#I HAD A PLOTLINE PLANNED

[devotedlystrangewizard]

me: haha im downloading destiny 2 again for lightfall

the destiny 2 fic thats still at like. february 2022. in terms of story progression. that i havent updated because i dont know enough about the story of the past few seasons to properly write them in:

#I HAD A PLOTLINE PLANNED #WHERE THE SCORN WOULD GET MORE AFFECTED BY THE DARKNESS & ALL #BUT I HAVENT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION #i think i might just watch the cutscenes of the past few seasons on youtube #bc i dont think?? i have the season passes?? for the past few seasons???? #& then wait out lightfall before planning out that storyline #i havent seen any story trailers or whatever so im completely in the dark lmao #hopefully lightfall will motivate me enough to work on tsbesg again i miss patch #i never meant for tsbesg to be completely canon compliant but i do want to follow the main story. just with the scorn present #they are my sillies #ill figure it out #i still have to write a chapter of them joining on the uh. the missions. back in the season that launched with witch queen #(was it risen i cant remember) #i have to write at LEAST one chapter of them just dicking around fighting lightbearer hive i think they would like that #why would patch have to kill ghosts when they have several friends who do it for fun. hm. #its kinda funny bc when i started the fic i ran out of material #i had to bullshit so much just for the seasons to catch up #ESPECIALLY during hunt #if i ever end up rewriting the earlier chapters one key thing is that i have to fix the timeline with the whole osiris thing #actually make everything line up more yk? #but yeah in the period between when i started (december... 2020? 2021?) and witch queen i started getting a little off track #my investment in destiny kinda dwindled once id finished witch queen #i was still really into the characters (yes i saw the cutscene of orisis waking up yes i cried) but the game itself just #and maybe it was my depression. honestly #like i started meds nearly 3 months AFTER wq #who knows. who the fuck knows. i NEED the fuckigngnfu leviathan scenes. i NEED patch to get to the leviathan i need crow to #reconcile with the scorn through his arc in that season (plot spoilers? eh. plot ideas) #im gonna go reread the most recent few chapters i need the refresher on where i stopped #ALSO. ALSO. worst case scenario i skip some less plot relevant more self indulgent scenes (like with the hive ghosts) #and put those in separate oneshots. 'takes place between chapter so & so'

[faeriecap]

mcu releasing cacw like: “sorry mackie ur character who is actually a crucial part of the cap storyline historically can’t get any significant screentime in cap 3 yeah we know it’s the final movie sorry we had to have an endless fucking montage of maria stark trauma porn bc it actually wasn’t already clear tony was emotionally unstable and had mommy and daddy issues followed by the wandavision cooking special for,,,,,, reasons,,,,,,,,,,,, and oh yeah did we forget to mention this is actually another avengers movie and the first spiderman??? best we can do is a scene where sam’s mean to bucky lol …… what about steve rogers??? wait whos that uhhhh is he even in this script?”

(it’s bc they didn’t care about developing sam at all until he was their “only” option for cap and could safely not be shipped with steve if they ever actually interacted wait what huh who said that)

#IM JUST SO UPSET #i loved their relationship so much and we should have REALLY gotten to see it #cap 3 should have been ALL about steves friendships with sam and bucky in the wake of hydras return #it should have been about samsteve relationship and dynamic ESP if they had always planned for sam not bucky to take up the mantle first #ESP IF THEY STILL WANTED TO DO THE DUMBASS CIVIL WAR PLOTLINE LIKE SAM AND BUCKY AND NAT ARE STEVES REAL FRIENDS #IN COMPARISON TO TONY WHO PROVED WHERE HIS REAL NARCISSISTIC MOTIVES LIE #sam SHOULD HAVE become cap at the end of the movie #STEVE SHOULD HAVE PASSED THE TORCH THEN AND THERE #but noooooo we needed chris evans to market the final avengers 🙄 #steeb #sammich #samsteve #stevebucky #marvel #i speak #anti mcu #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #cacw #captain america civil war #captain america #anti tony stark #steve rogers #sam wilson #anthony mackie

[damnprecious]

Do you ever get so mad bc an episode would be such a perfect way to end a series but it's not the series finale

#noopa rambles #me @ chicago fire rn #12x6 had such good series finale potential if we disregard the upcoming drama with the med chief #the season as a whole has had such an endings and new beginnings vibe #not all of the plotlines have gone as I expected #I was having big “herrmann is about to retire” vibes earlier #no but honestly it makes me mad bc I want a fulfilling ending #I want an ending that's planned and makes sense and is a good way to stop #and I feel like 12x6 had like All of that #I suppose it should give me hope that they'll write a good ending for when the time comes #but everything just felt Right #but I just don't trust tv shows to actually deliver a good ending anymore

[pastafossa]

hey pasta! I don’t know if someone has asked this already but is TRT gonna go into Born Again or end at season 3?

