#this is draft 1 so it may change over time as stuff does

[lexiesdoodles]

Timeskip Marnie concept

[shakespeare-big-bang]

How does this Shakespeare Big Bang work?

A Big Bang is a fandom creation event where writers and artists collaborate to create new fanworks. Classic Big Bangs often require a minimum word count of around 50.000 words for writers, with artists claiming writing projects once first drafts or outlines exist - our Big (or Mini) Bang is going to work a little bit differently.

We want to center fun, lower the barrier for participation and spark collaboration more than anything, so:

*  no minimum word count or minimum anything

*  no drafts/outlines needed for the “claiming” process

*  both artists and writers will put themselves out there (personal ad style) with as little or as many ideas or wishes as they have.

They can approach each other in the matching period. We might suggest matches and help where we can to make sure everyone ends up with a match.

We haven’t done this before and this setup is a bit experimental, but given that we’re a relatively small group of people, we trust that it will work out somehow and be fun.

Timeline

(subject to change as we go)

Sign-Ups Open:   NOW - February 22nd 

Matching Period: February 23rd - March 8th 

Creation Period:  March 8th - May 1st (not a hard deadline) + Regular Check-Ins

Posting: First week(s) of May

The Stages

SIGN-UP

Fill out the Google Form and let us know what you want to work on and how many projects you have time and capacity for as an artist and/or writer. All this information will be channeled into an overview over everyone who has signed up and made available to the other participants. It doesn’t matter if you’re an artist or a writer - matching will be possible in both directions. Maybe you have a concrete idea for a great image you want to draw and it inspires a writer who didn’t have a prompt so far?

Don’t worry about making your responses perfect - if you want to edit them at a later point, because you got a great new idea or you have less time than you originally thought, you can always message us and we’ll adjust!

MATCHING PERIOD

We make the “personal ads” of everyone available to all participants. Message each other on tumblr and see if you want to work together - as soon as a match is formed, let us know and we’ll lower your number of available matches or mark your “personal ad” as taken entirely and log your match. Congratulations! You’re welcome to start working on your projects whenever you’d like to!

Towards the end of the matching period we might start to talk to people individually, suggest matches or (with your consent) shout out your ideas and wishes to see if additional people want to get involved or existing participants want to take on another project. Maybe an unconventional artist-artist match makes two people happy? The world is (y)our oyster.

CREATION PERIOD 

Time to write, draw, paint, collage, embroider… We’ll check in with everyone frequently on Discord and Tumblr.

If you need to drop out or lower the amount of matches you’ve committed to, let us know as early as possible so we can find new matches for people or get pinch hitters involved. Or let us know that it will simply take you a bit longer. The deadlines are supposed to help all of us have something to work towards, they’re not supposed to be an obstacle or source of stress!

POSTING

The results of our hard work will be posted on ao3 and added to a Big Bang specific collection. You’re obviously welcome to post fic links and art on tumblr as well so we can share and promote each others’ work! 

We’re currently planning a posting schedule spread out over 1-3 weeks, depending on how many works we’ll end up with, but this is still subject to change.

What can I write/make art about?

Any Shakespeare play is game! Closely related stuff (like Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, Motive and the Cue) is allowed as well. It doesn’t have to be directly related to a role DT has played, but keep in mind the more obscure it gets the harder it might be to find a match! 

If you’re unsure feel free to shoot us an ask or DM one of the admins (see end of post) before signing up and if you don’t have any concrete ideas yet, don’t worry! You might just find the idea you want to work on in the “personal ads�� during the matching period, or you can brainstorm from scratch with your match once you’ve found each other!

We’re also hoping to get a bit of a prompt and idea economy going on this blog… Stay tuned!

How do I get on the discord server?

Once you’ve signed up via the form, send us an ask with your discord name on tumblr or DM one of the admins (see end of post) with the same account you’ve put into the sign up sheet and we’ll send you a link! 

Please change your server specific name to your tumblr handle as soon as possible, so we can all find each other!

Who is behind this?

@tinysartorius, @elsinore-and-inverness, @thedemonraym @halfaninchofwater, @ancient-lesbian and @geese-villain at your service!!

[cerberus-new-owner]

do over cause i went to save this as a draft to look at something and there was an error (im fuckin crying rn, yes i broke my self censoring streak but this desrved it)

Helloooooooooooooo

sooooooooo it caught my attention that the dumb little sleeping heacannons i made a while ago caught your attention sooooooo

i may be interested in writing a part two but for the Angels + Solomon (raph not included) (btw this is like a rn thing like you're reading the post RN)

part three with barbie and dia at some point too if i remeber (they were originally going to be in this part but i got lazy lol)

Part 1 - The brothers Part 2 - The Angels + Solomon Part 3 - Diavolo + Barbatos

Content thingy-o - GN!mc, implied romance between mc solomon and simeon (seprate) (not luke), slight angst for simeon and lukes parts, mentions of asmodeus and barbatos, pet names for simeon and solomon

Simeon

w/o mc - he is a light sleeper like mother let kid sleep in their own room but is paranoid that something may happen (him and luke cause i hc that luke has night terrors often) he does let luke sleep in his bed if luke has a really bad nightmare or is just really shaken up for whatever reason, doesn't snore but does sleep talk and sleep walk usually to lukes room out of habit of checking on baby luke but occsionally just stands in the corner of solomons room mumbling random things almost creepily (need eggs for the cookies and flour for the cupcakes), i've said this many times before but w i n g s c a n b e b l a n k e t mans sleeps with his wings out as a blanket.

w/ mc - pretty much the exact same buuuuuuuuut cuddle positions!! (i promise i'll add this to the brothers version) love love loves it when him or mc lays on the others chest and he will use his wings to hold mc closer to him also loves big spoon little spoon mainly big spoon so he can wrap his wings around mc (cant tell me he doesn't love holding/hugging/cuddling mc with his wings) will use his wings to block out any morning sun light (if they're in the human realm its a good excuse to sleep in 'simeon, i have to get up its late' 'no you dont angel,its still dark' 'no it isn't, your just using your wings block the sun out') he's also pretty cold and enjoys teasing mc with the power of his freezing cold hands like just placing them on their back or something suddenly to feel the jolt of mc jumping at the sudden temperature change

Luke

w/o mc - frequent night terrors like cannot sleep kinda night terrors so simeon has to help him get back to sleep or atleast try ('luke i promise nothing like that will happen to me' 'are you sure'), he is a restless sleeper he is all over his bed at once and he has like a million plushies on his bed if any fall off he's appologising immediantly, he snores but not loudly like average kind of snores, and like simeon but also not like him (like father like son type a stuff) luke sleeps with his wings out (i feel like its a realm wide kind of thing in the celestial realm) but his wings are not quite blanket size for himself so he does have to use a blanket at night

w/ mc - he's mostly the same (he has slapped both mc and simeon on accident due to his restlesness) but he will bring one plushie with him if he does end up going to simeons room to sleep, also best sleep he'll ever get is when mc is with simeon cause he knows that they're safe with simeon but more importantly if he has a nightmare theres the chance that mc will go to comfort him ('m- mc? i had another *sniffle* nightmare' 'it's okay luke 'm here') it'd help especially if his nightmare is about something bad happening to mc and when he'd end up sleeping in simeons bed he'd be inbetween mc and simeon both of his parental figures helping him go back to sleep helps him to not have night mares or terrors

Solomon

w/o mc - when he does sleep he sleep talks like very big sleep talker tends to accidentally say spells in his sleep or summon asmodeus and/or barbatos in his sleep ('solomoooooooon honey i told you t-' 'so you got summoned by the sleeping bastard at midnight too?') he sleeps sprawled out starfish on his stomach probably still in his uniform (he does not give two craps) average sleeper too like not too deep of a sleep but not too light of a sleep, he will wake up when ever he hears simeon running to lukes room or when simeon is doing the creepy corner stand thing though

w/ mc - he sleeps alot more often still sleep talks and occasionally summons asmo or barbs but not as often stops sleeping starfish but still prefers to sleep on his stomach (which leads us to cuddlessssss) feel like he'd prefer to be ontop of mc like head resting on chest but like face down asleep hugging them as they either play with his hair or sleep, mans if also probaby burning hot so no need for a blanket when you have him ('solomon you're too hot' 'i know i am but you're way hotter my little aprentice' 'solomoooooooon you know what i mean')

edit part thing (i forgot to say goodbye oops)

GOODBYEEEEEEEEEEE AND THANK YOU FOR READINGGGGGG have a goooooood night, day, lunch, brunch, afternoon, pencil idk just have a good one!

Obey Me one Master List to rule them all

[toffeelemon]

may never make it out challenge

thank you @phneltwrites for tagging!

Post a 1-5 paragraph excerpt of a WIP / fic idea that may never make it out of your drafts but is near and dear to your heart

tagging @hergrandplan @skibasyndrome @royalwilmon

okay so. this is abandoned and i will not write any more because my betas refuse to touch it for my mental health’s sake. it’s - a bit much. i can never not make it personal i guess. also it’s post s1, started this in 2022, and it’s wip titled breathe

please look at cw before proceeding!

cw: suicide attempt, non-graphic self injury, blood and stuff, mental health crisis

Wilhelm doesn’t remember much.

He remembers the sharp cold porcelain of the inside of the bathtub, his bare arms and feet pressing against it. The stainless steel tap is also freezing, digging into his back. His vision swimming in the veins of the ugly green marble lining the walls. The dim yellow light in his ensuite - the only room in the palace with no windows. (Good. No one needs to see him like this.)

He remembers seeing red. Dark, crimson red. Trickling and hardly dramatic. He remembers hysterically thinking it even looked a little pathetic.

Simon’s phone rings at 11 at night. His phone is never on silent when he goes to bed - old habits die hard. The constant fear that someone needs him when he’s asleep never left Simon, even after they moved away from Micke years ago. And now, there’s Wilhelm, who calls him high out of his mind from a football field. Simon shudders to think what would happen if he didn’t pick up. (Simon would always pick up, even now. He hates himself for it.)

He was about to go to bed, school starts in two days and he needs to fix his sleep schedule from playing League with Ayub till 3am every night. (Fucking school. Hillerska. Where he has to endure that strange, almost pitying look from everyone. Dread twists his stomach just thinking about it.

And Wille. He’s going to see Wille again, for the first time since the Christmas holidays. Something else twists in him. Simon’s not quite sure what it is.)

Wille.

Simon springs up into a sitting position then, the duvet thrown off his waist in an instant. He stares at the contact picture, a shaky photo of Wille on the back of Ayub’s bike, screaming into the clouds happily, that he never had the heart to change.

Simon’s mind races to the darkest places.

Wille has made good on his apology - he hasn’t tried to beg Simon to have him back again, trying his best not to make this harder on either of them. There have been short and civil texts, Merry Christmases with a single emoji from Simon’s side. After everything, Simon is glad that Wille at least keeps his distance, as much as it hurts. Simon isn’t sure if he could keep standing his ground. Wille hasn’t always been kind to him - but he tries. Simon knows he does.

If Simon was more stubborn, or bitter, he would have just hung up. But he has forgiven Wille a long time ago.

