#requirements. i have like. 4 1/2 pages. and two more paragraphs to write.
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the need to invent a paper that i can actually write.
#this is a reflection on my own fucking experiences that draws quotes from things i've read. you'd think it wouldn't be this hard.#and yet. i have been struggling to write this shot all week.#it's 4:30am i'm sooo tired but i literally will not be able to write any of this tomorrow so i NEED to finish it before i fall asleep#or it straight up won't get done.#the thing that's really killing me tho is that it has to be 7 pages. and this professor has really stressed how much he wants it to be 7 pa#pages. like he's said that as long as we meet the page requirement we'll be fine. but here is the thing!!! i am so bad at meeting page requ#requirements. i have like. 4 1/2 pages. and two more paragraphs to write.#like SEVEN pages???? man come on please.....
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Even more AO3 tips and tricks by psyluna
Here’s another collection of tips for AO3 users. The first post is here. You can skip to the section you want to read, it’s not sequential. In order, you’ll find tips for: 1) Posting and formatting; 2) Filters; 3) Site skins; 4) Popular tag meanings; and 5) A few Alternate Universes (AUs). The last section is more fic-related than AO3-related. Enjoy!
PDF version here.
♥ Posting and formatting ♥
You can save a story or chapter draft. AO3 keeps it for up to 30 days if not published.
AO3 does not automatically save what you write on the chapter text box. You have to press “Save as draft” for that. If your browser crashes or refreshes, or just about anything happens, it is gone. It’s highly unadvisable to write fic directly in that text box. The website tells you that all the time, but so will I: always keep a copy (or two, or three) of your work.
You can backdate a story if it was originally posted years ago. You cannot date your story for a future day, though.
Queuing chapters for automatic posting is still unavailable as of 2022-11-13.
Changing the posting date to “today” without any changes or updates is considered rude and unnecessary. People will search via tags and pairings anyway, and some won’t even check the most recent, especially in big fandoms.
There might be formatting issues copying text from Google Docs and pasting on AO3, even with the Rich Text option. Here is a fix. Follow the instructions and you’re good to go.
Also from Google Docs: sometimes, copying and pasting directly will add extra blank paragraphs on your chapter. One fix is to add spaces between paragraphs on the Docs file. Select your whole text, click the “Line and Paragraph Spacing” option on the toolbar, click “Add space between paragraphs”. Copy the chapter, paste on AO3.
Here’s another way to fix the undesired blank paragraphs.
Posting “works” that go “help me find this fic, I forgot the name” is a violation of the Terms of Service. Help requests are not fanworks, and AO3 doesn’t archive those. Do not post them, and you can report them if you ever come across one.
Not all works with low/no word count are against the Terms of Service. Some are fanart, podfics, or chatfics coded with CSS. Yes, you can post those on AO3.
♥ Filters ♥
Filtering in the tags you want is already effective, but so is filtering out. Set the “Include” and “Exclude” options on your filters for the results you want.
Type otp: true on the “Search within results” box if you’re looking for fics with only one pairing. Useful for rarepair readers and excluding ships written as background couples.
If your fic is on hiatus/discontinued, don’t mark as complete. Adding [on hiatus] or [discontinued] to the title/summary is better
Having trouble with multifandom one-shot collections clogging the search? You can skip some by excluding crossovers.
Sorting by kudos gives you an okay lead, if you’re new to a fandom and don’t know what to read. However, kudos count isn’t a quality meter, it’s a popularity meter. Some fandoms have juggernaut ships taking over 50% or more of the fanworks, and other pairings lean on the ignored side. Others are written divinely, but are unlucky, unknown, or just niche.
Alternatively, sort by bookmarks to find fics with returning readers.
♥ Site skins ♥
There are four official site skins: Default (white/red), Low Vision Default (white/red with increased font size), Reversi (dark mode), and Snow Blue (white/blue). You can change easily to one of them via the “Customize” section on the bottom left of the page.
There are many public skins available to use and/or modify. Go to your Dashboard → Skins → Public Site Skins to check out the options.
There are even more skins posted as works (yes, you can also post those). Copy the CSS, “create” a skin, paste on the text box, save, and apply, no coding required.
If you’re well-versed in CSS, you can make your own skin or modify a preexisting one. It’s a pain if, like me, you have no idea what you’re doing, but doable with time and patience.
When trying to create a skin, some preexisting CSS will not conflict with others, so you can mash them together no problem.
I highly recommend using Notepad++ for editing CSS.
♥ Popular tag meanings ♥
Dead Dove: Do Not Eat: “what it says on the tin”. If there is a tag for [thing], you’re going to find [thing] in the fic. Usually found in fics with controversial content, but not restricted to them. Serves to reiterate taking the tags seriously. More on Fanlore.
No Beta We Die Like Men: “fic posted without beta reading”. Might have variations, replacing “men” with the name of a character who dies, or something else like “no beta we die like my grades”. More on Fanlore.
Character Study: “work exploring a character in-depth. More on Fanlore.
Canon Compliant: “agrees and follows canon”. More on Fanlore.
Canon Divergence: “disagrees with/diverges from canon”. More on Fanlore.
Fix-It: “tries to repair ‘damage’ done by canon content”. More on Fanlore.
Aged-Up Character(s): “character(s) are depicted as older”. More on Fanlore.
Slow Burn: “fic with slow development, usually romantic”. More on Fanlore.
Hurt/Comfort: “a character is in pain or emotional distress, while another character takes care of them”. More on Fanlore.
Found Family, aka Family of Choice: “two or more characters treat and/or consider each other as family, even if not blood-related”. More on Fanlore.
Bunny Farm Escapee: “a plot bunny the writer has tried to contain from becoming a fleshed-out fic, but couldn’t, and this is the result”.
Long Live Feedback Comment Project: refers to the Long Live Feedback initiative.
♥ A few Alternate Universes (AUs) ♥
Check this list for many more!
Soulmate: two or more characters are connected or fated to meet. The nature of that connection varies, from having the same birthmarks to hearing the other person’s thoughts. They might be a perfect match, or just forced to be a pair by chance. In some stories, bad things could happen to them, or the world, if they don’t get together.
Coffee Shop: characters work in a coffee shop and/or are regulars there.
Omegaverse: characters have different biology from regular humans. Your mileage may vary as to how different, but in summary, there are three subcategories (alpha, beta, omega). They involve some “canine-like” things, like being in heat, even cisgender men.
No Powers: characters who have powers in canon don’t have them here.
All Human: characters who are non-human in canon are human here.
Flower Shop & Tattoo Shop: characters work on one or the other in nearby shops.
Wrong Number: characters meet by texting or calling the wrong number.
Fake Dating: characters pretend to be in a relationship.
Hanahaki Disease: one or more characters are affected with a disease that makes them cough flowers when in love with someone. Usually, they’ll be cured if their object of affection reciprocates their feelings. If they’re unrequited, they might die by suffocation, or undergo surgery to remove the source of the flowers, blocking them from ever loving again.
Pen Pal: characters meet and/or talk by exchanging letters.
Opposite: characters’ personalities and/or backstories are swapped.
Reverse: characters change roles, like heroes to villains and the other way round.
Hope you’ve learned something new! See ya.
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5 Tips for Fast Drafting from a New York Times Bestselling Author
NaNoWriMo is basically an exercise in fast drafting: getting as much of the first draft of the story as you can on the page as quickly as possible. Today, bestselling author J. Elle is here to share some pro tips for fast drafting:
My first middle grade novel took me nine days to write.
The first draft was about 40,000 words or so. And yes, it needed to be revised before it sold to a publisher. But the meat of the story was on the page in just over a week’s time. I’d never drafted anything quite that fast before. Within a single month I’d written an entire novel, revised it a couple times and readied it for sale. A few months later that novel sold at auction and will be on shelves May 2022.
I still look back on this feat with a bit of shock and awe. To date I’ve sold five novels to major publishers, two young adult, two middle grade and one non fiction and my experience fast drafting has forever altered the way I approach writing. I should mention, fast drafting isn’t for everyone. Writing is such a personal thing and each storyteller has their own process, but in the event getting the first draft out is the biggest hurdle for you, like it is for me, I’m going to share five tips for knocking out that first draft in record time.
1. Start with a SHORT story pitch.
Pitching a story in a few words is tough. But it’s a worthy effort and the best use of your time before you get any words on the page. Why? Because it helps you hone in on the core of your story and its hook. A good short pitch involves the character, their dilemma, and a hint of the stakes. In October of 2018 I pitched my YA debut novel in a tweet which then blew up. Not many words can fit in a tweet, but by choosing the right set of words, I was able to convey the heart of my story and it really resonated. (From that tweet, I signed with a literary agent and sold my debut novel to a Big 5 publisher in a six-figure-deal.) The biggest favor you can do for yourself is understand the story—its essence, its core—you’re trying to tell before you start drafting. And that’s hard. But the more you play around with creating a short pitch, you’ll begin to see a clear snapshot of what your book is going to be about. That’s your jumping off point.
2. Expand your pitch into tent pole beats.
From your short pitch, spend some time deciding on what your major beats are. Now, yes this is a bit like outlining. And for you pantsers out there, I empathize with you. I was a pantser and still am in many ways. But I still do this step because this step ultimately saves me time. The beauty of fast drafting is that you know what you need to do when you sit down to type. So a lot of these steps are about doing pre-work so that when you sit down to type you’re not spinning your wheels to figure out what to type. Instead you’ll have a clear goal and you’ll be ready to execute it. Also, note that the goal isn’t to perfect each of these steps, but instead to try to do each step, to the best of your ability, and in a way that makes sense.
I could write an entire piece on beat sheeting novels (which I love and do for all my books), but for the purposes here, I’ve organized the main things you want to know below in a series of questions. Simply answer each, make a chart if you like that sort of thing, and once you have each question filled out in a way that logically makes sense, move on to the next step. (NOTE: It’s a good idea to get feedback on this step if you have critique partners and fellow writers you trust.)
Opening Scene - Who is the character before the world changes?
Inciting Incident - What happens that forces them to make a choice, changing their lives forever? What are they choosing between?
“A” Plot - What is that choice they make? What are they pursuing or working toward? Finding information? Going on a quest? Uncovering the truth behind a murder?
Stakes - What are the stakes of the “A” plot? What’s at risk if they fail to accomplish whatever they’re pursuing? It should be something that personally affects them or someone / something they care about.
“B” Plot / Character - Who or what is the theme of the story? What character in your story is going to embody that theme and play a key role in helping the main character change?
Midpoint - what happens in the middle of the book to change the character’s direction. Usually it’s some bit of new information or they realize things are not as they seem.
Stakes Raise - How do the stakes (what’s at risk if they fail) raise after the middle of the book?
Character Arc - what does your character believe about the world in the beginning of the book that by the book’s end they will no longer believe? (An extension of this question is: what things can happen in this character’s life to facilitate them incrementally learning this big truth? If you don’t know this question right off, that’s okay. But this is a question you want to go back to every now and again, even after you finish the first draft, to ensure your character is actively involved in a plot that is resulting in their change.)
Failure - How will your character fail big? This happens at about the 75% point of the book and it's the final moment of failure, usually, before they pick themselves up off the ground (figuratively or literally) and learn the lesson they’ve needed to learn. There forward they act on their new belief to the end of the book, demonstrating how they’re changed.
If you’d like a more in depth look at how to beat sheet a novel, I strongly suggest reading Jessica Brody’s Save The Cat Writes A Novel.
3. Flesh out your beats into a detailed synopsis.
Now the fun part! This step is the most helpful thing you can do to enable yourself to fast draft.
Write a mini version of your story, also known as a detailed synopsis. The key to writing synopses is not to worry about the voice, but instead what happens. Try to convey what happens and its impact on the character to show how the story moves from tent pole moment to tent pole moment (per the step above). This takes some trial and error and you may get annoyed with yourself because it’s not as easy as it seems. But, I’ve seen that if you can write a compelling and cohesive synopsis, the draft that you execute will be far stronger and more efficiently executed.
Definitely get beta feedback on your synopsis from writing friends you trust. It’s worth going over this a few times to get it right. In terms of length, aim for 3-4 pages for a middle grade novel and 5-10 pages for a young adult or adult novel. These are just general guidelines. My latest YA novel required a fifteen page synopsis and I am very glad I did it because it conveys the tone, arc, and plot of the novel and the main plot threads quite well, which allowed me to draft the first 23,000 words of the story in five days.
4. Summarize each scene.
(Note: a chapter can have more than one scene.)
Okay, we’re getting really close to writing! Now that you have a mini version of your story, consider how you will break it up into scenes. This doesn't need to be perfect, but spend some time figuring how to stretch your synopsis into a full novel. Give each scene a short summary. Aim for a few sentences, no more than a paragraph, just so you know what needs to happen in that scene (or scenes). Do not skip this step. I repeat, do not skip this step. This step allows you to sit down and execute the scene without figuring out what to write. The “figuring out” part is where a lot of writers slow down. Do that in the summaries so when it’s time to draft you are ready to execute, not sort out details.
5. Write with a goal in mind.
Plan your writing days. I’m not talking anything extensive here. Just grab your phone calendar or a post-it note and write down which days you want to do which scenes. Then on writing day re-read that summary and execute it. If you’ve done all the pre-work the words will fly from your fingers. Don’t worry about grammar, typos, reading back what you did. Insert fillers such as, “TITLE” or “NAME” for details you haven’t worked out yet. Just get the scene that you’ve summarized out. The goal is to finish the draft. After that is when you make sure it all works together through revisions and fill in the details. Right now the goal is finishing the draft. It literally just needs to exist!
If you’ve done all five steps, pat yourself on the back because congrats, you’re ready to fast draft! Don’t hesitate to tag me on socials if you try this method out and it works for you. I’d love to hear how it goes!
J.Elle is the New York Times bestselling author of Wings of Ebony. Elle has a Bachelor’s of journalism and an MA in educational administration and human development. She grew up in Texas, but has lived all over, from coast to coast which she credits as inspiration for her writing. These days the former educator can be found mentoring aspiring authors, binging reality TV, loving on her three littles, or cooking up something true to her Louisiana roots.
Website: WingsOfEbony.com
Twitter: @AuthorJ_Elle
Instagram: @AuthorJ.Elle
TikTok: @authorjelle
#nanowrimo#writing#amwriting#writing advice#first draft#nano prep#camp nanowrimo#by nano guest#j. elle
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Hello! As finals season (aka 5-research-papers-due-in-a-week season) dawns on many of you, I thought I would share the process I used to write papers in college. This made writing long research papers much less daunting (but can also work on shorter papers). I really hope this helps some of you who feel stuck. Especially during these ridiculous times, when you're stuck at home and might have other uncontrollable factors affecting your mental health, a clear framework of what to do could be helpful. Good luck, my friends! You got this.
About me
I graduated college in 2018 with degrees in Political Science + International Studies and will be starting law school this fall. I wrote nearly 20 15 to 25-page papers, never earning below an A. I loved researching about my topics but hated writing. It's tedious, takes so much time, and everything I write sounds bad at first. Plus, I was a terrible procrastinator so most of these essays were written in under a week. Talk about stress.
Over time I found a process that worked for me, one that made churning out a paper seem straightforward, like going through a factory line rather than this terrifying concept of writing 10,000 words. It kept me sane without decreasing the quality of my work (or more importantly, how much I learned!)
I'm thinking about making a short video to show this in action… let me know if that could be helpful!
Step 1: Research
How you organize your research is a key step in keeping you sane. Usually I'll have a pile of 20 books in my dorm along with dozens of JSTOR tabs open on my laptop, and that can get overwhelming very fast. Right now just focus on collecting ideas, not developing an argument or even an outline! As with most research papers, you could be starting with little to no background information on the topic, so it is still too early to be thinking about an argument.
Put all your research in one document
Open up a new doc: this will be the heart of everything. For a 15-page paper I usually end up with around 14-18 pages of typed research, 10 pt font, single spaced, tiny margins. This seems like a lot, but essentially all I do is type up anything I read that seems relevant to my topic, so luckily this step does not require that much brain power. Just type type type!
Use the table of contents
Find the chapter(s) that are actually relevant instead of skimming through the whole book. Time is of the essence here!
Use Zotero, cite right away
You can also use easybib or whatever you're used to, but keep track of your sources. I like Zotero because I can keep a log of all of my sources and copy the footnote or bibliography version whenever needed. Before you even begin reading, cite the source and copy it into your research doc. This will save you so much time later when you have to put in your citations in the actual paper.
Here is an example of what my research doc looks like:
Full citation is my heading for each source just so it’s crystal clear
I ignore all typos (I don’t think there are any in this part though, go me!) because my head is buried in the book just trying to get all the info down
I always start with the page number so I know what to cite when I go back
Create a shorthand
While typing up research, you might think of something that the author didn't talk about that you'll want to write in your paper. Or perhaps a few sentences already start to form. Put them all in one place, with your research, so you know what source you'll have to cite to then lead into your idea. I type "!@#" before anything that is strictly my own idea so I'm never confused. It's fast and stands out.
This is an example: the two bullet points above are evidence from my source, which made me think of this argument I could make, which I noted with “!@#”
Step 2: Read Your Research
Now that you have all your information, go back and read through it all. Every time you read about a new theme/person/event, write it down somewhere. You may come up with a list of 20+ different ideas in your research. No matter how small, as long as there is something about it, write it down. Each of these mini themes is going to end up being a paragraph in your paper or combined with another mini theme.
Once you’ve made your list, look for larger overarching themes. In the paper I’ve shown you, I had mini categories like “political party x” “religion” “labor groups” “little organization” and “hierarchy.” When I looked back I though, hey these are all groups and how groups are working together, so they each became their own mini paragraph under the subsection of “Alliances.”
As with most research paper structures, I try to find three general themes/subsections (like an extended version of that 5-paragraph essay we wrote in middle school). It makes the paper less messy and also makes sure I’m not covering things that are beyond a reasonable scope.
During this step, you are also searching for your thesis. It won’t be your final version. As you fill in your outline in the next step you may make slight changes. But this is definitely when you start thinking about it.
