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#i've been working as a technical writer for like a year and a half now

taboo-delusion · 1 month

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So, I just discovered something interesting.

This is a bit of a long one, so bear with me. It's important. Seriously.

I just woke up a few hours ago. My meds are starting to kick in. I was having a very serious and genuine, deep conversation (in-head) and it was... beautiful. It wasn't happy, but it was beautiful. Not the point.

Point is:

I had not had a single fucking intrusive thought today until someone made a noise in the other room.

I am so fucking PISSED OFF

Why my brain refuses to realize that intrusive thoughts CAUSED the good feeling to go away, I have no fucking idea. I've known that for almost a year now, yet my stupid fucking subconscious refuses to change anything it's doing

Before I snap my fucking android phone in half and yeet somebody's face into neptune, I thought I'd share the discovery!!!!

Basically:

MY INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS DID NOT START UNTIL SOMETHING STARTLED ME OUT OF FOCUS

AS I TYPE THIS, I REALIZE THAT INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS -AT LEAST FOR ADHDERS- ARE A SURVIVAL TACTIC.

Elaborating:

When you fall asleep and your heart slows too much, your body does the falling thing to make sure you're still alive.

It's not that intrusive thoughts are *Just* because your brain gets too quiet, It's because your life has never been completely quite before, or -like me- the few times it is quiet, something interrupts. And even if it doesn't piss you off, even if you don't jump like I do, your brain still registers it as not safe.

Falling asleep, heart slows a lot-

Body: *Sends adrenaline just to make sure it still actually works.*

Drowning, even mostly unconscious-

Body and brain: *Hold onto that last half-breath even if it feels like you're head is going to explode.*

Going grocery shopping or talking to someone you think is cool-

Brain: *Remembers what it felt like the first time your guardian was indifferent or mean about something that made you happy or calm.*

Things around you actually get quiet-

Brain *Sends a thought you hate just to make sure you're prepared for a sudden problem.*

TDLR 1: Your brain isn't mean on purpose, It's just paranoid and still has a will to live.

Listen. I know I'm just some random dude from a weird blog. But I'm trying to translate, to assist. Maybe somebody else needs this realization as much as I do. I apologize for the yelling earlier. I'm still just as upset, but only at my dumbass subconscious. Now some time has passed, and I have regained self-control.

(I also apologize for the above paragraph, my brain nags for me to do this, but I can't remember why. So:)

I am no psychologist. Here are my qualifications (why you should listen to me):

As my friends call it- "Disturbingly self-aware at all times."

Paranoid Schizophrenic with actual (unrelated) OCD, with years of experience dealing with it- more healthily in recent years.

Philosophy and deep thinking is simply my default. I use metaphors, but everything in this post is entirely literal, ...except the angry threat. (*begrudgingly accepts disappointment*)

I am a fiction writer. I don't know about healing people/first aid, but I know a LOT about how anatomy works, with many deep-dives on the psychology/evolution side.

People irl generally consider me a genius? Idk how to gauge that, IQ tests are irrelevant with this type of... smart?. I've been compared to both Da Vinci and Einstein. So, ...actually that's pretty fuckin' cool- (I AM NOT TRYING TO BRAG! I APOLOGIZE IF IT COMES OFF THAT WAY! I've never put it all down like this, and I'm just surprised and questioning my reputation.)

(Also, I love playing detective, so naturally I call myself Batman XD.)

Autistic; I experience the world, and every situation, from a view without any context.

ADHD: My brain automatically -As a guardian I hate describes- "Can watch three different movies at the same time, all in fast forward, and can keep up with all of them." ... Well, yes, but technically no. Idk if other ADHD people do this, but my brain "connects the dots" so quickly, I end up laughing at jokes I've never heard before the 'punchline', because I've already figured out what you're going to say next.

Now combine all that. I am kicking depression's ass and now I want to help you do the same.

I have only mentioned the relevant things. Please keep in mind that ALL of these have both advantages and disasters. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I am running on four hours of sleep. For the love of whatever, I hope this actually helps someone other than me.

Qualifications are noted because: This is all stuff (and stuff like this) that I am just always casually aware of.

TLDR2: Even if I wasn't trying to help people feel better, Apparently I was born with a nat 20 perception/insight check, so please don't argue that I truly understand what I'm talking about here.

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actuallyastingray · 2 months

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Hello Supablr. Sorry this took forever, but I've been working on a follow up project once I'm done with these. More on that later, so for now just enjoy the takes

Skarra: Feral, cackling gremlin trying to pretend he's not empty inside. Needs a hug, possibly several hugs, but is too afraid of cooties to ask. He's either going to have a Prince Zuko level redemption or go full Anakin Skywalker

Dingaan: Dammit Dingaan! You can't be both the lovable, clueless himbo and dumb, jock bully at the same time. Pick one!

Automatic: So, if we ever get a Rookie Season 2, are we gonna see him become the third wheel in Skarra and Shakes' rivalry? Cause no joke, this guy lost his job to Shakes and has way more reason to hate him than Skarra does

Max Power: I'm not a shipper, but why are there no pairings between him and Shakes? I mean, technically there's two of him, but still

Dooma: Oh Dooma, Dooma, Dooma. The writers made such a big deal about bringing you back, and then they promptly forgot about you. Guess upstaging Skarra really isn't all that easy.

Uber: Somehow, a 6.5, 300+ lb. German muscle man is giving me more babygirl vibes then a Sailor Moon character. Also, it's hilarious when you realize he outranks his coach.

Ja Nein: The rarely seen lovechild between adorkableness and pure evil. The "first day at the unit" meme was invented for this guy specifically.

Thor: If he grows a beard, we can call him Odin

Von Eye: Why did it take me four seasons to realize his name is a pun? What is wrong with me?

Chuck: Seriously, I want to see this guy succeed. I want him train up his team, pull off a win, and feel good about it just so he can tell Toni to screw off

John Johnson: The most loveable himbo in a team that consists of equally loveable himbos

Miko Chen: The only thing not completely wholesome about him is how little screen time he gets. That's about as shameful as Ura-Giri's strategies.

De los Santos: He really needs his own Boss theme, but does that make him the bad guy? Cause lets face it, he's not the bad guy

Don Aldo: That's not how hair physics works

Ninja: The second most absent arch-rival in my history of watching cartoons. At least they both brought him back and gave him an identity as El Matador's rival. Still wish we got to see more of the tigers

Liquido: Ten years ago, if I told myself I would one day describe someone as a "sociopathic surfer-dude" I would start to question my own sanity

Andre Meda: His name is an astronomy pun, his team uses constellations as a secret formation code, and his coach has them train in outer space. This guy is a huge closet nerd, and you can't change my mind.

Vladmir Savich: They made a few half-baked attempts to make him a villain and the fanbase is having none of it. Good for him.

Riano: WHY IS THERE NOT MORE CONTENT OF HIM AND SHAKES BEING FRIENDS? They were such good friends, and we have like zero content to prove it. Do the writers not realize how much of a foil he could have been to Skarra? Riano and Shakes being best friends, and Skarra is feeling like he's been replaced, thus hating Shakes even more. Sorry for the long rant but c'mon Moonbug, this guy had so much potential

#supablr #personal take #supa strikas

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chiliadicorum · 4 months

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Feanor's "exaggeration", the first half

"For the less even as for the greater there is some deed that he may accomplish but once only; and in that deed his heart shall rest. It may be that I can unlock my jewels, but never again shall I make their like"

Maybe one day I'll dive into the psychology behind this, but right now I only want to touch on a small epiphany I had during a reread. I've gone back and forth on this declaration of Feanor's for many years. For the longest time I agreed with the common opinion that Feanor was exaggerating/being dramatic, that of course he could remake the Silmarils and it certainly wouldn't frickin kill him. Or maybe it would? What this dialogue reveals of Feanor's character is ultimately up to personal interpretation and I have no doubt it will continue to be debated for many years, as it should be because there's a lot to unpack in these few sentences.

But was he dramatizing the whole issue? I don't think so. I'm still of the opinion that he was exaggerating, but not knowingly, and not in a sly attempt to refuse to do what the Valar were asking. This wasn't a cleverly-worded manipulation to get people off his back. He was genuine *in that moment* (can't stress that enough)

This isn't an apology post or whatever they're called today, an attempt to absolve Feanor of fill-in-the-blank. The ultimate question of if he could or couldn't have remade the Silmarils is irrelevant in this moment, in this scene, in these words, looking through Feanor's eyes. Because I understand why he said this.

And frankly, anyone who's a creator of anything can understand it too. And dare I say, to all creators, Feanor in this scene is at his most sympathetic, or should be (or one of the most - he does find out his father's been murdered right after).

