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nim-lock · 3 years

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Art Career Tips, 2021 Edition

Here’s an edited version of my 2019 answered ask, because... this feels relevant.

It is a problem of capitalism that folks equate their income as a judgement of their value as people; and let me preface. You are worth so much. You have inherent value in this world. Your income is not a judgement on who you are (plenty of billionaires are actively making the world worse). LARPing self-confidence will go a long way to helping you get paid more for your work, because clients will believe that you know what you are doing, and are a professional.

& real quick—my own background is that I’ve been living off my art since 2018. I went to art school (Pratt Institute). I work in a publishing/educational materials sphere, and a quarter of my income is my shop. Not all of this information may apply to you, so it is up to you to look through everything with a critical eye, and spot pick what is relevant.

So there are multiple ways of getting income as an artist;

Working freelance or full-time on projects

Selling your stuff on a shop

Licensing (charging other companies to use your designs)

This post primarily covers the freelance part; if you’re interested in the other bits there is absolutely info out there on the internet.

IF you are just starting (skip to next section if not applicable) dream big, draw often (practice helps you get better/more efficient), do your best to take "a bad piece” lightly. You’re gonna RNG this shit. At some point your rate of “good” works will get higher. Watch tutorial videos & read books. A base understanding of “the rules”; anatomy, perspective, composition, color helps you know what the rules are to break them. This adds sophistication to your work. One way you can learn this stuff is by doing “studies”—you’re picking apart things from life, or things other people have done, to see what works, and how it works.

Trying to turn your interests into a viable career means that you are now a SMALL BUSINESS; it really helps to learn some basic marketing, graphic design, figure out how to write polite customer service emails; etc. You can learn some of this by looking it up, or taking skillshare (not sponsored) classes by qualified folks. Eventually some people may get agents to take care of this for them—however, I do recommend y’all get a basic understanding of what it takes to do it on your own, just so you can know if your agent is doing a good job.

Making sure your portfolio fits the work you want to get

Here is a beginner portfolio post.

Research the field you’d like to get into. The amount people work, the time commitment, the process of making the thing, the companies & people who work for them.

Create work that could fit in to the industry you’re breaking into. For example, if you want to do book cover illustration, you draw a bunch of mockup book covers, that can either be stuff you make up, or redesigns of existing books. If you’re not 100% sure what sort of work is needed for the industry, loop back into the portfolios of artists in a similar line of work as whatever you’re interested in, and analyze the things they have in common. If something looks to be a common project (like a sequence of action images for storyboard artists), then it’s probably something useful for the job.

CLIENTS HIRE BASED ON HOW WELL THEY THINK YOUR WORK FITS WHAT THEY WANT. If they’re hiring for picture books, they’re gonna want to see picture book art in your portfolio, otherwise they may not want to risk hiring you. Doesn’t have to be 100% the project, but stuff similar enough. If you aren’t hired, it doesn’t mean your work is bad, it just wasn’t the right fit for that specific client.

If you have many interests, make a different section of your portfolio for each!

Making sure you’re relevant

Have a social media that’s a little more public-facing, and follow people in the career field you’re interested in. Fellow artists, art directors, editors, social media managers; whoever. Post on your own schedule.

Interact with their posts every so often, in a non-creepy way.

If you’ve made any contacts, great! Email these artists, art directors, editors, former professors, etc occasional updates on your work to stay in touch AND make sure that they think about you every so often.

Show up to general art events every once in a while! If you keep showing up to ones in your area (when... not dying from a sneeze is a thing), folks will eventually start to remember you.

Industry events & conferences can be pricey, so attend/save up for what makes sense for you. Industry meetups are important for networking in person! In addition to meeting people with hiring power, you also connect with your peers in the community. Always bring a portfolio & hand out business cards like candy.

Active job hunting

Apply to job postings online.

If interested in working with specific people at specific companies, you could send an email “I’d love to work with you, here’s my portfolio/relevant experience”, even if they aren’t actively looking for new hires. Be concise, and include a link to your work AND attached images so the person reading the email can get a quick preview before clicking for more.

Twitter job postings can be pretty underpaid! Get a copy of the Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines to know your rate. I once had a twitter post job listing email me back saying that other illustrators were charging less, and I quote, “primarily because they’re less experienced and looking for their first commission”. This was not okay! For reference, this was a 64-illustration book. The industry rate of a children’s book (~36 pages) is $10k+, and this company’s budget was apparently $1k. For all of it.

Congrats you got a job! Now what?

Ask for like, 10% more than they initially offer and see if they say yes. If they do, great! If not, and the price is still OK, great! Often company budgets are slightly higher than they first tell you, and if you get this extra secret money, all the better for you.

Make sure you sign a contract and the terms aren’t terrible (re: GO GET THE Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines)

Be pleasant and easy to work with (Think ‘do no harm but take no shit’)

Communicate with them as much as needed! If something’s going to be late, tell them as soon as you know so they aren’t left wondering or worse, reaching out to ask what’s up.

And if all goes well, they’ll contact you about more jobs down the line, or refer you to other folks who may need an artist, etc.

Quick note about online shops/licensing and why they’re so good

It’s work that you do once, that you continuously make money off of. Different products do well in different situations (conventions vs. online, and then further, based on how you market/the specific groups you are marketing to), so products that may not do well initially may get a surge later on.

Start with things that have low minimum order quantity and are relatively cheap to produce, like prints and stickers.

If you are not breaking even, go back to some of the earlier portions of this and think about how you could tweak things as a small business. Ease of access is also very important with this; for example, if you only take orders through direct messages, that immediately shuts off all customers who don’t like talking to strangers.

Quick resource that you could look through; it’s the spreadsheet of project organizing that I made a while back

Licensing is when people pay you for the right to use your work on stuff they need to make, like textbooks or greeting cards. This is generally work you’ve already made that they are paying the right to use for a specified time or limited run of products. This is great because you’ve already done the work. I am not the expert on this. Go find someone else’s info.

“I am not physically capable of working much”/ “I need to pay the bills”

Guess who got a hand injury Sept 2020 that messed me up that entire month! I had a couple jobs going at the time that I was terrified of losing, but they were quite understanding when I told them I needed to heal. So: Express your needs as early as you know you need them. Also do lots of stretches and rest your hands whenever you feel anything off; this will save your health later. Like, the potential of a couple months of no income was preferable over losing use of my hands for the rest of my life.

This continues to apply if you have any other life situation. Ask for extra time. Ask for clarification. If you tell people ahead of time, folks are often quite understanding. Know how much you are capable of working and do your best not to overdo it. (I am.. bad at this)

Do what MAKES SENSE for your situation. If doing art currently earns you less money than organizing spreadsheets, then do that for now, and whenever you have the energy, break down some of the tips above into actionable tiny chunks, and slowly work at em.

The original ask I got in 2019 mentioned ‘knowing you’re not good enough yet’. Most artists experience imposter syndrome & self-doubt—the important thing is to do your best, and if anything, attempt to channel the confidence of a mediocre white man. If he can apply to this job/charge hella money for Not Much, then so can you!

Check out this Art Director tumblr for more advice!

Danichuatico’s Literary Agent guide

Kikidoodle’s Shop Shipping Tutorial

Best of luck!

–

Once again disclaimer this post is just the ramblings of a man procrastinating on other things that need to be done. I’ve Long Posted my own post so that it turns into mush in my brain if I try to read it, but I wrote this so I should know this content. If you got down here, congrats. Here’s a shrimp drawing.

Yee Ha.

My reference post tag My tip jar

#reference #artist information #UHHHHH I don't know man

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redhoodedwolf · 4 years

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A Week-ish of Sterek Fics

Hello all! So I recently accidentally fell back into my AO3 bookmarks and have fallen down a rabbit (fox? eh?) hole that leaves me entirely unproductive and sleep deprived but full of feels, so I thought I’d share all of the fics that I’ve rerereread thus far in the last week (it’s over 75 guys) (since friday 😬). Each has the fic name and description, length, and year pub/finished because it makes me feel old. Also all of these are complete because I am weak and cannot handle WIPs.

Note: I’m not adding any tags to the descriptions, so make sure to read the tags and ratings on each fic first before reading!!!

Teaching Derek How to Text (and Other Shenanigans) by neilwrites | 9K | 2018

yo derek Who’s dying

---

I see your 'Derek doesn't have a phone' line and raise you 'Derek has a phone, he and Stiles text all the fucking time.'

The Hoodie by ladiekatie | 1.7K | 2017

“You shouldn’t be able to see me. What are you?” The guy in the hoodie says, the ball of energy grows hotter under Derek’s chin.

or the one where Derek is just trying to talk to the guy at the back of the subway.

Nothing You Could Say by SylvieW | 13K | 2016

Stiles’ second year of college is not working out as he planned. He rarely sees Scott, his job is exhausting, and to get home after his shift, he has to walk at three in the morning. Nearly getting mugged is the icing on the cake, but luckily a gruff stranger is there to rescue him. But now Stiles can’t seem to shake the feeling that he’s not alone in the dark.

Old Traditions, Werewolf Edition by Footloose | 3.6K | 2014

Stiles does not work his Omega ass off to attract frat boy Alphas. Absolutely not. He's at college to get his degree. If he's crushing on an Alpha who never crosses the lines of propriety, well, no one needs to know, right?

Stiles Stilinski, Boyfriend Extraordinaire by MereLoup | 14K | 2016

“Beacon County Sheriff's Department, this is deputy Mahealani speaking.”

“Oh thank god!”

“Stiles?”

“I, uh, I need some advice.”

“Advice?”

“Yeah. So, hypothetically, say you met your boyfriend’s mother and sister for the first time ever. Completely by accident. In the grocery store. And they convinced you to help them make a dinner to surprise aforementioned boyfriend when he got home after work. What would you do?”

Danny paused, and then, “Stiles, you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“That’s not the point! And I said hypothetically.”

“Stiles...what are you doing right now?”

***

Stiles never imagined he’d be in Derek’s kitchen cooking a surprise dinner with Derek’s family while they waited for Derek to get home from work.

Partly because their visit was a complete surprise.

But mostly because Stiles didn’t have a boyfriend.

Or even know who Derek was.

But he’d already come this far and Papa didn’t raise no quitter!

third time's the charm by stilinski | 4.9K | 2016

Sure, Stiles has a mark on his chest that belies the depth of his feelings, but it's not something anyone can see unless he decides to show it, or unless werewolves suddenly have x-ray vision.

Which—worrying. And probably-definitely-likely a possibility – if it was to manifest anywhere, Beacon Hills would be top of the list.

Stiles almost turns around there and then to ask Scott how his visual acuity is but is stopped by the teenager at the register finally looking up long enough to spot Derek. Stiles watches her mouth fall open and her expression—studiously blank but with a faint flush rising in her cheeks—is one Stiles knows far too well, particularly when faced with Derek in all his snug-fitting-jeans, v-neck-wearing, canvas-jacketed glory.

Stiles is pretty sure he invented that expression.

Ukochany by VincentMeoblinn| 34K | 2016

Derek comes home to find a mail order husband and two amused betas waiting for him. When he realizes their prank was far from harmless he ends up saddled with a husband who barely speaks English but insists Derek is the love of his life. He's also determined to win him over.

only if for a night by stilinskisparkles | 3.2K | 2016

“I’m Stiles,” he says breathlessly.

“Derek.”

“Derek, hi, do you—”

Derek doesn’t let him finish, kisses the words right out of his mouth.

Hypothetically by alisvolatpropiis | 6.6K | 2015

Stiles holds his hand up to shield his eyes from the sinking sun, its orange-yellow light reflected infinitely across the vast, calm ocean. As utterly stunning as the sunset over the Pacific is, especially while floating leisurely on a surfboard a few hundred feet from shore, it’s a mere backdrop that pales in comparison to who he’s looking at.

Derek Hale, whose eyes are their own oceans that Stiles feels like he’s been floating on since the first time they met. The older man’s eyes are as ever-changing and colorful as the sea they’ve spent the day on, a palette of greens and blues filigreed with gold around the pupils. And if that weren’t enough, the rest of Derek is also transcendentally exquisite: high, arching cheekbones and a chiseled jaw, although that particular perfection is a bit obscured these days by his ever-thickening beard, night-black like his hair, nearly shoulder-length but almost always knotted in a messy bun at the crown of his head.

sincerely, derek by stilinskisparkles | 8.1K | 2016

September, 2009

Hi Stiles, it’s Derek. Derek Hale, from space camp. I’m writing this in English because my teacher Ms Grady said I had to write about my summer, but I spent my summer with you, so I decided to write to you, instead.

Please write back. Love from Derek.

Pancakes and Murder by Amethyst Shard (AmethystShard) | 14K | 2012

Stiles' life has been a roller-coaster filled with awesome highs and terrifying drops ever since his best friend Scott got bit by a werewolf. The ride hits a bump when a dead body turns up at the Hale house (again) and Derek's only alibi is Stiles. Which would be fine, except that Stiles' dad is the sheriff and has no idea his son has been hanging out with the former fugitive. Awkward.

The Witching Hour by MellytheHun | 8.2K | 2016

The radio host AU no one ever asked for but I have written anyway because sometimes when DJ’s play several sad songs in a row, I worry about their mental health and then this AU was born

Derek Hale, The Hero Beacon Hills Needs (Series) by MellytheHun | 11K | 4 Works | 2016

This series started with this Tumblr prompt, "it’s the middle of the night and i’m walking home alone in the dark and there’s this guy following me and he’s starting to gain on me and i found this phone booth with a lock on the door and i tried to call my best friend but my hands were shaking so badly i accidentally dialed the wrong number and i don’t even know you but help me” au

Stiles is walking home when he's stalked by a dangerous stranger and an even more dangerous stranger comes to his rescue.

