#the average for most of them are around 700 words

[coralinnii]

Congratulations on reaching 2.7k followers! I’m not really surprised, as your writing is phenomenal. Would it be ok to request a continuation of two of your Legend has it... Twisted Halloween series? Specifically, Kalim and Sebek. They were my favourite of the series, and if I remember right they didn’t do well in your polls for this year’s Halloween event. If you already have them ready for Halloween then, just accept my congratulations and have a wonderful day. Thanks for your writing, it all ways brightens my day.

❋ Legend has it… ❋

↳ Sequel to the Twisted Halloween series

feat: Kalim ⭑ Sebek

genre: angst, tragedy, horror

note: sequel to Kalim and Sebek’s vers. in the Twisted Halloween series, no pronouns used, zombie?Kalim, reader is unstable in both vers., soldier!Sebek, ghost!reader in Sebek’s ver., pregnant!reader in Sebek’s ver., mentions of violence and worse in both vers., use of weapons for violence, average word count 700 words

This got darker than I intended…much darker. I cannot stress this enough.

Please regard the warning and make the best choice for yourself. I rather that you draw your own boundaries than for people read my stories. Remember, your mental health is more important than the latest update.

WARNING. Sebek’s story is set during times of war, in which great carnage, cruelty, and inhumane treatment of people occurred. The story reflects the inhumanity of this setting. While I believe in not erasing or running away from the brutality of violence and war, I understand that it can be extremely discomforting and triggering. Viewer discretion is highly advised. By clicking keep reading, you agreed to proceed while understanding the content of the story.

2.7K Followers Writing Event

Kalim felt cold if nothing else. He didn’t know what to expect the moment he closed his eyes, all he hoped was he’d managed to hold on just enough to let you get far away from danger, from what he will become.

He felt lost in the dark, in an almost unreal state of life. Was dying supposed to feel this way? Unsure of what to do, Kalim waited…for something…or nothing.

Then, Kalim felt something. A heartbeat. His own.

It pounded weakly against his heart, like it was out of practice. A beat, then another, and soon a rhythm began.

This beautiful beat started to grow warm in his stiff body, a tingle of a glow spreading through his chest and into his extremities.

“Kalim, wake up” a voice called out to him, tired and desperate but to him, it was the most beautiful sound in the world, because it was your voice.

Warm, rough hands encased his own as felt warmed by the gentle touch. Memories slowly trickled into Kalim’s thoughts, his dark vision filled with sweet smiles and better days. He saw images of you, though his thoughts scattered and he wasn’t sure what he remembered, but that lively warmth he felt seeing you was all he could focus on.

He needs to see it again, your bright smile. He wants to reply to your urgent calls to him. With the strength he thought he lost, the snow-haired man struggled to open his once-white eyes.

Through the blinding light, his eyes finally adjusted to see his memories come to life. Before him, you stood by his laying body with relief washing over your tear-stricken face.

You weren’t alone, however, In contrast to you, the people around you stood in the back, watching the miracle (whether good or bad) before them. Jamil stood between you and the wary strangers, carefully watching for what they might do in hasty fear, and ready for what Kalim (or you) might do.

“Kalim...” You whispered, oblivious (or purposely ignorant) to your precarious surroundings as you jumped to embrace Kalim’s revived corpse, as though you were used to the stiffness of his body. You had no fear left in you, all you felt was joy that your beloved could hug you back. Kalim, though confused, instinctively held you like it was ingrained in his body.

“This is madness!” One of the strangers screamed out, pointing his gun at the monstrosity in your arms. “You’re crazy if you think that thing’s human! There’s no cure, why can’t your crazy brain understa-”

Bang

The survivor screamed out once more in agony as the gush of blood escaped the fresh wound on his calf. The surrounding survivors jumped, either towards their injured comrade, away from him to stir clear of your target. The smoke hissed from the barrel of your gun, the same one Kalim left for you that horrific day.

“Shut up.” The cold tone in your command chilled the audience, not a soul dare to move in fear of incurring more of your wrath. “I promised to bring back those we lost to this cursed virus.”

Caressing Kalim’s cheek which still felt a little cold to the touch, you smiled once more before an icy chill took over your expression, a glare enough to freeze your followers to their spot.

“You followed me because you dreamed of a miracle to bring your friends and family back,” you scanned the anxious looks of your followers, most with guilty expressions over their greedy desires to regain what was lost in this wretched world, just like you. “I show you the breakthrough all of you waited for, but you dare to deny the results?”

You furiously fought back zombies at every corner while you dragged the possessed Kalim back to the safe zone. You spat in the face of the soldiers that refused to let your boyfriend join the survivors. You spent countless nights testing every theory and concoction for a glimpse of progress. With every failure, with every descent to madness, you’ve gotten closer to your miracle.

You’ve dreamed of the day you could return to your happier days, and nobody will get in the way of it.

You grew worried for your green-haired husband but tried to remain calm, if not for you then for your child who is growing steadily in your stomach. You spent the days caressing the warm bulge of your belly, the blanket that Sebek had clumsily knitted for you laying comfortably atop of you.

Typically, you would do your chores and tend to the fields but your family were very accommodating, taking over your responsibilities while caring for your needs. Your younger relatives would tease you, laughing as they told you that Sebek would scold them incessantly if he thought they weren’t tending to you as they should. You laughed along with them.

Then, large ships were seen coming to the shores of your village. You first thought that your husband’s troops returned and with the help of your family, you rushed along with the other villagers to welcome the allies.

Except they weren’t your allies.

Men dressed in unfamiliar attires lined themselves intimidatingly, weapons in arms. They announced that the nation that first promised your hometown’s safety has yielded to their enemies in return for their own safety, and that your village was henceforth under the control of their empire.

All the able men, both young and old, were forced to the fields to gather supplies and the women were made as servants to the invaders that destroyed their homes to build unfamiliar buildings. Even those with children such as you were not spared as you were used as hostages, forcing your families to comply lest they want you and your child’s blood to spill. You felt burning anger building but you instead bit your tongue, your family begged of your compliance, for your innocent child’s sake. Your family tried to console you, at least they spared harm to your unborn child, your relatives would say.

Until the invaders heard wind of who the child’s father was.

A child of the enemy nation, with a devoted lover and family. To them, your family were harbourers of the monstrous enemies, procreating more of their disgusting race. To the invaders, for the sake of the victory of their righteous nation, they must purge the savage bloodline.

Your screams tore out your throat as you begged for the soldiers, for anyone to stop the carnage before you. You were forced to watch along with the crying villagers as your family and many others were cruelly eliminated by the invaders’ hand.

You were dragged to the center of the bloody ground, where your people’s flesh and blood coated the once vibrant greenery of your hometown. The leader of the soldiers coldly dropped a dull knife near your kneeled form.

“That wretched parasite, or your life. That is your choice”

They thought they were being merciful. Should you choose to pierce your child, you had a chance to escape your own death. These soldiers had nothing against, only your child. The child that you wanted to introduce to your husband, looking forward to the day where you could see Sebek nervously trying to hold your child but melt once he felt the bundle of joy in his arms. These horrible men know nothing of the promise you made to your husband, to be by the shores to welcome him with your child wrapped in that messy blanket Sebek made for your precious baby. These foreigners called you barbarians, all while proudly carrying swords stained with your people’s blood.

Through your tears, inhuman rage indulged your soul. The stench of death and the cries of your neighbours as they begged for their lives devoured your sanity. Grabbing the knife before you, you gripped the dirty weapon in your soiled hands and with all your strength, you plunged it…

…into the leader’s heart.

In your blind wrath, you couldn’t even feel the assortment of swords piercing your body. Your eyes blazed with anger as you twisted the knife further your cursed torturer.

“M-Monster!” The wounded leader cried out, his body turning cold over the horrifying sight before him. The once fragile looking barbarian morphed into something inhuman. Your eyes turned into an endless void and your tears turned the same inky black running like blood down your cheeks.

Your vision was red, before it turned black. The last thing you remembered before falling into a sleep-like state, was gently caressing your wounded belly.

You woke up once more in an eerily silent field. Confusion initially filled you until the silent atmosphere broke as a loud child-like cry resonated. You looked down to your lap, and smiled wistfully.

“You must be cold, my child.” Undeterred by the wounds on your body, you started to walk towards your old home, ignoring the scattered remains on the fields. “Come, let’s go get your blanket. We need to welcome your father when he returns.”

[vroombeams]

finally, processing and/or dvd bonus for my beloved sweet talk would be very interesting. thank you <3

✑ PROCESSING: pick a fic and I’ll tell you what it was like to write it!

oh sweet talk my sweet talk. so stupid. so ill-advised. i feel like sweet talk really was just the most prime example of being committed to the bit? like well kee vroombeams will do most anything for the meme of it all. and i will! and in this case i did

it was a bit of a manic one tbh?? i think i wrote the whole thing in a series of sprints where i was averaging like, 600-700 words per 15 minute round. which is great for getting Many Words out. but not great for the guy who has to edit those words. (i'm that guy) overall it was like. fun?? i think?? i don't know i think i was in a fugue state gandalf voice i have no memory of this place. but it was also one of those fics that the more i looked at it the more i hated it so i just had to buckle up and post at some point lol

re: the actual process, conceptually love a threesome. logistically it's like now there are six arms and six legs and three dicks and six balls and three hearts and one and a half brains and and and. and. AND . there's just a lot going on. there's been a sequel in the works for months that came up similarly (many frantic sprints) and it's already longer than sweet talk and it's like maybe two-thirds done so. i don't know. i didn't learn my lesson the first time i fucking guess!!!!!

✄ DVD BONUS: pick a fic and I’ll describe or write a deleted scene!

To Oscar's credit, he barely bats an eye when Logan presents him with possibly the dumbest plan he's ever had. "So he just wants to watch," Oscar says. He's slumped in the exact chair in the corner of the hotel room that is being discussed, actually, and Logan's receiving untold psychic damage about it. "Yeah," Logan says, messing around with his suitcase so he doesn't have to look Oscar in the very much unbatted eye. "It's—I mean, maybe he was just memeing, man, I don't know." "I feel like if you've gotten to the point of scheduling it it's not a meme anymore." "Advanced memeing," Logan amends. "Like, it's Alex. Who fucking knows what goes on in his head?" Oscar says, "Hmmm." Logan peeks up from his already extremely tidy luggage, continues pretending to tidy it. Oscar's still looking at him, of course, because Oscar looks all the time like he knows things and Logan knows that he knows things but he doesn't have to make it such a thing, does he? "What?" Oscar shrugs. "I'm not bothered either way," he says, and it's literally just this second that Logan realizes he hasn't even fucking asked if Oscar's down for this. "Just, you know. Make sure it doesn't bother you." He's caught for a second between apologizing or throwing himself to the floor at Oscar's feet and thanking him for being the most unfazeable human person on this earth or maybe offering up sexual favours in exchange for his like extremely severe blunder of not asking if it's actually okay to invite Alex Albon to watch them fuck. "It doesn't bother me," he settles on. It comes out all muttered and sheepish, but it's pretty much the truth. Like, ninety percent of it.

fic ask game 💃

[sallysavestheday]

20 questions for fic writers

Thanks very much to @nocompromise-noregrets for the tag! This is always an interesting exercise and I haven't done it in a while.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 182, but a goodly subset of those are collections of very short works (drabbles, my beloveds!).

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 137,372. I average around 700 words per ficlet (counting those that are collections of drabbles). I have only two works over 2,000 words -- one at barely 2,100 and one at 5,600 by dint of TRSB last summer.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Tolkien only. Mostly Silmarillion but occasionally Lord of the Rings, as well.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? I'm splitting this by fandom because the older LoTR stuff has more kudos simply as a function of time.

For LoTR: Deep in the Ancient Forests of the World; Light a Little Fire in Me; I Do Not Grudge You the Game; Rash Words and Bitter Hopes; Sing, O Stone and Air. These are all Legolas/Gimli ficlets.

For Silm: When All Other Lights Go Out (the aforementioned TRSB Feanorian family drama); What We Make, Makes Us (Caranthir and Feanor); What Keeps Us Here (Celeborn and Thranduil); Still Plenty of Good in the World (Sam Gamgee fixes Feanor and Nerdanel); and It Is the Opinion of this Reviewer (Finrod critiques the research of his peers).

No method to the madness here, it seems. Some shippy, most not. Some angsty, some humorous, mostly canon compliant. Range of Silm characters. Interesting to see the variety, actually.

5. Do you respond to comments? Always. Usually within a few days. Comments are a great way to get to know other people in the fandom, and it's always a pleasure to see familiar names pop up. It's nice to know I have a bit of a following. But I also love seeing new people appear, and I welcome everything from a single emoji to a full blown rant. I reply to them all.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Only one? Impossible to choose. I love an angsty ending. Killing Fingon off is always a delight (like this, or this). Sending people off to their dooms (like this, or this) is another. Making them consider might-have-beens, too (like this, or this, or this).

