#not happening this time lmao this scene needs to be cohesive

[thedeerman]

@ my DYWTK readers: i wanna be real with yall, this next chapter is turning out to be quite a bit longer than previously indicated. oops.

[fairypowerful]

The Ship That Was Endgame Since the Beginning (confirmed)

Narratively, Michaela and Zeke were always meant to find each other and be together.

Narratively, Jared and Mick were not meant to be.

From the very beginning – S01E01.

(Edit: The show’s creator, Jeff Rake, said this was always the ending, “just tightened up along the way.” You got that? Zekaela were planned since long before Matt Long got the role as Zeke – Matt said that his first phone call with Jeff in 2018 after getting the role was himself being told that Zekaela were soulmates! LMAO 😂 I didn’t need this double confirmation in order to know that, because in hindsight, the clues were there from the way everything led to them and when looking at their first two episodes together.)

The offscreen event that led to Mick being in a bad place mentally/emotionally (her BFF Evie’s death) had also led to her hesitation of Jared’s proposal, which led to her getting on Flight 828 because she didn’t wanna have to deal with that and her family pressuring her to accept. (“It’s not just about you. This family needs something to celebrate” / “And I know you love Jared” / “Why are you fighting this when all it’s gonna do is make you happy?”)

It was a domino effect. The plane disappearing led to Jared marrying Mick’s other BFF, Lourdes, four years later, and the plane reappeared a year after that.

Mick became the other woman in that marriage, which she deeply regretted; and she not only destroyed her now-ex BFF’s marriage, but also lost another lifelong friendship on top of being too wrought with guilt over Evie (which she forgives herself for in the final season). Jared didn’t really show any remorse, but Mick now had all of that weighing her down and didn’t want to continue with him. And Jared certainly didn’t make it easy on her.

Really, these two were not right for each other. Not to mention, Jared unnecessarily stirred up trouble and a lot of stress for Mick due to his possessiveness over her, and his immediate jealousy and rather extreme hostility towards Zeke upon first meeting. Very toxic. Just gross. Not right.

~~~

I think it’s important to remember, too, the original series order was 13 episodes – the “find her” Calling was in the tenth episode, Zeke appears in the twelfth episode, and the thirteenth ended with him and Mick in front of the petroglyph of two stick figures holding hands, outside under the stars.

Those episodes would’ve been written in cohesion with the preceding storylines, especially considering the nature of the show and its mythology needing to be mapped out instead of written on the spot – meaning that Zekaela was not shoehorned into the show. Keyword, “cohesion.”

Those episodes and the character would’ve been written long before the actor was even cast into the role. It was always planned.

🤭 It’s also confirmed.

Their soulmatism was sprinkled all over their story, starting in their first two episodes together.

“It’s all connected,” didn’t you know? 😉

The show’s been consistent about that.

Look at the acting choices in Season 1 from before Zeke’s introduction. In multiple scenes, Jared told Mick they were supposed to be together and she’d shake her head ‘no.’ Like her heart knew, but she consciously didn’t yet. When Jared told her she’s his soulmate, Mick said, “No, I’m not.”

Narratively, her heart always belonged elsewhere. After she met Zeke, she always chose him over Jared from that point onward. Everything that happened led her to him, including her conscious choices post-Pilot and pre-Vanishing Point, which basically worked in tandem with the universe. The cheating/ruining BFF’s marriage/losing her BFF was a major deciding factor for her in not getting back with Jared anytime soon … and then she finally meets Zeke whom the universe had also brought forward in time.

~~~

So, I want to put my thoughts to some of the things I’ve read by antis…

“The only thing Zeke and Mick had in common were the Callings”

That’s not true. You had to have watched the show with your eyes closed to come up with that.

A Calling brought them together, sure, but it didn’t make them connect and fall in love, or be happier around one another. A Calling isn’t a love potion or a magic spell.

Zekaela was a pretty peaceful relationship in a sea of turmoil (the government, the X-ers, the hatred and violence against 828ers), whereas Jachaela was an angsty teen drama amidst the external turmoil. 😶

I’m going to quote a character from a different story who chose his wife over someone else he had feelings with, because I think it applies very much with Mick choosing Zeke over and over again every single time. “Passion is … it’s fire. And fire is great, man. But we’re made of water. Water is how we keep living. Water is what we need to survive. My family was my water. I picked water. I’ll pick water every time.” And I’ll add another quote from the same character talking about his wife and what it was like in meeting her, replacing the name with Mick’s because it is very much in alignment with Zekaela’s story. “But when I met [Mick], it was something different altogether. She just … made the world make sense to me. She even made me like myself more. And there was a calmness to her that … nobody else had. It felt like when I was with her, I knew everything would be fine. It was like I was following the North Star.”

Mick being Zeke’s North Star is literally canon, by the way.

(S01E13 and S04E18).

~~~

“The only reason why Zeke and Mick got together was due to the time travel and the Callings”

Yeah, that’s how storytelling works.

Crying about this is like complaining that the only reason the Doctor regenerates is because he’s an alien from Gallifrey and the Doctor Who writers in 1966 came up with a way to replace the leading actor without getting rid of the main character. Or rather, it’s like complaining that the only reason Mary Margaret and David fell in love despite the Dark Curse amnesia is because they were Snow White and Charming in the Enchanted Forest.

Trying to belittle Mick and Zeke’s love by attacking the narrative, that’s pathetic.

“But it’s forced”

No, it’s not. The little things the writers added years later, like Afterlife!Zeke telling Mick about them having moments in their lives where they almost met, is not forced, because the audience (who don’t have blinders on during their story) already knew they were soulmates and it’s literally how storytelling works.

Heaven forbid TV writers foreshadow, expand, and give callbacks to scenes from previous seasons ever again! Heaven forbid we ever get flashbacks in later seasons! Heaven forbid you ever watch another TV show with more than 1 season because “they added this years later, so it’s forced”!

“But Mick and Jared knew each other the longest”

So? That doesn’t matter. Do you actually believe length is an indicator of whether or not someone is the love of your life? Just…wow! Heaven forbid anybody not get back together with an ex simply because they knew them longer. Heaven forbid anybody leave behind a former or current longterm relationship without getting told, “But it’s been years, so you belong with him forever/were meant to be with him.”

Mick wanted Zeke. She chose Zeke. I think that’s a good indicator of whom the love of her life is.

In S01E13, Mick tells him that she wished she could redo her re-entry into 2018 but wasn’t sure what she would’ve done to change the way her situation at home turned out.

In S02E01, Zeke tells Mick he wished he’d met her some other way in some other time. (Edit: With Jeff implicitly saying he always knew how he wanted the story to end, and explicitly confirming that Zekaela was always the plan from the very beginning, along with Matt implicitly saying they were written as soulmates since before he got the role, Zeke’s line is now major foreshadowing).

In S04E19, Mick tells Ben she doesn’t regret taking a later flight because it led her to Zeke.

It’s very telling. Ben’s heart belongs with Grace, and Mick’s heart belongs with Zeke.

“She would’ve married Jared if Flight 828 landed in its proper timeline in the Pilot episode”

There’d be no show to watch if the plane landed in 2013, for one thing.

Those 5 years gave Mick an experience where she learned what and whom she really wanted, without the enormous pressure of immediately accepting a proposal, and she also got the opportunity to meet her real soulmate. It’s okay to not want the same thing you wanted a few years ago. It’s called growth.

~~~

“Mick only stayed married to Zeke, after he survived his Death Date, out of pity and duty (because he survived, and she expected him to die)”

I remember seeing a remark like this, and you must dislike or hate Mick if you think she’s like that. Even as a joke, that’s just cruel.

Mick was so happy and relieved when Zeke survived his Death Date. She loves Zeke, or did you just close your eyes to their whole love story?

She told him she’d continue to choose him even if he had one day left, or ten thousand left. And with or without empath powers, Zeke knew she loved him too.

“But she still had feelings for Jared”

Okay, and? Even if the situation were reverse, she’d also still have feelings for Zeke. It works both ways.

And as Mick told him, she chose him instead of Jared. Sure, she loved Jared, but as Zeke told Mick in S04E02, her huge heart has room enough for anyone who’s lucky to be loved by her. Loving Zeke doesn’t mean she has to stop loving anyone else in her life. Love isn’t limited.

It’s canon that the only way she could choose Jared is if Zeke is dead. He didn’t look happy at all when he saw Zeke survived.

Just because you love someone doesn’t mean they’re the one for you. She chose Zeke.

~~~

“The writers only made Drea pregnant to put her and Jared together”

Do I need to be petty and remind y’all that pregnancy happens when two people regularly have sex, and protection isn’t always a 100% guarantee? 😶

Jared and Drea match really well, that was quite clear when they first got together. Their relationship grew organically. Just take off your blinders. Even Mick could see that Drea is perfect for him.

It helped Mick to see that Jared was compromising his happiness by being with her. She didn’t want children, and she was confronted with the fact that they could never have a full life together, not without compromising her vision for her own life.

By the way, that breakup post-reset was made before she remembered Zeke telling her about one of their almost-meetups where he was a cab driver at the airport on the night Flight 828 was supposed to land. So, it was fully her choice to end things with Jared going forward and starting anew; Zeke didn’t even need to be alive for her to choose that for herself. But she was so happy when she remembered. If you truly like the character, her choice makes complete sense narratively and character-wise.

~~~

“But Jared and Mick have more chemistry”

If arguing and fighting is chemistry, then yeah. Don’t get me wrong, I do think JR and Melissa have chemistry outside of angst and volatile tension, but if you think “more chemistry” is a reason why a fictional couple should be endgame, you have a juvenile view of an adult romance. This ain’t a teen drama. So, congrats, what a way to reveal you don’t care about the story or a cohesive narrative! 👀

Zekaela have a calmer romantic chemistry, and their sweet love story is so much better than Jachaela’s constant tension-filled drama where Jared put on tantrums when she wouldn’t give in to him. Their story up until Season 4 was volatile in a bad way, which only went away when Jared stopped chasing after her and let her live peacefully married to Zeke. I’m glad his character got better, thank goodness!