So that's where I'm not sure! The current outline is as such:

All Major Arcs (including Cyrus James/Project Beagle fallout arc and psychic abilities arcs): scheduled to wrap up a bit after the end of S3 so that Matt and Jane's arcs/development neatly dovetail together. This will mark the official end of TRT's main fic.

Special Additional Arcs (chaptered fics not attached to main fic but still TRT canon, taking place after end of main fic) in no particular order: Endgame/The Snap arc, Spider-Man: NWH arc, Spoiler Removed arc, tentative She Hulk Shenanigans arc.

Oneshot Arcs: various domestic fluff arcs, interactions with major MCU events, a 'What Their Life Is Like When Old Cause GD It They're Going To Live To Old Age And Will Have Rocking Chairs' arc, a SINGLE take it or leave it 'What If?' fic of something funny with a possible daughter cause damn I had this idea for a hilarious scene and it won't leave me alone

Now, those are what are planned in the outline, and the main event with Project Beagle tie-ins and plotlines and all of that is something I'm still planning to end just after S3 because I really do want to have a finish line for that, and I feel like dragging that all out for Born Again wouldn't work for the... events that are going to happen, without saying too much. Once that's wrapped up, that's when you're going to see TRT finally marked as 'complete' on AO3, though there'll be more fics set in that universe (see special additional arcs and oneshot arcs) that I'll mark as in the Devil and Hound series along with drabbles on tumblr.

Once we're past that official endpoint and those special arcs, though, things get fluid and murky since when I was outlining all the major plotlines, there was no Daredevil: Born Again, nor was Matt even in the MCU officially (which is why Spider-Man pops in way sooner in TRT than he meets Matt in the MCU) and I specifically set up Jane's plotline to bookend with Matt's so their growth twined together and they both finally found peace around the same time. Outside that, I'd planned some shorter chaptered stories in the series post-mainline TRT like the Snap arc that I may now adjust (since it sure is looking like Matt was left behind for the snap) but nothing on the level of TRT's main plotline which is absolutely massive and took me years to fully outline and construct before coming back from hiatus in 2021 and pumping out chapters (Happy six year anniversary to TRT on Sept 15!).

ALL THAT BEING SAID.

I do have plans to write stuff for TRT's take on Born Again because I'm 100% married to writing for Matt at this point and there's no possible way I won't want to do something once I'm being fed Charlie!Matt scenes again. I'm not sure what those plans are just yet - I kinda wanna wait and see what happens in Born Again in case it sparks something. But I also want to make sure that no matter what I do, there's some sort of strong original plotline so that, much like mainline TRT, we'll be able to weave in and out of canonical events (especially since things like the Snap or a wedding or Jane and Matt's friendship with Peter will alter canon). I don't think I'm going to do something quite as huge as TRT's main plotline again, mostly because it takes a TON of time and work, and I'm planning to take the original TRT elements and morph them into an original series fit for publishing (different enough that I can leave TRT up for everyone to read, cause at this point the fic's part of DD fandom culture and I have no plans to take that away) which will also take a ton of time. But I'm definitely rattling my brain around, looking at different plotlines I could do knowing what I know about the ending, hunting for loose ends or canonical threads that I can weave in with TRT's world and create something new!

Then again, I never would have said I'd make something as massive as TRT before I started, either, so who knows.

So in short: YES, there will be TRT events for Born Again even if it's not as elaborate as TRT! I just have no idea what those will be yet. Fortunately, TRT mainline's only a little over halfway done so I've got time to plan!

