#please hire me to write the plot outlines please

[rainsnap]

What I badly want for the next arc is this setup:

This arc ending with:

Frostpaw becomes Froststar, leader of Riverclan

Leaving the clan without a medicine cat that can communicate with Starclan, adding more stress to Froststar.

Sunbeam and Nightheart expecting kits.

So then the POV characters for the next arc are:

Whistlepaw from Windclan

Graypaw from Riverclan (Frostpaw’s brother)

Unnamed Nightbeam kit from Thunderclan

The story would begin as such:

Graypaw and Whistlepaw grow closer together for Not So Forbidden Romance. Whistlepaw, still forbidden because medicine cat. The two want to be together but can’t because med cat relationships still illegal.

Meanwhile unnamed kit has visions of becoming the new Riverclan medicine cat apprentice

Graypaw and Whistlepaw are found out by Froststar, who starts pressuring the clans into changing the medicine cat no romance rule. But no one really wants to listen to her.

Then Harestar dies and Crowfeather becomes Crowstar and that guy immediately allows Whistlepaw and Graypaw to be together and refuses to listen to the other clans, stating that if such a time like this existed for him and Leafpool then there would have been less heartbreak and deaths (Leafpool/Hollyleaf)

—-

SO THEN the story would have an amazing parallel to Moth Flight as a Windclan med cat making the rule and then Whistlepaw being a Windclan med cat breaking it!

[ocularmacdown]

went to ikea today so naturally all i was thinking about was a “the gang goes to ikea episode”…

…except it would more likely be a completely-non-specific-but-ikea-code-home-supplies-store. and it would be a season seven. i’m not sure why i think that - maybe because season seven has so many episodes orientated around the gang as one unit. or maybe because i’m irreparably in love with fat mac. i digress.

it would start out with dee wanting to go alone to get new things for her apartment, but because that means she won’t be at the bar, the rest of the gang get mad at her. then mac says “we’ll if you’re not at the bar and going to the big home supplies store instead, then i’m going to the big home supplies store too”. then charlie does too (because he’s never been, neither has mac), then frank (because charlie wants to go and it’s an opportunity for hijinks), then finally dennis says “goddammit! this is ridiculous, we can’t all go to the big home supplies store!!”

the gang goes to the big home supplies store

dennis wants to go round the store as quickly as possible and leave again, while charlie and frank want to look in every single room set. mac mostly wants to get to the food court (i feel shit typing that tbh but unfortunately i fully believe that’s how season seven max would be in this episode), and of course dee is just trying to shake the rest of the gang off because she “never wanted them all to come along, goddammit!”.

frank and charlie naturally split off pretty quickly and start to play pretend in each of the room sets, falling into a toxic married couple type dynamic - arguments about where frank goes in the evenings, and how the hell is charlie supposed to feed their kids if he spends all his money on booze and broads?? meanwhile, dennis and dee are arguing because dennis thinks she’s taking too long and they should never have come here, and dee is getting increasingly frustrated because that was her intention all along! mac is trailing behind, very obviously bored until he abandons them, unnoticed.

mac finds frank and charlie mid argument in a kitchen set, and instantly gets involved. charlie tries to set him up as the kid - “i mean god, frank, look at our son!! normal kids should be out beating dogs and setting fires, not sitting around inside eating all day!” “i thought you said you didn’t have enough to feed him? look at him, charlie!” - but mac’s having none of that; if he’s a part of the family, he’s not gonna be some dumb kid, he’s gonna be the badass dad that provides for his family and is tough, but of course loves them loads, especially his son even though he never tells him. (charlie pulls a face). but frank reasons that, well, wouldn’t that be kinda gay? frank’s the dad - mac can’t be dad too. after a moment, mac immediately slips into the mother roll, scooping charlie (happy to be the son) under one arm.

elsewhere, dennis now wants to leave the store for a totally different reason - the place is like a maze, there’s too many kids shouting, the lights are unreasonably bright, and jesus christ do the scented candles really have to smell that goddamn strong?! having gotten sick of dennis’s complaining and given up all hope of getting what she wanted, dee is now desperately trying to find the others because “whatever frank and charlie are up to has got to be better than listening to you whining all goddamn day!” dennis - furious but tired at the same time - follows, forlornly trying to point out that if they hadn’t all decided to come this never would have happened (“will you shut up dennis? goddamnit. and it wasn’t my idea for you all to traipse behind me like robin hood and his merry fucking men!”)

they eventually stumble upon the other three in the warehouse downstairs. mac, unable to keep up any semblance of motherly affection or care towards charlie, has quickly fallen into a childlike roll instead, vying for frank’s attention despite charlie not fighting back for it, while charlie is switching between arguing with frank and doting on mac. frank is outright ignoring them, obscenely flirting with a store employee while mac picks fights with charlie.

when dee and dennis arrive, mac turns his aggression towards them instead, and charlie tries to placate him. dee is frustrated beyond belief, snipping at them and bickering cruelly, while dennis sinks into a chair. he interrupts the arguing three by once again trying to point out that if they had all just listened to him, they’d never have come to this godforsaken hellscape, to which mac immediately argues that “hey! frank said we should come here and that it would be fun and it is! we’re having fun! as a family!” “no he didn’t! no he didn’t! i wanted to come here, ALONE, frank has nothing to do with this! charlie was the one who messed things up by coming along too only to run off again.” “oh! oh, i’m sorry!-”

at this point, frank interrupts with a “children!”, the employee disappearing off behind him. at his voice, both dennis and dee instinctively shut up, but so do charlie and mac (who cowers). “will you please keep it down? i got a broad back here with enormous tits and i think im about to get lucky tonight-”

however, then he, too, is interrupted, this time by the appearance of security guards, directed towards him by the employee from before. “oh, shit.” says frank.

WAAAA idk how this ended up so long aha, i was mostly making it up as i went and it just…got out of hand… essentially i really liked the idea of an ikea-like store (ie, a place where you go to literally create a home) being a setting to explore the ways the gang revert to childlike versions of themselves sometimes, especially outside of the bar, and how they adopt frank as a father figure despite him never encouraging it. charlie, normally the most childish of them all, becomes more mothering in response to a childhood spent parenting his own mother, as well as being overwhelmed by unwanted saccharine affection from her; mac is desperate to be the version of his father he convinced himself is real, but instead instantly reverts to a touchy, scared child using anger and aggression to fight instead of flight; dennis tries in vein to seem righteous and intelligent, the omnipotent golden god leader, but instead falls apart the moment the gang becomes out of his control, needing a mother figure to tell him that he’s smart and that he’s right; dee, like charlie, is unable to properly be a child because that was a privilege only dennis got growing up, and is instead forced to be a substitute mother for dennis, making her cruel and snappy in an attempt to shake him off but only making him more desperate for her approval; and of course frank, the cardboard cut out father the others turn to, just as much of a false figure to dennis and dee as to mac and charlie, unpresent and uncaring but better than the alternative - no parental figure at all.

and allll that in some silly philly fun !! idk if that’s what i captured, but that was the intention lol. i’m not rly a writer (as u can probs tell oops), but the idea just grabbed me in is sweaty, clammy hands and shook me like a soggy rag xx

[zzoomacroom]

Retired amnesia Dream + coma Hob for WIP ask game please 🥺🥺🥺

Thank you for the ask! @linzod asked about this one too, and I'm super excited about it! I only have it outlined so far, but I'm hoping to write it once I'm done with the mpreg fic.

