#for every finished drawing 10 abandoned wips follow | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mcrmadness · 4 years ago

Text

Madness draws: Behind the Scenes of the latest Farin&Bela pencil drawing.

Aka the one that’s also my icon, even when that was a big risk to take because normally I start hating the photos I have once drawn, especially if I have failed miserably. This is how the drawing itself turned out:

ATTENTION: The original post about that drawing, with better image, behind this link.

This post is solely about the process itself with lots of pictures and also plenty of gifs, because I promised to do one if people would like to see that and I got some comments saying that they’re looking forward for that. So, here’s now that post!

For starters I have to apologize for the terrible quality that is the photos. I used my phone camera only and never thought about posting them, I just took them as a reference for myself and to show the progress to a friend and only after finishing the drawing I noticed that the angle of the camera causes a huge impact on the perspective of the drawing, so I sometimes might have done useless work when I thought some perspective was wrong when it was actually the photo that was wrong and not my work! I mean, take a look at these photos of the finished piece:

You see that? I realized this when I took maybe the second photo of the Farin sheet and looked at it and couldn’t believe my eyes because I didn’t remember drawing his torsto THAT small! And then I looked at the drawing and was like “wtf???” because it looked nothing like in the photo and then it hit me...

Also, another thing that I learn was that I might need to pay more attention to the perspective of the whole thing also because when I draw, I sit at the table so I am constantly seeing the drawing from my perspective instead of looking at it from above so that’s probably also going to affect the way I draw. I try to keep that in mind in the future so I can avoid redrawing things again and again just because my perspective is different than the reference photo’s.

Also the giant forehead of Farin’s in the photo on the right might have caused me to laugh a bit too much but anyway, let’s continue~ Or more like: let’s start for real this time.

Here’s the reference photo to y’all:

What I did in photoshop was to draw a line between them to see how I can divide the photo on two A4 papers. I had been thinking about this photo for some time already because it’s one of my favorites (but now I just feel cringy looking at it after I have drawn it... goddamnit!), and I got this idea that I could try drawing it on two papers in case I fuck up so I can start over or try again without having to do twice the work! Which was actually a good decision because this was the first version of Farin:

And it was awful. I also realized I had never drawn Farin’s face from he front. I have drawn him before from the side a few times but maybe once it came out actually good so that was why I decided to do the 2 paper method - because I knew it was not going to be an easy job! Bela is relatively easy to draw so I knew already that I would not have too many problems with that one.

I struggled with Farin’s eyes the most, at first.

It took me a while to figure out how to do that white line in his lower lid. Keep in mind that this was my first face portrait in over 10 years so I was very, very rusty and I just didn’t remember how to draw like anything anymore. (The photo is tilted because Bela’s face is a bit tilted and my hand can’t draw anything that is not straight [lol] so I have to rotate the photo in order to even draw the sketch of Bela’s eyes.)

So I took my sketchbook and tried to do some eyes...

I was still struggling so much here until I remembered about blending. And I didn’t have my hopes high but grabbed the eyeshadow applicators (my fave tool for blending) anyway, and switched to my other sketchbook in case the paper was the issue and:

Blending. It was all about blending! So with that in mind, I realized I can continue and I don’t need to do these in my old way, everything doesn’t have to have a lineart done but some of the job is done not with the pencils but with the eraser.

Anyhow, the previous Farin looked really bad and was too big as well so I just discarded that and started a new sheet because the old lines were not coming off properly anymore. I don’t remember if this is the old face or new but I think this might still be the old one:

Yes it definitely is the old because look at those lines! This is the new sheet:

And in the photo you can see one of my pencils - I use Derwent Graphic pencils, it’s a 12 pencil set with very soft pencils, starting with H, F and HB and ending to 9B. With this one I used F, HB, B, 2B, 5B, 7B and 9B. The white pencil is actually my new love aka the eraser pencil Koh-I-Noor Hardmuth. It’s amazing, I recommend! I just didn’t order 10 new ones this other day. I actually used about 1,5 full eraser pencils on this drawing alone so that’s why 10.

Here’s a “little” gif of the process on Farin:

I felt crazy when I went for the shirt, and I felt like I was going crazy MEANWHILE drawing it but in the end I did it and I’m super proud of it!

Below is the reference photo, it was pain in the ass to follow all those lines with my eyes and try to find what was I drawing and where was I but I think I did good. That was a fun challenge.

Okay so, when I was done with the new lineart, I decided to go for the shading and blending because that’s what really makes the drawings to pop. I started with the left (his right, my left) side of Farin’s face because I’m right-handed, and in the first photo I had done just the left (right) eye and mouth and nose, but in the second there’s also the other eye done already:

Keep in mind this was not the last time I drew the eyes. Not even close.

Something was off with the right (left) eye so I had to do that one again and I noticed that when you blend but haven’t erased and cleaned it yet, it looks like a black eye :DDD So here’s the before and after images of that cleaning. (Cleaning = I draw, blend, erase, draw and blend more when needed and then erase again, and repeat this as many times as I need until it starts to look ready to my eye.)

So here Farin was “finished” but if you still remember the final piece or compare it to it, you might notice it looks quite different. And you’re right. But more about that later, because at this point I started to work on Bela.

It actually started really well - I also had to do the whole lineart again because it did not match the size of “finished” Farin. I don’t remember if this is the first or second eye but when I had drawn his eye for the first time, I noticed it was not in line with Farin so I had to redraw it. A gif of the progress:

What’s that brown paper I’m using, you may ask? Well I noticed that people have some sort of paper on top of their art to keep it from smudging and I have no clue what that is so here’s my poor artist recommendation: baking paper! I tested it and it works (if you just remember to keep it under your hand, that is...) so that is, in fact, baking paper! :DD

I have drawn Bela’s face a few times before and he’s just so much easier to draw. In fact I used 4-5 days on Farin but I managed to start and finish (this version of) Bela just in one day. And that means that out of 12 hours (because I literally used the whole day for drawing) I used maybe like... 5h or something on Bela. That’s how much easier he really is to draw.

I don’t know wtf is wrong with Farin’s face but he’s extremely difficult to draw and I’m not the only one who has been saying this. I guess he just looks so regular but still unique enough to be difficult to draw. Bela then again has features that are very unique and very... caricature-like? I mean that just by drawing his nose or chin you can make a comic book Bela look exactly like himself, and with more realistic style his eyes already do a lot, but Farin’s really the opposite. My comic book version of Farin is literally the most basic version I can draw, it’s how I draw those characters and the only thing that makes him look himself is the hair, and his nose in a side profile. So I think that’s why it’s so difficult to draw him because he doesn’t look too regular but still regular enough to make is a very challenging task to do properly.

So yeah, the same day as I started working on Bela, I was also “finished” with the drawing:

Also look at how different it looks like from this perspective:

With the reference photo open in photoshop and I don’t understand how Bela looks more like himself in my drawing than in the photo. Also when I showed the WIP to my brother, he said that I somehow had succeeded at making Farin look more like Farin than what he does in the photo even. It’s weird.

But we were still far from finished. I was going to use the fixative on this soon but it just kept snowing the whole week so I couldn’t so every time I walked past the drawings, I stopped to fix this and that. For days I kept telling myself “I’m done, I can’t do more than this, I can’t do better than this.” and considered the drawing finished but still kept fixing things. Every time I was “done” with the other drawing, I saw something to fix in the other one and once that was done, I felt like the first one wasn’t as good and had to fix something from it too. And that led to a cycle where the other drawing was always better than the other and the worse one needed to be fixed. In the end I was hating the whole process and myself and my skills and I was already ready to abandon this whole thing and call it a day and never ever show it to anyone “because I cannot draw”. The photo above, here’s a list of things I redrew after that:

Bela’s eyes, the right (left) one at least twice.

Bela’s nose.

Bela’s mouth a couple of times.

Farin’s eyes x588045028520

And a list of things I kept fixing and fixing:

Bela’s chin.

Bela’s neck shadows.

Bela’s hairline.

Farin’s whole face was tilted so I tried to fix that.

Farin’s face was too wide, which meant also partially redrawing the ear.

Farin’s hair was too long and wide too.

Farin’s nose.

Farin’s mouth might be the only thing I drew only once and I’m actually still extremely proud of how it came to be. I did the lips solely with blending so that was super exciting to notice how I can use it for drawing and don’t need the pencils for everything!

During Bela’s eyes and nose and mouth especially I was hating myself so much and I felt like I was taking the risk of ruining the whole thing and a few times I was certain that was what I had just done too, until I somehow was able to save it again. But because of that, I wasn’t able to make Bela’s mouth any lighter anymore, the color wasn’t just coming off the paper so had to use what was there and make it look like it’s how it’s supposed to be, too.

Here’s a gif about those changes on Bela - the first one has the old eyes and nose, the others have minor changed on the nose and mouth:

(The blacks probably don’t get any blacker in reality, I did add more color to it all the time but mainly it’s just the lighting and my phone camera changing the brightness.)

I did the final details on his nose without even using the reference photo anymore. The photo didn’t seem to make any sense anymore at all so I was just using my mechanical pencil and the blending tool and eraser to make is look better. To my eye it looked more like a very flat nose with a big tip of the nose and he doesn’t have a flat nose and I tried to get rid of that illusion. I still feel like it makes him look bit weird but I’m not entirely sure how. Maybe it was because of my improvisation, idk...

So, Bela was then finally finished for the last time. In the Farin piece his left (right) eye had been bugging me the whole time and I didn’t want to touch it but still I felt like I have to do something about it because it was bugging me way too much. I then figured I could draw the eye line by line and take a photo of it each time to see if it looks right already or not, maybe I could then avoid doing all the phases before I was sure what to think about it. I mean, now the only way to see if it was correct was to draw e.g. an eye from start to finish, I couldn’t see from just the lineart or unblended eye if it was in the right spot etc. And here’s that progress on a gif:

The gif about only the eye would look so nice if Tumblr didn’t make the gifs so HUGE - this one is actually only 300px or 400px or something:

Apparently I also wasn’t happy with the other eye because:

But good thing is: I really enjoy drawing eyes. I love seeing them to “come alive”, my favorite part was to eraser a bit of the color on the iris to make them look like they are actually shiny! It feels like something so small to do and yet it makes a huge impact on the drawing!

And here’s yet another gif of the whole Farin sheet with all of the changes, including the last changes that made his head narrower, and less tilted and more in line. Look at the left side of his head especially to see that:

I can also see his nose changing between the first few photos. I keep forgetting about that but yeah, I also fixed that a little at some point.

And last but not least, the whole drawing in some sort of a timelapse gif:

Last two are the same but just a photo and the scan of the finished drawing. I still keep seeing things I would do differently but no can do, I already used fixative on it, also to keep myself from obsessing with it any more :D And to use it as a study of some sort. I have never been able to draw a perfect pencil drawing and this isn’t one either. I probably never can draw perfect drawings from references.

I do enjoy the whole shading and blending process, so much so that when I was editing these photos, I just wanted to start drawing something so bad but I also figured that I start to lose motivation when I get to the point where everything should be finished but I just can’t make it perfect. Like the current WIP I have, all I should do is to get the proportions and perspective and the lines of their faces correctly and I would be ready but it feels more like a superpower some people possess and I’m not one of those. I don’t know what is it but I just feel that I cannot see. I don’t know how to explain it, but I can’t see what I try to do and somehow keep drawing everything the wrong way. Just like in this post’s drawing too. There’s still things that are wrong and I know what it is but I don’t know how to solve it. My hands just don’t listen to me and they can’t do what I think they should. I also think the reason I cannot draw perfect copies of photos is because you can always see my “handprint” in them. If I copy a photo, it will look like a photo and not like a drawing made by me. So I believe that in my drawing there’s always a part of me visible and I’m not entirely sure if it’s a good thing or not. On bad days it’s not a good thing, obviously. On good days? Well I guess it’s good then because it just means I have my own style which I really should appreciate. But I wish I had my style only when I want it to be visible, but I can’t control it. Just like I cannot write text by hand that would look like it was written with a computer, so I guess I should just try to get used to it, no matter how much it’d bug me sometimes.

#mcrmadness draws #mcrmadness draws: behind the scenes #dä fanart #die ärzte

14 notes · View notes

devolympian · 4 years ago

Text

Argo chapter 2

Rubble shot out under my body as I was slammed against the ground, a loud groan of pain escaping my lips in the process. However, I wasn’t on the ground for long as I soon found myself flung into the air once more, Clairs strong legs shooting me into the sky as if I were a soccer ball she had kicked.

As I hung in the air I was soon met with a flurry of kicks, each one hurting more than the last all culminating in the heel of her boot being brought down upon my chest and slamming me into the ground again.

My health seemed to plummet from this, but I managed to stagger to my feet and prepared for one final counter attack.

With all of my remaining strength I cupped my hands together and, through pure will power, conjured bright blue flames which compressed into a large fireball like object in my palms.

I followed Clair with my eyes as she fell to the ground, and as soon as her feet touched the dirt under us, I lunged forward and jutted my arms out sending the flames barreling towards her.

Clairabell simply leaped over it and landed in front of me.

Red and white lights flashed as she gathered energy into her strong, muscular legs and launched an endless onslaught of kicks so fast that they blurred together into bright flashes, tearing space and time asunder. And every kick made direct contact with my body.

