#I put a rule on myself to write at least a paragraph before sharing a doc snippet so the writing block put a block on me iuhyug

[mari-lair]

Terukaneaoi request because I love that ship specifically with all my heart

On it!

[duffmckagans]

love ur writing (truly) n i’ve also kind of been wanting to get into it recently. this may seem like a really stupid question, bc it is lol, but like, how do u just.. do it? like make everything flow so organically, humanize the characters etc. if u have some tips to share i’d be grateful 🫶🏻

omg, thanks!! that means a lot, considering i haven't shared anything online for over a year now <3.

i don't think this is a stupid question at all! i don't know how qualified i am to answer, either. yay on wanting to get into writing, first of all! but i would disregard all writing advice for the most part until you find something you're really passionate about writing. fanfiction or original, no amount of advice and/or technique is worth a dime if your heart isn't in it. i saw this with some of my later work on the fic until i dropped off, where it was just clunky and eh (while technically "better" than anything that came before) just because i wasn't do it with the same amount of passion that i started with!

my first word of advice is to just do it, though. once you find something, just do it. writing, especially if you're just starting out, is not meant to be good, let alone great or revolutionary. you want to write, then you put words to a page, and that's that. find your story, build your characters, sketch your scenes, and write it all out with no thought for quality or cohesiveness. all of that, believe it or not, is the fun part. not easy, no, but certainly fun. you kind of just have to sit down at your computer and go at it, sort of in a trial/error sense. it may not click until it does, but once it does, you'll never want to stop.

i feel like my biggest advice, particularly on flow of plot, is to just plan. some people are natural pantsers and do better connecting dots as they go, but i'm not one of them and never have been, so i can't really speak on the merits of that method. i can say that planning the entirety of a work (not necessarily a whole series) (though it's always good to have a roadmap) is absolutely necessary if you don't plan on doing several drafts. but even for my original works, where i will draft several times, i swear by knowing every step of the way before you get there on the first round. it leaves you with less of a mess at the end. for the fic, i used to plan in patches (5-10 chapters at a time with the exception of major bullet points) due to the length, but it never spares you from plot-holes/abandoned threads/under-developed bits in some places and over-developed things in others. so for a nice flow on a larger story-sense, planning in advance and making outlines--as detailed or as not-detailed--as you please should be your saving grace. there's no rule about following it exactly, and i myself have swerved off an outline many a times whilst writing, but it's necessary to me to at least get off the ground, and to sometimes drive a book through its home-stretch.

in terms of flowing prose-wise? that's a lot more subjective? and it's a constant game of improvement. i'm in the process of rewriting things i first wrote 4.5 years ago now, and there's so much of it that i have to glaze over while i rework because it's just so unbelievably bad. so long-winded, so melodramatic, or just generally unfitting/improperly toned. it took until i wrote a novel with a stiff word count limit that i learned how to be concise and mean what i say/say what i mean, but it's been to nothing but my own benefit. my prose has definitely become more subtle and less animated as time has gone on, as well, and i say this positively. every writer is going to start out with doing Too Much, and it may make paragraphs connect in strange ways, or dialogue feel unfitting for the moment, or just too much/too little detail in certain places, but that's the fun part of writing, or growing as a writer: learning how to spot those weaker areas and mend them. you'll find your style with time, the types of figurative language you like to rely on, the things (niche or not) that you like to write about, and it will make you a "better writer," but don't discount anything you do in the beginning. after all, it will get you to some end.

on characters, that's also largely subjective. everybody has different aspects of characters that they'll wish to focus on, and whether people are interested in those same aspects is usually what will have them referred to as well-fleshed out or not. people are never objective in their evaluation of something, i mean to say. the second step is to read other people's works/watch films, etc. witness the work other people do in order to make their own characters well-rounded, pull it apart, see how it works, and implement it yourself in your own characters. all writers learn from other writers or art-makers; nobody is whole-heartedly original. for instance, i've gotten really into pinterest lately (again) and building visual storyboards, and that actually helps me humanize my characters--painting pictures that aid their aesthetics, motives, inner turmoil, etc. the amount of things i pull from just pictures is large. (example) in general, i think creating a whole profile of influences for any given thing you work on is a must. find movies, music, art, pictures, books, people, etc, and see where they can lead you!

i think it's always great to share your writing with other people, as well! daunting, but true. one thing about writing is that it becomes a really lonely, isolating hobby very quickly if you don't do this. spending all those hours cooped up with nothing but your own thoughts inside your own world, while fun and at times mentally-stimulating, is not social. plus, like, i think every writer loves feedback; just knowing their work was read, thought on, and capable of evoking of some sort of emotional reaction. giving other people your work is also a great way to improve because they'll give you criticism, good or bad. they'll tell you where you excel/where you don't, and maybe give feedback/suggestions on how to fix the latter. they may say you can better tweak your prose this way, or the character may feel more gripping/the setting more immersive/the plot more believable, if ... xyz. there's only so far you can get on any given piece before that need for a second set of eyes sets in, and what other people have to say--if it's fair and well-articulated--can be invaluable.

i'm trying to think if there's anything else i have, and...not off the top of my head? again, i'm not an expert. i have nothing published. i keep neglecting my original work to write fanfic. but i welcome questions anyway, and if you have anything more specific or if there's something you'd like me to expand on, let me know!

[sankttealeaf]

this is late but any out of 14,18,22,24,27 for the writer asks? <3

this is also a late response but here we go<3 answering these fic writer asks!

14. where do you get your inspiration?

mainly when i'm laying in bed trying to go to sleep. i like to just put my guys into situations and sometimes i come up with good things. i have a lot of bad spoon days so i'm stuck in bed just thinking about things

the market scene in let sleeping dogs lie where gortash buys rue a cat figurine and she breaks it came from a week last december where i got sick and couldnt do much except lay in bed. i had that scene planned months before i would ever need to write it :')

i'm always thinking of situations!! its not a bad coping mechanism if i'm getting something out of it, right?

18. if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

a scene from a cut chapter where gortash takes rue to a fancy dinner to get her to kill someone for him - this got turned into the party chapter :) the gift in question are her little dagger earrings but i ended up making gortash give them to her later on as a thank u for looking after him post-cania

She rolls her eyes. “Maybe we should sleep together. That way I’ll be rid of you.” “You would miss me.” “I wouldn't. Not when you keep putting me in shitty clothes like this.” “You look divine. I think you should let me dress you up more often. You would look exquisite covered in fine jewellery and expensive fabrics. Speaking of-” He takes out a small box from the inside of his coat, the sudden loss of his hand against her leg feels odd and Rumour takes this moment to put her feet back down on the floor. Gortash hands her the box. “If you’re proposing, at least get on your knees,” she says as he laughs. “Do you think of me often on my knees?” “Yes.” She takes the box from him. “It is required to kneel before me in the temple. You could do with following that rule.” “It would take more than that to get me to kneel before you.” He sits back, waiting for her to open the box. “You, on the other hand, would look delightful on your knees in front of me.” “Think of me often like that?” she repeats, an eyebrow raised and a smirk across her face. “I’m certain that me kneeling before you has nothing to do with being a devout follower of the Gods.” “What you could do on your knees is something the Gods only wish they could do.” “I’m not getting you off, Gortash.” “You don’t have to be kneeling to do that.” He nudges his leg against hers. “Open the gift.”

22. do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? how do you get past that?

i used to! bad in the early days of sharing my durgetash stuff i was worried that people would find me weird for being on the gortash train, but as time has gone on there's a (relatively) nice community for durgetash now which has eased my worries

i also think i'm at the point in my life where i dont really care if people think what i'm writing is too much or whatever. i write for myself & share it in case anyone else wants to read it, but at the end of the day its for me. idc what people may think!!

24. how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

i try and do something else completely! i also draw, so i tend to flip-flop between writer mode and artist mode a lot which is great! i also listen to a lot of music to help get me in the zone. but sometimes the best cure is to not do anything at all and wait it out !!

27. your favorite part of the writing process

daydreaming about all the ideas i have and planning them down into vaguely coherant points

and also writing the parts i really really am excited for and can visualise so clearly in my head

[wackymaci]

✨Blog rules: pwease no rebwoggy (anything, not just this post!)✨

No I can’t make all these posts unrebloggable cause otherwise how would I re-reblog myself eight thousand times. duhhhh— ANYWAY—

EDIT march'25, a full year after the previous edit lower on this post: okay clearly ive abandoned this project lowkey for now rip im uhhh. busy and insane. BUT NEVER SAY NEVER! post remains as follows for posterity uwuu

“ooo april wtf is this” hello trusted Friends and Confidants WELL some of you already know what I’ve been doing in my spare time but for those of you who had taken part in the Twitter exodus ahem aHEM,

THATS RIGHT IM… OHHHH MY GOD IM MAKING AN ELYSIUM WIKI???? like an actual wiki website which is just. insane honestly that I’m just Allowed To Do This for Some Reason—

I have not released the link to anyone just yet (except for Fenixe obviously) and I have not said a word about this on my actual tumblr nor my actual public twitter or my growing public Instagram - I want to make an actual formal announcement If And When this IS more completed bc on top of coding one billion things I also have. oh god so much to write.

I’ve started with the Maci page bc i figured it would be a good litmus to see how committed I actually wanted to be with this and I have… uhh STILLLLL been working on the Maci page so to be honest I don’t know if I’m actually completely on board with doing this whole thing as all of the 80 interlinked articles that’s gonna be involved BUT. to be more honest I’m also already kind of obsessed and so yknow what like. it’s gonna fuckin happen

probably (no it wont)

EDIT, MARCH’24: YEAH OKAY UHHH SUPER DISTRACTED AFTER ALL RIP RIP RIP By now this blog has ALSO turned into a haven to stack up some CANON CONVOS which I usually don’t EVER share, so at least this top secret space is being used for ssss…… something. LISTEN ITS JUST VIBES IN HERE—

anyway with twitter once again disintegrating like I said on Main Blog im gonna need Somewhere to put all my sneaky gushing about this project specifically cause I can’t talk about it anywhere else + general other sneaky gushing and so you know what yeah. priv tumblr IS the way to go.

I’ll prob crosspost some of the nonsense I’ve been rambling aboht on twt re ; this for the past two weeks in a bit but for nowwww here’s YOUR SUPER SECRET REVEAL FOR THIS BLOG and now I’m busyyyyyy………..👀

EDIT to add: all these preview snippets feature a litany of tragic backstories and so uh. trigger warnings for.,,, basically everything. proceed with caution. the entire wiki is doused in one million trigger warnings per page dw 🙃🙃 augh

RELEVANT CONTENT TAGS:

preview snippets: paragraphs snipped from wiki WIP, subject to be changed before publication but as sneak previews on here!

canon convos: real snips from the Elysiumverse SOURCE MATERIAL scripty rp’verse taken from my archives! These can ONLY be glimpsed here!

[zet-sway]

@the-wip-project day 35:

I don't know what today's question is but I gotta write a wall of text about what happened last night because holy shit

I was on the verge of falling asleep and, like I usually do, I decided to hunt for some spicy fanfics to read on my phone. I found one.

All my posts are long but this one is real fucking long. CW for touching on dub-con and injury mentioned in the type of context it probably shouldn't be.

It's time for me to admit that not only am I a oneshot writer, I'm also a oneshot reader. I am drawn to short fanfics. If I click on a chaptered fic, it's (usually) because it's rated E for smut and I'll go in with every intention of skimming it for the spicy bits. I'm not proud of this. I've avoided saying this for years because I don't want to disappoint people who work hard on their very long and well thought out chaptered stories. I have a short attention span, and I know what I want.

But anyway, last night I clicked on a fic with 5 chapters and some amount of words, around 30k? Long, by my standards, but I was tired and I just wanted something to read while I dozed off.

This particular fic hooked me in, though. I still skimmed it, but the writing was so unique in a way that made me writhe with writer's envy and admiration. Whoever wrote this had their own language - nothing borrowed - their own vision.

I guess I should tell the good people who read my posts (ya'll, seriously, thank you) that the fic in topic is called Fault Lines by Recidiva on AO3. I would link to it but uhhhh I may be using my work PC for "extracurricular purposes" right this moment ^^; so maybe when I get home I'll remember to add it.

I skimmed it - like I said above - for the spicy parts. It generally follows the plot of Bioware's canon. Thane begins as possessive and manipulative, likely uncomfortably close to dub-con for a lot of people. He kisses her and knows full well that his kiss will make her willing but intoxicated, and how he will use that to fulfil himself. But as the story progresses, he falls in love. Their relationship is what I'll call "edgy." Both of them are renegades. There's a scene where they get down in the shuttle after a fight and they're both still injured and it borders on downright unrealistic but fuck it, it's fanfic and I bought it. However their relationship develops a certain heart-wrenching tenderness. She asks him what Siha means over and over again, and eventually tells him she thinks "bitch" when he says it. But in that moment they have a playful banter, he knows full well she's probably already looked it up on the extranet, and they fall into bed together. The smut is mind-boggling.

By the time it gets to Shepard's arrest, he's taken up a place on Earth and visits her, breaks into her house arrest. There's a scene where they see each other for the first time in a while, she tells him how much she's missed his mouth and how it's not right how bad she wants him, and wants him bad enough to smother him with affection. She says something to the effect of "if you're looking to die, I'd volunteer to be the cause," implying that her lust is powerful enough to endanger his life. And it was at this moment I realized I fucked up.

It's established that I live in my own headcanon and I'm not burdened with considering the end of Thane's life as part of my fics. And the suspension of disbelief was such that I forgot he doesn't make it. So at this moment in the fic, chapter 4 out of 5, I realized "Oh shit this isn't going to have a happy ending." I skipped to the end right away, I wanted to confirm my fears.

In their final exchange, she asks him to lie to her - something that's repeated in other chapters of the story. I forget what he says, I was reading desperately, but he asks her in return to tell him something true. She kisses him and tells him she loves him, and he breathes his last breath with the lingering tingle of their kiss to carry him to the other side.