#the red thread #daredevil: born again #if authors and characters are sometimes like marriages then me and matt and jane have rings #all of the mainline stuff i had was basically planned to wrap up just after season 3 and that's still going to happen #with additional but much shorter chaptered fics planned to explore MCU events through a TRT lens #as well as some domestic fluff stuff and exploring what their relationship looks like as the MCU moves forward #so I was always planning to do *something* in a way #but honestly i didn't expect for there to be a born again #and certainly not as much stuff with matt as is happening #so i didn't really have anything SUPER huge planned unless a movie did something big that sparked an idea (think the snap) #and now i'm like OH MY GOD THE SHOWS THERE WILL BE SO MUCH #and i have a feeling i'll have a lot to work with that might stir some creativity! #it just probably won't be as elaborate as TRT cause gd i love it but it's a ton of work #and i want to get a variation of it published which will also be work since i need to change a mountain of details #but yes i do plan to write stuff for born again set in the TRT universe! just need to see what gets sparked unless i bump into something #that inspires a plotline #a bit like i did with the idea of red threads

[illegiblehandwriting1]

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT WAIT WAIT WAIT OH GOD THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS ARE SO FUCKING MUCH EBGRIHFOWSJAWHDEOISPIOHWDIJ

#welp there goes MY fucking plotline #i just looked at a piece of fanart adn had a total mental reset #OH MY GOSH #I DON'T NEED TO CONFUSE PEOPLE WITH TIME SHIT #I CAN LITERALLY JUST DO THAT #FUCK YOU POSTMAN I AIN'T SAVING YOU ANYMORE #YOU CAN DISAPPEAR FOR ALL I FUCKING CARE CUZ SKY'S GOT HIS FUCKING UNCLE #YESSSSSSSS #nah he'll show up eventally #BUT NOT FUCKING NOW AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA #i love zelda lore so much #who would've thought that something like that owuld happen? #who'd've thunk? #don't mind me i'm just losing my marbles over this #YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS #MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED #IT'S A BETTER WAY TO LET SKY INTO THE SILENT REALM #FUCK YEAH #i have so many plans rn #if i could just fucking write then that would be fantastic actually #smoke & ashes #chicken scratch #jgrioefkdozserefopzkjsgrdvl going fucking feral rn

[plumbbobtoggle]

Hey guys, do you want some spoilers?

This is Franny. She was just born in my game today and already has four teeth!

#I...yeah #I got promoted again #i honestly should have refused bc I work 12hr workdays now #and I had two full days off in the past month #so I played a lil today! #as a treat #I am sincerely hoping to come back to the story! #I have the next scene written and set up #and several plotlines all planned #oh yeah and there's halloween coming up! #but yeah #I'm sorry for leaving y'all hanging! #here's to hoping for better days! #Elsewhere trivia #sim: Frances #you can try to guess who her parents are #you probably can

[daydreamerdrew]

Wonder Woman (2016) #797

#yay to Mary thinking to herself ‘transform into the hero Shazam’ #obviously I love the character but I don’t want her to go back to the name Mary Marvel #I wonder if it’ll be that she goes by Shazam in the stories that Josie Campbell writes #but say if Mary shows up in the upcoming Billy ongoing written by Mark Waid then he’ll write her as Mary Marvel there #I wouldn’t like the inconsistency but he was saying that they were allowed to and so would be calling her Mary Marvel again #he also said that after the Lazarus Planet event that Billy wouldn’t be able to say Shazam without transforming anymore #so I wonder if that’ll become true for Mary as well :/ #anyway the final fourth issue of New Champion had Mary saying that she couldn’t be a hero like Billy #who throws himself into situations without thinking #in a positive way- she was emphasizing herself as a planner #here she’s feeling a bit of shame and insecurity about being conflicted about something #and framing Billy’s ability to leap into action without thinking in a positive way in contrast to her #the ending of this story gives her reassurance about what she was conflicted about #but I wonder the next Mary back-up will continue the planning vs spontaneity insecurity or if that’s settled #and if it doesn’t tie in too closely to the Revenge of the Gods book then I wonder if we’ll get the conclusion or the beginning of it #to the plotline of Mary going to college away from her family #which was established but then not entirely returned to in New Champion #that may be too much for a short back-up story #dc #mary batson #my posts #comic panels

[tennyo-elf]

What I learned about revenge from Love Like the Galaxy:

If you’re going to get revenge make sure you take your favorite vindictive blorbo with you. Otherwise if you take revenge alone, your blorbo might get really fucking pissed and not speak to you for 5 years.

