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onlycosmere · 2 years

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STORMLIGHT 5 UPDATE

Concept Art by Randy Vargas

Brandon Sanderson: Hello, all! I know some of you may have been waiting for this. It’s time for the first in a series of updates about your book! I wanted to wait until I’d made good progress this month before I stopped to write one of these updates, and I do apologize for leaving you in the dark for so long. I probably should have written one of these back in January, but it’s been an odd year for me, full of unpredictable timing issues.

So, let’s get the obvious questions out of the way. Do I have a title yet? No. Still thinking. I’d like it to fit the format of KOWT or KOW, but I don’t like most of the options that have presented themselves. It requires more thought.

When will the book come out? I’m looking at fall 2024. I have tried to be very forthcoming about this one—warning people for a while that 2023 might be too optimistic. And, as I feared, I have been forced to let the date slide quite far into 2024 because of three issues. The first is that I set myself up for a TON of revisions this year, and they’ve been taking more time than expected. I still have two books to revise, though I’ve been spending all of August on Stormlight.

However, that isn’t the primary reason I’ve ended up pushing back the book. I’d planned for these revisions, and could have done those while working on Stormlight. The second reason I pushed the book back is that I knew this book, of all the ones in the sequence, deserved a little extra time and attention. It will likely be the longest of the series to date, and I have to be careful to juggle all the storylines properly. I didn’t want to be rushed on it, and—though it may shock you—an 18-month production cycle wasn’t going to cut it.

The third reason is one I haven’t been able to gauge as easily as the first two—something new to my life. Lately, I’ve needed to dedicated more and more of my time to running a company. I still reserve three days a week solely for writing, but that’s down from four days a week in previous years.

The meetings take two general forms. The first category is meetings with my team. Things like reviewing the production of the secret projects and leatherbounds to make sure things look and feel right. Others involve deep dives into concept art for characters and settings, so that when we create products like the upcoming Stormlight miniatures, they can fit with a canon version of the characters. This is something I resisted for a while, feeling like it was all right if different artists interpreted the singers (for example) differently. More and more, though, Isaac and I feel that we should have specific canon examples for continuity.

Other meetings are editorial related, or publicity related. Dragonsteel has kind of grown up the last few years, and I want to do it right. That means being involved, as long as it doesn’t impact my time TOO much. But all of that needs to be balanced with the numerous film and television meetings that have been happening lately. Again, I want to do this right—which means being deeply involved in the projects that are moving forward. (Announcements should be coming in the near future.) That takes time. So, the free time that I had during Covid to write secret projects is now being eaten up by a lot of these meetings.

I’m still finding the right balance, but this last month has seen a lot of good progress on Stormlight. I’m sitting at 65,000 words right now as of this writing. Roughly 16% if we assume a 400,000-word final book. (Though this one will, as I said, likely be longer than that—so that 16% might be more like 15%.)

Unfortunately, progress is going to slow again as I have a couple of other deadlines due. My goal right now is to do the last two revisions (Defiant and Secret Project Four) in rapid succession, in September and October, and be back to Stormlight in November.

For a teaser, though, here is what I’m working on: I’m going to write this book in phases, straight from beginning to end, through several character groupings. For example, the first sequence I’m writing is Szeth and Kaladin in Shinovar, including the Szeth flashbacks. I plan to write all of their plot, from start to finish, before moving on to the next sequence of characters.

All of that 65k so far, except the prologue, has been on this plotline—and I’m loving how it’s shaping up. I know the Szeth backstory has been a LONG time coming. I hope it lives up to your expectations. There are some interesting lore secrets here to reveal, and the climax is something I’ve been building to since book one—indeed, you’ll find death rattles from the first volume referencing the events here in this sequence.

I plotted this sequence at 100k. It’s looking a lot more like 150k now that I’m neck deep in it. The picture is related!

I know that four years is a long time to wait for a novel, and it’s been my goal in the past to keep that to 3 years. My intention is that once this is done, we’ll have another longer-than-normal gap as I turn my attention to Mistborn Era Three (and hopefully the Elantris sequels) before diving back in to do the back five Stormlight books. From there, I’m hoping to return to a 3-year gap between books until we push to the ending at book ten.

A long journey, I know! But you’ll almost certainly have television and film projects in the interim to keep you occupied alongside the other things I do. And I continue to feel that Stormlight works best in ultra-long-form novels, rather than the (far more profitable) option my publisher would prefer of one shorter 100k Stormlight book every year. The experience of the thick book full of interconnected plotlines and smaller interlude flourishes is part of what makes the artistic vision work for these volumes.

As always, thank you for your patience. My job is to make sure it’s all worth the wait, and I am striving each day to show respect for the trust you’ve put in me.

Next update should come around the end of the year, where I’ll let you know how my November/December went. With luck, I’ll have managed another 70k or so across the two months, and land us at around 130k, which MIGHT be the end of the first sequence.

#the stormlight archive #stormlight 5 #cosmere #cosmere future #cfsbf #brandon sanderson #kowt #root #wob #arts arcanum #szeth son son vallano #kaladin stormblessed

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terriyakiblack · 7 days

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List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! 🧡🧡

boy you know what DOESN’T make me happy? Coming home to a dead PC. Shit on a stick that was a pain in the ass to fix. augh my poor fingiesss

1) So funnily enough, I can list problem solving / working on my PC as one thing. I was furious when I got home, it’s been a day, but holy shit it was a good feeling to get that new power box in and see it finally start up. Chef’s kiss.

2) Making stuff. Not necessarily being artistic, depending on how you look at it, but I’ve been working on a video project for a while now, almost done with it, and it just… feels good to make something. No real details ‘cause I like to keep certain personalities a little separate, but watching that timeline in my video editor go from nothing but a green bar of script I recorded to tons of cut and spliced footage just feels real good way deep inside, like around your pancreas or something, y’know?

3) I could just say Sea of Thieves and leave it at that but I’ll do you one better: sitting down with a Pepsi and snack, getting online — be it planned or not — grabbing the guys and going out on the seas is a fuckin vibe. It’s just nice, but if you add onto that some successful hunting or going out and coming back with a new story to tell, there’s nothing like it. I wouldn’t trade my mates for anything because they’re everything to me.

4) I’m absolutely awful about music and listen to damn near anything and it depends on how I’m feeling that particular day, but when I read my own mood right, find the right music and it sounds good, it hits right it is a damned good time.

5) I feel like I’m cheating a little bit here by saying this after already listing ‘making stuff’ but the Do You Think Sharks Have Feelings? project is deeply important to me. I note my official start time of it as September of 2020, but I know I had some brainstorming going on in the months leading up to that, but that means it’s been at my side through some pretty rough shit. By early April of 2021 I had written about five parts to it, IIRC, or it was four and then I split one part. I manged to write what I felt was an impressive amount of material then, and I kept going. Slowly, very slowly, but surely. Actually, it was a pitiful amount I got done over the next year, but I had the ideas in my head. When I was finally diagnosed with stuff and given medication, my ability to write took the fuck off. … things… in the house settled as well as I realistically should have hoped for, but it became bearable. Every first draft written, edited, and marked complete gave me a feeling like no other. Writing this dumb thing puts me in a great mood, even when I’ve taken a small break. Ever since April of 2022, I’ve been writing constantly. An annoying amount, even, sometimes, writing as we sail between islands or wanting to work on it instead of playing something, stuff like that. But the point is that no matter if I’m stumped on the part I’m working on or if I’m blitzing down an entire chapter in one day (done that twice now oops), I love this stupid thing.

#declawedwildcat #ask box games #terri rambles

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whatwhump · 2 years

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Ex-Villain Whumpee Pt 2

Part 1 is available here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/whatwhump/689094256572416000?source=share

Thank you to everyone who has read and supported this! I have a lot of fun writing it. And thank you to @whumpwillow for inspiring me to write with their awkward villain post and amazing series Hazeshift (which if you haven’t read you must–it’s so good)!

TW: S*icidal ideation and planning; medical setting; allusions to past abuse; very wonky, toxic head space; starvation; fear of abandonment wounds; choking/strangulation

“This will be our most difficult and dangerous mission yet. Now is the time, more than ever before, to work as a team–united on all fronts.”

Villain sat amongst the heroes around a long conference table, taking notes quietly. Faces revealed an array of emotions–worry, fear. No matter how brave the hero, there was no escaping from the fact that they had to come to terms with the possibility of not returning from this mission.

“Villain,” Team Lead said. “We need you to be with us on this one. As in, on the front line.” Villain’s jaw nearly dropped. They usually helped by working from headquarters during missions from the communication center since technology was their expertise. But Team Lead trusted them enough to work up close and personal with the heroes? This could be my chance to prove myself! Villain thought.

“I…I’d be honored,” Villain said, their face blushing.

“But…there is one caveat. Villain, our mission is at your old base: Supervillain’s lair. Your new foes are your old friends.”

“No,” Villain said without hesitation. “I want to do this.” Team Lead smiled at them.

Across the table sat Hero #1 with their bestie, Hero #5, sat beside them. Hero #5 glared. Hero #1 slammed their hands on the table.

“You have got to be kidding me. This is a prank, yes?” Hero #1 breathed.

Team Lead didn’t miss a beat, remaining calm and collected.

“I am absolutely serious. This case is technologically advanced and their skills are required.”

“Yeah but, boss, they’re not safe. They could turn on us!” argued Hero #3.

“Since Villain came to us I have been well aware of the potential consequences. Hero #2 and I have spoken and we feel this would be best. I will no longer entertain this topic. Now, onto the plan…”

Team Lead started up a projection and began outlining the basics, but Villain could barely focus. Their heart beat hard in their chest as they fantasized about saving the day, saving everyone, and finding the love they so longed for! Finally shedding the horrid human they knew they were. And maybe, just maybe, they might hate themselves a little less.

Villain felt Hero #1’s eyes boring into them and a familiar wave of guilt washed over them. They wanted so badly to make up but what they had done was…unforgivable.

