#and how incredibly low engagement has been on the last few things i've written | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tsukidrama · 7 months

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hi!

i came across your blog the other day and i wanted to tell you that you have a really incredible writing gift. your cottagecore has me hooked and i can't wait to find out what comes next.

would you be ok sharing any ideas you might have?

- 🪻

oh? interest in TRNT and a new anon? yes please! 🥺 i would be happy to share some ideas

y'know, i actually have almost the entire fic planned out. i haven't intentionally abandoned the story... about once or twice a month the document gets opened and i'll write a few paragraphs, though i know that's not much. i feel like i've been going through something weird for the past year or so. i don't really know how to explain it properly. i haven't written a damn thing in so long.

between low engagement, me being sick all the time, and life being stressful (mostly this), this fic just hasn't come together the way i hoped it would. The Road Not Taken is still massively important to me and somewhat of a personal magnum opus so, i'll finish it... but i do not know when.

ideas below. i wrote more than i thought, and it's gotten me really excited about the fic again! please let me know if there's anything specific you'd like me to go into detail about

alright firstly:

the next big thing is what i've been calling the intervention arc. obviously we have to address some of the heavier emotional issues that both Annie and the reader have. nothing can move forward until our main characters are communicating again! both with each other and with their support system.

vacation arc! i want to write more about what's left of the world post-Rumbling on a global scale. i also need a reason to get them away from the cottage for a decent chunk of time so i thought i'd have them explore a bit.

there will be a subplot about the cats who live around the cottage, just for funsies. i have a chapter title planned for it and everything lmao

there will be a pretty major division amongst the eldians later on about some of them wanting to go back and live on Paradis. to be completely honest, i haven't decided how i want that to resolve and who, if anyone, is going to leave. but we have definitely not heard the last about Paradis. some assorted thoughts elaborating on that, and how the ending could potentially play out either way:

i don't know i should give EVERYONE a happy ending or not. my initial plan was to write what i think the characters would actually do in this post-Rumbling scenario i've imagined (let's call this Ending 1), but over time i've started to change my mind and be like: i'm not the mangaka and that ain't my job, so i should write my story the way i want. aka FUCK isayama, everybody gets a steven universe-esque happy ending (we'll call this one Ending 2) even though it might not be totally consistent with the way characters are written in aot.

i'd love to hear people's opinions about either ending btw

the largest difference that giving everyone a happy ending would have, is whether or not i decide to include Historia. i really adore her and in theory i want to give her a better ending considering how tragic she is, but where she's left in the end of the manga puts her in direct opposition with the narrative and the "not my monkeys, not my circus" attitude that the narrator feels so strongly about 😖 it would make me too sad to include Hisu at all if she's on the wrong side of things.

I want everyone to move away from all the politicking. they really don't have any business doing all o' that in my opinion... they're all early 20s AND child soldiers so like. please rest guys, you can be done with the whole saving the world thing...

after all, the idea of stepping away from the alliance and NOT continuing to involve themselves in global affairs IS the metaphorical road not taken

i do know how i want the fic to end in terms of Annie and reader, and it will be good. i don't wanna oversell it or hype it too much and then have it be underwhelming... but i'm hoping that their love story plays out in a way that people will call beautiful.

if i decide to go with Ending 1 then it will very much be a bittersweet narrative about how people naturally grow apart over time but everywhere you look there will be new sources of happiness and fulfillment etc.

Ending 2 would be much more idealistic. probably a bit unrealistic but it will give the characters ending that would make them happy and make us happy. true fix it fic style.

i think either would be cathartic for me to write in different ways so i really don't know where i want this to go yet. probably gonna wing it and see what feels right chapter by chapter.

I JUST HAVE TO ACTUALLY FUCKING WRITE IT

anyway like i said above the cut, i wrote a lot more than i thought i would. i got really into it pls send me more asks 🥺 it will light a fire under my ass and i'll finally finish chapter 10

#tsuki answers #🪻 anon #trnt annie #cottagecanon #this was so fun! and tysm for saying my writing is a gift teehee🤭

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livefromtheloam · 1 year

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I dunno where to say any of this, so I guess here's here it's going to be said. Long ramble ahead.

I don't like badmouthing or mocking others' honest work. I get that "honest" in this case is subjective, but if someone's earnestly tried something with no malice, even if I don't like it, I won't publicly bash it. It's generally good policy, and it keeps me from judging others too harshly.

It's when the work becomes dishonest where I have an issue.

Right now, Kotaku is trending on the Musk Hole. Someone pointed out that it's incredibly petty for one of their writers to complain about not getting Nintendo games to review, and then to publish an article talking about all the spoilers that are coming out from Tears of the Kingdom. Not that it happened, but an article outlining stuff that people are uploading online.

And they ain't wrong. That is petty. And very bad for business in the long run, even if it gets people angry enough to engage with the social media posts today, or curious enough to see if they'd actually write it (they totally did, and you should avoid that article if you want to avoid being spoiled on TotK).

But here's the thing, there's an army of blue checkmark chuds sitting there bashing the site. And they're... not right, never right. But in this case, Kotaku is wrong.

It used to be that someone saying a bunch of negative things about that site was a wonderful signal that at best that person was someone you wouldn't want to talk to. But now? It's becoming more and more of a legitimate opinion.

And I'm starting to think it myself.

If I'm honest, I've been thinking it for a long time.

The editing and fact-checking have been not great for at least a few years now. The content has gotten less relevant and more yellow as time goes on. They hemorrhage good talent while opting for people who can write dishonest clickbait.

Some of it I get. Coming from someone who's done video game journalism in the pre- and post-GG worlds and even the pre- and post-SEO worlds, it's rough out there. Enormous corporations are increasingly the source of content, and they're always looking to cut costs while maximizing profits (and the C-suite's egos). It's long past the point where legitimate journalism is pushed aside in favor of recycled nonsense. I've also written said recycled nonsense for a content farm. It's soulless, but it's the only realistic option for many people in this generation.

So yeah, things were great when Jason Schreier was putting the heat on video game companies with his investigative pieces, and Brian Ashcraft was writing features about Japanese video game culture, and Mike Fahey (RIP) was being his fantastic self. But they're the last in their line who will ever get paid by a company to do that.

In other words, there are people who may have been brilliant video game journalists, with great ideas and great writing and great work ethic, with amazing sense for what people want to read and how to write fair and entertaining articles. If they don't have a known name already, they'll never get the backing that people of their talent and skill have had in the past, and if you recognize their names at all, it'll be because they write all those annoying listicles you keep accidentally clicking on Facebook ads for.

So yeah, Kotaku probably sucks for real now. Corporate content culture is certainly part of that. But publishing articles like "Here's What Leaked in that Game Everyone Wants that Comes Out in Two Weeks" for outrage clicks is a massively disappointing low.

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