#i mostly scribble these to help myself Think and Visualize | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

womaninwinter · 22 days

Text

Writing vs Visual Art

Prompts from @insidethekaleidoscope: if you both write and make visual art, how would you compare the experiences?

Have you always done both or is one a more recent hobby?

I've always been doodler and a storyteller, but it's only recently that I started thinking of them as Art. When I was a kid, I thought I was going to be a writer. When I was a teen, I thought I was going to be an artist. And now I'm writing again.

2. Do you prefer one over the other? Why?

I am a better (more practiced) writer than artist, so I am generally happier with the results of my writing than my drawing/painting. At the moment I'm on a writing kick, but there was definitely a long period where I preferred visual art, and I think this also had to do with the online spaces I was hanging out in. When I'm in fandom spaces, the primary way I can contribute is writing, so I tend to do that. When I was not into fandoms, and was just more generally into Insta art communities, I was seeing a lot of art, so I was doing a lot of art.

3. Are you drawn to the same themes in both?

Hm. Now, I never thought of myself as having Themes in my visual art, again because I'm not that good at it and thus I don't have a great deal of control. However, there are definite stylistic commonalities. My thought process tends towards gothic/intricate/exaggerated/intense and both my art and my writing have those characteristics.

4. Do you see them as connected practices?

This is funny. I've never thought about them as connected, mostly because I only seem to have the time/energy to do one creative hobby at a time. The times when I produce a lot of art are the times when my writing is fallow and vice versa. That said, I think that producing visual art sometimes helps unstick me in my writing, but then again, so does writing longhand on paper, so possibly it's just easier to be creative when I'm not taking psychic damage from the screen.

5. Do you feel more confident in one than the other?

As is probably obvious from my answers so far, I'm much more confident in writing than drawing/painting, but this is mostly because I've had more practice and training in writing. I've had almost no formal art lessons (until a couple of years ago when I did a life-painting class, which did actually rule), but writing was part of my education all the way up, and then it became part of my job, as a translator. Wish I had more time to practice/learn art, but alas, the brain worms are dead set on writing right now.

6. Do you do both at once or do you have periods of time where you only write or only make art?

Also mostly already answered. I can do both, if I really make a conscious effort to build it in, but it takes a lot of discipline and I don't have much of that. I really wish I had the brain space to do both, because I love painting and I miss it. But I do still make art in that I doodle constantly - all my notebooks have little scribbles in the margins, of castles and funny little people and flowers. My work diary is stuffed full of little scraps of paper like this.

7. Does one come easier than the other?

I would be tempted to say writing, but it really depends on what type of art or writing I'm doing. I doodle without thinking or even meaning to. If I have a pen and paper, the difficulty is stopping my hand from drawing. But a big writing project (like a chapter of a fic for example) comes more easily to me than an artistic project.

8. Do you feel more invested in one than the other?

This also varies over time and I think is hugely influenced by what I'm getting more feedback about/what forms part of my social life. At present, my social circle really revolves around writing to a great extent, so I'm super invested in that. But up until very recently, my answer would have been 100% the other way around. I have a drawer full of sketchbooks that I was so so painfully proud of.

9. Does one medium feel more true to you or representative of who you are as a person?

I don't think so, although I think I do tend to be more surprised to see myself coming out in my art. I'm often very conscious of what I'm doing in my writing, and I'm usually aware of a lot of what I'm revealing about myself in it. Because I'm less in control of my art, it's always a surprise to see how specific it is to me, that unbeknownst to myself, I was drawing an experience that I was having.

10. Do you decorate your house with your art and do you reread your writing?

I was going to say 'no' to decorating my house and then I looked up to the right at the massive portrait from my life-painting class stuck up on my wall and rethought that answer. So yes to the art, but not a whole lot. I do tend to reread my writing until I'm sick of it. And then I leave it a few months and come back reread it and think "oh hell ya, this girl knows my tastes exactly." (Actually, maybe this is why I'm less happy to decorate with my art. I'm not really good enough to cater to my own tastes there.)

11. What do you find the experiences have in common?

Flow state I think. It's been a long time since I reached it for either medium (creativity's always in bits and snatches with me, because that's generally all I have time for. It's easier for me to write 100 words though then it is to do a 10-minute sketch.) but the sensation of being totally absorbed, of not noticing time passing, and the burning pride and joy when you produce something good is the same in both cases.

All done! Thank you Mo for this very interesting and much needed exercise in self-reflection. I think I'll draw something now!

#art talk #reflecting with the help of Mo

11 notes · View notes

callsignspark · 3 months

Note

Ik this isnt part of the ask game, but would you consider showing us how you outline in Trello?? It looks so freaking effective!

I have been waiting for someone to ask me this question. thank you so so so so much you’re going to regret asking lmao

so as I said before I use Trello - a free cloud based project management tool - to outline and write my fics (and also for my to do list and my Christmas present shopping and vacation planning and literally everything) because, to be 100% honest with you, I have no chill. I have never been relaxed about anything. ever. not a single day in my life. and therefore I marinate on fic ideas in my mind for months (sometimes years!) before I start doing anything with them. this is my process I use for everything I write and we’re using Mar[r]y Me as my example!

the first thing is the idea. I get an idea and I word vomit vibes into the closest thing (notes app, google doc, scribbling into my work notebook, texting a friend) and then I marinate on the idea. I first had the idea for Mar[r]y Me on January 25, 2023. it went through several iterations as I shaped what it was going to be and below is what I sent to Jordan in June 2023 and it’s the basis for the story we’ve all been following. (or mostly, it’s changed quite a bit since then.)

once I’m ready to start writing I create a board in Trello. think of a board like a white board, you then add “cards” which I think of as sticky notes except with a lot more features. also my process is the same no matter if it’s a one shot or a multi chapter fic, it just depends if it gets its own board or it goes into my one shot board. (which is filled with ideas waiting to be written lol) anyway. this is the Mar[r]y Me board!

for a multi chapter fic like this each chapter gets a card in the IN PROGRESS list (they move to the right as things get written/posted). each card follows a template: title, due date (loosely assigned to get an idea of what a posting schedule may look like), a label (always being with need to plan), and a checklist. also the chapter outline - obviously.

before I get into the outline, I use the labels as a nice visual representation of what the status of everything is. as the screenshot below shows, the each writing stage has its own color (and I use the color blind color schemes so I get the fun patterns too!) and it gets changed as we go along. it helps me know at a quick glance where everything is at the moment.

I also love the checklist feature, see below. which basically has all the steps I need to follow once I have a chapter written and ready for final editing. it may seem like overkill but I work long hours and you’d be amazed at how easily my brain forgets things lmao. so this ensures nothing is missed when I’m getting ready to post.

now onto the outline. my outline goes from something super basic, to a few bullet points, to an in depth summary of what’s going to be written. using chapter one as an example of this progression.

1. this is the og outline for the whole story. just a dream and a vibe and one sentence. literally.

2. the expanded outline for chapter one

3. just a small section of the final outline I used to write the chapter. a lot of my final outline ends up being actual sentences that I use in the final draft, I basically write the chapter in bullet points and unfinished sentences.

4. I use the very expanded outline to write the actual chapter. following along bullet point by bullet point. an example from chapter 9 since that’s what I’m writing rn.

5. once everything is written, all the bullet points have been used up or ignored, I transfer it into google docs and read it to myself, editing as I go. once I’m happy with my final rough draft I use grammarly to idiot check things because I’m an engineer not an English major. then I start using the checklist (teaser posting, creating tumblr post, etc.) and then the worst part. I walk around my home office and I read the entire chapter out loud to myself and make final edits as I go. is it excruciating to have to listen to myself speak the flirting I’ve just written out loud? yes. have I made myself cry multiple times? yes. do I find a lot of rough spots and smooth them out? yes. that’s usually done on Thursday nights.

6. from there it’s all final editing and formatting and scheduling the final post. I also have to create the accompanying recipe post for Mar[r]y Me so I do that too. and we post on Fridays! sometimes I share the google doc link with friends so they get an advanced copy of the chapter and sometimes they get to be surprised with everyone else (I’m running behind schedule and don’t have time to share it lmao)

it’s a lot of work for something I’m producing for free but I genuinely love it so much and it helps me keep everything straight. there would be so many lost ideas and abandoned thoughts if I didn’t do it this way. it’s crazy that this the first fic I’ve ever written and that I’ll probably be close to 90k words by the time it’s finished.

if you’ve made it this far thank you for indulging my very intense brain and it’s processes. I love the community we’ve created here on this blog and I’m so excited to keep writing and sharing. and I especially want to give a big thank you to my very good friends Ames, Alexa, and Jordan. Mar[r]y Me would not be the story it is without them and I can’t thank you enough for your love and encouragement during this story.

#asks answered #anon <3 #I don’t know how to tag this #elle hyperfixates on something #<- yeah that’ll work

7 notes · View notes

kenjo-arts · 2 years

Note

Hey I wanted to ask on how you deal with extrem motivation loss, especially for art. Sadly I am so bad at finishing anything and I mostly have just random sketches and scribbles :/

Mostly i either power through or i say "done" on my scribbles and make a new one. And then keep making scribbles and sketches untill i find something im happy with (that's usually way diffrent from what I set out to draw [but I also have aphantasia so I never truly have something specific i set out to draw so like im used to it] ) For basically every more polished drawing you see here on my Tumblr Ive got maybe 1-3 sketches and 2 erased scribbles i never did anything with. Sometimes i just colour a sketch im only mildly unhappy/happy with and post it like my recent c!Bedrock bros art.

The thing is you don't have to be dishearted about only making sketches if you keep doing it because then you get better and youll be able to make sketches youre more and more proud of. (art is also sometimes also about habbit-> the biggest advices Ive always gotten is to keep drawing everyday (even if it's just boxes or idk hair) that itll help you improve even if the motivation isn't there or youre in an artblock)

Currently im feeling alot of motivation loss myself, which is why Ive not posted as much as I usually do. Which is why I've resolved myself to just keep drawing things im unhappy with untill i get over it <- i brute force it a bit... 😓 Or in worst case ill look at old sketches and just finish something im not that happy about to just get drawing back into my hand.

Worst case you can do like i did in the past (which i still SHOULD DO because Ive been struggeling too sometimes) and draw legs in diffrent poses. Just legs. Legs. Legs. This sounds strange but the likelyhood of you starting your drawings with the head is high so you might actually find it easier to draw more starting from somewhere else on the body. (comon advice is the hips bc that's where everything else goes out from in both directions)

Sometimes it also helps using a diffrent medium or brush. The reason my art shifts sometimes is because sometimes I find a brush i find it easy to draw losely and creatively with <- it's a strange psykological trick like writers writing in casual or funky fonts because it's not as "formal" which lessens pressure.

Because pressure is the killer of motivation in my personal experience, not pressure in deadlines, but in perfroming to perfection. It's also why i draw for myself mostly and kick myself mentally in the face when I get to caught up in drawing things that will do good on Tumblr or twitter instead of what give me brainrot.

Visual of my brain when it's going really well, regardless of how good the drawings are->

I hope any of this made any sense, i feel I rambled a bit all over the place so feel free to ask any questions. I don't have any profisional artist advice because Ive never had any art education outside a few videos on yt, so this is whatever i could think of right now.

