#still don’t know why chapter 20 was also in drafts as chapter 21

[merv606]

Chapters: 21/? Fandom: Cobra Kai, Karate Kid (Movies) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Terry Silver Characters: Daniel LaRusso, Terry Silver Additional Tags: Kidnapping, Manipulation, more to be added - Freeform, Dubious Consent, non consensual sexual touching Summary:

A canon divergence of what would happen if Terry had taken Daniel home after that first fight.

[facets-and-rainbows]

Blue Exorcist 10th anniversary book Q&A session

The 10th anniversary book has a section where Katoh answers 100 questions submitted by fans on Twitter, so here they are translated/paraphrased! May contain manga spoilers up to the recent flashback arc, so be warned.

(Note that I’m playing it very fast and loose here because there are A HUNDRED OF THEM, so not exact wordings, but it should capture the gist. Lemme know if there are any you want elaborated on)

1. Katoh likes the feel of traditional drawing more than digital but is impressed with how far digital has come

2. Meph THOROUGHLY ABUSES spacetime to watch all his shows and ensure that he gets all the merch he wants

3. Did the girls take all of Yukio’s school uniform buttons in middle school? Yes, they did (apparently it’s like A Thing for girls to ask for a button from their crush at middle school graduation, based on some sad movie from the 60s where a guy who got drafted as a kamikaze pilot gave a girl one of his uniform buttons to remember him by)

4. Rin's tail is about a meter long

5. There are tons of servants working at Mephisto's mansion. Belial is in charge of them

6. Katoh borrows from all sorts of neat real locations when making settings

7. Katoh identifies with pretty much all the characters the most! Except Lucifer.

8. Demon designs she's proud of include the impure king and hachirou, pretty much anything that was the main one in an arc

9. Katoh lists a bunch of her favorite musical artists/music she’s listening to recently: King Gnu, Official Hige Dandism, Kenshi Yonezu, BAD HOP, Sakanaction, Keyakizaka 46, Hypnosis Mic, Aimer, B’Z, Queen Bee.

10. Awww the rabbit manga that characters are often reading isn't just Robo to Usakichi, it's an even older one that she drew as a little kid

11. She likes industrial style interior designs

12. Rin and Yukio alternated who got the top bunk growing up, because they couldn't agree on it lol

13. Katoh cares a whole lot about panel layouts and speech bubble positions, might even be her favorite part of the process (it shows!)

4. Katoh does NOT have a mashou, lol

15. Rin has probably been practicing in secret so he can learn to carry stuff with his tail

16. Izumo probably got into shojo manga around 1st grade, her mom had some around the house

17. Specialty dishes: Rin - lots of stuff but especially nabe Yuri - stuff you can throw together quickly Shiro - stuff he learned from Yuri and/or cookbooks, alongside teaching Rin Yukio - Does. Not. Cook.

18. Can't pick a favorite place she's been on research, but there's no place like Japan

19. Kinzou's band isn't currently meeting because demons, but he's probably still thinking of new songs

20. Hardest characters to draw: anyone with detailed flowing hair. Hardest to write for: Lightning and Gedouin. She had to go read books about serial killers specifically for material for Gedouin, lol 

21. Suguro actually gets a dorm room to himself, though allegedly Yukio is technically assigned as his roommate, lol. Didn't end up that way what with Yukio being a teacher and also Rin’s whole...situation

22. Shiemi makes some of her own hair accessories! Cute

23. Katoh doesn't mind if you include stuff with fan letters but check with the editor first

24. Time for making each chapter: Planning/storyboarding: 1-5 days. Sketching: 3-5 days. Drawing/inking: the rest. Just...the rest of the time

25. Neither Suguro nor Izumo have dated before and neither is currently dating. But that's probably just because things were hectic for them! It could happen

26. Yukio breaks 5 or 6 pairs of glasses a year, someone get this kid a strap or something

27. How many spare glasses does Yukio have? Check the fanbook lol it's in there (dang it Katoh)

28. The demon she wants us to pay the most attention to is Lucifer. Because plot.

29. What's under the Order's big meeting table? It's a BOTTOMLESS PIT and if you fall in it you DIE that's what makes it COOL (laughs)

30. What are the job requirements for the angelic legion? Literally just Arthur liking you and inviting you to join

31. She WANTS to do more character profiles but just hasn't gotten to it

32. Rin's tail feels like a cat tail, texture wise

33. The "red Assiah fire" is literally just actual fire nothing special

34. Rin's current hair color is light blue fading to white at the ends

35. Thoughts on Rin's growth: she likes that he stays positive in awful situations and she also thinks it's very main character of him to face the past instead of avoiding it

36. Mephisto didn't purposely surround Rin with stuffed animals when he woke up after going crispy. Mephisto's bed is just Like That

37. Kurikara was based on a cool sword she found in a sword book, but that one was technically just a ceremonial sword. The symbol on it us a Sanskrit letter kaan (sp?) associated with Fudou Myouou

38. Kuro can communicate with normal cats and hangs out with them often

39. Sometimes Shiemi's skirt is extra fancy around the hem what's up with that? Apparently it's an optional accessory that comes with the skirts help I haven't noticed this and don't know any fashion terms in any language

40. When coloring, Katoh always tries to have an overall theme in mind ("emphasis on blue" etc) so it comes together in the end

41. Yes the twins are genetically related to Shiro because of Goro (she says they're like his nephews but I say GENETICALLY at least they'd be indistinguishable from his children)

42. Strongest mom of all the strong moms around here? Yuri! Did you SEE her give birth??

43. Are you careful about your own health Katoh-sensei? Not particularly! Her mom has had to bring her food at work sometimes! Don't do this at home kids

44. At the dating events Shura goes to, does she drink cocktails in moderation? Yeah, she probably downplays her normal drinking habits at these things. But normally she's down for just about any kind of drink

45. Lucifer just really likes oysters okay

46. How many pages of manga does Katoh draw in a day? If she's being good about self-care: three. Maximum number ever: TEN

47. Mephisto is one of those folks who can eat like a garbage compactor and never gain weight. Possibly because his body resists that sort of change the same way it resists aging etc

48. First food Rin cooked: fish burger type patty. Yukio's favorite things Rin cooks: fish simmered in soy sauce, yellowtail with daikon radish. It's fish all the way down

49: Did Rin ever get more monthly allowance from Mephisto? It doubled! He gets TWO 2000 yen bills now (rip) [T/N: That's uh, that's USD $37.26 a month or 33.10 euro]

50. Why isn't Rin more popular with the girls? He gets nervous talking to them, plus he's too oblivious to notice even if he DID have some fans

51. Why change Suguro's hair? She gets bored with keeping everything the same, and she wanted a visual representation that he was getting serious and going into kind of a training arc

52. Things Katoh pays extra attention to when drawing: trying to capture the feel of whatever she's drawing (like "that looks warm and soft" or "I bet that guy stinks" cough Lightning cough)

53: Does Rin take after Yuri more? (He's got her eyes!) Katoh tried to draw Yuri so she looks like both twins. Personality, too - Yukio has her smarts and Rin has her optimism

54: Do you ever wanna be like Mephisto? Well she'd like to be able to get away with just ANYTHING EVER, but no, let's not be like Mephisto

55. Konekomaru not only carries around a cat toy in case he meets any cats, he MAKES cat toys to carry around based on what he thinks the cats would like

56. How'd you come up with Shima? Go read the fan book!

57. Do the kids have Twitter/Instagram accounts? Rin - probably not. Konekomaru might be on some social media. Paku and Izumo are totally on instagram

58. Is there something Rin makes that you wish you could try? All of it! That's the whole idea! He's good at cooking!

59. Will we ever have a (G-rated) reveal of what ALL of Mamushi and her family's tattoos look like? Maybe! She'll think about it

60. Does Arthur have a repertoire of different hairstyles? Not really, he just puts some of it up on the top. Heck he might even have people to do that for him

61. If you wrote a shojo manga what would it be about? She'd have to do a lot of research before even coming up with a story, since there are so many style differences between the genres aside from just the subject

62. The other two of Mephisto's top 3 favorite foods: Cup ramen and....f-fried bubblegum?? Is that a THING???

63. Where do you start when drawing a character? Usually the outline of their face but if it's a complex pose/composition she'll start with whatever's in the foreground (like hands)

64. If Katoh could have a familiar, what demon would she choose? Mephisto. As the all-powerful author, she might actually be able to command him as a familiar!

66. If you swapped Yukio and Rin's relationship around what would change? not much, you'd pretty much have Rin going to the Illuminati and Yukio going to the past

67. Top 3 foods/souvenirs to try in Kyushu? Well she doesn't know what’s good CURRENTLY but when she was there she always used to like burdock tempura udon, hakata torimon (a kind of manju with white bean paste inside), and Chikae style cod roe. today I learned Katoh went to high school in Kyushu

68. Katoh listens to music a lot while she's storyboarding, then when she and the assistants are all drawing and inking they put various videos/movies and stuff on in the background

69. For all his hitting on girls, is Shima actually popular with the ladies at all? He's got enough girls in his life that he probably COULD find a girlfriend if he really wanted, but the double agent thing tends to get in the way. He still wouldn't be as popular as Yukio though (side thought/translator’s note: Shima would be proud of being number 69.)

70. Katoh has the ending planned out in a big-picture way, but there are still a few details here and there that she's fretting over

71. It's cute when the boys put their ties over their shoulders when they're working on something! Where'd that come from? She just figured a tie might get in the way and that seemed like a realistic way to get it out of the way

72. Looks like Yukio is getting some facial hair! What about Rin? They're both about the age for it, but maybe Rin can't grow a beard yet. Maybe a little peach fuzz here and there

73. Katoh's favorite blue exorcist merch? There were some exorcist licenses a while back, and the exorcist pins. Basically it's really cool that these little accessories she drew ACTUALLY EXIST NOW, LIKE YOU CAN HOLD THEM IN YOUR HANDS

74. Okay realtalk how long do we have left, I don't want the series to end yet? We're solidly in the second half by now but it's not, like, ABOUT to end yet

75. Katoh would be a Knight meister, based on what characters she likes to play in games and such

76. How many people in the whole exorcism cram school? More than you think! She doesn't give a number but apparently licensed exorcists also attend classes for new meisters, etc, so there's a wide age range attending

77. How's Arthur feel about, like, studying Taming on the way to becoming Paladin? He's at least mostly accepted that you have to use demons to fight demons effectively

78. Konekomaru started wearing glasses in his first year of middle school, so like 7th grade (more recent than I thought!) He has one spare pair, in contrast to Yukio lol

79. Katoh's current obsessions? Ghost/scary stories! She's even been going to live readings of them recently

80. Media Katoh consumes for inspiration? A wide range of foreign teen drama, horror/suspense, shojo manga, light novels, anime, etc. Special focus on things where two boys are in conflict or there are brothers involved

81. If they weren't exorcists what jobs would they have? Rin - chef. Yukio - doctor. Shiemi - uh, florist?

82. Inspiration for the design of True Cross Town? Katoh and her assistants gathered up a bunch of references, picked out stuff they felt matched the tone, and mashed them all up together

83. Did you use any references etc for the school/exorcist uniforms? She says she probably should have but she just kind of made them up before publication

84. Favorite part of drawing? For color pages, picking out a color scheme. For black and white, drawing in all the little details (though she doesn't always get time to lately)

85. Once again confirms the demon kings' weird hair is a representation of their horns. ADDS THAT PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SEE DEMONS CAN'T SEE THE WEIRD HAIR

86. Now that Yukio's at the Illuminati, where's he gonna get his Jump SQ and spare glasses? Well he probably never planned to stay for long, but hey it's a big ship and they might have an optometrist and/or newsstand there

87. Do you base the demon characters on any references etc? Not really, she just gets a general idea of popular demon designs and then makes up her own in her own style

88. Merchandise Katoh personally wants to have made: stuff that an adult could just use in their day to day life. Also, it's not gonna happen, but if her favorite figure brand made AoEx figures she could die happy

89. If Beelzebub's host body was a beautiful woman, how would Shima react? Would the womanizing win out over the bug phobia? Katoh replies that Shima would probably just faint from being near a girl that pretty, before the bugs even got involved

90. Will the twins ever get to smile and eat dinner together again?? We'll just have to wait and see!

91. What do you check at a "scenario check"? what's a scenario check man I dunno They check for people being out of character or the setting feeling off. They had a lot of these checks for the anime, but they also do them for the drama CD, games, and all that other stuff where multiple authors are involved

92. Why does Shura use baldy as an insult for people who are clearly not bald? She feels like they have some kind of metaphorical, mental kind of "baldness" and she's calling them out on it. Whatever that means

93. After Blue Exorcist ends, what do you want to draw next? She has SO MANY IDEAS, SO MANY

94. Did Katoh make up the Shinto chants that, for example, Izumo used against Gedouin? They're assembled from bits of actual Shinto prayers according to what feels right in the scene

95. Yukio reads the Jump SQ, right, and, just hear me out here, he likes gag manga, right? Does this mean he reads Salaryman Yukio? It's something he would read, but let's say that in the AoEx universe there's just a very similar manga that he finds oddly relatable

96. What do Yukio and Shima do in their free time on the Dominus Liminus? oh my god you guys this ship has so many amenities.  Yukio probably spends time reading in the library, which they totally have. There's also, like, a gym, and a movie theater, and a THEATER theater, all of which are free. Shima probably hangs out at the pool (!) and goes to the movies, and hits on illuminati girls, lol

97. Easiest character to draw? The ones with boring simple hair, lol. Lightning gets an honorable mention for ALSO not having eyes in most shots, but Rin wins--he was specifically designed to be easy for Katoh to draw because that's what you want in your main character

98. How do demons understand gender? They just possess whatever feels like the best match to how they feel in Gehenna, whether that's a man, or a woman, or a rat, or whatever

99. Where do you start when you're coming up with a story? She starts with character design and how the characters relate to each other. Currently she's just continuing an existing story, so she works on splitting up the overall plot into episodes and fleshing it out with scenes and information about characters

100. When do you feel most happy? She honestly feels like she lives a very happy life overall. Mentions noticing a lot of little things, like how nice her cats' heads smell when she cuddles them or taking a nice cold refreshing drink of water. There's happiness in everything. aww.

