#I wrote out the first like. Two paragraphs in the tags before hitting 30 tags so I had to re-write that much so that was a good amount of-

[fantasykiri5]

I don’t knowwwwwww maybe fucking. Minecraft?

I mean I think they’re doing a pretty decent job as is, or at least they are in theory but then the ways they go about implementing the things they want to add are not quite right? Like idk.

The mob vote for example: really cool in theory and a great way to get the community involved. Grants user feedback on wants and needs for the game. BUT it also sows a Lot of fucking discord because the options usually are not balanced for potential. Like they’ll have one option that’s like. The easy dump option. Not super fleshed out, or wouldn’t blend well with existing gameplay or game lore, or really focusses energy on one specific playstyle instead of a diverse spectrum of players, or would just be kinda fucking annoying (phantoms) or whatever other reason right? Then the other two options will be a bit closer to compare.

The last two votes have had golems as an option, making them an easy immediate no for me (taking something from Jewish lore and attaching it to other mobs that are already insane Jewish characatures tends to make me not like a mob, which I’ll go more into depth on later.) but while this makes my choice pretty easy, others who may not have the context of this knowledge- through coincidental OR willful ignorance (for example: very large very young userbase) still see merit in the actual mechanic and/or worldlore concepts they present. Which is valid!! I would love to see a little guy that wanders around pressing buttons! Just call it a robot or automaton and change the harmful visual design. I would love to see a little guy that turns into a weird little statue that you can decorate!! Just call it a gargoyle or living statue and change the harmful visual design.

Basically the mob vote is a Cool idea (and making it so you need a Minecraft account to vote was SUPER needed after the whole D***m and glow squid thing a few years back, because of him and his goons’ insanely massive twitter influence— plus it gives the younger side of the playerbase a vote when they couldn’t on twitter, which is MASSIVE considering kids younger than 13 make up probably at least half of their playerbase) BUT they need to put more equally balanced mobs up for choice. AND put less focus on it: have a plan for the update, make three mob concepts that would fit the update theme without becoming the face of it, THEN let the community pick.

Or do something like the biome vote again. Maybe a vote for the general update theme honestly. Put together a list of some theme ideas that were planned for being added at some point regardless, draft up a couple bits of concept for each (even just art or mechanic ideas) in, say, two or three sets of three themes each, leaving two-three years before you start to recycle concepts. After the first three are chosen from the first groups, put the three runner-ups together the year after. Go in to the last place choices from the first three years and see community feedback on what parts were enjoyed and which parts weren’t well received, tweak them from there, then toss them back into the list with the other two runner-ups from the first three years, along with any other theme ideas you feel like adding, then just rinse-repeat.

BUT if they’re gonna stick with mobs for the community vote then they gotta have whatever mob chosen be WAYYY less central to the update.

Second example: Trial chambers, Trail runes, and other exploration-heavy additions to the game.

I think adding more exploration elements to the game is awesome, both in terms of being generally interesting, and fleshing out the lore of the world you play in a really cool way! It’s clearly long abandoned, and it’s super fun to travel and learn about those who abandoned it! I think the Trial chambers are a blast and are terrific for playing with friends as they make a great way to pass a few hours and have some laughs, and the Trail ruins I find cool because I just like archeology and enjoy more menial tasks in-game!

However.

That is because of the specific player-type I represent. I’d usually call myself a weird blend of explorer, miner/gatherer/hoarder, and builder, but there are SOOOO many ways to play the game that it just feels silly to CONSTANTLY push nothing but exploration-type gameplay for multiple years when the whole point of the game is that there are literally infinite ways to play it. (And yes, I know there was substantial Redstone stuff in the tricky trials update, but my point is that the focus is on just exploration for so long.)

Like, a very exploration-focused update is fun, but two in a row (at LEAST, that’s being generous to the last good handful), for lack of a better expression, gets old. Updates focused on one play style at a time aren’t a bad thing— in fact I think its better to do it that way because there’s less risk of over-promising and means the updates that do get implemented were really thought about in context to that play style, generally leading to higher quality additions! BUT to do that, you have to mix up which play styles you’re focusing on each update, so as to remove bias.

For example: you could do an exploration focused update, but then next year do a super building focused update, where you don’t add a huge amount in the ways of technical function or interesting structures, but instead focus on a much more vast expansion of the available palette of blocks in the game. Adding things like new wood types or biome variants (without crazy new gen rules or whatever) or new dyes or new ways to use existing dyes like staining wood! Decorative things like non-functional foliage and other decoration entities and blocks would also fit under this (stuff like idk, shelves, or variant block additions like the tuff and copper from this last update would count too.)

After that you could do a Redstoner update that doesn’t add to the game lore and doesn’t add a million new blocks, BUT adds a bunch of cool new practical functions! Or a Miner/Hoarder update that handles inventory management (which is like to say isn’t as big an issue as most make it out to be, y’all just don’t know how to organize your shit. Carrying around two loose sticks a pork chop three coins and a ball of lint isn’t great for inventory management guys >:| just empty your damn pockets.) and other storage and UI changes, like a more vast storage container, or like shulker enchantments to make it hold more stuff. Bundles would also fit under this, since they are technically in the game, they just don’t have a recipe, I’m pretty sure you can get them with /give even without the experimental pack enabled. (BUNDLES AREN’T BAD EITHER YALL JUST DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE THEM. They’re not for large amounts of stuff or things to need frequent quick access to, they’re for small handfuls of odds and ends you pick up while traveling, like small bits of treasure or a small individual amount of a large variety of flowers, etc. You Are All Just Using Them Wrong. Bundles are my fucking baby don’t you dare say anything bad about her again.)

The list basically goes on and on, but the point I’m trying to make is that updates for one type of player at a time are a good thing, but only when you actually devote different updates to a lot of different player types, instead of focusing on just exploration for some reason.

My final point isn’t a future development thing, but an active change I would make as immediately as possible:

Change the fucking villagers.

And I don’t mean the biome based trades (which could be cool as a toggleable option like phantoms, but again, focus on just explorer players while neglecting other player types.)

No, I’m talking about the insane antisemitic caricatures that are the whole way the villagers & illagers are designed (which I briefly touched on earlier in reference to all the golem concepts of recent mob votes.)

I’d like to preface this by saying I’m not Jewish myself, I’m an atheist and mixed Indigenous American and white, so I don’t have first hand experience with antisemitism and am not as intimately aquatinted with every issue with the villagers, but I’ve read a good amount about the main big ones so. If there’s anything else I miss feel free to add on in a reblog, as I would love to see it.

Basically, it’s a lot on the visual designs and the naming. “Villager” and “Illager” are innocuous enough on there own, and the later is a pretty decent pun on the former, but the naming issue comes primarily from Iron Golems being referred to as golems. Again, I’m not super deeply versed, but I do know that golems are a concept from the Jewish belief system and are a form of construct. Again, on its own this wouldn’t be as huge of a deal (I mean, it’d still sorta be appropriation, but if it were done on its own and more respectfully I think it could tilt to appreciation instead.) but it’s very much purposely paired with the visual designs of the villagers and witches (and later other illagers.)

Like. Mobs whose only real shtick in-game is emeralds(money) and trading (implying greed), have big noses and unibrows as highlighted and exaggerated features, AND summon golems?? Honest to god it’s hard to get any more obvious with bigoted stereotyping than that. Notably also with the wart on the side of the nose for witches too. Like it’s just nasty. Having a mob in the game that’s just for trading is fine, but so clearly and intentionally tying it to draw that connection is frankly fucking hateful. It’s very much a remnant from when Notch worked on the game, because he is notoriously a shitty person in a number of regards including but very much not limited to antisemitism, but the blame for it being in the game is not fully off of the current dev’s shoulders as they actively choose not to change it.

My solution? Just change it.

I mean, they changed bats’ model after YEARS and years of making merch with bats on it with no problem! Honestly I’d be willing to bet there’s more merch out there with bats on it than there is merch with villagers!! AND they changed the Vexes to better match Allays! There’s no way this is actually an issue (and I hope the change of the bats was a sort of test run regarding merch and audience pushback in preparation for changing the villager stuff, but I’m also a chronic optimist so who knows if that hope is in any way true.)

It’d honestly be a simple set of changes: change the visual designs of villagers and illagers to remove the Jewish caricatures (I’ve seen texture packs that make them different anthros which are fun, but something so simple as getting rid of the nose and unibrow would work too) and change the iron golem face to match whatever they’re changed to, then rename it to ‘iron construct’ or something along those lines. Like it wouldn’t even require much editing of code (outside of name correcting.) it’d pretty much just be a built-in texture pack. There are a million texture packs out there with this specific purpose. It’d be so simple. That’s my whole point, it’s just that it would be an easy as fuck problem to fix and it has to be willful ignorance on the dev’s parts that it’s not even been properly acknowledged, much less addressed, in the time since Notch left the team.

The final thing is change is community communication. It’s just not strong enough I feel. Like more frequent, more in depth progress updates (like the written little articles, not actual game updates) is pretty much it. Over-promising and under-delivering has become a bigger and bigger issue the last few years (often with good reason, don’t get me wrong, or at least when Covid first hit and everything) and honestly just keeping the community up to date on this kind of thing is the only solution. If you pick up something that’s too ambitious for your time schedule and you need to either drop or postpone it that’s fine, it happens, but letting the community know as these things are decided should be the standard. Even if you go back and say “hey, we actually DO have the time, so we’re gonna pick it back up again, false alarm!” That’s LEAGUES better then just saying “oops, bit of more than we could chew with the concept we showed you 8 months ago and there’s no time to live up to it, guess we’ll just leave you super underwhelmed by not letting you know what to expect!” And just. Leaving it like that. Let us know AS THINGS ARE BEING DONE what to expect with updates, let us know if it changes down the line WHEN it changes! A few little surprises could be fun for the final official update, but since snapshots are a public thing anyways there’s no reason to not explain exactly why x thing feels empty or rushed. Like, I like tricky trials a lot, but it also feels a little empty because the whole update pretty much just focuses on that one structure. When the later snapshots with mostly bug fixes started coming out I kept thinking “oh, it’s all in the chambers, nothing else they’re surprising us with?” Like it’s not a bad thing the update is ONLY about the chambers themselves, but making that clearer would have definitely curbed that disappointment in not only myself but a large portion of the community as a whole.

Anyways. It’s 12:33am now and I started writing this at probably 10:45, or 11 at the latest. So. I’m going the fuck to bed. Goodbye all disappears into the night

YOU! Are granted the power to suddenly own ONE video game franchise, and to hire the best people who have ever worked on it (and/or anyone else you want in on it).

What video game franchise are you rescuing--er, acquiring?

[yuyan]

To my darling

A/n: Merry Christmas and have a happy new year! I hope you enjoy it @pavo-ocell-me! This was a very fun event that I loved taking part in @2023gisecretsanta

Pairing: Lyney x gn!reader

Tags: Pure fluff! Modern au, implied school/college setting, penpals, pre-established relationship, reader is learning French, where reader lives doesn't have snow, one curse word just one ^^

"Take intermediate French they said. You'll be fine they said," you muttered to no one in particular as you read the Google translation over and over again. "My French teacher is going to kill me."

You rubbed your eyes, peeking out of makeshift pillow your arms made. Standing tall at the front of the class with a booming voice was your French teacher. She held a small, clear glass jar with folded bits of paper inside in one hand while placing a stack of letters on her lectern with her other.

"Speaking with natives is an excellent and necessary way to develop your language skills (unlike this soon to be 30 minute speech) so due to the cancellation of the exchange program for this year and the long dragged on meeting, we have decided to give you all pen pals!" she announced. Her arms held a wide stance, awaiting for something you were unaware of.

Some whispers and small squeals echoed through the lecture hall. Others groaned and put their head on the desk, waiting for celestia, perhaps even an archon to take them. You did neither.

"I wish I could turn back time," you sighed. After contemplating for an hour whether your teacher would ever find out that you used Google translate to write half your letter or not, you started handwriting it on a stack of fancy paper you really shouldn't have been able to afford. "Shell never know. It's not like he can tell her anyways."

As you dragged your pen along the piece of paper, you remembered the speech about how necessary this was, the small piece of paper you pulled out of the bag and the letter that came with it. With a small smile playing on your lips, you signed off and stuck the small paper that read "lyney" just below your name with a paper rainbow rose you made yourself. It had its imperfections but it's similarity to the fresh ones he sent you left you content.

"Oh my god why did he reply so fast?" you asked yourself. Not even 3 days later and you received another letter from lyney. You traced the grooves of the red wax seal made you shiver. He wouldn't ever know you used google translate right? With pursed lips, you opened it. Perfume immediately muddled your senses as you opened up the envelope. Your peers hadn't even sent their first letter, let alone receive their second.

As you skimmed over the letter, you took down some notes like where he's from–which was so uncessary–what he likes to do and some of his contact details. You hummed, giving yourself imaginary pats on the back for reading a whole three sentences before typing the other two paragraphs into Google translate. You really needed to switch classes, desperately.

It was only then you spotted that a sentence in french came out the same in the translation. "You really shouldn't be using Google translate for these letters," written at the very bottom. Well fuck.

"You are friends with your penpal? Well that's lovely (name)," your French teacher clapped with bright sparkles in her eyes. It blinded you for a second and you had to look away before you lost the ability to see forever.

Instagram

(potato_name):lyney sent a reel.