ALSO REMEMBER TO USE REFRENCE OH GOD IM SO BAD AT THIS BUT YOU!!! YOU REMEMBER IT!! BE BETTER THAN ME!!! USE REFRENCE FOR POSES!!! FOR TEXTURE!!! FOR HAIR!!! FOR FACESS!!! FOR EVEYTHING IT ONLY IMPROVES YOUR ART!!!! AND ITS NOT CHEATING!!!

#Ask

10 notes · View notes

myaquariusheart · 8 months

Text

5/9

Things are not going according to plan. I wanted to start my PGCE but I should have known what I was getting into when I lied about my grades so I respectfully did this all to myself now I am in an internal panic because what am I meant to do with myself. I don't care too much about it, it's just it was my escape plan and now that plan is over. I hope I am able to do the secondary course because then my plan will be in action again. I also just need something to do daily. I cannot stay at home doing nothing I will literally go insane, so I need to do something to help myself. I also need money because I have so many things to do and things to buy and I need to earn over 2k a month to fund my lifestyle. I hope the next time I write here I have something in order because right now my life is chaos. Visually it looks like a scribble and I need it to be a straight line. Thats mostly comes from the pressure from mum to have everything in order, but I think I need it for myself too. I need to do something and it needs to happen. Even if its a course not through a university or an agency. Just anything.

0 notes

junkworldusa · 4 years

Text

on comics

[tl;dr i was worried for most of my life about being a ‘good artist’ but now i just make comics and you should too]

i spent april, may, and half of june 2020 rendering geometric objects in soft charcoal. i threw myself into what’s colloquially known on /ic/ as grinding fundies-- perspective exercises, bargue plates, and figure drawing. my intent was to git gud and finally launch a narrative webcomic-- something visually pleasing, digital, and well-written. i had finished scripts, thumbnails, character designs, etc. i had to take advantage of all this sudden free time from losing my job! this was my chance!

then last month i realized abruptly that i was not that kind of artist, i had never been that kind of artist, and i would never be that kind of artist. i could not go SCRIPT->THUMBNAILS->PENCILS->INK because it would kill me. i had to accept i could not “finish” anything that way. if i thought too much about the work i lost interest; if it took too long i got bored. even now, every comic is a race against my own attention span.

i think there are a couple factors at play here. one is my own brain. but another is a deeper problem inherent to the medium: i believe “writing” a script or words ahead of time sucks the life out of the work. (will eisner talks about this in “Comics and Sequential Art.” ideally the writer and artist should be the same person and it should be done at the same time; if they cannot be the same person, then the artist must have liberty to change the script as they see fit to better suit the pacing/visual storytelling.) comics are the interplay of words and image. the words feed the image, the image feeds the words. the fragmented process of, say, a typical DC comic-- script/pencils/ink/color all done by separate people hundreds of miles apart-- is antithetical to the medium and also why these comics are mostly bad. to go even further, the words and images should be done with the same tool. if i put the brush down to switch to a pen the words are not the same, and the disparate style is jarring on some level. the simultaneous creation of words and images is essential. there’s immediately life. your hands come up with things you didnt expect. what i very recently learned is that i have to work like a rollercoaster: start to finish, without looking back, and without stopping. thinking is not necessary-- “skill” is not necessary. (i still struggle with this last point but the mild popularity of a few of my left-handed comics prove it to me: people will respond to a shaky scribble as long as the scribble is alive.)

i got this practice from lynda barry. who else? when i first read that she just sits down and draws a comic from start to finish, i was horrified and jealous. she writes the words for a panel, draws the image, then moves on to the next. that’s it. it seems straightforward but it haunted me. i thought i was incapable of this and that anything done like this would be TRASH! (unless lynda barry did it, of course.) but that is how i am trying to work now.

it’s not easy. self-consciousness, self-criticism, and the years of thinking art must look a certain way are all against us. it gets easier, though. i think it got easier once i realized how fun it can be. i use crayons, cheap paper, collage, non-dominant hand drawing, anything to help me realize it’s not that serious. the tactile and permanent aspect of traditional art is another aid. some of my favorite cartoonists and inkers work digitally but my brain doesnt grok it-- on some level it doesnt think it’s real.

working this way, i am not making the type of comics i wanted to make. i am not making comics that a lot of people will like to look at or read. but i am making comics, and before this i was not.

everyone can and most importantly SHOULD make comics. i tell everyone i know that they should draw more, that they should make comics. the usual protests: “i can’t do that, i can’t think of anything, i can’t draw.” how do you know? i think the same things and these thoughts are the death of art. everyone has something to say-- if you draw a comic and show it to me i will love it because it’s something new.

i have nothing further to say about art that hasn’t been said by lynda barry, GOAT, whose books on writing and drawing i recommend to everyone. (”What It Is,” “Picture This” and, appropriately, “Making Comics”. i feel like these should be mandatory reading for humanity.) tom hart, one of the greatest living cartoonists in my opinion, has a big free [!] e-book available about cartooning and creativity with lots of exercises-- http://www.tomhart.net/how-to-say-everything.html

finally:

ok thanks for reading my manifesto xxx

#not comics #but also #comics

1K notes · View notes

writing-refs-junkpile · 3 years

Text

Writer tips: custom shorthand for the win

Normally, I share grammar tips and writing resources on this blog - it is, after all, my Writing Refs Junkpile - but today, I’m stepping outside my literary box. Today, I’m sharing some of my custom shorthand and some advice for creating your own.

Put simply, I developed these symbols (and many others) to make writing notes and scheduling writing sessions faster, easier on my arthritic hands, and a little less obvious to anyone who might find my notes and snoop.

Behold, my scribbles:

Yep, it’s messy. I scanned these from sketch paper. The mess doesn’t matter. If you’ve given that a good look over, you’ll notice that these symbols have a few things in common.

All but two base symbols are written with two strokes or fewer; that’s two times you have to lift your pen from your paper as opposed to however many it takes to form the letters.

Each of these symbols is visually similar to certain mainstream letters, characters, symbols, or objects; this makes it easier to mentally associate symbol with meaning, which makes it easier to scribble them out as easily as writing.

These symbols can be written with several different writing instruments, whether you use a brush-tip, felt-tip, ballpoint, or rollerball pen, or a pencil. (Felt-tip pens, however, seem to win the race when it comes to ease and speed vs legibility.)

Without further ado, I’ll explain each of the various symbols you just saw.

Analyze Stats. Sometimes when I’ve got writer’s block, it can help to do a word, page, and character count and dates of a chapter. If I’m struggling with an unfinished chapter, checking what I have so far can be encouraging. If I’m still staring at a blank page with nothing more than a title, checking the previous chapter can be a nice kick in the pants. As for dates, those are mostly a way of mentally shaming myself into writing.

And etc. This single-stroke symbol is less complicated than it looks – a cursive + trailing into an e. It’s a quick, convenient way of saying “and whatever [said topic or plan] entails/includes” without writing it all out, and an easy way to leave wiggle-room in my plot notes.

Build notes. Single-stroke, based on musical notes and arrows. This tells me I haven’t yet translated the plot events into notes for the next (or current) chapter, and I need to do so before I can sit down and write them out.

Edit From (____ paragraphs/pages) back. This one looks like a doozy, but the first symbol is the only one that really matters. It’s a two-stroke - one, if you bring the bottom up to cross - and it’s based around an attached cursive ef; following are a symbol for and, (optional. I tend to skip it.) a number, and symbols for paragraphs or pages. Put simply, this says go back (chosen number of paragraphs/pages) and edit to end of written portion. Editing forward can be a great way of getting into the zone when you’ve stopped in the middle of a chapter or scene.

Etc, Etc, Etc. Four-stroke, built around three connected cursive e’s with periods underneath to remind me it’s short for etc. Basically, this symbol is a way of sassing myself from my notes, a reminder to not sweat the small details until I’m in front of the computer, and sometimes, it’s a way of connecting two pieces of a scene or dialogue together without writing out all the little nitpicky stuff between.

Find grammar. Two-stroke, built with the top of a ? and a g for the bottom half. Put simply, this means find proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, or terminology for the noted sentence or phrase. Had a brainfart while writing notes? Scribble this guy with what you think is correct, then you have a reminder to look it up and (if necessary) correct it later.

Flourish / Polish. Two single-stroke symbols, one loosely based on a stylized cursive f, and the other a cursive p which trails into a tail like a piece of scrollwork; both are needlessly fancy to further hint at their meaning. The first – flourish – means the noted section is as bland as oatmeal and reads like a vacuum cleaner manual; jazz it up with details, action, and color. The second – polish – means the noted chapter is complete; read through to see if it needs anything before editing. And speaking of editing…

Check spelling, grammar, punctuation, and edit. This single-stroke stands for a lot of words, but the appearance is simple: a checkmark that trails into an s.

Go from notes. Single-stroke, based around a g which trails into an arrow; since scanning this page, I realized that I wrote these up slightly wrong, so I have provided a badly-drawn correction to the left. (MS Paint. Gotta love it.) This symbol tells me I’ve already written up an outline for the next scene or chapter, I need to start writing from that outline, and I need to stop whining about it. As for when I don’t have notes…

Maybe start with ____________. Four-stroke, and one of the simplest: an ellipsis followed by a simple arrow pointing to the right. This is for when I don’t have an outline to work from, when I don’t have a solid (or even halfway solid) plan for the next writing session, and planning research sessions. What follows this symbol is an idea of what to try starting with...for instance, the first symbol. Analyzing my previous chapter stats is a good way to bully myself into getting the rough draft started.

Paragraphs/Pages. I’ll admit, I don’t use the first one very often. The first -paragraphs - is two-stroke, built like a combination of the mainstream symbol ¶ and a capital P; pages is a single-stroke combination of capital P and lowercase s. Lastly…

Research. Single-stroke, and a combination of an arrow (like a cursor) with a wrapping tail like an @. This means I need to do some manner of research for the next bit of writing, and is often followed by the topic I need to research.

To sum all that up:

Booyah. So much said, and so little written!

This custom shorthand has helped with my note-taking already, and I’m still designing new symbols to cut even more words down to quick wrist-wiggles. Now, you have everything you need to create your own, for whatever purposes you may have. Just remember the basics - be stingy with your strokes, choose lines, curves, and angles you find easy and comfortable to write, and use visual similarity to remind yourself of each symbol’s meaning when you see it.

Good luck, and remember to share the love with your writer and student friends!

#writing advice #studying #writing #shorthand #writers on tumblr #this stuff works

14 notes · View notes

mythvoiced · 2 years

Note

8. 13, 14, 23, 24 and 30 for the writing habits thingy ;W; ❤️

@theimpalpable | roleplay / writing habits

---

8. Do you reply to threads you have the most inspiration for first or do you work on them in the order in which you received them? IT’S! Oh, I am terribly messy when it comes to this. Recently, when I really wanted to sit down and tackle drafts that were older, I put my all into working in a oldest to newest fashion, but, as expected, I managed to only get as far with this method before I started skipping around again. Chronological order doesn’t really do it for me, because tackling drafts just because they’re the next in line and not because I do actually have the muse for it doesn’t really do it for me? But if I were to only ever reply to things I had excessive amount of muse for, I might end up neglecting other threads just because a given muse is occupying all my thinking ability, which is absolutely something that can happen. So, recently, I’ve found that I sort of try to reply by some weird system my brain has set out for me, where I kind of shoot for things that create diversity in terms of genre in the posting order? Jumping from a Yoshino reply to a Patrick one, for example, something about colour that only my brain knows about. And then I try to vary who I’m replying to, instead of tackling all replies of a single mutual, it feels fairer to spread my attention out to as many as possible and that as equally as possible. I have no idea if any of this makes sense :3

13. Are you more comfortable writing in private or public spaces? Why or why not? Absolutely private spaces. I’ve never actually truly tried writing in public spaces, for a wide variety of reasons that mostly revolve around going to public places only for specific purposes and never to just spend the time there, and when I’m out for something specific, I wouldn’t take my laptop along. Now, I could take a notebook with me, but truth is, other than the fact that I don’t like carrying things around with me (I’m THE WORST-), I don’t think I could get into the right headspace if I was in public? I try to be as invisible as possible when I’m outside, that’s one reason, scribbling away at something would look odd in the town I live in lmao Plus, I’ve recently found out that apparently I need very specific set ups (such as font size) to get my brain to actually function in a writing sense, which a pencil can’t give me :’3 Long story short, I am a gremlin with bad posture typing away in Quasimodo form in my lil corner of the table.

