#lethey whines

[lethesomething]

What’s been going on

You know how when you cook macaroni and you put the water on and it gets to a rolling boil and then you throw the macaroni's in and they sorta swirl around like they're trying to reinvent New Wave dancing? That's basically what my mind has been feeling like lately. So it's time for another round of 'Help a writer out'. Please?

Context:

In two weeks, I have an honest to god vacation. Three weeks that are going to be filled with adulting, and Netflix and  a stack of unfinished video games and, because I am a masochist: writing.

My brain, excitable little puppy that it is, has been bombarding me with Ideas in anticipation.

So.

Knowing from experience that I do some of my best fanfic work when I'm not permanently exhausted (an unpleasant side effect of my job), what I'm looking for is guidance. What do you want me to focus on? Which one of these would you like to read? (please note that many of these will get written eventually, tho I can’t promise they’ll all happen. I did something similar last year and ended up finishing 4 out of 6. That’s about where we’re at)

Lethey's Summer Poll

So, tell me what to write. (yes I know there's two Shinsous here. Shush. Boy needs love)

BNHA - The fluffy Shinsou: A super indulgent reader insert featuring !hero Shinsou and the owner of a cat café. Lots of shenanigans, tons of cats and a fairly mild crime plot. Post-canon. Ungendered reader. T-rating.

BNHA - The 90's Shinsou: Basically, make me work on Deliverance. This is an episodic urban fantasy AU set in the 90's, with an overarching character development arc. In short: Shinsou starts out as a broke AF, super sad student and gradually gains friends and confidence (and moneys) as he takes a job as a delivery boy for a shipping company with some very specialized cargo.Pretty angsty? Rated M for Tokoyami x Shinsou and possible future Midoriya x Shinsou.

Haikyuu - The DaiSuga: Another one that already exists but needs a lot more work. Suga gets pulled into a plot to break a deadly curse and instead ends up with Daichi, who is mildly confused by the modern world. Fish out of water, slice of life romance with a side order of urban fantasy because I can't friggin write normal stuff. Also a continuation of the Godbook series.

Natsume Yuujinchou - The Otome: My big challenge for this year. A miniature choose-your-own-adventure written in the style of reader insert dating games. Routes range from innocent over romantic to, uh, very kinky. The idea comes from wanting to write an otome where the reader really gets control over how far they wish to go (so choices will get clear NSFW tags when applicable). Think more Cybird and Cute Demon Crashers, and less Mystic Messenger or Amnesia: Memories (shudder). Romance options (currently) for Natori Shuuichi and Matoba Seiji (yes, we’re going there)

 You can find the poll here!

[lethesomething]

Small update from the lethey front. I was super excited to finally have vacation and get all kinds of stuff written up and, um.

Brain says no.

It’s basically made of mud right now and every time I try to sit down to do the thing with the words, it takes forever and looks bad. So sorry about that. I know some of you were looking forward to things like the Shinsou Cat Café thing; It looks like that will be delayed until my brain is willing to function again.

I’ve had this before, where I work a little too hard and then as soon as I slow down I Immediately Get Sick. It seems this time, instead of my body, my brain just shut down completely. It’s a bummer and honestly, I’m getting kinda bored because I can’t even work up the energy for games or like... full length shows. I’ve been watching vine compilations for three weeks now because that’s about the attention span my stupid brain can handle. If I see one more YEET I’m going to lose it. The ones that say ‘rare vines’ are lying they’re all just Thomas Sanders. Send help.

[lethesomething]

Ten more songs and I'm running out of cider.

This is a problem.

[lethesomething]

A tag thing

As writers, we find ourselves in a constant cycle of looking up information to make it LOOK like we know what the heck we’re talking about. Make a list of things you have made your characters experience that you, personally, have NO (or very little) experience with. Then tag 5 people.

 I was tagged by the lovely @bsinoranges, thank you! This one was a blast.

Can I just make this a list of things I have researched?

The effects and impact of close range gunshots, for different types of ammo.

Several dozen punk/black metal/goth/industrial band names (just so I could make pun names for caffeinated drinks and pastry)

The exact hours of sunrise in Kyoto in June and the time difference between several different parts of the world

Just… time zones. In general. All the time.

