#i gotta get through some of my current wips first though :(

[tiredsmashbros]

SMG34: LIPBITE COMIC WIP UPDATE

oh boy... i know a bunch of folks are hyped for this comic... and boy oh boy are ya'll's prayers going to be heard... kind of... butt for the celebration milestone, and granted majority are from this comic, i thought it was best to give EVERYTHING that i have currently.

starting off STRONG with what you freaks most want: the completed pages. andddd yep that's it that all that i have done LMAO. i've been fixated on my own smg4 oc: tsb, and during the end of my summer was unfortunately fucked over by some personal issues that fortunately got resolved last minute good grief the anxiety prevented me from drawing the gays sigh... aNYWAYS LINEART WIPS!!!!

here are linearts i have completed / in the progress of!! want to aim like i did in the past by finishing up lineart first, and then speed through with color + minor rendering. the reason i have a few colored is to test out what it would look polished and my god... i have improved A LOT. THESE GAY PEOPLE GIVE POWER I AM NOT KIDDING BELIEVE ME IM NOT CRAY- anyways onto wip pages!

jumpscare: tsb stickman sketches. oh yeah. this is how i sketch and i blame sensei eiichiro oda /j. and in case anyone is unable to understand it {i don't blame u LMAO}, smg4 wakes up from the dream and is startled to see mario by his bed. they have a short convo before mario leaves, and we get a job to smg4 in the bathroom trying to put up a brave face. until the moment he leaves he's stunned due to seeing smg3 at his front door. will i elaborate more on specifics or unwritten dialogue? NOPE! gotta keep secrets to make it even more enjoyable at the end!!

currently at 13 sketched pages total, but this is probably gonna be reaching towards 20-ish pages, surpassing part two, but it will depend on how i come up with how to end it. additionally to confirm there will be a PART FOUR / chapter 3, to end this story. my goal is to have it done before i finish my senior year, or at least during the summer after i graduate bc good lord who knows whats gonna happen.

and lastly, before i end this crazy update, SCRAPPED PAGESSS!!!!!

CONTENT WARNING : NSFW SKETCHES !!!! PLEASE LOOK AWAY IF YOU ARE A MINOR OR DON'T LIKE THIS TYPE OF STUFF!!!

oh boy... dont draw comics while sleep-deprived at 6am... idek what i was even aiming with this ngl other than just for fun, but i scrapped it due to not being what i had in mind for the story. if it doesn't serve a purpose or narrative, its bye bye YEAH BYE BYE THIS IS THE CLOSEST NSFW UR GONNA GET FROM ME HAHAHAHAHA- i say that despite writing a nsfw jojo wattpad smh im only confident doing it in words good lord. btw not watermarking these bc i gen don't care since they're legit scrapped {left top part was kept and completed} so idk what to do with these. im just throwing it and walkin away

now to end with this update, i can hear your question, "when will this be done?" and to answer that question: i'm not entirely sure due to my heavy focus on my smg4 oc: tsb, but my best chance is postponing my oc lore a bit and complete this before november UOIYGJDSIUHJKDWSXYUGHJKCS but we shall have too see...

if you want to join the ping list comment on this post LMAO [click]

ignore below if you're not from the tsb birthday partydddjdhdhdjd

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thurs: smg34 is canon in the tsb universe / au. though most of their encounters are platonic or best-friendy-way, they eventually express their feelings to one another and start dating 3/4’s way of the tsb storyline arc. tsb is a supporter of his friend's relationship and admires and takes inspiration from their relationship heavily to input his future love life. yearning to be in a similar position... to learn what is to really love someone... or what it's truly like to be loved...

[fractualized]

Alright. Let's break down this "oh" of an ending. NEGATIVE NANCY, COMING THROUGH

Spoilers, ho!

Ending a story is hard, if they're long or short. Whether you wrap up key threads or leave them open, you want some kind of takeaway that puts a period on things. Even in comics, where we know these characters will go on and on, ideally a story will end in a way that just... fits. Even amateur fic writers have loads of WIPs just sitting there because exactly how to end this damn thing eludes them.

I don't know if Rosenberg had an ending in mind when he started The Man Who Stopped Laughing. I don't know if he decided he'd figure it out by the end of it's year-long run. I don't know if DC Editorial lets people do that; it sounds insane, but if you've been paying attention to their current level of editorial "oversight," which I imagine is supposed to make concurrent titles mesh together reasonably well, I wouldn't be shocked if they let people wing it. Or, more likely, perhaps DC Editorial swooped in and made Rosenberg change the ending he had planned and that's why the result falls flat.

In any case, after 11 issues of enjoying myself, I'm left feeling deflated.

But let's start where #12 does, with the Joker who's been told he's John Keyser, a toxin'd henchmen that the real Joker made into a doppelganger for funsies. He approaches a hotdog vendor.

I'm stuck on "Hello. I've been looking for you"?? I didn't catch that on my first read. Joker has a favorite hotdog vendor? lol

Shut up, Waffles!! All we have is your word for it!!

In any case, hey, Keyser Joker has already been Jokering this long, so yeah, why not keep going? And why not with help from poor woobie Jason, fresh from nearly getting himself killed in Gotham War?

Bruce did not fix Jason at the end of Gotham War, so his adrenaline is still triggering fear in his brain. But Keyser Joker has a solution for that!

It's a tiny dose of Joker toxin to take the edge off of Bruce's programming. Joker makes a point of saying that the effects are only temporary, though. (And like, I assume this is just the quick-fix solution Rosenberg came up with to pull off his own ending when told Bruce's plans for Jason over in the other titles.) Jason is skeptical of this "help," naturally, but Keyser Joker brings up their matching interest: getting rid of the other Joker.

Jason, why you gotta ruin Albert's good time? 🙄

Cut to Red Hood dragging a clown henchman through the streets of Gotham.

But "his" face being blacked out and some of the dialogue clue the reader in: things aren't what they seem.

DERAIL TIME: what is up with this batmobile?

Like from some other angles, it looks sportier, but in most of the panels it looks like an old Buick? lol ANYWAY.

With the flaily way this person jumps off the bike and runs, I was sure that this was Keyser Joker and we might see Batman interact with him. Alas.

It's Ravager, who survived last issue's explosion. She's helping Jason 1) distract Batman and 2) get Albert out of harm's way, far from Keyser Joker's plan.

Naturally Keyser Joker is planning something more destructive than he's led Jason to believe. Also like…

The idea that Keyser Joker really is this John guy, not the real deal, is still not sitting fucking right with me. Seeing him here in another costume, with a goofy death train with mismatched eyes just like his, it feels like a signal that he actually is Joker and Waffles is either lying or mistaken somehow. Like compared to the other Joker, who we haven't seen in a costume? Who left Gotham for weird reasons? I really thought there was going to be a reverse reveal.

And since it doesn't come, I guess it's a good time to mention that! There is no reverse reveal of who the real Joker is. Things get a little muddy later, but…. hrm. HRM.

That said, the other Joker does something pretty dang Jokery: he shows up in a dirigible with his face on it.

Killer Moth and a bunch of clown goons (that aren't supposed to be available because of Gotham War but WHATEVER) attach the dirigible to the train and it's pretty chaotic!

I love when villains are like, "Look I may kill people, but an endangered gorilla?! Get outta here!" 😂

Jason also arrives in style.

I guess he was observing Ravager's distraction?? Which feels like it defeats part of the purpose of having her do the distraction. But then he couldn't have this cool entrance in which he bludgeons people with a motorcycle. Trade offs!

Meanwhile, Real Joker makes it to the front of the train to confront Keyser Joker. One of Real's goons offers to shoot Keyser, but Real Joker wants to make this personal and kills the poor hench so he can do it himself.

Jason coming in like YEEEEEAAAAHHHHH 😎

Then he gets the bad news.