Step 3: Outline
We’re ready to outline! Once I’ve collected all my different themes and organized all my subsections and paragraphs, it’s time to fill in that outline. I start a new doc just for the outline and take advantage of google doc’s headings function to make a clear document outline.
Here comes the fun part, I read through my research one more time, this time copy and pasting all my research into each section of the outline. The document outline in google docs makes this easy because I can just click on each subheading to get me there (super helpful when you’re dealing with 15+ pages of research).
Here is what it looks like:
Let’s say I need to add something to my outline about labor groups. Boom, labor groups. Also, the typos are really abound here haha
Step 4: Write the Paper
Okay, I get it, easier said than done. BUT! You already have everything set up. Your outline is essentially just a list of your paragraphs and all you have to do is paraphrase, cite, and create a topic sentence. And that’s how you should think about this: you’re essentially transforming bullet points into sentences and adding footnotes.
In high school my English teacher introduced us to Sh*tty First Drafts for creative writing, but honestly the same applies to research papers. Sometimes I’ll even have phrases like “wait no that’s not what I meant but basically...” and when I go back to edit, I realize that what came after “but basically...” is fine! And I keep it. So just start typing.
How do you cite while you write? Because we’re trying to get a constant stream of writing going, inserting proper footnotes after each sentence you type is too bothersome. I usually split screen with my outline and my paper so I just copy and paste a few words from my bullet point into my footnote, like so:
(This is from a different paper about cluster munitions.)
Step 5: Edit the Paper
I work best when I print out my first draft and make all edits in red pen. I feel more productive and can visually see where I want to move sentences and what I need to change. The more red there is the better I can feel the paper getting. (Whether or not that’s true doesn’t matter. We’re trying to stay motivated here!) When it’s all digital I don’t really see the progress. Plus, once I finish all the red, I get another moment of passive brain work, where all I’m doing is transferring edits rather than thinking. And at this point in the process, that kind of relief is much welcomed.
The good thing about this process is there’s not usually a need to cut entire paragraphs or pages because the paper you end up with is just a formalized version of your outline. Because you started with such a detailed outline, the cutting and editing now is just to refine your word choices and get rid of the “but basically”s. You’re almost there!
Step 6: Replace your citations
Now it’s time to go back and replace your footnotes with actual citations. Zotero makes this easy because in Word you can just insert and add the page number, and it’ll automatically do “Ibid.” for you when needed. Ctrl+f in the original research doc to quickly find the source.
Step 7: One More Read-Through and Submit!
Congratulations!! You’ve got a fully-researched and well-backed paper! Of course, even though the process is straightforward, it’s still a lot of work. In ideal situations I would start researching two weeks before the deadline, but if need be, I believe I’ve done this all in three miserable panic-filled days as well.
Please message me if you have any questions at all! I really hope some of you find this helpful! Good luck!
#studyblr#college#university#writing#essay#study tips#studytna#original#research#research paper#study#student#school#you can do it!
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I'd love to know how you structure your essays! Even just planning process would be super helpful!
Of course! (I'm actually taking a break from an essay to write this XD)
So the first thing I usually do is figure out word count. I prefer having a minimum word count over a page count because it feels like a more attainable goal. If I'm given a page count, I'll typically break it down to word count instead based off the requirements. Due to the classes I usually write essays for having the same requirements (MLA formatting), it's easy enough to do that.
If you consider that 12 point font double spaced is roughly 400 words, it's easier to break down page counts into word counts. (Especially going off a 1,000 word essay is roughly 4 pages.)
After word count is figured out, break it down further. I typically have a set minimum word count for every paragraph I write. That set word count is usually around 100 words but that changes depending on the parameters of the essay.
For example, I've got a 750-850 word essay I'm currently trying to write. It also has the caveat of only being 5 paragraphs. Obviously, I can't use my usual 100 word paragraphs for this but 150 word paragraphs work just fine so that's the minimum word count I'm using for this.
Now that the word count has been figured out, look at the topic. Typically, you're going to have an introduction and conclusion for the essay, that gives you two hundred words right there. I start with an outline and mark those down along with their possible word counts. If you've got a set topic (the essay I'm writing now has a thesis given by the professor with certain points to make along the way), go ahead and add those to the outline.
Example:
Introduction- Thesis (150)
Body 1: Minimalism (150)
Body 2: Characterization (150)
Body 3: Symbolism (150)
Conclusion (150)
That's the outline I'm currently working with for my essay, giving me a goal of the minimum word count to read for every paragraph and the overall essay.
If you don't have specific points assigned, create them. Pick a few points in your topic that you know you'll get the word count with. Put those in the Body section and work from there. This works for research papers, persuasive essays, book reports, compare and contrast essays, analysis essays, and any other type of essay I've come across to date.
After that, it gets a bit messy. Depending on how confident I am on my topic, I'll either go straight into the draft or start a word dump. Word dumping is when you just let every idea possible come to you and you write it down, sorting it out when it's finished.
I don't really rewrite the whole thing when doing a second draft. Instead, I'll read it aloud to catch any errors or things that could have been said differently and proofread it before submitting and never looking at it again. Essays aren't usually a long process for me, a 1k word count essay can be done in about 2 hours at the most.
#asks#answered ask#thanks for the ask!#anon#ace chats#adhd studyblr#studyblr#adhd study tips#essay writing#study tumblr#studyblr college#student blog#study tips#english#if there's anything specific you want to know feel free to ask!
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It’s been years since I’ve done a little Look Behind The Scenes with my fanfic writing process. But this past week and a half, after not having completed anything for nearly a year, I cranked out an 18k first draft, then expanded it by 3600 words (I call this “putting ten pounds of porn in a five pound bag”), so here’s a little bit about that, for those interested:
1. This is my typed and printed-out first draft. I do not edit on the computer, because all the other things that are on that computer might be distracting. If I have a question that requires Googling, I put a mark on the page and go back to it later. You can see here, I’ve written a substantial amount of new content on the page. This is because I believe that “every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.” That means sometimes I grind out one sentence of something tough, knowing that later I can go back and turn it into four sentences that are more pleasant to read. The fic actually gets written during the second draft.
2. Red pen for editing on the actual draft, blue pen for writing out longer paragraphs that are too much to cram onto the printed draft, and a white-out tape dispenser to minimize messy cross-outs.
3. Scratch paper for writing out the longer paragraphs mentioned above. I use asterisks to mark where these paragraphs get placed in the draft.
4. Dictionaries and Thesauri. These things you can access online, but again, I don’t want to be distracted by the internet. When I’m writing my first draft, I don’t worry about using the word “realize” 500 times -- I just need to get the words on the paper, and I can go back and find other ways to communicate this concept later, and Chuck Palahniuk is never going to see it so he won’t have a stroke about my using “thought words.” The second draft is when I find the perfect alternate words for what’s going on. Roget’s International Thesaurus (the one that’s open) is amazing, and I must have used it one hundred times for this draft -- synonyms are indexed two ways, and it’s comprehensive: 1200 pages! And I really do use the dictionary, because sometimes I worry that my understanding of a word like “insouciant” or “abnegation” has drifted from the actual meaning. (I was traumatized once because I used the word “trounce” incorrectly in 2003 and some troll emailed me to give me shit about it, which I’ve never forgotten.)
5. Writing slash fiction, you’re using a lot of emotion words, character expression words, sexy words. These pages are all printouts of lists that I’ve come across on Tumblr: different ways to say “angry,” “anxious,” “sad,” etc., but also words like “passionate,” “ecstasy,” “caress,” and so on, so that I’m not using the same words over and over. Different words work better for different characters, different moods, and different dynamics, and as a reader, I know what it’s like to read a LOT of smutty fan fiction and see what feels like the same scenes over and over, just with different names. I try to make every sex scene, every pining scene, every courtship scene unique, and these lists help me do that.
6. These are pages and pages of notes I’ve taken over the years (I started in probably 2006) of good words and phrases to use for smut. Some I came up with 100% out of my own head, lines of dialogue or descriptions of sexy activities, but just didn’t have a good place to put them at the time; others I found reading other people’s smut. Not plagiarism -- it’ll just be a word, like “ravenous,” that will make me go, “Oh, that’s a good one, I haven’t used ‘ravenous’ in a while.” Or “alluring,” or “fluttered,” whatever. Just as with tropes, if you think it’s good and not (yet) overused, other people probably will too. Honestly my best habit as a writer is jotting down everything I think of right when I think of it, so that I never have to say “Oh man, I had a great idea for a fic, or for some dialogue, but I forgot it.” I have not forgotten anything in twenty years.
So I hope this was helpful, or at least entertaining -- I feel like my first and second drafts are more like sculpting in three dimensions than linear writing. I’m just slapping things on, carving things out.
See more posts like this one here.
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We've got a tellonym for answering any questions you may have about the zine!
Q&A will be below the cut, and we'll try to keep them updated. You can also access the latest info on our Carrd!
Can we submit excerpts for the writer apps?
Absolutely! Please feel free to choose just a portion of an existing fic for an application piece. We do ask that you make sure it is cohesive as a stand-alone piece, so we can judge it based on plot/flow/clarity.
(Also please feel free to link to the full version in the doc in case we wanna read the rest for fun :3 But that's not required. )
Can application pieces contain manga spoilers or should those be avoided?
We're fine with spoilers in applications! You can mark them by putting "spoilers" in the file name, but that isn't necessary.
Can I illustrate and write a fanfic?
You may apply for as many positions as you'd like, but unfortunately, each person will only be chosen for one role. It is possible we could allow both down the road - for instance, if someone drops - but we want to give more people a chance to contribute to the project :)
Do our applications need to contain pieces with detailed backgrounds?
If you are applying to be a page artist, please have at least one example with a detailed background. It could be environmental or decorative, but should demonstrate your ability to create an interesting composition. If you are applying to be a merch artist, you don't need examples with backgrounds, but you should have completed merchandise designs of some sort in your portfolio.
Will there potentially be stretch goals?
Would shipping be from the USA most likely?
Thank you for such a great idea!
• We are hoping to have 2-3 stretch goals! :)
• Shipping will be from Minnesota in the US
• Thank YOU for your interest and support! <3
maybe a theme?
Our theme is the brothers & their familial relationship :) Aside from keeping it gen, we want to allow contributors to explore AUs.
If this project goes well, Mod Atlass really wants to run another that has more of a limited theme :D
Can I make a comic for the zine?
Thanks for asking! We discussed this, and we will consider some applicants for making comics for the zine. 2-4 pages will be allowed per comic. Please show at least one example of previous comic work in your portfolio.
Hmm, can I show bits of my progress?
Yes! Please make sure you keep it to very small bits at once. A paragraph or two if fic, 1/4 - 1/5 of the work if art or cosplay photography. If you're wondering if something may be too much to show on socials, just ask the mods in the ask-a-mod channel or shoot one of us a DM ^^
Should we only include MHA/Iida related content in our portfolio's or are other examples welcome?
Your more than welcome to include examples from other fandoms, or original ideas! (Original ideas are great :D) We just request that (1) piece is MHA/BNHA. It does NOT have to include the Iida bros, but if you've got one that does, please show us!
You can find all our app guidelines > HERE <
Can Original and Canon characters be included in the portfolio?
Yep! OCs are just as welcome as canon characters!
What exactly will the Iida-zine be and how can we gat it ?
Hello! The Iida zine will be a book filled with fanfiction, fanart, and potentially cosplay photography from various creators in the fandom. There will be merchandise (possibly stickers, prints, keychains - things like that) that can be purchased alongside the book, and there will also be a digital PDF version available! Thank you for your interest!
Will the Iida-zine cost money ?
Yes, it will. Since we are planning to make physical products, we need to charge money for it in the shop in order to get those items produced.
I missed the Interest Check.can I still participate in the Iida-zine ?
Absolutely! We do the interest check to see how many people there are that are potentially interested in purchasing the zine or applying. This helps us to know how many contributors we can invite and helps to get an idea of our budget! It is absolutely NOT required to fill the Interest Check in order to participate! We fully encourage you to apply if you are interested :D
Will there also be a version where you don't need money ? I'm sure that also miners would like to have one but maybe their parents or other family members won't buy it for them.
With projects like this, our contributors work very hard, so we'd like for them to be compensated for their work! We're really sorry for the inconvenience. There ARE some fandom zines out there that are offered for free. You can check twitter users like @/faneventshub or @/atozines - they share a bunch of projects to help signal boost and are a really great resource.
Is there something we have to do to participate in the Iida-zine ?
We are taking applications starting tomorrow! You will need a portfolio of past pieces - art for artists, fics for writers, and photos for cosplayers. At the end of the application period, our team of moderators will go through all applications and choose who we will invite to the project. You can find all of the application details and further info on the zine HERE
Do we need a certain age to participate ?
We require for page artists, merch artists, and writers to be at least 16 years of age. For cosplay, we require that you are at least 18 years of age to participate. You can find more details HERE!
Is there a limit to how many people can particular
Yes, there is a limit to participants. We will have approx. 40-50 contributors. (I wish we could have a thousand bc these boys deserve the content, but budget :') - Atlass)
Hi. So I'm a writer from Germany and would like to participate in the zine. But, since English isn't my frat language, I sometimes have some grammatical mistakes in my writing. Can I still send in a Portfolio ?
Absolutely! Grammar is always something we can help with during beta-ing. What we view as most important is the plot, pacing, and characterization.
Will the Iida-zine come out weekly once per month ore all 3 or 6 months ?
Hello! These fandom zine projects take many months to put together. ^^ This zine (IidaTenBros) will come out this fall, and is a one-time project. Mod Atlass hopes to do more Iida zines in the future - however, nothing is set in stone.
You can see our creation & production schedule HERE
I really hope that there will be kre then one. I just love these brothers so much
;w; They deserve ALL the love.
If there's a fic one is writing, does it necessarily need to have both brothers, or can they be focused on just one?
If you're talking for applications - it is NOT a requirement to have either of the brothers in your pieces. We do like to see how you represent them, if you have the content - but not having a Tenya or Tensei piece will not hurt you. We only want to see one BNHA piece as a requirement :) Now, if you get accepted into the project - the zine piece can center on ONE -or- BOTH brothers. You can just do one. Hopefully I answered your question!
I'm excited for this zine and believe the Iida's are truly underated characters however I saw it's a requirment to have at least one bnha sample and alhtough I have drawn for BNHA none of it is my best work as I've been currently drawing for JOJO. Is it possible to apply for the merch artist position using a non merch bnha piece as my representation of it?
Sure thing! If you have non-BNHA merch pieces, we do want to see how you do merch, but we're very happy to see full illustrative works as well. A good scope of abilities is always nice to see. Hopefully this helps!
Can one be both a page artist and a writer?
As of right now, we will only be accepting applicants for -one- position. You can definitely apply for both! If it comes down to it, you could potentially be a pinch-hitter for the one you don't get accepted for. If there is one position you'd prefer over the other (if it comes down to us having to choose where to place you) you can always leave a note of your preference in the "any other questions" area.
There may be opportunity to create additional content rather than the singular required piece, so please feel free to apply to multiple positions so we have your work on-hand :) The reason for the one-position-per-person is 1) make sure you have suitable time to dedicate to your work + regular life things that come up, and 2) allow more people the opportunity to join in the fun. I hope you understand!
Is it okay when I put a title, summary and warnings to my stories? It may then be a few more words that 2,000 because of it.
That's perfectly fine :D Warnings and such are very appreciated.
Hey. So I have a favourite written piece, but it has over 3,000 words. Can I still put it into the portfolio?
If there is a way you can take just a few scenes from it to fit the 1-2k, then that would be the best route. But if it's a piece you're very proud of and passionate about, it would be best to include it. We wanna see your best work, after all :) Just try to still aim for the total between all pieces to be around 6k.
Can we send in our written work as a Word document?
You can upload the Word doc(s) into Google Drive and then provide the drive link in the portfolio! Drive will automatically open Word docs as Google Docs - the formatting just looks a little different.
Is it okay to put "x reader" works, in our portfolio ?
Please avoid "x reader", if possible! Thank you for understanding!
Can we use works with a OC ( pwn character ) ?
Including original characters is just fine! If you do have an example or two of content that includes canon characters, we WOULD like to see how you interpret them.
Can we use writing with ships like Eijiro Kirishima x Mina Ashido ?
Ships are fine for the portfolio. Please do try to include some platonic interactions so we can see how you represent that, though, if you can! Also if possible, please list ships at the top of the document :) (lil info like that won't count toward your word count)
Hi. So I have a story where x reader is just mentioned. Could I use it?
We would prefer that x reader is avoided if possible, but if you really want to use it for your portfolio, please include CWs at the top of the document for us ^^ Thank you!
What are CW's ?
CW means content warning! Similar to when movies warn about excessive violence or swearing or something, along with the rating.
for writer’s samples, may they contain spoilers from other media?
That is fine! Please put spoiler warnings at the top :D Thanks for asking!
Shall we just put our writings in the portfolio or also a description of us ?
Just the fics is fine for a portfolio. ^^
Do we need to give a few informations about our OC, when we use a fic with them?
If you want to, but it isn't necessary.
Can we put future fic ideas in our portfolio so you can see what we write in the future and if it is something interesting for the Zine ?
I'm sorry I don't quite understand - do you mean plot ideas that you have not written yet, but plan to?
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sorry to bother again but i am a freshman in college and i am v stressed
how did you get through it and how do I make myself not want to drop every single class i’m in every semester
how does one take more than 5 classes at a time
i am in midterm hell and i am Scared™️
oh you mean, ‘Matt, please do your actual literal job on main?’ Because this is sort of my actual literal job, friend. So don’t worry. I’ve got you.
So first thing’s first, when planning future semesters:
I would recommend against taking more than 5 classes at a time. Mathematically, it is not great for you. If you have to take more than 5, plan on doing 1-2 to during summer school. You won’t be behind. You’re fine. I swear.
Example for future class planning: For every class, look at the number of units/credits it is. That is around the number of hours that you’re gonna spend in that class a week. Now multiply that by 2. That’s about the number of hours total you’re gonna spend on that class in a week (both in class and doing homework).