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I do also like happy endings! I write many happy post-canon returns, to tie up all the loose ends. Also happy moments within canon, but you usually have to pretend you don't know what comes next (blame the Professor, not me). For LoTR, These Our Braided Lives has a very happy Gimleaf ending. For Silm, try In These Altered States, Rejoice.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Spitting over my shoulder on this one, but no. Even the people who don't agree with my takes on particular characters have always been polite. Thank you, kind readers!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I don't write anything explicit. I'll read a wide variety but am more restrained in my writing. I've snuck a little bit into the mature range for a few things recently, but I prefer allusion and metaphor, really. It's the spirit of the intimacy that interests me, not so much the mechanics.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Nope. Canon compliant or canon adjacent always.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, I've had a few requests. My Thranduil seems to be quite popular in other languages.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I haven't but would be happy to explore the possibility.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Can't pick just one. Legolas/Gimli, Glorfindel/Ecthelion, Maedhros/Fingon, Finrod/Edrahil. The much rarer Egalmoth/Rog. And I'm pleased to have originated the tag for Amrod/Aredhel. Spitfire fans, get on that! (thanks to chestnut_pod for the horrible, wonderful ship name)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Not a WIP, even, just an idea that I've mentioned before: an AU in which Fingon, returning from Thangorodrim with Maedhros, can't hold onto him, and he falls from the eagle's back into Lake Mithrim. I won't write it, but I sure hope someone else will.

16. What are your writing strengths? Brevity, ha! Condensing a great deal of emotional development into very few words. Figurative language. Ripping your heart out and stomping on it, tidily.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue. I don't write much of it, and it takes a long time to get it right.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I'm not likely to do so. I don't like the way it interrupts the flow. I'd rather indicate the language that is being spoken than try to craft compelling dialogue in it. This is especially fraught in the Tolkien fandoms, where the linguists WILL come for you if you get it wrong, lol!

19. First fandom you wrote for? LoTR. I've only been doing this for a couple of years.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Impossible to choose! But my comfort series is The Flower and the Fountain: 16,000 words of Glorfindel and Ecthelion in 32 vignettes. I love those guys.

Thank you so much for the tag! @polutrope @eilinelsghost @melestasflight @tathrin @thelordofgifs @zealouswerewolfcollector, what about you? And anyone else who'd like to share, hop in!

[the-orange-tabby-cat]

GIF by loregifs

Wings Of The Dawn | Chapter 2

Joel miller x fem!reader

Summary: You are Jackson's librarian, a doll with a good heart, that has your life changed when a handsome man decides to take his kid and start again in your small town after completing their cross country journey. Having a hard time ignoring Joel's dark brown eyes, you find yourself wishing to have him close as you both navigate through love triangles, teenage drama, city gossip, and ghosts from both of your pasts. This is a comfort fic filled with slow burn and small town dynamics. Chapter summary: It's time for a lights out one on one session with your favorite Texan. And no, I'm not talking about smut… Yet.

read on AO3 | fic masterlist | masterlist | playlist | next chapter

Rating: 18+ eventually (first chapter free of smut)

Warnings/Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Age Difference, Small Town Dynamics, No use of y/n

Chapter Word count: 6k

｡˚🐾₊˚

CHAPTER 2

If you stare into the darkness for too long, you will notice that you can differentiate the shapes near you. For the first seconds, as your eyes get used to the lack of light, everything appears darker than it is, but as you keep them open, you see the details around you. After 21 years of living in the outbreak, being in the darkness from time to time isn't as challenging as it used to be, even for someone like you who wanted to run into the light as fast as you could.

"How many candles exactly do we need?" You asked Nath as she melted the beeswax little by little. There would be a programmed energy rationing for the following days as the dam got its amends done, making the demands for other sources of light higher.

It was a scorching day, much hotter than average for this time of the year. The heat in the candle-making process was hard to deal with, forcing both women to wear summer clothes and accept sweating as a regular reaction. You felt somewhat dizzy with the heat coming from the stove.

"We have 300 residents, I'm considering maybe 2 per person." She opened her mouth slightly, with her dark blue eyes looking above her, "600 up to 700 candles, maybe?"

"With just me and you making all of them? This is impossible." You looked at her, putting one of your hands behind your neck, scratching a little. From time to time, she would get a new plan that involved you both making something daring. Still, today, you were feeling tired from the start and decided to sabotage it before even beginning.

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. We will have helpers, they’ll be here any minute, so you better behave and help me get the rest of the wax." Next to her, there were some trays with leftover candles. Everybody donated what they had on their shelf for the initiative.

Accepting defeat, you look at her, thinking about having more hands on. "Wait, what kind of help? You never involve anyone else in your plans," you inquired while separating the donated wax by color. Nath was very social and had most of the city in a chokehold, but she wasn't the type to keep too many people in her private life.

"First of all, ouch, I have more friends other than you," you glared at her, which she promptly ignored, "second, I convinced your favorite teenagers to join us. What could go wrong? Am I right?"

Without asking, you already knew the teens she was referring to.

In the weeks after the dinner at Alfie's house, Cat spent at least one hour per day at the library, close to you. She made herself useful with the book system you created, helping to put the books back on the shelves before you asked for it. Other times, she would read to the little kids in a group that came with the people from the small daycare near the corner by the afternoon.

Cat was reading Dr. Seuss, a very old copy of Oh, the Places You'll Go!, with a few yellow spots at page corners due to time, one of the residents found under a bed when they first moved into a house and decided to donate it. The infants reacted with smiles and giggles when you heard the characteristic bell sound of the front door.

Ellie stepped in with two books under her arm. You recognized her plaid shirt from the day at the meadow, trembling a bit with the memory. "I presume you devoured both of those?" You said, nodding at the books. She laughed.

"Yeah, came to deliver these and get new ones," she replied, putting them on the counter. As you went to put them on the right shelf, you noticed her brown eyes lingering on the kids listening to Cat's reading.

"Why don't you sit with them for a bit as I get you something new?" She looked at you and nodded slowly, finding her a cushion on the floor behind the kids. You smiled and thought she probably hadn't experienced the childhood pleasure of someone reading for her. A quick image of your brother reading out loud came into your mind, and you buried it as you searched for your recommendation books' shelves.

Cat didn't mind Ellie listening to her as she flipped the pages and showed the images to the kids. Ellie was blinking slowly, following Cat's hand in front of the pages, no longer a teen but instead a child. You started to get her two books since only taking one per visit was no longer enough.

She came every day to the library. At first, she came and left in a few minutes, just wanting a book to take home, but slowly she started to stay longer. Sometimes, she came just to check the available titles, walking between the shelves; others to get new books to take with her, and at times just to go somewhere. She was lingering for something you didn't recognize but tried to provide to her. Comfort seems to be a word that came close to what you felt she needed. You separated a table for her, near the window, a little far from the main door, when you saw she only read at her house. It has been two weeks since she started to read by her chair.

Finishing the story, the kids got up, and the teacher thanked you and Cat, who was already on her feet and coming closer to Ellie. You noticed a little red on her pale cheeks, perhaps from not being around other teens that much.

"So, what do you think?" Cat asked with a smile similar to the one that Alfie gave.

"Kinda cool, but not much for me," Ellie answered, a little snarky but playful. You wondered if Joel had a similar approach to humor.

"Okay, what do you like then?" Walking through the shelves, Cat put a copy of The Princess Diaries at the table nearby. As Ellie rolled her eyes, Cat got a clue and flickered around the shelf a little longer until she found something. “Maybe this? It looks like a you type of book.”

Ellie read the Murder on the Orient Express engraved on the cover and gave a quick look at Cat, "Now we’re talking, what is it about?" and with that they kept talking until after the sunset. Your recommendations for Ellie that day were discharged as she took Agatha Christie home, following Cat's tip.

They became a buy-one-get-two kind of deal. Cat helped you around as Ellie sat and read whatever the girl chose for her. If Cat wasn't there, no problem, she would wait for her with you, doing whatever her mind wanted. This was one of those days when Cat wasn't supposed to be at the library for a while, and without someone of her age, Ellie swallowed up her shyness and started to talk with you at the back house.

The back house was mainly bureau style, with just the machine that once belonged to a printing place, primarily focused on invitations and small printing, you believed. Now, they were filling a different purpose, restoring books and helping to preserve memory a title per time. You were taking leather and measuring for a book spine near the table, Ellie watching it closely.

“Where did you learn to do this?” She quietly asked, absorbed in the process, her eyes watching every small move you made.

"My dad was an archivist for a church. Do you know what are those?" Putting the book spine right in the middle, you started to glue the leather at the cover and back cover. Ellie shook her head, confused.

"Books are more than just stories, they also hold details about the world around us. Or used to, at least. My dad's life purpose was to ensure that every document, book, or piece of paper that held the church's history, part of us, was in good condition. He took care of it to be preserved for the next generations. I used to watch him do this at our house, in his studio. I like to think he would like me to continue doing this."

“What kind of books a church needs?” Ellie was seated next to you, her arms crossed a little on the table with her chin resting above them. You glanced at her and saw that she was honest with her question.

"Do you know what a Bible is?" You asked, stopping all your actions. She shook her head once more. "Well, you don't need to know about it, anyway. Churches' books are mostly their origin history or a collection of stories about what they believe." Forcing your hands to work with the leather again, you reflected on how different your life would have been without religious symbols shoved down your throat.

"Sounds kinda lame if you need a book to tell you what to believe," she replied, twisting her mouth slightly as if she thought it was absurd. You smiled at her, thinking about how much she looked like your brother at the moment.

Cat came not much after that, together with Nath, who was wearing a t-shirt written: "turtley awesome." She saw you by the counter and grinned immediately, making you sigh.

"You have a new plan," you said, annoyed.

"Yes, I have a new plan." She announced at the same time. "Our favorite Mexican will be starting to work on the dam soon, so I thought my favorite doll could do this city a favor and deliver candles with me."

"That's it? Deliver candles from house to house?" Squinting your eyes at her, you felt it was too good to be true. She squinted back at you for a few seconds, making Cat laugh.

"She forgot to say that we don't have any candles left in storage. You'll need to make new ones," Cat said, and you mouthed an "oh" to Nath. Of course, her plan had a catch.

"Just like I said, our favorite Mexican will be working on the dam soon, and they need a shit ton of candles in, like, two days," Nath said, pointing to Cat, eyebrows raised. As Ellie left your work table and came closer to the counter, Nath looked at her.

"Nice shirt," Ellie observed, followed by Nath humming something and entering a staring contest with the girl. You looked at both of them, confused about what was happening.

"How old are you? 12?" Nath questioned. Ellie shortly replied, saying 14. "Do you have a curfew?"

"Okay, no more interrogation. Let the poor girl be. When do you want to start this candle mission?" Before Ellie opened her mouth, you moved your hands in a motion to stop, gaining a short laugh from both girls.

"You see, Cat I get it, but how did you convince Ellie to make candles with us? This is new. I only see her at the library," the gears inside your head running with you, wondering when they met beside the library a few days back.

"A lady never tells, Doll," she said, melting more wax, "but apparently, having a collection of t-shirts with puns did the trick."

From the Tipsy Bison, Nath had a good view of the main street. She was quick to observe who and what, and even faster to understand their motivations. She noticed that Tommy's niece was going every day to the library, and on the days it was closed, she would stay put at home.

Joel appeared here and there, mainly with Tommy by his side, she crossed paths with them a few times and could check Joel's address. With the house street in her mind, she made a connection: Ellie was going to the library straight from her house, not from the school building, and as Maria reported earlier, she was supposed to already have started.

Nath and Seth cooked the patrol's food daily, with the patrollers coming to the counter to collect it before going to the city gate. In one of the deliveries, she heard Joel would come with the day's patrol to inspect the dam before working on it. It was Sunday, the library was closed, Nath made up her mind to let Seth take care of the Bison for the day and started walking to Ellie's house.

"Hum, yeah?" The girl opened the door, confused. Nath and she had seen each other just once, at the library, a couple days ago. Ellie's eyes lingered a bit too much on Nath's chest area, probably reading the t-shirt with a mouse drawing and the phrase "smartest rat at the sewer."

"What color is your room's ceiling?" Nath asked, snooping with her eyes inside the house. Old American regular, not yet different from the previous decoration there before being occupied by J0el and his kid. Impersonal, just a place to sleep, not a home.

 She needed to find a way to get Ellie outside fast since Maria lived on the other side of the street and could easily question her motives for being there.

“Dirty white, why?” Ellie crossed her arms and raised one of her brows.

"Congratulations, you are a bored teen. Let me tell you what’ll happen now: you’ll come with me and have an amazing city tour, or you can stay here and your best choice is to sleep." Nath started walking down the pavement, shouting, "You have a minute to grab your keys and follow me."

Ellie rushed behind her, eager to have any excuse to leave her house. Nath had two main focuses during the tour: to present her with the basics of how the city worked and to gain a new alliance. She tried to make sure the kid understood the main buildings.

"Okay, let's get to the basics: buildings. The city has some structures inside our walls, but we also have some land a few miles from here to get some specifics. The food you eat is a mix of everything, Chad," she pointed at the man working on the garden as they passed by it, "is our gardner. Vegetables, fruits — you name it, are harvest inside the city and the animals come from the land outside. Try to get close to Chad, when you crave something sweet, compliment him, and he will give you a few berries. Works like a charm."

"The stable's horses are for the whole community, but if you start to patrol, you can choose one to be your main one." Nath continued as Ellie looked back at her in wonder.

“Which one is yours?” Nath laughed at the absurdity of the question.

“I don’t patrol, kid. Do you really think that I’d go around the runners and lunatics outside these walls risking my life? Hell no! My contribution is good alcohol and movie nights orchestrated by yours truly at the mess hall. Do you like horror movies?" Ellie didn't answer immediately, almost as if she had never seen one. "Well, you can try and see if it fits. The next one will be in a few weeks, you should come."

They walked through the main avenue and the main buildings. Nath showed her where they produced paper, how they got new fabric to make more clothes and not rely only on "treasure hunting." Little by little, Ellie understood the whole system of the city, including the government model. They were walking back on the main avenue as Nath continued the final part of the tour.

"If you ever get fucked up pretty bad and need a doctor, you go there and ask for Edwin. He looks a thousand years old, but pretty cool dude in case of an emergency," she spoke, nodding at the clinic on the other side of the street.

