#they need to make a spreadsheet with all their character details or something because I feel like sometimes they forget stuff about them

[darkacademiaarchivist]

i have such mixed feelings about the new night vale episode

[wannab-urs]

The Spreadsheet Digest - Fic Recs | Vol 7

Howdy, folks! It's time for this week's recap of what I read :)

As always, you can find the spreadsheet here, and you're always more than welcome to tag me in your fic if you'd like to be included. New and old fics both appreciated; anything from a drabble to a 400k word series is fine; and the only Pedro boy I don't really read is Pero Tovar.

Without further ado here are the fics I read this week and the unhinged ramblings of a madwoman (me) to substitute for a coherent recommendation.

One for the money, two for the show a Joel series by @cowgurrrl

Rockstar!Joel AU with such a sweet fake dating trope lead in and then the most delicious yummy angst. As your resident angst whore this was everything because it was so REAL and so fucking heartbreaking. And then the happy little hopeful ending and then all the drabbles and extras??? AH! My favorite part was the lil instagram stories i think <3

sharing is caring a Frankie/Santi one shot by @walkintotheriveranddisappear

Your friend Santi introduces you to his friend Frankie and uhhhh you guys go make a sandwich.

Only Lovers Left Alive a Joel series by @atinylittlepain

I love every single thing about this. Revenge. Vampires. Blood play kind of? Biting. Etc. This shit rocks.

Waiting Room a Joel one shot by @beskarandblasters

I fucking love what kel did with this song. The repetition of one for the road really fuckin got me too. Angst angst angst.

The Special One a Joel series by @toxicanonymity

What if a reluctant soulmates AU was also a vampire!Joel AU? It would be perfect, that's what. I'm loving vampire!joel rn anyway, but this was such a cool twist on it. Also his vibes in this are fucking immaculate

Copycat Killer a Joel series by @beskarandblasters

Bitch this is so good. Stalker!Reader x Rockstar Joel... fucking perfect. I love how they both kind of suck as human beings a little bit. And that blow job oh my GOD.

Sweet Creature a Dieter series by @wildemaven

I really really love how this story is going. The little town is so real to me and I love all the little places we get to see. The bookstore sounds like a DREAM. And I can't wait for Reader to bond with D over art ahhhhh.

Stitches a Din series by @djarinsbeskar

This fic is so fucking good dude. I love the set up for the whole thing and the reader character is really fuckin' cool. The like... 8 consecutive parts of incredible smut that continues to be genuinely interesting and really fucking hot even after like 200K words is extremely impressive. I'm also pretty sucked into the story and the way Medic is being interwoven into canon. Oh and the introspection we get from Din's POV is *chef's kiss*.... anyway pls god finish this story i need it

False God a Frankie series by @swiftispunk

Frankie asking for what he wants is so... yummy... especially when it's wanting to be your subby lil pussy eating king like... PLEASE. And his praise kink??? I am in Frankie heaven

102 a Frankie one shot by @tieronecrush

I fucking love this ahhhh. I felt so bad for Frankie but also their friendship is so cute??? I love the unrequited love//idiots to lovers trope

Safe in my Arms an Ezra one shot by @mishasminion360

Ezra struggling to adjust to having one less limb and me crying about it. This was so fucking good. The raw emotion he feels and reader's unwavering support... the realism in saying something that accidentally hurts his feelings and trying to take over tasks he might find difficult AGH. I love this so much

Leave Off Your Wandering a Joel series by @oonajaeadira

Adira, I fall in love with every single little world you create without fail. This is obviously no exception. Your sheep ranch is a dream. The way you build up this backstory with the Roostlings and the friendship with Tommy and Maria and just all these extra little details you take the time to flesh out and weave into the story... makes my heart sing, friend. I adore this <3

-------- fics i read a while ago and never recommended -------

Name a Javi P one shot by @joelscruff

Consent a Dieter series by @fuckyeahdindjarin

Whiskey, Dark and Deep a Jack one shot by @prolix-yuy

Stay on the Screenplay a Dieter series by jazzelsaur (ao3)

A Safe Haven a Joel series by @joelsgreys

Psychomanteum a Dieter series by @whatsnewalycat

In Name Only an Oberyn series by @forever-rogue

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I haven't written a word in weeks, so once again no updates for me :/

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Happy Reading

[thisuserislilsilly]

Summary: After our first meeting, I knew I had to make room in my tight schedule of laziness to invite Isolde somewhere nice, but the galaxy is always full of surprises

Genre: Action/fluff/wholesome/angst

Pairing: Crae Vullscat (Rogue Trader) x Isolde (Character belongs to @meervalv0 )

TW: Foul language, fluff, bit of smut (or smut implications), heavy subject implications, hints of mental and physical abuse, reader caution in some portions is advised, otherwise you can skip to another part of the one-shot or skip it entirely

SECTION WILL HAVE "******************************" AT THE START AND FINISH OF IT

Goblin tag squad: @finchly-tintinnabulation @meervalv0 @echo-of-damnation

@cardinalcanis @artemisareia @jaghatai-khock

@druidwolf21

I know is a gif from Arcane, shut up

I didn't saw my fair lady for a couple of standard Imperial years after our first encounter; partially because I needed to complete some contracts and deals with other Trader Houses and partially because I had, mostly, ran out of stories to tell her, which was what I thought at the time the only reason she had maintained contact with me at all. Once or twice the Tear's would get a message from her broadcast, asking how I was doing or what fun adventures my crew and I had taken part of; the usual reply was a short message to basically announce I was still alive and that life had gone it's natural course without many troubles or, well, "expected troubles" more than just being shot at by space pirates or your average local Xeno that thinks you are a threat for being part of one of the largest Imperiums in the galaxy that treats their kind not so nicely. Details, after all.

I had been practicing for weeks and months on end what I wanted to say, really, I did, I even had a spreadsheet with all of the possible starters and enders to a conversation I could think of. Knowing she was more of the strong silent murder hobo type of people I asked literally every strong silent murder hobo person I knew in my ship what they would think it was a good place to take a person out for a friendly conversation....nine out of ten told me to go into a giant arena and bash some skulls in; which I was not thrilled to suggest to Isolde taking into account she was so much bigger than me that in this case size mattered a hell of a lot. Nothing convinced me, nothing was good enough for her, for what she deserved to be called and engaged with; she was more than royalty for my father's beards, she was a damn Astartes at best, an higher ranking officer at worst! I was just a stupid, insignificant little Trader that had managed to entertain her long enough to captivate her attention.

Most of all, now that I have the power of looking back at it with other perspective, I was scared she was...real. I was afraid she truly felt something for me, even if it was as little as just friendship; those who knew me well were aware of this, Gertie many times tried to convince me of just dropping the subject, to realize it wasn't worth it to take risky missions and adventures into the unknown only to have a good story to tell and register on my diaries. He was right, he knew why this whole thing scared me more than the Xenos we fought and the heretics we sacked, she had lasted more than any other past fling I ever had or ever would have after her if that chance didn't work out. Gertie and my crew had rebuilt me once, they didn't want to see me torn into pieces again.

Finally one day my crew and I were unpacking some strange artifacts we had picked up in unregistered worlds I received the message I was longing for; she would had a chance at resting, the war campaign she and her legion had been fighting on was drawing to it's closure. She had time to see me. Words fail to express the joy that came over me; faster than a mutant running away from an Inquisitor I threw whatever I had on my hands onto the cargo hold, hurried up every crew member that was packing stuff to do it faster and I am pretty sure than in all the messy crowd of the space port one or two of my retinue was left behind because of how fast I wanted to get out into the Warp and subsequently on the same region in which Isolde was going to be on.

"Can you slow down, Lord Captain, and tell me why the hell are we in such a hurry? Are we being chased by one of your crazy crushes once again? Have heretics discovered you were scamming them? The Ecclesiarchy has finally tried to indoctrinate you into their Imperial Truth?" I heard Gertie heavy breath as I ran up and down my ship looking for my spreadsheets of flirting "No! Nonononono my dear Seneschal, something much better! Lady Isolde has finally some time for herself! Out there, in some fracking system, she is actually resting and off the battlefield! Do you know what this means!?!?!" I shook Gertie in excitement "You are gonna finally carry her to your bed chambers?!?!" "Yes!....I mean no, no I will be finally able to go on a romantic walk with her!" "Ah....wait a date!?!?!?! Sir-....Sir what do you mean a date!!?!?" Gertie stuttered

I could only laugh like a maniac up to this point; as far as I understood it, every second counted if I wanted to have an opportunity of meeting Isolde again in peaceful times. It was this set of thoughts what led me to boss the Navigator around to make the longest Warp jump they had ever done in the fastest route onto Isolde current system whereabouts. Looking back, I should had thought in the inevitable consequences of that irrational order, but not even the Emperor himself would had been able to convince me of not doing it at that moment, such was my rush to get there on time.

This next part is well known by many historians that have covered Vullscat House so I won't be adding too much into the events that transpired whenever the Navigator raised a prayer to the Emperor and took the Warp jump that blew their head off by how potent it had been and that told every Daemon in the Immaterium that there were some fresh meat trapped in a vessel coursing through their realm ready to be eaten by their demonic mouths and digested on their inhuman bellies. I never payed attention to the classes on the topic of Daemons and the manifestations of the Immaterium in my Schola Administratum days so I will spare the reader from my blunt and simple descriptions of those creatures, that would had inevitably boil down to "This one was uglier than my mother, that one had the face of my sister for a moment before I blew their heads off, the one I killed next was as red as my combipistol" etcetera and etcetera.

I won't do that and, frankly, I found that travel too uninteresting to even add it to my personal memoirs, I am sure all will know it by now if the reader has ever read something else about the Vullscat's or a Imperial book detailing the most recent and extraordinary events that have occurred in the Warp.

Editor's Note: What Crae is referring to here is the infamous "Battle at the future's hells", the Tear's made one of the boldest and largest Void jumps that has ever been registered on Imperial Records, approximately traveling 27 different systems and galaxy regions in the span of two Materium days, but that took years on the Warp for every traveler that had the misfortune of witnessing and living it. Product of the long perilous journey, Daemons and one Greater Daemon of rot manifested themselves onboard of the ship, initiating a battle with the human cohort of the Tears that saw the death of 3/4ths of the crew, only managing to survive a few deck officers, Crae, his Seneschal Gertie and a Ecclesiarchy priest that would later on abandon their religion and live a life of a farmer until their final days in an Agri-World never getting over the horrors that they experienced in the ship. In addendum to that already incredible story of survival, it is believed Crae and his crew saw one of the many possible futures of the Imperium of Mankind but the man has been too stupid, or stubborn, to recollect any of what he saw on the voyage and the event is never recalled again in his memoirs; in consequence, all of what is left of that bold journey through the Immaterium are the broken recollections of now atheist former member of the Imperial Truth and the half truths of the Vullscat Seneschal, that has vowed themselves to not reveal anything and carry the knowledge to their deaths.

