And the Failing Continues

This NaNoWriMo is not going well. I'll confess that right now.

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I guess I just haven't been in a good mental state lately. I debated caving in and working on a different story since "One and the Same" has been such a pain. However, I don't even have motivation for THAT. No new plot-bunny ideas, no inspiration for existing ones, no drive to work on converting Blame Fate for This into novel-length, nothing. More often than not, I end up staring into the void.

Not even last week's writing sprints at Group helped me. In part, I think it's because it was a bit less organized than it usually is. We must have been rusty.

I always thought we had done ten-minutes-on, ten-minutes-off. Or maybe it was 15 and 15? Well, this go we did 20 and 20, and the first 20 was already in session when I showed up at 6 last week. Apparently the three ladies that were there at about 5:30 decided to go ahead and start early, so they were in the middle of a sprint when I arrived. Then the discussions were an awkward 20-off because no one really had enough to say to fill the full 20, but whenever we decided to wave the flag and just cut the discussion side early, THAT was when someone had a question about their work or wanted to read, and then we had to cut them off in order to get back into writing. We also ended up ending our last writing session at like 7:45, and the library closed at 8, so we didn't have the full 20minutes to discuss what we just worked on, but that somehow meant we weren't going to bother discussing anything????

I hope it runs smoother tonight. I also hope I become inspired. Most of last week's sprints were used to slowly edit more passages I already wrote, and filter through my many different outlines I have for this dang story. In the end, I think I wrote 250 words, none of which I think I'll be keeping, even though they are literally the only words I've written so far for NaNo.

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I had actually used my spoiler-y rundown of my outline that I posted here last week. I had more things figured out, and I hoped using that "outline" as my latest one could help.

It did not... on the writing end of things, at least.

So, my first outline was exactly how it sounds: a bulleted list of plot points I wanted throughout my story. When that didn't work out for me, I went with the Snowflake Outline method created by Randy Ingermanson. The problem I had with that, though, was the dual storylines for Adrien and Marinette, and how they should intertwine in a manner that works with a basic three-act structure: inciting incident, call to action, central conflict, end of Act I, first culmination, midpoint, main culmination, third act twist, climax, and resolution. I studied the four-act structure to see if that could be a good alternative, but I just can't break down my story that way.

I also tried to write something a bit more in-depth for my outline at one point. So I have a 4pg document where I have paragraphs describing what happens in a sort of Sparknotes type summary. Things have changed so much since I wrote that, and the middle still has things like "insert MariChat goodness here" so that hasn't really proven helpful either.

I attempted to break down the chapters; knowing who would have what chapter, and how many I'd be aiming for. This is how I know I'm looking at roughly a 25 chapter story. This outline helped slightly, but it also still has a large chunk of the middle missing with similar "MariChat Goodness" notes without any real thought as to what those scenes are. There's also chapters in there that I don't know if I need, but I have them there to keep the alternating pattern of Marinette gets a chapter, then Adrien does, then back to Marinette.

All of this means that last week's impromptu outline here on my blog was outline attempt number... five??? Not including updates to the other outline formats. It was better, and I started filtering it into that chapter breakdown outline, but it still left me wondering "do I need this chapter?" I already have so many scenes for that "deleted chapters" project I'll publish once OatS is done. I really don't want to needlessly or even intentionally add to it if I don't have to.

So my latest outline attempt breaks things down even FURTHER. It's been a slow - oh, so painfully slow - process, but I think I'm FINALLY getting somewhere.

I now ask myself five questions for each chapter:

1. What is the scene I'd like to show?
2. Whose point-of-view should it be in?
3. Which plotline - either main or sub - does this scene cover?
4. What does the scene resolve with regards to that plotline?
• Alternatively: How does the scene CREATE the new plotline?
5. How does the scene advance that plotline?
• Alternatively: How does the scene CONCLUDE the plotline?

I even break down those questions further. If a scene actually covers multiple plotlines, what are all of them? How does each plotline interact with the other ones in the scene? How does each one advance their part of the overall story?

And that's my key: how does the scene push the story forward? I keep getting stuck because there are lovely, fluffy, breather chapters in the middle. People will most likely keep reading just for the fluff. That's how a lot of fanfiction words - indulgent fluff that doesn't necessarily resolve much more than our own desires for the characters to cuddle or blush or kiss - and it's something fanfiction readers gladly consume; me included. There's nothing wrong with writing fluff. There's nothing wrong with fanfic chapters pausing the overall story in order to have fun self-indulgent, fanservice-y chapters. I want to stress that by no means am I trying to shame writers who do this, or shame readers who love this, or state that it is an invalid storytelling tactic. It totally is valid, and lovely, and great for when you just need a lovely pick-me-up.

For ME, however? If I'm writing self-indulgent fluff, I try to keep it as a one-off that people can just quickly flip to whenever they want. For my chaptered stories, I try to write them as close to professionally as possible so that I'm well-practiced for when I write an original story to try to publish. So I'm pushing myself now to always focus on the "how does this advance the story?" question. I was able to almost instinctively create always-advancing chapters for Peeping Tomcat, so having to THINK about how each chapter pushes the story forward has been hard.

For an example, I'll use PT. If you haven't read the story yet, and still wish to, I'll throw up a spoiler warning.