About four houses down the street, she started to speak again. "The little kids stay at the daycare until late during weekdays – make sure to do not cross their paths, or you will smell a diaper from a mile away," she twisted her nose and pointed at the said building. Ellie laughed, eyes bright as if she was taking notes of everything.

"And this is the best place in this city," Nath said as they entered the Tipsy Bison as the city tour ended, "it also opens every day of the week but for adults, not pests. You can't drink anything I have behind this counter, but you can eat a mean grilled cheese. Hungry?"

Turned out it was Ellie’s first time in a bar, exactly what you would hope for a 14year old, anyway. She was seated at a stool in front of the counter, watching from the kitchen’s door Nath make her a sandwich. Above the door, there was a black plaque with white letters:

NO SWEARING

NO FIGHTS

NO CORDYCEPS DISCUSSIONS

NO END OF THE WORLD TALK

"Why the hell do you have these rules for?" Ellie asked out loud, making Nath look at the plaque as she passed the door with the grilled cheese plate. "What happens if someone breaks it?"

“Pawpaw’s rules, not mine, but I still follow them. Don’t test them and you will be fine. Eat your damn sandwich,” she replied, Ellie was already taking a bite. “You like to read, huh? I watch you walk to the library every day. Dolly may be somewhat innocent, but I’m not. You are running from something.”

"What do you mean?" Ellie replied, getting tense at her shoulders, her small mouth a little more rigid. "I have no clue what you’re talking about."

"I get it, pal. A new kid that crossed the country with a grumpy man and ended up in a small town? Not the smoothest life," the girl looked down and took another bite. Nath continued, "My grandpa and I had our share of adventures before coming to this place, just me and him. If anyone understands you, this person is me. You skip school to go to the library. Dolly hasn't realized it yet, but I do."

"What the fuck do you want from me?" Ellie replied using her meanest tone. Nath pointed at the plaque with the rules. The girl looked up. "Not saying sorry for your stupid rules."

“Didn’t ask you to. Listen, I’ll keep your secret for now if you do me a favor.” Getting herself a little closer to the kid, Nath whispered, “I need to deliver some things around town and can’t be seen while at it, but you, nobody knows you yet. Simple and easy.”

"What kind of things?" She questioned in the same breathy tone, trying to keep her posture. "What can you give me in exchange? I won't do it for a secret. It’s too little."

“Basic shit, I can give you more details later,” Nath replied and waited for Ellie’s reaction, that just nodded her head once, “here’s the deal: you make me one deliver to check the quality of your work and come to my house next Sunday afternoon with Cat, I get you something from a smuggler outside Jackson. You name it.”

"Really, man? You want me to help with your stupid candles?" Ellie rolled her eyes, and Nath maintained her neutral expression, trying her best to get the kid afraid of her. It worked.

Ellie took her last bite and shook her head, "Fine, but no, something smuggled is too little. I want your shirt. The turtley awesome one." They sealed the deal with a handshake. One week later, Ellie and Cat were helping to make candles, to your utter confusion.

"Are you sure that this is your preferred weekend activity?" You asked as you finished making the second batch of candles. Looking at Cat, you continued, "Aren't we too old to be your pals for the day?"

"Old? Yeah, lame? No, also, I'm hoping to be paid with another apple pie," Cat said, and you smiled at her, putting the topic to rest.

Turned out that 600 candles were indeed impossible with the amount of time you had. You were tired of making them until way after the sunlight went away. Cat had gone home already, Ellie stayed to help clean everything and you realized it was probably too late for her to walk back alone, Joel was most likely worried.

Despite the kid saying to you that it was alright, you insisted on chaperoning her, carrying with you some candles, hoping that Joel would be less angry by it. As you walked the few blocks to their house, you came to the conclusion that you had no indication, clue, or even context for what Joel was like. Ellie spent most of the days at the library, but you never spoke about her relationship with him. He was a book waiting to be opened, one that you wanted to read every page and write small comments at the margins.

“I’m home!” Ellie shouted downstairs, as she entered the main door, Joel came from the kitchen. “Oh no”, you thought.

With a cloth rag on his shoulder, he stopped near Ellie, both hands on his hips and a knee popped. She opened her mouth, he quickly dismissed, "Don't. I told you, this is a safe place, safe as it gets, but you need to give a heads up before disappearing like that."

"I lost track of time, sorry. Nothing bad happened. Tell him, Dolly," she replied quickly, looking at you behind her shoulder. You were still at the front door, feeling awkward to enter the house. Joel furrowed his brows and looked at you up and down.

It had been a hot day, summer was not far away anymore. A tank top with shorts made sense for a day with your best friend, but in front of Joel, you felt naked. More naked than the day at the meadow. You jumped a bit, put on your best polite voice, and announced, "Sorry for showing up late, we did lose track of time. Ellie stayed with us all day. I can assure you she was fine under my eye."

Joel gave you a look, almost as if he didn't believe you. Remembering your first proper encounter at the Bison, he knew immediately you hated your nickname. Now he knows you were being just polite, not yourself, real. He looked through the doll in you, putting some weight on how his dark brown eyes gazed at yours.

"I mean it, she showed up by noon at Nath's door and stayed a little later to help us clean the mess. We made candles for the nights without energy. No more than that. I brought you some." You said in your own voice, no more the doll one.

"Right," he replied, looking down and then to Ellie, "Go to bed, you have school tomorrow. It's okay. I'm not mad at you." Ellie nodded, her face tensed still, and left without making any comments, leaving you alone with Joel.

For a few seconds, staring at each other, you both seemed to forget what you were doing. He spoke first, "So, the candles, thank you for them. They’ll be useful."

“Yeah, they will.” Putting the candles in his hands, you looked away when your fingers touched his. Not giving in to the feeling, you continued, “Have you seen the dam yet?”

"Hum, no, I’ll see the dam structure tomorrow." Joel quickly replied, short answer.

“Maria told the council that you used to work as a contractor, are you happy to do it again?” You tried once more, hoping to get more words out of him.

"I think so, it’s been so long that it feels like another lifetime," Joel replied, putting the candles away and taking the rag from his shoulder, not daring to look at you. Another lifetime, another Joel.

A younger Joel would have already asked for you to join him in the kitchen for a drink, maybe to walk you home, not this version with old bones and fear of everything. This one was too busy trying to keep what he already had near him, avoiding at all costs to be greedy.

To say that his first day back at a construction site was a dog day would be to lighten it up. He lied to you. Joel met Tommy a week ago to understand better the dam plan, the needs, and all by visiting it.

"Alfie is a good fella, not like some of the people we used to work with back at Austin," Tommy said as they walked down the main avenue toward the city gate. Joel allowed himself to see his baby brother as the 50 year old man he was, putting some trust in Tommy's words despite his history of having too much faith in everyone that sold him a good story.

Over the prior weeks, he tried to get some ground for him and Ellie. He would make her breakfast early in the morning, just like when they were traveling. Leave a lampshade lighted all night near her bedroom door to avoid bad dreams. Meet her at the mess hall every night to have dinner with Tommy and Maria. Walk her to school every morning. However, no matter what he tried, he could still notice the weight on her stare from when she asked if he was being honest with her.

Biting down the corner of his mouth, Tommy introduced him to Alfie at the city entrance. The man was accompanied by a young girl who looked similar to him. "Alfie, this is my brother, Joel. He will be joining us today at the dam."

"I heard good things about your abilities. Nice to meet you," Alfie started with a smile and shook his hand, "this is Catarina, my daughter. I will be home before the sunset, mija."

Joel controlled the impulse to sigh. Alfie was too smiley, too happy, too endearing, too young. Probably had an effect on women because of his thick accent, and being in his late thirties,  early forties maximum helped as well. He had a happy look in his eye as if he hadn't lived on the same Earth as Joel for the last 21 years.

 Cat gave her father a long hug and started to walk, leaving Alfie to talk with Joel and Tommy. The scene felt like a slap on his face, a reminder of what he one day had and now was shaking on his boots to keep. He assumed that Cat and Alfie had a similar age difference as Sarah and he had. Alfie was a natural, appeared to get along with his daughter, could smile easily, and had been a good friend to his brother over time. Envy wasn't a natural feeling for Joel, but he was sure he was jealous of the young man's destiny over his own.

He could sense there was conversation near him but only paid attention when Alfie said his name back at him. "Cat and Ellie are getting closer. Perhaps you both could join us for a backyard barbecue," he invited, smiling.

"Yeah, we’ll be there. Thank you," Joel agreed, looking in front of him, despite having not heard a single time Ellie mention Cat. He didn't know when, but he got so lost in his thoughts as they followed the trail that he lost his sense of reality a little. They were no longer at Jackson but on the back of horses following for the dam. He had no idea of how much time had passed.

“Hey man, I forgot to ask you. We saw you at Dolly’s door the other night, all good?” Tommy started as he got closer to Alfie, Joel behind them at the back of the trail. “All this cat and mouse must be tiring.”

“Oh, Dolly,” Alfie looked down a little, peaking Joel’s interest. “It is not, like, she is avoiding me, you know? But she hasn’t searched for me yet, I don’t know what to do.”

Alfie's smile was no longer decorating his face. Joel felt slightly guilty when he found out he felt better seeing the man's sadness. He had crossed paths with you a couple of times, but you looked at him straight in the eyes instead of running away. He saw how you dropped your shoulders as Alfie left your doorway, almost as if you were annoyed by the idea of being close to the man.

For a second, Joel allowed himself to believe you would have put your arms around his neck if he was the one kissing your cheek instead.

"She is a little difficult, but hey, progress is progress! Have you tried to ask Nath about it?" Tommy put a hand on his tight and looked at Alfie, a little lost in his thoughts.

"Not directly, she scares me a little," both men laugh as Joel didn't get the joke.

“Well, you should get a beer and try to get some alliances if you really want the doll,” Tommy advised and went straight to the front of the trail.

A well-known face waited for them at the dam. Joel glared at Tommy, who didn't look back at his brother's face. "Can't believe you didn't tell me this shit," Joel hissed low in his brother's direction.

Eugene and Tommy were fireflies together. Joel heard about the man over radio conversations over the years, listening to Tommy's enthusiasm as he spoke of his people skills and electricity expertise. Tommy searched for an older figure in Eugene because he no longer trusted Joel, simple as that. When Joel and Ellie showed up last winter, Tommy kept Eugene's presence a secret. Coming back during spring, he told Joel right away.

"Okay, you gotta check this out. I found the old floor plant of the dam in one of the office's rooms near the entrance. It will be a good rainy season, baby!" Eugene shouted hoarsely as the trio stopped their horses, Tommy and Alfie already walking behind him. Joel, however, stood back, taking a good look at the former firefly.

A slender man with long limbs, round glasses cracked in one of the lenses, and shaggy gray hair. His front teeth were slightly separated inside of a large mouth. It burned Joel's blood seeing Eugene so carefree, living a good life after years of Firefly actions and filling his brother's mind with ideas. Joel saw in him an old man who hadn't allowed himself to get old and hoped he didn't appear like this to the others, a joke of a man.

You were looking at Joel like he wasn't a joke to you, at least not a big one. His mind returning to the house with you, he waved the cloth a little on the air as if thinking and speaking at the same speed. "Why was Ellie with you?" He questioned a little for himself and a lot for you. He put some weight on the remembrance of that day at the dam, deciding to deal with it later.

"My friend, the bar owner - Nath, invited her to the activity." You replied with a lower voice as you shoved your hands in the back pockets of your shorts. "I can tell her to no longer invite Ellie if you feel uncomfortable."

"No, it's fine. Just took me by surprise, I guess," he quickly replied, pouting a little.

As you opened your mouth to say goodbye, a sizzling sound filled the room, and the lights flickered, followed by silence and total darkness. "Goddammit, fucking Eugene," Joel said out loud, leaving an intense sigh out of his body.

In the total darkness, you saw his silhouette against the moonlight that filtered from the kitchen's windows, a little far from where you stood in the living room. You could only hear you and Joel breathing.

"Guess we will have to use the candles before we imagined," he dared to speak, walking backwards into his kitchen. You were unsure of what to do, start to walk home? Wait until he came back with a candle lit up?

You waited, not by choice, but because you couldn't decide in time. You saw Joel protecting the candle's flame as he got close to you, his face lines soft from the orange light. His dark brown eyes were even stronger as the flame danced, reflecting on them.

"Come, I’ll get you something to eat," he spoke gently, and you followed his steps to the kitchen table despite the fact you were talking back.

“No, I will walk home, it’s already late,” you said without any intention to leave.

“Nonsense, it’s too dark for you without the lamppost. Stay a bit,” he replied gentler.

There was something sweet about how Joel moved around when his guard was low. It was the third time you met the man, but you noticed his shoulder line relaxed and his hands precise in their movements. In the dark of his kitchen, you wondered if he would appear the same with the lights on.

Joel heated for you some leftover tomato soup he made earlier when he waited for Ellie to show up. With a hint of embarrassment, you accepted the dish, lowering a spoon and tasting it.

"I'm not a huge fan of winter food during hot weather, but this is very good." He smiled, and a dimple appeared on his cheek. "Do you like to cook?"

"Not really, but I had to learn it due to necessity," he shrugged, frowning down a bit with his mouth. You laughed, and he smiled again.

"I learned due to necessity, and my soups don't taste like this," you teased, having another full spoon.

Time passed with the candle melting, and the only sound on the first floor was both your voices. Without noticing, you were almost whispering. You weren't sure if it was to avoid waking up Ellie or because it felt like a secret to be there alone with him.

