The Epic Tale of Two Episodes

Hey, guys, guess what happened yesterday?

If you guessed "it snowed" you win a sticker.

Eh, at least it was on a Monday, and not Tuesday. Yet. Again.

Then again, I don't have writing group tonight, so maybe it just snows on Tuesdays I have that evening meeting...???

As for writing, well.... I'm sort of at equal parts of "did a lot" and "barely had a chance to touch it."

Last week we got two new episodes for "Miraculous Ladybug." The first came out last Tuesday evening and was called Backwarder and the second came out on Valentine's day, and that one was called Stormy Weather 2.

At first, I was a bit bummed that we didn't have a more romance-centered episode, such as Weredad, for Valentine's day, but as Lawbreaker13 noted on Tumblr, there are a lot of parallels that tied Stormy Weather 2 back to the Dark Cupid episode.

Now, before I continue, I want to seriously point out that if you're in the fandom, and want a really good analysis of the episode Stormy Weather 2, you should check out that link to lawbreaker13's review. They even had their analysis pretty much confirmed as the writers' aim via the show's creator: Thomas Astruc saw my post you guys!

I haven't shared it on my tumblr blog yet because I want to re-watch the episode, that way I could throw in some of my thoughts as well. I just haven't had the chance to do a good rewatch, especially since I'm waiting for Wolfhearted. There are a few bits that I'm a bit... unsure of.... with Lawbreaker13's analysis, and wanted to include a sort of counter-argument, but, again, I haven't had a chance yet.

Anyway, back to the parallels between Stormy Weather 2 and Dark Cupid. Here's a real quick recap of the latter episode for those who aren't in the fandom:

In the season 1 episode Dark Cupid, the characters are celebrating Valentine's Day. There's a lot to unpack in this episode, but most of that isn't important for the parallels used in Stormy Weather 2. The long and short is that Marinette's classmate Kim tries to confess his crush on Chloe, only to be rejected and humiliated. He then transforms into Dark Cupid, who has the ability to create hatred with his arrows, as opposed to Cupid's ability to create love. He uses the power to break up any form of affection he sees: romantic or otherwise. He manages to hit Cat Noir with an arrow, and Ladybug can only break the spell with True Love's Kiss. It's kind of a big deal within the fandom. However, the part that's important is this:

While in class, Adrien works on a love poem for Ladybug, but he never actually names the subject of his poem within the writing. By the end of the school day, he gives up on his project and throws it out. Marinette, who had been trying to see what he was writing the whole time, pulls the crumpled paper out of the trash. As she wonders who the love poem is for, Tikki, who, at this point, doesn't know Adrien is Cat Noir, suggests that the lines are describing Marinette. Convinced that Tikki might be right, Marinette brings the poem home. She then decides that she's going to write Adrien a responding poem for Valentine's Day, and actually follows through with it. She even mails it to him. Problem is, Alya distracted her as she was finishing, and she forgot to sign her name. Adrien finds the unsigned valentine, and, since it answered his poem about Ladybug, daydreams that his superhero partner is the one who wrote him back.

Sorry, that was still kind of long, but trust me, that was "quick" for our purposes. So, how does this run parallel with the most recent episode, making Stormy Weather 2 an appropriate Valentine's Day episode? Well, towards the end of their review and analysis, lawbreaker13 pointed out the call-back to the poems.

We haven't had a call-back to them yet in the series, and then, towards the beginning of this episode, Marinette re-reads the poem Adrien penned. The exact scene of Adrien throwing it out, and Marinette retrieving the paper, is even shown in a flashback. Not only that, but it's shown at nearly the exact same time in both episodes. In Dark Cupid, Adrien throws the poem out at roughly a minute-and-a-half into the episode, and Marinette reads the poem out loud about 2mins in. For Stormy Weather 2, the shot of Adrien throwing out the poem shows up just shy of 3minutes in, overlapped with voice over of Marinette reading the last lines of the poem.

Likewise, at the end of Dark Cupid, at 19minutes and 47seconds in, Plagg is teasing Adrien about being brainwashed and doing cruel things towards Ladybug. Adrien is already upset about the whole thing, as well as his failed attempts to let Ladybug know how much he cares for her. In Stormy Weather 2, Plagg is again pointing out the failure of Adrien's wooing of Ladybug at nearly the exact same time: 19minutes and 35seconds in.

Fair warning, the rest of this is going to include minor spoilers for the Stormy Weather 2 episode, so please just scroll past if you want to avoid those.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Okay, now back to Dark Cupid, Plagg says: "What's the big deal? You've got so many cards from all of these lady fans of yours, take your pick!" He then digs through the mountain of valentines, tossing Marinette's heart-shaped one onto the bed next to Adrien. In Stormy Weather 2, Plagg says: "Why don't you look for another girl to love? One who's actually available?" He then dumps Adrien's mountain of valentines onto his bed. Since this isn't specifically another Valentine's Day special, we're not entirely sure if it's been a full year since Dark Cupid, so this pile could still be from that V'day, but none of the other letters are opened; neither are the gifts. We won't focus on that right now. The point is that Marinette's unsigned valentine to Adrien is sitting on the top of this pile, and it is once again on Adrien's bed.

In Dark Cupid, Adrien picks up the unsigned valentine and reads it at the 20minute mark. He does the same at 19:40 in Stormy Weather 2. Again, nearly identical times within the episodes. Keeping with that parallel timing, at 20:28 in the Dark Cupid episode, an actual ladybug lands on the open valentine, right about where the signature should be. This is when Adrien thinks "maybe Ladybug sent it?" Jumping to the Stormy Weather 2 episode, Nathalie drops off schoolwork from Marinette at roughly the same time. Adrien even comments, at 20:05, that he never noticed before that Marinette's handwriting looks a lot like his unsigned valentine. So, at nearly identical times in the episodes, Adrien tries to figure out who wrote the valentine to him.