Fly a Little Faster by mirrorkill | 32K | 2013

Everyone knows when you go back in time, you shouldn't step on an ant, just in case you accidentally kill your own grandparent or something. But what happens when you go back in time and, uh, accidentally interrupt the one event that apparently made the Grumpiest Alpha in Town into a ball of mindless manpain?

Well, if Marty McFly can do it, so can Stiles Stilinski. All he has to do is get Derek and Paige to fall in love before he gets pulled back to his own time. And before he makes anything worse. That's easy as pie, right? Right?

You are the Moon by skoosiepants | 10K | 2012

Stuff Stiles doesn’t like to deal with first thing: hot, moist dog breath in his face, a cuddly werewolf creepifying his perfectly normal morning wood with shades of bestiality, and his dad holding his service revolver up against the skull of his bedmate, never mind the fact that his bedmate could possibly be a vicious unhinged rogue omega.

Baby, you should stick around by ElisAttack | 9.5K | 2016

Derek's driving along a stretch of highway when an unusual sight makes him slow down, the engine of his old pickup rattling in protest.

There's a kid standing by the side of the road.

It's the middle of nowhere, the goddamn apocalypse, and this kid is standing by the side of the road with his thumb pointed skyward. Like he's playing at being a hitchhiker.

Or the one where Stiles thinks he's all alone in a post-apocalyptic world, until he meets Derek.

Don’t Be Anything But Okay by skoosiepants | 4.8K | 2016

“Oh my god.”

Ben pops open the car door and says, “Please don’t embarrass me, Dad.”

Stiles flaps a hand, still staring at the magnificent sight before him. There are glistening arm muscles and a sweaty tank top and then the vision bends over and holy god. He has to look away; it’s too much to take in all at once, he might swoon.

OR-

Stiles has a teenager and Derek has a plant nursery.

covalent bonds (Series) by HalfFizzbin | 9.2K | 3 Works | 2015

Derek's a hot nerd. Stiles is a nerdy jock. A LOVE STORY FOR THE AGES.

Disappear Here by AgnesBlue | 28K | 2016

Stiles was quiet. “What?” Derek said again. “My first heat is coming up soon,” Stiles said at last. Derek closed his eyes, disinterested. He knew where Stiles was going with this. “I was thinking…hoping, really,” Stiles said. “Maybe you could stay with me during that time.”

AU in which wounded in a fire that killed off his entire family, Derek wants nothing more than to be left alone as he finishes off his senior year in high school. That all changes when omega Stiles Stilinski asks him to help him through his first heat.

Money Isn't Everything by TroubleIWant | 6.3K | 2015

Stiles slurps at the dregs of his iced hazelnut latté, pretending he doesn’t need a refill just yet. Supporting your local business is great and all, but Isaac charging $5 for a coffee with syrup is highway robbery. He’s already cut his expenses down to the bare minimum, and splurging for foofy drinks is not in the budget. Except that he can’t really help himself: black coffee is plain gross. Maybe I should plan on marrying rich, he thinks darkly.

Or,

Stiles has a huge crush on the super-hot guy he always sees at Isaac's coffee shop, but when he finds out that they guy's an unemployed orphan he has to decide if the difference in their financial situations is a deal-breaker, or just a bump on the path to true love.

So Shed Your Skin and Lets Get Started by halfhardtorock | 21K | 2014

He's sixteen and in the woods on the wrong side of the town-line and he's so fucking fucked.

He knows he's not supposed to run, they teach that to you in preschool (don't run from a Were, back away slowly and walk with care), but they never told you how it would feel, standing alone in the dark with your heart beating in your throat as those glowing eyes tracked you from the shadows.

you and me (and my best friend) by trilliastra | 1.5K | 2016

“Come on, I shouldn’t be the only one having orgasms. Let me help you out.”

“Uh –” someone clears their throat and Derek jumps, startled, hits his elbow on the wall and curses, “am I interrupting something?” Stiles asks, cheeks red.

Derek looks up, sighing. Of all the people working in this damn school, Stiles had to be the one to catch him and Erica talking about sex. It’s just Derek’s luck. He spills juice on his pants? Stiles walks into the classroom; Laura starts yelling at him about something that happened when they were kids? Stiles is right behind them, waiting for his coffee; Boyd accidentally throws a ball at his face? Stiles is at the E.R. when Derek gets there with a swollen face and a broken nose.

The universe hates him.

Easy Alpha by interropunct | 4.6K | 2012

Easy A/Teen Wolf AU. Wherein, Derek Hale is the high school hussy, Jackson and Scott really need to learn to use their inside voices. And, contrary to popular belief, everyone is still a virgin.

Body Language by LadyMerlin | 2.3K | 2016

In an alternate universe, soulmates exist, and they can communicate with each other by writing on their own skin.

The catch? No one knows their soulmates' name. It could literally be anyone under the sun, and Stiles just doesn't have that kind of patience.

chantes une nouvelle chanson pour moi by pr1nc3ssp34ch (dallisons) | 13K | 2013

Stiles Stilinski has been at Hogwarts since his first year, okay. That's six years of experience. He knows how Hogwarts works, how it operates. He's not quite an expert or anything, but he's pretty damn sure he knows this school.

So why the hell have they waited like a million years to start taking transfer students?

And why is he the only one who can't get a French date?

C’était Salement Romantique by Swing Set in December (swing_set13) | 2.2K | 2015

The Triwizard tournament is really about fostering wizarding relations. Ask anyone. Just not Stiles, he’s busy French kissing Derek.

Hogwarts really should teach some linguistic classes.

The Long Way Home by MyChemicalRachel | 19K | 2016

Stiles didn’t plan to sleep with his best friend’s dad. It just kind of happened. And then it happened again. And again. And again…

All that once was, remains. by countrygirlsfun | 8.8K | 2016

Life is only a long list of constants.

Being a part of a royal family, being a prince, has been a constant in Derek Hale’s life since he was born and swaddled in silk cloths.

Wherein Derek finds himself in love with a stable boy who is more than he seems.

Driver's Education by arrowofcarnations | 9.2K | 2014

This is the moment he realizes he can never have Derek Hale – that he was stupid to ever think he could. Maybe their moms made them hang out when they were little and maybe they’ve managed to get along these past few weeks, but they’re too different. Derek’s cool, he plays a million sports, he drives a Camaro, he’s friends with Jackson. Stiles doesn’t fit into the equation and he never will.

Letters by ericaismeg | 8.9K | 2014

“Stiles, this is getting ridiculous. Can you please do something about it?” Lydia demands. “Do anything. I don’t care. Go up and kiss him, ask him to prom this year, write him secret admirer love letters, whatever. Just do something.”

***

OR: The one where Lydia sets up an email account for Stiles to "confess his love" for Derek. And as fate would have it, they also end up becoming friends in person at the same time.

We're One of a Kind (Like Dip Da Dip Da Dip Do Whap De Dobby Do) by orphan_account | 3.5K | 2012

Derek is your classic greaser—with a leather jacket, a hot rod, a hot bike, and a duck butt. Genim “Stiles” Stilinski a total fream—he’s too cool to be a poindexter but he’s so far from a cat that Derek almost feels bad for him. All that’s missing in this love story is some oddly perfectly timed musical numbers.

do it for our country by HalfFizzbin | 936 | 2012

In which Derek tries to play it cool but Stiles is totally hep to his jive.

Fast Times At Clairemont High by MonsieurBlueSky (MyChemicalRachel) | 6.9K | 2016

Stiles is stoked when he's chosen for an undercover operation to take down a drug ring. He's less stoked when he discovers that he'll be posing as a seventeen year old student at the High School where Derek teaches.

It's Too Early For This by thepsychicclam | 4.9K | 2016

Derek loves his job at the coffee shop, especially because Stiles comes in for coffee before early Saturday morning lacrosse practices. The problem is that Derek is too shy to do anything about his crush, and the situation is not helped by the rivalry between the basketball and lacrosse teams.

A Tentative Truce by Inell | 8.5K | 2016

Stiles and Derek have a long standing rivalry that has extended beyond the Beacon Hills High School theater department to every other area of their high school lives. With the announcement of the winter production, their competitiveness has to be set to the side so the musical can be successful. With a tentative truce in place, Stiles unable to ignore his growing infatuation for his co-star.

we keep living anyway by bistiles (alis) | 10K | 2015

“Oh, damn, my manners. What an example I’m setting, am I right? I’m Stiles Stilinski, but call me Stiles, please,” Stilinski extended his hand for Derek to shake, and Derek took it, feeling the solid grip and the long fingers around his own hand. For some reason, he blushed on the spot.

“Derek. Derek Hale. Call me just Derek,” He answered, still holding Stiles’ hand in his.

By the look on Stiles’ face, he felt much the same as what Derek was feeling, whatever that unnamed reaction was.

“And this little barnacle attached to me,” Stiles continued, letting go of Derek and flushing pink, “is Leigh.”

Stiles is struggling to raise his only child all alone, while dealing with financial problems, a new job, and Adrian Harris, the worst boss in the world.

But then he meets Derek Hale, a dreamy co-workers, and what is a terrible situation becomes considerably less grim, when he has Derek by his side.

Don't Judge a Derek By His Cover by captaintinymite (augopher) | 4.5K | 2015

Stiles doesn't care about the rumors surrounding Beacon Hills High School's resident bad boy, Derek Hale. In fact, he thinks the rumors are total crap. Of course, being secretly in love with someone has a way of clouding one's judgment.

However, he knew for a fact that Derek liked books. So when the two paired up for a final English project, he was excited (but also a little terrified).

But you know what they say...never judge a book by its cover. The same goes for people.

sometimes fate is like a small snowstorm by thepsychicclam | 8.1K | 2014

In a coffee shop two days before Christmas, Derek meets Stiles. Despite neither of them being interested in relationships, they spend an unforgettable evening together, but then part ways. During the following years, Stiles competes in the Olympics, Derek tours the world - and neither of them forget. Then twelve years later, two days before Christmas, Derek finds Stiles in that same coffee shop.

aka a kinda sorta serendipity au

should the pillars of memory topple out of my reach by bleep0bleep | 4.3K | 2015

If Stiles didn’t know any better he’d say that look in Derek's eyes is adoring, but he does know better, and also amnesiac Derek thinks they’re married. Which is the only fact he hasn’t questioned so far, which is the weirdest thing.

Just High School by Dexterous_Sinistrous | 4.5K | 2015

Derek and Stiles have been dating for some time.

The only thing is, nobody else really knows.

Tis The Season Baristas Fear The Most by stilinskisparkles | 5.4K | 2012

Scott is hands down the worst barista Derek has ever hired. But it's Christmas and apparently that means something to some people.

Mind Reading Can Be Such a Pain in the A** (Series) by Fanhag102 | 21K | 2 Works | 2015

Derek Hale can read minds. If he could have chosen a mutant power for himself instead of being given one by random, genetic happenstance it's safe to say mind-reading would not have been his 1st, 2nd, or even 96th choice.

Maybe if he'd gotten the power of invisibility he wouldn't be sitting in a senior Economics class next to a hyperactive kid with a buzz cut who won’t stop thinking about dicks.

A Criminal and His Lucky Charm by Dexterous_Sinistrous | 5.9K | 2015

Please forgive yourself.

For what?

For allowing yourself to let someone in. For letting me love you. I didn’t deserve it, but that wasn’t your fault. Derek, please, just do it. Please— please don’t drag this out.

Derek Hale valued Stiles above everyone—everything. And Stiles betrayed that. In the end, he figured if he had to die, dying in Derek’s arms wasn’t so bad. He could at least have that.

the things you said when we were the happiest we’ve ever been by foxerica (ericaismeg) | 4.8K | 2015

Derek and Stiles meet again at their high school reunion.

From Dirty Paws by Surreal | 9.9K | 2014

Stiles finds a wolf in the woods. Well, it's more like the wolf finds him. Either way, he's happy to have a new friend in his otherwise boring social circle.

flawless by bibliosexual | 4.9K | 2015

“I know you and I are, like, werewolf-married, but dude, if I ever met Lydia Martin in person . . . All bets are off, is all I'm saying."

It's not like Stiles really means it (does he?), but it still makes Derek’s hands clench into claws on the steering wheel.

"Yeah, if," he says, and keeps his eyes on the road.

Those Hidden Places by Mimiminaj | 18K | 2015

He doesn’t belong here.

It’s the first thought that crosses Derek’s mind as he watches the new inmates spill into the cafeteria. The kid stays close to the wall, eyes scanning all the exits and skimming over the tables. If he’s trying to get a barring for his surroundings he’s doing a shit job of it, something made completely evident as Lewis shoulders him from behind and the kid almost jumps to flatten himself against the wall.

Stiles is the new inmate at Derek's prison. He really didn't expect to fall in love with the mouthy little brat.

Baseball Pants by thatfamoushappyending (betsytheoven) | 2.8K | 2015

Scott shows Stiles a picture of the new pitcher for the Dodgers, and Stiles is suddenly an avid Dodgers fan.

