Wait. How Do I Stop My Plot Points?

Est. Read Time: 20 min
This Month's Font: Playpen Sans

I had been debating with myself for over a week on how to start this update. I probably would have had this published days ago, but I just could not get started. I had the middle. I had the end. But not the opening.

And, boy howdy, is that ever a metaphor for my writing as a whole lately.

I come up with a cool scene, but it makes no sense without set-up, and that's the part I can't seem to figure out outside of a generic exposition dump like the text-crawl at the start of Star Wars movies. Or I have an opening, and I know how I want to end it, but what happens in between? What's the actual plot? 

This right here is why One and the Same hasn't gone anywhere for years. I know how I want the middle to go, and I know what I want the end to be, but I can't seem to get the set-up - the opening act - to make sense. For Seduce with Caution, I have an opening couple of chapters I'm happy with, and some cool scenes throughout the rest of the story, but that connective tissue between those scenes still alludes me. I even have two nearly-finished chapters that just sort of abruptly start in medias res and feel short without a proper opening to transition into the scene I wrote.

Like... how does one start things????

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No one I've talked to about these struggles in the past really had any answers. Likewise, there's crickets on my Discord server channels where I talk about my writing.

So, naturally, I decided to add another WIP to the mix... that'll help, right?

I mean, Linda Sejic created Punderworld as she stepped away from her main comic Blood Stain in an attempt to shake herself out of writer's block. So, maybe this WILL help? I hope so.

If you've been following my LycoRogue's Reading Corner updates - or if you've simply read my blog updates in 2024 - you're aware that I've been reading a LOT of isekai stories lately. Also, as I frequently talk about, these portal fantasy stories tend to come in 3 main flavors.

The first is your standard portal fantasy. A person from the real world full-on teleports into a new world. Various examples of this type of story includes: 

• The Pevensie children in The Chronicles of Narnia
• Dr. Daniel Jackson from the movie and spin-off series Stargate
• Anne from the Disney channel series Amphibia
• Fellow Disney channel character Luz from The Owl House
• Hitomi from The Vision of Escaflowne
• Miaka and Yui from Fushigi Yûgi
• Saito from The Familiar of Zero
• Naofumi from The Rising of The Shield Hero

So on, and so forth. I hope you get the idea. For this category, I'd also include the multitude of isekai-adjacent stories that have been prevalent lately: the "Main Character gets trapped in a video game via their VR headset" genre made popular by stories like Sword Art Online and Overlord.

The second concept is the reincarnation isekai. A person dies in our world and is reincarnated in a fantasy world, but retains all of their memories and adult intellect from their previous life on Earth. I personally haven't come across this style outside of Japanese stories, and even so, this isn't the main genre I watch. That said, I have watched at least three animes within this subgenre of isekai stories:

• The Saga of Tanya the Evil
• So I'm a Spider, So What?
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

There's also those stories adjacent to the reincarnation isekai, where the main character is TECHNICALLY reincarnated in this new world, but they are "rebirthed" fully-formed in their "adult forms" like Athena or Aphrodite from Greek myth. Some examples of this would be My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1 or the delightfully absurd Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon.

The final flavor of isekai is transmigration. This one is my current pet genre to watch/read. If there's an isekai on my reading list, you can bet that it's a transmigration story. Basically, a person from our world ends up possessing a fictional character. This could be because they died in our world, but they don't HAVE to have died. 

While most reincarnation isekais (that I know of) seem to be predominantly male protagonists, the transmigration stories seem to be largely female protags. The fictional characters in question (that the main character possesses) tend to be from romance novels or dating sim games. This is where the ever-increasingly-popular subgenre of villainess isekai stories grew from. 

An adjacent subgenre is the pseudo time-travel transmigration story, where the main character dies, but their spirit then possesses a younger form of themselves so they can relive their life. Again, this is largely a female-dominated subgenre, but one of the more popular reincarnation/transmigration isekais - Re:Zero - does have a male lead, and takes this trope of "possess your past life" and cranks it to 11! (Also, death time loop stories like Edge of Tomorrow are tangentially part of this subgenre, I'd suppose...)

Now, why did I give you yet another primer/refresher on what isekai stories are? Shouldn't I save this for LycoRogue's Reading Corner? Well.... as you've probably guessed, this does indeed relate to my writing.

As I mentioned last month, I had come up with a little transmigration isekai story idea where a pair of lovers unknowingly transmigrate into the same fantasy world and re-find each other. Well, a little over a week ago, I came up with another one!

For those who haven't read this month's LRRC yet, I started reading a new isekai: I Am The Villain. The long-and-short of this story is that Lucy ends up teleported into her friend Sena's romance novel. Originally, both the readers and Lucy believe that she transmigrated into the body of Sena's villainess Lucia, who looks identical to Lucy. Meanwhile, Sena has become her protagonist Claire, who is Sena's self-insert character. The added complication is that (a) Lucy and Sena don't know that the other also isekai'd into Sena's story, and (b) the original novel version of both Lucia and Claire are still their own people, essentially creating two of each character within this story's world. Sena wrote Claire to look exactly like herself, so she easily stole Claire's identity and stepped in as her story's protagonist. Meanwhile, Lucy unintentionally usurped Lucia's life when the real Lucia went missing, and her brother thought he found her when he came across Lucy.

Going back to Sena as Claire, however, that is what sparked my latest story idea.

Sena is in awe that she gets to walk within the world she built and among the characters that she created. She marvels at how much more handsome the male cast is compared to what she even pictured. She notes how real they all are, but then casually laments that one character has to die so soon within her plot. Meaning he is not long for this world. 

That would kill me if I were Sena! I have a hard enough time causing physical pain to my characters. I struggle to leave lasting scars, let alone maiming/dismembering my characters, causing them to become physically disabled at all. To kill them?! I'm getting choked up just thinking about it!

So.... what if the main character of an isekai is a writer like myself, but teleported into their story like Sena? As of right now, I'm picturing the main character as female. Mostly because (a) that's just common for this genre, and (b) I'm a female, so it's easier to write.... I don't have a name yet, so I'm gonna call her MC (for Main Character) for this.

