#but that means that you HAVE to write that 90% of shit first. otherwise you won't be able to make that 10%

[racke7]

Once upon a time, someone told me that in ancient times, "genius" was less "a person who is smart" and more "a spirit implanted something amazing in their brain for this one thing".

It was mentioned to me as a way to help distance yourself from your own art.

It's your skill that's being used, but it's the idea-making spirit that's responsible for what you create. And sometimes the idea is incredible, and other times it's kind of meh, and other times it's actively awful.

I don't know how historically accurate this "fact" is, but at the time I first heard it, I very much felt like I could believe in it. It helped counteract that desperate desire to make art that was "as good" as what you'd produced at some other time.

But in hindsight I feel like it was also a weird off-shoot of a philosophy I'd been expressing for ages by that point.

Inspiration is an instant thing, because it happens like a trigger. You might look at a doorknob and something in your brain suddenly goes "that's the last piece of the puzzle" and then suddenly? Inspiration.

The actual final puzzle-piece source of inspiration will never really make sense to anyone who isn't you, even if you could probably piece together a full seemingly-sensible narrative for that inspiration if given enough time.

And that moment? If it doesn't strike you, then you're just left staring at a blank document, trying to force your brain to write. And it'll never "measure up" to those puzzle-pieces sliding into place in your head, but it's also the only part of the process that you can really "work hard" at.

Inspiration will strike you. It might not strike at a convenient place, and maybe the puzzle-piece is of a really shitty puzzle, but it's not something you're ever really going to have conscious control over.

In that sense? It overlaps very nicely with the idea of a muse. A being that will appear suddenly, drag you away from whatever you were trying to do, and then disappear without a trace.

And that's not your fault.

Muse-catching is a complicated and deeply personal thing to learn, and sometimes the muse will make it easy for you, and other times it'll be like trying to punch a hurricane.

Your only real job as an artist is to not stop. To not give up hope.

[heartlesscorpse]

Ghostface HCs ⋆｡°✩👻🔪

Wahoo, more Ghostfaceeee. Ghostface brainrot be really taking over tho gadayum, Danny gonna drill a hole into my fucking brain; unlike Pyramid Head as he pretty much made a crater. Smh, I’m rambling too much and Imma move on from that now — yeah slightly busy week but pushing through in the mean time and having Ghostface for some fuckin’ motivation. Some nsfw shit will be mentioned so MDNI and possibly some gore but nonetheless, this’ll be a fun one boys. ∠( ᐛ 」∠)_

OKAY getting this shit out of the way first but Slipknot do be hitting hard for me atm and I gotta say it’s either Vermilion or Prosthetics that give me massive brainrot and Ghostface vibes.

It’s a possibility I might even write a mini fic based off of Prosthetics ngl, now there’s a fuckin’ thought.

It’s either some dumbass banter or flirting between you and Ghostface, never an in between. Most of the time 90% of whatever flirtatious remarks comes out of Danny’s mouth is a joke, but at the same time he’s also not fuckin’ kidding.

“Baby what that tongue do?” “Lick my fingers. To turn the pages of the Bible for sinners like you.”

Get ready for some nightly fucking shenanigans because Ghostface is going to drop in when you least expect it.

Despite being the flirtatious bastard he is, Danny can get clingy at times.

Like this man could demand cuddles and if you refuse he will just tie you up and have his cuddles anyways because he doesn’t give a shit if you say no. He does what he wants anyways.

He’ll have you lying there tied up and helpless on your bed, listening to whatever fuckin’ rants he’s going on about, probably something about his night or maybe shit talking about another resident in Roseville he plans to kill in some few days. ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

By the time he’s leaving he might’ve took something small of yours for keeping, not like you were gonna notice much of a difference anyways. And you’re definitely not gonna get it back.

Besides stalking his chosen targets for his next kill, Ghostface still keeps his tabs on you whenever he doesn’t happen to show up inside your home or phone in. Either he’d take some photos on random occasions while you’re in public, keeping lost items of yours, might’ve ended up building a small shrine out of that shit ngl.

It’s almost hilarious but at the same time it isn’t, because Ghostface swore to himself he would never build some sort of attachment towards his victims or anybody in general but then you came along and somehow changed that shit. 💀💀

Might’ve found out your text tbh so he could annoy you for endless hours during the day when he’s not around and playing himself as Jed and working at the Gazette.

Did I forget to mention how possessive he is??? Man’s honestly lucky to have some restraint and composure seeing some other people talking to you and breathing the same fuckin’ air otherwise he would’ve killed them already by the next night, this shit don’t apply to that drunkard who was harassing you the one Saturday night you went out to the bar with friends though. That shit was justified in his opinion.

There’s either two reasons and two reasons only why Ghostface would’ve made a drop inside your house, either this man is wanting attention from you and to talk, or this mfer is horny as shit. There’s no in-between.

Dude’s into kinky shit you name it, stuff like: bondage, blood play, knife play, things like that. Blood play might’ve been off the table for the first half however he might’ve brought it up some time around when you got comfy enough where you weren’t constantly having to get into some cat fight with the guy.

Might I add, the first time he met you and he was picking you off as one of his victims he got a fuckin’ hard-on from your fear and seeing the bit of blood smeared on your arms or cheeks while you were fighting for your life.

Mirror sex, semi-public sex, a quickie, phone sex, dude’s up for some small bit of risks and that mainly goes with semi-public ofc because he finds it fun and adds more spice to the situation.

He’s still paying close in mind wherever he does it so he himself isn’t getting caught in that position with you and shit would somehow escalate. He doesn’t do it often a lot but maybe to some rare occasion or something like that.

He likes hearing you beg and looking like an absolute flustered mess under him. 😌

Rough sex is also a big yes, he doesn’t do it gentle much but it might’ve happened in some rare chances even if you didn’t ask for it.

Mask stays on babes he’s not taking it off during sex.

He’s also pushing you to overstimulation because he can and will, and he takes fuckin’ joy out of it >:))

Gets a small power trip out of it too, knowing he’s the one driving you insane this way and making you plead for his cock.

Shhh that’s just his way of showing how much he loves you.

He’s pretty good with aftercare, cuddles in bed afterwards and a short nap in the mean time before morning where he’ll have to bounce by then and get to work.

☠︎︎༒︎✞︎🕸𖤐

[jcollinswrites]

How the fudge are you writting so fast??? I sit down to write and end up with nothing or reworking plot instead of writing 😭Have any tips you want to share? Perhaps the ingredients to the dark ritual you perform to get the motivation and remain focused 👀👀👀

So, first of all, you'll need half a newborn, shaken, not stirred…

lol jk (don't shake babies)

Believe it or not I'm the same as you, so here are some stuff that helped me tremendously, especially with my squirrel ADHD brain:

NUMBER ONE that I needed 20 years to learn, is that… forget editing, man. You can't edit if there is nothing to edit, so first you have to sit ya ass down and just fuckin' do it. It doesn't matter if it's shit at first. It's called work in progress for a reason. Who cares if it's shit? You can edit it LATER when the whole thing is already done. What you're reading in my game is literally my first draft. Lots of scenes might change later. In fact, I'm already changing scenes in the background, I'm just not always telling you. It doesn't matter. If anyone gives you shit for it, tell them to kindly fuck right off.

Have a plan for the book (written down. Not just in your head). Don't even start writing until you have a plan for the entire book. It doesn't have to be detailed. Mine is just bulletpoints, but you should know which chapter will contain what, including plot points, character development, relationship progress etc, otherwise you'll get lost, especially in a big IF. And then as you get closer to the next chapter, you can work out more details in the plan to help the actual writing.

