#which is halfway to the word goal of 10k

[therealjammy]

Aaaand just when I’m finally getting to the part I’ve been dying to write, my brain goes “That’s enough for who-knows-how-long”

But have a little snippet of things heating up, from Part 1

[noa748]

NR chapter 69 is halfway (ish) done!! Or maybe more, my goal is 10k words lol but I'm going to find a good stopping point rather than an arbitrary word count. Just not sure when the natural stopping point is yet

Kinda struggling with the lack of action. It's hard to just gloss over the character's internal struggles during the last tour of tethe'alla before the final seal... and I love writing character interactions but I worry that it gets stale for the reader ;_; it's going to be a total shitshow once they get to the tower of mana but I just need to... GET THERE...

Also Brit's birthday falls on this chapter which makes me cackle because I'm immature

[creating-with-words]

Well Nano's over and I ended up completing a total of 13,892 words (of the 50k goal), which is less than I thought I would write, but I stopped about halfway through because life got in the way and I had to spend all my free time writing cover letters, updating my resume, and job hunting. Still, it's 13k more words than I had at the beginning of the month so I'm counting it as a success that way. Adding that to the 10k words I wrote leading up to Nano for the 10k words in 10 days challenge that I participated in, I have a total of about 24k words. Woohoo!

[dickbaggins]

just finished my 50k words for may! at least 10k of that was the stakes and the rest is electuary which is only halfway finished. I really wanted to knock it all out this month but here we are.

fittingly, my goal was reached during a very long sex scene. so that's on brand.

[owlbearwrites]

WtW Ghost Gala - Day 8: Trick or Treat

Set some writing goals and milestones for your WIP

Do I really have to? Couldn't I do something less painful, like sticking a fork into my eye?

Sigh. Okay. Let's work backwards.

First off, let me preface by saying this is NOT a NaNo plan. Also, lots of talk about wordcount and stats under the cut, so please exercise discretion if you, like myself, are easily susceptible to the Compare and Despair syndrome.

I want to start releasing Fate is Just the Half of It chapter by chapter, some time in 2024. I want to have the first draft finished, and then releasing the chapters as I edit them (because I have a very good grip on the small cast of characters, and a very clear idea of how the story goes, no major upheaval will happen in the edit). The total length of the novel should not exceed 80k words.

So, if I would like to begin the edit halfway through the year, that gives me 8 months to write the first draft (writing off a few weeks where life will inevitably interfere and/or when I really need a break from this story). That puts me at 10k/month. Yes, I'm aware that this is a laughable number to some, especially with NaNo just around the corner. But I'm a slow writer, and this is my first original project in years, and my last original project burned the everloving fuck out of me, and if I've learned anything about my writing recently, it's that: a) if I try to crunch, I crumble; b) I need to have a few irons in the fire.

Stats nerd alert from here on!

10k/month translates to 2.5k/week, which, based on the past few months' stats, is between 30% and 50% of my weekly wordcount. (Yeah, we slow. Keep scrolling.)

So far, I have around 3.5k words done of the draft, and my average writing speed on this specific project has been 700 words/hour. However, since I also like to do a quick clean-up pass on my first draft once a chapter is done, let's knock it down to 600/hour. This means that writing 2500k/week is a commitment of about 4 hours. Which isn't bad, as over the past 10 weeks or so, I've been averaging 12.5 hours of writing per week (minimum 4.5, maximum 20).

With this in mind (excluding the current wordcount), I guess I should aim for:

5k by the end of October

15k by the end of November

25k by the end of year

The first target seems reasonable. The other two make me want to run out of the room screaming. (Which is interesting, because in the fic I'm aiming to finish right now, an average chapter length is around 10k, and the idea of writing that over the next few weeks feels just fine.)

There. Milestones set. Treats, pls.

[anneapocalypse]

🌻 💥 and 🎙️?

🌻what makes you want to give up on writing? what makes you keep going?

I don't think anything has ever made me want to give up on writing forever. It's just too much a part of me for me to ever give up. On the other hand, wanting to give up on writing on any given day and just play video games, yeah, that one happens. And has been happening in the back half of this month. :P And is usually a combination of me having a hard time focusing and also hitting a point in my outline that lacks detailed and not knowing where to do when I do sit down to write.

Of course ultimately I still want to finish the story, because it's important to me! So in two days I will say something pep-talky about how I only got halfway to my Camp NaNo goal this month but 10k is 10k right, and then with the word count pressure off me, I'll, y'know, fix that part of my outline and keep writing.

💥find your least kudos’d fic - say something wonderful about it.

(Since I answered this one already for my least kudosed fic, I will do the next least kudosed fic for this one!)

Oh, I actually kind of love this one! "Common Room" was a little Femslash February ficlet I wrote 10 years ago about an extremely rare Fallout pairing, Victoria Watts/Mei Wong (which to my knowledge I am still the only person to ever write). @morgueline even drew a really sweet illustration for it, which I was so touched by! It makes me happy to have revisited it (and fixed the broken link to the art piece on AO3).

🎙️which one of your fics would you like someone to make a pod-fic of?