I was so entrenched in the depth of their relationship up to that point. The level of fathomless love the author conveyed, unlike anything I've ever managed to write before, but more realistic to my own understanding of love as I've experienced it. Not because they're renegades, but just the selflessness with which they feel, communicate, banter, and make love.

When I read that last paragraph, something inside me broke. That sounds dramatic but that's honestly how I would describe it. It felt like waking up from a night terror, when you bolt up in bed from a dream so bad you immediately get up even if it's 4am because nothing feels real and you're so terrified you have to get up and do something - literally anything to take your mind off it, to ease you back into reality. I put my phone down and stared into the darkness of my bedroom and told myself "it's just a fanfic, no need to get upset." And then I started to cry and I didn't stop for 30 minutes.

My husband was downstairs watching Bohemian Rhapsody and I went down there and wrapped myself around him so tight and cried. Bless this man, from the bottom of my heart - bless him - for his unfathomable kindness. I felt like a fucking fool because I was crying over fanfiction but he paused his movie and just listened while I tried to articulate how it wasn't exactly about the character death, or the characters at all, it was just the writing and how it wormed into my brain so convincingly. I felt the loss like it was my own loss. I am terrified of losing my husband. So many feelings coalesced and I realized one day I may be in that situation, kissing the man I love goodbye for the last time, never to hold him again. I'm at work right now and I'm tearing up because it's so hard.

I tip my hat to the author, but I genuinely wished I hadn't read that fanfic. And isn't it kind of funny after that grandstand I took yesterday about not wanting to write the pain of loss and grief, that I ended up reading it instead and probably fucking myself up just as badly, if not worse, than if I had tried to write it myself?

It gets worse, too. Because it got me thinking about my own writing, and how I could never hope to achieve what that author did. So I sat there crying out my painfeelings while simultaneously feeling like a shit writer and like nothing I put out matters. I got up from the couch, sat down at my PC and picked up where I left off in the Omega DLC in ME3 because video games are great for taking the mind off things. It didn't exactly help with the intensity I'd hoped for, but I managed to fall asleep, by 3am.

Fast forward to this morning. I dragged my sorry ass out of bed 4 hours later and drove to work. By some fucking miracle, no one is here right now except our field director. And I'm stewing in how this one fic really fucked me up bad, reconsidering everything. I feel like I've been put in my place.

So what changed?

Yesterday I posted about how I'm struggling to write a plotline. I know what happens, but I'm not interested in the little bits that tie it together. I want to write the romance. I think there's a way to write the plot and the romance at the same time, but it's damn hard.

I started doing this because I wanted to grow my skills as a writer, and I knew it might be more than I could chew. I'm at that moment now where I'm about ready to give up.

Even if I felt like a shit writer last night (and still kinda do this morning), I know that the stuff I've put out has value. We can't all write these epically tragic smut-romance-renegades-to-lovers tales, we'd all be sad all the damn time. There's a time and a place and - I would argue - even a need for lighterhearted fic out there. There are really no rules. I'm confident in what I know how to do.

But the plot. Fuck it, man. I think maybe I'm trying too hard to be something I'm not. I'm trying really hard to write like other people. I may have mentioned before that I saw a post about how many artists spend their time pining for the skills of others, thinking "wow, when I can draw like that, I'll have made it as an artist." That same post cautioned against this, basically saying you already have your own unique style, it's just harder to see through the lens of your own eyeballs. It's fine to challenge yourself but try to acknowledge what you do that sets you apart already. I feel like I have that something - maybe not to the extent that I wish, but I have something.

So what's the point of the plot? Why do I need to tell my readers how I cured Keprals? I'm asking myself important questions here. I like to think I've come up with ideas that no one else has, but as I said above, I don't read a lot of chaptered fics. I very well may have come to the same ideas as other writers and I'm not even aware of it. I don't know if my ideas are unique but I still arrived at them all by myself.

The challenge here - the thing I'm struggling so much with - is how to put them together with the same elegance of my fellow writers. I'm looking at you, shrios fam (yeah I'm calling you that, yall know who you are). I know I can write words, but it's like I have a bunch of pieces from completely different jigsaw puzzles and I'm struggling to make a new picture out of them. I struggle with the transitions between them.

The point here is I have to find my own way. And I have to stop taking myself so seriously. In fact this level of "seriousness" is one of the things that got me into so much angst over World of Warcraft over the last two years. At least I know how to recognize it.

I have to find my own way. I have my own things that are worth sharing. The author I read last night had a language all their own, and I have a language all my own too. Their wordplay was actually more choppy than I would ever write. I've talked before about how I'm scared of starting too many sentences with pronouns, how I maybe write too many run-on sentences, whatever. This author did that with reckless abandon. It worked for them. So if they can make that shit work, I can make my own shit work.

I have to find my own way.

My most current WIP is Thane and Shepard's first time. I've been working on it pretty nonchalantly because I hadn't intended to publish it until I built up to it. It takes place further into my timeline, and it would probably ruin the point of a slow burn if I put it out there now. There are some really memorably moments in this WIP, and there are other moments that need to be smoothed over as well. I never knew what I'd really imagined for their first time but I think I've mostly developed something that's unique in its own right, and I think will be fun for people to read.

I'm just so fucking torn over what to do with it. I feel guilty for working on it. I should be writing "other shit" leading up to it but I don't fucking want to. I actually wrote probably 2-3k words this weekend, which is a pretty staggering amount by my standards. Some of it was for this smutty WIP and some was for something I just threw together, Thane observing Shepard on Horizon and the emotional toll it takes on her. He's seeing her humanity. I don't know if it's worth it to continue but I wrote a lot of it and the words are more precise than usual for a draft, I don't know. I have so much fucking insecurity. Fuck dude. I want to write this longfic, but I don't want to write it. I want to skim to the spicy bits like I always do.

I am wracked with insecurity, of my own making. I know what I can do but I feel compelled to see this idea through. Somehow I have to find my own way.

TLDR I feel like if I don't publish something soon I'm going to burst and I don't even know what the fuck to work on first and fjslfjsojoiejrj

I would be really down for, like, a bunch of hugs and a bowl of ice cream shared over memes and fanservice.

[yeocult]

ATEEZ as students studying

HONGJOONG:

king of self-care! but studies for 15 minutes then take a 2 hour break and calls it self-care (omg he thinks he’s me or smth)

has power naps every single day at least 30 mins because he’s Stressed

always thinking of ways to drop out during the middle of lectures

that one kid that talks to nobody & sits at the back of the class with his hood on to hide his airpods

doesn’t do it anymore bc one time it disconnected and “there’s some whores in this house” blasted out loud & now he’s paranoid

shows up to group studies but lets the group carry him,,, but he puts out One Really good idea to get his name on the paper

only cares about topics he’s interested in, other than that he’s just astral projecting

“yo can you send me your answers so i can compare mine?” but he copies it and says “we got the same answers” (all men do is lie</3)

calculates his marks; “ok so i need at least a 80 on this...oh wait no, a 95...damn okay...”

the type to arrives late with ice coffee

SEONGHWA:

wakes up at 5 am to study instead of staying up

scented candles and lofi music for the ~studying mood~

a linguistic learner

learns best by teaching others so he’ll do group studies often to help other people

teaches people without making them feel dumb

uses grammarly for his emails with 3 paragraphs asking 1 question with a proper greeting and a ‘sincerely, park seonghwa’

professor: ok - sent from iphone

you’ll never see him during exams week, he’s Gone

a loyal user of the outline method

his desk must be cleared at all times! a clean workspace makes it easier to focus

brings extra pencil just in case anyone needs them bc he’s the sweetest person ever (he’s fully aware that he’ll never get them back but it’s okay bc sharing is caring)

does his readings on time (you’ll never catch him slacking)

actually has his shit together for the most part 1/2

YUNHO:

writes “i love you” or “sorry” at the end of his tests (that he bombed)

the type to ask you to print “just one thing real quick” and it’s 15 page and at 2 am

uses emojis like :D & \(^o^)/ when sending emails to his professors

has a bad habit of copying word for word on the slide and he doesn’t actually understand/learn anything

goes to the library bc he thinks that’ll help him be in the ~studying vibe~

it doesn’t. ends up texting or watching youtube gameplay

has never heard of the colour-coding system in his entire life and ends up with a page filled with neon highlight

snacks breaks are the only thing keeping him Normal

leaves himself an encouraging note at the end of the reading page so when he’s finished he feels good !!

friends with all of the professors and uses all office hours

strongest points are his guessing skills in multiple-choice questions (process of elimination ftw!)

he tries his best, doesn’t care about marks that much because he knows it doesn’t determine him (and he’s right!)

YEOSANG:

probably runs a studyblr/gram

has the cutest note ever, his handwriting is so pretty!!

he thinks that buying an ipad pro & apple pencil will make him smarter

likes it bc he can doodle on it then erase them easily :”)

has to wear blue ray glasses because of how he looks at a screen so much

mildliners, muji 0.38 gel pen, 6 ring binder, minimal planner, washi tapes, you name it! he visits muji and daiso every other week

buys wayyy too many planners and notebooks which he never ends up using

only uses pastel mildliners because they’re easy on the eyes. cringes every time he sees yunho’s highlighters v_v

his flaw is that he spends 10 mins writing his header with brush tip pens

mutes the group project gc but gets his part done like the good classmate he is

sweats every time he gets an assignment back, takes a whole ten minute to mentally prepare himself

a visual learner; makes mind maps, flow charts, etc

actually has a working printer that he uses pretty often to prints lessons before class just to be Extra prepare

tells everyone he slept well but his bullet journal habit tracker for sleep says otherwise (plz rest!!)

exclusively uses college ruled paper like the sane person he is

SAN:

uses wide-ruled paper (unfortunately not everyone is perfect</3)

starts off very positive, motivated, and organized

then everything goes downhill by the second week

will definitely set byeol on top of his keyboard, take a picture, and send it to his professor as an ‘excuse’ as why he needs an extension (it works)

can’t sit still for any longer than 30 mins, his legs are always bouncing or fidgeting with pen

flashcard king! spends a lot of time on them but it’s worth it

a utensil chewer (always willing to share his pencil but when ppl saw the bite marks they’re like No Thanks >_>)

can’t study well with groups or himself bc he’ll be distracted,,, so he needs one person that can ground him bc when they’re in the zone, he will too be on his x game mode

sends his assignment at 11:58 pm hoping his professor will take the Hint (plz don’t be afraid to ask for help u_u)

prefers listening to ghibli studio soundtracks but then he either gets emotional or sleepy

sometimes forget to mute his mic and we just hear him groaning in frustration

“haha sorry i just stubbed my toe...”

then mutes his mic and goes back to his mental breakdown

MINGI:

the only person that studies every single day just to get his brain used to the information and running

probably listens to anime op or edm music for that Energy Boost

everyone either hates or love him because...

1. loves him bc he always comes clutched with study guides (and willing to share if he likes you enough)

2. he’s good at everything even if he’s not paying attention/doing it last minute

just naturally good at retaining information and applying them

asks Big Brain question that even the professors are shook

sometimes he gets super into the topic and wants to know Everything

“i’ve never failed an exam in my life” and he’s right! big brain mingi

fetal flaw is that he forgets easily (hence why the last minute) and has to write on his palm as a reminder

clicks his pens All the time so he switched to pens with caps just to keep others from jumping him

takes naps 10 mins before classes

actually has his shit together for the post part 2/2

“if no one got me, i know khan academy and quizlet got me. can i get an amen”

WOOYOUNG:

y’all know that one mf that doesn’t have a pencil?

yea he’s been using the same one someone lend to him before a test and never returned it

it’s been two months and it’s still working well and they’re never going to get it back

a minimalist,,,, but in a bad way</3 bc he carries his stolen pencil and paper that he spilled his energy drink over and that’s about it

just throw loose papers in his bag and forgets about their existence

doesn’t do binders or notebooks, just crumbled up paper

sometimes carries a textbook just to show everyone that he’s got his life together

really noisy for No reason, always wants to know other’s marks

a kinesthetic learner

hides his screen with he gets the kahoot questions wrong (you’ll never catch him slippin)

plays coolmathgames.com during class

doesn’t really know what to study/prioritize so he overwhelms himself with every single topic ever

thinks he’s god by pulling an all-nighter to look at the 60+ slides last minute

Swears he’ll change and do better next semester,,,</3

goes to the cafe, takes pictures of his notes & laptop, post it on his story, then leaves

JONGHO:

thrives off of red bull and ice americanos

gets notes and study guides from his upperclassmen because everyone loves jongho

an audio learner so he’ll probably work out or go on a jog while listening to lessons/audiobook

never pulls all-nighters bc it messes up his sleep schedule and says he’ll do it in the morning but he never does

doesn’t even own a highlighter, he’ll circle or underline stuff with a red or black pen

has never touched a textbook in his life

only the study guides and slides, his textbook is collecting dust rn

his notes are literally Only for him because his handwriting only makes sense to him

has questionable handwriting,,, it’s like decoding

multitasks a lot but it ends up taking a lot longer than he wanted to (bc it’s a myth)

very spontaneous; he’ll grind for 5 hours straight but sometimes he won’t even touch a pencil

works best when he talks about the work in groups and share information with each other, like having a convo about the topic

unmutes his mic Once after the lesson to say “bye”

does his work right after the lessons but then takes a short break & doesn’t even Look back for the rest of the night

-

a/n: tag yourself ! i’m a bit of hohong (i projected myself on all of them in some way lmaooo)

[infriga]

22, 15, and 4 for the meta writer asks? ~ @authortango

I put this in my drafts because I was planning on pulling up the meta ask post on my phone to help me answer, and then my adhd ass totally forgot to actually answer OTL sorry for the delay lol

(meta asks for writers post)

4: Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why if you like)

“I’m a fraud.” He’d said, on his hands and knees. “I’m a monster.” Something inside him had torn its way out, and he’d tried to hold himself together, but he couldn’t anymore. He was a dying star, a supernova, destroying everything around it in a flash of heat and terror before collapsing in on itself and ceasing to exist.