Whenever me and the five...ten....twenty crew members that had survived the journey exited the grasps of the Warp the Emperor blessed me and my luck once again by finding Isolde ship just as they were making the preparations for a Void jump. I immediately broadcasted to them of my arrival and the most urgent of requests to have the opportunity of seeing Isolde once again. Also because we were so short on staff I requested (begged if I have to be honest) for some of their serfs and servitors to be borrowed by the Tears as we explored nearby planets to recruit some more that could fill the ranks that had been vacant since the flesh of my previous comrades was still fresh in the walls, ceilings and apparatus of the command ship. Luckily the Ship throne had been left intact, if one could see past the Chaos corruption that had impregnated the artifact and the never-ending whispers that would stain my personal command chair for years to come; my only consolation to that fact is that the voices have passed the point of convincing me to commit suicide or submit to dark powers to just feel pity for me and start complaining about all the noise my inner voice makes whenever I am using the throne.

The ships made contact again, the ports between the two spread out so the bridges collided and the Marines formed a line like they had done in the past, standard stuff that had honestly wore off it's might once I had realized it would be a custom that would repeat every single bloody time I made contact with an Adeptus Astartes ship....fun.

As I slipped pass the Marines of the area, giving them the big ol' "I know your boss, let me through" management speech, my feet carried me to the entrance of Isolde room, I just needed to knock and let my presence be known to her. Or, well, more like letting her know I was already there, she would've been kinda told about my general arrival there taking into account I was seemingly the only human being that willingly wanted to see her in the entire ship, red flags? Pfft nah, that was a gift. So there I was, knocking three times and taking a little step back as you do your first time asking someone out, like in college or your average Astra Progenium halls just to get rejected by Margarett you fucking imbecile that had the balls to dare not take my hand to the ball and instead take BLOODY JONATHAN AND HIS SHITTY STUPID WIG-.

Like I was writing before, I knocked three times and nervously awaited for her to arrive, with her loud footsteps getting closer and closer to the door, holding tightly the little piece of paper where I had written my notes to not just stare at her with big eyes and nothing else; the moment finally arrived when the metallic door slid open and her gorgeous visage appeared in front of me only dressed with a simple robe having hanged her armor on one of the far ends of her chambers. She raised one of her eyebrows, most likely expecting me to explain what I was doing there when this sudden and very rare shyness took over my entire body. One I had never felt before, not even the first time I held hands with Margarett and confessed my love only for her to just refuse it and talk about sweet precious Jonathan having conquered her heart and soul and the prospect of getting married to that asshole that most likely cheated on her ass as it was the obvious thing he was going to do it was so Emperor's damm obvious he was just a playboy out to get her SON OF A BITCH.

Editors note: We have purposely jumped to the end of the page and audio log to spare the dear readers and listeners from the ramblings of a man that hadn't gotten over a breakup that had occurred ten years ago.

Minutes passed as Isolde kept looking at the nervous fragile tiny little me stuttering to get a word in after constantly checking my notes over conversation starters until I blurted out just before her hand could reach the door switch

"My fair lady Isolde, I have humbly cum-come to your chambers to ask of you if your highness could...perhaps...maybe" I tried to articulate as best as I could fidgeting with my fingers "Go out with me" "What use would it be to visit the decks of the ship?" Isolde asked, always the pure innocent beautiful lady "No, I uh, no I wasn't referring to literally cu-cOME outside to the hallways, I meant leaving the ship to go out into the planet we have landed on...the two of us...alone....to distract ourselves from the voyage and whatever may be troubling our souls...and...minds..."

If I had to compare my starter to those I have done before and after that day had passed, or if I had to be brutally honest with myself a Rattling high on the most wildest and spicy combination of banned drugs across the Imperium could had gotten their point across faster and efficiently than whatever had just spill out of my mouth that moment. Luckily Isolde does not remember that, she has told me she just recalls how nervous I was and how "adorable" my mumbling sounded; which credit where credit is due, I prefer she reminisces about that moment qualifying me as cute rather than an idiot.

Isolde only laughed at my comment, genuinely having fun with my stupid stuttering and confusing words, I giggled awkwardly to not make the moment worse for my reputation and extended my hand out to her as too symbolize my intentions of walking out of there with her. It would had been a good gesture, really it would've, if not by the fact my hand barely reached hers and I had to walk on my tiptoes if I wished to maintain that gesture all the way to one of her ships shuttles. My physique didn't last that long holding on to her hand, I got tired and dislocated my arm after the third step as she waved me around making my tiny little bone have a panic attack inside of me and popped out of it's intended position; I pretended that nothing had happened and excused myself as I went to a corner and bashed my arm against the wall to forcefully pop the bone right into it's original place; I screamed out of pain whenever that idiotic plan to fix that situation worked, I never told it to anyone but my arm spent months healing itself afterwards and still today whenever I move my arm I can see the bone making contact with my skin...at least it's a funny thing to brag about in parties now whenever I am drunk.

Anyways with or without my arm hurting like the seven hells of the Warp (don't look at their eyes Crae...don't remember their eyes...) we made it to one of the bigger shuttles that actually fit her large frame while leaving me feeling small, my feet were left dangling from the seat whenever I took one of the chairs close to Isolde (for comfort, of course), the only thought that crossed my mind at that point is how the emergency straps would protect Isolde quite efficiently if anything happened but wouldn't even manage to keep me on the chair as my frame was so little I could literally pass my arms and entire body between the bars with no problem whatsoever. I shook that feeling out of my mind as Isolde sighed next to me and looked down at my frame with a gaze I couldn't guess what it could've meant, but looked like if a lion or some hunting animal had their sights on me, weirdly enough.

"So...where are we going?" She finally broke the silence "We arrrrre going toooooo land in..." I mumbled as my finger passed through different name locations on the screen "Domecracka....! It has good drinks, there's a review saying their dishes are not totally disgusting and a restaurant critic just gave it three stars by the ambience alone! Perfect place to spend a good time" "And what we will do there, Sir Crae?" Isolde spoke so gently I felt like I was in the clouds "Why, dance of course! And drink too, maybe sing a few songs if we are lucky and the booths are empty today" I pressed the destination and the shuttle departed from the ship towards the planet surface "What are these activities you speak of? Is there blood to be spilled?" The lady looked down at her sword "Not at all, there we will just be able to sit back and enjoy a cold one while listening to some tunes and talk about-" I looked down at my hand where I had scribbled some prompts "Life in general!" "Huh, it will be a calm battlefield then" She murmured "Uh I think if you take battle out of that word you would be right on the money" I chuckled "What money?" "Well this is gonna be a long date..." I whispered and leaned back on the chair, seeing through one of the shuttle windows how we were about to do planetfall

I will never forget the look of awe in the face of Isolde whenever we exited the shuttle and stood in front of the big pub before us. It is what I like to remember of that first time, not the weird looks the pedestrian around gave us when passing by our side. I waved my hand to invite her to go inside, rambling on about how she was going to enjoy this and how it was now some time strictly for us; it was my way to tell her I hoped nobody, not her "battle-brothers" or serfs, would disturb us by sending messages or Vox audios through her communication systems or anything of the sort, but Isolde took that rambling quite literally when she threw her helmet out to one of the servitors at the entrance of the inn and told them to keep it until she returned for it. I simply shrugged and smiled, she looked completely out of her field there, which was a good thing, it meant she was trying new stuff.

We searched for a seat in sight of the dance floor and where the roof wasn't too low so she could actually sit comfortably. Once again there were a couple of stares headed our way from other patrons, who had most likely never seen someone like Isolde anywhere near those places. She wasn't paying attention to them however, she was looking straight at me, to how I moved, when I ordered some light beverages to kickstart the whole conversation, when I made her look around to see our surroundings and define with sights what a "pub" was and what people usually did there; she was just soaking everything up, listening attentively to everything I was saying, her head was hung low on the table to look at me better. I...I felt seen, I felt someone was paying attention to my ramblings and my words for the first time in perhaps my entire life. Gertie and the crew had their own ways to block out my words and interpret what I wanted to say, but Isolde was listening to all of the words that were coming out of my mouth, no matter how much I jumped from topic to topic.

She didn't say much at first, taking a much more passive role only listening and doing some sounds for me to understand she was still paying attention to me. I rambled on and on about my adventures, then when that had dried up I said a couple of things about the stuff I was wearing or the cargo back in the ship, I even spoke about where I had gotten the Tears and why I had named it that way. Just blurting out anything I had in my mind, anything that could be counted as topics. Isolde was just present, listening, silent, hooked. When the first row of drinks arrived at our table I realized how much I had been talking, I hadn't even given her the chance of speaking up, of commenting something by herself; I cursed when the reality settled in, I had been dumber than an Ogryn and more rude than a commissar that whole time.

"I...uh....sorry for speaking too much I-I...was so excited to be here with you that...um..." I looked downwards, ashamed of my actions "I was listening" She bluntly spoke up, leaning her head against her arms "Yeah but I didn't let you have a go at speaking to me" I coughed to clear my throat "But...I don't have anything to say, your stories are interesting, captivating" She placed a finger on her cheek "Well...you can say stuff, like whatever you want! This doesn't have to be an interrogation or anything of the sort, you know? In here you can just...talk" "What do you mean just talk? Like I don't have to wait for my turn?" Her eyes lightened up "Yeah, you can just...go to town with it!" I smiled "But how can I-" "Like this" I interrupted abruptly, making her eyes open widely "You just-" She pointed at me "I did" "Stop...stop tha-" "Interrupt me" I teased, smirking" "I-I will-!" "Too slow" "Well you aren't talking mu-" "Did it again" I leaned back in my chair as sassy as I could "I'll punch y-" Her cheeks went red "Nah, you won't" "I wi-!" "You won't!" I pointed a finger at her "Yes I w-" "Nuh uh" "Yuh uh!" I almost fell off my chair at that tender moment "Nuh-" "I will!" Her smile widened as she interrupted me "Hah! I did it" "Pfft that? That was just lu-" I smiled when I saw her opening her mouth again "Nope!" Now it was Isolde turn to have a smug smile "It wasn't" "Alri-" "Nah!!" She giggled "Excuse m-?" I pretended to act all offended

We kept on going with the banter for a few minutes, that little game between us, some little space where I felt like a kid making friends again; like if for a while the space surrounding us had faded into the background, I could only hear her voice, she could only hear mine. We were two little stars on a void of endless war and suffering, two laughs between sobs and oaths of vengeance. It was what I wanted to make possible for once in my life, just once, I felt I had a normal life.

