#my brain's still in novel mode

[thewaywardcasgirl]

Major my stand in spoilers ahead

this is just me rambling not a detailed analysis

ok i just finished reading my stand in's novel and i like the novel much better, more realistic when it comes to family dynamics, so far (ep 1-2) we see ming's sister being sweet and nice but in the novel she is a raging homophob and so so immature and selfish, the rest of the family is even worse, the meek mother the abusive father and the couldn't care less grandpa, i hate them all (maybe not the mother), except his older brother who truly loves ming and helps them both so much, they have shaved a lot of the novel but i really hope they don't flip on the brother, also wanna see the joe seeing his own corpse scene and ming sitting there listless like a widow but idk if they'd show that in all its written glory (it was much darker and surreal)

the novel is so painful i had to take lots of breaks and also cried a little at few dialogues (and I don't do that often) one thing i really loved in the novel is that once these people pull their heads out of their asses they start to TALK they actually have lengthy conversations about all their feelings and history and everything is revealed at a good pace, not all at once and not never, even ming falling for joe first and mistaking it for tong is something ming realises a lot earlier after the rebirth but only tells joe when he's really desperate,

joe and ming find their way back to each other through a lot of pain and suffering but mostly by PROCESSING, they process their feelings and emotions , sometimes togather sometimes on their own, so I really loved the open communication part not just between the couple between all the characters and their interpersonal dynamics, and it also gave me wangxian vibes albeit a little toxic and twisted as in once joe's rebirth is revealed to ming he's ready to move heaven and earth to keep him by his side this time, he goes against everything and everyone even sometimes joe but it's all very strategic yet open and honest between the couple, ming flips 180 and redeems himself good no matter what's thrown his way, joe forgives him and also stands firm by his side of his own volition

in the middle when joe is reborn and still get's entangled in the entertainment industry i wanted him to just take his (new) mom and run, run far away to some other city find any other work but by the end of the novel I'm convinced satisfactoryly👍 imho ming's mother can be easily forgiven, and the grandpa can live, the father (abusive bastard) im on the fence for but the sister and tong uff they're a hopeless case (and it's pretty realistic so i liked that too)

i just wanna reiterate how real theses characters are, no one is overly noble or easily redeemed just like that, they all have their flaws and accept them and try to make the best of an impossible situation

also the novel takes time to really explain the whys of the story as in why it had to happen that way so that you are convinced that yes it was always going to happen that way, each and every characters actions, reactions, motifs, are all so well explained and understandable 🤌 it's been a long time since i read such mature story and such well fleshed out and understandable characters

[vickyvicarious]

Ooh any thoughts on the pairs chosen and their tasks, for the final hunt?

I actually think I have a half-written post about exactly this lurking in my drafts from last year, though I will warn you that it contains spoilers for the journeys. Let me see if I can find it and finish it/clean it up a smidge... Ah. Yes. Here it is:

So, let's take a look at our travel arrangements. The team almost (but not quite) split up into the exact three options Mina listed for Dracula to follow. The only difference being that instead of "by road" we have "along the river." But still it's pretty close.

Each group has a sort of designated scribe who has historically been one of the main writers of the novel (more a meta necessity this, but given the heroes making such use of records it is still helpful to them if they wish to compile an account afterwards as well) as well as someone who will probably take the lead on vampire hunting, though where they can everyone will surely assist. They also have at least one person per group who can presumably make themselves understood by locals. I also added a 'caretaker' category because they're all running low on steam and it is an important consideration character-wise.

Basically this is just me taking a look at how each team is divvied up and why/what meta we could get out of it.

By Rail: Van Helsing and Mina

Scribe: Mina

Fighter: Van Helsing

Languages: Van Helsing

Caretaker: alternating

The two leaders. The brains if you will. They are heading straight to the castle. Van Helsing wants to kill the vampire women, and if he can get the jump on them/ambush them in their coffins it makes sense for him to do so rather than the younger men, whose strength is better saved for a possible direct confrontation with Dracula. And if anyone dies doing this, Van Helsing basically says better the old man who has already lived a long life. Keeping Mina further away from Dracula for as long as possible makes sense too in order to minimize what influence he can have upon her. Having her along to help find the castle as well will be useful, though it does mean she'll be brought in closer contact with his seat of operations and other vampires. But they've planned not to bring her into the castle itself.

The mode of transport is fitting for both of them. Mina of course IS the train fiend and so it's perfect for her to ride a train there. But Van Helsing too has spent a lot of time riding trains back and forth in the book to acquire information that can save a woman from becoming a vampire. Now his last train journey is in an effort to put that information into practice as he tries to save Mina from becoming a vampire/stop the spread by killing the other vampires. Not to mention of course Mina isn't really well and he is older so letting them take the relatively less taxing forms of transportation (train then carriage) makes sense. They both express concern for one another and work together to make sure the other is doing as well as they can throughout the journey as well.

Mina specifically traveling this way makes for a really cool transition from her utilizing the ultra-modern method to then traveling into the past almost as she echoes Jonathan's journey from the beginning of the book and also becomes more and more connected to vampirism/the vampire ladies (and by extent the ancient opposite of the modern civilization that the train represents). This rush to get there first also could reflect the two of them, but especially Mina, outthinking Dracula as they are ready to ambush him upon arrival.

Finally, Van Helsing was the most concerned over Mina's fate and was the one she put most in charge of deciding when she be killed... but he was meant to ensure Jonathan did the deed. So it makes for a really interesting pairing to put him there to make that final judgement but his own promise inclines him to put off action even if he thinks she's passed the point of no return. That said he still is trying really hard to have faith in her despite his doubts and fears, not just because of the promise.

By Land: Quincey and Jack

Scribe: Jack

Fighter: Quincey

Languages: Jack

Caretaker: none

Quincey volunteers early for this job. And Jack speaks up to join him because they work well together and have done things like this before. This actually makes them the only team to both do that, as Van Helsing argued for where Jonathan and Mina should both go. They are also the only pair who already know one another well pre-vampire hunting together.

While this is perhaps the least likely route to meet vampires (second-likeliest route to encounter Dracula, but the other group will almost certainly meet the vampire ladies) it is probably the most physically taxing. They're riding all day. Jack could theoretically be the caretaker here, as he is the doctor, but in reality they both are pressing on really hard and neither one is shown to be making sure the other gets enough rest or whatever. It kind of seems like they're setting a pace where they're both tired enough to just drop off when they get a chance.

Quincey is the leader among the two of them. He's the first to volunteer, and he seems very comfortable with horses and leading a hunt. However, in the larger context of his role in the group as a whole, he is very much the support, and while Jack has had a much larger role, when in the group he's generally support as well (though his trust with Van Helsing means he is usually more involved in discussions than Quincey). So it is fitting that these two are taking the "just in case" route - especially Quincey, who often does this sort of filling in where needed. Also fitting that they are bringing along horses for the others should they be needed. They're being the support team.

One more kind of interesting detail... this is the only group to actually travel with other people for a while, but also the group who talks to locals least. No meta point to this, just noticed it.

By Water: Arthur and Jonathan

Scribe: Jonathan

Fighter: Jonathan

Languages: Jonathan

Caretaker: Arthur

This list of roles makes it sound like Arthur isn't doing much. But that's far from true. It's quite possible he can communicate with locals as well (I just put Jonathan down as we know for a fact he can, though stiltedly) and he's proven himself in defeating a vampire in the past. Jonathan however is the main fighter, shown multiple times not to hesitate to attack Dracula. In fact though, Arthur's most important role here is as the caretaker and transport. He ensures that Jonathan gets the rest he needs, and he's the one not only to acquire the boat but the one who knows how to operate it. Not flawlessly, as we are told when there's a crash, but he's still essential in getting them up the river.

These two men following what seems to be the specific route Dracula took makes for some really interesting continuation of Jonathan's book-long acquisition/mimicry of Dracula's traits. The boat in the first place and then their impersonation of Romanian officials also is another instance of the repeated contrast of Arthur as the good (vis)count using his money and status to help, as opposed to Count Dracula or his alias De Ville using his status and money for evil.

It also is really fitting to pair Jonathan and Arthur together as the two husbands of the women Dracula has attacked. Arthur's reality could become Jonathan's future if they don't succeed here. There's some psychopomp imagery that got talked about a few years ago which can add another fun layer. The linked post there is focused mostly on Greek mythology, and talks more about this, but these two being the ones to travel up a river into a symbolic land of the dead (Dracula's land) is fitting in a couple ways too.

When convincing him to go with Arthur, Van Helsing invokes Jonathan's right to revenge as well. Mina aside, both of these two are the ones who have the most 'right' in that sense, as they've been most personally harmed by the Count. Arthur has gotten some measure of closure when staking Lucy at least, but Jonathan hasn't had anything of the sort. They're both "young and strong" and highly motivated.

.

Not to be reductive, but there's kind of a fun thing going on with head/hand/heart here if you want. Mina and Van Helsing are the new/old brains and each leaders in their own right. Quincey and Jack are both more supportive characters at least by this point in the book and one is shown to be a protector physically while the other is literally a doctor. Jonathan and Arthur are the lovers of the women attacked by Dracula, and also represent two different approaches to the idea of said love becoming a vampire (though again it's never fully realized in Jonathan's case, so presumably he could have gone either way should he be forced to actually make the choice).

Another fun detail when comparing all three... In each case, one person or another takes the lead at least some of the time. Mina and Van Helsing are the ones who alternate that role most. They both take turns looking after one another, driving the horses, and we even get written accounts from both of them. Jonathan and Arthur both take turns on watch but Arthur is the one who knows what he's doing on the ship and looking after Jonathan who is totally focused on leading the hunt. We don't hear much from the other two on their journey, but presumably Quincey is mostly in the lead - I say this because he historically has been in such circumstances (which Jack specifically mentioned when agreeing to go with him).