If you don't feel like writing a scene, then don't write it. Leave a placeholder word there (I use 'mandarin' because that word likely won't come up anywhere else in the text), and instantly move on to another scene that you have inspiration for. Later, you can just search for 'mandarin' and add the scene when you feel like it. If you accidentally come across any MANDARINs in my game, that's the reason lol.

If you are writing an IF, it helps to start simple. Write the story until a choice comes up, then write the title of the choices, and continue ONLY with the route you feel the most inspired for atm (use mandarin for the rest). Don't let your momentum die by getting bogged down in choices. That's why I have so many greyed out choices when I start a new origin or chapter. I just write write write until the end of the chapter, THEN I go back to whatever choice is the simplest to add, and put the variations in the already-existing text if needed. Repeat until all the choices are written and coded in. This way, the text might feel more organic too, because you already have a pre-written skeleton that you can just add variations in.

Keep notes. It helps to have them on paper, next to you, so f.ex. when you make 9 different deities to choose from, you don't have to go back to the beginning of the chapter every single time to look up which deities those were and what they mean, you can simply turn your head to the side lol.

Take regular breaks. Exercise, stretch. Keep a daily schedule. Eat and drink enough. Try to keep a good health. Your brain won't work if it's starved.

Know yourself and your habits, and be honest with yourself. I know of myself that once I start working on the big plot points, I won't have any motivation to come back to the beginning again. That's why I'm writing all the origin stories first, because I know that if I start going into chapter 2, I definitely won't feel like coming back to start yet another route from the very beginning. So if you don't feel like doing something, then just… don't do it. Or do it simpler. Do it smarter. Trick that asshole brain into cooperating.

Last but not least, guys, 90% of my motivation COMES FROM YOU! Your engagement, your messages, your feedback, every little interaction is what keeps me going! So write me! I will answer! (if you aren't a dick). Literally, about anything. Even if it's just "hey I really liked this small detail here", that will already make my day, seriously. I LOVE talking about my work, and I'm pretty sure every author is like that, so keep engaging with writers, because that's 90% of the reason when a novel gets finished! I'm writing for YOU! Your enjoyment, your fun, because I love telling stories, but those stories don't mean anything if no one is reading them.

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  steddieas_shegoes! @steddieas-shegoes has 382 fics in the Stranger Things fandom on AO3 and 355 of them are in the Steddie tag!

@starryeyedjanai recommends the following works by @steddieas-shegoes:

call me sunshine, send me to space

we'd shake the frame of your car

this place is such great motivation for anyone trying to move the fuck away from hibernation

driver roll up the partition please

"Mickala is a PILLAR in this fandom. She's doing microfics, she's doing multiple month-long challenges at the same time, she's writing a big bang that I am frothing at the mouth over reading soon. She's doing it ALL!!!! She's written an absurd amount of words in such a short amount of time and I am just in awe of her 💕💕💕" -- @starryeyedjanai

Below the cut, @steddieas-shegoes answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

Because my love for Steve Harrington could no longer be contained, and neither could Eddie’s. Because have you seen those two? Look at them. Keep looking at them. They’re so!

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

This list is longer than any of us have the time to read, but I will say that enemies to lovers or exes to lovers has been hitting the spot hard lately. I’m also a sucker for a good modern au, like texting the wrong number or rockstar Eddie and otherwise famous Steve.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

At the heart of everything I write, they’re stupid in love. Whether they know it or not, whether they say it or not, they are. I think my favorite tag to use is idiots to lovers or idiots in love because it’s true. They’re just dumb for each other and it’s so fun to write from every angle.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

Okay my absolute all time favorite fic of any fandom I have ever read anything in is Tuesday's Gone With the Wind - Chapter 1 - thisapplepielife - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]. It changed me from the inside out. I think about this fic every single day, sometimes multiple times a day.  But I do also have to say my very, very close second would be start by pulling him out of the fire by pricklywhicket. There is no better Wayne fic, there could never be a better Wayne fic. If you love Wayne, and you love Eddie, and you love Steve, and you love Steddie, this is the fic to read.

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

I tend to avoid writing heavy angst of any kind, mostly because I tend to also avoid reading it unless it has a happy ending. But I have two things currently in my notes app that are very angsty, one of them would possibly have a more open/slightly unhappy ending, and I might be brave and do it. It’s the one area that I know I haven’t delved into.

What is your writing process like?

There’s a process? You guys are following a process? Oh shit, I didn’t know. But seriously, the process looks a lot like: *has idea *types what should be headcanon of said idea *headcanon becomes 2500 words of actual story *posts I really just go with the flow. I don’t edit 90% of the time, I don’t have a beta reader (except for my bang fic), I rarely even go in with a full-fledged plan. Whatever happens, happens.

Do you have any writing quirks?

If I write Steve with a migraine in something, it usually means I was suffering from a migraine at the time. I almost always give him similar symptoms to mine, though I usually dramatize them a little for the hurt/comfort of it all. They say write what you know and boy do I know migraines.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

I have only written a handful of chaptered fics, and I tried to follow as much of a schedule as I could, but I don’t. I get too excited and I end up just posting as soon as something is finished.

Which fic are you most proud of?

This is a hard one. I am proud that I ever even posted the first thing I did. This was the first fandom I ever published anything in, and I was pretty nervous about sharing something I wrote in a rush on my notes app. But I think I’m most proud of call me sunshine, send me to space. It challenged me to take this one on, and while I know I probably wouldn’t write it the same if I were to write it now, I know that it will always be there as proof of how far you can come if you keep doing the thing.

How did you get the idea for call me sunshine, send me to space?

Uh…personal experience? I was getting a small tattoo and had my usual reaction and then went home and said to myself “Steve would end up in a situation about this” and then I wrote the situation. Which is actually how so much of my works start.

When writing call me sunshine, send me to space, what was something you didn’t expect?

The amount of love it’s gotten! It was still kind of my early days of posting on AO3 and I had only just started really interacting on tumblr, so it shocked me how quickly people started commenting and asking to be on the tag list. That fic is what “put me on the map” I guess, and is definitely responsible for all of the friendships I’ve made in the last year.

What inspired this place is such great motivation for anyone trying to move the fuck away from hibernation?

A silly little headcanon I posted that got way out of hand in my thoughts and then on paper. We tend to lean more towards the single dad Steve thing, especially myself, but then I completely ran with the single dad Eddie thing, and a whole fic came out of it.

What was your favorite part to write from this place is such great motivation for anyone trying to move the fuck away from hibernation?

This fic was my worst enemy for months. I was so busy in real life that I felt like I wasn’t able to give it the attention it deserved. I had a few favorite parts, but I think the first time Mia calls Steve ‘Mama’ is up there for sure. It kinda sets the tone for the whole fic that Steve is meant to be in their lives and this baby knows it before the rest of them.

How do/did you feel writing we'd shake the frame of your car?

Honestly, I was just trying to stick to as much of the prompts as possible. Since it was a gift for Sandy, I wanted to make sure it was the best gift I could give!

What was the most difficult part of writing driver roll up the partition please?