14. Do you have a routine that helps you prepare to work on your writing? I wish I could answer this positively, Alex please take my blogs away from me, put me in writer jail—I’m JUST! So messy. There are a few things, though! First and foremost, I need music. Doesn’t have to be specific music, I’ll just put what I have on shuffle and skip what truly doesn’t work for my current mood more than anything else, although I have found that I will simply skip song if I lose concentration halfway through a sentence, even though the song had nothing to do with it, I think it’s just a tick of some kind ==. PLAYLISTS HELP TOO! I love playlists so much~ (I LOVE YOURS EVEN MORE)

THEN, I need visuals, and by visuals, I mean colours. Sometimes, in particular if I’m moving from writing for one muse to another that is drastically different in voice than the previous one, or if I’m writing for a character I’m not too familiar with, to get into the headspace of the muse I look at visuals, and in particular anything of a specific colour palette I associate with them, to kind of get myself into the right headspace? If that makes any sense? Sometimes I will use resources for this, a handful of gifs from the faceclaim I use, especially if it’s for a canon character, I look at gifs to sort of refamiliarise myself with their typical facial expressions which will then somehow lead to me getting closer to their voice again (sit next to me and you’ll find me making the weirdest faces to achieve this without opening a gif page KLDDFGFKJLH).

Then I need to make sure I don’t have too many tabs open because that is mighty distracting. Then I just… Try. Something that I will thank my brain for is that I usually know after the first line whether or not this reply will be any good, or if I’ll end up scrapping it, if the vibes are off, or if I was too consciously aware of what I was writing as I wrote it, most likely going to get scrapped.

21. If a reply isn’t coming easily do you draft it for later, delete and start over, chat with your writing partner for help, or something else? Because I replied to 23 :33333 I’m jumping BACKWARDS!! And choosing this one also because I like to bully myself and expose the ones amongst my habits I want to beat with a stick: if a reply isn’t coming easily, it goes straight into the bin, and I am so ashamed. Because even if I do draft it for later, the likelihood of me attempting the same reply again right away after one failed attempt is… hehe… something to be embarrassed about. If the tab reloads and deletes my stuff, if I struggle through the first paragraph, if I just notice that the voice is completely off and my metaphors are more filler than anything else, then it’s getting deleted. And left to rest. I’ve always had issues with repetitions, I don’t like it when people repeat things over and over in quick succession, when my teacher asked me to repeat things back to her I couldn’t physically get it past my lips, when I have to re-try on the same reply right away and repeat the process I can’t, I need to arrest my brain. So I delete the disgusting blob of writing, close the draft, and move onto another. And if that one doesn’t work either, I shut my brain down for the day and go mope at Pinterest FDKLHJJLHG

24. When working on items in your inbox, do you spread out the answers, queue them up, or work on them all at once? THE QUEUE IS MY BEST FRIEND, OH MY DEARLY BELOVED QUEUE, THANK YOU FOR EXISTING! It makes me so happy, getting to be active while also simultaneously working on other things behind the scenes, I feel like I’m actually offering something to you folks who bother writing with me, rather than just vaguely existing on the other end of the screen. So nowadays I use the queue feature for truly anything, asks included! I used to have a sort of system where I’d go for a draft, an ask, a gallery post, just to switch things up, but when it comes to asks I’ve realised that I can’t post one of a meme without posting the others, too. I don’t know why, but once I start on asks sent in from one particular meme/prompt post, I will post them until I don’t have any in my inbox of that post left. This doesn’t apply to asks that are sent after I’ve completed this, even if it’s the same meme, since it didn’t come in with the first round, I go about it chiller in replying to it and will introduce it between a draft and something else (I don’t know if this makes any sense, my brain and I aren’t very close, we don’t talk often, I won’t ask it--). But yesh :33 I queue them up to only post asks from that meme until there are none left. But! I don’t work on them all at once. I’m replying to this one while I have a few left of the 400 dialogue prompts one, because since I’m currently not doing splendidly connection-wise (I’m writing this out on Word to just copy paste it into Tumblr later, rather than use up data by writing in on Tumblr directly), I can’t access muse info as easily so I took a break from those until I can read up on mutual’s characters, BUT I DIGRESS, the point is that I don’t work on them all at once, but they’re still getting posted together, which is why the 400 dialogue ones will have been posted before this will be :3 ALSO, I do treat my inbox and my drafts differently (well, they are different things), also in the sense that, where I skip about like a maniacally cackling gremlin in my drafts page, I will reply to asks of a single meme post in the order I received them in. I’ll be honest, I didn’t use to be this organised, I have old asks from older memes that I haven’t gotten to yet, that do not absolutely match up with this system, BUT I AM TRYING!! I SHALL BE ORGANISED BEAN >:3

30. When working on replies or drabbles, do you prefer a desktop keyboard, a laptop, typing on mobile, or other accessibility methods? MY TRUSTY LAPTOP!! I will cry when I’ll inevitably have to allow it to retire, it’s not the oldest bean out there, but it’s the oldest laptop in our household, my boy has survived folks younger than him, he’s lasted THIS LONG and I am SO PROUD IF IT, like, I am taking the utmost care of him, I want this bad boy to last me until they don’t make chunky bois like these anymore >:333 I wouldn’t mind using a desktop keyboard either, but I’ll be honest, I’m so used to the size of my laptop keyboard that I’d probably make a lot more mistakes on desktop keyboards (or any other keyboards tbh). In regards to typing on mobile, allow me to offer a tiny fun fact about yours truly, the gremliest pupper: when it comes to technology, there is nothing I fail quite as hard at as typing on mobile. Today I tried typing CRM into a searchbar and all I managed to type was a lowercase V, how the FRICK—I don’t know how to get my fingers to agree with mobile keyboards, it’s not the touch screen, because I can use that, I know how to use a smartphone with the regular, normal amount of ease, but typing, oh GOD—Maybe I try to go to fast or I slip I DON’T KNOW, I’M SO BAD AT IT, on one hand it’s really funny, on the other it’s the answer to the question ‘why is Lena clenching her fist really tightly and groaning in pain while staring at that phone’.

#theimpalpable #;ooc #;the mun #ALEX MOST ADORED THANK YOU FOR BEING CURIOUS AND SORRY FOR THE MESS THAT THIS IS I FIND THAT #I LACK THE BRAIN COMPETENCES TO DESCRIBE ANYTHING RELATED TO MYSELF IT SEEMS GDFKLHJFKLJHFG IDK I JUST #HOPE ANY OF THIS MAKES SENSE AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SENDING ANY IN I LOVE YOU ♥♥♥#;queue

5 notes · View notes

wu-sisyphus-gang · 3 years

Text

Motion Sickness Chapter 80

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

"How are you feeling today, Cloud?" Dr. Caulbaugh asked me. We were alone in a padded office. She had a plant in the corner that looked malnourished.

"I'm alright. Can't really complain." I responded. I stared at the tall plant.

"Oh I'm sure you could. How are you really doing? It's important."

"Fine. I suppose. Been getting into some missions lately. There are these two girls who have been taking care of me recently. Looking after me. They want to help but they're not sure how."

"Two other huntresses?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Two other friends?"

"We might be a bit more than friends. The three of us."

"I see. Aren't you a lucky man."

"Am I though?" I laughed a little. She looked away, a touch embarrassed.

"Yes I suppose it's maybe something to help balance out what all happened to you. Something good to come at me with rather than have everything bad." She worried the corner of her lip with her pen. "And everything is working out between the three of you."

"I think so. Except…" I gestured at the side of my head in a circular fashion to indicate my insanity.

"You're not crazy, Mr. Strife."

"Well then I'm right next to crazy, one rung above it on the ladder of sanity."

"You're too cognizant for it to be traditional psychosis. When a patient exhibits that they have no idea that they are showing symptoms of it. You're self aware of what is happening to you."

"Maybe…"

"But this relationship is working out well?" She asked.

"We had some stuff to iron out at first and get the air clear. We still are occasionally. But for the most part yeah." So far my relationship with Weiss and Ruby had been, well, it had been easy. The pieces falling together once Weiss and I talked a little about freshman year.

"Have you been able to have sex? Many patients report problems performing while on the sorts of medications we have you on."

I blushed a little. "So far it's been just fine."

"That's good news. That sort of endorphin rush can only help with depression. It can sort of clear your brain chemistry for a new wave of neurotransmitters."

I'd been kind of able to feel that. Like I was wiping away an old slate with the release. "I thought I had PTSD?" I asked.

She waggled a hand. "They often go together. Sort of a buy one get one free deal."

"But with my brain."

"It's a complex organ."

"I see…"

I looked over at her plant and thought of something else to talk about. We'd only just begun this meeting and I was already running low on topics.

"I've been thinking about getting a plant. You know? Something to take care of. It was Ruby's idea. One of those two girls. Something small and easy to take care of. Weiss, the other, was all onboard with it. I think they both think it'll be good for me."

"Been eyeing at my plant have you? I can never seem to keep any of them alive. What kind of therapist am I if I can't even keep a plant going and my patients need me for their brain?"

I laughed a little. A low chuckle. "That's how I figure mine would go. I can't even take care of myself and then I'm supposed to add something more to that. No way. Nah."

"Those are their names? Weiss and Ruby?"

I nodded. "I worry about them. I'm scared about the things that come through when I'm not paying attention while Mother assaults my subconscious. I feel like she's a shark, just waiting underneath the surface of my thoughts. And she'll spring out at some point I'll have no control over."

"Salem is constantly at your door then, so to speak. You keep calling her mother. Is that on purpose?"

"No. That keeps slipping through. No matter how hard I try that one comes through. It makes me worried about what else is slipping through the cracks on me," I said. "It's an accident. But one that I keep making."

"She is your mother though, in a way."

"Yeah but I hate her and I don't mean to call her that."

"Do you think of her as your mother?"

"At times. But for the most part I think of her as this foreign, nearly all powerful thing that has her hooks in my mind. She's no more my mother than the incubator I was grown in was."

"So she is kind of your mother."

"Kinda," I returned. "She called me her son, her child, that is. I think she thinks of me that way and it influences me."

"Do you think she loves you?" Tanya Caulbaugh asked.

I inhaled a shuddering breath. "Maybe? I have no idea. I've never really thought about that. I mostly just think about how much I hate her. And my father too."

"Merlot? Was it?"

"It was. I think I'm going to kill him if I ever meet him. Is that fucked up of me?"