~

And don’t even get me started with “We won in real-life because JR (Jared) and Melissa (Mick) are together,” because we’re here for the TV show, not real-life. It’s entertainment, so chill out.

~~~

I think that 2013-Jared calling off his proposal to Mick, because it was for the wrong reason (“to help you get past [Evie’s death]”), isn’t forced/lazy writing.

Consider for a minute that, in 2013, he’s not the character you were introduced to in Season 1 (the now-former 2018 timeline). He’s not unhealthily obsessed with her like the Joker is with Batman, or Eobard Thawne is with The Flash. And he never got the trauma from losing someone in a perceived airplane accident. As for his breakup, he got time to think, and ultimately he didn’t want to take advantage of her in a vulnerable state.

And consider for a moment, at the time, 2013-Mick was grieving and didn’t believe she deserved happiness – and it’s been a year since Evie’s death. I don’t imagine there were many smiles and laughter for the past year in their relationship, meaning it was dying. So, Jared not being heartbroken over 2024-Mick’s breakup kinda makes sense.

To him, Mick broke up with him because she wasn’t gonna heal any time soon, and wanted him to move on with someone who can give him what she can’t.

But to her, Mick grew in those 5 years since getting on Flight 828 the first time, and the life she thought she wanted back then isn’t the same anymore (and that’s okay, we’re not the same person we were half a decade ago) and she got to meet the real love of her life whom she can be with now. Zeke.

I don’t believe love is a choice, because you can’t force yourself to love or not to love someone. But I believe happiness is a choice, you can choose to walk towards it or away from it. Mick walked towards happiness by choosing Zeke. It’s really beautiful.

~~~

Credit for most of the Manifest screenshots and tweets go to @gracestone

[dickpuncher420]

writer's meme

thank u reikah @faux-fires for tagging me! <33

How many wips do you have currently?

only 2 that i can claim to be actively working on. one of them is a zukka yuri oneshot that i meant to finish for zukka week (oops! that did not happen), and the other is chapter 2 of my pacrim au.

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

i'd say my pacrim au, given that it's been over a year since i posted the first chapter LOL. truth be told i haven't worked on it all that much recently, and i'm still only on the first scene of chapter 2. i REALLY want to work on it again, but i have a hard time working on multiple projects at once, so hopefully once i finish my zukka yuri fic i can devote all my energy to pacrim <3

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

it almost always happens at night. either i can't fall asleep because i've been struck with inspiration for a new fic, or i wake up in the middle of the night and need to scrawl all my ideas down in my notes app as fast as possible before i forget.

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

lmao i have never in my life made a playlist for a fic. whenever i write i just put on whatever music helps me focus the best; most of the that's lofi hip hop or film/video game soundtracks

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?

depends! for short oneshots i tend to just go balls to the wall, and whatever happens happens. but for my pacrim au i meticulously planned everything out before i began writing—as a longer, more serious project, i really wanted the whole thing to be cohesive. my notes doc for it is 14k words long (LOL), and i have the whole thing divided into sections that i can easily jump between

tagging! @ofherlionheart @chitsangenthusiast @zukkababey @goldrushzukka @sokkalore

[cobythinks]

I need to get inside your brain about your writing process. I’m new to this specific medium myself but I’m quickly falling in love with the pieces of it like pulling off a successful shock reveal (like what u were able to pull of in like every step of divided soul). Writing like yours and learning about every compounding element of Arcane or whatever else I get stuck on for a month is just so gripping, I need to learn how to emulate and embody it.

(Unrelated q but where can i get ur novel? I’m relatively new to both tumblr and ao3 lol)

For someone new to writing, I'm going to give you advice that a lot of people will give that will very quickly become annoying and repetitive: practice. I've been writing for 7+ years, and you damn better believe that my first works weren't anywhere CLOSE to Divided Soul and The Path of an Heir. So, write. Don't worry about being good, just write.

BEYOND THAT - Writing twists is somewhat of an art form, and it's one that I haven't fully perfected. Divided Soul is a great example of how I found a good way to do it, but even I'm not sure how I managed as much as I did! The biggest advice is for a first draft, if you're in a scene and you want a twist, just ask yourself "what would be the most surprising thing to happen here - without being completely out of character?" Then, once you decide your twist, GO BACK. Either after you finish the full draft, or right after you write the 'big reveal scene' and find other scenes where you can place the tiniest, smalllllest ever hints. That's what I did in Divided Soul, as well as The Path of an Heir!

Don't be obvious, but make it so that looking back a reader slaps their forehead and says 'I should have known' - even though they found out exactly when you wanted them to. (this is a hard balance to achieve, but SOOO satisfying as a writer and as a reader) give re-readers easter eggs, hints that on a first read are just one-off character moments that are secretly building toward the twist

And, something you're already doing: Read. Consume content. As I always say, you have to eat to shit.

you have to read to write. You read my works, you read other works (I assume) and you watch tv shows with cohesive plots and incredible character design. Take what you read, and use it like playdough until it's something that You Made. The more you change and tweak and adjust, the more You it'll be.

Forget the dream of an 'original idea'. The odds of 1 out of 8 billion people having an idea and being the ONLY person ever to have it? Impossible. But you're a different writer than everyone else, and tropes are beloved for a reason! Take well known tropes and put them in your own world, with your own characters, and you'll get a LONG LONG WAY.

Join writing comunities! Get other perspectives! Hop in the writers reddit, and don't even post or comment anything. Just read the advice that goes through. Find a group of friends in discord or in real life who love to write and read - these people will be your beta-readers someday, so pick good ones! lmao

Welcome to the writing medium! It's infuriating at times, but it's my biggest passion in life and I would never want to do anything else! Get some good playlists or podcasts, get a regular spot to write (I currently write while on my overnight job, but that's because I'm lucky to have a job where I can multitask!) <3

I'll repost my promo for the novel with the links, cuz ya boi was silly and forgot to add them! Enjoy this slab of advice! <3

[heartfeltletters-written]

Hii! How about The Ghost Scar?

omg it’s been ages since i’ve spoke about that fic !!

my favorite scene: probably when Harry visits Grimmauld Place and goes to sirius room, it took me a long time to write it and i remember being very careful with Harry’s emotions during that whole scene. I wanted to display his grief, but also give him something to smile about while remembering sirius. at the same time i tried to show how often sirius thought of harry by keeping all his letters. it is a lovely scene in my opinion.

another scene i love is the ginny and luna conversation it happens in chapter 10, i love them dearly.

my favorite chapter: chapter 9 !!! i love love love what i have created between harry andrei and katrina it brought me so much joy to write that chapter. a close second would be chapter 10 the one and only ginny pov.

hardest scene to write: when harry first goes to the bank and talks properties. omg i hated writing that scene. i was still very much new to writing in english and my vocabulary on property has never been extensive so you can imagine the struggle it was. i had to google so many translations of words it was a nightmare but i ended up liking the scene.

favorite character to write in the fic: it has to be harry i just love that boy so much and having the opportunity to not only explore his grief but also his powers and his intelligence has been a delight. i also just love his humor.

favorite dynamic to write in the fic: ron and ginny !! they are so much fun and i think being the youngest really helps create a special type of bond between them and i love exploring that. i think we have such important moments of them in canon but unfortunately many times they get reduced to “ron is being an overprotective asshole” and i just don’t think that’s true. they’re siblings and siblings fight but they also understand each other so deeply.

why i chose that title: the fic is about grief, to put it simple. having gone through grief myself i know the pain is not always visible. so i think of these scars as ghosts, they’re there always watching but they don’t make themselves known most of the time, so they are “ghosts scars” and that’s where the name came from !! i hope this made sense lmao

a fun fact about the fic: i have most of it planned in a huge notion template, i just need to write it lmao. another fun fact is that i’ve thought about rewriting some chapters with a more cohesive english. i’ve grown a lot as a writer since i started writing the ghost scar so i think it would benefit from a rewrite/re-editing, maybe i’ll do it someday.

[found-sock]

I got reminded I finished this. So please take my own little tweaked designs on the coronation day Creepypasta.

Maybe I’ll work on turning this into some cohesive story, but for now here’s a general break down of my fanmade lore. There’s a ton of stuff I need to tweak… Maybe I’ll force myself to draw some specific scenes. :P

——————-

So Mario and Peach aren’t actually the real people that feel and are going through these things, they’re just the avatars they’re stuck with while inside the game.

Outside “Mario” and “Peach” are real lovers, they just kind of hang out and play video games, they have an apartment together, things are looking up for them. However “Peach” is kidnapped one night by a local cult that are attempting to summon a god in the forest. “Mario” is somewhat knowledgeable of the cult since he grew up in it before escaping. He was deemed a perfect vessel for their god, so him leaving angered them. “Peach” was deemed even better and taken, then had the ritual performed on her. The God of the forest overtakes her body, causing the horrific changes. The branches coming out only happen once the area has blackened with ash, then eventually bursts open with a flame that ignites the area to allow room for the branches to come through.

“Mario” finds the ritual site eventually, only to see he’s way too late. As he’s watching “Peach” destroy and kill these people he reaches into his pocket out of desperation for anything to stop her, and pulls out one of the Mario games that they had been playing together. In an act of desperation, he uses this game to challenge the king.

The king of the forest loves games, and despite its better judgement it accepts the game and allows themselves to be brought into its’ world.

The in game Mario’s task is now to find any way to save Princess Peach, with some strict rules set in place by the king of the forest. Mario functions just like a game character. He can reset when he dies, as many times as he’d like; Which is why the entire forest he is looking for Peach in is always bloodied and filled with bodies of himself. He only truly looses the game when he gives up his pointless search.

So he does so, and as he finally gets beside Peach again he realizes that there was never going to be any saving her. Even if Peach and “Peach” aren’t possessed anymore, the changes to her body and mind are permanent. So Mario and “Mario” do the only thing they want to and take her hand as the forest burns down with them.

Hope you like my cringe lmao.

[shakapuffin]

^Alert 1x06 promo “Tim and Andy”

Alert 1x05 “Miguel” Review

here’s my thoughts for this past weeks episode, 1x05 “Miguel”

- okay sooo…. i wasn’t that impressed… sorry y’all i really thought it would be better but idk it just wasn’t for me! after last weeks episode i had high hopes but i guess not now. and it’s the 5th episode… we’re literally half way through the whole pilot season!

