#we're working on the outline and getting chapters sorted | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ax-y10 · 7 months

Text

My Little Zombie

In which- You and Wilbur match zombie looks

A/n: I originally had this idea when the sorry boys video was released but I never got around to finishing it, so here is my very, very late zombie wilbur fic.

Chapter info: "zombie" depictions, makeup, fake blood, mentions of fake bites, slightly suggestive context with the matching makeup, petname "My little zombie", sleeping in the same bed as someone

Pronouns: None (You/Yours)

Masterlist:

Your filming part of the evening came to a close when Wilbur was carried through the halls and laid down. It was actually quite fun to film, but you had a quick idea you wanted to check with the group before going to complete Wilbur's "Zombie" look for the last clip.

"Can Wilbur and I match zombie makeup?" You ask out of breath from running to the boys, and practically falling against Ranboo. Carrying a bulky camera wasn't all fun and games.

"Sure! It'll be funny to," Phil spoke up after a beat of silence, and you sprinted back to your boyfriend, still laying on the cold concrete floor, exhausted from the day.

"Come on, we're gonna go match makeup with each other," Wilbur perked up hearing that, closing his eyes and pulling himself into a standing position before following you to the bathrooms.

You sorted through your bag, finding the makeup you had been using for people, filming equipment and electronics like your phone and laptop for on the go updates and editing.

"Can I have fake blood dabbed on my bottom lip and you have a slightly bloody bite mark on your neck? Or is that too much?" Wilbur whispered as you pulled out the supplies you'd need for your plan.

"Okay, stay still and I'll start," You zoned in on his face, making sure the concealer covered his dark under eyes, the brown eye shadow scattered across his hairline and the-

"Can we match makeup?" Wilbur spoke up again, seeming like a kicked puppy, and you just shook your head and clicked your tongue.

"I heard you the first time, and did I shut down the idea?" You laughed.

You got to work with his reddish, purplish eye bags, outlining them up towards his eyelids. You ran a bit of fake blood from his nostril, careful not to get it inside his nose, and wiped off the red liquid that touched his lip. He dabbed a bit of fake blood on his bottom lip, tracking down his chin, after many attempts of begging to do something from the taller man.

"Darling, don't move," he mimicked, hinting to you so you didn't move while he applied some purple, red and brown eyeshadow onto a very visible spot on your neck.

You touched up the "bite" mark on his forearm and added a matching one on your wrist with two darker red circles, obviously creating the illusion of a bite.

"My little zombie," you heard him whisper as he walked towards the bathroom door again, a blush spreading over your face.

You told him to hide in the back of the "uber" Charlie had called to scare Tommy and Ranboo. And your plan worked, successfully scaring the two youngsters. You and the three boys collected everyone on the team, filming and acting, and you all headed back to your respectful hotel rooms.

You helped Wilbur wipe off all of his makeup, kissing his cheek when you finished, wiping yours off, and you both went to bed snuggled up against each other, not caring about changing, both too tired to care.

His snores sounded through the room first, pulling you off into a deep slumber

#wilbur soot #wilbur soot imagine #wilbur soot x reader #wilbur x reader #wilbur #wilbur soot fluff #zombur #bursona #zombie wilbur #wilbur soo timagines #wilbur fluff #zombie #sorry boys #sorry boys we survived a zombie apocalypse

161 notes · View notes

mayajadewrites · 4 months

Text

suguru geto x fem reader: lucky

roommates to lovers–friends to lovers–slow burn

story synopsis: Suguru Geto is your best friend and roommate. After a year of living together, there have been more than one opportunity to throw away your friendship. The question is, would you get lucky as fall in love for the rest of your days?

ao3

CHAPTER SIX

🎧🌙🧺📖🕯️🧸🤍

It's not often that you're left speechless. Suguru Geto has succeeded, however. You stared into his eyes, watching as they search your face for some sort of confirmation.

You could not find the words to say to Suguru. You wanted Suguru badly. You felt conflicted though, since you didn't want to lose your best friend.

You also do like Choso and have been willing to explore your relationship with him. It wouldn't be fair to him to just forget about him and be with Suguru.

"Tell me." Suguru persisted.

"I can't." You finally say, pushing your head on Suguru's headboard.

"So whats wrong?" Suguru takes his index finger, caressing the outline of your face.

"Sugu, you're my best friend." You sigh. "If we didn't work out, I'm not sure if I could be without you."

"If you're always worried about the future, you can't enjoy the present."

"There's also Choso."

"Fuck Choso." Suguru sucked his teeth.

"Hey, be nice. You don't know him and I like him." You ran your fingers through Suguru's jet black locks. "I just don't want to rush into anything. I'm not even sure you actually feel this way or if it's your sick brain."

"So that's not a no." Suguru coughed.

"Why don't we revisit this when your body temperature is not the same as hell?" You moved his hair away from his forehead.

"Will you stay here with me?" Suguru looked up at you with his coffee ground eyes.

"Say please and I will."

"Please."

"Yes, I will." You curl yourself next to Suguru's body, your bodies intertwining with each other.

"Next time I'll be the one making you beg."

The morning is here before you know it. When you open your eyes, Suguru's bare chest was in front of you, his head resting on top of yours. His snores are louder than usual since he's sick, but you don't mind.

You move your body a bit to make your way out of his bed to get ready for work. Of course, he caught on to what you're doing.

"You have sick time, right?" Suguru yawned.

"Why are you asking me such a question?" You turn on your heel.

"Call outttt." Suguru drew out the 'out'. When they say men are needy when they're sick, they are not lying.

"Fine. But I have a date tonight, so you'll be without me for a few hours."

"Make it fast." Suguru pulls the covers over his face, presumably falling asleep. You dial your bosses number and let them know you're feeling sick and don't want to give anyone else the same thing.

After you hang up, you walk to the bathroom you and Suguru share. Thankfully, there are two sinks. You start brushing your teeth while simultaneously cleaning the counter.

"Mmmmm." You hear Suguru groan from his room.

You make your way to his room, leaning on his doorframe. "Yes, my sick princess?"

"Feel my head." He flips over on his back. You press the back of your hand to his forehead.

"Definitely less warm than yesterday, so your fever is going down."

"Must've been the soup."

You turn on the TV and play whatever trashy reality tv show that is on at the moment. Suguru coughs, which leads to a groan because he's over being sick.

"Let me get you some of the soup from yesterday." You get up from the bed. Suguru's eyes followed you, stuck on your figure. He watched as your ass moved in your shorts, making him wish he wasn't sick so he could grab you and kiss you as hard as he wanted to.

Bzzzzz.

Choso: Hey, are we still on for tonight? Shoko said you didn't show up to work.

You: Yes, we're still on. I'll meet you there at 8 :)

Choso: :)

You look to your left and see Suguru sleeping soundly, his stuffy nose amplifying his snores. He looks like an angel, honestly. You take your hand and caress his face gently without a second thought. His eyes fluttered open, revealing your favorite eyes.

"Come back soon." Suguru almost whispered, bringing your hand to his mouth. He kissed each of your fingers gently before falling back asleep.

You felt conflicted. You have Suguru, your best friend, who wants to try something with you. Then you have Choso, the sweetest man, who is very happy to get to know you.

Either way you're hurting someone.

You change into your favorite pair of curve hugging jeans and a sweater, pairing them with your white platform converse. Choso was taking you to a Poetry night at a local lounge, so very lowkey.

When you locked the door to your apartment, you felt guilty for leaving Suguru. You weren't sure if it was because he's sick and you want to take care of him, or because you feel like you owe him your loyalty.

Well, you don't. Not yet at least.

When you arrive at the lounge, Choso is wearing a black sweater with black jeans, his hair in his signature buns. He greets you with a kiss on the cheek, gently grabbing your hand.

He leads you into the lounge where someone was already performing a poem. You find a seat on a loveseat couch, Choso following close behind.

Choso's body was close to yours as you watched the poets, sneaking looks and kisses. You couldn't help but think of Suguru. You had butterflies, yes, but nowhere near as many as you did for your best friend.

You turn to look at Choso, who looks completely enamored with you. You fake a smile as best as you can and press your lips to his. Is it wrong to be kissing a man you don't want to be with?

Maybe.

But that's a conversation for another time and another place.

"I had fun tonight." You say as you leave the lounge. "I'm feeling kind of sick, so I'm gonna head home." Your eyes meet Choso's.

"Me too." He smiles, not wanting to press any further. "I mean me too, I had fun. Not that I feel sick." He chuckled.

"I'll text you when I get home. Actually this time." You hug Choso, feeling his muscles through his sweater. He kissed your forehead as you separated, leaving you feeling worse about your feelings.

When you get home, it's 10:15. Suguru was most definitely awake.

Upon entering your apartment, you see Suguru standing in the kitchen, pouring himself a water. He's shirtless and his hair is all the way down, cascading down his back muscles.

"Someone is feeling better." You set your purse down.