“Can I get a little nosy?” You chewed your lower lip after speaking, Joel nodded. “Ellie comes to the library all the time. I think she is avoiding something.”

Joel's eyes got harder. "What do you mean?" He questioned, putting his back against the chair, getting some space from you.

“She reads a lot, which is amazing, but she reads to forget reality, not to her entertainment.” You lowered your eyes at your almost empty plate. Silence filled the room again. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

"You are right," Joel affirmed, crossing his arms at his chest. His eyes were lost on the wooden table in front of him. "The way to Jackson wasn't easy, I can tell you this much. She came from a FEDRA school, it takes time to learn how to be a kid when you were raised to be a soldier."

Finishing your soup and resting the spoon on the plate, you looked at Joel. The lines between his brows were stronger now, his hands around his biceps holding tight his body closed. His plush lips were tensed as he stayed quiet, immersed in his thoughts.

"Time heals most things," you started, earning a quick glance from him, "she will open her shell. I will keep an eye on her, pinky promise."

His eyes went back and forth between yours. You felt a little awkward after saying such a childish phrase in front of a man older than you, forgetting for a second you weren't speaking with Nath or your brother but with someone you were spending more than 5 minutes together for the first time. Despite that, he put one arm on the table, close to your hand, and lifted his pinky finger.

Smiling with your mouth closed, you enlaced your finger with his. He slowly looked from your finger to your eyes and smiled back. In the low and trembling light from the only candle in the whole room, with his dark eyes boring into yours, you never felt more seen.

prev | next

[toweringboottreads]

Drabble prices (11/1/23)

I havent talked much about coms here cause uhhhhhhh head empty BUT, i used to do longform fics but got burned out too quickly on them. Under the cut for the copy paste but details here.

Reblogs appreciated!

TL:DR: Accepting story/drabble coms for $0.02 US Per word.

I write mini fics that are more geared towards getting to the point. Add me on Discord (will hand out to anyone in a note or twitter dm), tell me what you want, be open for questions and stuff and ill write out two to three messages worth of text! (Discord text message chara lmit is 2000 characters- 2 messages is roughly 400-700 words), which is about the length i think i write the best at. Prices will be $0.02 per word (so 2 discord messages averaging at 500 words would be $10), with an upper cap of $20*. When you provide your price, please be aware that it is a range. Occasionally I may have to go higher to reach a narrative satisfying conclusion. I.E. You tell me you are willing to spend between $5 and $10, or between 250-500 words. *this means, for example, if the word count is capped at 1000 ($20), and the word count ends up at 1039, it would still only be $20. You MUST provide a minimum word count and a maximum word count. You may set a soft limit on words for me to hover around or a hard limit that i may not go above, but asking to increase the length after it is finished beyond simple edits will cost $.50 per addition. Edits for clarity, smaller details, and fine tuning are case by case, but usually free. Payment would be after i send the first half of the fic and it gets approved, Paypal only. Examples of writing style in my gallery: Example of 600 word fic ($12): https://www.furaffinity.net/view/48458452 WHAT I WRITE: Macro/Micro Nano/Giga Vore Crush Growth Shrinking Most things between cruel and fluff Expansion (Muscle, weight, hyper, etc) Casual x (x being anything above) What I WON'T write: Gore (as in i wont go into detail, but implied is fine) Underage/Noncon Bathroom stuff Internals (the pov of the story will always be 'outside' the main subject) Any other questions lmk!

[batrogers]

So -- barring the idea I have for the Doll % Runs -- my Doll fic series is finally complete, as I'd first imagined it to be.

Series Summary:

A series in which, upon leaving the Dollmaker she made a very generous gift to Hyrule: one doll for each of his friends, with the caveat he must be the one holding it for it to activate, and he must be near them. He hopes he never has to use one. Here are all the times he might be forced to explain.

Ratings range from T to E.

Universally Temporary Major Character Death fics, with frequent Graphic Depictions of Violence (although some deaths are less graphic, less violent, or a different kind of violent.)

Fun with some stats, because I wanted to collect them for me:

Brief summary: most fics in the series hover around 1:6 or 1:7 ratio, probably because of the self-selection by means of being Linked Universe fics (which often average closer to a 1:10 ratio) and being self-selecting by means of the MCD/Graphic Violence archive warnings and similar tags (eg. beheading, eaten alive, etc.)

The highest word count is Dog Days, at 4,070 words.

The lowest word count is Perfection, at 1,950 words.

The first fic ("The Dollmaker" was published in October last year, and the most recent was finished twelve hours ago (September 3rd).

More detail about ratios and hits and commentary on why I think that is under the cut. But thank you all who have enjoyed this series!

The Dollmaker is the oldest fic in the series, published Oct 18th, 2023. It's at a 1:8 kudos-to-hits ratio, with over 700 hits.

Dark Despair's Corroding Hand (Time's doll fic) is next, published Apr 8, 2024, and is at a 1:7 kudos-to-hits ratio, with over 300 hits (but it has some interesting tags and an E rating, so can't blame y'all.)

Where is my Harmony (Legend's doll fic) was published Jun 13, and is at a 1:6 ratio, and is a few more hits over 300 than Dark Despair -- but this one's only rated M and much less graphic.

Dog Days (Twilight's doll fic) was published Father's Day (Jun 16th) because I'm an asshole. It has a 1:8 kudos ratio and barely over 300 hits, probably because it's intensely political and not the kind of Twilight-and-Time vibe most of the fandom likes.

It Hungers Still (Wind's doll fic) was published July 1st, and is at a 1:6 ratio because some tags are VERY self-selecting for an audience and oh boy is this one. It's also rated E. Over 200 hits.

Good Is Not Nice (Warriors' doll fic) was also published July 1st, and is at a (slightly higher = 5.6 vs 5.9) 1:6 kudos ratio too because tbh these two fics -- for all the ratings lower -- are equally violent in very different ways.

Hidden Ruin (Sky's doll fic) was published July 11th, and is at a 1:6 ratio too. It has just under 200 hits.

Perfection (Wild's doll fic) was published July 16th, and is at a 1:9 ratio, proving that fandom favouritism is not always in a story's favour LOL. Just over 400 hits, which wildly outpaces the others and yet that has likely pushed down the ratio in itself.

Blue and White and Gone (Four's doll fic) was published Jul 30th, and is at a 1:7 ratio, with just under 200 hits. (Which makes sense given how recent these last are.)

And, published twelve hours ago, Will You Be There (Hyrule's doll fic) is at a 1:5 ratio and 60 hits.

[is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not]

So my basic idea so far is that my oc is a close to 1000 year old Chinese Belter who was alive during the first star league and Amaris' coup. She was genetically engineered to be the perfect mechwarrior by having augmented heat tollerance, and requiring less sleep than your average person. being close to 1000years old she ends up with a devil may care attitude and purposely pilots mechs with outragous loadouts like the 8 heavy medium laser nova or the 6ppcs swayback. her reasoning being that living on the edge is fun and if its her time to die then she will die, having lived for so long. Her name is Yue Liming and her Callsign is TieShan, which is chinese for Iron Mountain, in reference to her enhanced endurance and stamina. Some people also call refer to her as Princess both because of rumors of her being belter royality and also as a pun off of her call sign because her call sign also sounds liek the Chinese for Ironfan and princess ironfan is a notable character from Journey to the West. During the Amaris Coup she joined the star league defense force's siege of terra and was offered a place to leave with Kerensky, but she declined, and decided to stay in the inner sphere, where she works as a freelancer mech warrior, willing to work with most factions as long as the work fits her morals and the pay is good. Exepctions being she refuses to work for the Capallens, viewing them as a bunch of posers who brings a bad name to the culture she so dearly loves, and during the Jihad refuses to work for the Word of Blake, who she hates even more than the Capallens.

It sounds pretty good, save for the 1000 years old part. Not even the Belters have anyone that old, as far as we know. The Star League was only founded in 2570 while the BattleMech was only invented in 2439. The current year is the early 3150s. So 'Mech pilots have only been a thing for about 700 years, the Star League for around 600.

Also, the Belters would have more use for a genetically engineered AeroSpace Fighter pilot, since they live in space, and use of 'Mechs in space combat is extremely uncommon in universe. But a decent amount of AeroSpace Fighter adaptions would be useful to a 'Mech pilot regardless.

I would say that somewhere around 550 might be a good age for her. That lets her have been alive during the final era of the Star League all the way up to now.

Of course she may wish to not make that fact known. There are many who would kill to know the secrets of such a long life.

[comfortlesshurt]

July 2024 Stats Update!

Figured I might as well take advantage of all this data I'm hoarding! Hiding my statistics under the cut in case you don't wanna see 'em.

This is kinda slapped together, but I'm hoping to build a prettier template over time.

Main goal: VLD word count greater than Spider-Man. Current progress: 43,077/100,258 (43.0%)

Time period: June 29th, 2024 to July 31st, 2024

Gave it a little bit of June since I posted a July fic early to make up for the AO3 outage on 7/1!

AO3

Published word count delta: +19,942 across two new works and zero existing works

Work subscriptions delta: +38

New hits: 3,234

New kudos: 233

Comments delta: +16 (frankly, the most surprising thing in this whole post! I am not used to comments)

Works bookmarks delta: +60

User subscriptions delta: 0! (It bounced around a bit but ended up back where it was)

FFN

User favs delta: +2

User alerts delta: +1

Published word count delta: +20,181 (couple A/Ns added to the WC)

New profile views: 69 (nice)

New reviews: 3

New story views: 657

C2 delta: 0

Story favs delta: +3

Story alerts delta: +5

Single-Point AO3 Data: July 31st, 2024

Newer Fic Achievements

5 Times Lance Doesn't Matter: #2 highest word count (#1 if excluding works containing multiple separate stories); #3 for most comment threads; and top 10% for work subs conversion rate (percentage of hits that become work subscribers), comment conversion rate, and bookmark conversion rate

Smiling 'cause you're used to it: #3 highest word count; #6 for subscriptions; and top 10% for subs conversion rate, comment conversion rate, bookmark conversion rate, and title length (in number of characters)

Chemicals, chemicals in my brain: top 10% for subs conversion rate, comment conversion rate, bookmark conversion rate, and title length (I loved this fic but maybe no one else agrees! I forgive you all.)

Top 10% by...

Hits:

5 Times Peter Struggled with Spider Metabolism

Whump Bingo

Anywhere but Here

Sick Days

Take the worst situation

We are the reckless

Kudos:

5 Times Peter Struggled with Spider Metabolism

Anywhere but Here

Whump Bingo

We are the reckless

Take the worst situation

Sick Days

Comments:

5 Times Peter Struggled with Spider Metabolism

Whump Bingo

5 Times Lance Doesn't Matter

We are the reckless

Sick Days

Take the worst situation - Smiling 'cause you're used to it (a tie!)

Subscriptions:

5 Times Peter Struggled with Spider Metabolism

Whump Bingo

Sickdays 2.0 Day 2 & 5

I've got you stuck on my mind

Impressions

Smiling 'cause you're used to it

Total Word Count:

Whump Bingo

5 Times Lance Doesn't Matter

Smiling 'cause you're used to it

5 Times Peter Struggled with Spider Metabolism

We are the reckless

I've got you stuck on my mind

All-Time AO3 Data

Influencers Positively Correlated with Increased Stats:

Kudos:

Tagged for emeto

Tagged/titled as a 5+1 fic

Filterable additional tags between 7 and 21

Fandom - Spider-Man: Homecoming

Accessible by guest users (average additional 250 kudos)

Word count over 2,884

Has at least one platonic relationship tagged

Does not have a writing challenge mentioned in tags or summary

Tagged as an AU

Hits:

Word count is between 913 and 926 or is over 7,237

Tagged/titled as 5+1

Fandom - Spider-Man: Homecoming

Accessible by guest users (average additional 5.5k hits)

Tagged for emeto (or scat, which is surprising because I thought you guys didn't like those fics)

At least one platonic relationship tagged

Does not have a writing challenge mentioned in tags or summary

Tagged as AU

Categorized as gen or M/M

Summary is not an excerpt from the fic

No slash tagged

Average of ~700 additional hits for every 3.86 additional (filterable) tags added

Similar results for bookmarks and comments.

And here's a little data dashboard I never finished tweaking! I think it looks okay enough for now, so you get to see it even though it's not in its final state. (Yes, it's currently splitting fics up into multiples if I ever renamed them, which is annoying.)

Recent Voltron hit stats:

Hit stats for all fandoms the entire time I've been recording:

Feel free to PM for my methods! I don't discuss them publicly because they're associated with me IRL, but I don't mind discussing in private.

[aspiring-holistic-otaku]

Season 2 Ramble# 8 - Sports!

As I hope you got from the title, this ramble focuses on sports in manga, but before I get into it, let me breakdown some things about how this is gonna go.

Firstly a little heads up for you and a little copout for me, the average sports manga tends to be a bit longer than other genres so I figured my usual sprint approach of picking up a bunch of titles and blitzing them wouldn't work. Instead I went for a kind of marathon type approach where I still read a bunch but didn't have completion on my mind as much as usual.

Pros and cons for this approach

pro - I was able to get in that much more diversity than I would otherwise. There's hella sports out there which makes for hella subject matter, each carrying its own unique perspectives that I'm really glad I got the chance to experience, and equally glad to try and share those experiences.

cons - I made the pro sound pretty grandiose but as I said, completion wasn't at the forefront of my mind as much this month, meaning there's quite a few titles I didn't get to finish, so with a lot of these reccs I'd have to say there's more than a grain of salt to keep in mind.