So Murphy is just some guy, as far as he knows. He's an artist, and he's kind of a shut-in with no friends and no life to speak of. He starts having really vivid dreams that, unbeknownst to him, are showing him memories of his past life. He also keeps having these recurring dreams where he meets with this guy named Hob who seems really familiar and keeps telling Murphy that he's real, he's been looking for him, he's trapped in the Dreaming and he needs Murphy to find him in the waking world. Murphy doesn't believe any of it, thinks his unconscious mind made the whole thing up, and he's like, "great, I'm so lonely that my sleeping mind made me an imaginary friend." But then he keeps finding clues suggesting that Hob is telling the truth. He goes to the White Horse and, even though it's abandoned and boarded up, he recognizes it from his dreams. He also maybe finds mentions of Hob in historical texts, the drawing of them from the 1789 meeting, etc. So now he understands that it's all true, and he has to find Hob and hopefully regain his memories in the process.

Now I'm going to put what's happening from Hob's perspective under the cut, because it's a plot twist that would be revealed later in the story.

So how did they end up in this situation? Well, after the Wake, Hob became more unhinged than ever and couldn't accept that Dream was dead. So he planned to do a whole "Dream of a Thousand Cats" style thing and have a thousand people dream that Morpheus is alive again. But in order to organize and orchestrate this whole plan, Hob puts himself into a magically induced coma so he can stay in the Dreaming and make sure the plan works. But once it does, he finds himself stuck there. The mysterious and sketchy person he hired to put him into this coma has disappeared, and now he's trapped with no way to wake up. Morpheus keeps finding him when he dreams, so Hob is overjoyed about that but heartbroken that Morpheus doesn't remember him and doesn't believe any of his dreams are real. Eventually, Morpheus finds Hob in the waking world, wakes him up, gets his memories back, and they live happily ever after.

I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that this fic will also feature Death, Delirium, Daniel, Lucienne, Matthew, Johanna Constantine and Mad Hettie.

Hopefully I'll actually be able to get it written before too long 😭

[writingquestionsanswered]

Questions About Beta Readers

Anonymous asked: I want to have beta/sensitivity readers look my story over when it's finished, but I have questions:

[Ask edited for length]

Question #1 - How many beta readers do people usually get? I want to make sure I have a decent sample size of people to look the story over and make sure it makes sense, check for plot holes, etc.

It really depends. Most people do between 2 and 5. Some people go as high as 7 or 8. It also depends on whether you do one round of betas or two.

Question #2 - I was thinking of outlining exactly what I do and do not want before I send it to them. For example, "I want to know what you thought of the plot and whether or not it was easy to follow." Would that kind of thing be okay?

Yep! That's fine and it's actually standard protocol to send along specific questions or guidelines as far as what you're looking for.

Question #3 - Do beta readers also look at scripts, or just novels? My story isn't going to be in a "normal" novel format since it's the script for a comic. Would they still review something in that format, or do I have to find a specific type of beta reader?

You will need to find beta readers specifically for a comic script, but there are lots of people who will do that.

Question #4 - How many sensitivity readers do I need, and how do I know which one I should listen to if they give me conflicting opinions? I'm just worried one will go, "That's problematic and awful, remove it" and the second will go, "That's totally fine, leave it in". Would I need a third one as a tie-breaker?

Sensitivity readers have specific areas of expertise. While some may have multiple areas of expertise, no sensitivity readers specialize in all things. So, the number of sensitivity readers you need depends on how many things you need vetted, and how many it takes to cover it all. For example, let's say you have a Chinese-American character who is bipolar. And let's say their love interest is transmasc and uses a wheelchair. If you are not yourself Chinese-American, bipolar, transmasc, or someone who uses a wheelchair, then you would need sensitivity readers to cover all of those areas. In other words, as many as four, but potentially fewer if you find some who do happen to cover more than one necessary area of expertise.

While there may be some overlap in areas of expertise (like, two sensitivity readers who both specialize in wheelchair use on top of whatever specialty you specifically hired them for), it's pretty unlikely you'll run into conflicting opinions as long as you hire qualified sensitivity readers. In other words, people who have a business where they provide sensitivity reading as a service. This is important because part of their expertise is knowing the nuances of their specialty areas, and being able to separate personal preference from broader guidelines. This cuts down on conflicting opinions, too, when you have experts who overlap.

On the off-chance that you did have two experts with overlapping specialties who gave you conflicting opinions, I think you can ask questions (using the conflicting opinion as a prompt) to get a better understanding of why the person has that position. If you do that with both experts, this may give you enough data to decide which one has the opinion that's more likely to be widely shared. You may also be able to do research on your own to further understand the conflicting opinions.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••��•••••

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

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Well, there go my dreams of writing GMM's next show, since YFind is only open to Thai writers. But I guess the 3 plots I outlined when I heard about the contest can still become novels (super bummed though, @GMMTV hire me, please I'm so serious 😭)

Maybe if I write them and get them translated to Thai, I'll have a chance 😢😢😢

If you're Thai, and reading this and thinking "that would be fun, but I've got no ideas" please message me, we can co-write something beautiful and weird. I just want my original blorbos to exist in the world

[plaguechyld]

Beta & Alpha Reader For Hire

Helping with bsd, kny, hsr and genshin fandom fics and original works.

Please comment or reblog if you want to talk to me about it !

[ Currently... Open ! ]

Alpha Reader Services

I can read your drafts at any time you want.

I'm here to bounce ideas off of and help develop them further!

I work with plot outlining, helping you fix plot holes and enhance your story.

I look at the bigger picture, the whole story and help you make it flow together in an engaging way!

I can help find references (photo and written) if you need them for any reason.

I can help with character design and backstories.

Beta Reader Services

I read your more final drafts whenever you want.

I read your story as your target audience and give you feedback as a reader, not feedback as fellow writer.

I'll tell you how I feel about characters and what I felt while reading.

I'll examine your story in-depth and make sure everything's good to go.

I'm also here to help with formatting, I'll provide insight on whether or not it's easy to look at.

I'll make sure to look through your story for any grammar or spelling errors.

Requirements

Be 18+ if you need help with sexual content within your story. If you're under 18 but still need help with a story that has sexual content i'll work on the sfw bits

Have Discord.

At least mention that you had a beta/alpha reader, you do not need to mention me by name.

Personal

Dark topics are not a trigger for me, so don't worry.

For explicit scenes; I'm not comfortable with watersports, scat or vore. If you have this in your story I'm more than happy to still work on it, I just won't go over those parts.

I have medical issues that cause me chronic pain so please try to understand that I'm not always going to be there at the moment that you call.

I have classes at 10:30-11:25, 2:30-3:25 and 4:00. I have breaks between classes where I'm available and I'm usually completely open after 4:30pm.

I'm on EST.

I normally wake up at around 9:00-9:30 so it's best to catch me after my morning class.

I'll let you know before hand if I'm going to be unavailable for hours time for whatever reason. (hang out, doctors appointment, etc.)

Don't flirt or engage in sexual jokes directed at me, I'm aroace and not comfortable with it.

