#but anyway my original idea was just each part is one chapter but now i've got 7 in the first and 4+ in the second
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Hi! Just wanted to say the latest chapter is lovely & amazing & sweet & had me smiling the whole time! I absolutely love your characterisation of everyone, especially Draco, so it was so so lovely to return to this world & to his thoughts!! with his best friend and crush at malfoy manor no less! All the yearning is already off to a great start hehe I am so excited for the rest of book 5!
Wanted to ask you how has it been for you to write this new book and volume? Has your writing process changed since when you’d first begun taking on a long form project like this?
& also are there any moments or surprises in this book that you’re especially excited about?
sending so much love & gratitude for you and your incredible works 💓
Thank you so much! This is really encouraging, I so appreciate it.
Inasmuch as I can use this metaphor without having kids myself, I sort of see each of the books as a different child. The first one flew out in basically a few weeks of very intensive writing, and it was a total dream — plot, pacing, symbolism, major beats, all fell into place basically without effort. The character stuff was the hardest, as I've written about before, but even then, the glorious part of writing beginnings is it's the most energy you'll ever have for a project, so the lows were pretty soft lows. Book 2, in contrast, I had to drag kicking and screaming by its ankle from under the bottommost mattress of my brain. It's one of my least favorite books (tone problem; COS has killer plot/setting/ingredients for a YA novel, but it's stuck in the doldrums of Harry Potter's well-documented Early-Installment Weirdness, before Cedric Diggory slams the gas and upshifts the whole series into its correct age bracket). More specifically, once I'd gone through and picked out everything in the book that happened because of Lucius, I didn't have a plot — hey alexa how do you rewrite Chamber of Secrets when We Got No Fucking Chamber Of Secrets — and oh by the way, even if you want to do a moody tone/political setup book, remember that your protagonists are still twelve, so if you go too dark or too intense, you'll risk torpedoing your readers' suspension of disbelief. Good luck, Charlie.
Book 3 felt the most like its own novel, if that makes sense? It's the last truly feel-good book of the series; it's a great stand-alone mystery novel with relatively low stakes. Plus you get a bunch of the big series icons: patronuses, dementors, werewolves, Hogsmeade, the Marauders' Map, and time turners arithmancy. It just felt like a good old-fashioned motherfucking romp of a mystery/adventure story, before any of the complex character work and major stakes of the late books come in.
Book 4 was the most fun I've had writing anything maybe ever. I don't even know what it was. Maybe the tournament arc, honestly? Love me a tournament arc. But in any case, I opened every new chapter feeling a tingle of excitement for what I was gonna get to do. Oh, and the romance started, finally, Jesus God (if it feels like a slow burn reading, just imagine what it felt like writing it, when everything takes ten times as long, and you have to figure out how to word the fucker.)
Book 5, in contrast, has felt much less like that tingle of "here we go!" and more like "oh, man, this is gonna be cool." Because this is the arc of the story that composed the original idea for Lionheart, literally years ago, and to be honest, I didn't think I'd get this far! If you'd asked me "do you know that it's going to take you 500,000 words of backstory before you can start writing that concept you're thinking about, and you're going to do it anyway?" I would have said: "absolutely not, strange mind-reader!" But like... I'm here! Finally! And it's... real now? Like, this isn't just a bunch of clips of scenes in my head anymore! That's rad!
That being said, it's definitely been slower than Book 4, because I kept switching back to my outline document to make sure that certain things were set up properly, and that I hadn't lost any of the plot threads or forgotten a minor beat that was vitally important for the story three chapters later. And I had a minor crisis about three months ago when I ripped out about 8 chapters in the first third of the book — basically everything from September to December — because I'd done a readthrough to check pacing (big mistake! never edit while drafting, that's satan talking) and realized I had a missing storyline. Like, there was a whole layer of the story that was just. Missing. Not there. And the existing text really couldn't fit another thread, so instead of taking weeks to pore through and try to sift out what I could save, I needed to factory reset and start over. And I didn't want to! I vividly remember sitting there with my head in my hands, trying not to weep, because I'd decimated 90,000 words of work in a single edit. But it had to be done. Because the story wasn't going to work. And now (hopefully) it will.
And of course, there's still that sense of excitement and exhilaration from before. Always. But whereas Book 4 felt like a delicious chocolate pudding, Book 5 is a medium-rare steak.
(Book 6, so far, is four shots of espresso and a whiskey chaser. FWIW.)
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Chainsaw Man Chapter 150: Dream's Next Stage - The Future of Denji and Chainsaw Man.
Yes yes, this is the day after the chapter. I wanted to get my thoughts in a row because what gets introduced here is pretty massive as for, well, sort of the entire purpose of Chainsaw Man?
It's a lot to unpack in one go, hence why it took a while to really get things sorted out, but I think it's really worth it in understanding the purpose and context of Denji and Chainsaw Man as a character. So, here we go.
To clear things up, when was the last time we heard Pochita speak? That'd be chapter 90, all the way back in part 1 where Power "eats" Pochita and is revived from Denji's blood.
Though, it's not like there's exactly "many" instances of Pochita speaking. The only time it happens is when a character is close to death, and the medium both times has been Denji. Pochita is unable to speak on his own, somewhat similar to Yoru's predicament when finding Asa.
Because of that, it's hard to truly argue that Pochita's speech is purely facilitated by Denji himself, but I think it's hard to believe that the line has not been blurred between devil and human here. We even see it with Asa and Yoru through their short time together despite their bickering, so what would happen in a willing contract like this one that's been going on for so long?
Well, really the only answer is the fact that Pochita has become a de facto representation of Denji's subconscious, or id (if you're a Freud fan).
And I think that's really really easy to explain. Lots of information, but following the logic is plain as day. Let's start without words, as that's arguably the purest form of Denji.
There's a few ways you could take this sequence. The first is that for Denji to really connect and interact with Pochita, he's had to emotionally and psychologically regress. Considering the amount of trauma and repression that Denji's put himself through, the idea is rather straight-forward: Pochita represents a better part in Denji's life. Sure, he was living in absolute poverty and was going to die of sickness, but he didn't know any better. He didn't have a world placed in front of his eyes only for it to crumble to dust.
The second way is really just a variation of this. For Pochita to be represented as his own entity, a time where they were perceived as separate was required. With that comes the idea that the experiences of Denji have also been the experiences of Pochita, and to approach each as an individual you need to isolate those shared experiences.
Either way, the supporting argument for this concept is Pochita's phrasing. "Our dream". Not "your", not "Denji's". "Our", dream.
You wouldn't think it too important a phrasing, or that it's "nothing to really focus on". But look at what Pochita says in the very first chapter. Pochita very firmly presses the idea that it's Denji's dreams, not their collective dreams.
Anyways, with the idea of Pochita representing something akin to Denji's inner voice, we can move onto the next idea: the present, and future.
I've been a massive proponent of Denji's identity crisis since Chainsaw Man's been taken away from him. What was originally phrased as a method of rebirth for the boy has now become an illusion of the freedom it was supposed to represent. Because of all of that, I don't really feel like there's a lot to add to that aspect- Denji (though personified/illustrated as Pochita) has always been aware of his connection to Chainsaw Man. It's not something he could run or hide from, it's something that's been his beacon of hope as Denji.
And that's where the present takes us. With Chainsaw Man gone from Denji, he's been left with a hole in his heart. An entire aspect of not himself, but his self has been missing. That's bred doubt, uncertainty, unhappiness, and all manner of things. He had a life that he dreamed about. He lived with friends, he got to laugh and fulfill his first dream- all because of Chainsaw Man.
Denji is the dreamer, but without Chainsaw Man to achieve those dreams, Denji can't go anywhere.
It's really clear as day. Denji never really dreamt before Chainsaw Man. He never really aspired to living or existing. Until he became Chainsaw Man. He gained a home, he gained fame and popularity, power beyond belief. And he got a family.
Which begs the question, what has Denji done? He got to kiss Asa, but then had contact cut off with her. He got to hold a penguin, but then that was taken away from him. And I know, "hey, it's not like Denji's dreams in the first part weren't taken away", but the difference is the fact that he never got to experience these ones.
Denji himself is incapable of growth, incapable of escaping the hell that exists in front of him. In the same breath, Chainsaw Man can't experience the dreams of Denji. It is, unironically, the duality of the boy that leads this series.
Denji alone cannot dream. And Pochita illustrates that expertly, once more with simple phrasing. Pochita deliberately counters their earlier use of "our", with "your" to address Denji's future.
And this phrasing really points readers in one direction: the assimilation of Chainsaw Man and Denji.
The two have always been together, but they've also always been separate. A definitive yin and yang, as opposed to a singular, balanced entity.
Now, it might not mean much since Denji's already said as much as "I wanna be Chainsaw Man" earlier in the manga (chapter 133 to be exact), but this instance is obviously different.
It's the kind of thing that is incredibly obvious when experiencing it in the literal sense, but explaining it can get a bit messy, so I'll try my best.
Young Denji is the one saying he wants to be Chainsaw Man, not current Denji. The Denji that would go on to not have a choice in being Chainsaw Man, the one that Chainsaw Man became a crutch for, a curse for.
But in the same breath, this young Denji certainly knows what awaits him. Pain, suffering, loss. And yet he still chooses to bear that burden. Because it's who he is.
This interaction, between Denji and his inner self/Pochita, is Denji not accepting Chainsaw Man as a part of himself, but that Chainsaw Man is Denji. It's an absolutely huge aspect of character development for Denji, and leans towards hinting at a third revelation for him down the road: the acceptance of Denji.
To drag this on longer than it needs to be, the idea is that Denji requires Chainsaw Man to live, in a sense. Denji places his agency and ability with Chainsaw Man, when it should be the other way around. Because of that, Denji's acceptance of himself is really shaping up to be the final frontier for his story, whenever that might be.
