#i think i might try to rewrite the second chapter (or what i wrote from it so far)

[daz4i]

too lazy and having trouble with words to work on my fic but i do enjoy imagining it. fuck yeah make that beast bleed

[ohcorny]

hey corny. so i always see people recommending to outline their story before starting it, but could you talk a little bit more about what that means? what is an outline and how do you structure one? how long are the ones you write, depending on the project? do you focus on plot beats or feelings? how specific do you get? can u recommend any readings for learning more?

up front i don't have any resources for this, only experience. and outlines feel like one of those things where it's like... there are a million ways to do it and the way that works for me might not work for you. i have a friend who writes out all his ideas on index cards and that, for me, is insane. but he's also a better writer than me so who can say what is right or wrong.

anyway an outline is essentially a sketch but for a story. you go through the whole thing, start to finish, and figure out what goes where and what happens when. the idea is that this is the stage where you work out all the big picture stuff and make sure it all fits together, now, and not after you've drawn twenty pages and suddenly go "wait shit that doesn't work" and have to do it over. it is much easier to delete and rewrite a paragraph than to redraw several pages.

doing anything more, ie including dialogue or feelings, depends entirely on how useful that information is to you at that point in the process and whether the purpose of the outline is for your own guidance, or so somebody else can tell what you're trying to achieve.

this got really long with multiple examples

here is an excerpt from the original outline i used to pitch Hunger's Bite to publishers. this one had to be polished to a professional standard, because somebody else was going to read it and decide whether they wanted to give me thousands of dollars to tell this story. (also several of the details are no longer accurate. for instance it now takes place 9 years earlier lmao)

this paragraph represents the first eight pages of the book. the final book is 264 pages long, and the outline was 12 pages of paragraphs as dense as this one.

it establishes where we are, who's there, and what they're doing. i describe their conversation, but i don't commit to the dialogue. i will occasionally include snippets of literal dialogue, but usually only if it's Important Dialogue, or i just don't want to forget a good idea i had while outlining. it's not expected at this step.

an outline written as part of a pitch to a publisher should tell the whole story, with all the important details, and leave nothing ambiguous. they need to know the tone, shape, and the arcs. no secrets! all the spoilers. outlines for yourself should do this too, but outlines for others need to be as clear about your vision as possible. again, an outline like this exists for the purpose of getting you paid thousands of dollars. you should write it like that.

in comparison, here's an excerpt from the outline i wrote for revisions to my WIP prose novel, so i could show it to my agent (who already read the draft) to be like "do these changes sound good?" i'm not selling it to anyone yet, just making a guide so i can have a conversation about it. so it doesn't need to be neat, it just needs to be functional and clear. the first chapter was entirely new stuff. the second bit was just writing down what was already in the chapter that existed.

i have historically been very bad at outlining things when i don't think i "need" to, and only wrote this one after having written like 60k words of the book without any overall plan. i gave what i had to my agent for feedback and then sat down and figured out how i could apply it. it's made the whole revisions process significantly less daunting. now i have a checklist for things i need to do! this one was a paragraph or two for each chapter, with the ones that needed a lot of rewriting given a bit more detail.

lastly, here's a bit of the outline for the first roger crenshaw book. i was the only person who had to see this, and since the story was planned to be very short i didn't have to worry about a whole lot. as long as i knew what was supposed to go where, it would work. honestly it's not a whole lot different from the previous example.

this one was like five paragraphs and it did the job, and this story was like 15k words. you only need as much or as little as will actually help you on the page.

basically if you take nothing else from this, it's that there are multiple ways to write an outline, that it does not need to be perfect if you're doing it for yourself, and that it only needs what you think is important (unless it is for other people. then it should have everything). and also it's a good idea to do it earlier in the project than after you've written 60k words or drawn--jesus christ i got up to 12 chapters in never satisfied? it's amazing i didn't quit sooner

[bookish-bogwitch]

Thank you @roomwithanopenfire, @rimeswithpurple, @blackberrysummerblog, @nausikaaa, @larkral,

@hushed-chorus, @alexalexinii, @monbons, @whatevertheweather, @run-for-chamo-miles,

@artsyunderstudy, @mooncello, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @forabeatofadrum, and @aristocratic-otter for the tags over the past few weeks. I've had a crazy month (90% in crazy a good way) and too frazzled to come up with my own WIP posts, but have enjoyed reading yours and being included.

Here are six ten moody little sentence from Chapter 11 of Basil Pitch's Diary. (In case you missed it, I posted Ch. 10, September, a few weeks ago, then fled the country.) Baz is hanging in in Niall and Dev's room:

The last time I was here with Niall, he’d told me to hold out for more than ear scritches and the occasional carrot. Now we sat on his bed with a chessboard between us. “Baz,” Niall said quietly. “What are you doing?”  “Beating you.” I moved my queen to menace his remaining bishop. “With Snow, I mean.” Niall did that thing where the rook and king hop around, which shouldn’t be allowed, and I realized he’d won. Again. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, there is a me who grew up with someone to play against, demolishing a Niall who never went to math camp.

Below the cut: musing, a posting plan, and more tags.

Musing: I've actually written a ton since the last chapter even though I've been AWOL, but for a while no matter what I wrote, Baz felt out of character. I'd write a scene, like it, and then think "but why is he doing this?" Then I'd rewrite with Baz behaving completely differently, and that also felt OOC.

I worried that I'd somehow doomed myself with inconsistent characterization, but then I figured it out: Baz at this point is deeply inconsistent. He presents himself to the world one way, he tells the reader / himself that he's something else, and deep down he's a secret third thing. And sometimes his masks slip.

To some extent this is every unreliable narrator. But boyo has REALLY tangled himself up at this point. Something's gotta give. Until it does--which it will, soon--I have to be very clear in my mind, even if Baz isn't, about which Baz is driving the Baz at any given moment.

A lot of you can do that sort of thing intuitively. I can't. So I've been building this out (showing you just the headers b/c spoilers):

This might stultify some (most?) of you. For me, though, it's freeing. When my brain isn't trying to keep track of everything, my imagination can unfurl.

"'Everything'?" you ask. "This isn't that plotty a fic." It's not, but it's already 2.5x longer than anything else I've written, which means developing skills I haven't needed before. Anyway, my BPD chart and I are having fun. We're very happy together.

Posting Plan

I pushed myself to get Ch. 10 up before leaving home for three weeks, because Ch. 9 had ended on such a wretched note. While I was happy to have gotten it up, I didn't love the self-imposed time crunch (though betas @cutestkilla, @facewithoutheart, and @thewholelemon were fuckin' heroes). Feeling rushed had me stressing and second-guessing choices that were probably fine.

My plan now is to pause updates until I have at least a very rough first draft of the final chapter, then post it all at regular intervals. I know a longish pause means some folks who'd been reading along will wait until it's complete, if they return at all. To those folks--sorry, and I get it, and thank you for reading in the first place, and I love you.

Tags and shy waves to @brendughh  @beastmonstertitan  @carryonsimoncarryonbaz  @carryonmylovelies  @creepyspice

@comesitintheclover @cows4247 @confused-bi-queer @artsyunderstudy@chen-chen-chen-again-chen

@chronicallyhomoerotic @drowninginships @dragoneggos @excalisbury @emeryhall

@erzbethluna @ebbpettier @fight-surrender @fatalfangirl @gay-at-ikea

@fiend-for-culture @forabeatofadrum @foolofabookwyrm-activated @arthurkko @j-nipper-95

@gekkoinapeartree @goblindad-emoshit @henreyettah @hertragedyconnoisseur @hushed-chorus

@icarus-n-flames @ineffable-grimm-pitch @ic3-que3n @ionlydrinkhotwater @iamamythologicalcreature

 @ileadacharmedlife @ivelovedhimthroughworse @shrekgogurt @im-gettingby @youarenevertooold

@monbons @mooncello @raenestee @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @messofthejess

[luciaintheskyainthi]

Hii, i admire you a lot, every chapter of ECM encourages me a lot, i hope yo are well and im sorry for the bad english in my cuestion😭

Your best writing tips? Everything is valid, whether writing in general o writing fanfics, whatever you think for sure is good, thanks for writing 🙏💗😔

thank-you so much!! I'm glad my writing can do that for you!!

Oh man, I have soooo many things to say, but I'll give you some simplified ones to start with! Buckle up buttercup, this is a long'un!