I'm not comfortable with helping write sexual encounters with minor characters that are aged up and sexualized for the reason of sexual gratification. (this is not the same as the themes of child exploitation or sexual trauma)

[randum-famdoms]

HEY IMPORTANT POST ABOUT MY P5 FANFIC!!!!

It’s a long one so I’m adding a cut for people who don’t read my fic <3

TLDR: do you want a side fic which is a series of one-shots showing an alternate timeline of my main fic which includes the Royal characters Sumire and Maruki?

That fic would not be written for a while, due to time and other factors, but I want to gauge interest early on so I can make an outline

More details below ⬇️

—

So I don’t plan on including the Royal characters or yaldy/god (I don’t feel like googling how to spell his name) in my fic (dw I already have an explanation for the velvet room that doesn’t include the evil god) in my main fic

I have several reasons, but it all boils down to the fact that their storylines don’t fit well with my vision for the fics themes and plot. It would be interesting, but it would feel too much like trying to fit two separate fics together and would end up dragging both sides down and creating a worse overall whole. My fic is primarily about akechi and Akira’s stories, and that story ends at Shido. Adding on anything else would simply not work.

But I LOVE Sumire so so much, and maruki is fine I guess, so I’m debating on whether to include an alt-timeline side fic (wayyyyy down the line when I have time and at least 15 chapters pre written in the main fic) where I include Sumire and maruki. It would be like a one-shot series, since if I wrote a whole ass fix it would A) be way too fucking long, and B) really boring because not much would change between it and the main fic

I’d either post it all consecutively over a few weeks, or a new chapter alongside whatever chapter in the main fic lines up with the alt chapter in the timeline.

Also don’t plan on including yaldy except if it’s super vague and I don’t include the fight scene cause I think it’s boring and I hate writing fight scenes anyway.

To give an idea about what the fic would look like, here’s some ideas I’ve come up with for one shots in the side fic below:

—

Maruki’s dream lives for the mains (aka the canon PTs + Sumire + Mishima

maruki’s dream-verse waking up scenes

How Sumire meets akira and Mishima and they be fired her and introduce her to akechi and they become a big depressed dysfunctional family

Sumire persona awakening (it’d be different from canon)

Sumire being a sort of work-for-hire persona user that works with the main trio when they need more hands, but who doesn’t usually work with them since she’s so busy

Sumire accidentally being adopted by akechi and futaba as a third sibling (none of them are happy about it except Sumire even tho she’s not the one that instigated this dynamic)

Sumire becoming good friends with ryuji and shiho because she’s just so much fun to work out with and she makes the physical therapy tolerable (this ends up making her Ann’s favourite [after shiho of course])

Futaba high-key judging maruki because she remembers enough from her mom to know that he is NOT a qualified person to be talking about psychology, not to mention working with children as a therapist

Maruki tells Mishima to get more sleep and Mishima is soooo offended by that, and then after the dream-verse is even more offended because HELL FUCKING NO HE DOESNT WANT WHATEVER SLEEP THIS CREEP IS TRYING TO SELL HIM

—

I’ll include a shorter version of this post in the end notes of the upcoming chapter alongside a link to this post, but please let me know if you want to see this fic become a real thing.

Regardless it’ll be a WHILE, I’m already super busy and adding a whole new fic on top of that will be a big deal, and I haven’t even got an outline yet plus most of these one shots would take place a whiles a way down the timeline and I’d rather have a grasp on what that would look like in the main fic before I add a second layer of canon divergence on top of that.

Anyway sorry for the long post, love y’all!

[chocolatepot]

Oh no! There are too many things I want to hear about on your WIP list! How's a girl to choose? Answer: She will NOT. I will ask for MULTIPLES and you will answer or not as you see fit! Please: I Saw You And Sealed My Fate (always thirsty for more of this!) Let Me Entertain You AITA for hiring an escort for an office party as revenge? Dirty Rotten Scoundrels AU (need more of this like burning)

And now I will stop being greedy.

Yes yes yes! I want to talk about all of them!

So, most recent chapter of ISYASMF went up recently - only two left. I haven't started on chapter four yet, but the outline calls for MOAR ANGST: Stede has only just realized he's in love with Ed, and he's never been in love with anyone before but now is in an extremely complicated situation, while Ed is now actively breaking away from RangerCorp and so in his own precarious situation.

Let Me Entertain You is going to be posted tomorrow, so I won't say too much, but - it is a genderbend AU. It is a burlesque AU. It is a late 1920s AU. It is also a bit steamy.

AITA for hiring an escort - to be posted on the 26th! Like the one I posted the other day, it's based on an AITA post ... although the post turned out to be guerrilla marketing for a romance novel. I didn't realize this until after it was basically done and I do feel slightly plagiaristic (I don't know that I'd have saved it in my prompt bank tag if I'd known it was the plot of someone else's story) but, well, that's what happens when you market your book that way. But it's written as Stede's diary and I think it's really cute.

I hope to get back to the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels AU when I finish I Saw You - it's a similarly long story I have outlined but not as much of a fire to write as Prisons or deranged fem!Stizzy. (Because it has an actual plot instead of severe emotional damage.) I will give you the next chunk of outline:

Ed and Izzy talk, Ed says they’re going to let Stede take the blame for whatever they do there (Ed) They take a train somewhere and Stede learns some basic grifts – coin-matching game and melon drop (Stede) They go to a tailor and get Ed some suits (Ed) Montage of lessons and then they start The Con (Stede) Badmintons turn up at the resort, Stede confesses his situation to Ed, Ed tells Izzy it’s all off, Izzy leaves (Ed)

[umbracirrus]

HEHEHE A, K, Q, AND S for the ask game please!!

Thank you!!! 😊

A: How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?

I think that I'll answer this for my two posted fics about Elyse hehe.

The Perfect Storm - the plot in very simple terms is 'poor Elyse aand Balgruuf keep having all sorts of stuff getting stirred up, and they are going to come out of it in one of two ways: worn down and ruined, or stronger than ever having withstood the storm'. In hindsight that would've been an awesome description with a little tweaking of the wording.

Seeking the Sun - I liked the weather motif which I have established with The Perfect Storm, and had not long been listening to the Fire Emblem Three Houses soundtrack. The main theme started playing, and the lyrics 'I look to you like a red rose seeking the sun no matter where it goes' kind of just stuck with me. It also fits quite nicely with the general plot, in that Elyse has just moved to Skyrim to find a new happiness in her life after the losses of her parents.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Ohhh that is absolutely the post-Oblivion main quest story which I have kind of on the backburner that I started writing a few months back based around one of my Heroes of Kvatch, Aelia.

In short, she and Martin fall for each other, they promise to get married once the Oblivion crisis is over, and then he goes and sacrifices himself. She's overcome with grief, refuses to leave Cloud Haven Temple... then makes an unfortunate discovery that Martin wouldn't have been the last of the Septim line, because she was pregnant with his child. And that leads to a long, spiralling path into the madness which results in her ending up as Sheogorath.

Q: Do you have any discarded scenes/storylines/projects?

Hmmm, I do have a storyline which I'm not certain if I have discarded yet, but had been toying around with the idea of...

