#but i need a chunk of time where i can reread what i've got and get down some solid character notes and an outline

[s-s-spinning-coins-s-s]

Spinning coins do YOU want unsolicited writing advice? Well you are in luck because I've got some! Here's a

Basic Guide to Starting a Fanfiction! (or just writing in general)

The first thing you are going to want to do is ask Questions!!! These questions are

The Who - which characters will be a part of the scene

The What - what are they doing

The Where - where are they doing it

The Why -

The why is a little more complex because there's the Narrative Why, the reason why the characters are currently doing what they are doing, and the Meta Why, the reason why this scene exists. Now, there are multiple reasons any given scene could exists, but let me tell you a secrete. In that list of reasons why, it should always say because I like this. You can get more specific like, because I like the humor or because I like the ideas being presented, but that doesn't matter so long as you LIKE some part of it.

Now, you can answer these questions in any order when drafting ideas, but at some point ALL of them should be answered. You can start drafting the scene at any point as well, there's no reason you can't be like "I'll figure that out later".

That brings me to the idea of Skipping! Sometimes you don't know how to end or start a section, or maybe there's just one line that you know needs to be there in order to make the plot work, but it's just not happening. YOU CAN SKIP IT!!! Just pretend it doesn't exist and then write what you know! Sometimes an idea that fills the gap will just come to you, sometimes you will need to stair at the doc for a while, sometimes you can't think of anything and the entire thing needs to be reworked or scraped. It depends!

Also, I recommend saving anything that you cut. You never know when an unused scene or line may come in handy.

Sometimes, a chapter is just one scene. I recommend starting here as multiple scenes in one chapter can start to get confusing, especially if there are flow or tone issues.

SO! You got your scene blocked out, you did your homework so you know what it's about, so now it's time to actually write it. Going from summary to an actual chapter is different for everyone. Some people write descriptions first and leave dialog blank, some (me) write dialog first and descriptions later. Some people write it all at once in one big chunk. It doesn't matter what you get down first, just write what comes easiest, no care for how it looks or sounds.

After you get it down, congrats! That is your rough draft! You are OUT of the purely an idea stage!

I recommend sleeping, eating, just walking away from your device for a while after that. Once you come back, reread what you wrote. As you read, fix any mistakes that you see. Punctuation, spelling, bad grammar, and formatting should be fixed first. After that, start adding in anything that you skipped in the moment. Or if that doesn't work, just refine what you already have down. Maybe reword a sentence, add or delete a line, it's all up to you.

I recommend having a thesaurus open in the tab next to your work. Genuinely useful if you get sick of putting the word 'said' everywhere.

Once everything is patched up, it's technically finished! You can post as is or you can go over it again. You can keep going over it until you are happy, but be careful. The longer you try to perfect something, the worse you will feel about it. Do not be fooled by this feeling. Having a beta reader can help with a lot of this. A second set of eyes that says if something is good or not is a very good thing to have.

If you want to get a beta reader but don't have anyone that you know IRL, I recommend shooting a DM to any of the authors here on Tumblr. Most authors also have worked as beta readers, so they know what to do. Remember, the worst that they can say is no, so don't be afraid to ask!

Last but not least, formatting on Ao3. Ao3 uses HTML for it's formatting, so you have to learn it if you want to have anything like bold or italicized or colored font! You can completely ignore HTML, as Ao3 will add all the spacing stuff for you, but I recommend at least looking at what's possible.

Great Ao3 HTML guide

This is very helpful and I will be using this info! Thank you for the advice- usually I just guess what works and end up lost so having a plan a structure is always helpful!

I already took @the-spam-specialist ‘s advice to write plans for future chapters but this will definitely help with narrowing down scenes.

Thanks again!

[artbyblastweave]

You said you needed to be prodded to elaborate on why Worm should have been longer? Well consider this a prod, if I may be so bold.

A big chunk of it is rote contrarianism. Part of it is that I like Worm, my experience reading so much Worm was "Sweet! Even More Worm! I've got so much Worm left before I'm out of Worm!" So a version of Worm with More Worm is prima facie an enticing prospect.

In the non-reflexive, genuinely considered sense, there possibly should have been an interlude arc to flesh out the timeskip, make it feel like it was as much of her powered career as it objectively was. And I'm far from the first person to make this observation. But on another level, there's a sense where "Worm Should Have Been Longer" is conflated in my head with "Worm's Timeframe Should Have Been Longer." Which is tricky, and invites further unpacking-

One thing about Worm I've noted in the past is that the villain portion of Skitter's cape career- more than two thirds of the book- only takes place over about three months, but- speaking only for my reading experience- this was surprisingly easy to miss or elide in my consideration of the narrative. One reason for this is that Taylor and her supporting cast are so heavily fleshed out, are so well-realized, undergo so much character development in a compacted timeframe, that it felt like I had been following them for much longer than I had. This is enhanced (was enhanced?) by the out-of-universe passage of time; The S9 interlude arc is, like, a little over the one-third mark of the story, but Worm had been running for a year at the time that that was published, and it certainly felt like I’d been reading a years' worth of fiction while binging it. In this way Worm was truly faithful to its comic book origins; story arcs that take place over the course of hours but are published over the course of months, building reader familiarity with characters who objectively haven’t been at what they're doing for very long. A third element (noticed on rereads) is that Wildbow often opens with scene transitions/cold-opens or what-have you that, are generally contiguous with the preceding events, but simultaneously slightly obfuscate exactly how much time has passed. Arc 6 opens with Taylor finishing up with the ABB mop-up, and it’s blocked to demonstrate how far she’s come in such a relatively short time period. It can’t have been more than a few days since Lung. It explicitly wasn’t. But it had the vibe of having been a while.

What I’m working towards here, inch by inch, is the following conclusion: Worm has what I call an eyedropper approach to Taylor’s three-months and 22 arcs. Any given escapade feels like it’s just one vignette, emblematic of a longer, two-or-three-year stage of her life, scooped out and displayed as a representative sample of what’s going on. When shit hits the fan with Dinah, it feels like the upset of a longstanding status quo, even though by that point, Skitter has only been in five or six major engagements alongside the Undersiders. When they spend Arc 21 lancing various supervillain incursions into the city, it felt like I was watching a day in the life, like this was something the Undersiders had been dealing with, and would be dealing with, for a while- even though arc 21′s handful of engagements are basically the only times Skitter did that before she left. Purely from a vibes-based perspective, you could tell me that the first two thirds of Worm are occurring over the course of eight to ten years, and I might roll with that for a minute.

But the catch is- her villainous career has the vibes of lasting a long time, but it’s actually really thematically and logically important that it doesn’t. Skitter’s friendships within the Undersiders are strongly predicated on her ping-ponging from crisis to crisis so quickly that no true reckoning about their differing morals can ever come about. Skitter’s ability to administer as a benevolent warlord is heavily predicated on her lines of credit from Coil- and you cannot stretch that tension out much longer than it was stretched in canon without Dinah dying or Coil getting fed up with Skitters non-profitability. Breathing room is anathema to the story’s depiction of a pressure-cooker society where every crisis begets a new crisis. Nothing between Lung and Alexandria plays out the same way if anyone is allowed any amount of time to think about or process anything. And you actually see this in arc 21; it’s the first time that Skitter has a real opportunity to think about what the long-term looks like, and there’s a whole sequence where she’s getting nervous about her ability to reign in Regent over the long-haul. It’s the first time in three months where she’s had the luxury to worry about that kind of thing. 

