#anyway. this playlist is what I listen to when writing my current wip

[greaseonmymouth]

ok but "islands in the stream" being first on the playlist is just so perfect.

you know it had to be done!! every time I randomly hear that song I immediately think of them. earlier this year I was on vacation in Eastbourne on the southeast coast of England and one evening as I was looking for a place to have dinner I came across a pub - opened the door - and then immediately had to turn around and leave because the song playing in the pub was islands in the stream and I was overcome. I wound up going someplace else for dinner

here’s the link to the playlist for anyone else who wants to know what’s on it. there are a couple of songs on there that make no sense for this ship, I just included them because I like them and they put me in a good mood 😂

[darlingpoppet]

WIP Wednesday

I got tagged by @johaerys-writes & @baejax-the-great … tysm guys! <3 I’m currently putting the finishing touches on the next chapter of Liminal Spaces, and we’ve made it to the part of the story where I have given the blorbos my own incredibly cringe-but-free niche internet interests. I’m considering even making direct links in the fic text to make the whole thing a bit more interactive, hmm… thoughts? Anyways I’m tagging @calyxcurl @zorthania @elemmacil @sonderlivra & @levislattes in case there’s anything you wanna share! <3

“Lifetime by Surfing,” Achilles says suddenly to Patroclus when the song in question appears in the playlist rotation. “Tell me which song it is sampling and by whom, or pay the penalty.”

Patroclus closes his eyes to listen, brow furrowed with concentration.

“That has to be Eugene Wilde,” he says after a while. “The song is called ‘Personality’.”

Achilles clicks his tongue, perhaps lamenting the missed opportunity to playfully torment Patroclus for a bit. “I thought for sure that would get you… it was a modest hit only in the UK in nineteen eighty-four.”

“Who is Eugene Wilde?” Zagreus asks. “I’ve never heard of him.”

“He had a couple of number one hits in the eighties,” Patroclus says.

“On the R&B charts,” Achilles clarifies. “He never charted above seventy-sixth place on the US pop charts.”

“Oh, interesting,” says Zagreus, who can only nod along. He listens as another song begins to play: Boot, by Macintosh Plus. “I have to admit, I don’t really understand the appeal of this music. They just slow down old random pop songs to make them sound distorted and creepy, and anyone can do that. It takes no effort or imagination whatsoever.”

“What do you mean!?” Achilles exclaims, once again so loudly that it makes Zagreus jolt with the shock of it. “So by that logic, do you think a literal toilet bowl with a couple of words scribbled on the side couldn’t become one of the most influential and thought-provoking works of art of the twentieth century just because ‘anyone could do it’?” Achilles taps pointedly at his temple. “It’s the ideas behind the art that make them brilliant. If everyone could do it then someone else would have done it first, and then it wouldn’t have meant anything!”

Even frivolous arguments like these between Zagreus and his father had always felt like life-or-death—fraught with tension, fear, and anger, a thing that he had to survive. But despite his passion, there is no anger in Achilles’ tone or expression—his wide, toothy grin flashes with amusement—this argument is a game to him, and even if he wants to win, the stakes are low. It helps Zagreus to relax, to meet such friendly sparring in kind.

“All right then, tell me,” he scoffs back. “What sort of ideas are they trying to get across?”

[faux-fires]

Writer's meme

Thanks for the tag, @mikkeneko!

How many wips do you have currently?

Technically just two - the merzukka (fully drafted, being written), Something Stranger and More Wonderful, and my @zukkathirst entry going up in a couple of weeks! I have a BUNCH of what the knitting world call UFOs tho ('unfinished objects', aka crafts you're not actively working on). One day I'll tuck in to my pirate story or Zuko's Moving Castle....

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

Well I haven't started the Zukkathirst one yet, so probably that! I haven't written porn in a long time and I've always found it (and fight scenes, which are the same thing but clothed) difficult to choregraph.

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

I OPEN A NEW NOTEPAD DOC WITH A SILLY NAME.... then i completely map out the plot. I can't write without at least an entire skeleton, although I might swap some ribs around or replace a coccyx with a tail, to really stretch out this tortured metaphor.

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

Nope! I maybe have 1 song or 2 that I listen to on repeat (which usually become indelibly linked to the story for me).

For the record, for merzukka, that's Morcheeba's Sounds of Blue. It's a gorgeous dreamy song, give it a listen!

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?

See above about skeleton structure! I however have the worst of both worlds: i can't write as i go and i am EXTREMELY disorganised. check out the sheer number of docs relating to one wip:

ONE DAY.......

Anyway tagging @ranilla-bean, @dickpuncher420, @carabas, @un-shit-yourself, @ash-and-starlight and @chiptrillino! (Just assume the last question says 'draw as you go' for artists or smth)

[kookygranger]

Hi!

I'm so late!

But I'd love to know about HF!E

for the wip game!

Thank you, Betty! ✨

HF!E stands for High Fidelity!Eddie. It isn't a HF au it just takes place in a record store and I didn't have a name for it. It was an idea for a one-shot inspired by this playlist featuring gothic/spooky songs before goth was a genre.

It made me think about Eddie who just moved to Chicago with Corroded Coffin and is slowly being accepted by the scene. Reader works at a record store and is playing this mixtape over the speakers and Eddie very much falls in love.

I started writing it and then didn't really like it but here's a lil' snippet:

“What the fuck are you listening to anyway?”

“I made a pre-Halloween mix. Music that lead to goth before goth was a thing.” You frown as you try to unstick a bright red sticker from the price gun you’d been tapping on the pile of vinyl.

Eddie smiles to himself as he continues to pretend he’s browsing and not tuning into your conversation.

“Are you going to The Allied tonight? There’s some new band from Indiana or something playing, apparently they do a sick cover of Master of Puppets.”

Eddie pauses in his faux perusing for a second as he awaits your reply.

“I wasn’t really planning on it, no.”

The guy huffs, “No? What was your plan, going home to sulk to The Velvet Underground?”

“I don’t sulk–“

“You do when you listen to The Velvet Underground.”

“What do you want me to do? Pogo to Heroin? Anyway, I was gonna work on an article actually.”