An arranged marriage between the Thieves Guild guildmaster Dragonborn, and Hemming Black-Briar, which comes about as a form of... insurance to keep the guild firmly in Maven's hands once the guild starts trying to distance itself from her manipulations. It gets forced into place by Hemming hiring people to sabotage the guild, and then placing the idea into Maven's head so that he could 'have' the Dragonborn, though the Dragonborn was actually in a relationship with one of Brynjolf or Karliah when it comes to pass.

I did have a plot point written down in the first outlines for The Perfect Storm which has since been discarded in favour of something else, and funnily enough, it also has to do with Riften. Elyse and Balgruuf were originally going to get married in secret at the Temple of Mara if anything to give Elyse greater securities that could only really be afforded to Jarls and their families, as well as to give her some breathing room from everything going on... but it ended up very badly timed, as Ulfric just so happened to be visiting Riften on official Stormcloak business with Jarl Laila. I've since remembered that Season Unending was a Thing, and Riften is now in Imperial hands in the fic so I scrapped that idea in favour of another.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

I certainly have a few. There was only one bed is definitely one of them, as is pretend relationships that become real ones. As is enemies to lovers, there's all sorts of flavours to that! I mean, Elyse's parents theoretically are an enemies to lovers couple, in that Ingja perceived Edwyn as an enemy, her being a resident of Winterhold and him being a member of the College and her blaming him and the College for Winterhold falling apart.

I also love some AUs, specifically ones which have just a slight twist to what is typical. For example, a few weeks back in September/October, I was very into the concept of 'what if Balgruuf was a vampire' AU. Still not finished that. Maybe for next halloween... I also like the thought of 'what if they weren't Dragonborn/didn't find out that they were Dragonborn' AUs for my Dragonborn characters.

[brucequeensteen]

9, 11, 19, 21 :))

HI RYAN sorry thisbgot long but. :3

9. what’s a series or franchise you secretly or not so secretly think you’d be, like, a REALLY good writers for if they’d stop being cowards and hire you already?

okay the obvious answer is supernatural. i haven't had intense spn thoughts in months which is a good thing and a sign of healing but I know in my heart that I could fix that show I would treat it so well id be so good to it. Uhmm anyway. i also believe i would be an asset to the stranger things writing team because i loved it back in season 1 but now I have a very VERY mixed relationship with it (mostly including hatred and regret) but I could fix it i could fix them. Anyway.

11. if you currently write fanfiction or have ever written fanfiction, please tell us about the plot of the first fic you ever wrote

this is a difficult question because i genuinely don't know what the first fic i ever wrote was.... it was either marvel or harry potter sorry everyone. they were both when I was around 8 years old i just dont know which STARTED first. the harry potter one was basically just me making a bunch of ocs and putting them into the world with a new original villain. it was pretty good, considering, like 8 Yr old me did some in depth character development and I still have the notebook I used to outline chapters and write down songs that made me think of certain characters or stuff like that. and tge marvel thing was something I wrote with my cousin where we made a bunch of our own superheroes and villains that teamed up with the avengers and it was basically (comics universe) infinity war but to the left. notable heroes included Vortex who wore a suit that looks like the guys from Daft Punk and can create mini black holes out of thin air, and Jaguar who was basically my mini wolverine but she was also an acrobat. so yeah. My cousin had a guy called Dr Emoji who drove the emojibile and created little minions modeled after emoji faces and they basically fought for him. Me and my cousin are both autistic btw

19. what’s something neat you’ve learned while doing research for something you were writing? also, how much do you worry about doing research in general?

UHHMMMM i don't know i can't remember nothing comes to mind. i know things. I learn things. but I can't tell u something i learned specifically while researching for a writing project. I'm most likely to remember at a random moment when it isn't important or relevant sorry ry :') um and I've never written anything that required a ton of research, but i do it for everything I write, even for small things, and not always on a huge scale. does this make sense. research is important but i don't regard it as SUPER important . Depending on what ur writing.

21. BIG ask: what do you think is the most important component of a good story?

gay sex . no im kidding. its hard to pick just 1 thing but if i must say there are 2 components that are important to ME personally:

1) complex characters that are memorable, whether they are loved or hated, characters that make you feel things and even if you aren't rooting for them you still care to see what happens to them

2) funny stuff like genuinely intelligent comedy even if it's a super duper serious and dark story if there aren't tiny moments of light and humour then. Well then I don't like it that much lol. im not saying cringey worthless one liners or even full on jokes because those are often out of place and weird, but something that's enough to make you smile or exhale through your nose, that helps you connect to the story more

[nobodysdaydreams]

NEVER! /lh /affectionate

Well Sophie, it's the end of an era. First of all: THANK YOU. SOS would probably not have gotten finished without your encouragement and support so everyone please give Sophie a big thank you.

As for sequels, I'm sorry but outline is the WORST and there is a lot of plot to keep track of and remember. It's really a complicated puzzle game of where I want to put all my one shots as I weave them together. But if I ever get it together... man do I have some fun stuff to show you guys.

Now, onto your amazing notes!

Mamma Mia fills you with doom? It's a very cheerful song!

"Poor Nerissa. She’s trying so hard and she’s doing so much worse than Nathaniel"

^Worse? I mean, she kidnapped a family member, but she never tried to take over the world. So...she's got that going for her! :)

"SQ choosing not to eat all of the food is such a small defiance, but such a great one. It’s a really clever way to show how he feels about the situation And, of course, the terrible singing and dancing is what convinces SQ. I want to see all of the Benedict siblings dance now"

^I'm glad you liked that choice! And trust me...it's quite a lot to see them all dancing and singing together.

"I love that “She borrowed the identity of an old artist friend she hadn’t seen or spoken to in years and used her psychic powers to convince the hiring committee at a major university to let her teach an art history class and make the class a mandatory requirement for all incoming art majors and have it fulfill the school’s general education fine arts requirement (just in case her nephew decided to change majors)” is a single sentence. It just adds to the single-breath, maniacal rambling feel of Nerissa’s inner monologue"

^Her inner monologue really is a cheerful ramble. Well, most of the time...

"Oh, Nerissa. You can’t just tell people everything they do is perfect. That’s not how a relationship grows, or even functions. The lack of self-awareness in her perspective is both gorgeously written and utterly heartbreaking. She probably hasn’t had a single person in her life to learn healthy coping mechanisms or relationships from. I never thought you’d show us someone who was worse than Natheniel, but she’s giving him a run for his money"

^Nerissa is complicated. I don't wanna spoil too much, but she does have (1) positive relationship in her life, but it takes a lot of compartmentalization for her to achieve that. This is mostly due to the fact that while she had some very unhealthy role models in her life, she had some positive ones too (that are sadly no longer around), but she draws a lot from both of those sources.

"I still can’t get over how you keep throwing in references to “the magic of ABBA”, it makes me stop and laugh every time. Dangit, Bods, I’m trying to be serious! /lh"

^The wonderful Crangst (Crack/Angst) strikes again!