You square this circle by.... basically, by striking the canon balance. There's a sense in which I'm increasingly convincing myself that I'm not talking about a problem Worm has so much as a problem Worm already has a workable-but-imperfect solution for. Create distinct periods in Skitter's development- "Rookie era," "Warlord Era," "Wards Era," whatever-each of which feel like they could balloon out into a years-long status quo if this were a comic, even though the cast are really living through the weeks where decades happen. Rely on the Sheer Amount Of Worm to smooth over the breakneck pace at which everyone's character growth and interpersonal connections are developing. There are a few points in the story where "fuck, has it only been three months?" is a salient mood to invoke. The get-together with Danny's coworkers, the back-to-school portions of arc 20. But for the most part the work already does a really good job of making the pinched timeframe a minor bit of fridge logic and not something hugely dissonant and immersion-breaking.

In the process of writing this I've basically argued myself out of thinking that there's much to gain from fucking around with this delicate balance. I don't know if that has implications for whether or not additional arcs covering the timeskip would help or hurt that balance- at a certain level of focus, that whole "you liked us, but you didn't love us" bit about Skitter's time with the Wards vs. The Undersiders becomes a much harder sell. It was already one of the hardest sells in the book for me, the thing that got me thinking about this in the first place. (two years vs three months!) But at some point, I have to bite the bullet- in a work as ambitious as Worm, "good enough" is a fine thing to settle for. It's good enough!

[afreakingdork]

I have some rambles about Soft Spot for you if you wish to hear them 👉👈

For one, LOVE that we finally got to meet April! Been wanting to see her since you teased her in Weak Spot. Like when you wait at your door right after placing a DoorDash order or something 😂

Also love that we finally figured out what happened. In Weak Spot, I thought she didn't wanna get involved in the Donnie business because he's a scary motherfucker. I wouldn't wanna get involved either in that situation.

But now we know it wasn't fear that was holding her back, at least not in the way I was originally thinking about it. She's not scared of him like that. He did something awful to her and it affected her physically and psychologically, to the point that she straight up doesn't leave her house anymore! That fucked her up in so many ways, and Donnie probably doesn't even remember it happened.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I've reread Weak Spot 😅 But I remember something in there about how Donnie kinda doesn't remember his 20s. He knows the major events that went down, knows the kinds of atrocities he pulled, but the smaller details are somewhat lost. He knows he hurt people, but does he remember their faces? Remember their names? (these are rhetorical questions, you don't have to answer these)

And when April approached him, he already had no idea who she was. Up to that point, she was never directly involved in the fights. She said she felt insignificant in that moment, like nothing more than a bug to squash and not worth more attention than she got.

So what if Donnie got to meet her again? Unlikely at this point in the story, obviously, but maybe down the line. He already made her feel insignificant once, I imagine it'd be amplified when she realizes he has no idea who she is. He may recognize her as someone he hurt, but she could just be another face on the pile of bodies behind him. Insignificant once again, because he didn't specifically remember HER. He won't receive her forgiveness, obviously. He's already come to terms with the fact that he can't be forgiven for all his sins, and some people are just gonna hate him for the rest of his life.

All he can do is be better going forward. He has a spouse and child, a support system with a good chunk of the Hamatos, he's trying to move on with his life, put all the bullshit behind him so Othello doesn't receive that baggage.

And it's interesting to see this from the perspective of someone who can't and won't forgive him on principle. We got that with Leo early on, but he eventually came around to Donnie and his presence, with the help of the reader. But April is going to need so much more to come around if she ever does.

And if she doesn't, she's well within her rights to do so, and Donnie would completely understand.

Hello!!! I welcome any and all asks, rambles, or what have you!!! Thank you so much!!! 💖

Yes, you're exactly right about Donnie and his 20s! He said it himself in the titular chapter 27 of Weak Spot where we get Donnie's backstory: I'll take his exact words:

My memories of the time are… Let’s say a drug induced nightmare. They return to me out of order. My 20s didn’t happen in this dimension, but in a fourth one where I could see the start to finish of them all at the same time while seeing nothing at all.

It's actually a reference to Slaughterhouse Five, fun fact!

Donnie no longer seeing faces comes later though. From the same chapter and from the Weak Spot chapter 1 comic that I did, he lost faces after he lost the 'war' with his brothers. It comes after that infamous moment when he realizes he's turned 30 after Leo won, almost killed him, but chose not to and left him to rot in the rain. Again, I'll take Donnie's exact words from 27:

Though my laser procedure from years prior was still a success, I lost another kind of sight. The puppet of my body was animated, but that was all.  I had done everything possible and still… there was nothing that made things any better.  A shut-down of vision that I had no control over.  It is a haunting reminder to know something is wrong with you and you don’t know how it got that way.  Regardless, I no longer saw others. Humans.  Yokai.  Mutants.  They were all nothing but forms. And for the first time in my life. I walked amongst these ghostly shapes.  No plan. No want. Enough to sustain. The bare minimum.  This went on for almost four years.

I haven't written or plotted an interaction between Donnie and April yet, don't plan to, so I think I can safely talk about it as it isn't a spoiler. We can absolutely take April's word for what happened. April as a character even outside of Weak Spot has a good head on her shoulders and an intense sense of justice, if not a little over zealous. With her journalist background (I'm talking all or most Aprils here) we can be assured she's describing the situation pretty much how it happened. She clocked Donnie's reaction for exactly how it was. When reader returns to Donnie, I think the only thing he'll get is a smell. We'll see how reader goes about telling him (this is spoilers), but if they were ever to met again, the only thing he's going to recognize is that smell. That this is the person who helped his spouse and nothing more. I think you're totally right that April will take nothing but offense to this because that's exactly the thing that shook her to her core. I'm sure if Donnie checked his records from when he was a teenager, he'd start to see that April was around way more than he ever registered. He had some great tunnel vision even before he went mad, but what could he really do with that?

I don't know about you, but I think about it a lot in the sense of elementary school. You had your friends, but did you really remember everyone? I have kids that I can see in my year books that were in my classes every year, for six years, and I don't remember a thing about them. The only record they exist is from those tomes and not my recollection, making them feel not real. Memories are a wild and fickle thing.

Back to Donnie, he genuinely believes he started his life anew with reader. He wore white to his wedding not because he was exhibiting his purity, but because it was his clean slate. Like you said, he's fully accepted all he's done. His lack of regrets update a little from chapter 17 of Soft Spot where he's afraid of how his past will effect the very real and actually innocence of his child, but, like from chapter 28 of Weak Spot, he still doesn't regret what he's done, but the repercussions those actions have on others.

It's really just a way to say there's nothing he can do about it.

What's done is done, so what's the point in regret?

I wouldn't say Leo has let go of his, but has a healthier relationship to it. There is, obviously, all sorts of ways to deal with trauma, but some aren't so healthy. I don't think there's anything wrong with April's way (I think of her agoraphobia as something else), but Leo's was actively hurting him and his relationships. He hasn't accepted Donnie as much as he's accepted Donnie will be there and he has to accept that to be around the people he wants. Raph is friends with Donnie and is bound to talk about him. Leo is excited by the new baby and he can't ignore who their father is. That sort of thing. Leo and April's relationship is one I'm really excited to showcase, please look forward to next week's chapter ��

All that said and having said I haven't planned for April and Donnie to meet because that's just what happens sometimes. I had a conversation recently about Draxum and Donnie repairing their relationship and I said flat out, they never will. Donnie will never forgive Draxum, in his rights to use your language, and I think that not all relationships can be repaired. I want that to be shown in my won. In the same way Donnie won't entertain Draxum, April won't entertain Donnie. There's no space for cohesion there even before you add in that Donnie has no recollection that April even exists or is effecting his life in anyway. I've said it a million times and I'll always say it again, Weak Spot was an examination of whether your actions make you a bad person. I love experimenting with grey areas of morale and will continue to do so now that we have a new little bean that has no concept of it. Everything is an natural extension of that and getting to see all the ways that that plays out is part of the fun!

Thank you for you for sharing and I hoped you liked my additions!

