#i usually use at least two per sentence or paragraph lol

[stereopticons]

An Addendum to Mournful Monday

So I’ve been reading everyone’s posts about their writing struggles and I found myself wanting to say two things: first, nothing you write is ever a waste, and second, your writing matters.

Sometimes you write things that you end up cutting or that don’t fit anywhere. Sometimes you write things that don’t get shared or published. But it’s not a waste. You still wrote! Writing is a skill, and like everything else, the more you do it, the better you’ll be at it. Sometimes, just flexing those muscles is enough. Sometimes it will even help shake loose the words you were hoping to write. I was struggling with getting the words to come out one time and the ever-wise @blackandwhiteandrose gave me a handful of random words and told me write 100 words using some or all of them. I wrote a 400-word ficlet that I’ve never published (maybe I will do that later, idk) but it made it easier to write the fic I was actually trying to work on.

When I was writing my dissertation, I had to cut huge sections because I ended up taking a piece out of the study that changed the background a lot. My advisor recommended that I never delete anything I write because you never know when you’ll need it again. So I created a file called trash (he objected to this title but i ignored him lol) and put everything I deleted in there. I’ve been done with my dissertation for a while but I have gone back to that trash file to use things I previously deleted. I also have a trash file for fic, for those sentences and paragraphs I love but can’t quite make them fit. It’s not a waste. It’s writing.

I think many of us are working with some degree of imposter syndrome. I would venture to say that probably the majority of people you think write the “best” (whatever that means to you!) have at one time or another, looked at something they wrote and said, “man, that is garbage. What is even the point”. For me, it happens at least once per fic. I call it my fic midlife crisis because it usually happens midway through writing. I start to doubt everything. The prose is clunky, the dialogue is out of character, the whole premise is flawed and doesn’t make sense. I usually message my friends and say, “can someone read this and tell me if it’s stupid” and they will usually read it and say something along the lines of “you’re overthinking this again, it’s great” and offer suggestions on where to go.

There are multiple posts floating around tumblr about how you can never see your art the way someone else sees it because you made it. My prose is always going to sound trite and overused to me because I wrote it and I’ve read it a thousand times. That doesn’t mean it’s bad or doesn’t have value. It just means I’ll never be able to experience it for the first time. But despite all of this, I guarantee that your fic has impacted someone somewhere. Maybe it made them laugh when they were having a bad day. Maybe you wrote a line that made them cry at their desk. Maybe you wrote something really hot that helped them discover something about themselves. It all matters.

[vityuuwrites]

omg if you do a analysis over mitski s song pls give it to me too if u r ok with posting it

how is it being an english?/history major? idk how to use this majors in english idk they confuse the hell out of me,,, i would also want to be a history/english major and i just know my parents are going to disown me for not becoming a doc but uhm they would have done that ages ago if they knew im not straight sooo

!!! if you're interested i'd love to!! keep in mind i'm dumb tho so pls keep your expectations as low as possible, i only have the most basic of educations of song linguistic analysis (mainly cause i have not done one yet, i had a news clip to analyse for school) and have i mentioned i'm dumb yet it's,,,, an experience, that's for sure ASKSLD i just got through my first lecture where i was able to focus the entire time yesterday, so proud of myself for that. there's all this information coming into my brain from all direction, it's kinda hard to keep up?? but i genuinely adore both subjects, i love connecting historical events and i love finding out about life before the great ol' internet, i love finding out why the world ticks the way it does. i love looking at texts and seeking deeper meaning in the words (very "the door is blue because the main character's depressed" of me, i know), i love analysing linguistics, i love to connect the time period with the texts written within it, finding out why said periods exist in the first place (there's always a historical basis to the way of people's thinking, always a foundation that's found in society and it's so!!! fascinating!!) sorry for the rant. feel free to ask me anything in particular you want to know ALSKDS anyway i'm sorry to hear that, anon,,, what do you wish to study in the future?? my parents aren't very happy with my decision either tbh so i definitely sympathize with you there. hopefully they get over it, the most important thing is that you study whatever you want because otherwise, it's hell to get through college!! trust me, if i wasn't absolutely in love with both subjects i would have dropped out ages ago ahaha

[blackberry-gingham]

Hi, for your fanfic writer ask game: 5. 19. 22. 23. and 46.

P.S: Have a nice day!! And i cant wait for your next work! <3

Ask list here! Asksksks Thank you so much!!! You too and thanks for the ask!! Sorry, it got a little long 😅😅🙏🏻

5) How many words do you write per day?

Aaaaaa, aha 😅😅😅 Heavily depends tbh. I suppose technically I do write every day, lol, but I don't really like work on fics or even sometimes request every day 😅😅 I can write about a 1,000 words in an hour if I'm fully focused, so when I post a new chapter of something there's a 90% chance I wrote it all in one sitting lol.

Anyway, I guess if I had to estimate, between shit posts and the chapter I posted yesterday that was nearly 3k words in one day. So... maybe 2k ish words on average? Not a lot tbh, but there it is 😂

19) Where do you write?

In my dorm 😭😭 Sometimes on my phone in the cafeteria if I'm like sitting with my back to a wall 🥴😂 Usually seated at some type of table tho lol, I don't really like writing in my bed as much as I use to for some reason 😅

I would love to go type in the university library tho! It's nice in there, but I'm usually busy lol.

22) Favorite part about writing fanfic?

I know I already answered this, but I have a lot that I like about fanfics so I can give a different answer lol. I also love the payoff of writing character development arcs 😩 It takes a loooooot of time to have your like bad guy romantic interest come to the conclusion that, "hmmm, maybe I don't want to be a criminal anymore" without it being like... bad writing lol. So it's always nice to get to that feeling of authentic, earned redemption at the end of most of my x reader fics.

23) Least favorite part about writing fanfiction

Smut scenes 😭😭😭 I'm not the best at them, and I kind of am not looking to be either, lol so idk. It's a wash I guess.

46) Favorite sentence/paragraph you've ever written?

Oof, I have a lot tbh Like... could make a whole post of little scenes here and there from all my works lmao 😂😂 I think a lot of my favorites come from first ever massive success of a fic, Last Pale Light from RDR2 tbh, but one that particularly comes to mind is in the big shoot out and reader, who Arthur has by now fallen very hard for, gets shot. It's that little brief moment where he basically goes through all 7 stages of grief in a just a few seconds, as some of their sweeter memories together flash before his eyes bc he genuinely fears she's dead.

Not only has half the gang been slaughtered at this point in the fic by the rival gang I created, but he now also thinks he's lost you two. The third woman in his life he's ever feelings like this for... and now she's gone too.

Looking back, I think it could be written a little better lol, but it was very impactful at the time for me, so I still love it. It's got great suspense (imo), plus in it's place in the fic, it's kind of your first glance at just how deeply Arthur feels and cares for you. This post is already long, but here, you guys can read the scene here if you want lol:

One of the gunmen, a little too on edge from the shoot out, pulled the trigger as soon as a target made itself available. A few cracks rang out in the town, and the whole world seemed to stop.

You gasped, slumping to the ground, as a deep red stain painted its way across your chest. Arthur went completely numb, as he watched your body fall to the ground in slow motion.

This was a nightmare. It had to be. Yeah, just a bad dream...

Any second now he’d wake up to your contagious laughter as you teased him for sleeping late and shook him awake. Any second and his eyes will snap open and all the screaming and gunfire will melt away to the sound of your beautiful, soft singing while you stroke his hair. Any second, and he’ll jolt awake laying beside you in your tent and stop himself before he rolls onto you again, turn on his back, and hold you close enough to keep your bad dreams away, while the scent of your hair and peaceful snoozing comforts him from the one he’s about to wake up from.

Any second now…

Arthur blinked once. Then twice. But the scene refused to change. His mouth twitched and a lone tear escaped down his cheek, but he was hard pressed to care. Not again. It was over. Everything he’d loved in life was gone. Mowed down before his eyes as a direct result of the very same life he’d so happily led.

