. In a friggin' heartbeat.

Unfortunately, fanfic has all sorts of complications if you want to make a living as an author. This, unfortunately, results in fanfic authors either quitting because the whole thing is a time sink and they have a life a job and things to get done, or they become "grown up" authors with a publishing deal and (in many cases) wind up deleting their fanworks in bulk "because they're Srs Riters™️now!"

When I wrapped up My Empire of Dirt, I took a look at the finished product and said, "...you know, I think I might just be good at this writing thing." But I had in my head the little monster that wasn't quite Imposter Syndrome (more like an ugly cousin of Imposter Syndrome) that said that no matter how good I was, nobody would ever like what I wrote, especially if it was original work.

(This was my stepmother's horrible, abusive language that she hammered into me viciously during my teenage years. Knowing the source helps, but it's still something I have to work to overcome on occasion.)

I had some ideas that I started jotting down (and yes, they're still on the 'to write' pile), but nothing really 'clicked' as a, "OMG, I've got to write this thing!"

Then I read Trouble with Horns. And I needed more, so I read Witch of Chains...and Illegal Alien in an MMO World, and Lieforged Gale, and Digital Galaxies, and Esmie the Calamity, and Coven's Rebellion, and Digital Exodus. And even as early as Witch of Chains I knew I had a story to tell that the setting of a post-WW3 Earth in the middle of The Singularity would let me tell it in.

And I realized...wait, this is it! This is my "training wheels" for writing original fics! Because QuietValerie won't do collabs with other authors anymore (long story involving the Kammiverse and RoyalRoad), but does let people play in her sandbox with carte blanch (and, best of all, no lawyers involved), I can write a fic that's got only a few connection points to Troubleverse to prop it up and draw an audience, and if AuthorBun ever disavows Code of Ethics entirely, it'll take some work but I'll be able to de-couple it entirely! It's, from the outset, 95% original work. If I have to re-jigger that last 5%...well, published authors often have to rework a LOT more of their original works than that, so...let's do this!

And it's worked for me! ALL the hesitance I used to have for writing original fics is gone. I've created interesting, dynamic characters, built out entire story worlds, constructed a complex and interwoven plot that has my readers guessing and thirsty for clues, and the only reason I haven't finished is because there's just so much story to tell!

So for this November (and no, I'm not digging into the whole NaNoWriMo corporate BS right now), I decided to take an idea that, just like Code of Ethics, seized me by the throat and said, "This story is one that needs to be told and you're the only one who can."

George lives in a world that feels gray. In spite of superheroes based in the city he lives in with his mom, the clubs he's in at school, and the handful of friends he's managed to pick up, at ripe old age of 15 years old he feels disconnected from it all. Then one day a Quantum Storm hits. These storms are how superheroes (and villains) get their powers, and George is right in the middle of it, suddenly granting him super powers…along with a brand new GIRL body! Fortunately for HER, she stumbles onto a mentor at the same time. …that all happened six months ago. Now she's in a hospital on the West coast, super-cuffed to a bed, and about to answer for her crimes…including murder. How did this happen?!

Preview, as always, below the cut:

Georgie woke up.

She was somewhat surprised to discover that she was even alive, let alone awake. After what she’d done, she was surprised that anyone had let her live at all.

After what she’d done, she probably deserved it.

It wasn’t fair, of course. It never was, but complaining about whether life was fair or not only led down the path of the supervillain, heroes accepted that life wasn’t fair and participated in the Sisyphean task of making it more fair.

She’d learned the word ‘Sisyphean’ in English class a few weeks ago. She’d never quite understood why the former-hero-turned-villain Sisyphus had gone black-cape until recently, nor had she understood how his chosen name connected to the work he had been doing. Now that she had some experience being a superhero, she thought she understood better than anyone not blessed with superpowers could.

No matter what good you did, at some point it all came crashing down.

She looked around a bit, noticing the room she was in was dark, but there was a counter with a sink across from her, a lightbox mounted to the wall, a television mounted to the ceiling, and some translucent curtains over some windows showing it was about mid-afternoon…wherever she was. What little she could make out of the landscape through the curtains didn’t look anything like the city she lived in. I was running for a long time, she mused, And for me that’s saying something.

She turned her attention back to the room and noted there was an I.V. pole next to the bed she was in and a tube snaking down to what she presumed was the pinching sensation in the back of her hand. She couldn’t follow the tube all the way down to look at her hand, not yet. Had anyone else been in her spot, they might have been overjoyed to be alive after what she’d been through. Not her, though.

For her, there was a fate worse than death, and she wasn’t ready to face that yet.

On the other side of the bed was what appeared to be a heartrate monitor, but she was no expert on medical equipment. The bit that was supposed to be showing the two-peak bumping line that represented a human heartbeat was an almost solid bar of white, though the flickering of the screen told her that it was desperately trying to record a heartrate that was far faster than the machine was capable of registering.

There was no getting around it, she was in a hospital room, and a fairly high-end one, if she could rely on what she’d seen of such things on TV as an indication.

As for the part that came next, well, she had to muster her courage…and after everything she’d been through, ‘courage’ was a word she wasn’t sure she had any claim to.

It was surprisingly hard, knowing what was coming and knowing she had to face it. Just a little longer, a voice was whispering in the back of her mind, Just let yourself imagine nothing has changed just a little bit longer, it’s not like you’re not going to find out soon enough anyway.

Available exclusively to my supporters on Patreon.

[smittenskitten]

Trying to decipher Step by Step timeline

and failing.

This is just my takeaway from what we have seen so far. Lot of the timeframe I am assuming here are from their office work and Ae's pregnancy

episode 1: we learn Pat is a fresh recruit. It's only been a month since he joined Jian group so he is still in probationary period.

He has another 8 months till becomes a regular employee. Most company will keep their recruits in probationary period from anywhere between 2 months to a year. So in Jian Pat's probationary period is 9 months....like Ae's pregnancy

Side note: I never put this together but Pat did his internship at Ae and Beam's company.

Episode 2: A lot has happened. Pat is not having the best time with new Manager Jeng and at the very end when he is preparing to resign he gets a notification to do a peer review on Jeng. Usually peer review frequency varies from company to company but most perform theirs at the end of the quarter. Some mncs will perform peer reviews twice in one quarter, one being at the beginning and another one at the end. So that being said Jeng has to have been the manager for a few months for Pat to give such scathing review.

Ok, so it's Q1. Which would mean this somewhere between January-March

episode 3: The peer review is sent and Pat is stresses so by the end of this episode he has prepared his resignation letter. I don't know how to read Thai but google translator tells me this is dated February 2023.

episode 4: no specific date for me to follow but Forge project is in it's presentation stage + finalizing production company for ads.

episode 5: Jeng's dad's ultimatum, so Jeng has till the end of 23 to show progress for his department or his Dad is shutting it down

We also find out Ae is pregnant.

episode 6: nothing specific on the time. Put asks for a second chance

episode 7: lmao! I wish! But yes some companies do be giving maternity leave from 3 months to a year. But there is also the issue of paid, non-paid maternity leave which is a whole other thing.

From the looks of it Ae is not that far into her pregnancy???? So she might be waiting to take that leave later.

episode 8: Pat and Put have broken up. Ae's bump isn't that visible sitting in the middle but it's there.

episode 9: now we have some specific time again. Both of Pat's parents are visiting him to celebrate his birthday. Which is October 31st

We don't know exactly how far along Ae is. But it's the end of October and she found out she was pregnant in episode 5 so maybe in March/April!!!

