#I have so many things in the drafts I just forget to post them erm sorry

[askthekgkids]

KINDERGALA 2024

FINALLY I DID IT; none of this event has anything to do with the events of the blog, and may steer from the canon personalities slightly, this event is just for me to be silly!

Kids shown in photo are available for interactions!

[fumifooms]

i know you aren't really into marcille/laios any longer, but since you went looking online for dungeon meshi doujins, did you happen to find any other marcille/laios ones? (funnily enough at the convention i was at a couple weeks back they had like five, but they were extremely over-exaggerated and personally i prefer my fan content relatively in character...)

Ok first of all: Yeah listen laimar doesn’t have a grip on me anymore but I still quite enjoy it! Just more passively… Altho I do have an analysis that focuses a lot on the importance they hold to each other in my early stage wips drafts, and listen in canon I do think they’re queerplatonic flavored, call me an ot3 qpr truther because Laios Marcille and Falin have a something going on and it transcends being put into a box. But hey hey I reblog laimar artworks I bought that recent doujin I put laimar fics in my -checks- 106 pages long to-read list… Also I have like 5 pages of fanfic prompts for them I may or may not get to writing. Though yeah I do feel bad whenever I notice people following after liking all my laimar posts haha

Sadly to get to the meat of the topic, not really… I don’t go to cons for lack of opportunity so whatever I find is through online. The one I got is The Fourth Basement Floor, it has an english ver and seems so so very in character I can’t wait to get it! Otherwise I’ve looked on Otakurepublic & Doujinrepublic since I use their services for merch from Japan, warning if you click on the link, there are 18+ ones and covers can be pretty explicit. I don’t remember any other laimar one except the one nsfw one I think, but on the plus side there are a lot of gen no ships doujins. I’m bothered because looking back I feel like the catalogue of doujins was wider when I looked all those months ago and it feels like I’m forgetting something hmm… I wish I could help more, but yeah 😔 Pixiv has many laimar comics up (in japanese) if that sates the hunger any

As consolation since I’m already here, why not show some of my laimar things laying around gathering dust I’m fond of. Don’t look if you don’t want to be spoiled for fics I may or may not write I guess? All down below is just laimar prompts

I spoke about some various ones and esp my timeline where she gets him into Daltian Clan here. "Laios… I was wondering, because you enjoy fantasy stories right? I was wondering if you’d like to give my favorite book series a go… It has monsters!" I love love love post-canon laimar where he gets the habit of chewing on her hair because he’s stimming and hungry. Like a goat.

Laios goes to Marcille for love advice.  "You like someone?! Do I know them?" She eagerly asked. "Erm… Yes…?" // Post-canon. He’s so nervous and puts his foot in his mouth n lets things slip out that he thought would give him away. (Comic) "You like someone??! What are they like? Who are they?" And he’s like "Well… She’s a half-elf." He’s like shit she’ll probably know right away. And she goes still. "I’ve never met another half-elf!! We’re so rare! You’re saying you met one and didn’t tell me???!" She’s shaking him. And then she goes still again, contempt drawing on her face. "Wait… Are you asking me for advice because I’m a half-elf?" Laios runs with it "Yes!! And because you’re so savvy with romance and what people like…? If, uh, if you were a half-elf, what would you like to get as a gift? What sort of confession would you want?" "… You saved it there. Okay so since I’m so knowledgeable on romance, tell me what is she like?" "-describes Marcille-" She nods, smug yet oblivious. "Aah I can already tell we’d be great friends. Good taste." (then Thinking bubble with him giving her flowers at a restaurant "Did you know roses are edible and used in recipes", candlelit dinner, or wait maybe the most romantic is cooking together alone at home, chocolate! It’s expensive though… Wait I’m king now!)

Lil comic, Laios wakes up snuggled against Marcille’s back then promptly falls off the bed. The noise makes Marcille wake up and she’s like omg are u ok?? Laios is so sweaty and panicked and in denial about her being special to him.  She explains, disgruntled at the memory "Izutsumi is bunking in with Chilchuck again, they’re taking the whole bedrolls." Pause. "Sorry, I should have told you, but you like sleeping with Izutsumi too so I figured…" She looked sheepish. "Between you and Senshi, I much prefer sleeping with you. It feels sort of nostalgic, like a sleepover, no?" He relaxes and gets in the bed again, smiling. "But… We’ve never had a sleepover?" She chuckles "I guess not. I must be getting that impression because of Falin…" And the air between them is warm yet bittersweet now, as she smiles like that and his eyes and smile cloud over. The earlier instinctive reluctance to touch is gone now. She snuggles into his arms and is like "Hug me?" "Okay." And he does, wraps his arms around her and tucks his chin over her head.

