#pretty much all of these were written in january so if you haven't read any you gotta do it RN

[vechter]

here are some fics from my beautiful mutuals that left me in shambles this month:

those million tons of light by mintchocochips absolutely devastating donna character study set right after countdown with a heavy focus on kyle. stunning prose & the most authentic consideration of donna's identity torment nexus + her relationships with all the people in her life. gorgeous allusions + superb examination of canonical moments

Moments After The End by vividities short ficlet for titans/yj graduation day #3 exploring dick's immediate reaction to donna's death. bonus appearance from roy; succinct & gutting with some heartbreaking imagery & dialogue

Passiontide by bigdamnher0 dick in his spyral era. consideration of the impact of nightwing #30 with the most gorgeous and chewy prose. heavy focus on bruce & the kind of devotion they have for each other + a wonderful insight into some of the grayson '14 elements

with golden string by FromStarstuff donna character study. the thesis. will leave you devastated but heart-fulfilled for the kind of love dick & roy have for donna. gorgeous consideration of donna's personhood + the impact of having all that history encased in her + what a terrible and beautiful thing it can be

all we are is an aching that can barely be filled by 2mad4plaid dickroy in outsiders era my absolute beloved. gorgeous depiction of the push and pull they have in this era + insightful consideration of how differently they grieve for donna. compelling character work with beautifully depicted chemistry

Parable of the Friend at Midnight by dustorange tim centric with a gorgeous juxtaposition of his relationships with jack & bruce. bonus features from alfred and dick. stellar internal voice for tim and as always, dustorange's prose is beautiful and layered; reads so authentic to how tim was in this era

memories {like water slipping through your fingers}. by SHINeeNAilee dickroy but make it canon divergent: roy meets ric grayson. there are layers to every moment and mack does such a wonderful exploration of how well roy knows dick & how terrified and untethered ric is till this moment. insane chemistry work

i'm in the business of losing your interest by mintchocochips babs character study set during NML. absolutely stunning insight into some of the behind the scenes moments of barbara's competence and grit. all her complexities are beautifully considered and her desperation + how tired and scared she is, are all tied together wonderfully

burning money by yutro canon divergence where willis todd lives and comes out of prison into a world where jason is dead. absolutely devastating character work and prose for his grief. every vignette packs a punch + a wonderful examination of the dubious ethics of child sidekicks in a way that feels like it could fit right into canon

[vacantgodling]

i'd like to say that this year was more of a planning year than a writing year; not to say that i didn't write; but i spent a lot more time on outlining, worldbuilding, and a new skill that i've added to the fold -- conlanging(!!). because of that, i didn't hit all the goals i made last year but tbh that's aight. without further ado tho:

TOTAL WORDS WRITTEN [january 2024-november 2024]

111,535 (as of 11/15)

once again, if this was all in one place, that would be a full novel but. speaking of full novels:

2024 GOAL STATUS

❌ reach 150k words written overall ✔️ finish cage like it’s GOING to happen i will it ❌ finish the first draft of paramour!!!

so i'm only 1 for 3 and tbh i'm not that mad about it. finishing cage back in february was one of the biggest writing highlights of this year because i showed myself i could do it, i CAN finish something of novel length if i really put my mind to it.

(and yeah, i really did go and get it printed out lmao)

and more than just the accomplishment of writing 82k in one piece, it's also helped me really understand and work out what systems and processes i need to have set up prior to writing to make it work. this is why outlining has been such a huge undertaking for me this year, in varying levels of success (lmao). having a fully fleshed out outline with the literal beat by beat playout of how i want the story to go helped me TREMENDOUSLY in pushing through cage. even on chapters that were rough for me, having that outline to fallback on made it so much easier to stick to a every week one chapter system. and its something i plan to implement with my original wips too.

the only issue is, because original work inherently requires more work since there's no framework except what's in your own head... its been a bit slower for me writing wise. BUT next year i will be operating out of a desperate need for whimsey so i think i'm going to make my goals much.... less stressful than i did this year.

2024 WRITING HIGHLIGHTS

FINISHED CAGE! biggest accomplishment in my life right now tbh. seriously if you haven't and you have any interest in overwatch at all go read it and leave me nice comments while you're at it lol. technically i am working on the interlude piece between cage and its eventual sequel, schism, but that's been kinda slow going as i don't have much motivation to do it right now. first chapter of it is also up on ao3 though -> interlude - quiet

created a conlang??? in a very bizarre turn of events i have created a conlang for my wip with the working title HE WHO SMITES THE SUN (under the tag #s: ph). the language itself is called dzonime'si and if you want to see more of that process check out my #ren fights linguistics tag :)

finished the entire "first draft" of my wip betwixt thumb and forefinger--which is actually an idea that i only thought of this year so that's fun. for the uninitiated it is a gothic reimagining of twilight but with a shit ton more body horror and prochoice commentary. the reason first draft is in quotations is because it is technically a 16k word long outline that i am considering draft one. draft 2 is literally me going bullet point by bullet point and expanding the draft into something more akin to prose. i do have the first few paragraphs of draft 3 started, which is where i'm going to attempt actual prose writing for the first time. pretty much, btaf is becoming a very lengthy process but it's my first "test drive" on how this new outlining to written prose for my original projects will go. i've just gotten... distracted by other wips since then.

2025 GOALS

to be honest, i don’t know if i have many hard goals for next year. mostly because of *gestures at the state of the world right now* :))))))) it’s blatantly obvious that when things are tough, it becomes more difficult to do the things that you want to do that bring you joy. amid trying to just survive the day to day, there’s also my desires to get more involved in bothering the FUCK out of my senators, looking into ways i can be more involved locally (without burning myself out) and just generally trying to not let the state of the world get me down.

i think there’s a lot of things i want to do. i want to finish a bunch of outlines for my wips becuase i can’t tell you how REWARDING it’s been to be able to fully just go back and reread btaf’s outline whenever i like (and have the AMAZING multi leave comments on it like that’s actually another huge highlight of this year thank u friend 💛) and get excited about telling this story all over again. it motivates me to keep doing it! i'd also love to finish btaf's draft 2, maybe try and finish interlude - quiet etc. but—long story short. i don’t think i’m going to put myself on for any particular goals. next year is going to be about celebrating wins in any and every capacity. so all i wanna do is give myself wins.

looking forward to seeing y’all next year, crying about our ocs as usual

💛 ren 💛

[12timetraveler]

Something In The Orange

Chapter 12

Summary:

The Matthews family take you and Charles to their cabin in Big Valley for a winter vacation.

Notes:

Y'all I am SO SORRY for how long this chapter has taken.

I hit some major burnout over the last few months. So much so that I've actually been put on short-term disability leave from work. I'm starting to feel a bit better and I've been able to do more writing, but I'm still pretty worn out if I'm honest.

As always, this chapter was written entirely on my phone, so any weird typos, autocorrect words, etc you can blame on my phone haha.

Anyway I hope I haven't lost all of you who've been here since the beginning.

As always below is a little preview. Read the whole chapter and the entire work (so far) on AO3

