#wow i planned this gifset for his birthday a few months ago and finished it two weeks after his birthday lol....

[repsolhonda]

And just for a second, I can be one of the greats. No one can tell me to stop. I'll have everything I want.

[xennariel]

fanfic asks: all.

lol Thanks! This took me forever.

1. Do you have a word-count goal for 2018? - Not really, but another 100k would be nice to achieve.

2. Will you participate in any fandom exchanges or fic challenges, etc?- Hopefully Royai Week again and Royai Halloween week since I just was feeling crappy and was too busy to do it last year.

3. Do you anticipate writing for a new fandom in 2018? Which one? - Not really. I have been meaning to delve into WoW fanfiction for a few years now, so maybe that, but it’ll probably just be FMA and my own stuff again because I’m a loser. lol

4. Do you think you’ll stop writing for a fandom in 2018? Which one? - Who knows. It seems like my fics aren’t entertaining anymore or whatever, but I lost quite a few readers in 2017 so that may end up being a deciding factor in whether I continue FMA fanfiction or not. As of now, I don’t think I’ll stop writing for the series though.

5. Which WIP is first on your list to complete this year? Will you post a snippet? - I would really really like to finish Through Eyes of Flame, but it still has a long way to go and, again, because of lack of readers, my motivation to write it is very very low. I’ve had the next chapter halfway completed since September and every time I look at it to try to write for it, I just give up and work on something else. I’ve been working on that fic for almost two years and I just want to finish it already. I think I posted a snippet before, but here’s a bit of the chapter that’s been halfway done for months now:

Red light crackled around Gluttony’s wounds, each bullet hole closing within seconds. No matter how many vital points Riza hit with deadly accuracy, it all proved futile. The hulking homunculus held her off the ground by her throat as she continued to struggle and fire bullet after bullet into its skull. She grit her teeth as Gluttony’s hold on her neck tightened and the click click click of her gun’s trigger indicated she was out of ammo. She dropped her hand to her side and the gun fell to the ground with a clatter.

This was it. This was how she was going to die. She would no longer be able to protect Roy. But at least he would live. He would not be incriminated for what they were doing here. He would go on, working toward their goal without her, and that was enough for her.

6. Which yet-to-be-started fic is first on your list? - I would love to start writing the Royai mermaid AU I’ve been thinking about a lot. Also perhaps my “Riza was an alchemist the whole time” au. I’ve had so many ideas for those that were stewing around all year, but I didn’t start them because I wanted to finish TEoF first.

7. Will you change anything about the way you interact with other writers? - Definitely try to comment more. I comment every chance I get, but sometimes I still can’t figure out what to say or have a weird anxiety build up that makes me not want to comment, so I want to work on that and make sure every fic I read gets at least an “I liked this” or something. Also if I wasn’t so anxious I’d strike up conversations more often on here with other writers, but I feel like I just annoy people so I avoid talking to anyone unless they talk to me first. It’s stupid, I know, but I just feel like they’d message me if they wanted to talk to me, you know? I need to work on that.

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is 2018 the year? - Ummmmm… I don’t think so? Well, scratch that, I have a lot of horror/tragedy/angsty ideas, but I can get very dark and I have found that I hold back quite a bit with fanfiction in that department. Like… I feel like people would avoid me and not read my stuff if it got that dark so I tend to just write fluff and minor angsty one shots. I even held back on my fic Hollow because I felt like it was getting too dark so I cut a lot of stuff out, rushed it, and lightened it up a bit. I realize people like angst and such, but I worry about scaring off readers. It’s weird. SO, with that said, I would like to write some kind of fic that’s super dark, but I don’t know if anyone would read it. That’s what my original novel is for. lol

9. Short term goals… what do you hope to complete this week or in January? - I would love to get the next chapter for Through Eyes of Flame finished and posted by my birthday (Jan. 31). Other than that, I have no plans, but that might change if people send me prompts or something. An anon keeps sending me the prompt “May wasn’t there on the Promised Day and Roy has to burn Riza’s wounds closed.” I like the idea, but I’m not confident enough to write it. I know nothing about the nitty gritty medical details that would go into that so I feel like my attempt would be bad and unrealistic and honestly the only outcome I could see would be Riza dying anyway because burning an artery and just that whole area is bad news and wouldn’t end well, especially because Roy would probably be nervous and have shaky hands and mess up.

