#I'm trying my best to keep out the spoilery stuff and this fic

[inkblackorchid]

WIP Snippet 2 (Ch. 1)

“See you,” Aki said as they left, before turning to walk in the direction of the academy garage, her steps quickening as she reached Yusei, who sat on his runner, waiting.

Knowing that her friends had already left for the poetry club and that not many students usually wandered around this part of the grounds at this hour, she indulged in grabbing his face to pull him in for a kiss immediately.

When she pulled back, allowing her hands to slide down to his shoulders instead, he looked up at her with adoring eyes and a lazy smile playing around his lips. He could not have looked more handsome.

“Hey there. Had an okay day?” he greeted, gently placing his hand on her waist.

"Perfectly unremarkable," she answered, but then remembered the security car. She hesitated a moment, wondering if she should bring it up. Ultimately, she said, "Feels a bit like the day might not be so unremarkable for the city, though. Am I going crazy, or are there a lot of security patrols around right now?"

Yusei's expression immediately shifted to a more contemplative one, his brows furrowing ever so slightly. "If you were going crazy, then Crow and Jack would be, too, because they said something similar. And I've been noticing it, too. Something's weird. Crow's got a theory that something happened to put them on high alert. He's even been considering phoning Trudge about it."

Aki shook her head. "That's weird, though, isn't it? If something had happened to put sector security on edge this much, it would have made the news, wouldn't it? Maybe I should phone Carly, ask her if she knows something..."

"Jack might have already beaten you to that. He was talking about it before I left," Yusei told her, shrugging.

"Ah. Then it might be for the best that we get back to the garage, maybe. Who knows, maybe they found something out." Taking a step back, she added, "I'll go fetch my runner, then. Be right back."

When she received a nod from him, she took that as her sign to walk into the academy's runner garage, where she had to walk past the priority spots reserved for teachers and other staff first before she got to the back, where the student parking spots where.

[venomous-qwille]

Ghost in the Machine

This is the master post for Ghost in the Machine links, character refs and FAQs.

I will try my best to keep this post as up to date as possible.

What is Ghost in The Machine?

GITM is a DCA AU and a fic set in the retrofuture (2055ish) long after Fazco has shut down. An eccentric collector has been acquiring versions of the Daycare Attendant animatronic from closed locations around the world. The story involves a reader character who has been brought into repair the original post-Ruin DCA from the games, and hijinks ensue. There are also ghosts.

Where can I read the fic?

GITM is currently being posted on Ao3, and is updated every three weeks on Saturdays. The fic is being beta'd by the tremendously talented @bubbiethesaur. You can read GITM here!

There is also a podfic, which you can find here:

Updates to the podfic will be sporadic, so please be patient <3

Where can I see the art?

On this blog I use the #gitm au and #ghost in the machine au tags for GITM related content. If you are looking for art of a specific character, they also have their own tags: #misuta moon #nova #soleil #clip.exe #sunspot mk1 #fool eclipse #ruin eclipse #sombra #sunflower #mr sandman

FAQ~

Why haven't you answered my GITM ask?

One of three reasons: 1) your ask was too spoilery* 2) I'm waiting to answer it with art 3) ADHD

*spoilery includes but is not limited to: any questions about dual-AI or XYZ character's sun/moon variant; questions about character backstories and lore; questions about characters that have not featured in the fic yet (e.g Nova, Sanii, Harvest, Sunflower, Sandman etc); asks speculating about potential future scenarios (don't get me wrong, I love these asks, but I can't answer them!)

Where are all the Moons?

Read and find out. Seriously. There are at least 5 Moons who are core to the plot but I'm not going to talk about them, no matter how nicely you ask!

Does XYZ character have a Sun/Moon counterpart?

Some of them do, some of them don't. The dual-AI stuff is majorly plot related. If I'm not talking about someone's Sun/Moon counterpart, rest assured you will find out eventually. I won't be spoiling any of it on tumblr though :)

Can I create fanart of GITM?

Yes yes yes please do and please tag me when you post it so I can see it/reblog! If you are unsure if something is ok, please ask.

Can I create fanfic of GITM?