While You Were(n't Quite) Sleeping by mikkimouse | 13K | 2015

Scott’s mom, Melissa, had given Stiles the basics on Derek’s condition when he’d first come over here a month ago. Derek had been here six years, the only survivor of a horrific house fire that had killed the rest of his family. It had left him burned, half his face puckered with scars, and he’d been in a catatonic state the entire time. Stiles couldn’t even begin to imagine how awful that would be, being trapped in your own body for years on end, all alone.

Stiles had an inkling of how much being alone sucked, anyway.

(An AU in which Derek is the one who was trapped in the fire, and then in the hospital, based on a set of pictures from littlecofiegirl.)

dhale25 by ericaismeg | 8.1K | 2014

Derek Hale is an actor in Los Angeles, Stiles is a fanboy in Toronto. When Derek posts his Snap Chat username on Twitter, inviting people to add him, Stiles gets brave and adds him.

They develop a snapping relationship, and it gets intense.

I Settle for Long Distance Calls by iamursforevrmre | 4.3K | 2014

Derek is the guy who Stiles met on some random band page on MySpace because Derek made a ridiculously hilarious comment and with a spurt of confidence, Stiles had messaged him to tell him just how hilarious it was and they got to talking. Derek is the guy that made a FaceBook account just to talk to Stiles on the messenger so they could talk more when MySpace was slowly dying out. Derek is the guy that changed his text message plan to unlimited when he finally sent Stiles his cell phone number. Derek is the guy that has been on the phone with Stiles at any and all hours through the day.

And Derek is the guy that Stiles is in love with.

You look like my next mistake by Vendelin | 15K | 2015

“So, are you dating someone new? Someone who doesn’t mind that you’re frigid?” Kate cocks her head to the side, smiling as though she just asked him about where he bought his shoes.

His entire body sighs in defeat as his shoulders grow square. Just as he opens his mouth, someone comes up to stand beside him, snaking an arm around his shoulders. When he glances to his side, expecting to see Isaac, his brain seems to malfunction. Because it isn’t Isaac. It’s Stiles Stilinski, the lacrosse talent of the year, a senior who Derek has seen multiple times from far away, but never ever talked to.

In which Derek is a nerd jock, and Stiles is a frat guy, and Derek falls for him even though he knows he shouldn't.

Coaches Cupcake Coffee House by ChildOfTheRevolution | 4.8K | 2013

Danny looked at him as if he were crazy, ‘It means he wants to ride the dick Stiles.’ He said slowly, as if talking to the mentally insane.

‘Ride the dick, my dick?’ Stiles asked weakly.

‘Figuratively speaking of course, Derek looks more like a topper to me. And you, my friend, are a twink of the most twinkiest standards, but I’m not one to judge.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Stiles admitted, finding himself in a weird crouch-like stance that he apparently now adopts when he’s overwhelmed about finding out Derek Hotcakes wants to bone him three ways to Sunday.

Gladiator AU ( Series) by HaleHole (SweetFanfics) | 9.9K | 2 Works | 2013

He looks up at the door and waits. He hopes that whoever it is, they will be go easy on him. Werewolf he might be, with superhuman healing, but that does not mean that he will not be sore the next day. And he is scheduled for a fight.

Let it be someone easy to please, Derek hopes. Someone who will be quick to take their pleasure and even quicker to leave. He keeps hoping this as the door is pushed open. A voice murmurs a quick set of instructions to whoever has hired him for this session. It is cut off half way through by a familiar, impatient voice that makes Derek strain against his bonds. -- Rome based, Gladiator AU

Stilinski's Home for Wayward Wolves by owlpostagain | 35K | 2013

“At least your puppies knock first,” Stiles snorts. “Here I thought their alpha raised them to be well-mannered.”

“There’s a sign,” Derek responds stiffly.

Stiles, whose curiosity outweighs even his hardest of grudges, abandons his chilly façade of nonchalance in a heartbeat. He jumps right up and all but pushes Derek out of the way in his effort to get to the window, and sure enough when he leans outside there’s a laminated strip of cardstock duct taped to the vinyl siding:

DON’T FORGET TO KNOCK Stiles gets cranky when we scare him

---

Or, in which Stiles Stilinski moves to Beacon Hills for his junior year of high school and accidentally adopts a pack of teenage werewolves.

Theory of Overprotective Canines by rosepetals42 | 11K | 2015

Stiles is totally looking forward to living alone in his super cool apartment off-campus. He is. He is also very excited to bike to school every day, ready to set up an awesome game room, and definitely over his crush on Derek Hale. Completely over it.

Or at least he is until Derek decides he's moving in with him. And then turns out to be the perfect roommate. And then starts attending all his classes. As a wolf.

This is not going according to plan.

Hot for Teacher('s Aide) by linksofmemories_archive | 8K | 2013

“He invited you to his apartment.”

“To do a lesson plan.”

“Yeah and to probably lesson your plan while you’re there,” Scott said, waggling his eyebrows.

“That made no sense, but you still managed to make it sound dirty,” Stiles said. “I’m impressed.”

The healing touch by devilscut | 96K | 2015

Stiles loses his temper with the rest of the pack when they all make excuses not to volunteer to help their Alpha. Deaton has instructed that for the next 24 hours Derek can't use his hands after he seriously injures them in a magical entrapment. Seeing the emotional hurt that Derek's selfish pack has inflicted on him when they argue and try to get out of it, Stiles volunteers to stay and then proceeds to give the rest of them a verbal ass-kicking. He then takes care of his friend, the Alpha, Derek Hale, while trying to work out what his feelings are towards the werewolf.

Quit Dragon Me Around (Seies) by WonderWolf | 17K | 3 Works | 2015

Stiles makes the mistake of taking Derek’s sword and now the grumpy werewolf seems determined to stop him from stealing and landing himself in jail.

Stiles is not pleased. He’s also starving.

(Or the one in which Derek has good intentions, but little understanding of how Dragon biology works. He just wants the cute mole-speckled kid to be safe). -----

“Five meals, Scott. Derek Hale has stopped me from eating five meals. I can’t believe he’s really trying to kill me over stealing his sword. That’s so petty of him. It isn’t like I meant to steal it,” Stiles complains.

“You kind of did mean to, dude,” Scott adds unhelpfully.

“But you don’t understand, Scott. It-”

“Just smelled so good? I know, you’ve said that like fifty times over the past two weeks,” Scott says.

“This is the equivalent of him stealing my lunch money, right? Thanks to him, I didn’t have a meal this week. Or last week! He’s a bully, is what he is. A nice smelling, douchebag of a bully.”

You'll See Me Again by matildajones | 10K | 2015

Stiles is standing there in his uniform, hair long and hands behind his back. There’s a blush on his cheeks and he can barely look Derek in the eye.

“Hey,” he whispers. He’s wearing the medal Derek had presented to him.

Derek stares. He doesn’t think he’s breathing anymore.

Stiles is the soldier who saved Derek and brought him back home. He doesn't seem to care that Derek's a prince or that he's a little bit broken. Derek falls, quick and sure, but it's not easy knowing that Stiles will soon have to return to the war.

Thousand by ericaismeg | 4.2K | 2014

“Seriously, Erica, I could tell him a thousand times in a thousand ways and he's never going to understand what I mean.”

“I thought I told you to spell it out to him,” Erica says. “Derek's has trust issues. I told you this would be difficult.”

Stop Crossing Oceans by greenleaf | 11K | 2015

“There are no absolutes, Scott! No hard rights or hard wrongs! The world doesn’t fucking work that way and we can’t afford to think like that, because people are going to die! We signed up for that the moment we got involved with all this!”

“We? We?” Scott hisses. “Don’t you think you? Don’t forget that you’re the one who dragged us into that forest the night it all started, Stiles. So if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s yours.”

Something inside Stiles cracks, so strong and so deep that he practically hears it.

The Wolf that whispered into Stiles' Heart by ElStark | 9.9K | 2015

Basically the Union of the prompts:

Mute!Stiles + Wolf!Derek + Soulmates/Mates AU

“Don’t you have a pack?” Stiles asks him –by then he had discovered that the wolf was in fact a male wolf –“I mean, wolves move in packs, right? Lone wolves don’t make it on their own. I read it yesterday.” He says while they’re both sprawled on the fallen leaves in Stiles’ secret-thinking spot in the woods. Derek licks his face, and Stiles laughs. “Is that your way to tell me that I’m your pack?” Derek licks him again on the nose, making the boy’s face scrunch up, “Ugh. Gross, dude!” he wipes his drool covered face with his sleeve and then gives the wolf a pointed look, “I’m not a wolf, you should have noticed, you know, I don’t exactly have fur and I don’t growl and I don’t have glowing eyes…” He says leaning in to look them closer, “Are you even supposed to have those kind of eyes? I couldn’t find anything about wolves and glowing eyes on the internet..” The wolf snorts.

Aftermath by GhostwithShotgun | 11K | 2015

Stiles suffers from PTSD and insomnia after the events with the nogitsune. He has nightmares, gets at most one hour of sleep every night and has daily panic attacks. He tries his best to hide it because they all have their own troubles and he doesn't want to burden his friends further.

Meanwhile, Derek has made a habit out of checking all pack members every night to make sure they're alright.

Cross a Canyon (with a broken limb) by theroguesgambit | 18K | 2015

“You never graduated,” Stiles says, just to say it. To test it out in the open air. That's... huh.

Stiles spends his senior year battling troll-gremlins, taking on an unexpected tutoring job, and definitely not falling for a certain sourwolf (even though everyone else seems to think he is).

It's a Schlong Story by floatingstark | 33K | 2015

"Do you like him?"

"Of course I do, he’s great!"

"Then what is the fucking problem?"

"My dick!"

-or-

Ex-Porn Star Derek Hale has a lot of issues but Ice Cream Parlor Owner Stiles Stilinski is not one of them.

Bad Dog Bakery and Café by Boom | 27K | 2015

Stiles saves an Omega from wolfsbane poisoning. Said Omega now won't leave Stiles alone. Stiles doesn't really have a problem with this.

Beat The Blues by lilpeas | 2.9K | 2015

Derek and Stiles have been childhood friends since the sandpit. When Talia realises Stiles is in love with Derek, she knows Derek has to stop seeing him: Derek’s a werewolf and Stiles is human. It can’t be.

But things never go according to plan.

Red Light's Already Off by orphan_account | 3.3K | 2015

Stiles isn't a hooker. He just plays one on TV.

Noteworthy Observations by LadyDrace | 3.7K | 2015

In which Derek recieves complimentary notes in his locker from a secret admirer, and though it turns out they weren't actually for him, things turn out pretty well in the end.

One Hale of a Sandwich by whatthehale | 10K | 2014

Stiles in bed isn’t really something Derek should be thinking about.

Ever.

Because the person who normally picks Lily up from school? Is Scott.

Lily’s other parent. And Stiles’s partner.

Not to mention the entire source of Derek’s current misery.

AKA, the one in which Derek thinks Scott and Stiles are in a relationship and that they want to threesome with Derek. Spoiler Alert? They aren't and they don't.

Choice by Omni | 8.6K | 2015

Derek knows what it feels like to not really have a choice, what it's like to be manipulated. He'd never take away someone's right to choose freely. The fear of even accidentally doing so is enough to hold him back from acting on his own feelings.

Stiles has never had a problem making his own choices, and fuck anyone who would try to tell him he can't.

(Or: Stiles gets bitten by a different alpha, but of course would prefer to have Derek as his alpha. And also just, you know, have Derek.)

Emergency Love by Kedreeva | 13K | 2012

Wherein Derek is a firefighter and Stiles is a paramedic, and they just keep meeting.

gave your smile to me by Sarageek16 | 4.7K | 2013

In which Stiles is a hooker (but not really), Derek wants to feed his skinny little body, and there is soup. Not necessarily in that order.

#sterek #eternalsterek #sterek fic #stiles stilinski #derek hale #fic rec list

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theastrophilearchitect · 3 years

Text

I started writing a book.

And I’m mad about it, because I just started this post, brought up a new tab and lost it because I didn’t save my draft.

Anyway. That’s a thing I did. Wow.

As of this moment, this post won’t be going up until April 19th, but I’m starting writing this at 10.30pm on Sunday, February 21st, 2021. I’ve done a lot in the last couple weeks, and I want to have some record of all I’ve accomplished without just letting most of it fade over the next two months.

I’ve always wanted to be an author. From when I was reading under my covers with a torch past bedtime, through the years I wanted to be an artist, through the years I wanted to be a lawyer. It’s always been there - no matter what primary career path I went down, I wanted to be an author. The last few years, I’ve been invested in becoming a biologist, and that dream really took a backseat.

In the start of this lockdown, my mental health went downhill, and some advice my therapist gave me was just to prioritise myself. It sounds simple enough, but, even in my free time, I’d been focusing on schoolwork - revising constantly for exams I’m still not sure are actually happening. (Boris Johnson is apparently making an announcement tomorrow about beginning to ease lockdown, but we’ll see) So, on Saturday, February 6th, I started an attempt to coalesce the ideas I had floating in my head into something tangible.

I’ve tried to write books countless times (not technically countless - I have all the documents on my laptop, so I could if I wanted to), but mostly, I’ve never gotten further than a couple bare plot points and some characters, maybe some ideas for subplots, before I’ve stagnated and given up.

Three times, I’ve finished a skeletal outline. Twice, I’ve started to go back over those outlines only to realise they made no sense or just seemed week, and simply not cared enough to fix it. Until now, I guess.

February 6th, 7th, and fast-forward to my week off beginning the 15th, up until the 19th, I kept developing this concept I’d managed to form, but I was struggling to establish a coherent plot. I had up until and including a midpoint (which was later condensed into just a first act), but everything after that was just a void. I began searching for some skeletal structure I could apply to it, both to work on pacing and fill in the blanks. I tried several, and got a little further, but was about to give up hope.

