Happy Birthday, Pixie!

Welcome everyone, to the final day of Camp NaNo!

I'm not going to sugarcoat this. I SUCKED at writing this month. If I wasn't FINALLY going to watch "Avengers: End Game" tonight - so I obviously have to wear my Captain America shirt today - I would totally be sporting this baby all day.

Such major fail...

Thinking positively, though. I DID manage to surpass 5000 words, which means I have 5000 more words for "One and the Same" than I had last month. That's not nothing, right? I also have more of my plotline figured out, with those two key scenes finally sorted. So that's also a bit of a win. Right?

Hacker Boy Facebook Sticker
by Birdman, Inc.

According to Camp NaNo, at the pace I'm going, I should have OatS FINALLY done by September! Whooo!

Also, you may have noticed that my total monthly count is actually 8660 words. Although 3500+ of those words are NOT for OatS.

See, this past weekend was a whirlwind of birthdays. My aunt's was Friday, my mom's was Saturday, and Taurus Pixie's was Sunday.

So let's give a brief pause to wish them all a happy belated!

Back when I wanted to write a Christmas story for Pixie as a return gift for "Twelve Days of Chatmas," I had asked her what kind of stories she really liked reading. One of the suggestions she made was watching Chat Noir nurse Marinette/Ladybug back to health. I was originally going to go that route. I even had a basic story plotted out for it, but the further I went with the story the more I realized it wasn't really "Christmas-y" so I made a hard left on my MariChat story, and ended up with "Woven Heartstrings" instead. I think I made the right decision.

I then decided that I was going to put Nurse Chat Noir on the back burner until Pixie's birthday. Well, guess what? That meant back burner until this past weekend! Whoot!

Eeeeeeeexcept.... Pixie had gone on writing hiatus a few months back in order to re-center herself. Feeling better, she got back into working on her blog and fanfiction about two weeks ago. She was all excited to get back into the swing of things, but didn't take into consideration how she had to work herself back up into the rhythm she once had.

And that includes being inspired.

The girl has four stories going at the same time right now! I can't even finish figuring out ONE and she has FOUR: Madness Within, Destiny's Dance, Chat Vert, and Immortal Bond.

I, sadly, haven't had time to get into the massive undertakings that is reading "Madness Within" or "Destiny's Dance" quite yet, although I did read the first chapter or two of DD, and I did enjoy the set up.

"Madness Within" seems to be her main focus, as this is the one that tends to get updated the most frequently, and she has a sequel mentally in the works for it as well. "Destiny's Dance" seems to be mostly going through some clean-up edits. She'll update a more polished chapter on FFN and then post that same chapter as a "new" one on AO3 now that she's slowly trickling her works over there as well. It's a MASSIVE epic of a story though, so if you haven't started reading it yet - like me - then the fact that she's polishing it more than updating it should give you time to catch up before a new chapter gets published.

"Immortal Bond" was the first one of her stories that I read, and I greatly enjoyed it. However, this story seems to be the bane of her existence right now. She discovered a few months back that she had written herself into a corner that she couldn't get back out of, so she scrapped the project in favor of starting over from scratch. Much like my ongoing battle with OatS, it seems "Immortal Bond" is being just as frustrating to build for her. She's powering through, though, and I have faith that the end result we get will be amazing for it.

How does all of this relate to her birthday? Well, that's where her most recent story "Chat Vert" comes in. The story starts off with Marinette believing there's no hope for her and Adrien to be together because of his "crush" on Kagami. Her sadness results in an akuma, but thankfully our resident musician Luka is nearby to cheer her up. Sadly, this means the akuma instead "evilized" a woman who just found out her husband was cheating on her.

While that's where the story was left off - for now - we can still assume, based on Luka being in the story and the title hinting at a jealous Chat Noir, that there will be Lukanette goodness. It is also probably safe to assume that said Luka and Marinette pairing will make Adrien/Chat Noir jealous somehow, and I am super excited to see that unfold.

Unfortunately, after months away from the story while on her hiatus, poor Pixie is a bit tapped dry in inspiration for "Chat Vert." There is a Luka-centric episode out called "Silencer" which will 100% re-inspire her for this story. However, it's only out with the French voice over, and she tries to wait for the English dub so she can watch it with her boyfriend for the first time.

Kind of like how I don't mind subtitles, but I try to wait for English dubs of the episodes so I can watch them with Wolfhearted for the first time.

Anyway, knowing that Lukanette episode is out there, but she can't watch it yet, and knowing that her well is a bit tapped dry, I decided that what Pixie truly needed for her birthday was some Lukanette goodness to help her out.