"I am actually." Suguru turns to you and smiles. He looks so much more lively. You've missed him. "So how was your date?"

You look down, sighing. "He's not you, Suguru. That's the problem."

"I'm the problem?" Suguru laughed, setting his cup down on the counter. "Last I checked, I'm not the one that's dating someone else."

"Don't act like we've been in a relationship Sugu. We've both been denying these feelings for some time, and now they're out in the open."

"No one compares to you, princess." Suguru steps closer to you. "I've tried over and over again to replicate the feeling you give me."

You close your eyes and wince at his words, not because they hurt, because you're feeling the exact same.

"If we don't work out, we don't work out." Suguru suggests. "Life is too short to be wondering about the future when you could be enjoying whats right in front of you." Suguru takes another step closer to you, grabbing your hands gently. You looked up into his eyes, getting lost in them.

"I don't want to hurt anyone." You look down, thinking of Choso.

"Hey, he will understand." Suguru brought your eyes back to his, grabbing your chin with his thumb and index finger.

"We have to take it slow, ok?"

"How slow are we talking?"

"We can't have sex yet."

Suguru chuckled and looked back at you. "That's not the only thing on my mind. It will be mind blowing when it happens, but just having you already feels like an orgasm."

You smile as Suguru's arms wrap around your waist, lifting you up from the floor. Your legs intertwine around his waist, running a hand through his hair.

"We've never kissed." You smile, refusing to make the first move.

"That we haven't." Suguru's voice was quiet, almost seductive. His eyes began to close and you followed, feeling his plush lips finally mend with yours. The electricity you felt almost made your heart fall out of your throat. Suguru's large hands held onto your ass, opening his mouth more so your tongue can enter.

You slip your tongue in his mouth, to which he sucks on it gently in return. You moan quiety, pushing yourself off of him from his chest. "We can't go slow if you do that." You press your forehead to his.

"Baby, I can make you cum with just my lips."

#suguru geto #geto suguru #suguru geto x reader #suguru geto x you #geto #suguru #getou suguru x reader #jujutsu kaisen suguru #suguru geto smut #jujutsu kaisen fanfiction #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen geto #roommates to lovers #friends to lovers

63 notes · View notes

your--isgayrights · 7 months

Note

Probably a bit silly and you’ve likely answered this before, but do you think you’re going to come back to “at the Very least, the Wall will change?” I’m just getting into ORV and I want to read some fanfic! I promise I am patient but I’m hesitant to start reading something that’s abandoned. I hope this doesn’t come off as disrespectful! I completely understand burnout (med student here hehe) and there’s no shame is shelving a project for a time if it no longer speaks to you. I just wanted to check

You're right that I've answered this before but like it's totally fair to ask me again after how long it's been lol. Bc like I think about this a lot too and thus the answer/feelings I have about it kind of changes?

Like my journey with this fic has kind of been tumultuous because I started it before I had access to ADHD medication and a lot of my life can be divided into the Before times and the like Now Times where my baseline happiness/standard of care of myself is vastly improved. I outlined all of wall fic before publishing the first chapter and then the scenes I wanted to include took up a lot more time to create than I initially thought they would and that like frustration was really harmful to like my sense of being a "writer," I guess?

Sorry, getting into this bc I'm trying to articulate my own feelings to myself, but I'll tldr; it at the end probably.

Like when I first started wall fic it had like a strangle hold on my imagination and was a way I was able to articulate feelings about things in life. Truth is, I'm someone who has called 911 for suicide/self-harm of friends/classmates like 4-5 times before turning 18. There is this feeling of helplessness I always had as a minor that the world was always ending around me but even when I was up till 5 am making sure my friend got to the hospital ok without any way of really knowing except waiting for a text back, I still had to just buck up and go to school the next day. The emotions I have towards these times in my life really latched onto omniscient reader, because the way it discusses suicidal ideation and what can help with it rang really true to me. I love KDJ a lot, part of that is, in my interactions with suicidal ideation, his sense of narrative inevitability really describes the emotions behind it well, the feeling of "this is the only Solution that will Actually work" is sewn into the fabric of the universe as "probability." And I've actually been thinking about that term "probability" a lot lately, and how it relates to ideas about Narratives. We're always estimating the likelihood of future events based on past experiences, calling things "realistic" or not. But the function of this system in my own life has often been to convince myself to 'give up' on certain things, conserve the energy it would take to try them. Sure that has helped me when Ive not had any free time/energy in crunch times or big projects, but when something is actually important, giving up feels like shit to be honest. Which is part of why I really love and kind of idealize this character of Yoo Joonghyuk, someone who 'never gives up.' To me KDJ and yjh in wall fic represent these two radical sides of a spectrum where someone becomes unhappy by giving up caring about everything and someone becomes unhappy by never giving up on anything. KDJ is then sort of this love letter to people who give up on themselves, people who could never imagine living past a certain age and yet somehow implausibly remain. YJH is a love letter to people who have been left behind and are So aware of their choices and their power over situations that they blame themselves for things that were actually out of their control in the first place. It's these two different ways of interacting with helplessness and grief and fear, giving up knowing you never could have made a difference in the first place or being convinced you could always have done Something and blaming yourself for failing, constantly stressing about what you could have done and what you ought to do the next time it happens.

Codifying these themes into Characters is originally this fun way of exploring emotions I have about them and sharing the experience of feeling them with others without having to tear too much of my self a part. I feel like when we're young it feels like a sense of self is something like a wall, an image of ourself that we have Built and must put in work to Maintain from erosion. This sense of self and protection makes us feel distinct from other people, the line we draw where we begin and end in the universe, and they become rules dictating How we will Act and Appear towards others. Drawing these walls and lines is pretty important to KDJ's perspective in wall fic, but i now realize I had sort of started doing to myself? Towards the middle of writing it?

Just because I've been on the Internet so long, I know the sort of "narratives" of being different "kinds of authors" online. Because of this, when I started posting wall fic, something that was of a lot of concern to me was how I appeared as an Author to people reading. I honestly think now that the performance of things I associated with like Being an Author were more sort of motivated by a fear of failure and disappointing others than anything else. It's kind of only been recently that I've realized that I have a choice to do things because I enjoy them instead of the fear of not doing them, which sounds a little crazy/obvious to be honest, but forcing myself to be an honor roll student for like more than a third of my adolescence while completely unmedicated kind of made that sort of intrinsic fear of disappointing others the ole'reliable of Task Motivation. Participating in ORV fandom has sort of been this emotional tight rope walk for me of like. Kind of really desperately desiring validation from others but also being afraid of receiving it bc of like the pressure it then puts on to Keep Doing the thing that Works and otherwise feeling like a Failure. But obviously like creative writing isn't going to have the same like Fear/Urgency factor as life stuff and it shouldn't feel that way, anyway, tbh. I'm kind of having to like. Re-invent the idea of writing being Fun and Relaxing for myself. And the idea that talking to other people on the internet (also like. People in general I still do this at uni even) does not actually have to have like any performative elements or factors of like? Disguise? Because like my sense of self doesn't actually have to be a wall I keep building and have to repatch whenever someone comes along with a pickaxe like my sense of self doesn't actually need a metaphor attached to it because it just is what it is lol. Like whatever I am RN is my "self" and that meaning would only suffer under the restraint of comparison, lol.

It's been easier to like feel normaler/better quicker in like my day to day stuff, but because a lot of the time I spent previously trying to write wall fic lies in that like that brain space where I felt afraid and stressed out etc I think I currently have like an aversion to sitting down with it out of like a fear of returning to that mindset. Because I'm like looking it in the face and such I do have like strategies of getting over it like doing warmups or taking time to make nice writing spaces and having a name to/strategies to access the creative part of my brain, but that stuff takes time and because it's a lot less likely I'll have writing on the brain than go through my every day life like the process of becoming normaler/feeling better goes a lot faster day to day than in my approach to writing.

Because in my brain the progress of wall fic is a sort of gentle curve I've been trying to shape the growth of upwards, I wouldn't say it's abandoned at all. But also like because the next "update" is not really guaranteed and I'm kind of hesitant to force myself to commit to a timeline for finishing/releasing it, I think it makes sense to like hesitate about starting it as a reader? In terms of a sense of completion, the chapters are organized in such a way that each one concerns a sort of complete Section of KDJ's life/relationships, tho. Like, Chapter 1 shows KDJ and YJH's first meeting as kids and establishes the "soulmate" setting. Chapter 2 shows the life KDJ carved himself to thereafter, how he and YJH's paths have diverged, established the stakes of KDJ's current "world" in a way parallel to the first few chapters of wos/orv. Chapter 3 focuses on how the soulmate worldview and KDJ + YJH's characters/past interact with the way they view children/the idea of "childhood/youth." Chapter 4 is meant to show how that worldview encounters adult life/ adult friendships/relationships, but the final part of it is something I'm still working on a bit. The structure is such that I tend to bring the end of the chapter back to a moment of peace/resolution/settling in the "new world" after the events of the chapter and then writing a one sentence cliff hanger about what the next chapter includes. So if you want to give some of it a read but don't want to be left feeling too incomplete, I'd read up till before the last sentence of Chapter 3, tho that's a bit silly, lol.