Keyser is as casually suicidal as your average Joker! Also "Real" Joker never acknowledges Red Hood's identity, afaik. It's always Keyser Joker. Details like this got me thinking that reverse reveal was coming, AND YET.

That aside, next comes a fun comedy beat.

Real Joker going right for the hair!

Jason isn't going to let this be the end of it, of course, and once again Killer Moth must suffer at his hands.

Jason shoots so many clowns. Just never the one he wants. 😞

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaait wait wait. You're telling me that Bruce knew about the imminent TWO JOKERS situation. But he decided to prioritize a report of Red Hood dragging a clown through the streets. When in the same breath he's saying there are other people coming to the scene with him, so he obviously could've sent someone else? On the same day Batman #139 is like "oooh Bruce is totally onto Joker now"? This is what you're telling me?? Augh.

Well, we can't rely on Batman right now, clearly, so it's up to Jason.

Meanwhile, Keyser Joker has told the other one that he actually does have a secret way off the runaway train safely. After they fight some more, the tune starts to change.

Alright so, this "deal," which would sort of start them back at square one, doesn't bother me because obviously it's on shaky-ass ground and one of them is definitely killing the other before this issue is over. What does bug me is the "franchising" line, for two reasons:

1) Is this supposed to imply that Real Joker is the one who was behind Joker Incorporated in the Batman Incorporated issues, not a third one?

2) I was just SO SURE it was another indication we were getting a reverse reveal. Joker absolutely does not love the franchising idea. That's kind of been the point of this whole series. The genuine Joker in Keyser Joker's hallucination/memory said that having two Jokers around is stupid. HRRRRMMM.

Anyhow, they leave the train together, though the escape plan is literally just jumping off, which has more issues than they bargained for.

So do you think, assuming the Gotham War writers actually communicated at least a little, that Zdarsky asked Rosenberg what he needed Jason for at the end of TMWSL, and Rosenberg was like, "oh I need him to heroically crash a toxic blimp and almost die?" And then Zdarsky was like, "er, I need him to heroically fly a plane into a magic meteor and almost die?" And then they just shrugged and closed the Zoom?

But yeah, the blimp crashes, and I'm sort of confused because I thought that earlier Bruce was saying that even if the toxin gets into the water, it'll still make it's way to the city. So for one thing, it's still exploding in the air and it's still gonna drift. And the parts that dissolve in water are still gonna drift. There's a part to the equation missing here.

But these two are just thrilled at the excitement.

Until the sudden yet inevitable betrayal.

BUT WHO WAS JOKE

Shortly after this, Ravager shows up with Manhunter, who also survived last issue's explosion. (It just doesn't come up at all. Like it doesn't have to, I guess, but it's just weird that there's not a word or wound about it.) Ravager dives into the water looking for Jason, because she instinctually knows he did something grand and dumb. She finds him among the clown bodies and brings him to shore.

Nothing can kill this man! He came back from the dead with nine lives! And also maybe that Lazarus resin from TFZ is still helping, I dunno.

Elsewhere along the shore, what's left of both Jokers' crews find themselves waiting in the same spot for the Joker they expect to be triumphant.

You know what. I'm soured on Waffles now. Leave him.

And then, from the water…

And that's it. That's how it ends. With a sort of snide cop-out?

Like, it's Joker's POV, so yeah, you could say the dickish tone is just him. But following this story for a year, and then seeing it end with simply the old "you'll never know which Joker prevailed," it doesn't feel clever or whatever this is going for. It just feels obnoxious.

Honestly, it feels like the same takeaway as freaking Three Jokers. 😐 That it doesn't matter who Joker is. All the lead-up to this, where maybe we get a tiny bit of depth and development, even if just in this story, eh. Doesn't matter! We're ending this with blah payoff.

On the other hand, the part of about about there being more questions, about this ending not being tidy, makes me think that this is leaving open the possibility that Keyser Joker actually was the real one. After all, we don't get a flashback to the actual events. The events we see are part of a hallucination, and Keyser never said he had clear memories of being the real or the fake one. He just went from assuming he was the real one to taking Waffles' word for it that he was the henchman.

Also, Keyser Joker was always the Joker giving narration. And the narration boxes for the Final Joker at the end remain in his style. So it seems like we actually have a huge indication of which Joker prevailed-- unless we're meant to assume that if the other Joker prevailed, he merely took over the narration.

I mean, this is what we have. So if I can just choose what I want to believe, I'm going to believe both that Keyser was actually the real guy and that he won. But it puts a real sour taste in my mouth to be super engaged with a story and wanting an ending that says something about Joker's character… and the ending is just that one murders the other and you don't know who, neener neener. It's anticlimactic. It's a predictable direction that I thought SURELY Rosenberg wouldn't go in. It feels like a dick move.

And... what else is there to say? So ends my year of consistently buying a comic, I guess. Nothing else has really grabbed me like TMWSL did, though City of Madness looks promising. After the multiverse and Gotham War stuff, I'm not about to start picking up Zdarsky's Batman. #139 had plenty I should enjoy, but it's soured by Zdarsky deciding to bring a canonical take to the three Jokers concept for some ungodly reason.

A new three Jokers take feels extra stupid after a year of a story about two Jokers. And the second Joker in TMWSL isn't even taken into account in Zdarsky's story. Based off that #135 scene, it really looks like he's going to say that Darwin Halliday accidentally copied TKJ Joker somehow. lmao Why. Why do we have to do this. Why can't this just be one of the things that gets retconned away. I just want my murderclown to be fun.

I need to get back to my list of unread older comics. Or read One Operation Joker! I didn't think I was interested, but I think a random goofy premise is actually just what I need.

[caterpills]

10 Questions for Writers

Tagged by the wonderful @firenati0n @alasse9 and @14carrotghoul for this one! ❤️

How many works do you have on AO3? 1 (currently a WIP)

What's your total AO3 word count? 56,853

What fandoms do you write for? RWRB, for now.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, always. Whether it's just a little thank you or an emoji or something, I want people to know how thankful I am? Not only is it super hard to trust someone to finish a WIP who is new to writing in this fandom or at all, but to stick with them? IDK, it means the world to me that people took a chance. I don't know if people realize how often I re-read comments on each chapter, and it really energizes me when I get through the rest. (Also, just kind of floored when people actually get what I was trying to do, and say so in the comments, I have been PERCEIVED.)

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of? I doubt anyone would, but I guess I can never say never.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have not! But I have this really wild idea for one that I think would just be fun to be co-written rather than staying all with me. Gotta finish one WIP first though!

What's your all-time favorite ship? For ao3 - firstprince, because that's what I write there. (But Pynch, my beloveds, you're my favorite RP writing ship.)

What are your writing strengths? UH. I've been told my narrative voice has been really good? Like my writing style really works with people, which is incredibly flattering! I also think that I can write some pretty good internal monologues where people are having some Thinky Thoughts or I'm good at whipping out some banger lines in the middle of something heart-wrenching and emotional. So my sad songs playlist thanks you.

What are your writing weaknesses? I have no weaknesses, I can never be defeated. (but actually: people/places/things descriptions, flirty banter, first drafts, and imposter syndrome.)

First fandom you wrote for? RWRB is the first fandom I wrote fic for! There was a time when some X-Men "fic" made it into a word document, but middle school me was doing from cringey self-inserts. Let's not. (But I do write a lot in forum RP places, so I've always been writing something.)

Open tag to friends who'd like to play! I'm very curious and I also want to come scream about how good your writing is in the comments, ty. I wouldn't be here without all of you being inspiring, tyvm.

[cashandprizes]

Wip Wednesday

First things first - it's still Wednesday in some parts of the world. Second I was tagged by my beloved @autisticempathydaemon who has baited me with a tag game into sharing my nonsense once again.

Well folks. We're back with stripper!Gavin and Lasko, despite the fact that Gavin is BODYING me and WILL NOT whisper his secrets to me. His voice eludes me, but man can I spin this guy around a pole as revenge. The gist is Gavin works as a stripper at an empowered strip club (get your bag and your meal girl) as one of the most popular dancers because he's a demon and the rest of the DAMN crew go out for a fun night.