Keeping it on the shorter side! If it were up to me, ficlets like that would be 20k minimum, but because it was for an event and I tend to take on more than I can actually handle, it had to stay short.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

I have a lot of lines that I really love that I am always in awe that I managed to write. But I think I am most excited about the scene in my upcoming bang fic, the scene that came to me before anything else for this fic and inspired the whole thing.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

My bang fic bear hugs starts posting on September 27th. If you like hockey, single dad steve, and friends to lovers, this is THE fic for you. I also co-mod for steddie microfic, which is a monthly exact word count challenge with a new prompt and word count every month; I run Steddie Song Fics, a monthly writing challenge that changes every month with new songs, word count limits, genres, and more; I run Steddie Holiday Drabbles, which is a daily drabble event that takes place in December, with multiple pop-up events throughout the year; and if this posts in time, I am running Steddie Smutty September, an 18+ only event that will have weekly writing and art prompts for the month of September.    

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

Thank you to whoever nominated me, and thank you to everyone who supports me and other authors by liking, commenting, reblogging, and recommending fics!

Thank you to our author, @steddieas-shegoes, and our nominator, @starryeyedjanai! See more of steddieas_shegoes's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[annabtg]

I thought your answer on jily and whether or not they were in love or if it was abusive super interesting!

Personally I’m not the biggest jily fan but that has more to do with the main tropes being used that I tend to find tiring and outdated. But Ive been trying to get more into it recently and it’s been hard finding fics I enjoy because they are either too snape bash-y or feel anachronistic in how they portray the relationship. When im reading jily I actually prefer the writer to lean into the outdated tropes instead of trying to make it fit the modern readers ideas of appropriate courtship behavior, because otherwise it doesn’t feel authentic to me. Specifically it bugs me when they make James a super feminist that would never ask Lily out more than once (I don’t think he’d recognize that as sexual harassment as a teenager boy in the 70s). I get that this is popular fanon right now but it’s been hard to find a fic that doesn’t have this.

So my question is do you have any jily fic recommendations that fit this description (minimal Snape bashing and time period accurate)?

Hi there!

By your wording, I'm not sure if by "time period accurate" you mean fics where he actually asks her out a lot. The beginning of your post seemed to imply that, even though I would argue that it's not the only time period accurate headcanon. Indeed, there are plenty of reasons someone in the 70s may not have repeatedly asked a girl out - from his ego being bruised by her first rejection, to he actually took no for an answer and that doesn't necessarily mean he's a super feminist icon. Not everyone who takes no for an answer is. :p

You may have more luck with old-time fic, tbh - the "ask her out a million times" trope was much more prevalent then, and people were not as feministically aware :p though Snape bashing was much more common. I actually feel that in most newer Jily canon fics Snape is portrayed as a well-rounded antagonist, rather than bashed.

So I'm going to start with some oldies:

I recently read Commentarius by @bcdaily and, while I wouldn't say I got the perfect 70s vibe from it (more like the 90s - it felt very accurate to the way I grew up), I enjoyed seeing in it a portrayal of James that I think most people wouldn't dare write today for fear, exactly, of him not being feminist/respectful enough to Lily. I won't get into details to avoid spoilers. (Very long and incomplete, but considered a classic.)

I also hear The Life And Times by Jewels5 features an immature James who grows up throughout the fic, but I haven't read it so I couldn't tell you myself. (Also very long and incomplete and considered a classic.)

If you enjoy the idea of James being an outrageous little shit for comedic effect, you might enjoy Procrastinator-starting2moro's fics. I haven't read Obsessive Lily Disorder since 2006 so I can't say I remember it very well but the title should give you an idea of how insistently he asks her out in it :p though there may be some Snape bashing in it.

For more recent works, I will gladly recommend everything by @nought-shall-go-ill, who creates the most atmospheric depictions of 70s/80s UK, and also likes Snape and enjoys nuanced portrayals of Jily.

Other writers whose portrayals of James I thoroughly enjoy and who do a great job of presenting James as the little shit that he is include @annasghosts and @ohmygodshesinsane.

And to finish with some self-recs, anything in my James Potter Is A Little Shit tag should be a good bet. I would give a shout-out to my older fics Birthday and Fascination, and my newer ones Written In History and Drunk With Power as the ones you may enjoy the most. And I'll gladly tout readers' favourites The Great James Potter and Mistletoe Mishaps as examples where James is respectful to Lily in ways that I feel are natural and reasonable for the era, all while he's still a little cocky shit.

Hope this helps! Happy reading!!

[arduennas]

i saw wicked!! 8/10 movie very good. i also have many thoughts head full. i fully acknowledge that these thoughts could only belong to the diseased mind of a person who has thought too much about wicked for the last 7+ years. anyway spoilers and general ambivalent thoughts ahead etc

good things first:

cynthia erivo slay!! she was like an average good elphaba imo which means she was incredible by normal standards

set design and choreography ATE. munchkinland? the emerald city? the clockography? ate ate ate

overall the movie was just visually beautiful. it was colorful and sparkly and looked soooo expensive. whenever a new location appeared for the first time i literally gasped. i loved it

elphaba’s party dress was GORGINA 😍😍😍

michelle yeoh and jeff goldblum my beloved evil parents… they can’t sing but idc they were so cunty

they sort of kept the hammerheads in one short day which is all i wanted from that song. wicked is not wicked without the egg puppet freaks

they didn’t add anything from the book thank fucking god

ari was funny and pretty good! will expand on her later. i think they did popular the best they could in a movie format given that the song relies so much on improv, physical comedy, audience response, etc.

neutral to bad things:

ok so ariana. very eyebrow-heavy performance. not bad vocally! it was foul to make her sing with cheno during osd though, the difference in quality was so clear lmao. i’m interested to see how she’ll deal with act 2 both vocally and acting-wise

i didn’t like how light ariana sang throughout the whole movie. idk if she was directed to do this though—i could see them telling her to do glinda less obnoxious or tone down the comedy which i understand for a movie. but come on girl it won’t kill you to do a full belt in the studio ONCE

ariana and cynthia’s voices do not blend well. you can tell cynthia was trying to tone herself down to match ari and ari was just not giving in return

the mixing was weirdly unbalanced in a lot of the duety portions and i couldn’t tell whether it was the fault of the sound design or the actors just not being able to sound good together lol

it fucking DRAGGED. there is a 90-minute edit of this movie that could easily have existed. none of us needed to hear something bad or a sentimental man. they took every small pause in the music and stretched it out to the point where it interrupted the flow of the song AND became patently obvious that they were trying to pad for time. the new part of one short day with idina and kristin was not good and also too long. the added chase scene before defying gravity started out fun but then went on way longer than it should have. the ozdust dance was SO LONG my god. i could write up a whole list of shit that went on pointlessly for way too long but we would be here all day

there are some elphabas who can carry i’m not that girl. cynthia is not one of them and this is my only complaint about her performance. she divafied a song that is not meant to be divafied

dancing though life was arranged and directed badly. for lack of a better term it’s meant to be a stoner song and it was way too punchy. also if you’re going to insist on casting a white fiyero at least make him good #notmyfiyero

the lighting was often not good??? i think because a lot of it was filmed outside and the sun washed out the set or created a glare. some odd color grading choices as well. really weird because otherwise visually the movie was stunning as i said before

this is a criticism of many modern movies, definitely not wicked-specific, but a lot of the the costumes looked cheap and it’s because of productions cutting corners when it comes to materials and tailoring. especially compared to the show costumes which are so intricate and structurally well-made because they’ve had to last for literally 20 years. we need to ban polyester from film sets i’m so serious

glinda and elphaba should have kissed each other on the mouth

[miraclewoozi]

hi everyone ! <3

i very recently hit the milestone of 500 followers on this blog! first and foremost, i want to say a super huge massive great big THANK YOU to everyone who has followed me here, and also to anyone who has ever interacted with one of my fics! i want you to know that genuinely, every like, every reblog, every ask and every single piece of feedback warms my heart so much. couldn't do this shit without you guys. second and... secondmost? (don't look at me like that) i wanted to try to give back some of that love and play around a little (especially with writing for members i've never written before) by doing a little event. SO... until my birthday on the 14th MARCH, i'm going to be be taking prompt requests! (t's + c's under the cut, please read them! i will delete any asks that don't follow these simple guidelines.)