[rotfront-cunt]

Key Quest Update

Ok it has been awhile since I wrote down what has been happening with my key quest. As I state later in this post I'm giving myself a second strike

I have done both not much and quite a lot but the important thing is.. I finally have a lead. Before I get to that lead and my speculation on it, as always please no spoilers for getting these keys its been very fun to try and do this with as little help as possible and accidently spoiling myself a little for the second key was quite upsetting, i need a hint i will ask for one! Speaking of such, I've been talking with a friend about this quest and she wanted to help keep me from running around in circles so she gave me a hint: "the activity that will lead you to the keys is a hobby that Ariane may have had growing up" So I stumbled with this for a bit but then I decided to replay the final boss so I could reread the documents in the penrose after that, and I remembered this. (sorry for the terrible image)

So i decided to focus on the radio stations. My progress has been slow BUT I feel like I'm actually making progress for once. It took me a few afternoons but I was able to transcribe one of the audible radio stations that aren't transmitting the safe codes.

Here is what ive got for station 128.4 Some of the numbers I am unsure of and theres a reason for that (see next post). The other three stations remain un-transcribed as they are simply hard to hear. (This also makes me think they may not even matter, if this and one other station are the only ones that can really be understood, there may not be a reason to waste my time on them)

This brings me to my potential lead.

Two days ago I was watching someone play the game for the first time. Because she was reading everything out for chat i was reminded of this section of the mond&tochter safe manual. My current running theory is: What if this is what I have to do. To all of the safes I can open. There are 3 in my mind that you can access before making it to Rotfront, and there could even be more I'm not remembering. I'm going to decipher as many of the number stations as I can and look into the ones that could potentially fit as a safe code. Currently all the numbers read out on station 128.4 are either too short or too long. But I know that a certain ACHTUNG message reads them out in sets of 6. https://youtu.be/vq8Ny62379E?t=43 This is seemingly the source of the ACHTUNG message read out on the penrose before the crash. It is also read out on the profile screen of the game. So I'm going to transcribe it. Luckily for this one a good chunk of the numbers actually appear on screen in the game so I have less radio listening and game recording to do yay. And that is where I'm at in my key quest. The mensa key has to fit in here somewhere but im not entirely sure where. Maybe the 14 means the 14th string of numbers read out on one of the stations we'll see once I have things written down. If you've read this far you must be one of my friends lmao cause I cant imagine this is too inch resting, but thank you to both friends and followers alike!! it means a lot you'd care to hear my thoughts and speculations. Im also gonna be making a smaller post about the number readers i researched to figure this stuff out if u wanna see that.

[liminalmemories21]

17, 19, 22 if you please, my dear.

Thank you!

#17 - talk about your writing and editing process

Chaotic? I don't write in order. And, I find that if I try and got into a story with an idea of what I want it to be it ends up feeling forced. I need to write at least a big chunk of it and then go back and reread it to figure out what it is that I'm exploring, and then I can go back and write the rest around that once I know.

A story always starts with a line of dialogue. A Conversation in Eight Acts started with me hearing TK say 'tell me something I don't know about you' and then I built out from there.

Editing is different depending on the story. For most fics I edit as I go, so by the time I have a first draft totally down on the page, the first half of the story is in really good shape. With knave-verse, my first drafts are a mess because I can't edit until I know the ending, and I don't know the ending until I've written it. So, it ends up being a lot of finding all the places where I've contradicted myself, and left gaping plot holes and retroactively trying to patch over them into something coherent.

And then I just read and reread and reread until the only thing I'm doing is second guessing comma placements, until I'm not changing anything except paragraph marks.

#19 - the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

Currently, all the ways tv and the movies have lied to us about chloroform, and then trying to find something that will do what we were told chloroform does (RIP my google search history).

#22 - do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? how do you get past that?

Yes. I try and make it something that I'm proud of, that does what I want it to do, and says what I want it to say, so that it feels complete to me, whatever the reaction to it is. Also, sometimes I channel Kathy Bates in Fried Green Tomatoes and remind myself that I can be Towanda, and also that I'm older and have better insurance.

[yesimwriting]

Hey girl I'm about to have my first batch of finals this year what are your tips for surviving? I feel so confused on the best ways to prepare 😭😭 thanks 🙏

omg as a self proclaimed academic weapon whose current projected GPA range for the end of semester is 3.9 - 4.0 and who went to a college prep high school i feel like i have finals/midterms down to a science

I have some general finals steps and then some even more general advise where I expand on the tips below the cut. I got kind of carried away😭 pls let me know if you need me to expand on anything

Step 1. List out everything that's due (all projects, essays, and exams) in order of when they're do. If multiple things are due the same day, order them from the assignment you're least confident in to the assignment you're most confident in.

Step 2. Personalize your schedule. Half the battle of finals is a mental game bc it's easy to see all the things you have to do and freeze bc it feels like nothing's going to get done or that you'll be working every second of the day until finals end. If you break your assignments into blocks/chunks, you'll still be able to take small breaks and feel less overwhelmed.

So like if you have 3 essays and 2 tests within two to three days of each other, tell yourself you'll write 2 essays and study for one test on the first day or that you'll write one essay everyday and study on the last two days. If that makes sense lol.

this doesn't mean to over schedule your life!! i don't write out time stamps for every break, i just like to do assignments a day or two in advance so that I can take breaks if that makes sense.

Step 3. Do your projects/essays first. I've always been someone that likes doing projects before studying for tests. Because projects/essays are something that have tangible ends,, you'll feel a lot more productive/better getting those out of the way. The exception to this is if you have a big test coming that's before your essays/project, study first lol.

Step 4. Make study guides. Ik it's annoying, but you're more likely to study more if you have a cheat sheet you can just look over. More on this in general advise.

-- This is just general advice. ---

Tip 1. Study guides are life savers. It's one thing to have all of your notes, but typing/writing everything you need so that it's in one place makes it so much easier to take advantage of small moments. I do best on tests when I make my study guide in advanced and then just reread it a bunch the night before and then right before the test.

If it's a harder topic with more information and you think you need more time with the info, I still think a study guide is a great way to just have something that you can look at whenever you have a a few minutes. You're more likely to study more when you have something that you can just pull out and read a few times than if you just have miscellaneous notes you have to waste time looking for/gathering.

Tip 2. Plan/accept study breaks. Sometimes you just need to do something else. It feels like you're wasting time, but if you're super tired/overwhelmed, you're definitely not working efficiently, so if your body is telling you to walk around for a little or scroll on your phone for fifteen minutes or do something else to mentally get away, accept it.

Tip 3. Don't fall for the 11:59 trap. This might just be bc I'm a night person so I do a lot of homework late at night, but I think knowing something is due at midnight adds some extra stress. It makes it harder to take breaks and gets more overwhelming bc the deadline is right there.

I like to make the day before the 11:59 deadline my personal deadline. Ofc there are exceptions to this, like if the assignment is smaller,, like a discussion post or just answering some homework questions, and you know it won't take up your entire day and you'll have time, it's okay to leave it. Especially if you have larger assignments or other things to study for.

Tip 4. Do the harder assignments first. This may be personal preference, but I always do the more draining assignments first. This doesn't always mean the longest/objectively the hardest. Sometimes it's just getting your least favorite/worst subject out of the way so that you can check it off your list.

Tip 5. Personal reward system. This is why it's good to have hobbies! it's not a good idea to make needs rewards, like food/water and bathroom breaks,, please don't do that!!

but the amount of times i've told myself that if i finish/get to a certain point in an assignment i can go onto tumblr and read a fic is insane 😭

small rewards like that that are just fun are super helpful,, so if you have any hobbies that are like reading, scrolling on your phone, watching a certain show, etc,, you can use that to motivate you as long as you can quantify it.

