#hopefully i'll expand and improve this in editing

[morningstargirl666]

THE LITTLE WOLF UPDATE

It's here. The new improved chapters 1-3 have posted. Read The Big Bad Wolf's prequel from the beginning here. Chapters 4 & 5 should be posted a week from now, either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, depending on when I finish it.

Think of it as my little gift to you all - I hope you all have a Merry Christmas (or a Happy Hanukkah!). And for those who don't celebrate either, then Happy New Year!

If you want more details on all the changes I made to The Little Wolf, read below. It's not too spoil-ery but it's not exactly spoiler-free either, so by all means come back later to see if you found all the changes I made! Extra kudos to those who notices them all.

Over 20k+ of brand new content. This includes two new chapters (chapter 2 & 4 respectively) and around 20 or more new scenes to devour across the entirety of the fic.

Original scenes have been tweaked and expanded upon, with longer conversations or scenes between characters.

All punctuation, grammar and spelling has been proof read repeatedly. I won't say it's all perfect, because I've probably still missed bits, but its in a much better state than it was before. Dialogue grammar in particular has had a complete overhaul, which should make everything much easier to read.

Each chapter has song lyrics at the beginning, fitting the vibes or themes of the chapter. This is a part of a playlist that I will share in Running With Wolves after completing the editing to The Big Bad Wolf (which has it's own share of songs, compiled with a mix of the music I listen to while writing and music I feel embodies each chapter).

In a similar thread, new timestamps have been added whenever there is a time or location jump. Again, this is a change that will be happening to The Big Bad Wolf as well to make flashbacks clearer. Upon completion of TBBW's edit, a timeline will be added to Running With Wolves so you can see all of the events that take place in the series in chronological order.

Historical accuracy has been given a bigger focus. Obviously, there's still a need for suspension of disbelief (vikings never travelled that far south in America, horses weren't introduced to America until the 1500s etc) as I'm no history buff and I personally believe you can allow a little leeway for sake of creative freedom. However, that said, I've tried to right the most egregious wrongs by Julie Plec: the white washing of the native Americans, the almost European-Christian culture of the Mikaelsons' village (views on bastards, women like Rebekah not carrying arms and being all innocently feminine even though they were warrriors too in viking culture, lack of historical accuracy in settings/costumes/props etc) and of course, the complete lack of explanation behind how the vikings arrived in Southern America. Hopefully it should feel more alive, and I'll probably add even more in the final FINAL edit that will happen once I've finished TBBW.

The Little Wolf's main focus is Klaus' characterisation arc. However, in this rewrite, all the Mikaelson siblings get more screen time and you get their characterisation arcs in the background, as a treat.

Henrik is much more fleshed out as a character. He's mischievous and playful, a lot like Kol, with other attributes from the other siblings thrown in. He's also got more Youngest Sibling energy, just as the other siblings have Middle Child/Eldest Child energy, because in a fic about family, really that's the most important detail of them all.

I've delved deeper into Mikael and Esther's treatment of Klaus and how it wasn't much different to how they treated the other siblings after all. Don't get me wrong - in my mind Klaus was dealt the worst of Mikael's physical fury, but I don't believe 'he was singled out' is as black and white as the show would lead you to believe. That's not how abusive households work.

Talking about Klaus' characterisation, think of this fic as the death of Niklaus Mikaelson, leading to the birth of Klaus, The Original Hybrid. The Little Wolf leading the way for The Big, Bad Wolf. You'll get innocent baby boi Niklaus of course, but that same innocent kid has a feral side. When you become a vampire, it heightens who you already are and Klaus - he had that fury and violence in him all along, and it wasn't just because of the wolf.

In a lot of human-era Originals fics and the actual shows, when they're turned into vampires its all very planned out. Idk, like Esther and Mikael are evil villains twirling their moustaches? Turning their children into vampires, its all very pre-meditated, oh the horror and everything. And although there is elements of that in this rewrite (they ARE shitty, evil parents after all) I tried to do something a little original myself. In this fic, more focus is given to the family's grief and how Henrik's death becomes the shatterpoint for EVERYTHING. His death causes every bad decision made by the family from that moment on. It's less of "I planned to make my children the most powerful beings to ever walk this earth" and more of "I tried to save my children and didn't expect ANY of this so wtf do I do now, another bad decision? Yeah let's do that". You feel me? Hopefully that comes across anyways.