Three Months Earlier…

The infirmary was small but well-stocked. Medic was very well trained; only rarely did a hero have to visit an actual hospital. The stark white room was empty except for a single body lying on a cot near the two-way mirror. It was Villain.

Their hair was mussed up and tangled. Bandages covered their arms and chest. Bruises decorated their face and neck. They were out like a light, breathing in and out slowly, eyes darting back and forth under their eyelids.

Outside the mirror, Team Lead stood with their hands in their pockets–eyebrows knitted together in thought.

“They banged my left hand up with a metal pipe so badly I still have trouble using my hand. ”

Team Lead knew that voice behind them before even turning. They knew this conversation would come.

“Hello, Hero #1.”

“They lashed my back 18 times. I still have phantom pains.”

Team Lead sighed

“Would you like to talk about it?”

“And of course, I’ve got this bad boy forever reminding me of the horrors that monster put me through every single time I look in the mirror,” they said gesturing to the scar on their face.

Team Lead just stared straight ahead.

“Hero #1,” Team Lead sighed. “I don’t expect you to understand. I know this must feel like a betrayal. But I’m in a tight spot here, and they’re in need of help.”

“It doesn’t feel like betrayal–it is betrayal.”

Hero #1 approached the glass and stared daggers into the prone Villain. Team Lead turned and looked at Hero #1 empathetically.

“At first I thought we should just leave them in the cold, too. But something just…something feels off. They’ve been abused, Hero #1. I get the feeling they weren’t doing their job because they wanted to–they were doing it to survive. Now I know that doesn’t excuse it, nor do I think it should. But context is important, and if what Villain says is to be believed, they have nobody else.”

Frustrated tears welled up in Hero #1’s eyes. A tear escaped down their cheek and they quickly wiped it away. Team Lead watched them patiently.

“How could you do this to me? You’re–you were like a parent to me. I thought you would put me before a low-life like them. How am I not supposed to take this personally?”

The tears began to stream down their face uncontrollably now.

Team Lead faced Hero #1 and put their hands on their shoulders.

“I once looked at the world as you do. I saw good versus evil. Right versus wrong. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I began to realize that every villain sees themselves as the hero of their own story. If I had lived in a similar environment or been dealt a hand of cards like my archenemy, who knows…maybe I would have turned out like them, too. You don’t have to condone to understand. All I ask is that you trust me on this one. Please.”

Hero #2 tried to stay angry, but they couldn’t. They burst into sobs and Team Lead embraced them.

“Please promise me one thing…” Hero #1’s muffled voice murmured into Team Lead’s chest.

“Anything.”

“Promise me you won’t ever replace me.”

“Never.”

After the meeting, everyone goes to eat dinner, but Villain decides they aren’t hungry. Well, that’s a lie–they’re starving. But they decided it’d be better to have only two meals a day so they aren’t taking up so much food. They use the restroom and then enter their cubby-like room.

“Fancy meeting you here.” Villain’s face goes white at the sight of Hero #1 on their bed. Utterly gobsmacked, Villain just stands and stares.

“Close the door,” snarls Hero #1. Villain obeys immediately.

“You know, it’s just not fair. You come to us, weak and afraid. And Team Lead–being the bleeding heart that they are–lets you sulk around here without any consequences.”

Villain swallowed nervously. They’d been thinking for a long time about what they’d say to Hero #1 if they were alone together, but never did they think they’d get that chance. Finally, this was it. But before they even had the chance to speak Hero #1 had them pinned against the wall, a vice-like grip around their throat and their feet dangling off the ground.

“You don’t get to replace me! And you don’t deserve to get off scot-free! So if the universe won’t punish you, then I will!”

“P--please, wait! I need to tell you something” Villain croaked.

A twisted smile crossed Hero #1’s lips. They maintained their grip but returned Villain’s feet to the ground.

“Well this oughta be good! Spit it out. Quickly.”

“You--you have to understand, Hero, I’m so, so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you! I didn’t get any satisfaction out of it! Tell me what I can do to make it up to you.”

“You will never make this up to me,” Hero #1 growled.

“I know! But there must be something I can do–anything. I just–I just want to make things better! I just want to be a part of this family!”

Villain’s eyes went wide. They didn’t mean to blurt out that last part.

“First you break me, and then you want to take my family from me?”

“No, no, I swear it’s not like that, I swear!”

That twisted smile returned to Hero #1’s face but this time…this time it was colder.

“Okay. Fine. If you want to make it up to me, then you will leave this facility by the end of the week. No goodbyes. No notes. You will leave and never return again.”

“...Please no. Please, anything but that”.

A smack whacked Villain upside the head.

I deserve that, they thought to themselves. I deserve that for not obeying. I don’t deserve to ask for anything else. I deserve to be alone. I deserve to be hated. I deserve to be…dead.

“End of the week, pal,” Hero #1 sneered. “And don’t you DARE tell anyone I told you this or we’ll see how you do in the interrogation room when everyone else is asleep…”

Hero #1 forced their way past Villain, slamming into them with their shoulder. Villain fell to the ground.

They sat there on the floor, panting and rubbing at their now tender throat, everything sinking in slowly. They could just barely hear laughter emanating from downstairs.

The mission was at the end of the week. Suddenly, they were overtaken by a sense of hopelessness so intense that they immediately knew what they had to do.

They would serve their country alongside the people they so admired. and then they would turn themselves in to Supervillain to be tortured and ultimately: executed.

Their time to die had come.

#villain whumpee #found family #whump #emotional whump #angsty whump

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aitavoting · 11 months

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AITA for starting a house project without discussing it with my wife?

My wife, Amy (27F) and I (27M) have a spare room in our home. We’ve gone back and forth since we moved in two+ years ago about what we wanted to do with it, but we never took the initiative to actually implement any of these plans. We already have a sufficient number of guest rooms and an office so the room just sits there, unutilized. I’m not that worried about it, but my wife brings it up now and then. These mentions are just of the unused room itself, not anything concrete she actually wants to use it for.

I made a new friend, Ben (30M), about eight months ago and it was very much one of those ‘we connected from the first time we spoke to each other’ situations. I’ve actually never had that many close male friends, so this connection is especially important to me. The conversation flowed so easily, we had loads in common. I didn’t think such a huge amount of genuine love and respect for a person could be developed in less than a year, but it’s been very cool to experience that and get to know him.

One of the things that we bonded over was a similar love for art and music. Ben is way, way more talented than I am when it comes to painting, but it’s something we both enjoy. His birthday is coming up soon and I thought on top of what else I was getting him, I could turn the spare room into something similar to an art studio for us both to use. I already ordered a few things for it and was getting ready to jump into painting the walls when my wife came in and demanded to know what I was doing. I explained that I was finally fixing up the spare room. She said it was unacceptable I had done this without confirming with her that it was okay, but I didn’t think I would need to since it’s been two years and the room has basically never been touched.

[view this story on the web archive]

Feel free to make your opinion be heard in the comments/reblogs but keep it respectful. For detailed information please read the guidelines for commenting. Violations will lead to your comment being deleted and you potentially being blocked.

This story was suggested by @hexmaniacmareen

#aita #am i the asshole #reddit #polls #poll #oh boy this one sure is something!!#As soon as I saw that the original post got deleted I knew

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jammie3132 · 2 months

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Fandom: Glee Pairing: Blaine Anderson & Sebastian Smythe Summary: After 3 years with Sebastian, Blaine still doesn’t understand why his boyfriend never says “I love you”. Warnings: I often tag "Kurt Unfriendly" but this one is above and beyond. Seblainintines 2024/ Love Language

But Kurt…Sorry, no, I’m not. Tracy’s excited about going out for fancy tea with you. We got her a new dress because she wanted to look pretty…Of course, Gregory scheduled a surprise Valentine’s Day brunch. He knows Saturdays are the only day you seem to fit our daughter into your schedule…You’re in the ensemble not Jean Valjean. And no one rehearses that much when the show’s been running for 6 months. Hello! I was the lead in Moulin Rogue before my album blew up…Oh my God! I’m not rubbing it in your face…Seriously? What are you going to do when I go on tour in 3 months…What do you mean, what do I mean? We have joint custody. I had my management schedule the entire tour around when the custody arrangement states she lives with you…No! You can’t pawn her off on your dad and Carole…Because she’s, you know what? Because I say so and you’d have to have my written permission to do it. And that means Rachel and Jesse as well...Oh, I know Gregory won’t be happy. He’s said several times he plans to remain child-free and not-so-subtly insinuated that included stepchildren. And if he’s said it to me, he’s said it to you…Get over yourself! Sebastian adores Tracy and she adores him…I’m not trying to be fair…Why? Because of you, I’m the one forced to break our daughter’s heart! Again!

Blaine threw his phone across the room and instantly regretted it when he heard the glass shatter.

“What did Gay…Kurt do this time?” Sebastian picked up the phone and shook his head. “Looks like we’re going phone shopping for Valentine’s Day.”

“Great” Blaine mumbled under his breath as his boyfriend climbed into the bed beside him. “And if you want to call Kurt Gayface, be my guest. Just not in front of Tracy.”

“Wow! Best day before Valentine’s Day gift ever!”

The bed lamp was turned off and the couple instinctively settled into their big spoon/little spoon positions. Early on, Sebastian figured out that after dealing with his ex, Blaine needed to be cuddled as he spent the next 2 hours overanalyzing why he ever forgave Kurt when he swore not to and then tried to figure out how he was going to fix this mess for Tracy.

What Sebastian didn’t know was Blaine was actually overanalyzing their relationship. Kurt said some awful things about Sebastian during their call. He still saw his former high school nemesis as the boy who tried to ruin their relationship and finally succeeded as a man. It wasn’t true. They’d been divorced for 4 years when Sebastian sheepishly knocked on his dressing room door, holding a dozen white roses.

Um, hi. You were amazing. You’re always amazing. I’ve seen the show 5 times…Oh, these are for you.

Sebastian? How did you get back here? (at least it was better than “Are you a freshman?”)

