#my process has developed a lot since chasing storms tbh

[edsbacktattoo]

I was tagged by @epersonae to discuss my writing process and strap in because it’s fucking strange! 💕

Do you write in order?

100%. Unfortunately I am rather stupid, so my brain can’t maintain coherency if I need to go back and revisit something. It needs to be completed in order. This has in fact led to more than one frustrated breakdown about fic. I will go from Point A to Point B if it kills me. If I don’t know what to do next, I can’t just do the vague -insert short line here about what they’re doing and come back to it later-. I will sit there, completely stuck, until it occurs to me. I do not recommend this and I am also insane.

How fully formed does your writing come out the first try?

About 85%. Once I have that first draft, I look it over and find typos or missing words, etc. Once it’s cleaned up, I start to fix things that don’t flow right or sound strange in my head.

How many drafts do you go through?

Usually one. I will use a second draft if I get really really stuck and have to start again. But I don’t tend to use a whole bunch of drafts, I just keep tweaking the first until it’s in a place I’m happy with.

Tell me about your process.

Please keep in mind that I am very deranged so this almost completely does not make sense.

I usually sit down in bed with a cup of tea or some ice water and start writing. Usually I will have music playing out loud because if I’m using headphones - even though I love them usually - they will make me feel overwhelmed. I play music out loud very very quietly or, if I need to concentrate real hard, I write in silence. And then I just go.

After I get that first word vomit onto the page, I fix it up until it’s legible. I read it over paragraph by paragraph and fix each one as I go.

Then! This is the weird bit!

I have all of my work saved to my microsoft 365 account, which means I can access it from any device that has the app. So! If I’m inspired through the day — usually at work, I can add to it from my phone. In fact, I also do a lot of my writing first thing in the morning straight from my phone. Don’t ask why that happens, I haven’t an answer.

Anyway! After a shift at work, I will sit in my car on the rooftop parking lot of my building, and read my stuff aloud to myself.

I was talking to @skysofrey about this yesterday (while I was sitting in my car and talking to her lmao it’s a safe space <3) but, I used to think doing this was strange. Like 12 months ago I would have punched myself in the throat for even thinking it. But they taught us about this method at uni (thank you, Ursula K. Le Guin I love you forever and ever) and now I can’t finish a piece without reading it aloud first.

Once it’s been read aloud, the wonderful and amazing @tisziny beta reads it for me (I owe them my life) and then I make according adjustments. And then it’s done! :D

I will (no pressure ofc) tag @blakbonnet @wearfinethingsalltoowell @chocolatepot and @abigailpents and also anyone who feels like joining in!! This was fun!

[supaliaxpress]

Ruler (Master of the Mask) Review Episodes 5 - 8: A Flower that Blossoms after withstanding a snowstorm is a True Flower

First off, remember how I said in the previous review that the plot was messy? Well… I wasn’t wrong about that >.> Let’s just say, this drama is really good at setting up potential plot, only to be fucked up in the same episode it was created in. Also, the death count in this drama is ridiculous… let’s just name a few: 

Lee Sun’s father dead 

Ga-Eun’s father dead

Many fake Crown Princes dead

Friend Eunuch dead

Youngbin (Crown Prince’s mom) dead

King ded (getting there…) 

In episode 5, we’re left off with Chung-Woon, Crown Prince, and Lee Sun to fend off the bad guys. Chung-Woon is fuckin badass and was able to swipe away all the arrows with his sword (I’m just gonna comment that he is da MVP of this drama thus far). The Crown Prince engaged the fight and even got hurt while protecting his best friend T.T However, Gon (the assassin) got a pretty good look at Lee Sun’s face and thought he was the CP because he was holding the CP’s jade pendant. Thankfully, the King’s Royal Guard came just right on time to save them. Meanwhile, Hwa Goon tried to negotiate with her grandfather about becoming the Crown Princess and to spare the Crown Prince’s life, but her grandfather doesn’t want her to become the Crown Princess of a weak Prince (especially since he’s going to control the Prince). We get some character development of the Crown Prince wanting to protect his friend, but Chung-Woon retaliated and told the CP that he must never use his life to protect him again because he will become the CP’s Royal Guard (CP was so cute when he smiled when he learned that Chung-Woon would become his Royal Guard!). 