I think anyone who has a passion for creating can understand Feanor here on a deeply personal level. I know I did. I'm a writer. I have a Melkor fic Weep and Be Burned (ao3) and if that story got deleted, disappeared from my files completely, was just gone, I would NEVER be able to rewrite that fic. Yeah, I know the thoughts that went behind it, the plot, and yes, I could technically rewrite it. But the most dedicated, try-my-hardest rewrite would be a poor, hollow shadow of what it is right now. That fic was a work of passion, written while in passion, fueled by passion alone. And any attempt to rewrite it won't ever even closely replicate what it is now. Anyone who's read that fic will understand why I'm saying this.

I believe that Feanor had the potential to remake the Silmarils. If anyone could, it's him, doer of the impossible. He knew how to do it, could give a step-by-step tutorial on youtube. But I understand why at the mere thought of remaking them from scratch he genuinely believed he wouldn't be able to. I get it.

#feanor #silmarils #silmarillion #meta #unpopular opinion? maybe. but i get it #chiliadramblings

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theeccentricraven · 1 month

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My Writing Journey

I'm still writing my NaNoWriMo Novel in late March, with April right around the corner. Almost 200,000 words now.

How did I get here?

I chose to be a writer when I was eleven. By the time I was eighteen, I had three incomplete novels, a thick packet of writing notes, and a long list of story ideas I wanted to write before I died. I also had a short attention span that I can blame on my ADHD and ASD, a declining love for reading due to required school reading, and competition with distractions like the internet/social media. I was able to devote a good deal of my spare time on my prize WIP, a unique fantasy titled The Keeper of Maralla. I didn't spend as much time writing as I should have. My writing confidence was low. After I earned my first bachelor's degree in Child Development, several amazing things happened. First, I worked briefly as a custodian (aka janitor or caretaker depending on what part of the world you're in) when I got the idea for my current primary WIP, The Blood Cleaners. At that time, I thought TBC would be an urban fantasy. A few years later, I realized the story worked best as a post-apocalyptic dystopia. I personally feel that you don’t find the stories; the stories find you. Such was the case with TBC. Then, in 2008, I won my first NaNoWriMo when I wrote the first draft of The Star House Club, an MG/YA urban fantasy. It meant the world to me when I finally had a complete novel in my hands, even if the writing was really bad. My next complete novel was finished in 2009, a Christian historical fiction novel called Miriam and Yosef. Then, from 2010 to 2011, I wrote my first really long novel, my sci-fi first contact story called Columbus Day. It was 170,000 words long! The best part was when I wrote my first complete second draft by rewriting Columbus Day. I saw how rewriting really can make things better, even if only a little better. It was also at this time that I earned my second bachelor's degree. I earned my post-baccalaureate degree in English. Then, things kind of shattered. I lost all of my confidence in my writing. I almost gave up completely. I also stopped reading. I've learned that the less you read, the worse your writing is. I went nearly a decade without reading and writing. There were some pluses that happened during that time, such as getting a technical writing job with my current employer. For the most part, I had little ambition and few goals. That was until early 2023, I experienced some epiphanies. I went through some religious/spiritual experiences that allowed me to realize I was meant to be a writer. I needed to get my ideas down on paper before I died or else the world would never know them. I opened up my old writing notes to get to work. I thought about which of my WIP's I would make my primary WIP. It was hard when I felt passionate about a half dozen of them, knowing I would regret failing to finish and publish either. I was hit hard with reality when insomnia hit me. I had been in denial about my need to read. Just as I had to get back to writing, I had to get back to reading. I wanted to say I had read enough and needed to spend time writing. When I discovered reading was the best medicine for insomnia, I realized what I needed to do for both my physical health and writing health. I read about 15 books in 2023. The more I read, the better my writing got. My best read was Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, a book that reminded me of why I love the dystopia genre. By July, I made the decision to focus on The Blood Cleaners. I spent four months brainstorming and outlining. I began drafting in November for NaNoWriMo. I wrote 50,000 words in 30 days, but the story wasn't over. That brings me to where I am now. My manuscript is almost 200,000 words long. I hope to finish in the next few days. I can’t wait to rewrite and cut this thing. Writing is hard, but it's worth it. My journey isn't over, obviously. I can’t wait to see where this journey goes.

#writing #writers #writeblr #writers on tumblr #author blog #writers blog #writer #aspiring writer #authors of tumblr #aspiring author #writing blog

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ichorblossoms · 11 days

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i only remember the day i made grimm and yarrow bc it was 4/20 and i thought it was funny anyways happy one year to these two fuckers eating away at my brain and here's to them continuing to do that for...the foreseeable future

since i have created So much about them in this year, i wanna recap what the fuck i've done bc i have never had this happen before. it's definitely new to hyperfixate on some ocs so intensely but i'm having a good time with everything so! i can't say i'm upset that these two kicked my ass into gear with drawing so much !!

starting off with the first sketches of them i scribbled down before i had to get back to work on other stuff bc i don't think i posted these

they've evolved a bit but....not by much really. esp in regards to yarrow i had what is more or less his current design nailed down within a day. not to mention that these two both had names within 24 hours? that usually does NOT happen for me

in terms of all the other art, th galleries aren't the absolute best metric to measure how much i've drawn my ocs bc it doesn't account for all the sketches and wips i have lying around and i upload gift art so it's not all mine in there NONETHELESS it's wild comparing their th gallery stats to the main trio of ttw bc those three literally have a decade of existence on them

(also grimm has five more standalone pieces of fanart than yarrow, so the gap between how much i've drawn the two of them is even smaller)

within a year, these two have, give or take, half the amount of stuff as i've managed to make for my other mains that have been around over a decade. ofc with ttw being around so long there are a lot of unfinished things, paper drawings i have stashed away, things that're retconned, and so many more sketchbook doodles of them that just never got posted so it's not as comparable to honeybee bc it's a more constant slowburn in my brain. but still. still

that's also not to mention the 16 or so full comic pages i've drawn for them?? (most of those are under toyhouse's literature bc it's easier to post them that way) which doesn't sound like a lot, but bc i've never done that before with any of my ocs it's. wild to me. i'm still figuring out a method that makes making comics as painless as possible bc i have ideas! but it still feels like i'm like pulling teeth sometimes! i can say it feels a bit easier to make comics now but i still have a lot to figure out :,,D

also i've been writing. i don't consider myself a writer. i said "fuck it we ball" and started writing. i guess i am on technicality, and it's not as if i haven't written anything at all (hi ttw and the old peartree draft), but definitely haven't written extensive prose before this. anyways i've got a 10k-word outline and am approximately 35k words into the first draft so it's not nothing! in fact that's a lot for me, esp bc i'm constantly battling the urge to edit things over and over and also the awareness of the skill gap between me and all of the writers i am constantly reading so it's overall just a...really slow process OTL

because i'm deranged and refuse to make things easy on myself, i envision honeybee as an illustrated novel, but not necessarily illustrated like fantasy novels are i'm talking like....a novel with comic panels in it. i have a vision. (also i had a dream where i read a book like this i can See it in my mind). it's fine. i'm normal. <if this comes to be for realsies i will have to learn how to do so much typesetting bullshit

i don't have any special art to commemorate my Year of Brainrot, but i guess i'll post some writing below the cut. heads up this is First Draft Shit, even though these are the parts i'm currently more fond of i am...not confident in my skills as a writer yet so please offer me some lenience hgfklhgld

anything in [these brackets] is going to be drawn either as a standalone illustration or a small series of comic panels so just hold my hand and imagine with me.

ordered chronologically but missing a Lot of context partially bc i'm not writing any of this in order. i try to keep grimm (they/it) and yarrow's (he/they) pronouns consistent, but excuse any flips bc again, this hasn't been through any external editing, in fact y'all are the first to see any of these words.

part 1 (years 0 to ~1)- least written-for part atm but i re-outlined it semi-recently so i know where to take it

*grimm is misgendered here intentionally, yarrow doesn't know The Pronouns yet

part 2 (years ~6 to ~8)- currently the most-written

part 3 (years ~9 to ~10)

does a little dance and makes jazz hands before faceplanting. thank you if you read any of that hkgdslfhlfk

#rambles #honeybee #writing #i'll probably have more to add later but i have to be at work at seven and will be dealing with toddlers until noon #<king of getting out of bed and out the door in like seven minutes. not always by choice #reading through my writing makes me realize how fucking much i Haven't written and. it's a bit daunting tbh #also like. some of these parts i've written have already been mentally rewritten but i'm Forcing Myself to not do that until i have a more #substantial first draft #i'm so much better at editing and analyzing once i have something on the page it's just. getting it on the page. pain and agony #i am having fun though. like i complain but i'm enjoying this #grimm #yarrow #grimmyarrow

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chrysanthemumgames · 1 year

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i've been having an itch to write an if game, do you have any tips? i feel like its a very bad idea to jump straight in head first yk?