The phone is still ringing. Simon can’t stop worrying, so he just scoffs at himself in disappointment and picks up, if only to swipe away Wille’s smiling face, frozen in time and mocking Simon.

Wille is crying. Simon’s anxiety spikes up, gripping the phone tightly and pressing it flat against his ear as closely as possible, as if that would take him closer to Wille, where he could touch and squeeze the pain out of him.

“Wille? What’s wrong?” Simon asks, over and over again, desperately trying to get through the distorted heaves coming through his shitty phone’s speakers.

Simon has never seen Wille cry. Nothing beyond shedding a tear or two, staying composed as much as he could on the outside, even when there’s a storm in his eyes, heavy clouds threatening to spill. Simon has always been weak for it, even when Wille hides it as much as he can.

Wille is sobbing. Simon doesn’t know what’s wrong. He’s heartbroken and scared and frustrated, hating the feeling of being helpless and so far away.

“Simon - I,” Wilhelm chokes, sniffling and hiccuping on his own breath, and Simon hangs onto his every word. “I’m so sorry, I - I didn’t want to bother you, but -”

“Wille? Are you alright? Are you hurt?” Simon chases after immediately.

“I -” Wille gasps, and Simon’s mind unhelpfully fills in with scenarios. Wille sounds like he’s in pain. “I did a bad thing, Simon, I’m so sorry -” Wille is crying again.

“Wille? What happened?” Simon whispers fearfully, still entirely lost.

“ - I don’t want to die, Simon, I don’t want to die,” Wille squeaks, tearing up in panic, and Simon starts kicking his feet into the jeans discarded on the floor, even though he doesn’t know where to run and how to help.

“Wille, please tell me what’s going on,” Simon’s voice cracks, and he wipes at his eyes furiously. He can’t cry. Crying won’t help. He needs to get his shit together and act. Simon shifts gears, into the big boy that he has always desperately wished he didn’t have to be.

“There’s so much blood, oh God, fuck -” Wille whispers, almost disbelievingly, and Simon takes in a sharp breath.

“Wille? Can you call for help? Are you home? Is there anyone in the house?” Simon fires at him, belatedly realising how ridiculous calling the palace a house is.

Simon thinks about Crown Prince Erik, how the Royal Family is supposed to have a whole battalion at their beck and call, and yet, in his last moments, Erik was alone, not even found until hours later -

Simon snaps out of it, doesn’t dare to finish that train of thought.

“I - I don’t know - maybe Malin is around - I can’t, I can’t,” Wille babbles in panic, whilst Simon puts him on loud speaker, yanking a two day old jumper over his head and gathering his wallet and keys.

“I don’t actually want to die, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry -” Wille sobs, and Simon’s heart shatters.

What happened to Wille? Did Wille himself -

“I don’t want them to know - they’re going to be so mad, Oh God, Mum is going to be so mad at me, what have I done -” Simon switches loud speaker off again, clamping his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he scrambles out of the house as inconspicuous as he could, thankful that his sister and his mum have already gone to bed.

Simon kicks his bike upright from where it laid against the shed, cursing under his breath when he skids across the frosted pavement and almost falls off, right before he finds his balance on the main road again. It’s difficult cycling against the gritted tarmac, snow melting into slippery slush, especially with how Simon squeezes his shoulders praying that his phone doesn’t fall off, but Simon is nothing but determined. There’s one last train to Stockholm that runs at midnight, and it’s not fast enough, but it’s the closest teether to hope Simon has.

“- Mum is going to send me away if she finds me like this,” Wille babbles on, breathing heavily, “I need to see you before I go, Simon, I miss you, I can’t go -”

Simon is too afraid to decipher the double meaning behind Wille’s words. Wille can’t leave him, not like this.

“I’m coming, Wille, I’m coming,” Simon reassures shakily, not caring to lock his bike as he jumps off when he arrives at the parking lot outside Bjärstad station, immediately running to the light where the lone platform is still operating.

“I love you, Simon -” Wille stutters out in between gasps, and Simon trips on his own feet, eyes going blurry and tears running unpleasant cold tracks down his cheeks. “I’m so scared, Simon, please save me, I’m so sorry for asking again and again -”

“Don’t be sorry,” Simon cuts in, almost stern. “Wille, hold on, okay? I’m coming to you. Wait for me.”

Wille whimpers, shuffling with a slight clutter in the background, and Simon imagines him nodding his head, quite literally holding on with his own arms around himself.

Simon pulls his phone away from his cheek for a second, frantically scrolling around until he confirms that he does have Malin’s contact number. Wille has sent it to him shortly after the video - for if Simon ever gets into trouble with the paparazzi. Wille has told him that he could always call, even after they broke up.

“Okay, I’m going to hang up soon, okay?” Wille makes a wounded noise, terrified and anxious. Simon continues before he could spiral any further.

“I’m going to get Malin, and you’re - you’re going to live, okay? You’re going to live, Wille.” Simon says resolutely, a demand and a plea and a conviction. Wille sniffs, choking out the quietest “Yeah” that barely filters through the phone call.

“Hold on, Wille, I’m coming,” Simon promises reverently over the phone, “I’ll see you, yeah?”

“See you, love you,” Wille chokes out, shaky and almost relieved, and Simon bites his lips to stop himself from answering.

[shads-shipposts]

Finally. Five years after the story actually takes place, I can share with y'all the book that was meant to start Adventures!AU. This book has gone through an insane amount of iterations, and is actually unrecognizable from  the original script. But the delay is a benefit, because now I have a better idea of where I want the series to go as a whole and am also better at writing. 

This story should be finished by the end of the year 2025, with chapters 0-20 completed. How long it will be, I haven't a clue. "Act I" was originally 10 chapters and now it's 20, so who knows lol. 

This story occasionally features the main characters of the movie (Tintin, Haddock, Sakharine) but is mainly focused on the sailors. This story won't be as gut-wrenching as my other fics (especially OtRaTtW), but there will be pain. It's not a Shadow story without it. 

This story does deal with sensitive topics from time to time, but each chapter will have a warning before anything intense. However, this is the only warning posted for the minor stuff typical of my fics: adult language/humor, graphic descriptions, and canon typical/atypical violence.

I realize the fandom for this lot is small, but I really do appreciate any comments or votes on this fic. I plan to remaster this after I finish this "first draft", so if there's any constructive criticism you have please let me know!

Enough talk, enjoy the ride! It's gonna be a wild one.

Also, Merry Christmas!

Next Chapter: Here Ao3 Version: Here Masterlist: Here

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Scared, Allan?"

It wasn't the first time he'd found himself here after he closed his eyes. It'd been months since the incident that gave rise to the scene playing over and over again in his dreams, but time hadn't dulled any of his emotions concerning it.

"I must say, your fear scent is... unique. Fishy and tart."

Confusion, horror, shock, disbelief.

"Don't worry your little head there. I respect you and, strange as it may seem, I do find the need to fear you."

Yes, fear there too.

"Funny ain't it?"

And who wouldn't be scared?

"An Alphian fearin' a human."

When they were faced with an alien of unknown magical abilities?

"Don't see that every day."

The scene wobbled and fizzled at the edges, like staring at a reflection on the surface of a stormy sea. The secrets surrounding the scene trapped deep in its depths, unreachable even if one tried their hardest to grasp the answers.

Allan Thompson walked through the scene, removed from his own actions as if he were just on autopilot. He couldn't change the scene, no more than someone watching a reel on a screen.

He sat at the table, across from the half-human, half animal woman that watched him like a hawk. Dark stripes cut through her light skin like thick shadows across a moonlit patch on deck, a black and white tail flicked behind her, and piercing eyes the color of glaciers scanned him inside and out. She was a head shorter than him, yet power radiated off her like heat from an open flame.

His voice reached his ears, muted and distant.

His own and yet... not, in a way.

"Kid... I'm sorry about Turtle."

The alien looked up at him, the furry ears on the sides of her head flattened against ginger hair.

"Thanks, man."

Those cat-like eyes shifted to the side, as if searching for any other threats.

He knew it was a dream. Knew what was about to happen.

It did not ease the churning of his stomach.

"Actually," she continued, mouth moving but voice coming from the very walls surrounding them. "I kinda wanted to ask you about something related to that."

Allan knew what was coming. Knew what she was going to ask.

Knew how badly it would go, how swiftly the scene would turn dangerous.

But he was helpless to do anything but follow the script. Follow the events as they unfolded.

Eyes on her hands, waiting to see those thorn sharp claws, Allan again heard his voice from far away.

"Aye?"

He wished he could change course. Wished he could prevent what came next. Perhaps, if he could, then things would be different.

But no.

"Let me go after that short slaver with the dark brown hair. I want his head for orderin' me to kill Turtle."

There it was. The request that shattered everything. The request that would leave Allan with gaps in his memory that no amount of pondering or searching could ever fix.

He felt the shock course through his body, felt his spine stiffen and his heart skip a beat.

"I'm sorry," he heard himself say. "But I can't allow that."

Ears shot up, a tail bristled, sharp teeth bared, and anger blazed in those icy eyes.

"What?"

If only he could alter his words. Explain more, explain better.

Save himself.

If only.

His voice came again. "I can't allow you to kill him."

He had dreams. He had nightmares.

This hell was something else entirely.

Pupils narrowed to slits across from him, jagged scars streaking down the table as wicked claws dug into the old wood.

"Is that your final answer?"

There was red now, deep in those eyes.

He could only watch, silently scream in his head as he fought with all his might to change the memory.

"Aye, I refuse to let you go after him."

Futile. The scene would play out as it had many nights before this one.

The woman stood, ears low and tail lashing.

"Whose side are you on, Allan? Huh? The slavers?" A snarl curled her lip, the temperature around them plummeting as ice snaked out from her hands across the table. "How disappointin'."

The edges of the scene corrupted, bleeding red and black.

He wanted to scream. Wanted to run. Wanted to hide.

Hide from the devastation bearing down on him like a hurricane at sea.

But there was no refuge. No escape.

"There will be another time to kill him."

He had to witness the event that would alter his fate.

Words came faster now, a distorted echo to them that sent chills down his spine.

"But I heard the other slavers talkin'! He's goin' on patrol tonight! I can't pass up this opportunity to claim revenge for what he did."

"Look, kid. I said no, and that's final."

"Nobody's gonna stand in my way. Not even you. Stand down now, Allan. I don't want to hurt you."

He got up.

Walked over.

"I told you no, kid! That's an order!"

"Give it up, Allan. I'm doin' this my way. I'm killin' him tonight and you can't stop me. Don't even try to."

He got close.

Too close.

It was over fast. She winded him with a headbutt, driving him back into the wall hard enough to stun him. He didn't even have a chance to rise to his feet, weight pinning him to the floor. A rag clamped over his mouth and nose, drowning the world in a sickly-sweet haze.

Darkness followed swiftly after, a growl echoing in his ears.

"You brought this on yourself. Sweet dreams."

And those were the last words he ever heard from Scarlett Hyde.

Allan sat up in his bed with a gasp, cold sweat pouring down his face as he fought for breath.

Was that her now, hiding in the dark corner?

He flicked on the light, fingers struggling to grasp the knob.

Nothing, just his trenchcoat.