“Why don’t you write about this band tonight? Tim says they’re pretty good. He saw them a couple of weeks ago at the Metro.”

“Tim said that about that god awful noise band that played at De Salle’s. It was the worst four hours of my life. I thought my ears were actually going to bleed.”

“Whatever, you say that like you’re not currently playing the most depressing German synth music that nobody in their right mind would listen to.” He points out the new song playing from the speakers behind you.

“First of all, this is David Bowie’s Low. And if you knew as much about music as you claim to, you’d know that this was his seminal work in his Berlin era and an ambient soundscape masterpiece. Secondly–“

“I like it.”

Both of your heads shoot up at Eddie’s interruption. He blushes and clears his throat as you catch his eye and the corner of your mouth quirks up. “Sorry, I just–it’s a good mixtape. I like the theme.” He frowns and shakes his head at himself, he doesn’t know what came over him. Who is this guy that’s bothering you, anyway? You have amazing taste and he’s pretty sure you’re the most angelic thing he’s ever seen. You gesture in his direction and look back at the guy that’s teasing you.

“The customer is always right, Simon.”

Eddie moves quickly to the B section and finds the album you were talking about before heading over to you.

“Did you find everything you need?” You smile at him sweetly as you hop off the counter and take the record from him. “I’m sorry, I should’ve asked before. Customer service isn’t exactly my strongest skill.”

The guy, Simon, snorted. Eddie couldn’t take his eyes off the way your face lit up quietly when you realised what album he picked.

“What are your strongest skills?” That was such a weird question Munson, what the hell?

You looked up at him a little taken aback, before a small smile crept up on your face.

“Talking about music…or” you shake your head in contemplation, “writing about it actually.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Maybe it’s not so much a skill, more like an obsession.”

“She’s actually kind of good.” Simon butts in with a shrug and you roll your eyes.

“Such a high compliment cuz.”

You were cousins. He still had a shot.

“You write for magazines?” Eddie asks.

“Zines mostly,” you point to a stack of xeroxed pamphlets on the counter, “but I’ve published a few reviews with Spin and The Face.”

Eddie raises his eyebrows, “That’s pretty cool.”

You breathe out a laugh and take the cash he hands you, collecting his change. “Thanks.”

“Wait, you're Eddie, right?” He turns to Simon, almost forgetting he was there. “Your band’s playing at The Allied tonight? I met your drummer Gareth at a show last week.”

“Uh yeah that’s me. We’re called Corroded Coffin.”

“Cool name.” You smirk and hand him his record wrapped in paper. Eddie tucks it under his arm, his dimples showing as he smiles back at you.

“Thanks.”

“You’re from Indiana then?” You call back to Simon’s earlier statement, as Eddie doesn’t make a move to immediately leave.

He rubs the back of his neck as he nods, “Yeah. Just moved here a couple of months ago with my band.”

“Welcome to Chicago, Eddie.” You smile and introduce yourself, “Let me know if there’s ever anything I can do for you…vinyl wise I mean.”

“Thanks,” he scratches the stubble on his jaw before stepping away from the counter. “Maybe I’ll see you tonight at the show?” He tries to keep his voice casual, but there’s a hint of hope in there.

You bite your lip and shrug, “Yeah, maybe you will.”

Eddie nods and takes his queue to leave, the bell jingling again as he steps back out into the cold.

“Yeah, maybe you will.” Simon mocks you in a breathy imitation and you roll your eyes. “So now that you know the singer is cute are you coming?”

“Obviously! You better get me on the door list, or I swear to god I’m telling Aunt Carol about the stash in your underwear drawer.”

Okay, there were a lot more High Fidelity references than I remembered. Fun fact: I have read the book and watched the film and HBO reboot so many times I could quote word-for-word. I also dressed up as Zoe Kravitz's Rob for an office Halloween party once, complete with the Wings Over America live album that she talks about in that scene with the misogynistic cheater. Only one girl got it because she was a fan of Zoe Kravitz lol.

[cnroth]

Fanfic Q&A

I was tagged a long time ago by @curator-on-ao3 and meant to do this later when I had time, but then I forgot. More recently, I was tagged by @strkamand, which has prompted me to actually do it this time haha. So thank you both!! 🩵 😘

1. Why do you write fanfic?

Short answer: Cuz it’s fun!

Long answer: I started writing fanfic in 2016 because I had spent the last year and a half clawing my way back to some semblance of sanity after a really shitty time in my life. We got Netflix for the first time and I found my favorite childhood show—Star Trek: Voyager. It was like a warm blanket in the cold.

I still remember playing Star Trek on the playground with school friends, inventing stories of ourselves as original characters on Voyager, and suddenly I had the thought—what if I actually did it? Made an OC that was actually complex and fleshed out and stirred her into the mix? Added more representation of mental health issues to the show? I also applied for grad school around this time with the goal of eventually working in the mental health field.

So I dusted off my old creative writing skills and began making fanfic as a way to share my ideas with other fans, explore ships and characters I thought were interesting and/or underdeveloped, or just enjoy playing with my favorite dolls while processing my own experiences, as well.

And here I am now, eight years later, still doing just that.

2. Which of your posted stories do you think about the most, even though the story is “finished”?

This is a complicated question, because the answer is and has always been the very first story I joined the fandom to share, and one that took me years to tell—the Far From Their Bones series. Technically, it is finished.

That being said, I may-or-may-not currently be working on something closely related to that… 👀

3. If you could give yourself fic advice from when you first started writing fic, what would that advice be?

I honestly can’t think of anything I’d say. I think that my fanfic journey, bumpy as it may have been, was what I needed to go through to become the writer I am today.

4. What’s your relationship to fic stats?

I rarely check them. Honestly, I post so rarely and a fair amount of my stuff is niche stories few people are interested in reading, my stats are probably shit anyway.

5. Is there a pairing or scenario or friendship you miss writing? If so, why? If not, why not?

The closest thing to an answer for this question is I suppose J/C. I used to be fairly prolific in that ship, but the community for that ship was eventually taken over by a few toxic people who manipulated other participants (especially newer ones) into a very narrow idea of what was acceptable as a J/C fan and shit-talked people who fell outside of that, and I ended up deeply burned. It took out my ability to read or write J/C for a long time. I’ve dipped my toe back in here and there since then, and I won’t say I’m done with that ship forever, but it definitely was a major pain having to grieve the loss of a ship that had brought me so much joy.

