no no no you don't just get to call this a joke in your next ask i am taking this seriously 😌. so, in no particular order, here's what i found in my search history (actually. this is long so i will put the many screenshots under the cut askjbfdskjd)
tikki the alcoholic
2. tikki horny on main
3. tikki about to commit crimes
4. the one where tikki is literally just (the only) girl
5. all the times she made this HILARIOUS joke
honorable mention: EVERY DAMN TIME SHE TOLD ME TO WORK ON MTL FIC
hello chase!!!! i wanted to insert my own question so ❓what is your thought process when you edit your own works and what are some rules of thumb you use when editing?
oh noooooo you had to ask a hard one ahah. Thank you very much; I'll do my best to do it justice
I have common mistakes I look for, like I'm constantly using seemed/thought/appeared when simply stating what is happening is far more effective. But, ultimately, when editing my own work, my primary question is, "Does this [sentence/word/paragraph/scene] communicate what want my reader to feel/understand a)effectively b)efficiently c)creatively?"
Everything I change as I read and reread and reread my writing revolves around that question.
A really great example is the editing I just did on the 1920s AU! I'll do a side-by-side comparison for anyone who's interested under the cut
Here's the link to the first draft of the 1920s AU smoke-break scene. It was edited for grammar, but the first pass is never the best pass, and I revised the scene more intimately the next day.
The beginning of any scene needs to set a specific tone and communicate key details of the setting to the reader. This paragraph wasn't very effective at that.
It wasn’t snowing, though it certainly felt cold enough to. Marinette pulled her collar closed against her throat and cheeks, keeping herself as snug as she could. She had some privacy in the dark alley that guarded the back entrance of the Lucky Lady, but the click of her lighter must have attracted attention from the street. She saw the white suit jacket and vest that was becoming painfully familiar approach.
So I revised it with just a few concrete details just to add dimension to the space, so that I could more effectively introduce the setting.
It wasn’t snowing, though it certainly felt cold enough to start. Marinette pulled her collar closed against her throat and cheeks, keeping herself as snug as she could. She had a fairly narrow view of the street, illuminated by a nearby lamp, but the corner of the theater that backed the Lucky Lady cut through that light, giving her a space of quiet darkness to enjoy a reprieve during the chaos of an evening shift.
There were not many out on a cold night like this, but a painfully familiar voice cut through the crisp air.
I also shifted from the visual of the white coat to the sound of Adrien's voice because I wanted to draw out the scene a little bit more! This dialogue from the original, while snappy and efficient, didn't give the feeling I wanted it to.
“What happened to your coat?” she asked.
“I gave it to a gentleman who looked like he needed it more than I did.” The tip of his cigarette glowed orange, and he returned her lighter to her. His eyes looked warm in this dim light.
She tucked her lighter back into her coat. “And what happened to your date?”
“I called her a cab. I was hoping to chat with you before returning home.”
The beginning of this fic spends a lot of time dwelling on how suspicious Marinette is of Adrien's motives. This scene offers her a glimpse of his kindness for the first time, forcing her to reexamine her assumptions. The dialogue wasn't very effective or emotionally charged, so the quippy dialogue instead became:
It was indeed Adrien Agreste, chatting with a young man in a threadbare coat that looked like it might have once been a blue officer’s uniform, but had weathered enough snow and shrapnel to be little more than scraps. The right sleeve was pinned up to the shoulder.
Adrien shrugged out of his coat and handed it to the young man. “There’s some spare bills in the pocket. Get yourself something hot to eat and a room.”
He sounded like the boy who had abandoned her, not the man who had returned. His voice was gentle, uncertain. There was none of the swagger she’d seen in the young man in her shop that morning, nor the cold grin he’d sported when he’d entered the Lucky Lady.
Even though it's less efficient, it is much more effective. It allows me to linger in Marinette's loneliness a little bit longer before Adrien approaches her, and it lets me flesh out the post-war Paris setting with a bit more atmosphere.
I also spent some time revising the angelic metaphor paragraph. It was really important to me to include saint-reminiscent iconography around Adrien during this scene. I want my readers well-aware that even though Marinette is suspicious of Adrien, he's still the Adrien we know and love, and they can trust that I am going to explain his suspicious actions.
“I heard a rumor that if a gentleman is down on his luck, you’re the lady to see.”
“I’ve been known to reverse fortunes,” she murmured. “From toppling those on thrones to lifting up those in the gutter. You don’t strike me as a man in a gutter.”
He turned his head to blow a lungful of smoke away from her. The street lamp glinted off of his hair, creating a golden halo. “One man’s heaven,” he shrugged, and let the rest of phrase disappear behind a rueful smile.
The above metaphor works, and I didn't change it a whole lot, but there are a few key shifts in the revision below:
“I heard a rumor that if a gentleman is down on his luck, you’re the lady to see.” And Adrien, like she had just moments ago, took in a long draw on his cigarette and held it in his chest.
“I’ve been known to reverse fortunes,” she murmured. “From toppling those on thrones to lifting up those in the gutter. You don’t strike me as a man in a gutter.”
He shrugged and turned his head to blow the smoke away from her. The street lamp glinted off of his hat and his bangs, creating a golden halo. “One man’s heaven.” He let the rest of phrase disappear behind a rueful smile.
The added inhale on the cigarette, harkening back to an earlier moment Marinette had where she holds onto the heat of it to try to forget her heartbreak, implies that Adrien is hurting just as much. It tells the reader he's still pining for Ladybug, too.
Moving the shrug from the end to the beginning stretches out that longing and it gives the dialogue more room to breathe. It's a tiny change from "'heaven,' he shrugged" to "'heaven.' He let the rest" but it does make a difference in the tone. It's not a blow-off response. It's pointed. It emphasizes his hurt more neatly, and even if Marinette can't recognize it, the reader hopefully can, even if unconsciously.
Also I forgot when I wrote the halo description that Adrien would of course be wearing a hat; it's 1920-ish.
So there you have it! A couple of changes made for creativity and efficiency, hopefully making the scene just a little more effective!
that ask was (half) a joke KJFHJKF top 5 of your favourite things about your own writing !
this is...unexpectedly hard asjbfskdjb like. because i guess i have to choose specific things. can't just say i like the vibes 5 times in a row 😂. but here we go (again, in no particular order)
using the setting to set the tone
idk if there is an actual literary term for this but. it's like my faaaavourite thing to do in description. it's why i love writing description so much!! using it to get in the heads of the characters...seeing how THEY see a space and/or using the space to show the character's headspace--it's so juicy!
depicting emotions/emotional conflict
when i first started getting compliments about the way i write emotions it used to make me laugh--because historically i was not really a super emotional person. and i think like... the older i get the more in touch i get with that side of myself. i feel more of my own feelings and can more easily empathize with others. and GOSH there is something so satisfying about putting those feelings into words. i mean, that's why writing can be so cathartic of course. but also...trying to understand characters... how facets of their personalities interact and how their feelings affect that... i think i've really improved at that and it is so so so fun to play with. it's trying to understand how people work, really. i love it!!
metaphors/similes
i have sooooo much fun with these. even though sometimes i wonder if they actually make sense akjbfsdkb, i still really enjoy trying to come up with them/trying to puzzle my ideas into something coherent
puns
omg there is a REASON i am in this fandom ahahaha. i've always been good at puns tbh and i love unleashing them in my writing!
rhythm
when i get really into something i'm writing, it feels a little like i'm dancing with words. so, in those fics where i manage to get in the groove, the way it flows can be precious to me
Thanks for the ask!! Actually...both asks, ahaha. I think i forgot to thank you for the tikki one aksjfdksd🩷💜