That means that a 3 unit/credit class = 6 hours of work per week.
You have five of those classes. That means that you’re doing around 30hrs of school work a week. If you have six of those classes, you’re practically working a fulltime job with little to no pay and benefits.
End story: Do not take more than 5 classes a semester if you can help it.
If you can, don’t take more than 4 classes in your major per semester, either. You will die. Use electives and general education classes as your fourth or fifth class to lighten your load and give yourself something that you enjoy and know you can pass for sure. That will give you some breathing room and will help you maintain your GPA.
Coping with Overload now:
At this point in the semester, it’s a little late to be dropping classes, so what you’re going to do instead is to schedule the fuck out of your time.
You need to pick and stick to set dates/times for completing coursework and midterm projects for the next week or two. People do this in different ways, but generally speaking, people will assign projects/homework to certain days.
Example: Monday is Chemistry homework night because assignments are due on Wednesday. You only work on Chemistry on Monday. You finish the assignment and turn it in.
Tuesday is English homework day because assignments are papers and take 3 days to complete due to requiring 3 different steps: research, outlining, and writing. You do the whole researching process on Tuesday and do a basic outline. You will fill out the outline a little more on Wednesday and will then write the whole paper on Thursday so that you can turn it in then, before the Friday deadline.
On Wednesday, after you’re satisfied with your English outline, you will set that aside because Wednesdays are Math days. You will do the Math homework and/or study for 2-3 hours until your brain feels like soup. Then you will stop, do something relaxing for 30min, and then decide if you need to do more studying. If you do, repeat the study + self-care process. Go to sleep at a reasonable hour (before 2am if possible)
Do the same thing for your other 2 classes, assigning each a day and a specific task or set of tasks to complete on each day. Don’t give yourself more than 3 tasks per class/study session, because that’s how you get overwhelmed and into an anxiety spiral.
Apply self-care (breaks, snacks, drinks, music) liberally while doing assignments.
Other tips: figure out how you study.
If you study best in a group, grab some folks from your class and form a study group. If you are in STEM especially, it is expected that you will form study groups. This is how studying happens in STEM, medical, and law fields. It is nigh impossible to do all that labor on your own. Yes, I am serious. Make a study group, even if that’s you and 1 other person.
If you can find a study guide, take it to study group or block out an hour or two and do the whole thing. If you don’t have a study guide, make one yourself out of your homework/assignments and test yourself with flashcards or writing out definitions and forcing yourself to explain the different parts of cycles you learned in class.
If you are in a humanities/liberal arts major, you need to figure out if you study best by reviewing your notes, by re-listening to the lectures, by explaining concepts to others, or by writing it all out as if it was an essay.
If you need to write an essay and are stuck with where to start, reach out for help from a tutor if your school has one, or just start by doing 15 minutes of brainstorming to figure out what you feel about the topic and what evidence/ideas would work to answer it. Pick apart the prompt to see what it is truly asking you to do, write out the components of the prompt separately on a separate page and start answering those question as if they were short answers.
Then when you’ve got that, you can start noting bits of evidence to add to support your points and BAM, just like that, you’ve got an outline. Write a thesis statement at the top that addresses the Who, What, Why and How You’re Going to Prove it of your essay and you’re ready to go.
Example thesis statement: “The world represented in Oh God, How do I Study by Matt Deniigiq includes references to time management, course planning, and big-picture thinking to emphasize the broader theme that this one shit semester is not going to destroy student’s lives. This is evident in the droll humor used throughout the piece and the fact that the author keeps halting in paragraphs to answer emails from frazzled students.”
**yes, your thesis can be 2 sentences long. It’s allowed, I promise.
Know that these 5 classes will not end your life.
Honestly, like, speaking as someone who does this for a living, at public schools anything higher than a C is grand. It’s not usually required for you to list your GPA on job apps later on (I’ve never been asked). No one actually cares about your GPA in social situations.
As long as my students have higher than Cs in their classes and they aren’t like, nursing students, I’m cool with their progress, so give yourself a break if you can.
Also know that getting a low grade in 1 class as a freshmen doesn’t actually fuck up your GPA as bad as you think it will. Like, there’s a lot of complicated shit around this that I could go into, but generally speaking, if you fail one class (and I mean FAIL-fail it. Fs and D-s. None of this ‘UwU I got a C so I failed’), then by the time you’re a junior or a senior, if you haven’t failed additional shit, that F/D- is barely going to shift your GPA.
Like, we’re talking .1 shifts around then. Maybe a .3 shift if you’re at the end of your sophomore year. That’s the diff between a 2.5 and a 2.4. Or a 3.3 and a 3.0. You can make that up almost entirely by taking another round of classes and getting As and Bs (again, the mechanics are complicated, so you’re just gonna have to take my word here).
So yeah, shoot for Cs or higher and know that these classes aren’t the end-all be-alls of your lives.
(For context, if I get a student with a 3.0 or higher, I’m fucking ELATED. I’m not even joking. Y’all will be fine.)
--
Start with these tips and get back to me if you want something more specific. I do this all day, every day.
#study skills#long post#I am literally answering 10+ email long chains right now of students asking similar questions
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1989 [High School AU]: Chapter 1
AO3 Link
Masterpost
Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 7 ~ Chapter 8 ~ Chapter 9 ~
Pairings: slight Logince, eventual Prinxiety & Logicality
Word count: 1,780
Story summary: Roman Prince is your stereotypical Jock, with everyone swooning after him. Every day a crowd of people follow him around, only to disperse at his personal whim. In reality, he's lucky to have such good acting skills that help him cover up the disdain he has for his life. He only wishes he could use his skills properly.
Patton Whitelock's always there to lend a helping hand, no matter who you are. If you need a favor or just need someone to talk to, go to him. In reality, he's been taught from a young age that kindness should be held above all else. No one suspects that he took it the wrong way.
Logan Montgomery is the smartest boy in the Senior class. He's stern, and most people are too intimidated to speak to him. In reality, he despises most all of his fellow students. He sticks to his studies and doesn't stray, for fear of being stuck in his father's shadow his whole life.
Virgil Black is the most emo kid in school, let alone 12th grade; everyone knows to leave him be. In reality, he's very fortunate. He has two parents who love him dearly. But everything beyond his life, everything within his mind, is utter chaos and turmoil.
what will happen when they're assigned a biology project together?
General CW: food, swearing, implied s-lf h-rm, non-graphic descriptions of s-lf h-rm scars, graphic and non-graphic descriptions of anxiety attacks and panic attacks, drug abuse, minor character intoxicated on heroin, non-graphic drug overdose description, sickness/description of sickness, blood, non-graphic descriptions of needles, (will be added to as I write more)
Chapter CW: <none> (let me know if i missed anything please!)
Author notes: hook chapter go brr
...
Nice to meet you, where you been?
I can show you incredible things
Magic, madness, heaven, sin
Saw you there, and I thought
"Oh my god, look at that face
You look like my next mistake"
Love's a game, wanna play?
Roman checked his watch discreetly as he walked down the hall toward his first class. 7:58. He was almost late, but not quite. As he walked in, earning a glare from Mr. Berry and a few students, he glanced at the whiteboard. It read: "Tuesday, September 3 / Classwork: OT essay workday / Homework: OT Analysis and Essay due FRIDAY". The word "Friday" was written sloppily large and underlined. Roman just kept his sleepy poker face and walked to his desk, in the second-to-last row in the middle. He'd not noticed the shrunken figure at the desk next to him, whom everyone knew but no one liked. Virgil Black.
New money, suit and tie
I can read you like a magazine
Ain't it funny, rumors fly
And I know you've heard about me
So hey, let's be friends
I'm dying to see, how this one ends
Grab your passport, and my hand
I can make the bad guys good for a weekend.
Virgil shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets as he glared in Roman's general direction from behind bright purple bangs. His scowl deepened as Roman pulled out his notebook but didn't take his single earbud out, proceeding to doodle on the margins of his notebook.
Roman propped his head up on his right palm, tilting his head carelessly as he drew stars around a stick man's head. By this time, the plump red-faced man known as Mr. Berry, teacher of English 12, had taken his respected place at the front of the class for a quick lecture before they began classwork.
So it's gonna be forever,
Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over,
If the high was worth the pain
Got a long list of ex-lovers,
They'll tell you I'm insane
'Cus you know I love the players,
And you love the game
"Good morning students," He said in a blubbering gritty voice, the sagging skin below his chin bouncing comically as he did so. "I trust you completed reading the rest of the book. Now, as I'm sure you've noticed, the Analysis and quotes along with your essay's final draft are due - both printed - on Friday. If you turn it in on Monday, it'll drop two letter grades, and any time after that is a zero. I should hope this first assignment will get you in the punctual mindset for my class." The large man was walking about the room, between desks checking for cheating or kids working ahead. He was strict, and didn't tolerate out-of-line behavior. As he completed his sentence, his eyes fell on Roman, who was still slouched apathetically, doodling, earbud in. The students watching Mr. Berry saw his face somehow achieve a deeper hue of red and his eyes bulge, as a bull does when it spots it's target. Roman however, didn't notice; a pale-faced Virgil tried to get his attention without the teacher noticing.
'Cus we're young and we're reckless,
We'll take this way too far
It'll leave you breathless,
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex-lovers,
They'll tell you I'm insane
But I've got a blank space baby...
And I'll write your name.
"Psst. Roman." he hissed in vain. Roman's earbud was in his right ear, the same side Virgil was sitting on, so quiet noises from that direction were inaudible to him. Despite the class's uneasiness as Mr. Berry made his way to Roman's seat, and though Roman was fully aware of the fat fuming man advancing on him, he made no change in expression or focus; merely, filled in the dark half of the yin yang he had sketched next to his name as he lightly mouthed the words of the song.
Mr. Berry stopped right in front of Roman's desk, looking down at him furiously. When Roman ignored him, he took further action. Just as Roman had completed the yin yang, a fat red hand came down loudly on his desk and a sudden "MR. PRINCE!!" Erupted from the old man's gullet.
Cherry lips, crystal skies
I can show you incredible things
Stolen kisses, pretty lies
You're the king baby I'm your queen
Find out what you want,
Be that girl for a month
Wait, the worst is yet to come... oh no.
Roman looked up at him slowly, but no trace of fear could be found on his face. Even, a slight smirk hinting at the corners of his mouth. But, not enough for the old man to notice.
"What sort of media is emitting from those... earphones?" Mr. Berry said, bug-eyed.
Roman held up the earbud that wasn't in his ear, looking at it. "You mean these?" He said.
Mr. Berry simply sighed and rolled his eyes frustratedly. "Yes, 'in those', Mr. Prince. You'd better have an adequate response."
Screaming, crying, perfect storms
I can make all the tables turn
Rose garden filled with thorns
Keep you second guessing, like
"Oh my god, who is she?"
I get drunk on jealousy
But you'll come back each time you leave
'Cus darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream.
Roman held the old man's gaze, as if searching for something within his grey-brown orbs. After a moment, he sighed quietly and said, "Taylor Swift."
His response earned a few snickers from other students, to which Mr. Berry scanned the room to see if he could bust two students in one go.
Most of the students thought he looked like Napoleon from the 1954 animated movie based on Animal Farm, a fair comparison. His balding head and fat body gave him an appearance that was quite comparable to a pig.
After a moment of glaring at a few of the known renegades of the class, he returned his focus to Roman. But, this time, he didn't appear as angry; rather, he was smiling gently, but his eyes still held an angry glow. "Since you see no point in listening to my lecture, I'm sure you wouldn't mind showing the class a sufficient outline for your first draft essay? Along with the requirements, of course," the senile man's smirk curled up into a grin as he spoke, tilting his head a bit. Roman merely smirked himself, and stood.
So it's gonna be forever,
Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over,
If the high was worth the pain
Got a long list of ex-lovers,
They'll tell you I'm insane
'Cus you know I love the players,
And you love the game
Mr. Berry watched in moderate surprise as Roman walked swiftly past the rows of desks to the whiteboard, uncapped an expo marker, and began writing in neatly printed lettering. "Ok, so the final draft is due on Friday," He began, "So you should have your first draft completed by tonight. The essay must have at least five body paragraphs, a minimum of two quotes each-" Virgil watched, shocked, gripping his pencil so that his knuckles paled. "So I hope you've picked out your quotes already. The thesis needs to answer the prompt, obviously. Conclusion should be at least five sentences. So overall, about two or three pages. I'd recommend using this class time to create an outline in your notebook, and typing up a first draft. Have your second draft done tomorrow, and final details on Thursday. And because Mr. Berry is too... behind the times to use Google Classroom, you'll need to print it out and hand it in physically. I'm sure Mr. Berry isn't partial to the trees we're killing, so if you're in Environmental club, I'd not bother complaining." And with this final sentence, Roman touched up his writing on the board and walked back to his seat, never taking out his earbud.
'Cus we're young and we're reckless,
We'll take this way too far
It'll leave you breathless,
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex-lovers,
They'll tell you I'm insane
But I got a blank space baby...
And I'll write your name.
Mr. Berry was still standing over Roman's desk, now staring down at him with large eyes. He opened his mouth slightly to say something, but was interrupted by another student asking a question. From then on, Mr. Berry ignored Roman, which was an easy feat, as Roman did the same.
After a little over half an hour, the bell rang, and Roman slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked out. Mr. Berry considered asking him why he'd only doodled for the entirety of the class period and not worked on his essay, but his pride got the best of him, and he watched as the young man walked out of the room confidently.
Virgil had slipped out before Roman, and was now pretending to exchange things in his locker, which was unfortunately right next to Roman's. The tall jock walked up to his own locker, earning a scowl from the darker boy.
"What? Enjoy the show I put on in Mr. Diabetes' class?" Roman said, leaning against the lockers as Virgil shut his own. The dark boy just grunted and walked off, feeling Roman's eyes watching as he turned a corner. Roman smirked for the hundredth time that morning when he was gone and turned to open his own locker. When a few girls from the cheer team started to linger, flipping their hair and puffing out their chests, and Roman actively ignored them until he walked past close enough that a few of them let out squeals. He heard the usual murmurs from behind him, "he's so hot," and "I'd kill to be his date to Homecoming." He smirked to himself again, making his way to his Physics class.
...
Virgil spotted is best friend Patton in his usual seat as he walked into his second period Economics class. The boy smiled at Virgil up on seeing him, and waved happily.
"Hello Virgil!! how are you feeling this morning?" He said cheerily as Virgil took the seat next to him, sliding his backpack under the desk.
"Alright I guess." He thought about telling Patton about Roman, but thought better of it; Patton had enough on his plate to worry about as it was.
As for Patton, he had already taken to pulling out his notebook, preparing for a long class of note-taking. Economics was one of the most note-heavy classes either of the boys had, and usually required all their focus. As the teacher stood from his desk and turned on his projector, Virgil could've sworn he saw Patton staring at someone, but as soon as he looked, Patton focused on the teacher, readying his pencil. But, Virgil being the parano- vigilant person he was, followed what he thought was Patton's line of sight to... Logan Montgomery? What? Upon realizing who he had thought Patton was looking at, he brushed it off. There's no way Patton would be looking at him. is there?
#logan sanders#roman sanders#virgil sanders#patton sanders#ts patton#ts roman#ts logan#ts virgil#thomas sanders#sanders sides#sanders sides fic#prinxiety#logicality#slow burn#virgil x roman#logan x patton
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Big Bang (Sort of) Editing Story [Day 42]
I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.
My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15
Alright. Time for a bit more editing because I decided to just go to bed last night.
Chapter 16
“Well done,” Logan complimented when Virgil looked up at him for approval. It was the first time Virgil was trying to make the protection charms without Logan’s direct help. Logan was, of course, still in the room in case he had questions and the boy had a written set of instructions next to him, but for the most part Virgil was doing it on his own.
“Now,” Virgil said squinting down at the paper next to him, “we wait for 35 minutes.”
“Fifty actually,” Logan corrected.
“Oh, yeah, right,” Virgil said. He grabbed the timer and set it for the appropriate time. Then, he stepped away from Logan’s nontoxic potion station. Logan saw him edge a bit closer to peak at what Logan was working on, though he was careful to maintain a distance. Logan wasn’t sure if this was because he’d been warned of the possible harmful substances Logan sometimes used at his experiment table or because he was worried Logan might not want him to approach.
Logan looked up at him. “You can come closer. Nothing here is very dangerous.”
Virgil nodded and walked over to peer at the boiling pot. “What are you making?” he asked.
“I am once again attempting to invent a potion that will reliably remove cat hair from clothing and blankets,” Logan said, glancing over at Patton.
Patton looked up from the bracelet he was making and stuck his tongue out at Logan.
“I can never seem to find an adequate solution,” Logan said.
“The solution is to accept all parts of kitty love!” Patton insisted.
“Or maybe the solution is to exile you from my room for the rest of time,” Logan muttered. Patton chose to ignore him and went back to working on the bracelet.
“Do you want any help?” Virgil offered Logan.
Logan smiled at him. “I’m actually almost finished with this step and there isn’t much left to do but thank you.”
Virgil nodded. “Oh, okay,” he said. He shifted back and forth a few times.
“You’re well on your way to mastering this potion,” Logan said. “I was thinking that I could start teaching you how to make a tracking charm. I marked a passage about it in the book on that shelf.” He gestured to the shelf near the station Virgil had been working at. “Why don’t you go ahead and read that while you wait?”
“The…” Virgil said. “The green book?”
“Yes,” Logan said. “I left a bookmark in the correct page.”
“Um… yeah, sure. I’ll go… read that.”
Logan nodded and turned back to put the finishing touches on his own potion as Virgil walked away. A few minutes later, he finished up what he was doing to his potion and covered it to let it simmer. He looked over to see that Patton had flopped onto his back, still working on the bracelet and Virgil had sat near to him with the book open on his lap. Logan walked over to them.
“What do you think?” Logan asked.
Virgil glanced up at him. “Erm,” he said. “Looks good.”
“Which option do you like best?”
“…The second one.”
“Really?” Logan asked, surprised.
“Uh… yes?”