Listen, I'm over the moon if someone picks anything I wrote to make a podfic! (Also I do have a permission statement on both my About page and my AO3 profile, something I recommend for all fic writers to let podficcers and other transformative creators know how you feel about that sort of thing.) But if I had to pick one from my more recent works, maybe "Looking Forward." I think it's a good dramatic piece to read aloud.

[basalamander-corner]

Camp NaNoWriMo Week 2 Progress

Week 1 of NaNoWriMo went by pretty smoothly, so now it's time to move into week 2! My goal for this next week is to at least finish part 2, or get halfway done with it. I think it's a good goal since my parts are typically ≤10k words, so I'll stick with it!

Project Name: The Shifting Tides (side blog is @the-shifting-tides-wip)

Goal: 30k words

Tagline: Sometimes we must fight for a future we ourselves cannot see.

Genres: Fantasy, LGBT+, Romance, Adventure, Young Adult

Week 2 progress under the cut!

Day 8

Words typed: 1,104

Total words: 8,586

Times updated: 1

I know it seems like I wrote a lot of words, but it took me about 3 hours to write. I was feeling a little bit burnt out and tired due to preparing for the holidays this weekend, so I just didn't do very well. Regardless, I still surpassed my word count goal (979), so that's a plus!

Day 9

Words typed: 1,152

Total words: 9,738

Times updated: 1

Next update I'll (hopefully) be ⅓ of the way completed with Camp NaNo! I can't believe I've made it this far, as I honestly expected myself to completely give up by now.

Either way, our main cast has finally met each other. They aren't on very good terms yet, on account of the fact Saran and co. are being held prisoner by the pirates, but next chapter I expect Saran to warm up to one of the pirates!

Day 10

Words typed: 1,010

Total words: 10,748

Times updated: 1

I finally reached it! I have 10,000+ words out of 30,000, so I'm a third of the way to my goal! This is the part where Saran meets one of the other pirates, who he'll eventually become friends with in the future. She's an important character, one I'll be introducing us to in a post that'll be coming in a few days...

Day 11

Words typed: 1,819

Total words: 12,567

Times updated: 2

I wrote half of these words in the morning, and then the last half after dinner. I feel like it went well, but honestly this was the worst day. I just returned to college after a break, so I was really burnt out.

Day 12

Words typed: 472

Total words: 13,039

Times updated: 1

I know, I know. I didn't update as much as I should have. But honestly, it was a really long day at college. We had a big campus-wide event going on so I didn't even get back to my dorm until way later in the evening (about 10:30). So I was TIRED. But I'm still on track! I have to be at 13k words by tomorrow, which I will be!

Day 13

Words typed: 1,261

Total words: 14,417

Times updated: 1

I definitely write a lot more than I did yesterday, which I feel good about! Tomorrow is Friday, which means I'll have a lot more time to work. I wasn't having a lot of fun writing, but I still got it done which is a win in my book.

Day 14

Words typed: 963

Total words: 15,263

Times updated: 2

At with that, we've reached two weeks of continuous updating! Tomorrow I'll be halfway done with Camp NaNo, and I couldn't be more proud of myself! Technically, I reached half of my word count goal today, which is awesome!

@the-wip-project

[whathappenedtomyweekend]

NaNoWriMo - Day 5

Day 5 and I'm halfway through my initial 10k goal!! Wrote 1,306 words this session and made some really good headway into chapter 28 which has loads and loads of fluff and, mayhaps, a mature scene???? I'm still pondering whether i should make it a bit more graphic because i guess technically IJAS is rated M but idk let me know lol might do another poll (which, btw, has Logan and Kenneth going head to head but I guess technically Kenneth is winning because i accidentally voted myself for Logan lol) on that.

Anyways, super productive session and I can't believe I'm already halfway through. It's also made me realise though that 10k is no way enough to finish the story lol so I'm gonna up that to 20k methinks. Looking forward to tomorrow's session, maybe I'll even finish chapter 28! The plan is to just write a whole bunch of chapters now and then publish them evenly distributed :D

[loveislarryislove]

Halfway Home Check-in (2023)

I know this is over a month late because of who I am as a person but I still want to do it so shhhhh, a #HashtagGoals update for the year. I started this in June/July but wanted to make some “quick” progress on a few things first -- but then I was not quick oops. 

Numeric goals

Minimum goal: 5 fics and 50,000 words over the year

Aim goal: 12 fics (ideally at least 1 per month) and 80,000 words over the year

Ludicrous goal: 15 fics and 100,000 words over the year 

So far this year, I’ve posted 6 fics totaling about 35k, and I also have around 10k written on another three ongoing projects (edit: those numbers are from July 1st aka actually halfway through the year; now it’s more like 20k on four projects), so I’m definitely going to be fine on the minimum goal. I also have a couple of other fests I’m eyeing or ideas I might do -- and Wordplay is coming up, so that should also help boost the number of fics. I think in terms of number of fics, the Aim goal is totally doable and the Ludicrous goal is definitely plausible. It’s harder to predict word count-wise, since a lot of these upcoming fics are likely to be short, but we’ll see! 

15,000 lifetime kudos

222,222 lifetime hits

1,000 kudos on 2023 fics

10,000 hits on 2023 fics

ngl I don’t remember the numbers at the start of the year, so it’s hard for me to say exactly where I am on the lifetime goals, but they definitely seem in reach! I’m probably around halfway on most of these, which for halfway through the year is great -- and since Wordplay again is a huge boost, we should be good in the hood!

