#have to keep editing because it’s still ongoing LOL | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lucienarcheron · 7 months

Text

SJM Live Event 9.26.2023

This was so fun! I loved the questions and rapport between Christian Lauren and Sarah. Below is a recap of what was discussed :)

She looks great!

They met years ago when SJM was still writing TOG (on book two)

COURTOFMASS helped narrow down the questions so AYY fandom

CL likes to see when people try to summarize the SJM’s books so they asked SJM to summarize CC

SJM’s palms were sweating (LOL) and she summarized it as “a mix of urban fantasy, fantasy, fantasy but modern world - kick ass snarky heroine who goes on a journey of self-discovery and healing with hot ass dudes and hot sex”

“Doesn’t look any family members in the eye” because of her smut (lol)

SJM doesn’t look at any theories. “I say no in the most loving way”

She doesn’t have social media on her phone so she’s not lurking around on the internet. She just wants to stay in her creative bubble. Every now and then a friend will send her something “lol look at this crazy theory”

Creating CC / what was that like?

It was a year-long process and ongoing as she was writing it. She’s back living in NYC and growing up in the city inspired a lot of this book. The idea came to her on a plane while on tour (possibly HOF) and she heard a piece of music, and saw Danika’s voice reaching out to Bryce. It’s when she burst into tears and Bryce came to life (she’s told us this before). She kind of worked in reverse as it unraveled in her mind. It’s something she thought about for years and it was her “fun” / side project. Over the course of a bunch of years, until TOG was starting to wrap up, she kept coming back to it.

This was the story she wanted to tell because she loved Bryce and Hunt so much by that point. It was over the course of years daydreaming about this story and peeling away the images of the story. She had a lot of fun writing this book.

How does she keep track of the worlds she creates?

Publisher has an official bible which they constantly reference and she has an awesome editor that remembers all the important stuff and small moments/lines. She has a terrible memory in real life but SJM keeps all her stories occupied in her brain. Also keeps a bunch of notebooks.

We don’t know much about Hunt’s origin so are we going to find out about his parentage and background in the next book?

We will learn more about Hunt in the next book. As for his well-being, “I make no promises. I’m not saying anything about anything.” LOL. “I will say that when I was working on HOSAB my editor and I were thinking about what was the most horrible thing that could happen.” Originally she considered him getting his wings chopped off again but her editor was like “what can be worse” and it’s the slave tattoo again. A new level of trauma for him to unload in the next book. “He has a lot of room to grow and shit to deal with it. Poor Hunt, he’s in for a journey coming up.”

Will we find out more about the Autumn King? Does he connect to the Autumn Court?

Yes, we will learn more (about him not necessarily yes to the Autumn Court connection). “He’s not a father in any way.” In the process of writing and editing, he’s become one of her favorite to write because he’s so horrible and terrible. He’s capable of doing the right thing but doesn’t. He’s just a fucked up, horrible person. It’s a lot of fun to put opposing characters in a room to see what happens (bryce vs autumn king). It’s so satisfying for her to see a woman get one up on a douchey asshole.

Ruhn question - Some headcanon in the SJM fandom (that I didn’t quite catch but it made them all laugh) Something about Ruhn and vibrators? Sarah nearly fell down the stairs laughing about this. Now that she’s thinking about sweet Ruhn and where he is, she feels bad. (SARAH NO).

Talked about her writing process - Sometimes she will write a whole draft and realize it’s not what she wants. When she was working on HOFAS, she was going through some shit (didn’t want to elaborate) and she wrote the whole thing but then she didn’t like it. She was “meh” about it. She knew she hadn’t found the right story and it wasn’t good enough. She is very intense about her writing and wants to put her very best writing out there.

There’s a little bit of an extra gap between the books because she had her baby but also she went through the first/second round of edits with other things going on that she wasn’t in the right space. She felt like she needed to throw out the whole thing and start over. She wrote a brand new draft in 4-5 weeks and then she found the story. A couple of scenes stayed from the first draft but almost of it is new. She never wants to put out any work she doesn’t believe in. “You can’t fix a blank page.” so it’s all part of the writing process for her.

For example, the book she’s working on now - spent the whole day writing a scene but she doesn’t like it and it’s part of the process.

What it was like waiting for readers to get to the ending of HOSAB / Another author asked about when she decided to crash her worlds together the author can’t fathom that Sarah didn’t plan this out from the beginning so when Aelin went through the worlds and Rhys sees her - “Are you some crazy genius where all these little breadcrumbs come into your brain or was it intentional?”

Not a genius in any way. Talks about her son and how he says “I’m Sarah J Mask” - her kids keep her humble (lmao). Her son is obsessed with Taylor Swift so it doesn’t matter what she does, she’ll never be Taylor Swift so she’ll never be cool (lol). She loves Taylor and has so much respect for her and now she knows all her songs because they only listened to her in the car. She has the little golden book of TS for her son (LOL). In the eyes of her son, TS is the only creative genius and she is all for it.

When it comes to the ending of this book, she knew for a while and knew these worlds overlapped before she started working on KOA. She knew Aelin was going to crash through these worlds and had already started daydreaming on CC. When she wrote that scene of Aelin, she wanted her to go through the ACOTAR world and see Feysand then had her go through the CC world. When she was really working on CC officially, while daydreaming about it, she got into this idea of the worlds and how they’re all technically connected. She remembered having this “what the fuck” moment of HOSAB’s ending. “I don’t know what’s happening to my body” and everything clicked in. While working on CC1, she was able to plant some seeds.

When she finally wrote the end of HOSAB with Rhys, she cried. Things had just completely gone to shit in CC and “my wonderful Rhys” comes in. One of her favorite parts that she’s ever written.

Will we see ACOTAR characters coming in/having POVs? - “I’m not saying anything about anything.” We will see some of the ACOTAR world. It basically picks up close to where we left off.

Is Dankia really dead - “Um, yeah.” LOL “She is dead and as much as I wish was miraculously living, she’s dead.”

Is Connor really dead - “Yes?” LOL

Does Emil really have no powers? - Passed on answering this. “I like it.”

With magic being weaker in the modern world, do mates mean the same thing in the fantasy (ACOTAR/TOG) as they do in the modern world? - Pass because (they started speaking over each other here but I assume it will be because we will understand more of this in HOFAS).

Is Hunt really Bryce’s mate - “Am I going to destroy some kind of theory?” She answered, “YES, HE IS HER MATE.” She talked about how she’s changed the LI in her other series (the FMC’s first LI not being her last one) but with CC she kept the same LI from the beginning to the end - “If they both make it to the end.” (she’s so mean for this LOL)

When the first ACOTAR book came out, it was hard for her to keep Feysand a secret because people would tell her how much they loved Tamlin and she had to just smile awkwardly about it (lolol).

How much of Bryce’s power has she accessed? - We’ll see in the next book!

They talked a little about parenting and their kids aging and personal stories for a bit.

CL mentioned SJM previously saying that people won’t need to read ACOTAR to read CC and vice versa. Is that statement still true? - “You should read ACOTAR and if you haven’t read ACOTAR and get to HOSAB, it’ll make you want to read it.” She had them put an AD in the back of HOSAB for people to read ACOTAR. She then said, “I do not stand by that statement. I renounce this statement. Read ACOTAR first.” (👀)

Discussed the cover of HOFAS and whether the cover has a dragon head - “I am not saying anything. There are always easter eggs.” She added, “We made sure there were many easter eggs.” It’s probably her favorite cover. It came together so beautifully.

Did she write HOSAB in order? - She’s always super pumped to write her endings. She has to write in a linear/chronical fashion and she dangles the ending as motivation. She was powering through the rest of the book so she could get to writing the endings of HOSAB. It was the same with ACOSF with Nesta in the Blood Rite and saving Feyre.