Super flattered about this. I have a longform answer to this question which you can read here. But tl;dr yes you can, please tag/credit me, do not spoil/try to write the lore, and please do not write GITM au (e.g mafia, mer, medieval). I have my own plans for this stuff and I would prefer to release the designs/stories in my own time. If you are unsure if something is ok, please ask.

Can I create NSFW GITM content?

Until recently I had blanket perms that allowed NSFW GITM content. I'm updating this to let you guys know I'm no longer comfortable with people making this content. Back when the community was small, I felt differently, but as time has passed a lot has changed and I've found myself becoming increasingly anxious about it. If this boundary changes again in the future, I will update this FAQ.

Do you have character refs I can use?

There is a collection of art 'refs' for each character on the Misutamojis discord. Latest link here.

There are no proper call-out sheets/refs currently, but I have a huge body of art for the characters on this blog which should give you more than enough info for most of them. I will get around to creating proper refs eventually, in which case I will link them here.

Where can I find the playlist?

I update the spotify playlist fairly regularly, if you have any music recs you can send them over in an ask! You can listen to the playlist here!

I've heard there are secret GITM drabbles, where can I find them?

I used to post frequent drabbles from future chapters in the DCA Palooza discord, I have recently deleted the majority of them as people were going back and binging them which hadn't been the intended reading experience. Anywho, this question probably refers more to the spicy drabbles (which people have very kindly made a lot of delicious art for). These are still around! You just need to access the spicy channel and do some digging.

Is there a GITM discord?

Nope! There is a server for GITM emotes and a busy thread in the DCA Palooza, but currently I don't have any plans to make a GITM-centric discord community. If that does happen in the future it's likely I will simply convert the emotes server (Misutamojis).

It finally happened, I converted Misutamojis. You can join the GITM discord here.

Can I smooch the robots?

Yes.

All of them?

All of them.

[monbons]

WIP Wednesday

Thanks for the tags @thewholelemon and @shrekgogurt. Your stuff looks so good (yes ALL of it Jenny! Stop doubting yourself!) and I cannot wait until it is out in the world. Thanks also to @hushed-chorus -- I already devoured the two fics on your list I had never heard of and they were SOO good! We're very much on the same wavelength with vamp angst.

You know what’s not as fun as everyone's updates? Developing a truly distinct voice for a fic and then trying to break out of it once you are done. I love my narrator for The Eternal Life of Baz Pitch, but flowery prose/omniscient third-person doesn't work for most fics! I'm trying to ease my transition back into first person POV switching by writing a sequel to my EGF fic, Kill Em With Kindness. It doesn’t need a sequel, but it’s been a fun way to get back to throwing words on the page and seeing what sticks. (I wrote 1k words over the past couple days, which is way more than I have since I finished Eternal Life! Are the words any good? Debatable. But progress is progress...)

In the meantime, here is a bit of current Baz from chapter 5 under the cut. Not technically spoilery if you haven’t started reading, but honestly, you should be forced to wait just as long as everyone who has been reading for this meet-cute…so I forbid you from clicking if you haven’t started yet!!!

“Hey—uh—there’s a long line—” the young man smiles awkwardly, “—so if you aren’t ready, maybe you should step aside?” Baz regains control of his mind and mouth briefly enough to utter an order. “Pumpkin mocha breve. Small.” The young man laughs. “Are you a child?” “What?” “That drink sounds gross.” He wrinkles his nose. “Certainly much too sweet for a grown man to drink before his morning run.” Baz is well and truly shocked from his reverie now. He glances at the young man’s name tag. Simon.  “I’m perfectly serious, Simon. Can you not make it?” Baz raises an eyebrow.  “I can.” Simon shrugs. “I’d rather not.”

Hellos and high-fives: @roomwithanopenfire, @cutestkilla, @beastmonstertitan, @bookish-bogwitch, @rbkzz (loving your art! keep it coming!)

