#luckily on my reread that Issue was fixed

[veilord]

I’m writing this because I can’t stop thinking about sbg and I’m really excited for the next chapters but I’m really impatient and I can’t buy coins :(

I love “School Bus Graveyard” so much and I recently reread the entire comic because I stoped reading for a while. I had fun but it really reinforced the major criticisms I have with it, and that is the pacing and telling instead of showing.

The best way I can think to explain it is that the story goes to fast, especially in the first season.

Like it starts with the cold open to the kids almost getting got by the phantom before going back to give us the context of what’s happening. And this works great to hook readers when the start of the story is a bit slow. Then we have the kids bonding on the trip before they are pulled into the phantom dimension for the first time, and it’s great!! I love the first night and was getting so invested in what would happen next! Then it skips back to the time during the opening.

Skipping boring or irrelevant stuff in a story is expected, we don’t want to watch the kids go to all their classes during school if we don’t need to. This skip isn’t like that, it skips over a lot of interesting story that we need to know about to understand how the kids got into the situation they’re in during the opening. So the story has to full us in on the stuff skipped and dose so by just having Ashlyn monologue about it.

I didn’t notice when I was reading but thinking back this happens a lot, the story skips ahead to the more plot relevant and exciting stuff and has Ashlyn fill in what we missed. This results in the story having almost no downtime which, isn’t good. It makes the story very fast and can be confusing, like when preparing for getting the jeep Ashlyn says it takes a lot of preparation and practice, but we don’t see any of it. So when the plan goes wrong because the keys were moved we aren’t as panicked and confused as the kids. Well it may have been weeks or months in story for us it seems like a few days at most. I have no clue how long they have actually been dealing with the phantoms but the way the story is paced makes it seem like they have only been dealing with it for a short time, making how stressed and tired they are seem like to much.

But I find the biggest problem with the pacing and lack of downtime is how it screws over the characters. When the time skips happen we lose so much character building. We don’t see how they interacted right after the first night in the phantom dimension, how they handled the second night, how they all got to the graveyard, all the arguments about going back to savanna, what they text in the group chat, visiting each others houses, Tyler teaching Ben guitar, just hanging out. When we are told backstory’s they don’t hit very hard because we don’t know much about the characters, we never got to know them. When Tyler falls on the tree and we get his backstory it’s informative and sad and stuff, but then it tells us that Tyler sees the gang as a second family and… what. When I first read that I was genuinely confused, it felt like it came out of nowhere, like they just met, he barely knows any of them. But they didn’t just meet, they’ve known each other for months and have been surviving together every night and hanging out often during the day, but we didn’t see any of it. We only see them in stressful situations so we never really see Tyler warm up to the group, we don’t get the sense that any of these kids are really friends most of the time. The few hangout scenes we get are so good, they let us relax and get to know the characters as they get to know each other. And we know that they hang out more than the two times shown so it super sucks we don’t see more.

The characters need more room to breathe and establish themselves as individuals and as part of the group. As it is whenever one character get more focus it feels like the others are pushed to the side, like there isn’t enough room for all of them when I think there could be more then enough room.

I hope this makes sense I’m not proofreading it lmao. I do really like this story and a lot of my complaints feel less relevant to season two, but because a lot of these problems happen in season one when set up and character building is most important for establishing a steady base for the story to build on it’s very noticeable even as the writing improves. Maybe one day Red can go back and improve the story somehow, but that seems unlikely so I hope these issues continue to be improved as the comic goes on.

[magpiefngrl]

hey! curious new writer here. which fix of yours were the easiest to write and which were the hardest? in what way?

Hello anon! Thanks for an interesting ask.

OK I'll start with the disclaimer that every fic has its difficulties as well as moments when it flows, but there have definitely been some that poured out of me with great ease than others which were a constant struggle.

The Miseducation of Draco Malfoy, my first drarry, was written at the height of my obsession and it poured out of me. I wrote like a fiend all day and would go to bed at night and reread what I wrote. I breathed that fic day and night for the weeks it took me to write it. It was also the most fun I had writing, prob because I was a complete unknown and there were zero expectations from me. Similarly, The Full Monty, written just after TMODM, was an easy fic to write. I remember I read the prompt and was immediately assaulted by images and started laughing on my own and was like, OK I need to claim this, the fic is writing itself.

Similarly but in a more tortuous way, dirtynumbangelboy poured out of me too. More tortuous because it took me ages to find the right beginning, and by then I was behind with my deadlines and got stressed. Also, I wrote it in a sort of dread of the Erised fest, because it had some amazing writers that year and I was intimidated. I remember my goal was to "at least not embarrass myself" .

But, aside from the doubts and stress, dnab itself flowed like nothing else. There are passages that I really love, even now years later, and they are exactly as they came out the first time. I did very little editing (compared to other works).

With The Boy Who Died I made a fun post on tumblr about a mdzs AU of drarry and then the idea wouldn't let me go so I had to sit and write it. Luckily it was summer and I didn't work and I could spend my days writing it. There were moments I got stumped but it mostly came out easily.

Finally, a lot of my short fics poured out of me in one go and came out almost perfectly formed. The Dare, A Perfectly Normal Reaction, and my MCD The Death You Carry are good examples.

Fics that took ages at first:

so my thing is that I have to find the right opening to begin the story, otherwise I can't proceed. I don't plan; the first scene/chapter is my plan. And sometimes I get stuck for yonks. With The Unquiet Grave I began with a Draco POV, him being a politician and Harry his bodyguard, had an interesting first scene and then---nothing. It's like I hit a wall. Zero words come. When I have this feeling, I know I need to go back and revise. Long story short, it was when I changed the POV to Harry that somehow the whole gothic mood came about and I felt the auspicious click: I got it. That's what the story is. A gothic romance. After that, it was easier.

The same thing happened with Hush, darling. I rewrote a first scene fruitlessly several times until a random bit of inspiration fell into my hands: the visual of a card game. I began with it and I let it guide me and the whole plot/stakes/cast fell into place.

Fics that needed a LOT of work and had to be dragged into existence:

The Gift is the first that comes to mind. First couple of chapters were pretty easy and then I was stumped. Writing it felt like dragging myself up a slope, step by step and also not being happy with anything, so that was fun. :/

The other is 9 ½ Days, which took actual years to finish. In that case the middle part was the hard one. I wrote the beginning fairly easily and the last chapters, the plotty ones, also flowed. But the middle. Zeus almighty. It took me years and I thought and thought and thought about it a lot. Finishing this fic was an immense relief but also a source of pride, especially because I really liked the result, and judging by the comments I get, people seem to love it too.

Thanks for an unusual ask! It was good to ponder about my fics and my writing process. The same issues seem to crop up with my original works too, and it's helpful to remind myself that I got over those issues before and I can get over them again.

[amchara]

Best Laid Plans (Nikolai Lantsov/Kaz Brekker)

Happy birthday, Nikki! (@whenshesayshush) It's not the Rivusa story that's still on my backlist but I thought you might appreciate some Bastards Squared™️ as an alternative. ;)

----

Pairing: Kaz Brekker/Nikolai Lantsov

Wordcount: 1,055 words

Summary: Nikolai wants Kaz's expertise for a job. Kaz, being Kaz, is suspicious of his motives.

Notes: Set post-S2. Rating is for general audiences. Nothing scandalous but hopefully it's a fun and flirty slowburn. ;) Not beta-ed, and written quite quickly- so if you see any typos or issues, I'll hopefully spot them in subsequent rereads and fix them. 😅

--------

Kaz was used to dealing with hard men. He was used to dealing with desperate men. He was used to dealing with dangerous and conniving women. This… was not that. And yet, something about the message disconcerted him. 

“To my dearest compatriot and underworld mastermind, Kaz Brekker,” he read. He scoffed and set down the message on the table in front of him. Intending to deal with it later, in private. Unfortunately, it caught someone else’s eye. 

“Who’s flirting with you now?” Jesper asked, as he peered up from his research into Durast training. They sat together at a shadowy corner table, in the newly-established Crow Club. Waiting for a shipment to come in that afternoon, as they slowly gathered supplies for the indomitable Ice Court heist they were building towards. 

“The King of Ravka,” Kaz replied. “And he’s not flirting. He’s asking us to do him a favour.” 

Jesper’s face held mild interest as he picked up and scanned the document. “Correction. He’s asking you to do him a favour,” he said. He raised his eyebrows. “And paying not an insignificant amount for it.” His face scrunched up roguishly, and Kaz suddenly knew what he was about to say. 