Also Lasko and FL are dating currently and Lasko/Gavin/FL is endgame, even though the fic is Lasko-centric (for now????)

Honestly these club names have hands too, if you have ideas for stage names or the club's name I am open. Please help me.

Recommended listening is of course, Money by Cardi B, because this is slowly becoming more and more like a song fic.

Anyway, while this is technically not explicit, it's probably nsfw so my usual content warnings apply here. Minors do not interact, canon-typical anxiety for Lasko, warnings for language from Miss Cardio Bascular, they're in a literal strip club

Get a little cash,

“It’s just, you know, very, um, impressive?” Lasko stutters, quickly lifting his drink to his mouth and taking several sips. “The… work they do, you know!” Lasko averts his eyes, looking away from his friend and inadvertently ending up watching the stage again. The dancer flashes his teeth in a cocky smile as he leans against the pole and drops into a squat, drawing his hands up his thighs from his knees to grab his own butt and give it a firm smack. Lasko swallows hard and fidgets with his collar absentmindedly as he intently eyes every pop of the dancer’s ass to the heavy beat pounding through the speakers.

“Damn, look at this guy go!” Freelancer cheers, leaning into Lasko’s space to watch from his shoulder. “Man, his ass is iconic,” Freelancer mutters, resting an arm on Lasko’s shoulder to sip their drink. Lasko feels himself cringe at the vulgar words despite agreeing with them, instinctively looking around for reproachful stares and finding none. 

“That poor thong,” Damien jokes from behind them, “it’s getting eaten alive in there.” Freelancer laughs hard, shaking Lasko as they rest their weight heavily against his side.

Shake it real fast and get a little more,

“‘Poor thong’? That’s probably the best seat in the house for the show Dames,” Huxley adds while the dancer spins inverted on the pole with his legs open in a split. Freelancer makes a noise of agreement from Lasko’s side and snuggles closer. “I wonder what kind of training you gotta do to do all those flips. I bet their strength training is so insane bro.”

Lasko only distantly processes the conversation, occupied with ogling the way the light catches the dips and valleys of muscles in the dancer’s thighs as he rolls his body off the pole to the rhythm. “You say that like your strength training isn’t absolutely absurd, Hux. You can probably bench twice your weight or some ridiculous amount,” Damien retorts, words quick but his tone playful and flirtatious. No doubt behind him Damien is reaching out to squeeze Huxley’s arm just to make him flex, but Lasko can’t tear his eyes from the jiggling and rippling muscles on stage slowly chipping at his sanity.

I got bands in the coupe, 

“Ugh, there those two go,” Freelancer whisper-yells, the eye roll audible in their tone. “Let’s ditch these saps and get closer to the stage, huh?” Before Lasko can attempt to respond, Freelancer is dragging them through the crowd with a firm hand on his wrist, tugging him between densely packed bodies.The busy area around the bar gives way to the open space around the stage where the current dancer is running hands across his chest and throat with obscenely spread legs.

Despite the fact that Freelancer has probably only dragged Lasko closer to the stage to watch him fluster, he can’t help but be grateful for the better view of the vision of sin writhing on the stage. Like this, he doesn’t have to keep moving to try and see the stage around people crowding the bar, leaving him open to focus all his energy on keeping his mouth closed and basically eye-fucking the captivating dancer. The dancer uses the pole to gracefully stand before jumping onto the pole and quickly scaling it as if movement is effortless. He curves his back across the pole and frees one hand to grab one heel, stretching one long leg up and back to display toned, hairless thighs and the skimpy leather underwear that hardly covers anything. 

Lasko recognizes the song coming to a close and finds himself surprised at his own disappointment as the dancer climbs the pole. The final seconds of the song blast through the speakers and the dancer does a series of complicated movements that end in his legs hugging the pole as he bends backward with a deep arch in his spine. Perfectly timed with the last note, the dancer’s eyes sweep up from the people tossing money in front of him, up and across the room until he locks eyes with Lasko and gives a licentious wink. Freelancer looks over with wide eyes when Lasko sags into their side as if a puppet with cut strings, but Lasko is too busy feeling faint to apologize.

Touch me I'll shoot

There’s no mistaking that the dancer made eye contact with him, Lasko thinks, watching as the dancer gracefully slides down the pole and collects the heap of tips at the base of the stage. “Give it up for [insert Gavin’s stripper name idk it yet] once again! Next up to the pole, did someone call for delivery because he’s got an extra large sausage… pizza! Make some noise for your favorite pizza guy, [insert Guy’s stripper name gdi]!” The dancer struts off stage, stuffing bills into his strappy outfit as a new dancer saunters onto the stage from the other side in a costume that looks like a cross between a Hooter’s uniform and a slutty maid costume.

[kuwdora]

heyyyy let me try another blogging entry type of thing. Pretty much each week my brain turns to ooze by Friday from all this jobdyssy and networking and all the burnout still dragging me down. I refuse to let the world and my brain gaslight me and I'm pushing myself so hard and taking rests and being deliberate with my time and effort for getting some contract work and other things - but this job market fucking sucks so much and I'm so frustrated by some of my circumstances and things outside of my control. It's obnoxious. the bullshit people have to go through right now for interviews and shit..it's awful.

It would help if my insomnia wasn't so bad. I'm fairly bedraggled more often than not which makes everything hard. I dream of sleeping more than 5 or 6 hours a night. well I don't actually dream since I don't think I'm getting enough sleep to get to the dream stage but regardless. It would be great to sleep a full night. I miss being able to nap, too but my body just doesn't let me do that anymore either. In other news, I've been rewatching witcher season 3 and Suits season 9 for background noise while I work on some collage and painting projects. I have a list of like 45 other shows that I could watch for the first time but I'm still needing to be in that rewatch zone.

the witcher fixation remains strong...just buried under all of my other wips and things going on in my brain right now. I'm soo looking forward to season 4 for whatever nice things I'll get from it and whatever disappointments I gotta brace myself for when the new season's here. I got a bunch of new comments last weekend on all my yennskier fic which was so lovely and just reminding me of how many more yennskier wips I have. and now i want to work on those. Except I'm neck-deep in other new projects. so I'll see if I can actually finish what I'm working on right now.

I'm going through the motions of working on new things I'm enjoying working on but. But. Also having that fear that no one going to like it even though I've shown a few things to a few people here and there and had received positive feedback on it. It's been awhile since I've been doing this kind of collaging before and it's something I can manage to do really slowly while my brain is melted from my days. It feels great to come full circle to a style and technique I had been doing ages ago but come back to it with my accumulated creative experience behind me. I'm having so much fun. Even though I'm so fucking tiredddddd. But also at some point I want to share. but not yet. oooh, also! wanted to say thank you everyone who signal boosted my ko-fi shop! the sales and tips def helpin' me out. I might add a few more paintings and a terracotta pot if I can track them down. I just have so many random pieces that are just getting lost in the clutter of my apartment.

I have a few more witcher painty-collage ideas I've placed in a pile to work on when I get done with my current things. but as always, too many wips, bwah.

[elvenbeard]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Yes I'm actually doing this on a Wednesday wooo :D

I just went back through all my tags of the last month and man, you guys ;__; <3 I'm not good at keeping up with tumblr atm and I don't have something to share every week, so I think once a month a WIP Wednesday might be a good compromise XD Thank you for all the tags!!

@theviridianbunny @dreamskug @ouroboros-hideout @lokiina @therealnightcity @chevvy-yates tagging you all right back!