Then I remembered a video by Katytastic I’d watched years ago about the 3-act, 9-block, 27-chapter structure she used, and couldn’t see the harm in giving it a go. And something clicked.

You can find the video here - the structure’s detailed and easy to follow, plus she even gives an example of using it to generate a plot.

I started binge-watching her writing vlogs in the background, and even started using her same writing program, Scrivener, which just made every a thousand times easier by taking away the need to juggle a billion Word documents. It’s fairly pricey, but I’m currently using the 30-day free trial - it’s 30 days of use, not of ownership, too: if you use it every day, it lasts 30 days, but if you use it once a week, it lasts 30 weeks.

Where Kat used the 27 parts the structure broke down into as chapters, I chose to refer to them as beats, and separate chapters later.

On Saturday the 20th, I finished defining my scenes and started writing an actual draft. I wrote two scenes, putting me at a collective word count (not including notes, synopses, etc.) of 2,580 words.

This morning, Sunday the 21st, I started over. I hated my opening. I’m not going to go through the mess of today’s process, but I currently have around 80 one-line-outline scenes, split into 3 acts. I wrote a draft of my prologue and detailed-outlined (which I’m mentally referring to as zero-outlining because it’s similar to how Katytastic does what she calls a zero draft, but is very much outlining, not a draft) two and a half other chapters. Scriver also tells me how many words I wrote in total, across notes, character profiles, location lists, a document I’ve named ‘Train of Thought’ for my ramblings as I go etc.

Today, I wrote a grand total of 4,141 words, which, rather counterintuitively, puts me at a draft total of 2,598. That makes sense. Anyway.

There are a lot of unknowns in the world right now, and I have no idea how much time I’ll have in the next six months to invest in this project, but I’d like, at bare minimum, to have one complete draft by the start of the next school year in September, which gives me just over 6 months. Which is probably too much time to actually motivate myself, but that’s not the point.

A manuscript needs to have a minimum word count of 50K words to be considered a novel, so, even though my ultimate goal for this project is around 80K words, 50K is going to be my goal for this draft.

I’m being optimistic about sticking with this.

Tuesday 23/02/2021 - Word Count: 3,099 I wrote nothing yesterday; planning to focus writing solely on days off rather than work days, but last night, watching through the incredibly long queue of Alexa Donne writing videos, I came to the conclusion writing every day, even just a little, would be the best way to ensure I keep working on this, so I set myself a goal of just 500 words a day.

Wednesday 24/02/2021 - Word Count: 5,350 After doing a little bit of maths as to how long this outlining and draft would take me if I were to only write 500 words a day, I decided to boost that goal to 1,000. I got started around 1pm today, online school draining me so much I couldn’t face another two hours. I worked on and off until 6pm, and around 4.45pm, I finished outlining Act One!

Thursday 25/02/2021 - Word Count: 7,022 I continued my scene outlining into Act Two, but I hit a brick wall around the midpoint. I have to write chronologically - some people jump around, but I have to write linearly, or it feels like I’m trying to make something in a void. It just doesn’t work. I didn’t know how to get from one scene to the next - there were so many things I needed to establish to get there, but I didn’t want to backtrack. I decided to re-jig the whole thing, but, after dinner, I realised I didn’t have to, and instead, decided to just start a draft, conscious of the things I need to establish as I go.

Friday 26/02/2021 - Word Count: 8,208 Starting draft one, I rewrote the prologue I’d already written, technically putting me to my second draft of it, because I’d been thinking about it for days and just wanted to revisit it, and it was so much better. Then I moved on to chapter one, but decided I wanted to re-jig my chapters. While outlining, I’d split the whole book into only about twenty chapters, but decided to go for shorter ones for more effective divisions of the story. I got most of the way through the first scene of chapter one, but basically ran out of both time and motivation, since I hadn’t heavily outlined that scene. in total, I wrote over 2000 words today, but because I only increased the prologue word count by about 100 words, it didn’t do that much to the total count.

Saturday 27/02/2021 - Word Count: 11,050 I got some chores done Saturday morning and focused on finishing my book so I could include it in my February wrap-up, but I still had time to get some writing done around mid-day. My goal was just to hit 10K this weekend, but I though I could do it in one day. I wrote about 1,000 words before feeling a little word-drained, but took a break for lunch, got back to it and wrote 2,400 words. Though that only added a little over 2,000 to the word count, it took me to 10K! I’m 20% of the way to being able to call it a novel! We’re in quintuple digits!

And then eight hours later, I wrote another thousand words and got to 11K.

Sunday 28/02/2021 - Word Count: 13,722 I spent most of my Sunday morning writing, though it took me more than two hours to write about 1500 words, though it only added about 1100 to my count. I decided to set myself an overall and weekly deadlines to hold myself accountable. Due to the fact I don’t yet have a clue how many words this will work out as, I decided I wanted to have either a complete first draft or 100K words (which I doubt I’ll reach, but it seems like a good way to make myself finish the draft before my deadline) by the end of April. Which works out to a little under 1500 words a day, or just under 11K a week, which is perfectly doable. Bearing in mind my current word count is including outlines, but I still believe in myself.

I wrote another 1600 words later, which took me to 14K, until I deleted the 300 word outline I wrote for one scene, but I worked out my words per day for the next two months with the assumption of a 10K word count as of March 1st and a target of either a complete draft or 100K words by the end of April, so I’m nearly 4,000 words ahead of schedule. Which gives me 6,606 words to write this week, instead of 10,328. (If you couldn’t tell, I like numbers. They just make sense to me.

Monday 01/03/2021 - Word Count: 15,005 I didn’t quite hit my daily goal, but I was completely leached of motivation today, I’m ahead of schedule anyway and I was only under by less than 200 words. It’s alright. But, hey, we hit 15K! Two days after hitting 10K!

Tuesday 02/03/2021 - Word Count: 21,119 This was an insane writing day. My end-of-day target was only 16,480, and that was still ahead of schedule - if I was sticking to the 100K by April 30th, I’d only actually need to be at 12,950 today. This was the best writing day I’ve ever had. I wrote before school and during breaks, which kept both my writing and working momentum up.

I didn’t read a page of my current read, but I wrote a total of 7,681 words and increased my wordcount by 6,114 words, or literally an additional 40.75%. I hit 20K three days after hitting 10K, and am 42.238% of the way to being able to say I wrote a novel, be it a shitty first draft that won’t be complete at 50K words.

I also finished chapter three, which I’ve been working on for three days and came out ~5,000 words, and wrote chapters four and five in their entirety.

Note to self: this is day 10 of vaguely outline-drafting this project.

Wednesday 03/03/2021 - Word Count: 23,364 I've only written 490 words today, as of writing this update, but I just wanted to make note of the fact I've done some calculations, and can reasonably finish my draft this month. I'm still not completely sure how long it'll work out to be, so I can't quite work out my daily words to finish on the 31st, but if I stick to my current 1,475 words a day, I'll hit 63,894 words by the end of the month, which is a little less than I imagine this draft will be, but if I stick to that as a minimum, my first draft won't have to go into April.

I'd like to post this later this week, but I already have a post for this Friday, so God only knows how long this will be by the time it goes up. So far, I've written 1,900 words today, and I don't think I'm out of fuel yet, but I'm stopping because I need to read today, and I'd rather not burn out. I'm over my goal, anyway.

Oh, also, I'm nearly at 25K, which is halfway to a novel, but I haven't broken into Act Two yet, which means this book will be 75K minimum. I'm going to do some maths and work out how many words a day to hit 80K by March 31st. 2,030. That's doable. So I haven't read, but back to writing for like ten minutes.

I've now hit an additional 2,245 words for the day, though I wrote a total of 2,663

Thursday 04/03/2021 - Word Count: 25,415 I've decided to work out how many words I need to write each day to hit 80K by March 31st, and watch the fluctuations. (I like statistics). It should steadily go down throughout the month if I surpass it each day. Today's minimum word count is 2,023, already seven words less than yesterday's. How exciting.

The last scene of Act One was very heavy on world-building I haven't yet figured out, so I stuck what was meant to happen in brackets and just moved on, meaning I have now broken into Act Two!

I think, during the week, I'm going to focus on just meeting my minimum word count rather than exceeding it, just to save fuel for the weekends, when I can write so many more words.

And, we hit 25K! I'm halfway to a novel!

Friday 05/03/2021 - Word Count: 26,693 In complete honesty, I'm beginning to lose momentum. Maybe it's just today, but I don't really want to write and feel like I need a break, but I'm going to make myself write anyway. I'm going to make myself keep writing until this draft is done, however shitty it may end up. I really hate first drafts.

When you say 2,000 words is only 7-8 pages, it doesn't sound like that much to write per day but my god. Luckily, most of the stuff I've had to save to a Pinterest board called 'Writing Motivation' says if you write when you don't want to, it should pass instead of worsening. I wanted to hit 35K this weekend, but I'm not sure I'll have the momentum. I'll at least hit 31,270, though, which is my minimum goal for this week. I'm still over 700 words off my goal for today, but I'm taking a break because my head is foggy and there's still eight hours left in the day. Besides, 700 after dinner is easy. She says, realising she's probably jinxing it. Oh, well. 80K by March 31st would be difficult, even if I weren't going back to school soon, but that's a stretch goal. 100K by April 31st is my minimum, and I'm 9,000 ahead of where I need to be for that.

I think I’m stagnating because I’ve hit the ‘Fun and Games’ section, which I find really boring. I’m going to try to keep going with it, but I may just skip it and come back later.

Saturday 06/03/2021 - Word Count: 28,150 So, I did not get the extra 700 words in. Before dinner, some stuff I had to deal with came up, and by the time it was done, I just wanted to go to bed, so I did. Today, I'm going to try to make up for it, which I think is reasonable because it is now the weekend. I'm still kinda exhausted this morning, but I'm going to do my best, and my wrist hurts, but I'm not sure why. You'd think it would be from all the typing, but only one wrist hurts - you know what? Never mind. They do both hurt. I'm just not sure why, but it doesn't hurt typing this, so that doesn't make any sense. Anyway, to hit my word count for the day, I need to write 2,555 words, which doesn't sound like too much, but it kinda is because I'm primarily writing Act Two at the minute, and for every thousand words I write, I lose like 400 from my outline. You'd think I'd just not include my scene outlines in the word count, but it's too late for that now.

I'm thinking this over, and I really don't think trying to write 80K by the end of the month is going to be good for either my motivation, mental health, or ability to function back at school, so I'm going to stick to 100K or a finished draft by April 30th, and re-work out my goals from there, based on yesterday's word count, so I'm not making myself do catch-up today.

So, to hit 100K by April 30th, I only need to write 1,309 words each day (which will decrease over time because if that's my minimum now, I'll probably surpass it, decreasing the amount of words left etc.). That's so much less pressure.

God, I really don't want to write today. I just want to watch YouTube and Netflix and read.

Okay, so here's the thing. I've been working on this story straight for three weeks and I'm kinda exhausted of it. I'm not done with it, not at all, and I want to keep working on it because it exists, which makes it workable.

I watched a writing vlog by ShaelinWrites yesterday, and she said she writes different projects at once, alternating in week- or multi-week-long blocks. I think I might try that.

My plan with this post and the following updates was to keep updating it until the day it goes up, the day after which is when I begin drafting the next, but, since I may be switching projects for a while and this is really about the project I've decided to dub 'Bay Tree' (which is just, I guess, a pseudonym for here because while I have no idea what it would eventually be called, I know that's nothing like the title I'd want to give it) so I'd want to start a new post for a new project.

I'm now doing a little outlining instead of actually continuing writing, but I think this will help me, though I'm still not certain about whether or not I'm going to directly continue with this specific project for the minute. Instead of setting daily goals based on a target, I'm also just going to say 1,000 words a day, and see where that takes me.

I've just been outlining into Act Three, and I've met a major plot stumble, but I'm going to work that out and explain what I'm doing in my next writing update.

So, go drink some water, eat if you haven't eaten in the last few hours, stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself how wonderful you are and how much happiness you deserve, and, if you want to write a book, stop thinking about it, and go write.