“There’s plenty for us to do here,” he said roughly. “We’re busy.”  

Jesper’s elaborate shrug implied otherwise . “All I’m saying is… we won’t be ready to head to Fjerda for another two months. And- I never knew you to turn down such a handsome sum for a job.”

Kaz gave him a hard stare. “The money for the Ravka job has put paid to any delusions of my getting out of bed for anything less than ten million kruge.”  

Jesper watched him, a smile playing about his lips. “So… it would be a favour for Nikolai.”   

“If I decide to go,” Kaz said, and the finality in his tone helped convince Jesper to drop the conversation. And he didn’t say anything further, not even when Kaz informed him and Wylan and Nina that he’d be away for two weeks, taking care of some business in Ravka. 

* 

The ship Nikolai sent was opulent and far above his station, but then again- Kaz thought, wasn’t that how the intractable distance set in for the aristocracy? Having no idea of how common folk travelled. No matter that Nikolai had travelled for years incognito as Sturmhond. Kaz was suspicious nonetheless. 

* 

“You made it!”

Kaz was thrown off guard by the familiarity of Nikolai’s greeting as he disembarked, attempting to not blink owlishly in the harsher Ravkan sun. 

“Yes, well.” Kaz cleared his throat. “Your message was quite persuasive.” 

“Excellent, I shall have to inform my courtiers that despite appearances otherwise, I can occasionally be both charming and persuasive.” The grin flashing across Nikolai’s face was blinding, causing the corners of his eyes to crinkle, relaxing the royal guise and replacing it with a carefree look that accentuated his good looks. 

For a moment, Kaz was worried the King was about to lurch forward and hug him, and he braced himself with his stick for that eventuality, leaning in and debating how best to sidestep it without causing an international incident. Luckily for both of them, Nikolai reined in the impulse. 

* 

They were eating a meal in a large, side room of the Grand Palace. Zoya, one of Nikolai’s closest advisors, had joined for the first few courses but had begged off as they approached the sixth one. They had spoken on niceties throughout the evening but Kaz was growing tired of the diplomacy.��He dropped formalities to expedite the process.

“Nikolai.” 

“Brekker.” Nikolai's gaze on him was steady.

“What is the purpose of this visit? I assume it’s not to ply me with Ravkan deserts until I explode.” 

Nikolai leaned forward, and winked. “That might be part of it.” 

Kaz just looked at him. 

Nikolai sighed and unbuttoned his military jacket, pulling out some papers, handing them across the table. “I think we have some issues within the Royal Treasury. I thought a businessman of your… acuity, might help identify where the trail leads.”

Kaz looked over the papers. “You’re being robbed. And none too subtly,” he pointed out within only a few minutes of studying them. 

Nikolai’s lips thinned, and he tapped the table. “Tell me the details,” he said impatiently. 

“I’ll need to see more documents,” Kaz told him. 

They sat together until early hours of the morning, their heads almost touching, as Kaz traced the embezzling scheme that had sunk in, like deep rotted wood, into the Treasury.

As Nikolai set out the last royal order to arrest the Baron who was at the heart of the scheme, Kaz rose from the table. His leg felt stiff from the long hours of sitting, and his head murky from unwinding the plot, and the few cups of wine he’d finally agreed to, after Nikolai had plied it on him unceasingly.

“I’ll get some sleep in my room, and then look to book the next ship out,” he said. 

Nikolai’s gaze swung sharply to him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean-” Kaz gestured at the detritus on the table. “I’ve completed your job. There’s no need for me to stick around so I’ll head back to Ketterdam tomorrow.” 

Nikolai looked alarmed. “Oh. I’ll pay you, of course. But- you can’t leave, not yet.” 

“What’s the reason for me to stay?”’ Kaz asked gruffly. 

“I…” For once, Nikolai faltered. “I had some plans- to show you.” He shook his head. “Nevermind.”

There was a moment of silence as Kaz shook his head, trying to make sense of the undercurrents swirling between them. 

“No, nevermind,” Nikolai repeated. “Of course, you’re a busy man and you’re needed back in your home city. I should have realised…” 

There was a defeated look on his face and suddenly Kaz had his own revelation. 

He sighed. “I hate it when Jesper is right.” 

“About what?” Nikolai questioned. 

“All of this…” Kaz gestured around. “The message, the ship, the easy job where you’re vastly overpaying me. You’re… plotting some kind of relationship development. You’re- flirting with me.” The words were awkward in his mouth. 

There was a wary tone to Nikolai’s voice as he replied. “And is Kaz Brekker open to that line of approach?”

Kaz considered. “Well,” he said carefully. “I’m here, aren’t I?

And Nikolai’s resulting smile was more blinding than the Sun Summoner’s light. 

[ghostjunksickness]

The Medium Character Analysis at long last!

Oh man this one was slippery one.

The Medium is a shape shifter both physically and narratively, and is very difficult to pin down as a character.

Luckily, we can catch glimpses of what’s going under the surface through a few of the characters, mainly Aiden, Nowe, Ghost/Jan and briefly Erich.

Starting with Aiden, I don’t think it’s an accident the cyclops is our first “medium” for the Medium. Ghost definitely screwed Aiden up in his attempt to help him, but I have a very specific theory of what was driving him so crazy. Rereading that chapter, I strongly believe Aiden was already living an analogous life style to that of the Medium. All he cared about was eating, and Aiden’s inner monologue / possibly the Medium themself chastised him for squandering his second chance. I think Ghost, in attempting to break the deal, accidentally put a bit of the Medium into Aiden. My evidence for which is the following:

The presentation and transition of the word bubbles.

The physical mutation going on i.e. extra pupils and the blood grappling hook.

The knowledge of what Vahn’s tattoos are and finding them irritating (more on that later.

And, ya know. The sudden urge to eat people.

Which if this is true, tells us a little more about what being the Medium is like. We already knew they liked eating people. But whereas before I thought they were doing out of spite towards their mom the Crane Women (permanently taking away the mortals she loves so much), dude might not even have a choice in the matter. The Medium also probably lives a very solitary life much like Aiden. Their only long lasting companions are the Crane Woman, with whom they have mommy issues, and Huko, with whom they have everything-else issues. While that sort of isolation shouldn’t (and doesn’t appear to) be bad for a normal Immortal, the Medium isn’t an Immortal. They’re an immortal Mortal.

(Thanks mom)

And Mortals kind of need a certain level of physical and psychological maintenance to be functional or happy. Which I somewhat doubt the Crane Woman thought of let alone provided.

While it’s been moved around, there’s a brief interaction between the Medium as Hadar and Erich that tells us a lot about the Mediums mental state. Both of them are creations with some sort of obvious tell that they are something else. The Medium seems to project their own upset feelings onto Erich, but when Erich tries to reach out, the Medium freaks a bit. The Medium has had untold eons to learn how to read people and play the stage as needed. The Medium loves to act as wacky over the top characters but doesn’t seem to know how to be a person.

Which brings me to the big part: The Mediums relationship with Nowe!

When I made my first theory on the comic, I thought Nowe got the Mediums character nailed from the get-go. A cosmic loan shark, a trickster that’s three steps ahead and already knows what you’ll do next. And then I reread the comic with a fine toothed comb and formed a new theory:

Nowe and the Medium have one thing in common and it’s that they both suck at their jobs.

To be fair to the Medium, I haven’t really been given any examples of what normal successful deal is supposed to look like.

We’ve got:

Aiden, who’s deal was broken by the Ghost.

Trigger, who made a deal to fix a problem I’m pretty sure the Medium honest to god caused by accident.

And Nowe, whose first deal had to be nullified because while the Medium is powerful, they sure as shit aren’t omnipotent in their current state.

Which following up on that last point, we haven’t seen much of what a normal deal entails but I can’t imagine the Medium getting dressed up in a maid outfit and baking Trigger muffins. A significant part of this analysis was just working out why the Medium is so kind and supportive to Nowe. The deals been struck, they technically don’t need to do more than what they’ve already promised. If Nowe can’t deliver then that’s on him and the Medium gets a snack. Except, this time the Medium wants the agreed upon outcome of the deal. With Aiden, what the Medium wanted was to eat him, but they need to go through a whole song and dance first to get there. Being paid back as much as they give is normally a net zero gain for the Medium. They want to eat people so they want people to fail their deals.