#love like the galaxy #lltg #xing han can lan #月升沧海 #星汉灿烂 #like the moral is literally #communication is key to a healthy relationship #and you must treat you partner wholeheartly #and move as one #especially if you're married #because otherwise it goes to shit #like they used the revenge plotline to further the relationship #instead of it being about revenge it's more about one person acting on their own #instead of being in a partnership #it's wild and I love it #had he told her of his plans #and kept her in the loop #he would have gotten his revenge #and immediately had a happy ending #instead he had to be an idiot

[pissfaggit]

Found this from when I needed a picture of John seeing Earth for the first time when he accidentally goes back and I was gonna post it making fun of the 0 thoughts nothingness behind his eyes but you know what I take it back a thousand times I take it back I'm so sorry for real. There is untold depths of emotion present here in his goofy fucking face. Far too much for a simple man such as myself to comprehend

#seriously just found this on my laptop didnt mean 2 be thinking about farscape tonight i just ugh. literally still havent recovered from th #this #for real if i think about it too long i go insane. still #to structure the whole series around his single goal to find his way back to earth #to slowly move away from that as the story goes on and evolves and gets more intricate and john #gets tangled up in things far greater than he ever intended to #and then JUST when so much time had passed just when you go long enough without a mention of any plan or scheme to get home #head full of all these other plotlines WHAM. hes home again #but THE STORY DOESN'T END THERE. LIKE U ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WOULD #it CANT #its still the middle of the season #he goes home after all this time but ITS TOO LATE. and he really does try but he knows amd we all know its too late #and he leaves with the vague promise that he'll come back again but we know we know hes leaving forever #we know #farscape #john crichton #sir i protest i am not a merry man

[zurazakis]

ok ive finished the dlc so now i can properly say my least favourite thing about dragon age awakening is that the women feel like an afterthought & don't fit in the group at all. & i want to care about them & their banter so much. but i really don't because the game is giving me fucking nothing

#dragonageposting #IM SO FUCKING UPSET ABOUT THIS. i was thinking abt it so hard last night. #(crying) please join my polycule why wont you fit in my polycule videogame why didnt you let the women fit in my polycule #it doesnt help that anders & oghren's banter w them is insufferable. especially oghren #sigrun is SUCH a sweetheart & i adore her i really do but her & velanna are just so... lacking compared to everyone else #& it's by design! & i fucking hate that it is! #did i fuck up something? did i miss quests that would've made them better? even then i don't know if it would fix the issue #with oghren you already know him beforehand hes got a whole plotline & everything in origins so its like. it fits within the plot #anders shows up at the centre of the main plotline. at the start too. he integrates himself as part of the group very easily bc of that #nathaniel also has very good reason to be there! you killed his father! he hates your guts but hes not a bad person! he has depth! #he is given the opportunity to fit in a group whose leader he comes in loathing #justice would be part of the 'you're making it hard for me to care abt this character' group if i didnt know abt him showing up in da2 prob #but even then his quest just. felt longer. he was given more to do than both velanna & sigrun #not only that but hes a spirit possessing a corpse which makes his deal very unique #i was elated to meet sigrun bc i love the legion of the dead but they just. didn't give her much. #& the whole thing w velanna wrt seranni is like;.. barely touched on. i was so disappointed the quest was so short #the women are just given nothing compared to the men & i fucking hate it i wanna care about them so bad. i want to care. so bad. #they didnt even allow me to have either of them do their joining like??? what?? it mightve been a glitched thing or w/e but?? #i was just forced into the climax of the game without either of them doing their joining. and it fucking sucked #idk the later parts of awakening feel rushed. like they didnt plan to actually wrap it up & had to do it hastily. #the beginning was so interesting & i was genuinely having such a good time but by the end of it i was just tired #we barely got anything on the architect i was also hyped for him but then it was kind of nothing.