Bernie, the Usher. I told him we went to Dalton together, so he offered to bring me back each time. I brought the roses this time so I wouldn’t chicken out again.

Why are you so nervous?

Because you’re you and I’m me.

There’s a café, Dottie’s, a few blocks from here. I’m always starving after a show. Would you join me?

That was three Valentine’s Days ago. After their reunion, on nights he had a performance, Sebastian would be waiting at the stage door to walk him home. No grand gestures, they would just talk about their day. Yes, they could have done the same thing with a call, or a text, but that wasn’t the point. It was about getting to know each other as the men they’d become.

Two weeks later, Blaine introduced his (not quite yet) boyfriend to his daughter. They hit it off right away. The problem was his the 2 (almost 3) year-old little girl inherited her mother’s lack of a verbal filter and inability to keep a secret. This meant her other father had to be told at the same time. As expected, it didn’t go well.

But then he realized he didn’t really care what Kurt Hummel thought. For the first time since his sophomore year of high school, he was free.

Yes, his revelation was pathetic considering he’d been divorced 4 years.

Six months later, Sebastian moved into his apartment. He loved the man and was sure Sebastian loved him. The problem was, in all the time they’d been together, neither of them had said the words I love you. After the implosion of his marriage, he swore if he fell in love again, he wouldn’t say it first. It might be superstitious, but he’d said it first last time and it was a disaster. No matter how ridiculous it sounded, he didn’t want anything to jinx what he and Sebastian were building together.

The next thing Blaine knew he was opening his eyes as sunlight streamed in from the window. He slept? How did that happen? He was usually awake for hours after dealing with Kurt. Wait…Where’s Sebastian? He was never out of bed before 9AM on a Saturday.

As he sat up, the bedroom door practically flew open. Tracy was standing there in the dress they’d bought for her Father/Daughter date with Kurt. Her hair was perfectly braided, and she had her shoes and socks on. That last part was the most surprising. His daughter had the same aversion to socks he had.

“Daddy, look what Sebby got me!” His 6 (almost 7) year old ran to the bed and showed him her bouquet of pink roses. “Sebby says pink roses are for Princesses and since he calls me Princess, I got pink roses of Vallytine’s Day.”

Blaine went to correct her pronunciation but decided it could wait for next year. It was bad enough he had to tell her Kurt wasn’t taking her on their date. “Trace…”

“There’s more. Don’t get up.”

She ran out of the room with the same energy as she entered. It finally dawned on him that while Tracy could dress herself, there was no way she could braid her hair. Did Kurt man up and decide not to break his daughter’s heart? It would explain Sebastian’s absence. If his ex showed up to their apartment, Sebastian never let him out of his sight.

“Um, hi. You were amazing. You’re always amazing. I saw your show 37 times…Oh, these are for you.”

This time it was Sebastian in the bedroom doorway, dressed in the suit he wore 3 years earlier, carrying a dozen white roses. “At least this time I know how you got in” Blaine replied as his boyfriend sat on the bed and handed him the roses.

“I was so nervous. It was the fourth most nervous I’d ever been.”

Fourth? That was a weird statement but right now he had other questions in need of answers. “Where’s Kurt?”

“Who cares?”

Huh? “But Trace’s braids and shoes and socks?

“I did those.”

Double huh? “When did you learn to braid hair?”

“They’re French braids. I learned to do them when I lived in Paris for Marie and Sophie.”

He had forgotten about Sebastian’s younger cousins. They would have been around Tracy’s age when he lived in Paris. This explained so much. “Why haven’t you braided Trace’s hair before?”

“Because you insist she doesn’t hide her curls like you used to.”

Oh, yeah. “I’m sorry. I promise if she wants her hair braided, you’re the guy for the job.” Blaine leaned in and kissed the man he loved then remembered… “I better go break Trace’s heart before she starts to figure out Kurt’s not coming.”

“I took care of it.”

Uh-oh “What do you mean I took care of it?”

“You were so exhausted from your argument with Gayface you fell asleep almost immediately. I knew that meant…one, you didn’t have time to concoct a plan. And two, you wouldn’t have time to call your partner in crime fighting this morning. So, I called Sam instead.”

“You called Sam?”

“Yeah, he was really helpful. But you might want to talk to him later. He said something about making Hummel pay for skipping out on his Goddaughter. And I’m man enough to admit he scared me a little.”

Blaine was shocked, worried and intrigued all at the same time. “What did you and Sam come up with? For Trace. I’ll deal with the Kurt part later.”

“I said her Dad called last night and was so, so sorry but his director called a mandatory rehearsal this morning because so many people messed up last night, but not him, of course.”

“Of course.”

“Then I said he asked me very nicely to make sure her day was extra special because she’s extra special and he didn’t want her to be sad.”

“My daughter, Tracy Barbra Hummel-Anderson didn’t question the fact her Dad asked you, Sebastian Smythe, his archenemy, for a favor? Excuse me, asked you very nicely for a favor? I thought was she smarter than that.” When his boyfriend didn’t laugh, Blaine knew there was something else going on. “Where’s Trace right now?”

Sebastian let out a huge sigh, looking like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Moana”

“Moana?”

“I know you don't like using Disney as a babysitter but I did something, and Rachel knows, so I have to tell you now because part of the plan for Princess’ extra special day is meeting Sam, Rachel, Jesse and Jesse Jr at MoMA. I mean Sam knows too, but Rachel couldn’t keep a secret even if she swore on Barbra Streisand and…”

Blaine kissed him again but to stop the rambling. “What did you do?”

Sebastian went to his night table and came back with a wrapped gift. “Just so you know, meeting your daughter was the third most nervous I’d ever been. Going to see you after your eye surgery was second. This is by far the most nervous I’ve ever been.”

Legal papers were the last thing Blaine expected to see when he opened the gift. But nothing prepared him for what he read.

State of New York Family Court Petition for Full Custody

“Don’t get mad and I know I overstepped. But I know you are uncomfortable leaving Princess with Kurt when you go on tour, especially if he’s still living with that asshole boyfriend of his. It hasn’t been filed, that would be really overstepping, but I asked the family law specialist at my firm if she would take your case. She said yes. She’s also never lost.”

“But…” Blaine kept reading when he was unable to form words. It took a couple of minutes for him to ask “You’re right, I don’t want Trace living with Kurt full-time if Gregory is living there. I could take her with me, but I won’t be back until 2 weeks after school’s back in session. Where is she supposed to stay?”

“If Kurt gets his act together, no change necessary. However, since no one trusts him, Santana and Brittany, Tina, Kitty, Elliot and Mercedes all said they’d take a week to stay at the apartment to keep him honest.”

“Um…”

“Before you say that’s only 5 weeks and you’ll be gone 8 weeks, she already was going to stay with Rachel for a week, making it 6 weeks. Carole and his dad volunteered for the final two.”

Say WHAT??? “Burt and Carole? How?...How…?”

“Sam and Rachel have been helping. Your bestie wanted to take a week until he remembered he’d be on tour with you.”

“One of them called Burt…”

“Rachel. Evidently, Burt has overheard Gregory’s stance on being child-free. He agrees with us that being child-free is a great choice for some, but it shouldn’t be a choice when your significant other has a child. Kurt told his dad he believes he can change Gregory’s mind. By the way, Burt knows about Plan B and says you have his blessing.”

Plan B? Oh, the petition. Burt knows? He approves? “But if Trace doesn’t stay with Kurt, who…?”

“Me”

“You?”

“Me and her Uncles. Wes, David, Thad, Beat, Trent and Niff are all taking a week to stay with us. And of course, her planned week at Rachel's.”

“That’s only…” No, he couldn’t mean… “When you said Trace’s Uncles…”

“Yes, Cooper volunteered for the final week. Sorry, but Cooper sounded a lot better than your mother. There’s something else I have to tell you.”

How much more was he supposed to take? “Ok”

“I was going to ask you to marry me today but I decided not to…today. I didn’t want it to seem like I was only asking you so we could have a stronger case.”

“You were going…?”

“I even asked Sam and Rachel for their blessing. I thought you should know in case someone, Rachel, let my original plan slip out.”

Blaine stopped listening because suddenly everything made perfect sense. He hadn’t said I love you because he was afraid of saying it first. Sebastian hadn’t said I love you because he didn’t know how. He’d never said it to someone before.

However, Sebastian showed him every day that he loved him through his actions. He showed Tracy every day that he loved her through his actions. Those actions were his love language. They were his I love you.

Next thing he knew Sebastian was lifting his chin until they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Blaine…B? What’s wrong? I know I shouldn’t have done this…Damn it, you’re crying. Please say something.”

“I love you, too.”

