#so i’d be writing two stcs

[mollyrolls]

several hits of my cart in and it’s tasting like it’s time to bite the bullet and write an akaashi series

[samobservessonic]

Why do you want to read Sonic the Comic?

The short answer is because it was my intro to the Sonic series as a whole, but I haven’t reread most of it since I was a kid. But I’ll go into a little more detail about that below the readmore, as well as outlining what I will and won’t be reading for this blog

Sonic the Comic issue #80 rewired my brain and changed my life

Now, the first issue of StC that I bought as a kid was #80. I should add a disclaimer here that there was a kid I knew back then who recommended me the comics - she had issues #78 and #79, so I probably at least glimpsed those as well. But #80 was the first issue that I had for myself (and I still have my copy!), so that’s the one that gave me my first impression of Sonic

I’m sure StC fans will know why this issue was a big one and even Sonic fans who have a casual familiarity with StC will probably see Super Sonic on the cover and guess that a lot of stuff happens in this issue… and you’d be right! I’ll save the review for when I actually get to this issue in my reread, but the basic premise is that Sonic goes to visit his friend Porker Lewis on the Floating Island (later known as Angel Island in the games), where the chaos emeralds and master emerald are kept suspended above a giant… hole thing that holds their power (kid me didn’t ask questions, adult me still doesn’t). Sonic fell in this hole and got a full whack of their power, turning him into the evil Super Sonic who’s hellbent on destroying the last person who’d been on Sonic’s mind, who happened to be Amy Rose

The story ends on this cliffhanger and I can pin-point this single image as the reason I got into Sonic in the first place

…Like, look at this!! The art is so cool! What’s going to happen to Amy Rose? Why has Sonic turned into a crazy powerful being who wants to kill her? I have to know more! I have to get the next issue and maybe devote my entire life to this series! Like, Super Sonic looks so powerful and Tails looks terrified of him! But Amy still looks quite calm and collected. Maybe she’s only just noticed Super Sonic zooming into the scene or maybe she’s just composed enough to not be as fearful of him as Tails is. Obviously, even without knowing anything about the series, I could tell that Amy is Sonic’s friend and I want her to be okay. But something about seeing her reaction in this panel made it seem like the “Next Issue: Amy vs Super Sonic!” advertised at the bottom of this page wouldn’t be as one-sided as some might expect it would be And that’s how, on (roughly) 21st June 1996, an 8-year-old who’d just spent their £1.20 pocket-money had their socks blown off by a Sonic comic (Out of curiosity, I looked up where Archie Sonic was at around this time and it was… issue #37! The Knuckles spin-off comics would also be released the month after this. But I wouldn’t know about the existence of either of these until later)

Now, 80 issues into an on-going series is obviously a late point to hop on, but I can honestly say that it never hindered me reading the comics as a kid. Every two weeks I’d get to see Sonic and his friends have adventures and sometimes they’d mention established lore that I might not have known, but it was easy just to write that off as something from an earlier issue and carry on Also, after a certain point, StC started to reprint older stories. Which was both a blessing and a curse, because on one hand it meant that I could catch up with older stories I hadn’t read before, but on the other hand it deprived the issues of newer stories, until the comic would eventually become entirely reprints from issue #185. Even so, I can confidently say that there are probably stories in the first 79 issues of the series that I’ve never read, so I’m looking forward to getting to those on my read-through So, will you stop reading at issue #184? While I intend to read from #1-184, the reprints issues do feature new covers from Richard Elson

Many of which show newer takes on earlier stories, featuring the green-eyed Sonic of the modern era. So while it’s far away now, I’ll most-likely do a post about these covers to conclude my read-through. Although man, looking at #185’s cover in particular puts me right back into being there as a kid, expecting to see new stories, only to open the comic and get entirely reprints…

Will you be reading the non-Sonic stories?

Early on in its run, StC featured stories from other SEGA titles of the time, before committing to being entirely about Sonic. While not to diminish the merits of these stories, I just don’t have the same familiarity with most of their source material that I do for Sonic, so I won’t be reading them. The exceptions being probably the Ecco stories (because I did play Ecco as a kid) and Decap Attack, because Decap Attack was still running after I started reading the comic and I remember enjoying it. But I won’t be blogging about either of these in the same way that I will be the Sonic comics themselves, so you won’t have to skim past posts about loads of other series to get to the Sonic stuff

What about the Sonic spin-offs?

I will absolutely be reading these once I find or make a good reading-order that slots them into their proper place. The above summer ‘96 special was also one of my first StC issues and I remember it fondly

What about the Captain Plunder stories?

Yep! Captain Plunder exists in Sonic’s universe and I enjoyed his standalone stories as a kid, so I’ll be including him in my reread Anything else?

For a time, StC included game reviews and ofc they also had a fanmail and fan art section, like Archie and IDW. For the most part, I’ll only be including small bits of these that I find interesting or relevant, but I won’t be talking about them wholesale. Though I’m sure that a Sonic comic’s reviews of Sonic games will be worth a look at

[goldenseresinretriever]

Hiii! Just wanted to say that I adored your prologue for Subject to Change! Reader is going through it at the end there 😂😂😂 Once I’m done my Hangman fic I’ll definitely be trying my hand at Twisters Tuesday!

Quick question (and feel free to tell me to go away), if StC is going to be updated on Tuesdays, do you have an idea of when False Confidence will be updated? Or will that be on a more random schedule (because I recognize that getting three chapters in a row was a blessing from the gods)

Hi hi hiiii!!! I can’t wait to see what you come up with for Twisters Tuesday! And yes I’m definitely playing around with updating STC on Tuesdays but I’m not the best at sticking to a schedule so I’d say maybe at minimum once a week on Tuesday but it truly depends on my motivation and schedule. For example, ideally I’d like to get Chapter 1 out tomorrow or Friday 👀

As for False Confidence, that’s definitely not going to be on any kind of schedule but I will say it’s probably going to be my first priority when it comes to the two fics, and I’m actually working on Chapter 7 right now with the aim to get it out later today! I have a pretty open schedule for the rest of this month and some of next month so I’m trying to milk that and get as much writing done as I can!

So long story short it’s going to depend on my plans on any given day or week. For example, last week I was free Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday so I got updates out every single day. I try not to update fics during the weekend because tumblr is dead those days, so depending on my schedule I like to use those days to catch up and get some stuff started or even queued up for the week but that doesn’t happen as often as I’d like 😅

[asleepinawell]

huge fan of your fics! if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your writing process? i’m always so impressed with how quickly you complete fics, especially when the quality is also wonderful

process is a generous word for it. for the majority of my fics I just...write. no planning, no outlining, just sit down and write and assume plot things will sort themselves out in the end. too much planning ahead makes it less likely I'll finish something because once I know how it all works out I lose interest. I don't usually know how fics are gonna resolve or end, but I often have one or two very clear visuals for a specific moment in time I want to include and I just have to figure out how I'm going to get there.

in the last year though I switched to pre-writing entire fics before posting them. I still don't plan them out or know how they're going to go ahead of time, but it does let me tighten up world building since I can go back and edit early parts with the knowledge of how it ends before I post it.

the trade off is that I don't get the ongoing encouragement/validation of kudos and comments as I go to provide motivation, but so far that hasn't been as big an issue as I thought it would...partly because one of my friends reads my wip stuff a lot which is an enormous help (thank you @themaarika 🙏) and partly because it turns out I really want to know how I'm going to make the story magically work this time!

like it's always great when I'm writing and I realize that some random thing I shoved in the story with very little thought turned out to be the key to how a main plot conflict gets resolved. that was something that happened in a big way in the fic that I just started posting and I was like wow thanks past me!

so I think the writing in full ahead of time thing is working out well for me. it's way less stressful since I don't feel like I run the risk of losing interest and leaving a story unfinished after I start posting it. and I don't feel bad for taking forever to post a chapter. wǣrloga is the longest I've done that with, though originally I'd guessed it would only be 40-50k words and it ended up at 74k-ish. considering stc was supposed to be, like, 60k and ended up at 319k I figure my estimate wasn't too bad by comparison.

so yeah, I usually get a story idea and fixate on it and maybe think up some cool random ideas associated with it. in some specific instances I then pause to do research. for the dishonored au fic I went and read through the book I have that has every single book/note/text from the game and spent a lot of time on the wiki and replayed all the games to nail down the world of the game to make it as accurate as possible. for the lighthouse fic I spent some time looking up how lighthouses worked and diagrams of the insides of lighthouses. a lot of times I'll find ref images too of things that fit the story aesthetically. I very occasionally have a mood playlist as well. I did for this latest one.

then I just open a gdoc and start typing. I don't outline but as I write I often scrawl down notes to myself about things I need to resolve in the plot later. in the case of wǣrloga, which was unique in the fact the world building was entirely original and I prewrote it (as opposed to star wars and dishonored au which were prewritten but based on existing worlds) I made a ton of notes as I went of things I changed slightly to improve world building that I would have to go back and correct after.

once I finish a chapter I usually read it through once or twice and do a rough edit. at that point if a friend is reading it I'm okay sending it to them. there's often still typos (I write everything in gdocs on my phone with a swype keyboard and it makes some wild typos) and sometimes I'll realize I need to add part of a scene, but it's a good draft at that point. then I'll move onto the next chapter. for the last fic, when I finished the whole thing, I went back and fixed some specific notes I had and then edited the whole thing together as one for pacing and stuff.

then I spend like 3-4 days whining about how titles are hard and eventually start posting.

way more than you probably ever wanted to know. and thank you!