[rigelmejo]

Unrelated completely, regarding listening reading method:

I am genuinely so excited to test the listening reading method out wholeheartedly. When I looked up the method, few people were trying it with Chinese, and of the people I saw a lot were beginners with less vocabulary than I have which I think both made the task harder for them and made their progress look different than I imagine mine will.

For example, in my first attempts using listening reading method, I noticed I picked up a TON of words I could already read, and a TON of phrases I could already read but didn’t properly “chunk” until I heard them aloud. Whereas the beginners tended to document picking up entirely new words, and not understanding much of any paragraph for the first several chapters. Whereas again, because I had more vocabulary, my first chapters I listening reading method did I heard a TON of individual words/followed the main gist, and it took several chapters for me to start finally understanding full phrase chunks and sentence chunks together. I 100% think the listening reading method can work with mandarin, I just think since few people have tried it and shared the experience, I’m going to find out how much it can improve someone’s mandarin myself...

I saw people who did listening reading method with german, and Dutch, who like the creator of the method ended up going from 0 to B1-B2 listening and sometimes-reading* skill in 3-5 months (reading skill tended to depend on how much they focused on the actual text during target language audio/target language text portion). The people with the most success usually already had a foundation of several hundred or a couple thousand common words, and had seen some grammar summarized beforehand (both of which I have already done with mandarin). I’m extremely curious how far the listening reading method can take my reading skills specifically - since the method mainly improves listening, and reading is simply affected a bit as a consequence of picking up new words/reading target language text along with the audio during one of the steps. With Chinese I suspect I’ll have to do more Hanzi learning, and reading-only work like intensive reading, to supplement my reading skills. However I already do a lot of intensive reading, so maybe that will keep the skills relatively even.

I do know that only couple dozen hours of listening reading method already boosted my listening skills a TON. So listening reading method definitely improves listening skills, as it is intended to. The actual method suggests learners listen read through an entire novel in a week or two, then do another novel etc, at least 3 novels though potentially more - and redoing some novels again from the start if desired. For my kind of novels - like Guardian by Priest, that means 106+ chapters, 800+ pages, 30 minutes audio a chapter (53 hours for the English text-chinese audio portion, another 53 hours for the Chinese text-chinese audio portion, and lets say half as many hours to read it in English 26.5 hours). So that is 132.5+ hours to listen read to Guardian. The listening reading method assumes you do a few books, so let’s say around 3 books, 396 hours (roughly 400 hours). Well... no wonder people saw such improvements! 400 hours of listening to comprehensible input in a European language will get an English speaker quite far into learning. Most European languages according to FSI take around 600-750 hours for an English native speaker to learn. Listening reading method would fill a huge chunk of those hours, and if you focus on the reading portion too, then that should definitely at least be a solid foundation into B1 I can imagine.

Listening reading methods creator also tends to do these in 6-12 hour reading bursts per day - which I absolutely never do because I’m lazy and unable to focus on things for too long usually without switching things up. But like I’ve mentioned, even me just doing maybe 12 hours of listening reading method so far, in small 30 minute to 2 hour chunks, has been enough to make noticeable improvement in my listening comprehension. If someone is already intermediate and just wants to improve their listening skill, I think they’d see fast results like I have regarding their listening skill dragging up closer to their reading skill level.

When I read the listening reading method creators website, they sounded like 10 hours was about how long it took (for beginners in a language) to start parsing individual words and recognizing them, 30 hours to start hearing word chunks and phrases they could understand, and 60-100 hours to start comprehending a majority of the words.

I am therefore very curious what my rate of improvement will be. I do feel chinese study using the listening reading method at least for listening skills will see similar levels of improvement. I’m wondering if my listening skills will improve a bit faster, since I’m already past the “progress at 30 hours” mark expectations wise - I can hear many individual words, can hear many sentence chunks/phrases, and just struggle to follow some full sentences and catch brand new words until I’ve heard them several times. I do very much want to completely go through Guardian with this method - for many reasons lol. 1. Because I’ve been wanting to read it in english and I’ll have a chance to use that for study which is cool, 2. Because I’ve been wanting to read it in chinese and this makes it doable/more comprehensible for my current skill level (aka following along to the audiobook I will read at a less slow pace/comprehend more since the English will be fresh in my mind, compared to if I just read it extensively on its own), 3. Avenuex made a beautiful audiobook I adore and I’ll have an excuse to listen to it while actually comprehending everything since I’ll have the English and Chinese novel to look at while o read! So... once I’m through Guardian, I’ll be able to answer for myself what over 100 hours of progress doing the listening reading method produce, how well it works when using a book with a more complicated/high vocab style - which is sort of priest, reading challenge wise, and the kind of novel the listening reading method creator recommends using. Also, I’ll have read Guardian! ovo)/ and I will have read a full priest novel, so I’ll have picked up words by my favorite author that will hopefully make other priest novels easier to read (the same reason Tian Ya Ke may be helpful).

———-

Another thing people who have tried the listening reading method suggest doing first (particularly if studying a language much different than your native language, but for any language tbh). The creator of the method suggested: knowing a few hundred to a few thousand common words, and having looked at a grammar guide or overview prior. That’s something anyone who’s already a bit of a beginner, to low intermediate, probably has done or is doing. In addition, some people who have done this method suggested using something like sentence audio flashcards (in English and target language audio) and listening to them a few times, repeating them, until one felt comfortable with them. Generally common word/grammar ones, and you could do “listening reading” with those sentences too (reading them while listening to the audio). This would serve as a primer to learn the basics comfortably before going into listening reading novels. They suggested doing yjis would make the method work better - they got to B2 in Dutch in a handful of months of intensive listening reading by doing this beforehand and they think it helped a lot. While I think it’s not necessary, I do think of listening reading is hard, then getting a basis beforehand as a beginner and/or covering a easier basics common language material first will help. I use the Chinese SpoonFed Audio files which basically amounts to the same thing but no reading (if I used the flashcards still, it would include reading). So I do have some sentences/phrases/words I have a good listening foundation for already. Also, as mentioned, I do read, so for many common words and Hanzi I already can read them. I do think this advice is very good for beginners though, if they want to see noticable results sooner (versus 30-50 hours into listening reading before they start learning significant amounts - basically it just means they’d do 30-50 hours prestudy instead of basic common words/grammar, to make the listening reading initially less difficult). A total beginner could dive right into listening reading (just like my chaotic self first started to try to read Chinese knowing 500 words and brute forcing mdzs and guardian a few paragraphs at a time), it just means it’ll feel more difficult at first for a while, and they’ll be mostly learning basics for a while first before they build enough of a basis to comprehend more. Which is fine. It all just comes down to how much incompréhensibilty can you personally tolerate without giving up. The creator of the method? Can tolerate a TON. Me? I can tolerate a brutally large amount, surprisingly, but usually I need to comprehend had least the main idea and that’s a minimum of like 40-60% depending on which parts I’m comprehending. Most people will feel it’s unbearable until they can comprehend at least 80-90% (and I certainly PREFER material I comprehend that much of). And most people ideally are comfortable once they understand 95-98% (think reading a book in your native language with some unknown words you can figure out easily from context, or graded readers made to feel this easy with around this many unknown words for you to figure out in context, or maybe manhua/manga/comics once you’re a pretty decent intemediate level in a language etc).