What a cutie!! ^^ 

I really liked this moment between them… 

This dude is the second MVP…. I was just starting to like him too. 

The biggest plot in episodes 5 and 6 was how the Pyeonsoo-hwe discovered that Ga-Eun’s father (Lord Han) was investigating Yangsucheong (honestly, these dudes just have eyes everywhere….); therefore, they punished the Crown Prince by commanding the King to execute Lord Han. This was probably the biggest character development for the Crown Prince: realizing how important and severe his actions can be and how they affect his people - he has to take responsibility for his actions. The Crown Prince has lead a relatively easy and sheltered life, so he is still very naive and innocent about his actions, despite them having good intentions. However, the Crown Prince never imagined that his action to investigate Yangsucheong would lead to many deaths (the first being all the fake Crown Princes and his friend Eunuch… then later on Lord Han). As the Prince battled his conflicted emotions about Lord Han’s falsely accused execution, he tried to plead to his father to stop it. Finally, the King told CP the truth behind his mask…. that he was poisoned when he was a baby and that Yansucheong was created in order to save his life. This drove CP into a deeper depression realizing that he is the fault for the suffering of his people. Meanwhile, Hwa Goon asked to have Gon, which later on she would request of Gon to follow her orders and to protect the Crown Prince because his life is her life. (Even though I don’t like her, I have respect for her for doing her best to save CP from her grandfather)

Despite CP’s efforts to save Lord Han, the King had already told Lord Han that he must die in order to save the Crown Prince (and many other lives). The King asked of Lord Han to convince the CP to stay strong and accept his execution; while in return the King promised to protect his daughter. However, due to the CP’s actions to attempt to save Lord Han, Dae Mok ordered that the CP should be the one to behead Lord Han in order to “tame” the Prince. Due to the CP’s weak heart and guilt, Chung-Woon took the responsibility and dressed up as the CP to behead Lord Han (Ugh… that’s why he’s the MVP, Chung-Woon getting all the dirty work done like it’s supposed to cause our kind-soul CP can’t do it). This lead to Ga-Eun resenting the Crown Prince for the death of her father, but she still doesn’t know who the Crown Prince is. 

Probably the most shocking thing in episode 7, was that Woo Boo was the “reason” that created the monstrosity called Dae Mok (but this bastard was already twisted to begin with and misinterpreted Woo Boo’s advice). Dae Mok’s family was mistreated and killed by cruel higher ups. He therefore asked Woo Boo for advice (remember, he was a very well-acknowledged professor). Woo Boo told him, in order to protect his family, you must realize your own strength to become the master, instead of the dog. Instead of being a tamed dog, become a wild wolf - a wild wolf is feared because it is untamed and is it’s own master. Unfortunately, Dae Mok became a rabid wild wolf -__- (nice going Woo Boo - just had to unleash the wickedness inside that despicable man). 

Just pointing this out, when it rained, this most definitely symbolized not only how the Heaven approved of the Crown Prince’s plan, but also “foreshadow” that the Crown Prince will return the water to the people…. after all, his horoscope was water and his destiny is tied to Yangsucheong & Pyeonsoo-hwe. 

With the death of Ga-Eun’s father, this encouraged the CP to fight against the Pyeonsoo-hwe with the advice from Woo Boo to “change his perspective.” Lee Sun joined the fight by volunteering himself as the CP’s replacement since he has the same name and he overhead that the King was looking for someone with that name — which this gave the CP the idea to have Lee Sun be the Prince in his place while he would live as a commoner to see the problems of his country. I must say, it was amazing how the Crown Prince showed up at Dae Mok’s place and interrupted their evil conversation. It was hilarious how stunned they all were and how the Crown Prince roasted Dae Mok with his own words, by bringing his own flowers to symbolize that he will fight against Pyeonsoo-hwe. The flowers he brought were yellow Daffodils and these flowers symbolize rebirth and new beginnings. This marked a new beginning for the Crown Prince and being reborn as a stronger person after all of his suffering. 