What were some of the most fun/favorite/hardest scenes- In HOEAB, when Hunt discovers Bryce’s unicorn collection. Sarah has collections of My Little Pony and has been in bidding wars for them. She loves them LOL. Another scene will always be Bryce and Danika doing the drop. She still cries thinking about it. “Call me sentimental, cheesy, or whatever - I believe in our darkest moments we aren’t alone.” That scene means a lot to her.

In HOSAB - she loved the opening of the book where they’re basically at a frat party “Wonder where the inspo for that came from” LOL / She loves the little moments of them living their lives and getting to be themesleevs in between disasters. She loved it when Ruhn was super stoned lmao. She also loved the scene with The Hind and Ithan in the bar as well as the end of HOSAB with the Hind revealing herself to her Ruhn; she cried a lot while writing those scenes.

She gets so emotionally involved with her books/characters. Most of the book is what she loves. She needs to be obsessed with her book because she has to read it over so many times and stay in love with it as she rereads it.

She remembers seeing tear stains on copies of her manuscripts. She loves all her characters so much and they make it worth it across all the series. They feel real to her. She’s getting to see them in all aspects of their lives.

Three Bigger Questions -

One of the reasons they clicked as friends is because they have the same fangirl heart - CL loves her passion for things. How does it feel to have this fandom follow her the way she follows her favorites? Sarah mentions how she was a fangirl of CL first.

It feels weird to even say fandom for her books. It’s beyond anything she’s ever hoped for herself. There’s no ego here but she grew up as a fangirl for so many things so it blows her mind that people connect with these characters and worlds and that they mean something to them. She also has a profound sense of gratitude that she gets to do what she loves because of the people who read her books. She’s deeply appreciative of the joy and enthusiasm we bring to the books. It’s a very humbling and moving thing to inspire someone.

Every time she sees someone reading her book, she walks up to them and talks about it apparently! One girl on the street walked by her and Josh and they saw a tattoo of the mountain with three stars and they wanted to ask her about it. Sarah sent Josh to ask her about her tattoo. “He wasn’t cool about it, he just blurted it out.” She then introduced herself but the girl didn’t seem to believe her HAHA. “No makeup and in regular street clothes. I think she thought I was a lunatic on the street. I don’t think she left the encounter believing it was me.” “I’m going to be quiet and not scare people anymore.”

She saw a guy on the subway reading ACOMAF “Is he reading some sexy ass stuff on the subway?” but he was reading it because his gf was reading it.

It blows her mind seeing people read her books in real life just like seeing her book on shelves never gets old.

Now that CC3 is done, what are you working on now?

Currently working on/drafting the next ACOTAR novel! That’s all she will say. She has become so focused and excited writing this book. She described it as the feeling when you’re first obsessed with someone and all they’re thinking about. For the next god knows how many months or “a million years” LOL

#sjm #sarah j maas #crescent city #hosaf #hosab #hosab spoilers #acotar #sjm live

186 notes · View notes

heavensbeehall · 4 days

Text

my elaborate mags headcanon

eta: lol i have edited this like five times to add details that I forgot.

Sixteen-year-old Mags Flanagan lives with her elderly grandmother who suffers from dementia, one-armed uncle (he lost it in the war but made the mistake of telling Peacekeepers a shark bit him) and cousin and is Reaped for the 11th Annual Hunger Games. She strongly suspects the Capitol-loyal Mayor of choosing children from Rebel families on purpose (he is naive in thinking eventually the Capitol will be appeased). Her Uncle feels incredibly guilty about her predicament. Her lobsterman cousin must race back from waters near District 13 (aka Maine) to look after the grandmother who should not be left alone. We learn the people of District 4 have always known District 13 was not destroyed (they can see it from their boats).

The small, redheaded girl has little hope of winning, especially compared to her tall, athletic District Partner, Tack, who is surprisingly easy to talk to and willing to team-up with Mags. She had thought him a bit of a jock. Tack's family were also Rebels and he has A Lot of Opinions on how the Capitol uses terror to keep the districts down. He would prefer to die at Mags' hands, or any other tribute than the muttations like the snakes that got Coral the year previous. He knows several District 4 kids who had nightmares about the snakes. He is very high minded, so obviously he will die. (Tack is blonde and has a polisci major vibe.)

Mags is more like Katniss in that she just wants to get back to her grandma. (She's old and might wander off a cliff!) But she does see his points.

Locked in cages, the tributes are interviewed by "the Gamemaker boy" (Snow), and Mags watches him very carefully as he charms some of the other tributes, particularly the female ones. Mags is, for once, grateful to be a lesbian because she forms a bond with Tigris, who is hired to make the tributes look presentable for the interviews, instead--both queer, both raised by their grandmothers and close to a cousin. She comes to realize Snow and Gaul never intend to stop the Hunger Games. She sees darkness in him and thinks he distrusts women (reader will know this is baggage from tbosas), thinking they are manipulative.

The Tributes are thrown into the ampitheater arena (same as 10 and prior) but it has been gutted and circus-themed, then filled with freakish muttations. There are different "rings" where different mutts are located. Mags and her partner work together and survive the lions, bears and--finally--an electric eel (as seen at the end of TBOSAS movie) which Mags evades mainly due to her ability to hold her breath for several minutes thanks to years of freediving in District 4. She is greatly affected by Tack's death.

When she emerges from the arena, she finds Snow made himself (the Ringmaster)--not the tributes--the star of the show, for political advantage. Mags is rarely allowed to speak in public--though her image is widely used for publicity purposes (see Capitol Couture) though Mags thinks it is Tigris who really made her striking. But she has a falling out with Tigris because she takes a dim view of Coriolanus, whom Tigris still thinks will stop the Games once he has more power.

Mags returns to 4 determined to spend as many good moments as she can with her grandmother (who no longer recognizes her, but that is okay because they are together) and hopes to prepare the children of 4 for the ongoing "forever war." She speaks out about her experience in the Capitol at events in 4 and eventually over the shipboard radios (mags basically goes on a podcast). Most people in 4 don't have TVs. Snow has her silenced with a poison that immobilizes much of her face. She helps her cousin run for Mayor in the hopes of finding a "better way" to chose kids for the Hunger Games--though she does not think any child should go only knows that it's not going to stop.

Slight Mags/Tigris but it doesn't work out. Epilogue set after the 70th Games, where Annie's disorientation reminds her of her grandmother. Annie very much wanted to be like the Mags of the posters the Capitol produced when she volunteered. But Mags knows that version of Mags was just an illusion. And Mags understands why the death of Annie's district partner nearly destroyed her. Themes about perception and reality, dementia, psychotic breaks etc.

Even though Mags' grandmother didn't know who she was at the end, it didn't matter so long as she felt safe and happy. Annie and Finnick give her a sense of family that she thought she had lost when her wife (who was not Tigris but that is okay) was killed by Snow. She is happy in this moment.

#mags flanagan #district 4 #i started writing this as a fic #but sigh #i know i will never finish #odesta #finnick odair #annie cresta #tigris snow

10 notes · View notes

kvothe-kingkiller · 1 year

Text

Edit: No longer looking for Alpha Readers but I’m keeping this up for posterity and info

I’m looking for alpha readers for an ongoing fantasy project which I am currently releasing chapter by chapter. I’ll also make a post when I finish it in case you are the type to prefer to read it in one go.

You do not need to have editing skills or experience. I am only looking for basic commentary.

Blurb: In an unsteady time of peace following a generations-long war, Mila, an 18 year old farmer, finds herself unexpectedly thrust into the world of nobility upon discovering she can wield a power thought only to be possessed by the upper class. Struggling to find her feet in this new environment and shunned by those around her, she juggles learning about her abilities, her identity, and the truth of the war behind the propaganda. When her equally ostracized mentor gets a tip about a plot to assassinate one of the country’s leaders, it’s down the dysfunctional teacher with a shady past and his apprentice who can barely control her powers to prevent the country from falling back into conflict.