Pat has his birthday and with that we are entering November. One last peer review perhaps? lol. Jeng has to show his dad significant change in the department but he is leaving Jian and looking for his replacement.

Yes please.

Ae is more that 30 weeks pregnant when she has her baby. Lets just assume they are well into December by now for my sanity and everyone else.

and this is late birthday gift from Jeng

in conclusion: it's been somewhere around a little over a year up till episode 9. Pat is likely a regular employee now.

edit: more timeline explanation on notes

[consanguinitatum]

For One Night Only: David at the RSC Fringe Festival (oh, and one other thing he probably didn't do...)

For today's post in "obscure things David Tennant did way back when," we'll need to travel back in time to the late 1990s. It was a busy time for David. By May 1997, he'd just wrapped up his first Royal Shakespeare Company repertory season (in which he simultaneously played Touchstone in As You Like It, Jack Lane in The Herbal Bed, and Alexander Hamilton in The General From America). This set of three plays had begun their runs in Stratford in early- to mid 1996; they then transferred over to London's Barbican Theatre, where they had ended their runs by mid-1997.

Programmes for The Herbal Bed, As You Like It, and The General From America

Next on David's theatre agenda was the role of Mickey in Hurlyburly (a play I've talked about before) which ran at the Queen's Theatre in London from August to November 1997. He then performed a one-off staged reading of Derek Jarman's Blue at the Chelsea Arts Theare on 16 November 1997 (which, by the way, is another little-known DT performance I want to explore!)

That was it for 1997, theatre-wise.

Then, beginning in March of 1998 - as I've explored previously - he began his run as Moon and Brindsley Miller in The Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy. This double bill ran first at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Surrey and then in London, first at the Richmond Theatre and then at the Comedy Theatre. That play finally wrapped in August 1998.

But a month before wrapping The Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy, David had popped over to Stratford to do something interesting, something that's the focus of this thread. It was called For One Night Only, and - as it says on the tin - it was, indeed, for one night only!

First, though? A little history!

Around 1990, the RSC began to hold an annual summer festival called the Royal Shakespeare Company Fringe Festival. Intended as a showcase for RSC talent, it included a mix of events: short plays, devised pieces, stand-up comedy, concerts, etc., as well as new works making their Stratford debut. The festival lasted two weeks and saw actors, directors, stage managers, musicians and staff all taking part in more than 25 events. All the events were either on Sundays, or timed around RSC productions, so audiences could go see fringe shows after seeing the actors perform in their usual RSC roles.

Most of the events for 1998's festival took place in a specially adapted 100-seat rehearsal room at the RSC's 'alternative' theatre, The Other Place. But not all of them. Their opening night event - on Sunday, 19 July - was to take place at the Swan Theatre.

That opening night event? For One Night Only!

Starring Desmond Barrit, Emma Handy, and Amanda Harris as well as David, the launch event cost £4-£12 and began at 7:30 pm. It was called a "curtain raiser" as well as "aptly-named."

And just what was it about? Well, um....I know it was organized and compiled by its star, Desmond Barrit...and that it was supposed to take its audience on a journey through the theatre. These articles say so.

But that's about all I know. I wish I had more details.

I am, however, supremely lucky to own a piece of ephemera about this one night only event.

Here's the front and back of my For One Night Only flyer, and as I'm sure you'll notice, it promises "an evening of theatrical prose and poetry...and a little gossip!"

Great. Could you tell us a bit more, thanks?

While researching For One Night Only, I came across something else of interest, which I thought for a moment David might have been involved in - an event staged nine days before For One Night Only. But after researching this event in more detail, I don't think he was involved, after all. Such a shame, really. He would've been perfect!

On Friday, 10 July 1998, at 1 pm in the afternoon, some Royal Shakespeare Company members got together to do a fund raiser and preview of the upcoming Fringe in the forecourt of the Other Place. Called a Sonnetathon, this three-hour event featured various RSC members reading all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets!

Now a Sonnetathon would've been right up David's alley, am I right? He'd have loved it! But I'm about 99% certain he wasn't there - and here's why. That Friday night at 7:30 pm, David was onstage in The Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy at the Comedy Theatre in London, that's why!

But here's why I say 99%. It's not impossible to imagine he got up early that Friday (after doing a show the night before) and took the train in to Stratford to do the Sonnetathon - wrapped it up by 4pm, then hopped on another train back to London in time to make the 7:30 curtain up for The Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy.

But you have to admit, it seems unlikely.

But The Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy wasn't showing on Sunday, 19 July 1998, so David was able to get to Stratford and go onstage as part of 'For One Night Only' to open the Fringe...and then get back to London in time to go onstage once more the following night.

So now you know what I know about For One Night Only.

Of course I'll keep looking for more!

[tumblydovereviews]

What Failing NaNoWriMo Taught Me

This is a change in subject from the usual media posts, but I wanted to try and broad out the scope of my writing a bit.

If you are even remotely familiar with the online writing community, you will probably know what NaNoWriMo is. Every November, writers from all around the world scramble to start an all-new story and to finish that very story by the last day of the month. And, did I mention that this novel needs to be 50,000 words at the least?

Being the bored person I am, I decided to take a risk and try the challenge out. And thus, half my October was spent forming a new world with new characters and a unique plot. On November 1st, I gathered up my supplies, booted up my laptop and started the grand journey into the wild west that is NaNo season.

Obviously, if you read the title of this article, you would know how that went.

I wrote only approximately 29,000 words for my novel. That's it. Out of the 50,000 words I was planning on writing, I barely made it half-way through.

But yet, despite my technical failure, I don't think competing in NaNoWriMo was a complete waste. I learned quite a few lessons from the journey, both writing and non-writing related, and I'm here to share them with you.

Hydrate, hydrate, HYDRATE: Like many others, I have trouble keeping a consistent amount of water in my daily diet. Somedays, I'll hardly drink any at all and on others, chugging down is all that I'll do. A few years ago, my lack of hydration actually landed me in the ER on an IV. Most of the time, we are taught only to drink water to keep our bodies going. But, I learned that when I was sufficiently hydrated while writing, I could go on for much longer periods of time compared to when I was thirsty. As it turns out, drinking water and fluids can also have a positive impact on our brain function!

Create goals based off your personal style: I'm not too bad of a chronic procrastinator. Like all of us have, occasionally I'll put projects aside towards the last minute, but for the most part, I'm a pretty good worker. My problem is working consistently- I concentrate much better in controlled bursts of time than in a long session, but at the same time, I don't like leaving work unfinished. If I start a chapter, I'm going to finish it no matter what, for better or for worse. For NaNoWriMo, I decided to aim on finishing at least one chapter of my story per day. That way, I would have a manageable amount of work while still staying productive in the process.

At the same time, life is WAY more important than writing: Throughout November, Thanksgiving, school, and the start of the holidays in general impeded my ability to write as much as I could have. And that's okay! Writing is just one part of my life, not my entire well-being. I try to divide the different aspects of my life into certain 'parts,' from my academic part to my author part for tumblydovereviews. This helps me to throw away any worries I mayhave about another 'part,' and instead focus my whole self onto one part at a time.

Grow a closer bond with your characters: I loved my characters. I thought about them throughout the day and as I wrote. I came up with their favorite activities, movies, and foods, and imagined scenarios for them in my head. In a way, this made writing them easier as I knew more about how they would react and why.

