#so it'll be a little bit before I get into a regular cadence with this one

[sinkat-arts]

A Song in the Dark

1: Heartsong (~12k) | daisuga | dark fantasy | angst w happy ending | rated E |

The Light is dying. Life withers across the land as darkness infects the hearts of man. A Godking is missing… or dead. Demons and shadows emerge from the deep places of the world and madness drives good people to dark deeds. Amidst this chaos - and to the dismay of all - the Order chooses the disgraced paladin Daichi Sawamura to journey south into the heart of darkness to seek their salvation… but what is one man against all the powers of the dark? What is one man against the darkness in his own heart?

Read Chapter 1: Heartsong on AO3 >

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I'm so excited to present the first chapter of my story for the Haikyuu Sword and Sorcery bang! I worked with the incredible @lanirawhoney, who not only created two beautiful pieces for this story... but inspired a whole character (you'll meet Eustace in chapter 2). Massive thanks to Lani for sticking with me through this - it was a pleasure to work with and learn from you!!!

Links to Lani's beautiful art:

Disgraced Paladin Daichi Sawamura >

Wandering Suga (ft Donkey Friend!) >

[justagalwhowrites]

Coming posts

Hi Besties!

A few thingssssss

For anyone who's reading Lavender and Beskar Doll and are caught up on both, you know that both stories are reaching their climax at the same time. I did not plan it that way but that's how it's kind of shaken out, so here we are I guess?

My posting over the last week or so has been a little off my normal pace. I hope that's not too annoying or confusing or frustrating. It's been a bit frustrating for me, but it is what it is!

So here's what's up!

Because of where I'm at in these two stories, I kind of want to write on them both equally? When I first started writing fics, I was all about Beskar Doll. Then, for a while, Lavender was the home of the brain rot. Now it's a pretty even split. I think it'll probably stay that way as we get through the home stretch of these fics. That means I'll be alternating chapter publishing - meaning no back to back chapter days for Lavender (SORRRRRYYYYYYY I know I got you guys used to that cadence!)

I'm also trying to do something with my life besides just work and write fan fic? It might be getting a smidge obsessive lol So there will probably be a few more days a week that I just... don't post something new because I went to a party and then went to bed before 4 a.m.

To be clear, I still FUCKING LOVE writing all the time. It's kind of the main thing I want to be doing! But balancing shit out a bit more is probably going to make this hobby doable in the long term and keep the rest of my life from crashing and burning.

I'll still be posting something new most days! But it's just not going to be quite as regular and it'll be alternating between stories for a bit instead of 3 or 4 days straight of one fic.

Hopefully you still enjoy keeping up with the fics in spite of these changes! It's been so much fun sharing these stories with you all and it's still one of my favorite things to do. Love you all!

[lotusloveslotus]

i wanted to thank you for the additional perspective on the streaming ads post. i just hit affiliate and had no idea how to manage them and what system to use and the only response ive gotten is just that people hate them. its one of those situations where i dislike the system in place and wish that i didnt have to run ads at all but i do have to run ads so what now?

so hearing you say that not only have you been able to manage ads and the time they take up but also that youve been able to implement positive changes with them is awesome. i thought i read that you set a timer and just take a break during the ads. do you do that based off of when you start streaming? or do you get alerts when ads are about to run and go off of that?

hey, thank you! I'm glad it gave you some good info. so Twitch has an automatic timer (sort of) in the form of the Ads Manager (dashboard.twitch.tv/u/YOURUSERNAME/settings/revenue)

basically you just check the little thing that says "Ads" and then use Ads Manager to set the cadence at which they go, and then they'll go automatically. I have a Starting Soon segment every time I go live which is just a screen with music without me present; it's just so people have a bit to filter in without missing anything, and I have some extra time to get ready if I need it. I like to leave this up for 10 minutes. so, I have my Ads Manager start at 7 minutes, play ads for 3 minutes, and then I start the stream for real. after that, it'll do the 3 minutes of ads every 60 minutes by itself.

the real ~magic~ comes with the regular Stream Manager dashboard (dashboard.twitch.tv/u/YOURUSERNAME/stream-manager). I have mine set up so that I can see the Ads Manager out of the corner of my eye on my second monitor. I can see the little yellow ads segment creeping up, and one minute before ads start, the whole thing will turn a pretty bright yellow color and give a warning. I have mine at a minute, but you can change it in Ads Manager as pictured above. here's what my Stream Manager looks like in its entirety for reference. I have it set up so it takes up one half of my second monitor and I can see pretty much anything and everything important

if you don't have access to a second monitor, or can't fit this window + your game on a single monitor, then I'd probably recommend using LiveSplit? that's what speedrunners use to display their times, but you can have it as an overlay without disrupting gameplay, and without stream having to see it. you could set it up so that splits line up either with the ad break warnings or with the ads actually beginning, so you know when an ad is coming up. hope that helps, and feel free to ask any other questions you might have!!

[autumnwritcs]

writermuses​

With how red Pem’s cheeks were from embarassment and trying not to all-out cry over the night she had, her bright blue eyes seemed all the more blue. She pushed her dark hair from her face and tried to stand up a little more straight when the stranger came closer. The brunette listened to the cadence of his walk, able to tell he was tall, but not much else. Despite the initial fright he’d given her, she found his voice soothing and swallowed down her nerves, smiling in his general direction as she nodded and reached out a hand. “If you don’t mind, just somewhere by the door, I guess.” She bit her lip and quietly asked, “Do you think you could help me find a ride home. I don’t even know the time, but I’m sure it’s late.” Stifling a yawn she sniffled. “Are there other people in here?” With the bar’s music she hadn’t even paused to listen. “I don’t want to force you to stay open because of me.” Pem was trying desperately to flee, her small hands shaking, as her legs bounced against the chair he’d led her too. Kuzey, who wasn’t an emotional support animal, still seemed to notice and let out a quiet whine before flopping down at her feet. “I’m really sorry. I know you don’t know me… It’s been a really bad night.”

Carrick was glad the rest of the clients were busy among themselves to give a second look to the woman and her blood shot eyes staining the blue in them and that it was him who caused it. On the other hand, he was pissed no one saw she needed help and tried to aid to her, he would have rather had someone fighting him for trusting her in that way than the disinterest. But he had seen his mistake and was trying to make amends. "Sure, no problem." Carrick took her small, wet hand into his and guided her to the first table by the door, given there was an abundance of free tables it wasn't really a problem; moving the chair he helped her settle down. "It's nearly nine." He let know, scratching the back of his head as he grimaced. "But sweetheart I don't think you'll be able to get a ride right now. It's pouring pretty bad and the news says it'll get worse soon."

Carrick informed as he looked over his shoulder to the jute TV were updates on the storm flashed through. "Yeah, there are a couple of other people so don't worry. Besides, I live right above here so it's not a problem." It wasn't something that most regular knew but Carrick wanted to reassure the woman it was alright for her to stay, she looked not only nervous but tired and he was close to make things worse for her. "No more apologies, I promise it's alright, if anything, I'm the one who should apologize, didn't mean to scare you off when you walked in." He went on, his words coming out drawled as he spoke slowly. "You want something to drink? It's on the house." Carrick offered when she confirmed it wasn't just him what made her almost tear up right there. "I'd offer you something to eat but I gave the cooks the day off with the bad weather and all. Besides some peanuts and chips, don't have nothing else."