[wordsinwinters]

Then Again, Part 26 (Peter Parker x Reader)

Masterlist (with AO3 links)

Total word count: 50,293

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25,

Summary: After an intense argument and a forced-to-share-the-bed situation during their junior year decathlon trip, Peter and the Reader examine their faults and failings. As they attempt to fix their mistakes and improve their friendship, that friendship quickly begins to evolve into something else.

Slow burn fic in which all characters are included and their dynamics explored; multiple character POVs.

Betas: @girl-tips-from-satan and @fanboyswhereare-you

A/N: This isn’t my favorite chapter, but it’s been sitting in my drafts for over a year and I figured if I don’t post it now, I’ll never move on to the next. Additionally, as always, I live for feedback. 😉

Without further ado,

Then Again Part 26:

(Words: 2,825)

The bus ride will probably get boring soon, or at least as long as the girls stay asleep, but even as quiet as it is, it’s almost a perfect morning. Being early (around 6:00, I think?), there’s barely any light except street lamps and car lights, but some of the clouds on the right have caught a pretty bluish purple tinge. It reminds me of that Rainbow Fish book Aunt May used to read to me as a kid. To make it better, the morning air is chilly enough that the driver turned the heaters on low so it’s wrapped-in-a-blanket-while-it-snows warm in here. Although that also might be why, apart from general dirt and old gum, the strongest smell on the bus is salty grease— since the nearest heater is under the seat Flash spilled french fries and chicken nuggets in yesterday. It could be worse, though. I mean, it’s not necessarily a bad smell and the traffic isn’t horrible. It’s not the best, but it could definitely be louder and a lot slower. The field of flowing red tail lights ahead of us is oddly comforting, like a snail-slow pasture of mechanical color. 

All in all, it’s a pretty cozy start for a dreaded five hour bus ride. It’s giving me quiet time to think. So that’s where I’m at. Or should be. I got some stuff organized in my head last night even if I keep getting distracted now. Well, it was more like a couple hours ago, since I wasn’t able to get to sleep for so long after we said goodnight. But anyway, I’m trying to focus. It’s just hard, even with both of them sleeping.

From my and Ned’s spot behind them, watching the girls’ heads gently shake and bump against each other as the bus shudders through potholes is kind of calming. They seem so peaceful from this angle, like two people who’ve never pranked me and Ned to the point we were nearly suspended, or kept us awake and annoyed by asking paradoxical hypothetical questions because they know how Ned and I will argue for days if we don’t agree on an answer, or anything else like that. It’s like finding two mischievous cats sleeping, curled up on a chair. It’s easier to appreciate them when they aren’t causing chaos. But it’s not that hard to appreciate them when they are anyway.

Though Ned and I won’t admit it when they’re fully awake, seeing their heads smack into the seat in front of them each time the bus lurched to a halt at stoplights (during the first ten minutes after they’d fallen asleep) was funnier than it should’ve been. Even knowing then that we wouldn’t mention it later didn’t stop us from exchanging silent laughs when they leaned back up, muttering unintelligible complaints before settling their heads back onto one another. For the last couple stoplights before the highway, at least, we decided to be better friends. We both stood up with one leg on the floor and one knee on our own seat so we could easily hold their foreheads back each time it happened. Again, I wouldn’t admit this out loud, even to Ned, but it’s a little bit funny that Ned was a split second slower than me, so while I kept catching MJ’s head before the stop, he half-smacked Y/N’s forehead, like a really-close-to-the-floor basketball dribble, and made a wincing face each time. A lot of times. But it did stop her from colliding with the seat, and she didn’t wake up or complain. 

As nice as it is with them and almost everyone else sleeping through the dark, quiet first hour of the bus trek back to New York, I am excited for her and MJ to wake up. Whenever that is. I’ve missed them. 

But anyway, I really need to focus. God. I’m not doing a great job of that this morning. Apparently. So I’m focusing now. It’s like Ned said. I need to be honest with myself. 

Okay. 

Alright. 

No distractions. 

I’m going to set myself straight now, before we get back, so I can make a game plan and be more decisive and make less mistakes. Fewer? Yeah, fewer mistakes. She’s told me that half a dozen times this since she read that grammar book last summer. But that’s not important.

If I’m being honest... I think I’ve avoided the real possibility that things could work out between us because it felt too risky. And I make some dumb, impulsive choices. So that’s saying a lot. If she said no, what’s the worst that could happen? May and Ned have been asking me that for months, and it’s been so frustrating. The answer should be obvious. The worst thing wouldn’t be the rejection, it’d be if it made her uncomfortable and she broke off our friendship. Or, even if she stuck around, if our friendship changed and I had to watch her get more and more distant, knowing it was my fault and nothing would ever go back to normal. 

Those were the worst — and, I thought, most probable — possibilities. For months I’ve been certain that if anything changed, everything would, and it’d all go to shit. So I kept dodging it. And dodging her before the trip. But, then, things did change this weekend. Things are changing. We fought, and it was super shitty and awful and a total nightmare fiasco, but we made up. And she seemed almost as relieved as me when we did. Now we even have this pact about spending more time together. I know it’s officially only in the name of friendship, but something’s… different. I feel it, and I think she does too. And it doesn’t seem bad. That’s the craziest part. I mean, she even kissed me last night. On the cheek, but still. “Keep it.” Maybe May’s not ridiculous: she really might feel the same way. 

I’ve been texting her this morning, actually. Aunt May. I had to admit that I’m happy she forced me to do the forehead kiss thing last night. As annoyed as I was that she and Ned ganged up on me like that, I can’t dispute the results. She kissed me! Kind of. (To be fair, she did hit my mouth a little bit even if it was an accident.) At first it made me wonder if she heard any of Ned’s shout-comments before I could turn the t.v. up to cover what he was saying. But I doubt it. Even if she felt the same way, I know her too well to think she wouldn’t freak out more and enough that it’d be noticable. Yeah, no, I’d definitely have been able to tell if she’d heard him saying things like, “Nobody’s saying you have to tell her that you googled the probability of high school sweethearts getting married that time she saved your ass on that Bronte essay, but yeah, Aunt May’s right! Just ask her to come over and either talk to her or do the hair/forehead thing!” Anyway, May’s on board with her coming over a lot this week and next week and giving us some space. So are Ned and MJ. Ned said they agreed on giving us two weeks (starting tomorrow) without them hanging out after school. And who knows, if the dance goes really well, maybe it’ll be normal for us to hang out, just us, without the whole group. Because… well, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. 

I’ll admit, they’re the best friends I could ever have. All three of them. 

And it’s nice to have them all here now, Ned to my left and the girls in front of us. It’s even nicer to be outside of class or the city or crazy study sessions and have had a short breather from all that (despite the shitshow before we smoothed things over and could enjoy it). To be somewhere chill together. Yesterday and today probably feel even better because the last few days, or even weeks… no— months, if I’m being honest— have had me in a kind of less than happy place. But that’s over now. We’re all here and things are finally good. I just wish the girls would wake up, especially since Ned’s back on his phone. Again. 

Yesterday, everybody hung out for most of the afternoon, but being in the whole decathlon group isn’t the same as just being the four of us. Or two. 

Speaking of two— Ned being away during this next week or two is going to make everything so… unfiltered. New. Without his interference and being able to talk to him as often as normal, it’ll mostly just be her and me. Nobody to distract attention or blame stuff on or help me out when I’m doing something dumb (which is often). Like, for example, last night when I maybe let my excitement get the better of me and I might’ve jumped on the bed and thrown a pillow that accidentally broke the lamp on the nightstand. While I don’t really think writing that “Bill Mr. Harrington” note with the school’s address was Ned’s best idea, it helped me not care too much, enough that I didn’t do something dumber like actually tell Mr. Harrington. It might come back to bite us, though. Still, he was genuinely helpful this morning when Flash showed up too. 

While we were hanging out in the girls’ room waiting for them to finish packing, there was a knock on the door. I figured it was Mr. Harrington about to yell at me and Ned for the broken lamp, so I motioned to Ned to shut up and move closer to the head of the bed we were already sitting on where, courtesy of the wall between the bedroom and bathroom, he wouldn’t be able to see us as long as he stayed by the doorway. MJ gave us an odd glance before she got up to answer it. Her annoyed, “What are you doing here?” didn’t immediately disqualify Mr. Harrington, but the sound of Flash’s voice saying, “I, uh, brought you guys some muffins,” made me tense at the first syllable.

“The free muffins they give us for breakfast?”

MJ’s dripping sarcasm nearly made me laugh even though I couldn’t see her, but Y/N turning from her suitcase and walking over to join them killed it still in my throat. 

“Nope,” he said. “They’re fancy muffins from a bakery a few miles away.”

I wanted to roll my eyes out of my skull.

She may not like him, but that doesn’t mean I was wrong about him being into her. What a dumb way to impress someone. “Fancy muffins.”

“Expensive?” MJ asked. Even without seeing her face, I could tell she was giving him the squint death stare. It’s scary to have to respond to that face if you don’t know what the right answer is.

“Yes, especially with the delivery fee,” he said, sounding prepared for the question, “but they’re from a small local place, not a chain, which I figured you guys would appreciate. Actually, I think you’d like the woman who owns it, she was super grouchy and hard to convince.”

“Convince?”

“They don’t normally deliver at 5 in the morning.”

“Oh, so you thought you could just—”

“What kind did you get?” 

That’s one of the things I like about Y/N. She knows how to manage tempers and when to jump in; she has Flash and MJ down to a science. In that moment, though, I wanted MJ to fire her most confrontational questions at him with no mercy.

“Well, they’re all apology muffins—” I heard MJ scoff. Exactly. She gets it. “But I got blueberry, chocolate, obviously, coffee, cranberry orange, maple, I think that one has chicken in it or something, and banana nut.”

Ned and I turned towards each other with silent smirks at the last one. It’s a dumb joke, but under normal circumstances we’d never resist—

“Cool. Since you’ve brought so many, you can come in.”

Sometimes MJ drives me up the wall. This was one of those times. 

I mentally took back my agreement with her scoff.

The three of them came into the room, and for a couple seconds, Flash didn’t see us. The girls were closer to the window than they were to the wall and the bed Ned and I were sitting on, and he didn’t look behind him. Until MJ pointed us out directly.

“You can give them some too,” she said, her expression bordering on smug. “Apology muffins, right?”

Flash froze for a second. I straightened my back. Neither Ned or I said anything.

“Yeah, yeah,” he nodded. “Of course.”

Surprisingly, he shook his shoulders like a bug just buzzed by his head and walked over, opening a giant rectangle of a box up to us. 

“Take however many you guys want.”

I stared at him, not moving. Nobody flinched. Then I realized he was tapping the side of the box with his thumb. Not in an asshole come on, hurry up way, but in an anxious way. Just as I started to reach toward the box, Y/N asked:

“Why’d you get so many of the coffee ones?”

Flash looked away at just the right second. 

Did I technically cave first by reaching into the box? Yes. But did anyone see? No.

Although, I guess he technically caved by offering us the muffins in the first place. Ha. All the same, I took a blueberry one. 

“They’re my dad’s favorite. I wanted to surprise him, you know? But I can’t even get a hold of.... Um, are your guys’ parents going to pick you up when we get there, or are you actually staying for school?”

“Staying.”

“All of you?” 

He looked around to ask all of us, even me and Ned. We all nodded. When he looked at me, though, his eyes twitched. It’s a face I’ve gotten a lot before. He realized he said parents. 

“You said these are orange cranberry?” Ned asked, pointing. 

Flash nodded. 

“They’re solid, though the banana nut ones are probably the best.”

As I said, under normal circumstances, like if one of the girls had said it, I would’ve laughed right then, but I’m not used to laughing around Flash. Ned, who usually follows that same rule, shook his head and grinned, if a little bit... nervously?

“Hell no!” he said, pretending to be mildly outraged. “I’m not eating banana-bust-a-nut muffins.”

A second surprise: Flash tilted his head and paused, clearly as stunned to be told a joke by Ned as the rest of us were to witness it— and laughed. So did everyone else. It was only for a few seconds, like literally three quick seconds, but for the first time for as long as I can remember, all of us were laughing with Flash. It stopped almost as soon as it started. 

Tension crept back in soon so he left pretty quickly after that with an awkward, “See you guys in a few.” Thank god. 

The girls finished tidying their room and going over the homework that’s due today (which we did last week since we knew we’d never get it done on the trip), before forcing me and Ned into the hallway so Mr. Harrington wouldn’t need to check our room for us and potentially find the broken lamp. 

And then, pretty soon, we ended up on the warm bus, loaded in with everyone else. It seemed like everybody but Ned and I were too quiet and sleepy and squinty to be able to talk much before dozing off or staring blankly out the window or scrolling social media on their phones, the latter two options leading to the first in most cases. At this point, I think Ned, Flash, and I are the only ones still awake. 

I’m going to work at tolerating him. As long as he doesn’t cross any lines with anybody from now on, I won’t bait him either. (Admittedly, I’ve been guilty of that, especially recently.) I mean, his comment about his dad was hard to miss. And even when he said it, it wasn’t a shock. Everyone in our grade at some point has had to listen to Flash’s rambling excuses for his parents ignoring or forgetting to show up for school events. Maybe being a dick is just hereditary for him. Or a family tradition. 