6. What motivates you to write?

Usually random story ideas that pop into my head when I’m trying to fall asleep at night.

Also, comments can sometimes prompt me to write more.

7. Why do you write for the fandom(s) that you write for?

I think that’s mostly explained above already. Someday, I might finally write the Hunger Games fic I’ve had in my head for many years, as that series of books/movies was also instrumental in my trauma recovery, but for now Star Trek: Voyager (and occasionally other Trek shows) is where I’m comfortable and inspired.

8. If you’re stuck writing a WIP, what do you do?

There are two strategies I use most often to deal with this:

One, making playlists of songs that fit the story in some way, whether through the lyrics or even just the vibe. Then I listen to that on repeat to help drive me into my other strategy, which is…

Two, I use imagery to develop compelling scenes in my head, mentally watching them and shaping them until I feel like I can write them down—even if they’re incomplete. In the end, I may end up dumping the scene, or changing it, or writing the most inspiring scenes first and filling in the gaps between them later, but ultimately the goal is just to get myself moving again.

9. What do you wish people knew about comments?

Comments prompt my brain to make more dopamine and serotonin. As a mentally ill person with a neurodivergent brain, that is HUGE.

I do my best remind myself that I’m writing fic I want to read, and that can often mean not many other people will want it like I do (or have the time to actually read it), but in the end getting comments lets me know I’m not alone and that my exhaustive efforts in creating fic are appreciated.

It’s also just like fucking Christmas morning when I see that email from AO3. Like, massive mood booster.

I also would like people to know that comments have, more than once, given me ideas and/or energy to write more.

10. Maybe there’s a question you wish had been on here. What’s that question (and answer)?

Not that I can think of 😊

I have no idea who has already done this, and most people I know who write have been tagged by the ladies who tagged me. If you have already done this, tag me in a comment on your post or something so I can read it!

And if you haven’t done this yet, consider yourself tagged!!

Let’s see ummmm @gijane-7702 @seema-unbound @cheile @caladeniablue @theredheadedcaptain @70thousandlightyearsfromhome anyone else who wants to join 🩵

[merrylou-mas]

fic talk-tagged by @aringofsalt 😊 thank you!

How many wips do you have currently? I've got four, only one that I'm currently actively working on. Or trying to anyway.

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish? Why do you think that is? The Wedding Planning sequel to Call You By Mine. There's a plot point I can't decide if I want to pursue, so I keep writing around it, but it's kind of integral if I do want to do it, so I'm kind of running in circles with it. It's why I keep writing all these tumblr ficlets. I want to write but I'm stuck.

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you? Notes app! My job is pretty mindless so sometimes I let my imagination run wild and that's where I come up with ideas. I use the notes app on my phone often, then move to making notes on my computer.

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?Sort of...I often listen to music when I write. Since I'm only writing Bucktommy right now, I have two playlists for them that I listen to.

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organised? In the middle I think. I keep notes as they come to me, but when it comes to actually writing, my process is to just get it out. I let myself write until I can't anymore, then go back and edit. That's why my last couple of fics weren't chaptered....I was finding that chapters were breaking my flow. I used to do full outlines but found I rarely actually stuck to them.

No pressure tagging: @desert--moonchild, @hipsterdarcy, @kinard-buckley, @intermittent-showers

[viperwhispered]

Little birdie told me you needed writing prompts. Here's one for pre-OB Jamil:

Based on the song Royalty by Conor Maynard, let's have pre-OB Jamil already being in a loving relationship with his beloved. As he's about to start his takeover of Scarabia, he muses of how things will be when he succeeds. Specifically all the ways he finally gets to spoil his dearest. Cue his fantasies expanding to him becoming a ruler like the sultans of old and making his lover his sultana. The banquets, the jewels, the clothes, and maybe even a wedding/coronation.

Bonus: to answer your world building question for Nikki, the general public aren't really aware of how the world really works and act just like in our world (aka everyone else is wrong). All they know is that freaky shit happens and then you call a priest. Cops and officials freely cooperate but don't really ask questions because they aren't paid enough to deal with demons, spirits, curses, etc. They just clear the crowds, point to where the NE need to go, and then dip.

At the moment I've got my wips keeping me busy, but I'll be putting this in my back pocket for the future. 

It makes me wonder, though. Just what do Jamil's dreams for the future look like, beyond general “being free” and “being recognized”? I mean, the overblot gave us a (twisted) version of it, but still.

Though I suppose it is difficult to see more specific goals like that when you feel stuck where you are and just having the option to choose is a bit of a pipedream. 🙃

Anyway.

Listened to the song and yeah I can totally see these vibes applying to Jamil. All the things he wants, not just for himself, but now for his s/o too. Or so that he can prove himself (to everyone and to his partner), that he really is so much more than just the servant.

I mean-

If I had the money, let me tell you how it'd be I'd take over the country, everyone would bow to me Sit up in my palace and baby, you would be my queen We'd run this ship together, just you wait and see We'll be royalty

And this bit too, so Jamil-coded

So would you cover me If I gotta take out any enemies, yeah 'Cause it might get ugly Many things that you don't wanna see or hear

So yeah, this song feels very accurate for Jamil and definitely is giving me thoughts/vibes, though in my head it goes beyond NRC. Like, Jamil thinking of how things could be once he's truly broken free and managed to prove himself, gaining that respect etc. he believes he deserves. How he could (and should) be at the top of the world, if only there weren't the current circumstances holding him back. How he'll be able to spoil his s/o and show off to them once he gets what's his due.

(Watch this sneak into the next part of the current series before I even realize it.)

Already listened to this song a few times over because the vibes are just so impeccable. (I may need to start some sort of an inspiration playlist.)

Also ty for the clarification about the worldbuilding for Nikki!