With one final explosive heel to my jaw, my body was flown backwards landing in an unmoving heap on the ground.

My life had emptied.

“Yes” Clairabell cheered as the screen displayed her name in conformation of her victory, “bow to me mortal!”

“Dang it” I whimpered, watching as her character stood proudly over mine, “why do I suck at street fighter?”

“Well you keep choosing Ryu, that’s a start.”

“You always choose Chun Li though.

“Yeah cause she’s awesome and fun to- shit!”

As we were talking the scene in the game had changed to that of a large gray map with small portraits of the characters in front of it. With a flash an orange square appeared and begane jumping randomly from one portrait to another with loud beeps accompanying it.

With one last beep like noise the square landed on an image of a man with long, braided, brown hair and wearing a white mask.

“Oh” I exclaimed, “it’s Vega.”

“Easy” Clair stated as she prepared for the match, “I’ll have this done in like 10 seconds.”

It was over in thirty with Vega tearing through Chun Li with his clawed hands and superior speed.

Clairabell collapsed into a disappointed husk before the arcade machine, her eyes becoming watery as the words “You lose” flashed brightly before her.

“No, my sexy kick girl! How could he do this to her!?”

“Well he did kill her dad so. . . or, wait, was that M bison?”

As I contemplated this important question a 10 popped up on the screen and slowly started counting down.

“Shit, shit, Skye give me a quarter!”

I nodded ok and reached into my skirt pockets, only to find them empty other than a piece of lint and my ID.

“I’m out.”

“Already?”

“Dude, we’ve been here for an hour.”

“We have?!”

Unable to pay for another chance Clairabell and I watched as the numbers dropped until it hit zero and, in bright red colors, “Game Over” appeared on the screen before us.

“Damnit.”

“Sorry Clair.”

With annoyed huff Clair reached into her shorts and pulled her wallet out.

“Don’t worry Skee skee, I won’t let this masked back up dancer wannabe get the best of me. I’ll just wip out my secret weapon, get some quarters, and then smash his stupid face in!”

“I-it’s just a game though.”

A confident smile grew onto Clairabells face as she unleashed her hidden power, one which I could never hope to achieve even if I tried my hardest.

A platinum credit card with no credit limit, and endless spending so long as you pay the bill on time.

Clairs pink lips curled into an evil smirk and I could tell that she was thinking solely about spending every scent she could to humiliate a fictitious gut who had wronged her and the fictitious girl who has been one of video game crushes since she was like 13.

“Vengeance shall be mine!”

“Y-yeah” I stuttered out, “but won’t it take awhile before you fight Vega, the set up is r-random after all.”

Clair stopped smiling and gave me a disapproving look.

“. . . Skye, please, please just let me have this.”

“O-okay, s-s-sorry.”

“To the ATM” Clair cheered, almost instantly getting her pep back.

With her heels clicking against the arcade floor, Clair confidently struts over to the nearest ATM, her dark brown hair flowing behind her and her swaying hips drawing the gaze of the people she passed by.

I, meanwhile, did my best not to look like a stupid weirdo by scurrying next to her and hoped I was insignifigant enough to be completly off anybodys raidar so that they don’t notice me.

Once we reached the blue and white tower containing an untold amount of treasure (but, if you must know it was most likely between 100,000 and 200,000 USD) Clair raised her hand, placed the card between the scanner built into the ATMs face, swung down, put in a few numbers, and. . . was met with a buzzing noise and the words declined appearing onto the screen.

We stood in silence for a bit until Clair tried again, and was instantly met with the same results.

“Y-you did p-pay your credit bill, right?”

“I have to pay for a credit card?!”

Now, soundly defeated by our inability to acquire a hefty sum of money, or at the very least five bucks, Clairabell and I sulked back to our table where the ice in our drinks had melted and watered them down into tasteless puddles of dark sludge, perfectly symbolizing our utter destruction done to us by Vega from street fighter and a lack of change in either of our wallets.

With a heavy sigh Clair slumped forward against the table resting her chest on the wooden surface and began playing with the coasters, moving them around and making them spin.

“Sorry Clair” I said again, hoping it might make her feel a little better, “w-when I get paid we’ll come back. I-it’ll be a month though, sorry.”

Clair sunk lower into the table from my statement, a defeated groan escaping her mouth yet again.

“Stupid ATM” Clair stated while holding a coaster between the tip of her pointer finger and the table and spinning it, “making me look stupid. I’m made of skin you’re just plastic, so who’s stupid now?! Right Skee skee?”

“Oh, um.” Thinking as quickly as I could, I did my best to come up with an answer that would raise Clairs spirit, and make me feel like less of a bad friend for not being able to help. “W-well, th-the ATM is an inanimate object with no ability to create memories or any other neuron processing abilities, so I guess you’re by far more intelligent then it.”

I smiled after finishing my statement, while mentally patting myself on the back. There was no way that didn’t make her happy.

Clairabell just looked at me with confusion. “The hell are Neurons?”

“O-oh, they’re a cell in your brain which transmits nerve impulses when specific actions are triggered. Memories are the result of specific neurons being activated when the brain recognizes certain stimuli such as patterns and such.” “. . .” “. . .”

“Ok beautiful, I’m gonna pretend what you said makes perfect sense to me.”

“Sorry.”

I felt my face get slightly red as Clair giggled at my expense. Well, she was feeling better at the very least.

“Oh” she said, jumping up and pulling her phone out of her pocket, “I’ll call daddy!”

I watched as Clairs red tipped finger tapped on her phone with the speed of a carnivorous animal attacking the first meal it had eaten in days and the hungry look in her eyes showing the clear determination she had to devour what she wanted in one swift bite.

Dang, I’m hungry.

She placed the phone to her ear and we waited speechlessly for an answer on the other end.

“Hi daddy” Clair practically shouted, a smile spread far across her face. However, her face full of joy soon became one of shock and confusion. “What!?”

“W-what’s wrong” I stuttered, as a feeling of dread set into my empty stomach.

“Daddy that’s not fair, you can’t- What!? You can’t be serious, it is not that big of a deal!”

“Clairabell?”

“¡Oh, Dios mío, papi, estás jodidamente loco! Sí, apuesto a que si fuera Essy, ¡lo dejarías pasar!”

And now she’s speaking Spanish. By this point I was fully aware that I was no longer relevant to this conversation.

“What? What!?”

With a loud humph Clair turned to me, an angry scowl on her face.

“Skee skee I’m going outside for a minute.”

“Wh- w-wait. Clair!”

Before I was able to protest my sudden abandonment Clair was already heading for the entrance of the arcade, yelling angrily into her phone as she did so.

Within seconds of her departure my whole body began to shake and my eyes began involuntarily darting around the building, unsure where my site should be landing or if I should even be looking at anything at all.

Beads of sweat began falling down my forehead and arms and my throat became suddenly dry as I became painfully aware of how warm this place had become.

Without really thinking I forced my watered down soda between my lips and drank the odd tasting liquid into my body.

As I set the now empty glass back onto the table my thoughts finally caught up to me and questions began flowing into my mind faster than they could be answered.

How many people are here?

Are they going to talk to me?

Should I talk to them?

Is it strange that I’m here alone?

Is it wrong to be here alone?

Where were my friends?

How much are the chicken strips here?

Should I scrounge around for quarters and play the games?

Is it okay for me to play the games without my friends around?

If I tried starting a conversation how long would it be until people yelled at me to leave?

How much are the chicken strips here?!

My brain began to ache from trying to answer the never ending onslaught of questions that I began attacking myself with.

Why did Clair have to take her call outside and leave me in this social battle zone where I am left completely defenseless with my subpar social skills and basically useless communicative abilities.

If Zee were here this feeling would most likely have been lessened and. . . come to think of it, where the heck was Zee?

I guess he’d messaged Clair a little after we’d gotten to the arcade, saying he would be a little late, but he’s normally not this late.

The idea that something bad had happened, or that Zee was in some sort of trouble added itself to my growing number of concerns.

I wish I had a book to read.

I wish I was plotting a masterly crafted revenge scheme with Edmond Dantes, or hunting for lost treasures alongside Jim Hawkins, or fighting alongside the knights of the round table for the glory of king Arthur, or learning how to try new things like green eggs and ham with Sam I am.

My fingers began tapping against the table without me telling them too, almost as if they were typing my thoughts onto an invisible keyboard so that I could read how pathetic I actually was.

No, wait. This isn’t right!

I desperately tried to swallow the knot that had formed in my throat and forced my fingers away from the table before they could make deeper scratches into it.

This was a blessing in disguise. An opportunity that the gods have presented to me so that I might better myself socially and become a proper adult which will benefit society at large.

Clenching my hands into fist, I stood up in my stall, turned towards the violent army of people laid before me, mentally readied my ammunition with various puns on super mario bros and tetris that were always great conversation starters (so I’ve heard), set my foot into the battle zone, and. . . immediately sat back down, my body shaking from my feet to my pony tail.

Hey, I made it a step! That’s a win right?

With a heavy sigh, I just continued sitting in my booth, waiting for Clairabell to return.

That’s when my eyes wandered upwards to the TVs above the bar and a gasp escaped my lips as a sense of awe took over my heart.

Plastered onto the three screens was the same image of a reporter standing in front of a city in North America that was covered in dust and smoke. She spoke with a composed and calm voice but her body was shaking all over and her arms would gesture wildly as she explained the situation.

Unfortunately, the sound was muted by the noises in the arcade but the camera shaking wildly and the cause of the destruction rising from the ground a few moments later made me certain of what was happening.

Not too far from the reporter and her camera crew a creature had emerged, dirt tumbling down its long serpentine body and the sun glistening off its dark red skin. As it sung its upper half towards the camera I saw that its face was nothing more than a large gaping hole lined with crooked teeth that spun into a dark, empty void.

An Olgoi-Khorkhoi, a Mongolian death worm, had invaded the city and destroyed it out of predatory instinct.

It was so cool!

I mean, not the city destroying part, that is awful for all parties involved, but the death worm itself is probably one of the most amazing animals on the planet!

First off, it actually isn’t even a worm, it is a dragon species which evolved into their current form after their specific species was forced to migrate to desert areas over millions of years ago. Second off It is a dragon!

And that’s not even the coolest part

As they adapted to their environment the worms, or wyrms as we can probably call them, developed thermosensitive scales which adjusted their body temperature according to how hot or cold it was keeping them safe from the deserts rapidly changing temperatures. Their scales would even change color depending on the temperature, red meaning cold and blue meaning warm. Also, they developed giant mouths and the ability to freaking eat anything!

Isn’t that awesome!?

Granted, this does make them rather dangerous when they wander into cities or towns and are extremely frustrating to get rid of. However, the fact that they live in deserts far underground and tend to stay in one place unless mating makes this an extremely rare event.

But when they do pop up, an even more amazing creature follows.

Just as the worm prepared to dive back into the ground a barrage of golden arrows rained down onto it.

The arrows didn’t seem to bother it but the large number of explosions that followed did as every arrow erupted into a cloud of smoke and flames.

Panicked, the giant creature began tossing around in every direction and two long tentacles appeared out of its mouth in a desperate attempt to catch its attacker only to find that the scales covering its body began to change from their current red color to a dark blue as a giant pillar of fire erupted around it.

As the flames cleared the now blue worm was shown wrapped in chains held by a man with bat-like wings, large horns sprouting from his head, and a tail ending in a sharp barb.

Props to the camera crew by the way, these shots are amazing. So clear too.

The winged man struggled against the worm as it thrashed around desperate to escape its bondage, with intense struggle causing more damage to the city and sending the man crashing into multiple buildings as he held onto his prey.

Moments after this struggle began another man, this one with a long orange ponytail and a large golden bow stepped into the camera shot.

He looked like a college athlete having a large build, broad shoulders, and noticeable muscles. He wasn’t as large or muscular as Zee but he still looked exactly as I dreamed these people would. People who traveled the world, discovering new lands, battling monsters and great evils, aided by any god they wanted to help them.

He looked like an adventurer.

Holding the bow he held up a pillar of blinding light formed around him only to vanish moments later as millions of golden arrows hovered in the air around the orange haired adventurer.

Taking aim at the worm, he pulled the string of his bow back, released it, and caused the arrows to go flying towards the monster, exploding on contact just like they did last time.

The adventurer then promptly turned towards the camera with a smug smile and a cocky look in his golden eyes. He started saying something to the reporter and her crew, which I couldn’t hear cause bar noises, only to be interrupted by his partner slamming into him.

The camera followed the two as they rolled into the ground and kept filming them as they began, I assume by the angry faces, yelling and arguing with each other.

They stopped soon however as something caught their attention.

The crew turned back towards the worm as a large lump began running up its body and a pillar of dirt, and chunks of the city erupted out of their mouths.

Interesting factoid about Mongolian death worms, they are capable of turning their stomachs inside out and can actually regurgitate whatever they’ve eaten like a super soaker blasting people in the face. It is awesome to look at but most likely not a fun experience when you’re in the direct vicinity when it happens.

The death worm began slowly turning towards the crew and adventures as it fired its pre eaten food with deadly force.

My heart beat filled my ears as I clutched my seat in anticipation for what would happen, hoping with everything that the heroes would pull out one final secret move to combat the attack.

Just then, a black flash shot through the air striking the death worm just as it was about to hit the crew and causing it to fall forward into the city.