It was too hot. Too stifling.

Air.

He needed air!

Staggering to the porthole, he yanked it open. Cold, salty air and the distant chime of harbor buoys greeted him and he leaned against the wall, eyes closed as he fought to catch his breath and soothe his racing heart.

Lifting his eyes and scanning the docks, Allan found them still bathed in the warm glow of the harbor lights with the inky black sky above devoid of stars thanks to the light pollution from the nearby city of Antwerp. The Karaboudjan sat desolate in her berth, undisturbed and peaceful with her own lights turned off and the crew inside her still sleeping.

Utterly lifeless.

A relief to Allan, for no one had seen him fling open the porthole and gasp like a half-drowned man starving for air.

No, Allan realized with a flash of irritation. There was a person standing near the bow of the ship, Allan could see them from the corner of his eye.

Must have been that damn FBI agent that had been sniffing around the past few days.

Allan told that aristocratic fool Sakharine to be more subtle rather than just strolling about like he owned the place. His insistence on dressing fancy all day and probably night instantly set him apart from the dockworkers, drawing unneeded attention, but he just had to let his pride and ego get in the way of keeping a low profile.

Great, he thought. Not even dawn and I already need to deal with...

He nearly fainted when he finally turned his full attention to the figure.

That was not the FBI agent.

In fact...

It wasn't even a human.

Is... Is that an Alphian?!

Certainly looked like one, there on the street staring up at him from under the amber cone of the street light. For a tense moment, Allan thought Scarlett had come back; a long black tail covered in silver stripes, tall pointed black and white ears sticking out from holes in a dark hood, and bare lower legs covered in the same markings from the knee down.

But... no, Scarlett's ears were rounder, fluffier. Her tail was thick and furry, not sleek with a large black spade at the tip. She also had thinner, longer stripes cutting through the black base. Not thick, broken spots.

And the glowing green eyes gleaming from beneath the hood most certainly weren't Scarlett's.

An ally, maybe?

Allan hesitated, gathering breath to call out but uncertain if he should or if the Alphian was even there.

A work truck trundled by, sputtering as it struggled with a load of crates.

After it passed, the Alphian was gone.

Mad.

Allan Thompson was actually going mad.

He could hardly be blamed.

First his old boss starts trying to get him to return to his fleet with his temptations slowly mutating into threats that grew more vicious every time.

Then a new man in a fancy suit and tie presents his own offer of money in exchange for Allan's aid in a treasure hunt of all things while also being far too interested in Allan's drunken captain who couldn't even piss straight let alone remember his ancestors.

Then he started having flashbacks of a hijacking that brought him into contact with not only slavers, but fucking aliens, one of which joined forces with him only to knock him out to go slaughter some of the slavers...

What was even worse...

After that fight with Scarlett, any and all memories of the Alphian ceased. He couldn't even recall what happened once he woke up, which alarmed him greatly because there was a significant event he just could not remember. Because they sure as hell didn't go from being overrun by slavers to being back at their home port without any sign there was even a hostile force occupying the ship.

Only one man had memories of Scarlett that went past Allan's; Tom Anders.

His friend and trusty right-hand man. The closest person to Scarlett on the ship prior to her mysterious disappearance.

Allan hoped he could have shed some light on Scarlett. Maybe Scarlett somehow drove off all the slavers after knocking Allan out, accessing some type of beast mode or something. She was an alien, and could shapeshift, so it wasn't entirely implausible.

But no.

Tom's last memory of her was Scarlett heading off the ship into the woods. Tom went after her, only to find himself face to face with the same slaver Scarlett was after. The slaver attacked him, but Scarlett showed up in some animal form and attacked the slaver. She won the fight but was stabbed in the process. Tom tried dragging her back to the ship after she shifted back to that half-human form, but then his memory too went dark.

That was it. The trail ended. Went cold. With no hope of recovering the fractal memories.

Maybe Scarlett was around longer, and had some alien way of wiping their memories. Why, then, did he have any memory of her at all? If she truly aimed to wipe all memory of her existence, he should have forgotten her in totality.

Instead he was left with only partial memories and no explanation that could even remotely make sense of the event.

Every port they stopped at, every contact he knew, he asked. When Scarlett Hyde rang no bells, he tried the false name she gave at first; Shadow. Still nothing.

He tried her description, her species, her family name, everything.

Nothing.

As if neither she nor her species even existed in the first place.

But now, after months of searching and dealing with intermittent nightmares, an Alphian just shows up outside his window only to vanish into thin air.

If it was even there to begin with.

"Get a hold of yourself, old boy," Allan laughed nervously, running his hand halfway through his hair before gripping it tightly in a feeble attempt to ground himself in reality.

He was seeing things.

Yeah, he...

He was just seeing things.

A knock sounded on his door, and Allan turned away from the window to stare at the clock by his bed.

05:00 am.

His port watch wasn't due for another few hours, so it couldn't have been someone calling him for that.

"Al?"

Tom. What was he doing up this early?

Passing through his dayroom, Allan opened the door and found Tom looking almost as disheveled as himself. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Allan asked, taking in Tom's bare feet and backwards shorts.

Tom rubbed his arm. "It... happened again."

Allan's eyes widened. "Scarlett."

Tom nodded.

Allan stood to the side to let him in. "You too, huh?"

Tom straightened, looking slightly more alert as he sat on the couch in Allan's dayroom. "Same dream?"

"What other dream would it be?" Allan growled.

Tom wasn't put off by his tone, but then again he never was. "What are the odds, huh?" he said in an attempt to lighten the mood, a weak smile accompanying the joke.

Allan wasn't amused. "Real funny." He leaned on the table, pushing his hair back. "This is the fifth time in two weeks," he growled. "I do not need this. We got that proud peacock prancin' 'round like he owns the damn ship, orderin' us to and fro like damn dogs. I don't need this headache on top of it."

"At least the cap ain't givin' us any issues."

"Don't think that old man would notice if I scuttled the damn ship," Allan grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Probably not." Tom tilted his head. "Don't think the dreams mean anythin', do ya?" he asked, somewhat desperately.

"Concurrent dreams about an alien that we both know had the power to alter dreams?" Allan said. "It's fishy."

"Think she's comin' back?"

Allan shrugged tiredly. "Hell, Tom, I don't know." He glared in the direction of the door. "At least Sakharine finally tracked down the second ship. Then we can be back at sea, and I'll have other things to keep my mind on."

"Yeah, can't wait to have that guy off." Tom shuddered. "Gives me the creeps."

"Feelin's mutual."

Allan wondered if he should tell Tom about the... apparition on the docks. He quickly decided against it, not wanting to wrangle Tom when the man tried to hunt the ghost down.

It would be his secret.

Just get through the day and you'll be back at sea. No more FBI agents snooping around, no more headaches from watching Sakharine waltz through the docks like a blind idiot, no more...

Whatever the hell that just was on the docks.

Allan stretched. "Guess I may as well get coffee, not like I'm gettin' any more shuteye today," he said gruffly. "Want some?"

Tom nodded, stretching too. "Won't say no." He shuddered. "Anythin' to keep awake after that nightmare."

Allan understood his hesitation with going back to sleep. Tom's dream was far worse than his, with the man being hunted down in dark woods by a slaver bent on murder. Scarlett's animal form wasn't exactly comforting either, Tom describing it as a large feline with saber teeth that was a third again the size of a normal tiger.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute. Maybe Vinny or Yanny have somethin' already."

Tom nodded. "I'll wait outside."

As Tom left, and Allan headed back to his room, the first mate mumbled under his breath.

"I really hope it was just coincidence." He punched the door open. "Because I cannot deal with anything else." 

[bingebuddie]

Here... We... Go...

Hi all,

Well, so far, 2024 has sucked for me... but anyway...

I've been feeling pretty out of sorts mentally, and depending on where my head is at, I've been bouncing back and forth between Fics and my Wes and Cole novel.

I am going on a writing retreat May 4-12th... so... expect some major movement...

I wanted to provide a few updates on where I am with my Fics and other works.

Sideways:

Published updates here have been slower than I wanted or anticipated. This has nothing to do with the story, as I have this outlined for Arcs 6-10... Yes, up to Arc 10.

My personal life has gotten in the way a lot over the last few months and has just eaten up my time to write.

Now, Arc 6 will lead right into Arc 7 and 7 into 8. You will want to throw some stuff at me for some of the wtf moments and having to wait between arcs... but it's all coming. Anyone new to the series has had the benefit of reading five fully finished-out arcs that took me about a year to write. Have some patience with me. It will be worth it.

Arc 6, Into The Unknown, has multiple chapters drafted. I just need to clean up some edits from my beta, and they will be posted. May is going to be a big month for this arc.

This is a pivotal point in the series. It spans Chapters 37-48, making it the longest arc so far. This installment will delve into the Seals' backstory, their connection with Buck and Eddie, and much more. It’s a substantial piece of the puzzle that you won't want to miss.

This one does have some heavy moments...

This does end with a cliffhanger... But I promise, it's not our boys directly you are left wondering about...

Arc 7—Strong—Eddie will need his friends and family like never before. This is a heavy Diaz family arc. The outline is eight Chapters.

This also ends in a cliffhanger and that promise I made above... does not apply here.... insert evil laugh...

Arc 8 Genesis—This is the big one. It all comes together here, and it is the part I am most excited to write. It is also the longest, with an outline of 16 chapters. You will find out more about Genesis in Arc 6.

This arc will change all of their lives and the status quo as we know it. Grab your seats and tissues. The previous title for this was Unleashed...

Arc 9 - Experience/Circles - Tentative Title - No tease, as it will spoil what's to come...

Arc 10 - My All - googles Mariah Carey ...

Sideways isn't going anywhere...

Shifted:

Volume 1: Nevermore

This was originally planned to be 30 chapters. I have 20 published right now. The rest of this is outlined, and chapters 21-25 are written and ready to be published. I haven't posted these because Chapter 25 ends on a massive cliffhanger, and I don't want to leave you all hanging. I will be finishing this... after Arc 6 of Sideways ...

I have a plan for the second arc... but that's all the way behind everything else on my docket...

Impossible:

If you have read this one, I have yet to post the last chapter...

This has an MCD, and while I was writing this, I lost a friend. It was hard to finish. I have finished the outline, and this will be completed soon.

Run:

This is on hold. I have too much else to focus on. Consider this on hiatus until I say otherwise. It might even be scrapped... will see...

Would You Mind:

This one was a lot of fun... The wrap-up/epilogue is done; it's with my beta...

Lap Dancing Eddie will return... in Sideways...

I Don't Want To Be Your Freind:

As of today, 7 of 11 chapters are posted. This is all outlined. I have drafts of chapters 8-11 done. Going to beta and will be posting soon...

I started this leading up to Season 7; it was my mind dealing with all the rumors and leaks... In my mind and my group chat, I was calling this my Anti Tommy and Marisol fic...

This got way out of hand and became a monster of a fic...

Now... on to what else I have brewing...

Future Shock - 3 Part Series - Magic/BAMF/Mayhem/Found Family/Soul Mates/Redux/Ryan Throw's The Timeline Into A Blender and Tada...