10. Will you keep a record of all the fics you write and/or post this year? - Probably not beyond posting them to FFNet and AO3. I never really thought about keeping a record of the stuff I write.

11. Would you like to try any new fanfic genres or tropes in 2018? - I think I answered this above, but more Angst and stuff in that vein.

12. Will you change anything about the way you edit or rewrite in 2018? - I want to get better at description and make my prose sound nicer. Right now, my writing is very straight forward and not flowery at all. I don’t necessarily like flowery writing as sometimes I have no idea what the author is trying to say if it gets too flowery and purple, but I feel like my writing is very lackluster and missing something. So I’d like to get better at showing and not telling more often.

13. Aside from fanfic, are there any other fan works you’d like to try creating? Fanart, or fanvids, gifsets, or podfic?- I’d love to get back into drawing far more often. I used to draw all the time in high school. I gave it up for so long after I graduated and I miss it. I only drew a few times last year, but I’d like to pick it up far more often. Like, maybe even do a monthly request type thing where I take requests once a month and draw for people instead of going for, like, five months and then being like “I feel like drawing, send in requests.” I’d just like to do it more often.

14. Have you ever lost large chunks of your work in the past, due to not backing up your work? Will you change your methods in 2018? - Oh yeah. I’ve lost so much stuff because my hard drives have crashed several times in the past, like, ten years. All my old original writing was lost to the void in high school when my Mac’s hard drive crashed for the first time. I did manage to print some of it off though, which I found recently, but it was only a fraction of what I had written in my high school years. It honestly wasn’t great anyway, but it’s still upsetting to lose stuff I worked on for years. It’s why I use Google Docs mostly now and I do have a thumb drive that I download stuff onto occasionally now.

15. Do you foresee any personal or professional obstacles in 2018, that would keep you from creating fanworks?- I really really want to finish my original novel, so fanfics might take a backseat to that if I feel like I’m not keeping up with it well enough. My dream is to be a published author, even if that means publishing myself. Also my dog isn’t doing so well recently and if his ailments progress as rapidly as they seem to be right now… Well I hope it doesn’t come to anything serious, but losing him might take a huge toll on me and I know I’ll probably fall into a serious depression for a long time. Which is why I want to finish my original novel as soon as possible, because I know if I lose him I’ll never finish my book, at least not for a few years.

16. Do you have that one fanfic that you wrote a ton for, ages ago, but never posted? Will this be the year, come hell or high water, that it WILL get finished and posted? - Nope, I always post stuff, even if it’s a WIP multichapter. I tend to be proud of stuff and want to get it out to share it asap. It’s why lack of hits/comments/shares upsets me a lot of the time. I wouldn’t share my work if I wasn’t proud of it, but lack of hits and response makes me feel like everything I do is shit.

17. Do you typically answer all comments/reviews individually? Do you plan to change the way you interact with your readers this year? - Yes, especially on AO3. It’s a little harder on FFNet since you have to PM the person and I didn’t even realize you could respond like that until recently. I definitely plan to thank and respond to people individually more often so they know just how much I appreciate their comments.

18. Do you typically post multi-chapters as you write, or finish it all and then start posting? Would you like to change your posting method?- Honestly, I really should write the whole damn thing and then post it, but I post each chapter as I go. My problem is that I have a difficult time staying motivated to write something without feedback from people. It’s why writing my original stuff can be so hard at times. I really would like to finish a thing before I begin posting though because that way if I lose motivation, I don’t disappoint people by either not updating for a long time or never updating again.

19. Would you consider non-fandom writing events, like NaNoWriMo or writing contests?- I did Camp Nano where I managed to write 25k words for my original novel. It’s what really helped me get going with that. I wanted to do the actual NaNo event, but was depressed and busy during that time. I would like to do both this year though and maybe finish my book then (though I’d like to be done with my book sooner than that.)