• Chapter 1: Mistake
• This chapter establishes the plot and subplots of the story
• Main Plot: Adrien enjoys becoming Chat Noir and spying on Marinette in order to learn more about her.
• Subplot A: Adrien's feelings for Marinette are more than he realizes
• Subplot B: Feeling inadequate and inferior as a superhero
• Subplot C: Adrien's rocky relationship with his father
• Also sets up the next chapter by having the readers ask the question "will he spy again?"
• Chapter 2: Itch
• Continues the main plot of Adrien spying, while giving further justification as to why he slid down the slippery slope.
• Also covers Subplot A in that he questions why he's so intrigued by Marinette
• Sets up Subplot D: Adrien trying to find a way to promote Marinette's work; AKA the Marinette's Portfolio subplot that will spill into OatS.
• Also sets up the next chapter by asking the question "how will he stop his new addiction, and will he be caught?"
• Chapter 3: Opportunity
• Continues the main plot by giving Adrien an "out" of his new obsession of watching Marinette.
• Continues Subplot A by having a sweet moment between Adrien and Marinette, potentially hinting at more than friendship between them.
• Mildly continues Subplot C by commenting about Adrien finally being ungrounded.
• Continues Subplot D by having Adrien ask about Marinette creating a portfolio for his father to see.
• Establishes the Status Quo - sort of - of Adrien's dynamic with Marinette
• "Adrienette Goodness" but with a point. I need to do the same with the MariChat scenes in OatS
• Sets up the next chapter by establishing the scene: they're going to the mall to watch a movie.
• Chapter 4: Normal
• Mostly focuses on Subplot A by making Adrien question his feelings for Marinette, and her feelings for him.
• Also sets up the akuma attack in the next chapter.
• Chapter 5: Mimicker
• Mostly focuses on Subplot B by showcasing that Chat Noir actually is a partner on equal footing with Ladybug.
• He's even crucial to the battle, because he's the one keeping LB in check so she can focus on what's important: defeating the akuma. If it weren't for CN, she wouldn't even know where the akuma was hiding since she wasn't going to listen to the person who had the best knowledge about it.
• Also showcases how Adrien feels about Ladybug, which will affect Subplot A
• Sets up the next chapter by already hinting at parallels between Ladybug and Marinette, as well as Adrien's focus on Marinette; his addiction to watching her calling to him slightly even during the attack.
• Chapter 6: Parallels
• Equal focus on the Main Plot - Chat Noir recapping his week of spying, as well as him spying again in that chapter - as well as Subplot A in how he views Marinette.
• He starts really seeing parallels between Marinette and Ladybug, hinting at him realizing his crush on Marinette
• It sets up the next chapter by having Adrien wonder what it would be like if Marinette acted more relaxed and confident in school.
• Chapter 7: Confusion
• Main focus on Subplot A: Adrien truly questioning why he likes watching Marinette, as well as questioning his feelings for Ladybug if he's starting to grow a crush on Marinette.
• Subplot A now shifts to Does Adrien Like Marinette for Marinette, or Because She Reminds Him of Ladybug
• Nods to the Main Plotline by having him spy on her outside of the costume, and question his addiction to watching her in the first place.
• Sets up Subplot E: Confessing to Marinette/Ladybug about his spying
• Minor advancement of Subplot D by having Adrien ask for Marinette's portfolio in the near future.
• Sets up the next chapter by having him feel guilt-ridden over his betrayal of both Marinette and Ladybug, as well as sets up his inability to sleep
• Chapter 8: Guilt
• Main focus is on Subplots A and E.
• Subplot A is advanced as he watches Marinette's attempt to give him soup. He now knows that she's more than a proxy for Ladybug.
• Subplot A shifts slightly again as Adrien is now torn between his affection for Marinette and his love for Ladybug.
• Subplot E makes up most of the chapter as Adrien struggles with whether or not to confess, and when would be the best time to do so.
• Touches upon the Main Plot with Subplot E
• Sets up the akuma for the next chapter
• Chapter 9: Terravenger
• Largely focused on Subplot B, especially since Chat Noir is too distracted by the Marinette/Ladybug thing to be any proper help during the attack.
• This is to show the contrast with the first akuma of the story, and how this whole story's plot is affecting him.
• Partially Subplot A with Adrien's conflicting feelings for Ladybug and Marinette - and his concern for Marinette's safety - being what is distracting him.
• Sets up the next chapter by bringing Adrien to his lowest.
• Chapter 10: Failure
• Starts with Subplot B: he is at his lowest with regards to feeling unfit to be a hero, especially with the add-on of misusing his powers to spy
• Subplot A: he focuses more on his relationship with Marinette, and thinks of her even when talking with Ladybug
• Hints at Subplot C as he thinks about his life without being Chat Noir anymore
• Teasing Subplot E as Adrien again debates letting Marinette know
• This chapter doesn't actually have the best transitional bits, but it does end on such a low note that perhaps that's what got people to continue reading?
• Chapter 11: Truth
• The main focus of the overall story; everything was aiming for this point, and the remaining chapters resolve what happens in this chapter.
• Main Plot of Chat Noir spying escalates as his spying reveals who Ladybug is
• Subplot E initiates the chapter as Adrien decides he HAS to confess, and do so ASAP
• Subplot A: He falls further for Marinette, but then finds out who she truly is, sending him in a whirlwind again
• Sets up the next chapter by asking the question "now what?" with regards to Adrien's knowledge 
• Chapter 12: Crisis
• The Main Plotline now asks the question "what does Adrien do with his knowledge of who Ladybug is?"
• Subplot A switches back to "Does Adrien like Marinette for Marinette, or because she's Ladybug"
• Subplot B now has the added layer of Adrien betraying Ladybug's rule of keeping their identities secret, and his concern of how this might affect each of them continuing as LB and CN.
• There's also elements of Subplot E as Adrien goes back to questioning if he should confess, and if so, how much should he confess.
• It sets up a minor plotline of Plagg and Tikki being twins kept apart because CN and LB can't know who the other is.
• It sets up the next chapter by asking the question "How will Adrien act around Marinette in school the next day?"
• Chapter 13: Decision
• The Main Plot is advanced by Adrien deciding what to do with the information he garnered from spying.
• Subplot A is advanced as Adrien decides he definitely loves Marinette for who she is, not because she's Ladybug. He realizes he's loved her from day one, but didn't realize it because his love for LB was too great. Subplot A then changes to "How to get Marinette to Love Chat Noir?"
• Subplot E is hinted at as Adrien tries to figure out how and when to confess without losing Marinette or his miraculous
• Another chapter that didn't have a great build-up for the rest of the story.
• Chapter 14: Announcement
• Mostly focuses on Subplot B, with Ladybug telling all of Paris why Chat Noir is the reason she's even a hero.
• There's also some Subplot A as Adrien again realizes a relationship with Marinette isn't worth anything if she can't also love Chat Noir
• Sets up the next chapter by suggesting a Chat Noir Appreciation day
• Chapter 15: Heaven
• Adrien at his highest throughout this story
• Resolves Subplot C by having Gabriel visit his son, speak kindly to him, listen to his suggestion, and allowing Adrien to hang out with his friends instead of doing a signing for the Gabriel brand.
• Has elements of Subplot A as Adrien gushes about how amazing Marinette is.
• Nods to Subplot D as Adrien asks if he can still collect Marinette's portfolio soon.
• Sets up the next chapter by having an akuma attack
• Chapter 16: Appreciation
• Largely focuses on Subplot B by having Chat Noir late to the battle, debating his worth again, then helping figure out the akuma, and finally going through the appreciation festival.
• There's of course instances of Subplot A as the duo hangs out during the festival.
• Nod to Subplot D again as Adrien again references the portfolio
• Hints at Subplot E as Adrien wonders what to tell Ladybug when they meet up later.
• Sets up the last chapter with the LadyNoir meet-up.
• Chapter 17: Purpose
• Largely touches upon Subplot E as Chat Noir confesses to misusing his powers, but still leaves the plotline unresolved since he doesn't confess to spying with them, spying on MARINETTE with them, or knowing that Ladybug is Marinette.
• The open-ended, unresolved nature of the Confession Subplot creates one of the main subplots to "One and the Same"
• Touches upon Subplot A more by having Adrien just bask in his newly discovered love for Marinette.
• The resolution to the Wooing Marinette as Chat Noir subplot becomes one of the main plot lines in OatS
• Subplot B is resolved. Chat Noir feels honored by the appreciation festival, he feels more capable after the latest akuma, he knows Ladybug thinks of him as an equal, and she didn't shame him after his confession. He still feels guilty about withholding information, but he's confident he can keep her secret, and that he IS a good superhero that Paris equally needs.
• Subplot D is partially resolved as Adrien picks up the portfolio
• The Portfolio subplot continues in OatS

OKAY! SPOILERS OVER NOW! YOU CAN START READING AGAIN IF YOU SKIPPED THE LAST PART!

It's a lot easier to create outlines like that AFTER the story is written. I guess this is why a lot of experts say to not focus on a cohesive plot or subplots until after the first draft is done. Then you can go through - as I did - and see what plots you have, and how they flow. I'm not waiting though. It's been over a year, and clearly the story isn't going anywhere as is. So I'm trying to break down the outline similar to how I did in that spoiler section.

As I mentioned forever ago now, it has been helping, although it's still a painfully slow process to fill in the bits I don't already have written. I'm still trying to figure out akumas too.