As It Is - 2030 and the 118 have been a fractured team since the lawsuit. When members of the team start to be picked off one by one, Hen, Chim, and Bobby, have no one to turn to until friends and family return in their most desperate hour.

As It Was - Details what led to the fracturing of the 118. A retelling of Season 2 and part of season 3...

As It Was Always Meant To Be - Now reunited, will the 118 be able to rally around each other, or will their painful past be too much to overcome.

This has a loose outline and it's very large ...

Depressed, Devasted, and Destroyed aka Something To Hold On To:

I keep calling this Triple D or DDD... This is a pure angst fest... major whump... like I'm mad at myself for the whump here ... seriously...

This has an outline...

Relationship Goals—In an effort to rebuild their friendship after their recent relationships crash and burn, Buck and Eddie join a local hockey team along with some of Buck's old seal friends. This was pure fan service to myself and a way to get Buck, Eddie, Wes, and Cole to play hockey and not have to do it on Sideways. This currently sits around 60 pages.

Stolen - A stolen kiss changes everything between Buck and Eddie... This angst fest is somehow incredibly soft... This is about 35 pages right now...

The Ties That Bind - Buck breakdown fic... This might get scrapped and merged into DDD from above...

All I Want for Christmas - Think Scrooged Vs. It's A Wonderful Life Vs 911... This won't be posted until holiday time...

The Wes and Cole novel is still moving along... it's my refuge when the show does something stupid...

I should probably get to writing... it's not like I have nothing to do....

[zahri-melitor]

20 Questions for Fic Writers Tag Game

Thank you @androxys for the tag!

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

I have 46 works on AO3 at the moment. There's a handful more spread over various other places, but at this point I've uploaded all of my back catalogue that I want to have archived there.

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

113,119 words. Which is pretty respectable given I tend not to write long pieces.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Whatever is currently causing my brain to itch! At the moment that's most DC Comics, but I do have a few Yuri!!! on Ice drafts sitting around that I may or may not finish, at least one Girl Genius piece I could tidy up, a bunch of ATLA snippets, and I can frequently be provoked into writing Vorkosigan Saga if people pose the right scenarios.

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

College Daze: a Yuri!!! on Ice SkyGem Retirement Challenge piece, where I don't bother with the reveal. It's three separate scenarios where people meet Yuuri as a college student in the US and don't know who he is. I'm entirely unsurprised it remains my most popular - it was a very popular challenge in the fandom and it's a lot more accessible and pandering to fandom tastes than some other stuff I write.

Find Out What It Means To Me: an immediate sequel to Yuri!!! on Ice, set around Japanese Nationals. Yuuri doubts himself but succeeds and finds how much love and support he has from the whole Japanese skating community. I love this piece because it's very much a balance of things I enjoy (fiddly technical details) and characterisation.

the picture frames have changed and so has your name: DC Comics. What if Dick no longer loved Tim? What if Dick got Morrison Disease? Ahahaha I think you all know this one. It's my big DC piece so far, so I'm not surprised it's up here. It also contains female characters that casual DC fans have never heard of in major roles, so I'm also not surprised it doesn't get the attention fanon-based material does in this fandom.

Little Chick in a Nest: Yuri!!! on Ice. Victor introduces Yuuri to Lilia, without realising that Minako was also a famous prima ballerina. The YOI fandom loves Minako's Benois, but it's a tiny set dressing detail; Victor probably overlooked it and nobody ever talks about Minako as a famous dancer. I had a lot of fun setting up Victor to put his foot in it.

there's an endless road to rediscover: DC Comics. Dick and Tim playfight in the Cave and Damian misreads the situation. I think this one is popular just because of the interplay between the characters, and it was my first attempt at trying to get my head around Damian as a character.

5. do you respond to comments?

Pretty much always. It's the time I spent on LJ coming through, because comments are for talking, and if you talk to me I'll talk back. If you're waiting on a response it's usually because I'm formulating some massive post. Also I tend to meet people where they pitch their comment - the longer and more detailed it is the more detail and discussion you'll get back.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'll hold your memory in my hands tonight. It's pretty hard to beat this one for angst in terms of the subject matter. (I still giggle to myself over the pun in this title because it's dreadful) Anyway CTE is something I have a lot of feelings about and they recently diagnosed two women as having suffered CTE due to domestic violence, which is horrific and really shows the long term problems and dangers from family violence.

Then there's A Duty to Your Family and Soft, Small, Silent, Still, one of which contains attempted infanticide and the other which contains canonical accidental toddler death, so you know. When I give heads up warnings I tend to mean them.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

...Happiest? hmmmm. I have a bunch of fluff, but probably Find Out What It Means To Me for YOI, Herds of Little Vorkosigans for Vorkosigan Saga, and These Small Hours for DC Comics?

Yes okay that's two baby fics and the one where everyone tells Yuuri he's the best.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Almost none that I'm aware of; there's occasionally a bit of pedantry on the Vorkosigan Saga fics but that's from known notorious figures in the fandom and I largely ignore them. If anyone's busy having a hate on for my fics they're kind enough to do it the correct way, which is privately where I can't see it.

9. do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope. The closest I get is playing around with innuendo at times in my writing. I'd really rather insinuate and then fade to black, it's heaps less awkward to write.

10. do you write crossovers?

I was going to play good old 'what do you mean by crossover' as far as DC Comics goes, but the answer is a frank yes, because I've got a West Wing & Grease crossover drabble I'm Not Pregnant which is leveraging Stockard Channing appearing in both.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I've ever noticed, and I honestly suspect it's unlikely to happen. I would need to write things that get more attention than I currently get, designed to hit fandom popular tropes.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. None of my Vorkosigan Saga stuff is popular enough to get a Russian translation and it doesn't fit the preferred tropes of that end of fandom anyway.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nothing I've ever specifically published as fic. I do have some commentfic over the years where there's been back and forth between me and someone else, but alas commentfic is a dying breed in fandom these days.

(and it's a LOT more informal than proper cowriting)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

All time favourite? Oh gosh. Probably Wally/Norah from Billabong, which hits just so many of my favourite notes for a relationship. Nothing for me will ever beat Wally throwing himself at Norah's mercy to confess that he would rather have died than Jim as he's 'nobody's dog', and Norah claiming him as her own.

I've loved those two since I was a little kid, and you know how it is with ships you acquire in that formative period.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I remain hopeful about a lot of my stash but I just can't see myself finishing a piece I have about Steph's baby and Helena Kyle. It's a fun scenario, but I cannot work out the villain who came after them both, and so it remains a setting without a plot.

16. What are your writing strengths?

From what people have said to me: I'm pretty good at paring down language and telling a lot of story in small scenes and understatement. There's a bunch of compliments I've had over the structure of TES 34/64 that I treasure, and everyone lost their minds over "the shoes had eventually come in handy. For the funerals." in a gap where a parent should be.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Oh, this is something I have strong feelings about. I don't like loan words being translated and multilingual fandoms often have a working level of loan words that is higher than background use: think for example the amount of French commonly used when discussing ballet. So I tend to think you should use languages at the level of comfort that the fandom has for them.

It often comes down to the fluency of the characters in the scene - I think dialogue in another language can be quite powerful if some of the characters understand it and others don't, because you can leverage that variation in understanding in your audience. However personally I'm more likely to note what languages are being used in dialogue tags than arrange for a translation.

I do try to localise for word choice to the setting of a fic but at this point I've been in fandom too long and and I'm too stubborn to localise spelling for my writing.

Which means if I were to write Wellington Paranormal fic I would probably be using my extremely scanty Māori mixed through the dialogue; I wouldn't bother translating kia ora or whānau for instance. But on the other hand I'm not going to write in another language unless it makes sense for the story to do so.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

That I published? Harry Potter. Which I'm not ashamed of or upset over, really. It was a good fandom to learn how fandom worked in, and it certainly inoculated me against a lot of nonsense behaviour later on. I still have friends I made back then, I learned a lot about how Internet communities function and behave, and it's sort of weird to have things I was on the fringe of and have contemporary memories of occurring having become Fandom Lore.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Oh damn. Hmmm. Look, probably the picture frames have changed and so has your name, because I'm super proud of myself for finishing it, but in terms of underrated pieces I have to to point to the Mother's Day series, particularly Tea for Two, because DC mothers deserve so much more love.

I don't have anyone specific to tag so let's make it an open offer.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

<3 Ooohhh ok hm... honestly i do not post much fic (checked AO3 and only 18), for the amount that i start writing and then leave in various stages of completion in drafts on my computer, oops. Unfortunately at least 1 favorite is in that category, but here we go!

Fallout from the Fade (Dragon Age: Inquisition): Hawke is left in the fade during the events of DAI's Here Lies The Abyss, but manages to fight her way back out. However she's left to recover from the severe side effects and trauma that come along. Ok my confession here is while i have not updated this fic since 2020, i have in fact written more of it. But since i kept going so long (months... and then years...) between chapters I decided it'd be better if i just finish writing the rest myself (at least roughly) so i know how much more there is to go and can update it on a more regular schedule in the future when i start posting again. Alas i am very slow at this bc of grad school and also bc i get distracted easily and... have less motivation to work on it when not actually getting feedback as i go. So i may change my mind about this approach eventually but it's where the fic stands now.

Like Teeth Against His Heart (Dragon Age: Inquisition): After Solas wakes up from uthenera, he has many conversations with a variety of spirits over the course of DAI. Sometimes they tell him what he wants to hear, and sometimes they don't. I typically like the recent things I've written the most and this is that. It's a prose-poem style that plays with formatting, aka its kind of Weird, and weird is my favorite. I wrote it for a charity zine which also meant i had to have a Final Version rather than endlessly tweak it forever which was irritating at the time but also good for me.

Unposted, No-Finalized-Title fic, with the file jokingly named 'Sam I Am' (Mass Effect: Andromeda): pre-Andromeda and game timeline but from the perspective of your ship's AI, who also lives inside your character's brain, and in the game admits to altering your brain/body, and hello??? the game did NOT let me respond to that to the degree I desired? One of my literary obsessions is the combination of AI (the sci fi kind not... generative art etc) plus human augmentation... what that does to both parties sense of self, their relationships, how they view and function in the world, etc. In the vein of Silently And Very Fast by Cat Valente, Imperial Radch by Ann Lecke, Murderbot by Martha Wells... and I spent soooo much time wishing Andromeda had gone deeper into that angle/thinking about it myself I wrote. Quite a long fic about it. But i only played the game once and there wasn't much fan love/fanworks for it so I never posted it or any other Andromeda stuff I wrote, it was more just for myself. I'd like to go back and finish this fic but I estimate it'd be in the 40-70k word range and i'd need to replay the game to refresh my memory so it's like, a project for when i have a bunch of free time at some point in the future, since it's mostly just for Me.

the people you love become ghosts inside of you, and like this, you keep them alive (Mass Effect trilogy): Snippets of a variety of Garrus' thoughts and memories of Shepard, and a growing realization about the nature of love like theirs. I don't expect anyone to love this one but me, because it's just a self-indulgent thing I wrote specifically to figure out the flavor of grief involved in the relationship between my personal Shepard and Garrus. It's not as poem-formatted as my Solavellan one but the prose leans hard in that direction, and they came from the same place for me. I wrote it after finishing the trilogy because I (unlike a lot of fans, i know) felt very adamant that the correct ending for my Shepard is that she is dead now, and not coming back, and needed to cry some more about that.

like the leaves after a long winter (Dragon Age II): It's the first Christmas/Satinalia since Leandra's death, and Hawke is not in the mood for festivities -- until she realizes that everyone else will be spending it alone and finds herself hosting a party without even meaning to. I'll be honest #5 spot was kind of a toss up between this one, Less A Man Than A Wild Cat, and Grief. But I've decided on this one because 1. it covers my favorite thing to write about aka grief, but is actually written as a story/proper narrative unlike others i've already put on this list. With fanfic the most important thing to me before anything else is self-indulgence. While I love writing for prompts (like this one was!), my specific joy in that is taking an idea from someone else and figuring out how to cram all the things I care about into someone else's plot summary. Fanfic for me is like... it feels weird to call it 'writing exercises' because that implies i don't care about the final project when i very much do. Writing challenges? Maybe? Idk i just really enjoy having limitations to work within. Having NO boundaries is where I do my original content writing, so writing within the bounds of an existing franchise already means there's some limits (like keeping to characterizations, plot, etc) and then adding more on top makes it a fun experience and keeps me engaged.

