#since no one is gonna like it i'll probably publish for free if i can

[lynnlovesthestars]

Hi! I’m new to your blog and have been loving all of your works!

If you’re comfortable with it, I was wondering how you think Astarion would react/feel about a virgin tav/reader who went through SA when they were younger, and wish to wait until they are both completely ready and comfortable with being intimate?

Hii, I can definitely do it, though i will merge it with another ask I received- asking to write hcs about Astarion learning Tav is a survivor.

I will say, making it with the hc has been a little easier on me, usually when i write about SA i spend an insane amount of time making sure i'm comfortable and you (readers) are as well, and i hesitate a lot before publishing it *(queue up scars and blood, that I wrote on an impulse after a nightmare, and it took me a solid week before publishing it)*

ANYWAYS.

ofc I hope this will be of comfort to you, and it won't trigger you.. sometimes all we want is to find solace into our favourite characters, so i wish tonight this will in a way comfort you...

and if anyone needs to vent, or talk, feel free to hit up my dm's, they are a safe space for anyone and i'll always offer up comfort.. we don't need to struggle alone, and sometimes being heard is what we need to make a new step forward<3

As always, my little stars, excercise kindness! we don't know who's gonna pass by this, and we don't know how hard it can be for them.

This being said, I hope you'll like it!

Headcanon: Astarion learning Tav is a survivor.

Pairing: Astarion x reader. Warnings: mentions of past trauma and SA. wc: 1.7k

-He starts suspecting something about it around the time of the tiefling party. He had offered to sneak out while everyone was asleep to "enjoy yourselves", but you refused right away. He definitely picked up some involuntary movement you did that told him there was more to the "I'm not ready". You probably flinched or jerked away, usually it would go unnoticed, but Astarion could recognize the subtle harshness hidden behind your reaction.

-He doesn't want to pry into it, as much as he needed to know as much as possible about you- he says for the sake of his undead skin- he wasn't entirely confident you trusted him enough to share your past. Also he wasn't sure he could handle someone confiding in him, but he would never admit it. At the end of the day, all he knew about social interaction were faint memories of his magistrate life, or means to survival. He simply wasn't sure he could have the empathy to deal with someone else's emotions, both in good and in bad.

-When you meet the gur, and you start peering into his past, he can't hide the very obvious rock in the shoe, Cazador and his spawn life, and it is because of the gur that you actually open up to him. When he starts going deeper and deeper into Cazador's orders to him and his repulsion towards sex, you do feel like you can share something so intimate, that's been heavy on you, well since it happened. 

-The first time you mention it though, you are very blunt.

-"And honestly I don't know anything else besides disgust for it" He'd admit as he bit the inside of his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Astarion" You'd start, you wanted to hold his hand to comfort him, cause that kind of pain you knew. "I understand how you feel though. If you need—" He cut you short, anger was bubbling quickly in his stomach. You swore his face almost reddened in anger as he raised his voice.

"No, you don't" He was one sound shirt from hissing at you. "You cannot understand what it feels like" He'd sneer at you. "No one can understand what it feels like to be stripped of your bodily autonomy". In a way the harshness in his voice was like a slap to your face, cause you did in fact know. From the other, you didn't expect your brain to beeline directly towards that sealed drawer in your brain where you tried to hide the haunting memory. 

“I went through it myself, you shithead” You got up, uncaring of whatever reaction he could have in that moment, and you just left.

-He was taken aback, on different levels, both because of your sudden shift in mood, because of the blunt reveal, and deep down because he was sorry, though again he’d never admit it out loud.

-You ignored him for the rest of the day, avoiding his stare and disappearing in your tent right after you were done setting camp, and that unsettled him so much that he was weighing the possibility of apologizing cause, of course, he didn’t know.

-You skipped dinner, and even when everyone else was asleep, you didn’t come out from your tent to take your usual nightly walk. The pang of guilt was becoming more like a stab as he saw the light in your tent still burning, and the faint shadow of you moving around restless.

-He prepared a peace offering, a bowl of the leftover stew, as he had to muster the guts to apologize. 

-”Sorry, I was an asshole earlier, I brought you food” He blurted out right after he knocked on the wooden support of the tent, and he was surprised when you still let him in.

-Initially it was awkward, cause you were eating and not saying anything, but after a while he mustered up the courage to offer his shoulder to you. “If you even wish to talk” He’d say.

-You told him a bit of what happened, without going too much into detail, since you were still shaken from the memories that resurfaced.

-Since then he started to learn your boundaries: how to catch your attention without startling you, what were triggering topics for you, how you liked physical touch, and how it triggered you as well.

-In a way he becomes very protective of you, especially if you open up more often about your trauma, and you can see it.

-He made sure everyone respected your boundaries, whether it was Gale with his weave thing pulling you too close, or a stranger breathing on your neck, he was always ready to remind them of their place. 

-”Don’t you see our dear captain doesn't want to be that close?!” “Keep your hands to yourself, they don't like being grabbed by the wrists” “Get away from her, before I stab you” 

-He noticed how you always double checked the perimeter of the camp before the sun would set, and before getting in your tent you’d always look around in the distance, trying to spot if something was out of place. So he joined you in your routine, helping you check around and make sure you were ready in case anything could have happened.

-As you get closer, and you both open up more to each other, he even suggests he moves his tent closer to yours. “I can keep an eye around” Was his explanation, when he first brought it up. 

-And it helped so much with your sleep, you felt a little safer.

-If you didn’t feel safe at night, he’d suggest putting your tents together into one. Maybe it was a way to keep you closer, or he needed reassurance, but he made sure you knew you could place your bedroll anywhere as far or as close to him as you liked.

-Eventually as your bond would deepen and deepen, and you’d grow fond of each other, you found yourselves rediscovering your touch together. It started with your fingers tapping on his arm as you were walking, or a strand of your hair being pulled behind your ear. Some nights you’d sit close in your tent, and would hold hands, caress each other’s cheeks, and slowly even reach out for a kiss or two.

-It was a slow process, where you really got to know each other like no one else ever did. You could read each other like a book, yet you never shied away from asking each other for consent for anything.

-”Can I hold your hand” “Can I kiss your cheek” “Can I rest my head on your chest”

-The thing you both struggled with the most, was falling asleep holding each other. You’d panic very quickly when you would feel your chest becoming tighter. He’d move away as quickly as possible, and give you the space you needed.

-When he confesses he has been falling for you, it’s time to approach the very delicate topic of sex. You opened up about the fact that you wanted to wait ‘till you were ready, and he agreed without hesitation. Of course because he understood where you came from, he never asked for any help either, if he’d feel like he needed some release, he’d disappear for a bit and deal with it himself, without making you feel like a burden.

“I just want to make sure we are on the same page on this” You’d say as you crossed your arms, almost as if you wanted to fold yourself in and away. “If you want to have sex, I can’t right now” You’d start saying, but stop on your tracks for a second. “Wait, not that I can’t. I don’t want to have sex at the moment” You’d correct yourself, confident in your statement, he wasn’t even thinking about it, though he respected completely.

“I get it, and it’s okay my love” He’d say, patting your shoulder, and wondering whether he wanted to hold your hand or kiss it, he wanted to let you know he truly understood. “I don’t want to either” He smiled, and in that moment it was like both you two finally breathed. You’d reach for his hand to hold it in yours.

“It’s not because of you though” You wanted to explain to him, you were so close it was something you were ready to share, especially since you were slowly walking towards a different level of intimacy together, he had to know. “I want to do it when we are both ready” 

“I understand, my sweet, there’s no need for explanations” He’d smile again, one of his fangs slightly poked out against his lip. “You said you don’t want sex yet, so it’s no” 

“I’m a virgin” You’d blurt out, and that was something he didn’t entirely expect.

“Oh” He’d say at first, but as he noticed your cheeks slowly warming up, he pulled you closer to him, his forehead against yours. “It’s okay, I don’t care about it” He’d exhale. “As long as it’s you, I don’t care about anything” 

-When you reach Baldur’s Gate and finally you settle in the elfsong tavern, you made sure you always had a corner of time dedicated to helping each other relearn touch. 

-You'd lay next to each other in different levels of nakedness depending on how you felt at the moment, and you'd spend your time tracing each other's features. Whenever you'd feel comfortable enough to venture into a new thing, he'd ask for permission. 

-"Would you feel comfortable if I touched your hips?" "Can I trace your scars with my fingers?” “May I pull you closer?”

-You didn't fight time, you didn't rush towards sex. It came slowly and it was a process full of ups and downs. Some attempts ended up with you both sobbing, too overwhelmed. Other's ended up with panic attacks. Eventually though, after a lot of work together, you reached a point where you'd be able to make love.

-it was a very soft moment between you two. It involved a lot of comforting, kisses and patience, but it was something so profound, it wasn't only about shared pleasure, but it was about connecting your bodies and your souls. In a way it was like a wedding for you two it was the peak of trust you could have with each other. 

-He'd whisper so many times how proud he was of you, how much he loved you, and how glad he was that you were the one that would spend their life with him.

