And Back Out Again

Well... that writing momentum died quickly!


Also, sorry for the delay on this week's post. I had a surprise visit from Ronoxym and Cyhyr this morning. So you can blame them for distracting me.


Anyway, this past week was actually pretty booked with other things, so writing kind of fell to the wayside.

I had a project I needed to finish for a gift, so that took up most of my freetime outside of work. That, and I ended up hanging out with Rozsavaria - formally known as Spink on this blog, but Rozsavaria is her main online handle, so that's her name here now - and she taught me how to knit.

It's not very good. I mean, it's not BAD, but it's also not very good.

I've had always been a bit intimidated by knitting, but it's actually pretty simple... at least, the very basic knit stitch, and when it is done in a row. Pearling is a pain, though. Trying to remember to work in reverse was a bit much for me....

Anyway, yeah, I just did a lot of crafting outside of work this week. And some socializing, hence the hang-out with Roz. Omnibladestrike also did his weekly hang-out with us on Sunday. Quarthix was over last Tuesday to draft for fantasy football before I went to writing group. I've been a bit busy.

Also, since I brought up the topic:

I like reviving old memes....

While I was at my job I actually - surprise, surprise - did work! Yeah! About once every other month I have to go through all of our clearanced out items. This list is usually an inventory of about 450 items between the actual furniture and the decorative items such as lamps and wall art. I have to double check the spreadsheet I created is up-to-date on pricing, price drops, items on the list, and how many items are left between all of the company's stores. I then scan the items, print off, cut, fold, and hang the new tags; again double checking the pricing verses my spreadsheet. I also have to double check that we have barcodes for everything, that everything on my list matches what is on our floor, that items that were sold were properly taken out of the system and off our inventory, and look for the inevitable one or two items that are on our list but I can't find on our floor. This past week I also added in the task to photograph everything so I can also keep together a visual inventory of things that are harder to differentiate based on the item name: such as lamps or wall art. So I kept myself hopping this past week.

This left virtually no free time to write, and the few minutes I probably could have written I ended up wasting on YouTube videos instead.

A year or two ago, after I read Dante's Inferno, I discovered a YouTube channel called Overly Sarcastic Productions.

It was fun, but I didn't really get too far into the channel. Mainly because - as most people seem to rationalize these days - I can totally sit and watch four 10-min long episodes because "come on; it's just 10minutes!" but heaven forbid I watch one of OSP's 26-min videos about classic literature... I just don't have the time for that!

Anyway, one day last week I was going through a writing post on Tumblr that talked about tropes and cliches: how to avoid them, and which ones you could keep in. The article commented about OSP's Trope Talks playlist for some great and humorous discussions about literary tropes. Basically Red breaks down the tropes, comments about how they can become bad cliches and hinder writing, but also talks about how they can be fantastic tools for improved writing.

And thus I was hooked. I just tore through all of the Trope Talks currently up, checked out a few of Blue's History Summarized, and I'm now going through the Miscellaneous Myths playlist.

Everything is informative, so I FEEL like I'm being productive. However, LEARNING about writing isn't actually writing, and in learning about writing I'm failing to CONTINUE writing, so it is a wash when all is said and done. I just hope my writing improves because of the "research" I've been doing.

My final bit of procrastinating? Well, you can blame Jowy's Pixie for that...

As I'm sure we're all well aware by now, Pixie is the one who has left me those lengthy, ugly-cry-inducing reviews on "Peeping Tomcat". Well, through my messages to thank her for all of her reviews, and her replies back, we've built up a nice rapport. I think it's safe to say we even have the starting seeds of a friendship.

Well, along with this budding friendship, I've also picked up on how articulate she is. She has her thoughts well thought out, and they are meaningful and unique. I just knew she was a good writer, even though she gobbled up a whole humble pie and thinks she's just "okay". I couldn't believe that, and so I hopped on over to her FFN profile. She has three on-going "Miraculous Ladybug" fanfics right now. All of them are 50,000+ words long!

I wasn't sure if I could invest in such long stories, but I wanted to at least get a taste of her work. So I chose the shortest one she had: an AU where Chat Noir is a cat demon instead of a superhero, and Marinette is just a simple girl.... that accidentally sold her soul to Chat Noir.

Accidentally selling her soul to a demon wasn't the smartest thing Marinette could have done while messing around with a Ouija board alone. Especially when that demon is the devious Chat Noir, demon prince of bad luck and destruction. AU.

It's called "Immortal Bond." It is a bit mature, intense, and dark though.

I've seen people subvert the "Chat Noir is a demon" trope... and yes, it is a trope; you'd be surprised how many came up with this idea. Sure, CN is a demon, but he's still playful and fairly in character. Pixie, on the other hand, doesn't try to subvert the trope. Chat Noir is a demon who TRIES to be nice, flirty, and protective of Marinette. However, he ends up being possessive, stalkerish, aggressive, emotionally abusive, and demanding. Thankfully, Pixie also has Marinette trying to find any way she can to escape from Chat Noir, and the story does address the stress and fear Marinette suffers. Even with all of that though, Chat Noir is still one of the "good guys" and is played as an anti-hero. Well... more of an anti-villain since he's the main antagonist. But it is largely hinted that there is a Big Bad villain that Chat is trying to protect Marinette from, so back to anti-hero?

My point being, while lots of people subvert the "a character is a demon" trope, and I went in totally expecting that, Pixie is not one of those writers. She goes gritty. So.... trigger warning? I guess? But if you can handle a darker theme it is well worth the read.

In fact, I actually read her whole story in just two days! I read the first five chapters on Sunday, and then the second half during the slow times at work on Monday. I have NEVER read a 50,000+ word story that fast! It just begged for me to keep going. True, there still needs to be some more polish to it and perhaps one really good line-edit revision, but what fanfiction doesn't?

The concept is compelling and intriguing to me. The characters are forced to be in darker and more severe situations than are presented on the show, which means there's no canonical precedent as to how Marinette or Chat Noir would act. This means they're both a bit out of character, but understandably so. What this also means is that the story doesn't HAVE to be a "Miraculous Ladybug" story. Pixie can rename the characters and she'd be good to go to have it be an original story. I hope that perhaps one day she does rework it as an original.