EVENT RUNTIME —

exactly four weeks, from today! any asks sent with requests after THURSDAY 14th MARCH will be deleted!

HOW TO —

to send a request, just send me an ask containing both the member you're requesting for and a prompt from one of the following lists! fluff | smut | angst

PLEASE NOTE —

regardless of whether your request is for smut, fluff or angst, MY BLOG IS STRICTLY FOR PEOPLE 18+ ONLY. please respect this. minors, do not interact with me: you will get blocked.

if you can, try not to be too specific with your requests: ideally, member + prompt only. however, if you picked a fluff prompt but wanted it to be a smut piece, that's okay! just let me know. otherwise, keep it minimal.

i'm going to try to keep these relatively short (ie. no more than about 2.5k words each). don't hold me to that though. if something tickles my fancy it'll no doubt be more.

please be patient with me. i'm new to this. i may not (probably definitely won't) write these in order of receiving them. i might take some time to get to yours. i am not ignoring your ask! i'll likely even end up writing some of these after the event has ended. please don't come into my inbox asking where yours is because i might cry. thanks. <3

everything for this event will be tagged mw500party! do with that what you will.

i am not taking regular requests at this time! hard hours are always welcome (please come and drop your most unhinged thoughts in my inbox, i'll love u forever) but if you send a request that is not linked to a prompt as per this event, it will just get deleted.

if (strong on the 'if', i am 90% expecting this to flop and therefore for this post to self destruct in like 3 working days) i get overwhelmed with the number of these that get sent in, i may choose to close this up early. that's at my discretion. i'll try not to! and i'll let you know if that seems likely to happen.

and... that's it? i think! again, i really can't overstate how much it means to have you guys all here and supporting me. thank you, from the bottom of my silly little heart. i hope you'll stick around for wherever my brainworms take me from here on out. peace.<3

[randum-famdoms]

Hello! I'm reading one of your fic's on ao3 and was wondering when it's gonna be updated? I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the fic and wanna know how long until we get a new chapter! Love your writing! And I was so happy to see that you gave Mishima such a cool persona! I love the fic so much! I've been ranting to my friends about it nonstop (even though neither of them have ever played the game) but they both sit there and listen nonetheless! (I may even try and convince them to read it! It's a pretty interesting take on the whole game! And the part where Akira is worried that Mishima will have a problem with him being gay and Mishima just like "If I had a problem with it I would've said something back in kamoshida's palace" was amazing! I love everything about it and I can't explain in words just why I love it so much! It's just amazing! If I was better at art I would LOVE to make some fanart of it!!! Again I can't explain just how much I love it! I hope you're doing well and aren't sick!

(How was the dog sitting by the way? Hope it went well!)

Ahshdjdkjfndbdkjdl thank you??????

I just. *scream*

The idea that people can love a silly little thing I write for fun this much is kinda unreal to me. Idk how to respond???? Thanks????

I mean, I’ve reacted like this to fics I have read before but having it turned into myself is trippy. Like this is some weirdly dream or some shit. Idk man. Shit’s wild.

Every time someone tells me how happy they are about the way I’m treating mishima in my fic I am further convinced that everyone who says he’s a bad character is a fucking coward and if more people would just make Mishima positive content then the fandom would be better off. He does not get enough love and appreciation and I will gladly take on the mantle of Mishima Ambassador. He is my blorbo, my boi, and I love him dearly. He deserves better, both in game and in the fandom, so I just did it myself.

Also, I ain’t about to beg you for fanart because you reading my fic is more than enough already and then you sent me this ask and Ann bear gave me a heart attack from joy, but trust me if you think you’re a bad artist I’ve seen worse. Much, much worse. I took an art class in a very sports heavy highschool and 90% of the kids in there were teenage boys who thought it would be an easy A. The first assignment was to draw a realistic hand. You’d think that they were AI with how bad some of them looked. So yeah, any hypothetical art you make is beautiful to me, especially because I’m fairly sure that if anyone made fanart of my fic I’d cry tears of joy <3

I tried really hard to update every week and I failed miserably, so I’ve made the decision to cut back to every other week. I’m like 85% sure that I’ll get the next chapter up this Sunday. I started my summer classes today and one of them (my English class) is cramming a 14 week course into 4 weeks, but I’ve always been pretty good at English/reading/writing so I’m hoping that that won’t ruin my update schedule AGAIN. I swear I can’t go two weeks without something fucking up my writing/editing time. We’ll see how it goes. I am not sick don’t worry, Just like, super fuckin tired cause my sleep schedule is fucked. I’m pretty good otherwise tho!

Dogsitting went well! I actually finished up with that yesterday. The little demon I was taking care of had absolutely no braincells, and was very annoying, and she kept pooping in my bathroom no matter how often I tried to take her outside to shit, but at least she’s small so it was easy to clean up and she was a good size to cuddle. Overall it was a 5/10 experience that was turned into a 9/10 because of the couple hundred dollar paycheck I got for it. The family I was doing it for is uncomfortably rich lol. Pretty sure some of it is blood money because the dad is an ex-cop turned middle school teacher (neither of which make good money) and the mom is a Russian immigrant stay-at-home mom and they somehow own a huge house in a really nice neighborhood and can afford a two week trip to the Caribbean on that income. I ain’t gonna complain tho.

I’m excited to get chapter 11 written and posted, I think it’s gonna be really fun! Lots of good plot and character development is gonna be happening :) the fic is really picking up now that we’ve finally gotten over all the exposition hurdles. Only took 60k words lol (I swear I thought that it would take half as long as it did to get to this point in the fic, at this rate the things gonna end up 800k words long and I’ll be dead before it’s finished)

[lesser-mook]

Deadpool & Pander-ine (and Logan) “less is more” *spoilers obviously*

I watched it twice in the same day and it is fun, same ol’ Ryan hammyness but it ain’t all that.

The movie is just No way home part 2, because we all know what that movie did right?

And how many people are talking about it now?

Same shit, different studio. Now its Fox. (Though No Way Home is still decent, recommended. Best MCU Spider-man movie because: Consequences. Not because cameos, but Peter had to grow up & finally become Spider-man)

Otherwise, Fanservice: The Movie

Just better Fanservice than Japan’s bullshit.

The plot of this Deadpool 3 is garbage only because it boiled down to (destroying timelines) which literally means nothing now and the villain was weak because her motivations make no sense.

They’re sent to the void, to go to the base then to escape, to roadtrip, to go right back to the same fucking base, then to some town, and that’s it.

Logan somehow gets through to baldy to let them go buuuut now she wants to make the void the only frontier left, multiversal genocide. Ooookay then, cause that’s now a thing.

We don’t even get to see what happened to her in the past. We’re told.

The best thing about it is Wolverine. And Deadpool is a lot more serious at times in this movie.

The film is actually pretty critical of Deadpool through Wolverine and it works but the film itself was just a hack pander piece.

Using Logans corpse like that in the beginning was beyond disrespectful and mind-numbing. And no, being self-aware of the problem doesn’t vindicate the problem.

