you can tell i'm neurodivergent because, while sitting down to properly detail the main storyline of A Shoal of Ivory, i decided i wanted to use my mom's whiteboard instead of this... online mind map?(?)
so i asked for the whiteboard.
and then i wanted to finish cleaning the storage room so i could use it as a little writing space. Hang up the whiteboard in there.
so i spend four hours moving boxes around.
and then i call my mom up to ask what she wants to do with more of her things in the Other Storage Room. Yknow. While I'm at it.
and then the Storage Crawlspace (we have a lot of storage).
then i took a nap for two hours.
I probably spent a total of eight minutes plotting my fic.
Your tone is so interactive, you bring us Readers straight into the Sunbnautica universe and make us feel involved even if we've never played the game (*cough*guilty*cough*) and
your
leviathans
are
so
adorable!!!!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!! I love you so much. Like seriously. The ocean is one of my FAVORITE places ever and this fandom.... Aaaargh sending virtual hugs and energy boosts!!!
(miss Cross, but understandable why you had to leave him out. Also I am now your #1 fan and will binge read all of your story(s?) from now on. Permanently. You can't escape me.)
Thank you SO MUCH 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷
ahh, that's so sweet of you! I genuinely don't think I'd have gotten half as much of this story written if it weren't for people enjoying it so much, happy to hear you love it! :)
And it just so happens that @kittycatpaw11 is working on a take of their own that does, in fact, include Cross. Just saying ;3
Seeing you receive so much love is my favorite thing btw. I get so giddy and happy for you every time I see someone leave you such frickin nice words <3
egg: raw yolk or half cooked yolk. im not picky but its just best when the yolk is drippy or at least wet, regardless of what style it’s being made.
steak: medium rare
milk: cinnamon and ginger on the bottom of the cup (so it doesnt float and therefore not mix), warm, honey stirred in. can be cow’s milk or almond milk, ive never tried with oat milk but that’d be good too. oh wait this was meant to be a one-word answer. too bad
alcohol: kremas we’re not 21+ and alcohol is bad for you anyway 👎👎👎
warm drink: honey ginger tea
tags: @simplystarrysky @legalityoftheraccoons @kass-tasteraphy + open tags
i really like my eggs sunny-side-up on sourdough orrrr in an omelette with an unholy amount of ingredients in it
steak is so gooodddd i like mine medium
im a special little cookie and like organic a2 cow milk
i prefer to not drink alcohol
ooohhh i love hot coco! But mint tea is also very yummy :b
helloooooo @kittycatpaw11 @aestheticallycha0tic @kyarashard @lena—xd @lavenderskies25 @fr0ggers @zuzucchinimoose!
This one is a little sappy. But i think Cross having a crush on someone isn’t very noticeable, unless you start noticing that he does very unnecessary acts of service specifically tailored to one person.
Affectionately nicknamed as W!Killer, this is a distorted liminal space variant from the Minecraft horror mod "wonderland.jar" that me and Tic have been playing.
There's a particular entity that's invisible and walks behind us sometimes, and we thought it'd be funny to compare that guy to Killer's stalking tendencies. Aaand then we made Killer his own entity.
I did also accidentally make my sona sound like Tic's long lost lesbian lover. The ONE TIME they were actually roommates.
"A First Meeting" - Part 1(?)
'Kitty hasn't come back yet. All Tic can do now is sleep it off and hope her friend's safe—…and also hope she's safe, when she hears a scratching.'
Word Count: 1,900
Pairing: W!Killer x Tic
AU Co-Created with: @aestheticallycha0tic
The sun's not fully disappeared under the horizon yet, but it already feels uncomfortably cold. A type of chill you'd compare to a hardly-there shiver from opening a fridge, except this time that odd chill is not going away.
It's… an unnatural feeling. Some baby hairs on the back of your neck raising, and the ones on your arms sweeping upward in a tidal wave of goosebumps, stopping at your shoulders.
That wave repeats from your ankles to upper thighs, making you close your legs tighter on a squirmy, uneasy reflex.
You're wearing a sweater, but the nip in the air still affects you so greatly.
Mm. Maybe it's the wood of the cabin porch you're sitting on that's reaping the body heat from you through your leggings.
Or it could very well be Kit's disappearance has your nerves on the highest possible alert.
