#a wheel inside a wheel

[nonevahed]

referring to a character as having a "Jaime Lannister Moment" before i realize i have to specify I'm referring to the thing Jaime's infamous for in-universe

[natrome]

this is the "what are the projects that are the foremost contenders for me to work on in my break between finishing SMST and starting lightless labyrinth and silent spiral" post. i want to give a general overview of what they are, the pros and cons of working on them, and how likely i am to dump time into them

this post got /disgustingly/ long, so to spare your dashes, under a readmore it goes

Partial rewrite of Life Out of Balance and add significant material to Lighting Out for the Territories

so, It Is Known that by a fairly wide margin, LOOB and LOFTT are the worst parts of WIAW. they're not complete write-offs, but they have foundational, structural issues that are like. breaking the series haha.

LOOB has one strong arc (annerose's story), which is very grounded and has a natural emotional flow to it, and has a strong thematic throughline. unfortunately it also has one weak arc (reinhard's story), where i couldn't really figure out how to pull together a like. strong enough thematic backbone to make it function as a /story/ rather than a disjointed series of events. the writing itself isn't bad, and there's a lot of things i like about the book (and, furthermore, there are a lot of people who like LOOB the best out of all the books), but this lack of coherency has set me up for major problems down the line. the book is also "fanfic-y" in a way that I would like to resolve-- secondary characters drift in and out of the story expecting the reader to already know and care about them, and events happen in a somewhat random way.

LOFTT compounds all of the existing problems-- reinhard's emotional arc continues to be slim-to-none, secondary characters are given even less development in this novel (except, maybe, muller), the narrative continues to be a series of events rather than A Narrative. it also fails to provide enough setup for the next novel, leaving the alliance side feeling completely bereft of the interesting meaning that the empire side has. most people who drop WIAW drop it at LOFTT-- it's an actively bad book that turns away readers.

also my timelines are jacked to hell and back 😩 which needs a fix in general.

so i would like to fix these problems if at all possible lmao

there are a couple thoughts i've had rolling around in my brain, some of which may end up fully happening, some of which might not.

the first option is to get rid of Reinhard's POV in LOOB entirely. i think this would be an interesting but difficult thing to do: rein is the main character, or he should be, but right now he's just sort of wandering around his own story. i think part of my problem is that i find a lot of other people's reactions to rein easier to write about than rein himself. i think it might be possible for him to have more of an impact on the story if, like in canon, people are recognizing him as this strange, maybe more-than-human force of nature, rather than being inside reinhard's "oh my god let me out of high school" head lmfao.

of course, this is actively counter to my intentions for WIAW as a whole-- i want to provide a humanizing story. (but what does it mean for 'nat rome' to humanize the victor? 🤔). but i think if i do this, i can maybe use that inhuman POV to make LOFTT more interesting, by suddenly being inside rein's head where we weren't before.

the second thing that should definitely be done is, as i said, give fredrica /way/ more screentime and chapters. i think building a contrasting narrative between the musel family and the greenhil family would be interesting and a good way to both get a greater worldbuilding depth in the alliance (get up close and personal with the politics earlier) and elevate fredrica from a secondary to a primary character.

similarly, i think caribelle needs chapters-- the story has not yet had an inside POV on the earth church, and having one i think would move it further into the realm of a concrete and vital plot element rather than something that exists and functions only because it exists in canon.

and it wouldn't necessarily happen until LOFTT, but jessica could also use some chapters. she needs to get radicalized i think.

granted, the issue with all of these things is like-- i can say "oh, i'll give these people chapters" but i don't actually have anything for them to do. which was sorta the problem with LOOB and LOFTT both-- there's just. events that happen because I needed An Event to happen to make the plot move forward to fill the book lol. so all of this is something that would need to be workshopped in a pretty severe way.

as you can see from the sheer volume i've written here, i'm fairly serious about this one as a project lol. i think if i'm going to rewrite these books, even in part, now is the time to do it, because it will set me up in a much better position to write lightless labyrinth. it will give me plot threads to work from, it will give me an emotional throughline that i can draw on, and it will stop me from feeling just plain bad about having to write rein's sections lol.

this would be a pretty ambitious project and i estimate it would take no less than 5 months, but it would also i think be worth that time.

the "alternative" to this is to write instead a whole bunch of short stories that attempt to plug all these holes. but this would make the existing reading-order problem much worse, while not meaningfully fixing the "LOFTT is a total turn-off to readers" problem, b/c nobody's going to stop reading LOFTT to go read a short story plunked down in the middle of it.

