#when the earth stands still

[merionettes]

Oh man just got caught up with rubicon and I’m on the edge of my seat! I know nothing about figure skating but the way you write it, the routines, the press, the bureaucracy, it just feels like this really rich and tangible world. Also, I saw in your notes from the last chapter that you’re taking time to do rough draft work, and I wanted to ask! What does writing a fic usually look like for you? How do you outline, draft, revise, post? I love hearing about my fave authors’ writing processes. :)

thank you SO much, anon, for this invitation to open mouth dump brain about How Writing. i love to talk about how writing.

this is gonna get very long, so here's the cut. [eta: jesus CHRIST it's long. you've been warned.]

so here is how it normally goes. for shorter fic, i start out with some kind of image or dialogue – for kindling it was the anecdote about sylvain and his childhood horse, for aubade it was claude (ha) in the windowsill – and first write until i get there and then write until the end. polish and it's done. it sounds quick and easy and in some cases it is, but that's just because like—if it's not, if it doesn't work itself out, then it doesn't get written, i don't make it to the end. sometimes i'll have turned over an idea for months or even years (recapitulation) before the actual fic gets written. my subconscious doing all the heavy lifting for me!

and sometimes i will THINK it's going to be a short fic ~shaped as i go~ and it turns out to be. long. (notably: green is the color.) for long fic, i don't exactly outline but i do make a list of things i know that happen in the fic. this might be detailed and it might not be. for gone to ground there was a lot of detail about the dramatic tent betrayal-murder and a lot of detail about sylvain's injury/delirium/big go-on-without-me scene and then a generic line item like, wilderness adventures! for when the earth stands still it was almost all worldbuilding, like what are the activities and feasts and would sylvain and felix play along or not. then i start at the beginning and write toward the first thing on the list. i may or may not get there before i jump ahead and start writing scenes in the middle or at the end. (meanwhile, the list is expanding as i figure out how the story goes and what needs to happen!) from there on it's a very haphazard process of writing whatever speaks to me at the time and structuring the story as i write bits of scenes here and there, until i have pretty much all the scenes in place and then until they're filled in. which is incidentally how the editing and revising happens, just a constant process of reread-tweak-tweak-tweak-polish as i write. rocks constantly tumbling in a stream etc.

as you can see i am big on the process of discovery lol. there are pros and cons to this. obviously if you get stuck you can get REALLY stuck. you can end up with pacing or relationship build or character arc totally out of whack. (i can name several instances where i feel that's happened to me!) but for me personally i've found i write better if i don't force myself to figure out everything in advance. to return to wtess and the worldbuilding – like, i did come up with a list of days (gifts/good works/hunt and horses/etc), but i didn't list what sylvain and felix would DO on every single one. so i knew they would ride instead of hunt, i knew felix would give sylvain a cloak and i knew why, but i did not know a lot of other things! i did not know about the play! this allows for not only the Joy of Discovery but also the freedom to mold and rework on the fly which i find much easier than trying to get my brain to understand "yeah that detailed plan you absorbed? you have to completely forget about it now because big revision."

anyway at this point when a full draft is done... i should go back and give it a thorough reading as a coherent whole and revise and edit accordingly but historically uh. i have not done that. historically i cannot stand to spend one more minute working on it and just. post. it's a weakness! sometimes this is fine, sometimes this is riddled with typos but otherwise fine, and sometimes i will spend MONTHS kicking myself afterward. lol.  

ok having said all 650 words of that lmao: rubicon is different. it had to be different because of the scale. and i knew the scale was going to be big from the beginning, three weeks into my fire emblem experience, although i didn't know… how big. [cut meandering origin story which is a different story for a different post lol.] i did know that if i tried my usual "idk write a bunch of scenes out of order until it's done" method i would simply die. so i tried something new. 

which was: made myself write the whole thing straight through in order, something between and outline and a rough draft. more than an outline because i had to try and actually make ideas work rather than just leave them as a bullet point and assume they would. less than a rough draft because uh otherwise i would drown. so like, some fully drafted scenes, some scene skeletons with just basic beats and dialogue excerpts, some [insert X here i guess??] placeholders. the goal was not good prose, the goal was to get to the end, ideally as fast as possibly so i couldn't perceive what i was doing and get freaked out about it. it worked! i generated a whole skeleton draft!