Honestly, anon, that very much depends on the type of writer you are. I know people who do everything they do by the seat of their pants. The upside is, they can get into it really quickly. The downside is, sometimes you hit a wall and have to figure your way past it, which can be a struggle, and is where a lot of people who take that approach give up and leave their story incomplete. (Of course, hitting a wall can happen to anyone, but it's more likely to happen to pantsers, the delightful 'technical term' for such a style of writing.)

Then there are planners, who write outlines, and sometimes character sheets and do at least some worldbuilding on the side and generally have things much more set up and laid out in advance before they go. Upside to this is, well, a lot of the work is actually already done. Downside is... in my experience I've found that if I plan too much, the actual writing can feel a bit more like a chore, or I end up wanting to change things, or I've dithered too much time on worldbuilding and now I just kind of want to think about something else.

For me, personally, the right balance is to begin with a basic sense of what happens in the story; at least a couple-sentence summary for each chapter, so I know what events need to be covered. Then, as I go, I begin by outlining the chapter with its code (though this sometimes leaves big gaps like [they talk about dream stuff here]), and then go through and fill that in from beginning to end. This allows the particulars of character interaction and even how things happen to still surprise me a bit, which makes it much more fun for me.

What works for you probably won't be exactly the same as what works for me. If you have previous writing experience, definitely draw on that to inform your approach. Remember that an IF is a long term project, and that there just will be times when you're not excited to write. And, to say something perhaps a little controversial: if what you want to do is write an IF, you don't have to write at those times. If what you want is to write and finish and publish an IF... you probably do. It is very, very hard to come back to a project after a 'hiatus,' and I say this as someone who has actually done so, though the thing was never on hiatus in my head, just in terms of physically getting written.

That's the project I've been working on since... I dunno, 2016 or something. FoA, where I have not allowed myself to stop, even if my daily progress is almost nothing, is the same amount of words and I've been writing it for two and a half years.

Of course, all this is just my experience. I'm sure you'd get as many different answers about that as people you could ask. Either way, it's a pretty big commitment, and if you're new to writing or have to learn code simultaneously or just aren't sure you're going to like it, I'd try a small project first if you can, just to give yourself a feel for it.

I'm... actually not sure if you meant this sort of tip or something more to do with characters or story, so I took a guess. If I'm wrong, please let me know; I'm sure I can talk way too much about that stuff also.

Of course, what it ultimately comes down to is this: do you want to write an IF game? If you do, write it. If you don't, no harm no foul! Not every project needs to be completed or even shared. If it's a story you want to write, then you absolutely should. Writing, as an activity, is good for the soul, and I firmly believe that.

#ask #writing #jess rambles

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birds-quantified · 11 months

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Whump month day 1: "Are you okay?"

My little offering for the inagural day of whump month, organised by @cirrus-ghoulette and all the crew on the ghost writers discord!

Unbeta-d

Word count: 884

Pairing: Dewther, if you squint

Summary: Having been relegated to taxes, Aether struggles to adjust.

(My oc, Pluto makes a small appearence in this, however its just to drive a small plot point)

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It’s been long enough now. He should be over this. Imperator selected him for the admin work because he was the best fitted for the job; responsible, as she had put it. NOT because she wanted a ghoul to sulk over his pack that much he cries on the tax returns. He needs to pull himself together, because this isn’t going to change now. He’s been replaced in the band and he has a desk job now. That's just how it is.

…

Doesn't stop it hurting like a bitch, though.

Aether wakes in the morning, yet again to an empty den, and makes himself a cup of coffee whilst desperately trying not to fuck the day up before it’s even begun. He sits at the counter, silently wishing he had chosen to stay with the service ghouls whilst his pack was on tour… It's too quiet in here, all it does is remind the quintessence ghoul of exactly what he’s missing out on; all the sights, sounds, and tight knit pack cuddles.

Moving on from that train of despair, though. Aether made his way to his workstation, ready to do whatever cursed paperwork Sister Imperator couldn't be bothered to complete. Supply orders, it seems, is today's task. Which albeit dull, is one of the few of his new responsibilities that allows him to move around the ministry; visiting various other workstations, and collecting their order slips. Before he then had to slim it down, making the final amalgamated list that got sent to their suppliers.

First stop, the library. Technically the kitchen is closest but he is well aware of the fact that they'll still be clearing up after the breakfast frenzy. On his travels, he passes many groups of siblings; a large majority of which are discussing the intricacies of the previous night’s show. He reaches the library, knocks on the cumbersome wooden doors, and awaits the library keeper's response. The doors creaked open; Aether met the tired eyes of the ministry’s resident librarian ghoul, who wastes no time in ushering the larger quintessence ghoul inside and offering him a cup of tea.

Aether sits at one of the small tables dotted around the room as the small library ghoul, what was his name again, Pluto?, scuttered about to find his order list in his unorganised heap of papers. He began to ramble, and to be frank, Aether was far from paying him any attention.

Until. “So how's it treating you? Staying home from the tour for the first time? I can imagine it's difficult, being away from your pack for the best part of half a year…” aaand there goes the can of worms.

Aether sighs, “It’s been, it's been a difficult adjustment. I mean, I've been playing live even before Copia was anywhere near power. I welcomed the new pack with open arms, helped them all adjust to their new lives, and now? Now they don't need me anymore…”

The library keeper sits across from the ex- band ghoul, placing his order request sheet on the small table. “Well, I think it’s admirable. You, such a strong pillar of the current band pack, choosing to leave it all behind to help the running of the church.” He pauses for a moment before slapping his knees and standing. “Anyways, I'm sure you've got other places to be… it’s always nice and quiet in here, should you ever need to take a moment away from it all.” And with that, the small ghoul had scampered back to his book cart.

Aether muttered a small ‘Thank you’ before standing and leaving the library, proceeding to head to the next stop on his round trip of the ministry.

Much later; when Aether had finished with the daily orders, and grabbed a bite to eat, he returned to his living quarters. Quiet. Again. He sits, and attempts to distract himself from spiralling into a pit of despair again. It doesn't work. His brain doesn't stop hurling abuse at him; ‘Imperator moved you to admin, clearly that new ghoul is so much better in her eyes. She only needed you to fill the gap after Omega retired, and now they needed to find something else for you to do so they didn't waste a summon on you.’

Fuck this. Almost subconsciously, facetime is open and calling. It's only in the camera preview that Aether realises he’s been crying. Before he has time to wipe them away, the groggy visage of his favourite fire ghoul comes into view. Almost immediately, Dew picks up on Aether’s delicate state.

“The fuck’s wrong with you? Don't tell me we are all being placed on stupid admin work because I swear to Satan I am worth more than fucking taxes”

Aether sniffles quietly. ‘Even Dew thinks you're only good for admin work, see?’

They’re both quiet for a while, before Dew speaks, in a much softer tone. “Aeth?”

“... Yeah?”

“Are… are you okay?” Dew actually looks concerned, it appears that the change of routine has affected Aether more than the pack initially thought. And to think they had been making fun of it, taking the piss out of Aeths new office job… Meanwhile they had been blind to the clear inner turmoil their packmate had been going through.

"..."

“Come home Dew… please..”

#ghost bc #quantified writings #whump month 2023 #aether ghoul #dewdrop ghoul #mmmm sad things my favourite

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pauls1967moustache · 7 months

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Hello. I am a fan of your fics and I'm trying to write my first fic now. I hope you won't mind if i ask you a couple of writing questions?

Did you ever take a class in writing?

How long do you take to write each fic?

Do you ever feel bad about your writing or read someone else's writing and think you arne't as good as them?

Do you use a beta?

Thank you if you answer!

Thank you! And I love this journey for you. Writing is fun :)

Did you ever take a class in writing? Nothing beyond English class in school, and googling Dan Harmon's story circle a million times and then never using it. But that doesn't mean writing is just something I fell into and was magically good at. (I feel like people who don't write always think this about writing, and then get frustrated when they are not magically good at it). I've been writing fic (on and off) since I was about 14, and before that I used to write little stories in my free time. It's something I've had a lot of practice in, and was probably very shit at when I started. So, y'know, unless you intend to write professionally I don't think you need a writing class, but you do need to actually do some writing, instead of just thinking about doing writing. You don't have to do it every single day (there were solid years where I didn't write more than like half an outline for anything), but if it's something you want to improve on you do actually need to make some sort of effort to do that. This was not the answer to your question, but I feel it answers the spirit of your question.

How long do you take to write each fic? Depends! The actual writing itself is usually about 3-5 days altogether (but I don't write anything very long anyways). The outlining before the writing can take anywhere from a week to months to years. I often start an idea, then leave it, then come back to it when the vibes are right in my brain. Some fics come out of me basically fully formed and some I have to shadow box into coherence. It is what it is.