(This is adult fantasy, not YA)

tags/highlights/themes: non-european-based fantasy world, adult fantasy, many queer characters and relationships (including aces), discovering sexuality, struggles with mental health and addiction, physical disabilities, dealing with trauma and taking responsibility, race relations, eat the rich, government propaganda, political intrigue, war is for money, war hurts the most vulnerable, etc

more info under the cut but if you’re interested or have questions, please DM me

(scroll down for info about setting, plot, and characters. content warnings and ‘rating’ under plot)

General Info:

Like I said, no experience needed. All I want to hear about is what you like/dislike, what is clear/unclear and any theories you have (for foreshadowing). You can be as detailed as you want or you can leave a single sentence comment for each chapter, anything helps.

This is a first draft to be clear. I want alpha readers so I can make large changes to plot before rewriting everything for the second draft. On one hand it’s still fairly rough, on the other hand you don’t need to know anything to help. I just need opinions on plot and pacing and characters and foreshadowing etc etc. Again I am still writing it, I usually do ish a chapter a month sometimes faster sometimes slower. The chapters are usually ~10k, and I already have 27 out. (it is long)

This is going to be done through google classroom (yes, google classroom) because I need it to be inaccessible to anyone not invited and because I want people to be able to comment without being influenced by others and google classroom was literally the only thing I could find to do that for free. This does mean that whatever name you have on google will be seen by me and possibly others, just as an fyi. Also I have to add you to the ‘class’ but I can send you the prologue first if you want to try-before-you-buy (tho be aware the prologue is a bit more action packed than the start of the plot)

misc. pros for doing this: it already has art! because I do be an artist as well and I only ever draw my characters because motivation be finicky. Also, if you get through the entire thing I’ll do a commission for you (for free). plus I’m always looking for art ideas so if you say ‘it would be funny/cool if x did y’ then chances are I will actually draw it lol. also, free book ig?

Setting:

Magic: Low fantasy with scarce/rare magic. The magic is called forging and is basically element magic but I wanted to explain all the hand movements people do with those so I incorporated more rules and ‘science’ to make it more rigid. there are ten basic ‘facets’ (air fire water stone earth wood iron copper blood bone) and people can be born knowing any number, or special different ones, but it gets exponentially rarer with more facets. the magic is genetic and mostly confined to the upper class and has become a way of oppressing the lower class. this actually gets addressed rather than mentioned then ignored (cough, korra, cough)

Culture: The culture of the main country, Odrad, is based on african, middle eastern, and mediterranean cultures, with a bit of southern asian. However most of that is simply due to the setting being dry and hot, and so developing dark skin and loose clothing and making most things out of stone and plaster due to the scarcity of wood. Religion is polytheistic based around an all mother type goddess and the god of the sun with the biggest festival being the start of the wet season. Other important countries include Acrait, the biggest on the continent, which is more south asian based, and Sheiro, which is steppe-type culture. Odrad is an ex-monarchy ruled by a council that has morphed into capitalism and feudalism’s horrid little baby with ‘nobles’ controlling everything.

Queer Culture: First of all I use the word queer a Lot lol so if you aren’t into that, might not be for you. There is oppression since I am one of the queers who prefers an overcoming story than a setting with no oppression, but it is similar to current western culture in the sense that it’s not Horrible (so no like legal death sentences for gay sex etc), not As bad as it used to be, is worse in rural areas, and is rapidly changing in the cities. for the most part people hide their queerness but there is underground culture. Most of the characters are queer so there’s a lot of rep including ace and nb

Plot:

So far, it is Long. I am 200k words in at chapter 27 and probably only halfway through and this is only the first book. A lot of the first bit is just Mila’s struggles at the school where she’s learning forging. It is taking a turn into much more political intrigue than I planned but I’m leaning into it. so just know that its long and not just constant action, there is a lot of downtime since I enjoy my character interactions and developments and fluff etc.

It is very R rated. Mostly due to dark subject matter, blood/gore etc, and lots of swearing (I come from a family where they’re just used as emphasis words really lol, so that’s somewhat leaked in...and it’s a first draft so I can’t be bothered to spend that much time removing them). There is a Lot of discussion around sex but no actual sex scenes. It has many things which could be triggering so just lmk if you want me to warn you about anything specific. It is dark and has dark themes, however, it is not a grimdark vibe, the vibes are actually fairly light all things considered. The characters have a lot of bantz and mess around and have fun, so it’s much less constantly serious than most ‘dark’ adult fantasy. I wanted to make them more relatable as people rather than just ‘whatever badass magic user’ (they’re actually mostly fairly pathetic pft)

General CW list: violence, gore, emotional abuse, abusive relationships, child abuse, sexual harassment, bullying, homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism, frank depictions of mental illness, alcohol/drug use, addictions, intrusive thoughts, self harm, suicide ideation/attempts, war, war crimes, torture, mind control

CW list of things mentioned and discussed or that happen but not shown directly ‘on screen’: rape, pedophilia, forced pregnancy

Characters:

I’ll just give a very brief (and not great) description of the main three

Mila: (pron. ‘mee-luh’) the MC, disaster lesbian but more in a cringe fail way than a messy bitch way. tiny (4′10) but v powerful, just can’t quite use it yet. country kid way behind on the times. needs a break so badly

Ardev: imagine if you gave a wet rat the power to take over the world but he couldn’t be bothered. gay/ace and has so many things deeply wrong with him. short king

Endel: the only competent one. bi. BDE. femme. a slut. perfect at everything. his biggest flaw is that he likes Ardev. also has things deeply wrong with him.

thx for reading and again, DM if you’re interested or have questions <3

#ymg #young mans game #my writing #my characters #i Will be self reblogging this many times so watch out

50 notes · View notes

witheredoffherwitch · 7 months

Note

hello there! just wanted to send an encouraging ask as I very rarely look at any hotd-related content on here (due to the lack of critical thinking that can be found and the pure vitriol spewed through anonymous messages - many lovely mutuals have also received horrendous anons telling them they should be physically harmed since they do not enjoy an incestuous crackship and that’s absolutely unhinged!) and you’ve handled these absurdly obnoxious, transparent anons in your inbox with grace and eloquence. it’s been a year and many moots on twitter have learned to keep to themselves regarding opinions related to alys/aemond and how it could possibly be interpreted as a gothic tale/romance (as they keep tabs over there too) but it’s truly pathetic and unsettling to see how a certain part of this fanbase CONTINUES to spew their hate and try to incite a reaction. rooting for a female character to be sexually assaulted simply because one is bitter over an incestuous crackship not happening is the definition of childish and frankly very odd. there’s already more than enough of that in this whole franchise and aemond taking a woman by force is simply not in-keeping with how they’ve characterized him in the show (as you’ve aptly acknowledged) and is very unlikely to happen (much to their displeasure). their relationship is not a fairytale but that doesn’t mean it has to include that at all.

anyhow this ended up being way too long but wanted to commend you for dealing with this pure nonsense from Those shippers! I’ve turned my anon option off to avoid this sort of behavior and moots who think alys has alot to offer as a character have received tons of hate while minding their own business. it’s been a year and they are STILL insufferable. seems they cannot cope with the fact that she will be in the show and that their ship is not happening. very sad. in any case, gayle seems like a very dedicated actress and she and ewan are surely to have an interesting screen presence together. can’t wait to see what they bring as a duo chemistry-wise and their performances! 🥰

Ahhh Cecilia!! I'm so sorry for getting around to your message so late, but I am all the more grateful to you for reaching out at the time. Aside from those two anons (to whom I so eloquently requested to throat my cock), I think I did a pretty good job at handling this ongoing dissent. Thank you so much once again!