(potato_name):lyney sent a picture.

(potato_name):lyney sent you a mes...

I didn't use Google translate for this one. Are you proud of me? You wrote at the bottom before slipping the letter into its envelope and sealing it with the new wax stamp set you bought recently.

You rushed back home. You winced at the clatter of your laptop in your bag hitting the floor, deciding it was a problem for future you. Ripping open the envelope and skimming through the letter, you read at the very bottom 'I am proud of anything you do, mon Cheri."

A smile broke out onto your lips as you neatly kept it away in a small box your mother got you from Fontaine when you were little. The small box was made of white marble with gold outlining its edges and gathering in a few swirls in the middle where the golden clasp rested.

The Sun shone brightly despite it being the middle of December. Rays of Sunlight squeezed through your closed curtains and you wondered if it was snowing in Fontaine right now. Did Lyney like playing in the snow?

Letters became less and less frequent as your peers lost motivation in writing long drawn out of paragraphs with nothing but small talk. A year and a half had passed yet your teacher held a strong morale despite the head of languages not enforcing this penpals program anymore. Even they must have gotten tired of the back and forth.

A few days until Christmas holidays. Opening your phone, you checked to see if lyney had texted you anything. Nothing...

Your eyes kept glossing over your texts from Friday 11am. Its been a week. Pictures of him and his two siblings who added you back on Instagram. Even Lynette had texted you today, showing some new tea she bought from inazuma last week.

Lynette

My brother has been writing non-stop for the past few days. Are you guys still doing the penpals thing?

You

No, maybe he is writing to someone else?

Your stomach dropped as you reread your message. "Writing to someone else...I need fresh air." You took your phone and wallet and headed out the door.

"Where are you going?" your roomate called out but you were already heading to the lift. You ran your fingers through your hair, pushing it out of your face with a sigh. It shouldn't matter. It shouldn't matter but this is the fifth time you've checked your phone this morning and its been a week with only a read tag.

"I seriously need to ban myself from my phone."

Lynette

Oh...nevermind. I'll ask him then.

Sent Friday 10 : 39am

"The christmas carnival was so much funner this year," your friend said, laughing. Then one hiccup escaped from her mouth. And then another one. Until you and your other friend bursted out laughing. "Not funny!"

"Yeah yeah. I still can't believe (Name) won that plushie from that shooting stall," your other friend said. He tossed another chip in his mouth, after finally calming down from his laughter.

"I'm surprised too. Those games are typically so rigged, I mean did you see the look on the owner's face though?" you said.

Holding up the little classic brown teddy bear, you admired it at all angles. Its red bow had a little bell hanging from the centre, jingling as you walked.

Its silly smile matched yours and then you noticed it. The small teddy's bowtie resembled the one Lyney wore in one of the pictures he sent. And the small envelope the size of your palm that the teddy held was a real one made of paper.

"(Name)? Whats wrong?"

"Nothing! I just realised my parents wanted me back at 10 and well its 11 so I have to go," you said with a bright smile, "Bye!"

"You live in a dorm though?" your friend countered, "(Name)!" But you were already walking out of the festival gates.

Picking out the small envelope, you brushed your thumb over the grooves of the wax seal. The same wax seal that you used for the last letter you sent. Did he really get the same stamp?

A mini rainbow rose fell out. The vibrant colours provided a stark contrast to the humid summer night. One letter. Five words. I love you, Mon cheri.

Your eyes widened and you nearly dropped the letter, fumbling with it for a bit. Taking in the cool nighttime breeze, you looked up only to see the person you hadn't talk to in a week standing only a few metres away from you.

Lyney held a bouquet of vibrant rainbow roses in one hand and the other behind his back.

"How are you..?" You took as step back, your gaze falling to the floor then back up at him again.

"I told you I'm a magician in one of my letters didn't I?" Lyney started, "I would appear anywhere if it was to be with you."

[meryton-etc]

I saw @yeats-infection do this and I was so so so bored I decided it couldn’t hurt for me to do it too I shall tag @saumenschliesel, @combeferre, @likehandlingroses and anyone else who wants to do this, please do because it’s interesting to read!

ao3 name: InfiniteCalm

fandoms: I have written for many and then deleted them! At the minute it’s mostly Downton Abbey and Leonard Finch Grantchester. If you’d told me that this time last year I’d be so confused. I think then I was in the middle of the abandoned Merlin-realises-identity-politics-wont-save-him project. And of course Tolkein will forever have ownership rights to some of my brain real estate, though I find it difficult to write for that because the stories all seem quite complete to me.

number of fics: unlucky thirteen!

fic i spent the most time on: the hellish harry potter fic that was born out of a mental breakdown that i didn’t realise was a mental breakdown at the time. see if you can tell from the plot/prose/formatting....

fic i spent the least amount of time on: Lost in Translation just came and flowed and was finished during a time when that was particularly rare. I like it though! Nimona forever.

longest fic: Let’s not talk about TSOHS anymore!!!!!!

shortest fic: Let’s see... oh, it’s Photographs! I think I was 17 when I published that! So long ago... I still think the plot of this holds up, but obviously if I wrote it today I would change a great deal. Nimona was a really great webcomic, and I read it with two of my best friends. We were on a school trip once and had to go in search of wifi to steal in order to read the penultimate page. 

most hits: i’m not talking about the real most hits!! The most hits of my Downton stories is Then Came Hallelujah Sounding, which checks out I guess, since I published so close to Christmas, which seems to be peak fanfic reading time. 

most kudos: out of the Downton fics the most kudos is You’re Knee Deep in Clover. I guess because it has Daisy and Thomas dancing, Baxter/Molesley proposal etiquette and a nice little trauma response at the end. What more could you want from a fic? 

most comment threads: Wake Up (Like This) and How the Note Lingers are tied for this one! Personally I find fic comments are the best things ever ever ever and I love them so much, and I’m glad that people responded to these stories so well in particular. The comments on How the Note Lingers were so so cool so thanks to youse for writing them :) also here I would like to stress that Wake Up (Like This) was such a joke title, it is not serious, please don’t take it seriously!!

most bookmarks: Overriding the question again! Both my Grantchester fics have one each (you know who you are <3 ). I love these scmoop-ridden cliché overwritten monstrosities so much. Thomas/Richard, despite being only 30 years apart from Leonard/Daniel, is an awful lot heavier than the latter, so it can be nice to write something where you don’t first have to work out how they get to each other’s houses. 

total word count:  59,642???!!!! 

favorite fic i wrote: choose between my babies? Or conversely, everything I’ve ever written is complete and utter garbage!! (It’s wake up like this)

fic i’d rewrite / expand on: like. at this stage, i read things and i’m like, everyone who says to edit things is clearly right! everything published is riddled with typos and sentences that make no sense because i cut out what went before it without reading over the paragraph. So in that sense, all of them! if i still liked HP i would rewrite TSOHS becuase there were some (some!!!!!) good ideas there. 

share a bit of a WIP: under the cut! I have two “real” WIPs that i will not post because I’m superstitious so have a snippet of something i most likely will not post.

He’s a nervous little thing, though. A bit soft, though she’d never put it like that out loud. Sudden noises scare him- the news- traffic- his father. Too many adults looking at him have him shrinking shyly into her side, his hand searching for hers. He’s only four, she thinks desperately, he’s young enough to grow out of this stage yet, before we have to make him. He’s made friends with the little girl next door, and some of the older children are kind enough towards him, so at least there things are OK, and he’s not suffering the lack of siblings. His cousins are far away, and all older than him, though they do dote on him. And rightly enough, too. He’s a gangly, clumsy little thing, legs long, like saplings. He runs along after the other children. He’s trying his best.

...

One of the Flynns comes running in, followed by a grinning Leonard, interrupting their conversation with questions about their tea. Leonard comes over to her, his dirty little face flushed with fresh air and exercise, and he shows her the stuff they found on their adventure- bits of dirt, mostly, but not as bad as the time they brought a live leech home to show everyone. When they get home to start preparing their own tea, he makes her laugh by trying out some of Mrs Flynn’s idiosyncratic phrases in conversation. He’s full, these days, of malapropisms. But she looks at him gazing at the newspaper, tracing the headlines and frowning at the smaller print, and thinks that before long he’ll be using those words properly. He seems so young, to be sent away to school. But there it is. 

[alphaflyer]

Meme (with corrections)

I was tagged by the lovely @cloud--atlas.  And so I copied her piece, with the intention of inserting my own answers.  But there were a couple of places I overlooked, leaving her answers in place...  OOPS.  I fixed one before people read the post but didn’t notice another, so I just decided to delete the original and repost the corrected version.  APOLOGIES!!

AO3 name: AlphaFlyer

Fandoms:

The Avengers (Marvel Movies) (59)

Marvel Cinematic Universe (49)

Star Trek: Voyager (30)

Hawkeye (Comics) (10)

The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types (8)

Captain America (Movies) (7)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) (5)

James Bond (Craig movies) (4)

Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies) (3)

Thor (Movies) (2)

Black Widow (Comics) (1)

Ant-Man (Movies) (1)

Avengers (Comics) (1)

Note that most of these (like James Bond, Agents of SHIELD) tend to be crossovers with MCU.

Number of fics published:

AO3 tells me it’s 101, but “Moments” has like 32 distinct fic in it, so it’s more like 132.

Fic I spent the most time on:

Do long periods of inactivity allowing it to simmer in your subconscious count?  That would be my two-season MarvelBang, “Seventh Crow”, which I started in the spring of 2015 and finished in the fall of 2016, mostly because of an intervening transatlantic move and family issues, resulting in resolute inability to write.  Until my friend Inkvoices made me a fanvid, based on what she knew about the story, and sent it to me for Christmas.  

Fic I spent the least time on:

That would be a tie between Savile Row and Five Times SHIELD Tried to Recruit Clint Barton. The first I cranked out over an evening, based on a tag game on LJ; the latter I wrote longhand in a boat while my husband and daughter were fishing, and then typed out/edited it in the evening.

Longest fic:

The top 5 spots are all taken up by Star Trek:Voyager fic, with #1 going to Off the Shoulder of Orion with a word count of 78,804.  That was around the time when I started posting chapters before having finished a story, a gamble that ended up backfiring when I ran out of steam on “Proof of Life” (FFN only, so I won’t link to it here.)

Shortest fic:

Among the fic posted on their own, rather than in my Moments collection, that’s a tie between 3 Five-Plus-One fics, in all of which the individual segments are drabble length at 100 words each. The only difference between the three is the length of the author’s note, otherwise they’re exactly 600 words apiece.

Most hits:

Second Mouse, with 38,678 hits (unless you include FFN, where Skies Over Manhattan comes in at 49,169 - but that site counts individual chapter hits.  “Skies” is second on AO3 with 23,579).

Most kudos:

Skies Over Manhattan, with 899.  (Yo, Folks, can we get that to 900 plsntx.. :P)

Most comment threads:

Moments, at 253  (This is my 32-chapter ficlet collection, so people tend to comment on each chapter as it comes out).  For a single story that came out all at once, it’s that energizer bunny MarvelBang, Second Mouse, with 103.  

Most bookmarks:

Runaway winner is Skies Over Manhattan, with 330.  Followed by Second Mouse with 208.  Five Times SHIELD Tried to Recruit Clint Barton, In The Service and Double Deuce are in a virtual tie for third with 137, 136 and 135.

Total word count:

According to AO3, 980,381.  Whoops.  Seriously???

Favourite fic I wrote:

Oh, man. I hate that question.  I'm really pleased with how Second Mouse turned out - nothing but good memories from my collaboration with Inkvoices who illustrated it; also pleased with the sequels and the reception it got from readers.  And @hawksandspiders just did a detailed analysis of it on her DW account, which was totally thrilling and made me even prouder of it.

Another little one I’m quite fond of is my Voyager piece “Grace”, because of the rhythm and cadence I used to convey the sense of urgency in the story (a lot fewer people read it...).

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on:

Whoops - so an earlier version of this post left in a clip from @cloud--atlas‘ original post that I cut and pasted...  No, I did NOT write “Red Star” although it’s one of the few threesome fics I genuinely like!  Here’s my answer:

“Choices”.  My very first fanfic ever. First ever attempt at writing, in fact.  It’s a post-ST Voyager Endgame thing, detailing what happens to the crew (specifically Tom Paris but others as well) when they come home.  It still holds up content-wise, but the dialogue is clunky in parts and the paragraphing atrocious.  I haven’t had the guts to go back in and fix it, because it is my Firstborn and we need to own our mistakes and show how we’ve grown as writers somehow (also it’s in the top-5 Voyager stories on FFN in terms of “favourite” pings as it is, so it should probably be allowed to stand on its own). But whenever I look at it, I cringe a little at how much better it could be.

Share a bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on:

Three words:  Clint and Flerken.  I keep rewriting that one though, so I’m not sure when it will see the light of day...

Also waiting for my @be-compromised “Remix” assignment!

[edenfalling]

Author Interview

Thank you to @thatgirlnevershutsup for tagging me :)

Name: Elizabeth Culmer

Fandoms: many and various, but at the moment it’s mostly Narnia and Homestuck with sidelines in Naruto and various corners of the MCU. 

Where You Post: Generally first on my Dreamwidth journal, and crossposted here on Tumblr. Then I stick them up on AO3 after a few days to see if there’s anything I want to tweak. (Except exchange fics, of course. Those go on AO3 first.) I put new chapters of my older WIPs on ff.net as well, but I stopped posting new fics there some years back, partly because I dislike their posting interface and partly because the atmosphere over there got really toxic.