All of that said, the reason Stormy Weather 2 makes a good episode for Valentine's Day consists of more than its connection to Dark Cupid. There is also a nice chunk of overall character development and insight showcased in the episode, most of which has romantic undertones. Finally, the bit that most of the fans seem to hate about this episode is the fact that it's largely seen as "simply" a recap episode. At least half of the episode was made up of flashbacks, overdubbed by introspective voice overs. This "flaw" is the last reason why the episode was great for V'day: there were a lot of flashbacks of Marinette pining over Adrien, Cat Noir pining over Ladybug, and even Nathalie's growing affection towards Adrien and romantic feelings towards Gabriel.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

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

For those of you that skipped the above, the spoiler-free long-and-short is: Stormy Weather 2 has strong connections to the previous Valentine's Day episode, as well as showcased Marinette's feelings for Adrien, Cat Noir's love for Ladybug, and Nathalie's affection - both paternal and romantic - to Adrien and Gabriel, respectively. All-in-all, even though it wasn't overtly a "Valentine's Episode", it was still a very appropriate one to air on Valentine's day.

But I spent too much time talking about that episode. Although, as I pointed out in that spoiler section, it IS a good reference point for fanfic writers. If I hadn't already tackled my thoughts on Adrien's feelings for Marinette in “Peeping Tomcat” I would have definitely used bits from this episode for reference points. I'm glad to know that I seemed to have understood Adrien enough to kinda get it right... I'll definitely use this episode for character insight reference when I continue my work on "One and the Same."

Speaking of working on OatS, as I said at the start of this week's blog, I did a lot of writing, and yet barely any at all. It's a weird contradiction, I know.

So we'll start with the "not much at all" bits. I had two zero-days in a row, which, happily, has been a rare occurrence this year thus far. Although Tuesdays tend to only see me writing my blog posts, I've still had full weeks where I didn't have a single Zero-Day, and other weeks where I've only had one missed day. Still others did have two, but they were separated by multiple writing-days in a row. After a more consistent writing schedule such as that, it felt like I really slacked off by not really writing anything this weekend.

I also didn't add to my "One and the Same" manuscript this past week, so that was another bit of disappointment.

I didn't even have a short story up for Valentine's Day like I wanted. Instead, I recycled romantic Tumblr Exclusives and fluffy scenes from PT as my Valentine's Day contribution.

My first one is probably my personal favorite: Stranger in a White Dress. While it had 19 notes on Tumblr when I first posted it in May, it didn't really get any new love when I reblogged it on Thursday. It's a Gabriel and Emilie story, and the fans probably weren't into that for their V'day.

The second story I reblogged just a few minutes later was "Kisses", my Lukanette story I wrote shortly after we were introduced to the character of Luka. Originally, it had 64 notes on it. My reblog for Valentine's Day only added two more - three if you count a comment on it - but it's still more than SiaWD got. Plus, one of those likes, and the comment, were by the lovely ChibiSunnie.

You see, my writing is almost dauntingly long, in case you somehow didn't notice....

So, the massively time-crunched Chibi doesn't really get the chance to read my writing anymore, especially since it's in a fandom she's not a part of. She did tell me that she enjoyed being able to finally see some of my more bite-sized snippets of writing so she could appreciate what I add to the ML fandom.

Chibi: Awww you write such sweet romance stories for this fandom! ^_^

Chibi, you, darling, are so sweet for saying so, and for taking the time to read something from a fandom you're not a part of.

Figuring Valentine's Day was also a good time to try to bring more readers to PT again, I did a bit of promotion as well. I swiped a small snippet from chapter 4 of my story, and posted it as a sample scene for V'day. I hoped the Love Square gooiness would be more of what The People wanted for their holiday, and that it would lend itself to bring some more traffic to my story.

So, to get that Adrienette fluffiness out in the world, I sampled the movie pseudo-date they had: A Movie Date

It's received 4 likes. Not the traction I was hoping for, but it's still 4, presumably new, readers. Plus, the excerpt was still nearly 3000 words long, so it may have been too much for people to read on Tumblr. Perhaps they just used the link to AO3 and added it to their Read Later lists. Who knows?

Likewise, "Stranger in a White Dress" was just over 2000 words, whereas "Kisses" isn't even 800 words long. Plus, "Kisses" was in a ship a lot of people enjoy. So, I guess it makes sense what is and isn't getting notes on Tumblr if it's broken down like that.

I did receive one new Tumblr follower on the 14th, which could be because of my writing, but it could also be because of what I reblog, or even my comment about Chloe being surprisingly absent thus far this season. That observation has garnered me 30 notes between the likes, reblogs, and comments. Regardless, it's one more follower, which means one more person to see when I post new writing. I'm actually up to 96 followers on Tumblr. It's still small peanuts, but it IS nearly 100 people who make up a potential readership base. I'll take it.

Especially since I gained 7 new followers this past week. As I mentioned, one started following on the 14th, but I also added 4 more since the 15th. Again, I have no clue what it is about my Tumblr blog that attracted them enough to want to follow me, but it's nice to know that I'm slowly gaining more and more of a fanbase, as it were.

It was because of this growing fanbase that I figured I'd try to do another promotion attempt for PT.

As I commented above,

Adrien, at the end of Stormy Weather 2, notices that Marinette's handwriting looks like it matches the unsigned Valentine. Except he then decides that Marinette just thinks of him as a friend since she's obviously crushing on Luka, so the Valentine couldn't possibly be from her. It was just someone who has similar handwriting. GAAAAAAH! This kid is frustrating!

Anyway, whether you read the spoiler box or not, the point is that the fandom is currently caught up with how Adrien is SOMEHOW completely socially blind still. It's frustrating, but in such a good way, for me, at least. A lot of people are getting irritated by how much the Love Square is being drawn out with virtually no advancement in the relationships. However... I personally think there have been A LOT of growth in at least the LadyNoir and Adrienette corners of the Love Square, but people grow affection - true, long-lasting, deep affection - towards each other SLOWLY. I'm loving how much it's dragged out. At least it hasn't gotten as annoyingly frustrating as the Lois and Clark Will-They-Won't-They from "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman", and I hear some of the worst "Will-They-Won't-They" was from shows like X-Files or Bones. Love Square drag-out is nothing compared to the live action shows aimed at the 18+ demographics.

Point is, I figured I'd attempt to shamelessly cash in on the "Adrien is an idiot!" discussion stemming from Stormy Weather 2, and, in part, Backwarder. I again grabbed a snippet from PT - this time "only" 1530 words long - and shared it to Tumblr.

I think I did a much better job at bookending the snippet to encourage readers to go to the full story this time though. For example, compare the first snippet for A Movie Date vs the snippet Confusion.

For those who may not be able to read the above image, it says:

I can't let Valentine's Day close out without some Love Square fluffiness. So how about a pseudo-date between Adrien and Marinette (with a sprinkling of DJWifi) from my story “Peeping Tomcat”?