While these are my top 5, I definitely don't think most of them are what other people would pick as a favorite from my (admittedly very limited) amount of posted writing, Fallout from the Fade being the exception. I think my friends probably like the one where I turned Fenris into a cat best (and that was VERY fun it's just also more lighthearted which i struggle to write sooooo bad), and then every one else is in my inbox about the single Solas x F!Travelyan fic I wrote largely as an experiment in writing sex scenes. sorry to everyone who read that and then tried to read my other fics and discovered its mostly blood and loss and Yearning...

[magsintherain]

okay update I’ve been Instagram stalking and I think I can put pieces together. This is such a long deep dive so bear with me.

January: "I have two that I've written the first draft of and will go into revision soon. I have one that I'm writing now and I'm about halfway through. I have another that I'm planning." (source)

I will label these four books, in order, Mystery Book, Big Book, Paper Model Book, and Little Graceling Book. We'll follow them over the course of the year, and you'll see where the names come from.

The one that she was writing at the time, we're going to call Paper Model Book, because she said this about it: "My WIP includes a character who’s building a paper model of a castle and does other paper art too. Butterflies and moths are also an important part of the book." (source)

This draft was started many months earlier, pre-brain surgery, and went on pause for obvious reasons. From earlier notes, it appears the main character may have an M name. (source) I believe the draft was started all the way back in September 2023, and just took a while due to the aforementioned brain surgery, as well as copyediting for There Is a Door in this Darkness. (source)

She continued working on Paper Model Book for several months. She finished and submitted the manuscript around late April/early May. Several of the notebooks for this book have fox stickers on them, and she also had fox socks and fox art on her desk, which could mean there are foxes in it, but could also mean that she was just in a fox mood.

May: "With this draft done, I now have three entire books in revision, plus There Is a Door in This Darkness releasing on June 11." (source)

In May, she was on a bit of a vacation, but mentioned at one point that she was "listening to a lot of math podcasts and books to help me with a character I’m brainstorming." (source) Guessing this was for Little Graceling Book, the book she started writing in September; it's the only one she would have been planning/brainstorming for.

In June, she began revising a 430-page book. She described this revision as "so complicated" and the novel as "pretty complex". (source) The first draft of that book was written, in part, summer 2023. (source) This should be the one we have called Big Book. She continued revising Big Book for several months, while also doing release stuff for There Is A Door in this Darkness.

Peeks from that revision:

(source 1, source 2)

In September, she started plotting a new book, which we will call Little Graceling Book. Two posts about it have been tagged #gracelingrealm, implying that it's the next Graceling book.

Words I have caught in her notes for this book include: “fox” “castle” “heartless world” “the reader has guessed what A is up to and so has O; move on to other mysteries” (who’s A?? could it be adventure the fox??). Stickers include at least two foxes and a very Graceling-feeling castle.

On November 10, she mentioned writing “a bunch of pages, in a book about a world where things can change for the better (as they can in our world).” <3 (source)

A few days ago (December 21), she posted that she will be setting aside the partial first draft of Little Graceling Book to return to Big Book, her next book to come out. This book has gone through two drafts, and she’s about to get editorial letters back that will allow her to start on the third draft. There appears to be a grandfather clock and a horse sticker on the cover of its notebook, but we don't know anything else about it as far as I can tell. (source) "For this revision, I've realized that I need to understand what's happening inside a kaleidoscope." (January 18) 👀

She also shared that two other books (Mystery Book and Paper Model Book, as far as I can tell) are in progress and hanging out on a shelf. They appear to be printouts with sticky notes in them, which indicates that they're further along in the revision process.

So. That's what I have. Hopefully this is of interest to someone besides me that will justify the several hours I spent back-scrolling Kristin Cashore's Instagram lol

hi excuse me kristin cashore is working on FOUR books rn ??

what do we think they are 👀

[the-s1lly-corner]

spot that meets a autistic reader, that is talkative to themselves, but has poor social skills because (lack of good parenting + bullys, but is very smart and loves art and engineering, and dreams to be a scientist one day.. it could began as the reader first feared him over an awkward moment? to opening up about themselves and the reader's obsessive fascination over him. two very talented ppl that only wants to be appreciated, respected and loved...💔

idk is it to much?? bruh I'm trying to be creative😭 I'd be happy with whatever happens!. aNd TaKe yO tiME!! On irl things and beloved spotty <3

Spot w/ an autistic reader!

Rubs my autistic little hands

Feeling a lil drowsy but I wanna chuck this out before I fall asleep for (possibly) the next 7 hours :3

Not proof read we die like Peter Parker <\\3 we are sleepy and tumblr wont let me save drafts for asks <\3

Obligatory "I like this character so I'm hcing him to be ND like me" touch

He gets it

Anyways

I think to help make the whole thing less jarring, or whatever, is that you may have known each other vaguely before the collider incident

You weren't a scientist at alchemax, more like.

Well shoot I just forgot the term but like, you work there, but you dont do hands on experiments, not experienced enough yet

Intern?

Maybe, idk

Obviously you don't work there anymore after the collider blowing up, so... you're looking for a new job

You knew about Jonathan, but you weren't friends

You had also heard rumors about what happened to him but you kinda dismissed it as cruel rumors surrounding his death.. I mean no one could've survived that explosion.. right?

So imagine your surprise when you end up almost getting robbed by spot

Can you blame him? He hasnt found another job since the accident and hes probably living off of pity handouts; likely homeless

Now hand over the wallet!!/j

No but on the semi likely chance that you manage to defuse the situation, given Spot sucks as a criminal, you just bluntly ask if the whole

Rumor thing is true

I mean obviously it is but confirmation is important

After a few more chance encounters, you guys both finally decide to properly sit down and talk

Its tense and awkward at first since 1. How does one even act around someone like spot? He's vulnerable but also trying to do the whole. Revenge thing... And 2. Hes desperate for human interaction and it SHOWS, it's almost uncomfortable actually

But you both trudge past it and make it work

One meet up turns into two then three; then you discover how much hes struggling and

Now you're roomates

Oh my god they were roommates/ref

Anyways, that's the set up!! It kinda felt wrong to just. Jump into it without some explanation on how yall end up in the same area consistently

Doesnt mind that you mumble to yourself, he probably does the same thing. From muttering things to keep his train of thought to having a personal monologue, I wholeheartedly believe he does the same thing

Hs understands how it feels to be. Not treated very good, he likely wasnt the most respected in alchemax so it's not uncommon for the two of you to have vent sessions where you both let it all out

You ask him about his journey to becoming a scientist and not so subtly ask for advice on how to get into the field; and touching onto the whole human interaction thing, hes more than willing to talk your ear off about his entire career history

On the chance you dont want to do physics stuff, and you wanna do another branch of science he's all ears on listening to you ramble, may even lend a hand in getting you to where you need to be career wise

Yall do at home experiments as bonding stuff

Look if spot can make a mini collider in some building then I can only imagine the type of shit yall get up to at home

Oh? You're still curious about.. him? Of all things, him?

He never thought anyone would look at him with interest; usually its disgust or fear, or both

Hes hesitant at first because what if you discover something that'll totally change your view of him?

Takes (some, a little) coaxing

Bro caves fast, he misses physical touch

"So like, these holes-" you proceed to just. Dip your entire fist into a hole and watch said fist pop out from another hole

The demons are telling me to make reader like

Make it a game to try to throw stuff through his holes but I feel like that would be really mean, no one likes stuff getting thrown at them

Please dont throw stuff through his holes :(

Random but like

Idk if this happens with yall but

If someone stims do yall. Like stim back

Like I have vocal stims and mess with my hands; and sometimes my friend will be prompted to stim if I stim??

Idk but yall do that

OHOH before I post this if you're both comfy with physical touch please please please hold him, it's been so so long since someone has hugged him and he really really needs it :(

[gertritude-art]

Progress Report!

As promised, here is another progress report for DemonVN - or, as it will officially be known, Demon Detangled: Horror at the Homecoming Dance (subtitle pending).  You can view the first (rough) six minutes of it up there.  There’s still quite a bit to edit about it, as I’m sure you can tell, and a lot of it is stuff I have already shown, but for once, it’s all up there together.

Anyway, let’s get started!

FIRST...:

DemonVN has an about page on this blog, now.  You can read it here!

MENUS:

The title screen is officially done!  You can see what it looks like up above.  And, yes, the official name is Demon Detangled!  I’ve had the name in mind for months, but was waiting to officially say it in case I wanted to change it (spoilers: I could not think of a better one). The subtitle is still in need a rework, but I’m including one on the off chance that I gather enough willpower to turn this into a series, rather than just a single game.  Gotta make ‘em distinct, somehow...

I still need to customize all the other menus, but I already have drafts of how they should look in the works!  They should be done in the next few weeks.

SPRITES:

Lillie now has a new sprite, as does Catherine!  It is only looking at them now that I realize just how inhuman Lillie looks.  Hm.  Perhaps this is a deep metaphor for how, really, humans are no different than demons... or that she just needs to get out of the church more often.

Anyway, the rest of the cast is also in the progress of being edited a bit, but I don't have anything official to show for them... Please imagine them in your minds.

POINT AND CLICK ASPECTS:

As I have mentioned, DemonVN does have point and click aspects, so as to excite and challenge the average three-year-old who may want to play.  I spent a lot of the past week or so trying to iron out some of those aspects.  Did you know that at one point, you’ll be able to select multiple items to use on someone?  Check this out:

Aside from that, I’ve been slowly fixing and figuring out all the other item interactions in the game!  I almost got that done in time for this update, but I think it’ll take me another few days to get the base of all those implemented.  There have been a lot of if/else statements at play...