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

Apr 9th

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1. ITMF fics with (a) good and well-developed original characters! i really enjoyed "I told you when I came I was a stranger" and would really love to read more like these. also looking for (b) fics where wwx is brought back in an OC's body, where their identity matters to the plot (eg politically), like "The Housewife’s Guide to Causing Chaos" (wwx brought back as a yu) & "Everyanything" (wwx brought back as qin su).

would still like wangxian to be tgt, & complete/actively ongoing fics only please. thank you!!!!! @potatokunst

1B)

There's the wwx resurected in other people's bodies comp, but more specifically,

❤️ Beauty and the Boot by PTchan (T, 44k, wangxian, summoned by f!oc, Canon Divergence, Romantic Comedy, Genderbending, Denial, Fem!WWX, WangXian kids, Crack-ish, WIP) would probably fit

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2. Hey there! For the next itmf:

I want fics where wwx is in love with lwj, and he knows it too. So I don’t care if its time travel or anything like that, I just wanna see wwx treating lwj good/like a spouse while being aware that he’s doing it.

And even greater would be, if lwj was very much confused/ in gay panic mode/ horny for it .

Thank you :3 @desperation-is-my-middle-name

two guys r in love thats literally it by victortor (M, 11k, wangxian, Time Travel, the fluffiest thing ive ever written)

When the Words Stop Coming by mrcformoso (T, 7k, WangXian, Canon Compliant, POV WWX, POV LWJ, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Pre-Sunshot Campaign, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Canonical Character Death, Love Confessions, Rejection, LWJ is a Panicked Gay, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Trauma, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sad with a Happy Ending) more of an angst take honestly but it fits the prompt?

And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami (M, 139k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Time Travel, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Healing, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, BAMF JYL, Getting Together)

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3. Hi! For ITMF, can you suggest fics where it picks up soon after the novel ends and explores wangxian’s relationship and how it develops?

Or just fics where wwx learns to take up space/ adjust to gusu and in lwj’s heart?

Thank you for your help, always!

And Yet Here You Are by cosmicmilktea (T, 10k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Domestic Fluff, Cloud Recesses, settling down, Separation Anxiety, Teacher WWX, very light angst, Chief Cultivator LWJ)

call me home and I'll build you a throne by anaphoricae (E, 51k, wangxian, Post-Canon, Canon Compliant, Cloud Recesses, Getting Together, Developing Relationship, Self-Indulgent, Gusu Lan Juniors Dynamics, Touch-Starved, Non-Sexual Intimacy... and then Sexual Intimacy, Lán Juniors Gossiping about Wangxian, as a treat, Nightmares, Hurt/Comfort, little hurt lots of comfort, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Farmer WWX, Chief Cultivator LWJ, iMutual Pining, Communication, Quietly Falling Into a Married Life, Light Angst, Wholesome, POV LWJ, POV WWX, LWJ in braids agenda, Sharing a Bed, WWX's Birthday, Semi-Public Sex, Cold Springs, Inventor WWX, Jealous WWX, turkish translation)

I hope that you will come and meet me by feyburner (M, 28k, wangxian, Post-Canon, Getting Together, Love Letters, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Literal Sleeping Together, Intimacy, CQL Compliant, No Plot Just Feelings, First Time, Two soulmates figuring their shit out, Let Hanguang-jun talk about his feelings agenda, Podfic Available)

my age has never made me wise by idrilka (E, 63k, wangxian, Post-Canon, Part-epistolary, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Marriage Proposal, Homecoming, One Brain Cell WWX Strikes Again)

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4. hello! for itmf any fics with wei wuxian and mo xuanyu? smth like i'll take a secondhand monster by stratisphyre

tysm<3 @r3n-vy

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5. Hi! Hope u r having a great day!

Do you know any good wangxian fics where LWJ leaving cloud recesses along with A-yuan and raise him on his own? You know, before WWX's return? I remember reading one where LWJ competely fell off the radar once. Sadly, i can't recall the name. Pretty please @grrumpywoof

❤️ And Miles To Go Before I Sleep by Glitterbombshell (T, 23k, WIP, WangXian, Heavy Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, LXC is not really a good brother in this sorry, Canon Divergence, rogue cultivator!lwj) It's a WIP that hasn't updated since 2020, but there's this

Home isn't Where the Heart is. by Hauntcats (Not rated, 7k, wangxian) Jingyi comes along too here

The Best I Can by Zephyr (ZephyrAndTheSilverfish) (T, 26k, LJY & WWX, wangxian, WWX talking to his donkey, Canon Divergence, Light Angst, Drama, Recovery, Coming of Age, Secret Identity Fail, Friendship, Rogue Cultivator LWJ, Road Trips, POV Multiple, Happy Ending)

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6. Hi!!! Thank you, you are all amazing and this place is magnificent!! Well, In the mood for... A) Fics were Wei Wuxian raised or helped raised the Juniors, all of them, modern if possible, I just finished The Edge of Night by Hobbsy3 and the relationship with the kids is so amazing, even if is not the central theme also B) Zombie themes fics, similar to the previous one, modern to if posible with happy ending!! Thank you so much for everything!! Be well :) @monicaop21

6A)

🔒 and having a marvelous time by varnes (E, 108k, WangXian, Yúnmèng Siblings, Sound of Music AU, (i know!!! i know. stay with me on this.), Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Family Feels, spies to lovers???, Protective Siblings, Sometimes You Just Want Your Dads To Admit They're Your Dads, Angst with a Happy Ending, podfic of and having a marvellous time by varnes by Spinifex) not modern but WWX raises all the kids

6B)

Darkness Before the Dawn by Selenay (E, 64k, wangxian, Zombie Apocalypse, Modern With Magic, Necromancer WWX, Reunions, toddler A-Yuan, There Was Only One Bed, There are zombies but not graphically horrific zombies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Find a home in the middle of an apocalpyse)

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7. Academic rivals wangxian? :<

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8. For the next itmf! I wonder if there are any fics where the lan and nie bros are really close and then wwx gets added into the mix, and there are shenanigans! Things like the lan/nie bros having a problem that only wwx can solve, or the bros discover how wwx's been treated by other people and get super protective. I just read With This Shadowed Blade and discovered that I very badly want to read more of this dynamic! Thank you all!

Come Around and Stay by trippednfell (M, 160k, wangxian, modern, slow burn, kid fic, found family, it gets worse before it gets better, PTSD, blood and injury, dissociation, trauma, angst w happy ending, musicals, alternating pov, JC & WWX reconciliation, hurt/comfort, panic attacks) 

Debts of a Child Part 2 by Hauntcats (M, 111k, WangXian, YZY Bashing, Not Jiang Family Friendly, Angst and Feels, lots of anger, JC Bashing, not Jiang friendly, Angst with a Happy Ending, Content warning for icky spiders in later chapters.)

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9. Pls pls next itmf secret relationship wangxian? Bonus points if it’s CRA but modern au or post canon or whatever is great too I just need it (I have read a few where their families don’t believe they’re dating but I want them hiding it)

Silenced With A Kiss by NinjaKK (E, 132k, WIP, WangXian, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Flirting, Teen Romance, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Soft WangXian, WWX in WWX’s Body, Secret Relationship, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Dates, Inventor WWX, Genius WWX, Canon Divergence, Protective LWJ, Protective WWX, Ripple Effect, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Optional Smut, Supportive LWJ, BAMF WWX, Inappropriate Use of Gūsū Lán Forehead Ribbon, Has an Angry LWJ Kink, Drunk LWJ, Gusu Lan Alcohol Tolerance, No Golden Core Transfer, WWX Leaves the Yunmeng Jiang Sect)

A Guide on How to (not) Have a Secret Relationship by Grapesey (YumGrapeJuice) (T, 6k, wangxian, Established Relationship, Secret Relationship, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Boys Kissing, they are horribly in love, WWX is a Little Shit, LWJ is So Whipped, WWX is obsessed with LWJ's hair, JC is So Done)

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10. For the next itmf could I see if we could find any fics where mo xuanyu is adopted by wangxian. I’ll take both modern au and canon type fics

a thousand fragile and unprovable things by theLoyalRoyalGuard (G, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, Trans Male Character, Trans MXY, MXY Deserves Happiness, Best Dads Wangxian, Handwaving The Legal System With The Power of LWJ, A little bit of angst, mostly soft, Happy Ending, Gender Happiness, Let LWJ Wear Skirts Agenda, Additional Warnings In Author’s Note)

silk linked together by theLoyalRoyalGuard (G, 6k, LWJ & MXY, Wangxian, Modern, Autistic LWJ, Cellist LWJ, LWJ, Runs A Rabbit Rescue, MXY Deserves Happiness, Fluff) which ends w/ both wangxian relationship and Mo Xuanyu adoption in process.

🔒 and having a marvelous time by varnes (E, 108k, WangXian, Yúnmèng Siblings, Sound of Music AU, (i know!!! i know. stay with me on this.), Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Family Feels, spies to lovers???, Protective Siblings, Sometimes You Just Want Your Dads To Admit They're Your Dads, Angst with a Happy Ending, podfic of and having a marvellous time by varnes by Spinifex) (link in #6A)

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11. Hello! ITMF current wips? For the last few months Truth Will Out has been super fun to keep up with, but now it is complete I would love to find other wips to follow! Any genre (canon, au, or modern) and any topic/plot! Preferably something that updates with relative frequency, like weekly or every other week. Thank you so much!