- to start off, the whole case this week was just so… so… weird? idk if that’s the right word but it was very peculiar for a network procedural! it was kinda giving midsummer vibes… just a little bit… but those vibes shouldn’t be happening on network tv! like what’s the point of capturing women and forcing them to have kids all to save a tribe or a community? idk but that’s just a bit odd for me. maybe it’s based on a tru story.. i have no idea, hopefully it’s not tho, that would be horrific and they shouldn’t make an episode about something as serious and messed up as that.

- i don’t know how much more i can take of nikki calling everyone baby… haha idk if it’s just me but it’s definitely getting on my nerves! also everyone seemed a bit off tonight, even scott sorry to say. like he wasn’t bad by any means, i still think he’s the best on the show, he’s literally carrying it (i may be a bit bias haha) but it almost seems like the cast is tired and overworked… which i totally understand, they’ve probably been working 5-7 weeks nonstop by this point. but everyone was just a bit bland, it didn’t seem cohesive, it was like every actor seemed to have their own interpretation of the scene but it didn’t come together at the end. that may also be a fault of the director and how he’s giving direction on how to act and shoot the scene. idk it might’ve been just me tho. i did like ryan broussard this week tho, i enjoyed his acting… but the character mike was kinda annoying this episode haha!

- i really didn’t think there was a need for kemi’s father and that whole weird ass storyline to come into play. it was like when we got introduced to C’s grandfather (or father? i forget) and saw him for 2 more scenes and never again, which wasn’t even needed in the first place. i mean i get it… this plot line will probably last longer than that but still. like we already have SO MUCH going on in this show, we don’t need another freaking storyline if we haven’t already figured out the whole keith situation. idk it added nothing to the episode except for kemi getting distracted and nikki continuously reminding her to focus… i stg nikki told kemi to focus like 5 times even when nikki herself is almost never focused on the cases!!

- as i said before mike lowkey got on my nerves this week. he just kept insisting on being by the book and following the rules, and i totally get it, he does seem to be the person who follows the rules the most on that task force, but like come on man… you literally hooked up with nikki in a closet at headquarters in the middle of a case! he can’t say anything! also i really don’t think jason is that unhinged, like ya he doesn’t follow all of the rules but he isn’t going completely insane like mike is insinuating.

- also the nikki/mike relationship/drama either needs to come to a close or find a resolution… they just keep rehashing the same exact argument every single week and it’s kinda getting old. i wish they could just break up or get back together! make a choice lmao!

- so we didn’t learn too too much this week about keith… we now know that there was a body in the lake and it was a male between the ages of 10-14. so maybe that the real keith idk? then we have sidney spying on keith getting a gun… i totally understand her concern, that gun did seem real or at least not a pellet gun. i thought the end was interesting when keith was sleeping in the basement… i think this is the point where jason and nikki have to put him into therapy or something. idk how they didn’t before… that’s absolutely insane to me but if they don’t this week then i might just have to boycott. lol! no i won’t but i can’t believe this type of series wouldn’t show the importance of therapy and mental health… like the kid just got kidnapped and he is just basically living life and being forced to readjust on his own with his parents being literal cops who see kidnapping victims every single day!! makes no sense to me!! ahhh!

- “C” was okay… he was just okay. there’s always something quirky with him, which can either be a good or bad thing, but idk i just don’t really understand the whole “talking to bones or dead people.” idk what exactly is being accomplished by doing that… it just kinda makes him a bit of a weirder character. i never know if his character is there for comic relief or if he actually has a purpose on the show… he does very minimal tasks that could easily be done by kemi, she’s a very intelligent woman!

- i really want an episode that’s not case related just to see how different it would be and how character driven they would make it. i’m assuming that has to be coming up soon… at least for the season finale! but i get it, it’s a procedural cop show and the case to case stuff is what brings a lot of the audience in.

- for some reason i have a weird feeling that the show is going to be picked up for a season 2… just because of jaimie foxx, not because it’s actually good. again it’s kinda sad because i want to see scott in something good, because he really is a good actor, but i just don’t think this is doing it for him.

anyways i’ve rambled on for much too long, per usual, haha! those are just my opinions, i’m probably looking way too deep into this show ngl! i hope next week is better! let me know what you guys think! i luv talking!

[jamieanovels]

Writer Tag Game !!

tagged by the lovely @mjjune <3

soft tagging: @kaiusvnoir @muddshadow @thetruearchmagos and anyone else who would like to do this :)

answers under the cut!

Do you write in order?

Yes. I have to, lmao, or else my brain goes NOPE and gives up on the entire book lol. I can do some heavy scene work on the last few scenes I wrote (2-3, give or take), but apart from that, I save any heavy-duty editing for after I've finished my first draft.

Do you start with something in particular?

Ideas wise? No, it can be anything. Usually, though, it's a theme or message of some kind and then I built around that.

In terms of the actual draft, though, yes. I always want to start with a strong line that tells the reader as much as I can about the character/plot/theme. Back in college, I had a professor for a Jane Austen class who had us memorize the first lines of every book we read for the course. She said that the first line of any book should always tell you as much as possible about the book itself, and that's always stuck with me.

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

This has changed over the years, haha. I used to say probably 90%, simply because I wouldn't do much with my finished draft and just move on to the next thing lol.

Now, as I'm trying to seriously move toward actually publishing, I think I probably land around 60-70%? I'm an overwriter, so for tea cow, I expect that once I finish my draft, most of my editing process will be cutting unnecessary words and making things a lot more concise. But the story beats are there already.

How many drafts do you go through?

2-3 before beta readers. I've never gotten past that stage, though, so no idea after that lol.

Tell me about your process?

My writing process is split into four phases: brainstorming/worldbuilding, outlining, writing, and editing.

During the brainstorming/worldbuilding phase, I create a document and just start putting ideas in there. For fantasy, I make sure to spend extra time on the magic system, setting, and any other salient details specific to that world. This process can range from a few days to months, depending on how complex the story is.

In the outlining phase, I take what I liked from the brainstorming phase and put it together into an actual cohesive story. Usually, I summarize what I want to happen in each section of the story, and then I bullet point "milestones," or things that need to happen/be foreshadowed, for each section. Depending on how good of a job I did during the brainstorming phase, this usually takes a day to a few days.

Once I have an outline, I start writing. Each chapter should feature at least one milestone. I also leave myself a Little wiggle room to change things if I feel like they fit the plot better. I've added a few scenes into tea cow that weren't in its outline, but overall, I've stuck to all of its original story beats. The writing phase can take me months to years because I am Lazy. Tea cow is going fairly fast, landing at around 6 months since I started writing, and that's mostly because of procrastination lol

When I'm finished drafting, I go back to the beginning and start line editing. Based on what I've done in the past, I usually do a full line edit all the way through (proofreading and just editing for general readability). Once I'm done with the line-edit, I make any consistency edits and/or heavier scene changes based on anything I've noted while line-editing. Line editing doesn't take me too long, usually a week at most, but scene changes take longer.

After this full process, I'll start looking for beta readers, and then make any adjustments that I feel would make the story better based on their feedback. I haven't gotten to this phase in so damn long that idk if I would still approach it the same, but we shall see ;)

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Red Velvet - Chill Kill

I’m kind of disappointed at the sheer lack of red on this album, but I didn’t exactly get my hopes up either (just look at how much red vs black is on the cover art lmao). I was hoping for something like I Just on Perfect Velvet - a song that’s particularly bright and synthy to contrast with all the moodiness, but we didn’t really get that. Regardless, Red Velvet do velvet incredibly well. If Shinvi had done this album then all of the 7’s would be 5’s, which is a testament to how Red Velvet have really improved on the SM sound. No single song stuck out to me – I remember saying that Underwater is probably my favorite, but Underwater doesn’t stick out from the album so much as it’s just my favorite song out of the songs on the album. The album is sonically cohesive in the same way that Twicetagram is sonically cohesive, except unlike Twicetagram I felt like this album didn’t do enough to set certain songs apart. Regardless, I do like Red Velvet, and if you like Red Velvet then you’ll like this album. Average of 7.2 which feels about right. It’s good, it’s not Perfect Velvet, at least not for me. Which is ironic because this album is way more velvet than Perfect Velvet!

Edit: I don’t usually add an edit, but I was listening to Underwater just now with earbuds, and it sounded wayyy worse. So definitely listen to this album with good headphones or speakers, the details matter.

Chill Kill

Did I stay up until 4am to watch this MV as soon as it dropped? No. But did I happen to be awake until 4am on accident, perhaps subconsciously because I wanted to watch this MV? Yes.

This is actually my second time watching the MV and third time hearing the song but oh well it still counts

Super bright clothes in a muted color scene is very RV

The intro might as well be something out of one of the first gen groups, but when that bass hits it’s SO modern

I’m still not totally sure what’s going on in this MV. I guess the implication is that they’ve just murdered someone?

This bass is just so good

The timbres feel very … contrasty. We’ve got such pretty fun synths alongside that Bass.

The bridge is cute

And now they’re on a bus? And now they’re burning down a house?

And now they’re dancing in front of the cops!

I need to check out the lyrics

7/10, I really don’t know what to think about this song. I think I like it, but it’s really weird, even by Red Velvet standards. I’m sure it’ll grow on me.

Knock Knock (Who’s There?)

This bass is the same bass, or very similar. Reminds me of Illusion.

Are those like, distorted strings in the background of the pre-chorus?

This chorus hits though

This song feels like the sequel to Chill Kill, which I guess happens often on albums

It isn’t particularly catchy, but I do love the way that it sounds

There’s the obligatory high note. I did just listen to Isak N Jiyoon earlier, but I can totally hear the resemblance

7/10, pretty much the same as Chill Kill, idk what to think

Underwater

There are a certain set of sounds that sound like underwater, and the intro contains those

The first verse hits like a truck

This whole album is Bassy, at least so far

I do love how Red Velvet’s vocals are mixed. It’s completely different from the first gens, maybe with the exception of INJ

This chorus is really fun

This song is very velvet. Maybe the first songs were Red Velvet, but this song is velvet in its purest form, maybe like Kingdom Come but darker and bassier

I love how breathy they are

Now in the outro that’s contrasted with a couple of pretty high notes

8/10, I liked this a lot, so far out of the first three this is the one that I’ll be streaming the most

Will I Ever See You Again?