Like don't say you can scroll on your phone as a reward unless you're done for the day, say you can scroll on your phone for X amount of time so that it doesn't take up the entire day,, if that makes sense lol

that's why i tend to like other rewards better, because phones aren't set up to have a natural, satisfying end. But if you tell yourself that you can watch an episode of a TV show or read a specific fic or read a chapter of a book,, you'll feel better when it's over. That's more of a personal opinion though.

sorry for how long this is 😭i hope it helps

[lumienn]

Re-reading my own fic + reaction

Once upon a time, back when Yashahime was airing, I posted a few chapters of my sessrin fic titled 'Ice King, Icing' on AO3. I eventually ran out of steam, life got in the way (as it always does) plus I had some negative experiences within the fandom which got to me.

It's been at least a year since I last touched it, and I barely remember the plot.

So now that I've got my laptop back, it's time for a reread with fresh eyes. Let's see if it's any good!

Chapter 1:

Okay, I'm recalling the story a little now. The end result is a lot better than I thought it was at the time, I put a lot of research into everything (and I needed to, because I know nothing about 90% of the things I was writing about here). I enjoyed reading the worldbuilding just as much as I enjoyed writing and imagining it. This chapter shows glimpses of a modern world where humans and youkai coexist, and how they manage to do it.

While writing, I was worried the setting descriptions may be too much, but it feels just right to me as a reader. There's just a LOT of effort that went into this chapter and I'm glad it shows.

I feel like I should have more criticism for this chapter but somehow I don't. So here's the fun fact of the chapter instead: Rin was originally supposed to work at the cafe Kagome and Sango go to! The original draft had a more detailed description of the cafe for that reason, but I scrapped it and gave her a normal office job because it didn't feel right. I still wanted the cafe to have a personal connection to one of the characters, so I had Kohaku design it instead.

Chapter 2:

So some interesting plot points are introduced in this chapter. This story was basically based on three what ifs- what if Sesshomaru's good side came out before he met Rin? What if he didn't give Rin the choice to travel with him, and sent her away instead? And what if we still had time travel in this modern AU?

This is where the story and Sesshomaru and Rin's relationship deviates from canon. I love canon, obviously, but I was so intrigued by these questions. So Ice King, Icing was born, lol.

I also wanted Rin to roast Sess

I don't have any complaints for this chapter either. I caught a couple of grammatical errors, but shh. Also I was clearly having so much fun writing it.

Fun fact of the chapter: Kagome still has her purification powers and is still a reincarnation of Kikyo. But Inuyasha and Kikyo are inconsequential characters to each other here. Kagome is from the year 2318, and travelled 300 years in the past- to 2018- which is the year this story is set.

Chapter 3:

Another chapter where I was worried the descriptions and story of Rin's life may be too much, but it wasn't. Homegirl is out here living the life we can only dream of :')

We finally get a good chunk of Sess POV here, and the characterization is satisfactory. Again, big sigh of relief- he was SO difficult to write. I also had an evil chuckle reading Rin's flashbacks and Kaede's worries that her childhood saviors may have found her again- yes, lady, that's THE POINT. We are HERE for some hurt/comfort. Also eviler chuckling at my past self for managing to sneak in some Captain America trio references.

This reread is turning out a lot better than I expected. I'm really enjoying this a lot!

Fun fact of the chapter: The subject line of Jaken's email seems to reference the kdrama 'A Business Proposal', but Ice King Icing did it first :) (chapter posted in April 2021, drama released in 2022)

Chapter 4:

Kagome to the rescue! That's all I'll say ;)

Okay no. I shouldn't be surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this chapter, again, the whole fic is a banger. It has everything I want in a sessrin fic- not surprising, because I wrote it myself. I remember writing the balcony scene and Sesshomaru's realization and giggling to myself at how hilarious it was. Plot forcing them to spend time together by making him hide her from his father= a romcom classic that I'll never get tired of.

Fun fact of the chapter (and mild spoiler): the mystery girl that has been following Kagome will be revealed in the next chapter, along with her motives.

Conclusion:

As I said in the chapter notes, this fic isn't abandoned. I've just gone on hiatus from all my fics for a while because irl is taking up all my time and energy. I enjoyed writing this fic a lot though, and I will definitely update and try to complete it. Just not sure when.

[villanesus]

writers asks: 1, 6, 9, 11, 25, 30, 40, 48, 58, 69, 92, 94, 99.

I honestly would like to hear all your answers put i picked my favorite questions.

Pistachio!! Sooo many questions, I'll do my best.

1. do you know how you want the story to end when you start, or are you just stumbling through the figurative wilderness hoping to find a road?

I usually know where I want my characters to end up, but that doesn't always equate to a proper ending. Endings have always been hard for me to articulate. As a kid in school, I got feedback from a primary school teacher once that I needed to include something at the end of my stories to indicate that it was really the conclusion. My autistic ass starting ending every single story I wrote with the sentence, "And that is all." 😂

6. do you have any kind of consistent writing schedule or just hoping for the best?

Not really. I write when I've got a decent chunk of time open (at least an hour) and I'm feeling writery feelings. Some nights, most weekends. During nanowrimo I write during my lunch break, mostly out of necessity to meet word count.

9. in an ideal world where you’re already super successful and published, would you want to see a tv or movie adaptation of your work? why or why not?

I'd be pretty content just to be successfully published, BUT I'm definitely not turning down an opportunity for Jodie Comer to option one of my books for a TV series a la Big Swiss so I can meet her and be awkward. 🥴

11. what’s something neat you’ve learned while doing research for something you were writing? also, how much do you worry about doing research in general?

I do worry quite a bit about research because I know how jarring it can be as the reader when an author writes something that is pure nonsense wrt something I know about. That said, I don't always know what I don't know, so I'm sure I miss all kinds of things.

The neatest thing I've ever stumbled upon is escaping me right now, but the most recent thing that sticks out was stumbling upon the gem of the towns Sappho and Beaver near Forks for my goosey Killing Eve/Twilight AU (Evenfall). I found that far too funny.

25. what’s your revision or rewriting process like?

I usually start each writing session be rereading the last section I've written and I catch a lot of edits there. Once I'm reasonably confident about a full chapter, I actually listen to it twice using a text-to-speech feature. I find I catch a lot more of my mistakes when I listen than when I read with my eyes.

And then I immediately find like three more mistakes as soon as I share or publish what I've written. Because of course.

30. most inspirational quote you’ve ever read or heard that’s still important to you.

I'm (perhaps weirdly) not big on inspiration or inspirational quotes. And, as noted in one of the other ask games, I'm a little bit of a jerk? So, my favorite quote is actually the running bit in Candide by Voltaire where they make fun of the "best of all possible worlds" philosophy. You will catch me in real life regularly punching down on things by saying, "In this, the best of all possible worlds." I guess this jives with my "things suck, bring a bat" philosophy.

40. best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten.

I had a computer science professor who took me aside once and told me I should write textbooks because students would actually engage with and learn from my writing. I really like to explain and to teach, so this was maximum flattery for me.

At the moment, though, there's a person who is mostly commenting screaming and keyboard smashes on Evenfall and I'm really enjoying that. 🤣

48. do you reread your own stories?

Not once they're finished. I read and reread as part of my editing process, by the end I'm a bit sick of it. And if too much time goes by and I come back to read, my style/voice/skill has changed and then I feel sad-cringe about my older work.

58. what is the last thing that a fic made you google when you were writing it?

"which movie did edward and bella have sex?" 🫠 hahaha

69 (nice). how do you write emotional scenes? do you ever feel what the characters feel?

I find this challenging because I want to shout at the characters to do the "right" thing and not necessarily the authentic emotional response that they would have? For example, character is going to misunderstand and be hurt or character is angry and won't listen to apology—it kills me to write that sometimes.

The how...eh, I just write stuff and step back and see if it feels authentic. I try to draw from my own experiences and emotions, but can't always tell how well that translates for others because my emotional processing is maybe non-typical as a non-neurotypical individual.

