#It's not any of the titles I brainstormed/ended up choosing.

[mcchicken-scratches]

It's happening again.

I forgot what I titled the document.

[helenvader]

Get to know your fic writer!

I have emerged from my writing hiatus, but I'm horribly stuck, so this game might be refreshing. :) I am not the author, I stumbled across it and told myself why not.

Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Do you like constructive criticism?

Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

How do you choose which POV to write from?

Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

Do you comment on stories you read?

Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

Link your three favorite fics right now

how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

Best writing advice for other writers?

Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

On average, how much writing do you get done in a day?

What’s your revision or editing process like?

Do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it’s all polished?

Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

Do you want to be published some day?

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

How do you write kissing scenes?

How do you choose where to end a chapter?

Would you ever write commissions?

Share a snippet from a WIP

If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

What mistakes do you keep making no matter how many times your beta corrects you?

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

How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

What do you look for in a beta?

Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

How long is your longest fic?

What’s your total AO3 word count?

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

Why do you continue writing fics?

Thoughts on cliffhangers?

Something you hate to see in smut.

Something you love to see in smut.

Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

How do you deal with writing pressure (ie. pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc.)?

Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

What scene in [Fanfic Name] took the longest to write? What was difficult about it? 

Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [Fanfic Name]? 

Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [Fanfic Name] story/chapter? 

[2soulscollide]

THE WRITER'S WORKBOOK - free

Hello hello, it's me!

Today I'm here to tell you about each feature of "The Writer's Workbook", which you can download for free.

Note: this workbook has two variations, so you can print it or use it digitally as a PDF.

I designed this workbook in an intuitive way so that the plot progresses as you go further in the exercises. It is divided in six big categories: Idea & Plot, Character Development, World Building, Writing, Journal, and Resources.

Note: feel free to skip exercises or to complete them in any other order than the one suggested by me!

IDEA & PLOT

This section is meant to help you develop your idea before you even know who your characters are.

In this part, you will choose the central conflict, write down keywords about your idea, and draw a mind map. Then, you'll proceed to find your voice through different exercises, to then find each key point of the plot, from exposition to resolution.

It's also in this part that you are going to come up with plot twists and the ending of the book.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Here, as the name says, you will completely develop all your characters, from the protagonist to the side characters. You will also have the opportunity to develop their relationships through mind maps and brainstorming processes.

WORLDBUILDING

Just like the other categories, worldbuilding is a fundamental step when plotting a novel.

In this workbook, you'll be asked to draw or generate a map of your world so that you always have it near you whenever you need it. There are also some prompts to fill out about it, and locations to create and explore.

In this part, you can also make a timeline for all the main events in your world.

WRITING

Now that most of your story is planned, it's time to think about writing it!

This section is perfect to come up with the best title for your book, brainstorming and develop the opening scene, and fully developing each key point using the snowflake method.

There's also a place to write down all the scenes and chapters you want to include in your book and check it off as you write it.

JOURNAL

This part is for you to reflect on your writing goals, on your ideas, and to see your progress. It's important to check this often and make sure you always have your goals in mind!

RESOURCES

Here you will find some useful resources from writing communities to courses and softwares to help you in this process and, hopefully, make it easier!

THE WRITER'S WORKBOOK

If you don't have it already grab it now here! It's completely free and I'm sure it will help you develop your new idea <3

[tenderhooked]

Any of your WIPs that you weren’t asked about that you want to chat about? Or anything else you want to share about one you were?

YES I WOULD IN FACT!!! so this one is one that is not on the list because i actually just brainstormed it up today while shouting about de-aging fics with the wonderful @asteria-argo and now i must subject all of you to hearing about it as well:

the ending where you finally find your way home (tentative title)

AKA the fic wherein, in the middle of a 33-year-old jamie tartt's retirement party, a fuckery of the universe occurs and in the space between one heartbeat and the next, 23-year-old jamie is standing in the place of his older self. and he hasn't got any memories of the last ten years at all.

everyone panics. jamie panics the most and pretends he's not by lashing out at anybody who gets close, but especially roy, who for some reason is nearing 50 and seems to love 33-year-old jamie a hell of a lot for someone who's professed an undying hatred for him multiple times. actually, scratch that. the entire team seems to love this 33-year-old jamie a hell of a lot. and no matter how mean 23-year-old jamie is to them now, how much he bites and kicks, they just. keep. being. kind. and colin's got a husband? and isaac has two daughters? and there's this dani rojas character who keeps wanting to hug him? it's a lot. it's weird. but it's also... nice. in a way. he supposes.

oh, and also? apparently his 33-year-old self cut their dad out of his life a long time ago. but that can't be right.

tl;dr: this is the fic wherein a 23-year-old jamie gets all the love he deserved to have at that age, and it's all because of the life he managed to build and choose for himself.

[whatevertheweather]

an ask game for writers to procrastinate working on your WIP(s)

Thank you for the tags @bookish-bogwitch @aristocratic-otter @youarenevertooold I've been in search of ways to procrastinate <3

1. 🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s):

I'll go with one that isn't being posted yet: Callous.

2. 🍄Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of “___ + ___ =___”

Touch starvation + poor communication = Baz's No Good Very Bad Night

3. 🌍What tags or warnings will one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it?

PTSD, disassociation, and, uh, emotional hurt/comfort?

4. 🧭An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)?

Bold of anyone to assume I'm good enough at coming up with titles that I have multiple to choose from. Oh! But actually I do for Bait and Switch, thanks to Dre brainstorming fishing idioms with me. There were 4 alternatives, but my favorite is All is Fish, because it makes no fucking sense.

5. ⚠️Which WIP your most likely to finish or update next?

It had better be Musical Chairs.

6. 💾What is your document of your WIP/ a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

In an uncommon turn of events, I only have one (active) WIP right now that's not already named as it will be posted, and that's "yeah sure let's just write some shit that's way later and not finish the other that's fine"

7. 🖍Post Any sentence(s) from your WIP.

It’s just…there’s also some deer in the headlights energy to him, which, mixed with the general aura of barely tamed violence, is throwing Shepard off. Truly, it’s been a good long while since he’s done this kind of pinballing over what he’s seeing when he looks at someone.

He does know what he’s seeing when he looks back at Simon. It’s the sort of face that has him politely averting his eyes to examine the bland thread of Simon’s shirt instead. He thinks walking in on the two of them tangled up without a stitch of clothing wouldn’t feel half as intrusive as looking at that expression did.

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP.

I had to abandon about a page of the above misnamed WIP (now to be succinctly abbreviated as YSLJWSSTWLANFTOTF) because it no longer fits the tone of the rest of the fic at all, which is sad because it made me laugh. It's too long to put here in its entirety, but here's part of one line, which shall function as the dead darling's eulogy: "I know you have a dick, Baz, I’ve fucking well been thinking about it!”

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

Okay there's one I don't want to say much about because, selfishly, I want to be the one to write it, but it's related to truth spells. (Technically I've started it because there's a document with 10 scattered lines of dialogue, but I haven't started it started it.)

10. 🤡How many WIPS are you actively working on?

I'm trying to focus on 3, but I might have to say 4 here.

11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

I have rewritten the same 4 pages of Musical Chairs about 5 times. It's absurd. I know what's going to happen, I have the ending written, I have almost everything that gets us there written, and yet this section is u n d o i n g me.

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second Kudos to send.

I'm gonna take that as me sending kudos to all these lovely people: @cutestkilla @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @artsyunderstudy @fatalfangirl @whogaveyoupermission @iamamythologicalcreature @thewholelemon @facewithoutheart @martsonmars @ileadacharmedlife @ivelovedhimthroughworse @larkral

[homesicktadpoles]

WIP INTRO - LUDO

this idea sparked on the 25th of august during the final days of summer like a miracle. my summer was really bad in terms of writing i was frustrated, lost, and heavily demotivated.

anyways, i had so. much. fun. outlining. it started out as eerie vibes, no plot. i remember, in 2022, when I was drafting my first litfic novel titled fly anatomy, i typed this exactly:

next project?

celebrity

busy city

crowd = addiction, crushing

And that stuck, it’s exactly how this idea came to be.

so! the story was taking shape slowly but nicely for four full months. wait five. FIVE? ok time???

even though i have an extensive outline doc, it doesn't reveal the total number of chapters or the exact chain of events, meaning i will write freely and messily and i'm so excited.

okay, enough.

introducing the strangest, most eccentric, straight from the heart story i've ever come up with. it’s everything i’m passionate about, i was, am, will be, wish for, mourn, yearn for, and today, i'll introduce it to you to make certain it gets written, one way or another.

!! DISCLAIMER: this is my own work. please refrain from plagiarism of any sort, it will not be tolerated !!