[TBD Phezzan novella]

this is also a WIAW project. this one i don't want to talk about /too/ much but it would probably be a dominique-POV side story that gives insight into the political situation on phezzan just prior to the alliance's invasion. i think it's necessary to give phezzan a whole lot more development politically, and there's no way to do that without an insider pov. in general i'd like to answer the questions of

where is rubinsky going and what is he planning post alliance invasion

what is the actual relationship of the earth church to the phezzan govt

what do dominique and kesserling hope to accomplish by putting him in the position of the alliance's puppet ruler

what is UP with that particular weird tangle of relationships [tie into the families overall narrative]

i'd want to keep it short, no longer than something like pictures of decency. if i don't decide to write this as a standalone project, it could get looped in to either the LOFTT added-material, or it would get folded into lightless labyrinth. but since it concerns events that happen prior, it probably makes more sense as a standalone. also it being standalone would make it easier to write, and i (and maybe this is silly of me) really like the WIAW novellas haha. i know they do nothing but confuse the timelines but they feel so nice in my brain

"finish" as in a mirror, dimly

what does it mean for my collection of short stories to be "finished" anyway lmao. there's a bunch i want to write that i think would make interesting additions to the collection, and i want to get the thing printed out, but i'm also aware that i could probably keep writing canon-compliant short stories for the next 10 years and not run out of things to say lol. so like where do i call that book done? what do i put in it? idk. but i like writing the stories and i have a vague list of them that i'd like to get through (+ a mental list of edits i'd like to do to the existing ones) so it might be fun to spend a couple months doing nothing but writing short fics

[untitled arle heinessen/book of exodus pastiche fic]

god. ok. while this is of all of these the least readable (i'm sure my audience is like. 10 people.) it is unfortunately the one i'd want to work on the most lol. i really want to write a verse drama......... unfortunately. the gist of it would be to write out the arle heinessen story as like a commentary on the foundational myth/civic religion of the Alliance, through the lens of the exodus narrative. writing it as a play i think would help me keep the scope in check (sitting down to write a novel i think it would get really out of hand lol), and i want to write a play real bad, and i want to write a verse play real bad, and i think it would be fun to give this project to "the real dietrich bronner" (since he's from the alliance, and is a playwright) and then have a frame narrative of Nat Rome's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Earth Trip to string up around it.

this is ofc the most self indulgent thing ever lol. but it really makes my brain soooo excited to think about writing it. so i really really want to. even if the end product is borderline unreadable 😂 i'm in my flop era i might as well embrace it lol

finish every hateful instrument

i can practically feel the like 4 people who read itsoh yelling and screaming at me through the screen to finish this one lol. i should. i really really should. i've been working on it on and off for the past several years, and it would be good to just sit down and actually devote my full and undivided attention to finishing it. i love it as a project and i think it's really in a solid place, and having an original novel that showcases exactly what my writing is like that i can hand to people has been something that i have wanted to have for a long-ass time.

the trouble is of course that i have like 4 readers for this project, a situation that is unlikely to change for the better in any significant way lol. so that makes it hard for me to justify working on it.

it's also a tricky and difficult project, and i expect it would take me minimum 9 months to finish. which is a huge time commitment, especially when i do have people waiting on WIAW. at least if i'm writing LOGH fic i'm still theoretically entertaining those people-- that is not the case if i jump ship and go to work on itsoh-verse stuff.

but otoh i fucking love working in the itsoh-verse...... so.

itsoh act 2 rewrite

this is a similar situation to EHI, except it's even less urgent b/c it's not a project that i'm currently in the middle of. i am going to rewrite itsoh act 2 eventually, but idk when the best time to do it is.