And, if no matter what you try, you still fail NaNoWriMo...: That's okay! Remember, the entire point of this challenge is to have fun while also completing a story in the process. No matter what happens, I'm proud of you for trying. You're doing great!

Will I decide to complete NaNoWriMo again next year? It remains to be seen. But one thing remains clear: even through my failure, I still love to write. I still love to read. I still want to create stories and worlds and essays. And, nothing will stop me from doing that.

[pearlsofthec]

While not as celebratory as October (MY B-DAY MONTH!) and not yet as festive as December, November is a month that’s always full of promises to me. It’s the month when I usually swear to myself I'll get everything done, so I can try to relax when it's Christmas time. While my productivity levels aren't as consistent as I'd like them to be, my will to be productive certainly is. I'm definitely a list kind of girl, loving making them just as much as I enjoy reading them in magazines and on archive blogs from the 2010s (classygirlswearpearls and rookie magazine, I’m looking at you guys). So what better way to start the month and try to get myself together than by writing a big ole' list? My November Guideline:

To be inspired

On TV: Spencer Hastings, Blair Waldorf, Tanner Hall

I may have only watched a season and a half of Pretty Little Liars, but that absolutely doesn't stop me from loving and pinning essentially every single outfit ever worn by Spencer Hastings on television, EVER. I love the way it's simultaneously classic and dated. I've never been one to fear a dated style or outfits that might one day make me sigh and go, "Oh my God, that was so ten years ago for me." I guess that's my way of contributing to history and experimenting with the millions of inspirations I'm constantly bombarded with via social media. I specifically love this aspect of her style, how she wears what she wants, what she loves, but always communicates a deep appreciation for a more traditional way of dressing. 

A lot of the same things can be said about Blair. Again, a character from a TV series I haven't watched all the way through (I can't make it past the first few episodes of season 3, sorry!), who was a pillar of preppiness back in the day, and is still wildly beloved, despite having committed a few fashion faux pas in my opinion. The craziness of it all and even the grandma-ness of it all actually fascinate me about Blair's wardrobe. How she constantly projects a vision of who she needs to be. Spencer does the same, obviously, but with Blair, it's almost like she viewed every day of her life, every problem she needed to face, as a new plotline of an old movie that needed to unravel. For each plotline, she reacted as a different heroine would, and each heroine, naturally, expressed herself differently through fashion. I just love these characters she creates for herself, and I feel like I often have the same instinct to curate an outfit like that when getting ready.

Tanner Hall, directed by Diane von Fürstenberg's daughter, Tatiana, is in the same aesthetic line as the previous mentions. The movie is set in a quintessential New England boarding school, where beiges, browns, and muted greens seem to be the only existent colors. The whole wardrobe is gorgeous, designed by DVF, and the holy grail for all those who are obsessed with an old-time preppiness. While the movie's plot may be flawed, its attempt to portray the delicious whimsy and melancholy of a girlhood that tries to expand inside the claustrophobic gates of the school is genuine and comes from what, to me, is a mixture of personal history and folklorized memories. I really like the softness of it all; you can almost smell the crisp apple scent through the screen.

On the web: 2010s Emma Watson, Silly Lettuce, Eva Meloche 

I can't really explain my current fixation on Emma Watson, but I have the feeling it has something to do with the fact I've been looping her Burberry campaigns practically every day. The songs are so reminiscent of a carefree city life, going on long taxi drives in the rain and putting your hands over the steam of your coffee on a cold day in the park with your friend, wet fall leaves on the cement sidewalk. I used to admire Emma Watson a lot when I was younger, and it's nice to rediscover this fondness for her. And let's be honest, she is definitely one of the founders of the gamine community; all I have, I owe to her!

Now, my current admiration for @silly_lettuce on Instagram is totally aesthetic, and I'm not afraid to say it. Gorgeous girl, gorgeous outfits, what's not to love. I could go on and on about her style in general, the silhouettes she wears, the boots, the knee-high socks, but instead, I'll just urge you to check out her page! So timeless, yet so young, fun, fresh, and COOL!!!! 

Eva Meloche is a YouTuber I've been watching for as long as I can remember, and not only do I adore the calm energy all of her videos exude, but I also really love her travel stories and spot recommendations in general, which always come in handy. Oh, and, of course, she has impeccable taste. Even though her style is different from mine, I guess I use her content as a way to explore.

To wear 

I think it's totally healthy to have an everlasting lust for new clothes and new products. Maybe it's because the holiday energy is already lingering in the air, or maybe it's because I'm fresh out of a father and daughter trip to Paris, but recently, I've been loving to revisit my old favorites. And by old, I mean back-when-I-was-twelve old, which includes:

Red Valentino patterned A-line dresses

Ok, I know they may be a bit too young, but if you get it, you get it, I guess. With some ballerinas or Mary Jane pumps, a cute overcoat, and a nice pair of sunglasses, you'll look positively '60s. Honestly, any A-line dress works, but RED V makes me remember my trips with my grandparents and going shopping with them.

The Cardi-blazer 

So basic, I know, but I cannot stop thinking about the Ba&Sh Gaspard cardigan and Guspard blazer. I just love how it elevates a basic outfit. With a pair of jeans and a trench coat over it, it has infinite potential. I can definitely see myself wearing it to a lunch with friends, for some afternoon shopping, or just for a coffee run. I love the Ba&Sh cardi-blazers, specifically because of how cool they look without ever being an "in-your-face" type of item. The buttons are nice and discreet, and the style is put together but not excessively frumpy.

Flap Brogue

Maybe it's the Miu Miu enthusiast in me, but ever since they released the new collection of shoes with Church's (my dad's fave), I've been loving all outfits that include a pair of brogues. I already had a pair of light brown oxfords (which are my one true love), but I really wanted something in black and thought that a pair of flap brogues would be a nice addition. They're perfect to wear with sheer hosiery, a mini jean skirt, and a cozy black sweater to tie it all together.

Statement sweater

Talking about sweaters... I just have so many cool statement ones living in my brain recently; it's a bit concerning. What's better than wearing a huge sweater that screams "look at me" when going out with friends or having a nice dinner party? I've been specifically lusting over two models: the Kritzia glittery, oversized turtlenecks with animal motifs and the Zadig and Voltaire Alma "rock and roll" red one.

Statement everyday shoes 

It's so 2016 to talk about Golden Gooses, but... I just love them. I happened to buy them after quite a bit of time resisting after I found myself with soaked ballerinas after a violent rainstorm, soon-to-be late to my lunch reservation. The Golden Goose store was my knight in shining armor, literally, offering me shelter and shoes. And maybe it was the desperation, maybe it was the pink sparkly star, but all I know was that I left that store in a glittery haze, enamored by the sneakers I'd just impulsively bought. No regrets!

To Discover

Maison millais (The Eloise perfume specifically… i need it)

Armocromia

Isak Zenou

Brai (pyjamas)

Louvini

Sekiguchi dolls

[yumedoca]

Ataru’s Harem: The Bad End (An Analysis)

Attention!! The following analysis was written by an inexperienced me during the month of November. This might've been my first one, so I had a habit of overexplaining back then, which I no longer do as much while writing now, so please excuse any mistakes. Also, The arc which this analysis focuses on didn't have an official translation at the time, so I had to rely on the fan translations instead (which I do mention in the analysis as well)... This was just sitting in my drafts and the poll I held said to post it, so...