[selfcareparker]

hi bae <3 reading that last ask i’m realizing i have no grammar? lmao

glad university is funnnn, when you said linguistics i was like 🤨 but then i googled it and it does sound interesting lmao

the too much free time part though... :( its like you expected to be thrown in and like WOO BUSY and WOO purpose (purpose may be going too far lol) but i totally get what you’re saying. ESPECIALLY when you expect to be busier and you’re not it’s like :/ ok. (& girlllll it’s fine to complain, it’s how ur feeling)

and bc of covid you have eVEN LESS STUFF TO DO, which sucks. the social part may help? even just a little bit, but maybe having some socialization.. it could be somewhat uplifting? idk gsjshsj

where i live the vaccine is for 16 and up right now but for the younger kids (12-15) it hasn’t been ✨FDA approved✨ yet so my brother is still waiting for his 🤠

okay really quick, how does drivers license work there? here you learn to drive at 16 and you can like actually drive (sometimes even alone in the car) by 17... (also burneks?)

YAYYYY GIRLLL i remember you telling me about how you haven’t seen your family in England in such a long time 🥺🥺🥺 i really hope you get to see them soon!!!! and that covid eases up so you can see them frequently again 🥺🥺🤍

i’m gonna tattoo that to my forehead “not being friends with your parents is unhealthy” EXACTLY!! the people saying that stuff are usually not close to their parents so 👀

i’ve been really busy (unfortunately imo lol) with my dance recital coming up and this singing group (which i don’t like at all) and my final tests bc of school i’m EEK but it’s a good eek i think? maybe? idk lolll, i can’t wait for everything to be over though so i can CHILL. after school however i have a missions trip in north carolina? don’t quote me on that, but yeah 🥰 i’m really excited about it bc i’ll be without my family (like on my own :)) and it’s this whole thing and i’ll get to know people and i’m gonna buy a new bathing suit that makes me look gooooood cuz i’m tryna cop a boyfriend while i’m there HAHAHAH but besides that... more acting and singing camps probably? most likely a summer job.. i don’t have any plans reallyyy set in stone but ya know (ACTUAL i do have a few things planned. but those are things i don’t want to do. so i will be ignoring them <3)

that was a long ass paragraph- but PLEASE UR RESPONSE WAS FINEEE & i love you 💓💓💖💞💘💓💞💕 literally watch me buy a ticket to germany rn

- lovely anon (or catherine? i feel that lovely anon is iconic now tho so. kinda like how i call you aria in my head not your real name lol ALSO I PROMISE IM GONNA RESPOND TO THAT REALLY SOON, it’s just really busy rn) <3

what’s wrong with tumblr i just saw this a minute ago 🥲🥲🥲🥲 they don’t want to see us together ✋🏼 but fuck them 💘

Whaksk wait wdym by you have no grammar? 😭😭hejsjs

Honestly I’m so surprised that I’m enjoying linguistics but i think since i speak english and german i’ve just always been interested in language and esp english since it’s just my second language so i was forced to learn more about the language than just words and grammar, because it’s such a big part of me and also i didn’t always have a british accent so i kind of had to... develop a british accent, and it was natural but also kind of wasn’t??? Anyway why was this one sentence like 17 lines i’m sorry

YES OMG EXACTLY and obviously i’m missing out on the whole uni experience i mean I’m introverted anyway but i don’t mind going to a party every now and then? but i haven’t talked to a single person from my uni (except in class when we had to analyse a poem or something— okay technically some of my friends go to the same uni as me but they’re all studying other stuff)

But yeah I’ll definitely try to meet my friends more often 🥺 but we all have really different schedules rn so it’s really hard to find days where we both/all are free and not too tired and yeahssjsksj but i mean.... i can pay 50% of your ticket to germany? and then we can hang out? 🥰

I think everyone over 18 can get their vaccine from Monday on so I’ll try to call (okay, my mum will call sisjsh) and see if i can get an appointment. but i think everything will be super full because previously only people over... 50?or 60? or people with like illnesses could get it and now everyone over 18 can get it??? Like that’s a lot of people who can suddenly get the vaccine sksjjs but at the same time they’re getting quicker with it (i think today over 1 million people got the vaccine???? Like i know the US probably gets wayyy more people done so idk if that sounds like nothing to you but obviously Germany is much smaller so to me that sounds like a lot???) and also one of my father’s friend’s wife (djdkdj) works at a hospital or something? And she said she’ll ask if I can get it done there so yeah 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

Isksmsjjs it took me so long to figure out what burneks was, i googled it (very weird results?) and then i realised i made a typo.... yeah no idea what i was trying to say lol

So in Germany (as far as I’m aware) you can start at 17 and you can’t have your test before you’re 17 years and 6 months old (idk why) and then you’re not allowed to drive alone until you’re 18 and then you still have two years on probation(is that what it’s called?) and you’re not allowed to drink a single sip of alcohol before you’re 21 (and drive) (cause in germany you’re allowed to drink when you’re 14 (if your parents are with you and allow it), then when you’re 16 you can buy beer and wine, and when you’re 18 you can buy everything. But you’re not allowed to drink and drive (even if it’s just 0.01 promille) until you’re 21)

(Okay I just googled and I don’t think you say pro mille/per mille in english sksjsjs but like the percent (or something...) of alcohol you have in your blood (idk biology sorry) (not that you asked about drinking and driving anyway? 😭 but there you go lmaoo)

Also idk if that’s just a UK thing or you also have it in the US? But all of my relatives from England keep asking me how often I’m driving with my parents (for practice)... and in Germany that’s.... not allowed? Like in england you can get these L (Learner) plates that you can stick on the back of your car and then you can drive anytime with your parents, but in germany you can only drive with your driving instructor during a paid for and legally organised driving lesson so. Kksskaj

Yess, the good thing now is that i can go to england anytime? Because Uni is all online anyway so it’s not like i have to wait until the holidays to see my family, i really hope i’ll see them soon🥺 it was my nana’s bday today and my grandad’s a few weeks ago so i’m painting two pictures for them tomorrow and sending them as a (late) gift next week 😌 (i’ll do like an impressionist ✨field of flowers✨ (that sounds awful sksjsjsj for reference i’ll look something like this: (it’s not mine i just found it on the internet while i was looking for some inspiration

for my nana, and something with a waterfall for my grandad) (looking at it now i don’t even think that’s impressionism? Idfk i had art as my subject for my a levels (like one of my final exams) and i actually got an A 👀 but it was mainly architecture and i don’t even remember that so

Ahhh I hope it’s a good eek!! Sksjj hopefully you’ll be done with everything soon and i already know you’re gonna do really good in all of your tests😌 but still: good luck ❤️❤️❤️

Idk if it’s actually cool? But North Carolina sounds so cool to me (but honestly you could have said any state and i’d think it’s cool sksksskm) And girl I still think it’s so amazing that you just sing and dance and act and omg ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

(I’m imagining us in a montage (?) like they always have in films while we’re shopping to get you a hot bathing suit😌😌 and then they always come home with like 6 shopping bags in the movies—)

This is gonna sound so dumb because who tf wants to work? But I’ve always wanted a summer job 🥲 like nothing too exhausting obviously but i’ve never earned any money by myself? I haven’t had a single job in my life (not that I’m that old and like only one of my friends has worked in her life like we’re young sksjsj) and yeah i think it would be really cool to have a summer job and earn some money 😌 but during the summer holidays (they’re only 6 weeks in germany) we’d always go to england for at least two weeks and then we’d drive to bosnia to see my dad’s family for a few days and then to croatia and then to Bosnia again sksksksms so i never had time for a summer job (obviously i’m aware that it’s a fucking privilege that i’ve never had to work and that i get to go to multiple countries during the holidays but yeah)

WHY DO I TALK SO MUCH AUSSKKSSM

Like I said I’ll pay 50% of your ticket 😌 i’ll be here stuck at home anyway, just let me know when you’re coming so i can come pick you up😌 (this emoji djskksks— but i mean it fits so i’ll use it as often as i can 😌)

Lovely anon IS iconic 😌✨ but Catherine is more than okay too🥰 so just say whatever you prefer ❤️

(And omg you never have to apologise for responding to my long ass, full-of-mistakes responses late sksjs take your time (i mean i wouldn’t be mad if you just didn’t respond to some of them i talk too much anyway <3333)

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2010: 35 - 31

35. KEiiNO - “Spirit in the sky” Norway 2019

During the preshow I posited that "Spearwhil”  would be the Rasmussen but as it turned out-

I HEAR YOU CALLING ME AT NIGHT

No, Tom NOT NOW!!! I’m in the middle of my sentence. 🙄 Wait your turn Anyway, it turned out that ‘the Rasmussen’ really ought to be called ‘the KEiiNO’. Observe this Michal-esque rise up the scoreboard:

OutSzpak’ing Spzak. 😍 Let’s be honest though, it was-

I HEAR YOU CALLING ME AT NI-

- COMPLETELY DESERVED TOO.  Fred was especially great, who delivered EPIC yoik solo that I am sure won KEiiNO the televote on the spot. 😍

This particularly pleases me because I was worried Tom & Alexandra (who are both very good performers) would take the spotlight away from Fred, but no did the weakest link pre-show turned not only turn out to be the strongest one, but he was arguable the single strongest performer of finale night. SO PROUD OF THEM ANGELS. 😍 Let us all sing along

*cough* I said, “let us all sing along”

... 