(From Aid to Navigation)

I like this one because it’s a nice multilayered metaphor for Steven’s conflict in that scene and Future in general (I’m a sucker for metaphors lol) that came out really nice and feels like it puts across the exact sort of feeling I was trying to convey.

15: Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)? 

Usually titles, cause I’m kinda picky about my titles. Sometimes they come easier, but in general they’re the hardest. Summaries I don’t have too much trouble with since I usually go for something that I think would entice me to look into a fic with the premise I’m using. I also might use a relevant snippet of my writing so people know what it looks like and to give a small glimpse of what’s going on and what the tone is. The only trouble I have with tags is trying to keep the number of them reasonable while still being informative so they aren’t overshadowing the summary.

22: Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

All the time lol, though there are some I might not read as much because I don’t feel they aged as well as I’d like and I am only human. I’m obviously more partial to my newer work, but I’m still quite fond of some of my older stuff, and I feel like plenty are still good and/or at least fun to read, even when they’re dated, or have lots of mistakes. I remember a very short story I wrote based on a prompt in a Gaia Online writing contest forum from 16 years ago that I still occasionally look back on fondly for no other reason than because I find it cute and funny. And it won me the contest so bonus! The prompt was just something simple based on a character named Chairman, who was “a member of the elite Chairforce, which fought the evils of the world from the chairs all over the world”. Here’s the snippet for anyone who’s curious :

"Oh no!" cried Chairman "the world is being over run by evil monkeys!"

"Nonscense" chided his wife "why would evil monkeys want to rule the world?" she continued her knitting, oblivious to the howler monkey tapping on their window.

"Haven't you ever seen "planet of the apes?"" Chairman asked her angrily.

"Yes of course dear, but those were apes, not monkeys"

"I see no difference!!"

"Of course not dear"

Chairman wheeled himself over to the closet and pulled out a 50 caliber assault riffle. He loaded it and headed towards the door.

It was time to shoot some monkeys.

I didn’t mention anything about the Chairforce, and I never actually clarified that Chairman is supposed to be in a wheelchair, but I give myself bonus points for at least hinting at it, since it was a creative and inclusive take on the chair theme (for a 2006 Gaia online writing contest at least lol). I also still really like the goofy tone of it. Somehow the mistakes, like misspelling rifle as “riffle”, only add to its charm for me lmao.

I used to be really embarrassed by my old writing, and sometimes I still can be, but the older my old stuff gets the more I appreciate it for what it is, cause sometimes I surprise myself with how much better I did than I remember, even if it’s not as good as I am now. And I like seeing how my work changes and evolves over time, it’s a nice showcase of how I’ve improved over the years. Something that stuck with me was when I deleted a fic once, because it was old and I thought it was cringy, plus it hadn’t gotten much attention anyway. But not long after I deleted it someone actually messaged me asking where it went. It was just a random oneshot, but someone still liked it enough to notice that it was gone, and they even brought it up to me directly and told me that they’d enjoyed it and wanted to read it again. Because of that I’d planned on editing it a bit and then posting it again instead of removing it permanently, but tragically I ended up losing the original document before I could. Now it’s gone forever, and I really regret deleting it in the first place because I’d still rather have the original version than nothing, for that one person who wanted to re-read it if nothing else. I’ve never deleted any of my old works completely off the internet since then, just kept the oldest ones mainly on FFN cause I like having the older stuff just on the older account where they originated, like a digital museum (though I have backups and if needed will probably archive them on a separate AO3 account/pseudonym if FFN ever goes under).

[pjstafford]

Letter to The Truly Like Lightning Book Club

I’m a person who likes to write, but I know I sometimes make spelling or grammatical mistakes which annoy people. I apologize in advance.

I do tend to be pretty open and honest about my feelings and I do feel deeply.

I kind of like social media to be upbeat and positive. I don’t really like to knock it too much when it isn’t. What’s the point!? Social Interaction between humans is sometimes problematic no matter what form it takes.

I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. When it is triggered I have a flight response. On Twitter that means making my Twitter footprint smaller. I want to be smaller to protect myself. Yesterday, though, it seemed like I was being told that as small as my footprint had gotten, I wasn’t small enough. What do I do now? How small can I go before I’m gone.

I truly don’t know where to go with something that is not a life threatening problem, not a rocket science issue, but is a little thing about a book club. I believe it was The Who who sang this is not a social crisis, but just another tricky day for you. This morning is a Tricky day. I am really wondering...

Do we cancel the book club?

Do we have a steering committee to organize it differently?

Do we go off twitter?

Do we have a different facilitator?

Should I leave social media, maybe shave my head and take a vow of silence?

How I feel about this is extremely foolish and really desperately sad with just a smidge of anger.

I feel foolish because I thought the book club was going really, really well. I have loved the discussion. It has deepened my understanding of the book which I already enjoyed. It’s been fun. Imagine my surprise to find out there are issues. The sad and angry piece is a little complicated. So let me put the issues out first since that is what the club needs to discuss today. This is the fourth book club I have facilitated on Twitter. It has been my most pleasant experience until today. Every club has been formatted exactly the same. Apparently this one might need some restructuring.

1. When is the appropriate amount of time following a book’s publication to allow to pass before doing a public book club where people who may not be in the book club could still see the discussion? People who might read the book in the future or had started the book and wasn’t as far along might have spoilers. It’s a valid concern, but Twitter isn’t known for being a spoiler free zone. If a program drops on the East Coast two hours before my time, before I can watch spoilers exist on Twitter. However this book dropped February 2 and we waited until March 1st to begin the book club. We have a # but when people respond they don’t always use the #. Also some people don’t follow me and they are not part of the book club but because people retweet the questions they were showing up on people’s timeline when they didn’t want them there. So the compromise we arrived at was no body can retweet any question or response and every response must have the #. I’m still confused, though, about the rules. Movies/television =immediate spoilers acceptable, books= a month to six weeks is too soon. I was told it’s not a matter of rules but being nice. Ok. I want to be nice but what is the appropriate time because sometimes I don’t read a book for years? If we postpone the book club for six months, a year, three years, thirty? With the compromise reached, why do I care? Because why are we being so quiet and circumspect about a book I think people ought to know about and read. Sometimes social media helps create a buzz. What a shame that a book club that is reading the book critically and in depth is, to some degree, being told to not be so loud because, you know, Twitter is a spoiler free zone. To be clear, I think the persons who raise the concerns did so for legitimate reasons and out of concerns for future readers of the book, but when we talk about the reasons I am sad and angry you will see why this upset me we much. it’s not their fault but I responded poorly and I’m still coming down from my PTSD spiral.

2. Perhaps, the problem is that Twitter isn’t the appropriate forum for a book club. Maybe Discord or private messages or zoom. Yes. This is the fourth book club I’ve hosted on Twitter. I was asked in March last year if I would start a book club due to quarantine. They’ve all been successful so far. Why do I feel so silenced? Again I don’t think the person who suggested this meant anymore than oh, let’s solve the spoiler problem. But I have a particular reason for not wanting to be silenced.

3. Some people have read the full book already and want to talk about the book in its entirety. I see that. I really do. I just have never had a book club like that. That means waiting longer. Some people like the chapter a day. Should we do multiple book clubs ?

4. Are the questions too serious? The subject matter is complex. Would a different facilitator be more appropriate? One who wouldn’t highlight the controversial and serious issues!

Why am I sad and a little angry? Why did my PTSD kick in outside of it being a bad year and a stressful time at work and I’m tired? Haven’t had a day off I a long while. (No complaints I have a job). I’m tired.

April 2017 I started the Twitter account @hearteyes4david. I had help but it was mostly me. I kind of love David Duchovny’s writing. I have blogged about it and have said someday he will have a break out novel. I believe Truly Like Lightning should be it. But the account showed love for all things David and I believe it gave some fans some fun. I enjoyed being a part of it. We had newsletters and contests. But for me, I an first and foremost a fan of David’s writing. I write. I admire writers. His writing should not be diminished by his other careers. In March of last year with the lock down I was asked to facilitate a Miss Subways book club, then the lock down went on so we did his other two books. Twitter and hearteyes have been my happy place in this year. It’s hard when your happy place feels threatening.

I was fortunate enough to get an advance digital copy of the book to read. Wow. Different! Great! It is not because I am 😍. This is one of the best books I’ve read this century. I am an avid reader. I have a critical eye. I wrote a spoiler free review. Almost immediately a fan contacted me. Because of spoilers you shouldn’t have posted this. Why don’t you do a DM for those who are interested? Don’t do spoilers. It’s a spoiler free review. This fan continued to tell me that it would be best not to post about the book. ( you know, spoilers). Then fans who had not read the book but knew for a fact that every other page was full of sex scenes and drugs and it was essentially exactly like Californication (not remotely) started saying nothing should be posted on the 😍 page about this book. Then a fan who hadn’t read it complained about how it handled religion and said it would cause her personal pain to see anything about this book on the 😍 page. I kept saying. I actually don’t care if you read it or not. My suggestion is you mute, block or unfollow the account if you don’t like the content. “But the pain, could we at least not do the book club? “. 🥺🥺🥺. I was convinced that rather than have the controversy on the 😍 page I would choose to leave my happy place account I had created to start a small account and my fan related activities became far more focused. It might not seem like much, but the decision to leave 😍 was hard, but I wanted to talk about this book. These aren’t the only reasons but the three pronged fans really angry at me for a book I didn’t write which wasn’t even published yet was challenging during the holiday season of 2020. I made my Twitter footstep smaller. I passed the account to Charmion who is doing great.

So then I waited till March to talk about the book. In the meantime “fans” who hadn’t read the book, immediately started to spread lies and mistruths about the book including selective out of context screen shots. So much for “Spoilers”. Still I waited until March. So now I have a smaller account followed by 100 people which very few “super fans” know about and about 5-7 of us are talking about this book. That’s it. For 18 days we have discussed the difficult, complex flawed characters and how the book demonstrates that these characters actions caused harm to other characters and yet left us with empathy for all. We have not always agreed. It’s a book club. Reading one chapter a day.

Yet somehow we are too loud. My tweets were being retweeted. You know, have to be concerned about spoilers. Were there 15 hate filled tweets from people who shared screen caps they were sent of random out of context paragraphs, people who proudly say they haven’t read the book, don’t need to, they’re experts, 15 for every one of mine. Of course. But I’m too loud. You know. Spoilers

So I am sad. Desperately so. I walked away from an account I had poured a lot of love into because I believed in a book I wanted to talk about. After being pretty involved in the fandom, my current activities are pretty narrowed. I’m not sure I can continue to facilitate the book club. I guess my days involved in “fandom” outside of being a fan are drawing to a close. My happy place is kind of gone.

I’m angry because this book deserves to be critically read on its merits. I’m angry because I don’t like my voice to be silenced. I’m angry because I think there are fans who actually like the book who are in fact concerned about spoilers, but they don’t realize by silencing or at least quieting the discussion of fans who have read and want to discuss the book, they are only allowing the space for the haters voices to be heard. I’m angry at myself because every step of the way I should have handle this differently. I’m angry because I shouldn’t care so much. It’s not a Jan 6 insurrection, climate change, or world peace. It’s a book by an author who don’t need me to fight these battles.

Finally I’m simply confused about where or what to do. With an account of 100 followers some people who don’t follow me think I’m too loud because I’m posting about something they don’t want on their feed (David’s book) and someone might repost me. Because I feel threaten by people telling me too get smaller my response is to try and get smaller. So I shouldn’t post about David’s book because there are people in he fandom who don’t want to see posts about David’s book. Ok. I should come on Twitter and never interact because that way no one will ever see a post from me they don’t want to see🤷‍♀️. Mercy, I’m on a lobbyist, have you guys seen the political stuff I post on my other account? Yep, probably just the fandom stuff I need to walk away from except for, you know, being a fan, but never discussing it.

[ineffable-endearments]

Waking up in July

(Rating: G. Approx. 1917 words.)

July 1, 2020.

On reaching for the snooze, Crowley discovers an envelope he definitely didn’t leave on top of his phone. (Mail doesn’t usually get delivered to his bedside, of course, but given the handwriting on the front, Crowley has the impression divine intervention was involved this time.)

Dear Crowley,

I am writing to you in frustration. Not with you, you must understand, but with myself. There are a few things I do believe need clarifying.

Given everything that’s happened, I feel strongly that I ought to be behaving in solidarity with the guidelines the people of London have set for themselves. I must admit, it was a surprise to hear you express the same sentiment. I’ve always known you aren’t cruel enough to want to see innocent people fall ill (don’t you roll your eyes at this letter; you said it yourself), but I thought surely you would have your own ways of getting around the lockdown, carrying on outside the rules and indulging in mischief as you always do. Were this the case, it would only be responsible to invite you over here, to decrease your bad influence.

And yet, this was not the case. Still, after declining your offer when we spoke, I felt somehow unsatisfied, or perhaps at loose ends. It would have been very nice to share my baking with someone who is not attempting to steal my cashbox.

If you read this letter before July, do know you’re encouraged to reach out. We could at least speak telephonically. And if you don’t read this before July, know I will be immensely happy to meet with you again as soon as you awaken.

(There’s a long gap between the end of the paragraph and the end of the letter itself.)

Crowley...I suppose the truth is I miss you very much.

Yours, always,

Aziraphale

“Sentimental old sap,” Crowley says out loud. How else is he going to dislodge the painfully fond lump in his throat? “Right. Time to see what’s going on, then.”

=

Continue below or read the rest on AO3

One rushed mobile search and five minutes later, Crowley has an approximate idea of where the humans stand. They haven’t done the greatest job of getting the virus under control, but they seem to have made...progress? Arguably? Ugh, they could have done better. At any rate, if he and Aziraphale want to see each other, they’re going to have to form a...a “support bubble.”

The notion of asking Aziraphale out loud if he would like to be in something called a “support bubble” together almost makes Crowley want to turn around and go back to sleep.

On second thought, the angel would probably get a kick out of it, and the awful naming scheme would give Crowley something to gripe about, so all’s well that ends well, really.