"Okay okay...tell me something about yourself now" I wiped a tear out of my face "What is there to say? I serve the Emperor and-" "Uuuuuuuuuuuuugh boooooring" I dragged out the words and rolled my eyes back "Well what am I supposed to say!?!?" She giggled, offended "I don't know your...your brothers! Or your dad, tell me something about them" I shrugged "Well...." Isolde thought for a moment "I used to watch the older Dark Angels train with their swords and plasma rifles...I held my first weapon at, Emperor when was it? I was five?" "Alright, alright we are making some advances, that's good" I took a swig out of my glass "Now tell me something that doesn't include training or killing" "Wha-you just banned half of my life there!" She pouted "Well then fucking tell me about the half I didn't ban!" "My dad used to take me and my brother out for a walk in every single forest we ran into when he was on war campaigns" Isolde drank from her own cup and with the tip of her fingers she made little circles on the edges of the cup "I always got impatient and ran off ahead of them so they could hurry up" "You weren't too much of a fan to look at the scenery?" "No, no I was; just that Leon and dad always walked slower and got on my nerves" Isolde chuckled "Damm, that's an interesting name for a child" Crae pointed out as he grabbed his glass and was about to drink from it "It sounds almost like the Primarch" "Of course it does, Lion named him and mom named m-"

Isolde didn't got to finish the phrase before I spat all of the drink I had in my mouth to the robes of Isolde. My face turned pale, holy fucking shitting Emperor's dick Isolde was the daughter of a fucking PRIMARCH and I was about to propose HAVING SEX with her after hanging out ON A DATE. I couldn't believe it, I couldn't begin to imagine how fucked I was at that moment if I didn't immediately stand up and get the fuck out of there before it was too late and I screwed it up even more than what I already was.

Meanwhile Isolde had opened her eyes widely and looked down at her, now slightly wet, robe. She probably didn't realize what had just happened, what hanging out with me at that moment really meant, hell I wasn't even sure she could understand what that whole date was trying to imply. She had just been spit on by the man that had just made her say a good fond memory. I had to fix that too before she ripped my head off from a single punch.

"Oh for the love of all the Saints I am so sorry Lady Isolde, Mistress Isolde, venerable daughter of all that is pure and holy-" My voice began to break as I grabbed a towel and tried to help her "It-it-it's okay Crae, don't-" Isolde blinked twice "Oh sweet lady of the Angels of the Emperor I ask for your forgiveness on my intrusion of your sacred body in this terrible hour, I plead for my life if it isn't too late already, I don't have kids or a wife at home to feed but I have a little bird named Pidgey that would get mad at me if I don't return to pet it-" I began to ramble out of sheer panic, it didn't help that some of the beer had fallen on her chest area...that I was now touching "What are you talking about!?!?! Why did you change your mannerisms all of the sudden?!?!?" I think she genuinely began to worry that my brain had just collapsed inside of my head, or that I had gone mad "I-I-I....you are the daughter of a Primarch and I just got you to a bar that isn't even the best one there is around here that has some scumbags and mercenaries around oh fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-" My head was spinning, heart was beating faster, I had what the kids call a nervous breakdown "Crae.....Crae......" Isolde looked directly at my eyes as I was still trying to make things right "I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked I'm fucked-" At this point of the story I don't have any words to add, just read how nervous I was for fuck sake "Crae...I am not my father and I know where I am" Isolde spoke calmly, lifting my chin to look at her directly "I don't wanna be judged by the High Lords of Terra for treason and wanting to sleep with a Primarch's daughter I swear I just thought you were a mutant of some sorts that was just big or that the abuse of drugs throughout my younger years started to affect my perception of reality-" I was shivering

Just like our last meeting, Isolde stood up and lifted me up by the arms to her eye level, my feet were dangling in the air flailing about, my arms went limp to the sides and my eyes stared right at Isolde's. The always confident and totally cool with the ladies Crae Vullscat had been reduced to a mumbling shivering scared nervous fucking mess, not even the most retarded of Orks or intelligent amongst the Ogryns could had ever done justice or come close to the amount of shame I was irradiating from my body movements right about then. Twenty year old me would've shot himself if he had seen me at that moment. Hell even fifty year old present me would had shot myself a couple of times at that moment.

The gesture got it's results though, as my heart rate slowly went down and I took quick and shaky deep breaths to calm myself, Isolde stared at me throughout the whole endeavor like a mother looks at it's problematic child whenever they throw a fit. If I didn't care that other's were watching now I may had been able to notice how everyone including the bartender and a guy that was being shank in the corner of the inn were with their jaws stuck to the floor. As my brain connected itself again to my body, the initial fear was slowly replaced by....pride; fuck yeah I had invited a daughter of a Primarch to go on a date! I had all the charisma on the world to do it! It was coming out great actually, so why didn't the whole universe just suck it up? I was going to do the unthinkable, the stuff legends were made out of! I was going to go absolutely into town with her, might as well just have the roughest, meanest, wildest sex no human had ever gotten with a Primarch descendant and record it firmly in my brain so every detail, thrust, bite, nimble, tit squeeze, suck of my cock, a little bit of biting or choking the hell out of me could be forever in my mind to retell with the outmost detail as possible! I wanted to shout now, to howl in victory, I didn't need to go on dates and fail at them miserably because everyone just considered me a sex toy to explore and sink their little cucks into so they could suck the life out of me and only please themselves while I was left to bear the scars alone of a full life without any kind of sexual gratification and only receiving the low ends of my entire existence just so years later I could reflect I had been used and discarded time and time again until my perception of love had been completely altered and shattered because of my heavy past experiences with manipulative fucks.

Editor's note: To preserve his memoirs as intact as possible, we as editors had to include this and not censor any of the raw thoughts that bubbled to the surface. Just to show the man beyond the smiles, as a team we are not ashamed to show his reality.

Where....where did I had left the story again? Oh...yeah the excitement.

"I...you can put me down now, I'm better" I stuttered ever so slightly "You sure there are no more panic attacks or weird spacing out?" Isolde asked sincerely "I'm...sure" I blinked as she delicately placed me again on the ground, coughing awkwardly

I returned to my own chair in silence, looking down at the beer and just chugging it all down before asking for another round, to hell with it, I was just going to let it all flow just like I was doing it before. With the dizziness of the drink still in effect, I told Isolde to continue with her stories and after a moment of hesitation she did just that, telling me about her youth with her dad, the Lion no less, and her brother, the places she had visited and how closely they all were. A big family, with a big heart as well, they all seemed to get along fine and dandy; which inadvertently lead down to the one topic I didn't want to be on the receiving end of.

***********************************************************************

"So...how was your childhood? What adventures did you have?" She leaned forward, ready to listen "Well...fine...normal like any other. I just stick to go into the Schola where I could learn a few things of the trade and then returned to command the ship that I have ow" I evaded details like the plague "Oh come on I know there must be something else! I just told you mine!" Isolde flustered her eyes, much to my dismay "My little sister always tried to kill me, I just remember us playing with knives as kids and her taking it so seriously" I shrugged "She did what?" Her face turned to a scowl "Yeah, I was the heir like all firstborn children are, so that was honestly almost expected of her" "And your father just rolled with that?" She raised an eyebrow "He couldn't, he was dead" I sighed and stared at my half empty glass "What...?" Her expression changed again "Yeah...the inquisition got him by the time I was ten...I never really had too much of a connection with him, but that's what got me to the Progenium so early in life...my mom didn't had the resources for her t manage the wealth of the Vullscat's because my dad obviously didn't left a will for those things, so I was the heir until I could claim that right" "How was the Schola?" That dreadful question finally came

I stood there in silence for a minute, pondering what to say. Nobody, not even me, wanted to hear how a kid was bullied by their entire class because of the suspicions that had killed his dad, neither nobody wanted to touch or kiss a "tainted" by the Chaos creature like me except for that...woman. For whom I own "growing up so fast" at my late childhood and early teen years. I knew that nobody would believe anyways that a Sister of Silence touched by Slaneesh would ever hide amongst the ranks of the officers of a institution so important like the Schola Progenium and "punish" that child for the sins of his father. Dooming his innocence by her touch forever...

"It was...what I needed to survive" I said in a whisper as to not break down into tears "You don't have to tell me" Isolde placed a hand on mine "Thank you" I looked up at her, my eyes were wet. That touch meant everything, she wouldn't realize it until years later

I wiped the tears off from my face with the sleeve of my uniform, pushing the memories to the back of my head sighing, she didn't need to know, I couldn't spoil something like that, tell her those things on the first serious date I had with her; who would ever get a second date after dropping a bomb on them like that? Nobody, that's who, nobody.

**********************************************************************

Some time passed, unknown to me, I couldn't calculate it then and I still have troubles to do it now, I just remember the music blaring behind us, inviting daring couples to join the dance floor. That was enough to snap out from the mind hellhole I had sank into; I looked up at Isolde, who was still quiet out of respect for the nerve she had inadvertently touched by her last question, and took one of her hands and squeezed it; the faint joys of being around her returning once more to my head.

"Have you ever danced before?" I asked shaking her hands "Yes, I have, sword fighting-" Isolde blinked "Not that....dancing! You know, moving your body to the beat of the music and just closing your eyes and letting the flow get to ya?" I nodded "Oh like chanting of the veterans when they pray to the Emperor?" "....You don't know how to dance...okay let's go" I stood up from the chair and walked over to her, offering a hand "Where?" She giggled "To teach you how to dance, just follow me"

Switching to the arm I hadn't broke yet because of her "handle" of my wobbly human body, I carried her to the center of the inn, everyone watched but I didn't care, Isolde did though when she nervously chuckled and looked around; that facade of formality was completely gone, we couldn't go back to it even if we tried, there was something so unique about it all, it was a change indescribable but real, I felt it, she did too, I like to believe. The trance of her form and eyes had distracted me from the obvious height difference that impede us from forming a true duet; that sucked. So close yet so far from teaching her how to enjoy one of the most beautiful things of being alive and to be human. I couldn't allow it from separating us.

"Now what...?" She noticed our problem too, kneeing to be at my level "No no, don't do that, you can't truly feel like dancing that way...uh...one second" I raised a finger and smirked

I had watched one of the big burly boys that the local planetary system had for their defenses the moment I entered the bar, at first thinking they'll be intimidating but now some other ideas were running through my mind. I ran towards them, all cocky and sure of myself, tapped their shoulder and began to use my charming personality and the privileges of having someone bigger than him behind me as a backup.

"Oi you" I raised both of my eyebrows "What ye want" He looked down on me "I need you for something, how much you charge for the hour" It wasn't a question, I was demanding "Heh heh heh, ye drunk lad, go bother someone else" The big chunky motherfucker thought that would be enough to sway me "Look that's alright, I'll go bother that tall lady...see her? She's bigger than you and right about now she's my friend. You want me to call her here so she can ask you the same question?" I pointed at Isolde, that froze in place at the sight of being pointed at "Twenty" The man spat on the ground "Well that's not so ba-" I shrugged "Thousand credits, or beer for a year here" The big boi laughed at me, actually thinking I hadn't heard that tactic before "How about two hundred thousand big guy" I smirked

The fool didn't even let me finish the thought, just grumbled and stood up. I smiled and we walked back to where Isolde as. She was completely stunned at the sight of someone joining us, like a dandry lizard on the headlights of a roadsounder. I waved my hand in front of her to signal everything was okay, then I shifted my attention to the big guy and pointed to the ground.

