#but these last few scenes are a lot of action and i'm terrible at writing action

[nordic-language-love]

Hit 60K for NaNo yesterday. I was hoping to finish with 70~75K with the whole thing written but I doubt that's gonna happen because my writing pace has slowed to a crawl this last week and I don't really have the motivation to pick it up again

[lets-try-some-writing]

I spent the entire last night binging Action and this may just be one of the best yet humorous AUs I’ve ever seen put to words. What inspired the idea and Optimus’ portrayal? And will we ever get to see that journal he was keeping?

Yeeeeees I'm so glad you enjoy my work!! I wish I could write faster to give you and other readers more to chew on, but I take forever to update it because I A) Have a lot to write per chapter and B) Greatly enjoy weaving comedy and intrigue into Action! That said, to answer your questions:

The idea came about in a bit of a hazy daydream months upon months ago. I wrote a quick drabble for it here on Tumblr, and next thing I knew, I was writing an actor AU with only one actor. I think I saw a few posts about other actor aus and maybe some art with those fake screencaps and behind the scenes interviews. That may have helped inspire me too. As for Optimus's portrayal? I have a dark history of binging FAR too much manga and online comic content as a young teen. Those days are long behind me, but the cliche plots gave me a basis for Action. I wanted Action to be a bit of a parody mixed with real political struggle. Have you ever read one of those terrible webtoons with no character development that is totally just a power fantasy? Yeah that's what I was aiming for. The world of Action is, on its surface, a poorly written webtoon, and that's how Orion sees it. But in reality it is a Game of Thrones/Lord of the Rings style world with darkness and brutality written into its very core. Optimus Prime was meant to be a surface level villain, but Orion is an overachiever and through his efforts to play his part is unintentionally playing directly into the real nature of the world. He's given Optimus Prime character that there never was previously, and I think he would be proud to know that.

In regards to the journal, I plan for it to come into play later. It will take a minute, but it will ultimately be one of the key items to make Orion realize that his role as Optimus Prime is NOT a game. At least if my plans don't change.

[sineala]

Lots of love to you Sine💞💞 you are always my favorite stony writer! And I also enjoy your comic reviews so much <3

I’ve been rereading Straight On Till Morning these days, and it’s still one of the best ST AU fanfics I’ve ever read. How’s the sequel going? (I know this question has been asked before😣 hope it will not disturb you!) I’m really looking forward to your new stories!

Wish you and your wife all the best! 🥰🥰🥰

Hey! Sorry it took me a while to get around to answering this; I got this ask on US Election Day and there was, you know, kind of a lot going on at the time. It's very sweet of you to wish me well and I also hope that you are well. I feel like I am doing about as well as most people I know. I am surviving.

I am not sure if you saw this answer from a couple months ago to the last person who asked me about Star Trek AU progress. At that point, I was working on the last scene of Chapter 4 and by the end of the month I had finished the last scene of Chapter 4. The chapter -- as well as Chapter 3 -- is 60,000 words long; the last scene of that chapter is 20,000 words long, so it did take me until the end of October to get that wrapped up. Some of this will probably come out in editing. But I am pretty excited about having gotten that far because the last few scenes of the chapter were the ones I originally wanted to write the story for, so those have been living in my head for about seven years. (I do not think I can describe why I wanted to write them without spoiling the entire plot, but it involves making a harrowingly terrible decision for a very noble reason and then having to deal with the consequences.)

My draft is currently up to 190k and is easily the longest thing I have ever written. I know people who are not me would probably post some of this as a WIP but that is not happening for a few reasons. One is that I am the exact opposite of the people who are motivated to write more by getting comments on a WIP; I tried posting a WIP once and it just made my brain go "okay, cool, I have received feedback, my need to write this story is now sated." Two is that I like to foreshadow things and I keep having to go back and readjust events in the previous chapters to make them make sense with the plot. Three is that if I posted up to the last finished chapter I have, you would all want to knock me down and rifle through my pockets to find the rest of the story, and the rest of it only exists in my head.

So I'm working on Chapter 5 (out of 6 total). Chapter 5 here is the big action chapter where hopefully all the story wraps up. I started that at the beginning of November, got about 15,000 words in, and then I got derailed by, uh, major political events, and then also unexpectedly spending the second half of November being ill with some random virus that was neither covid nor the flu. So that meant I didn't get a whole lot of words in. So far this month I have had a two-day migraine so, uh, we're not starting out great, but that means there's plenty of room for improvement.

But I am still going! I may end up finishing some other stories in the meantime -- it is now holiday exchange season and I want to see if I can get anything written for anyone's stocking in the 616 Steve/Tony server -- but I promise I am working on this.

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 60 Plot Posting

Hi again, dear void. So, about those complaints I've had in regards to the pacing... and others that I've been holding off on to see how they'd be handled... this is a long and mostly negative yapfest that rambles about the chapter itself and some general writing choices.

Bad TL of Editor's note stuff:

First Page: 会議-!! [kaigi-!!], "A meeting-!!" Last Page: 征くは修羅の道...!! [yuku ha shura no michi...!!] "Leaving for battle on Asura's path...!"

Asura are the demigods who fought against the Devas in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, by-the-by. Basically, the gist is that Chihiro and the Masumi are heading out on a road fraught with carnage and strife to face an extremely powerful foe. Oh, and Hokazono-sensei clarified that the squad are indeed called "Masumi" and not "Makizumi"- the latter is a typo.

Before I rant, I got something wrong with my interpretation of the Japanese version last week. In the last panel here:

"Controlled the war" is still not the greatest way to phrase the line, but mine was way off too since I got too hung up on the literal meaning of a particular kanji (駆ける [kakeru]). The actual meaning of what John's saying there is more along the lines that Samura's an experienced war veteran, which isn't as cool but if that's the more accurate translation then so be it. Please do not ever trust my translations to be correct and I'll do a better job of relaying that I'm not to be trusted if I try to interpret something.

What the Fuck, Man

Alright, so... I'll get this out of the way. This chapter was a huge let-down for me.

It did all the necessary things but the proportion of time spent on what and the way they played out made my concerns about the fast pacing boil over. Come on, Hokazono-sensei. Slow down just a smidge to let us maintain our bonds with the characters.

Slower chapters are necessary to make it easier for the reader to keep their suspension of disbelief and stay immersed! A great story is more than racing from points A through Z with just the bare minimum detail to give context for the next cool action scene. When people ask for the pace to slow down or for there to be more "filler", what they're really asking for are more meaningful times spent with the characters interacting with each other and getting in their heads. Letting some emotional moments linger, bonds get set up and maintained outside of tense moments and strictly necessary plot events, things like that.

After such heavy chapters back-to-back for about a month with Samura's betrayal, I think most of us need a breather. Just some time to sit with the characters to reflect on everything that happened and how they feel about it, you know? A lot of stuff happened and Chihiro especially has a lot to process. We even had a time limit of a week set up to do that- surely one day or even half of one could be given over to letting the cast regroup and take a breath on-screen before the next beat. But Hokazono-sensei seems allergic to giving us time for quiet reflection so now I'm more exhausted than the protagonist who died and came back to life a few hours ago. Yes, Chihiro rested for a few days off-screen before rolling out but we didn't get to see it. So it's not a break for us.

I've been holding back on criticism of this because I wanted to see where the story was going and what the author would do but the pacing is an outright flaw as of this chapter. It's something that I wish had been left behind in the action movie genre; that kind of pacing works for films because you're doing 90ish-minute installments every few years. But it's terrible for a weekly manga.

I will eat a whole stick of apple cinnamon incense if this is some long-con on the author's part to eventually slap Chihiro down for running on fumes and force him to sleep for a week or something. But I'm only making this bet because by now I think it's clear that we're in thriller action movie pacing for the rest of the series' run. It's just something that will have to be accepted as part of the experience going forward. For me, it's a drawback. An acceptable one since everything else is still holding my interest (for now) but a major one nonetheless.

What Did we Not Rest For?

An administrative meeting, a Shiba & Chihiro conversation, and Minimura exposition; Hakuri was so unimportant that he gave an offscreen info dump and went back to sleep, apparently. That's a hell of a lot- there was a ton of yapping and all of it was related to the plot and keeping the momentum up. That's not appropriate downtime! It's the manga equivalent of working from home early Saturday morning after pulling all-nighters at the office from Monday through Friday.