Introducing MC, an introverted writer vastly lacking in personal connections. She's chronically online, getting her socializing done almost exclusively behind anonymous internet handles on social media.

She loves her fans, and enjoys doing meet-and-greets with them, but she doesn't have too many actual irl friends. They all drifted away from her as they aged. She became more engrossed in her fans and the worlds she builds to compensate.

Sometimes, she gets so engrossed in her WIPs that she goes radio-silent as she spends nearly every waking moment either researching or writing her latest story. People have gotten used to this, so no one (including fans) really bats an eye if no one has heard from her for weeks at a time. As long as she still checks in at least once a month and she hits her deadlines, everyone simply assumes she's hyperfixating and is otherwise fine.

She's a bit of a prolific writer, but her most popular stories are all within the same regency fantasy franchise (think Bridgerton). Franchise title TBD.

One night, MC is particularly worn out. She had just published the latest installment in her franchise, but way overworked herself to get it done by her deadline. Due to her hyperfixation with her story, she hasn't been eating well (if at all), has become very dehydrated, and has been pulling way too many all-nighters. Her poor self-care has caught up with her. She's feverish. She's all alone in her small apartment. She's weak, but assumes she just needs to finally rest. She falls asleep fantasizing about being pampered and nursed back to health like one of her protags. (Yes, I swiped this idea from the inciting incident of My Housemate Sano-kun Is Just My Editor!)

She is rudely woken up the next day as someone whips open the curtains in her room. Except, she's not in her room anymore! She's in a queen-sized canopy bed with intricately carved posts. The sheets are the softest fabric she's ever felt. The mattress is so cozy she never wants to leave. And the woman who woke up MC is dressed as a regency-era maid. She greets MC pleasantly but a bit sternly, as if expecting MC to be in that bed; as if she recognized her. However, she doesn't call MC by her name. The name DOES sound familiar, though (I'm thinking maybe Olivia???). The maid verbally encourages MC to get out of bed and greet the day, rattling off that day's schedule. When MC complies, the maid instantly starts getting MC ready for the day: fetching water to wash up with, laying out her clothes, helping her get dressed, doing her hair, etc.

Upon seeing herself in the mirror, MC realizes why she recognized the name the maid called her. She has transmigrated into her self-insert character within her story franchise! Understandably, MC assumes she's having a fever dream brought on by thinking too much about her story lately, and enjoys the pampering.

...Except... Would a fever dream include uninterrupted bathroom breaks? Or uneventful meals, no matter how delectable the food is? Or the boredom of filling a slow evening post-supper?

It soon dawns on our MC that this is no dream! Somehow she ACTUALLY transmigrated into her story franchise as her self-insert character! She now has a comfortable life of luxury and all the free time she wishes. Writing might prove more difficult without the aid of a computer to type or research on, but that's a small inconvenience for everything she just got! Easy trade! Best yet, it's not like all of those typical transmigration stories where the main character becomes the villainess! She's her self-insert, who is just a minor character in her franchise! She has little-to-nothing to do with the plot. Just an extra body to fill in a few scenes to make the world feel more alive. She can live a cozy, cushy life of an aristocrat just on the outskirts of drama. (Aaaaand I swiped this part from Her Wish to be Isekai'd. Don't steal the whole crown, but feel free to steal some jewels to make your own crown....)

It's not long before MC is invited to one of those high-society parties that her character was created to help populate. She delights in getting dolled up and rubbing elbows with the nobility within her world. She is gobsmacked at how real and alive her characters all are. They're more elegant than she could picture, and their outfits more intricate and gorgeous than she could imagine. They are cunning and witty and playful. Just as she designed each one to be. She tears up a little, like a proud mama watching her grown children.

Then, she bumps into one particular character. He's a sweetheart to her. He's exactly as gentlemanly and noble as she wanted him to be. As he walks off, she reflects on how many people would have died to have been able to interact with such a fan-favorite character. She then starts tearing up, realizing how relieved she is that she had the chance to actually meet him before he was brutally killed. It had pained her to do it, but the battle just didn't feel realistic or as impactful if there weren't some named casualties. "For the story," she had wept as she wrote his bitter death scene.

But he's right there! He's alive and well! Oh, lord! He's destined to die, and it's all her fault! All of these lovely people are about to Go Through It, and it will all be by her design! No! Her precious characters are all living in their lovely Status Quo. How can she stop the plots of her novels from kicking off??? At the same time, though, there WERE some satisfying endings where characters were able to find their true loves and villainous characters got their comeuppance. Can she still get that to happen without too many of the tragedies that she had worked in????

There HAS to be a way, right? She created the plot, she must be able to influence it, right???? And it doesn't have to be entertaining anymore, just effective. It doesn't matter if a battle doesn't seem impactful or threatening. The attackers can be pushovers that are easily captured without a single casualty. Who is she trying to entertain anymore anyway?

With the same hyperfixation that got her in trouble and isekai'd in the first place, she is determined to direct her characters to their fated happy endings, and stop her villains (maybe rehabilitate them???), all while avoiding death and bloodshed, if possible. Problem is... she's not the author anymore! She's just a silly little side character now. A lower noble that the main characters rarely interact with. How can she affect anything????

Also, you KNOW I have to have my own romance subplot. I'm thinking at least one knight or noble or royal or whomever starts to fall for her, but she's so fixated on saving all of her precious characters that she is OBVILIOUS to the flirting and romantic advancements. Those are a distraction! Maybe there's a popular crack ship of her self-insert side character with one of the secondary love interests of the main plot? All of the fans wanted him to find someone after the story's protag chose the other love interest, and thought the MC's side character would be a perfect match for him. The MC never understood the ship, especially since she never actually had the two characters interact. However, he is definitely paying more attention to her than the protag he was SUPPOSED to be wooing, dammit! Were the fans right all along????