Here we are, this is my style

That intro synth was so great

Actually this kind of reminds me of modern Twice so far?

No wait oh my god this sounds exactly like something but I cannot place it

Empty chorus – will they add to it or keep it empty?

I totally buy the samples used here, this shit is anthemic

Dude imagine them singing along to the synth in the chorus like Peek A Boo or I Just

The bridge also feels very modern Twice

No? They’re not gonna sing along to the synth? Missed opportunity

Yeah, the outro too, very Twice to me

7/10

Nightmare

Well my first thoughts when this came on were in fact “Nightmare before Christmas” so that part is working

Actually, what’s the deal with Red Velvet releasing Halloween songs in November? Like c’mon SM, if you’re gonna make Halloween concepts, make them for Halloween

The same bass lmao, did they tell the producers that they had to use this bass in every song?

This rap is so cool wtf

Lol the chorus is actually so upbeat for a song called “Nightmare,” that’s very Red Velvet

Also this is in 6/8 or 3/4 which is cool

I just wish these songs were redder. I feel like they’re all leaning hard velvet with hints of red, but give me some red with hints of velvet

7/10

Iced Coffee

Plink plonk

Okay, this is mixing it up a bit, quiet and reflective

There it is

Another 6/8 song, is 6/8 a velvet trope that I’m not aware of?

“Yeah you got me like iced coffee”

“I don’t need the sugar and don’t need the caffeine” yeah that stuff is bad for you

I do appreciate food- and drink-themed songs

I wish the vocals were a bit higher in the mix

The strings feel so excessive to me, and its a slow jam, meh

6/10

One Kiss

Okay so completely unrelated but earlier today I heard Dua Lipa’s One Kiss in public for the first time in ages, so it’s funny that now I’m hearing a different One Kiss for the first time ever

I’m getting massive Zoom vibes from this

“Oh my god he’s a really bad boy”

Yeah lol this song feels very Red Velvet purely because it reminds me of other Red Velvet songs

The kiss sample is funny

Honestly this chorus is cute, I could get on board with this

Fun, upbeat r&b, this is good

8/10, very creative

Bulldozer

A red velvet song opening with a rap? That doesn’t happen often

This beat is so fun, the humming alongside the bass

And then it just drops out completely

Wow that prechorus was cool

The chorus didn’t live up to the prechorus haha

I do love “lalalalala” sections because they’re easy to sing along to as someone who doesn’t speak Korean

“Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom hahahaha” omg that was hilarious

I really don’t know what to give this song?

8/10 I guess?

Wings

Well let’s see them do this intro on Killing Voice lmao

I think I heard that the last song is gonna be a ballad, so I guess we aren’t getting any Red on this album. But that’s fair enough, the name “Chill Kill” makes it pretty obvious the styles that it’s gonna contain

I just realized I haven’t typed a word about this song yet and I’m halfway through

It feels just like the rest of the album to me, maybe a bit more upbeat. Par for the course for album design I guess

Judging by the english lyrics, it’s probably a happy song though which is nice

Oooh, these ad libs at the end, these are fun, yeah let’s 100% hear this on Killing Voice please

7/10

Scenery

The guitar here is cute

I’m actually kind of getting Jaljayo Goodnight vibes from that initial section

Definitely not now

The vocal effects on the “lalala” feel a bit too strong for me, a bit out of place for the clean guitar

These vocals are actually so pretty though. You know the part.

Wait this song is also in three lmao

The outro is incredibly pretty, I expected nothing less

7/10

[oh-three]

Your favorite member of TBB is: Tech

Because: I don't even know how to explain it lmao

You identify the most with: Tech & Crosshair

Because: I feel like I repress my emotions a lot- and when I'm not, I'm like Tech and infodump.

Your favorite minor character from the show: Mayday.

Because: His personality was amazing. Like, he'd given up hope of getting off of that planet, but he hadn't given up on living- he was still trying even though he knew there was no future. And he still had it in him to have a bit of cynical humor.

A TBB-centric piece or post of yours that you are most proud of: Hold Your Breath, Give Your Strength

Because: It's honestly just pure angst and whump (and cameos) and I love it so much. It was my NaNoWriMo project a couple years back, and I don't think I've written such a cohesive, long thing in that little time before.

A TBB-centric piece of art that slaps so hard you enjoy (and why): All of @echojedis and @lightspringrain's works.

A TBB-centric fanfic that gives you life you enjoy (and why): Drifting On The Winds by @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius. I enjoyed that episode way too much, and you wrote a fic about the one scene I couldn't stop thinking about. You captured Tech's personality perfectlyyyyyy.

A TBB headcanon or trope that is 100% canon to you: Wrecker as the oldest or second eldest batcher (of the OG four). It just fits.

Color(s) you think would suit if Crosshair gets "Mercenary" armor: Some sort of gray/black camo variant, maybe with a could dashes of red to honor his background with the Batch. No way he moves to lighter colors, though.

One thing you NEED to see happen in Season 3: Tech lives + full Batch reunion. AND A FIVES MENTION.

NPT: @sinisterexaggerator

Fellow Zealots of The Bad Batch, Unite!

Please share your answers to these questions and pass them on to some of your Bad Batch-loving buds!

Your favorite member of TBB is:

Because:

You identify the most with:

Because:

Your favorite minor character from the show:

Because:

A TBB-centric piece or post of yours that you are most proud of:

Because:

Link so that we can appreciate it:

A TBB-centric piece of art that slaps so hard you enjoy (and why):

Link:

A TBB-centric fanfic that gives you life you enjoy (and why):

Link:

A TBB headcanon or trope that is 100% canon to you:

Color(s) you think would suit if Crosshair gets "Mercenary" armor:

One thing you NEED to see happen in Season 3:

@wwheeljack @wrenkenstein @floundrickthewayfarer @raevulsix @enigmatist17 @slenderboo @echojedis @nika6q @zaana @wiseowl18 @toastyrobos @eclec-tech @jigget @destril @niobiumao3

[iiasha-archived]

#17daysof17 D-14

↳ favorite japanese comeback - fallin’ flower

[zombee]

Blood Under the Skin author’s notes

welcome to my disastrous author’s notes! if you’re planning on rereading Blood any time soon, maybe skip these for now, as i reveal a lot of Secrets.

I publicly shorthand this fic to “medieval au,” but know that in my head I call it princess stede au

Which is why I chose princess songs for chapter titles. And c’mon “someday my prince will come” is PRICELESS poor stede I made it up to him with the whole public sex rimjob okay

Barrabas = Barbados, baharla = Bahamas it’s not that good I still think “baharla” is stupid lmao

I think of any of the shit I’ve written so far, this has the most potential to be made into something original. But I’d have to drop “bonny prince bonnet” because I couldn’t keep “bonnet” and I would be DEVASTATED okay

Stede’s wedding clothes were inspired by his canon wedding clothes, a bit. The color anyway. Poor baby ☹

Ugh I do want to let yall in on some of ed’s inner monologues but WHAT IF I write an ed pov what then!!!!

Ed only “chuckles” until he laughs outright after stede is alive after the poisoning

Doing things “on the inside” vs “on the outside” is autism coding aka masking, and it fades slowly until stede doesn’t do it at all, UNTIL he’s helping ed with his wound, and he does it on purpose to keep calm for ed’s sake. Because it’s still a skill he can utilize instead of a defense mechanism!

Stede is immediately on board with the marriage (obvs) and so he says “his betrothed” and then switches, of course, to “his husband” as soon as they’re married

The cravat scene, and then the stockings scene, are mirrored when ed puts the boots on stede. “now the other, please” and “now you’re perfect” are said first by stede, then by ed

When nigel says “I would call it more sort of flouncing” and then stede says he “flounced after blackbeard” when he first accompanies him to the army camp, that’s on purpose because he’s feeling Annoyed and Ignored

“He was free to think of grisly things he’d like to happen to them inside his own head while he kept a polite expression on his face.” – SO SO SO my princess stede here has been abused his WHOLE life instead of just in childhood/early adulthood. He never got to be a funky lil rich guy on his own, so he wears politeness like armor (very sansa of him – book only I hate GoT). As I hope u noticed, he gets more expressive as the fic goes on

Ed kissing stede at the wedding asldkjfd I just need to WRITE THE ED POV ALREADY

Since my first two big AUs are ed pov, I was worried about trying stede’s. But then I wrote the lines “the flowers clashed with the candelabras, the entertainment was gauche, and the eighteen courses lacked a cohesive narrative.” And I knew I’d be okay.

I had a sideplot of “ed’s men” from the wedding being his bros from all the way back in his pirate days, but I cut it because it didn’t fit anywhere

I will confess I wrote that ed didn’t let the servants into their room on the wedding night because I wanted some sexy undressing. But then I figured out the whole backstory with his mom and was like OHOHOHO

I just love my sweet autistic princess stede, I love how he always puts things in framing of “the ____” (the clothes-cutting, the staring, the thigh-fucking) I just LOVE HIM

“Stede was able to push the sleeves over and off his wrists without assistance, leaving him bare and self conscious.” – and then in the aldra islands he wears “a lovely sleeveless linen vest” because CONFIDENCE and GROWTH.

“Blackbeard was suddenly very close behind him. Stede could smell the wine on his breath.” / “Bonny Prince Bonnet.” His lips tickled Stede’s ear and his beard brushed against his neck. “The things I’ve heard about you.” / Stede very carefully did not blush. – this was very sexy of me actually and a CANON CALLBACK? In a cartoonmayor fic? Never

When ed says “it’s the fear” when he notices stede has a boner on their wedding night, and then he comes in hot after battle in that one scene ready to frick, ohohoho

Ed telling stede to close his eyes, and then sliding the nightshirt down – that was literally the image that inspired me write this fic.