General goals

Tracking my writing

I’ve been doing this, and I love the graphs so much. Look how tasty!!!

I also was inspired by @larry-hiatus​ to make a spreadsheet of all my fics (77 and counting, it took a while haha) with various stats, and the graphs from that were also interesting! Apparently I write Louis POV twice as often as Harry, I switched hard from past tense to present tense in 2017, and I only have 10 fics with more than a few seconds of smut (8 of those written in the last two years). 

Beta-reading more

I’d say I’ve been medium at this. I’ve done some, and I’ve also recently signed up for a couple events as a beta! And I do some editing stuff for work purposes so I guess that could arguably count.

Reading-reading more (both fic and non-fic)

I regret to say that I have forgotten how to read and I literally don’t think I’ve read a book all year oops. Have devoured some fic though. Maybe I’ll read some books when I go on vacation next week. 

Branching out with what I write to explore new fandoms or fandoms I haven’t written for as much, or new pairings within familiar fandoms

The 6 fics so far are evenly split between three fandoms, though all fandoms I’ve written before. I may dabble around for Troped multifandom events, I signed up as a beta for a PJO event, and I’m trying to find a Shiall concept I like for The Show Fic Fest, so definitely still room to keep exploring and diversifying.

Replying to most comments – “all” isn’t always feasible for me, but I’ve been doing probably around 80% and I think that’s a decent proportion

It looks like I’m at around 60% so far this year, so I guess that means it’s time to go on a spree! (edit: those were July numbers again; now I’m at more like 75% which I’m pretty happy with!)

Make a podfic

Make a fic rec of some of my favourite fics

Make a cover for one (or more than one) of my old fics

I have done... none of these. Maybe someday lmao

Find the executive functioning to put my Wordplay and Troped fics into series

Come up and implement a generic AO3 pseud for my non-Larry non-critrole fics and sort those around

I did both of these this week! The pseud part was actually embarrassingly easy, you can mass-edit what pseud something is under so it took like two minutes. The series part was more effort but it’s done now :) I was procrastinating making this post until then and I don’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing haha

Come up with and implement sort of Replying To Old Comments Project so I feel like less of a doof replying to comments from like… five years ago

Still want to, still haven’t.

See you in five months for final results!

[bispacecadet]

I’ve got 1600 words of this fic written <3

[avasghost]

NaNoWriMo -- Halfway Update

wHO forgot to write nano updates until halfway through the month just as was expected? i did 💅

first thing to note is that my goal for nano was originally 20k and is now 15k, to be reduced more if necessary. the goal might be 10k by the end of the month just so i can have the satisfaction of winning oops! we will see! i'm behind in my word count even for a 15k goal, currently sitting at 6k. according to nano you're supposed to be at like 25k by now, so that's fun. on the bright side, i've written basically nothing in the last two months, so im glad i've at least gotten some words written after two months of ✨no productivity whatsoever✨.

i give the first 15 days a rating of 4/10 because every sun that ever died really woke up and chose violence this month. im convinced ested has a mind of its own and hates me for some reason, someone pls tell me what i did to offend it because it should not ! be ! this ! hard ! 🙂

that 6k words includes:

the end of chapter 11

chapter 12

2 vignettes

chapter 13

2 more vignettes

and part of chapter 14.

overall quite good for only 6k words but it also puts into perspective how bad my underwriting can get <3

anyway enough rambling here are two excerpts instead of one to make up for missing the first update!

Parker lets the glass door chink shut behind her and bows her head against the rain. It’s just a drizzle now, but feels like a drizzle of glass, slashing against the back of her head and clinging to her hair. Moonlight slices the street into fragments, and she hops over the potholes that riddle the sidewalk, occasionally stepping in one and soaking her shoe. She should have thought of this, should have brought an umbrella, but the day was so warm and prospects so bright that it didn’t cross her mind. In this city, bright prospects always fade before the end of the day. In this city, she always needs an umbrella. In this city. In this city. The city's name slips her mind and she doesn’t try to remember it.

here's asher's first encounter with nathalie (an iconic moment)

The garden is lush and overgrown, marigolds bobbing in the back, daisies and dandelions taking up most of the front. Tiki torches tilt in the soil, half buried and sputtering dimly. A weeping willow shades half the garden, which Asher assumes is the reason for its wilting. Dewy sunlight sifts through the branches. A maple tips above Asher’s head, helicopter seeds pinwheeling onto his shoulders and sticking in his hair. A whitewashed gazebo is cramped in the corner of the yard, and a woman sits inside on a plastic lawn chair, her face patina’d in shadow. When Asher notices her, he wishes Ezra was here to do the talking. Ezra doesn’t mind talking to strangers.

taglist (i just have one for all my wips - ask to be added/removed): @gracestowewriting @flip-phones @shaelinwrites @chewingthescenery @august-iswriting @dallonm @wildswrites @proseforhours @annlillyjose @shaonharryandpannisim @letsgetsquiggly @strangerays @mel-writes-with-her-dragons @teaandtypewriters @kahaaniyaa @coffeeandcalligraphy @47crayons @writing-is-a-martial-art @familiarvillain @bookdragonfanish @childhoodlovers @zoya-writes @pepperdee @oceancold @unorganisedbookshelf @musingsbycaitlin @sunstone-iolite @femmeniism @raywritesstories

