Category Archives: Stream of Thought

The NaNo Report: Day Four

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Did I state my intentions yesterday? I think I did. Basically 10k by the end of Sunday. Oh! But the complication was I was nearly out of outline which meant I didn’t know what I was writing.

This was my challenge if I chose to accept it – and I did.

It didn’t go smoothly. The gaps between sprints were way too long. But I got the words I needed for today AND best of all I managed to outline the rest of the episode. So I am sorted for the next few days. I will then be in more trouble because I will reach episode two which doesn’t even have a starting point buuuut that’s next weeks problem.

I’m so pleased that I managed to get that outline sorted. I feel like there was some cool echoes that fell into place too, little foreshadowing hints and stuff.

Anyway tomorrow is another big word day as I need 3k to hit my target of 10k so cross fingers!

Words today: 2,720
Current total: 7,058

The NaNo Report: Day Three

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I wrote words!

I didn’t catch up but I got 2,045 so above par. I am now about 700 words behind.

This weekend is the 5k challenge on WriYe and I have decided to aim for 10k by the end of Sunday (so 5.7k for the weekend). This would get me back on track and with a small buffer.

BUT (and it’s a big but) I am fast running out of the scenes I managed to scrape together from the depths of “oh shit it doesn’t work” on Tuesday. I like my outline. I need my outline. I can’t write if I don’t know what I am writing!

So it’s going to be an adventure.

Words today: 2,045
Current total: 4,335

The NaNo Report: Day One & Two

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Like last year I debated about where to post this as I am not writing fanfic, but again like last year I eventually went ehhh. As if I can’t ramble here then where can I?

I am writing a contemporary fantasy, a serial where a team hunts a different magical MacGuffin each week. For the 50k I think it will be two and a half ‘episodes’.

The pre-NaNo prep didn’t go great. I like to have a full outline but on Monday I had to toss what I had as it had logic holes you could drive a double decker bus through. I managed to scrape the start of “Episode One” together so I had something to write and I am hoping to cobble together the rest before I need it.

Day One

I managed to write a little over par (2,276). The first two scenes and the opening paragraph of the next. It wasn’t smooth. More procrastination than I would have liked, and I’m not sure how good any of the words are. I just have to keep repeating “can fix a bad page, not a blank page”. I would probably have more to say but that’s the problem of filling this out retrospectively, I have forgotten my thoughts.

Day Two

I should have known when I woke up screaming from a truly awful nightmare that my day would be shot. I’d had a text telling me I had to book a vaccine shot, when I showed up to the appointment this morning they told me I wasn’t eligible. (Seriously why tell me I had to book an appointment?). Going out stresses me a lot, and shots? I’d had to psych myself up.

Anyway I never recovered. I was on the verge of tears all day, and just felt listless, like my gas tank was on empty and the brain had no go power. So predictably I got no words.

Getting behind on Day Two was not on my bingo card. Hopefully I can pull it back tomorrow.

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sarcasticsciencefictionwriter asked:

💢: What was the first fandom you ever got into?

and

💔: Tell me a sad headcannon you have for James Watson.

Just found this! Sorry 😬

What was the first fandom I got into?

I always debate being honest when this question crops up because I was 11 and it was more wanting someone to be nice to me, than any actual personal passion for the show. Anyway! It was The Royal/Heartbeat. That’s been off the air for a long time now but Heartbeat was something of a British institution for 20 years or so. Set in the 1960’s, sort of a slice of life drama I guess. It was more “episode of the week” shenanigans than a pure soap.

When I went to high school I immediately found myself in the library. Friendless 11 year old. I started helping out with shelving books, checking them out etc. The librarian my first year was a very nice lady, sadly she left and her replacement… but that’s another story. Anyway there was a 15 year old who also volunteered and they were trying to write fanfic for The Royal. I think they might have been dyslexic because even though I was a lot younger I beta read for them. Then they wanted to make a fansite and I already knew how to code basic websites so I helped them with that, which led to being a mod on the forum, and eventually I started writing my own stories. I’m a writer and I wanted to be included so it follows.

The experience ended poorly. The forum got members and one of them ended up becoming a mod as well, and they didn’t like me. They were in their thirties I think and I can’t imagine treating an 11 year old like they did me, but I admit I likely didn’t help myself – I was 11 and so obviously not likely to make the best choices always.

I had moved on by then to other fan spaces on the internet. I had started writing for Without a Trace. I then discovered fanlistings and got really heavily into making little fansites. I did some graphic edits, a few music videos. Do people still do those? Set show clips to songs? I quit everything fandom-wise when I was 19. I didn’t start back up again until I was 25.