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genre: literary fiction, novella possibly (?), mystery

pov + tense: first person past tense

status: drafting! i've been brainstorming this book for months, and i decided winter was the perfect time to begin.

setting: 1980s England, particularly Manchester. Edale and Buxton as well. i hold manchester very close to my heart.

aesthetic / feel: cherry seeds sliding down your throat accidentally, a single star in the night sky, feeling like you're being watched, stitches all around the neck, scattered egg shells and yolk, dancing on a tiled rooftop, molecules, animal masks that cover the full head, the sound of a camera click, nausea, black cabs on busy streets, voices overlapping, weirdly shaped metal scissors, running towards a flock of birds so they fly off, rolling green hills

synopsis: In the heart of 1980s England, 25-year-old Ludo, a retired celebrity actor with a troubled past and the second youngest of three brothers, has traded the spotlight for a quieter life as a teacher at a small secondary school. He imagines he's found solace until a bizarre event shatters his routine: a young girl hatches from a human-sized egg in his backyard.

Ludo soon learns of a notorious, elite scientist known as Frankenstein, who leads a secretive cult and aims to exploit the girl's kind for his experiments and discoveries. As the cult begins to close in, Ludo feels an urgent, instinctive responsibility to shield her from them.

While on the run from Frankenstein, the girl awakens in Ludo a sense of hope long buried beneath his cynicism. Through her eyes that have never seen life, never seen earth, he begins to rediscover the real meaning of life, questioning whether it's ever too late to start anew, to rewind, to find purpose.

But can he hide her away for so long? After all, there is always an end to a game of hide-and-seek.

🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚

themes: rebirth in your mid-twenties, loosening up and reconnecting with nature, the realization that you are only human, what it means to leave the past behind and accept that you can’t rewind, what it means to, instead, choose to unwind and relearn.

also: greed, betrayal, misogyny and how someone's true nature only slips through in times of great adversity.

project label: i'll call this project north star.

🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚

characters:

Ludo (narrator):

25

chemistry teacher

trying his best at life

impulsive

loves intensely

reflective and sentimental

has trouble trusting others

very suffocating past

identity crisis

guilt-ridden

he seeks freedom, freedom from the spotlight. he just wants to live simple away from the noise.

Polaris:

the girl who hatched from the egg

curious and lively

likes to take photographs

i'm still learning about her

now, ludo's brothers in MANCHESTER:

Nigel (OLDEST):

31 years old

not married

still not well-developed.

Allister a.k.a Alien (SECOND OLDEST):

28 years old

university student still

charismatic but in reality weak and cowardly, controlling, selfish, emotionally immature, insensitive

i'm sorry he's not the best character ever

doesn't act like one of the older brothers

not married

Eugene (YOUNGEST):

20 years old

married

friendly

follows the crowd to avoid conflict, dependent on others for validation

will do anything to be perceived as innocent and good.

dishonest

can be kind, can't have genuinely ill intentions

Anaïs:

eugene's wife

extremely long frizzy hair

in BUXTON:

Maude:

literature teacher at the same school ludo works at

only staff member close to him

my favorite love story EVER ack

sweetest, most genuine soul. ludo's gotta step up his game or i'll marry her myself

considering involving hollywood actors he's worked with???

oh and back to Manchester:

FRANKENSTEIN ⚡️:

mad scientist freak elite billionaire proud mysterious crazy freak elite proud crazy

yeah and freak

cult leader

psychopath

inspiration is drawn from the concept of mary shelley’s frankenstein of course. the monster, victor frankenstein, and their relationship. i’m really excited about that aspect i came up with some cool horrid stuff!!

🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚

thank you for reading. if you read this post all the way through wow i love you.

i intend to post updates every once in a while with excerpts. i've only just started writing the day before yesterday, so i’ll take it slow as i figure things out. as soon as i feel like i’ve adjusted to the voice and set the mood, hopefully i’ll speed through.

i'm posting this intro so soon to feel held accountable. this draft is a need seriously.

okay goodbye thanks for stopping by! it was a dream to have you here as always.

taglist (for all of my writings | ask to be added or removed): --

with all love and soul,

- tadpollatibule

[omophagic-beast]

for the tarot rpg ask game! The Fool, The Empress, The Hierophant, The Chariot, The Hanged Man, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Sun!

!!! wowow hi!! thank you for all the questions, im gonna put them under a read more as to not clog up peoples dashes

from this ask game

The Fool – What do the earliest stages of work on a game look like for you? OR How did you get into game design?

i have a notes discord server! and a channel in there specifically for game ideas. previously i had a big word document titled "game ideas", but its easier to access discord from my phone lol

usually i have an idea and i stick it in there first

heres the start of the pillars of creation :3

and then ill noodle around with it, just brainstorm and slap spaghetti around. this is another reason why i like discord for this at the moment, its informal and easy, much less daunting than a word doc

i didnt end up using most of the bits here lol

and then ill move it into a word doc once its clear that ive got an actual project / game starting to form!

the one problem with this is sometimes ill keep an idea in there for much longer than i should and it becomes a mess of me replying to myself, terrible to follow. this is the current problem with moonlight whaling, sigh

The Empress — Where do your ideas come from? OR Do you seek out or avoid inspiration while working on an idea?

a lot of places!! tumblr being one of them, sometimes ill see a post where im like "huh that could be a game in some way" and ill stick it in my notes discord for later. but really anything, books, movies, songs, other games. im not the first to say this but u gotta read / watch / experience new things to make new things

The Hierophant — Who is a fellow game designer you’ve learned a lot from? OR What is a piece of popular wisdom about games you think is nonsense?

i answered the second one here so ill answer the first!

ive learned a lot from any designer whos game ive played or read, to start. but i wanna shout out @thydungeongal on here, her posts abt game design and rollmaster / d&d are highly highly fascinating and helpful to me, as a guy who hasnt even played d&d let alone any old school stuff and just kinda jumped into the indie scene from the start.

kinda makes me wanna play rollmaster, ngl. whats it doin with all those mechanics and tables =w=

The Chariot — What is the next project you’re planning to start OR What is the next project you’re excited to finish?

this has been my big question to myself recently, what game to really focus in on next. i have games that just need to be finished, but i think my next one* is gonna be this time travel game ive been thinking of

working title is Hooked, and the reason i think im going to start (and finish) it next is cause ive already got the main mechanic figured out, where when you fail a roll you can choose to create a hook, and in doing so succeed the roll

but that hook is a place where a future you has traveled back to that point in time and given you what you needed to succeed, which means at some point youre going to have to come back and close the loop, or else risk creating a paradox

too many paradoxes and the universe explodes so like. be careful :3!

it is going to be a lot of work, i want the general aesthetic to be the journal of a time traveler, with notes from all their future and past selves scrawled in the margins in different colors. and theres the question of if its a solo game or multiplayer, or both. solo-friendly is my current thought, but encouraged for more than one person. but we'll see how it actually plays.

The Hanged Man — What other creative pursuits do you have? OR What current trends in game design are you most interested in?

someone should ask me this again cause i wanna answer the other one also :3c

but! i have a crochet project on the mind so i wanna talk abt other stuff im into also :3

im currently considering ADHD and how it could possibly relate to myself, so just keep that in mind when i say ive dipped my paws into a whoooole lot of different creative hobbies. sewing, knitting, pottery, bookbinding, needle felting, jewelry making, and yea, crochet, are all stuff ive been into at one point or another

but my favorites are crochet and cooking / baking. for most of my life i thought my career was gonna be in food service! ive been a baker, cake decorator, and diner cook before, and loved all three of those jobs.

and crochet is great mainly cause you can make stuffed animals / amigurimis >:33 i loooove little guys and being able to choose what soft yarn im gonna make em out of, though its been a minute since ive made one. but!! like i mentioned ive got a project on the mind, as im gonna try and make the "something strange and indescribable" from the Before the Flood backerkit campaign and im very excited abt it :3 stay tuned for posts abt my success or failure on this front

The Devil — What motifs or mechanics do you just keep coming back to? OR What is a game you’ve enjoyed playing in the last year?

NIGHTHAWKS by @titanrpg is really really good. it has a heart in it, one that beats at an all too-familiar rhythm. when i played it we told a story that was perhaps a touch too close to home as well, disparate sad people sitting several stools apart at a dive bar in a small town.

i have a tendency towards comedy when i play ttrpgs, but my favorite moments are all when ive been deeply serious and sad, and thats what i got from NIGHTHAWKS

The Tower — Talk about about a game you tried to make that crashed and burned.

center of the known universe was an anthology of games i wanted to make a while back, all inspired by the part of the nevadan desert i live in. i dont think its crashed and burned necessarily but i certainly never finished it and im not sure i ever will, though i still like the ideas for some of the games and may release them individually

The Star — Talk about a game you’re working on and what excites you about it.

a game ive been working on for a looong time that i dont think ive really talked abt on here is The Lady, The Tiger, and The Accused. its a descended from the queen game based on The Lady or The Tiger? short story, where (to put it very briefly) a king has created a new form of justice where the accused is put in an arena with two identical doors in front of them.

behind one door, a lady of an appropriate social standing for them to marry, behind the other a very hungry tiger. this leaves the verdict up to fate, for if the accused is innocent they will surely pick the door with the lady, and if they are guilty they will choose the door with the tiger.

but the accused in the story is also the lover of the lands princess, and when they look back at her for the last time she raises a hand and points towards one of the doors.

the question in the story is one of love. would the princess rather see her lover dead, or married to someone else?

what comes through the door, the lady or the tiger?

but! there are other characters in this story, with agency and lives of their own.