“I’m surprised,” Logan commented. “I figured you would shy away from the ones that require your own blood.”
Virgil’s eyes widened. “Oh,” he said. “I… didn’t notice that. I would like to not do that one, please.”
“You didn’t notice?” Logan asked. “Half of the entire first page is dedicated to a discussion of it.”
There was a beat of awkward silence.
“Virgil,” Logan said slowly. “Would you read the first paragraph on that page for me?”
Virgil grimaced.
“You can’t read?!”
“Logan, tone,” Patton snapped when Virgil flinched.
Logan took a breath. “I am not upset that you cannot read, but what have you been doing for the past week when I have given you written instructions for the protection charm potion?”
“Not… reading it.”
“How have you been making the potion?” Logan asked.
“I just remember the steps, and if I’m not sure I ask. You’re usually distracted enough that you barely notice.”
“If I had known this, we would have done a completely auditory explanation.”
“Sorry.”
Logan sighed. “You didn’t need to pretend, Virgil.”
Virgil blinked up at him. “Sorry.”
Logan just shook his head. “There is nothing for you to be sorry for. In fact, you are the one who is owed apologies from many people in your life for a multitude of reasons.” He knelt down to take the book from him. “Here,” he said. “For now, I will read this passage to you while we wait for the potions to finish brewing. Later we can talk about changing my lesson plans in reference to the potions as well as adding reading lessons into your schedule.”
“You… want to teach me how to read?” Virgil asked.
“If you are willing,” Logan replied. “It’s a useful skill to have and opens up many doors.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be any good at it,” Virgil said with a frown.
“If you can memorize an entire potion recipe from start to finish with inadequate vocal instructions, I’m sure you can learn the alphabet perfectly well.”
“Okay,” he replied, sounding a bit doubtful.
“And once we get you to an appropriate level, I’ll let you read a book about stars I enjoyed in my youth.” He seemed pleased with that prospect, and Logan smiled at him. “For now though, let’s read this together.”
“Okay,” Virgil said. Logan opened the book in his lap and started to read. He noticed that Virgil was leaning over to look at the page despite the fact that he couldn’t read it, and so he began to point to the words as he read. His reactions to the words on the page were honestly quite funny when Logan caught them. His nose would scrunch up in confusion every time he thought an instruction nonsensical, and he’d squint his eyes at the words as though willing the sounds and letters to connect in his head. Logan wouldn’t be surprised with his memory if he had parts of it memorized by the end.
After a few minutes of reading, a light weight descended on Logan’s shoulder. Virgil had settled his chin on Logan’s shoulder to peer at the words. Logan did his best not to draw attention to this fact and shot a glare at Patton when he clearly noticed, sitting up to smile widely at them. Luckily, Patton was sensible enough not to squeal as he oh so clearly wanted to. Logan pointed out a picture while explaining what the caption said and then gave a personal antecedent. Virgil touched the page curiously and asked a question about the story before laying his head back down on Logan’s shoulder. They continued in this way until the potions were finished.
Chapter 17
Virgil’s suspicion was growing. Logan and Patton seemed to have something planned. Luckily, whatever it was didn’t seem to be malicious, at least, Virgil hoped it wasn’t. He truly didn’t think that Patton had it in him to be so clearly excited about anything cruel. He also didn’t think Logan had it in him to be cruel, he was just was better at masking his excitement.
“What?” Logan asked innocently when Virgil gave him a pointed look the second Patton left to do ‘something’. Virgil would almost believe he truly wasn’t planning anything if it wasn’t for the way his lips twitched just a bit at the corners. Virgil glared harder.
Logan dared to laugh lightly at the expression on his face. “Come here,” he requested. “Patton wanted me to make you pick out a book for him to read to you tonight since, I quote ‘You’ve gotten to read him all sorts of stories the last few days.’ I attempted to explain that it was not purely for fun, but he insisted.”
Virgil grumbled, but wandered over to look over at the books laid out on Logan’s bed, settling his chin on Logan’s shoulder. “What do they say?” he asked.
Logan pointed to each in turn. “Five Dragons and a Flame. The End of May. A Stone in the Meadow. Or you can continue to read The Never-ending Garden.”
“I want to finish The Never-Ending Garden,” Virgil decided.
“Good choice.”
“Now will you tell me what you’re doing?” Virgil asked.
Logan just chuckled. Honestly, it was like he didn’t know that he had an assassin right next to his carotid artery. “Why do you think something is happened?”
“Patton’s a shit liar.”
“Be careful,” Logan said. “I might just have to tell him you said that.”
“Then I’ll tell him what you said when you accidently dropped the lavender into that potion,” Virgil threatened back.
“Hmm,” Logan said. “Truce?”
“On that,” Virgil agreed, “but you still need to tell me what’s going on.”
“It is a surprise. A nice surprise,” Logan informed him. He looked at Virgil’s face. “Don’t pout at me.”
Virgil had not been aware that what he was doing was pouting, but he did whatever it was harder.
“Patton would murder me,” Logan claimed, “but I suggest you try that on him the next time you have a chance. You will certainly get whatever you want.”
Virgil sighed and gave up, figuring he’d learn whatever the surprise was soon enough. He chose to flop down on top of the pile of pillows on the floor that had been laid out already. It was his fourth ever slumber party and the first had only been a week ago. He did not know much about slumber parties, but that felt like a lot.
Goodness, it had already been two weeks. He looked up at the ceiling. He felt safe here. He felt like he didn’t need to watch Logan’s every move as he organized things in his room, but it wasn’t going to last, was it? The king was set to be back in a week. Virgil needed to actually attempt to escape soon. He hated that fact. He didn’t want to leave, and he certainly didn’t want to go back. Maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he’d figure something else out, but no mater what, he did have to escape, and soon. He looked over at Logan who was slotting the books Virgil hadn’t picked back into place on the bookshelf. Not tonight.
There was a knock on the door in a familiar pattern, and Logan walked over to open it for Patton. Virgil sat up to shoot a confused look at the giant thing that Patton rolled in.
“Ta da!” Patton said excitedly.
Virgil blinked at him.
“It’s food,” Logan explained.
Virgil perked up immediately. That must be a lot of food if he needed that to carry it.
“I know you haven’t gotten a chance to try a lot of different foods, so I asked Mama if I could use the kitchen earlier today and made a bunch of different type of food samples for you to try.”
That sounded like literally the best idea in the universe. These people were very good at surprises and Virgil would not question them again ever for the rest of his life (or, well, the next couple of days he was around them before he tried to escape and either managed it or died a bloody and painful death).
Patton seemed to feed off of Virgil’s excitement, practically vibrating himself as he gestured to different parts of the cart. “We have a bunch of types of cheese and crackers, mini sandwiches, different smoked meats, six types of pasta, and every leftover I could find on this shelf. On this shelf, we have things with hot sauce, things with spicy dry rubs, curries, and things with a lot of peppers. I’ve ordered them by spiciness level so we can what you can handle, and we’ll only go as far as you want. Then this shelf is a bunch of types of cookies, mini cakes, pies, and ice cream!”
“We are not starting with the sweets,” Logan said firmly.
“But Lo!” Patton whined.
“We do not want to make him sick, do we?” Logan asked.
Patton pouted. Virgil honestly had no preference. All food was good food in his experience.
“Fine,” Patton said. “We’ll start with the cheese.”
They had him sit back in the center of the blanket pile and handed him little portions of things. Some of the cheese tasted weird at first and Patton would giggle at the faces of surprise he made, but Virgil managed to if not like, then tolerate almost all of them.
Then came the different sandwiches, some hot and some cold and all of the pasta and leftovers. Virgil eyed the plate of fettuccine alfredo long after they had moved on.
“You can have some more at the end if you still have room,” Logan promised with a fond smile. Virgil frowned at him. “You want to try all of the food, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you can’t eat an entire plate of fettucine alfredo.”
“Maybe you can’t,” Virgil said darkly.
Logan just rolled his eyes and passed him another plate.
Eventually they moved on to the next shelf full of what was deemed ‘spicy food.’
“Part of this is figuring out what level of spiciness you can handle,” Patton said. “So, tell us when it gets to be a bit too much and we’ll move on two the deserts. Also, milk helps wash the spicy stuff that so drink some if you need to!”
Virgil nodded and accepted the first dish on that rack.
Virgil, it turned out, liked what they called “spicy” food even though some of it made his nose run a little bit. It was kind of fun to eat them, honestly. Some of them hurt a tiny bit, but they also tasted really good. It was strange.
“I am impressed and horrified,” Logan said when he finished that shelf. “Do you… have nerve endings in your mouth?”
Virgil shrugged. “Well,” Patton said, sounding pleased. “Now it’s time for the best part! Assuming you still have room.” Virgil nodded immediately and Patton handed him a plate he’d covered with chunks of cookies he’d torn off. He ate every single one of those and then went through the rest of the deserts. Everything was fantastic and he’d like to investigate a few of the cakes once more, but…
He pointed insistently at the fettuccine alfredo.
Logan shook his head but handed it over. “How many stomachs do you have?”
Virgil did not care to respond, choosing instead to shove his mouth full of pasta.
When he was done with that, he laid back to relax and digest the food, feeling very content. Logan and Patton had also eaten a bit of the different dishes and were finishing up themselves.
“You good there?” Patton asked after a moment of Virgil just laying with his eyes closed.
Virgil nodded.
“Did you like your surprise?”
“Uh huh.”
“It seems he will not be doing any of the other planned activities for a little while at least,” Logan said. “So now might be a good time for you two to read,” he suggested. “I’ll get the rest of the food stored in case we want something more later.”
“Okay,” Patton agreed. Virgil didn’t open his eyes, but felt Patton settle next to him. Virgil rolled slightly, so his head rested against the side of Patton’s leg. A hand touched softly down on the top of Virgil’s head and Virgil heard a page flip. “So, let’s see. I’m not sure when exactly you fell asleep last time, but how about we start at the Troll Bridge?”
Virgil hummed his ascent.
“Okay,” Patton agreed as he started to read. “‘Melly stepped onto the bridge backwards while sticking her tongue out at Al, but Lydia’s eyes widened as a large looming figure stepped up behind her….’” Virgil listened happily to him read about the four children. He liked this book. He hoped they managed to finish reading it before Virgil had to go.
Chapter 18
They made it all the way to the big blowout between Al and Melly where Melly got mad and left the group to their fate in the magical garden by the time Virgil awakened completely from his food coma (he’d never actually fallen asleep, or at least he always responded when Patton asked) and squirmed around for a bit before sitting up.
Logan hadn’t been particularly interested in the story he’d heard many times before and was reading a book of his own on Patton’s other side, but he put a bookmark in his book when Virgil sat.
“Want to take a break from reading?” Patton asked. “We can do a bit more later, but we have more than just food and books planned for tonight.
“Okay,” Virgil agreed easily.
“Great!” Patton said clapping his hands. “We’re going to introduce you to the most fun sleepover party event ever!”
Virgil tilted his head.
“Dress up!” Patton said. “Also make-overs. We’ll do you first and then we’ll help you learn how to help pick out other people’s outfits and make-up. If you want to, of course.”
“Sure,” Virgil said with a shrug.
“Yay!” Patton hopped to his feet. “You stay here. Lo and I will get everything ready.”
He pulled Logan to his feet and over to the chair that was the perfect height for doing make-up.
They set up what they’d need for make-up and then Patton instructed Logan to grab the clothes of his they usually used for this sort of thing out the closet that Virgil wasn’t set up in while he grabbed the pieces he himself had brought upstairs and strew them over the bed so they could see anything.
Smiling happily, Patton looked over at Virgil who had stood up in the giant pile of pillows and blankets to watch him with intense eyes. He looked like he was memorizing every action Patton took as though expecting a test at the end. He was so adorable. A rush of affection and a touch of mischief hit him suddenly.
“Hey Virgil,” Patton said. Virgil looked over at him. “Can I tackle hug you into that pile of pillows?”
“Tackle hug?” he asked.
“I run over and hug you so hard that we fall into the blankets. I do it to Logan all the time without warning, but I didn’t want to confuse you.”
Virgil considered the offer for a couple of seconds. “Okay,” he finally decided.
“Great!” Patton did a little hop before launching himself across the room. He slammed into Virgil, who apparently had very good balanced because they didn’t immediately fall backwards, but then he seemed to remember that he was supposed to let Patton slam him into the pillows, and so he fell back on his own power.
Patton giggled when they hit the ground and drew back to look at his face. “I got you!” He leant forward to kiss him on the nose. “Oh wait! I should let you fight back.” He propped himself up on one arm and held out the other hand. “Pinkie promise not to hurt anyone if I let you use the 3rd setting again?”
“Pinkie promise,” he agreed with a grin, linking their pinkies.
“Great!” Without hesitation, Patton did the hand motion to allow the restraints to be in the third setting.
Patton was on his back almost instantly, but he didn’t even have a chance to think about worrying before Virgil pressed a kiss to his nose in a mirror of what Patton had done a moment before. “I got you,” he said proudly.
“So, you do,” Patton agreed with a laugh. He reached up on of his hands to card it through Virgil’s hair. Virgil leaned into the touch and then practically melted on top of him. “Virgil,” Patton laughed. “It isn’t nap time.”
He grumbled something unintelligible into Patton’s neck making Patton giggle more.
“Sweetie, please.”
Thankfully Logan saved him from the unrelenting cuddling by poking Virgil in the side. “I have finished preparing the stations for the makeover and dress up. You need to get up now.”
Virgil made a noise that sounded like a growl, but he did roll off of Patton.
Patton hopped to his feet and helped Virgil up before pulling him over to the piles of clothes. “We pick the outfit first, but you don’t put it on. Then, we do your make-up and hair based on it. Then, we get you dressed and do touch ups. Okay? Pick anything you want.”
Virgil looked over the options, eyes going a bit wide. “It…” he said. “It all looks really fancy and expensive. Are you sure you want me to touch any of it?”
“We wouldn’t be offering anything we didn’t want you to touch,” Logan said gently. “In fact, I insist you touch all of it. Beyond just appearance, making sure the texture of the fabric is agreeable is a large part of this activity.”
Patton picked up one of the pieces of fabric he knew was very soft and offered it to him. He touched it with careful fingers, his eyes lighting up at the feel of it. They had to continue nudging him into feeling the different fabrics, and he hesitated when they asked him to pick his favorite at the end, but eventually he shyly pointed at a dark purple dress.
Patton clapped. “Great! Ooo, I already have some ideas for make-up that will go with that.”
Virgil let Patton pull him over to the chair they’d set up and settled down on it.
29009
Patton hummed. “I think silver and purple make-up mostly?” he said.
Logan nodded and they grabbed a few things from the make-up kit. Logan let Patton do most of the make-up as he tended to be better at the more creative parts, but Logan was the one who gave him the fancy winged eye liner with purple sparkles because he was really good at them.
“You look fantastic!” Patton squealed when they were done. He held up a hand mirror for Virgil who studied himself in it for a long few moments. “Do you like it?”
“It’s really nice,” Virgil confirmed. Patton smiled and hugged him.
“Next hair. We have a lot of accessories. I’ll let you pick from the purple ones.”
He and Logan sorted through the jewelry box full of different hair accessories for the royal family and ended up finding three purple ones. Patton hesitated a bit over one of them, but Logan picked it up and set it in front of Virgil for him.
“Your choice from these three,” he said.
One was a purple feather with little hooks to braid into hair, one was a smattering of purple and silver stars that would weave through the back of someone’s hair, and the last was a string of silver leaves with purple tips that would wrap up the back of a person’s head from a bun.
Virgil thought for a moment and then pointed to the one made of leaves.
Patton glanced at Logan who took the hairpiece. “I’ll do your hair right for that one,” he said. “I know how it fits.”
He grabbed the brush and carefully ran it through Virgil’s hair. Virgil seemed to like the attention, leaning into the touch, and a smile flickered over Logan’s face. Logan started gathering the hair together to make the low bun that would be the base of hair arrangement. Patton honestly did not expect him to speak, but then he did as he started to secure the piece with pins.
“This was my Pa’s favorite hairpiece,” Logan said. “Not the father you came here for, but my other one. He died when I was six.”
Virgil went shock still. “I don’t have to...”
“I wouldn’t have let it be offered if I wasn’t okay with you using it,” Logan said.
Virgil didn’t move as he finished securing the hairpiece. “There,” Logan said when he was done. He picked up the hand mirror and positioned it so Virgil could see. “It suits you.”
“I…” Virgil said. His eyes were wide, and he clearly didn’t know what to say.
“Now,” Logan said. “I believe there are some other pieces of jewelry that would match this very well in the other room. I…” he turned away. “If you will excuse me.”
He turned away and exited through his bedroom door into the hallway. Patton watched him go and then turned to Virgil. “I’m going to go make sure he’s okay, okay?” Patton asked. “You didn’t do anything wrong, there’s just a lot of emotions.”
“I can take it out…” Virgil said.
“No,” Patton said. “I think he likes that you’re wearing it.” Virgil bit his lip. “He never really moved on,” Patton felt inclined to say. “This is… a lot for him, but I think it’s good too.” He leaned forward to kiss the top of his head, being careful not to mess up his artfully done hair. “I’ll be right back.”
He turned to follow Logan out of the room.
Chapter 19
Thomas sighed in relief as the door to the royal wing finally came into sight. He was exhausted from his journey to Lamir for many reasons. Beyond just the physically taxing journey, he’d also had to deal with the emotions of loosing someone he had thought of as a friend while also trying to help her young daughter who had just had the crown thrust upon her.
Now he just wanted to see his own child and curl up into bed. He smiled at Owen and Kalani as he approached. “Is Logan here?” he asked.
Owen nodded. “The prince and his royal advisor are having a slumber party.”
Thomas smiled. “Of course, they are,” he said.
He said goodnight to the two guard as they’d be getting off duty soon even if he did manage to drag himself out of his room again tonight and walked past them into the hall.
He walked past the room where they kept the jewels, though was unsurprised to see that the room was unlatched as Patton loved playing around with the different jewelry and had probably left it open when he grabbed them. He was however surprised when his son’s room’s door was thrown open, as Logan usually couldn’t stand for the thing to be open with or without him in it.