Anyway, if you're looking for a good lengthy story, don't mind waiting for the weekly updates on chapters, and can handle the darker themes, go check out "Immortal Bond."

Aaaaaaand, since I'm promoting stories now anyway, I might as well let you know that the pre-order links for "Leather and Lies" are finally live! Don't forget to check out Celeste Straub's premiere novel!

She only has two online locations available right now for pre-order, with more links becoming available in the near future. The links are also only for e-book pre-orders right now, but a link for a print copy pre-order will be up eventually.

For the time being, you can pre-order on Amazon and on Smashwords.

Other pre-order locations to come include: Kobo, Nook, iTunes, and GooglePlay.
I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.

And one more person to promote....

One of the artists I fell in love with via the Miraculous fandom is Eden Daphne. You probably read me commenting about her on here before. She's the artist and co-author for a few of my favorite fanfics:
 - When Duty and Desire Meet
 - Under Lock and Key
 - Freed in the Rain (a one-shot within an anthology)

Over the weekend she opened up her commissions. Her prices are actually really reasonable, even borderline "cheap" for the work.

I've missed her commissions availability before and I really wanted to get something drawn by her. I just couldn't decide what.

Do I go for an OC? And if so, who?

• My first main OC Amara Yori... the Edge Lord?
• My first X-Future character, the meek and motherly Lia Maddox?
• Arguably my main X-Future character: party girl and playful flirt Willow Driver?
• My psychotic, but fun to write, Brotherhood character Trish Morrison?
• My main NPC Crystal McGinty?
• My most-played D&D character Jolene Crisslebalm, the Golden Succubus?
• My newest D&D character the gnome Elymoxa Welbys Alver Teenybump?
• My Numenera character, the cyborg Jynna?
• What about my Gyateara characters? Female lead Nathalie, or male lead Connor?

I also have about three or four characters from when I played "Vampire: The Masquerade", two or three more D&D characters, and the list goes on....

Alternatively, I could go for a lower tier, pay for the background and/or extra characters, and ask for scenes from "Peeping Tomcat." It would help me promote the story now that it's done, and it could have the added bonus of Eden Daphne possibly wanting to read my fanfic. The trick here though is which scene?

• When Chat Noir first accidentally peeps on Marinette?
• When Adrien and Marinette have their cute heart-to-heart on the subway?
• Their pseudo-date at the movies?
• And even then, do I go for Adrien helping Marinette clean up her spilled popcorn?
• Or when he cheered her up by eating the rest of his popcorn that she accidentally knocked onto him?
• Or when she grabs his hand during the intense part of the movie?
• Do I showcase my original akumas?
• Which one there? Mimicker in the mall with her army of Chloes?
• Terravenger and his plant creatures after turning Place des Vosges into a dense forest; Marinette's family's home completely overrun?
• Gremlin taking out the electronic devices outside Center Hall? 
• What about when Chat Noir watches Marinette drawing the yin-yang dress?
• When he watches her dance in her room?
• What about the Chat Noir Appreciation Festival?
• Do I not care about spoilers and have Eden Daphne draw Chat Noir finally seeing Tikki? Or even PLAGG first seeing Tikki?

There were so many options! I just couldn't narrow it down.

Then ChibiSunnie intelligently suggested I just write all the options down and draw from a hat to see which one to ask for. I asked Hubby to pull from the cup for me, and he did so in a very unconventional manner that I won't get into.

While Amara was the first slip of paper pulled, he quickly declared, without even looking at the slip of paper, that the LAST ONE in the cup will be the winner. This resulted in Willow being the winning "pick", although I could have overridden him and went with Amara instead since she was the first one pulled.

I almost did, too. Mainly because Chibi has drawn me a couple of cards that had Willow on them already, so I technically already had fanart of her... or, free commissions since I asked Chibi to draw Willow on my cards?

Anyway, I decided to go with the spirit of the lottery that Hubby came up with, and asked Eden Daphne for commissioned art of Willow. Luckily, I got my request to her before she closed her commissions again. It wasn't even open for 24hrs before she received enough requests that she needed to close commissions down! I sure lucked out in getting my request in on time!

I chose the "full color, full body, no background, only one character" option. It SHOULD come out to be the $70 listed on the above sheet, but I haven't received the invoice yet. I did send Eden Daphne my write-up of Willow's physical description and personality, as well as some reference pictures. She seems super excited to work on Willow's asymmetrical silver-haired bob with blue streaks.

While I get that drawing takes time, I also can't wait to see the first WIP sketches to come my way! It's going to be so cool when I get the completed artwork! I also gave Eden Daphne fair warning that I just might attempt to slot myself into more of her commission openings in the future. I feel she might have to turn me away soon enough so she can give other people a try!


Alright, now that I'm done with promoting everyone else's stuff, it's FINALLY time to promote my own.

Like I said, I didn't really do much writing this past week. However, I DID still need to reach that "one new story per month" goal. So I polished up the akumatizing side story for "One and the Same." It is crazy early to try to promote this sequel, and most people will probably forget about this side-story by the time the main one comes out.

That said, it was the only story I had written in August, and it was ready to publish with just one more pass-through for line-edits. No need to stress trying to write something new and edit it within a couple of days.

"Making Headlines"

On FanFiction            On ArchiveOfOurOwn            On DeviantArt

There isn't as much love for this story, mainly because it's so small - about 1000 words - and it doesn't include any of the main characters. I knew it was going to have low readership, though. All of my akumatizing stories have a small reader base. Even so, the reviews have been promising.

• Oh damn! Of course you never cease to tease! ;p Intriguing, as always. Waiting for the continuation!
• Ooh, I totally like this!
• Oh, this is interesting! It makes me look forward to the story coming out next year!
• I liked this tale, especially the interactions between Nadia (who herself isn't too sure of her job) and the upcoming Clara. Clara stuck to the broken bones and lost dogs news items is somewhat sad and yet real for starting reporters. Jammer maar helaas! (Its' a shame, but there is nothing to do about it! You'll have to admit it looks better in Dutch)
       I ADORE Headliner's outfit! She does have a "Press card" on her Fedora? That'd be awesome! I'm looking forward to next installments! I'd also want to thank you for all of your time you spend/lost on creating this wonderful, editing this great, writing out this amazing and most of all for sharing this delightful first chapter for our joy and contentment![sic]

I even received a review from my mother.