[mandorinart]

sonic IDW 61 spoilers in the tags

#gotta agree with the general opinion ive been seeing that this past arc was quite disappointing #there were too many ideas being tossed around that couldnt fit into the pacing #the premise could have easily been as dire as say the stakes in frontiers for example #but the dire problems that arose were solved with 1-2 panels and made it seem like “oh jk we're good now” #ie. sonic got trapped in that warp trap but was freed like literally a page later i think #ive seen others point out the discontinuity of shadow using chaos control after getting overworked by the fake gems #he really pulled the I AM THE ULTIMATE PROTAGONIST buff to make it work huh #i think this arc should have been as long as the metal virus arc to really capture everything they wanted to do with it #instead we got unfinished/half-baked character “growth” from everyone #i wonder if they originally planned much more for this arc but had to cut it for some reason #it feels choppy in the way that the ending of frontiers was choppy like things were obviously removed last-minute #ranting in tags bc my thoughts are not organized enough to write a proper post lol #im glad this arc is over tho cus tbh i think IDW comics should focus on plotlines that dont “feel” like they belong in the mainline games #this arc was ambitious and suffered bc of lack of audience interaction which could be filled in by gameplay #the comics get their audience interaction from exploring character strengths and weaknesses #anyway yeah. glad this arc is over. looking forward to the new arcs #mandokusai

[mistninja]

Interesting detail: fitz mentions that Bingtown provides slaves to Chalced, and he implies this has been going on for a while, but later on in Liveship Traders we learn that slavery has only started to be practiced in Bingtown, and its not a common practice yet

#i wonder how much of LT did robin hobb have planned by then #she def had some stuff in mind from details here and there #but she probably didnt have the whole 'is slavery Bad' plotline around Ronica lmao #rote reread

[essektheylyss]

loving your annihilation film reactions. APPARENTLY the movie rights were acquired/film production started BEFORE the book was actually properly published? and the director has said that the adaptation was more of his memory of the manuscript. all this to say that i have tried long and hard to accept and love annihilation the film and annihilation the book as their own things born from the same seed but where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the

HAHAHAHA oh yes, this is... very much an issue in Hollywood. Sometimes it works (iirc The Martian was done like that and that movie is phenomenal!) but... often it doesn't, particularly if the author is not involved.

(I have separate thoughts I will not detail here about the increasing interchangeability of authors and screenwriters pushed by Hollywood but like... if you can already craft a story, format and structure can be learned if you're willing. That's not the problem.)

I did set out to watch it for the adaptation choices because I really love the concept and process of adaptation and I thought the book was phenomenal and had very specific opinions on how you could faithfully adapt it, and in this scenario I think every choice that was actually made was wrong.

But also, once I realized that I thought every choice was wrong, I did start looking at it on its own, and... I find that so much of the framing just of the movie on its own is deeply shallow? (Which, I haven't watched Ex Machina since college, but I remember feeling similarly about that one. Ooooh, your robot is a bitter girlboss. We all saw Bladerunner.)

More specific (negative) opinions, and book spoilers, and my thoughts on how to adapt it below the cut, both in case people do really like the movie and cuz it got reeeeal long—

In my opinion, the scientific aspects of it are the absolute most banal possible application of... well, biology, frankly (especially when you're originally dealing with fungus, my absolute beloved, so I was bound to have many opinions here)—the whole like... instant mutation thing? WHAT. It wants to be surrealist without ever selling me on any of the aspects that make it surrealist or even committing to the surrealism, like it doesn't believe or take seriously its own premise so it needs to explain it to make sure you, the audience, do not judge the absurdity of it, and achieves the opposite, where I just feel like the write didn't know how sci-fi or suspense worked as genres. I'm here to suspend some disbelief! I'm not here to have all of the wind cut from the sails because somebody needed to spend $50 million to try to convince people he was clever.

The structure of the film is bizarre and leans way too hard on exposition dumps and just telling both the characters and the viewer exactly what they're looking at, which negates any of the mystery of "The Shimmer" even once you've divorced whatever this is supposed to be from Area X. I really hate the choice to use camera footage rather than journals, especially given they've maintained the radio and satellite interference.

The way the backstories are set up really feels like it chokes out the purpose of the character motivations and then parades the lifeless corpse of that purpose through the streets pretending it's a theme (and, looking at the base level of where the characters are being led, I'm pretty sure an episode of Hannibal did it better). I will say, I do like Josie a lot, and I think she is actually the only one who maintains the concept of the biologist in the original, and her exit should've been the thesis of the film, and the ending with Ventress is genuinely bizarre (and, frankly, gives me end of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull vibes, which is in zero ways a compliment).