the plus side of this one is that it would be /way/ easier than EHI, b/c it's a second draft rather than a first one. I have already solved all of the problems, and just need to put it down on paper. so it would probably be a 4-5 month project, and it would be very nice to have the itsoh rewrite essentially current with itsoh itself (i'm ditching the entirety of what i have for act 3 lol)

the machine that builds the machine

this is a standalone fantasy novel that i want to write, that i have an outline for, that i wrote the first really bad chapter of when i was miserable with SMST, but haven't touched since. (the quick descriptor is like lesbian judasxjesus fantasy industrial revolution labor politics novel lmao.) anyway it would be a very fun project i think, and similar to EHI i would like to have An Original Novel to pass around, but this one got shunted to the back burner due to [gestures] everything else in the whole wide world. the brainworms that made me originally start it have also gone into hibernation, but i think i could get them out of their cryofreeze if i decided that i actually am going to sit down and work on it. this would also be a "i am intending to flog this out for traditional publishing" novel, but like, idk. who knows. we'll see where life takes us lol.

tomorrow ye will get your pay

aka the whale novel. if you haven't been following this saga, essentially there's a fellowship available at a local library that put out a call for proposals for Fiction Writing About Whales using research from their historical whaling collection, and i tailored a novel concept to put in an application for that. so if i get the fellowship, i'll 100% be writing this novel (literary fiction, ~80k words, due in the spring), and if i don't get it i'll 0% be writing this novel. i'll find out if i got it mid october, so i guess i'm kinda writing this whole post prematurely lol

since this one is short and more importantly on a deadline, i think i would have it out the door pretty quickly. but i've also never written literary fiction before. it would be a good break from everything else i think, and this, of all the projects, would be a good step in my ~~~writing career~~~ (for whatever that's worth, which, afaict, is nothing lmao)

something extremely random not on this list

it could be that when i finish SMST i'll just start writing the first thing that pops into my head, or i'll get assigned something for yuletide that will break my brain and make me want to write a novella, or whathaveyou. anything could happen. your duty, should you choose to accept it, is to Stop These Things From Happening. etc.

[natrome]

this is the poem that ended up as the SOTP epigraph

“(and I think silently: love is a bow-string pulled back to the point of breaking)”

— Marina Tsvetaeva, trans. by Elaine Feinstein, from Bride of Ice: “Poem of the End” (via roadmotel)

[ink-the-artist]

funky ceramic wizard staff + an update on how fucking LOUD the cicadas have gotten jesus christ

[marciaillust]

I added some colours to her :)

[swervesbar]

I keep coming across ABSOLUTE GOLD while thrifting and now I have to choose between two impossibly good options, so I would like to formally ask yalls onion:

[deathdefyinggarlic]

inside out 2 if it was filmed in my head

[thesummerstorms]

The gingerwort truffle tea hits Rook a lot harder as soon as it has time to enter her blood stream. Around the time she starts humming some Marcher drinking song in Assan's direction, Davrin ends up cutting the picnic short and taking her back to the Lighthouse.

He's a little guilty, sure. He'd meant to give Rook an opportunity to relax, not to put her out of her mind with a hallucinogenic tea. Still, he can't help but laugh a little, especially as Rook keeps trying to have friendly conversations with Assan and the passing Crossroads spirits the whole way home. Her words are growing more slurred, though, so he's glad they don't accidentally stumble on any Venatori or Antaam on the way.

Lucanis walks in to the library just as Davrin is trying to get Arsinoë to settle down on the library couch. He's dressed for a trip - back to Treviso maybe, Bellara had made a comment about spices that morning- but as soon as he spots Arsinoë, his steps falter.

Crows are a paranoid bunch, so Davrin is ready for questioning. Rook and Lucanis are both professional assassins. He knew as soon as he realized what was happening that he'd probably have to talk someone down, reassure them of his intent.

In fact , the general plan had been to find either Neve or Lucanis, explain what happened and throw Rook at them, then find a seat where he would still be able to watch out for her and make sure there weren't complications, but where he was also well out of "clinging" range. Rook's arm had been thrown around his shoulder a little more closely than necessary on the walk back.