I then include a few paragraphs to try to entice people to read, before dropping a "read more" link so it's not this epically, and possibly annoyingly, long post people have to scroll through on their dash. At the end of the snippet, hidden within the "read more" is this closing.

Again, in case you can't read/see the above picture, this is what it says:

*Excerpt from chapter 4: Normal. To read the full chapter, you can check it out on AO3 here. Or, if you prefer, you can find it on FFN or DA.

If you'd like to read the story from the beginning, you can check it out on AO3, on FFN, or on DA.

It's not.... bad? But it also could be better. So when I promoted the snippet from the seventh chapter of PT, I switched up the formatting to this.

1. I started off by commenting on the big discussion being had around the fandom, and how it made me think of my story, complete with the link to the story from the beginning. This way, if people didn't want to read on Tumblr, they had access to my story on AO3 right away.
2. I then gave a summary for PT, as well as the status - that it's complete, has 17 chapters, and is over 84,000 words long - the ships showcased, and the rating for the story. I even made sure to off-set this information to make it easier to read. 
3. I then finished with apologizing for the shameless plug, called out what could be the appeal of that particular part of the story, linked to the chapter the snippet was from - again, in case people just wanted to read it on AO3 instead of Tumblr - before closing out my intro with a call to the main character focused on in the snippet: Adrien

Once more, I had a line break to separate the intro from the story itself, dropped a couple of potentially enticing paragraphs, and finished with a "read more" link so I wouldn't flood people's dash.

At the end of the snippet, I also switched up the formatting to one I think worked out better.

1. I put the non-story elements promoting where to find more of my writing in italics. I hoped the italics would draw eyes to it, offset it from the story outside of the simple line break, and to make the non-italicized, bold links stand out more. 
2. I had a sort of call to action with the opening question of "Want to read more?"
3. I provided only one link - to AO3, the site most of Tumblr users seem to prefer - to the rest of the chapter to avoid overwhelming people.
4. I used another call to action, as well as a bit of a tongue-in-cheek comment about reading the story from the start, before promoting where to find the story off of Tumblr.
5. I have commas separating the different links, and off-set both them and the link to the chapter itself on their own lines. It helps draw the eyes and make the links stand out more.
6. I finished with a thank you to the readers who made it to the end of my long post.

I'm not sure if these format switch-ups helped at all, or if the subject matter was closer to what people wanted to read, or if it was simply because it was a shorter piece, but I did get more of a response from my "Confusion" snippet.

Back-tracking to "A Movie Date," that snippet has had 4 likes. One from Chibi, who also said "Awwww this was really cute! ^_^"  To which, I responded that she has officially read part of PT, and can stop feeling guilty about not getting to it yet.

Speaking of, Chibi has a few new short stories up on her AO3 account. Sadly, I've been a bit of a slacker and haven't gotten to read them yet, but YOU can while Chibi is waiting for me.

• Aren't You Happy for Andi?
• Fandom: Andi Mack
• Summary: That moment when Cyrus realizes he likes Jonah Beck.
• Word Count: 548
• Sorano and the Truth
• Fandom: Doukyuusei (aka Classmates)
• Summary: Sorano finally comes out to Fujino.
• Word Count: 2953
• Dear Manabu/Dear Sorano
• Fandom: Doukyuusei (aka Classmates)
• Summary: Sorano and Hara write letters to each other to be opened up 10 years in the future. This is what I imagine the "Sorano/Manabu 10 Years From Now Love Letters Kuji Prize" might say.
• Word Count: 264
• Hara and Getting Older
• Fandom: Doukyuusei (aka Classmates)
• Summary: Hara starts to worry about how him aging first will affect his love life with Sorano.
• Word Count: 1360
• Please Don't Leave Me
• Fandom: Cardcaptor Sakura
• Summary: Touya takes care of Yukito after finding him partially transparent and passed out in his yard. This expands the White Day chapter in the Sakura Card Arc.
• Word Count: 1681
• Song for Sajou
• Fandom: Doukyuusei (aka Classmates)
• Summary: Kusakabe writes a love song for Sajou and performs it for him in hopes it will help them get back together.
• Word Count: 2849

Sadly, most of those were written MONTHS ago! The first two were written in November, the next one was in December, "Hara and Getting Older" and "Please Don't Leave Me" were shared in January, and only "Song for Sajou" was posted this past week.

Chibi, I am SOOOOO sorry I've been slacking off on sharing your stories, or even reading these short tales. But let's give this girl some love. I HAVE read snippets of a lot of these as she asked for some advice - be it beta reading, quick polishes, or figuring out which rating to give her stories - and I greatly enjoyed them, even if I wasn't in the fandom. So give them a shot. They are a beautiful representation of sweet, (mostly) innocent, gay love. Something that doesn't seem to be showcased enough in mainstream media, at least here in America, so I'm glad fanfiction writers pick up the slack.

Anyway, getting back to my promotions on Tumblr, as I said, the snippet of the Adrienette pseudo-date received 4 likes. I also received a new story favorite for PT two days later. I'm not sure if the two are related, but I'm running with it.

On the 17th I then shared the snippet from chapter 7: Confusion. That short received 14 likes in comparison to "A Movie Date." I also received my most recent follower on Tumblr shortly after I shared that snippet. Again, I don't know if the two are related, but I like the chances. I also received a new author favorite on the 17th over on FFN. Still not sure if it was thanks to my promotions on Tumblr, but it made me feel good to see that alert in my email.

Sunday, the 17th, also brought me a new comment on PT's posting over on AO3:

kitdubhran: Just caught up on this. Loved the conclusion. Can't wait to see more of this, whenever you can post it. ❤️❤️❤️

Lastly, I've received two new guest kudos on AO3 for PT over the past two days. So.... maybe the shameless plug worked? Maybe my story got out to more people, slowly but surely?

I am planning on posting more promotions for PT the closer I get to publishing "One and the Same." That way people can have a more seamless flow into the sequel. Get that hype up. I need to actually WRITE OatS though....

Instead... well.... I've talked a lot about the latest episode Stormy Weather 2, but I haven't said much about Backwarder. It is one of my favorite episodes for multiple reasons. We get to meet important people for both Master Fu and Kagami. We get some more of Master Fu's backstory. There is character development. There is romance. There's also a sort of comedy of errors, which I'm a huge fan of.