Most Popular One-Shot: If you average hits and responses from all sites, that would be Definitions of Romance, a little Harry/Hermione ficlet I wrote in 20 or 30 minutes back in 2005. Going by AO3 stats alone, I think What Isn’t Broken (Can Still Be Fixed), a NaruSasu remix fic, still has the crown.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: Oh, The Way of the Apartment Manager, no question. Sometimes you write the right story at the right time, and apparently back in 2004-2005, that was a shortish novel about a grumpy retired genin getting inspired to reclaim her life after six-year-old Naruto becomes a tenant in the apartment building she inherited from her civilian parents. *wry*

Favorite Story You Wrote: This is a tie between The Way of the Apartment Manager, Out of Season (a Narnia fic centered entirely on Calormen), and Knives (a dark HP fic about Ginny Weasley). I love them for very different reasons, so which one gets my top vote varies from day to day.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: ??? ...I guess maybe exchange fics, sometimes, since they’re gifts and one is never quite certain one’s recipient will like them?

How You Choose Your Titles: Sometimes they just come to me. Sometimes I comb through quote collection sites for something thematically resonant. Sometimes I use a bit of the prompt text I’ve based the story on.

Do You Outline: If I know from the start that a story is going to be long, I outline before diving in. (This may be anything from a three-paragraph sketch of some general points of interest to a detailed scene-by-scene breakdown complete with comparative plot thread timelines.) If a story expands during the writing, I will often stop partway through and write myself a little note to assess where I am and where I’m trying to end up, and sketch a path of what points I need to hit/resolve in order to get from here to there. For shorter things, though, I don’t outline. What’s the point?

Complete: Over 500, and I’m not going to bother counting more exactly.

In Progress: ...too many. Let’s just leave it there, okay?

Coming Soon/Not Yet Started: Right now I’m trying to finish up an old WIP oneshot, as well as two old prompt fics. I will write something for Yuletide, of course, and I’d like to get another chapter of The Guardian in Spite of Herself finished this year. Do You Accept Prompts: At specific times! Now and then I get bored/frustrated with my ongoing projects and throw open a mini-ficlet prompt meme. Outside of those periods, I am not really interested in prompts.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: All of them? I mean, if I’m not interested in the story, I’m not going to write it!

I tag: @asukaskerian, @significantowl, @othercat2, @ceescedasticity, @branch-and-root, @curlicuecal, @laylainalaska, and anyone else who wants to play!

[momentofmemory]

it’s almost the end of october, which means one of the greatest, most terrifying exploits known to writers is upon us: NaNoWriMo.

there are plenty of super good survival posts out there, but as this’ll be my seventh time participating (six wins, hoping for a seventh), i thought i’d drop my own set of tips into the mix. i’m going to focus mostly on the practical details of how to write; if you want tips on the writing itself either search the writing/reference tags or pester me to do another one later :P with that said, ~on with the post~

Step One: Figure Out Your Goal

i know, i know, obviously it’s to write 50k, but what does that mean to you? are you expecting

polished prose, ready to send off to a publisher?

being able to write every day? 

just throwing up a bunch of ideas?

a mix of everything?

all of these are valid, but they’re going to require different approaches. if you want jaw-dropping writing, you’re going to need in the ballpark of five or more hours each day, if not more. if you want consistency, you’ll want to look at your normal schedule and set up a couple times you know you can write at. if just you want words, pretty much all you need to make sure is that you squeeze writing time in whenever.

your goal will probably change as the month progresses, and that’s totally fine. just check in every so often to remember a)what you’re working for and b)if it’s actually plausible. speaking of...

Step Two: Realize Your Limitations

1. Typing.

imma get super practical here: your typing speed dictates how fast you can get done. if you write 40wpm (the average), you cannot write the full 1667 in a half hour any more than you can run a mile in under three minutes. it’s honestly not a bad idea to check out your own speed, if only to help you understand yourself better. in my experience, actual writing then works like this (using my max speed, 89, as an example):

Absolute Max: 89 wpm (baseline)

Warring: 70 (75% of baseline)

In the zone: 45 (50% of baseline)

Taking my time, concentrated: 22 (25% of baseline)

anything lower than your max/4 probably means you’re spending a lot of time either researching or staring at the page, so just be aware of that.

2. Time & Focus

this kinda goes without saying, but best case scenario this is at least 1-2 hours of your life a day, or dedicating full Saturday/Sundays if you’re a weekend warrior kind of person. it’s so, so worth it if you can make time for it, but also don’t feel bad if you can’t! doing a half nano (25k) or whatever you want is also a fully acceptable plan.

that said, if you do have time, figure out your focus too. if you’ve never been the kind of person that can type for six hours straight, you will probably not magically become this person when it hits Nov. 1 (though with practice, you might be by Nov. 30). i like trying to write at least 300 before work and another 300 during lunch. that way there’s only 1k left for the evening, and having words on the page just makes me feel better. experiment with different ways of blocking out your time in the first few days and see what works best for you.

3. Don’t Forget You Live in a Body

writing is hard work, you will need to eat brain food! hunching over wrecks your back, stand up and stretch every so often! you will hate existing if you forgo sleep for days! and for the love of charles dickens, patron saint of getting paid by the word, take care of your mother-effing wrists!!

seriously on that last one. i’ve ignored it in the past and thoroughly screwed up my wrists one year; don’t be me. keep in them in a neutral position, do regular stretches, and if you need to, get wrist wraps (i recommend these).

Step Three: Actually Doing the Thing

the previous steps have had pretty broad advice, but now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty. these are mostly things i know work for me, and therefore may not for you—adjust to your own needs!

1. Write for 15 Minutes Every Day, Non-Negotiable.

i don’t even mean this is a “write 15 min and then your brain will be tricked into writing more” kinda way, but like, literally. you’re probably not going to be able to do 1667 every day—sometimes you’ll be tired and just won’t have the time. you’re very likely, however, to have 15 minutes, and you’ll want to use them. Doesn’t matter if you write 50 words or 500 in that time, at least you’ll have done something, and that’s usually enough to keep you from feeling like just giving up the next day.

2. You Might Need Physical Spaces

i’m a pretty sensory person when it comes to writing, and having a dedicated writing space is so helpful for me. going back to the idea of being an embodied person, it’s a lot easier to get your brain into a writing mode if your body’s already there. some good options include:

coffee shops (cozy! food!)

a specific room in your home (easily accessed! do what you want!)

libraries (free! quiet!)

a friend’s house (writing buddy! easy access to sounding board!)

all of these places usually have access to wifi, which is a positive.

3. You Definitely Need Digital Spaces

i pretty much always write in the same processor, once again because it helps set the mood. the main options include:

google drive (solid choice, cloud backup, mobile accessible)

dabble writer (cloud backup, links to nano, dark mode, chapter options)

write or die (only for actual writing—a scary but effective motivator; save elsewhere)

word/pages/etc. (ready to go on your computer, formatting options)

scrivener (great plotting tools, detailed interface)

i use dabble writer myself (they’re a nano sponsor, so you can get it free for this month, and as a double bonus you get it half off for the rest of the year if you win). and no, i’m not getting paid to wax poetic about them, but honestly i’ve used it to win the past two years and i adore it. 

anyway my biggest tip here is that i SUPER SUPER DON’T RECOMMEND NON-CLOUD OPTIONS. it’s very risky, but if you must, do a proper back up at least once a week. that shiz is not worth it.

4. The Timer is Your New Best Friend

because i’ve heard this argument before: no, it’s not a crutch, and no, it’s not cheating. it’s literally best practices. i’m personally a big fan of this online timer, and i let it run for 15 min every time i write. after each session i check how many words i wrote, then after maybe a quick 1-2 min break, start over.

you can totally set the timer for longer or shorter periods, depending on what works for you. i’m a fan of the 15 min sessions bc it’s just long enough to get a bit of flow going, and just short enough that i can convince my spacy brain that we can get through it without wandering. it’s also a fantastic length for warring, if you’re down for that.

5. Write That Idea Down for Lewis’s Sake

the original idea for the chronicles of narnia came to c.s. lewis when he was at a restaurant, and thank the lord, he wrote it down on a napkin. he wouldn’t write it until some time later, but if he hadn’t written it down, he might’ve forgotten it. why is this important, you ask?

BC YOU WILL FORGET THINGS.

if you have an idea, write it down in your phone or your notebook or the waterproof paper in your shower, because i don’t care how sure you are that you’ll remember it, you super won’t. i’ve forgotten many solutions to plot holes in my time and i still hold vigils over their graves. don’t be me. write it down.

Step Four: Managing that Inner Critic of Yours

all right, pay attention. i’m not going to tell you not to edit, because i would be a massive hypocrite if i did. i totally edit during nano. the important part is letting your editor help you win, not hurt you. and that means gaming your critic’s system.

1. Have a Dedicated Deletion Section

many people hear “don’t delete anything” and baulk, because for some of us it’s distracting and we want to rewrite that section until it matches our vision. so, i’m here to tell you: delete it!! rewrite entire chapters!! just save the original content as part of your word count. this is another reason i love dabble, bc at the start of nano i just make a separate part of the book, label it “delete”, and any time i’m writing and dislike a sentence/paragraph i just dump it into that folder and move on. this way you still get to keep the numbers (and why shouldn’t you? you wrote them!) while also writing words you actually like. plus, sometimes that line you deleted in ch. 1 winds up being supremely pertinent in ch.15, and now you can just copy/paste it instead of having to try to remember what exactly you’d said.

2. Acknowledge Ranting as a Time Honoured Tradition

think there’s no precedent for that 2K diatribe you wrote on the london underground? well fear not, because you can’t possibly do worse than hugo’s entire chapters worth of content on the french sewer system! or melville’s frankly terrifying obsession with the finer features of whale biology!

like, yeah, maybe you’ll decide later you don’t need it, but for now, embrace that soap box. dead white guys have been doing it for centuries and still get places in college syllabi. the least you can do is give it a place in your word count.

Step Five: Have Fun!

i know, i know, it’s cliche, but seriously. if this isn’t fun, or at least rewarding, why are you doing it anyway? so enjoy it! send passages you’re proud of to your friends! daydream about it in the car on the way to work/school! cry over a notebook about the twist you just came up with! nano’s a time of fun and exploration, and you shouldn’t miss out on it because you’re thinking too much.

also, this might be counter productive to put at the end of an essay on nano, but don’t obsess over reading essays on nano :P there comes a time when one must simply do, and nano is pretty much the definition of that.

[deputy-sarah-sux]

can i be a psycho and your worst nightmare by asking ALL the writers asks?

You are a demon omg. I love it though this was so much fun to do.Since you didn’t specify fic specifically for some of these questions I’m just gonna write about The Devil Has Come for all of the “in xxx fic” asks.

Answers are below since this is such a long ask :):):)

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fanfiction? 12/13 it was between 7th and 8th grade and it was all anime fanfiction

2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one?Far Cry 5, RDR2, Assassin’s Creed, DC, Marvel, Fallout, Skyrim, Preacher. Far Cry 5 is definitely my favorite to write for though

3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.Personally, I prefer OC’s, with OC’s I can build their character, give them a personality and growth. I like shaping the character as the world changes based on their actions

4) What is your favourite genre to write for?Action or romance unless I totally misread that question

5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi-chaptered stories, which would it be and why?The Devil Has Come!!! It was my first in the Far Cry fandom and it’s my baby. I love all the characters and the world that I’m building. It’s got action, romance, some twists, it’s exciting

6) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?If we’re talking things that I’m currently writing and enjoy writing then I guess Bridges only because it’s the same characters as TDHC just in an AU form so I’d survive without it.

7) When is your preferred time to write?Night, 10pm on basically.

8) Where do you take your inspiration from?Everywhere really? TV shows, movies, video games, other fics

9) In your xxx fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?So far my favorite scene that I wrote in TDHC that has been published was either the confrontation with Rook in Chapter 11 or Jacob finding Sarah in the hotel in Chapter 8. They were both really fun to write.

10) In your xxx fic, why did you decide to end it like that? Did you have an alternate ending in mind?Well it hasn’t been ended yet, but there were two possible endings that I was originally considering. I’m not saying much more other than the ending that I went with is gonna hurt me when I eventually get to it.

11) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?Not after posting but I have amended stories due to criticisms. If I’m a bit worried about a particular scene I’ll share the doc with my best lady @farcryfuckmeup and get her opinion. She usually points out things that aren’t great and I go from there. She’s the closet thing to a beta reader that I have.

12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why?Sarah!!! She’s my best girl and I love her personality and attitude. In terms of canon characters though I’ve been writing some stuff from Arthur Morgan’s pov and that’s been really fun too. I really love playing around with his sense of self and morality.

13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why?I don’t have one yet? We’ll see how the future plays out there. It might be Ethan Seed but I’ve never written stuff for him so I’m not 100% sure.

14) How did you come up with the title for the xxx? - You can ask about multiple stories.Almost every fic name is from a song. The Devil Has Come is from Blues Saraceno’s “The River”, Icarus is from Bastille’s “Icarus”, and I’m not sure where Bridges is from but I’m 90% sure it was a song. The series that TDHC and it’s connected stories are a part of is called Bottom of the River from Delta Rae’s “Bottom of the River”.