What Davrin is not prepared for is how Rook's eyes go wide when she sees Lucanis. The way she immediately stops trying to baby-talk Assan and grows pale and quiet. The crack in her voice when she blurts out- "Please don't tell Viago. Lucanis, please."

Davrin has seen frozen rivers warmer than the sensation that shoots down his spine. Rook's tone... This isn't some recruit embarrassed about being scolded. Her shoulders shake slightly beneath Davrin's hand. Assan lets out a little distressed chirp and rubs against her leg, but for once Arsinoë doesn't respond.

"I knew what was in the cup before I drank it, I promise. Don't tell Viago."

Lucanis's face has twisted up and, really, it isn't exactly a secret that he's sweet on Rook. Davrin is expecting to see his own horror mirrored back at him. A snarl, maybe, if anger draws Spite too close to the surface.

Instead Lucanis sighs. Not a flash of violet or a hostile glare thrown Davrin's way or a flinch away from Rook's pleading expression. Just a sigh.

Resignation, Davrin realizes.

Lucanis moves forward, crouching beside the sofa and ignoring Davrin entirely now as he speaks softly in Antivan. Davrin doesn't catch any of it except for "de Riva" but Rook is arguing back in the same language, so it doesn't seem to be having much effect. She keeps repeating herself - "por favor", he knows that one too- and if he were a betting man Davrin would put money on it being more or less the same refrain as what she said in Trade.

Rook leans forward earnestly, big grey eyes and too wide pupils. Lucanis asks her a question, his tone gone coaxing, and she shakes her head. Then he stands up and Rook puts her head in her hands.

"Hey, listen-" Davrin says tamping down the nervous twitch in his hand before he can reach before his sword. He steps in front of Lucanis instead, because whatever Rook is so worried about, he was the one who thought this whole mess would be a good idea. "Lucanis, it was just a tea. Rook's just having a bad reaction. Why does she keep asking –"

"Not now," Lucanis growls, gesturing with a short jut of his chin back in Rook's direction. "Ask later. Not now."

And okay, Davrin can understand that. If Arsinoë is this freaked out, no point in spooking her further. But he still doesn't understand why Lucanis is leaving, walking out the double doors of the main building and back out into the courtyard. Davrin trusts himself, sure, but Lucanis doesn't feel the same way, historically speaking. Yet he's walking away?

Arsinoë doesn't notice, all her earlier mirth evaporated like the morning dew. Assan is still making little worried squawks, looking back and forth from Rook to Davrin as if he has picked up on her distress and is demanding Davrin fix it.

Except Davrin doesn't know how because he still doesn't get why Arsinoë is so suddenly upset. He doesn't think it's just the tea, or surely she wouldn't have been so cheerful on the way back from Arlathan.

"This is some weird Crow shit, isn't it?" he says, mostly to himself since Arsinoë is too out of it to respond, "What the fuck." Then, he raises his voice a little. "Rook? You okay? Arsinoë."

At the sound of her name, her actual name, Arsinoë flinches.

What the fuck.

The doors creak open again. He hears the distinctive thunk of Neve's prosthetic against the stone floors followed by a sharp inhale as she catches sight of Arsinoë

"What's going on here?" Neve demands. Her reaction Davrin understands; immediately, she's at Rook's side, hands already starting to glow faintly with what is likely healing magic. "I thought you were headed to Arlathan. Was there trouble?"

"Not exactly," Davrin grimaces, watching as Rook (predictably) lifts her head a little at that last word, the one they all like to pretend he doesn't know Neve has taken to using as some sort of pet name for their glorious leader. Normally that would be his cue to take Assan and flee, but now he's just glad the Rook is reacting to something.

"Neve?" Rook asks, shifting in her seat, then gently pushing at Assan to make room for Neve to settle beside her. "Neve, you shouldn't drink the tea."

"The tea?" Neve asks, reaching up to brush a stray curl out of Arsinoë's face, "What tea?"

"Mmm. The tea. Ask Assan. My head is starting to hurt."

"Ask... Assan?" Predictably, Neve places the back of her hand against Arsinoë's forehead, a slight chill creeping into the air. Even more predictably, she looks back sharply at Davrin.