Anyways, great chapter that puts a hell of a lot in front of the reader with very little reading or effort. Fujimoto continues to be a genius, what else is new at this point really?
#chainsaw man#csm pt 2#chainsaw man manga#csm manga#chainsaw man part two#chainsaw man part 2 spoilers#csm part 2#csm part two#csm spoilers#manga recommendation#manga review#anime and manga#manga#csm denji#miri sugo#sword man#sword devil#sword hybrid#flamethrower devil#flamethrower hybrid#csm barem#whip hybrid#spear hybrid#nayuta csm#nayuta#spear devil#whip devil#fumiko mifune#quanxi#katana man
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Bearhugsandshrugs Update – April '24: Discord, beta reader match ups, WIPs, book writing!
Hey all, it's been a while since I shared an update!
TL;DR: Updates on fics, community things, and my life!
Last time I told you about the book proposal I wrote for my agent, and I managed to complete that and submit it! Even better news was that she liked it. So I will refine parts of the story I wrote to incorporate her feedback, and then in a month or so it'll go out to publishing houses in the hopes that someone buys it! Keep your fingers crossed for me so your girl gets published :)
Admin: Discord Server, Community, Pinned Post
In case you missed it: I launched a discord server where we hangout to talk about Gort and writing. Last week we finished the first writing buddy match up, where I paired six writers with a buddy so they can beta each other's fics. It made me super happy that the community came together in that way!
There will also be a super cool event coming soon that @littleplasticrat came up with, I'll share more on that next week when I have more headspace to give this the hype post it deserves. Just teasing a bit: it does involve Gorty and fashion :3
I also published a new lore & theory masterlist for BG3 and I'm working on compiling the drabbles and headcanon lists, too.
WIPs
In March I already told you that I was moving all WIPs to May, maybe even June. Since I'll be traveling in May, I might or might not have time to work on the WIPs.
Worthy Chapter 3: Structure is drafted. ETA hopefully in May
Folie Chapter 7: I scrapped the entire structure. While I'm motivated to write Raph and Haarlep again, I'm not particularly fond of my original idea so I have to redo the last chapter, ETA probably June
Durgetash series (concept linked) and Raphael series (concept linked): on hold for now. Neither of them grabbed my attention long enough for me to do more with it.
There's one fic/art trade I'm going to write for @tatterings and it's likely either going to be Astarion or monster fucking. So keep an eye out for that.
Series
Both MAD and Gorsimp are continuing! I'm sketching out Act 3 for MAD which we're about to enter. Due to life stuff I changed to posting schedule to every two weeks for MAD, while Gorsimp continues to update 1-2x a week (mostly thanks to @bloodlessbhaalbabe's incredible discipline on keeping us on a schedule).
And in more MAD news, I made a playlist for that fic! Give it a listen if you want to cry.
Other stuff
I'm slowly coming back online after a few really bad months of physical and emotional health turmoil. I'm okay for now and I've been taking care of myself, creating some distance from the fandom to protect my peace of mind, and I'll probably continue to take it slow for a while.
Last time I said I'd do another giveaway when I hit 1k followers. Since I've barely been on I haven't made much progress – it's about 50 followers or so away, but this blog isn't really growing right now. Guess I'm getting a much needed break from taking on too many WIPs :D anyway, I just wanted to say it's still on my mind, but I don't particularly feel the need to promote it because it'll happen when it happens.
Something cool to celebrate in the meantime: Folie à Deux hit over 1,000 kudos on AO3! Crazy to me!!! Thank you all so much. I can't believe that many people pressed the kudos button on my unhinged monster fucking fantasies <3 And to give you a peak behind the curtain here are the non-public stats for that fic:
Last but not least: If you do want to show me some love consider tipping me on Ko-fi? I promise for every coffee you buy me I'll share a pic of that beverage on here or the discord!
Hope you all take care of yourselves!
– Em
#bearhugsandshrugs#pinned#bearhugsandshrugs update#m.a.d.#gorsimp#my writing#worthy#folie a deux#fic writing#bg3 fic
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So... the Frogwares Holmes games really are something else. I should know this by now, but honestly the only thing coming remotely close to the type of Holmesian feels they give me is actively writing Holmes myself (which I haven't done in a while now). They are *invaluable* in generating that kind of headspace.
I've talked about the Frogwares Holmes games before - for my birthday I finally permitted myself to play The Awakened (2023) - and I've barely begun to process it.
It's a too short game - but considering that it was created by an Ukrainian studio in the middle of the war, that is as forgivable as the recycling of assets and the fact that it's not a brand new storyline (Though a part of me grieves for what the next game in the series might have been if there hadn't been the war - I just hope there will be more). It's a remake of an older game in the series with the same title, which I have played more than once and which really is the beginning of the Frogware games in many ways - there're two earlier games, but the original Awakened is where the series really hits its stride as a bona fide Holmes adaptation. So anyway - I knew what to expect, but also I really didn't.
The original Awakened is set after FINA, which adds its own horror. This one is set directly after the last game, Chapter One, and thus features a very young Holmes, basically directly after he meet Watson, and on some level it's the story of them really getting to know each other, and *foreshadows* FINA. But the plot doesn't even matter - or at any rate the plot isn't the reason why I love them, much as it isn't the reason why I love the canon.
I understand the canon purist scepticism, I really do, but I feel I've done the first step of getting over that when I played my first one (the original Awakened) and got over the hesitation at it being a Cthulhu crossover (and any of the other ideas that Frogware has used and made magical even though they are things that tend to make purists instinctively cringe), and the second step when I adored Chapter One and got over the fear of their new take on young Holmes.
In a lot of ways, the games chart the development of "point and click" type games in general and in a Holmesian sense, the adaptation development of Holmes interpretation - the first game was very classic deerstalker Holmes, moving over into Brett (and an older Holmes), and the later ones show definite influence of Downey and Cumberbatch, but at the same time I feel they are truer to canon than probably any of them with only maybe the exception of Brett (and not counting Merrison, which is practically exactly like canon, and not counting Elementary, which is so bogged down by the format of an American procedural).
They are by far the most psychologically complex games I know though perhaps I lack genre awareness, but either way I feel that started with Testament and Crimes & Punishment (which drove home the concept of morality in a way that I have never seen before). There is a true love for canon in every stroke (which I think is what some adaptations lack - a love for canon rather than an attempt at being *better*) and the sheer complexity of Holmes as a human being... I don't even know where to start. It seems to get better with every game, from the Holmes-as-suspect idea in Testament over the moral dilemmas in C&F, the question of legacy in "Devil's Daughter" and backstory in "Chapter One". I just feel that these games really *understand* him - the genius, the pursuit of justice, the kindness that goes beyond societal convention.
And Watson. I missed him in Chapter One, though I know why he isn't there and it makes sense that he isn't there and he never really had big roles in the previous games either, but Awakened (2023) makes up for it. What a compelling characterisation. Watson has his own complexity, some of which Watson's narration buries because Watson himself downplays his strengths and intelligence to elevate Holmes's. But once you strip out Watson's narration, you have to make a choice. Historically, we have a horribly bumbly Watson that we can perhaps unanimously agree to disagree with. Brett's Watsons are both fairly homely, but don't get much of a chance to shine on their own. Law's portrayal of Watson got *so close* but I always felt the relationship wasn't quite right, Watson wasn't quite right in his attitude towards Holmes. Freeman could have been it - if Sherlock hadn't unravelled the way it did. But this is a Watson that has his own growth and that I truly see as an equal partner to Holmes - as the person who is that sounding board and the one person Holmes would want to have with him when things get hairy - the person Holmes can rely on not abandoning him. If nothing else, Awakened (2023) cements that *trust* and I can't wait to see where it goes.
This is turning into a ramble that really boils down to: I love these games and the way they make me experience Holmes. The voice acting is *outstanding*, too - I liked the voice acting in the earlier ones, too, but the current Holmes really sells the material and I have not a bad word to say about Watson.
#jaelijn talks#frogwares holmes#sherlock holmes#mostly spoiler free rambling#not a proper review#i just needed to process things
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Morrigan's Milanote Mess
aka "a look at how I plan my story using Milanote"
[Note: I have a subscription, so I'm not limited by the number of cards I can have, otherwise this level of detail would be impossible. My subscription was a gift, though.]
So, this is the "landing page" for my story. The left column has my "poster", and underneath that is the summary I have on my info page on my blog. The other two columns, on the right, have links to the boards that make up this mess.
This is the "outfit catalogue" board. It has pics of the outfits for every sim involved in the story, along with notes on how I have used / will use them. (The order here is meaningless. The top row is just the order from my character page on my blog, and the other ones are just grouped by their relevance / if they actually show up.)
This is what part of the outfit catalogue actually looks like. I note what I might use the outfit for, and also any notes about it. (Is it out of character for said sim? Would it only be worn for specific occasions? Is it formal or casual? Is it for warm or cold weather? etc.)
This is the main worldbuilding board. Each kingdom on the continent has a section, and there's also a place for all my rambles about the world. (Anvia is on there, just cut off.)
Each kingdom's board looks like this. There's a couple more sections underneath, along with a doc for more in-depth rambles.
Now onto the actual planning portion!!
I've shared this pic before, but this is my overall timeline for the story. (It really needs an update, though.) I have mapped out the dates of when certain key events occur, as well as when the transitions between the Acts happen. (Blurred for spoilers.)
This is the main landing page for my planning though. Each Act has a spot that includes the timeframe, a summary of events, as well as what I want to accomplish during that act to move the story forwards. (Acts 4 and 5 not included for spoiler reasons, plus Act 5 doesn't fit on the screen without scrolling.)