#seblainintines2024 #blaine anderson #sebastian smythe #seblaine fic #Love Language

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angst-in-space · 9 months

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july ‘23 writing progress

words written: 18.3k

most words written in a day: 1.8k

least words written in a day: 26

current yearly total: 103.8k

projects worked on:

- ya sci-fi book revisions - sylvix pacific rim au - matchablossom bed-sharing fic - altea rising ch 15 edits (AND I POSTED IT....AT LONG LAST...) - posted ch 9 of sylvix dreamscape fic - short story planning

works published in july:

you’re a dream (i’m never waking up) - chapter 9 (fe3h/sylvix) altea rising - chapter 15 (vld/klance)

july goals:

- write 30k for camp nano - rewrite 4-5 chapters of ya sci-fi book (up to ch 20-ish?) - post ch 9 of sylvix dreamscape fic - start editing ch 10 of dreamscape fic - start editing chs 3-4 of renga fic? - continue first draft of arctic monster book - work on various fics (sylvix pacrim, kazurei post-canon, matchablossom, red skies ch 8, etc.)

august goals:

- continue ya sci-fi book rewrites... erm... i’m way behind schedule but maybe will try to aim for like chapter 25 or so - edit/post another chapter of altea rising - finish sylvix dreamscape ch 10 edits and send to betas - continue editing renga fic if i have time?? - work on other misc fics - maybe... work a bit on arctic monster book?? - write and submit short story

notes:

well.... this was an interesting month! because technically, in terms of word count, this was my most productive month of the year so far—but in terms of what i actually wanted to get done... well, not quite as successful LOL. but uhhh progress is progress, amiright?

i had hoped to write 30k this month and got to almost 19k so, missed my goal by about 11k lol (but still!! most words i’ve written in a month so far this year!).

i’d been hoping mainly to focus on book rewrites and get to chapter 20 or so but uhh... that did not happen either! i got Very Stuck on chapter 16 in particular so that took me most of the month. but i at least go through that and have almost finished chapter 17 as well! buuut i’ll have to rewrite... a lot more chapters this month if i want to stay on track to reach my self-appointed deadline. plus i’m having a lot of crises about my book in general lmao but guess that is all part of the process haha *gives a thumbs-up while tears roll down my face* ANYWAY. aiming for chapter 25 by the end of this month (and i’m trying to kick my own ass into rewriting like 1k words a day) so uhhh yeah. chuckles nervously.

in more positive news, i updated two whole fics in july after months of posting nothing so WOOOO!!! chapter 9 of sylvix dreamscape fic is finally posted after like 9 months, and chapter 15 of altea rising is posted after uhhh like 4.5 years lmao. with the latter, it’s been especially touching to see people so excited for it and that you were happy to see it update! honestly i had a LOT of anxiety about continuing to post it because i worried no one would care anymore, so it means a lot. :’) i definitely hope to keep working on both those fics and aim to update at least one of them by end of august!

i also planned out a short story that i’m hoping to write and submit to an anthology this month so *sweats* pray for me....i have not written a short story in ages, much less submitted short fiction anywhere lol but it’s something i’ve meant to try for a while!!

otherwise, i’m not sure i’ll have time for much else because this month is going to be pretty busy for me on top of all the writing-related stuff i need to do. but hoping to maybe squeeze in some progress on other fics when i can (or when i’m feeling burned out on my book). sooo yeah i think that’s all for now!!

#brigidposts #writing updates #monthly writing updates 2023 #fanfic #original fic #text

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yoonieper · 1 year

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Helllooooo people! Today is my last day of break so I thought I’d give you guys an update on 1) what’s to come! 2) what to expect throughout the year~

1) So despite me not posting anything (yet!) I did manage to get a couple of fics done throughout the break! One idk if you guys will see for a while (will be explained later) and the other 1 and a half (I guess) will be coming out before the end of the month! Either both this week or one this week and the next! Just doing a bit of looking ahead to March, I have a Hobi fic that should (SHOULD) be posted on his birthday and a fun fun fun fun fun birthday special for Yoongi (hoping 3 fics but one is going to be a stretch getting done lolll)! Idk if I’ll have time to do any other oneshots because of the special so those are the fics you should be getting in these coming weeks!

2) Alright so I took some time during the break to sort of plan what fics I wanted to get done and posted, that lead me to ultimately making a decision idk how you guys will feel about, but should be better in the long run in me trying to get things done. So (spoiler!) one of the fics you’ll get this month will be the next part of Pecattiphilia, if any of you guys are keeping up with that series then you might have noticed it has been an entire year since part 3 was posted (😅)… I ain’t even gon mention how long it’s been since part 2 of Secrets of the Sea was posted (also hint hint part 3 is coming soon)…. but yeah you guys may notice that updates are realllyyyyy slow for series. I hate leaving you guys waiting but there are some periods where I don’t write for a while but then when I come back I’m more interested in getting a one shot done that can be posted and completed immediately rather than waiting for a moment when I can prioritize the series again. That’s led to major time gaps between chapters being posted. I talk about how many drafts I have piled up but I have even more ideas that I want to write for you guys that hasn’t been started yet.

Ultimately I’ve decided— this year I will be prioritizing oneshots and in 2024 I’ll be dedicating it basically to 80% of the time next year into finishing and finally posting the series I have already posted and the ones I’ve already started so hopefully by the end of the year you’ll have a nice variety! I have series posted/planned for 5 of the members so far and more (I have a bunch for Yoongi) for some of them.

Tryna post as much as I can since most the members are leaving this year, so that’s why oneshots will be prioritized. I may or may not post part 5 of Pecattiphilia this year (just depends on timing) and I also SHOULD be able to finally post my big big big project that I’ve been working on for years sometime later this year (which is a series)— besides these things this year, oneshots will pretty much be the majority of content and boy… I am so excited to get some of these ideas out >:)

This is all to say, this is the plan for series moving forward. For shorter series (ex Beyond) I will complete the series entirely before posting all parts and for longer works I will try to get them mostly completed so there won’t be too long of a wait for the final parts!

I will see you guys soon! Get excited, there are some fun things in store 😘

#yoonieper updates

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polizwrites · 1 year

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WIP Update - 4 Jan 2023

Had an incredibly productive writing week - trying to get those last few squares done on my MWAP and SBB bingos and doing some other events, too! I touched 7 fics (2 WIPs & 5 new works) for a total of 3564 words!

On Ao3, I posted several more fics: -- Marked Up Soulmarks (Steve & Tony Soulmates AU with hinted-at WinterIron, Teen) -- Moving Forward (Using All My Breath) (WinterIron PWP, Explicit) -- No Ordinary Boy is Gonna Do (WinterIron High School AU, Teen) -- Make My Heart Come All Undone (WinterIron No Powers AU, General, WIP) I also contributed to The Knack to Flying with Flair: Or, in Other Words, Hold My Hand - A WinterIron Round Robin (WinterIron identity porn, kinda, General)

On Tumblr I posted Not Too Far Down the Tracks, a Stony College AU for last week’s Flash Fiction Friday.

I carried over 10 WIPs from 2022 with my current deadline being the Bucky Barnes Bingo (ends 7 Jan) and Steve Rogers Bingo (ends 31 Jan).

See below cut for the WIPs (arranged more or less by bingos/challenges/etc) I am working on - feel free to send me prompts or plot bunnies as well as asks regarding any of these projects (or any other WIPs I’ve got out there) – they really help feed the Muse and keep me motivated!

Man With a Plan (Steve Rogers) Bingo [MWAPB] Ended 31 Dec

Ended up with nineteen fills, and four bingos (Rows 2 & 5 and Cols I & O) with three leftover WIPs.

Man with a Plan Bingo Masterpost

StarkBucks Bingo - Round 3 (SBB_R3) - Ended 31 Dec

Ended up with nineteen fills and five bingos (Rows 3, 4 & 5 and Cols N and G) with every fic helping to contribute to a bingo! 😁 Carrying two WIPs forward from this bingo.

StarkBucks Bingo Masterpost

Bucky Barnes Bingo - Round 4 [BBB_R4] (Runs thru 7 Jan 2023)

Nineteen fills, two bingos so far (Row 1 & Col K) and four WIPs. Shooting to get Col B/Row 3 and Col C bingos as well. Since I have ideas for pretty much every square, I’m hoping we can carry squares over into the next round.

* B3 - Sam Wilson|Falcon - Posted Chapter 2 of After One Or Two False Starts yesterday. This chapter is Bucky POV and came in at 315 words. I may add more to this story if there is interest/inspiration

* U2 - AU: Roommate - First draft of Adverse Possession is done; Clint POV post CA:WS incorporating the following Meet Ugly prompt: "I bought a house three months ago but I’m finally moving in and discover you’ve been squatting because you’re homeless.” It’s coming in at 906 words and will get posted on Friday.

* U4 - AU: Arranged Marriage - Picking Lady Natasha’s Consort and Lord Steve’s Companion back up for this one as a crossover with my TSB IronWidow square. Chapter Three is coming in at 948 words and will get posted Friday or Saturday.

*C5 - “This might as well happen” - Used this toward a second WinterIron All that Glitters event Round Robin that will hopefully post before Saturday. Will need to make sure to submit a square fill form.

* K3 - KINK: Edging - Posted Moving Forward (Using All My Breath) on Friday. It’s Bucky POV with toy play and Tony as a power bottom and crossed over with TSB K3 - KINK: Orgasm Denial/Edging - it came in at 904 words.

Sam Wilson Bingo - Mini Holiday Round (SWB_MH) - Ends 20 Jan

Two fills posted for this 3x3 holiday event card - Shooting for a bingo/crossover with BBB squares.

* A1 - Secret Santa Sam’s bound and determined to figure out who keeps leaving little bird-themed gifts for him around the Compound. Need to start getting words on paper for this.,

Steve Rogers Bingo - Round 2 (SRB_R2) - Ends 31 Jan

Seventeen fills posted with 2 bingos (Row 3 & Row 1) & zero WIPs at the moment – aiming for 2 or 3 more bingos before the event wraps.

* A4 - Touch Attention/Denial - I have an idea for this that will also fill (heh) my Stucky Bingo KINK - Double Penetration square.

* B2 - Mile High Club - This will be the second chapter of Never Have I Ever (But I Want To With You), picking up with Tony’s POV after the events of Chapter One. This is probably the next fic I’ll pick up. Possibly combine with TSB Tony’s Poor Life Choices?

* E2 - Comics Nomad Steve - SWC sketch of Nomad!Steve

* E4 - Mental Bondage - crossover with TSB KINK: Concubine - Potential Title My Voice The Chain that Binds You

* D5 - Long Distance Relationship - Not Too Far Down the Tracks was a surprise fill, since it fit so well with last week’s Flash Fiction Friday Prompt Late Night Train. It’s a Stony College AU ficlet that came in at 320 words & will post to Ao3 sometime next week, I think.

Tony Stark Bingo - Round 6 (TSB_R6) [Ends 28 Feb]

Seventeen fills and two WIPs at the moment - with Vague Ideas for almost every other square.

* T2 - Doing Groceries - if I expand a bit on Not Too Far Down the Tracks, (see SRB Long Distance Relationship above) I might be able to squish this square into that fic!

* T3 - Pepper Potts/Rescue - some sort of remix of/inspired by sabrecmc’s Indecent Proposal from Pepper’s POV. At this point, I think I need to re-read the fic & take notes …

* T4 - KINK: Concubine - see SRB E4 - Mental Bondage?