[diggingupgrave]

Magnificently Cursed... the blog post ✨

🕰🍂🕯🌿📔🧣🌙

My writing log says it’s been exactly a year since I started writing Magnificently Cursed, my Dark Academia Inuokko Magic School AU! I find summer to be insufferable (my apologies to the sun) so I took an escape hatch to an early fall last year and immediately fell down this massive rabbit hole. Not only did I write the whole fic and make overly-intricate graphics for each chapter… I also made a ton of other content that I simply didn’t have enough time to post! (Fall is but one season… unless you’re me, and it’s two, because fuck summer) So as a little anniversary gift to me, I’m going back through the archives and finally putting everything in one place. 

Let’s start with the character mood boards, shall we? 

Toge Inumaki: 

I wanted Toge to have an earthy/natural, vintage-y feel, while Yuuta was all sleek and new. I’m still completely obsessed with this library-lizard aesthetic for Toge.

I low-key wound up buying a brown sweater after searching online for literal hours just like the one in the upper left so we could twin. That duffle coat still has my whole heart. Lavender mug inspired by Neara 🥺

Yuuta Okkotsu:

The lil ghostie patch 😭 I still think Yuuta would look hot as hell in all these clothes- especially the speckle-y fisherman sweater. Coat game is strong here as well. 

... so is it obvious that I spend too much time on Canva yet? 😅

The Timeline: 

My outline wasn’t outlining and I resorted to making an in-world calendar to make sure the dates were realistic. Each chapter is a different color, and the lines represent what days the chapters covered in-world. The corresponding stars represented each chapter’s posting dates… except the real life dates didn’t line up with the fictional dates (rude), so those thursdays were actually saturdays? I think? I'm actually not 100% sure what past me was up to here, to be totally honest 😅

(also, politely ignore that bit that says “epilogue - december” 💀i’ll get to it when i get to it. I don’t really like the idea of it being *over* so maybe i'll just gatekeep that bit forever)

⬆️ Example of aforementioned “outlining,” which, yes, is unfortunately littered with as many potential tweets as actual organization 💀

Not pictured: the outline for the first three chapters… when i thought this fic… would only *be* three chapters. 🪦

Writing Log:

I wrote all 92k between July 13th and September 13th (including 60k in August, nanowrimo style)!

Honestly would love to know what her regimen was because i immediately went back to being slow and undisciplined. I don’t foresee this coming august looking anything like this, lol.

Also, sidenote, hilarious that I took a break to work on it would make a whole in the middle of this? Because I literally just finished that piece this week and posted it today 😅

The Playlist:

Spotify proving that July 13th commitment! If you start a wip without procrastinating and making a playlist for two hours first... did you really start a new wip?

The playlist was three and a half hours and i would listen to it nearly every day, sometimes multiple times in a day 💀. Listen during a rainstorm for peak vibes.

(other favs not pictured: The Butterflly Effect’s cover of “Lay All Your Love on Me,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Decode,” Liz Longley’s “Rescue My Heart,” and "Nothing's Gonna Happen" by The Staves) 

Bonus:

(fall baking... toge's fav pumpkin muffins of course)

(my toge sweater knockoff)

(editing buddy... clearly working very hard)

(cider donut cider... for the ✨vibes✨)

(obsessively drinking massive pots of harney and son’s victorian london fog tea as i tried to interpret my own bullshit)

(me celebrating actual halloween like i didn't start in july)

.... ANYWAY (if you made it this far 😅) many thanks to anyone who read/kudos/commented/supported this fic, because (if you can't tell already) i had so much fun writing it.

Currently, working on another longfic rn that's also promising to destroy my life... but you never forget your first 😘

[hereticcryptid]

Fic Writer Q&A

Tagged by @mostlikelytofangirl !

How many wips do you have currently?

I actually do not quite remember uh. Out of the ones I do intend to return to, and do not need rewriting, I think there are:

Trans SMS suyao smut

Proper trans SMS fic

Nude model JGY suyao longfic

A nieyao dead dove for nieyao week with rituals and punishment/inspection (sci-fi au with android/AI JGY)

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

I'd say the trans SMS ones bc I haven't touched them in A WHILE, but the nude model JGY one :') motivation seldomly strikes me to finish that nowadays. But I will!

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

I actually don't really know. I think as I write and my head is always full of ideas, so I think I never ran out of inspiration? Just motivation. I'll pick up my phone anytime to write.

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

I don't! For once, I often write in public, and I don't wear headphones out so that'd be rude :p when I'm at home I just put on one of my playlists if I wanna listen to music while writing

Do you go balls to the walls and write as you go or are you more organized?

I am 100% a pantser and 0% percent a plotter! I have a vague idea of where I wanna go, but it all leaves in my head and gods help me if I know how to get there. Though if I ever write an I Became A God In A Horror Game au (which I want to do. Badly), I'd probably have a vague structure because I feel that would end up huge (bigger than what I usually write, anyway)

Tagging @achilleasfury and @wishthefish

[materassassino]

Fic Writer Q&A

Tagged by the lovely @dangerouscommiesubversive

How many wips do you have currently?

Far more than is wise, to be honest. I fear the Star Wars ones will languish forever in the Pits of Abandonment, since I can feel the urge to work on them ebbing away. I have some Old Guard ones to finish, of course, but honestly Even in Another Time ate all my momentum and I feel a little burnt out. Too many wips, no energy at all.

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

Apart from the Star Wars ones, the Pride Flag Colour Collection. Since the fics are based around the meanings of the original Gilbert Baker flag colours, obviously each one needs to have a Theme and boy am I struggling with some of them. I need to actually sit and talk them over with someone instead of just waiting for inspiration to bonk me over the head.

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

A fit of madness. True inspiration is 7000 words in one day, banged out in a state of semi-coherent mania. Those times are rare, but tbh I feel like I'm always chasing the high of emerging from the hole I crawled into about ten hours later, dehydrated and shaking.

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

I think the only fic I ever wrote that had a playlist connected with it was Ever Decreasing Circles, and that was for a very specific part of it (the Reclaiming of Mandalore). Even then I don't consider it strictly part of the fic, it's just vibes that went with it. I don't listen to music as I write anyway, I need total silence.

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?