(k Tom, now is ur cue)

I HEAR YOU CALLING ME AT NIIIIIGHT

THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ARE DANCING

HÅ LA HEI LOI LÅ

A lot of the criticism from KEiiNO comes from your typical value-seekers who can only enjoy themselves in public if their shallow trash comes coated in a thick layer of novelty gimmicks and Deep Meaning, so they don’t have to admit to others and themselves than they tune in to have fun, like everyone else. There’s nothing wrong with novelty gimmicks & the like, but applying that standard to everything is taking it a tad too far. Sometimes, simplicity is key and that’s exactly what KEiiNO were: unpretentious, highly-addictive EDM adorned with epic yoiking. 😍 

_______________________________________________________________

34. Gianluca - “Tomorrow” Malta 2013

"Tomorrow” is, to use Gianluca’s own words, a curious delight: I always, always, always forget about it. Then I rewatch 2013 as I do at least once per year, and each time it’s like a Céline Dion song IT’S ALL COMING BACK TO ME and I’m in love again. 😍 “Tomorrow” is such a clever twist of the typical love song by telling the story from the THIRD PERSON PERSPECTIVE by an all-knowing narrator. It’s world’s merriest audiobook. 😍

Naturally, this works because Gianluca has TONS of charisma. He’s one of the most magnetic humans ever on a Eurovision Stage? 

It’s hard to believe that he ages like the rest of us, I’d assume he was birthed fully formed and clothed, at age thirteen, in whatever rests at the end of a Neverlandian rainbow. 

“Tomorrow” could’ve so easily been one of those “Annoyingly Positive songs”, but because he’s so relentlessly jolly, Gianluca injects “Tomorrow” with limitless happy energy, enough to melt the polar icecaps. I am happy that I don’t revisit Gianluca between watches, as I do with others, because each time I rediscover him it’s like finding a four-leaf-clover. 🍀

________________________________________________________________

33. Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankoulov - “Samo shampioni” Bulgaria 2013

IMA LI MLADI? IMA LI LYUDI? TSYALO SELO DOIDE PEITE NE SE BOITE

Let us continue with one of the most glorious trainwrecks EVER in Eurovision. 😍 Of course, this being the GOD-tier the severity of wreckage (aka the Sennek Factor) is even higher than normal. In the case of “Samo shampioni” the messiness began DURING THE PRESELECTIONS. 😍 Okay you may not remember or know this backstory, so allow me to enlighten you:

Okay, so *initially* BNT selected Elitsa & Stoyan and for some reason decided to hold an NF: They introduced: first a terrible rapbomination, second a boring ethnoballad (think Iriao + percussion) and then pulled out an experimental fusion of ethnic bagpipes, polyphonic singing and dubstep, which Elitsa openly pointed as her favourite. 😍 Obviously, the audience had to choose for the latter? NOPE The audience chose the iriao-esque ballad 😍 and in one of the most hilariously open displays of riggage, LESS THAN A DAY AFTER THE NF (and after Elitsa allegedly threw a huge backstage temper tantrum threatening to withdraw LMFAO), BNT produced a statement that was all like “well. we can’t send “Kismet”. 🤓 You see... it has come under our attention that... the songwriter from Argentina (lmao) can’t agree to the copyright terms we demanded of him 🤓but that’s fine because it means we can send “SAMO SHAMPIONI” instead 😊‘ <3333333333333333333333456789 who the fuck is Christer Björkman, fucking NOBODY that’s who. And of course, once “Samo Shampioni” finally got to Malmö it was an utter disaster. 😍 I say "disaster” in the best meaning of the word though. I LOVE when countries showcase their musical traditions, but Elitsa and Stoyan do it so aggressively, BLASTING the unassuming viewer with loud af bagpipe noises, following it up with a menuet of polyphony, a clarion of “AAAAAAAAAAAA-YUUUU” and a finale of dubstep and mayumaniacal percussion. “Samo Sampioni” was loud, abrasive, a clamour of ethnic noise but by the same token such a catchy, infectuous, delightful fucking BOP. No surprise it got jurypwned but it was well worth the effort. 😍

________________________________________________________________

32. Nadav Guedj - “Golden boy” Israel 2015

Welcome to the Dicedrome, ladies and gentlemen: Introducing the man who put Israel back on the map after four straight NQs. But Nadav is more than just a Hebrew Tom Dice. 

For starters, “Golden boy” is also the first time we were ever subjected to Doron Medalie (and also Imri Ziv but lol Imri), who is at his BEST here (apart from that moment when he brusquely shoved Cesár out of the way as if he were Krisse Salminen lmfao 😍): “Golden boy” has everything I could want in an uptempo party song: Drama, catchy rhythm, limitless fun, chanting, dancing and an absolutely ridiculous premise: sixteen year old boy gets wasted after fruitlessly flirting with all sorts of femfolk on his first night out. Yes, THIS

is sixteen years old. 😍 But what I mostly love about “Golden boy” is the humour. Intentional humour is really hard to get right and “Golden boy” NAILS it for me. From self-deprecating one-liners, to that choreography to b-roll material like the sound effect of beer being pourn as Nadav gets further into the song, to of course the epic finale of “THREE MINUTES! BYE :selfie”. 😍

A wild ride which, as serendipity demands, is topped off by Nadav kicking off a strong Israeli streak that indeed ENDS up with Israel winning the contest (with a worse Doron composition :-/) and him showing us around in Tel Aviv. Funny how life works sometimes, huh? 

OKAY GOTTA GO  THREE PARAGRAPHS BYEBYE

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31. Jessy Matador - “Allez ola olé” France 2010

Did you know “Matador” is Eurospeak for “SLAYER”?  😉

Speaking of EPIC party songs, I was looking “Allez Ola Olé” up for my usual ranking purposes and this song.. is one of the most successful Eurovision songs EVER? I am not surprised, because “Allez olla olé” OWNS, but at the same time random 12th placers becoming massive off-season hits <3

(yes I am aware it’s because it was the French “Waka Waka” but that’s even more hilar, actually. What on earth is it doing in Eurovision <3)

Anyway, “Allez ola olé” definitely DESERVES all praise it can get. ETERNAL THORN IN THE SIDE OF THE EUROVISION ELITISTS <3 it is of course the anti-Proud, being all rhythm and no story, literally having no purpose other than making people dance (which I LOVE doing to “Allez Ola Olé”... within the confines of my bedroom, with the curtains closed because I have the dancing skills of drunk JarJar Binks) and honestly, what a spectacle. 😍

It features, in order of ascending awesomeness, male twerking (gender equality <3)

witty references to sex (which I don’t mind here because it’s clearly consentual, and therefore, healthy, ICKOLAS)

“Je sens le truc monter/..😏 ALLEEEEZ 😱”. 

