Brain droppings

On fluff and its necessity

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I’m about 65% done with the next ATTWN chapter, and it is almost entirely fluffy. I had a couple of PM’s asking me for more fluff and a couple asking for less, so I thought I would address the issue.

Mass Effect is a game, and as a game it cannot indulge in the things that make up ‘normal life’. A lot is abstracted — going to the restroom, eating, sleeping, etc. That being said, going from A to C and not bothering with a clearly there but boring B is not a sin.

Going from A to X, however, and skipping everything between, certainly is.

A lot of the reason ATTWN even is happening is ‘fluff’. The circumstances behind Shepard’s death, while similar to canon, do not actually follow canon. Namely, the mystery of how the Collectors were able to pick up the Normandy when REAPERS couldn’t, and the sheer stupidity of reviving someone who fell from fucking orbit.

ATTWN has to deal with a lot of fluff to establish both Shepard growing beyond what she was before ME1 (because growth is a criterion of the story, and a CORE CONCEPT that will come up again and again in ME2 and ME3 Premiseverse) as well as preventing massive infodumps.

That being said, I’m attempting to strike a balance between emotional backstory and action. I’m interested in thoughts on this issue.

FanFic Maintenance, Hot Updates

Possible ATTWN Update this weekend

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I have about 4500 words done on the next chapter, and a revised outline for the rest of the second Arc.

Might get something out this weekend.

FanFic Maintenance, Hot Updates

ATTWN Update

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A bit of the muse struck and I managed to dust of the bits of the chapter I’d been working on and finish it.

The batarian history is coming along….slowly. But I should be able to get it out this month, although physiology and psychology will take a bit longer.

Hot Updates, ME Ramblings, Other People's Actually Decent Art

Another “Liara in the SA” sketch by Armesan

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liarasketch

I have no idea why no one has done this before. Also, All Nighter Productions is awesome.

Brain droppings, ME Ramblings

Still alive…

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I have a mad and unthinking desire to try to write awkward Garrus/Miranda romance, possibly along with Tali having to merge the robot-dog with Urz to save his life and turning him into a battle-mount, and a Shepard who both Liara and Ash are in love with, and since he didn’t want to pick between them both got catty and now sleep with each other just to spite him.

There may be something wrong with my brain.

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Art Stuff

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LuckyFK did work on a painting of Garrus and Telanya : http://luckyfk.deviantart.com/art/Tel-and-Gar-498896853

And Nikita did the most awesome painting of Jiong and Susan evar:

http://nikitastewart.deviantart.com/art/Mass-Effect-OC-Commission-497465877

I’ll have these in the gallery later.

FanFic Maintenance, Hot Updates

Lack of updates

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Sorry haven’t been around much, mother is going through a lot of medical issues right now and work is also crazy.

I’ve gotten some commissioned art done I’ll put up this weekend but it will be sometime before I do any updates to any stories.

 

Hot Updates, Organizational, Wikishit

So, a wiki

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If you have not noticed, there is now a (very new and crappy) wiki on the site.

The purpose of the wiki is three fold:

  1.  To provide a place for me to store notes and develop backstory and technology that I cannot shoehorn into an existing story but I require to build on. Some of the stuff is boring, other pieces just don’t need a place in the actual storyline and don’t fit in the documents.
  2.  A place where a few other people can help me develop ideas and extensions for the story — in particular, my beta, Liethr, my co-author Progman, my primary feedback reader Michael1110 and the three or four readers I like to gank ideas from (AlexN7, NonSolus, RED78910, metaladdict, NarwhalWarlord, and Lay Down Hunter mostly)
  3.  A place where I can store notes without the worry of losing all my goddamned work, which has happened more than once.  I mean, seriously, what the fuck is the point of a RAID if both segments fail at the same fucking time?

Anyway. I doubt I will spend much time on it — ten minutes here and there at work every day adds up though. I can’t really get any writing done at work but I can build little bits of lore and backstory.

Working on the Naruto stuff now, to give my brain a rest.  I’ll probably have another chapter of ATTWN to the betas by this weekend, and maybe more of No Single Raindrop as well. I MAY (no promises) get done with the research on batarian history this weekend, depends.