"Look, in my defense, Emmrich said it was fine. I drank the tea. I'm fine. But Rook..."

What Neve would have said to that, Davrin will never know because the doors open again. Lucanis strides in, too rushed to walk carefully and silence the clinking of his weapons. In his hands, he holds a clay pitcher and one of his own favorite cups, one of the ones from that fancy tea set.

Lucanis hesitates briefly, staring openly at the way Arsinoë pressing her face into Neve's hand, the way Neve is pulling Arsinoë closer, bracing her. His expression goes dark and yet when Neve catches his eye he nods, seeming... grateful?

Weird Crow shit.

"Arsinoë, you need to drink this. Hopefully it will help." Rook shudders against Neve, but Lucanis persists. "Viago is back in Treviso, I promise. He needs to know nothing, but you need water."

"Wait, Viago?" Neve asks, "The Fifth Talon? What does he have to do with this?"

"That's what I want to know," Davrin agrees. It's not like he ever though the Crows were great people, but it doesn't explain why Rook is reacting like this just from seeing Lucanis, why she keeps begging that no one tell the man who is supposed to be her mentor that she... what, accidentally been drugged? That doesn't seem like something a thirty year old assassin should be afraid of, much less to this extent.

Maybe it is the tea. It has to be the tea. Because why else would Rook be acting this way about Lucanis? Normally she's the first to reassure him, to seek him out and assure him that the demon shoved inside his skull doesn't scare her, but now she's refusing to take a cup because he poured it.

Lucanis looks wounded at that, brown eyes gone unreasonably soft and sad. Finally, he hands the cup off to Neve and unbuttons his Crow-purple cape, shrugging it off to the floor. Rook's shoulders slump a little at that, and Lucanis must take it as a sign because the next thing Davrin knows, the man is putting a hand on Rook's knee.

(It occurs to him again that maybe he shouldn't be here, but worry roots Davrin in his spot.)

"Rook, it's just water. I promise, cara. If Emmrich wants to give you a potion, I promise to check it first, but this is just water. I give you my word."

It's probably a sign of trust that despite the fact Rook gets somehow paler at the mention of "potions", ultimately she caves and lets Neve help her raise the cup to her lips. Lucanis reaches for the pitcher again, and she lets him pour more into the cup before her head slumps against Neve's shoulder.

For a moment, the three of them who are sober sit (or crouch or stand) locked in a moment of awkward silence. Arsinoë is never this touchy, at least not when Davrin's around. And even if it's different when she's in private with Neve and Lucanis, it doesn't make her behavior less strange.

"Lucanis," Neve asks finally, when Arsinoë seems to show no further reaction, "What is going on?"

"Rook is House de Riva," the Crow replies as if that answers everything somehow, then adds "They're famous for their poisons, at least since Viago became Talon."

"Esma too," Rook mutters from Neve's shoulder without opening her eyes.

"And the Talon before Viago had a knack for them as well," Lucanis agrees, hand back to hovering over Rook's knee as if he's still uncertain his touch will be welcome. "Though not as much as Viago."

"She said something about daily doses of venoms at the breakfast table," Neve remembers. She looks about as happy about that as Davrin feels.

It takes effort not to turn that discomfort back on Lucanis, but it wouldn't be fair to snap at the man when he's looking at Rook like that. "So what... Rook was more sensitive to the tea because she grew up being poisoned? Is this some kind of bad interaction or-"

"No." Lucanis replies, the reconsiders. "Well, some of it, maybe. But that's not why she was asking about Viago."

Davrin's hands twitch with the need to grab Lucanis's overly decorative lapels and demand a clearer answer, but Neve-

"She's afraid of being punished. Her teacher is a poisoner, and she let herself drink from a tainted cup."

Neve's voice quavers on the word punished, unable to hide entirely behind her normal stoicism, but her eyes are hard, with a glint like steel. Davrin just feels cold again as Lucanis nods in confirmation.

"Yes. Crow houses do not all train their Fledglings the same, but none of them tolerate stupid mistakes. If a de Riva found themselves so easily poisoned, without even checking, I would not doubt that the next cup from their seniors would be punishment and lesson both."