"The desire to kill one's parents is not unheard of."

"Yeah but in my situation. With how I was made. Is that messed up for me to think about?" I cornered her.

"Probably less than it might otherwise be. If you grew up in a loving home then it would be different. How you were born matters to this. The things that happened to you are awful and unforgivable."

"That's what I thought…"

"Though I'd prefer it if you harbored fewer murderous thoughts. I know killing people comes up on the job but you shouldn't seek it out."

"I think about killing more than just him. There's this woman, Cinder Fall who killed my partner, Pyrrha Nikos. I want her to die too."

"Are you often consumed by thoughts of revenge like this? Between your father and this other woman it seems to be on your mind a great deal. There's this revenge piece that we're only just tapping into."

"Maybe… My friends want me to give it up. But the fact is that I'm one of the only people on the planet that can stop Cinder Fall before she strikes again. I won't say I'm doing it for a purely altruistic purpose but I am doing it for that at least in part. She'll kill people if I don't stop her and I'm one of the few that can."

"Who else could fight her? Instead of you?" She asked.

"I'm really not sure. Almost no one by themselves apart from me. I'm a menace now. I had to surrender myself to Atlas custody. They couldn't bring me in unless I wanted to. She's in a similar boat. She's very powerful. Very dangerous."

"I'm glad you decided to come in. The path you were on with the Marijuana was self-destructive."

"I miss it."

"You do? The Marijuana?"

"Yeah, I doubt the girls would appreciate it if I took it up again but I do miss it. I might not get kissed as much if that was the case."

"You're not going to use on me, are you?"

I shook my head. "Nah. They took my paraphernalia. The girls did. Besides, my word of honor is good. You've got nothing to worry about."

"That's good. I'll warn you right now that THC doesn't play well with some of the other drugs you're on. It can make things so, so much worse," she said.

"Hard to imagine worse than this," I pointed out.

"How have your hallucinations been?" She wondered.

"About the same. Maybe better. It's hard to say."

"Any auditory command hallucinations?"

"Yes."

"Any visual hallucinations?" She scribbled into her notes.

"Yep," I returned.

"And tactile?"

"You bet."

"How have the nightmares been, Cloud. I know that they were worse on the Asenapine but how about on this Vraylar?"

"They've been at my normal level."

"Your normal level is pretty bad." She tapped the corner of her lips with the pen.

"Yeah. Yeah it is," I confessed. I brushed a hand back through my hair. I scratched at my scalp a little. I hated my own weakness. In many ways I was just as weak as I'd been when I first showed up at Beacon.

"We'll corner that eventually. You have my word that it does get better. I've worked with a lot of PTSD cases and I've seen a lot of ones that were worse than yours. We can get you through this."

"We'll see, Doc."

"I think that's all the time we have for today, too. I want you to think about whether it's true that only you can bring the Cinder Fall to justice or if that's a complex you've come up with to justify it to yourself."

"Very well. I will."

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

It didn't take me much thought about Cinder Fall to see whether I was one of the only people that can bring her down. I was. Dr. Caulbaugh didn't know about the maidens. She didn't need to know about them and since it was something on a need to know basis I hadn't shared it.

"How did therapy go, Cloud?" Ruby asked me.

"It went good. Even though I didn't have time to practice my lines for it."

Weiss did that thing where she hit me disapprovingly but her fingers lingered at my chest. I loved that. I loved when she did that. It just made me want to say more things she'd disapprove with. "You're not supposed to 'practice your lines.' You're supposed to share just whatever with them."

"Would you be able to? Just go in raw like that?"

"Well…" Weiss trailed. "Your phrasing is a little… I could maybe…"

"See that's what I thought," I said. I took a bite out of an apple at that.

My stomach felt small but my doctors were insisting that I at least eat something like three meals a day so I was snacking a little rather than have a full meal. Hey, it was the thought that counted.

I reclined back on my bunk in Atlas Academy. My point proven.

Ruby plopped down on my legs in the bunk. She rubbed a hand up and down on my leg contentedly. "Are you coming with us to dinner?"

"I got my dinner right here." I twisted the apple at her.

"The doctors say-" Weiss started.

"-the doctors say a lot of things. I'm fuckin' tryin' here." I twisted the apple at her next and took another bite to prove my new point. "I figure I'll leave you to Yang and Blake. I'm tired of coming between your team. I'll give this evening over to them."

"Hey, you don't come between our team," Ruby said softly, still rubbing at my leg in a comforting fashion.

"It's not that I don't believe you Ruby. It's that I can't believe you," I returned. "'Sides I should spend some time trying to turn this needle into a feather."

"Is that what you're doing with that?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah. Why?" I asked.

"I just thought you liked to stare at it," Ruby muttered. She was adorable. I reached out and brushed some hair behind her ear and she leaned into my touch like a kitten. She fluttered her eyes closed and let out a little sigh. I leaned all the way up and gave her a quick kiss.

"Please just come to dinner. Let us worry about how Blake and Yang feel," Weiss said.

I looked away from her eyes. She was disarming me. Trying to pen me in. If I looked at her too hard I'd have to give in.

"Please." Ruby begged, her eyes still closed. "Please."

"You two could literally ask me to jump off a bridge like that and I'd have to."

"So you'll come?" Ruby wondered.

"Got no choice now, do I." I tapped Ruby twice on the leg to tell her to get up off of me and I pulled myself up and out of the bunk. "But if I fall behind and never transfigure the needle that's on you two."

"Pssh. Yeah. Okay." Weiss hit me with the sass.

My feet hit the ground and I gestured for them to lead the way. They did, holding hands while I walked behind them and cored out my apple.

It was a short walk to team RWBY'S room. Literally one door down, was all. It brought back some memories of my team JNPR, when there was a team JNPR, being right down the hall from team RWBY. It was a painful memory. It had its ups and downs to it but really it was just painful as well.

"Yang, Blake?" Ruby opened the door and popped her head in, swinging the door wide open. "We're headed to dinner. You wanna come with us?"

"Sure. Will-uh-Cloud be there?" Yang asked.

"Right here." I stepped into view and waved at Yang.

"How's it hanging, Cloud?" Yang politely followed up.

"Oh you know. The usual."

"For you that could be anything," Yang returned.

"It's a bit of everything to be honest," I said. Weiss bumped me with her elbow. "Mostly good at the moment though."

"Reminds me a bit of getting dinner with team JNPR, you know? We'll be right there," she said getting up and helping Blake up too. Blake looked less enthused but she was coming.

"Yeah, those were… good times…" I trailed and rubbed the back of my head.

"Cloud…" Weiss hissed.

"I'm literally doing my best." I whispered back.

I let them all march in front of me and I took up the distant rear. "Remember when Nora would demand that Ren make pancakes for her, she wouldn't eat the stuff they made for us on pancake mornings," Yang said. "Oh no. She had to have it Ren style."

I didn't much like to think about Ren and Nora. Maybe even less than I liked to think about Pyrrha and what could have been there. When she had kissed me she had meant it. My fault. All my fault.

Not that I was unhappy with my current situation. I walked behind my two girlfriends and their teammates and listened to them reminisce about times past with another team long dead.

"She always just liked him in that outfit, I thought," Weiss said as we made our way up to the dinning hall.

"I didn't think it was about the pancakes. Just Ren's attention," Ruby murmured. "She liked having his attention."

"And they never got the chance to… well you know. Figure the other person out fully," Blake said. "I'd like to say it was obvious what they felt, but it never came from their lips."

"We'll never know, now." I cut in. I realized my mistake when they all turned to look at me. "I mean Nora was asking me for advice on how to get with him. And he was asking me for the same thing. They just…" I killed them. "Ran out of time," I finished. I tried to shake it off and come up with something less depressing to say.

Yang read me though.

"What about Pyrrha? We all knew that she liked you," Yang said. "You're quite the lucky guy looking at things like that."

"I never knew. Not until it was too late," I told her.

"Is there a story to that too?" Blake asked a touch sardonic.

We lined up and got our dinners. I tried to shake my somber mood off but couldn't quite manage it.

"She kissed me before she went and fought Cinder. Then she died."

"Cloud… your life sucks," Yang said as we sat at the table. It felt like there were three missing spots where I sat off to one side of the other four.

I looked at her in shock. "Um…"

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything but you have to admit that your life does suck," Yang said quickly.

"I'm not sure whether to be offended or…"

"Not offended. You have to agree that your life so far has been a series of unfortunate events," Yang pointed out. "You got born, stuck at Beacon where you sucked, Pyrrha died, then Nora and Ren died."

"And it keeps coming," I agreed at last. "Doesn't seem like there's much I can do to get away from it sometimes. I mean I've had the occasional bright spot, all of Beacon was good, I think, but for the most part…" I trailed and shook my head. "What about you girls. It couldn't have all been easy for you either. Yang, you lost your arm for crying out loud."

"Yeah but I didn't kill my friends."

"Yang!" Weiss hissed.

"No, no. Weiss she's right. I fucked up."

"It wasn't your fault," Ruby said tenderly. She reached over to me but I rejected her touch for a moment. I didn't want the things she felt for me at that second. The purity burned me.

"Disagree. But that's not the point. It still happened to me. Is this really the first time we've all spent time together since Beacon fell? At least of those of us that remain?" I asked. At least of those of us I didn't let die, more like.

"Happy reunion," Blake muttered over her dinner.

"I'll cheers to that." Yang held out her glass. I clanked it with mine.

"So much has happened," Weiss said. "Even since that time Ren told us we had all grown so much. And of course you weren't there for that, Blake. I'm sure he would have told you that you had grown too."

"We've all changed. Some of us even changed our names," Blake murmured.

"Hard to imagine things will stay the same as they are now. I mean, I can't imagine working for Ironwood forever," I said. "Things are just going to keep changing."

"Hey, maybe you'll get some good changes out of this one," Yang cheered optimistically.

"Hey, I doubt it." I chuckled. "All things serious though I got Ruby and Weiss. How much better can I expect things to get for me? This is probably the high point of my life."

"You think something bad is going to happen?" Ruby asked.

"I know it will. That's how my life goes, up for a bit then down. Probably run into my sisters or something else awful and then caput."

"Well, family is just like that," Weiss said. I nodded but everybody else at the table shook their heads.

"Your two families are like that," Blake returned. "You leave my family out of this. My family is fantastic."

"Samesies," Yang threw in. "Yeah it's complicated but it's not hostile, well maybe not."

"I suppose we wouldn't know," Weiss murmured. "My father, well, don't even get me started."

"Same but for my momma." I held my glass to my lips. "She's such a bitch. You ever feel like literally every problem on the planet is your mom's fucking fault?" I took a long drink.

Yang laughed at that. "You're in my club on that one."

And Weiss gave a small giggle behind her hand. Blake smiled at me but Ruby just gave me that old worried look.

She reached out and put her palm on my thigh. A small comfort in a big world.

"Well not everyone has the mommy issues that you do. Some of us have our very own mom issues," Yang said.

I nearly spat out my drink. "What? What is it?" Ruby asked.

"I forgot to tell you all. I ran into Raven fucking Branwen when I was on the lamb with Neo checking out Merlot's laboratory in Anima."

"Well did you get her?" Yang asked her tone low and sarcastic.

"She teleported away before I could kill her. Sorry? Or not sorry. Whichever is best."