No Matter What You Are by LilyFaraday (M, 209k, wangxian, WIP, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Female WWX, MXY is a girl in this one and WWX has to deal with it, Genderbending, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, A lot of comedy coming from WWX dealing with being a girl, and also using it to his advantage, Marriage of Convenience, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy, no miscarriage)

A Matter of Time series by mrcformoso (E, 84k, wangxian, time travel fix-it, graphic depictions of violence, underage, LWJ pov, JC pov, dark LWJ, manipulation, grooming, teen body adult mind for LWJ, happy ending for wangxian, problematic consensual underage sex, blood & violence, insane LWJ, manic LWJ) My current MDZS WIP is the A Matter of Time Series, it's currently on worlbuilding extras before the actual sequel. It's update about monthly but considering the amount of thought and worldbuilding and the size of this series I think that's pretty fast hahaha make sure to read the warnings first!

once upon a time, 很久很久以前 by gentil-minou (Flyingsuits) (M, 69k, wangxian, LSZ & WWX, LSZ & LWJ, WIP, Modern, Canon Divergence, Transmigration, of the townwide variety, Amnesia, of the nearly everyone variety, Mystery, of the shenanigans variety, Not Everyone Dies AU, WWX Has Self-Esteem Issues, WWX is sad and down bad, Single Parent LWJ, except a-yuan runs away to find his other dad, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Minor Character Death, Angst with a Happy Ending, Once Upon a Time Fusion, Curses, part of the fun is figuring out how to make these characters as miserable as possible :) ) may i offer up my wip? Updates arent thay frequent cause each chap is over 15k but im hoping to post the next chap this month!

🔒 The Second Hand Unwinds by trulywicked (E, 51k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, WIP, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Time Travel Fix-It, Not JC Friendly, Not Yunmeng Jiang Sect Friendly, Not Jiāng Family Friendly, Not YZY Friendly, Time Travelling LWJ, Protective LWJ, Fluff, Minor Angst, Minor Character Death, JGS is his own warning, Wooing, LWJ is romantic af, Inventor WWX, Genius WWX, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Protective Gusu Lan Sect, Supportive LXC, Good Uncle LQR, WWX Protection Squad)

A-Yuan's Big Adventure by KatanaHatake (G, 13k, wangxian, WIP, Time Travel, transmigrator LSZ, Found Family, Canon Divergence, Parents LWJ & WWX, People believing WWX birthed A-Yuan, Eventual Happy Ending, Accidental Baby Acquisition)

We Meet at the Thousandth Step by Admiranda, Rynne (T, 273k, wangxian, CSSR/WCZ, WIP, Canon Divergence, No Sunshot Campaign, CSSR & WCZ Live, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Different First Meeting, Night Hunts, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Romance, Drama, Fluff, Strangers to married, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Everyone Lives AU, Developing Relationship, Minor Violence, Case Fic, Mystery, Flirting, WWX's Canon-Typical Flower Flirting, Arson, There Was Only One Bed, Getting Together, First Kiss, Meeting the Parents, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Romantic Tension, WWX Is a Good Big Brother, New Relationship Bliss, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Blood and Injury, Yiling siblings)

🧡 The Shade of Old Trees by Kryal (T, 266k, WIP, WangXian, Ridiculously Long Notes, History, Canon Divergence, Modern AU, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding, Slow Life, Action/Adventure, Magic Returns, BAMF WWX)

At heart by apathyinreverie (M, 28k, wangxian, WIP, Dark LWJ(Ish), Amnesia, WWX gets to be Not Okay after the BM, Hurt WWX, Recovery, Caring, Protective LWJ, Possessive LWJ, some definite manipulation, but not everything is as it seems, not nearly as dark as the tags make it sound, Canon Divergence, Golden Core Reveal, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, kind of, Domestic WangXian, Fluff, WWX Goes to Gusu, Possessive WWX, WWX happily atticwifing away, Sunshot Campaign, BAMF WWX, BAMF LWJ)

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12. Itmf for qiongqi path divergence 🖤

The Fire Lapping Up the Creek by notevenyou (E, 66k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Injury, Injury Recovery, Blood, Respiratory Illness, Major Illness, Fever, Grief/Mourning, Burial Mounds, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Hunger and food scarcity, Surgery, Fix-It of Sorts)

when you're doing all the leaving (then it's never your love lost) by tardigradeschool (T, 23k, wangxian, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Sharing a Bed, Sharing Clothes, Fix-It, the inherent eroticism of under robes, Golden Core Transfer, LWJ finds out about wwx's missing core and says i have plenty to go around)

the cycle of regret by KouriArashi (T, 14k, WangXian, Groundhog Day, Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending)

in this place where we don’t have a prayer by Cerusee, Mikkeneko (T, 42k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, WWX dies at Qiongqi path, Demonic Cultivation)

Home and the Heartland by Witch_Nova221 (T, 210k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, LWJ Stays at the Burial Mounds, Slow Romance, Romance, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Fix-It, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Self-Discovery, Golden Core Reveal)

isn't there a Qiongqi Path canon divergence comp?

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13. itmf fics with Lan Wangji laughing/smiling/giggling etc. The bts of The Untamed with Wang Yibo laughing his ass off are killing me and i need LWG just being happy and laughing now

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14. An ITMF ask: I am looking for fic where WangXian's marriage is being arranged but one or both of them simply don't know about it until late in the game -not just "everyone knows but them" but literally they are being measured for wedding outfits and are clueless. Pining a plus! HEA pls! <3 @kimboo-york

Searching for a Heart by vesna (mrsronweasley) (E, 21k, WangXian, Modern AU, married at first sight au, this is basically modern arranged marriage, Getting Together, Reality TV AU)

Lead Me On Through by vesna (mrsronweasley) (E, 54k, wangxian, Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, Practice Kissing, practice other things, horny boys in love, questionable logic, Questionable Choices, they're dumb but cute, but dumb, but really cute, slight knives, Happy Ending)

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15. itmf modern au inventor wwx, similar to kizukatana's Truth Will Out? thank you for all that u do 💗

💖 One Can Keep A Secret (If He Does Not Know It’s There)by H_Belle (T, 5k, wangxian, NHS & WWX, modern w/ cultivation, inventor WWX, secret identity, identity reveal, YLLZ WWX, rogue cultivator WWX, pining LWJ, WWX pov)

There's An App For Everything by Sweetlittlevampire (G, 4k, wangxian, Modern Cultivation, Rivals to Lovers, Friends To Lovers, Competition, Demon fighting, Getting Together, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Night Hunts, Wangxian x Caves is the real ship here, Happy Ending, Humour)

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16. hi hi! could you recomend any fics where Lan Yuan grows up in Lotus Pier? thank you <3 @nyxiblue

What Remains After the War by Swan_Song (T, 41k, JC & LSZ, JC & JL, JL & LSZ, JL & LJY & OYZZ & LSZ, JC & WWX, WIP, Canon Divergence, LSZ is a Jiang, Good Uncle JC, Cousins JL & LSZ, JC Needs a Hug, JC Needs Therapy, The juniors solve a mystery, Junior Ensemble Shenanigans, Good Uncle LQR, he tries his best, LSZ Needs a Hug)

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17. ITMF any fics where other characters preferably Jin zixuan has an unrequited/one sided crush on Wei Ying. Could be any setting preferably Canon/Canon divergence or with some sort of cultivation and wangxian end game. Gimme all you have please @linossock

~*~

If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[see-arcane]

How different are Dracula's Demeter and TLVOTD?

Oof. Okay. This is going to hurt me as a staunch THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER believer, but.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is very much the better story. By a wide margin.

Spoilers for The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Dracula's Demeter, and Dracula below

Just speaking on differences, TLVOTD does sadly tuck in that Universal Pictures nonsense about ~the sun hurts vampires~ and sacrifices some of the Captain's coolness and giving the Romanians and the Roma any respect due to the origins of the poor chick who got boxed up as a bloodbag stowaway. But it is still a very very well done Dracula as an Actual Goddamn Monster horror film. Even the close of the movie--yes, with more random action slapped on for cinematic reasons--leaves a door open for one last knife twist as OC Protagonist stalks off into the shadows to hunt Dracula down...

...and possibly accidentally-brilliantly nodding to a certain scene in the novel where the gang enters the Count's Piccadilly house and finds a bowl of bloodied water. RIP.

It's a good scary story and it built something enjoyable out of the Demeter chapter's foundation. Definitely a refreshing departure from the constant sexypire barrage of Draculas.

Dracula's Demeter feels like a con job by comparison.

Specifically because it opens so promisingly. It's very obvious that the author read Dracula front to back and loved what he read! He uses tons of direct lines from it! He has period accurate details dappled throughout for the Demeter's ship and crew! He does an admirable job of building up his own two Requisite Guy and Girl Stowaway Romance OCs so they can do Meaningful Things, just like TLVOTD's duo do! Dracula is sinister and erudite and--credit where it's due--delivers an absolutely nightmarish demise to poor Petrofsky. Holy shit.

With all that, you can forgive the kind of rough editing and the way that (parentheses) and ALL CAPS ACTION WORDS get sprinkled throughout like someone who just peeled their stuff straight from Ao3. It's fine, it's fun. At first.

And then shit goes downhill and straight into Dracufetishland: Naughty Nautical Edition.

Because it turns out that where TLVOTD had Required Girl Character get to be a whole person and not a gossamer-dressed sexy lamp (even having been chomped), DD's Required Girl gets chomped and immediately goes full 'lol my human boyfriend is a loser compared to Count Fuckula,' in a way I might forgive if we were going for some unrelated vampire's story--but no. This is a Dracula story and she's in full Coppola mode.

She gets turned, ogles what's left of her reflection so we can talk about how hard and visible her nips are in a borrowed shirt, gets Dracuhorny, and ditches her boyfriend.

And then, when Earnest Englishman Boyfriend tries to burn the ship and save the day, he gets burned alive, and then Dracula orders Vampire Girlfriend to garrote the poor guy to death while wearing the convenient billowy white dress she brought onboard. And she does. Happily. There's not even a crumb of will or even dissent left in her the way we see with the goddamn Weird Sisters who were with him for centuries and actively tried to steal Jonathan from their master***, or even Bloofer Lady Lucy reaching for Art.

Just a pointless fuck you of a death that added nothing.

Followed by Dracula snapping Vampire Girlfriend's neck, double-kills her, and chucks her into the sea while chuckling about how silly it is to think that he would want a companion, ha ha!

...

Yes, I am also staring at the camera The Office-style, thinking about -checks notes- the Weird Sisters, Jonathan, Lucy, a random ass girl in Piccadilly, Mina...

Oh, that Dracula. Such a loner.