I felt my eyes go wide at the images before me and my heart began to pound even louder as I waited for the worm to get back up and face its new challenger.

But, like all epics, this one has a rather disappointing ending.

The worm vanished. Like, straight up, just disappeared.

I eyed the TV with utter confusion and a feeling of disbelief at what had happened.

Then, another black flash shot down directly in front of the camera crew and standing there, with his award winning goofball smile, spiky black hair, and electric blue eyes was. . .

“Zee!”

I shot up out of my seat, my glasses nearly flying off my face when I did so, and watched as my friend stood in front of the wrecked city looking like a superhero. . . before sitting back down and hoping nobody had noticed my outburst.

This was probably what he meant when he said work and, to be honest, it was really stupid of me to be surprised by this.

I’ve seen videos of him locked in combat with creatures from around the world and even have some stuff that he brought me from those countries. But still, it was kind of surprising to see him on live TV.

How he defeated the worm when the other two adventurers were struggling to even damage it was also something that grabbed my curiosity and refused to let go.

So, naturally I continued to watch the TV in desperate anticipation for any clue I could gain from the scene in front of me. That is, until someone stepped in front of me and blocked my view and I suddenly felt my stomach grow tight and found that it was getting harder to take in air, almost like someone was slowly squeezing my neck until I couldn’t breathe properly.

A young man was standing in front of me, his freckled cheeks tinted with a bright pink as he rubbed behind his curly brown hair and his dark eyes refused to meet mine. Every now and then he’d glance over to, I’m assuming, his group of friends but other than that he didn’t really do or say anything for a few seconds.

Eventually he moved his lips but, for some reason, I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Instead my ears had become filled with a sharp buzzing noise that drowned out all other sources of sound.

The guy in front of me, the people having fun at the bar, even the sound of the video games that surrounded us had become muted to me.

I tried to respond as best I could but every time I thought of what to say the words were erased from my mind before I could get them out of my mouth.

Then, in an instant all the noise shot back into my ears and I was greeted by the laughs of people having fun and the video games that had been entertaining them.

“So, yeah” the guy in front of me said, as he rubbed the back of his head and tried not to look at his feet, “ . . .you-you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I completely understand!”

He glanced around a bit more, his face beat red, as he waited for my response to the question I didn’t know.

What should I say? What should I do? These questions repeated themselves in my mind over and over again and no matter what I thought of it felt like the wrong answer.

Sweat began to drip down my body as my fingers started playing an invisible piano again. All while I stared blankly at the stranger in front of me who was patiently waiting for my response.

I clutched the hem of my skirt in my other hand and twisted the fabric until my heart stopped pounding in my chest.

This person was trying to interact and start a conversation with me, and I was just staring at him like how a child stares at something they don’t understand.

I owed him a response, didn’t I?

Swallowing the lump made of air that was clogging my throat I mentally readied my words and, with all causian thrown to the wind, I let the first answer that I could come up with out of my mouth.

“I have to pee?”

We both looked wide eyed at each other in silence once more as we pondered my question, which I really wasn’t sure why I asked.

“Oh, uh yeah, okay. I’ll just get out of your way.”

I watched as he stumbled back to his table where I could see his friends laughing and patting him on the back.

It took me a few minutes to remember that I asked to go to the bathroom, even though I don’t have to, and that I should probably start making my way towards there.

My legs jerked my body out of the booth and I began to stagger blindly through the crowd of people, bumping into bodies without realizing it and all around being the nuisance that I am.

As my breath shook its way out of my lungs I clutched the marble counter in front of me as I tried to steady my body.

Somehow, I managed to make it to the bathroom.

I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten to the bathroom, heck I wasn’t even sure I was still in the arcade, but I ultimately managed to complete the task I had absentmindedly assigned myself.

. . .

Now what do I do?

I couldn’t exactly go back out, but if I didn’t and Clair came back she might get worried.

She could probably figure out where I was but she might get mad at me for making her go through this, or get mad at the guy who tried talking to me, or call the cops to try and find me, or. . .

I looked at myself in the mirror and felt my stomach turn at the site of my reflection and I asked myself the same question I’d been asking for a few years now.

What is wrong with me?

Like usual, I couldn’t bring myself to come up with a good answer and just ended up messing with my blonde hair a little cause the bangs kept getting in front of my glasses.

With a sigh I continued to stand in front of the bathroom sinks my fingers tapping the marble that they were made of. I could leave soon, but for now I would have to wait, and probably think up an apology for Clairabell and the boy I was rude too.

For now though, I should keep my mind busy.

As I began tracing circles in the small puddles of water scattered around the counter a thought popped into my head. A little idea to keep my brain occupied and off uncomfortable subject matter.

Placing my hands under the automatic faucet I took a deep breath as the warm water began to pour out soaking my fingers and palms. Once my hands were significantly wet enough I slowly pulled them away, letting the water dribble onto the counter in front of me and whispered the word which I had to say.

“Undine.”

The moment the name slipped out of my mouth the water in front of me began to gather into my hands until it eventually formed a small ball. It was sort of like a large glass marble with how clear and shiny it was.

I smiled a little as I balanced the liquid in my hands before clutching it tightly with my fingers as I began pulling and stretching it.

Doing my best to make sure that the water held its shape I began twisting and turning it, like a baker molding their doe into the shape they wish to form but unsure what that actually was.

Eventually my hands began to move without my input as my mind pieced together what I wanted to create.

I started to smooth out the water until it was a sort of oval shape making sure that one end was a bit thicker than the other and that the smaller end had a bit of a curve to it before I tugged at the bottom until there was a peg on the sides which I slimmed down a little.

Next, I pinched the small end and twisted the water around before pulling at it making a long, curly, “tail” appear.

Then I cupped my hands around the top and started pushing some water upwards before turning it forward away from the body and did my best to give it a sort of boxy triangle shape. Tugging on either end of the shape I pulled two smaller triangles up and rubbed in them to make sure they were slightly dented inwards. And, just to add texture, I pushed my thumbs into the sides of the large triangle beneath where I had made the small dented ones before adding two much larger dents near the tip.

Brushing my hand down the back of the “neck” I made a long flowing main appear and finally sat my shape down on the counter, it’s shape holding so long as I focused on it.

My horse made of water sat perfectly on the marble in front of me, the light reflecting off its clear liquid body as a little water droplets dripped down it.

Butterflies tickled my stomach as I felt myself smile involuntarily.

It wasn’t anything special, in fact I’m sure looked awful compared to other peoples creations. But, I don’t know, guess I just really liked how it turned out.

Oh, I know!

Reaching into my skirt pocket I fumbled around a bit until my hands felt the cold metal of my zippo lighter resting just below my house key. I ran my thumb across my initials that my grandpa had emblemed onto its surface, just to make sure that it was mine, before pulling it out.

I flipped the top up and a small flame almost immediately materialized.

Holding the fire just below my little horse's head I tried my best to split my focus between the water and the fire in my hand.

“Salamander.”

With that word out of my mouth the flame started swirling around my little horse wrapping itself around its body, legs, and head before slowly sinking into the water. Unlike normal fire though, it didn’t extinguish but instead formed a small ball in the center and made my horses “eyes” glow a bright orange.

The horse then reared back on its back legs and let out a loud whine before it began galloping around the counter as if it were on an open field.

It was ultimately a simple spell, using fire to give life to a small object was sort of the second thing you need to learn when studying elemental magic after all.

But the sight of my little horsey galloping around made me feel as giddy as if I were a little kid. It was so cute that I couldn’t help but clap a little when it came alive.

Not wanting to stop there though, I placed my hand just above my horse while it grazed on a small puddle near the sink.

“Sylph”.

Instantly, wind began to shoot from my hand and, just like the fire, wrapped itself around my little horsey before going inside it.

My horse looked up from its water as two large wings popped out of its back.

Almost instinctively, it began running forward and started flapping its brand new wings until it lifted itself off the ground and began soaring all around the bathroom. It took to flying pretty easily if I do say so myself.

As I watched my little horse flap around I felt my mind start to clear and a sort of calmness began to settle over me. My shoulders relaxed and my muscles seemed to loosen up, as I let myself fall into a dazed state.

I didn’t have to think about going back into the arcade, about worrying Clair, or upsetting the guy who tried to talk to me. All I had to do was watch my little creation enjoy the life I had given it.

“Hi blondie!” Zee said, his head resting on my shoulder.

I let out a loud scream as I fell forward, grabbing the counter to regain my balance.

“Alex” I responded, my heart pounding wildly in my chest again, “What the heck dude!?”

“Sorry” he said, even though that smile of his told me he wasn’t sorry at all, “I came to use the bathroom and when I saw you zoning out I thought to myself, hey, let’s mess with her.”

“Wow, so glad my reaction of fear was to your liking. I’m afraid I am currently unable to do encourse however as my throat is currently killing me because of you.”

Zee then promptly gasped and looked at me with worry.

“Oh my goodness my lady, I meant you no harm” he responded, his body moving dramatically with every word, “perish the thought as I am but a humble servant in thine lords grace.”

“Dude what?”

“Oh woe is me, to have acted in such an ungentlemanlike way to such a fair lass such as yourself.”

Zee then, with all the acting ability of a highschooler trying not to fail drama class, placed his hands to his chest, spun in place and fell back first into my arms.

“Can you ever forgive me?”

“I’ll think about it” I assured him, doing my best not to giggle, before dropping him to the floor.

“Yaa” he said, as he laid on the bathroom floor of the arcade, “she’ll think about it.”

This causes me to let out a laugh. Dang it Zee, let me be mad at you.

As he pulled himself off the floor, and sat on the counter, a sudden realization hit me and I began to panic.

“Zee, you can’t be in here!”

“Hey, this is a free country, my bodily fluids are just as good as anybody else's.

“No dude, this is the girls room!”

“Really? Those must be the decorative waterfalls then.”

He pointed behind me and my face became instantly red as I saw what he was talking about.

“Oh my gods” I gasped as I gazed at the three urinals next to the two bathroom stalls, “this isn’t the girls room.”

“Meh, gendered bathrooms are bull crap anyways.”

“I shouldn’t be in here!”

“Dude, relax. Most of the people here are too drunk to even walk into the bathroom and a lot of them probably won’t mind seeing you is that a pegasus?”

We both looked as my little horsey landed next to Zee on the counter and began grazing on the puddles it found.

“It’s my little horsey” I told him, almost instantly forgetting about the whole bathroom thing, “I got a little bored and-”

“Its name is raindrop.”

“ . . .Dude, yes! Come here raindrop.”

I patted my lap but Raindrop simply went back to flying around to its hearts content. It’ll get used to the name eventually.

“Oh dude” Zee exclaimed, standing up on the counter, “check this out.”

Reaching to his left I watched as Zees hand slowly disappeared and a humming noise began to fill the air around us. After a few seconds he pulled his hand back revealing that he was now holding a small jar filled with dirt and a small red serpent-like creature.”

“No way, is that?”

“A 100% middle eastern, male, Mongolian death worm? Yes, yes it is.”

He handed me the amazing creature before jumping off the counter.

“I fed him a few runes so he’d shrink down and decided it’d be fun to keep him around until I’m near Egypt or Turkey again. Did have to get all the dead bodies out of him first though.”

“Going to pretend I didn’t hear that last part” I responded as I watched the little wormy wrap around the stick Zee had placed in there and start relaxing.

“In all fairness the people he ate are alive now, because of yours truly, so it all evens out.”

“Are they in anyway zombies?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that the use of zombification was in play here.”

I let myself giggle a little at my friends' slight ridiculousness before returning my attention to the little fella in my hands.

“Ooh, let’s name him Mr.Worms.”

“Nah, that’s too predictable.”

“So is Raindrop and you didn’t see me turn down that name.”

“How about cinnamon? Cause of the red scales.”

“His scales aren’t always red though.”

“Oh yeah that’s right.”

“Hmm, maybe Sandy?”

“Naw, I’m saving that name for my pet squirrel. How about-”

All of a sudden, we were interrupted by the sound of Zees phone ringing.

“Oh” he said, “hold on.”

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone which was encased a pink, kitten shaped cover.

“Moshi moshi” he responded.

“WHERE ARE YOU” I heard Clair scream on the other end.

“Oh hey, Clairabell baby. Long time no see. How is that hunk of a fiance of yours, still a wiz in the sack?”

I couldn’t hear Clairs response, but Zees smirk told me that he got the reaction he wanted.

“Alright, alright we’ll be out in a sec. Love you snookums.”

Zee made a kissy noise into the phone, and I could hear Clair growling angrily, before he hung up.

“Well” he said, grabbing his new pet out of my hand, “let’s go make sure Clairabell doesn’t start murdering people out of worry.”

“Oh, um, okay.”

Zee placed the worm back into the space he pulled him out of and we walked out of the restroom, Raindrop following after us.

To my surprise the bar had become quieter and the patriots had almost all disappeared.

How long had I been in the bathroom for?

Before I could figure out the answer to my question I suddenly felt two, squishy and soft, round orbs smash against my face as I was swept off my feet.

“Skee skee” Clairabell said as she hugged me, and pushed my head into her chest, “I was so worried!”

“C-Clair” I said, doing my best to push her away, “I can’t breath.”

My pleads for mercy were promptly met with Clair tightening the hug until I could feel my body being crushed.