15) If you write OC’s, how do you decide on their names?I use name generators for modern characters or look up names with a specific meaning. If the character is from the past (ie cowboy times or pirate times) I look up names popular in that century. Sarah’s name I got by looking up popular names with religious meanings and Sarah was on the list.

16) How did you come up with the idea for xxx?I came up with the idea for TDHC by playing co-op with @farcryfuckmeup. It was originally supposed to be a crackfic based on the dumbshit we did in-game. Then in my desperation to pretend that the game didn’t end the way it ends I started coming up with ways it could have gone differently and thus my fic was born.

17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.I have so many wips! I’ll do a few because I’m in a sharing mood.Fallout 4 WIP: “‘You don’t even use power armor, why did you steal so many?’”RDR2 WIP: “Valentine was a crap town with crap people and even crappier whiskey. It was tiny and smelled like mud and horse shit and something else that she was pretty sure was vomit.”Another RDR2 WIP: “Trouble was the bastard was clingy apparently as he was hot on Arthur’s heel.”

18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?Yes, a few. I got bored or I decided to focus on other things. I do intend to one day finish them but who knows

19) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?The Devil Has Come!!! I can’t wait to write a sequel and I haven’t even finished the current fic.

20) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?Sometimes I wish I’d written a follow up to my judge fic Joseph and his Judge. I’m not totally sure if I like how it ended.

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?@farcryfuckmeup first and foremost, she’s amazing. I also love gwennolmarie and OutlandishWhalesharks on Archive of Our Own.

22) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?My anime fics from middle school. It’s still posted and I won’t tell you what it’s called but every time I remember it a little part of me dies.

23) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?Music mostly but it sometimes depends on the scene. For certain scenes I need silence but for the most part it’s music music music. I have playlists for all sorts of scene types.

24) How do you feel about writing smutty scenes?I love it, idk if I’m any good at it but I do like writing them.

25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?Yes, I’ve been writing some future parts of TDHC and I have cried a bit writing some of it.

26) Which part of your xxx fic was the hardest to write?The smut scene in Chapter 10 of TDHC, it was the first smut scene I’d ever published so I was really worried about that and kept rewriting it.

27) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?Bit of both I guess. There is a vague outline in my head but only for like the big events, everything in between is go with the flow shit.

28) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction?It’s not going to be an instant hit. When I first started posting works back in the day I was always so upset when I’d check the next day and see only like 12 people had read it.

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?Icarus :(   It’s only a baby fic and it’s in a mostly dead fandom but I love it.

30) In contrast to 29 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?No, I love all the attention my fics get.

31) Send me a fic recommendation and I’ll post it for my followers to see! (The asker is to send the rec not the answerer)I’m gonna recommend one myself. Since this is a Far Cry blog I’ll recommend a Far Cry fic: come a little closer by lowtides on AO3Also here’s a Fallout 4 fic that isn’t finished but I absolutely love: RAIDERHEAD by TaraTargaryen

32) Are any of your characters based on real people?No real people no. Thomas is a combination of a few fictional characters though.

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?I’ve gotten a few comments of analysis on chapters I’ve posted and honestly I love that so much. Nothing warms my heart more than seeing that someone not only read my fic but sat there and actually thought a lot about it.

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?Like I said before I haven’t gotten a lot of criticism, but I guess the harshest for me was when I was discussing a character that I had really started to like and my friend (who I was ranting at about him) asked me to honestly think about what he brings to the table. Like is he actually necessary or just a throwaway character that won’t bring much to the story? I ended up scrapping him and putting a nameless character in his place to fill a few of his scenes.

35) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?I share them with one (1) person and that person is my irl best friend @farcryfuckmeup. Everyone else has to wait until I post stuff I don’t want to spoil any big surprises.

36) Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s?It’s a chapter very far in the future for a fic I’m sure you can guess but I won’t outright say.“Against his better judgment, he reached out and grabbed the hysteric woman, tightening his grip against her struggling and pulling her into his lap. He wrapped her in a tight hug until she finally began to calm down, humming softly and running his fingers through blood-soaked hair.“

37) What’s the funniest story you’ve written?I haven’t written a lot of funny stuff. I mostly do angsty. But when I was in middle school a wrote a novel where I spent two paragraphs talking about my MC’s hair color and current outfit and I cackle every time I read it. 70 pages or pure cringe, it’s hilarious.

38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it.@farcryfuckmeup hmu bitch!also you @onl-you

39) Do you prefer first, second or third person?Third, every now and then I write in first but idk I just don’t like it much.

40) Do people know you write fanfiction?My close friends do

41) What’s you favourite minor character you’ve written?Thomas Moore, he’s a lot of fun to write for.

42) Song fic - What made you decide to use the song xxx for xxx.I don’t actually have any song fics in the traditional sense. I do however have some fics inspired by songs. I listen to music almost constantly, sometimes a song comes on that gives my fic vibes and I add it to my prompt playlist.

43) Has anyone ever guessed the plot twist of one of your fics before you posted it?@/farcryfuckmeup has but I don’t try too hard to keep secrets when she’s around

44) What is the last line you wrote?“John rolled his eyes and finished unbuttoning his shirt.”

45) What spurs you on during the writing process?This is cliche probably but the readers. I don’t want to leave someone waiting around for the next update forever. I also want to see how things play out myself so my own desire to see the finished product also helps.

46) I really loved your xxx fic. If you were ever to do a sequel, what do you think might happen in it?Again, going with TDHC for this. I am writing a sequel currently (I know it’s not done). It’s going to focus on a different character but Sarah will make appearances. I’m also working on a standalone sequel for her but that won’t be posted until the first sequel fic is complete.

47) Here’s a fic title - insert a made-up title. What would this story be about?I used a title generator: Hidden Midnight. It’s about a pair of idiots in love, one is a vampire so they can only meet at night and it’s very secretive. The human dies at the end.

48) What’s your favourite trope to write?Forced partnerships. I love it when two characters are forced into a partnership. One of them can’t fucking stand the other but slowly grows to like/love them in secret. If the chill one is in danger the annoyed one freaks the fuck out and does everything they can to get to their partner and afterwards claims they couldn’t care less what happened.

49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?I don’t remember the name of it but I’m pretty sure it was a Supernatural fic. I think it was Destiel (don’t just middle school me) and a high school AU. I’m not 100% sure. It was either that or a Fairy Tail fic and I like to forget my anime days.

50) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?Angst. I love fluff and smut but in the end, I always go back to angst. It’s so much fun and there are so many ways to do it.

[mad-madam-m]

So I'm just curious, how do you get yourself to write? And do you use prompts and if you do where do you get them? I meant to use NaNo to get me to write but it took 4 days into November for me to realize November started so I failed lol. I've been meaning to start this original thing and it's just not...working.

First of all, anon, you could start writing RIGHT NOW (yes, with 10 days left in the month) and you would not fail NaNo. You might not hit 50k (although I know people who have hit 50k in that amount of time, or less), but you won’t fail. NaNoWriMo isn’t about hitting 50,000 words so much as it is about putting a stake in the ground and saying, “Here. Today. I will start writing the project I’ve always wanted to.” And doing it. Doesn’t matter what that project is—original novel, short stories, fic, poetry, revising something, a series of blog posts—NaNo is about just. Fucking. Doing it. And you still have time to Do It.

To answer your questions:

Do you use prompts and if you do, where do you get them?

For original stories, particularly novels, I usually don’t. For fic, particularly short fic I’m writing for events, I do. Tumblr has a wealth of writing prompts that range from “here’s a situation” to “here’s a line of dialogue GO,” and I tend to reblog them under the tags “fic prompts�� or “writing prompts.” Honestly, most of them would work for either original fic or fanfic, so if you are a writer who likes to work from prompts, go forth and enjoy!

How do you get yourself to write?

That’s kind of a big question, and uh, the answer to it got long. Very long. (I said once that if you give me half a chance, I’ll talk about writing all the live-long day, and this answer is no exception.)

Different things motivate me for different projects, and as with all writing-related advice, YMMV, but here’s a few things that really help for getting myself to write:

1) Develop your story.

The current original story I’m working on, for example, I have not really had to struggle to get myself to write at all because 1) I’m stupid excited about it and 2) I have developed the hell out of it.

I’ve talked before about outlining my stuff here, so I won’t go too much into it again; suffice it to say that I have done about the same amount of development on my current original story that I had on ADA by the time I started writing. I started around the very end of September developing my characters and spent a good chunk of October working on setting, worldbuilding, plot, and finally my notecards.

Shockingly, having some idea of what’s happening and where I’m going is making this story easier to write.

Right? Like WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT.

Because of that, I’ve been excited about writing my story, so getting myself to write on it has been (comparatively) a cakewalk.

That’s not to say any of the writing is good (oh God no) or that there aren’t parts that need fixing, or that I haven’t been stuck. But it’s been stuck like “how do I describe seeing a tree-covered mountain in the middle of fall from the POV of someone who has never seen something like this” rather than “I have no fucking clue what happens next uh…”

The stories I struggle the most with writing are the ones that I’ve worked the least on developing. The stories that have been the easiest to write have been the ones I’ve spent at least a month doing prep work on before I ever start drafting.

2) Love your story.

Being in love with a story makes it a lot easier to write, at least for me. Because here’s the thing, ideas are easy.

If you’re a creative person, you’re going to end up with a file of story ideas—maybe prompts you liked, dialogue that stuck with you, one of those “humans are space orcs” tumblr posts that’s just really clicking in your brain—that will be longer than you could conceivably write if you had a hundred lifetimes. That’s okay! That’s great. But it means a lot of them are never going to get past the idea stage.

For me, the stories that get finished—the ones that not only get started but actually make it through the first draft and then three rounds of editing and revisions—are the ideas that I’ve been percolating on for months, if not longer. They’ve been cooking in the back of my brain while I’ve been doing other things, sorting themselves out, and most importantly: they will not let me go.

Coming up with ideas is easy. Finding an idea that will last and sustain a story and my interest for at least a year, if not longer? That’s harder.

Y’all know how much I’ve been talking about Tiger & Bunny over the past year? We’re talking that level of obsession with a story that I want to write, whether it’s fic or original. Sometimes it takes months or years for all the puzzle pieces to come together. Sometimes the whole thing will congeal within a few weeks, or there will be one crucial piece of story that will just make EVERYTHING come together, I will literally shout “OH MY FUCKING GOD” and that’s it, I’m off to the races. (In this particular case, it wasn’t anything I’d done in the first two weeks of poking at steampunk-y ideas; it was the realization that I could put a circus on an airship. The whole story just went WHOOSH after that.)

BUT. But. Sometimes you don’t have that. These stories are great and I love them and they remind me why I love writing so much (and if you’re writing something that’s gonna be 90k+, like I have a tendency to do, you need to be in love with it, IMO), but sometimes you’re in situations where you just have to get it done. In those cases:

3) Resort to bribery.

I’ve been poking at the third part of Alpha & Emissary, oh, basically since I posted the second part. My problem is that my fandom focus has been, shall we say, split for the past year. *coughs delicately, shoves Tiger & Bunny fics under the bed*

But here’s the thing: I hate having a published WIP on AO3 (it’s why I don’t publish long!fics until they’re completely drafted and mostly edited). I hate—HATE—having an unfinished series on AO3.

So that’s the rub: I have an unfinished series that I want to finish because I hate that it’s not finished. I also have a new fandom that is wresting my attention and inspiration away from said series. What’s a girl to do?

A girl tells herself she can’t write any more Tiger & Bunny fic until she finishes this one WIP, that’s what she does.

And it’s motivated me to sit my ass down and work on that WIP, because goddammit, I have a “but there was only one bed” TaiBani fic that I would really like to have up by New Year’s.

Your bribery will be different. Maybe you get to watch 1 episode of your favorite show per every 1k you write, or you get to try a new knitting project when you finish this short story. Maybe you binge-watch an entire season of your favorite anime if you exceed your NaNo goal. Or you write 50 words and get a cookie. The point is, find what works for you to get it done.

4) Figure out a minimum daily goal and stick with it.

For me, this was 500 words a day. 500 words. That’s it. That’s one 30-minute word sprint for me. That’s something I can do without stressing myself out.

Because of this point and point 3, I wrote more than 7000 words on a story I’d been stuck on for the better part of a year before I had to stop to work on NaNo stuff. Another 7k, and I’ll probably have it finished.

Your minimum word count will almost certainly be different. Maybe it’s 300 words a day, maybe it’s 1000. Hell, maybe it’s 100 words. Again, find what works for you, what you can write regularly without stressing yourself out.

Another important thing: If I didn’t hit 500 words, I didn’t beat myself up about it. Maybe I wrote 350. Or 220. Or just 93. The point is, did I write? Yes? Then I did good. I got myself a sentence or a paragraph closer to finishing. And it all adds up.

(And hey, you don’t have to write every day. I do, or I try to, because that’s what works for me. If it stresses you out to do so, then find another way to make it work.)

5) Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.

This one’s hard because I can rarely keep a deadline that’s not set by an external source. If you tell me on December 20 that you need a story by December 22? Then on December 22, you’ll have a story, edited and ready to post. But when it comes to something I set for myself, the chances of a deadline working are 50/50.

That being said, it is something that helps me keep on track and even if I don’t finish something by a self-imposed deadline, it does get me writing.

6) Sprint with friends!