DAM BA DAM BA DAM BA DAM DAM

A fucking HAKA????? (btw, the female backing doing a salute is also lowkey great <3)

Actually, TWO HAKA’S????

This song may not have relevant meaning but my weave flew all the way to French Polynesia. “Allez, ola, olé” is nothing less than fucking AWESOME. 

In this update, we pay our final respects to Norway, Malta and France: Read more about them below:

NORWAY

I don’t feel like this chart reflects my true feelings on Norway, because I like them a LOT more than what their average implies. They’re largely just dragged down by a few bad entries in the first half of the decade. Norway in the second half of this decade has shown a lot of promise and they are on my list of countries that I expect to win in the upcoming decade. 

MALTA

Malta are a very average Eurovision country imo. As you can see, they very often select songs that are not worth giving a fuck about, but conversely the few times that they do, they’re usually excellent happy-go-lucky gems. I could see them winning if they find that rare 1-in-50 entry (by one of their jesc winners preferably), but only if they keep internally selecting their entrant because lmao MES(s)C <3

FRANCE

This is a really good chart for France and roughly what I expected. Not my favourite country but solidly upper tier. France really have reinvented themselves post 2016 and are reaping the rewards with generally higher results. I hope it gets topped off with another win soon. They deserve it. 

[lemonjoonah]

I tend to ramble, so excuse the excessive amount of words. I’m- struggling to find the right words to express how much I adore your writings. ( maybe the right word could’ve been hooked? Or maybe enthralled? 😂🙊) I stumbled onto your tumblr page and now after binge reading everything!! I’m patiently waiting for an update, while that’s happening, it seems I’ve gotten the guts to ask a question. Do you have any writing tips for beginners?

Thank you so much 😊. You don’t ramble at all, if anyone tells you that you ramble reply by saying you’re simply building suspense 😂.

I’ve only been writing for a year and a bit myself, I have no formal writing training, but I would be happy to tell you what I’ve learned so far! 

Quick question to start off are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you plot your stories and chapters before you start writing or are you a panster who develops their ideas as they write? Depending on how you develop your ideas you might find that somethings work, while others don’t, there is no right or wrong way it’s just what works for you. 

Personally I am a plotter, a very heavy plotter. Some of my tips might not apply to your style and that’s okay, everyone’s different and I’m sure you’ll find your own way of going about it! There are a couple things that I find apply to both groups, so I’ll go into those first before I start covering more specific things. 

One of my favourite authors has a piece of advice that I will never forget. “Write for yourself” - V. E. Schwab. People aren’t that different, as long a you like your story others probably will too. If you try to cater to others before yourself you might find it difficult to write and your story might lack the uniqueness that is you. For example, in Artificially Inclined I was debating with myself on what the relationship between Jungkook and the Reader should be. It would have been so easy to start them off with an extremely sexual relationship, lets be honest smut often gets more views, I also plead guilty to searching specifically for smut. But going down that route didn’t feel genuine to me, while I like smut I am a sucker for a slow burn even more. Instead I started to delve into the ideas that would prevent her from pursuing that immediate intimate relationship. I hated the idea of not accepting him just because of what he is, so what would stop me, the answer of course is the ability consent. The whole story has now developed into something that speaks to me on a more personal level and it has become far more unique because of that. On that note please don’t be afraid to write for yourself!

If you are writing your first series personally I would wait to post after you’ve written a bit. I already had 55,000 to 60,000 words written before I started posting Under Fire (you don’t have to wait that long though lol, I was just really self-conscious). It went though several changes and variations before I started posting it. I found the further I got the more I had to change in the beginning. When I first started writing it I never intended Suga’s and the Readers relationship to be this intense. If I had started posting it right off the bat we all would have missed out on so much.

Which kinda brings me to my next point, know your end game! Whether you are a plotter or a pantser, have some idea of your end goal is very important for a number of reasons. It will keep you motivated, it will keep the flow of your story consistent, you won’t be struggling to figure out how to end your story, and its the surest way to know that the end of your story will go out with a bang rather than a fizzle. You don’t have to develop it first but I highly suggest knowing it before you post that initial chapter. 

Read! Read all the books! Some people look at me with confusion when I tell them I haven’t been writing long. They ask how I was able to develop a story like Under Fire as a first fic. I read, I read a lot! My bookshelves are my pride and joy. I wouldn’t be as developed in my writing skills if it weren’t for the books I’ve read. Give me a book with a fast paced plot, twists and turns and I will see you when I’m finished. That more than anything else has translated back to my writing. I pay attention to how the stories unfold, how authors can withhold information until the very end. Find a favourite author and pay attention to their style, take a look at their storytelling techniques.

Don’t be afraid to break the rules and develop your own style! I came across this issue when I first started writing Under Fire. I wanted to write the story from different points of view, to have unreliable narrators keep things hidden, and to allow them dive into their thoughts when they wanted to express them. To do that I had to have those POVs in first person but writing first person from another character’s POV in a reader insert usually takes away from the intimacy, you usually have to start referring to the MC as she or her. So I broke a rule… I had them still refer to the reader as you even when not in dialogue, which is not standard for first person.  I’ve gotten heat for this choice, believe me lol. People think I am switching between first and second person mid sentence but I’m really not, you are simply getting to hear those characters narrate to you their side of the story and their view of your character. Think of what the unknown POV would have been like in Part 15 of Under Fire had I not made this choice. To be able to hear the stream of thoughts of the character was so important. He was able to narrate directly to you how he would hold you, how he could please you even more than the person you were currently with. It is probably one of the hottest most intimate scenes I have ever written. I regret nothing 😊. 

Use your thesaurus! I always have at least one tab with my thesaurus open at all times. I tend to avoid using the same word more than once per paragraph, if I can avoid it I will, otherwise I find things start to sound repetitive. 

Now I am going to dive a bit more in to the realm of plotting so bear with me. I plot absolutely everything! First I plot the whole story, then as I write each chapter I plot the scenes, sometimes I even have to plot conversations with main points that the characters need to hit. That argument between the Reader and Namjoon in Part 15 of Under Fire had to be plotted.

If you run into a snag and are stuck between two paths try charting the outcomes and the differences between them. You’ll often find yourself leaning towards one option more than the other in the end.

Research, for me this is an absolute necessity! It often brings a bit more realism to my writing. Everything from locations and technology, to medical care. Not only does it help to make my stories more grounded but it helps me make the things I do need to create seem more believable. That dropnet override used by JK was a fabrication of mine when I couldn’t find what I needed, but the Range-R technology used in Part 9 is real. I spend hours researching stuff, with my next project Locks and Barriers I’ve probably spent as much time researching as I have writing it (more to come on that later).

Last but not least plot twists/hidden motives. For these I find plotting to be integral. Working backwards, going from the reveal back to the beginning of when it was set in motion, sometimes all the way back to the start of the story, this is why knowing your end game is so important. As long as you know the true motives for your characters they don’t always have to convey or revival themselves completely. You can always have information come up later on (this is a good method for avoiding info dumps too). Allow the readers to hunger for more information, have them searching for hints to a characters backstory. 

I hope you find at least some of this helpful. It kinda got away from me there lol. Thank you so much for asking this, and don’t be afraid to send another if you have any more questions, I’m always happy to respond to you guys! Good luck with writing! 

[mad-madam-m]

So I'm just curious, how do you get yourself to write? And do you use prompts and if you do where do you get them? I meant to use NaNo to get me to write but it took 4 days into November for me to realize November started so I failed lol. I've been meaning to start this original thing and it's just not...working.

First of all, anon, you could start writing RIGHT NOW (yes, with 10 days left in the month) and you would not fail NaNo. You might not hit 50k (although I know people who have hit 50k in that amount of time, or less), but you won’t fail. NaNoWriMo isn’t about hitting 50,000 words so much as it is about putting a stake in the ground and saying, “Here. Today. I will start writing the project I’ve always wanted to.” And doing it. Doesn’t matter what that project is—original novel, short stories, fic, poetry, revising something, a series of blog posts—NaNo is about just. Fucking. Doing it. And you still have time to Do It.

