Feral Natsu Has Fans

So, apparently a fan (that is a weird word to use) created a blog on Tumblr just for my fanfic Beastly Possession. She has been posting some outrageously amazing artwork there, and for Christmas she wrote a "special" featuring the alternate personality I created for Natsu Dragneel, known to the fans as Feral Natsu.

I'm stunned that something I wrote as an experiment (can I write horror and do I enjoy writing that genre) has inspired others so deeply.

http://feralnatsu.tumblr.com/post/71056285983/the-night-before-christmas

Tutorial for Updating Fanfics

Alternate title:

Fanfic Efficiency by Website

Scenario: You're reading your fanfic story and notice a misspelled word, so you fix the error.

This is not only a tutorial for updating stories in the three major fanfiction websites, but it also shows the number of mouse clicks needed to fix the error, demonstrating user-friendly efficiency.

Tallies are based on a user who is already logged in, the chapter is not already exported for Fanfiction.net, and the story is on the first page of the fandom for AFF (no digging through 50 pages of old stories to find yours).

Starting point - being on the posted chapter visible to the public.
Ending point - returning to the same chapter without using Back button.

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Fanfiction.net

1. Click on User's name at the top right corner
2. Click Publish
3. Click Manage Stories
4. Click on story title
5. Click Content/Chapters
6. Click icon for Export
7. Click link for Exported document
8. Fix the error
9. Click Save
10. Click Manage Stories
11. Click on story title
12. Click Content/Chapters
13. Click Replace/Update Chapter
14. Click Select Chapter
15. Click desired chapter
16. Click Select Document
17. Click desired document
18. Click Replace Chapter Content with Document
19. Click Properties
20. Click link
21. Click drop arrow for chapter navigation
22. Click desired chapter

TOTAL: 22

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AdultFanFiction

1. Hover over Member Tools and click Author Panel
2. Scroll to desired genre and click Edit
3. Click Select Story
4. Click story title
5. Click Select Action
6. Click Edit Chapter
7. Click Edit
8. Click Choose Chapter
9. Click desired chapter
10. Fix the error
11. Click Edit Chapter
12. Hover over Archives or Anime/Games Archives and click which genre
13. Assuming genre has multiple fandoms, click letter grouping
14. Click desired fandom
15. Click on story
16. Click chapter selector
17. Click desired chapter

TOTAL: 17

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Archive of Our Own

1. Click Edit Chapter (for one-shots, click Edit at the top of the story)
2. Fix error
3. Click Update Without Preview, story will update and return to the fixed chapter.

TOTAL: 3

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As you can see, AO3 has far superior user-friendly controls for the author, allowing editing to be done directly within a chapter and returning to the same chapter when editing is finished, rather than navigating to an editing panel like AFF, or Fanfiction.net's need to return to your main login page just to leap back and forth between editing and managing.

Writers I have spoke to have said that Fanfiction.net's convoluted editorial process is so confusing, they don't even bother fixing known errors. This translates into far inferior quality on the site as error-riddled stories are left alone because the author doesn't want to spend 10 minutes managing, exporting, and importing.

When it comes to editing, Fanfiction.net is way behind its competitors. Rather than focusing on their forums and filters, their next major upgrade should be to the user-friendliness on the side of the writer. 22 clicks to edit a chapter, versus AFF's 17 clicks, and sadly AdultFanFiction is infamous for its outdated layout and extremely non-user-friendly design. Even worse, comparing it to AO3's 3-click easy updating is a painful example of how far Fanfiction.net needs to evolve.

Surprise, You're a Soloist

At my gig today, a soloist did not show up. The trombones turned to our fearless section leader. “Since he’s missing, who’ll play the solo?”

Fearless Leader turned and waved dramatically to me. “Rhov will play the solo.”

I snapped out of my coffee-deprived daze. “I…uh…WHUUH?”

"Have you ever played the solo?" he asked.

"NO! I’ve only played this song maybe twice."

"Perfect. There’s nothing quite like sight-reading a solo the day of a performance."

I gave him my patented ‘you die later’ glare. “Leader…I may have to hate you.”

30 minutes later… totally rocked the solo! Oooh yeah! Who’s the swingingest trombone chick in the band, eh? (Who’s the ONLY trombone chick!)

