Buckle Up, Kiddies

Guess who was actually bit by the writing bug this week? Like... seriously bit.

Koko Facebook sticker
by Hanasake Pictures Inc

You might want to grab a snack and a drink, maybe even get that bathroom break out of the way, because this is going to get to my "epic" length yet again with this one. So... get comfy.

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Last Tuesday, I ended up reading Love Taps at writing group. The most agreed upon comment? I could re-name the characters with Western names, ditch the reference to The Zodiacs, and the story could stand on its own as original content. Much like with I Don't Care, I feel like my "mostly original takes on what-ifs of these characters' lives" could very well be original content. The trick, however, is that I doubt I could really go anywhere with such a single short story, and since I won't really be able to picture these characters as anything other than their canon concepts, I fear I wouldn't be able to expand upon these stories as legitimately original works.

Point is, I feel like my group is really trying to push me to write something original already. I appreciate the confidence in my writing. I just- I dunno. I have the vaguest of concepts for Glitches and some sort of Gyateara-based fantasy story. I just don't have any actual plot ideas, and my story about Jolene's past is long and meandering and more for me. I honestly don't expect that to ever be picked up by a publisher.

Would I like to write something original? Heck yeah! I'd LOVE to have an original idea that grips me. One like a pre-historical fantasy about what life was like during the construction of the Tower of Babel, or a pre-9/11 tale about a CIA agent who has to protect his great-grandmother from South American assassins seeking revenge for her involvement in WWII, or a standard fantasy about a snarky teen whisked away from his home and must find a way back while realizing he has magical powers because he's secretly a member of a long-thought-lost race. Or, a story about a "family" of clones trying to live a normal life while the scientist that created them tries to track them down to either exterminate or further experiment on them. Or a low-fantasy story about a foreign bodyguard battling with her harsh past while protecting her refugee princess who is trying to survive a coup against her family, or another fantasy story about an exiled member of a secret angelic race as she tries to survive as a simple mortal long enough to get back home and force her way back into the society. Or maybe a story about a man fighting against reality itself as his Dementia worsens, his only comfort is the small collection of fellow nursing home residents that sort of strong-arm a friendship with him. Or even an anthology of short stories about a silent-movie star who is secretly immortal.

Don't they all sound amazing? They are each so unique. I- I got nothing. I may come up with compelling stories with original plot ideas, but they are all based on pre-established worlds and characters. Without those? Without my saying "What if?" while looking at the world or the characters? I have nothing.

At best, I'm a really good parrot. Always have been. My drawings were doctored copies of other images I saw. My stories are fanfiction. My original content is derived from fanfiction. Gyateara originated from a combination of the world of D&D and the video games Fable and Legend of Zelda. Glitches is a re-masked X-Men story.

I am an imitator. I don't know why, but I am completely unable to start from zero. I ALWAYS, in all forms of artwork - yes, crocheting things included - have to find a base, and then manipulate it for my own purposes. When I first started writing, I tried to mimic my writing voice off of that of Stephen King's.

True, in the end, I do adjust and adapt until I have something unique. Yes, all artists have to LEARN by mimicking others' work until it evolved into their own original style. I get that. I do. However, while I feel like I HAVE found my writing voice, I don't know if I've evolved enough to come up with an original "off the top of my head" story.

I'm not able to see a black-and-white painting of a mysterious man in the woods in winter, his back covered in arrows as the man stumbles through the snow, and think "fantasy story about a teenager who is secretly a member of a lost race of magic users."

I can't see the limited information that archaeologists have on the ancient civilizations around the time of the Tower of Babel, and think "what if they were telepathic, and telekinetic, and were able to travel via 'flying' rugs - flying because of the limited telekinetic powers?"

In a more mainstream sense, I can't look at Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology and think "what if the gods in these myths were real, and still had demigod children/avatars in modern society?" Or wonder about a teen who became a mob-boss within the world of the Fae. Or imagine a new take on the Battle Royale with Children concept to create a new YA distopia story.