I will say again and have said before, I don't mind that much getting thoughtful comments/messages like yours at all. Thoughtful in the sense of like, desiring a response from me as a person, I suppose? Towards the start of writing online i really like needed the validation of little comments to feel good about myself/my work, but now I realize that the thing I like actually desire that ao3 comments aren't often a good format for is that I just like talking/discussing these things with other people. Sometimes comments will make me feel more like an unpaid customer service representative getting feedback or a student looking at a quick note on my report card. The kind I like most are messages where people want to ask me questions, argue with me about something, share something of their own interaction with the text that there's room for me to interact back with them as a person. The thing I hate most is feeling like I care too much about something/talk/think too much to the point that people are tired of hearing from me/form a bad opinion of me.

So like typing this all out has actually put myself in the brain space of remembering some of the things I like to write about and feel and how the current part of wall fic explores them. I'm kind of setting up my computer and such to start working on it like rn actually, hopefully the like feelings I'm having towards wall fic won't evaporate when i have to go to my class in 1/2 an hour or when i try to reread some of what I've written so far lol.

TLDR; Wall fic isn't abandoned or on hiatus or anything, but I am super slow about it lol. If you wanna give it a read I recommend stopping before the last sentence of Chapter 3 if you don't want any "cliff hangy" feelings. Questions like yours that ask me to interact with orv/wall fic/related themes do honestly help me start thinking about it again and I'll probably try to work on some of it tonight bc of you so thanks 👍

#long post #wall fic #ask #anonymous #TLDR; Wall fic isn't abandoned or on hiatus or anything #but I am super slow about it lol. If you wanna give it a read I recommend stopping before the last sentence of Chapter 3 if you don't want #any “cliff hangy” feelings.#Questions like yours that ask me to interact with orv/wall fic/related themes do honestly help me start thinking about it again and I'll pr #obably try to work on some of it tonight bc of you so thanks 👍

30 notes · View notes

sparatus · 3 months

Note

Plssss, the world needs more Sentiment & Reason, no matter what stage it's at

wip game

see what's funny is i actually started writing the first chapter in my head last night but it was like 4am and i HAD to go to bed lol

sentiment and reason is the sort-of prequel to to catch a rabbit, aka kryterius murder mystery, just in the sense that it takes place prior to rabbit. not super connected otherwise. this time, instead of saren and nihlus, we're covering avitus and macen and how they get together - specifically, via a spectre mission wherein they pose as a married couple moving into a neighborhood in order to investigate a murder.

so far i have the outline up to day 2 of the investigation, i'm working on getting at least to a workable skeleton outline before i start divvying up into chapters, but i do have the setting, the victim, the murder method, and the 3 primary suspects + actual killer worked out :3c and also a subplot about saren's great-grandfather dying of cancer and saren getting The Call sometime before the climax. that'll hurt like a bitch i already cried just thinking of him and des discussing the inevitable last night i'm fine but also it's important to avi and macen in that avi encouraging saren to go be with his dying parsaepat instead of seeing the mission through is a breakthrough moment for the two of them, proving that avi does have empathy and emotional intelligence he just keeps them under lock and key, especially once he admits to macen that part of his motivation for telling saren to go was that he (avi) didn't get to say goodbye to his own mother when she was killed when he was 12 and he doesn't want his brother-friend to have to live with that very unique kind of pain

i don't really have any snippets worth sharing so here's some Fun Facts instead:

title is derived from a poirot quote, because that is apparently my naming scheme for this series, specifically The Mysterious Affair at Styles: "'Every murderer is probably somebody’s old friend', observed Poirot philosophically. 'You cannot mix up sentiment and reason.'"

fic takes place on the turian world thracia, which is another one of the ones with no canon from the scavenger hunt me1 mission and i'm kinda just bullshitting as i go but currently i have it as a world on the part of the turian-human border that used to be (unpopulated, just claimed) turian-salarian, pleasant climate, mostly a retirement planet for older turians looking for somewhere peaceful and warm to spend their twilight years, but with the advent of humanity there's been an increase of alien immigrants and with them younger turians moving in to make the old people feel more secure. there's tension there as a lot of turians don't want humans to feel entitled to a turian planet while humans and some other species feel the turians are being reactionary.

the victim is lieutenant general tagetis agonian, a very old drake (147yo at TOD) with an illustrious career including supporting desolas arterius's rise to power/fame and being one of the commanding generals at shanxi

because we all know i love my meaningful names, agonian's first name comes from the genus name for marigolds Tagetes, because he's killed with a marigold crushed into his tea to trigger his severe levo allergy

macen also has a severe levo allergy. coming into contact with a mixed-chirality bouquet and explaining his sudden hives to avi is what gives avi the idea for what killed the general when his autopsy comes back negative for known poisons but his tea had an earth plant in it.

one of the suspects, myrenth "myra" d'saana, is an asari resident in their waning matron stage who works as an accountant in the city. they moved to thracia with their bondmate several decades ago, and while their bondmate has passed on they'd grown fond of the neighborhood and their neighbors and chose to stay there to raise the child she had with said bondmate. said child is currently in their early 30s, asari equivalent of about 8 or 9, and was conceived shortly before the bondmate passed as "something to remember her by."

myrenth is very proud of their garden and regularly went back and forth with tagetis for first place in the annual competition. their garden is mixed-chirality, but they politely kept the levo plants away from the fence bordering tagetis's yard so he wouldn't accidentally come in contact with them.

#press conference #thetrashbagswasteland #ierian's writing

7 notes · View notes

dipplinduo · 3 months

Note

Sweet & Sour Dipplins

do you have any (funny) "toxic traits" as a writer? :3

Love the story so far btw!

Thank you!! And absolutely. Here are some:

I have a general plan for the overall story and make little outlines for each chapter as I go, but the details generally get flushed out in the heat of the moment. So sometimes when people ask me about things further down the road I'm just internally like "LOL, beats me, I'm still over here thinking about this cute/angsty shit."

Sometimes I put so much effort and energy into building around a junk food trope because I like the junk food trope but it's disguised as a vegetable and it's gonna be a feet-swinging moment whether you like it or not, buckle up bitches

Probably my worst one: since I'm pretty chaotic as writer, I tend to have typos that get published when it first goes up. So if you see a chapter release within the first hour or so, it might not be as polished as it would be in 4 hours (the changes are EXTREMELY minimal, but still, I just get too excited to post loool)

I thoroughly enjoy being a tease with my plot lines, and generally will not confirm or deny theories unless they don't affect the experience of reading the fic too much (I LOVE reading theories/questions about the direction of the fic, nonetheless.)

I'm a slut for (appropriate) interaction. If you give me fanart, or headcanons, or some sort of general expression of thought & support for my work, I'm just gonna like you LOL. I occasionally rely on the judgement of these beautiful souls because of how much love they have for the work. Some of my greatest ideas comes from the support of the community, so thank you (e.g. Ribombee) <3

I also enjoy giving people the impression that we're going one direction only to go another. Sometimes this is playful retaliation to the (less serious) hypotheses that 100% guessed what I was going to do next. It's like a "you know what, ig that was too predictable, so get got?" kind of mentality?? LOL??? I'm a bit of a sadist, I guess???

Juliana's winter uniform is full white-on-white instead of blue-on-blue, and this was completely due to an oversight error (I like to be consistent with in-universe things for immersive value). I was too lazy to fix this one though and kinda like it better. LMAO.

#my fics #this one was fun #asks #not me editing this for typos minutes after publishing

12 notes · View notes

pastafossa · 10 months

Note

hey pasta! I don’t know if someone has asked this already but is TRT gonna go into Born Again or end at season 3?

So that's where I'm not sure! The current outline is as such:

All Major Arcs (including Cyrus James/Project Beagle fallout arc and psychic abilities arcs): scheduled to wrap up a bit after the end of S3 so that Matt and Jane's arcs/development neatly dovetail together. This will mark the official end of TRT's main fic.

Special Additional Arcs (chaptered fics not attached to main fic but still TRT canon, taking place after end of main fic) in no particular order: Endgame/The Snap arc, Spider-Man: NWH arc, Spoiler Removed arc, tentative She Hulk Shenanigans arc.

Oneshot Arcs: various domestic fluff arcs, interactions with major MCU events, a 'What Their Life Is Like When Old Cause GD It They're Going To Live To Old Age And Will Have Rocking Chairs' arc, a SINGLE take it or leave it 'What If?' fic of something funny with a possible daughter cause damn I had this idea for a hilarious scene and it won't leave me alone

Now, those are what are planned in the outline, and the main event with Project Beagle tie-ins and plotlines and all of that is something I'm still planning to end just after S3 because I really do want to have a finish line for that, and I feel like dragging that all out for Born Again wouldn't work for the... events that are going to happen, without saying too much. Once that's wrapped up, that's when you're going to see TRT finally marked as 'complete' on AO3, though there'll be more fics set in that universe (see special additional arcs and oneshot arcs) that I'll mark as in the Devil and Hound series along with drabbles on tumblr.