I am so sorry that you guys had to deal with this kind of nonsense before, BUT I seriously hope that these anons have not deterred your enthusiasm for any Alysmond content. We barely make for a moderately-sized Kpop girl group -- and I hope the few remaining girlies are still active to keep this small hive humming and buzzing. Alysmond is a ship that will sustain irrespective of what the show follows - i mean, we have other crackships that are still going strong after all. We should grant ourselves a bit of freedom to express our creative interpretations of the narrative.

Coming to what you said about Aemond's depiction in the show, I 100% stand by that take. He's not shown to be an unreasonable brute who will take someone by force. Moreover from whatever leaks we've got till now (though I would take them with a grain of salt), Gayle's Alys is also made to come off as a very kooky character. Regardless of what they show on-screen, I am already drowning ten-feet deep into these headcanons -- IMAGINE the first interaction between Alys 'a barn owl cursed to live in human form' Rivers and Aemond 'tis I who studies philosophy' Targaryen. I don't care what anyone says because that's a recipe for deliciously dark and romantically gothic meet-cute. That's our quirky cursed witch and menacingly tortured kinslayer! If Condal messes it up, then we have enough material to draft multiple fucking AUs for ourselves. LOL I've even suggested earlier how we only need Gayle in Alys' costume -- because rest assured, we'll do the rest with moodboards and countless video edits.

I am extremely tight on schedule since I am doing my Masters while working a full-time job -- and because of that, I am short on producing the kind of content I'd like BUT hopefully, I can get something out by the end of this month. To be very honest, I actually don't really mind crackships (I read them all the time and have shared links to some of my favorites) but what really annoys me is this constant need to put down other ships to justify your own little delulu headcanons.

Anyway thanks for reaching out once again, and you are welcome to take a nice cushy spot in our coven.

Love, Kalki. 🤗

#anon asks #lovely sisterwife 💕#alysmond hive #coven convening #hotd fandom #shippy discourse

8 notes · View notes

gemmahale · 13 days

Note

Gemmmmmaaaaa, it's-a me, Sy! 5, 17, and 23 for the writer game, please.

Hi Sy! I got distracted last night and totally spaced answering this, whoops! Here you go now!

Fic Writer Asks

5. First sentence of the 5th paragraph of an unpublished WIP.

Feylands, Chapter 3

“Stop!” His voice reverberates, deep and thundering. Josephine turns and runs faster, breaths puffing ahead of her in delicate little clouds.

(I gave you two, because the first was short. And I know you love Feylands. 😉)

17. Talk about your writing and editing process.

Oof. I'm always thinking about things and drafting scenes in my head (a solid number make it to the WIP eventually). But when I have time to actually sit down to write (and I'm not avoiding reports or anything 😅) I'm actually really...mundane. I don't have a special "writing beverage" or "writing snack" - at this point, I'm curled up in some convoluted shape in my chair with my tablet balanced in some gravity-defying manner (still learning the best way; when it was my phone it was different lol) and keyboard in my lap. Most likely in a blanket because I live with a human furnace named Kallen who keeps the house chilly. (I can put layers on, I only get crabby about it once in a while.) Hopefully when we get my office/craft room squared away, I'll be in there sometimes. Nothing really changes except a desk/table to work on; I am actively looking at lap desks for both crafting and writing purposes. 😄 The first part is picking my WIP - sometimes it's based on vibe, an idea I had, a comment I had when I'm co-brainstorming with someone, etc. I have 18 (oof) direct links on my tablet now to different WIPs. (Five - what the hell Gemma - of which aren't listed on my masterlist because I'm holding them close to my chest still. For an assortment of reasons.) Usually, Kallen and I are watching a livestream or playlist of YouTube videos from a few creators we both enjoy when I'm writing. If he's off to his office to go play with some friends, I put some music or a chill stream on for background noise. And then I go to town. Editing is kind of an ongoing thing for me - I go back and re-read what I've written before to get the vibe, see what's working/what isn't, fix weird spelling errors, etc. So there's always little tweaks happening to documents. I've shared WIPs with some close friends - you included, Sy 😉 - to get vibe checks and/or general feedback. But when (if) I choose to publish, I'll read through the document once or twice, have someone else proof it, and then off it goes and I find a spelling mistake upon posting. So really, I'm a poker and tinker as a writer. I know where I'm headed, we'll get there eventually. Someday.

23. Pick three words that describe your writing.

Evocative, personable, vivid

I used "personable" because I couldn't think of a word that meant "people are written as people - good and bad" because I feel like I do that well.

#gemma answers #Fic Writer Asks #Feylands WIP #Gemma Talks WIPs #Syoddeye #Cripes I just realized your username spelling #But it's aesthetically pleasing to see regardless lol

3 notes · View notes

not-poignant · 8 months

Text

August 2023 Writing Round-Up

Here's the monthly round-up of everything written and posted in August 2023!

Underline the Black 56

Underline the Black 57

Underline the Black 58

Underline the Black 59

Underline the Gold 03

The Nascent Diplomat 35

The Nascent Diplomat 36 (Patreon early access $5+)

Underline the Red 05 (Patreon early access $5+)

Chapter Commentary - Underline the Black 23 (Patreon reward $3+)

Chapter Commentary - Underline the Black 24 (Patreon reward $3+)

Game Theory 02 (the Edits) ($10+)

FANFICTION

A Stain that Won't Dissolve 18

A Stain that Won't Dissolve 19

A Game We Can Try 01

A Game We Can Try 02

The following stories are ongoing at my Wattpad account. For those who prefer to read on the Wattpad app, or who prefer shorter chapters, or just want to reread the stories somewhere different (or want to give me some love!), you can currently find these stories ongoing there:

A Stain that Won't Dissolve

Falling Falling Stars

Once the scheduled chapters for these come to an end, I will no longer be writing at Wattpad! And will just leave a note to anyone who finds me there that I'm on AO3 instead. It's been an interesting experiment, and a pretty spectacular failure, lol.

Thanks for everyone's patience while Patreon has been a bit fucky with payments and declining payments, I've experienced this myself too as a patron. The short version of the story is that Patreon started doing more of their payments through Ireland instead of the USA and didn't tell anyone, and a lot of banks freaked out because it was unexpected. As far as I know, that's the main reason this has been happening!

August (I always spell Augus first and have to remind myself to add the T, just little Fae Tales things) was a good month with a decent 14 chapters written across four stories, Underline the Black, A Stain that Won't Dissolve, Underline the Gold and Underline the Blue - Black got a whopping 6 chapters to itself!

And that was a total of 50,909 words. :D

My September writing is actually going to have a really heavy focus on A Stain that Won't Dissolve, other than that, I'll be diligently writing ahead because in October I'll be taking a month off from writing!!! I'll still be posting chapters as usual - more than in July and August, I was preparing for October :D - but my monthly wordcount will be set to 0 and if I want to write, I can work on anything I like, which I'm looking forward to.

I'm excited to take a full month off before NaNoWriMo, because I tend to burn out pretty badly towards the end of the year, and this is the first year of my writing life where I've managed to plan things enough that I can take a kind of holiday from writing, and while I'll still be doing other aspects of this job, writing and editing 10+ new chapters will not be a part of it. Or at least, if it is, it'll be on literally anything I want lol.

If you're particularly excited to see me work on anything in particular, including stories not listed here, please let me know!

This year I've written y'all 358,000 words, which is the equivalent of about 4 standard novels. :D

If you want to get updates or links to my fanfic, or hear about ongoing writing things, and read excerpts from future chapters, please find me on Twitter or Tumblr, and subscribe to my fanfiction account over at thespectaclesofthor.