My wheelhouse is fanfiction. I thrive on building off of stories left by the original authors; angles and potential the author might not see. Heck, I wanted to write a whole anthology of stories off of the character Lincoln from our X-Future RPG. That was one of the main reasons I was so emotionally distraught by the player killing him off. I loved the character, sure, and I saw it was the beginning of the end of playing with that guy, who was such a masterful wordsmith. However, the biggest gut-punch to me was when he said he was bored with Lincoln, because I had see soooooo many different story routes and potential that he didn't.

I don't need true AUs where one of the villains is actually a hero, or one of the heroes started off as a villain, or everyone works at a coffee house, or a magical show is retold as if it weren't magical, or a non-magical story is told in a fantasy setting, etc. I just need the SLIGHTEST divergence from the source material. I need to explore the "what if Character A did option B instead?" and create split timelines. I need big gaps in time, leaving me to wonder "Yeah, but what happened between Scene C and Scene D?" I need moderately vague endings that tie up enough loose ends to be satisfying, but still open for enough interpretation for me to wonder "what happened next?" Or mysterious character or world-build backgrounds that give enough information for a foundation to be constructed, but the rest is completely unknown.

I thrive there.

So, while I do very much appreciate the faith in my writing, and the encouragement to write something original so I can be published in an effort to make a profit - as much as I would LOVE to be paid for my writing - I truly don't foresee that happening in the near future. Not unless I can find a way to market my fanfiction. Not unless I can find a way to become part of the writing team for my fandoms.

And, considering my main fandom is produced in France and I don't know French, and my other main fandom right now is an already completed Japanese comic - a manga series - that is being re-adapted - quite faithfully - into an anime, I highly doubt the "become a writer for the fandom" is very plausible.

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Wow, that got mildly depressing, didn't it. Sorry. Didn't mean to. I was just trying to point out that, regardless of talent, perhaps some writers just aren't meant to write original content. Maybe I'll look at the world some day, and it will spark an original "OH! What if...?" buuuuuut, I doubt it will be any good if I try to force it.

Instead, I'll focus on the more minor milestones, such as the amount of writing I did this past week.

Yep, getting back on track here.

So, Wednesday I woke up, and I realized that Friday was not only a full moon, but also the 13th. We haven't had a Friday the 13th in about a year, I think? And I felt it deserved to be celebrated, as it were. A full moon on a Friday the 13th? I mean, come on. I think I saw somewhere it was the last time a full moon would fall on a Friday the 13th in like 30 years? I don't know how much I trust internet facts, but if it is true, all the more reason this past one was special.

I knew I'd be able to break out my Friday the 13th Facebook banner I did up quick last Friday the 13th.

Screen shot from Miraculous Ladybug episode "Pharaoh"

I could also use my "matching" profile picture from my original fanfic fandom: Hey, Arnold!

Screen shot from the incredibly appropriate
Hey, Arnold! episode "Friday the 13th"

That wasn't enough though to mark how special this date was. I wanted to write a story. I wanted to write a story centered around my favorite black cats. Originally, that was going to be a Chat Noir-centric story, but I couldn't think of anything to really focus on him.

I could go the usual MariChat route, but that would focus more on their relationship than on him specifically, same with a LadyNoir story. Then I thought I could write a story where he's actually the hero in an akuma attack. Sure, Ladybug still has to be okay enough to use her Lucky Charm, and capture/purify the akuma, but it was Chat Noir who actually took the villain down; much like how LB has taken the villain down by herself countless times.

That required me thinking of an akuma though. So... NOPE!

Blue Cat Facebook sticker
by Kangaroo

As I spent most of Wednesday morning brainstorming Chat Noir stories, knowing that I had less than three days to write the thing, I suddenly was struck with "Why does it have to be Chat Noir?" You know who else is a black cat for this thematic story? How about the kwami that powers up the superhero?

Plagg from Miraculous Ladybug

It is very rare for a story to be told completely from the perspective of one of the kwamis. Also, Plagg is one of my favorite characters from the show. On top of that, my attempt to come up with a second chapter for Painfully Close in order to tell Plagg's POV of the "Puppeteer 2" episode was a complete fail that went nowhere. My favorite cheeky black kitty needed some more love from me. And I knew exactly what I needed to do for Friday.