#blog #blogging #blogger #blogpost #blog post #writing #books #book #reading #read #write #writer #author #draft #first draft #story #writing blog #writerblr #bookblr #novel #debut

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metaldragoon · 3 years

Text

2020 wasn’t that bad of a year for me. I had to make a couple sacrifices; no basketball and no swimming, but otherwise my life was pretty un-disturbed. I wasn’t able to visit my family but I don’t even have a good relationship with them so “missing holidays” with them also meant “not having extreme anxiety about not being a disappointment.” I like going out to eat at restaurants and obviously couldn’t do that either, but it also meant “you have a lot of money saved up now.” So I don’t even consider either of those negatives. Swimming is a bummer though, I had a bit of an ambition to start triathlon training and I really suck at swimming. My goal was 750m in 10 minutes, but it was a struggle to even swim 750m a day and it’d take me about 20 minutes. I think I was down to like 17 or 18 minutes when the pool closed down but I still had a long, long way to go. My best friend is a lifeguard and he said 10 minutes isn’t that hard, and while he’s obviously a little detached from what a normal swimming time is for an untrained swimmer, I was mind-blown by him doing 50m in 25 seconds with literally never trying to time himself once in his life. 750m 10 minutes is also the minimum requirement to be a lifeguard where he works he said, so that’s why I made it my goal. But that will take a little while longer before I can ever get back in to it. Transitioning to the subject of basketball, I used to play quite a lot in my youth and as a 6′5″ guy with some good athleticism you know I don’t need any sort of skill to still be good. But having the knees of an 80 year old make it an issue with basketball being like the most loading-all-your-weight-directly-in-to-your-knees sport in the world. I believe it was around 2014 when I stopped playing in leagues and this year I was planning on reuniting with my old high school friends to enter some tournaments this year and terrorize northern BC and AB. I’m not as explosive any more so I was hoping to hit the gym and work on my outside shot ‘cause I at least know I will always be a good defender with my size and intelligence, and I went to one single pick up game this year, the same night Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID. It went okay, I had 0 stamina and even trying to rebound a basketball felt awkward much less lining up a jump shot, and then the guys I met up with were like “okay that’s the last game of the year” and I haven’t been able to ball since. But there was a decent amount of positives. I rolled through year 3 of my marriage and I think it’s going pretty swimmingly. No children yet though I’d still like some, but every year I kind of keep thinking “wow I’m so much more knowledgeable and in a more stable position in my life, thank god I didn’t introduce a child in to my previous environment.” Not that I’m a toxic shithead where no child can thrive, but I just think the more I wait the more super-father I can become. It’s always been like a life ambition to be a parent for me, like it felt important that my life is incomplete if I’m not able to do this and a lot of that also meant procreating and y’know, my child being a tall white quarter scottish/norweigan infant, but I’ve definitely been coming around to adoption and now don’t really care about having a child who has the same genetic information as me. I guess that’s all I have to say for now, wife and I are still discussing it and I’m sure it’ll be a few years, but, just a change of perspective I’ve had. I hopped back on to my Tetris grind recently as I’ve had four weeks off of holidays all packed in to the end of the year, I think it’ll be a trend that continues, but I don’t know for sure or anything. I made sort of a break through in controls that helped optimize my play a lot, and just last week I was able to get PBs in APM and 20/40/1000 line sprints from about a year and a half ago, so I’ve already adjusted to the changes that took me a while to get used to. My 20 and 40 line times are 30.626 and 60.708 seconds which is a little frustrating how close I am to clearing those rounded number milestones, but that’s a goal for 2021 I suppose. I could probably break them right now but just haven’t gotten lucky. I question if my fingers can really get any faster though, I think hand speed is a hard thing to develop as an old man, but world record is almost 4x faster so at the same time it’s a little foolish of me to think I’m near any sort of physical limit. My other last tangible success is running. I haven’t run since mid November because of winter in Edmonton ain’t worth it to me, I literally took all my holidays in winter simply for the sake of not having to drive to work as often. But yeah, I was definitely in the best running shape of my life. I’d been tracking my PRs all year, I’ll just quickly list them 100m: 13.8 200m: 33.3 400m: 1:08 800m - 2:48 1000m - 3:31 1 mile - 6:19 2 mile - 13:23 5K - 21:12 10K - 43:36 15K - 1:13:58 10 mile - 1:19:29 20K - 1:38:54 Half Marathon - 1:44:04 A lot of these I didn’t particularly work on setting, they just happened to get recorded by my watch while I was running longer distances. I’m not a sprinter at all as my times clearly indicate, I think anything under 1KM times are all pretty accomplishable by anyone who wants to work on them. I used to be run low 12 for 100m but I think I’m too old for that these days, the 200m was literally the first time I ever ran it, I just was never interested back when I was in track as a kid, 400m is kind of disappointing too because I was running 1:21 when I was 10 years old and I’ve only managed to shave 13 seconds off. 800 was just on the way to some other run so I don’t even really count it as a time, I think I could have definitely been 2:35 if I tried. 3:31 for the 1KM I did once to try and pace my friend for 3:45 and then I sprinted the last 200m so I coulda been quicker there, 1 mile I never attempted to run but I really wanted to get sub 6 minutes, I think I could but I’m not sure why I never attempted to run one. 2 mile is something I actually did run a lot, my neighbourhood is 2.5 KM, 3.2 KM is 2 miles, so I would quite often run it in the morning. My ultimate goal for a pace is 4:12/KM so once I hit that with my 2 mile run (4:10/KM pace) I didn’t push it further. 5KM and 10KM were both done on track where I actually spent the few surrounding days prepping for my run and are the two I’m proudest of, particularly the 10 KM, and the longer distances were all just set while I was trying to run a half marathon. My goal is an hour and a half for the half marathon, so while 14 minutes doesn’t seem extremely far it still is quite tough for me, I need to shave 45 seconds every KM 21 times in a row. I signed up for my first half marathon since 2014 for September 2021. My official PB is only 1:51 so I’m already better than I ever was, but I hope to train all year to shave off that last 14 minutes. My tangible improvement on a weekly basis with running was pretty comforting for my mental health. 29 has always been the age of physical peak for men, everything beyond is a decline until the end, but I never really felt plateaued throughout this year. I ran over 1200 KM last year, the last half of the year I was going for 50KM a week which I’m hoping to keep up again this year while also pushing even further as long as my body can hold up. I still get a lot of stingy injuries that cause me to miss a couple days here or there, but for the most part it went pretty well. Uh, I don’t even know what the point of writing all this was I guess. Just wanted to share that I continued to progress in life, which I guess is the only purpose I have in life, continue to better my life, and I can definitely say I’m better now than I was a year ago, and looking forward to continue an upward trajectory for 2021. Happy New Years.

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iplaywithstring · 4 years

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Budgeting Basics

This isn’t a “stop going to starbucks and save 10k a year” type of budget. This is a “I had a family of 4 on 25k a year” type of budget. In fact, I started budgeting the month I had to call the power company and ask for a payment plan because there was no way I could make the full payment that month. We’re much more comfortable now, partially because I learned these skills back then. It takes time. I’m sorry, but it’s true. It’ll likely be at least 6 months before you feel like you’ve got your budget “right” (as in, the right amount designated to each line item) and likely about a year before you feel like it’s making a difference.

Step 1 - keep track of everything you spend for at least a month, preferably two. If all of your transactions are digital (credit or debit), just go through your past transactions for this step. Put things together that make sense (groceries, fast food, etc.) BONUS STEP: if you have “pay by use” bills (electricity comes to mind), call the company and see if they can do equalized billing. If not, try to look through a years worth of payments and equalize it yourself (total paid divided by 12 = how much you should budget per month). Step 2 - Consider infrequent items - things that are somewhat predictable but generally end up eating a chunk of your money (holiday gifts, car inspection/maintenance, etc.). Divide the total yearly expense by 12, or by however many months you have left before you’ll have the expense. Step 3 - Decide how to group things. You’ll have categories and items. Some items in the category will be flexible and others will be standard each month. Here’s an example - Living expenses includes everything attached to your home (rent, power, cable, etc.) - Entertainment can include common things (eating out, spotify etc.) and longer term/less frequent things (saving 10$ a month for a games you might buy once or twice a year) - Transportation - transit pass, gas, repairs, insurance etc. - Food/necessities - food, cleaning supplies, etc. Whatever categories make the most sense to you. Step 4 - Find an app. I’ve used Mint and EveryDollar, I’ve got friends who swear by You Need a Budget. Personally I like EveryDollar’s interface best. Don’t pay any fee to link it to your bank account - it only takes 2 extra minutes to open your bank account in a different tab. Step 5 - Set up the app with the categories and info you have already. Some guidelines - round down any income (72$ becomes 70$ etc.) and round up any purchases (72$ becomes 75$) - this means you’ll always have a couple dollars left in the bank - Make “funds” for infrequent purchases (like 10$ a month for a game etc.). I also make a fund for a lot of my entertainment items (fast food, date night etc.) so anything that I don’t use gets rolled over to the next month. - Fill in the non-negotiable first (rent, bills, etc.) -When you enter debt into the app, put the one with the highest interest rate at the top - Put in your “optional” items (food, entertainment, etc.) based on what you’ve actually spent (the info from step 1). Only adjust amounts if you’re spending more than your income. Don’t expect to suddenly spend less just because you have a budget. Being frugal and keeping a budget are two different skills. - Put in the minimum payments for your debts for now Step 6 - If you have income left over (as in, everything you know you’re going to spend money on is listed and the total is less than your monthly income), put half of it into an emergency fund and half of it toward the top debt on your list. This set up might take 3-4 hours, so I recommend doing it over a few days. I find it easier to keep track by writing things down in a notebook, but that’s just me. I don’t keep track of my budget manually (in a notebook, or a spreadsheet) because the app is just so much more appealing than doing all the math myself.

NOW YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY USE THE BUDGET

- pick a consistent time (every payday, once a week, whatever - I recommend at least twice a month) to go through what you’ve earned and what you’ve spent. As stated above, I recommend rounding up what you spend (at least to the nearest dollar, if not to the nearest 5$). - Adjust things as necessary - Friend having a birthday and you want a gift? see if you can take a few dollars here and there from other optional items. NEVER TAKE FROM DEBT PAYMENTS OR BILLS! - that’s how you get into trouble - after 3 months, see if you’re consistently under/over spending in any specific category - you might need to adjust your budget or adjust your choices. Remember that following a budget is a different skill than being frugal. - If you have money designated but not spent (grocery money left over, entertainment money leftover etc.) put half into savings and half toward debt. There’s a temptation to put it all toward debt, but giving yourself an emergency fund could keep you from getting more debt in the long run. - If things are wildly different than budgeted (you’re spending 100$ a month on gas rather than the 50$ you budgeted), adjust the budget as close to the actual expense as you can. Over time you can adjust your spending, but at first it’s going to be a lot harder. - With any non-essential item, do your absolute best not to spend what you don’t have budget for. I’m not saying don’t eat, I’m saying learning to say no to yourself for optional things is a skill you need to practice so you can say yes to other things. - If life is easier with a 5$ fancy coffee once a week, then budget for the 5$ fancy coffee and make small adjustments elsewhere. You won’t stick to it if you feel it’s unfair.

With debt - pay the minimums each month, and put what extra you can toward the highest interest rate. When that’s paid off, put everything you were paying toward that on the next highest interest rate. It’s called the “debt snowball” and it really does work, but only if you keep up with your minimums and do everything you can to avoid adding more debt (sometimes more debt will happen, that’s not a personal failure, it’s how the system is set up). As mentioned at the top, this will take time to get used to. There will be unexpected expenses you hadn’t thought of. There will be times when you’ll spend money that wasn’t in the budget (an 80$ game when you only have 40$ in your “game fund”, but it’s on sale! It’s usually 110$!!) - you’ll deal, I promise. Keeping track - honestly and consistently - will help you make good decisions (in the above example, you can mentally calculate to take 20$ out of the “gifts for people” fund and another 20 out of the entertainment fund). At some point, you’ll have money in your car repair fund and the sound your brakes make won’t fill you with sickening dread.

#I've been doing this for 11 years #and when my husband lost his job last year we were ok #and 5 years ago when we needed a major car repair right before a planned vacation #it was ok #It's not eaesy #but it's ok #I want other people to be ok #Feel free to ask for more info #I'm a numbers nerd and budgets are fun for me #It makes me feel successful at something

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monstersandmaw · 4 years

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Patreon Tier Reshuffle in February and General 2020 Developments...

I gave my Patrons first look at this post, since some of the changes will affect their tiers (only to add content though!). Now I’m posting most of it to Tumblr for you to look at and perhaps have a think about...

It’s a long post, and I’m sorry for that...

First of all, I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s supporting me on Patreon, whether you’re a long-time supporter or you just joined. I know it's a big deal to give your heard-earned cash to someone on the internet and am well aware of the responsibility I have and what an honour it is to be on the receiving end of your generosity and support. So, yes. Thank you more than I can probably ever express.

Secondly, a reminder that all tiers have access to our chilled out Discord server forever. We’ve got a channel for sharing photos of pets, for general chat, for monsters, for sharing artwork of all kinds, a library to share your own stories, an nsfw chat, recipes etc., so hopefully there’s something for everyone, but there’s no pressure to be active if you’d rather not be! There’s also an ongoing DnD game with some of the folks on there too, which is fun!

It might be worth joining the server anyway because I have plans for a new perk which will involve Discord (see below), and I also occasionally run ‘Discord Drabbles’ where I ask for prompts on Discord from folks, which you might have seen posted on Patreon from time to time.

Now, finally, round to the topic of this post!

I’ve been thinking about how to make sure that every tier gets the most that I can give them for their money, so I’m going to do a little reshuffle. It will start in February, and I’ve made sure that I’m pretty much just adding stuff to each tier, so you won’t miss out in the reshuffle.

Here are the new things I’m running only on Patreon from February 2020 in addition to everything else (see below):

Sculpt This!

Patrons can submit artwork or detailed descriptions (a creature/monster, a character, an object) to a designated ‘Sculpt This!’ channel on Discord, and I will pick one to sculpt once a month. I will create a post on Patreon with the artwork and the artist’s name (and a link to their page/site if they have one, and photos of my final sculpture based on their design. That will be available to everyone from the $1 tier upwards.

For those on the $5 tier upwards, a short video will be available, featuring footage of the sculpting process itself.

If the person whose art I use is on the $20 tier or upwards, I will post them the sculpture if they’d like it.

Trope Tuesdays!

A poll will go up prior to Tuesday, with a list of common tropes (notably from the world of fanfic – things like ‘coffee shop’, ‘bed-sharing’, ‘enemies to lovers’, ‘5 times +1’ etc. etc.) and the winning trope from that poll will be the theme for a short story to be posted on a Tuesday.