So, with that off of my list of works in progress, as is answering all the tag games and quizzes, some projects I'm working on atm:

Writing: Love is stored in the olive jar (WT) - Chapter 13

It's done, but still needs a lot of editing, as it got very heavy on dialogue in the end and I want it all to flow more nicely and make it a bit more scenic XD Too many instances of "she looked up again" or "he paused for a moment/second" xD But I'm getting there! Here's a snippet from the already somewhat polished beginning:

“Alright,” Fuentes said as she finally caught her breath again, “I suggest we cut straight to the chase.” “Yes,” V nodded, “Thank you again for taking the time.” “Of course,” Fuentes nodded, “I have to admit, I have been thinking about you and your case a lot these past days. Even with the limited knowledge I have so far, I still believe I may be able to help. If you are willing now to tell me more about your condition now, of course.” ‘Willing’ wasn’t the word V would use, it was more a necessity at this point. “I will,” he said, “But only if you can provide me with a certain level of security.” Fuentes shifted in her chair slightly and frowned, then she opened one of the drawers of her desk and pulled out a tablet. She turned it on and began to search for something on it while maintaining eye contact with V as best as she managed. “You’ve come here today as my patient. As far as I’m concerned, everything, anything that we discuss, falls under the doctor-patient confidentiality. My contract with the Little China MedCenter binds me to treat your data and information with utmost care and discretion. All data we store is locked away securely, all in accordance with your Trauma Team policy. I can resend you the patient information papers and contracts, although I think most of them you should already have…” “I care less about the MedCenter than about what you personally do with the information I’m going to give you,” V said, and Fuentes stopped her search, narrowing her eyes slightly. “I’m not sure what you’re alluding to,” she said, still polite, but significantly more tense than before. “Nothing,” V shook his head carefully, “This is just not something I tell random strangers on the street… no offense, of course. If I have to play with open cards, I need you to as well.”

In which Vince hates doctors but has to trust one now, boo XD

Writing: Some drabbles :3

Inbetween the longfic I still have some ask prompt drabbles to fill that I'm looking forward to tackling soon! And in a sudden burst of inspiration I wrote out a long although not very serious convo between Vince and Johnny the other day xD I'd love to turn it into a (VP) comic maybe, but I'm not sure yet XD

Art: Nothing new since last time, slowly chipping away at some bigger projects inbetween

VP: Currently no concrete plans for a bigger project

Although I wanna do more "days in the life" for Vince!! And I wanna play around more with some poses though and have a very soft set to share that I gotta edit a bit still ;_; Tomorrow probably!

Also, I'd like to turn the interface thingies from my recent "V as NPC" projects into shareable templates, that is also on my wip/ to-do list! Just wanna gather some in-game reference shots first :D

Modding: 👀👀👀

I'm working on a little something maybe, and I'm so excited :DDD Just gotta relearn how to do Archive XL, it's been half a year xD And I fought MLSetup Builder so fucking hard, but now I know how to edit MLMask Setups, so that's a victory at least XD And I have a base for a very kitschy coat :3

But yes, so much to that so far! See you again in a month or so probably with an ever-growing pile of wips xD But maybe some more writing, maybe some more art, and maybe a finished mod after too long 👀

[tododeku-or-bust]

Fic Writing Ask Game

I was asked to play by the wonderful @shooshopath ! I'm sending it to @toiletpotato @queenoftherandomword @spacebeyonce @surkovhasherpes

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

45

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

943,229

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Currently, just Patrochilles (TSoA and Hades)

4. top 5 fics by kudos?

Flashing Lights, Restless, to face the sea, where flowers bloom, Paradise, & and the nights, they are endless

5. do you respond to comments?

I do! I used to think it was really nice when authors answered my comments. I always make a point to answer comments to let people know I care about their feedback and that I appreciate their support, especially if they choose to become a consistent reader. It's a bit embarrassing though, half my comment count is me responding 😭

6. fic you wrote with the angstiest ending:

Lacrimosa

7. fic you wrote with the happiest ending:

I think the rest are all generally happy ending 😅 can't really pick one.

8. do you get hate on fics?

I had for a couple of my Patrochilles and Parenthood series, particularly on my OC. Tbh, I'm shocked I don't receive more, given that Black female characters usually receive minimal grace. Everyone's been very supportive, if not necessarily completely understanding the perspective of the narrative (thus the "your OC is a self insert" comment. Like, I'm writing about the experience of Black girlhood, where else am I gonna pull from lmao we tend to go through particular things!)

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Nah, not really. I'll usually include a sex scene here or there, but I don't write just straight smut. There's always gotta be some angst or some sort of plot. I don't think my writing is good enough for straight smut, so I leave that to others.

10. do you write crossovers?

Technically my Patrochilles fics are crossovers, but fr I just tag both fandoms for reach. If I'm focused specifically on the TSoA rendition, I only tag for that. Otherwise, no. Same idea with MDZS.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Apparently so! Well, not stolen, but heavily inspired by. Since it wasn't word for word, I'm not willing to get lynched by white fandom to start an argument about it.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

I have!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nah 😅 unfortunately I'm too territorial about my writing process.

14. all-time favorite ship?

Patrochilles, with AshEiji as a close close second.

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Blooms of a Wilting Garden. It's a WangXian fic I was super, SUPER passionate about... And then I burnt out of both the fic and the fandom. It was just so toxic in that space that I got disillusioned. Maybe I will- it is outlined!

16. writing strengths:

I personally think that I'm very good with dialogue and character motivations. I'm also very passionate about movement while I write, bc I think that it adds emphasis to both of those things. But yeah, I'm very intense about motivations- how might someone's character change in certain situations? What might cause an outburst in one moment might generate an incredibly calm response in another, all for the same character. It all depends on the situation, and I like exploring that.

17. writing weaknesses:

I feel like I could do better with "prettier" writing. On the one hand it's a style choice, I tend to prefer words that get to the point I'm trying to depict. On the other hand, sometimes I wish I could write as beautifully and set up as well done a setting as other writers. I've been trying to do better with that. But I also write fic as a hobby so... 🤷🏾‍♀️

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've tried direct translation (language, then the English translation next to it) and italicizing. Some phrases I know well enough to use the former, but if I get caught up I will use the latter.

19. first fandom you wrote for:

On AO3? Bnha, tododeku (thus the name of the blog. I was pretty intense about it. Oh how I've grown in 4 years).

20. favorite fic of yours:

Hmmm... This is hard. I love all my fics as a favorite for different reasons 😭😭 the overall winner? Restless, my first AshEiji fic. It's one of my fics that I'm always rereading, and I love how it came about because of two nightmares I had. Like they really worked in allowing me to write a perspective on Eiji that I felt I wasn't seeing in the fandom at the time. Protection (my second Philia fic) is my second place.

Thanks for sending this to me! I'm so happy to see it 😊 I miss talking about my stuff sometimes.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Writerly Question Tag

Stealing this one from @leahnardo-da-veggie but leaving it under a cut because it's really long :D

I'm tagging @starlit-hopes-and-dreams @pleasestaywithmedarling @writingphoenix and @sarandipitywrites if you feel like doing it (there's a lot of questions :D) and also an open tag.

About You

When did you start writing?

I probably "wrote" before, but I remember wanting to write some huge fantasy epic when I was around 12-14. Spoiler: I did not, in fact, write a huge fantasy epic.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

I read more things than I like to write. I only write romance-adjacent darkish fantasy (is it slice of life if the char gets sliced), but I love reading murder mysteries, some more mainstream romance, and lots of YA and fantasy that are heavier on the plot than what I do.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

I don't actively try to emulate anyone, but I sure keep picking up things left and right. But even when I read something great and think "wow, I wish I could write like this" it often would not fit "my" style, whatever that may be. The one time I actively tried to soak up things was from my dearest @alittlewhump <3

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)?

There really is just once space, which is my desk, because I do not have a laptop and I will not write on my phone. Also, I never leave the house, so. (It's a mess, and with the exception of several character prints on the loft bed in front of the desk, the decoration is gaming oriented.)