I announced it as "Plagg Appreciation Day" and spent the second half of Wednesday, part of Thursday, and the morning of Friday writing and editing a one-shot told from Plagg's perspective.

"Breaking Monotony"

On FanFiction       On ArchiveOfOurOwn       On DeviantArt

I also attempted to post the full story over on Tumblr, but apparently I hit a word cap I didn't know existed? So I was only able to post a sample there, and then linked to those three other locations.

It's been doing fairly decently for a story that doesn't focus on Marinette and/or Adrien. The stats as of this morning:

FFN: 213 views, 14 faves, 6 followers, and 3 reviews
AO3: 284 views, 21 kudos, 3 bookmarks, and 3 comments
DA: 17 views, but no faves or comments

Total Results: 514 views, 35 faves, 9 followers, and 6 reviews

Tumblr Notes: 8 likes

Reviews:
  1. It is a happy Plagg Appreciation Day, thanks to you
  2. Another fantastic story!!! I do love the "Day in the Life" idea and can't wait to see that! Happy Plagg day!!!!
  3. This was really cute 😊
  4. This is so freaking cute! I love Plagg! Your take on how the kwamis power the suits is fascinating, and I love it!

The other two reviews are a bit too long to try to keep in my stats box.

Of course, I had a lovely review from Taurus Pixie.

Taurus Pixie: You're a genius for posting this story on Friday 13th! Very apt! When I saw that you had written another more kwami based story, I got super excited! You nailed the last one that you did, and I'm always interested in learning more about them and the way that they view things. Especially Plagg since he's my favourite, lol.
      This was so much fun! Watching Plagg's perspective on everything was hilarious, especially whenever Marinette was around. I can totally see this being Plagg's actual thoughts in the show. You kept him so in character, and that just made this story even more amazing, especially since Plagg is always one of the funniest characters. I loved this so much!
      Happy Plagg Appreciation Day!

My final review was, admittedly, a bit awkward to read with all the cat puns threaded throughout, but the over-all intention of the review was sweet, so I'll share that too.

pinksakura271: Furist off the title is great. The summary is fun. Thank you fur thiss one-shot. True it's as Kagami once told Adrien: "You always do what's expected of you." In 'Frozer' when fencing she cutely taunts him "predicable" Adrien/Kagami would be adorable together romantically. I furrey much apurreciate that this is Plagg and hiss Cattastic Kitten centred instead of their female Bug counterparts. (Sweet Smile)
      Right on Gorilla, doesn't truly bodyguard Adrien. Definitely more of gentle giant of a babysitter/chauffeur. But downplayed or not any happiness given to Adrien Plagg (and MYSELF) apurreciate and apurrove com-paw-letely. Huh Adrien stating "mix things up, how about no Camembert for the day" of course Plagg would claim hiss Kitten crazy or evil. (Giggles) Adrien not noticing he makes Clumsinette more nervous boo-hoo it's not paw-issble.
      DUPAIN-CHENG IS BEING RIDICULOUS ABOUT IT ALL! Plagg's thoughts on hiss Sugarcube always wonderful. I swear those two Bugs don't apurreciate their Cats very much, compared to how the Cats treat them it's seriously infuriating. - She was so close, and yet insanely far. - oh Plagg connected story of both you and your Kitten's love lives... INSUFFERABLE IDIOTIC INSECTS they are! Them eating lunch very sweet, Plagg truly knows Adrien deserves so much better... furom honestly everyone around him.
      Always a misconception... Plagg's influence over Adrien isn't so keen. Seriously Tikki shut up, yes their business is serious. - I don't guide my owners the way you do with yours. - Again Tikki SHUT UP! What kind of accusation is that huh?! But unlike your Bug, Plagg's Kitten needs to BREATHE as Cat Noir. Casual purrlease he's endearing, besides Tikki Marinette DOESN'T truly understand Adrien nor Cat Noir so can you talk Tikki?
      I love your idealism of Plagg and Adrien coming together to become Cat Noir. It's highly horrible Kitty is Bug's shield willingly. Getting hurt, brainwashed, or filled by an akuma all on her behalf... it's sickening to watch sometimes. Plagg liking Kagami hanging with Adrien is great. Yes it's true she as similar to Nathalie but it's NOT bad at all. Right Marinette needs to mature to see Adrien as just another teenager/friend.