Lastly, I think it would be important for her to finally form a social group. She starts awkwardly doing so as a way to garner more influence over her characters to try to protect them, but it becomes a legitimate and caring friend group. Problem here is that she falls into the same pattern she had on Earth: she becomes too focused on her work (in this case, saving her characters, as opposed to writing her novels) and starts to isolate herself again, assuming none of her friends truly want to spend time with her anyway.

As for the broad strokes of the plot, that's all I have right now. More than I thought I had, honestly. And the rabbit hole goes deeper, but I'll get to that. 

When I first thought of this story, I only had a basic elevator pitch:

Instead of the person possessing the villainess trying to change the plot to avoid her death, my protag would be the transmigrated author now going, "OH SHIT! HOW DO I STOP THE PLOT POINTS FROM HAPPENING! EVERYONE MUST LIVE HAPPILY-EVER-AFTER!"

Problem is, this author's self-insert character was just a side character with little-to-no authority over anything....

Aurora Morgen jumped in and told me, "I like it. 10/10 would read. That problem is a good plot element. Makes it that much more exciting when they do figure out how to stop the plot points."

That was all the encouragement I needed. After thinking about it a couple more days, I decided the plot bunny had stuck around long enough to talk about it here. I started writing up the above synopsis, unsure if I was going to give more than that original elevator pitch. But then more just kept flowing! I'm definitely more locked-in on this idea than the "lovers re-find each other" plot bunny I shared last month. I'm super excited about this. If I can't break my current writer's block over my Miraculous Ladybug fanfics, maybe I should spend next month focusing on this instead. I mean, there's still some pretty key things that I need to sort out.

• What is the main character's original name?
• What is her self-insert character's name? Do I lock in Olivia? I did a quick search for regency-era names, and found this link. There isn't a single O-name listed for females. Does that mean Olivia won't work? Should I make that the MC's original name instead? (I'm kinda feeling Olivia for her one way or another....)
• What is the name of her regency-era franchise?
• Should her franchise be more like Bridgerton and be based in reality? Or should I lean into most of the fantasy worlds used in these villainess transmigration stories? Add some magic/monsters/attacking demons?
• What are the plots of her books that she's trying to prevent?
• Who would be the main characters she's trying to save? And which one(s) would be her love interest?
• Did she die from her illness and now lives the rest of her days as her side character? Or is she in a coma, and she has the option to return to her real body at the end of the story? If the latter, does she???

Lots to think about.

In the meantime, I already had a nice glimpse into how my main character thinks. How she plots out her stories, poking holes in her plans to make sure they're strong before committing them to paper.

*Note, the next passage would all be presented in the story as the main character's thought process as she problem solves.

The main character comes up with what seems like the obvious solution to explain away why she knows that bad things are coming, and to convince her characters to listen to her advice. She'll tell everyone that she's clairvoyant! Duh! She can see the future!

Except... she never established in her stories that this character is clairvoyant. She never even included foresight/fortune telling in any of her novels. For all intents and purposes, this kind of thing isn't real/believed by sensible folk. How does she convince everyone?

She has to let a more mild plot point come to pass and let people know about it. That will prove that she has The Gift... but why would it start NOW, when she's in her early 20s? Why wasn't she clairvoyant earlier in life? What changed?

A HEAD INJURY! She could get a minor bump on her head, ham it up to make it seem more serious. Then claim it did something to her mind and she can see flashes of the future now!

There's a montage of her orchestrating minor head injuries.... only to be protected from them each time. (yes, I did steal this failed head injury plot-point from At Your Mercy) If the main character keeps trying to seemingly get a nasty head injury it will become obvious that she's doing so on purpose.... She needs a new plan....

A CURSED ITEM! Perfect! She can start having visions due to this item, and then, once the plot changes enough that she doesn't know what will happen next, she can get rid of the item to explain why she can't see the future anymore! Why didn't she think of this first?

OK. So, she has to find an ominous-looking, mysterious jewel from an "disreputable" source that is still appealing enough that it feels organic that this side character would not only buy it, but would want to keep it with her. How is she going to manage THAT without raising any flags???

After a few more antics and shenanigans (TBD), she manages to find the perfect jewel to play the part of her mysterious cursed item.

Except, in the process of trying to fake a head injury and then acquiring said item, she's already changed more than she realized. She goes to showcase her first premonition by claiming something unexpected would happen to a specific noble during this exact social gathering....

... and it doesn't happen ...

People wave it off as her having a very weird and vivid dream, and think nothing more about it.

She sighs. Back to the drawing board.... Only now she's unsure if she even can still predict the plot enough to stop the more distressing plot points from happening!

Man! Look at everything I already thought of for this concept in about 10 days!!!

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Edited by LycoRogue

I keep thinking, "man, I haven't written in a while. I'm not getting any writing done. Do I even remember how to write? Why is this so hard for me? Why am I slacking?" And yet, I seem to have something new to tell all of you fine folk every month! So, I guess I'm doing better than I thought. 

One of the benefits of having this blog is being able to see that. To properly reflect and see my writing for what it is, as opposed to how I feel or think it is.

Speaking of, I actually got another comment on Could Your Paradise Also Be Your Hell? Despite that story being one of my most popular ones - 2nd in kudos and hits, 3rd in bookmarks, and 2nd among my one-shots in comments - I haven't had a new comment on it since September 2023! What's even more fun is that I had included a dumb little The Road to El Dorado reference in my story, and this reader not only picked up on it, but joked back about it. Man, I love that!

She really needed that cold splash of water now, and certainly couldn't share this bed with that man. Nope. Can't do it. Not today. - The Stars not in alignment?

Also, the love for You Pretended Not to Care is still pouring in. Usually, it's just one new kudos, but I have had a couple of days where 2 or 3 people left kudos on it. I also get at least one kudos notification per week for this story, and that's with it being nearly a year old! (Good golly! It's almost a year old!)

The weirdest thing for me, however, is that I Think I Like You (Maybe More Than I Should) is getting relatively significant love again. As much love as YPNTC throughout March. Huh!? That story was published last May. It's over 10 months old! That's practically ancient in the flood of ML fanfic. There is just shy of 76k different stories within the fandom's tag on AO3! Out of that mountain of content to read, the VAST majority (62,938 stories; 83%) are written in English and aren't crossovers. That is a LOT of competition for older stories to push against. And yet, both Could Your Paradise and I Think I Like You are managing! Since both are spin-off stories of fics that MostLovedGirl wrote, I hope that means her stories are still getting flooded with love too.