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Hahahahhaaha. *sobs* Sometimes ridiculous deadlines and pressure work.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

Absolutely. For example, I have never had real contact to anyone in my family outside parents/siblings/grandparents (and the latter are long dead), so I tend to forget that families can be bigger and most of my chars have exactly one sibling XD Also sorry y'all (nonspecific) are fed up with the generic western european fantasy world with deciduous forests, snowy winters, and castles, but *looks around* yeah.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

Loneliness. Looking for a place to belong. Never being enough. Trying to figure out wtf love is. Haha. I am super surprised.

Your Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

We all know it's Damien, don't we? 😔 I can't just write like 300k words about a guy going through hell and back without loving him. He's perfect. Traumatic backstory. Lowkey morally gray even though he has such a good heart. He gets the pain, and the asexuality, and the self-hate, and the cool sparkly magic. For my active projects, there's Riordan, my aro-allo, ridiculously positive mercenary guy who has no manners - I really, really want to make him despair and cry for once. And there are Ross and Irina, and it's impossible to have one without the other, but I can't even say much about them yet, because they're still developing (we gotta get them out of the torture dungeon so they can have a personality.)

Which of your characters would you be friends with in real life?

Probably Merridy. I wish I could show her video games. It's a fantasy story and you can play it yourself? Sign her up. It would be hard not to be friends with Riordan, though.

Which characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

Except for all the bad guys, I think Lily would be too exhausting for me. Not so much dislike, just please get your early bird extroverted energy over there while I remain over here.

Tell me about the process of coming up with your characters?

I have a vibe, and that vibe grows arms and legs. Sometimes even a regular amount. By the time I put the char on (digital) paper for the first time, I know very little about them other than a few bullet points. They develop together with the story.

Do you notice any reoccurring themes/traits in your characters?

Asexuality. I have to force myself to write an allo char, and even then ... XD I also probably need a guide on how to write neurotypical chars, sometimes I look at one and am like... "oh no, not you, too." And almost all of them like books :D

How do you picture your characters?

I do not. (Aphantasia gang rise up.) I create portraits for them in the game I play, which works ok-ish. It doesn't have great options, but I'm stuck with it, because I have most of them as characters I play.

Your Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

I have to. There's things in my head. They need to leave.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

To be frank, I write about things that will alienate a lot of "normal" readers, be it the violence, the queerness, or disabilities. It means a lot to me if something like that resonates with someone, because if I don't reach that audience the only one that's left is the one that asks "but why would you include X, ew :/"

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work?

While I wish my work to be perceived, I do not wish to be perceived myself.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I uh. Write. By which I mean, I don't need anything to start. No outline, no moodboard, nothing but 3 vibes in a trenchcoat and some random thought I had a few months ago. Sometimes I get stuck and lose interest, but I have a couple of finished works, so I'll keep going like that for now.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

I have no idea, but it's not prepositions.

How do you feel about your own writing?

It's good enough. (Except for the prepositions.)

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

Probably. I mean, I hate writing by hand, so depends on how long electricity is running without any other humans around, but that's not the question, is it. I'm not sure it would take the same shape as it does now, if I never publish, I don't need to stress myself with the deadline of edits, but I would still have to put it all down, because I HATE when I forget my daydreams 😭

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy?

I mostly write what I want to read myself, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that I have added things multiple times in the past thinking "oh, I know who would like that". To be clear, that's not talking about an "audience", that's my dearest friends who could go for a little impalement or medieval execution :) Sometimes it's also "you know what we need more of?" posts, but let's be honest, none of those people will ever read it. I just happen to agree with them. On the other hand, I have censored myself in the past because I was afraid what others will say. It's great sitting on every single fucking squick list out there. Lastly, there's also that issue where sometimes, I want to write something, but the story develops in a way that it doesn't end up fitting, and while I am sad, I will bow to the will of the story.

[buckyismybicycle]

I don't know how terrible this quality will be on Tumblr, but the higher resolution/original can be found on AO3!

Title: swim for the music that saves you Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers Tags: ShrinkyClinks, Social Media AU, WIP/teaser Summary: It all started when he sent a video singing Happy Birthday to his sister, not knowing that she would post it on her social media.

Now, JBuckyBarnes has millions of followers all hearing his story, following his recovery, listening to him sing. Little does he know, he's going to change the life of one follower in particular.

Steve Rogers, chronically ill and spending most of his days inside, has to live vicariously through others. He longs for adventure, trying new things, feeling the sun on his face. A/N: This fic has been sitting in my drafts for some time now... Thanks to @buckybarnesevents: Alternate June-iverse giving me a little kick, I've decided to post an excerpt/the beginning and the rest of it will come in due course.

“Hiya folks… Well, it was, uh.” The brunette on screen pauses and then smiles sadly. “Alright, you know I can’t lie to you. I wanna say it was fine and dandy, but it was honestly rough. That’s why this video’s a bit late, sorry ‘bout that, by the way. It took longer than I thought it would to edit so I honestly kind of gave up.”

He lays his head in a propped up hand, resting against his piano. 

“So, I got home Sunday afternoon and crashed. I don’t even remember getting into bed. Didn’t sleep through the night, of course. I never do. But! That’s just me, my body’s not a fan of the meds. I was feeling crummy — you know when you’re so hungry you’re nauseous but you can’t eat ‘cause you’re nauseous? Anyway, so that for like, six hours. Finally got to sleep when the sun was risin’ but only managed about an hour or so. You lot haven’t heard Brooklyn traffic.”

Steve can’t help but smirk at that because he has, and he is in fact listening to the god-awful Brooklyn traffic outside his window. He could always move his desk away from the window, but he needs some sort of sunlight from time to time.

The YouTube video plays on his phone while he takes a break from work, stretching and wincing as his joints crack.

“So, it’s like, ten in the mornin’ and I decide I’m gonna get something to eat. Nausea won that round, unfortunately, so by three o'clock I am starving. I was cranky for the whole day, and I don’t wanna make cranky videos for you guys. So, that’s enough rambling from me. My brain’s been a little all over the place so I haven’t written anything in ages, but how about a cover of the best of the best? Thanks for sticking around! Hope you like this one.”

Steve watches as Bucky lifts the cover of his piano and stretches the fingers on his prosthetic. Today, it’s the metal titanium one, with its beautiful plate work and a small Hydra Industries logo on the forearm. 

You gotta swim… Swim for your life

Swim for the music that saves you

When you're not so sure you'll survive

You gotta swim… Swim when it hurts

The whole world is watching

You haven't come this far to fall off the earth

The currents will pull you, away from your love

Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave begging to tear down the dawn

Memories like bullets, they fired at me from a gun

Cracking the armor, yeah

I swim for brighter days, despite of the absence of sun

Choking on salt water, I'm not giving in, I swim

You gotta swim… through nights that won't end

Swim for your families, your lovers, your sisters, and brothers and friends

Steve listens to the beautiful voice fill the empty space of his studio apartment, caught up in the soft yet powerful melody. What really hits him are the words, though. 

Bucky’s life is no secret — except maybe his real first name because there’s no parent on this planet that hates their kid that much. Steve doesn’t know exactly how Bucky had started off, but the channel was a newer discovery for Steve. 

Well, there it is. As always, thanks so much for tuning in! Hope you liked the song, and maybe I’ll see you guys next time with something original, huh? Bye!” 