-Tears eventually arrived, they were the tears of two souls that finally had reclaimed a bit of their freedom. It was the cries of someone that was finally healing. 

#astarion #astarion ancunin #astarion x reader #bg3 astarion #astarion x tav #astarion bg3 #tav x astarion #astarion x oc #oc x astarion #astarion x reader fluff #reader x astarion #bg3 x reader #bg3 x tav #bg3 x you #astarion romance #astarion headcanons #baldurs gate astarion #astarion angst #astarion baldurs gate #baldurs gate 3 #astarion acunin #astarion brainrot #astarion my beloved #astarion x mc #astarion x you #asklynn☆: request #ask: lynn ☆

[excineribusbooks]

Resource Post: Supplies, Equipment, and Software

So I've had some people ask about the supplies and equipment I use to make my books! This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it an official tutorial on how to make a book (for that, I recommend starting with Renegade Publishing's resource documents, DAS Bookbinding, or SeaLemon's YouTube tutorials -- all free, no patreon required!), but if you're floundering because you don't know what you need to get, hopefully this will help a little bit ❤️ If I discover more good resources or change up my style, I'll add to this post.

Of note: I'm based in the US, so this list is unfortunately pretty US-centric. Apologies!

SUPPLIES

Disclaimer #1: I have a background in book conservation, so I'm picky to a fault about the supplies I use. To make a long-lasting book, you want to look for "acid-free" or "archival" materials -- BUT, a lot of consumer craft stores have realized those are good buzzwords to slap on products even if they aren't really archival. Your best bet is to buy from stores that supply materials to libraries and archives; those tend to be higher quality and stick to actual archival standards. Talas, Hollander's, University Products, and Colophon Book Arts Supply are good places to start.

That said! If price matters more than longevity, hitting up Michaels or Joann Fabrics is totally fine. This is a hobby. The bookbinding police are not gonna come smash down your door because you didn't use archival-quality craft paper. My big recommendation, though: at least get your glue and paste from Talas. High-quality adhesive makes a huge difference in how well, and how long, a book holds together. Bad adhesives can turn brittle with time, stain your paper/cloth, and make all your hard work fall apart.

So, all that said, here's what I use:

BOARD - Davey Binder's Board, 0.098" GLUE - Jade 403 PVA PASTE - Zen Shofu wheat paste (you shouldn't have to buy more than half a pound -- a little goes a long way) CLOTH - Either Arrestox or Dover bookcloth, which comes in a wide variety of colors and holds up extremely well to whatever you want to do to it THREAD - 25/3 linen thread, which I run over a small block of beeswax to make it easier to handle and give it better "locking" properties as I sew. For bigger books of ten signatures or more, I sew onto 3/8" linen tapes for extra support. DECORATIVE PAPER - Hollander's is a treasure trove of decorative papers for endsheets and covers; Talas has some really nice ones, too, but they tend to be pricier (since unfortunately everything at Talas has gotten a lot pricier lately) PRINTING PAPER - Hammermill Colors paper, 20lb, in cream; 24lb is also a good weight that feels a little more substantial than regular printer paper. (I'll probably switch to 24lb once my 20lb paper runs out.) To get the right grain direction, I buy a ream of 11x17 paper and cut it in half to make standard letter-sized sheets (8.5x11). Here's a quick primer on grain direction and why it's important when making a book! ENDBANDS - I've never had the patience to sew my own endbands (though I hope to gain that patience someday!), so I just use premade ones like these.

EQUIPMENT

Disclaimer #2: a lot of the stuff on this list is professional-grade (or close to it) with prices to match. You definitely don't have to buy everything right off the bat. It took me fifteen years to accumulate it all, and you can DIY a lot of bookbinding equipment -- a good googling will lead you to all sorts of innovative ways hobby bookbinders set up their shops. The Renegade Publishing resource documents also have a lot of A+ recommendations.

PRINTER - For text, I use a Brother B&W laser printer with auto-duplex (auto-duplex is key when printing a book); for images, both B&W and color, I use a Canon color inkjet printer set to at least 300 DPI. I fully admit having two printers is an absurd setup, but what laser printers can do well, inkjets absolutely suck at, and vice-versa -- and like I said, I'm hella picky. You can get by fine with a single laser printer! Just make sure it's got auto-duplex to save yourself a lot of pain. GUILLOTINE - I have this model, which goes in and out of stock with some regularity. The trick with this guy is to (a) sandwich your text block between some scrap board so the clamp doesn't leave a dent, and (b) REALLY CRANK DOWN on the clamp as tight as you possibly can to keep the paper from shifting as you cut. This fixes 99% of the skewing problems mentioned in the reviews. PRESS - I have a little cast-iron press I bought off a coworker for fifty bucks; similarly, you might have luck searching eBay, looking at Affordable Bookbinding Equipment (Jim does incredible work!), searching craft stores for a flower press, or even just using two pieces of wood and a few C-clamps. SeaLemon on YouTube also has a good video on how to DIY a book press. PRESS BOARDS - For setting the hinges in the press, I use a pair of brass-edged boards like these. It's a good investment if you want to get really nice, crisp hinges, but it's also 100% possible to DIY brass-edged boards if you want. At my very first job, we even set our hinges by taping sewing needles to the book before putting it in the press! FINISHING PRESS - I have this one, which I use to back my books in combination with these backing irons BACKING HAMMER - To my chagrin, I've discovered that having an actual backing hammer makes backing a book way, way easier. Some folks have had good luck with a cobbler's hammer or just a regular old hammer from a hardware store, but I splurged on a student hammer from Hollander's, and it works fantastically. (I wouldn't recommend buying the "professional" hammers, though, because seriously, $90 for a hammer?! No.) BONE FOLDER - I'm actually not a fan of bone folders made from real bone; I like Teflon folders a lot better for scoring and flattening. (Real bone folders tend to burnish the material, an effect I'm rarely going for.) CUTTING MACHINE - A Silhouette Curio. This is 100% optional, but it's how I do the bulk of my cover designs, including cut-outs, embossing, foiling (with a foil quill attachment), and spine titling. The software and overall quality are way better than Cricut, and its 5mm clearance means you can fit more than just vinyl in there. Sadly, Silhouette has discontinued the Curio, but it's still possible to buy from third-party sellers -- and if you don't care about the 5mm clearance, I've heard good things about the Silhouette Cameo line.

A side note on vinyl, from the obnoxiously picky book conservator: if you're aiming for longevity with your books, using HTV in your book designs may not be the best idea. Not only can the adhesives be questionable, but the plasticizers in vinyl break down in really weird, gross ways once several decades have passed. That's why I tend to stick with cut-outs and foiling instead of HTV. But, again: if you just want to make something pretty, don't worry about it!

SOFTWARE

TYPESETTING - I use Affinity Publisher -- it's similar to Adobe InDesign, but with a flat cost instead of a bullshit subscription model. I am by no means an expert in this, since I've only been designing books for a couple years; pretty much everything I learned, I learned from Aliya Regatti's tutorial, plus or minus a lot of googling and noodling around. I've discovered that it does get cranky if your book is over 250 pages or so, meaning you may have to split longer fics into multiple files. That said, I've been really happy with it, and it goes on sale every now and then if the $70 price tag is too much.

As always, Renegade Publishing has a whole lot of tutorials for other software options, including Microsoft Word, InDesign, LaTeX, and Scribus if you already have access to one of those instead.

IMPOSITION - "Imposition" is when you lay out a book so all the pages are in order once you fold + gather the signatures. Since Affinity Publisher doesn't do this automatically on export, I use Bookbinder 3.0, which is an old but nice little Java program that breaks a single PDF into a series of properly imposed signatures. I usually set it to 6 sheets per signature.

MISCELLANEOUS

IMAGES

The Noun Project is a gigantic repository of basic SVGs and PNGs that are not only great for cutting machines, but for adding flourishes to your title page, chapter headings, and scene dividers. Every single book I've made has used at least one image from here; I pay for the yearly Noun Pro subscription, but it's not necessary to use the site.

Unsplash is perfect for photo elements

Pixabay not only has a great archive of photos, but illustrations and vector images as well

Surprisingly, Wikipedia also has a lot of good Creative Commons photos attached to their articles!

FONTS

1001Fonts is a good starting point for finding free fonts, as is FontSpace and DaFont

If you're willing to pay for fonts (and sometimes it's worth it for a well-designed font that's perfect for your project), Creative Fabrica and Pixel Surplus have some good stuff, including discounted bundles of multiple fonts

#book arts #bookbinding #fanbinding #resources

[moonshine-nightlight]

2024 Writing - Plans

similar to last year, i wanted to post a little look forward at my plans for writing this year are. the necessary disclaimer: this is 100% high level, optimistic, ideal situation and subject to change but i still like thinking about it and posting for anyone who's interested. see this post for last years!

so, i like separating things out it mini goals/sections so see below:

Nothing's Wrong with Dale: with DSM self-published under my belt, I'd like to focus on the NWWD publishing journey next! The main obstacles/costs are time and money. Hiring an editor and a cover artist are the pricey-est part of the process but my own edit (first to convert everything from 2nd POV to 3rd POV and then another high-level edit/revise once i've got it in the right POV) will take the most time and needs to be done before i hand it over to an editor. Then after the editor takes their time (and NWWD is much longer than DSM), and finally i need to process all of their edits as well. And i need to do all of this while i do my day job lol.

i've already converted the first 11 chapters to 3rd POV (i hav some IRL friends/betas who only read that version, so if u feel like the tumblr version took a lot of time lol). the timing of being able to publish this year will all end up depending on how quickly i can do all that and kick off the part of the process that depends on outside parties. Even if i manage to self-publish in this year, i don't expect it to come out until lik December and even that's ideal, super best case scenario.