Maybe that's what's happening. People are still reading MLG's stories, and my fics are listed as "inspired by" at the end of her work. People find my stuff that way. I mean, I'll gladly take it. I can't think of many other reasons for my stories to be found and read now, months and years after they are published. Then again, I haven't started watching the latest season yet - although, we FINALLY have an air date for EPISODE 1 finally! - so maybe something happened in canon that also relates to my stories somehow? And that's why people are finding them so late???? I guess I'll find out once I catch up after April 26th....

Getting back to that flood of stories, however. I had looked up how many total works on AO3 were in the ML fandom last Thursday. When I looked it up again today to update the above numbers, FIFTY-FOUR new stories had been added in the last four days! 

Comparatively, there's One Piece. Specifically, the manga/anime fandom, as opposed to the sub-fandoms of the live action Netflix show, the video games, or a D&D web series within the world of One Piece. The manga started WAAAAAY back in 1997, and the anime started in 1999. BOTH ARE STILL GOING! This is a much-beloved series that has been around for over 25 years! There has been PLENTY of time for fans to write fanfics for the show, and yet it "only" has 88,086 stories on AO3 (66,221 stories if you're only looking for non-crossovers written in English).

HOW DOES THE MIRACULOUS FANDOM - which has "only" been around for 9 years - NEARLY HAVE AS MANY FICS AS ONE PIECE???

Prolific. This fandom is filled with prolific writers. They are insane. Bless them all.

I know I've poked at this idea in the past, but I'm starting to finally have enough confidence to really believe it is a factor. The reason I get so lost in the shuffle within the fandom is (probably?) because I don't write as prolifically as the Big Name authors. I don't post something new daily or weekly or even a couple of times a month in order to stay towards the start of the fic search results. When I do post, it's generally a chonker of a story. Easily 4500+ words. Not the shortest/easiest fics to read and digest quickly between classes or while commuting on the bus or while taking a lunch (or bathroom) break at work. Stories 4500+ words long can be intimidating. Especially when you have 20 stories under 3k words that you could read instead.

It's basically the same mentality as those who can binge 4hrs of TV episodes, but can't sit through a 2.5hr movie.

Which is a lot of people, to be fair....

So, maybe that truly is my problem.

1. I don't publish frequently enough to be towards the top of search results
2. My stories are too long, and

Sweet Brown/Ain't Nobody Got Time for That meme
(yes, I'm still using a meme from 2012. I'm old. Leave me alone)

Maybe if I found a platform that wasn't so crowded I could find space to plant my flag. Nothing's really had a chokehold on me the way Miraculous Ladybug does, though. Not since I got introduced to the show, at least. So, who knows?

In the meantime, I'm gonna keep reading my isekai stories on WEBTOON, and hope it helps inspire me to keep working on my latest plot bunny. Or, maybe one of the stories will take hold the way ML has, and I'll have a new fandom to spread my wings into. Keep your fingers crossed!

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Before I go, though, it's time for March's blessing. It feels like I'm cheating, especially since I've done this two months in a row now, but I think I've already talked about what I'm thankful for in March. Namely, that I not only found inspiration for a new story, but also that it's an original story - instead of fanfiction - and that I thought of so much of it already with barely a week to ponder.

I mean, let's let that second bit sink in for a moment. Aside from Scum & Villainy or D&D plotlines, I have not thought of an original story since I wrote Blame Fate for This for Ronoxym's 30th birthday back in 2019! Five years! Actually, closer to 5.5yrs since my brain was able to come up with an original story!

And yet... boom! Two new story concepts in as many months! And one has a decent structure started already. I'm having so much fun with this concept too. I'm really excited about seeing how much more I can develop it. It's been AGES since I've felt THIS excited about writing. So.... yeah... may be a bit of a cop out since this was also the main topic of my update this month, but I don't care. My blessing is definitely my Muse returning to me on the back of these endless isekai/transmigration stories I've been reading.

Thank you, Muse, for stopping by to chat for a while. I hope you enjoy your stay and decide to extend it.

In the meantime, I'll catch all of you peeps in about two weeks for my next LycoRogue's Reading Corner!

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by Hanasake Pictures Inc

Inspiration From Everywhere!

Hey, peeps. Sorry about missing last week again. I ended up working and didn't do proper prep-work to get my post pre-written to make up for it. 

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My manager's daughter - after SIX MONTHS of BS red tape - managed to close on her first home, and my manager wanted to be there to help her daughter and son-in-law move into their new house. The closing was Monday, and my manager had Wednesday and Sunday off, so she asked if we could trade her Sunday for my Tuesday. That way she had two days in a row to help them set up.

I could have - and possibly should have - worked on my blog post last Sunday so it was ready for Tuesday. Instead, I was working on - GASP - fiction writing!

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In my promotion for my March 2nd blog post over on Tumblr, I had tagged carpisuns and linked to her fanart. I had talked briefly in that Tumblr promo how her artwork birthed a few plot bunnies that I was trying to wrangle. Upon reading that, she reblogged my promo for this blog, and added that she would love to read the story if I ever do get around to writing it.

Well, now I was extra motivated! I spent pretty much the rest of the week slowly grinding out the story. It took on many forms and went through many revisions. It also became a much larger story than I intended, clocking in just over 4200 words. Then again, it IS me, so I probably should have expected at least that much....

I had decided to tell the story through Marinette's point of view in a sort of Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby style of narration. She's not the main focus even though she's who we see the story through, but she also kinda-sorta becomes the main focus??? It's weird. But I think it works.