Once we're past that official endpoint and those special arcs, though, things get fluid and murky since when I was outlining all the major plotlines, there was no Daredevil: Born Again, nor was Matt even in the MCU officially (which is why Spider-Man pops in way sooner in TRT than he meets Matt in the MCU) and I specifically set up Jane's plotline to bookend with Matt's so their growth twined together and they both finally found peace around the same time. Outside that, I'd planned some shorter chaptered stories in the series post-mainline TRT like the Snap arc that I may now adjust (since it sure is looking like Matt was left behind for the snap) but nothing on the level of TRT's main plotline which is absolutely massive and took me years to fully outline and construct before coming back from hiatus in 2021 and pumping out chapters (Happy six year anniversary to TRT on Sept 15!).

ALL THAT BEING SAID.

I do have plans to write stuff for TRT's take on Born Again because I'm 100% married to writing for Matt at this point and there's no possible way I won't want to do something once I'm being fed Charlie!Matt scenes again. I'm not sure what those plans are just yet - I kinda wanna wait and see what happens in Born Again in case it sparks something. But I also want to make sure that no matter what I do, there's some sort of strong original plotline so that, much like mainline TRT, we'll be able to weave in and out of canonical events (especially since things like the Snap or a wedding or Jane and Matt's friendship with Peter will alter canon). I don't think I'm going to do something quite as huge as TRT's main plotline again, mostly because it takes a TON of time and work, and I'm planning to take the original TRT elements and morph them into an original series fit for publishing (different enough that I can leave TRT up for everyone to read, cause at this point the fic's part of DD fandom culture and I have no plans to take that away) which will also take a ton of time. But I'm definitely rattling my brain around, looking at different plotlines I could do knowing what I know about the ending, hunting for loose ends or canonical threads that I can weave in with TRT's world and create something new!

Then again, I never would have said I'd make something as massive as TRT before I started, either, so who knows.

So in short: YES, there will be TRT events for Born Again even if it's not as elaborate as TRT! I just have no idea what those will be yet. Fortunately, TRT mainline's only a little over halfway done so I've got time to plan!

#the red thread #daredevil: born again #if authors and characters are sometimes like marriages then me and matt and jane have rings #all of the mainline stuff i had was basically planned to wrap up just after season 3 and that's still going to happen #with additional but much shorter chaptered fics planned to explore MCU events through a TRT lens #as well as some domestic fluff stuff and exploring what their relationship looks like as the MCU moves forward #so I was always planning to do *something* in a way #but honestly i didn't expect for there to be a born again #and certainly not as much stuff with matt as is happening #so i didn't really have anything SUPER huge planned unless a movie did something big that sparked an idea (think the snap)#and now i'm like OH MY GOD THE SHOWS THERE WILL BE SO MUCH #and i have a feeling i'll have a lot to work with that might stir some creativity!#it just probably won't be as elaborate as TRT cause gd i love it but it's a ton of work #and i want to get a variation of it published which will also be work since i need to change a mountain of details #but yes i do plan to write stuff for born again set in the TRT universe! just need to see what gets sparked unless i bump into something #that inspires a plotline #a bit like i did with the idea of red threads

48 notes · View notes

andypantsx3 · 11 months

Note

Andy..do you have any tips on writing such long pieces, and as well planning for them ??

Omg I'm so thrilled you think my fics are long lol. It's my dream to one day hit like, novel length fics, but we're still a little ways away!!

That being said I do think there are some specific considerations that go into planning a multi-chapter fic!!

I think the first thing is to gauge where you're at in terms of motivation & interest. One of my biggest sticking points with multi-chapter fics, and also the reason I have not written anything longer than like 40k at this point, is that I lose focus/motivation the longer I work on something!! Try to have an honest conversation with yourself about how much interest you have in a particular fic idea, and where you think you are in terms of like, general motivation to keep working on that idea. For me, some ideas will be like, only 4 chapters worth of interest & motivation, while some will be 9.

Once you have that, use that to shape the level of detail or complexity of the plot you're going to include. If you're only going to work through a short number of chapters you can't have an overly complex plot and huge cast of characters, etc. Maybe limit your plot to just one or two story lines, like the central conflict and the romance. On the opposite side, if you truly believe you have motivation for a huge fic, scrounge around for extra C & D plots you can include to keep the fic moving!

In actually sitting down and planning a fic, I think others would have better advice for you! And I think this is also somewhat of an area where you have to try and see what works for your personal style, but I will give you the general tips that work for me!!

Choose a central conflict. This doesn't have to be anything intense (like for fingerprints it was just Reader coming to terms with the nature of Shouto's feelings for her, but for you're the one that i haunt it's that Bakugou becomes a ghost only Reader can see). But if you're going to write anything at length you will need some general conflict to keep it moving and tie everything together, otherwise it meanders.

Figure out how that conflict progresses from beginning to middle to end. For you're the one that i haunt, I outlined it as 1) Reader sees Bakugou and establishes that yes he really is there, 2) Reader and Bakugou team up to investigate why he's a ghost and how to fix it, and 3) Reader and Bakugou decide how they want to fix it (shoving ghost Bakugou through real Bakugou's body) and follow up on that plan. From this point you can sort of figure out what the key scenes will be for your fic, as well as how well some scenes you already had in mind may fit/not fit this fic.

Establish characterization. Think on how your Reader and their love interest are going to engage with the conflict progression. Is Reader smart or oblivious, and how will that shape how they respond in the scenes you are writing? Similarly, what is the canon character love interest like in canon? How does that mean they would respond to the events of your fic? This will give you a general idea of the actions and shape of the dialogue you will need to include in each scene. And it will also help you by keeping your characters somewhat consistent!!

Don't plan too much. Sometimes if you outline a fic too intensely it can feel like you have already written it and you end up losing the motivation to keep going on it! At least for me I like to outline the general events and characters' attitudes, but leave the specifics and the detail up to future Andie to decide as she's writing, so it still feels like I'm getting to explore and daydream as I go lol.

Anyway that is the general advice I have for you, although if you think of any more specific questions I'm happy to answer!!

Happy writing, sending you all my best vibes!!

#ask andie

27 notes · View notes

mareenavee · 11 months

Note

Been meaning to pick your professional brain a bit, so... Tell us about rewriting/drafting/editorial pass! What happens when you read to edit? How is it different when you read someone else's work vs your own? What do you look for, what do you notice differently from when you're in writing mode? Any advice to get better at the whole editing thing, and what typical advice that we often see (kill your darlings, never do x, always do x, write for yourself, know your audience...) do you think could use some nuance or explanation? And maybe most importantly, what advice would you give a starting beta reader? What makes for a good beta reader and/or editor, especially when there's no monetary transaction involved and it's all donated labor? What are some of the essential skills?

Hello my friend!! Thank you so, so much for asking me about editing!! I am over the moon. I love this part.

I'm lucky because while it's been my job for quite a long while now (often among other responsibilities) work hasn't ground out the joy of it. I prefer to edit fiction, of course, over corporate copy and advertising, but am honestly happy to dig into either kind of project. The point of it is to bring the right words to the forefront of whatever the written material is, I think. To make the piece the best it can be, and at the same time show the writers how capable they really are. (: So let me dive right in! (THIS IS LONG, by the way, so under the cut! The irony is not lost on me about wordiness and editing and then producing this LOL but it's alright. I'm a chatty person online and this is more or less conversational.)

What is an editorial pass?

There's several kinds of editing. What I do most for paid corporate work is proofreading -- which is catching typos and grammar mistakes and correcting them. This is usually a first pass of any given project. This pass doesn't usually suggest changes -- things are left as is except typos and grammar mistakes. This is sometimes also called copyediting, though copyediting is the next step up and also checks for style consistency, among a few other things, especially in academic and corporate work.

Next is line editing -- this is more checking for word choice at the sentence level. We're looking to make sure things flow together nicely, and that we're cutting the fluff out when necessary. When things get too wordy and there are cleaner ways to phrase something, a line edit pass will catch these things.

Next past that is content editing -- this is done on a full manuscript or story to check that the ideas are complete and the story flows together logically. This should be paragraph and chapter level and should also check for consistency in tone and authorial voice.

After that is my personal favorite, which is structural editing. This is actually technically what you should start with if your manuscript is already complete. But we'll get into the difference between having work beta read and having work edited below. Anyway structural editing is going to check for, well, structure -- organization, flow and quality of the book in its entirety.