It seems like Lena is the last to understand, which makes no sense considering she's the biologist, and this is a biology puzzle (and gives me the impression that this was not someone who understood or appreciated the aspect of the biological intrigue of it). It started with her explaining mitosis, and she should've been the one to understand it best through it all. The scenes with Lena's doppelganger feel... so meaningless, and again, really just negates the ineffability of the whole concept, and the point of the inevitability! Why did the phosphorus burn down the lighthouse this time but not with Kane. Why did the doppelganger let herself be destroyed only for Lena to go back. (And, frankly, they and the treatment of the biological science have an insufferable vibe of edgy film major who just took a philosophy 101 course. And I would absolutely know.)

In terms of my thoughts on adaptation, I think the first mistake was getting rid of the conceit of having stripped them of names. It's the easiest thing to maintain in film, even easier than in prose. You lose some of the effect when they're not calling attention to it all the time, but you don't undercut it at all. (Same with "The Shimmer" instead of Area X.)

As I read the book, I felt the psychologist's hypnosis would be hard to adapt, but actually, I think film editing choices (jarring cuts, jump cuts, lighting effects, etc) could've made it very easy, especially since you then have to simply transition back to a more traditional flow of editing once the biologist stops being effected by it.

I'd have also organized it roughly as it is in the book starting at the tower, and shown the husband's return in flashback, along with the biologist's memories, probably with a lot of jump cuts. Also, just keep the original timeline of Area X! I don't really get the point in changing it, except to add urgency, even though... part of the horror of the original is that the process is slow but it is inevitable.

In general, much of the rest of the aspects of Area X's weirdness and how it affects the biologist are pretty straightforward, even on film. I imagine they were demotivated by the very... intangible aspect of depicting the interaction with the lighthouse keeper at the end, but honestly... A24 could've done it, no sweat. I'm no expert on effects, but I think both The Green Knight and EEAAO had aspects to them that I'd say were comparable to ways to make that scene work.

And really, I do think that this screenplay feels like it was written to make sure the audience knew that the writer understood all of the clever details, and as such so much of the ambiguity that makes the book fascinating and haunting is lost. Even with some of the fucked up horror effects, it feels a lot more like a generic action movie than the suspense thriller it should've been, especially because so much of it is just stated outright.

(Also, oh my god I hate a climactic title drop in a situation in which it did not need to ever be said to have the effect.)

Which is why I return back to, the first mistake was giving them names.

#megs watches annihilation #also cuz I got to the discussion with the coworker. what the fuck is that subplot about. like it's barely there and it's just. POINTLESS. #HONESTLY STOP DUDES FROM WRITING UNNECESSARY ADULTERY PLOTLINES 2KFOREVER #I knew too. the minute they interacted I knew it was coming. #and on the OTHER HAND why would you cut the fucked up doppelganger sex. like it's RIGHT THERE #if you WANTED uncomfortable and deeply hollow sex THE BOOK HAS IT #anyway I'm done with the movie and I'm gonna go reread the book just to cleanse myself frankly. #mr vandermeer I'm so sorry an ugly bitch like alex garland and skydance would do something like this to you. i read your stunning book. #honestly tho I did watch this cuz I am writing a thing with one similar aspect (that I had all planned prior to reading the book) #(and like. a quarter written lol) #and was like 'wow wtf this is the vibe.' however this was a great lesson prior to starting editing of that in 'what not to do' #LOVE lessons in what not to do love learning from other people's mistakes #also it's not really that overall but there's an aspect of it so

[chaosandthe-deadblog]

it is AMAZING how i managed to write (counts) 9,364 words where barely anything happens in this fic

#red.txt #band au #barely anything will happen honestly #unless i change my mind about removing the angsty plotline i had planned

[mariana-oconnor]

Types of AO3 Summary

Option 1 - The Excerpt:

The quickest, the easiest! Find a section of your fic that contains the main premise of said fic and also showcases your writing. Copy paste that into the summary box. BOOM! Done.

Best used for any fic, unless it's so short the excerpt would be the whole fic.

Option 2 - The No Frills:

Just a description of the fic. No need for drama. No need to complicate matters. Keep it simple, keep it safe.