““That was acting, dear, it’s not the same as lying,” Nerissa informed him calmly” NERISSA / SOMEONE HELP THIS WOMAN PLEASE TAKE HER TO THERAPY A COUNSELLOR JUST EVEN A REGULAR OLD PERSON SHE CAN TALK TO AND LEARN MORALS FROM /Oh, I just want to give her the biggest hug, even though she’d probably hate it and zap me with her psychic powers

^I'm so glad you love Nerissa. I'm nervous whenever I introduce a new plot point or character or OC, and I'm so happy she's going over well. But you are wrong about her here. She would love your hug. She just won't feel comfortable giving you one. You'll understand why later. :)

"Nerissa is just as scared as Nathaniel, probably more so because she has a somewhat(?) concrete concept of the Bad Thing she’s scared of in a way he doesn’t / I wish she didn’t have to be so afraid, it makes me so sad…"

^Me too. And only I know why, which is why I really hope I can get it together to write sequels.

"SHE’S SO SHOCKED. SHE REALLY DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING ON AND WHY SQ’S UPSET. GRRRRRRRR I WISH I COULD MAGICALLY BE A PART OF THE STORY AND MEDIATE FOR THEM"

^Shall I write you into the story as the family therapist? /lh /j

"Violet mention!!! Violet mention!!!"

^I do look forward to dropping lore on this...

I appreciate the phrasing of “they catered to (for lack of a better or more appropriate terminology in SQ’s vocabulary and experience) “addicts and crazy people””

^Thank you. I wanted to strongly and clearly hint at Garrison and the fact that Nerissa has serious issues without SQ sounding judgmental or ableist. This seemed like the best way to do it.

"Now, I have to admit, I was completely blindsided by the Psychic SQ bit. I don’t know how I missed it, but I about exploded when I reached this part"

^It's okay. I'm weaving like 50 plot lines and twists together, you couldn't possibly catch every single one. I'm sorry, it's just something my brain does.

"I’m getting really concerned about this… “facility” and how it operated / These voices are so scary, I can see how she’s overwhelmed and confused. That would petrify me"

^Trust me. If I am able to write ALL my planned (but not outlined) SOS sequels, there will be an entire fic dedicated to the facility.

"See, you keep having Nerissa do these crazy things that are hurting other people but then she just feels like a scared child who’s lashing out irrationally because there’s no one there to help her. I’m not saying I’m upset; it’s phenomenal writing. It just makes me sad"

^A scared child is the perfect way to describe her.

"And of course, SQ has a completely different context for what’s going on / He’s just feeling completely betrayed by, like, every adult ever /Poor kiddo" /“He supposed his inability to stop caring was always going to be his most troublesome quality”

^That's what I love about SQ. He has every reason to be angry, to feel betrayed, to not forgive, to be bitter, and yet he still cares. He views it as a weakness, but its not. He's the best.

SCREAMING CRYING WAILING / Your carpet tacks are MINE

^If that's the price I pay for reactions like this, it's a price I'll gladly pay!

"I have SO MANY questions about why the code was 1-2-3-4. Was she oversimplifying it because she figured everyone else would overthink it? Was she trying to teach SQ how to use his intuition to guess something easy? Did she forget to change the default when she bought it from her evil lockmaker? SO MANY QUESTIONS"

^Ah yes. The room. The code being simple is one thing, but ask yourself this Sophie: why is the lock on the inside of the door in the first place? Now there's the real question.

I feel like maybe the buzzing was supposed to protect SQ from whatever Nerissa had going on? I’m not sure, but I’m very curious

^Alright, now you're starting to get it... :)

And he’s scared! Of course he’s scared, but he doesn’t have anyone to help or comfort him. And he’s still just a kid :( 

^SQ is 18 (technically). He's young and sheltered, but he's legally an adult.

“No…this had to be some sort of mistake…this…this couldn’t be because of her!” / I am thinking there is something else going on here. I don’t know what, you probably have the proper psychology words for it, Bods, but there’s a distinct reason she’s reacting this way. Maybe denial? Like, grief?

^I mean...idk if it was clear enough in the text but um... Nerissa has done something like this before...(you can DM me on discord if you have further questions)

Secret doors! They all have a thing about hidden passageways, don’t they? / WHOO

^Indeed they do. The Benedict siblings are sort of enemies, very traumatized, but sometimes you just look at the things they do and realize "my gosh they really are siblings aren't they"

Time for the next chapter, which I have not read yet!! I’m really excited / Like. You would not BELIEVE how much I have been looking forward to this

^And you would not believe how much I have been looking forward to your reaction!!!! :)

How long have they been playing to have completed one hundred and eighty-four games of chess? Is Crawlings just really, really bad at chess?

^Crawlings is horrible and Sharp is really good. In my fic, Sharp is basically if Sticky grew into a super toxic adult.

Oh no. I remember the meme about this. How could you use the white knight lesson with the Ten Men???? GAH! Jail, jail for Bods for one thousand years!!! /j

^Jail? Oh no. NOT JAIL! Sophie, please. I follow the law. I just did my taxes. I'm a good citizen. Don't send me to the hole! /lh /j

I actually made the stupidest little laugh sound when I read Sharpe implying that Crawlings has an imaginary girlfriend. That’s such goofy, juvenile humour. What are they doing ajsdgjhsd? /I guess if all their games are that fast I could see how they’ve played that many already

^Yeah they do go pretty fast. And they are pretty juvenile.

WAIT. WAIT, DID KATE’S MOM USED TO BE AN AGENT TOO?? BODS GET BACK HERE I DEMAND ANSWERS

^Okay. Yes she was. No, Curtain didn't know about it. Yes, the Wetheralls took vacation time on his dime to go on secret missions (since he was their friend he gave them generous employee benefits). Reread the text if you want to speculate on some more stuff :)

““To meet a higher caliber of women?” suggested Sharpe, looking up at the screen at Dipika” / Actually, kind of funny. Still want to punch him, though

^Don't worry, he gets punched a lot.

BITING BITING BITING / I HAVE NO NOTES / I AM OUT OF NOTES / I AM JUST FERAL AND ON THE GROUND / ASGHHHGHSUUASDGUDJKGJKGSDJDSGJJSKDKSDGKJHSDKJ / BODS, you GENIUS. You MASTERMIND, you VILLAIN. /I HAVE SO MUCH MORE I WANT TO KNOW!!!!!

^AND I HAVE SO MUCH MORE I WANT TO SHOW YOU BUT MY STUPID BRAIN WON'T COOPERATE BUT IF IT DOES BOY OH BOY ARE YOU IN FOR A RIDE LET ME TELL YOU

I mean, spectacular job, as always. You are really just so talented at writing, and I love that I get to read your work. Thank you so very much for sharing it. I am now going to go lay down and let the grass consume me. Farewell.

^And I am going to look over my fic drafts because these motivate me to write so much. Thank you a million times over my friend. You are the best!