Anyway... this chapter was dense as fuck. I don't catch everything each week but damn I feel like I'm missing a lot of things to speculate on this time. I don't have the brain power to get every little thing until we start tying up some existing threads; hopefully what I caught here is good enough until more room can be made. Early Bird Kamunabi Conference

Azami! Good to see you again! Please do stuff more often to give me a heads up so I can start preparing defense statements against those traitor allegations.

First up, the Kamunabi convening at a little after 3 in the morning. Using Magatsumi's still on the table despite the sealing process being partially complete, obviously. And based on the discussion it seems like we'll probably meet Subaru, the Sushi Chef Bearer from Sushi Subaru next. Sorry girl Bearer fans. Hope Ms. Masumi in a suit can tide you over until then.

In terms of Kamunabi member insights, I'm really warming up to the mask Kamunabi guy that was impressed by Hiyuki's evaluation of Chihiro (and helped Kunishige hide after the war). He's the one who cares about the well-being of others the most out of everyone who we got to hear from. I'm thinking he's also a true believer in the mission with a more compassionate bent to his philosophy than Mutton Chops. Mutton Chops is pretty competent when he's not being a Rokuhira Hater, though.

Everyone else is pretty much on the practical discussion side to get us away from a bunch of talking heads as soon as possible. Except Ear guy- he's still as flippant as ever. I've still got my eye on you for corruption and/or negligent incompetence, buddy.

They all get failing grades for sending Chihiro back out again so soon, though. Guess we won't be dealing with the political side of the conflict just yet. Samura using Owl to monitor all of Japan for Enchanted Blade signatures is pretty spooky though!

Shiba and Chihiro

[Slaps Shiba] This bad boy can fit so much misguided grief in it.

The long conversation was a must-have and I'm glad it happened! I just wish it had gone a bit differently. Less Minimura, more just the two of them, you know? (Or solo Chihiro reflecting on things before Shiba comes in!) They've got a lot of complicated emotions going on and I really wanted to see more of Shiba's conflict over how he wants to protect Chihiro but also feels like he can't. It's been there in the background since Chapter 1 and this would have been a great time to dig into it a little more. He just watched Chihiro die in his arms and some stern faces are all he can muster?! After shaking and nearly crying for comedic effect over the stunts Chihiro and Hakuri pulled in Ch. 46? And busting into the hospital room with a yell in Ch. 11? Call it a nit-pick if you like but it just feels weirdly subdued from Shiba's end when he's normally so emotive about Chihiro's well-being. I guess this is the "heavy feelings make the comedy guy get serious" trope in effect. Boo hiss bad application, let this man be more emotional about his adopted nephew!

I guess I can at least appreciate that Shiba being subdued contrasted with Chihiro being the most outwardly emotional we've ever seen him (in the present) when he echoes the words his dad spoke to him:

Passionate, glossy-eyed Chihiro gets anything he wants forever and ever no questions asked.

CHIHIROOOO you need to rest and get some hugs, not go out and kill more people! But we're already well aware of why he's out here doing this, so... damn it, you get to go. Just don't keep accumulating wounds and stuff, OK? And don't freakin' die again!

I understand why Shiba didn't put up much of a fight when Chihiro asked for Enten back. He's driven by guilt just as much as the rest of the major characters this arc, especially over failing to protect Kunishige. Won't commit on the exact reasons right now but they're probably along the lines of "If I hadn't failed that day then Chihiro wouldn't feel the need to do any of this, so the least I can do is train him and catch him when he falls". This is good stuff honestly! I just wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of his inner thoughts.

The second biggest thing I disliked about this chapter was the implication that Chihiro finally heard at least some of the truth of things from Shiba there in the hospital room but we the audience still can't know about it yet. Which is fine for us- it's tough being teased about it for so long but I don't mind. What bothers me is that I think this is something that's important enough for us to learn about the same time Chihiro does. So we can feel the weight of whatever this monstrous cover-up was, you know? We're supposed to be on this journey with him, seeing the world from his point of view and coming to understand things as he does. Something this massive should have been dropped on the reader and the protagonist at the same time! I don't want the reveal relegated to a flashback in the middle of a fight- give it the full attention it deserves. But maybe the author's cooking again. No choice but to wait and see anyway.

Zombie Chihiro?!

HMM...

Samura spared Chihiro, which makes sense. He just wants Chihiro to stop before he goes too far down this path. But of course Chihiro's gotta have that clash of ideals and say "I'm a sinner too".

I did feel really bad for Chihiro again this chapter. Being reminded that he's just a nice 18-year-old kid pushing himself to be a killer out of grief and feeling like he can't turn back hits right in the kokoro. I hope we can see how a Bearer bonds with their sword since his contract with Enten was severed...! Samura can sense blades with contracts when they're in use so I wonder how Chihiro will adjust to that too. He's watching all of Japan for signs of enchanted blade activity so Chihiro might have to use Enten as a regular sword for a while.

Chihiro's rapid recovery could either be ascribed to Samura's precision in slicing him or some other kind of power, possibly from Tobimune.... HMM... do we really need more little details to chew on in this chapter? Sure, why not. Let's add another thing to ponder on while we wait for resolution on the all the other hanging threads too. At least this one's tied to some blade or Chihiro sorcery lore. If it's a Tobimune power, wouldn't Chihiro know about it? Unless it's a True Realm ability that hasn't been documented. More things to theorize over, yay...

It's also the last remaining shred of hope for Uruha being alive despite apparently being in autopsy. I'll admit, it's pretty damn fishy that Shiba can't get info and Chihiro refuses to believe the man is dead, so I guess I can't complain if my favourite goofy ronin dude comes back somehow. Would still prefer it if he was left definitively dead though because we have more than enough "but maybe?!" threads hanging around already.

Not to get too gruesome, but... if this is a flag that the Kamunabi are doing unethical things to Uruha's corpse, hoo boy. Oh man. I'm not ready for that kind of development despite being a horror fan.

The Sore Spot

Couldn't you have saved this for next chapter?

And then... a lotta Minimura exposition yap.

I feel like this conversation could have been pushed to the next chapter with Minimura stepping into the hospital room as the cliffhanger to end this one. It's just too much information overload and exposition when we've been begging for Chihiro to rest for months now in real time. Even if the in-universe timeline remained the same, it would have given us readers a lull while Chihiro had the heart-to-heart with Shiba and thought about everything that just went down. Heck we might have even gotten some time with Hakuri too.

The last page of Chihiro and the Masumi stepping out in suits was cool as heck but it didn't land due to how sick I am of these characters running from plot point to plot point. Now it's Chihiro and the ninjas out there doing Things and Stuff to find their answers from Samura... I'm interested in the conflict that will arise from Samura's old guards -basically his little family- fighting against him, don't get me wrong. It's got some very tasty parallels to Hakuri's story and resonates deeply with Chihiro's need to know the truth about the people he cares for so much. Again for the millionth time though, I just wish this had gone down a little bit differently.

Hakuri Where?!

There's a lot of baseless venting here and some raw, barely-edited thoughts- sorry in advance. This chapter is kind of an information overload (and I'll be honest, I got super petty over Hakuri's status being hand-waved away). I just don't have it in me to condense it all like usual. Sorry.

Oh, he's just drowning in self-hatred offscreen. Don't worry about it we gotta get going.

So, Chihiro's the MC and this is his story. Stuff with him will usually take precedence over other characters. But when you barely acknowledge Hakuri -ostensibly one of the most important characters in the cast other than Chihiro himself- in the aftermath of a series of major events that he was directly involved in like this, I gotta wonder.

I'd be happier if he wasn't mentioned or shown at all beyond still being alive because that would mean there was more to say that needed proper time to be allocated. But much like Chihiro waking up alone and the Shiba and Chihiro conversation, a prime chance for character and/or relationship quality time was skimmed over to keep the plot moving at mach five.

"Finer details not necessary."

I'm not saying this because I wanted HakuHiro hospital fluff that badly. I'm saying this as a Hakuri fan who's worried that he'll be reduced to an exposition and gag delivery tool. It's happened to some of my favourites before despite the prominent billing they got, and I hoped it wouldn't happen again here after the Rakuzaichi arc set Hakuri up to be second only to Chihiro in terms of narrative importance. But shoving him offscreen so we get updates about him indirectly -giving us no time to even see him wake up or express anything directly- feels like side-character treatment. You know, how Hinao was treated in Chapter 11 (where's she been lately?).

The best that can be hoped for is that he gives us a PoV that lets us explore the Kamunabi side more via his hospital stay somehow. Feels bad when the author clearly hates deviating from the action to do those kinds of scenes, so I wonder how much we'll actually see of Hakuri struggling and working through his issues while he's setting up plot points for other characters and the larger narrative. All while Chihiro's shoving him out of mind for one reason or another to keep focusing on the story events too.