Analysis under the cut...

[I repeat, EVERYTHING under the cut is from November, so it's not like my usual ones, including the blue title above..]

The Doors of Fate Arc (AKA Inaba the Dream maker) is probably my favorite storyline in Urusei Yatsura. Just the way everything’s written in that arc is done so perfectly. And so, one of my favorite things about the arc is how they portray Ataru. The focus on not just Ataru, but his ideal harem and the reality of his harem is what this analysis will focus on.

We’ll begin from the point in the story where Ataru, Lum, Shinobu and Inaba were resting after witnessing all the bad futures and Lum asks Ataru what is it that he wants to see in his future. Ataru knowing that Lum won’t take his answer of “Harem” very well, says “Something…” as his reply. To which Lum questions him whether he wants to see them married or not, and that he’s probably looking for a future where he has a harem. To which he tells Lum that she’s misjudging him and that all he wants is to just live in a cheap six tatami apartment with Lum… (with Lum in the background being touched by that sentiment) ….and Shinobu and Sakura and Ran, Ryunosuke, Ryoko, Benten, Oyuki. He states that that’s his meager future to which Lum angrily replies “THAT’S MEAGER!?”

The first thing we can pick from this is that Ataru’s vision of a harem here is more humble than his initial one. His initial harem dream had him in a huge mansion[?] and with far more power, money (it isn’t stated, but from the way how big his house[?] is, you can assume he’s rich) and of course a lot of sexy women. It seems that by now, Ataru’s realized that he won’t naturally gain a lot of power or money from the way he is, he’s mostly aware of how he is and what all can he achieve in that area without some kind of miracle, after all he’s not Mendo who naturally can get those things. So he opts for the easier and more realistic scenario… Even though it isn’t a 100% realistic….. 

Later the gang go into the destiny factory and Inaba explains that the destiny factory is where is all the futures are made and that they can make their own futures as well, which they do. Ataru, Lum and Shinobu end up creating knobs for each of them, which if attached to a door can create their ideal future. 

Unfortunately, they got found out by bunnies of the Fate Production Bureau. The gang immediately runs away so they don’t get caught by them and during the chase Lum ends up dropping her knob into the abyss and losing it. While Ataru tells Lum not to worry since he still has his harem knob, prompting her to go on an angry electric chasing spree which Ataru manages to avoid by attaching his knob to a door and escaping Lum’s wrath (for the time being, that is.) And then he has a good look at his “ideal future made with extra- special care”…

The first thing he notes is that the place is too small (and whether his future income can handle this), probably since everyone’s complaining. Future Ataru awkwardly laughs the complaints off since there’s nothing he could do, since this how the future was made. This issue was probably created since Ataru didn’t think of the consequences of his humble future.

(To be read from left to right for this arc, cuz for some reason the fan translations are flipped)

Ataru thinks to himself that this lifestyle is pretty rough. Then he points out that everyone’s here including Benten, Ran, Oyuki. Everyone, Except…

Future Ataru leaves his apartment saying that he’s going for a short walk, and then he sits down to contemplate (with the present Ataru quietly coming towards him and standing behind him and listening). And then future Ataru reveals the truth about what happened to Lum while he was creating his harem…

So in a nutshell, he basically treated her like a worthless slave. And even after all of that, future Ataru questions her decision to leave, with the present Ataru giving the most appropriate reaction in this situation.

Now this is where an analysis is the most necessary. This section of the story shows us the most important thing about the reality of Ataru’s harem which is… Ataru’s Personality Change.

Usually if Ataru did something stupid or wrong from his side and if Lum tries to give him what he deserves in that situation. He’d start acting as if he’s the wounded party and complains about it (comedically), but deep down he’ll admit to himself that he does deserve the blame after all. This is the most apparent in the “Electric Jungle” arc. When Lum runs away with Shingo, Ataru acts like Lum’s the one at fault even though he’s the one who was originally late for their date. 

(To be read from right to left, since the material for this chapter is taken from the official translations)

…He got zapped after that panel…

Anyways, later on when Lum doesn’t return and Ataru starts worrying about her, he does admit that it was his fault for being late after all.

Not only that but Ataru knows about the limits to how selfish one must behave and he manages not to cross that limit because deep down he’s a good guy. Even when he insults Lum he makes sure that his insults will receive an angry response (which she recovers quite quickly from) from her rather than a sad one (which hurts her really deeply and it takes time for her to recover from).

But Ataru’s future shows that making a harem has made him far more selfish than before, so selfish and greedy to the point where he doesn’t even realize he’s at fault for using the love of his life for slave labor of all things. Of course future Lum leaving future Ataru makes sense after what he’s done, but I think the main reason she left him is because deep down the Ataru she fell in love with, ie. the side she loved him for, no longer exists. That’s quite a depressing future if you think about it, and thank god Ataru removed the knob from the door, deleting that future, while questioning whether he wants a harem or not (cuz what’s the point of a harem if he can’t have Lum?).

We also get to hear from him that he only loves Lum, not Shinobu, not Sakura, not Benten and so on… since he admits to being fickle.

The harem future has a sad end for both Ataru and Lum, but the reason he ditched it is not because he had a depressing end, it was because Lum had a depressing end. This proven later on we get to see him react to a future where they are married, and we see him accepting and trying to save that future, because he saw that Lum was so happy to the point she was crying tears of joy.

(Also Ataru’s smile and blush in this scene is so fckin cute! Like, look at that blushing bunny!)

Anyways, that’s all for this analysis. I just felt like this section of the arc deserved an analysis since no one really talks about it. Thank you for reading and hope you have a nice day.

[jules-has-notes]

collaboration spotlight — Twenty One Pilots mashup by Kurt Hugo Schneider & VoicePlay

VoicePlay fans sometimes joke that the sounds these guys can make are so incredible as to be inhuman. This production took that assertion one step further. Kurt had them record their vocal parts as they normally would, then he sampled and remixed those voices to create something very cool. The result is more electronic than their usual sound, but there's no denying that it's an innovative twist.

This is a video I rarely watch just once, since it can be a lot of fun to pay close attention to what each guy is doing individually and how they all fit together.

Details:

title: Twenty One Pilots mashup (ft. VoicePlay)

original songs / performers: all songs by Twenty One Pilots — "Heathens", "Ride", & "Stressed Out"

written by: all songs by Tyler Joseph

arranged by: Kurt Hugo Schneider

release date: 2 November 2016

My favorite bits:

setting the scene and premise while layering in each vocal part

Layne occasionally glancing toward the others to see if they're going to try to escape the situation

Eli's smooth delivery of the "Stressed Out" intro

Geoff doing some lowkey animation moves in time with his ♫ "wub-wub-wub" ♫ bass line

those crunchy stacatto harmonies on ♫ "I know. it's hard. sometimes." ♫

the ramp up in tension created by the frequency increase on Earl's ♫ "ri-e-i-e-i-e-ide, ri-e-ide, ri-e-ide, ride ride ride ride" ♫

Layne's breathy high-hat line (and whatever cool thing Kurt did to enhance it)

Geoff being able to actually hit the deep tones for ⇓ "Watch it!" ⇓, but still having the fun post-processing distortion to match the original sound

baby's first featured subharmonic drop!