Second thing I want to get out the way are the elements I consider the most important in a sports manga, which I hope will give a little more context to the lists. In my mind the four most important elements for a sports manga are realism, teamwork, ego/drive to win & mindset/mentality. I speak on what those mean to me a bit more in the episode.

Moving on, the actual format of the episode is gonna have things I read this month in a triathlon type setup, meaning 3 categories/legs, closed out with a small award type ceremony thing, then after things read this month I'll speak a bit on my favourite sports manga read before this month.

And now without further ado, LET THE RACES BEGIN!

Things read this month

(first leg)

Uncompleted Incompletes {stuff I didn't finish reading and are still ongoing}

#3 Hajime no Ippo {by George Morikawa, read 49 out of the total 1434 chapters}

Seen this around for the longest time, usually see it called the top 1 boxing manga in more than a few circles, and again for more than a few I've seen it called the top 1 sports manga overall. All that being said the reason a self proclaimed aspiring holistic otaku like myself hasn't read it before now is due to its extreme length.. roughly 1.4k chapters and counting…. just couldn't see myself devoting all that time to what I figured could be summed up in one word, boxing.

That being said, I figured that even if I wasn't going to finish or even put a dent in it, now was the time to bite the bullet and as you can tell from its placing I'm glad I did.

The story follows ippo, a bullied highschooler who is one day saved by a passerby boxer. In awe of his strength, ippo decides to join his gym and try to get stronger. Simple and common enough baseline story, mainly driven by ippo's growth which is tied to his mentality, as ippo is naturally a timid guy but his earnesty towards bettering himself makes those around him, including me the reader, want to support him.

Cool cast so far from his gym mates to opponents, all contributing to a pretty good balance of serious and funny moments. So far the art has generally been pretty good, the only slight gripe I have at this point is I find the mc pretty meh.. like he's endearing but like in that way any kid trying out a sport seems where you just wanna tell em good job no matter what.

In any case I only read 49 chapters so huge grain of salt, though I imagine that both ippo and the cast must develop in a bunch of ways over 1000+ chapters

side note Kentarou Miura, creator of berserk was an assistant on this manga for some time, rip the legend one time every time

#2 Yowamushi Pedal {by Wataru Watanabe, I read 114 out of total 486 chapter count, btw in Brazilian it's up to 700+ }

Literally like maybe 1 or 3 people I know have ever mentioned this to me, 1 of whose taste I couldn't really trust, the second literally cycled everywhere n wore that bodysuit type thing to school which kinda put me off the whole thing and I'm pretty sure the third is a figment of my imagination.. so this series never really had any pull innate or otherwise + I figured it could be summed up into "dude rides a bicycle" which again unlike boxing doesn't really have any appeal with just that.

In any case I'm so so glad I picked this up, grabbed me from chapter 1 and honestly had a hard time putting it down.

the story here centers around sakamichi, a freshman highschool student who wants to make an anime club so he can make friends. This is a cycling manga so unfortunately for my guy that didn't pan out well for him but due to some plot I don't want to spoil he ends up in the cycling club and yes he does make friends.

Great mc but that's probably weeb bias, great main cast nonetheless, the teamwork stands out fr like I didn't know how cycling could be a team sport but it is, and I love that even though they're all on the same team most of them have a drive to be the best which works out in an iron sharpens iron kind of way. The mentality of a cyclist was also really cool like with boxing or more physical sports it's easy to grasp that you have to ready yourself to take a hit but in cycling they got into the flexibility and perseverance you need to keep pedaling no matter where you are and the sights you'll be able to see because of that. Great art, very scenic as they're riding all over the place and though I've only read about a quarter it's definitely something I'd highly and heartily recommend.

#1 Giant Killing {with Masaya Tsunamoto doing the story and Tsujitomo on art, read 84 out of the 514 chapters}

This is a soccer manga. Now you may have noticed a trend here where I haven't thought much of some manga and then ended up liking it, well that's because in general I don't like sports,, well I enjoy playing but not so much watching.. except table tennis and maybe basketball but anyways that trend pretty much continues here. straight out the bat I'll say I don't care for football or soccer or whatever you wanna call it but man this manga.

The story is that an already failing football club now finds themselves in need of a new coach after theirs left them, and so some managerial staff track down a former star player for the club who they heard now coaches small town football sides in England.

Kind of a slow start with them finding the coach and him settling in and everything but it sets solid groundwork which builds into great main and wider cast dynamics. This is one of my favourite things about this manga, it offers solid perspective and narratives from the coaching staff, managerial staff, the players on and off the pitch and even fans and journalist. Never seen a sports manga so thoroughly build out its world. The art was an interesting style but it does a great job of illustrating the dynamicism of play mixed with solitary key moments which makes me feel like I'm watching a slowmo highlight.

Very real feel in a lot of respects and I really appreciated that despite the name they don't just go around making upset wins. They win and lose their fair share but always kept me engaged. #1 on this leg but not something I think is for everybody, especially if you're not a sports fan but if you are a sports fan, especially a soccer fan, I think this will be one of your favourites.

hm: MF GHOST(initial d sequel), Ao Ashi(soccer)

(leg #2)

Completed Incompletes {finished reading but still ongoing or just not fully translated as is the case for everything here}

#3 SK8R'S {by Hajime Tojitsuki, read 9 out of the total 18 chapters}

This is all about street skating, not much to say with only 9 chapters but it just looked really cool

Anyways the story is that a kid happened to see a dude skating one day and he did one of those jump tricks and he was hooked.

Average art but it's pretty dope when they do full spreads and tricks. Again not much chapters so not much to say but I really hope the rest gets translated.

#2 Tsubame Tipoff {by Hiroya Watanuki, read 40 out of total 50 chapter count}

This pulled me in because women's basketball and I'm always a slut for new perspectives.

The story here is a tall but uncoordinated freshman finds her short but extremely athletic upperclassman cute so she joins the basketball team to get closer to her... Now I'm not gonna call her gay but she be blushing like crazy... In any case the art is pretty solid, really cool cast, not sure if I thought that just cause of the relative novelty of a girl's basketball team in manga but they were just pretty cool.

what I read was pretty good and again I would really love if the rest of the chapters got translated.. maybe I'll just learn Chinese idk..

#1 Break Shot {by Takeshi Maekawa, read 84 out of the total 152 chapter count}

This is a manga about billiards which I think is different from pool but I didn't look it up so I'm gonna play it safe and stick to billiards

The story here is that the student council wants to shut down the billiards club because they only have one member who is our mc, chinmi. He tries to negotiate and they tell him if he wants to keep the club he has to show some record of notable achievement or skill, so he enters a tournament with his club on the line.

The billiards pulled me in and as expected there was some unreal stuff to keep it interesting like a dude who has a special shot that breaks the cue ball on purpose and uses the force of the shratnel to pocket multiple balls… like come on… he's a highschool student for one like come on… but outside stuff like that I really like how they framed a billiards game as a puzzle where your skill is actually more a reflection of intellect, in being able to make a pocket or stop your opponent from doing so. also loved the art like it's old but it's the kind of old school charm that gives a Sunday morning cartoon vibe and I'm not sure if it's because of the subject being billiards but it felt really smooth and classy.

Billiards is a singles competition but they were able to create an element of teamwork through rivalry which was cool and I kind of already spoke on the mentality through their framing of the game as a puzzle. To solve the puzzle they really had to think on their feet. Ego and stuff was definitely there and again I really really want this to be translated. In any case I highly recommend this one.

hm: Dogsred(about hockey by the creator of golden kamuy), Mongrel (mma)

(and the last leg of things read this month)

Completed Completes {finished reading, finished publishing}

#3 moon land {by Sai Yamagishi, 98 chapters}

This is about gymnastics and I didn't think I'd be interested + I'd never even heard of it before but this was recommended to me by Jen who I had on last episode and from its placing you can tell I enjoyed it. This is why I trust Jen and even had her on the show, shout out Jen every time

The story is basically that the mc mitsuki is really good at gymnastics because of strong fundamentals but he had no flair. the main thing is that it presents gymnastics as an expression of self and mitsuki aims to be able to move his body the way he wants to, in other words freedom.

The art is kind of meh in general but ofc they step up in spreads and stuff, great teamwork, ego and mentality stuff, more of that iron sharpens iron effect I like, kind of felt like the ending was rushed but it was an unexpectedly nice journey. they really took the time to educate about gymnastics which i appreciated and I feel like I'm underselling but it really was cool.

#2 Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji {Nobuyuki Fukumoto, 158 chapter}

Had actually tried another manga by this guy called Akagi hoping to learn the rules for mahjong but they didn't care to explain the rules and it wasn't super well translated so I couldn't really keep up despite how cool the mc seemed.

In any case the quirkiness of his art style is what really drew me in so I picked up kaiji instead and it turned out to be really good.

The story here is kaiji, the mc is pretty much living a garbage life which gets worse when a debt collector comes and tells him a friend of his ran off on a debt kaiji was the guarantor on. the debt is in the tens of millions which he clearly doesn't have but the collector tells him there's a once in a lifetime opportunity happening soon, and offers kaiji a ticket onto a ship to play games and win enough money to clear his debt in one night.

I guess this is where the question of whether or not gambling is a sport would arise but 1) it's my list and 2) they are competing according to set rules for a prize so that's that.

Anyways this was closer to my preferred tastes with the darker, more critical view of #society and stuff, which is seen in how teamwork was kinda nonexistent or fleeting at best but the mentality needed to win or even just survive was strong.

Really liked the mc, lots of growth in a short amount of time but in any case I'd recommend this one for sure, especially with the recent wave of squid games and stuff like that… it's not squid games but just if you liked that you'll probably like this..

#1 One Outs {Shinobu Kaitani, 175 chapters}

I think the full title is actually One Outs, nobody wins but I which is just super cool especially as you see how the story unfolds but yh.

The story here is that tokuchi toua is a professional gambler that dedicates most of his time to a tweaked baseball game called one outs. In this game the pitcher must get 3 strikes to win but all the batter has to do is hit the ball past the infield for a win, yet in 499 matches toua has never lost. Due to some plot stuff I don't want to spoil he ends up getting involved with the main japanese baseball league and basically the owner of his team doesn't like him, so tokuchi baits him into a contract unfavourable to himself where he gets paid 50 mill for each strike out but has to pay 500 mill for every run scored on him. The owner didn't believe his 499 streak record held much weight so he accepts.

The people he's playing with or against don't know anything about this and they're all pros so his skills are definitely tested fr. It's hard to explain how mind games comes into play but just trust this guy basically turns a sports manga into a psychological thriller which was just amazing.

Highly recommend, I didn't really know anything about baseball, still don't really but man. nothing but praise tbh.

hm: aoiro ping pong, and **mighty girl(baseball)

{in the episode I mention some other stuff I was reading and would also recommend but felt they out would be too contrived or too much grains of salt due to how the small percentage of their total chapter counts I got to read despite how much I enjoyed them but you can check my anilist to see

{in the actual episode I name black box as the second honorable mention. but that was a mistake probably due to it and mighty girl having the same author idkidk but mighty girl was better}

}

if you're interested you can listen in to the episode for the small awards ceremony thing that would be here but in this writeup I'm just going to move along

Things read before this month

not as much detail as before cause spoken on most of these before plus nowadays in think more attention sound be given to newer reads but anyways

#3 Eyeshield 21{Riichirou Inagaki story and Yusuke Murata, read/333 chapters}

American football focused. really really good. has been in my top 3 sports manga for like a decade now.

#2 Ping Pong{created by Taiyou Matsumoto, 55 chapters}

Table Tennis focused. spoken on before in detail in Season 1 Ramble#10 and was #4 in its section + became my #3 read overall last year. So good I actually took the time to watch the anime this month.

#1 Rookies {Morita Masanori, 233 chapters}

Delinquents playing baseball. Top 1 in Sesson 2 Ramble#6, #2 in Season 1 Ramble#12 delinquency and #3 in the very first real ramble Season 1 Ramble#1 which is where I spoke on it with the most detail.

hm: Usugoi(peak gambling), HAPPY!(lawn tennis by naoki urasawa)

[throwrocksatthem]

Boring Clarkesworld Stats post

I've never gotten published in Clarkesworld (or submitted anything) but I'd like to, and had writer's block this arvo, so decided to do some very basic stats, and work out what sort of stories tend to get published in Clarkesworld (I'll do Analog next, as these are the two that I read).

Sample pool

I looked at Clarkesworld issues 198-202, as these are the issues I have a digital download of, since that's when I subbed on Patreon. I also have issue 203, but couldn't be fucked.

Number of stories

Of those five issues, four contained 8 stories, and one contained 7. Less than something like Analog. They do publish every month, but according to an editorial in issue 199, they typically receive 700 submissions per month. so roughly 1 in 100 get in. yikes.

Words per story

The average Clarkesworld story was 6125 words long. This is actually a statistical error though, because of 'Chonky Georg', in issue 200, which was 23,300 words long, and should not have been counted. I've included box plots below, both with and without Chonky Georg.

(I did graphs because I'm a nerd. I hand-wrote them because excel only does vertical box plots, which is objectively incorrect)

New vs returning authors

I had a look through the author descriptions following the stories to see how many authors were new vs previously published, and sorted them into three basic categories

Completely new author (description doesn't mention any other books) - only 1 story

First Clarkesworld, but previously published (mentions other books and stuff, but doesn't mention Clarkesworld) - 21 stories

Clarkesworld Veteran (mentions publishing in Clarkesworld before) - 18 stories

Well that sucks.

It obviously does seem that Clarkesworld favours previously published authors. There could be multiple reasons for this, but I'm assuming its most likely because previously published authors write more, better quality stories.