*A5 - Scott Lang - 27dragons shared an interesting plot bunny during the Sept TSB Discord party that I may end up using; that or a follow up to A Piece of the Action

* R1 - Tony’s Poor Life Choices - see SRB Mile High Club above.

* R2 - IronWidow - next chapter of Lady Natasha’s Consort and Lord Steve’s Companion ? see BBB Arranged Marriage above

* K2 - Secret Admirer - carried this over from last round so I could try my hand a remix of Seeds of Love (WinterIron hanahaki fic by the super-talented @hddnone). Potential title: Wraps Around My Heart, Refusing to Unwind

* K3 - KINK: Orgasm Denial/Edging - see BBB KINK: Edging

Stucky Bingo Round Four [SB_R4] (Ends 31 May 2023

Eight fills and one WIPs with a couple of other vague ideas.

* B1 - Mutual Pining - no specific idea, but it’s so On Brand for me I’m sure I’ll come up with something! (maybe a SWB crossover for a triad?)

* B5 - KINK: Double Penetration - see SRB Touch Attention/Denial above.

* O4 - AU: Supernatural - got inspired by a dream to start a Stucky fantasy AU (magician!Steve/ensorcelled!Bucky) that @bill-longbow is collaborating on with me. This was supposed to fill my Man with a Plan Bingo Soulmates square, but I ran out of time on that bingo. We’re currently sitting at 1640 words (984-ish of which are mine). Will probably continue on this sometime in January. Current Last Line: "My men will accompany you back to Brookline in the morning.”

I also adopted the Writing Format: Remix one of your fics square – am thinking of taking one of my Stony or WinterIron No Powers fics and adapting it to a Stucky pairing – if you have any requests - hit me up!

WinterIron - No Powers AU – Stony No Powers AU

————

On other creative fronts: I have Baby Shakespeare Lizard and Buc-ee Stuffed With Character figures in progress - still working on the figures/props for my three Marvel Trumps Hate auction winners as well (6 of87 done so far) – thanks so much for your generous support!! Finally, I am prepping for a superhero con in March and another con in June so am pretty well booked up through spring/early summer.

That said, if you’re looking for one of a kind gifts for birthdays or other celebrations in 2023, check out Stuffed With Character over on Facebook for a full list of my designs (now over 80!). They’re mostly Marvel and monsters, but I have some Star Wars, Star Trek, DC and Disney figures as well. Plus I love to take custom design requests for any fandom!

#writing stuff #WIP Wednesday #WIP Update #shameless self promo

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mifhortunach · 1 year

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in review - once again! - 2022

below cut :/

i did... Very Little drawing this year ! - which i’m really not happy about, and i’m not sure how that happened tbh. that said, if nothing else, instead of drawing i got ‘a lot’ of printing done!

it was a good year for like. my Actual Practice - i spent a lot of time in the studio, got a piece (that i still like!) into an actual public show, as well as for the first time sold some work!! I also got to finally mess around with a riso machine, as well as someone offered to show me more litho stuff, so im hoping to pursue that much more in the year :) - as well as finally do a bunch of projects i’ve been putting off for ages & dear god, fckn draw more

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watched a lot of movies though!!!

ltrbxd says i saw like. 115 or smth, but that’s an estimate bc i went to a couple of shorts showings (as well as fell asleep at a couple :’/ ). it’s been cool!! have finally seen a bunch of genre classics, and had like, a seeing thru the matrix moment~ where i could tell a whole bunch of influences that had affected smth i was watching ! id quite like to try to strike a similar balance this year as well; catching up on like. ‘genre staples’ but paired w the weirdest most niche shit i can find - fingers-crossed! (thinking about putting together a little round-up post of some of the ones i saw this year that really stuck around for me, but idk)

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Pods!!

usually i think - and by usually i mean like, last year - i’ve got more to say on this front, but a lot of the pods i really enjoyed this year were hold-overs from 2022-

AMCA: i’m someone who while they don’t care about starwars, DOES really like podcasts about it, which is weird & difficult to explain, but this is still so good!! 5 star podcast, 5 star runtime! everyDAY do i wish they could do a special about dune...

The RETURN of toxic podcast!: as before, a podcast only for me really, and the only podcaster that i do have smth approaching a parasocial relationship with - its just been nice to hear from Ale again!! The branch into ltrboxd reviews as been a fun venture too, imo.

FATT/SANGFIELLE: though difficult to believe, that DID happen this year!! Sangfielle is still so so good, and it got me back into both listening to bluff as well as trying so hard to catch up on ptzn, its just really fckn good what else is there to even say! (Met a lot of v cool people through this as well, which has been so cool :) )

Assorted Seán L@TDF podcasts: while he has dropped completely off the face of the internet - though hopefully not the earth - the man DOES still have years of weird (mostly movie) focused podcasting to go back in on, which i do find consistently compelling!! turns out when u practice putting thought into words and then presenting for long enough you do indeed build a skill. His found footage series (Hundreds of Pixelated Dead Bodies) series is great, and introduced me to a lot of stuff, ditto his other series (hundreds of dead bodies). I’m hoping to get through the big, thoughtful series (ALL UNITS) this year, and maybe I’ll get even luckier and he’ll return to the land of podcasting soon.

I’m sure i’ve missed some on this one, but these are the ones that stood out to me this time round, i guess. i’m excited for the new twioat series also, lol.

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i did like, almost no reading, or tv watching, though i did start, and plan - and not finish - a good couple of knitting projects. didn’t get out to see many gallery shows either, which isn’t so great - though i DID manage to have a startlingly good year socially ?

made some new friends, had a whole private theme month devoted to the films of al pacino, and got to see two bands/musicians that i really love play live!! Good Ol’ Stevie P w @silverview (<33) && TWRP - both of which were so so great, and made me wish i got out more lol

lots to be done this year, as per, but hopefully it’ll be fine

#ppp #2022 #year in review

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klassickdei · 1 year

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pointless life updates #04 - I've been through a lot, but I'm ok with it.

hi. welcome back to another episode of my pointless life updates. it’s been an entire month since I wrote an update. like october, november was also a hectic month for me, it was wild. my body was sending signals that I need to rest. and I do feel drained. but I know I am capable of continuing the run. I know that I must run. I can rest when I'm done. some parts are painless. but of course, some other parts are not. talking about "changing" yourself. what about that? changing yourself means giving up on yourself until now, denying yourself until now, and never again showing the face of yourself until now, as if you were sending it to its grave. it is a good thing? this is not such an easy thing to talk about. that is why people do not try to change and why they want to feel okay with things as they are, no matter how tough life gets. and end up living in search of "okay as I am". there's a monolog in me. "I'm sorry for making the most beautiful time of the life into a sad memory" but it always ends up "I am who I am now because of the time I spent with you, thank you for making precious lessons & memories with me." every person has sad experiences and setbacks and suffers unbearable treatment and also great disappointment. but some people refer to tragedies as 'lessons' or 'memories'. do people know how long I doubted myself? I'm sure they don't. I am the one who knows how much I've worked hard and gone through. I don't let it show, but I've been through some shit. people only know the result, but I, who know the process, am so proud of myself. and talking about being alone... as I said that I am comfortable doing all things alone because I barely find someone who believes in me and in the same frequency, I even fear I am too comfortable being alone and might struggle with letting someone in. I have someone that I adored so much, I truly appreciated him, he always motivated me in many ways. BUT I think he doesn't like me as I did. I confessed but the response is not so clear to me, anyway even IF he does love me, mAyBE we can not be in a relationship? as it is NOT my priority at the moment... but there are days when I feel like there is a void in my life. there are days when I wish I was in a loving relationship or wonder if I will ever find THE person. hahah such an irony. december will be no different. I had to do final exams, and I plan to back home as soon as possible. so that is making me so "lively" but in all the good ways. after going back home, I do not have anything I should do for my study thing, but I still have some work and projects for clients that I had to finish by the end of the year. that is also the reason why I still didn't tell anybody but my family about my d-day coming back home. less than a month 'til coming back home idk what is going to happen after. but I am excited and my plans are wide open for january. maybe I'll arrange a trip or staycation as a "self-reward?". ehehe idk yet. yet persevered toward, surer for the distance; Instead of saying "see you again", I'm sure it's right to say "goodbye" to this era/part of me living in Indralaya-Palembang, South Sumatera. not say that I don't wanna go back here again, just... the story of these 5 months in here right now, I want it to be a precious lesson. last but not least, I wanna recommend songs.. it’s… "회전목마 (Feat. Zion.T, 원슈타인) (Prod. Slom)" by sokodomo as well as "Ref:rain" by エメ. that’s all for today. thanks for tuning in and don’t forget to drink your water. happy holiday, see you next year. 12.2022 from ra.

#pointlesslifeupdates

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tdcloud · 1 year

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2022 Retrospective and a Look Ahead to 2023 (blog#12)

And now it’s December, and we’ve reached the final blog post for the year. Somehow I managed to keep this up for a full twelve months! I’m as shocked as you are, though I have to confess it took me a while to decide on a topic for this last installment for 2022. There are so many things I could and will talk about, but what tripped me up was the notion that this entry needed to be special, something different. I wanted to reward us all for reaching this milestone. It took some time to figure out what would work for that, but just like December hitting us full force with terrible Christmas music and present-buying anxiety, it came to me in the end, so here we are, and here we go.

The topic du jour this month is 2022 and 2023. It’s both a look back at what I’ve done this year as well as a sneak peek ahead at my goals and writing schedule for the next year. Now, anyone who knows me knows I’m not good at praising myself. I’ve written all these books, published and unpublished, and yet nothing ever feels like an accomplishment. It’s been my New Year’s resolution so many years in a row, and it’s one I consistently fail to address because… well, I just don’t know how to fix that. I went to Yougei asking him what I should write for this, and he immediately said “Do a reflection on all you’ve done this year.” I then responded, “All that would be is me complaining about not doing enough.” It’s a problem, that sort of mentality. I’m recognizing it here, and despite my knee jerk reaction that a topic like that wouldn’t be worth doing, I’ve decided to do it anyway. Because I have made strides! I have accomplished things! Let’s talk about them!