"Bastards," Davrin bites out, thinking of Uncle Eldrin and the berries. The cramps and hallucinations had been the lesson, not the preface for more punishment to come. Intense punishment, if Rook's reaction isn't just the heightened emotions caused by the tea.

Lucanis is still looking at Rook with those wounded eyes, still not-quite-touching, even though she seemed to relax when he shed the cape. But the resignation has crept back into his voice like a weight, and he only shrugs at Davrin's swearing.

"Thus is the life of a Crow. We can't afford to make mistakes. Our teachers know this."

"You won't do it twice," Arsinoë agrees, sound almost like she's quoting something. "Because you remember." Sitting up just enough to sip at the cup again, she still hesitates, eyes fluttering as she glances at Lucanis, waiting for his nod of reassurance before drinking.

Davrin's gut churns at the careless way she says it, at Lucanis's total acceptance.

(He was the one who poured her the tea. It was his idea to ask Emmrich about the truffles.)

"Well." Neve says. "I dare say we've all learned some things today. No need to tell Viago. Or anyone else."

"No," Lucanis agrees.

Rook gives a little sigh at that before her hand darts out to catch Lucanis's. "My head still hurts," she complains.

Davrin turns towards the staircase immediately, suddenly sure he wanted to be far, far away from all this. "I'll go find Emmrich. Assan-"

But the griffon had dropped into what Davrin recognizes as a guarding stance, as if set to protect an injured member of the flock. Well, for once Davrin has no compunctions about leaving the feather brain behind with the Crows. And Neve, of course.

"Assan can stay here as chaperone."

He takes the stairs two at a time, all but bolting towards Emmrich's study. The last glance back before he darts into Emmrich's hallway, he sees Neve helping Arsinoë pull Lucanis out of his crouch and towards the little two seater.

[periflynn]

[thenotoriousscuttlecliff]

Saw someone complain that Elayne only said she was the Daughter-Heir of Andor because the show is bad at world building and is forcing exposition.

Motherfucker this fandom has been joking about Elayne telling everyone she meets she's the Daughter-Heir of Andor for decades. It is the most in-character way she could've introduced herself.

[superm4ks]

Sharl and Lewis: go wheel to wheel then one of the cars gets drs and overtakes in the fast corner without a hint of defense because it’s a sprint race who gives a fuck

Media personalities that are seen as credible and paid to have 0pinions: if I don’t make this about verstappen they’ll kill my family

[natrome]

ok now that i for real know what my writing commitments are going to be for the next, like, year, at least the majority of them, here is the actual for real i s2g hold me to this writing schedule

Fic in a Box - due 10/15

1 assignment of 2k words remains, write it this saturday

Five Figure Fanworks Exchange - check in 11/11, due 1/20

i expect this will take about a week to finish, and ideally i'll have it done prior to check-in.

Yuletide - works due 12/18

UNLESS i get an assignment that i want to go hogwild on, which i should be prevented from doing, i should be able to finish this the week of 11/26 and not work on it outside of that.

galactic santas - est. due 12/25

my fave event of the year lol, the logh secret santa exchange. uh anyway this one is usually due around christmas and also is the easiest thing on this list by a mile and a half. i'm 0% worried about this one.

tomorrow ye will get your pay - aka the whale novel. - first draft due 3/1, physical product due for display 4/1

this is an extremely short timeline, and while it's not "drop everything else" level short, it is going to have to be my #1 writing priority for a long time.

my plan is as follows

spend the remainder of october getting situated w/ the research i'm going to have to do, figuring out who i need to talk to, etc. as well as put together a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline

nov/dec i'm assuming will be eaten by SMST and other commitments, but get research done and essentially braindump into document

jan/feb, just write as much as possible, take time off of work/quit job if i need to

if possible confine edits to the first 2 weeks of march, get books printed; deliver final product by last week of march.

god this schedule is miserable. well i signed up for it! i did this entirely to myself! lmfao.