@you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @youarenevertooold, @drowninginships, @valeffelees, @skee3000

@aristocratic-otter, @emeryhall, @cattocavo, @raenestee, @iamamythologicalcreature

@best--dress, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @arthurkko, @noblecorgi, @larkral

@comesitintheclover, @artsyunderstudy, @ic3-que3n, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @whatevertheweather

[thedramasummer]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

19 (as of today)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

115,459….in 4 months (with another 4440 as of today)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

RWRB on AO3 but I started writing Kingdom Hearts, Fullmetal Alchemist and a litany of other things in AIM messages back in the day

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54451198 (the stars are in your eyes)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/55120552 (of all the people on hinge)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54270691 (snapshots of you and me)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53698612/chapters/135933751 (5 Times Alex Claremont-Diaz was Bad at Self-Care and One Time He Got it Right.)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/55339042 (tell me again when you don't have a fever)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why? Why not?

Yes! Sometimes I fall behind, but I always make sure I reply just because I appreciate it. I'm still kind of a newbie writer in the fandom so people responding to my work means the world to me.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Currently, in terms of completed fics, probably forgiveness (can you imagine?) aka Catherine apologizing to Henry, Bea, and Philip. I'd say it's a hopeful ending at best, but it isn't wrapped up nicely in a bow because that whole family dynamic is super messy and it needs a lot of work to make better.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Gotta say it's the follow up to snapshots--paint me a pretty picture, because not so spoilery spoiler--Alex awkwardly proposes without actually proposing and it's nauseatingly cute imho.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't and I really hope I don't. I'm always open to receiving constructive criticism.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

So the funniest story in the world is that I was afraid to write smut until January and now half of my fics are smut, because it's kind of a palate cleanser for all the angsty, heavier stuff I'm writing. I really try to keep the smut light and fluffy and I'm working on stretching out my writing muscles when I write smut in terms of getting out of my comfort zone.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Haven't finished one yet. I have a dungeons and dragons inspired fic, isekai style (Alex and Henry falling into Faerun with look alikes for the rest of the Super Six) that I started when I first started writing FirstPrince that I need to remix and clean up.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. I'd be honored if anyone asked

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Why yes. Wrote a lovely one with @cactusdragon517 (: The Joys of Mild Narcissism - MayQueen517, acheinmybones - Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston [Archive of Our Own]

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Gotta say it's FirstPrince. In my pre-tumblr days it had to be Roy/Riza from FMA or Axel/Roxas from Kingdom Hearts.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I started a Hadestown AU and it's kinda sitting in GDocs, hanging because I have no idea what to do with it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I gotta say it's dialogue and setting scenes. It's my favorite to write. I am also good at the analytical/cerebral stuff.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

The more flowery language/straight prose. I sometimes am a bit too straightforward and I'd like to be a bit more descriptive in my writing

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I tone check it constantly and double check with friends who are native speakers to make sure it isn't clunky but I love it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

If we're getting SUPER honest...Warrior Cats

20. Favourite fics you’ve written?

My two favorites are the birthday fic (birthday blues and smiles too)--I love the found family vibes from Super Six in the resolution of the fic vs. the hurt caused by Ellen and Oscar respectively. I think I did really well with the comfort part of the hurt/comfort.

Figure Me Out--my demi Alex character study. I myself am demisexual and I see a lot of myself in Alex. Demi!Alex is one of my favorite headcanons and being able to explore his different relationships with different people and how he shows and receives affection and comes into his own is very personal and important to me.

I was tagged by @anincompletelist

If anyone else wants to do it, feel free!

[majimasleftasscheek]

I want to write some smutty fic + plot with kiryu and majima, but I've only played kiwami 2 so I'm scared I don't know enough about them as characters. Any tips or suggestions? (also bless your art c:)

klsdjkld thank you also I'm super flattered you'd come to me for tips 🥺💖 I can give a lil insight from things in the games so I’ll try not to be explicitly spoilery but just giving a heads up in case

so obvs I speak from a shippy dippy perspective but they do genuinely care about each other, especially in y3. Majima's a person Kiryu trusts and Majima's equally someone who would willingly do whatever to help out people he cares about. Majima's the type to be like yeah I'll die for you (serious)

since you've played 2, then you can very much see how Majima's willing to get back into Tojo bullshit cuz Kiryu asked him to. It's certainly telling that Kiryu goes to Majima of all people for help when it comes to Tojo shit which I think is a nice way to show he respects him to some degree. As nice as Kiryu is tho, he can still be a rude lil turd and likes to make jabs. He’s got a tendency to say shit he thinks is cool even if its inappropriate lol