Wolfhearted was over the other day, and suggested someone having a terrible day, and the simple thing that pushed them over the edge was a button snapping off their favorite shirt. It's an easy fix, but we've all been there: something simple now feels like the end of the world due to stress. I even thought of naming the akuma Last Straw or Breaking Point or something along those lines. The button would be the akumatized object. I even thought of the villain spreading their stress and poor luck by jinxing those they interact with. Kind of a combination of Reverser and Troublemaker. I like the concept. I'm really feeling it.

It won't really work for my story though. I can't really see how a jinx-causing akuma would benefit the two main chapters I have in mind for akumas. My main problem with akumas is coming up with ones that have the proper attack and purpose for the story. Canonically, akumas usually have some sort of significance in pushing the Civilian Plotline forward.

• Weredad dealt with Marinette's supposed heart break
• Gigantitan showed Marinette that perhaps complicated plans aren't the best way to achieve something.
• Oblivio gave Marinette and Adrien a chance to get out of their own way when it comes to their relationship
• Glaciator focused on how Ladybug treats Chat Noir's love for her
• Ikari Gozen taught Marinette to better appreciate Kagami, as well as taught Kagami to allow others to take the lead on occasion. 
• Miracular showcased how dangerous it is for Hawk Moth to know who another wielder is. 
• Gorizilla focused on Adrien's need to see a movie starring his mother, even if it means trying to escape his father, bodyguard, and fans.
• Desperada taught Adrien that he's best suited to be Chat Noir, and shouldn't try to change to appease Ladybug.

So on and so forth. As for the akumas I created for PT, their purpose is a bit more broad:

• The first one needed to trip Ladybug up somehow so Chat Noir can shine and showcase his superhero prowess.
• The second one needed to be difficult enough to pose a potential threat to Marinette so Chat Noir would be distracted. It also needed to be difficult enough that it was a trial for Ladybug, but not so difficult that she couldn't solve it alone.
• The final akuma needed to be simple enough that readers wouldn't mind it being sort of handwaved over, and it needed to showcase Ladybug and Chat Noir being an equal team again.

So, for OatS, my akuma needs are:

• Something that can establish the Status Quo between LB and CN, but also showcase the threat of an LB and CN reveal.
• Akuma 2 needs to get Marinette and Adrien to focus on their new arrangement with the balcony.
• Akuma 3 needs to be another handwave-y villain, and there might be others that need to just be mentionable without much more to go off of.
• Akuma 4 needs to be a very physical akuma
• There may need to be an Akuma 5 as well, but I still haven't figured out the purpose. Perhaps this could be where that bad luck akuma could go?

My point being, I'm not entirely sure if a bad-luck-causing akuma works with my overall story, but it could be a start for figuring out ones that WOULD work with my story.

I... I just don't know.

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The last two episodes of Miraculous Ladybug season 3 aired/are airing this week. I hope that maybe watching those, and then backtracking to watch the season finale that randomly aired about a month ago, will help me sort things out better.

That doesn't help me now though. What helps me now is potentially that new outline breakdown. So wish me luck. And send me some surplus energy you might have because I am toast.

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I hope to have some better news for you guys next week.

Finally, before I go, I want to send a grand thank you to any military personnel who might be reading. Yesterday was Veteran's Day in the US, and I want to show my greatest appreciation to those who have volunteered for service, and those who were drafted into service. You all are, or have done, work I can't imagine being strong enough to handle in any shape or form: physically, mentally, or emotionally. Same goes to military family members; I can only imagine the stress and drain of having a family member in the military, and you all astound me with your resilience and positivity.

So, thank you, Veterans, for your service.

Sorry, I've had this image for so long
I have no clue where it originated from.
Possibly created by Felix L. Griffin

Big Brother's Watching, Or At Least Zagtoon

I've kind of been resting on my laurels lately. Aside from off-and-on edits on each chapter before my Friday postings, I haven't really written anything for a little while. I'm feeling a bit lazy and sluggish because of it. However, I think the main reason I'm avoiding writing is because I know that ninth chapter is looming ahead and I STILL haven't figured out the akuma attack.

The most promising idea I've had has been simply the name: Masketeer. Hawk Moth has a thing for portmanteaus. The villain will combine the French historical militant with the tradition of a masquerade ball.

I thought that perhaps in the eighth chapter, as Cat Noir is fighting his decision to confess to Marinette, he could stumble across a decorative mask street salesman. The salesman could be harassed by Sargent Roger - who has been largely used this season as both a comedic device and akuma catalyst via his giving out absurd amounts of tickets for equally absurd reasons - or perhaps have some careless citizen breaking the salesman's merchandise? I still haven't quite worked out what causes his "negative emotions" that Hawk Moth manipulates with an akuma, nor have I figured out his M.O.

Every akumatized supervillain in the show has either been heartbroken or felt that they were wronged:

Bubbler - Banned from seeing Adrien because Gabriel thought he'd be a "bad influence" on his son.
Mr. Pigeon - Banned from visiting city parks because his love for pigeons compelled him to feed them, which is against the law.
Stormy Weather - Lost a competition to become the local TV studio's Jr Weather girl.
Timebreaker - Had an heirloom watch broken by a careless classmate.
Pharaoh - Was denied the chance to prove his theory that a long undeciphered papyrus scroll was actually a resurrection spell.
Lady WiFi - Wrongfully suspended from school while she was researching who Ladybug truly is.
Copycat - Was told that his crush Ladybug was in a relationship with Cat Noir, whom he thought was callous and undeserving of her love.
Evillustrator - Was yelled at for drawing in class, and then picked on for both his artwork and his crush on Marinette.
RogerCop - Fired from his job as a cop because he refused to either arrest or search a student for a robbery without probable cause.
Dark Cupid - Had his heart broken when his crush not only denied his feelings, but also sent an embarrassing photo of him to the whole class.
Horrificator - Was teased about being afraid of everything.
Darkblade - Lost the mayoral elections, and mocked for trying to "win back Paris" after his Medieval ancestor lost it in favor of democracy.
Mime - Fired from his first lead role after his understudy sabotaged him.
Gamer - Lost the try-out to be a competitor for the city-wide gaming tournament he had been training for all year.
Animan - Was upset that a zoo animal he cared for was being teased by a visitor.
Reflekta - Was forgotten for the class photo after being locked in the bathroom.
Pixelator - A crazed fan banned from interacting with his idol.
Guitar Villain - A rocker being strong-armed into rebranding himself to better fit the younger demographic.
Princess Fragrance - Teased for her custom-made perfume, and denied a visitation with a prince she admired.
Simon Says - Lost a competition show simply because Gabriel Agreste refused to participate.
Kung Food - Lost a cooking competition after his dish was sabotaged.
Puppeteer - A young girl who felt entitled to any toy she wanted, even when her mother told her no.
Vanisher - Was ignored by her best friend as punishment for embarrassing her.
Anti-Bug - Was ignored by Ladybug when she tried to give advice on defeating Vanisher, and then insulted by Ladybug.
Stoneheart - Teased for his crush, and then upset a second time when his crush ran away from him after he accidentally startled her.
Volpina - Was called out by Ladybug for lying, when she was only doing so to try to impress Adrien.
Santa Claws - Beaten up by Ladybug when she falsely believed he was already akumatized and had kidnapped Adrien.
Despair Bear - Fired when his efforts to teach Chloe to be nice resulted in her being unintentionally humiliated.
Prime Queen - Lost her primetime show when Ladybug and Cat Noir prematurely left the interview.
Befana - Felt betrayed and lied to by Marinette, who was just trying to spare her grandmother's feelings.
Riposte - Lost an important fencing match due to Marinette's bad judge call.
Robustus - Told he didn't have real feelings because he was a robot and AIs were not that advanced.
Gigantitan - Was a baby that wanted a lollipop even though his mother told him he was too young.
Dark Owl - Embarrassed by Ladybug and Cat Noir who accidentally outed his superhero secret identity on the news.
Glaciator - Marinette told him she didn't believe his ice cream could magically link couples, a la Cupid's arrow, like he claimed.
Sapotis - Grounded after causing mischief.
Gorizilla - Lost his charge Adrien, who ran away, and accused of being a terrible bodyguard.
Captain Hardrock - Massively fined by Roger for noise violations, boat mooring violations, disturbing the peace, etc., when she just wanted the freedom to do as she pleased.
Zombizou - Failed to show her students that love and kindness will win out in the end.