The deal with Nowe is different because this is probably one of the few, if not first times the Medium has ever wanted something from somebody. The Medium is asking for help in the only way they know how (or maybe even can). I don’t imagine this is a familiar predicament for them so the Medium is being extremely kind to Nowe because technically, Nowe is doing something incredibly kind for the Medium. And the Medium gets a Snack.

Lastly there’s Ghost/Jan, whose in the iris of this mess.

If I had to guess on how the Medium actually lost their heart, they probably gave it to Jan thinking it would “release them from their mortal bindings” before later realizing “oh shit I actually need that”.

My reasoning here is that every flashback we see of the Medium depicts them in bandage like bindings, placed there by Hoku. Ghost is perpetually wrapped in bandages himself (just realized we never got pronouns for them, was/were maybe?) and is presumably the test subject aka sacrifice used to make contact with the Medium. Jan took the Medium’s heart and bindings but also took a good chunk of their power to.

When Dr. Yaromir said Vahns brands were the key, I think he was right but for the wrong reasons. It was Hilo’s powers that locked the Medium, it’d likely be the same power to unlock the bindings now on Jan.

TLDR: the Medium is a hungry theater kid with mother issues and struggles with introspection

This was a blast to read, thank you so much for all your thoughts!! Being the Medium is a strange predicament for something as you said, an immortal mortal. There’s pain points in being in the middle of these omnipotent beings that cannot possibly understand the agony that comes with having a human heart and when it suddenly disappears. When that particularly desperate mortal comes along with just enough power and drive to do just about anything… You don’t let him go!

[wetcatspellcaster]

Hi there!

I know you might get a ton of messages regarding Pieces, so this might be redundant, but I join the appreciating gang here.

I just wanted to say thank you for that amazing take on the ascendant and giving us a real fix-him/save-him story! 💙 I have to say, this is maybe the first ever AA story I actually liked, and damn I can't emphasize enough how immensely I do so.

I am a huge fan of Rose, she is such a seriously well done OC, with flaws, story and personality. I often reread Party Favours for her personality alone as well, but Pieces really went up and beyond establishing how different she is since her original state.

But maybe the biggest plus for me, that made me adore this fic the most, was how much actual dnd lore there was. The spells and items used were very on point, as I usually commented under the chapters. 😅 Those made my nerd brain go crazy there.

So just wanted to say congratulations on finishing it and thank you! 💙

kind messages are never redundant, my love. thank you for taking the time to speak with me, that act means a lot :)

I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I'm not sure how Pieces compares to other Tav/Ascended!Astarion dynamics, but I knew this would be how it played out in Rosalie's timeline specifically. A very fun, very fucked up mixture of both their bad endings, guilt, and neither of them being able to change - Astarion being frozen in at a point of self-loathing because of how I conceive of Ascendency and just desperately trying to find a solution that won't work, and Rosalie honestly just being so stuck in a moral binary that even if she lowkey wanted an Ascended!Astarion (which, um, she did) she'd never be kind enough to herself to let herself have it. I mean what I said in previous asks, about the appeal of the AU being that it was tragic for the both of them, which I guess is why Rose 's personality and her own issues ended up featuring so heavily.

Luckily the plot (informed by several of my favourite fictional dynamics) made all of that legit in the end!

Writing a higher level wizard was honestly so very fun, and I'm glad you enjoyed the mechanics because it was also my self-indulgent excuse to do things I'll probably never get a chance to do in an actual D&D game! My sorcerer got to Level 13 in Curse of Strahd and so I did get a taste of that sexy high-level spellcaster life, but Pieces allowed me to play around with spells in a way that wouldn't really work within an actual game narrative :) I love D&D's worldbuilding (not the actual worldbuilding, with all the Problems, but the way spells and magic works on paper) so a Level 18-19 character was a really fun way to indulge that.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, thank you so much for sharing it with me :D

[randomguyonline71]

As someone who was once a diehard romione person (both on Tumblr and fanfiction) and now more of an anidala/hinny/Jily person I think I know why romione hasn't aged well or why alot of romione shippers don't ship it anymore. This is just my observation/opinion and not fact. I'm also not anti romione but just neutral on them now.

I think rereading the books especially starting in book 4, you start to notice that it seems like JK Rowling favors Hermione alot over Ron This has been theorized but people think it's because she is JK self insert. Some think it's because of Steve Kloves influence over her and he is a notorious harmony shippers who made movies. I think people compare say Percabeth from Percy Jackson series where they are very similar to romione but, they are written as more balanced. Now this idk if I agree on but some say they feel like JK made Ron dumber as books went on to make Hermion/Harry look better.

Another big issue is the Hermione hitting Ron aka trope of woman hitting a man is ok. If it was reversed, I can't imagine the outrage. I know lots of previous romione fans who are now very anti romione because of this. It just doesn't sit well with alot of people for obvious reasons. This would be the one thing I think would have to change if they ever redid them into tv show

For me personally, it comes down to, I just think hinny is personally a more healthy dynamic and i'm also a sucker for childhood crush ends up turning into mutal love (anidala really helped me start to love hinny/jily)

That is a very interesting take. Thank you anon :)

I have always seen them as this old married couple in 11-year-olds. Which I always found adorable in some way. But I do agree with some of these, especially the physical abuse part. I don't think it can be excused, since hitting someone is always a shitty thing to do. And as someone who have been physically abused in the past, I'm 100% on Ron's side.

But for me, it isn't enough for me to not ship them. If it had been a common thing in fanfiction as well, I would maybe have been thrown of the pairing totally. Luckily, it is not. However, I totally understand anyone who don't ship them for this reason.

If they ever did a remake of the series. Hermione hitting Ron would be up there with the things they should do different. Number one would still be fixing Ginny, so she is more than just Harry's future wife. Because she was so much more in the books. In the movies she was just there so that the epilogue would make sense. I will never forgive Steve Kloves for that.

I know I haven't mentioned it on here. But I'm also a big Jily shipper. Childhood crushes turning into to mutual love is also one of my favorite tropes.

[wannabe-fic-writer]

Scarlett Johansson x Reader : Learning

Summary: Your girlfriend is helpless, but it’s cute!

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 892

* * * * * *

“Dammit!”

Your eyes widen at the sound of the aggravated curse and you immediately look to the little girl in your arms.

“Don’t repeat that.” You’re quick to say.

Rose giggles and nods, burying her face in your neck.

Stroking Rose’s hair, you step into the living room and immediately look over at your girlfriend.

Brown eyebrows furrow as she taps on the screen, quietly muttering to herself.

You can’t help the amused smile that tugs at your lips, watching her struggle to fix whatever the issue is.

“Logged in yet?” You ask.

Her green eyes snap over to you and she physically relaxed at seeing you. She smiles softly at Rose before shaking her head,“ I can’t even find the password.”

Chuckling, you shake your head. You probably should’ve been the one to pull up the interview while Scarlett fixed Rose’s lunch.

Scarlett is so out of touch with technology so doing things over multi-media like this has been a big struggle for her. If it’s not a call or a simple text, she doesn’t understand it.

The woman actively avoids social media for this very reason.

“Wanna go play with Ziggy?” You ask Rose, hoping your teacup Yorkie will keep the little girl occupied.

She excitedly wiggles in your arms and you let her down to run after the equally excited dog.

“Okay.” You sigh, sitting on couch beside Scarlett.

You’re forced to bite your lip to hold back your smile as you show her where the password is in the email they sent.

A small laugh leaving your lips when you hear the confused curses from Scarlett. The woman has a mouth on her that’s for sure.

“Okay,” you giggle,“ give me one second I’ll be right back.”

She nods,“ okay. Sorry for the hold up everybody,” she apologizes to the people on the interview.

You gently pat her knee and stand to leave, heading straight to the kitchen to fix Rose’s lunch. In little to no time you’re setting the triangle shaped PB&J and animal crackers in front of the little girl.

“If you need anything come tap me or mommy but remember not to shout okay?”

Rose nods, focusing on her lunch instead of you.

Just as you’re sitting beside Scarlett you hear her curse again.

“God dammit! Y/n.”

This time you just let yourself laugh. And Rose laughs as you do, not really knowing what’s funny.

“My love,” you whisper, hand on her knee as you laugh again,“ there is an impressionable six year old over there, let’s chill with the cursing yeah?”

Her lips press together and she smiles apologetically, but nods.

“I just, they said we’re answering fan questions on Twitter and I don’t-”

You nod,“ I got it.”

Scarlett frowns again as she watches you watch the screen.“ What’s so funny Y/ln?”

“Just,” you successfully pull up the hashtag on your Twitter,“ your struggle is so cute.”