Yes, it is a bit self-serving because it helps get another chapter of a story I read, but isn't most creative like that? We build from each other in hopes to see our mutuals grow?

Also... don't judge, it's a good story and I need more of it!


Long and short? The Chat Noir Nursing Marinette story was thrown to the back burner a second time in favor of a Luka and Marinette story instead. Problem there, though, was that I made this decision ON her birthday, on my way to work. Which means it was already the afternoon of her birthday before I even got started writing. If I was able to have a full day to just write, and get it polished and ready to post by the time I got home, that would STILL be about 9:30 at night on her birthday!

It would be cutting it close, but it was worth the effort.

And then the story didn't want to properly form. I got side-tracked easily. I couldn't decide on where I wanted to go with the story. Did I want just HINTS at their crushes, as there were in the episodes Captain Hardrock and Frozer? The way I hinted at a potential future relationship between Chat Noir and Marinette by the end of "Woven Heartstrings"? Should they already be dating, as they were in my first ever Lukanette fanfic: "Kisses"? What about a "get together" story where they finally realize their feelings? Or should it be a sort of "half reveal" of their own in which Luka officially confesses his love for Marinette, but she doesn't necessarily respond/reciprocate, because... Adrien?

By the time I got home from work I just barely had the start of a story done. I was able to do a little bit more writing while waiting for Hubby to get off of work, but not enough to finish. Then... well... Game of Thrones happened.
   

I was tapped after that episode, and it was about 4am Pixie's time anyway, so I waved my white flag.

So my focus yesterday, since I had a rare Monday off again, was to finish my story. It STILL kept me until 4pm my time to do it though! There goes my day off being productive....

Still! I got the story done! And it was "only" 9pm her time... so I was technically still only a day late with my gift.

NuaNia Facebook sticker
by PRANEAT

Based on her review... I think she liked it. What do you guys think? Hehe.

Oh...my...god! I literally had to keep pausing as I was reading because I just couldn't handle all of the amazing cuteness and fluff! I was rolling around on my bed squealing like some crazy person. I have never been more in love with two characters than what I am now! Eeeek, they were just so damn adorable! I LOVED THIS SO MUCH! EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!

You know how much I love my Lukanette, and the fact that you captured their characters so well in this story made it all the more better. I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! Of course I love my love square ships, but I do love Lukanette as well, but I can never find many decent stories that keep my attention, so I'm so glad that I have this one now! Not only that, but it's dedicated to ME! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

You are the most amazing writer and the most amazing friend! Thank you so much for helping me with inspiration with Chat Vert! This story has certainly helped reignite that spark and the rusty cogs inside my head began to turn again. Thank you so much for that! This is one of the most amazing one-shots that I have ever read and I really can't thank you enough.

YOU'RE THE BEST!

LOL, she's adorable, right?

Anyway, you can also read her belated birthday gift at my normal three sites.

"I Was Thinking Of You"

On FanFiction            On ArchiveOfOurOwn            On DeviantArt

It's a completed one-shot of "only" 3500-some words. So it should be a relatively quick read this go.

Also, apparently Pixie isn't the only one who believes it's hard to find decent Lukanette stories, which actually surprises me considering the love Luka has been getting lately.... Then again, it's been forever since I've attempted to find fanfiction to read soooooo....

Anyway, at least one other review I received also claimed the same.

FFN Reviews:

• I LOVE this! It was so sweet! And I'm not even really a Lukanette fan... but YES! This was awesome!
• This was beautiful and I loved it. It's really hard finding decent Lukanette stories, so I'm glad this one exists! It was a truly wonderful read.
• ...Now I just really wanna watch that fictional movie :P

AO3 Reviews:

• This is fantastic and sweet, and I enjoyed it very much.
  I'm so glad Luka made it clear that he doesn't just want to be friends with her (since that was a concern of hers in Frozer). And I love how her friends were so supportive (and had been eagerly awaiting this).
• Awww this was precious!

I think the most amusing thing was that last AO3 review - "Awww this was precious!" - because it was immediately followed by this review:

LOL wow I Just realized who wrote this fic! I guess it always seems like your fics appeal to me!

Also as a sidetone, I'm in the middle of reading Pepping Tomcat and its really great so far!!

How awesome is that!? This isn't the first time this person has done this either. They read a story, like it, and THEN realize I was the one who wrote it. Amuses me each time they realize that.