I don’t remember how I got so off track. Where was I before? Oh yeah. Risk. Possibilities. The almost-worst case scenario that turned out not so bad. It’s been a messy weekend with plenty of re-evaluating, but the point is simple: I think I’ve got to give a few new things a try, and I’m excited to have a chance over the next couple weeks.

Next update: God only knows.

Tag List: If you’d like to be tagged, send me a(n) ask/message or reply* to this post!

*Notice: If you reply, I may not respond back; if you need/want confirmation, send me an ask/message instead :) Also, there are a few blogs whose tags aren’t working and I haven’t been able to contact them. For the time being, I removed most of the dead tags. If you weren’t tagged and should have been, or if you’ve changed your url, send me a quick message and I’ll put you on my message list!

Tagged: (If I’m missing anyone, send me a message!) @spideymood @solarspidey @tiffanypooh @carrotsunshine @breebree1198 @idontlooklikereginageorge @stumb1ing @bit-bot0711  @justthatshortlittlenerd  @avzuzu   @melonmochi   @happysynonym @the-redthread  @i-love-superhero @ohgloryyy-blog @nicunty @pxrrished @shugr12110629 @realitykilledtheteen@thehanneloner @lionfart   @tryn25 @slythergirlimagines@twentyjuanpancakes @littlekay15  @hi-mishamigos @eversweet-imagines  @thisisthetragicstoryofme @augurydemon@daisy-john @siriuspadfoot14 @debiwolf-t @casual-vaporwave@swimmeranxiety @dangerousluv1   @ghosthiam @homecomjng @deep-thoughts-in-the-shower @bughead-isendgame @qu3en-of-letters @brightcolorsoffendme @cutehollands @enoumen-t @dottirose @justthatshortlittlenerd  @thatgirlthatlikesmarvel@moonofmy-life @royal1958  @ashleyhearto   @pinkleopardss @cutie1365  @spideyschmood @dragoste-lunes @peterparkley @gold-masks @stonesandskeletonbones @myhealingstar  @a-typical-antisocial-fangirl   @love-and-protect-bucky-barnes@fangirldreamsandstuff  @fandom-stuff @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @jellzu  @aussie-mantle@stevieboyharrington  @septicquill @thingfromlove  @dude-whatawave   @me-a-hopeless-romantic @condy-wants-a-cookie @susurrantsoul  @kawaii-girl-101  @lxstneverfound  @ukulele-tea-and-ocean @tepidtrash @emilymarie0422 @styles-bucks@shortstack-ofpancakes @lilbeatlebear @imyourdadssideblog @the-introverted-loner-art @marvelcuties @lesdragly @atomic-chickenwings  @reanne @schwankyblock @nedthegay @kateelyse96@outsider-underwater @omg-lexiloveyou @le-yona  @desteweirdo@thingfromlove @madasameg @bookish-and-shy @lowkeyfriggason @arya-and-sansa @hot-pocket01 @icantthinkofanyusername0 @ajkenwo

[magdaclaire]

the fic im working on as a companion piece to this 1.6k fic is 12.8k so far (don’t look at me) and includes 

- Michael, the main character, who is the oldest of seven siblings and has practically raised all of his siblings. He was 10 when he started doing this. The youngest two, Anna and Castiel, who are twins, were 5. He got his soulmark when he was 6 and covered it up immediately. He hasn’t really thought about it since. 

- Lucifer, a year younger than Michael, but Michael has always babied him so he’s not exactly the crowned royalty of emotional maturity. Despite being the second sibling, he’s the fourth one to leave high school, and it makes him super bitter. Not cis, not talking about it, still uses he/him pronouns. By 20, he runs a nightclub and is a gang leader. Michael doesn’t bring it up. It seems easier that way. That pisses Lucifer off too. 

- Raphael, a year younger than Lucifer, adopted, a black woman in a white family. She’s a trans woman and came out right after she started college, which was two years before she was supposed to graduate high school; she graduated early because she’s a goddamn genius. She’s getting a teaching doctorate in medicine, because she’s always felt like she’s had two callings, and she’s never been one to choose. 

- Gabriel, same age as Raphael, has always referred to Raphael as his twin despite obvious differences. When Raphael graduated early, he asked Michael if he could drop out, and Michael said yes. Later down the line, he runs a coffee shop, and he’s on the lookout for not one, not two, but three soulmates. 

- Balthazar, two years younger than Gabriel and Raphael, and spent most of his formative years at a boarding school in England of his own choosing. Castiel and Anna are his favorite people in the world, and Michael has never wanted to pry, but he’s not sure that Balthazar has a soulmate. He doesn’t wear a cuff, but sometimes people have marks in less usual places. He simply does not know. 

- Castiel, a year younger than Balthazar, and the actual twin of his sister, Anna. The twins were adopted when they were barely a year old, and Castiel chose his name when he was five; Michael hadn’t done as much research into trans issues yet, being nine years old himself at the time, but he did what he could for Castiel then. Also, Castiel is autistic, diagnosed fully when he was six. Michael brought the Mayo Clinic diagnosis sheet into his father’s office and dropped it on his desk and said “For Castiel.” 

- Anna, the same age as Castiel, obviously, and obviously five years younger than Michael. She loves to dance. Ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, whatever she can sign up for, and Michael will sign the papers for whatever she prints out, really. In her teenage years, she sneaks out often, but Michael doesn’t stop her. He doesn’t want to smother her, and if she’s sneaking out, she takes her cellphone and she knows where she’s going. She flirts with boys often, but later, she’ll come out as a nonbinary lesbian (she/they). Comphet gets us all. 

This, of course, is why it’s reached 12.8k long, long before Michael ever meets Adam, because for some reason, explaining Michael’s entire life story is inherent to explaining his neurosis for me. I’m 12.8k in and Michael is 21 years old. Michael is 29 when he meets Adam in this universe. 

(this has been in my drafts all day, it’s now at 13.5k ish and cut into chapters)

[doorsclosingslowly]

3, 10, 13, 20, 21, 23, 29, 33, 39, 44 for the fanfic asks!

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

I am probably low-key inspired by everything I read. I got into this whole thing because I like thinking, okay but what if this happened? and observing how word choice and story construction affect me, etc. I know I learned the idea of going into tiny parenthetical flashbacks mid-scene from a fic.

In terms of plot, though, everything I’ve actually published went through so many changes that it’s pretty unrecognizable from what spurred me into thinking about it.

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for?

That changes over the years. Currently I read a lot of Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence (and especially those beautiful Daniel LaRusso/Amanda Larusso/Johnny Lawrence ones) because I got sucked in by the promise of sad middle-aged men being bad at figuring out their shit. In a karate soap opera that’s sequel to some old movies. So fun. I like the deconstruction of the heroic movie narrative but also I just like middle-aged people muddling through

But I still like all the other characters I’ve cared about over the years, and I revisit them (and new work I find) occasionally

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

I have a document for every fic that’s basically notes and draft combined, and I put down everything I think of in there in roughly the place I want it and flesh it out either when I get to that chapter or installment (for serialised work) or when I feel like it (for one-shots). So everyone else would know as much as I do, though I don’t know if my thoughts will make as much sense to them

For my first fic Epicenter I have way more notes, but that one has a lot of moving parts because it’s a slave rebellion in space told from the pov of vagrant pirates who are both symbols and outsiders to the actual rebellion, and I wanted to keep track of like. travel times. what the other characters do at that point in time. I even had language notes for the two POV characters because I wasn’t confident in just making shit up

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

When I have an idea (whether it’s a serialized story I’m writing already or the seed of a new story) and I toy around with it and suddenly, there is an ending that is both emotionally and thematically compelling. That’s the good shit

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

I don’t write linearly, I have a document for a story and some ideas where it all goes and I write scenes somewhere in there and skip ahead or back to work on another scene or edit. So it’s a set of patches I feel good about connected by notes and ideas how they flow into each other, and those lat few connections are hard. Like, if they weren’t I would have done them earlier, there’s a reason why they were left, but I had fics where I sat for days figuring out one sentence to join the bits I had written

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

I like different characters perceiving the same thing in completely different ways. I like kindness winning over violence--not because it’s more ‘powerful’ in one scene but because the presence of kindness changes the whole story so that a violent victory is impossible or undesirable.

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it?

I wrote Down in the Ground where the Dead Men Go for my friends @humanformdragon and @expatgirl ‘s deancas christmas ghost story event. It was really fun and challenged me to write something I never would have otherwise and it’s also fascinating seeing the breadth of stories that came out of that event, but I was also super lucky my brain was cooperating at the time. I twice signed up for another event and had to drop out because depression dried my words up, and in general that’s why I prefer writing on my own time

33. What do you like writing better: one shots or multi-chapter stuff?

Some ideas have enough meat for a long story and some work better as a short bit; some are more episodic and can be broken down into chapters (if they have a tight plot) or series installments (if they’re more loosely connected) and some only really work taken as a whole. I tend to follow what I think works for the idea tbh, all forms have their neat aspects

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Pride is one of the emotions I don’t really get, tbh

44. Rant about something writing related.

I’m not really a rant person? I love reading them, they’re often funny, I’m not very good at them :( Idk. Maybe... So I write in a language that’s not my mother tongue, right? Which is really fun because I love the intricacies of how English works, but every once in a while I get an idea for a sentence that only works in German. I can find the literal translation but the connotations are off, or the German word is related to other words that I want to bring in but the English word has different roots, the idiom exists and works the same but it doesn’t use the animal i need it to, etc. I love all those layers of meaning and I’ve been obsessed in learning them as well as I can in my second language. But it sucks when it just doesn’t want to work the way I need it to. For my writing I’ve decided that the further away from Coruscant a culture is the more freely I can systematically fuck up English so it’s less of a problem now, haha

[ktlsyrtis]

fic asks! 8, 20, and optionally 21 (optional because it seems DEMENTEDLY hard, which is also why i am asking! would also be interested in the version where you discuss how you might hypothetically do it, or what difference it might make, etc)

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“A part of me still can’t believe I’m doing this,” she explains, fiddling a pen between her fingers. “Our mothers insisted that Marcus and I do the whole ‘white wedding’ and it was miserable. I kept trying to convince him that we should just run off to the registry and elope.”

“That’s what Edward and I did,” Serena says, “and believe me, you didn’t miss out on anything. Nothing says romance like having your marriage witnessed by complete strangers, and the groom vomiting in your bouquet.”

Bernie winces in sympathy. “I guess, after the divorce, I didn’t expect to ever get married again. It didn’t go especially well the first time.”

Serena hums in agreement, pushing the ache of Bernie’s words to the back of her mind. They’d never talked about it, really, when they were together, just made jokes about being free of their former spouses. Serena always assumed that Bernie wouldn’t be interested in marriage, and never brought it up with her, not even when she found herself browsing rings online late one night, planning a future with Bernie that would never happen.

The realization that she just wasn’t interested in marriage to her sits in her stomach like a stone.

“If this wasn’t Alex’s first, I doubt we’d be doing it all. I just don’t want to take that away from her, if it’s what she wants.” Bernie glances up cautiously. “Did you ever think about it? Getting married again, I mean?”

Serena’s heart drops sickeningly. She knows she should just lie, make this easier for both of them. But Bernie’s looking back at her with those dark, knowing eyes, and she can only pretend so much.

“I did,” she hears herself say, as if the words are coming from someone else. “Once.”

I’m proud of this bit for a couple reasons. One of them being that I think it sounds like them, at least in my own head. It’s a conversation I can actually picture them having. More importantly, this conversation is intended to be a complete angst sucker punch in the middle of an otherwise light-hearted scenes. Given the comments on that chapter, I’m pretty sure I landed that blow. What can I say? I’m a jerk sometimes 😅

20. Describe your perfect writing conditions. Anytime my brain allows me to just sit down and write tbh. I don’t have any special requirements about where/when/how I write that are must haves. What I have discovered over time is that a change in writing format (via text, handwriting), or a restricted time limit (writing sprints, sneaking in some writing during class), go a long way in helping me get out of my own head

21. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting? This is like a Schrödinger question, because the answer is simultaneously “a thousand times” and “once.”

I’m definitely a person who falls into the terrible trap of endlessly tweaking things while I’m working on them. As such I don’t really have definitive drafts, more living documents that are in a constant state of flux. The once comes in when I think I’m done and I send it to my beta for review, at which point I make corrections and post as fast as possible because I have absolutely no self control lol.

I do think that a more formalized drafting process might be helpful for me in terms of outcome and growth, but I worry that putting something like that in place would end up being just another barrier to actually getting anything done. So, here we are 🤷🏻

[40 questions: fic writer edition]

[radbutsafe]

ALL FUCKIN 35 OF THEM SKLNWESDJFPXO

I SHOULDVE EXPECTED THIS FROM YOU

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

A three! I think I’m mid range cause I ain’t terrible but there is still shit I gotta improve and grow in my writing

2. Why do you write fanfiction?

to manifest what canon won’t give me and to write more! (though yes it is mainly about the smooching and the— I’ll stop there LOL)

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

Hm! My weird research details? I’m that “fun fact, did you know...” in my fics sometimes LOL! I plan on giving a penthouse for erina in a fic and I went through penthouse listings in Japan for floor layouts and locations💀 my research gives me inspo and depth to stuff I think I lack in comparison to others sometimes.