“What” Zee whined, “no love for the hero who found the missing girl.”

Clair, finally loosened her grip, as she turned towards Zee.

“And where the hell were you?”

“Africa.”

The fact that he was able to say this without batting an eye both annoyed, and actually didn’t surprise, me or Cair.

“So” he continued, “what games do you guys wanna play?”

“We’re out of quarters” I told him as I was still held in Clairs arms.

“ . . .Was it Vega?”

“Vega is a cheating asshole” Clair argued, nearly crushing me again.

“Clairabell” I whined,but received no response.

Zee simply smiled coily and crossed his arms.

“Well, it seems you gals are in quite the predicament. To be faced with such a powerful opponent but with no way of defeating him. Truly, I feel nothing but the utmost sorrow at your predicament. Infact, I feel the need to donate all of my earthly possessions to your noble cause.”

“So you’ll give us quarters” I said, finally escaping Clairs grip.

“I wasn’t done hugging you” she promptly stated before grabbing me again.

“Watch where you’re touching please!”

“Hmm, yes, I would love to donate this treasure which you commonly call quarters. . . but I broke.”

We stood in silence for a sec.

“Say what?”

“I broke. I don’t have any money. Me is poor.”

“So why’d you offer us the quarters” Clair asked, squeezing me again. She probably would have snapped me in half if I didn’t manage to squirm free.

“It was fun,” Zee answered, his signature smirk returning.

Clairabell and I simply glared at him, the fact that we could never defeat Vega now actually annoying us more then Zee was.

“Oh come on don’t be mad” he said before rushing over to us and lifting both me and Clairabell over his shoulders, “for I know where our adventure can continue.”

“Hey, hey, hey” I protested as I was once again, unwillingly picked up.

“Yes” Zee answered, even though nobody asked a question, “a magical place in which dreams and happiness are bound. A place where we can be free to do as we please, and be who we are meant to be.”

“Skyes place” Clairabell asked.

“Yep”

“Hey wait guys” I started to say, “I should probably ask my pare-”

Before I could finish my sentence Zee began rushing to the exit, still holding me and Clair on his shoulders.

As we ran through the bar none of us could help letting out laughs and allowing smiles to grow on our faces.

We simply ignored the people around us and set out on our epic adventure.

#creative writing #writing #original story #urban fantasy #modern fanta

3 notes · View notes

confunderewrites · 6 years ago

Text

11/11/11 Tag Game

tagged by: @boredwriter-16 !! thank you <3 I love tag games and I’m tired of studying.

Rules: Answer 11 questions, ask 11 questions, and tag 11 people to answer them

1. What is your favorite theme from your WIP? Did you know that would be a theme when you started or did it just happen naturally?

For Nobyl Blood a big theme is changeability and acceptance and to be honest it happened naturally. A lot of characters follow the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality and it winds up biting them in the end. Those who change and self-reflect end up with what they wanted.�� And those who don’t, well, don’t. At least in Aurora Nobyl’s case her bullheaded, “there is only forward” nature was necessary for so much of her life. Now, it’s what’s holding her back.

2. What are your favorite tropes to read and write?

I’m a huuuge sucker for when the main pairing gets split apart whether it be due to a fight or something out of their control, then they realize they’re better together (usually after at least half a year). Ex’s to friends is another one I love. On the common end: mutual pining, slow burn, friends to lovers, accidentally falling asleep together.

3. Where do you draw inspiration for your WIP?

Well it was a fanfic so Harry Potter, specifically Hogwarts Mystery, the game. I get a lot of inspiration for various plot points from music and my fiance is the best for bouncing ideas off of. Also, watching Alita kicked my urge to adapt it to a sci-fi into overdrive. I wanted the sport to feel as grungy as motorball but the world itself to feel as clean and green as if we took ours but converted to all clean energy.

4. If your characters were real, would they want to be friends with you or would they not like you?

I’d like to think so! Nobyl and I have similar interests, but I think my reluctance to go along with her trouble-making would annoy her slightly.

5. Have you ever written fan fiction about your own story? (Something you know would never actually be in your story but you want to see what it would look like anyway) Would you ever do it if you haven’t?

Yeah, I have a couple little drabbles sitting in my writing folder. It’s a little sad nothing will come of them but I enjoyed the exercise. They’re more wish-fulfillment and self-indulgence than anything. Sometimes I feel like posting them but I don’t want to detract from the actual story I’m trying to tell.

6. What is your favorite entertainment medium- other than books if that is your favorite? (Movies, Video games, TV-shows, etc.) Why?

VIDEO GAMES. Hands down. I love player driven games; games that make you feel like you’re part of the story. I can’t get behind a video game with a bad story however. also my adhd makes it hard for me to watch tv shows and movies so video games are nice because they keep me sucked in

7. Quick- your WIP is being made into a movie. Name one actor you want to be in it. Doesn’t have to be the main character.

I want Ken Marino to play Dale. Yes, Captain CJ from Brooklyn 99. I mean that.

8. Favorite villain from either something you wrote or something you read/watched?

My favourite villain from something I wrote is definitely the main one from Transcendent Book 1. Good intentions taken too far. Easy to sympathize with and fun to write. She has a level of desperation I try to make sure shines through in every scene she’s in.

9. (Because I like this question so much) Whose your favorite secondary character you’ve ever created?

Ever? I can’t describe how hard this question was to answer but... Drew. She’s the best friend of the main pairing in Circling and a talented as fuck bassist. Simultaneously set in her ways while still managing to go with the flow. I aspire to her level of lack of shits.

10. Do you have any other WIP ideas you want to work on but can’t because you want to finish your WIP? Are they very different from your current WIP?

I want to finish Transcendent Book 1 and 2. It’s sci-fi as well but has a very different vibe than Nobyl Blood. I desperately want to write a pirate story about my dnd characters, and their origin stories. And their other stories So many ideas.

11. Other than the genre you write, what are your favorite genres?

Other than fantasy, sci-fi, and romance I do like a good super hero story, whether it be a movie or otherwise.

Tagging: @hannahs-creations @mvcreates @pens-swords-stuff @crypticsx @screamingbasement @bigmoodword @c-vendett @quilloftheclouds @roselinproductions @alittlegoblinwrites and I’ll leave the last one for anyone else who wants to do this (seriously I love reading tag games, go for it if you’re interested)

Your questions are:

1. How many abandoned WIPs do you have, if any? Which one would you most likely pick up again if you had to?

2. Do you have an OC that floats in and out of different stories? i.e. your guinea pig for alternate universes. Do they have their own story?

3. If your WIP was being made into a movie, would you want to be hands-on or hands-off? As in, what level of creative power would you want?

4. What’s a trope that everyone loves but you can’t stand?

5. For your characters, do you have specific face-claims in mind or do you leave it up to reader interpretation? (within reason of course)

6. What is your oldest WIP?

7. Is there anything your characters have done while you were writing that just came out of nowhere?

8. Is there a writing decision you were surprised you made? (ex: killing off a character, taking the story down a different path, etc.)

9. Do you bounce ideas off people when writing? Or do you tend to wait until the first draft is completed?

10. What is your favourite place to write?

11. Two of your protags from two different WIPs just switched places. How do they react?

#tag games #oh man I hope you guys like these questions #tag game

8 notes · View notes

haeroniel-doliet · 2 years ago

Text

a bonus thought post for the night!!

on that nostalgia raising feelings train but it derails so it got long so its under a readmore :*

scrolling my old art made me a bit sad and nostalgic (who doesnt get those feelings though doing the same) specifically i really have my heart going out to kid me who got basically no notes on anything. (im not saying i shouldve, art was definitely kid art and questionably tagged etc!) but some i put effort into and it made me so happy to get those 10 likes or whatever. it made me post post and post even what i was working on and unfinished bits (Sure, being me? many of those never got finished bc posting gave the hit of reward chemicals, no response meant no motivation to finish to get more yknow?)

its weird thinking ive now as an adult got a handful of posts with -hundreds- of notes. one over a thousand!! (sure, the really good and popular artists may have thousands but hey they deserve it!!) its weird that i sort of maybe now know what to do to get a reaction out of my prefered niche of the internet. that if i tried w some more consistently, who knows?

im proud of everything in my current art tag. (mostly. no. i am proud shut up brain) i feel slightly like posting more wips. bc i have a ton. surprisingly? ive been drawing way more in the past year than ive been posting (new for me). of course, there is no obligation to post it. why post stuff im not happy with? only to get anxious abt it? sure posting that one teaser when i was actively working on making it better was kinda fun. sure maybe posting some wips would make me go back and finish them bc some of them are good ideas?? but also some are just. theyd make sense to nobody but myself. and why should i share every crevice of my creativity like i used to as an attention craving kid?

my blog is my blog its me, its not a nice art blog its got all my vents and whatever i like to reblog on a given day on it all together. i could make a new tag that feels less like a portfolio to post wips i abandoned or doodles that never went further. it might be nice having them out here. but somehow i feel like id be too embarassed to post them, for my few followers to actually see them. what if i actually tagged them and ppl in tags saw my nonsense doodles? is it worth it? right now my art tag feels like its: dinluke and finished at that ONLY. things that people who come on my blog would like to see perhaps...

hahahhahahha i just crashed my Krita trying to with brash abandon look at all the unposted wips i have at once

turns out i have like. a handful of original works that never got past a rough doodle stage which is fair yknow they were just ideas that could be fleshed out but dont need to. some of them are very personal vent art

ive got a few sketch to tiny doodle to questionable attempt at painting etc bits of the star wars ladies. reminds me that i should branch out in my star wars posting and that drawing women is just way easier and more natural to me why dont i do it more?

ive got a good few fic inspired sketches that never got legs and tbf? theyre olddd now.

ive got like 12 frames of the inktober challenge from last year... in the style of posting 5 at a time, theyve all been sketched out and like half are i think finished. obviously october went long and at some point it just felt weird to post them even if i finished them. i sort of decided if i finish them up early autumn i could get away w posting them for beginning of october while i had a try at the new inktober? idk why i like a challenge to force me to draw more than i do in a year. and then it takes me a year lol. i have a set of 5 that are all inspired by fic, and like. i still like the idea of them. unfortunately? some of the references were old.. A YEAR AGO. sure theres like, the appreciation for vintage and telling ppl we like their work ages on. but i worry the authors no longer are in the fandom or want to be reminded of their work? etc etc. some of them are meh, some i like.

ngl i am especailly happy w my oct 31 post, which i really wish id finished on time for last year. heres to seeing if i post it this year? maybe i’ll finish what i want to finish of them (theres like. 2 im just really not inspired for and never was) and then have a wee collage of them to post, w the oct 31 prompt seperate, as a sort of. hey wip clear out! these are the stragglers from last year :))

maybe ill post original art one day when i get drawn enough to finish one.

ok ok hi welcome indepth to my thought process, bonus thoughts for every thought included. this doesnt need to be on the internet SURE but its a small time capsule for myself ok?

i dont think right now making a doodle tag to post wips is gonna bring me anything but anxiety and feelings of inadequacy i know too well from posting art as a teen. maybe at some point itll help break the barrier and ill just. post shit but it doesnt have to be on my ““portfolio tag”“

i could pick up an wip to finish now, ive got a good few candidates. but i think i should best just, shake off the cobwebs on smth new so i dont feel like im ruining it. it might be a rey or a leia or other star wars heroine portrait. it might be grogu bc hes an already ugly gremlin. it might be something else. i might be talking a high load of shit bc its 3 am again and i should go sleep rather than push myself in delirium. odds are tomorrow im exhausted again, feel like i should do things that actually benefit me in my life and address responsibilites, and shut down under the weight of the thought of it and not do anything until i go crazy at night again? time will tell but rn im stuck in that loop.

perhaps i should never have posted this bc its very long and personal but also? i kinda doubt anyone will read it and thats ok :)) if you are here, hi sorry that you know me better now! uhhh thoughts on the above?

#haeroniel talks #this ramble ran away from me!! it got long sorry #basically im wondering if posting wips as they are would be fun bc i used to do that but concluded itd probably give more anxiety than fun #had a look at said wips in the process and have some thoughts on them #kiss kiss goodnight i should try sleep but the brain is a fun little organ and i process thoughts best verbally (or over text #same thing)

1 note · View note

creideamhgradochas · 7 years ago

Text

Thanks to the lovely @green-eyeddragonfanfiction for taking the time to answer these! Get to know more about her, go give her a follow and then show her some love!

These questions are from this list. You should check it out, there’s 50 questions all together and they’d be great to ask your favorite fic writer!

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fan-fiction?

Around 20, I think.

2) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

Reader inserts, definitely. I don’t mind throwing OC’s in there if I need to, though. I really like reading reader inserts. I think it’s really fun and engaging to imagine yourself in a story.

3) What is your favorite genre to write for?

Super Heroes! Although I really adore fantasy. If I were to write a book, it would be fantasy.

4) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

I’m… not sure. I s'pose it’d have to be One Mistake, simply because I think it’s worst piece.

5) When is your preferred time to write?

Whenever I actually find the motivation to write, which usually ends up being around 1-4 am. Aka I’m a Mess: Part 1

6) Where do you take your inspiration from?

Have you seen this man?

I suppose I also draw inspiration from comics, movies, TV shows, and video games where applicable.