There was also Collector, who pretended to be betrayed by his son's recklessness in order to explain his akumatization.

I know that was a long list, but that way you get what I'm trying to do with these akuma supervillains. Mimicker fits because her being "wronged" was Chloe shunning her and calling her creepy, when all Louise wanted to do was emulate her idol. Sort of a mesh between the Copycat and Pixelator scenarios.

So, if anyone can think of how I can get Masketeer to work, or if you have another potential supervillain idea, feel free to leave me your thoughts in the comments section below. I, on the other hand, will just keep workshopping and hope something shakes loose soon.

In the meantime, feel free to enjoy the third installment in my "Peeping Tomcat" story.

FanFiction         ArchiveOfOurOwn         DeviantArt

I find it wonderfully ironic that I posted on Friday the 13th, and the overall story is about Cat Noir - a black cat themed superhero. However, this particular chapter doesn't involve Cat Noir at all. Haha, whoops.

Anyway, I don't know if it is the blush-fest cuteness of Adrien interacting with Marinette, the fact that I posted in the morning again instead of the afternoon like last week, or because it was a week when the latest episode of Miraculous came out - as opposed to last week where there was no new episode - but my view count jumped to be closer to the first week's figures. The conclusion of the first 24hrs after posting the third chapter had stats looking like this:

FFN: 689 views, 7 faves, 10 followers, and 1 new review
AO3: 270 views, 10 kudos, 0 bookmarks, and no new reviews
DA: 4 views, and nothing else.

Total Results: 963 views, 17 faves, 10 followers, and 1 review

My review was: "I can't wait til next friday for more, I look forward to it!"

FanFiction has really surprised me. Let's look at one of those stats a bit closer. In the 24hrs after posting the third chapter I received 689 views. Comparatively, the entire week between posting chapters 2 and 3 I had 690 views! I got nearly the same amount of views in just ONE DAY that I got the ENTIRE PREVIOUS WEEK. Same goes with followers. The third chapter added 10 new followers in 24hrs, whereas it kept all week for the second chapter to add 12 new followers. Whoa.

The views are still dropping over on AO3. I just don't think I'm writing what's popular over there. For a bit of comparison, I started reading a fanfic promoted by a highly popular Miraculous fanartist EdenDaphne. This story, which started as a one-shot, was first published March of 2017, and was last updated February 2018. It only has three chapters. I don't know how long it remained a one-shot before the author decided to add the other two chapters. It is less than 8000 words long. It also has 19,651 hits, 271 comments, 1678 kudos, and 270 bookmarks. Granted, the first chapter - which was SUPER GOOD, I get the love - had been up for a year, and BaneIsMyDragon has 42 Miraculous stories under their belt, so they are clearly a popular and well-established author. So that could be where all the love comes from. Plus, when other popular artists and writers within the fandom promote your story, it's a lot easier to get both traffic and love.

The big thing that I've noticed with popular Miraculous fics on AO3 though, is that they are AUs, usually with adult versions of the characters, and the characters end up in moderately racy situations. For instance, one I'm reading has the duo as master thieves instead of superheroes, and while no on-screen steaminess has actually happened, Marinette saved Adrien from being caught by lacing her legs around him tight enough to pull him up with her on her zipline, she later has a heavy make out session with Nathanael before her newfound feelings for Adrien makes her stop. In another fic I'm reading Marinette and Adrien, while babysitting for a friend, gets locked in a historical pair of handcuffs and have to wait three days for a specialized locksmith to be able to get them out of the handcuffs. In the meantime, they have to find ways to modestly get undressed and redressed, take showers, use the bathroom, and sleep. It's all mostly innocent since they're still only 18, but it gets a bit more awkward and potentially sensual than my stuff, where I keep them at their canonical 14 years of age. Yet another fic I follow has college students Adrien and Marinette having a complicated relationship because Mari is dating Cat Noir without realizing he's Adrien, or Adrien realizing she's Ladybug. So, they can't go too far due to Cat not being able to take his supersuit off, but there's still some fairly heavy make out sessions regardless. While there are hundreds or even thousands of other examples I could pull up, my last one will be a story I read who had an entire chapter dedicated to make out sessions. It was the aftermath of an akuma attack. More on that later.

So, yeah, as you can see, me keeping as "close to show" as I can may be a good read, and I may get love from those that read it. However, I don't think I'll be widely promoted by other authors/artists, and I don't think I'll become as popular on AO3. Like I said last week, I think my audience is still largely on FFN, as the stats seemed to show.

Going back to those stats, I checked them again late Saturday evening, so about 36hrs after I published the third chapter. I had an additional 55 hits on FFN, 40 on AO3, and 1 on DA. However, that "one hit" may have been me checking in on the story. I've noticed that DA randomly clocks my views on my own stuff....

Anyway, my point is, with those views added in, I ended up getting more views in about 36 hours than I did the entire previous week, and my second week had more over-all views than the first one. Which means I surpassed my highest weekly view count in less than two days! Go me!

So, as of this posting, here are my weekly stats thus far:

FFN: 899 views, 9 faves, 13 followers, and 2 new reviews
AO3: 353 views and 15 kudos; nothing else
DA: 14 views and 3 new favorites, but still no comments.

Total Results: 1266 views, 27 faves, 13 followers, and 2 reviews

My latest review was: "I love seeing Marinette through Adrien's eyes. Poor boy is clueless! Loving this!"

The DeviantArt postings randomly got a LOT of love yesterday. Two of the faves were early this morning, and the third one was yesterday. The thing that really kills me though is that out of the six total faves across all three chapters, only two are by the same person - the one who faved today. Which means four other people each loved only one out of the three chapters, and the one person who did love multiple chapters didn't favorite the first one. Bizarre....

If you count both FFN and AO3, I am inching close to 100 followers, so that's really cool. Also, if you tally up all the views across all three sites, I'm over 3000 hits. So that's also pretty neat to me.

But let's get back to that AO3 story with the make out session chapter.

Imthepunchlord is another popular Miraculous fanfiction writer with 64 stories to their name. Another author I found because EdenDaphne promoted the story. The story in question is Curiosity and Satisfaction within a genre known as Enemy AU. The concept for Enemy AU is taking one of the main protagonists, and switching sides so they are an antagonist instead. Usually this is with Cat Noir due to his destruction powers.