"Right, sit, I need to get in your shoulders" "Ye wha-?" He started to protest "Ah, ah, ah" I shook my finger "What about your money?" "Ugh...fimsddskfine" He mumbled and sat on the ground

With the skill honed by a thousand ship boardings I jumped elegantly onto the shoulders of the man and nodded, he lifted me up with all his strengths holding me tightly by the legs; then once I had my point of balance in order I moved my left leg slightly so the man repeated the motion and took a step forward, then I did the same with the right leg and once again the man copied my moves. That is where the fun truly began.

"Isolde...I need you to take my hands" I extended my limbs towards her, trying to keep balance "Crae this is-" Isolde hadn't stopped laughing since she guessed what I was about to do, holding her belly "Just do it!" I said chuckling

Once our fingers were intertwined the lesson truly began. I instructed her that at the sound of the beat she needed to move to one side, then the other, then to the first position once again, then do a spin and so on and so forth. She slowly caught up to my instructions, her body prepared for a thousand techniques and combat stances slowly shook those learnt steps off and started to just improvise, be free on the movements of her heart and soul, soon Isolde was just a blur of white and blue; dancing around me and the guy who could barely keep up with her much to my fucking dismay. Such a beautiful moment I was catching just glimpses of because the fucker with the big belly wasn't moving at her rhythm.

"Keep up with her come on!" I grunted in frustration "OI SHE MOVES TOO FA-" "I DO NOT GIVE A SHIT, YOU MOVE WITH HER, AT HER PACE OR I SWEAR TO THE EMPEROR AND MY ANCESTORS THAT I WILL BREAK YOUR LEGS AND THEN USE YOUR WOBBLY CHUBBY CORPSE TO FEED MY CREW FOR AN ENTIRE FUCKING YEAR SO THEN YOUR CARCASS CAN BE IMPALED ON THE TOP OF MY SHIP AND USED AS A FLAG FOR ALL THE WARP ENTITIES TO SEE YOUR MISERABLE PILE OF SHIT-!" I couldn't explain exactly if I said that out of frustration or I was already too enthusiastic with Isolda to say anything else

The man just stood there silently, seemingly taking the offense very close to his chest; he kept up with the best pace he could, but the lady being a holy beautiful blessed being as just she could be, Isolde was too fast even at his best efforts. I was losing time, tempo and the opportunity to be with her. I grunted and decided to go for one of the most craziest things I had ever done...

"Isolde....catch me!" "Wha-!?!?" She couldn't go further than that when I suddenly jumped out of the arms of the man to land into her chest "What are you doing!?!?" "Just imagine I can touch the ground....! Keep going!"

Isolde hesitated at first, but then kept going. I moved like a rag doll in her arms, holding tightly to not accidentally be launched straight into a wall and turn to "Shait'e Cremieré" on contact with it; but soon enough I managed to intertwine one hand with her and then the other, squeezing her. She understood the assignment and soon enough she was holding me by the waist with one hand and with the other we were holding each other. It was like a balls...if one partner was much larger than the other one that had their feet comically dangling. We locked eyes, we shared laughs and giggles over how silly this whole situation was; under that light, the disco ball reflecting colors unto the dance floor and her face, did I saw her for all of her beauty and heart.

Those once I believed white hair showed it's true colors, I saw it blonde, her beautiful silky smooth hair looked like the sun I always wanted to see whenever I woke up to in the mornings, those two pearls for eyes she had were all the treasures I wished to have and never let go of, that strong tight grip in her hands was what I wanted to pin me in bed whenever we would love each other. I died that day, I died in those warm, squishy, beautiful, comfortable arms of hers. I would go there, write about it, talk about it and return to that moment each and every second of the rest of my life. Those precious minutes I wanted to savor and save in a bottle to never lose them.

I never will, for as long as I live, forget my first dance with my wife.

The music faded, the laughter subsided and gave way for the realization, she stopped moving and I was left there, hanging from her arms, held dearly in them. I lifted my hand with care towards her cheek, caressing it. I coughed to clear my throat and then I delivered what I think were the words that finally showed I was at her mercy forever more.

"Will you lend me the honor and privilege...of kissing you, Isolde?" "You may, Sir Crae" She replied, sweetly.

Editor's note: For as lovely as Crae describes in the next sentences this kiss, footage of that night shows it was everything but ordered and tender. In the personal opinion of the editor, it was messy and sexily unhinged as all hell.

Our lips touched like two puzzle pieces meant to compliment each other, I felt my lips slowly depart as her tongue introduced itself on my mouth, to be fair and not romantic at all I almost choked on it, really, when someone is big in height everything else is big as well so her tongue was already having difficulties to go in my mouth, could you imagine, whoever the heck is reading this, her just pushing a little harder inside of my mouth? If it wasn't for the heat of the moment I would've been trying to stop her before she choked me to death with her tongue. But as a gentleman, I resisted the temptation to stop her, only lightly pushing her so Isolde could get the idea.

Editor's note: The kiss involved their tongues, a lot of saliva, Crae in fact CHOKING for a couple of seconds, inhaling deeply and going again repeating the motion in a morbid yet fascinating display of endurance.

From there I don't know how did we got a room for ourselves, hell I don't remember how we even fit the key in their respective hole when opening the door as we were focused on each other. For not kissing never before in her life and never having these kinds of human connections, I gotta admit Isolde really was a beast on the department of giving kisses even before we practiced how to do less than messy ones after the fact. However what we did not accounted for due to her inexperience was....the intimate moments of having sex.

"Take your robe off..." I panted as I took my shirt off in one single motion "What?" She caught her breath "Yeah your clothes, we-w-we...I mean I thought we were gonna-" I left the phrase hanging "Going to do what?" That....that was a genuine question of hers "Sex? Intercourse...some people call it the horny time or hanky panky-" "Don't ever say those words again" "....Yup that was weird" I scratched the back of my head, what an idiot "How do we manage to do...sex?" She said the word like if it was in another completely different language "With our clothes off" "Then how would we....defend ourselves?" "Pffft from what?!?!?" I was trying really hard to not laugh at her innocence "If an enemy attacks...?" She implied it was so obvious "Nobody is going to attack you here Isolde, trust me" "You would protect me?" She arched an eyebrow "Well I always come ready with one envelope just in case" "You put your sword in an envelope?" "Oh yeah...." "Wouldn't it be too big to fit in it?" "Somehow I make it work" "You gotta teach m-" "Oh my Emperor you were referring to a real sword..." The realization dawning on me made me giggle for a second before biting my lower lip

There was an awkward silence that followed me almost falling from the bed after she had ever so innocently not catch the double meaning of our conversation at all....it felt too cruel to spell it out for her at the moment, it would ruin both the fun and the otherwise pretty intimate moment we were having there. Beneath all of the smirks and jokes I was still a bit afraid that the worries of Gertie and the rest about...what could happen if I actually went through with it was not the most comforting thought ever but I got rid of those thoughts when I thought of Isolde; this was going to be her first time, I had to at least make it good.

It was weird, not starting or anything of the sorts, she herself was fine, very fine, perhaps too perfect under the robes that had held her visage hidden from me. It reminded me of those old Terran books in which Xenos beyond human comprehension told some very scared humans to "not be afraid" as if seeing a ball of eyes and wings descending on them wasn't excuse enough to be afraid and pull out a bolter to start blasting. That same feeling was what I felt at the moment of seeing her naked body and her boobs; I could've cried from the happiness of knowing I was the first man seeing them but I controlled myself just in time.

I am pretty sure her amusement and awe grew too when she saw my cock though; I don't mean to brag but there was a reason I had said before I was the victim of a lot of advantages and usage of my body for purely political and ethical reasons in the past. Oh yeah, a lotta people had used my private parts to get what they wanted out of me and then discard me....what a great fucking thing to brag about I'll stop now.

Editor's note: Not commenting on if the dick measurement was true or not, this editor sincerely adds that from now on those self degrading commentaries about himself will. be censored and not included, both for the readers immersion in Crae tales and to keep a bit of his honor and figure

First impressions aside, it took a while for us to exactly get how....the events were going to play out, due to a quick study of the situation of our differences in....height tolf us pretty quickly we were gonna have problems on that department. Sure nowadays we can do it no problem knowing the ways and limits of one another, but for our first time things weren't so...clear. To make our story short and spare the details of embarrassing attempts, I asked as gently as I could for Isolde to relax and lay in bed, slightly spreading her legs and stay in that position. I aimed, like that, to please her first and then see if I could had some too, rubbing circles with my fingers around her lips to make the flow more bearable and quickly set the mood for her.Isolde responded with some faint but pretty indicative moans, telling me I was headed the right way, even when it was hard for me to tell taking into account it was almost as big as my bloody mouth.

We went well for the first couple of minutes, carrying the process slowly but gently, once my fingers were wet enough I introduced two of them, gently once again, into her insides. Isolde moved around somewhat but still managed to enjoy more than think in what we were doing. Feeling bold I made the one mistake that would end this whole chapter of our relationship in a comical yet still fond way. You see I must have triggered some fight or flight response, particularly the first part of that response, when I placed my head and lips directly on Isolde pussy; to make it "special" I thought in not telling her about this, to make the sensations surprise her in the best of ways.

Little did I know that as soon as she felt my tongue inside of her, her left leg went up to the sky, shook for one second and then came down crashing against my head. The impact made my body bounce off from the bed and down I went to the floor, managing to hear in my last second of consciousness: "Crae....? Crae???? OH BY THE EMPEROR CRA-!"

[lotusclans-luck]

Do you have any tips or recommendations for someone who wants to make their own comic based on their ClanGen save?

ooh man Well. take this with a grain of salt because i am definitely not an expert on storytelling Or clangen stuff lol ! but heres what id suggest/what i do:

log/write down what happens every moon, patrol, etc. personally i write down EVERYTHING (moons, patrols, some relationship events, and each cats personal status) so im certain i dont miss any potential details/scenes i want to add. however this does leave you with way more information than you'll need in the long run so feel free to just log what you want to! dont go overboard if you dont want to

when writing down everything make sure its organized in a way you'll understand later. for example, i use google spreadsheets and have all the information grouped into specific sheet pages; from there i list everything according to which Moon it happened in for timelines sake

if you dont like something that happened ingame and you want to void it because its inaccurate for the story, Void it. If you want to move an event to a different moon so it makes more sense in the story, Do it. you dont have to include every single thing that happens either, pick things you like or think would work best for the story. its all up to you and should be something you're having fun with!

make sure your character designs are ones you'll be able to draw over and over again– dont feel like you cant get creative with them, just keep in mind youll be drawing these characters so so so many times so make sure youre prepared for that

i cant think of much else off the top of my head.. i kind of just do what i Feel like doing theres no real rhyme or reason to it.. as long as you're having fun bringing these characters to life , you're doing it right !!