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Phew! Did you got through all of that? I want to finish up by giving a shout out to those four reviewers who had short comments. It seems unfair they go unnamed when the longer reviews get those quoted lead-ins. So, big thank you to AO3 readers Hilzabub, MyPandaEatsBroccoli, and my repeat reader MalcomReynolds. And over on FFN, thank you for my faithful reader ChubbyUnicornMama. Love each of my readers and reviewers so much!

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Do you need to take a quick break? Run to the bathroom? Refresh your drink? Grab a new snack? Because I'm not done yet!

Yes, I spent three days trying to put together a Black Cat themed story for Friday the 13th. However, that day ALSO brought about a pivotal episode for the Fruits Basket anime.

The infamous True Form episode. When I saw the character Kazuma the previous week, I knew True Form was coming, and boy howdy was I trying to prepare!

Kazuma Sohma in
episode "You Look Well..."

I was NOT prepared enough. I nearly sobbed the whole episode. I was wiping tears a good ten minutes after the episode was over.

Then I watched it again the next day with Omnibladestrike. I wasn't crying this time, but my heart still hurt so much. Knowing the full story really adds extra daggers to the episode. The subtly, the foreshadowing, the allusions to past events we aren't privy to yet. The writing is soooo well done, and the subtle reactions characters have? The slight shift in weight, or the faint glares, or the mild looks of panic? All of them MEAN something. These characters are so much more real because the animators took care to know each character's full story, and animated those subtle reactions. The ones that make second watches - once you know the full story - all the more powerful.

This show is amazing. I love it so much!

Well, I couldn't go two back-to-back days of watching the episode "Let's Go Home" without some Kyo angst leaking into my brain, apparently.

Saturday night, I went to bed, drifting to sleep, with an angsty Kyo story drifting to the surface of my mind. Sunday morning, I remembered nearly all of it. So I went ahead and wrote it up.

Surprisingly, it's actually less than 500 words! I can do that on the rarest of occasions, I guess! To be fair, the "story" is a letter from Kyo to Tohru, so it's going to be short. Also, a LOT of the context comes from knowledge of the show. More importantly, knowledge of the full manga, because a big reveal in the 20th manga - out of a 23 manga series - gives further context for a lot of what Kyo wrote in the letter.

Still. It was written, and it was posted fairly early Sunday.

"Unsent Letter"

On FanFiction       On ArchiveOfOurOwn       On DeviantArt       On Tumblr

Even with a revival of the fandom with the 2019 reboot of the anime, it seems the overall readership is a bit lower than that for the ML fandom. Either that, or I've become a more established ML fanfic writer than I give myself credit for.

Unsent Letter doesn't nearly have the traffic my other stories have, despite it being such a quick read comparatively. Maybe I went too far in the opposite direction, and people are assuming it's not worth reading BECAUSE it's less than 500 words? Or maybe people are still recovering from "Let's Go Home" and can't bother with Kyo angst right now....

Regardless of the reasons for the lower readership, I still love what I did with this bit, and I'm proud I was able to write something I consider complete in less than 500 words. And it's not like the story is completely ignored. I did get some nice reviews at least.

FFN: 42 views, no faves or followers, and 1 review by ChubbyUnicornMama
AO3: 96 views, 14 kudos, no bookmarks, and 4 comments
DA: 16 views, no faves or comments, but included in the group For-Fruits-Basket

Total Results: 154 views, 14 kudos, no followers, and 5 reviews

Tumblr Notes: 12 notes; 10 likes and 2 reblogs

Reviews:
  1. My Poor Cat Angsty Cat Boy 😭😭😭 You can't even tell him it'll all work out okay in the end because he'd never believe you ='(
  2. Dork. Just let her love you.
  3. Waaaaahh this is so sad! T_T T_T T_T But it's also so beautifully written and so perfectly in-character!!! ❤❤❤ It really feels like it could have been one of those monologue-style chapters!
  4. [CENSORED] ow rip my soul out next time please
  5. Aww... poor kitty. Another one I would adopt! (I'm assuming this is from Kyo to Tohru)

Thank you to my reviewers: inheritanceofgeek, MalcomReynolds, ChibiSunnie, iSpitonFire, and ChubbyUnicornMama. You all rock, and it makes me smile whenever I see your comments.