4. Are there any writers that inspire you?

In terms of fellow fic writers, one of them I can’t name here but she’s an inspiration with her exceptional gift for prose period and her lovely skill at comedy! I want to be as funny as her when I write, I love her ironic situational humor. Other fic writers are @takoyakitenchou, @royaldragonsevgisi15 who I always love sharing ideas with and motivate me to create more! For non-fic writers it would be V.E. Schwab, Leigh Bardugo, Oda, and Horikoshi! The last two may be mangaka, however they are writers as well to create their stories! The depth these creators have given their worlds and interesting characters theyve given life to are all what I aspire to be like!

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

so far uh?? hm everything I’m currently writing are wips lol!! im proud of my wip that has been nicknamed ‘soma panics’ that is a multi-chapter fic that spans like probs 20 plus chapters maybe

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily?

dialogue! it’s so much fun! and character thoughts. I’ve said to people I may be better suited for script writing

7. What element of writing do you struggle with most?

I think it’s description, of like setting and showing action. also an expansion of my vocabulary LOL

8. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write?

erina! I think it’s because canon has shown us many of her different faces and range of emotion.

9. Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write?

SOMA!! chill ass mofo whos more carefree compared to the common shonen protagonist! for other shokugeki characters I’m not sure just yet because I haven’t flexed my fingers enough for the rest of them.

10. What’s your favorite genre to write for?

I guess I should say romance cause that’s what I mostly write LOL!

11. Who or what do you find yourself writing about most?

sorina and I try to get them to smooch eventually KEK and yeah it’s..usually romantic fluff lmao

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about.

HONESTLY ALL OF THEM but “soma panics” is my brain child

13. First fandom you ever wrote for?

pretty sure it’s digimon....

14. What’s your favorite fandom to write for?

currently shokugeki no soma!!!!

15. What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve ever written for?

uhhhh I guess SNS? LMAO fandoms...all have their quirks to them.

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

characters cuddling!!!! or getting the urge to smooch!!!!

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for.

unrequited love GOOD FUCKIN BYEEEEEE

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

I have plot ideas thst can be wild potentially but so far nothing fits this criteria so far that I actually have written.

19. Do you prefer canon-compliant, AUs, or something in-between?

depends on the fandom, but if written well, all of it!

20. Gen fic or shippy stuff?

shippy 100% like I said I like smoochin

21. Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

romantic is...*drumroll* SORINA! platonic, soutaku and erina and alice!

22. Do you listen to anything while you write?

Sometimes! There are times songs will be on loop and times I just shuffle a playlist. and if I’m writing in random bursts it’ll be with no music but it really does depend lmao I think music is when I’m forcing myself to write?

23. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

completely independent ideas, I’ve realized in the past prompts shoot me in the foot often unless I luckily figure something out. but I’m often driven by my own sporadic self interest with shitty ping ponging attention

24. One-shots or multi-chaptered works?

multi-chap I guess cause I can post without being finished LOLLL but tbh can I really answer? I haven’t finished anything.....

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

I can’t answer this question imo because I haven’t finished a fic yet so technically stuff could all fit in the one fic?

26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

MYSTERY AND CRIME! I love the genre and I have plot ideas once a blue moon but I can’t dive in because I want to make details that work and reduce plot holes where suspension of disbelief isn’t as needed. I need to study it more (I need to study all the details for any of my fics imo to be confident sometimes LOL)

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

I don’t think I can say one comment was the nicest because I’ve gotten comments that have given me quite the smiles to my face many times! I know this is a cop out but it’s true!

IS WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY UNTIL REINA SENT ME THE FOLLOWING ON DISCORD LIKE TWENTY MINS AGO:

and also rad. i am never this vocal about my emotions like EVER but this needs to be said your fics are obviously far from perfect, as are mine and everyone else's. but the thing about your works is that they're so well-sanded that it's impossible to find any rough edges or faults in them in terms of cohesion to a plot. your cast is never OOC and the amount of effort you devote to developing your takes on the characters as accurately as possible is unimaginably awe-inspiring.

BITCH I WANNA CRY 😭

28. How well do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing?

I’d like to believe I take it often well to try and improve because that’s always my goal. if someone is rude lol that’s not constructive snd is unhelpful. If I disagree with criticism I’ll explain why !

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

Not yet, but I have some plot ideas I think will let me test this.

30. Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst?

F L U F F.

31. Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them!

elliott fuji, a japanese-american award winning photographer who is erina’s boyfriend in ‘soma panics’ which..causes soma’s panic LOL he’s 30 with slightly wavy black hair. I still haven’t pinpointed his personality just yet...he kind of humble brags for sure an artsy fucker and flirts maybe I’ll make him a lil shy though. he teaches sometimes, and becomes an adjunct photography professor in Tokyo so he can be with erina.

32. Summarize a random fic of yours in 10 words or less.

a cook is unfashionably late in realizing his feelings.

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

I am a slow. so slow. motivation who is she? I also write out of order, unfortunately a bit too often.

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of.

this should be for the fic ‘soma panics’ it’s either megumi or satoshi talkin to him rn, I’m leaning towards satoshi

“You thought she would always wait for you, didn’t you Soma-kun? To always welcome you home.”

Soma drags his palms down his face and groans. He doesn’t like this at all. He doesn’t shy from confrontation but this is a whole different ballgame. Soma doesn’t play any ball.

“I guess..?” Is his reply, because he thinks he isn’t sure how to answer that.

“You guess?”

Just being questioned again is enough to crack Soma’s pathetic facade as if it was dropped chinaware and he lets out the longest sigh.

“No.”

Coming home means coming home to Nakiri Erina too.

Nakiri Erina is his forever.

this is @takoyakitenchou’s excerpt she’s most proud of that I’ve written, which is also from you guessed it, the long fic soma panics

SOMA: I am, I mean I will be, I swear I will always come home to you, not spend as much time abroad, once I’m done with work I’ll come right back. I’ll make sure to message you. Nakiri, I’m in love you with you. Maybe for a really long time. You know how I say I dedicate my food to you? My dad—my dad said that the key to become a good chef is to find someone to dedicate your cooking to. A special someone. For my dad it was my mom, you know? For me it’s...

(this is a good piece of dialogue tbh so I am also proud of this)

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

I’ve mentioned it throughout this but the WIP I’ve nicknamed ‘soma panics’ is something I’m super excited to write, but it’s going on slowly...and almost completely out of order. out of all of my writing it showed off that particular habit of mine, along with “what is this, a shoujo manga?!” though the latter is currently being written chronologically now that I’ve posted chapter one and is pretty solid in direction. it was originally supposed to be a one shot but I got impatient and wanted to post at least something for the sorina / soueri fandom.

however, because ‘soma panics’ (I won’t call it that LOL) is my baby I want to keep true to my rule of refusing to post it until I have a draft of the entire fic finished and I’m satisfied with the main points pretty much. due to my writing out of order, I’m worried I’ll change my mind about scenes or want to reflect things in earlier chapters for later ones etc etc

I joined the SnS fandom extremely late, as season five was airing. I was a fan of the manga five years ago and dropped it because I forgot to check for updates when I caught up 😔 I really want to bang out the different fics and aus for sorina that I have before the fandom fizzles out entirely but tbh I’m writing for myself, I’m manifesting what I want to see and I’ll just share it with all my friends to read if no one else will. cause I’m slow broski I dunno what writing fast even is like LMAO I do really want to write faster though, so I can contribute more and let the words free from the discord dms....

[natsubeatsrock]

The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Part 30 (Fairy Tail)

What is the purpose of the Fairy Tail guild?

This is another post that looks different from my very first draft. This was originally a collection of changes I would make regarding specific characters in the guild. However, I realized that would be useless. A lot of it would be more about how little I'd change characters. I've talked about nearly every character in the guild I would want to change already. Some of the posts I've made involving Fairy Tail characters focusing on defending them from fans.

This was going to be a much smaller focus than I originally intended. I've expanded it because I feel that this is the more interesting and important aspect of this post.  It will be helpful to have this post as we talk about other minor characters in the guild. It's also worth recognizing what the guild means to bigger characters. However, I have to talk about this from a more apologetic reason for this focus that we'll get to.

A few times in this series, I've referred to the Strongest Team (or Team Natsu) as "a team of five protagonists". I've meant that each member has an arc reminiscent of a different type of protagonist in a story. The story focuses, to varying degrees, on their progress through the different arcs. For example, Phantom Lord plays with Lucy's connection to the guild and touches on Erza's view of her strength and Natsu's search for Igneel. Of course, the focus of the series, most of the time, is on Lucy and Natsu serving as the sort of Watson and Holms for their series, respectively.

However, the series isn't about any of their individual goals. It's not about Lucy's acclamation to the guild, Natsu's search for Igneel, Erza's shift in perception of strength, Gray's acceptance of self, or Wendy's growth as a mage. It's not even about stuff like defeating the Balam Alliance guilds, stopping Zeref's followers and demons, or saving the world from either Zeref or Acnologia. As important as those things are to the series, they aren't what the series itself is about.

Though, this isn't anything new. I've already said that the focus of the series is the guild. That was in part 1 of this series. While it's been 2 years since then, that much is still the case, and I haven't lost sight of that. I compared this to Durarara!!, but Fairy Tail is different because it actually has a group its story focuses on within the guild, as opposed to the multiple groups in Ikebukuro.

Here's where I have to make a clarification of a point made by Mashima. He said that it's up to the reader to decide who the main characters are. I don't interpret that to mean that Mashima didn't write the series with any main characters in mind. Among the female characters, the focus is definitely on Lucy. That grows to include Erza and Wendy as the series continues. While we'll follow Mira or Cana every now and then, the series isn't focusing on them as the focus for the series. I feel a generous interpretation of this is that fans are free to focus on characters outside of the main cast.

But, now we're back to the main question: What is the purpose of the guild?

A few different YouTuber personalities have tried to get at an answer to this question.

Nux Taku made the case that Fairy Tail as a guild is the main character of the series. I think this is close to the right answer. The threats of the series are usually first and foremost threats to the guild first and others second. Even in a case like Tartarus, where they are trying to affect the world, Fairy Tail only gets involved when their own interests or members are at risk or have been hurt. As far as I know, the only exception is Oracion Seis. Fairy Tail works with other guilds to take them out. And even then, they get hit by the Oracion Seis first.

The issue I have with this view is that the series focus is clearly on Team Natsu. The series starts as Natsu and Lucy meet and ends in chapter 545 on the team's plans to take on the Century Quest. I can't say that the focus on them doesn't exist. However, this is a great look at what the guild means, in a positive light.

Naturally, there are more negative views of the guild's function. Craftsdwarf said that the idea that the guild is as big as it is was a mistake and detriment to the series. Mashima couldn't follow through with establishing the wishes and goals of all the characters in the guild. To be fair, no series is ever going to flesh out the desires of every single character. However, Fairy Tail is unique because it focuses on a large group of characters it portrays as a tight-knit group. This makes the fact that Mashima didn't do this worse.

Despite other sketchy statements (Lucy's treatment in the guild is apparently comparable to her treatment from Jude), there is an interesting question brought up. Why would Lucy want to join the guild? I could point to OVA 3 as an explanation for Lucy wanting to join Fairy Tail. 

However, I feel that there is a more interesting question to ask. Why would Lucy want to stay in Fairy Tail? To its critics, Fairy Tail is a hilariously rambunctious guild with a notoriously terrible reputation. What's so great about this guild? Why would anyone want to be a part of this guild?

I think Craftsdwarf has it wrong. (Shocking, I know.) I think we can identify as members of the guild because of its size. When I think of a group like the Black Bulls in Black Clover (a group another YouTuber contrasted to Fairy Tail), I think that they're cool as a group, but I don't know that I'd like to think of myself as someone who could be a potential member. Fairy Tail has a low bar for entry, doesn't care for its rambunctious members, and is still an elite guild, willing to go to war for its new members? Why wouldn't I want to join them? I could be a low-ranking member, fly under the council's radar, and get the same type of camaraderie that S-Class mages get.

"But what about the fact that only ten percent of the population can use magic?" (I ask this as if I didn’t already address this in talking about magic on the continent.)

Let's get one thing straight. Exclusivity, forced or otherwise, doesn't deny the possibility of camaraderie. Most colleges don't accept everyone that applies, and not everyone that gets in goes. That doesn't mean that you can't form serious lasting bonds on campuses, even among large groups of people. Even still, it's not as if there aren't examples of mages who use magic items as opposed to the magic in their bodies. People outside the ten percent capable of magic can still join magic guilds and work as members, even Fairy Tail. (Think Mystogan, and technically Porlyusica) You could be a part of Fairy Tail even if you can't use magic.

The function of the guild is to serve as a place for the audience to identify with. We ought to see the guild and rejoice as it rejoices, hurt when it hurts, and cry when it cries. At the very least, we should sympathize with the members of the Strongest Team as they seek to protect, save, and work on behalf of the guild.

This is why we get arcs like Edolas where the focus is returning the guild to normal. This is why one of the biggest arcs of the series involves members fighting to prove their worth after being ridiculed for seven years to almost absurd degrees. This is why the final war arc is framed, at least initially, as Fairy Tail vs Alvarez Empire and Acnologia. This is why the sequel found a way to involve the entire guild, even as our main focus ought to be on the Strongest Team.

What this means on a wider scale is keeping the guild's place as important. In arcs like Galuna Island or Daybreak, it's not as if that's a big concern. However, it's worth keeping in mind when arcs such as the Grand Magic Games and Tartarus come up. 

I personally feel this strongest in rewriting the x791 arc. That arc is where I get to play with the feelings of the various members of the guild. What really ties some members to the guild? Prestige? Money? Secure jobs? What happens when that's taken away but the guild is still around?