To answer your questions:

Do you use prompts and if you do, where do you get them?

For original stories, particularly novels, I usually don’t. For fic, particularly short fic I’m writing for events, I do. Tumblr has a wealth of writing prompts that range from “here’s a situation” to “here’s a line of dialogue GO,” and I tend to reblog them under the tags “fic prompts” or “writing prompts.” Honestly, most of them would work for either original fic or fanfic, so if you are a writer who likes to work from prompts, go forth and enjoy!

How do you get yourself to write?

That’s kind of a big question, and uh, the answer to it got long. Very long. (I said once that if you give me half a chance, I’ll talk about writing all the live-long day, and this answer is no exception.)

Different things motivate me for different projects, and as with all writing-related advice, YMMV, but here’s a few things that really help for getting myself to write:

1) Develop your story.

The current original story I’m working on, for example, I have not really had to struggle to get myself to write at all because 1) I’m stupid excited about it and 2) I have developed the hell out of it.

I’ve talked before about outlining my stuff here, so I won’t go too much into it again; suffice it to say that I have done about the same amount of development on my current original story that I had on ADA by the time I started writing. I started around the very end of September developing my characters and spent a good chunk of October working on setting, worldbuilding, plot, and finally my notecards.

Shockingly, having some idea of what’s happening and where I’m going is making this story easier to write.

Right? Like WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT.

Because of that, I’ve been excited about writing my story, so getting myself to write on it has been (comparatively) a cakewalk.

That’s not to say any of the writing is good (oh God no) or that there aren’t parts that need fixing, or that I haven’t been stuck. But it’s been stuck like “how do I describe seeing a tree-covered mountain in the middle of fall from the POV of someone who has never seen something like this” rather than “I have no fucking clue what happens next uh…”

The stories I struggle the most with writing are the ones that I’ve worked the least on developing. The stories that have been the easiest to write have been the ones I’ve spent at least a month doing prep work on before I ever start drafting.

2) Love your story.

Being in love with a story makes it a lot easier to write, at least for me. Because here’s the thing, ideas are easy.

If you’re a creative person, you’re going to end up with a file of story ideas—maybe prompts you liked, dialogue that stuck with you, one of those “humans are space orcs” tumblr posts that’s just really clicking in your brain—that will be longer than you could conceivably write if you had a hundred lifetimes. That’s okay! That’s great. But it means a lot of them are never going to get past the idea stage.

For me, the stories that get finished—the ones that not only get started but actually make it through the first draft and then three rounds of editing and revisions—are the ideas that I’ve been percolating on for months, if not longer. They’ve been cooking in the back of my brain while I’ve been doing other things, sorting themselves out, and most importantly: they will not let me go.

Coming up with ideas is easy. Finding an idea that will last and sustain a story and my interest for at least a year, if not longer? That’s harder.

Y’all know how much I’ve been talking about Tiger & Bunny over the past year? We’re talking that level of obsession with a story that I want to write, whether it’s fic or original. Sometimes it takes months or years for all the puzzle pieces to come together. Sometimes the whole thing will congeal within a few weeks, or there will be one crucial piece of story that will just make EVERYTHING come together, I will literally shout “OH MY FUCKING GOD” and that’s it, I’m off to the races. (In this particular case, it wasn’t anything I’d done in the first two weeks of poking at steampunk-y ideas; it was the realization that I could put a circus on an airship. The whole story just went WHOOSH after that.)

BUT. But. Sometimes you don’t have that. These stories are great and I love them and they remind me why I love writing so much (and if you’re writing something that’s gonna be 90k+, like I have a tendency to do, you need to be in love with it, IMO), but sometimes you’re in situations where you just have to get it done. In those cases:

3) Resort to bribery.

I’ve been poking at the third part of Alpha & Emissary, oh, basically since I posted the second part. My problem is that my fandom focus has been, shall we say, split for the past year. *coughs delicately, shoves Tiger & Bunny fics under the bed*

But here’s the thing: I hate having a published WIP on AO3 (it’s why I don’t publish long!fics until they’re completely drafted and mostly edited). I hate—HATE—having an unfinished series on AO3.

So that’s the rub: I have an unfinished series that I want to finish because I hate that it’s not finished. I also have a new fandom that is wresting my attention and inspiration away from said series. What’s a girl to do?

A girl tells herself she can’t write any more Tiger & Bunny fic until she finishes this one WIP, that’s what she does.

And it’s motivated me to sit my ass down and work on that WIP, because goddammit, I have a “but there was only one bed” TaiBani fic that I would really like to have up by New Year’s.

Your bribery will be different. Maybe you get to watch 1 episode of your favorite show per every 1k you write, or you get to try a new knitting project when you finish this short story. Maybe you binge-watch an entire season of your favorite anime if you exceed your NaNo goal. Or you write 50 words and get a cookie. The point is, find what works for you to get it done.

4) Figure out a minimum daily goal and stick with it.

For me, this was 500 words a day. 500 words. That’s it. That’s one 30-minute word sprint for me. That’s something I can do without stressing myself out.

Because of this point and point 3, I wrote more than 7000 words on a story I’d been stuck on for the better part of a year before I had to stop to work on NaNo stuff. Another 7k, and I’ll probably have it finished.

Your minimum word count will almost certainly be different. Maybe it’s 300 words a day, maybe it’s 1000. Hell, maybe it’s 100 words. Again, find what works for you, what you can write regularly without stressing yourself out.

Another important thing: If I didn’t hit 500 words, I didn’t beat myself up about it. Maybe I wrote 350. Or 220. Or just 93. The point is, did I write? Yes? Then I did good. I got myself a sentence or a paragraph closer to finishing. And it all adds up.

(And hey, you don’t have to write every day. I do, or I try to, because that’s what works for me. If it stresses you out to do so, then find another way to make it work.)

5) Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.

This one’s hard because I can rarely keep a deadline that’s not set by an external source. If you tell me on December 20 that you need a story by December 22? Then on December 22, you’ll have a story, edited and ready to post. But when it comes to something I set for myself, the chances of a deadline working are 50/50.

That being said, it is something that helps me keep on track and even if I don’t finish something by a self-imposed deadline, it does get me writing.

6) Sprint with friends!

NaNo is really great for this because all your writer friends are coming out of the woodwork going I need to hit 5k by the end of today, will you sprint with me? Sometimes it just helps to have that kind of accountability. You all get together (I’ve used Discord, Google Hangouts, IRC, and Twitter DMs for this), set a timer, and write for 15 minutes or 20 minutes or 30 minutes. Then, when the time’s up, you post your word count, everybody congratulates everybody else, and then you take a break before doing the next one.

Sprints are the reason I’ve been able to make some pretty significant headway on my word counts, and few things get me writing like knowing I’m going to have to tell everybody in my group what my word count is in 30 minutes or less. >.>

Like I said earlier, YMMV on all of these. What works for me may work for you, or it might not. But if you aren’t sure, it’s worth giving it a shot.

Happy writing!

[proserpine-in-phases]

@nachttour tagged me in a writing question thing!