Anyway, in C&S, one of the akuma attacks has the original supervillain Aphrodeedee. The woman felt slighted by her husband whom she felt wasn't giving her enough affection. As Aphrodeedee, she used a conch shell to blow a love spell on her victims, who would instantly rush to the first person they find attractive and start making out with them. To avoid being hit by the love spell, Marinette, in her civilian form, asks Cat Noir to follow her lead, and starts making out with him while Aphrodeedee is around. The supervillain believes the two were already hit by her spell and moves on. Originally, this would have been Marinette's cue to break away since she wasn't compelled to keep going, and then run off to become Ladybug. Instead, she's enjoying the activity so much she nearly forgets that she still has to fight the supervillain.

Please note, in this fanfic the characters are about 18. Most Miraculous fanfics age them up to at least 18 so they can have scenes like this....

You can see EdenDaphne's comic rendering of this scene here.

Now, the thing that killed me about this supervillain that imthepunchlord came up with was that it was basically the same supervillain as this past Friday's episode.

Imthepunchlord wrote the chapter in 2016!

The latest episode Zombizou - a portmanteau of the French words for Zombie and Kiss, by the way - has the supervillain upset that there is so much anger and in-fighting among her students, as I stated at the start of this blog, and Hawk Moth promises her the power to "spread the love" so everyone will share hugs and kisses. She then infects her victims by hitting them with a blown kiss. Those infected by the kiss instantly try to kiss the closest person to them in order to "spread the love." In a zombie-bite-like infection, those that were kissed by infected civilians become infected themselves and also race to kiss as many people as possible.

Not exactly the same as Aphrodeedee, and a much more PG version of it at that, but pretty darn close, right!? The story has blown up in the bloggersphere as more and more people - I guess now me included - note this amusing coincidence.

If something similar to Mimicker ever happens in the show, I wonder who would be shocked and giddily spread the word about PT, like what's going on with C&S. Will my story ever become popular enough for something like that to happen? Would enough fans pick up on it if "Mimicker" shows up in a future episode?

Now I really hope something like Mimicker doesn't happen at least until after I post the fifth chapter!

Give me at least two more weeks, Zagtoon! You can have your version of "Mimicker" air after this month.

Okay, okay, so all of that may or may not be remotely interesting to you. You may instead be wondering what HAVE I been doing this whole week if it haven't been writing.

Well, largely re-reading "Ready Player One." Not only have I been re-reading, but I have been taking EXTENSIVE notes on the book, so that when I re-watch the movie I can see exactly what has been changed - which, upon first watch after recalling a story I read two years ago, is a LOT - as well as note any Easter eggs placed within the movie to nod to bits in the book that couldn't be translated and adapted into the movie plot.

I'm on the 14th chapter, and remembered how rage-inducing the 13th chapter is for me.

I've become aware that timeline continuity errors has become a major pet peeve of mine. I need my stories to play out as if they were in real-time for it to feel "real" for me. And the author Ernest Cline - or his narrator Wade - was all over the place in that chapter.

For this bit, be mindful of spoilers....

Leading into the chapter there was already two continuity errors that bugged me. First was that the prologue states that the first key was found in the "evening of February 11, 2045." Then we see Wade first log into the OASIS and his log-in screen says he logged in just before 8am on 2-10-2045; February 10th, for European readers. Wade then describes his school day, which results in him realizing where the key is, and reaching it, before the end of the day. He then notes that he won the key at 11:03pm.... the same day.... which would be in the evening of February 10th, not the 11th as the prologue claims.

The second continuity error that bugged me is that, while Wade does recap his life leading to the day he found the key, that particular day - February in 2045 - is the start of the actual plotline. Yet the back cover of the book states that the story takes place in 2044.

Knives from the Scott Pilgrim comic books
by Bryan Lee O'Malley

So, I was already a bit on edge with these timeline continuity errors before getting to the dreaded 13th chapter, where there was basically a new one each page in that short chapter....

First, Wade gets the key - be it on the 10th or the 11th - and notes that "tomorrow" is Friday. The next gunter - egg hunter - can't win the key until the servers reset at midnight. And this is midnight OST - OASIS standard time; also Eastern standard - so it doesn't matter where you are in the world. So the next gunter wins the key, and passes the first gate, shortly after midnight on Friday. Then the third gunter tries for the key that same day, but the servers haven't reset yet, which means they had to wait until shortly after midnight: Saturday morning. Wade comments that he "went back to school that same day".... which would mean he went to school on Saturday when he already established that, even though he goes to school in the OASIS, it's still your standard public schooling of Saturdays and Sundays off.

The next error is when Wade notes that the characters Daito and Shoto managed to find a way to win the key on the same day, without waiting for the server reset. And yet Wade comments that it's been four days since he won his key, and a new gunter got their key each day. However.... the second gunter got their key the day after Wade got his. The third gunter got theirs the next day, which is only two days after Wade. Then Daito and Shoto next.... which is only three days out. Either that, or Wade's speaking hyperbolically, and there was a day between the third gunter and the next two.

Well, regardless, Wade notes that the duo managed to pass the first gate "a few hours" after getting their keys. And yet, just the next page, Wade comments on "that following Friday, the day Daisho passed the first gate..." So, the duo of Daito and Shoto, nicknamed Daisho when referred to together, got their keys and passed the gate on Friday? But it was four days after Wade got his key? Since when is Friday four days after Thursday!?

Wade also commented that he was no longer concentrating in class, but he had enough credits to coast his way through to the end of the year and still graduate. He also comments on how he only had school for "two more months."

It is currently mid-February! Even if you count the entirety of March and April as the "two months", what public school graduates its Seniors at the beginning of May? That's a college time-frame, not a high school one. Most American high schools go until mid-June. How did we lose six weeks!? I mean, it COULD be written off as future schooling ending at the end of April/beginning of May, but I'm pretty sure later in the book Wade comments about graduating in June....

THUS ENDITH THE SPOILERS!

I know I griped about this when I first read the book two years ago, but it still bugs the crud out of me!

Probably why I take the amount of time I do to make sure my timelines match up. I actually had to go back through in one of my revisions of "Peeping Tomcat" when I realized I had one of the characters comment about seeing a friend at school the next day, but the next day should have been Saturday, based on the continuity of when Adrien does his fencing lessons: Fridays. I also realized that I stated in the latest chapter that their stop was ten minutes away, but when I acted out the scene - yes, I act out my scenes to make sure the timing works - the conversation they had was only five minutes long before getting cut off by the train coming into the station. Also, even though the show doesn't seem to really care about sticking with their "five minutes before depowering" rule, I do want to hold true to it. So I also acted out the upcoming akuma attack to make sure everything they do post Cataclysm and Lucky Charm only takes five minutes.

I'm sure no one cares about the attention to detail I verify, but I do, and if there's even ONE reader who is like me, then I hope I make the story more realistic for them.

Okay, this blog is massive now, and I'm over an hour late in posting.

Until next week!

Found a Snowflake

It's been a bit of an interesting week.

Things are finally starting to fall back to normal at work, and I'm starting to get my free time to work on my writing while there, at least, over my lunch breaks. I still can't figure out that darn second akuma attack towards the end of Act II in "Peeping Tomcat," but I have thought of a slew of other potential akumas. I have them jotted down in my Miraculous notebook to possibly use in other fanfics. The main reason why I'm not using them in PT is because they just won't work with the story I have in mind. Either the idea of introducing that particular akuma is too large and deserves its own story, or the subplot it would bring up with the dynamic between Ladybug, Cat Noir, and/or Hawk Moth goes in the opposite direction than I want PT to go in, or there's no clean way to introduce the akumatized victim without going into a side-tangent in PT, or the battle wouldn't showcase what I need showcased in PT, or.... well, you get the idea. They just wouldn't work for whatever reason, but I do have a few fun ones.