NaNo is really great for this because all your writer friends are coming out of the woodwork going I need to hit 5k by the end of today, will you sprint with me? Sometimes it just helps to have that kind of accountability. You all get together (I’ve used Discord, Google Hangouts, IRC, and Twitter DMs for this), set a timer, and write for 15 minutes or 20 minutes or 30 minutes. Then, when the time’s up, you post your word count, everybody congratulates everybody else, and then you take a break before doing the next one.

Sprints are the reason I’ve been able to make some pretty significant headway on my word counts, and few things get me writing like knowing I’m going to have to tell everybody in my group what my word count is in 30 minutes or less. >.>

Like I said earlier, YMMV on all of these. What works for me may work for you, or it might not. But if you aren’t sure, it’s worth giving it a shot.

Happy writing!

[fleetofshippyships-archive]

WIP tag meme

aaah, I was tagged over 2 months ago by @parkkate O.O sorry for not doing this sooner @parkkate​ XD I’ve been offline for a few months! Just now catching up on everything I missed! but I’m ignoring asks for now because my inbox is a mess

The Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.

I’m gonna cheat and only do this for my drarry wips, since I post everything else on another account now, and tbh I have so many drarrys it’s still gonna be a long ass post XD

Oh man *sweats nervously* I’m a bit of a hoarder in all aspects of my life...I don’t even know where to begin! 

I’m not tagging anyone cos I was tagged 2 months ago and I have no idea who has and hasn’t done this and don’t want to be a pain. But if you wanna do it, go a head, and please tag me so I can be nosy and hopefully find someone with a wip problem as bad as my own so I can be less embarrassed XD

Also I’m putting this under a cut for reasons

1. 4th year au idea 

Sooooo, right off the bat, I often open a new file to jot down an idea even though I have docs specifically to dump ideas...and then at some point during the process of jotting down basic details of the idea...I start writing it....? This is one such occurrence...but I had to open it to check...and now I want to keep writing it XD

But also yikes it’s super dark

2. ... 4th year au idea

I swear, this is an entirely different wip and I am going ‘wtf’ at myself because wtf that’s confusing! I had also totally forgotten the existence of this before opening it....probably because of the name of it and the only reason I apparently have 2 files the exact same name is that one is a word doc and one is a libre office doc XD

3. drarry character death idea

Soooo, I need to stop turning idea files into wips without changing the names because I actually forget they are wips apparently

Also, I really want to finish this RIGHT NOW IT HURTS SO GOOD GIMME GIMME GIMME

4. Veela fic followup

LOL LOL LOL I’m rewriting my veela fic so I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to end up doing with this XD I might have to try and merge it with the re-write if the story has a similar outcome when I’m done. or maybe I’ll just turn this into its own thing....

5. Veela fic present tense

I really need to get back to working on this, this is actually the full re-write that re-doing the tenses spawned...I was binge writing this before my life went to hell but then my life went to hell and I went offline for like three months and didn’t do any writing or anything XD

although, the last time I looked at it I got the itch to change it back to past tense so who fucking knows what I’ll do with it now

6. Veela fic Draco pov

Curse my obsession with alternate povs of the same story and Draco for being such a good angsty pov

7. Veritaserum idea start

At least this one has ‘start’ in it so I know it is in fact a wip and not just an idea outline XD

7. Veritaserum

So, turns out I started that fic over in a new file and just left the old one lying around XD I do that too often. I should delete that other one...

Also...this better not turn into another ‘Amortentia’ with me unable to think of a fucking title and going with the file name because lame

This is also my first time trying to do god’s eye 3rd person instead of 3rd person pov...also first time trying to do this weird structure thing...I dunno but I like it XD

8.  CTS followup

9. CTS sequel

Two separate followups set at different times in the same story verse... I hate myself. I love them both. I can’t pick which one to stop writing so I’m gonna keep them both around and try and make them merge at some point...

10. MMB saying sorry

11. another erase the shame

12. next erase the shame

I work on followups and lose interest so often (usually because people bug me for followups and I get very ‘fuck you’ about it and stop writing them...but I keep them around and tinker with them every now and then soooo they’re still technically wips

13. Tea and Coffee oneshot series (Tea and Coffee, Coffee and Dark Marks, The Cottage Kitchen, next untitled one)

There’s also a present tense version of the first one of those *sweats nervously* first 3 are finished, of course, but my original purpose is lost to them becoming a long fic soo....gonna merge them into one long fic soon...once I decide what tense I like better......kill me now

14. Communion of the Soul (folder name)

This is the sequel to One Touch and this is spread across 5 files because apparently I did that and even though each time I got to work on it I have to figure out which file holds which part of the sequel timeline and which I feel like working on...I have yet to merge them into one file to make my life easier...

15. Crumbling Facade

ugh working on this always makes me want to re-write restraint and actually put in the major plot line, or what was supposed to be Harry’s major plot line before the relationship crap got away from me and I had to cut out all the plot stuff because by the time I got around to addressing it, it started reading like a completely different fic and I had to cut a huge chunk and end it instead, because back then I sucked more than I do now and couldn’t juggle

sooo...I still work on this in starts and stops and then get frustrated for having to stick to Restraint’s chain of events when I have better ideas now for working in Harry’s plot about his damn magic problem and ARRGEHGEHGFVEDHDBVUIOFNBFKDB EFBVJ

I should just let Crumbling Facade take me where it wants to take me and fuck Restraint

16. Potter’s Insatiable Heart

This is my longest wip at 130k XD and I’m stalling now because if I keep going with it where I was intending to go it will end up my longest fic and I’m getting intimidated by the length and how much work it will be to edit that long of a fic so I just go in and write a few paragraphs now and again, get scared of the length and move on to another wip XD

I also periodically binge read this bitch because I love it to death even though it’s severely flawed XD

17. Corset Drarry

oh boy, when I started writing this this I was weirded out by writing a kink I didn’t understand and kind of tailed off and left it...then I did kinktober for voltron and now I’m laughing at myself because corsets and lingerie is so fucking tame after that kinktober list and all the the crap I wrote for it XD

18. Music in the Periphery

Emily bugs me about finishing this a lot...I bug me about finishing it, progress is non-existent because I have a clear plan for it and when I have a clear plan I can’t write for shit

19. Saying Sorry (Round 2) (MMB)

I gotta kick that habit of starting over with something but keeping the first attempt and still working on it parallel to the second attempt, because then I wind up with 2 fics too similar to each other to post both and I’m completely unable to pick which one I like more *facepalm*

Also, MMB is dead if I can’t stop turning the next fic attempts into angst, I just look at that big fluffy mess and want to angst it all up

20. scrapped MMB ficlets - theo’s letter

not technically drarry thought the greater series is drarry...torn between making it mmb or making it its own fic for a rare pair

21. Weather the Storm

*cries* my 6th year war au, I have such plans for this, but the plans get in the way of writing =(

22. Soulmate AU (folder name)

fucking hell, this is 10+ files and I’m not naming all of them, current count is 5 completed versions 60k+ each, 1 incomplete alternate version, all of which I’m seriously unsatisfied with, none of which I can bear to delete, all of which I periodically go and tinker with, thus leaving them all wips i’m such a fucking hoarder but also I have never gotten over all the awful comments that were on the original soulmate fic on ffnet before my purge and now I can’t ever be satisfied unless it is perfect and wont result in such horrible comments again

23. Turnabout (folder name)

Once again, multiple wips in here of the same 60k finished fic I’ve been unhappy with since the moment I finished it and keep trying to fix by starting over and changing things here and there to change the course of the story. Honestly ready to hit the delete button with this one unless my latest attempt pans out, liking it so far buuuut I’m a mess about my writing so who knows

In the Ways that Matter was based off this fic XD

24. Dependency 

Oh boy, I abandoned this cos it was so dark I got too uncomfortable writing it...I’ve since started revisiting it after being in the Voltron fandom gave me a new tolerance range for dark content XD

Plan on posting this on anon if I ever finish it, obviously changing the title XD it stopped being relevant after the first 30k anyway 

25. Dependency V2

LOL light version of the above that removes most of the dark aspects while maintaining the core plot, but I’m finding it a bit dull XD not sure how long I’ll keep trying to chug along with it

26. *censored title*

hahahaha omg why is this in a different subfolder, this is actually one of the soulmate au ones only it’s actually a spin off au of the original soulmate one I from ffnet and therefore it’s new ground and I’m less unhappy with it

.....I’m probably going to stop working on turnabout today and work on this instead now

(censoring the name because I might post this on anon because I’m too scared to post another drarry soulmate fic under my own name)

27. Retrospection

Sooo, I’m always on and off this fic cos it triggers my anxiety and depression, but fuck that I want to write it so I keep trying XD

I’m also thinking of splitting the two main plots and only going with 1 and using the other to write another story....see if that eases how difficult it is for me to write without self triggering

28. Sequel to mornings

29. Sunrise (loose prequel to mornings)

30. Surrender

I had no idea what this was, opened it and then holy shit THIS BITCH, THIS SLOW BURN FRIENDS TO LOVERS PIECE OF BULLSHIT. I DON’T WRITE SLOW BURN! I DON’T WRITE FRIENDS TO LOVERS. I REFUSE.

but also I really really really love what I wrote so far and now I’m itching to write more *cries* making this list is leaving me with so many open files to work on

31. day 2 ass worship

32. day 3 sensory deprivation

*laughs nervously* the kinktober oneshots that starting turning into a long fic hahahaha cos I really needed more wips

33. Perception of Angels

*wistful sigh* one day I will be able to finish a heavily plot driven story full of fantasy elements and creatures and magic I made up, and when that day somes, Perception of Angels....or that timetravel war au drarry fic idea I have sitting around.....which isn’t on this list only cos I’m not stupid enough to start writing it

So that’s all the drarry files in my wip folder.... I also have heaps more for other ships and fandoms, but I’m keeping that separate =)

And...now I have some writing to go do, cos after 2 months of being unable to write thanks to the bullshit in my life, I started binge writing again 2 days ago =) and opening a few of these to remind myself what they were has a lit a fire under my ass

[yeastofeden]

Hello! Your Traitor Uraraka theory was an amazing read! I want to dive into the world of character/story/literary analysis too, but I dont know where or how to start... Any advice/tips you could share?

Thanks so much! I’m honestly flattered you would ask… I’m ahobby writer so a lot of what I know about analysis is what I learnedin grade school, on my own, or adapted from what I know about artcriticism & analysis….. Since you’re not sure on the start,I’ll just talk about all the core things I feel helped me getinterested in this.

Read If I had torecommend anything specificfor reading, I’d say lookinto classic literature – not because its “critically acclaimed,”but because a lot of the time classic literature has been analyzed byprofessionals in their fields, so it can be a nice way to see howother people handle character interpretation, storytelling, worldbuilding, and so on. I liked Shakespeare a lot, and you probablywouldn’t be surprised to hear that people analyze the shit out ofShakespeare. I probably picked up the most of my understanding ofcharacter analysis from indulging in Shakespeare alone.

Don’t like Shakespeare? I’d say look into stories that are just over 50 years old; Lord ofthe Rings, Catcher in the Rye, Pride & Prejudice, Lord of theFlies…. So long as you can find actual scholars analyzing it,you’re golden. Read things you enjoy; if you like anime and only care about that…maybe check out textbooks on classic anime.

Alongwith looking up how others analyze, start being critical with all themedia you consume. Movies are a great way to do this because it’sshort format and easyconcumption. You can stayfocused on critical thinking for a couple of hours while enjoyingsomething–I also think movie reviews are a good way to experiencecritical analysis. And don’t just watch good movies… watch badones too, and figure out why they’re bad.

WriteActuallywrite. Take all the interesting things you learned and apply it tosomething. Don’t just think about it; the tragedy about onlythinking is that nothing really solidifies like it does once youfinally put it out there. Talkto friends about it if you can drag them into aconversation;a lot of my analysis started out because I was talking with otherpeople. If you don’t have anyone to talk to about a series or don’twant to bother people with your miscellaneous thoughts, get a sidetumblr or a dreamwidth and just write things there to get themdown–ifyou’reshy, just don’t tag things.Tbh, sometimes I just write things out and then delete them when I’mfinished just so I can get the thought out of me. Writing is just apowerful tool tohelp organize thoughts into cohesive opinions.

Butdon’t just write thoughts only… build on them. Write your owncharacters and stories just for fun. Write fanfiction. WriteAlternate Universes. Really just explore your own taste in fictionand the kind of things you yourself want to see. If there’s onevery easy thing I could suggest… take your favourite characters orship and slap them into story that already exists. I wrote one of myOTPs a few years ago into HasChristian Andersen’s theLittle Mermaid,andit was interesting andfuntrying to suit different characters into the roles of the story.

Writingand reading as a combination are just good things for you; they helpbuild competency with literature and language, andby just indulging in the two of these while remaining critical canjust naturally better your ability to read deeper into things.

ResearchAlongwith the earlier mentioned analyses that you should look into, it’sworth it to look into like extra resources. Check out interviews withyour favourite authors; look at like Ted Talks about creativity andwriting; read into tropes and motifs; find creative people you likeand follow their work and look for trends; lookinto writing concepts and themes.Storiesare just made up of patterns and once you start finding the patterns,you can start exploiting them. A Hero’s Journey is one of the mostfundamental patterns we can follow in storytelling, and with someabstract thinking we can start to predict the events that will occurin a story. A lot of my theory is built up on observing patterns.