Chihiro not checking in on Hakuri after he wakes up isn't a huge issue- that can readily be ascribed to guilt thanks to the panel of him recalling how he said he'd rely on Hakuri's help with a sad expression. He's worried in general too even if it would have been better if he'd been more proactive about expressing it. It's not like Chihiro has to wake up in a cold sweat and demand answers but shouldn't he be a little more concerned about his "equal partner"? Especially after all the emphasis put on how important they are to each other during the last arc?

Chihiro seems hesitant to broach the subject of Hakuri at all despite obviously caring a great deal.

The most generous interpretation I can make of this is that Chihiro and Hakuri are both too guilty to face each other right now. Chihiro's got a lot of other stuff going on anyway, so he can avoid thinking about the guilt of dragging Hakuri in to his mess by continuing on his mission. Meanwhile Hakuri's clearly thrashing himself something fierce. The panel of him curled up on the bed under Minimura's narration combined with him requesting the Masumi to help Chihiro in his stead is all we need to see based on what we already know- Hakuri is absolutely drowning in self-loathing right now. So he probably doesn't want to see Chihiro either even if he can get out of bed and walk himself over.

I don't want to go on a fuckhuge tangent about this but I've not got a lot of hope that these guys will interact or resolve the situation any time soon. It seems like very small potatoes compared to facing Samura, dealing with the Hishaku, and whatever's yet to come with the Kamunabi. Honestly, though? I just plain hate miscommunication drama. It's realistic here and very understandable from both sides but please, for the love of god, don't drag it out for the rest of the arc. Let them talk when Chihiro gets back or so help me God I really will think the author is pulling their relationship beats out of a generic BL tropes bin.

After Having Calmed Down...

Alright, alright. Enough of that. At least a few days passed between Chihiro waking up and rolling out again, we just didn't get to see it. So maybe they did meet up at some point. Or maybe the avoidance is to follow up on the "friendship" flags set up by Hiruhiko. Something about how they should still be relying on each other in situations like this instead of flagellating themselves in isolation. That's classic shounen, right? At any rate, we have Hiruhiko and Hakuri one-sidedly calling themselves Chihiro's friends for a reason, so we'll just have to wait and see what comes of that. I don't think that will end with Hakuri and Chihiro not being friends somehow.

Also, despite the dialogue about Hakuri not having much hope for healing his damage nerves, I'm pretty sure he will at least partially recover at some point. I just hope it's not entirely off-screen. The vast majority of character development in Kagurabachi happens through combat and the direct lead-up to the fights, which is a big strength of the series. But that also means that characters who can't fight don't get much on-screen development.

Hakuri's going to have some time to examine his circumstances in a future chapter after all the set up he got earlier in the arc. His thing will probably be learning to value himself; most likely in the sense that he's not just a tool, but a person. Hard to see how that will happen while he's stuck in recovery mode though. Will the author change tack and start having more scenes of talking heads and political drama to explore between action scenes? Seriously doubt it. So either Hakuri gets put on an expedited recovery schedule of his own or he'll be out of the story until he's useful to Chihiro('s story) as a sorcerer again. ...Not great vibes with so much of his trauma being tied to "utility=worthiness of love" but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised? I hope?

It'll be really tough for him to learn his lesson for this arc if he's burnt out after failing to save someone he swore to protect, too. A day after finally proving himself to be a genius of rare talents capable of doing so no less. God this poor kid. He finally got everything he wanted and deserved and lost it all... well he didn't lose Chihiro and Shiba, but he probably thinks he deserves to right now. Especially since Chihiro seems to have left without seeing him even once.

Which would have just made his guilt worse anyway because of what happened to him and Uruha. Hakuri summoned Chihiro back in a panic and got him killed too! And now he's totally burnt out and may be forever, so he can't even try to make up for it by training his power and "earning" redemption by becoming stronger and saving more lives. The last thing he did with his abilities was fail to save a life he promised to protect and get his friend killed. He was already being crushed under the weight of what happened to Ice Lady and now...

Huh, wouldn't that kind of be a good point to make though? That you have to forgive yourself before the guilt eats you alive. Else you'll never stop self-destructing... wonder if the author will go that route for Hakuri and/or Chihiro.

... Man. The feelings I have about Hakuri are really messy and way too closely tied to my own life experiences, so it's hard for me to be objective about him and how I want him to be handled. His journey mirrors my own in so many ways and made this series a ride or die for me based on how he was written last arc. In terms of Current Events, though? From a neutral standpoint, I think we'll get scenes of him interacting with other characters for side-plot reasons while the focus is on Chihiro's exploits. From a personal standpoint, I want in-depth explorations of him like we got in the Rakuzaichi arc. I want to see more of that, as much as possible. Even if it means deviating away from cool spreads and Chihiro doing awesome stunts more often. (In other words: the author's priorities and mine probably don't overlap right now.) So even though I know objectively that it's just not time to get back to Hakuri yet, I'm anxious that even when we do it won't be handled with grace because he can't be directly tied to the action scenes.

There are a lot of complicated thoughts about how Chihiro interacts with people in general, too... Hakuri's not the only one who does the emotional heavy lifting when it comes to depicting the relationship between them. A lot of character screen time is devoted to establishing bonds and such with Chihiro but rarely from Chihiro's point of view in return. He's completely consumed by plot things and we don't know how he feels about the people close to him directly for the most part. Hakuri is actually the lucky one who got a whole few sentences of Chihiro's inner thoughts acknowledging him as someone stronger that one time! Everything else is left to context and facial expressions -which is appropriate for a relatively reticent MC- but it would be nice get in his head to hear what he thinks about Shiba, Hakuri, and others more often.

Normally I work all that feelings stuff out in a private draft, but I'll leave it here in case you were starting to think I was anything more than a sad sack mad man, dear void. Depending on how next week goes I might not post; maybe not until after New Year's if life keeps being difficult. Be kind if you're given a choice, okay? Take care out there.

[aidanchaser]

WIP Tag/Reblog Game

Thank you @rosie-b for the tag! I love hearing about your works~

List the titles your top five priorities for WIP updates (link your fics for new readers!)

An upcoming scene, event, or detail in each fic that you're looking forward to writing

Bonus: make a poll for your followers to vote on which top 5 WIP they are most excited to see an update on!

Then tag 10 writer friends!

WIP TITLES

(I picked the 5 that I have open currently - there are so many more than 5 rattling around at all times, and i try not to start publishing any that aren't already outlined beginning to end)

Boulangerella - a fairy tale/cinderella story full of love square shenanigans, blood sacrifices, and scheming villains

Butterfly Effect - Adrien as Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth AU; Marinette and Chloe hold the ladybug and cat miraculous - songfic with butterfly effect by FJØRA

Expectations - Kwami Swap AU where Adrien is Mister Bug from the beginning; he's dealing with the anxiety of his role (and the knowledge that he handed his earrings over to hawk moth in another timeline and has no idea why)

After the War (place holder title) - a 1920s post-WWI AU, where Marinette runs her parents' bakery by day and a club by night; the club is a cover to take down war-profiteer Gabriel Agreste through vigilante action; Adrien has just returned to Paris from his time abroad in London, and Marinette has to wrestle with her childhood crush on him and her now grown-up hatred for his family

Time Lady of Creation (place holder title) - A Time Lord AU - I will say little else about it because it's still in the outline stages with only a few scraps of scenes drafted

UPCOMING SECTIONS

The next chapter is full of A LOT of confrontations and hard conversations - Marinette & Luka (the original conversation has been written but it needs to be redrafted to a new context); Felix and Lila (again, a lot of their stuff is written but needs to be redrafted); and Marinette & Chat Noir (not drafted yet - fragments abound in notes but need to be tied together)

Adrien has to figure out how to get his hands on the Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses so that he can save Marinette from a terrible fate

Marinette needs to help Adrien face Miracle Queen - I'm excited about the Cat/Dragon and Bug/Snake renditions of their powers for this AU, but this fic just kept getting comments that were like "it's not even that different from canon" and so I no longer care too much about this fic - I'm just irritated because I wrote the ending already and i LOVE the ending but I can't post the ending without writing the middle

The next scene I need to write is a confrontation between Ladybug and Adrien Agreste, where he doesn't realize how much she hates him and she has no idea how much he's madly in love with her

Right now it's mostly an outline, so I need to write the beginning, where Ladybug saves Adrien from a wax museum come to life then asks him to run away with her through time and space!