[finnlongman]

tasty data, get your tasty data here

All right, I finished putting TBC2-LL into my Unhinged Spreadsheet, so here are some observations about this text. Long post incoming.

Caveat that this spreadsheet is a work in progress and all the data collection is being done manually, aka trawling the text with my own eyeballs and looking for words. It's entirely possible I've missed some.

A Mo Phopa

There are 47 instances of the word "popa" in this text that I've found.

I had to zoom out to fit them all in. This is so many.

What's really interesting, though, is how terms are paired. If I were to put the spreadsheet back in its original order, showing them in the order they occur in the text, we would see that the use of a phopa for Fergus is almost always accompanied by daltán or a variant ("fosterling, pupil, fosterson"): either Fergus addressing Cú Chulainn as a daltán, or Cú Chulainn identifying himself as such. That means the term in those contexts is firmly established as a fosterage term used with a generational difference.

On the other hand, when a phopa is used by Cú Chulainn to address Láeg, it's very often paired with Láeg addressing Cú Chulainn with an affectionate diminutive like a Chúcúc. The only other person to use a diminutive like this is Lug (or, well, Cú Chulainn's "friend from the Otherworld", who isn't named in this recension), and he only does so once. Láeg does so repeatedly:

By pairing this with a phopa, we're establishing an age difference, but the absence of obvious fosterage terminology and the subversion of expected hierarchies makes this seem more like a "big bro, little bro" relationship, as far as terminology is concerned. A Chúcúc is typically translated by O'Rahilly as "little Cú"; you could also go as far as "little Hound". It's very much both affectionate and emphasising Cú Chulainn's youth.

(In TBC1, by contrast, Láeg only uses a diminutive like this once.)

Putting the rest below a cut to save your dash, because it got long.

Gilla

The term "gilla" is a flexible one: it basically just means lad, boy, servant. It's often used in the narration for charioteers, but I noticed something interesting about its usage in dialogue as a term of address.

Notably, that in TBC1, Cú Chulainn never uses this term to address Láeg, but in TBC2-LL, he does (usually while giving orders, though the spreadsheet doesn't offer that level of detail) (yet). It's used in narration to describe Láeg, I think, but never as a term of address.

Is this a matter of date, and the shifting use of the term chronologically? TBC1 and TBC2-LL are close enough in date that I would be surprised if the term "gilla" had a significantly different meaning at the time of writing.

It does show up quite a bit in late texts, though, so there might be something in that. Need to look into that more.

Comalta, comaltus, daltae

TBC2-LL typically shows a lot more instances of fosterage terminology: comalta, comaltus, and daltae all show up more times. This might just be that TBC2 is wordier than TBC1 and likes to repeat itself more, but the mess of orange on my spreadsheet suggests it also has a greater preoccupation with the web of family, fosterage, and provincial connections between characters.

[ETA: it's just an error that lists one of the comaltas as pupil, fosterling; I think Excel got too enthusiastic with the autofill. The same error occurs below. It's not significant.]

Cú Chulainn once uses the term daltán to address Láeg in TBC1, which doesn't show up in TBC2. I did a post about that a while back; it comes in a line where Cú Chulainn is explaining something to Láeg, so might have a pedagogical usage, although also seems like it might be a little bit sarcastic. Need to explore that one further.

(Note that when Cú Chulainn appears in both the "used by" and "used for" columns, it's because he's describing himself, e.g. Fergus says, "Who's there?" and he says, "It's me, your fosterson and the fosterson of the Ulaid." The relationship given in the column after that is therefore the one being identified in those moments.)

Cara, cairdes, caratraid

TBC2-LL also has more uses of the word cara, friend, for a much wider range of relationships and hypothetical relationships. ("Be it friend or foe" kind of thing.) Cara is used for allies, fosterbrothers, family connections, and some relationships that look like "straightforward" friendship, i.e. there isn't any other clearer connection between the characters mentioned in the text.

The term caratraid for friendship shows up five times in TBC2, and never in TBC1. Three of these instances are to describe Cú Chulainn's relationship with Fer Baeth, one of his foster brothers; one is to describe his relationship with Fer Diad, another foster brother; and one is to describe his relationship with Lugaid mac Nóis, his ally in the Connacht camp (who is also, I think, a foster brother?).

Cairdes shows up three times in TBC2 - twice about Fer Baeth and once about Fer Diad - versus only once in TBC1, where it refers to Fer Baeth (and is in narration rather than dialogue). TBC2 also introduces "cardes sliasta", intimate friendship, with which Medb bribes men.

Fer Diad

Here are all the terms used for Cú Chulainn & Fer Diad's relationship across TBC1 and TBC2-LL:

Let's filter that to get a sense of TBC1 vs TBC2, bearing in mind that Comrac Fir Diad is way longer in TBC2 and therefore likely to have far more terms in it.

TBC1:

TBC2-LL:

So we've got a lot more repetition in TBC2, but we've also got some differences. TBC2 loses some of the endearments, like "a lóeg" and "a airer na súl", which are more typically found in romantic contexts. But it gains two instances of "inmain", beloved (a semantically wider term: we often get a mic inmain between family members, for example). Both use the term "dil" for "beloved", though, inserting it into Fer Diad's name: Fer dil Diad.

Both use the term "cocle", possibly "coicéile": comrade, friend, companion, vassal. TBC2 uses it a lot more, though. It also adds "cara", friend, and the related terms "cairdes" and "caratraid" to describe friendship.

Both use "acme" and "fine", in the same context/sentence: "you are/were my kith and kin". TBC also gives us "fir chomdéirgide", men who shared a bed. There is another reference to bed-sharing in TBC2, but it uses a different term, so this one is distinct. The term "dérgud" seems to refer to the making of a bed, so the vibe seems to be more "men who made a bed together": travelled together, made decisions together, shared intimacy, etc.

The term Cúa is etymologised as an insult in TBC1, but treated as a straightforward diminutive in TBC2. Meanwhile, TBC2 introduces the concept of Cú Chulainn as Fer Diad's "forbfer", or serving man/attendant, introducing hierarchies into their relationship. I was surprised this wasn't in both, but I guess the whole thing is just so much less developed in TBC1, and most of the backstory there comes from Fer Diad's conversations with his charioteer rather than his dialogue with TBC2. I do want to go back and double check it, though, in case there's another related term that slipped my notice.

Conclusions

What is the second recension of the Táin about? Well, statistically, it's about relationships between people.

TBC2 cares a lot about fosterage and the friendships that go with it.

A phopa is the most common term of endearment in this recension.

Combinations of terms tell us more than just looking at terms in isolation.

Spreadsheets can be fun, I guess.

Beyond that, I don't know. I need to add more texts before I can draw more meaningful conclusions about changes over time. But I thought you might like to see where we're at, anyway.

Next up is probably Cath Ruis na Ríg, for vibes, although I also need to add Stowe to this spreadsheet in case it changes anything about TBC2 compared to LL.

[scribefindegil]

71?

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

A big old messy scratchdoc!! I try to use headings to keep the information somewhat organized, but they work best if I let them stay pretty sprawling. It's usually something like:

Top section: What are The Themes? Why am I writing this story? Are there important symbols or visual motifs I want to keep track of? Are there reminders to myself that I want to see frequently to bring myself back into focus (re: tone, characterization, types of description or details to focus on)?

Character Section: I don't always do this, but for big fics or things with a large ensemble cast I usually lay out each important character, the basis of their arc/conflict, and how they contribute thematically to the story. If it's AU or set post-canon or there are other reasons that information about the character would be different from their canon counterpart, I note it here.

Reference section: Any specific research I've done for the fic. Lists of things like minor characters' names, descriptions of settings or OCs, etc.

Revelation List: I stole this from DMing advice blogs, but any time there are mystery elements to a fic I always lay out the Revelations (what the characters need to learn) and the specific clues or circumstances they encounter that allow them to reach those conclusions. Do they find and interpret evidence? Do they get information from another character? Do they do research? Even if I don't plan out all the details of the plot, I need to understand how the characters are going to reach each of the Revelations or I'm going to get stuck.

Timelines: I don't always do these either; it really depends on the fic, but if there's a specific chronology I need to keep track of (or a secret structure that would get lost in the full outline) I try to write it down

The Plot: Finally!! The actual outlining part! I start by writing bullet point versions of the events I know will happen (I usually have a pretty strong sense of the beginning and climax of a fic by this point, even if I still have a bunch of fine-tuning to do) and then work backwards or forwards to fill in the gaps. If it's a mystery fic (and most of my longer fic has at least some mystery elements) I refer back to the Revelations list to make sure I have scenes that cover all the necessary Leads and Revelations to get the characters to the endpoint.

Snippets: For certain scenes, the outline version doesn't accurately capture the Vibe I'm going for, so I have a section at the end where I write quick, tiny, scaffolding-style first drafts. These usually have almost no relation to what the final scene actually looks like, but it's about pinning down the idea and the atmosphere.

These documents are really big and messy and I usually need to go back and edit them as I go, because my original ideas inevitably undergo some shifts as I figure things out, but that's the fun of it!

It has to be the right type of fic to make this worth it, but sometimes I'll also do a scene-level outline in an Excel spreadsheet, with columns for Scene, POV Character, Location, Characters Present, Events, Reactions, and Plot-Important Info. This is good for super plotty/mystery-heavy fics and fics with big ensembles that I can't keep track of other ways. I have an enormous and beautiful outline in this style for the Owl House Tam Lin AU which I do still want to write someday, bc while I didn't end up loving TOH as a whole I do love a lot of the characters, and also we came up with possibly the best plot twist of my life involving 400 years of moon phase records so. It's on the back burner but it's still on the stove, as it were. And the good thing is that because I have such an exhaustive outline it will be easy for me to pick back up at any time if I want to!

[jorvikzelda]

May is looking like an intense month for Star Stable.

Previously, Star Stable have stated in various places that the next main quest, in addition to the Pintabian and some new Morgan coats, will be released in May. Now, we know that the Horse Progression (and new UI) will as well, and the Player Character update is slated for release before the Rainbow Festival... but when, exactly, can we expect these things?

The Equestrian Festival will end in two Wednesdays' time, on the 3rd of May. The road maps of this year have so far not stretched further than 4 weeks, but for the Rainbow Festival to begin on the 7th of June the roadmap will need to be five weeks long. For the past 2 years*, the Rainbow Festival has begun on the second Wednesday of June (while the 7th will be the first Wednesday of June), but as a six-week roadmap would be unprecedented (and as the Rainbow Festival has not in the past two years released later than the 9th of June), I find it most likely that the next roadmap will run from the 3rd of May to the 31st of May, with the Rainbow Festival commencing on the 7th of June.