[dogueteeth-fhr]

Fanfic Writer Questions

Thank you @silvery-bluish & @glitchy-npc for the tags! Not sure who else to send it to atm but if you see this on my page and decide to pitch in with your answers feel free to @ me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I've got 12! Most are oneshots, others are series.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

47002 on AO3 at the moment! And so much more in my docs.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Fallen Hero, with a dash of TWC and some other fandoms sprinkled in my WIPS but I've been on Fallen Hero brainrot for a long time now so the other fandoms are currently neglected.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Nightmare (surprisingly enough) w/ 28 kudos

focus (it's harder than you think) (also surprising lol) w/ 20 kudos

new pavement w/ 18 kudos

anamnesis w/ 18 kudos

freefall w/ 13 kudos tied with bath(toaster)tub also w/ 13 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to all of them! But some days I just don't have the spoons to and I forget, but I really appreciate any comments I receive.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

HA. you want me to pick??? Ok hrm. maybe bath(toaster)tub? anamnesis also has so me pretty angsty pieces in there.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

PFFF. ok gotta. go look for this one. Maybe sargasso sea, though it's technically not the last iteration in its series between a continued plotline hinted out in after the fall and a third part planned for its series.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet! I think.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

(slaps brain) this bad boy can generate so much smut. I write pretty much any kind? Soft, rough, indulgent, M/M, F/M, F/F, other any everything, kinky or emotional, etc. Just whatever strikes me at the time, but most just dont get published bc I'm mid.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I typically HATE crossover fics they just aren't my thing I do write AUs of X story set in X story's universe, just haven't published them (wait does that still count as a crossover).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nah, considered it once tho.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! Haven't found someone with the vibe ig, it's just never crossed my mind to co-write a fic and just never been asked too.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

(cue strained breath) i have no all time favorites BUT. but. Ricardo/Wei gets me SO soft ok. i just. unrequited years long attraction finally requited and i. AAAAA. place sidestep in there too and i'm just so happy. i need poly rep in my life sometimes ok.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I stare into the google docs hell and ask you how you could expect me to pick one but. BUT. Praeludium//Allegro. A piece meant to dive in how Sidestep is able to experience the moment someone dies through their mind.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Shorter pieces! They tend to be about ~2000-5000 words per part, that's usually when I feel I've done my best. I'm also. Decent at NSFW writing? Sometimes, at least.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Definitely long fics. I had a plan for freefall and have scrapped and adapted it multiple times now, pus it's just difficult to keep myself interested in specific but necessary chapters.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

It's fun! I've included Spanish and Russian excerpts into my fics before but I don't do it a lot. Considered writing fully in Spanish at some point for an Ortega POV but I'm not confident in my grammar abilities. Spanish verb tenses my beloathed.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Naruto. On a different old account best left to gather dust.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Hm, I'm not sure if I have a favorite. I do really like the NSFW piece I wrote from Remy's POV, though. Short but good.

[amaiguri]

Yssaia

⚜️NaNoWriMo WIP 2024⚜️

"All promised heroes burn. Who are they now?"

In a world of fated heroes and abyssal machines -- born both of Kings and Philosophy --, a burned assassin girl must find new purpose when the War ends.

Untitled Yssaia Game will someday become a narrative-focused, hand-drawn adventure. Navigate an assassin through her delicate, brutal world after the War annexed her homeland. Delve deep into political dealings, your past trauma, and the Abyss beneath the world.

...but for today, it's still just a very large Reedsy document, some art, and a handful of songs.

🏆THE CHALLENGE'S OBJECTIVE🏆

This NaNoWriMo, I just want to write every day. I don't have the time or breakneck pace to do the traditional 50k words. I also want to log my progress cuz every year, I don't journal as much as I should and every year, I regret that. My memory and sense of time is better when I journal. So, we gotta get back into it, once again.

In terms of my current progress, there are about 245k words in this wip -- though it has multiple story arcs. We'll see what the market says to do with it, as we get closer to video game form... I have done a round or two of editing maybe? It doesn't feel like it but I also spent since February of last year editing. I thought it was going to take a month. It did not. 😭😭😭 Now, I am back to drafting -- thank God. Right now, I'm drafting a story arc about my protagonist struggling with her new relationships, falling into old toxic patterns, and discovering the enemies of her enemies -- the Gods.

🧑‍🧑‍🧒CHARACTERS🧑‍🧑‍🧒

Yssaia is multi-POV and has a lot of perspectives with unequal time. If I were a perfect creator, I'd give them increasingly equal time throughout the work -- and end the story with characters taking turns between paragraphs in the battle against the Gods. This is all part of a giant experiment in which I fight against Great Man History. We'll see if it works lol cuz it sounds insane but that's legitimately why I'm showing so many different perspectives.

Naturally, there are many more characters and POVs than the ones pictured here.

The characters all have a lot of anime influence -- not just in their visual language, but also in their characterization -- but they also take a lot of influence from those Literary Fiction short stories I had to read in college. They're all written in a retrospective first person and verb all their nouns and have some sort of linguistic quirk for their POV. I mean like "One POV has 2nd person" kind of quirk. I love playing with form. I don't WANT you to feel like my work is super easy to read -- I want you to THINK about it.

🌩THE GODS OF YSSAIA🌬

The currently fighting Gods of Yssaia are basically representing Connection, Conquest, and Despair. Something something thematic arguments for a modern age but ALSO "use the power of friendship to kill God." The Gods all have what I like to call "humansonas" (think like the Christian Jesus) whom are represented below:

🗺THE WORLDBUILDING🗺

I have been working on Yssaia since 2018, so the worldbuilding has only gotten deeper and deeper. While the shape of the world and the general cultures have remained the same, they've all gotten a lot more nuance and geographical fidelity and also, conlangs: I have conlangs for every culture in the language and I'm very proud because language and power is one of the themes I like to play with. Yes, that's an IB thing. If you're interested in worldbuilding or conlanging, I actually run a worldbuilding YouTube channel so come check it out.

But if I had to summarize it, my world building is "Fantasy 1880s-1910s with a melancholic but whimsical feel and cute eldritch horrors. All the cultures are a mixture between Asian and Western cultures" (like Chinese Vikings, Japanese French-Mafias, Communist Grecoromans, and Slavic Indians, etc.) I have endeavored to ensure there is something about each culture that is "my favorite" -- ama about my worldbuilding 🥺💜

Follow for Part 2, when I talk about the game design someday!

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @davycoquette!

Writblr Questionaire

My lore! For you!

About You:

When did you start writing?

Honestly, not that long ago. I was a sophomore in high-school when I wrote my first short story (it was about a student wizard selling wizard adderall to make ends meet), so that'd have been 3 or 4 years ago. I've always been imaginative, but that was the first time I put pen to paper instead of just daydreaming.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

I mean, I'm a high fantasy girly through and through. I will admit though, I like writing romance way more than I like reading it.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

If I could impact people's emotions as much as Brandon Sanderson's writing has impacted mine, I will die happy. And it might be basic, but I've always wanted to write prose like Patrick Rothfuss. I can't say anyone has ever compared my writing to anyone else's that I can remember.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

I have a favorite spot on my couch where I nest up with a blanket and a snack. Usually, a cat is also there and being unhelpful. If I need a change of scenery, I'll go to this crepe place a little ways away.

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

If I'm feeling burnt out, I take a few days off, then I'm usually good to go. I'll draw instead, or watch an inadvisable amount of caving disaster videos. A good long drive can also help.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

Oh, most definitely. I live in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. My redneck claims to fame are eating a rabbit my mom shot, hand feeing a raccoon some hot wings, and catching snakes for a living. Thus, a lot of my characters are country as hell. Also, I'm in college for microbiology, so I write about a lot of scientist characters and have a lot of university settings. These things come together in Astra DuClaire - a runic engineer and certified hillbilly, which is a combo of don't see a lot of, but should honestly exist more considering the feats of engineering I see at the rat rod shows down here.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

I'm really bad at picking up on my own themes, but I'd say perseverance is a big one. No matter how bad things get, sometimes you gotta keep walking. Also, kindness. Most of my main characters are fundamentally kind and when they help people, that good karma is paid forward.

Your Characters:

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

Currently, I've been pretty jazzed with this big Avymere chapter I've been working on. Their character development has been really juicy so far. But in the end, I love all my ocs equally.

Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life?

Honestly, most of them. I think Izjik would be chill as fuck to hang out with, and once they're out of their shells, Sepo and Twenari would make for some awesome conversations. Djek and Astra are a lot for my introverted self, but in small doses, we could have a blast. Mashal is a sweetheart, of course, and so is Elsind. And while Avymere is intimidating, we could bond over martial arts. Also, all the ghosts are just plain fun.