So - which WIP are you most excited to see update?

I know I'm supposed to tag 10 but I know about half of the writers I am mutuals with have already been tagged, so if I accidentally tag you a second time, I apologize! @astargatelover (if you have 5 wips?), @asukiess (if you haven't been tagged yet), @kay-elle-cee, @uncertainwallflower, @ninadove (I would love to hear about your projects and get to know you more) [I'm so sorry i fully reblogged and commented your own WIP list and did not even process the connection - absolutely embarrassing], @chaos-has-theories, @sunshinemarauder, @wield-the-mighty-pen, @miabrown007 (I don't think you've been tagged yet??? unclear), and last but certainly not least @dammithawke (bc i haven't heard about your role reversal au in a while and would love to hear about it again)

[miqolena]

My first-final thoughts on Dawntrail

My opinions and spoilers for the entirety of 7.0 under the cut.

Overall I enjoyed this expansion immensely. There was no point at which I thought to myself, "I can't wait for this part to be over," or "This is really dull," or "I want to move on to the next thing right now." There was no character I did not enjoy and feel at least something small for. Characters I kind of didn't like initially (Bakool Ja Ja mostly) ended up being some of the characters that I loved most. Wuk Lamat was a joy in her development. I wasn't annoyed by her initial faults and I liked that she retained some of them even at the end, after she had grown so immensely. Zoraal Ja's dimensions were revealed a little late into the game, but I had already sort of gotten a notion of them by the time that happened, so I didn't mind, and I find the idea of struggling with the legacy someone leaves you with the best of intentions to be really compelling. I adored Gulool Ja Ja to pieces. And Wuk Eva. And literally everyone else. I'm serious, there's no one I didn't like.

The area that affected me most was Living Memory, and if that was like kicking me in the shin, then Heritage Found was the winding back of the leg. I have dealt with my own losses in life and the whole thing with reusing souls and resurrecting people and preserving them based on their memories was grotesque to me. My loved ones are gone, and we had wonderful relationships and I loved them dearly, but I would never want to speak to them again. Because they are dead and should stay that way. But the scene with Wuk Lamat speaking her last words to Namikka was terribly upsetting because I couldn't help imagining the things I would say to my loved ones if I could see them again. It struck home with painful precision and there were tears.

The themes of love, legacy, war, redemption, death, and loss were poignant to me, and I think they were handled really well.

As for the encounter design, the dungeons were fairly difficult but I never died in a Trust run, so they must not have been too hard. Same with the trials. I can see myself doing these things over and over again without getting too tired of it for the next two or so years. The single player duties were great except for the one QTE in the duel with Gulool Ja Ja, which stressed my hands to the point of forcing me to take a break for a few hours.

For gathering, I appreciate the new action Revisit that the game added to the two gatherers, it's always exciting when it procs. Fisher seems to be sitting pretty too. I haven't done all of them yet but so far the Wachumeqimeqi quests have been great, and I haven't done any of the role quests yet, so no opinions there. For crafting, I haven't really delved into the potential of the new actions, but I know they're probably going to shake up the game a little.

Music was spot on as usual. The game's graphical update has done wonders for the visuals as well. I'm lucky in that I'm completely enamored with Lena's updated appearance; a lot of people aren't so happy. I hope that their concerns can be addressed over time.

This might be new expansion smell filling my head, but I think Dawntrail might be my favorite. I can't wait to see where they're going with this, the aftermath to the threads they made in the MSQ. I want more of these characters and places and I know I'm going to get it, and that's the most comforting feeling.

As for fic, though… I think it's going to be hard to put Gaius in there with Lena. The entire first half the WoL is providing a role of mentorship for Wuk Lamat and I'm going to have to think really hard about how I write the MSQ so that Gaius is there and not just nodding his head and going 🧍‍♂️. There are a few moments when I was playing where I thought to myself "Gaius could respond to this with something relevant to his character," like for example when Zoraal Ja remarks that the Empire was full of idiots, but those were just a few moments. It'll be hard to fit him in with the rest of it and depict the MSQ in a way that's both not boring/retreading what viewers have already seen to much while still getting the information of the plot AND my changes across. We'll see how it goes. I'm not super hankering to start, so we'll see when I get to that.

That's all. See you ingame!

[ray935sworld]

Hello, hello) it's me? yes, finally 👻. I’ve got my nails done, so now I could use 💅 just for fun (I feel better if you're interested, but anyway)

I hope you've been doing well lately. I'm sorry that the last ask may have seemed passive-aggressive to you, I HONESTLY AND SINCERELY wrote it only with love and respect. (and probably with a bunch of mistakes…) English is not my native language and the semantic structure of sentences and grammar suffer from this, once again I am very sorry about it.

And FINALLY, I finally finished that wonderful chapter of my favorite divorce. Luka is my dearest stronghold of the mind, and I love him for that. I sincerely believe him, he seems so loving and caring to David, I'm glad that Marc gave him another chance.

BUT with all this fuss, I almost forgot that Marc doesn't even know what caused Mr. "I'm delusional " to behave like this and only now hears the reason. Is it horrible, did he not know the reason all this time??! What a nightmare. What a crazy hell he lives in. Oh, my dear Marc, you're wonderful, you absolutely don't deserve it.

AND yes, the scene with David is terrible, really scary and painful, and even if I understand Vale’s position (which is crazy and delusional as fuck, because it is Marc there is no way, absolutely no way, he can do that) - he believes that he was betrayed, his actions make sense, but damn it, even if you believe he is not yours, is just disgusting. Disgusting behavior. You solemnly assured me that he would answer for it, well... I'm waiting, I really have to grind my teeth, well, it's not that easy, but I'm trying.

As a wonderful @calia23 already said «MY BABY MY POOR BABY! VALENTINO DID IT ON PURPOSE! I JUST KNOW! That he crawls on his knees isn't enough, I need him to suffer!!!», Thank you so much for this.

Thank you for reading my essay,

A thousand kisses to you and your writing 💖

P.S., jokes aside, ghost-anon is absolutely love, please don't change it. Another thousand kisses 💕)

OMG HEEEY MY DEAR 👻 ANON. It's so good to hear from you again!!!

Well, what else can I say except ✨💅SLAY 💅✨

And oh I'm so sorry if it seemed like that passive aggressive was meant in a rude way. I definitely understood it like fun passive aggressive like that "you made me cry with Santi WHY?" I just read it in my head that way and thought it was funny. And please ABSOLUTLY NO WORRIES about english grammar or spelling and stuff like that. I'm not a native speaker either and I love learning languages so I totally understand the struggles. Feel free to describe if there's a word you use in your native langue that you see fitting in a situation but there no equal translation, if you want to. I really don't mind.

So about the divorce AU - OH LUCA MY LOVE 💕 when thinking about his place, making him the loving uncle even post divorce wasn't even up for debate.

And about the question if/ what Marc knew for the reason, so Marc definitely knew that Vale assumed that David isn't his son. I mean in this AU Vale even tells the press. And they had a few fights about this (and the dangerous racing still exists but is only a minor part) At a later point, I'll definitely take the fights they had during the last weeks/ months of their relationship into account and describe them. So Marc knew about the reason (that Vale believed that David isn't his biological son) but I really wanted to kind of highlight Vale's view (which will come back later too! There's a lot of figuring out to do) to show why he reacts so strongly.