I’m aiming for these short stories to be a variety of fluffy and steamy, available to everyone from the $1 tier up.

Character Letters

$10 and up patrons can request a letter once a month from their favourite characters from any of my stories (providing I wasn’t using someone else's OC for a commission or the like). This can be sent as a PDF by email and/or posted publicly to Patreon only (not Tumblr), with the option to remove the name if you’d rather remain anonymous.

$20 and up patrons can request a hand-written letter once a month from their favourite character, again with the option to have the text posted to Patreon or not, and with their name, or not.

Commissions

I'm still in two minds about opening these up on here because I got absolutely exhausted – mentally and physically – at the end of 2019 and I’m only just recharging again. I had said I would open them up to patrons only in January 2020, and I may yet do that. If I do, I will create 5 slots, and a maximum of 5k words per story initially, and see how that goes. I realise that’s a small number of slots, but it’s still a lot of work for me on top of the rest of the Patreon commitments. I hope you understand, but I know a number of you responded in a poll to say you’d be interested in commissions from me again.

$10 patrons receive 5% off the first 5000 words of writing commissions, and $20 receive 10% off the first 5000 words of commissions.

Continuing rewards:

Monthly story – the monthly exclusive story will still be available for $5 and up (some of these stories have been known to go up to 10k words and be in multiple parts – think Kieran the satyr’s story from October 2018!)

Early release – I will continue to offer all Tumblr stories (except paid commissions from non-patrons and giveaways/specials) on early release – minimum of 4 days, sometimes longer.

Polls – help me decide what to write next

Character bios and artwork

Future things I hope to bring in later this year:

Gaming with Ghosti

I hope to do some streaming via Twitch of me playing things either on the PS4 (like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or we could do a special Dragon Age: Inquisition playthrough together), or from PC which could include a number of games, from Witcher III (I still haven’t played much) to Mass Effect, chilled out Minecraft sessions, and a huge number of other games which you could choose to inflict on me and watch me flail around in.

Hopefully Mr. Ghosti could join in too and laugh along with you and just generally have a chilled out time. This would probably happen at the weekend, but I’d have to look into the logistics of it if there’s enough interest.

Discount for Patrons on my Etsy shop

It’s actually live right now, but I haven’t got anything listed yet as I’m unsure of the last few things I need to get in place, but once I’ve got things up on there, I’ll make an announcement and give patrons a special discount code to use in case there’s anything you’d like to buy, from jewellery to polymer clay charms/sculptures.

More Q&A type things and video content

Some of you seemed to enjoy the video I did answering your questions, so I could always do more of this, if there are things you’d like to ask! It could be about anything, not just writing. If there’s interest, I’ll look into it.

More milestone giveaways and mystery ‘lucky dip’ giveaways

I love sharing things with you, so when I hit 200 patrons, I’ll have to think up something special, and in the meantime, maybe I’ll do some more giveaways for you.

If there’s something that you would like to see that you think I could put up on Patreon for you, then please get in touch! I’m always looking for ideas

All tier rewards will be as follows from February 2020:

Brand new items in bold, and slight changes in italics:

(putting in a ‘keep reading’ because it’s getting silly now...)

Shadows:

access to the Patreon-only Discord

access to the ‘Trope Tuesdays’ poll and story

access to the ‘Sculpt This!’ posts

access to some character profiles, aesthetics, polls, and story ideas

small discount on my etsy store (when it opens)

and my undying gratitude!

Pixies and Goblins – all of the above, plus:

one Patreon-exclusive monster story per month

access to the ‘Sculpt This!’ process video

access to the extra, long-running story, released once a month (Werewolf story - coming soon!)

early access for all Tumblr monster stories (excluding paid commissions)

the ‘what’s next?’ poll to help me decide what monster or reader to write

Elves – all of the above, plus:

you can request a letter once a month from your favourite character of mine! This can be sent as a PDF by email and/or posted publicly to Patreon only, with the option to remove the name if you’d rather remain anonymous.

entry into the monthly 3k word story commission – if you are chosen (at random) from the Elves tier (and above) you can have a 3k word story of your choosing written for you

access to ‘Writer’s Corner’, featuring occasional blog posts about writing and workshop goings-on

small work-in-progress previews from both my monster stories and my original fantasy fiction ‘Weaver of Threads’

5% off the first 5000 words of writing commissions, and priority placement in the commissions queue

Orcs – all of the above, plus:

you can also request a letter once a month from your favourite character, but yours can also be hand-written and posted to you if you’d like! You also have the option of it being posted to Patreon or not.

One short story (maximum 1500 words) with a monster and reader of your choice per month (by request only), included within your subscription

A PDF version of any monster story I’ve written and published on Patreon or Tumblr (by request, and sent by email)

10% off the first 5000 words of a writing commission

if your design was selected in the ‘Sculpt This!’ feature, I can post the finished sculpture to you, if you’d like to have it.

Dragons – all of the above, plus:

One 5000 word story of your choosing will be written for you per month (no fanfiction) as a thank you for your patronage (by request only)

Entry into the monthly top tiers free story draw but your story is 4k words instead of 3k

20% off the first 5000 words of a writing commission

A character with a name of your choosing (upon approval!) will be added to a monster story

Priority on jewellery and metalwork commissions and a larger discount on my Etsy store (when that opens)

Kaiju – all of the above, plus:

if you win the random free commission, yours is 5k words instead of 3k!

One 7000 word story of your choosing will be written for you per month (no fanfiction) as a thank you for your patronage (by request only)

One hand written letter of thanks (I have nice handwriting, don’t worry!) sent to you by post, including a little short story

25% off the first 5000 words of a writing commission

30% discount on jewellery and metalwork commissions

Dedication by name in any published work (let me know if you wish to remain anonymous)

Hope you’re excited, and don’t forget that you can always get in touch with me on any of my platforms – Patreon, Tumblr, Discord. If you want to share something but also want to remain anonymous, just send an anon to Tumblr and ask me not to post it.

#patreon #exophilia #new stuff #new content #exophilia stories #monster stories #monster boyfriend #monster girlfriend #long post

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rigelmejo · 4 years

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Now, for fun, I just wanna compare MY past study methods to the massive immersion approach.

The massive immersion approach, stage 1 summary:

immerse 50% or more of the time.

learn kana *(or radicals if studying Chinese)

learn 1,000 kanji *(or hanzi) using SRS flashcards of Remember the Kanji, and use mnemonics if needed.

read through a grammar guide, just read through it do not worry about memorizing or understanding everything.

learn the 1,000 most common words using SRS flashcards

make (or use) sentence flashcards, in which you generally only are learning one new word/concept per card. Do this to continue increasing vocab, kanji (or hanzi) knowledge, grammar familiarity.

The study methods I used:

watch target level content from day 1 (but in english). Look up words/phrases I don’t know every once in a while. (In retrospect, I would have probably made more progress if I’d moved onto chinese-subtitles-only earlier on).

look up the radicals, get some familiarity with them and their relation to the characters. Mainly I read the writtenchinese.com “How to Read Chinese Characters: A Beginner’s Guide.” Free lists of the radicals can be found all over the place, and in most textbooks. This took a few hours.

read through a grammar guide, just aiming to get an overview of the grammar structures. This took two intense weeks of reading through it. I looked up “free chinese grammar guide” on google, and read through chinese-grammar.org. I also reference All Set Learning Chinese Grammar website on occasion, when I run into grammar that confuses me when I’m reading/watching something.

every couple weeks, I attempted: to watch a chinese show with only chinese subtitles, and to read a chinese novel with no dictionary. Ouch my brain felt fried. I did this mainly to gauge my progress, and figure out where I needed to study more.

every week, I attempted the same as above - except I allowed myself to look up whatever words I wanted. So for a show, I paused and looked up new words. For reading, I read with the aid of a Reader (Pleco Reader, Idiom, Zhongwen chrome extension etc) and looked up new words. I would do this in short bursts until I felt “drained/fried” lol. This is the closest I did to the kind of “immersion” suggested in the massive immersion approach guide. Except I would say my immersion was “intensive” since I looked up a lot of things, and gave up within several minutes each time because the activity was so draining.

I did attempt to learn some hanzi characters on their own. I bought the Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters (800 Characters), and Tuttle Reading and Writing Chinese (Simplified Edition). I did like both books, as they provided mnemonics to help me remember the hanzi (Also I just like reading books better than flashcards). I read through about 1/2 of each book. Even though I prefer reading, reading reference books is still a slog. I read through a chapter. Later, I’d pick up the book, take a highlighter, and would highlight hanzi I recognized on sight. So I read in bursts, until eventually the slog they were to read outweighed how much they were benefiting me. After that, I picked up most new hanzi by learning them as part of words in the following step (and when looking things up in immersion). I would, and still occasionally do, flip through the books again and highlight hanzi I recognize on sight. I hope that my highlighting gives me some at least estimate of the minimum amount of characters I’m familiar with.

learn the 1,000 most common words using SRS flashcards. I used Ben Whatley’s 1000 most common chinese words in dramas Memrise deck. I did this primarily because when I googled “how to learn to read chinese fast,” I found an article of a person who did basically what I was aiming to do, and they used this memrise deck to do it. I read the article “The Fastest Way to Learn to Read Chinese.” This article suggested learning the first 1000 most common words to help reading ability (rather than isolated characters, which are not always words on their own). Then, to move to graded readers next to start practicing reading while new vocab is built up easily with the reading material that’s at your level. Now that I’ve completed the deck, I agree with the article author’s experience. I am now able to comfortably read graded readers. It is now also much easier to watch shows with only-chinese subtitles, and read chinese novels that aren’t graded readers, and follow the gist by only looking up a few words (instead of virtually 1/2 the words or more). If your goal is to eventually be able to comprehend the main gist of target language materials made for native speakers, then learning the 1,000 most common words will give you a noticable improvement. Regardless of the language you are studying, I highly recommend doing this. (It also makes it much easier to talk to people, write, and listen to people in conversations... its still difficult, but much more doable with this solid basis of high frequency words).

The main differences between my study methods, and the massive immersion approach:

I don’t do nearly as much “immersion” where I sit down, engage with content and only look up something every several minutes. I usually either intensely study when I’m immersing by looking almost everything up, or I look up nothing and see how much I can comprehend. I plan to start doing more immersion like the massive immersion approach - immersion where I watch/read for enjoyment, and only look up things occasionally. This will be much more tolerable, now that I have a bigger base of vocabulary. I also feel this approach would be easier to do on a regular basis, since it is not as intensive.

I never did anything special to learn to ‘recognize’ the meaning of characters. I know why I didn’t - I studied japanese before, for 2ish years, and I did Remember the Kanji flashcards for it. And I hated it - cause I generally hate flashcards. I only tolerated the 1,000 word chinese deck because KNOWING 1,000 common words has a payoff that is SO worth the mind numbing hatred I have for flashcards. Now that i’ve done them, I just have to review them occasionally. 2 sucky months of flashcards, that was it. With japanese, I did months and months of flashcards... and I really never even got through more than 500 kanji. I struggled a ton with kanji. So with chinese, I decided screw it, I was going to just learn the characters IN words. Because when I took chinese in high school, that’s what our teacher had us do. Simple as that. In retrospect, I believe there is benefit in me going into Remembering the Hanzi and at LEAST reading through the book, and/or finding a nice website of hanzi mnemonics and reading through 1,000. Although I’m not sure how much benefit... as I already know 1,000 ish right now. I think the idea of having a ‘meaning’ associated with each hanzi would be helpful. That way when I run into new words, I’ve got these ‘building block’ meanings to help me remember that they combine to ‘create’ the new word. Right now I learned most words as their 2characters together (for example baohu, baozheng, baozhong). And I have no idea what bao means on its own, so I have difficulty remembering new words with ‘bao.’ But the examples I just gave, I’m better at remembering - because I know what zheng and zhong mean on their own, they help me remember ‘bao+zhong” = take care, and “bao+zheng” means guarantee. Baohu took me ages longer to remember, because it means protect, but I don’t know what bao or hu mean, so I just struggled to remember it was specifically “bao+hu.” I think if I had more building block meanings to attach to individual characters, it would help me learn new words better. If possible, I’d prefer to read through the Remember the Hanzi book, and/or a list of mnemonics for them. Then I’d like to just go through a Memrise hanzi deck (like Ben Whatley’s) just as review. I would prefer not to use a flashcard deck as the main way I learn them though.

I did not plan to do sentence mining. I’m still unsure if I want to. If I do eventually do sentence mining, I’ll either use Spoonfed Chinese Anki deck (if it covers enough words, and if i can tolerate anki...), or Clozemaster Chinese course (since it covers 10K is words in sentence contexts). I also found a sentence deck on Memrise, but it seems messily made and it tests typing every single time - when I really only want to test meaning, so the cards slow me down by making me type full sentences over and over.