Sane Man in an Insane World is a hard comedic trope for me to get behind; I tend to get frustrated at the collective stupidity, which is why I nearly hurled "Big Trouble" by Dave Barry across the room as I got to the closing chapters. Still loved the book, but that trope annoys me. Comedy of Errors though? I'll eat that up all the time. Both tropes center around at least one person trying to navigate a situation they should never expect to be in, and have to explain themselves when they should never need to under normal circumstances. Comedy of Errors, though, focuses on how the misunderstandings could still be logical even with intelligent people, whereas Sane Man in an Insane World is mostly frustrating to me because of the stupidity of everyone. The exceptions are stories like Idiocracy, because at least then I know what I'm getting into, and can enjoy the comedic trope.

Anyway, Comedy of Errors. The error itself is kind of a major plot point in Backwarder, so I won't even attempt a spoiler box about it, because it's too hard to sum up for anyone skipping over spoilers for the show. What I will say is that it brings up a LOT of questions regarding Adrien's POV, which isn't shown much that episode.

Naturally, I wanted to give my take on Adrien's thoughts about the episode. It was supposed to be simple. It was supposed to be quick. It was supposed to be done and up on Wednesday, while the episode was still fresh in everyone's mind.

As per usual with my stories, I'm running super long on this concept as the insight delve went deeper than expected, and so I'm STILL writing the darn thing. A Tumblr Exclusive one-shot that was only supposed to be a thousand words or so is now up to about 4500 words.... and counting. I'm maybe 2/3rds of the way through the story I want to tell.

Whoops....

To be fair, I didn't have the time to write on Sunday or Saturday because we were slammed at work, people invaded after work, and when we didn't have house guests, I ended up passing out on the couch. Hubby and I also had nights in together for Valentine's Day. It's been a fairly booked week.

I've also elongated my writing process by pausing to do research I wasn't expecting I needed to do. Like transcribe a couple of scenes - only to find them on Tumblr the next day as subtitled gif sets.... - measuring the height difference between Adrien and Kagami, timing out where everyone is and when throughout the episode, analyzing the location of the bathroom on the animated train car shown in the episode, timing the length of a train ride from Paris to London, figuring out the logistics of a hand-written prescription, and designing wedding formal wear. That last one was probably the trickiest for me.

Once upon the time, roughly between the ages of 6 and 10, before I truly understood my passion for writing, I fancied myself a fashion designer. I loved using different design kits to create new clothing styles. I had about four different kits that I would rotate through. I'd also cut out bits and pieces from old magazines in order to paste together an outfit. While I loved just about everything I designed, I was apparently the only one who believed I had an eye for fashion. It didn't stop me, though. What finally did was the realization that I had to sew my own prototypes, and I was NOT into that. Me and sewing are not good friends....

Well, along with my desire to design, my eye for design also kind of died. Although, as I noted, most would argue I had no "eye for design" to begin with. As an adult I might be inclined to agree.....

Anyway, my point is, whenever I end up designing an outfit for an original character, or create a new look for an existing character, such as when I designed Adrien's Chat Noir Appreciation Festival look for PT, I tend to spend hours looking up fashion photos to see what pops out at me.

Not only do I have to try to piece together an outfit I think looks good, but I have to compare it to the design of the characters to see if it would work on them; if it's a style they'd wear. Finally, I have to figure out how to DESCRIBE the outfit so you, the reader, can understand what it looks like without the help of an actual visual reference.

I'm beginning to hate describing clothing as much as I hate coming up with names and writing repetitive action scenes such as fight scenes, chase scenes, and.... shall we say "sexually themed" scenes. I hope it's all worth it, though, and that someone is just as inspired by my fashion designing for this one-off as they were with that festival scene in PT.

I still need to finish THAT story though. This is definitely going to be my February "one new story a month" goal, but that requires me to finish WITHIN FEBRUARY. So I should probably get back to that story so I can share it with you guys by next Tuesday.

AAAAAAAND this blog post is stupid-long, and HOURS late. So... Catch you guys next week.

And Still More Snow...

What is it with Tuesdays and snow lately???? It always seems to hit on a Tuesday or Sunday this winter. At least, the bad snow storms. This is the second time the writer's group meeting is cancelled due to winter weather advisory. Which is such a bummer, because I also missed the first ever meeting of the year due to work. It's depressing to know I've only been able to attend one meeting since 2019 started.

Stupid snow.

Also, interesting factoid: my unexplained preference for British spellings and vernacular continues with, oddly enough, the past tense version of 'cancel'. Yup, above you may have noticed that I spelled it as 'cancelled', which may have looked odd to most of you. There are times where I'll write the word with only one 'l', usually because I'm typing too fast, but there won't be a spell-check squiggle under it. So I looked it up, and both versions - one 'l' and two - are correct. Americans, thanks to the Webster's Dictionary spellings, tend to spell the word 'canceled' while Brits lean more on the 'cancelled' side of the fence. Personally, I think the word looks more "complete" with the second 'l', which is why I tend to default to that spelling. Regardless, it's just another word where I favor the British version, and I'm not entirely sure why I bounce between the two versions of English: British vs American.

It must drive readers crazy trying to figure out what side of The Pond I hail from....

Anyway, even without the prospect of a writer's group meeting, I'm trying to push through my completion of "One and the Same." I'm still struggling with that darn final chapter though. I think I have Marinette calmed down, Adrien relieved, everything that needs to be said at least planned out, and the makings of a satisfying ending.

However, I keep thinking of more things.....

One of them is a fairly crucial question Marinette asks Adrien, and, frankly? I didn't know the answer. I THOUGHT I did, but I couldn't remember the nitty-gritty details of "Peeping Tomcat" enough to be positive. So I spent the past couple of days reading/skimming through PT to make sure I have my continuity all in order. Thankfully, I didn't paint myself into a wall with PT, so I just have to make sure I avoid plot holes and/or contradictory scenes/statements throughout OatS.

It's been a bit exhausting to go back through my story instead of working on my new one, but at the same time, I find myself lost in my own writing during my re-read, causing me to read more than I needed to.

I'm loving how much I'm still enjoying my own story. Yay! Go me!