[cheyla-v]

May Round-Up

Week One

Writing

My monthly goal is 15k (I made it low because I wasn’t sure how burned out I would be from Camp NaNo and because I started going back into the office this month) and I’m already halfway there somehow. My hand hurts, because it’s been a lot of handwriting and then typing it up afterwards. Most of it has been for my new WIP (it’s over 10k in general now), but I’ve also started my HP Next Gen Fest fic finally (not that it’s due in a week or anything 😅) and I’m already at the minimum word count for that, so it’s just finishing that, which I’m hoping to do by the end of the weekend. 

[mirai-studies-languages]

My new year’s reflections + resolutions

My reflections

So 2021 was a decent year for me, at least until the halfway point. I can attribute most of the joy I felt this year to the progress I made in French. It’s the first time I’ve ever been able to say that I can speak another language. I think I can call myself bilingual now, which I’m really happy about! 

For a while, for the first 5-6 months of the year, I was happy. I had my friends and I was finally making progress in my biggest passion. I even wrote 10K words of fanfiction, which is huge for me. 

Unfortunately, now, I’m not as happy as I was at the beginning of the year, and this is mostly because I have not really been taking well to the new academic year. Work is hard, and I find it difficult to study (except for French). I also moved house, so I no longer have friends nearby that I can truly confide in (there is only so much you can tell someone you’ve only known for a couple of months).

A lot of things happened this year: my brother got married (!), I took some extremely important exams (and did well in them too!), I came out to my mum as bisexual (though I’m starting to think I might be a lesbian), tried some new pronouns and decided that they weren’t for me, started learning Spanish, became conversational in French, moved house, and, of course, I started this blog!

Thanks to everybody who has followed me, and thank you to everyone who has left comments on my posts or left me really sweet messages in the tags, know that you are all much appreciated! I hope that the coming times treat all of you well.

My new year’s resolutions and goals

Be happy. This is the biggest thing. In order to be happy, I think the best thing I can do is try to stay in touch with the people that I care about, and fill my days with some form of productivity (this is really what makes me the most happy). And of course, listen to my therapist.

Reach my language goals. The big one! For French, I want to reach a C1 level in fluency, because after 5 years of studying it, I’m sick of not being fluent. I want to reach an intermediate (B1/B2) level in Spanish. I also want to reach an upper beginner (A2) level in Russian. And for the others (Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic), I just want to reach a basic A1.

Get a job and start saving money. This is critical, because, for personal reasons.

Reach 1500 followers on this blog. I’m just going to keep posting and hope that people like what they see. Feel free to message me or send me an ask, I love talking to people!

Apply to university. I’m going for something to do with International relations along with another language (preferably Arabic). Wish me luck!

Read 1 book a week. I’m just going to try and read before I go to bed.

Do well in my end of year exams. I’m going to try and study 3 hours a day, and hopefully this will help.

I hope you all have a happy new year!

[curestardust]

Dust Watched: Super Cub

Genres: Sol, School Setting, Iyashikei // 12 episodes

Have you ever wanted to watch a 12 episodes long advertisement?

✧  story  ✧

Most sane people would probably say “umm, no?” but seeing as how the anime industry could probably make watching paint dry interesting, this concept isn’t that odd. That said, I went 6 months thinking that this anime was called “Super Club” so I recieved immediate whiplash when I found out it was actually “Super Cub”, the name of a scooter-like motorcycle by Honda.

Seeing as how Iyashikei anime’s lifeblood is mostly the characters, there isn’t much of a story to talk about. I’d have to say though, that for even the strongest fans of slow SoL, “Super Cub” really takes things to the next level by offering the viewer next to nothing. 

Story-wise, the only thing in this show is the updating of the Cubs that are needed when the weather changes. None of that is complicated in any way whatsoever though; despite the characters apparently barely scraping by, they can always afford to get whatever they need or there’s a miracle side-character who just *so happens* to give them the parts for free. This isn’t an inherent problem; Iyashikei actively tries to avoid tension, that’s literally why it’s called “healing anime”. However, the calm and slow atmosphere the anime should be keeping up gets interrupted twice, with some absolutely bonkers story beats (more on that in the spoiler section).

✧  characters  ✧

Our main character is Kogume who opens this anime with an absolutely knee-slapper “pity me!” line which absolutely must quote  "I have no parents. No money either. Nor do I have any hobbies, friends, or goals for the future.” 

Why does she have no parents? Why doesn’t she seek professional help for her obvious depression? I don’t know but what Kogume does know is that cycling is lame. About halfway into the first episode, her introduction immediately gets ret-conned when she, on a complete whim, buys herself a used Super Cub for 10k yen, which isn’t that much money, but she also takes a written license exam, and then is able to fill her Cub up with gas. Didn’t she say she had “no money”? 

We’re then introduced to Kogume’s classmate, Reika, who is a super Cub (pun intended) enthusiast. The 2 become comrades. Not friends, they’re “fellow Cub owners” (Kogume’s words, not mine). Reika injects some much needed energy into the anime as Kogume shows as much emotion as a wet mop.