[schmergo]

I just saw the most interesting production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast last week at a small professional theatre in Northern Virginia called Creative Cauldron. I don’t usually write about shows that my friends won’t get to see (this one has closed), but this one was such an exciting little surprise that I have to put this out there.

This theatre is a black box. The other show I’ve seen there only had five actors and they seemed to fill up the space. How on earth, I wondered, could they put on a big spectacle show like Beauty and the Beast?

Ultimately, I left the theatre not entirely convinced that the show worked in such a tight space, yet its strongest elements were so powerful, creative, and memorable that they made the clumsy bits of staging feel less significant.

I don’t want to get into what I feel the shortcomings were because people involved in the production might read this, but I will say that not all aspects of characterization, staging, and costume/prop design were fitting for the small space, where details and sight lines are key. The production was definitely strongest when it kept things more minimal and abstract. I was delighted by the last verse of a “Be Our Guest” that ended not with a giant kick line but black light and choreographed movement with white gloves. Household objects’ clever costumes were less bulky and limited movement less than most productions, which made for a highly energetic ensemble. Lighting alone effectively conveyed a forest, and a children’s ensemble played objects ranging from Maurice’s invention to wolves. I loved the versatility of the set’s design, consisting of many bookcases that can be slid aside to reveal passages, occasionally blocked by wrought-iron glass-covered gates with a rose motif.

These gates played a role in one of the best scenes of the musical, in which the Beast discovers Maurice in his castle. Instead of immediately entering the scene, he presses his twisted face against the glass gates, bathed in red light, skulking from panel to panel and reappearing each time with the suddenness of a horror movie jump scare. I haven’t been so scared of the Beast since I was a toddler.

That brings me to the best thing about the show, the reason I would have gladly paid over twice the admission price to see it despite its inconsistency: the two title roles. I’m not exaggerating when I say this Belle and Beast are my favorites I’ve seen in any live production of Beauty and the Beast (of which I’ve seen many). I’d seen both actors in smaller roles in larger productions before- Eleanor Todd (Belle) as an ensemble member in Camelot at STC, Wyn Delano (Beast) as a very memorable Steward in Ford’s Theatre’s Into the Woods, and it was awesome to see them shine in the spotlight here.

Todd made Belle feel more real and present than I’ve ever seen before with an intimate portrayal that perfectly fit the small space. She didn’t use a cutesy “princess voice.” She was sensitive, smart, thoughtful, decisive, refreshingly modern and surprisingly funny. Each subtle expression of her eye or twitch of the corner of her mouth reflected the thoughts Belle was too polite to express (I loved watching her internally screaming while Gaston sang about how many children they’d have, awkwardly clutching her watering can like a talisman to ward him off). She acted her way through her ballads in a way that made them feel fresh and new- and wow, what a voice, clear and warm and totally worthy of a princess. Her Belle is so likable that you feel like she’s your best friend confiding in you, and it’s easy to see why the Beast fell in love with her so easily.

I can’t say enough about Delano’s portrayal of the Beast or the design of his costume, and really, the two go hand in hand. That’s a character that I’ve always loved and yet I usually feel let down when I see Beauty and the Beast onstage because the elaborate prosthetics make it tricky to show much expression. No matter how high the budget, they never look quite right. Seeing a production image of Delano in character is what prompted me to buy a ticket. Rather than wearing a mask, elaborate makeup, or a giant muscle suit, his Beast wears two streaks of black paint below his eyes, furry gloves with long scary claws, and a long cloak. The rest is up to Delano himself. He contorts his face and hunches his shoulders, roars and growls. His own long hair serves him well as both a Beast and a Prince, and his expressive eyes do a huge amount of the characterization for him. He’s extraordinary.

As I mentioned before, his Beast is terrifying at the beginning, and his deep voice and abrupt movements were so scary that I kept flinching at his outbursts. He paces, storms, recoils, leaps from furniture, yet he’s also intensely anxious and self-conscious and it’s easy to see how these traits motivate his behavior. I didn’t think he’d be able to do the sweet and romantic side of the Beast as well, but he did, adorably and goofily awkward. He holds Belle during their dance like he’s afraid he’s going to break her. There’s something of the little boy in his Beast, which works especially well because this production cast a member of the children’s ensemble as the young prince in the prologue. “Gosh,” you think. “The Enchantress cursed a little boy. He went through puberty in a monster’s body. No wonder he’s so messed up.”

The young actor who played the Prince in the prologue also helped the Beast transform into a human, washing his face and removing his claws and cloak, while Delano did the work of showing his bone structure shifting and changing. It was a beautiful moment to see his younger self’s almost tearful expression while setting his older self free. I’ve seen that scene done with dazzling special effects but never with the same emotion. Delano barely looks any different after the transformation but the way he carries himself is almost unrecognizable.

He’s just as powerful a singer as an actor. When he sang his sad reprise of “If I Can’t Love Her” near the end of the show, he sat on the steps right next to me and the intensity of his singing moved me to tears. I may or may not have been in his spotlight. If I was, the audience got to see me stare at him and ugly cry.

I also want to give a special shout out to the children’s ensemble, especially the little girl who played the Enchanted Rose, here a wordless confidante who wistfully reacts to the Beast’s ranting and singing. “I don’t like this any more than you do,” her eyes seem to say as she drops petals. Full disclosure: this actress went to the drama camp that I worked at three years ago, and I recognized her at once because she was a memorable performer even then. I’m super proud of her!

Seeing this show made me look at some of my favorite Disney characters and songs in a whole new light. If you ever see Eleanor Todd or Wyn Delano cast in a major role in the future, GO SEE IT!

[my14rk]

Kelly K.R. Ross

February 2

Dear Greenpeace personnel, I am a very concerned 41-year old Canadian family man (yes, male, I can still distinguish), born in a small village in Saskatchewan and currently residing in Medicine Hat, Alberta. I would love to assist your organization in making the world a better place. I recently read a quote from Mr. Stewart that ‘oil in Alberta is unnecessary’ and something about ‘only clean energy’ (of course I am mildly paraphrasing but it was the gist of the CTV article). Now, I can tell you that I was angered by these comments. So, as Greenpeace has all the answers, I thought who better to contact other than the fine individuals of your organization. Now Issue # 1 is transportation: As almost everyone in Canada is not living in the GTA, what is the cleanest form of transportation that you could recommend for my family (which includes my wife, 2 teenage daughters, and the family dog)? Public transportation across the prairies (to visit family) is almost non-existent since the closure of Greyhound and STC (Saskatchewan Transport Company). Even when the bus lines were fully operational, 10 to 14-hour bus trips to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ were way too long and fares for the family were too expensive. I should also mention a normal drive time for a personal vehicle is approximately 6 hours. So, with public transportation out of the question, I need to own a vehicle. Please recommend a vehicle on the market that has no oil products in it. Maybe, if I can get personal on some level, what kinds of vehicles are most commonly owned by Greenpeace executives/employees? I only ask because as I read the news (and any other publication that posts the comments of individuals such as Keith Stewart), apparently Greenpeace has no use for oil and oil produced products, as they all pollute the earth. Climate change, you know. So, should I buy an electric car ... NO, I can’t. As a rational, reasonable thinking Canadian, I am aware that electric cars are full of ... NO, wait ... Almost COMPLETELY composed of, and manufactured with/by oil-based products. I guess electric cars are out too. Horseback? NO. Riding on horseback would get me into all kinds of trouble with the good people over at PETA and WWF. Don’t want them trying to shut me down. My best guess is that none of you folks over there own a personal vehicle. Well let me know which way to go on that one.

Issue # 2, food: Now I’m sure that no one from the world of Greenpeace buys that grubby food produced on and from farms across Canada. Those farmers use an abundant amount of diesel to produce every scrap and morsel of food that can be found in every grocery store across this great nation. I mean seriously, how is it that all Canadians can’t understand this simple truth. Milk, bread, meat, vegetables, etc. have all come from a farmer, who I can promise you, owns a tractor. Tractors burn a lot of fuel. If you were or are unaware of this revelation, I will guarantee these facts, as I was born and raised on a Canadian farm. ALL the food consumed from the store has come from a farm somewhere. Then to top it off, those grocers have everything packaged one way or another to keep food fresh and sanitary (God knows we can’t have someone else’s germs on our food). Again, oil issues, all that packaging (to keep the food safe) is made with and by oil products. Honestly, it feels like I can’t win. So, like activists, I have a garden for all our food. However; protein (you know, meat) is a real issue. City bylaws say I’m not allowed a pig (for pork products such as bacon and such), or a cow (steaks). I can have five chickens. I guess those teenage girls I mentioned earlier are going on a diet. I am very concerned for the well-being of people living in apartments (where gardens are impossible). By the way, where do you get all your food from?