92. first, second, or third person?

Third person is typically my jam as a reader and a writer, though I do love me some unreliable narrator first-person works. My big struggle as a writer is the different flavors of third person—omniscient, objective, partial/limited. I'm bad at consistency here.

94. do you prefer dialogue or description?

Dialogue is really fun for me to write. My favorite thing though is internal monologue? Perhaps a side effect of all the journaling.

99. was being a writer a dream of yours when you were little? or did it spring up when your older? or is it just a hobby?

I've been writing stories since I was a little kid and I've always loved the idea of just being a novelist or writer. But I am both pessimistic and pragmatic. I doubt I'd be happy if writing was my full-time job—making a living on this would be too much pressure. It's a lovely hobby and if I ever write something that other people are excited to read, I'll just be real chuffed about it.

Phew, we made it to the end!

[not-poignant]

Hello!

While reading your March writing schedule, I found myself wondering about your WIP process.

If it’s been a while since you last worked on a WIP (say, more than a month), how do you approach returning to it? Do you reread the last chapter to recapture the tone and flow? Spend time immersing yourself in the mood again? Or do you find it easy to slip back in?

Also, does it ever feel like a chore, or are you eager to return to it? Do you typically have the chapters framed and structured in advance, or do you prefer to let the story flow as you go?

And lastly, does writing fan fiction feel more like a hobby to unwind with compared to your other works, or do you approach it with a similar mindset?

It will always amaze me to see an author maintain so many works in process.

Best of luck with everything and hope things get better.

Henlo anon,

If it’s been a while since you last worked on a WIP (say, more than a month), how do you approach returning to it? Do you reread the last chapter to recapture the tone and flow? Spend time immersing yourself in the mood again? Or do you find it easy to slip back in?

It really depends on the story! Some stories I hold very 'fresh' in my head, others, like Smoke in Autumn I can forget about so much, I once wrote two versions of the same chapter and got 2,000 words in before I realised I'd already written a bunch of the next chapter and just never finished it. (My bad, I should have read it back first). What amused me the most is that the content of both was nearly identical, I'd been imagining 'what happens next' and locked it in, but thought I hadn't written and welp.

Most of the time I will check back through the previous through chapters. Sometimes it's just a skim to remind myself where I am, and sometimes I'll actually properly sit down to get in the 'feel' of where a story is at. Some stories need this more than others. Underline the Red has a very specific atmosphere that I associate with Faber, and his story needs deeper reading.

(It got long and kind of serious - TL;DR a look into the process of an author who has been working on too many stories for 2 years and the costs of that.)

Some stories require a lot more work to get back 'into' - Palmarosa because of all the worldbuilding elements, for example, and because there's so many moving pieces right now. I'd like to write a chunk of that this month and just immerse more. I often have to actually reread a few worldbuilding articles I've written as well as the dialogue notes I've taken. Raphael and Astarion have a similar mannerism of speaking, re: their language, so it's important that I remember that their tone is very different. Raphael never gets that many vulnerable or emotional lines in the game, except for when he's angry, so sometimes I'm guessing with him.

It's probably the story I'm most insecure about because it's attracted the most criticism. So I simultaneously do a lot more legwork to get back into it, and sometimes dread writing a chapter and like 5 people pointing out something I've gotten wrong. Most of the commenters have been amazing, but it's definitely been an experience in... learning that the Forbidden Realms (or BG3) fandom is broadly not that fun to write for. Which is a shame, because the story itself makes me super excited, and there's some particular readers who I've met through that fandom who I think 'oh I hope they read and like this chapter' who I specifically think of and enjoy, but then I think of the less fun pockets of fandom (that have found my fic) and pause a bit. I have to kind of forget that aspect of it in order to get back into it again. (Which is funny, considering it's fanfiction and it is my most 'this is for fun' kind of writing. Just goes to show that different fandoms = different experiences). I think the combo of 'this story is one of the hardest I've written in years for worldbuilding commitment and development + this fandom is one of the most exacting and critical of all the fandoms I've been in' makes it feel like I have to climb a mountain to get to wanting to write chapters again.

(I'm sorry to most of the commenters, because truly, most of you are incredible. I need to save your comments off AO3 so I don't stumble into the less wonderful comments - many of which I've ended up deleting).

Meanwhile stories like Underline the Blue are incredibly easy to slip back into, lol.

Also, does it ever feel like a chore, or are you eager to return to it?

As you can tell from Palmarosa, sometimes it can feel like a bit of a chore. That's very frustrating because I have a few disparate parts of me in conflict. I have high fidelity to my stories and refuse to abandon the story because I think it has the potential to be really good especially upon reread, but it can't be a priority as it's not on the official schedule and it has to be after the writing that helps me eat food and pay bills.

Sometimes I'm also just tired. I can't like, just disappear for 2-3 months. I know I do on some stories, and if a reader only reads one of my stories, and that story is Smoke in Autumn, then they must feel like I go off and live my best life for 8 months at a time, lol. But whenever I'm not working on a particular story, it's because I'm working on like 8 other stories, or editing those stories, or making graphics, or thinking about marketing, or trying to find good excerpts, or replying to comments, or replying to asks, or looking after myself / my sick dog etc. Like I'm not actually on a break this month. I'm just on a 'posting regularly on a schedule' break. I have about 13 chapters I need to edit, I need to write a couple of chapters for April and ideally May to have a buffer in case I get really sick, etc.

That being said, the vast majority of the time I'm excited to return to multiple stories, often at the same time. (Decision paralysis has affected my ability to choose when I'm excited about a bunch). All the Underline stories make me excited, Stain does, Second Star is a bit intimidating right now because there's so much I need to figure out about Kadek, lol, but I'm mostly excited, and I'm very lucky to be writing so many stories I love. Even Palmarosa once I start and get into it, makes me super excited, that one I'm just less eager to start.

Do you typically have the chapters framed and structured in advance, or do you prefer to let the story flow as you go?

I don't structure anything in advance until the very end of a story (and even then, not always, like Constellations never had a structure).

That being said I like the advice of 'don't finish when you run out of things to say, finish writing when you know the next sentence or paragraph, or have an idea of what's going to happen next. That way when you open the document the next day, you aren't sitting in a state of frustration, you already have a place to start.' I usually have an idea of what is taking place in the next chapter based off the chapter I've just written and foreshadowing/plot I've been introducing.

And lastly, does writing fan fiction feel more like a hobby to unwind with compared to your other works, or do you approach it with a similar mindset?

Fanfiction can be my fun writing, it's also my experimental writing, and my 'I wonder what happens if I do this' writing. It's my 'I want to put these two together and see what happens' writing. Sometimes it's harder than anything original I'm doing. Some of the most involved stories I've ever written that needed the most research have been fanfic - Stuck on the Puzzle, the Beast that Chose its Own Bridle and Palmarosa have all required more work and time in worldbuilding and research than anything original I've ever written except for canon Fae Tales.

Now that A Stain that Won't Dissolve is on the schedule it gets treated kind of as professionally as most of my original writing. Anything 'off the schedule' is treated as writing for fun. That includes original writing like Smoke in Autumn which has so few readers comparatively I know it would be a useless story to try and monetise through Patreon/Ream so I don't bother, and update it when I feel like it / when I have time. Palmarosa is 'fanfic for fun' in the sense that yeah, I hate that I can't update regularly but it's also what I'm doing in my spare time as a hobby, and my spare time isn't exactly...generous. :D

It will always amaze me to see an author maintain so many works in process.

I don't like maintaining this many works in progress. This kind of happened as a result of getting medicated for ADHD for the first time in my life and suddenly being able to develop a more efficient system that didn't take into account how sick I was. It was like I planned to always be writing on my best days.