And all that leads to the Captain with the rosary--WHICH ISN'T EVEN HIS--and the last few chapters which are just pure padding about Dracula shoving the Demeter to shore. After getting a cutaway scene to Dracula hopping into Lucy's brain somehow to grope her while Mina watches. For reasons.

The book is, in short, pointless.

The OCs are pointless. Them being on the boat is pointless. Nothing they do, nothing the author has the crew or Dracula do, adds literally anything to what was already in the Demeter section of the book. There is no meat here, only voluptuous gristle.

And the thing is! The infuriating thing is! Because this is a Dracula*** story, it is still technically more respectful than the bulk of other writing and media about Dracula, because so much of it is doubly extra-fetished never-read-the-book never-liked-the-book utter garbage.

So I still have to give it 3/5 stars as a Dracula story. 1.5-2 in isolation.

Anyway, I'm going to go re-watch TLVOTD now

[abbacchiosbelt]

cw: pregnancy, tooth-rotting fluff. much softer than my usual stuff, but this idea got stuck in my brain. diluc ragnvindr x wife!reader. sfw.

diluc is not outwardly sentimental - at least, he gives off that impression to those not in his inner circle. those closest to him though — you, his beloved wife, adelinde, and even kaeya — know the truth. dawn winery is full of trinkets and objects that once belonged to his father and mother, and his desks are stuffed full of small mementos.

if one were to open his personal desk, they may find a pressed flower from you, a particularly pretty rock from razor that'd he shyly given diluc, a cocktail napkin from the cat's tail that diona had drawn an angry face on... little things, that remind him of mondstadt's good. things that remind him of his humanity. and there are big things, too. the paintings that his father painted for his mother still fill the walls of the winery... and even that hideous vase kaeya bought him. oh, diluc complains about it, but he'd never get rid of it.

the moment diluc hears about the kamera, he knows he has to have one. to be able to remember such precious things with a picture instead of his memory, which could warp and distort things over time... it's the perfect tool for a man like diluc. he'll feign nonchalance about the whole thing, but he's first in line to receive one. of course, as the owner of dawn winery, the company in fontaine that produces kameras is practically shoving it into his hands.

there's one specific reason why diluc is so anxious to get a kamera.

you, his darling wife, are pregnant. diluc had been beyond words when you'd told him - a mix of overwhelming love and fear had shocked him quiet. his urge to protect you grew tenfold, and his love for you grew even deeper. of course, diluc was hellbent on taking care of you in every conceivable way. it wasn't enough for him, though. he wanted to be able to remember these moments vividly, to keep them locked securely in his heart. and diluc wanted to keep the memory of you, round belly and glowing face, as pristine as possible. you were beautiful beyond words.

so, when you find yourself being led outside by an excited diluc (muted as he may be around others, his excitement over your pregnancy had led him to be more open than usual), you have no idea what to expect. adelinde had delivered you a pretty, hand-sewn dress that diluc had made for you. it fit you perfectly - gauzy and loose while framing your pregnant belly. it was comfy, too.

diluc leads you to a particularly scenic area, and in front of you stands a strange machine, propped up by another device.

'honey?' you ask, confused but happy to go along with whatever diluc had planned. he smiles at you, soft, and explains what the machine is. a photograph... how novel, and how very like diluc to be interested, you think to yourself. he arranges the two of you in position so that the kamera will catch everything. the kamera had a mode to take several pictures at once without someone behind it, so you wait patiently while diluc sets it up and rushes back for the incoming photos.

diluc's smiling face, his hand resting gently on your belly, while you look at him lovingly. a picture of diluc kissing your cheek, sly expression hidden behind his flaming red hair. a picture of diluc knelt on the ground beside you, his expression reverent as he looks up at you, head resting against your stomach.

each photo is printed in succession, and when the kamera stops taking photos, diluc goes over to carefully collect them from the machine. they had come out perfectly, only a couple in the set ending up blurry.

when you wake up after an afternoon nap, you're not surprised to see the pictures hung up around the winery's top floor. when you go to find diluc in his office, you see him holding the photo of him knelt by your belly in his hand, a smile on his lips.

oh, diluc could pretend he wasn't sentimental all he wanted, but the photo he held tight in his hands proved otherwise.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi! I’ve noticed these days that my writing is struggling between sounding very formal and proper versus sounding casual. On one hand, I’ll have a sentence that looks like it came straight out of a 1940s British series, but two lines later there’s some casual dialogue that’s closer to an American teen novel. I grew up with both types of books tbh, so maybe that’s why? How do I stabilize my writing style and make it a little more consistent? Thank you!

Stabilizing Voice in Writing

There are three types of "voice" that play a role in how your writing sounds... authorial voice, narrative voice, and character voice.

Authorial voice is your writing style as an author. In many ways, it's your "writer personality." It's what makes your writing distinctive from another writer's. While authorial voice tends to be consistent across all stories, it will evolve with time and may even change slightly for particular projects--especially when crossing genres. Authorial voice includes things like how much/little description you use, how simple or ornate that description is, how you use word play, and the types of words you use. Narrative voice is the "voice/voices" with which the story is told. This is made up of point-of-view (the perspective from which the story is told, for example, first-person or third-person limited), as well as your writing style and use of language. Anything the narrator says falls under narrative voice.

Character voice is the way a character's personality comes through in the things they think and say. It includes things like whether they're concise or wordy when they speak, slang and catchphrases, quirks of speech like saying "um" or "uh" a lot, how their attitude is reflected in what they think and say, accent, and the kinds of words they use.

When you have a first-person narrator, narrative voice and character voice are combined, because the character's voice IS the narrative voice.

So, there are several quick exercises you can do if you want to stabilize the voice in your writing:

1 - Do a little analysis of your own writing style (so far). Remember: writing style is something that evolves over time, so you might not have a fully established writing style yet, but you should be able to look at what you write and start to see some patterns. In your case in particular, do you gravitate more toward formal speech than casual speech? Can you think of any writers whose style matches what you'd like your writing style to be? Try reading more of their books, or read a chapter an analyze the writing style to see what you can mimic.

2 - Think about the narrator of your story... Even if it's a third-person omniscient, faceless narrator, it can still help to assign a sort of mental picture for who this person might be and who they're telling the story to. Is this someone who experienced it telling the story in third-person long after the fact, with 20/20 hindsight, to someone who might be interested? Is this a god who watched it all unfold and is retelling the tale to an audience of other gods? Is it an old grizzled storyteller telling the story to a rapt audience around a campfire? Try to choose something that makes sense as far as who might be telling this story, who they're telling it to, and why. It's not that you're including this as part of the story, but rather as a sort of placeholder for your brain any time you're in narrator mode. If you can slip into this narrator's shoes as you write the narrator parts, it sometimes helps you "get into character" and stick with a consistent, relevant narrative voice.

3 - Establish character voice... Character voice does have an impact on narrative voice, even if the story isn't told in first-person. In third-person stories, who the characters are can tell you a lot about who your narrator might be (so it might help to do this step before #2 above...) For example, if your characters do happen to be a bunch of 1940s Brits, you can start to think about who they are and what they experience to figure out who the narrator might be. In this case, it probably wouldn't make sense for the narrator to be a god telling the story to other gods (as that feels too mystical for this narrator), but a grizzled storyteller recounting the tale around a campfire might make sense.

If your story's being told in second-person (You walked to the window... Like a Choose Your Own Adventure) or first-person (I walked to the window...) character voice relates even more to narrative voice, because in second-person, even though the narrator is not the POV character, the narration is still being filtered through the POV character's personality, knowledge, and experiences. And in first-person, the narrator IS the POV character, so the narrative voice and character voice are one and the same.

By doing these exercises, you can start to hone each of these voices to find some stability. Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[ninja-muse]

So yeah, that happened… (Not as bad as it looks, though. The top half is books I own and read this month, not books I've acquired.)

November has been a month of highs and lows for me. Mostly lows, if I'm being honest. The US election kicked my brain back to 2020 for a couple days and I don't think I've really reset yet. (It's taken me three years and counting to reset from 2020 itself so I'm not surprised.) For any American reading this, I'm still very saddened for you and I wish there was something I could do beyond listening and sympathizing. I wish the world was a better place to live in.

And speaking of 2020 mode, I haven't been writing. I was at a crossroads at the end of October with a difficult scene, and even though I've fixed it so it's better, I still haven't continued. It's hard for me to write cheery, upbeat things when I'm scared and angry, and work's getting busier for the holidays, and both Bake Offs I follow were airing and that just seemed more important. At least this time, it's definitely writer's block rather than a terror of traumatizing people by writing diversely. (2020 was fun, y'all.)

And I also didn't write for five days because my mom and sister and I went to Disneyland. This was, of course, the high of the month! It was good to spend that time together, and do the rides and the whole experience, and see Disneyland as an adult. I'm especially glad we went when we did because I don't think I'm ever going to visit the States again.

It was also a fairly lukewarm reading month for me, which I don't think it helping the mental stuff. The best book I read was intense and heavy, a few of the others also dealt with dark stuff, and pretty much everything was "fine". No new favourites, though I've added the rest of Claudia Gray's Austenian mysteries to my TBR and I'm still thoroughly enjoying the Lady Trent novels. A couple of the other books (the Clarke, the Stearns) were ones I was hyped for but which didn't live up to expectations.

That said, for all that it's my lowest ranked book, The Price of the Stars was surprisingly fun. It's completely mindless, cliched space opera that reads like an off-brand Star Wars novel and I'm sure I'll have just as much fun with the sequel (also on my physical TBR). But I also recognize that the writing's on par with mediocre fanfiction or cult 1980s B-movies.

Books and otherwise, here's hoping for a better December.

And now, as always, here’s my list of everything I read this month, in the rough order of how glad I was to have read them.

Submerged - Hillel Levin

A journalist dives into a 1990s murder case—the disappearance, the first suspect, the second investigation, the innocent man in jail, the family secrets…

8.5/10

warning: grooming, molestation, rape, victim blaming, failures of the justice system

reading copy

The Murder of Mr. Wickham - Claudia Gray

The Darcys, the Tilneys, and sundry other friends and relations are attending the Knightleys’ house party when Mr. Wickham (uninvited) is killed. The murderer’s still in the house but everyone had motive.