Now, if ALL of that wasn't quite enough yet, don't worry, I got you covered.

While thinking so much about Plagg and Plagg's perspective of things, I also thought about the fanfic trope of Adrien discovering who Hawk Moth truly is. I personally feel that if that canonically happens, it's the start of the end. There shouldn't be to much storytelling left in the show past that point.

However...

HOW-EVER!

What if it were PLAGG who discovered Hawk Moth's identity? I don't know if it's enough storytelling potential to stretch past a half-season; full-season probably at most. Even so, it is fun to think about.

For my full thoughts on the matter, feel free to check out my Tumblr post about it:

What if Plagg found Nooroo

Yet another plot bunny to add to the pile, but if anyone else reads my post and wants to run with it, I strongly encourage you to do so. Please just link me to the story once it's up. I'd love to see what you came up with!

As of this writing, the post has 16 likes and 4 reblogs, so maybe someone out there WILL write a story based on that idea, or draw a comic about it. I'd love to see. I'm EXCITED to see. I WANT TO SEE!

But if it goes nowhere with someone else, perhaps I will conquer it myself.

Old Billy Mays meme I won't let die

I have a "secret project" currently in the works, and a second one I need to further brainstorm for. I'm going to try to push to have at least the one up in time to share it with you fine folks next week. The other... might take a touch longer, and I should have REALLY thought about starting it last month or something. We'll see how it goes.

Plus... ya know... periodically poking away at One and the Same....

Writing is becoming a bit of an All-Or-Nothing sort of thing for me, huh? At least my Muse did indeed wake up! Thanks to anyone and everyone that poked her awake and sent her my way.


Oh goodness! I STILL haven't talked about the stats of I Don't Care!

Well, it's been weeks since I published it, so I no longer have the 24hr or 1st week stats I normally share. I'm sure I could figure out things like faves/kudos and reviews by going back through my emails, but I won't have number of hits and the like. So I'll just go with what I have currently.

FFN: 77 views, 6 faves, 4 followers, and 5 reviews
AO3: 45 views, 5 kudos, 1 bookmark, and 2 comments
DA - Chapter 1: 15 views, 2 faves, but no comments
DA - Chapter 2: 21 views, 2 faves, but no comments

Total Results: 158 views, 13 faves*, 5 followers, and 7 reviews
  *both faves of both chapters on DA were by the same 2 people; so it would only be 1 fave each if they read on other platforms.

Tumblr Notes: 3 notes; 2 likes and 1 reblog

Reviews:
  1. This was fantastic! Please, spoil me more!
  2. Whoa! It's stuff like this that makes me want to get a tumblr account. *sigh* great job! (review of chpt 1)
  3. I love seeing Gabriel as human. A little awkward, but human. (review of chpt 2)
  4. I officially love this! To think that there was once a normal man there, though this explains why he would become hawkmoth (Emilie seems really nice and worth risking Paris for)! Thanks for writing and stay Miraculous!

Real quick, first of all, that first review was commenting on my Author's Note on how I'm "spoiling" everyone by uploading 2 chapters at once. Secondly, the review commenting about the Tumblr account was responding to me stating Chapter 1 was a Tumblr Exclusive one-shot for over a year before I decided to expand on that world and make the multi-chapter fic. Those reviews were by the fabulous MalcomReynolds again, as well as the lovely ChubbyUnicornMama, and yet another repeat-reader Chat-and-ladybug.