There will be notes regarding concerns and big picture issues with the story. These usually won't include detail-level edits, though some professional editors do offer multiple passes on the same manuscript. If your structural edit is mostly glowing praise with few key concerns or suggestions, you can move onto more detail oriented edits to address those specific concerns.

And an even higher level editing that can happen even before a manuscript is complete is Developmental Editing. I like to think of this as an outline critique or consultation more so, as this pass won't be rewriting or doing any sort of detail work. The editor takes your idea and helps ask the right questions to make sure you're organizing your ideas to the best of your ability. They help an author to see the book as a reader would see it.

What happens when you read to edit?

Reading for enjoyment is actually as important to editing as it is for writing. The key takeaway is that an for either, you need to have a extremely solid grasp on the components that make a good story. For an editor, especially so when the 'rules' might be broken purposefully by an author. Honestly, a lot of it is still opinion based. Two different editors, generally, will have different insights for you reading the same manuscript, biased by how much they read and what their specialties are. Most editors, too, will have an ear for grammar which nobody wants to talk about but it's true. You don't need to memorize every single tiny little grammatical detail to explain in full to your authors when you edit and catch errors. But an editor usually can hear when things are off more or less and can provide resources if a mistake is noticed as a consistent issue.

Mostly when you're reading to edit and I'll use structural editing for an example here, you're always thinking of how things flow together and how the story threads intertwine and connect. You're thinking through how the story will land for a casual reader. There's a lot of work in the background in this case, and it takes practice to be able to point out when elements fall flat. You as an editor should also be able to suggest ways to fix the flat parts of the story -- and to do that you need to have read widely in many genres. Read for the sake of understanding how stories come together. Read while taking extensive mental notes as you go. Each book is a learning opportunity.

How is it different when you read someone else's work vs your own?

I actually just reblogged a post about this that sums it up pretty nicely. When you're writing you're so close to your own work it can be hard not only to spot errors but to let go of work you've written. It can also be difficult to see where your work shines because it's not how you envisioned it in your head. Writing is an entirely different process, even if you can go back in with good editing eyes, again it comes down to perspective. You're too close to your own work. You've spent so much more time with it. You know every detail (presumably) and might not be able to see beyond that. The editor, on the other hand, and also a beta reader, will be able to shift perspectives a bit based on their own biases and specialties and help spot things that weren't obvious in the thick of the project.

For me I know I am not as strong a writer as I am an editor for this exact reason. (Regardless of what others think of my writing, this is still true lol) I get a sort of tunnel vision on what I'm attempting to get on paper. A second set of eyes helps point out what needs more attention. An editor should be a project's biggest cheerleader because our goal is to bring out the best an author can do. We can see the threads of greatness as we go through a piece. When we suggest things, it's always to make the piece stronger and for the story beats to hit harder. So this piece really comes down to perspective. When I read my own work, I still am very much mired in it. When I read someone else's work, I get to experience it without it having lived in my head for x amount of time. It's a fresh view of the text, and that can often be invaluable.

What do you look for, what do you notice differently from when you're in writing mode?

This kind of plays off the last few questions, more or less but here I'll switch to self-editing. It really is a mindset change and it's incredibly difficult on one's own writing. Usually I need to take a day or two to let the chapter (for instance) I'm working on simmer and move on to the next thing to get my mind out of the weeds about it more or less. Then I go back in with the goal to proofread and do line level editing.

Because I am the author, I'm always trying to keep in mind overarching structures and plots. (I'm a planner rather than a pantser/discovery writer normally though there are exceptions when I add to the plan later.) This does make "editing mode" a little bit easier for me, besides being a professional editor. I'm actively trying to keep the threads together in editing mode, and actively looking for accidental repetition, places where fluff can be cut out, areas where the words sound off/discordant and can be improved, and personally I am always trying to be sure each line of dialogue or inner monologue SOUNDS like the point of view character I'm working with. This comes from asking the right questions of your work -- "Why would x character respond this way?" But that's a whole other topic. Someone could ask me about how I handle character building another time if they'd like (: But it's all part of the editing process.

In writing mode the goal, at least for me, is to get the idea out of my head and into a draft / on paper. I have the bones of the story in my outline and now I need to get the words out. First drafts are incredibly important and are not -- I repeat -- are NOT garbage. These are the rough foundations and the effort is not wasted. You can't refine anything if there's nothing on the page. The first draft is gold. It is the authentic creative writing experience. The rest is editing. (: And the revision process, the editing, helps bring forward the gem of an idea you had to begin with.

Any advice to get better at the whole editing thing?

The two biggest pieces of advice I have for this is to read widely and to come to your work with fresh eyes before you attempt to edit.

Reading widely means to read outside of your preferred genre as often as you can. This can also mean reading craft books -- ie things that talk about the writing process or even the editing process -- and it can mean consuming other kinds of media with a focus on storytelling like video games, ttrpgs or movies etc. It also means paying attention while reading, always keeping an eye on your own answer to the question: "Why does this work so well?" or conversely "why do I hate this?" (: Reading critically is a habit that not a lot of us innately have. You do have to put in the work just like with writing to read closely in a way that benefits you as a writer and an editor.

Now for the next part -- walking away from your draft entails two things. One, that you've written all you could before you turned on editing mode and two you've given yourself a day or two to do something else (or continue writing) before you return to what you want to edit. It's so much harder to catch what you're missing when you immediately turn back and edit what you've just written. (With exception.) You can catch more typos, and fix the fluff or underwriting when you've given your mind a second to rest.

Improvement comes with practice, too. So purposefully trying to edit, and purposefully trying to read critically and building a habit out of these things will lead to a better understanding of the craft in general. All of it translates to writing strong first drafts and being able to revise more effectively. It's cumulative. Nobody is born a perfect writer or a perfect editor.

One last tip that might be a little impractical depending on your circumstances is -- if you want to get better at editing quickly, read your work out loud. It's easier to find clunky areas as you verbalize them.

What typical advice that we often see (kill your darlings, never do x, always do x, write for yourself, know your audience...) do you think could use some nuance or explanation?

I could write about each of these but this post is already long! So I'll pick my favorite. "Write what you know" doesn't mean "Stay in your lane and write about your retail job" for example. To me, it's more like even in a fantasy world, you can bring in things you've experienced and give them to your characters.

Not a single one of us is as boring as we think we are (: I learned this when I was going through the Creative Nonfiction track in my undergrad creative writing degree program. Even something so average told from your perspective can be fascinating to someone else. So apply it to your story -- all your experiences, your emotions, whatever you can throw at the canvas so to speak.

Your character isn't a reflection of you if you don't want them to be. But they can still go through a fantasy version of troubles that evoke the same kind of big emotions that you've been through. It can be kind of cathartic -- at least in my experience, it can be.

What advice would you give a starting beta reader? What makes for a good beta reader and/or editor, especially when there's no monetary transaction involved and it's all donated labor? What are some of the essential skills?

So first, the difference between a beta reader and editor does come down to the donation of time. You're going to get different responses based on the skill of your beta reader and how much attention and time they have to donate. The ideal beta reader will be someone who is in your intended audience and is generally a close reader, even if they're not there looking for grammar mistakes or anything like that. They'll have a working idea of their own personal answers to what they feel works well and what doesn't when they read in general.

Generally a beta reader will be a set of eyes that will catch your grammar mistakes and typos but probably won't be providing line level suggestions. They'll function as a light structural editor or work more or less on a chapter level. Some beta readers (like myself because I am also a editor) might donate more time and effort to the project than others and be able to make professional suggestions, but this is not to be expected or requested.

If you're just starting out as a beta reader, it might be good to practice on maybe a published novella or short story first, low stakes because the author can't see your comments. Begin the process of reading widely and asking yourself "Why (or why not) does this work for me as a reader?" "What makes this enjoyable (or not?)" "What is it about this piece that is done well (or not?)" The grammar practice can come later -- refresh on the rules, but again don't worry about being perfect. The biggest skill you can build is reading critically. Practice, practice, practice. And when you offer your skills as a beta reader, let your author know if it's your first piece. Sometimes a very fresh set of eyes are just the thing a project needs, so don't be shy about saying so.

On the skills needed -- beta readers should not be shy to say exactly what they're thinking in a kind, constructive way. This can take some practice. But if you're going to point out something that's not working, it's good to have an idea as to why and be able to convey that. It doesn't have to be to the level of a suggestion and certainly not to the level of a rewrite or being able to provide comps/resources.

Being able to provide comments of your thoughts in a structured and logical way based on your opinion of what you've read comes with practice, of course. It's essential because an author is generally looking for specific feedback when they're asking you to beta read their work to make sure their story is hitting as intended for their intended audience.

Again having a good ear for grammar is going to be important here, too. You don't have to be perfect about it, either, or memorize every tiny technical detail. But being able to hear when something is off is useful again because while writing, an author is very close to their work and might not catch it.

