#wip 'tales of the starbound'

[druidx]

Currently looking again at The Old-Timer's Tale, one of the short stories for Tales of the Starbound, a Starbound fanfic anthology.

Tag link for Writeblr blog | Tag link for Starbound Blog (because I keep mixing and matching where what is)

The Old-Timer's Tale is focused on Quihui, one of the oldest occupants of Virla. It's about where he came from, what the planet was like when it was recently settled, juxtaposed against the world it is now.

hey maybe reblog this with a link to your current wip tag and a short explanation about what the wip is?

[druidx]

Summer reading/writing/arting tag

Tagged by @wispstalk, TY!

Tagging: @aalinaaaaaa @thewriteflame @wildswrites @aquadestinyswriting @artdecosupernova-writing @autumnalwalker @blind-the-winds @eli-writes-sometimes @hannahcbrown @oh-no-another-idea @rhikasa @swordsoulwrites @winglesswriter @andromeda-grace @writingmaidenwarrior

1) Describe one creative WIP project you’re planning to work on over the summer

I'll probably keep plugging away at The Ruby Falls. But I do want to work on the TES Summer Fest prompts, which are for August. I need to be a little realistic though - June I'm in Albania for a week; July I'm in Scotland for 2 weeks, August I'm doing birthday stuff. Also, the weather is nicer which means a lot of beach time 💛️

2) Recommend a book

A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit by @ashen-crest is the last book I read, so I am absolutely going to pimp this tale of alchemy, friendship, yearning, and explosions.

3) Recommend a fic

Of my own, Tales of the Starbound: The Barkeep's Tale (on AO3). Do you like burgeoning romance, people who glow, or descriptions of funk folk in a funky bar? Then please read!

Of someone else's, Unexpected Music by Stasia. A modern/ rock-band AU of The Hobbit and LotR, focusing on Bagginshield (What can I say, I'm soft for the hobbit-halfling/dwarf dynamic).

4) Recommend music!

I wasn't sure what to go for, so this is one of my top all-time* played tracks:

(* Since I started using Last.FM in 2005)

5) Share one piece of advice!

Eat, hydrate, and stretch your muscles. It doesn't matter what art you're doing, if you don't take time to look after your body, it'll be harder to do the thing.

[supermarine-silvally]

20 questions for fic writers

Thanks for the tag @chameliyun!

How many works do you have on ao3?

Eight I think! Mostly longform which is why the number is so low lol

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

503,612

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently I'll write for Death Note, My Hero Academia, Hunter x Hunter, Demon Slayer, One Piece, Soul Eater, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Doctor Who. I have VLD fic up on my ao3 but I don't write for that fandom anymore lol

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Starbound (VLD, 294), Ground Zero (MHA, 223), Far Longer Than Forever (VLD, 76), Tales From Wammy's House (DN, 62), and The Ghosts Within Us (HxH, 57)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I'm usually super late to respond lol but yeah I try to get to all of them! I love interacting with people and I treasure all the feedback I get!

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

All my ao3 fics (excluding Tales From Wammy's House, which is a collection of short stories I wrote as part of a fandom event) are unfinished, but I know which one is gonna have the angstiest ending... no spoilers though!

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, they're all basically unfinished so no spoilers!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Haven't so far so hopefully I never will lol

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

I am physically incapable of writing smut. I know some ace people write it no problem, but... I am not one of those people lol

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I'm open to crossovers but I can't recall any that I've actually written. Usually I prefer to do them in the same sort of genre (for instance, a MHA/Marvel crossover or Pirates of the Caribbean/One Piece kind of thing where there's a sort of plausibility in setting)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If I have, I don't know about it. Not sure why anyone would bother though lol

12. What's the longest you've spent working on one fic? And the shortest?

Longest: I've been working on A Shot in the Dark since 2020 though I don't update it much anymore. But I don't want to abandon it at this time so I'll count it as ongoing.

Shortest: Tales From Wammy's House since it was for a week-long challenge lol

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

Yes! Second Chances is co-written with the amazing @til-the-static-comes :)

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

I'm a big canon/OC shipper so I'm really attached to my canon/OC (and OC / OC) pairings moreso than most canon/canon, buuuut my favourite all-time canon/canon ship is still the Doctor/Rose Tyler; you can pry them from my cold dead hands. Killugon (Gon Freecss/Killua Zoldyck from HxH) is a close second.

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

A Shot in the Dark is already so bloody long and I'm still a ways away from finishing it, but I'm gonna try, I promise.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, I think. And I'm pretty good at character-centric stories.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not great at poetic, descriptive writing since I'm usually more interested in what characters are thinking/feeling rather than their external traits/environment. That might be more of a style thing though. I do have a bad habit of making characters monologue for a little too long sometimes, and relying too much on internal monologues too.