As for the three remaining reviews? First up was my long one over on AO3.

lckychrm: aaaaaaaaaaa Ii am so happy that you decided to make this a multi chapter story!! It was a great surprise to log on tumblr and find this!! 😊 I’ve read “A stranger in a white dress” back when you posted it and it was amazing and now you continued it and it is even better!! I loved it so much and it’s hilarious how Gabe and Emilie always meet at a party 😂 and how you inspire yourself for each chapter with a different song!
    I can’t wait to see what you’ll have in store for them! I really like your writing!! 💕:’)))

It is so exciting for me to know that I have someone who read my work on Tumblr, loved it, and followed me over onto AO3!

And just this morning I was greeted by two lovely reviews from Taurus Pixie.

First up, her review of Chapter 1: Stranger in a White Dress

Taurus Pixie: Oh my stars! This is such a good idea! I've always been curious as to what exactly Gabriel and Emilie's relationship was like, as well as how they met. Gabriel obviously felt very close to her and was almost obsessively in love with her. This seems like such a plausible way that they could have met! You managed to create such an intense chemistry between them and almost make me view Gabriel in a different light. Until I remembered he was Hawkmoth and is downright abusive towards Adrien.
    But that just goes to show how overall amazing your writing is! This could very well be what Emilie's personality is actually like. We certainly know that she was quite fiery and passionate as implied by Gabriel. I think you captured that really well. Anyway, I'm off to read the next chapter! This is so cute and romantic! Excellent work!

And now for her review of Chapter 2: Alone at a Party

Taurus Pixie: I couldn't help but laugh at the wardrobe comment since the characters in the show hardly ever change outfits. Also, I've only just noticed how amazing your cover art is. Maybe I'll have to get some tips off you on how you make them, because they always look fabulous. But anyway, back onto the proper review.
    Emilie is so funny, and their interactions are so cute! Once again, I can so totally picture them being like this! There is so much mystery that surrounds them! You are super talented at writing romance, and I only wish that I could write moments as magically as yours. The chemistry between them once again felt so real, and it all feels incredibly realistic. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but your writing always feels so incredibly canon, as if you are an actual writer of the show.
    I'd be totally down for a third chapter if that's what you want to do, but there's no rush. This is such a sweet story, and I once again bow down to your amazing talent. Thank you for sharing this idea with us! It's so amazing!

AAAAH! Pixie, you are a sweetheart! Thank you for the encouraging words about how true-to-show I remain. Also, to get back to those two faves on DA, one of the users - paul7067 - actually started following ME after favoriting those chapters. Clearly Paul wants to make sure to not miss any other Gabriel/Emilie action from me. How exciting!

I mean, yeah, in the big scheme of things, this is probably my least-popular ML story, but it IS about humanizing Gabriel Agreste, and most of the fandom would rather throw tomatoes at him than grow sympathy. So, I get it. This particular story won't be most of the fandom's cup of tea. Which means the love I HAVE received just means that much more to me. So, to all of you who have read, favorited, left kudos, bookmarked, and/or followed I Don't Care? Know that I love you lots!

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Also, one last shout out to DA user Constance-Truggle, who has added I was Thinking of You, Acting Weird, and Build Your Own Luck to both their generic favorites and their "Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir" folder. I love seeing my work getting love on DA.

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I'm reaching the home stretch. I promise. I know this particular blog must be quite exhausting to get through. Thank you for following me this far deep down the Rabbit Hole.

I know there was more I wanted to touch upon with regards to my overall readership - I have dozens of emails stockpiled so I have the stats on-hand - but I'm not going to try to shoehorn it in when this blog is so long already. Maybe next time....

I also wanted to comment about the song I've been obsessing over this past weekend, but again, that will be dog-eared for next week, I guess.

So instead I'll finish up with a heads up that the latest chapter of Discordant Sonata by EdenDaphne is live. So, if you're following that story alongside me, be sure to check out Chapter 11: Cambiare.

Also, over the weekend, I stumbled upon a lovely story about Ladybug and Chat Noir whistling to each other. It's such a great concept, especially when they use the whistles in battle and as a way to warn each other that they're near.

You Know How to Whistle, Don't You? by Aikori_Ichijouji

If you prefer, you can also find the story on FFN.

Seriously, it's fairly short and so sweet. Plus, I just love the unique concept.

Okay, it's now past my noon update time, so I need to jet. I wish you all a great week!