(li shang voice) Then The Real Work Begins. 

what i've had to do since is take that skeleton (storyboard?) section by section (usually 10-15k, but purely dependent on vibes) and flesh it out into an actual workable draft. that's what i mean when i say rough draft work—i don't have a better way to put it. the fleshing out process is similar to how i generally write, a little here a little there, not necessarily in order, until it's done. then i put it aside and go on to the next section. i may make some intermediary edits based on how the story is developing up ahead, but for the most part i don't return to a section until i'm ready to get it line edited (a new thing!! big step for me!!!), at which point i polish it up til i'm more or less happy, send it off, and then make any final feedback-based edits while preparing to post each chapter.

so far, SO FAR, the fleshing out stage is where i've caught all the really big revisions, like, oh wait actually NOTHING about this idea works, you need to completely rewrite this scene. you need to add a scene. you need to replace this conversation with a different one. you need to totally reconsider your plan for the resolution of this arc 30k down the road.

for the first act, i barely had to do anything structural. like, there was plenty to fill in, but nothing to really rip up and change. for everything after that……. hahaha. when i say this fic is kicking my ass, when i say i'm taking a break to focus on rough draft, that's what i mean. the deeper in i get, the more changes i have to make. which is, like, obvious! it's hard tho. atm i have the next 30k all fleshed out and ready to be edited/proofread. there is unfortunately probably another 50k to go before the end. that's what i'm deep in right now. i hope it's not that much! i hope i'm wrong! 

as for whens/whys of posting, i had dreams about finishing a whole complete full draft and then doing a real deep dive edit/revision and THEN posting, because i wanted it to be good and i didn't want to have regrets, and eventually i faced reality which is that i would never get out of the swamp if i didn't have some sort of externally imposed form of accountability. so when i'd gotten the whole first act drafted AND edited AND proofread—that was when i started posting. in retrospect, should have waited until rl circumstances were more accommodating, could have avoided that initial three month gap. but it's worked since then!

the biggest consequence is that of course it is going to be longer than it needs to be, and i'm sure i will look back and see significant cuts that could have been made. however. there is a point at which you have to accept this is fanfiction you are writing for your own personal satisfaction and if it's not as good as it could be—it's not as good as it could be. it's not the end of the world.

anyone who read this whole thing gets a bye to the grand prix of reading self-involved process posts final. +3 GOE every element. sorry/thank you/i love you.

[demaparbat-hp]

How does that first encounter go down between them in your Spitfire AU? I imagine some real conflicting emotions on all sides!

I would love to hear you ramble!! ❤️

*cracks knuckles* Alright, let's do this.

As far as the world is concerned, Lu Ten II doesn't exist and the Royal Bloodline ends with Princess Azula. The little kid that follows Prince Zuko everywhere? That's Ten Ten, an orphaned stowaway his Crew found and adopted for some weird reason no-one ever questions—the kid is just that lovable.

(It helps, honestly, that Lu Ten II is a carbon-copy of poor, forgotten Ursa. No one would ever think to connect him with Fire Lord Ozai, long may he reign.)

Little Ten Ten loves to run off when the Crew is on shore leave. He gets into trouble sometimes, but only because of his chronic inability to look away from people who need help (it makes Zuzu both so proud and so shouty-because-he's-worried. It's fun until it isn't).

By now the Crew knows not to panic when the kid goes missing for a couple of hours in a harbor town—which is why no one noticed Ten Ten's disappearance until it was too late.

"Could someone please explain to me," what starts as a mutter becomes a shout as anxiety takes over Sokka, "why on earth did we go into town to buy necessary, highly specific supplies, and returned—not only with a stolen waterbending scroll—stolen! From pirates, Katara!—but with a Fire Nation-looking KID?!"

While Ten Ten is having the time of his life goofing with Aang, out-sassing why-is-this-happening-to-me Sokka, and melting Katara's heart—Zuko is losing his mind, sanity, and temper because how on Agni's name do you lose a Prince of your nation?

But, sir, he's like three-feet-tall—

HOW, JEE?!

Needless to say, the pirates kidnap the pretty waterbending thief and her kid with the sharp tongue and fancy-looking clothes. Which turns out to be a Bad Idea™ because, well, a skinny guy from the watertribes and his way-too-young-to-be-bald companion? They can absolutely deal with them.

A Crew's worth of murderous Fire Nation soldiers lead by the unforgiving, terrifying, bloodthirsty Prince?

They are not ready for that.