NuaNia Facebook sticker
by PRANEAT

Speaking of enjoying my work, this past week I received a pleasantly surprising review on “Woven Heartstrings”:

Wildfire's Flame: I really enjoyed this story and don't know that I would have found it if not for Taurus Pixies blog. I enjoyed the story immensely. I love reading things with warmth and caring and sweet gooieness. Makes me warm and fuzzy inside. The worry dolls were great but I loved the crocheting and the part where Adriens dad was actually a dad for once in his life. Thank you for a truly beautiful and thought out story. It's a great gift for your friend and to all of us that love the show.

First of all, this is just such a lovely review. I loved that Wildfire's Flame enjoyed my writing so much. Secondly, it's awesome to know that Wildfire found my story via the amazing Taurus Pixie's blog. She frequently promotes and/or reviews my stories on her blog, and the fact that she's apparently bringing me more traffic is awesome! Pixie, you are a beautiful human being!

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc

The rub, though, is that Wildfire's Flame has private messaging deactivated on Fanfiction.net. I can't reply to them to thank them for the review, or even for just reading my story. I have no way of them seeing how much I appreciate that they took some of their time and spent it with my work.

The kicker is that Wildfire is slowly making their way through my other writing, and leaving reviews there as well. Here's what they had to say about “Peeping Tomcat”:

Wildfire's Flame: Wow. Just wow. I have been slowly reading this over the past couple days. I loved it. Poor Adrien. I loved your akumas and I loved the way the characters all were. The battle scenes were well thought out and the festival was a great idea. Thank you for a wonderful story. I loved it.

Well, thank you, Wildfire, for your wonderful reviews. I love those as well!

Finally, here's their review of “Build Your Own Luck”:

Wildfire's Flame: So sweet. I loved it. Very nicely done and I can picture a 5 year old doing just that. Thank you for this brief moment in time.

GAAAAAH! Wildfire! Who are you!? Why won't you let me thank you for taking the time to read and review my works!?!?!

Wildfire's Flame, if you are reading this, know that your reviews are so appreciated. You are not shouting into the void. And thank you for letting me know I'm not doing the same. You, dear reader, are awesome sauce, and you are very welcome for the stories I put out for your consumption.

Also, one last shout-out to Pixie for leading Wildfire my way in the first place. Thank you so much for taking the time to promote my work on your blog! Also also, if any of my readers like some Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction with some Lukanette goodness and/or jealous Chat Noir, you HAVE to check out Pixie's latest fic Chat Vert. Her Luka is perfectly true-to-show, and her other depictions of the characters are so in-character I could hear their voices during all the dialogue. There's a nice balance of angst and fluff and goofiness. Just.... go! Read it!

Finally, if you want to know more about Pixie's writing schedule for her four WIPs, or her thoughts on Miraculous Ladybug - via episode reviews and mini-essays - you should head on over to her blog. Again, the link is here.

And since I'm talking about reading anyway, I might as well note that I've FINALLY started really reading "Armada." I'm only about 3 or 4 chapters in, so I still have most of the book to read this month. It's an interesting concept, but so far the story isn't really pulling me in like "Ready Player One" did. The whole story seems to be built around a conspiracy theory that was supposed to sound crazy at first, but presumably will be 100% true. So, said theory needs to be first established. Alright, but I kind of know that everything is going to be true, so the "mysterious" build up just seems to drag on. I dunno. Ernest Cline did a better job at world building - literally, since there were different "worlds" you could go to in The OASIS - for his first book.

As of right now? Only a few chapters into "Armada"? It just feels like a rehash of "Ender's Game". The book even notes that as one of the center-points of the conspiracy: the first time Sci-Fi depicted children playing video games to train as soldiers, specifically for a war against aliens. Everything is focused on that concept: playing war-themed video games where aliens are the enemy, and how said games might be disguised training of the unknowing soldiers. A way to recruit the best of the best based on high ranking scores....

I like the concept. I just hope Cline picks up the pacing a bit. Especially since we aren't given much by way of character development for anyone, so I'm not particularly attached to any of them. Not even the main character. Not yet, anyway.

I just hope I can do better with "One and the Same." I don't want it to be like "Ready Player One" and "Armada." Granted, Cline's stories are separate entities - although they feel REALLY similar; same themes and everything thus far - but RPO was engaging from the first few pages, and I instantly fell in love with Wade, Aech, and Art3mis. Meanwhile, "Armada" seems to meander, and I'm not invested in any of the characters. I couldn't even tell you the difference between the main character Zack's two best friends Cruz and Diehl. They're just always a unit; even given the same first name: Michael. I can't even remember who voted for Mjolner vs Sting in their debate about best fantasy weapon.

I'm struggling with OatS, whereas PT felt like it flowed through me. It was a story that grabbed hold and wouldn't let me go. Whereas OatS has scenes that I'm itching for the world to read, but the over-all story just doesn't seem to want to form. I'm trying. I really am, but I fear that it's going to be like "Armada": a lack-luster second story from an author who had a promising first novel. Granted, for me the "first novel" is a free-to-read, published-online fanfic. But still....

I just need to study "Armada" and note the pitfalls Cline tripped into, and try to avoid doing the same thing for OatS. Hopefully that, plus some careful planning and decent editing, will help me keep OatS as intriguing as PT was.

I can also take what went wrong with "Armada", add in the critiques I had for "Ready Player One" - such as the obvious Plot Armor on Wade - and learn what to avoid when I'm writing my own original works. Whenever THAT will be....

I also need to remind myself that, while I should strive to write the best I can for my faithful readers, I AM still writing free-to-read, website-published fanfiction. No one is expecting it to be professional quality. It is always a pleasant surprise to find fanfiction that is so finely polished, but no one is EXPECTING it.

I can experiment with fanfiction. I can grow with fanfiction. I can get reader feedback as I'm posting my chapters in order to know where I'm going wrong and what I'm doing right. I can practice, fail, and recover within fanfiction.

I need to take some pressure off. But not TOO much pressure... otherwise I may never finish writing this sequel. Speaking of, I should get back to working on that ending so I know where I'm headed for the rest of the story....

Stay warm out there!

clipart found here

Welcome to the Year of the Pig (Boar)

Found via Google Images

Sorry, this was the best quality I could find for this scene. It doesn't get enough love.
Scene from Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) by Mel Brooks

Happy Lunar New Year for all who celebrate it! A day to once again start over fresh. A day to relieve debts from the year past, and to look forward with hope of luck and prosperity.