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by Birdman, Inc.

Mom: You actually have me hooked, so hurry up and tell me what happens. I knew eventually you'd write something for your mother.

HAHAHA! Happy to please, Mom! For those who don't know, while my mother is a strong cheerleader of mine, I never seem to write anything that she enjoys reading. It's either horror/thriller/gory, or it's "super nerdy" with it being a fanfic of a show she doesn't watch or a book she didn't read. She likes romance, and wishes I'd write more of that. So, honestly, this no-romance-involved story catching my mother's eye is a bit of a surprise to me. Glad to have her hooked though.

I also received another guest review, but it's probably my mom as well, since she tends to accidentally double post when she tries to edit something she already posted....

- "You actually have me hooked so you better write fast and tell me what happens."

I'm excited that I'm getting people pumped for this sequel.

NOW TO ACTUALLY WRITE THE DARN THING!

Speaking of, this post is already about 5hrs late. I think I should call it 'good' and focus on my story instead. Let's just hope Eden Daphne or Jowy's Pixie don't update for a couple of days.

A Sad Goodbye

This week started off kind of mediocre and then just went completely sideways by the weekend.

The oppressive heat finally broke some, so I used my newfound energy and waning distaste to movement in order to clean my apartment a touch. In the process, I stumbled upon the remaining notecards I had used to outline "Peeping Tomcat" before taking on the challenge of NaNo. You can see my discovery and my more detailed thoughts on the find here:
First Stages of "Peeping Tomcat"

The long and short is that I love being able to look back at what “Peeping Tomcat” once was, and seeing how it evolved from that first outline. It just reaffirmed that just because you have an outline doesn't mean you can't also follow where the story leads you. You can have the freedom to let your characters lead the way, and still be surprised by your story, just like you would as a “pantser.”

The outline just gave me a roadmap of where I started, where I want to end, and more-or-less how I wanted to get there. If I didn't know where I was going with a story I could go to the outline to be re-inspired. Even my little pantser heart did something similar with "What Is Truly Meant To Be". I have a full “playlist” of songs I want to use for the story and in what order I want them, along with a brief explanation as to why that song and what I want it to say within the story.

The other great thing about the notecards is that I could rearrange them until I was happy with the story it told. I could replace notecards as well. In fact, the reason I did the notecard outline in the first place was because I had three different directions I wanted to take PT, and I couldn't organize the differing plot lines in a way that I could easily compare them. Notecards on the kitchen table was the way to go for me. I could see how the story splits, and how it could come back together for the key plot points I wanted to use regardless of the direction the rest of the story went.

I was re-inspired when I found the notecards. They worked real well for PT, and I'm currently stalled in my outlining of “One and the Same” because I'm not sure in what order I want certain plot points. So I bought myself a new stack of color notecards so I could color code my outline scenes.

Having all the supplies I needed, recovered from my frantic writing thus far into the year, and inspired to get back to working on this sequel, I figured I'd have a very productive weekend. I thought I could have the starting of an outline to share with you guys.

Then everything fell apart, so to speak.

After over three years of battling Stage 4 cancer, my mother-in-law passed away this weekend.

I feel like this is where I should do a long, heart-felt speech about how great she was and how much she'll be missed, but I've already done that so many times on Facebook. I'm kind of drained. Plus, you guys come here to read about my writing progress.

Still. She did a lot for us, and she had a lot of love and spunk in her heart. She will be missed.

Image found via Google Image
Edited and cleaned up by me

We're all as fine as can be expected after her passing, but obviously none of us are in the mindset to work on anything we normally would.

So the writing stalled.

Instead, I went full-throttle with reading, and ended up finishing “A Spell for Chameleon” yesterday.

Only 3 books left! What should I put in that last slot?

There were still Tolken-esque parts where the characters got a bit too introspective or philosophical, or Anthony himself went into intense detail about the environment. One of the characters met about half-way through the book was very much the overly-intellectual trope. The type where he presented a simple explanation or reason for something – an explanation that made sense and was quickly accepted by both Bink and me as the reader – but then the character went into philosophical reasons to reaffirm the concluded explanation. I guess this was to showcase his great intellect and that his reasoning was infallible. Even the more intelligent and observant readers couldn't poke holes through his theory.

It was exhausting to read it, though. The character was indeed charming, and you did understand Bink's conflict on whether or not to trust him, but when he droned on... I started skimming.

I do praise the fact that scenes, events, and characters, that just seemed to be random occurrences and companions that Bink stumbled upon, all ended up legitimately having a more severe role in the overall story. The fact that they seemed random while reading threw me off, but it also made it feel more natural. Not everyone you meet or everything you go through is going to have a long-term affect on your story; your journey; your life. At the same time though, knowing what I do with story structure, if these people or events didn't leave a lasting impact on Bink's over-all story, then why did we need to know about them? So that bugged me. Therefore, it was satisfying to see how everything sort of tied together.

The first half of the story definitely read more like “The Odyssey” in which Bink is just going through random events and meeting random people on his long journey to find what he's searching for before returning home.

Then the tone switches. It becomes a romance and political drama and fantastical story of survival and a tale of self-discovery.

So, while I like the pacing of the first half better, the seemingly random plot threw me. And while I preferred a more structured second half, the one character's constant over explanation, and Bink's continuous introspection, sort of droned on here and there. If only the pacing of the first half continued into the second, and if only the first half had the more structured story as the second.

All-in-all, it was a good read, and a lot of the concepts within the story will most likely stick with me; some crafty thoughts on fantasy worlds. I'd say it's a solid 3 or even 3.5 out of 5.

Now to find another book to read before “Leather and Lies” comes out in October. Either that, or start up “Atlas Shrugged” again and hope I get it done by the time LaL is published. I'll let you know what I decided on.

Changing gears slightly, while I've been stalled in my writing, Spink has actually started up her writing again.