Dancing and shit, while weaponizing bones, just what the actual fuck is the MCU anymore.

That “call out your own writing flaws, thus that makes continuing the flaws A-Ok”shit didn’t work for Horikoshi and it ain’t working for you, DP3.

Now when you watch the Logan film again, just know- THATS what happens to his remains years later.

MCU comes and literally beats a dead horse.

My biggest complaint, criticism:

X-23 was underused.

This character is the Cassandra Cain of Marvel Comics (possible inspiration of Cain 90s to 2003)

She should’ve had more of a bigger role helping Wolverine heal emotionally like Logan was present for her in their journey in the previous movie- a poetic role reversal, but she’s helping to heal his Callous exterior.

The dynamic between her Wade, & Logan would’ve been great.

Not some rushed campfire scene where he spills his guts to a kid he doesn’t even know.

It’s a good good scene, one of the better ones cause DP isn’t in it- but it reads like it was payoff to build up and development we never got to see between these two.

When she walked in the room, and they saw each other: You could feel it, Hugh & Dafne have a very subtle acting chemistry, and its better when you remember: Oh shit, this is a different Wolverine but Hugh worked with this same kid way back when, didn’t he? Yep. Same people, believe it or not.

So you naturally want everyone else in the room to fuck off and just hear these two talk.

Now if Laura was there a little earlier, in more of the film and they had more time together not only would everyone want to see that, but it’d make his change of heart on his part make more goddamn sense.

Because now he has an actual dynamic with this young lady, who in some respects is his kid.

Maybe even set up her getting her own suit, admiring his.

Just wasted potential, all the effort went into “REMEMBER THEM!?”

Nostalgia-Bombs over storytelling. Sloppy

Got Lady Deadpool in the mix, yaaay (said someone), but why are the DP’s dropping so easy and not healing while moving or fighting like they’re mercenaries with healing factors too, they’re not zombies.

I get thematic timing, but if Lady DP was one of the first to drop, why wasn’t she getting up first or faster? Lmfao.

Why doesn’t any of them have the teleport belt? Why doesn’t Wade have the belt yet!?

My favorite scene though is Wade & Logan going apeshit in the van, and thus Logans strength is soooooo much better represented in this movie than any of the others. And there have been plenty of good highlights in the Logan movie (X-24 is prime Logan so the feats are by proxy his own):

The way he manhandles Wade, tackles the van so hard the airbag deploys, he even slings the man through a solid wall- THAT’S Wolverine. Brute fucking strength.

That kind of strength behind unbreakable claws + the healing is why he’s a problem. Imagine that striking strength, it’s like a Car made of razor blades sideswiping you at 60 mph with every throw, and that’s lowballing.

Think about it, he’s got like 200–500 pounds + of metal on him, you know how strong he’s gotta be to carry that 24/7, even while swimming?

There’s a reason why he can give Hulk a little bit of a fight, Big Guy Hulk anyway “Dumb Hulk”. Green Scar? Not a contest. But Logan can hang with the best of them for a reason.

It got the little things right more than the bigger shit. They really lost me with that timeline destruction plot, please please please stop with the universe shit only If it boils down to “mwahaha me evil”

Did WE really forget why Thanos worked in the first place? less is more more.

Logan was a small scale film, very humble, with personal small scale stakes. 

That’s why it works, thats why its tense, that’s why it’s emotional: because there’s no multiverse, no timeline, no reality bullshit. Just personal stakes.

DP&W is more fun than Logan, but Logan is going to age better than Deadpool & Wolverine. As it’s aged very well even now.

It aged better than Endgame.

We’re really overlooking the importance of a stake being “personal” to a character.

Why do you think Phase 3 even worked in the first place? Because Phase 1–2 had personal stakes, small scale storytelling first (small enough, Thor was punching kind of high with it’s 3rd act but hey, it’s Thor).

Now, people seem to enjoy this, good. 

Nice to hear laughs than dead silence from collective regret that money was paid to see trash. Same with No Way Home.

I think we’ve had enough of preachy movies making people miserable: but at the same time we gotta trace back the formula to better storytelling, less predictable member-berry heavy gimmick plots- cause this just might become a branched genre of hammy exploitative movies, if all it takes is jangling keys.

Small scale stories are now underrated.

DUNE PART TWO crushes this easily in terms of writing, pacing, story, but this is one of the better films of 2024 tho. It’s a gimmick driven, fun ride, prioritizing the audience liking what they see and not making the audience like what the narrative wants them to see.

Wasted potential on many fronts, Laura should’ve been in so much more of this, hell she could’ve been the compass to guide them through the wastes to accomplish things with purpose instead of them aimlessly wandering from place to place. A more mature, realized Laura, give us some sit-rep on what happened to the other kids, remember those other kids? I still remember the eldest boy, Rictor; He was cool. I hink he was Avalanche’s kid.

All in all, the film is a one-trick pony, but it’s a fun ride.

[songoftrillium]

About Me

I go by Mundus Artis, which translates to Art of the World. My pronouns are it/she. I am what can best be described as a polymath, having dedicated my life towards becoming an expert in a wide number of topics.

I am an artist. I paint, I write, I make music, I am obsessed with decay, and soil science, I know three languages, I am a former NPR broadcast engineer, I was once an event organizer, an activist, and I love zymology and food preservation. I have an actual play werewolf the apocalypse podcast that focuses on wolf-born garou. I love nature more than anything and love recording source audio in the wilderness.

My body no longer works as it once did, and I am disabled. I spend a lot of my time in the woods. I cannot walk far, but when I get out in the deep wilderness in my vehicle I like to just think, and exist in nature. I also can be considered an academic on the topic of Werewolf: the Apocalypse. I am a Storyteller of 25 years, having played every edition of the game, read nearly every book, and have been holding space for marginalized folx at my table since the 90s.

My first exposure to World of Darkness is one where I was, as a young player, abused, bullied, and left traumatized by a Vampire LARP group so poorly managed it made the news.

I cut my teeth using that as my lesson in just how out-of-hand a game session can possibly go, and worked backwards from there to arrive where we are now. Even when I do run tables in other games, my primary vehicle of Storytelling will always be horror, enough so I developed my own methodology and English terms for horror writing.

After a lifetime of keeping the keys to my queer-inclusive horror table, I have decided to pass on the keys to the kingdom to the next generation of Storytellers, and have come out of my offline gaming world to share my expertise with younger queer horror fans.

I am a mother, both to my own (they're nonbinary, how cool is that?), and other wayward queer folx that like me, have had to sort out their identities without the support of a greater community.

I am a queer, transgender, demisexual, poly lesbian, and extremely private about it. I will however shitpost about it on my other blog. I will however happily hold space and will eat you if you dunk on other people for existing.

I'm a big fan of empiricism, in that there is a tangible, physical reality around us that can be measured and quantified. I also believe that this is an existentialist outlook, in that it's entirely on the individual to derive the meaning of existence through what empirical reality gives them. This isn't to say that there's no room for spirituality, but that one must make that space in order to have it. If you throw shit at the universe, it'll throw shit right back.

I adhere to the belief of social contract, that society functions within a community of cooperation, or at least should, where everyone is sorta trying to exist in a life that is frankly complicated, and that it's each person's duty to help eachother towards the betterment of the community. I also believe that there needs to be some kind of equalizer within a society to bring equity to those who otherwise wouldn't have it.