Mostly, I think it works because Marinette keeps walking into Adrien and Alya's heated debates about who is the bigger Ladybug simp as these debates are already going. This way I didn't have to worry about how any of them start up in the first place, which was one of my big struggles. Also, this way we can get a better sense of Marinette's reaction to people battling over which one is her biggest simp. Something I couldn't really show from someone else's POV because Marinette is (mostly) careful to hide any reaction regarding Ladybug when she's Marinette. On the flipside, since Marinette - as Ladybug - knows that Adrien was Aspik, she can pick up on subtle hints of Adrien nearly revealing his superhero identity. She'd just misinterpret it as his time as Aspik instead of what he truly was going to reveal: he's Chat Noir. Finally, it was fun to have Marinette think and say things with regards to everything Adrien (as a citizen) has done for Ladybug, as well as the effort he put into Aspik, but also have what she said/thought relate to Chat Noir without her necessarily understanding that added level.

It was fun. I did get a BIT angsty with the Aspik bit - because apparently I have to sneak angst in SOMEHOW - but it's mostly fluff.

Ladybug's Simp Squad

Summary: Marinette walks into a heated debate between Adrien and Alya: which one of them is Ladybug's #1 simp.

Rating: General Audiences

Word Count: 4244

• On FanFiction           • On ArchiveOfOurOwn

                     • On DeviantArt           • On Tumblr

Much like my last story, this one just blew up the first day it was posted. It has since partially died off, only to get another small boost late Friday/early Saturday when carpisuns reblogged the story on Tumblr. After that brief weekend spike, it has again gone down. In the meantime, I think I picked up a few more readers, so that's nice.

My (roughly) 24hr stats:

FFN: ~165 views, 6 faves, 2 followers, and 3 reviews
AO3: Forgot to Note, 45 kudos, 5 bookmarks, and 4 comments
DA: Forgot to Note, no faves and no comments

Total Results: At least 210 views, 51 faves, 7 followers, and 7 reviews

Tumblr Notes: 4 notes; 1 like and 3 reblogs

Reviews:
  1. A moderately lengthy review from Wildfire's Flame
  2. I love Plage finding the heart, awesome! - Guest
  3. Hi love the story can't wait for more ! Have a great day ! - Retrowolf
  4. A moderately lengthy review from BFG_blueapple303
  5. This is so good!! - ktreereads
  6. This was hella cute! / You broke me a bit when Adrien had to catch himself from throwing down his ace :( my sad boi / But it's okay cuz they're all cute and happy in the end! - Cyhyr
  7. I love the idea of Plagg in a soft pocket. It’s like a purring hamster in a hoodie. - Maggi8noodlesalfredo2lasagne
  8. #this is so good holy shit #thank you so much - miraculousmolls

Okay, so a few disclaimers here. I forgot to note my stats when I hit that 24hr mark. I was going to, but I was at work at the time, and had things to do post-work, and Thursday got away from me. Whoops. Fanfiction.net does have a traffic graph, so I was able to see that I had 165 views on the 10th when I posted. However, I did post after 5pm, so I could have included any views from the 11th prior to then. Problem there is I have no way of knowing how many of my 113 views on the 11th were before 5pm and how many were after. So I'm assuming I actually had more than 165 views within the first 24hrs of posting, but I have no way of knowing for sure. 

I was able to figure out FFN and AO3 24-hr-mark faves/kudos/follows/bookmarks/comments via the timestamp on either the email notifications, or on the bookmarks/comments themselves. However, one of the AO3 bookmarks simply has it listed as March 11th with no time, so I may have actually had 6 bookmarks within that first 24hrs. Also, 17 of the kudos I got were listed as "guest" so, either people from Tumblr that don't have an AO3 account or people who didn't want to log in for whatever reason. I think it would be really neat if I brought in a bunch of non-AO3 readers from Tumblr.

As for those semi-lengthy reviews:

  Wildfire's Flame: Giggles. So cute!,I,loved it. I love Marinette making sweaters. I love the reasoning for Alya not to post any pictures. I love Adriens expression blanching. Very nicely done. The stitched heart... Warm puddles. Such a Marinette thing. I love that place loves it too...

  BFG_blueapple303: hmmmm....honestly why didn't t he bring up that he LITERALLY jumped off a building for ladybug? chatnoir is one thing butthat is REALLY a ace in the hole that alya doesn't have. he did that as a civilian...untransformed and getting no gain from recording. he'll have to be happy knowing he's the REAL ladybug simp.....though.....Ikindof wish he brought up chat noir so even if adrien was considered 3rd after alya then at least everyone could agree that chat is number 1

I feel so silly that I referenced the episode "Gorizilla" in my story AND YET SOMEHOW MISSED THE PART OF THE EPISODE WHERE ADRIEN GLEEFULLY SWAN DIVES OFF THE MONTPARNASSE TOWER, COMPLETELY TRUSTING LADYBUG WILL FIND A WAY TO SAVE HIM BEFORE BECOMING SIDEWALK PIZZA!

Like.... HOOOOOOOOOW!? How did I forget THAT!?

In truth, I'm not entirely sure how Alya was supposed to beat THAT example of simping, and, based on carpisuns' fanart and background to it, Alya did indeed win out because Adrien couldn't top "I run the Ladyblog" without revealing his secret identity. So, maybe it's a good idea I forgot it? Maybe Adrien didn't say anything because he didn't want to worry his friends with the knowledge (or reminder) that he yeeted himself off a building simply because Ladybug told him it would be alright..... The story would have taken a DRASTIC turn towards angst there with everyone calling a time-out to instead address Adrien's concerning self-destructive actions.....

ANYWAY! Yeah! As for my current (roughly) week-long stats:

FFN: 377 views, 19 faves, 9 followers, and 3 reviews
AO3: 412 hits, 83 kudos, 11 bookmarks, and 8 comments
DA: 276 views, but no faves or comments

Total Results: 1065 views, 102 faves, 20 followers, and 11 reviews

Tumblr Notes: 28 notes; 17 likes and 11 reblogs

New Reviews:
  1. That was a very cute story! Ha, little did Marinette know that a kwami would be taking up residence in that very pocket and discover her secret heart ❤️! Great job! - pkk
  2. A moderately lengthy review from carpisuns
  3. I adore this. So frikkin cute Ohmygosh - Bjurnberg
  4. This is absolutely adorable!! I love the idea of Alya and Adrien trying to out-simp each other over Ladybug! I do believe they each have a case (and a hidden trump card, or two)... / Poor Nino needs a hoodie now. Maybe #1 Rena Rouge simp? - MalcolmReynolds
  5. Asdfghjkl this was amazing!! - jennagrinsoverml
  6. #ml #fic #art #I LOVE THIS - maribat-shenanigans

Six of the Tumblr reblogs had some sort of commentary. Either added comments in the reblog, such as what jennagrinsoverml did, or commentary in the tags section, such as what maribat-shenanigans or miraculousmolls did.