General Writing Tips:

I know it sounds dumb! But just write. Write a little, write a lot, just try not to get bogged down with it being 'good' or 'bad' or anywhere in between. I'm a firm believer in writing being like a muscle: the more you do it, the easier (and the better) it becomes. And also, crucially, this shouldn't be a time where you do things like... a) hunting for the perfect word b) doing research c) cross reference with a past chapter This is a writing only time! Make yourself place holders (I write XK for words I can't think of, as it's 2 letter that will never appear together so I can CTRL+F it easily! I make comments in the draft specifying what to check or research. I highlight parts I know need LOTS of work) so you can quickly move past what's blocking you and continue writing.

Find a writing habit and environment that works for you. Typing? Hand-writing? Coloured pages? White pages? Dictating? Working in a public place? A private space? (When I start out a story, I often handwrite. And I'll turn back to it if I'm stuck, too. I also write a lot in public, as I find the pressure of other people around me stops me wasting time on my phone... or Tumblr lol).

Get yourself a writing friend! I have a friend I see almost weekly and it's my most productive time of the week (For example, today I wrote 5600 words! Crazy!). Online works too (if you use the pomodoro, you can compare word counts, make a competition of it). If you're doing it IRL, DO NOT expect to get anything done the first time. Or the second time.... but the more you do it, the easier it is for you both to fall straight into writing. (This is the exact same advice I giving to my students about 'study dates' 😉 )

If you find it hard to 'break the seal', then try a warm up. Set yourself a 5-10 minute timer and write based on an activity. E.g. tell a story from the POV of an object in your room! Write a detailed description of your foot! Write a 5 sentence story! Find a picture and write a scene inspired by it! Or get yourself a prompt list and use that. These are all things I would do for students back when I ran a creative writing club at school.

Use the pomodoro system when writing (it's great for studying too!). That's 20 minutes of nothing but writing - no searching up stuff! No looking at your phone! Just writing. Then take a 5 minute break. Then another 20 minutes of writing. Rinse and Repeat! You'd be amazed at how much you can get done!

THIS ONE IS SO IMPORTANT: 👏 The first thing you write is the worst thing you write! That's not just okay! It's expected!! 👏 This is something I tell ALL my students and equally myself. The editing process is SO crucial and honestly, the best thing you can do to improve is - and you'll hate me for saying this! - rewrite your entire first draft. This is why I say, 'don't worry about the first thing you've written'. Because it won't be the end product. (This is why I so often hand-write. Because typing it up then becomes the rewrite.) The re-write is when you should be thinking carefully about your phrasing, and when you can go and do that research. (I will note, I actually don't do this much anymore, but I've also been writing obsessively for 19 years... so do with that what you will (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Read your work out loud. What reads fine in your head might come out as nonsense out loud. This is especially true for dialogue! The better it flows out your fabulous mouth, the better it reads. I've done this so much I've mostly internalised it, but I always always do my final edit as a read through out loud. All 140+K of ECM has come out my gob at least once.

Actual writing tips:

When it comes to sentence structure and phrasing, one of the best things I ever did for myself was read the book Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale. I don't expect every writer to do so, but I do think it's worth reading (I'd like to specify, I generally HATE reading non-fiction but I found it a valuable read).

Here are a few things to keep in mind when actually writing:

Bad repetition: it's a classic, but overuse of certain words sticks out like a sore thumb. Even now I'll do it and won't notice until the final read through (out loud! See my previous tip haha). That is NOT to say that you should just right click 'synonyms'! It's better to edit the sentence itself, think about whether that word is even necessary before choosing to select another word).

Nuance in language is soooo important. This is why I generally discourage just the right-click 'synonym' option. Certainly in the nonsensical English language, there are subtleties in word choice that are critical to preventing your work for turning into nonsense (something I wish my students would understand!). Think of the different meanings conveyed through choices like house / bungalow / condo / flat / apartment / mansion / Mcmansion. All have differing connotations and can't be used interchangeably. Same with floor vs ground. Make sure you understand the connotations (associated meanings) of the word you're choosing before you use it.

Following on from this, Choose specific nouns and dynamic verbs, rather than relying on your adjectives/adverbs to do all the work. Not ' one storey house': bungalow. Not 'walk tiredly': stumble / trudge. Of course, you don't have to do this all the time and I'm not saying adverbs/adjectives are evil! But I think a lot of writers become overly reliant upon them.

Avoid redundant language. Consider the words that are doing the heavy lifting in your sentences. Is there anything in the sentence that doesn't need to be there because you've already implied it? e.g. Sara trudged tiredly into her bedroom and fell onto her bed. In this example, 'trudged' already implies exhaustion. And one would assume her bed is in her bedroom. Likewise 'fall' isn't the most exciting of verbs. So I'd change it to something like this -> Sara trudged through the doorway to collapse onto her bed. (Note here I'm also thinking of the implied meaning of 'onto' rather than 'into', which would suggest her bed is still made up).

Keep in mind who your narrator is and adjust your writing accordingly. Consider their personality, their background and the influence of their culture on the ways in which they'd think / write things. For example, as Peter is a character prone to ramble, I'll sometimes have him do the same in his narration. And because he's a silly little guy, I'll also have his train of thoughts turn in silly ways. His science background means I'll occasionally throw in a science reference too (though it's not my strongest knowledge base these days! So it requires more research lol). In contrast, Jason's love of literature make him more likely to use 'fancy' words like 'eschew', literary references and more elaborate metaphors. But at the same time, his Crime Alley upbringing means I have him use a lot of contractions. And because I see him as a character who is both a dramatic bastard and a highly efficient guy, I will use a lot of one word, or very short sentences. (If you're using multiple narrators, it might pay to write these ideas down!)

Anyways, I could go on, but it's also 20 to 11PM here and I've already written 5600 words today 🥲 My phalanges are tired!

I at least hope you can find something helpful or encouraging from all of this!

[slightly-warmer-hibiscus-tea]

CW: OC talk + Rambling / Blood / Gore / Censored Nudity (character sheet) / Mentions of Drugging

(idk why these warnings are so intense, but I swear it's all just silly OC talk T^T)

I’m kinda sorta working on more (comprehensible) TS OC stuff in between studying right now… I wanna hurry and talk about them but without info dumping (if given the opportunity I will without hesitation 😔…) because in terms of the best stories I have conjured up for OCs in general Naudedel and Noble are surprisingly good and I’m very excited to share how deranged they are together…

Right now it’s just about making Naudy readable and working on extra fun stuff… like monsters!

I’m trying to work out his “monster” form…. The concept is there, but the execution is just not ticking the right boxes for me right now… also, the line art at the end is old and probably will go unused, but thought it was something to add here because like hehe look at my deranged son :)

When it comes to the writing I'm going to split it into two chapters. The first half will be a summary+ of his upbringing, and the second on how he fucked up his arm and why. Just enough info to get a read on what his deal is pretty much. I just need to edit the first chapter and rewrite some parts then it's ready to annoy the world!

I'm trying to think of a good design for his original mother... I'm thinking dark hair and milf (¬‿¬)･ﾟ✧ ... honestly I need to start drawing out the designs for all the other TS OCs I've accumulated over the year (?) here's a fun list-

Hickery (bloodhound OC... dilf oc...I've already been made fun of for his name, but it stuck to me so I'm keeping it!)

Maya (another bloodhound OC)

Cove (Hound's ex-husband)

Cetcher's gf + informant, who still needs a good name...

and that one guy! (doesn't have a name yet... but is important in Hound's part of the story... she bashed some of his guys in the back of head with a hammer... it was a whole thing... Leander got involved... gang war stuff, don't worry about it...)

There are technically more OCs, like that Hightown lady Noble befriended during their first few weeks in town. However, I'm not sure if I'm including her in the final plot meeting. But yeah, anyway I'm rambling so on to Noble news!

For Noble, everything is plotted out in advance surprisingly…character playlist and all... just need to find the words to explain their story other than “parasite with a weird God complex feels guilty” I do have some old memes and art of them though!

Noble curse stuff...

Childhood cult stuff...

Current reality...

Poor person masquerade dress censored for tumblr...

Noble folks!

I actually wrote out a whole little thing for the black dress in a what-if scenario of...