also like, Kiryu doesn't really know how to read Majima but also I don't think Kiryu knows how to read many people tbh. There's a wild freeness about Majima that Kiryu enjoys seeing and indulging in, like when they fight and he seems to actually have fun with it. I don't think he's 100% aware of why he enjoys it or why he's willing to put up with Majima's dumbassery but Kiryu doesn't really need answers. Majima is Majima and that simplicity works for him

there's a lot of stuff in Dead Souls that gives insight into Majima and because I'm ill of course I know all of it. Lots of softie moments, Majima's a bit of a control freak about his appearance, he's an ass but it's playful assholery, he loves his subordinates even if he's a turd @ them, he's forgetful as shit, he's a bit of a stickler for rules - by the book type of stuff. THERE'S ALSO a part with a lil girl and he's so cute and awkward with her and it fulfills my dadjima addiction. I think Maji would love Haruka very much and Kiryu would be pleasantly surprised by that side of him

in y3, it's Kiryu's big dad simulator so you get to see him being a wise old fart even if sometimes he's a total boomer and embarrassing. He tries his best and has the best intentions but honestly his lone wolf attitude is often his downfall. Kiryu's very much a "I'll take a bullet for you even if there's other options to definitely not take a bullet" type of guy. He blames himself for a lot of problems out of his control and he's got quite the track record of running away from things if he feels like it'll be for the greater good of everyone else (it isn't lol). Suffer in silence sort of dude

they honestly don't interact much after 3 tbh cuz I guess it was too gay lmao but uhhhh they're definitely still motivated by each other's actions. 5 is very big on Kiryu beats up a lot of people again™, due to something that happens to Majima. At that point, Kiryu's life is quite far removed from the whole yakuza thing so I think it says a lot that he throws himself back into the fray for this bowlcut bitch

also! Majima’s wacky but it’s most certainly a façade. He’s very capable of toning it down in serious situations and equally, Kiryu’s a funky dude! Majima’s the type to put up fronts for his image while Kiryu’s very reserved but will absolutely go all out on something cuz he just can’t not put his 100% into everything even if it’s silly

I tried to keep things mostly factual based on the games with a couple of my own hcs thrown in so I hope it helps!!

I have another post I'm writing for like deep angsty shit for another ask so if that'll be of use to you, keep an eye out for that :)

[scribbleboxfox]

Definitely not the friend of the person who sent the artwork with the chair–

Can confirm, she's been rambling on and on about your fic for weeks. Months. I decided I had to read it for myself, since she spoke so highly of it, so I started today. Somewhere around the seventh chapter now. I'm always cracking up at the notes at the end. For the record, you nailed Caboose. I could hear his voice more clearly than anyone else's.

That aside, I did have a real question. Figured I'd ask since apparently you're a super easy to talk to/contact (if my excited friend's notes about sharing the artwork have been any indication). I do not know how tumblr works, though. Fingers crossed I figure it out quick.

The actual questions:

How did you come up with the idea for your story?

How did you make it work? As in, how did you make a plot, stick to it, and then keep going–

How are you able to impersonate fandom characters so accurately and not fear being incorrect??? (I struggle with this, hence my not having written fanfiction in, like, ever haha)

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

AHHHH YES HELLO HI I'M SO GLAD YOU STARTED READING AND I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!!

I'm going to put my answers under a cut so it doesn't clog up people's dashboards. (Click on the "Keep Reading" link/button thing to see them!)

Gonna try to answer your first two questions together, since they pair up nicely.

Honestly, and this is going to sound silly, the idea for The Long Road Home sprung from a goofy one-liner that I thought up for Fox to say. More specifically; I'd come up with Fox as a way to give Locus a goofy sidekick that annoyed him but ultimately became his best friend. She was originally just a silly OC that I did some doodles of, and I wasn't planning on getting attached to her or Red vs. Blue. But then I imagined the stupidest, funniest one-liner I have ever come up with.