And now I'm disentangling myself as a writer who often writes 2 long stories at a time. For a decade that was all I did, pretty much. This is not normal for me. The last 2-3 years have been kind of a very big and hard lesson, because I didn't feel right putting any on 'until this story is finished I can't come back to this' hiatus. Especially because, in the 'best problem but still a real problem to have' ever, I love every single one of those stories. I love them. I enjoy writing them. I enjoy the characters. I'm not burnt out on the stories or the characters, I'm burnt out on having so many of them going at the same time.

I will never - I hope - work on this many stories ever again. It's overwhelming, and it is challenging to carry so many different worlds etc. in the air. On my good days I can do it, but ngl, I don't think it's a coincidence that my growing burnout / writing less overall / handling less over the past 2 years and needing more breaks coincides with mentally having to hold 8-9 different stories across 5 different worlds in my head.

It's one of those 'I can do it because I know it will end one day, but if you told me I'd have to keep working on this many stories at the same time forever, I'd quit tomorrow.'

I love writing so so much, but it's been a rough 2 years.

Ironically growing more ability to handle things that I never used to be able to do - idk if many readers know this, but for the vast majority of me being on Tumblr and AO3 I never had a schedule, I never posted excerpts, I never had graphics, y'all just got chapters when I had them, sometimes 5 a week, sometimes none for a month. Like for 8~ years of my life and the life of some of the readers here, that was just how it worked - actually has made things much harder on the bad days and the mediocre days.

Stuff that I can do when my executives are functioning (I like to imagine them like a bunch of mostly incompetent besuited idiots in a boardroom who can only very occasionally get their shit together with the help of prescription meth), is still stuff that makes me want to scream and tear my hair out sometimes.

It feels like it has actually taken so many spoons away from my writing (which is, upsettingly, I think why I feel so awful when people say I'm not posting enough excerpts anymore, or get upset when people say the schedule doesn't have enough on it, or is missing a story they really want, and I want to say 'well ironically all this stuff is why I can't write like I used to, but it's also why I can probably pay the bills now, because more readers find my stuff than they used to, so I'm in the Catch-22 of 'yay I can afford more healthcare' and 'now I need more healthcare because of this').

Anyway, I'm sorry anon, some of your questions have a very simple answer of 'yes sometimes I do read back through old chapters to get back into the feel of that story!' :D And some of your questions have a more existential 'the thing that feels most like a chore is this many stories, this much executive functioning, and pockets of this one fandom that will not hesitate to point out that Mephistopheles shouldn't be blue because of that one campaign they read that one time.'

I'm figuring it out. I'm very lucky to have the best readers in the world broadly speaking (truly, I have literally gotten some comments that make me open up a new word document to immediately start a chapter of something, that's a miracle), and stories I love to write, because like if I truly felt writing was a chore, or that the people I was doing it for made it a chore, I really wouldn't be here. This isn't a job you do if you want an easy job dsafflkjdas (retail was way easier, I'm just too physically sick to do it, lol).

[jeanmoreaux]

trigger warning (?): passively suicidal idiot (me)

hey the recent posts on aftg has fried my brain like literally. how far can we keep trying before (i) should accept im just nothing. and not just aftg but all your lovely posts about trying again and how to continue living even after bad things

i'm sorry this is so dark. fiction and stories (esp aftg and captive prince in my 20s) have quite honestly saved my life more times than i can count

but recently i've just lost the ability to read and retain good chunks of memory and i'm not motivated or disciplined even though i hate where i am in life (i need to graduate but i haven't even done my thesis because idk how to explain my reading slump the articles just gloss over and i end up crying cz why is this so difficult)

i just...these days i really try to not look too close at things that can quite easily, relieve me of this life

i am so sorry you’re feeling like this :( and pls don’t apologize for sharing this!! it’s so important to talk about these things and share these thoughts, given them room and space and acknowledging this feeling is a reality. i also want to thank you for sharing this with me. i am glad you feel like this blog is a safe space for it. i really truly wish there was more i could to help, especially with the academic stuff. sometimes you just need someone to help yoi get your things in order. because i get it, motivation and discipline are so hard. thesis writing is so hard. reading articles and parsing them for relevant info and using that relevant info for your own texts is HARD. so it’s okay to ask for help if you need it. i had to ask for help too when i wrote mine. because it is an exhausting process that can suck so much of your mental energy.

also the part about fiction being a lifesaving refuge…. yeah. a story that speaks to you can be like a soothing balm. especially when your going through a lot. i really understand why both the series you mentioned are a little bit like life rafts. i only recently reread cp and it hasn’t left my mind since, maybe also because there are some aftg parallels (in a veryyyy broad sense). both stories do include a lot of difficult topics and violence and hurt and pain but that’s ultimately not what brings change or transformation in either stories. it’s the love that develops and that’s the reason. not just the love between characters, but the love characters have for themselve. their determination to get better and have a life after trauma/hardship; their willingness to strive for happiness or contentment. the overall idea of things were shit but things got better. that just sparks hope.

i really hope things will fall into place for you, and that you’ll find it in yourself to keep going <3 i am so proud of you

[dianight]

Venting. Long.

Today I checked the piece of paper I was given for my second appointment and as it turns out I have to go in person to the hospital again(!?) just to actually get the appointment.

Last time I asked(!) if that was it after all the talking and it was like, "yeah next time we get your levels and if all is good you can start". I got the thingy for the bloodwork, informed consent pages and this little piece of paper with the date and hour for my next consultation.

What do you know, it literally says "IMPORTANT: After your consultation, request an appointment with this sheet on this center" (<- paraphrased). I literally started sweating cold. But I asked! I asked if that was it! How can you not tell me that I need to go and ask IN PERSON for another appointment when I'm there?

And I just checked out of curiosity because I was going to ask if I can get a ride. Bus drops me too far and it takes too long to come back. Worst case scenario I just carry some lunch and spend the day out. No big deal. But then. I see this shit.

What if it's actually done and I don't really have to go in person? What if they set it up? Then why does it not show online? The platform is dogshit, takes ages to load and it says "no appointments". But is it true? I don't know. I can't know. It's saturday night and I decide to be smart and prepare shit, ask people with some notice just to see if I can get something done.

It took me more than 30 minutes panicking while laying in bed to realize. Wait. I can literally call the hospital. Ahahahahahahahhhhhhhhhhhh(!!!). I can call them. Right. But I need to wait until monday morning because they for sure will not answer on the weekend. Doesn't matter if it says it's open. I WILL call them tomorrow. But I have zero hope that it'll do anything.

And I'm lucky(!) that I decided to reread it. Can you imagine if I went there. And they don't call me. Not even the shame or whatever, I care not about that. But I've been waiting for so! long! Almost 9 years. More if you count those before that, when I didn't know one can just be(!) trans. That happens to other people. Surely not me.

You know the one good thing about taking so long? You get to see what others think of you before they know what they think of you. You don't learn who's safe, but you do learn who's unsafe(!).

And you know the thing about cutting people out of your life? It does spare you from the transphobia, but can you even explain to someone you've shared a good chunk of your life with "you are a danger to me"? You can't. They don't understand. No words to make them see.

And I've tried. Given more chances than I thought possible. But there comes a point where you realize that you simply live a different reality. No examples, analogies or comparisons will work. They think they have it figured out, they think they are completely unbiased and see how things truly(!) are. And in the same sentence they deny your whole existence. I say no. You cannot be a part of my life.

And yet I have to tolerate shit for now. The day will come when I'll have my own place again and these people are gone for good. It will happen because the alternative is death and I refuse.

There's a reason why airports have shown up in my dreams so many times despite only being in them like, 10 times total(?). Some of the worst days of my life were spend waiting in an airport. That's why I hate waiting and despise airports. Childish I know. Traumatic perhaps. A decade later I was "welcomed back" and offered a place to stay because we are "family"(<- intense hatred). Were we not family when I got kicked out and had to fly to another country?