THE WRITING:

I’ve been jumping back and forth quite a bit with the writing of this game, but I have made some progress!  The introduction is still getting written (it remains my white whale), but all the interactions you can have with your classmates are close to finished.  That is something I did not realize I had actually done until I wrote it just now - it feels like I’ve been writing them for forever!  Here’s a fun interaction to show you:

Aside from that, a lot of my writing energy has been spent sitting and figuring out how the ending is going to go.  There is a specific, very important emotional section of it (SPOILERS: MORDRED EXPERIENCES AN EMOTION) that I’ve been trying to figure out the tone of for over a year, and I think I finally understand how it needs to be written without it coming across as overwrought or undeserved.  I wish I could show off what I’ve written of it so far, but... it will be good :^) 

THE ART:

Didn’t do much in the art department, recently, but I do have a lot of placeholder assets in place!  Shout out to this funky guy:

I have a really cool CG I drew a few months back that I had to reluctantly cut, and so I could show you that... but I’m not going to #cruelty #hatred

IS THE END IN SIGHT?

Not yet!  Check back next month for another report on how it’s going, though!  I should have some more answers by then.  Hopefully.  

WHY DID YOU WORK ON YOUR TITLE SCREEN SO HARD BEFORE YOU FINISHED THE GAME.  I WAS SO EXCITED THINKING YOU WERE DONE.  EXPLAIN.

1) I needed to do something for the game one day, and I didn’t feel like doing anything else.  2) Doing this helped me learn that buttons can perform multiple functions, which!  I had no idea was possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you for telling me, Ren’Py!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, that’s all for now.  See you next month with another progress report! :D

[chayscribbles]

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ january 2023

☆ STATISTICS.

words written: 10 029

projects worked on: Andromeda Rogue; The Gemini Heist; and a Third, Secret Thing :)

proudest accomplishment: uhhh i can't really thing of anything... i made it to 10k words for the month at the very last minute does that count

books read: Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty; Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

as you may or may not have noticed i haven't really been active on writeblr lately. between work, the fact that it's january, and having to shovel through, like, 4 snow storms, i haven't really had the time or energy.

started the writing year super strong. hit a wall about halfway and have since been in a terrible slump for most of the month.

however it turns out that you can trick your brain into thinking it's experiencing New WIP Euphoria by digging up and revamping an old wip (i.e. the Third, Secret Thing).

book comments: both books i read were about murder in space. both were pretty good. both get a solid 4/5 stars.

(between that, watching Glass Onion, rewatching Murder She Wrote, and starting to watch Columbo, i think i'm on a bit of a murder kick lately.)

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: ANDROMEDA ROGUE (draft 2)

not much to say about this one tbh. while most of my words from this month came from this wip, i've,, mostly just been patching up little things like smoothing over inconsistent details and adding a little meat to description and exposition... but i've been procrastinating on fixing the Big Stuff 😭

i really like how the new version is turning out compared to the first version tho. it's so much cleaner & that's very satisfying.

if only i could just *clenches fist* get myself to actually fuckin work on it

☆ COMMENTS: THE GEMINI HEIST (outlining / draft 0.5 or something)

i finished part 1 of 7!... and now i have no idea what i'm doing.

i don't think i like fast drafting lol. i hate how shitty my quality of writing has been. and yeah whatever that's the point of a fast draft blablabla but like, when my draft is already a little bit readable i can go back and reread parts and be like "oh hey this isn't half bad". and i know people are always like "don't reread right away!!! just keep writing!!!!!!!" but for me rereading as i go is part of the process lmao. not only does it remind me of important things i would otherwise forget, it also encourages me to keep going when i see that what i've done isn't terrible.

and... with this fast draft everything just feels terrible.

not to mention i can't seem to untangle plot... heists are fuckin hard to plan. especially since there's multiple opposing parties with different plans that are all going to inevitably go to shit, and so i have to make more plans for when that happens. it feels so complicated uuuggghghhhgh

☆ COMMENTS: a Third, Secret Thing (???)

i'm not gonna talk about it too much publicly yet so i don't jinx whatever is going on here (and i want to make sure i'm a bit more committed to this thing before introducing anything) but all i'll say is it's an older wip that i've talked about on my old blog that i've dug out and changed the genre into a dark modern fantasy mystery with messy sapphics.

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

alright i know i said i didn't want to talk too much about the Third Secret Thing yet but i couldn't find any passages to share in either AR or GH... so have this, with very little context :') uhhh tw for mentions of death and murder.

That’s how she ended up peeking groggily out the door at the frigid winter morning, having hastily thrown a sweatshirt over her pyjamas and a towel over her hair, only to have two police officers inform her that Vanessa Villa-Cortez had been found dead in her apartment early that morning.

“D… dead?” Amina repeated, her mind in a haze. She had to still be asleep, right? Maybe the guilt over ignoring that text had seeped into her subconscious and was feeding her dreams. There was no way someone was at her door telling her that Vanessa, a girl she hadn’t heard from in nearly seven years, was… was—

“Killed in an apparent burglary gone wrong last night,” said one of the officers gravely. “A neighbour noticed the door had been clearly forced in, went inside to check, and found Miss Villa-Cortez’s body on the floor of her apartment.”

Amina’s head began to swim. She clutched the doorposts to keep her buckling knees from giving way completely beneath her. No. No. Vanessa couldn’t be dead. Amina still had to answer her text.

if you know you know ;)

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to any of them.

genera taglist:

@nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @retrogayyde @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore @innocentlymacabre

andromeda trilogy taglist:

@bebewrites @nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @retrogayyde @akindofmagictoo @quilloftheclouds @nora-theteawriter @ashen-crest @corpsepng @writeblrfantasy @chaylattes @toboldlywrite @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @cheerfulmelancholies @extra-magichours @writeouswriter @cilly-the-writer @lefttigerobservation @rose-bookblood @drowsy-quill @chazzawrites @cynic-and-chief @enchanted-lightning-aes @aesa

gemini heist taglist:

@florraisons @akindofmagictoo @cream-and-tea @nicola-writes @memento-morri-writes @antique-symbolism @rose-bookblood @afoolandathief @pepperdee @avi-why @zonnemaagd @chazzawrites @analogued @enchanted-lightning-aes @innocentlymacabre @kahvilahuhut @celestepens @cilly-the-writer @extra-magichours @retrogayyde

[author-a-holmes]

I LOVE THIS!

There's so many little gems in here even if I can already tell this whole process isn't quite for me!! I read it before going to bed but I'm going to have to reread this a couple of times and tease out the parts of your process I want to try implementing within my own!! <3

I'm going to do a little bit of a breakdown on what I'm going to try out, and what I'm not going to try, beneath the cut, in case anyone is interested in seeing how I incorporate other techniques into my own toolset, but @unbearable-lightness-of-ink don't feel obliged to wade through it!

Just thank you very much for sharing! I love learning new methods and techniques, and hearing from other writers about their processes ^_^ <3

1) Round Out The First Draft

Yes! I do this already. I don't go back and make edits while I'm writing the draft. That's possibly the fastest was for me to confuse myself, and get lost in the reeds. This is also why I need a 2nd draft for Darkling. I didn't have a huge number of things to add or change with Changeling, so when I got to the end of my frist draft it was really clean.

I start with an outline on the computer, and then as I'm writing I will build a physical timeline as I write stuck to a large sheet of craft paper that's taped to the wall of a cupboard in my living room. This really helps me keep everything neat, and logical, and in order, so I've never needed to go back and add a whole lot of stuff at the end of the first draft before.

Darkling's become a different beast, I've still got about 7 chapters to go, and I already know (from my physical timeline building) that I need to add a lot of content, and at one point a whole new chapter, which is why I'm looking at a 2nd draft for the first time.

2) Leave It To Cool

This is common writing advice because it works really well for a lot of people. It doesn't work for me. I've tried it, and I get bored too easily. I have to be able to dive straight back into a project once I'm done, and I beat myself up for that for a long time, until I learned that Sarra Cannon does the same thing (Vindication tastes sweet lol)

Seriously though, I would always recommend to authors to follow this step because it DOES work best for most writers.

It doesn't for me I think, in part, because my distance from my stories takes literal years. I can remember every detail of my books, the stories never fade. I can remember the plots of stories I wrote over twenty years ago, so it's easier for me to just dive straight back in. At most, I usually give myself a week, but that's more to give myself a break and a rest, before starting work on my edits as I usually find them very mentally draining.

3) Rewrite

Ah, the bit I'm most excited to dig into, since I've never actually done a rewrite before!

Starting with a brand new blank doocument, and setting it up via a split screen on my main desktop PC (so the screen is large enough) was my plan, so I'm glad to see I was on the right track with that Lol

Adding in chapters, changing transitions, fixing magic systems, etc, all of these are what I was referring to when I said rewrites are for big, structural changes.

And I think this leans into where every writer writes differently, and every book requires a slightly different process. Rarely do I need to change things at the developmental edit level, by the time my first draft if finished.

The fact that I do this time is exactly why I'm going to move into a rewrite.

And you mention those changes is where your drafts split off from the original. I agree, I can already see where some of the pieces I need to add are potentially going to change later scenes in the story. Some of the scenes may change the relationships between characters, like a series of cause-and-effect ripples. It's going to be rather exciting to see how those ripples span out.

Take notes as you go; I do this already for the first draft, it only seems to make sense that I'd continue doing it on a rewrite. Things I spot and need to address in my editing passes that wo't change the trajectory of the story. Often these aree foreshadowing pieces I need to include for me, sometimes I'll notice I've foreshadowed something and I'll want to go back and make sure there's more than one instance for readers to pick up on, for example.

A lot of the details you mention addressing in a rewrite, such as Character Dialogue, POV imbalances, or setting details, are things I address as I'm drafting. I can't not, because if it's wrong, if it feels wrong or sounds wrong my brain stalls on them, and I grind to a complete halt.

The sheer number of times I've had to backtrack and rewrite a chapter from a different character's POV because my head just won't let me keep writing in the wrong POV is too many to count.

When it comes to researching technical details, this is also something I usually do during the outlining stage, and include in my pre-writing worldbuilding research. Again, has become a different beast for me this time because I do have a few things I need to worldbuild in that I didn't want to pause writing to figure out. The downsides to writing a large majority of the first draft during Nanowrimo, tbh.

4) Fill plot holes, reorder scenes, and add missing stuff

This is the stage of your process where you lose me. I don't make huge structural changes in this way because I plan out the shape of the story before I start writing.

This is part of my outlining process, and I don't have sections where I add [Write this scene] or [add transition] because I cannot write out of order. And if I'm going to reorder scenes, that happens during the first draft because, well, I can't write out of order.

I've said it a couple of times, but Darkling is a bit of a different beast for me. I know I need to add in a new chapter somewhere between chapters 19 and 20. This is highly unusual for me and my process, but is also why I'm doing a rewrite for the first time.

I can't just go back and add that extra chapter, it will feel really disjointed and weaving in the section into the story requires, for me, to write the story from the beginning and weave in the new strands the during the flow of the overall narrative.

5) Time travel aka chronology aka “how the fuck did they to all those things before sunset?”

Yesssssss!!! I love this! But, not a big but, BUT, I do this while drafting.

This is part of the reason I create a physical outline/timeline on a sheet of paper on the wall while writing my first draft. I stick post it notes on the wall, and on each note I give rough details of what happens in that chapter... and at the top of the post it note I put which day of the story it is, or what date it is if the story is set in the real world.