Do you ever feel bad about your writing or read someone else's writing and think you arne't as good as them? Yes and no. Everyone who writes experiences this to some degree, because it is the nature of doing something creative. But also, as I've grown more confident and self-assured (in my writing, and just like, as a person alive), I find this happening less, or at least it feels less emotionally volatile when it happens. The trick to this, I think, is writing for yourself and not for others. Ignore every fic opinion you've ever read in your life, and write the fic you want to read, so that you like it enough that even when parts of it aren't that good, or when you don't get the response you want, you still like it enough to not let any of that affect you. The other trick to this is when you find someone whose writing you think is good and you keep feeling the need to compare yourself to them, get proper technical about it. What do you like about their writing? Is it the style? The structure? The themes? How did the writer do those things? How would you emulate that? (You honestly should do this for any writer you like, not just fic writers).

Do you use a beta? No, I never knew how to get one when I was younger, and kind of just developed a very self-contained writing process as a result. If you have a friend in the fandom though, it can help to have someone to chat to - not even as a beta, just to have someone to vent to who will cheer you on when you doubt yourself. I sometimes do this, and should honestly probably do it more so I don't get stuck overthinking ideas as much.

And lastly - again, you didn't ask - but the best advice I could possibly give you is that the creative process is a wild beast you will battle forever, so you kind of have to go with the flow here. You can use what I (or any other writer) does as a jumping off point, but there's no guarantees that any of that is going to work for you, so take what you need from whatever I said as a loose guideline rather than this is the way. If it's not working for you, try something else.

Good luck! Have fun! xxxxx

#asks #love when you guys ask me writing questions #i've said it before but i do always answer these like i'm being interviewed

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bardock1991 · 1 year

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My thoughts about the Penny Revival Theory... & Why i don't see it happening.

Before i begin, I'd like to make one thing clear. This is not a personal attack on anyone who likes these theories & wishes them to be true, nor is this me telling any of them or some of you for that matter that you're wrong for thinking this way. I just wish to express my OWN thoughts in the matter & why they don't sit well with ME personally & why I don't see it happening in the canon story.

I'm begging you guys to keep the discussions in both the comments & reblogs civil, I'm not here to pick any fights. Moreover, do NOT go & attack people who follow this theory, i do NOT want them getting harassed for this. If i see any of you do that, I'm going to block you.

Also, a quick trigger warning: there's gonna be a few mentions about death in this post, including suicide. I tried my best to make sure there's not too many mentions of it, but i wanna make it clear since i know how sensitive that topic can be for people. Okay? Here we go!

So! RWBY Volume 9! My personal favorite RWBY volume to date & one of my favorite seasons of anime in recent memory. I'm serious, we're talking top 3 material here. With an amazing new world to explore, gorgeous animation, tons of great characterization (for the most part), incredible pay offs for stuff that was being set up for years at this point, all concluding in a (albeit a bit rushed) very satisfying conclusion that really resonated with me personally. Now with almost one week away from the finale, i can safely say that this volume is my personal favorite RWBY volume... So now i think it's time to discuss something that I've been neglecting to talk about since the Volume began... Heck, since V8 ENDED!... & That matter... Is Penny!

As a huge Nuts N'Dolts shipper myself (although I'll admit i haven't truly appreciate the shit until somewhere around mid to late 2021 to early 2022), it's safe to say that i really love Penny. She's a really adorable character with a pretty interesting arc about choice & how she's not a thing others can just use. I don't think it was executed the best though, since if you wanna be technical, Penny DID made her own choices in the story. Like her choice to actually be honest with Ruby in V2, going with the heroes instead of Ironwood in the end of V7 & holding up Amity in V8 despite the risks just to name a few. So the whole idea of her only really having a choice when she committed assisted you know what (it wasn't a choice, it was an ultimatum) doesn't really hit as hard as the story wanted it to hit... THAT + the fact that the one who was there with her in the end wasn't Ruby... But Jaune... Yeah, I'm still not over that... But despite all of that, i still love this character & is tragic to see her go the way she did... Yet... Unlike most NND fans... I kinda want Penny to stay dead...

HEAR ME OUT!!! Now yes, Penny has indeed came back from the dead once, that is true... So most people think why couldn't that happen again & moreover, in the words of some people said it themselves on Tumblr put it "Why would the writers give such an unsatisfying & cruel fate if they weren't gonna do something with it? Like bring her back?" (Sidenote, if any of you attack these people, I'm gonna be VERY pissed because like i said earlier, I'm NOT here to start pointless flame wars & fights!)... But for both a LOGICAL standpoint, as well as a STORY & CHARACTER standpoint... Not only would this not make a lot of sense, but it'd also be rather... Disrespectful... Let me explain.

Why the Penny Revival theory wouldn't work from a LOGICAL standpoint

Option 1: Ascension/Ever After Loopholes.

So for those unaware, Penny died in V3 by being cut in half by Pyrrha, albeit because of Emerald's Semblance messing with their heads. But in V7, we learned that she was able to not ONLY come back to life, but also come back with her memories & experiences from her LAST life intact... Why?... Because her CORE wasn't all that damaged in Beacon. (Actually, IDT it was damaged at all cause Penny's core is essentially her heart & she wasn't cut in half from the chest, it was from the waist.) Keep this factor in mind cause it's gonna be the main factor as to why this theory cannot become a reality from a logical standpoint.

Now let's go to the end of Volume 8, where the heroes manage to save Penny... Until they didn't. They were able to save her from the virus by tricking Ambrosius into making her into a human without ACTUALLY asking him to do it. There's a great video explaining this in greater detail that was made by the amazing Murder of Birds, which I'll link over here: https://youtu.be/ovd_jcdvbL0

Anyways, Cinder catches everyone off guard, the writers take a dump on Ruby, Penny gets capped off & Solitas goes to shit!... Where does V9 take place? The Ever After, which we NOW know is the center of the entire RWBYverse. Think of the Ever After (more specifically, the TREE of Ever After) as the Tree of Yggdrassill in Norse Mythology.

In Ever After, when a person dies, they're essentially sent into The Tutorial Realm of Kingdom Hearts. But instead of picking your weapons & stats, you pick who you wanna become in the next life. In simpler terms, death in ever after works like reincarnation. You die & get the choice of either come back as yourself (which doesn't happen very often) or the choice of being erased from existence & be replaced by someone else who just so happen to look like your previous self... Oh & there's some bullshit about how "the heart always remembers", but that makes no fucking sense, so i don't count that.

So a lot of fans, especially as the Volume was reaching its conclusion where we learn more & more about Ever After began thinking "Oh, then that must mean Penny will come back"... So a few things why this doesn't really work... & It starts with easily the biggest counterpoint... Did Penny die in the Ever After?... No, she didn't... She died in The World of Void... Which is NOT the same thing! Meaning that Penny wouldn't be able to come back as either herself or as a "reincarnation" that replaces her very existence. That's not possible unless she specifically died in Ever After, which wasn't the case. So that's already off the table... & Those who said "Oh, when Little dies, they'll be reborn as Penny & they'll finally give Ruby hope again"...

2 problems with this... 1: Replacing a character that was introduced specifically for this season... & Then replace them with someone who just died on the season before this one... For arguably no reason other than fanservice... Do i need to explain the problem here?! Do i need to explain why this wouldn't have been a good writing decision?!... Not to mention how little sense it'd actually make sense Little doesn't know Penny, so WHY would they ascend as her?!

2: & This is more personal for ME specifically, but i really... REALLY do not like having someone's character arc be arbitrarily resolved because of someone else as a way to "cure them" or "help them"... In this context, it'd be Penny being the "cure" that Ruby needs to regain her hope again... Again, i ask you... Do i need to explain why this wouldn't have been a good thing?!

If that actually happened, Ruby wouldn't learn anything in the end! She wouldn't learn that being herself was good enough, she'd instead learn that in reality, there IS no consequence! People can die & come back if the world suddenly decides it had enough of you moping around all depressed, which is not only bad writing, but also VERY insulting to those who were/are in a similar position as Ruby did in V9!... That is not the lesson you wanna teach to your main character when she's in that state of depression, let alone your AUDIENCE!

While i will be the first to admit that they fucked over the way Ruby ascended in the first place by essentially mimicking you know what & then make such a jarring tone shift in the very next chapter (Jesus Christ, that was awful), the end result was beautiful! It wasn't perfect & it happened a bit too quickly for my taste, but it was STILL beautiful! Ruby eventually realizing that she doesn't HAVE to be someone else & moreover, she doesn't HAVE to be perfect... Just being herself is good enough & even if she doesn't know who she is deep down, she won't be able to find that out unless she CHOOSES to he herself, which was the POINT of Volume 9's finale from Ruby's PoV... Bringing Penny back in this instance would completely go against this message, cause Ruby wouldn't be able to fully appreciate herself as a person.

Option 2: Pietro creates a THIRD Body for Penny, just like he did for Penny 2.0.