Long Stories: I want to outline both A Perfectly Ordinary Research Position and Shadow Diplomacy and then pick one to be the new long story on here. I do what i call a chapter outline and a scene outline, which is confusing to not!me because the scene = a chapter on here. i should probably rename that process lol. (NWWD was 11 'chapters' and 35 'scenes' for reference).

once i pick a project, i just hope to post as many chapters as i can. Since this will be new, long, and likely just building steam, i actually think it'll be my lower priority after the Short Stories and NWWD publishing, but we'll see. i'd like to start putting that up in June, according to my tentative 2024 schedule.

Short Stories: Since i didn't get as many of these done in 2023 and they've been haunting my brain longer, i want to for sure get some of these shorter stories done. learning from last years overestimation lol, i plan to post 3 short stories: Courtship Confusion, Feral, and finish Free Piano: Haunted, in that order. i'm excited about all these stories and will let me cover 3 different types of pairings (although technically all are Reader) which is fun. All have been outlined and have parts and pieces written. I wish Feral and FPH could both happen in the fall but the timing just doesnt work out so summers gonna b a little spooky lol.

The schedule i worked out makes it so all this will be possible, but also basically has no breaks in sunday postings after my haitus which is beyond optimistic but i lik to start overly confident lol

Hiatus: this is also your reminder that my work has a specific Busy Season which honestly started already (lucky me) and i will b beyond busy Jan-March at a minimum. i hav more projects than ever with my promotion, a lot to learn, and a lot to juggle so minimum 6 day work weeks will be the name of the game - but hopefully all goes well and i'll get a nice bonus i can feed directly to my editors lol

anyway, that's where i'm at right now and I'm looking forward to all the exciting writing and publishing to come in 2024!

Feel free to send in any asks about upcoming/current stories!

Thanks again for all your support in 2023 and Happy New Year!

#my writing #writing status #2024 plans #yearly overview #story status #nothing's wrong with dale #courtship confusion #feral #free piano: haunted #self-publishing #editing #lov to shoot high lol #rly rly thank you for all the support you've given these past few years #i'm still so excited to be doing so much with my original works #:D

[halfagone]

Hey hey Halfa dear,

Idk if this thought is anything you might find interesting, feel free to do whatever with it or nothing with it, or anyone else if you publish this;

I read something probably like a decade ago now that featured someone getting letters with no return address. They would come inconsistently but they were all from the same person just kinda addressed to the whoever lived at the random address they picked. Just talking about their life.

I just remembered this idea and thought it might be an interesting plot device. Maybe this is a Danny writing them trying to process what he's going through after something ghostly, or if he graduates and decides to start traveling with Dani for a bit he writes these to process.

Or maybe, even, he gets the idea to write these letters after becoming a halfa, or any of the big wild events of his life. And like he doesn't include directly identifying info, but he vents about what's happened, and he just writes them as ways to vent, and, well, they end up being delivered to a bat. Idk which bat. That's up to you. (I do think it's something that would grab Jason tho, his dramatic Jane Austen loving ass would love this shit)

I think for like why Danny starts, it could be that like Jazz is trying to get him to do something to take care of his mental health, so if he's not willing to do therapy or talk about things, suggests things like writing a letter to no one, and well, he does in a moment of needing to let out his emotions some how, and then impulsively like mails it and feels lighter, so he just... keeps doing it.

I just think this has the potential for so much angst and also, shenanigans as the bat on the other end like desperately tries to find the person writing these letters. Esp if there's like a tech blackout for Amity, so like traditional mail is the only real way information can get out of Amity, and since he'd have to be dropping it stamped in a mailbox and not just in his own, since this relies on not having a return address, no reason to suspect this letter is from Danny or that it contains anything they're trying to suppress

Okay now that I've dropped off this idea with you im gonna go try to get some sleep, 💜💜💜💜

HOHOHO Okay... Possibly big brain moment? We'll have to wait and see? But! Danny has been living in the Ghost Zone ever since a really nasty incident (could be with his parents or the GIW, whatever your imagination prefers) so that he can heal and gather his strength. (He's an adult here, he doesn't have to worry about things like school and mandatory reporting.) And while he's in the Infinite Realms he ends up going into what is essentially a black market that's filled with, like, mortal magical items. (It's black market because if Walker hears about it, they'd all have to scatter like the rats getting found in the kitchen from Ratatouille.) He finds this mailbox, if you will, and it looks like something someone just ripped off a post from a suburban street and just kept for some reason? But the dealer insists that it's magical, cursed even! It doesn't have much of a function, though. As far as they've come up with, the mailbox just burns whatever mail you toss in there, so it's really just useless. Cursed! But useless.

But Jazz has been insisting a lot recently that he should really do something about his mental health. He needs to unload his feeling somehow, and no, punching the first person closest to you is not the way to do it! So Danny's like, hey! One man's trash is another man's treasure, I'll take it!

So Danny gets this mailbox set up, and he writes his letters and, just for kicks, writes these really weird, obscure no-context phrases on the front of the letter every time before he tosses it in the mailbox to- presumably!- be burned to ash. it can be anything from "potato salad" to "blood of my enemies". Danny doesn't really put too much thought into it, he just thought it was a fun little thing he gets to do, to lighten the mood you know?

But then Jason gets these letters. The first letter he receives in his mailbox doesn't have a stamp, doesn't have a return address, and it's not even addressed to him, but he thinks one of the rival crime lords must have sent it to him because the outside says, "YOU ARE NEVER SAFE."

Obviously he has to take it seriously, so he reads it even if it's not technically addressed to him. And at first he thinks someone is just fucking with him. Maybe Damian and Tim somehow managed to work together to write this mean-spirited prank? He tries not to think too deeply into it, but he does try to do research on some of the topics the letter brings up and he can't find anything??

And the letters keep coming. He's gotta admit some of the shenanigans the letters mention would be really good for a novel, and Jason can get so engrossed in the descriptions and he always gets a good laugh at the snarks. But then he gets a letter that has no words written on it, just a little, cartoonish heart scribbled on top. Jason is a little surprised, but he's not not going to read it, you know? So he reads the letter, and he finds himself quickly falling in love with this imaginary, mysterious person that's naming everything they love in their life, trying to show appreciation for the things they miss, and all the things they wish they still had. And fuck if Jason's not bawling his eyes out by the end of it.

Danny might have sent these letters out as emotional catharsis, but Jason is seeing himself in these letters too. And maybe, just maybe, Jason can heal along the way.

Now Jason is desperate to find the other person. Because that letter was way too emotional to be a joke. Not to mention there were dried tear stains on that letter, and surely that should help them somehow! He calls in some favors and gets some magic folk on the case, only to find out that whoever is sending these letters is in the Ghost Zone. But Jason knows they're alive (er, well, alive and dead, but it still counts!) and he just really wants to know if they're safe and well-taken care of, and are they lonely? Do they need help?

So he gets the magic-user helper to... fix up his mailbox a little. Obviously, there must be a connection of some kind between this mailbox and wherever the other guy is sending his letters through. The letters don't follow him to every safehouse or anything, just this one. By the end of the week, Jason has a huge packet, filled with all sorts of emotions and admissions, and just so much affection (no, he's not in love, stop laughing Dick it's not true).

Danny goes to open his mailbox to send through another letter and just screams his head off when he sees the manila folder on the other side.

When he realizes he's been sending someone all his rants and rambles and one too many vents, he's absolutely mortified.

I loved this so much, thank you for sharing this. I hope you did get some rest!

#halfagone replies #dpxdc #dpxdc au

[fyrerainy]

typos and stuff!! will be pretty in-depth, sorry in advance lmao

@strawbubbysugar hi!! ily!! Here's some stuff I've found. This is gonna seem super rude and if you want me to stop, I'll stop!!

[keep in mind, I'm not an expert, though I have read through a textbook on how to write, edit, and get published. Feel free to discard as much of this criticism as you wish /gen]

When editing a manuscript, the experts say to try and cut 10% of your word count, so be sure to keep that in mind. Anything in your book that you feel icky about, or wasn't worded or written in the best way, needs to be addressed. The first draft was about what you wanted. The final copy will be about what the readers want.

Chapter 1

The key to hooking a reader in is to start with a bang. You want to draw their attention from the first sentence. At the moment, "Busy. Busy busy busy, always so busy," isn't seeming like the optimal use of your first paragraph. It's not making me feel intrigued, or making me want to read more. A chunk of this chapter (or the whole thing) may need to be rewritten.