The most popular cellular network in Iceland

"When is Golden Week"

Train routes in Argentina

So many locations and transport routes and buildings in cities all over the world (Street View is your friend)

The feel and texture of snake skin (while the creature is alive)

Early twentieth century painters and their work

The name for different medieval era dances and music genres

The chemical composition of white-out

How much blood a person can lose before passing out and/or dying (I'm probably on a government watch list, come to think of it)

The roles and domains of several different ancient gods and assorted mythological creatures (several times)

The exact wording of the different parts of a bowling lane

Grips and strategies in arm wrestling

The colour and material of those little wristbands they give you in hospitals

The names and sizes of various Japanese swords and martial arts implements

Riot strategies and how to make street barricades (Yup, definitely on a government watch list)

The history of Silphium (the plant)

The Latin names and families of So Many Plants

"How do tides work"

I’m gonna cheat and not tag people. If you see this, go ahead and tag yourself. You can even say I tagged you. I won’t snitch.

[lethesomething]

Cleaning tips for people who hate cleaning

So I hate cleaning. Hate it. Despise it. Just.. ugh. But at the same time, I like to live in a mildly clean, hygienic home. So as a Certified Old with a lot of XP cleaning while hating every second of it, have some tips.

 Invest in hardware: Yeah you already hate this first tip because you’re broke as all hell, but hear me out. If you can, invest in a good vacuum cleaner. You're gonna use this thing, like, at least once a month so don't make life worse on yourself than it has to be. I'm talking about a powerful vacuum with a long ass cord and a good handle, that doesn't weigh too much so you can easily lug it up and down stairs or whatever you need to do. Mostly you need power. Especially if you have a kitty or a doggo. Their hair gets stuck in the carpet and you can't get that shit out with a 20 dollar vacuum from Walmart.

Do not get a Roomba as your primary vacuuming device. I know it sounds amazing but that thing does not work like that. Exhibit a: stairs. You'll still need a regular vacuum.

If you have a fuckton of money, do get a Roomba, they make great companions (and you can feel like you're multitasking by like… doing dishes while it runs around the other room)

Also, get one of those sticks that you can attach dust attractive cloth thingies to. It doesn't have to be a fancy brand, these are really low tech things and it's hard to get them wrong. (aka, get the cheap one that you can buy cheap cloths for so you don't get stuck with Swiffer tm brand locking systems that only work with Swiffer tm brand super expensive cloth thingies. Remember that you will need to buy more cloth thingies. It's exactly like printer ink). These things are handy for reaching cobwebs on high ceilings and for quickly wiping dust off a floor or stairs without lugging the entire vacuum cleaner over there.

Do not get a feather duster. What are you, a 17th century butler? Feather dusters are only useful for maintenance, aka if you use them every other day. Let's not even pretend like you're doing that.

Vacuum the shit out of everything you can vacuum. You know the little hand brushy attachment your vacuum comes with? Use the hell out of that. Base boards, the weird nooks in your toilet, every corner in your house, the seats on the kitchen chairs. All of it. It's easier than wiping and it actually removes dust from your house (as long as you don't explode the vacuum bag)

Vacuum between the couch cushions like at least once every two months, guys. Crumbs get in there.

Wet cloth wipe everything else. You're on tumblr, don't try to tell me you have antique furniture. Every surface Ikea makes is resistant to a slightly damp cloth. Rinse it, squeeze it as hard as you can, wipe it. It actually takes in the dust and assorted shit and holds it until you rinse it out again (unlike the friggin feather duster). This means stuff stays dust-free longer, and you have to clean less often.

Vinegar. Everywhere. Put it on your damp cloth for Moar Power. You, or more likely your mom, has seen this on Pinterest and it friggin works, ok? Remember how I told you to invest in hardware? Now you can save moneys on expensive cleaning products. You can reliably clean the vast majority of your house with two products: a detergent (aka dish soap) and white vinegar. Clean the toilet? Vinegar. Get the grime out of the shower? Vinegar. Descale the kettle? Vinegar. Make your taps look super shiny? Vinegar.

Bonus round:If you want to be a Proper Pinterest Person you can add a drop of essential oil to your vinegar (i like mint!), so everywhere you go with your wet cloth ends up smelling nice. It will make you feel like a domestic god(dess). Also, vinegar smells like, ya know, vinegar, so there's that.