The Most Influencial Person in my Life

The director of my youth band, Mr. Ward (he will always be "mister" to me). We weren't "just a band," we were a family, and he was our parent. He took a personal interest in every musician. Many of us came from struggling families. He would treat us to dinner if he knew we didn't get enough food at home. He sheltered some who had abusive parents. He managed to get one musician out of a gang and protected him from retaliation. When my dad had a massive heart attack, he sat with me after rehearsal, knowing I was bottling my emotions (he could "hear it in my music") and he hugged me as I finally broke down in sobs, unable to cry at home, since I was supposed to be the strong one. He knew I love to write, so he pedantically corrected my bad grammar. He bought me my first martini, and he taught me to drink it with refinement. He saw the way I bashfully gazed at another musician, and slyly he would make us sit next to one another on the band bus, or take the same car on long trips. He nudged, we moved, and years later I married that boy. We invited Mr. Ward and other musicians from our youth band days to the wedding. Actually, when I told him I was engaged, he tried his damnedest to talk me out of it. Then at the wedding, he said he did that to test me. He really wanted me to be sure of this big step, because he wanted my greatest happiness. He taught me, not just about music, but about life, how to "step out on the right foot" and "keep playing no matter what." I lost my grandparents at a young age, so he became my grandpa. Yet sadly...I lost him too a few years ago. I hope he's somewhere, watching, happy to see that I'm still playing music, still married, and I still toast a martini to him on his birthday.

42

"The answer to the ultimate question…of life, the universe, and everything is…42."
In Japanese, 4 is shi, 2 is ni. Shini means death. (shinigami=death god)

Japanese also say 4 as yon. While Yonni means nothing (I know) in Japanese, it does mean vagina in Sanskrit.
 
So the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, is both death...and the source of life, the vagina. Life comes from the vagina only to be later greeted by death.

Let your mind be blown by the awesomeness of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

I Will Write What I Want

I will write what I want.
I will not write what you tell me to write.
I will not stop writing what you dislike.
I will not write what I dislike just because you like it.
I write a lot.
I update constantly.
If I'm not updating your favorite story, just wait.
I write variety, depending on how I feel that day.
I will not focus on a story unless my mind is prepared for it.
If I haven't updated in a month, my mind is obviously not prepared for it.

I do not use other people's Original Characters.
I will not cross-over into your ongoing story simply to promote you.
I will only promote a story that inspired that particular chapter/scene.
If you are pestering me to promote you, chances are you probably don't inspire me.
I will not randomly "squeeze in" your favorite shipping just because you want to see it.
I will not "just update something."
I will update when the chapter is done and proofread.

I go through phases.
You may not like my current phase.
Don't hate me if I'm having fun in one of my random phases.
Killing my "groove" will not get you what you want.
Writing in every single review, "The story was good but it'd be great if XX and YY got together" when XX and YY are not anywhere in the story, will not get you what you want.
I like hearing suggestions, they can inspire me, but don't get enraged if I don't take your suggestion. It was nice of you to write it, but that doesn't always mean I can work the idea into what I have planned.
Yes, my stories are usually planned out, in detail.
If I'm writing about something, obviously I like it, and telling me "that couple sucks," or "I hate stories like this" will not inspire me to write in new directions. It will make me frustrated, and all creativity, including what you hate and what you potentially like, will die. It will not give birth to what you like. Creativity is not a frigging phoenix.

I like to see requests, but one at a time, please! Sending me 10 story ideas every day will not make me write more of what you want. I hate to think you spent all that time writing your ideas down when I could have told you up front "I don't have time."
If I say "I don't have time," don't send me more story ideas "but they're one-shots!" I...don't...have...time.
I am not looking for another collaborator. I only use one, because she's that good.
I will answer questions on how to write. I will not give you the whole story. Unless it's a gift. Don't demand gifts.
If I tell you I'm busy, I'm busy. Sending me your full manuscript with the note "read it when you have time," and then crying because 3 days have passed and I haven't read it, will not make me read it. I'm busy.

If I haven't PM'ed you back, you are in the queue. I chat a lot...I mean A LOT! I have 10-50 PMs at any given time. There are days when I'll write to 20 people, and there are days when I don't feel social. I am also out of town frequently with music bands. I don't hate you. I'm too busy writing stories to write PMs all the time. Sometimes you catch me and I write directly back, sometimes I get bogged down and you might wait 2 weeks. That's just the way it is. Keep getting angry and whining "you're ignoring me again" like a clingy girlfriend (even if in jest) and I might purposely put off your PMs, because I simply don't have the patience to talk to you.

I get writer's block.
I burn out.
I am SERIOUSLY burning out on fanfiction in general.
If I have written "This story is on hiatus" then it's on frigging HIATUS.
If I'm not updating the story you particularly like... tough luck. At least it's not on hiatus.
Writing to me weekly "when will you update" will not speed me up.
Telling me to stop working on my current obsession because you want this other story, will not speed me up.
Leaving reviews under different names but saying the same "Y U No Update" message every time, will not speed me up.