Okay what haven't I mentioned yet... WEREWOLF LORE. Yeah that's been expanded on and fleshed out some more. You get a glimpse into my take on how the werewolf gene is triggered, along with a coming of age ritual, general culture, outsider prejudice against werewolves etc...Klaus' views on them is much more explored, especially in relation to his heritage. Kinda playing with the idea that him being a bastard was never the problem to Mikael or Klaus - it was him being a werewolf.

Since I started re-writing this I watched way too many of Mike Flanagan's series'. So I kinda went all 'Midnight Mass' on the Mikaelson's village. Oopsies.

In a similar thread, the raven from the Fall of The House of Usher left a bigger impact on me than I like to admit. That's something so sexy about an omen of death okay leave me alone I NEED THE FORESHADOWING

There's probably more, I'm disclaiming that now, but I've forgotten. Go forth and devour my lovelies ✨

[cilil]

New Year & Resolutions

So... 2023. As with many of us, it wasn't a great year for me. Lots of stress and struggling irl, family members getting severely ill, some tragic accidents... and with some of these situations being ongoing and big scary exams coming up, 2024 isn't looking much brighter for me in that regard.

However!

I still have my stories, my blorbos and my friends - and that means you guys - to keep me company and brighten my day. I don't know what I would do without you and all of the fun things we do together and for that, I'm endlessly grateful.

In late 2022, I (re)entered the Silmarillion fandom (as in, I was never interacting before that, but I was there), and in 2023 I joined and participated in a whole bunch of events and met so many great people - many new, but also a few I remember from back in the day. It felt great to finally, after all these years, have the courage to reach out and let you know that I love your works. Let's hope for another year of creativity and community, and I'm very much looking forward to what everyone has in store...

... which brings us to my new year's resolutions.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ I've started working on expanding my character pool, as some of you may have noticed in the more recent events and challenges I shared on my blog, and I want to continue doing that. Comfort is a fickle thing and I'm always worried I don't get it right, but I try to take it as an opportunity for creative growth either way.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ Related to the previous point: I want to continue using the drabble and ficlet events specifically to give gifts to friends, mutuals and followers alike, so once again: If you have brainrot or fun ship ideas or anything of this sort, let me know, hit me up, let's chat. I love hearing new ideas. And if it's ever something I don't feel like I can write or talk about at that time I'll let you know, so no worries at all.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ I want to continue being present for events, but I need to find some time for my personal projects as well, which I haven't really managed this past year. There are several ideas for bigger projects I have lying around and collecting dust (both Angbang and otherwise) and I also have old fics from back in the day that I want to rewrite and share. It won't be easy, especially with the aforementioned exams and all, but I want to at least try.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ That also includes requests I have yet to fulfill and unfinished events. My apologies to all those who have waited longer for something than they should have - I assure you, I didn't forget about it. I'm just a bit of a bumbling fool who gets too excited about her hobby and then proceeds to bury herself in too much work.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ On the other hand, I did manage to make some progress in regards to being more motivated, being more productive and taking better care of myself and I want to continue improving in that regard, be it when it comes to fandom or otherwise. I also want to say thank you to all those who supported me during difficult times - you know who you are. Thank you. I appreciate you more than you will ever know.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ As generic as it sounds, I also want to continue improving my craft, both writing and, dare I hope, art. I had several moments over the year where I felt like I improved or I learned or understood a new thing, but there's always room for more and I'm someone who enjoys learning.

I might have forgotten something so there may be edits, but that's it for now.

I wish all of you a happy new year and all the best for 2024, even if things aren't looking too bright for you either. Despite everything, I'm confident that we can get through this together, and if nothing else just know that I'm here for you, trying to share the things that make my life better and hopefully bring others a bit of joy too.