And on a smaller scale, I have a good framework to address those minor characters of Fairy Tail. I don't know that every character needs to have a serious in-depth reason for joining and staying in Fairy Tail. That's especially true considering a lot of characters will leave halfway through the series. But, it's definitely worth thinking through what even small role folks like Kinana and Warren get out of being in the guild. If not for any reason but to shut the critics up.

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19  | Part 20  | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29

[delta-roseblr]

Weekly Writing Updates

***********READ THIS FIRST**************

Before I get into the actual update I want to explain a bit of what has been going on in my own life first because you are going to see that dates have changed. 

I am going to be taking Two Months Off from posting and will be returning in DECEMBER. For the sake of transparency and hopefully understanding I want to explain why this is happening.

Lets go all the way back to March when things really started getting crazy with COVID and schools (including the one I work for) moved to virtual learning. I experienced a lot of initial anxiety with that (which I think we all did) that kept me from writing as much as I normally do. I have a pretty significant history with anxiety that I’m not going to outline here but I can say that it has been bad in the past. I thing I have never experienced before was how Anxiety can shift to Depression but as COVID stay at home orders went from being a couple weeks to pretty much being for the foreseeable future that happened to me. There was a period of time where just getting out of bed was really hard- Obviously this further impacted my writing.

Over the summer things started to get better- I started to get better. I found a routine that worked for me, and I was looking forward to the start of the school year even though I knew it was going to be chaotic. Then right as I got my feet under me, it happened- My supervisor was fired. Not because she did anything illegal or anything like that, just district politics. Beyond the personal disappointment that came with the fact that we worked well together, and I was going to miss her, there was the problem of who was appointed to replace her. It became clear very early on that the new women didn’t have the knowledge to do the job. It took a little longer to realize just how unprofessional and retaliator she is. I can’t go into a lot of detail about what has been happening due to confidentiality reasons, but I can say that the last two months (since this woman was appointed) has been HELL for me. I have cried almost daily because of this woman and her horrible treatment of myself and others.

One thing I learned from my last job was that you should never stay at a job if you are miserable so as hard as it was for me (because I still love many of the people I work with) I began looking for a new job. The good news is that within a week and a half of seriously pursuing something I was offered a new position, and that is such a relief! The thing is they want me to start in October and the position is in Delaware.

So I’m moving again which wasn’t exactly the plan. Right now I am in a whirlwind of applying for my licensure in Delaware, completing all my employment paperwork, trying to find a new apartment, and packing. It’s all happened so fast and I’m still a big old ball of anxiety but at least there is hope at the end of the tunnel now.

So I have decided to take a few months off from posting to take a stressor off my plate as I move and settle in. I will still be writing as time allows, just without impending due dates.

What I’m asking for from all of you is understanding and patience. PLEASE DON’T send me asks asking me if I’m really taking two months off or can’t I start posting sooner. I know asks like that come from a good place but it fucking hurts. This WAS NOT an easy decision for me. I want nothing more then to keep posting and interacting at my normal rate but I’m also trying to get through one of the hardest things I have ever dealt with.

I’m still going to post my weekly writing updates because it is a good way to keep all of you up to date with what is going on. I’m always going to try to post updates about my life as things happens even though that in general is hard for me.

Now onto the actually updates!

All Moments Delix                                          

Chapter 31- Complete -Anticipated Post Date 12/4

Chapter 32- Draft Complete - Anticipated Post Date 1/

Chapter 33- Complete- Anticipated Post Date

Chapter 34- Draft Complete- Anticipated Post Date

Chapter 35- Complete- Anticipated Post Date

Chapter 36- Complete- Anticipated Post Date

Chapter 37- Complete- Anticipate Post Date

Chapter 38- Draft in Progress- Anticipated Post Date

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Prompt Based Ficlets

Delix & Solangelo kid fic -Outline complete

Anon- Felix thanksgiving prompt

Kyle and “Mysterious Handsome” (AKA- Cecil) meeting- Draft in progress

Solangelo spanking prompt

Delix & Solangelo double-date prompt- Outline Complete

@ satan-with-grey-socks Morning after prompt- Outline complete

Anon prompt: How everyone acts toward Felix following the break up with Dean

@fionaisabel13 prompt Felix acceptance letter

Sex toy prompt

Felix prom prompt

Delix at Camp Half Blood fic-

Chapter 19- DRAFT IN PROGRESS- Anticipated Post Date 12/7

Chapter 20- Outline Complete- Anticipated Post Date

Chapter 21 Anticipated Post Date

Other Projects:

Solangelo Mortal Delinquent AU-            

Chapter 13- Complete- Posted on Website – Ao3 9/26

Chapter 14- Complete- Posted on Website – Ao3

Chapter 15- Complete- Posted on Website – Ao3

Chapter 16- Complete- Posted on Website – Ao3

Chapter 17- Complete- Posted on Website – Ao3

Chapter 18- COMPLETE- Anticipated Post Date 9/24

Chapter 19- DRAFT IN PROGRESS- Anticipated Post Date 12/30

Chapter 20- Anticipated Post Date 1/27

Chapter 21- Anticipated Post Date 2/25

Chapter 22- Anticipated Post Date 3/25

Chapter 23- Anticipated Post Date 4/29

Chapter 24- Anticipated Post Date 5/27

Chapter 25- Anticipated Post Date 6/24

Chapter 26- Anticipated Post Date 7/29

Chapter 27- Anticipated Post Date 8/26

Chapter 28- Anticipated Post Date 9/30

Chapter 29- Anticipated Post Date 10/28

Chapter 30- Anticipated Post Date 11/25

Chapter 31- Anticipated Post Date 12/30

Chapter 32- Anticipated Post Date

Chapter 33- Anticipated Post Date

PJO Fancy Word One-Shot Compilation-

Aesthete – Draft complete

Ailurophile – Draft complete 

Ailurophile – Draft complete

Lascivious -Outline Complete 

Prurient- Outline Complete 

basorexia – Draft in Progress

Mellifluous- Draft Complete

Sweven- Draft complete

Liaison

Seraglio 

Serendipity

Bibliophile

Kismet  

Lascivious- OUTLINE COMPLETE

College AU

Chapter 1- Draft complete

Chapter 2- Draft complete

Chapter 3- Draft complete

Chapter 4- Draft complete

Chapter 5- Draft Complete

Chapter 6- Draft Complete

Chapter 7- DRAFT IN PROGRESS

Chapter 8- Outline Complete

Chapter 9- Outline Complete

Chapter 10- Outline Complete

Chapter 11- Outline Complete

Chapter 12- Outline Complete

Chapter 13- Outline Complete

Chapter 14- Outline Complete

Chapter 15- Outline Complete

Chapter 16- Outline Complete

College AU Delix Companion Fic

Chapter 1- Outline Complete

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Other Projects

Sequel to the Hogwarts AU

Chapter 1- Draft Complete

Chapter 2- Draft Complete

Chapter 3- Draft Complete

Chapter 4- Draft Complete

Chapter 5- Draft in Progress

Chapter 6- Outline Complete

Chapter 7- Outline Complete

Chapter 8- Outline Complete

Chapter 9- Outline Complete

Chapter 10- Outline Complete

Delix as Demigods 😉

Chapter 1- Draft Complete

Chapter 2- Draft Complete

Chapter 3- Draft Complete

Chapter 4- DRAFT COMPLETE

Chapter 5- Outline complete

Chapter 6- Outline complete

Chapter 7- Outline complete

Chapter 8- Outline complete

Chapter 9- Outline Complete

Chapter 10- Outline Complete

Chapter 11- Outline Complete

Chapter 12- Outline Complete

Chapter 13- Outline Complete

Chapter 14- Outline Complete

Chapter 15- Outline Complete

Chapter 16- Outline Complete

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

[imnotrevealingmyname]

For fanfic writer questions: All. Of. Them. Alternatively: 15. 21 and 25

Lmao 😂😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️❤️ I'm doing all of them.

1. Phone, on Google docs. My phone is an absolute mess.

2. Fanfiction? About two years ago. Don't ask about original stuff. Oof

3. Loki fics, poems.

4. Both? Both. Both is good.

5. Terrible. Ok I'm kidding, I'd describe it as poetic, in a way? Overly poetic is good, ig. But it's also overly dramatic- something I hate seeing in people. Which makes me a hypocrite, ig. Lmao.

But in all honesty, I'm pretty flexible in my writing. Even while writing poems, I can easily shift from writing about EXTREMELY dark stuff (trust me, you don't wanna know) to something light and fluffy, which is a good thing, I guess? But it also feels a bit suffocating sometimes because I have a habit of reading my stuff from the POV of a reader, once I'm done with writing it. So I try to make it as bearable as possible. People nowadays don't always like intense stuff, and since I'm a freaky gal who started reading Shakespeare in third grade, it becomes difficult for me to give up my very intense style of writing. I probably don't make sense, but, uh. Whatever. Point is, I'm not perfect.

6. Random stuff. Seriously. My cupboard can set me off in a writing frenzy- most of the time,however, I don't even know what inspiration is. I meet her very infrequently- so infrequently that she's very forgettable :')

7. No? Sometimes? A couple of my fics were inspired by songs, I suppose. I also unpublished one, if I remember correctly.

8. The title. Oh god, that always makes me lose sleep. And also, the descriptions. Either I'm overly descriptive, or I end up writing a whole one shot in less than 300 words. Why Am I An Idiom is going to be the name of my autobiography, if I ever write one. (And yes, it's is Idiom. Long story.)

9. I don't really have any fixed place for writing. I've been known to write poems in the bathroom, so

10. Do I have a current WIP? I honestly have no idea what I'm doing with them. All I've been writing lately are one shots.

11. I don't count, but I have over 45 drafts

12. If you're talking about fics, then there's this fic I wrote, called Alien Ardour, a few months ago. I unpublished it due to several reasons, but I honestly love it. Also, I really like my one shots Scandalous and Silenced.

13. Like in total? What's 63+48+9? And it's ongoing.

14. Loki. Duh. And death. I love writing about death :')

15. OCs if it's multichapter, reader insert (NO Y/N, PLEASE, TAKE THAT AS FAR AWAY FROM ME AS POSSIBLE) if it's a one shot.

16. Repetitive question.

17. The Soul Trade. A few chapters were for aesthetics, but ok.

18. Loki. Only Loki. And uh.... Drarry. That's my fricking OTP.

19. @caffiend-queen. I love several other authors but she's always the first to come to my mind when I'm asked this question.

20. No

21. Coffee shop AU 😂 I don't even regret this

22. Idiots to lovers

23. 2 years. Fun fact: my first fic was a Drarry fic. I love it so much that it's still on Wattpad, even though I've not updated it in like a year.

24. Haven't we all?

25. Motivation? Who? What? Okay I'm kidding, I read fanfics. Seriously. Either I reread my own and edit them to sorta get back the feel of writing, or I end up reading a new fic. Smut who?

26. I was eight when I started writing, for heaven's sake. I don't remember.

27. If you're talking about fanfiction, then it's definitely @ohhhmyloki and @latent-thoughts (Tumblr won't let me tag y'all, for some reason). I used to write before I read their works but I quite literally began my journey with smut after reading their fics. And I don't think any of my fics written before that even exist anymore. But if we're talking about writing in general, then it's O Henry and Bernard Shaw. Maybe Gerald Durrell. Did I mention that I love Gerald Durrell?

28. Loki.

29. Idiotic. Messy. Freaky.

30. Um, I don't really wanna say this, but it's Just A Kiss Goodnight. It may be my most 'famous' fic, but it's definitely not the best. For one thing, I wrote it in less than a week, and I haven't edited it. And there's no fucking smut. I'm not saying that smut is necessary to make a fic good, but it doesn't have any intimacy in it. It's definitely not boring, I'll give it that, but it's childish.

31. Wtf is the difference

32. What kinda question is this

33. One shot? Depends. I can be freaky fast and write one in less than fifteen minutes, or I can take literal weeks to finish one.

34. Dude, what's the normal font in android? I have no idea. But one of my favourites is monotype corsiva, when I'm on my laptop.

35. Both.

36. I don't

37. All of my works, oof 😂 well, no. But there's this fic I've written, called Let's Get Drunk Together. And another. It's called Three Isn't A Crowd, After All. Cringy af

38. Smut. Dark poetry.

39. WHY ARE SO MANY QUESTIONS REPEATED? It's idiots to lovers, ffs

40. On Tumblr? Average is 60, I think.

41. Yes

42. Writing.

43. All the time

44. Yes

45. I can be as thirsty and smutty as I want without being judged, bless fanfiction.

46. The "WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO MY HEART WHAT ARE YOU DOING AHHHHHHHHHHHH AND WHY AM I SO AROUSED AT THIS TIME OF ALL TIMES AND WHY IS THIS ANGSTY GIVE ME FLUFF" feeling. Not to brag, but I'm very good at that.

47. I can do anything and everything I want. I can make a unicorn fuck a werewolf and nobody will judge me. Or maybe they will.

48. Yes- Wattpad and Ao3.

49. Google docs, word.

50. Fucking Y/N. Like, not literally fucking Y/N, but uh- I mean, I'd totally fuck my clone? But Y/N isn't me, I hate Y/N. And I hate people who just comment on your fic to promote their own fics. We write for your happiness, please at least do the courtesy of appreciating that and not disrespecting our efforts. Most of us spend nights lying awake to give you stuff to read. And also, people who just comment to say,"Update," two minutes after you've just updated. That's RUDE.