7/10

major autistic character

warning: homophobia

off my TBR

The Empress Letters - Linda Rogers

A mother in the 1920s writes her life story in a series of letters to the daughter she’s searching for in China.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (bisexual), Jewish protagonist, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic, gay), Jewish secondary characters, Chinese secondary characters, 🇨🇦,

warning: death of parent, sexual exposure, adult-teen relationship, anti-Chinese racism, fetal remains, homophobia

off my TBR

The Voyage of the Basilisk - Marie Brennan

To create a taxonomy of dragons, Isabella Camherst takes a voyage around the world—but as always, she runs afoul of politics, social mores, and other perils.

7/10

Middle Eastern-coded secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (third gender), Polynesian secondary characters

library book

The Secret History of Audrey James - Heather Marshall

In 1938 Berlin, piano student Audrey steps into danger when her Jewish hosts are arrested and she must turn housekeeper to Nazis to protect her best friend. In 2010, Kate takes a job at a hotel to restart her life after tragedy—and must convince Audrey, the owner, to let her stay.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (sapphic), major Jewish secondary characters, secondary character with partial leg paralysis and a cane, 🇨🇦

warning: antisemitism, murder, police brutality, misogyny and sexism

library book

The Wood at Midwinter - Susanna Clarke

A young woman enters a midwinter wood alone and encounters a fox, a crow, and a bargain.

6.5/10

library ebook

Under a New and Brilliant Sky - R.E. Stearns

Elys, on the run from Republic authorities, is brought to Alyansa to fix a failure in their city’s AI. But the Republic knows where to find her, and she can’t quite trust that the Alyansans will keep her safe.

6/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (sapphic), protagonist with auditory processing disorder, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (trans woman), brown-skinned secondary characters

warning: xenophobia, colonialism

digital reading copy/won

Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble - Alexis Hall

Paris isn’t really sure why he’s on Bake Expectations and he definitely isn’t sure how he feels about the contestant he keeps flirting with, if you can call it flirting, oh god, how do you relationship when anxiety?

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (gay), protagonist with anxiety disorder, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (gay, sapphic), major Bangladeshi Muslim character, fat secondary character, Bangladeshi Muslim secondary characters, Chinese-British secondary character

warning: realistically depicts anxiety disorder and panic attacks

library ebook

Rivers of London Vol. 12: Stray Cat Blues - Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel with José María Beroy (Illustrator)

Abigail and the foxes are “hired” by a cat-woman to break her fellow hybrids out of a brothel. Easy, right? Out in December.

7/10

wajor Black British characters, disabled secondary character

warning: sex trafficking

purchased/off my TBR

The Price of the Stars - Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald

When Beka’s politician mother is assassinated, her father gives her his warship in exchange for her tracking the assassins down. Cue a pan-galactic adventure!

6/10

warning: sexual assault, gun violence

off my TBR

Currently reading

The Stardust Grail - Yume Kitasei

Maya’s put her thieving past aside to pursue academia, but when a chance to find the legendary stardust grail (and save her friend’s species) falls into her lap, she can’t help but be tempted—even if Earth wants to use it to save itself.

protagonist with Japanese heritage, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (achillean, nonbinary, alternate gender system)

library book

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin

A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

Victorian detective stories

disabled POV character (limb injury), occasional Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 10 Yearly total: 116 Queer books: 4 Authors of colour: 0 Books by women: 6.5 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 2 Classics: 0 Off the TBR shelves: 4 Books hauled: 5 ARCs acquired: 2 ARCs unhauled: 2 DNFs: 0

January February March April May June July August September October

[euoniatz]

Hey I saw your post abt writers block! I never really see people write much for Charles smith x male reader, can I get a fluff + smut pleaseeeeeee?

hi anon! i don't really write smut sorryy :( but fluff i can definitely do! 🙊💕 my brain decided to go chaos mode with this so it's a little all over the place. i hope that's fine anyways and that you'll enjoy!

☆ charles smith x male reader

tags: fluff, first kiss, getting together, pre-canon

wordcount: 1417

(not proof read)

<3

no one notices him as he slips back into camp with a pack slung over his shoulder. no one except you.

ignoring your mare's protest to the lack of movement of the brush in your hand, you watch as charles, the one you can't seem to place, drops of a pair of hares at pearson's stand before heading back towards the edges of camp.

you furrow your brows and glance at the moon high in the sky. why he's heading out in to the woods at this time of night evades you.

he has a lean-to in camp. one that he sleeps in more often than not. one that you share.

you've come to know charles as someone far from what you first expected him to be like.

where you only saw broad shoulders, bulging muscles, and an aura steering even a drunk-off-her-ass karen away, he shows you kindness wrapped in crafted arrowheads and feathers for your hat.

he shows you gentle in the way he murmurs to the deer and the fox and the elk before stabbing his knife in their hearts. in the way he weaves his fingers together as he tells you about his sad, sad past and teaches you about things you'd never even thought of.

he shows you passion in the way his voice turns fiery with rage as you confront bison-killers together. in the way he's steady when he tells arthur or john or you that the fool at the end of your gun doesn't need to die.

yeah, it's safe to say you've never met someone quite like charles smith.

you barely even remember how the two of you got so close. it's only been half a year since you were thrust into the madness of the gang, but all the memories of being distrusting and unsure of yourself have been replaced with the one's of charles' hand brushing yours as you work together on chores or talks that muddle time in some crazy way only mary-beth and her novels could explain.

maybe you are simply both of the quieter nature. maybe your shared interest in nature and animals is what brings you together. or it's the fact that you're both relatively new to the gang. perhaps you just simply like each other.

nevertheless, charles sneaking off in the middle of the night after just returning tells that either he's taking a leak and will be back within the next minute, or this is a sign for you to talk to him.

you wait a minute. no sign of him.

making up your mind, you give your horse an apologetic pat and ventures into the dark of the surrounding woods. the moon is bright enough so you won't fall face first in the dirt, but you still fail to suppress a shudder as a crow caws above you and the bushes around you seems to move.

heart thundering like hoofbeats inside your chest, you swallow and push through the thick leaves ahead, eager to find charles before the silence of the woods consumes you, barely realizing the way your foot snags on something before you're falling-

someone catches you halfway on your descent to the thorns below. gasping, you quickly get your feet back under you to push the stranger away.

"woah, easy," charles says as you breathe a sigh of relief, hands hovering next to you before he realizes the fact and hastily clenches them at his sides.

"you fool," you huff, still breathless from your battle with the bushes or maybe the way his hands felt on your skin. "what are you doing out here?"

charles raises a brow, clearly amused. "could ask you the same thing, but i won't," he holds out a pouch full of bloodied and dull arrowheads. "i need to get this done before i forget."

that's a lie, he never forgets anything. you're about to make an excuse so he can be left to the solitude he so clearly went looking for when he nods to a patch of grass beyond the trees.

"if you're not busy doing... this," he gestures to the godforsaken bush again "you could help, if you want?" he asks, tone suddenly unsure.

you do. god, you do. you nod fiercly and set off for the clearing, really just hoping you won't fall over on the way there. you hear charles sigh behind you, and you think it's one of relief.

"here," charles says and offers a knife when you're both seated in the grass that you both made it to safely and without issue.

you shake your head and pull your own from your belt, grabbing one of the arrows instead. a comfortable silence envelops you as you both get to work sliding your blades against the bloody tips.

then, as you lay your finished arrow in front of you and goes to grab another, charles sighs and lays back in the grass. you watch him curiously, your brain not being able to come up with anything other than how peaceful he looks like this.

you go back to working to keep your hands occupied as he speaks, "dutch's and micah's plan - what do you think?"

you snort and work your jaw a bit before responding. "the boat job? arthur says he has a bad feeling, and he's right more often than he's wrong. i don't know, lotta money if it goes right, i guess."

you don't know much about the plan itself other than the fact that micah seems to think himself a genius for procuring it, and that arthur and hosea don't trust him or his reasoning.

dutch is onto that money like a shark though, and the way things usually go, he'll refuse to hear reason and do it anyway. will only get out alive and richer because arthur and the others will be there too, killing folk so they can get away.

"lots of death if it goes wrong," charles adds and you hum, tossing the knife and laying down next to him, looking at the stars above.

"you don't fancy it either, then?" you say.

charles is silent for a second, which tells you that no, no he does not.

"i think arthur's right about this micah feller," he says finally. "he only needs dutch on his side, though, to hell with the rest of us."

"yeah." you grind your teeth just thinking about it. everything you hear him say to the women and charles and lenny and tilly - you seriously doubt anyone but dutch and micah himself wants him here.

"but," you sit up, scooting closer without really meaning to. "we'll be okay, i know it."

charles blinks up at you, a soft smile tugging at his lips as he raises himself to his elbows. normally you would have moved away by now, excpet something is telling you to stay. you lick your lips, eyes flicking to his before they go back to his eyes.

"yeah?" he murmurs. "how do you know that, mister?"

the distance between you shrink inch by agonizing inch, and your eyes grow wide as you feel his breath on your face. for a moment, only your combined breathing can be heard in the forest, as if the world stopped when you weren't looking.

mind running a mile a minute, you gape in shock that this is really happening, neglecting to respond long enough for charles to begin pulling away.

