#im just hoping the plot outline holds for the rest of the story

[valeriianz]

For the fic writer asks:

4. Obviously you did research for BitB. I'd love you to ramble about it if you like I'm sure you've got STORIES

5. Did you outline it?

7. How'd you decide it would be Hob's pov?

25-27 I'd love to know a/some favorite lines, details, and any lore you might want to share

omg TJ what wonderful questions! thank you!! this is going to get LONG!

4: Rambling about research!

do you wanna see a screen shot of my bookmarks under my "band au" folder?

man, and that's only what could fit on the screen.

there is... SO MUCH i chose to ignore for this fic. ideas that i had to drop, lines or extra details about the other band members equipment. more logistics, what Lucienne actually does, what Mervyn has to put up with as the new touring stage manager... i realized very early on that i couldn't possibly cram all this (super cool and eye opening) information into the fic and still keep reader's interest and, most importantly, to not stray away from the fact that this is a dreamling fic. whenever i felt myself getting carried away with a side character or job or even social media numbers, gossip, outside POVs, i had to reign myself in and get back on track. there will be time for exploring everything i missed in side stories after BitB is finished. i just hope i still have the energy to write it all.

once, i was so deep into research that after publishing chapter 2, i went into work and when my chef asked what "GA" meant on my prep list, i answered with full confidence, "general admission."

(it means "get ahead.")

the worst part of this entire writing process is im still learning new shit. i havent rewatched or read a lot of what i've saved because, to be very honest, i was feeling a little burnt out. it's why we're kinda full steam dreamling now. it's why ive been glossing over a lot of technical stuff and being vague about conversations amongst the crew/not including it at all. i don't prefer ignoring my research, but at the end of the day i want to still enjoy writing this fic and finish it. even if i can't be as descriptive and detailed and nuanced as i used to be.

5: Did you outline the fic?

(also asked by @hardly-an-escape!)

i wouldn't call what i have a proper "outline," it's more like a 20k word document filled to the brim with notes that i skim at least a dozen times while i'm writing a new chapter (being in my brain is literally hell). i live multichapter life very dangerously. i copy and paste lines or sections (always scattered, never together! augh!) that are meant to go together and plop them in a new document titled "band au ch.#" and then i structure the chapter around what i want to happen.

but to answer this question in the plainest of terms: yeah. i know exactly what's going to happen up until the very end. even if its all in my head and the only concrete shit that's written down are beats/plot points. i'll figure out the rest later!

7: How'd you decide it would be Hob's POV?

i actually never even considered writing it from Dream's POV. this was my first fic in the fandom (which is so nuts to think about lol) and writing in Dream's POV sounded so scary lol. i also just thought Hob's would be easier because i have worked a few backstage shows, back in my college years. i figured eh, i can make this work. and i loved exploring how weird and mysterious musicians can be, from a normie's POV. making Hob a fan first and having him worry about developing a parasocial relationship... it was fun to explore.

25: Share your favorite line

oh god, i have so many haha.

“What are you thinking about?” starting in ch.2 and onward lmao

“It’s–” Dream laughs quietly, bitterly. “I don’t like change.” He says each word with emphasis, eyes trailing down to fixate somewhere past Hob. “And I still hold onto the things I can control, like my instruments–” his eyes swing up to regard Hob apologetically. “Or my clothes or my–” he brings a hand up and wiggles his fingers around his head. “My hair.” ch.4

"His majesty is pleased." ch.5

“You are obsessive,” he states, slow and cool and with a quiet smile cracking through his composure. “Just like me.” ch.7

“You look good.” Hob has to lean in to say so, unwilling to raise his voice amongst the roar of the fans. ch.11

“Del looks like porcelain, but she’s actually made of steel.” Desire swirls the contents of their glass before pushing their shoulders back with a deep breath. “She's tougher than all of us.” ch.11

“Everything. I want…” his fingers tighten in Hob’s hair, pulling him closer, speaking against his lips. “…Everything.” ch.14

26: Share your favorite detail

how intentionally coy Dream behaves. i love keeping him a mystery and deciding when and how much to allow his intentions to peek through has been so fun lol.

Despair is in fact covered in tattoos and piercings! i say this because i feel like sometimes i forget lmao. (but also her and Hob don't interact much so. my bad haha).

Delirium's constant explosion of color in the way she dresses <3

Hob's dedication to his job, Dream, and the people he cares about the most. i don't care if people think i'm making him too soft and good, im gonna project on that man and make him a sweet, sweet simp lmao

and ah, this doesn't matter anymore, and i kinda regret doing it but. i originally had Dream's favorite bass all black but the pickguard was white. so it actually looked like Jessamy. not gonna lie when @designtheendless drew it all black i decided i liked it better that way. and truly i do. that's when i went back to ch.1 and changed it haha. to actually see the guitar with Dream, all done up sparkling black and purple flecks... gosh it's just so him. but then i got up to the reveal that the guitar's name was Jessamy and i was like, "oh, right." lmao. no one seems to care so i'll leave it be.

27: Share a piece of lore you made up for the story

i have a lot lmao. and this post is already so long... im hoping i can get to some if not all of it in side fics in the future. but for now, here's some that's more like headcanons but:

Dream hates flying. he can full on go into panic attacks on the plane if he allows himself to get into his own head.

this was mentioned briefly in ch.4, while Dream was discussing the formation of the band, but Despair was in another band before joining Endless. she is the only character in the fic who gets to keep her English roots (lol sorry) and is the oldest in the band (30).

all of the band members ages: Dream, Desire, and Death are all 28 and Delirium is 22.

Dream can experience subdrop after going too hard during a performance.

Dream paints his own nails, it's very therapeutic.

as an exercise, i explored my own headcanons for Dream in this verse in a word doc, and one thing i will share from it that you might find interesting: If I were to ever give Dream a theological values, I would describe him as a satanist. He is a physical and pragmatic person, nonconforming, and although he is introverted, he enjoys being a part of a community (he loves his band).

also found this in my notes: How Desire and Dream got along was Death making them fight it out. Hob raises an eyebrow “like in a brawl?” He couldn't imagine Desire throwing hands. “No, in a pillow fight that escalated in hair pulling and verbal taunts.”

fic writer asks

[stennnn06]

hey sten. i’ve been an admirer of your writing for years now. and i would like some advice from you. i’ve been in a writing slump for awhile. at first it started as not having any ideas. but now that i have some sense of what i want to get at, it’s all scattered and everything overlaps each other. that’s where i’m at right now. i keep my writing in a journal because i feel like I get everything out quicker, hahaha. i know i have my plot down and my main love interests (wlw btw hehe) but I can’t seem to get the in between narratives flowing. and i hate forcing myself to come up with things. any advice for me on how to stay motivated? because i’ve been fighting so hard to continue writing and now that i finally have an idea i’m all over the place, hahaha. ty kristen ❤️

aw thanks for sending!

haha i feel like i definitely relate to this, especially with my original stuff. fanfic too, sometimes, especially when the ideas are churning faster than i can process. im no expert, because i think my writing process is truly chaotic HA but a few things that have helped me:

-writing the outline, so i have the framework of the plot and adjusting it as necessary. i like having at least the framework down as my base and this is where i just write anything down that might be relevant: bits of dialogue that MIGHT go in a scene, bullet points, notes about what i'm trying to say, a scene starter, a cute idea, whatever. i refer to it often (even if i deviate). its a living outline and i adjust it consistently throughout the process but its where everything 'lives'. this takes weeks sometimes but it helps get all my ideas on a page

-eventually i move on to actually writing the story. i used to HATE the first draft but now its my favorite because its a free-for-all. i write the scenes i want to write without worrying about starting them in a pretty way or what order they'll appear in. i go in ATTEMPTING to put them in the order i think they'll be in, but i know realistically it may shift. i also let myself dive in to what i want to write and watch the scenes take shape without worrying about transitions or sentence structure. it helps get the story out, even if its painfully bad.

- i try to force myself to stick with a direction i want to go with the story (especially in the early stages) unless i get a significant way into the draft and realize i DO want to change the back story or an event or go in a different direction because its going to impact the rest of it. i'll then archive what i've written and save it on another page so i don't lose it, and fill in the gaps OR start the draft over on a clean page. i think most people say you need to finish the entire first draft before making that change, but for me - its how i stay motivated. i can't finish something that i know is broken so fundamentally haha.