The bookshop phone barely rings before Aziraphale’s voice is on the line. “Hello. I’m afraid we’re closing early--”

“Good,” Crowley says. “I’m not calling you to buy books.”

“Crowley!”

Oh, that’s a familiar delight in his voice. That’s rescuing-from-the-Bastille, cleaning-paint-off-his-coat, showing-up-for-Armageddon-in-a-flaming-car delight.

“Good morning, angel.”

“So very much has happened. I’d like to fill you in, but oh, I don’t even know where to begin...”

Crowley frowns at his phone, worried. “A lot has happened? What, at the shop?”

“No, no, I mean in the world.”

“All right. Well. Just start in...I dunno, start off from our last conversation, I fell asleep pretty much right away--”

“Come to the shop,” Aziraphale blurts. “You have to wear a mask, and-- and don’t go anywhere else, but it’s allowed. It...it’s okay now.”

“I’ll be there in five,” Crowley says, grinning, ready to ignore any admonishments about speed limits.

“Wait! Crowley?”

“Hmm?”

“Actually. If you come see me before July 4, we...we have to be in, ah. A support bubble.” There it is. “Have you heard about that yet?”

“Sure I have.” Crowley does his best to sound gruff and unaffected.

“You couldn’t be in anyone’s place but mine, you know. And even after the fourth, you couldn’t...get closer than two metres to anyone but me, even though you could visit--”

“Aside from the fact that all this is totally for show anyway, stop worrying, it’s fine,” Crowley insists. He miracles himself the least-ugly mask he can contemplate and bustles out the door, hurrying irritatedly back a minute later to grab the “something drinkable” he forgot.

They don’t even sit down right away, much less get within the 2 metres of each other. Aziraphale does, however, give Crowley a long, pleasantly intense look (it appears to be a proper drinking-in) when he enters the shop.

“Did you, ah,” Aziraphale clasps his hands together. “Did you get my letter?”

“I did,” Crowley says. “Got a bit bored, did you?”

Aziraphale sighs, impatient. “I suppose you could put it that way.”

“I’d have come over, you know,” Crowley says softly, just loud enough for Aziraphale to hear. “You could have called. Had my phone right by the bed.”

“I know,” Aziraphale responds, not any louder. He looks away to the table next to him, makes a show of studying a book that wouldn’t have moved from the shelf since 1949 if it weren’t for Adam’s reorganization. “But if you’d...stayed here, wouldn’t you have been bored?”

Crowley shrugs. “Maybe. I’m sure being bored here wouldn’t be worse than being bored at home.”

“If you were here, hunkering down as you put it, we might have got in each other’s way. I’m sure it would have been lovely for a while, but what about after a day or two? Or after a week? A month?”

“You have always liked being left alone with your work,” Crowley muses. “I could have gone to sleep here, too, though. I know you’ve got that little flat with the single bed you haven’t used since 1993 upstairs.”

At this, something in Aziraphale’s face loosens, and he looks almost as if he might smile. “Oh, now what kind of host banishes his guest upstairs for bedtime?”

“You absolutely would. Or I could just come visit and leave. Rules only apply to us if we decide they should, right?”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Aziraphale says. “I was stuck. It seems silly, I know, I know, but it’s such a strange time, everyone out there struggling - I would have felt terrible for choosing not to align with the humans’ rules myself. I was hoping…”

“That I’d help you get around them,” Crowley finishes.

“As you always have,” Aziraphale admits. That confession alone pushes the air out of Crowley’s lungs, a surprising sensation even considering his breath is optional.

“Those were...stupid rules. Dangerous for an angel to break. I felt like I was sort of doing you favors while also being a proper demon when I did that. This isn’t quite the same.”

Aziraphale nods. “No. Perhaps it’s not.”

“Aziraphale,” Crowley says, urgently needing eye contact. Aziraphale cooperates, drifting even a little closer as he does. Not quite 2 metres away now. “This is our side.” Crowley gestures vaguely at Aziraphale and everything around them. “I can sneak around other people’s rules all you want, but I’m not gonna force my way around yours.”

“I don’t know what’s right,” Aziraphale says, plaintive. “People aren’t supposed to be seeing each other, so if we’re going to live here, neither should we. I missed you every day, though, Crowley. Isn’t that strange? We don’t even meet every day under normal circumstances, but something about being forced to stay apart reminded me so much of old times - bad old times…”

The angel is getting himself worked up. “No point worrying about it now,” Crowley interjects. “We’re a...we’re a ‘bubble,’ aren’t we? We’re following the rules just fine and I’m even allowed to come and go. Problems solved.”

Aziraphale purses his lips. “For now,” he agrees, smiling in earnest this time. “It did get me thinking about an awful lot of things, though.”

“And none of them have to be resolved this second,” Crowley reassures. “Would you like to talk over wine? I’ve been thinking about this bottle since April.”

“Certainly, yes.” Aziraphale waves his hand. “One more thing before we do, though. You know, it’s alright for people in a bubble to get close to each other.”

“You sure?” Crowley asks, not because he doesn’t know the rule, but because he doesn’t know what Aziraphale’s rule is going to be.

“Yes. I was actually hoping you might - and you can refuse, Crowley, really, it’s a bizarre request - but I was hoping you might allow me to hug you.”

Crowley feels a big, undignified grin breaking out on his face. He schools it into the best semblance of a smirk he can manage, but he’s definitely not going to fool Aziraphale. That’s fine. “All right,” he says. “If it makes you happy.”

There is a different sort of delight on Aziraphale’s face as he sidles nervously up to Crowley. It’s not as blatant as what he’d sounded like on the phone. It’s quieter, but deeper. It’s rescued-books-after-a-fallen-bomb delight.

“Come here,” Crowley murmurs, pulling his very favorite fusspot into a hug. Upon resting his head on Aziraphale’s shoulder, breathing in that cologne and the scent of various baking experiments, soaking in Aziraphale’s warmth like a...well, like a serpent in the sun, Crowley realizes this is as much for him as it is for Aziraphale.

And he doesn’t want to stop. Sod the wine; let this take hours.

“Do you still get the feeling we’re not supposed to be doing this, no matter how safe it is?” Aziraphale asks, voice muffled. He’s sort of talking into Crowley’s jacket.

“Not really the same for me,” Crowley says. “My lot weren’t big on guilt. Fear, more like. Terror, yes. Not guilt.” He lifts his head so he can rest his cheek against the angel’s ridiculous fluffy hair.

“Oh. Yes, that makes sense. Sorry.” Aziraphale presses his head into Crowley’s shoulder.

Crowley rolls his eyes, knowing Aziraphale won’t see it, more attempting to reassure himself that he hasn’t gone completely, entirely soft. “Let’s take it one moral crisis at a time,” he whispers, stroking Aziraphale’s back. Aziraphale shifts and breathes out, snorting very lightly (although he’d never, ever allow it to be called a ‘snort’ out loud) in a way that indicates he’s trying not to giggle.

“You know,” Aziraphale says, apparently regaining his composure, “they might tighten restrictions again.”

“It’s possible. It might be the smartest option,” Crowley agrees.

“We should consider what we’re going to do if that happens.” Aziraphale has not removed himself from Crowley’s grip. “If you’re really sure you wouldn’t mind…”

Crowley finds himself chuckling, progressing to a full-throated laugh. “What, sleeping upstairs?”

“Well, no--”

“We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it, but if there’s one thing I can guarantee, it’s that I wouldn’t want to sit around and chatter 24/7. You’d have your reading time.”

Aziraphale sighs. “And wouldn’t you miss your things?”

“Sure, possibly. Not like I was using them when I was sleeping the months away, though, was I?”

“All right.” Aziraphale pulls away enough to gesture toward the sofa, leaving Crowley wanting more. Days. Days more. Aziraphale is beaming, though, and Crowley might be, too, and Aziraphale doesn’t end the hold entirely because now their hands are clasped. “Now, bring the wine over here and let’s go sample the desserts. I’m especially interested to hear what you think of the devil’s food cake.”

[tthael]

Hi Hollers! I hope you're doing well. I adored the last Indelicate chapter, and I cannot thank you enough for writing this story and sharing it with us all. I was wondering if you would be able to, please, discuss your rewrites and drafting process? If not, that's okay! I'm just interested, because you're an immensely talented writer. Have a good day!

Absolutely! I’ll use Indelicate as an example. I’m not super great at starting out with a complete outline when I come up with a story idea, but I have some big beats in mind--it was going to be Eddie waking up and telling Richie he loves him, the kiss scene at Ben’s house, and then some secret scenes I haven’t gotten to yet because they’re part of the endgame!

So when I have a scene in mind, basically I have to write myself from point A to point B. So far I’ve been doing this sort of as it would work in real life. We start with Eddie in the hospital, and then we move on to his time in the hospital and what he has to accomplish before his release, and then we move from his release to his decision about where to go because he doesn’t want to stay in Maine. But there’s the built in constriction of a follow-up doctor’s appointment 3 weeks after his surgery, so I have some artificial structure in there. And then I find smaller events to write about--Eddie eating meals, Richie and Eddie having conversations, Eddie and Richie going on a date.

So every chapter is basically three or four scenes strung together. I write the scene the way I want it to, and then I put them in the right order. Sometimes I change my mind and decide I want other things to come first, so I shuffle them around. This is the hardest part of the writing, because I’m starting with nothing. Revisions and edits are easier. I aim for 21 pages--it’s an arbitrary number, that’s just the length that the unedited first chapter of Things That Happen After Eddie Lives turned out to be, so it was my target for the rest of the project--but I’ve frequently doubled that writing Indelicate.

Then, when I have my four scenes, I open a second doc right next to my big Indelicate document and I rewrite the whole thing. I make edits as I go--I improve my word choices, I pick better verbs and eliminate passive phrasing, and I clarify the blocking in the chapter. For instance, I recently published a chapter that has Richie being very physical--and in the first draft it wasn’t clear where he was in the room, how many arms he had, and exactly how he was roughhousing with Eddie. I knew it in my head, but I had to clarify it in my edits, and my beta agreed with me that it was much clearer that Richie had only 2 arms. This is what I consider my “revisions.” I can feel when revisions are going well because the writing feels tighter and less rambly, and there’s a sort of... spark, that I’m really going for. Usually the banter improves in drafts, because I get more in the mood to write funny things. It might even change entirely. Banter is just usually better the second time around. I’ve also noticed that the revision is usually longer than the original draft, because I’m able to expand more on the narration and description.

Then I do a third revision. This I call edits, because it’s less of a decision of “what” I want to say and more “how,” on a smaller scale. Usually I edit scene by scene, with an editing doc open next to the revision doc. All in all, I’ll retype the whole chapter at least 3 times, so I’m very familiar with what I’m saying and I’m also very tired of rereading it. I want to cut down on repeats of words, adjust my paragraph breaks for dialogue, and make sure everything sounds finished.

THEN I put the completed chapter in the AO3 text box. Because I like to do my content warnings in my chapter notes, I reread the entire chapter again and I make my content warnings in chronological order, unless there’s something very big and obviously triggering--like homophobic bullying, or sexual violence, something like that, which goes at the very top of the content warnings list. This is when I insert my line breaks--I really like the line break that AO3 has. This is where I tend to catch the last of my typos or smaller errors.

Then I hit preview to make sure that the formatting is all working, and if the line breaks are in the correct place, I hit publish! That’s a full chapter.

And then, the further I get in the story, the closer I get to those main beats, the more I know what’s happening chapter by chapter. Sometimes I’ll realize that something is going to be a big deal in the very end of the story, and I need to start laying the track for that early on. It’s not a perfect system, but the chapter installation format helps me finish things in chronological order.

If I’m too excited about writing a scene, I’ll lose momentum for writing everything that comes before it, so I have to hold off. It’s the delayed gratification of “okay, you can’t write the big kiss scene right now, BUT if you write these less interesting scenes, then you get to write the big kiss scene.” I’m not naturally a super disciplined person, so it’s good for me to have rules for myself in writing.

Thank you so much for asking and I hope that this helps!

[autumnblogs]

Day 9: Troll Time

Time to get trolled.

https://homestuck.com/story/1527

This is the first of the events that I’ve noticed enough to talk about in Homestuck that alludes to the Alpha Kids. While Roxy on the other side of the scratch is the one actually responsible for the disappearance of Jaspers and the Pumpkins, at this point in the story, we have some pretty good suspects for exactly who disappeared both of them.

I could see myself guessing that Jade’s penpal is one of the trolls, but it wouldn’t be my first guess. I’m going to pay close attention to all of the events on one side of the scratch that are caused by the other side of the scratch, because my theory is that a Scratched Universe, more than anything else, is really terminated rather than truly being retroactively erased. Too much doesn’t make sense from a causal perspective (not necessarily from a temporally linear one) if a scratched universe is actually erased entirely, or even if it is closed off from the rest of existence - why can information enter and leave a Scratched Universe at all from an outside perspective, for example?

Are Side A Side B teleporters, appearifiers, and so on and so on, loopholes? Maybe it has something to do with the nature of Void, the Furthest Ring, and their seeming exclusion from the rules the rest of Paradox Space is required to follow.

The Doylist answer, which in Homestuck is also allowed to be the Watsonian answer, might be that while a Scratched Universe is *materially* erased, information about it is still permitted to propagate through narrative contrivances such as the author. Fenestrated planes can easily be considered narrative contrivances, but if we use this as our theory, it seems like Appearifiers and Sendificators would also have to be Narrative Contrivances (which I’m going to spell with a capital NC from here on out.) I... actually don’t have a problem with this hypothesis, so it’s what I’m going with. Also, since a friend of mine who’s reading this liveblog asked, I’m going to post a link to the tvtropes article on those two terms at the start of this paragraph for anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

Perhaps, given the proclivity for the Void to preserve lost information in the form of dreams and memories, and given the nature of Space as the medium through which events normally propagate (as well as the fundamental medium of storytelling from which all other storytelling mediums derive their medium-ness), and their proximity on the Aspect Wheel, Narrative Contrivances are objects which have are shared between these two domains - as objects associated with the Void, Narrative Contrivances are permitted to follow their own set of rules which to someone outside of the universe are obvious, but to anyone inside the universe are a complete black box, and as objects associated with Space, Narrative Contrivances function as a means by which to propagate information in such a way as to preserve causality, the logical topology of Paradox Space, and with them, the self-fulfilling nature of Paradox Space. They allow the world-line of objects travelling through the narrative to remain consistent, even when they would violate material geographical conventions.