"hey..." you quickly grab him and hold him steady beneath you, hoping your voice won't be shaking as much as your hands are. "because we'll be in it together."

charles smiles, wide and genuine. you don't have time to appreciate it before he's pulling you in - grabbing your face and setting his hand on your side - and kissing you.

it's like a dream, the way your lips move against one another as if that's all they were ever meant to do. you can't believe this is happening - finally happening.

when you finally pull back to breathe, you laugh breathlessly and kiss the corner of his mouth as he grins and wraps you in his arms. "you fool," he say into his neck, "i can't believe it took micah's foolishness to get us to finally do this."

and then finally you get to hear charles smith laugh, and you think you found the heaven people insist lies in the sky, right here on the ground, beneath you and around you and beside you - just as it should be <3

<3

thank you for reading! feel free to send me more writing requests 💗

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

The Reds and the Feds: Little Trusts

The short version: i got carried away thinking about helmet hair and wanted to doodle something w Neko and Donut

The long version: under the cut

“Oh!” Donut gasped. He was standing in the locker room just outside the showers at the latest base on their ‘tour’ of the Federal Army of Chorus. Outpost eleven….something?? Donut didn’t know the specifics. What he did know was Private Micce was standing across the locker room from him right now and had the prettiest hair Donut had ever seen, himself included. Thick black curls, unleashed from the winding braid Micce usually wore his hair in under his helmet, fell in loose waves down to his hips. His hips! Sarge called Micce’s usual style ‘princess hair’, and frankly (hah) Donut couldn’t help but agree. A tiara would look so good among the curve of the braid. But this? This was some elegant, mermaid, front cover of a novel kind of hair.

“Your hair!” Donut flapped his hand, finally catching Micce’s attention. The federal soldier turned, half towards Donut, and reached an ungloved hand up to his hair.

“What? Is something caught in it?” Micce’s brow furrowed and Donut shook his head.

“No, no, sorry! It’s just- it’s so pretty!” He laughed. Now, normally Franklin Delano Donut was much better at picking his words and saying the right things. But his lack of decent vocabulary could be blamed on spending the majority of the last 12 or so hours in a warthog with Wash— even for the Red team with their undeniable skill with the big guns and engines, twelve hours was a long drive. And Wash had insisted they spend as much of it as possible playing the quiet game. Now that might have worked on Caboose, but Donut knew that it was really just Wash trying to gently tell him to shut up, so he had cheated the ‘game’ by switching off his external speaker and instead having a chat with Lopez on a private channel! So his brain was still coming out of El-Spanisho mode.

Micce just blinked at him. The thick curly bangs that never quite seemed to make it back into the main braid looked almost comical now, seeing the length of the rest of Micce’s hair. Donut didn’t want to say that though, so instead he opted for a cheerful,

“You should wear it down more! It looks so soft too! Is it hard to get it into that braid you wear all the time? I’ve heard that curls can be sooo unruly, especially with helmet hair,” Donut crossed the narrow room now, armor half forgotten by his temporary locker to engage Micce in conversation.

“How do you keep it from getting kinky from the braid? Mine always has this like dip in it from where I tie it up, you have to share the secret with me!”

“Oh,” Micce narrowed his eyes, and held up a hand to pause Donut for a moment. “I don’t wear it down because, ya know, helmet, I think it is pretty soft but I’m biased. It isn’t super hard to braid especially if I’m doing it myself because I’m pretty quick, but it can be a hassle if someone else tries because they get lost in the curls which I think counts as unruly?”

Micce folded down one finger at a time as he answered Donut’s questions. He was so sweet like that, making sure he didn’t miss anything! Donut appreciated it.

“Anddd I switch the direction and angle I braid it at, mostly because if I’m undoing it I hate to put it right back where it was. Also I think it’s because it’s a loose braid? It settles better under my helmet but I think it also doesn't get as squished into the braid kinks because of that?”

Micce lowered his hand now that he had answered the questions and tilted his head curiously at Donut.

“You have long hair?”

“Oh! Right, duh—“ Donut tugged off his helmet, tossing it towards the bench that had his gloves on them already. Then he reached up, taking a moment to find the little hair tie desperately fighting to keep his own hair up in the bun at the back of his head.

“I’ve tried the looser hair style thing! But it just won’t stay up for me when I try, I don’t know why,” Donut lamented, even as he coaxed his own hair free. He knew Micce had seen him without his helmet but, like Micce, it was hard to judge how long Donut’s hair actually was when it was tied up.

“Ta-da!” Donut beamed once his hair was loose. It brushed against his scars, which still felt weird even after all these years. Micce blinked again, and not just the quick kind of blink that everyone does, but his weird slow blink. It always made Donut think of a cat, which, when he told Washington that little fact, Wash had scrunched up his nose in a funny expression that also reminded Donut of a cat. He wondered how Wash would look if he wore cat ears, actually, because Donut was certain Micce could pull them off. Micce had a very cat-like face, especially with his cleft lip and the little fang poking out over his bottom lip because of it.

“Actually, wait, is that why Pavoz calls you Neko all the time? Oh, that’s so sweet! What a fun way to get a nickname,”

“He calls me Neko because my first name is Necoda,” Micce answered, seemingly unphased by Donut’s tirade about cat ears that had not been entirely intended to be said out loud. Oh well. “And because no one pronounces Micce right. Neko is just easier,”

“Wait, I'm not saying it right?” Donut crossed his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner! Oh gosh, I’m sorry- how do I say it right?”

“You- you can’t. It’s hard, it’s like—“ Micce frowned, tilting his head side to side. “It’s a throat thing? I don’t really know how to explain it, but you have to make two sounds at once. I don’t mind whichever sound is easier for people to make to be the version they use, it’s just… not correct? If you want to call me Neko like Pavoz does instead, that’s fine, but how you’ve been saying it is fine too. I don’t care,”

Donut hesitated because usually when someone says they don’t care, they didn’t look so sad about it. And Micce— Neko— did look sad. Why, Donut couldn’t begin to guess but—

“If it’s a Chorusan name, why can’t anyone else say it right? That just seems rude of them,”

“Oh, it’s not Chorusan,” Neko laughed. “I’m not from Chorus,” He snapped like something occured to him and pointed a finger pistol at Donut with the same hand and a grin. “Hey! Something I have in common with you guys! Neat, huh?”

“You’re not? Wait- are you lying again?” Donut squinted.

“I’m not, but if you think I’m lying then asking me doesn’t matter, does it?” Neko winked. “I could be lying about lying, or I’m being completely honest! ‘The next statement is true, the previous statement is false’ kind of shit. You’ll never know the answer,” Micce shook his head. “But we were talking about hair, not tragic backstories,”

“Oh! Right!” Donut could see the obvious topic change but you know what? Fair enough! It was clearly something Neko didn’t want to talk about, and Donut did have one more question about his hair anyways.

“Can I play with your hair? Like, while you’ve got it down?” Donut grinned. “No gloves! Wouldn’t want to catch on anything,”

Neko blinked his weird cat blink, then shrugged.

“Yeah, sure. Just don’t tug,”

“I would never tug on someone unless they wanted me too!”

[mcrololo]

Hello what are your headcanons for how the bellas like to game 👀

Beca and Stacie both are puzzle game fiends. Stacie loves a good brain teaser and Beca just likes to make connections/make her hands work with her. She absolutely shreds in Guitar Hero too and enjoys music games with the same mechanics. I also picture Beca being incredibly good at the Taiko mode in Osu! (she will forever be a dweeb in my heart ♥)

Chloe is always in for a good party game. Especially the Mario ones with all the minigames. She can get competitive with those, but I can see her sit back and laugh at all the different ways Amy, Lilly and Jessica try to cheat.

CR definitely plays mobile games. She falls victim to the FOMO/gacha system a few too many times and then the other Bellas have to intervene. She joins Jessica in tactic RPGs (Fire emblem, Final Fantasy etc) because the fantasy genre tickles her brain enough.

Emily gets banned from playing platformer games because, as it turns out, this girl has a LOT of unresolved rage. She plays any and all visual novels because she enjoys a good storyline, though.

Aubrey is the type of gamer who gets addicted to winning. She'll tell the rest she'll take five more minutes on a level and the next morning she's still going at it.

I always headcanon Lilly as a horror fan, so she loves playing those type of games. But I can also see her enjoy a good FPS with Amy and Ashley. Amy knows literally every cheat code to any given game, and Ashley accidentally finds all the best loot always. Ashley also loves playing race games, especially Burn-out Revenge because it's a good rage game <3

Flo adores Wii-era games because of the balance board and motion controls. Whenever she starts up Just Dance, Chloe appears out of nowhere beside her and they don't stop until their muscles whine.

[ackjiuu]

Seventeen jeonghan x wonwoo This Man / Last Night lore

Absolutely adore story type MVs and I'm so glad seventeen released an actual story for This Man unlike Bittersweet like goddamit I hate the Bittersweet promotions zero music shows zero dance practice zero anything at all until that ONE singular concert like are u fucking with me...

Also I'm soooSOSOSOSOS glad wonwoo is one of my biases (woozi🔛🔝) cause I get to enjoy these kinda story type MVs that I fucking love with my BIAS in it TWICE and the only 2 ever story type MVs seventeen (or any of the members) have and god bless my other bias jeonghan is in this one😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏🙏

And and and I think it's quite fun how in this lore it's kinda bitter x sweet too!!!!!!!! I'll explain it downstairs but anyways wonwoo is still bitter but this time sweet is jeonghan

Anyways since I was really invested in the story I "read" the audiobook and watched some lore explaining video that I'll link but this is a MV "analysis"/"explanation" of which parts of the MV corresponds to the part of the audiobook cause I fucking love the lore of it and i think it would've been a good novel

This obviously is a spoiler for anyone who wants to watch the audiobook on their own so just a spoiler warning

Also also sorry I'm a bit stupid and I really don't get the connotations of most MVs and lyrics (there's a reason I always fail my English comprehension) must be cause I have to use my brain too much to do work or I'm just plain idiot but yes I like having shit told to my face I just can't understand it despite years of living a life surrounded by "arts" like I was in dance, band and I draw sometimes but yea I'm art stupid there's a reason I'm in engineering and not art I still love art but I'm just stupid when it comes to hidden meanings so sorry if I get anything wrong or forget some stuff

Just making this for anyone who is too lazy to watch the whole audiobook cause honestly that's me and I JUST watched it and loved it but really it's kinda boring and not my favourite mode of reading, I prefer reading novels or ao3 type of shit ykyk

Before I start I probably won't post anything like this ever again I'm a boom boom era carat but this account just isn't gonna be for seventeen yea I just don't wanna create a whole new account to post for ONE time about seventeen

Lore videos↓↓

It'll be in order as shown in the MV...