Back stock for when I need akumas in other stories. Maybe I could even use one or two in "One And The Same" later this year.... Still doesn't help me now though.

Speaking of helping, even though she's pretty booked, since she was on spring break, I sent Cyhyr my story thus far. We both agree that her own stuff comes first. However, Netflix is FINALLY getting the American release of season 2 of "Miraculous Ladybug". It premieres this Friday - March 30 - and perhaps a read through my story is a nice pre-gamer? She offered to at least attempt. So that's sweet of her and I love her for even offering!

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc.

I've also come to the conclusion that, while I love both Cy and ChibiSunnie for volunteering to beta for me, and while I know I will need the help of a beta, and while I'm nervous about having such a HUGE first chapter.... I also remembered that this is fanfiction.

Yes, I should try to be as professional as I can in all things I write in order to better prepare myself for this being a career. However, I shouldn't STRESS about it. Fanfiction is supposed to be fun. Even the "not so great" ones get love because people understand that they're done by novices, and people can see the story potential. It may be hard to find an audience that is willing to read a 7000-word first chapter, but they're out there, especially with the hype of the new season coming out this week.

In fact... I might cash in on that hype and post the first chapter THIS FRIDAY instead. Ride the wave of people swarming to fanfic sites.

I've gone through that first chapter about five times already, not including the three-plus versions I wrote before this draft. I can only find a few paragraphs here and there that might need to be cut. I'm still debating if I definitely should. Worse comes to worse, I'll take "Peeping Tomcat" down if Cy or Chibi have anything drastic they'll need me to change, and repost the revised edition. Sure, I'll lose any lovely comments/reviews people may have posted, but it's not the greatest loss in the world.

And so what if this isn't the most professional thing in the world? So what if the story seems lopsided because I have 7000-word chapters along side 2000-word chapters? Who cares if one week has a massive chapter update, and the following only has a quick-read one? Worse comes to worse, I'll double-post since I'll have them all done ahead of time anyway.

The point is that I'll hit the milestone of COMPLETING A LONG PROJECT. That in and of itself is huge! The point is that I'll also hit the milestone of weekly updates. The point is actually finishing, editing, polishing a NaNo story. There are a LOT of milestones within this story already. Having it be professional-quality perfection doesn't need to be one of them. Not yet anyway. I know I still have a ways to go until I hit that "I can publish a novel" part of my career. I know I'm about a decade behind where I should be. Thank you, College Professor. However, I also know that I've been improving more and more, and faster and faster, each year.

I'll get there. I still need to push myself to make sure I do. I don't need to KILL myself in doing so, though. And I can't use perfection - or the pursuit of it - as an excuse to procrastinate.

So, uh, I guess keep an eye out. I think I just talked myself into pushing up my publication date.

Oh! And since I'm on the topic of publishing, it IS the end of the month, and I still haven't posted anything. Although, it does sound like I'm remedying that on Friday.... Anyway, in an attempt to sort of clear my head from it being bogged down with PT stuff, as well as making sure I stick with my "something new per month" goal, I decided to work on a little side-project.

It's not done yet - I need to finish after I'm done with this blog post - but I'm hoping to have it ready to read at writing group tonight.

It occurred to me that I haven't worked on "Glitches" in a long time. I had a desire to write with at least one of My Girls. In the shower - where all the plot bunnies come to find me now, I guess - I thought of early in the X-Future game when Penumbra was wary of Devon, and was not a fan of Willow potentially flirting with him. For whatever reason, this became a scene in my head. I think it's a fun way to give some character background while also showcasing some of their personalities.

So, I have a little scene where Penumbra is lecturing Willow about the dangers of interacting with Devon. In response, Willow goes to bat for Devon, and tries to calm Penumbra with some flirtatious illusions. Penumbra is not pleased. In part, because Willow is trying to skirt around the problem instead of solving it, but mostly because Penumbra knows Willow doesn't think of her romantically, and hates being lead on.

I'm having some fun with it, but I'm sure it will need some polishing before I post. We'll see what the group says tonight. It will be one of the few times where I'll attempt to read something to them BEFORE posting it online.

Ya-Ya Monkey Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc.

Who knows, though? Perhaps next week I'll have links to both this little one-shot as well as "Peeping Tomcat." How exciting would that be!?

Oh! And speaking of exciting things for this weekend. Cy and her hubby, my awesome Wonder Twin Ronoxym, are coming with me and my own wonderful hubby to go see "Ready Player One"!!!!

Ron and I have been super stoked about this movie for over a year now, so we're going to be unbearably excited and antsy all week! We are both sorry to our respective spouses.

Anyway, I even got this guy already as part of the hype and excitement:

This is the main character Wade's avatar while inside the online digital universe of the OASIS. I mean, I already liked the main character, but I think I'm particularly fond of this character design because he kind of reminds me of a gender-swapped Willow.

Or rather, Parzival could be a non-evil version of Willow's older brother Shawn.

All the more drive to finish writing that one-shot with Willow.

Which brings me full circle back to writing.

This past week Omnibladestrike has again struggled with his writing after having a nice spurt of inspiration. I don't know if it really helped him any, but in an attempt, I sent him the link to something called the Snowflake Method for outlining. I discovered it thanks to a fellow member of Writer's Huddle. If you'd like more about the method from the man who created it, you can check it out here: How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method.

The long and short of it is to start off simple and small so the task of creating a novel doesn't seem so daunting. Think in the most broad strokes possible while still defining specifically your novel. Start with a one sentence plot summary of your novel: your "hook." Then start expanding out. Create a paragraph summary using roughly five sentences: The exposition sentence, the initiating conflict, the Act II conflict, the climactic conflict, and the conclusion. Or, as the author of the article Randy Ingermanson puts it, “three disasters plus an ending." Now expand each of those sentences out to be their own paragraph. Expand each of THOSE paragraphs out again and again until you have a detailed outline of your story. Do the same with your characters. Start with basic info: name, age, race, gender, etc. Then expand out. Create a sentence summary of their character arc. Now expand out the same way you did with the novel. As you expand on both your characters and the plot, and discover something new about either, go back and adjust the other elements accordingly.

This is actually kind of similar to the outlining that James Patterson talked about in his MasterClass. The idea is to have the most detailed outline possible without going into the nitty-gritty of dialog or specific problem solving. Yes, you know that your protagonist is going to save his love interest from a burning building by jumping out a window to safety. You don't need to know the specifics of which window, what safety, how long it takes for them to escape, etc. That's for the actual writing portion in order to keep that fun. Point is, you know that the love interest is going to be in trouble by being stuck in a burning building, and you know that she and the protag are going to get out safely, and you know what kind of injuries - if any - you want them to suffer. You have your entire novel, in pretty great detail, only taking up about twenty pages instead of two-hundred. MUCH simpler and faster to sit and read through your outline to try to find plotholes, slow spots, and poor character arcs. Take it from someone who has been struggling through editing both "Peeping Tomcat" and "Please, Let Me Explain", it is a pain to read through a long work to try to figure those bits out. Another struggle that outlining could avoid is the "wait, did I already explain that same bit elsewhere in this story?" Much easier to pick up on that in a 20+ page outline.

If you take the time up front - even if it's a couple of months - to do greatly detailed outlines, you won't struggle as much or hit writers block as frequently - if at all - once you get to the actual writing. This allows authors to punch out a much stronger first draft in just a few weeks.