Ok, now with THAT out of the way, let's talk about the SECOND possibility for Penny coming back... Pietro either MAKES a Penny 3.0 or has already MADE one by the time RWBYJ returned to Remnant... Remember when i said that the only reason Penny was able to come back in the first place was because her core/heart was intact, thus allowing Pietro to actually MAKE a second body for Penny while still letting her keep her memories?... Yeah, that's not possible here anymore. Why?... Because not only did Penny die in The World of Void... She died as a HUMAN!... Meaning that her core... Her HEART... Is gone for GOOD!

Nobody managed to retrieved Penny's body from the world of void before the portals closed, (nor did we ever see it in Ever After, which was a MASSIVE missopportunity if you ask me. Along with the fact that we never see the reactions of the others learning how Penny ACTUALLY died which... WHY didn't we get that in V9?...) So it wouldn't have been possible for Pietro or anyone for that matter to take her heart back, even IF Penny died as a robot again.

Moreover, Atlas is gone! Their TECHNOLOGY & MATERIALS are gone! Sure, Amity & some stuff from Argus are still around as we saw in the final shot of V9, but most of it is gone... Pietro wouldn't be able to create a THIRD Penny Robot with the resources he has. But even then, let's say that he did. Let's say that Pietro WAS able to create a THIRD Penny Robot... There's still a huge problem here, it WOULDN'T be the same Penny. Why?... Because the CORE would be different, the HEART would be different.

Pietro wouldn't be able to create a THIRD Penny Robot so he can add her core in there BECAUSE HER ORIGINAL CORE IS GONE! Pietro & the others managed to RETRIEVE the core after the events of V3, but that wasn't the case for V8. The Penny we grew to know & love is GONE! She will NEVER be able to come back in a way that doesn't make sense & doesn't feel like a total asspull, it's NOT gonna happen. If we ever get a THIRD Penny (& that's a REALLY BIG if), it's gonna be a completely different Penny instead of the one WE know, a completely different Penny from the one RUBY knows... & Loves... Let me ask you people... Would you WANT that? Would you want this "Penny 3.0" to essentially replace the Penny we grew to know & love?... Do you guys ACTUALLY want that?!... Personally, i DON'T!

If it were up to me between keeping her dead & essentially replacing her either through ascension or through a third model that's completely unrecognizable, I'd go with the FIRST option!

So yeah, those are the reason why Penny coming back wouldn't work from a LOGICAL standpoint, so now it's time for the one that's gonna be VERY controversial... Why Penny coming back wouldn't work from a STORY & CHARACTER standpoint...

Why the Penny Revival theory wouldn't work from a STORY & CHARACTER standpoint

Okay, this is where i have to put up some flame shields, cause this is the point of the discussion where I'm gonna make A LOT of people mad at me... Okay, here we go...

Reason 1: It'd undo Penny's sacrifice, which would be a very disrespectful thing to do.

Now even though the whole "only choice Penny had was how she chose her death" thing is actually bullshit because it wasn't a choice, nor was it her only one... It'd still feel very disrespectful for the heroes to just... UNDO the sacrifice she made to make sure Cinder doesn't get any stronger.

Think about this from Penny's perspective. You decide to ask one of your few remaining allies to essentially help you commit assisted you know what so you can make sure your inherited magical power doesn't fall into the wrong hands... Then a while later, those same allies undo your efforts by bringing you back to life...

That would feel like a slap to the face if you ask me. Regardless of intentions, they would essentially undo the hard work i did to make sure THEY got to live... I'd feel REALLY insulted if that happened to me & I'm pretty sure Penny would feel that way too. So right off the bat, there's a problem.

Not to mention, how did this entire story start again? How did this entire SERIES started again?... Let me think for a moment... Oh yeah, it's because a spiteful, self-righteous woman tried to play god & get her fallen fiancee back despite being told by LITERAL GOD that this was wrong & then pay the price for it by becoming immortal until she truly understands the meaning of life... (spoilers, she'll never do so willingly because it's Salem. She's the f-ing worst)

So why the FUCK would you want the heroes to do the exact damn thing?! Why the hell would you want them to essentially do the same thing the main villain did?! The same thing that put these kids in this mess in the first place?!... Why the hell would you want that?! It just makes no sense to me.

That's like if Byleth from Fire Emblem tried to bring back Jeralt by doing the exact same fucked up experiments Rhea did in the attempt to resurrect Sothis, all the while Byleth has complete understanding of the consequences her actions will have because she literally experienced the consequences of Rhea's actions when she did that to Byleth herself!...

Do you see where I'm going with here? By trying to play god in bringing Penny back, Ruby & co. would essentially be proving Salem & in a way, the Gods right in saying that mankind at its core is worthless & beyond salvation.

& Before i move on to my next point, let me bring up a scenario for you guys. Imagine if you were Ruby, imagine if you - as Ruby Rose - met up with Dr. Pietro Polendina in Vácuo & he tells you that he may (keyword: MAY!...) have found a way to bring Penny back... But in turn, it'd cost him his life. In Volume 7, we learn that Penny's soul isn't actually artificial, but actually a fragment of Pietro's soul... His life force.

While what I'm about to say isn't confirmed as of the writing of this essay, i wouldn't be surprised if this whole "taking away my soul & putting it on something else" thing Pietro did took a huge toll in his lifespan... IE: it might've made his life span much shorter & maybe even age faster. In that same scene, he also says that if Penny dies again, he doesn't know if he will have enough life force to bring her back a second time.

So with ALL of that in mind, would YOU - Ruby Rose - accept Pietro's offer? Better yet, would you let him actually DO IT?!... Personally, i wouldn't... I'm sorry, but I'm not the kind of person who could bring himself to bring someone back to life by either killing someone else or letting said someone else die. Especially if the person I'm trying to bring back is the daughter of the person I'm killing in exchange!

Imagine how devastated Penny would feel if that happened?! Imagine how she would feel of her own father died in order to bring her back to life again... Do you think she'd be able to live with that reality?! Do you think she'd be able to forgive herself for that?! Let alone forgive Ruby for either telling Pietro to do that or worse, letting him do that & not stop him?! Do you think Penny would want that?! Do you want this poor innocent girl to come back at the cost of her father's life?!...

How could Ruby ask that of Pietro, how could you ask that of him? How could I ask that of him?! What kind of person do you have to be in order to ask someone's parent to essentially sacrifice the remaining years of their life in order to bring THEIR child back?! Not YOUR child, THEIRS!... Do i need to go any further on how cruel & messed up this scenario would be?!...

I can't fucking believe some people actually say this unironically, but they freaking do! Like- guys!... You can't bring somebody back to life by having their parent literally exchange their life for them! You can't just DO that! That's like if i was asking the Mom of my best friend who just died to sacrifice her life to bring back my friend... How the hell am I supposed to ask that of somebody?!

Reason 2: Sometimes, people just die.

Okay, THIS is where I'm gonna sound very controversial. Cause what I'm about to say will make people very upset... So for those who somehow are still reading this, but don't feel like finishing it... Out... Now!...

This is the most overused talking point I've heard when i hear people talking about Penny's death in Volume 8. How it was needlessly cruel, unfair & unsatisfying, as well as asking themselves why the writers would do this if they didn't plan on bringing her back in the future?... Here's the problem with this line of thinking... Sometimes, bad things just happen...

There are times where bad things happen out of our control, there are times when even after being prepared for the worst, we still lose & most of all, there are times where people just... Die... & There's nothing we can really do about it... The point I'm trying to make here is this: People don't often die in order to make a big sacrifice for the greater good or to save their loved ones... People don't often die to achieve a greater purpose in life or to motivate someone else... Sometimes... People just die... & That's what happened to Penny...

Despite everyone's best efforts, she died... Despite everything Penny went through to get as far as she did, she died... Despite all the love, care & affection the people around her showed her & proving to the world that her life did indeed had meaning... She died... & There was nothing the heroes could do about it. Jaune wouldn't have been able to heal Penny in time before she either bled out or before Cinder finished the job herself, there's no Senzu Bean equivalent in RWBY for Penny to take for her to suddenly heal all of her fatal wounds, there's no legitimate healing spells in RWBY as far as we know... & Most important of all, there was nothing the heroes could do to stop Cinder.

Now before some of you say "Oh, but Emerald knew & could've told them!" & To that i say YES, you're right... Except not really... Thing is, Emerald didn't know Cinder would do what she did. She didn't know she'd ally with Watts & Neo, create this very elaborate scheme in order to kill everyone in The World of Void. There was no way in hell Emerald could ever find out about that, nobody could. Heck, they didn't even know who was holding the missing Lamp at the time! Making the heroes counter Cinder's plan even MORE unlikely.

Now is this death unfair?... Yes!... Is it very cruel? Yes!... Is it rather unsatisfying?... Very!... But that's the whole point! It's supposed to be a very cruel twist of fate, it's supposed to be this horrible, tragic ending to a character who deserved better & ya'know why? Because that's what death actually feels like to people!