Example: "A short character exploration of Blorbo's thoughts after Daisy leaves."

Best used for short fics, poems and fics where the style/format is more important than the plot. Or fics that tie directly into a scene/episode from canon or another fanfic.

Option 3 - The Hook:

Draw the reader's interest by giving them a set up with no conclusion. Introduce the main character(s), introduce the status quo, describe an inciting incident, leave a question in the reader's mind.

Example: "Blorbo is a barista at a coffee shop, struggling to pay their bills, but after handsome rockstar Obrolb walks into their coffee shop they find that they have to decide whether a chance at love is worth the cost of fame."

Best used for mid to long fic where there's a strong premise and follow through. Especially good for AUs. Can be expanded for more complex plots or used multiple times in one summary for multiple characters or subplots.

Option 4 - The Sitcom One-Liner:

"The one in which [over simplified description of one of the main plotlines]" This is essentially 'boil your plot down to the very simplest statement you can, oversimplify if possible. The more bizarre or unhelpful the better.

Example: "The one in which Blorbo learns to like cake".

Best used for fics with at least a little humour in them.

Option 5 - The Rule of Three:

Three is a magic number. Find three key moments in your fic and just list them. That's it. Often ends with 'not necessarily in that order' if used for comic effect. If it's an AU, establish that quickly (i.e. 'Star NHL player Blorbo…').

Example: "Blorbo makes a friend, falls in love, and almost burns to death, not necessarily in that order."

Best used for anything, really. Three is a magic number. The human brain loves things that come in threes.

Option 6 - The Trope Lure:

Why bother describing the plot? We all know AO3 readers are here for the tropes. Similar to The Sitcom One-Liner just using tropes instead of plot. Often followed by the phrase 'that nobody asked for'.

Example: "The Space western / A/B/O / Mail Order Bride fic that nobody asked for."

Often tacked on to the end of The Hook or The Excerpt as a tl;dr.

Best used for fic that plays its tropes straight with no shame or second guessing.

Option 7 - The Pre-emptive Strike:

(Not recommended) You just wrote this fic, the self doubt is consuming you. You feel the need to apologise profusely for your existence for no apparently reason. You feel cringe, you think the fic is cringe, you want everyone to know that you think the fic is cringe in case they don't like it and judge you for it.

Example: "So I fell in love with this pairing and had to write this. It's weird and terrible. Lol! I suck at summaries! Sorry!"

Best used for no fics ever. I cannot stress this enough.

(Seriously, I am begging you, don't do this. If you're planning to use this option, rethink it and do one of the others. I guarantee you more people will want to read your fic.)

Sometimes added on to any other summary as a strange disclaimer. (srsly. don't.)

Option 8 - The Unapology:

Embrace the mayhem, embrace the deep dark depths of your soul. The opposite of The Pre-emptive Strike. A combination of The No Frills and The Trope Lure that truly gives no fucks.

You have committed crimes and you are proud of them. You know what your USP is and you're going to make sure your target market finds you. Look upon my works, ye readers, and despair!

Example: "There aren't enough tentacle fics in this pairing, so I had to write one myself!"

Best used for fics with controversial/polarising tropes with all relevant details already clearly stated in the tags.

Option 9 - The Interrogation:

What if you wrote a summary entirely in questions? What if your readers had to read the fic to discover the answers? Who knows what will happen if you do this?

Example: "What happens when Blorbo McBlorbo gets his wish and Daisy doesn't make it to the plane on time? What happens when Obrolb finds out? How will this change Daisy and Blorbo's friendship?"

Best used for... I honestly don't know. This style of summary does not vibe with me. Mystery fic maybe? Sorry guys.

Option 10 - The Multipack:

Got a bunch of shorter fics in one work? No way of summarising them all without a wall of text larger than the Great Wall of China? This one is similar to The No Frills in that you're not describing the plots themselves and similar to The Trope Lure in that often broader genres and tropes are mentioned. What links those fics? Are they all in the same fandom? The same pairing? The same challenge? Just slap that right in the summary. A chapter list with 1-2 word trope/pairing summaries can be included or not.

Example: "A collection of Blorbo/Daisy/Obrolb fics based on Tumblr prompts. Chapter 1: Regency AU Chapter 2: Werewolves vs vampires Chapter 3: Ghost!Daisy Chapter 4: Space pirates!"