It depends on the fic. In general I have specific beats I want to hit, but how the characters get there is entirely up to them, so things can change as they go. Other times it really is just whatever goes. I'm not usually a multi-chapter writer so planning is a nebulous process for oneshots, however long they are. My plans are usually

<paragraph of actual fic> [This happens, then that happens. Thing??? With person. Profit!]

And my way of working is very much a patchwork. I'll write the scene that inspires me and then move on to something else and sew them together in the end. I had the ending of Ever Decreasing Circles written basically from the very beginning, for example, but the middle changed forms so many times.

--

Tagging @wingsofbadass, @non-un-topo, @emmalostinwonderland and @raedear! Do this, because I'm nosy.

[inseasofgreen]

Writeblr Interview

Thank you both to @leahnardo-da-veggie and @drchenquill for the tag!

Short stories, novels or poems?

Novels! all the way

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy, both dark and romantasy. even better if they're combined

What genre do you prefer writing?

Fantasy! I tend to struggle writing anything but fantasy.

Are you a planner or a write-as-i-go kind of person?

I like to start with a plan and some ideas, then let the characters take the reins and throw it all out the door

What music do you listen to while writing the story?

I have a playlist with cinematic soundtracks that I tend to listen too. Though I do often listen to the GOT and HOTD soundtracks. Daenerys' aaaHHHH AHHHH's actually are the source of a lot of Zemorri's most badass scenes.

Fav books/movies

I've been trying to get more into reading so lately it's been ASOIAF and the Witcher - two of which inspired the creation of Nyrus and POTO. I have a long TBR but I like to buy books before I read them, which is hard right now with money being a bit tight the next month or so.

Any Current WIPs?

2! Well, more like 3 if you include the second Plight of the Dragon, the sequel to POTO. We have Plight of the Oracle, which I pretty much have dedicated my blog too. Plight of the Dragon, which is more like one shots and random braindumps of what happens after the first book. Then Familia Ante Omnia, trilogy set in modern day NYC and is about the downfall of the crime ring from inside. Which I actually see a lot of it's themes in POTO. But that's on a hiatus for the foreseeable future.

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you, what would your standard outfit be?

An oversized orangey flannel, black crop top, and either leggings or shorts depending on the weather. Throw in a black beanie for good measure too

Create a character description of yourself

oof okay here we go

She was a short, adorable little thing. She sat fidgeting with a ring on her left ring finger, too timid to make her presence known. Her dark brown hair, cropped at her shoulders was tucked behind her ears. A few strands that had once been a fringe fell, cascading over her grey eyes. The roseness of her cheeks a striking contrast to the porcelain like skin. She looks up at someone giving a slightly crooked smile before getting up from her seat.

was literally me a few minutes ago rereading was I wrote when my fiance came up and wanted to go up to bed lmao

Do you like incorporating people you actually know into your writing?

oof no, hard pass. fictional people tend to be more interesting anyway

Are you kill-happy with the characters?

I tend to be? I have a rule with killing off characters, a few actually. It ends their arc nicely, it serves an actual purpose and isn't for shock value, and they under no circumstance can come back alive. I absolutely h a t e when death is cheapened. Don't introduce stakes that high only to make them pointless.

Coffee or Tea while writing?

diet coke or water!

Slow or Fast writer?

both? I don't know what is considered fast I guess. If i'm really feeling it and don't have distractions I can get about 1k an hour and keep that up for a few hours. Then there's days like today I'm surrounded by distractions and not feeling it too much, right now I'm at 1,500 for the 4 hours i've written

Where/who/what do you find inspiration from?

Shows and books! Also games. Funny enough Zemorri came from a skyrim oc and Sciosa came from DnD campaign that never happened. They've both undergone a lot of changes since then though.

If you were put into a fantasy world, what would you be?

I answered a similar question a few times and I think I'd really be a dragon. I'm a hoarder of my little trinkets and love to stir the pot a bit.

Most fave book cliche?

Chosen one and mentor. WIth a spin. Do not give me another old ratty wizard and some a elijah wood/daniel radcliff look alike. PLEASE. Using this to promo POTO which has chosen one and mentor- mentor: hot scary milf chosen one: anger riddled brat who really isn't keen on playing by the book. boom there. not that hard.

got kinda heated there. apologies

Least fave book cliche?

"Only one bed" I'm sorry!! It's just over done at this point

Fave scenes to write?

Any scene with dragons. They're the most fun to write honestly.

Most productive time of day for writing?

Night! I literally typed that as nite send help I've always been a night owl haha. It's actually almost 4 am as I type this

Reason for writing?

Writing has always been an interest of mine. I would love one day to be able to support my family with it! Whether that's as an indie author or traditional author. Also I fear I would go crazy with how many stories and plot lines I got up in my head. That or my oc's would manifest irl and nuke me right there with their dragons.

Leaving this an open tag!

My brain is clocking out and I can't even think of who to tag at this point. So if you're reading this and want to be tagged congrats!! Consider yourself tagged

[frozen-fountain]

Ten Songs, Ten People

Tagged by the lovely @late-to-the-fandom.

Rules: Put a wip/character/etc playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up. Describe how they relate to your WIPs or worldbuilding.

Tagging: @hrh-spinach, @ourspecial, @bowieandthemickjaggernauts, @laboradorescence, @keioschaos when you get home, @punkass-diogenes, @the--calamity, @visualheresy, and @danceswithdarkspawn. You guys all seem to have interesting taste in music so I'd love to see what you come up with.

Without further ado, and from my multi-fandom plot bunny playlist:

How to Be Invisible by Kate Bush

This is the Shera song for me. It's even the working title (probably to be discarded) of a fic I want to write centered on her, in which learns the deceptive power that can come with being small and easily overlooked. Ostensibly my attempt at a tournament arc, she's going behind enemy lines to do some espionage none of the loud and identifiable main cast could ever get away with.

Sleep is a Curse by Maudlin of the Well

I've been finding this one really useful for getting into Cloud's post-canon headspace as I see it. Ostensibly excited for everything they're doing to make it up to the planet for allowing them a second chance, he's still dissociating his way through village council meetings, fixating on his mistakes, and wondering if humanity enjoying a brief moment of singularity before the end wasn't the better option after all.