Another thing that amuses me is the stats I have over on DeviantArt for this story. Somehow, I only have one view of the story, but two different users favoriting it....

Um.... sure... I'll take it, I guess.

Actually, what ARE my stats thus far for this story? Keep in mind, it's not up for 24hrs yet.

FFN: 141 views, 8 faves, 4 followers, and 4 reviews
AO3: 227 views, 22 kudos, 0 bookmarks, and 3* comments
DA: 1 view (?), 2 faves, and no comments

Total Results: 369 views, 32 faves, 4 followers, and 7 reviews

Tumblr Notes: 6 notes: 3 likes, 1 reblog, and 2 comments - me and Pixie talking

I have to admit, I'm loving the reviews I'm getting. I'm so happy other people are also enjoying this gift for Pixie. Especially since I talk about Chat Vert as my reason for writing a Lukanette story in the first place. So perhaps that means she'll get more love for her story as well.

Also, fun bonus: it's a completed story in the month of April! Score! Mark another one off my check-list. I still missed writing/completing a story in February - what did I do in February??? - but at least I have "Woven Heartstrings" for January, and "Prescription for Love" for March, and now "I Was Thinking Of You" for April.

A big bit of inspiration for the story was actually a song I was re-introduced to via a throw-back radio station I listen to. I had enjoyed the song when it first came out in 2009, and I was reminded of that about a week ago.

"Two is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls; 

featuring Taylor Swift

I had that song on loop for most of my writing. It really got me in the proper mood for the story. It worked, for the most part, but then I got to the main scene with Luka, who is, of course, playing his guitar. I needed inspiration for the songs he was playing as well. After a quick search on YouTube, I discovered the composer Ryini Beats.

He was pretty perfect for finding guitar-only instrumental songs to help inspire me for Luka's own compositions. There are four songs he plays for Marinette.

The first one is a bit sad, and Marinette even calls him out on how sorrowful it sounds.

That soft electric echo of the guitar in that song was even more perfect since Luka always strums on an unplugged electric guitar.

After Marinette calls Luka out on the sadness of that first song, he switches it up a little to something a bit more upbeat, but still has some melancholy to it.

After some more conversation, Luka switches up the music a little bit more, and we transition into a song inspired by this one from Ryini Beats.

Finally, Luka switches gears one last time. I wanted something super plucky and cheerful for that last song. Sadly, the one I found that I thought was perfect is also one of the few songs Ryini Beats does not have marked as Free. So the audio equivalent of a watermark comes in every couple of seconds. Still, it should be enough to give you the basic idea.

Long and short? Now you have a sort of "soundtrack" for "I Was Thinking Of You", and if you enjoy the songs I picked from Ryini Beats, feel free to support the guy. Even if that means watches on his YouTube channel. The songs are all so good.

...

Okay, wow! Yeah... this post went STUPID long, resulting it being nearly 90min late to publish. So I'm going to call it here.

Just... ya know... read Pixie's stuff. Listen to Ryini's stuff. Support creators. And also, feel free to let me know what you think of my latest story.

Catch ya next week!

Prepping for NaNo and Election Day

First and foremost, I want to say thank you and I love you all so much!

Hacker Girl Facebook stickers
by Birdman, Inc

I was in a bit of a funk last week and you all came charging in like a cavalry of White Knights. This is why I love my support group so much. My family, my friends, and my readers: you all rock so hard core! I have the best of all three.

I was already on an upswing. I was already fighting back. I was already determined to not let my funk keep me down. Yet you all came to my aid to help lift me up anyway, and I love you all for that.

ChibiSunnie started the charge by flooding my Facebook with love and hug stickers. She then reminded me that a lot of fanfic readers - at least, in the fandoms she's a part of - read fics in their short-lived downtime. I do have long chapters, so maybe people have my story dog-eared for later reading, but just don't have time now. Or they're flat-out intimidated by the 84,000+ words.

I don't know how I feel about that, considering there are tons of popular fics that are over 200,000 words long! But they are also roughly 40+ chapters long, so each chapter is roughly 4,000 words as opposed to my 7,000+ words. So... maybe? Regardless, she does have a point, and it was really sweet of her to remind me of that.

She also encouraged me to write more of my Miraculous Ladybug essays, and participate in fic prompt-challenges and the like to get my name out there.

I actually had similar advice from one of the fanfic authors I follow on Tumblr.