I mean Vale's accusation and behavior is very extrem especially cause it is towards two people he considered the people he loves the most in the world. So I feel like the explanation that he sees David as the physical prove of the betrayal is important to understand Vale's view (even if it's wrong and he is delusional but he doesn't believes he is delusional and yes I will milk this part so much you won't believe it! Trust me, my goal is it to make you feel sorry for Vale)

And I love writing disgusting action that have somehow an understable reason so this is also just me being mean in writing ☺️😈

OH AND THAT MAN WILL SUFFER. Mentally (and physical) definitely. But be aware that this AU will kind of take very long. I hope to write soon a little more and then get to the part where I can make the chapters longer but the real suffering Vale part will only be after a little more poor David moments

OH YES @calia23 really brought it to the point. Absolutely lovely. She's amazing. Totally stunning. She is also the one helping me with all this and helps developing many rough ideas and concept. Literally I sent her essay messages after essay messages and not only does she actually reads them but she comments and ask about it!!! MUCH LOVE AND KISSES TO HER! 💕💕💕

And oooh, thank you so much, thousand kisses to you too! I'm so thankfuk for your sweet message :)

[itwoodbeprefect]

12, 27, 42, 46 for the fic writer asks

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

i could try to pretend that it doesn't matter to me if people read my stuff or not, but that would be a lie. i think maybe it's more... by this point i've had years and years of posting fic and people being extremely sweet and kind and encouraging about it, and that has absolutely had an impact both in terms of keeping me posting more fic and the ways i view my own writing (and how i view myself, i think, especially pre-ao3. i'm pretty sure people online telling me i was funny played a not insignificant part in building any sense of self-worth as a deeply awkward kid irl in high school), and having all of that history and experience, at this point i have the luxury of not caring about the numbers that much. comments are always very awesome, but if any particular fic would end up getting ignored completely for whatever reason, that's okay. i'm not writing for max engagement (i've made some hilariously terrible decisions lately if that's what i'm going for), but that doesn't take away that people being excited about a thing i made remains a really really nice benefit to how the fandom ecosystem works.

though i will also note, i don't think there's a single thing wrong with wanting or needing feedback or support to your writing. i frequently feel extremely spoiled in that regard, because i've been around for so long and my output in that time has been so high on average that i know people know my name, and i also write pretty easily digestible uncontroversial stuff generally speaking no matter what fandom i'm in at the time, so the responses i'm getting are oftentimes not the average, and i'm very aware of that. it's much, much harder getting started in fandom.

-

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

ooooh. i mean, most favorite is easy, and probably a fairly universal answer, which is that moment when the writing flows nicely and it feels right and i get to put down at least a few paragraphs in a row (maybe even more!) without it feeling like any effort at all. least favorite is probably the opposite - when it just Won't Work, and every sentence feels clunky and awkward and overwrought, like there's just no way to bridge whatever tiny gap in a story i'm probably trying to fill at the time. the goofiest thing about that is that when reading things back later there's often not too much actual difference between the quality of the writing when it feels good vs. when it feels bad, because the problem is in my head, but it's also my head that needs to do the writing, so that doesn't make it less of an obstacle.

-

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

Centrefolds / Distal Breaks by @redgoldblue, which i read because @redgoldblue wrote it, because i would absolutely recommend anything written by @redgoldblue.

-

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

ha, anything but action- or plot-driven, i think. characters, emotions, characters having emotions, emotions to explore characters - that's my wheelhouse.

and on the topic of writing style: i've gotten a comment a few times (as a compliment! nothing bad about this) that said something to the effect that my writing is pleasantly economical or sparse, which frankly baffled me for a while, because right from the very very start i was writing mostly about relationships (whether friendship, romance, family), and not very much really happens in my stories (the traditional way, action or plotwise), so from my point of view almost everything was fluff and just sort of... not superfluous, and definitely not meaningless (there's a lot of meaning to feelings!), but a sort of deleted scene extra part to canon. those are some of the first responses i got to my work: i can't believe i read this many words about almost nothing happening, and i really liked it! so filler, i guess, might be the best word for it, and obviously "all of this is filler" and "this is a very economical use of words" is inherently contradictory, except, well. is it? it took me a while to, i guess, internalize, that when the goal is feelings and exploring characters, doing that in an effective way is going straight to the point.

-

Get to know your fic writer! 🔎

[stitchbewitchs-blog]

Allow me, if you will, to write about something that has been rattling around in my brain since I first heard the first released songs from The Outsiders musical. It owes a lot of its theater legacy to Dogfight the Musical specifically in the way that it sounds.

Any musical post 2012 (the year Dogfight first played off Broadway) with a strong ensemble of male voices, more than a lot of shows, and folk/rock influences will have me thinking back to Dogfight. And my first listen of The Outsiders did exactly that, recalling the bounding, rollicking fun of the first few songs of Dogfight when the Marines land in San Francisco. I could write a novel about this, and I might post about it more, but I need to talk about the similarities between Little Brother (The Outsiders) and Come Back (Dogfight).

They are both the eleven o clock numbers of their show, the final big emotional song to really knock your socks off at the end of the show. They are both songs about grief, Dallas singing Little Brother after losing Johnny and Eddie singing of the deaths of Bernstein and Boland and his experiences coming home from Vietnam.

Musically, they choose to tell us of their grief in different ways. "Little Brother" has more rhythm, more blues influence, in the way that it swings and the singers add riffs. It includes some singing from the ensemble towards the end, building the crescendo of the song as Dally emotes his grief in a ramp up to the very last verse. The ensemble portion is a call and response, all of the voices representing Dally's desperation in his powerlessness to help his few loved ones (Ponyboy hurt, Johnny dead). In the final verse a violin slide (which is one of the creepiest sounds every) introduces us to his contemplation of his final action, the danger that is coming. Dally jumps up in pitch to sing "Johnny I am coming home/bout to take my final bow/hope you saved a seat for me/Johnny can you see me now?" before his death. The inclusion of the chorus and then their silence (as well as Dally standing alone onstage) emphasizes the solo singer but also his terrible isolation. His voice stands by itself for the very last time.

"Come Back" is Eddie's first solo song in the show. Every other song he sings either in duet with Rose or in harmony with his friends. The grinding, marching beat of the accompaniment (written in 12/8 triplets for the entirety of the song) echoes the martial drumbeat of "Some Kinda Time (Reprise)" as the characters go off to war. This is the beat of a dirge, the ebb and flow of the chords building to the crescendo of Eddie repeating how he does not know how to come back over and over and over in more and more discordant notes, his sorrow picked up in an electric guitar riff right before the end of the song. The repetitive nature of his crying out with no answer is the musical version of his isolation, a veteran of a war that no one wants to acknowledge, his invisibility in his home country. "Come Back" resolves itself musically (Eddie resolving on E which is the key for the final part of the song) when he sets eyes on Rose for the final scene of the musical.

Anyway I'm so normal about these musicals.

[rockinlibrarian]

Hi Rockin, for the ask game, I want to know about How to Catch Up with Your Therapist!!

1, 2, 3, 5 and 15, or whichever you like!

Thank you! If anyone else wants to ask me stuff, the list of questions is here, and the list of fics is here. I get tickled just knowing somebody knows any of my fics by name, so it's never too late to ask! There are 19 different fandoms featured in that list (granted, some of them are subsets of the same, like "Agent Carter" to "MCU" and "Tolkien--works and related fandoms" to "Lord of the Rings" AND "The Hobbit-- and that last one is crack anyway, but STILL), so I'm sure there's something for everybody!

ANYhoo, another ask for last year's Masked Author submission! Here's the link to my answer for #2!

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

I tend to draft in dialogue to begin with, and then I flesh it out with all the rest afterward. But considering this fic is just two people sitting in a room, one of them telling an increasingly over-the-top story, there really wasn't much in the way of stage direction to add. And who needs dialogue tags, when it's pretty obvious when Viktor's the one talking and poor Dr. Miller is mostly just saying, "Oh," a lot, in various tones of voice? So I decided to embrace the dialogue-only format!

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

Okay, hmm. I was going to say that technically all the narration is also dialogue, but there are definitely some bits that it IS Dr. Miller's reactions that are my favorite, so I'm looking through for anything standing out to me and I think I'm going to go with this:

“So that’s when Luther and Sloane announced they were getting married. That evening. Since the Universe was imploding and all. And—imminent demise and all, that was the nicest day I ever spent with my family. With my brothers at least. We had a bachelor party just drinking and doing terrible karaoke, and…I have never felt so completely loved and accepted as part of the family as I did then. One of the boys. The Best Man, even. But, I mean, everyone was— it was a big old love fest. It totally satisfied Luther’s wanting to throw me that Welcome to the Brotherhood party, but it wasn’t about me, it was about us."

It's just so happy on so many layers that it makes me kind of teary, and it's the fact that we're looking at this scene from Viktor's point of view, specifically, and you realize how much that moment meant to him in so many ways.

5: What part was hardest to write?

I'm not sure at this point, but I know there were a lot of parts of the show I couldn't remember properly, and I was between Netflix subscriptions so I couldn't rewatch, so I was working from transcripts which are based mostly on closed captions so they don't give you the settings, the actions, or even sometimes who's talking. There are a FEW scenes I kind of glossed over-- the part in between attacking Allison and killing Leonard sticks out as not entirely accurate for one thing. And the actual events of the first (second?) apocalypse-- I was very vague there, but at least with that I could use the excuse that it was still the most traumatizing event of Viktor's life and HE probably couldn't look at it very accurately or in detail, either.