*Before 2021, the Rainbow Festival was not officially acknowledged as a Pride celebration and could begin as late in the summer as July or August. Now that it is officially Jorvik Pride, though, I expect SSE to keep the June date.

In those five weeks, the following updates are either confirmed or very likely to be included:

Pintabian and new Morgan coats

Horse Progression and new UI

new Main Story Quest

player character update

...and let's be honest a HoJ because they probably want to return to the monthly Guillermo rotation after the festival.

Per the blog post today, the player character update - if everything goes smoothly - is slated for release "just before we enter into the Rainbow Festival" - meaning we can pin it down for the 31st. The week after a festival is usually something pretty light, so we'd be looking at either the new horses or HoJ for the 3rd; I'd bet on HoJ, because a 3rd of May Pintabian release would make the gap between two horse breed releases (Pintabian and the Lippizaner, in this case) a record-breakingly short three weeks. Lastly, if I were SSE, I would not want to release the Horse Progression and the new player character in immediate succession as both of those are pretty likely to bring bugs both of the "urgent fix" and the "oh god, that's complex" nature.

With all that accounted for (as well as some additional details from my spreadsheet detailing every road map ever), here is my semi-informed, semi-Moon Circled guess of SSO's May updates:

May 3rd: Horses of Jorvik May 10th: Pintabians and Morgans May 17th: Horse Progression May 24th: Main Story Quest May 31st: Player Character Update

Oh, and MC 2.0 beta test from the 15th of May to the 22nd of May.

[jamiesfootball]

⭐️ here's a director's cut question for OGYGGI(YHNBGL) (side note: i love this acronym. it may not be convenient to type but i hear it in my mind as the sound of a giant sea monster rising from the deep):

do you have a process for figuring out how to hint at what's going on with jamie and the other characters before roy knows about it? are there any alternate-pov versions of scenes that live in your brain, like with Low Battery?

also, anything you want to talk about with the 5+1 falling asleep fic! i love all the snippets you've posted from it very much

I too love the acronym. Look at it. It's so silly. I love the thought of it as a giant see monster rinsing from the deep - honestly I've looking at it and my dyslexic brain keeps filling in 'Oingo-Boingo.'

do you have a process for figuring out how to hint at what's going on with jamie and the other characters before roy knows about it?

Part of the fun (for me) with keeping everything in Roy's pov is the challenge of balancing how to get across what is happening elsewhere. Which is why I have The Spreadsheet:

(I think I have appropriately blurred this out enough that there shouldn't be spoilers)

(Also this has reminded me I have more notes that need added to it)

So on the left I have my List of Things. On this list are:

-Characters: anyone I regularly check in with and/or who has something going on in the background (Roy, Jamie, Colin, Keeley, etc)

-Character groups: any combination of characters who have plot beats going on as part of their group dynamic (Roy & Jamie, the Diamond Dogs, Roy & his family, etc)

-Specific plots: any recurring plot thread that I need to keep an eye on (Jamie's impending Brazil photoshoot, the Roy & Jamie Book Club)

-Recurring details: anything recurring that changes but doesn't necessarily impact the action (for instance, the renovation and maintenance being done to the Richmond locker room that Roy witnesses over the course of the month)

-The Thesis Statement: this is the BIG ONE for me and it's right at the top. With so many interwoven stories and Roy's journey of big mental health stuff being the big driving focus, I needed some way of making sure I was always moving the story forward for him, even in the chapters where he doesn't have a therapy session. So each chapter has an I-Statement for Roy that is a clear idea of where he's at that point in the chapter. Here's the one for chapter one:

"I am angry and miserable and lonely. I don't know how to show people I care. I don't want to fuck this up. I will change something"

They're not elegant - they're raw and simple and to the point. It helps me keep on task and make sure the chapter is hitting the right notes.

EDIT: realized I forgot to explain- the column headers are chapters.

are there any alternate-pov versions of scenes that live in your brain, like with Low Battery?

YES THERE ARE. The big big BIG one being Jamie's eventual trip to Manchester to visit his dad in rehab - a scene that I have honestly been considering writing just so I have a version of it in my head to reference when he's telling Roy about it. I already have some of it figured out and ooof. OOF I say.

Another one that I've been considering is Jamie and Ted's eventual Talk about what's been going on - both with Jamie and his dad, and with Jamie having finally finished reading The Beautiful & Damned. That one is tricky, because Roy isn't involved or around for that conversation at all, but he does speak to Ted immediately after.

A much smaller one that's recently crept into the running is Jamie's reaction to finally hearing from his dad for the first time, which is.....it's going to be very soon.

also, anything you want to talk about with the 5+1 falling asleep fic!

The big one there is that I SWEAR IT'S STILL IN PROGRESS. For a while there, I had time reconnecting with it, and I realized (this morning actually) that part of my issue was that I was struggling to reach that raw place that wrote most of it. Now that I've let it set a bit, I've recharged, and it's back on the writing block come new years!

From this ask game but specific questions only please!

[hypnotisedfireflies]

Prompt Update

Hi everyone! Okay, to help get my head on straight and bring you all up to speed on what this is looking like, here's quick rundown of what's happening with these.

First I just have to say I still haven't picked myself up off the floor: thank you all so much for being so supportive and interested in Driftersverse. I never expected this and then comments, asks, prompts etc just mean so much. And I really do want to do them (and all the love) justice by getting to as many as I possibly can but I am quite behind and need a rich benefactor so I can quit my job to catch up, lol.

Some stats: so far I've had 46 recorded prompts, plus a few casual conversations that didn't make it to my spreadsheet. Of these, we've had six stories combining about 15 prompts from about 12 different people. Then there's been a handful addressed here on Tumblr as drabbles/thoughts.

I have a lot to go. O_O This is what's coming up, but that doesn't mean anything not mentioned here isn't happening/won't be addressed in an ask/won't suddenly appear. I don't do one shots well and prefer to work prompt ideas in with each other to create a larger story. So it sometimes happens that I don't have an idea for something, but then another prompt sails in and they feed off one another.

Details below the cut ...

THE AU

This will start on the morning of 28 September 2003 and is a Driftersverse AU of Tess and Joel meeting without the end of the world. It will probably be written a lot slower than usual stuff and hum along in the background while I continue to write canon-AU-Drifters stuff, so maybe like ... updated weekly or something. It has a 20-chapter outline so far and isn't done so ... yeah, there's that.

Bonus: There has already been a preview of this story buried in one of the others, if you can find it. ;)

THE SUPPLEMENTARY STUFF

In writing all the extra material it made me realise there were a couple of things I overlooked in Drifter's Dawn. I promise not to George Lucas my own shit but I really think it will strengthen the story to add this supplementary material in. It's already kind of there but it's not pronounced enough and I think it's important. It will occur early in the extant story.

Bonus: There may also be an additional later chapter just before Boston.

THE OC/SUPPORTING CHARACTER COLLECTION

So something I never expected was that my OCs would get so much love? That makes me just ... guys. O_O;;; There have been a few requests for stories that focus on these guys (still mostly with a Tessjoel bent) so I thought I would group these into one collection and it, like the AU, can hum along and be added to gradually. Characters featured here so far include Lachie and Rachel POVs, plus some supporting canons getting their own POV chapters like Maria and Ellie.

Bonus: Lachie-finds-out-what-Joel-did is probably the first one I'll write.

THE OTHER STUFF

Then there's the other prompts that don't fit into the above categories that I'm really excited about writing - I'm going to try and priortise ones taking place prior to TLOU as my prompts so far have leaned heavily in the post-TLOU arena and I want to address some of the earlier ones.

Bonus: I had a prompt for more top!Tess and that may be one of the few one shots I do write because YES.

[beaconfeels]

I missed WIP Wednesday for the @steter-bang since I was traveling, so I’m posting now to motivate myself:

It’s getting warmer already, the temps climbing along with the sun. He’s not fond of office work, but it’s something of a relief to sink into his chair at the old desk in the cool, dimly lit office he has near the back of the house. Even after watching at his Dad’s right hand all these years, the amount of paperwork and phone calls needed to keep the ranch running was still the most surprising—and challenging—part of the job when he took over.

He’s always had a mind for details though, and he likes negotiating with suppliers and buyers. He even finds spreadsheets satisfying, a fact that his family never stops teasing him about.

He’s been lost in his work for awhile when Erica pokes her head in. “We met him,” she says, with a broad smile. “What a cutie pie, and smart too.”

“Hmm?” Peter says, shuffling some papers to the side. “Oh, right. Stiles. You like him?”

“Yup,” Erica says, popping the p emphatically. That’s good news actually. Erica’s usually a good judge of character for all her posturing and teasing might hide it from people who don’t know her. “I think he’s gonna be great, and now that he’s here we can make sure that asshole next door can’t hurt him, right?”

“Right,” Peter assures her.

“Good, because I’ve got a good feeling about this one, boss.”

Peter smiles at her. It’s hard not to when she’s in a good mood, especially not when he’s seen her at her lowest moments—when she was a shy, sick kid, so unsure of herself, but desperate to work on a ranch, to do the things she loved anyway. He’s as proud of her as any father could be.

She taps the doorframe twice, and leaves with a little smirk on her lips. It’s good. If Erica likes Stiles, then probably most of his workers will too, and there’s something about the kid that makes Peter want to protect him. Not just from Argent, but from everything else that seems to haunt him too.

[talenlee]

The Brilliant Fool

Normally when I write here about a Transformers character, it’s a character who has some significance to me as – well, honestly, as an example of a kind of person I could be, growing up. Blades gave me a lesson about quelling the want for violence inside me and also how defensive violent bf /softboy medic bf was a top tier pairing, and Dinobot gave me lessons about dying well in the face of oblivion, a lesson that I thought I needed really soon when I got it. There are Transformers I love because of jokes, Transformers I love because of association with toys and there are some Transformers that I love because they are, through no fault of their own, completely useless doofuses.

Let’s talk about Wheeljack

Wheeljack is an OG Transformer. Not only was he present in the original TV series, he was the first ever Transformer to be animated, the first one to appear on a cell and the first one to say or do anything. Wheeljack was also in this privileged position because he was from an earlier time, an earlier toyline, one of the diaclone toys that needed minimal changes to come on over. And not only was this the 1980s but this was a Japanese toy from the 1970s, so his toy was a really nice model that was also, coincidentally, made largely out of die-cast metal and had all sorts of lovely detailing and stickers that you could use to show how good you were at putting on stickers unless you were a fumble handed gallumphus like myself.

Don’t worry, I never had a Wheeljack, but I knew someone who did, and that toy was nice.