I do not take vague requests of "Can you write about this couple," especially if I have 10 stories on that couple.
I do not accept all story requests. They need to interest me personally, and that's pretty random. Even if I accept a request, realize that I'm working on about 12 stories at any given time, with 50 in the queue. Some people have waited a year or more.
Don't ask me every day "What about that request I sent you?" It's in the queue, with 50 other stories.
Especially don't ask when I said I don't have time to write requests until autumn.
Don't keep asking "Are you free now? Aren't you on summer break?" No. I'm an adult. We don't get summer break.

Nagging me does not make me faster.
Calling me names does not spur me on.
Threats never work.
If any of these fit you, I don't hate you. You are not the only one. These are issues that have come up multiple times, so it's not like I'm singling you out.

I will write what I want, when I want, at the pace I can mentally handle.
I love to write. I love to chat. I love to help young writers. But please...I'm just one person!

Thanks.

30 is the new 15

I've heard people reassure my eldest sister, "Being 40 isn't too bad. 40 is the new 30, after all." It made me wonder. I'm in that state of being a "thirtysomething" so...what am I? I was hanging out with some friends over Christmas, and it was noted that we were being loud, drinking a lot, not really acting like adults (crude conversations as only people who are married can even discuss), and basically we were being a rowdy group of perverts. Someone jokingly said, "Meh, don't worry about it, 30 is the new 20 so we can act like idiot college students."

Being 30... I suppose there were a lot of things I thought would happen by now that haven't come to pass: a lucrative career, a few novels published, a house of my own, a family. Some of my friends have all that, and I'm a bit jealous. Maybe it won't happen until I'm 40, since "40 is the new 30."

However, I'm finding myself in an awkward phase. I feel trapped between one stage in life and another.

I began to notice this metamorphical transition when I began to write fanfiction. Such a hobby is seen as the budding writing attempts of teenagers, focusing on love affairs that never happened in the actual story, or feeling out their own strengths and weaknesses. In other words, 90% of all fanfiction is poorly written verbage-garbage written by hormonal adult-children. They're trying, though, and it's a medium for editorial help that didn't exist when I was a teenager. Then there's me. I usually keep my age a secret, although I did finally state on my profile that I'm "over 25." That alone makes me old. My readers are the same age as some of my friend's children. Still, I try to teach through writing, I "beta read" (AKA, edit manuscripts) for a select few who I deem as having true potential. I could not tell you how many people have written fan letters to me saying that my style of writing has inspired them to write also. I am called "sensei" and "taicho," Japanese for teacher and captain. I'm a mentor on that site. One reader who discovered my age called me "the old lady of fanfiction."

Then, on Tuesday nights, I pick up my trombone and play with the local symphonic band. Amongst my peers in the trombone section, I'm the only female and the only one without gray hair...besides a half dozen rogue strands. So since all the other trombonists are between the ages of 55-70, I'm "the little girl" of the trombone section. They respect me, but I felt like I had to earn that respect. I'm a child in their eyes, a youngster. One of the trombonists in the group avoided me with a sense of awkwardness until he found out I majored in music, studied music theory in college, and was a section leader (and later instructor) for my youth band. That apparently impressed him, showed him I'm mature and know what the hell I'm doing, and now he's talking to me like an equal. But again, I'm "the little girl" who has to struggle to gain the respect of the "older adults." I've always had the pressure of being female in a male-dominated instrumental section, but now I have pressure for being so young.

So I'm "the old lady" but also "the little girl." I'm trapped between two phases in my life, that of being a vibrant adult in my prime, yet not quite considered elderly and experienced. My in-laws still refer to me and my husband as "the kids." I had a neighbor's son see me coming up the street and shout "Run, it's a grownup!" (That was awkward.) People call me "ma'am." People call me "young miss." Because my hair refuses to turn gray, my former school friends see me and exclaim "You haven't aged a day," yet I'm no longer carded when I buy alcohol because I look old enough (21 in this country). I'm fully entrenched as an adult, but I'm still seen as a young person. That's...good, I guess. But it's becoming awkward.

30 isn't the new 20.
30 is the new 15.

Fifteen years old: that awkward stage of not being a child but not being an adult, when your body is changing, puberty sneaks up on you, zits plague your skin, hormones are raring, independence becomes a struggle as you battle parents and teachers, stupid choices are made (drugs, drinking, weird hair colors), and we desire with all our heart to "belong," no matter which clique we pick to hang out with.

Thirty years old: that awkward stage of not being recklessly young but not being satisfied with the settled adult life, when your body is changing, gray sneaks into your hair, wrinkles threaten to crease your skin, hormones are beginning to wane, freedom becomes a struggle as you battle bosses and the tether of having children to lug around, stupid choices are made (sleeping pills, drinking, mid-life crisis), and we desire with all our heart to "return" to youth, no matter if that means we sound like old fogies talking about "the good old days."

Yes, 40 may be the new 30, but 30 is the new 15.