"Oh! ,,,What if there is a masquerade in Hightown and Noble sneaks in to get some information on a certain individual who might know a thing or two about curses, but turns out the whole event if devious and their all eating babies or some fucked up shit,,,, and what if while sneaking around they see Leander and are like 'what's he doing here?' and they lock eyes but he ignores them as he ducks into a closed off area with some important looking people,,, once he comes out he walks past them and they lock eyes again as he leaves,,, Noble chases after him and once they catch up they get to see his cold and detached side right before he hides them from the other guest,,, after they talk for a bit, or more like Leander talking over them and their worries as he slowly wipes their memories while they protest that it's not fair only to wake up the next day back in their room,,, thankfully their curse is good for more then just silly bouts of insanity so they have a hunch on what happened, everyone around them who knew where they went the night before were obviously worried and the general consensus is that they might have been drugged and should go check in with Kuras just in case (wow this is getting long...) but on their way to the clinic they run into Leander and of course discusses their current problem with him ,,, words are exchanged,,, a kabedon may occur,,, as he whispers in their ear,,, all fun till he erases their memories again, or at least tires before receiving a little gift that makes him look at this whole curse thing from a different angle." DEEP BREATH! ...Anyways... yeah.

But it was taking so long to write out that I ended up losing motivation so yeah... like everything else we will pray the motivation comes back so I can finish that... plus who knows, I might make an x reader version of it if I can. (don't hold your breath... I'm extremely slow)

Anyway, I'm gonna to shut up now because I've yapped enough. I'mma make some hibiscus tea (ironic) and head to bed... Night night, if you made it this far, thank you for listening to my craziness <3

[ii-darkfic-confessions]

seeing this blog has made me realize something

I'm like. 70% sure experiment 21 was the first fic I read. and also the reason I even joined wattpad and got into fic writing with my first one being inspired by exp 21. so even if it's not the best I have it to thank for me being a fic writer now yippie!!!

but my first fic was absolutely dogshit and since I was like 10 and scared to use curse words still (I wrote another fic where oj got kidnapped and his only reaction was frick. shoutout to anyone out there that read piggy insanity that got too many views who knows maybe someone out there has seen it)

I don't know if it should be classified as a darkfic though. there's blood and gore and like. body horror I guess you could say bc it's just so ridiculous. I wrote it completely seriously too

it was like 50 CHAPTERS LONG and about golfball like unethically experimenting on people or something??? and there being a group formed to try and stop her

except there was like at least 10 different povs probably more and so many different stupid side things going on like FOLDY GETTING HIT BY A SPEEDING CAR IN IM PRETTY SURE ABANDONED YOYLE CITY SO WHERE THE FUCK DID THE CAR COME FROM? tangent ik I'm sorry but I'm still not over that bit it's so stupid it feels like the part in jackies box when david gets hit by the car I can't take it seriously... I laughed so hard rereading it... but anyways yeah there was little being done about the evil scientist bc I was so focused on. fucking evil leafy chillin in the forest. and for some reason blind pen (I think that might have been golf ball's experimentation???) falling for a cliff and getting minor damage. he fell off a cliff into golf ball's lair actually...

I think the only darkfic like parts of it were when lolipop's legs got snapped in half and also some people got mauled by basically werewolves I forgot to mention that golfball made werewolves too anyway even though that happened lolipop lived and was able to get up and talk within 1 day of recovery ???

but yeah. that was my attempt at a darkfic when I was younger I think. maybe I'll make another one one day now that I write better. I actually would want to rewrite this since I'm rewriting the second fic I made (not counting this one's SEQUEL bc it got cancelled pretty quick and is now lost media) the mentioned piggy insanity but this thing's plot is so bad and confusing that id have to do a LOT of work on it but who knows what the future will bring. goopbye now

-📗 anon

Well that was a lot of things that just happened /quo. Anyways, I'm assuming that Piggy Insanity has something to do with Roblox Piggy, in which case I'd love to give a read sometime. I had a huge Piggy hyperfixation around 2020 or so.

[inkforhumanhands]

WIP Folder Game

RULES: make a new post and share with us the titles of your documents in your wip folder(s) and some detail if you wish, no matter how old, random, or disconcerting. Sort as you see fit (or don't). Ask the person who tagged you a question about the title(s) that most intrigue you from their list, and tag as many people as you'd like to join the game!! Have fun :)

Thank you to @pomegranate-belle for the tag!!

--

I'm usually somewhat discerning with these and keep it to ones I actually have a file for but 2025 is the year I'm dreaming big I guess lmao

I have quite a few for DD (TV):

Epistaxis Anime currently working on the 8th and final chapter of Matt's nosebleed saga. now that Foggy knows his secret, how will things end up between them?

A Gentleman Caller working on chapter 2 of this one where vampire!Matt shows up at Foggy's window one night supposedly looking for romance. i've started the second of two scenes and it's been fun so far! i don't usually do much worldbuilding but i'm having fun with it here.

Out of the Darkness, Into the Limelight another one i'm working on chapter 2 for. Matt and Foggy kiss for a student film and things spiral from there. in chapter 2 we start to see the fallout of the kiss and all the mess that ensues!

Fake Breakup (working title) the premise of this one is that Foggy asks Matt to break up with him in public to gain sympathy and an extension from a professor for one of their assignments. they weren't even dating, so why does it hurt? i'm only a few hundred words into this one and am still thinking about its scope.

Saint Anthony this is a collab oneshot i'm doing with happybeans where Foggy gets kidnapped and Matt prays to St. Anthony to help him find him. it's very cracky but i'm having a lot of fun writing St. Anthony's POV.

i'm also working on a series of unrelated works where i post one for each season of the show:

Foggy Nelson, Super Sleuth! (season 1) this one is very old. i originally posted chapter 1 in 2019 and then fell off the wagon, but i'm currently rewriting the first chapter in preparation for eventually continuing it. the premise is that Foggy tries to figure out why Matt keeps showing up to work bruised and battered, and Matt has to try and thwart his sleuthing before he figures out he's DD.

S2 Karen Thinks Their Breakup Is Romantic Fuckery (working title) (season 2) i'm really excited for this one even though i haven't written a single word of it lmao. basically what the title says. when Matt and Foggy are having their friendship troubles in s2 Karen assumes the problem is due to their having feelings for each other and Foggy doesn't correct her.

To the Dregs Redux (Defenders) i wrote a ficlet ages ago where Foggy and Karen visit a witch to get Matt resurrected after Midland Circle and am planning to rewrite and continue it. probably going to go into doppelganger territory since Matt isn't actually dead

I'll Take All of My Wasted Love and Turn It into Wine in My Cup (season 3) i also haven't technically started this one yet. it's going to be angst about Foggy turning to alcohol when he still thinks Matt is dead.

now for DD (comics)!

The Advocate this is a ficlet i'm writing set in early volume 1 about Foggy trying to convince Karen to give Matt another chance before she goes to San Francisco, only for her to try to get him to realize the only reason he thinks Matt is so great is because he's in love with him himself. might be done soon???

His Wife Has Filled His House With Chintz my beloved wip. set in volume 1 after the Micah Synn stuff, Foggy tells Matt he's leaving Debbie and then they go fuck about it.

i am also doing a series for this, one fic for each comic volume:

Hearsay (volume 1) currently working on chapter 2 of this one. the outline is a bit more involved than my fics usually get so i'm excited about that! this one is about Foggy overhearing a rumor that Matt is dating Daredevil and he doesn't know how to feel about it. also there's a subplot about Becky and Foggy getting involved in a disability rights case which should be fun

Stitching Up the Seams on Every Broken Promise That Your Body Couldn't Keep (volume 2) this is another one that i haven't actually started writing. it takes place while Foggy is in witness protection, and Matt starts having sex dreams about his (presumably) dead buddy much to his horror.

Matchmaker Ben Urich (working title) (volume 3) not started. Ben finds himself temporarily reassigned to the gossip column beat as penalty for being too good of a reporter (you know how these things go). he decides to at least do something useful with his time and use his skills to get Matt and Foggy together using the column.

Cancer Arc Jealousy (working title) (volume 4) this one (unstarted) is probably going to be short. i'm thinking a little interiority from Foggy in San Francisco where he stews a little bit about the fact that Kirsten can go out in public with Matt but he's got to be in hiding.

Purple Children (working title) (volume 5) i have a tiny bit of this one written. Matt and Foggy are dating when the Purple Children wipe everyone's memory of Matt's identity. Foggy thinks he was cheating on Matt with DD the whole time and, horrified, breaks up with Matt but doesn't tell him why. angst and retroactive identity porn shenanigans.