…
The setting dwarf star is silhouetting the garden's apple tree beautifully. That nice green of the leaves gone to a pure black from the faraway angle you're at, though you're quick to look away before the sun could hurt you anymore.
It already burns from crying.
..They would probably be easier to wipe if your hands weren't sticky with the juice of an apple you finished a while ago. How long have you been sitting here and holding the leftover core for?
You're still hungry, but you're not sure if you can stomach anything else. Or—well, not that there's many more apples you can reach from the tree. And the oranges on the outskirts of the property still aren't ripe yet.
Shimmering rose gold reflects blindingly on the once brilliant blue lake to your right. The sun having gone a neon orange from how low it now is, and the sky makes its gradual return to blue.
…Another day of Kitty not coming back. Marking the twelfth.
You should go to bed.
Rising from the warped and weathered wood of the patio. Of the abandoned cabin you two found shelter in. The same one you helped her quick fix the holes in the walls, where you removed an old bird's nest from.
…The fires you both learned how to start together, the belongings of the past home owner you guys rummaged through. She picked the highest apples for you, her cuts you healed, the random ass bar of Dove soap she kept in her Inventory for a reason she wouldn't tell you. But at least you two were able to stay clean.
She should have kept the bar of soap for wherever it is she went. It doesn't really feel as though you deserve to have it.
You wonder if she was ever able to find civilization in this AU.
The apple core gets thrown into the wild overgrowth that climbs the side of the house, and you go back inside through a door she put back on the hinges. Your back now turned to the darkness of night.
Line of sight facing away from the cubic 'edge graph' structure high above those now blackened waters. Its bricks glistened by the rising moonlight, but acknowledging it makes you more sick.
Something is wrong with this world, but you don't know what.
..Kitty may have found what's wrong.
You can't help but look to the empty bed on the opposite side of the space, as you move to sit on 'yours'. The bed that doesn't belong to you, and is nothing as comfortable as home's.
She had littered her claimed bed with the few assortment of miscellaneous items that took up her Inventory. She wanted the space in case she had to bring anything more important back with her.
…If she did die, at least on the day she left, she'd have about another day of recovery before she can freely use her magic to its fullest.
Before she can start to find her way back.
..Right?
You get beneath the covers. The more cozy and warm one that you took turns swapping every other night.
It's been your turn for twelve, as of today.
A cold similar to what you felt before startles you awake. Though 'familiar' in the sense that it's not 'as' chilly.
This is almost like below freezing to your Soul.
The exhales you take feel like they should be coming out as cloudy puffs, but they don't.
Your heart is pounding, too.
When did you start to hyperventilate?
…How long has there been a scratching at the door?
A consistency in very short strokes, like a nail digging deeply into something. But obviously a nail that can handle clawing into wood.
You're already swinging your legs out from beneath the covers, as hushed as physically possible in such a rundown house that has the creakiest floors imaginable, and you dive under the bed with the fastest shimmy of your life.
The scratching hasn't stopped at all, and it's not like you could dare get a peak at who or what it could possibly be, because Kitty barred the door's decorative (and broken) window with wood.
…'Window'. What if whatever's out there can see you through the windows of the house?! It's only just this ONE ROOM for the entire building! You open the door and it's just this one singular space.
How much farther against the wall can you wiggle to? Do you reach your arm out to grab the blanket and tug it to drape over the crawlspace?
The scratching still has not stopped, you can do that while they're busy!! Hide yourself better!!
They probably don't even know someone lives here now, right?! Yeah! Yeah, no, you're fine! It's just… just somebody messing around with an abandoned cabin on the coast! Maybe they saw that 'liminal' cube thing above the bay and decided to check out the area!
…
What if it's someone who can help?
Kitty left TO find help!! Could this be someone she knows? Or maybe this person can help find her!
…If it's even a person.
You shift into a somewhat more comfortable position to look at where the door is, beyond the safety of your blanket fort, and you pair a deep breath with a forced beat of your Soul.
Sifting through the ambient chill in the air to focus on the… the heat?
Though the atmosphere remains obviously clear to the naked eye, past what feels like a heavy fog of cold is… A source of heat. Condensed and heavier. Almost chokingly so, but you can't look away.
It's entrancing.