IfI could point you toward one single video, it’s Kirby Ferguson’sTED talk “Embrace the Remix.” It talks about the idea thatnothing is original and all things are just remixed versions of eachother. This is part of why tropes exist;  you could go look attvtropes.org and hit random and start learning about these patternsright now. Granted, I don’t recommend using tropes as a foundationof an argument, but knowing tropes can help you connect the dotsbetween series.

IfI had to suggest any non-literary research that’s worth lookinginto….Check out psychology, art, and/or culture. Psychology is just morepatterns, I use Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs when I write andobserve survival horror. Art is another way to tell a story and isespecially useful when observing visual media. Culture can help youunderstand why people write the way they do, becausethere is a difference between Eastern and Western media andstorytelling trends.

“Personality sections”Alittle back story on me: pretty much all of thereading/writing/researching I do thesedaysis because I do a lot of text-based roleplay on Dreamwidth. I’vebeen doing this for about8 years.Overthe years, I’ve written out easilyover 30 “personality sections,” which are basically 500-2kcharacter summaries–for characters like Sakura from Naruto, Makotofrom Free, Jake English from Homestuck, and so many others–as apart of a way to “prove” that I understand the character I’mroleplaying whenjoining organized groups.I’ve also read literallyhundredsof these personality sections because I joined vetting teams forsaid organized groups, and have written many rejectionresponses to help people understand where they can improve.A lot of people I know hate writingthese personality sections… but I love them.

Youcould join RP and get a feel for it thesame wayI did, but that might not be your thing. But the process of writingthese “personality sections” wasbroken down to a science byroleplayers,and can be seen as a base form of character analysis. Wetalkedabout a character’s personality, what shaped them to be that way,and sometimes how that affected them in the future of their story.When I led a vetting team, these were the requirements I set:

Mustbe at least three paragraphs long for minor characters, fiveparagraphs long for main characters. Players should be able to conveya good understanding of their characters, but just describing apersonality isn’t enough. Make sure that when you explain aparticular attitude that you back yourself up with some canon proof,otherwise mods have to wonder where you are getting this informationregardless of our knowledge of canon. Be sure to explain clearly andconcisely, organizing your paragraphs so related subjects aretogether. Avoid explaining the personality in such a way that itreads like a history section - generally this is determined byunnecessary use of chronological order.

Andthese are the same guidelines I hold myself to when I work on my ownpersonality sections. Some people have broken down personalitysections in such a way that they are formatted “three positivetraits, three negative traits” withsome variance.Some like to talk about important relationships aswell.I always defend that personality should be backed up with actualcanon evidence. “Uraraka is kind,” I could say, but I should backit up with an instance where she showed kindness, such as when shesaved Midoriya from tripping when they first meet.

TheorizingIfI’m honest, I don’t much like theorizing. I like to read theoriesand I like to think about things, but I’m not actually partial totrying to predict the future of a series because I feel likeserialized stories are too choppy to be worth my time, and there’snot much sense trying to predict the future of a story that’sfinished. I’m more inclined toward theorizing about the past, orwhat’s already happened but wasn’t explained.

Mydisinterest in theorizing kind of shows….I’ve only written twotheories for Tumblr–Urarakais the Traitor (My Hero Academia), and Both Shiros are the Clone(Voltron). I think I ended up being right about the second one butI’m not sure where the interview isthatproves it, justthat it was SDCC stuff.Thereason I’ve written any theories at all is because I personally wasmotivated by frustration–I didn’t know why people weren’ttalking about these things. SoI made a post to try to get people to talk. BeforeI posted my theory, no one would have looked twice at Uraraka andthat drove me nuts.Now I’ve made a following strong enough that Uraraka seems to beone of the highest contenders in terms of just… gossip. Which,thanks guys. I’m floored.

So…. Myadvice would be to pick a subject you think should be talked aboutand go for it. Do the research. Canon-review. Takenotes. Search for patterns outside what you’re trying to analyze.Writeand rewrite and rewrite again, becauseanalyzing is basically high school but fun.

And…lastly…. Prepare to be wrong. You have a different sense ofstorytelling than anyone else. I have been bitten right in the assbecause I viewed and loved many-a character because I saw them theway I wanted to, and the author clearly did not share my views.And people might not like your theory; people might super hate iteven, and that’s not such a big deal. In the end it’s just fiction and we’re all just here to enjoy a story we love.

I…know that’s a lot, but Ihope it was at least helpful information! Ithink in the end the most important part is just to be critical andremain open-minded. Never stop learning. Choose your battles. Write about what you love.And don’t worry so much about being wrong. 

[crimsonriley]

Another author meme

@sariasprincy compelled me to complete this.

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

This name is super not creative at all, I mean it. I made it 2002 to make may username more... acceptable, I guess. I was young and thought it was a good idea. Anyway, red is my favorite color, and crimsonriley seemed a lot better than redriley. Riley being one of my names. 

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

The Night of No Regrets has the most views and reviews.

Troublesome and Inconclusive has the most favorites and follows.

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

I don’t use one on FFN. My profile icon here is a pic I took in New Orleans. The trip holds some pretty special memories. The fireworks were really pretty.

4. Do you have any regular/favorite commenters?

I do not. As I update so infrequently for ... various reasons. I’m not at all surprised by this.

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

I read The Way of the Wind by Just Enough pretty much every other month. I love the Itachi in this. They did such an amazing job. It’s perfect.

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

Following: 84 Stories

Bookmarked: 68 Stories

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

Naruto, non-Uchiha massacre

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

On fanfiction, I’m on the favorites of 9 and the alert of 8. I didn’t even know until now. Thanks!

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

I don’t post a lot of things because I struggle with writing. I use it as a distraction or an outlet for processing things. I will admit I’m not the best at my hobby. So I continue and practice but it’s mostly for me, anyway.

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

I think I can be better at everything. Specifically, I have trouble setting the scene with words. I can do some great dialog, but helping the reader get the full picture of the mood, emotions, even scenery is really hard for me. 

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

I’m trying two write a couple rarepairs right now, ShikaSaku and Shisaku.

The Shisaku is going much better than the other.

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

7 total :)

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

10, I think.

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

I write it down for consideration.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

I have not. 

16. How did you discover FFNet/AO3?

I joined FF in 2002. I joined AO3 2017 when I learned of all the wonderful stories posted there.

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

Hahahahahaha, absolutely not.

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

Precious.

If I get an email from ffn saying someone added one of my stories as a favorite or is following it. I cringe. Literally, I cringe because most of the stuff I wrote was completed when I was really young. It’s cliche and contrite, and it makes me cringe. Still, I do appreciate that someone likes it, I really do.

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

My love of fanfiction all started with DBZ. Jadedbest really inspired me to try my hand at it.

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

Plot the story first. How do you want it to start? How does it end? What builds the story? What acts as a catalyst? Where will the characters stuggle? Have these ideas in mind. They can be fluid and change as the story develops, but having idea of where I want to go helps me stay on track to actually get there.

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

Please see above. I try to do this. I often fail.

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

Because they are so few, I just went to read all of my reviews to see. LOL

I actually haven’t received any bad feedback. However, if I ever do, I plan on trying to see the merits of it but at the same time remaining true to where I want my story to go. 

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

I have a really hard time writing conflict, especially if there is actual physical violence to describe. I’m so non-confrontational as a person it transfers over to my writing abilities.

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

See the WIP post I made earlier today.

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

I am currently working on a new story for the first time in months. I have lost all inspiration and motivation for all my others. So, as I am absolute trash about completing stories I plan to complete this one entirely before sharing any of it. 

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

My goal is currently set at writing at least one new paragraph a day.

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

I mean, I hope so. As I mentioned before the old ones are rough and make me cringe.

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

I have this HP story where I killed off Ron Weasley. It was really satisfying to write because I really don’t like the character at all. Worst best friend ever. I mean he may have come around in the end, but books 1- 6... please.

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

The Night of No Regrets. It’s really immature. It’s really contrite. And for the love of all that’s sacred there’s even a song fic chapter in there. Ugh... teenage me...

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

I mean I write all of these really professional reports ever single day. For business purposes, I’ve been told I’m really stellar. My problem is I like to use a lot of words. So now that everyone expects all the information to be received in tweet sized format it makes things much harder. But I will continue to attempt to condense 210 pages of material into 280 characters. *Groans*

As a fanfiction author, I’m trying to pick it back up and have fun with it. I’m not sure if that will still be the case 5 years from now or not.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

I think I’m pretty good at keep the character’s I borrow pretty true to their cannon personalities.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Knowing whether it’s important for the reader to know exactly how blue the sky is or to know to a bird was chirping close by.

33. Why do you write?

Writing is kind of therapeutic for me. I need a outlet of expression to get it out. Otherwise it all stays bottled up, and I get distracted by all of the things.

Tagging: @bouncyirwin, @raendown, @kaminariozora

[ravenqueensspecialboi]

Get to Know the Author

I was tagged by @oisugasuga (Thank you!)

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

My ao3 username is hobbit_hedgehog.  It was actually the first url I had on tumblr, so I pulled it from that.  I’m hobbit sized and I like hedgehogs, so that’s where the name comes from.  humandisasterbuckybarnes is kind of a Parks and Recs reference mixed with my boy James Buchanan Barnes.

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

Ok, I gotta break this down by category.  Funny enough, they’re both Marvel fics.

Bookmarks/Subscriptions/Hits: College Town Coffee

Kudos: You Are My Cactus

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

Suga because I love that piece of shit.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

I don’t really have favorites, because anyone who comments is a fave, but I do have regulars!  wafflewednesdays always comments on my DaiSuga stuff, @sondeneige always leaves me the nicest comments, and @ennotanafuta leaves me paragraphs that make me want to weep with joy.

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

Not really.  I have my bookmarks, but those are mostly so I can make friends read them.

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

I don’t subscribe to stories so much as I subscribe to authors.  That being said, I’m subscribed to 9 stories and I have 89 bookmarks.

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

I write a lot of paranormal aus.  I have two witch aus in two different fandoms and a paranormal investigator au that is my child.

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

I have 26 people subscribed to me personally, and there are 180 subscriptions and 304 bookmarks across all of my works. 

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

One of my ongoing witch aus is a Yuri on Ice fic and part of me doesn’t want to be associated with anything Yuri on Ice related....

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

I really want to get better at updates, and part of that would involve actually setting writing deadlines for myself.

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

Popular ships.  DaiSuga, anyone?

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

58, can you believe it???

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

Oof... Too many

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

Depends!  I have a notebook filled with scraps of paper with little story ideas, but a lot of the time, I have an idea and I just write.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Not yet, but there are talks of a co-authored Haikyuu in Hoenn fic.

16. How did you discover AO3?

Welcome to Night Vale fanfic.

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

Not particularly.  I feel like there are people who know about my fics, but I’m not really a bnf.

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

Oh my god, no, but I love this idea.  Y’all are my Buckets now.

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

I’ve been writing ever since I was little.  I still have short stories I wrote as a 7 year old saved in boxes at my parents’ house.  But to be honest, I didn’t really have a writing inspiration until I was older, and that was Neil Gaiman.  One of my favorite quotes of his is, “Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day and on a good writing day nothing else matters.”

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

Just keep writing.  One of the best ways to get good at writing is to just do it over and over and over again.  Practice makes perfect!  And don’t compare yourself to others.  Your writing is your own.

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

The fuck’s an outline?

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

Not really.  The worst I get is people telling me to update stuff without saying please.

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

Smut.  Fuck writing smut.

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

Right now I’m working on an hqss fic, College Town Coffee, Ghost Finders Incorporated, my KiyoYui Castle in the Sky au, a yoi Witch AU, and an EnnoTana one shot for someone.

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

Lmao always

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

Not really.

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

Oh hell yeah.

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

Either Ghost Finders, my KiyoYui fic, or a DaiSuga one shot called “Fallen Stars in Old Jars”

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

Probably one of my wtnv secret santa presents.

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

No idea

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

So many oddly specific aus....

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

....So little time.

33. Why do you write?

Because I like creating.

Alrighty, I tag: @allihearisradiogaga @ennotanafuta @rustingroses @gilrael @tottwritesfanfic @downmoon @coffeetyphoon and @yaoyoroses

[quinnlocke]

Author About Me

tagged by both @mystictrashheap and @foxyena, thanks :)

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

Quinn Locke is my halfling rogue from a D&D campaign I was in with some friends. When I first started publishing fanfic I didn’t want anyone in my real life to find it and only 4 people knew of the character but never remembered her last name so it worked.

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

It Was Always You - 237 comments, 4995 hits

Sincerely Yours - 389 kudos, 124 subscriptions, 73 bookmarks

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

A picture of Bokuto and Akaashi from the mange edited to look like they are conspiring together. I chose it cause I love Bokuaka and I seem to write them more than anyone else.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

I have quite a few regulars and I very much look forward to their comments. I have one who leaves me paragraph long reviews and I honestly tear up a little every time. 

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

Hehehehehe, you do not want to see the hit count for a few fics. I have about 3 or 4 that I always go back to for a quick read to make me smile. 

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

142 bookmarks and I am subscribed to 6 authors

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

It varies, though I seem to always end up falling into the University setting

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

50 user subscriptions (are you kidding me???) and 408 bookmarks. You mean to tell me 50 people get an email that I posted something???

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

There are some pairings I would love to write but worry no one will like, or even worse tell me that its the wrong ship and to ship this instead.