-dialogue! i happen to be a big dialogue person. i like writing snippets of dialogue, text conversations, emails, whatever between characters in order to get their voices down. and more often than not, my outline has dialogue all over it that i can see fitting into the scenes. i think this makes the narrative piece easier (for me) and helps me figure out how we get from A to B to C. once the dialogue snippets are written, i can start to see the scene take shape -- i can see if a character should be pacing, or holding a glass, or doing x,y,z. then suddenly, a setting! action! a scene!

i hope some of this helped! i'm sure your story is going to be great!!!

[saturnovy]

hey hi hello !! i wanted to say your original story looks super cool and i'd love to know more about it 👀 do you have any kind of plot outlined for it?

also the song you made (for the brother fallen) is genuinely incredible, it sounds like something you'd find in a video game that sticks with you for years after you play (like undertale maybe) !!

ALSO your art is SO good ??? i love the eye themes in a lot of it, and your art style is so cool !!! (if i could request that you tag all your art with a specific tag like "my art" or smth so that it would be easier for ppl to look thru on ur blog, that'd be awesome bc i want to see all of your art!! no worries if not ofc !!)

sorry for such a long ask, but i just had so much to say oops, i hope you're having a good week!!

waaaa! hi, you’re so sweet! i hope you have a good LIFE! you angel, don’t worry about the ask length <3

i’m glad someone likes my story, it holds a special place in my heart.

i probably should have an art tag by now, but my brain fries and i forget🫠

glad you like the eye theme! for some reason, even though i have a fear of being stared at, drawing eyes and adding eye motifs to things makes me happy

(story plot under cut)

if i had to describe “from the flatwoods”, i’d say it’s like a mashup of “the owl house”, “the magnus archives”, and horror movie elements

the main plot is about a 16 year old boy named daniel hallows, who moves to a small town in the middle of nowhere called “wood’s rest”.

in classic show style, wood’s rest is completely messed up. the surrounding forest is riddled with creatures and supernatural monsters of all kinds.

he meets a group of kids around his age who seem very intrigued by the supernatural and later learn that they are, in fact, the reason monsters haven’t destroyed literally everything.

there’s a big focus on other worlds and horror. shapeshifter, cryptids, mysteries, the works.

“for the brother fallen” is a theme i wrote for two of my characters, samuel and lunar spire. the go through it. unfortunately.

im hoping to have the designs for all the characters put on here at some point, and i’ll explain each of the characters in their respective posts.

[miriamctaylor]

So I’ve mentioned that, after a few years of losses, I’ve been doing a partial rewrite for this year’s NaNoWrimo to try and ease my way back into it...welp, I’m getting close to the point where the rewriting ends and the writing-writing begins, and I am terrified...

[cheelduh]

How to bet your way into someone’s heart. (Highschool AU)

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Warnings: Fake weed. Poor Signora smh. Oh yes, lots of swearing. UNEDITED ASF IM LAZY BYE.

Synopsis: Childe is being an infatuated idiot, Lisa has eyes for vending machine chocolate, and Kaeya is desperately in need of a pencil. With all these distractions, there’s no way in hell you’ll be able focus on the task at hand.

This is crack.

I don’t have time.

You think as you race down the hallway, shoes slapping against the floor as you expertly dodge multiple students in your way.

Bullet. You're as fast as a bullet, because everyone around you is a blur and you don't stop, can't stop, not until you meet your target.

It's funny how one can accomplish many challenges and feats they were unable to, merely due to pressure. Pressure is a twisted ugly thing that can gnaw its way into the pit of your stomach and grow like a parasite. Pressure is a parasite that can either bring the best in you, or the worst, but at the cost of one's peace of mind.

"Move it Signora!" You shouted a warning at the senior blocking your way. There wasn't any time for you slow down at that point, and you'd risk bumping into the breakfast club's stall if you swerved to the side, sending juice flying everywhere.

Signora's eyes widened momentarily, getting the gist albeit her anger, and choosing to back up flatly against the locker.

Her lipstick nearly slips from her fingers as you swerve past, a thick gust of wind in your wake.

It messes with the hair she woke up two hours early for.

Signora plots her revenge. You still don't have time.

You nearly kick the door to your home room down, but you can't risk the perfect image your teachers have of you. So you pat down your t-shirt, take five tempting deep breaths, and tentatively knock the door.

The door opens and you're met with a young man, familiar amber pupils welcoming you.

You try not to huff and puff at the cost of your stamina. Thinking back, there's no way in hell you could have physically been that fast.

"Good morning Y/N," Your homeroom teacher gives you a small smile, moving aside to let you in. "Class is just about to start."

You check your watch, then turn to him with an apologetic tone, trying not to crack under the eyes of your classmates. "I'm so sorry Mr.Zhongli, I slept through my alarm."

Your idiot ass forgot to set one because you studied till four in the morning.

"You're like thirty seconds late, cut the shit." Beidou boos from the back, causing your stance to stiffen.

"I don't wanna hear it Beidou. If anything, you're two periods earlier than usual." Ningguang calls her out for you, but you have a feeling it's more so on behalf of a personal vendetta.

Ignoring the two bickering, Mr.Zhongli gives you the handout. "Take a seat. Do not fret over such minuscule things dear."

Relief washes over you. Your impeccable attendance is not on the line.

Childe tries to flag you down next to him but you send him a pointed glare and sit next to Lisa instead.

"You should give him a chance you know." Lisa doesn't even have to open her eyes to know what's going on.

"Please," You scoff, digging through your bags to collect your notes. "As if I have the time to fool around with a shady kid like him."

Your friend sighs in disapproval, and makes no move to take out her own notes as Mr.Zhongli begins the lecture on the Archon war.

"You should really pay attention." It bothers you that she doesn't, but then again it's not your place to tell her what to do or not to do.

"I don't need to." She yawns, blinking an eye open towards you. "I have you after all."

"I'm tired of saving your ass." You groan and pull a pen out of your pocket to get started on the exercises as Mr.Zhongli talks in the background.

The course outline contained all the topic, and you made sure to teach yourself as much as you could before class to stay ahead.

Immersed in the worksheet, you blinked away your sleep and tried to answer as many questions as you could at the moment. You didn't hear the slight shift next to you, and the change of breathing, or the rate of which time went by.

A familiar scent makes its way into your nostrils.

"Lisa. Why do you smell like mango juul juice." You know the scent from when Signora blew a mango flavoured fog in your face yesterday at lunch when you said you were hungry.

A chuckle erupts and you freeze in place. "That's because I'm not Lisa."

You blink. Once, twice, and then crane your head to the side to meet a pair of teasing cerulean eyes.

Fingers loosening in shock, the pen drops on the desk with a short thud.

You whisk your head towards the front of the classroom, and Mr.Zhongli is nowhere to be seen.

"There's no saving you now." Childe's smirk widens, and he scoots closer to you. "Mr.Zhongli had to get something from the staff room. The staff room is near the cafeteria."

"Which is also near the merch stall." You grumbled, bringing both hands to massage your temples as a headache is beginning it's reign.

"Tsk tsk. Smart girl. I'd like to add that he's forgotten his wallet in his office as well, which is in the south wing."

"Son of a..." You mutter underneath your breath, and opt to scoot further back, but your efforts are futile because your desk is in a corner.

Your next beacon of hope is Lisa, so you scan the room full of chattering students, only to find her pestering her crush, Jean.

Shit...there's nothing getting you out of this one.

"What did it take?" Is your only question, the despair starting to brew. How much did it take for your best friend to betray you?

"A dollar and fifty for vending machine chocolate."

You take a moment to breathe, calming your nerves and burying down the urge to screech. "What will it take?"

"For what?" Childe replies back innocently, and you can't believe how fast he can change masks. You almost give in.

"For you to leave me alone."

"Aww come on girlie," He whines, closing in the distance. "Don't be so cold."

What did your mom tell you that one time? Oh yes. That if you were ever backed against a wall, then just break the damn thing down.

Too bad it's figurative. You're just about ready to sock him in the face if you didn't know he was into that sort of thing.

"I'm serious about you," He says, and it sounds so real, so genuine, nearly makes you sputter. "See? I've even bought school supplies.

