#tagmoth

[mildswearingat4am]

Time for a music tag game!!

Rules: We’re snooping on your playlist. Put your entire music library on shuffle and list the first 10 songs then choose 10 people. Tagged by: @jadedsoggy

For the record the playlist I use on a daily basis is something very different than my entire music library, which is more like an archive of all the music I’ve liked over the past 5+ years. Let’s see what comes shuffling out of the deep dark depths :p

1.  S.O.S -- Good Charlotte

2. Falling For The First Time -- Barenaked Ladies

3. Hot To The Touch, Cold On The Inside -- Fall Out Boy

4. What About Now -- Daughtry

5. A Matter Of Trust -- Billy Joel

6. Amsterdam -- Imagine Dragons

7. Anything but Ordinary -- Avril Lavigne

8. Bull In A China Shop -- Barenaked Ladies

9. Android -- Green Day

10. Letterbox -- They Might Be Giants

I’ll tag @albatris , @maramahan , and @claraowl -- you guys wanna play?

[mildswearingat4am]

3 OC Facts

Tagged by @albatris​! Basically 3 specific facts for 3 ocs, yeah? I only have the one main wip so I’m gonna use Wanderwoods characters. 

Man, I haven’t talked about Wanderwoods in forever. Gotta pull it down from the metaphorical mind shelf and blow off all the dust.

Fact:

Paige loves medical drama shows but absolutely cannot see real or fake blood without feeling sick and maybe throwing up. She usually works around it by putting them on while she’s sewing and just listening to the dialogue. But sometimes she’ll rope Madelyn into watching them with her so Mads can tell her when the bloody parts are over and it’s safe to open her eyes. 

A a kid Cy would run around on rooftops for fun and climb trees when he needed a alone time, and the thought of falling never crossed his mind. After the invasion of Wan, though, he developed a crippling fear of heights. Compared to losing his home and family it was a small thing -- but still a little piece of himself, and he misses it. 

Max has been using the same backpack since he was six years old. It’s blue and white and covered in colorful cartoon dinosaurs. 

I’ll tag @maramahan and @claraowl -- any ocs you want to talk about?

[mildswearingat4am]

This or That

Tagged by @maramahan! Thank u friend :>

Rules: Bold what you prefer and tag 10 people.

Honey & lemon or Milk & sugar

Musicals or Plays (?? dude I barely even watch movies)

Lemonade or Iced tea

Strawberries or Raspberries

Winter or Summer (I always miss whatever season we’re not having)

Pandas or Koalas

Beaches or Forests 

Planets or Constellations

Pastels or Neons 

Diners or Cafes

Unicorns or Dragons

Gemstones or Crystals 

Hummingbirds or Owls (yes)

Fireworks or Sparklers

Sunflowers or Hydrangeas (yes!!)

Brunch or Happy hour

Sweet or Sour

Rome or Amsterdam

Classic or Modern art

Sushi or Ramen

Sun or Moon

Polka dots or Stripes (how about no)

Macarons or Croissants

Glitter or Matte

Degas or Seurat

Aquariums or Planetariums

Road trip or Camping trip

Coloring books or Watercolors

Fairy lights or Candles

Not gonna make it to ten people but @claraowl , @albatris , @tequilakat , @robbyiswriting , if you’re interested? 

[mildswearingat4am]

Hi! I was tagged by @robbyiswriting *waves*

The rules: Put your music playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that play 

(I shuffled my library with added commentary bc why not)

1. The Torment of Existence Weighed Against the Horror of Nonbeing by Mayday Parade

I don’t like a lot of their songs tbh but I’m weak for 6/8 and this title makes me smile. 

Fun fact--I’ve figured out how to play a good chunk of this song on the pennywhistle!

2. Give Me Novacaine by Green Day

Nice

3. Sympathy by Goo Goo Dolls

I actually found this song when I was looking for Iris

4. We Like It Loud by Sleeping with Sirens

I listened to their entire discography in like a day. I like how the band goes back and forth between lighter-sounding songs like Gold or November and this stuff

5. Thank You for the Venom by MCR

A classic. Always loved the chorus

6. Period by CHEMISTRY

This is an opening song from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and I am not ashamed

7. Are We All We Are? by Pink

A recent addition. Pink is kinda growing on me; I especially like her fck-you-leave-me-alone type songs :>

8. They Got Lost by They Might Be Giants

Damn, this one’s a relic. Severe Tire Damage, John Denver, and Elvis sound like my childhood. 