In the second half we also meet Shii-chan who fulfills the “aww, so cute!” role of the cast. 

The most disappointing part of this anime for me was definitely the characters never actually feeling like friends. They took this “fellow Cub owners” thing extremely seriously I guess. The most telling to me about this was that the final line was a revisit of the anime’s opening line by Kogume except she finishes it off with “ But, where I didn't have anything in my life before.... now I have a Cub.” Amazing. 

<spoilers> What I found particularly amazing were the parts where the anime was trying to promote Super Cubs so hard, they threw all sanity out of the window. Reika tries to climb a trail to Mount Fuji on her Cub and keeps falling off her bike. How she didn’t break any bones is a wonder to me. Then of course, I can’t go without mentioning the craziest part of this anime, the “Cub rescue”. Shii is out biking in the winter and she falls off the trail and lands in a shallow river. She calls up Kogume, who picks her up with her Cub. Now, listen, Shii spent probably over 10 minutes lying in a river in sub-zero temperature after also falling at least 3 meters and when she, LOGICALLY, asks Kogume whether she called an ambulance she says that “there’s no need for one”. And you know why! Because she has a Cub! But barring the possibility of a concussion at best, broken bones at worst and an almost definite case of hypothermia, the anime’s insistence on Cub worship concludes this heroic rescue with the dumbest move yet. Kogume’s Cub doesn’t have a seat for another person, so what does she do? She puts Shii in the basket. On the FRONT of the Cub. At this point, we’ve spent the last 3 or more episodes trying to find parts for the Cubs because they were too cold to ride during winter. Shii doesn’t only not have any protection from the wind there, HER CLOTHES ARE WET! This scene made Kogume look not only dumb but close to being a sociopath. Incredible. <spoilers>

✧  art  ✧

Veeery simple. Washed out colours, very easy on the eyes but can quickly become stale and boring, especially with the constant reuse of the same scenes and backdrops. When Kogume is particularly happy, the colours become vibrant and ironically, I thought that it looked much better that way. Ah also, the CGI models are fugly.

✧  sound ✧

Also very simple and monotonous. There are a few extremely simple tracks, coupled with them just straight up using classical music pieces (well-known ones as well). Because of that, they don’t always fit completely or resonate with the scenes.

✧  overview ✧

I’ve said it a lot but I’m already not really into SoL but I’ve watched enough to have standards and man, this was just boooooring. I never want to hear the words “Super Cub” ever again.

My Rating: 3.5/10

[druidx]

The Ruby Falls - End of NaNoWriMo Debrief

I managed to win NaNo, and did fairly well by conventional standards... By my standards, however (especially after the success of last year), it was abysmal. Which is probably why I didn’t do regular updates like usual - from my POV there was nothing especially exciting going on, just a slow drudge to the end -.-’

What was I aiming for?

100k, or to finish this story - whichever came first.

I took the second week of Nov off work so that I could focus on writing, and I was aiming to do another 10k/day during that week, as I proved I could do it last year. The idea was that I could get 50k done that week, and spend the rest of the month getting up to 100k.

When I started this year, The Ruby Falls was halfway to completion (starting word count was 77,210) and I figured with another 100k under my belt, I might actually be able to finish the damned thing.

So how did I do?

My ending word count for this Nano was 52,188 (bringing the total story count to 129,360), and I hit 50k on 24th Nov.

As I mentioned, by my standards, this was a poor show. My average words per hour were 764, and the highest day was 5,320 words over 05h25m. Compared to last year’s words per hours of 1,223 and max day of 16,368 words, I’m sure you can see why I was disappointed with myself. I ended up lowering my goals for the week off to 5k days, and the total to reach as 75k instead of 100k, but I still didn’t manage anywhere near that.

Here you can see my sad little graph:

So what went wrong?

Here’s what I think may have hampered my productivity:

1. I had some extremely serious IRL shit going on during November (and Oct), and a Big Scary Life-Changing Thing on the 29th which took up 50% of brain power, leaving only 20% for writing and story.

2. I wasn’t as prepared as usual. Because of the Big Scary Thing, I wasn’t able to spend October prepping as I usually do, ie making freezer meals, getting Xmas sorted, putting the house in order. So where usually work & everyday life would only take up 15% of brain power, I had to devote 30% instead.

3. I was in the middle of the story. There was no ‘first flush of excitement for new project’ rush kicking my arse to get into the thick of things; I was already there. You know how Nano makes you speedrun the stages of a story, and most people hit The Week Two Blues? Yeah, that - and the Week Three Gotta-Keep-Going-Slog - was were I was at. Sadly, this is still where I am, story-wise. I won’t get to Week Four It-All-Downhill-From-Here for a while yet.

What’s Next?

Christmas. I’m not touching this puppy until at least the new year. I’m going away for three weeks over the holidays, so I doubt I’ll have time to fiddle with it. Who am I kidding - I will almost def add to the word count. What else am I supposed to do for a 2h plane ride?