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

That I'm not QUITE as invisible as I think I am, and there WERE some people who remembered me mentioning it in the Elliott's House Discord before I decided to submit it for Masked Author on the basis that no one would remember me! XD

Also and more seriously, it helped me get more of an objective look inside Viktor's head-- ironically enough. Because like I said in the post about him the other day, (and implied in the paragraph before this come to think of it), I've always related to his chronic self-esteem I'm-Nobody-but-I'd-really-like-to-be-Somebody issues, but having to examine his motivations for every little moment of the show helped me separate ME from HIM, and I understand better things HE'D do and feel that I wouldn't.

[whoslaurapalmer]

okay. so i have maltese falcon thoughts that have to go somewhere (and some fic planning/plot board thoughts at the end)

-this is not 1:1 at all by any means at all but brigid only appears in 11/20 chapters, there are 5/20 chapters where people say to sam 'wow, sucks about miles, huh?' and three of those five chapters are chapters with brigid. like i know this is basically nothing but i think it's interesting still in some way that most of the chapters where miles being dead is brought up are chapters where his killer appears

-especially bc goddd brigid spends just under half the book NOT BEING THERE...........almost like a ghost. flitting in and out of this story, especially in those first few chapters

-when the cops and the DA bring up sam's volatility it's not only that he's gotten away with shady things before. it's the implication that bc there's all these vague references to sam doing terrible things and the clear violence we see from him during the story and it being in third person objective that the audience has to consider, until the very end, that sam really could've killed miles or thursby

-i want to think sam knows from the beginning that brigid killed miles but i am also unsure. idk idk idk. i think when miles is killed in the beginning sam at least knows something went wrong. they knew thursby was violent (in some way) but there's also no reason to think thursby would've killed him, sam especially doesn't think that. and if only two other people were around at the time, thursby and brigid, then sam has two suspects. thursby is killed, and he has one suspect. and it's one he almost likes.

-i love how iva's role in the narrative is, regardless of sam not suspecting her, her being a suspect, until she reveals what she did that night and it turns sam into more of a suspect

-the scene where he asks brigid to strip is like, rightfully reprehensible, it's a horrible thing for sam to ask (while brigid has no qualms using her body, this time sam is making her show it so she has less control over it) but sam has spent the whole book doing horrible things, but i roll it around in my head a lot bc of their dialogue --

"I don't think you did," he said, "but I've got to know. Take your clothes off." [...] "I'm not ashamed to be naked before you, but--can't you see?--not like this. Can't you see that if you make me you'll--you'll be killing something?"

like they're very much not talking about her killing miles but i think. there are pieces of it in there. some version of that scene could have been more clearly about miles

-i've brought this up before but just, brigid going into sam's office and spinning this lie, it's the most wholesome lie she could've picked. that's why she picks it. it shows her as naive (but not too naive), innocent, the last person who could ever be doing any wrong herself, who just needs help so desperately, worried about her family but not HERSELF. bc brigid's actions are never about her. they're always, this is what she had to do, this is what was unavoidable, because of how other people acted. brigid can't be guilty, under any circumstances. she was just doing what she had to. she had to attack cairo because of course he attacked her first. she had to arrange for thursby to die because she was scared of him. she could never have threatened cairo. she could never be the one that was really a threat to thursby, because she could never use men and throw them away, why would you even say that about her?

(-and i have no idea if hammett intended that meaning behind her initial lie, when he wrote it. if he built it that way, if he knew then that she killed miles. but the fun thing about writing is that sometimes pieces happen and fit together whether you intended it or not!!!!! because it's in the story, it has to function to some end, and against the narrative as a whole, this is what brigid's story does)

-and it's by chance that she goes to his office. she asks for a good detective nearby and he's recommended to her. it could've been anyone. it could've been sam himself if miles didn't show up. brigid doesn't care who dies, as long as someone does, as long as it puts Something between her and thursby.

-but that's what i love about stories, too!!!!!! it was by chance. and it also wasn't. there is no other way this story could've worked out. there is no other option where she doesn't walk into sam spade's office in particular. it has to be sam's office, bc sam is the only one capable of putting her in jail, bc BOTH of them want the exact same thing -- complete, uncompromised control over themselves and their lives, and only one of them could've walked out of the ending

-and, backtracking, that's exactly what she's doing when she goes to sam's office, arranging for thursby to die. she needs him out of the way, so she needs him either dead or in jail for someone's murder. it is so fucking ruthless. she walks in there knowing someone is going to die.

-my favorite sam+effie moments --

"Uh-huh, the whole damned Perine family's wonderful," Spade said, "including you and the smudge of soot on your nose." "He's not a Perine, he's a Christy." She bent her head to look at her nose in her vanity-case-mirror. "I must've got that from the fire." She scrubbed the smudge with the corner of a handkerchief. "The Perine-Christy enthusiasm ignite Berkeley?" he asked. She made a face at him while patting her nose with a powdered pink disc. "There was a boat on fire when I came back. They were towing it out from the pier and the smoke blew all over our ferry-boat."

The Worst Man You Know Still Really Fucking Loves His Secretary. idk it's just such a silly little thing to say.........

"On the La Paloma?" "The La is a lousy combination," he said. "Stop it. Be nice, Sam. Tell me."

look. look. that's a lemony line if i ever heard one, i tell you what

He called another number--his office's--held the receiver to his ear for a little while without saying anything, and replaced it on its hook.

this line drives me crazy. it's right before the events start rolling towards the final meeting. i don't know if it's supposed to mean, he calls his office and there's no one, bc the next time he calls effie he calls her mother's house, or if, maybe, he calls just to hear effie's voice for a second, or to know there's one person in the whole world he can count on. and in twenty-four hours he's going to betray her trust in him irreparably. the only person in the whole world who trusts sam. and that's effie's real mistake, trusting sam. not seeing him for all that he is, despite him constantly saying he's no good. but he says it so jokingly. and he's so good at what he does. so what if he's a little crooked? he's not as crooked as he appears. ("don't be too sure i'm as crooked as i'm supposed to be.") but he is, just not the kind of crooked people expect

-oh you know what other line drives me crazy??????

A wry smile twisted the lawyer's mouth. He moved his shoulders wearily and said: "That's right--I'm selling you out. Why don't you get an honest lawyer--one you can trust?" "That fellow's dead."

hey. hey. what the fuck is that supposed to mean

-oh, speaking of that chapter, this line literally RIGHT AFTER --

"Getting touchy, huh? I haven't got enough to think about: now I've got to remember to be polite to you. What did I do? Forget to genuflect when I came in?"

-i have a post about this from while i was rereading but i don't think i ever actually posted it. sam spends the whole book, and this chapter, arguing with people and not apologizing to them and storming out, and then the very next thing he does, is go to his office, grab effie and argue with her, storm out, turn around and come back and apologize to her, the closest he gets to a real apology about himself, to the only person in the book he really truly cares to honestly apologize to

"Stay here till I'm back or you hear from me. For Christ's sake let's do something right." He went out, walked half the distance to the elevators, and retraced his steps. Effie Perine was sitting at her desk when he opened the door. He said: "You ought to know better than to pay any attention to me when I talk like that." "If you think I pay any attention to you you're crazy," she replied, "only"--she crossed her arms and felt her shoulders, and her mouth twitched uncertainly--"I won't be able to wear an evening gown for two weeks, you big brute." He grinned humbly, said, "I'm no damned good, darling," made an exaggerated bow, and went out again.

and no, he won't kneel to sid. but he'll bow to effie, even jokingly. just effie.

-oh i love this part with brigid and cairo

"Yes," she agreed and laughed. "Yes, unless he's the one you had in Constantinople." Sudden blood mottled Cairo's face. In a shrill enraged voice he cried: "The one you couldn't make?" Brigid O'Shaughnessy jumped up from her chair. Her lower lip was between her teeth. Her eyes were dark and wide in a tense white face. She took two quick steps towards Cairo. He started to rise. Her right hand went out and cracked sharply against his cheek, leaving the imprint of fingers there.

brigid: you're gay, cairo!! cairo: so gay you could not seduce me OR my partner!!!!!!!!! brigid: !!!! 🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

-i love that it reveals her propensity for violence. that shade of ruthlessness in her. the part of her that will kill, especially when some piece of her control, her mask, is broken off, how much she actually uses people is shown, bc one of the reasons she had to get rid of cairo was clearly bc she realized she couldn't seduce him either. oh oh this part too --

"If you don't--I dare say you'll give her some money in any event, but--if you don't give her as much as she thinks she ought to have, my word of advice is--be careful." Spade's eyes held a mocking light. He asked: "Bad?" "Bad," the fat man replied.

bad................