Each individual Act looks like this, but with more chapters (again, they don't all fit without scrolling). This is a look at Act 2. I have a column for each chapter, with a list of scenes, as well as the timeline of the chapter.
The board for each scene looks like this. I have a super short summary, the location (including which of the 6 copies of Windenburg said lot is in), who's involved, and what they'll be wearing (cross-referenced with the Outfit Catalogue, ofc.). Then there's a more detailed summary that summarizes the beats/themes of the scene, as well as has some insight into what the characters are thinking and feeling.
The poses section varies from scene to scene, but the top section is for me to list any accessories I need, or any existing poses I have that might suit my needs, as well as rambling about the poses I might need to make. The checklist part is for the poses I need to make myself, usually.
The writing section contains two versions of the scene. A full-length prose version (since I do that sometimes for fun and practice), and the actual script. The script is essentially what I type on the screenshots, as well as was goes in the transcript under the cut.
This is what the scratch board looks like. It's where I dump all of the screenshots I take for the scene, and sort them out. I decide which ones I actually want to use, and put them in the right order. Then I decide what portion of the text is going to go on which screenshot. (Better example below)
Phew! Okay, that's everything!! (Except for the character boards but those are kind of spoilery and I'm in the process of replacing them anyways.) Hopefully this was at least kind of fun to look at. It honestly amazes me how organized this is, because literally nothing else in my life is even remotely organized, lol.
I should also note that it was @mellindi who originally keyed me into the idea of using milanote for story-planning, and some of my layouts take inspiration from hers.
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I am loving The Twelve Points of Caleb Canto! It's made me chortle several times each chapter, and the main character is delightfully well written. Honestly, this might snatch the spot for my favorite Shivadhverse novel. (Also, I kinda really hope Caleb wins Eurovision 😂) I can't wait to see the rest of it!
Honestly, you all can't know the relief I've felt the last few days that people are reading and enjoying the story. I knew it was an irrational worry but I was still quite concerned that it just...wouldn't be interesting, or people wouldn't like Caleb and Buck because they weren't part of the original cast of the books, or that people would have lost interest between the last three, which come as a set, and this one, which is sort of the first of the "next chapter" as it were. I knew this was unlikely but it was still a significant concern.
So it's really delightful to hear that you like Caleb! And delightful in general to know people are enjoying his story. Right now I think Jerry is getting as much love as Caleb, which I also can't say I object to. Michaelis might be not-so-secretly my favorite, but Jerry tends to be a bridge between the original canon and the new -- he's just very fun to write and because he has had such a varied life, he's a good connector. (Of the various ideas floating around in my googledocs, Jerry is either the framing device or a major opening pov character in fully half.)
Anyway. I've got a few more asks about it but I'm going to try and space them out a bit so I'm not talking about it toooooo much all at once, just know that I have really appreciated both the critical commentary and just people stopping by to say they're enjoying the story!
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I don't think you reblogged this but I am interested so 1&2 for the same ask game when you have time! Whichever WIP you want.
Oh my days HI GABE!!!! Thank you for the ask!! For everyone else there's a wip questionnaire here by @buffythevampirelover which maybe I'll reblog in a minute if anyone wants to ask me questions about my fan or og projects hahahah
1. What was the first part of your wip that you created?
Okay I'm actually gonna answer this about two different projects because a) I bugged gabe to actually give me a project and he said disarmed sksksk but also b) I have an interesting answer for one of my og projects
Disarmed, first of all - this is a fanfic wip that I'm currently working on (we're on the last chapter now, hurrah!). It's an idea I had in 2021, and I had actually decided that it was officially scrapped/permanently shelved at the start of January....only for me to then sign up to the goreswap exchange and decide to write it anyway SKSK ONLY TO THEN STOP because it got too long so I wrote something else instead.
If you don't like mentions of horrible injuries, I'd recommend stopping here and jumping to the next post on your dash haha.
Disarmed actually originally came about from a very rancid dream I had where the Doctor and the Master were both found in a forest on an alien planet, holding each other's severed arms over their shoulders rip. And so, from there, I ended up drafting this Idea in my brain - and I had this EXCEPTIONALLY clear image in my head of the Master sewing the Doctor's arm onto where his used to be (which...kind of doesn't technically even happen in the story anymore but the imagery remained), and so that was the first thing I created. Which is - actually tell you what, I'm gonna throw that sketch that i did under the cut along with the rest of this answer in case people scrolling don't want to see mild cartoon gore haha. Also this post might get a bit long anyway
Here he is!
So in case anyone wasn't sure, the title is purely there for the pun and always has been hahah
For my og project though - this is a script that I'm not gonna say the name of because I submitted it to a BBC script call HAHA, but it's about a meteorite strike that causes a lot of problems, including giving some people dangerous powers. This idea actually started waaaaaaaay back when I was like, 16yo or so, when I wrote three songs that I wanted to make into a concept album. I'm pretty sure that the first one was actually one called Days Gone By, which I actually filmed myself singing here, back when I had long hair haha, although I think you could argue that the bones of We've Heard It All Before (which is now a complete song - and also YIKES I took this fast, baby taka what are you doing sksksk) came up before any of Days Gone By. How do I know this? I have a ton of old voice notes on my laptop. The interesting thing here is that Days Gone By is actually Plot C in my script and doesn't even come up in the episode that I wrote, which was the pilot, and thus only covers Plot A (Through the Dust and Blood, the third song which I did not film) and Plot B (We've Heard It All Before). Even funnier story - the idea for the original concept album which became the script was ALSO, like disarmed, based on a dream I had HAHAHA (but like, so loosely. I don't think any of the original dream other than the imminent meteorite strike has made it into the final project. Great jumping off point, though!).
2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?
Gonna answer this one about my og WIP script, Onkalo, because this project has some original folk songs that I've written right at the heart of it - and so, naturally, I would have a rendition of Over Onkalo as the intro. I kind of imagine it like, a medley of an instrumental or soundtrack version, so more dramatic and orchestral, but with people singing the song coming in and out of it - and then it would end on just people singing the last line acapella as the rest of the music fades out and theeeeen - titles! Or something like that. If I have to go with a song that's already been written though, I'd probably go with maybe El Búho by Blanco White, or You Are a Memory by Message to Bears.
THANKS FOR THE ASK GABE!! <3
#taka replies#wip questionnaire#gabeorelse#this is fun#onkalo#taka writes#disarmed#uhh honestly not sure what to tag this HAHAH#scripts
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Haiiii Tiff! Hope you’re having a good start to the holidays! I just wanted to ask how long did it take you to plan TBAW or any of your other fics? I’m currently in my planning phases for this Jean f.f but I don’t know if I’m hitting all my marks? If that makes sense? anyways happy holidays girl! 🫡🎄
hello!! 🥰 happy holidays to you too!
for my posted oneshots, i usually just come up with the idea and then bang out it in one sitting. i'll let them sit for like a week or so, re-read them and made changes, and then posted. so minimal planning for those. i've noticed that if it takes me more than one sitting to write a oneshot, i'll get really in my head about it -- but that's just a me thing so do whatever works for you!!
for tbas, i only had a beginning and ending planned out and then just kinda made it up as i went along lol
i was kinda the same for tbaw, but after i was halfway through the original draft, i realized that the story was way too long and decided to take what i had written so far and add some structure.
since i already knew how i wanted it to end, i split the story into three parts and then tried to plan out each part separately. i would break each part (arc 1, 2, and 3) into 11 chapters and then give myself a rough outline of key things i wanted to happen in each chapter and then i just kinda winged it for the rest 💀 sprinkling in foreshadowing and stuff where i could.
for the fics i'm working on now, i've done something similar to tbaw by splitting the story into 3 and then giving myself the key points that i want in each part. i'm not breaking it out chapter-by-chapter like i did with tbaw, but we'll see if that changes when i actually start writing
for reference lol here's some of the outline that i have for the reiner fic if it helps? there's also a third arc but i've hid it because i don't wanna spoil the whole story lol
i also have little "character bios" for each of the main characters and main details about them and what i envision for their character arc, why the make certain choices, and how the ending shows their growth 💀💀💀 ahhhhh sorry this is so embarrassing to talk about lmao
i keep the outlines vague so i can give myself some creative freedom when i'm writing, but the important thing to me is knowing how the story is going to end so i know what i'm working toward.
i try not to spend too much time working on a plan because things will change as i start writing and as the character take on minds of their own 😳 but as long as i know what the ending is, i can stay focused.
i hope this helps? idk 🙈
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Lost Children Progress Update 17/4/24
It's been a little while since I did one of these.
I've been giving small updates here and there, but a big one once in a while is nice, and I enjoy sharing my progress. It's sort of motivating. You know? To look and see, 'Oh wow, I did a lot' or 'wow, I didn't accomplish a lot, but I'm proud of what I did do!' (Some chapters take their time to come together, other the ideas just flow on to the paper).
ANYWAY! You don't care about this. You want to know how long till the next chapter comes out, right????
So, will start with the elephant in the room: Ch.19. It's only 8 pages, which is why, despite the first 3 technically done (anything at 90% is just to digitalise & add text), I haven't uploaded anything.
It's about done. I'm just stuck on page 5 (and two panels of page 4). They're a flashback. A god-damned nightmare of a flashback to draw and... I don't want to do it TT , but for effect and impact, the story needs it >>
Otherwise:
(That should be 20/22 chapters done :P )
Part 1 is coming together swimmingly! With the recent addition of 2 new chapters and, I think, this is as big as part 1 will be getting. I'm finishing off tidying up how I want Part 1 to end at the minute, and then we'll have a small time skip to part 2.