This sentence is confusing me, it's not very concise. Maybe something like "This place was designed to mimic the unfinished amusement park, which proudly reached several floors above its head," would make it easier on the brain.

moment's

Unsure if 'loaded' is the right word here. Perhaps uploaded would work better?

Also, you can probably get rid of "it was advanced", as it's not needed here.

I'm feeling like this sentence doesn't make a lot of sense. In a nutshell, it's basically "An AI, now holding onto a toddler." It would work better if you exchanged 'a' with 'the', 'and' with 'was'.

Also, "now with one hand holding onto the seam etc" needs to be changed to "holding onto the labelled seam of a toddler's pants with one hand"

I believe this sentence is contradicting itself as you'd just told me that it didn't have straining core muscles, but then said it was straining. You may need to add a sentence or two about how its gears were grinding, and/or its legs shaking to keep it in place.

Also, "...attempt to not drop either child" needs to be "....attempt not to drop either child".

You may want to change the second "calculated" to "found" so you don't repeat words.

It's not a ball pit anymore bubby X3c

This needs to be changed. Either the first sentence needs to be "it caught the little one with time to spare" or "catching the little one with time to spare, the fluid etc etc". If you choose the second option, you'd have to edit the rest of the sentence to avoid it running on.

"The" needs to be lowercase, and ITS needs to be IT'S

Since we've switched focus from Hello to the kids then back, you may want to establish that this is Hello we're referencing when we say 'it'. Maybe, "The robot gently patted"...?

Also, if you want to be super professional and fancy, you could remove one of those question marks. You don't have to tho!

Wrong its! Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive form of it, so it means “belonging to it.” “The cat ate its food.” It's (with an apostrophe) is a contraction (shortened form) of it is or it has. “It's almost Christmas.”

You repeated the word down twice, maybe change one of them?

Dialogue needs to be in a separate line from the rest of the paragraph.

again, if you want to be fancy you could remove one of these

It needs to be '...with its face "-Hello Lolly!"' bc the '-' needs to be on both sides

The "but only for a moment" could be removed to make the sentence flow more easily.

Aaaaand dialouge needs to be in a seperate line.

*error buzzer noise* wrong its!

Not sure what the "at least" is doing there. Feels like it doesn't fit

from "both children seemed" to "opposite directions" doesn't make sense. Try something like "...end result- they both had a toy and a piece of candy. They ran off in opposite directions."

Again, we're switching focus, so we may want to re-establish that it's the robot we're paying attention to at the end there.

it's a foam pit, silly!

foam, not ball

wrong its!

remember we're not using he/him for Hello yet 🤫

lowercase pronoun after dialouge

not balls! foam! X3

Along doesn't seem quite right. Around, maybe?

New line for dialouge!

"A mischievous grin wormed its"

Needs another gap in between the last two paragraphs

For conciseness, consider "Lukas was, at this point, sticking out his..."

For conciseness, 'for it' could be removed.

Put off from purchasing

pathfind is probably not the right word to use here. Maybe just use find?

that's what it was here for - to play! (new line after this)

golden rule! new line for dialouge! (also the 'it' after luukaass needs to be lowercased)

for conciseness, you could remove "in any bit of it's coding"

the needs to be lowercase

it's not not peaked, it's peeked!

Clarify this is Hello we're talking about with the warning signs

it pronounssss

There's so much more editing to be done (including in this chapter) but this process of screenshotting etc is taking up spoons. Perhaps you could allow me editing access to the manuscript so I can highlight the changes to be made? Or do them for you, if you prefer? /nf

I'm tired QwQ

#oh gosh oh gosh #is this too much??? #tell me if its too much #im not trying to be rude i prommy #i just want the best for your book! #i know some self-publishing places #or are you looking to go to a publisher? #so(u)l project #so(u)l rewrite

[wynnecluster]

Been having some thoughts, after seeing some people being really reductive about stuff, so... Guess it's time to ramble on for a while and hope a point emerges!

I don't know if people are still talking about this much, but there was a lot of chatter last month about romance in Sonic stuff (the comics especially) and it's been on my mind since in various ways. As someone who has read easily over 90% of all Sonic comics officially published in English, as well as a lot of other comics besides, I naturally have a few opinions!

First off, I should address *why* people keep bringing up the existence of Romance in Sonic the Hedgehog. For those outside looking in it's probably pretty baffling. Romance was a pretty common subject in certain parts of Sonic media for a long while, the Archie-published Sonic comics in particular portrayed a number of different romantic relationships between various important characters.

But nowadays romance is almost nowhere to be seen in Sonic! It's been stated by various people that Sega basically isn't interested in featuring romance stories in Sonic. Naturally people have a lot of opinions about this, and since we're on the internet those opinions are often loudly shouted at people with differing opinions. Joy.

But that's basically it: Romance was a big thing years back, and now that romance has been pushed out of the spotlight there are both people glad it's gone and those who wish it would return... I wanna talk about the former in particular, so let's talk about stuff the "anti-romance" crowd says.

One infuriating thing is them being glad no "drama" will happen without romance, generally as a dig to the older comics and romance stories in general. This is, in actuality, a completely laughable notion when you break it down.

The "drama" they're referencing is, of course, interpersonal drama. Famously only experienced by squabbling couples /deep sarcasm.

Interpersonal drama appears in all sorts of stories, but especially in character-driven stories like Sonic. When your story is all about characters with big personalities it's a very natural thing to make those personalities clash. Just look at Leonardo and Raphael in almost any version of TMNT: A bunch of their interactions with each other fall under this umbrella.

But already I hear a whiny voice on the wind: "it's not the saaaaaaaame"

Yes it is, though! These kinds of people like to make believe that adding in a bit of kissing or cuddling magically makes a story filled with "drama" but it just isn't true. Whether it's relationship troubles, squabbling brothers, or just friends arguing it's all "drama" and (importantly) it can always be done badly or done well!

Honestly some of the most annoyingly-written "drama" I've seen has been stuff like Batman arguing with Jason Todd. I rarely find that romantic relationships ever actually lead to annoying writing.

Another generally annoying sentiment is them basically saying that "Sonic is an Action series" as if that means either A. It has to be ALL ACTION ALL THE TIME with no breaks or B. It can NEVER touch another genre.

For A, obviously breaks need to happen! Of course I'm not gonna act like romance is the only way you can have those breaks, but romance is absolutely a valid way to handle the downtime in-between action scenes.

That could be a whole point on its own but let's do B now! Limiting yourself to genre definitions is not a good idea in writing imo. And in point of fact, the modern Sonic comics don't limit themselves in this way. If a story calls for dabbling into the spaces of horror or mystery the creators on the comic have shown a full willingness to do so, and that's a good thing!

Genres, in my opinion, should be treated as fluid and a writer should feel free to pull on any genre conventions if it suits the story they're telling.

Gosh. I've been rambling for a WHILE.

And I honestly don't know if my rambling has ended up with a salient point at all, but I think I'll end it here. I just get really frustrated when I see the kinds of bland anti-romance rhetoric that inspired me to write all this.

At the end of the day it's all basically just misogynistic nonsense since romance is thought of as "girly" and anything "girly" gets treated like a problem. And look, you don't have to like romance AND you are not misogynistic if you dislike romance! It's all just your choice!

But I do ask you to consider your words when you talk about it and whether your attitudes are being influenced by misogynistic cultural ideas.

Have a good lunch.

#sonic the hedgehog #idw sonic #romance #just rambly thoughts i guess #I have more thoughts but I got tired #so you get this

[karangarin]

Get to Know My OC [tag game]

nobody tagged me. i tagged myself! bcs i'm procrastinating on drafting ipap lol!!

Transcript of Interview with Huang Xiodan a.k.a. Darren Huang.

Interviewer: Good morning, Mr. Huang. Have a seat, please.

Darren: Right here?

Interviewer: Yes. Or anywhere that's most comfortable for you.

Darren: Right. [chair scraping] Thank you. You can just call me Darren, by the way.

Interviewer: Sure, if that's your preference. Darren, I'll be asking you a few questions today. Feel free to answer them however you like.

(Darren is visibly uncomfortable. He wrings his hands together.)

Darren: Is this being recorded? For a... magazine or an article or something? If so, then sorry, I'm not interested.

Interviewer: Yes, this interview is being recorded. However, rest assured what you say in this room is strictly confidential. It will neither be published nor distributed.

(Darren appears somewhat comforted, though he still seems wary.)

Interviewer: First question.

(From this point onward, unless otherwise indicated, assume all words spoken besides the questions themselves are the words of Huang Xiaodan.)

Are you named after anyone?

Not that I'm aware.

2. When was the last time you cried?

[laughs nervously] Not holding back, huh? Uh, I don't know? Maybe... (He purses his lips.) Uh, yeah. I don't know.

3. Do you have kids?

Are you saying I look old enough to have kids to you? [laughs] I'm joking. But no, no kids. They're cute, but not interested in them. (He stares at his hands.) At least, not right now. Wait, you promise this isn't for some magazine or anything, right? Disregard my previous statement if it is.