Eli's big old belts and riffs in the final "Heathens" section

Earl bounding into the stratosphere for that last ♫ ⇗ "any sudden moves" ⇗ ♫

each of the guys "shutting down" as their parts end

Trivia:

This video racked up a million views in just three weeks!

The audio track is exclusively available through VoicePlay's Patreon.

Like so many of VoicePlay's prosthetic makeup effects, the coaxial plugs that turn the guys into input / output devices were created by Andy Wright at Makeup & Creative Arts in Orlando.

I'm not sure if they intended for there to be narrative significance to the placement of the plugs, but having Layne and Geoff's near their vocal chords, Eli's in his noggin near the parts of the brain that handle analytical tasks like reading and math, and Earl's near the Superman tattoo on his muscular arm all seem potentially symbolic.

A fan was inspired to draw fanart of the guys a couple months later, which they very much enjoyed.

VoicePlay had released their own full version of "Ride" earlier in the year as an installment in their PartWork series.

Layne and Tony had created a much sillier music video for "Heathens", featuring the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus, as their Halloween offering from PattyCake Productions the month before.

The guys (including J.None) collaborated with Kurt again almost a year later for a rendition of "Waving Through A Window" from Dear Evan Hansen that was released in January 2018.

[rabbityshen]

not sure who this post is for.

i think i just needed a way to get out some of my brainworms about genazo and some of the observations i've made about it as a movie and fandom phenomenon that's big in japan but basically not at all here. it was originally gonna be a pitch post on my Main, Professional writing blog but it came out kind of too.....silly for that. which is why the grammar and capitalization are generally proper and the tone is more formal (and has images). i wrote most of it back in august/september but have edited it so it's relatively current to right now.

it's mostly a bunch of rambling and info tidbits about genazo. cant imagine who would be interested in it, except genazo fans, but then it's also written as if to be read by ppl who don't know what genazo is. again, very confusing post. my bad. if u wanna read it go ahead, but lol (lol).

but if ur like "what's genazo?" well then this the post for you. maybe.

edit: added some more fun images for myself 😊 and some (spoilery) CWs for the movie at the very end

They say honesty is a virtue so I might as well start off by saying that my curiosity about this movie was not sparked by the anniversary productions being made for Shigeru Mizuki’s 100th birthday or through keeping tabs on the latest anime films coming out, but because I saw fanart and I thought the main character, Mizuki, looked hot.

After some sleuthing, I tracked down the source material and was surprised that it was from a movie, Kitaro Tanjo: GeGeGe no Nazo (which I'll shorten to GeNazo), part of the GeGeGe no Kitaro franchise.

If you don’t know of GeGeGe no Kitaro or Shigeru Mizuki, I’ll pause here to give a little bit of background info. Shigeru Mizuki was a mangaka born in 1922, who made manga at the same time alongside other influential artists like Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy) and Shotaro Ishinomori (Kamen Rider). Mizuki would ultimately become famous for GeGeGe no Kitaro (which I'll shorten to Kitaro from here on out), a manga series following a yokai boy named Kitaro and his adventures. Kitaro is on par with Asto Boy in terms of being a national icon. He’s credited with popularizing yokai stories for the modern masses, his imagery becoming what people would most associate with the classic folklore. Besides the 2023 movie, there was an anime adaptation that aired 2018 - 2020, which was also a 50th anniversary production based off of the first anime adaptation that first aired in 1968.

I had some passing, bare minimum familiarity with Kitaro, as much as anyone who’s liked anime and manga for decades would have, and I had never seen a character from it who looked like Mizuki. Clearly, the movie wasn't a straightforward adaptation, even if it was taking one of the manga chapter titles as its own (“The Birth of Kitaro,” which shows the origins of the eponymous character). Not only that, but the promotional material was fairly bloody and dour, obviously aimed at a more mature audience than the usual child demographic the franchise was geared towards, as with the 2018 Kitaro anime. The character design for Kitaro on the movie poster was very similar though, so I figured they likely shared the same continuity.

(i don't have enough relevant images to adequately disperse throughout this post so im just adding random screenshots of mizuki for enrichment and personal indulgence 🙂)

Since the anime series had been officially licensed and subtitled by Crunchyroll, I assumed the same had been done for the movie but that was not the case. It had been released in Japanese theaters back in November 2023 but as of April 2024 at the time, there was (and still is) nowhere official and legal to watch it with localized English subtitles. I had little interest in Kitaro otherwise so I shrugged and decided I would let my shallow interest taper off. It did not.

Instead it plagued me for months (my friends can testify to this). I can't exactly articulate why; The heart wants what the heart wants I suppose. So I finally caved in and found…other means of watching it. I'm not sure if I expected that to sate the brainworms already festering in my head, but basically the opposite of that happened. Now having context for what I was already seeking out on Twitter, new depths of investment were opened up. And that's when I discovered this movie was quite popular.

Now granted, this is still in relative terms. This was the year that other animated hit films such as The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Boy and the Heron came out. Even other anime franchise films such as Case Closed: Black Iron Submarine and Spy x Family Code: White were much bigger domestic and international hits from around the same time. However, while GeNazo never reached the status of being the #1 movie in Japan for the week, it was one of the top five grossing movies for four consecutive weeks (and in the top ten for a consecutive 11 weeks), making over two billion yen (~$17 million). It was also selected to be shown at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival in the Countrechamp category. A new version of the film called the “True Version” (真生版), which contains redone cuts and rerecorded dialogue (but no changes to the narrative), as well as bumps up the rating from PG-12 to R15, was released a few weeks ago.

And when you zoom in closer from a fandom subculture perspective, its popularity is undeniable. The doujinshi made for the GeNazo fandom and sold through the retailer Comic Toranoana is not only numerous, but has dominated the female-targeted section rankings for months (both “All Ages” and “Adults Only”), alongside doujinshi for much more internationally popular series like Jujutsu Kaisen and Slam Dunk. (Another way to compare this, Kitaro has a total of 2500+ listed and Delicious in Dungeon has a little over 40 items listed.) In the 2023 poll for yumejoshi (similar to the concept of “self-shipping” fandom) to pick their favorite characters for the year, the two main characters made it to the top twenty (Gegero at #15 and Mizuki at #9), even though the movie was released quite late into the year. Then in Animage’s annual Anime Grand Prix, GeNazo was voted as the top favorite anime for 2023, with Mizuki and Gegero also voted as the top favorite characters. At COMIC CITY SPARK 19, a popular Tokyo doujinshi event held last week, GeNazo is the third most popular fandom represented (above other fandoms including Haikyu!! and Honkai: Star Rail). Several months ago, a film concert event was held and it must've done more than well enough if they're holding the event again for two days in November.

So obviously, I was very much not the only one infested with brainworms! But in comparison, no one over in English-speaking anime fandom circles knows anything. On Archive of Our Own, there’s a tag for “GeGeGe no Kitaro (Anime)”* that only has under 50 works in English when accounted for the movie’s release. (In comparison, there are over 2,500 works in the tag for “ダンジョン飯 | Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon” in English when accounted for the anime’s release. For possibly a more equivalent comparison, there are a little under 200 works in the tag for “Bang Brave Bang Braven (Anime)” a show that did receive an official English translation and was ranked second in the Anime Grand Prix.) Every time I peek into Japanese fandom, I feel like I’m stepping into a parallel universe. The gap is striking.

