I feel like book 2 plot Is is moving very slowly; we're already on chapter 10 and we still haven't found a way to light the lamps. Every time we find something that seems like the solution, it ends up being nothing. Many new characters are introduced but they have little or no relevance to the plot. There are several subplots that seem to have been forgotten, and with so few chapters left, I don't know how this will end without rushing everything.
I want to have faith that in the end everything will work out without needing to rush things, but I've seen so many stories that end like that.
I cannot state how much I agree with you. Warning: Read on for some author woes. Otherwise skip. This isn't going to be very kind to my own work. Which, I know I'm not supposed to do and just pretend like everything is exactly how I want it and that I have a plan, but let's stop pretending I'm ever going to be professional about that.
Full transparency, I have not enjoyed writing book 2. There are parts of it that I really like, and I like my characters a lot. But when I started book 2, my stepfather was diagnosed with a really aggressive form of cancer. He was gone within 11 months of this diagnosis. I went back and forth out of state to try and help my mother during that time and writing took a huge back seat. It also felt really overwhelming as I was navigating shadow grief. Making decisions became nearly impossible which is unfortunate given that I was writing a choice based game. Then, anything that I did try to do, was not met with a good reception so I would change things halfway through because I felt like I needed direction and thought who better to give it to me than my own readers. That was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made during this process because once that was my mode of operation, I lost my own plot.
Cut to my stepfather then passing and what was maybe the longest and most triggering year of my life. My husbands grandmother passed at the same time and then my own grandfather passed three months later. I was a mess. Life was suddenly incredibly hard to navigate and the Night Market became a job. Not a passion. It was sometimes the only thing putting food on my table and I just had no sense of what I was doing anymore because I couldn't really make sense of my own life or head.
The things going on in the U.S is also a constant thought in my mind. I have mixed race children and a minority husband. Fear for him was a very real thing every time he left for work. I homeschool my children as well due to the mass shootings in our school systems and the lack of proper education that I have seen within my district. So, my time also became limited as I became a teacher to two young kids as well.
I have only in the last month, maybe two, felt like I've been able to breathe again. I have done a lot of thinking on the Night Market and there is a lot I would like to change. I have considered pulling it and doing a Kickstarter so I can redo the game to what I would like to see it be, but I have also had to weigh out the backlash that might have? Pulling it when we are so close to the end feels unfair to everyone in a way? I would really like to put together a campaign like I did for the end of book 1, however, and be able to know I can work on it without worrying about paying the grocery bills.
I want to change SO SO SO much. There are entire swaths I think can be tightened up and shortened. I want to be more concise with the RO's problems. Artisan Alley I want to be a presence but a presence that your RO's are involved in as well. That way it doesn't feel so split. There are absolutely no interactions between the RO's and I HATE that. I fully plan to say fuck it and write Milo how I want to write Milo. I want to get dark with Hazel. I want to explore religious trauma. I want to dive into the Ancients in a way that adds to the story with a deep richness as opposed to this thing we sometimes mention like its a big deal but its really not. I also want to put more lore within the beginning of the story to allow for less explanation when we hit some of the more secreted areas. There should also be entire paths that you can skip if you want and that are more present for flavor than anything else.
This book has been a long and not fun journey. I am not proud of it. But I also think I can make it into something I am very proud of and can stand by again. It's just trying to figure out how to do it while putting groceries on my table for my kids and me.
How can it be possible that no one loves this ship?
This is really something that drives me mad.
When I finished seeing season 5 for the very first time (bingewatching it in only two days aka late nights) , I rushed to ao3 with the absolute certainty I would have found dozen of fics about them.
Instead not only was there none, but on reddit I even figured out that people hated her, the cruelest ones also dared to call her ugly (WHAT?? Oh c'mon, Madeline is stunning!!) and her character stupid and meaningless.
Excuse me?!
From now, since this could be a spoiler for someone who still has to see season 5 I'll put my considerations under
(SPOILERS)
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Okay, I've loved her since the very first sentence she said in episode 5x1, but when we reached 5x6 where everything was explained, I was practically howling at the screen.
Bronte was stalking Joe and not the other way around.
She was a step ahead and when he checked her social networks they were the FAKE ones.
She made him think he had everything under his control.
Bronte played Joe's game, with the only difference that she played it a lot better.
But what I love the most about her?
She wanted to set Joe up, but fell in love with him in the process and she hadn't seen it coming.
The more her friends - a point I agree on with everyone, they are really unbearable! I hate them all, LOL - cheered because they were close to make Joe fall in their trap, the more she didn't want it to happen.
The end of 5x6 is a jewel because we see Bronte terrified when Joe finds the hidden camera and speaks to her, very pissed off... and yet she's so thrilled that in 5x7 she looks for him again and tells her friends off.
Another thing I love is how Louise figures out that she was sure she invented Bronte to lure Joe in, but it isn't a charade at all, she is EXACTLY the Bronte she pretended to be.