He unzips his light backback and spills the contents on the table.

A lone piece of paper flies out, a lighter, and a mechanical pencil with no lead that follows straight after. There's also a pocket knife that you choose to ignore.

You're not the least bit surprised.

"First of all, how the fuck are you passing this class. Second, do you really think I'm into nerds?"

"Well, considering that you are a nerd—"

"You're making things worse."

"My bad, my bad." He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "But on a serious note. I'll do anything."

You cross your arms. "I'm not just another one of your conquests Childe. It's not like I have the time. There are better things to do."

"You need to relax." He says so simply, with complete disregard as to what you are trying to say.

"I am relaxed." You reply, picking up your pen to continue your work. If he's going to annoy you, then you might as well get shit done while he's at it.

You're not wasting any more time.

"When was the last time you got a full eight hours of sleep?" His voice is soft, too soft, and it's not at all like the Childe you know.

Your pen stops momentarily, but you will yourself to continue writing. The words look fumbled, but you don't care. The best thing to do is get your work done and ignore the idiot next to you.

"C'mon, Zhongli won't be back for another half an hour at least. Let's go." He kicks the bottom of your chair to urge you.

The pen shakes in your hand, and you narrow your eyes at the paper, digging holes into poor question eight. "I'm trying to work here. Let me work." You'll say anything to get him off your back.

"Fine fine fine..." He raises both hands in mock surrender. "I'll stop bothering you."

Your ears perk up at that, and you turn to him so fast he has to hold in his laugh. "Really?"

"Yeah," Childe nods along, bringing your hopes up. "If you win a bet, that is." And they're back to ocean level.

You roll your eyes. There's always a catch. That doesn't mean you're any less interested.

"What's the bet?" You ask curiously, all your focus now on him. Just as he longed for from the very start.

He flicks a thumb towards the door, leaning closer to whisper next to your ear. "We bet when Zhongli comes back."

"Are you kidding me?" You aren't bothered at all at the close proximity, mainly because you're too tired and only care about the freedom that will come with your win.

Childe, however, is a completely different story. His heart is beating a thousand times a second, but his face doesn't show it. Not one bit.

Kaeya leans in from the seat behind you two, interested in what's going on. "Ooooh secrets."

"Shut up Kaeya." Childe and you monotonously drone in sync, still having your little staring contest.

The captain of the skating team smiles, about to ask—

"No. We don't have an extra pencil. Even if we did we wouldn't give it to you." Childe finally breaks his gaze to scare off Kaeya.

Kaeya raises a smug brow, and leans back in his chair like the jerkwad he is. "Then don't let me keep you two love birds."

That's all it takes for him to earn Childe's unwavering respect and loyalty for as long as he lives.

After the two are done creating an elaborate handshake as a mark of their newfound friendship, you decide to just forget about the handout. It's not like you're getting anything done anyways.

"Anyways, back to the bet." Childe says, resting his cheek on his fist as he stares at you dreamily. You try not to break under his gaze.

"If I win, you have to go on a date with me."

"No way in hell—"

"Then I'll bother you for the rest of highschool."

Highschool is eternity. You don't want to live through an eternity of this.

"Fine." You answer, and for the first time he sees genuine fear in your face, it makes him waver slightly. Not enough for him to pity you.

"If I win..." You trail, thinking loud and clear as you ignore the excited chatter of your classmates. "I want you to pay attention to class."

"What?" He exclaims incredulously, blinking in disbelief. "I thought you'd get me to stop talking to you altogether."

"If you're paying attention in class, you don't bother me as much and your grades go up." You grin smartly, and oh archons it livens his entire day up, and it's only nine in the morning.

"You care about my grades?" Childe bites back a smile.

"Not at all." You lie, and quickly look away. Woah the floor tile looking trippy.

He decides it's better to get on with the bet without causing you any more distress. After all, you've given him such cute facial expressions today. He's feeling quite generous.

Pulling out his cracked-as-shit latest model phone, he unlocks it and tinkers with it a bit before turning the screen towards you.

"We'll be using this to time both of our predictions at the same time. Whoever has the closer time to when he finally swings by is the winner." The rules are simply put, no room for error.

You tilt your head in confusion. "Why am I seeing a slime review?"

"SHIT!" Childe fumbles with his phone, aggressively tapping on the screen. He lowers his head and voice as if he's been through fifty consecutive hits in the face. "It's uh, Teucer's account."

"Yeah...okay." Is all you can say.

"Ok what do you bet?" He changes the topic to unfuck the situation.

Putting a finger in your chin, you think for a minute, calculating the average of all the times Mr.Zhongli has left the classroom for a considerable amount of time.

"Fifteen minutes." You're sure of it. It's like clockwork every day.

"Hmm..." Childe crosses his arms, seemingly in deep thought. "Five minutes." He places his bet, and both timers start simultaneously.

Five minutes?! Is he serious?

You laugh inwardly. This challenge is in the bag.

The sense of victory you feel dulls when your ears pick up the echo of footsteps nearing the classroom.. Both your heads snap up to the doors.

There's something scary about Childe once his competitive side comes out. "Looks like I've won." He turns to you, eyes darkening evilly.

"What? There's no way in hell a ginger is right." Your palms are clammed up, eyebrows furrowed in panic. You calculated every single variable, how could this be?

You race to the front, Childe right on your tail as the entire class clamps up. The footsteps get louder, causing even whispers to become total silence.

Then it hits you. The shitty music about getting bitches and bars playing on the other side.

The door is swung open by Childe, and you're face to face with an idiot sophomore with a speaker in his pocket.

Childe’s grin is long gone, and you sigh in relief.

The false alarm encourages the class to return back to their idle chatter.

"Scaramouche?" Childe spits, narrowing his eyes at the unamused boy. "I thought it was Signora's shift today."

By "shift" he means being a complete dickwad and scamming fake weed to students in return for their souls. It only really works on the freshmen.

The only reason the club still runs is because Signora threatened the principal with some sus pictures she snapped of him and his assistant.

"Apparently she had an emergency." Scaramouche explains, lowering the volume on his outdated beats pill. "Something about a hair appointment because she got ran into by a, and I quote "lecherous imbecile.""

You steer clear of the conversation, finding the whiteboard far more fascinating and worth your while.

A loud cough is heard from behind the kid, and you're met with a crestfallen look on your beloved teacher's face.

You go through a whiplash of emotions, becoming completely numb towards your loss.

"They were out of slow cooked bamboo shoot soup." He sighs, handing a stack of papers to Childe, who is wearing the fattest smirk on his face at his victory. "Please hand these out to your classmates Childe, and we will begin shortly."

You check down at the timer despite knowing who’s won. Five minutes and twenty five seconds. Somehow, you don't feel as dejected as you thought you'd feel.

Maybe the date will be fun. Maybe Childe isn't so bad. Maybe...you do have time to indulge in these sort of things. If he’s so hell bent on getting your attention, perhaps it’s possible that you can make some room in your heart for him.

However, all those thoughts fly out the window when Childe hands you the new worksheet.

“I hope you're ready for our date tomorrow. We'll be sparring till sundown, and after you’ll be feeding me with chopsticks." He winks, and it makes your heart flip even though all you want right now is to go to the bathroom and barf your guts out.

Feelings are complicated.

You smile back at him nauseously, tight lipped and all, then you pull out your phone, go on maps, and search for the closest cliffs to jump off of.

After he's done, Childe slouches back in his original seat with a different kind of enthusiasm, and opens up his messages. He texts Zhongli a "thank you <3".

[aerugonian]

will rtn be more pre canon found family bonding based or more following canon with some katoshi divergence sprinkled in? i like bnha i do but im a bit tired of reading straight up canon sports tournament with a few added lines.

My current outline/draft has another 1-2 chapters that’s pre-canon, and then it will start going into some of the canon material (sorry 😔). I’m not very fond of reading stories that basically just repeat canon with only a few dialogue/minor changes and no big impact on the story itself, though, so that’s not the kind of story I want to write. A wildcard like Katoshi can and will make major changes to events. I hope I’ll do an okay job at veering away from canonical plotlines in a satisfying way? That’s the goal, at least. 