The Lady, The Tiger, and The Accused instead asks a question of trust. when The Accused looks back towards their princess, and she raises her hand, do they trust her? do they open the door that she points towards?

its a game for three players, with each person playing one of the titular characters. it uses the descended from the queen format to create the character of the princess throughout play, along with the characters of The Lady, The Tiger, and The Accused.

its a good game!! ive got a bit more work to do on it, mainly on the tiger role. not everyone is comfortable being an actual tiger and role playing scenes that involve communicating with humans or attending parties and such, it turns out.

but im really excited abt it overall :3 its good and fun and i think it uses the descended from the queen format really well and hopefully one day ill do a crowdfunding project for it and get enough money to hire a bunch of different artists to make princess illustrations for it >:333

The Sun — Talk about a game you’ve made that you’re proud of.

im proud of all of my games, in one way or another. but, with an obligatory Before the Flood mention (crowdfunding now!), im really and truly proud of my body is your body is our body is

it was my first kinda big game that i published, and there was a lot of stuff with the first edition i really wasnt super happy with. im really, really proud of myself for finally going back in this year and fixing it. its so much better now! in a lot of ways.

and i mean it was good to start with also, most of my problems were with the programming side of it. when i was making the second edition reading back through the game made me cry a bit lol. theres a lot of banger lines in there and a lot of feelings.

[spitzobsessed]

Found an alternate route I wrote for the choosing sides scene in War For Iokath. So far it's just dialogue with only Wrath, Occlus, Nox and a few cannon characters. And I think it's incomplete? It's basically Taral(Wrath) saying "F you both, I'm holding all of you hostage until we negotiate this shit". Also gets a bit emotional, sorry it's so long. First drafts that almost get deleted drain energy from me.

Lana: If I had to choose , I would join forces with the Empire.

Theron: The Republic's a safer bet.

Lana: The choice is yours Commander. Who shall we side with?

Taral: I have a better idea...

Taral: Nox, Occlus, you may begin.

Riot: Got it.

Praxy: As you wish.

Aric: Havoc Squad, hands were I can see them!

Praxy: Don't make this difficult, Empress.

Kaylio: Alright, hands up and no one gets electrocuted.

Riot: Oh, and I'll be more than happy to demonstrate, Supreme Commander.

Acina: Well played, Commander... Well played, indeed.

Malcom: What do you think you're doing, Commander?!

Taral: The third option: Reminding all of you who exactly you're dealing with. Noman Carr, Darth Baras, Darth Revan, Darth Malgus, Vitiate, Arcann, Vaylin, Valkrion, scores of Jedi, Sith, and troops - Republic and Imperial. I was once the Emperor's Wrath, destruction and death incarnate. Matched only by the Battlemaster of the Jedi Order.

Taral: Now, I control the Eternal Fleet. However, I did not take the Eternal Throne. This galaxy needs time to recover, time that you've thrown away for this Superweapon. One we know next to nothing about! It could be anything from a single missile to something that could repeat what happened to Ziost!! And then we'd be in the same position we were six years ago!!!

Theron: Commander, that's-

Lana: Not now, Theron.

Taral: *deep sigh* We will open negotiations on what to do with Iokath and it's technology. Republic and Imperial representatives will be allowed to study alongside the Alliance Scientists, but no one goes near any Superweapon until we understand what it can do. The war took its toll on all of us, and if you two want to tear each other apart so soon, go ahead.

Taral: But know this; Trespass on Alliance territory, harm Alliance people, or raise forced against the Alliance... Then I will take the throne and put you in your place. My priorities are with my people, and neither of you have any of them.

Damn right you are, Taral!

Although, it would properly work only if Acina and Malcom were there in person, rather than via hologram. But that's what AUs are for

As someone whose Wrath also lead the Alliance, I share the sentiment to the end - Wrath is supposed to be feared by the Dark Council and Acina rose only in titles, not power (while Outlander became significantly more powerful).

Now, brainstorming:

I could probably send my Knight with Havoc to take over Republic base on Iokath, and former Occlus and Cipher with another unit to take over Imperial one, and synchronize the operation enough so that the Talk goes like this:

(everyone's aware of the plan (alliance side))

Lana: The choice is yours, Commander.

Sav (Wrath): hmmm... *Looks deep in thought, clicks the button on comm to begin the overthrow* I believe we have a different option to consider here.

*Acina and Malcom's comms start buzzing with high level alert*

*controlled chaos on their end*

*whatever commanding officers on base they were talking to is gone, instead Malcom gets a holo with Knight and Major Jorgan while Acina has Kallig and Cipher*

*moments later the main holo on Alliance base shows six people - leaders and those four on bases*

Aric: Base secured, Commander. Casualties minimal.

Cipher: Base is secured. Awaiting instructions, Commander. Assessing casual.

Sav (Wrath): *smirks* *turns to Acina and Malcom, who are slightly pale (Acina) and less composed (Malcom)*

Sav (Wrath): You seem to have forgotten that Iokath belongs to the Alliance. And you appear to have dismissed the fact that the only reason your respective governments have the resources to launch this ridiculous operations is victory over Zakuul that My(!) alliance has secured.

Sav (Wrath): *theatrically takes a breath to calm himself* Now let's discuss reparations for invading sovereign territory of the Eternal Alliance.

Malcom: That's ridiculous. Release my base, Sith. With or without your help, the Empire's threat to Republic wil be dealt with.

Acina: Is this how you treat your allies, Commander? I expected better from a Sith Lord from such a respectable family.

Sav (Wrath): If it is war you seek, war is what you'll get. I give you 5 hours to leave Iokath. In five standard hours any Republic or Imperial soldier, Jedi or Sith not part of the alliance will be considered invaders and dealt with accordingly. *In darker tone* You have no idea how dangerous Iokath can be to hostiles.

...

Sorry for mostly stealing your idea.

[adventuretolkienlover]

*drops pile of questions like a stack of heavy books* I COME BEARING INSPIRATION! (feel free to skip some if you get overwhelmed)

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

25. What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

29. What’s your revision or editing process like?

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

33. Do you want to be published some day? (As the author of an original work)

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

38. Would you ever write commissions?

39. Share a snippet from a WIP.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

48. What do you look for in a beta?

49. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

51. What’s your total AO3 word count?

52. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

57. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

62. Thoughts on cliffhangers?

65. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

70. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

72. What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

75. What scene in your current fic took the longest to write? What was difficult about it? 

76. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of your current fic?

77. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from your current fic?

*GASP* 😱🤩😁

Awesome! Thanks! Wow, okay. You know what? I'm gonna be a mad woman and answer ALL OF THEM. Eheheheheheh. Let's go! Under the cut since this thing is LOOOOOOOOOONG.

1. Do I prefer one-shots or multiple chapter fic's? Hm. Hard to say. Although, I do enjoy connecting plots and references in multiple chapter fics. So I'm gonna go with that one.

3) Describe the writing process. Well, first I make a scene map. It's a jist of what will happen of the course of the story as a whole. It keeps everything inline and easy to rearrange if something doesn't work or won't make sense. Then I just wing it and add the action and dialogue. I've found that it works really well!

4) Where do I find inspo? EVERYWHERE! Disney movies and life experience especially. I love classic adventure films/comedies. But for the more emotional bits I sometimes struggle. So then I'll turn to book and movies with more emotional plots. Or I'll just try my best to imagine the emotions the characters are going through. I especially like writing about domestic family life and love. And I find a lot of inspiration from those kinds of stories. Especially since my fic is basically the Brotherhood and Vat7k merged. I haven't got to those parts yet, but I will!

6) Do I beta my work? Nope. Haha. Well, sometimes. My little brother actually enjoys hearing my stories. So I'll read him a chapter sometimes. And my mom likes to listen too. So that counts I guess. They give me good feedback. And I have a friend that reads it after I published it and they give me good feedback as well.

7) Everyone's it seems! You get to hear all their thoughts. It just depends on which one is talking at the moment. Or what's going on.

8) Do I enjoy the beginning, middle, or end of a story? End! Because that's were everything is wrapped up and makes sense! Although, if the ending is poorly done, it will irk me to no end.

10) Er, yeah. I'm writing this on my phone. I don't think it can do that. Sorry.

12) Well, I makes me a little sad when I don't. But it makes sense too since I don't have a very well known fic and since it takes me a while to update. So I understand.

13) NONE OF THEM!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Lol. Yeah, I figured that actually when I write, that it I focused too much on the rules and tips, it actually caused me writers block and became less fun for me.. So I just throw caution to the wind and run with whatever idea I got!

14) How do I write emotional scene? With lot of crying. From me... And preferably with some tissues beside me. Haha. Anyway, jokes aside. I'm not to sure. It seems to be a hit and miss for me. Sometimes I've got big moving scenes that will make you ball. And other times it's like "He was sad." :/

16) Ooh! I do have one actually! It will probably be in the distant future. But it's a modern version of my fic and it involves aliens, unstable government projects, an awesome foster family, and a ranch! It's super cool! In case your wondering, SPOILER ALERT! The aliens are where Varian got his Moon powers and how Ulla disappeared.