Post canon, marcille takes him to a squid restaurant. Cute lighthearted hehe. He sulks "If there are any parasites in this I will ban squid from this kingdom or so help me…"

Short post canon fluff marcille pov about laios gaining weight n becoming chubby. She used to dream of chiseled abs and angular elves, laios in every way, shape and form is so far from the beauty standards she idealized so. And yet… She loves how soft sleeping against him is, how much there’s more of him for her to hug and nuzzle her face in. She loves seeing him and seeing someone strong, who isn’t malnourished or underweight, someone healthy with color in their skin. An healthy appetite. He used to look more like a rectangle, severe and strict, but now he looked rounder, and seeing him smile at her always made her feel like that roundness suited him. She smiled back, and melted thinking about how her boyfriend was the sweetest in the world. ^I still wanna do this one really bad. Sometimes a fic premise comes from nowhere and puts you in a chokehold and you must finish it to obtain catharsis

Short oneshot about laios musing about Marcille’s smile, how important it is to him in subtle ways etc: Ends with Laios being like wait there’s something off (succubus). Then he grabbed her throat. Or smth

Laios seeing her dungeon like "this is so wrong Marcille you can’t run a dungeon for shit" and also "WHAT ARE THESE HORRORS OF MONSTERS NOO THEY CAN’T BE EFFECTIVE LIKE THAT"

Dinner for two: Very warm. Marcille and Laios are meeting up and cooking a dinner just for them both, no one else is there. They’re being so domestic and it’s light. Laios pauses at some point, doing the dishes, saying… I’ve always worried, thinking doing things like these would remind me of my parents.

Laios doesn’t know what to do when he realizes he actually *likes* likes Marcille, so he avoids her. Everyone notices and is disapproving of him.

Her mana acts up and she shares her dream with someone, kinda like with Izutsumi. Listen the premise could be smutty but I think it’d be more fun if they just hanged out n were silly, like the nightmares chapter without the nightmare

Laimar pining but from the view of Chilchuck, his love hatred sensing a storm brewing. The giggling, the looks. Ugh! It reminded him of himself and his wife when they were young and newly dating.

I love Laios and Izu being worsties so. Laios sees izutsumi rubbing her scent on marcille’s clothes and gets possessive. Maybe Golden Kingdom maybe something else I have no clue but Laios being ridiculous and cheek rubbing or something <3

I might want to do an AU where Laios gets into werebeast ring fighting, before canon and the split happens after he deserts the military. So he’s alone, has nothing going for him and stumbles into that sphere and gets werebeast tattoos done. It doesn’t make him happier at all and fighting sucks actually, but it brings money and he likes being a beast and being cheered by a crowd aka illusion of being liked, and money brings food and eating is the privilege of the living etc etc. So then when he goes to check on Falin at the academy it’s a big AU where he has a whole other reputation and look to him, and when he meets izutsumi their relationship is different and aaaaaa… He’s freeer in this au, lets himself be animalistic and weird, even though ofc the arc is him letting himself be more human as well and connecting with humans, through talking and infodumping n shit. Oh I went off but the laimar is because it’s inspired by cool laimar art here (warning tho it’s an art dump with toudencest also 😔) but werewolf Laios laimar AUs… A lotta fun stuff there idk idk

[fool-errant]

Ask a Writer

I got tagged by @rabbitkinder

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

Well my studio handle is Foolish Mortal - but someone’s been sitting on that username since dirt. So I went with fool-errant - like knight errant but stupider. The fool part is obvious - and errant means alternatively “straying from proper course or standards” and “traveling in search of adventure” - which I felt summed up thing pretty decent. My handle on FFnet and AO3 is NoCapes - cause I wanted to make sure thatif you looked up my website for art - you didn’t accidentally stumble on TF2 slash. That name comes from the fact I have a little Edna Mode figure sitting on my computer monitor that caught my eye at the time I was looking for a name. 

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/favorites, follows/subscriptions, visitor hits, kudos)

Erm - well I only have ze one main fic online these day. My long suffering TF2 fic Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. Though even compared to the long lost junk I wrote in high school - its still got the most feedback.