51. High school AU

52. Cock, pussy, salacious, sepulchral, pulchritudinous....... I don't have a one track mind I swear

53. Giggled. FUCKING GIGGLED. I don't understand WHY people have this tendency of writing,"she giggled," and,"he chuckled." I don't know why but GIGGLED sounds like something not EVEN a simpering schoolgirl would do. I don't giggle. Not once have I seen peeps who write GIGGLE associate GIGGLE with men, which is something that I find very disturbing and sexist. Call me biased, go on. But I might not even have been here now because I'm from THAT orthodox and sexist a family, and if they'd been any more sexist, I'd have been killed after birth, so don't even dare to come near me with a ten foot pole if you're sexist.

54. Well, yes, I think. I certainly don't hate it, or I wouldn't write.

Dang, I spent over half an hour writing that. Hope that made even an iota of sense.

[allie1804-fan]

A Doorway is Opened (Chapter 1)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Some time in the Autumn of 2019

 “Hey Hannah, great to see you”

 “You too”

 “Are you OK? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

 “Just nervous I guess” Hannah laughed “Silly really after the book tour and interview, you’d think I’d have gotten used to it!”

 “Well this is Keanu Reeves we’re talking about – he’s enough to make even an old pro like me catch my breath! Come on” said Ella, “let’s get this meeting started”

 Ella was Hannah Johnson’s publisher and Hannah had written a book for which Keanu Reeves’ production company, Company Films, was interested in buying the rights. The book chronicled a couple’s journey to having a family through infertility to having their first son followed by three miscarriages before a second son finally arrived. They were due to meet with the actor himself and his partner Stephen Hamel that morning to talk more about a possible deal.

As it turned out, there was no need for nerves. The minute Keanu arrived and introduced himself, he put everyone at their ease. His focus on the work and his enthusiasm for it took the attention off him plus he seemed a little shy himself.

 The first thing he’d said on shaking Hannah’s hand was “Hi I’m Keanu,  I really loved your book, I can’t wait to talk to you about it!”

 “Thanks, it’s an honour to meet you. I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time”

 At this, a flush rose up, starting from Keanu’s neck and pretty soon turning his face quite a bright pink as he softly muttered his thanks.

 “First thing you learn about Keanu” Stephen joked, “The man cannot take a complement”

 They all laughed including Keanu who covered his mouth with his hand before looking down at his feet.

 “All right, shall we get this meeting started” he said.

 “Can we start with the origins of the story, how much if it is autobiographical? It’s so beautifully raw …..”

 Now it was Hannah’s turn to blush.

 “Thanks, well yes it is largely auto-biographical. I did research too and changed some of the details but it’s essentially my family’s story”

“Wow, I’m sorry you went through all that” Keanu said sincerely. “You did a great job with the pain but also the anger and err, the err”

 “The nasty side?”

 “Yeah I guess” he replied looking a tad embarrassed

 “infertility, baby-loss – it tends to bring out the less balanced side of one’s persoality” Hannah sighed. My husband often referred to it as the dark years!”

 “I can imagine” Keanu said softly and the room went quiet. Everyone knew what was on Keanu’s mind. Even 20 years on, everyone remembered the loss of his daughter to stillbirth.

 “Look don’t worry, I’m not offended” Hannah rushed to reassure him. “I wanted to show the full experience, the light and the dark.”

 The conversation thankfully turned to some of the lighter moments  - even infertility treatment can have some comedy in it after all.

 “I’d have loved to have played the husband but I think I’m too old now unless some of the details about the couple’s ages were altered. Do you have a view on that?”

 “Err well I’ve not really thought too much about it, it came as a surprise that anyone was interested in turning it into a film if I’m honest”

 Hannah could see out of the corner of her eye that Ella was rolling her eyes skyward at this since it didn’t exactly make it seem like the book rights were in demand! Keanu picked up on it and smiled catching Hannah’s eye who blushed and looked down at her hands before adding:

 “I guess the only impact could be on the sense of exclusion that comes from not being part of the club, you know. not having a child at all when everyone else does, not completing your family when everyone else has. That kind of relies on the friendship circle also being at that stage and driving that sense of exclusion. But there are many people who start later or where the husband is slightly older so I don’t see necessarily why it couldn’t work as people tend to be drawn to make friends with others who are at the same stage of life regardless of age.

 “Ok, well if we could make it work, do you think your husband would be willing to talk to me about his perspective?”

 As Ella drew in a sharp breath, Keanu knew he’d said something wrong and looked to Hannah who was momentarily speechless.

 “Erm, sadly no, you’ll have to rely on me for that ….. errr, Mark died, 18 months ago.

 “Oh god!, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know, shit”

 “Don’t worry, please don’t worry, it’s not like that fact is all over the back cover. The book was published before his death and we didn’t update the bio with the 2nd edition, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for” she reassured him.

 “Thanks” Keanu said “well even if we can’t make that casting work, I’d still like our company to bring the story to a cinema audience. Would you be interested in writing the screenplay?”

 “Gosh, again that’s something I hadn’t anticipated … but it could be a possibility. Can I have time to  think about it?”

“Sure, I mean we have a roster of writers we can call upon  - I think even if you decide it’s not for you, we’d still want you to consult, would that be OK?”

 “Absolutely”

 The talk finally turned to finances and both Keanu and Hannah held back from the conversation until the meeting drew to a close. As they packed away their papers, Keanu asked Hannah if she’d be free to join him for coffee at the shop across the street from the offices.

 “It’s the least I can do after being so crass earlier”

 “You weren’t crass and you don’t have to do that! Not at all. Anyway wouldn’t you get mobbed out there in public at a coffee shop?”

 “Not at all, I can go about my business day to day as a private citizen - people tend to give me space if they can see I’m busy and especially when I have company – in fact you’d be acting as my personal bodyguard”

 Over at the coffee shop they settled into the booth with their coffees. Keanu encouraged Hannah to have a stab at writing the screenplay.

 “I mean, I bet you didn’t think you could write a novel before and then you did!”

 “OK, OK, I take your point” she laughed. “If I do, would you be willing to look at a first draft?”

“Of course, it would be my pleasure”

They chatted some more. Keanu wanted to see the boys who’d brought such joy to her life. Hannah shared some pictures – the ‘boys’ were now 21 and 16 years old.

“They’re handsome fellows, I can see your eyes in the older one. Do they favour you more or their dad?”

“Their Dad more, especially Josh. He’s the younger one”

“Right - that must be, a mixed blessing I guess”

“Yeah, yeah, yes is it can be. Actually Toby sounds just like him so when he comes home and says “hello” it can throw me for a loop!”

“Wow, I can’t imagine. I’ve never lost anyone that close, I mean where I lived with the person and had that kind of constant reminder of their absence…. unless you count my Dad”

“Your dad died?”

“Well, yeah actually but that was more recent, I meant when I was young, he left. We had been estranged for a long time by the time he died”

“I’m sorry – I’m glad my kids didn’t have that loss – it almost seems more cruel than death, that  he chose to leave I mean” Hannah checked herself  “sorry, sorry – we seem to be making a habit of putting our feet in it don’t we?”

Keanu laughed “no, no, I can see exactly what you mean – and don’t worry, no hard feelings”

Soon after this exchange, they each needed to leave so phone numbers were shared and Hannah agreed to contact him when she had some scenes to share.

Over the next 3 months, Hannah met Keanu in that same coffee shop every couple of weeks or so as she worked on her ideas for the screenplay.  The theme she liked best was that of closed and open worlds.  As she’d navigated infertility and baby-loss, at each stage there had been a sense of being welcomed into a world and then excluded from the next natural place. She hoped a director could capture that sense of being trapped and unable to move forwards somehow.

In their conversations she also tried to explain as best she could the different perspectives of the many people directly and indirectly involved. There was her husband who had wanted to keep the troubles they had in perspective and, especially when they had their miscarriages, to look to the future. Whilst Hannah had needed to wallow in the grief of their first loss in particular, he’d not felt that loss so much. She understood that for her, the future would have looked much different day to day with a new baby. She would have been taking her eldest to kindergarten with a new-born in tow. Yes, he would have been a dad of two but would still be going to work day to day as usual. Her work colleagues had sent her flowers after that miscarriage and he’d been angry. “why are they sending you flowers, nobody died” he’d yelled.    They’d argued after that, the difference in their perspective magnified. But in the long term she’d understood his desire to ‘fix’ things.  She’d been through grief before when her dad had died when she was just 16. She understood the need to wallow and let the grief breathe. His desire to move on felt like an attempt to stifle that but she understood the emotions behind it.

Then there were in-laws also willing things to be normal, not wanting to face the pain, telling her that she should be grateful to have her eldest and focus on him. Hearing that from people who already had 2 or 3 kids and no infertility was a bitter pill to swallow – you only really ‘get it’ if you’ve been there too after all.

He was a good listener and obviously enjoyed the process of empathising  and learning about how other people processed these traumas.

By the end of the year the screenplay was really taking shape but in January their FTF meetings had to stop as Keanu had to go to San Francisco for the Matrix 4 Shoot. They had one more coffee shop meeting in early March before he went to Berlin but otherwise, all connection was via e mail and FaceTime as they were either separated by miles or by the Corona Virus lockdown.  Through the months, their conversations and correspondence helped a close friendship to grow. Hannah felt the clouds of grief lifting and recognised Keanu’s part in that for her due to having the screenplay to focus on and his friendship.

Chapter 2

[yume-x-hanabi]

Writer Meta Meme

I decided to do all the questions on this meme :)

1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

My current project is Concubinage, my gaiwin arranged marriage AU. It started as a random, entirely self-indulgent idea, but it has since grown into an actual project. Progress is good, I’ve managed to do bi-monthly updates and I have 30k in my drafts so far.

What I love the most about it is that, since it’s an AU, I’m pretty free to do whatever I want. I don’t have to be too careful of timelines and so on. Plus, in this AU, Gaius and Wingul are able to get closer than they otherwise would, due to the different circumstances. They have their own trials, but it’s different than in the canon timeline.

Another current project is Tales of Xillia Week, but I didn’t get much inspiration for it so I think I’m gonna do meta/headcanon posts more than fics ^^;

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I’m looking forward to getting to the part where it’s just domestic fluff haha. It’ll take a while to reach that point though.

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

Not just one scene ig, but I’ve been wanting to write one-shots showing how the Chimeriad survived, and... haven’t gotten around to planning it. So it’s pretty low on my project list tbh.

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

I have... a few, but they’re all spoilers for future chapters XD;;

5. What character that you’re writing do you most identify with?

I don’t... really identify with characters. I mean, they’re pretty different than me in personality, life and circumstances...

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

I love writing Gaius and Wingul of course, but Agria’s probably the most fun. She’s completely unrestrained, which makes her pretty easy and fun to let loose XD

7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

Exposition and worldbuilding XD

I can’t help it, I always need to develop the setting...

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

Yes. I would love it if more people wrote gaiwin XD

9. Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other?

I used to be more of a ficlet writer, but I’m currently doing well with a longfic XD

As for the rest, it varies. I like to plot and outline a bit, but it’s often rather loose and I let inspiration guide me.

10. How would you describe your writing process?

Wait for inspiration time, energy and motivation to align.

11. What do you envy in other writers?

Those who update super long fics every week. How do you do it????

12. Do you want your writing to be famous?

Naah, I’m fine in my corner of fandom. Though I wouldn’t say no to a few more readers, if only to know that the ship still sails xD

13. Do you share your writing online? (Drop a link!) Do you have projects you’ve kept just for yourself?

Yep, I post on AO3. And all projects are meant to be posted one day, but some aren’t simply because they aren’t finished.

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

The beginning, usually, but I might change it

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Tags are easy. Titles and summaries are hard, and I always end up with something boring but heh, as long as they get the meaning across...

16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)

It was last year, but I tried first person pov with my Agria fic, because that fits her well. I’d like to try poetry, maybe.

17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

I have no idea tbh. When I write, I like to imagine what my readers will think (especially like when I write funny scenes, I hope they’ll make people laugh), but idk if it’s exactly like I think.

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

In Concubinage, I considered adding a plotline where Arst met an ex and had to deal with complicated feelings about it -- being reminded how it was to be in a loving relationship vs political marriage, craving intimacy like he used to have with said ex, etc. I ended up scrapping the idea though.

I also have... two or three possible ways things can play out in a much later plotpoint, and I think I’m pretty sure of which way I’ll go already, but the other possibilities exist. Maybe I’ll make a post about all abandoned plotlines one day...

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

“And, but, and, but...” XD;

Also characters often find themselves doing something before they knew it...

My style is probably pretty repetitive. I’m not a native speaker, and I feel limited sometimes...

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Concubinage is the result of watching too many sageuk and  taiga drama. No I’m not sorry.

When writing AU, I always like to include “cameo” of the original storyline (for example, as the plot of a book, or treating the canon games as a fractured dimension in Chimeriad Live AU’s, etc)

In Fractured Lives, I try to alternate Wingul and Gaius’ pov. It’s probably gonna bite me in the ass when some plot points work better in one pov but the chapter requires the other. I’ll probably have to come up with some fillers or something...

I have extensive headcanon about Auj Oule’s geography, history etc, which pops up in a lot of (planned) fics. Even if it’s different fics/AU’s (ex. Concubinage vs my pre-game gaiwin project vs the Wingul fic I was writing for the big bang), I reuse the same settings and OC’s. Most of those aren’t written/posted yet so it’s pretty self-contained for now, but if I ever get to completing those projects I hope it won’t be too confusing to readers who don’t follow all the stories...

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

If I had the art skills, I’d love to turn some of them into comics ;A;

22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

Sometimes. Usually because I need to refresh my memory before writing a new chapter XD

23. What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?

That project to write the whole pre-game Gaius & Wingul history, that’s something I’ve been wanting since forever. Well, I originally wanted to read it, but since no one’s gonna do it, I started thinking I should write it. It’s gonna be a huge project though...