If it happens in canon and I’m not changing it (which will mostly be limited to events that would happen pretty much regardless of character input, like a scheduled school event) then it won’t get much focus. So for example, the tournament arc might get a short section for Katoshi’s fight(s) since those are likely to be very different from how they played out canonically and would likely be relevant later on, and the rest of it would probably just get mentioned in passing, or something. I hold very little loyalty to the canon plot. 

Hopefully that answers your question?? 

[cap-ironman]

2019 Cap-IM Reverse Bang: One Month to go till Posting Begins

Hello RBB writers,

We know you’re all working hard on your drafts and we hope it’s going well. Following from our mid-way reminder, we want cheer you towards the finish line!

The Cap-IM Reverse Bang is meant to be a fun collaboration with an artist; it's also an event where in the past, some writers underestimated the final word count of their fic or overestimated the time left to write. It's important to us that the RBB stays enjoyable for everyone, so this post has some advice to manage your deadline without last minute stress. Let’s keep fun the focus here!

Keep in mind that everyone has a unique planning and writing process. Writing speed differs, and so does the way you write—in bursts, in a few long sittings, in between other projects.This means that now, with a month to go until Reverse Bang posting commences, you'll be at different stages of your process to other participants. Try not to worry about that! Instead, focus on enjoying your collaboration with your artist, and try to write a story you have fun with. Everyone brings their own ideas, personal taste, techniques and creativity to the table! Different stories have different needs, and every story will be awesome at it’s own pace and length.

Concentrate on assessing your own progress instead of comparing yourself to other writers and what you hear about their process and drafts. Maybe you got sidetracked with another non-RBB related story, maybe you're juggling multiple event deadlines, maybe you are a bit stuck… Don't panic, just be aware that time is passing and plan your schedule so you can manage your story.

We recommend that if you're worried about finishing on time, you take a look at any previous writing projects of the anticipated length of your fic and break down how long it took to finish, from brainstorming to publication. Then take that amount of time and double it. This gives you a safety net in case of unexpected setbacks such as RL throwing you a curveball or your fic word count increasing substantially. Use this appraisal as a reality check for whether, given the RBB event time-frame (posting starts May 1st), you have long enough to finish your fic.

If you think you might be in trouble because your outline is too long or your fic is currently over the word count (5K) by a significant amount and the plotted story isn't even half done, here are 3 options of what to do:

Condense your current plot outline and use that for your RBB fic. Have a look at your plot and consider whether you really need so many scenes to tell your story. Remember that finishing a 5,000 word story fulfills the RBB requirement.

Find a stopping point in your current outline and use it as the new "end" of your fic, meaning that you can write a substantially shorter story. Can you tell a stand-alone part of the story in about 5,000 words, and break the rest off into a sequel to be written later?

These two options mean you don't have to look for new ideas and do up a new plot from scratch, so you'll have more time to concentrate on writing the fic itself. While your RBB must be a finished, stand-alone work, this doesn't prevent you from writing a prequel or sequel after the event is over! Talk it through with your partner—they might be excited to work with you beyond the RBB.

Put your current RBB story on hold, to be finished after the RBB event is over, and start a different fic that you can finish with fewer words.

By setting the fic aside for after the RBB and doing a new, shorter idea, you give yourself the freedom to write the fic without compromising on any plot points, and without the stress of time restrictions. However, it does mean that you need to figure out a second viable RBB story.

If you're after new ideas, we suggest going back to the drawing-board with your artist and brainstorming with them as your first step. The cap-im Tumblr has got plenty of inspiration posts and resource posts that might help, plus additional resources in our Dreamwidth Creators Workshop. You can also talk things through with an alpha reader or cheer reader from the Stevetony beta list, or in private with a fandom friend or two.

Whatever you choose to do, if you're going to use a beta reader, we suggest you start reaching out to people well in advance so you can find someone who is both compatible and available. Err on the side of caution and give yourself ample time to write and edit your fic.

If you have any more questions or would like to discuss things further with an RBB mod, please email us at cap.im.events@gmail.com. We are always happy to help!

[shidiand]

How do you imagine Tenco's Story ending in your head?

that is a GREAT but UNEXPECTED QUESTION freshlybaked "spider" bread and i'm really happy to have the opportunity to try and answer this ageless question that has burned within all of us in the tenco's story iv waiting room community since 2013. it is an incredible coincidence (or is it? 👀) that i was just talking to Risa about tenco's this (edit: yesterday) morning so i am extra double super in the mood to talk about Tenco's Story today. so excellent of a coincidence is this that i am tempted to refer you to them in case you wanted to hear their thoughts on the matter that would probably turn out super cool, but that is neither here nor there; let us talk Tenco's Story.

i of course must mention my unadvertised and modestly detailed commentary on tenco's i-iii at https://shidiand.tumblr.com/tencos, presenting slightly interesting facts in an unwieldy and difficult-to-use format, but as it dates back to june 2017, i want to take some time to understand my feelings about the series once more.

tenco's story is a series that has a lot of meaning to me.

i took on my current name of shidiand in november of 2013. i was still in 11th grade at the time, 4th year of high school, and a very socially isolated person. i should say i was introduced to touhou in 7th grade, 2010, so i was still working through a 3 years-strong phase of trying to simultaneously both find an outlet for and bottle up an endless wellspring of awkward weeaboo-gamer nerd energy at the time.

i had my first real foray onto the internet in 2010, tried out twitter, followed some RPers and other people who had Cool Touhou Usernames. didn't really go anywhere. i had maybe 50 followers, i dont really know the count but it was definitely a) double digits and b) pretty low. didn't know what to tweet about. didn't know how to hit it off with others. i think there was basically maybe only 3 other people i ever properly interacted with. oh shit i was playing league of legends at the time. oh my god. i really did play league of .. oh my god. let's move on.

aw shit im super digressing amn't i. well.

this is just how it goes when i write essays on tumblr.com.

i'm afraid you're just along for the ride at this point so please do your best to enjoy it.

i got kind of tired of twitter at the time because i didnt know what to do with it. didnt know how to interact with people and didnt find the people i was following interesting, so i ghosted on out of there by the end of 2012. didnt deactivate it until like 2015 but at that point that was just burning away my dark history. anyways. november 2013.

--im taking a lot of time here trawling through old files on my computer, my tumblr blog, notification emails still lying around in my gmail inbox from twitter, the dropbox i didn't actually use but it had several tenco's story pictures on it but i deleted them so this was useless, ... to trace the timeline of this story and im really seeing a lot of remnants of dark history here you know? did you know i wrote a letter to a girl i had a crush on valentine's day 2014, slipped it into her locker, and anxiously hung around nearby at lunchtime to see how she reacted at lunchtime? i certainly didn't, or at least i made darn ass sure to forget about this incredible virgin incident and not remember it, ever, until i came across the records of it that i thoughtfully preserved for the me of 5 years later today. ok well now i have to read the letter to see if it was as bad as it just sounded there brb

ok so the good news is that it was actually very focused on being positive and full of admiration for the cool things she did instead of being a confession letter so i am very glad i was able to be a respectful chad 5 years ago, but the bad news is that the jokes, the actual sentences i put together. oh my god. but i mean. well. at least i got the spirit. its certainly a step up from this other person in my grade, WEEABOO ANDREW, YOU MAY RECALL THIS STORY AND HIS NAME FROM PREVIOUS STORYTIMES, THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND who came to school on halloween once cosplaying kirito from sword art online and got very possessive about people asking if they could hold his black replica plastic sword, and probably worse, dropped a "will you be my girlfriend" letter into the locker of my homie and fellow trombonist samantha, who was a little bit nerdy, hung out with the anime-likers who were actually sociable and fun to be around so you can imagine why weeaboo andrew was into her, which had i) a direct quotation from SAO chapter 16.5 (origin of the famous "glopping noise" line), and ii) a condom. jesus christ. i dont want to talk about this any more. next topic.