“Cute? Really?” She smiles at your smile.

“Mhm.”

Her eyes narrow playfully,“ well I’m glad my struggle is amusing to someone.”

That just makes you laugh again this time accompanied by the people on her interview.

“Oh crap, are we live already.” You’re eyes widen.

RDJ’s face pops up, replacing the interviewer,“ we certainly are sweetheart.”

“My bad.” You whisper, covering your mouth.

As the interviewer tells Chris to choose a fan question, you switch the view so you can see everyone and not just one person.

Scarlett’s eyes widen and she leans closer, like she can’t believe what she’s seeing.

“It’s technology baby, not magic.” You joke, leaning into her.

Green eyes roll,“ same thing.”

“Y/n, Scarlett, if you two could answer a fan question.” The interviewer says.

Out of pure amusement you look at your girlfriend to choose and she sighs, leaning forward to scroll through the questions.

Stopping on one, she reads it out loud,“ Did you read any comics in preparation of the characters you were playing as, and if you did which ones? #AskMarvel”

“No. I don’t read comics.” Scarlett answers first.“ But the Russo brothers were kind enough to give me a nice detailed profile of my character. And apparently that was enough for me to portray Natasha properly.”

“Perfectly.” Chris adds.

You nod in agreement and then answer,“ personally I’m a comic book nerd so I’d already read a sh-” you stop and glance over at a distracted Rose,“ a crap load of Marvel comics. But I’d reread the White Tiger series and the Black Widow ones. I wanted to get my character down and also understand Scar’s character since she’s my love interest.”

“Awwwe, attentive in real life and on camera.” RDJ jokes.

Both you and your girlfriend roll your eyes at the man.

Luckily the interview continues with no problems. That is until it’s over.

“God damm-”

You slap your hand over Scarlett’s mouth before she can curse.

Then click the end meeting button.

Raised eyebrows, you look at her,“ I literally just said watch the GD bombs.”

She nods,“ not saying it ag-”

“Dammit!”

Wide eyed you both look over to see Rose giggling as she looks at the both of you.

Shaking your head you just chuckle again. First you’re teaching Scarlett how to use technology and now you have to teach Rose how not to use bad words.

[farfarawaygirl]

You referenced Anne of Green Gables with your kindred spirits comment AND you read Jane Austen .. no wonder your chenford fics are my favorite, I feel like we had the same literary upbringing as children!!

Books were and continue to be such a huge part of my identity!

My parents were huge into road trip when I was growing up, so I’d have to pack a little stack of books the read on the 8-10 hour trip. I still reread The Anne of Green Gables series regularly, I adore Anne, and I connect with Rilla a lot too! I’m hugely into Austen. Not just because a heroine shares my name!

Have you read Elizabeth Gaskell? Thomas Hardy? The lesser known works of Alcott?

I wasn’t allowed to read Sweet Valley High, not for any moral reason, my dad just thought they were stupid! I read all my mom’s psychology textbooks too, and my childhood time period fixations included, ancient Egyptian, Greek/Roman times, late 1800’s, and resistance fighters during both world wars.

The Chronicles of Narnia were a big deal in my house. As was the Hobbit.

I got into audiobooks when I had a hour plus drive commute to a remote work location, and I continued that love affair last spring when I was briefly on complete visual rest to avoid going blind. Luckily the doctors were able to fix the issue, because I would have never seen chenford without them!

Thanks for the kind words about my fics! I hope that I am influenced by the books I read.

[todaydreambelieversfic]

Author Spotlight: Justgleekout Day 3

Author Spotlight: @justgleekout​​

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

So fucking often oh god. I am terrified of publishing any undetected mistakes. I mostly revise while writing. I read and reread my stories a lot! I often revise a fic again when it's already uploaded.. and change some little things while it's already spread it's wings on Ao3 XD

If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

"The way you dress". I still love the idea of the story but it is very short and I think I could get more out of it if I wrote it again.

What do you look for in a beta?

There are a few things I look for in a beta. 

As english is not my first language I usually need some practical fixes, like with spelling,  grammar, vocabulary and staying in the correct tense throughout the story.

I also love to have someone to discuss ideas with. I'd like them to be a part of the writing process as I know I work better if I can share ideas with someone!

I really appreciate it if a bata is critical of the story itself. To really look for weak spots that can get better. I won't get offended if a beta says it might be better to change some things. I want my story to be the best as possible so I trust my beta! As long as they are kind and motivating <33 

If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

This one is pretty hard for me because I tend to mostly read one shots. I have slight commitment issues. All the longer ones I read all had pretty good closure. I would also probably feel to scared to touch someone else's work...

Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

I usually like to stick close to canon because I'm one of the weirdos who actually likes glee and most of it's arcs... Though I started liking AUs a lot more recently! So who knows! Some fantastical stories might be coming your way ;)

Talk about a review that made your day.

I once got a review from someone who re-read the story because they enjoyed it so much. I couldn't believe anyone could like something I wrote that much :')

Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

I luckily haven't received any yet, but that probably because I haven't published that many stories.. also, people in this fandom tend to be sweethearts!

What advice do you have for people just starting to write?

Don't worry about not being good enough. If you like your story and you are passionate about it, it will shine through and others will like it as well. Share your enthusiasm. It works infectious! ♡

Which fic do you most like to discuss with other people? Why?

"Being Kurt Hummel" by flaming_muse. To me this fic describes his character PERFECTLY! All my hcs about him come forward in this fic. She absolutely nailed his personality and people shOULD KNOW!

What's one aspect of writing fic that gets you really excited?

One thing I love about it is that I can improve my english/writing skills in a fun way! when I write fic I feel like I'm actually not wasting my time on fandom but actually learning something. ^^

***

Check out Justgleekout’s Fics

You are insane. You know that? -  Kurt and Blaine are happily married and living in New York with their 15 yo son Jonathan. Jonathan comes home from school one day and finds his parents on the couch.

[eleanorbloom]

I'm rereading When You're Ready before sitting to write the last chapter + epilogue and I have a couple of things to say.

First, omg the redaction in chapter 1 is so cringe abdvdifbsks I wanted to fix this but my brain cannot fix it, and if I start fixing every goddamn chapter, I'm gonna finish it when this pandemic is over.

(and honestly, this cannot be fixed, I would need to write the chapter again, from scratch, because I think the first two or three chapters I wrote them in Spanish, and then I used a translator to have it in English and then I would try to fix the odd translations. But of course, and thank to God, soon I realized it was a stupid idea and I started to write in English.

Anywaaaayyy, thanks SO MUCH to the people that kept reading past that chapter AND after the next couple of chapters, because they're cringy as hell I mean, I knew Eleanor was hurt but I didn't remember she was such a drama queen??? 🤣🤣 "you hurt me when you ignore me" , "I'm drowning" ???

And the metaphor with the Divine Comedy where Eleanor was Beatrice and Ethan, Dante??? Jdbdjdjd I felt so cool when I wrote that but now is just laughs... I mean, yeah, it's interesting, but the way I put it feels funny, or forced hahaha But okay, Im gonna concede my past self that licence, I was just beginning and I wanted to write something smart 🤣 and I was just entering on this odyssey that is writing in a language that is not your mother tongue, so I shouldn't be so hard with myself... but oh, God, you know what? let's just forget it, and thank you for the opportunity 🙏🏻

But yeah, Eleanor is more dramatic than I remembered. She had lots of issues, eh? Luckily she's treating all of that in therapy now, and instead of being cringy dramatic, she's cringy cheesy 😂😂😂

Okay, that's for now. This has been so fun to read. It's embarrassing, but I'm glad at least it makes me laugh and not wanting to delete the entire series 😂😂😂

If you don't want to read my shitposting, ramblings, babbling, etc, just block the tag I'm gonna leave. I'm sure I have a lot to say and a lot to laugh at, especially myself. Probably I'll leave 'behind the scene' comments that no one wants to read, but I need to write them because I will love to read /remember those facts in a couple of years.

[she-who-the-river-could-not-hold]

#100daysofwriting | day 001

project created by @the-wip-project to encourage writers to talk about their work and to share their progress!

Well let’s see how this challenge goes! I already have a bad habit of blowing off things that I work hard on, constantly concerned with being too confident about skills that aren’t actually ones I have (oh hi there imposter syndrome). Writing is also definitely something I do with this. And even though I’m one of the first to tell you that fanfiction is absolutely a valid form of writing, sometimes I wonder if this fear is an extension of the strange stigma around writing fanfic. I don’t know entirely. But maybe by the end of 100 days (or however many I’m able to accomplish), I’ll figure it out. 