If you want to keep seeing my writing and support it, come join a tier at Patreon - it's my income and it lets me share this writing with you! Alternatively, I have a Ko-Fi account for anyone who wants to support that one. :D

Sending love to all of you, from the lurkers, to the folks who just like that one story, to the peeps who aren't here for the writing and are somehow here for all my ask responses I love you all

#housekeeping #monthly round up #underline the black #game theory edits #underline the gold #underline the red #a stain that won't dissolve #basically ALL THE THINGS #a lot of fanfiction this month!#a little less original stuff #because i plan on slamming a bunch of chapters down next month instead

12 notes · View notes

groovesnjams · 4 months

Text

youtube

10 / 50

"Ditto" by NewJeans

DV:

While it's not the consensus pick ("Super Shy", because the critics love Erika de Casier) or the cool kids' pick ("OMG", per cool kid Crystal Leww), "Ditto" was my absolute favorite NewJeans song this year, not to mention the one that kicked off their ongoing imperial phase. "Ditto" showcases the group's earnestness and emotional vulnerability, intense feelings delivered via straightforward hooks. It also proved irresistible to DJs and remixers - the first time I heard "Ditto" it was as an edit on Soundcloud, and in the past year I've heard this hook over everything from pinkpantheress-style garage (obvious, irresistible) to Jersey club (massive banger, would lose my shit if I was in a club) to amapiano (you know, it's a fun concept, good try.) "Ditto" is indelible and yet flexible enough to remain itself in any of these settings, but ultimately it's the original version that I return to the most. It's easy to see what the DJs love about "Ditto", and easy to fall in love with it for the same reasons: the synth washes add a subtle layer of melody, but this is a song for vocals and percussion - at a distance, you might forget you're hearing anything but snare and clapping and singing, and "Ditto" is so tightly composed that it can work at that level alone. It's a tapestry of hooks, stitched together by a series of nonsense words that carry emotional heft - from "ra ta ta ta" to the bookending "Hoo hoo"s to "ditto" itself. It can be sliced and stretched and still maintain its identity, still be recognizably itself even when it's moved to an entirely unexpected context. NewJeans deliver "Ditto" so sweetly that it's easy to miss how singularly unmistakable it is.

MG:

NewJeans, I learned from DV on the night of our SOTY summit, are a “little sister” group in the k-pop pantheon. I don’t keep up with k-pop; I fell into the “critics” bracket, preferring “Super Shy” because it was interesting to see Erika de Casier’s airy, petal-light R’n’B embraced by an entertainment and media machine. (I like her but she can be a bit Grimes-y where it’s like, lol, you’re not gonna get picked for the next Rihanna record, stop trying.) I’m not a little sister, either, but I appreciate their uphill battle for recognition. From Bianca’s scheming in 10 Things I Hate About You to Beth’s untimely death in Little Women to Solange Knowles and Ashlee Simpson, little sisters have to work twice as hard to get half the credit. NewJeans might be more “little sister” as a marketing class, aiming for tweens and under as a target audience, but “Ditto” really speaks to their experience, beginning with the title – a faint copy of an original – and developing further with lyrics about “stay[ing] in the middle,” the Promethean resting place of all younger siblings. I don’t know that this was the year of the little lister, I don’t know that any year ever will be, but it’s fun to shine a brief spotlight on all the babies out there.

#gnjsoty2k23 #newjeans #ditto

2 notes · View notes

onewomancitadel · 1 year

Text

Pretty much the guiding ethos of writing The Distance Which Fools the Skimming Eye has been that I'm not writing canon, I'm just writing an epic romance that is the plot. The ensemble cast and the actual broader consequences of the romance reflect what I think may happen in canon, but the romance itself IS the plot, and however certain events progress in the story is directly inverse to the romance. If it's constrained to Jaune and Cinder's perspective, then everything is through their eyes; I do enjoy tapping into that element of 'stories that would break hearts if we knew them' which is one of my favourite themes that this is their story but there's still plenty going on in the background (which tbf is partly a conceit of R/WBY already). It's just about what's relevant to them that's relevant to us. It's not R/WBY because R/WBY is not the Jaune-and-Cinder show.

This has been on my mind since I started writing and I have written a post before specifically about my Vacuo (I can't find it): even if V9 - well, it will definitely happen - changes the characterisation of a setting like Vacuo, you can pretty much read the setting of Vacuo in the story more like a magical place of many places that serves a particular thematic role in the fanfic which can co-exist with canon!Vacuo. If anything I kind of like the fantastic room for mixed interpretation. My Vacuo can only be what it is in the story on the story's terms and can be a kingdom of romance.

Obviously I'm picky about my canon and I wanted to take the opportunity where I could conceivably write this fic and incorporate my interpretation and predictions but I also realise that with V9 around the corner that opportunity is sort of coming to an end - at the very least I'm glad I am where I am with the current romance in this fic lol. It's very hard for me to take that canon hat off because that motivates my enthusiasm to write.

Although it has been funny that some things I have theorised people have asked if they are canon facts. The thing about the alchemical use of magical eyes in the story are my thing. They might be implicit in canon in some way but it may not be literally treated like a witch's potion or directly described as something explicitly needed to create human-Grimm abominations. But I think it's terrifying body horror and neat and very witchy.

Although although more prominently I think it's interesting when what I feel to be are canonical elements are taken as noncanonical interpretation, and I would say this is true of the story in many ways just by nature of Jaune and Cinder being polarising and overall dismissed characters. So, if anything, my concern about canon scrutiny, canon Jossing, etc., is sort of unfounded, because I'm already in a fandom-precarious position.

But my own personal principles and interests matter to me the most in writing the fanfic because there is no reason to write it otherwise. I like to think that no matter how bad my fic is, I at least care about it very much, and try very hard. Even when I'm up late editing and crying I still want to keep writing it lol. Well, I want to keep writing everything hahahah.

I thought I'd get those thoughts out because yes, I didn't hit my goal of finishing before Volume 9, but I can't control my illness or my specialist appointment taking over six months to come to fruition. I am glad that I haven't given up though and that I went in with intentions that have supported ongoing writing and meant I didn't end up feeling as demoralised as I otherwise could have.

Overall it's a very weird fic to write, because I am very dedicated to it but obviously so much of it runs contrary to the fandom (I mean just the fact that so many people think it's a crackship/people have tried to talk to me about competing Jaune ships as if I want to do that on a Jaune/Cinder fic etc.) and there's a weird relationship between fanon and canon in this fandom it means I'm in an even more weird position because I care about canon... on and on it goes. No I don't think I'm special, I'm just a rando loser writing Jaune/Cinder fic who's weirdly obsessed with it and I want to be very intentional about the way I craft my story especially without running into too much scope creep. I don't 'want' to write canon, I want to write a canonical possibility of Jaune and Cinder's romance... and hopefully that means it can hold up in some small way lol.

I don't mean to sound up myself discussing my fanfic, I just enjoy getting the opportunity to talk about mechanical considerations when it's something I derive a lot of pleasure from doing so about other media (and R/WBY especially) - especially from the interaction of romance with plot, romance as plot.

#the distance which fools the skimming eye

4 notes · View notes

inlocusmads · 2 years

Note

What are your favorite Choices books that you don't currently write for? Would you ever consider writing for them?

Oh I love this question! Thank you so much for sending this! I always get a little giddy when people ask me about my wips!