She had a vivid dream that gave her quite the inspirational spark for a novel-length story. It's her first attempt to write something so long, so we've been spending a lot of time brainstorming. Her hubby has been helping out a lot too. She read him her first synopsis of her story, and he asked her a LOT of questions to try to add more depth. She then answered those questions, finding more in the process. Eventually, she came to visit me, and I asked even MORE questions. Slowly but surly she's fleshing out more and more of the story. Her world building is becoming more complete. While I'm still confused on what to do with my own work, it was exciting to help her come up with plot points and rules to magic, and even character motivation.

I just wish I could do the same for myself.

Ya-Ya Facebook sticker
by Birdman Inc

Another side note, one that will hopefully help with getting me back into the mood to write “One and the Same.” Now that I am done with “Peeping Tomcat” and he can read it all in one sitting if he wishes, Shadow wanted to first get into “Miraculous Ladybug.” While I had hoped that I wrote the story in such a way that you didn't have to know the show to enjoy PT, it became evident via my attempts to read at writing group that fanfiction is best enjoyed by people who know the source material. So I showed Shadow the first episode with some apprehension.

I know from my own experience, and from the experience of some of my friends – ChibiSunnie and Spink – whom I attempted to share the show with, that the first episode is mildly confusing. It's as if you missed some episodes already, because the episode plays just like all other ones: with the unspoken understanding that the audience already knows what is going on.

The concept is easy enough to deduce, and by the second episode you, as the viewer, get your sea-legs and can navigate the show a bit better. However, that first episode is a bit jarring as you try to figure out the rules of this world and the dynamics of these characters. It is also super cheesy, as I routinely note. It's great for me, because I live for 90's-era-style cheesiness thanks to the benefit of Nostalgia Glasses. The show reminded me of Power Rangers and Sailor Moon, and so I embraced the cheese.

Having forgotten that Shadow LOVES Power Rangers - to the point where I've only watched Mighty Morphin' and I think he's watched at least four more seasons beyond that – I feared his reaction to the show, and indirectly my love for it.

Hubby seemed to get my love, although he perhaps didn't share it. At least he now saw two or three episodes - along with whatever he sees over my shoulder when I'm watching season 2 online – and perhaps understands my rantings and ramblings a bit better. God bless the man for listening to me go on and on about the show. To be fair, I listen to him go on about Magic: The Gathering, so... fair trade?

Anyway, Shadow fell in love with the show almost as quickly and as intensely as I did. He watched a couple of episodes on his own at home, and then invaded last week. We spent about three or four hours marathoning more episodes, with some fanart and fan jokes scattered throughout. Just whatever gems I found on my computer or could quickly access on Tumblr. I also introduced him to fancomic dubbing, mostly through one of my favorite voice actor: Princess Sakura Serenity.

He's loving it all and gobbling it all up. Someone as obsessed about something as I am!? Yes, please! You can't stop me now! Perhaps, once he's done reading PT, I can use him as a sounding board and potential beta. I love that Chibi and Cyhyr offered, but both ladies are so busy with school work that I'd hate to impose. Shadow decidedly has more free time to just sit and read, although he does seem to hate getting a story in bites, so I'll definitely have to make sure OatS is complete before I pass it along.

Maybe I'll use him as a story-structure beta, and then over to Cy for line edits, if she's still interested.

But I'm putting the cart before the horse. First I need to write the outline to know where I'm going with this story.

Writing has always been my escape before. My way of relieving stress. And sometimes, ironically, my source thereof, but ignore that. Maybe focusing on writing is what I need right now.

I also miss reading something at writing group, so perhaps I'll have to think of starting up daily writing practices again, or start up my Glitches world build once more.

The snafu with the group, as much as I love them, does seem to be that they're only great at critiquing ongoing original prose. For my one-shots they don't seem to know what to say. When I talk about world building, character creation, or generic outline, in order to get pre-writing insight, they seem equally unsure how to comment. They are just downright dumbfounded when I go into fanfiction territory.

I probably won't have anything to read yet again tonight, but we'll see.

In the meantime, I'm going to take care of Hubby and sort out my OatS outline. Until next week.

A Completed Story Plus a Cold

I hit my secondary goal.

I didn't get "Peeping Tomcat" done by the end of June so I could spend July working on "One and the Same" during Camp NaNo. I won't be able to spend this month starting the polishing process so I could have OatS up by October before people got bored and move on.

HOWEVER!

I did spend pretty much every free moment last Tuesday editing my final chapter of "Peeping Tomcat." By 9pm it was up, and I was done.

I officially completed my first multiple-chapter story. I completed my first novel-length manuscript. I completed a long-running project. I completed my first ever "Miraculous Ladybug" story, even if I have posted about half-dozen shorts before I concluded the story.

I hit a new milestone. It may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but it is a step in the right direction. It was proof to myself that I can do this. It's a new level of understanding and determination when it comes to my craft. It showcased that all the trials and tribulations I dealt with - the feeling of silliness for dedicating so much time to this project; neglecting friends, family, and house cleaning so I could write; losing my writing not once, not twice, but three times; the worry that I wasn't good enough compared to established ML fan-authors, etc - none of it would stop me. I felt what it meant to have a story grab you and push you to complete it.

Aside from flitting moments with Amara or the X-Future gang, I had never felt that compulsion before. It was intoxicating, and I now know what I need to aim for.

I also learned that I need to find a less demanding schedule until I can figure out how to write and edit faster. My home is a disaster and I greatly miss my husband and friends.

All of it was worth it though.

All the struggles.

All the learning.

All the sorrow.

All the worry.

All the joy.

All worth it, because I learned so much about myself and my writing. I earned a much larger readership than I ever did before. I have so many more dedicated fans. This milestone is BIG, you guys!

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by Birdman, Inc

Not so big as to have an 18pg conclusion, though. While Hubby agreed that it will be well worth it, the chapter size discrepancy just seemed too much for me, so I did end up finding a spot where I could cut it sort of in half. Leaving me with a double-posting conclusion before the close of July. Allowing me to hit my secondary goal of finishing PT before August.