Also shoutout to Dr. Worm for confusing and delighting me for almost a decade! I love you strange worm drummer song

9. Hit the Floor by Linkin Park

Once I got a slightly scratched Linkin Park CD from the library and thought it was skipping when I played it, but turns out that was. Just how the song sounded. I did not get anything off that album. And that’s my Linkin Park story

10. Helena (So Long & Goodnight) by MCR

I swear I have other albums by them. But this seems like a fitting place to end the list, so it’s cool. 

I tag @albatris , @maramahan , @claraowl​ and @tequilakat , if you guys are interested!

[mildswearingat4am]

10 facts tag game

Tagged by @maramahan ! Have some facts: 

1. I’m knitting a sweater despite having no idea how to do the collar bit

2. I have two poinsettias because someone was throwing them away so my mom brought them home to be part of my plant hoard 

3. I kind of have a plant hoard

4. I have two guinea pigs!

5. I restart my Pokemon games too much

6. In my first Pokemon Mystery Dungeon playthrough, I was a Mudkip

7. I don’t drink enough water 

8. I'm reteaching myself calculus and trig 

9. Sometimes I browse fandom content for shows I’ve never watched and get super attached to the fanon versions of characters

10. My aunt thinks I should dye my hair blue

Tags: @claraowl , @albatris , @solluxismsnowaifu , if you want? 

[mildswearingat4am]

Character Flaws Tag Game

Tagged by @maramahan​ ! Thanks!

I’ll do this one with the narrator of Wanderwoods, Madelyn. 

absent-minded | abusive | addict | aggressive | aimless | alcoholic | anxious | arrogant | audacious | bad liar | bigmouth | bigot | blindly obedient | blunt | callous | childish | chronic heroism | clingy | clumsy | cocky | competitive | corrupt | cowardly | cruel | cynical | delinquent | delusional | dependent | depressed | deranged | disloyal | ditzy | egotistical | envious | erratic | fickle | finicky | flaky | frail | fraudulent | guilt complex | gloomy | gluttonous | gossiper | gruff | gullible | hedonistic | humorless | hypochondriac | hypocritical | idealist | idiotic | ignorant | immature | impatient | incompetent | indecisive | insecure | insensitive | lazy | lewd | liar | lustful | manipulative | masochistic | meddlesome | melodramatic | money-loving | moody | naive | nervous | nosy | ornery | overprotective | overly sensitive | paranoid | passive-aggressive | perfectionist | pessimist | petty | power-hungry | proud | pushover | reckless | reclusive | remorseless | rigorous | sadistic | sarcastic | senile | selfish | self-martyr | shallow | sociopathic | sore loser | spineless | spiteful | spoiled | stubborn | tactless | temperamental | timid | tone-deaf | traitorous | unathletic | ungracious | unlucky | unsophisticated | untrustworthy | vain | withdrawn | workaholic

... and to think, in my earlier drafts she wasn’t flawed enough.

[mildswearingat4am]

10 Questions Tag

Tagged by @maramahan ! Now, let’s get down to business 

1.  What are your favorite genres and/or styles to write in?

Fantasy, of course, because magic is fun! But I also like short creative nonfiction stories. It’s nice to reflect on interesting memories, put them in pretty words, and give them meaning--even if they didn’t always make sense at the time. 

2. What was the last writing project you finished and felt successful with?

Uh

I was pretty happy with some of my final papers for school?

3. If you have a WIP how do you feel it’s going? What stage are you in?

I have many WIPS:

- Wanderwoods: my magical murder forest! A fantasy novel, maybe 1/3 of the way done

- To Know: Miraculous Ladybug fanfic. It’s on AO3 and FFN and only has two chapters to go, if I would just write them already

- various short stories--my favorites being Grumpy Staircase Gets Closure, Jaded Hero Learns a Thing, Yarn is Scary, and Supernatural Creature is Super in Denial 

Progress is slow, because school plus tutoring is exhausting and I tend to not write more than I write, but I don’t plan on giving up any time soon. 