17) When does writing become difficult. Writer's block is definitely one. But burnout? Burnout is the worst! *Insert Ben Schwartz yelling "THE WOOOORST!"*

18) That's interesting actually because sometimes I do and I'll leave them to write later. I have a bunch like that! I helps me keep track of everything I want to write. But I don't lable them too far into the fic. It's mostly one shots I do this with.

19) I don't have ao3. But most used tag here is Alchemy Bros!

20) There's a lot of sadness. I know that sounds bad, but I'm writing a continuation of a role play I followed and that eventually ended on a cliffhanger. Before that, the characters went through lot of trauma and the story I'm writing is basically the whole family healing together. Which is very sweet I think. Of course there will be action though! And fun!

21) Would I ever collaborate? Not sure how to do that. But, I usually prefer to work on my own. I like being able to adjust things to how I like it. And while I'm sure a collaboration would be fun, I like to keep the story mostly in my hands. So I don't think it would be a good idea.

22) Anything heavily adult. Never ever. I hate heavy gore, smut, and swearing. Nothing like that will ever be in my fics. Even if a character gets a severe injury, it will only be vaguely mentioned.

23) Best writing advice? If you need a break, take a gosh dang break! I have to learn this myself. But it is effective. If you tired and you body telling you rest, do it!

24) I can't think of anytime I've actually got bad writing advice. At least, nothing comes to mind.

25) Any of them really.

27) Writing romance. That is the hardest thing ever! I'm way better at platonic relationships and family bonds. Romance can sometimes be just to cringy to me.😅

29) I pretty much just read it through and if I see something I don't like, I just fix it. If it's a big thing though, it off to the scene map to switch things around again! Or cut things out if necessary.

31) Characters or plot? Hm... That's an interesting one. I can't really say because the thing is when I get a really good idea, it just kind explodes in my mind! I know what characters are going to be what and what will happen. But maybe when it's not like that, I guess you could say it's the Characters. Like, if I'm coming up with an Au, I'll usually figure out who I want where and then I'll figure out the plot. I'm not sure if this all makes sense. I'm flying by the seat of my pants right now.😂

33) Do I want my work published? YES YES YES YES!!! AJAJSHSHDGDHDKAKA! I planning on becoming a script writer someday! I love writing scripts for TV shows and movies! Book writing is fun too though and I might do that as well.

34) Hopefully happy with plenty of work published. And having made lots of people's lives better and more exciting.😁

35) Don't forget what type of villain you have. It's so easy it seems for people to forget. Do you want one that we will sympathize with? Make them sympathetic. Don't make him a horrible person and then expect us to feel bad for them. You want us to hate them? Then don't make the likeable! It's crazy how many times I've seen this.

38) Nope! Don't take commissions. Don't take requests. I got a very busy life and that would probably send me straight over the edge! Haha!

39) WIP snippet? Of course! Here! Not the best, but I've got one!

40) Oh gosh. Nobody's done that. I would be thrilled! But thanks to burnout, I'm only two chapters into the fic so there wouldn't be much to draw. Lol! But I would love to see art of future chapters I have planned. Lots of family fluff and action scenes! I guess if I had to choose a scene from a chapter I already have, then maybe the one we're Ulla has finally been taken outside the library by Varian and his friends and they're all looking out over Corona from the grassy base of the mountain. It's a very peaceful scene. Not too much happens, but it's calm.

41) I reread constantly! I several favorites that I like to read all the time!

46) Definitely emotional and action driven. There's no in-between. Either we're sobbing or diving head long in the fray!

47) My process. Number 1. Write fic. Number 2. Proof read. Number 3. Post. Number 4. Edit because I realized that I was so tired out that misspelled ten words, completely looked over a gaping plot hole, and forgot to add the chapter links. In short, I'm pretty chaotic!

48) Don't know. Never looked into one.

49) Nobody reads my stuff enough to warrant a bad review. 🤣🥲 But yeah. I'd probably handle it pretty well though!

51) Don't have an account! Probably won't ever either! I prefer it here. On cozy Tumblr.😊

52) I always respond to comments! Why? Well, sometimes I leave comments and people don't answer. I understand of course. People get busy, or are to tired. Everyone deals with that. But of course, it always makes me just a bit sad because I like talking to people. I don't want anyone to feel that way! Everyone is welcome! I'll be happy to talk to you. No matter what!

54) Writing practice! It helps for someday when I'll be publishing my stuff!

55) Definitely Hugo! I love him and connect with him a lot too. I especially like the version of him from the roleplay I followed. In my opinion, he was one of the best versions I've seen of him. Not overly sexualized or vulgar. And much more empathetic. That's why I'm continuing his story!

56) I love the fact I can use symbolism or deeper meaning's in my writing. Little things that seem un-important. But really mean everything. And I hope that as more people read my work, they'll get to see it more.

57) I prefer editing as I write. But sometimes I go over the top and tire myself out. So I need to learn to rein it in and relax. Gotta to remember to not sweat the small stuff.

58) The brainstorming! Coming up with world building and epic action movie style scenes to take place is my jam!

60) I do actually! My friend @cassandrium360 is amazing and read their stuff before befriending them! Afterwards, they told me to let them know when I new chapter was coming out so I could show them everytime! I was ecstatic! And it's been that way ever since! I love them to pieces!

61) Because I like sharing with people! That's it really.

62) Cliffhangers? Hate them. I hate them with a passion. It's one of my pet peeves. So many good shows and movies are ruined by the them. They're almost as bad as a sloppy ending.

65) The finale of my story should epic! And I also look forward to maybe doing some animatics based on certain chapters. I'm not too good yet. But I'm gonna get there!

67) I like prompts sometimes. I prefer to find them myself. But I will ask every once in a while. If I'm particular uninspired.

68) Listen to music. I can imagine whole movies and animations to one song. It's something I've been able to do since I was little. And it helped me in the long run with my writing!

70) I get a little embarrassed. But I think that's because I'm shy. I'm much more comfortable on here actually!

71) Once again, the scene map saves lives! If you want to know how to do one, just send my message and I'll show you!

72) Beginning to end! Start to finish. I hate writing things out of order.

73) It's definitely different from most Varian and the Seven Kingdoms fics. The most notable thing is that there's no Varigo. Varian and Hugo are in a healthy brotherly relationship. And in fact, Hugo is practically adopted by Ulla and Quirin. Also, instead of Nuru and Yong, I have two characters from the roleplay Jacky and Belle in their place. Nuru and Yong weren't included in the roleplay very much, so I decided not to use them. And instead say that they left earlier in the journey to go home. Since they had found whatever they were looking for. Jacky and Belle are super fun actually and I love them. Great characters!

75) The chapter I'm on now. It's been almost a whole fricken year! And it's 95% finished! And YET, I'm still struggling.😭 Oh well.🤷 I'll get there!

76) I remember one thing I thought about this one thing were Hugo's birth dad Alec*, who is a horrible person and tried to to take him out, tried to kidnap him and Varian and the family would have to rescue him! It didn't make the cut though and now I have a new villain. Alec will still be there, but not as the kidnapper. *Alec is another character from the roleplay*

77) Yes! The one we're Ulla finally get out of library! It's in the first chapter and it's very sweet. Plenty of hugs and comfort.

WOW!✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

I did it! Alright. Time to pass out. Thanks for the ask! Bye! *faints*🤣

[valkblue]

Hi Angie!! I hope you’re having a great week so far!! 🥰🥰🥰

7, 8, 18 & one of your choice for the writer asks please!!

Hi, Alyssa! My week has been good so far, thank you! I hope yours is too 💖

7- How do you choose which POV to write from?

Most times, it depends on which part of the story is more interesting; if a character A has nothing else to do than wait, and this wait would bring nothing to the tension or pacing of the story, then I switch to character B or C or any other more interesting part of said story. It's a bit like being game master for a bunch of players and having to manage them in a not-too-boring turn by turn.

8- Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

It depends. Usually, my favourite part is the middle. I tend to find the beggining of a story kind of frustrating because there are settings and lore to explain and I can't wait to be in the thick of it!! Endings are less frustrating, they are more satisfying, but the feeling is still kinda close to the one I have at the beginning.

18- Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

There are stories (fics or originales) for which I have titles at the very beginning, and others for which I still have none… even though they have a complete plot + ending, set of characters, visual resources for plenty of locations, faceclaims and detailed scenes written in script mode. And still no title. Not even the inkling of an idea, nothing! So theses stories go on for a while with kind of a 'codename', until I find one.

For example, Lost and Found and Improvisation Only didn't get a title right away, but Journey Into Night had one before a single word was written down.

To find a title when I have none, I usually brainstorm with a friend about it, and we go crazy from there until we found something catchy, or meaningful. Or both, ideally. Sometimes, I know what kind of title I'd like or, on the contrary, wish to avoid at all cost, and it's also a good way to start trimming.

Funfact, the hardest stories to title are my Elbaran stories about Ulrik and Leo… because they are written in a very specific and non-linear way so I have to keep them under a strange "part 1.5a/b/c" kind of way even I get confused with sometimes 🙃

40- If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

First of all, if someone were to make a fanart of any of my work, I'd cry with joy. I don't know for sure what scene I'd love most because what I'd love is to see the way the person imagined/pictured it in their mind, whether it's accurate to mine and how I intended it or not!