By which I mean hot angel porn -

Bye~

[feathers-in-the-night]

Hello, I hope I didn't get mixed up; you ARE the person that wrote "Guidelines to Loving an Incognito Superhero", the OC x Clark Kent fic, right?

I had such a hankering to reread it a few months back and was disappointed when I couldn't find it. It finally occurred to me that for all my searching on A03, your fic was on ff.net. It was worth the effort to find it again!

For all the details to latch on to (and there's a lot!), somehow your OC enjoying taking a bath stuck with me. When I moved into a new apartment and realized I left my shower curtain behind, it was having recently reread your fic that helped me remember that non-shower options exist, and they are in fact preferable.

Not to mention the tension, the dialogue, the characterizations of established and OC alike, and particularly the analysis of the internal conflict of the dual Clark/Superman identities. I swear I lose my breath when their first not-a-date leads the two to the crater in the park. The NYE kiss was SO well-paced, and the sub-plot of the escaped prisoners and how, while apparently unrelated, pushes them together and creates opportunities for their relationship to develop?

Just marvelous. Well-done.

Thanks for keeping your work around; and for writing and publishing it in the first place!

Hi! You're not mixing anyone up, that was me!

Its true that its only on ffnet at the moment lol. Maybe one day when I'm done endlessly expanding on (and hopefully improving) my Nightwing/OC fic-verse, I'll upload Guidelines to Ao3 too!

I'm pretty sure a bunch of people would enjoy that? But I have a feeling it will be like I'm currently doing with Feathers. So I'd be uploading an edited version of the fic so the writing will make me want to jump off a bridge a little less lol

Ah yes, Georgia and her baths. I'm honestly not sure why that was such a thing for me, I think maybe at the time I thought the way to make a character feel realistic was to just hand them a bunch of quirks! And Georgia is certainly not wanting for those!

The conflict of the Clark/Superman identities is something I remember I found very interesting and compelling, but maybe a concept I didn't feel like I quite managed to unpack entirely. I think my decision to keep the story exclusively from Georgia's POV did limit the depth I could really bring to Clark's character. If I was ever to give the story an overhaul, I think adding a few scenes from his POV would be the first thing I would add tbh!

And now I'm rambling lol.

Thank you for your super nice words, its honestly always so flattering and makes me so happy when I hear that there are still people going back to my old writing all these years later! It's crazy that something I wrote when I was 16 is still so loved by so many people!

[heretostealyogirl]

🍂 + 🧥 :]

Tysm!! <3

🍂 leaves: what does your editing process look like? how does your wip typically change as you work on it?

Well, since I write my draft in square brackets, most of my editing process is just doing a ctrl + f search for the opening square bracket in order to find the parts I still need to work on. Once I'm at the bit I want to edit, I'll sometimes reword things or move little bits around to improve the flow, but the biggest change I make is going from present tense to past tense. When drafting and planning things, present tense comes more naturally to me, but when things are fully written, I prefer it in past tense. Other than that, my editing process is mostly just expanding on things that were summarised or lacking detail in the draft.

An example of this whole process from my current WIP would be this:

Draft:

[Link is a little caught off guard by all the eyes suddenly on him, but the people around him usher him onward. Link reluctantly steps forward and takes Ganondorf’s outstretched hand.] 

Rewritten:

A thousand eyes were on Link in an instant. When he didn’t immediately move, the people around him ushered him onward, and Link reluctantly stepped forward to take Ganondorf’s outstretched hand. 

Not a huge change in this example, but hopefully you can see what I mean!

🧥 warm coat: share a happy or fuzzy scene from your wip!