"Eh that's fine," Yang waved a hand. "She's bound to be slippery. Not sure if anyone will be able to catch her and put her down. She's a coward. She'd probably just run from you the next time you meet. If you run into her again, that is."

"I was sure to cut her nice and good for you, Yang."

"Oh is that why you did it?"

"Not really. I was sort of just pissed off at what I'd found in the lab. Needed a good target and she was just kinda there, I guess."

"Now that I get," Yang pointed at me with her glass hand. "Trust me on that one."

"Fair cop," I returned. Ruby was rubbing my thigh in a little circle and looking up at my face.

It felt good. Talking felt good. I was glad they dragged me out into this. I sighed and reclined. If only life could stay like this forever…

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

9 notes · View notes

turtletimewriting · 3 years

Text

Patton’s Adventure- Through the wood

Summary: well wouldn’t you like to know.

Note: Again, thanks everyone who responded and voted. A choose your own adventure doesn’t really work unless people respond and it’s been genuinely so much fun to experiment with this idea. Just thanksies!!

This is based on fluffomatic’s idea of a tickle forest!! It’s absolutely amazing and adds visuals to this story!

Previous part!

Beginning!---- Logan’s part!

_._._

“I propose we cut through this wooded bit here. I reckon we’ll shave off a good ten minutes from the journey,” Janus stated matter of factly to which Patton nodded along with. Sounded like a plan!

“Wait, what if loads of tickly bugs get attached to us from the grass?” Patton nervously giggled. Janus frowned before lifting up his trouser legs to reveal his neon yellow socks.

“Maybe if we just tuck in anything loose then nothing can crawl in?” Janus muttered with a frown. He kneeled to commit the atrocity to fashion before he motioned for Patton to do the same. Right. Now with their trousers tucked into their socks, they were all ready to go!

They stepped away from the path and stomped through the grass into the bunch of trees.

It was so much prettier to be right in the middle of all the beautiful world the twins had created. The breeze allowed dried leaves to flutter to the ground and the quiet muted chirps of distant birds rang around them. There were so many beautiful flowers. There were bursts of brilliant white flowers that created a wonky natural path that they followed through.

However they both stopped when they were hit with such a distinct striking smell.

It was flowery (of course) but also refreshing. But also comforting. Like the strong smell of newly washed clothes. Fresh, clean and just plain nice. “What’s that?” Patton chirped.

“I don’t know,” Janus frowned, “It’s not like we’ve encountered any new flowers?”

Patton suddenly stopped dead with a gasp, “Maybe it’s a clue! Maybe there’s a clue for the treasure nearby!”

“Oh Pat!” Janus clutched his chest, “you have to warn me before you act so dramatically. You’re not Roman, so let’s act like it!”

“Oh you’re so silly,” Patton giggled, “we should probably look around though.”

They settled for digging through the long grass around them and shaking branches but they didn’t see anything. They tentatively walked forward some more before Janus finally lost his patience and used his... specialised scent smelling. Flicking his tongue ridiculously, he led them to an enormous pitcher plant tucked away through a small bunch of trees.

“That’s totally not the smell.” Janus pointed.

“That totally looks like where I would hide a clue!” Patton nudged him with the most ridiculously proud smile before charging ahead with no further thought.

“Wait!” Janus ran out in front of him. This was a tickle based world that Roman and Remus created. A random pitcher plant was an obvious trap!

But of course... maybe running in front of Patton to warn him and therefore standing within range of the plant wasn’t the smartest choice.

It wasn’t a surprise to suddenly find vines clutching him as they bluntly dunked him into the pitcher plant. “Jan!” Patton yelled and ran forward to the plant but he wasn’t grabbed. Janus was sitting in the plant with a very disgruntled look.

“I’m fine. Sticky and now soaking wet. But I’m okay,” He answered as he tried to get a grip on the plant so he could pull himself out. Yet, the plant was completely smooth and of course the vines stood guard over the top. He could feel there were vines in the plant itself but there were simply floating through the weird liquid. He was safe for now.

“Well...” Patton winced but battled on, “are there any clues since you already dived in?”

“Oh of course! How could I forget the reason I climbed in myself!” Janus snapped but he did stick his hand into the liquid.

It was when he was tracing one of the vines that it suddenly latched on to his wrist. Uh oh... He tried to pull it free but it was firm. Now the vines within the plant sprung to life and were excitedly tracing along his hand and wrist. Thankfully his glove blocked most of the sensations but he could feel them thoroughly trace from the tips of his fingers to the base of his wrist. He pulled harder but tried to not let it show. He didn’t need Patton panicking.

The vines then crawled up higher and slipped through his sleeve. it was tickly but not the sort that made him laugh but he did start pulling. He dunked his other hand in with an awkward smile to Patton who was now asking if he had found something with genuine hope. Obviously that was then a mistake. The vines very extremely long and just as his other hand touched the very surface of the liquid, they then snapped forward. The curled up his other hand, up his arm and now flickering around his ribs and armpit.

Now, he probably just squeaked and didn’t not release a strangled shout of nonsense letters. Totally. Squeaking was much more normal so he probably just released a squeak.

It tickled. Duh. The prodding curious vines were now reaching his sensitive elbow under his sleeve and they showed no sign of stopping the slow climb. A gentle teasing rise of tickles as the higher they climbed then the more he felt his giggles fighting harder to breaking free. The other vines had all split up to explore their way across his waist.

But everything stopped when they came up to his face. The vines stroked lovingly over his scaled cheek as the rest froze in their place.

Janus froze himself and held his breath.

“Uh oh Jan. I think the only thing you found is an absolute pitcher of tickles!” Patton cooed as he copied the vine and tickled across his human cheek. At his word, the vines snapped back to life.

The vines then grabbed on to his shoulders and pushed him deeper into the pitcher and started smoothing the liquid over him. Dumping it over his head, some vines focused on a slow waving motion as it rolled over him while others started scritch scratching all over his waist.

“AAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH! HA! PATAHAHAHA PAT!” Janus cried and now fully entered defence mode. He tried to kick away but obviously he was sitting in a pitcher plant.

“Aw Jan! It just wants to tickle you! There’s nothing wrong with that, huh? It just wants to spread a bit of joy. It must have heard how absolutely adorable you’re giggles are!” Patton twirled around and patted the plant like it was some good friend.

“IT’S HIHIAHAHAHAH TICKLING ME HAHAHAAAAA!” Janus’ voice disappeared into a scream as multiple vines starting massaging at his neck and flicking at his scales. There was prodding and deep vibrating massages.

“Well of course! Maybe it will stop if you stop being so fun to tickle,” Patton pondered with the seriousness of a philosopher, “Maybe if you’re giggles are less cute and bouncy. Oh and of course if you stop doing that positively beautiful blush. Then maybe it will stop tickling the most fun person in the world to tickle!”

“AAHAHAHAHA! WAIT! WAHAHIT! WAIT WAIT WAIT! HIHI AHAHAHAAHA IT’S GEHETTING WOHAHAHAHAHAHA WORSE!” Janus managed to finally cry out once he felt the tickles getting more and more tingly and the ghostly sensations of their previous tickles seemed just as strong as the direct tickles.

The liquid had thoroughly soaked him in the liquid but now he realised that he must be getting more ticklish. The vines had mostly gathered around his neck now. And he had never felt more childish in his life. He was scrunching up in the vague hopes of it helping (it wasn’t) and so his laughter was now more strangled and goofy sounding. The vines swirled gently over his cheeks and that itself felt so childish and silly. It was both gentle and playful. He shook his head like a wet dog but they followed him without any problem.

“Aw, I never get this reaction when I go after your ticklish neck! Aw, mister plant, do you have any advice?” Patton held his ear out before nodding, “okay then. I’ll make note of that! I know his neck is super sensitive to gentle stuff like feathers. But I’ll bare that in mind. I need all the advice I could get. This one in your clutches is just such a tickle snake! He’ll want more tickles just like yours from now on!”

While he felt powerless but to pay attention to every word that left Patton, he also noticed that the vines must be paying attention to his face for a reason. His scales set them all off anyway so that was probably something. It was then he noticed that there motions mimicked a washing motion. They were smoothing along his scales and a few seemed to be trying to scratch them off. Was it washing him? He did the only thing his tickle weakened mind could come up with. He covered his cheek and neck with his capelet.

It took a second for the vines trapped underneath to free themselves and start scribbling over the cape. He gulped down some breaths now he wasn’t under attack. The felt around carefully before they tucked back down into the pitcher.

“Is it over?” Janus shouted hysterically before the pitcher tilted over and dumped him out on the grass. Patton raced over to him and helped him sit back up.

“Seriously for a moment, are you okay?”

“Yes. I am fine. My neck is not that ticklish, even with whatever that liquid is. I could have lasted longer so I am not too out of breath. We should continue though. We already wasted enough time dealing with that,” Janus held out his hand and Patton pulled him up with a quick hug. Only for him to pull away with a grimace.

“I shouldn’t have hugged you when you were still soaked in tickle stuff,” Patton laughed but pulled him forward without another word.

He expected to now have to trudge through the rest of the adventure soaking wet but it was like the world knew this would happen and so the sun managed to burst through the clouds. It was warm enough that he barely noticed being other than the heaviness of his clothes.

When they both stumbled out of the tall grass and back on to the original mud path, they both cheered. Janus didn’t bother to discuss that the shortcut wasn’t really that helpful due to his sensitive interlude. The path now was surrounded by a slight wooded bit. The tall yellowed grass and occasional tree and fern bush now hugged the path rather than to one side. As they continued walking, the trees got larger and it felt more like they were entering a forest.

They both gawped at the small cliff that formed to their left but they stopped completely when they noticed a clear gaping cave in the base of the cave. It seemed to release it’s own draft and practically screamed important and also ominous.

“Now that is definitely a Remus creation,” Janus laughed off as he went to keep walking. But Patton didn’t follow. He was standing there with his hands on his hips with a concentrated frown.

“I know I might seem like a broken record... but do you think a clue would be in there?” Patton asked.

“Oh yes that sounds like a brilliant idea. Let’s waste an hour stumbling through a pitch black cave for a clue that may not even be in there. Oh yippee, sign me up!”

“I know I know. But I feel like we’re making pretty good time plus how embarrassing would it be if we got to the end and couldn’t solve the treasure,” Patton whined.

“Admittedly, I don’t think Logan would let us live it down if we couldn’t solve it,” Janus agreed with a still sceptical glance. Patton noticed this and launched at him with pinches.

“C’mon JanJan! Don’t you think it’ll be a good idea? Plus maybe you’ll get tickled all over again!” Patton cooed as he pinched all along Janus’ ribs. Typically Janus would just laugh it off but now he fell to his knees with a squealing laugh.

“Pahaahahahat!”

(This part of the journey took 32 minutes)

So what should they chose?

A) Continue on the path

B) Investigate the cave and then go on the path

#turtle writing #Tickling #ts janus #ts patton #TicklyAdventure

30 notes · View notes

ezrasarm · 4 years

Note

Ezra and Cee end up living together because Ezra is totally a cool uncle/willing to train her in prospecting (less dangerous jobs only now that he has a psuedo daughter ans one arm). But he also encourages her to complete her studies. Enter a private tutor who is going to help Cee complete the equivalant of Space!A levels/GED. Ezra can't help but be smitten and won't stop interrupting the lessons. Cee is irritated at Ezra's brainu flirting, tutor is mostly oblivious until she isn't. 😉

Electrostatic Attraction

Pairing: Ezra x Reader

Word count: 2.5K

Warnings: 10 ply super soft fluff, chemistry both literally and figuratively, a lack of proofreading

A/N: Sorry it took me a bit to get this out! I had to dig back deep into the traumatic memories of studying for IB chemistry for this one. Also it’s been a while (and I sucked at it then) so don’t quote me on any of this stuff 😂.