@nobodysdaydreams GET OVER HERE AND ANSWER FOR YOUR CRIMES

The lyrics filled me with such a sense of impending doom asdfjdsfj

Poor Nerissa. She’s trying so hard and she’s doing so much worse than Nathaniel

SQ choosing not to eat all of the food is such a small defiance, but such a great one. It’s a really clever way to show how he feels about the situation

And, of course, the terrible singing and dancing is what convinces SQ. I want to see all of the Benedict siblings dance now

I love that “She borrowed the identity of an old artist friend she hadn’t seen or spoken to in years and used her psychic powers to convince the hiring committee at a major university to let her teach an art history class and make the class a mandatory requirement for all incoming art majors and have it fulfill the school’s general education fine arts requirement (just in case her nephew decided to change majors)” is a single sentence. It just adds to the single-breath, maniacal rambling feel of Nerissa’s inner monologue

Devin /derogatory

Oh, Nerissa. You can’t just tell people everything they do is perfect. That’s not how a relationship grows, or even functions. The lack of self-awareness in her perspective is both gorgeously written and utterly heartbreaking. She probably hasn’t had a single person in her life to learn healthy coping mechanisms or relationships from. I never thought you’d show us someone who was worse than Natheniel, but she’s giving him a run for his money

I still can’t get over how you keep throwing in references to “the magic of ABBA”, it makes me stop and laugh every time. Dangit, Bods, I’m trying to be serious! /lh

““That was acting, dear, it’s not the same as lying,” Nerissa informed him calmly”

NERISSA

SOMEONE HELP THIS WOMAN PLEASE TAKE HER TO THERAPY A COUNSELLOR JUST EVEN A REGULAR OLD PERSON SHE CAN TALK TO AND LEARN MORALS FROM

Oh, I just want to give her the biggest hug, even though she’d probably hate it and zap me with her psychic powers

Nerissa is just as scared as Nathaniel, probably more so because she has a somewhat(?) concrete concept of the Bad Thing she’s scared of in a way he doesn’t

I wish she didn’t have to be so afraid, it makes me so sad…

SHE’S SO SHOCKED. SHE REALLY DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING ON AND WHY SQ’S UPSET. GRRRRRRRR I WISH I COULD MAGICALLY BE A PART OF THE STORY AND MEDIATE FOR THEM

Violet mention!!! Violet mention!!!

I appreciate the phrasing of “they catered to (for lack of a better or more appropriate terminology in SQ’s vocabulary and experience) “addicts and crazy people””

Now, I have to admit, I was completely blindsided by the Psychic SQ bit. I don’t know how I missed it, but I about exploded when I reached this part

I’m getting really concerned about this… “facility” and how it operated

These voices are so scary, I can see how she’s overwhelmed and confused. That would petrify me

See, you keep having Nerissa do these crazy things that are hurting other people but then she just feels like a scared child who’s lashing out irrationally because there’s no one there to help her. I’m not saying I’m upset; it’s phenomenal writing. It just makes me sad

And of course, SQ has a completely different context for what’s going on

He’s just feeling completely betrayed by, like, every adult ever

Poor kiddo

“He supposed his inability to stop caring was always going to be his most troublesome quality”

SCREAMING CRYING WAILING

Your carpet tacks are MINE

I have SO MANY questions about why the code was 1-2-3-4. Was she oversimplifying it because she figured everyone else would overthink it? Was she trying to teach SQ how to use his intuition to guess something easy? Did she forget to change the default when she bought it from her evil lockmaker? SO MANY QUESTIONS

I feel like maybe the buzzing was supposed to protect SQ from whatever Nerissa had going on? I’m not sure, but I’m very curious

And he’s scared! Of course he’s scared, but he doesn’t have anyone to help or comfort him. And he’s still just a kid :( 

“No…this had to be some sort of mistake…this…this couldn’t be because of her!”

I am thinking there is something else going on here. I don’t know what, you probably have the proper psychology words for it, Bods, but there’s a distinct reason she’s reacting this way. Maybe denial? Like, grief?

Secret doors! They all have a thing about hidden passageways, don’t they?

WHOO

Time for the next chapter, which I have not read yet!! I’m really excited

Like. You would not BELIEVE how much I have been looking forward to this

How long have they been playing to have completed one hundred and eighty-four games of chess? Is Crawlings just really, really bad at chess?

Oh no. I remember the meme about this. How could you use the white knight lesson with the Ten Men???? GAH! Jail, jail for Bods for one thousand years!!! /j

I actually made the stupidest little laugh sound when I read Sharpe implying that Crawlings has an imaginary girlfriend. That’s such goofy, juvenile humour. What are they doing ajsdgjhsd?

I guess if all their games are that fast I could see how they’ve played that many already

WAIT. WAIT, DID KATE’S MOM USED TO BE AN AGENT TOO?? BODS GET BACK HERE I DEMAND ANSWERS

““To meet a higher caliber of women?” suggested Sharpe, looking up at the screen at Dipika”

Actually, kind of funny. Still want to punch him, though

BITING BITING BITING

I HAVE NO NOTES

I AM OUT OF NOTES

I AM JUST FERAL AND ON THE GROUND

ASGHHHGHSUUASDGUDJKGJKGSDJDSGJJSKDKSDGKJHSDKJ

BODS, you GENIUS. You MASTERMIND, you VILLAIN.

I HAVE SO MUCH MORE I WANT TO KNOW!!!!!

I mean, spectacular job, as always. You are really just so talented at writing, and I love that I get to read your work. Thank you so very much for sharing it. I am now going to go lay down and let the grass consume me. Farewell.

[themirokai]

When Mystrade Met Rinch

Ok so @ambi-apocalypse got me to watch Person of Interest, and apparently I've now gotten @musicismagic-writes to watch it. And previously the ship that the three of us had in common was Mystrade. So this Mystrade to Rinch party gave me crossover thoughts, but those crossover thoughts would be a much more ambitious story than I'm actually ever going to write, so I figured I'd just post my plot bunny/outline here. If anyone wants to adopt this and actually write it into a story, have at it, but please let me know if you post it!

Most of it under the cut cause it's kinda long...

Finch and Reese are working a number and figure out that the dude is a freelance assassin. He’s clearly the perp but for some reason they’re not able to take him out, so they’re trying to figure out who his next target is.

Mycroft is in New York for a meeting at the UN. Greg, his husband, has decided to tag along and make a holiday of it.

Reese figures out that Assassin is surveilling this tall British dude with fancy suits and an umbrella. Reese suggests that Finch should talk to him about vests in order to get close to him. Finch informs Reese that the gentleman is wearing a waistcoat, not a vest. “When the garment is the third part of a three-piece suit it is referred to as a waistcoat.”

“See?” Reese says, “you can talk to him about fancy clothes stuff and then casually work your way around to why he’s being stalked by an assassin.”

After some digital digging…

“Ah, there he is,” Finch says. “His name is Mycroft Holmes. Looks like he’s a bureaucrat in the Department for Transportation.”

“That doesn’t add up, Finch. What’s a small time transportation guy doing at the UN? And he looks like his clothing budget rivals yours.”

“Maybe civil servants are better compensated across the pond? Or maybe he has inherited wealth?”

“Can’t you find out?”

“No. He’s remarkably off the grid.”

Reese realizes that Mycroft has a badass security detail. So what’s a well-dressed mid-level bureaucrat doing at the UN protected by a security detail? And why would the Machine give them the number of an assassin who’s trying to kill him if that security detail was up to the challenge? Something something, they figure out that the Assassin or whoever hired him has bribed/infiltrated/compromised/whatever the security detail.

Reese goes in. POW POW fight scene. Reese incapacitates like 3 dudes who were protecting Mycroft. So that leaves Mycroft and Greg.

“Listen to me very carefully,” Mycroft says, making eye contact with Reese, “there are 4 things this could be about. None of them require my husband’s involvement. You will let him go at once -“

“Sod off, Mycroft, I’m not leaving you!”

“But,” Mycroft continues, ignoring Greg, “if you harm a single hair on his head,” here he draws the sword from his umbrella, “I will open you from chin to groin.”

