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m1ckeyb3rry · 4 months ago

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hii mira !!

i have a question - how do u come up with or find inspiration for events that happen during a war-themed arc (like athyae)? asking cause im having a lot of trouble trying to formulate events during a war arc and im not rlly sure how to go about it in terms of pacing 🤕

(my mc is a nurse in the military and im trying to brainstorm how i can expand upon this but im not rlly sure where to go as of rn and this arc will last a little while, so im also not sure how to pace it)

hihi ray!! omg i’m so honored that you asked hehe i will do my best to help out!! i’m going to use SitH as an example because you mentioned it but if you want any clarification or anything on a finer point then you can ofc lmk 🫡

okayyy so with athyae i knew some basic things going into it since it canonically happens (kind of?? like it’s briefly mentioned in-verse) which helped me build from there. athyae is the only other place where the wine idea was utilized and i knew that i wanted y/n to be the one who came up with it because it would come back to haunt her. i also wanted y/n to battle with the propaganda/brainwashing that we know from canon is used by marley, which is where the idea for the amatas was conceived, and i always knew xanthe was going to die. at first, xanthe’s death was meant to show y/n that marley isn’t all that, but i changed it to be her fault to kickstart her mental deterioration into being fine with suggesting genocide. that is to say — i had a character, and i knew i needed her to eventually do some crazy shit, so i needed to come up with a plausible sequence of events to get her to that point. from there, it was all about guiding her to what i needed from her!!

it’s jarring for readers as well as characters if you thrust them into things with zero warning. that doesn’t mean that you can’t play with tonal shifts and whatnot, but it should be subtle, especially if you’re going from a more lighthearted setting into war. with athyae, i accomplished that via the declaration of war and general magath’s scare tactics abt what the athyaens would do to them if they were captured, as well as the newspaper that friedrich and colt read about the hanged scout. that part of the arc is still mostly lighter (friedrich’s infamous “call him daddy and mean it”, y/n describing how beautiful athyae is, the introduction of cordelia and the little jealousy subplot), but there are inklings of what’s to come being sprinkled in. that’s why, when you get hit with the baby scene, it still feels like things have taken a dramatic turn, but also not in a random way that’s just for shock value?? idk if that makes sense lol

so to sum up the last two points i would say a) know WHY you’re writing a story set in a war. why does your character specifically have to work in the military?? could they be a nurse anywhere else?? if you can firmly say that your story/plot would be completely different if there wasn’t a war happening you’re on a good track. from there, have an idea of one or two key things that you NEED to happen in the arc and that pretty much define it. then go through and think about how you can get your character into a situation where those key events feel plausible, and structure your story so that the buildup feels natural instead of out of the blue.

in terms of coming up with specific events (in athyae: the baby scene, the burning of the village, marek’s torture, etc etc), there really is no greater inspiration than history. now obviously it won’t be word for word — it’s not like there were titans and spinal fluid in wwii, which is mostly what i researched for athyae given the time period, but looking at past examples of wars gives you a feel for how many atrocities humans are capable of, which is much more relevant. there’s no event in history that i could see directly aligns with the fall of the athyaen capital, but assimilating my knowledge of the show with various tidbits about past conflicts helped me come up with something that felt authentic. the same goes for marek’s torture, which tbf we only find out abt post-war but since your character is a nurse they will probably encounter more marek’s than not — i researched various torture methods until i settled on a few that made sense given the attitudes towards eldians and the technology of the time, as well as what they were trying to gain from him. you’ll probably have to put “historical” in front of “torture methods” otherwise you’ll mostly get government websites talking about how torture is no longer legal. also, scrolling through the geneva convention and seeing some of the things that are outlawed in it should also provide ideas (depending on how dark you’re wanting to go).

in terms of pacing, i would suggest splitting a war arc into smaller arcs!! athyae was two, and the mid-east arc (which i never wrote but did plan) was seven, with each smaller arc only lasting about 5 chapters (i average about 5-7k words per chapter, so that puts each smaller arc at roughly 25-35k words each, give or take, ymmv). for athyae, i split it into ‘war on athyae’ and ‘defeat of athyae’. the separation allowed me to focus on the particular goal of the smaller arc super well and made the overall athyae arc feel more cohesive, as each portion of the war was given due attention. each mini arc gets an ‘inciting event’ that it’s named for (with ‘defeat of athyae’ it was the wine idea) and that the rest of the chapters are built around; this event can be at any moment in during the mini arc, but it should really be the focal point that dramatically changes the way the arc goes. for ‘defeat of athyae’ it was the wine idea; for ‘war on athyae’ it was y/n staying with the amatas. by boiling a larger arc down into these very rough mini arcs with focal points, you can ensure you give yourself enough space to handle the events that NEED to happen while also having the freedom to ad-lib as you go along and change things up if your story insists on going in a different direction

i hope this was a little bit helpful!! hehe i think a lot of the times too i’ve looked an outline and been like “yeah this’ll be 3k words max” and then it ends up being twice or thrice that length because i always underestimate how much ‘chapter space’ things like internal monologues and descriptions take up. so honestly pacing might come more naturally than you expect!! but anyways pls lmk if this was what you needed or if you have any other questions you’d like me to answer, i will do my best 💖