3. What is your FFnNet/AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

I’m not sure I ever got an icon on those accounts. I just never got aroundto it. 

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

I honestly love all commenters. I have a few regulars who became buds of mine that I love. Also anyone that ends up making something in reaction to my writing is special to me. 

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

Not really. I’m a horrible person. I also have a mind that retains little details, so I am the sort that reads something once and can remember it clearly later. 

I DO have a few genre/ tropes I like to revisit reading wise. One is Lavellen/Cullen from Dragon Age. Another one I binge hit recently is anything about Finn from Star Wars needing and receiving hugs and people (mainly Poe) supporting him. And Princess Leia shows up to remind people to take care of themselves and Storm Pilot snuggles ever after.  

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

Uh...I’m honestly not sure. I squirrel away bookmarks and forget about them later. I have a couple in progress stories I subscribe to. 

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

I really don’t do AUs - unless you count the gag bit I wrote where Spy and FemSpy are the parents of Carmen Sandiego.  I tend to feel people are the products of their settings and removing them from that takes a lot of their traits away. Though that’s my opinion and I’m never going to tell anyone they can’t or shouldn’t go write and enjoy their own thing. 

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Welp on AO3: Bookmarks:74  Subscriptions:77

Here on Tumbles: 268

on FFnet - I can not make heads or tales of that one. Though I seem to have a couple of folks in South Africa reading - which is cool. 

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

.....*Maniacal laughter*  I deal with chronic depression and anxiety. So I have a very large list of things I WANT to do but don’t. A lot of it is due to the fear of judging - and a lot of “no one wants this - what is the point?”  

I had an original concept involving airship pirates - colonialism - and the main lead was a trans pan sexual in a setting that didn’t have words or play book for hat sort of thing. The story wasn’t ABOUT the fact the lead was the way they were, it was just aside thing. But I scrapped it cause I figured no one wanted it - it was stranger and I didn’t want people coming out of the woodwork telling me I didn’t have a right to do that or that I wrote the lead wrong.  

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

I have long ago accepted my inability to porn well.  I’d love to be better with my updates. But as mentioned earlier I deal with depression - so my brain meats aren’t the most efficient at cranking out things in a timely manner.  Also replyingto comments/ social media shit. I am awful at. 

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

I guess Rarepairs...I suppose. 

12. How many stories have you posted on FFNet/AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

Three/four - one large chapter monster and lots of little drabbles that sort of grew around it. 

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

*cough* Lots

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

...Depends on how long the story idea bugs me, how complicated the idea is and if I intend to do anything with it.  

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Not exactly. A bud of mine and me in high school triedto do that but gave up. Now a days I just co author smutty bits with someone else cause I am no good at those on my own.

16. How did you discover FFNet/AO3?

I knew about FF.net before the great PornPurge. I am not even sure HOW I found them. Probably just wandering the net as a young impressionable nerd. I also used to deal with webrings if you want to guess how old I am. 

AO3 I...think I heard about on tumblr, or I had a friend or two metion them tome when I started writing fic again seriously. 

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on FFNet/AO3?

No. I always end up baffled to find out people have read or remember anything I’d worked on. 

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Not really? What?

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

Not to my knowledge - I think there was a quote about art that I picked up via Ted Naifeh about how you have to get through 1000 bad drawings to get to the good ones. That tends to stick in my mind about  writing or anything I’m trying my hand at. 

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

I don’t have much for writing - but creating things in general. When I started doing art in high school the forums I hung out on always had the reminder, “There will always be someone better than you. But you will always be better than someone else.” Write as things come to mind. You don’t have to write in sequential order - you can edit that later. Don’t worry if things come out rough and ugly in your first drafts, things can get polished later. Write what you want, not what you think others will want. Also to paraphrase Dr Suess - if you draw a monster with three heads, be sure to give it three toothbrushes. Keep details in mind when building a world/ scenario.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

I have a rough skeleton or shape I start with - when I start writing it all out things start getting filled in - or changed from the original plan cause something better came up. 

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

Occasionally I would get folks complaining about “the slow bits” where it’s just banter - or folks getting snotty about the lack of sex scenes, but generally nothing “bad” just antsy. 

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

SMUT - I’m a poor little ace robot. My brain doesn’t quite know what to do with smut scenes. Where do hands go? What do they do? People do what? Don’t they know what comes out of those places? EVERYONE NEEDS TO WASH THEIR HANDS.  I don’t cut the scenes since I know it’s a thing people do- and it feels disingenuous to have violence in a story and then get all fiddly when sex shows up. So I have cucu help me out - and have lots of feedback from other folks as we muddle along. 