Anyway, Wheeljack as a character was one of the huge cast of Transformers who got a personality written up in what feels in hindsight like filling out a spreadsheet, where the writer got a picture of a character and had to devise a name and personality for them and keep moving, while also doing everything they could to keep them from overlapping with one another, which, of course, they did. Did you know that Grimlock (A t-rex) and Fortress Maximus (a city) and Brawl (a little guy about the size of a VW bug) are all listed as the strongest Autobot? Making sense of these original bios was like digging through Biblical harmonisation, but at least Transformers admit they’re making stuff up.

Anyway, Wheeljack got given the personality up front of being a crackpot mad scientist working for the good guys, which meant you took an archetype normally full of potential malice and potential goofiness and then just stripped out all the malice. Wheeljack in G1 was a guy who would invent things, and those things would have to be useful to pretty much only anyone in exactly one episode. This meant Wheeljack was either solving the problem of the episode by techno-babbling up a device that would fix it, or causing the problem of the episode by techno-babbling up a device that unfixed something, and sometimes both.

Wheeljack served a good, steadfast, mechanical role in the story of the show and to that end he hung around a lot. He also had a really easy face to animate – rather than flap a mouth or move a visor, his face lit up when he was talking, which meant you just changed its colour. Real convenient, real nice when you wanted to have him talk at length.

But this is just ‘why Wheeljack showed up a lot,’ it’s not by any means an explanation as to why I liked Wheeljack. What I like about Wheeljack is instead something created in the negative space of the character by what the people making it didn’t intend to do.

Here’s how it cooks out. First of all, Wheeljack is an inventor who is memorably depicted screwing up and eating dirt, regularly. He’s an inventor but it’s easy to feel like his hit rate is half and half, and a bunch of the things he makes have the weirdest solutions to them and ways they work. It’s not true in the comics, mind you, those are written a bit less for, y’know, four year olds in the 1980s, but the ‘crackpot inventor’ element sticks around.

The other thing is that Wheeljack’s disguise sucks.

It’s not that he doesn’t look like a car, he sure does look like a car! But Wheeljack doesn’t turn into ‘a car.’ Wheeljack turns into a sports car.

Well, so what you may say, it’s not like sports cars are that rare.

And then I go, he turns into a Lancia Stratos

And you’d interrupt me, comically, — Well, okay, no you wouldn’t, you’d say what and I’m embellishing for the bit — and say, hey, no no, see, you’ve got a specific name for it, a model, that means it got made in some degree of mass production,

And I respond with yeah, we know how many of his type of Lancia Stratos got made. He’s the Group 5 Lancia Stratos. He has specific racing regalia on him for sponsor material. Because he didn’t copy ‘a car’, he copied a race ready Lancia Stratos Group 5. There were only 500 Lancia Stratos made, and only a small number of them – like, less than ten – were ever put into racing colours, and then they were deomissioned. Imagine if while trying to blend into a location you picked the disguise of ‘recognisable celebrity,’ or maybe tried to blend in at the zoo as an endangered animal of which they knew they only had two. This means Wheeljack was in a position to scan the Lancia Stratos Group 5 (which wasn’t run in many races after it failed!) and then drove around after it left!

It plays into the way that his inventions seemed to fail a lot, or seemed to work in weird ways. It depicts a person who has somehow a skillset that’s suited to making big, impressive, technically challenging accomplishments and not a goddamn lick of sense about what he can do with it. This is a guy who can invent a teleportation machine and his idea of how to use it to solve the war is to let humans move more quickly to and from the base to update them on what the Decepticons are doing. This is a guy who makes a blender with a frappe setting that retasks a satellite. This is a guy whose first appearance on screen is using a machine he built that then immediately backfires and sets the tone for him for the rest of his life.

Wheeljack is one of my favourite Transformers, but only in the way that I love to watch the way fans talk about him, because of the beautiful alignment of super genius and fantastic idiot.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[booksandabeer]

Hi heloo!! I was just checking through your reclists and TYSM FOR MAKING THEM OMG?? The fandom needs people like you, you've become one of my favorite blogs on here in like the last half day haha! But also while I was reading through your asks and the lists you made, I couldn’t help but notice how LONG most of the fics are? Like there's oneshots with 10k words and so many series and one fic has 300THOUSAND words and is still a wip somehow?? Which don't get me wrong, I love long fics as much as the next guy and won't complain for people writing so much about stucky. Like imagine the kind of time it takes to do that, blows my mind every time. BUT ALSO (and this is where I get to my point lmao sorry for spamming you) how do you have TIME to read ALL THAT and take notes on all of it and sort them into that system you talked about and like.  HOW??? I envy you. I admire you. I fear you a little <3

Hi hello to you too!!

First of all, thank you for your lovely words, I'm quite overwhelmed by the praise & enthusiasm. ❤ Believe me, there's absolutely no reason to fear me.😜 The rec lists are really just my way of trying to give back to a fandom that has given me so much joy (and pain, but I kind of asked for that, so it's ok--one has to be a bit of a masochist to be a Stucky shipper).

I definitely have a preference for long, character-driven stories and slow-burn romances, which by definition, you can't really do in a 5K oneshot. That's not to say that shorter fics inevitably lack depth--not at all! There are writers who are absolute masters at creating whole worlds in just a few thousand words, and indeed it can be a bigger challenge (and a skill!) to tell a decade-spanning story in fewer words and to decide when something does not have to be spelled out in great and sometimes unnecessary detail, and to just trust that your readers will get it. But yes, in the end, we all have our reading preferences, and I just really love to get lost in a long story. If you offered me a well-written fic that features all my favorite tropes and the exact kind of characterizations that perfectly align with my headcanons and you'd say "hey, you want the 5 or the 50K version of that?", I will almost always go with the latter option.

Still, I've actually gotten much better at reading shorter fics over the past year... maybe I should do a rec list for Great Fics under 10K... would anybody care for that?

Now as to your question how I manage to read ALL THAT. I don't know? Honestly, I'm certain there are people who read way more than I do, but yeah, I read A LOT of fanfic, it's true. The funny thing is, I'm not even a very fast reader, or no... the reading itself doesn't take up a lot of time, but thinking about fics, taking notes, writing comments does. The whole spreadsheet insanity was not only born out of a desire to track my reading stats, but also to put down my thoughts and to really ruminate on what I'd just read. Before I got more actively involved in fandom, I didn't really have anybody to talk to about this, but the thoughts and feelings still needed to go somewhere. And now that I've started making rec lists, I'm so glad that I did this because I can pull from them when I'm looking for specific tropes/genres/etc.

Finally, ever since I started beta-reading, I've gained a WHOLE new appreciation for how much thought and heart and time and--yes!--work goes into a fanfic. And all that with little to no guarantee for recognition or even any sort of response at all.

Fanfic writers are goddamn heroes. To borrow your words: I envy them. I admire them. I fear them a little.

Fanfiction Forever. ❤

[aribaran]

10 & 19 !

10. write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone? i'm always writing with noise, but it's music. i have some pretty intense playlists for my work, haha. i prefer to write alone whenever possible.

19. when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, etc.?

so i use scrivener for my project planning and it has a great feature where you can put all of your meta work into folders but it won't be included in the compiles. i usually do character profiles there if i need to, for the hockey books i have full rosters for every team, spreadsheets with all of the team names, etc.

for the rest of it, it's long, so.

it does depend on the book. i structure and write a fantasy novel a little differently from my romance novels (they are m/m hockey books. i know this comes as a huge surprise lol). i always use scrivener for my outlining and drafts, but you don’t have to buy a fancy program, you can do the same thing in open office or google docs.

no matter what the book is, i start with my characters. who are they as people? where are they from? what is their ethnicity and what are their families like? what do they like? how do they interact with others? sometimes guys just show up in my head fully formed and in those cases, it’s a lot easier to write their stories because they’re just…there. like real people. but the central question of every book is: what do these people want and why can’t they have it? sometimes those questions are internal (is this guy incredibly insecure and doesn’t truly believe that his best friend is in love with him even though all of the evidence is right there in front of his face?) and sometimes it is external (these guys are trying to kill each other, but they don’t realize the game is rigged against BOTH of them).

but start with that question and i think then it’s a lot easier to come up with the rest of the story.

after that, i pick a starting point and i usually pick an ending point. i almost always write my last scene first, or at least write some notes. i just like to know where i’m going so i can pace how i’m getting there.

how i ACTUALLY outline is where it really starts to split up based on book. for my hockey novels, it makes sense for me to outline and structure them in an actual timeline, since the plot is based around the season.

each folder is a season, split up into months, split up into scenes. i find it helpful to label whose POV is in which one so i know at a glance if things aren’t well-balanced. and then i just keep doing that until the book ends, which is usually between april and july, depending on if they make the playoffs.

what you end up filling it in with is varied. i usually like to figure out the conflict or breaking point, and where that goes in the general timeline. in my first book it’s an enemies to lovers so the conflict is front-loaded at the beginning, but something external happens to them towards the end that they have to overcome. so in that book, all of the scenes are building from them learning to get along, and falling in love, and then eventually overcoming this obstacle (this is really simplified discussion of this plot lol). in my second book, they’re best friends starting out, so it’s building up to them hooking up, then the process of them really falling in love, and then the misunderstanding/breakup and eventually the reunion and the [redacted really happy thing]. during this time there are obviously subplots, but i find it’s easier to string the subplots along when you have an idea of when the main big plot beats have to happen.

as i am filling in individual scenes, i like to jot a little note about what is going on in the scene in the header. so whether it’s brojobs or a hockey game in a particular city, i have that all in the little title. scrivener has a notes section for each “scene” where i can put any other details i want about the scene in there, and sometimes i will use that to a) put down what i want this scene to accomplish in the larger book, b) any dialogue or things i want to make sure i remember to include in the scene because a lot of the time, i get great ideas right when i’m falling asleep, or in the shower, or somewhere convenient and then i don’t remember if i don’t write them down. but you can also write this down in a separate document.

as for figuring out subplots, i come up with them based on what makes sense for the characters, whether that’s depression/addiction, helping out a rookie, or whatever.

for fantasy novels, the process is less rigid. i usually have to do some worldbuilding first, so that’s a separate document where i just jot down all of my thoughts about the world and how it’s constructed and why it works the way it does. sometimes i will write little “in world” texts to give myself a flavor of how people read or what their culture is like.

again, i come up with the beginning and end up split the book up into sections based on the main plot. so for example in one of my WIPs (and this is a VERY pared down version of what actually happens in this book haha), the first part is the road adventure where one of them is trying to take the other one back to [redacted] and the second guy is trying to escape or kill him, then they accidentally get soulbonded and the section is them learning to work together and trust, and then the third section is the betrayal and eventual rescue. then i fill in the scenes from there. i’ll be honest, some of it is based on vibes–what do i want to write? sometimes i get whole subplots purely because i think they sound like a blast to write (and that’s a bit thing about plotting for me–if it’s not fun and i’m not excited to write it…no one’s going to be excited to read it, either, so some big advice is if you’re really forcing something, it might be worth trying something else).

a lot of my plots come from knowing the characters really well. what situations would make them uncomfortable and react in certain ways? what situations would test or challenge their beliefs, either about the world or about themselves? what character can they fall in love with that would offer interesting conflicts?

so that’s basically my plotting and outlining process.