I also got two very lovely comments from carpisuns. The aforementioned moderately lengthy review on my AO3 post, but also when she reblogged my story on Tumblr.

  carpisuns on AO3: hahahaha this was such a fun read!! thanks so much for writing this! it made me laugh out loud a few times :D and omgsh i wasn't expecting to be hit by desperada angst :O there was so much cute stuff in there aaaaa i, like marinette, very much enjoy the idea of ladybug and adrien cuddling while he wears a laddybug simp sweatshirt 😌 i also really enjoyed her acknowledgment that chat noir is the real #1 simp hahaha
and plagg at the end hehe so cute! love the fic <3

  carpisuns on Tumblr: ljkasdflkjsf omgsh i cant believe someone wrote something based on my art aaaa this is great, thank you so much!! Very cute and funny! :D

#fics #<3 #nice things

EEEEE, it is so awesome that she liked my story this much! I am always dumbfounded in the best way when people gush like this. I mean, it was THEIR work that inspired ME. *I* was the one who is but a humble servant as I briefly whisk their Muse away for a one night tryst. This is true for carpisuns, as it was with Taurus Pixie and even my Wonder Twin Ronoxym, let alone my own IRL Muse: my husband.

You all crawled so that I might run. Thank you!

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Anyway, it may or may not be related to all of the love from piggybacking off carpisuns' art, but I did get another follower over on Tumblr. I've also had three new people favorite me - as in, the author - over on FanFiction.net, and two of those three also started following me. 

So, uh, yeah, that's super exciting! Also, to keep up with my muse-abductions that seem to be working for me, I've swiped some new plot bunnies up from the comments on my story. For instance, I'm debating if I want to do a more angsty companion story where Plagg asks Adrien why he didn't bring up the impromptu base jumping in his battles with Alya. For Plagg, it's almost an insult that Adrien isn't the "#1 Ladybug Simp" ESPECIALLY since Plagg knows everything Adrien does as Chat Noir, and got a feeling of everything the kid did as Aspik (I'm assuming, since he said the same thing to Adrien over and over again, that Plagg isn't part of the time loop and therefore won't remember anything that happened while Adrien was the snake superhero). I could even finish it off with how Adrien truly doesn't care. He just had fun debating with his friend and remembering all the interactions his civilian self had with Ladybug. Also, he knows that Alya can't be Rena Rouge anymore, so he probably figures Alya needed this win. To prove that she's still helpful to Ladybug even if she can't be a superheroine.

There's also another plot bunny of Marinette making Nino a "#1 Rena Rouge Simp" sweatshirt so he wouldn't feel left out. Neither Nino nor Alya would know that Marinette knows who Rena is, so the two of them might find it a nice in-joke between the two of them and Ladybug. It could also be a real sweet surprise to Alya about how devoted to her Nino is. It could also have its own sprinkle of angst as Marinette feels guilt over making this sweatshirt for Nino knowing full well that Alya could never be Rena Rouge again for her own safety. (Then again, even with everyone - including Hawk Moth - knowing who Queen Bee was, Chloe still got her Miraculous back a couple of times; so it's not entirely hopeless for Alya)

A third companion story/continuation could be a cuddly Ladrien story where Ladybug, now knowing how large of a "fan" Adrien is, visits him. They could start pseudo-dating and ALLLLLL the fluff.

OOOOOOR, I could go the opposite direction. Based on a short story I read the other day - Comfort from Each-Other by ScarletRedfox - I could have the Love Square completely crumble in on itself with ALLLLLLL the angst! The concept of ScarletRedfox's story is that Ladybug, for fear of Adrien getting hurt if the world found out they were together, as well as feeling it unfair that he date Ladybug when he doesn't know she's Marinette, rejects Adrien's love confession. It wasn't safe or right for them to be together that way - a superheroine and a civilian - and it shattered Marinette's heart to reject Adrien as much as it broke Adrien to have Ladybug turn even his civilian half away. Chat Noir then goes to Marinette for comfort, and they both talk about how their hearts were broken that day.

Anyway, much like with Ronoxym's Devon and Willow story all those many many MANY years ago (dear lord... like... SEVEN YEARS!?), I adored Comfort from Each-Other but still felt that a simple tweak of one element of the story would take it on a new road, and I kind of want to explore that. It could be hurt/comfort all on its own, or I could build off that Ladrien idea of Ladybug snuggling with Adrien post unofficial Ladybug Simp contest, only to break the relationship off knowing it's "not right."

In a sort of adjacent vein, I had a godawful day Friday after an EXHAUSTING battle with my internet provider for the better part of a month. This terrible day was followed up on Saturday by me tripping when my right foot hooked the cuff of my left pant leg. Not only did I trip, I tripped in front of my customer and her son. Not only THAT, but I happened to trip on the TOP STAIR OF AN 18-STEP STAIRCASE!

Skullington
Facebook sticker
by Jared Nickerson

Thankfully, much like Marinette, I've always been gracefully clumsy. I tripped off the landing, missed the next step, caught my foot on the 2nd step long enough to adjust my weight, hopped down the next two steps, and caught myself about five or six steps down from the landing. Heart pounding in my ears, but otherwise fine.

My point being, I've had one heck of a weekend where virtually everything I did had SOMETHING go wrong. I know that "nothing can just be simple and/or go right for me" days are some of my most frustrating and exhausting. The days that break me the most.

Yet this doesn't seem to be the basis of akumas in Miraculous Ladybug, at least, not yet.