Depending on what’s going on in my life, I might compile multiple days together but I’ll definitely try to aim for each day to get its own post! And since I try to usually write a little bit every day I’ll probably include that in each one as well. I know that this can be flexible and rough but it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t try overly hard to stylize it for myself. 

Fic(s) Worked On Today + Thoughts: 

Bellarke, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina AU

After taking the long weekend off from writing it felt good to dive back into it! Though I’m coming to the unnerving conclusion that this oneshot could easily become a multi-chapter. I’d rather it didn’t, so I think I’ll keep writing it as if it’s going to stay a oneshot and then just see how long it ends up becoming. I don’t personally mind really long oneshots but I do tend to think that a lot of other people don’t. 

It’s continually putting me in the mood for Halloween, which isn’t new for me, but it’s making me extra anxious for my favorite time of year! Which I suppose is a good thing in terms of the fic achieving the feel that I want it to have

I always feel a bit strange writing strictly modern AUs so I’m thankful that this one has such a heavy theme to mix it up, but I eventually need to fix that issue since I have a couple other modern ones to write still 

Bellarke, Belated @troped-fanfic-challenge​ fic – Conclave Challenge

Okay this was primarily me rereading it and seeing what I think of it. Luckily I still like it and I’m going to keep writing it!

It’s inspired by AC: Valhalla so now with not having to worry about the word count, I can obsess about world building without fear of going too far over 10k words!

Tbh my main goal is to just see if I can keep up with this for a month. And then maybe by then it’ll be a habit? Either way, I have a lot to write so hopefully this will help me along the way!

link to my ao3 | masterlist of these posts

[vvolgarov]

I’m thinking about all of my neurodivergent characters and how they overall deal with their mental illnesses and whether It impacts them greatly or all of It is really in the middle. Or, really -- I’m in a rambley mood, so I will pretty much sputter anything that comes to mind.

I would say Barnaby, in comparison to Seiko has more ability to manage his ADHD (combined type) considering the fact he takes proper medication at the right dosage after trying out a few variations of medication prior and eventually finding one that is fitting best.

He has been medicated for quite a while, so there are very rare scenarios that one would end up seeing him behave irrationally or have a mental breakdown. The only thing that might occur is a rapid wave of anger that leads to him ranting everything that comes in mind.

While he may start off with expressing his agitation towards what someone did to him to lead him to that temperament, It would eventually steer to his annoyance towards Lada model cars -- then to anything else that he was ticked off over the last week. He just ... Really hates those models of cars. Thinks they’re stupid and difficult to fix.

Other that, he is a very hyper-fixated individual when It comes to his field as a mechanic. It’s UNKNOWN how many times he has reread the same pieces of literature, instruction manuals and engineering text books before he managed to memorize the good percentage of the information provided there and garnered a knack for constructing toys into old metal scraps or managing to fix even the most egregious types of auto-vehicles and manage to bring them out for a second life.

One day he wishes to have an apprentice that would be as dedicated as him to the field and he could teach them about auto-mechanics or even teach his student how to build toys out of scraps. It’s just ... Something for Barnaby about wanting to give toys for children so they could have something to play with.

In a way, this love for children and his want to make them happy comes from his guardian (in a way, adoptive- SECOND mother ) who learned how to do arts and crafts in the hopes to improve Barnaby’s development by opening up his creative mind from when he was very young. As you can see, the effort really paid off.

Seiko Valentis, along with his twin (a character no longer available for writing, but DOES exist) are autistic. They have inherited autism from their father who is a bio-engineer and was behind the ability to make their biological mother fertile enough to give birth to the twins.

Haruki Valentis -- A much shorter sibling and carrying the better gene of a snake person than a wolf, is the one that portrays their autism in a bit more subtle ways from now on. It was known that when Haruki resided with an adoptive family, he had mutism for quite some time and speech therapy was no of help up until he personally chose to be more communicative in later years.

His adoptive family were patient plenty with his development and aimed to make him rather comfortable -- and the young man gradually picked up on this fact and cooperated with his family. Now he has an internship at an office company that is oriented about graphic design and developing logo-tips, or animated animations for advertisements.

Seiko, on the other hand -- While he wasn’t deemed as the runt twin, his life came with trouble from the early beginning and his biological mother struggled with him the most. Her lack of patience to his development made him rather disinterested in being communicative even as a toddler, although eventually he naturally began to pick up words and speak. And, picked them up quite rapidly and caught up to his peers during kindergarten.

He only started to properly speak at the age of three (3), If not a bit when he was closer to becoming four (4) years old. The rest of the years he was relatively a behaved child, though had his moments of meltdowns when finding a situation too overwhelming to tolerate. Though with all those situations in mind, he wasn’t diagnosed up until the ripe age of 20.

All of his negative behaviors ended up being misinterpreted as a result of bad parenting -- His mother was impatience and was moody overall, she had time to bicker with him and Seiko was able to talk back without getting tired until he deemed the situation uninteresting or won the argument. This started to come around when he was eight (8) years old up until he was ten-eleven (10-11.)

Then, -- When a well-known scenario occured --

When he was given away for care by Jay’s hands, the boy became a timid shell of himself and was quite impacted by the abandonment. While Jay himself would say that the few months were difficult solely because the boy was aggressive and hostile, those reactions have stemmed out of fear and his only way of expressing the fear.

( Luckily for Seiko, his adoptive father eventually picked up on that by the help of his own family who are more better when It comes to raising youth. )

Once It became clear that anger was the key component to his expressiveness, eventually his adoptive parent, the family of his adoptive parent took their time and dedication to make him comfortable and lessen his negative reactions and have him express himself differently.

Had he not been taught this before a traumatic experience that would later have him diagnosed with PTSD (C-PTSD, to be precise), he would have dropped back to zero with a terrible state of his mental health. With good people raising after him -- while traumatized after the events, he relied on therapy plenty, was provided medication and Jay was willing to make his BEST to let the boy know he is safe under his wings.

EVEN when the wolf boy displayed delusion and depersonalization at the early stages, EVEN when Seiko ended up severely injuring Jay’s left hand that could have lead to him losing his ability have that hand function -- All was forgiven and the boy was met with warmth. Understanding. No matter how the Erblindet man internally found It all frustrating and was desperate for the mental health improvements from this young man.

In the end, It clearly worked around in the end. Seiko manages his mental health far more better and in no way autism interferes with his decision making, critical thinking. In fact, It benefited him to being able to fixate properly on his college years online and complete the course on economics and tourism.

It was a chosen field that he chose in the want to have some profession he could work for better pay and to make his adoptive father proud. (And, he did make him proud.)

At the very year, the only key issues he occasionally deals with is the depression aspect of PTSD and Autism. Often the depression makes him incapable of leaving his room for days, incapable of communication through voice and ending up relying on texting If he does want to say something.

Unsure whether the inability to communicate stems from mutism (what his twin sibling undergone) or It's simply done out of fear, fearing that his voice will attract the abuser. Nevermind the fact that he has no way in hurting Seiko anymore.

Other, less common symptoms are body armouring and delusion. There has been a relatively small chance his perception made him consider that he was being followed or being held by the person that hurt him -- This occurs when hanging out with his friends or embracing in a hug with them.

Body armouring simply means he completely tenses up his frame and lays down in a fetus position and cover his face with all muscles tensing up until dealing with exhaustion overtime.

Lastly --

Does Darius Valentis carry some form of mental illness, carry out the possibility of being autistic?

Short answer? No.

Long answer? Not exactly. He is the firstborn of the biological mother that he and the twins share, but their fathers are different. His own biological father does not inherit any form of mental illness that carries out through family.

The only gene he might carry is the greying in his early thirties. That's still irrelevant to the subject about being neurodivergent, the symptoms, the behaviours and more.

[happypsyduck]

Would it be possible to request a Leon x NonBinary s/o?? Maybe a little scenario could be 'his s/o is having a hard time explaining to people what NB is and they're having extreme dysphoria and Leon helps them cope with it' ??? 🖤💜💛 thanks love.

Info: Reader is Nonbinary (originally female), warnings for dysphoria. Note this is my first time writing for such a character so if I offend please enlighten me on how so I can fix! Also, might not be exactly what is asked, but this is the idea that came to me, hope you like!