#answered asks #m’s writing advice

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vivxwrites · 5 years ago

Text

Tough

*not my gif*

Word Count: 1652

Warning(s): sort of angsty, should be safe besides that. (lmk if anything else needs to be tagged!)

Summary: Just a little songfic to the song Tough by Quinn XCII ft. Noah Kahan

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Reader

A/N: hey all, i’m back with a request! this one was sent in by a nonnie quite some time ago! i hope you all enjoy! also, please go listen to this song because it’s pure nat. You’ll see what I mean.

*lyrics are italicized*

Maybe it's 'cause your mom never kissed you

If you ever cried, you'd wipe with muscle tissue

You bench pressing more than me's not the issue

I know you're actually weaker than that

Let's hope that nothing get deeper than that

“Nat wait,” you called out desperately. She didn’t turn back and continued to angrily stomp away in the direction of her quarters. You cursed yourself and chewed on your lip before standing up and chasing after her.

After sprinting down the twists and turns of the tower you made it to Natasha’s door seconds before she slammed it shut, barely managing to shove your foot in the entryway. She made a noise of frustration and reluctantly flung the door open with a glare. “Can’t you leave me alone?” She asked the question sharply but you were well-versed in the tendencies of Natasha Romanoff. She used her anger in an attempt to intimidate the other party but you vowed to stay strong against her well-defended emotional barriers.

From your spot in the doorway you could just barely make out her bed, where upon closer examination you noticed a pair of silver handcuffs dangling, one metal ring closed securely around the column of the headboard while the other remained unlocked and hung idly. You heart sunk in your chest at the thought of Natasha reverting back to the ways of her tormentors for a sense of stability. “Oh, Nat,” you paused and trailed off, not quite knowing what to say.

Tears swam in Natasha’s green eyes before they hardened and she ripped her gaze from yours. “Natasha please, let me help you.” Be it some form of psychic powers that resulted from HYDRA’s multiple experiments on you or some factor completely unrelated, you could tell Nat was on the brink of a mental breakdown large enough to rival the Eiffel Tower and you wanted to comfort her in any way that you could, not that she made it easy.

“I don’t need your help,” she growled. “I’m strong enough to handle myself on my own.” She slammed the door in your face. ‘But you don’t have to’, you thought before turning and walking away, with a heavy heart.

Like why, why are you only vulnerable when no-one's around?

Your gym membership is not a crown

You're not so tough

I know that nightlight's on when you sleep

You're not so tough

Yeah, you watch Eat Pray Love on repeat

And I'm sure you'd win in an altercation

But you're still insecure to me

Oh, so mess me up

I know you're not so tough

When you saw her the next morning at breakfast you could tell from her bloodshot eyes that she had cried herself to sleep. You grit your teeth to withhold saying anything to her and instead busied yourself with drinking the rest of your freshly brewed coffee, courtesy of Clint. But God, you couldn't help but wonder why Natasha kept all of her feelings tucked away, why she was only vulnerable when no-one was around.

Against better judgement, you forced yourself to give her some space and decided that a trip to the gym was in order. About an hour or so after you had started running on the treadmill you caught a flash of red hair and pale ivory skin donned in black workout gear. If she had even spared a single glance your way she would’ve seen the obvious concern shining in your eyes, but she hadn’t. She had only crossed the expansive room and stepped into the shooting range, picked up a massive Russian Rifle with ease and set her sights on the automated targets ahead. You knew that Natasha had a habit of visiting the gym twice, sometimes even three times a day to prove a point to who, you hadn’t the slightest clue. You just wished that she would take more time off and not work herself into the ground.

Even as you watched her take down target after target, her biceps straining yet holding the gun perfectly steady, you knew deep down that she wasn’t as tough as she let on. Sure, physically she could break all the bones in your body in less than a minute, but on the inside, she was comparable to a pile of sand held in someone’s palm, furtively trying not to slip right through the gaps between their fingers.