In Lost and Found, there are many scenes in urban settings (Nuth, Goshir, Corellia…) I'd love to see painted just because I love architecture (and I think it shows in my wordcount for describing buildings in and out 😅) but I also love landscapes and battle/fight scenes, so you see how difficult it is for me to choose?!?! And in my Full Diagnostic series, it's the same! But I mention it second because these paintings of @cherloak exist on here:

Vivian and Lawrence | Nighttime Campfire | After the Shoot Out (with Buddy and Pighead in the background)

😭💖✨

[nerdasaurus1200]

*drops pile of questions like a stack of heavy books* I have chosen a little bit of everything:

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

25. What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

29. What’s your revision or editing process like?

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

33. Do you want to be published some day? (As the author of an original work)

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

38. Would you ever write commissions?

39. Share a snippet from a WIP.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

48. What do you look for in a beta?

49. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

51. What’s your total AO3 word count?

52. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

57. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

62. Thoughts on cliffhangers?

65. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

70. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

72. What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

75. What scene in [your favorite fic that you've written] took the longest to write? What was difficult about it? 

76. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [the fic that was the most difficult for you to write]?

77. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [your most recently published] story/chapter?

Yaaaasss we love question dumps! ^_^

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

My first step is to come up with a solid enough plot. Then I come up with the title and start writing. I usually get about a quarter to halfway before leaving it and then I have no ideas for a few weeks. Then finally I get back to it and add a bit more, then a couple more weeks pass, then I finally finish it.

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Usually from scenes or concepts that either I wish happened or from songs. Songs is the bigger one though, I've come up with entire scenes and even entire plots to a song.

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

Most of the time, yes. Especially lately; cause I wanna make sure it flows well. I always share my work with my close friends before I post it and ask their opinion on certain parts that I'm not sure about. I'm trying to make it a more important part of my writing process.

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

I tend to write from third person POV mostly out of habit, but I try to include a detailed...I guess passage of characters' mindsets so it still feels a bit like first person. I used to write in first person a lot in middle school...those fics will never see the light of day XD

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

Oooh...probably the middle

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

I don't have "blinks" in any of my current fics unfortunately so here's a sneak peak from an upcoming fic instead:

“Oh. I see you ended up painting on my walls after all.” She observed. Rapunzel perked up. Maybe Gwen would like her paintings!

“Cassandra’s work is better.” Gwen added, “But then again her art is more practical.” 

Rapunzel pouted and even grumbled a little. 

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

After posting, feedback isn't super important to me, but it does flatter me when people take the time to comment on my work. The support of all my readers means so much to me. And of course during the writing process I try to listen to my friends' feedback because their advice always makes my writing stronger.

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

The biggest one I follow is to be detailed.

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

For the most part, I try to feel what the characters feel. My biggest goal is to get into their mindset so how they feel in the fic makes sense and feels natural for their character. Especially in the case of dialogue.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

About 3. One of them is the second chapter of Gwen Grounds Rapunzel, in which the titular characters have a much needed talk.

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

When writing becomes difficult I take a little break and let the writer's block run its course. And in the meantime I do other things that I enjoy.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

Titling a fic is always the first thing I do, even though it's my least favorite. To make it easier on myself, I've developed the habit of using song lyrics as titles, usually ones that apply to the fic

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

Given my track record, probably "angst" XD

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

I think a common theme in my fics is a serious exploration in the dynamics and mental health of some of the characters

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

Oh, absolutely! That'd be so much fun!

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

I try to stay away from tropes cause I feel like it unnecessarily puts characters in a box. Also common nsfw things like murder, torture, r*pe, etc.

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

Write what you're passionate about, and don't try to force it if you can't think of what to write.

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

I don't think anyone's ever given me bad writing advice.

25. What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

Hmm…I’m not sure any of them got a smaller response than I was hoping for. Even a few kudos and a bookmark on ao3 is enough to make my day ^_^

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

My least favorite part of writing is definitely the title XD But my most favorite part of it is probably getting started on the beginning.

29. What’s your revision or editing process like?

I save editing for the very end, and I go through it with Grammarly for basic grammar mistakes and then ask one of my friends to beta read it.

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Mostly the plot.

33. Do you want to be published some day? (As the author of an original work)

I actually did have a plan for this back in high school. I wanted to write this series called Fabled Feminists and each book was basically a first person biography of a different woman in history

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

I'm not really sure....probably still a fanfic writer.

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

In my opinion, the biggest thing for writing a villain is to either make them a complete and total heartless asshat (Gothel, Frollo, Gaston, etc) or make them human and potentially reedmable to the point where you can easily understand where they're coming from (Cass, Varian, Claudia, etc.)

38. Would you ever write commissions?

Maybe! It looks like fun.

39. Share a snippet from a WIP.

A sneak peak from chapter 3 of Days of the Animals:

“Now, repeat back what I just read to you.” Miss Misty instructed. In a slight panic, Rapunzel glanced between Misty’s chalkboard and the book in her hand. Today they were covering the history and heraldry of animals in the seven kingdoms….which one were they just on? Dragon, kurlock, sea serpent, dragonseal…ah, Phoenix! That was the one! 

“The Phoenix, also known as the sunbird, Phoenician bird, or its Latin name avis ignus, is a bird more ancient than any of the seven kingdoms.” Rapunzel read aloud, “Its tears and wings have the ability to heal any illness or injury, and it leaves illusions as real as day in its wake. However, this bird is most renowned for its immortality. Its most rare power is the ability to burst itself into flames and be reborn from the ashes” 

“Very good.” Miss Misty praised, “And how is it significant to Corona?” 

“It was a bird of Kings.” Rapunzel answered, “It guided our first King Arthur Pendragon through many dangers, and until the rule of Herz der Sone it was our official crest. King Arthur even had a garden made for the Phoenix until they became endangered two centuries ago.”

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

If it were any scene from any fic I've written I would just keel over in happiness. When @twotangledsisters made fanart of my fics I screamed so loud in joy

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

Oh I re-read fics all the time.

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

Um....I think I'd probably describe it as character driven. The characters are the most important part of writing to me, for every fic I try to really get in their head.

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Typically only one or twice

48. What do you look for in a beta?

Someone I'm close to whom I trust and whose opinion I value.

49. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

I don't think I have, but if I ever do I'll deal with it as respectfully as I can.

51. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Oh god...40,000 maybe? XD

52. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I always do, cause I consider it polite. Especially if it's a really long comment. They took time out of their day to comment, it's only fair that I return the gesture and comment back.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

I think I’d have to say finally taking the ideas I’ve had in my head for days or weeks or even months and getting them written down exactly how I imagined. It’s a very satisfying feeling.

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

Will it surprise anyone if I say Cass…? 😂 But no, I love writing for the whole gang. That’s part of why I decided to write Days of the Animals, so I could write each of them a little better.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Writing the characters as accurately as I can ^_^

57. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

I try to wait until it's finished and then edit, cause it makes the process a little easier and a little less tedious.

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

I think writing. It’s so great cause before I write I have all these little ideas and it’s so great to see them finally culminating into the fic

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

I have, @frozenwolftemplar has commented on a couple of my fics and it absolutely made my day.

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

Because it's fun ^_^

62. Thoughts on cliffhangers?

Unless it’s for Arcane, I despise them XD The DC cliffhanger drove me crazy for MONTHS

65. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I’m really looking forward to writing the Laramie chapter of Days of the Animals. Laramie is gonna find Eugene and help him solve a crime. I’m also looking forward to chapter 2 of Gwen Grounds Rapunzel and a new fic I started yesterday, Save What Has Been Lost

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

A little bit of both. I used to do this prompt game a lot back in my MLB days, where someone would send me a sentence and I'd write a paragraph or two from it.

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

I always either listen to songs and brainstorm ideas.

70. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

Oh, enthusiastic, hands down.

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

I usually keep track of outlines and timelines the most

72. What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

I always write from beginning to end...which is part of why it takes so long for me to post XD

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

I’m not sure…probably my detail? I hope? 😅

75. What scene in [your favorite fic that you've written] took the longest to write? What was difficult about it? 

The end of Abyss took at least about three or four days to write. I really wanted to get this kind of disorienting dreamlike feeling about it that would accurately capture the dissociative episode that Cass was having to the point where she isn't really processing anything happening around her. And at the same time I also wanted it to reflect that mentally, Cass is at the lowest she could possibly be. I wanted people to read it with bit of new context on the very end of OAH, thinking "Ohh...oh Cass is NOT okay O_O"

76. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [the fic that was the most difficult for you to write]?

The end of Abyss was originally a bit more violent, with Cass having plans to seriously physically harm Rapunzel. I ended up cutting all that out cause it felt way too intense and it felt like it took away from the grief of Cass's mental breakdown.

77. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [your most recently published] story/chapter?

Hmm….I think I’d have to say the end of chapter 2 of Days of the Animals. It was fun to write Strongbow family wholesomeness.

[river-ocean]

omg tell me about springsteen 🤭🤭🤭 i definitely do not know the first thing about it and i’m so so so curious!!!!