Matt's Intimacy Issues (working title) (volume 6) not started, probably a oneshot. Matt hasn't slept with Foggy only because Foggy is the equivalent of a U-Haul lesbian and he's worried about opening up the door to having to be emotionally vulnerable.

Goldy Threatening Foggy (working title) (volume 7) not started. listen, while the Goldy thing never panned out (or at least not yet) you can't tell me there's not potential there both with him threatening Foggy to try and make Matt a better DD or something and Foggy getting a little jealous because he doesn't know what's up with Goldy but he does know that Matt has gotten increasingly weird about him.

Other fandoms:

Guesswork (The OC) working on chapter 3, or at least i should be but i need to have a hard think about where i actually want to take the fic first. Seth/Ryan where some dark things in Ryan's past weigh heavily on the chances of them working out.

The Good One (The OC) an in-progress oneshot tied to season 1 episode 3 where Ryan reflects on his relationship with his alcoholic mom.

Prequel (working title) (Matthias & Maxime) this in-progress oneshot is supposed to be a prequel about the first time Matt and Max kissed while high, as mentioned in the film. i've been having trouble with it so i have no idea when i'll finally get it out.

Cacoethes (Hannibal) need to continue with chapter 2 on this one, where Hannibal convinces Will he's got a sexual obsession with him.

tagging @amazing-spiderling and @mutuallyprime i don't know if you were tagged yet!

[mannatea]

fic writing! 3 10 21 25?

3. how you feel about your current WIP

Pretty good! I'm just 20k into it, and working on outlining the rest before I keep going, but I'm happy with it and think it will be a fun story. It appeals to basically just me (who else is out there hunting down Kent/Lyn longfics in the year of our lord and savior 2025?) but that might also be part of the fun. Like, there's really no pressure for this to be good.

The only thing about it that I'm NOT happy with is that I don't have a title for it.

But for the OTHER STORY I COMPLETELY OUTLINED (another Kent/Lyn coughcough), I came up with the perfect title. Thems the breaks, I guess.

--

10. what is the longest amount of time you've let a draft rest before you finished it?

Usually if a draft sits more than a couple of weeks I'll never pick it up again, but seeing as how I just read through all my old stuff, I have "Push" from 2010 that I'm looking to edit and finish. Left that bad boy on a cliffhanger. However, since the second chapter was only started, but never finished, I can do better.

If I finish F/Friendship (from 2012, finished but never posted for some reason) then that would probably be the longest I've ever let a draft rest.

But like, I'm pretty sure i just forgot I ever wrote it.

--

21. when did you publish your most recent fic?

December 1, 2024—a rewrite of "All or Nothing."

I'm looking to gear up for a writing-heavy February, though.

--

25. besides writing, what are your other hobbies?

Since I guess RP doesn't count as it's also a type of writing (LOL), I'll say video games, though I've been trying to cut back overall, since they eat up so much time. Occasionally I indulge in reading, crochet, art, and watching movies, too.

[kitkatt0430]

🥸🦄🌈🫘💥💌

🥸 Does anyone in IRL know you write fanfic or original fiction? If not, do you plan on telling anyone this year?

My mom knows that I used to write fanfic but I have let her believe I don't write anymore because of certain trust issues I've got with her that I'd rather not go into. I know she'd be supportive if I started writing original fiction with the intent to publish - that's definitely something I'd tell her about - but I'd rather she kept away from my fanfic. (And I'm not interested in writing original fiction right now, so... *shrug*)

That said, several of my IRL friends are aware I write fanfic. They're not interested in reading it, which I'm fine with, but they're happy to let me ramble about my writing sometimes. Which is always nice.

🦄 Is there a new POV you'd like to try writing?

While I won't rule out first or second person entirely as a possibility for my writing, I'm pretty comfy with third person semi-omniscient in past (and sometimes present) tense. So probably not.

🌈 What research do you plan on doing for your writing?

I want to read more murder mysteries this year to get a better feel for the process of setting up a murder with plenty of suspects and clues so that I can write a murder mystery fic worthy of Jessica Fletcher.

I did just finish yet another rewatch of Murder, She Wrote. And I do want my fic to have the feel of the series, but tv mysteries can get away with a different kind of show and tell than a fic can so I want to make sure I can bridge the gap in a way that feels right. I actually have a Murder, She Wrote tie in novel as an ebook, so I'll definitely be devouring that at some point soon.

🫘 Spill the beans. What's a new project you're doing this year?

Well, there's the Murder, She Wrote fic I want to write but I'm still nebulous on the details so I don't know that will actually be written this year or if I'm just gonna be getting into a good mindset for writing it. lol

That said, I might do a few character studies in that series to get a better idea of Jessica and the other characters ahead of time. Which will help with deciding where I want to set the fic and when. Is it in Cabot Cove and if so, which Sheriff is handling the case? Is this while she's still using a typewriter exclusively or is this computer savvy Jessica? Will Seth be appearing and if so will I be giving him another relative to reconnect with before they're murdered? (Seth had a few relatives die that way on the show, poor guy.)

So even if my big Murder Mystery project doesn't show up this year, there should be some fics leading up to it (though not specifically connected to it).

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

So I have not written the actual scene yet, but this post from the other day is one gonna be one of the scenes in my January Year of the OTP Barrisco fic that I'm hoping to finish up this weekend (fingers crossed). It's a rewrite of the club/bar scene where Cisco laments that nerds don't stand a chance with guys like Eddie around.

Cisco's got a crush on Barry that he's trying (failing) to pretend he does not have. Barry is trying to feel out (badly) if he's got another crush doomed to be unrequited. Caitlin is realizing that Barry really is just as hilariously bad at this as Cisco is. It's all leading up to a big damn kiss (in a different scene) for the First Kiss prompt.

💌 Are you willing to take requests or prompts for writing?

Eventually I will reopen for requests/prompts in general. But I'm still behind on the ones I've already got. And I think I'm going to reject one of the prompts I originally accepted because it involves someone else's OC and it's just giving me too much anxiety about writing it.

If nothing else it's made me realize not writing with someone else's OC is gonna be a prompt request boundary for me.

I do want to play some prompt request games like the kiss prompt game I did last year. That was fun and I consider it separate from being open for prompts/requests in general.

[booksandria]

He suffered more than Jesus Christ - a Vampire Armand review

Spoiler alert!

Hi everyone, I finished the book by the second week of january, and I was at a complete loss of words to describe how much I loved it and how much it impacted me, which is why it took me over a month to finally come here to dissect it. Of course I knew I would love it, since Armand is my favorite character from the Vampire Chronicles, but I wasn't at all ready for the absolute banger of a book his memoir is.

Please note I originally wrote this in portuguese and then translated it to english with DeepL, mainly because I could barely form thoughts in my mother language already and just wouldn't be able to rewrite it in english at all. I revised it, but beware it might still have some weird wording and grammar. Sorry for that!

This sixth book in the Vampire Chronicles was a divine gift from Anne Rice to all of us Armand Lovers. "The Vampire Armand" tells, in much more detail, the brief story we had known in "The Vampire Lestat", now through the mouth of Armand himself, who takes us from his childhood abduction to the point where we left him in "Memnoch the Demon". And I have to say, it's no wonder he's like that.

Armand has always been very intriguing to me, ever since, back in Interview with the Vampire, he was just this mysterious, manipulative figure who fell for Louis' charms and was willing to do whatever it took to have him all to himself. But even so, he wasn't much more than that to me, just another vampire trying to use Louis for his own interests.

It was in Vampire Lestat that I fell completely in love with this character and that he earned the title of my favorite of the Chronicles. The contrast between the first time Louis sees Armand in the theater and the first time Lestat sees Armand in the church left me completely confused, after all, how can the guy Louis repeatedly describes as stunning be as wrecked as Lestat describes? What happened to get from one extreme to the other? And of course we find out the answer in the part dedicated to Armand's story in the second book, and of course that chapter solidified him on my list of favorites.

But it's very different to have read Armand's story through Lestat's eyes and now to be reading it through Armand's. In fact, I think that's the great strength of "The Vampire Armand". In all the previous books, all Armand's appearances were described through someone else's eyes (be it Louis, Daniel or Lestat), and that was largely the reason why he remained so mysterious in my eyes. But it's almost impossible to maintain that kind of distance in this sixth book, when everything is told in such a personal, vulnerable way, so close to Armand. He finally speaks for himself and we can finally understand him more deeply.