I learned kindness from others, but not forgiveness. When all of this is sorted, when I have done my best and seen things through, they will be forgotten. I have no family, just coldhearted individuals who think they can abandon me and not face any consequences. They have not seen me smile or laugh in all this time, and they never will.

Joy has almost disappeared from my life. Many of my friends have turned out to be extremely shitty people. When you are kids you can ignore this stuff because you are also a kid and don't know better. But when are you in your 20s, in your 30s there are things that are unacceptable.

My leg is fine. I can run. It hurts if I overdo it. I used to run for fun. Can't do it anymore.

I used to get up, get breakfast, do whatever, get lunch, keep doing whatever and get dinner. Can't do that when you live with others. You can, but you know what I mean. There's a "normal person schedule" that one has to roughly follow. I also have to be extremely careful with anything I eat. I had to change like 60/70% of my diet and now I cannot eat anything I don't prepare. Too dangerous. It won't kill me (right away) but it will fuck me up for days. Can't eat out either. That certainly does not help you keep friends.

What do I even have left at this point? Videogames? Manga? I don't know. I simply keep going because there is no alternative. Goddess of perseverance. Of those who try. Not the ones who win, not the ones who lose. The ones who do their best when there is nothing left.

Tomorrow I will call the hospital. It might be closed. It might be useless. Best case scenario everything is ready and I've panicked for no reason. Got a good walk out of it (<- walking on the beach at 2am). Realistically and knowing my luck I'll have to call again on monday, they'll tell me I have to go in person and then waste an entire day just to set it up, if somehow I didn't miss a deadline that no one told me about (<- getting overly pessimistic). Then next week I go in there, get my prescription and start moving plots along. Get the paperwork ready. Look for a cheap place. Get someone to help. Just ignore any questions. I don't lie. Then I'll be alive, I'll have finished waiting.

[mysmashplaythroughs]

99 Problems but F-Zero ain't one of them

I see Tumblr's joined the group of websites that felt the need to make their layout even more irritating with no actual gain. Well anyway, yeah another 'off-topic' post rather than something substantial. Admittedly, this has probably been my least productive year yet when it comes to my Smash Bros Playthroughs (Ironic that rereading my post at the end of last year I said I might actually be able to finish everything up to the Spirits etc on my list yet I've not even finished Tales of Symphonia yet...) I've beaten 3 games on my list and two of them I was barely able to justify being on the list as they were new releases (Pokemon Scarlet for the Pokeball item because it's the first main series game where you actually can manually throw a Pokeball to make a Pokemon appear and Fire Emblem Engage because of stage related reasons (there's no spoiler tag it seems on here so I'll hold off specifying). Beyond these though, I've been playing just new releases really including Tears of the Kingdom (the third on my list but I'll hold off why), Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed (which was fantastic) and I finally was able after all these years to play Spider-man on my new Steamdeck which took up a large chunk of my game playing this year (didn't finish Miles game yet though.) There are two other games I've mainly played, (besides every so often doing a few Mario Maker 2 courses which is part of a big project I've been working on for that) the first of which is finally relating to the dumb title I've used above. F-Zero 99 isn't what F-Zero fans wanted but it's still been great to play imo and I've been playing it far more than I thought I would. Hopefully this will be a sign of some possible attention for the series as a whole as it seems to have attracted quite a few casual players as well as F-Zero fans.

I thought I'd managed after what I mentioned last time to get every game I wanted to on the eShop before it closed on 3DS and Wii U, and I did manage that for my Smash list, but I was missing a game I'd always meant to pick up but never got around to... and I realised far too late that meant the only option now was trying to track down an overpriced copy on Ebay or something. I did however manage to win a copy in an auction (I wouldn't like to admit how much, just that it was below at least the prices for every other copy I saw on there) of Project X Zone 2. Because of this I've been playing that a lot recently, I've made it a fair way in, there's more characters than I expected that I at least knew the name or look of but it's definitely got a lot of ones I had to ask my friends who play a lot more obscure games about. With that said, since Phoenix Wright didn't get into Smash it is fun at least having him in something like it and I have been enjoying it. I've mentioned before I believe sometimes just liking crossovers even if they're things I've never heard of, I guess because in a sense it allows me as a newcomer to see it from the eyes of the other characters who've never met before and so I learn what they learn. Either way, that's been mostly taking up my playtime atm, which try as I might I haven't currently found a way of justifying to be on my list (granted, honestly adding it might be reaching too much even for me.) All of this however, has led to a problem that means I might have to change plans fast...

Nintendo's announced that the Wii U and 3DS will be losing their online almost entirely next year, with only redownloads of software you own, updates to software and Pokemon Bank I believe to still remain after next April (and Bank is stated to end sometime after...) This announcement made me realise I had to heavily look at my list and see if there's something that will make impossible. I worried about Federation Force and Triforce Heroes but those do seem to be at least playable in single player (definitely not ideal but not completely unusable) however, it's the other thing that has me concerned, Pokemon Bank closing. Due to this, I've realised I have to do what I originally planned to do after finishing the items on my list, which is to capture every single Pokemon that's appeared in Smash Bros in any form (Pokeball, stage background, Trophies, Spirits) but in it's home region. I was then planning on transferring them all to Pokemon Ultra Moon and using that game to get screenshots of them (with their region exclusive photo backgrounds in the game). Due to this therefore, I plan to start very soon playing through the final two Pokemon games I had on my list, Emerald and Crystal. Admittedly, Emerald isn't one I plan on actually using to capture Pokemon specifically, it's far far easier for me to use ORAS to do so, but for my actual playthrough of the game's plot etc, I plan on playing the original Emerald on GBA. Crystal is one I've been looking forward to for a while as it's my favourite Pokemon game ever and on my list of top 10 games of all time (the majority of which are on my Smash list) I do also have Sword and Shield on my Smash Bros list as well as Legends Arceus and Let's Go, however since they're on Switch I'm going to hold off on those till I was originally going to play them. Also because it's almost impossible beyond hacking or using complicated means from what I've seen to get certain Pokemon, I will settle for simply having ones like Celebi or Mew rather than specifically getting them from their regions, basically as you can probably guess I just mean I'll get what I can.

So yeah, that's where I'm at basically, I'll probably update my list after posting this as I've added a fair few things (Daisy for example is going to have Super Mario Bros Wonder become her actual game now seeing as it fits her in Smash a lot more than Super Mario Party did on my initial list) so yeah. I guess if I have an aim for this by the end of the year, I highly doubt I'll beat all the games I have on my list for Mii Costumes (from Tales of Symphonia to DOOM 2016) but I do plan on going back to a few I've skipped over either because I couldn't play them at the time or didn't want to burn out too much on one series (numerous Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games I've skipped over for now regarding costumes or stage elements for example) so at the very least I'd like to end this year with that looking a little bit more respectable. Typing this out has made me decide to finally stop holding back on this and get a move on with it, so I'm hoping perhaps by the end of the year I might finally write those last two Melee character posts and have good news on my progress after that. Either way, I guess in honour of Charles Martinet, I'll try and stick to the mantra of 'Here we go!' (Yes, feel free to unfollow me after that)

[eusuntgratie]

first sentence game

 Tagged by @voxofthevoid 😘

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

I’m doing a mix of posted fics and wips, bc why not.

In reverse chronological order (for wips based on when I plan to finish/post):

1. Travis doesn’t recognize the guy in his face running through all the stupid protocol questions he’s done a million times. (tknp concussion angst, wip)

2. TK is halfway through a story when he stops, frozen, mouth hanging open, Law staring at him like he’s a fucking idiot, people awkwardly shuffling around them. (tknp, thirsty airport meet cute au, wip)

3. Nolan tries hard to project an aura of “responsible adult” as he walks into the schoolyard. (tknp, school pickup thirst au, wip)

4. Normally they leave him alone when he gets like this, let him suffer in silence for a minute until he gets his shit together enough to address the team, say something to bring everybody back together, refocused and leaving the last period behind. (sidgeno d/s fic, wip)

5. Patty holds his breath when the text comes through from his agent with a link to the article. (tknp, patty retires fic, wip - hopefully my next to post but still a ways out!)