This part is still a draft, but here's a snippet:

[Link thanks him. He knows how important this festival is for Ganondorf and doesn’t want him to miss out on celebrating some more, so he’s grateful to Ganondorf for being willing to take a break with him like this.]  “Normally, I wouldn’t let anything short of an invasion by the Yiga Clan drag me away from the party, but for you…” Ganondorf chuckled softly. “Well, I already make all kinds of exceptions. One more won’t hurt.”  [Link really appreciates it.] [Link is very lucky, he thinks, that Ganondorf still allows him into the town. And the fact that he can call Ganondorf not only by his name but his nickname, just as Rinsui pointed out earlier, is quite an honour.]  “As the saviour of my people… and as a most treasured friend of mine, you deserve nothing less,” [Ganondorf says, very sincerely.]  [Goddesses, Link is a bit touched. When he first ventured into Gerudo town all those months ago, he never expected that he would end up becoming so close with their king. It’s not the first time such a special relationship came about as a result of him taming one of the divine beasts, but it still surprised him. He can’t quite believe it’s happened twice.] 

[scarlett-ice]

How about Coldflash, slight canon divergence. Barry is in love with Len, but Captain Cold only has eyes for the Flash?

This is a bit more than a slightcanon divergence and takes place relatively early in season 1.  Like all the other prompts I’ve been given,this could have been so much longer and it was a struggle to keep it short!  Thank you for the idea:)

“Sorry Barry.  I like you but…you’re not cut outfor the kind of life I lead.  We wouldn’t be good together.  Besides, there’s someone else I’ve got my eye on.”

Barry didn’t miss the way Len glanced over to the TV, stuck in the corner of the room and playing news coverage of the Flash’s latest fight.  He just barely stopped himself from slamming his head against the bar.  

Barryhad thought his only problem was falling for a criminal.  He hadn’t anticipated Captain Cold fallingfor the Flash.  And only the Flash.

-

When Barry first entered Saint’s ‘n’ Sinners, he’d been undercover in an attempt tofind out about some underground metas. He’d entered with the plan to keep to himself, subtly listen to some conversations, and get out again but of course, things had gone downhill within a matter of minutes.  

“What’s a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?  What’s your price then?”

Before things could get ugly, however, there’d been another guy there joining thefirst.  A much more handsome one.  

“Now,now, Kenny.  We don’t want a repeat of lasttime, do we?”

‘Kenny’ had scurried away quickly and that was when Barry learnt that Leonard Snart,thief extraordinaire, had known his father in prison.  It took a bit of quick thinking, aided by Wells and Caitlin, to explain just what Barry was doing there but somehow, they developed a story convincing enough to justify him returning afterwards.  More often than not Len would be there too and even when he wasn’t, he might as well have been considering that the other patrons made a point of keeping their distance.

Despite the fact he had fully admitted to being a criminal, Barry ended up turning his comm off after the first few visits.

And then the Flash met Captain Cold.  His distinctive voice was unmistakable and it was only quick thinking on Barry’s part that he masked his own voice. That’s when things got complicated.  While the Flash’s relationship with Captain Cold was tremulous at best (or, so he thought), Barry’s relationship with Lenimproved.  He saw where Len and Captain Cold merged, saw what motivated him, and realised that despite the cool exterior Len liked to portray, there was a good heart hiding beneath.  

And that’s where Barry’s initial problem came in. Problem number 2…he had no idea how that even happened.  

-

After Len’s rejection, Barry decided to visit Saint’s less.  He still had a job to do there (he’d managed to pick up a few good leads) and so he decided to change his times a bit.  If Len happened to also be there, he’d risk doing what Wells had made explicit he should not do under any circumstance –reveal his identity.  

Throwing himself into his work as the Flash helped. Like now, he didn’t have time to think about Len, or handy his cold gun would be, while fighting a fire-breathing meta while her partner was busystealing some valuable artefacts.  

“My,it looks like you really need to chill out.”

Well,that really wasn’t helping things.

“Cold?”  Barry yelped, only just managing to disguise his voice in time as he narrowly dodged another stream of fire.  “What are you doing here?”

“I wasin the area and saw you were in a hot spot. Thought I’d offer my services.”

“In the area.  With your cold gun,” Barry said bluntly, watching as the approaching flames met a blast of ice.

“What can I say, I always come prepared. Besides, this is my favourite museum, I’d hate for things to get damaged.”