A sad headcanon for James Watson

I don’t know why but I have just always thought that his father died when he was a child. I don’t recall any basis for this in the show but it was the background I think I wrote in Choosing Fate. Once I have something that works I tend to keep it as a headcanon. Like thinking that originally Helen was given the source blood by an abnormal she helped one day. I can’t remember if I specified an age but I think it was maybe 6-8 years old. Old enough to have a few memories but young enough for the image of his father to be more idealistic dreams and impressions.

Thanks for the ask ❤️ sorry about the delay. It was hiding.

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purlturtle asked:

💥: Whats a weird talent of yours?

and

❤: Tell me a fluffy headcannon you have for Helen Magnus!

Thanks for the ask ❤️ this is a super hard one though!

What’s a weird talent I have?

This would require me to think I have any talents at all. I mean what qualifies as a talent? Honestly I don’t feel like I am talented at anything. But! I want to answer so I will go with what eventually popped into my head after staring at this ask for a while – my Lego inventory.

I have itemised in a database (Rebrickable) every single Lego part I own. For the sets that’s easy – just add the set. But when I first started getting into Lego I came across a good deal on marketplace. I got a lot of loose parts from that, and since then I have bought more parts on a number of occasions from BrickLink. Anyway thousands of parts all found, not just by part but also by colour. Why do this? Well if I want to build something I need to know if I have the parts, or what parts are missing.

Then the ‘talent’ part if you like is that you can pick any part in my database and I will be able to tell you where it is/find it in my collection. I have all the parts sorted out into… honestly I haven’t counted but probably hundreds of bags and boxes. I tend to repurpose set boxes as larger containers, and then buy freezer bags from the supermarket in varying sizes.

Now to be honest I don’t think this is a talent or special. It is probably quite weird. It took weeks of effort to initially set up and I have obviously had to maintain it. Upgrading parts to larger bags/boxes as I get more of them. Everytime I build something then putting the parts back in the right places etc. Mum has said she thinks it’s special but only because it’s weird, as she says she doesn’t know anyone else who would have the patience or the persistence. I find it soothing rather than annoying. I like sorting the parts, putting them in order. But then I am also the person with a completely alphabetised DVD collection. Having everything in order is a me feature really.

A fluffy headcanon for Helen Magnus

Ooof. Fluffy and Helen Magnus don’t go together all that well. I suppose… I don’t know if I counts but I do headcanon her as a loving mother. I’ve seen a few opposing headcanons that Helen’s first priority is her work, that Biggie probably did most of the raising for Henry and Ashley. That Helen was probably distant and emotionally unavailable but I just don’t see that personally.

The thing that I have always seen in Helen is that she has a personal face and a public face. We mostly see public because even when they are at the Sanctuary they are still working. But there are little glimpses, moments of banter, how Helen will reach a comforting hand. Plus I think the biggest endorsement of her as a mum is that both Henry and Ashley are still so close to her. I don’t sense any coercion or indoctrination. More that yeah Helen believes in her mission and that passion is catching. I’m sure Helen did model a strong work ethic but being a working mother doesn’t mean she wasn’t also a mum.

It’s a balance for sure but as one example I like to imagine Helen did tell bedtime stories, perhaps not read them, maybe sanitised versions of her own adventures with abnormals. Yeah that’s a nice fluffy thought 🥰

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Ok so Season 1 of Ahsoka is over. I live rambled over every episode. I tried to find the good more than the bad. Although I definitely ranted a bit. These are characters that I love so much and seeing them again was cool – except when it wasn’t.

In my rambles I pointed out a few times when the dialogue was so on point that I could hear/see it in the animation. But that was pretty much exclusively in the banter department and when it came to major plot relevant times…. /sigh.

The actress that played Sabine was great. I don’t agree with what the story did to her, but I can’t argue with her effort. I even think she maybe studied the animation to get some of Sabine’s blaster combat style?

Thrawn’s real voice gave me chills. It’s a shame in a lot of ways we didn’t get that with Hera. While Hera’s actress did grow on me a bit as the season went on, I still miss animated Hera a lot :/

Ultimately I feel like there are two main points I am circling round.

1) however good Sabine’s actress was – this should still have been animated. I really tried to give live action a shot and yes I went mental seeing the Ghost, and Chopper was well-realised, but I had intense feelings for these characters in the animation. I would have gone feral for an animated season 5 of Rebels.

We only got to see the cockpit of the Ghost as it would have been too expensive to build more sets. If it was in the animation we could have had the entire ship again. Ahsoka could have been voiced as she always has been, which would have helped I think as I was not a fan of her actress’ portrayal. Although I suppose that could be unfair as she could only work with what she was given. C-3PO cameo was cool and all but an animated show could have given us General Leia for real. We could have had Zeb as no concerns about another character with intense make-up/prosthetics.