Recipe: Awesome Juice.

This is, again, something the pinteresty people have discovered, but I clean my entire kitchen with it. Grab ye a discarded spray bottle and clean it. Then: Put like… a third of vinegar in it, and a healthy dollop (like a sixth?) of dish soap. Fill the rest with water. It's not.. a very precise recipe.

Congratulations, you now have Awesome Juice. Spray it on everything in your kitchen. Wipe away and marvel at your cleaning prowess.

Here's how that works. Vinegar has a mild disinfectant effect, combined with the fact that it breaks down a lot of grease, and it dissolves chalk/calcium/lime/that matte white build-up you get in places where a lot of water is used. Meanwhile, a detergent such as dish soap is meant to break down grease. Combine them (they don't cause a harmful effect when mixed, like bleach and vinegar do) and you have something that will destroy any grime you may have in your kitchen, while also being food safe!

Use time to your advantage. You know how I told you Awesome Juice breaks down grease and calcium deposits? It needs time to do that. Spray the stuff on, then let it do its thing for like ten minutes. Have a coffee break. You’ve been in need of one anyway. Your friend vinegar will do most of the work so you have less scrubbing later.

Always vacuum a floor before you even think of mopping. Otherwise you’ll just end up with dead moths and shit in your water.

Extra Cleaning hack. Streaks from window cleaning happen in part because you're using a wet cloth, or a squeegee that you're not particularly good with (i cannot judge you on this, neither am i), and so water is left behind to dry by itself. But you know what's super water absorbent? Kitchen towels. Go over your newly cleaned but slightly damp window with a single piece of kitchen towel and watch that bugger shine.

[lethesomething]

In need of a beta reader (again)

Yo,

So I am a complete idiot and I've set myself up for a bunch of fics this end-of-year and I fear that I've bit off a way more than I can chew. As a consequence, I'm about to sound Extremely Entitled. I'm looking for a beta reader. Halp. Someone. Please. I just need a second pair of eyes.

The mission, should you choose to accept it: The fic I would like someone to proofread is my Halloween special, which means it should be ready for posting the last week of October. Time wise, the first draft should wrap up next week. It is currently 23k words long, and appears to be heading towards about 30k when finished (this is an educated guess, but I'm also a liar) The main ship is Tendou x Sugawara (Haikyuu) mildly paced burn. M rating. It is very gory horror, but also Yakuza Vampire Coffeeshop Goth Punk AU, with a weird amount of fluff and like... psychological development, I think?

What. Yeah.…

So here's what I need: In case you're not put off after all that: I do not require a beta reader to spell check. That's not something I struggle with too much. What I'm currently struggling with, is an overstuffed fic. I'm trying to keep about four layers of complex plot lines, too much symbolism and a bunch of character development inside the suitcase, without it breaking in half and without, preferably, losing the reader somewhere along the way (see earlier: bit off more than I can chew). The way I see the process is as follows: you read the draft and maybe comment on scenes that make no sense, character actions that are completely OOC, times where the mood changes abruptly, etc. Afterwards, I will cross-examine the hell out of you about plot lines, themes, symbolism, general feels and mood, and pacing. Especially Pacing. I am so friggin worried about pacing, you guys.

What would this beta need: For starters: a strong stomach. It's horror. I go Full Gore™. I cannot stress this enough. Some knowledge of Haikyuu characterisation (specifically Shiratorizawa since they're not the most common characters) A fairly decent idea of what makes a Good Read™. Particularly, being able to pinpoint when something feels off or becomes too tangled.

What do you get: My eternal gratitude and the confirmation that you are a Good Bean. Also, like, spoilers, I guess. The ability, probably, to steer a fic writer away from grave mistakes. And chocolate? Maybe? Depending on where you live? Iono man, tell me what you need.

If this sounds like something you could and want to do, hit me up.

[lethesomething]

You guys I wrote a book

It's starting to trickle in that I wrote a book. Now, I realize this isn't that fancy an achievement, because a: it's fanfic, and that automatically disqualifies it as a 'book' to some people and b: by fanfic standards, it's not that big a deal. Like I know it's not super popular, and also I'm no SkittyDyne (who is utterly amazing, but not, I suppose, a very healthy standard of length to strive for). But this is still something I've wanted to do for a Very Long Time, and I'm pretty proud of myself that I was able to finish it, so in the interest of explaining to fanfic writers everywhere what they're getting themselves into, and to sate my own curiosity: have some numbers.