Issue # 3, heating: This is a touchy subject. How would a man as intelligent as Keith Stewart and other lead activists heat their homes? Now I am somewhat intelligent as I only have a Grade 12 education from a small prairie high school (not big city educated), but I can’t figure this one out for two reasons. Natural gas ... I don’t think so! Pollution! That clean burning gas from the ground is still produced by Big Oil (we hate those guys). I was going to switch to coal but, carbon tax (pollution, again). Wood burning is not the way to heat our homes, it’s soon going to be illegal to cut down trees (emissions, again). Solar energy, well, that doesn’t stand a chance in Canada. Geothermal would almost be the way to go if it didn’t require drilling and glycol-based fluids. I don’t need to tell you folks the ecological effects that a glycol spill has on the environment and animals. Wind turbines would be almost effective if they weren’t so expensive to set up and not to mention the amount of poor birds that would die as a result. PETA, again, would not be pleased. So, please help, I currently have no way to heat my home that isn’t a pollution issue.

Issue # 4, electronics: As we all hate Big Oil, we must destroy all electronic devices. No computers, phones, tablets, etc. If it has a computer chip, a plastic-coated wire, a power cord, I mean if even one component of any device/machine contains oil and/or oil by-products, it must be destroyed. Big Oil is not going to keep you and me from our dream of a better planet. No more electronics ... I can’t write this letter, businesses everywhere can’t operate, you can’t get your points across. Maybe we need oil? What do you think?

If we (as a country) are not going to produce oil, whom/where does Mr. Stewart want us to buy it from - as I think we have established that it is currently a requirement in every Canadian household including yours? The obvious answer must be the Saudi’s, America or maybe Venezuela (all environmentally-conscious places, right ...?). Which does leave me curious, if all our oil is imported, does the carbon tax go up or down? Maybe imported oil is carbon free? The Liberal government would have Canadians believe that the carbon tax will stop global warming. You men and women are smarter than that, right? I’d like to think that as Canadians we should support Canadian oil as it is one of the most regulated oil producing countries on the planet.

Is everyone at Greenpeace living in a time warp? Are you all individuals who are living off the land, being 100 percent self-sufficient? If you are, you wouldn’t be able to read this email. However, we both know that you have the ability to do so, which means Greenpeace is also on the Big Oil wagon. Please don’t be ashamed. Just own it. Stop preaching to the masses. When your organization and personnel are willing to walk your own talk, then I guess we’ll have something to discuss. Are you so blinded by tofu farting hippies that you can’t see the plain truth? Let us all be honest, organizations such as yours and the ones like it are not willing to make the hard sacrifices to accomplish any real change. Like almost every lobbyist group, you’d prefer to bitch and whine about everything until the donations stop coming in and then move on until the next money-making issue swings around. Granted; Greenpeace started with admirable beginnings, but like all good ideas, it always ends up about the money. Or am I way off base?

I do expect a response, for if I don’t get one ... you’re going to find this letter on every news feed and publication that will print it. I will send it to Ottawa (not a threat with the current ‘leadership’, but the Conservatives might listen). I’ll post it on every social media outlet I can sign up for and people will read it. I know that the loudest voice is the one the public hears the best. By now you must understand that you can’t be the only voice for people to listen to.

Sincerely

Leon W.

As you may have guessed, there has been no response from Greenpeace, so, here we go.

If you agree with my thoughts, please feel free to discuss, forward, share, post, etc. We can no longer sit back and let others be the only voice that the public, activists, government, etc. are listening to you. I think that with our oil built electronics, we must circulate this letter. Let's get people talking. Thanks for your help.

[courtingstars]

About Storming the Castle and The Vanishing Prince

Hi Tumblr! For anyone who missed it, I posted the final chapter of Storming the Castle on Sunday. And the first chapter of the next story, The Vanishing Prince, went up yesterday. (YAY.) I mentioned in one of my notes that I wanted to talk a little about the process of finishing StC, and why I decided to keep going with the series as planned. So this is that post!

As some of you already know, I decided to finish the last three chapters of Storming the Castle before posting them. What I didn’t mention at the time was that I also started writing the first few chapters of The Vanishing Prince. I wanted to talk a little bit about why I did that, for readers who are curious about the next story, and explain my plans for the series and how they changed/didn’t change this year…

(Also, if you want everything about the series to be a complete surprise, feel free to skip! I don’t go into spoilers, just really general stuff. And there is one spoiler for the first chapter of The Vanishing Prince, if you haven’t read it yet!)

Cut for writer rambling about why StC is way longer than it was supposed to be and why I almost didn’t write the next story…

So originally, Storming the Castle was supposed to be a shorter, novella-length story to connect the events of The Fast Train to Kyoto and The Vanishing Prince. (I actually made a post about my plans for that back in November 2016.) Based on what I had outlined at the time, I assumed the second fic would be about half the length of Fast Train. But then, uh… that didn’t happen? At all. (It actually turned out to be 10k longer than Fast Train. HOW.)

I honestly never intended for Storming the Castle to be so long, and if you’re wondering why that ended up being the case, well… The truth is, I had way too much fun writing the first part. Especially Furihata’s family! I loved them so much that I couldn’t resist letting them have longer scenes. The problem was, I wanted the length of the part about Furi’s house to roughly match the part about Akashi’s house, because they were supposed to be parallel, story-wise. And so the next thing I knew, the whole fic was getting way, WAY longer than I meant it to be.

At that point, I really started to question what I wanted to do with the series. The ending I had planned for Storming the Castle was a cliffhanger and left so many unresolved threads, which I normally would NEVER do for a story that long. I also had a severe case of writer’s block in 2017 because of mental health issues, which resulted in multiple hiatuses. So I started to really worry about how slow-paced the series was turning out to be. I always meant for A Spark of Light to be a slow burn romance, but it just seemed like too much, especially if I couldn’t guarantee that I would finish the storyline. So I seriously considered changing the ending to Storming the Castle, and making it the final fic in the series, where the plot would just be about Furihata and Akashi (Oreshi) getting close as friends and then realizing they were in love and deciding to date.

The only problem was… The Vanishing Prince.

The Vanishing Prince is, by far, the one AkaFuri story that I’ve always wanted to write the most. The first idea for a scene in it came to me before I even started drafting The Fast Train to Kyoto. (It’s the last scene in Chapter One!) But I’ve always been incredibly nervous to write it, because I knew it was a pretty complicated story that would involve a lot of research and emotional investment. (And to be 100% honest, I don’t feel like I’m a good enough writer to do it justice! Not because I think I’m a bad writer, really, but because the idea in my head is SO GOOD, if that makes any sense.) Also, it’s about a dissociative disorder, and Japanese mythology/culture, both of which are far removed from my own experience. So as I was finishing Storming the Castle, I started to chicken out, and think that maybe I shouldn’t write it after all.

Still, I wanted to try writing the first chapter, just to see how it felt. (And because to be honest, I REALLY wanted to write that one scene, even if I never posted it!) I figured that way, I’d be able to make an informed decision about whether to change the ending to Storming the Castle and end the series there instead. I still assumed The Vanishing Prince would just be too difficult—especially since I couldn’t figure out how to solve a problem I was having with the point-of-view. I didn’t want to start posting the fic unless I was VERY confident that I could finish it.

Then, while I was drafting, I tried alternating the point-of-view between Furihata and Oreshi and Bokushi in every chapter. And suddenly, everything started flowing. I got so excited when I wrote the last scene in Chapter One… That image, of Furihata waking up in Akashi’s bed and seeing Bokushi, has been floating around in my head for over three years. For a long time, I didn’t know what the context of it would be… Why was Furihata in Akashi’s bed? And why would Bokushi randomly show up in the middle of the night like that? What did he want? As I was writing the other fics in the series, I gradually realized the answers to those questions. And in the end, I just couldn’t let the idea go.

The Vanishing Prince directly addresses a lot of the different threads that have been introduced in the series. It focuses on Akashi’s past and family life, and also on Furihata’s supernatural abilities, and how these two stories weave together. And it’s definitely about falling in love. In a lot of ways, it’s really the second half to Storming the Castle, because it resolves so many of the themes that were introduced in that fic. So if you have a lot of unanswered questions after StC, The Vanishing Prince should address a lot of them. (And maybe a bunch of questions you didn’t have? //laughs)

This is the story about Akashi (both of him!) that I’ve always wanted to write. In a way, every fic I’ve written about him so far has been leading up to The Vanishing Prince, including The Bridges Between Us and Nearing Spring. It’s about Akashi’s past with his family, and giving Bokushi the credit I think he deserves, and why I think Furihata is amazing, and about a million other things. I know without a doubt that I’ll mess some of it up, and that it won’t as good as it is in my head. But at this point, I can promise that I will do everything I safely can to get this story out of my brain, so the people who are still following the series can finally read it.

So thank you all for being patient, while I figured this out. And again, I really do apologize, for how much of a cliffhanger Storming the Castle is! But I hope that the faster pace of The Vanishing Prince will make up for it. And I’ll do my absolute best to finish this series as quickly as possible, because you all deserve that (and because I want to write the ending so badly!). So thank you, for giving me the chance to tell the story I really wanted to tell, just like I always saw it in my head. Like I’ve said before, I don’t think I would have kept trying, if it weren’t for all of you who have told me you’re still reading it. <3

[seo-workshop-mcdaid-blog]

Conferences for Technical Writers

Looking for a conference to speak at or attend? There are conferences all over the world that cater to the technical communication industry. Plus there are lots of conferences related to our field where we can go and learn some crazy new skills we’d never thought to use before.