“you can open your eyes” Of course he could, Stede very nearly said out loud. He opened them anyway. – stede always obeys direct orders (at first) but this is kind of our first hint of Bratty Stede. He pays close attention to exactly what everyone says (my sweet autistic princess)

I think it’s quite obvious what The Staring meant but when I do The Reveal That It’s Love I hope some of yall reread because it’s hella fun to go back and see where I emphasize it (I hope)

Stede, because of his thing with direct orders, is always careful to request (“would you please?”) instead of demand. This changes too throughout the fic especially when he tops

“Oh, yes, we had a jar of their paprika for a while. It was so unlike the one we make here!” – this is a dracula daily reference

I also had a subplot where the whole court was SCANDALIZED and assumed the WORST when stede’s cut-up wedding clothes were found, but ehhhh I just wanted to get stede out of the palace and yknow, I didn’t want to dwell on implications of assault. So just know they’re gossiping about it and triply deserve what they get in the end.

“good night ed” “night stede” – this is of course the first time ed uses his name dun dun DUNNNNN. I also use this exchange three times, and the third one is particularly special. Ed uses “stede,” at first, when his defenses are lowered. That’s why stede blushes at the end of ch.1, because ed calls him by his name instead of his title. Why does he continue to use prince bonnet after things are sorted between them? Well, [redacted in case I write an ed pov]. Also “good night ed” “night stede” I use in a lot of my other fics.

Only one bed? Only one bed. And then I take it away from them but I give it BACK after a week okay

The real journey in this fic is ed becoming the little spoon he is

Don’t ask me the difference between hose, trousers, and pants I DO NOT KNOW

I honestly thought this fic would have a lot more erotic un/dressing but the muse didn’t give me more than a few scenes

Originally I had stede be ticklish too and this whole big scene where ed’s like “we have nothing in common” and stede says they’re both ticklish but that’s not where the fic took me so I cut it

Stocking scene is based a little on that excellent fan art by @aivelin ​https://aivelin.tumblr.com/post/681807914544087040/wonderful-collaboration-with-amuseoffyre-read-fic

The badminton twins (and calico jack) were originally involved in the assassination plot. Jack was going to be another prince and stede was going to be RAGING JEALOUS but again the fic just didn’t take me there so no jack at all and less badmintons then planned. I’m not complaining.

When ed says “absolutely not, fuck off” to the badmintons one of my early readers commented “LMAO ED SAID THE VIBES WERE ATROCIOUS” and I still think about it

“he wore an understated outfit” that includes SHIMMERING HOSE stede I love you SO much

Ed ignores stede because [redacted in case I write an ed pov but you can probably figure it out from context clues]

Yeah yeah I gave ed the canon stede thing that he pays his soldiers but I had to establish early that he’s brilliant

“No!” Stede did more than flinch this time. Had he really just said “no” to his husband? That was worse than blushing. – look how far this baby bratty boy gets toward the end of the fic I LOVE HIM. Also yeah sorry while he’s “flinching” and worried about “punishment” throughout the book… I don’t dwell on that shit but it was Bad guys. Real bad.

“He hoped never to return to the court of Barrabas.” EXCEPT AS A KING YEAH BOIII

A lot of the traveling camp stuff was inspired by The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. That book imprinted on me as a kid along with the prequel-sequel The Hero and the Crown

I mean a lot of this is just a love letter to the fantasy novels I read as a kid

Blackbeard asks, instead of orders, about the boots. “Would you like to try on a pair of mine?” – Stede allows himself to consider the request before he says yes. Also boy oh boy [redacted for ed pov purposes]

“They were black of course” THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE RUNNING GAGS AND NO ONE HAS EVER COMMENTED ON IT. Stede being like “I love him but god some VARIETY please.” And then I drop it in the scene where they’re in the meadow that yeah, ed has been wearing more colorful clothes like he DESERVES since they got married

Boot scene inspired by this fanart by @shoomlah ​https://shoomlah.tumblr.com/post/682077235089440768/could-be-arranged

Stede getting more and more exasperated with The Staring is also one of my favorite bits

I did technically make stede and ed in their early 30s because while it is very precious to me that they’re older men finding first time queer love (not hating on AUs where they’re younger, I also love those), for Plot Purposes I felt like… offering a 48 year old prince for a treaty is a little silly lmao, AND I needed time for them to dismantle the monarchy. Anyway I don’t dwell on their ages so headcanon as you like.

Cupcake/Thunderfoot is very good please clap

“While he bumped along on Cupcake, not reading,” BITCHY STEDE ILYSM

Stede uses “it would not do” then I have ed use it in the balcony scene bc I love that shit when partners start to parrot each other

Mary sweetie I’m SO so sorry I killed you off in this fic I truly am but it had to happen for the marriage part of the arranged marriage to work, and for stede to be a 33 year old prince who hadn’t been married off yet.

I had to write porn using words like “backside” “take himself in hand” so I just let stede say cock it was just easier

The first time stede even lets himself THINK the word fuck is after he jacks it in the tent ehehe. I was explaining that to an ofmd discord and people were like “he does say fuck though” and I was like yes. Yes I understand that. This is an AU it is not canon. “but he does say it in this episode and this one” YES I UNDERSTAND THIS IS AN A L T E R N A T E U N I V E R S E

Ed liking cupcake as stede’s horse’s name THEY LOVE EACH OTHER YOUR HONOR THEY ACCEPT EACH OTHER JUST LIKE THEY ARE

“you were made for fine things, prince bonnet,” “so were you, edward” first time we hear stede use the full name and also [redacted ed pov but hopefully you get the gist from context clues]

Erotic horseback riding lessons is also where stede starts to do things On The Outside and be a lil bratty out loud finally.

I literally copy pasted the wikihow article on horseback riding and made it horny with stede’s thoughts

Ed romance novel hero when

Ed calls him stede again in this scene ohohoho

“And then. His husband started to run his hands all over Stede’s body. There was even brief contact with his crotch. His cock gave another definite twitch.” Yeah this is basically a scene from ski au yeah I reuse scenes from my fics SO WHAT

It’s my medieval bullshit au and I’ll give them showers if I want to

Small motif about mirrors in ed’s castle runs throughout

Erotic bathing scene is my favorite in the fic. It is like, 1300 words? I’ve since written single scenes that are longer ([redacted] and [redacted] in Persephone au so far are both longer) but my writing is pretty snappy and brief. Which is NICE i LIKE that about my writing, but how someone can write like, a 5k word sex scene is absolutely unfathomable to me. One day I might get there.

“Absolutely not.” Stede held his breath for just a beat after that before he felt safe to continue. “We are going to pamper you tonight, my husband.” – stede feeling (mostly) comfortable saying no to ed <3 and calling him “my husband” for the first time <3333 I’ll spoil the ed pov here, every time stede says that he just thinks HUSBAND(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Blackbeard was staring, so who knew really. – have I mentioned HOW MUCH I LOVE STEDE

“It was time for the touching.” – one of my early readers commented “my ace ass reading smut” and I still think about it

There’s a motif with the back of ed’s neck, see if you can spot them all. This was inspired by “The Nettles in the Garden Don’t Go Away,” a soulmate au retelling of season 1, and a fic that actually had me spiraling in despair that my writing will never be that good. https://archiveofourown.org/works/38007859/chapters/94929583 please read it

stede follows the curly girl method in every single one of my fics and this is no exception

“but Ed had quite a lot of hair and he was worth it.” IS THE FIRST TIME HE *THINKS* OF ED AS “ED” GOSH GUYS SOMETIMES I JUST LOVE MY OWN WRITING SO MUCH. Notice it starts to shift more and more until finally he stops thinking of him as blackbeard entirely.

“This is the body soap. It’s–“ “Lavender.” “Yes! You have a nose for fine things, as well.” “It would seem that way.” I’ll never write something this romantic ever again pack it in boys I’ve peaked

Idk why I always use “snuffling” to describe ed’s sleep sounds in my fics but I always do

“got it for you. My bonny prince” stop ed STOP he’s so in love

I was feeling grumpy about trying to describe the castle (visual description is NOT my forte) but @semisweetshadow​ my beta and fandom bestie said “you captured how stede feels about it that’s what’s important” and I’m still glowing from that compliment

I’m an iggy blameologist for LIFE for LIFE and having stede call him iggy is one of my favorite bits for sure

“Stede did not ask about the tapestries, or the candelabras, or the portraits. They had a distinct lack of flair that he had come to associate with his husband’s taste,” – if you didn’t catch this it’s because the castle was not originally ed’s and he never redecorated. Not because he has bad taste ed I love you

The queen’s rooms/king’s rooms with a passageway between is straight from my very favorite book series, the Queen’s Thief books by megan whalen turner. There’s another rather obvious reference in the second to last chapter also (The Queen, called Aldra after her country)

Although stede calls him ed out loud as he’s been instructed to, he does call him blackbeard a few times when he’s distressed, including the Balcony Scene

I know that jim is ooc from canon but look they’ve been in a happy relationship for years and flourished and they’re SECRETLY GOOFY even in canon so it’s justified okay

What stede tells Lucius in the record-keeping scene matches up with what Lucius writes in the epilogue ohoho

Yes I had Lucius say “fade to black” in a medieval au i channel daddy jenky always

In my wwdits au, I made Lucius such a fucking dick because he was Laszlo. I had my excellent beta for ski au point out he was too mean in that one, so I rewrote that. And then in this one he’s supportive and nice, hooray for Lucius

Show of hands who guessed the “when is ed the most beautiful” bit was gonna end when he bottomed

Was so glad I worked in a “Frenchie/Oluwande dream team” aspect of this fic.

“Did they not teach you how to switch in Barrabas?” “I did not know that was even an option.” “Oh,” said Blackbeard. His eyes glittered. “It can be fun, in the right circumstances.” – come on you all knew how this was going to turn out right???

Moon ceremony directly inspired by Tamora Pierce (the spies stuff too actually). Ngl I felt real silly with the worldbuilding in this whole fic, but a lot of you were very encouraging in your comments thank you very much for that. I do like the idea of a trio of gods representing the balance of all things, idk.