Many people (myself included) don't see death as this great ending to a story or a final goodbye or anything like that. It's usually seen as this cruel, unfair & very painful thing people go through. Whether it be through an accident, a murder, an illness or just old age... Dealing with the death of loved ones suck! It's not supposed to be seen as something that could have benefits to the world or something that could/should be undone.

& That's essentially what happened to Penny. I don't know about you guys, but i am just so tired of people saying that she had to have died for a cause, there has to be a reason the writers killed her off the way they did & that it must be the story telling us that she'll come back somehow... Here's the problem with all of these takes... There IS no reason for her death, there IS no big cause for her death... She just died... That's it...

Like i said a few moments ago... Sometimes, bad things just happen that are out of our control & there's nothing we can do about it. There doesn't have to be a reason for everything, that's not how the world works. Penny's death is no different... Neither is Pyrrha's, neither is Summer's supposed death... That was the whole point of Volume 9. It wasn't about doing the impossible or undoing the past, it was about accepting what happened & trying to find a new reason to live, as well as accepting that the person you are now is good enough.

Does the world suck sometimes? Yes. Does the people in it ruin your reason to live sometimes? Yes. Can reality be the cruelest, sadistic & unforgiving asshole you've ever met in your life sometimes?... Absolutely!... All of what i just said is true, there's no ifs, ands or buts about it. Sometimes, life is one merciless & unforgiving bitch!... But ya'know what's also true?... Ya'know what's also reality?... You have a choice to make... You get to choose how you will properly deal with that reality.

You can either choose the path Salem, Cinder, Neo, Watts, Ironwood, Adam & all of the RWBY villains/antagonists took, where you're so spiteful & resentful towards the world that you wanna give the same pain you just went through back at the world. Because in your mind, it's justified. Why shouldn't the world suffer the same pain you've suffered. It's not fair for you to go through literal hell while everyone else is all happy & cheerful, living their lives without a care in the world... That doesn't sound fair to you, does it?...

If you make this choice, you're essentially letting your pain & suffering do the talking for you. You're letting it control your life & make all of the decisions for you... You could do that... But you can also choose to take a different path, one that's more benevolent & hopeful... The path that people like Ruby, like Summer, like Yang & the rest of the team good guys have chosen to take.

A path where instead of using your pain & suffering to make the world worse, you use it to make it better. You use your own painful experiences to help others, to make sure they don't go through the same pain you did. It might seem like it's too much for you to handle & sometimes, it might even feel like a waste of time. Hell! You might even get to a point where you ask yourself "Where's my help? Where's my source of comfort? Why can't someone pick me up for once?" But if you stick to your guts & if you don't lose sight of yourself, you'll eventually realize 2 things.

1: The person you are now is good enough. It's not perfect, this person makes many mistakes & has maybe done some terrible things in the past... But the good that person did can't be denied & maybe... Just maybe, that person you are right now is good enough, even if you don't realize it right away.

2: Your actions, no matter how small they may seem, CAN leave a positive impact on others. Eventually, you come to realize that despite your many failures in life, the good you did accomplish cannot be understated. Whether it be on a single person or maybe even a whole group of people, they're only where they are now because of you.

You were the one who gave them the drive to keep living despite the hardships the world can bring at them, you were the one who showed them that their lives actually mean something! & You should take pride in that, no matter how small it may seem to you.

So yes, the world can be very cruel... But it can also be very beautiful... & You can choose whether or not you embrace its cruelty, or show the people how beautiful the world can be... That's the entire point of not only Ruby's arc in volume 9, not only the entire point of Volume 9 as a whole... But the point of RWBY as a whole. It's a story about how the world can affect different people, a story where its cruelty can either make people very spiteful & resentful or make them empathetic & kind. Because that's how things are in our world too... & I'm really happy to see RWBY both understanding this theme... & Embracing it.

3: "If Penny's death is meant to be unfair & cruel... Then what was the point of it"?

& You might ask me "What, did Penny just die for nothing then?"... Well... Yes & no... While it is very cruel & unsatisfying - which again, was the point - i wouldn't say she died for "nothing." If Penny didn't do what she did, Winter would've died against Ironwood (remember, she was at death's door when Penny gave her the Winter Maiden Magic. Ironwood was this close to finishing her off.), Weiss would've died against Cinder, Jaune probably would've died against Cinder as well & worse of all, the Winter Maiden Magic would go to someone else random. Why is this a problem?... Oh, nothing much... It's nothing too serious, except for the part that all of the escapees are getting killed off in the desert & there was nobody powerful enough to complete subdue & protect them at the time! Are we seriously forgetting about that?!

It doesn't matter if it was either Penny or Winter, if neither of them went through that portal, i can guarantee you that everyone on the other side of that portal would've died by the Vacuan Grimm. (You can mostly thank Weiss [The Writers] for not being more specific about the exit of the portals, but i already wrote & sang that song many times in the past, so i don't wanna get too sidetracked here.) I can guarantee you that the only reason Ren, Nora, Oscar, Emerald, Klein, Willow, Whitley, the Happy Huntresses & everyone else who made it there didn't all fucking die in that desert is because of Winter coming when she did as a Maiden, which wouldn't have happened if Penny didn't do what she did.

So uh... Yeah, Penny making sure the Winter Maiden Powers went to someone she could trust was kind of a big deal. You can't call that "dying for nothing", because despite losing the 2 relics, Penny's death essentially gave the survivors of Solitas a chance to even make it through Vácuo alive & by extension, having an entire unified armada ready to go as we see in the final shot of V9. (Most of that is thanks to Ruby & her message, but i still need to give Penny some credit for this since i doubt there were enough people to properly lead this unified armada). Once again, sharing a great video from Murder of Birds that puts things into perspective better than i ever could: https://youtu.be/k3i8kS5i4qw

Final thoughts

So overall, i think these Penny Revival theories aren't really worth making it a reality. I think it'd be best to just let Penny rest in peace & let Ruby & co. carry on her memory & will, even if her actually death is very cruel & painful. By bringing Penny back, you don't just undo her sacrifice, but also go against the core themes of the show, in more ways than one... So as much as it pains me to say this both as a Penny fan & as a huge Nuts N'Dolts shipper... I think it'd be best for Penny NOT to come back for a second time.

I once again ask everyone to keep things civil in both the comments, as well as in the reblogs & to NOT attack anyone who follow these theories. I do not want that & if i see anybody do that, I'm going to block you... & I really don't wanna do that, especially since my block list is getting kinda full with these annoying as hell pornbots (hate those jerks.)

But that's it for me. This has been Remnant Bardock & until our next meeting, have a wonderful day, my friends!

@asm5129, @iamafanofcartoons, @tumblingxelian, @frisk863, thoughts?

#rwby spoilers #rwby volume 9 spoilers #rwby v9 spoilers #penny polendina #rwby discussion #rwby #rwby analysis #nuts and dolts #rwby ruby rose

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chaos-has-theories · 2 months

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WIP Tag/Reblog Game

Thank youuuuu @aidanchaser!

List the titles your top five priorities for WIP updates (link your fics for new readers!)

An upcoming scene, event, or detail in each fic that you're looking forward to writing

Bonus: make a poll for your followers to vote on which top 5 WIP they are most excited to see an update on!

Then tag 10 writer friends!

WIP TITLES

Specifically 5 fanfics this time around - the things that are loudest about rattling my head at the moment.

Timetravel AU - Septimus Heap After a series of escalating deaths, Marcia and Septimus use the House of Foryx to travel back in time and - hopefully - fix things.

Merlin Resurrection AU - working title "I Refuse" Merlin has been alive for a thousand years, and he just found out that the rest of the gang is back. The problem is, none of them fully remember anything: It's only just enough to spook Arthur hard enough that he cut contact with all of the others and is trying his hardest to just be an obnoxious college student.

Three is Company - Septimus Heap, role swap AU. Prequel/Equel to The Long Way Home. Answers such thrilling questions as "how did Septimus get adopted by the Queen?", "how much trauma can you put into one freshly-minted EOW?" and "What exactly IS going on between Marcia, Milo and Cerys?"

The Egypt Agenda Part 4: The Distant Goddess I have yet to properly write out my Egyptian analysis of Nona the Ninth! Also I've been meaning to put the other parts on Ao3 for a while

Gideon the Musical Ohhhh boy I just rediscovered this while going through my drafts and?? I mean no there's pretty much nothing in that file yet but now I really want to pick it up again

UPCOMING SECTIONS

I am two-thirds through the scene in which Septimus and Simon infiltrate the Young Army to rescue 412. I'm not sure why I haven't kept working because technically I'm at such a juicy point? 412 thinks he's about to be thrown into DN1, Septimus can't tell him what's really going on, and Simon is being told to do a spell that this-timeline Simon has no reason to know. It's GOOD I think I'm just scared I can't hit the correct balance for it

sgahjhgsshfdg Merlin just met Gwen and the Knights at a metal concert and they made their way backstage to greet Morgana and Morgause but like. Morgana is half-convinced he'll try to kill her again. Gwen is crying. Merlin is inwardly screaming because if THEY'RE all back does that mean Arthur is as well??? I probably COULD skip the explanations and just continue the scene where he confronts Arthur. I'm just.... not sure how to resolve it yet. Stubborn Prince is being Stubborn.