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

uh yeah there’s like, several. some of them are better developed than other but a lot of the reason I’ve been holding off on writing them just comes down to feeling inadequate due to my own limited experience with relationships and feelings of complete inadequacy. it’s hard to write an epic romancu when I’m aromantic as fuck and have a hard time conceptualizing what those feelings might be like to experience, for example, or like, I want the story to be funny but I feel like I’m not actually a very funny person?

also I always feel like I need to do more research. I get stuck on the research phase about 85% of the time haha

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

man I am embarrassed by MYSELF existing, so  idk probably all of it when you get right down to it

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

it seems to vary a bit. sometimes I just power through start to finish, but sometimes I need to write the ending first to remind myself of what I’m shooting for. sometimes I just gotta write some random scenes in the middle before I forget what they are and have to figure out where they’ll go later.

considering the longest thing I’ve managed to finish comes in at about 12 k  I don’t know if I have enough data to really come up with a firm answer for this one though. from what I can tell, it really does seem like I start at the beginning and go for a bit, write the end, and try to connect the two with occasional random middle bits getting written out of order and a general feeling of “I’ll fix it in post” carrying me through

4) favorite character you’ve written

probably Samantha Traynor. she’s such a fucking nerd and I love her. it was surprisingly easy to write for her once I got started. at least I THINK I did a good job writing her, I have no actual idea haha

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

I’ve written TWO mass effect fics featuring Samara as a main character and I have no idea how this happened or why because she’s about in the middle when it comes to my most to least favorite mass effect characters list

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

there’s a couple of fics I wrote for fic exchanges that I kinda wish I could take back and turn into something else because I love the concept but feel guilty about idk, using as a springboard because the original is a gift, or something. it feels ehhhhhhhhh disingenuous to continue them when the gift is supposed to be a singular and self contained unit

for example, oh man I would love to take that vrisrezi space pirates au someplace, but I don’t know if I should because the fic itself is a gift, complete, and so forth. 

plus I hate the way I run out of steam about 4 chapters into everything. I would like to not run out of motivation please

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

considering my output is so low I barely consider myself a writer at all tbh.

but yes, embarrassed. I hope to god the three people I know irl who follow me just like. never see those posts haha

8) favorite genre to write

space adventure! and lately? mysteries even though I have no FUCKING idea why or even how to write them, which is why I have at least three projects stalled out on me haha

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

I read a lot, mostly. sometimes I stare at a wall. or play minesweeper. 

also when I’m doing something fairly mindless sometimes my mind wanders and I hit something. 

oh and music. music is great

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

I usually need music, mood music preferable, instrumental so the lyrics don’t distract me. generally I prefer to not be around people when I write, though a public setting is also fun to write in. I’m too distractable to actually get any done though, so I usually end up just looking like a tool with their notebook out if I try to write in a coffee shop or whatever tho, haha

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

I think writing fanfic has really helped me figure out what it means to write in character. also I think I’m starting to get better at balancing dialogue versus narration? at least a little bit

12) your weaknesses as an author

the inability to actually finish shit. 

unwillingness to approach emotions that make me feel uncomfortable. 

the fact that I often approach writing a character with the thought of what I would do in a situation rather than what the character would do (which is why writing fanfiction is helping me with that haha)

coming up with plots that lend themselves well to longer stuff

13) your strengths as an author

pretty good at dialogue

when it comes to my own shit, pretty good at coming up with interesting fantasy worlds (I think they’re interesting at least)

I’ve got a pretty firm grasp overall just the nuts and bolts of writing: I mean I tutored English in college for fuck’s sake I know how to write a grammatically correct run on sentence when I want to 

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

not really

15) why did you start writing?

I wanted to know what happened next

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

not really? I mean, there are specific character TYPES that’ll get me every time, though, like the happy go lucky person who has to learn what pain is but still come out the other side a LOT worse for wear but not completely broken (think Tasslehoff Burrfoot, or perhaps less obscure Vash the Stampede) but I wouldn’t say they haunt me, per say

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

don’t be afraid to be self indulgent. you’ll enjoy it more and who the fuck cares, anyway? people who’ll make fun of you for doing what you love are ass holes

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

If I’m honest I can’t really say what influences my writing style, if I even have one. Mostly all I can do is list off my favorite authors because I’m pretty sure they all have something to do with it. 

so let’s just do that I guess.  when I was a teenager I tended to find a single author and just read through all their works before moving on, and these are the big ones that stand out:

Connie Willis, Anne McCaffrey, Steven Brust and Ursula K. Le Guin. Connie Willis for the humor she includes in almost all her writing, Anne McCaffrey because I STILL spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about Pern. She had a real skill for coming up with both great characters and great settings, even if what she did with them, and also her inability to keep continuity were less good. Steven Brust introduced me to the idea of relating to morally reprehensible characters at an alarmingly young age. Ursula K. Le Guin, I just love her. No idea if it’s actually done anything GOOD to my writing but she gives me something to aspire to.

I read just. a ridiculous amount of fantasy and science fiction as a kid, the genres as a whole without a doubt influence the type of shit I end up writing. also in seventh grade I mainlined dragonlance, just the whole damn thing

later in college I got really into Margaret Atwood. her focus on female characters and narrative just is really great.  

then I went through a depressive phase in my late 20s and just exclusively read Julia Quinn, Joanna Lindsey, Sabrina Jeffreys and Eloisa James, and that was IT. so I’m pretty sure my foray into the romance genre is what makes me honestly prefer povs limited to two or three characters  hey, reading romance novels also lead me to the realization that I’m aromantic so \o/ I guess

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

I outline and then give up lol

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

little spurts until something grabs me and makes me marathon. usually that’s a deadline, but sometimes it’s also inspiration 

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

mostly just holy shit I can’t believe I wrote this! sometimes that’s bad, sometimes it’s good. I can’t really tell if I’m good at divorcing myself from my writing enough to give me perspective on it, to tell the truth, because for a good lot of it, I still think it’s pretty good so ???

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

it’s hard for me to let a character be embarrassed by the dumb shit they do. I don’t want them to do dumb shit because of it, which makes it hard for the character to have shit to grow and learn from.

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

I’m pretty sure my own issues with having and experiencing some emotions makes its way into the stuff I choose to write about, especially when it comes to the original stuff (I have. at LEAST three different plot outlines that involve characters literally losing the ability to experience emotions and having to find a way to heal or gain it back haha)  

also the fic I wrote about the box ghost is literally just about what it’s like to work in a factory haha

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

listen. 

yes.

I fucking. LOVE. research. 

honestly this is the stage where I most often get lost in the weeds, distracted by my own need to know more

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

“He was not the knight Casey taught him to be, but he was close enough for government work“ remains the single best pun I’ve ever written

tagging: @anthropwashere @inktail @manicpixiesdreamdragon if you guys are up for it!

[darkangel0410]

Found this in my drafts and I’m not sure who tagged me in it? Decided to post it anyways, so enjoy.

+Where do you publish your work?

A03. Some of my old stuff is still on the pit and lj. Also on dw, I think? But I just post on AO3 now. 

+What medium/application/etc. you use?

Word and google docs. Docs saves automatically and backs everything up on google drive, which is a balm to my soul because I’ve lost so many words when laptops have suddenly keeled over and died on me.

+Do you collaborate with others?

Sometimes? I’ve written a ton of fic with @007waffles007 over the past couple years, so, yes, I can collaborate with people, I just don’t very often, I guess.

+How much editing do you do before you publish?

It depends, really. If it’s under 10k, I usually just run it through spellcheck a few times and read it over. If it’s over that, I’ll ask someone to look it over for me. But I don’t have a beta, per se. So I guess the answer is: not much, lol.

+Do you listen to music while you write?

Yeah, almost always. I can write without it, but it’s a struggle and I’m usually not as productive as I would be with music playing.

+How do you decide what to write about?

That’s a hard question, because sometimes I don’t have a clue where my ideas come from. I mean, sometimes I’ll see a movie or a gif or an interview or read a book and go, “Wow, what if Nico Hischier was the devil and Nolan Patrick had his demon spawn a la Rosemary’s Baby?” and that’s a definite book/movie that I can point to as inspiration.

But sometimes I wake up in the morning and think, “I wonder what would happen if Jack Eichel’s dad was Poseidon and he could talk to water? And sharks? And what if some of the guys who went to NTDP were also the kids of Greek gods?” and I have no clue where it came from, it was just there one day.