Reminder: You must be logged in to an AO3 account to read my works as I've had to lock them down to protect from AI Scraping.

~~~~~~

You couldn't help but smile as you examined the three pins on your Christmas stocking. Three Christmas seasons with the Matthews family, each marked with a little pin. The silver horse-drawn sleigh from the first year. Then a little mouse sleeping next to a piece of cheese with a bow from the second year. And this year was a cowgirl boot and hat dusted in snow.

Christmas was a month ago, of course. Hosea hadn't had time to take down the stockings. Or all the lights. Or the menorah. But you were actually kind of glad about that. It was nice to see the cheerful sight, even in late January.

Going back to campus after the winter holidays this year had been awful. You tried your best to be a good student, to get excited for your classes and get right back into studying. But you found your thoughts drifting more and more to your beloved. Wondering what he was doing. Missing his sweet voice, his herbal scent, his long cock. It had been torture.

Monday was a bank holiday, meaning the high schools and the universities had a three-day weekend. So Friday afternoon you and Arthur drove up to Firwood Rise to pick up Hosea, John, and the horses to go on a little weekend trip. The plan was to go out to a cabin Hosea and Dutch shared out in Big Valley, West Elizabeth.

Aside from a couple ranches, it was still mostly wild, and even in the winter the trail rides were unforgettable. Or so Arthur said. This was your first expedition with the Matthews men out to this cabin. You'd never been to Big Valley, but it was legendary for the beautiful, natural scenery.

Charles was going to meet you at the cabin early Saturday morning, since he had a late class on Friday. His old beat-up truck was a beast when it came to snowy mountain roads, so you weren't worried. And then the lot of you would spend the weekend trail riding, maybe doing some snow sports, just having a good time.

So that's how you found yourself standing in the Matthews living room, smiling at the stockings while the others loaded up the truck. You could hear John and Arthur yelling out in the yard as John backed the truck up to the horse trailer to hitch up. Occasionally Hosea's voice would cut in if the two got too close to an argument as John insisted he could do it while Arthur was adamant he was doing it wrong. Typical of the two brothers.

You heard the truck turn off, and the driver door open. “Told you I had it covered,” John's voice echoed just loud enough that you could hear from inside. You couldn't make out Arthur's retort, but based on the way John began to snap back, only to be cut off by Hosea’s sharp scolding, you could only imagine it was more brotherly banter.

The door opened a moment later. “Those boys,” Hosea tutted, stepping into the house, looking a little irritated, cheeks rosy from the cold. His face softened when he spotted you, and he shut the door behind him, glancing out the window to make sure John and Arthur weren't near before stepping toward you and pulling you into his arms.

“Hey,” you murmured, tilting your head up expectantly.

“Hi,” he whispered before granting your request for a kiss. “I've missed you.”

“I missed you too.” You nuzzled against his chest, the fabric of his jacket cold from the winter chill, but the warmth of him underneath still seeping through.

“The boys are loading up the horses and then we'll be good to go.” Hosea hummed.

“Okay,” you said, stepping back. “Before we go, I need your help with something.”

“Oh?” He asked. You jerked your head towards the stairs, gesturing for him to follow you. Once upstairs you led him to the bathroom, pulling him in and locking the door behind you.

“Dove, it'll only take a few minutes for the boys to get the horses loaded.” Hosea chuckled, immediately clocking what your intentions were.

“Five horses. It'll take them at least ten minutes right? Probably more.” You mumbled, guiding him backwards until he was pinned between you and the sink.

“Something like that,” he sighed as your hands settled on his waist. “The horses are all pretty good at loading.”

“That's enough time for what I have planned.”

[melimpostor]

OMG you are one of if not the best aruanie artist i saw, i cant believe i have only found you now!

They were like the first ship ever for me and they still mean a lot, they are so sweet, especially in your style. The ironic thing is, that at first way back around season 1 i started to see aruanie fan art, and at the time i tought it was a bit odd (i guess i missed all the signs in the show), i liked it but i considered it somewhat of a crack ship, especially since Annie was present just for one short season then it seemed like she never actually gonna come back. And then i lost my mind when suddenly in the manga it was just straight up canon xd. It propably helped that from the begining they were my favourite characters even individually.

They are still the best ship ever, like what do you mean in her whole life she was raised for war, but then couldnt kill the one guy who didnt cared about all this conflict and revenge he just wanted to explore the world, and her decicion cost the warriors the whole mission and eventually changed the world 😭

Btw do you know of some fanfictions that you would recommend?

WaaaAAAAAA- (ಥ◡ಥ) I’m not sure i deserve such a title, but thank you very much for your kind words, I appreciate it a lot ! ♥ ♥ This blog is fairly new, i've been active here since january so it might be why -

Haha I feel you! Aruani made me feel things i never thought i would for fictional characters before. I personally shipped them from the start. I guess I was gifted with the vision and carried the curse of being judged by my AOT-enthusiast friends for years. So I understand why it felt like a crack ship at the time for some. I was pretty sure i was delusional myself- but now… SIKE !!!!!!!!!!!! I am unapologetically taking my revenge with Aruani fanart now XD

But yeah, Annie is basically the one who compromised the whole mission because of her affection for Armin. Ruthless Annie. Flawless Annie... Falling for the sweet sweet boy with cute smiles and curious eyes?? aaa i’m weAk..

As for fanfictions, I am actually new to this kind of media. I never really looked for written fan-content in any other fandoms before…well- now... But i’m happy i’m finally doing it because it opens my artistic viewpoint and this community is very talented ♥ I didn't know writing could make me feel so many emotions and keeping me involved like that. I never experienced it to that extend in the past.

That being said, it means I haven't read a lot of them yet, besides work keeps me busy and my reading is pretty slow…So for the time being i 'll suggest you take a look at this post which regroups a lot of work already (and I think reblogs have some updates too ! )

And if you wanted my personal recommandations, maybe ask me again in 6 months or 24 so I have time to catch up ! haha- sorry dear writers, i failed you for so long ;;

[taylor-on-your-dash]

could you list the very first and the very last song which taylor has written for each album? just curious to see any changes in her songwriting, especially of the earlier albums. i got the ones for red and fearless cause i read your timelines (awesome work btw) but im missing the ones for the other albums

THAT'S SUCH AN INTERESTING QUESTION ANON, THANK YOU

DEBUT

First song:

A Perfectly Good Heart - Autumn 2003

Last song:

Should've Said No - August 10, 2006

FEARLESS

First song:

White Horse - December 2006 (if we count the main album)

Come In With The Rain - September 2006 (if we count Fearless Platinum)

That's When/You All Over Me - early 2005 (if we count Fearless TV) The 2005 Vault songs are the most vague but I think that the other two, Don't You and We Were Happy, are for Drew, so written after he left for college in September 2005.

Last song:

Forever & Always - September 22, 2008 (if we count the main album)

Mr. Perfectly Fine - March/May 2009 (if we count Fearless TV)

SPEAK NOW

First song:

Sparks Fly - November 2, 2006

Sparks Fly was technically edited in 2010, so if you think that it shouldn't count, your next bet might be:

If This Was A Movie - April 2009

Last song:

The Story Of Us - June 16, 2010

RED

First song:

Stay Stay Stay - either early 2010 or late 2010

Last song:

I Knew You Were Trouble - June 2, 2012

Technically Trouble began in January 2012, but it was finished on June 2nd. So if you think that it shouldn't count, the next song is:

22 - June 1, 2012

1989

First song:

This Love - October 17, 2012

Last song:

Style - February 19, 2014

REPUTATION

First song:

Gorgeous - September 2 to 19, 2016

Last song:

So It Goes... - September 2017. The song was a last-minute addition to the album and it messed up the tracklist on the reputation magazines. EDIT TO ADD AN EXPLANATION HERE

LOVER

First song:

Daylight - 2017/2018

Last song:

Death By A Thousand Cuts - April 2019

(I'm actually not 100% sure about the Lover timeline and I haven't seen anyone talking about it but Taylor said that Daylight was the first title of the album but she changed it after she wrote Lover, and Lover is also a pretty early song (Taylor posted a quote from the song on Instagram in July 2018) so Daylight could've potentially been written in early 2018 or late 2017)

FOLKLORE

First song:

my tears ricochet - Late 2019

Last song:

the 1/hoax - Late May 2020

EVERMORE

First song:

dorothea - summer 2020, around July or August

Last song:

right where you left me/happiness - November 2020, both written just before the mastering process

MIDNIGHTS

First song:

High Infidelity/Would've Could've Should've - March 2021

Last song:

You're Losing Me - maybe written after Midnights dropped?

I haven't researched Midnights in depth yet (but I actually don't think there's much to research, we can just speculate)

[wikiangela]

20 Questions for fic Writers!

tagged by @spotsandsocks @jesuisici33 thank you 💖💖

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

81 so far, and always working on more haha

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

481,097

3. What fandoms do you write for?

currently only 911, but I did write mcu and spn and if inspiration strikes might go back (kinda missing sambucky tbh, might need to write something for them soon haha)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