I'd write for these books in the near future, but I'm terrible at keeping promises: (under the cut because boy oh boy, it is a lonnng list)

Laws of Attraction: With the 2nd book on the tow, I really want to give LoA some more love as the one career-oriented book that hasn't disappointed me yet lol. I think once the 2nd book actually comes out and people start playing, I can start writing. So there's a lot of momentum going on in the fandom and people are talking about it. Not to mention, I want to see how Book 2 comes along (hopefully they don't butcher it like *cough* Open Heart *cough*)

Blades: I do have a Blades WIP in progress! I just have to get around to brainstorming, writing, editing and posting it. Not to mention a ton of Elven research I have to do. But it is coming, I promise. I can't wait to introduce everyone to my Blades MC! Most Wanted: The very first book I played in Choices. Sam and Dave are the OG Trystan and MC (fight me!) and with the cliffhanger of a first book and a cancelled second book, Most Wanted is pretty much dead. I'd probably write for myself for this, but I doubt anyone is out there to interact with MW content in 2022, out of all years! Wake the Dead: WTD deserves more love! Period! I was kind of disheartened there wouldn't be a sequel. WTD's just balls-to-the-walls action and I kind of want to work on writing fight scenes before writing WTD-stuff. I feel like the whole zombie-thing could've been explored, with Olympus and all and I miss my stupid team of zombie-fighters so much. Immortal Desires: There's probably a few ID fanfics going here and there and I want to jump in on the train! Now that there won't be a sequel, unfortunately, I'm free to explore my own headcanons without canon interference. Once I'm done fully catching up on ID, I think I'd write some supernatural stuff. For Hallowe'en! Omg that's a great idea! Distant Shores: There's two things I love in it: pirates and time travelling! And I really really want to write a little extension of my own DS 2. There's also a fan-project going on and I hope it comes out soon! DS is such an amazing book and so are all the LIs. Unfortunately I don't have any ongoing DS ideas just yet. It's tabled until I can properly think about it. Endless Summer: There's two things I love in it: Islands and time travelling lmao! I love ES and I wish they really continued it past the very perfect ending they gave the trilogy. The MC's fascinating and I have this crazy temptation to drop everything, write an Endless Summer 4 and leave. Until then, I'm going to be including the La Huerta gang in cameos and crossovers, because ES is taken as a true story in Mads's Literary Universe. Desire & Decorum: Now D&D already has an active writing group and I couldn't be more happier! I loved the series, I loved Hamid a lot and I really wanted to try and write some regency-era romance for a bit. Like all my ideas, it is tabled until I'm done with my current WIPs. I hope to replay D&D soon to get all that lore down (mostly for Prince Hamid) and try something different than I normally would! I write a lot of contemporary, so this would be an interesting challenge - to tackle linguistics in the 1800s.

And that's it! Under a "perfect world" scenario, I'd be able to fulfil everything, but I already have so many work-in-progresses that it is getting a little crazy to manage everything and real-life on top.

I just hope the fandom is more receptive! I think it's a no-brainer that the most active groups are Open Heart and The Royal Romance and maybe a bit of Blades and It Lives here and there. I don't want to measure success by numbers, but I still have to have people talking about it to have them take interest in my work. Sadly, I can't do anything about it! I just have to give it some time, do my part and enjoy the process. But it would be nice to wake those fandoms a little and just have all of them up & active for a while.

But I will get around to writing them. They're just ideas for now, written in spreadsheets. I might even fold them into little crossovers or cameos, if the idea's too thin to slice into or if it is a large generic concept that can find a way into other stories.

#askboxed!#songsaboutgirls #wip asks #peonyblossom

8 notes · View notes

coralsgrimes · 1 year

Note

So I’m honestly asking because I have no clue what you are referring to. Why do you hate Ben Barnes so much? You seem to keep referring to things he did but you didn’t say what. I’m confused but I really have no idea what these bad things are and would like to find out.

Ye really do make me typing like a madman today lol

Said it a million times and I don't hate Benny Boy. Imma just disappointed and also hate is a strong word and I neither have the time nor am I 12 to hate someone online lol

I don't say what he was fucking up cuz this blog is mostly our own lil pond and I generally assume that everyone swimming here should know by now x.x also I've been repeating myself over and over about all of this shite. Scroll waaaay down lol

But since I'm typing...

So the thingies that I personally find to be hurtful, the fangirls been putting a flaming sword up me ass when I mention them. Can ye believe???

The first thing is obvi the half naked photoshoot in a pool, with a minor! which he called romantic! done by a photographer who he called his friend and who also photographed Sofia Richie aged 14/15 like she was a on a cover of the hustler.

Then we have his ongoing association, PUBLIC ASSOCIATION, with a circle of friends that includes scientologist, racists, sex pests, people protecting and vouching for the sex pests some of them currently on trial, also women who engage in victim blaming publicly, and not so surprisingly a cult leader wannabes are in that crowd as well. And again, this are not some fandom connect the dots allegations. This is all a open public we been friends for years said out loud.

And the next thing, that me thinks had broken the Benny spell completely, was his 'crisis in Ukraine' insta post from last April (featuring choose love... cuz why not). The obvious months wait for a fucking t-shirt to arrive, sunny day happy photoshoot and advertisement friendly language so that instagram won't cut his visibility so everyone could see what a great chap he is! The bare minimum, the bad taste, the quick edit of the post after he been called out and obvi the radio silence since.

Oh coral but it's not like he the worst person in the fucking world. Like no he's not but the picture he tries to paint of himself is cracking and showing how fucking fake it is... No surprise tho he a celebrity and british after all x.x

In other thingies, he obvi a bestie with Jules who i have personal beef with completely outside of Benny.

Speaking of her, the very possible possibility that he been having an affair with a married woman is kind of wow okay something if ye ask me. Then we have his music which should be classified as a dangerous especially for aquatic life (🪸), young and elderly and everyone else.

Yesh I know celebs are fake but he is just... The fakest at this point?? Like so obviously fake without a drop of genuine intentions, just doing this to secure his cushy life.

Oh and while we still at around twin flames orbit. The pandemic... Stay home be a good boy, but not me!! I am Benjamin Barnes and I shall do the opposite and then gaslight gatekeep...

I can go into/list more irks honestly but that's just ye know being petty and cherry picking kind of. Ye know I say I hate his look at me imma an activist reposts but other peeps are glad he 'spoken out' about the issue. Then there are his fandom games and basically begging his fangirls to baby him like when he's called out... He can't take responsibility for anything (pandemic travel anyone??) and he won't take direct and decisive stand on anything ever (not even saying world issues, I mean his so called FEMALE friends that needed strong public support but he stayed silent) cuz as long as he is bland and pleases everyone he is cool he is safe.

And at the end of the day what he does is he covers up, avoids and baits with something else hoping that the air clears. Here we should look at his 'brother' Chris D'Elia. He was sniffing around him at a time he was assaulting several women, Benny at the same time was dating a wannabe model in her early 20s... Allegations about D'Elia circled around for years but no one dared to speak loudly cuz he was SOMEONE. Then shit hits the fan and what our dear boy Benny does??? He, with a speed of a lightning, deletes covers up blocks gets rid off any obvious connection to his so called brother. Case closed.

Also like his enormous ego and the obsession to cover up his private life like crazy, that kinda sus and not healthy I want a private life but again it's just me lol

Would link me old posts but I'm on the mobile app and it's like so hard to find all that shite. There are more details in them old posts if ye as interested. But this is the crash course into Benny Boy by Coral lol

5 notes · View notes

alfhildr-the-word-weaver · 2 years

Text

You know, I'm the kind of person with like 80+ ongoing projects at any given time, and I rarely ever post things on here about them because I'm always waiting until they're finished and trying to get things perfect first and then I wind up never posting them. But I have to remind myself there's no law against showing off WIPs, and in fact, that's actually like a normal thing to do on tumblr. So, I thought I'd show off my progress so far on my Danger Days phone case insert I've been working on!