I started doing this for Changeling because the vampire school classes ran overnight, which mean every day was technically spanning 2 days, and I got myself really confused on the timeline... but I found it SO helpful that I've continued the habit.

(I'm gonna hope this is small enough/blurry enough that all the spoilers are unreadable *crosses fingers*)

6) Vibe checks

This one I want to adopt wholesale. In combination with your note about how editing each chapter in isolation (which is my current method) doesn't give you a birds eye view, because you're totally right.

I tend to have a particularly good birds eye view of my story, because I don't forget my plots, like I mentioned earlier, but doing a complete read through/pass through to focus specifically on things like character voice is something I want to adopt into my process.

Character voice is something that can be so easy to get wrong, that even though I'm confident in it, because I tend to slip into a character's headspace fairly easily, I don't think that doing a pass specifically focussed on it can ever really be a bad thing.

I have one character in Darkling who speaks in very short, clipped, sentences, and one of my notes for my self edits is to go through and check that none of his sentences extend past 15 words long, unless he's in a high-emotional state.

Things like that are, and should, require a pass all of their own, so you can focus in and pay attention to details.

7) Cuts

This is a tough one to address, because many people feel very, very strongly about cuts.

I also don't want to just gloss over it, because it's important for every writer to consider the impact their words are having on the narrative, and to learn how to differentiate between something that adds to the story you're trying to tell, and something that you just want to share with the reader.

For the latter option, I'd advise taking that stuff you just want to share because it's cool, and making bonus content, or a reader magnet for your newsletter, or whatever.

For me, personally, I'm a very wordy writer, but I'm wordy with a purpose. And what I mean by that is I can point to any single paragraph in my book and tell you at least 2 things it's doing.

Whether that's character development, character backstory, worldbuilding, foreshadowing, or actively moving the plot along, it's there for at least two reasons. I prefer to have 3 or more, but if a piece of writing only has one reason for being there I either remove it (Copy and paste it into a "Scraps" file), or I rewrite it so it's doing more heavy lifting.

This part is interesting because I don't have a specific section of my editing process dedicated to this. I kind of work on it as I go through everything else, and I mean that from the first draft through to the final editing passes before it goes off to my Editor.

If I spot a section that's not pulling it''s weight, I fix it, one way or the other.

On the other hand, I'm a wordy writer. I know this and accept this about myself, and it's also part of the reason I never contemplated traditional publishing. I wanted to be able to tell the story I wanted to tell, in the way I wanted to tell it... so as long as I can see the wrods are doing multiuple things, and aren't ONLY there for gratuitious info dumping, then I'm not too harsh with my cuts either.

8) Ctrl+F fixes (I'm switching this one from 9 to 8)

Oh bloody hell. Okay. This is an entire editing pass for me. I actually do this part per chapter. I have a list of my personal crutch words and phrases, and I check every chapter for them during my self edits.

For my biggest ones, I'll then do one more Ctrl+F at the end to see how many are LEFT across the entire document, just in case I need to thin them out even more.

9) Make It Pretty

I moved this one from 8 to 9 because it's the last stage I do before sending it to my editor. I tend to do this readthrough right before I need to send it off to my editor, maybe a week before, because by this point I've been going over every single chapter one chapter at a time.

It's probably been about 2 months since I read chapter 1 and did my self editing process on that chapter, so I just go right back to the beginning and reread through from the start.

I'm usually very happy with the manuscript at this stage, what I'm mostly looking for are places where I repeat myself, because if I find something I think needs rewriting in the editing stage, I'll hit enter and rewrite it on the next line. Sometimes I'll forget to remove the previous version of the paragraph from above it.

Apart form that, this pass is usually my fastest, and easiest.

10) Proofread

Before proofreading, it goes out to my editor, but, uh...

I don't proofread my own work. <3 I know I'm probably going to get yelled at for this one, but I don't!

By this point in the process I'm usually sick of rereading it lol, so my manuscript will come back from my editor for the line/copy edits. I'll work with her to make all the appropriate changes, and once we've finished and the file has been okay'd I move onto formatting.

Once the book's formatted, I'll then send it out to my mum and a couple of friends (who act as my informal proofreaders).

Once I've fixed anything THEY'VE caught, I send out my ARC's. Anything my ARC readers catch and message me about gets edited in my formatting program, the book files redownloaded, and the final, buyable files, then uploaded to all vendors

Again, I know this isn't the best way to do this, and one day I hope to earn enough money from my books to hire both a copy/line editor AND a proofreader, but in the meantime, I rely on my friends, family, and ARC team for those final, tweaks.

This is a purely financial decision, and if an author can afford a proofreader, I'd absolutely recommend one.

11) Send it to Someone; Make Subsequent Passes

I don't do this, because I don't have a critique partner I'd trust with my work. There's a couple of people I would trust to critique my work, but they'd all busy with their own projects.

If I was going to do this, I'd be sending it out for feeedback around stage 6 (vibe checks) before stage 7 (cuts) just because I'd like to see if they suggest cutting the same pieces I'd cut, or if their favourite parts are something I was going to cut, I might then consider leaving it in.

But all in all, I've been writing for twenty.... four? years? I wanna say twenty four. I tend towards trusting my own instincts at this point, and when they fail mum will always tell me if something's not working. Even if she can't articulate why, that usually gives me a good jumping off point to sort it out on my own.

It has recently occurred to me that to make a second draft after the first one I have to... rewrite the entire thing?? Not just, take the document and, edit ON IT, OVER it.

And that a first draft is not really supposed to be... readable?

Guys I need help,.how do you do drafts??

[sergeantnarwhalwrites]

Masterlist Thing For My Major WIPs

I figured doing this would make everybody’s life easier. XD I also don’t have good enough summaries for my WIPs (in my opinion) to make WIP intros. I’ll update chapter links and stuff as I go along and will maybe probably make a taglist for my stuff (if I don’t forget). 

WIP Info

Space Don’t Dictate Fate (Reworking!)

Summary (As of Now): Devotion. A word that ties together the beings in this universe. True alien, humanoid, and human. Desperation, another. Follow the humanoids stand off with their gods in search of answers— and in search of a fellow solider. What does our groups devotion meld into?

Mostly post snippets. Will answer worldbuilding or oc asks for this one. Story basically just started over again from scratch.

Trailer for the og version here!

Hunter (Modern AU for SDDF) here!

Main characters: Arc (they/them), Tharion (he/him), Cosma(she/her), and Greeter(she/they)

Face Claim/Art for main characters here.

Robots and Gardens (still in the drafting process)

Summary: Imagine how the now present world was imagined and awed upon by previous generations mixed with how it actually is in the present world. Industrialization, overworked employees, coorporate slaves, so many robots, cool technology, hope for a better world. Until it all decides to collapse in a way no one saw coming. Who are we going to take down to stop everything from crumbling. 

You can ask me all kinds of questions about this one. XD It’s no where neardone though. I post actual chapters of this... sometimes. XD I’m trying my best. I have a couple chapters out so far which you can read here. Chapters 1/2/3/

Main characters: Digits (she/her), Green (she/her), Peace (she/her), Donnie (he/they), Hollis (she/her) 

Face claim/picrew for main characters here. 

Fucked at Five (my newest wip!) (may or may not change the title) 

Summary (that I have so far): Morphers. An extreme genetic modification that has been gifted by the impatience of the world and the power of science. Morphers have the ability to morph their form into a more animalistic form. All of these forms vary in composition and severity. Morphers are monsters to human kind. Human kind are monsters to morphers. Morphers might just be the new superior, humans are just far too arrogant to see it. 

You can ask me all kinds of questions about this one as well. XD I’m still figuring stuff out though.

Main characters: Elliot (he/him), Saz (she/her), Julie (she/her), Ian (he/it)

Face claim/picrew for characters right here.

Character Inspired Playlists here

Character info (General)

Voiceclaims sorta here

Awesome piccrews most of my ocs here

Digits Prosthetic Schematics here

Some art I drew of Digit's prosthetics. A little messy but very detailed descriptions.

Ramblings about fighting styles (Fucked at Five) here

Space Don't Dictate Fate Fits here

SDDF Body Mods here!

Random Writes! 

This is stuff that aren’t any of my major wips. This will be stuff like random prompts or random scenes that can or won’t be related to my main three WIPs. More often not related. This is a lot of the stuff I write, especially when I head back to campus. It can be a mixture of study’s (where I’m practicing a specific thing like action scenes, kiss scenes, grief, etc.), poetry, story’s that drop in at random ass points. Half of the time they won't have titles XD and the characters won't have names.

Cravings (the only finished one for real XD)

Can read that here! cw: blood, gore, cannibalism, sex mention. 

Melancholic Alcoholic (Poem from awhile ago) 

Can read that here!

Cute tag game I did with Green and Peace

Here

Untitled quick write story here

CW: Suicide, Suicidal ideation, suicide attempt mention, and gore.

Dero Was Here (story here)

CW: Violence, death, gods, fantasy religion

An Unwelcomed Gift here

CW: Violence, gods, fantasy religion, body horror (sort of), death, blood (a little), gore (eh a little not really)

Random Fucked at Five Stuff here! and here!

Crushing on the Mortuary Man here!

CW: Gore, necrophilia, cannibalism mention, body horror, vomit.

Appetite here!

No content warnings I think. Just a short kinda violent little story. 👍🏾

Song based blurb here!

Cw: suggestive content, alcohol

Untitled Poem here!

Daughter here!

Another poem I wrote for creative writing class.

Weird Little Story here!

CW: Unsettling, vomit

Somethin' About Me here!

Cw: suicide mention.

A little poem I found in my notes app.

Soft Moment Between Friends here!

A little Robots & Gardens scene.

Random Robots & Gardens Thing here!

Just a random little thought that came to mind XD. Green fucked up.

Green and her knife here!

A couple random robots & gardens blurbs revolving around Green and her weapon.

Clothes Swap here!

Cw: nsfw

Peace borrows clothes from Green and other stuff ensues.

The Arrangement here!

Cw: nsfw

Saz and Julie have an agreement and they enjoy themselves.

Green and Digits Character Study here!

Green and Digits from Robots & Gardens first meeting each other. Gay bonding and acquaintanceship ensues

Saz's Fear here!

A quick little blurb about a goofy fear Saz has.

Dark's Love is Bright here!

A cool concept of Dark versus Light.

Halloween WBW Snippet here!

Kid Peace and Green show you a glimpse of what their Halloween's were like.

Saz and Elliot Big Post here!

Saz and Elliot start talking about morphing and training. Doodles attached.

Julie and Saz Mush here!

Julie and Saz being cute. Julie calls Saz pretty after a long day of getting insulted by the elder morphers. Saz's day brightens.

Julie Kicks Saz's Ass here!

Julie and Saz have a training match. And as the title says Saz get's fucking ruined.

A Morning Away here!

Peace and Green have a morning to themselves and decide to use it.

Cw: nsfw

The Worker And The Protestor here!

A dive into Digits at work and the protestor (Peace) that brightens her day.

Smut Scene Prompt Response here and here!