-it's like. god it hints just enough, enough to get you nervous. it's so well done like that. i'd like to do that more

-anyway. some fic thoughts -

-ramona's the character i'm stuck on right now bc her arc in this fic is not like effie's. i don't think kit and ramona have the relationship sam and effie have. i have a scene marked out for her where Something Pivotal happens between them but i just haven't figured out ramona's real role up until that point to even know what THAT conversation does.............

-i want kit to have spent the night bertrand dies with dewey. but that shakes up the second chapter/third chapter and i'm following them not strictly but. generally. so if i don't do that i'm like, well, what happens there, huh? iva shows up in the third chapter bc 1) we don't know what she did that night until chapter 12 2) we NEVER know what sam did that night 3) it's the first reveal that sam was with iva. iva coming into his office is that reveal.

-so, idk what to do with that one right now. also i have a great ending to the first chapter (like, don't misjudge me here, i have like literally .5% written of this, i am plotting. but i did do some of that opening scene a while ago, and some little lines here and there) with lemony narrating but it means that, no one knows kit was with dewey that night, bc lemony won't reveal it. i think kit has no shame about her relationships but i do think she's also a very private person. so it's also a struggle of, what do i know happened, what would lemony actually legitimately reveal about these people he loves? and then, WELL I MEAN HE'S GOTTA SAY SOMETHING, OTHERWISE, WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING HERE, HUH???????????

-i have some sketches of vague lines he gets to deliver about things he's hiding, bc lemony does that too, so that's, yknow. available.

-there's things lemony's honest about in his narration and things he is not. he is honest about saying he's going to kill someone. but he hides who hangfire is when he realizes it in ?3, in a truly heartbreaking scene where you know he's not telling you something pivotal but that he's realized something too horrible to truly acknowledge. so that's available, too.

-god that scene though. uggg

-i know sort of how the ending works out and i know it goes past the ending of the book but not quite, how, just yet. bc there is no parallel scene w ramona at the ending like there is with effie.

-somehow i did get jacques in there. potentially, idk if he'll stay. it goes back to, what exactly gets revealed. oh no wait, even if that one thing doesn't get revealed, jacques would still show up, i'm sure. but some dialogue he might say depends on, again, WHAT GETS REVEALED.

-i built a lot of backstory that might just. not make it in. but it's relevant for why they're all doing what they're doing in the au, so i had to know it, and it's something i Do want to show in the fic bc, it's the motivation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by god!!!!!!!!!!!! it's just, how do i reveal it in a way that's not like, extreme nutshelling exposition, yeah???????????? again, especially with lemony narrating like this

-and i didn't know if that reveal w jacques is too much..........

-anyway, he will still be there. good for you, jacques, you made it.

-and i can't let go of lemony narrating like this, by the way, especially bc he wound up being relevant to the story, too, in a way i'm really thrilled with so far. i am, excited about that.

-related: do i maybe make too big a deal about miles? maybe. but you can't tell me it's NOT a pivotal piece of sam's motivation. so, yknow, have i written fic of them fucking? maybe. (no they DIDN'T love each other but there is an UNDERSTANDING between them about What It Means To Be A Detective) that's between me and my libreoffice document. potentially. sex is so hard to write, i tell you what.

[scary-grace]

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @nocompromise-noregrets and @the-red-butterfly, and since I have some time this evening I figured I would get into them!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 67!

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 2,230,943. I don't know if that's actually a lot but it feels like a lot.

3. What fandoms do you write for? I write for the Tolkienverse (almost exclusively The Hobbit) and for My Hero Academia.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

i ain't changed, but i know i ain't the same (828)

Kairos (759)

seeking a friend for the end of the world (702)

Show Me My Silver Lining (532)

more than words can wield the matter (429)

The weirdest part about the answer to this question for me is that 'more than words can wield the matter' is a one-shot. Love Like Ghosts is only three kudos behind it and has been up for a significantly shorter time, but it was still strange to see.

5. Do you respond to comments? I don't usually respond! I always thank people who commented in the author's note of the next chapter, though. The times I'm most likely to respond are if somebody points out a mistake that needs correction (like the fact that I double-pasted the last chapter of Enough to Go By) or if they've asked for a fun fact I can't resist sharing.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? There are a few candidates, although the fics that qualify for this the most are still at the WIP stage. The best candidates at the moment are probably i'll follow you into the dark (in which Bard and Thranduil face the beginning of an alien invasion together) and Gravity (in which the theory of relativity puts a real damper on their relationship). Apparently space = tragedy to me.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Like @nocompromise-noregrets who tagged me, I write a lot of fics with happy endings. The no-holds-barred happiest endings are probably in Show Me My Silver Lining and Yamada Hizashi's Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Hanukah. Something about when the found family hits just right...

8. Do you get hate on fics? I've gotten some semi-antagonistic comments and some rude bookmarks, but otherwise, all the fic hate I've gotten was back on fanfic.net, when I was writing canon character x oc fics and giving everybody superpowers.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I indeed write smut. I used to have to be intoxicated to do it, but that's changed, and now I can write a full scene while chilling out on my break at work. As for the kind of smut, it used to be pretty solidly non-explicit, but I've recently branched out into more explicit stuff.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I write tons of AUs, but I don't think I've ever written a direct crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I don't think so. If anyone is considering it, I hope you don't. For your sake. :)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I have not!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! My co-writers include @dogblessyoutascha and @corndog-patrol, both of whom are awe-inspiringly talented writers and artists.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Barduil, no contest. Almost 1.5 million of my 2 million plus words on Ao3 are devoted to them, and although bagginshield started it all and erasermic got me into BNHA, Barduil's my number one.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I've vowed to finish all my WIPs at some point, so I feel like answering this one will jinx me one way or the other. But the one that's probably furthest down in my list is Insight, aka the genderbent bagginshield/barduil The Village AU.

16. What are your writing strengths? Plot, I think -- I really get a lot out of setting up foreshadowing and twists! I also think I can write a mean action sequence when I really sit down and focus on it. And on several stories the commenters have informed me that I went pretty hard on the horror.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? PACING. I can't write a short fic to save my life.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? If I spoke another language, maybe, but I don't. Usually I convey that other languages are being used with italics in quotes.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Ooh, I'm going to out myself here -- it was for Thor (2011), a canon character x oc. The fic is still out there, since I don't believe in taking stuff down, but being reminded of its existence pains me.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? I don't know that I can choose. My favorites tend to be the ones I'm working on at the moment. My greatest hits are in my pinned post, but I don't think I can narrow them down more than that.

I'm going to tag my collection of writer mutuals: @dogblessyoutascha, @corndog-patrol, @phantombstone, @palmviolet, @piyo-13, and @candycandy00! No pressure or obligation, just if you think it might be fun!

[herrscherofmagic]

one more HSR thought before i go to bed

I love the Penacony story so far, but I do have one gripe- that the Trailblazer feels pretty powerless more often than not. It's still early in the story so things might change, but it feels like everything happens to us, and we don't get much of a chance to act on our own.

Not only do we not get to take much action, but we hardly even get to see the Trailblazer actually process what's going on. As a player with an outsider's view there's a lot of thinking I've been doing about the nature of the situation in Penacony, but it seems as though the Trailblazer doesn't get to do any of that thinking.

and I don't mind that much- the story still has time to change, and I trust the writers. Buuuut it does give me an idea... After the Penacony main story wraps up, I think I'm going to write a fanfic that basically "rewrites" the story roughly from the end of 2.0 onwards (probably a bit later depending on how things go) to give the Trailblazer more agency.

One of my headcanons is that the Trailblazer (in my case Stelle since that's who I play as) still has some lingering attachment to the Stellaron Hunters. We know they used to work alongside Kafka, but the player has the choice of whether or not they want the connection or if they'd rather push her away. I'm definitely one of the players that's gonna pick the Kafka-favorable option every time, lol

So I kinda wanna lean into that a bit more. Making Stelle act more like a Stellaron Hunter; still capable of putting up an innocent/naive/helpless facade, but also observant and willing to scheme.

I want a Stelle that makes a mental map of everyone she knows, who investigates by eavesdropping on bystanders' conversations, who pokes and prods into topics with seemingly innocent questions to gain insight into people.

I want a Stelle that coordinates secret meetings with people and who writes cryptic notes and slowly builds trust with a few select individuals (especially the Stellaron Hunters) and then uses those bonds to plan a sort of "big finale" to the crisis on Penacony.