And last -- remind yourself you are human. You aren't going to be able to catch every error. You aren't going to be perfect. (listen, not even every editor is going to catch every single mistake. Again, we're human!) You are not a machine. The act of being a close reader for an author and donating your time to assist them is selfless. Nobody should be expecting perfection. This is a collaborative effort between audience and author in this case. You get to make suggestions and perhaps change an author's mind about the direction of some things in their stories. Authors can choose not to take advice, too, without needing to explain anything at all. It doesn't mean the effort is wasted. It comes down to having a second set of eyes on the project with the intent to bring out the best.

Beta reader or editor, your job is mostly to be the work's cheerleader and see past the rough edges to the gem underneath, and then show the author how truly talented they are when they've forgotten in the thick of it. These are simply two different levels of the same kinds of tasks (:

#AskMareena #MareenaWrites #writing tips #writing advice #writeblr #fanficblr #editing #editor #book editing #book editor

27 notes · View notes

recurring-polynya · 6 months

Text

Writing/Art Update 10.31.2023

Sorry this is a little late, I was trying to get something done yesterday and then I got overtaken by Halloween Festivities and didn't get a chance to post it, but this update is as of 10/31.

This week was pretty slow to get going--as per last week's update, I really didn't know how to get started with Chapter 3. I had to sort of think about it for a few days, during which time no writing-writing took place, but I did eventually get it figured out, and now I have a pretty solid outline for Chapters 3 and 4. I was able to get about halfway through Chapter 3, which involved writing one new flashback (which I had a false start on, but the second try came out good) and reworking two present-time scenes, one which needed a lot of work, and one which needed just a little (mostly deletions).

This week's wordcount: 23,299 (+5,439), with about 2,387 of new content.

I am very close to having more in my "clean, contiguous" version than in my "old pile of crap" version (24,245), and that ought to happen this week. My goal for this week is to finish Chapter 3, which two flashbacks (one of which is half-written) and one new real-time scene.

I've been having really mixed feelings on my progress. On one hand, half a chapter per week is proving to be pretty doable, and I'm able to see real progress every week, and it's giving me a nice amount of "I wrote!" satisfaction. On the other hand, if, as I projected last week, this story goes to 10 chapters, that means it will take me 15 weeks, which feels like forever. On the other hand, that will mean it took me almost exactly two years to write, all-told (including time I wasn't actually working on it). Maybe I should just be grateful if I can actually get it done in 15 weeks.

I made a joke about it being November and trying to hype myself up to NaNoWriMo-style push my way through this thing, but that's actually a really bad idea. I still think about that "writing is just behavior" post every single day of my life. You only get to write each story once, and I think it's important to take my time and enjoy the story I'm in, right now. Also, we're getting into the busiest and most miserable time of year for me right now, and I think it's extremely important to keep writing as a treat I get to do, not an arbitrary word count obligation that I made up to torture myself with.

On a final note, I'm in one of those weird brain-places that I get sometimes where I really have not looked back over any of the stuff I've finished. My usual writing state is to enjoy re-reading the stuff that I've read, but right now, it's all "Don't look back! Forward only!" I do think this is good, because I know this will pass eventually and there will certainly be time to edit, later, but I am also really worried that everything I have written is going to be absolutely horrible when I go back to it later. (In general, I'm usually pleasantly surprised to find writing I haven't looked at in a while to be better than I remembered, but it's not guaranteed, you know?)

(no art this week)

#writing update #art update

7 notes · View notes

killerandhealerqueen · 4 days

Note

2. a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

3. how you feel about your current WIP

5. first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

7. your preferred writing fonts

10. what is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?

9. start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?

13. a fandom you’re thinking about writing for

19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

20. in what year did you publish your first fic?

26. are you able to write with other people around?

30. share a fic you’re especially proud of

23. pick three keywords that describe your writing

17. talk about your writing and editing process

16. favorite place to write

💖💖💖💖💖

Jaz my beloved, hello!

2. a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

I normally write from an "omniscient" view point, so I don't really use like "character povs"

3. how you feel about your current WIP

Currently I'm working on my rewrite and I forgot how much I loved working on it. We are on ep. 27 though, which means we're getting to the mental hospital scene soon so that'll be fun. But I forgot how much fun it is to write it as well as liveblog/rewatch. God I love this stupid drama so damn much

5. first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

The only unpublished wip I have rn has a lot of dialogue and not so much paragraphs...but this is the closest "paragraph" I could find

“You’re right, I’m not” he agreed, just as Chen Yuzhi tripped over a rock and fell, causing him to cry out in pain before he rolled over to see the wolf coming straight towards him, its teeth barred.

7. your preferred writing fonts

For headcanons, Times New Roman, size 12, for actual fic writing Helvetica size 11

9. start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?

Hmm...last fic I posted (not updated cuz updated was 恨君不似江楼月 | Killer and Healer) was Second Chances. That fic, from start to finish...took me about...maybe 3-5 days?

10. what is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?

Hmmm...good question. Maybe a few days...but it's very rare, unless a fic is fighting with me too much. I mainly work on the draft until it's done and then I post it (but I of course go over it one more time before I actually post, just to make sure I didn't misspell or forgot a word or something)

13. a fandom you’re thinking about writing for

Currently really only writing for CSI: Miami (trying to finish my multi-chapter fic, we're almost done), Killer and Healer, and S.C.I. I do have one more fic to post for White Cat Legend but other than that...I'm not really planning on writing for any new fandoms

16. favorite place to write

Either in my armchair by the window or in my bed. I can control the noise at home, so it makes it easy, and I don't have to worry about people trying to read my laptop screen

17. talk about your writing and editing process

Oof...there's not much to talk about. I get the idea, let it ruminate in my head, kind of start seeing scenes play out in my head/in dreams and then I just sort of...write. I've stopped trying to outline stuff because that just seems to fuck with my flow, so we don't do that anymore. But anyways, I just write until I'm content/I've told the story I want to tell, I'll bring up the "post a new work" page on ao3, type out all the necessary information, past the fic into the box, then copy and paste it into my notes app (cuz sometimes the formating from copying it from word to ao3 fucks up my indents) and then do a quick re-read/edit if I miss stuff and then I post. The only time I'll ever send a fic to someone (aka @ahhhnorealnamesallowed) is when I need a second pair of eyes/I'm sick of the fic but other than that...that's kinda how my process works

19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

Oh, if you've read my fics you know that I research a lot of stuff for anything regarding my case fics, but I think the most interesting one is for my fic Violence Is Never the Answer...Except When It Is where I researched step by step instructions on how to clean a katana. There's never a dull moment in my fics, I promise you that, but that one was probably really interesting...and really in-depth

20. in what year did you publish your first fic?

Lord...like 2012? It was a fic that I wrote for a Kakavege fanart that I saw on Deviantart. I loved it and then messaged the artist if I could write a fic for it. They said yes and even linked it to their art. My deviantart account has since been deleted but that was definitely my first like true fanfic

23. pick three keywords that describe your writing

I have no idea how to describe my writing...other than maybe out there, fantastical, exciting?

Idk Jaz, how would you describe my writing?

26. are you able to write with other people around?

Oh yeah, as long as they don't ask what I'm working on nor do they look at my laptop

30. share a fic you’re especially proud of

Now...we all know that I'm very proud of 恨君不似江楼月 | Killer and Healer (and really, I should be) but I'm also really proud of For All Eternity because I flipped what I normally would do for Jiang Yuelou and Chen Yuzhi when writing xianxias/wuxias (I made Jiang Yuelou the immortal this time while Chen Yuzhi is the demon instead of the other way around) and yet I STILL kept them true to their personalities. So...yeah. I'm really happy with that fic and I hope more people read it because it's good (it's also inspired by Chinese Paladin 4 which was Mao's latest drama and my god was he gorgeous in that drama. He was also my favorite character but no one is surprised by this at all)

more fic writer asks | send me asks

#sass answers #jaz 🦄#more fic writer asks

3 notes · View notes

fastcardotmp3 · 9 months

Note

hey there dot, what would you say your process is for mapping out scenes? I'm writing my first work and I've rewritten it all like 12 times ;-;

hey there anon, that's so exciting! I'm so excited for you! ❤️

I'm certainly not an expert (nor a teacher) but I can definitely try to offer a little bit of guidance via my own experience/ perspective!

Gonna put it below the cut because I know I'm talky and annoying about this stuff (I'm sorry I just get EXCITED and also I'm putting off my own proofreading and outlining shh don't worry about it):

I think for me there's a pretty even balance between planning ahead and going with the flow when I'm writing, particularly with something of the longer variety since it's not always possible to plan out every single detail ahead of time.

But what I do like to have (and which actually fills in a pretty significant outline just by thinking about how to bridge the gaps) is by knowing, in movie terms, the three major beats: Opening, Midpoint, and Final Shot.

A lot of my writing process is visual, and I tend to "watch" scenes or transitions between them in my head before I ever put pen to paper, so I like to start with the question of what's the first thing we see? What sets the tone or offers something telling about our protagonist or simply raises a question we're gonna answer later on?