“Mr. Holmes I promise you I will - is that a sword?”

“A sharp one. And I assure you that I am quite good with it.”

“Did you pull it out of an umbrella?”

Mycroft barely restrains his eye roll. “Do keep up.” He turns to Greg. “Gregory, kindly go and phone Anthea and give her code gamma orange 6.”

Reese convinces Mycroft that his security was compromised by Assassin. Reese is happy to let Greg go but wants to protect both of them and cautions them against making any phone calls that could tip Assassin off.

Mycroft digests all this and then tells Reese that he wants to talk to the person in Reese’s ear. Finch agrees and they get on the phone.

“Everyone in your government is too frightened of me - appropriately - to try anything like this,” Mycroft starts off. “Your associate is former CIA but has left that employment and now has a wealthy benefactor. Your operation is quite small and so it stands to reason that the wealthy benefactor is also the person calling the shots. Who are you?”

“I’m someone with accurate information and a desire to use it to prevent harm, Mr. Holmes.”

They talk. Game recognizes game. Mycroft knows that the Americans wanted the Machine after 9/11 and has now deduced that they have it and Finch has access to it. Mycroft decides he can trust Finch and Reese and lets Reese take them to a safe house while they wait for Anthea to assemble and send a clean security detail. Reese asks if they’re sure Anthea hasn’t been compromised. Greg laughs a lot.

On the way to the safe house…

“So about that umbrella,” Reese says, looking at Mycroft in the rear view mirror. Mycroft raises an eyebrow in response. “Can anyone buy one or is it an MI6 thing?”

“If Gregory and I make it out of this situation unharmed, I would be happy to contact the purveyor on your behalf, Mr. Reese. Though I will say that this sort of weapon doesn’t seem your style.”

“Oh, it wouldn’t be for me,” Reese says with a smile. He touches his ear. “I know what I’m getting you for Christmas, Finch.”

“Mr. Reese-“

“It’s a weapon that isn’t a gun and doesn’t need to be walked!”

“Actually, it’s also a gun,” Mycroft says.

“Shh, he doesn’t like guns.”

“Walked?” Greg asks.

“Already got him a dog. But sometimes the dog is with me.”

They get to the safe house but Greg and Reese are both restless. Making sure Mycroft is safe is good, but actually stopping Assassin would be better. Greg wants to use himself as bait to lure out Assassin, then have Reese get him. Mycroft Does Not Approve. Finch trusts Reese’s judgment. Reese calls in Carter for backup. Carter and Greg hit it off immediately. Mycroft recognizes Carter as a consummate professional who has - in his opinion - a more appropriate level of risk tolerance than Greg or Reese. He, still grudgingly, gives his approval for the Greg as Bait plan.

The plan works! Assassin is captured. Reese says he can take Assassin to a Mexican prison. Mycroft has other plans that involve an inescapable prison on an island. Anthea’s team arrives and takes custody of Assassin for transport to Sherrinford.

Finch and Mycroft have a conversation. Finch is concerned that someone with Mycroft’s position and resources knows about them and the Machine and his access to it (however limited). Finch is worried that Mycroft is going to want a version of the Machine for London. Mycroft assures Finch that while he respects what Finch has accomplished, the Machine is not his style and he prefers getting his intelligence the old fashioned way. He also has no intention of compromising Finch and Reese, but he would like to be able to call them up from time to time. Finch agrees as long as he can call Mycroft when needed. Greg tells Carter that if she ever wants to move to London, he’s got a spot for her at the Met.

They part ways amicably… until next time.

[lovelyylittleladyy]

Verity by Colleen Hoover

****THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS****

Description: “Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author, Verity Crawford, has hired Lowan to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford’s home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. what Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office isn’t unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of the night her family was forever altered.”

Number of Pages: 336

Release Date: October 5, 2021

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Rating: 10/10

TW: death, drowning, abortion, birth, car accidents, blood, child violence, murder, and sex.

My thought process during this book:

😃🤗😦🤔😤🤭🫣🥵🫠😱😱😱😱🤬😭

This one is killer. It met all of my needs: suspenseful, dark and disturbing, romance, and thrilling. I actually did not expect this one to be as good as it was. This book was FUCKED UP from beginning to end. I absolutely loved it.

I really hated seeing the negative reviews on this one because I genuinely thought it was an easy read. It kept me on my toes the entire time. Hell, even I was scared of Verity. It wasn't predictable. The plot twists were HUGE, especially the ending.

Compared to Ugly Love, this book was much better.

There were a few things I hated though.

Verity's letter at the end. In all honesty, I thought it was way longer than it should've been. I also believe that it was very manipulating toward Jermey, trying to blame him for everything that happened. Maybe Verity, at first, was trying to be creative with her writing, but I think she got caught up in her own mind and characters and did what she had to, to get Jeremy's attention. I think she is 100% psychotic. If Jeremy had actually attempted to kill her before the accident, why did she pretend the entire time? Even if he did, he was hurt. I get he shouldn't have tried killing her but put yourself in his shoes. Why didn't she go to the police if she was so scared of him with Crew? I understand loving someone even after they try to hurt you (for good reason) but pretending to be hurt, lying, manipulating, it was too much and it's disgusting. Plus, if she was exaggerating the entire manuscript, how do you explain the attempted abortion scar on Chastin's face? Her accusations don't add up at all. I get wanting to be creative with her writing and putting herself in her character's mind but that is extensive, wow. I hated her.

All in all, great book. I definitely recommend it. I saw that there was an exclusive chapter coming out soon and I will be reading it.

If you have any recommendations for books that are similar to Verity, please comment below!

As always, read well lovelies :)

[essektheylyss]

Hiya Megs! 19, 24 and/or 36 for the weird writing ask game? 💜

Hiya Jess! Oh man, these are some meaty ones haha, this got longer than anticipated:

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

This is a joke but it is also 100% true: 9/11 is the reason I'm a writer. One of the first grade teachers was in the reserves, got called for duty the week after, and a sub replaced her for the rest of that year. That sub was so great that she then got hired as the third grade teacher whose class I was in. The way she structured her writing lessons was that we had a certain number of assignments every month in specific formats (news reports, magazine articles, poems, short stories, essays), and then you got to pick whatever other formats you wanted to write, and we got an hour a day to write whichever we felt like working on at the time. You had to do the assigned ones for the month of course, but there were no requirements for subjects and you got to pick whatever else you wanted. Genuinely the best writing class I have ever been in, and I have a writing degree. (Thinking about it, this might be why I'm so prone to format hopping, lol.)

I think it's going well! I've got a poem being published this summer! I have a short story in second round consideration right now (fingers crossed lol)! I finished edits on an essay last week! I should definitely be working on a book! I did spend a long time thinking I was only going to be able to work in one format or genre and I've recently been more hopeful that that won't be the case, which is very exciting.

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

I don't do a ton of prep, but I need a general guide to follow, and I can't start writing unless I have the major plot beats plotted out. I tend to fall back on my tv writing training in that I lay out where the largest beats are based on a loose act structure, and then do more specific scene outlines once I get to the next section. (So for example, I started the tiefic with the rough end of each set of 5 chapters planned, and have then nailed down what's in each more as I've gotten to them.) If I try to do more outline than that, I will feel too constricted and get irritated.