Anime has never been more accessible to foreigners, specifically Americans. Piracy still reigns supreme in terms of frugal personal finances, but it's less convenient and full of pitfalls, requiring some sophistication in navigating platforms and torrents. As a thirty year old with a full-time job, the low-risk convenience on its own is worth the money of subscription. It’s also easy to think in the age of streaming and simulcast—with plenty of titles getting licensed but then instantly buried under the oversaturation of Content and lackluster efforts at marketing—that we have legal access to everything, or at least everything notable. But similar to this year's cult hit Girls Band Cry (until the official English language translation available through Hoopla and, soon on November 6th, Crunchyroll as well), GeNazo fell through the license cracks. 

I shouldn't be too surprised though. While Kitaro is an iconic series with a deep cultural legacy in Japan, its popularity in the USA is much milder. In my experience, people who do know about Kitaro tend to regard it as a piece of classic manga history rather than engaging art or storytelling in its own right. As an older, episodic children’s series fundamentally focused on traditional Japanese folklore, its potential appeal to international audiences is less universal and it's less likely to be taken seriously by manga fans invested in more serialized storytelling. So it is a shame that this movie isn't licensed and officially localized. Tomohiro Harafuchi, the director of Mizuki Productions, said in an interview at the Annecy Festival that he hoped that screening GeNazo there would “inspire the international audience to discover these universes” since Kitaro is less well known outside of Japan. Especially since it stands out as fairly unique work among the other Kitaro movies, series, and other related media.

At this point, you might be wondering what GeNazo is actually about and what my pitch is for watching it besides Hot Anime Guy.

The version that's short and to the point: A nice horror mystery with some decent fujobait and anti-nationalist themes.

The version with a premise like you're reading the back of a DVD case: Mizuki, a salaryman working for a blood bank during Japan’s postwar era, is tasked with visiting a remote village. He hopes to curry favor with a powerful family whose patriarch has just died, causing a power struggle, as well as find out the secret of the miracle drug that they manufacture. Along the way, he meets a mysterious man searching for his missing wife. Violent, strange deaths begin occurring however, and Mizuki soon finds himself wrapped up in a disturbing conspiracy he never anticipated. Find out the twisted origins of one of Japan’s most beloved characters…

My actual, extremely condensed opinion: A fun 3/5 stars movie that I'm kind of ambivalent about.

“Whoa whoa whoa,” you may be wondering, “You wrote all of this about a movie you rated 3/5 on Letterboxd?” The answer is “yes” and I wish I had a better one.

That'll be for another post though, since I can't discuss it without really getting into spoilers.

Note [possible spoilers]: Content warnings for GeNazo include gore, war trauma flashbacks, non-graphic and referenced incestuous CSA, alcoholism, child death.

[kitekki-khaos]

A Year of Khaos: 2023 Review

Welp. 2023 is officially over and we're onto another year. I wanted to put together some kind of year in review thing and since I didn't get a chance to do it during my final stream of the year, I thought I'd just put it all together into a blog post. So here's an overall look at the year:

2023 was my "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" year in an attempt to really feel out what I wanted to do with streaming. So my plan was to pick a Thing for each month, really go all-in on it for the month, and make something focused around that by the end. Then change for the next month, rinse and repeat.

I've always been a Jack-of-all-Trades, which is as much a blessing as it is a curse. I CAN do just about anything if I decide I want to do it, but that also means there's no One Thing I'm really good at. The only One Thing I have is something that's borderline impossible to stream, which is writing. So... Project Year. Try everything, see what sticks.

So I present, the various skills I attempted to build throughout the year and the final product they produced:

Projects Completed:

January: Fashion Design - Ironmouse Outfit Contest Entry

(List continues under Read More)

February: Blender - New VNyan Throwables

March: Variety Streaming - Trying different Stream Categories

April: Game Development - Ludum Dare

May: Sewing - Summer Wardrobe

(horrible failure, just ended up making things in blender, instead)

June: Traditional Painting - Minis

July: Minecraft Redstone - Basics

August: Minecraft Map Building - Halloween Adventure Map

September: Stickermaking - Sticker Chat Banner

October: Dance / MMD - Halloween Transition & Halloween Stream

November: NaNoWriMo - WIP

December: Thankmas & 3-Year Debut Anniversary - Charity Streams and 3.0 Reveal

In addition to the projects I was working on throughout the year, I was also working on the 3.0 model at the same time. Throughout the entire year. Which, I came to realize was kind of a mistake trying to do both. I just barely got the model done in time because my time was so heavily split between so many things. Especially when you add that I was ALSO still editing videos for Youtube all the way until September. (which was a full 12-hour day, twice a week) So I was working on completely rebuilding my models from scratch in a program I was wildly unfamiliar with (blender), doing a new project every month, streaming 3x's a week (usually upwards of 6 hours), AND editing 12-hours a day twice a week to post 2 videos and 2 shorts every week.

It was... a lot.

Last year was a lot.

Too much. Even for me.

There were even a few more things on the list that I wanted to try out this year, but ended up not being able to figure out how to stream it. Baking, for example.

But I'm hoping to find something I can really focus on for the coming year and lessen at least some of my constant uncertainty about what I'm doing with life. And maybe ease up on the work, in general. If I was awake, I was working last year. I was so burnt out and exhausted by the time December rolled around, I had no energy left for my biggest event of the year. Honestly, I'm still exhausted. I wanted to get this post out ages ago but I just had no energy to write it.

I need to ease up a bit next year. Figure out what I actually want to do. But I feel like I have a slightly better handle. Maybe.

We'll see how it goes.

As a final note, here's a list of every game I played throughout 2023, which was honestly a lot. I try to finish as many games as I can, especially the horror games, with the exception of co-op games or sims. Some unfinished games (like Hollow Knight and A Hat in Time) I plan to finish at some point. Others, like Digimon Survive, I've decided to drop for good. Whereas yet others, I'll probably finish on my own as an off-stream game. (Slime Rancher 2 I'll probably play by myself but I've played through Ni no Kuni like 3 times in the past so I'm fine leaving that one where it was).

Games Played - 53 Total

( * - Finished / + - Co-Op/Sim )

My horror game backlog is massive so Indie Horror Nights are guaranteed to return in 2024. Obviously. Horror is kind of a thing. Variety Night is also guaranteed to return because I like having a day where I can just do what-the-fuck-ever.

However, I don't know if Project Night will be a set thing in the future. Additionally, I'm considering adding a fourth stream day but I haven't committed to the idea yet. I want to get back to fashion design but I don't think I'll be picking the seasonal collections back up for this year. Maybe just do themed outfit sets, instead. I may also try making them in blender instead of VRoid this year, as well.

There are a lot of decisions to be made about 2024 still.

I'm not sure what I want out of this coming year yet. But thank you to everyone who puts up with my perpetual indecisiveness, there will be more in the future.

Here's to a new year and new possibilities.

[lizardrosen]

On the timeline of Not More Native to the Heart:

I'm basing this fic series on the Andrew Scott production from 2017, so Hamlet and Ophelia were born in 1987 and most of the kids' childhood is in the early 90s - which means poor Claudius, who needs Reynaldo to help him connect to a Zoom call, has to suffer through the whole internet and tech boom, which will be fun to write.

This does make Laertes 34 in canon era, which is older than I usually like him, especially since Andrew Scott is one of the few Hamlets who I can see being older than Laertes. But the childhood dynamic I've thought about most often with these characters in general is that Laertes is older than Hamlet and Ophelia, who are about the same age, so that's what I'm going with for this version of events.