Of course, this characteristic of the book makes it a story much more linked to the characters than to a plot per se. In other words, the point of this book isn't the crazy twists and turns or headlong adventures we're used to in previous volumes of the Chronicles. The point is Armand and his life story, it's about his relationships over the years, about all the things he's been forced to go through, about his relationship with religion and about what could have led him to do what he did towards the end of Memnoch. There are certain parts that can be tiresome and also some that give the impression of being the same thing in two different places. In addition, this book is the one with the most sexual content of all its predecessors (yes, including The Tale of the Body Thief and Memnoch, trust me!) and also has a strong religious content (but which, in my opinion, has much more of a place than it did in Memnoch. To be honest, I have very strong opinions about Memnoch, but we'll talk about that another time), all of which may put some readers off. But I have to say, and perhaps I'm kinda biased, that all these elements enriched the book for me and are some of the many reasons why I loved it so much.

If I had to summarize this book in two elements, they would be: Christian guilt and the eternal search for love. Assad Zaman, the actor who plays Armand in the AMC series, said in an interview that Armand was simply desperate for love, to love and be loved, and it's the purest truth. Throughout his story, the search for love was defining, and not just any love, but a deep, obsessed, devotional love. Andrei finds this love in Jesus Christ and the Orthodox Church, Amadeo finds this love with Marius and the other apprentices in Venice, Armand is completely tormented precisely because he can't find this love anywhere for most of his life. He needs something to devote himself to completely, which is sad in itself, but is even worse when I remember that, for most of his 500-year long life, he has been lost in this aspect.

As for the question of Christian guilt, I have to say that it actually goes a little further than this concept can illustrate. Vampire Armand's religiosity is central to the plot because it's one of the main dilemmas in his life and, surprisingly, it's one of the most beautiful things in the book for me. I have very strong opinions about Memnoch and Anne Rice's decision to include religiosity like that in the series, but I simply love its place in Vampire Armand. Maybe that's it, after all: that religion has a place in this story, unlike in the previous book.

Andrei grew up as an Orthodox Christian and, as soon as his artistic gifts were discovered, he was taken to live in the monastery, where the concept of religiosity was intrinsically linked to suffering, self-denial, absolute devotion at the expense of one's own well-being. And then he is kidnapped and not only taken to a land full of sin, but forced to live in the very passage to hell. Of course, all this until he is rescued by Marius, at which point Andrei becomes Amadeo and is introduced to a new religious philosophy. It's so obvious that this is a breaking point, on some level, with previous beliefs that in the rescue scene Amadeo believes that Marius is Jesus Christ himself who has come to save him (which is indicative, in a way, of how in this part of his life the god that Amadeo worships is Marius, his master).

As Amadeo, he discovers a life full of love and pleasure, contrary to everything he experienced in the monastery. And I'm not just talking about sexual pleasure, which was a big part of this change, but all the others. The pleasure of dressing luxuriously and buying whatever you want, of being able to eat and drink to your heart's content, of consuming lots and lots of art freely, of being able to study philosophers from the past and a million other things and, of course, eventually, of blood and death.

It's very interesting to see this dichotomy of philosophies in Armand's life, and how he seems to reconcile the two after his visit to Kiev, when he's already a vampire. And my God, what a shattering chapter Kiev was! Definitely my favorite part of the book, I don't think even the iconic "if I'm an angel, paint me with black wings" (yes, go on Edgylord…) can overcome how much I love Kiev. Knowing what happened to Andrei's family, his reunion with his father, the part where he goes back to the monastery, my God, unparalleled!!! But, in fact, the best part of it all is Amadeo finally being able to make peace with this part of his past and finding some balance between everything he learned at the Monastery and everything he learned from Marius.

Unfortunately, theres only so far happiness can go, because then itcomes misfortune. And misfortune comes in the form of the Children of Darkness who literally set fire to everything, including Marius. And then, once again, Amadeo is kidnapped from his home and forced to live against his own principles. He is tortured, forced to starve, forced to watch all the other apprentices being burned alive, forced to feed on Riccardo who was very dear to him and, finally, forced to accept a life so similar to the one he rejected. This is the birth of Armand.

It's also very interesting how the doctrine of the Children of Darkness mirrors the Orthodox doctrine of the Kiev Monastery: self-denial in servitude to the Lord, an extremely rigid doctrine, literally burying oneself alive and living underground. Just another christianity-based cult, right? And, despite having sworn to himself shortly before that he would never surrender to such a life, Armand "converts". Very sad, but not surprising, considering that throughout the book he has been conflicted between these two sides and now one of them is gone forever. Marius is gone, the apprentices are gone, Venice is gone. Armand has nothing left to cling to, only what is forced upon him.

And so we come to the Bridge of Sighs. It's centuries of being brainwashed by this cult, believing that this life was what he deserved, that this was what it meant to be a vampire, until Lestat finally arrives and ends it all. Of course, the cult ending doesn't mean that Armand has finally found himself because, as we know from all the previous books, the poor guy is still in deep shit (and committing atrocities, of course). There's the theater, then Louis, then Daniel, but nothing really seems to fulfill him (even though he loved Louis and Daniel.By the way, poor Daniel oh my god). It's no wonder that, at the first sight of proof of the existence of God in Memnoch, Armand immediately wants to sacrifice himself, after all, even after all this time, religion is still the only thing he "has".

Anyway, after all this, we finally arrive where we left off in the previous book and understand how Armand survived. Benji and Sybelle are perfect, sweethearts, babydarlings and I've never been so happy to see Armand with his little family (and I've never wanted to beat Marius up as much as I did in the last chapter of this book). The scene in the chapel is wonderful and shows me how much Armand and Lestat love each other even though they hate each other, which is also clear from the many times Armand mentions Lestat in the book, always with affection and admiration. Very frenemies of them <3. Btw, just let me say this: it's really funny that people were shocked when Lestat let Armand get close to him and DRINK his blood, when he hadn't let anyone else. That's the thing, I don't even think it was because it was Armand, I honestly think that if any of them (Marius, Louis, Gabrielle) had tried, Lestat would have let them too, but nobody dared after he destroyed a vampire who tried. Maybe he just didn't want a complete stranger trying to take advantage of him while he was in a coma…? Ouch, but anyway, another Lesmand moment for our happiness.

I'm genuinely curious to know what direction Armand will take now, after an obvious rejection from Jesus Christ himself. If this had happened at any other time in his life, I'd be sure that Armand would have completely lost his mind and all meaning in life, but I doubt that this will happen now that he has his children (in whom he has finally found a healthy love). So, I'm left wondering how he's going to cope with everything and I'm waiting for my answers in the next books, even though I know he'll appear again from time to time.

This is definitely my favorite of the Vampire Chronicles and I'm so glad I finally read it!

[jenanigans1207]

Hi, i was wondering if you have any advice for a first time smut writer? Especially when the writer doesn't even have experience kissing?

I've had an idea for a bonus nsfw chapter for my long term GO wip, and over the months, I have created a detailed account of what will happen with dialogue in my head. But I'm worried that only reading NSFW fics will not be enough to help write it well.

I would ask in a discord server, but may end up gifting it to a friend, and they're in all my servers 😅 Getting advice there might ruin the whole "surprise! I've written a sexy fic!" if I do end up gifting it.

Hi!! Oh man, I don’t know how much help I’m going to be, but I’ll sure try!

I think the biggest thing I can say, and I genuinely can’t stress this enough: you’re going to feel awkward as hell the first time you write smut. To this day I still feel super awkward when I write smut, like I need to look over my shoulder in case someone is looking at my computer screen or this happens to be the moment I’m finally proven right that mind-readers exist and one is reading the smut straight from my brain. So if you feel that way when you write it, don’t panic! It’s not a sign that you aren’t meant to be writing it or that you’re doing a bad job writing it!

My second biggest piece of advice is to remember that this is part of a larger fic. And I hope this makes sense when I say this! It’s not just smut that you’re writing, it’s a natural progression of the dynamic that you’ve been building up for all those chapters. By now you have the character voices and personalities in your head— trust those! Lean into it a little, let them take the lead a bit. If you don’t end up liking how something is written, you can always rewrite it! (Though I will always advocate for simply pasting what you’re getting rid of in another doc instead of outright deleting it just to be safe!)