BaneIsMyDragon: I noticed you are dealing with the very real struggle of throwing fanfiction out into the void. The internet, and fandoms in particular, is such a fickle place, and it can be very difficult to find a foothold sometimes, regardless of talent. Remember that sometimes it can be very random what brings the change over from “obscure” to “popular”. That doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't feel disheatened when you are struggling to get feedback, but it does mean that you can look at the comments you do get as worth believing in. ^_^ I know for me, a lot of my stories wallowed in obscurity until I did some short story challenges that got semi popular, and that then lead people to my larger fics. If you are looking for ways to connect with the fandom challenges/prompt list request drabbles and things like that can be a great way to meet people and gain followers. Good luck and keep writing!

I had tagged Bane and a few other fic writers when I posted about last week's blog update. I was promoting their stories, so why not tag them? In truth, part of me did kind of hope they'd see their name and become curious about MY writing... leading them to read my stuff....

But I wasn't expecting getting advice. Especially since the "tossing into the void" bit wasn't on my Tumblr post. Bane would have had to read my blog to have noticed that. Which just makes my heart swell. It was really sweet of her to both read my blog and to then leave me a comment on my Tumblr.

Speaking of leaving comments! How can I forget the wonderful one Jowy's Pixie left me here last week? It's a bit lengthy to quote in its entirety here - much like Chibi's pick-me-up posts on my Facebook - but here's a basic summary; you can read the full comment on last week's post:

She noted that she thinks the Miraculous Ladybug fandom as a whole tends to be less generous with reviews, but she still gets my desire for more of them, along with more readers. She also reassured me that she's seen other high-quality fics like mine also get less recognition than she thinks they deserve, so I'm not alone in this problem. Much like Bane, Pixie pointed out that views and reviews seem to be sort of a luck-of-the-draw sort of situation, sadly. She then shared some trends she has been noticing, such as readers tending to lean more towards darker themed and AU fics right now. PT is neither of those.... She did suggest sharing a chapter of my fic on Tumblr to draw more attention to it. My chapters are so long I would have to do only a snippet, but that is a possibility... She concluded by reminding me that she thinks my story is still "incredibly underrated" which is why she made a point to have it be the first fanfic review she did on her blog.

Speaking of, she does have another fanfic review up as well as some insight into her own fanfics. If you haven't yet, go check out her blog: Taurus Pixie.

Anyway, Pixie noted that her fic review of “Peeping Tomcat” is currently her most popular post. While that's very encouraging, I also feel the reasoning behind the review of my story specifically being her most popular post is because of the times I've gone to it in order to grab a link to share, and/or because my family went to read it after I posted about it.... but it would be nice if the traffic to her post truly meant new readers for my story.

It did encourage one of her online friends TLOS21 to give my story a try. Actually, it seems that it was a one-two punch of Pixie's review and her actual fangirling to TLOS21 via messages. Either way, according to TLOS21 the excitement pouring out of Pixie made T just NEED to read this fic. She also noted in her review at the end of the last chapter that, if it weren't for school, she would have easily binge-read all 84,000+ words.

TLOS21: (Review on chapter 5) Wow! That was a really good chapter right there! You have detail but it wasn’t too much and it wasn’t just in general detail of things like how most authors do (ex, Ladybug purifying the akuma). You gave this story and chapter very well thought out detail with a good choice of words to describe things. Your OC of an akuma was excellent! The battle was amazing and the feelings of Chat/Adrien were wonderful! I felt like I was reading a script of an episode! This fanfic is super amazing so far! Please keep it up! I want to read more! See you in the next chapter!

(Review on chapter 17) Hello again! Me here! Hello! *waves* That was a beautiful story. All of it was amazing. I don’t think I could’ve thought of a better ending. It kind of seemed like the show a little bit, especially like “Origins: Part 2” in the umbrella scene. It ended where things got settled but there was still room for people to travel their imaginations with. The story was so beautiful and everything was amazing! The story and the side stories were all beautifully well written and portrayed very well. If it wasn’t for my conscious and me reading this on school nights, I would’ve binged the whole thing in one day. It had humor, suspense, and emotion all very well crafted into this story and there wasn’t too much of anything but not too little either. The personalities were pinned own so well that I had to remind myself that this wasn’t a script of the show, ha ha. You have a real knack for writing and I can feel and see all the effort you put in into every single one of these chapters. This is an amazing story! Don’t ever doubt yourself that this isn’t a good story, because that’s not true. This story is utterly amazing, one of the best I’ve read so far. Huge applause for you my friend!
Alrighty, now, to go hunt down that sequel fic. I’ll see ya then and I hope you have a good day! You rock!

Nah, TLOS21, YOU rock. You and all of my readers, and my friends, and my family. My whole support group, really. You guys are TOTALLY the ones who rock!