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

You might notice who I left off that list. Ivander is a snarky bastard, but not in a funny way. He's more like a middle school bully. He'd call me broke and swagless, then I'd smack him and he'd die on the spot.

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

They arrive in my mind from the void. I usually come up with their core traits pretty fast. Actually, Astra's the odd one out here because it took me a month or so to solidify her character. But yeah, I don't have much of an interesting answer for this one.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

Two big ones jump out at me. One, most of them will help a stranger. Izjik and Sepo took in Twenari right after finding her washed up on a beach. Djek spared Izjik and Sepo's lives because he simply knew killing them was wrong. Astra saved Mashal's life after finding him on the side of the road out of nothing but the goodness of her heart. The second trait is not unrelated - they're all nosy as hell. They love eavesdropping, drama, and gossip. I'm not sure why this is, but everyone from Ivander and his dirty rumors to Elsind and their saucy romance books adores sordid tales.

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc.)

In my brain, they're just colorful versions of the most realistic version of my art style.

Your Writing:

What’s your reason for writing?

I love doing it, why else? In all seriousness though, writing gives me an outlet for a lot of emotions I have a hard time expressing in real life. So, basically, I'd explode or something if I didn't.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

Nothing makes me happier than when people tell me they're excited to find out what happens next. Also, seeing any headcanons and theories is like a free hit of dopamine every time.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who “gets” the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

Just... cool, I guess? I want people to relate to my characters and be intrigued by my worldbuilding. I don't want to be the next literary sensation. I just want people to enjoy and talk about my stories.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I also feel like I write action quite well and have a unique voice. My descriptions ride the line between flowery and fun.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

People say they're drawn in by my characters and that my worldbuilding has a sense of depth.

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

I feel pretty good about it! Not all the time, obviously, but overall, I think I keep improving and building my skills with every word I write.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

Yup. I like reading my own writing. It's almost like it was written by someone who shares my exact literary tastes.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

I can't honestly say I've ever thought about what other people would enjoy, so I guess I write for myself. I'm confident enough that a fair amount of people share my preferences, so hopefully it all works out in the end.

I'll tag @kaylinalexanderbooks @elizaellwrites @ashwithapen @i-am-moss-the-boss and anyone else who wants in :)

[deepbutdazzlingdarkness]

I think @kennyomegasweave tagged me in this OTP meme like...months ago? And I just found it half-finished in my drafts and decided to actually get it done.

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore? 20s, not my teens, but I used to be utterly obsessed with Jack/Kent from Check Please and now, IDEK what happened. I still love them, but I have old fic I saved and never read and can't bring myself to care anymore. IDK it makes me sad.

2. Which ship would you consider your first one? Hmm probably Betsy/Joe from the Betsy Tacy series or Anne/Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables? My first ships when I actually got into fandom were Sawyer/Kate and Sara/Grissom from CSI.

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple? Magnus/Alec!!! I never thought I would write fic and then I watched season 1 of Shadowhunters and banged out (lol) 7 fics and almost 30k of porn in less than 2 months in 2016. They all have an insane number of hits (like. the highest has 54,878 hits and the lowest has 15,836 hits.........) and I still get kudos on them almost every day, it's wild.

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over? Genuinely no idea, but the first one in my fan art tag is Katniss/Peeta from 2012 <3

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse? My first instinct whenever I see someone talk about something I don't like is to mute/block, so perhaps not actively, but I'm sure I have at some point.

6. Did you used to have any no-otp or have it currently? LOL. Yes. I still fucking HATE Jack/Kate from Lost and always will. Also Dan/Blair from Gossip Girl. Lately...I'm such a multi-shipper but I gotta say Kate/Anthony from Bridgerton bc I've genuinely had to restrain myself from bitching about how much I hate them SO many times since s3 came out lol.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read? I finished a rewatch of Beyond Evil last night so I've been rereading some of my old bookmarks bc I've read almost everything that's out there 😔. Shout out to the masterpiece simple & clean by whir.

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs? So many!!! Taemin/Kai is still my #1, but also Juwon/Dongsik from Beyond Evil, PatPran from Bad Buddy (it took me several episodes to actually get into the show but once I did I cried...so much over them and how much they love each other LOL), KunTen from WayV, Louis/Lestat...I feel kinda bad that I don't have a major current f/f OTP but I'm literally checking my kpop tags multiple times a week for rule 63 fic and most of my current WIPs are rule 63 f/f so there's that. (Two KunTen including what hopefully is gonna be a long one, plus a Jigyu I started yesterday for a fest that I'm hoping I'll be able to get done - not because of the length, but because I've never written Seventeen before)

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together? So many??? I feel like I have to say Dean/Cas.......Lee/Kara never really got together so them for sure. Sawyer/Kate from Lost even though I 100% choose to believe they got together post-canon pre-flash-sideways. Oh my god I'm looking through my "forever bitter" tag and it's a lot of Cooper/Audrey from Twin Peaks as I expected, but I forgot about Mini/Franky from Skins. and ABSOLUTELY THEM. Everything about series 5 was terrible but that especially.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting? IDK I feel like I don't usually change my mind like that. I wouldn't go as far as saying "kind of interesting" but I guess I don't hate Bree/Roger from Outlander AS much on the show as I did in the books lol.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be cancelled over? Hmm...Cesare/Lucrezia maybe? If not them almost definitely Norma/Dylan from Bates Motel LOL.

12. What was your favorite crack ship? I was gonna say I couldn't remember any that truly fit this definition, but then I remembered the Kent Parson/Claude Giroux series #dirtbags and that was great. Actually no my real answer is Syd/Richie from The Bear. Now *I* don't think it's a crackship but they have that vibe.

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics of? Here's a side by side view of my most bookmarked ships vs the tags I have saved rn on my front page. Unfortunately you can only have 20 but I think it's a pretty good representation. (Other than the ENHA ship, where I legit don't know anything about them or frankly even what they look like, but that tag produces so much incredible unhinged porn that I read canon-blind.)

14. What most of your ships usually have in common? I feel like I have several different ~types, but: friends to lovers, I LOVE bicker-y couples, age gap relationships, especially when one of them is a mentor-ish figure, and power dynamics in general.

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship? Nice Guy characters, whether they're a guy or a girl. The OG example is Xander (duh) and Chloe from Smallville but you also see it with characters like Sol on My Stand In...there's def more things I hate but that's one of most major ones for me.

[soot-and-salt]

Wanted to jump on here and say I adore your writing! You've got such an excellent narrative voice and your characters come across as multifaceted and a true delight to read.

I saw you were answering asks so I wanted to throw one your way as well! At one time, how many fics do you think you're working on? Are you an all in one go writer and focus in on one chapter/ addition to a series at a time or do you bounce around?

Why hello there, Cryptidbytes! Always good to see you!

First of all, you are exceedingly kind to me. I'm blushing. Thank you so much for your incredibly lovely compliments. I swear, I am trying my best. Me and my imposter syndrome are locked in a fight to the death and that bitch got hands.

I'm (unsurprisingly) kind of a chaotic mess when it comes to writing. I'm trying to get better. I've had a lot of great success with, you know, THINKING before I write something and making outlines, etc. Usually I have a few irons in the fire because my brain worms are truly a fright to behold.

I try to be an all in one writer. A lot of my one shots are very much written in one day and thrown on AO3 and may god have mercy on my soul. I don't have a lot of writing time in my week. I have a stressful day job that sucks the life out of me and personal stuff I deal with that leaves me with little free time. Some weeks I only get one or two nights to write so shorter one shots tend to go faster.

Lately, though, I'm trying to not be so focused on outside validation and to take my time, even if it means that something takes longer to come out. That's why the word count on We Shoud've Been Enemies installments have gotten so much bigger. Instead of trying to write everything in one night in 3k words, taking two weeks and letting in breath in 6k words have made for MUCH better stories, I think. But it does slow me down, and I'm still working through how I feel about that.