You knew from the countless nights where you would wake up to screaming that Natasha slept with multiple guns and knives under her pillows, having had one of the previous mentioned weapons pointed and ready to put a sizable hole in your forehead after you had entered the widow’s bedroom one night when you had heard screaming. Needless to say you didn’t pop by for any more nightly visits, even while you lay flinching in your own bed from the sheer intensity of her screams.

And sure, she was deadly and very well could kill you, but you only wanted to help her work through her insecurities and fears. And maybe you had ulterior motives, like wanting to get closer to her, closer than anyone else on the team had ever managed and-

You stopped yourself from continuing your thoughts. Right now Natasha didn’t need someone to love, she needed to love herself.

Are you insecure that the steroids are causing hair loss?

That your Lulu shorts don't quite vibe with your camo AirPods

And if I ran into you past sunset, I'd probably be scared, oh

I know you're honestly weaker than that

I bet you know that you need to relax

You could see the way she would try to inconspicuously avoid touching anyone, as if she were scared that her mind and body would turn against her and injure those she loved. Your chest panged with the sorrow you felt for her and if you could’ve swept her into your open arms, you would’ve in an instant.

Here, in the low lighting of the common area, Natasha looked almost relaxed. With her nose in a book and wearing sweats, the world’s deadliest assassin didn’t look so deadly. But even doing nothing, she was still intimidating. Her obvious intelligence and beauty would have scared a younger you further into the shelves of the library in an instant. Her hands twitched on the outside cover of the book, clenching and unclenching while her brow furrowed and after a moment, her body relaxed into the plush leather of the couch.

And I don't mean to come at you like it's Watergate

My pale ghostly body's purely water-weight

Yeah, I should probably substitute what is on my plate

But I still acknowledge those feelings inside

Let's work on your habit to run or to hide

You approached Natasha as calmly as you could, though inside you felt an unsettling combination of both nerves and anxiety. She snapped her head in your direction, reluctantly looking away from the view of the skyline that she had discovered at the top of the tower. “Hi,” she said meekly and you were surprised to hear the undertones of something in her voice, Natasha usually being extremely skilled at hiding her real emotions.

You sat down next to her and turned your body to face her, preparing yourself for the possible aggression she might direct towards you after you say your little tidbit. “Natasha, I’m worried about you,” you began. When she didn’t reach over and shove you to your death you decided that it was safe to continue, “You’re strong all the time and I just wonder, are you alright? I know it’s not the most healthy thing, bottling everything up.” She blinked at you with a blank look on her face and you chuckled nervously, “Not that I’m the healthiest person alive, there’s some stuff that I could work on too, like actually going to medbay after missions like I’m supposed to or being on time to Fury’s mission briefings or-” You were suddenly cut off by the feeling of Natasha’s soft lips on yours and you were sure that your eyes had widened to a level bordering cartoon-like as your brain frantically screamed at you to reciprocate the kiss, after a while, you did just that.

It was chaste and left you longing, a kiss that screamed Natasha in so many ways. She smirked at your expression, a stunned look still present on your features. “I appreciate the concern, (Y/N), but don’t worry about me.” You opened your mouth to cut her off but she shushed you by placing a single finger against your lips. “Besides, you’ll help me work on it, won’t you?”

She rose to her feet and with a wink and a teasing grin, made her way back into the tower. You sat dazed on the rooftop for a while until the events finally registered. Natasha had kissed you and, apparently you would help her learn to open up more. You didn’t know exactly what the future would hold but you knew that you were excited to find out.

Like why, why are you only vulnerable when no-one's around?

Your gym membership is not a crown

You're not so tough

I know that nightlight's on when you sleep

You're not so tough

Yeah, you watch Eat Pray Love on repeat

And I'm sure you'd win in an altercation

But you're still insecure to me

Oh, so mess me up

I know you're not so tough

You're not so tough

You're not

You're not so tough

You're not

You're not so tough

You're not

You're not so tough

You're not

You're not so tough

I know that nightlight's on when you sleep

You're not so tough

Yeah, you watch Eat Pray Love on repeat

And I'm sure you'd win in an altercation

But you're still insecure to me

Oh, so mess me up

I know you're not so tough

A/N: I feel like this isn’t good but I owe it to all of you to post it anyway. Super sorry for all the delays with my writing, I’m doing my best to juggle school and this and all the other events of my life. Feel free to shoot me a pm or ask if you ever have questions or want to talk! Love, Viv <3

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#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x female!reader #natasha romanoff imagine #black widow x reader #black widow imagine #marvel fanfiction

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