i also put this drawing of iku nagae and her skarmory (actually an albinoss from 18 DRAGONS) on the other side of the letter because it was the coolest thing i could think of drawing at the time. and i completely agree with 2014 me because it IS super fucking cool. hell fuckin yeah

https://shidiand.tumblr.com/post/76301993387/iku-nagae-ft-that-thing-that-supposedly-is-a

alright that was a fun little trip down memory lane but lets get back on track. november 2013. i started anew as shidiand. still awkward, still learning how to express myself and looking for my place among others. i followed some touhou bloggers, hung around r/touhou a lot as well. in december i got my first tablet for christmas, a wacom bamboo splash. i still use this thing! the usb cable disconnects if you bump it so i have to find just the perfect position to sit in whenever i want to draw, but its served me well. anyways. i was just starting to play around with digital art but i remember, probably just before new years, for some reason i wanted to find out more about tenshi hinanawi (i don't remember why. tenshi wasn't even one of my favourite characters at the time) so i went googling and right there on zerochan i found this:

https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=23525572

this was during my dark souls phase so i just went BANANAS at the sight of this. this was literally the coolest image i had ever seen in my internet life. That image alone made me want to draw in hopes that I could make something as cool as that someday.

it wasn't immediately after but i soon discovered tenco's story, and it was love. kannnu was my very first artistic inspiration, and for a long time, my only one. i absolutely idolized them at the time. since then, ive found other artists to look up to, in a more healthy manner, but to this day i still look up to kannnu, still admire their work a lot.

i played around with drawing, followed the lives of people on tumblr, started reading touhou fanfiction, made a new twitter. i met a lot of new people along the way. some people i havent stuck with, some i cut ties with, and some people i still keep in contact with today. over those long 5 years of being shidiand, i found a name (i used to use shidian and then shid, but someone called me shidi once and i realized that was a lot better), how to reach out to others, how to express myself, places that i could feel included in. this is why i owe a blood debt to evelyn, who permitted me to kneel at her throne and was like "yea ok you can join my discord server u seem cool". evelyn, if you were confused by me ominously mentioning this blood debt/blood oath in a tumblr reply 1-2 years ago, this is the context. those 5 years were like a coming of age of sorts, that i never had when i was in high school.

and my love for tenco's story, that inspired me to draw that day, has been with me since almost the very beginning of my time as shidiand. from the beginning, i have always encouraged people to READ TENCO'S STORY, like the kin of those who cry PLAY MELTY or WATCH SYMPHOGEAR. i think my very first sidebar description was something akin to a prayer, written in very choral language, hoping for the day tenco's story iv was completed, ..., "meanwhile, furious shitposting". kannnu's work, finding delight in whatever they chose to draw, has been at my side, all along. my true mentor, my guiding moonlight...

so that's why i still to this day love tenco's story so much.

let's talk about tenco's story.

tenco's story is a story told through single pictures. the plot is vague, and details are sparse. dialogue is rare. we only know what has happened; we seldom know why. furthermore, there are many gaps between scenes that the reader is left to fill in for themselves; we see only snapshots that form an hazy outline of the events that occurred, and must imagine the rest. motivations and explanations fail me. but even with a barebones plot, tenco's story has themes, and if nothing else, those have to be carried through.

the main theme, of course, is journey and travel, but there are also other ideas, too. i actually think they start to change as the series goes on:

book i, where tenshi runs away from home, is about striking out on your own. it's a very fun and unpredictable journey, together with a friend.

book ii, where tenshi and iku are separated, forces tenshi to find and rely on companions of her own even more. but they do so, and they are able overcome hardships, and there is food and festival.

book iii marks a climax, reasserting tenshi's goal of finding the sword of hisou. i feel like the journey shifts from a travel (visiting) to a path forwards (making your way through). perhaps this is just something i get from knowing the locations from dark souls (Anor Londo, New Londo Ruins, the Great Hollow), but the locations start to give more of a sense of verticality, like they're emphasizing tenshi's climb to the summit. the hardships and enemies are the greatest they've been yet, and right when they near the top, tenshi and iku start to bleed. the book ends on an uncertain note.

if i had to describe the type of journey and travel that tenshi and iku undertake, there's this sense of wonder at discovering new places, wandering from vista to vista in delight, but also a sense of conquering, making it through a difficult patch. the sequence from pages 2-44 to 2-51, taken together, convey this sense of overcoming the best. it's one of my favourite parts. again, although the tone definitely starts to lean towards struggle in book iii, i think tenco's sense of wonder really is the heart of the series. there's no map of the world, no predicting where tenshi and iku will end up next. and through their travels, though they come across many enemies, they also find friends -- places of refuge, places full of life, people who will look after them for a few days, companions who will stay with them for the rest of the journey. at the end of book iii, we see a long haired tenshi with purple hair being impaled by the sword of hisou (3-33, see also this extra illustration that risa pointed out to me http://sinnnkai.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-195.html), and regular short haired tenshi continuing on her journey (3-42). if we ignore the out-of-story images where tenshi has the sword of hisou, tenshi has actually only ever used her sunlight blade (2-24, 3-26, etc), so i think that the long haired tenshi on 3-33 is a different person altogether. (if i had to guess, she might be the purple haired woman in the top left of https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=35443328 as we have never seen that woman appear anywhere.) she probably has something to do with the flashbacks at the end of book ii and she might somehow be short-haired tenshi at the same time, but this is just speculation.

however, in 3-43, tenshi's hair is rather blue, so i don't know if this is the purple haired woman or not. if it is, tenshi is probably still fine and closing in on the summit, but if it isn't, then it's very worrying to see a picture of tenshi without any of her companions. it's very ominous.

meanwhile, iku, while climbing the red carpeted corridor, is stabbed, and disappears for a few pages. there's a black page, a shot of a shrine that strongly resembles the hakurei shrine, and a picture of iku standing behind someone in a tux, with the line "In the past, I was saved by the lady I was serving, you see?". and then iku wakes up in a field of flowers.

i think what this scene makes clear is a theme that has continued to appear and reappear throughout every book of "being saved, being aided by someone's kindness".

i think another theme that is implied and has to be addressed by this story of running away from home is "return". something im imagining is that the reason tenshi makes finding the sword of hisou her goal is because she wants to have something to prove herself with, to vindicate her when she comes home. but i don't think she needs to prove anything, and i ultimately think that she would be happier spending the rest of her life exploring.

so i think this should be what happens in the ending.

open on iku's journey, and give her a long sequence of travel without seeing tenshi. underline her newfound resolve. she climbs to the summit with albinoss, and finds the rest of tenshi's companions fallen. and in the last room is sword of hisou tenshi, who has lost herself, and it comes down to iku to bring her back. after a difficult battle, when both of them are on their last legs, iku is unable to stand any longer. but at this moment tenshi sees her companions struggling to get back up and reach her, and that's what brings her to her senses. and iku gets to see how many friends tenshi's been able to make on her own, and they finally and properly reunite. together, tenshi and iku carry each other out of the last room.

i don't think it's necessary to return to heaven. as a conclusion, dedicate some time to tenshi and iku travelling together. they're on their way back, revisiting old friends who helped them along the way, enjoying the journey. their last stop is the house of the elderly nawis (1-42). tenshi shows off the sword of hisou; she decided to keep it not as a trophy to show her family but as proof of the bonds of her companions. surrounded by friends, tenshi and iku decide to part ways with each other, knowing that the other will be alright. iku drifts among the clouds once more, and tenshi sets off for the horizon.

that's the plot that i'd write/just wrote. i don't really expect tenco's story iv to ever come out, though. i mentioned my first sidebar description earlier in this essay, but of course, you can see that it's been changed. 2 years ago, i read my hopeful prayer once more and was struck with a terrible melancholy, so now it reads this: "having come to terms with the fact that tenco's story iv will never be released, i can still live, knowing that the spirit of the journey will live on through kannnu's original works [...] meanwhile, furious shitposting".

on one level, tenco's story is a story, but in the process of following it, i came to think of the work itself as a journey too. you can constantly see kannnu's improvement between and even within each book. they have always drawn whatever they liked; what plot matters in the face of "I wanted to draw a beautiful sky." "I wanted to draw a fantastic battle." "I wanted to draw Dark Souls and Monster Hunter and Pokemon and Brave Fencer Musashi and Bokura no Taiyou and Touhou."

its not really kannnu's style to go back and tie up old ends. they just draw whatever makes them happy. so as i watch them continue to draw beautiful places and fantastic creatures, new characters heading out on journeys of their own or just enjoying their everyday lives, it's as if tenco's story never ended. the limits and consistency of that world ignored, and a new one springs up; in a way, the world of tenco's, which had such thin boundaries, just gets bigger.

but even so, having said all that, i still see them draw that short-haired tenshi from time to time. it makes me happy to see them remember tenco's story with such fondness. often crossing over with orion or roar or elweiss, you can see tenshi on another journey.