Sand is actually not wonwoos ability, the sand represents the fake dream beings aka the other people in the dream besides the dreamer (aka everyone that's not the dreamer). So if I'm not wrong JH pulls people into dreams and has the ability to make them dream happy things (bitterSWEET) so when these happy dream moments are destroyed it turns to sand

Look at this creep watching people sleep/j

I can't remember which one it is but in the audiobook it says JH makes people sleep to "get energy" to recreate A (I'm not fwu it's really called A it's that sheet ghost thingy) OR he makes them sleep to sustain his dream world where he continuously replays the happiest moment of his life with A (actually I'm not sure about the recreating A maybe I just interpreted it wrong)

The MV explanation video mentions that "gate closed" is because the sleeping people can't get out of the sweet dreams JH trapped them in(?)

But making these people sleep for too long without eating or drinking will make them die obviously

On the packet it says TRUE Lemonade according to that lore video (so big brained honestly how tf did I not connect the dots) wonwoo drinks LEMONade because when life gives you lemons make what? Lemonade. Yea smart so genius actually

So apparently wonwoo can also go into dreams or not I forgor? He likes the hustle and bustle of the city and likes visiting people's dreams and if he meets people who can't sleep he helps them fall into a dreamless slumber

And This Man rumours began to spread because people online say that when they can't sleep somehow sometimes they would magically fall asleep and sleep like a log and wake up not remembering how they drift to Dreamland but they sometimes find a lemonade packet

This should be the scene where wonwoo hears people talking about This Man that lets people dream sweet dreams and he asks to see what they are talking about and he sees a picture of himself staring back at him (because he IS the This Man) iirc there are two This Man rumours going around and one is This Man let's you sleep without dreaming and the other This Man let's you dream sweet dreams and obviously both look different so in another scene in the audiobook ww hears some people talk about another this man and sees a completely different face (JH)

This is JHs Dreamland where he covers things in a white sheet because he can't remember how they look like anymore (is this a hint that he's an immortal or a long lived species? Is he an elf?? Just a theory not cannon)

Lights are turning off because JH is bringing more and more people into an eternal sweet dream, so less people awake = lesser lights on

This is the happiest day of JHs life where he drinks soup with A

Jh can't remember how A looks like anymore but he can remember their eyes so in the audiobook the sheet actually has two eyeholes like 👻 legits

JH remembers that A said pepper in soup is like life you can't undo it (or something along the lines of that I can't remember BUT it is important so keep it in mind it'll reappear at the end)

White sheets covering more things, JH is forgetting things more and more...

Nox = night in Latin also = a girl from hit game path to nowhere by aisno

Anyways

Not sure what this convenience store has to do with the grand scheme of things but it does say in the audiobook that ww walks into a convenience store only to find everyone asleep on the floor

Ww wakes people up to reality (BITTERsweet) because they are the ones that keep the hustle and bustle of the city that he loves

WHAT THE FUCK I DIDN'T KNOW THIS SHITTY THING HAD AN IMAGE LIMIT NOOOOOOOOOOO 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 anyways this is part 1 I might come back and edit some things but I'll probably post a screenshot of this whole thing to twitter too

[gorbalsvampire]

the world is a vampire (vtm city meta 1/?)

playing the world

So, you ended up as a Storyteller. Maybe you happen to own the rulebooks. Maybe you had the idea. Maybe nobody else in your group will put on their big gender pants and step up. The point is: you've got the 'sponserbilities. Now what?

The charm of being the Storyteller, for me, is getting to build wide rather than deep. Rather than inhabiting one character you get to occupy an entire world, moving it in response to the other players' actions but - and this is one of the big Storyteller Secrets - also in spite of them, and without anything to do with them.

In my experience a real good city and story are dynamic environments. SPCs want things that aren't necessarily anything to do with the PCs; they have Ambitions that they will advance whether the PCs are interfering or not, even whether the PCs are paying attention or not.

That's the secret to playing the world. What the players are interested in is the primary plot - there's no point in dragging them to Your Story - but you still get to do everything. Things can happen that the players only discover later, when their attention turns and they realise there was always something else going on.

choosing your location

There are two wolves inside me.

One abhors the very words "lore" and "canon" and has no interest in living any deeper in the shadows of the "IP holders" than necessary to play. One is obsessed with the World of Darkness and has years of fond memories attached to published material, and is also kinda lazy.

One of the wolves gets to pick my cities, but it's not always the same one. If it's the first wolf, I pick a city that doesn't have a By Night book and might only have one or two lines of attention paid to it. If it's the second, I pick a city that has a good By Night book, or a writeup in one of the gazetteer chapters/books. Glasgow was a first wolf pick; Prague was a second wolf pick.

why did I pick Glasgow?

I wanted to set a story in Scotland, for the Dunsirn connection, and I wasn't going to use Edinburgh because I didn't fancy tangling with The Gentleman's adopted OC. (I can be quite a brat about this, sometimes - it's why I've never run a game in Manchester despite knowing and loving the city.)

Vampire as a game turns on sectarian violence, the conflicts between conspiracies. Vampire as a mode exaggerates real history, setting up the Kindred as influential parasites and predators, moving it but being moved by it. Generally, when I pick a city off its own merits, it's because I've looked at it and gone "oh, that could be vampires."

Glasgow's history is, forgive me, full of lines drawn. Protestant and Catholic, Unionist and Independence, Rangers and Celtic. It's really easy to wire and crosswire vampires into those conflicts, and to set up tensions within a clan or sect's power bloc by having its members on different sides of them. Divided loyalties aplenty.

I also have a literary point of reference. I'm a big Iain Banks fan, have been since I read The Wasp Factory at school, and his novels Espedair Street and The Crow Road are mostly and partly set in Glasgow. That helps - if the city isn't somewhere I've ever been I like having a sense of it informed by fiction, a vibe that I can draw down and inflect with Vampire's core concerns.

why did I pick Prague?

Partly, I had Redemption on the brain. (I've always had Redemption on the brain, it's how I came in, it's my Bloodlines.) Statting Christof Romauld for a Reddit thread got me started on the rest of his coterie, then reading Transylvania By Night and seeing how it didn't align with the PC game kept me going. And... OK, I'm not going to lie, the anachronisms were getting to me.

Sometimes, the desire to reach in and do a different job to the authors - not an objectively better one, but one more aligned to my priorities, subjectively better, for me - is too strong. There's a lot of that at work here. The buildings that shouldn't exist yet, the Discipline choice that doesn't make sense in V5, the desire to see if I can make this work - that's it, really, that's why I pick cities with more published material. The urge toward transformative work expresses itself as it will.

other reasons

In the past I've often seen advice to the extent that you should pick a city you know well, maybe the city that YOU live in. I don't think you have to do this, but there's one way in which it undeniably helps: grounding, through little details, through street names and cultural cues that you just know in your bones and don't have to fake. That can be really helpful if you don't want the cognitive load of pretending you're multiple different people and having to sell the sense of a different culture and do that respectfully.

Also, we need to talk about history. Some places are better for vampires at this point or that in their real history - Glasgow of the twentieth century was definitely an easier place to tell a kind of grotty, gangland vampire story than the twenty-first. Since I wanted to use it for V5, and I was bridging through from Revised, I made that part of the story, part of the theme. The city was cleaning up its act, gentrifying even, and the controlling ancillae were being left behind.

I could very easily do a Nineties Camarilla game, or a Victorian Age thing, showing the city in its glory days (for a given value of glory), but if I wanted to do a Dark Ages game, it would be more of a frontier thing, with the PCs the only Cainites in town: the city is too small and too new for much else to work.

[regexkind]

So there's this novel called Almost Nowhere by @nostalgebraist that I think is amazing and one-of-a-kind

I am still putting together my brain and so some of this might be incoherent. Also while I am not really saying any spoilers that aren't already in the work synopsis and tags I'm still putting this under readmore

Extremely morally complex characters. I'm struggling to think of any of them I didn't on some level find sympathetic, and nobody is blameless in this.

If you read this without reading Homestuck you will still have read a great work, but if you have read Homestuck there is a lot of influence there (positive affect).

I confess that I really really like time travel stories. I don't actually believe in guilty pleasures, but I find that reading time travel stories is a very indulgent activity for me. Even with that, I have to say that time travel works often disappoint by failing to exercise the full gamut of possibilities. This work does not have this failure mode. It does an amazing job of weaving a complex, but comprehensible, timeline.

Very few people can write physics explanations into their scifi and have them not just be tolerable but extremely enjoyable. This is one such author.

There are compelling characters, as said before—and those that have a piece of the narration have distinct and enjoyable voices. Within a few sentences of a new section narrated by one of my favorite characters (keeping scrupulously spoiler-free by not saying who), I would get excited by the extra-special treat.

[moranice-solvej]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

Thank you for the tag, @rifle-yes <3

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

Got introduced to fanfic through an old forum dedicated to a TV-show I was low-key obsessed with as a teen all the way back in 2008. Around the same time I started to get an urge to express myself in writing as I was an avid reader and always had a vivid imagination, so the sheer fact that people just wrote stories to celebrate their favorite stories captivated me.

Since then, there were many attemps to write fanfic and original works alike, very few completed, and only my obsession with Rogue One that started after watching the movie and reading the novelization had put me on the path of publishing my writing and finally being able to complete writing projects.

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

Started in a TV-fandom a long time ago, but never had anything I wanted to publish, so mentally I don't even count it. None of those scraps of written down ideas remain; I deleted them and never once looked back. That leaves Rogue One and technically Star Wars as my sole writing fandom. I dearly love many other shows and movies and games, but none of them make me want to write in their universes.

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

Technically 16 years. Yes, comprehending this number makes me terrified.

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

I used to read tons of fic before I came back to writing in earnest. Now most of my free time goes into writing.