“I didn’t know we were expecting company.” Ezra said, a charming grin gracing his lips as he appeared in the doorway with a hefty bag slung over his shoulder. He’d been away on a job for the past week. Nothing too complicated. Just enough to keep the two of them afloat while Cee was finishing up her studies.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to be back until Thursday.” Cee said, glancing up from her textbook only slightly surprised to see him so soon.

“Finished up early.” He said, allowing the bag to slide off his arm onto the floor as he made his way inside. “Nice to see you too, Kid.” Ezra prompted her only to get an eye roll in response. “You gonna introduce me to your friend here or am I gonna have to make our acquaintance myself?” He asked with a charismatic chuckle as he nodded over at you. He’d swear he was being discreet but Cee didn’t miss the way his eyes dragged over you where you were sat in the seat next to her. She’d never seen Ezra’s interest peaked like this so the shift in behaviour caught her a little off guard.

“Right...” Cee squinted at him skeptically for a moment before shaking off the initial shock. “Ezra, this is (Y/n), my tutor. (Y/n), this is Ezra, my...” Cee scrunched up her face a little to consider her words for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know, he’s just Ezra.” She finally decided.

“Pleasure to meet you.” You said with a polite smile as you got up, extending your hand to shake before realizing his wasn’t there and quickly switching hands. This earned you a hearty laugh and a wide smile as he accepted the gesture.

“The pleasure is all mine.” He responded, shaking your hand for a tad longer than customary only for Cee to cough and give him a chiding glare from over your shoulder which told him it was time to let go. “Right, don’t let me distract you two.” He nodded curtly with a smile, his hand raised in mock surrender before disappearing into the galley.

“Sorry about him. He’s not usually like that.” Cee said as the two of you got settled again.

You weren’t quite sure what she meant by that but you shrugged the comment off with a “He seems nice.” Before nodding back at the past paper the two of you had been going through. “Where were we again?” You asked, still slightly flustered by the interaction. You could feel a flush had risen to your cheeks and you weren’t entirely sure why.

“sp3d hybridization.” She reminded you. There she was. Always on the ball. Why did she need you here again? You thought before snapping back into it.

“Right. So you know what I’m gonna ask you.” You said and she peered back at you expectantly. “Bond angles?” The blank expression on her face persisted and despite knowing she knew what you were talking about you folded. It was your job to solidify this information in her head after all. “Okay, so say we’ve got a substance like phosphorus pentachloride. So that’s a single phosphorus atom and five chlorines bonded with polar covalent bonds. And they’re polar because...” You prompt her.

“Chlorine has greater electronegativity than phosphorus.” She finishes for you and you give her a subtle high-five and an approving nod as you go on.

“Right, and each of those chlorine atoms have equal partial negative charges which makes them want to get as far away from each other as possible while still clinging to that phosphorus.” You explain and she nods as though that’s obvious. “So how are those five chlorines going to configure themselves around that phosphorus so that they are all equidistant from one another?” You ask and she squints at you for a moment as she tries to work it out. “Sketch it out.” You remind her, tapping the pad of paper in front of her already filled with scribbles of chemical formulae, Lewis structures and ball and stick models, knowing she works better when she can visualize what she’s talking about. Unbeknownst to either of you Ezra had since appeared in the doorway a fond smile toying at his features as he watched the two of you giggle over the way you tripped up saying “trigonal bipyramidal symmetry” and you challenging her to try saying it five times fast if she was so keen to make you laughing stock for it.

“Okay, you win.” Cee laughed, hands raised in surrender when she blundered her first attempt. Cee liked you, Ezra noted. He noticed the way that she actually acted a bit like a kid around you. She treated you like a friend, not a teacher and he wondered how you did it. He could see you had invested a genuine care and concern in your work which was a rarity nowadays, one which gently tugged at his heartstrings as he took the scene in.

“Alright, review time!” You declare as you notice the time. You always liked to round back to some basics when you finished up your sessions so that she left things on a high note and you really cemented those foundational concepts in place. “So hydrogen bonds.” You cue her and she sighs.

“Haven’t we gone over this five times today?” She asked.

“Then you should be five times better at explaining them than you were when we started.” You say and she gives you a challenging stare for a moment before she nods in defeat and rattles off an unsurprisingly accurate definition of the intermolecular force.

“And London dispersion forces?” You ask and she astounds you once again.

“Last but not least, dipole-dipole interactions- and if you don’t get this I’ve completely failed you as a tutor.” You say.

“The electrostatic attraction between the positive and negative ends of molecules with permanent dipole moments.” Ezra speaks up from the doorframe and you jump slightly at the sound of the baritone in the room before a smile sets on your face. He couldn’t seem to rip his gaze off of that upwards quirk to your lips. Even after such little interaction there was something about you that drew him to you like a magnet. You were smart and quick witted. He could tell that already from watching you bicker with Cee, not unlike he usually did himself. Not to mention you were devilishly good looking, especially in that sage green wrap dress you were wearing that hugged you in all the right places and showed off just the right amount of skin. Few people wore dresses anymore, at least not in his circles, and the custom was striking to him. It made him nostalgic and reminded him of home.

“That’s... correct.” You say after turning to face him fully. You hadn’t had the time to notice how good looking he was when you were first introduced but now that he’d changed from the bulky suit he was wearing when he first came in and he’d cleaned himself up a little, you could actually take in his ruggedly handsome features. Soft warm eyes, a patch of platinum blonde just at the cowlick where his hair parted, a prominent nose, a faint scar on his cheek and a smattering of facial hair across his jawline and upper lip. Maybe it was the laugh lines around his eyes or the seemingly constant perk to the corner of his mouth but something about his demeanour commanded you to be completely enraptured by him.

“Please, make no mind of me, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” And it’s only now that you realized you must have been staring at the poor man. Your face burns bright red with embarrassment as you try to collect your thoughts again.

“No, not at all! I uh- we were just wrapping up.” You stammer out as you begin collecting your things into a neat pile in front of you.

“Cee,” Ezra says and her head flicks up immediately from where it had been buried in her palms the moment he started speaking. “I was about to order takeout, have you got any preferences- say, (y/n) was it?” He asked, even though he knew quite well what your name was. It hadn’t stopped playing on his phonological loop since the moment he’d heard it. God, his voice- the way he said your name almost made you swoon as you went to nod. “You should join us.” He says simply and Cee’s eyes widen like a deer in headlights before she just about snaps her neck turning to look at you.

“Oh, I shouldn’t-“ You begin but he’s waving the the excuse out of your head before you can even come up with it.

“That is if a bewitching woman such as yourself doesn’t have any prior arrangements.” He suggests and Cee is just about ready to hurl her textbook at him if that will get him to shut up any faster. Have you mentioned that you’re blushing yet?

“No, no plans. I-“ You start to say before glancing over at Cee who has a look of controlled horror adorned on her face. ‘She’ll forgive me’ you think to yourself before speaking. “I’d love to.” You say. Ezras pre-existing smirk widens into a broad grin.

“Ezra, come help me find the menus!” Cee declares almost immediately, before leaping up and dragging him by the wrist into the kitchen leaving you slightly dumbfounded in your place.

“You can’t just invite her over for dinner, she has a life of her own-“ She manages to simultaneously whisper and shout once their out of earshot. “Why is your hair wet? Did you shower?” Cee asked bringing her hand up to jostle his mop of damp hair. “For her?!” She just about hissed, pointing back out in the direction of the living/dining area where you were sat.

“What? I just got in from a dig! You expect me to sit around in that filth all day?” He questioned, attempting to deflect her accusation.

“Normally you just pass out on the couch the minute you get in- Ugh, Ezra! My tutor? Really?!” She scolds him and his face softens before he speaks again.

“Just humour me. It’s been...” He pauses a moment as he considers the last time he’s felt this way about someone. “Too long.” He finally decides and Cee scrunches up her face.

“Ew!” She exclaims remembering the way his eyes had traced down your body when you first introduced yourself.

“Not like that!” He reprimanded her, giving her a light swat on the shoulder. “Although, that too.” He shrugs after second thought. This time Cee is the one to whack his arm with the rolled up stack of takeaway menus, but far harder than he had her. “Ow! You pack quite the punch there little bird!” He winces through a soft chuckle before his face falls again and they enter an undeclared staring match, Ezra straightening up and squinting at her slightly when he realizes he’s being challenged.

“Fine! But you have to quit it with the ‘bewitching woman’s and the poorly veiled chemistry innuendo.” She points a finger at him.

“Chemistry innuendo? I gave a definition!” He exclaimed defensively.

“Really Ezra? Electrostatic attraction?” She drawled out like he had. “You don’t think we already know perfectly well where you want to put your lone pair of electrons?” She retorted, eyebrows raised accusingly.

“I don’t sound like that- What does that even mean?!” He squeaks out before he shakes the thought away and refocuses. “Cee,” he sighs. “I do not supplicate much of you often...” he drags out, eyes pleading down at her, who has her arms crossed on her chest.

“Don’t fuck this up.” She says after far too long and Ezra doesn’t even care to correct her language. “I have to see that woman on a daily basis and I will not have you coming in and screwing up my chances of passing chemistry.” She says, waving the menus threateningly at him once again.

“You have my word.” He nods diligently, raising his hand to lay against his chest before Cee storms back out of the kitchen with almost the same intensity as when she entered and Ezra takes a moment to collect himself before following.

It didn’t take too long for the three of you to decide on your order. There wasn’t all that much variety to choose from on the station, no matter how large it boasted itself to be. Your order was ready in a manner of minutes and Cee practically sprinted to the door claiming she would pick it up to escape what she swore was the most embarrassing interaction of her life, watching the back and forth between you and Ezra like the worlds most awkward ping pong match. She was surprised you hadn’t run screaming from the room at Ezra’s completely unsubtle and unpracticed flirting and his off the cuff, frivolous compliments to you but the truth was, you found them extremely endearing. His entire face lit up with pride when you commented on the book collection you’d noticed last time you were here. When you pointed out a favourite or yours that you’d noticed the spine of which was almost completely worn down on his eyes just about bugged out of his head as he pulled it off the shelf to show you that almost every single page had been filled with scribbles and annotations he’d added in the many times he’d reread it. By the time Cee got back, the two of you had managed to inch closer together from the opposite ends of the couch you’d occupied earlier. You were both keeled over in fits of hysterical laughter at some story you were telling about a misunderstanding that occurred with a pupil and their father when you first started private tutoring sessions. You hadn’t even realized your hand had come to grasp his knee as you tried to steady yourself. Just looking at the two of you Cee could have sworn you’d known each other forever. Something about the scene in front of her seemed so natural as she tried to remember why she was so horrified by the idea of you getting along so well in the first place. When you could finally breathe well enough to acknowledge her she set the bag of takeout on the table in front of you before jerking her thumb over her shoulder.

“I uh-“ she gaped for a moment. “I just ran into a friend outside the uh... place. I was gonna go hang out with her for a bit- but you two should eat without me while it’s still hot.” She suggests before either of you can even protest.