[shitfics]

hi, im a fanfic writer who is trying to break into original fiction and publication. i noticed in the notes of one of your short stories that you were trying to write longer chapters. One of my favourite stories by you, One of These Nights is 90,000+ over 11 chapters. what kind of advice would you give to someone like me who struggles to break over 2,500 words per chapter? how can i work to make my chapters longer and still be interesting like yours? thank you x

Oh gosh, thank you so much! I'm hoping to break into original stuff too, and maybe get published, but don't have much hopes for it yet...still slugging away at my wip. ^^; It's sweet that you hold my stuff highly! And I'm sorry this got a bit long…I'm not good at being succinct when trying to talk about writing things, since I still feel so clueless myself. I’ve put most of the rambling behind a read more. 

For me really, writing longer things has just taken time…not in the sense of taking time to write a story (tho obvs it does), but like, each thing I wrote naturally got longer and longer as I got more used to storytelling, I guess? At this point, I think everything I write is almost too long, so I'm wondering what story it was I wanted longer chapters on…lol. It was kinda like lifting weights in a way, lol…I took a long time before I could get to 90k, and you can kinda see how each story got longer and longer (copy and paste was 12k, synchronicity/book of blood were around 20k, da au was 40k in part one/60k in part 2, and the hyung au was 90kish). 

Ofc I have a few breaks from that pattern, but those were kinda 'side projects' for fun that I wanted to keep short, like the esports ontae. Wherever you're at right now in terms of overall story length, I think writing regularly is the most important for building the "endurance" for longer stories and scenes -- and being as patient with yourself as you can about getting there is ideal. It’s a lot like working yourself up to lifting heavier weights, imo.(And full disclaimer though, my confidence/mental health wrt my writing is generally rock bottom, so I know it's not easy lol.)

Once I got into writing longer stories, I've kinda grown to see writing as having two kinda moods: gut-level writing, stuff you HAVE to get down and are dying to write, and the 'fill-in', less exciting parts or parts you really have to discipline yourself to get through.

For writing fic (especially shorter fic), I know I started with just gut-level writing. And for short stuff, that's generally all you need! I really struggled (and still kinda do) when I got to the point where that wasn't enough to fill in a long story, but I've kinda found a way of dealing it.

I don't know if it's a good habit, depending on how you work and how your ideas come about, but for me, I start by writing as much as possible for the scenes I do have fairly established in my head, then create an outline and fill in/revise the rest. It makes it easier for me to feel like I'm working off of inspiration and not just a rigid outline, so I get a good mix of the story/characters 'developing naturally' and 'not going entirely off the rails.' I will say that I think I struggle with endings because of it tho, since the 'gut-level' stuff for me rarely/never touches that part of the story. I usually have to outline to figure out where I want things to end up or what I want to show last.

For the your chapters question -- I'm not sure if by 'chapters' you might mean scene (since a lot of people break things up that way), or if you just mean in terms of other chapter divisions, but I'm gonna try and address both!

Personally, I don't really think in terms of chapters, if that makes sense? That part comes way later when I'm writing. Like right now, I'll be honest and say I don't have set 'chapter' divisions in my head yet for my wip, lol, tho the scenes might be long enough for stand-alone chapters. When I start a story (either with just inspiration or from an outline), it's a matter of scenes, and then after that, I figure out how many scenes I want in a chapter and what would feel "right" in terms of dividing them.

Usually, when I end a chapter it's either because it's an emotional high-point, it feels like a "natural" place to break (due to a jump forward in time for the next scene/resolution to a current conflict), or it's somewhere I need to change the point of view (if I'm writing a story with multiple). Like, for a high-point, I'd think of ending after the scene in hyung au where Jinki comes out, or in the esports thing, where ontae sleep together the first time. For "natural" break places, it's often a matter of time/resolutions, like…jongyu parting ways before jinki starts japanese promotions in hyung au, or in my current wip, them kinda breaking up for a few months after a fight. Pov changes for breaks are pretty self-explanatory and I could go on forever about how I try to pick which pov to use for a scene/chapter, but I think the most important thing is to use those breaks to avoid confusion.

As far as interest goes -- making sure scenes have enough "meat" to them without dragging can be hard, esp if you're trying to setup a plot. Imo, scenes are interesting when there's conflict or emotional high points of some kind (which can be a lot of different things). Once you figure out which of those you want in a scene, I think it gets easier to write around that.  Like, to go back to hyung au, when Jinki came to visit Jong at Blue Night and they hung out after -- I started the scene just knowing I wanted Jinki to surprise him, because I thought that'd be cute.

So in thinking about what purpose the scene might serve to move things forward…I knew mood-wise I wanted to capture some more of the uncertainty of how to act around each other, now that they're both know the other is gay, have Jinki be torn between making a move/confessing and his fear of changing things for the worse, set them up for some messy revelation of feelings in the next scene, and ofc have them both be horny because how else are you gonna feel being around your crush for the first time in a month.

Once that was kinda setup in my head, it was easier to fill in what the characters say/how they act. Jinki flirts with Jong on air, because that's 'safe' (it can't go anywhere since they're in a studio and it'd be easy to dismiss as not serious since he's in Onew-mode), Jong is defs very

And as another note…. I just think some parts are always going to be difficult to write, because we all have different strengths when it comes to writing. Like, I hate writing setting descriptions, so I don't do it much and generally provide a bare-minimum for scene context -- but when I need more for the purpose of mood or plot or whatever, it feels like pulling teeth. Since it's such a miserable process for me, and that's so long, I assume that means it sucks or it's a real slog for whoever's reading it, but…they don't always correlate.

Not every part of a project is gonna be fun -- which sucks! -- but it's also why it's important to take mental breaks and imo, step away from your story at milestones. It's not great to make yourself miserable for writing, (I say while I doing just that most of the time), but I think going in with the knowledge that it IS going to be hard sometimes can help. The more stories you write, the more you'll be able to hone your instinct for like...if you're struggling because there's something wrong with the plot/scene/prose or if it's just because writing be like that sometimes.

Oof, this got too long, and I don’t even know how much of it is useful, but I hope it might help a bit? Thank you again for the compliment and best of luck with your writing!!

[hannie-dul-set]

May i know the whole storyline/plot of us again because i love that work of yours so much 😍 im sad when you said that you're not planning to write it anymore because for me that kind of fic is hard to find 😭💔

hello bb! it warms my heart to hear abt ur love for us, again huhu. i had to much fun planing and writing the series and it's honestly a shame that i can't invest any more time into writing it :')) it's just so.....long......and complicated maybe even longer than peach tree HAGDJABSFJ so i can't rlly give u a /full/ breakdown of the events, but here's a somewhat abridged take of what was supposed to happen.

as we all know, mc can remember all of her past lives and on her current life, people, events, and memories form her first life started to recur. it can be interpreted as either (1) another chance given by the world to fulfill the first love that she had lost during her first life, (2) relive the tragedies that occurred.

ofc, whichever of the two will become the ending, it all depends on the mc's actions throughout the story, and even when things seemed doomed to repeat, things can still change and maybe all it takes is a second chance.

the story set in the past is as cliche as it can get HAHAHHAHA y/n, the commoner sister of an apothecary, and na jaemin (or han daegang, in this case) the 2nd prince of their kingdom fall in love. star-crossed. etc. etc. jaemin's mother Did Not Like that idea at all and somehow rumors spread throughout the entire village that y/n did some sorcery or witchcraft or whatever to make the prince fall for him (bcs her sister is a traditional doctor what the fucking prejudice). this, ofc, gives the queen a reason to punish the poor girl. hence the flashback in chapter 4(?) i think about her running in the forest --- where she was ultimately banished from capital, literally chased out of the damned place and ended up dying from a gunshot after falling off a cliff <////3.

(past) jaemin secretly followed the guards that suddenly went off that night and tried looking for mc as well, but was too late. he ended up witnessing everything --- mc's death --- which is why he gets panic attacks at present day when there are any loud/abrupt/sudden noises; another instance of the past being carried out into the present.