(four out of these are buddie, last one is my first ever sambucky fic that's still somehow up there lol) 1. For a holiday (and forevermore) 2. I can't love you any more (than I do now) 3. There’s no way that it’s not going there (with the way that we’re looking at each other) 4. I'd marry you with paper rings 5. "You should smile more"

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! always love to thank everyone for reading, and appreciate that they took the time to comment <3

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

generally angst is not particularly my thing, and there are always happy endings in mine lol - but around the lightning arc I wrote a few angsty-ish fics, and I guess these two might count? Fine and don't know what I'd do if your tomorrow never came

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

like all of them have happy endings haha - but i'd say the holiday fic -For a holiday (and forevermore) - might be the happiest?? (or just satisfying after the slow burn and them being fake dating oblivious idiots haha)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not really, I did get like two not so nice comments ever (one even very recently, and I'm in a place where it hit harder than the previous one lol but it's fine) but generally I don't, my comments are filled with love and I appreciate that so much <3

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do now lmao - it's the very sappy kind with lots of feelings - other than that, I'm still trying out new stuff haha

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don't - there's one that I'm not sure if it counts but I did write a mcu with netflix marvel shows crossover bc I'm dying to see Jessica Jones interact with Bucky lol - nothing crazy tho, just them lowkey trauma bonding - but other than that, no, not really writing crossovers, idk, haven't tried any yet haha

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

don't think so

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

got two requests but their ideas were so not my thing, so no, I haven't idk if i'd be good at co-writing but if we vibe and the idea is good I won't say no to trying haha

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

gotta say buddie, they took over my brain like no ship ever before

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

the 5+1 nicknames fic - something there is just not working and I want to rewrite the whole thing but can't get around to it - this and one other fic have been postponed since like january, don't know if I'll get back to them tho i want to :(

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good with dialogue and feelings and in smut I'm good at making it soft and sweet but also hot and horny at the same time haha and usually can write characters so that they don't feel too ooc (I think? that's the feedback i often get, idk lol)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

overusing the same words over and over again (but like, synonyms don't hit the same lol), probably way too many adverbs, and I'm not great with descriptions of characters or places etc and trying to work on that haha

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

feels awkward - a word here and there is fine, but whole conversations both in reading and writing feels awkward and out of place idk (I think I wrote a whole line in one fic and it's so bad haha)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

when it comes to shows, spn - destiel before that, unfortunately, was rpf and 1d but we don't talk about that

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

it's between the possessive smut and the car smut tbh lol I love both so much (possessive maybe a bit more tho? just a tiny bit haha - but gonna link both here lol)

I could get lost in the feelings (just say that you belong to me)

baby, you drive me wild

___

no pressure tagging: @honestlydarkprincess @eddiebabygirldiaz @giddyupbuck @callaplums @forthewolves @eddiediaztho @arthursdent @911onabc @housewifebuck @loserdiaz @lover-of-mine @hoodie-buck @thewolvesof1998 @fortheloveofbuddie @watchyourbuck @disasterbuckdiaz @wildlife4life @hippolotamus and whoever else wants to do it <3

[foxymoxynoona]

Hi Foxy, I hope your day is going well! I saw a precious recent ask where you spoke about your story planning process. I'm so so curious about what other direction did you try to figure out for Meadow? Only if you're comfortable with sharing of course.

I also wanted to ask about the Secret Song Series. From your previous asks, am I right to assume you have had that story planned/pre-written for a long time? If so, was it from before you got into BTS meaning it started out with different characters? Are any of your other stories that heavily pre-planned/written as well? Or any other stories you have pre-planned/written that you haven't shared or published?

Sorry for all the questions, I just truly find your writing, work, and dedication to your stories so inspiring and fascinating. I hope you'll be able to continue doing what you love forever! We'll all be here reading. Thank you for sharing your amazing stories with us. 💝

You're humoring me asking all these questions about writing, I really enjoy the topic!

Regarding Meadow: I really wanted it to just be a sweet Korean location drama at first, but Bronwen's history blew up in my face. And then I really wanted them to just settle in Europe together, but they couldn't quite make their peace there (fwiw, JK was supposed to go find her, not go with her in the original plan) and needed the fresh start together in Thailand and by that point I realized I was heading for the big bad ending I kept trying to avoid but I did still cling to hope that actually they would just stay in Thailand and their family would all move there. I just didn't think I could pull off all the political intricacies of the story and also make it make sense when they took over the pack... I'm pretty happy with how it ultimately turned out though and any other ending, I would have known I chickened out because i was scared of the writing.

Regarding Secret Song Series: it was always and only BTS, I started writing in January of 2020 and wrote furiously FOR MY EYES ONLY lmfao until I impulsively decided to start posting it in November 2020. Since I didn't ever plan to share, I just jumped around and wrote whatever I wanted. To be honest though I actually haven't really needed to "fix" things as we go despite it being written out of chronological order. Maybe a few minor things here and there but the story and Sasha and all the people in her life just really formed in my mind pretty clearly. I think I once added up how much I had written before I began posting and it was something insane like 2,000,000+ words... maybe it was even more? I'm sure it's somewhere on this blog lol but it's harder to calculate now that I've filled in so much more as we go. I kind of think of this story as the chronology of me falling in love with BTS though, because I knew even less about them when I started writing it and then as I would learn things in Run BTS or the On comeback happened or things like that, I could jump around in time in the story and weave it in. It's also why sometimes things are "wrong" in the story, it was never meant to be like... real true to life, it was me making up the future, but some meaningful things I've been able to add in as we go as they don't really change anything or even fit the themes really well!

In the beginning a lot of my stories were heavily written before I started posting (Sugar Fairy, Sea of Indigo, I think Lowlander was like 60% done by the time I started post) which helped me post a lot faster. Amended had a lot done too by the time I started posting, maybe like 40%. In contrast, stories like Lone Blue Egg, Tell Me What Changed, To Kill A King, After the Applause --my more recent stories-- are being posted as I write them. That doesn't mean I've posted all my "old" stuff though, even just BTS fics I wrote since 2020... there are a lot LOL. Some of them were 200 pages before I abandoned them. Sometimes I've cannibalized pieces of them for other stories, or they just kind of stalled out, or I just don't think they were unique/different enough from my current stories to bother finishing up.

I genuinely wish I didn't need to make a living and could just write these free little stories for pleasure and sharing for the rest of time. I'm well aware of how rare and crazy it is to have found such an open and supportive group of people who will let me experiment and try new things and be so thoughtful with their feedback. I'm a better writer thanks to all of you, so thank you for your support and interest! <3

[chayscribbles]

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ january 2023

☆ STATISTICS.

words written: 10 029

projects worked on: Andromeda Rogue; The Gemini Heist; and a Third, Secret Thing :)

proudest accomplishment: uhhh i can't really thing of anything... i made it to 10k words for the month at the very last minute does that count

books read: Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty; Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

as you may or may not have noticed i haven't really been active on writeblr lately. between work, the fact that it's january, and having to shovel through, like, 4 snow storms, i haven't really had the time or energy.

started the writing year super strong. hit a wall about halfway and have since been in a terrible slump for most of the month.

however it turns out that you can trick your brain into thinking it's experiencing New WIP Euphoria by digging up and revamping an old wip (i.e. the Third, Secret Thing).

book comments: both books i read were about murder in space. both were pretty good. both get a solid 4/5 stars.

(between that, watching Glass Onion, rewatching Murder She Wrote, and starting to watch Columbo, i think i'm on a bit of a murder kick lately.)

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: ANDROMEDA ROGUE (draft 2)

not much to say about this one tbh. while most of my words from this month came from this wip, i've,, mostly just been patching up little things like smoothing over inconsistent details and adding a little meat to description and exposition... but i've been procrastinating on fixing the Big Stuff 😭

i really like how the new version is turning out compared to the first version tho. it's so much cleaner & that's very satisfying.

if only i could just *clenches fist* get myself to actually fuckin work on it

☆ COMMENTS: THE GEMINI HEIST (outlining / draft 0.5 or something)

i finished part 1 of 7!... and now i have no idea what i'm doing.