It's a really fun thing to change up too story to story, like in SEFS we open in the literal middle of a sex scene (introducing a FWB relationship right off the bat without having to do a bunch of exposition) while in Metamorphoses it opens with an internal conflict between Eddie and Kas (a pretty literal expression of what the rest of the story is gonna be about)

I approach the Midpoint as usually some sort of turning point or moment of change or revelation or simply a subtle shift in the wind that will direct us closer towards the final point. It doesn't have to be the exact middle (and don't stress if it isn't) but it really does tend to fall there even without planning for it (the Thanksgiving chapter in SEFS really does act as a Midpoint, and that entire fic was so stream of consciousness that when I went to check what chapter it was I was genuinely surprised it was 8 of 16, but stories really do just tell you what to do sometimes fjsakdlfj)

And then the Final Shot! If this were a movie, where would we fade to black before the credits roll? What's the last image or bit of dialogue or introspection you want to leave your reader with? I don't usually have this one all that detailed in my head, but just having a sense of the tone you want to end on can be incredibly helpful. Like I didn't know I would end up writing a time-skip epilogue for Metamorphoses when I was in the planning stage, but I knew how far Eddie was going to get mentally and emotionally. I knew what his healing looked like and what his relationships looked like

I think all in all, I personally am just someone that needs something to write towards which defines a lot of my out-of-order sort of process. I write a few major chunks of stuff and fill in the gaps because it's easier to look ahead and see something real on the page than the Empty Void that a blank page can sometimes feel like.

And that's what having a few beats worked out really does help when the page is still blank right there at the start! It gives you a sense of structure without making it feel like there's no room to change your mind as you go! You can add in more beats in between the Big Three if you want more structure or for something shorter take out the Midpoint altogether and just work from beginning to end, and even if your story is just one scene, there are beats to be found within it that can help lead the way!

but it's just nice to have a little bit of proof on the page with you that Past You had a story they wanted to tell in their head even if that story changes or moves along the way <3

That's a lot more than you probably wanted out of me, but I honestly could talk about writing all day so my bad and I hope this helped whether by giving you an idea of what you would like to try or definitely not try fjalkdsj

At the end of the day, the more you write the more natural this stuff will become and the more clear it will be when it's time to stop rewriting and set the thing free, as frustrating as I know that is to hear. but for what it's worth there's very little that feels as good as finishing a story when it felt impossible or solving a gap in your story when it just wasn't clicking.

Trust yourself! It's your story, so it's all in you no matter how you choose to go about it, you just gotta find it

Good writing to you anon <3

#ask #dot thought #again i am not an expert but i have anecdotal experience and i hope it offers some inspiration! <3 #honored you think i'm worthy of asking though and i wish you the absolute best with your words

9 notes · View notes

tortoisesshells · 9 months

Note

23. Is writing the beginning, middle, or end of the story easiest? Hardest? 38. What is your most self-indulgent posted story? 80. Free space! Okay, be honest. What's your writing ego like? How does it manifest?

23. Is writing the beginning, middle, or end of the story easiest? Hardest?

Despite my scrap file for Customs having about 10,000 words of trash from the first 5,000 word chapter, I really do find the beginning the easiest part of writing: you already know what the plot is going to be, you know what characters are involved, you just need to get it all on the board. It's like a tableaux vivant. It's when stuff starts moving that it gets hard. Endings are impossible, for me. I don't do a very good job tidying up the loose ends, and my preferred method for finishing out a story, either of 100 words or 100K+ is "and the adventure continues!" more-or-less. I've been stuck on Chapter 31 of Customs because we're very much getting into the last quarter of the game and I really have no faith that I can stick the landing, and Chapter 31 really is, if I may mix my sport metaphors, the gymnast running down the balance beam towards the dismount. I'm spooked.

38. What is your most self-indulgent posted story?

Answered here, but I should also plug yet apt the verse, a slice of life drama which contains 100% more doggerel poetry, as well as general naval history, compared to Mercy Street's baseline. Given that it's a show about a Union Army hospital in the American Civil War, the baseline of naval history is nil, for reference. I just like boats.

80. Free space! Okay, be honest. What's your writing ego like? How does it manifest?

I've been sitting with this (and talked to you briefly!) and it's been a little mortifying to reflect on. It's easier to admit to my insecurities as a writer than it is to admit to what I'm perhaps too proud of - admitting to the latter really does feel like taping a "Kick Me!" sign over my kidneys - that I'm inviting people to think, either to themselves or out loud, "christ, she's not that good." And, in a way, I feel particularly goofy for having an opinion about my ability to write fanfic - and goofy for saying I feel goofy, because at the end of the day, it's just a hobby like cross-stitching or running. I'm allowed to be proud of my stitch work, even if it's not to everyone's taste. The obvious answer is I'm a little prideful about research. I can be a little (a lot) self indulgent about it, but generally speaking, I think I do a good job of navigating incorporating historical detail as a part of the plot and characterization without totally overwhelming the whole. I'm sure the fact that of the fandoms I've written the most for (Mercy Street, PotC, and 1899) the fact that two of them are only loosely period dramas actually makes this look like a stupid hill to die on. Yeah, I wrote a neat little tidbit about Edward J. Smith's career at the White Star Line into the endnotes, but considering 1899's strained relationship with reality ... like. What have I accomplished other than preening about my ability to disappear down rabbitholes? It's self-congratulatory. And yet. The other thing is that I can be immensely convinced that I have the right of it, especially in terms of characterization. I can tell myself that it's a preference, that all characters have a little leeway for interpretation in some way or another, but there's certainly some pride in my own judgment being the correct one, and the one I'm the most interested in humoring as a writer. I was writing about my favorite parts of the writing process being the parts with the greatest chance of socialization (brainstorming and outlining with friends/co-conspirators, responding to comments) and there's something sort of ... striking? in how one's writer's ego - my writer's ego - tends to be the least sociable part of me. I know what I'm doing - I'm such a clever little retriever of facts - it's all about me.

Fanfiction Writing Asks!

#thank you for the ask kind friend!!#ask meme #polkaknox talks #I'm still thinking about writers' egos - and mine. It's hard to admit to and like. I'm so inclined to shame personally that this is like;#pulling teeth because I'm inured to feeling ashamed of myself but shame is not the absence of ego; just a different manifestation;#in a way. i think.#anyway. hopefully this goes a way towards thinking about ego and the fandom writer.

10 notes · View notes

elizaxspears · 13 days

Text

FanFic Tag Game

Thanks very much for the tag friend! @akashadarkblade

1: How many fics do you have on AO3? 159

2: What’s your total AO3 word count? 896,626

3: What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Black Butler but I've dabbled in The Evil Within with some sides of FFXV and Kingsman! Storm Hawks too if we're going way back!

4: What are your top five fics by kudos?

Without You (Kingsman)

A Passionate First (The Evil Within)

Better Than Dinner (The Evil Within)

Our Anniversary (Kingsman)

A Gentleman Like You (KIngsman)

5: Do you respond to comments?

Sometimes if it's a one shot but usually no because if I reply to one and forget to reply to another, I don't want someone to get the impression I'm ignoring them by not replying, so I usually just do a big thanks or something in the author note's of the next chapter lmao

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

Oh that's tough. Most of them are angsty but I'd have to say Mind Who You Reap.

7: What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

That's even tougher. I think Haunted Heart because everyone gets the feel good ending.

8: Do you get hate on fics?

Sometimes but I just ignore them anyway, so mentally, no lol

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

Yes. All kinds. A lot I don't post but of the stuff I do tends to be either vanillia or some sort of domination fetish (mostly about William being dominated or dominiating because yes)

10: Do you write crossovers?

I have one! A TEW/Black Butler crossover! In my own time I started writing a Criminial Minds/Black Butler and even a TMNT/Black Butler way back in the day but those are both very cringe now and will never see the light of day.

11: Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so, no.

12: Have you ever had a fic translated?

A couple into Russian

13: Have you ever co-written a fic?

Nope. Well, sort of. There was a TEW thing going around for a bit but I don't think anything actually came of it?

14: What’s your all time favorite ship?

Ronilliam, hands down. I eat them up like no tomorrow.

15: What’s a fic you’d like to finish but don’t think you ever will?

The Red Record. I REALLY want to but I always have so many other projects on the go and it always ends up falling to the wayside despite having an outline ready and waiting to go.

16: What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue for sure.

17: What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions. Sometimes I'm good at them but other times they just falls so FLAT

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

If a chracter speaks it, sure, why not?

19: First fandom you wrote for?

Storm Hawks. Boy, that was the wild west for me.

20: Favorite fic you’ve written?

Oooo that's a hard one. Bewitched By the Eyes of a Reaper is up there but if I HAD to pick the ulitmate, it'd probably be Mind Who You Reap. It's not the best work I've ever done (part of me wants to rewrite it and update it a bit) but it's the one I can go back to and just enjoy reading without nitpicking myself too much lol

I'll tag @checkeredtablesloth as well as anyone else who wants to do it!