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

Oooh okay so I actually have so many thoughts about this!! I think it's a really effective tool if done properly-- I frequently use languages other than English in my writing since a lot of my characters tend to be bilingual. For me, it's really important to use it in the right moments that make sense within the narrative, and keep a logical kind of consistency to that rule. In my own writing -- I'll use my MHA fic Ground Zero as an example since I do it a lot there -- I like utilizing other languages in moments that reveal something about the character (Kova's foreignness/identity as a biracial/cultural Japanese-Ukrainian teenager is a major theme of her character and of the story) or when it creates moments in which a character's dialogue is supposed to be impenetrable to other characters in that scene AND THEREFORE to the reader as well-- but I DON'T use it (even though the character would technically be speaking another language in that scene) when I WANT the reader to understand what's being said. In Ground Zero, when Kova is having a phone conversation with her Ukrainian father, she's obviously speaking Ukrainian to him, but I don't write the conversation in Ukrainian because I want the audience to understand the dialogue-- and because that would be really, really annoying for a reader to have to wade their way through, assuming most of my readers are not fluent in Ukrainian (and neither am I, for the record-- I know a bit, but not enough that I don't have to check with external resources created by native speakers). But in contrast, when Kova is with her Japanese friends, if I drop a Ukrainian word/phrase into the conversation, the reader is getting the experience of the friends, and both the characters and the reader are meant to share in that confusion until Kova translates it. (Example: Bakugou is not meant to know that Kova has been calling him a dickhead (khuylo), but the WAY she says it is meant to convey that she's being derogatory so he's somewhat aware he's being insulted without me having to put a translator's note right after). I do translate and put the Latin lettering (as opposed to the Cyrillic) in the notes section at the bottom of each chapter, though.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Ever? Pokemon. On ao3, VLD.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I'm so close to finishing Ground Zero and it has such a special place in my heart so I'll pick that one :)

no pressure tagging: @shrinkthisviolet, @deathbecomesnerds, @chickensarentcheap, @antivanruffles, @til-the-static-comes, and anyone else who sees this and wants to!

[dru-plays-starbound]

Dru's 2022 Starbound Fic Roundup

Quick Stats

Fics added to the WIP pile this year: 9 Fics completed this year: 8 Fics remaining on the WIP pile: 7 Total W/C this year for Starbound Fics: 11,634

Fic Popularity

I've measured this as an amalgamation between Tumblr Notes and AO3's Kudos. Most - A Place No Good Man Should Go Least - While the Sun Shines

Work I'm most proud of

Tales of the Starbound: The Barkeep's Tale The Barkeep's Tale was started in 2015, and while admittedly it was part of a NaNo and I knew then it wasn't perfect, I thought it was reasonably well crafted. But when I rewrote it - nearly from scratch - and read it back, I realised just how much I've improved - mostly in the last 2 years.

Work that still shows I'm learning

I think my SB fics are all of the same reasonable quality (except While the Sun Shines - I wrote that while sick so it doesn't count), so maybe it's one of the WIPs that I'm struggling to bring into being, such as SBSP prpmpt greenfinger.

Work I think should have gotten more love

Tales of the Starbound: The Barkeep's Tale. As noted I'm very proud of it, and it took a lot more effort to perfect than the others, so I'm a little disappointed it didn't do as well. Maybe I should have added a screenshot…

[druidx]

The Name picker has chosen Quihui, from Starbound (Beta), for this question.

Quihui is an avian of simple pleasures. He likes to spend his free time warming his feathers in the sun or talking with friends over a good meal.

Though he's an extrovert, he's also quite shy, so more often that not he'll find his way to the street market near his home and people watch, chatting to anyone who wants to.

Every Tuesday, we take time to delve into the depths of our character’s personalities, pasts, and preferences. Each prompt will feature a different theme. Feel free to participate in our current prompt, catch up on old prompts, or anticipate the prompts to come!

___

Today’s Prompt: How does your character relax?

What helps this character to unwind? Consider their levels of extroversion or introversion. Some people recharge alone or with others. What activities, alone or in a group, help them to recharge? How often do they get to partake in these times of refreshment?

How does the character act when they’re relaxed? Consider their behaviors and their thought patterns, their internal and external expressions of relaxation. What signs show themselves when this character is not relaxed, but clearly needs some R&R?

___

Want to participate in Character Tuesday? Reblog this post with your response to the above prompt so I can feature it on my blog and we can engage in conversation about your character!

Want to suggest a future question? Feel free to DM me (@homesteadchronicles) with any comments, questions or feedback about this project! My inbox is always open.

Want to meet other authors in a welcoming community? Join our Discord server, “The Homestead”, to find a casual collection of likeminded artists of every kind. Message me for an invite code!

[diversegaminglists]

Eldrich/Cosmic Horror/Lovecraftian Themed Games

Still a WIP and not everything has been sorted yet.

Major Theme (Serious/Horror):

Alan Wake

Alone in the Dark Franchise

Alpha Polaris : A Horror Adventure Game

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

Anchorhead

Aquaria

Arcane Mystery Serial (Link goes to the first episode, the rest of the series can be found in the sidebar)

Arkham Nightmares

Astray

At the Mountains of Madness (Early Access)

Ayumi: Enhanced Edition

Bayonetta (The creator the angels keep going on about isn’t an Abrahamic god...)

Blackbay Asylum

Bloodborne

Bloodrayne 1 & 2

The Breach

Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game (Upcoming game due 2018)

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Basically an adaptation of the Shadow Over Insmouth with slightly less racism, the PC port is very buggy because it was made by literally one person after studio closures, but there are fan patches to help.)

Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice

Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet

Cards of Cthulhu

Cata Cthulhu

Chronicle of Innsmouth

Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross

Chzo Mythos (Yahtzee’s adventure series)

Clive Barker’s Jerico

Clive Barker’s The Undying

Clockwork Express

Conarium

The Consuming Shadow

Crawl

Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason

Crysis Franchise

CTHON

CthulhuMud

cthulhu fhtagn

Cthulhu Realms

Cult of Cthulhu (Mod for Plague Inc. Evolved)

Daily Chthonical

Dark Scavenger

Darkwood (Early Access)

The Dark Stone from Mebara

Darkest Dungeon

The Darkness Within Franchise

Dark Souls Franchise

Dawn of War

Dead Space Franchise

Deadly Premonition

Demon’s Souls

Dead by Daylight

Deathstate

Demonbane Franchise

Demon’s Souls

Discworld: Noir

Doorways: Holy Mountains of Flesh

Downwell

Earnest Evans Franchise (Hastur)

The Elder Scrolls Franchise (Most obviously with House Dagoth in Morrowind and Skyrim’s Dragonborn DLC)

Elder Sign: Omens

Elder Sign: Portents

Eldrich (Roguelike where you explore a library and enter worlds inside several Lovecraft books)

Eldritch Hunter

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

Euclidean

Eversion

The Evil Within

Evolve

Fallen London

Fallout 3: Point Lookout (DLC)

FEAR Franchise (Alma herself)

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Gloom (2017, not to be confused with the 90s Amiga Doom clone)

Green Mirror

Grim Dawn

Half-Life Franchise

Haunted Hotel 4

The Hound of Shadow (Text Adventure)

The Hunt for the Red Cthulhu

The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker

Inner Voices

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

The King of Shreds and Patches (Text Adventure)

Kingdom Hearts (The Heartless, The Nobodies and Kingdom Hearts itself)

Kingdom of Loathing

The Last Door Franchise

Layers of Fear (This is really up to interpretation of the game’s plot but it uses many of the traditional story devices associated with “lovecraftian” horror and there are rats in the walls.)

LIMBO

Lobotomy Corporation (Early Access)

Lost Souls (MUD)

The Lurking Horror (Text Adventure)

Lusternia (free 2 play MMO)

Magrunner: Dark Pulse

The Majesty of Colors

Mansions of Madness (free steam version of the board game)

Marathon Franchise

The Moaning Words

Monria (MMO)

Mystery Of Mortlake Mansion

Mystery Stories: Mountains of Madness

Mythos: The Beginning

Muv-Luv Franchise

Nasuverse Franchise (This includes games like Fate/stay night and Tsukihime)

Necronomicon (An old Japanese game, haven’t found an English translation yet, but including for completeness)

Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness

The Necronomicon & Necronomicon - Book of Dead Names

Nexus War (defunct) & Nexus Clash

Nightmare on Azathoth

The Nightmare from Beyond

NoseBound

Oracle of Tao

Oxenfree

Pandora's Tower

Parasite Eve Franchise

The Park (Set in the same universe as The Secret World)

Path of Exile

Pathways into Darkness

Penumbra Franchise (From the same developer as Amnesia: The Dark Descent)

Phantasmal: Survival Horror Roguelike aka Phantasmal: City of Darkness

Phoenix Point (Upcoming 2018)

Poacher

Pony Island (It’s the Devil rather than a Lovecraftian style monster, but it features many of the usual devices)

Prey (2006)

Prey (2017)

Prototype Franchise

Quake (Shub-Niggurath)

Quest Fantasy

Red Haze

Resident Evil 4 (others in the franchise may qualify but 4 is the most obvious)

Reveal the Deep

The Rise of Cthulhu: Demo

Robert D. Anderson and the Legacy of Cthulhu

Rogue Stormers

Sanity: Aiken's Artifact

Saya no Uta (A man has an accident that makes him perceive normal people as horrendous eldrich monstrosities and then he meets a girl who... looks like a pretty girl. Rape and sexual assault warnings.)

SCP Foundation Games

The Secret World (MMO)

Secret World Legends

Shadow Hearts Franchise

Shadow Over Isolation

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened

Shikkoku No Sharnoth (Looking at screenshots I think this one might involve tentacles. Possible sexual assault warning.)

Shin Megami Tensei Franchise (including Persona 1, 2, and 3)

Shoggoth Rising

Shrouded In Sanity

The Shrouded Isle

Silent Hill Franchise (The town itself is alive even before you consider all the other thingies)

The Sinking City (upcoming game)

Siren (aka Forbiden Siren) Franchise

Skullgirls

Sons of Uruzime

South of Real

Splatterhouse

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Franchise

Strife

The Suffering Franchise

Sunless Sea

System Shock 2 (The Many)

Tales From the Void

Tattletail

The Terrible Old Man

They Bleed Pixels

They Breathe

This Book Is A Dungeon

Tormentum - Dark Sorrow

Transistor

Twisted Lands: Shadow Town

Undertale

Utawarerumono Franchise

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

VHS

Wait - Extended

We Need to Go Deeper

The Whisperer in Darkness

The Worry of Newport (Mod for Crysis 1)

X-COM: Terror From the Deep

Themed but Comedy/Non-Horror:

Army of Tentacles Franchise

Baobabs Mausoleum Ep. 1 Ovnifagos Don´t Eat Flamingos

The Bizarre Adventures Of Woodruff And The Schnibble

Cthulhu Saves the World

Flappy Monsters of Lovecraft

Hearthstone: Whispers Of The Old Gods

Howard Phillips Lovecar (Early Access)

Leave Cthulhu Alone

Lovecraft Word Search

Magicka: The Stars Are Left (DLC)

Mormonoids from the Deep

Pray For Death (Playable Cthulhu)

Project Starship

The Rapture Is Here And You Will Be Forcibly Removed From Your Home

Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse

Tesla vs Lovecraft

Where is the Lovecraft?