i don't think i like fast drafting lol. i hate how shitty my quality of writing has been. and yeah whatever that's the point of a fast draft blablabla but like, when my draft is already a little bit readable i can go back and reread parts and be like "oh hey this isn't half bad". and i know people are always like "don't reread right away!!! just keep writing!!!!!!!" but for me rereading as i go is part of the process lmao. not only does it remind me of important things i would otherwise forget, it also encourages me to keep going when i see that what i've done isn't terrible.

and... with this fast draft everything just feels terrible.

not to mention i can't seem to untangle plot... heists are fuckin hard to plan. especially since there's multiple opposing parties with different plans that are all going to inevitably go to shit, and so i have to make more plans for when that happens. it feels so complicated uuuggghghhhgh

☆ COMMENTS: a Third, Secret Thing (???)

i'm not gonna talk about it too much publicly yet so i don't jinx whatever is going on here (and i want to make sure i'm a bit more committed to this thing before introducing anything) but all i'll say is it's an older wip that i've talked about on my old blog that i've dug out and changed the genre into a dark modern fantasy mystery with messy sapphics.

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

alright i know i said i didn't want to talk too much about the Third Secret Thing yet but i couldn't find any passages to share in either AR or GH... so have this, with very little context :') uhhh tw for mentions of death and murder.

That’s how she ended up peeking groggily out the door at the frigid winter morning, having hastily thrown a sweatshirt over her pyjamas and a towel over her hair, only to have two police officers inform her that Vanessa Villa-Cortez had been found dead in her apartment early that morning.

“D… dead?” Amina repeated, her mind in a haze. She had to still be asleep, right? Maybe the guilt over ignoring that text had seeped into her subconscious and was feeding her dreams. There was no way someone was at her door telling her that Vanessa, a girl she hadn’t heard from in nearly seven years, was… was—

“Killed in an apparent burglary gone wrong last night,” said one of the officers gravely. “A neighbour noticed the door had been clearly forced in, went inside to check, and found Miss Villa-Cortez’s body on the floor of her apartment.”

Amina’s head began to swim. She clutched the doorposts to keep her buckling knees from giving way completely beneath her. No. No. Vanessa couldn’t be dead. Amina still had to answer her text.

if you know you know ;)

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to any of them.

genera taglist:

@nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @retrogayyde @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore @innocentlymacabre

andromeda trilogy taglist:

@bebewrites @nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @retrogayyde @akindofmagictoo @quilloftheclouds @nora-theteawriter @ashen-crest @corpsepng @writeblrfantasy @chaylattes @toboldlywrite @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @cheerfulmelancholies @extra-magichours @writeouswriter @cilly-the-writer @lefttigerobservation @rose-bookblood @drowsy-quill @chazzawrites @cynic-and-chief @enchanted-lightning-aes @aesa

gemini heist taglist:

@florraisons @akindofmagictoo @cream-and-tea @nicola-writes @memento-morri-writes @antique-symbolism @rose-bookblood @afoolandathief @pepperdee @avi-why @zonnemaagd @chazzawrites @analogued @enchanted-lightning-aes @innocentlymacabre @kahvilahuhut @celestepens @cilly-the-writer @extra-magichours @retrogayyde

[devitalise]

IMO CHEESEHAIR I still need to sit with my roundup but lest I make you wait any longer — January reads pls!!! 🤲 did you set out to read the specific books you read, or did it just kinda end up that way? & do you have a plan for this month's reads? 💭

CAS DJSERVO you'd think i'd be even a little bit prepped to do a book wrap up, but january was so long and so short! i didn't go in with any specifics, i went away on a work trip and was kind of just left with my kindle picks. got to say, can't do back to back to back kindle reads, i like to break it up with a physical book just for the act of reading but anyways here's my

january book wrap up

fight club by chuck palahniuk

entered the fight club universe. i still haven't watched the movie, so i was able to go into this completely unaware of anything to do with the plot. it was actually quite easy to get into this independent of the cult-classic-coming-of-age-must-watch surrounding the book and movie. palahniuk is a decent writer, the snapshot jumpiness of the prose paid off. neat.

podcasts: bookwasted. music: fight club original score

checkout 19 by claire-louise bennett

i almost put this one down due to a mix of me not being in the right headspace to really get into the book, and the rhythm of the book not fully settling for me until around the 30% mark. but i got through it, and once i got into it, i was in. stream of consciousness with a twist, as the narrator makes sense of her own memory through remembering reading, relationships, class and money. a lot of meat for a concept that seems pretty threadbare.

podcasts: shakespeare and company music: severance soundtrack

please look after mother by shin kyung-sook

not liking a book written in second person feels blasphemous for me, i love second person sooo much! but there was a real disconnect for me here. definitely in the story. struggled to stay engaged with this book, the realisations the characters were having felt so juvenile and very early-adulthood. some of the perspective and time changes were a bit confusing too.

couldn't find a podcast for this. music: pachinko soundtrack

just by looking at him by ryan o'connell

this book was just so raunchy and fun! one of my aims for the year is to seek out more disabled representation in the books i read, and this book was just so perfect. elliot is infallible, he's real, and being in his head and his world was so dramatic and true to life i feel. a time capsule of a read, so present without being cringy.

review: bookish magazine music: good with any kind of pop

their eyes were watching god by zora neale hurston

yeah. i haven't written a review on goodreads yet, just because i want to sit with this book for a bit longer. this is an incredible book, and i don't think i could have read it at any other time in my life. this is so ahead of its time, i can't believe it was published in the 30s. all it has to say on love and community and hurston's ability to capture a time on paper is so inspiring. i love janie as a heroine, as a woman, as someone who allows herself to change in her circumstances but always know who she is at heart. one of my top of the year (no it's not too early to say that!)

podcasts: novel pairings and black chick lit music: reader made playlist

feb reads: i have another country by james baldwin picked out as my next read! i'm honestly not too sure what's after that. my book ban is still going strong, i have 47 titles to pick from so i'll see where i end up!

[zanarkandfayth]

I'm just answering these because I want to, and skipping the ones that wouldn't be relevant or I don't feel like answering lmao

01. How many fics have you worked on since January? Hmm, five? I finished the Noct & Gladio one, I've been working on the rewrite of the aftermath one, I started the one inspired by @quartzguts fic Lost Signal (go fucking read this if you haven't), I did some more backstory for the college au, and I edited the secret one.

02. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? I've been trying to do a sliiiightly closer POV than before. I think it came out nicely enough in the Noct & Gladio fic. Definitely a challenge for me though.

05. What ships captured your heart? Ignoct still has my heart forever and always, but I've definitely had a growing fondness for Gladnoct. More platonic than romantic but I don't mind the romantic.

07. Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year? I mean I guess the Noct & Gladio fic is the first time I've written a fic centered on the two of them. I thought about writing a fic for Sword AF, and for Breath of the Wild, but I didn't. I'm unlikely to for either fandom, tbh. Too many for ffxv to focus on.

08. What fic meant the most to you to write? Aftermath fic, even though I'm not finished with it. I've been basically writing it since 2019 and it's the most in-depth fic I've ever written and I've put so much fucking work into it and it's over 600K I'm super proud of it even if it's slowly killing me and the fandom will be 100% dead by the time I'm done.

09. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on? college au, my self-indulgent beloved. I have no idea if I'll ever successfully write you, but I love you nonetheless.

10. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing? lmao I only finished the Noct & Gladio one so I guess that by default.

11. What fic was the most difficult to write? the one inspired by Lost Signal. I have it all plotted out and I'm excited to write it but fuuuuck when I tried back in the summer it was not cooperating. and then writer's block just came knocking in general. I've got one finished chapter and I low-key hate it so I'm trying to ease back into things with working on my rewrite of aftermath fic before I attempt this fic again.

12. What fic was the easiest to write? I mean the Noct & Gladio one was pretty easy to write once I kicked my own ass and stopped procrastinating on the battle scene lol.

14. What were your go-to writing songs? I like to listen to a lot of EDM stuff. Especially Industrial but other stuff too. KMFDM, Assemblage 23, Lost Signal, Neuroticfish, Rotersand, Seabound, Lionhearts, Covenant, Wolfsheim, Acretongue, Michael FK... I also listened to Linkin Park and the Ori and the Blind Forest soundtrack.

15. What was the hardest fic to title? only two fics got titled this year... the secret one I ain't sharing lmao and the Noct & Gladio one, which was actually hard to title. Ameliorate. It fits but I kinda hate it ngl. I couldn't think of anything better. I still can't. It's whatever.

16. What's your favorite title of the year? the secret one. I'm so mean for it but as soon as I was done editing I knew I HAD to make that the title. I'm sorry my beloved blorbo. it was just too perfect lmao. one of my mutuals knows what I'm talking about XD it's all good.

21. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story? my ass in 2019: I already wrote a lot of Noct dissociating in Under Grey Skies, I don't need to do it in aftermath fic. my ass in 2024: huh, Noct doesn't dissociate enough in this fic. soooo I guess now that's gonna be a thing. it has very much changed the story, several scenes have been changed/added for it and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with it yet but that's why I'm writing without posting for now. wasn't expecting to do it but we'll see what happens.

22. What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand? no to by hand, I only sometimes do that for notes/plotting. I use scrivener <3333 I bit the bullet at the start of this year and used the money I had left from selling my car/after buying a freezer to upgrade to scrivener 3 and though I miss some things from scrivener 1, I mostly like it. I've gotten a lot more into the organisational features and it's been a godsend for making the rewrite of aftermath manageable.

25. How did you recharge between fics? Killed myself 100%ing breath of the wild. including all 900 fucking korok seeds. and then started playing tears of the kingdom with the intention of 100%ing that too but fuck me upgrading the armour was such a fucking slog even with duping diamonds for rupees and I still don't even have all of the sets collected and the koroks are more annoying this time and hhhhhhh I went back to fic to recharge from that fucking game.

28. If this were an awards show, who would you thank? @ivorydice for letting me endlessly ramble about my fics and helping me with plotting some of them. @quartzguts for writing an amazing fic that has inspired me with one of my own that I will write and finish eventually hrgh. @smallest-turtle for also letting me ramble that one time and for stabbing me in the heart with painful headcanons that made me think more about my own. literally anyone who's read my fics regardless of whether they've left kudos or comments or bookmarked them. anyone who talks to me. anyone who likes my venting as support. all my mutuals for being my mutuals even if we've never had a single interaction.

29. What's left on your to-do list for 2024? to just keep pecking away at the rewrite of aftermath fic. by the end of today I should have 38 of 62 chapters rewritten... send help T^T

30. What would you like to write next year? I just wanna finish aftermath fic for the love of god. pls. also the fic inspired by Lost Signal, and I'd like to maaaaaaaybe (big maybe) write a companion fic to the Noct & Gladio fic, showing Ignis & Prompto's hunt, but I don't actually have any ideas for it rn. so we'll see.

A slightly revised version of last year's questions! Two ways to play: Reblog and have your followers send you numbers, or answer the whole list!

How many fics have you worked on since January?

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

How many fandoms did you write for this year?

What ships captured your heart?

What characters captured your heart?

Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

What fic was the most difficult to write?

What fic was the easiest to write?

What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

What were your go-to writing songs?

What was the hardest fic to title?

What's your favorite title of the year?

Share your favorite opening line

Share your favorite ending line

Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Share your funniest line

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

How did you recharge between fics?

Did you create fanworks other than fic?

How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

What would you like to write next year?

[duskflavors]

As I endeavor to "wake up and do good" I strive to be aware of my surroundings, recognize the strength of my empathy, and explore the good in things. For me, part of that has been to delete all meta apps and tiktok from my phone and address the backlog of books cultivated in my little library. So far I've read two books this year (January 2025) and I am about to start my third. I would like to show some record for this; maybe share some thoughts if anybody is interested. In addition, I am always appreciative of any suggestions because I truly do love reading and an individual recommendation always feels more sincere than published lists I find online. For now I'm going to tag these posts as "duskflavor reads". Following are the books I've read so far and the one I'm about to start.

The Door to Summer : I still don't know what I think about this book. It's not bad, but it's not one I feel like I'm going to recommend. it definitely didn't hit me even remotely close to how Fahrenheit 451 did. Its a relatively short sci-fi novel and it does have a cat in it (which for anyone who is concerned about such things I will spoil you now and let you know that the cat is totally fine and nothing bad happens to them, a point that I always get very distressed about when reading novels with animals in them). spoilers ahead I guess: I think I would have enjoyed the book much more without the weird "12-year-old girl eventually becomes the love interest of the 30-year-old protagonist but only after a Time leap, even though he totally knew her as a 12-year-old" . Something about it just kind of left a gross taste in my mouth. The imagery at the very beginning of the book with the Door to Summer and the way it ended with that imagery was interesting but everything else in between felt like it could have been cleaned up and edited a bit better. Overall the book was pretty mid.

Red Rising: I really really enjoyed this book and the only reason I'm not reading the second one is because it's currently on its way from Barnes & Noble. I even went to my local store for it but they were sold out so I had to order it. It's a dystopian sci-fi novel although to be honest it kind of skirts that line a fantasy when the sci-fi technology is so advanced that feels like magic. In fact it really reminds me of The Will of the Many by James Islington which I also really enjoyed. I know the series is still being written, at least to my understanding, but I ordered the next five or so books that should arrive here by tuesday. It reminds me a little bit of The hunger games on a planetary scale. Anytime however an author has a character resisting an oppressive tyrannical government by infiltrating the system and the highest echelon in hopes of bringing it down from within, I get nervous that the moral of the story will be something similar to "well actually maybe this oppressive government had a point and things is just work out better this way". Hopefully that's not the case here but I've only read the first book so I'll have to keep reading to find out.

Tress of the Emerald sea: this is one I have on my bookshelf that I am reading while waiting for the next in the series after Red Rising. I'm only eight pages in so I can't comment on it so far, but I do like Brandon Sanderson and the Cosmere universe. I've heard it's a cozy stand-alone novel and that's what I wanted for an in between book.

If anybody has any other books they recommend I would love to know them. If I haven't read them already then they will be added to my list or at least looked into.

[the-coffee-fandom]

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

4. What detail in Marigolds Pierce My Skin are you really proud of?

8. What song would make a great fic (to either write or read)?

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

26. Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that was only dialogue?

3. Um.... Angst? Angst. Yeah angst.

Usually Timari, main character death, the person who dies is usually Mari, if you've seen me on discord then you know about my hanahaki obsession and if I finish all the ones I have planned hanahaki will be up there in the lis

4. Absinth

If you don't understand what this is referencing to you haven't read Marigolds Pierce My Skin and you'll have to read to find out.

8. Song fics aren't really my forte. With that said, I've had a song fic planned for over a year now that I just haven't gotten around to writing. Its not for Maribat though.

But songs that would make good fics could probably be:

Whole Heart Rachel Platten : Damianette

Coming After You Owl City : Dickinette

No Control Set It Off : Jasonette or villain au

Fake A Smile Alan Walker : Timari

I have playlists I'm making for specific things like me angst, fluff, villian au, etc but there not done

12. Royalty AU

I've read quite a few and I didn't really like them, not due to the authors but because all of them were quite repetitive and I wanted something new. The only reason it has grown on me is because I found a prompt in January that I loved that would be a pretty sick royalty au.

12. Dont mind either. Ive actually wrote a fic with no dialogue as a challenge. The challenge was literally write a fic with no dialogue. It was fun. Jasonette reading time. And technically @miraculousmelodies and I have written dialogue docs because we've got so much dialogue in their channel 😂

So I don't have a preference.

[gravedangerahead]

8,11, and 20 for the book asks!

All questions here

8. what is the first book you remember reading yourself?

Two of my earliest favorites were Pippi Longstocking and O Fantástico Mistério de Feiurinha, although I probably read this pretty little collection with 5 or 6 fairy tale books that my grandma gave me before that, sice they were way shorter.

Out of those books the Pippi trilogy are the only ones I still own, which is a shame.

11. what non-fiction books do you like if any?

I used to have a lot of difficulty finishing whole non-fiction books, and the first one I remember finishing with eagerness and enjoyment was Angela Davis' Women, Race and Class. I was only supposed to read one chapter for an elective in college but it was amazing so I just kept going.

This year I actually read a few non-fiction books, maybe now that I'm not in college any more that non-fiction slot of my brain was freed for books of my choosing. I read more of the amazing Angela Davis (Freedom is a Constant Struggle in January and Are Prisons Obsolete last month).

I read a couple of things about Brazilian politics. Sabrina Fernandes is an ecosocialist and Ailton Krenak is an indigenous intellectual. I wanna read more by both. I definitely need to read way more about politics, I'm really clueless about it.