(He calms down once I reassure him his statements will indeed remain confidential.)

Right, sorry. It's just been a while since I've done something like this.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

Sometimes. (He looks to the distance, smiling fondly.) Not as much as Naia, though. Have you interviewed her? Holy shit, I'd love to know what she said. Huh? I can't? Oh, right. Confidentiality. (He flashes a smile and cocks his head.) Not even a little? No? Aw, man.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Whether they're smiling. I think you can tell a lot about someone by seeing whether they're smiling the first time they meet you. Helps me tell whether they might already like me or not. It's why Zeke gave me all the wrong vibes first time I saw him.

6. What's your eye colour?

Just basic brown. I think they're nice, though. But if I could have any other eye colour it'd be gold. Ooh, or I'd want to have heterochromia and have one eye be gold and the other brown. That'd be cool.

7. Scary movie or happy endings?

Happy endings. [pauses] Definitely happy endings. (He smiles. It is somewhat rigid.) But I've watched my fair share of scary movies because of Naia. Not my cup of tea. Let's just leave it at that.

8. Any special talents?

There's not much I can't do, you know? [laughs] That sounds like such a brag. But I am. Bragging. I can paint, waltz, sing, act, sculpt, write some impeccable Chinese calligraphy—and that's not even mentioning the instruments I can play. Piano, violin, cello, harp, flute. You name it, I can probably play it. Oh, but wanna know my coolest talent? I'm Candy Cupid. (He grins.) What's that? Oh, I'm so glad you asked. Basically, I can match people with their favourite candy. I just know. Every person has their own candy soulmate. It's like—

(He speaks at length of his Candy Cupid talent. The rest of the transcript has been cut for brevity's sake.)

9. Where were you born?

Shanghai. Beautiful place, you know? Even after moving, I went back there a lot as a kid. Wouldn't go again.

10. What are your hobbies?

I uh... [laughs sheepishly] I like knitting. You swear nobody's gonna publish this, right?

11. Have you any pets?

Nah. I'm not home a lot. Would be really mean for me to have a pet. But I'd love to have a polar bear. Have you seen them wet? They look so pathetic. It's hilarious. Don't tell Naia I called them that, though.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

I mean... you wanna hear me start bragging again? [laughs] I was trained to play any sport there is. Again, you name it, I can play it. I'm a monster at tennis, though. Dominate the court.

13. How tall are you?

Six foot one. And I swear I'm not lying!

14. Favourite subject in school?

Chemistry, no contest. Think that's pretty obvious given I literally teach it for a living. But yeah, I loved it. Still do.

15. Dream job?

Having my own app where I match people with their favourite candies. Like Tinder, you know? [laughs] No, but on a more serious note, I really enjoy being a chemistry teacher. Wouldn't want any other job. Plus, I get to bother Naia all day. So, I love my job. Which is crazy to say aloud, because who loves their job?

Interviewer: Alright, thank you—

Darren: Oh, that's it?

(He appears disappointed.)

Interviewer: Yes, that's all the questions I have for you today, Darren. Thank you for your time.

Darren: Right. Of course. No problem. It was a pleasure. (He extends his hand.)

Interviewer: Likewise.

(I shake his hand. Darren stands from his chair, pushes it back in. At the door, he bows his head slightly and smiles. He leaves the room.)

#ipap #darren #my babygirl #tag games #THIS IS SO UNNECESSARILY LONG #but i had sm fun writing it #and being able to characterise darren better who admittedly i'm still getting to know myself #my writing

[mary-is-writing]

~Mini update

In the form of bullet points because I don't have energy to write a cohesive thing rn

For the last five days or so I've been completely overtaken by this homework and now that's it's done I suddenly find myself with so much free time and not knowing what to do with it.

I started a new self indulgent fic because I was riding on the high of my other self indulgent fic being well received by the masses and I'm finding myself having doubts like maybe I shouldn't have started it because no one will like it as much as the other. So this is a good chance for me to remind myself that this is practice and it's fine, I should be focusing on that and having fun not the ratings or whatever.

I've reached a point in WCB where I think I need to have my notes always near me because last writing session I wrote that a conflict between nations had lasted 50 years when actually it's only been 10 years. Whoops.

I'm missing one person from my second batch of beta readers for TMOWS to receive their notes (they explained to me they had technical issues), after that I think I'll focus on getting the Spanish version, which is the original, registered and published FIRST, and AFTER THAT the Eng version will come.

One of my beta readers made a TikTok of TMOWS and sent it to me and I was there like hhhhhh this so precious thank u so much!!!

I don't think I've ever shared the cover for TMOWS???? I know I shared mock covers but I don't think I've shared this one, which is the one I'm gonna probably keep cause I don't have the money to pay for a cover artist when I barely have enough for registration. Like maybe in a second edition I can make it fancier, but for now I'm sticking to the Exchange Perfect for Done tip. So after the registration is done I'm gonna share it since it'll take a lil' while afterwards to translate it.

Winter is almost done and I left all my spring clothes in my parents house, I have so many long sleeve shirts and no short ones and is getting hotter by the day help qwq)

#mini update #writeblr #writing #writers #writers stuff #writing stuff #random #tmows #wcb

[gamebunny-advance]

Context: about every 100+ followers or so, I hold a "Follower Milestone Celebration" where I open doodle requests for a short time. I'm getting really close to the next one, but the last time I did it, there weren't that many requests, so I've kinda been discouraged from doing it.

But, this next milestone is kinda special since it's the big 1,000, and it'd feel weird if that's the one where I finally decided to stop doing it. So, I thought I'd ask what y'all want to do.

If you're not familiar with the general celebration rules, they are as follows:

One request per person per celebration. If you've made a request in the past, you can ask for another one, but only one per milestone.

One character per request. I might make exceptions for "animal buddies" or other small companions, but not 2 full-sized characters. I used to do them, but I wanna keep things moving and do as many requests as possible.

Don't be too detailed or specific. These are only doodle requests, something I can draw in less than an hour, so the art is gonna be a little simple. At most, keep it limited to 1 character + an action. Props are okay. Backgrounds are situational/simple.

Good Example: Kun3h0 eating a pizza.

Bad Example: Kun3h0 sitting cross-legged while eating a pizza slice in one hand, and holding a game controller in the other while playing Kirby Air Ride while GAB watches.

It's ONLY open to followers that followed before I made the official announcement. (This is not the official announcement.) This means that requests cannot be anonymous, since I have to verify the follower status. If you don't want your name published with your request, then just ask to be anonymous, and I won't mention your name when I post the doodle~

I'm being especially strict about that rule now. Anyone coming into my ask box with a sob story that wasn't following me is just gonna be blocked on sight now.

I don't do OCs. This includes other people's OCs. I used to allow them for mutuals and honorary mutuals, but it's both a confusing rule, and I actually feel a lot of pressure when drawing OCs since I want to make them as good as possible. I think y'all deserve the best, but that's hard to upkeep when I'm doing rapid-fire requests X(.

I will draw for fandoms I'm not familiar with, but I won't draw things that conflict with my moral values. I'm not gonna make a whole list of things/fandoms I won't draw, but if you've been following me on either of my two blogs, then you probably have a good idea of where my moral compass lies. Just ask if you're not sure. If I won't do it, then I'll just ask you to make a different request.

I don't do horny. It's not against my morals, but I won't do that kind of thing for free. Even if it's an innocuous kink that could pass under the radar, I'm not consenting to be a part of that at this time. Consider a commission if you want something like that from me.

That's the gist of it. There isn't a hard limit on how long the celebration goes or how many requests I'll do, but it's generally first-come, first-serve, but mutuals/honorary mutuals get priority. I like to think of it like microwaving pop-corn: I'll officially close things once requests either slow down or stop for a significant amount of time and/or I get burnt out.