(And maaaaaaybe I'll go back to the start and add an intro chapter to give more info on what the heck happened in the Triple Threat Ending to make Henry think screwing up the timelines and making a new one was a great idea. IDK. Still on the hedge about where to put this info)
Also! The poll I'm running looks like everything in one fic will win, for how it gets uploaded on A03. In two days time once the poll is finished I'll work on implementing those changes (, unless the poll swings back the other way again :P ).
Part 2:
The order of the first 9 chapters, take with a grain of salt. I'm still finalizing the order.
For the most part it's just detailed ideas of what I want to happen in each part + 4 chapters finished, 2 being edited.
'Standing on the Ledge' came out FANTASTIC. I cannot wait to upload that one. Personal favourite of the part so far. 2nd place going to 'Stuck With You'.
And what is that at the bottom? A familiar chapter name! Yes! We're getting back to the Wall. Slowly but surly our characters will be reunited with their frozen prisons, well-
Those who I haven't/ don't kill off~
*eViL lAuGhInG! >:D*
jk.
Or am I?
Anyway,
Part 3:
Part 3 is mostly a butt-ton of editing. It looks like most of the new chapters will land in part 2 (asides from 4), so part 3 will be similar to the original version, but not, given all the minor changes you're about to witness snowball into avalanche sized consequences!
^^;
Anyway, I've edited 4 so far dated them since it's going to be a while till we get to Part 3. That being said, given it's 85%ish editing, it should hopefully just be rapid fire chapter uploading when we do get there :)
I think that's about all I've got to say?
Er... you guys should be aware by now of the 'I'm in uni, chapters are as I have time/wrist able' disclaimer. So...
OH! Also, this is all going up on A03 (once the poll is done), so I can keep the readers over there who don't follow this Tumblr up-to-date with what's going on. So when you see a new chapter update in your inbox, don't get too excited ^^;
And finally, for you.
My dear read.
Who has read through my long waffle and sporadic episodes of evil laughter and fun!
I have an... 'opportunity'
*Snots* I sound like a Mafia boss with Liam Neelson's voice reading this allowed.
I left my colour coding in Part 2 (as I couldn't be bothered to remove it ^^; ), so... will have some fun with this.
Whoever can figure out who's POV are colours blue or green will get a free half or full body drawing of one character (SFW), of their choice (mine, oc, stickmin or another fandom (at my discretion)).
And we'll say... 2 guesses a person (either two on one colour, or one guess for each colour) to make it fair. (It shouldn't be too hard, there's only 12 POV's, and you've met them all but one coming in at Part 3.
OH!
And there will be three winners in total.
Good luck :)
(btw, I'm going to bed now, so first people with the right answers are the winners in case you all rush in here with your answers over the next... 10 ish hours...
Unless... you're the only person to read this far >> )
#thsc#the henry stickmin collection#lost children of the ccc#update#fanfic#lost children#long post#you should totally read to the end *wink*#wip
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So first of all, I did not know you had a tumblr??? Second It Will Not Obey You SLAPS. And third my question: How in god's name did you do so much research for your fic??? What is your secret. How do you go about organizing or even knowing where to start for that matter. I struggle with research cause I never know where to start or stop and often I'm really uncertain if the info I'm gathering is even needed or if it's extraneous. I am both stupid and a perfectionist HELP ME
Hi Anon, thank you so much! I always appreciate viewer support and I hope you're enjoying all the art on this blog that isn't in the fic. In any case, I don't know if this method will work for you, or if it's how other authors do research, but here's my process. It's pretty long, so I'll put it under a cut for you:
First, I start with a story. When I say story, I don't really mean a beginning-middle-end, this happens and then that happens; it's a little more vague than that. For me, a story is more like a feeling, some truth or impulse, and all the writing or plot structure or everything else is built around it. I don't generally bother with things like plot structures (which I think should be descriptive and not prescriptive anyway), and I do make outlines, but you'd be surprised by how barren they are. Here's the original from 2016, with some spoilers blacked out:
And as you can see, I threw about half of it away during the writing process, haha. A surprising amount remains, though!
Something that comes about from approaching the story as a single entity is that oftentimes, things just fall into place. A big fight taking place in the congo where most of the cryptids from the Kur flash-forwards get called up, or the gang getting shot down over the Amazon like in the first two episodes of the show - little coincidences like this happen all the time. I think it's because, while writing, my brain starts making connections that I'm not consciously aware of - I often go by what "feels correct," and I've rewritten whole chapters multiple times before to chase that feeling of "correct."
How that ties into research is twofold: first, I'm a naturally curious person, and I'm constantly reading about stuff like mythology or ancient history or science etc. on my own. I like to have an approximate knowledge of many things - that way, there's more for my brain to make connections to. For example, I already knew about the chinese five-element system (wuxing), and remembered mystic hotspots from the show, and Excalibur, and video games, so when I decided on a plot device to keep Zak and Francis together during the main story, it was fairly easy to land on the idea of a quest to power up a special weapon only Francis can wield by hitting up mystical hotspots, each one themed after one of the wuxing.
The second part of the process is this: I have the general vibe or concept of the story in my head, and now I've settled on something concrete plot-wise - the magic weapon wuxing powerup quest. That makes it really easy to start researching specific details. I know I need a magic weapon, and I know this magic weapon has to be tied to Sumerian mythology, so I start digging around in Sumerian mythology for magic weapons, and find Sharur, the talking mace wielded by the Sumerian god Ninurta. Then I do some more research into the wuxing and see that each element is attached to a color, so those are the colors Sharur changes into. Now, a big part of the original show was its globetrotting nature, so obviously, I need to make each of these hotspots a different part of the globe. (And incidentally, "mythic hotspot" doesn't really roll off the tongue, so I rooted around myths for power spots etc. and found the Quechuan word "huaca," which has a meaning very similar to what I'm trying to make each huaca out to be).
So I scatter the huacas out so they're all roughly equidistant to each other, and none are too similar in geography or concept, and we go back to existing connections: I want to have one in China, because 1) I'm Chinese, 2) there's plot reasons (Sharur uses the wuxing because it was enchanted by a Chinese guy), 3) China has a long history comparable to India, the latter of which already featured extensively in the show. So I root around for the "secret science" parts of Chinese history and stumble across this semi-mythical Xia dynasty with its emperor who may or may not exist. That feels very Secret Saturdays to me, so Yu the Great and his tomb are now the second huaca. Now, we know so little about Yu the Great that there's not too much to draw from for how his tomb looks, but I already know about the tomb of Qin Shi Huang - his tomb's excavation was put on pause because ancient records spoke of him having a scale mercury replica of China complete with flowing mercury rivers, and while these claims were initially considered massive exaggerations if not outright lies, they DID find a TON of mercury in the tomb, making them go "unless..."
Mercury obviously fits right in with this huaca being "metal"-themed, so it's a perfect reference. The idea of a scale replica of China was blown up into the idea of a magically-powered VR simulation of ancient China. Now I need a cryptid for this arc, and hey, howdy, turns out Yu the Great has a serpent-slaying myth, Xiangliu! And what's this? Xiangliu's blood was so virulently poisonous that after it was slain, when the floodwaters came, the land became barren! There is such a strong pro-environement and pro-taking care of animals even when they seem monstrous vibe in TSS that if this story is seen through the lens of TSS, it looks a lot like a cautionary tale for why you don't just murder rampaging animals - they're natural parts of their natural environments, and there are repercussions for messing too much with the food chain.
And hey, doesn't that sound like a lesson Francis should learn? The last huaca, we got as far as Francis going from "I don't want to be here" to "I guess I'm stuck here." This huaca, we need to highlight how different he and Zak are, and how shortsighted - and human - Francis's ideals are, where he repeats Yu the Great's mistake, and humanity's mistakes as a whole.
Again, a lot of these connections aren't necessarily being made consciously. In the moment, they just sort of "feel right," which I know is unhelpful, but I can't really explain it any other way.
For an arc that had more secondary research than already knowing things ahead of time, the arc in the Congo took the longest to write (there was a two-year hiatus between it and the previous arc), in large part because I had so little to go off of. Myths from the Congo area are fairly sparse on the ground (for many reasons), and the ones I did find didn't really feel very TSS or IWNOY. I knew that this was the arc where everything went to shit - that we'd been building to that for a while - but I didn't have in my notes exactly how things went to shit, or even what the huaca was going to be. I knew it would be wood-themed, but this being the Congo Rainforest, pretty much anything I did would count. I knew I wanted to do something with the origin of humanity and/or the lemurians, because Africa was where humans first evolved.
So, actually, I wound up doing research into pretty much everything - all the cryptids from the area, all the myths from the area I could find. Previously, in my research on lemurians when working out what their Deal would be, I found out that a lot of writings on lemurians came from occultists in the 1900s, who also had many (racist and misogynistic) writings about where THEY think the first humans come from, about mystical ancient societies that were hyper advanced, etc. etc., which fit with the way that the lemurians seemed to have a veritable magical paradise in Shangri-La before the nagas massacred them. I could at least use the names from these hippies, because I couldn't find comparable mythology from the actual area, but I stripped out the... less savory parts.
I wanted to use the eloko/biloko when I found them, because their myths give them magic bells that compel people who hear it to do what they want - much like how the lemurian's charisma was set up (this being one of those interesting little coincidences that happen when the story "feels right.") Doubly so when I found out that eloko/biloko sleep in trees, which - wood-themed huaca. But I still wasn't really... piecing anything together.