If you’re curious about any of my projects, I’d be happy to ramble!

4. What is your favorite place to write?

In my bedroom. But there’s this really cool fallen tree on the lake I wish I could write on, because it’s a great place to sit. (Sadly my laptop isn’t waterproof and I kind of need it to work.)

5. Do you prefer to write long hand or type? Or some other method?

Depends what I’m writing! Journal stuff and school notes have to be hand-written, but my stories feel more Serious and Legitimate if I type them. 

6. Do you remember your first character? If so can we meet them?

My memory is unreliable. Probably a self-insert. Possibly a dog. Grade school me liked animal stories.

7. Where do you get your inspiration?

Cool plants and animals! Class readings! Reading! Abandoned playgrounds! Dreams! Weird sounds in the night!

Ideas are everywhere. The motivation to write them down is what’s harder to come by. 

8. Do you outline a story before writing it, or does it all live in your head until the first draft gets put down?

I kind of outline? Like, I make a list of stuff that happens, and maybe a few specific scenes I want. But beyond that I like to go with the flow. 

9. Where do you go/what do you do when you’re feeling stuck?

I journal! I have a composition book I meant to use as a reference book for Wanderwoods magic and creatures, but it basically became a rant-about-the-drafting-process book instead. If I churn out seven pages on the scene that’s frustrating me I can usually figure out what’s off and how to fix it. 

10. What got you started writing/doing art? (Because I always love origin stories)

It’s not super impressive tbh? Books make me happy and teachers told me I was a good writer, so I was like, hey, I want to make other readers happy and write stuff. And I’m still trying to write to this day. 

[mildswearingat4am]

Last Line Tag

Hello friends! Tagged by @maramahan (and @albatris a while back). I actually have a last line line today! 

Even from a distance, I knew Cy Foster’s signature dark circles and the caffeinated twitch to his movements.

I’ll tag @midgewrites​ , @kira-desomma , and anyone who’s had coffee recently c:

[mildswearingat4am]

30 Questions

Tagged by @dazed-squid​ forever ago, but I’m finally doing it! 

Rules: answer 30 questions, tag blogs  

Nicknames: I guess “Moth” is what I’m using online, but irl it’s Gabi

Gender: cis girl who sometimes shops in the men’s section?? Idk. There might be a Thing here but I’m aggressively not thinking about it yet 

Sign: Aquarius

Height: average

Time: 9 pm

Birthday: January 1998

Favorite bands: At the moment? Neon Trees, TAI, Bastille. BVB. I like blink-182′s newer stuff.

Favorite solo artists: Fond of Hesitant Alien and Billy Joel

Song stuck in my head: Hey I’m Sorry and Last Train Home are tag-teaming my brain (both are blink-182). 

Last movie I saw: something made for TV

Last show I watched: Miraculous! Needed inspiration for battle scenes in my fic 

When did I create my blog: maybe two years ago? 

What do I post:  I reblog moths, cool art, and fun posts. I also complain about writing and sometimes do prompts

Last thing I googled: EV training spots in Sinnoh 

Do I have other blogs:  not active ones--but for fun I have a photo sideblog @nocturnalzinnia and a craft sideblog @handcraftedcrap

Do I get asks: some, mostly when I reblog ask games. Sometimes people will come talk about the dragon writing prompt I did once and that’s neat

Why did I choose my URL: it’s what I do

Following: 191

Followers: 268 (hi guys!)

Average hours of sleep: sometimes 6, sometimes 10

Lucky number: meh

Instruments: flute, pennywhistle, piccolo, some fife. I can blow over open bottles and make them do the foghorn sound

What am I wearing: jean shorts and a tank

Dream job: something where no one is depending on me tbh

Dream trip: I’ve heard New Zealand is pretty! And the City Museum in St. Louis sounds awesome 

Favorite food: sugar 

Nationality: American

Favorite song: it varies

Last book I read: Eliza and Her Monsters was the last memorable one (highly recommend btw)

Top 3 fictional universes I want to join: why join them when I can read about them??

... but I have thought about joining the world of my WIP, Wanderwoods

I don’t know who’s done this one but if you want to give it a go, tag!