7) In your Winter’s War Series, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

Out of the entire trilogy? Dang, that’s tough. Maybe in Ghosts of War when Bucky, Reader, and Nat are sitting together, sort of like some messed up little family? If not that, then it’s probably in Winter’s War when Reader, Steve, and Bucky reunite after the Azzano goes up in flames.

8) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

I don’t think I’ve ever received “criticism.” I’ve received very polite corrections of some of the German in WW from some native speakers, but that’s about it (I haven’t corrected any of it yet because I’m a lazy pos).

9) Who is your favorite character to write for? Why?

Bucky Barnes. Because he’s Bucky Barnes.

10) Who is your least favorite character to write for? Why?

I don’t really write characters that I don’t like. Even villains are fun to write, even if I hate them. If I had to choose, I guess it’d be Ashley Williams, from the Mass Effect series. I’ve only written her once, but she’s a damned space racist and I hate her, even if I didn’t hate writing her.

11) How did you come up with the title for the Winter’s War Series?

Winter’s War was named with the final scene of the first book in mind, as well as what reader and Bucky would be turned into for the second book; Winter Soldier(s), and the war that led them to being created. And because they “die” in the snow and ice. Ghosts of War because that’s what Reader and Bucky are in the second book. Ghosts. Shells of themselves. War torn and weary. Weapons. War of Attrition because, in the third book, they fight tooth and nail for every scrap of memory, personality, humanity, and they don’t always win. They’re going to hit a lot of roadblocks, mostly in the form of other humans, their past and their guilt, and sometimes each other.

12) How did you come up with the idea for Winter’s War Series?

I always liked the thought of a Bucky x Reader series where they both ended up as Winter Soldiers. Everything kind of grew from that. It follows very closely to the canon, so everything was trying to figure out the most believable way to weave a reader character into the existing story.

13) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

“Abandoned” is a strong word…. *stares guiltily at The Way I Do and Two of a Kind.* I just haven’t found the inspiration to write them recently, but I do plan on finishing them… eventually.

14) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?

I plan on doing a second part for A Night to Remember when October rolls around. I also plan on adding more monster!Bucky’s to The Monster Series. My other series are complete or in progress and I don’t plan to add more to them (except to finish them in the case of the WIPs).

15) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

I don’t think so, no.

16) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

@angryschnauzer writes absolutely divine smut. I absolutely hate writing smut, so I wish I had her skills. There are others, but she’s the first one that came to mind. If I listed out every single author on here that I admire and why I admire them, we’d be here for another ten paragraphs!

17) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?

I only started writing back in August. Anything written before that’s been lost to the Great Laptop Death of 2017. So, luckily, most of my writing is relatively recent and cringe-free.

18) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

I prefer listening to music (I love loud music and hate silence), but it’s distracting. My brain sometimes can’t process correctly so it tries to write the words I’m hearing instead of what I actually want to write. RIP me and my stupid brain. Aka I’m a Hot Mess: Part 2.

19) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

Haha. No. I’m dead inside. I very rarely (if ever) cry when reading, too.

20) Which part of your Winter’s War Series was the hardest to write?

Oh god the entire Agents of SHIELD part of War of Attrition. That show is so dense and woven so intricately into the MCU that it was difficult as hell to figure out where to put the reader so that it’d be relevant and set up for the next parts of the story. I love that show, but it was so hard *sobbing*.

21) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

I almost never make outlines. WoA has been the exception because, as stated above, the content was way denser and I needed a clear path to be able to write them from point A to point B. That being said, I’ve only gotten as far as just after AoU. I haven’t decided what to do with Civil War or Infinity War yet.

22) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fan-fiction?

A) How Tumblr worked and B) that it’s a terrible, terrible site with horrible coding that, if it were a person, I would shoot as a mercy. Other than that, I read a lot of fics on here before I started posting some myself, which meant I had a pretty good idea of how to format it to be reader-friendly. Still had to google a lot of stuff, though.

23) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

Hmmm. I’m lucky in that I think I have a lot of readers/followers who leave lots of likes/comments/reblogs, but if I had to choose one? I think it’d be my recent Steve x Reader fic, Promise.

24) In contrast to 23 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

Oh god. Again, I’m grateful for every like, comment, and reblog I get, but By Chance. It’s by far my most popular one shot at a staggering 1,925 notes. I like the a/b/o verse, but I posted it pretty early on in my writing career and it skyrocketed which completely blindsided me. The same thing kinda happened with Dumped, Drunk, and Angry. I wrote a one shot in a day or two because inspiration hit me like a freight train, and somehow they’re both over a thousand notes now.

25) Are any of your characters based on real people?

I s'pose Reader is always based off of me, just a little bit? Every other character (except the rare OC) has an established personality, but if I made reader a completely faceless, bland being it wouldn’t be that fun to read, would it? So even though I’m always careful to never describe reader too much physically, s/he always ends up with at least some of my personality.

26) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

Oh goodness, I don’t know. My readers are amazingly kind people. I get a lot of asks and comments saying very, very nice things all the time. I don’t think I could choose just one if I tried..

27) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

I was told very politely I spelled some German words wrong/used the wrong German words.

28) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?

I word vomit on my real life friend sometimes if I’m really stuck. It’s not always super useful because she doesn’t follow/watch any MCU stuff. Mostly, ideas just bounce around in my head until one sticks.

29) Do people know you write fan-fiction?

Yeah, most of my real life friends know. The friend I mentioned above writes fanfic, just not for the MCU. The rest are big nerds, too, so they don’t judge me.

30) What’s your favorite minor character you’ve written?

I loved writing Ran Shen and Mila Hitzvig for The Bitter March arc in Ghosts of War. As far as OC’s go, Dean from my series Time is probably my favorite.

31) What spurs you on during the writing process?

Interest in the source material has a lot to do with it. For example, I was writing easily 4k+ words a day when I was writing about the events of Captain America: the Winter Soldier. Other than that, I wait for the urge to hit me… which sometimes means I don’t write for a few days and sometimes a week depending on what’s happening in real life.

32) What’s your favorite trope to write?

So far? Soulmate. A/B/O was also fun and I’ll probably write it again at some point.

33) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

Oh jesus, no. I have the worst memory ever. I’m lucky if I can remember things a week ago, much less years ago.

34) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

Uhh… Not smut, I know that much. But I have this bad habit where I can’t write fluff without some angst and vice versa? I don’t think I could deal with writing cotton candy fluff for the rest of my life, though. So…. angst, I guess? But I wouldn’t be happy about it.

#milestone celebration #ask the author #green-eyeddragonfanfiction

20 notes · View notes

interview-with-a-creator · 6 years ago

Text

Writer: kayura_sanada

Happy Holiday Week, peeps! I hope everyone’s pets made it through the week without too much stress, and that everyone’s summer isn’t too unpleasant, haha. As much as I love the heat, I’d rather not melt into a puddle of goo every day. Thank you all for your patience, and as always, the interview is still open!

Now, on with the show!

Author/Artist Name *

kayura_sanada

What content do you create? (If more than one applies, please select your main focus) *

Fanfiction

What other content do you create?

Nothing else

Where can fans find your content?

FFnet. I'm slowly moving everything to AO3, too. (Tumblr @kayura-sanada )

How did you find Gundam Wing?

Toonami. T.O.M. was my GUY.

How long have you been writing or drawing/painting in this fandom?

Oh, gosh. The first thing I published (which is HORRIBLE) was on 10/26/03. I was 15.

How long have you been in the fandom? (Not necessarily creating for it)

Since T.O.M. 1 on Toonami, back during '99 and '00. (Oof, that was a long time ago.) So I was around 11-12 years old when I first became obsessed.

What has kept you in the fandom? Or kept you coming back?

The fanfiction. My devoted fans. I have people who have been following me since I was fifteen. So even when I take a hiatus from GW (which I'm on now), I always end up coming back. I love my readers!

Is there a go-to fic or art piece that never gets old? What is it?

Everything by Sunhawk. She's the one who made me fall in love with 1x2, and she deserves every ounce of fandom love.

Please recommend one fan work you believe everyone should see.

The Ion Series, by Sunhawk. If you want a one-shot, read her "Buried Treasures" piece. (If you're talking about me, oh, no. I'm not going to look through my past works. That makes me cringe like whoa.)

What piece of advice would you offer your younger self, in terms of creating?

You ever seen the screen saver Castle has on his computer in the TV show? It just says "You should be writing." That. That would be my advice. Just keep writing. Skill will come in time.

What programs do you use?

LibreOffice. It is phenomenal - and free.

Describe your writing method from start (an idea) to finish (posting your work).

Usually, a scene will pop into my head. That one, single scene will replay itself ad nauseum, until finally I can't stand it anymore and will end up writing the story for it. When I do, I usually have very little idea of where things will go, so I'll have a separate file for notes, story scenes, etc. If it gets long, I might devote a spiral notebook to it. Posting usually happens only when I have at least four or five chapters, since then I know I have some backlog in case I end up struggling with a chapter or scene, and I know I'm interested enough in the idea to keep going, even if I don't receive a lot of reviews. (And yes, as soon as I see a kind review, my butt goes back to the WIP, no matter how much I've been struggling with the story. That's how powerful reviews are. They've made me return to abandoned fics, even.)

How long have you been writing?

10+ years

Do you do research for a fic?

Yes

If so, how much research?

That always depends on the fic. I always end up going onto the Internet for something at least once a chapter. Sometimes I'm on the Internet for days doing research. I remember writing By Your Side and spending WEEKS looking up canine physiology and psychology.

Do you have a beta reader?

How many WIPs do you currently have?

7 - 10

Who is an author or writer who inspires you?

Sunhawke was my first real inspiration. (You can tell because I talk about her A LOT, haha!) DynaDee and Kracken also inspired me, because they were two front runners of the 1x2 fanfic fandom. Calic0cat, too. Crap, there are a lot. Nowadays, I'm usually thrown more by my fans than anyone else. They come a long way and give me so much support.

Where do you get your inspiration? What inspires you to write?

I always feel bad when I see this question, because I don't have a smart answer, haha! That scene can come from anywhere. Usually I'm falling asleep or taking a shower and then boom, there's an idea that won't leave me be. I have no idea where they come from.

What are some areas you feel you need to improve upon?

Settings. I hate writing them out, so they destroy me. I also need to branch out more; I've started writing very similar things recently. I want to freak myself out as a writer. That'll make me improve on things I haven't written enough.

What are your writing strengths?

From what my readers tell me, I'm great at keeping everyone in-character and their interactions with each other. I'm also good at action scenes and smut scenes - probably because, from a writing perspective, they're both very similar to each other.

Do you have any writing goals for this year?

I have my same goal as last year - to post something every week - and a couple of new goals. I want to finish the stories I left behind on ff.net, and I want to start getting through the prompt list I made for myself. It has over seventy ideas waiting!

Which work are you most proud of?

Urf. Urgh. Ugh. I don't really like any of them?? I guess... Sub Rosa??? Because, even though it's awful, it's the story that helped me grow as a writer, and as a person, the most.

Favorite pizza?

Alfredo sauce, chicken, spinach, and tomato. GUYS IT TASTES JUST LIKE PASTA!!!

Do you ride roller coasters?

Yes

Pet peeve?

Oh, no, so many. I'd say the biggest is having people make assumptions about me, haha!

What do you do to relax?

...Write... haha, no. (But yes. But also no.) I read all the time, and play plenty of video games. If I need to blow off some steam, my go-to is loud music and Fallout 4. Shoot a few dozen raiders, and you'll feel a lot better.

Name one cool/fun fact about where you live or somewhere nearby (if you don't want to be specific).

Pfft, my town isn't fun. (Number one pillhead town in my state. Yea! -_-) But I do live only a couple of hours from D.C.!

Which of the Seven Deadly Sins best describes you, and why? (Pride, Sloth, Lust, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, Wrath)

Sloth. If I'm not working, you will find me in my chair at home, on my computer or one of my gaming consoles. If I don't have to go anywhere, I'm still in my PJ's.

@thisweekingundamwing

#interview #gundam wing #kayura_sanada #writer #fanfiction

12 notes · View notes

effects-of-growing-up · 6 years ago

Text

Meet the writers tag:

@katabasiss tagged anyone who wanted to do this and I honestly haven’t done much to introduce myself to the writing community here yet, so here is a start.

How would you describe your writing style?

A mess of long sentences and awful descriptions.

Can you ever finish anything or do you get distracted by new ideas far too easily?

I tend to be focused on one WIP for a few months and then abandon it. I don’t necessarily get distracted by new ideas, but I’ll get stuck and I won’t know how to move the story along, leading me to get unmotivated, disinterested, and disheartened in it all.

Who or what influenced you most in your writing? (E.g teachers, books, siblings, myths etc)

I’ve always loved reading and the escape it gave me. I loved the idea of creating my own world that I could live in and that readers could experience, falling in love with my characters like I have.

My mom has also always been a huge influence. She read all of my god awful first stories and never told me that I couldn’t write. She just encouraged me to keep going. Neither of my parents has ever talked badly about my dream to be a writer.

Do you ever want to publish?

I’ve actually already self-published, though the book is absolutely awful. I didn’t give myself enough time to properly write it, edit it, and make sure it was how I wanted it. I rushed into it and did it. Now I absolutely despise the book.