For NaNoWriMo 2022? I hope to fuck I’m not still working on this XD I really want to get The Ruby Falls finished by next November, and start work on something fresh and original. I still intend to take a week off and see what I can do with it in the same way though. Maybe I’ll just shotgun a crap ton of caffeine and pants the hell out of something stupid, that would be fun.

Still, I’ve learnt a lot of valuable lessons in measuring my success, and how to secure it better, so maybe I’ll be back to 50k-in-4-days next year <3

When do you think The Ruby Falls will be available to read?

Ha. Haha. Hahahaha Only the gods’ fucking know. Once it gets finished, it needs editing before I even think of putting it up on Archive of Our Own. Once it’s finished and edited, I’ll probably do a shout-out for beta readers, because this is going to be huge and I think some extra eyes would be handy.

Shall we give a tentative finished date for April 2022, edited by August, and beta read and final edits by October?

[gmariam19]

Hi, friends! I hit a follower milestone not too long ago - thank you thank you thank you! Like I did for some other milestones, I wanted to share some of my writing. So here is the first chapter of my big WIP, the one I laid out almost a year ago, the one where Big Things Happen to Poe and Finn Does Big Things, the one that got stuck several times but is now moving nicely thanks to NaNoWriMo. (I’ve added another 10k already - and it’s only halfway through November! Yay!) It’s not much--a long introduction, really. But there is so much going on in this story, I can’t wait to finish it and share it!  So thank you - and enjoy! There is more below the break - and more to come! :) EDIT: This story is now posted! It is called Reclaim the Stars and can be found on AO3 HERE! Thank you for reading!

Chapter One  

Poe Dameron is bored.

There are at least a dozen different things he should do, from reviewing the latest intelligence data to the briefing with Connix he keeps putting off; from going over the maintenance specs on the two Y-wings they'd found abandoned on Dantooine (and wouldn't he rather be working on ships instead of always reading about them) to the tactical, medical, and supply reports for their new base of operations. And that doesn't even include the constant stream of communication with the New Republic and various other planetary governments that Poe dislikes because he's terrible at it, lacking the patience and tact necessary for sensitive diplomatic discussions.

There is always something to do now that the war is over, and yet sometimes Poe wants nothing to do with it. It had been good at first, in the heady days after Exegol when they'd been so relieved to finally stop fighting, ready to move on and rebuild the galaxy they'd fought so hard to preserve. The galaxy had believed in them, had listened to them, because they'd destroyed an entire Sith Fleet, hadn't they? Leia Organa had been telling them for years that they were in danger; she'd been more right than anyone could have possibly imagined, and it was her Resistance that had saved them.

And yet, six months later, it's as if the galaxy has already forgotten the lessons of the past. After skirmishes with both the Resistance fleet and the New Republic, the First Order finally surrendered, and every day it seems a new treaty is being signed somewhere to ensure peace.  In most parts of the galaxy, planets are rebuilding, and that peace seems to be slowly settling. Yet the one thing they need most now is the one thing no one will even consider. They don't need more diplomats, or treaties, or promises to sign more treaties with more diplomats; they need security, and no one will listen to him.

Poe isn't bored; he is frustrated.

The New Republic is still slow in pulling itself together, has been since the destruction of the Hosnian system. The fall of the First Order has splintered it even more as some systems call for a more central government to bring stability to the galaxy, while others maintain they will remain independent. It's the same argument, the same players; an endless cycle, it seems, of war and peace.

The galaxy doesn't need a central set of governing principles—recent history has proven the near impossibility of such a thing.  Better to step back and let memories of oppression fade. Yet the discord between so many opposing philosophies after the fall of the Empire had allowed the First Order to settle in the Unknown Regions and slowly build its fleet, as well as its power. That can't be allowed to happen again.

Poe believes more than anything that now is the time to put in place new organizations to maintain security in the galaxy. He isn't calling for a governing military power; both the Empire and the First Order showed that military strength could be defeated. No, they need people in the Outer Rim, and the Unknown Territories, even Wild Space, guarding them against another Exegol, another Sith Fleet. It had been too easy for Palpatine to disappear into deep space and spend decades rebuilding. The New Republic needs to make sure it never happens again. Poe has been suggesting it for months, has volunteered to lead a division of the New Republic Navy devoted to patrolling the borders of deep space and gathering intelligence. Yet no one bothers to listen anymore, and they’ve found little support outside of a handful of allies who scraped together a few starfighters and a small cruiser for them.

It will happen again if there is no one to stop it. They know that something is happening out there already. They are rumors of entire villages being wiped out on distant worlds, and Poe had hoped that after Exegol, their word would be taken seriously. Apparently, that isn't the case; the New Republic is turning a blind eye yet again. Small villages on backwater planets apparently aren't worthy of concern.

It has been weeks since Poe has been up in his X-wing, and he misses it, wishes he was back in the cockpit making a difference, even if it's only recon and intelligence gathering. But more than that, he wishes the Senate would listen to him before another First Order springs up from the birthplace of the old.

Poe spends the morning helping set up more rooms in their new base, an impersonal prefab monstrosity some Senator had sent over as a thank-you gift to the freedom fighters who had saved the galaxy from a fleet of Sith Star Destroyers. Sure, they aren't sharing quarters in a cave any more, or sleeping in tents, but there is something about it that feels different, almost wrong. Maybe he isn't used to something so permanent, this symbol of victory— or of life moving on when he feels stuck.