I think most obvious and present in my mind when it comes to accomplishments right now is Carnival, my October novella event winner. It’s done, it’s posted, and by and large, it seems to have been a success. I always stress over these events specifically because it’s… you know, a pretty huge undertaking. I have so many people who ask me if I do NaNoWriMo and I just stare at them like… first, I don’t need a month to write a novel, I do it on the regular, and second… That’s literally what October is for me every year. I bite off a lot to make this event happen for my patrons. The story may only be 5-6 chapters, but they average these days anywhere between 70-90 pages. I’ve stopped trying to write them all piecemeal in October—when I only wrote them to be around 4-5 chapters, that was more doable, but anymore, I need some extra time to prepare, plan, and get a head start if I want the end product to be the best it can possibly be given the circumstances under which it was written. I don’t tend to feel proud of myself when I finish writing something, but I do feel satisfied when these projects come to an end. It’s me testing myself on my flexibility, creativity, and perseverance. If I come out with time to spare, it’s a huge win, and this year, I managed to do just that with Carnival. A lot of the time, I’m still writing into October.

But beyond the obvious and most recent thing, what else have I accomplished this year? Well, I’m unreasonably negative towards myself when I fail to publish something. I’ve got so many things active and ready for it, but I can’t always get my way when it comes to finding an artist with time to spare, or if my editor is bogged down with their own projects. A lot of things conspired to throw a wrench in my plans this year, but I did manage to prepare two stories for publication—all I’m waiting for is art. When I’ve got that locked and loaded, all I have to do is send out for proofs and hit publish. I managed this year to prep so much content. Even if nothing managed to come to fruition for 2022, I’ll be able to hit the ground running in 2023. We’ll have a few rapid-fire releases that way, and I’ll be in a great position to finish some high-profile projects and get ahead for once in my never-ending schedule.

Given how much I work and put on my own plate, I’m not always in the best position to help out other people with their own projects. I was able to help Sun, one of my dearest and most valued friends, with her new A Little Rain Oracle Deck, and honestly, that’s probably the accomplishment I’m most proud of. She asked for help during my busiest month (September, when I’m in the deepest of hell-deadlines for the October novella), and I managed to completely rewrite and revise her guidebook with time to spare for her own deadlines. She’s announced and ended her pre-order, but there’s still time to check out this beautiful deck and see how to grab a copy for yourself. Help support Sun by checking out her website: https://ambisunart.com/shop/

Beyond all of that, I’ve made great strides in my ongoing projects. My Patreon serial, my monthly novella rotations, and all the other projects I’m working on in the background have progressed on schedule. I’m not behind in anything beyond Hiraeth (more on that later), and I’m actually finishing up the last few chapters of Apotheosis this month so I can get a head start on my next serial early, thus allowing myself even more time in the future for things not on my monthly rotation list. It’s hard to do double-chapters for large projects each month, but I’m trying to view it as an investment in future-me. The more I can churn through now when I’ve got some holiday downtime, the more I’ll be able to take my time in the future when I need to take my time. If I prep and stockpile chapters now, I’ll be in a better position when I inevitably get sick, go to conventions, or have a bad productivity month later on.

And I do plan on doing more conventions. This year saw me attending and tabling at my first long-distance convention. I flew to Minnesota and tabled with my lovely friend Jack, something I never thought I’d be able to do given the logistics of transporting heavy books via airplane. I made it happen, and it worked! I reached an entirely new audience who hadn’t been privy to my work, and I intend to do it again in the future. I’ve reached new horizons and tested the boundaries of what I thought was possible when selling my work in person. It’s an accomplishment for sure, even if it’s not an obvious one in terms of publication or writing. What I do is considered a small business. I’m not just the talent—I’m the salesperson, the marketer, the graphic designer, the agent. Pushing the boundaries of where I take my business is so important, and while Covid is still very much a thing (y’all better still be masking!) conventions are reaching a state of equilibrium again. I’m excited to try my hand at new conventions I’ve never been to before. Hopefully, I’ll get to meet more of you while I do it!

But what about next year? I know I’ve teased a lot of future projects over this past year, but I haven’t been able to give too many concrete dates or time frames for a lot of them. Most of you don’t really know how I schedule or plan out my projects when it comes to publication timelines. I’m very organized, as you can imagine (sarcasm) and I have it all on a sticky notes app on my desktop.

This is sort of my tally chart on how projects are progressing, how much more is left on them, and it gives me general goalposts to aim for as I move forward. I also have a sticky note just for my monthly commitments as well.

This is more a to-do list that gets deleted as I check things off the list, and then the chapter tally is updated on the main screenshot from before. I’ve also got an actual paper schedule notebook where I schedule out my weeks in terms of what project gets worked on when, and when stories conclude, when they go on pause (like in the case of October, every project tends to stop updating except for the novella event offering), and when new stories get to begin.

Of course, I’m always running behind. In an ideal world, I’d keep to my schedule exactly and finish everything in the least amount of time necessary, but I get sick sometimes, or a family member gets sick, or my convention schedule gets hectic and I lose entire weeks to prepping and traveling and recovery, or holidays happen and my family monopolizes me, or any other numerous setbacks that happen when you live your life. In an ideal world, I’d publish 2-3 times a year. In 2022 alone, I wanted to publish Infaust, Ossuary, and even if there was time, one of the vigilante books. Unfortunately, this year was a busy, hectic year. My usual artists can’t drop everything for me, and I wouldn’t expect or ask them to. When you work independently like this, you just have to get used to having your self-imposed deadlines break.

But when I’m in a lean year like this, I don’t stop working towards publication. If anything, I do even more so that when I do have covers ready, I can hit the ground running. I do all the formatting. I pre-make promotional material. I spend money I would’ve earmarked for cover art on commissioned character art to generate interest, and I dedicate time I would’ve lost in publication hell towards other projects. Do you see how many things I’ve got in my Edit Block up there? I’ve been able to finish and stockpile so many completed manuscripts over the course of 2022. My editor, NIL, has already recreationally read at least half of these offerings. We’ll be able to start 2023 in a great position when it comes to the vigilante series since we’ve both spent so much time poking around on the documents as it is, and Nil’s has already been able to give me a head start on my personal edits for Lambent and Carnival as well, so when we get around to working on those titles seriously, a lot of the bigger issues will already be taken care of.

So, what does that mean in terms of what to expect in 2023? Well, the delightful and supremely skilled AmbiSun (illustrator and graphic designer behind The Tempest Series) will be returning to make Ossuary, the cursebreaker witch/elder vampire erotic horror novella, a reality! She’ll be sending me thumbnails this month and we should have a completed cover before we hit March. Expect a spring release on that title, and more information and teasers around then!

I know I’ve been teasing Infaust over the past few months, and this book is just a good representation of how my intense work schedule doesn’t always translate well for others. I’ve got an insanely talented artist on board for this Pied Piper inspired dark romance, but working around our schedules and fitting things into our busy lives has proved challenging. I’d wanted to release this book back in June, but it’s looking now like it’ll be a 2023 release, perhaps before Ossuary, but maybe after it. We’re playing it by ear, and that’s fine. I will tell you guys that I do have some fun publication plans for this book when it does drop! I really want to do more for pre-orders, and I’m working right now on making a pre-order book release bundle that will hopefully become the norm when I release full books (not novellas, though we may do something fun for compilations like the vigilante trio.) The goal is to have a cute themed box of goodies to go along with the new book. This will likely involve some character manjuu, a sticker sheet, mini prints, and perhaps even acrylic standees or charms! All of the merch will be available for individual purchase after the book drops, but we may have some exclusives just for early birds.

Here’s where we get a little indulgent and pretend that I can concretely deliver on three releases in one year. Following these two books, my publication team and I are planning on going all in when it comes to the vigilante novella trio. If you haven’t read my vigilante teaser blog, go do that now so you know what you’re waiting for! Like I said in that blog, I’ll be working with @skelefarts (or Skeletal Creature, as I think Linden told me she wanted to be known as for the book credentials) over on Twitter when it comes to art. The current plan is to focus on editing all three novellas, starting with Pride/Stray (still using the working titles for ease of the team). Once NIL and I are done editing it and have it all formatted, Linden will do her art while we set in on the next manuscript, leap-frogging it like that so we’re always editing, drawing, and publishing until we’re through with all three novellas. Usually, I have to stop everything when I’m working on late-stage publication, but we’ve all spent enough time with these novellas that it shouldn’t take too much focus to get them out. If we’re lucky, expect Pride/Stray in late 2023 and the other two in early-to-mid 2024. A merch box for all three titles may follow the final publication, but that’ll be dependent on how the Infaust box does.

I would say this is all you can expect currently when it comes to physical releases, but that’s not all you have to look out for. My Patreon is always chock-full of so many ongoing digital releases to tide you over in between physical publications. My current Patreon serialized novel Apotheosis, the prequel to Letifer and the second installment in my Dark Vagaries vampire series, will end by April of 2023. It’ll likely be a 2024 release and be given high priority since it’s part of my main ongoing series. I don’t expect its publication deadline to move around much, barring some major life event occurring or my DVerse artist, Y. Dan (Yougei) needing more time to get the cover out. Either way, you can read it on Patreon right now for just $5 a month. In fact, you can read literally all of these stories right now on Patreon if you’re too impatient to wait for physical releases XD Their first drafts are up, and while they may be missing a chapter or two here, they’re still good representations of what you have to look forward to as my team works on publication.