So I switched tracks and started looking into Gilgamesh, the man, the myth, the legend, at the center of this all. Read the Epic of Gilgamesh (or, re-read, rather), and found the myth regarding Utnapishtim and Gilgamesh's quest for eternal life. An old man gifted by immortality from the gods? Given that I already had in my notes that the lemurians struck a deal with the devil with Kur and became what they are, and the eloko/biloko were a failure as a result of the lemurians going "wait, not like this" halfway through, Utnapishtim sounded like he could fit in as a lemurian from this original hullabaloo. And in the original Gilgamesh myth, the plant Utnapishtim points Gilgamesh to, which would grant him all his youth and vitality back, gets stolen from him by a serpent. Hey, nagas!
Okay, so now I had the origin of the lemurians, Utnapishtim's character being involved, even a hook for the nagas, and thus Argost, but it still wasn't coming together. SO...
... I gave up and started looking at biblical stuff. I'm a sellout hack. BUT, at least you can argue that biblical stuff is always potentially relevant, because the Saturday line has biblical names (Zakariya/Zechariah, Solomon, Elijah, Samuel) and Zak is set up with a minor Jesus reference (sacrifices himself for the good of mankind, is dead for 3 (minutes) and is resurrected). Specifically, I started looking into the "secret science" part of biblical stuff - apocrypha, or non-canonical texts. There's tons of interesting stuff in there, but it turned out to be mostly useless, aside from the chapter titles, but it did help to form this idea of making deals and regretting them - and I'm realizing now as I'm writing this that this was another one of those unconscious connections - ch12 is literally named after the part in Goethe's Faust where Faust makes his deal with Mephistopheles ("Die Wette biet ich" - "the bet I offer").
So now that I'd been freed to do biblical stuff (which, hey, also fits in with the wood theme, because Garden of Eden, get it?), I had access to the imagery of the snake tempting eve with fruit. And suddenly, everything started to come together. Themes of trying to defy what you are by nature, the nagas as betrayers, Kur and its entourage as demons, getting what you wished for but at what cost, a fall into darkness as the major players fail to defy their natures (and the consequences that result) - once I started, I couldn't stop.
So it's a bit hard to answer your question because it's all so intuitive, but I guess if I really had to say, the real answer to where to start and where to end is to just pick a topic you like so much that you wouldn't mind doing tons of research on it, even if most of it winds up being unusable. I LOVE ancient history and mythology, so even if nothing I read is useful, I don't mind reading. And not minding the reading means I have so much already floating around in my head for when I need to write something new. If you forced me to write, say, a crime drama or sci-fi story - two fields I have much less interest and much less knowledge on - I would also be pretty lost! At that point, I'd have two options - either I write something by the numbers just to get it done, or I do enough reading on the topic that I find something about it to love and care about, and then write based on that.
I think more is always better. Anything you don't immediately use becomes a potential connection for something else down the line. I'd say a good 30% of weird little factoids featured in IWNOY are things I knew before I did research for it, and now, for other projects I'm doing, the stuff I learned for IWNOY sometimes becomes relevant.
And I would always try not to worry too much about overstuffing or making your first draft bad. The secret is, most of the actually good writing happens in the editing. Your first draft exists for the purpose of existing. It's fine if it's riddled with holes, if the dialogue sucks, if there's way too much exposition and "essay-style writing" (what I like to call it when you randomly infodump all the research you've done - I've done this sooooo many times), or if it's so bad you have to delete the whole thing and start over (this is a regular part of my writing process!). The point of draft 1 is to throw the damn spaghetti against the damn wall. Edits and revisions are where you tastefully arrange it so that it's good and an art piece, haha.
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12, 14, & 23 for the WIP ask game :D
Thank you!
I'll answer these based on Roads That Cross since that's the WIP you all know-- if anyone wants to ask about another I haven't posted yet, go ahead!
12. Will/do you have multiple drafts or versions of your WIP, and if so, what draft or version are you on right now?
Oof, oh my god. Um, well, as you all know I've been working on Roads for 5 years now, and I don't write in chronological order, so I've basically had 40 different Word documents on my folder for a long time, each for every future chapter. Some scenes have changed throughout the years, mainly because my writing has evolved and because I've gotten better ideas for them since the first time I ever came up with them. I usually just delete what I don't like and rewrite it, but, there are some scenes, especially from chapter 30 and afterward, that are very important and so I don't want to lose anything, no matter how it might no longer fit with the vision I currently have. For those scenes in particular I do keep the old drafts, usually at the bottom of the same document, so that I can go back to the original versions of it and maybe rescue some sentences or feelings that I consider important. Sometimes, it's not about the scene not working out but that I have a lot of different ways that it could go, and they all work in their own way, but I know I'll eventually have to choose just one or mix it all into one because I can't have 10 different versions of the same conversation kjsdn (yes, they're usually dialogue scenes that get the most drafts.) Um, I'd say those scenes are in version #3 by this point ? The oldest dating from 2018 or 2020, then some changes in 2021, and... I can't remember if the last time I touched them was this year or last year. But yeah, that about sums it up🙌🏻
14. What has been the hardest thing about working on this WIP so far?
Not losing motivation, I'd say. It's been a long journey. I'm constantly reading other fics since that's my favorite way of passing time, and while that's partly good for my creativity, it is also kind of discouraging because I'm constantly just seeing people writing way better than I do, and way faster than I do at that, so when you see someone cooking 7k words chapters every week, you kind of look at yourself and go Damn, what the hell am I doing?
It's a little sad to realize you don't really have a talent so you have to work 10 times harder just to reach the level of someone that whips out 12k words like it's nothing. Of course, I could defend myself saying they're writing in their native language while I'm not, but honestly, I know it wouldn't make a difference. My writing would still be the same if I wrote in Spanish, and, in fact, I think it would take me even longer to write because I would be cringing all the time ksjfskjd.
Anyway, in summary, keeping it going has been the hardest part, but I just try to remind myself that I don't need to be Shakespeare, and that, by this point, I just want to finish it so I can put it to rest, so it shouldn't be a big deal and I try not to let it affect me😂
23. What is the weirdest thing you’ve had to google for this WIP so far?
Oh my god, remember "With a new perspective" ? I spent months, MONTHS, googling about bathrooms 🤣🤣🤣 I JUST- again, English is not my first language, so I wasn't sure how to describe the things in Ámbar's bathroom, and hell- not even in Spanish I knew how to call some stuff 😂 Plus, first I had to come up with a mental image of it, so I went on a deep dive on Google Images, Pinterest, etc. And when I found something that I liked, then I had to discover how that specific shape of furniture was called. I became an expert on all the kinds of bathtubs there is 😂😂 I was so insane that my best friend even joked about it, sending me tiktoks "just so you can look at the bathroom" 🤣🤣 The worst part is, the bathroom descriptions weren't even important in that chapter compared to everything that was going on😂😂 But for me it was really important that everyone knew Ámbar had a ceiling-to-sink, wall-wide mirror and that she calls it "the usual bathroom mirror everyone has" because it was funny to me that she believes that's the normal when my bathroom mirror is literally like 40x20cms 😂😂
Anyway, I better stop ranting now. Thank you for the ask! <3
If anyone else wants to do it, the questions are right here.
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I would love to know about "in case of permadeath break glass"!
@cinderstorm I hope it’s okay to get both of you at once!
This one is almost old enough to start kindergarten :'D
The death in question was Molly's, so this fic was born in between c2e26 and c2e27. It was a fix-it(ish? adjacent?) fic where the Nein parted ways after Molly's death, and a very Bren-y Caleb winds up with a device that has a finite number of time travel charges. He tries to use it to go back and save his parents, but instead gets dumped near Shadycreek Run on the night Molly crawled out of his grave.
It was originally intended to be Widomauk, but I've heavily considered rewriting it to be Shadowgast (Astrid and Wulf play a role that could very easily be swapped for Essek), with the ending changed to reflect what happened with Lucien in canon. That might still happen someday, but it's pretty low on my list of things to write at this point :')
I looked for a small snippet to post, but figured the rest will probably never wind up seeing the light of day anyway, so here is. a full (unedited) chapter. because why not?
Caleb opens his eyes.
A white sky bears down on him. Half-lost snowflakes drift across the cloud-covered sun. His head pounds. The cold air bites his lungs as he takes a deep and steadying breath, and braces himself on both elbows.
They’re by the road. Beau lies face-down in the snow not five feet from him, groaning as she rolls herself over. A sparse forest opens around them, and for miles until the mountainous horizon the trees grow thicker and darker. Caleb closes his eyes. There’s something familiar about this scene, if he could only-
“What. The fuck.”
Caleb’s eyes fly open this time to find Beau’s hand fisted around his scarf, yanking his face close to hers.
“Did you do?”
Caleb moves to bat her hand away, but her grip holds fast. He lets out a frustrated huff, and glares back.
“That device,” he begins. “It manipulates time and space.”
“And you thought it would be a great fuckin’ idea to try it out with no warning and no idea how it works?”
She lets her grip go lax and uses the same hand to shove him back to the ground. Caleb pushes himself back up to his elbows and takes a breath.
“I am aware of how it works.” He brushes the snow from his jacket. The cold has begun to seep through. He should have had the foresight to pick a warmer time of year. “I did not plan on having you along for the ride, that is all.”
“Yeah? Neither did I.”
Caleb squeezes his eyes shut, letting the chill calm his frayed nerves. With a deep breath, he wills his voice steady.
“Poof, I’m gone. The three of you are none the wiser, and then poof, again, I am back with my family. I did not intend to endanger anyone but myself. Would you help me up, please?”
Caleb watches Beau’s back as she turns to make for the road. He sighs, and tugs his boots free of the swiftly-piling snow.
“Well, we are here now, are we not?” He gives a quick look down each direction of the road as he trots up beside her. He remembers this place, but not well enough. They will have to find a local to get their bearings. “I intend to do what I set out to do. If you are willing, I would be grateful for your help. If not, I will meet you in this place when I am finished.”