[Image ID: a tall narrow painting roughly the shape of a smartphone. The background is a rainbow watercolor fading radially from one color into another, starting with red in the top left, orange in the top right, yellow down the right side, green in the bottom right, blue in the bottom left, then purple shading from blue violet to red violet heading back up the left side. The watercolor has been textured with a salt resist technique creating small floral shapes of lighter paint. On top of this background, “Look Alive Sunshine” is written in tall wavy block letters in an assortment of colors meant to contrast the background, such that the “L” is light green, the “A” is yellow, and the “S” is orange and so on. Some letters are fainter, written in sharpie that has faded into the paper, but others are brighter, having been gone over in acrylic paint. There is a ring of poked holes in the top left roughly where the phone’s camera sits and a bit of uncovered background space to the top and bottom of the text design, which covers the majority of the piece. End ID] (*If there’s anything you’d like clarified about this description feel free to ask, I found it tricky to describe clearly. )

I tried to copy the comics font here--wait, actually, I'm just going back through my reference images, and I think the text I copied from for this is actually from something by @tapefish that was itself based on the comics font. Yeah, this is based on a design that's on their redbubble actually, though I didn't trace it specifically, but that's what this is drawn from. In that design, both words in "look alive" are on the line above "sunshine", so because of the way I've done it here, "sunshine" wound up being twice as narrow, hence why letters are all really squished, but hopefully it'll still be more or less legible!

I went over the letters in sharpie initially, but they were really hard to see, so I'm gradually painting over them. I'm also probably going to put more pictures and/or text on here, like a Danger Days spider and/or an eye like the one on the mailbox, and possibly "keep running" and/or "art is the weapon" in the space at the top or bottom.

As for the color scheme, I just went "how can I make this as colorful as physically possible" and ran with that, lol :) Well, to be more precise, I did a rainbow ombre in the background and then tried to make each letter roughly the complementary color to the part of the background it was on, but I tried to still have a variety of colors in the foreground as well.

Mostly, I'm just happy I've finally gotten around to making some progress since I first did the watercolor for the background literally like 2 years ago in our first pandemic summer, and that's just the rate at which I work on things sometimes, lol.

Anyways, I could ramble about my design and my plans for this for a while yet, and I could definitely proofread and edit this post some more, but I'm trying to stop myself from spending all afternoon on this post now instead of actually continuing to work on my phone case insert. Feel free to ask me stuff about this, though I can't guarantee anything remotely resembling a quick response haha. But hopefully someday before another two years have passed, I'll be posting a finished version of this! For now, enjoy this rare glimpse into my artistic process, hahaha.

#danger days aesthetic #<- oh hey I was in that tag when I started this post and tumblr just stuck it on. every day I learn new things about tumblr #I mean I was gonna use that tag anyways just funny it put it on automatically because I started there I guess #killjoycore #Look Alive Sunshine #ttlotfk #phone case design #I never did post pics of the Doctor Who one I made that was my phone case for like... three years?#remind me to post those sometime haha. that was my 'Hate is Always Foolish. Love is Always Wise' one :)#WIP #art in progress #killjoy aesthetic #Danger Days #killjoy vibes #painting #watercolor #acrylic #colorful #rainbow aesthetic #Danger Days vibes #My Chemical Romance #Doctor Death Defying #WKIL 109 #I did share this on the discord but then I went. you know what. I do want this on my tumblr too #so if you're in the WKIL discord you may recognize my rambling about this because I copied a lot of it over and reworked it into this post #my tags are all over today and so am I but c'est la vie :)#I ramble #my art #once in a blue moon I Make Things haha #and yet also I am always making things and never finishing them

17 notes · View notes

azikarue · 1 year

Text

2022 Fic Recap

At the beginning of 2022 I told myself I wanted to write more and publish less. This was to allot myself time to work on longer projects I had sitting on the back burner.

Fast forward to the end of the year, and I definitely feel proud of what I've accomplished. If I had my way entirely, I would have made more progress on ongoing fics and WIPs, but you can't have everything. I'm super happy to have participated in MayBlade - it makes up about 99% of my content for 2022. 😅 I look forward to working it (and the baby bout of burnout that follows) into my writing plans for next year.

Before I get into that though, here's a super quick recap of fics I updated or published in 2022.

❖

Bliss

Summary: Life isn't always easy, but there's a certain bliss in tackling it together that makes everything worthwhile. Pairing: Max/Mariam Chapters: 5/15 Words: 28,911 (so far) Rated: T

Chapter 5 (Undecided) is the one addition to Bliss I managed to make this year. I remember spending January and February agonizing over it, only to still need most of March to finish it. Considering it's about 12k words and not the original idea I had for this chapter, I don't feel so silly. I hope to update more this year. 🤞🏻

As a reminder to anyone following it: Bliss is a little jaunt through Max and Mariam's relationship as adults, including plenty of cute domestic moments to make my heart happy and some big conversations/milestones for them to navigate. (Latest chapter is a doozy of a conversation.)

Since starting it, I have mentally had it separated into three loose sections: 1) Boyfriend and Girlfriend, 2) Engaged/Newlyweds, 3) Expanding the Family/Married with Kids. I plan on still following that for the most part, but the sections may not be equal in length. That's mostly because I doubt, in my limited audience, many people have an interest in their children or life past a certain point? Just feel like everyone's headcanons are probably so different for things like that. We'll see how we go lol. This is a very self-indulgent fic, so I'll weigh any feedback I get against that knowledge.

❖

Just A Moment

Summary: A collection for MayBlade 2022 (and beyond). Pairing: Multiple Chapters: 31/31 Words: 48,864 Rated: Varies (everything from K to M)

This fic is the one that took up all my mental capacity for the year. I loved working out the prompts for this and challenging myself to write without overthinking as much. I'm sure there are some prompts that I could have executed better if I took all the time in the world on them, but when I reread them I don't hate how any of them turned out.

I did struggle to keep up with the intense write, edit, update cycle on a daily basis. I found that if I had anything planned on a weekend, then I didn't get as much writing done as I would have liked and it set me behind. I don't know if that means I need to give myself a SUPER strict word count restraint (I tried, but some prompts got longer than I intended), or if I just need to start earlier next year. One thing I don't want to do is restrict my character usage. I wrote about a lot of characters I've never utilized before in this fic and I enjoyed testing myself, even if it's one of the things that made the event more time consuming for me.

The last five chapters of this took me forever to finish and upload. I feel like I lost so much steam pushing myself so hard throughout the month of May, that I needed time to recoup. I took more time than I strictly needed, and I want to find some way to combat that if MayBlade happens in 2023. Tbh, I also felt some discouragement after the event was over, knowing the last few chapters weren't going to get as much feedback after everyone else was done with MayBlade. But I always knew I was going to finish for myself, and that's what I did and I'm SO HAPPY!

This is also a fic I love to look at the stats for. Different chapters did better on FFN versus tumblr, and I enjoy comparing notes and reviews and seeing what people had to say. I get imposter syndrome really bad, where I think I suck at writing and should quit, but this fic gives me some proof that it depends on what I write about and who happens to see it. It's nice to be seen and have a little validation sometimes.

On another note: I plan on posting an index of sorts for Just A Moment, since each chapter is so different. If anyone is hunting it down in the future (i.e. me) it will be linked HERE when it's finished, as well as on my tags page. ♥

❖

And that's 2022! This year went by in the blink of an eye! I know they say time goes faster as you get older, but I thought I had at least a few years left before it would go this fast.

All things considered, I'm proud of what I accomplished this year. It may be a little list of two fics, but there's 32 updates between them, so I won't complain.

For 2023, I want to update Bliss (at least once or twice), participate in MayBlade 2023 (without disappearing off the face of the earth for months afterwards), and work on/complete some WIPs (especially a multichaptered one I've had in the works for a while now).

It sounds like a tall order, but I'll do my best to push myself. If 2023 is anything like the last couple years, I'll make myself proud one way or another. I'm excited to see where next year takes me, and forever grateful to have anybody reading this or following my stories along for the ride. ♥

#this is a very long post for no reason #jk the reason is I don't know how to shut up #azrfic recap #azrupdate #azikarue #azikarue394 #beyblade

6 notes · View notes

section-69 · 2 years

Note

🤲😬🧠💌

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

“His thick wool jumper did something to keep the rain off his skin, but did little to stop the gale from threatening to whisk him off the mossy cliffs. It was like the island had pegged him as a foreigner, and was determined to blow him back out to sea. Julian had never exactly been the religious sort, he could tell you exactly why the weather was so extreme this far north in scientific terms, recited the facts of air pressures and gulf streams to himself just to keep his lips moving. But still. It was easy to personify this landscape. He only hoped the locals would give him a calmer welcome.” - wip I've had brewing for ages, currently called The Alien

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

Weirdly that's gotta be my ongoing Julian / Garak fic, or that one awkward smut I wrote for them, but only because they are Not Good and I want my friends and family to know me as a half decent writer. I think I might take those down for some editing, currently their existence is making me want to claw my eyes out.