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Still working on Smoke as I can and trying to flesh out an original concept, which is sort of a post apocalyptic noir,

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

YEP 

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

Not DAILY - but I do try to make myself add 500 words to what I’m working on when I do sit down to write. 

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Thankfully 

28. What is your favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

I dunno - I mean I don’t have much going on right now that’s eaten my time and attention as much as Smoke Gets in Your Eyes has. 

29. What is your least favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

Nothing that I’ve left out in public. I cleared out my old writing archives ages ago and I tend not to let myself look back. 

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

I don’t actually know. I rarely consider myself a writer. I am an artist - I went to school for art and drawing. I just sort of accidentally picked writing back up. 

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

Planning - Conceptualizing. The early stages when everything is still nebulous and nothing is forced into words. 

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Putting things into words. Also the whole “creating things to toss into the void” sensation.

33. Why do you write?

Because my brain sort of will keep daisy chaining ideas and building stories with or without my permission. So focusing on them - writing them and getting them out on paper for others to look at seems the only real solution.  Also cause my friends got sick of my being like “so hypothetically - if blah and blah happened - you think such and such would shake out of that?” 

I taaaag @fat-mabari @vkiera @prinxvariety

Cheers!

[burmecianblackmage]

Post #3000

Wow. This here, this just now, is according to tumblr the 3000th post I make on this blog. Who would have thought I’d stick around this long, that I’d post this much on here? And it’s been a wild ride.

I wanna use this opportunity to mention a few people as well as some stats, and since it will get long with the mentions, I figure I’d better start with the boring part - the stats, that is. So, without further ado, here we go:

Blog Statistics

As of this post, I have as already stated 3000 entries posted onto this blog, but those aren’t the only numbers to mention here. I also have liked a whooping 4404 Favorites on here, as well as followed 460 blogs. Now, I know most of these have long since stopped being active, but since I pretty much never unfollow people, that number only kept growing. It’s hard to tell how many are actually still active - and how many of those even are interested in my muse...

But let’s leave that aside! Since this blog was established on February 4, 2014 with this post, a total of 3 years, 7 months and 21 days have passed - or 1329 days in total. Many of those days have been quite interesting, filled with intriguing plays and fun encounters, and I’ve racked up a respectable 2.2573 posts per day average - not bad for a hobby, eh? Especially considering how long some of my posts tend to get...

Anyhow, in all that time, I have been gifted with a total of 433 Followers, some of which enriching my life greatly, and it will be them that I shall adress under the cut. I’ve also somehow pilled up a whooping 273 Drafts saved, but don’t be alarmed: None of those are plays I’m involved in. In fact, it’s almost entirely memes and prompts and whatnot that I stored for later use, and quite frankly, I’d do well to clean them out a bit soon...

On that note let me say that it is a pity that you cannot see a tally of how many notes your posts got, or how many of them were just what. It would have been intriguing to see how often I posted stuff only to be ignored, and how often the things I posted actually spawned something great. Ah well...

Anyhow, without further ado, let’s move to why you guys came to look at this post:

My dear Friends

Below the cut, I will list some of the people most important to me on this blog, and my thoughts on them. Please note that I do not mean to omit anybody, and should I forget someone, it does not happen out of ill-will but rather because I am sometimes a bit forgetful. If you aren’t on this list but would wish to be, then I will gladly make an addendum to it if you notify me, alright?

Maria, the Wild Rose Archer - @artemisxbow

Eri, we’ve now known each other for a good 3 years, but it’s only been in the last one that we really started to talk more, and for our muses to interact more - and look where that has lead us! We subject our two to angst and suffering, we plot evil things and have tons of hurtful ideas, and it’s not rare that I start going off on a tangent when we talk over Discord. Erm, I guess, long story short: I’m glad to know you and to play with you, and I am sorry for always being so mean to our muses. To many more adventures and plays!

Freya, the Lady Dragon Knight - @burmecias-protector

Freya-Mun, you were the first to play with me here on tumblr, and even though our plays have become quite sporadic, I always enjoy seeing you on my dash. You have an interesting way of writing and give Freya a lot of life - with all the joys and troubles that come with it. I wish we could have some more fluid plays between us again, but things are as they are, and I’m just glad we even get to play in the first place. Sceada looks up to Freya, though he’d hesitate to admit so.