Milo just fished a baby from the river and is walking towards the Palace to greet his wife and newborn daughter. He is about to a) be accosted by a very panicked Marcia b) have to fast-talk his way past the Supreme Custodian and c) find out that his daughter is very dead. Noone is having a good day, except maybe for me, because all of this is setup for some VERY stupid miscommunication.

DID YOU KNOW that there's an actual myth in which "Alecto" runs off to live in a land where "John" has no direct jurisdiction so he has to send "Ianthe" to cajole her into coming back? YEAH. THAT

Act I works pretty well! Even Act II is fine! It gets more difficult after that. Anyway I have decided there's going to be a song called "To the Floor" and then it can have reprise elements in all the other duel scenes. How? I dunno whatever gave you the idea that I know what I'm doing

No way I can think of 10 and I don't know if any of you have already been tagged but hmmmm - @echo-has-queries @into-september @trainsinanime @liesmyth @septimus-heap

#chaos writes #tag games #there's nothing for ML on there right now.... there's already so much angst in these I couldn't stomach putting my Daemon AU on there too

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takiki16 · 3 months

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FIC 20 QUESTIONS

@gallifreyburning tagged me in this!

1. how many works do you have on Ao3?

Ten! I am a prolific reader, but not so much a writer.

2. what's your total Ao3 word count?

253,223. Holy moly. I remember when cranking out 1500 words was a lot for me. I never expected to break that Big Phat 100k, which is yet another reason gallifreyburning is the wind beneath my wings. Half of those words are hers.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

The Old Guard and Jupiter Ascending are my two most dominant fandoms per stats. I've also written for Mad Max, the MCU, Leverage, and The Man from Uncle (the 2015 movie), but I wouldn't call these my most active reading fandoms.

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

If Never Again, If Every Day (cowritten with gallifreyburning, TOG)

Kiss With a Fist (cowritten with gallifreyburning, TOG)

A Fine Chain (JA)

and sat him doon at her bed feet (Leverage)

breathes there the man (TMFU)

lolllll no surprises here.

5. do you respond to comments?

Unfortunately not. When all of my fics were relatively short and I only got a handful of comments on each one, I replied individually to each comment. However, we have THOUSANDS of comments on INAIED, and although I've replied to some of the particularly consistent and wonderful commenters, there is no way for me to get all of them. However, please know that they are all loved.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

and reason quite decay, for Mad Max. It's a pre-canon snippet to the 2015 movie, about how Max lost the little girl he keeps hallucinating. I was very, very much into the "all lower caps, title is a line from a poem" aesthetic. Still am, to be honest, but A Fine Chain is just CONSUMING me atm.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

and sat him doon at her bed feet is a triptych of each of the Leverage OT3 being a selkie and getting together with the OT3, so that's technically three happy endings in one, but our INAIED boys worked so hard for their payoff that I have to put them first.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have been lucky enough to avoid this so far!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've written a grand total of like...two smut scenes, both of them m/m, but DEPENDING on how much longer I can tolerate the slow burn of A Fine Chain, I may be writing something f/m in the near-ish future!

now private chats between mutuals about IMAGINED character smut, on the other hand...

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don't write crossovers - they generally don't appeal to me as a reader so I avoid them as a writer.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know, and I hope and pray it never happens to me. INAIED got a few weird pings last year, but so far I've been very very lucky.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have gotten a request or two, but I don't remember if a translation was ever posted?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

LOLLLLLLL. If it weren't for @gallifreyburning i would still be languishing at 5-something chapters of AFC and a handful of fics, and I would never have written for TOG at all.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Harsh, bro. I don't think I have a very favorite ship, but I definitely have favorite dynamics. See my "you are responsible forever for what you have tamed" tag

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Much Nothing About an Ado. My post-canon Mad Max fic where Max comes back to the Citadel and Furiosa decides to Hit That, but in the sexy way this time. But hey! I thought that It would take another decade to finish A Fine Chain, and I am ROLLING!

16. What are your writing strengths?

Mmmmfdfnggg. Umm...I'm very good at long, flowery descriptions, and at grounding clips of dialogue to specific physicality and setting, I think? When I want to write something, I usually see a movie of what I want to write playing out in my head, and then I have to figure out how to translate those actions to the page in a way that accurately conveys the action and tone. I block out the scene in bullet points first, then bang out a loose first draft, then go back over everything and rewrite it from the top, trying to make sure that someone reading it would see and feel the same things I did when watching the movie in my head.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

TOO MUCH FLOWERY DESCRIPTION. Sometimes I get lost in the movie in my head. Also, my crippling fear of intimacy sometimes translates to being hesitant to get to the actual climax of the story. I have to have acres and acres of slow burn, or I'm writing a single poetic one-shot with artsy film blur. This is where a good co-author is worth their weight in gold - you can't get away with kicking the can forever.

Also - I need to see if this still happens in AFC, but I feel like I rush through smut, and sometimes that pr0n deserves to be LINGERED UPON.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

It's nice, if it's used correctly! It's off-putting, if not.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OOF. I saw the first Tobey Maguire Spiderman as a wee babe, and wrote an absolutely passionate proto-whump fic about it in my spiral notebook along with some very bad illustrations.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

INAIED is a Lifetime Achievement (TM) for me, the thing that makes me genuinely frustrated I can't brag to my coworkers about the massive novel I co-authored. I will be proud of it forever and ever and ever. I own a physical bound copy of it, and take it out every now and again to look at it fondly. I Helped Write That Thing. It is dear to my heart.

#my posts #relevant to my life #my writing

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ohtobemare · 10 months

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how fun! 15 and 15, thanks for the tag @aviatorobsessed

1) Are you named after anyone? When I was born I was named Dakotah, and I'm fairly sure that name came from a porn star, but I eventually legally changed my name to Miriam, who is a figurehead of Biblical history. So yes and no, I guess?

2) When was the last time you cried? Yesterday with my horses. We had a great day and I just sobbed out of joy and relief.

3) Do you have kids? No. I'm unattached and no kiddos. I'm still young-ish but not sure if I even want them or not.

4) Do you use sarcasm a lot? Contextually, yes. But I'm not a super witty person. Funny, yes, but not witty.

5) What sports do you play/have you played? I played softball in the summer in my middle school years but being homeschooled didn't allow for many opportunities. I do horse stuff now!

6) What’s the first thing you notice about people? Their personalities, presentation. I have pretty good discernment and can tell if people are bullshitting me or not.

7) What’s your eye color? Blue! Depending on the sun they can either be sapphire or ice.

8) Scary movies or happy endings? I don't do horror but I love thrillers and action movies! Happy endings are usually so unrealistic it bothers me, as someone who writes and knows film, but I do like when things shake out. I'd rather have a gripping ending that fits the character and theme of the story.

9) Any special talents? I've been told I'm an excellent writer, though I don't believe any writer is truly excellent. It's my gift. Also have an eye for taking pictures but lack technical skill. Have also been told I'm a decent actress, but I've yet to develop this skill.

10) Where were you born? Minnesota *sighs*. I wish I was born in the south, though.

11) What are your hobbies? Film/movies, writing, reading, photography, horses, and I'm an avid Breyer horse collector.

12) Do you have any pets? Arguably too many! Four horses, four dogs, two cats, and half a dozen fish.

13) How tall are you? Average. 5'6".

14) Favorite subject(s) in school? History, literature/English, Vocab, and I loved Science but was awful at it! In college I loved New and Old Testament History, Creative Writing, Introduction to Theatre, Psychology, and Interpersonal Communication. I was a student lecturer for Introduction to Creative Writing.

15) Dream job? I'd love to work in film someday, but I'm currently working my dream job as far as my degree is concerned! I work in marketing as a copywriter for one of my dream brands!

I don't have 15 moots but I'll tag some of my favorite accounts– @vermilionbirdy @spicydisaster14 @musicalmedli @chaoticassidy @sakar-rad @blueeyeddarkknight @icemankazansky @thewolveswithin

#tag game #mutuals #me @ like all my mutuals #get to know me #kazansky queen™️#valgal™#valgirl™#top gun roostette

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guardevoir · 10 months

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Hi!

Figured I should probably re-introduce myself since I haven't really talked much about myself in... a while, and some new people showed up recently (hooray!)