Also keep in mind that none of this is an obligation to me, so I might reject a request for a reason not explicitly stated in the rules. It just depends on how comfortable I am with the request.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask (questions can be anonymous)~

#gbunny polls #we're *very* close to the next one #i'd like if this happened before may/june because i think i'm gonna be busy around that time and going forward #so hopefully this'll happen when i still have free time #who knows when this'll happen. sometimes it takes months just to get 1 or 2 more followers #but i've actually had some decent growth in the last month so maybe it'll happen soon. we're less than 10 followers away ^3^ #for the time being i feel like drawing things in a really cutesy style #i think i can do more requests if i keep things simple/cute #something that you'd put on a holographic sticker that came free with some candy i suppose #anyway i guess there's also a 3rd category of 'special' people #and those are the 'big fans' #they're not mutuals or honorary mutuals since i don't usually engage back #but they're the folks that are always active in my notes regardless #y'all will get priority too if you make a request~

[memoirmemories]

memoirs ; 3

ksshhh...

bzzzt

sigh

uhh, that went smoother than before. didn't even need to give it the good ol' slam.

she clears her throat

um, it's 00:57. couldn't sleep... thoughts of possibly being the last person alive are haunting me. but i'm not giving up on these transmissions. green lights usually mean good, right? i'm clinging to that hope.

if anyone's out there listening, i just want to make it clear that i'm real, i exist. i don't want you to doubt that. so, i took a selfie to prove it. but first, let me properly introduce myself, something i skipped earlier.

i'm Mina, 23, a college dropout and former editor for a publishing house. did a lot of translation work. it was an alright job, paid the bills. the rest of my life isn't as interesting, but that's a story for another time.

now that you know a bit about me, i guess it's time to show you what i look like. getting a clear selfie with all this interference wasn't easy, but here i am...

definitely not the picture of health, huh? two years of scraping by on scraps and fighting for sleep will do that to you. but, this should at least prove to you that i'm real and somewhere... out.. here.

a long, weary sigh is heard

about those sirens i mentioned... i find odd comfort in them now. i didn't explain much before. i'll try to capture the sound from outside sometime, doubt this thing can pick it up indoors. when i first arrived, this haunting siren was blaring. it hasn't stopped since. it felt louder initially, but maybe i've just grown used to it. i sleep near a wall, and it's louder there. as i said, it's become a sort of lullaby for me. it's reminiscent of a nuclear or apocalyptic siren that just... never stopped. as if someone forgot to hit the off switch. it's a mystery how it's still operational. sometimes i forget it's even there.

i um, promised to share a bit of my music, didn't i? well, here's one of the songs. the quality might not be top-notch – i'm not sure how good this microphone is – but it's what i can offer.

i don't actually know the name of the song, but it's become a favorite of mine. it's like a storm that's calm but also wild at the same time. sort of like what I'm going through here – some quiet moments, then suddenly it's all crazy again. the song kind of matches the ups and downs i deal with every day, but in a weird way, it's also comforting.

i'll share the other two songs another time. think of it like a puzzle – you've got to wait a bit for the other pieces to be revealed, heh.

my eyes are burning... i don't know why i keep rambling on like this. it's been probably over a year since i last really talked to myself, aside from the occasional murmur or reminding myself what to do next. but talking like this, actually expressing my thoughts and feelings, not just to the empty air but hopefully to someone out there... this is the first time.

and it feels freeing, you know? like i'm finally letting out all these pent-up thoughts and emotions. the only thing missing is someone responding back. but i think, maybe, it'll be okay even without that.

a sniffle is heard

i'm gonna try and actually get some sleep now. this headache's just getting worse, and that one cup of water didn't do much. might spend tomorrow just boiling water, make enough to last a day or two. not much else to do, and i've got enough food for the next few days. the generator's still half full, too. Mina, out, i guess?

she scoffs lightly, then the transmission clicks off

[gon-and-killuas-mother]

i'm nearly done moving everything to my dad's house. just gotta go back to the apartment today to get all the leftover stuff and do some cleaning.

my body is very against the idea, yesterday was insanely difficult on me. but bc my friends are wonderful, i am in much better shape than i would've been otherwise. at the expense of their own fatigue and body pain, they made sure i took enough breaks and that i didn't take too many trips up and down the stairs. if i'd tried to help like i wanted to, i doubt i'd even be mobile today.

once everyone had gone home and i had to swing back by the apartment last night for a couple more things (like the cat food someone forgot to put in the car) i did take a moment to say goodbye to the apartment. i know it's an inanimate thing, but i have carried this accumulated trauma over moving since i was little. between the divorce(s) and the frequent changes of houses, i was able to make a safe space for myself in each home only to have to pack it up again a year or two later. kid me never got to grieve properly, or say goodbye to the houses. my homes.

so last night, i wept alone in the almost empty apartment. it was my first solo home, and it saw me through some of the hardest, most painful times of my life. but it also saw me grow into a more confident adult, someone who wasn't afraid to take up space anymore.

i couldn't be more grateful for that year-and-a-half of living on my own. after a lifetime of tucking myself inward to be more convenient to my family and then later to my roommates, i learned how to be comfortable with myself. i made friends with my neighbors. i was, for a while, independent and free.

now, though, i have to accept that i can no longer support myself. my body can't take the extra work of keeping a job, doing my chores, running errands, and staying healthy all on top of my disabilities. moving back into one of my childhood homes is a bizarre experience. i got home very late this morning after that trip back to the apartment, and had to creep quietly through the dark to not wake anyone up. the same smells, the same creaks and groans of the floors and stairs, the same hums of the AC, everything i remembered from childhood almost overwhelmed me.

luckily, my new room is in the downstairs "condo" my dad had built for my sister and her niece. it's made of two rooms, a bedroom and part of the den that used to make up half of the downstairs area. it's honestly bigger than my entire apartment, plus the bathroom i'm using is across the hall with the laundry room and the kitchen is upstairs, so my two rooms are all my living space rather than amenities.

my knees aren't going to enjoy the little hill between my car and the front door, nor the stairs. but now, if my body says "no stairs today", i'll have my brother and my dad to bring me whatever i might need.

now if only i could figure out how i'm gonna pay that last months rent on time ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ

lastly. this might be the best possible time to start writing my book. if i can't work, and i can't do much other than stay home tending to my body, then this could be a good moment for me to word-vomit some rough drafts. and Dad would probably be pretty supportive, he's also a self published writer and has always appreciated my interest in writing. i may even let him read some of my drafts except for the possible steamy sections no way is he reading those

anyway. long day, long weekend, ready to start this new chapter of my life. saying goodbye to a home is, somehow, harder to me than saying goodbye to a person. maybe bc there's no going back? idk. signing off.

#tink rambles #i'm tired my head hurts and i'm also on my period bc why not

[fictionalurl]

Tagging a post "unannounced project" is sort of a joke, since all of my projects are unannounced, as is this blog. (I figure I'll link it in the pinned post on my main once I actually publish something. Maybe if I post a Sugarplums update. If you found it before then, hi! Great job! I'm actually really curious if anyone will; feel free to send an ask saying hi or follow.)

For the curious, my notable fiction projects (none of which are done at the time of posting) are:

Caramel/Sugarplums, a fanfic about some of my Guild Wars 2 characters that I started writing in 2015 and wrote some more of in 2018. I joke to myself that it's a tradition to work on it in October, as I originally had a goal of publishing it on halloween (in both years). I have more of it that's unedited from the 2018 writing session, and I do plan on finishing it.... so maybe look out around halloween 2024?

This one is easily my best work. Reading it is almost like an out-of-body experience for me because I mostly don't remember writing it but it's written just the way I like.

As with all of my fiction pieces, I came up with one single-sentence description of an event that I wanted to describe, then went 50 layers deep into the backstory and haven't gotten to the event in question yet.

Working title: Camp Avana, an original fiction work that I started in June 2022 and did the NaNoWriMo-equivalent 50k words on in the next 30 days, then slowed down on quite a bit but am trying to keep working on. I sort of intentionally treated this as practice: I want to get used to things like doing an extended project, making plans for the plot and sticking to or adjusting them, revising and being willing to throw things out, etc, so I specifically decided not to focus on trying to make this one perfect... or even good. I do really like significant parts of it, but the flaws I already knew are there are definitely there (like... not having a plot), and I don't know that it'll ever be something I recommend anyone else read, per se. But, who knows! I do really like it.

My longest project by far, of course. With my current plans it will be like 150k words and nothing of substance will happen in any of them. Maybe someone will find it relaxing?

Oh, and I made this blog so that I could start tagging posts with references to this piece despite the fact that no one has ever read it yet and so no one would have any idea what I was talking about. Tagging things for your OCs is its own reward.

untitled adult fiction project that I won't go into detail on because... well, yeah. This one is actually from before Camp Avana and I've written more than 3x as many words on it as Caramel and Sugarplums combined, so until recently it was technically true to say that, by word count, very possibly the majority of my fiction writing experience was explicit. Thank god that's no longer true.

This one is mostly notable because I wrote it on my phone, and I actually tried changing that and realized that I can't write in the same style on a phone screen and a laptop keyboard, so for consistency I had to keep writing it on the phone. (If I finish it I'll edit it on a laptop, of course.)

To be completely honest, for what it is I honestly think this one could pretty good with some serious editing, but if I ever post it publicly it's not gonna be on this blog.

"unannounced project": Not a real WIP, but I just counted them up and I have 2500(!) words of design notes for the setting of this hypothetical fantasy story. I probably don't intend to post them because I really like setting-based surprises in fiction and if I ever do figure out a plot and characters and write the story, I'd want to reserve the ability to surprise people with some of the details as they read it.

edit: yay more stuff to add!

see the thorn twist in your side, a notes document for writing down a dream fragment I had that immediately went extremely off the rails and became a personal challenge to see if I can write melodrama and angst. I may change the title, I dunno, but it felt like it deserved one of those loosely related song lyric titles that everyone does for their cool edgy fanfic.

[aqueermenagerie]

i've been fucking...writing? on something original?? the last couple days???