20. Any plans to work on original fiction this year? - Yep, as I said before, I want to finish my book this year. Even if no one reads it, it’s been my dream since middle school to finish and publish it and this is the time I’m going to actually do it. No more sitting on it wishing it would just magically be written for me. Even if people don’t like it, I’m going to finish it because I like it.

[byuluno]

Looking back: 2017

hello! at the close of this year, I wanted to take a second to look back (hence the title of the post...). so this is going to be me gushing about byuluno in 2017 :D

short version:

in this year, I’ve...

• learned to make gifs, color gifs, do text effects, and use textures, all in GIMP

• made edits/gifsets for VIXX, Ladies Code, DAY6, Oh My Girl, Z.Tao, Mamamoo, Lee Hi, and my color project

• had a post receive more than 600 notes! dang

• started posting a long-term project (kpop by the colors)

• received kind support for my creations! really, thank you to everyone who liked or reblogged or replied to my posts. validation keeps this blog running, lol. (I really do appreciate it!)

I also want to say that, though I run this blog on queue much of the time, I am always keeping an eye on it. if you ever want to talk to me about anything, I’m here ^,^

long version under cut:

when I think about it, I’m quite proud of how this blog has come along this year. I started the blog as a space where I can work on edits and learn about gifs and graphics and such, and when I think about it, I have learned a lot this year. in April, I made my first gif edit (for VIXX Ken’s birthday); in October, I learned more about coloring gifs (for the anniversary of Ladies Code’s “The Rain”, and also an edit that has not been posted). just a week ago, I learned to do the text shadow thing for my Christmas VIXX edit!

this year, I’ve had my first post to receive more than 600 notes (Mamamoo anniversary edit), which is still unbelievable to me. and I’ve had posts that I still get notifications for, months afterward, and I feel a little glow of validation every time XD (especially the Lee Hi gifset and the VIXX rainbow)

I have been working on the color project (“kpop by the colors”) for pretty much the whole year now - I started posting it in the fall, but I’ve been taking notes on MV colors and planning gifsets and making them for months now. as a long-term project, I’m quite pleased with how it has turned out. for me, some sets are more satisfying to look at than others, but they all grew out of months of watching all new releases closely. the color project has gotten me to check out quite a few songs I wouldn’t have otherwise, and I’m glad.

random aside: I just went back to look at my previous blog announcement post, and wow, looking at anything I’ve written in the past is weirdly cringey, even from earlier this year. anyway, I think that overall, I have accomplished what I wanted to this year. I finished an edit for Ken’s birthday! and I really did learn a lot about making gifs.

so fandom update: still a Starlight (VIXX), ARMY (BTS), and Moomoo (Mamamoo). I guess I’m kind of a Melody (BtoB) too, but it feels weird to say that, because Melody is my actual name XD I’m getting into Ladies Code and Dreamcatcher, interested in Pentagon... I’ve certainly fallen into Produce 101, but I don’t know if there’s a fandom name for that? anyway, there’s a lot of musicians I follow more passively whom I also like, so expect a lot of multifandom content from me in the future.

plans for next year: I’ve been trying out a biweekly edit schedule, and it has worked fairly well so far. I have some definite edit plans for the coming year: Dreamcatcher, f(x), BTS, BtoB, Melanie Martinez... oh, and I intend to make an edit for my favorite tracks of 2017 (though it’s not going to come out in 2017, whoops).

this has been both a triumphant and a difficult year for us, in many ways, but we will keep moving forward. to a happier and healthier 2018!

(tw: death)

I didn’t have the collectedness to write a post about Jonghyun before, but I feel that I should at least say a few words now. though I am not a Shawol, I have always appreciated Jonghyun’s music - I feel that his musical aesthetic is similar to mine, and he truly had important things to say in his music. as I follow a fair number of Shawols, I can see how much he means to people, as an idol, as a musician, and as a wonderful person. though I cannot possibly understand what he went through, I really respect him for his efforts and achievements, and I value the music and joy he has brought to the world.