And possibly my favorite book of the year was The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow, which is a book about pre-history written by an archeologist and an anthropologist, gathering the last few decades of research in their fields to go up against the myths we perpetuate about (pre)history and human nature. It shows how diverse and changeable human societies have always been and how we've always had the capacity for political imagination and to thoughtfully and deliberately change the way we live (for better or for worse). Humans were always human, infinitely complex, and not a caricature of pure naive good or violent chaotic evil that serves as convenient origin story for humanity today.

You know how before reading this I was already banging on about how much I hate the Hobbes vs. Rousseau divide that's still prevalent in people's beliefs, and the idea that there's one set human nature, either good and selfless or evil and self-centered. The authors also counter that but, you know, in an actually coherent, well founded way.

The book also goes into how much American Indigenous thought influenced our current ideas about freedom, equality and democracy, and their intellectual contributions get dismissed as just Europeans lying and projecting onto a "noble savage" figure. People in the Americas did in fact have a lot thoughts, criticisms and theories about European society and their own once they came into contact, and Europeans did have their world view impacted by them, although frequently in trying to dismiss their criticism more than accept it.

I'm really going way beyond the question here, right? Sorry lol

I started reading Debt: The First 5,000 Years, also by David Graeber, and really enjoyed it, but it was really expensive so I haven't bought it yet, after finishing the sample. I do have a PDF, but that's bad for reading the footnotes, and I really, really love footnotes, I wanna read all of them as I go.

20. what are things you look for in a book?

I'm mostly drawn to characters and prose first, themes second, and plot and world building third. Characters that I care about or am interested in and/or beautiful language will get me through basically anything. It's okay if nothing makes sense, I'll just vibe.

See: This is How You Lose the Time War and Água-Viva / The Stream of Life by Clarisse Lispector.

Lolita is another example, I guess, since the language and caring about Dolores gets me through the horrors.

Also why I'm absolutely obsessed with Machado de Assis. Beautiful language and endlessly fascinating characters that I hate and adore.

[doyouknowbtsswag]

Letters |WilburSoot|

Hello Love Elizabeth is looking like you more and more each day. I can't believe she's already 1. All she does is babble, it's adorable. It reminds me of when Fundy was little. Speaking of Fundy he gets along with her well. He only comes around to the house to talk to Elizabeth. I rock her to bed every night with the lullaby we use. I love you

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 September 3rd

Hello Love, My family has a soft spot for our little one. Techno is surprisingly good with her. At first, he didn't want anything to do with her but he warmed up pretty quickly. As soon as I bring her over to my dad's he's the first to grab her but eventually has to give her up to Tommy. Out of force that is. Then my father would feed her something he gave me when I was her age. At the end of the night, she ended up asleep in Techno's arms as he read her a random Greek Mythology story. I love you

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷ℯ𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 November 3rd

Hello Love, It's getting colder outside and Niki is backed up on wool. She's been wrapped up in my old baby clothes. It's too adorable I wish you could see her, you would have loved it. Remember the small toy we made just for her on Christmas. The little doll you made and I helped with the design. She loved it If only you were here with us. I love you

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 December 3rd

Hello Dear, Elizabeth has finally gotten her winter clothes. She looks so tiny in them. Well, she is tiny because she's only 1 but still. She's learning how to move around which is a pain but I put up with it because I love her. She looks like you more and more each day. I love you

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 January 3rd

Hello Dear, It's getting quite lonely without you. It's been harder and harder to take care of our little girl. I'm trying my best to not make the same mistake I did with Fundy. It's stressing me a bit out but I don't want to admit it to anyone. I love you

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 February 3rd

Hello Love, Elizabeth is growing older and older. My father has been teaching her school. I'm happy she's getting along with my family. It's such a lovely sight to see. I love her so much. I tell her about you every day. She's growing smarter.

- 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 March 3rd

Hello Love, I've been feeling weird lately. Headaches happen quite frequently. I know I've always had them but they are starting to hurt more and more. It's probably nothing though. I miss you a lot. It's hard without you here with me. I could never miss anyone as much as I miss you. I love you

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 April 3rd

Hello Love, I've been coughing up blood recently. I haven't told anyone so they don't get too worried even though I'm worried myself. I can't leave my family behind though so I'm going to go see a doctor. He lives quite far from our house but I have to figure out answers.

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 May 3rd

Hello Love, What should I even say? I'm going to leave for my trip to the doctor today. My father found out about my coughing and headaches and immediately told me to go. So here I am writing to you as I'm on my way to the doctor's.

- 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 June 3rd

Hello Dear, I might be joining you sooner than I'd like to be. I'm sure you wouldn't want me up there quite yet either huh? I'm sick with a disease that you get from poisonous arrows. I guess that one time in March when I got shot by a skeleton, well I guess the arrows wood had poison in it. The doctor said that it was from the said wood on the arrow. Just my luck.

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 July 3rd

Hello Love, I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. I don't think I can last longer so I've been spending more time with my family. I don't want to leave them especially our little girl but unfortunately, life just hates me huh? Fundy has been more talkative to me lately. Probably because he knows I could die any week.

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 July 20th

Hello Love, I think this week is the week I join you. It's heartbreaking that I have to leave our now 2-year-old without a mother and father. She's so innocent of everything going on. She's sleeping in my arm as I'm writing this. She snores cutely and she's been saying actual words. You lost the bet, she said Dada first. I still tell her stories about you. I sing her a lullaby and that song you always loved. The one I sang the night I proposed to you and the song I sang after the wedding. I am leaving my guitar and the chords and lyrics to Elizabeth so when she's older she can know our song. I love you

-𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮ℴℴ𝓉 August 3rd

Wilbur weakly played a song both of you enjoyed against the tree you both sat under. Wilbur stopped and coughed up blood. He sighed looking up at the clouds. It was his day to go in the sky with you.

Tag List:

@myunfinishedsymphony

[dramaruni]

@bpdaf so this answer opened a can of worms (that I can call procrastination) and I wanted to address it, but with the limited characters in the reply function, I decided to answer it with a new post. Also sorry if this come as an attack, I promise it's not. I just became really curious if I had the wrong idea about the live-shooting system as I was ready to refute your points, but realized I didn't have enough knowledge to do so.

*also tagging @jahe, @yasmini24, @le-amarant as they also replied to my post and I figured maybe you were also interested in this (although it's really long and rambly, so I don't blame you for ignoring the post entirely). So yeah warning, this post is really long.

So I'm well aware of kdrama's live shoot system. But I did wonder if it was normal to start shooting 6 months before the first airing episode, as I was under the impression 6 months of shooting exceeded the standard duration of filming. But I couldn't actually refute it without some data to back that up. So I went to find data.

According to Wikipedia's page on Korean Dramas, they write: “As producing a series involves high expenses, production companies seek to shoot the episodes in the shortest time possible. In contrast to practices elsewhere, the first four episodes of Korean series are usually shot in advance, but the rest are shot continuously as the series is being aired.”

This fits in line with what I believed about Korean dramas live shooting system. They film a couple of episode ahead of time and then rest comes while it's still airing to fit with the audience response to it. Even preproduced dramas are sometimes reshot and re-edited while it's airing. But it didn't really say anything about the average filming duration for a drama or what shortest time possible was defined as. Probably because all dramas will aim for different things and given the content it can vary a lot how long it takes to film.

But I highly doubt it took Vincenzo 6 months to shoot something around 4 episodes and then crammed the rest into the 2 remaining months, as they knew from the start they had 20 episodes to fill.

So let's go through some other drama's shooting schedule to compare with Vincenzo.

I chose to limit the list to 2020 dramas (as they were likely affected by the pandemic) and tvN dramas, so it's the same broadcasting company as these dramas will likely share the same practices. Obviously with the amount I have included, I can't make any definite conclusions, but it does show a pattern.

*disclaimer I tried my best to accurately determine the shooting duration from when filming started to when it ended, but not all of these dramas had that information readily available, so I made do with the information I had at hand. This means some of these are just estimations.

So without further ado, here's the list:

Vincenzo:

May 2020, Director Kim Hee Won and writer Park Jae Bum teamed up.

July 2020, Song Joong Ki and Jeon Yeo Bin were considering the drama, while Ok Taecyeon had confirmed

September 2020, filming started