In addition to that I have ran into a loathesome problem of not being able to find stories that I'd love to read. The ceiling has gotten too high. Now that I can finally shape the kinds of stories I want to read to life, I crave more stories with such premises, themes, writing styles, and character archetypes, and these days I struggle to find them in fanfic and in original books for that matter. My gremlin brain simply cannot connect to the vast majority of tropes that dominate modern-day fandom and culture. :(

Thus, I'm firmly in the mode of be-the-change-you-want-to-be-in-the-world and producing stories for myself to satisfy that need. Even if it routinely takes me over a year, usually two to finish a single story with a monster wordcount and create something I can one day re-read with glee.

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

I am now able to move an idea from a general concept and a set of pivotal scenes to a fully-fleshed out story and actually finish it. This used to be my achilles heel for ages and it feels mightily gratifying to finally get rid of it.

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

Origins of blood transfusions in human history. Plus a large variety of niche questions of when thing a or thing b was first invented. Most of the times the setting of my current writing project allows me to disregard our reality and wing it for the sake of the vibes or plot, but I still like to research what we as a species develop and when to try and create a somewhat believable ancient fictional world without modern technology.

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

I have a soft spot for readers who pick on teeny-tiny details of my writing and show their appreciation for it. I end up with monstrous word counts because I'm an extremely context- and detail-oriented writer, and knowing that my passion for it is noticed and enjoyed brings me joy in return.

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

My current project centers around a warrior woman in her mid- to late forties who makes peace with her trauma of motherhood and loss, finds new friends and love and new home, defies her nation's traditions and becomes the force of change for her people that will bring them out of stubborn isolation and little by little shatter their callousness and mold it into empathy.

I am well aware that the sole audience of this story is myself and my best friend whom I'm lucky to have along for the ride, but it has took over my heart and it will not let go until I finally bring this epic saga to a close.

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

I am simply incapable of writing a traditional short story. Every one-shot I ever made was a stepping stone in a larger verse, and even so the smallest one is over 8k words. Anytime I try to write something small, I either need to put it down because it gets out of hand, or I need to finish it and by that time it grows into a monster.

My last attempt to write a short story within a story has spawned an epic saga that currently sits at roughly 380.000k words and will likely end up over 500.000k words when I'm finally done with it.

10. What is the easiest type?

Monster-sized epics. I think my creative brain cannot function in any other way but go-big-or-go-home.

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

I've used MS Word for writing ever since I got my first laptop and keep at it. Started using Scrivener lately for establishing character sheets and writing down my notes.

For years now I write almost exclusively over the weekends, with occassional editing in the evenings after work. Between working, needing to keep my apartment clean and myself fed, and dedicating time to mastering my fourth language, I have no brain for creativity after I'm done with all these chores and I use whatever remains of my evening to read, or watch shows with my best friend, or do some gaming.

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

In the story I am currently writing, one of the secondary main characters is an ex-slave and a rape survivor. There is no shortage of hurt/comfort stories about a female character's experience with such kind of abuse, and in all my years of reading fic and books I often find that trauma stemming from it is either glossed over or healed through the power of true love. Even when a story follows a road to healing, it often ends in sunshine and rainbows after the all the travails. Well, for a long, long time now my gremlin brain wanted to explore what such trauma can do to a stoic male warrior, as well as to study how sometimes there is no easy healing from such ordeals, how deep these souls scars lie, and how they will keep poisoning the relationship he will pursue down the line and present major obstacles to both non-sexual and sexual intimacy with the woman he falls in love with. I'm a sucker for happy endings and I will not turn away from it, but this is going to be a scarred happy ending because those ghosts are never going to stay completely quiet in his soul.

I am daunted by the prospect of writing this spin-off like I've never been before, scared of not doing it justice, but something in me has latched onto this idea and really, really wants to at least try it.

13. What made you choose your username?

I needed something unique as a username and I have a habit of making up new names out of thin air for my writing. I liked this one and it had stuck. :)

If any writers who follow me would like to join in, you are welcome.

[dinolich]

Hi! Congrats on Hellaween, I’ve been a big fan of the characters since they were first designed and it was so cool to see their journey from the shorts to starring in a full length graphic novel.

I wanted to ask about how you felt transitioning into working with a publisher. Did you find yourself thinking about or handling the characters and story in a different way compared to before? What did you take away from the experience?

For anyone new here, I’ve been working as storyboard artist for tv and film for almost a decade and these characters have been on the sidelines since my first studio internship in 2014. When I started figuring out my footing, I started putting pitches together for shorts programs that went nowhere and doing short comics before seriously pitching for a series around 2019… but obviously the last few years have been rough in the world and also rough for the animation industry. So when my editor found me on twitter and proposed the idea of a graphic novel I jumped on it. Nobody wants to make original shows or features without existing IP so I guess I’ll make the damn thing before I try again to make the damn thing, and if the second part never happens I have a book that’s 100% mine.

The switch felt pretty natural, I’ve always had a fondness for making comics. The hardest part was easily writing the damn thing. I have a good sense of storytelling and character from my years as a board artist, but actually putting words on paper is not something I’ve ever done outside of a couple class assignments and I’ve never had the chance to work on board driven shows (where the board artist also writes the episode) One of the big reasons I wanted to make a show was to hire actual writers and designers, talented people I could DIRECT. But i’ve learned I’m much better at writing than I give myself credit for, which is a nice thing to find out. But yeah turns out if you want to make your OWN comic you have to do every part of the process (unless you hire someone or have a partner, thank you Tory Harris for coloring Hellaween) compared to animation where I never have to do a finished illustration or design a background.

With my day job I’m eternally thankful I’m doing traditional publishing and not going indie. My editor is great and I would never have the patience to handle printing, promotion, distribution on my own. Hellaween would not be possible with out that support.

I’m also still working full time in animation, so time management and regular exercise are essential or your back will go shrimp mode and your brain will turn into goop.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hiya! Not sure if you’ve answered something like this before, but if you feel comfortable answering, I’m wondering what tips you might have for writers with ADHD/ADD.

I haven’t been able to write well for years and thought it was laziness/lack of self-discipline, but it very well could be that my brain just wants to work a certain way and I didn’t know about it.

Of course, there’s no “one-fits-all” answer, but some ideas about where to start the journey of understanding what works for oneself would be nice.

Thanks!

Writing with ADHD

There are three sub-types of ADHD (inattentive/formerly ADD, hyperactive, and combined), so tips depend somewhat on which type you have. As luck would have it, I'm combined type, so I have tips for both. (And these tips can be helpful even for writers who don't have ADHD but still struggle with keeping their butts in the seat...)

Writing with Inattentive ADHD

My biggest struggle with writing is difficulty staying focused and getting sidetracked easily. Here are the things I do to work around that:

Dedicated Writing Time/Place - I'm fortunate to have a writing room with a desk, but even if you don't, just having a dedicated space for when you write can be really helpful. It also helps to make sure your chosen writing spot is tidy and free from built-in distractions, like people traffic or a distracting view. And, if you can aim for the same general writing time each day, that can help train your mind to go into writing mode when you sit down to write.

Minimize Distractions - this is a "must do" for me when I sit down to write. Phone goes on silent, no TV, no music with lyrics, no social media, and if it's a busy day outside I close the shades and put on headphones. Also, nicely ask anyone else in the house not to distract you during your writing session.

Regulating with a Timer - When I'm really struggling, I've found that timers are very helpful in keeping me on track. If I need to stop to research something along the way, I set the timer for 10-minutes. If I can't find out what I need to know in that time, I note it for later research and keep going with a placeholder. I'll also set the timer for breaks, writing sprints, or anything that might pull me off course.

Scene Lists & Timelines - Having a scene list to follow was a real game changer for me early on in novel writing endeavors. When I start to feel my mind wander, just putting my eyes on the scene list to see where I'm supposed to be and where I'm supposed to be heading can be enough to get me back on track. Checking off each scene and plot point along the way makes it more task-driven which also seems to help keep me on track. You could do this with a timeline, too. And even if you're not a planner but like to write organically, you can still keep kind of a general scene list or timeline to keep you on course.

Writing with Hyperactive ADHD

My biggest struggle with the hyperactive side of my ADHD is fighting the constant need to get up and be anywhere but in my chair typing. I've actually been working on this post for an hour because I haven't done any of my safeguards, so I've been out of this chair probably 20 times since I hit the answer button. Here's what I could have done to prevent this...

Start Writing on a Full Stomach - Nothing gets me out of my chair more often when I'm writing than feeling like I'm hungry. So, I get up, eat a small snack. Sit down and type for a few minutes. Then decide I need another small snack. Whether you write after you've eaten a meal, sit down to write with something to drink and munch on, or just make sure you've got your big water bottle there, eliminating hunger pains as a reason to get up makes all the difference.

Do Writing Sprints - Set a timer for anywhere from five minutes to an hour, and write as much as you can during that time without stopping to edit or evaluate your work. Writing sprints are a great way to focus your energy to make sure writing is getting done. Five-minute intervals work great for me, but sometimes I can do ten-minute intervals. When the timer goes off, I set it again and get up to do a few things like stretch or get something to drink. Preferably anything that won't take longer than the timer or snowball into something else. This way, if I'm only writing for an hour I still get a solid 30-minutes of writing in even if I'm up and out of my chair every five minutes.

Keep a Basket of Fidget Toys - This doesn't always work for me, but sometimes it helps to have something to fidget with during the moments when I pause to think. Thinking putty, fidget spinners, stress balls... Anything you can do for a second while you're thinking and immediately put back down. That way you don't get up out of your seat looking for something to direct that energy toward.

Speech to Text App - If you really need to be up and moving, try getting a speech to text app for your phone and writing your story verbally while you do other things.

I hope that these tips will help you be able to sit down and start writing again. If you need ideas for exactly how to outline your story or general ideas for how to get started, see my guide to How to Outline a Plot as well as my Plot & Story Structure master list of posts.

Best wishes on your ADHD writing journey! ♥

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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