Me. Mainstage at LavaCon 2018.

This year, I’ve made it a personal goal to help colleagues get out and speak at conferences. I spent years avoiding conferences until my boss finally dragged me (kicking and screaming) onto a stage with her. Now I feel the urge to return the favor. Sure, the stage fright was (is still) awful. But my peers encouraged me and my industry listened to me. We all just want to hear your story, learn from your lessons. Everyone has something to share... And who doesn’t want an all expenses paid trip somewhere cool? 

Talking to my first couple of (victims) colleagues, it turns out that a big problem is only knowing about 1 or 2 conferences. Someone told me they’d missed the boat for LavaCon this year, so they were going to wait until next year to put in a bid. They didn’t even know about the 4 other conferences that have open calls out as I write this. 

I’m going to attempt to maintain this list and keep it up to date. Please reach out if you know of any conferences I’m missing!! Or if you want advice on submitting a proposal or prepping a talk!

General Technical Communication Conferences

These conferences are appropriate for a wide range of technical writers. 

Winter IDEAS (Jan) - I’ve spoken at this one on a panel with Dell folks. It’s an online-only conference (no video just slide share) held twice yearly. It’s sponsored by CIDM, so sometimes it’s DITA-heavy. Sometimes general. 

MEGAComm (Feb) - Yearly conference held in Israel, appropriate for techcomm, marcomm, and content managers. 

TC World India (Feb) - I’ve spoken at this one. The conference has a lot of personality. It’s the world stage version of LavaCon in that sense. The food was fabulous. The MC thinks he’s hilarious. And evening entertainment included performances and an open dance floor. Conference material focuses heavily on things technical writers can do, in addition to writing, to add value. They love things like chatbots, AR, visualizations, automation, etc.

Tekomm Spring (March) - Bilingual in German and English.

ATTW (Mar) - A little off the beaten path. This is a yearly conference by the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing

Information Energy (April) - Fancy a trip to Amsterdam anyone?

MadWorld (April) - Sponsored by MadCap Flare, but focused on content strategy.

TC Camp (April) - The technical writer’s UNconference. This camp focuses on issues, skills, challenges, and tools for technical communicators. Expect discussions instead of lectures.  

TC World China (May)

Technical Documentation Roundup (May) - New conference from the Content Wrangler.

STC Summit (May) 

Write the Docs Portland (May)

ComTecnia (May) -  Held in Italy in spring (sold yet?), this conference focuses on the latest trends in techcomm.

Evolution of TC (June) - Focused on software documentation innovations. I’ve been to this one, and am speaking at it for the first time this year. It’s a lovely time of year to visit Bulgaria, and the TC industry has exploded in Sofia over the last decade or so. You’re bound to be inspired.

Write the Docs Vilnius (June) 

Soap! (June) - An annual conference for content professionals, held in Poland.

Summer IDEAS (Jul) -  An online-only conference (no video just slide share) held twice yearly. It’s sponsored by CIDM, so sometimes it’s DITA-heavy. Sometimes general. 

Nordic Tekomm (Sept) - I’ve got a bid in for a gig here this year! I’ll let you know how the conference is if I get to attend!

Write the Docs Prague (Sept)

TCUK Conference (Sept)

CIDM Best Practices (Sept) - This is another CIDM conference, so can skew DITA. But it’s intended to be general. You can also enter to win the Inspire Award. Whose boss doesn’t like that kind of industry recognition?

LavaCon (October)  -  The focus tend to be on content strategy for techcomm. I’ve spoken at this one and it’s super fun. They have parades and storytelling and karaoke events! Call for papers is early, and it closes out fast. 

MadWorld Europe (October) - Sponsored by MadCap Flare, but focused on content strategy.

TC World (October) - This is the biggest of the Tekomm events. I’ll be putting in a proposal myself!

TechCommNZ (October) - Yeah, an annual New Zealand technical communications conference. How awesome does that sound? I can speak first hand about NZ being basically a living post card (so beautiful), but I don’t have any first hand knowledge about the conference.

ASTC (October) - Who wants a trip down under? Every year the Australian Society for TechComm puts on a conference. This could be your opportunity to get those flights to the GBR paid for. Not to mention the fabulous techcomm education you’ll be getting.   

DITA Technical Communication Conferences

XML Prague (Feb) -  A conference about XML and markup languages. DITA welcome. Oxygen attends.

CMS/DITA North America (April)

MarkUpUK (June) - A conference about XML and other markup languages. DITA welcome. Oxygen attends.

Balisage the Markup Conference (Jul) -  Another conference about XML and other markup languages. DITA welcome. Oxygen attends.

RIDE Ottawa (Sept) - A regional, single day conference from CIDM. 

DITA OT Day (Nov) - A one day conference dedicated to the DITA Open ToolKit

CMS/DITA Europe (Nov)

User Assistance Conferences

Writers UA West (March)

UA Reloaded (May) - Held in Germany and brought to you by Tekomm. This is conference aimed at bringing techcomm and UA to breakthrough heights. 

Writers UA East (October)

Content Strategy Conferences

Confab (April) - One of my favorite conferences of all time. A range of perspectives, excellent presenters, interesting presentations. Highly, highly recommend. Very competitive for speakers.

IA Conference (April) - Formerly the IA Summit, this conference is under new management after they mishandled a harassment complaint.

Marketing Conferences (that relate to us)

Content Tech Summit (April) - I’m really interested in attending this one. I bet I’d be all sorts of inspired by the technical inroads marketing is making into spaces like analytics and personalization. 

Digital Summit Series - 5 conferences throughout the year. Wide range of topics covering all aspect of customer strategies.

(A couple) SEO Conferences

Search Engine Journal keeps a humongous list of SEO Conferences. Here are two that stand out for me.

OhGMCon (April) - In a basement, no wifi, no sponsor talks. Sounds interesting...

Brighton SEO (April) - Well known conference comes to me highly recommended by people I trust and respect in the industry.

(Some) Conversational Design Conferences

Business of Bots (Feb)

Chatbot Conference (May) 

Chatbot Summit (June)

ConverCon Dublin (Oct)

[descriptionessay658]

professional writing services

About me

Six Signs You’Re Not Ready To Be A Professional Writer

Six Signs You’Re Not Ready To Be A Professional Writer Any type of on-line course or expertise is a step in the best direction. Of course it doesn’t damage to already have technical experience in a particular field by which case focusing on enhancing writing expertise could be a productive action to take. Below is a hyperlink to the STC’s on-line course opportunities. I have no secret agenda in featuring these sites, I simply felt every showcased a very sturdy aspect or two of making a robust writer website. By stepping into research mode each time you browse the Web, you can often have your complete define finished earlier than it’s time to sit down and write. Research shouldn’t be reserved for planning or writing sessions only. The high quality of your content material will enhance considerably should you do it on an ongoing basis, as concepts pop into your head. Before I had a really long record of each project I’d ever labored on. I’m a generalist author who focuses on journey, however I even have a really various set of shoppers. It was inconceivable to determine what I was doing and with who. I loathed my portfolio earlier than, so I was never updating it or sending it out. Now I’m pleased with it and it’s easy for me to see how a lot I’ve completed as a author. Instead I created a simple consumer list that anyone could simply skim. Then on the proper-hand column, I constructed out a widget that read “Get my clips by specialty” so someone might simply click on on “journey writing” or “custom content” or “TV promos”. One thing I felt really revolutionized my portfolio was having a straight-forward client listing. If uncertain the place to start a career in modifying these associations are an excellent resource to get slightly more training and information in the area. There are several websites, likeFiverr, a contract website that helps join freelancers with purchasers, that can assist leap begin a career. You may also look for local editor’s groups or even the college for some alternatives. Below are the hyperlinks for the editing associations. The Society for Technical Communications offers quite a lot of completely different online courses that purpose to improve skills and expand expertise. In order to maintain your queue filled with great content material concepts, you should stay in research mode at all times. The Minor in Professional Writing prepares college students in any major for the writing required in their chosen careers. Students who Minor in Professional Writing will learn how to compose both educational and skilled documents, emphasizing the necessities of writing in their own disciplines. Some frequent advice from not just editors, however all writing professionals, is the flexibility to community your self. This is true for freelancers and people looking to work for a company. The ability to promote your expertise and to repeatedly build skilled connections is priceless and in the end what determines the quantity of success you will obtain in the business. Of course, if you don’t currently have the talents wanted to get hired it is important to build on your schooling. Write an article or blog submit on your own model that’s similar to the one you simply studied. Try to format your article the identical, and imitate the fashion of your chosen writer. Style is your most prized possession as a author, and it ought to continue to evolve over the lifetime of your profession. That means, when it was time to write the submit, she may easily discover the Web pages once more — and most of the analysis was already carried out. To create a tough define, the author entered the types of leads she was considering . After all, even professors typically present pattern papers to help you higher understand what ought to be accomplished. Send a direct message to your author by way of your management panel. The point is not to fear about whether or not you need to write or make a video. The level is to start out creating content material — in no matter format works for you. Digital content material is not what you realized to write in English class. Try to make a brand new point or discover a distinctive angle for talking about the topic. After you write, the primary spherical of edits is to verify your writing stays on point. Then as she browsed the Web, if she found an excellent instance of one of them, she entered the URL beneath the subhead. Write down every thought you've about it, no matter how tough or undefined.