And season1/4! Joe probably would never forgive someone who lied to him and decived him so badly ... but not season 5! Joe, not after Bronte left such a mark on him (although he's supposed to be the vampire, LOL) , not after such a deep connection.
They were together in fantasies, in their pages and in those moments of real life.
They were bound on so many levels.
And I've never seen Joe so so so so so in love, probably only with Love in the early episodes on season 2, but Bronte was something more.
They were soulmates for real.
in 5x8 (my fave episode ever in the whole show) Bronte reached her delusional peak, thinking she had fixed Joe, althogh the scene in the cage is pure perfection, emotional peak, she really read him like no one else had ever done before and I was beyond love for this ship.
Then the authors decide to destroy what this ship could have been from the second part of 5x9 on... but in 5x10 after the tragic last phone call with Henry... even Penn in an interview said that in that moment Bronte/Louise still loved Joe, despite everything.. and it was so clear.
And even their very last scene together, when the policemen part them and take them away… the way they stare at each other…
It won’t ever be over between them, that’s why I’ll never forgive the authors for making Louise says in the epilogue ‘just some a**hole I dated.’, it’s totally OOC after the deeply emotional way she was invested in him.
And I haven't even babbled about the beautiful moments and speeches between them in episode 5x4 and 5x5.
And yeah, I know that Joe is a wicked character and blah blah blah, but:
- he’s fictional
-he’s ten thousands times better than book! Joe
-he killed some very ruthless people
That’s why I really wished something better for him, Bronte could have been his happy ending, at least she is in my fics.
And sure, I could do some fan service and write about Joe/Beck, Joe/Love, Joe/OC/reader and increase my views and popularity, but nope, thanks, those ships are not my cup of tea.
I must write about characters I love, even if this brings to have the most saddening stats ever.
As I have been writing my fics I've realized my habit of over-explaining things has seeped into my writing LIKE WHYYYY am i explaining a decade old event with so much detail. Bachpan ka trauma always shows up in places where u least expect it🥀 I'm actively trying to make it crisp and neat but it always ends up being too messy and unnecessarily lengthy
My little siblings are playing a shooting game and the 9 year old keeps trying to “kill” the 5 year old, and I unexpected heard said 5 year old speak in a transatlantic accent and say “Oh no, everyone is always tryin’ to kill me..”
Okay, I'm just gonna put this out there, I am so sick of the constant 'These two guys were friends and would always be playing around, does this mean this is proof they are gay?' Like honestly, shut the hell up.
I get not everyone has had an actual friend they can mess around with and literally fake flirt with, but not every interaction someone has with the opposite sex or same sex is sexual attraction. Physical contact- holding hands, taking naps on the other's shoulder, hugging, leaning on, ect- is not exclusively sexual or for sexual relationships only. Platonic relationships can have literal chasté kisses and still be platonic, not sexual. Not every physical touch is indisputable proof someone is in a sexual relationship with another person.
"But them holding hands and hanging out is proof-" no. It literally is not. Holding hands is not exclusive for romantic couples nor is it exclusive to sexual relationships only. Knock it the fuck off. Physical touch is literally so important to humans that infants will die if they are not held enough. Humans get touch starved at all ages and it is not exclusively referring to sexual touch. Just because a character enjoys having physical contact or seeks out such contact does not mean they are in a sexual relationship with those they choose to seek that comfort from.
And I am so tired of people always screaming that someone is gay because they are nice to their friends. You are supposed to be nice to people you are fond of, you fucking donkey, it doesn't make them gay to be decent human beings.
Love is not exclusive to sexual relationships or romantic relationships. Those who think otherwise are blatantly admitting they don't love their family/friends or they want to fuck everyone they love including family/friends. People don't have to be related by blood to love someone platonically either.
Ship who you wish, but don't scream you have proof of sexual interest in your ships when literal platonic relationships have the same 'proof'. Unless it is confirmed these characters have fucked, physical touch is not proof they are sexually attracted or interested in one another. Am I saying you can't ship them? Not at all! Ship them if you wish, but don't cite non-sexual interaction as proof of sexual interest. That is flat out bullshit.
Happy Storyteller Saturday! Tell me about a victory, either your characters or your own. I wanna hear about some triumphs
You get two! Because I'm feeling the need for some triumph today, too.
Writing: Spoilers, but Shit Show very much ends with a triumph. It's a bittersweet close to a story about struggle and hope in the face of bigotry and hatred. Zero commentary on society, promise.
Personal: I have an appointment coming up to get prescribed hrt. Because FUCK getting to 40 and still not being Me by then, y'know. I want to be Me before I leave my 30s.
“chishiya wouldn’t call you baby” blah blah blah idc it’s called FANFIC for a reason. you think i don’t know that given the fuck chance i was in the show that this man would give me the time of day? i KNOW he wouldn’t!!! but that’s the fun part about writing is that myself and others can embrace our wildest fantasies. yes he’s the worlds most emotionally unavailable man and yes i’m still gonna write for him in whatever way i fucking see fit. leave writers alone