🧠 Pick a character and I'll tell you my favourite headcanon for them

In the absence of a character prompt here, I'll use my go-to that I headcanon Worf as having known B'elanna as a kid, and been like an older cousin to her. She thought he was very cool. He was not. Feel free to reply with your own!

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

Love both! Tell me what works! Tell me what doesn't! The only time I know I'm resistant to feedback is when I already know what the problems are but haven't been doing my best to fix them lol

#ask game

2 notes · View notes

infriga · 5 months

Text

After finishing the first Alan sequence I have a few possible theories:

1) The Alan you play as in the beginning is actually Scratch, it just doesn't know it's not the "real" Alan or what its true nature is. Possible reason for this is that Alan couldn't escape himself, but he could write an escape for an alternative version of him and thus the Alan that crawns out of the lake is this new version of him, while the original is dead either because he killed himself for some reason or was killed by the Dark Presence. This new version of him is possibly powered by some aspect of the Dark Place, and intended to prevent some horrible event from occurring in Alan's place. Maybe he'll have to fight against his nature or something? Not sure how Saga and Casey would tie into it though, at least not yet. I dunno why Alan might make scratch himself then have Scratch be portrayed as evil, maybe it's a way to obfuscate his purpose to the dark presence who is trying to use Scratch as a way out or a way to manipulate the story. Maybe the dark presence originally created Scratch while fucking with Alan's story, but Alan edited things to make scratch potentially become good by erasing his memories or something idk. I just keep feeling like the story might pull a "what if I'm not actually playing as Alan right now and the twist will be that I was Scratch the whole time?" particularly since emphasis is put on Scratch looking identical to Alan for some reason. OH, maybe Alan knew he'd get possessed by the Dark Presence so he wrote Scratch to act in opposition to the Dark Presence.

2) the Alan you play as was the original, but he was lured into a trap and got possessed/captured by the Dark presence, turning him into Scratch, in a way. Hence why the version of him behind the typewriter appeared dead? The dark cloud behind him seemed to go into his body. So maybe the Dark Presence used his body to escape the lake. Also not sure how Saga and Casey would play into this, or if Alan would have purposefully wrote for this to happen because he has some sort of plan involving it or not.

3) Scratch was already out in the real world and is the leader of the cult of the Tree. The rituals are maybe intended to release the Dark Presence fully from the lake. Alan being possibly possessed by the Dark Presence in the last scene from his segment may be part of the result of the ritual? But if that's the case, again, did Alan write it that way on purpose as part of a plan? Or does he just have to write things on the fly as he goes while dealing with his memory issues like how the gameplay writing mechanic implies, and there's still an ongoing game of cat and mouse going on between him and the dark presence?

I'm generally just getting funky vibes from the way Alan found his own dead body, absorbed that dark cloud thing, then turned up in the real world crawling out if the lake suddenly. It's sus. I feel like Scratch might turn out to be different than expected and the claims about him are misleading. Like, the title page of the manuscript he found when he saw his dead body had the author's name scratched out 👀 I feel like that indicates something. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe he really is just evil doppelganger Alan and the Alan that crawled put if the lake really is the real Alan. I don't know too much yet so I could be completely off base with these lol, but those are my thoughts so far.

#Alan Wake #alan wake 2 #Alan wake spoilers #Video game thoughts #Don't tell me if I'm right or wrong with any of these no spoilies pls lol

1 note · View note

shawnjacksonsbs · 1 year

Text

Richest man in Walnut Grove?

It definitely helps put some perspective on it, that’s for sure. 1-21-23

"All right, then. And as for the decent job, now, that is something else. Any job a man can do to make his way in this world is a decent job as long as he works hard at it and does his best. You know, God didn't put sweat in a man's body for no reason. He put it there so he could work hard, cleanse himself and feel proud. Don't you ever forget that." - Charles Ingalls

And yes . . . still atheist, but man I do love this show.

I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or if this is what the onset of wisdom feels like, but I really do enjoy it. lol

I suppose it takes a certain kind of heart to make . . .all the goodness work in this world.

And as some of us now know, hope, gratitude, understanding, and love are not virtues altogether lost on me.

It's a good life.

Those deathbed regrets get more and more limited each and every day.

Ongoing theme from most people, real and/or fiction, that I find my truth in, are things like

Plain and simple is best. Hard work and honesty are worth it.

Deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex.

Hope may sometimes hurt, but the hanging on that it provides is essential.

Doing (something, even if it seems trivial) for others pays personal emotional dividends that are priceless.

Sometimes, only sometimes doing for others comes by way of justice served to others.

And

That fear, not hate, is loves greatest enemy. Just sayin'

Finally,

Love overcomes hate, eventually and always as a whole.

Can you name the people whether, real, imagined, family, or fiction, who best taught you??

They are the real heroes, right?

I know I say it a lot, but . . .Damn it, youth really is wasted on the young. Lol

It doesn't mean anything negative, or disrespectful towards our current young people either.

From what I've seen they're trying, and doing their best. I promise you I believe that for the most part.

Granted there are exceptions, but my point . . .if given a touch of youth now, what would you do with it??? That’s my point exactly. lol

I was so broken, so hurt most of my life. I couldn't catch a life lesson if you threw it straight into my catcher’s mitt. Physical, mental, and definitely emotional hurts, caused by me, or others, could have been . . . .

Shoulda, woulda, coulda right?

I most certainly am not that idiot boy trying all the wrong answers first anymore. Am I?

Psychology, in the form(?) of sociology is such a fickle thing. Wouldn't it be nice if it actually made sense to work together to help the young overcome the nightmares sooner rather than later.

I'm not lost on the fact that they need some of that . . .pain to find real understanding in their truths, but god damn.

Those going through it like some of us did, especially those worse off, for which there are plenty make me wanna cry. My heart weeps.

The one upside is that it makes me try harder to be . . .a positive example. It works for those wanting it like me. Like with actual thought-provoking real human emotion attached to it.

I am trying, I AM NOT arrived. Not completely. Not yet. Light years ahead of the old me though.

I feel like I'm rambling now. I might pick this back up later. ~

This one is not "no notes", it's actually almost "all notes". Lol

I didn't want this one to lose anything I felt while writing it, to be lost in the transition of editing. Not this time. This works too, sometimes, mostly copied and pasted.

The feeling of being in that “hug” as I first started writing to ending up almost feeling sorry for old me not feeling that “hug” when he longed for it, here towards the end is. . . .where I go, or where I get to. Its’ a “Hug” you can feel while you breathe.

I suppose I’ll close this up.

I still have family in the hospital dealing with very heavy things, and a few loved ones still in the streets and in addiction, please keep them in your hearts and in your thoughts for me. And yes, if you pray . . .pray for them.

Oldest grandchild, granddaughter actually turned 8 recently and her birthday party is today, so that’s going to be good. I’m still making it to my already set place mats!!

It’s a good life, mine. And it’s getting better all the time.

Now keep sharing your love and laughter with the world around you, even if it means a bit of struggle. I will, of course, try to do the same, struggle or not!!

It’s not always roses, sometimes its ashes, but man. . . sometimes it is roses!!! That’s real talk.

Until next time;

"Ma says, "Do your best work and the time will take care of itself." - Mary Ingalls

0 notes