[ivorytowerblr]

NaNoWriMo 2017: Dec 5th

Unfortunately, I didn’t get as much written today as one might hope, but things should be settling down, so I can write more over the week. I hope.

Word Count: 1006 Previously:  November (Master Post) Dec: Week One (1st-3rd) 4th

“This is it,” Crowe said, and from over his shoulder, Josepha watched as the door separating them from their prize slid open, and tried remain cool, detached from the situation. The thief didn’t bother, he was all but vibrating with excitement before stepping inside.

Immediately, she felt cold, chilled by the mechanisms keeping the massive server towers from overheating. The STC system sat surrounded by library banks that contained the thousands of patterns used by the machinery downstairs, and red lights flickered from within recessed depths.

“What now?” Josepha asked quietly, awed. “We need to hurry, don’t we?”

“Yes,” Crowe said, and moved towards it. “I need to remove the different casings, outside going in.”

“Do you need help with it?” Josepha asked, advancing a step, then two, until she was standing just opposite him. He met her gaze over the dim illumination, and smiled.

“We’ll need to work together, carefully,” Crowe said. “We also have to be fast, if we don’t hurry, when we take the primary processor out, all the alarms will go off.”

“Show me what to do,” Josepha said, and Crowe nodded to her.

“First stage, we lift this part up, here.” Crowe indicated to the outermost shell, and worked clever, dexterous fingers to unfasten the clips. Josepha pressed her fingers to the casing and when Crowe nodded, she lifted it up, setting it aside.

As it became visible, Josepha noted the shape of this casing; it was something of a flattened oval, with lights illuminating metal ridges and rubber connectors. It was divided into hemispheres, and peering down, she could see the aforementioned plate containing the STC system.

It looks… like a brain, Josepha mused, even as Crowe ran his fingers along it, searching for catches.

“Take right,” Crowe said. “I’ll take left.”

“My right or yours?” Josepha murmured. Crowe blinked at her, and then made a face at himself.

“Yours,” he said. “Sorry. We pull on three. One… two…”

“Three,” Josepha finished and tugged the right half away, just as Crowe pulled at the left, and both set the halves aside. In the very middle sat the core of the system, the width of three fingers and as long as Josepha’s hand. Crowe met her gaze.

“On three again, you need to pull it out, and I’m going to slip in a blank. Everything will be fine until they actually need to read something from it.” Josepha nodded to him, her fingers poised over the STC system. “One… two… three!”

Josepha yanked hard and the mostly-flat piece of metal came out easily. Crowe immediately pushed the piece of metal into it, and watched it, as though waiting for disaster to strike. After a moment, there was nothing, and he nodded. Together, they pressed the halves of the inner casing back around it, and then, the second on top.

“We did it,” Crowe said with a smile. “Now, all we have to do is--”

“Hand over the STC system and everything will be fine.” Josepha turned her attention towards Ashlynn who stood, very casually, near the doorway, a gun the size of her palm in her hand, pointed towards Crowe. “You really did to a great job. Both of you did. You did most of the heavy lifting. It was very impressive to watch.”

“Ash…” Josepha began. “What is this?”

“This is a robbery, Josie,” Ashlynn said calmly. “We’re robbing you.”

“Two points, real fast,” Crowe said. “One, there’s one of you and three of us. Two--”

“Your math’s a little wrong, bud,” Brant said and brought his hands together, cracking his knuckles, the pops echoing through the room. “It’s two and two, and I’d say we’re at a greater advantage.”

“Why?” Josepha whispered. A weight settled over her heart, as though hands were clawing at it, dragging it down. “Is it money?”

“It’s not money,” Ashlynn said, and Brant took a step forward. “Truthfully, I don’t even need it. There’s so much you don’t know, Josie. So many things you can’t have imagined or even dreamed. I knew what Lord Malcador before you did, before anyone did. I knew because I was told by someone who knows everything. Every secret. Every lie spoken in the dark.”

“Is that what we were?” Josepha asked, moving towards Ashlynn, her voice cracking. “A lie told in the dark?”

Ashlynn’s eyes brightened, catching the light, and they seemed a darker green, the green of algae-choked ponds. “Oh, lover, no. I really did enjoy the time we had together, and if there had been time to initiate you, we could be doing this together, but… there wasn’t.”

“Come on, Crowe, hand it over,” Brant said. “There’s no reason to make things complicated.”

“I think you underestimate us,” Crowe said as Josepha swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I think you’re seriously misjudging someone brought in as an assassin.”

“Oh, please,” Brant said. “What’s she going to do? Stand there bleeding to death from a broken heart?”

Anger flickered through her, burning away despair. Crowe’s right, the job has always come first, and this is just another job. It’s always been just another job.

“The answer is no,” Crowe said. “It’s always no. We’re getting out of here, together, and you can’t stop us.”

“Don’t underestimate me, either,” Ashlynn hissed, all of the gentleness and wonder from her voice gone. The difference was stark, though Josepha was grateful, in a way. It made the next part easier.

Josepha rushed at her, palm extended to slam into her shoulder. Ashlynn’s eyes went wide with surprise as her finger squeezed. Two shots spanged from the walls, and one ricocheted into one of the panels, destroying it.

A moment later, an alarm began to wail.

That could either be very good or very bad, Josepha thought. Maybe both. “Crowe!”

The thief vaulted over the STC housing and hit the ground running, racing towards the door. Josepha took one last, long look at Ashlynn before following, dodging around the work station.

Later, Josepha thought grimly. I’ll fall apart later.

[cathybraythepoet]

THE FATHER  -   STC  bRAyVE REVIEW by Cathy Bray

THE FATHER Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1 Theatre.                        Matinee Wed. 20th September, 2017 

I want to write a rave review about THE FATHER.

You’d think I’d start with the perfection of John Bell’s crumbling, bruised, hallucinating rendition of the father and Anita Hegh’s desperation as his devoted, surviving daughter.  But my focus has to be on the power and accuracy of the script and the way the lighting and sound design integrate the dark spaces of memory loss so seamlessly via the literal blackouts between scenes. This disorientation is further intensified by loud music overlaying each break in the father’s loss of mindfulness.

As the truth slowly dawns on us that the father does not recognise his own older daughter, the dull pain and confusion descend like unwelcome visitors or recognised impostors. We become the father (even if in real life we are a daughter) as his whole claustrophobic world opens and shuts from the light of the living and dining room to the dead weight of each blackout.

The lapses between these lost times range alarmingly from minutes lost moving from one room to the next, to months since reported events are at last recalled. This uneven, unnerving pendulum swings through his mind creating anxiety, confusion and unpredictability. I was completely captivated by the script and unfolding live play-reel of the father’s mind.

And then her mobile phone went off. Two rows down from me, to my right – owner appeared to be hearing impaired. At first I was un-distractible. By a miracle, the father was not on stage, so we were not in his mind. His daughter and son-in-law, seated right-centre stage, were trying to work out their next move – hard to say whether it was still what to do with the father or whether they would have to acknowledge the phone fuckwittery happening in the theatre. They hesitated – and all was lost.

A primeval force ejected me from my seat into a commando roll over the row in front of me. I landed like a hell-cat on all fours, then dropped flat on my stomach dragging myself by my elbows combat style towards the entitled and increasingly over-confident ring-tone. Just as I grabbed her by the throat and prepared to drag her from the theatre, the phone stopped. And I returned to my seat.

There were only two or three more sentences left in the scene otherwise it could have been fatal. With the return of the abyss and loud music we could regain the script’s fragility and the vital disorientations of the father’s mind.

The injuries were only superficial and mainly to my feelings.

Don’t miss THE FATHER.

[goblinhorde]

Tagged by @strangelock :D

Rules: Answer the questions in a new post and then tag ten blogs you would like to get to know better. Or don’t. It’s up to you.

Nickname: does Goblin count? It's less a nickname and more a second name...

Sign: Aquarias

Favorite Music Artist: I tend to center more around albums (e.g., Avengers Assemble, Hamilton, The Browncoats Mixtap) or songs (e.g., Young Volcanos by Fall Out Boy, Shatter Me by Lindsey Stirling, Radioactive by Pentatonix) at any given time rather than specific artists. But I've loved David Bowie since I was a kid and I've been listening to Lizzo a lot lately while I work.

Last TV Show You Watched: I binged Supernatural and Emerald City on Friday because I was sick and staying home from work, but haven't watched anything outside of YouTube since.

Last Movie You Saw in the Theater: Technically, the last thing I saw in theaters was the Sherlock finale, but if we're only counting movies, Moana.

What Are You Wearing Right Now: sneakers with prescription orthotic inserts, knee-high toe socks, jeans, a t-shirt that says "Epic Rap Battles of History” from the ERB YouTube channel, a Burning Man sweatshirt my camp made as "camp swag" two(?) years ago switched to a plain grey sweatshirt since I started this last night but now I’m at work and that’s the sweatshirt I keep handy at work, right wrist: an oversized, men's Fossil watch, left wrist: FitBit, Supernatural replica skull bracelet, red/white meditation bracelet with a turtle on it (to represent Raphael from TMNT), a bee bracelet with honey-colored beads (to represent Sherlock Holmes).