SOL <3 i love you.

the reason the working title is springsteen is because it is inspired by the song Springsteen by Eric Church (listen on spotify here)

i want to write a love letter to 90s country music, and i also want to write a piarles that isn't smooth sailing.

i don't actually have any of this written yet, so here's some of my brainstorming:

it's set in rural georgia in the late 80s/early 90s (don't worry, we are throwing period/location typical homophobia out the window and everyone is in full support of piarles) and follows them through their senior year of high school. it's your classic small town love story: the cheerleader is in love with a football player, childhood friends to lovers who everyone expects will be together forever.

charles has his heart set on the two of them going away to college together -- somewhere close to home, but not so close that they're smothered by the expectations they grew up with.

everything is going well until pierre has a football career-ending injury and loses his scholarship.

charles knows he can't stay home, he needs to go, needs to see more of the world. but he also loves pierre, and he knows that he can't have both.

which will he choose?? what happens???

[lodessa]

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written? 21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why? 22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

Thanks for the ask <3

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written?

Mostly I just choose song lyrics (or a word/phrase that is vaguely the right vibe to me) but I actually came up with four different real/good titles for The Half-Life Fallacy (thanks to @romeorevoarchive who helped me brainstorm). They were as follows:

The Half-Life Fallacy (The winner, basically referencing the lingering impact of certain events and how they never actually disappear completely.)

Star Thistle Summer (kind of a double meaning, both because star thistle is painful, stubborn and resilient, but also because it is one of those plants that will take over after a wildfire. It really just worked well both for the initial Blackout vibe but also the relationship dynamics/Matheson characteristics.)

Manzanita Blaze (Leaning more heavily into the plants/wildfire metaphor. Manzanita is one of those plants that uses fire to propagate, it's also a very twisty tree. It is double catastrophe that brings and keeps them together, no matter how wrong and impossible it should be on paper. It just fit them.)

Forks in a Circular Road (Learning into the sense of inevitability of where the fic ends up, and also the framing of Bass' narration. This is an AU where you can take a totally different path, but in some ways you are going to end up on the same road.)

I'm also pretty happy with the title of my most current WIP: The Backup, which ties into the many different uses of backup/back up:

Providing support, backing.

A secondary choice, being “on the bench”.

To step back, go backwards.

To rebound, recover, “get back up”

21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why?

I used to really struggle with this, so I developed an alternative method, where I just cut/paste the problem section into a new document instead of deleting it. Sometimes a scene just isn't taking you where you need to go to get to the next story beat, sometimes it doesn't really follow from what came before, but it is hard to get rid of something you wrote if you actually like anything about it. Taking it out of the context it isn't working in without trashing it made it so much easier for me to recognize when that was the case. Putting it in a new document sometimes means it just sits there, but I have had times where I ended up using it as the seed for a new fic, and times where later on it turned out if totally fit in the same fic I wrote it for, just in a totally different part of the story.

Right now I am actually debating this for a section I have written for The Backup that doesn't really make sense following what I wrote before it. I'm still trying to decide whether it just needs to be later in the story, or it needs to be in a different fic entirely.

*Putting a sneak peak at the end of the post under a read more if anyone wants to look.

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

I usually have an idea of where a fic is going to end up, though the path there is often either murky or not the one I end up following. For some "current" WIPs:

k'war'ma'khon: Originally was just supposed to be a little flash ficlet, but once I decided to move beyond that, the inevitable ending had to be Georgiou (and Sarek and the crew of the Discovery) rescuing Michael (or I guess Michael breaking free). However, I definitely didn't initially think that Spock was going to show up or have any idea how I was going to get Michael out of Klingon prison.

Dragon Marked: The eventual ending to this one is very epic and complex, involving reincarnation, magic, science, conspiracy theories, politics, and dragons. I actually brainstormed the plot (not the what plot ;-P) part out with my husband. There's a lot of ground to cover before that though, so who knows what might change.

The Backup: Being canon divergent but set during season 3 gives me some nice boundaries. The reader and I know who the Heart Rapist is already. That's not the question, the questions are about how Veronica and Weevil who are now on a different path because of what's gone differently will solve that mystery, catch him, but also how they will manage the ways their dynamic has shifted. This fic started from the desire to have both of those things go in a different direction than canon did, so the ending is where I started with this one.

As promised, a scene I don't know whether I will keep in The Backup of not:

“Does it ever feel like nothing you do actually makes a difference?” V asks, at the bottom of the stairwell of Mac’s dorm.

Only every fucking day , he thinks, but at the same time he’s pretty sure that’s not actually helpful, and he wants to help Veronica, even though it all feels pointless most of the time. So he stays quiet and waits for her to say more.

“The world is a shitty place and it doesn’t matter how many answers I find, how many bad guys I take down.  There’s always another one. So what’s the point? Why bother?  Maybe I should  just say fuck it and stop trying.”

“That I’d love to see,” he shakes his head, pausing before adding, “Veronica Mars standing idly by.  Pretty sure reality might fold in on itself if you stopped digging at every mystery and hammering at injustice, V.”

“Doesn’t make it any less crazy that I do,” she deflects.

“Maybe not,” he concedes, but if she’s crazy what does that make him?  “But if it helps people, I would call that the good kind of crazy, and you do help people, Veronica.”

Giving up is the logical response to hopeless situations, but if he did that what would be left for him?  What would be left of any of them?

“You want to know a secret?” she asks and he thinks, I want to know all of your secrets.

“Is that a trick question?” he says instead.

“Most of the time, I don’t care about helping people so much as making the bad guy pay.  I’m motivated by vengeance and the lure of secrets, not the good that comes from whatever it is I find.”

“Most of the time?” he questions.

“This case is different,” she owns, something he already had picked up on.

“And that’s a bad thing?” he responds instead of asking why even though he wants the answer to that question like a smoker fiending for a cigarette.

“Maybe. Honestly, I don’t know.  Your guess is as good as mine.”

Part of him wants to take this moment of uncertainty and push things a little, see if she would fall into his arms, turn to him for comfort not just security.

I’ve got you, querida, he could say, pull her close, one hand cradling the back of her head and the other wrapped around her waist.    V seems so brittle and shaky right now and he wonders if there have been other times she was like this and he just didn’t know her well enough yet to see it: if he missed the clues or if she hid them better when he was a stranger.

This would have been easier, he suspects, if he’d seen that vulnerability two years ago, back when he was a gang leader and she was an outcast, and they were some sort of high school cliche. Back when she was an intriguing unknown. 

But he didn’t see it then, and she’s not a stranger anymore, and maybe it is better they can both pretend he doesn’t see it now.

“Well then, my prediction is that you are going to take this asshole down and someone is going to erect a goddamned statue of you: Veronica Mars: protector of Hearst.”

“Okay, maybe my guess is better than yours, since that is totally not going to happen.”

[subject-2-change]

*drops pile of questions like a stack of heavy books* I BRING YOU QUESTIONS! 😄 (If you get overwhelmed, don't feel obligated to answer all of these!)

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic.

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

5. Do you like constructive criticism?

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

25. What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

29. What’s your revision or editing process like?

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

33. Do you want to be published some day? (As the author of an original work)

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

38. Would you ever write commissions?

39. Share a snippet from a WIP.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

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

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

48. What do you look for in a beta?

49. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

51. What’s your total AO3 word count?

52. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

57. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

62. Thoughts on cliffhangers?

65. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

70. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

72. What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

75. What scene in your current fic took the longest to write? What was difficult about it? 

76. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of your current fic?

77. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from your current fic?

Holy hell this is a lot! I think I saw you drop this heavy piles of books in someone else's ask box as well. I am ready. Sorry for being weeks late to this. I wanted to give it time to respond to everything I want to.

Putting it under a read more because it is a lot of answers

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics? My ideas are predominantly multi-chapter, and I love the spice of having threaded themes reappear in later chapters. But, one-shots are nice to bang out and upload and feel accomplished for getting something done.

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic. I sit down with some music (a playlist I've made that inspires me for certain characters, or the World Building playlist from Tale Foundry), usually have an alcoholic beverage (drink responsibly) and vibe.

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas? I talk a lot. Sometimes it is taking things I like and making them kiss. Sometimes it is obsessive conspiracy theories. Sometimes it is a headcanon that sticks like a parasite. My biggest inspiration right now is writing out my D&D campaign. It comes from my friends and their rp and collective storytelling. I just write it down all pretty.

5. Do you like constructive criticism? You can give it to me. Whether or not I take it depends on my mood. Occasionally a friend will say, "love that but I think your use of this word doesn't fit, try this other one," and I'll say, "absolutely not. I used that word for x y z reasons. So, while your word fits better by definition, mine fits better for the character or connotation or because I like how it sounds." I know I'm not a perfect writer, but some of the things I do wrong are intentional because I like it. But I'm open to criticism because it can have good insight. Not looking for it, though.

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process? Not beta'd per se. But I do give dramatic readings to my friends and get their opinions. They (and I) prefer me reading it out loud because I do voices and dramatic flourishes.