At the moment I plan to do a majority of my study-time immersion on graded readers, and HSK 4 level webnovels. I would prefer to pick up a lot of new vocabulary by reading things that include the experience of “sentences with only one new concept/word” without making me use flashcards. The other main way I plan to pick up new words is to watch shows in chinese only, and look up new words in the subtitles every few minutes. I really... really... really hate flashcards. I can’t state that enough. Flashcard study is a huge reason I gave up studying japanese in the past - my study method was like over 50% going through 12 Memrise decks (the nukemarine Standard Guide To Japanese Literacy decks, which do work GREAT and gave me the first significant reading improvement I had in the language). I did so many flashcards though, and i hate flashcards. So I eventually dropped everything and stopped completely. Ben Whatley’s 1000 most common word deck is the ONLY deck over 500 items that I’ve ever finished. And a big reason I succeeded was being in lockdown, having nowhere to be, and my brain for once being focused enough to tolerate flashcards for a few weeks. So you can imagine how my progress went in japanese, I got through 4-5 of the 12 nukemarine decks, a few hundred items on the 10k core deck on anki, and then decided I had to stop. With french, I learned the 300 most common, 500 most common, and 1000 most common words with lists instead. I bookmarked/printed wordlists, and read through them every few days. Reading long blocks is easier for me than short flashcards, I don’t know why. It literally... takes me an hour to get through like 20 flashcards. I am incredibly bad at focusing on them, my brain is just almost never in the mood to focus. So... while I might eventually try out sentence mining, and seeing if it helps me... for the most part it sounds wholly unappealing to me to do it through the use of flashcards.

So, in summary:

I’m adding regular immersion of shows/novels, with just a little word lookup, to my study routine. I think this is a good thing to add, in addition to my occassional intensive immersion where I look up everything.

I’m considering reading through Heisig Remember the Hanzi, and/or a mnemonics list for them. Does anyone have a link to a good mnemonics website for the hanzi? Please recommend me a good resource if you know of one. In addition, I might go through Ben Whatley’s hanzi decks just for a bit of review/exposure to the ‘meaning’ of individual characters.

I may consider using Clozemaster as a sentence mining tool in the future. I may consider sentence mining premade decks if I find any useful ones. I only plan to do this if I try it, and feel it’s helping me improve significantly.

And, unrelated to the massive immersion method comparison: I plan to complete the Ben Whatley 1000-2000 most common word Memrise deck. I also plan to just glance though the HSK 3-4 Memrise decks and study the words I don’t know yet. I like using the Memrise decks to get a measurable number I can look at of words I am sure I’m familiar with. I go through the HSK decks to ensure that I have a rough estimate of what level I’m at, in comparison to a standard measure of language proficiency.

I also plan to read through some of my textbooks, but that is a low priority, because they will contribute the least to my immediate goals. I want to read them just to patch up any gaps in knowledge I have of common characters/common words, and any gaps in knowledge I have of basic grammar up to HSK 4. I have not been struggling with grammar at all in my reading/watching, so I haven’t had the need to look at my textbooks for any more specific goal. I generally only prioritize studying my textbooks when I want to get more grammar explanations and exposure to grammar structures in sentences meant to explain them.

#plan #study plan #progress #mia #mass immersion approach #remember the hanzi #rth #study method

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mthofferings2019 · 5 years

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astudyinsolitude

See astudyinsolitude’s existing works here

Preferred contact methods: Tumblr - astudyinsolitude-writes Email - [email protected] Discord - astudyinsolitude #9631

Preferred organizations: - Brain and Behavior Research Foundation - Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund - Lambda Legal (See the list of approved organizations here)

Will create works that contain: End result must be happy ending (fluff, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, etc) Can also include: AUs (canon fix-it, modern, shrinkyclinks/shrunkycluncks, soulmate/soulbond, fantasy/companion animals... I love AUs), NSFW, BDSM/ABO, polyamory, genderswap character, trans character, asexual character, neuroatypical character (depressioN/Anxiety/bipolar/AUtism/etc)

Will not create works that contain: Awkwardness as humor, cheating/infidelity (or thoughts of), major character death (other than canon), rape by a main character, evil main character, certain kinks (waterplay/scat/daddy kink/littles/humiliation)

-- Beta service --

Auction ID: 261

Will create works for the following relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers - MCU Clint Barton/Phil Coulson - MCU, Fraction Hawkeye Matt Murdock/Franklin “Foggy” Nelson - MCU Peter Parker/Wade Wilson - Deadpool movieverse, TASM, MCU Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson - MCU James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson - MCU Steve Rogers/Tony Stark - MCU Eddie Brock/Venom - Venom movieverse Captain America fandom gen - MCU Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse fandom gen - SM:ITS

Work Description: I predominately do spelling/grammar checks and continuity (scene pacing/character actions/dialogue). I tend to provide a thorough commentary, touching on everything I notice regardless of how minor it is and letting my author decide which changes to accept. I never intend to be harsh and will never be upset/annoyed/any negative reaction to my author choosing not to use any of my suggestions! I always want to keep communications open and honest, so since I frequently return works covered in comments/suggestions I am probably not the right beta for you if you primarily need encouragement/pointing out things that worked well (though I always do, with enthusiasm!!). I am only here to support you and help your work grow, and would feel horrible if instead my beta style would hurt your confidence and joy in writing.

As a beta, I am open to almost anything. I want to provide the services YOU need, so please contact me if you want to make sure my abilities mesh with your needs. For example, I will beta non-MCU fics but won’t be able to help with whether characters are OOC for that universe; I am open to most pairings but may not have enough in-depth knowledge about the characters to weigh in on whether the relationship feels natural for someone more familiar with canon/fandom interpretations of that relationship. I love the relationships I’ve got listed up above, but I am definitely open to other pairings upon request!

*I have not seen Infinity War, Endgame, or Far From Home.* I will gladly beta for fics set during/after those films, but can't weigh in on how well it sticks to canon. That may change by the time I get around to beta work, but if not - I've tried to keep up with what's happened through spoilers and whatnot, so hopefully that helps. I take the perspective that the writer gets to do whatever they want with their plot and characterizations, because it’s theirs now, so I focus on making sure that it makes sense within the universe you’ve created rather than needing to be exactly as canon would be.

My RL job is tax accounting, and there's quite a few deadlines that limit my availability. If you have a regular posting schedule, then from Aug 15-Nov 15 and Jan 15-May 15 you'd have to keep me 2-5 chapters/weeks ahead of your schedule depending on the kind of beta work you'd like me to do. I always try to get things done far sooner as much as possible (I love to beta!), but timing is a big factor that I want to be upfront about because sometimes I may drop off the face of the earth for a few weeks. I do my best to respond asap, even if it's just to say I'm busy and will get back to you as soon as I get the chance.

For a couple different reasons, not all of my 2018 MTH auctions are done. Those auctions will take a priority over these 2019 MTH offerings, but I'm confident that I can handle these new auctions while I finish wrapping up the old ones!

I’ve worked with varying levels of writers in the past (from marking a few things per page for basically-complete works, to helping re-write chunks of dialogue & standardize characterization throughout the fic). These aren't minimums, you don't have to pay any certain amount for the kind of services you want, but here's some suggested levels:

- $5: final-round beta, or less than 2k - $10: mostly drafted works, or 5k+ - $20: rough drafts, dialogue help, or 10k+ - $50: series, 50k+ Both my beta offerings are the same, so bid on whichever you like!

TL;DR - please make sure a more in-depth, lots-of-comments beta style and limited/inconsistent timing are okay with you. I am more than happy to chat if you have any questions for me or want to discuss the work you'd like me to help you with!

Ratings: Teen, Mature, Explicit

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

-- Beta service --

Auction ID: 606

Ratings: Teen, Mature, Explicit

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

– Fic or other writing –

Auction ID: 452

Will create works for the following relationships: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers - MCU James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson - MCU

Work Description: This offering is for a fill or sequel of your choice from the following options:

1) A 2k minimum prompt fill in my “Something In the Air” series - Steve/Bucky, BDSM/dom-sub AU, modern Bucky, not canon compliant after Avengers 1. See the fic “Without a Care” for an example. I reserve the right to modify your prompt as needed, but will do my best to work with you to find something we can agree on.

2) Continuation of my WIP sequel “(Keep You) In the Dark” in the afore-mentioned universe. This would only be for a prioritization of the fic to the top of my list; I am happy to get prompts/ideas, but will take the sequel in the direction I choose.

3) A sequel in my “Phoenix” series (first installment on posting schedule to AO3) - Steve/Bucky/Sam, modern/no powers AU, ABO, established Steve/Sam. Same stipulation as the above sequel option. Please please please come and talk to me before bidding, thanks!

Writing is a slow process for me, and I have limited availability during a lot of the year so I cannot promise when these will be finished but will do my best to get them done by the soft deadline!

Ratings: Explicit

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

The auction runs from October 19 (11:59 PM ET) to October 26 (11:59 PM ET). Visit marveltrumpshate.com during Auction Week to view all of our auctions and to place your bids!

#astudyinsolitude #auction: beta #auction: fic #marvel trumps hate

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dazebrasrecs · 6 years

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Fic Recs: SuperBat (Detective Comics)

All fics are complete. This list will be updated.

Abducted! by Mithen

Length: 4k / Rating: E / Genre: PWP / Warnings: BDSM

Summary: Bruce Wayne is "kidnapped" for "alien experimentation."

Action and Re-Action by Mithen

Length: 24k / Rating: M / Genre: drama / Warnings: torture

Summary: In the first issue of Justice League after the reboot, Batman told Green Lantern he had never met Superman before. This story takes that statement at face value--but what if Bruce Wayne had met him before?

Acts of Man by aintitnifty

Length: 19k / Rating: T / Genre: drama / Warnings: N/A

Summary: It all started with a circus, a fall, and a boy...

Any Way You Want It by BuckinghamAlice

Length: 1k / Rating: E / Genre: PWP / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Bruce and Clark play a round of "lie back and let me make you feel good." Spoiler alert: everyone wins.

Bat Soup, Or: How Bruce Wayne Made Friends With Pleasure Before Business by bluestalking and feverbeats

Length: 18k / Rating: E / Genre: Drama / Warnings: Implied/Referenced underage sex

Summary: “I suppose that finding out the nice Kansas boy is as strong as five hundred Batmans isn’t doing your mood any favors,” says Alfred.

Begging for Mercy by Mithen

Length: 2k / Rating: M / Genre: PWP / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Clark Kent is captured and being interrogated by some mobsters. What they don't know is that Batman's listening in via communicator--and whispering in Clark's ear the whole time.

A Change of Disguise by Emanium

Length: 5k / Rating: E / Genre: PWP / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Ever since Brucie outed himself as bisexual, he has had boy toys draped all over him in every minute of his social events. Clark finds it hard to not strangle these men.

Comfort by fishfingersandjellybabies

Length: 1k / Rating: G / Genre: Fluff / Warnings: N/A

Summary: In which Damian has a nightmare, and his stepdad takes care of him.

Control Issues by Mithen

Length: 5k / Rating: M / Genre: PWP / Warnings: BDSM

Summary: When Superman gets mind-controlled and tries to kill Batman every other week, it's probably inevitable he and Bruce would develop something of a kink about it.

Crossed Wires by RileyC

Length: 2k / Rating: T / Genre: Romance/Fluff / Warnings: N/A

Summary: When Bruce shows up at the farm with a lead-lined box Clark jumps to all the wrong conclusions.

Dodi Li by TheResurrectionist

Length: 6k / Rating: M / Genre: Romance/Humor / Warnings: N/A

Summary: the one where Bruce and Clark vacation with the batkids, everything goes wrong, and Clark is just trying to propose to his boyfriend, okay?

Duoing High-Level Content by Mithen

Length: 3k / Rating: G / Genre: romance / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Clark Kent got into playing an online multiplayer game in his free time to relax. But when he meets another player whose fighting style meshes perfectly with his own, he finds an additional reason to spend time in the virtual world.

Fake Empires by copperbadge

Length: 12k / Rating: T / Genre: Drama / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Bruce Wayne can't possibly be as dumb as he acts, and Clark Kent isn't as ordinary as he appears.

Four Days on a Farm in Kansas by FabulaRasa

Length: 28k / Rating: E / Genre: Humor / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Bruce comes to spend a few days at the Kents' farm. Clark tries to be all things to all people. Bruce is kind of an asshole. Does any of this really need saying? Featuring: tractors, misogyny, embarrassing parents, Ikea, awkward barn sex.

Gotham Serenade by cycnus39

Length: 15k / Rating: M / Genre: Drama / Warnings: violence

Summary: The Joker has a gift for Batman...and Superman is the wrapping paper.

Habits series by haljordont

Length: 9k / Rating: M / Genre: romance / Warnings: N/A

Summary: It is not, he firmly tells himself, a habit. Maxwell Maltz said it takes a minimum of twenty one days to form a habit. This is only the eighteenth. He’ll stop before then and maybe he’ll confess that he’s been invading his friends’ privacy and Bruce will do that thing where he surprises him with how calm he is about it and–

His Untamed Heart by Mithen

Length: 4k / Rating: T / Genre: Humor / Warnings: N/A

Summary: When Bruce Wayne discovers that the male leads of a variety of romance novels bear an uncanny resemblance to him, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

In Case You Were Wondering by RileyC

Length: 12k / Rating: M / Genre: romance / Warnings: N/A

Summary: There was some Pink K, and it was good, except everything moved really fast, with no time for wooing and courting. Bruce decides Valentine's Day is the perfect time to make up for all of that.

Interview with a Batman by Mithen

Length: 7k / Rating: T / Genre: drama / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Batman offers Clark Kent a deal--an interview with him, in exchange for information about Superman.

A Marvel of Kryptonian Design by Mithen

Length: 3k / Rating: M / Genre: PWP / Warnings: semi-public sex

Summary: Superman arrives at the Fortress to find Batman designing something from Kryptonian crystal. It isn't quite what he expected, but he's willing to have a little fun with it.