Maybe it's too much like a consolation prize, a way to get them to stop talking about new threats when the galaxy wants to forget the old. The building reminds him of everything that needs to be done but isn't, everything that is happening and yet being ignored, and sometimes he is tempted to go back to the cave. He needs ships and people, not bricks and mortar.

After lunch Poe forces himself to find Connix and Kin and sit through the briefing. There is no news on Poe's latest appeal for funding the proposed Sentinel program. The criminal gangs that have grown in the vacuum of the First Order's sudden withdrawal are growing bolder and the Senate doesn't seem to be doing anything about them either. The New Republic is still a struggling morass of governments who can't agree on a damn thing, other than the Resistance is getting mouthy and needs to step back and let them handle it now. Some days it feels as hopeless as fighting the First Order. How had Leia done it, after the fall of the Empire?

Kin starts to go over his intelligence reports, but Poe stops listening and stares out the window, his leg bouncing restlessly. He tosses a speeder bolt from his pocket up in the air and resists the urge to spin around in his chair like a cadet. He thinks he hears something about another village attack, about Vi Moradi, about something going down on Nar Shadda, but he is too distracted.

Connix begins to go over the state of their new headquarters—it has only been a week since they moved in—and says something about a volcanic eruption on the other side of the moon that is threatening to rain down fire monkey piss. Poe frowns, wondering if he's heard her right. "What?" he asks. "Did you say fire monkey piss?"

"Yes, General," she replies.

"Is that a real thing?"

"Of course it is. From the volcano."

"What volcano?"

"There is no volcano," she tells him, shaking her head with a smile. "But it got your attention, didn't it?"

"Sorry," he says. "Kind of distracted, I guess."

Connix exchanges a look with Beaumont Kin, who shrugs and goes back to his datapad. She smiles, which Poe knows is her way of softening the coming blow. "Why don't you take a look at the Y-wings, sir? Commander Pava said she's making good progress. The Falcon should be back soon."

Damn, she knows him too well. He jumps up with a sheepish grin and leaves as fast as he can. Only to be kicked out of the landing area by Jess, then the maintenance area by Rose, and even the medical area by Dr. Khurana. So he finds BB-8 and goes for a walk, trying to work off the restless energy that is plaguing him that day. If he's honest, it’s been building for weeks, and it started not long after Finn left.

Finn is currently on his way back from an extended mission with Chewbacca, their official goal to search for other Stormtroopers who defected from the First Order after the surrender. In truth, they are the Resistance's unofficial eyes and ears at the borders, making contacts with every operative they can, gathering the intelligence they need to maintain the borders when the New Republic won't. They are the beginning of the proposed Sentinel program. Poe did the same thing before Finn had left, and Finn before him; they agreed to take turns, alternating their time away so that one of them is always around to deal with the New Republic.

Unfortunately, it also means they have barely seen one another for the last six weeks, and Poe misses Finn—going out on missions with him, leading with him. They make a good team, and in the weeks and months since Exegol, they've grown even closer. Not as close as Poe would like, but maybe someday. He thinks about it more and more, wonders if Finn feels the same. Of course, they’d have to be on the same planet at the same time.  And one of them would have to work up the courage to say something to the other. Poe’s still too scared to lose what he does have, so it probably won’t be him.

At least Finn finally told Poe that he is Force sensitive. It makes so much sense—so many things had clicked into place—that Poe often wonders how he hadn't figured it out himself. Finn is a natural leader, a brilliant fighter, and so in touch with his sense of self that of course it is the Force guiding him. He will be a great Jedi—maybe not a warrior, as Finn seems less interested in fighting now, but he could be a teacher, a leader.

Rey is training him, to help him understand his powers and learn some basic techniques. He trains in addition to his duties with the Resistance, and Poe worries about him. He feels like sometimes Finn struggles to find a balance between the two and hopes Rey isn't pushing him too hard. She went with Finn and Chewie, to continue working with him.

The Falcon has been gone for two weeks. They ran into a few remnants of the First Order, but nothing major, and Poe isn't sure if they've gathered any important intel other than what they felt safe transmitting.  They are returning several days early, and Poe is glad. He's missed them all, though if he admits it to himself, he's missed Finn more than anything, maybe even flying. He's grown so used to having Finn by his side over the past year, through the mission to Exegol, and as co-Generals, that he's felt almost incomplete the last six weeks.

And that’s the real problem: Poe is distracted. Finn is coming back, and Poe can't concentrate. It probably doesn't say a lot about his leadership skills, or his emotional state, but it's definitely the issue, and he continues around the lake again, talking with BB-8 about Finn and Rey and how much they have to catch up on when they return. If he complains about the New Republic and their lack of organization and support yet again, BB-8 has the good grace to listen and agree when he's already heard it a hundred times.

He goes around the entire lake a second time, ignoring the sun and the heat and the need for some water, and is about to start a third time when the little droid beeps excitedly and tells him that the Falcon has landed. Poe can't hold back a grin, and they hurry to the landing area as fast as they can.

The Falcon is in its usual place, and Chewbacca is coming down the ramp with some bags. Poe greets him warmly while BB-8 asks impatiently about Finn and Rey. Chewie tells them Finn's gone to find Poe.