#i speak #idk if i'll ever finish or publish it #but it's helping me get some shit out #it's the most inconsistent #incongruous mess ever #but so am i #oddly i think i know how i want to end this thing #i just gotta write it #since no one is gonna like it i'll probably publish for free if i can #but if i think it's at least decent i'll put it at like #50¢ or smthn #idk #but i'm cautiously optimistic

[myautisticpov]

hey, I saw your post about audible's book returning thing and I have a tangential question. do authors make more from people buying their physical books or from kindle? I want to pick the one that's best for the author but I don't know enough to make that decision. I googled it and searched around a bit but couldn't find anything useful. it would be really great if you could let me know how it works!

It's probably difficult to find anything useful because

a) if an author has a publisher, all of the money from the sale goes to said publisher, and the nature of the contract with the author decides how much of a cut the publisher then pays out to the author for each type of sale. So, even with the same formats, two authors could be getting different cuts because they're with different publishers. Typically, the royalty cut from an ebook should be higher, as there aren't print costs for the publisher to pay, but they're generally accepted to not be high enough from most publishers.

b) There are other reasons for authors to want you to buy print books from physical book stores, rather than Amazon. Like, if you go into your local book store and ask for a book, the person behind the desk might go "oh, this is a gap in our shelves, I'll order a second copy and put it up" and then a casual browser who otherwise wouldn't have seen the book might pick it up, and the person behind the desk might decide to regularly buy new copies, since they're selling. (This also applies to libraries. Not the regular sales part, but the new browsers picking them up part, and plenty of library patrons also buy books.)

c) That's just for traditionally published authors, self-published authors deal with a different economy where we usually pay higher printing costs per book, (and there is an absolutely ridiculous returns system in most bookshops that can absolutely bankrupt you, but if you opt out, most bookshops won't stock you, so Point B doesn't really apply to us - except for the libraries addition because libraries have ebooks) so if the book prices are the same, we make a lot more from ebook royalties, but we also usually price ebooks cheaper, so idk about other people, but my royalties look about the same.

d) This is all assuming that you're buying books and not using Kindle Unlimited which is, again, a whole different economy where the author will make fewer royalties, but you reading the book will count towards the author's ranking on Amazon, taking them up the book charts so that more readers will see them (it also tells Amazon's algorithm who likes that kind of book, which then means that it shows it to more readers like you)

and e) There are other ways to pay the author more, like buying from their website directly or supporting them on Patreon (if they have these options available), but these don't count towards a book's ranking on larger stores like Amazon (or tells human booksellers that people like the book at stores that have them like your local physical store or ebook stores like Apple or Kobo) so while you're paying the author more once, the author isn't getting as much visibility from other avenues.

So, yeah, the answer is that it's a complicated web of more than just straight royalties, and you should either check what individual authors have said they prefer, or just shop in whatever format you prefer. Like, I'm literally dyslexic and have joint issues, I'm not gonna tell people to go to their local indie bookshops if, like me, they struggle to both hold and read physical books.

And if you're wondering how to give me the most money to support me, I only charge my Patreon when I release a book and you get all of the ebook files DRM free, so supporting me at the higher tiers would be the best way. Aside from that, buy from wherever you want in whatever format you want, just don't treat Amazon's lax returns policy like a library. Go and ask your actual librarian to stock my ebooks or audiobooks. Or go to my website and use the Pay What You Want system to get the books for free.

[kookie-doughs]

Beta Tester

Kozume Kenma X Reader

-YN LN is a popular mangaka

Chapter 29: Tested

As you sat in the middle of Kenma's sprawled leg, you two cuddled with controllers at hand.

A year at most had passed since the release of Puri Puri Magika: Lost Magic™ and things happened.

Of course PPM recieved a lot of rewards and the hype of the game still hasn't died which surprised you. A multi-player version was also released after 5 months.

You had publish and completed 2 Manga and have a new one on going. Your Manga recieved an anime adaptation which made you proud.

Kenma had won awards as well. Not that we'd go into that🙄. He also 'forced' you to move in so he could make sure you're living healthy and not staying up for a week finishing your script. He also dedicated a day where he streams with you, so you could rest.

You both usually used your time playing games that were on top charts. And among all the games only 1 game almost topped PPM.

The game Kenma had asked Sakujo to make. They publicly released it as a dating simulator, which you could either end up with Kenma or you.

"You idiot! Just fucking die already!!" You screeched as you button mashed.

Right now you were playing Street fighter to match with Kenma's retro theme of the month.

"You suck at this."

"Shut the fuck up! How do I do Kamehameha?!!!??"

Kenma sighed, "It's not called Kamehameha idiot. It's called-" He didn't need to finish his sentence when his character finished you off with a yell of "Hadouken!"

You looked at how your character lost and clenched you jaw.

"You suck!!!! You're a cheater!!!! I hate this let's play something else!!!!!" You screamed.

Kenma frowned at how loud your were but obliged. He checked the comments to see which games they were recommending.

"Let's play th---" He was cut off when the door slammed open outside.

The two of you looked at each other.

"Y/N!!! BABEEEEE!!!!" You heard your Soulmate yell at the living room.

"AHHH! Kuroo!!!!" You hopped off Kenma and ran to the door.

Kenma wouldn't agree but according to the comments, Kenma gave a horrified and broken look the moment you jumped off.

"This idiot." He grumbled and followed you as fast as he could not bothering with his stream.

He saw how you and Kuroo approached each other in slow mo, skipping to each other. So Kenma had no trouble grabbing you by the hood of your hoodie and frowned at Kuroo only to see Alisa holding Kuroo in a choke hold.

"Hey Kenma!" Alisa smiled.

The blond nodded and dragged you behind him.

"Alisaaaaa! Kenmaaaa!!!! You can't split away soulmates!! Let us goo!!!" You and Kuroo struggled from their hold.

Managing to free a hand you both tried to reach out to each other, only for Alisa to choke Kuroo harder killing the poor man.

"I came to borrow YN~" Alisa sang looking at Kenma.

"If she's going be like this, you can have her."

"Swap her with Kuroo?"

"Why the fuck would I want Kuroo?"

"Well I can't have both of them! Do you seriously want them arrested? Again?"

Kenma groaned at sighed. He let Alisa drag you to your closet and he was stuck with Kuroo.

After you got prepared to go out you gave Kenma a kiss and tried to do it Kuroo as well but the demonic aura of the two scared you both so you decided against it and went out.

Unbeknownst to you the two male had a talk about something. Unfortunately unbeknownst to them, the stream was still active...

Alisa dragged you from shop to shop. Buying this and that.

After what seemed to be 3 hours you and Alisa went to a food court.

To your surprise you saw Keiji, Tenma and Yamaguchi together.

"Y/N! Alisa!" Satori greeted.

"What are you guys doing here?" You asked shocked.

"Well we wanted to hang out and Alisa said you were with her so we went here." Tenma grinned.

"Satori dragged me with him." Akaashi said.

They all joined you and then conversation just flowed perfectly. You talked about this and that while eating.

You'd check on your phone hoping to see a message from Kenma but you got none.

"You keep checking your phone, want us gone that bad?" Satori frowned.

"N-No! I was just checking if Kenma left a message."

"Did he?"

"Nope. I kinda wanna go home now."

"Oh my god what if he's cheating on you?" Satori gasped. Which earned him a hit from Alisa and Akaashi.

"As if that hermit could get anyone else. Especially with Kuroo following him. My Soulmate would make girls pass out before they could even glance at Kenma."

"I don't understand why YN loves Kuroo more than Kenma." Yamaguchi laughed nervously.

"Alisa prefers Kenma. Kuroo prefers YN. Kenma hates everyone." Akaashi pointed out.

"If Alisa would let me I wouldn't mind being a third."

"One thing we agreed on is never put you and Kuroo together and unsupervised. So no I don't think so."

"When did you learn that?" Tenma asked.

"After the two got arrested." Akaashi answered.

"Huh?"

"It was at a train. Something... Explicit happened." Alisa sighed remembering what happened.

"H-Huh?"

"YN went on her knees on a train. They didn't actually do anything, just suggested the thought but I guess it was enough to get them arrested." Akaashi explained.

"That's where the KenYN break up came in."

"I'm surprised Kenma and Alisa are still dating you and Kuroo at this point."

"I know right?" Alisa cringed. "Anyway we should continue our shopping spree."

You all stood up and roamed around for another hour or two until Alisa got a message.

"We should go home. Kuroo just texted me. You guys wanna come with?"

They all shrugged and said they'll meet you at your place.

When you got home you got home you laughed seeing how messy your place was. It was like there's a con going on at your house.

Everyone in it was Cosplaying as some game character. There were people you didn't quite know who.

"Y/N!!!!" Kuroo came barelling towards you in his Luigi costume with Mario right behind him.

"Ahh! Where's Akaashi?!" Mario, who turned out to be Bokuto, asked.

Alisa stepped in front of you before Kuroo got to you and turned to Bokuto. "He's on his way. He probably changed clothes."

"What's happening? Why is everyone dressed up?"

Kenma came out of the room with his Overwatch cosplay. You told your friends you were going to Kenma and went over.

"Well hello there. What's up with everything?"

"Do you not know what today is?" Kenma asked.

"Oh fuck, is it our anniversary?"

You and Kenma just looked at each. You fucked up.

"You don't know when that is?"

"P-psh. Of course I-I know!