You can read the penultimate chapter here:

FanFiction         ArchiveOfOurOwn         DeviantArt

And you can read the FINAL CHAPTER of "Peeping Tomcat" here:

FanFiction         ArchiveOfOurOwn         DeviantArt

Now, I did have a double post update, and each refreshed view - e.g. reading two different chapters - does count as individual views. So the numbers are a bit skewed since each reader would, in theory, have two views as opposed to their normal one.

Then again, so many people were used to my Friday updates that I don't know how many checked AO3 or DA when I posted on Tuesday. Those who were following on FFN would have been notified, but no one else would have.

Anyway, here are my FINAL "Peeping Tomcat" 24-hr stats!

FFN: 1526 views! 5 new faves, 4 followers, and 6 reviews
AO3: 446 views, 15 kudos! 2 new bookmarks, and 3 comments
DA: 24 views (19 for chapter 16, and the other 5 for chapter 17)

Total Results: 1996 views, 20 faves, 6 followers, and 9 reviews

Tumblr Notes: 19 total - 12 likes, 3 comments, 4 reblogs

Reviews:
  1. Awesome ending. Though 'Claws out' is a nice way to end it, word wise, this does take care of a few plot holes necessary for this book. Looking forward to a sequel.... (review shortened for relevance)
  2. I really enjoyed this one! glad that Adrien got to enjoy the festival. looking forward to their talk so now I'll go read it! (Chpt 16 review from marauderluverz)
  3. oh wow... I can't believe it's over but i did love it so much! even though I wanted to see the full confession, I'll take this happily knowing you are planning a sequel. looking forward to it! (Chpt 17 review from marauderluverz)
  4. Omgosh, that was so sweet, I really look forward to your sequel! (from cassy1994)
  5. This is spectacular! You are an amazing writer and I can't wait for your next story. Take all the time you need to make it just as wonderful as this one. Lots of love, your fan. (A guest review)
  6. (semi-lengthy review; please see below)
  7. You did so wonderfully on this story! Thank you so much for writing it, and I hope to enjoy the sequel just as much if not more. :) (review shortened for relevance)
  8. You did great! I really like leaving the reveal where it is- he had a good character arc in this piece, and the reveal would set off another one. Fantastic!
  9. How dare you. To write something so. Frustraitingly. Gorgeous. Thank you. Million times thank you. I can't say how much this story captured my soul.

Okay, so before I get into anything else, can I just note the oddity of four new followers on FFN? If someone bookmarks a story on AO3 it makes it easier for them to re-find it later. I do it a lot with fanfics I like so I can re-read or share them easier. For AO3 a bookmark is basically the same thing as a fave on DA or FFN.

Now, while a follow on FFN does put the story in a little side category for easy re-finding, favoriting a story does the same exact thing. The only real reason to follow a story is so you can get alerts when the story is updated. As opposed to DA or AO3 where you have to physically check in on the story/author to see if there's an update.

I had noted in multiple different places that chapter 17 was the final chapter. No more. Story was done. It just seemed weird to me that NOW is when people start following me. If anything, I was expecting to lose followers. I mean, I DID lose a couple, but still... EARNING some?

Oh well.

Let's instead focus on the 1526 views I got on FFN! This is by far the most I've received within the first 24-hrs of posting. The number of views is second only to the previously "last chapter," before I realized I needed more than 15.

And what's more is chapter 15 had 2034 views after BEING UP FOR A WEEK! THAT is what these last two chapters are second to. On top of that, the next runner up is chapter 13 with a WEEK-LONG view count of 1449 views!

Granted, it WAS 1526 views for TWO chapters, so if we divide evenly they both had about 763 views, which is much closer to my normal 24-hr count.

Regardless.... WOW! I'm excited!

Aaaaand then I randomly have that large viewer discrepancy on DA... Why did chapter 16 get 19 hits, but then the next and final chapter only got 5????

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc

Uhhh...sure....

I also got 15 new kudos on AO3!!! And I can't even attempt to minimize how awesome that is by stating "yeah, well, two chapters" because you can't leave kudos on individual chapters. You leave kudos for the whole story, that's it.

How amazing is that!? Fifteen new people enjoyed my story enough to leave me kudos - WITHIN THE FIRST 24HRS IT WAS UP!

Then again, going back through those nine reviews, I have to admit that perhaps I truly did earn those kudos! I'm still humbled to see reactions like those. Like, it's me. I was the one who wrote that story. I'm so used to BEING one of those reviewers who was moved so much by a story. I'm not used to being the one provoking those emotions.

Speaking of, let's look at that one semi-lengthy review I left out of above:

unholyconspiracy: Sending all the love to you right now! And although my fanboy side was waiting for some kind of ultimate Adrienette scene at the end, my logical side thinks this is actually a perfect ending. Not too obvious, yet gives the story a feeling of completion. And it was wonderful to read all the fantastic chapters, see the characters develop while being true and believable compared to the original ones. Thank you for the entertainment and for dragging me deeper into this fandom, but I guess that was inevitable anyway.
         Loved loved loved this one!
         And if you say there's going to be a sequel... see you in winter then!

My mind is indeed blown.

I mean... going back up to the last review listed with my stats: "I can't say how much this story captured my soul"?

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc

Maki Natsuo from Love Lab
by Ruri Miyahara

I just... um... wow!

Hopping over to those Tumblr notes, well, in truth we can ignore the 3 comments. I had a gif in my post that the commentor had a question about, I answered it, and then they responded. That equals 3 comments; none about PT. Still, they had to have SEEN my post in the first place so... win?

And the reblogs were actually a sort of "reblog war" between me and my one reader skyeribbon. She reblogged with a nice comment, I reblogged her reblog with a mushy reply, she reblogged my reblog with her own reply, and then I reblogged her reblog of my reblog. So... four reblogs.

You can see the full chain here: FINAL CHAPTERS OF “PEEPING TOMCAT”!!!!
Fair warning, Skye does use the f-bomb once or twice.