In the editorial mentioned above in issue 199, Clarke does say that they remain committed to "keeping the doors open for new writers", so that's good I guess.

How to get published in Clarkesworld

Uhh.....

write a story that's good, meets the submission requirements listed on the website (aka no zombies)

make it ~6k words long

make it good for reading on youtube

shop it around to other magazines if your rejected (tho probably do another draft first).

write another story and try again. they get 700 submissions a month, but they cant all be quality.

[lesfeldickbiblestudy]

  Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 3 * PART 1 * BOOK 61 THE GLORIOUS PROMISES TO ISRAEL ISAIAH 54:1 – 57:1 We want to thank everybody for coming today. We just praise the Lord! I was reminding our studio audience, for those of you out in television, that we started fourteen years ago this month (Oct 2004). We decided this morning that we taped our very first program fourteen years ago. It doesn’t seem possible, but we had probably fifteen people in attendance for that first taping and today we have well over 100. So, over the years it’s gradually been growing. Again, I want to thank all of you in the studio audience for putting forth the effort. I know a lot of you have driven a long way. We’ve got folks here from Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, and, of course, Oklahoma. Okay, now let’s get back where we’re going to start in Isaiah 54 verse 1. Now, again, for those of you who may be new to the program, we like to repeat and repeat and repeat for your benefit. Remember, now, that Isaiah is writing 700 years before Christ, and yet in some of these things he writes as though it’s almost a past tense. That is how unique prophecy is in our Bible. And again, I keep repeating this - there is no other book on earth that can do that. Only our Bible, the Word of God, can tell things hundreds and hundreds of years in advance, as if it’s past, and never forget that. Whenever they try to lift up some other religion and their writer and their book and their god, they cannot hold a candle to this Book, because they cannot tell one event in the future. Even your most famous fortunetellers, like Jean Dixon a few years ago, you know what their batting average is at the very best? Fifty percent. That’s all they are, just 50 percent guesses. But this Book is right 100 percent and it’s written, many times, thousands of years in advance. We’re going to see some of that in our first half-hour this afternoon. So, again, we always want to remember that this is written in 700 BC. The nation of Israel has just recently been divided into the Northern Kingdom with ten tribes, the Southern Kingdom with two. But yet, Isaiah, living in the Southern Kingdom, will address both the Northern and the Southern Kingdom. And, of course, 700 BC is around a hundred years before Nebuchadnezzar will come in and destroy the city and the temple and take Israel captive. Again, it’s written as though it’s just right out in front of them. Now, as I was driving up yet today I was mulling over how often we forget the vast amount of time that elapses up through the Old Testament. In other words, from Moses until King David was almost 500 years. Then, from King David until Isaiah starts writing about the coming judgments and everything is another 300 years. Now, think about that. That’s a long time! My, we’ve been a nation less than that. So, all these events that are unfolding throughout our Old Testament are not just within a short period of time. It’s over hundreds and hundreds of years. God’s wheels grind slowly and surely. Okay, we’ll pick up where we left off after the last taping and the prophecy concerning Christ’s crucifixion – the graphic description of His suffering and His death in chapters 52 & 53. Let’s go on into chapter 54 as we come into the glorious promises that will follow Israel. First, after they’ve come back from the Babylonian captivity, they re-establish Temple worship. But the big picture, remember, which is what we’re always looking at, is after the horrors of the seven years of Tribulation. Christ will return and Israel is going to have all these Old Testament promises fulfilled. This is what we’re going to look at right here. Isaiah 54:1a "Sing, O barren, (Well, what does singing remind you of? Good feelings, joy, and happiness.) thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child:…" More than likely, what Isaiah is referring to are those years when Israel was spiritually dead.

There were hundreds of years where Israel was steeped in their unbelief and their rebellion, and, consequently, there was no joy or an increase in blessings or anything else. So, now with the hope of this coming kingdom, they can sing like one who has travailed. Isaiah 54:1b "..for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD." All right, now that’s kind of a tough one to explain, so I’m going to pass over that. Come down to verse two. (Transcriber’s note: Don’t you love someone who isn’t afraid to say, "I don’t know?") Isaiah 54:2a "Enlarge the place of thy tent,…" What does that speak of? Well, progressive growth. When you enlarge the tent it just simply means that you’re getting ready for more occupants. That’s what Israel is to do. They’re to get ready, now, for great expansion of their blessings. Isaiah 54:2b "…and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;" Remember, he’s speaking of a tent back in antiquity and the tent pegs would be stretched out further away to make room for a larger tent. In other words, it is a symbolic picture of how the Nation will be increasing in blessings. Isaiah 54:3a "For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; (Blessings upon blessings are waiting for the nation of Israel.) and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles,…" Now, you’ve got to remember, since the Babylonian invasion and destruction of the city according to Scripture, especially from that point on Israel has been under the heavy boot of the Gentile empires. They have never enjoyed national blessings as a separate entity. But the day is coming when they will. Not only will they enjoy the blessings, but they’re going to be supreme over all the Gentile nations. We’re going to look at a few of those in just a moment. Isaiah 54:3b "…and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." In other words, it’s going to be a great growth of Israel’s population. Now, let’s go back and look at a few of those promises that are sprinkled throughout the Old Testament looking forward to this day when Israel will finally cash in on all of these blessings of the promises. Let’s go all the way back, if you will, to Deuteronomy chapter 28, and we’ll get a glimpse of the blessings that are awaiting the Nation of Israel. They have never enjoyed this in their history. Not even close. But the day is coming when they will. Now, they had it as a prospect all through their history but because of their unbelief, their belligerence, their wickedness, and their lifestyle of sin, they never experienced it. All right, let’s drop all the way in at verse 9. Now, these are all promises that God has made to the Nation of Israel. Deuteronomy 28:9-12a "The LORD shall establish thee a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. (In other words, God demands obedience.) 10. And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, (They’re going to be productive beyond our imagination.) in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land (the Land of Promise) which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow." What’s Israel’s financial situation today? They have to borrow constantly or they couldn’t survive. All right, but it’s going to be reversed. Israel will be in a position to lend to other nations. Deuteronomy 28:13 "And the LORD shall make thee the (what?) head, (They’re going to be the top nation of the nations when Christ returns and sets up His kingdom.) and not the tail;

and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:" Well, that’s one of the very earliest Scriptures, long before they even got into the Land of Promise. But, all the way up through the Old Testament you have these promises of how Israel will one day enjoy the blessings. Now, let’s see, let’s go to Zechariah, that’s the next to the last book in your Old Testament. We’ll be running across some others before we leave Isaiah in the next few programs. As you get to Zechariah chapter 8, we’ll begin at verse 20. We’ve used these verses, especially in our classes and seminars, but I don’t think I’ve used them much on the program. Now remember, these are all Old Testament prophecies and promises. None of these have been fulfilled as yet, but they will. Now, I guess this is as good a time as any to stop. You know, there are those who oppose my line of teaching by saying that God is all through with the Jew. That when Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, that was the end of all these promises. They say that Israel disappeared, that they faded away as a nation of people and all the promises have been turned over to the church. Some people call it "replacement theology." I call it plain old "amillennialism." Now, there’s another new name for it, and it is "preterism." Well, if they claim that there’s nothing more to be fulfilled after 70 AD, then all these promises have failed! Then our God has failed! I might as well throw the Book away and go home! But, they haven’t! They’re still going to be fulfilled. Our God is still in control. Those people in the Middle East are Jews. They try to reject that fact, but they’re Jews. They’re Israel. In fact, I just had a call, I think early this morning, about "all the tribes of Israel." I said, "Well, you’ve got to remember that they never were "lost." They all went into the Babylonian captivity. They all came back under Ezra and Nehemiah." Then I took him to the verse where Peter says in Acts 2:36, "…therefore let the whole house of Israel know assuredly." So, what does that tell you? Even in Peter’s day, that Pentecostal crowd included Jews of every tribe. None of them were ever lost. The same way when the 144,000 will be chosen out of Israel at the very beginning of the Tribulation, they’re all there. They’re all going to be able to provide 12,000 young men from every tribe to fulfill the 144,000. They’re not lost. God knows who they are. All right, so here we have it again. This prophecy has not yet been fulfilled. But it will be! Zechariah 8:20a "Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass,…" Is God lying? No, He’s not lying! Is He incapable of fulfilling it? No, He’s not incapable. He is fully capable and He will! Zechariah 8:20b-23 "…that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: 21. And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. 22. Yea, many people and strong nations (That’s the Gentile world.) shall come to seek the LORD of hosts (Where?) in Jerusalem, (That’ll be the world’s capital) and to pray before the LORD. 23. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days (When Israel has her King.) it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: (Why?) for we have heard that God is with you." Why? Because of all these promises. All right, let’s go into the New Testament. Let’s go into Luke chapter 1, and we’ll drop down to verse 64. While you’re looking for it, I’ll give you the background. You remember that one of the priests of Israel was a man by the name of Zacharias and his wife’s name was Elizabeth. Zacharias and Elizabeth supernaturally had a child whose name was John the Baptist. All right, all during Elizabeth’s gestation of nine months, Zacharias was stricken speechless.

He could not talk. Practically everybody in Israel knew it. But, when the child was born and they asked Elizabeth what the name would be, she said, "John." Well, they were all shook up because no Jew had ever been called John, so they trot up to the Temple and find Zacharias. They write on a tablet that the baby had been born and what’s to be his name? He took the pen and wrote, "John." As soon as he wrote John, he got his voice back. Well, then everybody was all alarmed. What in the world’s going on? All right, let’s pick it up in verse 64, Luke 1:64-65 "And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. 65. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea." Well, like what? This elderly couple, she conceived, and the minute she conceived he lost his voice. And he’s been absolutely, what we call ‘dumb,’ for nine months. But, as soon as the baby was born he’s got his voice back. What’s going on? All right, here we go, verse 66: Luke 1:66 "And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him." Now remember, we’re not talking about Jesus, we’re talking about John the Baptist. Luke 1:67a "And his father Zacharias (the priest) was filled with the Holy Spirit,…" Now, this is long before Pentecost. Yet, he’s filled with the Holy Spirit, which means that everything he says is directed from God Himself. This isn’t wishful Jewish thinking; this is God speaking through this Spirit-filled priest. All right, now this is what he says, and remember what we’ve just read in the Old Testament. Luke 1:67-69 "And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he prophesied, saying, 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he (the Lord) hath visited and redeemed his people, 69. And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;" Now, as we read this, be careful to watch, is there any reference to Gentiles? Not a word. This is all dealing with the promises made to Israel, and none of these promises apply to the Gentiles except as they come through Israel. So, these promises here are to the Nation. Luke 1:70-71 "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: (Now, watch the language.) 71. That we should be saved from our (not sins, what?) enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;" All right, now stop and think. Who were Israel’s enemies from day one? Well, the Arab world. You know, I always have a good time going back in to Nehemiah especially in my classes here in Oklahoma. I show that even in the day of Nehemiah, when they were trying to rebuild the city wall and the city gate, who was constantly opposing them? The Arabs. It got to the place where if the Jews wanted to work they had to work with a trowel in one hand and a weapon in the other, or they couldn’t get anything done. So, it’s always been this way. But you can just fast forward up to 2004 as we tape this, and it’s still the same. All these promises are still valid that the day will come when Israel won’t have to worry about the Arab world. Israel won’t have to worry about Nazis or Communists or anybody else. They’re going to be under the protective care of their Messiah King. Luke 1:72-73 "72. To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; (What covenant?) 73. The oath which he swore to our father Abraham," Now, you’ve got to remember (I’m going to cover the covenants when we finish Isaiah) that in that Abrahamic Covenant, Abraham was promised a nation of people totally different than anybody else. That reminds me of something else I thought of on the way up. I read a long time ago how God made the Nation of Israel "different’. They have been and still are. But what was the eternal purpose in it? To prove that nobody in the human race is any different from the other.

So, Israel was shown to be different to prove they’re no different. Now, did I make my point? The whole Adamic race, whether it’s Jew or Gentile, are still sons of Adam. All right, now let’s go back again. The Abrahamic Covenant promised that out of Abraham and Sarah would descend this special nation of people. Why would it be special? Because out of Israel would come first the Word of God, out of Israel would come the Messiah, and out of Israel would come all the prophetic promises. You’ve heard me say it over and over, Israel is the hub of God’s wheel; you pull Israel out, you destroy the nation of Israel, and God’s program falls apart, and, again, you could throw the Book away. But, Israel will never, never leave. Okay, let’s go a couple more verses here; our time is about gone already. Luke 1:74-75 "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75. In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." Which, of course, will go on into eternity. Then he goes on to show the promises made to the man John the Baptist. But anyway, the promises are all the way through, and if we had the time we could go all the way back to the last chapters of Revelation when the glories of that kingdom on earth will be fulfilled on behalf of the nation of Israel. All right, for the next couple of minutes let’s go back again to Isaiah chapter 54 and look at verse 3, again. Isaiah 54:3-4 "For thou shalt break forth on the right and on the left; and thy seed (In other words, the coming generations) shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4. Fear not;…" Now, you’ve got to remember that before all this could come to pass, Israel is going to go through 3000 years of suffering and turmoil. Three thousand years. Now, remember that when we come into the next program, next half-hour. I’m going to show you how God compares it in His line of thinking. Isaiah 54:4 "…for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth,…" That is as a nation they’ll forget all the trials and tribulation that the nation of Israel has gone through over these hundreds and hundreds of years. Isaiah 54:4 "…and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. This is when God left the Nation to their own devices and said you are no longer my people. That’s been over a good portion of their national lifetime. All right, verse 5: Isaiah 54:5 "For thy Maker (the Creator) is thine husband;…" Now, here we have that husband and wife relationship especially as Hosea points it out. Maybe someday we’ll teach Hosea on the air. I’ve been thinking about it. In Hosea’s little six or seven chapters we have a beautiful picture of Israel as the adulterous wife of Jehovah. Now, why do I call her adulterous? Because, she ran after other gods. Just like an unfaithful woman will chase after men who are not her husband, so Israel chased after other lovers, nationally speaking, in the realm of the spiritual. So, she’s called the unfaithful wife of Jehovah. But one day, Jehovah will forgive her of all of her sin and she will come in and be that blessed wife of the husband. That is the beautiful picture portrayed in Hosea. Isaiah 54:5 "For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called." Now, there again, that puts all other gods and goddesses and religions, whatever you want to call them, it just puts them down into the realm of nothingness, because only the God of Israel is the God of Creation and the God of this Book. Isaiah 54:6-7a "For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, (and that marriage has been dissipated by unfaithfulness because of Israel’s chasing after other gods) when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 7. For a small (Now watch this.