How long is it

The Word document that is my finished manuscript is 234 pages long (Times New Roman, font size 12) It contains 130,040 words, which, holy shit, is more than Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone (76.944 words, according to the internets) and The Hobbit (95.022 words). Book wise, this is apparently about the size of  LOTR's The Return of the King (134,462 words).

 LKS also tops out at 769,712 characters.

Fun factoid: In my experience, freelance writers around my parts receive €0.015 to €0.025 per character for work in print, such as a magazine or newspaper. Up to €0.033 or more if they get a good deal. That's €11,500, up to €24,400 if I'd spent all that time writing for pay, instead of as a hobby (please note that this is not a complaint, I'm very much doing this for fun).

How much room does it take

There exist, at this time, 114 versions of my manuscript, across two laptops and one Google Drive. This tells you that I'm a bit of a mess, but also, that I have a lot of back-ups (always make back-ups, kids). There are also about six planning and assorted note documents. The final version of the manuscript, by the way, takes up 1.630 kB, or 1.6 MB. Fun factoid: It would not fit on a 3,5 inch floppy disk (also, I am old).

How much time does it take

It is now 17 months and a half ago, that @leeva-z-kai sent me the fateful pm that kickstarted this whole thing (it basically said 'how about you just combine your au's and story ideas', but with prettier words). The first 8 chapters of the current version went up a month later.

LKS has 46 chapters, with a an average of about 3k words per chapter. And each of those chapters took about 12 hours to make. Some longer, some less, but that's a pretty close average. This includes writing and editing. That's 552 hours, with some added planning work. Fun factoid: in my part of the world, office workers tend to have a work week of 38 hours. In this system the book would have taken 14.5 work weeks to complete. Please remember this when you tell fanfic writers some version of 'give me more content faster': every minute you read takes an hour of someone's time to write.

How much support does it take

This is the sentimental bit. I very much believe in self-motivated writing. If you are not a copywriter, it is a good idea to write first and foremost for yourself. This means you won't give up when you're making gen fic that sits at a steady 47 views for ages. That is not to say you can't use support. Especially for a project this long. A writer is not an island and you need someone, preferably several someones, to lean on. Support comes in many forms. It can come in the form of a pm and an offer for initial beta reading, like Keiji. It is also someone to whine at, bounce ideas off of, just… chat at about your fic, like @bsinoranges, or @haruhi02, or @tottwriter, or milksalt, who is not on tumblr. It very much, and this is important, comes in the form of comments and kudos, like a few dedicated readers coming back every few chapters to let you know that yes, they're still following you, and no, you're not writing into the void, like @seamarmot and a few others. (don't think I didn't notice, holy shit did I notice). I've been lucky enough to have received all these types of support and honestly? Thank you. I truly don't think I'd have done it without you.

[lethesomething]

No update today

Heyhey,

I’m really sorry to leave you guys hanging on what is essentially a cliffhanger but the draft for chapter 15 is pretty rough and I have what amounts to a 14 hour workday ahead of me. Chocolate Hearts will be updated again on Friday evening (CET)

[lethesomething]

Tell me what to do

Hey guys, since I have a milestone coming up in followers and I have long since lost track of why you’re even following me, I figured I'd do a little feedback session. There’s literally two questions, it takes like ten seconds.

This basically lets you tell me what you want from this blog and to some extent, what fanfics you’d like to see.

The poll is here. Below, I'll explain the questions.

What would you like to see more of?

Basically, which of the many fandoms I’ve been obsessing over, has caused you to follow me, or which ones would you like to see in your feed.

Haikyuu character profiles

BNHA character profiles

KNB character profiles

Other: analyses, headcanons, au's, more YowaPeda, more Bungou Stray Dogs? Let me know.

Which fic do you want me to work on first?

So I’m putting the final touches on the Lock, the Key and the Sacrifice, and in anticipation of the time I’ll be gaining when I’m not updating a fantasy story every other week, I checked the folder where I put all my drafts and ideas. Many of these will maybe eventually make it into a finished stage, but if you feel like I should *start* with one of these, now is the time to tell me.