My belief in an existenial life bound by social contract makes me a student of virtue ethics. I am someone that tries to live by the belief that ethics and morality should act as a custodian for existence. We are a self-aware chemical reaction that is quite literally the universe looking back at itself. How fucking amazing is that? Existence is a privilege, even for all the suffering, and we should not rob others the right to also be a part of that universe looking back at itself. In that light I consider myself one with an animist perspective, viewing all things as ones with their own spirit, a shared existence.

Per the social contract, if someone stomps on that, you stomp right the fuck back. Black Lives Matter. Trans Rights Are Human Rights. They were children.

50.581926053331706, -102.65677106245843

[hot-take-tournament]

regarding the potential sideblog for serious takes: I completely get what you mean. Thinking of things to submit, I came across many many takes of mine, things I feel very passionately about, that I just.... Couldn't really bear to submit to a silly tournament blog. A lot of things that I don't have the guts to say on my main, since the main reason it's "hot" in the first place is my friends' and mutuals' disagreement. The criteria I've been using for submitting is, "if I got 90% disagree votes, would that be heartbreaking? would that be depressing to know, that that many people disagree on this topic that I care so much about?" and if the answer is yes, then... that's too important to me. and i just keep it to myself.

honestly, if you did make a sideblog, I would be more than glad to submit these takes that i held back from. and I suspect that many others would feel encouraged to send things that they otherwise wouldn't, as well.

whatever your decision, I deeply respect this blog, which is rather funny, since i actually have the words "hot take" in my blacklist because I'm honestly so tired of seeing violent discourse about human rights.

basically, it's really refreshing to argue about stupid shit like "what's the best way to write a date" or "am I committing a food crime if I eat my food this way" or "what kind of music sucks". i like feeling mentally engaged and introducing nuance into false dichotomies, and this blog gives me an easy place to do that without having to read questions like "ok but does this minority ACTUALLY deserve rights or are they not [arbitrary measure of Virtue] enough"

that being said I did vote in favor of the serious takes blog. there's a high chance that I wouldn't be able to follow it for long before the Bad Takes drove me mad, and the notes sound like they would be godawful, but I think if you threaten to only keep the blog up for as long as people behave and keep the notes civil, it could work.

and, to anyone with serious opinions that needs a place to put them besides your blog, I often send mine to the blogs transenbyconfessions and aroaceconfessions. they post asks and submissions, anonymously or credited. the goal of those blogs is just to provide a platform for genderqueer, questioning, or relationship-queer folk to have a place to tell their stories without having to worry about horrible notes. just gets sent in and forgotten about. if you want a ping when it posts, you can also sign off as/mention a sideblog of yours. I've done that a few times too.

yeah, i think it's the best option, but it depends how the poll goes

i think in the meantime you can still submit those takes, and if choose the first option then they'll be posted, and if they don't, it doesn't matter either way - maybe it will help just to get it off your chest anyway

i do the read all the submissions, so even if it would make you feel better knowing that at least one person has read your take, then feel free to submit!

[yourwolfmuzzle]

I have at least 5 unpublish posts about r/wby and me be fucking “why you hate your own characters” or “why you still in this vol1 mentality about your writing” or “WHY HEADCANONING SHIT WHEN YOU CAN DO CANON?????” but im just stop on every post in the middle because...bitch i can relate some problems or start to talk about my stuff, especially on “why you hate your own characters”.

Like...how you can write some character and be just “oh i hate this motherfucker\they deserve this\this asshole is dead now, that it.” and thats all? Its fine to hear stuff like this from viewers and its nothing new to hear shit like “if you like this character - you \insert word there\!”, but you the writers and you dont have any other emotions about your own antagonists? (unless its female antagonist, but i cant confirm this because i cant watch commentaries, only read from someone or notes, but from what i can tell at least about them they can say something positive or stuff that they honestly like about this character).

I can understand they scare about writing some scenes and make this look interesting because you can like this one specific scene but have fear that your viewers will have different opinion about this. But its been almost a decade, writers long time ago already told us that they dont want to see opinion that “sound too mean”, so i cant be like “community bully writers into be scared to write this series” (and to be honest its sound pretty fucking strange). Like i will not believe that they read rwde tag or critics subreddit or some social media\tag that is not have at least 90% fans positive posts because they dont want to see too much hard criticism about they story. Again, i kinda can understand that from some perspective (nobody like hearing some hard stuff about your art work), but...it doesn't feel like they get out of their comfort zone at least once in a while. If there was some trying to do this, we would have seen and heard it more in the series. But when they have some good moments - its accidental. A whole vol7 fell like accidentally sometime good writing after vol8 because what a continuation we got in vol8. Penny arc, Ironwood arc, Qrow\Ironwood, this whole r/wby/Ironwood conflict in general, Salem attacking Atlas, how Staff or Creation working and other stuff (not only characters arcs or conflicts, even character relationships got hurt in one way and another.) And even vol9 kinda hurt vol7 and EVEN vol8 and i wish i can say “oh its just because they have to cut two episodes and working on movie and a little bit on game, this is why some arcs got scratch or rush ending” but we still got half of the season that hardly matter for a whole volume. Penny dont matter at the end of the volume, Jaune story dont matter, Ironwood\Fall of Atlas conflict dont matter because “we want to believe we did at least a little bit good”, Ruby arc have to have rush and hard progress because we really want to show you Red Prince birthday. racoon joke and give conflict with Jaune, that will reset at the very end of the season, and tell you that ascension is not death. Oh and also - tree is the main creators and Two Gods is just Tree-childrens. And we will tell this at the very end of this season (good for you not brining there Oscar\Ozpin or Salem).

They scared of writing some scenes not because its they first season\this new season got crush by other decisions like crossover movie and they scared to cut new seasons\they REALLY that much scared by critics or some really scare tags on tumblr. If this was the point i fell i wont not say that good moments in some volumes was “accidentally good”.

We all scared to get bad comment about your work, but sometime you have to get this “bad comment”, otherwise you will not grow as a artist. I not gonna lie and say that sometime i jealous to see sometime GIGANICAL posts or videos about some aspects of this series with every details and even without harsh comments (like dude if you dont like when some critics call you bad names - there is posts\videos from people, who wholeheartedly LOVE your series with everything but still can be “there is this moment that can be better”.) Its like...”oh someone spend some time to analyze and then write\tell\even show what moment they wish to see better or what can be better?”. I dont know how to tell you but for me - this is extremely cool stuff. For me personally that mean someone saw my stuff, potential, and spend some time to think and tell me what was wrong, what was right and now maybe do this better. This shit help a lot even when its not about your art, but about someone art that have the same errors like you have or never thing that there was error (especially when you dont have people who can tell you what you doing wrong or tell more that “i like it”, and you just sit there in the box.)

I personally dont think that...MKEK is really bad and not redeemable writers. They have they moments, otherwise we wouldn't be sitting here. A lot of us got there because cool fight and colors aesthetics but somehow managed to still sit there. But stuff like this REALLY hurt show and make less fun to watch every season. 

Can i be wrong? Oh absolutely...

[godtier]

so this is a very good question that was posed on my RE6 jake characterization meta post i put up a few days ago:

i DO have an explanation for this and where i'm getting that inference from, but i didn't think i could fit it into reply boxes on that post and not be obnoxious with the multiple replies SO imma write up a super quick (hopefully) bonus meta thingy to go over this question!