Here’s what I was coming to.) moment have I forsaken thee;…" And what’s He calling a small moment? Three thousand years! Isn’t that something? Yet, that’s the eternalness of our God. Three thousand years are but a moment in His line of thinking. It’s so hard for us mortals to comprehend that. That’s why, along with my enthusiasm for the soon return and as we see the world seemingly getting so ready for Christ to enter back into human history, that I have to always temper my enthusiasm with this very thing, that with God time means nothing. Ten years isn’t even a split second in His line of thinking. So, yes, I think the Lord could be coming in the next few years, but God may think otherwise.

[ccitymarcket]

HyperSuggest - Your advanced keyword tool

HyperSuggest - Your advanced keyword tool

HypperSuggest is a keyword tool that delivers thousands of keywords and ideas from 9 different networks like Google, Amazon, eBay, Instagram, etc. in seconds.

In other words, the HyperSuggest keyword tool allows the user to find content and products that they want in no time.

It can also be used to create content that captures the interest of the audience.

About HyperSuggest

There are a lot of SEO tools that can make content optimization easier for anyone regardless of their level of expertise in SEO, and HyperSuggest is one of them.

If you’re looking to boost your freelance client base by dabbling in a blog…

HyperSuggest might be able to help you.

The HyperSuggest user interface is very user-friendly,

making it easy to find the information you need without spending hours on search engine results pages.

The tool also offers a large number of keyword suggestions from different sources,

making it an ideal choice for content marketing.

HyperSuggest Keyword Tool – Features

HyperSuggest’s best feature might be its ability to analyze keywords you’re already thinking of using to show you how many people are already searching for it,

How difficult it might be to rank for that keyword organically or in paid searches? and

How much the cost per click (CPC) might be?

A. Keyword Tool

Using the Hypersuggest Keyword Tool, you can quickly and easily find keywords related to the topic of your blog post or article.

Additionally, HyperSuggest offers a variety of keyword suggestions from different sources…

So you’re sure to find the right keywords for your content.

1. Google Search Using HyperSuggest:

You will receive the most relevant Autocomplete suggestions from Google for your keyword.

In just a few seconds, you can find out up to 700 keywords per query including their exact search volume for your selected country.

2. Amazon research Using HyperSuggest:

Would you like to know which products or product variants Amazon’s customers are interested in?

Yes, it can be done manually using amazon keyword research, but it will consume dozen hours to do that.

With HyperSuggest Amazon module helps your FBA business to sell the products at Amazon that are really in demand by your target group.

3. eBay research Using HyperSuggest:

Would you like to know which products or product variants eBay customers are interested in?

HyperSuggest eBay module helps your Recognize product trends or product variants…

which are searched by your customers.

You can also use this HyperSuggest Keyword tool for

Researching keywords for Google Shopping

Researching keywords for YouTube

Researching keywords for Instagram

Researching keywords for Google News and more

Overall HyperSuggest is the best Keyword Research tool for online marketers

B. Keyword Metrics:

Choosing the right keywords for Google platforms requires a thorough understanding of the exact metrics. 

HyperSuggest provides detailed keyword metrics for your keywords, including:

Average monthly search volume (based on Google AdWords data)

Average monthly unique visitors

Number of monthly clicks

Cost-per-click (CPC).

C. Wh-questions:

This is the amazing feature of Hypersuggest where it provides you the most probable questions that might come up when someone uses your keyword in a Google search.This feature is called “People Also Ask” and you will then be able to create useful content around those questions.This is really helpful if you don’t want to waste your time on low-quality research queries.It will save a lot of time as a result.

E. Simultaneous Logins

Your HyperSuggest subscription includes 1 login by default.You can increase the number of simultaneous logins if you have a larger team.Overall, Hypersuggest is an amazing tool that can save you a lot of time and effort when it comes to keyword research.It’s definitely worth the subscription fee.

Is HyperSuggest the Right SEO Tool for Me?

SEO beginners, especially, might find HyperSuggest a valuable app for learning the basics of keywords,

how they help shape content, and how to use them to target an audience in order to rank a post on SERP.

If you’re an SEO expert and looking for intricately detailed information about keywords and competition, you’re not going to find it with HyperSuggest.

HyperSuggest also has a handy feature for finding long-tail keywords. 

How does It work?

HyperSuggest is a keyword tool that connects to 9 different networks like

Google

Amazon

eBay

Instagram, etc.

in order to get thousands of keywords and ideas for content.

After you input the main keyword you want to target and click on the “Get Ideas” button…

HyperSuggest will give you suggestions based on your keyword’s popularity on those platforms.

Moreover…

You can also see how many people have searched for that keyword on each platform as well.

If you’re looking to create content specifically around a certain topic or audience, then HyperSuggest could be a great way to find ideas.

After all, if people are searching for information on a certain topic online…

Chances are they’ll be interested in your content too!

Is HyperSuggest Accurate?

One of the great things about HyperSuggest is that it can be incredibly accurate when it comes to finding keywords and ideas for content.

It uses data from 9 different sources so there’s no doubt that it will provide useful results… 

However, if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution then this might not be the tool for you.

HyperSuggest is more of a supplement to your existing content marketing methods rather than a replacement.

Is HyperSuggest Your Advanced Keyword Tool?

HyperSuggest is definitely an advanced keyword tool.

The tool HyperSuggest is packed with features that will help you target your content better and find new ideas for content.

It’s also easy to use and can provide accurate results quickly.

If you’re looking for an advanced keyword tool then HyperSuggest is definitely worth considering.

Would You Recommend HyperSuggest to Others?

I would recommend HyperSuggest to others because it’s a great way to find keywords and ideas for content.

It’s accurate and easy to use, so you’ll be able to get started quickly.

HyperSuggest pricing

As a first step, let’s take a look at the pricing model.

HyperSuggest costs $32 per month and $25 per month if you go for an early plan.

You get access to all the features like Keyword Tool and Wh questions…

If you need the Keyword Clustering feature, and Simultaneous Logins function then you need to pay extra.

Overall, I think the pricing is reasonable and it’s definitely worth considering if you’re looking for an advanced keyword tool.

Conclusion

HyperSuggest – Your Advanced Keyword Tool is really a valuable tool for keyword research.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for an effective way to research keywords.

Hyperduggest is a great way to find keywords and ideas for content…

It’s accurate and easy to use, so you’ll be able to get started quickly.

HyperSuggest

Your Advanced Keyword Tool

Advanced Keyword Research Tool

Google Search Keyword Research Tool

Amazon Keyword Research Tool

eBay Keyword Research Tool

YouTube Keyword Research Tool

Instagram Keyword Research Tool

Wh-questions

Free Trial (No Credit Card Required)

BUY NOW

[pipermca]

Writing Year in Review - 2021

Look, 2021, you had one job. Your one job was not to suck. And although you started to really shape up in the fall, you completely fumbled it at the end. Way to go.

Ugh. Seriously.

On the personal and writing front, it was a bit of a mixed bag. Our summer weather sucked, and that seriously affected my mental health. I don't do well in heat, and the heat waves were terrible. Then when the heat abated a bit, the air outside was filled with smoke from fires, so I couldn't even enjoy being outside. Living in a place where we basically only get three or four months of comfortable outdoor weather, I desperately needed to be outside... And that couldn't happen.

On the other hand, I did manage to finish Mind, Body, and Soul – by far the longest story I've ever written. I've mentioned that I think that story really ought to have been split into three "books": pre-war, war-time up until the Autobots leave Cybertron, and then landing on Earth to the end of the story. (Each one would have been about 100,000 words.) Those are the three main arcs of the story, but when I was writing they gelled so well as cohesive bits (and my brain was thinking of it as one long, continuous story) it didn't even occur to me to separate them into individual stories.

Ah well. It's just a big epic, I guess. One of my "to dos" is to explain the original plan for the story, which was much shorter but had a much more melancholy ending. After getting to know Barricade and Prowl and Bluestreak better, I decided I wanted to do better by them, and completely rethought the plot.

I finished posting Mind, Body, and Soul in March, and followed that up with a few "extras" stories to cap off the series. Then I let my muse work on other things that amused it and... overall, I think I had a pretty productive writing year! It wasn't quite as productive as 2020 (mostly because I took my foot off the gas after finishing MBS) but in some ways it was more fruitful.

In 2021 I posted 15 works to AO3, which includes the last 9 chapters of MBS. (That total also includes one short fic I wrote years ago that I transferred from Tumblr to AO3). In total I posted 123,108 words to AO3 across those 15 works. I also wrote 107,222 words, but that includes zine pieces that are not yet available, and my IDW2 reviews that I've been posting.

I'm content with those numbers. Previously I was setting a goal of about 10,000 words per month, but considering how atrocious this year's been I think I did pretty good. Interestingly, when I look at my writing tracker, there wasn't a big dip in productivity over the summer like I was expecting. You can tell that I basically went "whew, bleah!" and basically stopped writing for a few weeks after finishing the draft of MBS in early February. XD

My average words per hour is pretty consistent, especially when I set aside an hour or so to write, sometimes doing sprints. With the exception of September (hmm, no idea what happened there!) I averaged around 600-700 words per hour.

I think this is the graph that irritates me the most though. XD It's obvious that I get most of my writing done in the evening, since that's when I've got the time to write. But I know that I'm actually at my most productive in mid-morning... while I'm at work. Argh.

In December 2021 I wrote 8,113 words. I've got a new WIP I'm working on that is very intriguing to my muse, although it's slow going because I'm having to figure out new lore and new relationships on the fly. I can't wait to share that with people.

As for the goals I set for myself for 2021, I actually did pretty well, better than I thought I did!

Finish Mind, Body, and Soul YES! I DID IT!

Finish Must Like Cats and One More Night I got one of these done, finally. 50% isn't bad.

Start on The King and the Bounty Hunter Yes! I've got two chapters drafted and I've been doodling around with the third.

Start the sequel to Peer Review Nope

Apply for two zines Yes! And got in! And pieces are completed! And one of them is for sale now!

Write two comic scripts for practice Nope

So, my goals for 2022, in order of priority:

Finish Must Like Cats

Finish Sun and Moon (working title)

Apply for two zines (if something catches my eye)

Write two comic scripts for practice

Finish The King and the Bounty Hunter

Start By Fire and Flame (working title)

I am quite pleased at the number of stories I've finished, too. Like last year, behind the cut is the first sentence of each of my stories I posted, and the month is it was posted in.

January: Mind, Body, and Soul. (The first chapter posted in 2021 was chapter 64.) While the Autobots struggled to recover from their losses, the Decepticons wasted no time in pressing their advantage.

March: Knell. Barricade's spark thudded against its casing with every frantic spin.

March: War's End. Prowl scanned the dusty horizon, searching for any sign of the shuttles that he knew were inbound.

March: They Grow Up So Fast. Bluestreak stretched as he made his way down the hallway from his room, lifting his arms over his helm and extending his wings until the cables sang with tension.

April: Turn, Turn, Turn. Smokescreen was so focused on trying to get the tiny crystal cleaving to sit just right in the growth medium that he didn't hear the door to the flat open and close.

June. In Your Dreams. Hound woke from recharge to the sensation of falling through the air.

June: What Happens on a Mission... As the smoke in the cutter's cockpit cleared, Smokescreen scanned the control board in front of him.

July: Core Override. Prowl hated prison transfer detail.

September: One More Night. There was so much to do.

October: Going Against Tradition. "Chosen Wind Walker Thundercracker, the Emperor will see you now."

October: Just the Three of Us. To anyone casually walking by, the scene wouldn't have looked too odd: just a man enjoying the sun and the sand, kicked back on the hood of his sports car and listening to some tunes.

October: Claim Rejected. “While I appreciate all of your efforts to keep me safe,” Optimus Prime said, glaring – glaring!– around the meeting room at his command staff, “I cannot condone sending other Autobots in to fight Megatron for me.”

November: Debts. Just like usual, Smokescreen was waiting for Prowl outside of their usual diner.

November: A Gift from Morpheus. The crack of the rifle seemed to stop Smokescreen's spark.

December: Deck the Halls. Hound had not been prepared for what greeted him when he got home from the office on Saturday evening.

And that's a wrap! I hope everyone has a very safe, calm, and uneventful 2022. (Key point: uneventful, as in not exciting, as in completely precedented.)

[fanfic-reading-challenge]

How’s it coming along, all? :)

Hey everyone!!!