[birgittesilverbae]

aaaaaask meme

7, 10, 18, 24, 26, 29

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

I answered this previously, but 7 when it comes to you specifically is making you yell at me. fills me with warmth

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

Your star wars au Shannon death makes me want to disappear (and your description of Bea's elbow stuff) asking this question has made me forget everything I've ever read tbh. I've been haunted by stuff I never finished, and I'll stumble over it and just get slapped in the face

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

from tmtl ch5, rewatching ep6 for the millionth time I got stuck on the fact that Bea's had to drive out to Ronda alone and then back with Mary and sit in the knowledge that they've lost Lilith too and their family of four has been cut in half in the blink of an eye

outline/v1: The return trip with Mary. Quiet, stilted questions. Not on the same wavelength, interrupting each other and apologising because they don't know how to fill the spaces that have been left for other voices.

v2: "Would you just look at me?" // "I can't. Because I look at you and all I see is her."

v3: "You're all I have left. Shannon's dead. Lilith's dead. Mary, you're all I have left." // "I can't." Mary's voice is hoarse. "Even just sitting here– You still use her soap." It's not a question. "I sit here and I smell her and when I look at you all I can see are the fingerprints she left behind. And I'm sorry, Beatrice, but I can't fucking deal with that right now."

v4: "You're all I have left,” Beatrice continues, unable to hold her tongue now that the first stones in the dam have cracked. “Shannon's dead. Lilith's dead. Mary, you're all I have left. Look at me. Please." // "I can't." Mary's voice is hoarse. "Even just sitting here– You still use her soap." It's not a question. "I sit here and I smell her and when I look at you all I can see are the fingerprints she left behind. And I'm sorry, Beatrice, but I can't fucking deal with that right now."

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

it depends on the story; tmtl for each scene I had a one sentence outline for the exact emotional beats I wanted to hit, and then a paragraph outline with scene beats and callbacks, and then a bulletpoint outline to detail the exact shape of the scene. fic: nature is gonna end up with the same sort of treatment but probably less intense about it. tmau prep work has involved a shit ton of academic papers and spreadsheets. if it's not clear, I really love prep work, I haven't had as much opportunity for research work in my day-to-day lately so I've been really digging in. honestly fic: dads has been such a departure in that it's been an exercise for me in trying to do absolutely no planning

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

I'll typically have a song assigned to a character for a specific fic and listen to that repeatedly if I'm having trouble getting into their mindset. getting out of it usually isn't that difficult, head empty brain go brr etc. but if I'm getting to stuck in something I go watch cooking videos on youtube tbh. there are a couple points I've hit where I've been writing something and had to take a step back and go 'okay, it's not good for me to be here right now I need to walk away' but I don't know that I regret those points so much as they give me more insight into myself

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

I usually turn to my sad bangers playlist (which I've been familiarizing you with cas hehe) if I'm in the need for inspiration, and lately when I've been stuck on something I've gone and stared at @princington 's art until I'm Fixed (read: made worse (affectionate))

[yerbamansa]

Ohhhh my god, so I wrote a novel-length fic over the last five months and I just…need to write down some Thoughts on that, because it hadn’t happened before and I have no idea if it will again, just seemed worthwhile to collect myself a bit. To be clear: I’m…really proud of myself?? Who knew I had it in me! And I think it’s a fun read! I learned a lot! More under a cut if you care to read my ramblings.

The gdoc containing my initial outline of ideas was created on October 29, 2022. I shared it with the group chat from whence the idea came, because I was planning to participate in a daily prompt challenge in November so I wasn’t going to have time for it yet. By late November, quite a bit of work was happening in the doc—a proper outline with a three-act structure I borrowed from various writing tips websites and then wandered off on my own with. I’ve never written something this structured and long before, so I searched for some structure tips.

I found a few different forms (a 9-block, 27-chapter structure; a three-act checklist) that I ended up using almost like a self-survey/brainstorm. A couple passes through that, plus trying to work it out as a character/timeline spreadsheet, gave the whole thing a much clearer shape. I knew I wanted to alternate between Ed’s and Stede’s POVs, but not limit it to theirs. Early on I decided that Oluwande would be a third POV character because (a) I love writing him and (b) the crew’s perspective is REALLY IMPORTANT. Then, because I used Lucius as an outsider, he became the fourth POV, introduced at the beginning of act 2.

[ID: A bar chart showing word count by POV character. Ed has over 34,000 words, Stede about 26,000 words, Oluwande 13,000 words, and Lucius a little under 10,000 words. End ID.]

But it’s not like I had it 100% perfectly mapped out at a chapter level, nor did I know exactly what details would…emerge. Like, I knew the shape of the details, but I kind of worked them out as I got to know this version of the characters better. The outlining process was kind of my draft: I went through it to get to the point that I could sit down and outline each chapter (or two ahead, in some cases) and then write it.

Very few things were written out of order, but the scene where they’re trapped in the storage closet was written well before I finished chapter 1. And I thought it would happen later than it did. I really thought I was gonna enemies-to-lovers these guys! 😂

There were a TON of details/potential plotlines I thought about including, but ultimately decided not to, either because it was totally out of my lane to do it justice (ex.: literally anything to do with Ed’s heritage and food—I read up some and whew, it’d have to be its own story, and not really mine to tell) and/or because it would’ve overcomplicated/distracted from the plot as it unfolded. There was a whole thing where Stede was meant to pull a Christopher Kimball thing and screw over the magazine by starting a rival publication and, you know what, there was more than enough drama to mine from just the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen debacle(s).

The idea came from a group chat, and the same group chat was instrumental in helping me flesh out a bunch of character details. That was fun. That’s also where my main beta reader came from. It’s funny, I’ve written on and off pretty much my whole life, but rarely had an editor like this. It was very collaborative and challenging in the best possible ways, I think; especially with something this long, it really helped to have someone who knew some of what was in my head but wasn’t nose-deep in it.

While it hasn’t been a runaway hit or anything, it’s had by far more eyeballs than anything else I’ve written in this fandom. Definitely a lot more comments than anything else, which is fun. Some folks I really admire have said kind things and if that didn’t make me all 😊 well. (It did, though.) It was because of those commenters that I got a sense of how it was coming off—that it was, and could be, fun and frothy and still touch on subjects that were difficult (labor rights etc.) without making light of them. At least, that’s what I hope I pulled off in the end.

There were so many random little side routes and ideas that came up while thinking about and writing this that I really had to make a series. For the one-shots. For fuck’s sake, I put too much into building out this little world and this version of each character not to.

And if one of those ends up being some kind of E-rated fic involving Mary and Evelyn, like, posing for Doug with fresh fruit still-life and it turning into A Whole Thing, so be it. (It didn’t make the story text, but Mary and Evelyn are married and Doug is Mary’s guy who lives in the guest house out back. Also they make cooking YouTube videos together as a trio. There will probably be one-shots about them because Evelyn was too much fun to write.)

[douchebagbrainwaves]

BUT SEEING WHAT STARTUPS ARE REALLY LIKE WILL AT LEAST GET IN ENOUGH TROUBLE THAT IT BECOMES THE TOP IDEA IN YOUR MIND

Startups grow up around universities because universities bring together promising young people and make them work on the same projects. It could be that, because you really would rather raise money from a deal, it's not because they invested at a valuation of $1 million, each partner would have to be on a trajectory that leads to going public. Great hackers also generally insist on using open source software. A lot of people know Google raised money from Kleiner and Sequoia didn't like splitting the Google deal, but it didn't help Thinking Machines or Xerox. Around the age of eleven, though, requires a conscious effort to insulate the other founder s from the details of the process. Which is pretty exciting, considering the bimodal distribution of outcomes in startups: you either fail or make a lot of money can be disastrous for an early stage startup. Suits, for example. You can just use the standard series AA documents Wilson Sonsini and Y Combinator cofounder Jessica is one of those rare people who have x-ray vision for character. The valuation reflects nothing more than the strength of the company's bargaining position. In anything she does that's publicly visible, her biggest fear after the obvious fear that it will seem to have rooted themselves in Tampa on $118k, but they're still money. That type of founder is going to come back with million dollar orders for banner ad impressions.

Real startups prefer to work in their own startups instead. Angels are the limiting factor. Sometimes they even claim to be willing to make themselves feel better.1 And that probably drove the developers harder than any carrot or stick could.2 You might find contradictory taboos.3 As well as gaining points by distancing oneself from unpopular kids, one loses points by being close to them. Adults can't avoid seeing that teenage kids are unhappy. 5% an offer of 6.4 This is true to a degree in most fields, those tend to be calmer and more upstanding; they don't need you, it will be bad is that it might turn you into a consulting firm. Startups usually have to do is to sacrifice unpromising startups. You can or could once make a lot of programmers I know, including me, actually like debugging.5 So it's your choice whether you get diluted.6

Angels don't need to market themselves to investors because they invest their own. Beware valuation sensitive investors. The qualities of the founders of Sun.7 It was just like.8 They'd been thrown off balance from the start by their ambivalence about being a technology company. Probably the most impressive commitment I've heard to having a hacker-centric culture came from Mark Zuckerberg, when he got interested in maths. 5% better in their next round of funding to end up net ahead. Talent probably matters more than the strength of the company's stock. For example, if you get an investor to your cofounder s should be like introducing a girl/boyfriend to your parents—something you do only when things reach a certain stage of seriousness.

Notes

Anything that got built this way. Watt didn't invent the spreadsheet. Investors will deliberately affect more interest than they expected and they begin by having a gentlemen's agreement with the administration. But while this sort of mastery to which the inhabitants of early 20th century cohesion would have gone into the sciences, you might be 20 or 30 times as much income.

Digg's is the odds are slightly more interesting than later ones, and would not produce a viable organism.

If you're a loser they're done, at least, as they turn from their screen to answer the question of whether public company CEOs were J. As I was surprised to find a blog that tried that. The wartime versions were much more analytical style of thinking, but they hate hypertension. They're common to all cultures with long traditions of living in a spiral.

Who continued to dress in jeans and t-shirt, they're probably a real partner. This doesn't mean you should.

I don't think you could turn you into a fancy restaurant in San Francisco. The reason this works is that startups should stay in business are likely to be more at the start, e.

They're an administrative convenience. Which is probably a bad idea. And since everyone involved is so valuable that visitors should gladly register to read stories. If it failed it failed it failed.

Emmett Shear, and thereby earn the respect of their shares when the audience already has to give up more than investors. 5%.

Chop onions and other vegetables and fry in oil, over fairly low heat, till onions are glassy. This is why I haven't released Arc. Technology has always been accelerating.