Rings of Earth by Kayo Dot

If this series had an anime adaptation I'd want this as the ED. Walking around with the ghosts of the industrialised old world at every turn.

Gospel For a New Century by Yves Tumor

An instrumental version of this was my mental soundtrack for the gang's slow motion entrance into the museum during the Dulosis heist. Plus, I was listening to this album a ton during the early days of lockdown which is when I was first gahtering my ideas for this project, so it always takes me back.

Church Burns by Zeal and Ardor

I couldn't get this one out of my head when I was writing Barret arguing with his id in the form of Dyne, and the shards left behind from everything that happened in Corel and then Midgar.

Killing Game by Skinny Puppy

This is my go-to "Moment of unpleasant revelation and subsequent breakdown" song, and I currently associate it most strongly with Vincent's trip to Gongaga and realising what he should actually feel guilty about.

The Cockfighter by Scott Walker

I find this avant-garde composition about the trial of Adolf Eichmann surprisingly great for writing action to. If it's a really ugly, bloodthirsty, gritty fight, at least. The shifts and lulls in its tone and rhythm work really well in guiding bouts of exhaustion and trash talk and renewed energising vitriol.

Maw by Chelsea Wolfe

I played this on repeat when I wrote my Anima fic, but it's a good song in general for handling the liminal and suspended feeling that comes with a significant shock or loss begins to sink in.

Love Song by Susumu Hirasawa

I played this as I wrote, rewrote, and edited Elmyra and Marlene watching the lifestream rise, and I can't listen to it without crying anymore.

Then Came the Wave by Atoma

I associate this one with the World of Ruin in FFVI, and particularly Celes alone on the raft, not knowing what if anything waits for her beyond the island she woke up on but facing down the horizon anyway.

[starpiastri]

4, 9, 11, 16 for the ask game :)))

hi sacha!!! answers below :)

4. How many WIPs do you have right now?

oh dear. serious wips there’s two? ish? kinkmemes i’ve got 4 in progress. i’ve not got anything out of wip hell in MONTHS (except if it’s for fests ha!) i need new motivation… think the new f1 books i got for xmas will hopefully help?

9. Do you write every day? If you wrote today, share a sentence of what you’ve written!

honestly yeah pretty much!!! i wrote a whole segment of worldbuilding for cyberpunk au today here’s that!

“A certain someone eating his christmas pie at six o clock. Looking for fresh meat, I’ve heard.”

Mark laughs and keeps his eyes at his drink in front of him. “You know me well enough. I’m not getting involved with his lot.”

DC pours a shot for himself, something pale. He backs it and slides the glass to the sink, watches closely as it nearly topples over. It stands on the edge and waits for the finger to push that never comes, and carries on in limbo.

“He’s got ambition.”

“Is ambition enough?”

DC hums, lips together as though thinking about it. He’s not, obviously. “I think it’s enough for you. You look tired.”

He does, but what DC means is Mark looks skint. He just blinks at the statement. “You and Alonso bickering again?” Mark blinks again, takes a big swig of his pint as if swallowing will drown out the sound of David’s gossip. “Ah, okay. You’re like teenagers. I’m telling you, move out, move on.”

Mark snorts, then. “You see any real estate going cheap around here? Anyway, we’re fine. Just a spat.” DC mouths ‘spat’ and Mark gives him the v’s, knowing exactly what he’s implying. That he’s right in every which way.

“Put it on my tab.”

“You don’t have a tab.”

Mark slides DC two credits, the harsh scrape of metal on metal, watches him closely to make sure he pockets it. Downs the last dregs of his drinks, and then stands up. “I’ll see you later.”

When he turns to leave, he does see little Christian Horner, sat in his corner. Up and coming. DC told him, months ago, how he’d delivered arms to DC’s boys. That he can’t be trusted but he could be paid. DC is full of useful information like this, if you prise it out of him with a screwdriver and elbow grease.

He’s deep in conversation with another man, one Mark can’t recognise from the back. He’s thin, bald. Authoritative in the way he commands the conversation, rather than his demeanor. Mark likes bosses like him more. It’s a shame that Christian has neither of the qualities, some mid ground semi-professional that loiters around here with the rest of the basement dwellers.

i don’t know if it’ll ever make the final cut but im just trying to get a feel of characters + roles atm. also maybe a bit of webbonso which is new for me! sebmark endgame tho as per usual ha

11. Do you have specific playlists for writing fics?

yes!!! sebmark have a playlist (though it’s outdated (i listened to it too much)). bad for business has a playlist, good men die too as well but cyberpunk doesn’t currently :/

i kind of hate phonk (nothing wrong w the genre i just over listened in 2021) which is really the only cyberpunk feel that spotify has given me. i am trying to be more creative in that regard tho. if anyone is invested in cyberpunk au listen to GOLDWING billie eilish! that’s my starting point for my new playlist

16. At what point in the process do you come up with titles?

i am TERRIBLE at titles. usually it’s me after editing and scrambling for lyrics or anything relevant. if there’s a specific song/vibe to go with it i usually then already have the title (bad for business, crush, thoroughfare, still here like a cheap threat) but that is VERY rare in terms of WIPS i’ve started

thank you!!!!! <3

[notasapleasure]

Fanfic ask meme: I am asking ALL the ones you haven't done yet! YES ALL

ohmygod ok, ok? thanks? Sorry? [fanfic ask meme]

Do you listen to music when you write? If yes, what kind?

My automatic response is yes, I need music ALWAYS or some kind of noise around me.* But I do write a lot on my notes app on my phone which often means I'm not really paying that much attention to the ambient noise. However I will always have some kind of playlist for characters/wips, and often that will involve a specific artist or album that fits the vibe and kind of becomes the default background noise - when I want music that Fits without being distracting the best thing is an album I've listened to to death already. For Only Ever Just One Night it was Jon Boden's Afterglow, which I hadn't listened to for ages, and right now it's a lot of early Elvis Costello and Springsteen. Usually I tend to...match what I want to listen to anyway to the fic and characters, but obviously with the Lymond band AU (@theartistknownaslymond) I worked on playlists first and then listened to them when I needed to capture the right feeling for the characters.