You didn't think someone's magic could feel so searingly hot.. But also give off such a freeze? As if the cold is trying to mask the 'fire'.
—And then it all stops.
The scratching, the chill, the flame, the heaviness of magic.
It's gone.
You take in a lungful of nothing but clean air. It… there's no way it just left, right?
Yeah, aha. No. You're waiting right here.
What feels like thirty minutes have past. Could be fewer, could be more. It's hard to focus on the time when you're this locked in to detecting magic signatures.
You want to say it's safe, given it's been this quiet for so long, but… You just don't know.
If your detection is off, then what? You go out there and 'Wow! You're probably dead!' Has it ever been off kilter before? Is that even possible?
How would you even know? There's never been an opportunity to see if your detection COULD be off, because Kit just runs in every time. You don't get into as much danger as her—she's always the one to go first.
…
Kitty's not here. You need to be brave this time, and see what's going on.
You're not helpless.
Scared, but you can defend yourself. And besides, it's been thirty minutes or something of zero magic signatures!! How could anything still be out there, right?!
…
You kick the blanket away, and leave the comfort of your hiding spot.
Though before you stand, you very awkwardly reach to the base of the bed to grab your discarded boots. In..in case you need to make a hell of a run for it through the woods, or.. or whatever.
The old floors don't creak with your inching, cautious steps. Like suddenly luck is on your side, the house alive and in favor of keeping you hidden and safe.
Or that's what makes you feel better to think about. The idea of everything's going to be okay.
It does not take long for you to reach the door. Hand enclosed around the lever knob, you take one last and LENGTHY feel around for any fragment of magic nearby, and then open it.
Slowly. The door obnoxiously grinding on the frame thanks to the messed up hinges, so you only open it just enough to be able to slip out through the narrow gap.
And once you're out in the open of the patio, you… don't see anything.
As expected, right?
Where even was that scratching, on the door? That's what it sounded like, but now you're second-guessing yourself because you're freaked… It was fuckin' obviously the door—
Engraved into the old wood is an upside down heart.
What? No, but like.. really.. What?
So late into the night that the moon is witness, lighting up you and the heart. And the rest of the property, as you've come to find out after taking another long gaze around.
This etching is the size of your head, and so deep into the wood.
Jagged and splintered. A carving you'd see all poorly made on the bark of a tree, except the curves of these lines are precise. A perfectly rounded heart… You were definitely right about the nails. Claws did this. If whoever scratched this used a blade or anything else, the lines would be too sharp.
...Monster claws?—In the shape of an upside down soul.
A monster did this?
Like, a person?
…
You need to go back inside. Genuinely. You don't care if this is just a regular person, you do NOT feel safe!
Not like this fucked house is any secure, but.. still! Better than out in the open, with your back to everything!
Something bulky steps on the creaky, warped wood of the patio.
Your heart sinks like what you'd expect from a 'falling in your sleep' phenomenon, immediately followed by a thick heaviness in the air that has you really wanting to fall.
It feels cold and warm at the same time.
But before your knees could even consider buckling from the shock and scare of such a dangerously strong and abrupt presence, a large body gently presses against your back, and two strong arms wrap around your middle from behind.
You freeze up, every muscle in your body flexing rigid.
A warm breath exhales against your hair, at the same time as the world grows dark and fuzzy on the corners of your vision. As if you're about to faint, but you feel no different aside from scared.
That darkness suddenly blows out, as if you've closed your eyes, and those arms tighten.
…A nuzzle into your hair occupies the tightened hug. The action, you can very vaguely tell, leaves behind a somewhat dense smear of liquid.
He—you think—sighs into you. Masculine with a scratchy undertone, and that blackness somehow gets impossibly darker when he speaks.
i couldve been done with this fic thirty minutes ago, but my favorite thing to do is FREEZE UP and not finish writing the last 100-150 words, because posting a finished piece of art is scawy.
If you ever wonder why I like and reblog so much shit about writing, especially recently, it's because A. I'm a writer myself and want to get better at it and B. I finally convinced my dad to start writing his own story instead of fucking around with AI. So I'm scrambling to get together a whole bunch of writing advice posts to share with him so he can find his own groove.
Feel free to reblog with your own saved posts of writing advice, and any free resources you think would be helpful! And any advice you may have is also appreciated!