“So, are you hearing yourself? Like, when you talk?” Beau asks. “Because it sounded to me like you just asked me for help with fixing the bullshit mess you made for us, and then implied you’re perfectly fine with leaving me behind here with no fuckin’ way to get back.”
“It appears it is in your best interests to help me.”
Beau watches him darkly for a long moment, and Caleb begins to wonder whether she’s angry enough to truly fight him. Then, she gives a short nod, and turns back toward the road.
“Fine,” she says. “But you’ve changed, Caleb, and it sucks.”
“Perhaps you did not know me as well as you imagined,” Caleb returns, and he pulls his scarf up over his nose as the two of them set off down the road.
“So,” Beau begins after a long walk in silence. “You kinda disappeared.”
Caleb keeps his eyes on the road ahead. It’s coming back to him, bit by bit. They’re not far from Shady Creek Run, he thinks - he has never seen it in winter, but the paths and the mountains are the same.
“Ja, well, we went our separate ways.”
“Yeah, but nobody else dropped off the face of Exandria.”
He catches her sneaking a glance from the corner of her eye, and then: “What happened with Nott?”
Caleb’s throat tightens.
“We had a disagreement.”
It isn’t a lie, exactly.
“Was it about how you’ve turned into a dick?”
“More or less.”
Not a lie, either.
“You think she’d be happy to know you’re putting everyone at risk for the sake of--”
“You know, I did not mind waking in silence, Beauregard.”
She doesn’t bother hiding the glare she shoots him this time. Caleb dutifully watches the road ahead.
As the sun begins to ease toward the mountains, finally, a tiny, wagon-shaped dot appears on the road ahead. The two of them exchange a look. Caleb straightens his coat.
“I will do the talking,” he says.
Beau raises an eyebrow, but lets him take the lead as they continue on. The wagon wobbles slowly closer until Caleb can make out the couple at the reigns. He raises a hand and smoothes down his hair. With any luck, the snow has helped a bit with the matting.
“Guten abend,” he calls when they’re close enough.
With a careful smile, the woman pulls at the reigns until the horses ease to a stop. The man gives him a skeptical once-over, then does the same to Beau. Caleb gives them a polite nod.
“May we trouble you to point us toward the nearest place to rest for a night?”
The two of them exchange a look, then the woman gives him an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, lad. It’s an half day’s ride to the nearest inn. It’ll have to be by the road for you tonight.”
Caleb ignores Beau’s heavy sigh beside him, and dips his head in thanks.
“We have been traveling for quite a while; it won’t be a problem. But, you know, a lot of time has passed - would you be so kind as to inform us of the date?”
“Eighteenth,” the man calls back.
“Of Duscar?”
The woman lets out a hesitant laugh.
“Quite a while, indeed. We’re well into Horisal, dear.”
“What year?” Beau asks before he can stop her.
The two travelers exchange a confused look. Caleb shoots Beau a withering look, and she glares back.
“833,” the woman says at last, and Caleb’s stomach drops.
Eight-thirty-three. Years too late. His mind races. He had concentrated so painfully on the memory of the loss, taken such care to picture their faces in his mind… Beauregard. It must have been her. The only anomaly present in a perfect equation. He takes in a shaky breath of the frigid air, and realizes as the ringing in his ears subsides that the conversation has continued around him.
“The left down the road,” the man is saying. His eyes dart between the two of them nervously, and he’s taken the reins in his hands again.
“Thanks.” Beau tips an imaginary hat. “Safe travels.”
The man nods, and shakes the reins. The wagon lurches to a start again, and Beau pulls her robe tighter around her.
“At least we know where we are, now,” she says. “Kind of.”
She turns back toward Caleb, and stops when she catches sight of his face. Her brows knit in concern.
“What’s up?”
“We are not in the right place.”
“No shit.”
At a sudden thought, Caleb digs into his coat pocket. He comes back up with the device in hand. The heat of his coat has fogged the smooth sides, and he wipes it clear with his sleeve. The same two lights shine back at him.
“This thing,” he says, turning it in his hands, “was meant to bring me back to save my parents. This is too late. They are already…”
He trails off, running a finger along the edge between the two lit sides. Faintly, he feels Beau come up behind him to look over his shoulder.
“So, how did you think it worked?”
“I did not think,” he snaps, taking a step away and turning to face her. “I spent the time focusing on this thing. I am well aware of how it works.”
“And you still fucked it up, huh?”
“Well, you know, I was concentrating pretty well until I was grabbed by a very intrusive asshole.”
Beau squints at him.
“I’m gonna go ahead and ignore the wording you just used there, and just ask if you know how to get us back properly.”
Caleb looks down at the device. The dark sides seem to make the lit ones shine brighter.
“If I am allowed to concentrate,” he says pointedly. "But I came here for a reason, Beauregard. I am not ready to go back, yet."
He slips the device back into his pocket, wishing in the back of his mind that he had thought to commandeer Jester’s bag of holding for the journey.
The road winds them in silence through a long, flat stretch of snow. By dusk, small hills have begun to sprout up on either side, dotted with barren trees. Sunlight gives way to moonlight in a valley of sorts. A perfect place for an ambush. It makes the back of his neck itch.
Beside him, Beau frowns at the trees.
“There’s something about this place that seems…”
She trails off, but Caleb doesn’t need her to finish. He feels it, too. There is something strikingly familiar about the road and its surroundings, though he can’t quite place the reason. They have been in the area before, certainly, but not precisely here. It almost feels as though they have wandered into a place out of a story, heard about but never seen.
“Ja,” he says, and motions for her to keep walking. “We should probably keep moving.”
She gives him a begrudging nod, and the two of them continue down the road. Before they’ve made it five steps, Beau throws up a hand. Caleb stops in his tracks, and Beau cranes her neck toward the side of the road, listening.
“What is it?” he hisses.
She waves a hand for him to be quiet. Caleb slips his hands into his pockets, warming them in case they will need to cast quickly.
The night around them is still. No birds call this deep into winter in this part of Wildemount. The light snowfall around them holds the forest in a muted quiet, and the creaking of the leafless branches in the breeze is the only sound Caleb finds.
And then, the rustling comes again.
Beau points toward the top of the hill off the road to their left. Caleb eases his hands from his pockets and dips two fingers into the pouch of salt at his belt.
Beau points at him, then at the ground where they stand. She jerks a thumb at herself, then points toward the hill. Caleb nods.
Beauregard drops to a crouch and begins to inch off the road. Caleb makes a show of checking the ground around him, in the hopes that anyone who might be watching will see only a man searching for something he's dropped.
Beau is halfway up the hill when the ground at the crest splits open.
Caleb flings the salt in front of him, mage armor springing up around him. Beau stops in her tracks as the snow settles again. They wait. The snowy heap sits ominously as the only evidence of any change.
And then, another shift. Clumps of packed-in snow fly upwards and outwards as something breaks the surface. Caleb makes one cautious step towards tree cover before it dawns on him what he's seeing.
A hand, splayed desperately open, lavender and clawing.
His heart tugs seven different ways at once.
Snow kicks up at her heels as Beauregard breaks into a run. Humbly, Caleb is half aware of his feet carrying him forward, one slow and dragging step at a time.
It cannot be. The odds… Caleb doesn't have to know them to know how astronomically improbable it would be to end up there, on that night of all nights. This is a trick of the light. Some undead thing clawing its way from the ground cast purple in the moonlight.
“Caleb!”
Beau is on her hands and knees - when did she kneel down? - scrabbling at the dirt beneath the snow, face equal parts shock and fear and anger. The ground beneath her tosses up dirt in ripples.
“Caleb, he’s getting in the way. Grab his hand.”
Caleb stares.
Beau gives him an angry grunt, and keeps digging.
“He's gonna fucking suffocate, grab his hand and pull.”
He can't feel his hands.
A second hand breaches the surface, and Beau takes it with a firm squeeze. The hand grasps at hers, pulling until the back of her hand catches against the dirt.
“Caleb, fucking dig!”
“This,” he hears himself say, “is not right.”
Beau reaches up with her free hand and yanks him down by the wrist.
“Grab a hand or grab some dirt, or I'm actually going to kill you, Caleb.”
He looks down. This close, he can see the dip in the ground where the dirt is loose below. He can see the red eye staring back at him from a dark lavender palm. And it is no trick of the light.
Caleb digs both hands into the dirt and shovels.
“I think that’s enough. Grab his other hand. We have to pull him up.”
“You are much stronger--”
“Caleb, grab his hand.”
Together, they haul him from the ground. Naked, wild-eyed, and panting, their quarry sinks to the ground beside them. Beside Caleb, Beau braces herself on her knees and catches her breath.
“What the fuck?” she breathes.
On the ground, haunted red eyes dart frantically around. Caleb looks at anything and everything else, insides twisted into knots.
“Empty,” Mollymauk croaks.
#a lot of the emotional beats late in the plot leaned fairly heavily on having emotions about late campaign 1#scanlan has a brief but important role that falls pretty flat if you're not still grieving vax to an extent#so i'm not sure how well it would work now vs four years ago#but it was fun! i wrote four chapters#wip title ask game#widomauk#ariadne-mouse#cinderstorm#thanks both of you for the asks! 💜💜#cr2 spoilers#campaign 2 spoilers#wip tag
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👀
👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!
Eeee this is perfect timing, anon! I was actually planning to share this yesterday today anyways, because I know I kind of fell off the face of the earth (writing-wise) after finishing UTNL back in February, and I've been dying to get back to it. So thank you for the opportunity 😁 💕
I have a few WIPs right now, but the main one I've been focusing on is a story that I actually started writing a little over a year ago! It's one of those situations where I wrote a few thousand words on a whim, had the plot and backstory mostly planned out, thought it would just be a long oneshot...but then once I started fleshing it out, it grew far beyond what I originally planned. Now I've got 11 chapters mapped out, and currently have 25-30k words written (which is probably less than half of what the final word count will end up being😅).