Alanna is of course another tammy reference

“Brave Prince Bonnet.” Ed’s lips skated against his own as he spoke. “You always do surprise me.” – do u get it because ed was always surprising him wait don’t leave—

“Blackbeard wouldn’t let him eat anything but broth and toast, and he was starting to get annoyed.” – this is the last time stede will think of him as blackbeard, and it’s because he’s “not allowing” him to do something.

Ah, the ol’ “sex dream making it obvious I want to have sex” trope. Look my fics are just three tropes stacked together in a trench coat what do you want from me.

OKAY BUT BUT B U T “Tell me what it means.” “No.” – this is the first time stede EVER disobeys a direct order and it is NOT A COINICDENCE this is when ed finally breaks on the fricking. Yeah yeah a glimpse into the ed pov but c’mon

“These fucking stupid hose. I can’t get a hand in.” “I’ll be sure to– ah! I’ll be sure to wear pants next time.” – I’m not 100% sure but I think I only have him wearing pants after this. Horny boy. Also a hint that stede is into ~exhibitionism~

Stede accepting ed’s past is very important 2 me and I put it in every fic. Canon parallels etc.

When ed explains he almost lost stede and that’s what finally made him break on the fricking, the epilogue reveal it was actually *izzy* sending assassins just delights me because IT’S IGGY’S FAULT THEY FINALLY BONED LMAO

“The first time his husband fucked Stede in the ass, it would have been perfect. If not for the assassination attempt.” Will I ever write a better opening line I don’t think so. And my hope is I distracted you with the porn to the point you forgot about the assassin until it comes back around.

“Tell me you’re sure again,” Ed said. / “I am fully fucking certain that if your fingers aren’t inside of me in the next thirty seconds I will scream.” – I posted this to the ofmd thirstposting group on facebook and people lost their MINDS

Look I know bottom/top discourse can be annoying and I know if they’re not vers ed is the bottom I KNOW THIS but bottom!stede is very precious 2 me. Anyway they ARE vers in this so nananabooboo

I can give stede one (1) hands free orgasm I do not care if it’s not realistic

Some definite [redacted ed pov] going on in this chapter

He does start joking around about his violent tendencies after this bc love and acceptance

Stede positing the assassins might be trying to start a war between ed and barrabas is correct – it was just iggy doing it!

The “stede kills someone, olu & jim comfort him” very canon of me please clap

When ed is like “wait YOU killed him?” that is kind of a reference to my wwdits au lol

Stede asking for fricking to help him not feel the pain is actually a reference to a tywin/sansa fic I like I know it’s gross I’m sorry but it’s so FUCKING good. Let me know if you want that link.

Okay so obvy stede goes through a lot of Sexual Growth. but with the thigh-fucking, ed also goes through some with stede where he’s like, yknow, so concerned with stede feeling comfortable all the time that he doesn’t always pay attention to what stede is ACTUALLY signaling (I mean, [redacted ed pov]). Anyway so the intercrural is a little bit ed *trusting* stede. I’m always keen to work on consent on all levels, not just verbal, so yeah. They’ve fucked A LOT at this point, ed knows stede very well, and if stede ever told him flat out “no” of course he’d respect that. ANYWAY.

Also lots of bratty stede in these two smut scenes aw yis

“For fuck’s sake,” said Frenchie. “Let us watch, or leave us alone.” Do I have a smut scene in my head where Frenchie and stede DP ed MAYBE I DO MAYBE I DON’T

Calling the aldran princess tiffany is just a lil joke on the tiffany problem lol - https://medium.com/swlh/the-tiffany-problem-when-history-makes-no-sense-703b86522627

Ed backstory is very precious 2 me DISMANTLE THAT MONARCHY BABES YES

“there was a room with showers” I HASTILY MENTION BEFORE A RIMJOB SCENE OCCURS

“You are not Blushing Baby Bonnet. You never were. And if anyone ever makes you feel like that again, I will kill them.” / “Maybe a maiming, darling. No need to go so far.” – see stede accepts ed for all of him (canon parallels huzzah) and they can JOKE about it now even though [redacted ed pov but I bet you can guess]

Yeah I headcanon stede as gay (as in homosexual gay not blanket term gay) (and usually ed too) but idk sexuality is always fluid imo so having him react to the lesbians is kind of a winkwink nudgenudge there. And also the “winking over the thigh while she eats someone out” is from orange is the new black, which I didn’t think I got past the second season but god natasha Lyonne you imprinted on me in that moment

Idk why stede would have read porn his whole life and never read about ass eating but it’s fiction let me have this

Okay okay so scene where ed comes in hot in the tent, i think/hope I handled it okay. You should all know whenever I write from a bottom pov, I’m channeling my bestie, and they would be very VERY into something that rough. So stede is obviously Into It, but like I said in the notes it’s something they should have talked about first. And like, [redacted ed pov] is really why it doesn’t happen in that moment. anyway stede’s a lil slut and I’m glad they talked about it.

OKAY SO the nightshirt wedding night scene is the inspiration for this fic, and the “stede explains his fantasies and ed responds with ‘I just want your dick inside of me’” is the thing that KEPT ME GOING when I stalled out on this fic. I knew I wanted to write it so bad and if you paid attention to the tags when you first read this story you’ll notice it says “Bottom stede bonnet” “OR IS HE” because I’m not subtle

“always from the perspective of the ravishee, never the ravisher” look modern aus are fun but it’s real fun to play with silly pov like this lol

Butt plug hurt/comfort it’s the new hot genre

I’ll be honest the scene with the barabassian emissary doesn’t make much sense but you get the vibe right

For some reason I seem to stall out at like 25k, that’s been the case with all five of my multichapters so far (shoves coffeeshop au in the corner) so I was gnashing my teeth about this. Until I was like, yknow what, I literally don’t have to show the whole fucking war or dismantling of the monarchy, stede topping REALLY IS A GOOD WAY TO END THE FIC and it is. It is! It is, right?

I did know for sure the last line was going to be “I’ve always loved it when you blush.”

And then the epilogue my beloved. Iggy you fool. Monarchies suck. Etc.I

HOPE YOU LIKED THE FIC I think of any of the multi chapters I’ve written so far it’s really the best one. I’m working on (and hopefully almost done with) a hades/Persephone AU right now that has got some fucking cool wordbuilding and I only stole like 25% of it from lore Olympus. Hit that subscribe if you want to know when that comes out! Cheers m’dears!

[hyunjinspark]

I‘ve just decided that I‘m going to reread all of SLWY, even though I should be going to sleep. I rarely reread anything because already knowing how the story goes makes me read very lazily and just skip through to my favorite parts, but SLWY is so good and it‘s consuming my mind way too much so I‘ll need to read it all over again. I just wish I could erase my memories so I could feel the magic I felt reading each chapter the first time. The primary reason for rereading, though, is that I‘ve noticed you‘re a very meticulous writer and seem to have everything mapped out really well, as there is so much foreshadowing and so many hints in previous chapters (which I believe you even mentioned in an ask recently), so I‘d love to pick them out while reading.

Speaking of mapping out, I‘d love to pick your brains about your writing process, especially for SLWY. What inspired the story, how did you think of the storyline, how far do you map out in advance (as I know you write the chapters after releasing the previous one), how do you imagine Daejon, aaand I‘m really curious about how you picture Y/N in your head? I‘m aware that the self-insert is for everyone to imagine themselves or whomever they like, but I wonder how it is for you. Y/N, to me, is someone who I imagine to look really soft and ethereal, petite, with a button nose, pouty lips and doll eyes, like a very cute face but a banging body to contrast it, IDEK exactly why lmao.

And again, I can‘t stop telling you what an amazing writer you are, it‘s insane. I‘ve read a lot of stories and books but your storylines and writing style might just be my favorite ✨🤍

-👑

hi. 🥺 wow, thank you so much, for everything that you said. i really hope you enjoy it, just the same way, your second time around. i hope that you still feel the magic, thank you for describing it like this :(

there is a lot of foreshadowing and hints throughout since i have planned the entire story out in my head, so i make sure to keep it cohesive, and to build up on the plot i’ve established.

as for what inspired me to write slwy. the idea came to me when i was still writing only fools, and i watched a live where hyunjin mentioned that it was his dream to go to art school, and that he hopes someday it can happen (not verbatim)

then it was his vlog, where he talked about how he visits art supply stores a lot, and all of his bubble messages the following month where he would visit cafes by himself, workshops, and art classes. i remember he did a pottery(?) workshop where he crafted a blue vessel, i can’t remember the exact name…he also attends online university and quite a few subjects….and so many artistic pursuits, and he lives and views life so romantically. and, he’s so so humble, despite being so insanely popular and the contrast is so impressive.

but all of those things just made me wonder about slwy haha, because despite him being an idol, it’s amazing how he can find the time to pursue things like that, and still live out a part of his life where he wants to learn and explore art even more, on top of everything else they do. and then he mentioned about the lights in seoul reminding him of stay, and all of that together just made me want to really write a dreamy small town au where he does exactly that, along with the added aspect of falling in love haha.

as for your question about mapping it out, i have all the major plot points in my head, as well as all the significant scenes till the end of the story, but the dialogues are what i work upon while writing week by week. sometimes i get a lot of new ideas too, and i try to incorporate them into the story !!

for how i imagine daejon, i have some moodboards in my slwy masterlist, that sums it up. i imagine it as a little town by the hills, enveloped in nature, surrounded by other crafts towns, maybe with a population of less than 10K, and just with people that may prefer a very simple and slower kind of lifestyle. it also is a tourist town because of it’s beauty and landscapes, and places like the château where travellers drop by for new experiences. ive visited a lot of small towns like that, and they really inspire me.

as for yn, im so glad you asked me that! 😁 everybody has a different image in their head, and personally i don’t imagine myself but the girl i envision actually matches yours a lot ! there’s this faceclaim i have in mind for yn, i love her so much, and im excited to share it. i think it’s similar to youe description.

[felassan]

Thoughts on Dark Fortress #3

(This post is under a cut due to spoilers.)

There’s a lot I thought/wanna say about this final issue, to the point that it’s hard to know where to start!