Wynken, Blynken, Cthulhu, and Nod

Minor appearances:

Age of Decadence

Ancient Domains of Mystery aka ADOM

Baldur’s Gate 2 (Planar travel, the Demogorgon, and probably the final boss)

Battleborn

Beyond Good and Evil

The Binding of Isaac Franchise

Blood Franchise

Borderlands Franchise (Some of the vaults have big nasties in them, some of the raid bosses also qualify)

Bravely Default

Breath of Fire IV

Castlevania Franchise

Cookie Clicker

Copy Kitty

Crusader Kings II (Yes, really)

Cultist Simulator

Deadly Rooms of Death aka DROD Franchise

Destiny (The Vex and The Darkness)

Destiny: The Taken King (Raid bosses)

Dishonored Franchise

Defense of the Ancients aka DotA Franchise

Dragon Age Franchise

Drakengard Franchise

Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun

Dwarf Fortress

Pikmin Franchise (Final bosses)

Elona

Epic Mickey

Etrian Odyssey Franchise

Everlong

Fable (Jack of All Blades)

Fable III (The Crawler)

Fable: The Journey

Fatal Frame 2 (An optional boss in Survival Mode is the malice from the hellgates made manifest, rather than a ghost)

Final Fantasy Franchise (It would be easier to list which games don’t have some kind of cosmic horror eldritch abomination things in them. The most obvious ones are Jenova, Sin, and The Cloud of Darkness)

Five Nights At Freddy’s Franchise

Grey Goo

Guild Wars Franchise

Half-Life Franchise

Halo Franchise

Hatoful Boyfriend Franchise

Homeworld: Cataclysm

Immortal Defense

Jak 3: Wastelander

Knights and Dragons

La-Mulana

Legacy of Kain Franchise

League of Legends

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn Of The Dragon

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

LittleBigPlanet 2

Lunar: Eternal Blue aka Lunar 2

Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis

Mass Effect Franchise

Metroid Franchise

Minecraft: Story Mode

Mother Franchise

Mugen Souls Franchise

NeverWinter Nights 2

Paradigm

Pathologic

Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium

Pokemon Platinum

Return to Krondor (The God of Evil)

Rift (MMO)

RuneScape

SaGa 3 aka Final Fantasy Legend III

Scribblenauts Franchise (You can summon Cthulhu and Shogoths)

Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator

Shadow of the Colossus (becomes more and more obvious towards the end of the game)

Slash Em Extended

SMITE

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

SoulCalibur Franchise (The Soul Edge and SoulCalibur themselves)

Stories Untold

Terraria

Thief: The Dark Project & Thief: Deadly Shadows

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

Warcraft 3

The Witcher (Dagon)

World of Warcraft

Xenogears

Xenosaga Franchise

Easter Eggs only:

Civilisation VI (A steam achievement)

PAYDAY 2 (A Cthulhu mask)

Dating Eldrich Monsters (both serious and non-serious):

Cthulhu Saves the World

Demonbane Franchise

Dra+Koi

Saya no Uta (A man has an accident that makes him perceive normal people as horrendous eldrich monstrosities and then he meets a girl who... looks like a pretty girl. Rape and sexual assault warnings.)

Unsorted:                                                                                                                 

Sonic Adventure

Sonic: Unleashed

Space Station 13

Spectrobes Franchise

The Stanley Parable

Star Control Franchise

Starbound

StarCraft

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Stellaris

Sundered

Sword of the Stars Franchise

Tales of Vesperia

Tentacult!

Turok Franchise

Touhou Franchise

UFO Afterblank

Warcraft Franchise

Warframe

Warriors Orochi

We Know the Devil

Ys Franchise

[druidx]

A Year of Writing - 2023 Writing Wrap-up

➼ Quick Stats

Total words Written in 2023: 75,022

Average Words/Work (published): 2501

Started in 2023: 24 works

Finished in 2023 (started anytime): 22 works

Published in 2023 (started anytime): 22 works

Number of Works still in Progress (started anytime): 77

Mostly wrote in: February (8 works edited, 5 published)

Longest work completed or added to in 2023: The Ruby Falls (179,282)

Shortest work completed or added to in 2023: It's Fashion, Boss (357)

Top Genres: Sci-Fi (13 - just pinching out Fantasy at 12)

Top WIP(s): The Ruby Falls and Young Dagger, False Dream (previously named Alexis Dalliance vs the Evil of Titan)

Top OC(s): Aderyn, Mio (10 fics each)

Below the cut: Review of 2023's Plans, Work I'm proud of, Work that shows I'm still learning, Breakdown of 2023, Plans for 2024, ICYMI

➼ What were my writing plans for 2023?

❌ Post The Ruby Falls Nope. I'm closer, but still no cigar. I've edited 1.75 sections, bringing the total complete-&-almost-ready-to-post sections to 5/15.

✅ Finish stuff Yes! I completed 7 works this year which were started before 2023, the oldest of which was Tales of the Starbound - The Old-Timer's Tale from 2015.

❌ Post more 'For Posterity' items Nope. Forgot + no time + burn out/ no energy

❌ Study Romance? Nope. Forgot this was a goal TBH

❌ Read more Nope. Last year I read 10 books, this year I've only read 5 (not counting fanfics). I did try, but yeah. (My Storygraph if you're interested)

✅ IDK, everything beyond The Ruby Falls is flexible currently. Technically, this one is complete! 😅️

➼ Work I'm most proud of

Home That Our Feet May Leave, But Not Our Hearts (Starbound) This was an experiment in writing a time loop, and also changing tenses through a story. It may not have been 100% perfect, but I feel like I learnt a lot writing it and I'm really happy how it came out.

Greetings After a Long Departure (TESIV:Oblivion) I thought long and hard about how it must feel to touch the statue and gain the Blessing of Akatosh, and I'm pleased that the description really came off as well as it did.

➼ Work that shows I'm still learning

I think maybe I'm stuck in the 'taste vs ability' trough. Aside from the two above, and maybe Two Foxes (TESIV:Oblivion), I feel like there's been some je ne sais quoi missing from my writing this year. I joined Writeblr to learn and grow as a writer, so if anyone has any tips or ConCrit I'd love to hear it. I really don't want to plateau again.