Thomas didn’t think much of it however, and simply walked over to look inside. He was surprised when he didn’t see his son or Patton and instead saw that the only person in the room was a young boy that Thomas did not recognize. He was seated in one of Logan’s chairs and had his head tilted looking at himself in the mirror. He seemed to be trying to get a look at the ornament on the back of his head, and Thomas felt his heart seize a little bit when he recognized the hairpin.
He hadn’t recovered from that gut punch when the boy’s eyes drifted and met his in the mirror. There were a couple of long seconds where the two of them stared at each other in silence.
“Hello?” Thomas finally managed to get out.
Panic. There was suddenly horribly intense panic in the child’s eyes, the likes of which Thomas had never seen before. Thomas could only blink dumbly as he hopped to his feet like his seat was suddenly made of hot coals and then threw himself across the room to the opposite side from Thomas.
He looked around himself, back to the wall and considered Thomas with wildly spooked eyes. Clearly, he realized that he was pinned in Logan’s room by Thomas being in the door.
The boy dropped suddenly and disappeared under Logan’s bed.
“Uh,” Thomas said, confused and shocked and still a bit in pain from seeing that piece of jewelry in use. He crossed slowly over to the bed and bent down to look under it, moving the bed skirt slightly to the side. He saw a small shaking blob curled up into itself under the bed. “Um, hi,” he said softly.
The blob did not respond except to continue shaking.
Thomas frowned and settled himself onto the floor. “It’s okay,” he said softly. Had he been here stealing things? Thomas had to wonder as he wasn’t sure why someone here for legitimate reasons would be acting so terrified of being caught. Though, that posed the question of how he’d gotten past the guards, and why Logan hadn’t noticed him. “I’m not mad,” Thomas said. “You’re fine.”
The boy looked up briefly from his knees looking terrified. Thomas tried to smile at him gently, but that just made him hunch into himself more, his breathes coming faster. That wasn’t good.
“No, shh,” Thomas said softly. “It’s okay. I promise it’s okay.” He did not seem to believe him, and Thomas winced. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t just leave him here but trying to talk him down himself didn’t seem to be working.
Luckily, a familiar voice spoke from behind him then. “Dad?” Logan asked.
Thomas looked back at him. Both Logan and Patton were standing at the door, a couple of pieces of jewelry in their hands. They seemed very surprised to see him.
“You… seem to have a guest,” Thomas informed them.
“I…” Logan said, beginning to edge into the room like he was expecting something to blow up at any moment. “Yes.” He got to Thomas and squeezed himself between him and the bed, putting a physical barrier between Thomas and the boy. Confused, Thomas took a couple of steps away without challenge. “That,” Logan glanced behind him. Patton had moved to the opposite side of the bed from Logan and Thomas and had gotten to his knees to look under it. “That is Virgil.”
Thomas blinked at him. “Virgil?” he asked.
“He’s… new to the castle,” Logan explained. Patton started speaking softly the boy, but Thomas could not make anything he said out. “Patton and I… invited him to a sleepover.”
“The guards didn’t mention anything,” Thomas said, sure that they would have warned him if there was a stranger in the royal wing.
“Uh, well, Virgil is… shy and we didn’t think you’d be back for another week. So, we snuck him past them.”
“Shy?” Thomas asked doubtfully. That was a lot more than shy.
“Particularly of adults,” Logan said.
Thomas took a moment to let that sink in. “Oh.” He was… scared of adults. Thomas could imagine many reasons why that might be the case and none of them set well. “I see.”
“Hey, no, sweetie, stop that,” Patton said, sounding distressed. Patton had managed to draw Virgil out from underneath the bed, though they were both still mostly hidden behind it and Thomas had no question in his mind that if he went to step towards them, Virgil would be back underneath it in a moment. Currently the boy seemed to be clawing at his own head. “No, baby shh,” Patton said, trying to stop him from tearing the pinned in hairpiece out, Thomas realized. “I’ll get it out,” Patton promised him. “Just calm down and let me do it.” He sounded close to tears, and Thomas couldn’t particularly blame him with the way the boy was acting. “You’re hurting yourself, baby.”
He must know, Thomas realized. If Logan had known he was here, then he must have allowed him to use that hairpiece. He’d probably even told Virgil that it belonged to his dead father. Now he was probably terrified that Thomas would be mad at him for touching it, especially when he’d come in to find Virgil alone without Logan to explain.
Patton managed to get all the pins undone and placed the piece delicately on the bed before wrapping himself protectively around the boy and hushing him.
Logan was looking back at them as well. He looked between the puddle of upset on the floor and Thomas. “Could…” he said. “Could I maybe come and see you in a few minutes, Dad?”
“Of course,” Thomas said. “Of course, I’ll go wait in my room. Take as much time as you need.”
He was careful to move slowly as he stepped towards the door, so the poor thing didn’t notice him move and mistake it for him approaching. He closed Logan’s bedroom door softly behind him feeling even more drained than he’d been before as well as anxious and a bit sickened. He went to his own bedroom to wait for Logan.
Chapter 20
Logan let out a slow breath as his father closed the door behind him. That could have been very, very bad. He turned his attention to Virgil and Patton. Patton had curled himself around Virgil as much as physically possible and had tucked the boy’s head under his chin.
Logan slowly rounded the bed and knelt in front of them. “It’s alright,” Logan said, cautiously moving to put a hand on his shoulder. Virgil didn’t pull away. “I asked him to leave. It’s alright.”
Virgil tilted his head slightly too look at him. Logan rubbed a circle into his back as he slowly got control of his breath.
Logan smiled softly at him and reached out to touch his cheek with a gentle hand. “You… didn’t hurt him. You didn’t even try to hurt him.”
Virgil shook his head.
“Why not?” Logan asked curiously. “It was a perfect opportunity.”
“Promised Patton,” Virgil mumbled, and the idea that perhaps the thing that had saved his father’s life was a pinky promise just about gave Logan a migraine, but then Virgil ducked his head. “And it would make you sad.”
“I see,” Logan said, heart in his throat.
Virgil kept looking towards the floor, his eyes starting to fill with tears again. “Are you going to turn me in now?”
He was shaking and barely holding back a fresh wave of tears. Logan knew of course that no one would hurt him here if he turned him in to his father and the guards, but he also knew that Virgil would be terrified if he did so. He was already terrified. Logan didn’t want to know what he thought the fate Logan would be condemning him to.
“No,” Logan said before he could even truly think it through. “No, I’m not.”
“You’re not?” Virgil asked.
“Well, there wouldn’t really be a point, would there?” Logan asked. “The reason we planned to turn you when father got back in is because you posed a danger to him, but you have just demonstrated that is no longer an issue.”
“Really?” Virgil asked, sniffling a bit and Logan saw Patton’s arms tighten even more around him.
“We will have to figure out a better cover for you than just that you’re new to the castle, but I believe it will work fine. No one besides the two of us would ever guess your origin anyway.”
“S-so I can stay?” Virgil asked, “and you won’t throw me into prison or execute me?”
“I promise you were never going to be executed Virgil,” Logan said. “Even if we turned you in, but yes you can stay with us. We’ll figure out a backstory for you that doesn’t involve assassinations and you’ll have to keep up the lie, but I doubt anyone will question it.”
“I’ll do whatever you want,” Virgil said, chocked up. “Thank you. I really didn’t want to go.”
“Well, you’re our friend now so there will be no going anywhere,” Patton said kissing him on the cheek. Virgil relaxed back into his hold, pleased with the affection.
Logan smiled at them both. “Can I see your wrists, Virgil?”
Virgil blinked but offered them and Logan tapped the restraints doing a quick incantation. They popped off after a moment.
“You’re letting me go?” Virgil asked, eyes wide.
“Of course,” Logan said. “We’re not just going to keep you prisoner for no reason.”
“That’s…” Virgil said, eyes watering as he clearly was trying not to cry. “You’re the best people I’ve ever met.”
“I wish that was not so clearly the case,” Logan replied. He slowly reach up and set a hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to go speak with my father. Patton will stay with you.”
“Okay,” Virgil agreed, seeming a bit hesitant.
Logan smiled softly and leaned forward to gently touch their foreheads together. “I will be right back,” he assured. “We will finish our slumber party, though perhaps we will table the rest of the dress up activity for another night.”
He stood then, leaving Virgil in Patton’s capable hands to exit his own bedroom and cross the hallway to his father’s. He took a brief moment to compose himself before knocking on the door.
“Come in,” his father called.
Logan opened the door to see his father sitting on one of the armchairs in his room. Despite the almost disaster that had taken place a few minutes ago, Logan found himself smiling at the man. It was nice to have him home.
“Sorry about that,” Father said.
“It was more my fault than yours. If I knew there was a risk of you coming home today, I wouldn’t have left him alone.”
“Is he alright?”
“I believe so,” Logan answered. “Patton is with him and will certainly smooth out any lingering distress.”
“Good,” his dad said. “That’s good.” There was a pause and then he gestured at the seat beside his.
Logan settled himself down on it. “How was your trip?” he asked. “You’re back a week early.”
“Yes,” Father said. “The trip went better and worse than anticipated.
“How so?” asked Logan curiously.
“Well,” Dad said. “The purpose of the trip was to convince the new queen of Lamir, Cecil not to ally with Mocnejsi, but by the time I’d arrived there wasn’t really a risk of that.”
“Why not?”
“After investigation, it turned out that Cecil’s mother had been poisoned by an assassin from Mocnejsi.”
“Oh,” Logan said, mind already racing.
“They figured out that one of the young women who had been hired on in the kitchen for the winter had done it, and had learned her origin when they questioned her,” Dad informed him. “Considering Cecil was immediately approached for an alliance with Mocnejsi, their aim was likely to manipulate her going forward because of how young she is. Luckily, Cecil is a smart girl and has the help of her mother’s advisor as well as her own. By the time I got there, my only real role was to extend my condolences and reaffirm out alliance. I would have stayed longer, but the possibility that Mocnejsi may think to attack us in a similar way hastened me home.”
“That…” Logan said. “That is wise. I assume you are going to institute more security.”
“I am, yes,” Dad replied. “I would like your input on plans in the coming day.”
“Of course,” Logan agreed.
Dad smiled at him, “But for now,” he said, “I think it’s time you get back to your slumber party and I get to finally go to sleep.”
Logan nodded and got to his feet. He leaned over to hug his father perhaps a bit longer and harder than was strictly necessary, but Dad did not seem to mind at all. “Goodnight,” Logan said.
“Goodnight, son.”
Chapter 21
Virgil woke with something soft but kind of stringy in his face. That was weird. He didn’t know what in the closet would feel like that. In fact, as he woke more he noticed more things that he couldn’t sus out the origin of, particularly the warmth curled up against his side. Curious, he blinked open his eyes. Oh, right. Patton.
The soft stuff in his face was Patton’s hair and the warmth next to Virgil was the rest of the boy’s body. Patton had all but refused to let Virgil go last night after Logan had taken off the restraints and Virgil hadn’t minded the attention. They must have fallen asleep together in the piles of pillows and blankets on the floor.
Virgil brushed his hair gently away, internally (for fear of disturbing him) shaking his head at him. He’d fallen asleep hallway on top of an assassin. He had no self-preservation instincts. He looked at his wrists. It seemed no one had any self-preservation instincts. This of course, included himself as instead of running off when free in case they decided to turn him in after all, he had fallen asleep on the floor with Patton too.
He looked to the side and saw Logan was already awake, reading on one of his chairs. He seemed to sense Virgil’s eyes on him because he looked up after a moment.
“You can get up if you like,” Logan said. “He is a heavy sleeper and won’t wake up if you squirm out of his grip.”
Virgil frowned, unsure if he wanted to risk it.
“I have breakfast ready for you.”
Okay, Virgil was going to risk it.
He carefully squirmed out of Patton’s grip, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead in apology for leaving him before getting to his feet.
Logan handed him a plate of eggs and toast when he walked over and gestured to the chair next to him. Virgil sat there to eat while Logan continued to read.
Virgil ate his food quickly, and then glanced over at Logan once he was done. Virgil was honestly at a bit of a loss. Usually, they came and got him out of the closet only once they were ready to do something, but Patton was still sound asleep on the floor and Logan looked engrossed in his book.
Virgil fidgeted slightly, unsure what he should be doing or even if he should be doing anything. Considering Logan hadn’t given him any instructions, he should probably not do anything. He didn’t want to screw up the first day of… whatever this was now.
Logan glanced over at him after a few minutes. “Don’t forget about the potion,” he reminded.
Virgil nodded and stood, walking over to the closet since it would still be in there from the previous morning. It was about half gone now and it had gotten to the point where Virgil didn’t feel any immediate affects from it anymore other than some warmth. It basically just felt like drinking tea.
He said as much to Logan when he walked back over to him.
“That’s good,” Logan said, “it means it has been working. It has healed any damage it can from malnutrition. Any internal organs that were damaged should be mostly healed. You may even notice your eyesight getting slightly better. Your immune system should also be boosted. You will likely also find it is easier to gain muscle and while you likely will never be as tall as you could have been, you will likely still grow a few inches during your next growth spirt.”
Virgil studied his hands where they were sitting on his thigh now as though he could see the changes that allegedly had already taken place in his body. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
“Of course,” Logan replied, eyes already back on his book like it was some normal thing and not a huge kindness he’d bestowed on Virgil before even really knowing him. As though Virgil didn’t just owe him more than just his life going forward.
They sat in silence then for a few more minutes, before the was a soft sigh from the floor and Patton started to wake. He sat up and looked around. His eyes landed on both Virgil and Logan sitting together and he seemed to light up.
“Good morning!” he chirped.
“Good morning, Patton,” Logan said as Patton popped to his feet, “I have breakfast for you.”
“Thank you Lo,” Patton said, throwing his arms around Logan’s neck, and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Virgil presumed from the lack of surprise on Logan’s face that this was normal for morning Patton, not that the fact surprised him considering how night Patton acted.
He still managed to be somewhat surprised by the fact that Patton turned to hug Virgil a second later. Patton’s lips were pressed briefly to Virgil’s head and then he turned to grab the plate Logan had saved for him.
“So, what are we doing today?” Patton asked.
“I was thinking Virgil and I could continue our reading lessons if he is not opposed,” Logan said. Virgil nodded, happy with that prospect. “Other than that, I have no plans. I have already spoken with my father before the two of you woke. He is going to spend most of his day catching up on things he missed and said I could take the rest of the day off royal duties.”
“A whole day to relax then!” Patton said, happily chewing on his toast. “Reading sounds fun, but we should do something more active too.”
Logan hummed. “We can show Virgil the courtyard after the reading lessons,” he said.
It took a moment for it to register, but then Virgil froze. “Wait,” he said. “We’re going outside?”
Logan raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes.”
“So, we’re leaving your room?”
“Are you alright with that?” Logan asked cautiously.
Virgil nodded quickly.
“Oh,” Patton said at his enthusiasm. “I guess you have been cooped up a while, haven’t you?” He smiled sadly and turned to Logan. “Maybe we can do reading lessons in the garden.”
“That would be satisfactory.”
“Great!” Patton said. He looked over at Virgil. “If we’re going out, we should probably put your hair up and get you in some clean clothes.”
Logan nodded. “You finish eating, and I will help Virgil find something to wear.”
Logan found him an outfit, though it was a bit baggy on Virgil and the hem of the shirt went halfway to his knees. When Patton finished breakfast, he sat Virgil down and carefully worked a brush through his hair.
“Can I braid it?” Patton asked.
Virgil hummed his consent. Having his hair brushed and done up by another person was a lot more enjoyable than he’d anticipated. He’d liked it when Logan did it the night before, though he had to very firmly push away thoughts of where that led.
“Okay!” Patton said after a few moments. “You look good. Ready to go?”
Virgil nodded and they both led him out into the hall. He paused before they got to the door. “What about the guards?” he asked hesitantly.
“I’ve already given them the same story as I did Dad,” Logan replied. “They know you’re here.”
Virgil still hesitated.
“It’s okay,” Patton promised. “Here, hold my hand?”
Virgil took the offered hand immediately, and Logan stepped in front of them both. Virgil felt himself relax a bit knowing the prince was between him and the guards.
They led him to the door.
Logan greeted both of the guards at the door, and they said good morning back. Both of them glanced at Virgil curiously for a moment making him shrink into himself, but they quickly averted their gazes.
Patton pulled him past them without incident and soon they were in the small dining hall Virgil had passed through his first night here. He remembered how he’d snuck around at the edges of the room in the shadows with the aim to kill the king, but now he was being pulled through the middle with the prince having just wandered past the royal guards in broad daylight like it was nothing.
It was so strange, and Virgil still couldn’t totally believe this was happening. The retraced his exact steps back down the spiral stairs near the kitchen and out of the door he and the nice gardener had came through. He could even see the shed he’d been hiding in from here. With a blink, he remembered they were going to the garden, and he wondered if he’d see the man again.
For now, he just looked around them as Logan and Patton led him past the garden shed towards an area with many trees. Orange and yellow leaves were starting to fall from many of the trees.
They made a satisfying crunching sound under his feet as he was led to a tree. He had seen the group of trees when he’d first arrived here and had even thought about hiding amongst them instead of in the shed, but they’d seemed scary in the dark. They were pretty in the daylight, however, and Virgil found himself tilting his head to watch the branches sway in the slight wind.
Logan sat down under it and pulled out a book and some writing materials from the bag he’d brought. Virgil settled down next to him so they could both look at the book at the same time and Patton flopped down on the other side, immediately setting to work tying fancy knots in the yarn he’d brought with him. Patton shuffled slightly to the side so they bumped shoulders as Logan opened the book and started Virgil’s reading lesson.
Chapter 22
Patton bit his lip to keep from laughing or awing. “Do you like the flower, Virgil?” he asked.
Virgil glanced up at him briefly and then his eyes returned to the flower he’d found. “It’s nice,” he said.