“Sure thing.” Ezra nods, still beaming from his most recent laughing fit, he almost misses the wink Cee shoots him before bouncing out the door. ‘That little minx’ he thinks to himself as she disappears from sight leaving just the two of you and the makings of what you would later refer to as your first date.

Masterlist

Taglist (let me know if you’d like to be added)

@ezraslittleblondestreak @agirllovespasta @chaoticspaceidiot @engineeredfiction @pedropascalito @dreamgirl-67 @wickedfrsgrl @hillarymurray4 @din-damn-djarin

#ezra x reader #prospect #pedro pascal #fanfiction #oneshot #request #prospect 2018 #ezra prospect #ezra fanfiction

234 notes · View notes

thenamesblurrito · 3 years

Note

How did you draft SNAP? I've just gotten to the drafting stage of my comic with my brother but idk if theres some certain way to do it.

it’s taken a bit for me to organize my thoughts on this but I have an answer now, and you might not like it: there IS no some certain way to do it! I’ve been working with comics (and poking into the professional field, too O.O) for a few years now, so I do have some general advice for you-

read comics. really. can’t make a comic if you don’t know what a comic is, and since comics are a very specific medium of sequential visual storytelling, all the elements that make it a comic aren’t easily learned through other mediums. page layout, art style communicating tone, character design, story beats, etc. Scott McCloud has some wonderful books on comics, the Hellboy series is genuinely masterful, and honestly you could reread IDW and call it research. i go back and study my favorite webcomics to try and absorb their excellence: TPOH by @modmad is stunning, @avasdemon is gorgeous, and there’s endless more to browse over at @webcomiclibrary

know your story. this is covered by a Whole Heckin Lot of different places, resources, and writers, so I’ll encourage you to go look at comprehensive help if you need plot assistance. keep in mind that everyone drafts differently! you might need everything plotted out, or you could fly by the seat of your pants. physical writing, digital notetaking, verbal processing, all of it is fine as long as it works for you

THUMBNAIL for goodness sake thumbnail before you dedicate to a page. in fact, make practice versions of everything important. mess with character designs until you’re Absolutely Sure you will be alright with drawing them a bajillion times over and over. but specifically, thumbnails are tiny, rough page layouts. tiny so that you don’t get into any details and you can see how easily the page reads even when small, and rough so you aren’t committing and can keep fiddling. even with pages you’ve had in your head forever, a quick simple thumbnail can help smooth the transition from head to page

there’s other, post-drafting things to consider, like formatting and file size and update schedule and getting it out there, but that’s a whole seminar and I’d like to keep this relatively simple

for me, drafting SNAP was an adventure in taking the puzzle pieces my brain seemed to automatically generate (thank you, MADD) and fitting them together in something resembling order. almost all of the plot and twists presented themselves to me with very little work! arranging them however was a hassle. my episode-by-episode breakdown is uh. a mess. because my drafting process is a stream of consciousness solid block of text. here:

01- Welcome to the Academy! An Upgrade to Primes Orion oh no im late trope, monologue about situation, bumps into megs at front gate as creators are saying goodbye, drags orion inside as excuse to ditch them, cut to trine being weirdos at landing pad, screamers making plans to be awesome but whomp whos that chick its windblade and she can fly in root mode, grr immediate one sided rivalry [... this goes on for awhile]

no punctuation, no capitalization, just wordvomit. not every episode has such specific notes, some just say a general plot hook and some character reactions! this first episode however was daydreamed out until I had a pretty solid series of events

I’m early in thumbnailing right now. wish I was further along, actually I wish I simply had SNAP finished so I could read it myself *sob* BUT. it’s chugging along. my thumbnailing setup is a simple grid I scribble over with new layers for every six pages:

last one is blank because I’m in the habit of arranging pages by side-by-side pairs for printing, since that’s been the usual consideration for the comics I worked on before. you can see how messy these are! and they’re by no means final, either, I think I’m going to have to cut down on some pages once I finish thumbnailing this episode. one thing I have kept in mind for SNAP specifically is anime tropes that I can rip off, hence that fifth page being mostly taken up by Orion running to school with toast in his mouth lol

anyway this got long and I am hardly an expert, still workin on my own comic, but I hope this helps! anyone with more resources, tips and tricks, or advice feel free to chime in too, I’m hardly the entirety of comic knowledge

#comic things....#art advice #i have not a clue how to tag this #but i hope it helps!#i should reread TPOH now #episodes #yes yes you all get a sneak peek

12 notes · View notes

raetos · 3 years

Text

Homecoming

(( Co-written with Vandrir’s player <3 Tagging @darkestfable and @brent-sunborn / @thefugitivemango for character mention.))

~*~*~

Raetos stretched out once he set hoof down on the stone platform. The gryphon ride from Darkshire to Stormwind had gone smoothly and uneventfully, but these weeks of work had left him tired and sore; nothing a good bath and some time spent with his mate wouldn’t fix. That, and some much needed sleep as well. He hadn’t told Fable about the early leave he’d gotten. Things in Duskwood had settled down in the past week, enough so that he was able to take a bit of time off. Of course, the Lightforged had decided that the best way to announce the good news to his lover was by surprising him!

He wondered how Fable would react to the surprise. The Blood Hunter was probably hard at work, updating some old map at this time of the day. Surely, he wouldn’t mind being led away for an evening. Raetos tail swayed happily behind him as he made his way down the stone streets and into the forest, his heart pounding as he went up the trail and their nice little cabin came into view. Everything appeared how he’d left it, at least from the outside. It had only been a few weeks, but it felt like much much longer. Light, it felt so good to be home!

As he approached the door, he’d already started unstrapping his armor. It wouldn’t be staying on much longer, that much was for certain!

“Babe, I’m home!” he called as he walked in.

Vandrir’s ear perked up at the sudden voice, then eyes darting back down as the green feathered fluff darted out of his arms toward the sound of hooves. He pushed his hair back behind one relatively short ear as he got to his feet with a slight frown.

“I will venture a guess that you are Raetos then…” His voice was calm but not unfriendly. He stood in the doorway glancing down at the excited ground parrot as the little creature told his other daddy aaaalll about it while making circles around the Draenei.

“--Uhhh…. Yeah?”

Raetos’ head tilted to the side in confusion as a complete stranger greeted him… but not as enthusiastically as Obligation. The flightless bird looked well and happy, not at all frazzled by this new person, which brought the Draenei to conclude that this must be a friend of his partner’s.

He shook off the confusion and knelt down, allowing his small pal to climb up his arm and onto his shoulder as he looked around for any sign of his lover. Finding none, he eyed the other man. Reatos was terrible at telling the different elves apart, but he was guessing this one was a Night Elf from the size of him..

“Sorry uh… we haven’t met yet, right? Who are you?”

“Ah, no, we have not. I am Vandrir, and your um... companion asked me to look after the two little ones while he was away.” Concern flashed briefly across his face before he resumed his calm facade.

Reaching a hand down to touch the sleepy head of the tiny doe who had joined them at the sound of voices he continued, “He said that there was a small job, a dig, in Feralas and that he would be gone only a few days...three weeks ago.”

The Draenei visibly relaxed as the stranger finally identified himself. He didn’t want to assume, but finding another man in his house had been… more than a little alarming.

--but not as alarming as the news that came next.

“Wait what…? Three weeks?!”

It wasn’t unusual for Fable to go off on a dig, or to lose track of time. Raetos was actually happy that he’d found something to occupy his time with… but to be away for that long without a word to anyone. Raetos tried not to worry, but three weeks to complete a dig that should only take a few days was… rather extensive.

“Bah… I’m sure he’s fine,” he said, though it was hard to tell who he was trying to convince, Vendrir or himself. Worry was evident in his tone, “I mean… he’s always getting distracted by his work, so like… Maybe he found something else at the dig site that led him elsewhere?

He didn’t really wait for an answer, already making his way over to the Blood Hunter’s work area and looking over maps and journals he’d been studying before leaving.

“Still uh… probably best I go check up on him. Feralas, you said?”

Vandrir gave an unseen nod as he drifted after the other, the sound of tiny doe hooves and birdy feet the only steps that made a walking sound.

“Yes, Feralas. He did not mention exactly where or what sort of items he was searching for.” The night elf gave a heavy sigh, “I suppose you would like me to continue to watch the two little ones then?”

He gave the doe a little push to send her off to play as he hurried on, “Not that I mind of course. It is just that I hadn’t expected to be in someone’s home for this long. Maybe your boyfriend just got lost or something?”

“Fable doesn’t get lost,” Raetos mumbled as he continued to scan through the notes, his finger traced the area mentioned in the notes. Tearing a blank page out, he began to scribble down coordinates and markers to look out for.

He glanced up at the Kal’dorei, however, an apologetic look on his features.

“--Ah… yeah. I need someone to watch these two while I go find him. You have a place of your own you wanna take them, where you’d be more comfortable? Maybe your place? You have a place, right? I mean, you can stay here, it doesn’t bother me. Whatever’s easier for you, I mean…--Oh shit! What happened to you? Did Obligation set something on fire?!”

That last part was added as he finally took notice of the terrible burn scars on Vandrir. In his panic over Fable, he hadn’t noticed the wounds that took up at least half of the Night Elf’s face… and probably more.

Vandrir took several seconds to just blink slowly at Raetos as the draenei seemed to be getting his ramble into full gear. A frown twisted as the verbal brakes were slammed and he reached up to push his hair back again, the eye on the side with the burns clearly dimmer than the other. His voice was almost harsh as he blurted out his reply, the words somewhat clipped, “No, he...he’s been a pretty good bird, a little unhappy that I won’t let him jump off the roof. I’ll just stay here if you don’t mind, Responsibility and Obligation will do better in a familiar setting I think, not to mention I can keep an eye out for the two foxes.”

The frown didn’t leave his face but his tone did soften, although it was clearly with effort, “This happened when the tree burned. Some things just don’t heal well I suppose.”

“Oh shit, you’re -that- kind of elf!” Raetos winced as he realized his verbal misstep, “Man, I can never remember which elves live where. Sorry about your tree. It looked really nice… from far away, anyway. I never really got to visit and see it for myself before… you know… Whoosh!”

He used his hands to motion the ignition of a fire, as though the visual was needed. There was a rather awkward silence for a moment, before he cleared his throat.

“Yes...I’m that kind of elf. Uh glad you liked how it looked from afar?” He gave one sharp shake of his head, like an animal tossing off a fly buzzing near their face, even letting out a soft huff at the same time.

“Yeah… uh. You can totally stay here. Our home is your home… until we come back. But hey, if there’s anything you need after all this, you let us know, okay? We owe you for taking care of the animals.”

As he said that, Obligation attempted to fly off the desk, promptly falling to the ground.

“Especially him.” “Do what you need to do. I only met Fable once briefly, but he...made an impression, a good one. I look forward to your return. We’ll laugh about how he got stuck in a cave or something.” He gave a ghost of a smile, “Don’t worry about paying me back or anything, I’m happy to help out people that I would like to think could be friends.”

“Dude, trust me, you’re already a good friend doing this for us,” the Draenei went about packing up a larger backpack. He hoped to be able to fly in close to the dig site with a gryphon, but he didn’t know for certain. He’d only been there once before, and Fable had been the one leading. Raetos had mostly just been admiring the scenery and taking in all the tidbits of information he was being fed. He made certain to bring enough for a good hike, if required. And of course, he couldn’t forget the first aid supplies, just in case.