[mildswearingat4am]

Tagged by @maramahan (hi!) to post the first three lines of my WIP and tag five people 

I’ve posted the first sentence of Wanderwoods before, but this is more! Also I’ve revised again since then rip

The (tentative) beginning: 

If I'd known my hopes and dreams and I would be squashed flat in half an hour, I would've asked for a better last meal than store-bought brownies.

Not that anyone would've cared.

My school used the same basic format for every event it held: some poor secretary was handed twenty bucks and ordered to make our foot-scented gym not a foot-scented gym, using the magic of the Dollar General.

... I’m just going to tag @toboldlywrite , @albatris , and @hamsterwritin , if you’re interested 

[mildswearingat4am]

Tag Game

Hi! I was tagged a while ago by @hamsterwritin​ (thanks!) and now it’s finally time to play ~

1. What kind of genre do you like to write? Why?

Writing fantasy is fun, because magic. Plus I can make up plants and creatures that work the way I think they should, not the way they realistically would, because they’re magical things in a world that doesn’t totally make sense to begin with. I like working with a dash of nonsense. 

2. Which do you like writing better, heroes or villains?

I feel like studying philosophy gives you really good ideas for evil villain monologues, but I still prefer writing heroes. 

3. Do your characters have a favorite type of weather?

 Well, Max hates rain. 

4. Romantic or platonic relationships?

As a reader? As a writer? I’d like platonic relationships that are treated as dramatically and seriously as romantic relationships, please. 

5. Which OC of yours would you get along with best?

Probably Ash or Max. Mads and I would both be too awkward to start a conversation, and Cy can be... abrasive. He’d snap at me and I’d die a little inside and nobody would be happy. 

I guess Paige and I could sit and be anxious at each other, since we have that in common, but I feel like we’d build on each other and reach Critical Anxiety and that can’t possibly end well.

6. Would you survive in your OCs’ world? Why or why not?

I mean, I do call it the magical murder forest; you have to be very skilled or very lucky to survive the Wanderwoods. If I’d been born and/or raised there, like Max, Ash, and Cy? I guess I might stand a chance. 

But if I just randomly appeared there one day, like Paige or Madelyn? Dead. Of thirst or claws or screaming toads, I don’t know, but I am definitely dead.  

7. What would you say is one of your “quirks” as a writer?

Idk? I like to play with words. Sometimes I bend over backwards to include puns in the narration, or internal rhymes, and phrase description for the way the words sound together. I use long or formal words conversationally, a little like I would in an academic paper.  

I also whisper-read things aloud when I’m proud of them. It makes me smile. 

8. Are there any writing “rules” that you break consistently? Ie commonly said rules that you just don’t follow?

If “do your research” is a rule then I’m totally breaking that. I have googled some survival stuff so my readers will hypothetically be able to run away and live in the forest, since I’d want an author I was reading to do the same for me. And I once found and watched a video about exploding toads to figure out what color to use when describing their guts. (I later deleted that section in favor of a less impale-y death scene.) 

But generally, my research process is... questionable. At best. 

9. What does “show don’t tell” mean to you?

It means just telling us something is so doesn’t necessarily convince your reader, because readers (me included) like to feel like detectives. When things are stated outright, but not backed up by the actions, dialogue, and other details in the story, it doesn’t feel believable. If all the signs are there, even when the text doesn’t explicitly say it, readers will jump to the obvious conclusion and actually believe it. (It was our brilliant deduction, after all.)

This also means you should try to trust your writing and readers enough to not state everything outright. Drop clues, not pronouncements--with the right hints, the readers can figure things out. 

10. Post a recent snippet of your writing. Do you like it?

Ish? I’m not sure yet. But I’ve posted a bit of this out of context before, so here’s a little context. 

“What are we looking at?” I asked, casting my eyes around the forest. Most of the mushrooms had retreated overnight, leaving the woods oddly bare—though Max seemed to appreciate the sparseness. Green and bluish moss, newly invigorated by the rain, was a patchy carpet amidst the dirt and branches. A fuzzy, long-haired variety clung to the tree bark; my fingers itched to touch it, but I didn’t deserve to pet the moss.