In fact, I might even attempt to spend the summer Camp NaNoWriMo writing up such an outline for my November NaNoWriMo novel idea, and see how that turns out. Will I be able to hit the 50,000 word goal easier? Will the story actually be complete at the end of the month, instead of the word goal simply being met? Will the first draft truly be much closer to being publishable - at least, online - once I'm done?

I've been playing a bit with the idea of more detailed outlines before writing since I took the James Patterson class, but perhaps with the add-in of this Snowflake Method breakdown, I might give it more serious thought. I might even use it for PT's sequel "One And The Same" in an attempt to make sure it's done and ready to publish once I'm done posting all of PT's chapters. I could use it to work on "Please, Let Me Explain" and finally finish that project. I attempted to do the James Patterson outlining method with Ron, but perhaps the Snowflake Method is a better fit.

I'm actually pretty excited about trying this method out. I'll have to let you guys know how it goes once I have a chance to use it. If you end up trying it, or already have, feel free to let me know in the comments what you thought of it. Did it work for you? Did only portions of it work for you? Did your writing improve? Did it take away the fun spontaneity of writing by the seat of your pants, or did it make writing more fun because you didn't have to stress about "what's next"?

I'd love to know your thoughts.

I'm Done With Roller Coasters

This past week has been a bit of a roller coaster. Mostly a series of downs, but just enough ups to keep the “ride” going.

Last week, a coworker lost her dad after spending a week in and out of the hospital with him. I feel her pain, and I am so sorry for her loss. I'm glad I was able to be there for her. But a selfish part of me is exhausted from working nearly two weeks straight, Sunday through Saturday. My only time off was a snow day on the 2nd, and a half-day the following Friday. It's been mentally draining, and I'm a bit burnt out.

On top of that, I found out last week that a college friend of mine, who I knew was struggling with his depression, committed suicide. Another light gone needlessly. Another circle of survivors left behind wondering “What If” as they rack their brains wondering how he could have been saved. A lot of emotional drain to add to my mental exhaustion.

My friend is deeply missed, and probably more so than he ever fathomed. It saddens me that I've already advocated this so many times on this blog, but I will keep doing so until there is no longer a need.

You ARE loved.

You WILL be missed.

You ARE NOT a burden.

I know it's hard to ignore those dark voices in your mind telling you otherwise. I know that every day is a struggle to quiet those negative thoughts. However, you should know that there IS help. Please, PLEASE, ask for it.

And for those of you who think “Reach Out” is pathetic advice, because OF COURSE you would reach out if it was that easy, please read this article on HOW to do so when you're struggling.

And print yourself this image:

I'm actually going to share that link again, because it's so important:
10 Ways to 'Reach Out' When You're Struggling with Your Mental Health.

Keep trying to fight and hold on. Your life does have value. And I will keep using the limited platform I have with this blog to tell you that over and over again.

As one could probably expect with the week I just had, I wasn't really in the mindset to write anything this week. I still haven't come up with an akuma idea. I didn't finish editing all fifteen chapters of “Peeping Tomcat.” I didn't succeed in my goal(s) for Writers’ Huddle's winter challenge.

Progress was made, though. Mostly with reading.

Trying to avoid in-depth thinking while still escaping reality for a bit, I managed to finish off "Oblivion." It was definitely a strong second novel by Ali Luke. You can hop on Amazon to read my full review, but the long and short is this:

• Her already good writing improved.
• I loved the character development she had, including getting me to finally sympathize with Mark!
• The pacing was a lot more intense in this installment.
• I still think, much like in "Lycopolis," Kay – clearly the main hero – doesn't get enough page-time.
• I will always think there needs to be more Brandon, even though I understand why that wouldn't work from a narrative standpoint.
• My only critique is that the climactic fight scene has so many players and locations involved, along with multiple POVs. It gets a bit confusing at parts as to what exactly is going on. That's the only snafu for me, though.

All-in-all, while I had a similar thought with “Lycopolis,” I truly feel like “Oblivion” would make an awesome movie. Perhaps that can be a WIP for next year: a fan script adaptation. It would be good practice on how to cut a story down into 120 minutes of film. Finding what is truly essential, and how to visually showcase things that are perhaps easier to explain on paper. Might be a fun exercise.


I managed to download the Kindle app onto my dinky netbook so I could get started on Ali's concluding story “Dominon.” I'm about two chapters in and still firmly hate the set-up of the Kindle app. I don't know if e-books are more enjoyable to read on an actual tablet, where they are taller than they are wide, but trying to read on a computer screen means each page is only a couple paragraphs long. I'm not a fan of constant clicking to advance pages. If I had to read an e-book on my computer, I'd much prefer PDF files that I can read in Adobe Reader. The formatting is better for me, and I can just scroll down through the story instead of clicking "next".

It is kind of sad when it's a more enjoyable experience – when it comes to formatting and ease of reading – to go through fanfiction downloaded off of AO3, compared to the clunkiness of the Kindle app.

Oh well, at least I can now read Ali's latest book. I WILL be buying it again, though, if she ever opts to have a print version like she did with the first two. So, come on, Ali! Make double the profit off me!

It wasn't all reading to avoid daily drain this week. On Sunday, as a last-ditch effort to conclude my week with SOME progress, I went back through chapter ten of “Peeping Tomcat.” I then continued on to chapters eleven and twelve. I tried expanding both, but neither hit the 3000 word mark, so I ended up combining them. This dropped my over-all chapter count for the story back to fourteen. I still have the last two chapters to conquer, as well as going back to chapter nine. Also, after going back through what needs to happen in the ninth chapter, it may split into two: the akuma attack itself, and the aftermath of it before Adrien decides he HAS to confess to Marinette.

So, I have three, maybe four, chapters left to go before it's done. Not bad, really. The story, as is, surpassed the 51,000-word mark. Granted, I probably could have had the whole thing done in the six weeks if I really pushed, but about 80% done isn't all that shabby either. I still have enough that ChibiSunnie and Cyhyr should be able to get the basic idea and give me overall notes. And as for chapter-by-chapter notes, I'm far enough ahead that I could get started with those on just the intro chapters, and still publish the first chapter on April 6th, as I originally planned.

Right now the real sticky wicket is that both girls are really booked with their own lives. While Cy reassured me that she was super excited to start reading the story, and was antsy for me to be done so she could start reading, I also don't want to distract her too much from what else she needs to do for her own career. And Chibi is so nose to the grindstone right now to get her own story done that she barely has five minutes to eat. I know that she has to wait until May to start reading. I'm hoping that I can still get started on my postings and that she can jump in to help with the ending of the story.

My biggest concerns are as follows:

1. The first chapter is about ELEVEN pages long! I feel like it's just too long, but I don't know where to cut, or if I should chop it in half and have it be two chapters, or what to do with it.
2. Out of the first ten chapters, just about all of them average between 3500 and darn near 7000 words! Then, from the eleventh chapter on, I'm struggling to hit 3000 words! This story seems so unbalanced.
3. I still fear that I'm too inside Adrien's head, and that I'm making the story more complicated than it needs to be.
4. As it's my first fanfic within this fandom, I always fear I don't have characters in character, or the situation believable.

But I'm so close! Even if it ends up being a flop, I am sooooo close to having a 50,000+ word story DONE! I'm so close to actually completing a multi-chaptered story. I'm so close to being able to do something I never do outside one-shot stories: cross off a WIP from the list of stories waiting to be finished. This is a major milestone for me.