(side note there was supposed to be a scene in chapter 5 where out two leads got wound up in the park during a festival and fireworks started going off. at the first bang, you noticed that he wasn't well and before his condition could get worse, you brought your hands to the side of his face and covered his ears <//////3 the tension. the eye contact. and for the first time in his current life, jaemin didn't mind the sounds of fireworks exploding jEEZ THIS WAS SUCH A WASTE).

ahem anyway.

the rest of the present day scenes in the fic basically follow the same formula as the past but ofc in the modern setting + y/n trying her best to fight back the god damned Feelings and trying to be a bitch to jaem bcs him + you = disaster......but aha.......who could resist......na jaemin.......especially when he's looking at u with does eyes and saying "please let me like you" CMON how could u not break.

unfortunately, i have only outlined until chapter 7 and only have a vague idea of what happens next HHAHHAHAH but eventually y/n gives in and holds onto the hope that she can make things different this time around, shit happens but all in all it's a happy ending i would literally hate myself if i made this life's ending tragic as well HAHHAHSFAJSH

i'm sorry if this doesn't satisty you HUHU if u want you can ask for some more details regarding chapters 5-7 bcs those are the only parts that i have outlined 😔😔😔 thank you for loving us, again, bb! it really means a lot.

[lovethyfanperson]

Get Her Out (Racetrack x Reader)

Words: 1,247

Request:  I LOVE UR NEWSIES STORIES IT GIVES ME THE FEELS UGH! Could you do a race x reader where during the riot, the reader gets punched and everyone is in shock and before race can beat up delancey but she instead gets up and just knocks out oscar and race is so proud and maybe patches her up?

Plot: Y/N, also known as Chains, has been hiding as a boy among the other Newsies. Unfortunately, at the riot, it is revealed that she is a girl. And no one is happy about how it happened.

Characters: Race, Reader, Mush, Romeo (briefly), Jack (briefly), Oscar (briefly)

A/N: Sorry if this isn’t exactly what you were looking for, but I hope you enjoy it anyways!!!

Warnings: Foul Language, mentions of violence and blood. I think that’s it?

ENJOY!!!

The strike had begun. It has all started out so well, you and the newsies had the upper hand. The Delancey’s seemed to just disappear. You all celebrated, grinning when Katherine took your picture. You danced on the papers you were supposed to sell. You thought you were winning, but boy were you wrong.

All the newsies seemed to stop, looks of distress on their face. You turned around, confused until you caught sight of the Delancey’s, accompanied by at least fifteen other beefy men. In Weasel’s hand was a club. He raised it above his head and struck the pole beside him twice, and they advanced. Weasel and Jack met in the middle, face-to-face, and you could feel your heart stop.

“Newsies,” No, no, please no, you begged as Jack paused. “Get ‘em!”

Fists flew, kicks and slaps were exchanged. You duck, avoiding any flying punches that came your way. You had to get out - you knew coming along with the others would be a bad idea. If your hat fell off, you were screwed. Only a select few Newsies knew about you being a girl - like Race, who had tried convincing you to stay at the lodging house. You’d argued with him, saying it would be suspicious. Now you were regretting that decision.

Sure, you could fight. Pretty wall for a girlsie. It was one of the things that helped to hide you. If you could hold your own, the others wouldn’t suspect. But in all this mess, it was definite that your hat would fly off. And you didn’t know how anyone would react if they found out.

You find yourself with a straight shot through the gates, and back towards home. The boys who knew wouldn’t blame you if you ran. Your feet carry you closer, and closer to freedom.

Almost ther-

Your body aches when it hits the ground, and your cheek stings from the impact of Oscar Delancey’s fist on your face. A bunch of gasps are heard nearby, and your heart practically stops.

“Chains is a goirl!” You pushed yourself up, tossing your head back to get your hair out of your face. Before, it had been neatly pinned beneath your flat-cap, but the fall had knocked it all out of place. Everyone knew.

“Y/N!” You met eyes with Race. He was fuming. “Oscar, I swear to god!” You rolled over, coming eye-to-eye with the older, wide-eyed Delancey brother. You reached up to touch your cheek, pulling away and looking at the blood that stained your fingers. Anger pulsed through you.

“You’s a goirl.” Oscar said in surprise.

“I’ll fuckin’ soak ya-” You shoved yourself off the ground as Race yelled. With all your strength, you reeled back and smashed your fist into Oscar’s face. He fell backwards on his ass. As he hit the ground, you pulled back your foot and kicked forward as hard as you can, the toe of your shoe coming in contact with Oscar’s broken nose. By the time the rest of his body hit the ground, Oscar was knocked out cold.

“I’m a newsie.” You spat, even though you knew he couldn’t hear it. You turned back to the rest of the fighting. Those who had previously been distracted by your ‘reveal’ were now back to defending themselves. They stopped again suddenly, when a whistle echoed through the air. Romeo ran to one of the approaching coppers, grabbing his jacket desperately.

“It’s about time you showed up!” Romeo exclaimed. “They’re slaughtering us!”

“Romeo no!” You scream, but the cop lands a sharp blow before you can even blink. Mush snatched your hat off the ground and slaps it back onto your head.

“Get outta here, we’ll be fine!” You shake your head furiously, tears in your eyes.

“They’re slaughtering us!” You repeat Romeo’s words. Mush shoves you back towards the gates. “I has to stay!” Your secret was out now. You weren’t going to run away anymore.

“Take her!” Mush demanded, filling you with confusion. You open your mouth to reply, but two arms snatch you up bridal style. You start kicking, flailing around to get out of whoever’s grasp you were in.

“Calm yourself, Y/N!” Race exclaimed from behind you. He’s running, directly through the gate and as far from the riot as he could get.

“Race, put me down! Damn it, put me down!” You beat against his chest, but before you know it, you’re back at the lodging house. He tossed you onto one of the beds - Blinks, you believe - before falling beside you and breathing heavily. You got back on your feet to head back, but Race pulled you forcefully back into his arms.

“Let me go!” You cried. “They need us, they’re gettin’ hurt!”

“Calm yourself!” Race forced you to look at him. “They’s can take care of themselves!”

“They hurt Romeo.” You sob, clinging to his hands for dear life. “They’s is supposed to be protecting all of us! Not just them big-shots!” Race pressed his forehead against yours, and took in a deep breath.

“I know, Y/N, I know.” He croaks. “But there’s nothing we’s can do about it.” He lands a sweet kiss to your forehead, then pulls back. You two stare eachother down, your breaths evening slowly.  “You’s and I ain’t going back, you’s got that?” He tells you. With your head now a little clearer, you nod slowly.

“Fine.” You gumble. With the silence, the lodging house feels so much smaller. Usually it was lively, Newsies joking around and shouting after a hard-day's work. You’d never seen it so empty. And knowing why it was so empty just made the feeling of being so much smaller worse. Race stood up, and snatched something from beneath one of the other boy’s bunks.

“Don’t tell Nic I’s use ‘is kit.” He scoffed, tossing a rusty old metal box beside you on the bed. You studied his face closely as he kneeled in front of you, and unconsciously traced the outline of his new shiner. “Oscar got you good.” He grumbled, touching your cheek softly. You hiss, the stinging pain back. “You’s stopped bleeding, but there’s blood everywhere.”

“Story of my life.” You groan, watching Race search through Nic’s med-kit. “Why did this have to happen to us, Racetrack?”

“I don’t know.” He stands up, and paced momentarily. “Wait here.” You nod. When he comes back, he’s holding a small bowl of water and a rag. The clean-up is silent, besides his apologies for hurting you when you wince. You tell him it’s not his fault, but he couldn’t help but feel horrible.

“Aight, I’s done.” He closes the medkit, and turns back to you. He smiles softly. “I’s is proud of you, Y/N.”

“Why? I barely did anything.” You mumble, trying to avoid eye contact.

“You kidding me? You knocked Oscar Delancey straight on his ass, and you knocked ‘im out! I’d call that pretty damn impressive.” He takes your hands in his, and you can see the formation of bruises on his knuckles. “Hey, look at me.” As soon as you raise your head, his lips are on yours. You jump back, surprised, but he softly pulls you back in. This time you don’t argue.

“When all this is over,” Race says as you two pull away from each other. “Do you’s maybe wanna go on a date with me?” You grin widely, ignoring the stinging pain in your cheeks.

“I would love to.”