I GENUINELY COULD NOT RECOMMEND BRANDON SANDERSON ENOUGH!!!
Reblogging because I've had some people send Asks for writers advice before, and I don't know if they're still following/hanging around or not, so just in case:
somewhat long post
I learned 80% of what I know from Brandon Sanderson's YouTube.
Very specifically this playlist of recordings from a class he taught recently. There's also a 2020 class playlist, but I haven't seen that yet.
The Philosophy of Professional Writing: Brandon Sanderson's Writing Lecture #1 (2025)
And you can learn a LOT more from looking into interviewers who sit down with acclaimed authors. I haven't watched as many as I would like to, but one I found super rewarding was of Lee Child, interviewed by David Perell (very wonderful interviewer. Asks engaging questions and does not cut off who he sits down).
(Though I don't believe what that thumbnail says. It may be baiting, I don't actually remember)
And copy-pasting something I wrote before, because getting discouraged and quitting is SUCH a threat:
Something that I really wish was more talked about is the intense survivorship bias and "this writing method is guaranteed to work!!!" within learning spaces.
Someone's way of writing and their advice COULD work for you! Very well could. I do recommend watching and reading every survivor's teachings you can find, but/if only to add those tools into your box.
Not all advice will work for you, and that does not make you less of a writer, or less qualified to be in this space, and it does not make you "talentless". It just means that that specific advice did not resonate with you.
It might down the line! Which is why I highly recommend still watching all of those baiting "my method/advice/teachings is a guarantee!!" videos for your toolbox. But please don't be discouraged if it doesn't make sense to you, or if it doesn't work.
Learning to write is finding a creative process tailored to you, and you're responsible for tailoring that process through trial and error, and with bits and pieces you've picked up from peers/teachers.
And start small!! If you're new to writing, I recommend starting small and working your way up. Biting off more than you can chew is arguably the biggest mood-killer ever, and the aggravation of not being able to give your story the justice you feel it deserves is real.
It's why I've written 50 short stories before finally deciding I felt ready to tackle writing a series. (You don't NEED to write as many as 50. That's just personally what I did, because I happen to take perfectionism very unhealthily.)
i don't know how to begin learning a new language, so i figured raw-dogging a kid's book with an online translator dictionary, a notebook, and a dream is a good first step.
though my translator is saying that "renacuajo" means "tadpole" and i fucking doubt that. theres nothing about tadpoles on the book covers of the english ones??? i think im being japed
it has never been more over for spanish speakers. i just learned how to read the back of the book after the longest two hours of my life. ITS OVER. im BASICALLY fluent already, 25 new words and 10 rereads later.
cross speaks spanish, right??? give me an additional two hours, buddy....... just you wait........ im catching up.,......
i don't know how to begin learning a new language, so i figured raw-dogging a kid's book with an online translator dictionary, a notebook, and a dream is a good first step.
though my translator is saying that "renacuajo" means "tadpole" and i fucking doubt that. theres nothing about tadpoles on the book covers of the english ones??? i think im being japed
Ellipsus is literally my goat. Infinitely more writer-friendly, regularly adding cool ass stuff for FREE, and they hate AI as much as I do. I've written all 57 of my short stories on this thing.
Make an app and my life is actually yours, Elli 🫶🫶
I went to therapy at 16, and three months into it I was insistent that "Jesus set me free" because I didn't know how else to tell my Christian therapist that she fucking sucked at her job and I wanted to stop going there.
"Congrats on graduating from therapy!" Yep. Sure did.
How much of the human realm does Mocha know? Is he ever curious about life forms beyond the humans that previously “took care” of him in the facility?
A question about Mocha?? Omgg aaaa! I never thought anyone would ask!! 🥹
(More below the cut!)
His backstory is still a work in progress, but for now, Mocha doesn't know a whole lot about our world, neither does he really care. He's too fixated on finding a way out and returning to his dimension.
Maybe he'd be more interested if he weren't being actively experimented on and surveillanced 24/7?
Maybe.
Even though it's pretty lonely in his dimension (which he does have a plan to fix), Mocha has zero interest in staying in our realm. He's only ever seen the facility, which was easily enough of a headache for him to lose interest in anything else this dimension has to offer.