I'm going to put the summary and current list of tags here, and then will include more background info plus a small snippet below the cut for anyone who might be interested! ✨
Rating: E
Summary: When Kagome Higurashi returned to her family’s vacation home the summer after graduating high school, she never expected to be reunited with Inuyasha, her former best friend who disappeared from her life five years earlier. Now all grown up, their attempts to rekindle their childhood friendship are complicated by physical attraction, building on memories of preteen crushes and a “pretty much perfect” first kiss. After a summer of fun that blurs the lines between friendship, sex, and love, how will they fare when it comes time to leave for college on opposite sides of the country?
Tags: Friends to lovers, childhood best friends, 90s/early 2000s nostalgia, Maine, reconnecting, friendship, fireworks, underage drinking, sexual tension, friends with benefits, summer romance, first time, explicit sexual content, mutual pining, college, light angst, angst with a happy ending
A little bit of background:
The main inspiration for this story comes from the summers I spent in Maine as a kid. I would go stay at my grandparent's cottage, located in a super tiny town on a secluded oceanfront street. There were a handful of other homes on the road that were usually rented by the same families, so all of us kids would get together and play every year. I never had any kind of romance or even as close a friendship as is portrayed in this story, but I figured it could definitely happen (along the line of kids who make lifelong friends at summer camp)
An important part of this story is that Inuyasha and Kagome grew up during a similar time frame I did, when technology was only just starting to become integrated into everyone's lives. So the first chapter is set in 2008, when they are 18, and the story then spans across several years (with plenty of references/flashbacks to growing up in the 90s along the way)
Normally, the key driving force behind childhood-best-friends-to-lovers stories is both of them thinking that the other only sees them as a friend/sibling figure, which leads to hardcore pining until they realize they actually both feel the same. Which I freaking LOVE. I will read 10000 stories exactly like that and eat it up every single time. But I wondered what would happen if both characters knew (at least on some level) that they share some kind of romantic feelings for each other, but there is something else keeping them from being in a committed romantic relationship
The idea behind the title, as well as the other inspiration for this story, is that I wanted to explore a scenario where Kagome and Inuyasha happened to be each other's firsts for several romantic milestones (first crush, first kiss, first time having sex), but still have plenty of other experiences with other people and don't get actually together until later on in life (despite being in love)
I actually didn't discover this song until I was pretty far along in the writing process, but it's uncanny how perfectly the lyrics of 2002 by Anne Marie fit with this story! (Yes, there will be a playlist for this fic)
And finally, a small snippet! (This is not even the part I wanted to share, but when I tell you that words have not been my friend lately... 😑. I sat there and struggled to edit a piece of one of the key scenes into something I felt comfortable posting, but after two days I finally decided to just give up for now and share a rough part of a random flirty scene that I hope you still enjoy!)
-----------
Carrying their ice cream back to where Inuyasha was leaning against the counter, Kagome immediately noticed that he seemed even grumpier than usual with his eyes narrowed, arms crossed, and jaw set. He had been in a pretty good mood when they first arrived, so the sudden change certainly threw her for a loop.
“What’s your problem?” she asked in a casual manner as she held out his cone. He took it with a mumbled thanks before returning to glaring at the horizon and tapping his foot.
She waited patiently for him to answer while they began eating, watching him with eyebrows raised towards her hairline the entire time.
“You shouldn’t flirt with wolf demons like that,” he finally grumbled. “They aren’t exactly known for being overly respectful of women.”
“I wasn’t flirting.” Kagome rolled her eyes, torn between annoyance and amusement. “It’s called being friendly. Which I know is a foreign concept for you, but —”
Inuyasha cut her off with a quiet growl. “I’m just sayin’, it’d be pretty easy for him to get the wrong idea.”
“And what idea would that be?”
“I dunno…that you wanna follow him home and have his babies or something.”
“And what if that was the idea I wanted him to get?” Kagome challenged with a raised brow, having to press her lips together to keep from laughing at the look of pure shock and betrayal that lit up Inuyasha’s features.
“With that idiot?”
“How do you know he’s an idiot?”
“Because I — I can just tell.”
“Mhmm,” she hummed in mock contemplation. It was far too easy to mess with him. “Kinda sounds to me like you’re jealous…”
“What?” Inuyasha’s eyes briefly widened before looking away, his cheeks flushing a deep red. “I ain’t jealous…just think you could do better."
He was not jealous.
He also had not been watching the borderline sensual way Kagome’s tongue swirled around her ice cream cone to catch any drips that threatened to fall.
Which definitely did not inspire a slew of dirty thoughts revolving around what else she could do with her tongue.
Nope. None of those things were happening.
#inukag#inuyasha fanfiction#coming soon...ish#and by soonish I mean who knows😂#writers block has been a real bitch lately#the first and last#wip#ask#ask game#also I am aware that certain aspects of this plot are similar to utnl#sue me😂#also I can't tell you how many times I already rewrote just the fucking summary#I'm not kidding when I say words have not been my friend lately
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Hiiii long sappy post ahead but read for info about the upcoming release of my college fic in bold!!
I’m just over halfway through final edits and the final word count is hovering at around *drum roll* 127k words 😳 If you've been following, I know what you're thinking, yes that is more words than the first draft, I promise I did cut some stuff, this is what we're working with 🤪
So now I'm like... pretty much ready for it to be out in the world? And I hope everyone loves it as much as I do because it really has become very dear to me 🥹 Structure-wise it's appalling, clearly there's still so much that needs to be cut but I'm too attached to it. But emotionally, I think it hits all the right places, there are points it makes me want to cry, there are points it was pure torture to write and yet this doesn't even cover as many years as the real life pre-relationship, there are scenes where I really think the writing is beautiful if I do say so myself. It strayed a little further from real life than I think I originally thought it might but there are still a lot of moments that feel very real to me, or at least to what I imagine they could have been. And this particular characterisation of them? They're my babies. And I had to keep reminding myself while writing it that at this point they WERE babies (18 and 21??????) 😭
I’m very excited to post the first chapter tomorrow (for a reason that will be revealed) and then twice weekly after that on Wednesdays and Saturdays 🗓 Mostly because I don't know if or when I'll write another fic so I'm not ready for this one to be over too quickly 🥺 (Side note: definitely not ruling another fic out! I truly love writing these two so much and if inspiration strikes me again I'm sure I would go for it, but this was the last solid idea I had for a whole fic and I think that's part of why I've taken so much care over it and made it so fucking long trying to include every possible idea I had, because if I am going out on this I want to be going out on a high, which I think this is. I'm gonna try and shift focus to working on some original stuff and we'll just see what happens on the fic front. Anyway!) But when I was calculating dates I realised a twice weekly schedule also means it'll be starting in September and ending in May, which feels like a fitting span for this story, even though it takes place over several years 💙💛
It's going to be a longgg journey, but I hope you'll join me for it, if you want. I've been thinking it might be fun to post the wattpad links to each chapter on here along with a little mini commentary of any thoughts I have about it, any BTS on the process, songs that particularly fit?? I know that’s what author’s notes are for but I feel more connected to my tumblr audience than to wattpad, you know? I don't know, let me know ✏️ But I'm grateful for anyone that wants to read it and any and all feedback. It's rare for me to love my writing as much as I do with this fic but I think it's because of how grounded in reality it is, they definitely feel the most true to the way I see Joey and Lauren that I've ever written them. And I'm really excited to share it with you 🥰
Shoutout to Gabi who's read all but the epilogue and tells me it's good so I know at least one person likes it before I publish it, and is also all round the best and most supportive friend ❤️
And I have to say a huge thank you to anyone who's ever read one of my fics. It started off as a single oneshot after AVPW and I now have like 175k total reads across all my works 🤯 I know that's probably the same 5 people rereading them thousands of times but that's still an absolutely mind blowing number for me. I might not have rediscovered my love of writing if it weren't for all of you. Thank you 💗
And finally here's a cover reveal for Right Place, Wrong Time ‼️ (very basic lmao but some fun/painful fitting details)
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Hello, lovely human.
Fanfic Writer Emoji ask!
How about you pick 15 emojis you want to answer, and go wild?... :)
oh god. oh you wonderful human you.
FIFTEEEEEEEN!!!!!
*clears throat*
okay. oh god. hnggnnnh. here we go. (I'm being all calm and normal, as promised.)
🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels? (1)
Helena realizing that she is allowed to want, and to have, happiness. Myka realizing that she is allowed to want, and to have, happiness! They've both been dealt really harsh cards by life, and I love to give them love and care and support, not just from each other, but from a wider circle of found family as well. And whenever I get to describe a scene that shows them realizing that, 🥺
🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh? (2)
I'm very proud of this line I put in Helena's mouth: “Well, it’s not as if they hadn’t imagined our bedroom activities long before there ever were any.”
😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers? (3)
I love cliffhangers, both at chapter endings and at fic endings when it's a series! And then wait a week (or, in And Now You, till the events of the next chapter, because I posted that fic in "real time", as it were) until the next chapter goes up. I'm glad my readers are still bearing with me ☺
✍ Do you have a beta reader? (4)
Several! And one of them I even married! 😁 No, but seriously - I find the feedback of beta readers invaluable, not just because English is my second language but because I get too close to the prose (oh wow, unintentional rhyme, nice of you to drop by!), and need an outside eye to tell me if I'm still going in the right direction.
🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write? (5)
I use good ol' MS Word. With a chapter index, and the new(ish) function of "jump back to where you left off last time", it really works for me. I write pretty much entirely linear, and use a different document for ideas and outline, and a third document for outtakes that might still turn out to be useful down the line, and all of that is straightforward enough to work in Word. I've tried Scrivener, but for me it didn't have enough advantages over what I was already used to in order to really (want to) dive into it and make it mine. With my betas, I use Google Docs and comments, but especially for multichapter fic, that is SO SLOW! And sometimes I write short fic right here on Tumblr, in the app.
🙋♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic? (6)
Well, I met my wife through my fics, so yes 😁 but even beyond that, a few of my family and friends know. However, none of them (AFAIK) read a lot of fic in general, nor my fic in particular; most of them aren't English readers, OR geeks.
🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic? (7)
Y'know, I just checked, and my ratings ranking is "Teen and up" 20 works, "General" 19, "Explicit" 17!, and "Mature" 4. 😂 so yeah, I do write the spicy stuff! Both as parts of the larger narrative (the most popular of which is And Now You), and as PWP (here the most popular is 24th century t...echnology, a Beverly/Kathryn fic). I gotta say I do love me some good smut. And I hope mine meets the bill!
💲 Would you ever open commissions? (8)
I only write fan fic, not original, so no. I am fiercely protective of AO3, and I will protect their integrity one hundred percent. I don't seek to monetize my writing, anyway - it's a pastime, it is fun, and I want it to stay that way. I am lucky in that I don't need any side hustles, and hey, no shade to those who do find (legal, non-harmful-for-the-larger-fanfic-community) ways to make money from writing, but I also hate hate hate that capitalism has come to the point where some people think you gotta derive money from something somehow for it to be worthwhile, or where people see no other choice than to try, in order to make their ends meet. I write for fun. I am privileged to be able to write for fun. So no, no commissions. But hey, sometimes I do prompts, and I love taking part in gift exchanges! So if you ever wanna get something written by me, just let me know and if it tickles my muse, you might get it!
🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic? (9)
Yes, I really like doing that! I have a winter holidays fic, a Halloween fic, a Pride fic, and I have another idea on the backburner for another winter holidays fic; no clue when I'll ever get to writing it, but I'll get there some day! As for favorites, the Halloween fic really kicked my ass, so it won't make that list, and the other two are tied!
🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants? (10)
So I never really "learned" how to write? In that I never had any kind of instruction in creative writing, I mean. I didn't even know there was such a thing as outlining, or what different writing processes looked like. I would just open a new Word doc and go forth! So yes, I started out a pantser - but lately I'm working with a writing coach, and have looked into writing styles and strategies in other ways too, and I'm realizing that outlining fits me a little better. I'm in a weird in-between phase right now where I have, like, half a dozen WIPs that were started pantser fashion but where I'm trying to outline how the rest of the fic might go; it's fascinating! (and talking with other writers has been immeasurably helpful for those!)
🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success? (11)
If I am happy with it. Sure, I like kudos, and hits, and comments (especially comments! When someone says "this fic is like a warm comfy blanket" or "I've read this four times at least"? Priceless!) but those are the icing, not the cake. I am immensely proud of Angel, Sinner, Dragonslayer, for example, both for the story itself and for the craft of it, but that one isn't even in the Top 15 by kudos or the Top 20 by hits. And for me to love a fic or to consider it good, those benchmarks don't matter. They make me happy, don't get me wrong - I love hearing if my fics reverberate with people, if they make them happy, if they make them feel all the feels, if people think the smut is hot, etc. etc. - but on my opinion of my fic, they have no impact.
⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter? (12)
When the muse hits me, when that holy trifecta of inspiration, motivation and time comes together, I can easily write 10,000 words in a day. It's not that I struggle to get words on the page; it's more that the days when that trifecta hits are rare. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was extremely prolific even by my own standards; writing was my way of coping. That has dropped a little bit, alas. Writing is still my happy place, my way of escaping the current hellscape and hang out with my favorite characters, but my energy has definitely been sapped by *gestures at everything*. Add to that that I only ever publish a fic when it's done, and not as I go (god, that idea scares me) (yes even when I publish it week by week; it's all written and done, I just enjoy torturing you by drawing it out), and you see why there's sometimes a long time between fic drops from me.
💥 How do you feel about criticism? 💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback? (13)
Ah! Feedback is a passion of mine. I can take something from almost any kind of comment - even if it is "this commenter has no idea and isn't engaging in good faith". And I always seek to improve my craft, and for that a comment like "this is a bit weak on plot, innit?" is really helpful! Especially if on top of "bit weak" I get given ideas how it could be stronger. Like I said, I never had any training in creative writing, so I am in many ways still learning and will continue to learn for the rest of my life, and I can only do that when I know where I still have room to grow. A bit of background here: I'm a social worker by training, and work in quality management now. I literally thrive in trying to improve things along any number of axes, and that is simply not possible without criticism. So hey, if you have always wanted to point out to me all the ways in which my stuff could be better, by all means reach out and let me know!
❌ What's a trope you will never write? (14)
Grimdark. Or even tragedy. I might take my characters to very dark places, but there will always be light at the end; there will always be a happy ending. Also, man-hating lesbians. Also, mlm. Yes, I'm a woman and yes, I write fanfic, but I write femslash, not slash. 🤷♀️ There might be a mlm couple somewhere in the background, sure, because I love including all kinds of queer people in my fics, but my muse just isn't tickled by mlm. As a matter of fact, my muse has pointed due Bering and Wells for the last five years or so? So yeah.
👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please! (15)
Man, I need to revive the posts in which I talk about my WIPs! Okay, here goes: I'm still working on Strata Part 2 with my beta, and also on Mind Over Matter Part 2. The Pirate fic is a bit on the back burner right now, because I have more inspiration for MOM2 at the moment. I finally have an idea for how to bring it to a good end (thanks, @anandabrat!), and that is the kind of iron you have to hit while it's hot! It'll be from Helena's POV, and show her journey towards a relationship. It's funny how an actual A/B/O fic, that started out with Bering and Wells having, like, the hottest sex ever (offpage though), has turned into one of the slowest burns I've ever written! 😅
Okay, that was a lot!!! And I loved every moment of it!
My wonderful friend, thank you for this opportunity to gush. Mwah mwah mwah!!!
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Let’s take a peek at Dancing with the Ghost of You 👀🤍
Ask me to spoil my current WIPs / plot bunnies.
Okay! So, first off it's not an original idea, I'm sure I've seen version of this out there, so 100% claim this is not groundbreaking but an idea that popped in my head and scenes birthed themselves in my thoughts and as soon as that happens, it's over, I'm attempting it. Let me make up a little synopsis for it that I may end up using for when it's actually finished:
Steve Harrington was used to making a lot of promises, some for reassurance, some to give hope, in desperate times. Eddie Munson made him promise to make sure you were taken care of if things went bad. You made him promise to make sure Eddie would come back to you. He couldn't keep one promise, he was determined to keep the other. Which was good, as you found, grief was a bitch, never giving you peace, especially in your dreams, conflicting with your reality at every turn.
( Yeah, we're doing steve x grieving!reader, bc i want to give him a happy ending but not be easy about it. eddie x reader in flashbacks, each chapter I'm planning to have at least one of the relationship, my first dance of angst. I've written five paragraphs of it so far, to which, to the read more! )
Friday night. Not too dead, not too busy, not at the dive bar and grill you work at, anyway. It had its perks, though, you were still young, a year after high school. College didn't interest you, not for what you had planned for your future. That relied on the stage — oh, not that stage. No, no, not the one at your work, but it was a stage....technically. Which would hopefully lead to a better stage, bigger, brighter, better sound system that could play to a whole screaming crowd bigger than this place could hold. But, for now, it was your stage. When your manager deemed it dead enough for you to take it.
But now, you were behind the bar, doing half ass cocktails in a town that really asked for anything on tap. Watching a girl on your stage, lace gloves, dangling earrings and leg warmers, singing her little heart out... Completely mangling Madonna. Like A Virgin seemed appropriate. Inexperienced. Clumsy. Awkward. A huge sense of am I doing this right? You didn't even like Madonna that much but as you wiped down the counter, your eyes couldn't stay away from the stage as she was absolutely committing a crime. The worst thing? You absolutely remembered this girl from school, Tammy Thompson, the girl you were in choir with, that everyone was certain would scale the music charts.
"Yikes," someone else had said, a familiar voice, your eyes swiping toward him, alone on the bar stool. "Muppet. I swear. Just like a muppet."
Your lips quirked, the start of a snicker just about to be brought out. Wasn't wrong, and now that he said it, you couldn't not hear it. Perhaps it was mean, you more than anyone knew it took a lot to make it into music, and really, you didn't know much about Tammy's passion, if it matched yours or if she sang like any songbird did — simply because people said they should. But... God, the fact that she got a spot before you without having to tend bar first, seemed more than a little insulting. Still, you couldn't quite resist. "Are we thinking Kermit or Miss Piggy? I'm hoping Kermit, slander against Miss Piggy is something I can't let stand. Or Fozzie the Bear, I'm getting a feel more for Fozzie."
That got him, where you were kind enough not to snicker out right, he laughed, loudly. Your eyes flashing toward Tammy, at least glad she didn't seem to notice, her eyes closed and focused on the song, at least it reaching its end — though still a few more songs in her set. Your eyes flashing back to him, recognizing him of course, looking a bit different than his high school days, about the same time you graduated. He looked over at you with a smile, parting his lip to speak, but another spoke from the other side of you, snapping your attention away from him. "Pitcher of your finest, but definitely cheapest ice cold beer, please?"
#whoahoney#eddie munson fic#steve harrington fic#eddie munson x reader#steve harrington x reader#— sneak peeks#i'm a spoiling bitch
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