➼ Breakdown of 2023

I traveled a lot this year. Denmark, Albania, Scotland, Denmark again, and off again to Denmark for Christmas. It's for sure been inspiring, but it's also been exhausting and hasn't left me much brain-space for writing. Not to mention that 2nd day of holiday in Scotland I got "bitten by a Haggis", and spent the next 3 months healing a hole in my shin, and I'm still recovering from that. With all the traveling, maybe this year should have been a 'feed the well' year instead of struggling to finish works I didn't have the energy for. Ah well.

That said, I did quite well with my PodFic project. 50 Fics were recorded and ~80 still remain.

➼ What are my writing plans for 2024?

IDK. The future is a foreign country (to paraphrase L. P. Hartley).

Continue hacking away at The Ruby Falls and whatever else catches my fancy.

Eat more red meat/ protein. Can't write if your brain doesn't function.

Figure out what je ne sais quoi missing from my writing.

Pick up abandoned projects. To whit, 'For Posterity' items and Podfics.

➼ In Case You Missed It

Starbound

Tales of the Starbound - The Old-Timer's Tale - 1,616 words. A day in the life of Quihui & contemplation of Caseswing's building regime. Tumblr or AO3

Home That Our Feet May Leave, But Not Our Hearts - 3,212. Mio, the Last Protector, attends her graduation. The only problem? Earth no longer exists. Tumblr or AO3

You Never Forget Your First - 712. In the dead of night, Kata finds her Captain alone on the bridge, singing a mournful tune... Tumblr or AO3

Crasberry Saviour - 761. During a trip to buy ship parts, Yuudai reveals how she lost her leg. Tumblr or AO3

An Ancient Vault - 389. Mio falls down a hole and discovers an Ancient vault. Tumblr

Look Back, by Looking Forwards - 1,653. Mio helps one of her crew celebrate a religious event. Tumblr or AO3

Aurorabee - 406. Mio goes clothes shopping with her mother. Tumblr or AO3

Original Works

Mouth of Silver - 781. A courier comes across some unsavory creatures while making his way through the woods. Tumblr

A Cryptid Files Short - 404. A hedge witch provides potions of safety. Tumblr

TESIV: Oblivion - Vanilla

Greetings After a Long Departure - 1,014. Rowan gets a sweet surprise when xe finally returns to the Temple of the One. Tumblr or AO3

Two Foxes - 500. The new Grey Fox goes a-visiting to Castle Anvil for some advice. Tumblr or AO3

A Light in the Darkness - 619. Travelogue writer Arkved of Cheydinhal describes another local Cyrodilic festival. Tumblr or AO3

TESIV: Oblivion - Modern AU

It's Fashion, Boss - 357. Aderyn arrives to an event in a snit with the Grey Fox over his time management skills; he teases her about her fashion sense. Tumblr or AO3

A Little Something-Something - 1,459. Aderyn brings Jena to a GFS charity 'meeting'. Tumblr or AO3

A Floral Surprise - 728. On the morning of Martin & Baurus' Anniversary, Aderyn and Belisarius lay out flowers and gifts, conscripted by their respective friends. Tumblr or AO3

Night Exercises - 2,407. Fortis runs a training exercise for Aderyn at night. Tumblr or AO3

Get up - 1,016. Martin and Baurus sneak away from a gala event, only for a detonation to rock their world… Tumblr or AO3

Self Indulgent AU - 18,102. HoK is adamant she knows who her parents are. The Mythic Dawn thinks differently. Who is right? Tumblr or AO3

[druidx]

Starbound Fanfics Masterpost - Ft Caseswing

➼ Original Characters

Princess Caseswing, Starbounder - Intro Post Tags: #oc princess caseswing (dru-plays-starbound)

Minera Lamine ☆

Quihui ☆

Ekataly Dorosh ☆

Lynx Head ☆

Paris Curri ☆

Devon Parker ☆

Grumpy Ami ☆

Metish Yewleaf ☆

Wynne Grechko ☆

Aly Shostak ⭑

Bloodsoother Minoch ⭑

Hadley Scobie ⭑

Wandangi Wilibind ⭑

Wesley O'Leary ⭑

Lee Lu ⭑

Elinasia Savidov ⭑

Corey Mcculley ⭑

Count Goldweld ⭑

Domecatch ⭑

Glery Holub ⭑

Tisa Arrowcress ⭑

Creative Yuzuki ⭑

Ironcatch ⭑

Brasscrank ⭑

Lazy Ami ⭑

Zyanitl ⭑

Ulf Franklin ⭑

Cliptrip & Shaftsight

➼ WIPs

Tales of the Starbound

Falling Leaves

➼ Fic List

Tales of the Starbound: The Barkeep's Tale Words: 3,240 Third person. Just a regular night in the Desert Rose. Meet the barkeep and her patrons as they fritter their night away in good times with good hooch and better company. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Tales of the Starbound: The Miner's Tale Words: 1,616 A day in the life of Quihui & contemplation of Caseswing's building regime. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Tales of the Starbound - The Old-Timer's Tale Words: 3,380 First person. Follow the logs of mine guard Devon Parker as he details a year and a half of adventure in the core of Beta 61Vir 4657Ia. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

[druidx]

Thanks for the question @raevenlywrites and for the tag @stsmgm :)

I'm going to use Wynne Grechko, from Tales of the Starbound: The Merchant's Tale, for this (rather than cheating by using Kathy Scott, because that's literally how I started her story 😅).