Anyway, the love kept pouring in throughout the course of the week. Here we are, nearly a solid week later:

FFN: 2661 views! 11 new faves, 4 followers, and 9 reviews
AO3: 803 views, 32 kudos! 4 new bookmarks, and 7 comments
DA: 28 views, 4 faves, and 1 comment

Total Results: 3492 views, 47 faves, 8 followers, and 17 reviews

Tumblr Notes: 21 total - 12 likes, 4 comments, 5 reblogs

Reviews:
  1. Yes! Yay for fluff! Great job of writing as always! Your description of the akuma fight & the festival was downright awesome. I don't know Gambit, but I love Kirito so it's kind of cool that Adrien partially based his superhero from him. (I don't love him as much as I love Chat Noir of course, haha.) (review of chpt 16 by pkk)
  2. This story is great, and I'm very happy to hear that there is going to be a sequel! Your writing, both descriptive and dialog, is superb, with just the right mix to keep everything so entertaining. I certainly look forward to reading more of your work in the future. (review of chpt 17 by pkk)
  3. This was an amazing story. Can't wait to read your sequel.
  4. A semi-lengthy review by JustMeMusing; please see below.
  5. Loved it (review of chpt 16 by KorrieChan)
  6. I am a anime fan too! What else would we do with our lives if there was nothing to waste time on XDD (review of chpt 17 by KorrieChan)
  7. A semi-lengthy review by BunniElyse; please see below.
  8. The cyber punk headphones yes!!!!!! I do want a big shot noir hoodie lol. (comment on chpt 16 by Seirenpoison)

So first and foremost, good old Chibi chimed in with a comment on my Tumblr post, and someone other than me and skye reblogged my announcement, so that's cool.

As for those views! Well, again, it was a double-post week, so we should probably cut that in half to see what the views would have been if it was just one massive chapter. Even so, that's 1330 views, which is in the higher average for what I've been doing. I'm just dumbfounded with how many people come to read my story! Like, seriously!?

Slicing the AO3 views in half as well still keeps it in the higher average there too with 401 per chapter.

And SEVEN reviews!? That's the most I've ever gotten in one week over on AO3. Granted, two reviewers double-reviewed: one for chapter 16 and one for chapter 17. Still, that's five reviews, which is back to the top average. Chapter 15 is the only other chapter that got as many as five reviews on AO3.

Same with FFN and the NINE reviews. Weirdly enough, chapter 14 managed to garner SEVENTEEN friggen reviews somehow. Ignoring that outlier, this past week has the highest review count. Doing the same as with AO3, and removing two reviews because two people reviewed both chapters 16 and 17, that's still seven reviews, which is the high average.

Oh, and speaking of reviews, here are the two lengthy ones:

JustMeMusing: I’m not very good with 1st person stories, but this is well written, in character & had me waiting for updates. Someone like Adrien would be shocked & in turmoil over his behaviour and I can also imagine his need for friendship & happiness, even if vicarious. I’m glad you wrote a concluding chapter, even though the story isn’t finished - I look forward to the next part of the series. Can’t wait to find out GA’s reaction to M’s folio & whether or not she can relax enough to truly befriend A. And how will he reveal that he knows her secret? Will M discover him before she finds out he knows? So many musings to ponder - please continue soonish :D

BunniElyse: You always review my chapters so I just had to come over and visit your works! I don't have a lot of time to read fanfiction (sadly), but I just HAD to read this! So I've spent the last few days staying up too late after my baby's gone to sleep and sneaking chapters at work! (haha!)
          I am so in love with this story and am so excited for your sequel. I wanted Adrien/Chat to confess so bad that I kept looking at the scrolling sidebar to see how much more there was to this chapter - and got disappointed every time I was closer to the bottom.
          Thank you so much for this story and my new head cannon! Rarely does a fanfiction work influence my memory of canonical works to the point that I forget what is canon and what is fanfiction, but I can tell you that "Peeping Tomcat" has thoroughly affected how I remember Miraculous Ladybug. (lol!) It was all so well written and the characters were all so believable.
          Likewise, I loved reading your interpretation of how Adrien connects Marinette to Ladybug via their personalities as I am currently in that state of mind for "Sneak a Peek." I want Adrien to start to piece together who Ladybug is and he does so by subconsciously comparing Marinette to her. Your chapters on his thoughts were nearly mirrored to my own writing (which made me a little nervous because I don't want to unintentionally copy you!), but it did give me a ton of inspiration!
          Thank you for reading my fic, "Sneak a Peek" and I absolutely LOVED reading "Peeping Tomcat!" I can't wait for "One and the Same" so I'll keep my eyes peeled!

EEEEE, these are just too sweet! Also, I did link to Bunni's story. It's her take on what happened after the season 2 episode "Dark Owl" and it is adorable. It started off as a one-shot, but reviews inspired her to keep going with the story.

Reviews matter, guys!

Anyway, I guess I didn't need to be so nervous, huh? All this encouragement is really going to help me stay motivated for "One and the Same" and that is fantastic.

Oh, also, I can now do something I've been dying to do for months now: OVER-ALL STATS FOR "PEEPING TOMCAT"!

These stats are from the minute I posted the very first chapter until now. I'm still amazed by them. Dumbfounded I found so much love and appreciation in the process. This whole thing truly is humbling, and exciting, and uplifting, and.... EEEEEEEEEE!

FFN: 21,420 views! 138 faves, 212 followers! and 89 reviews!
AO3: 6821 views, 265 kudos! 38 bookmarks, and 30 comments
DA: 454 views, 37 faves, and Seirenpoison commenting on 3 chapters

Total Results: 28,695 views! 440 faves, 250 followers! and 122 reviews!

Going all the way across the board - all three sites from day one until now - I had close to 28,700 views! I mean, how!? I'm this little nobody in the fanfiction sphere. This is my first "Miraculous Ladybug" fanfic. Yet I garnered over 28,600 views! Granted, the most popular stories on AO3 have a couple HUNDRED thousand views each, so my measly 6821 views is nothing there.

FFN doesn't show view-count outside your own notifications for your own stories, so I can't really check there. However, I can say that the most popular ML fics on FFN have around 3000 faves, and 2000 followers, and over 1500 reviews. So, again, I have kind of measly numbers in comparison.

But still.... there are stories that barely get found. Barely get noticed. Barely have any likes/faves/kudos, or reviews. So, to earn as many as I did?

Those numbers are HUGE to me. And that's what counts, right?