February 20th, 2021 first episode aired

No episodes April 17thand18th

April 17th, last episode script delivered

April 23rd, filming wrapped

May 2nd, 2021 last episode aired

Shooting time: 8 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 6 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 8 days

1. Crash Landing on You

*not affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic * includes overseas filming

July 31st, 2019 – first script reading

End of august 2019, filming overseas begin

December 14th, first episode airs

January 12th, filming wrapped

February 16th, 2020 last episode airs

Shooting time: 5 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 4 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 1 month + 4 days

2. It’s okay not to be okay

I couldn’t find the exact time shooting started, so these numbers are based between March and May, as I assume they didn’t shoot without Oh Jung Se being casted and while the table read photos were released in May, it could very well be they had started shooting before this.

February 2020 Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Ye Ji casted

March 2020 Oh Jung Se casted

May 8th 2020, first script reading photos released

June 20th 2020, first episode aired

July 31st 2020, filming wrapped

August 9th 2020, last episode aired

Shooting time: 3-5 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 1-3 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 9 days

3. Start-up

August 4th, all the leads are confirmed for casting

September 2020, promotional starts to come out

October 17th 2020, First episode aired

November 21st 2020, Bae Suzy wraps up filming (assuming filming wraps up around the same time as her as she is the lead)

December 6th, last episode aired

Shooting time: 2-4 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 1-2 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: around 15 days

4. Hospital playlist season 1

*only aired 1 episode pr. week

October 2019, principal photography took place

March 12th, first episode aired

Late April 2020, filming wrapped

May 28th 2020, last episode aired

Shooting time: 7 months (couldn’t find when they actually started shooting, so let’s just pretend they also filmed around October)

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 6 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 1 month

5. A piece of your mind

February 7th 2020, article of the first script reading

February 13th, first photos from drama unveiled

March 23rd, first episode aired

April 8th 2020, tvN announces that 4 episodes are cut due to low ratings

April 28th, last episode aired

Shooting time: 2-4 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 1-2 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: N/A (couldn’t find the exact time but they also axed four episodes and I don't know how much that affected filming)

6. Psychopath diary

*not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

August 2019, first script reading

November 20th, first episode aired

January 9th 2020, last episode aired

Shooting time: n/a

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 3-4 months (assuming they started shooting shortly after the first table read)

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: n/a

7. Stranger /Secret Forest season 2

* preproduced based on the information I found

January 2020, first script reading

June 20th, 2020 lead actors wrapped filming (But I only found this article that says this)

August 15th 2020, first episode aired

October 4th 2020, last episode aired

Shooting time: 6 months

Shooting duration before first episode aired: 6 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 4-5 months

What does this mean?

So the drama that comes closest to Vincenzo's filming duration is Hospital Playlist, but they also did things a bit differently. According to their Wikipedia, they only aired 1 episode a week to comply with 52-hour week system and to avoid overnight filming for the cast's and crews' health. So that would extend their shooting time. They also had the same amount of shooting time as Vincenzo before the first episode aired, i.e. 6 months, but Hospital playlist was only 12 episode drama so they also had less content to fill.

The rest of these dramas has a shooting time with 6 months or less. I will say though a lot of these dramas are not action-packed (also I haven't checked the budget for any of these), so comparatively they probably have different needs when filming. The drama that comes closest in terms of action is Stranger/Secret Forest, and it's also pretty close in shooting time with only 2 month different (that's counting from the first table read though). This was however pre-produced so they wrapped up filming before the first episode even aired (if my information is correct). Also this was a season two so they were operating under a little different circumstances.

But with the exception of Stranger/Secret Forest (preproduced) and Hospital Playlist(tried to work with humane working hours), none of this drama has a 6-month filming duration before the first episode aired. In fact some of these dramas don't even exceed 6 months of filming. Meaning they had less time to shoot before the first episode aired. Their production was probably also lower and none them did CGI (although I haven't watched all of them so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) as that should also be accounted for.

So 8 months of filming is a lot to allocate to a drama, at least it's not the norm. There are other dramas that exceed that filming time that didn't make the list (Mr. Sunshine sorry too much research for at this point), but obviously that is not the standard.

Obviously I don't know how the filming was divided, how many of the episodes they had filmed before the first one aired. I don't know how many of the episode scripts were written before it aired. But I can see that even with the live-shooting, Vincenzo has some very uneven scheduling that doesn't align with how the rest of these dramas did their scheduling and airing. None of the mentioned dramas had any delays (in airing, I can't be sure about filming as some of them are probably affected by the pandemic), and yet Vincenzo did, even though they had spent more time filming before the first episode aired.

Also, most of these dramas wrapped up filming with more than a week to spare before the final airing, with It's Okay Not To Be Okay coming the closest to the airing date (with the ones where I know the date when they finished shooting), but they also only had 1-3 months of filming before the drama actually started airing so much less time than Vincenzo. And although they didn't have CGI, they did have the animations for each of the fairytales which I don't know how long it took but I can imagine it took some time.

So then I looked up another drama not by tvN but by Park Jae Bum:

Good Manager/Chief Kim

December 15, 2016 first script reading

January 25, 2017 First episode aired

March 30, 2017 Last episode aired

I couldn't find the date they finished filming, but given they only started a month before airing (honestly I felt super sorry for the cast and crew when I saw these dates), I am assuming the hit the last airing date pretty closely with filming, and that would give them 3 months of filming roughly. And they also had 20 episodes like Vincenzo.

I haven't seen this drama myself, so I can't say anything about the writing quality, but here Park Jae Bum was working under even more time pressure and was able to deliver the ending on time and as I hear, it was pretty a pretty good ending (but I haven't seen it, so feel free to refute me). And yet he couldn't do it for Vincenzo. So I do think something happened with ending, whether it was Park Jae Bum just took a long time writing it for whatever reasons, or someone/thing (be it something personal, writer's block, execs not liking the ending etc.) actually interfered and that prolonged the writing or entirely changed the ending.

Anyway this became too long, so let me just end it here.

I wish I had time to make a more comprehensive list so I could be more definite in the conclusion because obviously I can't base everything of the schedule of 8 dramas that also vastly different in production quality, genre and content.

So yeah I might have just wasted the last three-four hours making something that doesn't even make sense. But hey, at least I'm less prepared for the exams now, good use of time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[who-am-i-no-one]

Emma. (2020)

I watched this movie in late January. After multiple viewings and re-reading the book, I have a lot of thoughts about this adaptation.

It seems rather strange, given that Emma is part of my holy trinity of Austen novels, that I didn't watched the most recent adaptation earlier. I think it was mostly due to my initial impression that Anya Taylor-Joy's otherworldly looks didn't quite match what I had in mind for the titular character. I decided to give this version a try after watching Queen's Gambit. Not sure that Anya's looks will ever grow on me, but she did impress me as a young actress who seemed to have a maturity beyond her years.

Long story short: really wished I had seen this movie earlier! It is absurd and heartfelt at the same time, imo, the version that best imbues Austen's humor. It is now my favorite adaption, with the possible exception of Clueless, and I'm not quite sure how much of that is just nostalgia.

From the casting to the direction to the script to the costumes to the set to the soundtrack, I could tell the creative team really put a lot of love into this project. It's always a joy to watch something that's made with love and made well.

Direction

Autumn de Wilde's directing is quite good. I would never have thought this was her first feature. She certainly has a unique and colorful style, which is probably to be expected for such a famous photographer.

Funnily, while watching the movie I kept thinking it reminded me of early Hollywood romantic comedies like Bringing Up Baby (incidentally one of my favorites) or The Philadelphia Story, and then reading interviews and seeing that she had tried to bring in some of that style of humor made me feel rather validated. Also the servants' reactions were awesome!

Absolutely loved the fact that they decided to show that Knightley and Emma were in love with each other very early on in the story, with Knightley more aware of it. I've read some people complaining about the surprise of Emma's being in love being ruined. But come on, did anyone reading two chapters into the book think it wasn't going to be the two of them together in the end?