What Do You Post: Anything that moves me (fandom related or otherwise), random stuff about my day/thoughts, and auto-posts from my Instagram that are often usually of my dog, Raphael, Tiny Dog, or the other members of the Puppy Pack (Gus, York, Buddha, Pax, and Gato).

Do You Have Any Other Blogs: Technically I have a Wordpress blog on my website, but it's rare that I post anything there (although I'm hoping to change that this year!).

Why Did You Choose Your URL: I've used some form of "goblin" as my online handle since around 1995. When I had to pick a username for Xbox Online circa 2005, all my usual goblin variants were taken so I tried "goblinhorde" as a last resort and it worked. I've used it pretty consistently online (especially on social media) ever since :)

Do You Get Asks Regularly: No, I think I've probably had less than 5 since I joined Tumblr :( I suspect I’m not terribly interesting to others *shrug*.

Hogwarts House: I'm half Native American so forget Hogwarts, native magics all the way, yo!

Patronus: Phoenix, maybe? I seem to rebuild/renew my life in significant ways every 5 years or so... *shrug*

Pokémon Team: Originally I thought I'd be Team Mystic, mostly because I like blue better than red, but I play with my mom and she picked Team Valor so I went with Team Valor as well :)

Favorite Color: Blue or green in deep, earthy tones.

Favorite Character: Dean Winchester & Castiel & Crowley (Supernatural), Raphael (TMNT), Sherlock Holmes & John/Joan Watson (all the things), Patty Tolan & Jillian Holtzmann & Kevin Beckman & Egon Spengler & Ray Stanz (Ghostbusters), Peter Venkman (RGB fanfic/fanon mostly), Spock (ST:TOS), Worf (ST:TNG/DS9), Alexia Tarabotti (The Parasol Protectorate Series), Paksenarrion (The Deed of Paksenarrion), Abbie Mills (Sleepy Hollow), Eliot Spencer (Leverage).

Hobbies/crafts? Gardening, cooking, reading, swimming, and writing/editing. Again, haven't had a lot of energy for personal writing the last few years but I’m hoping to change that this year.

Collect anything? Does knowledge count? I really love learning about things (especially food, culture, language, and storytelling). Re: physical collections, I recently gave in to my love of pens & analog writing equipment and have a very small pen and ink collection started :) and I also really like art (e.g., paintings, drawings, prints, original comic pages, handmade stuff, sculptures, carvings). As a general rule I'm not super into physical "things" that don't serve a purpose, but if something I love has a book or t-shirt or sticker, I'm probably going to buy it eventually, especially if I can support an independent artist or small company in doing so... and I guess, technically, I collect Pokemon on my smartphone ;D

Current challenges you face? I'm two months into a new job and I still feel like I'm floundering/ramping up/not pulling my weight. Lots of health challenges lately (bad feet/ankles, Crohn's being annoying, and a smattering of colds/bugs). The general state of dumpster landfill fire that is my country at the moment :(

Things you’re looking forward to? Lots of things: A "Sugar Cookie Tea" with one nephew (we're gonna make German Sugar Cookies and watch Tinkerbell movies) and a "Pokemon Go walk" with another (gonna walk around the neighborhood and catch Pokemon). Seeing two of my closest friends get married (I am excite! ^_^). The Atlanta Pen show (my first!). Seeing Hamilton in the spring (omg!). The STC Summit (tech writing ftw!). Burning Man. And I'm really hoping Sherlock Seattle happens again this year (and that I'll be able to go).

Anything you want to promote? Logic, compassion, empathy, the Scientific Method, the fact that "free speech" != "speech without consequence or a guaranteed platform", responsible pet ownership, penmanship, The Oxford Comma.

Anything else you’d like to share? My dog, Raphael, is a Chihuahua/Xoloitzcuintli mix (he has the frame of a Xolo and the coat/coloring of a Chihuahua). I had never heard of the Xoloitzcuintli before I got him but Xolos are basically my favorite breed now. The nearly-hairless ones with the little mohawk tufts on their heads are the best <3

Tagging: @sallyskellington18, @completelyrandomtumbling, @purpleshoeofsex, @anonsally, @green-circles, @the-sign-of-tea, @waltzforthree, @frantasticmissfox, @boyfrienddean, @pursuitofnerdiness

[samobservessonic]

It’s another Stringer Sonic story this time and another one-shot to boot. I feel like after doing an intense six-part story arc, they’re winding down with these one-shots for a while. Also, I forgot to mention it last time, but in both this issue and the last one, Kitching didn’t write either of the Sonic stories. But we’ll be back to his stories soon enough

I’m not sure if that squirrel in the bottom left counts for a “Hey look, it’s Sally Acorn”, but I’ve called squirrel background characters in StC Sally over less

Oh hey, it’s this guy! I remember seeing him at least one fake Sonic tournament here on tumblr. If you don’t know this guy’s deal, then stick around to the end of the story and you’ll find out

Admittedly, I always thought he had a black crescent moon on his head, but looking at it now, I think it’s a black tuft of hair? Regardless, I love how Concerned ™ Johnny looks lol

Johnny’s concern doesn’t last very long and now he’s just being straight up blasphemous. And I guess the mystery hedgehog’s hair tuft is blonde now?

Our phoney introduces himself as Cosmic the Hedgehog and is open in his attempts to knock Sonic off the top hero position. Which, as is natural in the action comics aimed at kids genre, results in a race between the two

“Gosh! This pretender has really got under Sonic’s skin!”

Tails. Buddy. I love you and I am an avid defender of StC Sonic, but that’s kinda just how he talks to you on a normal day. I’m sorry

Bye, guys!

Okay, I’m going to be honest - I thought this would go the route of the usual Fake-Sonic-of-the-Week plots and have Cosmic seem faster than Sonic at first, only for it to turn out to be some sort of trick. But honestly, for all the bragging, they do just straight up show that Cosmic can’t keep up with Sonic and quickly tires out during the race

Also, Cosmic is actually Metamorphia I’d like to play the smug card and be all “But we guessed that already, right?” and some of you probably did, but I’m going to be honest here - I didn’t. I remembered Cosmic’s design, but either forgot or didn’t know that he turned out to be Metamorphia. In the last issue, I said we’d be seeing more of her, but I didn’t expect it’d be so soon

She’s a lot less dead than Sonic remembers her being. And it turns out that she never intended to out-run Sonic, she just knew that she could use his pride to lure him away from his friends

The two fight for a brief while, but Metamorphia’s gas form that I was so impressed with last issue isn’t going to work again, with Sonic learning from his mistakes and rushing away to rescue his friends

I’m also not sure why Metamorphia’s Sonic is green, when she could perfectly mimic Tails last time, but oh well. I like the eyelashes tho

The badniks are like “I see no difference, Sonic is Sonic”

Wait, Porker was here the whole time? Okay then!

Metamorphia escapes, but now that Sonic knows she’s alive, he’ll know to expect her again in future. I’m not sure when that’ll be, honestly. For all I know, it might be the very next issue again lol My takeaway is that I enjoyed this story fine, but feel like it could’ve happened at a different point in the timeline. Like, maybe they could’ve sandwiched Kitching’s Sentinel story between these two stories just to break it up a bit? Nitpicking, I know, but as much as I like Metamorphia, I just think breaking up her appearances might’ve been more effective But a fun story nonetheless. This is the second time we’ve seen StC do a fake Sonic story, with the first being the Extra Life story from earlier. I’m not sure which of the two I prefer, but this one definitely left me with less questions than Extra Life did. Hm. I wonder how that guy's getting on, floating out there in space…

[samobservessonic]

It’s the last part of “The Big Freeze” and it seems that today’s method of Tails stumbling into saving himself is… wishing Sonic was here! I find it funny that Nutzan Bolt has such a hatred of Sonic, since to my knowledge, they never interacted directly. You’d think he’d hate Tails more for being the one who beat him last time. But maybe all badniks are programmed with this Sonic hate in and it comes out more in some than others

If you had “his ice body melts” on your bingo card last time then congratulations! You now have all the knowledge you need to go forth and write an issue of a kids’ comic focused on an ice villain

If you had “his head becomes a silly little car and drives away” on your bingo card, then you can move up to the advanced whimsy class! This outcome is silly, I like this a lot. To be fair, they did establish this is a thing Nutzan Bolt could do in his last story, I just forgot

For his last move, Nutzan Bolt decides to go down with the ship and dissolves in acid. If you’re wondering how he could possibly get out of this one, then there’s no need! He does not appear again after this issue

In these modern times, Tails having a gizmo that solves the problem is almost a given. But it was a bit less expected back when this comic came out

And so, the day is saved once again, thanks to Tails fumbling a victory that he rightly decides will be more trouble than it’s worth to explain! With that, he leaves the Flock to celebrate their new-found peace in what will also be the last time we see them. So, my theory that Sol might’ve been leading them into a trap was a dud after all. But honestly, that would’ve just stretched this story out further, so I’m glad he just had a straight turn-face heel

The story ends the same way it usually does. I’m not sure who’ll be with Tails in his next appearance that’s being teased by the promo, but I think next issue gives us a new Knuckles solo story, so it might be a little while until we find out

As I said before, this is both the last time we see the Flock and the end of Tails’s adventures as the Zonerunner. According to the wiki, it’s assumed that the Flock disbands later on for a spoilery reason I’m not going to mention and, at the very least, we don’t see them on future trips to the Chemical Plant Zone

I’d been tossing about the idea of doing something of a post-mortem series where I talk about characters after their final appearance in the comic, but I don’t think two story arcs is enough to qualify for that, so I’ll just say my feelings here: Zonerunner and the Flock were all right?