GUYS! MY CRAPPY WEEKEND INSPIRED ME FOR AN AKUMA! I haven't figured all the details out yet, but the character would basically be Jinx from DC comics. There have been tons of other superheroes/villains in the show inspired by DC and Marvel comics, so it can't hurt to do the same thing again, right? I will probably have to think of a name other than "Jinx" for her, but otherwise the build is more-or-less set. She was frustrated that nothing seemed to go right for her that day, so Hawk Moth akumatized her with the power to mess up everyone else's day. She then goes around causing mischief, similar to Troublemaker, but it's more bad luck curses than pranks.

I'm still trying to figure out where the akuma would be hiding, what her outfit would look like, whether or not it hits our superheroes, and both the Lucky Charm Ladybug would get as well as how she'd use it. There's still a lot of planning to do, but still. I have a baby idea I could nurture into an actual akuma to use in a story! Look at me go!

I still have so many fanfics to read on my list. I can't wait to see what stories those could ignite in me.

Stepping away from the Miraculous Ladybug fandom for a beat, though. Last week Hubby and I finally got around to watching the cooking action anime (yeah, you read correctly) Food Wars! It's... it's a bit much to get into, but you get hooked pretty quickly.

Anyway, about half way through the first season - maybe a little sooner - we're introduced to the character Alice. This is Alice in seasons 3 and 4, but her hair was more-or-less the same (just a touch shorter) in seasons 1 and 2.

Alice created by Yūto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki

Between the hair style, the white hair, and her overall personality of flipping from playful and childish to dead serious and brilliant; all of it just reminded me of my OC Willow. In fact, flip the image and add the aquamarine eyes and she's a good reference picture for Willow.

Maybe I should have darkened her skin
a touch. Willow's not quite THIS pale....

Also officially introduced in season 3 of this series, was the top student of the entire culinary school the show takes place at: Eishi Tsukasa. And holy heckens, this character is pretty much EXACTLY how I have always imagined Shawn to look. This shot specifically made me think of Willow's brother.

Tsukasa created by Yūto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki

Tsukasa's normally this fairly chill guy who has seemingly random anxiety attacks and OCD. On the occasions when he gets serious, however, he gets a bit scary.

This still isn't perfect because Shawn goes full-blown homicidal maniac, but this is probably the closest I could find "in the wild", as it were. Once again, all I really need to do is switch out Tsukasa's eye color and you have my mental image of Shawn.

(Fun factoid: Food Wars! was first printed in Japan November 2012, I was playing around with what Willow's brother would look like around September or October of 2012. So both the manga's creators and I just happened to luck into the same character design for one of our side characters.)

To compare, here's my first attempt to create visuals of Willow and Shawn from when I was using the ChaZie online doll makers way back in 2012. (Shawn had more emo hair here, but the above shag of Tsukasa's hair is more of what I had pictured)

Naturally, having characters in an anime I'm watching reminding me of some of my OCs has got me thinking about X-Future and Glitches again. So..... ALL THE BRAINSTORMING! It didn't result in any fiction writing THIS week, but who knows where The Muses will take me?

I'm excited to see what this week brings, how about you fine folks? I guess we'll have to wait until next Tuesday to see. Until then, take care, friends!

December Catch-Up

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Ooof. I've missed nearly all of December! Man, this year has been a complete dumpster fire, hasn't it?

Speaking of, that's what I got my husband as one of his many birthday gifts.

Dumpster Fire Vinyl Figure by 100% Soft
This is not paid advertising; I just really enjoy their products.
(Special shout out to ChibiSunnie for showing me that this was a thing)

To be frank, not much has really gone on, productivity wise, this month, and so I just didn't really have the drive to update my blog. I'm so tired of writing "I didn't do any writing or anything creative, nor have I read anything new. So how's your pandemic going?" every week. That first week of December I concentrated on Hubby's birthday for my days off. I didn't initially plan on skipping that week's update, and was actually kinda mad with myself for doing so, but it was what it was, and I had to let it go. The following week, I only had the 11th off, and I was spending so much time playing catchup on chores and errands and gift buying that I didn't even think about my blog post until days later. Again, I was mad at myself, but I had to shrug off the shame and guilt of not updating.

Then last week, I just didn't bother. Complete white flag. I had switched days off with a coworker, so I had Sunday instead of Friday off, I had my normal Tuesday off finally, AND the store was closed on Thursday due to snow. Still, I spent Tuesday nuzzling against my husband and doing more Christmas shopping. I was still irritated, but I didn't even ATTEMPT to write anything for my blog. What was there to write anyway? Nothing really to catch up on within my personal life - as evidenced by these short paragraphs summing up practically my whole month - and I hadn't done any writing or reading, so....

Hacker Girl
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by Birdman, Inc

With that Thursday snow day though, I FINALLY had some free unscheduled downtime! Hubby and I caught up on Christmas movie watching, and last-minute online Christmas shopping. I still didn't think of my blog, though. Instead, I focused on my LOOOOOOOONG backlog of fanfics to read. I was a bit overwhelmed as to where to start since my list went as far back as August! To simplify things, and get me out of my overwhelmed freeze, I just started at the top: the most recently updated story. Which also happened to be a story I read before.... whoops.

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Oh well, it's a Christmas themed story, and I need extra doses of Holiday Cheer this year anyway. Plus, it's a story that's partially gifted to me, so how could I resist?

On December 14th, I got a notification that Taurus Pixie started uploading her lovely story Twelve Days of Chatmas to AO3! Those that have been following this blog for a while may remember that she had partially dedicated this story to me back in 2018 when she first published it to FFN. It's a 12-chapter story that she updated daily leading into Christmas. Well, now that she has it polished a touch and is ready to upload it to AO3, she's doing the same thing: updating it a chapter a day leading into Christmas.

It's angsty but funny and gives you warm holiday fuzzies and HOLY SMOKES, I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW MUCH FOWL IS INCLUDED IN THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS!