This description of Narrative Contrivances makes me think a lot of things could be Narrative Contrivances, like First Guardians, for example, who can violate the speed of light.

This is all a lot of silly bullshit, but it’s fun to come up with theories to describe and predict Homestuck (and future Homestuck works, even though I’m not terribly invested in them.)

This has been a long Cold Open. More after the break.

https://homestuck.com/story/1529

John gets cyberbullied!

Man. Cyberbullying has really gone from being an individual concern to being an apocalyptic issue. Who knew? Maybe in writing the trolls and their cyberbullying as being inextricable from the apocalypse, Andrew Hussie predicted this.

I’m not trying to understate John’s issues by comparing them to stuff like massive social media disinformation campaigns - receiving Death Threats as a thirteen year old is terrifying, and on a general level, the fact that this kind of horrible shit was commonplace in the earliest days of social media should have been a big indicator that what was yet to come was going to be so, so much worse.

I’m also not trying to jocularly exaggerate the threat that almost completely lawless social media has on society. If you haven’t already, check out the excellent documentary The Social Dilemma, and then delete your Facebook account if you haven’t already (and since you’re reading my extremely anti-capitalist anti-patriarchy liveblog on tumblr, you’ve probably already done that. If you have, good for you!) And your twitter for good measure, come on, you know who you are. Mabe your tumblr too while you’re at it.

Cyberbullying is part of a larger theme in Homestuck, another one of those things that it’s Capital A About. As a work that is not only about growing up, but specifically about growing up in the information age, Homestuck is repeatedly about the ways that Social Media don’t just bring us together, but keep us apart from one another. Cyberbullying is one of the effects of Social Media pushing people apart - it’s so, so much easier to threaten to kill someone when you don’t have to look them in the eye while you’re doing it, and when you have the anonymity of a string of alphanumeric characters as a name to hide behind.

https://homestuck.com/story/1537

The Black Queen is a very bad woman. It’s always intrigued me that the Queens allow their counterparts’ agents free movement through their territory like this even on the eve (or the advent?) of full-scale war between their kingdoms. PM is just allowed to wander around Derse unsupervised.

I suppose that if even God and Satan can afford each other a bit of token civility while discussing the fates of sinners, so can Prospitians and Dersites.

https://homestuck.com/story/1542

@zeetheus​ John’s definitely proceeds Rose’s bluh.

Rose sips her Mom’s martini for the same reason that she later falls prey to alcoholism. Trying to grow up without help, Rose interprets the martini as a symbol of parental authority, the same way that she interprets the partaking of beverages in general as being a ritual of intimacy with her Mother. Empty signifiers.

https://homestuck.com/story/1549

Jack Noir’s grating voice is so outrageously distracting that it prevents itself as an intrusive thought in the Narrative for PM.

Actually, come to think of it, *all* of the Carapacians talk pretty much exclusively via narration. I wonder if that’s representative of an altered relationship with their narrative reality, which is the first time ever I’ve had that thought pretty much at all.

I always just chalked it up to one of the quirks of Andrew’s writing style, but especially when we take into account the fact that Homestuck is as metanarrative as it is, and that Carapacians are the only characters in Homestuck Proper who interface with the narrative prompt except for the audience, Andrew, and Caliborn himself, I can’t help but wonder. Maybe as living gaming abstractions, in spite of their limited intelligence and abilities, Carapacians have a unique relationship with the narrative laws of Paradox Space (perhaps in the same way that Narrative Contrivances do?)

https://homestuck.com/story/1569

Riffing a little more on the “Fetch Modus as analogous to thought processes” motif previously introduced, Jade’s excellent visualization abilities and vivid imagination serve her well as a Space Player, but tend to misfire, running wild, and seeing patterns where they don’t exist (intrusive thoughts make her see Johnny 5 in her Eclectic Bass and whatever the fuck mecha she’s about to accidentally imagine, I don’t know, I’m not a weeb.) Jade sure does think about robots a lot.

https://homestuck.com/story/1579

I have to say, I consider Terezi’s manipulative abilities to be genuinely pretty strong. I have never known a better way to strongarm me than by pointing out traits that I don’t know whether I feel good or bad about - it just terminates my thought processes.

Although in John’s case, it helps that he is, in fact, a weenie, a stooge, and most importantly, a nice guy. All these facts make him extra manipulatable.

https://homestuck.com/story/1584

<3

I have no reason to believe everyone in Homestuck’s universe isn’t stupidly badass, but I choose to believe that no one is as stupidly badass as the leads because it makes me happy to imagine that these kids are just ridiculously OP superhumans.

(That said, it’s kind of fucked up the level of violence that these literal children are involved in, maybe I shouldn’t get so excited about it. Should we be enthusiastic about the kids’ triumph over their dangerous enemies? Horrified by the travails they are being put through? Probably both motherfuckin’ things.

https://homestuck.com/story/1588

I think about this page a lot.

Rose Lalonde is a very dangerous young lady. She is ruthless, pragmatic, calculating, and cool. She’s even a killer, and literally just killed two imps before fighting this Ogre!

Why is she choosing to show mercy to it now? Is she just trying to get Dave’s goat? Maybe the answer is, deep down, she doesn’t really want to hurt anyone or anything.

https://homestuck.com/story/1589

Kanaya and Dave have a great relationship and I love them as friends very much. I wish dearly that there was more of them in the webcomic. They have approximately the same relationship with authenticity, which is to say that they don’t have an insincere bone in their respective bodies, but practice insincerity nonetheless to impress someone they care about.

For Kanaya relating to Rose, I think it’s a lot more innocent.

https://homestuck.com/story/1590

The least eloquent character in Homestuck has his brief, and I’m pretty sure only encounter with the most eloquent character in Homestuck.

Poor, poor Tavros. While Rose is pretty much always on this level, it seems a lot more innocuous when she’s talking to her friends, or the more mean-spirited and (relatively) competent trolls, the way she treats Tavros almost feels like bullying because of how obviously pathetic he is.

That said, he turns right around, and invokes exactly what’s coming to him. Y’know as much as Tavros is an authentic abuse victim and Vriska gaslights him into thinking a lot of the bad things that happen to him are his fault, there are a lot of times where he does stupid shit that invokes the justifiable wrath of the people around him.

https://homestuck.com/story/1592

While I could pontificate about the fact that Kanaya and Rose are my favorite couple, and squee enthusiastically, instead I will call attention to the fact that, by way of mixing her metaphors, Kanaya has been the victim of an authorial pun - she’s a Fruit Ninja. (Unless Fruit Ninja didn’t exist at the time of writing? It may very well not have.)

https://homestuck.com/story/1596

As the Page of Breath, Tavros sucks at communicating. Here, he sucks at communicating because in spite of his objectively pretty sick rhymes... he is talking to someone who just can’t be arsed.

https://homestuck.com/story/1602

This is one of those absurd moments that at first blush seems meaningless, but I think helps to decipher the kinds of things that John Egbert cares about. It’s one of the moments where he ritualizes an action that one of his heroes takes - John Egbert thinks that Nic Cage is cool, and wants to be like him, so he roleplays Nic Cage for a little while.

https://homestuck.com/story/1603

We’ve barely met the trolls, and they are *already* using the humans as a convenient method to troll each other instead of staying on task.

Karkat also establishes his love of RomComs before his introduction even rolls around.

https://homestuck.com/story/1618

Conceding ground to implacable enemies is generally the correct means to win in Homestuck, usually by getting them to destroy themselves or each other purely by their own unsustainably wicked or stupid conduct. Only a being as powerful as Lord English is sufficient to destroy the Significance-hoarding antagonist that is Vriska, as she threatens to overshadow everyone else in the universe by her own inflated self-importance. Only Vriska, so arbitrarily lucky, could possibly get into position to destroy Lord English. They were made for each other. They deserve each other.

One of my favorite dialogues in the whole comic. Man, I sure love Act 4. There’s something indescribable about the dialogue Andrew writes for this part of the comic. Homestuck at its best whiplashes from silly to scary to heartbreaking to heartwarming, and back to silly again, from beautiful to ugly, and I don’t think that even Act 5, as it piles up layers upon layers, well past the number of parts needed to make a whole, captures the essence of Homestuck as well as does Act 4.

Homestuck is different in every part, of course, and for everyone who says that Act 4 is peak Homestuck you will meet someone who says that Acts 1 through 3 were peak Homestuck, or who says that Act 5 was Peak Homestuck, or that Act 6 was Peak Homestuck. I do not mean to demean any portion of the work by saying that Act 4 is my favorite. The things I like in Homestuck the most are just the most themselves in this portion of the story.

https://homestuck.com/story/1627

I’m feeling less and less intelligent as I read more and more of Homestuck, because honestly, my theories read less like honest-to-god insights, and more like somebody who just wasn’t paying any fucking attention. Here, Jade spells out basically what I’ve been saying.

https://homestuck.com/story/1640

We’ll pause here for the evening. Reading was a little sparse today, but it’s a good place to leave off, especially since for some of these I wrote just stacks of theorizing.

Until tomorrow, Cam signing off, Mostly alive except for a bit of a cough, and not alone.

[livlepretre]

I'm so glad you decided to do this ask game. I love your writing style and have been curious about 4, 11, and 54 for a while. Thank you for being so interactive about your writing!

💙💙💙 honestly thank you for asking! I love interacting with all of you here on tumblr, and honestly, talking about writing gives me a lot of energy to see through really long projects (you all know which one). 

4. Do you have writing habits or rituals?

Yes! The most helpful habit I’ve developed is actually finding the right time of day (for me) to write-- I’m best in the mornings, so the first thing I do 2-4 mornings a week is caffeinate and open up my word doc with my wip. Often I’ll reread a few scenes from where I left off to get myself going, and then I write for an hour or two. My thoughts are so much clearer in the early mornings, before I head to work and exhaust my mental energies, that the work flows really freely-- I can often cover the same terrain by writing first thing that I might take all day to cover if I get started, say, on a Saturday in the early afternoon (sad but true). 

I also do like to amp myself up with songs, but I don’t listen to any music WHILE writing-- only beforehand. I find music during writing to be way too distracting. 

I only ever write sober, because I find even a glass of wine throws me way too far off my game (and I hate squinting at my screen). But the more caffeine the better. 

Also, detailed below: I OUTLINE LIKE A FIEND

11. Describe your writing process from scratch to finish.

hmmm okay

so, often an idea will hit me and I will immediately have maybe 3-10 pages that flow really fast... but then I’ll stutter out 

so after that comes the outline. 

and I mean: OUTLINE 

I put my outline at the bottom of my word document, below the scenes that I’ve already written-- for FE this started as a pretty basic series of like, maybe a dozen bullet points overall. As I kept brainstorming and writing and thinking about it, I started having more specific plot points. Every time an idea occurred to me, I added it to the outline. In the beginning this was a very flow of consciousness outline, not even bullet-pointed, just paragraphs and paragraphs detailing in often vague terms the broad strokes of what I wanted to happen and what the emotional beats would be. I think it really has helped me with FE that I had a lot of the BIG moments outlined before I started writing, including the ending, so I knew the narrative arcs and could foreshadow a lot of things, even if a lot of the chapters get written between updates and I have added in a lot of things that have just sort of naturally developed. The good news is that if you overall stick the outline, you can also add a lot of other things in. 

I review my outline A LOT. 

Before I write any particular chapter, I look through the outline, and figure out which pieces I want to include in the chapter. I then go through and MINIMUM outline by bullet point the scenes that will be in that chapter-- although, I like to have the next 5-10 chapters outlined that thoroughly so that I know exactly where I am heading. I cannot stress enough how hard it is for me to write without a blue print. 

Sometimes I write a scene that I end up not using. Rather than deleting it, I move it to the bottom of my word document-- often these scenes can be revised later to fit into the story. 

I also write at the bottom of my outline any scenes/dialogue that pops into my head that I know will happen later. This way, I have it on hand when I get to it. 

For the actual writing, once I start writing a chapter, I pretty much work on it every day until it’s done-- sometimes all I do is tinker with the outline, or write a few sentences, and sometimes I wrote 4,000 words-- it doesn’t matter how much or how little, because in writing, every word is a victory. 

I try to apply the same rule to my creative writing as to my essay writing--just get the idea/emotions/plot out, describe it as clearly as possible, and any finangling with words can be wrestled with on a later pass. 

I usually reread each chapter 5 or 6 times before posting-- often it’s the first thing I do when I open the doc up to write. This is often a good chance to add in connecting scenes, change sentences slightly, or revise paragraphs so that they fit into any emotional arcs/discoveries later in the chapter. I often change lines because earlier writing contradicts something I want to say later in the chapter, or use the chance of the reread to change words/restructure sentences. 

When I get lost, I make character motive charts. Like, I write down each character’s name, and I come up with a list of what each person’s motive is. I then try to come up with a definitive action each person can take to accomplish their goals. Hopefully at least some of these characters will be in conflict. 

Whenever I get to a major inflection point in the story, like, whenever I am about to drop a major plot reveal or change the course of events in some way, I do a major reread-- I reread my whole fic start to finish and use the notes app to copy and paste any paragraphs that are important (from my view as the writer) into a note so that I can keep track. This could include any paragraphs with foreshadowing, plot threads that have not been tied up, characterization notes I’ve forgotten about... anything at all that will help me wrap up anything I may have forgotten about. 

For that matter, the notes app on my phone is also where I punch in anything that occurs to me in the middle of the night or when I’m at work, running errands, etc. 

I basically repeat this process, until I find myself at the end. 

Long story short: It’s all about the outline!