6. Sid’s happy, watching his team trail into his house with their wives, girlfriends, and kids. (sidannageno, can’t help it i want you, posted)

7. Allison watches as Cora grips a canvas bag she doesn’t recognize, twisting the handle in her hands. (allison/cora, let’s get lost, posted)

8. “They’re never gonna go away,” Stiles says, out of the blue, while he’s chopping veggies for a salad and Stiles is stirring a pot of pasta sauce on the stove. (sterek, i know places, part of stiles gets migraine ‘verse series, posted)

9. Allison hears someone come into the bathroom and figures it’s probably Lydia waiting to corner her about some party this weekend. (allison/erica, pink like the truth you can’t hide, posted)

10. TK drags Patty by the hand through the woods until she stops bitching about TK making her hike and starts taking in the beauty around her. (rule 63 tknp, she, posted)

No pressure tagging @jbarneswilson @munsonboy @lostcol @onward--upward @librarian-von-sassypants

[anotherghoul666]

You're reading American Gods! What do you think of it? I reread it for the first time in ages last month and it's still one of my favorites. Gaiman and Pratchett were what I grew up on and I love putting a reference or two in my fics (or just. Writing an entire fic based off Shadow's nickname 🤭) because without them I wouldn't have started writing at all! -Stream

I quite like it! I find American Gods reads very easy, in that the prose is super easy to fall into and get absorbed by. I don't have the spoons to make big reading sessions often, but when I do, I find I polish good chunks of the book without having seen time pass at all. It's very much a book where I have no fucking clue what's going on but I also feel secure in the knowledge that the author knows 100% of what's going on and I just need to let go of the reins and get dragged along. I have a ton of fun pulling from my paganism knowledge to try and guess which characters are which deities, so far I've been right often and that little hit of dopamine I get when a true name is finally written out and I'm like "HA! KNEW IT!" is fire. I am not American so I feel a ton of the references to US culture, places, towns, the all American road trip vibe, are lost on me and would hit better for someone who was born in the US and actually knows of these cultural items, but it's still fun to discover. I'm just shy of entering the final 100 pages so I can't speak to the ending or to how things resolve, if there is any resolve to be had. To be honest I feel like this is gonna be a very open ended book where none of my questions will get answered? I kinda dread the ending because of that not gonna lie, because that makes me hate books, but. You know. I'm this far in, I'll finish it for sure eventually, and at least the ride will have been a fun time. So far quite an entertaining read, 7.5/10 for me? Subject to change with how clear and satisfying the ending will feel for me? TBD. I also want to watch the TV show once I'm done with the book. I enjoy seeing other people's visual interpretations ofthe characters and compare them to mine :)

I enjoy Gaiman and Pratchett's writing. Good Omens I have especially fond memories of. That was one of those full throttle pure fun books that got out loud laughs from me several times.

Gaiman has a special place in my heart because of his Norse Mythology. I'm a practicing heathen and I feel we're taught to be of interpretations and re-writings of the eddas, but. Gaiman's was A FUCKING DELIGHT. I don't care what the hardcore first-source purists will say, sue me. His Norse Mythology made me laugh, made me cry, made me need to put the book down for pauses because of how flooded with love for the gods I was, and it was a devotional experience. For an author to put such personality in the gods and present some of the main myths in such a personable, accessible, fun, light, real, three-dimensional way, this book is a damn treasure and an asset to us pagans. I've unapologetically used it as a starting point for non-pagans to understand a bit of how we can feel and it has hit every time. I adore this book, and that's why I had American Gods on my list too. I don't regret having picked it up :D

I can completely understand Gaiman and by extension Pratchett's influence on you Stream, and the desire to put nods to them in your own writing! I'm so glad they were here when you grew up to inspire you picking up the pen!! That's precious! ❤️

[the-lonelybarricade]

I just finished rereading all of ACoFD!! Took me a whole week to get through but god it’s so worth it. And this time I read LVER alongside it since I didn’t read it the first time through - so good! I love how you’ve fleshed out Elain’s character and made her feel whole. But jeez that cliffhanger with Elain and Nesta jumping in the cauldron, I’m so nervous what’s gonna happen! Can’t wait for the next chapter! Take as much time as you need though, cause I can always reread it again while I wait :P

Awww omg 🥺 Thank you for re-reading and especially thank you for coming to LET ME KNOW that you reread because 🥺🥺 wow. A whole week??? It blows my mind to think about how many words I've put into that series. Thank you for loving it enough to read it multiple times and to be patient with me while I've taken far too long to finish the story. I appreciate it so, so much 💕

I AM planning on returning to the ACoFD universe imminently, I just got a bit side tracked for Feysand month but after I finish up this chapter for my collab with MB I'm setting my sights on Chapter 50. I went to read through what I have already (3k words) and gasped when i remembered where I left it off. Like DAMN LB you really threw Elain and Nesta into the pit and peaced out. At the time I was very much planning on releasing chapter 50 like the week after.

Anyway! I am hoping to be able to do a lot of writing while I'm on my buisness trip this week and I'm hoping that means I'll come back with a decent chunk of ACoFD ready to be sent to my lovely beta. I promise I won't keep y'all waiting much longer! 💕

[lavenoon]

For the writing asks:

💞 💫 🎀 (if you wanna!)

I always wanna! Even though I might pretend I theatrically perish at having to compliment myself gfhdjs it's mostly just for the bit! (The rest is bad awareness of myself so I gotta think hard lmao)

🎀 give yourself a compliment about your own writing

Okay compliment number 2, let's go fghdsj

I really really like my dialogue! It's often the first thing that I have for a scene, because I think in words more than visuals, and then I craft a scene around it to make it all as emotionally devastating as possible! Seems to work well enough, with an eye towards the comments I get hehe <3

💫 what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

Answered here, but I can also say that I really just reread comments an insane amount. It's a bit of a shame they're all very scattered - some in tumblr tags, some in asks, some on ao3, some on discord - but that just makes it rewarding no matter where I look! Especially recently with that creative slump I've been rereading my own stuff and the reactions it got to remind myself why it's fun and a good thing, so I'm really really glad the dca fandom is just so generous with feedback! <3

💞 what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

Also mentioned a bit already in that other ask, but there's more! These also translate to what turns me away from a story if I don't feel like they were considered to a satisfying degree, because yeah that's. That's what's important to me!

So another point is not exactly worldbuilding, because I do admittedly not worldbuild a lot. But it's about how what is there is treated, and integrated, and if it feels like there's info missing! My willingness to suspend my disbelief is unparalleled, as long as what is given within the fic makes sense. I don't need excessive detail as long as things are consistent, and make sense for the world the characters live in. That's of course a tad subjective, but it really depends on the vibe! In fact, sometimes worldbuilding can be excessive - my favorite urban fantasy series unfortunately has that habit of just. Reiterating the worldbuilding in every new novel, and often in a big chunk to get it back out of the way like a refresher, even if not all of it is currently relevant! (me, every Kate Daniels novel: yes, I know how the were-society works, I know I know I know I have binge read this many times thank you can we please go back to your currently happening conversation with your best friend -) So I tend to not overdo it on the worldbuilding myself - there's the asks I reply to here on tumblr, to give the people curious some idea of what I'm imagining, but within the fic I keep that stuff to a minimum and expect the reader to read things at face value. There's hints there, but they're treated as normal and natural within the fic, because I want the audience to think of it as such within the universe! The elaboration has no room within the writing itself, that's for lore asks!