The TenSuga: A dark Tendou x Suga romance involving, somehow, Yakuza, coffee shops and vampires. Mild erotica, no full porn. This story is the definition of 'that escalated quickly' and is on the verge of being a crack  (fun fact: this is basically what became of that coffee shop maffia idea I once put to you guys, asking for help with the pairing. You were really sweet and helpful then... I'm so sorry that it turned out like this).

The Aomine: A very slow burn Aomine x fem reader story in canon universe (and future au), starting in school and ending years later. This one has been in my drafts for over a year. Mostly fluff and angst, with maybe mild erotica.

The Aizawa: A Very Indulgent romance for Aizawa x fem reader, involving old loves. Probably a fair amount of mary sueness. This one doesn't exist in any form, except in my head. Fluff and angst. (I have a type, ok? Suwabe tends to voice them)

The Noir: A noir detective story featuring Homicide agents Tsukki and Tendou, whose case is taken over by secret government magic agents Yamaguchi and Ushijima. Set in Vaeda, the city of LKS, and so basically a sort of spin-off? Slow burn TsukkiYama. Shenanigans, because Tendou.

Tales from the Rim: short stories set in my Haikyuu Space Pirate au.

Just write more KNB porn, Lethey: Self explanatory. Think blowjob chapters, folk tales, those series.

So that’s it. Two questions, two answers and you’ll be helping me out a ton. You can enter the poll here.

[lethesomething]

The results are in

So hey, thanks again for helping me out with my little feedback poll. The results have been... interesting, and pretty unexpected, which I guess means it was necessary.

So first up: y’all are so ready for BNHA. This actually kind of follows the impression I’ve gotten that Haikyuu has been going through a bit of a break lately. A lot of the fandom (including me) is very much enjoying the hype around Superhero Harry Potter.

I have several remarks

At least two of you were all ‘can you just do all of them’, which, yes, eventually. But I am a person with a job and stuff. It’s cute that you’re so enthusiastic, tho.

I wasn’t expecting the Aomine to be so popular? I wonder if some of you just want me to finally finish a story that’s been in draft for so long. Motivational feedback.

None of y’all asked for full on porn, even in an anonymous poll (the 16% is the TenSuga), which is funny cause those are By Far my most read stories. I’m guessing tumblr has a more discerning audience than AO3.

So what happens now?

Well, first I’m going to finish LKS, which has been a main focus for over a year and which is Very Close to completion. Secondly, as I mentioned in the poll post, I’m coming up on another follower milestone, so I’ll try to prepare a few things for a little thank you event. I had several ideas, and you’ve given me a few more.

Thanks again for your help, it’s been enlightening :)

[lethesomething]

"If you let me drown I'll swim like a champion".... that's not how it works.

[lethesomething]

Hiya,

little not to mention I’ll be closing the poll in a couple of hours. I’ve gotten quite a few reactions, so thank you all for participating. So far the results are… interesting. If you still want to vote, you can do so for a little while longer. You can find my two question feedback poll here.

[lethesomething]

Pouring cereal this morning, I found myself pondering the merits of hanging out with a friend one more time before fusing persona's and it's just... I'm hooked, aren't I?

[lethesomething]

Me, cycling home by the canal in the middle of the night. *sees movement in the pitch black water* "Hi ducky!" ... "I hope."

[lethesomething]

Imagine blog appreciation post

Hello, hi, time to give credit where credit is due.

Writing requests is really hard and exhausting and I don't know how these people do it, but I appreciate them for it.

So here's a list of my absolute favourite imagine blogs. Go check them out and like and reblog if you want, because that is literally the currency we're dealing in here.

All of these have been updated in the last month and should be active.

Small warning: some of these will be nsfw (they tend to tag, tho).

Little Crow

@littlecrow-headcanons

My absolute favourite. The birb writes incredibly beautiful prose and is a true inspiration.

Fandom: Mostly Kuroko no Basket and Haikyuu.

Speciality: Did I mention the pretty prose? Also: heartfelt, on point and very evocative headcanons about minor characters you never considered until that exact post gives you entire stories worth of material.

YoI Central

@scenarios-on-ice

Pretty sure admin Luna is alone and updates several times a day and I don't know how they do it because ??? the quality does not betray the speed with which these must be written????