So! Name's Guardy. German, late 20's, queer as hell. Currently finishing a Masters degree in Medieval and Renaissance studies, so poke me if you ever want Ten Fun Monk Facts or a half-hour monologue about handwriting culture.

I'm technically a writer first, a visual artist second, a (bad) musician third and a fiber artist fourth, but I do most of my art and writing over on @johnnys-green-pen (aka for the Emergency! fandom) these days, and anyway, the spinning's more fun to talk about.

This is my spinning wheel:

It's a tiny-ass thing with some odd quirks that I got off of ebay classifieds for all of 40 bucks, and as much as it drives me nuts sometimes (offset flyer hooks, TINY bobbin, 1:6 treadle ratio, picky about drive bands, guzzles oil like an old hippie bus that's sprung a leak, narrow orifice), I also love it dearly.

These are The Spindles:

(yes, I would love to expand my collection, but when faced with the decision of Spindle Or Fiber, I keep going for more fiber)

I knit and crochet (and do some tablet weaving), but I'm not very good at either, so I mostly just throw yarn at a friend of mine who basically treats crocheting as a fidget toy and is thankfully happy to make stuff for me as long as I supply the yarn and it's stuff she enjoys working with.

I've been spinning for about six months now; two of them (partly) on the wheel.

I'm also doing the Tour de Fleece this year; I'll talk about my project list for that real soon!

(bonus, because I don't show it off a lot: art! it's a thing.)

#guardy talks about stuff #guardy's fiber arts tag

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conventionalwisdomcomic · 3 months

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Weekly Anime Comic: Macross - page 39

So, I've pretty much always been in the "Minmay sucks" camp, but this most recent watch-through of Macross has really given me a new appreciation of just how much of that is the fault of the show's overall writing as opposed to the character herself. Like, Minmay trying to get Hikaru to quit the military here comes across as really clueless and childish, just in case you didn't already get that from the comic. But at the same time, I don't think it'd rub me the wrong way half as bad as it does if the other characters were allowed to just respond to her like real people. But instead of saying the obvious answer ("Look, even if we stop fighting them, that won't make them stop fighting US."), we get this weird esoteric crap about why Minmay sings and whatever. Aside from coming across as really pretentious and not what any normal person would say in that situation, I think dialog like this actually hinders the development of Minmay's character. It kind of leaves her stranded in the stupid stuff she said, since now the only way the show provides for her to grow out of it is via some meaningless psychobabble rather than a more obvious "Oh, I guess that was the wrong thing to say" realization. I dunno if there's a cultural aspect at work here, like maybe the writers were afraid of having the show come across as even more militaristic than it already does so they drove the dialog in a different direction, I just know that Minmay ultimately got really shafted by the show.

BUT ANYWAY, with this page I officially get into the final episode of Macross... BUT WE'LL BE HERE FOR A WHILE. I've actually got not just one but TWO more comics to follow, though in fairness one of them is an idea I've had cooking pretty much since we started. Still, it's technically about episode 36, which will make that the single most comic'd episode of any show in standard Weekly Anime Comic history! I have to say "standard" because there's also the extra comics I'm doing on the Gunbuster OVAs. Those are totally throwing off the average. BUT SPEAKING OF WHICH, don't forget that I've got even more comics going up on Patreon as we speak! Not only would you be able to read those Gunbuster comics right now if you were a parton, but you could ALSO see the remaining Macross comics AND the first few Dirty Pair comics AND vote on which classic Digimon series I'll start doing comics on this year! That last one's running out of time, too, so if you want in on that decision, don't wait around to do it! Conventional Wisdom / Patreon

#conventional wisdom #mine #webcomic #macross #80s anime #robotech #weekly anime comic

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umbracirrus · 25 days

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20 Questions for Writers

Tagged by the lovely @thequeenofthewinter to answer some questions, and I will leave an open tag to anyone who wants to answer to feel free to say that I tagged them 💛

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have three, at present - I have posted many a fic to AO3 over the years, but with my current account, just three.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

70,506 at present

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Elder Scrolls at present, though only have Skyrim posted at present - hoping to get something for Oblivion posted soon though! I've also recently dabbled in writing some things for BG3, and also Stardew Valley (though I don't think that any of them will be posted unless I find myself very satisfied with how they end up). Historically, I've delved into and posted Fire Emblem (primarily Awakening/Fates/Three Houses because they were the main games I had played), and even further back (back when I first started writing fanfic when I was about 12/13! I just realised I've been writing fanfic for half my life writing that out!) Pokemon.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

As I only have three fics posted on AO3, I can only do them, but in order: 1. The Perfect Storm (it's my main and longest fic to date, so unsurprising) with 117 kudos 2. Purity (a Vilkas/Dragonborn oneshot) with 17 kudos 3. Seeking the Sun (prequel to The Perfect Storm which I started on after it!) with a mere 2 kudos.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Where I can string together a coherent thought, and if I remember (and I am terrible at remembering!) I try to!! But I do read every single one, even if I don't remember to respond.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Now, as I haven't finished any fics (as of yet) beyond a few oneshots, I will have to base my answer on some plans for the few fics which I have planned out, and I believe that the story with my Hero of Kvatch Aelia is most likely to have the angstiest ending. She throws away her entire support network, including friends and family, to wallow in her misery and grief in the Shivering Isles, descending into madness, because all she wants to do is bring Martin back.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I really want it to be The Perfect Storm! I haven't planned out the ending for it yet, but I want it to be happy. However, I shall delight in stirring the pot and make Elyse and Balgruuf work for that happy ending, you hear? 😂

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really? The closest thing to that which I got was being told that my writing was 'too dramatic'... Shame that I love writing me some drama. Dramatics can be taken from my cold, dead hands.

9. Do you write smut?

Yeah, though I don't think that I've posted any of it yet.... I still need to actually finish the smut which I was writing for my birthday. My birthday which was over a month ago. Ooops.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Nope. I just don't really like them. It's something I've always got to filter out when reading fics.... The closest I'd get to writing a crossover is, say, references to stuff from Oblivion in a Skyrim fic? But would that technically even be a crossover, if they're both Elder Scrolls? Though they are separate games....

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again, no, not that I know of...

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Does it count if I tried co-writing a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fic with a self-insert shiny Eevee with a ff.net friend when I was like 13 that we never posted???? If not, no!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Honestly... I think it might be the fic based around Elyse's parents, Ingja and Edwyn, which I've only posted the first chapter to here on Tumblr. I know their story - it's all very firmly in my head, and is set to be referred to across Seeking the Sun and The Perfect Storm, but I simply don't think that I would be able to finish it... Plus I like keeping Edwyn's fate very vague. Though Ingja dies, because Elyse will meet her in Sovngarde when she goes to fight Alduin, what happens to Edwyn I've left ambiguous, hence why I don't think I would be able to finish it. He simply leaves one day and after sending Elyse a handful of letters he disappears. It gives me opportunity to maybe bring him in at some point down the line in The Perfect Storm... I kinda want to write a scenario where Balgruuf meets Edwyn now. Damn.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'd like to say dialogue. I don't like putting dialogue into a fic unless I can mentally hear the line in the character's voice, if that makes any sense? If I can't hear it, or can't imagine a character saying it, I won't include it. But in addition to that, a lot of my scene-building and whatnot comes from using dialogue as a baseline. Obviously there are times where that isn't the case, but I do love writing little conversations to push a scene along.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I do believe that just as it is a strength, dialogue is also a weakness! Sometimes, I find myself over-relying on dialogue simply to 'fill space'. Where something like non-verbal communication, or environmental descriptions or even a change of scene would fit better, I'll just throw in some dialogue in the same way that I add cheese to meals - in overabundance! In addition, I would say that finding a way to bridge scenes together is another weakness of mine. I can have a chapter mostly complete, but without that one last bridging moment - often simply a sentence or paragraph or two which can join two scenes together - I simply cannot bring myself into completing it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue on another language in a fic?

Now, in terms of reading it, I find it really cool as long as some sort of way to translate it is available! In that vein, I do sometimes use some of the dragon language in my fics - mostly when a dragonborn is communicating with Paarthurnax or Odahviing - and I'll have a full list of translations to include in the end notes. On that note, I swear that I have https://www.thuum.org/ open in a separate tab almost constantly when I'm writing just in case!!! I've always found that most useful when trying to include the dragon language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

That'd probably have to be for Pokemon Ranger Guardian Signs, though none of those fics were ever typed up (I think???). I still remember excitedly pulling the odd page from school exercise books to staple together whilst scavenging for pens to write me some more Pokemon Ranger fanfic.......

20. Favourite fic you've written?

The Perfect Storm, absolutely. Though I do sometimes think of going back to work on/improve some of my earlier chapters in the fic, in particular surrounding Elyse's experience in Windhelm because I'm not as in love with that as I once was. My love for Balgruuf (and Elyse, and the two of them together!) fuels my love, favouritism, and bias towards the fic.

#meg is rambling

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