*The one noise I Cannot Work Through is the dog whining. He loves the sound of his own voice and has perfected the 'woe is me pay attention to me' whine that just. Cuts right through thought like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

2. Do you have a trusted beta reader?

For my epic And Then We Danced fic, @erinaceina very generously read and betaed EVERYTHING. For the.... crunchier parts of the band AU I know I can always send stuff to @stripedroseandsketchpads first before posting live. And Kay will even read most SW drafts when I'm mired in self-doubt and loathing! :') (clowned myself by writing one of her squicks into the current wip though, so it's just me and the endless possibilities rn)

But generally We Die Like Men. It's not that I don't want a beta reader for the other fics, it's just I've never bothered going to look for one. Usually I don't write things with enough plot to worry. I don't know how I got through my old Cassian/Jyn longfic on my own tbh, no cheerleader, no beta! Loyal readers were very ready to point out flimsy aspects of the plot :') so having learned from that I would definitely get a beta for a fic like that if I did another (well, the ATWD longfic proves that).

3. First person or third person?

Usually third person, but I've written at least one fic in first person - it seemed to fit 'Cornelius Hickey's' ego.

4. Past tense or present tense?

Usually past tense, but I can't explain why the Andor fic all wanted to be in present tense. That's just how it came to me. Probably something about wanting to not subconsciously be thinking of how it all ends :')

5. How long do your fics tend to be?

Longer than is decent or desirable, generally. I know this is a feature/bug of not really planning stuff and just writing on vibes, I'm mostly at peace with it.

6. Multi-chapter or one-shots?

The one-shots have an unfortunate habit of growing lore/sequels/prequels.

7. Rarepairs? Yea or nay?

Oh very much YEA. I have obviously written for big ships too (I stand by my Jyn/Cassian love), I don't go out of my way to pick the rarepairs, but god they're just so much more fun. Writing for them, reading them, fandoms for them - it's all so much better. The shared headcanons, the emphasis on a couple of really significant scenes, the extrapolation from crumbs...

8. In character or ooc?

....why would I write for a fandom/character only to write it ooc? The best crackfic and satire is good because it's still in character.

9. Tropes - answered elsewhere

10. Omegaverse?

....no. Not even a bit. I was never into spn, and my earliest fandom interactions were before it was invented. Werewolves? Sure. But just reading the words '[character] was in heat' brings me out in hives

11. OTP(s)?

That I've written/intend to write and stand by as OTPs: Reid/Deborah Goren (Ripper Street), Francis/Jerott (Lymond Chronicles), Marthe/Oonagh (Lymond band au nobody dies), Goodsir/Silna (The Terror), Merab/Irakli (And Then We Danced), Cassian/Jyn, Baze/Chirrut (Rogue One), Cassian/Brasso (Andor), Lee from Utopia/physical pain, his own or others' (Utopia)

That I haven't written for but (would) love to read: Trevor/Alucard(/Sypha) (Castlevania TV series), Captain/Havers (BBC Ghosts), Éowyn/Faramir (LotR), Assane/Benjamin (Lupin). Probably any combination of Wedge/Tycho/Hobbie/Janson (X-Wing series). Luke/Bodhi (Star Wars). That random IRA guy/Matthew MacFadyen's character in Spooks - yes fic exists, yes I've read it.

12. Notps

I'm....really resistant to post-S1 Bix/Cassian and Bix/Brasso. Partly it feels like enforced heterosexuality. Partly I want her comfort and healing to come from community and her own working through it rather than a single magical external healer? Partly I want to know more about her and Timm still (Bix finding the most pathetic little man but genuinely seeming to care for him). Partly I'm petty.

I don't care for big unbalanced power dynamic ships or saviour/damnation type deals like R+ylo. Jyn/Krennic is such a huge NOPE. Reid/Cobden (this is mainly spite ok), Reid/Mimi. Crozier/Silna (lol book version what book version?). Ed/Calico Jack (it's my inner, petty Stede. Also I can't look at Will Arnett, I'm allergic).

It's canon, but Jerott/Marthe can still be a notp. The less I have to think about Anakin/Padmé the better, frankly.

13. Fluff or smut or both?

Oh smut, definitely. But smut that veers unpredictably from fluff to feels to fucked up and back to feels, ideally.

14. Answered elsewhere - I love angst!

15. How do you come up with fic ideas?

I'm pursued by a scene or character or concept until it gets written down, I guess. Sometimes spitballing ideas with people helps, or just gazing lovingly at the same gifsets time and again.

16. Are you a planner or do you just write by the seat of your pants?

Pantsing. Sometimes when I'm already in too deep I'll sullenly plot out a few bullet points, but by and large I just try to dissociate until words happen.

17. Do you title you chapters?

Oh hell no, titling the fic is hard enough

18. Overused words or phrases that just make your eyes twitch?

I probably don't read enough fic to have a list of these. I try not to be a Britpicker, but I like to read fic that's been properly researched, where the setting and language has been considered so obvious oversights around the setting can be off-putting.

19. What's something that you struggle with as a writer?

Oh, the big picture, passage of time type stuff connected with a solid plot and plan. I zoom right in on scenes and mannerisms and expend thousands of words on not very much happening, and then I read a fic that is so succinct and well conceived and covers several years in a character's life and leaves no wiggle room at all but is like. 3-5,000 words? And I just die a bit because how do you do that?? But I'm trying to be happy with what I write anyway - it's a different approach and it suits the way I'm able to find time for writing these days.

20. Any writing advice?

Leave your shame behind and just write what you want, how you want! Tag well and post it because you enjoyed creating it and maybe someone else will enjoy reading it! Also don't be afraid of restarting a draft from scratch, but don't delete anything you've written - keep those files. And probably just...go for a walk or a shower or whatever and have a think away from the draft for a bit, things will often be clearer with some distance.

[visualheresy]

Ten Songs, Ten People

Thank you for the tag @frozen-fountain!

Rules: Put a wip/character/etc playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up. Describe how they relate to your WIPs or worldbuilding.

My current WIP focuses on Ada Wong so I’ll be using this playlist of mine.