So, yay! Thanks to the reviewers and favoriters of the “Peeping Tomcat” teaser chapter and “The Birth of The Mimicker” for keeping me excited for this project. Thanks to Chibi and Cy for cheering me on and volunteering to beta. Thanks to my mom for always having my back. Thanks to Hubby for indulging me. Thanks to Ali for hosting the Winter Writing Challenge in order to keep me focused. Thank you all! I love my support group! Group hug!!!

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc.

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc.

And while I'm on this high swing, how about I finish by wishing my sister and my god-son belated birthdays! Hope you both enjoyed yourselves!

Now to go relax for a couple days. Recharge. And get some more work done!

Painful Week

This week didn't go well.....

I am still trying to figure out that second akuma attack chapter. So far, I came up with about four potential akumas, but none of them would work with this story. At least I have something for other fanfics. So, silver lining, I guess. Doesn't help with last week's goal though. Meh.

I've been trying to "research," as it were, other akuma options. I watched a few episodes again to try to remind myself how the akumas are already used canonically. I also spent about four hours flipping through fanart and fancomics, as well as read about five different fanfics, to try to see what others do for their akumas. I know I did this already back around November, but with potentially new stories, I was hoping I'd have better luck. Sadly, it's the same now as it was then: virtually no fanfic writers attempt to have an akuma attack.

Most ignore them completely. The writers that acknowledge them tend to just deal with them "off screen." Only a small few actually have Ladybug and Cat Noir fight akumas, and when they do, the akumas don't seem very canonical. It's fine, that's what fanfiction is for, but it doesn't help me try to come up with something more "true-to-show." Most fanfic-original akumas are either generic superhero villains, such as a wolf-man who is out to protect the stray dogs of Paris, or they are complete fanservice, such as a slighted lover who is now playing cupid and forcing people to fall into intense lust with each other; creating random make-out sessions in the street. Or the akuma is a complete political statement, such as a guy who gets angry about being "friend zoned" and tries to force Marinette to fall for him, claiming to be the "nice guy" while borderline sexually harassing our brave heroine. Sadly, I have yet to find an original akuma that feels like something Zagtoons and/or Thomas Astruc would actually create. So my week of research hasn't been much of a help in that regards.

I did find a few new writers that I'm now following, and one or two new fanart/fancomic artists that I'm keeping an eye on. In that light, the research was a win, I guess....

On top of the lack of inspiration or proper guide, I put myself on bedrest most of the week. Apparently, I'm now an 80+ year old woman, because I threw out my back while picking up a piece of paper this week. Yup. I was moving a bunch of heavier things around the store with no problem. Then, fast forward about a half our, and I bent down to pick up a piece of paper the delivery team left on the floor. Somewhere in my bending down and standing back up I pinched a nerve or pulled a muscle or something. My lower back has been throbbing all week. I've been slowly cutting back on both pain killers and time off my feet as the week progressed, so I know it's healing, but it still kept me sort of laid up.

Normally, especially because I have a laptop, you'd think I would get MORE writing done, since I can't really do anything else, and I'm in one place anyway. However, I've been sleeping more than I would like to admit. Probably my body trying to heal. The pain, or the meds to dull it, also kind of fog my head. That, plus the lack of progress in my research, really kept me stumped.

What it DIDN'T keep me from is reading. That's been my main distraction over the past week: reading Ali Luke's second book Oblivion. While someone like Rick Riordan either stays equally good or falls into an uncharacteristic slump, Ali definitely improved on an already great writing style. I have been completely drawn in, and have to purposely stop myself after x-chapters or x-minutes, otherwise I would devour the whole book in one sitting. Not great when I'm trying to savor the stories, and I also would fall further behind if I just avoided everything with reading.

I have more-or-less been doing precisely that anyway, though.

"Should I write?"
"Yeah, open up the file."
"I can't think of anything."
"Give it another five minutes."
"I think I'd rather read more Oblivion, perhaps that will inspire me."
"Oh, okay.... I'll write later..."

And yet later never arrives. Does it ever?

At least I have the fun privilege of being able to fangirl about a book and its characters with the actual AUTHOR of said book. So, that's cool. She seems to get a kick out of my gushing about her work, and I'm having fun being able to freak out to the person who WROTE THE THING I'M FREAKING OUT ABOUT. That's just awesome to me.

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc.

Another silver lining? I DID write/edit this week. I just polished chapter ten a week early, and then jumped over to chapter twelve to polish that one up too. I didn't do nearly as much writing/editing as I would have liked, and it was all for the "wrong" chapter(s), but it was better than no writing. Right?

OH! And speaking of which, I did manage to get something written before the close of February! About two hours before writing group, I went to take a shower. Man, I'm loving how my mind can wander in the shower - one benefit of my hair being so long it takes darn near ten minutes to wash! - because, much like the instant realization of the Lucky Charm I wanted to use for my one chapter, I also came up with a story for February.

I haven't played "Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" yet, and it's been a little while since I've seen Hubby play it. Yet, that was precisely what popped into my head. I was trying to figure out an akuma, and somehow Link the silent protagonist, and his canonical reasoning for it in BotW, were what came up. Remembering the plot/canonical facts and events in BotW, presented via Link's lost memories and Zelda's diary, I wanted to show Zelda rage at Link for staying silent.

I practically had the whole thing written in my head as I showered and dried my hair. Managed to just barely get it poured out onto the page by the time it was my turn to read at group. My chapters for "Peeping Tomcat" are long. I will never get ahead of my posting schedule since writing group is only every OTHER week. I was excited about my BotW fanfic, written vaguely enough that it could be mistaken as original work. So I decided to not read any more "Peeping Tomcat" at writing group, and read that instead.

Granted, we only had about five minutes left of the meeting by the time I was done reading, so we couldn't really afford long critiques, but I did have a lot of people comment about how they enjoyed it. How it COULD have been original. How powerful and emotional it was. How a lot was said in such a short amount of time.

Why can't I write like this all the time? With such succinctness?

Anyway, since I wasn't sure if it would still be considered fanfiction to everyone, I went ahead and posted the story on fanfiction and original works sites alike.

"One Last Hope"

On DeviantArt     On FanFiction     On FictionPress   On Archive Of Our Own

The story has received only one review - "Good story obviously" - and a small collection of faves since it went up last Wednesday. By far not one of my most well known pieces, but I'm still proud of it. I think I'm most proud of being able to keep Link's, Zelda's, and Ganon's names out of the story so that it CAN be reworked, with only a little bit of tweaking, into something original. I might have to think about adjusting it to fit a Gyateara story someday.

I have yet to read a continuous, multi-chapter, WIP at writing group, and it bums me out that I had that opportunity with "Peeping Tomcat," but I think it's best for me and the other members if I just stick with these short one-shots and pick up generic critiques on my writing voice that way. We'll see where I go from here.

The big thing is to get back into writing my own stuff; to continue work on "Peeping Tomcat," but the struggle is kind of real. My one co-worker has had a family emergency that has kept her out of work all last week, and it looks to be keeping her on leave this week as well. So I haven't really had a day off except for Friday when the store was closed due to over three feet of snow in less than 24-hours. I also don't have as much down time at work as I thought I would, or I would normally get with said co-worker, so not much writing has been going on there.

I hope it's just the first week - maybe two - of the month that's shot, and not the whole month itself. I'm going to try to finish the writing challenge strong. Cheer me on, won't you? It helps.