autisticblueteam

Chapter 6 is officially done! Annnnd once again it clocks in at my longest chapter, albeit through such a small amount of words that by the time I go back and do simple edits it'll probably come in lower, but that doesn't stop my initial groan and laughter. I'm really hoping I don't increase the average count on this fic above the 8-10k range, but I remember how TtTaR felt like it kept climbing towards the end so only time will tell.

I'm already having fun setting up the start of the next chapter which, once again, has the potential to go shorter but I know it won't. I'm re-using a setting from TtTaR for a backdrop to a series of missions and it's definitely helping with the set up, giving me something wider to set key events in that I don't have to construct from scratch. Plus it's fun to get to send Connie back to Luminous-VI in a situation where she's still in the Project and not, like in TtTaR, a mercenary on the run.

Out of the next few chapters, most of them are ones I'm highly anticipating writing. I'm finally at that point where things start to come to light and Connie's questions start to lead to answers. One is a mission chapter which I'm very excited to do but also terrified to do because missions and specifically fights are not my strong suit. Another is going to be rather conversation heavy. Both are chapters I've been waiting on getting to and some of my favourite plot points are closing in.

Next big milestone is obviously double digit chapter numbers but smaller milestone? I'm a chapter off Bjorndal.

We're heading into actual canon-era territory. And yet, funnily, that largely means very little for Connie due to her minimal screen time. So I don't expect much to actually change :P

Chapter 3 of If I Disappear is done/drafted! It's clocked in a little under 400 words longer than the previous chapter, which itself was already around 9k, and it's definitely looking like that'll be the norm. So far I'm actually liking how it's going; whilst everything is longer than I expected it to be, the scenes feel like they're mostly working and some of the perspective I was fearing I'd lose is showing itself much more easily than I expected too. Connie has a lot to say when she wants to say it. Along those lines, here's a bit for WIP Wednesday:
I'm moving into chapter 4 tomorrow and that includes some 'mission' scenes. So I imagine it'll be slower going. But I want to get stuck in for the last few days of the month, as I'm hoping to move into proper preparation for Nano come October.

I have the basic plot outline for my project. I have my setting, though I'll be doing a lot of sporadic research for details. I have my protagonists, side characters and abstract antagonist. It's now just a matter of making a proper outline and fleshing out some of my character notes, which is proving interesting with one of my protagonists because they're simultaneously a blank slate and a persona.

So that's the plan for October: prioritising this final bit of preparation ahead of November. I'll no doubt work on If I Disappear at some point too, but the focus will be on Nano.

I have a complete outline! Or, well, as complete as it's going to get at this point without the inevitable revisions as I go.

27 chapters. 20,000 words of outlining. A mostly coherently overall story and probably the angstiest damn thing I'll ever write, because that's just the nature of Connie's story. There's no happy ending to this one.

Most canon scenes are covered and re-told but at least one I've decided to skip both for emotional impact and because I simply cannot wrangle the dialogue into something usable without making the scene unrecognisable. 

I'm definitely leaning towards writing all of this out before posting it, this time, or at least the majority of it. I want to be able to write a few other, smaller fics too, in the meantime, and that's much harder when you have a bi-weekly deadline to hit for a chapter. That and I know writing and posting sequentially before caused some minor disparities in TtTaR, so I'm going to err on the side of caution.

I'm looking forward to starting writing it, once I'm a little more secure in my real-life responsibilities. 

( Minor observations of the day... )
What I have to do next is to tidy up some of my planning documents and notes, then from there I'll give what I have another re-read and see how it works. After maybe a day or two off to catch up on my academic wordcount requirements. At least that'll give me fresher eyes.

I'm going to do a ramble about fic planning progress at some point either today or tomorrow, but for now, a minor observation of a once again tiny detail I've not registered before:

I've often been confused by the choices for Team B on the Sarcophagus mission, and I know other people have been too, and honestly I still am, but re-watching this scene for the billionth time whilst planning the relevant chapter of this fic, I finally fully registered that their first role in the mission was reconnaissance. They were sent ahead to run recon for Team A because they couldn't act until Team A had found the Sarcophagus. 

Suddenly it makes a lot more sense to pick Wyoming and North, who are both shown in reconnaissance roles for the Project at different points in time—North during Bjorndal, watching for South, and Wyoming during Longshore. It even makes sense to send Connie with them, in part if we assume she is in fact an intelligence specialist, and in part because out of the three of them she's the only one equipped for traditional CQC. 

It does not, however, explain why this wasn't balanced out with the importance of retrieving the briefcase. It's obvious they didn't expect it to be a hard job, but that team composition in no way accounted for anything going wrong and forcing close combat. Part of the issue is obviously the exclusion of South, it always will be, but still.

Tiny observation that doesn't mean much, not even for what I'm writing, but it does help to understand the potential thought processes going on behind this consistently confusing decision that aren't just 'the Director doesn't know what he's doing' (though for me, in this fic, it's quite the opposite).

Title: Strange, but Good

“Have you two moved from there at all today?”

Wash cracked open an eye just enough to see Tucker standing in the doorway, condensation coated can in hand. He tracked it as Tucker raised it to take a sip and questioned briefly whether he was more enticed by Tucker’s lips or the cool refreshment that the drink would give. An answer that came easily when the large body that laid over him shifted and sweaty skin rubbed awkwardly.

“Not really?” he said, smoothing out the strand of Caboose’s hair that he’d been idly stimming with. “He let me get up to go the bathroom once, that’s… about it. Otherwise it’s been all cuddles all the time, even if its, well…”

Tucker raised a brow. “As hot and humid as Satan’s armpit in here?”

“That about sums it up.”

“Gross.” Taking another big swig of his drink, he stepped inside and crouched beside the bed. “How much do you think he’d jump if I touched this to his arm?” he said, shaking the can slightly.

( Read Here )

The past week or so has brought around a bit of an upheaval in my usual writing landscape, but it's not something I can say was unneeded. I'm back again to writing small fics focused around the new seasons, which is nothing new, but I'm also setting aside a long-term non-fanfic project temporarily after years and years.

( Read more... )

The last fic I wrote (and published), prior to this month, was posted in late July. 7 months ago, there abouts. That’s the longest haitus I’ve taken from writing since I started up again when I joined the Red vs Blue fandom, back when I was pumping out a frankly ridiculous amount of writing on a regular basis. I honestly don’t know what’s contributed to this haitus the most, though I can pin it on a few things. I had other projects to work on that took up time, I’ve had to deal with some health issues, my anxiety about writing... the state of fandom itself.

But I’m back to writing and I’m hoping the break will have done me some good, long-term.
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