We’d been picking up edible roots, leaves, and fruits as we walked, dropping them in the collection sacks we wore on one shoulder. The pickings were scarce—lots of plant-eaters came out after a good rain, Max said—and after an hour of wandering we’d barely begun to fill the sacks. Our food-finding expedition was off to a rocky start.

Now Max had stopped where he stood, staring intently at what looked to me like an ordinary tree trunk, and I’d spoken up for the first time this trip.

He pointed to a something slimy smeared along the tree’s side. “A slug,” he said, by way of explanation. “We should find it.”

“Are you saying we’re going to eat a slug?”  

Max’s whole body shuddered. “Never say that again. Please. We’re going to take its food.”  

“Good.” I paused. “Poor slug.”          

“We won’t take it all,” he assured me.  

We began to follow the glistening trail, picking our way through fallen branches and skirting around the few remaining mushrooms. My sore feet protested, but I ignored them. I definitely deserved that.

After a while Max stopped and pointed, and all other thoughts flew out of my head.

The slug hallway up a tree before us dwarfed the trunk beneath it. It was longer than I was tall and whiskery around the front, with a few strange protrusions in addition to its two eyestalks. Its body was yellow, darker around its head and tail; I could see twigs, leaves, tiny mushrooms, and even a few smaller bugs floating inside its body through its translucent skin, as if they were suspended in gelatin.

“It picks up food as it crawls,” Max said, watching the creature with a grimace. “And twigs, and rocks, but sometimes rare plants. Lots of food. Most of it hasn’t been digested yet.”

“But how are we supposed to get to it?” I asked. I wasn’t eager to perform surgery on a giant mollusk; Paige was the future doctor, not me.

“The same way the food did. Its outside isn’t solid, exactly. One of us has to go up and… reach in.”

“With our hands?” The thing was so big, you’d have to be elbow-deep in slug before you got anything.              

“Yes.” His voice was grim.

We both contemplated the slug.

[mildswearingat4am]

10 WRITERLY QUESTIONS TAG GAME

Tagged by @maramahan​! Perfect timing, actually, ‘cause boy am I in the mood for rambling. 

(I could have sworn I did this game at some point but I can’t find it anywhere, so I may have just... thought about doing it and got confused? Anyway)

1. How many WIPs (Works in Progress) do you have?

I’d say I have one official WIP: Wanderwoods, my YA fantasy that tries to answer the question, “What if the whole ‘chosen one’ thing didn’t exactly go as planned--and I also threw my favorite aspects of fanfic writing, made everyone LGBTQA+, and filled the forest with improbably spliced and sometimes horrific creatures who are nearly always out for blood?”

There are also some elements of time travel--which, let me tell you, are really going to make the sequel interesting... if I ever get around to writing it. 

But my sort-of career as a writer is littered with half-finished stories, so technically I’ve got A Ton of WIPS. Novel-length and short stories--which you’d think I would be able to get through, them being short and all, but sadly you would be wrong about that. 

2. Do/Would you write fanfiction?

Oh, right! That’s actually my other WIP, which I’ve honestly been working on more than Ww lately. It’s two years old, and it’s for Miraculous Ladybug. 

Funny story, actually: I watched the first four episodes of the show, read a ton of fic, got really invested in the characters and their hypothetical romance, and started writing my own slow-burn, twelve-chapter ship fic--and then completely lost interest in the show itself. Which... yeah.   

But I promised myself and the lovely people who like the fic I’d finish, and at this point I love the characters like they’re my own, so I’m still writing it. Ten chapters down, about three to go! 

(It’s finally time to write the dancing-around and becoming-friends turning into an actual romantic relationship... I have no idea what I’m doing pls send help)

3. Do you prefer paper books or e-books?

Definitely e-books. I can respect that the smell and feel of books are a big deal for people, but I prefer being able to hold the whole book in one hand, sit or lie down comfortably in whatever position I want, carry a billion stories at once, never worry about finding bookmarks, and hold the screen like two inches from my face so I can read in bed without glasses.

4. When did you start writing?

 I feel like I was always writing in one form or another--journals, short stories, the first pages of a novel I hadn’t plotted at all and got bored with in a week. I just didn’t have any sort of follow-through unless the writing was for a school assignment. 

I guess I would say I got more serious about writing in the last few years of high school, but I didn’t start focusing on actually finishing my projects until college. 