Marinette Dupain-Cheng in the episode Stormy Weather
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir

To accentuate this point, I also thanked everyone on my Tumblr:

You Guys are Awesome

Also, as I mentioned in that Tumblr post, I'm weirdly proud of the moderately quick edit job I did for this pic.

BEFORE:

Marinette and Tikki in Style Queen

AFTER:

I wish I did better with the base of the dress dummy,
but otherwise I'm actually impressed...

When I was in my funk I very much felt like Marinette in the opening of the episode Style Queen: despite tons of evidence to the contrary - Marinette was supposed to be delivering her hat to Adrien to wear on the catwalk of his father's fashion show - she felt like she had no talent and no one would like her derby hat. It just felt fitting to switch the hat out for a book version of PT. I'm also kind of impressed on my equally quick edit to make PT look like a book. Here's that edit:

So, I may be trash at drawing, but I'm getting better and better at doctoring images. I've always been fairly good at that. So... maybe that will be my next campaign attempt to get people to read PT. Splice it into scenes of Miraculous Ladybug. It seems like a fun campaign. Maybe it will be how I stay active on Tumblr while I'm busy with NaNo next month.

And by "next month" I of course mean "starting Thursday"!!!!

Speaking of, I already have my NaNoWriMo calendar downloaded from DaveSeah.com. How about you?

Get yours here.

Dave is a graphic artist who so graciously creates these calendars for free download each year. There is a string of reasons why I love Dave's design, and why I've used it each year since I found it - and so far I've also WON both years I've used this calendar.

• The satisfaction of ticking off another box every 250 words.
• Keeping track of individual daily word counts, as opposed to the tracker on NaNo's site itself, which just has a running tally.
• Keeping track of weekly word counts, which may help later if you go back and analyze when you slowed down vs really got into the flow of your writing.
• That glorious large box to proudly write the total word count you hit by midnight November 30th.
• The listing at the end of each week as to how far you should be to hit the 50,000 word goal on time.
• The reminders to back-up your work, as well as encouraging bits under certain days, such as quarter mark, halfway mark, three-quarters mark, word count sanity check, "so close", and a reminder to post to NaNo before midnight.
• The overall streamlined look that is easy to read, and easy to quickly glance at to see your progress.
• Finally, the most important thing for me is that Dave already broke down what you need to adjust your word count to if you're only writing five days a week; allowing for two breather days so November doesn't feel AS overwhelming. 

It says "5 days a week....2,272 words/day..... 9 blocks/day when writing 5 days a week"

Writing daily always stressed me out, and if I missed a day I would panic. Knowing I have those two breather days - I generally don't automatically work them in, but I do aim for the last two days of my week to be my "off" days - really helps me forgive myself if I missed a day. And forgiving myself keeps my stress down, which keeps the writing fun. It also allows me to still socialize because I can count that as one of my weekly "off" days.

So, I strongly recommend this calendar to any who are participating in NaNo, and if you find it as helpful as I do, maybe you could check out Dave's other productivity tools: Dave Seah Productivity Tools

All of this NaNo talk brings me to what I've actually been doing this week, besides feeling the love from everyone.

I have a large chunk of my outline re-written. I should be more-or-less set at least to get started on Thursday. The big thing, though, is of COURSE the darn akuma attack. As per usual, I'm struggling to figure out what Ladybug's Lucky Charm is going to be and how she'll use it to stop the Villain of the Week, as it were.

But I think I have a few more of the other things sorted. My main hiccup was wondering, if Chat Noir is going to be captured by Headliner, why he doesn't use his Cataclysm to get out of the bind - literally. Also, why doesn't Headliner just take his ring while he can't move?

We'll see when I start my revisions in January if I like what I came up with, but for now it's good enough to get started.

Which reminds me, you can still send me a friend request on NaNoWriMo's website if you are also participating. We can be writing buddies and check in with each other; encouraging each other. I'm easy to find. I'm LycoRogue over there as well.

Unfortunately, since I've been focusing on getting set for NaNo, as well as cleaning to prep for Halloween tomorrow, I haven't had time to write anything narrative yet. Part of me thinks I could count the Gabriel Agreste character study I wrote up a few weeks ago, but another part of me thinks that's kind of a cop-out.

I do have two or three ideas that SHOULD be nice shorts. We'll see if I can find time to write them before midnight tomorrow. I'll be sure to share the links next week if I succeed.

When.