Leonora, the lovely Sage - @containyourmainposure

Gwenny, you always used to be one of my favorite roleplayers on here, and I still adore your writing style. Your Leonora has long since become the way I see the canon Leonora as well, and the depth you’ve given her never ceases to amaze me. I really, truly loved writing with you as well as shipping with you - and I am sad that due to how things developed, not only has the ship sunk, but also the time we write together rapidly declined. I know it is mostly for life reasons, still, I can’t help but feel sad over it and miss it. Just like I lament the fact that it’s been ages since we’ve actually finished a thread properly... But things are as they are, and we have to take what we can get, and I’m just glad to still have you around, even if we don’t talk as much anymore. Nonetheless, I am still happy for you and how you improved your life, and hope it keeps getting better!

Leila, the daring Pirate - @dancing-dagger

Leila-Mun, I know we haven’t exactly written as much together and also haven’t really talked much, but I still consider you one of my closer friends on here. You are one that’s always open for fun and doesn’t hold back in her writing, and I really like that. You have great humor and are a pleasure to have around, no matter which muse. I hope we’ll eventually get to play more again, for I feel our muses have an interesting dynamic between them that would be fun to explore, and a number of conflicts awaiting them - be it as friends or more. I’ll try and reach out to you more soon, I promise!

Vani, the Halfling Rogue - @not-a-rogue

Lou, I’m gonna be honest with you, when I first saw you switching muses I was a bit sad. Your Porom looked very promising, and I would have loved to play more with her - but that is not to say that I like Vani any less than her, oh no. Vani has quickly become one of the most intriguing and amusing muses on my dash, and it is ever so great how she keeps forcing Sceada out of his shell with how she acts around him. Granted, sometimes that proves to be a mistake, but all in all both he and I really like your Halfling - and you too, of course. You are fun to talk with, and a really, really talented artist. I don’t know if others think so too, but you strike me as one of those muns that is just refreshingly uncomplicated and easy to approach - and I for one look forward to many more plays with you and your muses!

Emerya, the Envoy of the Fey - @atieflingwarlock

Emerya-Mun, I have to say I really, really love your muse, more than I’d ever have expected to. She is so much fun to read, yet also hides so much tragedy, and both me and Sceada genuinely want to learn more about her, and if possible to help mend her wounds. It amuses me time and time again how easily she can fluster Sceada, and how she has this very special charm to herself. I’m curious just where these two could go in the future, and how it’d all develop - and I have a good feeling that in due time, we may see it happen. Also I wanna thank you again for your help “translating” Sceada into a DnD setting, it was a lot of fun to build him up like that and now having him try and show what he can do!

Aria, the Maiden of Water - @nymphaxea

Aria-Mun, I know we haven’t known each other for long and haven’t talked all that much, but you seem like a very nice person and quite frankly, I like the way you portray your muse. The way she acts and thinks is at the same time quite admirable and challenging for my Sceada, as evidenced by that thread where he got unexpectedly angry over her resignation. I feel they have an interesting dynamic, and the few things we discussed felt very fitting too - and the best thing, it still leaves the door open for many possible directions these two could go. I hope we’ll get to explore their relationship more in future plays, and that you’ll feel better soon!

Amina, the reckless Adventurer - @the-shadow-of-a-wielder

Gem, I really like plotting and playing with you, and Amina is such an intriguing character, full of mystery and magic. I enjoy her personality as much as your willingness to throw her at anything, for better or worse. We can hatch so many different plots and scenarios, it’s amazing. Also, you are a very nice person, and to quote freely, “your crazy matches my crazy rather well”. I look forward to keep playing with you and eventually inch closer to uncovering the mysteries about Amina and her origins. Maybe we can even revive the two other verses we had? I’d certainly be all up for that!

Lenora, the Embodiment of Love - @thislovelylady // Edea, Grandmarshall of Eternia - @ladyofeternia

Lanna, Lanna, Lanna... - Of course a list like this would not be complete without you. We may neither play nor talk as often anymore as we used to, but back when I started out, you were a pretty big influence on my roleplaying, especially on Kamiizumi. The headcanons and angsty plots we created are treasured memories to me, and I have never stopped liking the way you write. It’s a bit sad that our muses don’t mesh that well with each another, because quite frankly, I do miss playing with you. Maybe one day this will be different again, who knows. Either way, I just wanna say thank you for all the times we interacted, and all the things I managed to learn from you or thanks to you. You were the heart of the Bravely RP community, and will always be remembered as such.