I hope everyone’s been enjoying their challenge so far! We’re 6 weeks in and I thought I’d do a little check-in, totally informal and absolutely voluntary, to see how everyone is doing, check if there’s anything that needs clarifying, or if there are any other questions... stuff like that. :)

I thought it would also be a great time to share a little bit about what we’ve been up to! Favourite fic we’ve read or are currently reading, what book we’ve read or plan to read IF we’re doing said Hard Mode task, how many fics we’ve read, unique authors, different fandoms, if we’ve read a fandom crossover fic and what type... how many words total we’ve read and, if we’re feeling really geeky, how much that averages out to per fic? per chapter? What ship or fandom have we read the most of? Rating? Favourite trope so far, if our data even bears that question out? Have you discovered any new fandoms or ships—new to you, that is? Is there a fic or a fandom or ship you haven’t read in more than 10 years, and somehow, someway, found your way back to? Is there a deep quote you’ve come across? Written by the author or quoted by them from someone else? (Totally valid too, with accreditation!) Have you changed your view on something huge because of a fic you read? Have you found a new favourite ship? Or, like me, have you just added another warship to your giant ship armada? (Pretty sure I’ve read five new-to-me ships already; I love this challenge!)

And so much more! Feel free to talk about, list, or mention anything you like!! Even things you’d like to see next year, or that could’ve been done better or not at all. While being polite, of course. ;)

I’ll leave these questions here for now, answer a couple myself, head to bed, and then tomorrow I’ll share some more of my own stats, favourites, and even some of my frustrations with you! I look forward to it, and to hearing from all of you as well!

If you don’t feel like sharing publicly in reply to this post, please feel more than free to tag me in your own post (and ask me not to reblog) or send me an Ask, or a Submission to this blog that I can approve, or as a Direct Message to this blog or to @juuls — my main blog. I would love some distraction tomorrow, instead of going off on another rant about the world being stupid. :P

I’ll leave you with a few stats to get this started, however!:

I currently have over 700 fics listed on my Reading Log, and only 72 have been read completely!

I read The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins for my Hard Mode book-not-fic task (though I could’ve chosen from 13 other books I’ve already read for that spot!).

I’ve read 52 unique authors.

A new to me fandom (well, sub-fandom, as I’ve read DS9 and AOS/TOS) is Star Trek Discovery, and I’ve even found a fic for literally the very first fandom I became obsessed with as a wee little fanling: Escaflowne. Man! This fic dates back twenty years, back to when I read it on freakin’ GEOCITIES lmaoooo. But then again, I’ve also found some HP fic that goes back further than that, even if I wasn’t actively reading it until one or two years later. My goodness, time flies.

I have also read 25 unique ships and am well on my way to probably tripling that by year’s end. I just love everything, how could I not?

I’ve definitely read short fics, but it looks like my average completed fic (71 fics -- 1,393,005 words total) works out to around 19,620 words! Not too shabby!

The total word count (so far) of the fics I’ll possibly read is creeping well past 12 million now.

I may have a (many) problem(s).

The longest fic I’ve completed so far is a Doctor Who fic at ~207k.

The longest fic I am currently reading -- and it’s still being written!!! -- is an ASoIaF/GoT fic that is ~407k words and counting.

BUT I also have eight fics set in Potterverse waiting for me, which are all more than 600,000 words each. (and tons others in the more than 200k word range -- what is it with that? Do we just love the sandbox or do we want to make Rowling’s characters touch in ways she would despise? 

................ maybe a bit of both.

Yes, dear ones, I am insane. And loving every minute of it.

I may share some more stats tomorrow, but that’s a lot right there! For now, I’m going to go back to an A/B/O guilty pleasure fic (oo, there’s one task down!) I found... ;D 

Anyone have a copy of Draco Dormiens? Coulda sworn I had one hiding out in my hard drives somewhere, but for the life of me I can’t find it... Hm.

Anyway! Have a good night or day y’all! Be kind to one another. <3

And hopefully this rambling made at least one person smile, for that was my aim! I just want this to be fun for everyone and a happy event. No pressure, no best or worst, no comparisons to each other, just to yourself.... learning new things about your own self, too! That’s always wonderful. :) And reading fic in a way that makes it feel like we’re accomplishing something, by making a fun little game/challenge out of it with an aim and a purpose for all those words going in one eyeball and out the other! You can read a book and feel like you’ve “added to your repertoire” and I just want this to feel the same way. :)

It does for me, and I hope it will for you too.

Much love, all.

<3

[myriadimagines]

Which of your fics...? (tag game)

i was tagged by @locke-writes !! these tag games are always interesting bc it’s so strange to go back and really look at your writing/answer questions about it 

Did you think would get a bigger reaction/audience than it did?

all of them lmfao jk jk but on a more serious note i’m at the point where i really don’t expect my shit to get notes anymore so i don’t ever really expect my writing to blow up. i guess one that comes to mind is One for Six (Reader x Steve Harrington)? i think i posted it around when season 3 came out so i figured stranger things would still be trending/relevant enough to gain some traction, especially since i was seeing a lot of other stranger things/steve harrington fics floating around with like hundreds of notes, but it just did ok. and tbh i only just found this fic while going through my masterlist but i’d say the same goes for Savior (Reader x Poe Dameron), again because i posted it around when the rise of skywalker and it just did alright.

Got a better reaction than you were expecting?

lots of my old pieces, probably because they’ve existed for longer so they’ve gained more notes that way? i don’t know why else they would be so popular bc they’re like 3 years old and i don’t even remember writing them bc they’re that forgettable. i almost don’t want to link them because they are literally so so bad like there wasn’t really a request so bc of that there wasn’t really a plot? but yeah Don’t Tell Me You Actually Doubted Me (Reader x Stephen Strange) & I’ll Hurt The Suit (Reader x Eggsy Unwin) both have around 700 notes which is kind of ridiculous

Is your funniest?

i feel like i don’t really write humorous pieces? i feel like i might throw in some funny moments here and there but overall i wouldn’t describe the tone as funny. i guess one that comes to mind is Quite The Contrary (pt. ii) (Reader x Jaime Lannister) because it has some lighthearted vignettes with jaime trying to impress the reader that kind made me laugh when i pictured them in my head. and come to think of it my most recent fic is also pretty lighthearted, so i’d also say Off Limits (Reader x Cassian Andor).

Is your darkest or angstiest?

akjsdhalksdhajksdhasd i feel like everything i write i just outdo myself with the angst because i feel like the only time i feel like writing now is when i’m sad. i guess top pieces that come to mind are Grief (Reader x Donna Troy), God’s Soldier (Reader x Matthew Murdock) & Games (Reader x Michael Gray). i feel like Games is a different type of angst compared to Grief and God’s Soldier, but it still made my heart ache while writing it

Is your absolute favorite?

i feel like i think some pieces are my favorite when i write them but over time i just find them average and am really not impressed with myself alsdhjakshd but i suppose Cursed Blood (Reader x Renfri) & Quit (Reader x Billy Russo) are two i haven’t completely managed to hate yet.

Was easiest to write?

ohhhhh i’m not sure because i feel like i always struggle at one point when writing something. i think i’d have to say Games (Reader x Michael Gray) because it was based on a gif imagine i had already written so i had a pretty concrete plot in mind? so all i needed to do was flesh it out and go in detail.

Was hardest to write?

oh jeez probably all the pieces with characters i don’t like/am indifferent toward/am not inspired for. i also went through a phase on my blog where people just asked me to write one shots based on gif imagines, some of which were really obscure requests already and weren’t really one shot material, but i ended up just trying to do it. so all those one shots i forced myself to write content for were hard to write and not good at all. there’s too many to link.

Has your favorite lines/exchanges/paragraphs?

Quit (Reader x Billy Russo): So instead, you let him burrow inside of you, let him make a house out of your body, your ribcage the white picket fence while he takes comfort from the warmth of your fireplace heart. You’ll never try to make a home out of him. His bones are brittle and empty, collecting dust over abandoned furniture. You’d be picking glass out from your feet if you tried to enter, broken things that had been there long before you ever arrived.

God’s Soldier (Reader x Matthew Murdock): Father Lantom told him that God speaks in whispers, yet he’s never met with anything but silence, deafening, overwhelming silence. He has never heard anything from God. He never has, and he doubts he ever will.

Wholeheartedly (Reader x Klaus Hargreeves): He had rested his head in your lap, looking up at your smiling face as you braided wildflowers into his curls. The sun hung overhead, shining a golden halo around your head. The two of you always joked you were the Kings of the park, two boys in love with flowers in your hair. // If Klaus tried to focus hard enough, he could almost taste the lemonade on your lips when you kissed in that very park for the first time.

Have you re-read the most?

i don’t really reread my work.

Would you recommend to someone reading your work for the first time?

i feel like i have two categories of fics with one being more traditional with like a clear plot, dialogue and all that, and others that is just me word vomiting and it’s more abstract/vague. so going with that, i guess some fics i’d recommend that are more straightforward/traditional:

Professional (Reader x Dick Grayson) / Just A Scrape (William Brandt x Reader) / Savior (Reader x Poe Dameron) / Games (Reader x Michael Gray) / One for Six (Reader x Steve Harrington)

and fics that are more abstract:

Quit (Reader x Billy Russo) / Cursed Blood (Reader x Renfri) / One Day (Reader x Poe Dameron) / Grief (Reader x Donna Troy) / Wholeheartedly (Reader x Klaus Hargreeves)

sorry i basically just repeated the same couple of one shots, bc i literally only acknowledge pieces i’ve written maybe from last year onward bc anything before that is trash. but anyway, i’m gonna tag every writer who sees this bc this was fun!!!

[fortworthautodetail]

Why Should You Have Your Car Detailed?

Outward Appearance

The first and most obvious reason to detail a car is to improve the outward appearance. We have all seen the cars with windows so dirty that the words ‘wash me’ can be scribbled in the dirt. Your car doesn’t have to even be ‘that bad’ though to benefit from a professional detail. A good detail can take a car from any level of dirty and turn it into a car you want to drive around and show off. You do not have to be a clean freak to appreciate a clean car. If your car is clean, it is one less thing off your to do list, one less thing for you to worry about. So, you will feel great and your vehicle will look great. You can check out some of our recent work here to see some of before and after shots.

Return on Investment

There is more than just outward beauty, right? Your car is an investment, and you need to protect it as such. Let’s talk dollars. Cars are expensive, and car prices are only going up. Take a look at this chart from CarGurus[1]. Look at the past decade of car prices; Toyota is up 22.1%, Chevy is up 30.5%, and Ford is up 36.5%. Combine that with the fact that there are an estimated 273.6 million vehicles in America[2]. What does that tell us? Well, it means cars are expensive and we all have them. Our vehicles are typically the second biggest purchase we will ever make beside a house. If you are going to spend that much on an item that you will be using almost every day, then why not protect it? People are holding onto their cars longer than ever before as well. The average car loan in 2020 is 70.6 months.[3] You cannot have your vehicle for almost 6 years and not clean and protect it. You think, well I will just take it to the drive through car wash to keep it clean. That is a terrible idea. Learn why here. One day you are going to want to sell your car. If you have properly maintained your vehicle, you are going to get top dollar for it and selling it should be a breeze. Learn how much you can increase your car’s value from detailing here. Spoiler alert, it’s significant. Most cars depreciate in value, so we want to offset that depreciation and get the most back from our investment with vehicle that has been well-maintained.

Preserve Your Vehicle’s Quality

What does it mean to have a well-maintained vehicle? Well, in the detail world it would mean having some form of paint protection, whether that be our graphene spray wax, light ceramic coating, or graphene ceramic coating. Having some form of paint protection is going to give your vehicle many benefits. First, it is extremely hydrophobic, meaning water will bead and sheet off your vehicle. This property makes your vehicle easier to maintain as well as reduces the possibility of water spotting on your paintwork. Another benefit of having paint protection is guarding against the damaging effects of UV rays. Over time, the sun can damage your paintwork, but having some form of protection on your vehicle will dramatically reduce such damage. The same concept is going to apply to the interior of your vehicle. In order to prevent stains, you can put a waterproof fabric protectant on your upholstery. In order to prevent your leather seats from cracking and from dye transfer, you can put a leather coating on them. In order to prevent your door panels and dash from cracking due to UV damage, you can put a light chemical dressing on them. At Fort Worth Auto Detail, we can do all of that and more to make sure your vehicle has the proper care.

Health Benefits

Appearance is great, money is better, but what about perhaps the most important thing of all, especially in 2020: health. We are in our cars a lot. With all that time getting in and out of our vehicles whether that’s hauling kids, grabbing a bite to eat, or taking around the golf clubs, there is a lot of opportunity for bacteria to grow. According to one study, “There are roughly 700 different strains of bacteria living in the average vehicle.”[4] This study then went on to look at how dirty a steering wheel is by taking measurements of the average amount of bacteria per square centimeter. The results? The average steering wheel has 4x more bacteria than the average public toilet seat. I do not know about you, but I want to avoid grabbing a public toilet seat at all costs. Yet when it comes to our steering wheel, we do not think twice about how dirty it is. The good news is, we have a steamer and enough chemicals that we can virtually eliminate these bacteria. Most bacteria are killed at 167F, and our steamer outputs steam at around 200F. So, it is strong enough to kill the bacteria that is lurking in your vehicle but not so hot that it is going to harm your vehicle in any way.

Conclusion

So if you want your car to look amazing, have a great return on investment, preserve your vehicle's quality, and eliminate bacteria in your vehicle you need to book with Fort Worth Auto Detail today!

Sources: 

[1] https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/price-trends/

[2] http://bit.ly/3nTJRfg 

[3] http://edmu.in/38J4sMZ 

[4] https://bit.ly/3rEApig