Twelve Days of Chatmas

Summary: Christmas is fast approaching, and Chat Noir is determined to get Ladybug the perfect gift. The problem is, they all keep going disastrously wrong. Will Chat Noir be able to find Ladybug the perfect gift in time?

FFN Final Word Count: 25,757
Status: On FFN - Complete; On AO3 - Daily Updates Ongoing
Rating: General Audiences

It's been such a delight to relive the excitement of getting those daily notifications telling me the story updated.

Also, bonus, I haven't started any writing yet, but I HAVE been brainstorming a project that was inspired by my re-read of Twelve Days of Chatmas, so if I actually find the time to crank it out, you can give Pixie a huge "thank you" for sharing her Muse.

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Either way, you guys should go check out Twelve Days of Chatmas because it's fantastic and deserves more love. Plus, Christmas story!

Speaking of which, I'm happy to see more and more people are drifting back to my own Christmas ML fanfic. If you haven't checked out the story I gave to Pixie in 2018 as a thank you for TDoC, please give it a read!

Woven Heartstrings

On FanFiction       On ArchiveOfOurOwn       On DeviantArt       On Tumblr

Summary: Chat Noir needs a Christmas gift for Ladybug. Marinette is a very crafty and creative person, so Chat Noir asks her for some help in making a gift for his lady. While hesitant in aiding Chat Noir's attempts to woo her superhero self, Marinette reluctantly agrees. Although, after a week of working side-by-side with Marinette, Chat Noir's not so sure he wants to gift the scarf he's making to Ladybug after all.

Word Count: 32,222
Status: Complete; 8 chapters
Rating: K / General Audiences

The rest of the limited free time I had this week, instead of working on that new story brewing in my brain (like I need more plotbunnies...), I spent reading ANOTHER story that was partially gifted to me!

Natsuo Maki from Love Lab
Created by Ruri Miyahara

This poor story was sitting on my To Read list for nearly a month! After tearing through it Monday, I felt so guilty about waiting so long to get to it in the first place, but I'm also kind of glad I did wait, because it meant I could read it all in (almost) a single sitting instead of waiting for the next chapter to update.

This story was SUCH a rollercoaster of emotions. It is angsty and makes me want to cry. It's so soft and fluffy and fills you with warm fuzzies. It gut-punches you with angst again. It's a bit silly. It's comforting in the best way. It's just.... Mmmmm. A delight!

Pieces by mostlovedgirl

Summary: Adrien’s world is shattered. He runs to the one place he can find comfort. It isn’t with the person he imagined, but she’s the only one he needs.

Word Count: 8292
Status: Complete; 3 chapters
Rating: Teen and up

Anyone who still believes *I* should be considered the "Queen of Angst" really needs to read this woman's work. At BEST, I'm probably a Countess of Angst....

As I went to bed Monday night, I was again inspired. I thought about a continuation of the story, involving Nino and Alya. I don't want to spoil anything about Pieces, but let's just say that Adrien has a LOT to talk about with Nino and Alya come the Monday at school after the story ends. There's also a LOT he has to navigate at school itself, and I was starting to explore that as I drifted off to sleep.

Sadly, as is usually true when one thinks of plotlines while drifting off to sleep, I've kind of lost where I was going with it. I know more-or-less the issues still left post-Pieces that Adrien has to deal with, and how I wanted Alya and Nino to be involved. I also vaguely recall wanting Alya and Nino getting their Miraculouses back permanently, but I can't recall how I was going to go about it. Finally, while most fanfic writers tend to have Adrien using his Trust to finance an apartment the moment he turns 18 so he can get out of the Agreste mansion, part of me prefers the idea of the Lahiffe family taking him in until he's ready to be on his own. Also, with everything that happened in Pieces, I'm not sure if I wanted him to leave or stay in the mansion. A LOT of ball-juggling in my head, but the fact that there was a SPARK there means so much.

So another big thank you to MLG for sharing a bit of HER Muse as well. I guess while my own Muse is broken, I'm on some sort of Rent-A-Muse program for my writing. So, again, thank you to these other fantastic content creators for lending theirs out.

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Alright, so let's see what my To Read list looks like now....

• I've been waiting patiently for the latest chapter update of TaurusPixie's rework of her demon-summoning Miraculous Ladybug AU story Immortal Bonds; completely forgetting I never went back to read the chapter 3 update from back in August! So that's top of my list, for sure!
• Another biggie for me, especially since I usually hop instantly to the story when I see it updates, is Chapter 17 of Discordant Sonata by EdenDaphne. Frankly, I'm surprised I've waited over a month to read this!
• Yet ANOTHER story I was excited to see an update notification for despite me neglecting to actually read the update this past week is Dressed to Confess by zenmisery
• There's also the 7 one-shots Cyhyr wrote for SylvixWeek2020 way back in September!
• Bouncing back to TaurusPixie, apparently I've neglected to read both her chapter 4 AND 5 updates for her Helsing story Go and Conquer.
• Next up is probably Wait for Me by mostlovedgirl, which I've been sitting on since the beginning of November.
• I also have three different W.I.T.C.H. stories by TaurusPixie to read: Dreams of Demons, Waters Run Deep, and Healing Hearts. These stories have been piling up since the beginning of November. However, I don't really know anything about W.I.T.C.H., so I might have to push them to the back of the pack until I whittle this list down a touch.
• The 45 other fanfics I already had on my To Read list before the summer even ended!
• The last 2 novels of Rick Riordan's Trials of Apollo series

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I'm assuming you can guess why I felt overwhelmed when I FINALLY had some reading time again and I wasn't sure where to start. It's equally overwhelming to try to decide what to even do with that free time! Catch up on the reading or attempt to write? Trying to answer that question has been a bit crippling for me this year, but I'm hoping 2021 will be kinder to all of us.

In the meantime, I hope everyone either got to enjoy their holidays or will be enjoying theirs; sorry to all of my non-Christian readers for missing wishing you a happy holiday.

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Edited into a 3-image banner by LycoRogue

I'll try to find time to relax and recoup the rest of today and tomorrow. We'll see if I can get back on track to posting updates here on Tuesdays, starting with the 29th. Hope to see you there.

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