Brii, the Dragonhearted - @briidunviing

Brii, you know that even though we’ve barely had a thread so far between our muses, that I nonetheless consider you one of my best friends on here. You’re probably the one I talk the most with out of rp, and we seem to get along pretty well. You know I always have an open ear for you - and I’m sure you have one for me too. That having been said, I do quite like your muse! It’s a very interesting OC with a lot of inner turmoil, and the kind you just wanna help - even if you don’t know how. I’m curious to see where our muses will go once the blizzard calms down, but either way I’d be delighted to play more with you, friend.

Further Mentions:

All of you are people that I do play with and that I enjoy seeing on my dash. I’m sorry I didn’t dedicate you your own paragraph here, but if you would want me to talk a bit more about you, then by all means feel free to notify me and I’ll make an addendum for you! But even if I do not dedicate a paragraph to you, please know that I really, really enjoy seeing you on my dash and like playing with you, no matter how much or how little we’ve done so far! You are precious friends to me!

Jack, the cunning Thief - @ofgil || Teledji, the sleazy Merchant - @high-stakes-gambler || Kefka, the insane God of Magic - @light-of-judgment || Terra, the Half-Esper - @riotxblade || Vhaso’a, the tailoring Red Mage - @thevermiliongaelicatte || Lily, the aspiring Summoner - @losteidolon || Rojo, the red Chocobo - @fabulousredkweh & Lamya, the Chocobo-Breeder - @bokobreeder || Fran, the dignified Viera - @feralstriike || Faris, the Pirate Captain - @ask-captain-faris

This list would not be complete (or rather, more incomplete...) without the old friends that sadly no longer are active, but never will be forgotten. I always loved playing with you, you were wonderful people, and even if with some of you it’s only been a small number of plays, I treasure you nonetheless and silently hope that maybe one day, I might see you again:

Ritz, the valiant Student - @viera-blessed || Garuda, the sealed Primal - @ladyofgentlebreezes || Calisto, the Burmecian Knight - @burmecianknight || Garnet, the summoning Princess - @beyondtheflyingbird || Locke, the Treasure Hunter - @thepricewasright || Minfilia, the Antecedent - @sharlayanmistress || Eiko, the Lady of Lindblum - @ladyoflindblum || Garnet, the kind-hearted Queen - @avaliantqueen || Selphie, the cheerful SEEED @sunny-explosions

And finally, there are also some people I have yet to actually play with, but that are often on my dash and I enjoy reading immensly. There are differing reasons why we don’t play, and it is alright that we don’t, but should things ever change, I’d be delighted to start something with you! Until then, please allow me to keep admiring your writng from afar^^

Kuja, the magnificent Genome - @xkuja || Hylia, the Great Goddess - @hyliahergrace || Amaterasu, Mother to All - @mammaterasu || Mipha, the graceful Champion - @elegansproelior || Mikoto, the animated Genome - @emptyshards @xbranbal || Kitsuno, the dancing Princess - @foxlike-ffxiv || Eiko, the perky Summoner @sukoshishokan

Thank you all for enriching my experience here as a roleplayer! I love you all <3

Patrick~

[sheamacleod]

Last week I talked about what to do when–despite all your best-laid plans–you get stuck in a quagmire. Plot-wise, I mean. If you missed it you can catch up HERE.

This week, as promised. We’re using ALL THE MARKERS!!!

Okay, deep breath. Whew!

I love art supplies even though, seriously, I’m the worst artist in the world. I can’t even draw a straight line, which can be rather problematic. In fact, my “artistic talents” are limited to art journaling which requires that I please no one but myself and have only the level of ability for the wicked application of a whole lot of glitter. But still, I love paints and markers and Washi tape and all the other goodies (and yes, I’ve got a closet full of the stuff). So at some point in my journal plotting I decided to make my journal more FUN! And also, somewhere, there was a method to my madness. I haven’t gone full out art journal with my plotting journal (waaaay too much time and work), but I have added a splash of color here and there.

So, I’m going to get page by page specific using my first Viola Roberts book, The Corpse in the Cabana. Let’s take it a page at a time.

Overall Story Idea – This is a brief chapter or two about the characters and the plot. Just the general idea that’s been floating about in my head. It’s very boring. Regular old ink. Though sometimes I jazz it up by putting a Washi tape  (colorful Japanese masking tape) border around it. Just for fun.