Fandom: Yuri on Ice

Speciality: Fluff headcanons. Like, the innocent, feel-good fluff that helps you through the day. I don't think they even do angst, which is apt because why would you hurt those precious skaters.

Dazai, why

@goddamnitdazai

I somehow got to this blog because of a comparison chart about Port Maffia members'... members and I haven't left since. They're funny.

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs

Speciality: They actually do perfectly legit SFW headcanons and scenarios but yeah, my favourite are their NSFW headcanons, because they're a) very good and b) have a really chill, sort of fun attitude about them? It feels mature and realistic.

Oh boy

@darkanddirtyknb

Very, very nsfw blog that deals, as the name suggests, with mostly dark scenarios. Combines those with really poetic language and metaphor heavy writing style.

Fandom: Kuroko no Basket

Speciality: Kink. Do tread lightly. I tend to skip the heavier ones, but I've also fallen in love with some of the others. They are responsible for what is my favourite Hanamiya piece of all time. 

Gay skaters

@imagine-the-gay-skaters

Fully SFW headcanon blog. They do some very elaborate matchups as well.

Fandom: Yuri on Ice

Specialtiy: I really like how detailed their headcanons are? Like they're extensive, well written paragraphs, usually accompanied by gifs. It's a really nice read and it's obvious they put a lot of thought into it.

All hail Ranpo

@bungoustraydogsimagines

This blog does mostly headcanons.

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs

Speciality: This is personal preference, but I really like their characterisation of Akutagawa and Ranpo, specifically. Akutagawa because they make him very human, while still keeping to the cold dick persona of the manga. And Ranpo because Ranpo is sheer joy.

Nova

@kuroxyoshi

Full fledged request blog. Admin Nova does memes, headcanons and little scenario's (or big scenario's).

Fandom: Kuroko no Basket and a little Haikyuu

Speciality: Scenario's. I really like the scenes they paint and their characterisation of fictional athletes. I'm fairly certain Nova is not a native English speaker, which is actually a plus, since it makes for a truly cool and unique writing style.

Haikyuu dream

@haikyuu-dream

Multi-admin scenario blog. They update quite a lot and they also do, like, sleepover weekends.

Fandom: Haikyuu

Specialty: This is kinda hard to tell, because they have, I think, five admins who would each have their own speciality. But I highly enjoy their 'cute' scenario's. They have a lot of really funny, light drabbles which in my personal preference sort of fits the fandom rather well.

KnB writing blog

@knb-writing

A scenario blog run by two sisters.

Fandom: Kuroko no Basket

Specialty: Angst. I don't know what it is about KnB, but somehow this fandom always gets the best dark, angsty scenario's. This blog delivers them in spades.

[lethesomething]

A tag thing

A short one? A short one. I was tagged by the wonderful @megchan87. Thank you!

Answer the questions, and tag 20 followers

Name: LetheSomething Nicknames: Lethey. I’ve been called Lady and Teacups in the past as well. Height: 1m 7... 6? Ish.  A tol. Orientation: CisHet female Nationality: Belgian Favorite Fruit: Mango! Also blueberries, and cherries. Favorite Season: Spring? Let’s say spring. Favorite Flower: Orchids (because they don’t wilt) Favorite Animal: Red pandas Favorite Color: Ummmmmm. Burgundy, and petroleum blue for clothes Favorite Scent: the air after a long awaited rainstorm, the beach at night, a foggy meadow when it’s like... really cold out. Coffee, Tea or Hot Chocolate: I drink equal amounts of Too Much coffee and tea Dog or Cat Person: Have I told you about Catamari, the cutest cat in existence and also conveniently my pet? *pulls out the photo album* Favorite Fictional Character: Hoooo boy. If I have to choose a completely random one from one of the many, many shows and games and books I like: Majima Goro (Yakuza series) Number of Blankets You Sleep With: One? Two in winter. Dream Trip: The far places: road tripping through Japan or New Zealand, visiting Nazca in Peru. Blog Created: *checks* August 2013, but I didn’t start regularly posting until June 2015 Number of Followers: 1.961 Random Fact: I have learned a number of highly specialized skills that are cool but completely useless in my every day life as an office worker, such as belly dancing, stage fencing and soldering.

I’m just gonna do a ‘tag yourself’ thing here. If you feel like doing these: consider yourself tagged!