+When do you write?

In the summer, usually between 10 am and 2 pm and at night from 9:30 pm to whenever I go to bed. During hockey season, that goes out the window because I usually have at least two games to watch every night, so usually just the mornings from right about now until whenever my teams get bounced in the playoffs (so mid-April because they’re all awful).

+How often do you write?

I try to write something every day, but a lot of times it doesn’t happen for various reasons. As long as I write a couple paragraphs every few days I consider it a win.

+Do you take requests?

It depends on my mood, really. I’ll ask friends for prompts sometimes if I want to write something different than what I’m working on (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve messaged @007waffles007 and said, “hey give me a Strome bros prompt please” but it’s a lot I’m sure), and I’ll do the headcannon memes that float around tumblr, but really that’s it.

+Is there a genre or type of story you want to write but are hesitant to?

Hmmm, not really? I write all the tropes that I’m really interested in or that I enjoy already, so. There’s some kinks I don’t always write about, if that counts? Hockey fandom is very vanilla in a lot of ways, so, yeah, there’s specific kinks I don’t write that I’d like to. If that counts?

+Any inspirational quotes, videos, tricks, articles, etc that help you stay motivated?

Not guotes, per se, but I like to talk to other writers alot. It helps me to organize my thoughts and walk through my timeline, see any potential problems that may be there.

+Go to page 7 of your WIP, skip to the 7th line, and share 7 sentences:

I only have one fic that’s currently that long, so enjoy some Jack Eichel/Connor McDavid:

He sounds hesitant to Jack, like he’s not sure if Jack’s going to tell him to go fuck off or maybe punch him in the face; Jack knows he can be a dick sometimes, but he’s got to play in this tournament with Connor and they should probably at least be on speaking terms for the next few weeks. “Yeah, sure. Let’s go check it out.”

Connor grins at him, face lighting up like he’s actually thrilled Jack wants to spend time with him. Jack tells himself the flush of pleasure he feels at the sight of Connor’s smile is just for the good of the team.

He doesn’t believe it: he’s always been shitty at lying to himself.

To his credit, Connor doesn’t hang back, he stands next to Jack on the ledge that’s around the pool and cautiously reaches out to touch the manta rays and other animals that come crowd the water by them; he doesn’t say much, either, content to focus on whatever he was thinking about while Jack talks to the sea and everyone else that wants to talk to him.

He’s not sure how long he’s been zoned out for but when he focuses back on Connor, he’s patiently waiting still, taking pics of the pool and the animals; Jack catches himself watching Connor for a few seconds, smiling to himself when Connor makes a face at his phone.

Connor glances up and meets Jack’s eyes, grinning broadly; it makes Jack flush and he can feel his face turning bright red, and he speaks up before Connor can say anything. “I’m starving, want to go get something to eat before we head back?”

*

Tagging @007waffles007 @candy-belle @froggiej and anyone else who wants to do this.

[not-poignant]

Can I ask for 8 (again - though I also really love the section you chose!), 15, 21, 27, and 40(again)? Sorry if it's too many, you can just pick a couple instead of you need to! (I'm just endlessly curious!)

I’m skipping the dialogue one (Q8) (though I have answered it) not because I don’t want to but because this post just got really really really long and I’m already embarrassed. e.e

Have answered 15 here!

21. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

It really depends on what it is.

Random fic oneshot? Probably not that many times. Once?

Something in the Fae Tales verse? That usually goes through more rigorous editing. Sometimes around 2-5 pass-throughs from me, depending on how smooth I think the chapter was. (I have been told by a head editor of a publishing company that I write very ‘clean’). But I have a habit of writing clunky or clumsy sentences, and sometimes editing pass-throughs are less about typos and more about sort of smoothing out the reading experience so it’s more pleasurable and less ‘well that was a weird fucking sentence.’

Fanfiction really depends on my mood. Sometimes I’m super thorough, and sometimes I don’t care that the word ‘enough’ has been used three times in the same paragraph. I also don’t care about passive tense as much as some people, because I really like passive tense. I’ll still always edit though. I’ve never written something and put it up straight away.

Original novels get edited per chapter, and then get about three really thorough edits from me at the end. That will be a grammar/typo/sentence structure edit, a continuity/substantive edit (including adding/subtracting scenes) and the a final formatting/copy edit.

Just about everything I write goes to a beta, and original novels/short stories go to a couple of betas and then an editor. After the final editor pass-over, I make those changes, send it back to the editor, and after that I proof-read, which is my least favourite part and I have been lazy enough on this before that a typo I missed and the editor missed made it through to print, so…eep.

Read mores hide my shame at how long this response is (and you don’t have to see how much I hate AO3 story collaborations as a rule):

27. How do you feel about collaborations? 

In terms of more than one person working on the same story: I don’t like them. I’m a very control-hungry author and I enjoy worldbuilding and character building from the ground up, and even the fic authors I love the most I’ve never ever thought ‘I should do some kind of collaboration with them.’ I don’t want to pollute their style with my own, I love what they do because of what they do, so collaborations really aren’t my thing. I don’t write to ‘socialise’ or to have a really close bond with someone, which isn’t to say that I don’t make friends through writing, or that I don’t have writer friends, but specifically, I don’t want to write in a social way. I’m too introverted, too reclusive, and honestly, too controlling over the stories I want to write. I suspect I’d be an asshole to collaborate with.

It’s no coincidence that I was always that person at university who ended up doing everyone’s work in the ‘group work’ assignments, and eventually preferred it that way.

I do roleplay with a friend though. I’m not open for roleplaying with anyone else, but we’ve easily gotten down over a million words over the past few years. I have tentatively thought about adapting that into an original story, or stories? So that would then count as collaboration? But that’s a lot of work, and honestly I just enjoy that as something that only the two of us currently get to look at.

I’m also really wary of reading AO3 collaborations with two or more authors. Generally speaking, it usually means the story has been roleplayed beforehand, and you either get two perspectives in the same chapter with no breaks between those (which I personally hate, it’s cool if that’s your thing), clumsy transitions between voice, a lack of consistency in style of prose, or get clunky transitions on theme. There’s always exceptions to the rule and I’ve bookmarked a few collaborations, but about 8 out of 10 ‘multi author’ stories I read on AO3 really show (at least on my end, as a reader) the cons of writing with a partner or friends, than they show the pros. :/ I imagine the pros for the author/s though, is that they actually got a story written that might not have been written otherwise.

Even Glen and I have talked about collaborating, and we eventually decided against it, and we live together, and share everything together, lol. And he’s a writer! A very very good one!!

Exceptions to this are: I have and will collaborate in a writer’s room for scriptwriting. Idk why, it just feels different. And I would absolutely collaborate with an artist on a graphic novel. In fact I would love to do that. Also I have illustrated tarot cards for other writers in the past. And have done art collaborations such as the Red Circle series where I painted the sculptures, and Le Animale made the sculptures, and then I did accompanying art and totem meanings. So I guess I’m just also quite fussy about writing quality, and I know how collaborations often fuck the shit out of that in a bad way.

(I have participated in a fic round robin once though but hush let’s never talk about that, it wasn’t a terrible experience I just didn’t really enjoy it either).

40. Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

Okay.

Okay like imagine like, imagine Snowball Earth.

Like we’re in the next ice age.

And imagine all the humans are gone right? They’re just…gone. Maybe there’s like a few pockets left here and there, but otherwise gone.

And now imagine Pitch and Jack and the rest of the Guardians standing on this icy white plain looking out into this vista of endless cold and then Bunnymund just exclaims:

‘Fucking great, Jack, now you’ve gone and done it, haven’t you?’

And then he pops into a tiny little bunny, because there aren’t really many people left to worship any of them anymore.

And Pitch places his hand around Jack’s shoulders and says quietly, with a smile:

‘I’m so proud of you.’

*

From this meme.