Best used for (obviously) works that are compilations of fic.

Option ? - The Void:

I said The Excerpt was the quickest and easiest summary to do. I lied, well... I didn't exactly lie. What is quicker and easier than not having a summary at all? After all, that's what the tags are for.

Example:

Best used for... nothing? Write a summary, guys. Please?

#AO3 #fandom #on writing #clearing out my drafts #long post #Qd #This list is intended for entertainment purposes only #I just came across a lot of fic summaries that followed similar rules #so I decided to post this about it #I'm sure other options are available #If you've ever used number 7 that's not bad of you #But my advice would be to not do that

[coolshadowtwins]

Shen Yuan gets hit with a truth serum plot fic round up!

These are from the comments and reblogs of my previous post

Absolution by airplanelanding

https://archiveofourown.org/works/51587557#main

Summary: Luo Binghe stared back at him. There was something distant in his eyes, something Shen Qingqiu was too tired, too drained, to decipher. Then, Luo Binghe’s lips opened in a non-apology, a soft, murmured sentence—a quiet, “I need to know the truth.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned. He opened his mouth to question the damn-near imploring words, but he never got the chance.

He failed to notice something was in Luo Binghe’s hands until it was too late.

Or

Luo Binghe is determined to get answers this time, now that Shen Qingqiu can't run away. Even if he has to use a truth serum to do it.

aka A Water Prison Re-Write.

"open my lungs to let you in" by ghostybreads https://archiveofourown.org/works/37276570

Summary: Shen Qingqiu had a secret. So, naturally, it was only a matter of time before he was hit by a truth serum wife plot.

//

“How are you?”

“Horny. Kind of want Binghe to rail me, I guess. But it’s manageable.”

Liu Qingge’s hand on his forehead froze, and he was close enough that Shen Qingqiu could hear his breathing stop. He stared back expressionlessly, the mortification distantly crawling up the back of his neck. Honest One-Horned–

The frustrated scream that he usually vented in his head, came out straight from mouth.

“aaAAAAAHHHH GODDAMNIT AIRPLANE–”

no regret (i've been sorry all these years) by krmilia

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39006066

Summary: There is no actual way the System hated him so much, right? Right?

Recently a lot of shitty things happened to Shen Qingqiu. By that he meant sowers in Jinlan city, return of his wayward disciple – who, uhm, prepared him surprise by leaving the Abyss two years early – and now… Well, now he was poisoned with a truth serum.

(Or, Bingqiu finally talk.)

speak your mind (not that much!) by nyoomerr https://archiveofourown.org/works/38953875

Summary: Before the investigation in Jinlan City, Shen Qingqiu is hit by a curse that forces him to speak his mind. Unfortunately, this means that the first thing he does when he sees Luo Binghe for the first time in three years is to tell Luo Binghe that he's grown up to be really quite pretty.

Luo Binghe, not sure what's going on but absolutely enjoying the ride, abandons all his plans immediately. He has new priorities now, including but not limited to:

- get his Shizun to call him 'pretty' again

- steal his Shizun away from his (probably in existence) harem

- ???

funny how you just break down (waiting on some sign) https://archiveofourown.org/works/36742384/chapters/91657246

Summary: Luo Binghe’s hand is half-raised, and Shen Qingqiu is going to die and this is the hand that will—

“[Notice: In appreciation of your continued use of our services, System 2.0 is offering {Valued Customer} a complimentary Bonus Plotline! Do you accept?]”

aka, What if Luo Binghe could read Shen Qingqiu’s mind during the Jinlan City arc?

What is Seen by CavetteDracones

Summary: …is not [always] the real truth.

Truth-compelling artifacts in the hands of an enemy to one side, SYSTEM-mandated silence on the other, and Shen Qingqiu caught between the two. Is it too late to go back to the Water Prison?

BONAS:

Moshang

If It can be destroyed by Tossawary https://archiveofourown.org/works/53124079

I’ll probably add more as they are either found by me or suggested!

#truth serum #svsss #svsss au #shen qingqiu #shen yuan #shen jiu #yue qingyuan #mu qingfang #shang qinghua #liu qingge #luo binghe #fanfiction #fanfic rec