Also, since Ophelia was born in May and Hamlet is born in November that same year, that would put her a year ahead of him in school, but I really wanted them to be classmates. I refuse to change their birth months because Laertes literally calls Ophelia "O Rose of May" and Hamlet cannot be anything but a Scorpio. I could have changed it so he was born six months ahead of her and just adjusted the dialogue between Claudius and Polonius, but it's more fitting to Hamlet's whole character that he went into kindergarten a year early because he was so precocious as a child.

Caroline gets sick in March of 1992, when Laertes is nine and Ophelia is almost five, and (spoiler) dies later that year. How much later, you'll have to stick around and keep reading my installments to find out.

Laertes and Hamlet dated for a few years and broke up because they each thought the other one was unhappy and tried to "free" each other even though it was 100% unnecessary. Laertes was so miserable afterwards that he ran away to France, where he started sleeping with Rey but they don't call it dating, they're just good friends who happen to fuck and are also madly in love with each other. And not long after that, Hamlet and Ophelia started dancing around each other and eventually started dating in secret.

At the time canon takes place, Reynaldo has been working for Polonius for about ten years, which means he missed Laertes's awkward teenage years when he wore braces and didn't quite fit into himself yet, but Laertes enjoys telling him about those times, and Rey likes telling him about the strange and dangerous jobs he's had over the years before he found an employer who provided him with a life that allowed him to respect himself a little more. He truly cares for and respects Polonius, and is almost as broken up about his death as Laertes and Ophelia are, but he keeps doing his job to stay standing.

Claudius and Gertrude don't get together until after King Hamlet is killed, but there's mutual interest for about a year or two before Claudius finally commits the eldest primal curse, and it's basically an emotional affair that neither of them admit is happening. They've always had a good friendship, but it was just potential romance until the event that made it blossom into something more. (I'm secretive!)

[starsinkpop]

ATEEZ Kang Yeosang Tarot Reading - November 2023

Disclaimer: I do tarot readings for fun, so please read them with a grain of salt. Don’t take my words too seriously and just keep an open mind. Tarot is a divination tool that can’t predict the future, as every single individual has their own will and makes their own decisions. Tarot should be seen as a guidance and a good friend that just has your best interest and gives you advice when needed. I’m not putting anyone in my readings on a pedestal nor am I trying to harm anyone. One last side note, I’m not a native speaker, so please excuse any wrong spellings or poor grammar.

Date of Reading: November 9th 2023

Decks: Tarot of the Divine, Romance Angel Oracle Cards, Wild Mystic Oracle Cards

Yeosang’s feelings and overall energy this month - II The High Priestess and Vulture/Consume

In November Yeosang is balanced and has an extra focus on harmony in his relationships. Similar to last month, Yeosang is still having a very beautiful energy that’s also shining on the outside, he has confidence in himself. His intuition is working extremely well this month. I see him also working a lot on himself and overcoming past traumas that have held him back for the longest. He’s basically “eating” all the negative away to center and find himself again. The High Priestess has feminine energy, the Vulture masculine energy. Again, this beautifully resembles the balance I talked about. His energies are balancing each other out. He could have more vivid dreams in November as well.

Career - King of Swords

Yeosang holds a lot of pride in his work, and he definitely should keep that pride up. He’s hard working and intelligent. He has a very logical approach about his career this month and see him standing up for himself whenever outsiders try to belittle him. His self-discipline will take him far. He has high standards when it comes to his career and the finished product him and Ateez publish at the end of the day. And he will do everything in his power to even surpass his, but also everyone else’s expectations.

Love - Four of Wands

In his love life as well, Yeosang has nothing to worry about. Everything seems to work wonderfully between him and the person I talked about last month. He maybe met them at some party or other social gathering, or they just really are celebrating their connection. This person feels like a retreat to Yeosang. And it could be some kind of soul connection between the two. I see a lot of harmony and they’re just absolutely in love and happy. I also see them being complete opposites. It’s like they both went for someone they usually wouldn’t go for but this seems to work just lovely. They’re just thankful to be in each others lives.

Advice - Nine of Cups (R)

It’s of course important to put yourself first, but don’t forget about your loved ones. Show them you care about them. Be the friend you wish you had.

•••

Love,

~Nicky 🫧

Masterlist

[readythefanons]

desk dispatch (early May 2023)

writing desk updates from your pal reddy

desk status: under control (patches of the desk's surface are visible, and the stacks do not exceed 3 inches in height = manageable but in the middle of some things)

General notes from April:

I used April's camp NaNo (NaNoWriMo=national novel writing month, which is in November. Camp NaNo is for self-set goals and is held in April and July) to work on an outline! I outlined the Petra/Sylvain fic, and I wrote about 10k >_> the outline is mostly there, but there are a few sections in the middle that could use some more attention

I finally succeeded in winning the "write every day" achievement for (camp) NaNo!!!!!

I posted "Place" in April which is an Adopted!Hilda AU. If you're reading this post, you probably saw at least one of the eleventybillion promos I scheduled for the fic. (five. It was five.) I started that fic in 2020, so it feels great to post it

What's in the can: NOTHING. I have nothing lined up to post. But...

The Leonie fan anthology (AKA Sunflower: A Leonie Fanzine) is shipping/has shipped! I have a fic in that one, and I hope that soonish I'll be able to post that fic to AO3 :) That piece is titled "not a circle, but a spiral"

I am poking the Leonie/Lorenz SciFi AU again. In a fit of productivity, I re-outlined the thing and I hope to poke the draft itself soon.

I wrote and edited 3k of thoughts on pronouns and personhood in the book Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. When I finally hit post on that, you'll see it on my book blog @reddy-reads but I might also bump it over here because why not. embarrassment is for other people. (disclaimer: not every blog on tumblr with "reddy" in the name is connected to me, i promise)

Miscellaneous thoughts: outlining

I might... love... outlining? To be determined. But it felt so good to work on the Petra/Sylvain outline, and it felt good to work on the SciFi AU outline. So IF these fics actually get written, then I might never go back to my no-outline ways.

What I liked about it: it was so satisfying to think about all the parts of the story and how they were supposed to fit together. It was useful to be able to plan out which characters would show up when and where. It was useful (but often felt bad) to realize that certain scene ideas I had weren't working (usually because there wasn't enough concept there). It was SO much easier to go "wait this isn't working" after only writing a few sentences instead of pages and pages. It was much easier to go "oh I need to introduce X earlier" in an outline than after writing (and posting!!!) whole chapters. It feels good to have a plan about where the story goes and how it reaches the ending.

Outlining (it's new to me): My other multichapter fics ("all things considered could be worse" in Netflix!Daredevil fandom, and of course the "Pull It Together" duology) were written without an outline! I knew generally what I wanted to happen and how the ending should feel, but I didn't know how I was going to get from A to Z.

(Actually... those fics BOTH started as oneshot responses to prompts on kinkmemes... and... the Petra/Sylvain fic was inspired by a post on a kinkmeme, and it was originally conceived as a oneshot. So, uh, credit for finally recognizing a pattern!)

Why I'm finally trying outlining: I've become increasingly aware that I have limited time and energy. I wish I didn't. I wish I felt limitless, but the last few year-or-so has just taught me that I only have so much bandwidth. (Which is a good lesson, even/especially if it's not really welcome.) So since I'm admitting that I have limited time and energy, why shouldn't I help myself spend more time doing what I enjoy (writing!) and less time doing what I dislike (not writing because I'm stuck). So that's part of why I have this fresh interest in outlining.