There is absolutely nothing bad in these stories, I just wasn’t that into them. I do like this concept StC has of giving some of the zones significant characters: Mystic Caves has Captain Plunder, Carnival Night has… ugh… the Marxio Bros, Chemical Plant has both Megatox and these guys, etc., - it’s neat! It gives a little extra to visiting these locales! I actually wish some of the various Freedom Fighter groups from Archie had been directly tied to game locations as well. But not all of these characters are going to be hits and these ones didn’t do much for me I’ve talked before about how the early Tails stories have this trend of Tails accidentally being thought of as a hero and winding up on these secret adventures that he can’t explain to Sonic. Back then, I thought the main difference between the Zonerunner stories and the Nameless Zone stories was that one has a sci-fi coat of paint and the other has a high fantasy coat of paint. But I think I’ve figured out why I like the Nameless Zone ones more (and it’s not just because I prefer fantasy to sci-fi): even if both stories are focused on Tails reacting to different events happening to him, the fact that the Nameless Zone is his home zone and he has family there makes it feel more connected to him than the Zonerunner stories are. Here, we’re mostly seeing the fight between the Flock and Nutzan Bolt, with Tails reacting to what’s happening. Heck, most of this Big Freeze arc has been Tails sitting around while Sol and Sab explain their backstories to him! Even when Tails is just saving two random foxcubs in the Nameless Zone, that’s still people from his hometown. Random stuff happening to you hits differently when it's your hometown Which again, isn’t to say that these stories are bad or the Flock is bad. They’re just not ones I’m going to be sad to see the back of. Except for my headcanon that Sab & Sol are StC Lanolin’s parents, that lives rent-free in my head now Also, this is what it’s like in my head all the time: I can’t just say “I don’t vibe with something” and leave it at that. I always have a moment of “Yes, but there must be merits to this thing you don’t like and you’re being unreasonable by not acknowledging them” before spending ages thinking of what they are

[asleepinawell]

What was your process for writing chapter 19 of STC (the one where Root is high and rambles on about AI)?

I write the vast majority of chapters linearly. I don’t skip around a lot or leave parts to fill in later. Also I don’t have much other than the big plot points planned out when I start. Sometimes I’ll have ideas for a joke or some dialogue but that’s about it. It’s mostly make situation, add characters, see what happens.

I knew I wanted to write a chapter where Root went off on an informational rant about artificial intelligence almost from the start of the story, but I was never sure where I was going to fit it in. It ended up in chapter 19 for three reasons.

1) Reese was actively questioning his own preconceptions about AI at this point (which became a big part of his story arc), and

2) Since it was right near the beginning of equivalent season 4 it was a good time to lay down some information/rules about AI and where that all stood in the story, and

3) it was written shortly after the unfortunate presidential election and I’d been doing a bit of reading on polling and predictions which tied into both the previous chapter (Prophets and Simon ‘Nate Silver’ Lee) and how the Machine might predict things. One of the interesting things I was reading about was applying context to poll data in order to get a more accurate prediction than was afforded by raw data.

This is getting long so I’m dropping in a read more line.

The AI stuff was mostly things I knew a bit about already, but I very definitely did some extra reading to fill in some gaps. I wanted to take a crack at explaining how I imagined the Machine saw things and made decisions. There’s a couple chapters later where you get more of this in TM’s own words, usually while she’s talking to Shaw. (The very next chapter is actually the first of those).

Since in the show most of the philosophical debates about AI were between Root and Finch, I had to find a different outlet for them as I accidentally forgot to write Finch at all in 300k+ words. Whoops. Shaw was the obvious candidate for Root (and TM) to talk to since, even if artificial intelligence is a bit outside her wheelhouse to start with, she’s fucking brilliant and can pick up on stuff really fast when given enough information to go on. And as the somewhat-reluctant leader of the group she would absolutely have to get more involved in that aspect of it (which later led to her and TM talking a lot). And Reese was the voice of concern and doubt, though in a very different way than Finch had been.

Having Root high as a kite was mostly just good fun. And Root was definitely playing it up a bit because she’s a dramatic binch and was enjoying herself. Also it let me show how Reese and Shaw each reacted to the situation. Reese was confused, concerned, and indulgent, and Shaw was exasperated, but unwilling to leave Root on her own, and (not-so) secretly interested in all the AI stuff Root was rambling about.

The last bit of it was the part near the end of the rant where Root started talking about what love and caring were to an Artificial Intelligence and unintentionally brought up the parallels with Shaw. It’s something I go into at various points over the course of the fic and got some things out in the open between everyone much earlier than they did in the show, which was definitely intentional. A lot of that tied into discussions I’ve had (mostly with other writers) about how different people (and AIs in this case) experience and enact love in different ways and how that’s healthy and normal. It’s one of the things that really drew me to Shoot actually. They were very outside the romanticized, unrealistic ideal of love and relationships that’s often shown in fiction and I appreciated that.

I didn’t have all those pieces in mind when I started, but I added each one in when it occurred to me to do so. A lot of how I write is setting up a situation with a couple variables and seeing where it ends up. I mean that’s basically how I wrote the whole damn thing. When I use outlines they’re very vague and broad and usually get thrown out within a chapter or two.

[ivorytowerblr]

NaNoWriMo 2017: Nov 29th

This is it, the penultimate entry! I do intend to keep going into December and January if I need to so that I can finish it, at approximately the same pace (hell, I might even make myself a calendar!) but I’ll try not to be too hard on myself if I can’t write on a few days. Enjoy!

Word Count: 2592 Previously: Week One (Nov 1st-5th) Week Two (Nov 6th-12th) Week Three (Nov 13th-19th) Week Four (Nov 20th-26th) 27th 28th

“Then why assemble so many of us?” Josepha asked, gesturing. “It’s not cheap getting one of us to work for you for this long, much less all five. Why hire more people than you strictly need?”

“What makes you think that you won’t need them?” Malcador’s eyes glittered from underneath his cowl. “I promise you, every last one of you will serve your most admirable purpose before the STC lies in my hands.”

“I’m not worried, Josie,” Ashlynn said, touching Josepha’s arm lightly. “I know what I’m about.”

Crowe looked back at the projection as Josepha took Ashlynn’s hand and kissed her fingers, and not even the flickering lights of the projection could hide the look of devotion on the assassin’s face. I don’t know how smart it is to get attached to someone so quickly, but… maybe it’s just something they need.

“So, once we have that information, what happens next?” Brant asked. “There’s going to be a point at which changing outfits just isn’t going to help us, isn’t there?”

“By that time, if we’ve done this right, we’ll have enough information to peel back the layers of security to get inside,” Josepha said, taking a breath. “Though we’d be getting out of my area of expertise.”

“Breaking into a place does involve a lot of research,” Crowe said. “Just like infiltration. Where Josepha uses that information to get to her target without needing to break too many locks, I use it to get past them, and ideally, I want to involve as few people as possible in what I’m doing.”

“So, how are we getting past them?”

“Well, it’s like this,” Crowe said, and tapped the controller. “We’re not going to find the STC where everyone is working. It’s a computer, or attached to one, so we’re going to have to find where the keep it when it’s not being used, or if it’s always being used, where they store it for that purpose. We can expect to find it in a room kept remote from the rest of the manufacturing plant.”

“In the place where I used to work, there were administration offices that were sealed off mostly from the rest of the plant, though still inside it and within its security purview,” Ashlynn said, studying the schematic. “We worked with chemicals, we couldn’t expose computers or the filing system to them. It’s just unsafe.”

Crowe nodded. “Server rooms are usually kept cool, too, since the hardware inside them runs hot and can potentially be damaged by it. No one wants to fry all of that sensitive information.”

“We’ll have to make sure there are no alarms that will sound once we take the STC,” Josepha said, nodding to Crowe. “There will likely be security on it.”

“More than likely, there will be some kind of alarm if the process is disrupted, actually,” Ashlynn said. “They’d need to know if something was ever knocked out of alignment, or if there weren’t receiving trays ready to be filled. If they have any confidence at all in their security measures, that will be what they’re looking for. Not theft, error.”

“A good point,” Josepha said, smiling over at her. “We’ll need to deal with that possibility too.”

“How specific is it likely to be?” Crowe asked, frowning at the image. It was calling to him, a siren’s song. He wanted it like nothing else. I don’t think I’d refuse to hand it over to Malcador. It’s the hunt that matters, the chase. I wouldn’t even begin to know what to do with it. “Is it going to be specifically reading for a code, or more like a sensor?”

“A sensor, in my experience,” Ashlynn said. “With canisters and the like, there was enough time that you could replace one if you were quick without setting off the alarm, but with an STC, who knows?”

“The manufacturing plant is capable of working without accessing the Library for a time, though not forever,” Malcador interjected. “You are, none of you, particularly familiar with the way STCs work, are you?”

“I’ll admit, no, but I’ve never needed to be,” Crowe said. “Though we all know how important they are.”