They’d finished the reading lessons and let Virgil explore the garden a bit. He’d found a dark purple and yellow flower (a pansy, Patton thought) and seemed to be endlessly fascinated by it. He’d been staring at it for minutes now, almost as though he expected it to do something. Patton did not quite understand his interest, but he was still adorable.
Logan sat next to him and the flower, smiling at him softly. “I imagine you’ll enjoy the garden in the spring,” Logan said. “There are many more flowers then. Of all types. We’ll have to show you all of the best spots. Mr. Deknis has a particularly good eye for colors, and it is always quite beautiful.”
“Who is Mr. Deknis?” Virgil asked.
“He’s the head gardener,” Logan said. “He’s a nice man, though a bit prickly when it comes to his garden. We may see him today if he’s in this part of the garden.”
“Would he have been the multrum I saw in the gardening shed when I hid there?”
“Ah, yes, that would be him. I was unaware you interacted with anyone in the castle.”
“He caught me in his garden shed, but he wasn’t mean,” Virgil said, he tilted his head curiously at Logan. “Why…” he trailed off.
“Yes?” Logan asked.
“Why is he the gardener?”
Logan looked confused, “Well,” he said, “I guess because he wants to and is good at it.”
“No,” Virgil said with a frown. “I mean. Shouldn’t he… he’s…”
Logan seemed to think hard for a moment. “Right,” he said. “You’ve been under a blood compulsion. I’d guess you would have only worked with multrums in the military.”
“I guess I didn’t realize that they could be other things…”
“Of course, they can,” Logan said. “Their abilities don’t make them any less of people. Mr. Deknis likes to garden so he gardens.”
Virgil blinked at him.
“…Of course, all things considered, that may not be a familiar concept to you.” Virgil turned back to look at the flower instead of answering. “Right,” said Logan.
There were a couple of awkward beats of silence. Patton bit his lip and happened to glance up. “Oh,” he said. “Speaking of Mr. Deknis.” He gestured to the gardener who was coming up the path between the trees.
Logan sat up on his knees as Patton waved at him. He saw Patton and turned to walk towards them. “The two of you had better not be up to mischief in my garden,” Mr. Deknis called, his voice a bit gruff. He clearly did not see Virgil who had laid flat on his stomach to stare at the flower.
Logan rolled his eyes automatically. “We were just reading Mr. Deknis,” he said. “Your piles of dirt are safe.”
“No mud cakes?” Mr. Deknis asked skeptically still coming towards them.
“It has been a literal decade…”
Patton saw when Mr. Deknis was close enough to see Virgil.
He stopped in his track and looked down at Virgil who was already watching him a bit warily. “Hello,” he said, his voice a lot softer than it’d been a few moments before. His expression completely flipped in a moment to something very gentle when he saw Virgil and the cautious look on his face. Virgil did seem to have that effect on people.
“Hi,” Virgil replied.
Mr. Deknis looked at Logan and then at Patton and then back at Virgil. “This is our new friend, Virgil,” Patton offered.
“Hello, Virgil,” Mr. Deknis said with a nod.
“Virgil, this is the gardener Mr. Deknis.”
“He’s not nearly as grumpy as he sounds,” Patton assured.
“Well,” Logan said, “yes he is.”
Mr. Deknis shot him a look that only served to prove Logan’s point if Patton was being honest. Logan just smiled back. Mr. Deknis apparently decided to let it slide because he turned back to Virgil.
“It’s good to see you again,” Mr. Deknis said. “Are you feeling better?”
Virgil nodded. “I’m a lot better,” he said. Mr. Deknis considered him for a moment, clearly reading how true that statement was. Patton was glad he seemed satisfied with the answer.
“I see you’ve met these two.”
“Yeah,” Virgil said.
Mr. Deknis smiled slightly. “Be careful with this one,” he said, pointing to Logan. “He’s a bad influence.”
Virgil frowned in confusion. “He’s the prince,” he pointed out.
“And a bad influence,” Mr. Deknis repeated. “He’s a beacon of irresponsibility and mischief and he corrupts that one,” he nodded to Patton.
“I am completely responsible,” Logan replied.
“Need I remind you of the cucumber incident.”
“I was 8,” Logan said.
“I know how old you were,” Mr. Deknis replied, “and you are hardly any older.”
“I resent that.”
Mr. Deknis just smiled and turned back to Virgil who was watching the interaction with pure curiosity.
“I just picked a few more of those apples for Patton’s mom to make into apple sauce. Would you kids like some?”
Virgil glanced over at Logan and Patton.
“That would be nice, thank you,” Patton replied for them all, standing up. Seeing that, Virgil also climbed to his feet.
“It’s back this way,” Mr. Deknis said, inclining hid head back the way he’d came and then turning to lead them that way. Patton followed him. He glanced back to see Logan put his hand on Virgil’s shoulder and give him a gentle push to get him going. “So, what are you kids up to today?”
“We wanted to show Virgil the garden and courtyard,” Patton said. “He’s been cooped up inside for a bit.”
“I see,” Mr. Deknis said. He glanced back at Virgil. “Feel free to come out in the garden anytime you like. As long as you don’t go about purposefully destroying stuff, I don’t mind you being out here.”
“I won’t destroy anything,” Virgil promised instantly.
“Well I hope you manage to keep that attitude even while befriending the large upright groundhog behind you.”
Virgil looked a little bit nervous. “He’s just teasing Virgil,” Patton assured. “He loves Logan.”
Mr. Deknis glanced back again and seemed to read the same thing Patton had read on Virgil’s face.
“Yes, of course,” Mr. Deknis said. “I have simply known the prince for a long time and joke with him in that way often. Logan is aware of that.”
“Indeed,” Logan agreed, his hand squeezing a bit on Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil relaxed a touch.
Mr. Deknis stopped and reached down into a bucket next to a tree. “I wouldn’t offer my apples to people I don’t like,” he said, tossing an apple underhand to Logan. Instead of trying to catch it, his eyes widened and he dodged out of the way.
“You would however throw apples at them despite knowing they have never been able to catch things.”
Mr. Deknis just rolled his eyes fondly, but Virgil frowned and turned to Logan. “You don’t know how to catch things?” he asked scandalized. “You should know how to catch things. What if someone throws a knife at you?”
Mr. Deknis looked… probably the right amount of concerned about that statement coming from a 14-year-old’s lips.
“Haha, yeah,” Patton said awkwardly. “Maybe you can teach Logan how to catch things Virgil, but later. Right now, why don’t we just get the apples and then show you the courtyard.”
Virgil was still frowning, but he did not argue with Patton’s suggestion.
Thankfully, Mr. Deknis did not push, though Patton did have to dodge many a meaningful side eye. He might… need to make sure he did not get cornered by the gardener in the coming days… or brush up on his lying without lying skills.
For now, though, he just handed out the apples, not tossing them this time. Virgil thanked him softly and Patton could see the way the usually fairly gruff man went all melty at that. He even slipped an extra apple to Virgil for later which Virgil perked up at.
Patton and Logan pulled him away gently after that so Mr. Deknis could go back to work, but Virgil seemed happy with the apples and copied Patton at waving goodbye to him cheerfully.
Despite the fact that he liked Mr. Deknis and he’d been nice, Patton still took a calming breath when they were no longer at risk of lying about something and getting caught by the man’s powers. They went back into the castle towards the courtyard.
Chapter 23
Logan was unsurprised that after showing Virgil the large courtyard, Patton almost immediately decided to instigate a game of tag. They were, after all, here with the goal of getting Virgil a bit active after having had him only in Logan’s room for weeks.
He was also unsurprised that Virgil seemed confused about the concept of tag, and Patton had to explain the game in detail to him.
It made him wince, but he still was unsurprised when Virgil went about inquiring after the consequences of losing the game.
He was, however, very surprised when, after getting all of the facts about tag settle, Patton was chasing after Virgil trying to tag him and suddenly the boy disappeared.
Patton almost ran into a wall in his confusion. He stared at his hands stretched out and just a couple of inches from touching the wall for a moment, before slowly looking up.
“Virgil!” Patton exclaimed. “What?”
“What?” he asked.
“…What are you even hanging onto?”
“The wall,” Virgil replied.
Logan walked closer to the two of them and tilted his head up to look at him. Virgil had jumped up and somehow managed to find hand and foot holes on the seemingly smooth wall. He climbed about 5 meters above their heads and was peering down at them curiously.
“Okay,” Logan said. “New rule. Virgil is not allowed to scale walls during tag.”
Virgil frowned down at him. “Why only me?”
“Because Patton and I cannot do that anyway,” Logan said. “We would not be able to actually play if you remain up there.”
Patton glanced over at him and reached over to touch Logan’s shoulder. “No tag backs,” he said. Logan glared at him. “Why don’t you come down sweetie?”
“But Logan will tag me,” he said.
“Well, honey, that’s part of the fun,” Patton reasoned. “Don’t you want to try being it?”
Virgil seemed to consider this for a long moment. “Okay,” he agreed.
To Logan’s terror, he simply let go of the wall, falling straight down and landing crouched. He blinked at Logan. Right. With a start, Patton took off, so he’d have a head start. “No tag backs means a 10 second head start for me,” Logan reminded. Virgil nodded, and Logan reached out to poke him in the arm before immediately running off in the opposite direction as Patton.
Logan’s strategy worked out since, knowing he couldn’t go after Logan for a few seconds more, he chose to turn and go after Patton. After finding one of the statues to hide behind on the edge of the courtyard, Logan risked glancing back.
Virgil was faster than Logan (and likely Patton) had accounted for. Patton had gotten a good head start on him, but Virgil closed it quickly. Patton shrieked as Virgil barreled into him, bringing them both to the ground.
“Virgil!” Logan heard Patton giggle. Logan figured he was more than okay despite the tackle. “This isn’t how you play tag!”
“I combined tag and tackle hugs,” Virgil declared, making Patton giggle more.
“That’s very innovative, honey,” Patton said. “Now are you going to let me up?...Virgil… I’m counting down your 10 second head start in my head, and if you don’t let me up I’m going to tag you again.”
This did not seem to have the intended effect as Virgil did not remove himself from Patton’s person. Patton laugh when it became clear he was not going to move and began counting down “7, 6, 5, 4, you’d better let me go sweetie, or you’re going to get tagged again.” Virgil did not seem to care. “3, 2, 1.” Patton reached up and bopped him on the nose. “Tag!” he declared.
Logan was surprised when Virgil instantly jumped off Patton at that. He whipped around.
‘Oh,’ Logan thought as the boy’s eyes narrowed in on Logan immediately, ‘I see.’
“Virgil was already halfway across the courtyard towards him before Logan could even think about running away. There was no way that he was fast enough to outrun him. Perhaps he could outthink him, he thought. His eyes scanned his environment in the seconds he had left and landed on a large square piece of stone that held flowers in the spring. It was just full of dirt now, but it was still about waist high. Perhaps if he kept that between them, he could outmaneuver him. He sprinted towards it and scrambled to the opposite side from where Virgil was heading.
He really should not have been as surprised as he was that Virgil did not even slightly slow as he approached the planter box, instead grabbing ahold of the side of it and vaulting over it. Logan stumbled back, bracing for impact, but instead he just got a quick tap on the shoulder.
Logan blinked at him.
“I don’t know if you would be okay with tackle hugs,” he explained.
Logan considered him. “I would be okay with a nontackle hug.”
Virgil happily jumped forward to hug Logan, pressing his nose into Logan’s shoulder. Logan chuckled and patted the top of his head. “Six,” he said, “5, 4, 3…”
Virgil bolted away suddenly, actually making Logan stumble a bit. He paused just out of reach of Logan, looking at him with anticipation. “2,1,” Logan finished with a raised eyebrow. He already knew he was being played with, but he indulged him by starting towards him. Virgil danced out of the way, eyes alight. Logan sighed. “Is this truly how it’s going to be?” he asked.
Virgil didn’t answer, but to watch him with wide, excited eyes.
“Fine,” Logan said. He dashed towards him again, only to have him continue to maneuver just out of Logan’s reach each time Logan went forward. He’d call it taunting if there was any sign of malice in it.
They ran around the courtyard in spirts of Logan charging at him and Virgil expertly dodging. Eventually Patton came closer to them. Logan could tell that Virgil was aware of his presence, by how he glanced back at him briefly, but considering he was not ‘it,’ it seemed he chose to disregard him. However, he was not aware of the way Patton winked at Logan as he walked up behind Virgil.
Logan, on the other hand, knew exactly what was happening. He went to spring for Virgil again, and Virgil again moved to dodge, but this time Patton grabbed him around the waist, allowing Logan to actually tag him.
He turned slowly to face Patton who started to giggle immediately at the perplexed look on his face. It cleared into something else as soon as he heard Patton laugh. “Traitor!” he claimed. “We were on the same team and you betrayed me.”
“I just thought we should probably have mercy on poor Logan,” Patton replied.
“Hmm,” Virgil said, eyes again full of that playful mischief Logan had not seen until today. “Plea for mercy not accepted.”
Patton once again half-shrieked half-laughed as he was pounced on. The two of them went rolling across the grass, Virgil clearly keeping the rolling going longer than it should have as they made it a good few meters.
36284
Virgil sprung off of him a few moments later.
“Oh, is it my turn?” Patton inquired with a huge smile. He slowly got to his feet. “Hmm, I’m probably at about 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” He took off after Virgil, but Patton had a bit more endurance than Logan, so instead of doing quickly calculated lunges at Virgil as Logan had done, he just ran at him full tilt without stopping.
Virgil ran from him, though Logan was pretty sure he was intentionally slowing himself down a bit so Patton had some amount of a chance. He kept turning to check behind him and make sure Patton was still somewhat close as he ran.
Which is why he didn’t see the imminent disaster in time.
Chapter 24
Thomas should have been paying more attention, but his mind had been on the meeting he’d just had with the castle guards about increased security in the wake of the possible threat from Mocnejsi. He’d decided to take a brief walk around the courtyard to clear his head but was still distracted with mulling over the options that had just been presented to him. He stepped into the castle courtyard and did not have time to step out of the way of the much smaller body rocketing towards him. Virgil slammed into his front, but not before Thomas got a good look at his face.
Virgil’s expression changed dramatically in the few seconds between him registering Thomas was there and running into him. For the briefest moment, Thomas could see that he must have been having a lot of fun. He’d caught the wide smile and sparkling eyes as Virgil turned his head back from looking at Patton who was chasing him across the greenery. He’d looked very happy which made it all the more painful to see that happiness die in and a few instants. When his head had turned back towards Thomas, there was a flicker of confusion at something being in his path.
Then, clearly everything about the situation registered, because his eyes blew wide in horror as he tried to stop himself, but there was no way he’d be able to in time. Thomas saw that fact register on his face the moment before he hit. Gone was any trace of happiness or joy in that split second. All that was left was dread that had no place anywhere near a children’s game of tag. It was the expression Thomas would expect from someone who felt ice give way under their feet in the middle of a lake they had thought was frozen solid.
He hit hard, but he wasn’t nearly big enough to actually harm Thomas. Thomas was thrown slightly off balance but managed to stay on his feet. He reached out a hand to his shoulder automatically to steady the child. There was a moment of pseudo calm where they both absorbed the impact and stilled.
Then, the boy’s shoulder slipped out of Thomas’s grip as he went crashing to the ground in a move that made Thomas wince for the state of his knees. Thomas couldn’t quite grasp what was happening for a moment as Virgil face planted onto the ground in front of him, but when he did, Thomas couldn’t help but flinch and take a step back from him.
Thomas had been bowed to before, of course, seeing as he was a king, but this was not out of respect or courtesy or even just tradition. This was out of terror. He was begging for mercy and it made Thomas feel sick.
“I’m sorry,” he said, meek and shaky into the ground, and there was almost something worse about the fact that he did not beg for forgiveness with his words, but only his posture. The way his breathes came far too quick and shallow said he was likely on the verge of a panic attack, but he was not blubbering through apologies or even not speaking at all. He gave a clear, if shaky, apology, and waited for whatever he thought Thomas planned to do to him. There was no way that was not learned.
“You don’t…” Thomas stuttered. “You don’t have to do that. It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again, but he reacted in no other way. He did not even react when Patton made it to his side and knelt down next to him. Patton’s hand hovered over his back, clearly wanting to touch down, but he pulled back on that instinct.
“Virgil, honey,” he said softly. “It’s okay. No one is mad. It was an accident.”
Virgil did not react to this at all.
Thomas caught Logan’s eye as he hurried over to them himself. “Sorry,” Thomas mouthed. Logan just nodded and turned his attention to his friend.
“There is no reason for any of that,” Logan said, his voice firm, almost clipped. “You are not in trouble. Now sit up.”
Virgil did respond to that, slowly shifting back on his knees. He kept his head down looking at the ground. “Sorry,” he said again.
“I…” Thomas said, surveying the three kids on the ground in front of him. Thomas slowly sunk to the ground to be at their level. Virgil was tracking his movements out of the corner of his eyes, his head still bowed and his shoulders tensed. “Hey,” Thomas said softly. “Were you three playing tag?”
Virgil hesitated, eyes flickering as he debated whether he should respond or not.
“Yeah, we were,” Patton answered for him after a moment of stressful silence.
“Well that’s fun,” Thomas said. “I’m sorry for interrupting the three of you. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Virgil glanced up at him for just a moment before looking away again. Patton apparently felt it was safe enough to touch Virgil, because he settled a hand on the boys shoulder.
“Yeah, we’ve just been having a fun day,” Patton said, carefully matching Thomas’s light tone. “We went to the garden and did some reading. Then, Mr. Deknis gave us some apples.”
“That’s nice,” Thomas replied. “He’s been talking about the new apples he’s been growing. He’s been working on them for years and they’re just beginning to bare fruit this year. I haven’t gotten a chance to try any yet. Are they any good?”
“They’re very good,” Patton told him. His hand rubbed slowly on Virgil’s back. “Isn’t that right, Virge?”
Virgil nodded a bit, a little less tense now, but still nowhere near calm.
“Well, I’ll have to try them soon,” Thomas said with a smile. “Thank you for the information. Now, I’ve got to get back to what I’m doing, but I hope you three have a good day.”