It was what Leon had been afraid of since he had begun dating you and as he stared at his phone he just had to reread the headline on the damn gossip sight that also had a picture of the two of you hand in hand as you walked the shore of one of the wild area lakes. Champion Leon has a new girlfriend??! It was simple and direct and no doubt all over social media by now and taking a swipe over to Raihans page would confirm it. Luckily his dragon rival was doing his part to tell people to calm down and chill out, but it would probably be useless.

Overall was it really that harmful? Not really, he had you and you both were completely in love, so it was mostly true. The problem was the word ‘girlfriend’. At first Leon himself had mistaken you for female, so did most strangers on the street, but the first time you had met he was corrected gently by you. He had said something simple, trying to be flattering as you’d stumbled upon each other training out in the wild area, asking what a lovely young woman was doing in a dangerous spot he was in when you simply told him you were Nonbinary.

He knew for a fact he had given you a blank stare in that moment, having heard the term before, but you were the first he had met. Recovering as best he could he apologized and though he still screwed up in your subsequent meetings he got better each time and was falling more for you each time. When you agreed to a date he was overjoyed, but he assured you he would try to keep it low key as the media would be all over him if they found out he was dating. He knew even worse that they would assume so he wanted to be sure things were clear and his next interview he had been planning, with you there by his side, to finally tell the public about you both and make it clear just who you were.

Now that was completely shattered and he was shaking his head to try to figure out what to do first and thought that you should know as soon as possible about this. He was just about to dial your number when a text would come through from Raihan and Leon felt his heart sinking to the pit of his stomach as he read it “They just saw it and went rushing towards Hammerlocke gates to the wild area, you better hurry up, they were pale as a sheet”

A dysphoric episode was what he was fearing the most from the stupid headline and he knew if you were running from everyone it was going to be a bad one. Sending a text back in thanks he would luckily have an idea of where you were going from all of the times you two had spent out there. It was the safest place to spend time together without worrying of prying eyes, at least he had thought, and he would be rushing fast as he could from where he had been in Motostoke. His sense of direction being terrible as it always was it would unfortunately take him two hours to finally get there, but he did get to your favorite spot in Dappled Grove.

Eyes casting about he would spot you on the shore of the lake, heart clenching as he could see your shoulders shaking, but he was uncertain if you were crying or angry at first. Approaching slowly he would make his footsteps heard, giving a wave when you look to him, still uncertain your expression. He knew enough as he came to sit not to touch you yet no matter how he wanted to just pull you into his arms. Noticing you were wearing the oversized hoodie he had given you a few weeks ago he would just try talking, “Well Meowths out of the bag” being the first thing that came to him before scratching the back of his neck, “I am sorry it was through that gossip column though, they don’t talk to people at all, just post what they want”

He was angry at them, completely, and he had it in a mental note to talk to Chairman Rose about what they could do about them, but he needed to focus right now and was relaxing a little as you did finally say something, “It just had to be a picture of that day, just my luck” He could hear the frustration in your tone and honestly he could handle a lot better when you were mad over things then sad, though he was working on the latter! That day at the lake he did know why you were frustrated, you had gotten a new binder in the mail and it had been too small, hopping into the trees when your back started to hurt to take it off and it must have been a few minutes later the picture was taken so he could understand why they made the mistake.

Letting his hand slip from his neck he would bring it to your shoulder slowly before sliding it down your back, happy when you didn’t stiffen to the touch, “We’ll set them straight, Y/n” he tell you first and foremost, pressing a kiss to the top of your head when you would come to rest to his shoulder, “I will be right by your side the whole time and you know you have more then just me in your corner” he remind you gently. All his and your friends supported your relationship and most of them got your pronouns right, a few slip up here and there, but they were always quick to apologize.

Another idea would then come to him and he was humming thoughtfully, “Why don’t we set up camp out here huh? Bit of a break from everything?” he suggest, though really not taking no for an answer as he press another kiss to your temple before rising. He had been about to head out to find you before anyways so all his camping stuff was with him and making sure it was In a bit more secluded spot he would go about getting the tent and a fire pit set up, “Come on sweetheart” he encourage as he got out his pokeballs to let out who he currently had with him, Charizard and a new one he had caught, a Shellos.

Charizard would immediately greet you with a friendly nuzzle before lighting the fire for Leon and a tiny smile would come to your face. Pokemon didn’t care what you looked like really, your gender or anything like that, they just cared who you were and how you treated them. Soon letting out the one you currently had with you, your little Wimpod, you would make your way over to where your boyfriend was looking through ingredients for dinner while the pokemon would have a chance to interact. You would pull up the sleeves of the hoodie to help, the oversized fabric helping you to not see what had been shown in the stupid picture and Leon had no intention of telling you to take it off unless it became a fire risk.

You would slowly forget about the issue for this time out here alone, Leon right in it being just what you needed and soon had curry made. Eating something you made together always helped a content feeling come over you and soon you would be settled in front of the fire on a blanket, just leaning into him once more as you watched the pokemon play. Shellos and Wimpod seeming to be having a small practice battle when a bright light would shine around your pokemon. Watching the little creature evolve you could feel Leon giving you a squeeze before Golisopod was rushing over to you happily. The day was definitely far from perfect and there was a long road ahead to making sure everyone understood the truth, but right now Leon was just happy you were his.

[raeofalbion]

tagged by @marcceh - I’m sorry this is so long, I’m incapable of talking about writing in a small amount of words.

Author Name: deathofaraven on fanfiction-specific sites; I’ve been considering changing it but it’s been my username since 2009, so there’s no point. I think it’s some version of I.Ravencrow on other writing sites.

Fandoms You Write For: Fable and BBC Sherlock currently; Tom Becker’s Darkside occasionally; DMC, Batman, Death Note, Kuroshitsuji, Harry Potter, shit I’ve written for a lot of fandoms and can’t remember them all because I deleted the fics from my profiles, and most of LJ Smith’s work previously.

Where You Post: mainly on Ao3 now, but I occasionally post on FFN and on Tablo

Most Popular One-Shot: Hiraeth, which is apparently my third most read and second most kudosed fic on Ao3?? Idk how that worked out, but I��m so glad readers have enjoyed it.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: A Marriage of Inconvenience, to absolutely no one’s surprise--it’s the first in a series, it’s a really old fic (originally written in 2012), it’s the fic I moved to Ao3 for (specifically because I’d rewritten it in 2015/2016), the reason I got a tumblr account. It was kinda...the start of a lot of things, so it’s sorta fitting it’s the most popular I’ve written. I’d like to...eventually fix more things about it (or do a version that I feel is more complete), but I’m proud of it. It’s my baby. I’m glad it’s still going strong.

Favorite Story You Wrote: Nope, no, not picking sides. They’re all good children; I’m proud of everything I currently have up and I enjoy rereading 99% of them.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: Oh, hmm...I’m generally nervous 95% of the time when it comes to posting, but I think I was most nervous about No More Heroes and Ghosts. NMH is almost entirely headcanon-based but set in canon, which is something I usually avoid doing; usually I save hc-heavy fics for AUs, but the hcs suited the prompt so well that I couldn’t really help it. As for Ghosts, it was the first time I’d really made an effort to break into a new fandom in...years and there was a lot of really sucky stuff happening at home at the time so it just felt like a huge gamble for me--I went from writing characters I know so well to characters I didn’t really...know (still don’t feel like I entirely know, though I’m enjoying getting to know them) and, on top of that, was dealing with some...I guess some fear there’d be backlash for abruptly jumping into the fandom despite how much shit this fandom gets sometimes. Luckily both NMH and Ghosts seem to have been received pretty well--there’s things that I’d change about both, but I’m really proud of them and they no longer make me nervous.

How Do You Choose Your Titles:  I scream into the abyss until it sees fit to grant me inspiration for a suitably pretentious title. Or I go with something that sums up the theme or directly relates to the prompt. Song lyrics as a last resort. MoI’s name came from an in-game quest title, though, so...like...anything that fits?

Do You Outline:  Sorta? If it’s a one shot I like to go in totally blind except for whatever vague idea I want to write. If it’s long, I like to have a very vague outline. Usually a summary or a slightly more detailed idea plus where I’d like the characters to be emotionally or what I’d like to happen at certain plot points. The plot points are usually the focus so I like to at least have a map of where they start and where they end and whatever happens to the characters in between those points just happens. I mostly ignore the outline.

How many of your [BBC Sherlock] stories are…

Complete: 6; 4 on Ao3 right now, 1 on tumblr that’s too short to transfer, 1 that’s not going to be posted.