When I succeed. I was determined to post a new narrative each month, and I WILL. I have nine months under my belt, I can keep going. Next month is going to be tricky though... writing a new story while working on my NaNo story as well.

I guess I should get started on all of that though. Thanks again to all of you for the love, the pep-talks, and for taking some of your time to read what I wrote. It means the world to me.

Armstrong giving a loving bear hug to Ed while Winry, Pinako, and Al look on with varying degrees of appreciation towards the show of affection.
Fullmetal Alchemist

Oh, and also, a very happy Halloween to everyone as well. Along with a lovely Dia de los Muertos and/or All Saints Day.

OH! WAIT! BEFORE YOU GO!

I want to get in a quick PSA for any of my American readers. I know next week's blog post will be up on Election Day, but I want to give you guys time to RESEARCH YOUR BALLOTS.

Yes. Please, PLEASE take the time to really research who is running. These mid-term elections are kind of crucial this year, for both parties. Either the Republicans keep control, or the Democrats take it. So VOTE! Regardless of which side you land on - or if you're with alternate parties such as Tea, Independent, or Green - you NEED to make your voice known.

And in truth, it really shouldn't be #VoteRed or #VoteBlue. It should be #VoteForWhoRepresentsYou. So even if you're voting "across party lines", do it! Research the candidates and pick the ones that really stand for what you do.

For more information on what you should be voting on come Tuesday, November 6th - as well as where your polling place is - check out Vote411.org.

After punching in your address you can look up a ballot preview. Here's mine:

I deleted my district from US House, State Assembly, and State Senate for privacy reasons,
but your ballot preview will have those specified.
Also, I guess I need to research what the heck a Comptroller does... #ThingsSocialStudiesDidntTeachMe

You can then see who is on your ballot and ways to research them: their political background as well as their campaign platform and stance on major topics important to you such as taxes, health care, abortions, gun control, etc.

You can even have this information emailed to you so you have it on hand while you are at the polls.

Finally, a reminder for any who don't vote due to lack of transportation, both Lyft and Uber are teaming up to provide either free or discounted services to make sure you CAN get to the polls. Also, your work is LEGALLY OBLIGATED to give you enough time off to vote, so check in on what the specific regulations are on that. It should be readily available for you to see on the Department of Labor posters most companies have in their breakrooms. If you can't find it: ASK.

Please, please, please get informed on your voting rights, the voting rules and regulations - such as, you can't be promoting a party and/or candidate within the polling locations, who your candidates are, where your polling location is and how long is it open, how to write up an absentee ballot if needed, and how to get to the polls if you don't have reliable transportation. You have a week. You have time to research.

Okay, PSA is done.

Election day is Tuesday, November 6th. Most polls should be open between 6am and 9pm

*Fangirl Squee*

The first week of NaNo is over. How did you fair, if you had joined in, that is? I've been doing fairly well, and kind of "meh" at the same time. Yesterday was my first zero-day of the month, so there's that.

Calendar designed by Dave Seah

If you pay attention to the end-of-the-week counts Dave has set up, you might notice that I was ahead of the game by the close of Sunday. Yay! I was over by about 700 words, which is a nice start. However, especially after neglecting yesterday, I definitely want to try to aim for only 5-days-per-week for my writing schedule. That way I don't stress over missing days like yesterday, and I don't struggle to make up the words lost. I already took them into account.

Thing there, though, is that if I were to write daily for all 30 days of November, I'd have to average about 1667 words per day in order to finish in time. Only writing five days a week means that each daily goal now needs to be 2272 words instead, and I should have been over 11,000 words by now. However, I only surpassed the 2272 words goal twice last week, which means, for that goal level, I'm a bit behind.

I have my word sprints tonight though, so I should be able to catch up.

A reminder for those who might not know off the top of your head what I'm talking about when I say "word sprints" or "writing sprints." The concept is based on running, obviously. It's basically the artistic equivalent of either going a short distance or only having a short allotment of time, so one has to move as fast as possible.

In regards to writing, you can allot yourself few words, say only 500 words or so, and stop as soon as you hit that word count. However, it's hard to keep track of that and still be creative. So most sprints are in reference to time. It kind of relates to Ali Luke's suggestion of scheduling at least 15 minutes a day for writing. Everyone can spare 15 minutes, right? The idea of sprinting is that the author writes for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 1/2-hour, or even something as short as the time to listen to a single song. Once the author's time is done, so is the writing. Now, this can be a one-time, once-a-day sort of thing. I kind of did unofficial sprints when I would write during my 15 minute long work breaks, and I now do semi-sprints while writing over my half-hour long lunch breaks. Maybe you sprint when you first wake up before getting started with your day. Maybe you do a sprint just before bed to unwind. Maybe you do sprints while commuting on a bus or train. Maybe you sprint while your kid is napping, or even while you have the kid in time-out!