54. Any writing advice you want to share? 

Find your best time to write and take advantage-- when do you feel most mentally alert? when do you feel most inspired? for me it’s early in the morning-- I could potentially write 7 days a week if I wrote at night, but I find I can get a ton more done in 2-4 days of 1 or 2 hours of focused writing than I could blearily staring at my screen. So, even if your BEST window is only available a couple of days a week, that is still a HUGELY productive window of time that will lead to good things!

Outline. As mentioned above. 

If you only write one sentence today, you’ve done the hardest thing: you’ve written. One sentence as often as possible will eventually make it easier to write two sentences as often as possible, and so on. 

Writing is a continuous act of self-improvement. I try not to worry about revising my work too much after I’ve hit publish, instead recognizing that there are fics easily accessible on the internet that I wrote when I was sixteen and yes they are highkey embarrassing but they’re also kind of a badge of honor because wow, I’ve gone from struggling to write a short 2,000 word story to working on an epic length novel. And what people say is true: it is an agonizing process to hit publish, full of self-doubt and hand-wringing (I cannot tell you how often FE has made me NERVOUS because of the content), but the beautiful thing about writing is that when you put it out into the world, you’re giving it over as a gift for everyone else. So, try to let yourself just write as much as possible. 

Be honest in your writing. Go ahead and squash that little voice in your head telling you to hold back on the emotions, to be more solemn, more restrained. So long as you write your heart, it will be true, and there will be people who will connect with the writing because of that. 

[beesatthedisco]

How does this even work...

Okay, so I’ve been on tumblr since before the first time they very slightly changed the shade of blue and I hope that in and of itself is enough to help y’all know... I’m ancient. (I’m 27, and will only rp with ppl 18+, sorry friendos)

Somehow, despite being on tumblr and despite having made about a million accounts for various things in my day, I’ve not made an RP account, and don’t really know how to get started. I guess I’m just gonna put down what I know about myself and what I’m looking for here and hope for the best, but I’d be open to any kind of protips from those of you who have been using tumblr to find rp for much longer.

RIP to your eyes ahead of time, this is a long post. If you want to skip to the part where I share my Original plots, pairings, and fandom cravings, please just scroll to the end and accept my humble apologies. (Highkey I copied this out of my google doc, don’t shoot me.)

I enjoy writing both original plots and fandom stuff. When RPing within a fandom setting, I'm open to playing as canons, as ocs, or any combination of both. I'm open to co-creating settings inspired but not based in fandoms, and open to playing AU or canon settings as well. When originals are involved, I prefer co-creating our worlds together, so we're both invested in the landscape that our characters inhabit. Speaking of characters- I'll play as any gender and in any pairing type- I hope that this is the same for you. I love writing a broad spectrum of characters to keep things interesting for myself and to practice viewing the world through different perspectives. I feel it's difficult to do this when being forced or pigeonholed into writing as a gender you DEMAND of me. However... I can be flexible, and if your ideas are interesting enough, I may just give you what you ask for anyways, haha. I'm perfectly open to playing multiple characters, whether it's a broad interactive cast of mains and background characters, a system of noninteracting or separate sets of doubles, triples, you name it, or whatever other configuration of multiple-character-playing you prefer.

I'm not too terribly concerned about post lengths and am open to writing with people who might be new to the RP scene. I'm pretty flexible about how much I'll write. A good rule of thumb for myself is that I tend to respond with more when I have more to work with. That doesn't always mean that there are more words on your post for me to respond to; instead, I mean that if your post has enough ideas, inspiration, and momentum, I can go buckwild with my posts. My comfort zone seems to be around 4-6 paragraphs per post, but I've been known to write either a lot more in particularly thrilling rps. If I'm writing a huge post- don't feel daunted or expected to match length. I love all sized posts!!! I'm just overly enthusiastic and get carried away sometimes. (This means you can also at any time tell me to chill out on how much I'm writing. ) When it comes to writing style, I only have a few hard expectations of you- I do not engage in roleplay featuring the 'would' style of writing. (For example: "She would pick up the rock and inspect it closely.") I don't exactly know why I dislike this tense so much, but it pulls me right out of the immersion of writing/reading and tends to entirely destroy my interest in the story. I'm sorry. Next, I care at least a little about punctuation and spellchecking. If you're roleplaying online, you have access to ways to make sure that you're not just submitting gibberish. If you need help finding those resources... feel free to ask!

I'm open to the idea of making profiles for our characters, but I'm okay without making them too. I'm also vaguely ambivalent to 'beautifying' our posts, should we do them somewhere that allows that sort of thing. I'm fine with any style of reference images, or with not using them at all. I can't promise I won't send you songs and images and memes that remind me of our story, though! Also- I'm super down for dice systems if we decide to go that route (and prefer dice systems if we include combat of any variety in our story.) I love romance, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the drive of our plot if that's not your style. My favorite genres to write in are science fiction, any variety of fantasy, horror, drama, historical settings, wild western settings, and mysteries.

Last but not least, I tend to like making friends with my writing partners. I prefer writing with people I actually get along with, so for me, the plotting phase is the most important. It helps me get to know your personality a bit more, and you mine, so we both know whether or not it's a good match to write long term! I'll write on most platforms, so let's discuss what makes the most sense for us. Finally, I generally only write with folks 18+, for the safety of everyone involved. Thanks for understanding.

Well, as I said, I've got a big ol list of ideas, if any of this strikes you as 'good writing friend' material, so send me a DM and I'll get back to you asap! Feel free to share your ideas too!!!

Original Ideas

- There's something dire down in the mines to the east of this old Western town. Folks keep goin' in to investigate, disappearin' for days at a time, then comin' back all different-like with the lights gone from their eyes. What could be happenin' out there, sheriff? (horror/western)

- A high-fantasy world's balance is shattered when the source of magic is destroyed. How will the people of this mystical land navigate a now mundane life, and how can they survive when so many magical devices go defunct and awry?

- A no-magic world is suddenly spun into chaos: an apocalyptic event leads to the sudden introduction of magic into a world that had previously never known it. In the post-apocalyptic (and mystically-charged) ashes of a world that once was, how do the survivors compete for resources and control?

- A star falls from the sky! They're rare, and it's dangerous to be one. Are you the star, hunted and lost? Or are you someone who finds a star?

- A lich (my character) is rumored to live in the castle at the foot of the mountains, only a mile or so from your town. It's said they're a true villain, the worst of the worst... but what is the truth?

-Arranged Marriages between physical embodiments of the seasons or planets

- There's something dire down in the mines to the east of this old Western town. Folks keep goin' in to investigate, disappearin' for days at a time, then comin' back all different-like with the lights gone from their eyes. What could be happenin' out there, sheriff? (horror/western)

-A sailor, pirate, or other seafarer keeps noticing the same shape in the waters near their ship. After a terrible storm, the ship wrecks… now, one’s a mermaid, one’s a sailor, and they’re both idiots trying to find their way back home.

-Disaster has struck! A grisly assassination attempt leads a bodyguard to quickly usher their liege to safety. Drama ensues!

-Stowaways, and the people who catch 'em!

- Androids and more androids! Or... androids and non-androids!

-In a dwindling-magic world, those who cling to the olde magicks and the old way of living struggle against the new capitalist society and its nonmagic technology. In one still-magickal neighborhood where our story takes place, shopkeepers fight against nonmagickal gentrification in an effort to keep their businesses, communities, and traditions alive.

- A wandering traveler gets caught in a storm and chances upon an abandoned home, castle, or manor.... oh no!

- A train hopping crust punk encounters the ghost of a fellow train-hopper who fell under the rails and died.

- A living person's computer, gaming device, or phone is inhabited by a flirty ghost!

- There's a friendly but sad ghost living in a living person's new home! (Can you tell I like ghosts?)

Original (and corny) pairing ideas

fairy or elf / vampire or other dark creature

vampire / human

god / mortal

demon / angel or other dark/light archetypical pairings

dragon / humanoid

naval captain / stowaway

mob boss / citizen

superhero / supervillain

serial killer / investigator

serial killer / citizen

Bounty hunter/outlaw

outlaw/sherriff

outlaw/outlaw

farmhand/outlaw

Current Fandom Interests/Cravings

Pokemon - preferably with ocs and in a custom setting ft. all the ‘mons/us playing as humans

Elder Scrolls - pls, i’m craving this almost more than anything, and have been for years

Red Dead Redemption - it is cowboy time now

Legend of Zelda - i have a couple of cute ideas for this!

Avatar/Legend of Korra

Labyrinth - please please please someone play jareth for me, ill give you my firstborn in exchange

Star Wars - currently a little burned out on playing as kylo for everyone, so please don’t ask me to be him dlfkjdslfj

Game of Thrones

Lord of the Rings

Night in the Woods

Brutal Legend - does anyone but me remember this??? Omfg lets rp in this setting PLS

The Dragon Prince

[blushingonmyknees]

A Weekend to Savor

I received a text from my Domme this afternoon that told me to write about the highlights of this past weekend. She said it didn’t have to be a complete minute by minute rundown of events, but just the most impactful and favorite parts. I am going to do my best to do just that but have no idea how I am going to make this anything but a novel. This has definitely been one of my favorite weeks on this half of 2020 so far.

My roommate was finally going out of town for some time close to Christmas and I informed my Domme about this a few months ago. We have been looking forward to it since I would have complete privacy for the first time in forever and could be used as she saw fit.

Friday finally arrived and roommate was supposed to be heading home but decided to stay until Saturday. This kind of bummed me out but I knew I would be serving my Domme soon. I was also feeling a bit burnt out from the new job, annoying co-workers and certain living situations so I felt like I was at the end of my wick. I was a little nervous about going too deeply into subspace because I was not sure what kind of emotional reaction(s) I would have.

I also confessed that each time I serve her and we do a scene, I ache to throw myself at her feet for at least three days later. There is a noticeable change in my mental state and I was not sure if I could juggle the change between subspace and frustrating coworkers while at work.

She said we could take it easier than we planned but to let her know when my roommate was out of town.

I woke up in a mood on Saturday morning and was craving to serve. I was also desiring release - I have been on my own recognizance since November 7. Before that, I was allowed release on September 24 and then told I would not be allowed to have release without permission for an indefinite period after that. (I asked my Domme earlier in September if I could send out a Tweet teasing/mocking all of the submissive’s locked in chastity for Locktober. I think that she taught me a lesson by making me remain chaste a week before October and a week after. I did truly enjoy her controlling my releases.)

As I said, I have been on my own recognizance since November 7. I notice I pursue release a lot less frequently than I did before she put me on restriction originally. I will admit, 90% of the releases I have had on my own since then, I have had while on my knees or in a bow. I just love knowing I am in my proper place and subjugated while having release, even if I am allowed to do whatever I want while pursuing release lately.

The above paragraphs were necessary to explain my headspace on Saturday. My roommate had just headed out of town and I finally had privacy. This meant I could catch up on Tumblr and D/s Twitter with privacy and I was in a mood. I had thought about taking matters into my own hands and thought, “I’ll just pursue release.”

Even with these thoughts, I couldn’t even bring myself to touch my irrelevant parts. It is a protocol that I must immediately notify my Domme when I have privacy. I quickly messaged my Queen and let her know my headspace and desires. She informed me that while I wouldn’t have broken any rules, she would be retaking control of when/if I orgasmed Saturday through Wednesday.

I felt rather desperate at this point and deeply wanted to be subjugated by her. I asked her if it was time for me to have a meal that we had previously discussed.

I have been curious about what having my Domme control various access to food would be like. I have eaten meals from my knees without utensils. I have had her decide what I would order from a restaurant. But in anticipation of time to ourselves, I had asked her what sort of meals she would have me eat if I was ever only allowed to eat from a bowl on a ground or to eat my meals while in a cage. She shared several options but she told me that we would first experience rice and beans. This meal can be plain if unseasoned and undignified to eat from the ground or without utensils (but still nutritionally sound because my Domme takes care of me even when acutely reminding me of her power over me).  It feels like a firm reminder of my place, knowing she can choose this meal for me. Reminded that I am only worthy of the food she allows even after I’ve cooked her a meal of whatever dish she desires.

I was then ordered to confirm my roommate was truly gone, to give her a check-in and to let her know what level my anxiety was at from the idea of going into subspace.

I confirmed roommate was truly gone, gave her a check-in and admitted that I was a little nervous about going to work while in subspace on Monday or driving home for Christmas while in subspace, but all I wanted to do at that point was to throw it all out the window and serve because I finally had privacy.

After some discussion, it was decided and I received this message, “Plan for today: prepare & eat your rice and beans (you’ll be sitting on a cushion on the floor to eat) then if logistics permit, we’ll boot shop and after that we’ll do another check-in and I’ll decide how to use you for the rest of the day.”

I was then told to fetch my collar, put it on and get on camera. It was around 11:30 a.m. at this time. We had some connectivity issues with the video, so I spent probably around 15-minutes just walking around the kitchen in my collar, t-shirt and boxers. Eventually, I started teasing the camera and at one point pulled my boxers beneath my cheeks and groped my ass.

My Domme noticed this and quickly ordered to go get my jockstrap and put it on. If I was going to be a needy toy and tease like that, then I would be on display.

When I was properly attired in my matching jockstrap and collar, I was put in a few positions and we did a photoshoot. I arched my back, bent over and posed as she directed me to. It was actually a very fun scene and I like pleasing her.

After the photoshoot, I was told to prepare my lunch. Begin with the black beans and add a pinch of cinnamon to them and a dash of salt. Prepare them on medium-high heat and then make my rice in the microwave. I was allowed one serving of rice with garlic sea salt. When the entire meal was prepared, I was to call and await further instructions.

I loved cooking in my collar, as it served as a firm reminder of who I belong to. I love how my collar provides light pressure around my throat. Obeying her instructions helped me slip into subspace and reminded me of my place. I am so thankful I am her useful object.

I immediately called her and informed her my meal was ready. She then instructed me to get a couch cushion and place it against a wall – that is where I would be eating my lunch. Then, I was told to get on my knees in the kitchen and thank her for deciding my lunch.