In-Progress: Y’all wanna see something stupid? It’s me. 28. (And that’s ignoring the contents of my prompt list that haven’t technically been started.)

Coming Soon: Possibly another half dozen? Can’t be certain. I always seem to finish Sherlock stories very randomly and very abruptly, so it’s a mystery to everyone involved. I blame my Sherlock muse; he takes great pride in being an absolute bellend during writing. And during not-writing.

Do You Accept Prompts: I shouldn’t, but I abso-fucking-lutely do. Send ‘em. No guarantee I’ll get to them any time soon, but send ‘em anyway if you’d like me to do them. (I’d prefer prompts/requests be sent off anon so I can talk with the prompter if any issues come up or if I need extra inspo, but I’ll still make an effort even if anon is on...you’re just leaving a lot more of the story in my hands and up to my random interpretation.)

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: Hmm...they’re all exciting in their own way? A lot of the AUs I’m excited to write because I’m curious what people will think. I’m also really excited for Three to just be over because I’m kinda tired of working out the logistics of it and tired of rewriting it. (And I’ve also never posted a fic like this before. So.)

Tag Five Fanfic Authors to Answer These Questions As Well*: 

@jamlocked @grayrosegarden @weweremadeforeachothersherlock @sincerelyjimlock @johnlockedinwarstan No obligations for any of you, if you don't wanna do it! ^^

* I know it says 5 and specifies Sherlock as the fandom, but if anyone who follows me wants to do this and just...changes the fandom to your main fandom, I’m totally up for that and you should 100% tag me so I can go snoop at what you’re writing. ^^

[sensationseeker]

Always an Experience rereading QoA and KoA inexplicably going from

“And you would be king in Attolia?”

“Yes.”

“And I would be queen still.”

“You would rule. I will not interfere.”

to

“Lilies, I rule, heads, you do,” he said, and threw the coin in the air.

“Lilies, you rule, heads, you throw again,” said Attolia...Each time it landed showing the lilies.

The Attolians thought they wanted a weak king. A weak king meant uncertainty. If the king didn’t wield the power in the country, all kinds of other people would fight to wield it for him...Ornon looked at the queen. Perhaps she would continue to rule as sovereign.

“He says he will not diminish my power or rule over my country. He intends to be a figurehead.”

“Don’t let him be,” Relius said.

“Am I not sovereign enough, Relius?” she said. There was no smile on her face, but it was there in her voice... “No matter how securely I hold the reins of power, so long as I had no husband, my barons had to fight, afraid that someone else might seize that power... If there were a king, secure in his power, the barons would unite.”

If Attolia could look like a queen, Eugenides was like a god revealed, transformed into something wholly unfamiliar, surrounded by the cloth-of-gold bedcover like a deity on an altar, passionless and calculating.

The last quote. Beer me the strength

From KoA on Attolia gets benched and the entire conflict between her and Eugenides is retconned as entirely her fault, like he never stalked her for years or nearly kidnapped her and would have forced her to marry him. If Eugenides is still traumatized by the amputation, how does Attolia feel about her husband stalking her? Creeping into her room while she slept? Leaving things on her nightstand table so she knew he had been right next to her, that he could get as close as he wanted? Does she have any trust issues because of this? Who can know, but luckily Eugenides is magnanimous enough to forgive her and teach her how to be a Real Girl

I enjoy Eugenides and all but does he have any flaws at this point. Anything that could be construed as a flaw only makes him more Amazing to literally every person he meets. At least once every chapter from KoA on somebody has to remark upon how clever and smart and godlike he is. Thank u, I attended the third grade

I think all the time about if Eugenides was a girl and she had stalked her future husband for years but the author decided to retcon it so that only the husband had been bad, and then she also inexplicably gets handed his throne and power and for some reason all of his former friends switch their allegiance and love to her and everything she does is Amazing and she is 50 steps ahead of every other person, including her husband, at all times. She is constantly rude but that only makes everyone love her more. And she’s not just going to get her husband’s power but for some reason she’s also going to become the ultimate ruler of two other countries, her husband is not invited

I feel sometimes the amputation happens earlier in the series than the author knows how to handle. I remember one interview where it sounded like she had planned to drag Attolia/Eugenides out for longer or make their relationship harder to fix, except while she was writing QoA Eugenides kept “asserting” himself, telling her that he loved and had to be with Attolia. I think Attolia and Eugenides take a lot out of her, not only being the most difficult characters to write (when she does it properly), but imo it’s obvious they must sort of consume her while she’s writing, take over, “assert” themselves, like she’s already said Eugenides did. I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets to be too much to handle. I do feel like the rest of the series after KoA is frantic stalling and maybe trying to avoid writing Eugenides and Attolia directly again—the last book is supposed to finally go back to at least Eugenides’s POV, and she just delayed that for a year —and maybe why you get ott Amazing Eugenides and benched Attolia.

[tortuga-aak]

The creator of Dilbert explains Trump's persuasion style and reminds us why people stopped caring about facts

Reuters/Carlos Barria

In this excerpt from "Win Bigly," Dilbert creator Scott Adams says both he and Trump use the same method of persuasion. 

The method involves making claims that contain exaggerations or factual errors.

Adams credits the method with raising his own profile ahead of the 2016 US presidential election — and with Trump's election win.

Adams says he doesn't prefer to ignore facts.

It's just that a "Master Persuader" can do it and still come out on top.

  In August 13, 2015, I predicted in my blog that Donald Trump had a 98 percent chance of winning the presidency based on his persuasion skills.

A week earlier, the most respected political forecaster in the United States—Nate Silver—had put Trump’s odds of winning the Republican nomination at 2 percent in his FiveThirtyEight.com blog.

In those early days of the election, the overwhelming majority of pundits in the business regarded Trump as a novelty and a sideshow.

Persuasion is all about the tools and techniques of changing people’s minds, with or without facts and reason. When I started writing favorable blog posts about Trump’s persuasion talents, it felt like going to war alone.

In California, where I live, it seemed as if most Trump supporters were in hiding because of the social and career risks of publicly supporting him. I wasn’t counting on anyone’s having my back in this fight.

Courtesy of Scott AdamsLuckily, I was wrong. Trump’s Twitter followers adopted me immediately and had my back every step of the way. When the critics came after me on Twitter and elsewhere, Trump supporters flooded in to back me.

I didn’t ask them to do it. They just did. One of my motivations for writing this book is that so many people who supported me on Twitter specifically asked me to write it. This book is a favor returned.

By the way, reciprocity is a big thing in persuasion. When you do someone a favor, it triggers an automatic reciprocity reflex in the recipient. Humans are hardwired to reciprocate kindness.

Sales professionals use this persuasion method all the time. If a salesperson buys you lunch or fixes a problem for you, you’re being persuaded.

You might think you can resist persuasion techniques just by recognizing them in action. But knowing the technique won’t protect you as much as you might think. See Persuasion Tip 3.

So why did I say Trump had exactly a 98 percent chance of winning when I couldn’t possibly know the odds?

Why did I say Trump had exactly a 98 percent chance of winning when I couldn’t possibly know the odds?

If that’s a persuasion technique. You saw Trump use the intentional wrongness persuasion play over and over, and almost always to good effect.

The method goes like this:

1. Make a claim that is directionally accurate but has a big exaggeration or factual error in it.

2. Wait for people to notice the exaggeration or error and spend endless hours talking about how wrong it is.

3. When you dedicate focus and energy to an idea, you remember it. And the things that have the most mental impact on you will irrationally seem as though they are high in priority, even if they are not. That’s persuasion.

I picked 98 percent  because Nate Silver was saying 2 percent. I did that for branding and persuasion purposes.

If I had boringly predicted that Trump would win the election, without any odds attached to it, the public would have easily shrugged it off as another minor celebrity’s irrelevant opinion.

But if I make you pause to argue with me in your mind about the accuracy of the 98 percent estimate, it deepens my persuasion on the main point—that Trump has a surprisingly high likelihood of winning.

I picked 98 percent as my Trump prediction because Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com was saying 2 percent. I did that for branding and persuasion purposes.

It is easier to remember my prediction both because of the way it fits with Silver’s prediction and for its audacity, which people perceived as “wrongness.” The prediction was designed to attract attention, and it did.

It was also designed to pair my name with Nate Silver’s name to raise my profile by association. That worked too. Social media folks mentioned me in the same sentence with Silver countless times during the election, exactly as I had hoped. And every mention raised my importance as a political observer because I was being compared with someone already important in that field.