Nor Ever Chaste by ren_makoto

Length: 7k / Rating: M / Genre: humor / Warnings: N/A

Summary: "Are we going to do this at my place, or yours?" Clark asked. Bruce didn't change the subject or shy away, didn't even blink. "Mine," he said

Prolonged Eye Contact by SeaPlume

Length: 5k / Rating: T / Genre: PWP / Warnings: N/A

Summary: "I'll have Malone pay you a visit. I'm sure you'll get along famously." It was all Batman's fault, really.

The Power Not to Do by Mithen

Length: 4k / Rating: M / Genre: PWP / Warnings: N/A

Summary: After a close call being exposed to sex pollen in Gotham, Batman insists that he and Superman build up a tolerance to it. It's one of the more unusual first dates Clark has heard of...

Relinquishing Control by foxyk

Length: 22k / Rating: E / Genre: Hurt/Comfort / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Superman worries that if he lets go he'll injure his partner. Batman knows better. Batman worries that if he lets someone else in, he'll hurt them. Superman knows better.

Reservations by Lemonade_Garden

Length: 11k / Rating: T / Genre: Romance / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Bruce Wayne's kids make a high stakes bet to find Bruce a girlfriend. Clark is. . . not sure how he feels about this. What follows is a tale of romance, friendship, family, tractors, bullet wounds, Stephanie Brown's (frankly amazing) motorcycle, and too many PowerPoint presentation jokes.

Rest by mitzvah (Melting)

Length: 2k / Rating: T / Genre: angst / Warnings: mental illness

Summary: The little blue planet rotates slowly beneath the expanse of empty universe dark and limitless above. Batman stands in the privacy of his personal quarters and watches the celestial bodies move.

For hours. And… hours

Semi-Permanent Couplings by ren_makoto

Length: 10k / Rating: E / Genre: PWP / Warnings: infidelity

Summary: "So, Bruce, how do you feel about one night stands?"

Silver-Blue by Mithen

Length: 4k / Rating: M / Genre: Romance / Warnings: N/A

Summary: When Clark goes into "Kryptonian heat," Bruce is resigned to doing his duty

Stop, Don't Stop by BuckinghamAlice

Length: 2k / Rating: E / Genre: PWP / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Clark is spending the night at Wayne Manor and is determined to help Bruce not be quiet, no matter who may hear.

Strong as Gossamer by Mithen

Length: 2k / Rating: E / Genre: PWP / Warnings: BDSM

Summary: How to restrain a Kryptonian effectively? Bruce has some unorthodox ideas...

Technical Knockout (TKO) by Pandamomochan

Length: 5k / Rating: E / Genre: PWP/humor / Warnings: N/A

Summary: More often then not, Bruce is the only one leaving the bedroom feeling completely spent. Clark says he's satisfied, but Bruce isn't completely convinced. Now he plans to make it his personal mission to give Superman a night he'll never forget.

That Which We Call a Rose by arysteia

Length: 12k / Rating: E / Genre: romance / Warnings: N/A

Summary: The course of true love never did run smooth. When Clark Kent met Bruce Wayne. And Bruce Wayne met Superman. And Superman met Batman. And Batman met Clark Kent. And Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne finally got their acts together...

Trust as an Alien Concept by Mithen

Length: 4k / Rating: G / Genre: humor / Warnings: N/A

Summary: Superman is dating Batman; this means fun family times with Damian's two daddies, right? Damian begs to differ.

The Unbroken Circle by Mithen and Rai_Daydreamer.

Length: 5k / Rating: T / Genre: drama / Warnings: N/A

Summary: A magical mishap gives Batman Superman's powers--with a twist.

Vaster Than Empires by Mithen

Length: 17k / Rating: M / Genre: drama, action / Warnings: slavery

Summary: A Zeta beam gone wrong strands Clark and Bruce on an alien planet in the distant past where Bruce must pretend to be Clark's pleasure slave.

The World's Greatest Detective Has a Belated Epiphany by Mithen

Length: 2k / Rating: G / Genre: Romance, humor / Warnings: N/A

Summary: When Dick Grayson runs off with Roy Harper, Bruce Wayne is horrified--because he knows Clark Kent is on his way to the Manor to tell Bruce he's in love with Dick! Luckily, Bruce is ready to get through this with all the aplomb he usually has when dealing with interpersonal relationships. (Alfred wisely takes cover).

#superbat #dc #batman/superman #fanfic #fic rec #superman #clark kent #bruce wayne/clark kent #Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne #bruce wayne #fanfiction #Fic #DC comics

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prewars · 6 years

Text

heres that list of unsolicited fic recs that ive amassed over the past few years when i get certain itches to deep-dive ao3 and be disappointed, this isnt everything but these are ones over 5k, mostly over 10k, thanks for the unnecessary encouragement @sonnywortzik @becominganoven @donotloseme @dicktective

Crossed in the places that you never knew to get through by noelia_g (generation kill)

It's not the real beginning. Things have happened before that led to this, things thousands years in the making and things quite recent, like the wound still bleeding, dark blood seeping into the dirt. But it's a beginning nonetheless. Right here, right now, this happens.

Après moi le deluge by beyond_belief (gen kill)

He can pop Motrin for the pain but there's nothing to be done for his jagged nerves. Rudy suggests more yoga, his mom suggests meditation, Patrick suggests he get laid. The Corps suggests a promotion, and Nate finds himself a Captain. There's a small voice in the back of his head that says, This isn't what you want, and it's getting louder day by day.

Aftermath, USA by traveller (gen kill)

The morning of the assassination, Patti Jankowski got up, took a long shower and towel dried her hair before braiding it into two long ropes that hung over her shoulders. She put on jeans, a t-shirt that showed Mickey Mouse saluting the American Flag, a light tan windbreaker and her comfortable blue SAS sneakers. In her shoulder bag she put a Smith and Wesson .22 caliber revolver, and an umbrella. The forecast was for a 62% chance of rain.

Adrift by visiblemarket (constantine)

Time was, Chas would’ve offered John the bed to make sure he rested, then crammed himself atop the sagging, scratchy, ancient cushions instead. That time has clearly passed. John tries not to let it bother him, but he’s had a hard enough time sleeping lately, and as soft and warm as the blanket Chas tossed him the night before was, it hadn’t much helped. And so he awakens to birds chirping, sun streaming through big airy windows, and a colossal headache.

to know me as hardly golden is to know me all wrong by norgbelulah (justified)

The God’s honest truth of it was that he didn’t want to be whatever Boyd was, he didn’t want to be Boyd Crowder’s friend, and he didn’t want to follow him down into the darkness that was always waiting for them both. And he knew if he stayed, he would be all of those things and learn not to mind them.

I Have Always Lived in the Moment by scioscribe (justified)

Tim says that technically he was only mostly dead, and mostly dead is still slightly alive. The witty repartee would be more convincing if Tim could get some color back into his face. Raylan remembers an overwhelming whiteness. Art wants to know: Like the tunnel with the light at the end of it? No, Raylan says, blander than that, and icier, too. Like an afterlife manufactured by IKEA.

To Call the Darkness Home by scioscribe (justified)

After a time, even the nightmares stopped, and he started bitching like an ordinary person about the low pay and the roaches, exactly as if Lexington hadn’t been his longed-for salvation. But there must have been some uneasiness in him that he just hadn’t paid any mind, because every time he had left, he had gone farther and farther away, until he had threatened to run right off the coast into the Atlantic.

Where's Waldo? by swamplamp (better call saul)

Jesse Pinkman manifests on his doorstep like a wet dream that nobody asked for. It's 4 AM. "You're a sight for sore eyes," Saul remarks flatly, squinting out towards that semi-familiar face. Seeing Pinkman lets old feelings roll back in and isn't that a shame? Saul makes to shut the door and go back to a kinder slumber. But he stops. Saul feels a twinge of sympathy worming its way into his chest before he can start pulling the door closed. They stand there for a moment, steeped in caution and confusion.

By daybreak we'll be gone by storm_petrel (the losers)

Clay has a handful of life philosophies that he’s gained though years of extremely hard-won experience. Sleep when you can. Keep track of where you stash your boots and dog tags, because they don’t come with you. Trust the people who earn your trust. When in doubt, and in the absence of a proper machine gun, go for a sidearm with more than ten rounds in the magazine and minimum .38 calibre for decent stopping power. If still in doubt, shift out and go for the jugular.

In All the Tongues of Men and Angels by coinin (the losers)

Carlos Alvarez, first son after three daughters, was not supposed to join the Army. Carlos Alvarez was supposed to go to college, major in something useful like business or civil engineering, graduate with honors, marry a nice Catholic girl, and provide his parents with grandchildren while establishing himself in a respectable field of employment. Unfortunately for his parents, Carlos Alvarez was of the opinion that the suburban American ideal could go fuck itself.

the prisoner's dilemma by arbitrarily (free fire)

“Jesus Christ. What the fuck happened to you two?”

“First date,” Justine says.

“Went dutch,” Chris says.

Places We Don't Belong by easternepiphany (community)

Yesterday they went hiking in the Sandia Mountains, made it to the top of the trail, and celebrated by making out against a tree, slick with sweat. They were caught by a family of four, two parents and a son and a daughter, all who looked on in horror. The mother asked, in a stern and angry voice, weren’t they a little old for such antics. “Probably,” he said with a shrug and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

A Fool For Your Face by Ghostcat (you’re the worst)

The days after Becca and Vernon’s shitstorm of a party were golden, as if he and Gretchen were finally alone. As if her depression had moved house, left the country, waved goodbye. They laughed and fucked, got drunk or didn't. Did drugs or went dry. Or kissed. For hours. Leaning against the brick wall of some local dive turned glorious oasis because of her lips.

But the walls are giving way by FanchonMoreau (mozart in the jungle)

“You don’t have to feel obligated to stay with us,” Cynthia tells him. “But you’re my orchestra,” Rodrigo insists. She smiles. “We’re big kids. We can take care of ourselves. Take a gig somewhere else if you need to. Trust me, we’ve got this.” He does trust her, and he trusts his orchestra. And he’s not stupid enough to miss the implication that perhaps he’s not wanted here, at this particular moment.

the grave robbers by arbitrarily (american gods)

“Okay, fine. I liked vodka and I liked whiskey. I didn’t even like the top shelf shit — I liked the cheap stuff, the stuff that burned on its way down. I liked it when I felt like it could make me choke. I liked when my bedsheets were tucked in so tight I could barely crawl in under the covers and I slept like I was trapped. I liked the smell of bug spray. I liked the burn of that, too. I liked when I stayed in the tub too long and my skin went all wrinkly and gross, and okay, I get the fucking irony of that now — no need to remind me. I liked when glue dried on my fingers and I’d peel it off. I liked angel food cake. I liked when I’d lay in bed at night sometimes and be just about to fall asleep, but then, I’d jolt awake, like I was falling down a flight of stairs or something in my almost dreams. Or whatever. You know — everyone knows that feeling.”

Reconstruction Site by disco_vendetta (pacific rim)

One day he looks up from the scaffolding and realizes that he’s almost exactly at Jaeger height and has to wrap his hand tight against the metal to keep from stepping out into the air. Not because he wants to kill himself or anything, just because for a split second his mind felt that old equilibrium and he just knew he should be able to, should be able to walk straight across the valley in front of him and out into the sea and on forever until he finds whatever’s next.

Benediction by sistermercury (the exorcist)

“I had to see.” Tomas starts weakly, and something inside Marcus begs for both of them to stop; Begging Tomas because he doesn’t want to know, can’t hear about another goddamn vision, not tonight. Begging himself, because something’s gone wrong and his self-righteousness can wait. It won’t be the first time Marcus fails to follow his own good advice.

he's alive! i'm alive! we're all alive! (oh, this case just got busted wide open) by rustykitchenscissors (mcu)

The next day, he rides his new motorcycle downtown and walks around until he sees a store full of the kinds of phones the other Avengers use. They’re all so thin he thinks they’ll break the moment he picks them up. Like how Bucky said for a while after, “I bet you met your old self like this, you’d break all his bones just going for a handshake, huh?” Only when drunk, of course. That mix of bitter and wonderstruck, hair scrambled across his forehead. “I bet you’ll snap me in half without thinking one of these days.” And Steve would throw an arm across his shoulders and pull him in tight to make sure he knew, Look, fuck that. I swear to God you’re steel to your core.

a tree grows in brooklyn by newsbypostcard (mcu)

"It's done, Buck," he says painfully, lying himself back on the ground. "All that's left is to leave." They don't leave. He can't. His chest rises and falls, too hard and too obvious.

Responsible Science by lettered (mcu)

Three weeks after Bruce left New York, Black Widow found him in Honduras.

the blackberries in the thickets by newsbypostcard (mcu)

"You are James Buchanan -- like the President -- from Illinois, Nevada, California, and New Jersey. I am Grant Stevens -- wanted to be Ulysses Grant, but Nat said two dead presidents living at the same address might sound a little fishy -- from Florida, Connecticut, Washington, and New York."

Bucky frowns at him. "How come you get New York?"

"Just worked out that way."

Life of Crime by neveralarch (mcu)

It's really hard to run through Boston when you're carrying a quiver on your back, a bow in one hand, and a huge bag of money in the other. Still, Clint's doing fine—he's had a ton of practice, after all. He's never going to win any Olympic medals (for, okay, lots of reasons), but he's fast enough for a guy on foot. Doesn't matter, because this chick's gaining on him anyway. Fucking flying. It's gotta be cheating.

#there's like probably half a million words here so have fun

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