None of that has to refer specifically to finances, by the way.

While celebrating Lunar New Year is not part of my heritage or culture, I do still like to wear red, avoid knives and scissors - using a blade is thought to cut good luck from your year - and use the date as a reminder that there's still time to make this year the way I want it. I may have stumbled out of the gate in January - eating too much, not exercising enough, leaving the apartment a mess, slacking on my writing, etc - but there's still almost 11 full months left. The year isn't trashed yet.

So, join me, everyone, in this renewal of the year, of your resolutions, of your perspective on life. You can do this. I can do this. We can do this. We let 2018 kind of suck for most of us, but we can wrangle 2019 and mold it into the year we want.

While I didn't really get to reading last month, I can play catch-up this month. I can hit that reset button. I can also use this day of rejuvenation to re-focus on "One and the Same." Especially since I finished "Woven Heartstrings." I can do better with household chores, healthy eating, and getting in more exercise.

2019 is not yet lost!

But to backtrack, yes, I DID manage to complete "Woven Heartstrings"! I cut it close, posting to some sites as late as 11:45pm on January 31st, but I hit my Drop-Deadline of completing even the epilogue of the story before January was done. Now, to take down my Christmas tree.....


Should you like to read the conclusion of that Christmas story I wrote for Taurus Pixie, you can now find the completed work on my normal three sites. Or, if you just need to read the epilogue....

"Epilogue"

On FanFiction            On ArchiveOfOurOwn            On DeviantArt

Also, if you are like both my mother and Wolfhearted, and prefer to read offline, a quick reminder that you can download my story via AO3.

Along the top of the story, you'll see a button marked "Download".
If you click on it, you'll get this drop-down menu.

I personally download PDFs to then read via Adobe Reader,
but I believe some e-readers use the MOBI and EPUB formats.
If you want to put the story on your e-reader, please check
to see which format works best for it.

You can also easily print via PDF if you want a physical copy to flip through. It IS an 8-chapter, 32,000+ word story though. So it will be a LOT of pages. If that's what you prefer though, I'm all for it. I just wish to spread enjoyment with my stories, so I won't judge how you consume them.

Oh, and speaking of "spreading enjoyment," if my reviews are any indication, I managed just that! I can't believe my reviewers. They are so sweet, and what they said about my story makes me tear up. So, if you are one of my readers/reviewers, know that you make my day, and you are my life-blood. Thank you so much!

And, since I'm apparently a stats-nerd, might as well see how "Woven Heartstrings" did. I'm not QUITE a week out from when the last chapter posted, but close enough to get a rough feel for how well the story did. After that first week of a chapter posting the readership tends to die off. At least, for me.

Anyway, here's the over-all stats for WH:

First Posted: 12/24/2018           Completed: 1/31/2019
Total Days to Write: 41             Total Days Published Online: 44
Word Count: 32,222                   Total Chapters: 7 plus epilogue

FFN: 6,913 views, 69 faves, 104 followers, and 33 reviews
AO3: 2,593 views, 219 kudos, 26 bookmarks, and 20 comments
DA: 152 views, 8 faves from 3 people, but no comments

Total Results: 9,658 views, 296 faves, 130 followers, and 54 reviews

Tumblr Notes: 69 total; 63 likes, 5 reblogs, and 1 comment

Top 10 Review Trends*:
  1. This is just so cute/sweet/fluffy** (20 reviews)
  2. I love it! (16 reviews)
  3. Awwww (8 reviews)
  4. You have the characters down pat/it's like reading a script (7 reviews)
  5. "You made me tear up/cry" and/or "this is tugging at MY heartstrings" (6 reviews)
  6. "Your story made me want to crochet/knit/craft" and/or "now I want to make my own Worry Dolls" (6 reviews)
  7. This story is so warm/comforting/homey** (6 reviews)
  8. The gifts were perfect (5 reviews)
  9. "I like that you move slow with Marinette and Chat Noir" or "I appreciate that you keep them as friends with a hint of something more" (4 reviews)
  10. Repetitive Taurus Pixie freak outs at how awesome the story is (every chapter)

*Disclaimer: Many reviews contained overlapping trends, and so the Top Ten counts do not properly reflect INDIVIDUAL reviews, i.e. - one review could count towards the "awww", "this is cute", and "I want to crochet" categories, and is counted as one review for each (making it look like 3 reviews)
**Disclaimer: 8 of the "this is so cute/sweet/fluffy" reviews were by Pixie; one per chapter, and most of the "Story is cozy" reviews are also Pixie.

Some other review trends that didn't hit the Top Ten were "Thank You" - be this from Pixie herself, or some other reviewer thanking me for taking the time to write/share the story - as well as "this is so good" and "I want more" and "I can't wait to see what happens next" and "keep up the good work/please keep writing."

I also received a couple of guest reviews, which is sweet, but also a bit annoying on FFN, because I can't respond to them!!! So, in case you are one of the guest reviewers, here's my response:

Guest: I'm not the one this story was intended for, but i have to say: You're THE BEST gift giver EVER! THANK YOU!

No, guest reviewer, thank YOU, for taking the time to read and review my story. Also, D'aaaaw for thinking I'm the best gift giver ever. I love that a gift for Pixie felt like a gift to others as well. I'm truly humbled that you think that way. You are amazing, and thank you for letting me know!

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc

As for the other guest review, I addressed that in a past blog post. The long and short was that I was freaking out about possibly portraying Gabriel in too sympathetic a light, and the guest told me to not worry about it. So, thank you again, Guest, for the encouragement and reassurance.

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc

Now, going back to my other stats, I wanted to note the faves over on DeviantArt. Yes, there are 8 of them, but only 3 people faved chapters. If DA were like the two fanfiction-specific sites, those three could only fave my story once each, so, as always, it skews the over-all favorite/bookmark counts, but I'm running with it. Those three people over on DA that favorited my story were AndreaDragonheart, keemi121, and the wonderful Seirenpoison, who had drawn me that lovely fanart based on the Chat Noir Appreciation Festival at the end of “Peeping Tomcat.” So, thank you, for giving my story love on a forgotten site for sharing writing. I do realize most people think drawings/pictures when they think DeviantArt.