Third: remember that they’re people. Whether it’s an au where they’re human or they’re still celestial beings, the boys are disastrous idiots at the best of times (that’s why we love them). So don’t be afraid to let it be awkward or uncoordinated sometimes. If you feel like one of them doesn’t know what they’re doing, okay! A lot of us don’t!! And depending on the scenario you’ve put them in, maybe one of them hasn’t ever kissed before either, which allows you to lean into it a little and hopefully make it more comfortable! The point is, nothing is ever perfect. It’s messy, it’s full of emotions, and it’s usually clumsy and heartfelt and it’s okay to write it that way!

If you don’t have a deadline or need to post/send to your friend right away, I recommend taking a few days away from it and reading it again. It’s hard to look at anything you write objectively when you’ve been so close to it for so long. Taking a step away and coming back gives you a better chance of seeing the story the way your readers will— and I guarantee you that you’ll think it’s even better than you remember it being. Even if you thought it was the best thing you ever wrote, you’ll love it more when you are able to look at it a little more objectively! If you can’t take the time away, totally fair. Find someone you trust, someone who knows the rest of your fic so they have the whole story, and ask them to read it.

If you get stuck, and you have someone you trust enough, you can do what I do with my writing friends which is playing Questions! You talk a little about where you’re stuck at in the plot and they just ask you any question that comes to mind. Not always huge, plot-relevant questions, but questions about how a character feels, or how an outside character would respond, etc. and in working out the answers to those questions, I think you’ll find the bits of plot that you’re looking for! It’s always been a huge help to me, and it’s tons of fun!

Oh, and lastly— I think it’s absolutely phenomenal that you wrote an outline of everything! I’ve never been great at plotting or outlines so I’m jealous. But remember not to hold yourself too rigidly to the outline. If you forget something or veer off of where you intended to go for a bit but you like the outcome, don’t beat yourself up over it! Like I said before, you can always rewrite something you don’t like.

So I guess my biggest piece of advice is don’t take it too seriously and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. It’s still writing and it’s a natural progression of a story you’ve already spent all this time telling. You know how the story goes, you know how the characters act, you got this!!!

I don’t know if this ended up being helpful at all, but I hope it is! It’s lovely that you’re doing this for your friend and I’m sure they’re going to adore it!!!

[recurring-polynya]

Writing/Art Update 3.5.2024

So, Polynya, did you finish the fanfic? Well...sort of? No. No, I guess the answer is actually no.

Last week, I said I had two and a half scenes left, one of which was the epilogue, and one scene I wanted to rewrite. I wrote the scene and a half that were not the epilogue, and then I tried to do that scene re-write. It came out better than it was, but I still didn't love it. I figured I would just go ahead and write the epilogue and then maybe come back and try again. 3/4 of the epilogue went great, and then I just couldn't manage to end it, and got stuck for three days. I went back and tried to re-write that scene I didn't like *again*, and barely got into before realizing that the way I was hoping to make it better did not, in fact. Yesterday, after Much Struggle, I managed to pull together an end to epilogue with is...okay...but I don't love it. So the current state of things is: 107,408 words, and it is strictly speaking, A Whole-ass Fanfic, but with two half-scenes that I hate.

It's really frustrating, because I had a bunch of productive weeks in a row, and my brain has just utterly collapsed on me in the eleventh hour. I've been trying so hard to push it over the finish line, but it's one of those things where I can't just brute force it, I need to somehow have a good idea. I am also so so tired this week. I know, logically, that probably I just need to relax and rest up for a few days and this will be easy to fix when I am feeling better, but it's hard to relax when I have this stupid almost-but-not-quite-done fanfic hanging over my head.

Here are some other stupid facts:

The scenes in question are important and I want them to be good, but they aren't exactly load-bearing, in the sense that nothing else depends on them

I don't even *need* the epilogue, and in fact, after I realized that I end all my Heart is a Muscle fics with people drinking (not on purpose, I'm just unoriginal), it made me want to drop the whole thing on principle (except that I also don't because it's sort of a thematic lead-in to the next story in the series and also Ukitake is there)

The two problem scenes are way at the end of the fanfic. When I do start posting this thing, I plan to post one chapter per week like I often do, meaning that I have literal months to fix these

Chapter 1 is beta'd and ready to go and literally nothing is stopping me from posting it this very second

BUT I don't want to post Chapter 1 until my beta has seen the whole fic because what if she notices something in Chapter 12 that needs to be fixed back in Chapter 1

AND literally nothing is stopping me from just sending my beta the last few chapters with a little note on the scenes I'm not happy with. It's highly possible she might have some ideas! Or just be like "you are insane these are fine"!

EXCEPT I don't want her to see my bad writing that I am embarrassed about

And so, here we are. I am probably going to give it another day or two, and if I can't manage to fix those two scenes, I'll just suck it up and send the rest to her.

I guess I also should re-do the banner, except I don't feel like re-doing the banner. It's....okay. I don't know. I just kind of slapped it together based on a thing we were doing at Art Club. Maybe I don't even want a banner.

Speaking of Art Club, it's March now, which meant there was a new theme at Art Club (nature) and I decided to try to get back into my daily drawing. I think this is possibly what killed my momentum on my fanfic. I am just literally only capable of having one priority at a time, even if it's a little tiny one, otherwise my brain just plays tug of war with my priorities and it's hard to manage either of them.

Anyway, I've been in kinda rough shape for the last few days, but I am sure it will pass. It's got some good bits, but I think I just never really managed to fall in love with this one, and I'm really worried about it getting a cooler reception than I'm used to, since the fandom seems to have quieted down significantly since the last time I posted one of these. On the other hand, I've worked too hard on this to not post it. Also, it's got some stuff in it that had to happen for the series to progress. And maybe other people will like it! Who knows! Not me!!

I had hoped to be able to start posting it this week, but that's not looking likely at this point, so I guess you can have another preview.

--- from Ch 3

"You really didn't have to go to all this trouble," Rukia pointed out, as she methodically piled her bowl with a heaping serving of everything on offer.

Renji grabbed a big pinch of the shirasu before passing it over to her. "It's fine. I'm not sure when I'll be up for cooking again, so I'm trying to clean out my fridge."

"Oh, so I'm helping?"

Renji grinned. "Sure."

"I love helping! If you need me to take this pickled ginger with me, I could take it off your hands."

"I think the pickles will probably keep for a bit."

"Hmmph," Rukia replied skeptically, and scooped some more into her bowl.

It was always difficult not to just sit and watch Rukia eat, in part because she truly did have an extraordinary talent for shoveling food into her mouth, but mostly because it reminded Renji of why they had come to the Seireitei in the first place, of how lucky he was these days. You have to go to work, too, this morning, he reminded himself, and dug in.

"You know, speaking of helping…" Rukia said a few minutes later, once she'd managed to eat enough to shave the edge of her morning ravenousness. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

The pleasant feelings in Renji's chest abruptly turned cold and gloppy. He frowned, and raised one eyebrow skeptically. “Yeah?”

Rukia looked up at him with her big, stupidly blue eyes. “Do you remember when we talked about how important it was for you to have a comfortable and peaceful recovery from your surgery?”

“I do. I distinctly remember asking you to drop it and not bring it up, again, actually.”

“Right, well, I never actually agreed to that. I think that you should come stay at my house.”

Renji gave her an incredulous look. “Your house? Kuchiki Manor, you mean? Your house that is actually my captain’s house?”

“It’s very nice there, as you know. The food really is very good and we have a million servants with nothing better to do--”

“I am sure they have better things to do, Rukia.”

“--and you can sit in a sunny spot in the garden and I’ll read you books and it will be so much nicer than staying in the Coordinated Relief Station!”

Renji heaved a huge, exasperated sigh. “It’s a nice idea, Rukia, but think about the look on Captain’s face if you even--”

“He said it was okay.”

Renji felt all the blood run out of his face, possibly out of his body entirely. “You asked him?”

“I know you’re only getting it done because he ordered you to. He obviously wants you to do your best to heal up well. He cares about you, too, you know, in his own way.” 

Renji stiffened, his fingers tightening on his chopsticks. “You probably told him the whole story, then? How I broke my arm in the first place?” His voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere far away.

“Not the whole thing!" Rukia shook her head vehemently. "He knows you broke it saving me, that's the only important part.”

Renji drew in a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. All he could focus on was the sound of his own blood pounding in his ears. “Why do you always have to do this?” he finally managed through gritted teeth. “I asked you to just leave it, but you never can.”

Rukia shoved out her lower lip. “Maybe if you took care of yourself half as well as you take care of everyone else, I would!” she protested. “Just let me spoil you for a few days, would it be so terrible?”