I want to finish my newest WIP and actually take the time to do everything I can to fine tune it so I can actually be published by a company. It’s always been a dream to become at least a slightly popular author so that I can have fans who draw art for me and love my books. It might never happen, but I still would love it.

What is your worst writing related fear?

Failure. I’m not the best at taking people’s criticism so if one thing is disliked, I either completely ignore the problem or get completely turned off of writing because clearly I have no talent, right? I also am terrified that I’m not actually all that good of a writer, which takes away the one talent I believe I have.

If you could stop time and write for as long as you like without the pressure of time or other people, without losing interest, what would you write?

My WIP, maybe edit my published story I despise, and maybe finish one of my poor abandoned stories.

What is your favourite book?

I love so many books, but my absolute favorites are the Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Claire, the Vladimir Todd series by Heather Brewer, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

I own literally every book you can for the Shadowhunter series from all the novels to the side stories when they are compiled into the physical copy versus ebooks to the codex to the character book drawn by Cassandra Jean.

What was your favourite book when you were a child? (About 10 or younger)

I can’t honestly remember what my favorite book series was before I was ten? I have a weird blank spot in my memories where I honestly can’t remember a lot of stuff from then except random memories. I know I loved Harry Potter and some series about mice, but that’s all I got.

Which movie do you think has the best story?

I love Studio Ghibli movies like Up on Poppy Hill, The Secret Life of Arriety, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Spirited Away. I think they have some of the best stories ever and I recently read something that someone posted about how they focus on the little things in life, like watching clouds and laying in flowers and other things, showing that appreciating the little things is important.

Would you ever like to write stories for games? Why/why not?

Maybe? I’ve always thought I might make a better visual writer, making stories for movies, TV shows, or games because I try to always envision it as a movie in my head. Writing a story for a game definitely isn’t something I’ve ever considered, but it might be an interesting idea.

I don’t actually really know anyone, so of my few followers or whoever else sees this, go ahead and do it!

#writing #Meet the writer #writeblr #Q&A

1 note · View note

taramatsu-san · 7 years ago

Note

For fanfic asks, 13, 18, and 29?

13. Who is your least favorite character to write for and why?

I don’t like writing Iyami. I don’t like how he talks and he’s just not my favorite character at all. I’ve actually written him in a few of my stories and I never feel like I get him right uggghhhh

Out of the sextuplets tho, I don’t like writing Totty because I don’t ever feel like I get his character exactly right? Don’t get me wrong I love Totty, he’s just hard to write for. Same with Jyushimatsu, which is why I’ve never written a Jyushi fic from his point of view really. He’s an enigma lol

18. Do I have an abandoned WIPs? What made me abandon them?

I have a few. I had a story called the Melody of Life. It was too much like an anime movie called Colorful so I dropped it after writing about 4 chapters. I eventually reworked it and it became Fault. Fault has all the same plot points basically, the story is just told in a radically different way. I like the way it came out a lot better.

There is another one that is actually a sequel to The Heaviness of a Heart. I might finish that one someday. It’s about Karamatsu going to therapy! NOVEL CONCEPT I KNOW. Karamatsu actually getting help lol. I was thinking of finishing that one and posting it on the one year anniversary of THOAH.

There is another one from Osomatsu’s point of view. I never got as far as making a title for it, it’s just called Untitled Document in my google docs folder lol. Anyway it’s about his brother’s all leaving him alone again. I dropped that one when S2 ep 24 came out and kinda flipped the concept on it’s head. I don’t think I’ll finish that one, but it was about Osomatsu feeling alone, and then seeing Choromatsu again at Chibita’s Oden stand and having a heartfelt talk with him.

The last one I can think of right now is a high school AU staring Choromatsu. KINDA. Choromatsu goes back in time and goes to high school again, trying harder this time so he can go to college and change the outcome of his life. I might actually go back to that one. I only have about 1000 words of the first chapter written so far, but I have a lot of good angsty ideas!

29. Do I have a story that doesn’t get as much love as I’d like?

There are a few. Most of them are the comedy ones I wrote when I first started writing fanfics, before my blog got popular and stuff. The one I like the most is Karamatsu Stares Directly Into The Sun. It’s a funny fanfic about Karamatsu and Choromatsu going to America to see a solar eclipse. It’s also the only Osomatsu san fanfic I ever wrote with me as a character in it. Also it’s kinda meta. I love this stupid story.

As far as Angst goes, there are two that I also wrote back when I had like 10 followers on this blog so no one really knows about.

First up is Airborne SOS. It’s a really lovely story and it’s one of the most angsty things I might have ever written. This was a turning point in my writing I think. After writing THOAH, I started changing up my writing style, and this is the first fanfic that really shows the change. I won’t say more because anything I could say would be a huge spoiler!

The second is Sketchbook I wrote this not long after I wrote Airborne SOS and it’s really a great story. It’s about Karamatsu having a sketchbook he draws himself and his brothers in every year. It’s a bit strange in the middle part, but the conclusion is one of my most favorite things I’ve ever written.

LOL that’s it I rambled enough here.

6 notes · View notes

fleurdeneuf · 7 years ago

Text

my all time top 10 favorite fics

I saw this going around as a meme for another fandom (h/t @justkeeponthegrass), and the OP encouraged others to jump in, so let’s do this thing!

Choosing only ten fics was nearly impossible, and some of them would change depending on the day, but for now - here they are. Most of these are old, from when I first started reading fic on Teaspoon, years before I’d heard of tumblr, let alone joined it. These are the fics that have settled deep into my bones and are what I think of when I think of “fic.” They shaped fandom and fic for me from the very beginning.

These are not in any ranked sort of order, aside from the order in which I thought of them, so it’s fitting that lilli and amber are at the top. :’) As always, please heed all authors’ ratings/warnings.

1. Wolf Moon (Teaspoon | LJ) by throughanamberfocus (Teaspoon | LJ), 119k words (Alt!Nine/Rose, NSFW, post-Doomsday), first story in the Better With You series (Teaspoon | LJ), second story is Hunger Moon (Teaspoon | LJ). (Several more stories were planned, but as yet unwritten.)

Rose changed direction and went to answer her front door. She pulled the door open and looked at the man standing there. She took a step back and the glass of wine tumbled out of her hand and onto the carpet. She looked down at it in dismay. “That’s going to leave a stain,” she said. She glanced back up at the familiar, yet unfamiliar face in front of her. “Club soda and salt,” said that voice in that accent. She had never expected to hear that harsh Northern accent spoken from that particular throat ever again in her life. --Wolf Moon, Chapter 2

@thedalektables has a great round up post for this fic, if you want to know more of what’s coming.

See also: Leap of Faith (Fobwatched!Alt!Nine/Rose, NSFW, post-Doomsday, WIP) (Teaspoon | LJ) and the one shot that inspired it, Third Time’s the Charm (Teaspoon | LJ), the Bodies in Motion series (Nine/Rose, NSFW) (Teaspoon | LJ), The Zeppelins Verse (Tentoo/Alt!Rose, NSFW, post-Journey’s End) (Teaspoon | LJ), and everything else she’s ever written.

2. Passions Unspoken (Teaspoon | LJ) and its sequel, Out of the Woods (Teaspoon | LJ) by @lillibetm3 (Teaspoon | LJ) , 6k words (Nine/Rose, NSFW)

Stepping away from the doors, Rose turned and cast a covert glance to the Doctor, only to find that he was busy checking one of the console screens as if nothing had happened between them. In fact if it wasn't for the Time Lord shaped ache between her legs, and that her knickers were still on Canthan, (the Doctor had been quite determined that he wanted them off,) Rose could almost believe that she'd imagined the whole thing. --Out of the Woods

See also: Heart Shaped (Nine/Rose, NSFW, sex pollen) (Teaspoon | LJ ) , Strange Magicks (Nine/Rose, NSFW), Teach Me to Sin (Nine/Rose, NSFW, teacher/student), and everything else she’s ever written.

3. In Human Hands by rallalon (Teaspoon | LJ), 160k words (Nine/Rose, Human Nature UA, Abandoned)

"What’s your name?" he asks without meaning to, straightening to look at her once more. She pauses in the doorway of the garage, this small girl framed in the large entrance. The sunlight doesn’t so much hit her hair as stroke it, doesn’t so much strike her as kiss her bare shoulders. Maybe it’s the tank top that’s familiar or maybe it’s the smile. It could be nothing more than a well-known accent. But it’s definitely something. "I’m Rose," she says, stresses the second word as if she thinks he might be slow or as if she thinks he needs reminding of a crucial fact. It does sound like a reminder. Maybe she said before and he forgot. He’s not very good with names. "John Smith," he replies. "See you," she says and leaves and, much to his frustration, the engine continues to be temperamental for the rest of the day.

--In Human Hands, Chapter 1

Yes, I know it’s unfinished. But it’s worth reading and getting your heart ripped out for, so read it anyway.

See also: Non-Linear Love Story (Eight/Rose, Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose, NSFW) (Teaspoon | LJ)

4. Premium Quality Narcotics by Untempered Schism, 32k words (Nine/Rose, NSFW, post-Dalek), part of the Trajectory series. The sequel is The Lift (set during The Long Game).

Rose blinked and nodded, her head swimming. She was having a difficult time getting a handle on which Doctor she was talking to at any given moment, the sensual tease who had centuries of sexual experience to draw upon for inspiration, the oh so lucid and serious goal-oriented physician trying to reassure her and heal himself, the sweetly innocent and giddy adoring man-child or the broken, reluctant and guilt-ridden ex-soldier with more PTSD than any being could reasonably hope to survive. They were all him, but he was cycling through personality fragments so fast it was hard to keep up. She inhaled deeply, pulling herself together and dashed the last trace her tears from her cheeks with trembling fingertips. --Premium Quality Narcotics, Chapter 2

See also: Designated Driver (Nine/Rose, NSFW, BDSM), One Street Away (Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose, NSFW) [If there were a story that could make me forgive and sympathize with Ten for what Rose goes through in School Reunion and GITF, this fic would be it.], Just One Universe Away (Nine/Rose, UA, NSFW, baby!fic), and all other Nine/Rose smut she’s ever written.

5. Tangled up in Blue (Teaspoon | LJ) by @jessalrynn (Teaspoon | LJ | FF) , 10k words (Nine/Rose, NSFW)

He looked like he'd been dipped in blue paint and then decorated and, while Rose could admire the results, she actually hated the artist with a passion. That this unknown person had gotten to trail a paint brush over her Doctor, picking out his details in gold and silver, trimming it all in fine black lines, and the occasional bright band of color, set her blood boiling. Rose deeply resented the unknown man or woman for having had both the audacity and the opportunity to do something she now dearly wished she'd thought of first. --Tangled up in Blue

See also: Handstands (Nine/Rose, NSFW) (LJ | FF), Never Quite Normal (Nine/Rose, UA, NSFW), co-written with Jabberwocky as Pairadox Timeline (Teaspoon | FF), Sunday, Domestic (Nine/Rose, NSFW) (Teaspoon | FF), Double Crossing (Ten/Rose, Seven, Ace McShane) (Teaspoon | LJ | FF)

6. An Education by @anne-hedonia (Teaspoon), 55k words (Nine/Rose, NSFW, Human Nature UA)

"Fine," she sighed tremulously. "Take me h–"

He cut her off with a wordless cry–he couldn't even bear to hear the sentence finished. He shoved the table out from between them and grabbed her, clasping her body to his with an arm around her waist and her mouth to his with a large hand on the back of her head. She caught him and welcomed him and gave back in kind, and together they fought the cruel separation imposed by bones and flesh. --An Education, Chapter 16

@thedalektables has a great round up post for this fic, if you want to know more of what’s coming.

See also: Time Out (Nine/Rose, NSFW, Father’s Day), Mamihlapinatapai (Nine/Rose, NSFW), and everything else she’s ever written.

7. Crimes of Passion by Scarlet Women (a collaboration between @lillibetm3 and sap1066), 22k words (Nine/Rose, NSFW)

Rose grinned wickedly at him. "So what you’re saying — is that this," she held out her smeared hand to him. "Is better than sex."

He bristled, unable to look away from the chocolate oozing out of the corner of her mouth. "Not better than sex with me," he replied without thinking, then, realising what he’d said, felt a surge of embarrassment. But with the way Rose was looking at him, it wasn't long before he felt a surge of something else... somewhere else.

She licked her palm thoughtfully, gazing up at him over the tips of her fingers, stroking her tongue around her hand until it was clean. His eyes followed every move she made. "Prove it," she said at last.

--Crimes of Passion, Chapter 3

See also: Modesty Forbids (Nine/Rose, NSFW) (Teaspoon | LJ)

8. Evolution of a Scandal (Teaspoon | AO3 | tumblr) by @rishidiams (Teaspoon | AO3) , 76k words (Nine/Rose, NSFW, AU, SDOACG crossover)

Without another word, John grabs the bottom of her shirt and drags it over her head. He steps away from her slightly as it passes between them, his eyes as dark as a storm when he returns. "I don't like that other men get to touch you. I don't like that they get to see you like this."

"No one sees me like this," she admits breathlessly. "No one has ever seen me like this."

