Read about my normal and functional spaceship to absolutely destroy your sleep schedule
This happened to me with their (now finished) serial novel Curse Words, and then their (currently unfinished) story Charlie MacNamara, Galactic Ace when I caught up to Curse Words while it was still in progress.
Simply put, it’s just a thing that happens when it comes to reading Derin’s stories.
I’ve been reliably informed by many, many readers that these stories are specifically crack for ADHD people who usually have difficulty reading and I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. That’s such a random demographic.
Congratulations, you did invent time travel after all! Unfortunately, instead of the Soviet moon conspiracy thing, all it’s good for is warping your readers several hours into the future.
One of the things that’s important in a long-running RPG is making a memorable plot that attains definitive closure. You don’t want players feeling like they have unfinished business and want to go Do More Things.
So, for instance, say you start dropping hints early on of some sort of epic Magical Badass, like a lich queen or something. Early on, the players don’t find out much; just that there’s someone called Zola who is behind a whole lot of strange shit, and a lot of it is not good. And they are never quite sure what she is. Wizard? Dragon? Lich? But eventually they find out: She has many forms, but her true form is one of the Medusas. Not the modern watered-down species that fall for the mirror crap and you have to meet their gaze, but a true abomination from beyond the veil, whose stare can turn whole armies to stone.
The reason this works as a plot is that the players will never speak to you again once they realize you spent six months building up to the reveal that the big cheese is the legendary gorgon Zola.
you’re grounded.
I ran a yuletide campaign a few years back, where an ancient archdruid sent the party to rescue the cervine embodiment of the Midwinter Star from the evil mechanical dragon Bezirax. It wasn’t until it was all over and the red star shone in the evening sky once more that the players realized that they’d been sent by Santa to rescue Rudolph from Jeff Bezos and his delivery drones.
i think i love “i’m getting tired even for a phoenix” so much because it’s like yes, i rose up from the dead and i do it all the time. yes time can heal most anything. yes i have survived again and again. yes i have endured, yes i do endure, yes i will endure. but i’m so fucking tired of having to do this. i’m so tired of having to survive. i’m tired of having to be strong, i’m tired of my defining trait being that i’ve endured, i want to be known for easy happiness, i want to be known for my love and delight in the world, and instead i am once again forced to rebuild. and i can do it! i can rebuild. i’m just so fucking sick of having to.
Daughter of fantasy villains decides to rebel against her parents by actually going through with her arranged marriage to a local golden retriever of a prince instead of running off with some local villain-to-be or conquering said golden retriever’s kingdom and ruling it solo like her parents expect her to. Plus, sue her, she’s into the clean-cut earnest look.
At the same time, local prince charming discovers that he’s actually very into the gothic fiance his parents have landed him with in order to try and establish peace with the local evil lair down the lane, he would never have guessed a spiderweb pattern could look so fetching on a ball gown…?
Meanwhile, two pairs of parents in a tizzy because they both expected their offspring to whole-heartedly reject this union and give them an excuse to conquer their goody-two-shoes/evil neighbours, they’re not supposed to actually like each other-!
respective friend groups undergoing culture clash like all of prince charming’s knights are like what vile spell has been used to ensorcel our prince. we must be on our guard for surely this is but a ruse for an assassination attempt
meanwhile the villain bride’s friends are all like clearly he loves you not, why do you persist in a manner that will ensure your own heart break, i mean if he was taking this seriously there would be at least three assassination attempts by now. it’s like he doesn’t even notice that you have massive amounts of dark power to covet for his own
smashcut to
fully armored knight, clanging through the hallways in attempts at stealth, blades drawn: i’m just saying, i took an oath of protection. this feels wrong.
prince charming: it’s not wrong, it’s celebrating cross cultural traditions for my beloved bride
knight: it’s attempted murder
prince charming: it’s a loving attempted murder
@chucktaylorupset Meanwhile the bride has a bouquet of roses, cornflowers, and wheat sheaves on her desk in her room, and she’s not coming out until she’s written a beautiful and moving poem about how they favourably compare to her groom. It’s been three days. She’s gone through an entire raven’s worth of quills (unethically sourced). The ‘toads who used to be my friends’ list has gone up by one. But she’s bent dark forces and eldritch spirits to her will and, by the powers obscene, this will not be the thing that breaks her.
Sorceress friend: Please, just get him an amulet that will double his power at the cost of his soul, no one’s worth this.
Rebellious villainess: (nearly in tears) No, he brought his best knights to the castle and tried to kill me last week, at midnight, I can’t ignore something like that! He even kicked Cathulhu!
Sorceress friend: He nudged it with his foot. And then he apologized to it. In tears.
Rebellious villainess: (actually in tears now, for reasons of feels instead of poetic torment) He’s trying so hard!!!
What’s a fic you’ve posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)
The Valka fic, hands down.
I put so much into an unkindness of ravens. It’s–in my, you know, totally unbiased opinion–funny, tender, sweet, and agonizing at the right moments. And I did some exquisite work with Norse visions, trans metaphors, and animal motifs, if I do say so myself.
It’s niche, but I know it can be enjoyed even without context of the fandom, so I definitely wish it got a little more engagement!
ALT