And as for Seirenpoison and her comments? Well, two weeks ago I showcased her "rough draft" fanart sketches of the gang for chapter 15 and 16's Chat Noir Appreciation Festival. To conclude the story, she also did an Adrienette pic that she posted this past week.

For a full-size view of this pic
please go to her DeviantArt page
Seirenpoison

How cool is that!? Someone drew fanart of my fanfic! And, according to skyeribbon's Tumblr post, I should be expecting more to come my way! I just- I mean- I can't- EEEEEEE

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc

What's even more exciting is the number of people who are now following ME as an author! I received SEVENTEEN emails from Fanfiction stating that someone has either favorited me as an author or is now following me.

Actually, more than 17 emails, because a couple of people both favorited and followed me.

I even have one person who favorited "Peeping Tomcat," and then faved and followed me, and then faved and followed X-Future: The Second Generation Begins!

Whoo! What a ride, huh? I still can't believe it's over. I wrote what eventually became the chapter "Truth" during the tail end of last year's Summer Writing Challenge over on Writers' Huddle. I then expanded it in November during NaNo. I spent most of the winter editing, only to need to keep editing a chapter per week to stick with the schedule I had set up for myself. Something I need to really re-think when it's time to start posting "One and the Same."

I have been with this story for the better part of a YEAR. A year of near-constant work. If I wasn't writing it, I was thinking about it. Plotting it. Re-reading it. Grumbling about it. SOMETHING.

And now I'm starting almost from zero.

I have the bare-bones for "One and the Same." I even had such withdrawal symptoms from PT that it only kept me until August 2nd before I wrote out the rough draft of the Full Confession scene. I'm still struggling to figure out where it should go in the story, though.

Monday I wrote the side-story for the first akuma to be presented in OatS; how she became akumatized. I keep writing little scenes here and there. I'm trying to build up steam, but I am STILL going through withdrawal from PT. Not knowing where to go without it.

I'm hoping to be re-centered by next week. It doesn't help that my "withdrawal" symptoms are coinciding with a nasty head cold. Well... chest cold? I've had a nasty cough for the past week where my throat is dry and scratchy no matter how much I drink. Just Sunday night I coughed myself into such a fit that the pressure caused a migraine.

I need this cold to either go away or transition into something less dry.

Anyway, I've been a bit dazed from the cold medicines and my body just fighting the cough itself, which doesn't really help with the plotting portion of writing.

Which means I've mostly shifted from writing to reading, and making up for my long hiatus from books.

I've gone through about two or three new short fanfics, read the latest chapters of the ongoing ones I follow, I breezed through Ali Luke's latest "Not So Imaginary," and I'm already about half-way through a book Spink suggested to me.

It is pretty much non-stop reading both at work and while on self-appointed bedrest to try to get over this cold.

So, I have two new books to add to my reading challenge! It's almost full!

I had to take off "Fall release of 'Trials of Apollo'."
I didn't read correctly.
The next ToA book won't be out until fall of 2019.

First up is Ali's. As I shared two weeks ago, she has a novella that's coming out soon. She's just working on the finishing touches. I have an advanced review copy, and I blew through that puppy in one day while Hubby was at work. I mean, it did still take me about five hours, but I'm also a slow reader sooooo.

It was awesome. There were a few snafus, but I alerted Ali, and she'd going in to tweak one last time before the official publication.

The story has chapters short enough to read in small bites - if you don't have a lot of time - but since it's a novella, you can still read the whole thing in one sitting if you wanted to. The pacing has a slow start that still brings you in with nagging questions you want answered. Then, as the questions are answered, they are replaced with a quickened pace and a sense of dread and doom. My heart really did race quite a bit in later chapters. I would be frantically flipping pages... except it was a digital copy, so I had to settle for frantically scrolling....

While it is a completely stand-alone story that doesn't require anyone to read the Lycopolis trilogy, it very much has the same feel. To the point where I was half-expecting Kay, Seth, and The Prince's Forest to make cameos. Ali did confirm it is the same universe and stories with such crossovers are in the works, which just gets me even more excited!

I will warn my more sensitive readers that Flint - much like my character Trish - has one HECK of a foul mouth on him. So, while it is a very enjoyable read, you will have to weed through quite a few course words and lewd language. It's very fitting for his character though.

Anyway, I'll let you all know when the story is officially out, so keep a watchful eye. It will be well worth it!

As for the book suggested by Spink? Well, after a long conversation that can more-or-less be shorthanded to "You like Miraculous Ladybug. That show has a lot of puns, so you must like puns. Have you heard of the Xanth books? They're deliciously filled with puns. Here, read the first book in the series," I ended up with her copy of "A Spell for Chameleon" by Piers Anthony.

Either it doesn't have nearly as many puns as she implied it would, or they're so subtle they're going over my head. He is really good at the "subtle pun." There is an entire page about the main character "sowing wild oats" that all feels so innocent. He talks about the "sea oats" - since Xanth is a magical land and plants come in all varieties - and their local wild cousins that are native to the area. He then comments about planting a crop of the wild variety. He took great care to grow them until his mother freaked out upon finding the crop. It wasn't until then - about five or six paragraphs into this mini-story - that he used the phrase "My son? Sowing wild oats?"

And that was when the pun finally clicked.

I'm a bit slow. Leave me alone.

Anyway, there seems to be a great deal of meandering and focus on world build with the story. Much like Lord of the Rings or the Odyssey. Actually, VERY much like the Odyssey with the strange lands and seductive sorceress with ulterior motives for her hospitality. Sorry, minor spoiler there....

The story was sort of drifting me off to sleep in some of the more meandering places, but that could also be because of my cold. All in all, the story is good, as evidenced by me tearing through 156 pages in three or four days. I know, that doesn't sound like much, but remember, I'm a horrendously slow reader, especially for a writer....

"A Spell for Chameleon" is about Bink. His 25th birthday is a month away, and he has yet to showcase any magical talent. Anyone who doesn't possesses even the slightest bit of magic by the time they hit 25 is exiled from Xanth, the only magical land in a world otherwise classified as Mundane. Yes, it is capitalized.