“I’ll see you later, Dad,” Logan said.
Thomas nodded and pushed himself to his feet. “Goodbye you three,” he said before turning away towards the door back into the castle. He paused to take a breath when the door closed behind him, cutting off the courtyard. There were a lot of thoughts to shirt through in regards to that conversation. He hated that Virgil was so obviously terrified of him. Both of their two interactions had ended with the poor thing panicking on the ground. He wished he had some idea of how to help him or at least someone to talk to about it.
Maybe he’d go visit Mr. Deknis himself and not just for the apples.
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🐭 • So we literally know nothing about Bradley’s shenanigans between the end of Coon vs. Coon & Friends, when he left Earth to discover what happened to his home planet, and Bring the Crunch, where he states that he is living there now and doing who knows what.
Well I always wanted to write a post giving my thoughts on the subject (and I have a bit of a teaser here) so, for the sake of future RPs, I may as well do it. I will probably divide this into two posts because the Lore and my shenanigans are different things.
Just saying it now: this is mostly my own making and ideas as there’s very little canonical backing on the topic. If I have anything that I can quote to use as proof of my statements I will do it, but this is mostly my own interpretation.
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Bradley Biggle has been around as a background character since Season 3, joining the main four as one of their classmates after moving to the fourth grade in Season 4. Still, until Season 14, he has been a (recognizable) background character with voice roles that could be easily counted with your hands –akin to characters like DogPoo or Kevin Stoley–.
The introductory paragraph above is a way of saying: we didn’t really know that much about Bradley until the Coon & Friends Trilogy. Hell, we still don’t, it is only on the final part of the trilogy, Coon Vs. Coon & Friends, when we learn a few things about him, and that episode starts with the video above.
“But Bradley Biggle is no ordinary fourth-grader!”
I am not going to waste time explaining why is Mintberry Crunch and what he does (for that’s what his About Page is all about) but, obviously, the entire clip is a form of foreshadowing to the ending. Spoilers to a 10-year-old episode: Bradley receives a message from outer space in which he’s told that he’s an alien from a far away planet whose destiny is to save Earth from C’thulu. Also Kenny thought that this revelation was going to be for him so he got scammed of his backstory, I guess.
So yeah, Bradley is a superhero with a backstory akin to Superman: he is an enhanced alien that was sent off to safety as a baby during times of crisis, and was found, adopted and raised by a human family, the Biggles. Yeah, I don’t think anyone really thought that Bradley and Henrietta were biological siblings, but whatever.
While we don’t know if everyone in the planet K'oh Kajan (or Kokujon, as I will be typing it like that) has the same powers as MBC, since we know that the berries of that planet “have the power to fuel nearly anything”, I’m going to take a guess that the “nearly” is there because they cannot grant superpowers to people, so Bradley is the outlier and a case of the chosen one. He is the only one with this powers, basically.
So he defeats C’thulu with his mint and berry superpowers and stuff (yes, defeats, he can only summon mint and berry to his aid, which would mostly work to reduce an opponent rather than killing them), and this episode ends with what would mark MBC’s exit from the show (outside of the very rare background appearance) for a very long time:
Canonically-speaking, this is what we know.
Bradley left to search for his biological parents (and his home planet, I suppose) and we would not hear about him for sure until Season 21. To be more precise, we would not hear about MBC’s shenanigans until his appearance in Fractured But Whole’s second DLC, Bring the Crunch.
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Timestamp goes from 1:06 to 2:22 (unless you want spoilers).
Funny enough, while this would mark MBC’s return, it still does not give us much information about what he has been up to before the events pertaining this DLC. However, we still get a few clues from his in-game dialogue which I’m going to interpret for you guys.
"I picked up your distress call from the berry mines of my home planet. I've come to offer my assistance."
Something we know for sure is that he made it back to Kokujon!! This means that the main reason he has been away for so long (or so it’s my guess) is because he found his home planet, reunited with his biological parents and decided to settle there instead of returning to Earth with the Biggles. We still know that he visits, however, as he appears in Stick of Truth and in some more episodes (before disappearing again in Season 22):
We still don’t really know anything about his home planet, though, outside of very selective information he gives in and out of battle. Here’s a few examples:
"It's so weird being back on Earth. I can't believe you guys only have one sun!"
“You wanna know the best thing about Kokujon? No school."
"I didn't travel halfway across the galaxy to be treated like this."
He doesn’t live anywhere in the Solar System, that’s for sure, because not only he has traveled “across the galaxy” to respond to Fastpass’ distress call (which is another can of worms in itself, because how could have he received a call like that from literal light years away?), but also our system only has one sun.
This is just me trying to tie things together with South Park canon (so it’s a bit of a tangent), but in Season 13, in the episode Pinewood Derby, we are made aware of the existence of the Federation of Planets, a government body that is on a galactic level. The only reason I mention this is because MBC has proven to be capable of traveling at warp speed –traveling from his home planet to Earth in a matter of (what I am going to suppose were) minutes after receiving that distress call–, and all the planets that have discovered warp speed are part of the Federation, so that must be the case for Kokujon.
The exception to this rule, if anyone has watched the episode, would be Earth, but that’s because they didn’t meet the requirements to join the Federation and were blocked off the rest of the galaxy instead.
Not sure if this is canon anymore, but if it is that means that Bradley is constantly breaking the law by visiting a planet that has been labeled as off-limits, but he is not the only alien that has set foot in South Park anyways.
Actually, speaking of breaking the law and stuff, that reminds me... here is a screenshot of MBC’s character sheet:
While most characters in FBW have the Lawful (and only Lawful) alignment, MBC stands out because he has a more specific alignment. Not only he is Chaotic (which explains the possibility of him being breaking the law whenever he travels back to Earth), but also Neutral, which makes him... a morally grey character. He is neither good, neither bad, he is just... well, himself.
Why am I bringing this up anyways? Because there is one detail about the Kokujonian society that those that have played the DLC are aware about: the caste system.
"On my home planet, you'd get 10 years in the berry mines for that!"
The mention of these berry mines have been a thing ever since Season 14, but this line that can pop up when MBC is attacked in game has quite the connotations. Simple: you commit a crime, you are sent to the berry mines. You commit a crime, you work at the berry mines. You commit a crime, you become a slave. But you could say “oh, Mouse, but it could be like community service like many prisons on Earth- “ and I would have to tell you that you’re wrong because even MBC says so himself.
Despite being a trope in many sci-fi stories based around alien societies it is a very fucked up elephant in the room and everyone and their mother knows this. The last mission in the Bring the Crunch DLC involves fighting (and killing) a mind-controlling alien whose motivation was revenge against the society that put his family (and possibly his entire race to) into this position. Not only that, but if MBC is being truthful, the Kokujonian society has no issue to do the same with anyone that breaks the law, even their own people.
So, does the fact that he is part of this society make Bradley evil? No. Once again, he is Chaotic Neutral, he is just Bradley. And looking at the definition of Chaotic Neutral:
“Chaotic neutral characters like to indulge in everything. [...] This type of character will at least consider doing anything if they can find enjoyment or amusement. Life has meaning, but theirs has the greatest meaning. According to chaotic neutrals, laws and rules infringe on personal freedom and were meant to be broken. This character is always looking for the best deal, and will work with good, neutral, or evil to get it; as long as he comes out of the situation on top. The chaotic neutral is constantly teetering between good and evil, rebelling, and bending the law to fit his needs.”
His alignment makes him more complicated than the black-and-white idea that is being good or being evil on one fact alone. He is defined, however, by the fact that he does what he pleases regardless of what society, morality and laws say. And this is easily backed up by how he addresses the Crooked Cop enemy class in FBW:
"Earth police have no jurisdiction over... Mintberry Crunch!"
"Authority figures are no match for... the crunch!"
So, basically, his alignment makes him a free spirit and, at best, because his family owns slaves, he would be a proxy. He’s mostly a 10-year-old with superpowers that has been granted total freedom to do what he wants and takes full advantage of it (an also a superhero and an illegal alien on Earth, literally and figuratively), so he is not precisely defined by the society of his home planet. I do believe, though, that he has been influenced by the Kokujonian society as a result of living with his biological parents, so his morality and ideas flip-flop a lot.
“Chaotic neutral characters are extremely difficult to deal with. Such characters have been known to cheerfully and for no apparent purpose gamble away everything they have on the roll of a single die. They are almost totally unreliable. In fact, the only reliable thing about them is that they cannot be relied upon!”
MBC choosing to fight that alien (an alien he carelessly allowed to follow him to Earth) could also be interpreted as personal defense and him defending planet Earth from an outer space threat as the Zarganor voices his intentions pretty clearly in-battle, but everyone is welcome to draw their own conclusions since both of them were motivated by very different things.
Anyways, once again, Kokujon is a pretty fucked up planet, but it is also Bradley’s home planet. We can assume that finding this planet and his biological parents helped him discover his real identity as Gok'zarah and, once he accomplished this goal, decided that he had nothing else worth pursuing and settled. He is rather unpredictable, as his alignment dictates, so he may not even stay on Kokujon a lot and instead travels through the galaxy- but those are headcanons of mine.
In conclusion, as a TL;DR: Bradley disappeared from Season 14 to Season 21, and then from Season 22 and onwards, because he’s an alien and has chosen to live in his home planet. Said planet’s society has its fucked up side but Bradley is so unpredictable due to his free spirit nature it is hard to pin-point his morals.
Anyways, for a character that started as a joke character that was used as a deus ex machina, I think he’s pretty cool! :·D And probably one of the strongest characters in this show’s universe.
#📁 • OOC.#🍚 • Bradley!About.#🍚 • Bradley!Headcanon.#cw long post#(Though in this blog I love all of my boys this one has a weird history.)#(I still remember when I liked MBC in an ironical sense; yeah; sure.)#(Now he's just one of my favorite characters ever LOL.)#(What do you mean I shouldn't care this much about a joke character?.)
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hi, Rachel. I've been wanting to write flash fiction for a while—not too long ago I started writing short stories but always on the longer side. But I can't understand exactly the difference between a longer and shorter piece, or how sometimes a short-short feels as vivid as a longer one, and google just states the obvious (write less words :D). So I know you've written a few and I really respect you in this art. Do you have any tips or help? even if you don't know, do you have resources? thanks
I wrote this post earlier but it ! disappeared! EDIT: I also thought I posted this but apparently I did not?? maybe I did?? I don’t know?? sorry this took forever! but luckily this is like my favourite thing to talk about in writing! The difference between flash fiction versus short short fiction and long short fiction really all comes down to structure, so I’ll share three different structures I’ve made up to help illustrate what I mean. (So keep in mind this is all made up by me and therefore may not make sense lol!)
I just wrote up a post on sticking to shorter word counts with @ellatholmes which you can check out here!
Disclaimer: While I’ll be separating short fiction into three categories (flash fiction, shorter short fiction, longer short fiction), even the nuances in these categories require different things. For example, even though stories between 1k-3500 words may count under shorter short fiction, a 1200 word story is going to have completely different needs than a 3500 word story, and the more practice you get, the more obvious these needs become. 200 words could be the difference between 50 different structures, so take these as a place to start but also the best way to understand how to write shorter short fiction is to do that: don’t allow yourself to go over a certain word count, and if you must for the story, reflect on what structure it may be following.
Usually when we’re taught story structure, it looks something like this:
(via skyword)
This obviously works, but visually, at least for me, can be a bit confusing because that inciting incident is just a flat plane that seems to propel rising action, when in reality, I think it’s a peak in itself and where the entire story lies.
1. Shorter short fiction structure (1000-3500 words)
We can break down this structure in 4 steps:
0) regular boring life before the story starts (not written in)
1) inciting incident (story starts here are as close to here when things get interesting)
2) rising action - story’s events happen here and lead to...
3) short changing moment (can be a decision, a realization, anything where the character “changes” in some way from who they were at the start of the story)
4) Denouement (usually very short, depending on the story this can be a paragraph or 1-2 sentences)
This kind of story has a bit more room than the second option to have more defined “moments”, but still it is quite compact, so efficiency is still required.
2. Shorter short fiction structure (modified - usually works for flash fiction)
This structure is 3 steps! It’s very similar to the above, but just slightly compressed with some different terminology I’ve made up lol!
0) regular boring life before story starts (not written in)
1) inciting/disruptive event (something happens here that disrupts the character’s life << NOTE that I’ve opted to call this the inciting/DISRUPTIVE event because in shorter short fiction, there may not be as much space to have a fleshed-out “event”, per se, but rather, just enough space to describe something [even in one sentence] that somehow disrupts that character’s life. For example, in my short story “Fig” the disruptive event is that someone dies--we don’t see this happen on the page, but it’s implied right away).
2) consequences of disruptive event (aka rising action, except I like to think of this as the consequences to that disruptive event until you make it to the inevitable end)
3) inevitable end (some change should occur to the character over the course of the story but it may be subtler/a smaller change)
This structure is more in line with the structure of a “moment” (how I like to view flash fiction in general). There is more concentration on this moment rather than setup, and usually you only get the information that is absolutely vital for understanding (even more so than you usually do in other kinds of short fiction).
Longer short fiction structure (3500+ words)
0) regular boring life before the story starts (not written in)
1) inciting incident (story starts here are as close to here when things get interesting)
2) rising action that leads to...
3) moment of change (this might be what you’d call the novel’s climax, but I view this as a moment when the character changes somehow from who they were at the beginning of the story)
4) denouement
This structure differs from the others as it has a bit more room to explore character change (obviously in that moment of change). The character might have a more defined, longer moment of “lift” or a reflective moment toward the end of the story, where that “lift” may be much, much shorter in the previous two structures.
I think the secret to getting a shorter short story feel as vivid as a much longer one is to understand their skeletons so that you’re not making your story top heavy or bottom heavy with thinness on either end (which I’ve 100% done in the past)! Redefining shorter short fiction is VITAL though. I don’t think people talk about this enough--the differences between each kind of short fiction. Flash fiction is just an impression, a little dip into a moment that still feels satisfying without being over 1k words. That’s a very difficult task, because it all depends on your idea. Some ideas are simply not flash fiction ideas because they intrinsically require more room to exist. When I wrote Mama Lives in My Mouth which is flash and is coming out in Young Voices soon so you can see that yourself, I immediately knew the idea of a mother living inside her child’s mouth would NEVER work in a piece longer than 1k words. I didn’t think I could sustain that idea, which meant I immediately knew it would be a shorter piece. This is a muscle you’ll develop as you write short fiction, and is a muscle I’m still developing myself! I know it’s difficult to parse whether or not an idea is a longer or shorter story when you’re first starting, which is why sometimes, it’s best to just jump in and fail. Failing is how I learned how to write a story and the differences between these three structures and when I may pull on one and not the other. At the end of the day, these structures are essentially the exact same. It goes INCITING INCIDENT > STORY’S EVENTS THAT LEAD TO > MOMENT OF CHANGE/REFLECTION/CLIMAX > STORY ENDS, but the placement/duration of these events differs, which is really only something you can understand when you do it!
I hope that helps! If anyone has any resources on flash fiction, please send them my way! <3
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EAPP READING RECORD ALTHEA CASSEY B. SAGARIO 11- ABM3
In Unit 1, what I learned about the Structure of Academic Texts is how to identify the structure of paragraphs, essays, and research papers. Also, there are 3 parts of the paragraph the topic sentence, supporting sentences, concluding and/or transitional sentence, and the different patterns as well the illustration, definition, clarification, comparison and contrast, and process. Furthermore, there are also 3 types of essays the Introduction, Body, and Conclusion, as well as I learned about the best way to identify the main idea in a three-part-essay the INRad stands for Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion, with a Conclusion, this usually used for academic texts and research paper it's intended for discussing the research topic at hand to explain the topic and it's intended purpose.
In Unit 2 the lesson we talk about is all about the Thesis statement and Outlining Academic Texts. What I understood in this lesson is that the Thesis Statement is you will usually write an introductory paragraph first in most academic papers. Thereafter, is to state your point of view on the topic, and usually done in one sentence in this one sentence is called the “Thesis Sentence”, and the goal and flow of your statements in the rest of your paper are to dictate to your main idea. Furthermore, there are 6 questions to make a Thesis Statement expressed appropriately, first, Am I answering the question? second, Have I taken a position that can possibly be disputed by others? third, Is my thesis statement specific enough? fourth, Does my thesis statement pass the “So what” test? fifth, Does the rest of my essay specifically and concretely support my thesis statement?, these particular questions can help you to build a correct Thesis Statement.
Outlining Academic Texts is one of the last steps of the prewriting phase is establishing an outline. It assists the writers to classify and organize the main idea of the topic, paragraphs to make understanding, and assure that the paragraph is fully developed. Eventually, helps the writer to not get stuck while he/she is writing an essay is an outline acts as a blueprint or a map. Besides, there are two types of outlines: a topic outline and a sentence outline. A Topic Outline only phrases or main ideas are required, also utilizes wording that is parallel to one another. A heading or subheading should not divide into one part only; if there is a concept under “A,” they must be a “B,” if there is “1,” there must be a “2.” In Sentence Outline it's utilized phrases, sentence outline makes use of sentences unlike the topic outline, headings, and subheadings must be in sentence form and lesser need to have parallelism but it cannot be divided into one part only; the same concept or divisions per heading should still be followed.
Unit 3 lesson is Writing a Summary and Techniques in Summarizing Texts. Summarizing a text is clarifying its essential concepts in a paragraph or two, summary has two goals: simulate the key ideas and points of the text and express these concepts and ideas with detailed and specific language. When writing a summary u need to change the world without changing the meaning and there are techniques to prepare for writing a summary the previewing, skimming, and scanning. To distinguish which part to include in the summary, the following are; your purpose for summarizing the text, and your view on what is essential in the text. In Techniques in Summarizing Texts what I learned is, summarizing a text means establishing a coherent compressed paragraph about a distinct topic or concept. There are two aims in summarizing texts: to reproduce the overarching ideas of a text to specify the general concepts and to express the overarching ideas of a text using detailed language. Lastly, I also understood the 9 Steps in Summarizing Texts: first, once you read a text you can now identify and comprise the title and author, second, include the author's thesis statement in the first two sentences, third, write one or two sentences per main ideas before summarizing the entirety. Write one or two sentences per main concept or suggestion in a text, fourth, recall to omit the details that are not significant; there is no need to go into the minor and supporting details of the text, fifth, avert writing additional opinions about the text, sixth, avoid plagiarism of the author’s work. Comprise quotations if you are rapidly quoting the writer.