Loved how much of Knightley's point of view we got in this movie. This is one repressed pinning man. I can totally see this Knightley riding ventre a terre from London in the rain because he thought Emma was heartbroken.

The only gripe I had was the lack of Frank and Jane's subplot. As it seems they shot some scenes for that, I assume it was the director's discretion to take them out. I remember thinking while watching the movie that they must have expected the audience to be familiar with the story because some things just didn't really get explained or extrapolated on a lot. If you hadn't read the book it'd be 30 minutes or more into the movie before you put two and two together and figured out why Mr. Knightley is always at Hartfield.

Script

The script takes most of the dialogue directly from the book, which is awesome. I love Austen's writing because there is a certain musicality to it and retaining that in large part for the movie really made it better for me. The deftness with which Eleanor Catton moved dialogue from one scene in the book to a totally different one in the movie was quite brilliant. Everything flowed so well.

The scenes that differed from the book were also excellent - namely, I really loved the Jane/Knightley duet, the infamous nosebleed and first kiss scenes. 💖 I thought the screenwriter used those changes to quickly establish plot points and character arcs well.

Costume/Hair

Not a Recency expert so can't say much about the costumes and hair as far as period correctness but from reading other reviews it seemed like they were very true to the period. Obviously appreciated them taking the time to show the audience how men got dressed in that time (purely for research purposes obviously 😜).

Emma's dresses were all quite beautiful. I especially loved the black evening dress, the pink one with the roses and the proposal dress. Also loved the little pop of red shoes that went with the proposal dress. As someone who wore red shoes with her wedding gown I heartily approve.

Absolutely loved how Emma's curls unwound as her life unravels. Similarly think they must have done the same for Knightley to a lesser extent. His hair during the card playing scene at the Westons was quite terrible.

Set

I! Loved! Hartfield! It looked just like a doll house. Really most of the sets looked good enough to eat. So much pastel. Reminded me of French macarons.

I liked how everything in Donwell Abbey was shrouded in Holland covers. Makes a good point that Knightley barely lives there at all, that his home has been with the Woodhouses for quite a while now. Which, of course, makes his sacrifice at the end just a little bit less of a sacrifice?

Soundtrack

Isabella Waller-Bridge's music really meshed well with the tone of the entire film. The male and female opera singers, sometimes sounding as if they are bickering with each other and other times seeming to be in duet, was a brilliant touch. The folk music was a little jarring at first but really grew on me.

Johnny Flynn's end credits song "Queen Bee" is amazing. I love that we get Knightley's perspective at the end with a song written and sung by Knightley. It's a lovely coda to the movie. And now, if the next Austen hero doesn't write one for his SO I'm going to think him a very poor sort of lover.

Cast

Anya's Emma was really great. I'm glad they allowed Emma to be her bitchy self. Lol. I haven't watched the 1996 and 2009 versions in a while but I distinctly remember them making Emma too nice. I recall writing after watching the Garai version that Emma was actually mean and they should have let her be mean! If she's not a brat in the beginning, how will we see her change for the better later on? I love what a snob and how manipulative this Emma was and so assured of her place in her little society but still had the vulnerability of almost an imposter's syndrome which I feel most people can relate to.

Her chemistry with Johnny Flynn's Knightley was off the charts. Pretty much every scene they had together I half expected them to reenact the library scene from Atonement lol.

Mia Goth was a wonderful Harriet. She really captured Harriet's inexperience, naivete and diffidence. The orgasmic sounds she was making during the gypsies attack scene were awesome. Although, I could probably have forgone a few of Harriet's scenes for more Frank and Jane.

Not sure why they made Mia go brunette since the book specifically mentioned Harriet was fair? Perhaps having all three leads as blondes was just a bit too much. I'm also not sure if I liked Harriet's ending as I really don't think Emma, even in her most contrite mood, would invite further friendship from a tradesman's daughter and soon-to-be her husband's tenant farmer's wife. This seems a piece of modern day wishful thinking on the part of the creative team.

Bill Nighy was so good as Mr. Woodhouse. He made it so believable why everyone would do everything in their power to accommodate his whims. The gag with the screens was too funny. He was able to sketch out a lonely quirky old man who is afraid to lose those close to him in very limited screen time. Absolutely loved the scene where Emma was heaping blame on herself and he just sat with her in sympathetic silence.

Miranda Hart's Miss Bates was excellent as well. She has long been one of my favorite British comedic actresses but she can also do drama well. Her reaction to Emma's teasing on Box Hill and her forgiveness of Emma later brought me to tears.

Josh O'Connor's Mr. Elton was deliciously creepy. The carriage proposal scene was at once a little scary and hilarious. I actually liked the portrait scenes a little less because I found the acting there slightly affected and veering into 1995 Mr. Collins territory. But as Austen described Elton as having "a sort of parade in his speeches", this was much more forgivable. Really loved Mr. Elton's determination to eat cake during the Eltons' visit to Hartfield.

Tanya Reynolds was an excellent Mrs. Elton and in very little screen time was able to bring to life this meddlesome nouveau riche. Adored her little shimmy during the ball.

Amber Anderson's Jane really looked as if she were in a decline. Callum Turner did a good job as a slightly restless, mischievous and immature Frank Churchill. I did feel his looks were a bit too modern but that's just my personal view.

Given how many scenes they had I thought they used the time they had pretty well with furtive glances and sly smiles at each other to establish the relationship.

Connor Swindells was such a love sick puppy as Robert Martin. Did this role ever get cast in other adaptations? I don't seem to recall at all.

Special shoutout to Oliver Chris's John Knightley. Absolutely had me in stitches.

And last but never the least, Johnny Flynn's Mr. Knightley:

To preface, I will never not fall for Mr. Knightley in any version that I watch. And really, get yourself a good looking enough actor with good enough chemistry with Emma and good enough acting chops and you should have a fairly successful Knightley.

I judge all my Knightleys by the Box Hill scene. And up to that point in the movie, I really liked Johnny Flynn's Knightley. He was playful and sexy and jealous and slightly bitchy as well. The duet scene was lovely because I always appreciate a man who can play instruments and sing well. The sexiness and chemistry of the dance scene was off the charts. That's all well and good. And like I said before, given any well cast actor, I probably would have liked them in those scenes as well, just as I've liked Northam's and Miller's Knightleys.

But, the Box Hill scene absolutely blew me away. To make sure I was not just biased towards the last Knightley I saw on screen, I did go back and compare each version's Box Hill scene and I am, actually, even more blown away. Some of it is a credit to the directing and script, but a large part of it is Johnny Flynn's acting in that scene.

As far a script and directing, the set up to the fight scene was fantastic. Loved Anya's expression changes after she makes the joke. Loved Miranda Hart's Miss Bates as she realizes what Emma meant. The silence that followed. Knightley's shocked face and how sympathetic he was to Miss Bates. Can probably write a whole thing just about this scene alone.

I loved the fact that Knightley had an internal struggle as to whether or not to approach Emma and reproach her for her behavior. I know the book has him tell Emma about his struggle but that just doesn't work as well for me on screen.

During the scene you can just tell how frustrated and disappointed in her he is even though he tries to keep his voice low. But the way he reprimands her does not at all feel lecture-y and I feel like part of it is because it seems like he starts to lose control a little bit as well. His voice starts to crescendo as she stubbornly refuses to admit she was in the wrong and culminates in "badly done, indeed!" with actual fingerpointing. Yikes.

Then he losses steam and looked regretful, almost devastatingly so, at his own outburst and perhaps felt that he was losing her by giving this speech and looked as if he would have said something more - an apology or some words of comfort to soften the blow? - but didn't.

This remorse and the struggle at the beginning really bookended the scene for me.

Absolutely loved his Knightley, and, really, him as an actor after that.

The proposal scene as well was very good. His delivery was just really good. The way he said "If I loved you less then I might be able to talk about it more." with some regret and then closing his eyes as if he can't believe what he just said. Soooo good. Also, he cries very pretty, lol.

The delivery of the three "yes" during the kiss scene as Emma asked for confirmation that he really was ok with giving up his house to come live with them was also brilliant. It just kept getting softer and softer but he never breaks eye contact. Absolute chef's kiss. His closed eyed little smile of content after Emma kisses him just made me melt into a puddle.

Yup, overall I'd say I rather liked his interpretation of Mr. George Knightley. 😜

I did wish they hadn't giving him such sideburns but after watching some Emma interviews I can totally understand. If he didn't have the sideburns there'd be more complaints about how young this Knightley was. He's got such a baby face.

...I seemed to have written an entire essay on this movie...yeah, I just have a lot of feelings and thoughts about this version...