anyway i'm going to bracket in that it's a 20 chapter novel, which seems like a reasonable number of chapters. i essentially have ~10 weeks to write this book. this is totally normal and fine, i have written longer books with less of a solid outline in shorter amounts of time. if i can just sit my ass in a chair and hammer out 2.5k words/day i will EASILY make this deadline and have time for editing. the issue will be making myself do that. but having a deadline and like professional accountability should majorly help. esp if i quit my stupid fucking job lol

serpent's mouth, serpent's teeth - due 12/31

i have four chapters left on SMST. i do not think they will be EASY to write but I do think that I'm CAPABLE of getting them done before the end of the year. at the very least i've sworn until i was blue in the face that i would finish this book by the end of the year. i need this book to stop haunting my waking nightmares lmfao. i estimate ~50-60k words remain, but we'll see what it actually ends up shaking out as. hopefully it's not more than that.

anyway this is another just "ass in chair" moment. though if i could have made myself do that months ago, this book would have been finished sometime this summer lol

every link was freedom's name - aka the fucking. arle heinessen play. no due date.

this is my yay you finished all the obligations you had now you get to do something deeply deeply stupid and entertaining only to a tiny number of people project. lyric play about arle heinessen. book of exodus pastiche. probably not that long. estimate it'll take me as long as POD did, so a month and a half? but i won't stress it. aim to finish it mid may?

new constellations - aka the logh rarepairs exchange i run

I'm planning to run signups in late march, with works due mid may. this is slightly earlier than last year but due to my own personal schedule i don't want it to overlap with...

heart attack exchange - works due 6/2

yeah you literally only get 2 weeks to work on this one so it kinda is what it is lol.

life out of balance rewrite. no particular due date.

i expect this will take me 3-4 months to complete. finish by september?

lighting out for the territories augmentation. no particular due date.

i'd like to think that i can get this done in 2 months but i don't actually have a plan for what i need to do to it. so who tf knows lol. assume it'll take me the rest of the year.

every hateful instrument - no firm date

this will likely take between 6-8 months to finish, but it's another thing that i really want to stop having hanging over me. i'll either work on it before the LOFTT stuff or after

WIAW phezzan novella - ultimate TBD

to be completed immediately before starting LL/SS, probably

other misc nonsense

there are other small exchanges that i like to do (space swap, unsent letters, we die like fen) so as those pop up i probably will sign up for them. i'm not going to look up/prognosticate when they will happen at this moment in time

god i owe so many people gifts for birthdays and holidays and stuff >.> you may or may not get them. lean towards may not b/c what the fuck is this writing schedule. i'm so sorry lmao

i've now gotten back around to "oh this goes up to the end of the year again, so the end of the year exchanges (yuletide, fffx, fiab, galactic santas) should be on this schedule" but down that road lies only pain and horror lol

this list has gotten incredibly vague as things have gone on. the last part of this year and the first part of next year are pretty set in stone though, and i just need to like, get myself to the starting block and then start running

literally so funny that i was like "i should relax and take a break from writing before starting LL/SS" lmfao. lmfao.

obviously some of these things could be deleted from the schedule. i don't have to do a bunch of exchanges (but i liiiiiike them) and i don't have to write a stupid play (but i wannnnnnt to), and i don't have to do any rewrites to the early parts of WIAW (but they're a mess). so it's like. idk. maybe none of this is real and i'm just making lists b/c i like making lists lol

[hyper-coasters]

An up-close reminder of why NOT to have your phone out on roller coasters. This is a whole CHUNK taken out of the lower wheel from Cheetah Hunt, caused by a cellphone that had been dropped on the track. Not only do you destroy your phone, but you can do some serious damage to the coaster itself! Damage like this requires the whole train to come off the track and be at least partially, if not entirely, disassembled. Cheetah Hunts maintenance is done in-house annually and as needed by Busch Gardens mechanics. Super grateful for what they do!

[funzos]

Bird bowl

[aessedai-angreal]

Mat Nat 20

I can’t stop imagining Mat and his dices rattling around in his brain like him throwing a d20 roll.

His luck just causes him to throw a Nat 20 every time lmao.

[dromaeo-sauridae]

happy pride month