Main Character – As you can see below, I used colored markers for her name so it stands out (as if I’d forget it) AND for emphasis on important information about her character. If you’ve read the Viola Roberts Cozy Mysteries, you know she’s obsessed with blackberry bourbon. And, as you can no doubt tell, it took me awhile to decide on that particular drink. So when I did, I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget. Hence the markers! I love these Prismacolor markers. They write well, have strong color, and don’t get all weird and gunky or faded. Plus they’re not horribly expensive. You can probably also tell I’m obsessed with Melissa McCarthy! ;)

Character Page for Viola Roberts

3. Other Characters – I always include photos for other major characters (such as the delicious Lucas and BFF Cheryl). They usually get different colored markers from the MC, but this was my first major outing with markers so things got…weird (so did Lucas’s name which changed about twenty times). Minor characters get write-ups (because I have the worst memory ever), but no images or fancy markers. Usually. Things change. I’m the boss of me. I can do what I want. (And you can too!) I always include pertinent information for consistency, especially for recurring characters.

4. Notes – I tend to include a page (or three) of notes after the characters. In CITC, I included questions that needed answers down the road. Things like… How is the victim killed?  Erm, yeah. Kind of important in a mystery! Again, this page(s) is often framed at least partially in Washi tape. Mostly because I have a Washi tape addiction. But also because it makes it easier to find within the journal. I can add notes whenever I need to, and check them off when I’ve answered the question.

5. Chapters – This is where the actual plotting happens. Story plot AND character arch. I just sort of throw it all in the mix because that’s how my brain works. It’s pretty lineal most of the time. But NOT always. (More on that in a minute.) Below you’ll see my “outline” for Chapter Two of CITC. I like to use one color marker for the chapter number (easy to see), a regular black pen for the outline, and then a colored marker or pen (or both) for notes I add later or things that need changed (like the victim’s name which changed from Casidy to Natasha at some random point in the rewrites). I write this, as I said, mostly in a linear fashion, but SOMETIMES I only have part of the book. So I outline what I know and leave the rest of the chapters blank to fill in later (after brainstorming as mentioned in last week’s post).

You may ask, “How do you know for sure that information will fall in that specific chapter? How can you know that many chapters need added?” The answer is I DON’T! And you know what? IT DOESN’T MATTER. I just take a marker, scribble out that two and make it a three. Or whatever. The outline is merely a road map. There are LOTS OF OPTIONS to get from Point A to Point B. The outline helps you get there. It isn’t made of concrete. Liberating, don’t you think?

  Chapter Outline

6. Notes for Rewrites – This might, in fact, be THE MOST IMPORTANT part of the entire journal. Because it’s what takes the hot mess that I just spewed on the page (or computer screen) and turns it into the hint of magic to come. YAY, MAGIC!

Now HERE is where I really get crazy with multi-colored markers and pens (My favorite ever color pens are these Schneiders which come in eight different colors and write like a DREAM). You see, as I’m writing I often realize I need to go back and change or add something. Instead of doing it then and there (which can take more time), I jot down a quick note so I can do it in rewrites. That lets me keep going and saves time (more on that next week). This is all done in blue or black ink.

Once the draft is done and I’m ready for rewrites, I’ve got a nice collection of reminders as to what I need to work on. Since I often hop around a lot during rewrites, I tick off each thing as it’s done. Of course that means I need to highlight items that still need added so I don’t miss them (like the green circle below). Other times I have changed some things and need to alter my notes, so I use a different color like red to do that so I can see what is changed (like that first and second point).

Notes for Rewrites – Looks like a hot mess, doesn’t it?

And there you have it, an in depth look at how I put the whole journal together and use it for plotting, writing, and rewriting. Oh, and the Post-its…Those are used like tabs most of the time (you can see it above as “Audio Book”). It helps me easily find things like the rewrite notes, for instance. Also, sometimes I have little ideas and hints that stick in. I’ve even done plotting boards with them (with varying degrees of success).

Next week: How I sped up my writing and how you can too! In the meantime, you can sign up for my Writing & Publishing Tips newsletter to be notified of future info.

  How I Lost My Pants: Plotting Murder, Mayhem, and (sometimes) Magic (Pt 3) Last week I talked about what to do when--despite all your best-laid plans--you get stuck in a quagmire.