That moment would be him sitting in the Diamond & Pear, drinking at the bar, with Lazy Ami storming in, weapon raised, threatening to shoot him.

We'd then wind back to his escape from his home planet, which is the current start of the story.

... Huh. Maybe I should do this... I need to rewrite this story anyway (it was an old NaNo and rife with bad storytelling), and this sounds like it could be a cool angle

Meet and Greet Monday 11/16

Happy Meet and Greet Monday! To any character who'd like to answer: If you were to do that movie trope where it's like "*record scratch* I'd bet you'd like to know how I got here, huh?" what would that moment look like, and where would you flash back to tell the story?

This is an open question, for anyone to answer however they'd like. Be sure to check out @stsmgm for more!

[druidx]

Feb Roundup/ WIP Whenever

What was on the Task List for Jan?

❌️ Posting drafts. If anything I've made the situation worse 😅️

✅️ Starbound Character Intros. I've managed to post intros for 2 of the 10 crew, and I've got Heroforge images for 3 others.

❌️ Posting 'For Posterity' items. Honestly, I forgot all about this one.

❌️ Edit The Ruby Falls. I finished the Self-Indulgent AU instead of editing this 😅️

✅️ Finish some of those 80 WIPs. Yes! I finished 3 in Feb so the number is now down to 78 *cough* I may have added a new WIP in Feb *cough* (Self-Indulgent AU doesn't count, as I already counted it as 'complete' in Oct 2022's stats).

✅️ Record Podfics. Yes! 13 were posted in Feb. As they've all been for my Oblivion fanfics, you can find them on @nine-blessed-hero using the tag #podfic.

What's Next for March?

Same old, same old 😅️

➼ Posting drafts. We're now at 177 in @/druidx and 183 in @/dru-reads-writeblr.

➼ Starbound Character Intros. 2 main characters, 8 crew, and a dozen side characters left to do.

➼ Posting 'For Posterity' items. This is daunting. Most of these old stories are really bad. I know I'm clearly marking them with a date, but still. Also, good gods, my Stories folder is a mess.

➼ Edit The Ruby Falls. I might try blocking out one week a month to work on this, that way I can also clear the WIP backlog.

➼ Finish some of the 80 78 WIPs. As long as this number keeps going down, I'll be happy.

➼ Record Podfics. Only 104 to go...

ICYMI

➼ Tales of the Starbound - The Old-Timer's Tale (Starbound), Tumblr ~ AO3 :: A day in the life of Quihui & contemplation of Caseswing's building regime.

➼ Get up! (TESIV, Modern AU), Tumblr ~ AO3 :: Martin and Baurus sneak away from a gala event, only for a detonation to rock their world...

➼ Self-Indulgent AU (TESIV, Modern AU), Tumblr ~ AO3 :: HoK is adamant she knows who her parents are. The Mythic Dawn thinks differently. Who is right?

➼ Look Back, by Looking Forwards (Starbound), as yet unreleased :: Mio helps one of her crew celebrate a religious event.

[druidx]

A Year of Writing - 2022 Writing Wrap-up

I quite liked doing the "Your Writing Year in Review" thing last year, so decided to do it again.

➼ Quick Stats

Total Written - 92,157 words Average Words/Work: 4,388 Started in 2022 - 33 works Finished in 2022 (started anytime) - 21 works Published in 2022 (started anytime) - 36 works Number of Works still in Progress (started anytime): 79 Mostly wrote in: August, October & Dec (4 works each) Longest work completed or added to in 2022: The Ruby Falls (181,884) Shortest work completed or added to in 2022: wip - elo the 'beggar' (96) Top Genres: Fantasy Top WIP(s): The Ruby Falls Top OC(s): Aderyn, Mio, Rowan, Caseswing

Below the cut: 2022's Plans, Work I'm proud of, Work that shows I'm still learning, Breakdown of 2022, Plans for 2023, ICYMI

➼ What were my writing plans for 2022?

❌ Finish The Ruby Falls by April, published by October

HAHAHAHAHAHA! 💀❌💀

✅ Finish some of the then-68 WIPs from 2021 and prior

I managed 7 - 5 Oblivion fanfics, and 2 Starbound fanfics. 7 is better than 0, so I'm counting this objective as completed.

➼ Work I'm most proud of

It's a tossup between Abecean Blue and Tales of the Starbound: The Barkeep's Tale. I'm fond of the descriptions and flashbacks in Abecean Blue, but The Barkeep's Tale shows just how much I've grown and learned as a writer.

The Barkeep's Tale was started in 2015, and while admittedly it was part of a NaNo and I knew then it wasn't perfect, I thought it was reasonably well crafted. But when I rewrote it - nearly from scratch - and read it back, I realised just how much I've improved - mostly in the last 2 years.

➼ Work that shows I'm still learning

The Need for What We Can't Have, Long Past Dawn, and Strawberry Fizz. I can't write men. I can't write gay men. I can't write romance between men! Why are men so hard? (puns not intended)

All of those pieces feel tremendously flat to me. The descriptions are fine, but when it comes to men emoting, the dialogue... I just don't feel there's the same pizzazz as if you asked me to write a feral she-goblin.

➼ Breakdown of 2022

There have been a lot of IRL things going on this year, and I just haven't felt as creative as I have the past few years. The trip to Iceland was inspiring, yet that and the trip to Denmark took huge chunks out of my year (both were nearly 2 weeks each).

That being said, when I look at my stats for complete fics over the years, I can see that 2022 was nearly on par with 2020, with 21 vs 27. And even though I finished more works in 2021, my word count was much lower. I feel like I'm now at a happy balance between word count and finished works.