Since Apotheosis ends in April, May will start off the next serialized work, a rewrite of Aubade, a Norse fantasy story. I wrote up a blog post about this story a couple months back, so if you want a teaser on what to expect from it, I highly suggest checking that out. The current goal right now is to finish writing Apotheosis before New Year’s so I can spend January-May churning through my rewrite portions of Aubade (the first eight or so chapters). The following 4-5 new, additional chapters will be written monthly, thus allowing me to schedule most of the book to auto-release on Patreon while I dedicate my time to finishing other projects I normally wouldn’t have time for while balancing a monthly serial like this. I’m also excited to announce here that a really talented artist will be working with me for this Patreon release! He’s asked to be kept anonymous, but I’ll tell you that he’s a huge fan of Aubade, has been for a long time now, even though I really don’t like the fic version much these days. He’s been champing at the bit in hopes of me picking the story back up and, as a show of his diehard love of the story, has offered to make illustrations for every chapter of the Patreon release, as well as a Patreon cover for the story, too. It’s going to make for a very immersive, very thoughtful exploration of this book, and I really can’t wait for January to come so we can begin our collaborative rewrite of this emotionally challenging story.

I also do a monthly patron pick poll on Patreon, one where I keep up a monthly rotation of several different short story/novella concepts that update based on my patrons’ tastes. We’ve currently got three on rotation, a Gladiatrix/Noblewoman lesbian romcom that will end after one more chapter, a spiritual sequel/tie-in to a previous novella poll option currently titled The Raven King involving courtship through mutual story telling and folkloric creatures beyond our ken, and one with the working title Courtly Love, another romcom set in a pseudo-Arthurian setting with a romantic, hesitant troubadour and the inexperienced prince determined to get this guy to make a move before it’s too late for either of them to act on the flirtations they’ve been exchanging for close to a decade. The latter two won’t begin until next year—everyone has really been feeling these sweaty Roman lesbians—and a third option will likely be added then too, since I like having three on rotation. I haven’t yet decided what I’ll add to the poll just yet, but it’s always a banger and always a ton of fun.

Similar to the patron poll options, my October Novella Event for 2023 will come as it always does, and voting on the story will begin around May or June, just to give me some extra time to plan and get a head start on things. As of right now, the poll options for that event will include the two losers from this year, a sequel to Ossuary named Reliquary that is pretty dead dove XD and another, final installment in the vigilante-verse involving a milfy they/them ditz of a villain and a young, yandere-in-the-making hero who enjoys being held hostage a little too much, a sort of pseudo-horror romance involving the ringleader of a carnival of the dead and a denizen of Limbo who refuses to fall victim to his whims (kinda Corpse Bride-meets-Mushishi flavored, if that gives you some vibes to consider), and something else I haven’t come up with yet. I’m sure I’ll do more teaser blogs about these and other works once I get closer to actually working on them. Just fun stuff to keep in mind, and hopefully you’ll be enticed enough to join us in October for the big reveal!

And finally, the last project I want to discuss is the one I keep getting grilled on: Hiraeth. The final installment of The Tempest Series has been a thorn in my side for several years now, and I’ve offered about as many excuses as I can on why it still isn’t done yet. I just want to reiterate that I WILL finish this story. It will not be scrapped or canceled. It’s going to be published. As you can see in my sticky notes, it is on my radar and always, always, ALWAYS on my mind. The issues I’m having are namely of my own making, but as I said before, I’m always running behind, and with Patreon rotations that have to be published on a schedule, I’m forced to prioritize some projects at the detriment of others. Earlier this year I managed to squeeze in a chapter of Hiraeth into my monthly rotation, but as soon as I had to begin working on my October novella on top of that, something had to give. My goal is to keep Hiraeth on my schedule until it’s done or I’m forced to, once again, let something slide so I’m able to meet my monthly commitments. Given I’m so close to the end of this book, I think the former is more likely than the latter. The SECOND this story is done, it is going to supersede anything else my editor is working on for me. We’re going to beat it into shape and get it ready for publication, but when it’ll be published… I can’t say just yet. It’s going to depend on Sun’s availability, as always, but please know that this book will become my top priority the moment the draft is done. Until then, it’s always going to be the thing I push to the back burner because I have a monetary commitment to prioritize my Patreon offerings first, and while I did toy with the idea of making Hiraeth a serial on there, I opted to not since it’s too wrapped up in lore, previous installments, and context to work as a standalone for anyone on there who hasn’t read the whole series yet.

Please keep in mind I work a full time job and update roughly 50-60 pages a month publicly and another 30-40 that you don’t see. I’m not annoyed or frustrated that I keep getting questions about Hiraeth—to be honest, I’m just psyched that people care and are that excited to finally get to read it. I’m more frustrated at myself for taking this long on something that should’ve been done back in like, 2019. I’m going to do it, though. My Aubade rewrite sprint at the beginning of 2023 will free me up significantly, and I intend to use that time wisely by prioritizing this book again as much as I’m able to. I don’t think I’ll be able to publish in 2023, but my ultimate goal for this work is to give you guys a release date for 2024, or at the very least, confirm that the book is done and that all we’re waiting on is clearance for art before we announce when to expect it.

But that’s enough on that. You guys probably look at all these ongoing and future projects and think I’m insane, but honestly, this is how I work, this is how I update, and I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t give myself unrealistic standards and deadlines. I like having a full plate, and when I have lots of ideas, I don’t always like waiting years for their turn to come. Sometime I’ll show you guys more of my monthly planning strategies and maybe even show you guys how I format my physical schedule. To me, this is all very manageable so long as I don’t fall behind. It’s when I get sick or miss a weekend that things get stressful. Maybe that’ll be my next resolution for 2023—give myself even more padding for when things inevitably do happen to me, because even with all of these stockpiling tricks I’m pulling, it’s still likely to happen regardless.

Let’s turn to some questions now and see what else people are excited about for 2023. Questions come from Instagram and Twitter this time!

How do you do prior research and gather references to make your work more “real”?

More writing questions! Fun fun. Well, I mean, I read books and look for articles on the topics. It really depends on the sort of research you’re doing. If it’s something in a historical setting, you should be researching the fuck out of things—if that’s something you feel is important. There are plenty of people writing “historical” fiction where it’s just a setting, not anything more. Do you care about being accurate? If so, then read everything you can find about the time period itself. Find diaries, since those are great for actually hearing how people lived their day-to-day lives, and look for resources that can add flavor to your worldbuilding, like historical cookbooks or books/articles targeted towards taking you through the day of whatever class or group of people you’re writing about. You want to get boots on the ground, essentially, because just reading a history book won’t tell you how a person lived, just what they lived through.

If you’ve got access to JSTOR, you’re a lucky bastard. Use it and download as many articles as you can. If you don’t, hit up your local library. There are reference librarians who can find articles and books for you via WORLDCAT or interlibrary loan, and I’d recommend being pretty upfront with them when it comes to what you’re trying to write. My mother is a librarian and you’d be shocked what sorts of goldmines they’re able to uncover once they get going. Also, when I was in college, I asked my professors LOTS of questions when I was writing stories set in their areas of focus. If you’ve got access to an expert in the field, use them. I’ve served as a historical consultant before for comic authors—though I’d hazard to call myself an “expert.” Just… don’t be too shy to tell someone like that what you’re trying to do. You don’t have to tell your Medieval History professor “Hey, I’m writing a gay erotica about a viking and volva, can you tell me more about things that pertain to that?” Have some tact, if you think they’ll care or whatever, but just tell them you’re working on a personal project and could use more context. They’ll tell you everything they know, or be a great resource when it comes to pointing you towards other resources instead.

I’d also suggest setting your story in a place you’re familiar with, if you’re basing it in a real world place. That’s not always possible though—and God knows I’ve never been to France XD—but if you don’t have real world experience in the location you’re setting a story in, you’re going to have to do even more research to level the playing field, because a reader who DOES know about that location will drag your ass for inconsistencies—I’ve got a European reader who corrected me for having two French characters drink tea with milk in it. Find someone who lives there or has a lot of experience being there to read over your work and tweak it for issues, interview people about their own experiences, and like, Google Earth is a thing. You can literally take a walk down a Parisian street to see what a character sees. I can’t tell you how many walking tours I watched on Youtube to get a feel for the public portions of the Catacombs as well. The more you know and have seen of your setting, the more authentic your descriptions will be and feel.

Finally, while I don’t believe in only “writing what you know,” I still suggest you write within your wheelhouse. If you know nothing about the Industrial Revolution and you don’t really care to learn about it beforehand, maybe don’t set your story during that time if the setting itself is a big area of focus in the story. There’s no shame in giving your fantasy a historical bend to it. It gives you a lot more wiggle room and more grace in terms of the finicky little details that may give you away. I guess… just identify what your goal is in telling the story. Are you trying to make it accurate? Do you want people to come out of reading it learning new things? If so, put in the work. If not, then don’t sweat it, but also don’t sell it as accurate historical fiction.

Ultimately, what makes a story feel “real” can come from the setting, but largely, it’ll come from how realistic and authentic you make your characters feel. The more you demonstrate this person is a well rounded character with thoughts, feelings, and goals of their own, the more the reader will feel immersed and find the story believable. Don’t just write a character—write a person. The set dressing will help us understand them, but I’d ignore the presence of a tomato in 14th century Europe a lot easier if the character I’m reading about feels tangible.

Is there any trope in fiction that you love but might not have written yet?

Hmm well I’m pretty good about writing things that I like or want to try exploring, clearly XD But off the top of my head, I really want to do some noir inspired works sometime, as well as more detective stories. One of my favorite type of stories to read are locked door mysteries, the sort of mystery where someone is murdered in a locked room and you have to try to figure out who did it and how—sort of like Clue meets Agatha Christie.

I’m also a fan of arranged marriages/political marriage tropes, and while I’m sort of satisfying some of those requirements with Apotheosis, I haven’t gotten to truly explore that trope just yet. I’ve also got a divisive relationship with isekai type stories, but I lowkey have plans I want to explore for a story involving alternate realities and a character being brought into a world that seems familiar but has a few marked differences. I’m toying with some story notes as we speak but I don’t have anything concrete enough planned for any sort of formal write-up or teaser just yet.

What conventions are you going to next year?