Overall though, I'm super impressed with the love my story got, and I hope it's showing me trending towards being more read/recognized within the fandom. I don't know if I'll ever catch up to the more renowned authors for Miraculous Ladybug, such as TheLastPilot, MidnightStarlightWrites, imthepunchlord, Baneismydragon, Megatraven, LNC, HariWrites, buggachat - who is mostly known for her comics, but they still count - SKayLanphear, BullySquadess, and the late Maerynn, but I'd be happy to be included in a Fic Recommendation list at least once.

Also, I've read at least one story from each of the above authors - aside from SKayLanphear and BullySquadess - and they truly do deserve those top-billing slots. As for the two authors I haven't read yet, there's nothing really against them, but their stories are LOOOOOONG, so I just haven't set aside the time to tackle them. I'm talking 200,000 words and 40+ chapters with no end in sight. Buuut, they both have a story that is in the Top 5 Most Popular within the fandom on AO3. Bully specifically. When I filtered via most views, most comments, AND most kudos, the one story The Ladybugs and The Bees has the top slot. It only falls to the #2 slot with regards to Most Bookmarks, surpassed only by Heartstrings by taylortot.

It's in my Read Later list, but who knows if I'll find the time....

Hacker Girl Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc

Anyway, my point is, thank you, to everyone who took the time to show "Woven Heartstrings" some love. You guys are awesome, and, as I said before, my life-blood.

Now to get back on track with "One and the Same."

I'm still working non-linearly; writing whatever scenes inspire me, and hope I can thread them together later. Right now I'm still wrestling with the final chapter. It's already epically long at like 8 pages, and I have no clue how much longer it's going to go on.

The real snafu though, is the struggle for whose POV it should be in. The same issue I had while writing the final chapter of WH. There's just something about sharing the spotlight that makes the final chapter so hard for me. I want the audience to know how BOTH Adrien and Marinette feel as a story comes to a conclusion.

It was a bit easier with WH since it was in third person, so I could head hop juuuuuust the slightest bit. It wouldn't work professionally, which was something I really struggled with. However, I reminded myself that fanfiction doesn't have to be professional quality, and it seemed to work well enough that the head hopping didn't confuse anyone or jar them out of the story. In fact, it seemed to evoke MORE emotion, because, while the chapter was mostly following Adrien/Chat Noir, the reader could still glimpse into Marinette's head for a second or two.

I wasn't 100% a fan, but it worked, and people enjoyed it, so I'm running with it.

Problem with OatS is that it's going to be written in tag-teaming first-person. I was originally going to go with third so I could peek in to the thoughts of the other character when needed, but it was pointed out that a sequel to a first-person POV story should probably also be first-person POV. It would feel too disconnected otherwise.

So, now I'm stuck. The final chapter was supposed to be Marinette's as she sorted through everything that happened throughout the story. But, then it became definitely Adrien's as he tried to come back from the climactic drama. I'm writing the chapter in third person to see who the chapter truly belongs to, but I still can't decide.

Yes, it is very much Adrien's chapter for the most part, but there are still crucial bits where Marinette definitely has to be in charge.

If I can't figure this out by the time I get to revising the whole thing, I'm just going to wave the white flag and go a bit experimental. Again, as much as I try to remain professional so it is proper practice for whatever original story I might write someday, fanfiction is actually rarely written to professional standards.

My potential solution? Just tag-team the darn last chapter. I'll be sure to have proper headings as the POV switches so people won't get confused. I'll also have to rework a bit of what I wrote thus far so I'm not flip-flopping POVs every third paragraph or something. It won't look professional. It will definitely look experimental. I just hope it won't tear people out of the story by doing the final chapter this way.

Also.... I need to figure out how to tighten it up a bit. I get that there is a LOT to unpack, and it won't be realistic if things are resolved faster than I'm making it. However, which would my readers prefer? Something closer to the show, in which a major issue/emotion is talked about briefly - just so it's addressed - but resolved fairly quickly just for time sake? Or should I keep it realistic? Allow the characters to truly work through it in a satisfyingly accurate pace, but have an 11,000-word chapter???

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

This story will be the death of me.

So, please send me prayers or good vibes or lend me your Muse; whatever you wish/believe in. Because I need massive inspiration if I am to get this whole thing figured out before my "end of March/beginning of April" deadline....

Here's hoping I can snag some luck, perspective, and determination from the Lunar New Year.

Charging forward like a boar!

Kagura Sohma from the 

Fruits Basket manga and anime

by Natsuki Takaya

Found via Google Images

Preparing for More Snow

This week didn't go as expected. The long and the short of it is that I only managed to write for about an hour a day. Be that because I actually had to - GASP - work at my job!, or I had home-invaders, or Hubby wanted to watch Netflix together, or my hands were frozen with the latest cold snap and snow storms that came in, or.... I simply wasn't motivated. Usually, it was a day combining just about all of those "reasons" that caused my lack of writing.

I did get at least an hour of writing in each day though! Again, yesterday not included.... Stupid Mondays... So I'm now up to 5 days this month that I haven't written. That also means I did write 24 days this month so far. I'll take it.

So. Many. Smiles.

Also, while I wasn't able to finish "Woven Heartstrings" in its entirety, like I wanted, I was able to complete the main story. Getting a new chapter up within the week isn't terrible. Not as quick of a turn-around as I would have liked, but it's still fairly quick for a raw-first-draft-to-final-product turn-around. At least, for me.

Chapter 7: Always With You

On FanFiction            On ArchiveOfOurOwn            On DeviantArt

I'm glad my chapter titles slowly improved as I went along...

All I have left of the story is the epilogue. I started off WH with my chapters ranging about 3000-words to 3500-words long. Then, when I started doing the gift exchanges in chapter 5, I jumped up to 5000+ words. This latest chapter is near 6000-words long! The epilogue, though? It SHOULD be back to the 3000-word range, if not shorter. We'll see how that goes....

We're supposed to get a nasty snow storm again today, so I may be staying snuggled under blankets all day. Hopefully that also means I'll get at least the rough draft of the epilogue done while I'm getting snowed in. My original goal was to have the full story done within two weeks of Christmas so it didn't seem dragged out; bleeding into Valentine's Day. That clearly didn't happen, so I then aimed for January 24th so it would have taken me exactly a month to write an eight-chapter story. Yet another swing and miss. So NOW my deadline - or, as one of my professors once called it, the Drop-Dead line - is this Thursday. I WILL have this story done before the close of January.