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

I honestly have no idea. I do sense a difference in that it’s much easier for me to just write now; I guess habit helps. But I have no idea if style changed or anything lol.

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Filling the tag with my OTP XD

[keen2meecha]

Novel Prep Tag: gifted

Thanks for tagging me, @aziz-writes! You’re a gem as always!

Note: I’m talkative, so most of my side comments are crossed out don’t mind me

First Look

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch)

After nearly failing the application test, a young girl rejected by a superpowered society for not having a superpower* of her own is accepted into Falks, a school that teaches kids how to be superheroes. But after an attack on the school nearly kills her and her classmates, she must learn to work with her new friends before one of her oldest friends is lost forever. 

(*’superpowers’ in this universe are called Gifts, and those who have them are called Gifted. The minority who don’t have Gifts are called Ungifted. The title is ironic and also a reference to a running joke Sofia has with herself)

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Novella, single book, book series, etc.)

It’s the first book in a series! Right now I have four books, but since I’m a chronic overwriter, that may or may not have to be extended to five books.

3. What’s your novel’s aesthetic?

Honestly? Aesthetics aren’t really my thing, so I’m not sure. Maybe soft warm colors, that surprised flutter in your chest when someone gives you a thoughtful present, the ache after yet another workout, that scratchy feeling in your throat when your right on the edge of crying but no one else can tell? This started out as a lighthearted superhero story I swear-

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

If you’re an anime fan, you’ll probably look at the general premise of this and some of the basic details of some of the characters and go “Wait a second, that’s a lot like My Hero Academia” and listen. I know. It’s not the same plot though, I promise! Really, at this point, I’d like to think that it’s undergone so many changes that the two are pretty decently removed, but *shrugs*. I’m not as pressed about it anymore. 

I was also loosely inspired by Harry Potter, simply because my book also takes place throughout a school year, so I’m using Harry Potter as a frame of reference for pacing (theoretically). That being said, trans rights and fuck JK Rowling am I right?

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for the novel

For the sake of saving space, I’ll not do that this go around. But imagine fireworks, a freshly brewed cup of tea, and an overwhelmingly expensive weight room and you’ve got a pretty good image of three important things in this book.

Main Characters

6. Who is your protagonist?

Sofia Smith! The Ungifted girl with a chip on her shoulder! Also an utter jock who usually wears athleisurewear and trust me, I’m as thrilled as you are about that. I don’t work out! I don’t even know what a healthy workout routine looks like! What have I done-

7. Who is their closest ally?

I’d say it’s a toss-up between Leona Kita, a girl she meets during the application tests who quickly becomes her new best friend and is not all that she seems, and Romilly Quirke, a teacher at Falks with whom she develops a close mentorship and is not all that she seems

8. Who is their enemy?

In the beginning, it’s Kyran ‘Kruze’ Cinege, Sofia’s childhood friend-turned-enemy. However, the turning point of the novel is when it’s revealed that while she and Kruze are always fighting (physically or not), there’s someone out there who’s actively trying to kill her and that person might be a more pressing threat than Kruze.

You may also see me occasionally mention The Prophet’s Daughter, who, like all of the important antagonists in this series, hilariously still doesn’t have an actual name. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.

9. What do they want more than anything?

To become the top Hero it’s not bnha you weeb

10. Why can’t they have it?

She’s Ungifted, so no one believes she can do it. Not only that, but also every single other person in her class at Falks is highly qualified - they’re the most promising kids in the country, after all - and also highly motivated to do the same, so she’s got... a lot of competition.

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

That she can hold up the weight of the world on her own - worse, that she has to hold up the weight of the world on her own. Among other things

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

Not an artist, but I can freely say that Sofia’s face claim is Amandla Stenberg (especially Hunger Games era Amandla Stenberg because, you know, high school).

Plot Points

13. What is the internal conflict?

She’s desperately lonely, but to admit she needs other people is to admit weakness, and to admit weakness is to admit defeat - something she absolutely cannot do. I mean, not really and it’s okay to ask for help, but she doesn’t know that. We’re working on it.

14. What is the external conflict?

Sofia is fighting the entire world to become a Hero and also someone is trying to kill her and her classmates. 

Oh and each book revolves around her relationship (platonic or otherwise) with one of what I call the ‘core five’ changing and developing in a radically game-changing way. In this book, it’s her and Kruze struggling to come to terms with elements of their past and maybe overcome their conflict to become friends again...? Except their both stubborn assholes and have been fighting for so long they can’t remember how to exist in the same room without one of them blowing up eventually (literally, in Kruze’s case) (I’ll probably talk more about the core five in a different post tbh)

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?

Oof. Well. If someone died on her watch, that’d be pretty bad for her. Good thing that’ll never happen though! Haha...ha...hm.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

Of this story? Shit maybe they weren’t after me after all. The story as a whole? Wait, you’re my what?

17. Do you know how it ends?

I actually have the epilogue of the last book already planned out! I will cry when I actually write it. But the end of the main plotline? Eh... I know who all is involved, and what all of the characters have evolved into at that point. But how Sofia and co. actually defeat the BBEG? I am... less sure.

18. What is the theme?

In this book specifically: it’s okay to step back and ask for help when you’re struggling - just because you can’t do it on your own doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be where you are.

In the overall series: something something found family something the power of friendship.

19. What is a recurring symbol?

Oh damn, this is a really good question. In fact, since I’m still in first draft mode (although I did write maybe a good quarter or so of a zero draft) I don’t think any have really emerged that I’ve noticed yet? But I guess I’ll come back and update this if I think of anything.

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

It’s set in a very fancy, very modern private school that’s on the edge of a city somewhere near Washington D.C. I’m... not great at describing environments/settings, though, so that’s all you get haha

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

Oh yeah, plenty. I have this whole book outlined, actually, on a chapter-by-chapter level! I got excited and also bored during my three-hour-interim between classes, and there was a whiteboard just asking to be filled... I even have some disconnected scenes from future books floating around in my mind - some incredibly emotional and poignant, some glorified shitposts. Ah, writing. It’s such a magnificent hobby.

22. What excited you about this story?

The characters! No joke, there are sixteen kids in the Falks class including Sofia, and every single one of them has their own complex backstories, motivations, and character arcs - not to mention I’ve spent a significant portion of time outlining each of their Gifts and figuring out how exactly they work. I could ramble about any of them for hours.

And that’s not even mentioning Sofia’s family, the villains, the teachers... I just really love every single character in this book!

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!

Step one: watch or read something. Anything. A movie, another book, a commercial, a music video, a tiktok, I’m not kidding just about anything will do. Step two: think ‘oh, I could do that better’. Step three: jot down some early lines or general ideas. Step four: leave it to stew for a little while as you think ‘oh jeez maybe I can’t do it as well as I thought’. Step five: get suddenly inspired on it and feverishly carve out several rough chapters. Step six: let it stew some more. Step seven: get newly inspired, realize how much has changed in your mind about that earlier draft, call that the zero draft, and actually do an outline this time. Step eight: ...Write it for realsies this time!

Whew, that was a doozie! Super fun though! So, according to the rules, you’re supposed to tag the same number of people as questions you answered. So there are 23 questions, and it turns out I’ve got exactly 23 people who (I don’t think) aren’t opposed to tag games, so here, have something besides a last line tag for once! Enjoy!

REMEMBER! You are under no obligation to do this - especially since this one can seem overwhelming. I’ll be thrilled if you do it, but I won’t be disappointed or upset if you pass.

Anyways, tagging: @alcego-writes, @alanwrites, @ajbrooks-writes, @evergrcen, @jewellsfrommaruss, @brookswriting, @signedjordan, @writhoelogy, @the-violet-writer, @dustylovelyrun, @linarious, @cookiecutterwrites, @honeyprincerising, @acaptainandhisrunaway, @angelolytle, @dogwrites, @mxxnwishes, @magicalwriting, @bisexual-in-progress, @writerfae, @ocmaker, @fullydevoted, @hanboggsbooks

[ageless-aislynn]

meta ask questions for you! 3, 5, 6, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 25!

Ooo, thanks so much for playing along, hon! I appreciate it! :D

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

You know, I really don't have one. I plan on eventually doing them all, if I can!

5. What character that you’re writing do you most identify with?

Usually Caitlin because she tends to be the one who's lost and Eobard is either deliberately withholding things from her or is in someway messing with her and she's trying to catch up, lol! I do really love pairing her with Harry, though, too, even though their dynamic is different. :D

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

Eobard, definitely. Most specifically, I love getting into his head and getting his p.o.v., like in the "Partners In Crime" series. It's much rarer that I'll give you only Caitlin's p.o.v. and it almost always has a plot reason as to why, such as "The Thousandth and the First." Secondly, though, I adore writing Frost and Nash, especially in all of their oblivious or just straight up "don't care" shenanigans. I still have a particular fondness for "Star-Marked" which was the first time I really got in there and wrote them like that. ;)

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

Heh, yes. "*With Benefits" has a completely different version out there. It was originally a lot darker and angstier. It still technically met the "friends with benefits" prompt but, well… Let's just say there's a reason why I started off calling it my "dom!Harry" fic where he's a bit more consensually dominating and aggressive than I generally write him. It still exists and I'm still considering finishing it one of these days. I'll have to decide whether to just basically write it as a second fill for the same prompt (so I don't have to worry about the similarities, since they were the same fic at one time ;) ) or to try to replot it and make it as different as possible. The tone itself is pretty different from "*With Benefits" because I wanted that one to be lighter and funnier than the first fic was turning out. But I think the other tone still has some merit to it. I dunno if anybody’s really down for that alllmost BDSM feel or not. *shrugs* The other fic is titled "Here" so you'll know it if you ever see it. ;)

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

I have a bad habit of using "very" way too often, so I always try to scour my final drafts a final time by doing a find either in Word or in the browser looking to see how many times I've used it. I also inevitably find I fall back on a similar word and over use it in pretty much each fic depending on the circumstance. Like for "Three Little Words," I didn't want to repeat "frozen" and other such icy descriptors but I didn't want to have to go far out to get some unusual/unnatural ones that probably nobody would really think to themselves. ;)

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

I don't know if this quite fits but one of my writer friends asked me if it's hard to have so many variations of the same characters and honestly? No, it's not. If you look at just my original ReverseSnow/ReverseFrost pairings, "Partners In Crime" Eo/Caitlin have a different dynamic to me than "Good Day" Eo/Caitlin. "The Ghost of Eobard Thawne" is going to show us a little more obsessed Eobard than my other series!Eobards (some of the one-shots have touched on that before, though). Weirdly, in "Haunted"'s continuing chapters (I swear, y'all will get to read them eventually ;) ), Frost and Eobard have several scenes together and normally that would start pulling me in a ReverseFrost direction. BUT. This particular Frost is just so set on Nash that she's not even tempted and Eo is equally as set on Caitlin, so, while he has no problem needling Frost, Cait is never for a moment not who he has his heart and mind aimed at.

Then you've got something like the ReverseFrost pairing in the "It's All Fun And Games When You're A SuperVillainous Power Couple In Love..." series and it's like there's NO DOUBT they're meant for each other. (This couple feels actually like the more "show-current" version of "Partners In Crime," honestly. "Partners…" is distinguished by my characterization and "rules" for Caitlin/Frost's powers having been drawn more from the comics since we hadn't seen them yet in the show at that time.)

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

Heh, I think a lot of mine would have to go to a channel where they can show more explicit stuff, like HBO or something, lol! ;)

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Finishing it, reading it back and thinking, "Yep, that's what I wanted to say," and then getting comments where it sounds like other people enjoyed it. That's definitely the most fun in my opinion! ;)

Thanks again! 

♥♥♥

Fun meta asks for writers

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 1 of 83 : World of Sea

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 1 of 83

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

First draft written 2007

copyright 2020

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

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Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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Chapter 1: The Voice of the Sea

The day was fair and the sun was high, glittering off the water of Sea. Big Wohan was near the horizon and swift little Dorac was nearly at the mast head.  Carsis, the third moon, was not due to rise until well after night fall.

The helmsman turned the three hundred foot length of the Longin dead into the wind.  The breeze, now acting as a brake, slowed the big ship to a stop.  Her large lateen sails went slack and fluttered in the gentle wind as the big ship, resembling a cross between a Chinese junk and a Yankee Clipper, finally went dead in the water.

“Why is the Captain even listening to her?” Silor, the lead deck-hand demanded of nobody in particular, gesturing offhandedly at the young, white haired girl standing beside Captain Mord Halyn near the bow of the ship.  He was further back, near the foremast, in a knot of people prominent in the ship’s community.  The Masters of the Craft Council were there along with many of the officers who were off duty.  There were many others who were simply curious as to what Kurin was going to do this time.  The nearly unbelievable rumor was that she was going to sound the bottom without a fathom-line.

Master Juris, the chief boat-wright and head of the Longin’s Craft Council, seeing a chance to needle Silor again, chose to answer him. Sarcastically he asked, “Why?  Is your memory as clumsy as yourself?  Do your recall as far back as three Wohans?  A whole hundred days?  There was a Coriolis storm, remember?  Quite a large one.”

Silor did, in fact, remember the storm.  I was on deck through most of it.  I took the Captain’s orders and directed my mast crews.  We saved the mainsail, the Longin herself, and every life aboard, when the reefing points tore out in hundred mile per hour winds.  It was me up in the rigging.  Rain and freezing wind tried to hurl me to Dark Iren.  I set the puling blocks and caught lines that the hurricane whipped out of the control of my men and women.  We got the yard secured to the boom and rebound that flailing canvass.  We were almost done, the last line fought into its block, when slippery footing on a wet line let a hard gust throw me twenty feet to the deck.  I broke my left arm.  Silor was still paying the cost of saving the ship in his aching left arm, only recently out of its sling.  Yes, Silor remembered the storm.