Unfortunately, said one-liner needed context. Over a million words of context, apparently LOL. So I started brainstorming, came up with a plot, and planned it out. It's hard to explain the exact technical work that went into building this thing, but I'll try;

Initially, I started by asking myself "where do I want these characters to end up, and how are they going to get there?" Then I determined the load-bearing plot points from there;

The characters meet Fox

She convinces them to work together with Locus

Locus earns some of Kimball's trust; enough for Kimball to let him help Fox on her crusade to find evidence against Hargrove that the UNSC will have to pay attention to

They go to Earth and Locus discovers the power of friendship

At the same time, Hargrove decides to continue his campaign to wipe out Chorus

[Insert other spoilery plot points here]

From there, I came up with a document that holds all the super important plot points and the order in which they happen, along with all the necessary sub-plots that help move the story along.

The way I format it is "Chapter Name: Plot point 1 - Plot point 2 - plot point 3" so I know what needs to happen in each chapter. I've included an image below that hopefully helps illustrate this a little better;

This was the first thing I did when planning my fic. It took me a while to finalize it; I didn't manage to get it close to the finalized version that exists now until around Chapter 14. Since then I've tidied it up even further as I've tightened up my overall story direction, and continue to do so every few chapters I write to make sure that everything that happens in future chapters makes sense with what's happened in previous ones.

TL;DR: this document exists for me to know where the fic is going and how to get there, and serves as a framework for the overall story as a whole.

The next step; which is more of a housekeeping thing on my part, is the chapter outlines. These basically serve as a rough draft and help me get all the "filler" down so I can use it to connect the stuff that happens in each chapter. To further explain; I outline the chapter scene-by-scene and include some of the more minute details that happen. I like to write these like they're a FandomWiki article about an episode of a TV show so I don't get too descriptive with them (they're rough drafts after all,) though I'll usually include pieces of dialogue that I think could actually work in the chapter, or serve as a means of getting an idea across.

Here's an image of what it looks like;

Since these are basically rough drafts, I like to use them to just throw down whatever ideas I can come up with, and then in the final draft (AKA the actual chapter) I iron out all the stuff that either won't work or isn't as good as it could be.

Both of these documents help me stay on track and keep me motivated. I find that the timeline document keeps me super excited about what's going to happen in future chapters, because I can just scroll down and see it. And the outline document allows me to throw out whatever ideas think will work on a chapter-by-chapter basis without my perfectionism kicking me in the head.

TL;DR #2: to actually answer your question about how I make it work; I found a technical method that works best for me (which I've outlined above.) Basically, I found a way to get down all the basic ideas for what I wanted to happen in my story. Then, before each chapter, I wrote outlines that define the exact execution of each idea that happens in that specific chapter. Utilizing both in tandem have helped keep me on track, and kept me motivated for what comes next in the story.

Hopefully that makes sense! :'D

As for how I handle character-voice... I've re-watched Red vs. Blue a few dozen times now, so I have some idea of the general cadence of the main characters (what they would say and how they would say it.) But honestly, the way I nail it down in my fic is I just...read their dialogue aloud. Or failing that, I'll read it in my head using the voice of the character I'm trying to emulate.

It usually takes me a few tries to be successful, and I'm honestly super happy that you think I nailed Caboose since I always struggle the most with him.

When all else fails though, I'll either re-watch the Chorus Trilogy or pull up the (incomplete) WikiQuote page for it. Since The Long Road Home takes place immediately after that part of the show, the dialogue from the Chorus Trilogy is the best reference for characterizing the main cast.

TL;DR #3: Research and references are your best friends when writing dialogue. I find that if I can't imagine a character saying a certain thing, then they either wouldn't say it the way I'm trying to write them saying it, or they wouldn't say it at all. Reading dialogue aloud can help A LOT with figuring out if something sounds right.

(But also don't worry about dialogue being perfect. In the more recent chapters, my characterization for some of the Reds and Blues has definitely slipped lol. I think, if you are going to try to write a fic at some point, the most important thing is that you love the characters and the media they came from, and that you're having fun overall!)

Thanks so much for all the questions! It always puts a huge smile on my face whenever anyone asks about my fic! :D

Have a great day! <3