“Indeed they are, one of the greatest gifts ever given to humanity,” Malcador agreed. “Properly, what we call an STC is a fraction of the true power of the system used to create it. It is an artificially intelligent computer system that responds to the needs of those who command it. If one needs a kind of auger to dig deeply into a particularly stubborn kind of earth, a request to the STC system will grant it. These are not one-time affairs, and within the system’s databanks a library is created, allowing operators to search for a particular design rather than waiting for an entirely new design. Each of these new designs is a template. Templates make up the library, and libraries are in-loaded into the system.”

“It seems like an individual template is going to be a lot less valuable than the entire system,” Brant said slowly, considering. “Not that the whole thing isn’t valuable. And these are, what, everywhere?”

“On every one of our colonies, yes,” Malcador said. “Though they’re only produced on Mars, and no template exists to create an STC system. Perhaps the Martians fear to lose their monopoly on such things.”

“Still…” Crowe said. “We live in an age of wonders, to be able to just… create like that.”

“Artificial intelligences are dangerous,” Susanne reminded them, speaking up finally. “Just because this system can’t walk around or shoot people doesn’t mean that it isn’t.”

“Is that why we’re stealing it?” Ashlynn asked, her voice soft. “Because it’s dangerous?”

“No,” Malcador said. “While Susanne is correct, that artificial intelligence has come to be seen as very dangerous, the STC system has long been considered to be stable, and safe. Its intelligence comes from its ability to learn and adapt its processes for the sake of humanity, not from any capacity to foment rebellion.”

“So, why are we stealing it?” Brant asked, and Crowe straightened to look to Malcador, seated as he was in his throne, Susanne at his side. The others turned to gaze at their patron as well, expectant, curious.

“I don’t intend to share the details with you, that is… above your pay grade, but know that it is absolutely necessary to the protection and defense of not just this world, but many, dotted as they are among the stars.”

“...so, what happens once we take it?” Josepha asked. “Does the manufacturing stop?”

“No,” Malcador said, simply. “Every construct template that remains will be at their disposal. Unless something radical and drastic happens, there will be no need for its services.”

~ * ~

“Do you think he really has our best interests at heart?” Crowe asked, huddled in his coat like a brooding, dark-feathered bird. “Not us, specifically, but this city’s. Nostramo’s as a whole.

Below him, he watched the cleaning crew that worked at the primary manufacturing plant about their business, several hours before they were scheduled to enter the plant. Not every business could afford to contract out their cleaning, but the Greater Quintus Hospital certainly could, and did.

“For fuck’s sakes, I don’t know,” Josepha hissed in his ear. He wore a small, subtle piece of plastic around his ear, curved like a piece of jewelry, which was what it was emulating, and Josepha wore a similar device, bringing their voices close. “For all we know he’s just going to take it and fuck off with it.”

“Then we shouldn’t do this, not if it’s going to cause the fall of the whole city,” Crowe muttered, and gazed down. It was easy to see what the cleaners were wearing, generic in their grey-white. They worked without coats or gloves, and he shivered in sympathy. “We need to bug out, now.”

“You, of all people, are getting cold feet about this?” Josepha murmured. He couldn’t see her, she was stationed at a different entrance, but he could imagine her gripping at his wrist, holding him, shaking him a little bit in her exasperation. “You’re a professional thief.”

“I steal expensive crap no one needs.” Crowe shifted, careful not to give himself away. “Not the literal foundation of our civilization.”

“Nostramo’s not going to fall apart without the STC system,” Josepha insisted. “We’re leaving them with the library. There are millions of designs in that thing. The only way that would happen is if it were to be destroyed, and that’s not what the plan is. Is it?”

“Well--”

“Is it?”

“No,” Crowe conceded. “It’s not. Assuming that all goes to plan, which it… may, still. If we can all work together towards this end. I’m a little worried about the extraneous people, though… especially the need for a sniper. Ashlynn’s had some good insights, and if we can dress Brant just right he’ll fit in, but she barely speaks and never really contributes.”

“Could be a military thing,” Josepha noted. “I’m not exactly the discipline and honourable combat sort myself, but snipers can be helpful for taking out targets. We may have to kill people to pull this off.”

“I know.” Crowe fell silent, instead focusing on the people moving inside. It seemed as though these cleaners brought supplies with them, and likely tools, carrying them in huge crates. At least a few of them looked to share Brant’s general build, while at least one of the supervisors could have been of a height with Ashlynn, small as she was, and he made note of it. He was timing them as well, watching their movements back and forth, as well as the time they spent inside.

He, like Josepha, was building up a timeline in his head, how long it took routine employees to get where they needed to go and get back out again. All of this would allow them to get inside, to gather information, and plan for a deeper infiltration. It was hard to hold the ideas in his head; doubts remained, regardless of the assassins reassurance.

Crowe activated his microphone again. “But what if--”

“Oh, for the love of God,” Josepha growled. “We’re performing reconnaissance. Leave it until we get back to the spire, at least.”

“I thought you were supposed to be less grumpy once you started getting laid,” Crowe shot back, stung. “Not less.”

“I might very well be, but you aren’t the one I’m fucking.”

“...congratulations about that, by the way,” Crowe murmured. “You seem very happy.”

“We are,” Josepha said. “I might even get to retire after this mission. With that kind of money -- and that kind of heat -- pooling our resources to find ourselves a quiet place to live in a different hive sounds just about right.”

“I hope it works out,” Crowe said. “I--” For a moment, amid the flutter of dirty snowflakes that managed to make it past the huge, hulking spires that served as windbreaks, he thought he saw a flash of light against metal.

“Did you see that?” Josepha asked, tense. “Someone’s watching us.”

“Someone is,” Susanne broke in over their communications channel, her voice crisp. “Someone was asked to take long-range photographs of the uniforms so that we can replicate them correctly.”

“...ah,” Crowe said. “So, you heard…”

“Your inability to maintain radio discipline, yes,” the sniper said. “Fortunately, that wasn’t the reason either of you were chosen for this mission. Lord Malcador says you need to wrap up your information gathering. It’s going to get cold, and he won’t have you injuring yourselves or getting sick.”

“Thank Lord Malcador for his concern,” Josepha said after a moment. “And thank you for your vigilance.”

“It is my duty as a contributing member of this team,” Susanne replied crisply. “Decair, out.”

Crowe closed his eyes briefly, and then moved to descend from his perch, and activated his radio for a moment later. “Sorry.”

There was no reply from either woman, and Crowe sighed, breath pluming out into the cold, and began his descent.

~ * ~

“So,” Brant said, throwing an arm around Crowe’s shoulder as he worked himself out of his cold-stiffened coat. “I hear you have a moral issue with our assignment.”

“Oh my god, does everyone know?” Crowe muttered, and felt his ears burn. Though, that might be the cold, actually. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know everyone was listening in.”

“Something you need to expect, Little Bird,” Brant said, and punched at his shoulder, seemingly affectionate. Crowe rocked a little, and pulled his coat off, then hung it up. “We’re a team now.”

“I’m… I’m sure we are,” Crowe said. “Am I the only one worried about this?”

“Probably,” Brant said, and shrugged. “I feel like I’m being paid too much to get worked up about it.”

“We can’t spend our money if there’s no one left to buy from,” Crowe pointed out. “You can’t just throw lines of credit at the sky and expect food from the heavens.”

“And yet, that is essentially what off-world imports are, depending on your point of view,” Malcador said, and Crowe started. Considering he kept the company of assassins and snipers, he found himself surprised by the old man quite often. “Come, sit with me.”

“Sure,” Crowe said, and pushed Brant’s arm off of him before working the stiff buckles on his boots open enough that he could pull them off and pad over to where Malcador was taking his customary seat. “I suppose there’s no point in hiding that I have misgivings about that, and saying stuff like ‘certain point of view’ isn’t really helping. That usually means someone is either lying or deliberately obfuscating the truth.”

“It can, certainly,” Malcador said, and laced his fingers together. “Do you believe that honesty is important?”

“Yes, to build trust,” Crowe said, and took a seat near him. “Obviously, there are plenty of reasons to lie to people. To protect them, to keep secrets, to manipulate them into doing what you want them to do. None of those reasons base themselves in trust, though.”

“No, I suppose not,” Malcador said. “Do you believe ignorance protects people?”

“No, not really,” Crowe said, shaking out his hair. “I think it can help cushion people’s minds from things that are hard to conceptualize or understand, but that knowledge should be there and available if they’re ready to see it. Secrets and lies hide truth.”

“I can see you value truth,” Malcador said. “There are truths, however, that would not simply baffle minds not equipped for their existence, but damage them. Drive them mad.”

“I don’t believe truth is capable of doing that,” Crowe said, stubbornly. “You have to look reality in the eye, face it directly. Denying it or trying to run from it is foolish.”

“An interesting point of view, to be sure, and a valid one,” Malcador said. “So, you would have the truth from me, would you?”

“I would, yes,” Crowe said. “As thorough as possible, please.”

“Very well,” Malcador said, and raised his gaze to meet Crowe’s. “I require an STC system so that I can bring it back to Earth to give to a friend of mine, a lifelong companion with a dream of equipping an army beyond the likes of which anyone has ever seen. He required a system from this world, owing to its similarity in size, structure, and layout to that of Earth, which would make it easier for the artificial intelligence within the system to adapt to his particular needs. Does that help?”