Great question! I do try to keep my Events tab on my website up-to-date as I make plans and get into alleys, but as of right now, I’ll be at Anime Crossroads in February (Indianapolis), Anime Minneapolis in May (Minneapolis), Colossalcon in June (Sandusky), and Youmacon in November (Detroit). I’ll be for-sure tabling at the first three (Colossalcon likely just the traditional Thursday), with Youma still being a TBA. I’ve also applied for Matsuricon, ACEN, and will be trying for JAFAX, Anime Iowa, and perhaps a few other smaller Michigan conventions as well. One of my goals for 2023 is to try applying to more conventions outside my normal rotation. Wish me luck on all these lotteries and juries!

It’s been a great year, now that I’m reading over all of this. I’ve made new friends, worked with new people, explored new topics, and set myself up for some really great launches next year. I’m entering a new era of my business and creative life as I attempt new things and try different dynamics within my fiction, and I’m really excited to start offering more merch in new and fun ways.

I hope you guys had a good 2022 despite, y’know, everything bad that’s done it’s best to stain it for everyone. We’re not living in easy times. We’re actively challenged every single day to get out of bed and keep our heads high, to move forward with what makes us happy while life around us conspires to drag us down. Fiction is an escape and always has been. It can be hard to get the words on paper some days with the news beating down on the back of my head, but it’s an escape for you guys, and for me as well. It’s… important. Silly little stories are important. If I’ve been able to give any of you some levity in darkness, I’m glad. It makes it all worth it, and I hope you’ll stick by me for another year as we continue to laugh and cry and shout at these stupid characters as they fall in love again and again and again.

Thank you for 2022. Let’s say hello again in 2023, and make it a good year, even if we have to do it ourselves by any means possible.

Until next time,

T.D. Cloud

#author blog #blog #2022 recap

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kinetic-elaboration · 2 months

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February 15: Writing Plans

Extremely tired and unproductive today but we are very close to the weekend so I think I can make it. Now that I’ve posted my Hey Sweetheart fic, I am, technically, not working on anything. Except my drawer fic and a mountain of editing. I feel like I’ve been going through the same lists for a while—working, but not as fast as I can make plans to write stuff in the future—but nevertheless I’m going to go over it again.

Also, I had this idea that maybe I’d try to prod myself to write regularly on both Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturdays, I could work on something from the WIP list, and continue to attempt progress there. And on Sundays I could start writing another Daria fic. I’ve had a lot of thoughts for it and I’d like to get them down so I can remember them, re-read and enjoy them later. Plus, the positive reaction to my Hey Sweetheart fic has been really, really encouraging, I’m not going to lie. Totally unexpected but lovely.

So, here’s sort of the to do across different categories:

For writing, I’ve got the old 2017-era Jonty fic up first. I still need to re-read it and spruce up my notes. I wanted to do it before the weekend but unless I do it tomorrow that obviously won’t happen. We’ll see. I don’t fully know what to expect from going back into this project but the basic steps are simple: re-read/re-orient, then write three distinct scenes, then it’s finally done.

Also up next on writing, the Sunday component, a longer-form Daria/Jane fic I’ve been toying around with. I don’t know quite how I’m going to translate it to the page yet but I’m kinda excited about it, since the drawer fic and Hey Sweetheart have been so fun.

Farther ahead, I’m still hoping to start my Miller/Bellamy Road Trip after the Jonty fic, and then I guess I gotta acknowledge SGAU again.

Then, in the world of editing. I’ve started reading through Chapter 4 of the Time Loop. My desire to work on this at all has almost totally evaporated (much like the interest of anyone in reading it? Lololol it’s fine) but I got to slog through. I am about a sixth of the way through the chapter. I think I’ll post it probably the week after next, but that’s just a guess. Then on to Chapter 5, which I think will be easier both because it’s a bit shorter and because I remember being pleased with it as I wrote.

Afterwards, I want to crosspost Mist to AO3, with some slight edits, and then I have a massive Bellarke fic (talk about timing in times like these) that I finished writing 6+ months ago but haven’t looked at since. By the time all that is done, it should be time to edit the Jonty fic—or at least, I hope so!

#the year 2024 #2024: writing thoughts

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my-head-is-an-animal · 10 months

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The Secrets That Bind Us

Bobby Waterhouse x Reader/OFC

Chapter 5

Over the next month, Esther worked hard to come up with a solid plan for Bobby to follow, he clearly needed more guidance than she’d counted on, but it could work out. She was so sure that Bobby’s need to maintain his social status would help him get through the more difficult aspects of the pretend relationship they were having.

Esther made sure to make eye contact with Bobby slightly more when they were in public, like the office and any meetings they were in together. Bobby was actually very good at not over doing it, coming around to the fact that less was more.

Finally, the moment that had been building was upon them. Esther had seen the way people were talking about her and Bobby, mostly it was disbelief, unsure if Bobby was simply pretending to like her and if she was being polite. The people around them were still uncertain and it needed to be solidified.

‘Miss Fox.’ Bobby said, cheerfully as she entered the staff room to make a cup of tea. ‘How’s the France project coming along?’ He asked, making sure to keep his voice at a lower volume and his focus squarely on Esther.

‘Well.’ Esther nodded with a small smile, and she reached for her usual mug. ‘I’ve sent the initial findings to Sarah, and she should be able to update you soon.’

‘Good.’ He nodded, still not looking away from her. ‘That’s good.’ Bobby cleared his throat, his nervousness was evident. Esther had told him to use it to his advantage, everyone feels nervous talking to someone they like. He took half a step closer to her, carefully pouring the boiling water into the mug for her. ‘I wondered if… if you were free tomorrow night?’ He was doing well. ‘Around seven?’

‘I am free tomorrow, yes.’ She answered, turning her body towards him and gently biting her bottom lip to indicate her interest.

‘Fantastic, so, you’ll be free to have dinner with me then?’ Bobby was actually rather good at being bold.

‘I will.’ Esther genuinely couldn’t contain her smile, she was so proud of his efforts and everything they had done together was about to pay off.

‘I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening then.’ Bobby smiled. ‘Miss fox.’ He nodded and stirred her tea, sliding the mug towards her, before leaving the staff room.

Esther watched him leave and held his gaze for just a moment as he reached the door and disappeared. Step one complete.

Esther picked up a biscuit, dipping it in her mug as she went back to her desk. The next step was to act as if neither of them wanted to talk about it. The less attention they attempted to draw, the more plausible it would look.

For the most part it was working. The news had creeped into the office that Bobby had been seen standing quite close to Esther in the staff room and she didn’t seem to mind, in fact, she seemed to enjoy it.

Esther was asked quietly about Bobby a couple of times, but both times she refused to speak about her personal life, indicating it was none of their business. She’d seen Bobby walking away from a conversation with Sarah with the same air of frustration, clearly he’d been asked a similar question.

This was all falling into place.

Bobby found himself strangely excited about dinner with Esther. Over the time they had spent together, he realised that she was actually quite a wonderful person. Intelligent, quick-witted and shared the same vulnerability that he did.

He saw her leave the office slightly earlier than usual, presumably to go home and get ready for their dinner date, but as instructed, he only gave her a brief look and a smile before continuing with his work for the remainder of the day.

Bobby knew one thing, Esther knew how to put on a show. She kept her look elegant, subtle, but her red lipstick pointed to a night of anticipation. She was very good. Bobby had done the same and left the office wearing a sleek suit he reserved for special occasions only. From the look on her face, she approved.

‘Very nice, Bobby.’ She said as she stepped into the car.

He felt an inner pride that he’d been able to get that response from her, and soon they were on their first dinner date together.

Bobby was understandably nervous, but Esther found ways to keep him engaged in conversation and keep his focus between them. There was no need to involve anyone else in their business.

‘Well, I have to say,’ Esther grinned as she sipped the last of her wine. ‘We certainly are attracting the right attention.’

Bobby smiled, gently wiping the corner of his mouth out of habit. ‘That’s a good thing, I take it?’ He didn’t dare look around to find out who was watching, but he desperately wanted to.

‘Absolutely. Keep your eyes on me for a moment.’ She told him, lowly. He’d gotten well used to those big brown eyes smiling at him and it had begun to calm him somewhat. Esther half laughed and looked away. ‘I think we should leave soon.’

‘Of course.’ Bobby nodded. ‘May I ask, what my response should be? On the off chance anyone asks about this?’

Esther inhaled deeply, folding her arms in front of her. ‘I’ve been thinking about that actually. There are two options, one you can deny it and behave as if it’s some big secret you want to share but can’t, or we can go a different route.’ Esther finished her wine as the waiter came over to clear their plates. Bobby kept his gaze on Esther, almost afraid to look elsewhere and risk ruining all the work they’d put in.

‘What’s the other option?’ He asked once the waiter was out of earshot.

‘You can reluctantly admit to it and give some half-hearted response about how you’re unsure of if it’ll come to anything.’

Bobby nodded. ‘What are the benefits of that?’

‘Well, it will confirm the rumours for a start.’

‘Why do I feel as if there is a significant downside?’ Bobby leaned forward and watched Esther’s almost surprised reaction to his boldness, but she smirked anyway.

‘It runs the risk of going the other way, confirming that I’m simply being polite to your advances, but ultimately won’t take things any further.’

‘I see.’ Bobby nodded again and the waiter brought the bill.

Bobby wasn’t stupid and had already told Esther that he would pay for dinner, he wanted to appear to be like the other men who courted women and she allowed him to build that image for himself.

‘What do you think?’ She suddenly asked.

‘Well, you know my feelings on exposing our true motives,’ he thought out loud. ‘My instinct would be denial, but perhaps it depends on who I am speaking to.’

Esther smiled, nodding slowly. ‘I suppose it does. You’ll let me know your reaction so I can co-ordinate accordingly.’

‘Of course.’

Esther was purposely moving one step behind Bobby, giving him every opportunity to act accordingly. He held her coat for her, opened the doors to the restaurant and the car and made sure she could always slip her hand around his arm at any given time.

Bobby liked this persona, this man he was creating for himself, he felt different, but no less himself. It was nice. He could have gotten used to this.

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