SO jake + drugs. this is smth that i feel like gets overlooked for a few reasons (mostly bc jake is not a very popular character in the fandom + playerbase overall) but also bc RE as a series is very... well. like a lot of japanese media that's meant to be more broadly consumed, they like to imply the usage of drugs vs overtly say "this is what's happening"

in jake's intro scene, he says to a newly infected j'avo: "this stuff doing anything for you yet? supposed to be some kinda energy booster but... i don't feel any different"

as someone who, let's just say, has seen drug use lmao the entire scene is "coded," you could say. i don't really like using that terminology because it feels like a cop-out in a lot of cases, but in essence, that entire scene and set piece looks like a flop house or drug den. also, an "energy booster" that you inject...? it sounds like doping to me lmao. also, the dispenser itself it looked more like an epinephrine shot, which people do abuse for the "energy boost" that epinephrine gives.

to me, i'm looking at this scene and going "yeah okay, this entire group of mercenaries (minus jake) all huddled in this room together are really there for a vitamin B-12 supplement party." the way the other mercenaries inject the C-Virus is just like... yeah they thought they were getting free drugs lmao

but just because jake wasn't huddled in there with them all antsy for a buzz doesn't mean he didn't likely also assume it was drugs. even jake's body language speaks to me of someone who was prepared to go on a "journey" so to speak lmao. sliding down against a wall, getting relaxed, etc. it just looked like a guy who was getting ready to shoot up. he's not nervous about it. he just does it, barely any hesitation. and right in his goddamn neck too, which made me think "is he trying to get this shit working faster... why didn't he just jam it in his thigh" etc.

and the way jake says the line about it being an "energy booster" felt really forced in, like capcom's writers were like "oh shit oh no this looks like they're in a drug den shooting up or abusing epipens we gotta reinforce the fact that they totally didn't think this was drugs oh god LOOK JUST MAKE HIM AWKWARDLY STATE THAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A SUPPLEMENT OR SOMETHING"

but even if we just throw ALL of that away, just look at it at face-value... who takes free "supplements" in a war-torn area where there's most certainly a lot of illicit shit going down? someone who's like "hell yeah i'll get high for free," imo

jake's behavior is risk-taking for many reasons, obviously. he's a mercenary, so that right out the gate is a "risk-taking" position lmao. but to me, someone who just... readily accepts taking a "supplement" or "energy booster" from some unknown person without being coerced into it? yeah this man's done drugs before. otherwise, he would have turned it down, right? or maybe they woulda had to hold him down to make him take it? well, they had to show that jake was immune to the C-Virus for plot reasons, and this was really the easiest way to write it in without introducing a lab environment. it makes sense for what type of character he's meant to be: outside of the law and working in a high-risk/high-reward environment.

i'll admit i was kinda taken aback the first time i played the game because i was like OH WE DOIN THIS I GUESS??? and then they slipped in the "energy booster" line, and it just reminded me of the type of shit you'd see in a dub of an anime in the 90s. like pokemon calling the rice balls "donuts." just sterilized despite it being a very obvious implication in the scene overall.

i will admit that my use of the word "addict" probs was a bit too intense for what i think jake's life experiences are, so i'll edit that out of my original post.

das what i got! thank u for ur time

[bobwess]

For the AMA (apologies in advance i've got fic-writing on the brain cuz of nano)

How do you deal with writer's block when it strike? Or is your go-to to drop AMA? :P What's your preferred fic writing time, if you even have one?

Do you tend to write mainly digitally? Do you keep a writer's notebook?

Have you ever had a fic idea just pop into your head so jarringly you just start immediately writing from scratch? Or are you the sort who needs everything meticulously outlined out?

Is NaNo something you've ever tried, or is it not your thing?

You a person who listens to music while writing? If so, what sorts of thing?

Do you find that you tend to write in short bursts and then leave it for a while, or do you make consistant slow and steady progress? Or does it really depend on the fic?

Have you ever reread something you've written and had zero recollection of writing it?

You might have been asked this before, but do you have a favorite thing you've written? (Doesn't have to be just kept to fics either)

And one last silly one for the road...You get stuck in one of your fics. Which one would you rather it be, and what would happen?

How do you deal with writer's block when it strike? Or is your go-to to drop AMA? :P What's your preferred fic writing time, if you even have one?

I usually write lateish. On a normal day I'm going to bed around 8am, I'm usually starting writing at like 2/3.

Do you tend to write mainly digitally? Do you keep a writer's notebook?

I write exclusively digitally. I type very fast, pretty much the same speed I think so I can keep up unlike if I'm writing physically. I can also change things on the fly without struggle.

I keep a physical notebook with me most of the time but its specifically for prop building, makeup designs, and work related planning.

Have you ever had a fic idea just pop into your head so jarringly you just start immediately writing from scratch? Or are you the sort who needs everything meticulously outlined out?

Absolutely have gone in from scratch.

It's weird though. 50% of the time it's seat-of-my-pants moment-by-moment with maybe a couple notes for the future (Only Human, A Sudden Affinity) and sometimes I have a fic meticulously planned out (Wait for the Ricochet, My Endverse fic).

Almost all of my one-shots are ideas that popped into my head and refused to not be written.

The Endverse fic actually, while fully planned now, at first was just one chapter I really wanted/needed to write and I sat down and wrote it out. Then built the fic around it. It became chapter 3. It's the weirdest one I've ever written because I have every chapter made individually in documents, and each one is outlined. So I'm just popcorning and doing a scene here and a scene there.

Is NaNo something you've ever tried, or is it not your thing?

I should do. I have two novels I am working on slow as shit and it'd be a good job to have a kick in the pants to get them done. A couple times before I've thought about it. November is just always busy as hell and I can't self-enforce a substitute month.

You a person who listens to music while writing? If so, what sorts of thing?

I listen to music 90% of the time. Honestly it depends. I have two playlists. One is much more aggressive, rock/metal/etc. Otherwise I'll go for concerts or other instrumental music. If there was a spotify wrapped type listing for my computer, Ray Chen performing Sibelius' Violin Concerto would be towards the top of the list.

The other 10% of the time I'll just listen to like sounds. Rain or rivers or something like that.

Do you find that you tend to write in short bursts and then leave it for a while, or do you make consistent slow and steady progress? Or does it really depend on the fic?

Absolutely depends. But probably bursts more often. A specific fic will just grab me. Unfortunately for everyone waiting on my chapters my bursts of inspiration recently have been my thus unpublished Endverse fic. Which means a lot of writing has been done that isn't ready to see the light of day.

Have you ever reread something you've written and had zero recollection of writing it?

No. I am very aware of what I've written, and I re-read a lot. I do sometimes REGRET things I've written, though it's rare. I only have a few pieces of mine I don't like.

On the contrary, my VIDEOS? Holy shit, I don't have a clue what's in them. They leave my brain the second I am done editing them, and I never ever re-watch them. "I love your Destiel series." "Thanks, I do not remember it."

You might have been asked this before, but do you have a favorite thing you've written? (Doesn't have to be just kept to fics either)

Until very recently it's been "Only Human" because it's been such a labor of love, and I have a few idea notes for running it all the way into "season" 13. But honestly "Wait for the Ricochet" has overtaken it. I don't know, I just think it's neat.

And one last silly one for the road...You get stuck in one of your fics. Which one would you rather it be, and what would happen?

Oh man. See the FUN answer is My Endverse fic, because honestly it has a lot of meat on it and I would love to fit into Chitaqua. I'm really enjoying what I've written so far. (Like I said, stuck in the brain, can't stop talking about it.)

But the real answer is Hell Above, because I can be a passenger on the airplane and theoretically not-die which is not a given in my other fics.