However, in episode 8, everything just kinda went downhill. Despite the cute interaction between the CP and Ga-Eun in the beginning and him asking her to be with him (basically he confessed to her)… all the planning by the King and Crown Prince to deceive Dae Mok was basically destroyed in one episode. CP trained Lee Sun on how to be and act as a Crown Prince (as well as the both of them are growing closer as they learn more about each other). CP was planning to go to the initiation ceremony himself and have Lee Sun be his replacement in the palace, however, the King had hidden the truth of the initiation date from CP. The King’s plan was to send Lee Sun to the initiation ceremony, while also having his Royal Guard kill Dae Mok in the process. Meanwhile, Ga-Eun discovered CP’s order to her father to investigate, which then caused her to irrationally attack the palace to see the Crown Prince (and her declining his invitation to leave with him lol, but she still doesn’t know that he’s the Crown Prince). Tbh, I knew it wasn’t going to work out with the “kill Dae Mok” plan… and even though Lee Sun managed to trick Dae Mok by taking the poison and calling out “Lee Sun” as his name…. the most shocking thing to me was how Gon lied to Dae Mok that Lee Sun was the Crown Prince. So that verified that Gon does know the CP’s real face (when they poisoned the Eunuch), but he was protecting the CP just as Hwa Goon had asked of him. 

Then Dae Mok stormed the palace like a badass and basically killed the CP’s parents (well his mom is dead due to poison and the King was stabbed sooooo….) Before Youngbin’s death, she was with Ga-Eun and instructed her to get something from a flower pot in the Crown Prince’s greenhouse to discover the reason why her father was killed (and probably to know the Crown Prince’s identity). And even though the King tried so hard to hide his son’s face from Dae Mok…. CP just casually entered the room yelling out “Father!” which then alerted Dae Mok that he was the real CP… so… recap… basically all the plot about the secret of the mask and having Lee Sun be the CP replacement was kinda flushed down the toilet in one episode. 

Poor mama… why do the mothers always die T.T

Idk… the plot is quickly deteriorating with each episode and there’s supposed to be 40 in total >.> I wonder how this will fan out… tbh. The romance isn’t really working for me right now cause 1) the romance in episode 8 felt kinda rushed (it was kinda just thrown in there) since it wasn’t really the focus in the previous episodes and 2) CP is doing all the chasing, while Ga-Eun has yet to really surprise me (so far she hasn’t really done anything except for being the depressed mourning daughter… what was she thinking she could achieve by going to the palace with a sword lol…) And honestly, Lee Sun has been amazing thus far with handling the situation… he went through water torture, poison torture, and was able to do his job as trying to be the CP. I don’t blame Lee Sun for just laying on the ground during the battling, cause he was quickly thrown into that situation… and was probably terrified and stoned asf by the poison. 

Overall, I’m mostly impressed by the 1) Crown Prince and 2) Hwa Goon (Lee Sun’s character was kinda put to the side since it was focused on the Crown Prince and Ga-Eun hasn’t really been given the spot-light yet). Crown Prince has shown some amazing character development and I’m looking forwards to what he’s going to do next (love how he’s acknowledging he has a lot to learn still and accepting responsibility). As for Hwa Goon, she seems to be the only person who has her shit together, knows what she wants, and does whatever she needs to accomplish to get it. But my biggest question is: WHY DON’T YOU HAVE AN ARMY PROTECTING YOUR PALACE?! UNLESS YOUR ENTIRE ARMY IS CONTROLLED BY THE BAD GUYS? Idk… really unrealistic but I guess this just shows how much of a weak King the King is… no wonder he only has his Royal Guard to depend on. Lastly, why are you going to introduce new elements to the plot only to have them quickly shot down in the same episode? Hopefully tomorrow’s episode will answer this question. 

Other than that… this drama has beautiful scenery and visuals going on… so I have to compliment that (that sun and moon scene was absolutely gorgeous). It was interesting how the Sun is on Ga-Eun’s side and the Moon on the Crown Prince’s side. Normally the Sun is the Crown Prince… but perhaps the Crown Prince is the Moon this time because he has to hide his identity and is still growing. She is his light and gives him energy… the person he must protect… and the person that makes him understand the world. 

Other Episode Reviews: 

Episodes 1 - 5