"Only Connix said she kicked you out of your own briefing," says a voice behind them, and Poe turns to find Finn standing there, hands on his hips and a crooked grin on his face. "Because you couldn't concentrate."

Poe grins in response, closing the gap between them to pull Finn into a warm embrace. Maybe they aren't reuniting after a battle, but it has been a long time and Poe can't help it. He missed Finn and is relieved to see him—and Chewbacca, of course—unharmed when he knows anything could happen along the borders of unknown space. And he likes the feeling of Finn in his arms too much to resist holding him for a little longer than he probably should.

"Welcome back, buddy," he says, finally stepping back, but still holding onto Finn's arm.

"That's General Buddy," Finn laughs, and Poe rolls his eyes.

"That joke is getting old, you know," he tells him. "How are you? Where's Rey?" Apparently, that is the wrong thing to ask, because Finn's smile immediately disappears. Poe feels his stomach drop; has something happened to her? Why haven't they said anything?

"She's fine," Finn says, relaxing as he shakes his head. "You don't have to panic. She…well, she left. Went off on her own. Again."

Poe doesn't need the Force to know that Finn is upset about it, and in a way, he understands. Rey certainly does her fair share of running off by herself,  headlong into danger, and often without saying anything. Having worked many solo missions himself, however, Poe can also understand why. Sometimes working alone is easier, with less responsibility, less chance of getting someone hurt or killed. Get in, get it done, get out.

And Rey had grown up alone, abandoned on Jakku for years, until Finn had appeared and quite literally dragged her out of her solitary existence. It makes sense that after so many years on her own, sometimes she needs to be by herself. And Poe understands that as well: though most people wouldn't believe it, he needs time alone almost as much as he needs to be with people. It is one reason why he's such a good pilot, because he likes spending time in the cockpit with his own thoughts. And BB-8, of course.

Finn, however, had grown up surrounded by other Stormtroopers, never having a minute to himself yet always alone in a system that discouraged individuality and attachment. Finn seems to crave contact and companionship, and though he understands when someone like Poe needs their space for a little while, Rey's stubborn desire to go off on her own without warning—or protection— is still something Finn finds frustrating even after all this time.

"I see," says Poe, though he doesn't know the first thing about it, other than Rey is gone, he hadn't got to say goodbye, and Finn is upset. "Well, I'm damn glad to see you, and I have all sorts of questions, but I won't bother you yet. Want to see your new room?"

Finn’s eyes light up and he smiles gratefully at Poe. "Yeah, I would. I'm sorry you had to handle the big move without me."

"It's not like we had a lot to move," Poe points out. "We were living in a cave, remember?"

Poe leads him down the path to the new building, set in a clearing not far from their expanded landing area. It is a large, three-story building, housing offices on the ground floor with crew quarters on the upper floors. Finn and Poe, as co-generals, have two of the larger rooms on the second floor. Poe guides him upstairs, shows him the code for the door, and motions him inside.

Finn stops a few steps into the room, gazing around with his mouth literally hanging open. They are in a large open area, with a sofa and chair along one wall, and a desk opposite. There is a small kitchenette tucked into the corner with table for eating, and a door leads to the single bedroom and private refresher. It is clean and new and bright, unlike any place they’ve ever lived. There is both wonder and gratitude in Finn’s eyes, and the look on his face right now is one Poe wishes he could see more.

“Are you serious?” Finn asks as he starts moving around, examining his new home. “This is all mine?”

“I’m not going to show you someone else’s room,” Poe laughs. “It’s all yours. it’s not much. It’s just a lot better than—”

“Living in a cave,” Finn finishes. “Or a ship. Or a tent. Poe, we’re in an actual building!”

“I know, buddy. It’s taken some getting used to, but it’s good.” He glances around and smiles. “And I’m right across the hall, if you ever need anything. Like a lesson how to use some of this stuff.” He gestures toward a small communications panel set into the desk.

“It’s perfect,” Finn says. “I can’t wait to get a good night’s sleep in here!”

Poe nods. “You’ll sleep like a baby—or you’ll miss the jungle so much you won’t sleep at all. I’ll let you get settled, maybe try out the fresher—it’s private, all yours.” Finn pumps his fist and Poe laughs again. “Think you’ll be up for a debrief later?”

Finn nods. “Yeah, give me an hour. Where should we meet?”

“Command center is on the ground floor, we either pull up chairs or move to the conference room. Is an hour enough?”

“More than enough,” Finn tells him. He turns and walks back to Poe, pulls him into another embrace. “Thank you,” he says quietly. Poe breathes him in, his heart skipping a beat at their closeness. It seems Finn being gone has definitely had an effect on Poe.

“You’re welcome,” he finally says. Finn steps back and Poe thinks the other man glances down at his lips before ducking his head with a smile. It’s probably wishful thinking, though. Poe has to deliberately look away from Finn’s mouth.

“It’s really good to see you,” Finn says.

“You too, buddy,” Poe says. “I’m glad you’re back. I’ll see you in an hour?”

Finn nods and Poe turns to leave. He really is glad to see Finn. He’s just not sure how to move forward now that Finn has returned.