[raekensgirl]

Heart Won't Forget | Theo Raeken Imagine

request: 1. Hi I think your amazing writer. Ive fallen in love with your stories. I was wondering if you could write one were the reader is one of Scott's betas and has a relationship with him but has dark past with Theo and Scott confronts the reader about it. It was just a thought.

2. Hi, can you write a smut with Theo, where Y/N is Scott's sister. Scott's pack is plotting something against Theo and his Chimeras, and they send Y/N to distract him for few minutes. Y/N knows that Theo is evil, but she can't help herself and feels atracted to him, so when she's trying to distract him, he can sense how she feels about him... sorry, English is my second languege, so I hope that this make sense ;)

word count: 964

warnings: a bit of smut i guess

A/N: hey guys so Im back with a new imagine and Im really sorry that its so short, you can request a part two! I hope you enjoy reading this, love you all xx

You were sitting next to Scott who was discussing about the chimeras. You tried to ignore Scott’s plan and focused at the stormy weather outside. “Y/N? What do you think about that?”, Lydia asked. You rolled your eyes. Although you were a beta of Scott’s pack, you didn’t want to do anything against the chimeras.., because of one person. Theo Raeken. He used to be one of your closest friends, well maybe more than a friend, he was the person who you had your first kiss with. Although you would never admit it, when Theo appeared in Beacon Hills, your heart had been pounding in your chest. “Y/N, are you listening?”, Scott asked you vigorously. “Um sorry..”, you muttered. He looked at you in confusion and focused at the others again. You were staring at Lydia and Stiles who were holding hands now. Why was everyone falling in love except for you? Well, maybe because of your brother Scott.. he was always trying to protect you from everything and above all boys. Scott was sure that every boy your age is going to hurt you in any possible ways. “Hm, we all know that Theo is the most powerful chimera, so before we attack them we have to get rid of Theo”, Liam uttered. For the first time you said something: “Maybe someone could distract him.. for example Lydia, you’re good at such things” Everyone’s eyes landed on you. “That’s a plan!”, Stiles shouted. “Well, I’m not a fan of talking to Theo and I can’t really do something if he tries to attack me”, Lydia said. Liam looked at you. “Y/N can do it”, he suggested. “No way!”, Scott stopped Liam. You looked at him clearly annoyed. “I’m old enough, Scott”, you hissed. “I’m gonna do it” You were confident although you had mixed feelings about the situation with Theo but at least it would give the chance to talk to him. Scott explained what you were going to have to do and after that Lydia dragged you to your closet. “So you’re gonna have to dress sexy to get Theo’s attention”, she explained. “But it should not look like I dressed up for him, right?”, you replied and took some stuff out of your closet. You put the things on and looked at Lydia. “That’s perfect”, Lydia smirked. In the evening you left the house. “Good luck, Y/N”, Scott shouted while you closed the door. You made your way to Theo and his chimera’s hiding place and found Theo sitting on a large chair, his legs crossed. “Y/N?”, Theo looked at you in confusion. “Hey Theo”, you whispered. You knew that your voice sounded just as nervous as you were although you tried to cover up. You didn’t know what to say. Theo got up and stood in front of you. “What is it?”, he wanted to know. “I just remembered the old times and wanted to talk to you, I guess”, you mumbled. “And you’re taking that big risk just to ‘talk’ to me?”, Theo smirked. “Um, yeah..”, you answered shyly. Theo slowly took your hand. “Why are you being so shy, Y/N? In my mind you used to be completely different”, Theo wondered. You realized how your heart started to pound like crazy again. “I used to know a different side of you, baby girl”, he completed and let his fingers slide up and down your arm making you shiver. You looked at Theo, the light was barely lighting his face but you could still see the outlines of his face, his perfect jawline and his full lips. You could feel Theo’s breath against your neck before he softly bit the skin of your neck. One of his large hands was resting on your waist while the other one made it’s way down to grab your ass. You bit down your lip to stop yourself from moaning. Although you knew it was wrong, you couldn’t get yourself to stop Theo. “You look so pretty, baby”, Theo groaned. Suddenly Theo’s lips crashed into yours and it felt like a thousand fireworks exploding inside of your chest. Theo gripped your waist and pulled you closer. “Theo”, you moaned. “Oh I missed you so”, he replied moaning. Suddenly a loud noise distracted the two of you. “Y/N”, Stiles shouted. You let go of Theo and looked at Stiles in shock. “What the hell is wrong with you?”, he shouted. Stiles grabbed your arm and dragged you out of the room. Later at McCall’s - You were sitting on your bed and thought about what happened. You hoped that Stiles wouldn’t tell Scott about the thing with Theo but the chances were very low because Stiles was still Scott’s best friend and you were his little sister. When your door opened, Scott stormed in. “Please tell me that Stiles is kidding me, Y/N”, he shouted. You weren’t able to answer him because you knew he was going to kill you. “Y/N McCall! Answer me!”, he shouted again. “Yes, Scott. It’s true”, you mumbled. “Explain it to me! How the hell did that happen? Y/N, you’re MY sister and Theo is the enemy here, don’t you get that?”, Scott was really angry. “Well.. Theo and I.. we have a past. Do you remember the boy I always used to meet up with in middle school?”, you asked. “Huh?”, he was confused. “Of course you don’t, well that’s Theo. He was my first love, Scott”, you explained to him. “That is no excuse for making out with him and distracting yourself, Y/N. That was important to me and the pack and you only cared about yourself”, Scott hissed. “I don’t get how you can be so selfish, Y/N”, he added and left the room with anger.

[gizkasparadise]

I have a question and I'm really sorry if you've been asked this before (tbh it's hard for me to even imagine someone so proficient would even have this problem), but how do you handle writers block or when you're just feeling generally blah about a particular story? I'm towards the end of a fic but everytime I go back to it my inner dialogue is, 'ugh, my interest in this is so minimal/this writing is crap/this is boring ect ect' and yet I really want to get back into it but gah! the block!

hahaha oh i have this problem-- especially toward finishing fics! (my 5/6 ON HOLD FOREVER fics can attest to that :’|) 

i mean, i guess the first step is to be okay with having writer’s block? there’s all this pressure surrounding writing that if you can’t keep doing it constantly you’re wrong and it’s wrong and you should give up. that’s total crap! i have long periods where i dont want to write at all, and when it comes to hobby writing (i also write for a living, but it’s a different type of writing) sometimes things just need to sit for a bit before we dive back in, you know?

but in terms of pragmatics:

-usually when you’re stuck somewhere, the problem is actually a few sentences/paragraphs ago. writer’s block usually stems from not being motivated/not being sure what to write next. that typically indicates that something happened earlier in the draft/manuscript that lead up to this being a snag. i’ve had to go back and cut plot lines or scenes before because they held up what i was writing and while it sucked to lose some work (but save it in another document!) it made writing the rest way, way easier. 

-simplify! often writers are trying to do too much at once, and that makes it really hard to stay motivated. have 9 subplots you want to do? try cutting that down to around 3 and see if it’s easier. too many things to juggle means you’re going to drop them all. also simplify your expectations in terms of word count. i had (have? probably still have) this problem where if i can’t sit down and write it in one sitting im DONE and i HATE IT but that’s not how sustained writing works. i’ve switched to an hour a day for stuff i dont want to do and that helps

-have multiple projects (ah ha haaaaaaaaaaaaa @ me)! this doesn’t work for everyone, but sometimes it helps to be able to “toggle” between one thing or another. for me, my brain goes really fast sometimes and this helps me not have all the cognitive pressure on one project

-find inspiration elsewhere! i like to watch movies or tv shows that i find inspiring and usually it’ll jar something in my creative brain. i also like to make moodboards for projects on pinterest. im a visual thinker, so that’s what helps for me. adjust accordingly for whatever you like doing! 

-talk it out with someone! often it’s useful to just verbalize what you’re working on to someone else, even if they’re not familiar with the project (sometimes that makes it better, actually). when i’m doing heavy research projects, i talk it out to my dog lol. 

-remember that outlining, reading, thinking, etc. is all still writing! just because you’re not typing doesn’t mean you’re not doing work on a project

hope these things help! just remember that writer’s block isn’t a kiss of death or anything. it happens, and just because it takes you some time to get back into a project (ESPECIALLY if it’s an unpaid/hobby project) that’s A-Ok!