5. Do you have someone you trust that you share your work with?

I’ve shared Ww with a few friends and my family in the past. 

And I publish the fic, so 

6. Where is your favorite place to write?

I usually end up writing in my room--but that’s mostly because I’m too scared to bring my laptop down by the lake (and I prefer typing to writing by hand). 

I vividly remember banging out twenty pages in one sitting once while I was in the car, on a road trip, so that’s the writing environment I remember most fondly. 

7. Favourite book as a child?

I really liked the Artemis Fowl series, Skulduggery Pleasant, and the Gregor the Overlander series. (And probably others I’m forgetting.)

8. Writing for fun or publication?

Journaling is for stress relief, but I think all my other works are written with the intention that someday, somebody else is going to read them.   

9. Have you taken any writing classes?

I think I did a writing camp when I was younger. And I’ve taken creative writing courses in college. But none of that was really focused on novels or novel-length works, so... I’m mostly winging it?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

10. What inspired you to write?

I wanted to leave a mark on the world, I loved books, and I wanted to make readers like me happy.  

I’ve (mostly) let go of that first part, but the last two are what keep me going. 

[mildswearingat4am]

Find the Word

Tagged by @maramahan​ to find the word dark in my WIP! And wow, I did not realize there was so much darkness in this thing. Like.... so many things are dark.

So we set off again, Cy muttering darkly about questions and danger and dragons.

All the windows we passed were shuttered and dark, but I could feel eyes on us—could practically hear the eager gossiping behind closed doors. An outsider, they’d be muttering. An outsider’s being brought in by the Cougars. How did she get here? For what reason did she come?

As I watched in horror, a small army of toads emerged from the bushes. Their skin ranged from pale lilac to indigo, but the dark void in their overlarge eyes was exactly the same. And every single eye was trained on the food in my hand.

I could feel embarrassment settling over me like a wet blanket, dark and heavy and clingy and suffocating. I wanted to shrivel up and blow away on the wind.

And, last but not least: 

“Except this isn’t a story,” Cy had snapped.  

No, it isn’t, I thought now, kicking at a tree root. Or, at least, it’s not my story.

It could have been, in a world where sunlight was a dark, dark brown and a “forest canopy” was the same greenish-blueish gray as my eyes.

Man, that would be one screwed-up world.

(Not going to tag anyone because I am tired and my brain is mush, but if anyone wants to do it, I’m giving you the word sharp.)

[mildswearingat4am]

{5 things} tag game

Tagged by @seriophi​ ! 

5 things in my bag:

tiny notebook  

multitool

hand sanitizer

fidget cube

spool of thread

5 things in my room:

giant orange beanbag

army of plants

guinea pig cage

many craft projects/supplies

a biomorphic sculpture from my ceramics class a few years ago, which I’ve named Leroy

5 things that make me happy:

my music

guinea pigs!

plants

making things

sugar

(This one doesn’t come with tagging instructions, so I’m just going to abscond now. Anyone I tagged in the previous game, feel free to do this one instead! Or both, if you’d like)

[mildswearingat4am]

Tagged by @maramahan​! I haven’t done this one yet, but I can already tell it’s going to get interesting :)

Scroll through your manuscript with your eyes closed. Whichever phrase your cursor lands on is the title for your story. Do this eight times for fun!

Actual (working) title: Wanderwoods

Alternate titles: 

Two Plates of Brownies

Parental Disappointment 

Guts All Over the Magical Forest 

Stoicism at its Finest 

Some Tricky Maneuvering 

Navigating Libraries 

The Dark Void in Their Overlarge Eyes

A Very Celebratory Mood

Honestly these are fairly accurate titles?? (Except the first one--the brownies only make a cameo appearance.) I may need to borrow from this if I decide to name my chapters....

And at his point idk who’s following me anymore, so anyone who sees this is informally tagged! Give it a try!

[mildswearingat4am]

Tagged by @christinawritesfiction to post the last line I wrote in my WIP! Honestly, I haven’t been working on it as much as I’d like, but I’m making progress. Slow progress. In a totally different direction than I planned to go. That’s writing, I suppose. 

Anyway! Here it is: 

I might not be the best conversationalist around, but I wouldn’t make the same mistake four times.