I always have multiple WIPs, even if it's just a file with a title and a scene or some notes or something. Right now I'm currently mulling over:

-the rest of WSBE

-a crack comedy fic involving Alastor and a very unlikely partner in crime

-a QPR with Rosie/Vox/Alastor

-and starting to outline for an Alastor human AU series

So yeah, I do bounce around. Sometimes an idea grabs me and won't let me go and I have to drop EVERYTHING to write it (like I Shine Only With The Light You Gave Me, for example). Usually that happens when I see fan art or get a song lyric stuck in my head and I have to do something with it before I implode.

Right now it's a toss up between WSBE #7 (which I want to finish so fucking bad) and the Alastor crack fic because it's been in my drafts since April and I am dying to let it see the light of day.

There are not enough hours in the day, honestly. We're in the "dead season" at my job right now and I have literally thought of taking a day or two off just to write, which is kind of insane. It's fanfiction, soot, not the next great American novel. But having this many incomplete ideas held in your head can drive you a little crazy.

I gotta stop writing essays to these questions. Sorry about that. Fantastic question!

[aeoneskova]

20 questions for fic writers :)

Thank you so much @ulouism for the tag! <33

How many works do you have on ao3? 7 works are currently available to read on my ao3 :)

What is your total ao3 word count? 569,216 words - i’m honestly flabbergasted

What fandoms do you write for? So far only Harry Potter, though I've been interested in some spiderman or stranger things stuff which I might write for soon.

Top 5 fics by kudos? In order: Honey Honey, Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, the Funny Tricks of Time, Seven Dials, Just in Case.

Do you respond to comments? The majority of them! I try my best to answer every one, or at least one if you've commented on multiple chapters in a row :)

Which of your fics have the angstiest ending? this is hard, all my halloween one shots are very angsty but which is worse? James and Lily dying, Marlene and Dorcas dying, or Mary obliviating herself? I'll leave that up to debate lol

Which of your fics had the happiest ending? I'll go with seven dials, considering that's the only fluffy fic I've actually finished, though goflb might take that spot once its done :))

Do you get hate on fics? I had an incident a couple months ago where I got flooded with some nasty comments, and I've had a couple things in the past. But so many people here came to my defence, it was lovely to see and I can't thank you all enough!

Do you write smut? Not yet... I get awkward... and scared someone I know irl will see it... but you never know...

Do you write crossovers? I have a couple marauder fic wips which take a lot of inspiration from other stories, like the Martian and httyd, but I wouldn't mark them as crossovers when I post them cause they're mainly hp

Has anyone stolen your fics? Not that I know of, hope it stays that way lol

Have you ever had a fic translated? No but i’d be open to any requests if someone did want to :)

Ever co-written a fic? No and not sure if i’d want to, i’m a massive control freak and procrastinator so I think i’d get stressed

What's your all-time favourite ship? I’ve gotta say wolfstar, my loves <33 though I do dabble in drarry and perciver, I don't think anything will top them

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you will? I don't think I can pick lmao I have so many idea folders and half finished first chapters that I want to write but I can't balance them all. I suppose I'll go with my wolfstar pirate fic That's Life

What are your writing strengths? I think im good with characters and plot, or at least that's what I enjoy doing most and what comes most naturally to me. I waste so much water standing in the shower thinking through things... I'd say im quite a proficient editor too, but idk if that counts

What are your writing weaknesses? I'm gonna say dialogue cause sometimes when I read back over conversations, they don't feel right and I spend ages tweaking it. And can I say procrastination? I struggle so much in starting writing, but once I get into it i’m fine.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language? I don't trust google translate enough to write in another language unless I knew myself it was right, so in most cases i’d find a way around it. I don't mind dialogue in other languages if its for a reason, but if that means I have to translate every other sentence it can get a bit annoying

First fandom you wrote for? A Harry Potter x Percy Jackson fic on Quotev that we won't talk about ...

Favourite fic you've ever written? I have to say I'm most proud of Honey Honey, its the only full length fic ive finished but quality wise i’d say Seven Dials is my favourite

No pressure tags: @arakhnee @pretentiouswreckingball @residentrookie and anyone else who wants to join in :)

[elvenbeard]

WIP Wednesday

Thank you so much for the tag and reminder @kharonion! :D Gonna tag @pinkyjulien @humberg @chevvy-yates @theviridianbunny cause I haven't been keeping up with tumblr much lately and would love to know what you're all doing atm if you wanna share 👀

As always, I got way too much stuff at once I'm doing, and apartment hunting is awful and really robbing me of my motivation, so I'm doing a lot of low-brain-effort stuff that calms my nerves at the moment really. Let's see...

VP Stuff

Currently working my way through my "Vince through the years series" :D Two posts out (2067, 2069), one drafted and still needs some text, the others are still a work in progress XD While 2067 was a bit about Vince's home life, 2069 about his transition and time in Kabuki, 2071 is gonna have a focus on Jackie 👀

I should have it ready in a few days :3

Art Stuff

I actually had a little drive to draw something lately :DD working a bit on the comic I teased the other week, slowly chipping away at the lineart, but really enjoying it so far, even though my process is slow!

First page lineart done (for now xD I might go back and fiddle more with it). I am... very tempted to paint the background, but I think I will for once settle for the easy approach and fill in my backgrounds with modified screenshots for this. Cause why tf not xD If professional manga artists can do it, so can I for my silly fancomic!

Writing Stuff

I started chapter 8 of Love is Stored in the Olive Jar and I know it's gonna be a difficult one cause I've really been building up to it and now I got the "you gotta deliver now!!" anxiety XD But I'm still looking forward to finally getting to Mr. B's solution for V's Sun-Ending problem 👀

“So, she got any final words of wisdom?” Kerry asked, fingers gently drumming on the steering wheel. They had swapped cars at home, and with what Rogue had just said now V wondered if it might not have been better after all to use Kerry’s Aerondight to get here… But then again, if shit hit the fan in some way, he didn’t want any unnecessary negative attention drawn to Kerry. “Not really,” V shook his head, “Nothin’ I didn’t think of already at least.” “Told ya so,” Kerry shrugged, pulling out his cigarettes and only paused when he noticed V’s stern stare. “Ah, fuck,” he mumbled and then got out of the car. They had not only swapped cars but changed clothes quickly while they were home. As he slipped from the driver’s seat, Kerry’s wide black bomber jacket rode up briefly, revealing the gun kept in the waistband of his cargopants. “You shouldn’t do that,” V said as he got out himself, “Posers in action films keep their gun in their pants. In the real world that’s gonna get you shot in the ass faster than you think.” V closed the passenger side door with his elbow, flinching slightly at the pain shooting through his shoulder and chest. He took a deep breath, adjusted his own gun holster worn snugly under his coat. “Fiiine,” Kerry sighed, lit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, and he put the gun into his jacket’s pockets. Not ideal still, but better. V smiled at him, and then slowly turned to look down the short, narrow side street they were parked in. They were close to the Santo Domingo district border, in the middle of the industrial area at the edges of the city. The location coordinates Mr. B had sent him lay not far ahead. A new, sleek white building, V guessed it around ten stories tall, rose at the center of what he remembered to be factory grounds formerly. It was far from imposing, a little bit lost on the large lot even, but it blended in well with the surrounding corpo complexes. The entire compound was fenced in, V spotted cameras and security turrets near the heavily secured entrance gate. No security staff though, not even mechs or drones, much to his surprise, at least not visibly out in the open.

Modding Stuff

I have a handful of things on the backburner... A very silly t-shirt (the replacer works already, but I wanna make it Archive XL!), band merch, and my custom hand holding poses... but with my anxiety-riddled brain wolvenkit is a bit too daunting at the moment, but I'm really looking forward to continuing all these projects :3