“Yes.”

[batbirdies]

Hi! Love your stories but I was wondering what is your writing process? I want to start writing Batfam but it's so intimidating with making creators like you, I just feel like I'll never measure up! What do you do for inspo? Do you plan out every chapter? How long does it take you to write? Do you already know how the stories will end?? Sorry if this is to invasive!

Aw thank you so much that’s very flattering!!

I would try not worry about “measuring up” to anyone as much as that’s easier said than done 😅. Just remember there will always be readers who like your work even if you think it could be better.

As far as your questions no worries! I’m happy to answer questions like this :)

I get inspo from lots of things! Mainly reading really good fic inspires me to write. As far as ideas they come from everywhere! Sparked by other fic often where I think “this is a cool idea but what if this part was different?”

Or sometimes by reading fic I didn’t love lol because I like the idea but want to execute it in a way I prefer.

Otherwise I think discussing ideas and head canons with others is one of the best ways to flesh out and get new ideas. Discord is the way to go. (As far as finding discord servers to join, this can be hard, but if you ask around there are usually some open to inviting new people)

Do I plan out every chapter? I’m inclined to say yes. Usually I write a first draft of the entire fic, then I start a rewrite and post each chapter as I finish the second draft of it. This usually leads to big changes and deviations from the original draft as I go, so I don’t always stick to the plan and often have to go back to the drawing board but yes, I do have a plan.

For me trying to write a publishable draft without a rough draft feels like trying to draw perfect line art without a sketch. It’s just doesn’t work for me.

How long does it take me to write? Honestly impossible to answer 😂 it varies drastically. I wrote CCAKT in about year including first and second draft, the second draft reaching 250k words. I also wrote Live While Breathe and I’ll Come Out Right on the Other Side that same year. Which amounts to roughly 340k words of second draft in one year. The 23k of LWIB was done in about 3 days. So I wrote a LOT that year and fast.

This has since not been the case lol. Took me about a year and half to finish the 31k of overcoming our antecedents. Then theres Penny drops.

I’ve been working on it for like 2 and a half years at this point and I’ve been incredibly slow trying to get the next few chapters out because I keep being unhappy with them. And also because I’ve had some health issues and it’s been hard to have the energy to work on it. I have taken significantly long breaks from writing all together at different times because of fatigue and burnout. But I try to stick with things and eventually finish long projects.

Do I already know how a story will end? Again, yes and no lol. I always have a plan of how it will end from the beginning, but with long fics i inevitably hate my original plan by the time i get there and have to totally rework what i previously had in mind. (This is really the reason i do a first and second draft, my rewrite is always SO much better in my mind than my original ideas)

Short fics are less that way and I usually stick with the plan.

Having said all of that I definitely want to emphasize that everyone is going to have a different process that works for them! Best thing to do is try different methods. I know I’m rare for fully drafting stuff and rewriting it so that might not work for you, but I know @cdelphiki does the same thing. She’s the only other fic writer I know that does it tho lol.

@coyote-nebula plots more with timelines and lists and then writes her scenes out of order but in perfectly publishable prose from the beginning, then does heavy editing run throughs and keeps notes on points to remember when she’s continuing long fics. (I am not nearly so organized)

And of course there’s many other methods! Best thing to do is jump in and try some stuff!

[melting-houses-of-gold]

For your ask game! For "Can we live with just a taste?" Or a current wip of yours!

3, 16, 24 and 26!

Ooh! I’ll do all of these for could we live with just a taste! List of questions is here :)

3) Did the idea change at all by the time the fic was complete?

Very little in this fic changed from my original idea! I had crippling insomnia while I was pregnant and frantically wrote what became chapters 3 and 4 between 2-6 am haha. I knew how the fic was going to end on day 1, and then I backfilled and seeded stuff in chapters 1 and 2 from there!

16) Talk about the fic’s biggest moment & how you came up with it

For me, the biggest moment is the conversation they have in chapter 4 where you finally get something of Ahsoka's thoughts and (hopefully) things begin to fall into place and Rex is finally able to understand some of her actions before and during the fic. This was actually the thing that I wrote and rewrote a bunch of times because pregnant me REALLY leaned into the misunderstanding trope and not-pregnant me was stuck with trying to navigate the fic out of it. I wish I could say I came up with it in a flash of brilliance but really it was just a lot of "they would not fucking say that" and deleting and rewriting until I was semi-happy with it lol.

24) How did you celebrate finishing?

I took a nap! 😂

26) Share your favorite detail

My favorite detail is the first kiss, where Ahsoka takes a sip of her drink, Rex watches a drop fall down her neck, and he's compelled to wipe it away before they kiss.

We know as the readers that probably they talked about the fact that they might have to kiss, that there were probably parameters set in place to not make anyone uncomfortable, etc. And I think in that moment, he's struggling with keeping his cover identity at the forefront because this IS the woman he has serious feelings for, sitting on his lap, he's overthinking everything, and he knows he's just done something that, while mission-appropriate, is a touch that is probably not in the parameters of what they discussed. And HE doesn't know that she knows that he has feelings for her, and that she has feelings for him, and so this is her opportunity to really show him. But of course, in this fic he second guesses EVERYTHING so he's like WOW that was so believable she's really helping us sell this.

And then from there, the rest of their interactions are set by the tone of that first kiss and then they have to kind of keep all their public romantic interactions at that level, and continue simmering.

[a-force-dyad-in-space]

A Fanfic Update

Hey guys, I thought I should give you an update about what's going on Ongoing-WIPs-wise just in case you've had some worries.

The short of it is that the writing juices haven't flowed well for a while now and I'm trying to get them back but it is a struggle. I've worked a bit on this fic or other but haven't made significant progress in a few months. I absolutely hope that will change soon but I unfortunately can't force it. It doesn't help that I'm going through some stuff IRL right now that I have to take care of (I am unfortunately an adult who has to do adulting and pay bills and shit 🥲). I try not to be too stressed out about it, but the more time passes the more the anxiety sets in. Wish me luck. 💪🏻

Anyway, here's a fic-by-fic overview, split up by fandom.

THE UNTAMED

The Angsty SongXue Fic — I'll be honest, I've written a little bit since I last updated you guys but I still haven't finished the buffer chapter (at this point I'm thinking about posting chapter 51 even though 52 isn't done yet), so nothing really new here. I really want to get back into a writing flow but so far it hasn't really worked. I am still working on it, though, so don't worry, I'm not going to drop it.

The It Follows AU — I'm ashamed to say I didn't even realize I posted that fic almost two years ago and I still haven't written the second half. I'm so sorry it's taking so long! I definitely still want to finish it! I might rewatch the It Follows movie before I do that, though.

The Observer Series — Oh yeah, remember that smutfic series I started a few years ago of which I've only posted part 1 so far? Yeah, I still need to work on that. I did write chapter 1 of part 2 a while ago, so it's not like it's forgotten, I just need to get my ass up and write the rest of part 2 before I can post it. 🙈

The Color Rush AU — Okay, technically I haven't posted that one yet but I did share a snippet along with a gifset a few years ago, so you guys know it exists. I haven't worked on it in a long time, though, and I don't know yet when I will find the spoons to continue writing it but I'm still intrigued by the premise and want to give it a go. Thank you for your patience!

The Somewhat Sweet, Somewhat Angsty XuanXian Fic — Again, haven't posted that one yet but I've been posting about it, so you guys know it exists. Nothing new on this front. I did want to rewrite the whole thing because I wasn't really happy with the way I wrote it thus far, so I'll probably go back to it at some point and do that, I just don't know when yet.

WORD OF HONOR

The Xie'er Deserves the World Fic — Listen, guys, I love this fic so much, I just haven't worked on it in a while. I'll probably re-read what I've written so far and go on from there, I've just been struggling with the latest chapter ever since I started writing it years ago. It's not dropped, though, I will get back to it! Pinky swear!

SAILOR MOON

I've mentioned here and there that I'm working on part 1 of an epic that is based on a doujinshi I started when I was 13 or 14. Unlike my other WIPs, this one really is 100% self-indulgent to the point where I don't even care whether people will read/like it once I post it when it's completely done. I'll just put it out there to make my teenage self happy because this story has been simmering in my head for over 20 years, and so that my IRL friends can read it if they want to. So, this one will be a long way out, but it exists. I'm only really mentioning it because I've mentioned it a couple of times before and because it's the fic that's been on my mind the most lately.