--Evolution of a Scandal, Chapter 19

See also: Mine? (Nine/Rose, UA, post-Doomsday, baby!fic) (AO3 | tumblr) , Promises Unbroken (Nine/Rose, war AU, NSFW, underage warning, WIP) (AO3 | tumblr), Faith of the Heart (Nine/Rose, Star Trek/soulmate AU, NSFW, WIP) (AO3 | tumblr), Her Dragon (Nine/Rose, AU, dragon!Nine) (AO3 | tumblr)

9. Dumbstruck (Teaspoon | LJ | AO3) by sap1066 (Teaspoon | LJ | AO3), 5k words (Nine/Rose, NSFW)

The sudden rush of mellifluous sound into her ears stilled her random movements, her hand stretched in mid air. It was haunting, beautiful, the timbre rich and dark, reminding her of underground, soft and silent things. She raised her eyebrows, looked down curiously at the dials — she had clearly hit the right button somewhere. The noise came again, crawling down her spine, making her shiver. It was possibly the most sensual thing she had ever heard, she thought. She didn’t want it to stop. It did. Released from the spell, her hand fell back onto the panel. The silence was like a dash of iced water, but she jumped even more when she felt his strong fingers wrap themselves around her wrist, tugging her hand away from the controls. --Dumbstruck, Chapter 1

See also: Five and a Half Hours (Nine/Rose, NSFW, GITF fix it) (Teaspoon | LJ | AO3), Always in the Kitchen at Parties (Nine/Rose, NSFW) (Teaspoon | LJ) , Bonfire Night (Teaspoon | LJ), Advent Calendar (Nine/Rose, NSFW) (Teaspoon | LJ), and all other Nine/Rose smut she’s ever written.

10. Seed Pearls (Teaspoon | LJ | FF) by HonorH (Teaspoon | LJ | FF) , 47k words (alt!Nine/Rose, NSFW, post-Doomsday)

--John. She stopped abruptly. It wasn’t possible that John was blocking her path, arms crossed, a thunderstorm in his face. Yet her eyes were telling her differently. “You know,” he said in a voice like iron, “it’s traditional among civilized society to at least say goodbye face-to-face when leaving a lover.”

--Seed Pearls, Chapter 15

See also: Brown Paper Bag Fics (Nine/Rose, NSFW) (Teaspoon | LJ) and Out of Joint (Nine/Rose, FIrefly crossover) (Teaspoon | LJ)

11. The Winter Season by teawithlemon/teawithlemon2/teawhovian/tealicity (Nine/Rose, Human Nature UA, NSFW)

I know it’s gone, but it needed a place on this list.

Tagging ten people whose ten favorite fics I’d really love to see (They can be from any fandom(s) you want; mine are all Nine/Rose because I’m boring, but any and all fandoms are fine!): @rishidiams, @kelkat9, @ruebella-b, @lillibetm3, @perfectlyrose, @anne-hedonia, @wholockgal, @chiaroscuroverse, @acreasy1, @goingtothetardis

(I would have tagged @deathlyfandoms because I have her to thank/blame for the classic fic and GITF fix it rabbit holes I’ve fallen down, but she beat me and came up with two rec lists already - both of which are great and you should check them out.)

If anyone else wants to do it, please do, and mention/tag me so I can see your post!

62 notes · View notes

real-life-sucks-ass · 7 years ago

Text

Annual Writing Self-Evaluation

*All answers should be about works published in 2017.

I’ve been tagged by @inrainbowz! Thanks for giving me an occasion to blab about my writing to the world :D

1. List of works published this year:

So, according to AO3 I wrote 224132 words in 2017. But tbh I’ve not been very productive, I only wrote a few chapters for two WIP (still unfinished) and a single one-shot. The rest is the exact same stuff, but translated into english. Take a look:

One Video Man (One Vidéo Man in french): This is a Youtube!AU fic for the One Punch Man fandom. I had this stupid idea about a AU where everyone is human, in our world, and every character runs a Youtube channel. That’s all. I just describe videos so the reader feels like they’re watching this on Youtube. I have no plan, no scenario, no nothing. But the thing is, I encourage my readers to post fake Youtube comments for the characters to answer, and to give me some ideas about what should happen next and what kind of video I should write. So yeah, it’s kind of a fun experience, and I like trying new stuff and interact with my readers (I did something a bit like this for a spn fic a few years ago). But I’m so slow at updating, my readers are dying with frustration lol.

Albion’s last bulwark (Le dernier rempart d’Albion in french): This is a BBC Merlin fic, and actually it is a sequel for my fic Le dernier souffle de Kilgharrah I have yet to translate into english. It can be read separately, though. It is a resurrection fic in Arthur’s point of view. He comes back to life in our world today and realize he’s lost his kingdom, his wife, everything, and Merlin looks like an old man and is obviously not so happy about his return. I wanted them to struggle to get their relation back. I wanted Arthur to feel lost and alone. This fic is filled with angst and is merthur. I still have about 5 chapters to write & translate to complete it.

A cheap spell (Un sort au rabais in french): I wrote this short Merthur OS just for funsies and I also made a drawing here. Basically Arthur went missing and everyone is worried sick (especially Merlin) and looking for him everywhere... but Arthur is right there under their noses, only turned into a toad and frustrated because no one recognizes him. Well it’s not much, but it was fun to write.

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

Definitely Albion’s last bulwark (Le dernier rempart d’Albion in french). You have no idea. This fic is my precious, my everything. I’m pouring my whole soul in it. I could talk about it all day. This is the fic that made me want to get better in english just so I could translate it at some point.

Why? Because CloudFactory and I have been thinking about it for years before I even started writing it. I do all the writing, but we made out the story together, we thought every little detail through, and she’s my betareader both in french and in english. Because we worked hard to get the characterization right. Because I had been dying to read a resurrection fic in which Merlin has been deeply changed by centuries of living in a changing world, so I decided to write it myself. I wanted a Merlin who went through some rough stuff that had nothing to do with Arthur at all. I wanted a Merlin living like an hermit, but not because he’s waiting for Arthur to return, but for a totally different reason. Because I wanted Arthur to grieve for Camelot, for Gwen, for his past life. Because I wanted Arthur to return for a very serious reason, because Albion truly is in danger. Also, because dragons. In this fic, Merlin has a bunch of dragons, including a baby one, I love writing them.

So yeah, I’m so fucking proud of this fic and I will cry tears of pure joy once I complete it.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

Well I’m kinda proud of everything I wrote in 2017, but if I really have to pick one, I’d say A cheap spell (Un sort au rabais in french) because, well, I wrote it quickly and I felt the merthur was bit rushed and OOC. But that’s because I’m the kind of author who usually needs at least 10 chapters to bring some romance, so... Also, writing crack is fun, but I’m way better at writing angst.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing: Okay so I’ll follow @inrainbowz‘s example and show one in french first, then one in english. But only for my fic Albion’s last bulwark (Le dernier rempart d’Albion in french), because yup, I’m really really proud of it.

Voilà un petit extrait en français, du dernier chapitre en date pour Le dernier rempart d’Albion :

- Et nous nous sommes rencontrés ?

Freya esquissa un pâle sourire qu’Arthur n’aurait su qualifier d’amusé ou triste.

- Oui. Tu es celui qui m’as tuée.

Arthur eut une inspiration de surprise et ses yeux s’écarquillèrent.

- Quoi ?

- Laisse-moi te rafraîchir la mémoire…

Lorsqu’une main creva la surface du lac, suivie d’un poignet gracile et d’un bras nu, Arthur se recula vivement et tomba assis, le souffle coupé. Le reflet de Freya soulevait la nappe d’eau et sa tête émergea à son tour, ses cheveux ruisselant sur son visage, ses épaules et sa poitrine à peine couvertes d’une robe en lambeaux. Le cœur battant à tout rompre, Arthur déglutit et s’efforça de rester calme et de ne pas dégainer Excalibur face à ce spectacle aussi terrifiant qu’époustouflant. Car ce corps qui avait surgi jusqu’à la taille et se penchait à présent sur lui la main tendue, il était translucide, uniquement composé d’eau.

And now another one, in english this time:

Merlin steadied his stance and turned a dark and hateful glare at Arthur. His cheeks seemed hollower and his cheekbones sharper now that he had turned back to his young self. The look on his face was frightening, full of rage.

"Merlin, pull yourself back together!" Arthur ordered, striding right to him. "Don't make me knock you out!"

There was a heavy aura surrounding Merlin when he raised an open hand toward Arthur.

Everything happened very fast. The shock wave that hit him threw him back with a staggering blow, tearing his feet away from the ground. He crashed into the glass doors, smashing them to pieces, and pain flared in his back. He might have lost consciousness for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes again, he was lying on the concrete strewn with sharp glass fragments and the wounds on his back had reopened, soaking his t-shirt with blood.

He cut his palms on the shards trying to get up, but he clenched his teeth and ignored the pain. There would be plenty of time to worry later about how dizzy he felt and his vision starting to blur. For now, the urgency was Merlin.

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received:

Okay so I had never once received a comment on AO3 for my fic Le dernier rempart d’Albion because well, french readers are pretty rare on this website and most of them prefer to read in english anyway. And when I started translating it into english, I got a very enthusiastic comment of someone who loved it. And she wanted to know what happened next so bad, she couldn’t wait for me to translate, so she went and read the next chapters in french, even though her french was rusty and she couldn’t understand everything. I had never been so happy reading a comment. That someone enjoyed the story so much they made the effort to read it in french... Yeah, this made my whole year :D And she still reads both the french version and english translation, waiting for each new chapter. Best reader ever. I love her. <3

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

From august to december, biggest writing block ever. I had no motivation, no inspiration, no energy and I think it had to do with work and real life being crazy, but also because CloudFactory was very busy, so I had no cheerleader to force me to write lol.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

Probably ever character in One Video Man? I control nothing in this fic, I just get carried away by my readers’ ideas and the inspiration of the moment.

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I think I started to understand that I should not be so hard on myself. I’m a perfectionist, so sometimes it blocks my writing when I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself to get it perfect on the first draft. I think I made a lot of progress in descriptions too.

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

I hope I’ll be able to write faster and to stop procrastinating. I need to use less adjectives too.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

CloudFactory ( @less-life-and-more-dream ) and Jackallh ( @geek-trough-time-and-space ) are the best. I just have to chat with them about my fics, and yay! Ideas! Inspiration! Motivation! Also tumblr and the Merlin fandom inspire me every day new ideas :p

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

When Merlin brings Arthur in London, I used some real life experience, since I’ve been in London for my 30 years birthday with @less-life-and-more-dream, @geek-trough-time-and-space and @dupond-and-dupont. The fish n’ chips I described in the fic, also Hyde’s park and its geese, all came from my happy memories :D

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Don’t thrive for perfection. Just do your best, and even if you hate it, you can still edit later. You WILL get better by writing, it’s a slow process, but for this to happen you have to write.

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

First, I have to complete Albion’s last bulwark and One Video Man, both in french and english. Also in a few months I’ll post my translation in english for Albion’s last bulwark’s prequel: Le dernier souffle de Kilgharrah. Then, I plan to write a prequel to Le dernier souffle de Kilgharrah, about the days, months and years just after Arthur died. The whole story will be a trilogy in the end! :D

I consider taking back one of my old abandoned WIP too (I have a Supernatural fic and a Whitechapel ITV fic uncompleted), but I’m not sure I’ll have the time for it. I have AT LEAST three other Merlin fanfics I really reaaaaaally want to write.

14. Tag five writers/artists whose answers you’d like to read.

@creepywonderland-pony @dupond-and-dupont @andersandrew @istadris @always-keep-writing and whoever wants to do this!

#fanfiction #writing is hard #about me #bbc merlin #one punch man

11 notes · View notes

yukipri · 7 years ago

Photo

Hi guys! I’ve started Patreon!

After years of stalling, I’m finally at the point where I think I’m ready to try this. I love creating and posting free content for you guys, but some of you have expressed interest in supporting me in the past, for which I am infinitely grateful.

I’ve been drawing pretty much full time for over a year now, often spending 10+ hours a day working on art content with rarely a single day of no drawing. I’ve been free loading at home and living off my savings from my previous job, and those savings have about run out. I wish I could just keep drawing and improving my content, but I’m at the point now where I either cut down on drawing time to make money, or find a way to at least partially support myself on art.

I want to keep the majority of my art public and continue posting as I have, and this is by no means an obligation. If viewing, sharing, commenting and supporting me is all you can do right now, I am more than immensely grateful to you. At the same time, if even less than 1% of my followers pledged $1 a month, I’d be able to continue drawing without worrying about money. While again, most of my art will be public, I’ve added additional perks as thank yous to those of you who do decide to support me.

FIRST OFF: What is Patreon? - Patreon is a platform where creators of all sorts can get support from their fans to help continue creating their content. It’s a means of turning art into livable income. The supporters, called patrons, pledge to pay a certain amount every month, and the amount you pledge can vary.

For me, you can pledge as little as $1 a month, and it will help so much because it can really add up! Each “Tier” of pledges, which are determined by the amount of support you give me, come with different perks (they all build up, so you get all lower tier perks too!), my way of saying thank you for supporting me. Think of these less as you’re buying this content, and more as you like my art and want to support me, and these are bonuses. You may of course upgrade, downgrade, or stop pledging the next month.

I’m new to this platform and am still learning how to use it, and for now I’ve put some sample content on there. I have a ton queued and it’ll be updating faster than any of my other social media because I have a lot of content queued up. I have a surprising amount of content that I haven’t shared and never planned on posting publicly, and this is definitely a place to dump all of that (including nsfw LOL).