[amplifyme]

Hello, and happy new year! I couldn't pick just one ask, so I smushed them all together: 30/31 for FTF, 33, 39, and 27 (how you would have changed S9, anyway~.) :D Always interested to hear!

Happy new year to you, @randomfoggytiger!

30/31. How did you feel about FTF? Favorite thing(s) / moment(s) from FTF?

Love FTF! I always describe it as a love story that just happens to have aliens in it. As far as favorites, the hallway scene of course. Also these smaller moments/things that I don't see mentioned as much:

~ The parallel between Stevie falling into the cave and getting the wind knocked out of him at the beginning and Mulder falling through the snow in Antarctica and getting the wind knocked out of him.

~ Whatever it was that Mulder pulled out of his pants pocket and tossed on the floor when he went to fetch something sweet for Scully. I want to know what it was and at the same time tell him not be a litterbug, dammit! 🤣

~ Mulder very clearly mouthing "Fuck" in that same scene when he figures out he's in trouble.

~ Scully little leg swing when she's alone in the hallway outside the OPR review the first time.

~ The way Scully looks up at Mulder after she examines the bone fragments in Dallas.

~ The way the shot is framed as Mulder steps out onto the sidewalk after he leaves Kurtzweil's apartment. Gorgeous! Rob Bowman was a gift to TXF and this movie.

~ The "No shit, Sherlock" look Mulder gives her when they reach the crossroads and Scully tells him, "We've got two choices - one of them's wrong."

I'm gonna stop with those. Otherwise this will be novel-length. 😆Maybe I'll write something up someday.

27. List some season 9 MSR headcanons.

Can't, sorry. The only episode of S9 I watched was The Truth. I have zero HCs for that season. And that means I can't even begin to tell you how I'd change it. I mean... toss that mf'er into the trash and forget it ever happened, along with 90% of S8, IWTB, and Seasons 10 & 11?

33. Favorite season finale?

Probably Gethsemane. I mean, the majority of Philes knew Mulder wasn't really dead. But there was much more we didn't know, and that sparked so much discussion and so much fanfic that that break between S4 and S5 was just as exciting as it was frustrating. That was like the pinnacle of what it meant to be a fan of the show. Good times!

39. When do you think Mulder and Scully first started dating?

I have two answers to this: the first is that they never "dated," at least not in the widely understood definition of that term. The second is that every time they were together was a date. Does that make sense?

Thanks for the asks!

[kyogre-blue]

Outcome of my primo grinding rampage on my alt: 

Mondstadt 100%, statue max level

Dragonspine 100%

Liyue is hovering at 80-90% in different areas, what can I say, the chests often give no primos at all, so I gave up on it pretty fast after doing the major puzzles. Statue is max level tho

Narukami tree at level 37

Seirai and Tsurumi at 100%

Rest of Inazuma hasn’t been lit up (except Narukami), but I haven’t really done the major world quests there, so I doubt it’s above 70% anywhere

Enkanomiya is open but barely started. 

Aranyaka is done, Varanara tree is level 50

The strip along the top of Sumeru is at 100%, between the mushroom forest, across Vanarana, all the way to the desert. 

Upper desert and Girdle at 100%

Lower desert is not lit up, but I stopped after finishing Golden Slumber without doing the follow up quests since I want to leave the storm above the pyramid. Everything else is done, so I think it should be at about 90% or so? 

Rest of Sumeru is also not lit up, but I expect it’s pretty high too. 

The Varanara tree was the big insane move. I’m glad Qiqi stopped me before I went any crazier. 

I guess I can take this opportunity to give my opinion of exploration on the alt: 

tbh I think my ranking of exploration enjoyment goes like this: Mondstadt (good, fun, a bit simple but Dragonspine is peak exploration) > Inazuma (some good, some bad) > Liyue (no opinion) > Sumeru (lots of problems)

I still like Mondstadt a lot, since it’s very chill, open and easy to traverse. The base areas are admittedly kind of simple, but there’s also Dragonspine. I explore it with just Anemo Traveler and Kaeya, which was a hilarious experience, but tbh it was very fun in a way? Once you know what to do and start utilizing swirl, crimson quartz, and the artificial seelie gadget, it becomes a pretty good balance of difficulty. Favorite area, honestly. 

Liyue I just do not have any strong opinions about, I never have. It’s similar to Mondstadt in general style, but I find their mountains infinitely annoying to climb and the color pallet kind of unappealing. Those aren’t major things though. Liyue is just there to me. 

Inazuma is pretty hit or miss. It’s honestly kind of disappointing that doing the world quests clears away what makes the islands unique (aside from Narukami) but you can’t just not do it because there’s various content that’s inaccessible without it (gift set furnishings on Tsurumi, the domain that needs torches on Yashiori, etc). Exploring stormy Yashiori was very fun, and Tsurumi had so many different cool effects that you just... can’t keep. On the other hand, it’s still pretty good otherwise. ...Aside from Watatsumi, I still standby my opinion that Watatsumi is awful. 

But then you get to Sumeru, and it’s..... sigh. 

Sumeru is definitely the largest, most complex, and most densely populated area. It also has the most rewards. However, I think that it also feels by far the worst to explore for a number of reasons. 

First, the endless caves. They’re bad. They were awful from the start, and they’re still bad even with the little marker on underground waypoint and with the online only cave map. There are no redeeming qualities here, it’s just bad. 

Second, the excessively long world quests. Aranyaka story is good, really, but the sheer number of side quests in it? All the exploration mechanics locked behind it? All the areas you just can’t progress without doing the quests? And it doesn’t get better. Golden Slumber dragging you all over the desert was not good either, the clearance stuff is just as bad. Dirge of Bilqis is shorter but so much worse because the writing is now also shit. Khvarena is just tedious. This was already pretty bad at times in Inazuma, but Sumeru just went out of control. 

I do want story that gives meaning to the areas we can explore! But that shouldn’t block off huge areas and entire mechanics! Find a balance! 

Third, too many puzzles that force you to have specific units. The previous regions had a bit of this, but Sumeru just took it to new, awful heights. Primarily, you don’t bring a bow? Just die. The spinning rings are completely out of reach for anything except a bow, and the dendrograna will only activate with a charged attack. There’s even a withering area where the sprouts are also in positions that need a bow specifically. The desert has that too, since the sand level puzzles do not accept anything except a bow charged shot. 

And that’s not even the end of it, since Sumeru went way crazy with the elemental requirements. Not even getting into the fungus farming nightmare... with has opposite elemental requirements than the mechanisms. 

Fourth, it’s too big. 

I know this sounds kind of weird, but there’s just too much, and it really gets repetitive. We got three deserts, who needed that? And the caves/ruins all look the same too. At least Inazuma’s islands are separated from each other, but the Sumeru stuff just blurs together. 

So yeah, that’s my hottake, haha. 

tbh, it’s unfortunate, but redoing Sumeru has just reminded me of why I wasn’t feeling particularly enthused about Fontaine. I just really don’t feel enthusiastic about the direction that Genshin’s map design has taken. I also hated maneuvering Sorush, so I can’t say I feel confident about the supposed underwater sections. 

It’s also worth noting that Genshin’s performance has been notably decreasing, especially in the last couple patches. The screen now regularly flashes white-blue as it seems to reload everything, the pop-in is starting to get ridiculous, and even the enemies glitch more now. My computer might not be amazing, but it’s not that bad, and this has been much worse recently. I think the tight release schedule might be catching up with the developers. At this rate, I kind of wonder if Fontaine will even work right...