Saz and Julie's safeword sorta/Julie's shy under Saz's affection

Cw: nsfw

Green and Peace Prompt Responses 1 & 2

Green and Peace get busy at church/Peace gets sick and Green takes care of her.

Cw: nsfw

Unrequited here!

A quick poem I wrote while hella in my feelings

Cw: suggestive

Fighting it Out here!

A very brief fight scene between Ian and Elliot

Mighty Morphing People Eaters + here!

Something where I dive into the fact that most morphers have eaten people before.

Cw: body horror (kinda), human consumption

Leftovers here!

Very quick Saz and Julie thing where Julie both encourages Saz and brings her down

Cw: human consumption (mentioned), blood

Hollis the Multifaceted here!

Hollis character study

Cosma and Greeter here!

Space Don't Dictate Fate content for the first time in a long time holy shit

Cw: suggestive

Bookshelf here!

A quick poem I wrote clearing my bookshelf

Random poem here!

Who's Greeter to You? here!

Space Don't Dictate Fate content

Random Thought SDDF here

Space Don't Dictate Fate content

Quick Poem (No title) here!

Cw: suggestive

The Morphers (A series) 1/2/3

Cw: body horror, gore, death

Arc and Tharion here!

Space Don't Dictate Fate Content

Arc Asks A Lot of Questions here!

Arc actually trying to learn more about Tharion

Tharion Fucking With Arc here!

SDDF content

A bit of Saz and worldbuilding here!

Two Deer Morphers Walk Into a Bar... here!

Cw: nsfw

Green and Donnie Snippet here!

A bit of bloody admiration here!

Saz and Julie are gay and covered in gore

No Name's Learned Lessons here!

Cyborg vs Tech here!

I think I'm catching feelings again and it's beautiful here!

A short poem 👍🏾

Two Red Gays That Haunt My Brain here!

Greeter and Cosma's Competitive Spirit (Hunter/Modern AU) here!

Run In With A Deranged Skunk here!

Robots & Gardens Stuff here!

So How Do You Know Each Other here!

[sister-dear]

Sentence Structure and Flow

Someone on discord asked me about how I structure sentences and how I learned to write. I’m going to do my best to answer! Hopefully it’s useful. It got long, so I made it a Tumblr post.

On learning to write:

Sky_squido, the author of “What Hyrule Hadn’t Seen” made this presentation and there were several points in it that I found incredibly helpful.

The two main ideas that I found most beneficial:

It’s about the ~vibes. Every story or scene has some kind of overall theme or emotion. Once you’re far enough into your story to have found what that is, edit your word choice to match. If a word technically works but doesn’t fit the mood, replace it with something else. The actual definition of a word is sometimes less important than the emotion that word conveys.

Verbs are incredibly important. If you’re having trouble with your sentence structure - if your story seems boring or like the prose drags - look at your verbs. I tend to use “is” as a verb far too often (or “was” for those of you who write past tense), so a lot of my editing comes down to reworking some sentences to make the stronger, more interesting words be the action words. So instead of “Legend was walking,” the sentence would be “Legend walked.” Or, even better, “Legend strolled/stalked/slouched along.” We’ve gone from a passive sentence to something that tells us, in engaging fashion, not just what Legend’s doing but how he’s doing it and maybe even a little about how he’s feeling.

Filter Words

Another post I found incredibly helpful: examples of how to cut out ‘filter words.’ It’s great for adding urgency, establishing tone, and introducing strong descriptions into your writing. Basically, this is how to put ‘show, don’t tell,’ into practice at a sentence-structure level. I use this approach a lot when it comes to conveying character emotion.

A couple other points

Variation is your friend.

Repeating things draws attention.

Description slows things down.

1. Variation is your friend.

For most writing, it’s a good idea to vary your sentence structure and length. Dialogue with no tags is rapid. Same with short sentences. Short and choppy reads disjointed and fast. This also applies to paragraph lengths! Longer sentences and paragraphs read slower, and in turn cause your reader to linger; sometimes maybe even linger too much. A combination keeps things interesting.

Too many long sections in a row - be they sentences or paragraphs - causes reader fatigue. Don’t be afraid to break those up. Let your readers take a breather.

If all your sentences start the same way, rework some of them. Lead with the action in one sentence and the subject in the next.

Starting a new paragraph gets a reader’s attention. You can use this for punch.

You should have one topic, or one person speaking, per paragraph.

Important things go at the start of the paragraph. Readers won’t tend to remember as much stuff from the middle or ends. Speed readers might not read those sections at all. The above note about one topic per paragraph? This is why.

2. Repeating things draws attention.

This applies to everything from individual words to overall themes to something like a series of sentences all with the same structure. It can work for you or against you.

A lot of my editing winds up being me reworking sentences to avoid using the same word too closely in succession. I’m not talking basic words here, like ‘he’ and ‘said.’ Those are non-words. If you have enough strong words around them, they disappear. They’re fine. But to use a snippet from a current work in progress:

...(Legend) bares his teeth, river water dripping off his hair and sticking his tunic to his legs. He braces his legs, wet muck squelching over the sides of his boots.

I wound up changing to “sticking his tunic to his thighs” to avoid the repeated word “legs.” I didn’t want to draw attention to his legs themselves, but the state of them. “He braces his feet,” would also work, or I could just cut the sentence down. “He braces,” does the trick just as well, and might be what I go with for the final draft. If the sentence makes sense without the word, then you can let the unneeded word go and your writing will often be stronger for it.

This can be much harder to do with nouns than verbs. Sometimes you just need to call a sword a sword. That’s usually where I start to alternate between a small group of words. “Sword,” “blade,” and “weapon” can all be alternated between to try to avoid using the same word too close together. You might also be able to get around using the problem word at all, as in the example above.

Another note on non-words. Names and pronouns qualify! You can use them over and over again and readers won’t notice. In fact, trying not to use these words can actually draw more attention than just using them!

For example, referring to Hyrule as “the Traveler.” Is it relevant, in the context of what I am writing, that Hyrule travels a lot? Or am I just trying to avoid using his name too much? If the answer is the latter, either don’t bother or change your sentence structure to remove the name entirely. If you have a solid action word, the name will disappear in favor of the action.

Using ‘Traveler’ in this context draws attention away from whatever Hyrule’s doing to what he is. That may not be the best thing to draw attention to. If what you are writing is a story about Hyrule finally getting a safe place of his own to call a home, you could use it for contrast. In which case, save it. Use it once, so it has impact. But if I'm writing about Hyrule teasing Legend, referring to him in that way can disrupt the flow of the story. It draws attention away from Hyrule's personality and his interaction with Legend to his background.

The point is to do it deliberately! It’s okay to use names and pronouns a lot. ‘Traveller’ is a title. Titles stand out.

3. Description slows things down.

Anywhere you want to linger or draw attention is where your descriptions should be going.

The middle of a fast paced action scene where your character is concentrating on the fight might not be the best spot to go into deep detail about the surroundings or what the enemy looks like. Convey those details in bursts that are worked into the action: “Time nearly rolls his ankle on the rocky ground.” Be very sparing. What makes an action scene interesting is how the character feels about what’s happening. You only need enough information on what the surroundings look like for a reader to follow along, and you can probably do most of that setup in a brief paragraph before the actual action starts.

On the other hand, if your character takes a shocking injury in said fight and you really want to dwell on that moment? Or if they’ve got a really cool, flashy move that they unleash in one single exciting burst of fighting prowess? That’s the spot to let your inner poet shine. Slow those spots down and let the reader really enjoy what you’re doing by using your detailed descriptions there.

This applies to all action, not just fighting. Walking through a busy marketplace? Action. A conversation? Can be approached as action. The best spots to use lots of description will be the spots you want to linger on: the first glimpse of a long-lost friend through the crowd, that last hug as they say goodbye.

Description slows things down. Use it accordingly.

Most everything else I can think of is less to do with flow and structure and more to do with other aspects of writing, so I'll stop here.

[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

Oooh is it a typewriter that does the DING! every time you go to a new line? Because I love that, but I could never use it myself, too distracting.

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Okay so the easy answer for how I write is pen and paper, but I have a long answer for you because why not.

My first/second drafts (take the word “draft” loosely btw) are nearly always on paper. Usually I write out my idea for a scene first in pen (mostly in [brackets] like you said you do, with specific lines of dialogue I want to hit), tab it (orange or yellow usually, depending on how much work is to be done [I have a whole system 💀]) and there’s my first draft. For my second draft I write it out longhand (again in pen) getting in as much of the final detail as I can. Usually I have the first draft in one notebook and write out the second in another—sometimes, if I’m feeling really inspired, I write it out without having to do that first rough sketch of a first draft. These always end up being a lot cleaner (somehow), so it’s what I aim for if I can. I tag these pink once they’re done.

[I have 5?? Notebooks for BDOR, another 2 for my Nano this year (neither full (sigh)), and another for random few for random ideas (that has also been slowly consumed by Linked Universe XD). Gimme a minute and I’ll send a picture lol]

3rd draft! Digitize! There are some apps I’ve seen that claim to be able to take a picture of your handwritten stuff and digitize, but I have not found one for my awful mix of cursive and print, so I just type it all again. I specifically use the app Danger Notes for this so I don’t try to edit and get hung up. Once the whole thing is down, only then do I go back through the document. Here is where I (briefly) look for spelling errors, tense errors, typos, etc. If there are any brackets left at this point (such as you use them, @needfantasticstories ), I flesh them out here, and if there are any big changes I want to make, I do so here as well. This step has helped with my typing speed tremendously over the years XD.

4th draft! I cut each chapter into 200-300 word bits (usually following specific character interactions, descriptions, general vibes) and put them into their own separate pages documents (I have 250 some at my last count for BDOR). I put this nifty little thing \/\/\/

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which I have saved on my phone and computer as /line underneath those words and completely rewrite. I copy and paste what I have exactly as I want it to be, edit what I don’t, until everything is under the line. This edit focuses more on style.

5th draft! Once all those little pieces are rewritten how I want them to be, I take them all into one pages document! Then I reread and make sure that every bit I isolated actually makes sense in context, again look for typos, etc. Basically finalize the chapter as a whole.

6th draft! Paste it into my final document (splitting between arc 1 and arc 2) (im on pages rn but I may switch to google docs, it’s so much more convenient) and then reread again and go analyze with my idiotically complicated detail/subplot tracker document. Skip, you’ve already seen this monstrosity, but if anyone else wants to see it too let me know XD, it does contain slight spoilers. Whatever things I find that I want to add or edit from that document I change, and then whoop de doo we’re done!

Idk, it’s what I like to do. I realize it’s a bit backwards (going little details to large instead of vise versa on editing leaves me open to dumb typos or having to trash work I’ve put a lot of effort into after I realize it doesn’t fit) but it works for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Through what medium do you primarily write? (Pencil, computer, voice to type, old timer typewriter, what?)

I do have a typewriter, but I have no idea how it works. Got it cheap at a yard sale.

I use Google Docs. I turn the page black and write in white text, put individual ideas in brackets, add mood pictures, and go. I’m comfortable with the formatting options, and it’s faster than Word for me. Plus, if I lose my hands or something I can always dictate into it.

How about you?