“Everybody knows how to deal with a blow like that,” Master Juris went on, patronizingly lecturing Silor like as if he were a child.  “Run before it, close hauled and quarter your way out to safety after you are on the back of its path so it won’t just run you down again. The trick is to know when to quarter your way out with neither sun, moons or stars to help.  We came out of the storm with only one section of one sail blown out of shape beyond salvage.  The damaged section was replaced in five hours, and we were back in trim.  How many ships did we find in that storm’s track?  All needing major repair?”

“Six,” muttered Silor sulkily thinking correctly, Master Juris will always find a way to criticize whatever I do.  Saved the ship, Logged a hero, and Master Juris calls me clumsy!  Didn’t see Juris in the rigging helping!  Once, five years ago when I was a kid, one bad thing happened, and Master Juris has never let me, or anyone else, forget.

“Kurin called the timing sooner than anybody expected and the Captain believed her. She was right.  She got us to safety. It’s only one of the many times that she’s been right. That’s why the Captain listens to her.  Now, let’s watch and see what this is all about.” The other Craft Masters of the Longin had come up from their shops below-decks to watch Kurin’s demonstration.  They nodded in agreement.  

Master Cirde the head of the weaving shop said, “I wish that Kurin was my apprentice instead of yours, Juris.  She learns quickly and works well, rarely showing anything until she is sure of it.  She came to my shop to play and that’s how we found out that the secret of Longin Lace had not left the ship when Cat went back to the sea.”

“She actually pays attention to instruction, instead of letting her mind wander onto dry land,” said Master Clard, the drummer.  There was some good-natured laughter at the expense of apprentices in general. “They’re about to start,” he added.

“Just time for a friendly wager,” said Master Juris, smiling predatorially at Silor.  “You are sure that this stop is a waste of time.  I have some confidence in my apprentice.  Two steamed fish cakes from this evening’s dinner will be the stakes.  Acceptable?” He held out his hand and Silor, cornered by his own dislike, shook on it.  In the background, others could be heard making various bets as well.

The attention of the whole group was now fixed on the Captain, the sailor beside him with a sounding line, and on twelve-Gatherings-old Kurin, the center of this storm on a calm sea.  She closed her gray eyes and appeared to be concentrating on something that nobody else could notice.  The deck was rolling gently in the swells, that was all.

She nodded to herself, satisfied, and wrote quickly on a tallow-slate with a bone stylus, showing it to Captain Mord, who signed it.

“Make the sounding,” he ordered the sailor who was standing ready.  The sailor nodded with a brisk, “Aye, Sir!”  He heaved a coral stone attached to a light line overboard and let it sink.  The line had knots at regular six foot intervals and the sailor counted them as the stone sank.  To the surprise of everyone except the girl, who was nevertheless relieved, the weight found a bottom at only twenty one fathoms, a mere sixty six feet down.

“You were right, Kurin,” said Captain Mord loud enough for all to hear. “There is a shallow bottom here that we never knew of.  This could mark a good crabbing reef, if it has any size.”

He took her tallow-slate and added another note to it.  Then he showed it to the waiting Craft Masters, officers and crew-folk.  There for all to see, in Kurin’s neat writing, was ‘Bottom about 20 fathoms’ with ‘Cpt. Mord Halyn Longin’ signed beneath it as witness.  There was also a note in Captain Mord’s hand, ‘Bottom found at 21 fathoms, Cpt. M.H.L.’

As the tallow-slate was passed about the group.  Theatrical groans and cries of glee went with it.  The sailors and some of the Masters could be heard cheerfully settling bets.   Master Juris gloated to a gloomy Silor, “That’s two steamed fishcakes that you owe me from your plate at dinner.  Want to try for all three, when we actually map out the shallows?”

The Captain now held up a carefully made chart on paperfish parchment for the Masters and Officers to see.  Kurin’s neat drawing showed carefully marked depth contours for the expected bottom.

“I will let Kurin explain to you, as she did to me, the means of making this chart without long and laborious soundings.”

“Kurin, you know the Masters of the Craft Council.  Please explain your method and answer their questions.”

She had known these men and women for Gatherings and worked and learned in their shops as a way of playing in her free time, but she was nervous still.  This time, for almost the first time, she was going to try to teach them, instead of learning from them — and all of them at once.

She nervously twisted her long white hair in her hand as she began, “Five Gatherings ago, when we were on our way to her last Gathering with us, Cat gave me a hint to how she was able to steer the Longin so well in spite of her blindness.  She said, ‘The sea speaks to me and tells me where the currents and reefs are.  It’s voice is the long waves under the waves that we see.’

Kurin went on with gathering confidence, “It took me all of the five Gatherings since to figure out what she meant and how to interpret the waves.  Look at the little wind waves on the surface.  The Longin is big enough that they don’t move her at all.  Still, she rises and falls to a longer, deeper wave than those.  The long deep waves are the ones that I read for this work.

“It wasn’t easy to sort them out without help.  They get shorter and higher when they pass over a shallow bottom.  They bend when they go around the end of a shallow area and make a pattern that I can show you as the bent waves cross the ones that go straight.  Currents, both big permanent ones like the Naral and Cliftos Currents, and transient flows caused by the tides, push the waves around.  You can learn to tell which way the current is going, and about how fast.”

“I grasp the basic idea,” said Master Juris, absently scratching his bald head, “but I’ve watched you work on that chart in the boat-shop for most of a Gathering.  Wouldn’t soundings be faster and more accurate?”

“I chose this place because we always sail past wide of it, due to the sudden change in the direction of the Naral Current, caused by this very reef.  The turn that the current makes can throw dead-reckoning between navigation sightings way off.  Because of that, we’ve always avoided this area.  This is the one place in all three of our home waters where there is nothing but wave information to go on.  Each time that we went past at a distance, I was able to add a little more.  I could chart it to this same accuracy in only two passes if we came up within a mile of the reef and sailed along it.  At most, three to four hours.”

The Masters retired down the deck to confer for a bit, trying to decide how to handle this turn of events.

While they were conferring, Captain Mord announced, “The second part of this experiment is to go ahead and do soundings by tried and true methods, to verify the accuracy of Kurin’s chart.

“While we do that, we’ll put some crab nets down in the known part of the shallows and try our luck.”  The crew began to launch boats for the soundings and bustle about, preparing nets and crab-rings for use.

In the background the large, tubular hailing drum could be heard pounding out directions to the boats doing the soundings.  Its main use was long-distance ship to ship communication, in favorable conditions it could bridge distances of over a mile with its very directional pulses of sound. Two officers, now using Kurin’s chart and a wide based range-finder, were telling the drummer what was needed next and he was telling the boats where to plumb the depths.

While the soundings were being taken, the other small, four and six oared, boats were lowered to the water with that absence of splashing that signals both experience and skill.  Women and men both clambered down a big meshed net secured to the rail for that purpose.  The ring nets, lines and floats were being lowered on boat hooks to the waiting crews.  They were accompanied by good-natured banter and a few jeers from folk on deck, envious of those chosen to go.  Oars made little whirlpools in the water and drove the boats ahead of quickly vanishing wakes as the crews rowed out to try the reef for crabs and to set some shrimp traps.

As Silor was eagerly preparing to go over the side to a waiting boat, Captain Mord approached.  “Silor, I know that your arm is out of its sling but take the word of another who’s had a broken arm. Don’t over do it at first.  I want you to organize the lookouts for Strong Skins and Wing Rays.  I don’t need to tell you how dangerous those fish can be.  Stay aboard this time and man the small crane. Somebody has to bring the catch aboard.  I’m the Captain, and I don’t get to go out anymore.”  He leaned on the rail beside Silor and looked at the departing boats with a heavy sigh.

Silor gripped the net cords so tightly that his knuckles turned white.  I want to go out!  My arm’s getting better!  How did she do this?  “Yes, Sir.  Set the lookouts.  Man the crane.  I’ll take care of it, Sir,” he grumped stiffly.  Stung at the loss of a chance at something fun to do, he went to do as ordered.

TO BE CONTINUED

NEXT==>

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[zmwrites]

Novel Prep Tag Game: Just Jane

Hello everyone! I was tagged in this game by the always delightful @nistrada! Thank you, friend!! (I’m sorry, I know you tagged me two months ago.)

I’ve been putting it off as I haven’t had a new WIP that’s made it past the basic idea stage. But now that I’m working on Just Jane more, I figure it’s a good time to fill this out finally!

First Look

1.) Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences:

Jane, a scrawny street rat who’s made it to adulthood by the skin of her teeth, is taken in by Percival Greystone, a freshly returned war hero, after she’s caught trying to rob his house. They soon find themselves wrapped up in complex political machinations, as Percy is called upon to advise their young ruler, Duchess Anwen, who is being threatened with war by a former ally, and Jane is enlisted for help by the eccentric wizard trying to track down ancient artifacts said to be imbued with magic to protect the Duchy’s sovereignty. 

2.) How long do you plan for the novel to be?

I’m aiming for somewhere between 80k-100k? It might go over that if I go hard on the world building. It’s definitely an adult novel so I’m okay with it being a bit over the 100k marker.

3.) What’s your novel’s aesthetic?

Glowing runes, stone grinding against stone, massive gears opening doors that make the ground rumble, thorns, a river of golden blood, cryptic riddles, impossible trees, swords and shields and suits of armour, pale blue dresses, letters sealed with wax, faces hidden behind fans, regret that clings like burrs.

4.) What other stories have inspired your novel?

Definitely taking from Robin LaFevers’ His Fair Assassins series again, as well as the video game Skyrim and every book where the orphaned nobody turns out to be the chosen one.

5.) 3 images that get the feel of my novel:

Have this Pinterest board I’m still working on. I’m not happy with it, but it should give a general idea.

Main Characters

6.) Who is your protagonist?

Jane, 23. A street rat who steals to survive. She can pick pockets and locks with ease, can find a safe spot to sleep in any district, knows which merchants pay if she makes their deliveries, and knows which taverns are likely to take pity on her and give her a free meal. She’s also adept at climbing just about anything. She’s blunt and often says whatever comes to her mind, a fact that doesn’t earn her many friends once she enters the world of politics and fashionable society.

7.) Who is their closest ally?

At the beginning of the story, either Isaac or Wilamin. Isaac is a fellow thief who brings her jobs and has taught her a thing or two over the years, and is also the only person Jane is willing to try flirting with as she knows he doesn’t see her like that. Wilamin is a childhood friend who is now the top courtesan at the Temple of Saint Syra, the patron saint of pleasure, and allows Jane to sleep in her bed when she’s working in the Temple.

8.) Who is their enemy?

At the start, her only real enemies are hunger and the cold. As she moves into Percy’s world, she quickly makes new and varied enemies with her blunt nature and lack of manners.

9.) What do they want more than anything?

Security and somewhere to call home.

10.) Why can’t they have it?

She’s been on her own for as long as she can remember. She has friends, but when things are tough it’s every person for themselves. As much as she craves a home and security, she also rejects anyone who tries to get close to her who might be able to give her these things. She doesn’t trust that anyone (other than Wilamin) can see her as anything other than what she can do for them. This continuously keeps both things she so desperately wants out of her grasp.

11.) What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

There are a few things! That she’ll never amount to anything more than a scrawny street rat, that she’s not worth noticing, that most people only like her for what she can do for them... the list goes on. She hits a lot of the beliefs one would expect to be held by a young woman who’s had to fight for every scrap she’s ever gotten.

12.) Draw your protagonist!

As anyone who follows me probably knows, I have zero drawing skills. Instead, I offer you this creation from the well-known but now-defunct picrew:

Plot Points

13.) What is the worst thing that could happen to your protag?

To be stripped of her independence.

14.) What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

It has something to do with Isaac that will make Jane have to choose where her loyalties truly lie.

15.) Do you know how it ends?

Nope! I have some vague ideas, but that’s all. I’m on the first chapter and making most of it up as I go along.

16.) What is the theme?

Friendship, family, and what constitutes a home. Because I’m so early in the drafting process, I’m still figuring it out!

17.) What is a recurring symbol?

Again, I’m still figuring a lot of it out. I definitely want some symbols and imagery around locks and keys, but I don’t know the specifics yet.

18.) Where is the story set?

In the Duchy of Chalan. It was founded by Galverel Valynore but is currently ruled by the Keriell family, though they still carry the Valynore blood. The current capital city is called Summerlight, where the Dukes and Duchesses live in Bellsover Citadel. It has a moderate climate, with only a few weeks of extreme temperatures each year. The current Duchess is twenty-four year old Anwen.

19.) Do you have images and scenes in mind already?

A few! Most of my ideas are fairly abstract still bc I’m working with only a very vague outline, but there are a few visuals I’m really excited for along the “quest” plot line.

20.) What excited you about this story?

I’ve wanted to write a story centred around a thief for a while now, so that was the main reason I wanted to write this now. I’ve also been very into subverting tropes and the idea of people stepping up to save the world bc it’s the right thing to do. The opportunity to play with a character who might not always have the best morals (see: thief) but who gets dragged into this conflict where she’s gotta do something or let her country crumble was too good to pass up.

21.) What is your usual writing method?

I’ve discovered I work best when I do a “zero draft” or a “discovery draft” to start off with, then make an outline based on that, then write the story as I’d want to read it. It lets me explore the world and characters before settling on a final plot.

Oh boy, I forgot how dang long these things are!! But it’s done, and if you’ve read all of this, I applaud you.

I’m going to tag @leah-yasmin-writes​, @theouterdark​, @letswritestories101​, @the-orangeauthor​, and @solarflare-ink​! As always, no pressure. :)