We could have had actual Kanan flashbacks…

Animation would have been superior.

2) would the writing/story direction have been better in the animated medium? That’s the other point because while there were definite technical/cost limitations which affected direction on the show, there were also obviously choices that were made.

Now this is where I tie myself in knots as just because I didn’t agree with a story direction, doesn’t make it bad. I try and not be judgemental. Sort of more “I didn’t vibe with that” or “that wasn’t meant for me I guess”. I try and be aware that the thing that I disliked, someone else might have loved, and fair play. You do you, I do me, you know?

But still…. I wanted to love this show so badly. I am trying to make myself love it. And there were some awesome moments no doubt. But the plot tying it all together was IMO bad. It leaves me feeling a bit bereft in some ways. What I love has been twisted up and I can’t unsee that. Now don’t get me wrong I have seen far far worse offenders. Ahsoka was Oscar-worthy in comparison to Picard season 3 (which I will rag on for eternity, it was so painful), but the Ahsoka finale has still left me with a feeling of disquiet. Mixed up emotions, instead of joy, and I find that sad.

I really do miss my beloved Rebels crew 🙁

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sarcasticsciencefictionwriter asked:

How about Sanctuary fandom + Once Upon a Time (show)?

Ok cool. This will be the top 5 things off the top of my head, so I reserve the right to facepalm if I forgot something important. Thanks for the ask!!!

send me a tv show/book/fandom and i’ll say the top 5 things i’d change about it

Well first off let’s address the elephant in the room that there are two ways to answer this question. 1) Is how I would change it to make it more like what I wished it was, 2) Is how I would change it to improve on what they actually chose to do. Those are two very different things. I am going to attempt to answer in the vein of number two, accepting canon and just tweaking it to be better, rather than throwing out everything in favour of the show I would have written, as I feel that’s more in the spirit of what the question is actually asking.

So without further ado!

(I am longwinded so cut)

Continue reading →

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tinknevertalks asked:

4, 31, and 35 for the wip asks, please! 🙂 (If I’ve already sent in my request ignore this one – my brain is not co-operating today.)

4) Last sentence written?

I debated about this question because I haven’t written anything in a month, and what I was working on then is a redraft of an original novel and I’m not confident enough to share that. So I think I will skip (sorry) and instead use the random number to pick another question to answer for you. Which is….

26) Google docs, word doc, or neither?

You are around my age I think? So does this question amuse you a bit too? I predate those options. Well maybe not Word but we didn’t have it until I was in high school. I started off with good old pen and paper. My grandparents had a computer (a BBC-B) and they let me play frogger on it sometimes but not work. My mums first computer was a Windows 3.1 which predates the taskbar start menu and all of that. That had a program on it called “Microsoft Works” which from google to shore up my failing memory looks like it was word/excel/publisher etc. all in one. So that was my first foray into digital.

But I digress because yes of course I went on to wordpad, and then I got Word 2003 (still haven’t upgraded btw) but then when I got an iPad which has no stinking USB socket, I couldn’t carry around my stick with my word files anymore to work on everywhere so then I jumped to google docs.

Buuuuuut I have recently jumped to… something else. The problem with google docs is it is rubbish at large files (lags horribly), it doesn’t have a decent dark mode, it doesn’t have any integral backup options for changes, and I just don’t think it is really intended for 80k novels. I used it for years but it was really starting to frustrate me. It’s free which is why I tried to stick with it but I have moved to use NovelPad. By the name it’s designed for novels. It is web based but with a good offline mode, backs up every minute automatically, you can split everything into scenes, the revision feature is my favourite (no more juggling multiple documents) and the dark mode is so good. It’s also not overly complicated like Scrivener (which I could never get on with). The only bad thing is it’s a subscription. But as serious as I want to take my writing and with all the quality of life it offers I decided for me it was worth it.

31) Are you doing this instead of actually working on your wip?

No… well I suppose technically all ‘free’ time could be used for writing. But it’s 7:30am and I am going out this morning to buy a new mattress. I have had mine for 25 years and I am now waking up with backache everyday (no springs poking through but I can feel them grinding). But yeah I am terrible if I have appointments for not being able to focus (even more than I usually can’t haha).

35) Are you more likely to make grammatical errors or spelling errors?

Hmm. There are some words I just can’t spell (like guarantee thank you auto correct), and there are some words I spell so badly that spellcheck can’t fix it and I have to go “google you are my only hope”. But for the most part I can spell. It’s more automatic than thinking about it, I think if you used me to spell out words I would probably be worse haha. So maybe grammatical? I’m not too sure what comes under the heading of grammar. I don’t do any of the big things (I think/hope) but comma splicing probably, passive voice definitely etc. I don’t get that many wavy underlines either way to be honest.

Thanks for the ask ❤️