Barry rolled his eyes, fighting a grin.  “Okay.  Do you think you can take her?  She has a partner.”

“Please Flash, this is kid’s work.  Off you go.”

Whilethe Flash might not always trust Captain Cold, right then Barry was trusting Len to handle himself.  It didn’t take him long to find the other woman and at the sight of him, she sighed.  

“Isobel promised me she’d keep you busy,” she whined. “I knew we should have traded places. Oh well, come and get me Flash.”

Barry didn’t need any more prompting but the moment they locked eyes, he found himself frozen.

“Uh,Barry?  Why’d you stop?”

Barry would have loved to answer Cisco but he literally couldn’t move a single muscle.

“Andsee, this is why we should have traded! So easy,” she muttered.  “Now, you’re going to be a good boy and watch as I steal all this lovely jewellery.”

“Paralysis,” Caitilin breathed, as if Barry wasn’t unaware.

“That’s some Medusa shit right there,” said Cisco. “That’s gonna be her name!”

Despite the others coming up with ways Barry might be able to throw off the paralysis,nothing worked and minutes passed. Finally, she had all the jewellery in her bag and all Barry had managed to do was blink his eyes, a blessing for his dry eyes.

“I’ve always been curious who’s under the mask,” Medusa said, approaching him.  “Someone famous, perhaps?”

With the gang’s protests ringing in his ears, Barry was helpless to stop her as she unmasks him.  Her face fell slightly.

“Well,you’re no Tony Stark but you’re cute, I’ll give you that.  I think I’ll just leave you here like this for the police to find you.  Soon, your secret identity won’t be so secret anymore Flash.”  

Medusa disappeared with a wink and now without the others in his ear, Barry didn’t know what he was going to do.  He knew his friends would be able to delete the footage from the camera but unless he regained the ability to move soon, he’d be lucky if his face wasn’t on the news.  Maybe they could get Joe up here…

“Someone’s being slow today.  I thought they called you the Fla-Barry?”

Well shit.  At least Wells can’t blame him forthis.  Len stepped into view, the surprise on his face being replaced by a mask of neutrality.  “So, this really explains what you were doing in Sinners then.  So tell me, did Barry Allen really like me or were you just good little boy Flash in there, doing his duty to the city?”

Thankfully,Barry’s mouth managed to cooperate enough for him to say, “It’s not like that.”

Len took a step forward, corners of his mouth turning down.  “Are you paralysed?”

“Yes.”  It was an effort to speak but Barry was able to carry on with, “My cowl.  Please Len.”  There was the sound of approaching footsteps and Barry looked at Len desperately. Even if Joe was there, he wouldn’t be able to stop everyone who was with him from getting a good view.  

Len’s lips pursed but he followed Barry’s request, pulling the cowl back over his face with more care than he expected.  

“We’ll talk about this later Barry.  I need to get out of here.”

Just as the police arrived, Len was gone and thankfully, his identity was protected.

Well,mostly.

-

As he nursed a beer that didn’t affect him, a shadow fell over Barry as the seat opposite him got occupied.

“So, I suppose you can handle this kind of life then,” Len said and Barry smiled.

[aro-aizawa]

for those of you that remember i was considering rewriting the first few chapters of bhaf. well i thought you guys should know that i managed to finish the first chapter and wow it is so much better now oh my god.

[rottinghollows]

Rotting Review*: FURY, RyaNerd, TwistKid, JS97

*this is a working title, it's subject to change in the future*

Moving forward and between bigger projects, I'd like to take the time to highlight tracks from artists around, and some I just like personally. This is my own opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. That being said, I will be highlighting things I both like and dislike with the tracks mentioned, plus a little opinion on it and rating, like an album review but on a much smaller scale. The titles will always highlight the artists first and foremost, but I'll be naming them and their tracks below, as well as links to the songs as well. As always, be sure to give the artists mentioned some love. Enjoy!