The alternative to a once-a-day sprint, or a "whenever I can find the time" sprint, is what we're doing for NaNo: repetitive sprints. We write for 20 minutes, then we take a 20 minute break to just socialize and bond. We talk about our stories, or nothing at all. We ask questions about roadblocks we're running into, or we ask questions about elements of other people's stories. We read what we wrote, or we are adamant that the non-edited version will never see the light of day. We chat about how we're doing with NaNo, or we sit in our respective corners and impatiently wait for the timer to start up again. Some may even say "screw the timer" and "cheat" by continuing to write during our "break" time. Once that 20 minutes is done, we go back to writing for another 20 minutes, and then another 20 minute break. We keep going with this 20-on-20-off rhythm for three hours. That's 100 hours worth of writing, but sprinkled across three hours so we don't get burnt out.

I'm really hoping doing these sprints will help me get the traction I need. Although I have 9000+ words written, I know I was off my game over the weekend, which is one of the reasons I just didn't bother yesterday. I know that I was rambling, and that I'm probably going to have to redo the entirety of the second chapter once it's time to edit. It also pains me to not edit right now. I'm doing good at keeping my inner critic at bay, but that doesn't mean he's not nagging me to fix things. He's constantly reminding me that this is the worst first-draft of any story that I've ever written. I meander. I ramble. The story is mostly inner-dialog with very little action. It's KILLING ME that I'm doing so poorly.

Then I remind my critic: "Hey, buddy, ease up. It's friggen NaNo! This is supposed to be shit! I don't have time to think and properly craft any of this. Let me pour everything out on paper so my story can develop outside my head. You can have fun sorting through it all next month. Kay?"

That's usually enough to get him to shut up.

Ya know, I've been seeing more and more people naming their Muses - I'm fairly certain mine's a woman, as is Greek tradition - and I'm kind of wondering if I should do the same. I'll definitely have to name my cranky Inner Critic as well.... We'll see if I ever follow through with this.

Back on topic!

So, I'm working on a novel rework of "Peeping Tomcat" while also trying to shove the developing plot of its sequel "One and the Same" onto the back burner. LET ME FINISH ONE STORY AT A TIME, MUSE! Oooooh, yeah, she needs a name.

Anyway, as I mentioned, I had been struggling with getting my traction, but I'm still more-or-less on par with where I should be to finish the story on time. I have my sprints tonight, which should help. I just need to really get into the right head-space, and thinking of elements of the sequel story isn't helping.

What I thought could help was to watch the show again to help me get into Adrien's head. What I found instead is that Season 2 of "Miraculous" started airing the weekend before Halloween, and the first four episodes have already been translated, dubbed, and aired in the UK - at least, I'm assuming it's the UK, because the videos on YouTube had the Disney logo on them, and I'm pretty sure that's the channel that airs ML in the UK.

I tried to behave myself and wait until Netflix has the whole season next month or so - all the more reason I probably should have gone with Varekai this month - ya know, since I'm seeing it this month - and done "Peeping Tomcat" next month since I could binge the second season in December. Oh well, doing them in reverse!

The temptation was too great, though, so instead of watching Season 1 episodes as I planned, I watched the first episode of the second season. I fangirl squealed the whole time.

Basically me:

It only got worse with the second episode. It was like the writers got together and said, "Okay, the Adrienette fans need more love. How about a whole episode dedicated to that? What can we do?"

The end result was this:

Among two other adorable moments that I won't get into because they are semi-spoilers and not nearly as cute as this one, the main draw for the episode occurs when Marinette's best friend Alya oh so subtly pushes Marinette into Adrien during a slow song. Adrien's reaction is to not only instantly ask Mari for a dance, but to drag her onto the floor before she can even answer. He then places her hand on his shoulder, took her other hand in his, wrapped his spare hand around her waist, and then WALTZED around the room. I mean, seriously, who does that!?

Then, because the way she started this whole interaction wasn't subtle enough, Alya proceeded to do what every Shipper of the show has been dying to. Alya "discreetly" slow dances with Nino over to Adrienette, spins away from her partner, grabs Marinette's hand from Adrien's, drapes both of Marinette's hands around Adrien's neck, and then moves both of Adrien's hands to Marinette's waist before spinning back into Nino's awaiting arms. The faces on Marinette's and Adrien's faces are priceless!