I also feel like I'm finishing a lot more things recently, even if they are fanfic, where historically I was writing novels and then running out of steam on them. I'm not sure if I can apply that to the past novels I've never finished/ edited enough to publish. Honestly, I don't know what I want to do with them at all...

➼ What are my writing plans for 2023?

Post The Ruby Falls.

Finish stuff. Post more 'For Posterity' items. Study Romance? Read more.

IDK, everything beyond The Ruby Falls is flexible currently.

➼ In Case You Missed It

Here's the list of all my work posted in 2022 (including some older works), separated by universe.

Original Series - Astyria's Star

Summer Prose Challenge 1 ~ 450. At the abandoned council chambers at Gont Point, Astyria considers the perils the people of Ilma face due to the rising acid seas. Read on Tumblr

Summer Prose Challenge 2 ~ 680. A grandmother recites a folk tale to her grandchildren. Read on Tumblr

Summer Prose Challenge 3 ~ 490. Astyria’s nephew has to complete a school assignment. Read on Tumblr

Summer Prose Challenge 4 ~ 920. We join Astryia at a council meeting to hear the options for dealing with Ilma’s climate issues. Read on Tumblr

Summer Prose Challenge 5 ~ 1,120. A talk show host discusses the current climate issues on Ilma. Read on Tumblr 

Original Work - 'For Posterity' Items

The Web ~ 176. How the spider invited its web. Read on Tumblr 

Lost on the Moor ~ 206. A girl with paranormal powers is on Dartmoor. Read on Tumblr 

The Frustrated Writer ~ 853. A girl complains to the reader that she has writers' block. Read on Tumblr 

The Fox ~ 437. A girl meets a fox. Read on Tumblr 

When I am old... ~ 273. A description of a woman's old aunt. Read on Tumblr 

Hungry... ~ 546. A woman's sick husband bites her, and she becomes very hungry. Read on Tumblr 

England Expects ~ 247. An old man reminisces about people taking responsibility for their community. Read on Tumblr 

GM Mutated Cheese ~ 282. A young boy experiments with cheese. Read on Tumblr 

Closure for a Silver Shilling ~ 328. A gravedigger is having trouble digging a grave. Read on Tumblr 

Other Original Works

The Need for What we Can't Have ~ 341. A mining clerk considers his religious colleague. Read on Tumblr

Uncertainty in the Weather ~322. A farmer's daughter reminisces. Read on Tumblr

Starbound

While the Sun Shines ~ 850. Mio enjoys a picnic with some of her residents. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

A Place No Good Man Should Go ~ 420. Oganesson introduces Yasahama to the Black Market. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Tales of the Starbound: The Barkeep’s Tale ~ 3,240. Just a regular night in the Desert Rose; good times with good hooch and better company. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Tales of the Starbound: The Miner’s Tale ~ 3,380. The logs of mine guard Devon Parker, detailing a year and a half of adventure. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

The Temple of the Fading Light ~ 592. Mio investigates an ancient temple and learns the dark secrets behind it. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

The ‘Shroom Witch ~ 785. Mio visits an agaran witch for help destroying the Ruin. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

TESIV: Oblivion - Modern AU

Strawberry Fizz ~ 219. Martin and Baurus take a summer holiday. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Long Past Dawn ~ 646. Martin isn't fond of parties or unwanted female attention. Baurus has a solution... Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Self Indulgent AU ~ 8,274. The Hero of Kvatch is Martin’s Biological Child. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Spiritus Alco Custodiat ~ 451. A jest from Jena turns swiftly sour. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

TESIV: Oblivion - Vanilla

The Foundling ~ 700. Comic Script. Rhiannon's origin story. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Abecean Blue ~ 514. Martin extols the virtues of the Abecean Sea; After his death, Rhiannon goes for a dip. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Rowan Hunts ~ 1,803. Jauffre has gone missing; Rowan hunts him down and brings him back Read on AO3 or Tumblr

A Restless Pillow (Begets No Rest) ~ 1,650. Rowan is an insomniac due to too many people pestering xir in sleep. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Bring the Fire; Brave the Cold ~680. On a snowy day at Cloud Ruler, Rowan discusses the theory of magical fire. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

No Knight in Shining Armour, Xe ~ 4,780. What happens to Rowan between the end of the MQ and Accepting an Invitation. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

Per Necessitatem ~ 1,940. A description of Rowan performing the Dark Brotherhood's Purification Quest. Read on AO3 or Tumblr

[druidx]

WIP Intro - Tales of the Starbound

~SYNOPSIS~

Beta61 Vir 4657Ia, called Virla by its residents, is a microcosm of the universe. Filled with people of many races, varied in their paths and backgrounds, each has arrived on Virla for their own reasons. Come and listen as a select few tell your their tales.

~DETAILS~

Genre: Predominantly soft Sci Fi. Hints of Romance, Crime, and Epistolary. Type: An anthology of 5 short stories, 1 drabble, 1 novelette POV: Varied; 4 are in First, and 3 are in Third Limited Themes: Finding where you belong; The past doesn't control you Status: Editing; 2 have already been rewritten; the rest are still todo

~MAIN CHARACTERS~

Princess Caseswing (F, Novakid), Starbounder & Landlady

Lynx Head (F, Novakid), Owner and bartender of the Desert Rose

Paris Currie (M, Human), Owner of Currie's Cafe & Trade

Devon Parker (M, Human), Mine guard

Quihui (M, Avian), Gentleman of leisure

Dr Ekatally Dorosh (F, Apex), Researcher

Ironcatch, (M, Glitch), Personal Guard of Caseswing's domicile

Wynne Grechko (M, Human), Stim dealer on the run

~OTHER STUFF~

This is a fanfiction of the game Starbound, from when it was in Beta and the Tenant system was first introduced. I wrote this for NaNoWriMo 2014 because I was fascinated by the way the procedurally generated NPCs ran around on their own little missions, fell in love and interacted with their environment.