“We’ll all have a good drink and laugh together soon enough. You’re right though… getting caught in a cave makes sense… I’m sure he’s fine… Yeah… he’s fine.”

Again, it was hard to tell who he was trying to convince. Worry was clear on his features as he kneeled down to welcome the feathery ball of energy into his arms, giving Obligation a final cuddle before handing him back to Vandrir.

“Thanks again. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

Vandrir got a gentle but firm grip on the feathery terror, knowing the parrot was likely going to try something any moment, “You are welcome. I’ll take care of things here, just stay safe yourself.”

His voice was calm again, confident and somehow soothing. The kind of tone that said everything would be fine. “I’ll keep the kids out of too much trouble.”

Raetos would have naturally gone in for a hug. Light knew he needed one… but his interactions with Brent had left him weary about embracing strangers. And while he trusted Vandrir, he didn’t know the man’s boundaries yet. He swallowed hard, and with a final nod, turned and left, closing the door behind him.

There, he paused, his tail flickering behind him, the backpack feeling horribly heavy. He wanted to get to Feralas fast, but at the same time, he was afraid. It had been a long time since Raetos had felt like this, and there was a sense of dread that he couldn’t quite shake off. He had no idea what he would find at that digsite. And while he hoped for the best, something told him to prepare for the worse…

With a heavy sigh, he set the first hoof forward on his venture towards finding his mate.

~*~*~

#Character Story #Raetos #Vandrir #Fable Darvale

7 notes · View notes

macneiceisms · 3 years

Text

Writer tag game!

Repost and tell me how you draft as you write. Do you write in order? Do you start with something particular? How fully formed does your writing come out the first try? How many drafts do you go through? Tell me about your process because I’m curious!

Thanks for starting this tag game @cemetrygatess and thank you @ectogeo-rebubbles for the tag.

I usually start writing from a single concept, often based off something small in meta or a fic i read, or even a snippet of poetry. I am 100% a seat of my pants sort of writer. I never outline anything (RIP) but I do scribble notes down/roughly plan out beats I want to hit in a fic (what is a plot but the strings connecting the emotionally horny moments in your fics). I write everything in Scrivener it is a godsend (I have had the desktop version for years and got the mobile version about 2 years ago when it came out and...let me tell you...it is incredible). I usually start with the very first scene and I generally trust myself in beginning things where they make sense to begin, write linearly with all the dialogue/description until I hit a point where I’m like ‘i dont know exactly what happens next.’ From there I either start writing a different scene, start scribbling out rough ideas for where I want to go next, or set it aside until I do know what goes next.

I’ll rework these mostly fully-formed scenes if things change later, usually cutting things out when people talk too much/share too much and save those snippets for later. Generally I don’t edit them too much if they work well. If they don’t they’re put in the Scrapyard of Agonies. My documents of scenes/outtakes/fragments not incorporated into chapters is usually 20K+ words long depending on the WIP we are talking about.

The people who beta my work can probably attest to how fragmented my writing is. I tend to think in scenes/conversations I want to happen and then shuffle them around until they fit. I’ll then go back from the start of a chapter to the end to fill in the transitions and make sure thinks feel complete and flow from point A to point B and that each section of writing/chapter has a bit of an arc to it. If I have an idea I try to write it down no matter what b/c otherwise I’ll totally lose it, so having all my projects there in one place has been fantastic for having an idea for a scene take off and just writing it all out while im on the bus or I’m waiting for fly food to warm up in lab or its 2 am and I was about to fall asleep but had a really good idea.

I definitely dont write in drafts because everything is a draft until its done, its just a matter of addition/occasional subtraction. It’s like kneading dough. I just keep working until it just comes together right. Sometimes it needs to rest. Sometimes it just needs me to put my back into it and finish it. My biggest challenge for sure is ENDING a work. I’ll sit on WIPs for a long time because I don’t have the same vision for resolving the things I’ve set up as I do...setting them up. Talking things over with my girlfriend and all the people who beta for me and just writing more has helped that a lot and I’m finding it easier to visualize how I want things to be resolved. I also write multiple fics for multiple fandoms all the time always. It helps me not get stuck in these ruts of the same words/phrases and sometimes outtakes from one fic work really well in another. It’s definitely slow going but when something works I can really knock out a ton of writing at once.

I want to tag @idreamofdraco and anyone else that would like to do this. It’s been really interesting seeing everyone’s writing process.

#tagged #writing

4 notes · View notes

peanutparade · 3 years

Photo

Someone asked me what my process was, and I’m not sure I gave her a satisfying answer in the PM, so here I will attempt to explain how I make a game from start to finish.

*Please note the the drafts above are not for the same story, but for the purpose of illustration.

**Also please take this advice with a grain of salt. I’m not a published author (though I do know a bit about the publishing industry), and I’m definitely not a perfect writer. This is my process, and the things I try to keep in mind when I’m writing, and you may find this advice to be complete garbage.

Step one: Get an idea for a story. I can’t really give any tips on how to go about doing this. I tend to take inspiration from other works of media (classical literature is my favorite, though I have taken cues from more contemporary sources as well).

Step two: Consider who your characters are going to be. It’s okay if you only have one or two characters in mind at first. I’m pretty utilitarian about my characters, so most of them don’t get created until step three.

Step three: Open a word document and just start typing shit out. (I use Google Drive so I can access it from anywhere, and for another reason which I’ll get to later.) Don’t stop to think, don’t even breathe. Just type. Any idea that comes into your head goes in the document. Some of it won’t make sense with everything else, some of it will contradict other things, some of it will be vaguely defined. You will fix that later. This is the most important part (especially the way I write), because it’s where you’re going to get an idea of how your story starts and how it ends, as well as cement your cast of characters. If you need a scene where your main character goes to a lighthouse, then you know you’ll also need to come up with a lighthouse keeper (see my comment above about being utilitarian with characters. I’m no authority, so if you do things differently, that’s fine, but I don’t like making characters that don’t serve a purpose).

Step four: Annotation, annotation, annotation! (This is the other thing I use Google Drive for, as it has a comment feature that I heavily rely on.) Go through all your scribbling and make notes for yourself. Be a little hard on yourself here, because this is the part where you’re going to try to make everything you’ve written in Draft 1 cohesive. This will be a long process, as you need to think about how all of this is connected, as well as think about what sort of arcs your main characters are going to go through. I read somewhere once that ALL of your characters have to go through an arc, but that’s a bunch of wacky nonsense. Some characters are minor characters, and thus do not require depth. The only character arc that MUST be included is the main character’s arc. Remember: character arc ≠ character motivation. ALL major characters (protagonist(s), love interest(s), villain(s)) MUST have motivation for what they are doing. The motivation doesn’t have to be anything too complex, just so long as the audience understands why the characters are doing what they’re doing. (Minor characters with motivation can make the world feel more real and lived in, but they can also make the story feel bogged down. Brevity is key here, and sometimes less is more.)

Step five: Draft 2 All of that plotting you just did? Throw it away! Just kidding, don’t actually throw it away. BUT you’re going to rewrite your plot outline, tidier this time, and only refer back to Draft 1 when you get stuck. Feel free to come up with new ideas during this time; Draft 1 is not your story’s final form. If you think of scenes or quotes, feel free to include them in this draft, but you’re mostly just outlining right now. (As you may notice in the image above, Draft 2 is also subject to annotation.) Draft 2 is where you should be solidifying the themes of your story. Character arc(s) should tie into and support this theme. This is also the draft where you should be catching any plot holes (especially if you don’t have an editor/beta reader), as once you’ve begun actually writing the story, any problems here will only compound as you go.

Step six: Write the story It’s pretty straightforward. Follow Draft 2 (and any additional annotations you made on Draft 2), and go scene by scene and write. I never skip around, as it makes it hard to keep track of what characters know at what time, but I know of authors that do skip around, and they seem to do okay. You’ll have to figure out what works best for you.

Step seven: Edit, edit, edit! Aside from the obvious (typos and spelling errors), look out for:

Scenes that are too long or too short. Counterintuitively, these may be the result of the same problem: a lack of purpose. Ask yourself, “Does this need to be here?”

Long-winded info dumps. Consider the old adage, “show, don’t tell.” Whenever information can be conveyed through action or reaction, write it that way. If you can convey two things at the same time (i.e. something about a character and also something about the world--bonus if these two things are actually unrelated to each other), do it.

Information that your audience wouldn’t logically have being the key to resolving the plot. Especially in sci-fi and fantasy stories, if the conclusion of the story relies on knowing something--even if it’s something that the characters all know--you need to make sure your audience also knows this, or else they will be frustrated. Keep in mind the Rule of Threes.

And that’s the story portion done. If you’re making a visual novel/dating sim, there are other steps you need to do. (I usually do this stuff while writing the story so it doesn’t get tedious, but if you’re hiring people to do this other stuff, you should probably have the writing done ahead of time. If you’re hiring writers to help you, you should have Draft 1 done, at the least. Your writers can probably take it from there.)

NOTE: Any job you don’t do yourself is something that will cost you money. If you can find other aspiring creators to volunteer their time to your project, good for you, but please do not approach anyone directly unless you plan to offer to pay them (”for exposure” is not payment).

Step eight: Character sprites Major characters are going to need to be represented visually in your visual novel (go figure!), so... draw some people? I know some people make character design sheets, but I just jump right in, and then later, make microedits to the sprites as the mood strikes me. The design sheet thing is probably a smarter way to do it. I use photoshop, and I would strongly encourage keeping hair, clothing, and facial features on separate layers until you know exactly how you plan to code them into your game.

Step nine: Backgrounds Same as the sprites, except places instead of people. I’m bad at this, so I have no right to give anyone advice. I use a 3D interior design app to create a guide for what I want rooms to look like, and then I use that to get my vanishing points and furniture sizing right. This method is 50% tracing, 50% wishing I was dead. I do not recommend it.

Step ten: Audio If your game will have voice acting, get that together now. If you’re composing your own music, you’re more talented than I am. For my first game, I utilized royalty free options (incompetech and bensound), but now I hire a composer (I do still supplement my soundtrack with royalty free options if it’s for something inconsequential). I don’t use many sound effects, but when I do, I just look for free options online.

Step eleven: Coding I use Ren’py because it’s free and easy to learn (provided you don’t want to do anything too complicated). There are tons of resources online to teach you how to use Ren’py, both from official sources and unofficial sources. I’ve never posted in the forums myself, but the people there seem very kind and helpful if you get stuck. (If anyone wants to see how I code, specifically, I’ll do a Part Two for it, but I have to warn you that my games are the coding equivalent car repairs done with bubblegum and duct tape.)

Step twelve: Playtesting Make sure your game works. It’s pretty straightforward. You can even recruit some guinea pigs--I mean, friends to help you. (I don’t have any friends, so I do this part on my own.)

By this point, a year or so will have passed (give or take, depending how long your game is, how much time you have to work on it, and how much of the work you plan to do by yourself), and with any luck, you’ll have a game! Posting your game on itch.io is free, but putting your game on steam will cost you $100.

Like I said to the person on patreon who originally asked me about my process, making a visual novel is a lot of work, but I encourage everyone to at least try it and see if you like it.

I look forward to hearing your stories! ♥

#peanut parade #peanutparade #peanut parade games #indiedev #gamedev #writing #visual novel

4 notes · View notes