So what does Adrien do after such an awkward and mildly intrusive encounter? He smiles at Marinette, shrugs, LEANS IN TO REST HIS HEAD BESIDE HERS, and continues slow dancing! I mean, COME ON! How has he not realized he likes her yet!? Also, the reaction from Marinette when Adrien just rolls with Alya's new dancing arrangement is too cute.

I've watched this episode probably every day since I saw it was translated. It's really helped me with those sweet "Adrien MUST like Marinette" moments. Best is that if I need more inspiration outside this episode, there's even more to choose from throughout the second season. Nearly every episode has SOMETHING to draw these two together.

The third episode was very heavy on the LadyNoir shipping, and I'm a little peeved about this one. Not because I'm not a LadyNoir fan, but because, and sorry for the spoilers by the way, Nadja Chamack ends up getting Akumatized. For those who don't recall, that's who I had as an Akuma Villain named Headliner. Pretty much the only Akuma villain I had figured out.

I was also having her be Akumatized for similar reasons as the actual episode. In the official episode, it's because Nadja's ratings aren't as high as her producer wanted to warrant a prime-time show. In my version she was berated for being out-scooped by Alya. So... being yelled at by a superior because she doesn't have the big scoops the network wants in both my and the official versions. At least I was on par with the basic reasoning she'd be Akumatized.... I also had the necklace that she always wears as the item the Akuma absorbs into, while the official episode has a sort of electronic bracelet that registers ratings. So, two for two in the fact that it's a piece of jewelry. Finally, Nadja's motives while Akumatized are fairly similar in the official and my versions: truth about Ladybug and Chat Noir. In my version it's simply who they truly are. In the episode Nadja was trying to prove that the superheroes were dating. Which is where all the LadyNoir shipping comes in.

Side note: I don't know if the creator had always planned to include this factoid, of if he threw it in because so many fans had speculated on the possibility, but Chat Noir totally purrs in this episode, and it's adorable.

Anyway, back on topic, the fourth episode had another really sweet "Come on, Adrien, confess already!" moment, but it's a bit of a spoiler, so I'll skim over that one.

The fifth episode of the season thus far introduces a new character Kagami. Supposedly, she's intended to be another potential love interest for Adrien, because, ya know, the kid loves anime, so now he has to live in his own G-rated harem anime? Anyway, regardless if Kagami actually does evolve into a new love rival for Marinette - along with Chloe, Lila, and even herself as Ladybug - the episode has Ladybug trying to keep Adrien out of harm's way from an Akuma. There are so many super cute moments since this episode means Marinette, as Ladybug, gets to spend time rescuing, staying close, and even holding her crush Adrien - the holding is whenever she needed to scoop him up to swing out of danger. Meanwhile, Adrien tries desperately not to showcase how smitten he is around Ladybug, but also tries to hide the fact that he's her partner. Obviously the Ladrien episode.

Which means we should get some more MariChat goodness coming up in the near future. Seriously, I think Tumblr wrote the second season.

While I can justify that I did get a great of deal of writing done after the episodes inspired me, I am also using the episodes as a way to distract me and procrastinate. I need to find more of a balance between watching an episode to be inspired and actually getting around to writing. I'm also unsure if I should include any new information I'm getting from the second season, or should I just go with what was shown in the first season only, in order to avoid spoilers..... At the same time, though, by the time I'll be done editing, the second season would have been out for long enough that it shouldn't really be much in the realm of spoilers.

I'll have to play it by ear, along with everything else, I guess. I just need to buckle down and actually get to writing. I want at least the second chapter done by the time I'm done with the sprints tonight.

OH! And one last thing! I haven't checked on my blog views in a while, and so when I did today I was surprised at how many of them they were.

I know, it's kind of hard to see with my screen grabs, but the word underlined is "Miraculous." Okay, it makes sense, it's a popular show and a large, active fandom. It's only natural that tagging my latest blog posts with "Miraculous" would bring in more readers. I wasn't sure how many actually stuck around to read my posts though, at least, until I scrolled down. I cut a bit of a time jump into the above picture. Anything below the arrow are posts before I even watched "Miraculous Ladybug." Yet those used to only have about 50 hits. There is no reference to the show in any of those posts, and yet they all have over 200 hits now, and some have over 400! What the heck!?

So, for any of you who might be going back and reading more of my blog after "Miraculous Ladybug" brought you to it in the first place, thank you. Feel free to leave comments. Love you all!