The other thing about outlining is that--well Leonie and Lorenz's stories were fundamentally pretty simple. The Matt & Foggy (Daredevil again) story was even simpler because it was a slice of life. It was hard to get truly lost there. The Petra/Sylvain story needs to fit together a little more precisely, and that means prewriting. AKA writing the whole thing, then editing and posting. I'm not looking forward to giving up my post-as-you-go ways, but maybe I'll end up loving it.

The last part of the "why suddenly outline and prewrite" puzzle is a little... uh... it's a little sensitive. I have ideas about Petra and Brigid that I want to express, but the themes involved (colonialism/imperialism) are delicate. I want to give myself the option of really thinking it through & maybe even getting an extra set of eyes on it before putting it out on the whole internet to see.

So that's why I haven't been posting as much. I'm cooking up something big, I hope people will like it.

Final goodies

Fic rec: Ruu has written a Leonie/Lorenz fic called "Of Conduct, Of Manners." The Jane Austen influence wafts off the page. It updates regularly, and the whole thing is already written :D :D :D

Writing podcasts: I like the writing podcast "Writing Excuses" and "Fiction Writing Made Easy with Savannah Gilbo."

Media podcasts: I still adore "Be the Serpent." It's on hiatus but they have an extensive back catalogue. I got so many great media recommendations from them.

Writing essays: I enjoyed Diane Duane's blog post about her outlining style and approach. I used her "grocery shopping list" and it really helped me build my outline's backbone.

Writing essay 2: A discord pal shared this post with me, which helped me get past an outlining block. The bit about "stop writing scenes you don't want to write" was the magic ingredient for me.

Meal Idea: Vegetarian sushi bowl. Make some rice, season it into sushi rice. Add all the yummy veggies you want. Eat and enjoy. (I made the sushi rice, but then I mixed some riced cauliflower into it for extra bonus veggies. For topping I did avocado w a sprinkle of soy sauce, finely cut carrot, Japanese pickles [cucumber and ginger], and edamame. I also had nori to wrap it as I ate because I loooove seaweed.)

[princesscolumbia]

And on today's episode of "I was today years old when I found out that not everyone does it that way..."

I have been writing with varying degrees of productivity and mostly been really trial-and-error with what makes me a good writer. Sometime last November (more like late-October, but I only really noticed in November), some bit flipped and now I can just sit down and write, every day, whenever I want, for hours at a stretch sometimes.

I have, in fact, gotten to the point where I need to consciously NOT choose to write on days when I'm low on spoons or I'll burn myself out...again.

I kinda knew it was a bit exceptional when I had wrapped up what, in my mind, was the starting section, the first establishing story arc, of a novel...or at least it's one novel in my head. I threw the whole blob of text for the establishment of my setting, what makes this variant universe of the setting in which my fanfic is based unique, and I popped in an author's note saying, "Okay, setup's done."

My first comment was the following, single-line reply:

This was all SETUP?

And that made me realize that most novels usually don't take 45k words for the setup.

It also made me realize that I'd powered through an entire novel's worth of writing in around a month...right on the heels of another 110k+ word novel that I'd written in the course of about 2 months, right after I'd body-slammed the NaNoWriMo word-count in November and blew right past it with four short stories and an update to a WIP.

I currently have a word-count daily goal of 1,400 words...and I often rocket right past that without noticing. I have to intentionally take days off for my mental health and physical well-being or I will write.

I don't know what caused this, I don't know why I do it, I am very aware there are many authors out there that are insanely jealous of my ability and I've been asked for the secret sauce a dozen times, and I just haven't really known what to tell people...until reading this post and realizing that this is just the stuff that I do and I thought every author did it.

So without further ado, minor supplemental commentary of my take on the prev author's advice, with the assurance that everything they said is 100% correct and at this point I'm just gilding the lily:

1. Writing nonlinearly

Seriously, if you have ADHD and are pushing yourself to write linearly, stop. For 3 of the last five completed projects I did I had something like an epilogue or novel climax already written before I'd finished writing chapter 3. Yes, you may have an idea how you want a fic to go and you'll be conscious about making sure your writing gets there, but nothing helps an ADHD brain like a target to hyperfixate on.

1.a - Jump around! Jump around! Jump up, jump up and get down!

Now that I've shown my age; if you have ADHD (and maybe if you don't, not like I've never not been ADHD so I wouldn't know), your brain doesn't work linearly at all and you're only fighting yourself if you try not to follow the dopamine.

On my current WIP, I jammed through chapters 14 through 19 all in a row...then suddenly had a yen to do some text for the tentatively numbered chapter 25. I hammered out a daily-goal's worth of scene chewing (currently available as a sneak peak to all tiers, even free, on my Patreon /shameless_plug). I then bounced back to do ch. 20 before my brain locked in on exactly how I wanted to write the climax of the entire book and that took me all the way to the end (but before the epilogia). I'm not back to chapter 21 and practically pouring the words out from the full pitcher that is my brain because I allowed it to fill with content at the pace it works best at.

2. Rereading my own work

Of course I re-read my own stuff! I'm the only one who knows exactly what I want to read! 😋 Quite seriously, I have gone back to reading stuff I wrote, like, 10 or even 20 years ago because my brain is saying that's where it wants to be...and it turns out that was just what was causing me to not be able to write. Whether I just needed to take a break, needed to revisit a headspace, or I wrote something that reminded me of something else and I wanted to write it again, I've learned to let my brain lead me in the direction it needs to go.

3. Marinating in the headspace of the story

OP is probably right that this isn't a necessary thing for your writing. Heaven knows I've got a day job and can't just stew in my headspace for my fics all the time. But one thing that cannot be denied is sometimes it's hard to get back into the right headspace, and for me the solution turned out to be; playlists.

This is the playlist for my current WIP. Obviously, at a 2+ hour runtime, what you see above isn't the entire list. That list constitutes, however, all the music that I have, in whatever fashion, mentally associated with the headspace for Code of Ethics. I've done this for every WIP I have for nearly 20 years, and even if I decided to go back to one of those early, early fics that I haven't touched since before Trump was elected, all I need to do is dig up the playlist for it (even if that means re-launching iTunes for the first time in over a year) and hitting "play" and I'm back in that headspace.

Going to tag on one more thing that works for me 99% of the time:

4. Read OTHER PEOPLE'S work!

I write because I was inspired to write. There's other ways to tell the stories I want to tell and be creative and be good at it. I chose writing because other people wrote stuff that 'spoke' to me. Fission came about because I had some ideas that I knew could work because @burgerbecky had already done similar stuff with her writing. I knew Deviation was a thing that could be successful because I'd read plenty of Omegaverse fics. Double Isekai was going to be written by someone and so I figured I might as well get in there first because I'd already read DOZENS of isekai fics. And Code of Ethics came out of, "Okay, but what about...?" while I was reading QuietValerie's Troubleverse. Whatever inspired you to write, sometimes you just gotta go back in and read it again, read the sequel, read more of whatever it was that got you into writing so you remember, "...oh yeah, that's why I write!"

How I learned to write smarter, not harder

(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)

A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.

The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.

As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!

Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!

2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)

Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.

Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.

I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.

Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!

This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.

As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.

When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD

People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.

What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!

What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.

You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.

And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.

And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.

If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?

And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD

In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.

Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.

Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)

And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)