I could not stop whimpering when thanking her and was eventually ordered to all fours. I kept thanking her for taking control of me and my meals. After she was satisfied with my gratitude, I was commanded to go into a bow.

I almost lost my breath because I was swooning so hard. She told me she was happy with her training because she had already trained me how to properly clean as a good house bitch and now she was training me how to cook properly for myself.

I remember when being on my knees in the kitchen, how different it felt than having a cushion. I double-checked when she ordered me to my knees because she always wants me to have a cushion. It really put me in a deeper headspace by having me kneel on the spot on the hard floor and thank her. I can’t wait to experience this more in my future.

Eventually, I was allowed up off my knees and told to get a bowl and a spoon. I would be permitted utensils for this meal. I was to layer the rice at the bottom of the bowl and then put about half that portion of black beans on top. Then it was time to get on video and in my spot. It was a fairly relaxing lunch, with me floating in subspace.

I was allowed a second serving of rice and beans after my first bowl and for this bowl I had to wait until I had permission for each bite. Obeying her orders feels right.

When the bowl was finished, I was told to lick it out with my mouth and tongue. I quickly realized how hard it is to lick cinnamon from a bowl because I spent probably 15 minutes licking and did not see much progress. I like knowing this is good practice for my future.

At one point, my Domme snapped her fingers and did a “shooing” motion to the camera. Earlier she mentioned she may have company and if she did, to remove my collar but remain where I was. I have been trained to kneel when she snaps her fingers before, so at first my brain went, “On my knees?”

I quickly realized someone was entering the house when I heard commotion. I quickly, but gently, removed my collar. It was my Domme’s family! Her extended family knows me as a vanilla friend of my Domme so I chatted a bit with her mother and said hello to the family dog.

Once her parents left, I was ordered back into my collar and couldn’t stop laughing, smiling and blushing. Truth be told, I did feel like I was buzzing in and out of subspace most of Saturday afternoon because I just couldn’t quit smiling from finally being able to serve my Domme with privacy again even if her privacy was more interrupted than mine this weekend.

When lunch was finished, I was told to put the leftovers in a dish and clean up. After doing so, I was then ordered to my bed because my Domme wanted to take a nap. We chatted a bit and then I was told to either nap or cross a few items off the to-do list while she slept. Her only stipulation was I must remain in my collar the rest of the day.

I stayed on the video until my Domme started dozing off and then I went and started gathering the Christmas gifts I have for my family. I am not the best Christmas wrapper, but I got out the wrapping paper and attempted to do my best. It actually didn’t turn out too terrible.

Around 7 p.m., my Domme messaged and had awoken from her nap.

Most of Saturday night was spent relaxing and then messaging with my Domme. She wanted to know if my favorite part of the day had changed from earlier. My earlier answer was, “Just spending time together, owner,” which was still my favorite part.

She let me know her favorite parts were me teasing my mouth with the spoon, how bold I was in displaying my ass and having me on my knees in the kitchen. These answers made me happy. I did subtly tease my mouth with the spoon earlier, after all, is it a proper meal for a submissive if you hadn’t licked the length of the spoon a couple times and tested your gag reflex at least twice?

Later that night, I was told to get my black stretchy belt and my cuffs with carabiners. My Domme wanted me to try some new restraint positions – including attempting to restrain my wrists, shackling my ankles together and then attaching them all together. It was a little frustrating doing this because for self-tie safety I never fully got my wrists restrained with the belt.

I could tell my Domme was enjoying seeing me struggle testing the feasibilities of the new position and it made me happy. I enjoy struggling for her viewing pleasure. After I did manage to get everything properly restrained, I was told to attempt to lie back on my side in the closet.

There wasn’t enough room, but I did manage to get almost all the way down. Then I asked if we may please attempt this position with me restrained to a leg of the bed. She permitted this and had me grab two blindfolds.

I then restrained my ankles around the leg of the bed, restrained my left wrist with the belt and then looped the tongue of the belt through the carabiners on my shackles and back up to my right wrist and then tied it around that wrist to complete the shackles.

My breath hitched immediately, and I was so happy to be restrained in my Domme’s presence. After having to readjust at one point, my Domme told me to take the two handkerchiefs and blindfold myself. I did as I was told and then went back into position.

She asked if I was cold because I looked like I was shivering. Then, she mocked me because she figured my shivering was more from my breath hitching and me being in subspace than anything related to temperature. I truly love being subjugated in this way and was left in position for a little over 10 minutes.

Afterwards, it was time to remove my wrist restraints and get on all fours and do some positions in front of the camera. At one point, I knocked over my water and was immediately ordered out of my blindfolds and to clean up. Little did I know, as I was cleaning, I was also putting on a show for the camera with my jockstrap not hiding my ass very well. She seemed to enjoy it and I love making her happy.

When everything was cleaned up, I dropped to my knees and asked permission to get in bed. I was allowed in bed, ordered out of my shackles, and told to re-blindfold myself. We then chatted and discussed our favorite parts of the day. At one point, I was allowed out of my blindfold to see the photos she had taken of me earlier.

The timestamp on the message said, “Missed messages at 2:46 a.m.” I had to take a double-take and have her confirm the time for me because it was way past the typical bedtime of 10:30 p.m. that she sets for me. I loved the photos she took and truly love seeing myself subjugated and in submissive positions.

Sometime around 3:30 a.m., I was told to remove my collar and jockstrap and to get into boxers and a t-shirt for sleep. I was then put to bed and told to sleep in as late as possible on Sunday since she kept me up so late. She also mentioned my rice and beans that I had for leftovers would make a nice breakfast.

I woke up at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday and immediately messaged my Domme. I had dreams of serving her throughout the night and later learned she had dreams of me too.

At 11 a.m., I went and watched Church online and had my rice and beans for breakfast.

When Church was over, I went and grabbed some Panda Express for lunch. Once I returned to the apartment and finished eating, I began organizing some items in my room, tearing apart and disposing of packages and boxes from deliveries of gifts I ordered online, did the dishes and put them away, threw in laundry, folded it and put it away and started going through some paperwork I’ve been needing to organize.

Around 3:20 p.m., I received a text from my Queen. “How is relaxation/rest going today?”

I messaged her back and let her know how productive I was being. She reminded me that I wanted some rest time and to take it easy. She was pleased I was being a good house bitch but told me to find at least an hour or two and make sure I do nothing but relax.

I finished my chores and sat down and watched part of a basketball game. At 5:20 p.m., I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had been in a submissive headspace and aching to serve all day. I think the reason I was so productive was because I wanted to make myself useful. I messaged my Domme and asked if she would choose my dinner. Should I have rice and beans, Popeye’s, steak or stirfry for dinner? At the end of the dinner options, I confessed, “I am 100% down for rice and beans for supper and to be told to make enough for work tomorrow.”

My Domme let me know she loved picking my meals and that she had decided I would prepare steak. I am to prepare rice and beans like the day before and to cut the steak pieces small enough that I could eat it without utensils if ordered to. I was to make the rice and beans the same as I did on Saturday, but I was to use butter on the rice for being such a good house bitch. I was to be in my collar while making food.

I did as I was told and after everything was prepared, I got on my knees and took a few photos with my phone of my dinner. I then sent them to my Domme and had her decide the best photo to use and a caption for it. She loved the photos but wished I was in a lighter colored shirt, so she had me change shirts and retake the photos.

For the first few bites of food, she ordered me to be on my knees and to take them without utensils. After three bites, she allowed me up off my knees and onto furniture and allowed me to use utensils.

I very much loved doing the food photoshoot and being reminded that I am her subordinate. All I want to do is serve her and I can feel my submission growing more and more each day. I loved knowing that so many of my meals were rice & beans and I was subjugated as she saw fit.

When she told me she looks forward to having more complete control of my meals and deciding when I earn different flavors and foods, my heart nearly skipped out of my chest. She really knows how to make my heart skip beats and she controls both me and it entirely.

My neck started getting a little sore after dinner, so I was told to remove my collar. I was in a very submissive headspace most of the day and we attempted to just chat before bed. I confessed that I desire to be made to make rice and beans, be ordered to my knees and crawl behind her someday only to be led to my cage, where I will be eating from my knees without utensils while locked inside and while she is eating a nice steak dinner that I prepared for her on the other side. She teased that this sounded like a natural progression of her control over me and I responded by saying I want to be her subordinate every day and in every way.

All I want to do is serve her and be useful. I commented about how I enjoyed how we “took it easy” this weekend and I still wound up in this headspace.  I also mentioned that I would enjoy someday only being allowed rice and beans for about 10 days in her presence for every meal to see what it does to my headspace.

We chatted some more and talked about our dreams from the night before. I also admitted I kind of wanted to get her a flogger to use on me. I enjoy being beaten by her and am very much looking forward to my next beating.

Discussing all of this put me in a mood. One of my new mantras to center me is, “My irrelevant parts are distracting me, Ma’am. May I please serve you in any way to get back into the correct headspace?”

I decided to send her the mantra and I attempted to resist distraction from the needy desire of my irrelevant parts. As we continued talking, it attempted to make itself known again and I let her know.

I was then told to head to the kitchen and fetch four ice cubes. Once I returned, I dropped to my knees and waited for permission to get in bed once again. Once granted, I was asked if irrelevant parts were still having strong reactions. I said no and this seemed to please her, knowing all that needed to happen was the threat of ice cubes.

I was then commanded to pull my t-shirt up, grab one cube and start rubbing it on my nipples. I whimpered very loudly at this point because it is chilly here and my apartment was 63 degrees. I was then ordered to get another cube and rub it underneath my sack.

It was so very cold! I felt it throughout my entire body, as the cold sensation set in and the other cube was dripping in the middle of my chest. This made me very noisy.

As this was happening, I was instructed to take the third cube and rub it up and down my crack. My arousal was very much gone at this point and then she told me to put the ice cube between my cheeks. The fourth cube was then put between my teeth and I was made to hold it.

I was a very wet boy at this point and not the way I thought I would be. I wondered if this was part of her plan. I was told after this to take the cube between my cheeks and hold it firmly it against my entrance, but not to push it in. I was kept like this for what felt like a few minutes but was probably closer to a minute, tops.

The cube held by my teeth made me feel like I was drooling because it kept dripping into my mouth and down on my lips. Shortly after this, I was told to remove all cubes. I was surprised that my backside had a slight burning sensation and was throbbing for quite some time after this.

I was very noisy during this experience including whimpering, “I have learned my lesson, Ma’am!” quite a few times. I later learned this was music to her ears.

She allowed me to grab a towel and clean up before putting me to bed. Her final instructions for the night was to wake up a few minutes early on Monday and to get my bath brush. I would be taking six strikes on each cheek before heading to work, to give me a slight sting throughout my workday and a reminder of who I belong to.

When my alarm went off this morning (Monday), I had trouble waking up. I knew what I had to do, so I gave myself two hard slaps on each ass cheek with my hand to try and motivate myself. It seemed to work, because before I knew it, I had my boxers down in the living room with the bath brush in hand.

I was half-asleep and still trying to get my balance, so I made sure to give each cheek around 10 strikes to make sure they would count and be satisfactory if my Domme was judging them. I took a few photos and realized I had a nice blush on my cheeks and sent them to my Domme for proof, along with my morning message.

I still felt like I was in a submissive space at work and messaged my Domme throughout the day. My favorite message came right before lunch when she said, “Thinking of you while I shop. Had sushi for my lunch. Hope you enjoy your rice & beans.”

That was quite the message to receive right before warming up my rice and beans. They tasted delicious! It feels proper having rice and beans, while my Domme is having a meal fit for a Queen. I truly hope someday she subjugates me to rice and beans from my knees, while she has an expensive, delicious meal right in front of me.

Thoughts of serving her played through my mind at work and I received a text this afternoon informing me she will be deciding my outfit and my dinner tonight. I bit my lip fairly hard, knowing she has so much control over me and that she is enjoying herself.

After work, I got home and changed from work clothes to a t-shirt and shorts and then laid down in bed. It felt so wrong! I so quickly became used to asking permission to be on furniture that I felt out of place. I immediately got back out of bed and called my Domme.

“Permission to get in bed, owner?” I asked. She said I was a very good boy, and she enjoyed the headspace I am in. She asked what my dinner options were, and I told her I was waiting to be informed of my dinner options.

She mentioned she really liked my idea of having rice and beans for several days, so that is just what I would be doing. I am to cook rice and beans tonight and am allowed butter in the rice. I am also to cook green beans and corn. I will be adding garlic sea salt to the three vegetables and plain salt to the rice and combining all the elements into a veggie rice bowl. I am to make enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.

I just about swooned all the way to the floor when she sent another message, “You may have water with your meals.” Losing control like this feels right.

I made my dinner with my ankles cuffed together with my shackles and my collar on. I did a photoshoot for my Domme from my knees after it was finished and said thank you for the meal. My Domme let me know I was allowed on furniture and could use a spoon to eat.

As I was eating, I noticed something seemed to be missing. She then texted me, “How is the food, pet?”

I said it was good, but I miss meat and I know this is good for me. She responded by saying I had meat for lunch today and dinner last night. I thought about that and realized it was something else that was missing.

I texted her and confessed the meal felt a little bland and I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not but I loved it.

She let me know that the lighter seasoning was intentional. I immediately thanked her for intentionally making my dinner a little bland and that I loved it. She told me I was welcome and that she didn’t have me on the ground but there are many ways to remind me that I am in her power.

It thrills me to know that she picked a bland dinner for me, planning that it would keep me in my proper headspace.

Thank you, my Queen, for the amazing last few days. I am thankful every day I get a chance to serve you. Thank you for subjugating me and keeping me in my proper headspace. I look forward to spending even more time together and can’t wait to surrender more control to you.

This post has been typed while I have been in my collar and ankle shackles, as directed. I started this post around 5 p.m. and also made my dinner in this outfit. It is now 10:30 p.m. and it is time to see if my Domme has any more tasks for me to do today or if it is time for this owned boy to go to bed. I am overflowing with gratitude.

[metalbatandzenko]

all the numbers owo

GrCUnA gaoh god sdljhdkjshfkjsh

This is gonna get long so I’ll put it under the cut. I’m also gonna remove the ones I’ve answered already.