7. How do you choose which POV to write from? However I feel is the most interesting way to hear the story. I lean towards 3rd person limited present tense. Occasionally past tense and/or omniscient. Rarely first person. I have dabbled in 2nd person, which was a lot of fun and ominous.

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story? Ooooooh, the middle. Prime character development and relations. Rising actions. Climax! It is when a reader can be fully immersed, but the story isn't over. Also, it is the majority of the story. One of the reasons I often write in medias res.

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up. Apparently no one in my stories blink. Here's the closest one from a published chapter of EEEE: "Before Dagger can blink, Entyre has a gun point blank between his eyes. 'Back. Up.'"

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you? Most of my feedback comes from my close friends irl. Online feedback/support is always appreciated! But it isn't devastating to not receive, and I'll keep doing what I want regardless.

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow? You don't have to write in order. If there is a scene speaking to you that you are inspired to write, do it! You can insert that chronologically later, but it is worth getting something down.

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences? I feel them so deeply. I get waaaay into character headspace. I draw from personal experience to the best of my ability, but I'll also reach out to people with more relevant experience and draw from that.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them? Bah, just ideas? 1, 2, 3, 4... about 7? Not all of them will be written. I'll share two. One is "A Working Title" which is fully outlined. Multi-chapter crossover of TTS and Epithet Erased (tts with ee magic system). One that I've never mentioned and has no title is... well it's just "what if Zhan Tiri was a warlock of mother nature and an eco terrorist and was kinda right actually?"

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block) Honestly? I don't write. I don't have great advice to get over this, especially because I don't take my fanfic writing particularly seriously. I just let it be until I feel like it again. Or write something else if it is just a matter of flow.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles? Usually during. How do I come up with them? Usually silly references, a play on words. My best friend is my title guy. I call her up and go "help. Here's the context." If you like my titles, thank her.

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc? My sense of humor. I also frequently use unabashedly evil villains with sympathetic motivations. I love describing things using senses other than sight and sound, which I feel are most frequently used.

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story? I wouldn't be opposed necessarily. Could lighten the work. But I also like to write how I write and when I want. That wouldn't mesh with trying to be mutually accountable. But throwing ideas or scenes, dialogue, etc? Sounds like fun.

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc) I'm not gonna do a coffee shop au.

23. Best writing advice for other writers? 1) Kill your darlings. If a thing does not forward the story or develop a character, get rid of it. Don't neglect small character moments, those can be just as important as major plot forwarding moments. 2) Use "said" more. Not every sequence of dialogue has to have flavorful tags. In fact, it can sometimes break flow of the conversation.

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you? Revision revision revision. It doesn't need to be perfect. Don't obsess over it. Write what you want, how you want. Make grammatical errors for flavor. Write for vibes. You should enjoy what you write more than anyone else.

25. What fic do you wish you got more of a response on? "Exquisitely Evil Eberron Escapades". It is my D&D game and it is ongoing and long. But damn I love these guys and the themes and story unfolding are wild. Mostly I wish it got more attention because it is a collaborative story with my friends, not just mine.

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing? Most? Reading it because I'm a goddamn delight. Least? Writing it because writing is hard.

29. What’s your revision or editing process like? Shit, I'm supposed to edit these things?

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing? Depends on what it is. I've written a whole story based on one character I made and liked, but typically plot I think.

33. Do you want to be published some day? (As the author of an original work) Not really. Sounds like a lot.

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer? Sitting on my couch with a drink and music and writing fanfic and D&D stories in my slippers.

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain?  Make them fun. Fun to like, fun to hate. They don't have to be sympathetic anti-heroes. But they do need to be a character the audience gets invested in for one reason or another.

38. Would you ever write commissions? I'd take requests maybe...but a commission? No. I write when I want and I don't think the pressure of accountability due to money being exchanged would be conducive to my writing.

39. Share a snippet from a WIP. Much later chapter for Exquisitely Evil Eberron Escapades [context: Cainan (14) spikes the punch bowl at a social mixer for the early acceptance students at Ivy League wizard college. His tutor, Smilodeus (60) remedies the situation and escorts Cainan out. Dio is Cainan's adoptive father, who was expelled from this school.]

Smilodeus pinches the bridge of his nose, “please be more careful.” Cainan shrugs a bit playfully, “‘Careful’s my middle name…'' His tutor gives him a stern look, “I told you not to lie to me.” Cainan lowers his cup from his lips. “I’m serious. I don’t want to see you end up like Dio.” Fed up, Cainan drops the dish down on the desk, the teacup clattering on the saucer as he does. “You keep saying that, but no one will tell me why! I deserve to know!” 

Gently, Smilodeus sets his teacup next to Cainan’s. His cup sits pristine in the divot, not a spill on the saucer. Cainan’s is tilted haphazardly, some tea dripping from where he sipped, and the dish speckled with drops from the impact of setting it down. “Well,” Smilodeus utters trepidatiously, “there was a gnomish girl we were close with. One night, they went out alone together drinking. She never returned. He was the last to see her alive. Diogenes was too inebriated to even remember what happened.” Every word he says is calculated, and Cainan can tell that there is more he isn’t sharing. 

As Smilodeus continues, Cainan clenches his fists at his sides and grits his teeth, holding his tongue. “That is why I am worried. And why I want to help you with your drinking problem. It can be dangerous for you and others. You can be so reckless. You need to let go of this anger--” 

“I have a right to be angry!” Cainan barks.

“Everyone has a right to be angry, Cainan!” Smilodeus bites.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see? I would be thrilled and confused about fanart of anything I've done.

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person? Mostly one-and-done, but there are some I revisit.

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person? If you hurt them, I would kill everyone and then myself...but I can hurt them though. Oh God do I love to hurt them.

45. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh? Both. Be confused. Laugh through the tears.

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc) Vibes driven? Typically focused on character emotion. My descriptions are based on how a character is perceiving the situation. Language I use is influenced by the character in focus. Dialogue tag styles change based on who is talking.

48. What do you look for in a beta? I just read out loud to my friends. I don't do beta.

49. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them? No, but I'd ignore them. I write for me. You get to read it as a treat.

52. Do you respond to comments, why or why not? Almost always because I love interacting with people. Writing or otherwise.

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both? Writer more than reader, but tbh not enough of either. My time is lost elsewhere and I wish I got to visit everyone in their silly little worlds.

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones? I've loved writing Eugene (tts), but, as I've written more D&D stuff, my friends' characters have been the most fun. Specifically the rogue in EEEE, Dagger Loppen. He's such a sassy jackass with inappropriate one-liners and delusions of grandeur. He is a narcissist with an identity crisis.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on? I'm funny as hell. I also paint a scene well. I'm great at writing fucked up content in a way you want to read but are repulsed by. Like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

57. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished?  As I write when I can. If I re-read later, I might make some changes. Otherwise it goes up raw.

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like? Yes! Bex commented on my Dead or Alive fic and complimented my use of the cast of characters. I about lost my mind.

62. Thoughts on cliffhangers? They can be tastefully done. Examples: "He reaches for the door and pushes it open, breath hitching as he sees who is on the other side." (bad) "He opens the door and sees her standing there, leaning on the desk. 'Hello again. Long time no see.'" (good) At the end of the chapter, there still needs to be some sort of resolution, some gratification for the reader. Forced cliffhangers upset me. But leaving something next time is totally understandable. Don't leave the reader on opening the door. Leave the reader on seeing what's on the other side.

65. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project. Angst.

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas? Prompts and challenges are fun for inspiration. Limitations are good for creativity. But I never publish those when I do them.

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.? I make outlines in a separate document. Maps if needed. Very loose outlines that look like nonsense to anyone but me.

72. What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else? Chronological usually, but I jump to favorite scenes if I'm stuck. I'll write dialogue and come back for tags and descriptions if there is a heated conversation idea.

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works? I'm silly. I have fun playing around with words an imagery more than I care about the writing being traditionally good. I wrote an interlude that is a series of limericks for funsies. I wrote a whole chapter where each thing in a scene was described using a different sense based on what character was experiencing it.

75. What scene in your current fic took the longest to write? What was difficult about it?  The first combat scene in EEEE. I'd never written combat and I'm not very good. I have a hard time verbalizing the physical actions without it getting repetitive. It just goes stab stab.

77. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from your current fic? Everything from the tavern, King's Ransom, from chapter 4 of EEEE, but specifically the scene where Entyre and Dagger are outside talking alone. Just some great character moments, fun dialogue, an angsty rogue. (It is about 1/3 of the way down if you are interested in reading just that short scene)

[whentherewerebicycles]

ok they said they would send me the prompt sometime today but did not specify when so i am still in PREPARE FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING mode. i finished the first-gen programming book on the plane. there were a handful of very good case studies in there & a few ideas i would love to try implementing, but i feel like those edited collections with a million contributors are inevitably a little uneven and can get a bit repetitive by the end. on the whole though i’m glad i read it and i collected a handful of sources from the bibliography that i’m going to follow up on next.

one of the last case studies in the book was about career services and i found it really interesting... the writers were pointing out that university career services tend to focus a lot on the process of finding a job (resume and cover letter writing, navigating linkedin and job boards, interviewing, etc.) but most institutions don’t do a ton of work on teaching students career management skills - like, how to read a job posting to determine if it’s going to get you where you want to be, or how to proactively identify and develop specific skills in a role even if it’s not your dream job, or how to go back on the job market and find a better match for you if a job doesn’t seem to be aligned with your long-term goals, etc etc. i definitely notice this a lot in my first-gen kids who i do post-grad career support stuff with. like, the jobs they choose to apply to often confuse me because they don’t seem like a good fit for what the student is actually interested in doing, or they’ll stay in a job that isn’t a good fit for too long because they’re unsure about how to make the transition.

we did some work on this in my program -- i had this career trajectory mapping activity where they had to research organizations in their areas of interest, then find a high- or medium-ranking employee there in a leadership position they might interested in doing later in their careers, and then we had this in-class activity where we used people’s linked in profiles to trace their path from college to grad school (if relevant) through the early stages of their career. we made these big maps on the board where we wrote down the job titles the person had held, the way they described their responsibilities in each role, the amount of time they spent at each, the amount of time between promotions, and whether their experience was concentrated in one organization/program or not (and if they moved around if it was laterally within a company or to a new organization). we did a handful of these together in class and then as part of their research portfolios that semester they had to create more maps, one of which had to be for a person they’d set up an informational interview with (so they could use the map to ask more detailed questions about people’s trajectories and get insight into how professionals further along in their careers made decisions about what jobs to take, when to leave, etc.).

ANYWAY i think i could do a LOT more thinking/brainstorming around how to integrate those skills in managing your own career into different curricula... just something i’d be interested in returning to. ooh and also i learned about the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Career Readiness Competencies which i think will be a useful framework if i need to talk about prof dev at any point during the visit.

[meechatuck]

*drops pile of questions like a heavy stack of books* There are many things I'd like to know-

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

29. What’s your revision or editing process like?

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

33. Do you want to be published some day? (As the author of an original work)

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

38. Would you ever write commissions?

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

48. What do you look for in a beta?

49. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

52. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

57. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

62. Thoughts on cliffhangers?

65. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

70. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

72. What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

75. What scene in Dark Kingdom Rising took the longest to write (so far)? What was difficult about it? 

76. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of Dark Kingdom Rising?

77. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from Dark Kingdom Rising?

Thanks for the ask @th3p0rtalmaker

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic.

Usually starts with a main idea that I elaborate on and see how long it is/if I want it to continue on.

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Reading stories/fanfics, watching movies/tv series, listening to music, just thinking in general haha.

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this process to you?

I have had some chapters beta'd by a friend. It's not that important to me although I do like it. But I'm used to not having one so its not a big deal.

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

I really only like writing in the 3rd person omniscient and nothing else haha.

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

I like the middle and end. Beginnings are good, but I like to get into the action.

10. Cltr+f "blink" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up.

So I have a lot of chapters so I chose a random one to do this with.

"This isn't all your fault Hector," she said, keeping her gaze ahead. "I just wish you would be a little more trusting of others, especially someone like Amelia. We can't bring the Dark Kingdom back by ourselves."

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

I mean I like it, but if I don't get it I just rely on myself haha.

13. What's a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

I'm going to butcher it, but the saying where if you are stuck writing and don't know what to do next the problem is in the last few paragraphs.

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

*me sitting here remembering how I was crying just two days ago about a chapter I was working on* I listen to music a lot. Or if I'm in a bad mood or feeling down (and I have the time) I try and write certain parts then as I'm in a better mindset for it. I totally feel what my characters feel. And yes I do for most things I write, even when it's very indirect.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

Tooooo many. All ranging between a bunch of different fandoms. One I've been getting back into is my TMNT AU fic. Essentially it's where the typical movies/comic turtles and Splinter get swapped with an AU of themselves where Splinter owns a wellness company and is rich and mutants live among humans.

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult?

I draw. And if I can't do that, I read fic/re-read my own fics and scroll my Pinterest boards.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

Depends on what inspired the chapter. If I have a very specific idea before writing it, it usually becomes the name. If I don't have one picked I try to go for the general idea of the chapter or a specific important part.

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fic?

I tend to use the same adjectives or words to describe emotions A LOT. I just change/edit them when I'm revising.

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

Maybe, but it'd be in the far future as I'm busy with my own life right now.

22. Are there certain types of writing you won't do?

Honestly I'm pretty open to trying new stuff to see if I can do it, but there are ground rules for me (won't do incesty/mpreg/rapey stuff that's off the top of my head right now) and just because I wrote it doesn't mean I'll post it.

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

Brainstorming/thinking through your story still counts as working on it.

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

Having a set word count to write for every day. Even giving myself a miniscule goal de-motivated me so bad.

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

Fav: seeing certain scenes come to fruition.

Least Fav: transitions and long dialogue. I tend to get into the bad habit of being like so and so said this and so in so said that.

29. What's your revision or editing process like?

A shit show. 🤣 But for real, I edit as I go or when I get stuck (even if there isn't much to edit).

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Tend to start with a plot more often than not.

33. Do you want to be published some day?

Yeah I still do. I don't know if it will ever happen though. I still have some original ideas from when I was younger that I still really like. I guess we will see.

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Still writing fanfic for my current obsession haha. Hopefully I'm better at it by then.

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain?

There a person, just like you and me.

38. Would you ever write commissions?

I've thought about it, maybe when my kids are older and not so dependent on me.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Tbh I'd be flattered/love to see anything.

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

If it's good I'll reread it for the rest of my life.

46. How would you describe your style?

Is romance driven a thing? Baha. I'd say more character/emotion driven.

47. How many times to you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

An innumerable amount until I stash it into my Done folder where I'm not aloud to touch it anymore.

48. What do you look for in a beta?

Uh they can read and know about the fandom? Baha sorry I've never really needed one, but it's nice to have one!

49. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

Only ever had a bad review once on an old TMNT fic. They called out my version of Mona Lisa as a "Mary Sue" then posted a link to their fic saying it was better. I just let it be as my followers stood up for me. I think I'd just ignore it if it was obnoxious. I would at least answer once to well thought out ones. Just depends.

52. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I usually do, unless they are weird or questionable. Comments on fics are so important. Even a simple this was great is amazing.

54. What's your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

I've really enjoyed re-watching TTS for my fic to get more lore/understanding of certain canon stuff. I do love researching stuff!

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your fav? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers' reactions to certain ones?

Probably a predictable answer but Hector hands down. Its been so fun to explore how he's transitioning back into normal life after the Great Tree and how he is navigating his emotions for everything. Also how he deals with his age and realizing that he's getting old. Nope. No one can change how I feel about that feral man.

56. What's something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

The reader's ability to feel the emotions.

57. Do you prefer editing as you write or waiting until it's finished?

As I go. If I don't I'd go insane.

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most?

Brainstorming and writing.

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

I enjoy comments from everyone.

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

Someone's gotta give Hector some loving. Might as well be me haha.

62. Thoughts on cliffhangers?

Small ones are fine. But shit like the finale of Season 2 in TTS would have driven me mad and pissed me off. Some is good, but too much is just dumb and I feel is a grab at trying to keep a show alive that's already dead.

65. Tell us about what you're most looking forward to writing in your current project?

Everything to do with Part 2 of my Dark Kingdom Rising fic. Hector and Amelia getting together, everyone else finding out, elaborating on the bad guy more, awful things happening. It's gonna be big.

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

I really love prompts and challenges. Feeds me new stuff I haven't thought of before.

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Listen to music and scroll my writing Pinterest board inspo.

70. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

Sadly, I'm usually embarrassed because most people I know are not fandom people so they think it's weird. But there are a few I can share it with and they think its cool.

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

I try to keep it all in my head and when I forget important shit I make myself do something about it haha. I have a timeline and soooo many documents for all the tidbits I can't keep track of.

72. What order do you write in? Front of book to back? Chronological? Favorite scenes first? Something else?

It usually starts by fav scenes or most thought out scenes first. Then I try to go from beginning to end, but usually work through what I want to do first. Then I'm left with the hard stuff last and hate my life haha.

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

Tbh I don't have an answer for this haha. I don't feel it does.

75. What scene in Dark Kingdom Rising took the longest to write (so far)? What was difficult about it?

Quest for Edmund. It was very lore heavy and I hadn't done a ton of research on what I wanted it to do and so I kept pausing my writing to figure out how to finish it. Luckily, it is mostly done now and one of my fav chapters.

76. Did you have any ideas that didn't make the final cut of Dark Kingdom Rising?

Loads of them. Some I may still write out and just have as extras, but some will just stay ideas. One is when a racoon Hector was fostering/ taking care of steals some jewelry of Amelia's and they find out it was from a prince and was a wedding offer. If she can't give it back when he visits the next day, it's assumed she is accepting the proposal. (This is early on in the fic and he isn't aware of his feelings for her, but panics at the thought of her having to leave or risk offending the royal family.)

77. Do you have a favorite scene you've written from Dark Kingdom Rising?

So many! A lot have to do with Hector and Amelia as their romance blossoms. But I give a special shout out to Amelia and Adira with their outings that I have sprinkled in.