[razzle-zazzle]

once again thinking about how growing up in that tomb affects cole's beliefs and ideals in raised by serpentine, more specifically the idea of the constrictai and tomb dwellers as this one big community where everyone gives to the collaborative effort. how that's reflected in cole's own friendliness and desire to Be Involved and Help Out even when he's with the ninja, how community and banding together are important to him. thinking about how earth masters have a semi-celebrated role in the community as Guardians and Pillars of Strength and Peace and Giving, how the legacy cole has to measure up to—one of selflessness and honor—further colors his decisions to the point where he almost fixates on the idea that one day he'll have to pay the ultimate price for the greater good—and how that idea fares against the reality of watching zane do exactly that in rebooted. i just.... augh. cole <3

[fucking-move-sancho]

idk if anyone's asked this before but what do y'all imagine albert wesker wearing to sleep??? a fuckin wifebeater? silky PJs?? a bathrobe and slippers like the default sims 4 sleepwear?? and don't pull the 'he doesn't need to sleep card' lmao i need it for fic purposes

[itz-pandora]

Crazy how most of my intrusive thoughts come from the want to be wanted

[front-facing-pokemon]

[simon-says-lots-of-things]

My brain is fixated after seeing FNAF and realizing Josh was in a lot of movies that drastically shaped my childhood (and current) tastes in fiction but I can't find them available anywhere so I'm just sitting here like

[breezeowci]

umbrella academy season 4

five and lila, context

I’m so happy i wasn’t the only utterly grossed out and disgusted by Lila’s and Fives relationship.

Five didnt even get out of his school boy uniform till season 3 now your throwing him in a relationship with a woman 15 years older than him. This isnt the early 2000’s anymore, and lots of your watchers have already gone through their Pretty little liars faze and realized how disgusting and toxic arias and Ezra's relationship is.

Also still dosent work the other way cause now you’re throwing a 58 year old man at a 35 year old woman. Still 15 years senior, just slightly less disgusting because at least in that case shes not barely legal anymore.

additional context.

Rita (lillas actress) born; 1988

aiden (fives actor) born; 2003. (I feel like that says it all)

season 2 release 2020

filming 2019

aiden 15-16

rita 30-31

Five is still in his school boy uniform

first introduction between the two characters.

season 4

released 2024

filmed 2023

aiden 19-20

rita 34-35

they had a grown ass women kiss someone she met when he was freaking 15.

[fragglerockopinions]

white man experiences racism for the first time. sad!

[cannibalisticskittles]

saw someone say they didn't get the people with 'older rooks' romancing emmrich bc they made their rook 19/20 to play up the drama and uh

girl i don't know what kinda drama you think you're intensifying because it certainly isn't going to be romantic, emmrich already has hang-ups about age, he is not going to fall for a goddamned teenager

and even besides that, the timeline of the game establishes that rook has been traveling with varric for about a year, and with some backgrounds, the event that made rook leave their faction and start them on the path to meeting varric could have happened weeks to months before that

in no universe would varric see a fucking 17 year old and decide yep, that's who's gonna get a crucial part in stopping a plot that could end the world

[ermakeys]

Get to know you video game edition! Tagged by the wonderful @ratcready

No pressure tags for @fooolisher @jekyllnahyena @certified-anakinfucker @jadowdra and anyone else that would like to! :)

Guess who forgot to add the blank as well 🙈

[nyxfaei]

Blind guardian my beloved

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[qrevo]

i think i need to be more animal irl

[bumblingbabooshka]

Started watching SNW season 2 episode 3 and my eyes literally glazed over the moment they both came out in matching all black hoodie-leather jacket-jeans outfits and I couldn’t keep watching after that

[therighthandofvengeance]

Yes, Delenn started a war. Yeah, that's objectively bad. But do we really think that EarthGov would have given anyone the courtesy of asking about why they killed a significant (political) figure before committing massive violations of the Geneva Convention?

Obviously we shouldn't condone this behavior- but let's at least give it some perspective:

It's literally her first day on the job. she just finished her internship the night before

she's been trained for this role and this role alone, her life experience is limited at best and nonexistent at worst

her mentor just died -> that's essentially going from training wheels on flat and even ground, with a helmet to a unicycle on a mountain during fire season... uphill

nobody really cared about what she said until 20 minutes ago when she became One of Them

there were four other members of the Grey Council that were pro-war, she didn't decide to go to war by herself