1. What fandoms do you write for?

OPM and AtLA. I have a Miraculous Ladybug fic, but the creator is a nightmare and I hate the way the show treats the main character (literally the creator said part of the show’s episode formula is the main character “learns a lesson” every episode: usually through humiliation) and all the characters of color so I really don’t write for it anymore.

2. What pairings do you write for?

Batarou, Mumensai, and I do general fics.

3. What is your most popular fanfic?

My Miraculous Ladybug fic. By like. a lot akfdjhlgkjhfdlkg

It’s got triple the subscriptions and bookmarks, double the hits, and more kudos than any of my other fics. And I haven’t updated since January.

4. Do you write original stories as well?

I do! I’m a creative writing major, so I do a lot of memoir nonfiction and poetry, but I also write fictional short stories.

5. What fanfic of yours should everyone have read?

I don’t think there is one! Different strokes and all. But if you weren’t aware, I’m working on an ATLA fic rn about Zuko trying to repair his relationship with Azula. Not for this fandom, but a fun fic for me because it’s a bit out of my wheelhouse.

6. What is a fandom you will never write for?

Out of the ones I’ve been in, voltron.

7. What is a ship you will never write for?

There are...a lot. For the sake of my mental well being, I will not list them. But I will say any ship between a teen and someone in their mid twenties or beyond is a no go for me.

8. Archive of Our Own, FanFiction.net, Wattpad, Tumblr, etc. which platform do you prefer?

Begrudgingly, Ao3. I have my issues with Ao3 and I think I’ve made those pretty clear (and they’ve gotten me into some hot water lmao) but it’s a good place to put fics.

10. How do you stay motivated to finish what you’ve started?

I could not tell you. I am so bad at staying motivated. Certain fics I love writing. Others feel like I’m pulling teeth.

11. What’s your longest fanfic?

Hidden Horns. By a lot. like 20k words a lot.

12. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

A bit of both, but I lean towards laughing. The world needs more light.

13. What is your planning process?

Depends on the fic. For short ones or oneshots, there really isn’t one. For longer fics, I’ll have an outline, but a lot of times I’m laying tracks as I go. If I think of a good scene or line, I’ll write it down and just keep it at the end of my doc until it comes up in the story.

15. OCs or no OCs?

OC’s only when they’re necessary for plot. For example, Madame Oshitani in Hidden Horns only really showed up because I needed a piano teacher, and I couldn’t have it be an existing hero. Outside of that, I tend to avoid putting OC’s in fics, because I find them disruptive when I’m reading fics.

16. Do you use sentence starters, writing prompts and/or fandom headcanons for your fanfics?

Sometimes! Hidden Horns was based off of this fanart. If they are, I make sure to note that in the notes.

20. Can we get a list of all of your current available fanfics?

Yeah you got:

A (Not So) Brief Hiatus-Miraculous Ladybug

Promises to Keep-OPM/batarou

Little Boy-OPM/Metal Bat centric

A Game of Chase-OPM/batarou

Not Invincible-OPM/batatou death

Someone Fun-OPM/Mumensai

Date With the Devil-OPM/Mumensai sequel

Something of Note-OPM/Mumensai

Conduct Evil-OPM/batarou

Grief and Other Intangibles-OPM/Zombiedad and CE death

Horns and Fangs Series (Hidden Horns and Fear and Fangs)-OPM/batarou

Spaghetti and Juiceboxes-OPM/Zombiedad and CE

I guess they don't like me but I never figured out why (I guess they think I don't like them either)-ATLA/Zuko reaches out to Azula

21. What’s your shortest fanfic?

Conduct Evil at a whopping 354 words.

23. Long chapters or short chapters?

They vary! Mine tend to be pretty short, like 1k-4k.

24. How many WIPs (work-in-progress) do you’ve got?

*sweats* Like 17 at least

25. How many WIPs will you finish?

Rude to assume I won’t finish all of them eight if I’m lucky

26. First-person-narrative or third-person-narrative?

Third. I hate writing in first person except for in nonfiction.

27. Do you take requests?

Kind of. If people send me an ask that I vibe with, I might write something, but as a general rule, no. I’ve been considering doing commissions though, so if you want to toss a coin to your bitcher lmk

28. I will name you three things (object — scenario — fandom/ship): write a paragraph or two!

I can’t do this one without those three kdjhflkjsdh

29. What’s more difficult? Fanfics or original work?

They’re difficult in different ways, but original is way harder.

Original work means there’s zero scaffolding to build off of except for the scaffolding you make yourself, and there’s a lot of issues with worldbuilding and creating complex and relatable characters.

Fanfic relies on a solid understanding of existing characters and dynamics, as well as the internal logic of the world. The scaffolding is there, but often times it’s stifling.

30. What writing software do you use?

Word and Google Docs fkjhslgkjh

31. Do you use beta/sensitive readers?

Nope. I probably should though.

32. Past or present tense?

Past. I can’t consistently write in present.

33. Do friends and family know that you write fanfics?

Some of my friends do. I’ve shared some with them! I use fanfic as warmup, so a lot of my writing friends know about my fics.

34. How did you find the world of fanfics?

I wrote Adventure Time fanfic on middle school and published them on an Adventure Time facebook group. They were wildly popular in the group.

36. Did you ever delete a work of yours?

I don’t think so tbh.

37. Did your work ever get plagiarized?

If it did, I wouldn’t know. But I highly doubt it.

38. Do you partake in any fanfic/writing events? (Big bangs, zines, NaNoWriMo, etc?)

No because I can’t stick to a deadline.

39. Collaborations or working solo?

I’ve never done a collaboration before.

41. What is something you don’t like about your writing?

I rely really heavily on dialogue and I’m suuuper aware of it. I think the thing is I do a lot of domestic fics, and even my story fics tend to be pretty domestic. I’m looking at you Hidden Horns

My original work doesn’t tend to lean on it as heavily.

43. Guilty pleasure tropes and scenarios?

I am a die hard found family bitch. Nothing guilty about it.

44. Does fanart of your fanfic exist?

Yes, actually. The aforementioned middle school fic got mini fancomic for the first chapter, and I wrote a Miraculous Ladybug ficlet in a fic chain that got fanart.

45. Do fanfics of your fanfic exist?

I think there might be one that was inspired by my fic, but I can’t remember tbh.

47. What fanfic of yours is truly underrated?

My ATLA fic!!! give it some love tf :/ (kidding of course.)

50. Can we get a teaser for an upcoming chapter?

Yeah, here you go:

The hero removed his coat and dropped it on the ground, where it landed with a solid “thud”.

He unhooked the holster under his arms, removed a knife from both boots, and unstrapped the machetes from his back.

They joined the trench coat in the pile.

Garou watched in equal parts awe and horror as Zombieman continued to produce weapons from increasingly improbable locations.

Finally, when the pile at his feet was large enough to arm a private militia, Zombieman stopped.

“I’ve got a pistol in my chest, but I’d prefer not to take that one out,” he said, pushing past Garou. “Feels rude to invite myself over then get blood all over the tatami.”

[toothpaste-dragon]

I know for questions, you're probably talking about Far From Home, but what about William, the fish guy? What was he like in the early days of character development? How has he changed since you first thought of him? And I guess, same question for the FFH folks. Thanks in advance.

I was honestly so excited to receive this question because I LOVE my boy William! Plus it’s fun to talk about character origin stories.

Buckle up. This is gonna be a long answer.

Up until 2014 my art largely consisted of fanart or fan characters, so I had never produced content that was truly original. During spring of that year, I stumbled upon and quickly become enamored with some original characters on deviantart, many of which were ‘monsters’ (vampires, mermaids, werewolves, etc.). Seeing these characters inspired me to create my own story with characters that catered to my own interests.

William is the first original character I ever created, so he has a special place in my heart. This is my very fist sketch of him! (Sorry for the low quality.)

My initial idea for his story was disorganized and had a lot of missing pieces. In the early days of character development, William was nothing more than a character I liked for his design and personality. I had very little experience with character creation, so I put a lot of myself into him. He was shy and timid and anxious at times, but he also had low self-esteem and didn’t feel like he fit in anywhere. And for good reason — his backstory was one of confusion and grief. Originally, he was an orphan that had been kidnapped by scientists and genetically modified to resemble a fish, all while retaining his previous characteristics and a humanoid shape. The scientists raised him and were training him for some unknown task, of which I never decided before changing the direction of the story entirely.

William and his story turned six during March of this year, and both have changed A LOT since then! He’s no longer a chemist, nor does he have any experience in the sciences. I also gave him some glasses and a nice argyle sweater (which now serves as his classic look, haha), and I’ve decided he’s of Asian descent for reasons explained in a few paragraphs. Not only have I refined his story to be more practical and understandable, but I’ve also given William a purpose, something to pursue. He’s still anxious and feels like he doesn’t belong, but he doesn’t stay that way forever.

I always liked stories about monsters, in the sense that something not-quite-human longs for a place among normal people. Society views these ‘monsters’ as unnatural or potentially dangerous, and yet the monster displays more humanity than the humans themselves. I really want to lean into that idea as I tell William’s story. He may not be your typical monster, but he certainly feels like one. Different, unnatural, out of place. Yet he has a kind heart and a childlike fascination with the world. The road is difficult, but with a bit of help he eventually finds his niche.

Here’s my most recent sketch for comparison, and a lovely depiction of William by my pal HareSoup!

Besides the few changes mentioned above, Will hasn’t changed much design-wise. He has fins in place of ears, gills on his neck, scales scattered across his face/trunk/limbs, and a bit of webbing between his fingers/toes. He can breathe underwater and on land, but his scales and gills have to receive moisture every 1-2 hours or he’ll develop health issues/fall ill.

I don’t remember when I decided I wanted to write a full-length book telling Will’s story, but it’s still a goal of mine! To give you a brief synopsis of the current story, now titled “Fish Out of Water”, it takes place some years after the signing of the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, which officially brought the Arms Race to an end. During the Arms Race, nuclear weapons were tested without concern for radiation and the effects it had on nearby civilians. In one particular scenario, Asian civilians were evacuated from a small town-turned nuclear test site, but they were not properly protected. The offspring of these civilians developed unnatural deformities/features, such as extra limbs or feathers, as a result of exposure to unhealthy levels of radiation. Worried that this development would mortify the public, the government hid the children in a science facility stationed in a secluded part of the ocean, and they remained within its walls for years. After 28 years, William escapes the facility with the help of his guilt-ridden caretaker and is found unconscious on the shore of a coastal city by marine biologist Martha Collins. The story follows Will as he attempts to shake his government pursuers, but it’s really a story about friendship, self-worth, and discovering what it truly means to be human.

Though unfinished, William’s story is very special to me, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with the world someday :>

As for the Far From Home folks, they came from simple beginnings. It all started with a sketch — this one to be exact!

Back in the spring of 2017, I was stressed and tired and frustrated with school, so I thought it’d be fun to create some new characters. Specifically, comfort characters that fit my favorite tropes. I took a lot of inspiration from the movies “Ernest & Celestine” and “You Are Umasou” when it came to personalities and character dynamics. I loved the idea of a tough, grumpy man who is completely unqualified to be a father stumbling upon and eventually adopting a small, bright-eyed child. There’s just so much you can do with that concept!

I specifically remember sitting in the library at school and just…drawing. I had no initial designs in mind besides something big and sharp, and something small and soft. Two opposites that would become a makeshift family.

I liked the designs enough to digitalize them, reworking aspects of their designs in the process. This was the first ‘accurate’ drawing of Baz and Toko. (I don’t like it too much anymore, but it’s a good color reference!)

I never like leaving a character without a story, so I eventually came up with a couple ideas that adequately described their relationship. In fact, my first idea presented Toko as some sort of child princess and Baz as her assigned bodyguard! That one obviously didn’t stick, but it did allow me to gain a better understanding of what I wanted.

Over time, I did a bit of world building and expanded upon the FFH universe, which opened and closed doors for potential storylines. I realized I wanted to add more characters too, leading to the creation of Gerdie and some other important figures. Gerdie looked quite a bit different than he does now — in fact, he was originally supposed to be an android! I played around with that idea for a while before eventually discarding it.

Here’s my most recent size chart featuring all three main characters!

I honestly never expected Far From Home to expand beyond a simple idea, and yet here I am, thinking I can turn the story into a trilogy someday. There’s still a lot of work to do if I want to reach that goal, but I genuinely enjoy these characters and their dynamic is really fun! They’ve grown very dear to me over the past three years. So I think that’s reason enough to try, anyway.

To give a bit of background on the story itself, it’s set in a fictional version of outer space where humans don’t exist. Intelligent, technologically-advanced aliens from neighboring planets/galaxies have established contact with one another, leading to the gradual formation of an intergalactic government and melting pot mega-society. Due to the unforeseen complexity of this endeavor, strict rules were put in place to regulate the selling/purchasing of certain goods and services, transportation between galaxies, and other related activities. This system is not without complications.

Baz and Gerdie work as intergalactic merchants, but that’s just a cover for their job as smugglers. Together, they travel to different galaxies and exchange goods for the designated currency, as well as deliver illegal substances to specific planets. Baz is the captain and pilots the ship while Gerdie is an engineer and works as the mechanic. They’ve known each other for quite some time when the story first begins. Baz has quite the interesting history, much of which ties into important aspects of the story.

Toko is a young alien who gets separated from her family and wakes up in the storage unit of Baz’s ship, with no memory of how she got there. Baz finds her and suspects she’s a thief, but she quickly explains her predicament and asks that he help reunite her with her family. Baz is reluctant at first and denies her request, only to discover there’s more to her story than he originally thought. Unintentionally dragging Baz into a frightening adventure full of old friends and all-too-familiar foes, Toko eventually inspires a change of heart in the smuggler. The story explores themes like forgiveness, what it really means to be good/bad, and the idea that family isn’t defined by blood.

I know that was a lot, but I hope it was at least somewhat interesting! Thanks for asking about my characters and sticking with me through this <3