I want a Stelle who takes risks, who stands up to people like Aventurine and plays tic-for-tac, sometimes losing against him but sometimes winning against him; a Stelle that'll take drastic but calculated actions

I want a Stelle who's willing to play the villain, who'd gladly go up on stage and say terrible things that she doesn't truly mean, willing to unite everyone by rallying them all against her... and then at the last moment, all the blocks fall into place and the stage is set for the battle against the "final boss" (whoever that may be). At the ending scene before the curtain call all is revealed, and Stelle stands as the one who made it all happen.

Basically I want Stelle to pull off a gamble so risky, so wild, so utterly absurd that even Sparkle gets blown away by it, and in the distance you can hear Aha laughing in amusement.

i have more specific thoughts but sharing those would be a mix of spoilers of the 2.0 story as well as spoilers for the fanfic I may write in the future, so that's all I'll say for now!

I feel like it'd be fun to write a sort of "alternate story route" fanfic that's narrowed to a single specific story arc. I've played with the idea of "alternate story route" fanfics before but usually in long overarching narratives where a lot of my mental effort goes into planning out settings and factions. If I do a story that's limited to just this Penacony arc being rewritten then I can really emphasize character relationships, and I think that'd help me a lot to grow in my writing skills! ^.^

[cringeisthemindkiller]

CSM part 2 finally has me hooked.

So mildly unpopular opinion, Part 2 of Chainsaw Man had felt like a letdown. I can't quite figure out why. I think its slower pacing is a part. I don't necessarily mean the lack of action but the shorter chapters really have made it hard for me in some aspects.

My biggest issue is the story. At this point in the manga I still really don't know exactly what this arc is about. The implication Is the four horsemen of the apocalypse that I get. But We've only seen 2 (Maybe 3 if Yoshida is Death but I find that unlikely) and they don't seem to be doing much of anything. It feels stagnant.

It's a shame because the characters are intriguing both new and old. Asa is a really interesting switch-up from Denji, Yoru is fun, Fami and Yoshida have a lot of mystery surrounding them and Yuko is an interesting plot point I'm curious to see develop later, and of course Nayuta is adorable and I can't wait to see more of her.

Yet for all these new exciting characters (yes technically Yoshida was in part 1 but he played such a minor role he is still a relatively new character in terms of how he is now actually a major player in the story) they feel almost stuck.

Yet with all that said the last few chapters have had me intrigued. Specifically, there is a scene with Denji and Asa in chapters 126 and 127 that really hooked me back in.

The falling devil attempts and ultimately fails to traumatize and stun Denji with memories of part 1. Later we have him save Asa and the conversation they have is very tender and sweet and a classic "life is worth living despite all the bad things" but the way it was written and a very specific line by Denji choked me up.

Denji doesn't sugarcoat how life can really beat up on you and will throw one terrible thing after another at you and doesn't let you catch a break ruining so much of what was good in life. Asa asks him how he got over that. Denji responds "I haven't." and that line broke me.

It's been said a lot before but I always appreciate when media makes a very good point to show trauma or mental illness doesn't "go away" you merely learn to live with it. Hearing Denji, the most optimistic naive guy there is recognize and understand that his suffering cant be suppressed or ignored is so beautiful.

Early part 1 Denji would have just ignored it and denied to himself and others that he was struggling. He simply didn't have the emotional maturity to contend with that. This is a moment of growth. In media where the protagonist has extraordinary abilities writers often just don't highlight lingering trauma as the character gets more powerful. A less manga would have just had Denji say "I got stronger" or "It's in the past now". Chainsaw man didn't and the way it's done is so well done.

This isn't a unique concept to Chainsaw Man but it's a very powerful theme to see a character as goofy and lighthearted as Denji deals with his baggage in a healthy and realistic way. This writing still gives me incredible hope despite part 2s slow start. I really want to see them slowly have Denji face down and properly confront his trauma. Everything in the manga had already shown Denji hadn't recovered, but when he said it himself I don't know. It hit differently.

I know for many this is elementary stuff in half-decent writing but when combined with the other stuff CSM does so well, this scene felt so rewarding

[georgiapeach30513]

23, 36, and 56 from this list

(a little Andy for you)

oh!!! I love the Andy!

23. Best writing advice for others?

🖤 Just write. Write things you wouldn't normally write. Put together odd characters. Some of my favorite works have literally came from random wheels. Desperate Affairs is one of them. My first random wheel "one shot" was Mr. Freezy Pops. I didn't like writing dark fics. Until I wrote them. Now I seem to always teeter in the gray area 😂😂 but get out of your comfort zone. Put your music on random, and find a song to write a one shot out of.

🖤 Some people may hate this advice, but...leave your "one shots" open ended. Let yourself and your readers ask question. Get your wheels turning. I know it's a joke on my blog, but A LOT of my series have taken off from a one shot. A LOT. But look at how my one shots end, open ended. Sometimes you just can't leave that story and characters alone until you know.

🖤 This is going to sound crazy, but put your characters in situations (in your head) and think about how they would react in their situation. I am terrible at the descriptive parts. The easiest part for me is dialogue, and that's because I flesh out my characters by their speech, their reactions to a situation, even if I don't write about it. That's how you create a well rounded character. So you have a sweet character; how does she react to cheating? What would she do if someone was rude to her in public? Things like that. This is why I hate editing because a lot of the first draft is dialogue.

36. How do you write kissing scenes?

🖤 Do I write kissing scenes? I know there's a few, but I honestly tend to gloss over them. They're so hard! I tend to write kissing and sexy scenes not straight. So it's not like you're reading an instruction manual. Instead add a little bit of the action, followed by what the reader or the partner(s) are feeling/thinking. Even with sex scenes, how is that person making them feel? Is this the moment that things change? Do they know they're falling? Is this angry? Is it sweet? Is it breakup/the last chance kiss/sex?

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

🖤 Dialogue. I don't know if it's because I grew up in the middle of nowhere, and had to create my own worlds while out in the woods, but dialogue is always the easiest to me. It's the first thing I write, and sometimes I feel a can do a whole chapter with dialogue. Maybe I'm more suited to scripts then lol.

🖤 Changing a character's overall demeanor (dark/soft/soft!dark!) but also keeping the overall attitude about the character. It's why I like writing Steve Rogers dark, Ransom soft, Lloyd soft, Andy a bit dark/manipulative. I literally made people hate Andy Barber because of Desperate Affairs 😂 and even made people hate Frank in Closer to Heaven. I like doing that.

🖤 Crossovers. I love throwing in random characters in the mix. I can't think of a story that I have done where that hasn't been a cross over. I also like multiple love interests (and they're usually Chrises 😂)

[mistergoddess]

midway thru s2 of ftwd and i still can never decide who is more stupid and unlikable between travis and maddy, usually it's just whoever's on screen at the moment pissing me off. they both make terrible decisions constantly, which can be a fine character choice if it weren't for the fact that while they're making the terrible decisions they're acting like they're the most badass fierce competent leaders to ever exist... which like yeah that is their character flaw like they think they're the shit and everyone else needs them and they're the only ones that can do anything right or the only ones worth trusting and everyone else should trust them and follow them even though they are constantly fucking stuff up and distrusting others and letting others down. and i know that's on some level intentional. but they're SO fucking unlikable like it's really overpowering, your two leads should have SOME redeeming qualities because they get on my fucking nerves. and it's so early on in this show and it's already so fucking repetitive and cheapened by bad writing and low stakes like, why does an english teacher magically know how to hotwire boat and scuba dive and use any kind of gun with perfect aim, why does hitting a zombie on the side of the head with a stick kill them. how are people always getting out of the most hopeless situations with barely any effort like at the last second something will work out and oh look problem solved, or oooh it cuts away before their surely inevitable fate but then the next scene theyre JUST THERE WOOO THEY MADE IT OUT... and of course that's just the format but they already OVERUSE THE SHIT OUT OF THAT like 10 times per episode and don't really spend enough time on any one scenario or how its overcame that it really really cheapens it.

idk obviously i'm not watching it for a prestige drama i know it's just a super mid spinoff from another show that also has a lot of writing issues and a lot of corniness and whatever. but i just hate travis and maddy so much they really suck and annoy me and their actions and morals seem to flip flop WILDLY in literally every scene, like the writers just flip a coin to see how they'll react to something or what side they'll take, and it's just lame. at least twd proper like, the action is really good and the pacing is better and the stakes feel a little more real (at least, this early on yk, like the first few seasons maintain that, it isn't until much later that it starts getting goofy as hell, but ftwd doesn't even try) and that makes up for the characters being insufferable or stupid as fuck.