FURY - Triple 7 Rebel prod. Yatchzen

Pros: Triple 7 Rebel is a very well done track, from production to lyrics and Fury's inflections on the track. The last part plays well into the idea of him being a rebel out alone in the desert, and the Nevada native certainly delivers.

Con: As much as I enjoy the track, the end of it does leave a bit to be desired. If some criticism is to be made, it's really just to find a harder and more solid conclusion to the track, though I really respect the shout out to No Doms and ENDS.

Overall: I've been a follower of Fury's work for a minute, and he definitely does not disappoint. The consistency in most of his work is astounding, and he's certainly a hidden gem amongst his peers. The track reviewed can be found here.

Rating: 8/10

RyaNerd - Worlds Away

Pros: RyaNerd is one of the few who can pull off a melancholic and dissociative track, yet make the lyrics relatable and engaging enough to give it replay value. The tone throughout the song is consistent plays well with beat, making it reminiscent of a lullaby in some respects.

Cons: Some words in the song are unfortunately a little hard to understand, having some lack of enunciation which makes the track a little hard to get into as well. While i mentioned the tone to be consistent, Rya could stand to work on the tone in his vocals. The song is melancholic, however the vocals sound somewhat sleepy and like it was a chore to do, rather than sad and emotional.

Overall: While I may be the most critical of RyaNerd on this particular review, I do like what he has to offer and see massive potential for growth in his music. The track itself is a little rusty, but the quality of lyrics and melancholy are something that can be expanded and improved on, and even open new avenues if pushed in the right direction. The track can be found here.

Rating: 6.5/10

TwistKid - Nobody prod. slndrmann

Pros: Twist harnessed something very human, and also very hopeless with this particular song. While slndrmann plays a role with the beat, Twist's vocals almost take a background-esque nature within it, although enough emotion is present in the delivery that carries weight to what he's saying, and it makes for a wonderful if very thematically dark song.

Cons: Wavy edits are a tricky thing, and while I'm not actually critical of this wavy edit, I wasn't totally sold as it being the outro to this particular song. Had the song maybe been a little longer, the wavy end could have been a great stand alone edit, although I will say it does more harm than benefit to the track if I have to be honest.

Overall: TwistKid is a majorly slept on artist, and the quality of his work speaks for itself, no artists is without a hiccup or two, but Twist is a person who constantly displays growth, and an accurate representation into a darkened and troubled mind. Twist's Nobody can be found here.

Rating: 9/10

JS97 - Arizona Bronze Ginseng

Pros: While the production of this song is amazing, the personal highlight to this particular track is the rapping towards the end. Not many people may be aware of an artist named KCLS, but JS pays a pretty great homage to the monotone delivery of the previously mentioned rapper. Another pro is the build up leading to it, and the rapping trailing off to give a concrete end to the song is a plus.

Cons: Electronic music is admittedly not my forté, but I will say the first few seconds of the song linger before really getting into full swing. It's a small complaint, but it is something I've taken notice to in some other tracks, and it could be worked on to improve the over transition and experience of the songs presented.

Overall: JS is a guy who I know personally, so I'm aware he'll stick to predominantly sampling Owl City and making beats. Regardless, I'd love if he recorded himself a bit more on tracks, although I highly doubt he'll do it even if I encouraged it night and day. Watching him work is always a treat to. JS97's track is found here.

Rating: 7.5/10

Final Thoughts + Announcement

The artists I listed are people I'm well acquainted with, and even have met in some cases. Granted, I try to be objective and maybe I am, but I know I could be doing better on it. I sincerely hope this doesn't sound like it's either not objective or I'm favouring someone's work over another, because that's not the case, though I'll admit to liking everyone listed here a lot, and this is a bit of a way to say "hey, I still think about ya and would like to talk soon, cuz I suck at initiating conversations sometimes".

On another note, I'm working on an interview that will be published hopefully in the next two to three days, and afterwards I'm gonna spend time on a piece regarding the current state of the scene and what could be done to improve it. I'm looking forward to both these things, and sincerely happy to be doing so. There will be more to come, but for now look forward to those things mentioned. Thanks for reading.