Cheap Ring by Miserable

I adore Kristina Esfandiari’s vocals--that guttural scrape does things to my soul. Anyway! I love this song for its cynicism and the sliver of vulnerability running through it: Dull men, long nights, or a peculiar fire I wouldn’t know how to extinguish.

I wonder about that peculiar fire, what or who it used to signify for this speaker, but maybe it’s just the promise of casual sex they’re looking to fill in for the loss. I think it speaks to the way Ada sees romance, particularly as a tool or a weapon.

2. The Culling by Chelsea Wolfe

Ahh. The Culling. It is the quintessential Ada song for me. Volatile, vengeful, hurt, a ghost clawing hand over hand to haunt the living. I listen to this whenever I need to access that darker current of Ada’s psyche, which has been shaped by a life steeped in violence.

Died too young, the culling then, it was obscene I am depleted by love

3. Heir by Public Memory

The clanging bell chimes make this feel like a dream. It’s nostalgic and hazy, the lyrics impressionistic and too cryptic to parse. It’s a sound I associate with Ada now, the far-off tolling of bells, and a breeze running soft through the wind-chimes.

4. Arms I Know So Well by Emma Ruth Rundle

Please deliver me from all the evil I did to myself And deliver me to arms so open, arms I know so well

This is Ada with her heart gashed open. Underneath the posturing and indifference, a role she has perfected over a lifetime, here is what she can’t bear to feel.

5. 忘記他 by Teresa Teng

There’s a line in my WIP that references this song, after a fraught encounter between Ada and Leon. When she sings from here to eternity, I can't. I'm in shambles.

6. Never Land (A Fragment) by Sisters of Mercy

In the Ada-centric film that does not exist, this plays during a scene of transit, or some liminal space (hotel room? elevator? low-lit corridor?), as she prepares herself for another deadly mission.

7. Marching Song by Esben and the Witch

(cw for the video: blood)

The mounting dread in this song evokes a scorched bloodied battleground. It’s a memory, among others, that Ada tries hard to suppress.

8. Needed Me by Rihanna

Fuck your white horse and a carriage. I know on the surface this is a song about refusing the burdens of romance. But I hear the vengeance in it too. There's a little subplot in my WIP that explores the dynamic between Ada and Wesker. In one of her field reports from RE4, translated from Japanese, Ada writes: "Both he and I are swimming and being swept along by each other. There is still time to enjoy it."

9. Movie Screen by Chelsea Wolfe

This is the only song on my Ada playlist that could apply to Leon as well. It’s a memory they share. The lyrics read in full:

Don't you ever cross that bridge in your mind again It's like a movie screen

I always have this on repeat as I’m writing Ada's POV. It helps me focus during the surreal dreamlike parts of her narrative, where the unspeakable trauma she’s endured threatens to break through the boundary of the real world. If you listen closely, you can hear the bridge folding in on itself before it collapses.

10. Cosey Mo by Subrosa

THE VIOLINS my god. I will lay my life down for this song. It’s devastating in how it captures all parts of Ada, her grief and fierce love and terror and longing. Her rage. I listen to this and there’s the image of her rising out of the flames in Resident Evil 6.

I promise you that I will find you I'll dig up every unmarked grave

This makes me think of us Aeon or Ada writers. Every story we write about her is an act of love, in a way. At least for me it’s a way of trying to understand her (despite Capcom’s narrative attempts to bury or shunt her to the side) and uncovering new things, each time, that I’ve missed.

[hollyvorpahl]

For the WIP ask game: ❄️, ⚽️, and 🎶

So I'm working on a few projects at the moment so I'm gonna answer for at least three of them. I hope that's okay.

The WIPs I have currently are:

1. The Princess Guide to Love and Necromancy (there's also joke typical YA genre title, A Tale of Lace and Bone but I like the other title better)

2. Tales from the Drunken Duke (and its sequel The Guild of Lesser Glories)

3. A Vow from the Winter Lord

4. Of Glass Pens and Enchanted Treats

Toughest aspect of my WIPs:

1. This one is newish. I've wanted to write a story like this for a while but I had doubts anyone would actually like it or want to read it. I still have those doubts but I want to write it anyway. 

2. So, this one has a lot of... self criticism. I have the hardest time believing the concept that other writers/authors don't pen excellence in the first draft. I start to compare my drafts to finished books and it makes me feel like crap. I want this one to be light and sweet but as I write, I read things like Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree and I feel the ease of his words and then spiral. Why can't I write like this? There's no way he struggled or had to change anything. 

3. I have the most for this one yet I continuously doubt my abilities to pull off a serious Fantasy Romance like this. I guess you can say I'm intimidated by the scope of it?

4. There's a lot of the story that I don't have and I find that really daunting. 

Genre of my WIPs:

1. Fantasy Romance. This is the only one of them that I guarantee gets spicy.

2. Slice of Life Fantasy with a touch of Romance. 

3. Fantasy Romance

4. Slice of Life Fantasy with a touch of romance. 

WIPs Playlists:

So I don't really make playlists. I have an easily distracted mind and I write in quiet. If I have music going I find that my mind gets sucked into the music and I just listen. Music is a form of art I wish I could do. It's an art form I admire with my whole being. That being said, I'll share some of my favorites that remind me of how I'd like a score of my books to sound if they were turned into an animated movie or tv series. A lot of these were used as ambience while I wrote until I came to terms that I get more done in quiet.

-The score for the movie Stardust

-The score for the videogame Fable 

-The themes written by Aiden Chan for The Mighty Nein and Vox Machina. "A New Kind of Hero", "Beyond" (Pike's Theme) are a couple of favorites. 

-The Rise Undaunted's "Long May He Reign"

-There's a little piece of the score for A Knight's Tale called "Guinevere Comes to Lancelot." This has been something for me since I heard it. I downloaded it onto my iPod back in high school. It carries this small memory for me. My little sister and I didn't get along well, but the night before she had to do something (I don't remember what, probably a presentation or something) she asked if I was still awake. I was and asked what was wrong? She told me she was nervous and couldn't sleep. She asked for help so I played her the song. After that, she would ask me to play it for her or tell her a story to help her fall asleep when she was nervous. Sorry to get mushy.

Thanks for the ask! I hope these were okay answers lol