Keep in mind that at this point in our story I was playing the wrong sport. I was a cartoonist writing about politics and persuasion.

I needed whatever credibility I could get to build an audience for my Trump blogging. Using a little bit of wrongness (my precise 98 percent prediction), I managed to attract more attention than I would have otherwise.

And that conferred on me some credibility by association. As long as I was literally in the same sentence with Nate Silver, I would gain some credibility by proximity alone.

Thomson ReutersTrump used the intentional wrongness persuasion play off then, and it seemed to work every time, at least in terms of attracting attention where he wanted it. It even works when you know he’s doing it. If you’re talking about whatever topic he wants you to focus on, he has your mind right where he wants it, even if you are criticizing him for his errors while you are there.

For example, take Trump’s campaign promise that he would build a “wall” on the border of Mexico.

Common sense tells you that solid walls are not the best solution for all types of terrain. In many locations, the most cost-effective solutions might include wire fences, or digital monitoring of various types, or something else.

If Trump had wanted to be accurate, he would have mentioned all of those solutions every time he talked about border security.

He did make some casual admissions that the border would be secured in different ways in different places. But most of the time he ignored those details, and wisely so.

By continuing to call it a “wall” without details, he caused the public and the media to view that as an error.

So they argued about it. They fact-checked it. They put together cost estimates.

They criticized Trump for not understanding that it couldn’t be a “wall” the entire way.

How stupid can he be?????

And when they were done criticizing Trump for the “error” of saying he would build one big solid “wall,” the critics had convinced themselves that border security was a higher priority than they had thought coming into the conversation.

Reuters/Mike BlakeThe ideas that you think about the most are the ones that automatically and irrationally rise in your mental list of priorities. And Trump made us think about the wall a lot. He did that because he knew voters would see him as the strongest voice on the topic.

It also sucked up media energy that might have focused on political topics he didn’t understand at the same depth as his competitors. Master Persuaders move your energy to the topics that help them, independent of facts and reason.

I’ve said Trump is the best persuader I have ever seen in action. The wall is a perfect example. Consider how much discipline it took for him to avoid continually clarifying that his “wall” was really a patchwork of solutions that depend on the terrain.

In order to pull off this type of weapons grade persuasion, he had to be willing to endure brutal criticism about how dumb he was to think he could secure the border with a solid wall.

To make those criticisms go away, all Trump needed to do was clarify that the “wall” was actually a variety of different border solutions, depending on cost and terrain, every time he mentioned it. Easy as pie.

But the Master Persuader didn’t want the critics to be silenced. He wanted them to make border control the biggest issue in the campaign just by talking nonstop about how Trump’s “wall” was impractical.

As long as people were talking about the wall, Trump was the most important person in the conversation. The Master Persuader moves energy and attention to where it helps him most.

And what about the facts and details? Not so important. Those can get worked out later.

I don’t believe Trump purposely injects errors into his work except in the form of oversimplification and hyperbole, as in the wall example. That stuff is intentional for sure. But for the smaller “errors” it is more that he doesn’t bother to correct himself.

Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesI use a similar technique with my blog when someone points out a typo.

Sometimes I leave the typo because it makes you pause and reread the sentence a few times to figure out what the typo was supposed to mean. The “mistake” attracts your energy to my writing, and that’s what a writer wants. I want your focus.

Some mistakes are just ordinary mistakes. But when you see a consistent stream of “mistakes” from a Master Persuader, be open to the possibility that some of those mistakes are about controlling your focus and energy.

When you first saw the title of this book, did you think to yourself that Trump doesn’t say “bigly,” he says “big league”?

If you noticed my title “error,” it probably helped you remember the book. And now whenever you hear the words “bigly” or “big league” in some other context, it will make you think of this book.

The things you think about the most, and remember best, seem more important to you than other things. That’s the persuasion I engineered into the title.

During the presidential campaign, it seemed that candidate Trump was making one factual error aIf ther another. Social media and the mainstream media were in a feeding frenzy. If they called him a liar, a con man, and just plain stupid. Some went so far as to question his sanity.

Even more puzzling, Trump often stuck to his claims after the media thoroughly debunked them in front of the world. He still didn’t budge. It was mind-boggling. No one was quite sure if the problem was his honesty, his lack of homework, or some sort of brain problem. But one thing we all knew for sure was that it was hard to ignore.

If you have ever tried to talk someone out of their political beliefs by providing facts, you know it doesn’t work. That’s because people think they have their own facts. Better facts. And if they know they don’t have better facts, they change the subject. People are not easily switched from one political opinion to another. And facts are weak persuasion.

So Trump ignores facts whenever they are inconvenient. I know you don’t want to think this works in terms of persuasion. But it does.

Trump ignores facts whenever they are inconvenient. I know you don’t want to think this works in terms of persuasion. But it does.

  And I know you want to believe that having a president who ignores facts makes the world a worse place, in a number of vague ways that you can’t quite articulate. But Trump tends to be directionally accurate on the important stuff, and the little stuff never seems to matter.

I want to be clear that I’m not expressing a preference for ignoring facts.

I’m simply saying that a Master Persuader can do it and still come out ahead, no matter how many times the media points out the errors.

The average consumer of political news can hold only a handful of issues in his head. Any of the lesser topics get flushed out of memory. So Trump can invent any reality he wants for the less important topics. All you will remember is that he provided his reasons, he didn’t apologize, and his opponents called him a liar like they always do.

True story: Ten minutes ago I read a long list of Trump’s tweets that PolitiFact judged to be factually inaccurate. I can recall only a few of them. They all blended together in my mind, and none made much of an impression. I had no personal or emotional connection to any of them. They were just background noise.

If Trump had apologized for any of his factual “errors,” I would remember whatever alleged wrongness triggered the apology.

If Trump had apologized for any of his factual 'errors,' I would remember whatever alleged wrongness triggered the apology.

That would stick in my mind. I assume that’s at least partly why he doesn’t do apologies. Apologizing would be a sign of weakness and invite continual demands for more apologies.

In Trump’s specific case, apologies wouldn’t have helped his campaign because there would have been too  many demands for them. But in the case of normal people who are not Master Persuaders and only occasionally make public mistakes, apologies are still usually the right way to go.

If I haven’t yet persuaded you that “mistakes” can be useful in persuasion, consider a small 2012 study by researcher Daniel Oppenheimer that found students had better recall when a font was harder to read.3

Oppenheimer explains the unexpected result by noting that people slow down and concentrate harder to compensate for the hard to-read font. That extra concentration is what makes lasting memories form.

For more science on the topic of how intentional “mistakes” can aid in memory retention, I recommend the book Impossible to Ignore, by Dr. Carmen Simon.

The gist of it is that you need to surprise the brain or make it work a little extra to form memories. Our brains automatically delete our routine memories fairly quickly. Most of us don’t know what we were doing on this day a year ago. But we easily remember things that violate our expectations.

A good general rule is that people are more influenced by visual persuasion, emotion, repetition, and simplicity than they are by details and facts.

Trump inaccurately described his plans for the wall—it probably won’t be a physical wall for the entire border span—and that lowered his credibility and tainted his brand.

Courtesy of Scott Adams/Penguin Random HouseBut he makes up for it by using solid gold visual persuasion, calls to emotion, simplicity, repetition, and the “mistake” itself to make his wall idea compelling.

If you’re using super strong persuasion, you can be wrong on the facts, and even the logic of your argument, and still win.

I will pause here to tell you that while there is lots of science behind the best ways to influence people, choosing among the many ways to persuade via “surprising the brain” can be more art than science.

No two situations are alike, so knowing what methods of persuasion worked in a different context might not help you in your current situation.

Warning: Intentionally ignoring facts and logic in public is a dangerous strategy unless you are a Master Persuader with thick skin and an appetite for risk. Most of us don’t have the persuasion skills, risk profile, and moral flexibility to pull it off.

We don’t know for sure that Trump came out ahead by oversimplifying his wall idea to the point where it sounded crazy to critics and even some supporters.

But in my judgment, he probably did come out ahead. By inauguration day, we were talking about the costs and the details of the wall; the country had already accepted that the wall would probably get built, at least in part. And in the long run, presidents are judged by their success.

Love it or hate it, historians will someday probably judge Trump’s wall to be a presidential success story. Success cures most types of “mistakes.”

  Scott Adams is the creator of the popular comic Dilbert. In 2015, Adams predicted that Trump had a 98% chance of winning the 2016 US presidential election. Adams based this prediction on Trump’s persuasion tactics.

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