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

Building a proper world and managing to follow that worlds rules. I’d also like to finally figure out how to break up sentence structure and maybe stop using the term “felt like”

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

Popular ships with a couple minor rare pairs thrown into the background

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

20

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

For my own well being I will not even look.

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

both depending on if I feel I absolutely must write it immediately

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

yes and let’s not talk about it thank you very much

16. How did you discover AO3?

Deviant art had some fanfic attached to pictures and then I googled fanfiction for dragon age and lo and behold there it was

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

hardly

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

most people seem to call me quinn, i do not have a name for my readers en masse, i do have nicknames for the people i interact with the most

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

loquaciousquark and rannadylin were the first authors whose work had me hooked in the dragon age fandom. silvercistern is the author who ensured I was trapped in haikyuu forever, if only for the magic of bokuaka. To be honest I am inspired by anyone who wants to write and has a story to tell.

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

Write for you first. If you want to see your two favorite characters meet in a coffee shop and bond over a love of the same book, the write it. If you want to write the au based on that obscure TV show from your childhood, do it. Write what makes you happy first. 

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

Both honestly. I have outlines for long fics and then there are times I just pull a story out of nowhere and go... well here it is.

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

Yes, I deleted it and chose to ignore a message sent to me by the person who commented. They criticized my work, then asked to use whatever prompt I had gotten to write my story. The best part was there was no prompt. I came up with the idea on my own. Now, I usually just ignore rude comments and try not to let them bother me. I don’t get many.

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

smut will be the death of me

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

Sincerely Yours, Faded Trees (a tensemi fantasy au), Giving In (long fic planned for the bsd bb), Date Me...For Science! (fake dating au) and a host of other small projects

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

I am always plotting something even if I never end up writing it

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

I don’t even have a goal on the days I do write

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

Good god I hope so!

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

Flowers and Feathers, I wrote it in a day and I can’t help but smile when I see it gets kudos

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

Tale of the Champion(s Heart), because I will never finish it, and it was my first fanfic ever so its full of mistakes and tired tropes. For Haikyuu it would be Six Minutes to Say Goodbye. It was my first Haikyuu fic and it was my first fic after a 4 month long writers block.

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

Probably writing for new fandoms, or at the very least having more fandoms to write for. I doubt I will ever stop writing

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

When you actually hit that groove where all your ideas come together and the words just fucking flow

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Fucking summaries can go to hell

33. Why do you write?

Because I have stories to share

tagging @talkativelock, @therealmnemo, @rannadylin, and anyone else who wants to get their hands on this

[shootmesenpai]

Question tag for AO3 writers~~

I found the original questions on AFF a while back, and I thought since I’ve been tagged in so many meme things lately, I’d also tag a bunch more people in this one XD Since the questions were designed for AFF, I’ve reworked some of them to fit for AO3 writers. I also removed two questions rather than trying to translate them to AO3 terms. So, I’ll fill out my answers first, and then put the blank questions again at the bottom for you to easily copy and paste!

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

I came up with "Shootmesenpai” for my Tumblr originally a long time ago. It was pretty much a play on the whole “Notice me senpai” thing. Pretty basic and not very witty but it just ended up sticking so I even used it for AO3.

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

Happy Birthday Aomine 

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

My icon is Aomine Daiki. I choose it because he is my favorite boy and almost all the fanfics I have written are from his perspective. 

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

I’m not a very popular writer and my stuff is pretty low key so the commenters are fairly random. I have some friends that comment so I suppose they count....kinda. 

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

Blackbird or the Ladder series by @emungere is amazing and I have reread them a number of times. I also have a huge soft spot for Across the Way by @gintamajustaway and that is not even finished yet. 

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

I am only subscribed to two stories at the moment since a couple just finished recently, but I have 29 bookmarks for things that need to be read. I’m kinda bad about actually doing this instead, I just leave 100 tabs open on my phone. 

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

I haven’t actually written any AU’s yet but I like reading student/teacher ones, yakuza AU’s or college AU’s. I would like to write a college AU one day as it’s not too far from reality so I think I may be able to handle it. 

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

Oh, an embarrassingly small amount....I think I only have 29 subscriptions and 44 bookmarks...definitely, nothing to write home about. 

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

Honestly, I don’t really have much. I would like to write something really aggressive and complex but I don’t do well with long stories. A yakuza story with some rough subject matter (similar to Harada) would be amazing but....that's a bit much for most of the ships I enjoy. 

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

I would like to finish my one long story and possibly rework a lot of it. It was the first one I wrote and looking back I can see a lot of flaws. I need to honestly just start writing more and learn the fundamentals of good storytelling. Even though I enjoy writing smutty one-shots the most, I still have ideas for long stories that I’m not confident enough to begin. 

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

I mainly write for AoKuro or AoKuroKaga which I guess is a bit rare for the KNB fan base. I also love ultra rare pairings like NijiHai. 

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

5 total works with one unfinished. 

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

I have the next chapter started with Realization and Loss but it’s only a paragraph....that’s it at the moment. 

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

A little bit of both, my friend and I talk story ideas every once in a while so some of those are permanently locked in my head. There are some I came up with on my own that I have written down in a sketchbook somewhere. 

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Nope, I come up with ideas with a friend sometimes so it kinda feels like it has been co-authored at times. 

16. How did you discover AO3?

Just following the links of the fanfic rabbit hole. 

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

Oh god no, I am extremely casual in my writings. I freak out for having like 5 kudos on a fic. I bow down to the famous authors. 

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

Not that I’m aware of, again I am bottom of that totem pole. 

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

I mean @humanitys-shortest-soldier kinda encouraged me after I continued to bug her about showing off her amazing writing skills. Other than that though @gintamajustaway was a huge inspiration, they are so amazing that I really have no words. 

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

I don’t think I’m qualified to give advice but I guess I would just say, don’t be afraid to put your ideas out there. Even if you think it’s weird, or you think your writing skills aren’t up to par, just do it! There are people out there who will encourage you and make your whole day with their kind words. I promise you. 

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

I do basic plots, mainly just large points that I want to hit. Everything else just slowly forms around those foundation pieces. 

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

No, I haven’t gotten any bad comments yet but I am always open to them. I handle criticism well and I think bad comments can help a person grow to become a better writer. 

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

Ummm.....probably really serious stuff. I love writing smut and I read a lot of garbage so it helps but the serious stuff requires a build up on top of a solid foundation. Those are definitely weak points for me. 

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

I have Realization and Loss....which I will probably finish...one day. Other than that though I don’t have anything in the works, although I was prompted today to write more Brotp for AoAka. 

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

Yeaaaa, I really shouldn’t but sometimes the idea is too fun to wait. 

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

Nope, I just write when I have the time or a burning idea. It has been a while since I have done anything though. 

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

I think I have improved a bit, there is still a lot that I need to work on. I would love to eventually get back into it and improve my fundamentals and basics storytelling abilities. 

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

Haizaki’s Day Off, it was just a lot of fun to write and I really enjoy writing for Haizaki since he is a huge asshole. 

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

I don’t really have a least favorite but if I had to say...it would be Realization and Loss. It was my first one and I still need to finish it, but looking back I see a lot of errors and crutches throughout the story. 

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

Probably close to where I am now, I love writing but I don’t think I am cut out for anything serious within the field. I love drawing and a lot of my free time is spent trying to improve there, while also finding the courage to post it. 

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

Coming up with the basic plot and all the fun bits that it involves. 

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Actually sitting down to write it.....also in-character dialogue!

33. Why do you write?

I write because sometimes an idea is too fun to keep to myself or between my friends. I write so that hopefully other people get some enjoyment out of the weird stuff I create. 

Anyways that’s all the questions, so I’ll put them here as well without the answers to easily c+p.

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean? 2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos) 3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it? 4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters? 5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again? 6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked? 7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most? 8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page) 9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!) 10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc. 11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often? 12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)? 13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program? 14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head? 15. Have you ever co-authored a story? 16. How did you discover AO3? 17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3? 18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers? 19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write? 20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author? 21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go? 22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do? 23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..) 24. What story(s) are you working on now? 25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)? 26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself? 27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started? 28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written? 29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written? 30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years? 31. What is the easiest thing about writing? 32. What is the hardest thing about writing? 33. Why do you write?

Tagged by: @humanitys-shortest-soldier

I tag @emungere @gintamajustaway @criscura and other amazing writers who want to tell all us beginners how it’s done. 

[thedegenerateasexual]

top 10 teen wolf episodes as rated by me i guess

IN the order from most to least favorite, and i did not include any 6B ones because it isn’t fair for me to use those when the season isn’t finished yet. (EDIT: season is now finished and while none of the 6B episodes made the ranking i did adjust the honorable mentions accordingly.) this is long & i had fun making it

3.19 Letharia Vulpina: ok ok so just like Everyone Knew I Would i did pick this one because of all the prime derek/chris material—that all-important moment where they had their claws and gun trained on each other, being handcuffed to a bench together, derek saving chris’s life despite insisting he wasn’t gonna—BUT there’s literally not a single second of this episode i don’t love. we open with deaton being a total badass and scaring the shit out of some yakuza dudes, then KIRA gets to be a badass, and then there’s a small scott/allison/isaac moment when he’s all laid up (which was my ot3 for a little while in 3A…don’t judge), allison gets to threaten peter with a stun baton on her girlfriend lydia’s behalf, and that doesn’t even BEGIN to get into the absolute delight it is to watch everyone running around trying to deal with all the chaos the notgitsune is causing (we even got to see coach get shot, which was actually pretty funny??). between all of that and the plot twist at the end (that we all saw coming…but hey) that it was really the nogitsune pretending to be stiles all along (and the very…gay…thing going on with him and scott), it’s literally like, the perfect episode. there was even a rain battle at the end i fucking love rainy scenes. PEAK television.

4.12 Smoke & Mirrors: my two favorite characters on the dumb werewolf show are derek hale & scott mccall and this episode is like a great big flashing sign that says “LOOK AT HOW AWESOME DEREK IS AND LOOK AT HOW AWESOME SCOTT IS!!!” because scott finally gets to KICK PETER’S ASS and comes back from something he shouldn’t be able to come back from because he’s SCOTT MCCALL, TRUE ALPHA, and how can we forget my son derek finally achieving the full shift and giving that big old “FUCK YOU” to kate argent. if that wasn’t enough, my third favorite character chris argent gets the second-closest he’s ever come to weeping in this entire series when confronting the sister he can’t kill at the end. also kate is in this episode and she’s the best villain i love her presence onscreen. also peak television.

1.12 Code-Breaker: i love s1 SO FUCKING MUCH bc it was so tightly plotted - it’s like back to the future and holes, it’s one of those things where every line serves a purpose and there’s no spare bits, and tw’s plot becomes such a mess later that it’s honestly really amazing. so code breaker is my favorite one because all the plot stuff comes together really well, and it’s just like well-done overall, there’s that sick backwards shot of allison, chris’s Angst when he realizes his sister is a serial killer, scott trying Really Really Hard and derek being Really Really Done (why don’t they have more scenes together…), stiles and peter cracking me up with the laptop password gag, like…there’s literally no part of this ep that isn’t a delight (also again kate is in it i love kate as a villain). it’s wonderful 10/10

3.14 More Bad Than Good: i had a real hard time with this one vs. the one immediately before it, the first one of 3B, but i love both bc i love watching scott stiles and allison absolutely losing their shit. in the end i like this one better bc 1. you get to watch them beat it and 2. they finally find and rescue malia and i FUCKING LOVE malia, my own daughter, also the scene where she reunites with her dad makes me misty every time. bonus content: watching araya hack off peter’s finger :D :D :D AND this is the first time derek gets to make heart-eyes at braeden. i’m so happy whenever he’s happy!!! 