I don’t want to be a financial burden on anyone, but if anyone would be interested in supporting my work and seeing me continue to produce art, I would appreciate your support so much. Please check it out! ^ ^

MY PATREON HERE.

A more detailed description of all of my Tiers and their perks listed below the cut, but also viewable on my Patreon itself.

More detailed descriptions of tier rewards

Thanks so much for considering becoming my patron! I tried to be as descriptive as possible while remaining concise in describing the rewards for the tiers, but here's a more detailed rundown.

I'm still learning how to use Patreon myself, so apologies for any mistakes I may make! I'll do my best to make sure any changes to rewards will be clearly communicated in advance.

$1 - Bronze medal Tier

Thank you so much for supporting my work! You have my sincerest gratitude.

View WIPs, abandoned work, sketches, and unposted content not currently publicly available but may be at a later date.

View higher resolution less watermarked versions of some content, including Patron requests.

There will be 2-3 posts of the above types of content weekly.

NSFW illustrations, at least once every other week on Friday. These will be explicit NSFW and will never be available to the public.

Have access to my private patreon community.

Be able to view some of my publicly available art on a better platform. Because let's admit it, Tumblr is oftentimes NOT the best image viewing platform...

All art will be low-resolution + with my url.

$5 - Silver medal Tier

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

ALL PREVIOUS AWARDS PLUS

NSFW Comics - Some explicit NSFW, but with some short story for context! Almost all of these will be set in my Future!Verse ABO AU, though many will be vague enough to imagine out of context. Will be posted at least once every other week on Friday.

Be able to vote on polls, limited only to patrons this tier and above. Types of polls may include choosing what I draw, or general opinion polls that will influence upcoming content!

Be able to submit one request per month. I will choose one of the submitted requests from the pool to draw!

Art process/tutorials! This includes being able to see my sketches, lineart, and flats prior to their completed versions, and possible step by steps and explanations of specific techniques I use. I'll explain my art process to you in depth! ^ ^

$20 - Gold medal Tier

SERIOUSLY? THANK YOU!

ALL PREVIOUS AWARDS PLUS

Advance pages of my Inferno Yuri No Ice AU comic. I will be posting these to this Tier as I finish drawing them. While they'll be low resolution and watermarked, these pages will not be available to the public until I'm done with the entire chapter. The goal is at least one page per week!

Story spoilers! Length text headcanons of untold story for my AUs which will only be available to the public and lower tiers when I make them into comics, which may not be for a very long time!

Access to my much higher resolution, less watermarked versions of my comics.They will still have my url on the side, but it will no longer obscure the images. As you may or may not know, I've had a LOT of problems with art theft and am especially protective of my comics I hope to one day sell hard copies of. I trust you to protect my work, and grant you advance access to these HQ images. They'll be sent to you in a link at the beginning of the following month.

Early access to unreleased concept art of my AUs such as costume designs and world building for the Inferno AU and Future!Verse ABO AU. These may or may not ever be available to the public, but either way you'll be able to view them way in advance!

Submit as many requests as you want to the monthly request pool to up your chances of yours being chosen!

Get first notification when new merchandise is available in my store. Many of these items will be available in EXTREMELY limited quantities (single digits) and will likely take a long time to restock if they ever do at all. Get your hands on them before they're available to the public! They'll be available to lower Tiers in order after this Tier.

$50 - Legend Tier

...Seriously????? ;A; I, I just...thank you.

This tier is primarily just for people with excess $$ who want to support me and my art, and I can't think of much else to offer but my sincerest thanks ;A;

ALL PREVIOUS AWARDS PLUS

A monthly physical postcard of my art sent to your address with a personal hand written thank you note from me....

May include some surprise freebies! ;D

$100 - What is wrong with you Tier

I highly doubt anyone will choose this, but just so the option's there...but seriously, while I can't express how grateful I am that you're helping me live through just my art, I genuinely don't think I'm worth it. >.<; Thank you so much for your support, and I'll do my best not to let you down.

This tier is primarily just for people with excess $$ who want to support me and my art, and I can't think of much else to offer but my sincerest thanks ;A;

ALL PREVIOUS AWARDS

The monthly postcard will be sent in an envelope!

I will also send a hand-drawn sketch of a character of your choice!

May include some surprise freebies! ;D

Thank you again for supporting me, and please let me know if you have any questions!

#YukiPri rambles #Patreon #YOI #Inferno:YuriNoIce #Future!Verse ABO AU #not bothering to tag much since the external link will hide it in tags anyway ^ ^;#guys I'm SO NERVOUS #people have been asking me about patreon for as early as three years ago #Finally doing it #*prays but has low expectations*

355 notes · View notes

creideamhgradochas · 6 years ago

Text

Thanks to the lovely @whostheblondegirlwriting for taking the time to answer these! Get to know more about lovely E, go give her a follow and then show her some love!

These questions are from this list. You should check it out, there’s 50 questions all together and they’d be great to ask your favorite fic writer!

*Disclaimer from E, herself: If you’re looking for some sage-like writery advice...keep lookin’. You won’t find it here. This whole fic writing endeavor is an adventure in “[shrugs] We’ll see what happens”. Behold! An odyssey of half-assed, one line inspo. Marvel at the absolute appalling lack of plotting and vision. Tremble at the underwhelming realization that “Huh. I could do better than that”. In short, at least you don’t pay money for this, right?

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fan-fiction?

I have no idea, honestly. I signed up for AO3 to actually share it though in September 2015 when I was 36. So we’ll go with that.

2) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

I think I have done more reader inserts than OC, counting all the tumblr oneshots. But you can actually create something substantial with an OC. An OC makes you work. I prefer them.

3) What is your favorite genre to write for?

I don’t know if I’ve done enough variety to have a fav, honestly.

4) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

I wouldn’t. They’re all mine and I’m proud of each of them, no matter how popular (or maybe I should say, unpopular) they are/were.

5) When is your preferred time to write?

Whenever I have the time! I’m not picky, because time is very hard to come by with my job anymore and the fact that my husband doesn’t know I write. Morning, noon, or night for me. It can be hard to sneak it in and still get everything else done.

6) Where do you take your inspiration from?

I don’t have a good answer for this and I’m laughing to myself thinking I should have one. Lol An idea comes up and I write it. That’s it. Shameful, I know.

7) In your Back to One series, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

Oh, damn. Uhhh...I think I liked Sebastian fumbling through his confession to Lily in Montauk. But I also probably had the most fun with the “champagne incident” because it was for my tumblr-lifemate, @ceebeetumbles.

8) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

Nope. It is what it is. You can’t please everyone and I don’t try. As long as I like it, it’s good enough. It’s not like anyone’s paying me for this, anyway. Lol

9) Who is your favorite character to write for? Why?

Hmm. Right now, I’d have to say Jack Rollins, because he preoccupies so much of my writing lately. Besides his own fic, he’s also featuring in an AU for Echo that’s in draft. Considering he had two lines in Winter Soldier, I’m very proud of the interest and love my Jack gets.

10) Who is your least favorite character to write for? Why?

Chris Evans, for right now. Only because he has been less than inspirational for some time due to his relative inactivity and, uh, [ahem] some personal choices he made. But I’m optimistic he’ll come back.

11) How did you come up with the title for the Back to One series?

The main character, Lily, goes through some personal and professional ups and downs as an actress. The phrase “back to one” is a direction for actors to go back to their first mark, so I thought it was fitting, as Lily would hopefully get things right, find her best self again, and have a fresh start as she meets different situations and opportunities in her story.

12) How did you come up with the idea for the Back to One series?

I thought I’d write a Sebastian Stan fic and figured a good match for him (and someone to help drive the story) would be an actress. But then I considered an OC like Lily could have more angles to write and it became really an OC fic that features Sebastian Stan. Oops.

13) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

I haven’t ever abandoned a fic. I refuse to give up on A Touch Up and do write a line or two here and there, just nowhere near the volume I need to publish a full chapter like I used to. It ended up on the shelf because Chris Evans got so boring after Civil War premiered and the fic is literally built on what he was doing in his everyday life. I also have a personal distaste for Jenny Slate and I guess you could say his decision to date her made me doubt the version of him I’d created in ATU, which is a problem when your fic is paired so purposefully around the assumptions I/we all had made by that time about him.

14) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?

I’m doing it. Echo was my pet project and, though it has my smallest following for a WIP, I had enough demand/interest for the story to be told from another character’s perspective that Jack Rollins and the STRIKE Series were born. There’ll be some unexpected things along the way in that series that I hope those fans/readers enjoy.

15) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

No. I’ve only ended a couple fics (Echo and Kindness). Everything else is still a WIP or open ended series that publishes oneshots every once in awhile. The rest of my work is basically oneshots.

16) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

Don’t laugh at me when I say I admire anyone who puts their work out there, even if it’s just a paragraph long imagine only on tumblr. It takes a lot of nerve, no matter what level your work is at or how big the scope. I’ve seen some good, bad, and ugly fic floating around, but I see value in it all and love seeing experience/determination help the writer evolve.

We ain’t all Hemingways or Shakespeares. And that’s okay. Some of the best writers don’t have thousands of followers and get hundreds of notes (but deserve them). And some of the behemoths out there aren’t necessarily turning out mind blowing fic, either. It’s a crapshoot and fandom can be fickle (if not downright confusing af).

17) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?

Not at all. If it posts, I’m happy with it.

18) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

Either is fine. I probably write more in quiet, though, because my husband works 3rd shift, so I’m mindful not to disturb him.

19) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

No. Closest I could say to giving me my own feels was when I wrote The Death of Brock Rumlow (when it existed as part of the original Echo plot).

20) Which part of your Back to One series was the hardest to write?

I’m happy to say I don’t think there’s been a hard part to write for Back To One, or any of my fics. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it!

21) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

Nope. No outlines or plans. I pretty much just sit down and write. If inspiration doesn’t hit, I’ll switch to a different WIP. If I have an idea for a line or scene I might make a note for later (maybe just a few words to point me in the right direction/remind me, or a line or two of dialogue), but once I get to it, I usually just write it out at once.

22) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fan-fiction?

How little time I’d have down the road for it. Maybe I wouldn’t have run such long WIPs/fics at a time. It feels like it’s been 100 years since I had time to open requests and I had to abandon a weekly posting schedule for 3 WIPs earlier this year because I just don’t have the time to manage the volume I used to anymore.

23) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

OMG yes! Echo and its companion fic, Jack Rollins (and I’ll probably say the same for the au/the STRIKE series). At this point, I can confidently say the following for Echo didn’t carry over to Jack Rollins, but I knew both were niche fics in the beginning anyway. I’m grateful for the attention Echo got, but it was such a labor of love, I’d have liked to see it do better. I may only have several regular readers for Jack Rollins commenting or reblogging, but those few readers and myself are the ones I wrote it for, and that I’ll keep posting it for until it’s finished, regardless of how tiny the readership because I love it.

24) In contrast to 23 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

Not in an “oh, geez. Not that again” way. More like a “oh, stop. I can’t believe you guys like it that much” kind of humbled eye roll.

25) Are any of your characters based on real people?

Obviously the celebrities like Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan, technically yeah. I have no doubt that some of my own ticks, experiences, etc have made it into a character or plot, or things from people I know or have come across. Things you don’t necessarily draw lines between on purpose but maybe catch on to later, sure.

26) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

Any of the comments or messages from people who say they cried, laughed out loud in public, got way too giddy, or held their breath because of something I wrote. They make me so happy, just to see someone got so lost or involved in a moment means I did a good job. Having someone say they reread a fic (or are reading for the X time) is a hell of a compliment, too.

27) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

It was about A touch Up and how I had given the reader insert character, or implied, too much description (ex. noting that POC don’t blush as often as this girl did, when I wrote it as that feeling in the cheeks anyone can experience to convey her nervousness/embarrassment/etc at those points in the story so people maybe shared that sense as they read, not that she frequently ran around with a noticeable flush) and that, although I may not have said it outright, things like that apparently had made her so that she was obviously white. That ruined it for the commenter, despite there not actually being that much said about appearance in the story.

28) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?

Rarely. @ceebeetumbles gets a snippet of a chapter thrown at her once in a very blue moon, if I want to be sure something isn’t too cliché or generally awful. Lol But there’s a chance she’s reading along with the fic, so I may not send the whole chapter. I don’t plot per se or collaborate with anyone though.

29) Do people know you write fan-fiction?

Just the lovely people who’ve visited me on Tumblr or AO3.

30) What’s you favorite minor character you’ve written?

It’s a toss up between Frank Grillo’s appearance in A Touch Up and Jack Rollins or Eric Mickelson in Echo. I’m also a little fond of Drew Madison in Back To One.

31) What spurs you on during the writing process?

That I told you I’d post an update to a WIP, promised a drabble, or set a deadline that a request would be done by. So, really just my self-imposed “schedule”.

32) What’s your favorite trope to write?

I don’t really have one.

33) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

Nnnope. Lol

34) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

It’s a toss up between angst and fluff. They both come pretty easily. Honestly, smut is exhausting to write and I do so little of it because I don’t want it to be repetitive. Fluff is always fun. But, man...the possibilities with angst are pretty limitless, so maybe I’d lean a little more that way.

#milestone celebration #ask the author #whostheblondegirlwriting

6 notes · View notes