As this is an anthology, I'm working on the stories one by one to make it easier for editing, and publishing them to Tumblr and AO3.

The Barkeep's Tale can be found here; and The Miner's Tale can be found here.

~EXCERPT~

It's taken me a long time to get where I am now - from almost crashing above Cor Caroli Prime in my rented Wren-Class ship, to owning the sleek Condon-class that I write this from, hovering above the planet I've made my home in the Beta 61 Vir 4657 system - but I think it's worth it. Not least, because my home has become home to so many others...

[druidx]

Loot Box Tag Game

Tagged by @catharticallysarcastic! TY, this one is a lot of fun :D

Tagging back: @strosmkai-rum @spacetimewraithwrites @wildswrites @tetrodotoxincs @odysseywritings @ayzrules @morganwriteblr @my-writblr @bexminx @writingingraves @dreamwishing @aalinaaaaaa @wardenoftheabyss @pleaseloathemyveryexistence @jaguarthecat @catharticallysarcastic

RULES: make up what would be in a limited edition loot/gift box for your WIP!

I thought I'd do a couple of WIPs because these are fun.

The Skinwalker

A figurine of the Skinwalker

An enamel pin of a rose

A onesie in the style of a Skinwalker victim's dermis

Igazinyoka

A signed illustration of the Igazinyoka.

A t-shirt that says "Lunar Hearts: Chicago Fun-Run"

Figurines of Kathy, Luke and Alex.

Tusomov

A Funko POP! style figurine of the Robo Beetles

An A3 laminated schematic of the Kanric Express

An enamel pin of the COLTRA logo

Tales of the Starbound

A painting of sunset on Vila, with the twin planetrise of Beta 61 Vir 4657 Ib & Beta 61 Vir 4657 Ic

A collection of figurines of the main characters from each story

A lime green snugget plush

[druidx]

Theme Tag

Thanks for the tag @chauceryfairytales​

Tagging back: @strosmkai-rum @spacetimewraithwrites @wildswrites @tetrodotoxincs @odysseywritings @ayzrules @morganwriteblr @my-writblr @bexminx @writingingraves @dreamwishing @aalinaaaaaa @wardenoftheabyss @pleaseloathemyveryexistence @jaguarthecat @catharticallysarcastic @bread-of-death @bluegreystarstuff

Rules: Bold the themes which appear in your wip, and also italicize those which are loosely covered.

Since I've been poking at Tales of the Starbound recently, I'm going to use that WIP (bearing in mind it's an anthology).

addiction | beauty | betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age | communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment | facing darkness | facing reality | faith vs. doubt | fall from grace | fame and fortune | family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will | friendship | fulfilment | good vs. bad | government | greed | guilt and forgiveness | hard work | heroism | hierarchy | honesty | hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society | inner vs. outer strength | innocence | injustice | isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness | lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation | materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture | oppression | optimism | peer pressure | poverty | power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion | responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology | temptation and destruction | time | totalitarianism | weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience | youth

[druidx]

Last Line Tag

Tagged by @pheita, about this time last year. TY!

This is from The Merchant's Tale, part of Tales of the Starbound, a Starbound fanfic written for NaNoWriMo 2015 and never polished (which I really should do).

[Wynne] gazed up at the ceiling, looking at the mismatched metal panels, the rusted iron struts that held the place together.

Tagging: @strosmkai-rum @spacetimewraithwrites @wildswrites @tetrodotoxincs @odysseywritings @ayzrules @morganwriteblr @my-writblr @bexminx @writingingraves @dreamwishing @aalinaaaaaa @wardenoftheabyss @pleaseloathemyveryexistence @jaguarthecat

[druidx]

One line summary tag game

Thanks for the tag @writingonesdreams

Tagging back: @strosmkai-rum @spacetimewraithwrites @wildswrites @tetrodotoxincs @odysseywritings @ayzrules @morganwriteblr @my-writblr @bexminx @writingingraves @dreamwishing @aalinaaaaaa @wardenoftheabyss @pleaseloathemyveryexistence @jaguarthecat @catharticallysarcastic @bread-of-death @bluegreystarstuff

Rules: Use the template below to create a logline of your WIP

Template: While struggling with their everyday life, Character finds the catalyst; BUT when the stakes rise they must learn the theme before the consequences ruin their life. How does your story fit?

WIP The Skinwalker

While on holiday in Florida, British cop Kathy Scott is witness to an unusual murder by a serial killer named the Skinwalker. But when the Skinwalker takes a personal interest in her, Kathy must overcome her fear of the supernatural and work with both the local PD and a rag-tag bunch of cryptid hunters before the Skinwalker can kill her too.

WIP Iganzinyoka

While learning about Hedge-Witchery in the New Forest, UK, Kathy Scott receives a panicked call from American Cryptid-hunter Luke Granger: his partner, Alex Moore has gone missing in Chicago. But when it looks like all of Chicago could be at risk from the Iganzinyoka, can Kathy use her new-found powers to save the city?

WIP Tales of the Starbound: The Merchant's Tale

While struggling to integrate into the quiet life on Virla, Wynne Gretcho accidently deals stims to the wrong people. But when the Shark Gang approach him to sell for them instead of himself, Wynne must stop himself being pulled back into that life before he loses everyone he cares about.