STAR WARS

You didn't think I forgot about TROBS, did you????? I did work on several beginnings of a draft during NaNoWriMo last year and I'm getting more and more of a clear picture of how I want it to go. For those unfamiliar, TROBS (or The Rise of Ben Skywalker, though I already changed the name of the fic again) is my attempt at an Episode IX fix-it fic that essentially replaces TROS. This one has been simmering in my head since early 2020 and I really want to get it out of there and onto the page for catharsis. I've even held off on reading any other TROS fix-its because of it, even though I've heard there are some really amazing ones out there (and I can't wait to read them once I've gotten my own out of my damn head). I really need to finally finish that beast. Wish me luck. 🥲

UNPOSTED WIPs

I still have so many notes for other fics (mostly for The Untamed) that I want to write at some point. Will I be able to get them all on the page? I honestly don't know, but I'll see where they take.

Anyway, that's all!

[sokokoko]

I have some old writing from 6 years ago that I want to keep but don't want it to take up space on my phone. So here!

I'm really laughing about how far I've come since then. My eyes are automatically correcting all the mistakes and cringe I see, but I won't actually correct them, for your viewing pleasure ♥︎

I really want to rewrite this one day. Back when I wrote it, I didn't have the skill or dedication to continue on or actually get to all the sweet, fun things I wanted to incorporate.

Pyre & Frost

Chapter 1: Some Say The World Will End In Fire, Some Say In Ice. Pt 1

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

"Hold your dAmN horses Caleb! This forest is private property."

This angry sentence was directed to none other than a black haired teen with dark chocolate eyes.

He was a tall, lanky fellow with tan-coloured skin.

The one delivering the scolding was a teen with strawberry blonde hair, with little strands of light blonde hair to be seen in certain places.

He had pale skin and was about 5'7, while his companion was 6'1.

He too had brown eyes, albeit lighter.

"C'mon Kai, who gave them the right to make it a 'nature reserve'? We've been coming here years before they did! We basically live here, hell, we may as well own it!"

The boy, Kai, frowned sighing. There was just no winning with Caleb around.

"Fine, but we have to go deep, to the unprotected parts. I don't want to get arrested because you want to 's'plore'."

Kai walked ahead past his scoffing friend.

"Damn it Kai. I haven't said s'plore in years! I don't even talk like that anymore..."

But alas, Kai wasn't even listening. Caleb may as well have mumbled that last sentence.

Caleb sulked quietly, as he jogged to catch up with his friend.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

As much as the two didn't want to get arrested for trespassing, maybe they shouldn't have gone so far.

They had never gone this far into the forest before.

Why would they need to?

As far as they were concerned, before, it was THEIR forest. Nobody bothered them there.

If anyone DID enter the forest, it's not like they noticed.

But now THEIR sanctuary was crowded with over-enthusiastic tourists and uncaring chav teens on school tours.

It wasn't fair that they had to go to the dangerous part of the forest, where hideous, heinous roars and growls were heard every few seconds.

This area proved to be more dark and swampy, with rough terrain.

Those stupid people probably took one look at this part of the forest thinking; 'And get my Gucci heels dirty? Heck naw.'

The foliage in the area was also untamed and wild, the tallest trees greedily soaking in sunlight.

Fallen trees were engulfed in moss and mushrooms. The place was, overall, quite gloomy.

Thought I was getting off topic? No, but store this information for later.

Back to those growls, what animal were those? They sounded so in sync, and disgustingly unnatural.

"Kai, which way's back?" Caleb said nervously.

In all the years he had known him, Caleb was the absolute picture of confidence. Nervousness just didn't suit him.

That was the first sign something was wrong.

The second was when all the markings they put on the trees, and stones they left as a trail, completely disappeared.

As in, like, before their very eyes.

One second they're there, looking at the markings and trail ready to follow it back, the next POOF!

"What the hap is fuckening!?" Kai shouted, his poor brain too confuzzled to even English properly.

"I'm not going crazy, right bud? You saw that too right!?" Caleb looked about ready to faint.

So remember those growls that I told you were really important?

Well, they seemed to be getting closer.

And louder.

"So, I'm thinking we should run..."

"But we can't go back the way we came! Those things are probably carnivores..."

Kai, as he said those words, looked close to having a panic attack.

"Ok fine. We might end up somewhere else but as long as we get out of this forest we're fine."

Caleb said trying to compose himself and calm his friend's worries.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

'What went wrong?'

I s'pose you're wondering whose thoughts those are?

Well, those were the thoughts of our two main protagonists.

I also suppose YOU'RE wondering what went wrong?

Well to say it plainly;

Caleb stared unblinkingly into the beast's eyes. Could they even be called eyes?

The beast itself was a raging inferno, a mess of blaze that radiated smoke and ash.

'A beast of pyre.'

That was what Caleb thought as the beast of fire sunk it's fangs into his shoulder.

Kai was having a similar predicament, yet very different.

His beast looked icy, watery and wispy at the same time.

Yet, he could tell it was a beast of ice from how the temperature seemed to drop.

'A beast of frost.'

That was his thoughts as the icy beast sunk cold, icicle-like fangs into his neck.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

(A/N: I hope my narrating wasn't TOO ramble-y.)

Chapter 1.5: Some Say The World Will End In Fire, Some Say In Ice. Pt 2

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Warning: Blood n' stuff. Language?

(A/N: Slightly graphic? Like, one scene.)

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

A loud, gunshot-like noise that rang through the air served as distraction enough.

The noise was most likely poachers in the more docile part of the forest.

The boys ran, ran faster than they ever did before.

Their attackers were on hot pursuit, ready to spill blood. Not like they hadn't already.

Caleb's shoulder was bleeding so hard the crimson colour could be seen through his black shirt.

Kai, however was fairing much better. He'd be dead if he wasn't.

The frost-beast managed to miss any important veins or pressure points.

He was still bleeding heavily as the beast had sunk it's claws into his arms to pin him down properly.

He was glad he wore a t-shirt, small victories.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Tired, tired, they were oh so tired.

To top it all off, it was raining.

The blood by now had clotted, crusty patches adorning their injuries.

Kai let out a grunt of acknowledgement as he and Caleb stumbled into a house.

A mansion more like.

It had that cliché 'haunted mansion' vibe going for it, creeky floorboards and all.

Shelter's shelter. Am I right?

But Caleb was being unusually quiet.

"Caleb, before you say it, no, this isn't your fault. Well, not entirely. I was the one who said we should go deeper into the forest and if you say anything except it's both our faults I will get you un-emancipated. Somehow."

Caleb let out a hearty laugh, it was the most joyful he'd been in hours.

"We're both shitheads."

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

After a couple hours of rest, the two shitheads were prepared to leave. It had even stopped raining, just for them!

Well they were PREPARED to leave, until they heard two voices chatting amongst themselves.

"Brother, the legend is coming true. The elements of Pyre and Frost are entering their true bloodlines once again."

Did I forget to mention that the 'voices' were a set of creepy ghost twins like in the movies?

Darn it. I did, didn't I ?

USUALLY, something like that warrants a scream but Caleb and Kai knew now wasn't the time.

"Yes Sister. For the first time in centuries, I heard the calls of the two unholy beasts. Their union was most beautiful."

The 'sister' giggled creepily as she grinned an inhuman grin.

"Wonderful! Oh, what was that one poem? The one by a man of the name Robert Frost, Brother?"

"Fire and ice, Sister. It reminds you of the legend, does it not?"

"The first time they appear, they shall bring ruin to entire civilisations. They shall brand the bloodline of those they deem worthy."

"The worthy ones will bring upon either destruction or a new era. Should the worthy Pyre choose the path of destruction he will be destroyed by his own selfish desires."

"Should the worthy one of Frost choose the path of destruction he will be destroyed by his own loathe-ful hatred. Only together, as Pyre & Frost can they bring about a new era."

"All that's left now is to see if after their encounter with the beast of Pyre and beast of Frost, will they bring about an era of peace or tyranny?"

Kai and Caleb didn't even notice when the two started to speak in unison.

They had encountered a beast of Pyre and one of Frost.

Hadn't they?

They ran from the building, unknowingly being guided back home by the two phantoms.

"They seem to be close friends. Whatever their newfound strengths are used for, destruction or creation, they'll bring it about together, Sister."

"Most curious, Brother. Most curious indeed."

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

(A/N: And so starts our story.)