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice…what do you Know?

Please see the aforementioned writing degree; I don't know anything.

In all seriousness, I have taken a pretty extreme 'jack of all trades, master of none' approach to life, so I've studied and read a lot of different fields and I'm decent at noticing how things fit together enough that I'm real good at faking it. I think it helps that I love listening to people talk about stuff they're very knowledgeable in, and I believe that if someone's taking the time to explain something, the least I can do is make sure I've understood what they want me to take away from it.

[supernovadragoncat]

Hello!!! okay??

I want to say that I admire you soooo, your writing is wonderful, I loved Thunderstruck, the rock in roll footprint was amazing and super sexy (I don’t forget the lmao R scene) being an 80s fanfic just improved the plot. God and Monsters it's beautiful, but I'm still reading ... But by far the one I loved the most was Tuesday Gone. HOOOOOOOOOLY SHIIIIIIIIITTT !! THAT WAS ICONIC, MEMORABLE AND TIMELY !!!!! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THIS IS AMONG THREE, MAXIMUM FIVE, OF THE BEST FANFICS I HAVE READ, AND NOT JUST SANSAN FANFICS, I SAY ALL OF THE FANFICS I HAVE READ !!!! I can't even say what my favorite moments are because from beginning to end it's perfect, you wrote something perfect, completely without defects, there is no more to say ...

But I really have a serious question ... Do you have a prediction of when Spellbound will end ?? I don't want to put pressure on you, please take your time! But... I can't really enjoy an unfinished reading, because I end up forgetting the characters, characters, the events, I'm losing myself too much, ugh ... And I'm so in love with yours description, I need Detective Clegane on my table yesterday, so sexy ... Man, your Sandor from Tuesday Gone is so sensual, like, if I sat on it, only a crane could get me off. And I can hear the crane talking "this is going to be a challenge" Lmao

But going back to Spellbound, do you have any predictions? One year, two? But again, don't feel pressured, you are my favorite SanSan writer, and I will look forward to the time.

Aah and I apologize if you didn't understand something, I'm Latin and I'm not fluent in English

Xoxo

Oh my sweet LAWD! Okay, so I’m routinely blown away by how wonderfully kind and gracious people in this fandom are with me. Like, truly and utterly, blown away. Y’ALL ARE SO NICE!!!!! 

AND THIS! THIS is above and beyond. Seriously, you have no idea how much this means to me. It absolutely sends me to outer space with sheer, bewildered delight! I AM SWIMMING IN THE JOY YOU’VE BROUGHT ME! 

First and foremost, I cannot thank you enough for not only reading my stories, but taking the time to leave a note and letting me know what they mean to you. 

I AM BLUSHING SO HARD, THOUGH! GOD! I’m truly speechless and will cobble together some words, but I’m sure they’ll fail me because...WOW! 

Tuesday’s Gone was written at the height of the pandemic. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have writing to lose myself in. To be able to share this story with everyone is my absolute pleasure. I’m SO happy that you enjoyed it and I’m cracking up at the image of a crane wheeling in to extract you off of TG!Sandor! That is hilarious! And I do not blame you one bit! 

As for Spellbound, I am predicting that it will likely wrap up late spring 2022. I’ve got it halfway written. The other half is outlined and parts of it are written. With the current update schedule, that puts it wrapping up in a little over a year and then Detective Sandor Clegane will be ALL YOURS! We’ll have to hire another crane, though. Haha! 

In the meantime, I’m starting another fic. A 90s AU that will be shorter (relatively speaking) and I hope to start posting that late spring, which means it’d wrap up by the end of this year. So much more from me to come and hopefully that can tide you over! I totally get wanting to wait until a story is done! 

With that, I want to again thank you so much for this amazing note! It’s truly sent me over the moon and left me absolutely buzzing! And your English is amazing so no apologies necessary! 

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! So much love to you! 

[salty-ironstrange-shipper]

Hi. I will now be answering fic writing questions from this post instead of reblogging it and waiting for you to ask me some so that I can just answer the ones I want. Legally, no one can stop me.

2. Favorite piece overall?

I narrowed it down to four (completed) - So what if we grow old together?, being known is being loved, A Strange Wedding, From the Top

3. Which was the hardest to write, in terms of plot?

Probably Paint It Black. I had a lot of ideas I wanted to squeeze into one fic and I’m still not 100% on how it turned out.

8. Favorite plot point/chapter/moment?

Oof. I think the love confession at the end of A Strange Love, chapter nine of From the Top, chapter 13 of Stay A Thousand Years. (I could add to this if The Pace Between Rage and Serenity was finished ...... but that’s spoilers)

9. Favorite character to write?

Stephen Strange. He’s such a bitch but also kind of vulnerable and capable of being caring. 

10. Favorite line or lines of dialogue that you've written

ok I realized after looking for this it is not “““dialogue””” but live with it

He went through ten, a hundred, a thousand, a million futures, and none of them were good. Even the ones where the prevented Thanos’s genocide resulted in mass casualties when they tried to prevent it.

Except for one.

Just one, one out of more than fourteen million, but it would work. Thanos would be defeated with the least casualties of any future he’d seen, they’d be able to bring back almost everyone—

But not Tony.

As he watched his husband die in his arms, surrounded by victorious allies, he remembered the Ancient One’s words. "It's not about you."

He was a sorcerer of Kamar-Taj, a Master of the Mystic arts, and it was his sacred duty to protect the Earth and the Time Stone and the universe at any cost, and none of it mattered if Tony wasn't with him. The oath to protect the world wasn’t the only vow he made.

Please, he thought to the universe, thinking of Tony and his smile and the life together they’d envisioned. Not Tony. You have already had your fill of him. This whole world has. You’ve had his mind and his heart and his health and his sanity. You’ve had his family, his friends, you’ve had me. He’s almost sacrificed his own life to you a dozen times. Just this once, please . . . let him be safe and let him be mine.

He kept looking.

14. Would you want to write canon for any of your fandoms (like be hired by showrunner to do an episode)? Which one?

I was talking about this with my family a few weeks ago. I said if I had infinite money I would buy Marvel and make all the characters gay. I stand by that.

Other than that though, I don’t know if I’d want to write for something that big that was someone else’s creations. If I was going to work on a book/show/movie, I would want it to be my original idea.

....

Actually, I’d write the series finale to Supernatural and make it good. That’s one. I know their lore better than the writers, I could handle it.

15. Does font matter to you when you're writing a draft?

I am very particular about my writing. With fic, I always have the same layout - Verdana, size 11, add a space after every paragraph, white text on a black background. 

I have a process and it relaxes me.

18. If you could go back and revise one of your older stories, which would it be?

Probably Paint It Black. That one always felt kind of off to me in terms of quality.

19. Do you make up scenes at work/on the bus/at the gym? Who are the characters that pop up the most? Do you write them down?

I make up scenes pretty much all the time. If I have my phone with me, I’ll usually take it out and add them to an outline on google docs. My phone broke and I didn’t have one for like, 3 months or so. So I would just be lying down trying to sleep, suddenly get a scene idea, and have to get my laptop out and wait for it to load, then write it out. The things I do for fanfiction. (I also have various journals and notebooks I write it, but those can be irritating because once I write it down, I can’t rearrange things and put them in order.)