In Unit 4 the lesson we discuss is about What is Paraphrasing, and Techniques in Paraphrasing Texts. What I have learned is that paraphrasing is a restatement of a text, passage, or work articulating the meaning in another aspect, a good paraphrase shows how well a writer understood the reading materials. Moreover, there are two factors of a good paraphrase: first, the paraphrase relays the information, from the source in-text in your own words, and the paraphrase oversees the readers to the source of the information. As well as, the two guidelines on when to paraphrase, the first is to use a paraphrase with short texts with one or two sentences or a paragraph with five sentences, the other one is when you want to underestimate direct quotation or rewrite the author’s word utilizing your own, without changing the meaning of the source text use a paraphrase. In paraphrasing by Changing Word, the way is to change the words in the statement while keeping the original thought of the text, furthermore, Changing a Part of Speech usually nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs can be written into various types of speech. The techniques in paraphrasing texts is to specify which words can be changed and the form they could be changed into, whether it is a noun into a verb, adjective into an adverb, etc, rewrite the sentence or passage modifying to the change in part of speech, check if the original and paraphrased sentences are related in meaning.
In Unit 5 Citing of information Lesson 1: Different Citation Style and Lesson 2: Writing a Bibliography. What I learned in lesson 1 is a citation is a way to give credit to the authors, scientists, researchers, and more. Citation conveniently locates particular sources and helps avoid plagiarism as well, furthermore, the citation includes the author’s name, date of publication, location of the publication, company, journal title, and DOI (Digital Object Identifier). Besides, there is a citation style, a citation style dictates what information is necessary to include in a citation, how that should be organized, what punctuations are used, and more. There are 3 different styles of citation, the APA(American Physiological Association) is used in education, psychology, and social sciences, MLA(Modern Language Association) is normally used in humanities, and Chicago/Turabian style is often used in business, history, and fine arts. Lesson 2 is all about Bibliography, list all of the sources you used for your research and additional background reading, it's included also in the bibliography if you borrowed work as an inspiration or as a purpose for your arguments, thesis, evidence, and the like, even if you didn't actively relate to them in your paper. Furthermore, a Bibliography in APA citation style has a particular formatting guide for your bibliography or references list. In Bibliography in MLA the reference list is pertained to as the works cited page, the title “Works Cited” is also included, capitalized, and centered at the outset of the page. In Bibliography in Chicago/Turabian citation style, a bibliography is usually used, meaning that all of the works you used in your research are included.
ADELANTE!!
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Re-reading hanshe with less word lookup is going well. I'm in section 10 already. I mean that's a long way to go with 209 sections. But if I'm doing 5 a day like rn that's 40 days to read instead of months like before, so with for increased reading speed. If I get up to 10 chapters a day that's 20 days to finish reading this fic which is under a month. Anyway we'll see.
Mostly I'm curious if when I hit 1/3 in, which is where I've read to before, if extensive reading no longer becomes possible because I don't have enough already-studied words for those parts afterward.
It’s interesting rereading because I can also start to tell which words/hanzi throw me off the most. There’s a number of new words I guess/remember quite easily, due to hanzi I remember easily. There’s also a number of 4-hanzi phrases I figure out easily because their hanzi are familiar and similar phrases I’ve already learned. however, STILL the words for suspicious, doubt, hesitate ALL trip me up! If I want to read fast I just guess which one the word means based on context! The hanzi for those 3 words just looks TOO similar to me especially with meanings that to me are also quite similar (if you doubt something you may be suspicious, if you doubt something or are suspicious you may hesitate, so the words are quite similar in meaning in my head).
怀疑 Huáiyí - doubt, suspect, be skeptical
犹豫 yóuyù - to hesitate
犹疑 yóuyí - to hesitate
(you will notice the bottom word uses a hanzi from hesitate, then a second hanzi from doubt, and it makes me confused as all hell as a result whenever I see any of these 3 words because I see hanzi from another similar word and then get lost about which means which).
Anyway, the hanzi I confuse for other hanzi/being part of other words, seem to be the ‘already learned’ words I am clicking the most. Because I’ve seen the word or hanzi many times but STILL the sound has not stuck in my mind so yet again I’m looking up the pronunciation. Like 绸缎 chouduan (silk) and chan (getting tangled/wrapped/involved with with someone/thing) 缠. I see the silk side radical and the enclosure on both (though the enclosures are different), and because they look pretty similar EVERY time I see chou as in silk I want to read it as ‘chan’. About 80% of the time I see that word I have to re-check the pronunciation. Reading extensively is actually helping slightly, in that I think my brain is making more of an effort to remember the pronunciation since I’m trying to be less likely to look something up again so its just got less chances to retain the info. This is the first time in like 6+ months of encountering the word chouduan that the pronunciation is FINALLY sticking in my brain.
Words that have familiar hanzi are much less of a struggle, even when new, and I wonder if my comprehension really is close to 98%? I didn’t measure this fic hanshe, just some novels I had (zhenhun was 95%, dmbj 1 and saye were 98%). But I can tell that if I don’t care about sound, I’m not running into many ‘incomprehensible in context’ words at all, and usually a word or less per paragraph that I full on can’t pronounce or make a good guess for a pronunciation I remember (and those words aren’t necessarily the new ones - so fucking often that word is just youyi huaiyi or youyu ToT lol). My point is... my ability to read aloud has improved, I can actually read quite a bit more hanzi aloud on sight than several months ago. I am practicing reading aloud a little since I have terrible ‘read aloud flow’ right now lol.
Also? Realizing if I read aloud I am almost guaranteed to say every 了 as de by instinct first. I bet thats 1 part that pleco app always reads 的 as di, so I overcorrected in my head with ‘it actually sounds like de in many situations BE aware’ and then now when I see le I just automatically switch into ‘overcorrect di mode’ lol. Another part is I think it might reflect my speaking comfort level a little. Le is not terribly difficult to use for beginner appropriate conversation tasks (like saying “i went to the store” etc) but in conversations idk why I rarely use it or rarely make a mental note when i do use it, so like when I type i am well aware its something i write without then realize i skipped and put back in. So its interesting to me when reading and inner-vocalizing or speaking aloud, my brain is actually still doing the same thing as my writing pattern - skipping the word then only adding it back in if i realize i skipped it.
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Hanshe getting easier over time also speaks to the difficulty of priest novels like? While i love them and will trudge through? The language in hanshe used to be peak too much for me it would take me 1.5 to 2 hours to finish a chapter. And priest wasn't even doable. Then eventually I could read tianyake in 1-2 hour chapters then eventually in 20-30 min. Eventually I could read hanshe again in 10-20 minute chapters. But like - however difficult hanshe is, priests writing is harder to read. Priest just has more unknown words per page for me.
I am wondering when priest’s writing will go from doable to a bit easier than just doable, the way hanshe did. Probably a long way off (and I’m aiming for zhenhun and modu, I suspect sha po lang and can ci pin will take much longer as they’re genres I don’t read).
On the topic of genres: I may read tangstory’s 2 novels that are sequels - one historical court, one republican era. Those are two genres I don’t read, but I do watch shows in those genres so learning some of the genre words would fall in line with things I would LIKE to eventually read. Tangstory’s stories are on the shorter side (much shorter than hanshe or zhenhun dang) and show as like 35 sections in my reader app (compared to 209 ToT). They have lovely english translations if I do need clarification or just want to read them later, and again those genres are ones I should get more familiar with.
Other options for reading for more genres: Qi Ye for more historical/court vibe language, and Tian Ya Ke when I’m ready again for its wuxia language - but both of these require me braving a full priest story which. I don’t want to start anything right now that will take more than 2 months to read. Upside is these both have nice translations to refer to, downside is I need to be able to read priest easier to tackle them. And if I’m reading priest easier I may go right for Zhenhun (both because its a goal novel of mine to read and because I know a lot more supernatural/modern words).
For detective novels, I’d like to branch out into maybe SCI Mystery (seems closer to my reading level except for the detective terms which I should learn), Ding Mo novels (like the one Love me if You Dare is based on) since Ding Mo has been recced to me and the reading level isn’t too high, PoYun (but the reading level IS around MoDu and I can TELL - but I think it opens with more vocabulary I should learn and am unfamiliar with as far as detective stories/police/action and weaponry words).
I want to branch into something easier as a first sci fi novel, but I can’t think of any I want to read except C语言修仙 and 残次品. On a guess, I’d say the first novel is probably easier if ONLY because its 2 print books instead of 4 ToT. Also Can Ci Pin has gratuitous variety of names and I think as a cultivator novel maybe Cyuyanxiuxian will have more of a modern-like one country setting with less new terms to learn (versus Can Ci Pin with new planets, names, spaceships and tech, mech suits, mutant and disease terminology, govt terms, etc).
#september#september progress#if u read the rant notes like this and u are not me then congrats ur ability to sift through a mess is <3#these are mostly notes on the learning process#in case one day into japanese i wonder how reading skills progress#i'll be encouraged knowing this is how the process went before in another language#or if i hit another plateau in chinese. these kinds of posts help me figure out#what worked last time or what weak spots i neglected that i could work on still
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The Queen's Gambit 1x1 RP
Message me, repost, or like and we can chat more!!!
Or add me: SweetSurprise#0169
Info:
Looking for a QG RP to take place over discord.
While having book knowledge is a plus, it isn't a requirement and we can stick to the miniseries for canon lore. And to be honest, the book wasn't that great and what was omitted, I'm fine with.
I can double, I like it. But if your posts become too skewed to favor one pair over another, I will drop you without warning. You have awareness to make edits or add more so we're both giving and getting equal effort and respect in the story. I shouldn't have to beg my partner to throw me a bone. We're partners. I wanna be into both pairs (if applicable) and not just going through the motions for one of them, I expect the same kindness in return.
I do prefer MxF but might be open to MxM or FxF if we have a MxF as a main pair. I also prioritize canon x canon RPs above those with OCs added in, so if you're on the fence, better to stick to canon x canon so plotting is streamlined and we're not stuck figuring out where OCs fit and why.
If we're working with OCs, I will require us to go through a process before committing to writing together. The process would be as follows: you come to me with 3 basic OC ideas (personality, career, appearance, their place in the QG universe, and 2 potential canons you'd like me to play for you). From those three choices, I will pick 1 and may offer feedback/concern/notes for the final OC. You in turn will do the same for my choices, with you having final say and are of course allowed to give feedback too. This ensures both are happy with the OCs. I've run across countless terrible OCs and this vetting process ensures that the characters are balanced and aren't too cliché/annoying. I'm kind of critical of OCs so you're been warned. Nothing worse than catering to someone's fanservice and feeling used. But again, I prefer all canon.
I can write a lot which translates to 4-10 paragraphs (per role), sometimes posts event reach into the 2k word territory. Ask for a post sample if you'd like.
I expect communication to be frequent in our OOC channel. In getting to know my partners, I find it's easier to write posts for someone I can begin to call a friend. I find talking about our day, interests, life in general, fandom gab sessions and such, is a good means to keep a story moving so we're both happy and on the same page.
Lastly, my postings will vary from once a day to sometimes just once a week. Either I'm busy offline or I'm having dealing with some mental health stuff. That said, if it's been two weeks and you want to prod me, go for it but don't be a jerk about it. Asking if I'm 'still there?' is kind of pointless. Ask how I am or something. Still, I do try to touch base frequently and would like someone who is just as friendly and easygoing as I am. I wanna respect my partner's time as they should respect mine but this is also a hobby with a responsibility to someone else. This touches on the above sentiment.
Pairings: All canons are 18+ years or older btw. I myself am 25+ and would like folks around the same age just due to having similar time management skills.
Those in bold, are my characters. I also have ideas for some pairings and crossover ideas from other tv shows or movies.
Benny Watts x Beth Harmon [craving]
Harry Beltik x Annette Parker [craving]
Harry Beltik x Jolene
Harry Beltik x Alma Wheatley
Georgi Girev x Annette Packer
Arthur Levertov x Annette Packer
Vasily Borgov x Annette Packer
Townes x Harry Beltik
Mr. Ganz x Alma Wheatley
Mr. Shaibel x Alma Wheatley
Harry Beltik x Female OC
Male OC x Annette Packer
Male or Female OC x Jolene
Male or Female OC x Cleo
Male OC x Townes
Benny Watts x Female OC
Male OC x Beth Harmon
#the queen's gambit#queens gambit#beth harmon#benny watts#harry beltik#annette packer#benny x beth#b2#tqg#queen's gambit netflix#chess#discord#one on one rp#roleplay#benny watts x beth harmon
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Testing out popular (FREE) writing hacks
There are a lot of writing hacks floating around, tips that are supposed to increase your writing productivity. Well, I tested them, and here are my thoughts:
1. Use Comic Sans
Let’s be honest. When we were in primary school, we typed EVERYTHING in Comic Sans. However, as we got older and more professional, Comic Sans appeared childish and we stopped using it.
Ask anyone what the most unprofessional font is and they’ll probably answer: Comic Sans MS
However, earlier this year the idea of using Comic Sans when writing your first draft started popping up and now, a lot of writers are swearing by it.
So, did it increase my productivity?
YES
I started writing a scene in Comic Sans and I wrote about five pages in like 30 minutes. The words just flowed. I don’t know why this font increases writing productivity, but if it works, I don’t really care why.
So, I would 100% recommend trying Comic Sans for your first draft. Remember, no one’s going to see it. And it’s pretty easy to change back to something like Times New Roman once you’ve finished a scene.
2. Dictation
I’ve heard a lot of professional authors rave about how much time they save by dictating their first drafts. However, a lot of dictation software and microphones are quite expensive. So, I tried the free alternatives at my disposal.
The latest version of OneNote, which comes included in a lot of Microsoft Office packages, now has a dictation feature. I know this isn’t technically free, but it was for me, since I already have Office installed. The OneNote mobile app is free, but I don’t know it is has this feature. And I just used the built-in microphone on my laptop. Google Docs also has a dictation feature, I think, but I haven’t tried it yet.
So, does it work?
The accuracy is surprisingly good. I dictated about three paragraphs this morning and only one or two words were incorrect. Also, OneNote’s dictation doesn’t allow for speaking punctuation, which means you’ll have to add these after the fact. Additionally, few people actually write in OneNote, so you’ll have to paste the text into your document.
Overall, this could be great for someone whose hands are tired of typing or who cannot sit at a desk any longer than their job already requires. However, it doesn’t really increase productivity. This may just be me, but I take longer to think up good sentences when I have to speak them. Then, I have to go back and add punctuation marks and correct some words. And then paste it into my draft document. It’s easier to just write it from the get-go.
However, some authors say that it just takes getting used to. So, maybe if you’re more of a verbal/audio thinker and don’t have your hands available at all times, this is a good hack for you. I just don’t think I’ll be using it much.
3. Writing sprints
This has been around for quite some time, but I only really started using it when I attempted Camp Nanowrimo during my test month. Essentially, writing sprints entail setting a timer for somewhere under an hour and then just focusing on getting as many words written as possible before the timer goes off. There are many published authors who swear by this.
So, does it increase productivity?
Yes. Firstly, it pushes you to write when you wouldn’t have in other circumstances, since it allows you to utilise even the smallest free periods. Have an hour between classes? Find a flat surface and do a writing sprint. Have to study all evening? Do a 25-minute sprint before you start. Secondly, it also helps you get more words down in that time, because you don’t have to worry about what you have to do next or whether your writing is any good. All you focus on is producing as many words as possible before that timer goes off.
So, if you’re a busy person, try using writing sprints here and there to increase your productivity.
4. Writing groups
Many authors enjoy the camaraderie and accountability that comes with writing with a lot of other people, whether it be in a physical space or an online group. There’s a set time everyone in the group will be writing and you keep one another company, checking up on one another’s progress and sharing motivation.
Does it increase productivity?
Not for me. This is largely a personal thing, but I actually get less writing done in the presence of other people. I’m more anxious. I get distracted by other people’s comments. And I constantly find myself wondering when the session will end. To me, writing is a solitary thing. I work best holed up in my room with no one around and no one leaving online comments about their own writing. Yes, I love checking in on others’ progress and sharing my own on Instagram, but only after my writing session has finished.
However, you may find that writing groups work for you. Maybe not being alone is just nicer for you, regardless of whether you get more words down or not. So, this one is definitely dependent on the individual.
5. Background noise
Some writers create signature playlists for each of their WIPs. Some write specific scenes to specific songs. Others use white noise or instrumentals. But it’s clear that writing with some form of background sound works for a lot of authors.
Let me start by saying that I cannot get any work done when listening to music with lyrics. So, I didn’t even try this. Instead, I tried fantasy instrumental playlists on YouTube, rainymood.com and ambient-mixer.com
Does it work?
Sometimes.
If I’m writing a fight scene, listening to epic battle music will help me write it faster. I write at my best during thunderstorms, so rainymood.com definitely increases my productivity. Ambient mixer offers a huge variety of ambient sounds to listen to, ranging from scary woods to driving with the Winchesters. “Quiet library” on ambient mixer helps a lot when I have to study, but not really when I have to write. So, yes, in certain instances, background noise helps me write faster. But, mostly, I enjoy writing in silence or with natural, real-life sounds around me.
Once again, this is purely personal. Regardless, I can definitely recommend the two websites I mentioned above.
So, that’s all I have for you today. I hope that these “reviews” can help you decide which writing hacks will work for you. Remember that my asks are always open for creative writing questions, and that post submissions are always welcome!
Reblog if you found this post useful. Comment if there are any writing hacks you’d like me to try out in the future. Follow me for similar content.
#writing#writer#writers#campnanowrimo#Writing tips#writing advice#writeblr#writeblr advice#writing's hard#amwriting
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