Kenma flicked your forehead and walked away after saying, "Get dressed. Choose whatever you want."

And now he's upset at you. You felt guilty about forgetting what today was.

Luckily you and Kenma often Cosplay during stream so you had spares. You decided to go as Graves from League of Legends with face beard and all.

Everyone was looking at you when you got out of the room which made you feel anxious.

Was this party for you and you forgot about it? It wasn't Kenma's birthday that's for sure. What could it have been?

Alisa came to you in a KDA Akali Cosplay that you assume Kenma lent her.

"Oh my god the photos are gonna be so great."

"I think Kenma's mad at me..." You mumbled.

"When is he not?"

"I don't know what today is..."

"Just- it'll come to you sooner or later."

You frowned as you scanned the room for your man. You saw Akaashi in a Kingdom Hearts Cosplay, Satori and Wakatoshi in a Tomb Raider costume. Hinata and Kageyama in Danganronpa. Link, who is Atsumu, clinging to Skull Kid. Sakujo and his husband wearimg you and Kenma's character in PPM.

But you found no one in an Overwatch costume.

"Excuse me..." You heard from the front. It was Kuroo, Bokuto and Kenma on an improvised stage.

"I'm sure everyone here knows what's going on right?" Kenma said exaggerating on the word everyone.

"Today, to continue our celebration we will be having a treasure hunt! The treasures you're looking for are in a form of a game loot box of various game style."

"There are a total of 21 loot boxes around town. One of them empty. You are to bring the loot box unopened here and you'll claim the prize of whatever it is in it. You could either come home empty handed or 100k courtesy to our dear host."

"The clues to the boxes are cut evenly to all the players. All the players will have 1 clue. Each players could only get one loot box and it has to correspond to your clue. Come up and get your clue!"

With that, Bokuto brought out a box with a hole on top. Everyone went on stage and got their clue. You were the last to get the clue so you were excited.

The thought of at least 45 adults in Cosplay running around town looking for boxes humored you. So you excitedly looked at your clue.

What made today special.

You froze. It was as if they were doing this in purpose. You had no idea what today was, and of course you had to get the clue asking for what today was.

You looked at Kenma and he gave you a look. Did he know which clue you got, and is disappointed you didn't know what it was?

You took a deep breath and went over to Kenma. "I-I'll win! I know it."

Kenma nodded. "That'll be one less 100k. Do win."

"Ready???" Kuroo called everyone.

"Go!" Bokuto yelled and everyone went out.

Eyes were on us with a bunch of adults wearing Cosplay coming out of a room. Some recognized people it made you realize everyone running right now was a pretty big deal in entertainment industry or related to someone. No one recognized you though. Bless your fake beard.

You ran to wherever you could think of. Enix, Jump, your place. But you saw nothing. Then you thought of the party.

The party wasn't a year ago from today but it was the only one you could think of.

You ran you were just so tired. After all you've been running for hours. And when you got there.

It was empty.

It broke your heart. You couldn't remember what today was. You failed Kenma.

You just gave up. You needed Kenma's comfort, but you were afraid you won't get it since you failed.

You sadly made your way back to you place. Tears threatening to fall. You were disappointed in yourself.

"Y/N." You heard someone call. You lifted your head to see Kenma.

The tears fell. "Kenma... I could find the box..."

Everyone was already back, and was looking out.

"I-I looked everywhere and I-I just couldn't find it..." A soft sob escaped your lips. And you looked down.

"Y/N."

"I-I don't remember what today is..."

"Y/N look at me." Kenma called.

You lifted your head and saw that Kenma was on his knees. Your eyes widened.

"H-Huh...?"

He brought out a Overwatch loot box from his pocket and cleared his throat.

"Today... Was the day when it all started. The day you showed up in my steps with a stupid flash drive..." He laughed weakly.

You blinked confused of what's happening.

"The day I saw, was the most important day for me. It was the day... The day I noticed you. I really hate you back then. You were so annoying, you still are. You're so persistent. So loud. You ruined my stream. And you kept bothering me. "

"Now you're just insulting me..." You laughed sadly.

"I-I... Look... I love you. I love you YN LN." And looked at the box, "Do you want to know what box you got?"

"Uh-Hm..."

When you opened the box there was a ring.

"Marry me."

You took the box from him and laughed. "You are such a nerd!" Wrapping your arms around him and gave him a kiss.

The crowd hollered and awed at you two. Chanting "Answer him!" and "Say yes!"

When you two parted you rested your forehead against his.

"I love you so much Kenma. I'd love to spend an eternity stuck with your stupid nerdy ass."

Previous | Masterlist

This was the last chapter!!! Thank you very much for sticking with it!!!!

It was kinda dull and all that but I had an issue with my messaging app so I couldn't use it so I went for written only

I hope you liked this and I want to thank you all for supporting this I had so much fun writing this

-kookie-doughs

Taglist?

@gayer-than-the-gayest-gay @synx-ed @normalisthenewnorm @0majuh0 @leachann @nikanikabitch @almondeupeach @immxnty @mer-majesty @yamayoomi @simpingoveranime-men @lostmarimoismyhubby @mariishat @just-snog-already @sadcosmicdoggie @so-lo-stuff @emperor-eros @nachotrash @themisadventurescrew

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!! #haikyuu-smau #hq #hq smau #x reader #hq!! #haikyuu smau #smau #Kenma #Kenma kozume #Kenma X reader #Kenma smau #kenma x y/n

[sleepysloth99]

Know what fuck it, Hyuk headcanons because Sweet Home needs more fandom content. First off this my first time making headcanons and publishing them so if I suck I'm so sorry. Anyways uhhh guess I'll do this.

Dating Hyuk Lee Would Probably Be Like...

•He's shy as hell so like I said on the quiz I made, you gotta initiate a lot.

•He'll probably piss you off or at least annoy you at some point due to his blunt nature, bare with him.

•Lots of hangouts with you, him, and Eun.

•Must get along with Eun, he wants someone who'll really care for her.

•Anime all the time

•Also lots of gaming sessions

•Cosplay as Saber for him and he'll die.

•Oh yeah also put up with his crush on Saber, if you ever get jealous for whatever reason feel free to express your crush on another character...And now you just started a war with him... good luck.

•He may come off as cocky to some as a leader but in reality he's an awkward dork. So of course he's gonna be really awkward in the relationship spare him please--

•I feel like Hyuk is the kind of guy where once he's really comfortable around you he'll be pretty clingy.

•It'll take some time for him to open up to you honestly. Sometimes he thinks you're just messing with him since growing up kids always bullied him. Makes him wonder how he got so lucky to end up with you.

•To be honest I can see Hyuk being kind of a closeted age regressor (for those of you who don't know, age regression is a coping mechanism for some people who went through trauma. It's commonly fetishized and/or deemed pedophilic or disgusting due to it having similar qualities to DDLG. However, it's important to know the difference. One is a coping mechanism and one is a kink. So if someone is an age regressor don't shame them, they're not gross, they're just coping and please stop stigmatizing it.)

•So you're probably wondering why I brought up that age regressor headcanon. Simple, because Hyuk will eventually tell you he is, albeit nervous. He's afraid that by telling you about the age regression you'll be disgusted and leave him or you'll stay with him but act all creepy about it and try to sexualize it.

•Only to find out it's okay and you're 100% fine with it and not creepy about it (if this doesn't apply to you then by all means, leave.) He'll keep the age regression a secret from everyone but you. You're the only one who knows so keep it that way.

•He doesn't cry often but when he does cry it's a lot of tears and sometimes for reasons that Eun or maybe even you might find ridiculous. "One time I had my friends over and one of them knocked over his figurines and broke it and he freaked out. It was so embarrassing!" Said Eun. While it may sound dumb to you to cry about it just keep in mind that Hyuk went through a lot already. But he doesn't cry much partly because people say men shouldn't cry and partly because no one is there to comfort him crying.

•He's kind of touch starved because he has no parents. I mean sure he has Eun for company or to hug but ever since the death of his parents they grew pretty distant. Eun will at most pat him on the shoulder but other than that no not really. When he gets comfortable enough around you he'll want to cuddle all day everyday. He'll also want kisses and such. Just please be physically affectionate.

•Backtracking on that cuddling part. The roles switch depending on who needs it more but 90% of the time you guys cuddle, Hyuk is the little spoon. He just wants to be in your arms all the time.

•Oooh massage his scalp while cuddling, he'll fall asleep instantly!

•He may seem cold but yeah he's actually pretty sensitive.

•He's also very insecure too so he can get pretty jealous pretty fast.

•Course he tries and hides the fact that he's jealous.

•We all see it though.

•It might seem cute but don't ever try and get out of your way to make him jealous please, he gets upset already.

•Wear his glasses and his shirts and he'll instantly melt.

With that being said, this is the end of the headcanon post! Hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll make some more. Feel free to stop by and request some stuff to me so I can get more ideas for Sweet Home headcanons!

#hyuk+lee+headcanons #sweet+home #sweet+home+manhwa #sweet+home+webtoon #webtoon #manhwa #sweet home #hyuk+lee