6.05 Radio Silence: this episode is everything i love about 6A all wrapped up in a nice neat lil package. i love 6A bc it totally fucking surprised me by making me like things i did not think i’d like, the biggest being stiles/lydia. and like…this season fuckin SOLD me on it, the way she fights tooth and nail to get him back and the way he’s so patiently waited for her reminds me 2much of claire & ben from @cambionverse and the beginning of me being sold was this ep, when they had the wall between them, and when they finally talked on the radio. and this episode even made peter hale interesting for 30 entire seconds which i thought was impossible—it was cool that he did One Genuinely Selfless Thing by going through the portal to save malia, and later when malia and scott had to take his pain to get at stiles’ keys you could almost imagine for a second he got to pretend someone actually DID care about him, that’s his reward for doing a single selfless thing. it was also stellar to see stiles (and the jeep!!!) again and see him working the problem from the other side it was like getting real sam back after half a season of soulless sam in spn s6 DO NOT call me out for referencing this show

4.05 I.E.D.: go look at these gifsets and read the tags. now come back. …okay okay aside from, That, which i won’t repeat as to avoid two paragraphs of capslock, derek also smiles in this episode. even scott is alarmed by it. HE’S HAPPY i’m happy he’s happy!!!!! i’m happy he loves scott!! i’m happy he spends half the episode trading long lingering looks with his future boyfriend!!!! but if that wasn’t enough this episode KEEPS ON GIVING because at the very end the calaveras show up and bully chris into saying the original code, and forgetting his daughter’s, which is deeply relevant to all my headcanons about the code lowkey being like indoctrination (watch that shit again it’s fucking wild…), and also it’s one of the only times in the series where he looks genuinely freaked out and i love watching his Turmoil™

6.10 Riders on the Storm: this is also everything i love about 6A in one ep, just like, less concentrated, bc there’s also the nazi werewolf (tho even PETER HALE getting judgy @ the nazi was truly a highlight). its got all the Big Damn Reunions, its got STYDIA, its got peter actually being slightly interesting, its got scott mccall: badass. its actually also got lydia martin: badass, which like…About Damn Time. it’s even got chris argent: badass, and it’s also got chris argent: badass smooching on a beautiful lady w/ his hands in her hair!!!! (her: that was so hot! me: GIRL ME TOO) also they thought this was the last stiles ep ever so his goodbyes to everyone were like really sweet & made me emo af

3.22 De-Void: so obviously i love this one because derek’s line when he was under thrall about “you’re NOT my ally you’re a HUNTER” got me into the dumb rarepair i wrote like 60k for so far but also i do genuinely deeply love the sequence where they exorcise the notgitsune from inside stiles’ head—lydia facing her fears in the ruined prom dress is such amazing imagery + im gay for the scott/stiles reunion. bonus content includes chris & allison interaction which breaks my heart (he’s so proud of her!!) and the tense kickass scene in the loft in the opening where the notgitsune (SCARY MOTHERFUCKER) is trying to goad chris into shooting it. i don’t love ALL of this ep bc it has so much thumb twins (& from here down there are no more perfect ones…sad) but i love MOST of it and the parts i do love are fantastic. so. i’ll deal w/ thumb twins

3.06 Motel California: look i know this episode should disturb the fuck out of me bc 1. derek and jennifer bang & in my eyes that isn’t a consensual encounter and 2. all the creepy ass suicides but like…honestly there is something so soothing about motels to me, i’ll put this one on to just chill out anyday. like it is delightfully creepy and i love all the meat to everyone getting hit with their baggage (uh…except the thumb twins), but mostly it’s the #mood i love. i actually even like the derek scenes before the sex starts because he is So Wounded and So Sad (“everyone around me gets hurt” BYE) and they rarely let him actually emote at all so it’s very refreshing

2.03 Ice Pick: this was like…such a perfect & amazing introduction to the new betas like if the new ppl in s4 and beyond had gotten this kind of good introduction (and hadn’t been killed off so quickly…) i would love them about 10x more. it’s got that nice s2 vibe that most ppl are into and i still love erica & boyd w/ all my heart!!! (DONT really love how creepy derek was w/ erica but we’ll blame it on being the alpha.) i also love how fucked up the scene with allison tied to the chair was & the fucking fight between derek’s pack and scott at the end…like scott gets to win a 2-on-1 fight and then derek gets to be mr. cool alpha dude and kick his ass. i LOVE THOSE FIGHT SCENES and bc of this episode “iron” is my derek theme song. so.

HONORABLE MENTIONS aka these were on the original list but didn’t make the cut:

1.11 Formality (aaalllll of derek’s ugly backstory this was when i knew i loved him)

2.10 Fury (the first ep i ever watched live, will always be fond of it for that reason even tho i don’t give 2 shits about matt)

2.11 Battlefield (the theme of doing things bc of the power of love will always get me, it was also the only teen wolf episode i ever made gifs of, back when i knew how to make gifs)

3.12 Lunar Ellipse (for scott becoming a true alpha for REAL + derek’s big ol’ well-deserved fuck-you to jennifer, i didn’t love 3A but this was such prime derek & scott material)

3.13 Anchors (like i said: watching stiles, scott, and allison all COMPLETELY lose their shit, also did you know the anchor allison chose in this ep ws her new code? Interesting)

3.24 The Divine Move (listen...you can laugh at the cheesy sfx ALL you want but when i watched kate argent come back from the dead to menace derek hale like his own worst nightmare come to life LIVE with mine own two eyes i jumped out of my seat and YELLED like everything about that moment was absolutely PERFECT and very few things are ever gonna top it)

4.08 Time of Death (derek learning to use a gun and then getting it on with braeden…bye)

4.11 A Promise to the Dead (not only chris unsticking himself from the wall for allison and scott’s sake but also derek and braeden walking around his loft half-naked in the rain...nice)

5.05 A Novel Approach (the stiles and donovan altercation…the first 15m where he acts with his face without saying a word…enough said)

5.18 The Maid of Gévaudan (i'm bitter about the flashback because i want ALLISON but it was a nice origin story + scott fighting the beast all on his own to save that library full of kids was one of the only truly amazing moments of 5B)

6.08 Blitzkrieg (the sheriff rebuilding stiles’ room and saying goodbye to claudia makes me really for real cry but there’s so much nazi bullshit that i couldn’t justify having the episode as a whole being one of my favs)

6.13 After Images (chris argent absolutely losing his shit the entire ep, fucking love it)

6.19 Broken Glass (derek hale's comeback and he got to spend all of his screentime with chris argent! i seriously considered poking this into the #10 spot but ultimately the sideplot i hated with malia and scott had so much more screentime i can't use it - i can't list an episode i'm always skipping parts of!)

[dgwrites-stuff]

Editing and Feedback Checklist

I wrote this for myself a while back and recently shared it with my writing group. Hopefully it’ll be useful for other people too!

You might have the best idea in the world, but if it isn’t presented appropriately, you’ll get nowhere. I use all of the lists below in my own editing. This first list will be most useful when giving feedback to your peers; sharing creative ideas is helpful. The second list is my editing and proofreading one. This stuff is seriously important. If you get all of that right, you’ll look like a writer who knows their shit. Make sure you know your shit. The last list I usually use when I’m coming to the end of my edits and I’ll double check I haven’t left any of those points unattended. They’re fairly obvious, but when you’re editing several thousand words, it’s hard to get everything in one sweep, so you usually have to look for a few specific things at a time. This is, by far, not a conclusive list. It’s just a useful guide that I use in my own work and that I thought I’d share to help people out.

Questions regarding the story as a whole

1.       Plot:

a.       Is the scene set well?

b.       Do you like the events? Is there something else you would have liked to have seen happen? Another direction the story could have gone?

c.       Strong first sentence?

d.       Strong first paragraph?

e.       Satisfying ending (anyone writing ‘she woke up and realised it was all a bad dream’ will be shot – you’re better than this!)

f.        Is there any part of the story that is predictable?

2.       Pace:

a.       Were there any paragraphs that are too fast/slow?

b.       Did you want more description anywhere? (People and place)

c.       Did you find there was too much description in places?

d.       Is the action described appropriately? (Quick and effective – like a mugging. This isn’t Hollywood: we don’t do slow motion action scenes of bullets flying and damsel-in-distress-screams. Trigger pulled. Bang. Body hits the floor. Game over.)

e.       Is there any point in the story where you lost interest/skipped words and sentences? Be honest – this is important.

3.       Characters:

a.       Are they realistic?

b.       Are they consistent (an emotional character at the start of your story might be a little disturbed after witnessing someone be pancacked by a double-decker.)

c.       Are there too many/too few?

d.       Are they different enough from each other?

e.       Are they introduced gradually – not five all in one go so that the reader has no clue which one is the one with purple hair and a nipple-piercing.

4.       Tense:

a.       Is the tense appropriate?

i.      Would it better in present/past tense? If you’re unsure, change your first paragraph to the other tense and use that to inform your decision.

5.       Person:

a.       Is third person most appropriate, or first?

i.      Like the above, if you’re unsure, change your first paragraph to the other.

6.       Style:

a.       How close is the narrator to the reader? Are they chatting away to you over a cup of tea, or is it more of an ‘Attenborough’ narrator, describing what he sees and why they do things?

b.��      Is the style appropriate for the story you’re telling? Sitting on the shoulder of a narrator might be perfect for a murder mystery, but maybe less so for a fantasy tale with complex concepts. Figure out how ‘attached’ you want your reader to be – do you want your reader to see everything your character does, or is it a little more omniscient?

c.       Lexis (not a typo for the car) – what is your vocabulary like? As a university student, you probably know big words. These aren’t usually appropriate for a fictional novel. Choose your words carefully.

d.       Think about who is telling the story and how they would speak. Would the narrator use colloquial and contracted language, or would it be written with full and ‘proper’ English?

THE IMPORTANT STUFF

If you’re sending anything off to anyone that isn’t part of your writing group, you need to make sure all of this stuff is perfect. I’m not kidding: not even your mum wants to read something riddled with typos and grammatical errors.

1.       Capital letters. Full stops.

a.       Sounds like obvious stuff, but when your fingers are flying at 30-keys a second, you want to make sure you catch these bad boys before you get your manuscript shoved back in your face. Grammarly and digital proofers will usually pick these up, but make sure you double-check.

2.       Apostrophes

a.       These are easy to miss when you’re in ‘the zone’. I won’t hold it against anyone who misses a few on their first edit. After edit two, these errors should be gone. That’s why you have writing friends and English nerds.

b.       It’s/hasn’t/she’s – these are all using the apostrophe to replace a letter. They are two words glued together.

c.       They donkey’s left bollock – this shows the left bollock belongs to the donkey. I don’t know who the right one belongs to. The apostrophe is possessive.

d.       James’ dad likes to eat wild mushrooms – this one is also possessive. This is more of a stylistic thing, but in other countries, it could be written James’s. The UK way is like the first example, and most broadly accepted.

3.       Commas

a.       The first draft always has weird commas. You look at them and think ‘how the hell did you get there?’ It’s usually with these little shits that the thought comes up ‘Oh my God, I’m a terrible writer, I’m never going to make it.’ This is why we have editing!

b.       Before you tell me commas aren’t that big of a deal, have a look here: ‘Let’s eat Grandma/Let’s eat, Grandma.’ I don’t know about you, but I prefer my Grannies roasted. Here’s another: ‘This book is dedicated to my siblings, Jenny and God.’ Now, if you’re siblings with his almightiness, then this works fine. If not, then you’ve got a bit of ambiguity here.

4.       Semi-colons:

a.       I love these things. Read this: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon

5.       Typos

a.       We all cringe at the random autocorrected work that Word thinks is right. Make sure you check your work for duck’s sake!

6.        Clarity

a.       Whatever you write, you want people to understand you. If you’re going through your writing and tripping up a little or getting lost, have a restructure. Usually, it’s nothing a little punctuation can’t fix.

b.       Use language everyone will understand – not everyone knows

7.       Speech

a.       There’s usually quite a bit of confusion about how to write speech. Where do you put the commas? How do you punctuate it when you have a dialogue tag? What about action?

b.       “My uncle is as dim as that lightbulb,” James said, pointing to the lampshade. // Laura frowned. “But it’s off.” // “Exactly,” he grinned, “that light was switched off years ago.” Okay, so that last bit doesn’t make a lot of sense, but you can see what I’m doing with the punctuation.

c.       Each time a new person speaks, a new paragraph ensues. In the above example, the // shows the paragraph breaks.

d.       Use ‘said’ or use action. Anything else use sparingly. Do this and your reader will throw darts at a printed picture of you: “Red,” Kyle said miserably. “Blue,” Tiffany said excitedly. “Yellow,” June said uncertainly. “Why are we saying colours?” Rory said nervously.

e.       If someone shouts, do not put it in capitals; you’re not texting.

f.        Italics are for emphasis. Don’t do what I’ve done in this and underlined stuff. You don’t see it in your novels, so don’t do it in yours.

Last checks

The above are all the things you need to go over with a fine-tooth comb. Make sure all that stuff is in order and tidy. Now you need to look for changes that will make your writing sparkle!

1.       Use common language.

2.       Omit needless words.

3.       Don’t dump all your fantastic research in one go – fly tipping is illegal, and no one likes it.

4.       Don’t be obvious.

a.       ‘She nodded her head.’ Well what else is she going to nod?

b.       ‘He clapped his hands.’ Well what else is he going to clap? His feet!?

c.       ‘She blinked her eyes.’ You get it by now.

5.       Try and avoid the words up/down.

a.       ‘He sat down on the bench.’ You can just say ‘he sat on the bench.’ Nothing is lost and it’s easier to read.

b.       ‘She climbed up the stairs.’ You don’t really climb down stairs.

6.       Give your reader credit.

a.       As much as we might think it, they’re not stupid. They have brains. If you say ‘they sat across from each other,’ we assume they’re say on chairs, probably at a table, probably directly opposite.

7.       ADJECTIVES

a.       You misuse these, and I’ll tell Stephen King. Sparingly is the only way.

8.       Clichés

a.       These are bad.

b.       Unless you’re twisting them or playing with them, just don’t.

9.       Use character action to express emotion

a.       ‘He was angry. He punched her in the face.’ You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to know that a punch to the face usually means someone is pissed with you.

10.   Verbs are what sets an amazing writer aside from a good writer.

a.       I’m serious. A good writer might do something like this, ‘He walked down the road, wincing every time he put his ankle down. He looked in a shop window, saw the security camera, and moved swiftly on.’

b.       An amazing writer will have more fun with it: ‘He limped down the road, head down, hands in pockets. He glanced in a shop window, spotted a security camera, and hurried on.’ Good verb choice takes your writing up a level. Be an amazing writer.

At the end of the day, if you’re ever unsure about anything, go to your bookshelf and pick out a traditionally published book (you’d be safer learning from a traditionally published book). Flick through and find an example of what you’re stuck on. See how the pros do it. If they’ve been published, it means a whole team has read that book. A professional editor, proof reader, and copy editor has gone through it and done their job. These are the industry standards, and you need to make sure you’re on their level.