I'm still debating if I want to count WH as my "monthly new story update" for my New Year's Resolution, or if I want to see if I can also sneak in a short of some kind. We'll see what I have time for.

Speaking of time and resolutions, I finally cracked open my first book of the year. I've been reading fanfics throughout the month, but this is the first professionally written piece I've read in about 3 months.... Which is why I started doing these annual challenges in the first place. Granted, the real boot to the bottom was a few years back when I literally read ONE BOOK all year long. How could I want to aspire to become an author if I won't even read books?

I know it's a fairly universally followed rule that writers should also be avid readers, and, frankly, I probably still don't read as frequently as most authors. I know the reason behind this "rule" is because the best way to improve your own work is to study the work of others. Figure out what you like, and learn how to incorporate it in to your own style. Figure out what doesn't work, and learn how to avoid those pitfalls in your own writing. See what's popular. Admire the style and research poured onto the page by other writers. In the more literal sense, there's also writing How-To books that help sharpen skills and give motivation. Then there's the pure escapism. If you're stuck behind Writer's Block, what better way to become re-inspired than to dive into someone else's story within that genre? You let your mind wander, and something in the story could spark what you want to do with your own.

There are TONS of reasons why writers should also make sure to be readers.

But the one that I hold as the top-tier reason?

How could I expect others to read my works if I'm not reading the works of others? It's a karma thing. A full-circle thing. A balance of the scales thing. A professional courtesy thing.

I don't want to be a hypocrite, living by "do as I say; not as I do." I don't want to ask people to put aside their precious time in order to read my works if I won't extend the same basic courtesy towards others. Who am I? To think my time is too restricted and invaluable to dedicate to reading, but believe your time isn't at least as rare? No! If you can take the time to read my stuff, I can do a least one new story a month.

And I have grown to read roughly a story a month, plus whatever I read with fanfiction. Maybe one day I'll re-structure my freetime, or learn to read fast enough, to be able to read two books a month. Perhaps, one day, when I'm sitting in retirement or something, I'll make it to a book a week, or even two a week. I know people who read roughly 100 books a year! I don't know if I'll ever get to that point, but it truly is inspiring to aim for that. It's also uplifting to know there are still people who consume so much written word. Gives us writers hope that maybe our story could find its way onto someone's reading list.

Point being, I finally got around to reading yesterday. I had to do SOMETHING productive if I was avoiding writing. The story I started up was a Christmas gift from the hubby: Ernest Cline's second novel "Armada." Just reading the book description reminds me of "Ender's Game," so let's see how Cline puts his own twist on the concept.

Zack Lightman has never much cared for reality. He vastly prefers the countless science-fiction movies, books, and videogames he's spent his life consuming. And too often, he catches himself wishing that some fantastic, impossible, world-altering event could arrive to whisk him off on a grand spacefaring adventure.

So when he sees the flying saucer, he's sure his years of escapism have finally tipped over to psychosis.

Especially because the alien ship he's staring at is straight out of his favorite videogame, a flight simulator called Armada--in which gamers just happen to be protecting Earth from alien invaders.

As impossible as it seems, what Zack's seeing is all too real. And it's just the first in a blur of revelations that will force him to question everything he thought he knew about Earth's history, its future, even his own life--and to play the hero for real, with humanity's fate in the balance.

But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can't help thinking: Doesn't something about this scenario feel a little bit like... well... fiction?

At once reinventing and paying homage to science-fiction classics as only Ernest Cline can, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a coming-of-age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you've ever read before.

Perhaps "Ender's Game" is one of the "science-fiction classics" being referred to.... Basically, I'm feeling like "Armada" is what "Pixels" should have been....

I only took the time to read the first chapter, but I have noticed a pattern already in Cline's writing.

1. He likes to write in first person. I get it; I do too. I switch it up to 3rd with some stories, but I largely write in 1st. I enjoy it, and didn't realize it got so much hate until I had reviews for “Peeping Tomcat” telling me I changed their mind about 1st person POV. Maybe it's just fanfiction written in 1st that gets the hate????
2. Both of his main characters are males during their senior year of high school when they get the Call to Action. In "Ready Player One" his main character Wade realized where the first key to The Contest was hidden while he was sitting in class his senior year. In fact, I think it was January of his senior year. In "Armada" the main character Zack notices the flying saucer while he's daydreaming in class. He's 2 months from graduation, so... April of his senior year?
• I don't know if this means something significant happened to Cline during his senior year of high school, which is why this timeframe is the catalystic point in both books, or if he just figured "this way they're technically teenagers, but they'll have adult-like freedom within the timeframe of the book."
3. Both main characters have a strong connection to their deceased father. Wade was given that first name because his father liked the idea of his son having alliteration in his name, like the best comic book characters. Wade also was really into 80s culture, like his father. Granted, that was because of The Contest, and he never actually knew his father, who died during a power outage riot. Zack did know his father, and they bonded over Sci-Fi and... 80s culture. Zack's father also had mental health problems, which Zack seems to have inherited.
• Maybe Cline is working out his own father issues within these books? An homage to the man, perhaps? It seems significant that he has this trend between both main characters.
4. Cline has a thing for the 1980's. I mean, I just said that 80s pop-culture is present in both books. Now, I've only read the first chapter of "Armada," so I don't know if the 80s themes are going to run nearly as deep as they did in "Ready Player One" - which was basically a love letter to the 80s - but the theme is still there again.
• Cline was born in 1972, which meant he was a teenager during the 80s, so he may just be writing what he knows - how to be a teen surrounded by 80s pop culture - while still trying to be futuristic, hence all the throw-back references.

I wonder what the trends are in my writing. I know one of them is that I get VERY introspective with my characters, but I'm now curious if I have more specific trends, such as Cline's affinity towards the 80s, males close to graduating high school, or specifically pointed out connections between the protagonist and his father....

If you know of any oddly specific tropes or trends I include in my writing, feel free to point it/them out in the comments below. In the meantime, I'll see what other fun parallels Cline has in both stories.

I'll also be sure to have "Woven Heartstrings" finished up by the end of the week so you can see the conclusion of that next week. February is the start of me getting serious with my finishing the first draft of "One and the Same." As is, I don't know if I'll have it polished up enough for me to start publishing chapters by the end of March. Shame; I wanted to have it follow the same timeframe as "Peeping Tomcat". We'll have to see how everything goes.

Hacker Boy Facebook sticker
by Birdman, Inc