The cover art is.. beautiful. The symbolic allusion between Shirallas and the dragon (his draconic-y claws, the semblance of a broken collar falling off in the same way, the fire) 👌 On the whole, lined up side-by-side the three covers of Dark Fortress feel really thematically cohesive. Shirallas’ and the dragon’s claws echo Tractus’ sharp metal gauntlet, and as well as the similarities between the dragon and Shirallas, both Tractus and the dragon have a circle of weapons, and the patterning encircles Tractus’ neck and wrists like the collars and shackles. Y’know, like you can just really tell the cover artist planned ahead and put a lot of thought into how the 3 cover arts would ‘flow’ from one to the other, blending elements between them.

I posted some of my fav panels here.

I knew he was my boy but Shirallas’ backstory broke my heart ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` ) the first panel is so bleak and heart-wrenching. the burning aravel parts.. another Dalish clan met a terrible fate.

I wonder if his clan wandered Tevinter like Clan Oranavra? it makes me wonder if Shirallas and Fenris met in Tevinter. It’s nice to see that another clan took him in. And if Shirallas is a name he took, not his original name, I assume it has a special meaning, maybe to do with his quest for justice/vengeance. Shiral means journey, “allas” is found in vallas, which means set, as in the sun. The “vallas” in vallasdahlen (life-trees, planted in remembrance of those who dedicated their lives to the Dales) means life. in many ways the sun and life are the same thing, and there’s the obvious connection to Elgar’nan, eldest of the sun. So journey/quest - sun/life? Like since the loss of his clan he’s on a journey/quest for the rest of his life to get justice/vengeance, which are attributes of the sun god Elgar’nan? that became his life’s purpose and his direction of ‘travel’ ever since his loss, what he dedicated his life to since then. :’( 

Elgara vallas, da'len. ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` )

This is our first look at the vallaslin application process, no? what Shirallas is saying in this panel is the Song to Elgar’nan. it’s interesting, in that that prayer kind of resembles what happened, or almost happened, in this issue. a fortress shaken, fire, winged death (a dragon), pretenders to power, “strike the usurpers” (“Red Wraith, dispose of my enemies, kill the traitorous mage”). pretty cool right?

⬇️ me two months ago, look at the tags in red brackets. 

oh my son.. Dalish father roams, and the Dalish son won’t survive the fight   ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` )

the panel where Fenris and Shirallas shake hands ;; to which experience is Fenris speaking of, I wonder? once upon a time he saw Anders almost lose himself in his own quest for Justice/Vengeance for the mages.

Parallels between Shirallas succeeding in proving himself to Nenealeus and when Fenris succeeded in proving himself to Danarius all those years ago - compare. ;__; an elf surrounded by bodies of people he’d killed to prove himself, and a horrible Magister telling him “well done”.

I love the design of the sword and its use as a ‘divider’ on the first page splitting up the panels is both smart and beautiful. even here there’s pink light around it, the dragon’s fire

overall I wasn’t expecting this issue to begin with flashbacks to Shirallas’ past and backstory, so this whole page caught me off-guard

omg look at the red lyrium ‘veins’ under Shirallas’ skin. when he emerges from the sarcophagus that is a very cool picture of his face

Nenealeus has been taking beard-styling advice/trends from the dwarves

check out the sword crackling and reforming as Shirallas makes contact with it. is the red lyrium under his skin moving in this scene?

in the panel of Vaea running away from the dragon, it’s nice that as she runs Fenris is still behind facing the dragon, to protect her

gorgeous background in the panel with Marquette, and his expression is one of Regret for what he just did and for his part in all this. the dawning realization that I’ve Fucked Up Big Time

as Nenealeus’ weapon is a sword, does he have some Knight Enchanter-adjacent skills (I don’t expect the actual KE artform is exclusive to southern Circles only)? it’s a physical item ofc, not a summoned one. staffs are infused with lyrium to provide a conduit for a mage’s power. so then, mages can channel power through other [presumably similarly-infused] weapons too, not just mage staves/staff-like magic implements or their bare hands

given the color of Nenealeus’ magic and the fact that the dragon was under the control of his magic, it now makes sense to me why the dragon’s fire is that color! o:

Marius is badass (nice touch that his shoulder is smoking pink with the effects of one of Nenealeus’ magic attacks here) and the four panels where everyone’s grim and determined, facing off against each other and Venatori goons made me feel quite emotional. Aaron is Team Dad.. it’s nice to see him having a friendship / paternal moment with Francesca both acknowledging her pain and power while also giving her a pep talk. You can tell when he says too “We all need to do whatever we can in this moment” that he’s talking about himself too and may already be thinking one or some of them aren’t going to make it out of there

Francesca GO OFF!! she’s so powerful, and it’s really cool every time seeing her plant magic in action. it puts in perspective how powerful Velanna would have been with her similar skills (skills like Thornblades), and I enjoy the contrast of the fire in the background and the blue/green of Fran’s magic in action

Fenris is so cool-headed in high-octane combat situations, quickly taking stock, assessing and realizing the odds then coming up with a plan. the look on Vaea’s face when she’s like >:( wtf u can’t just leave is cute

cool pulled-back bird’s eye shot of the Fortress

Karasten continuing with the sass about Tevinter even during a siege

Fenris speaking Qunlat! I love that they brought this lore fact into play and had him make use of this skill, it’s a neat reminder of Fenris’ exchange with the Arishok if you take him into the compound in DA2. in the opening-up the gates scene, Vaea’s worried about letting the Qunari in and going to the Qunari (from her expression), but she trusts Fenris and his judgement enough to open the gate and see what happens

I like that Tessa’s bolts are fletched the blue of her accent color

chills at the panel where Shirallas is walking out of the flames advancing on Aaron. Ser Aaron, who never retreats, not at Ostagar, not now ;__;

the battle-scenes are beautiful, fast-paced and gory, chaotic and colorful, like it would feel to be there 

Fenris then puts himself between Aaron and Shirallas. I could hear “I will deal with this Red Wraith” in my head

Autumn can look so scary. a true mabari warrior! when she leapt towards Shirallas I was Stressed for her safety despite knowing rationally that they wouldn’t kill their dog!

the horizontal combat splash page is awesome

CLEVER GIRL Autumn. she and Fenris are in sync in this sequence.

Shirallas serving super saiyan vibes with the bulk, strength, hair

Fenris bargaining for Fran’s life and then trusting her to use her magic as part of the attack on the Red Wraith

lmao Ser Aaron

smart thinking Fran

Aaron praising her ;__;

Marius was straight-up prepared to die to stop Nenealeus ;__; poor Tessa in this exchange

the face-melting scene  👌

“Ah, Marius... I knew it would come down to the two of us”: this panel is just really cool? Nenealeus looks almost congenial here, which makes him seem all the more colder and more dangerous. and the burning bodies strongly remind me of the bodies at the start of Inquisition which are at the ‘blast point’ of the Breach at the Conclave

when Marius and Vaea’s eyes meet and they formulate the backup plan  👌

nice to see ‘staff’-less magic in action. Nenealeus is clearly a very powerful mage. when he’s frying Marius he has Star Wars Palpatine and force lightning vibes

OH VAEA... you did it, but my heart hurts that she had to kill someone for the first time, even though it was foreshadowed by her discussion with Marius in a earlier issue. & Nenealeus’ look of surprise as he dies says it all

it’s a serious moment but Marius now looks like a cat that stuck its paw in a socket hh

when Nenealeus is doubled over dead, it’s a great panel- the white background taking us out of the chaos that’s going on all-around for just a moment, showing the seriousness of what’s just transpired for Vaea and the realization of it setting in. a pause, the shock. & it’s nice to see Marius being soft with someone other than Calpernia or Tessa

but despite what’s just happened Vaea is still Vaea, she’s concerned about life and immediately wants to save the dragon. I like the part where panels of Vaea and Fran ‘face’ each other as they have this discussion, a lot.

in the moment that it takes off, does the dragon realize Vaea is responsible for saving its life? the ‘eye’ panel feels like an acknowledgement from it, or between the two

Fran’s magic destroying and sinking the sarcophagus into the ground reminds me of what in-world lore says happened to Arlathan, in a way

omg they have to stop Shirallas before he gets over 9000

do you think when Aaron says “We cannot retreat” he’s thinking of Loghain’s retreat at Ostagar?

at this point btw I’m pleasantly surprised that Marius survives, I had sort of expected him to die in this issue

oh Marquette, curiosity killed the cat dontcha know

new lore just dropped: the Red Wraith is able to heal from any wound, which is notable, and he and the sword have a.. symbiotic relationship? with each other. “He feeds energy to the sword from the red lyrium in his veins. And in turn, the sword heals his wounds.” What are the lore implications of this? Just what is red lyrium capable of?