Bink sets on a journey to try to find out if he really does have the ability to use magic - therefore allowing him to officially become a Xanth citizen - and what that magical talent could be. On the way, we meet a cast of unique - and named - characters that only journey with Bink for a few pages before seemingly disappearing again. I keep waiting for them to make surprise appearances, but they seem to be like anyone met in real life: you may find out their name but only know them for about 15minutes your entire life.

At the pace I'm going, unless I interrupt myself with writing, I should have the book done by next week, and I can give you a more complete review.

Oh, and speaking of interrupting my reading with writing: Hubby and I started up "X-Future" again. Well, to be fair, we're finishing up a scene between one of his "mystery characters" and Trish that we abandoned over a year ago. Once that scene is FINALLY done we'll have a time jump and THEN he'll attempt to start up the game again.

I have missed playing on X-Future, and it's evident in the length of Trish's first post since forever.

To be fair though, last August I wrote her fight scene with Devon - which I still need to edit - so it's really Willow and super really Lia who have been on the back burner. I haven't written for either of them for about TWO years. It will be interesting to re-find them.

In the meantime, I'll focus on Trish, and the restart of the game, and my reading, and outlining OatS, and recovering from this nasty cold.

Until next week!

Hacker Boy Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc

Conquered Camp!

Happy Belated, little one!

As I mentioned last week, Sunday was the first birthday of Cyhyr and Ronoxym's baby girl. Sadly, instead of going to the party, I ended up passing out on the couch, but I'll get back to that. First I want to talk about my challenges.

I did it. I completed Camp NaNoWriMo my first year. Granted, it was a small goal to hit, but I still say that 10,000 words is big after the slump I was in! In fact, I finished with 10,892 words, and I finished four days early!

Could I have written more before the challenge was over? Yes. Is my story done? Far from it. So why did I slack off this past week? Would you believe me if I said it's because the Winner page told me to sit back, relax, and enjoy the sunset, since I earned it?

OK, in truth it's because the weekend got away from me. Friday I tried to add more to the story, but writing this fight scene is just kicking my butt. I'm having a hard time picturing the fighting and how everyone would move. I have no clue how true-to-life it is. If the movements are fluid and natural or if they're clunky and forced. I have Trish charging like a bull nearly every third paragraph. It's kind of pathetic.

So, Friday, while I was trying to add more words, I ended up editing a little bit and physically acting out the fight scene. I'd go through some moves as Trish to make sure they're fluid. Then I'd go back and counter as Devon to make sure those make sense. Then I'd have Devon go on the attack before switching back over as Trish for defensive maneuvers. I even got Hubby's action figures involved, posing them so I could see both sides of the fight at the same time.

I. Hate. Fight. Scenes! I'm such garbage at them!

Well, after subtracting more words than I added on Friday, I gave it another go on Saturday. It was late, I was mentally checked out after running trainings at work Friday and Saturday, and I had to play a little catch-up. I barely squeaked out over 500 words before calling it quits. It didn't matter really, I was still over my 10,000 word goal. I was still a winner!

Then, as I mentioned at the top, I passed out on my couch on Sunday. I was going to go to the party. I was going to write. I was going to clean. I was going to do SOMETHING productive while Hubby was at work. Instead I passed out on the couch until 8pm. Sure, I could have spent the next two hours writing before picking Hubby up and then watching Game of Thrones. Instead, my stomach decreed that it was time for a late dinner, so I read the last couple chapters of Smoulder by midnightstarlightwrites.

All-in-all a cute story, but I feel it loses its way after chapter 24: the big reveal chapter. There were twelve more chapters after that one, and they were sweet, but they felt like a different story. Especially since MidnightStarlightWrites didn't tie the original Smoulder idea into any of the last chapters, well aside from Marinette teasing Adrien about modeling underwear....

I wish MSW had stopped at chapter 24, maybe tie up a few more loose ends in one more chapter. Then take the remaining plot from the last third of "Smoulder" and made a really nice follow-up story, continuing where "Smoulder" had left off. There was so much there that was breezed over, and it felt like a completely different plot anyway. Especially since none of the chapters after the 24th one had the excitement and build that the Reveal chapter had. Which is a shame, because there could have been the same excitement, build, and anxiety. It was there, it just didn't measure up after the sigh-release in chapter 24.

Anyway, the story is still really good, a little naughty, considering the author pushed the cast of characters to their senior year of high school, and has sweet as well as humorous moments. The characters were a touch Flanderized, but otherwise pretty accurate. I'd say about 8 out of 10 for my overall grade.

But back to my writing.

Yesterday was the last day to write. Last chance to add a few more words to my story and get it prepped a bit for tonight's writer's group. Instead we celebrated Spink and her hubby's anniversary. I guess that's a fairly valid excuse, right?

So, yeah, I was a bit disappointed that I could have at least hit 11,000 words before the end of July, but in the end I'm still proud.

I still managed to write 10,000 words in one month, winning my first Camp NaNo. I managed to get at least half of a fight scene written, so I have a start on one of my most hated bits of writing, and conquered my fear of even starting this scene. Finally, I sorta-hit my goal for my first week of the Writers’ Huddle summer writing challenge.

I missed writing on Monday, Friday, and Sunday, which meant I didn't hit my goal of writing five days a week. However, I did hit 2500 words throughout the week thanks to writing at least 500 words, and most days surpassing it, on the four days I did write. So, for both Summer Challenge and Camp NaNo, I didn't quite do as well as I would have liked, but I still met my goal regardless. So, yay.

As for this week? Well, as I just mentioned, I hung out with the newlyweds yesterday, so I didn't get any writing done, but I have today and the rest of the week. I'll have to keep you posted.

Sadly, with my story still not being done I clearly don't have anything edited to share. However, I have a pact with Mouse that we're going to exchange our July writing projects on the 15th. That way we have time to edit before sharing. She managed to succeed in her own personal July Writing Challenge, so yay for her as well! Can't wait to see what she worked on.

My point being, that this Devon/Trish story - whatever I finally decide to call it - should be edited, shared, critiqued, re-edited, and ready for online publishing by the end of August, so keep an eye out for that.

In the meantime, I should get back to working on it so it CAN be done in time!