#personal #my writing #tag game

2 notes · View notes

darkjanet2 · 9 months

Text

Sonic Adventure 2: Sonadow

Chapter 10: You Have 24 Hours to Live

Central City 2:30

Sonic, Tails, and Amy were inside the Starbucks, enjoying a little afternoon treat while they discussed what was to be done about the new Robotnik situation. Amy ordered 3 frappuccinos while Sonic and Tails were at the table doing laptop research. Tails opened the browser on his computer and logged in to the news site. He typed the search bar called "Project Shadow" into the search box and found looking at a page filled with information on a science project that he had been working on for years.

"Here it is. Project Shadow," said Tails. Sonic glanced at Tails' laptop and noticed that there was a picture of Shadow on the screen. The image was taken from behind with some sort of dark shadow, and it looked like Shadow inside the test tube. Sonic's eyes widened as he saw what appeared to be the outline of Shadow's body inside the tank.

"So that's Shadow?" puzzled Sonic.

"Yeah, that's Shadow," replied Tails. "It says here he's being experimented on in the lab base. It says that their scientists are testing out some biological material. And according to this article, the lab is currently using an experimental substance called Project Shadow, using DNA test results from some animals."

Sonic thought hard. "Well, you know what I think? I think that Shadow is not so different from us after all. Do you know he was created?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, they did some research with him before he became a villain. A scientist named Professor Gerald Robotnik came up with the formula to create him and he used it in his experiments on Shadow. That's why he got sent to live on the moon instead of living in our world. It is called Space Colony ARK."

"Gerald Robotnik?! Is he related to Eggman?" asked Sonic.

Tails nodded again. "Yep. That's how Shadow came to be in Space Colony ARK. They used Shadow to develop the life form we will fight against now. If we don't find out who or what that creature is soon, then we'll have to go after them ourselves."

"Hey, guys," Amy spoke up suddenly, bringing them both back to reality. She carried the tray of 3 frappucinos towards the table. "Here ya go, boys. Three of us have our frappes." She set one in front of each of them, a blue raspberry frappe for Sonic, a chocolate frappe for Tails, and a pink cotton candy frappe for Amy. Then she took her seat next to them.

"Thanks, Ames," replied Tails. He pulled the straw out of his straw and took a sip of the drink. He sighed contentedly as he enjoyed the cool refreshing liquid on his tongue. He closed his eyes for a moment to savor the taste.

"So, what are you guys searching for?" asked Amy as she grabbed a cotton candy-flavored frappe off the tray and took a long sip of it.

"We're just trying to figure out what this experiment is supposed to do, but so far nothing has turned up," said Sonic. He picked up his own straw and took a small sip of his drink.

"Maybe it has something to do with his personality," suggested Tails. "The scientists say that they are experimenting with some kind of genetically enhanced DNA."

"Oh, so you think that Shadow is a clone created by someone else?" asked Amy.

Amy looked over at Sonic and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. This Shadow seems completely different from anyone else. There may be another reason why he's so different. He was created by Prof. Gerald Robotnik, just like in the article."

"Robotnik? Does that mean he's related to Eggman?" asked Amy.

"Probably his grandfather," Tails said. "It happened 50 years ago when Gerald Robotnik came up with the idea for creating Shadow."

"How could his grandfather get involved in such a big project?" wondered Sonic. "Why would he want to create a faker like me?"

"I dunno, but maybe because Shadow's father is the first alien," replied Tails. "According to this article, Gerald Robotnik created Shadow from a combination of DNA from an alien and a hedgehog. So it makes sense if Gerald wanted his grandson to look like the original hedgehog species." Tails paused for a minute, thinking. "That's what he really created him. Maybe it was just a cover story for his true purpose."

Amy was taken aback by Tails' theory. "Shadow is an alien that looks exactly like Sonic?" she asked in surprise. Sonic gave her a confused look and Tails answered. "Uh, well, no offense, Sonic, but you look kinda different. In fact, you look almost identical to Shadow."

"What? How?" exclaimed Sonic. "How am I supposed to look exactly like Shadow? What makes you say that?"

"Well, it just makes sense," shrugged Tails. "After all, you share many physical characteristics with him. For example, your eyes are a lot similar to his. Also, you two have the same ears and tails."

"I guess you've got a point, Tails," agreed Sonic reluctantly. "But still, we have to stop Eggman somehow. We can't let these scientists continue with whatever crazy stuff they are trying to do."

"You're right, Sonic!" agreed Tails. "They must have stopped the experiment before the end. But what do we do now?"

"I wish I knew," replied Sonic. "This is the first time I've been stuck without knowing where to start looking for our enemy."

"Do we have any leads?" asked Amy. "Can you give us a list of possible targets?"

Tails thought deeply for a moment, "Not yet. But we have a good idea of what we should look for."He looked over at Sonic who seemed to be deep in thought. Tails figured that if his best friend wasn't going to come up with anything, then he might as well talk about it himself.

"Hey, Sonic?" said Tails.

"Hmm?" Sonic responded.

"What do we say to take the spaceship?" asked Tails.

"That sounds like a good idea," answered Sonic. "Let's just say, 'Take the ship!' and boom, off we go." He grinned mischievously at Tails.

"I wanna go, too," said Amy.

That night

Eggman was at the news studio setting up the camera equipment for his latest video. He pressed a button on the remote and a large television monitor began showing the footage of the news station's newsroom. Eggman watched as his henchmen Orbot and Cubot went back to the control panel to adjust the microphone settings.

"All set, boss. You're on air," said Cubot.

Eggman grinned evilly, "Now let the fun begin."

"Camera rolling in 3, 2, 1… Action!" yelled Orbot as he hit the button. Instantly the cameras were focused on Eggman, who stood in front of a large white backdrop. He reached out his right hand toward the cameras and pressed his index finger down onto the white surface, which slowly lit up green. Then, a huge holographic display started playing behind him.

Outside the news studio, many televisions showed a smiling face of a middle-aged man, with a bald head and a mustache, he wore a red jacket and black pants which citizens caught their attention.

"Greetings, citizens. My name is Dr. Eggman, the world's greatest scientist. Today, I am taking today's events very seriously, and I promise that my plans for world domination will be put into action in 24 hours."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" shouted someone in the crowd.

"Who is this guy and what does he want?!" asked the male crowd.

Eggman chuckled, "My dear listeners, this is the greatest scientific invention ever. As you can see, my inventions make the world a better place! Just imagine if my inventions were made in the past, what a world we would be living in. Instead of robots controlling everything, humans would be the masters of this planet."

"Is this some kind of prank?!" asked the female crowd.

"Of course not, young lady. I am merely offering this information to help you decide if you should follow my program or not. Now listen carefully, because there are only a few weeks left until my attack on the city of Central City! And believe me when I tell you, I am determined to succeed! My Satellite Beam will destroy everything that stands between me and total domination over the entire universe. It is a great time to join my revolution!"

Eggman pressed the button, and up in the Space Colony ARK started to activate Eclipse Cannon. The cannon appeared around him, surrounding him completely. The crowd fell silent as they watched in awe as the massive cannon fired a beam of energy that destroyed a moon in half.

"Holy shit! He destroyed the moon!" yelled the black male crowd.

Eggman laughed evilly, "Now you have 24 hours to live or everyone in your cities dies. Your decision, ladies and gentlemen!"

With that, the televisions had turned off and Eggman disappeared, leaving behind only static and a blank screen.

Sonic, Tails, and Amy ran outside and see what happened to the satellite. They saw the moon in pieces strewn across the sky.

"Look! The half of the moon is gone! Did he do that?" asked Amy worriedly.

"Yeah," nodded Tails. "Looks like he did."

"Eggman! That bastard never gives up!" said Sonic angrily.

"But how did he manage to harness all that energy?" asked Tails.

"It's got to be the Chaos Emeralds. Yeah, that's the reason they were looking for them," said Sonic.

Tails reached his fur pocket and took out a topaz-colored gem. It was a Chaos Emerald.

"Tails…" Sonic trailed in surprise.

"The Chaos Emeralds are like magnets, they attract power from anywhere they can," Tails said. "If I'm right, I can use that to find where Eggman is."

Suddenly, a red and blue flashing light flashed in the distance, a siren sounded in the distance, and two police cars pulled up outside the news studio.

"Freeze! Three of you, put your hands in the air! " yelled one of the officers.

"Oh, fuck! Not this again!" Sonic turned to Tails. "Tails, you go find Eggman. I'll take care of the police officers."

"Got it." Tails nodded in agreement and ran in the opposite direction while Sonic distracted the police cars. Amy stood there worriedly.

"The three of you, that means me, too! Uh! Hey, wait for me!" She chased after Sonic and Tails.

#sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonadow #sonic adventure 2 #enemies to lovers

7 notes · View notes