Paragon Branka reference! and later on a Black Marsh reference

:’( As soon as Aaron launched into his story at this point my stress levels went through the roof and I knew it was Time. and then - well. you know :’((( Aaron had death flags in previous issues, so I was logically prepared and not surprised by the occurrence (this isn’t a bad thing btw), but I still wasn’t EMOTIONALLY PREPARED

mfw

nooooooooo.... It was at this point everyone that I burst into tears.. i have never Ugly Cried at a comic before so that was a new experience.. It’s hard to put my feelings about this into words bc rly it just straight-up destroyed me, u know.. Vaea’s “Don’t leave me”, Aaron’s tears when he knows the deed is done, his pendant.. surely the resemblance between the way he looks on this cover and the way he looks in the panel when he’s falling and Vaea is shouting “Aaron!” is intentional. i’m just destroyed okay

On the next page, holes in Shirallas’ shirt where his wounds were before they healed is a nice touch. Autumn’s bite here must surely be shattering the bone in his lower leg. then as if i wasn’t in enough pain already - being separated from the weapon, did that bring Shirallas back to himself for a while? His “Friend?” and the look in his eyes when he looks up at Fenris is so pitiful :’( for a moment just before the end he’s the boy in the wood surrounded by his burning clan again. RIP Shirallas son, we barely knew ye but I loved u :’(((

Having Marquette escape is a smart choice, it means there’s someone still kicking around Thedas who knows what happened here and what went down. maybe we seek him out in the next game when trying to follow up on the plot-thread of the idol/red lyrium/its capabilities/Venatori/Qunari? anyway, can’t help but admire, in a fashion anyway, someone who dips out to save their own skin, and his attempted grift when he’s talking to Tractus x)

we hadn’t seen the last of Tractus indeed. there he is! “This is me, crying over our loss” - he’s such an edgy boi

THE IDOL

“Oh, you mean this idol?” feels like they’re breaking the fourth wall and deliberately teasing us x)

when Fenris says “[stay clear of it] Red lyrium can do things with your mind” I wonder if he’s thinking of his experiences with things like Bartrand and Meredith

started to cry again at the final Aaron scenes ok.. when it pans back to Vaea and Autumn on the shore with the dying Aaron, they look so small and lonely set against the backdrop of the gray rock, windy shore, jagged outcrops. it’s a beautifully poignant and incredibly forlorn backdrop for this scene. Autumn in these panels, and again the parallel between Aaron lying here and him on that cover page.. ;; the whole scene is raw and gutwrenching. even in death Aaron was thinking about Vaea, apologizing that she had to take a life, outlining his hopes that she continues to have a positive future and doesn’t descend into any kind of darkness. the fact that all this time he’s carried around a letter addressed to King Alistair in his pocket, to recommend that Vaea be knighted, the fact that he’s crying too, the pendant, the tenderness between them, how proud Aaron is of Vaea, the fact that he goes out telling a story and smiling because he’s so proud of her, here at the end Aaron is filled with pride and looks at peace.. i can’t ( ok i cried again on this re-read when writing this post, Dad Stuff is the ultimate way to get me ok.. don’t look at me _(°:з」∠)_ )

Vaea IS more than worthy. I’m so glad someone recognizes that and sees it in her. King Alistair WOULD knight her, and there’s a beautiful poetry in that fact as the son of an elf. there’s also something poetic in that, if Vaea becomes the first elven knight of Ferelden, well it echoes the Emerald Knights of old in a way. that’s beautiful. I’m very proud of Vaea.

Here we see another parallel - when Francesca is comforting a crying Vaea as her father figure passes away, it directly echoes when Vaea comforted Francesca when she was crying after her own father died. 

Aaron’s hometown of Portsmouth is a real place in England

I’m happy to see Fran and Autumn continuing to travel with Vaea, and Fenris continuing to keep his promise to Aaron to keep Vaea safe, and that Cassé is now Fran’s horse (that’s a lovely touch considering she healed him in Blue Wraith, a full-circle moment)

Fenris is right, they were family. soft supportive Fenris, with emotional intelligence ;; (and he of all people knows about Found Family)

the last panel of Vaea crying is beautiful too, the sun is rising in the east after the terrible night they’ve had, and the ‘faded’ rectangles is a great style/composition choice

even Cassé the horse looks sad

the scene of Fran and Vaea riding double with Fenris smiling in the background is super cute, and I love that the last we see of the party is them honoring Ser Aaron by telling stories like he did, of his exploits. I hope they always tell stories of Ser Aaron ;;

I’m glad Tessa made it out okay, she’ll be able to return to Charter. 💜 I was a bit worried this wouldn’t be the case

the last page DBKGRRGRKRKGREKF 

Pour one out for Ser Aaron Hawthorne of Portsmouth, Knight of Ferelden.

---

A recap on wider plot-points

The Qunari Antaam have taken control of Castellum Tenebris, and Neromenian has fallen to their advance.

The sarcophagus is broken and has been buried deep in the ground. Francesca asserts that it won’t be found.

The Inquisition agents retrieved the broken shards of the weapon, and are going to take its remains to the shadow Inquisition.

Tractus Danarius is alive and in possession of the idol, or was at the timepoint of this comic. He wants to use it to impress the Venatori remnants so that he can rejoin them. Marquette thinks, or said that he thinks (could easily be a bluff or his lack of knowledge about it compared to someone like Solas), that it doesn’t work anymore. (I’m leaning towards it does still work, otherwise why would Solas be interested in it?)

Solas, in what looks kinda like his most recent DA4 trailer gear, was watching the events of this series/arc the whole time and knows what happened. He knows Tractus has the idol. None of the people in this comic plot are “People Solas doesn’t know”. And it seems that he is able to use eluvians to watch people.

There’s a chance that Tractus Danarius is the mage in Tevinter Nights, from Dread Wolf Take You - the mage from House Danarius who went with some slaves to Nevarra to use the idol to perform a ritual with the Mortalitasi. That mage wanted to change the world to help fight the Antaam’s invasion. In the tale at least, he used the idol, a rift opened, the Dread Wolf popped out and killed him. At the time of that ritual the idol was still working.

+ some new lore -

the Red Wraith was able to heal from any wound, which is notable, and he and the sword the idol created had a.. symbiotic relationship? with each other. “He feeds energy to the sword from the red lyrium in his veins. And in turn, the sword heals his wounds.” What are the lore implications of this? Just what is red lyrium capable of?

eluvians can be used to watch people. not just to communicate over long distances or as portals between places

Lastly I don’t know what to do with myself anymore as this is the end of a long-running DA arc and was the final piece of [currently-known about] new canon Dragon Age content that we’ll get.

[thickenmyblood]

heyyyy maca! since you already have the entire fic (hiuh) written, can’t you just post the chapters even when you’re busy? i don’t mean to be rude, i’m just confused why it always takes you so long to update when you said you’d probably be done with hiuh by march :( i really hope this doesn’t sound impolite. english isn’t my mother tongue. i love hiuh so much and every time i read a chapter i want more but of course it’s your fic and yours to do with what you want. i’m just asking! i hope you’re staying healthy 💝

i do get this and i know i've said i would def post the rest of the chapters if i simply grew too bored of the fic to properly edit them, but the thing is at this point for the story to be cohesive and coherent they NEED to be edited. there are scenes that make no sense bc i have removed a lot of subplots and character stuff, so if i posted them as they are i'm afraid you'd be like "what the actual fuck".

it wasn't my intention to take so much time off but i had some health issues and then also a bit of a crisis about life in general lmao so... yeah. fanfiction is amazing but it doesn't give me any money (not that it should lol) so it's hard to prioritize it when there are so many fucked up things happening 😭😭😭

[yoongsisbae]

Tumblr Year End Review Game

Rules: post the top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released this year (not necessarily your most popular), the top 4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year, the 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year, 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year, and your number 1 favorite line you’ve written this year!

5 works you’re most proud of that you released this year

Yoongi is a Rock I tend to make paragraphs sound sing-songy when I write normally 😅 as soon as I started writing this story, I noticed how much everything began rhyming so I completely reworked the story to be like a poem and I'm really proud of what I was able to do. It's not easy to make things rhyme and flow on top of making sentences make sense and tell a good story, that's what I am most proud of. 😄😄

Handshakes of a Lifetime Ch5 It was my first time writing an action kind of story, I am very proud of my "fight" scenes lol. And proud of how badass y/n was 💅🏽this chapter really helped me write Run Run Run: Seoul Flow later on.

Bon Voyage: Into the Sea Ch3 I knew I wanted the time skip/jump in that chapter, and really struggled writing it, but I'm really proud of how it ended up, this is also the longest chapter I've written, it's massive, I didn't sleep for two nights editing it D: that was a feat.

Handshakes of a Lifetime Ch7 About halfway through Tae's story, I realized the twist in chapter 7, it just kind of happened, writers speak about "talking" to their characters, well, I definitely had a moment there with HOAL Joon 😅😅😅like, 'go back here' and 'go back there, see right there.' it was very cool writing experience and I guess I'm proud of my brain lmao. 🥲

4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year

Agust D vs RM Super Hero Christmas Special While writing Friendly Neighborhood RM, Yoongi's power seemed kind of lame ngl. But while writing his story, I realized his power is ridiculously overpowered 🥲🥲. And also since we are talking about it, I'm excited for Seokjin and Jimin's Versions (next stories in line for the Super Bangtan Universe) mainly because they are both so full of crack. Seokjin is really a menace with his mindreading powers and shapeshifter Jimin...shapeshifting penises...need I say more lmao. 😳😳😳

HOAL Ch9 which might be coming out sooner than anticipated u.u everyone's sweet comments is really motivating me 😭😭💕💕💕

BV:ITS Ch4 I'm so excited!!! y/n stuck in the middle of two tsunderes Yoongi and Hobi pls, and then add bratty vampire Jimin to the mix...

Go Home, You're Drunk You groan, annoyed. Where did your friends go? WHERE ARE YOU? Everything is muffled, was that a car passing by? Everything is dark and hazy, are you still near the club? These are the questions you should be asking yourself, there should be alarms going off in your head. You should be screaming, crying for help, but you laugh, and laugh, and laugh. “Oof!” Strong arms lift your boneless body up, into his warmth, against his hard frame. Your world tilts and sways and you bury your face in his chest, trying not to throw up. “Who…are…you…” “Your worst nightmare, sweetheart.” “Really, ‘cause you look like youugh belong ina boyband.” A one-shot that I don't know whether to make dark and funny or both 🙃🙃🙃 u know just dealing with ✨trauma✨ in my own fucked to way 🤠

3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year

I wrote a request 🙊🙊 (requests still scare me please don’t ask lolol) and actually was able to come up with something cohesive and sexy if I do say so myself.

I NEVER would have been able to write a story like Your Friendly Neighborhood Superhero, RM before. Twists are hard 🤠

HOAL Ch6 that story was soo difficult to write, but getting through it really helped me with tone, since it was set in ancient Greece I did a lot of research on gods and the time period, added mythology as fun easter eggs, it was one of the first times I felt like my writing was improving.

2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year

I really want to figure out how to improve my blog and create more reader engagement 🙂 if only I knew how 🙃🙃🙃

Come up with more special writing events like my X-mas stories.

number 1 favorite line you’ve written this year

THIS IS TOO HARD. 😖😖😖 This is one of my favorites for sure: You look straight into his soul, see him for who he is, and he sees in your tearful eyes the words left unspoken between you, “I love you.”