caturday, best day
Jul. 26th, 2025 09:26 amAh, the joy writing about magical kittens taking naps on a caturday! BEST DAY.
ellipsus thoughts
Jul. 24th, 2025 07:41 amI've been trying out ellipsus for writing during this Battleship season, and I like it! I'm sure I can come up with some more specific thoughts...
*you can change the background color scheme to be a soft rainbow, so that's definitely a plus (there are other options too, I just like the rainbow a lot)
*there's a timer! I've only used it once, and immediately forgot about it until a little pop-up window congratulated me for writing 114 words, and I was like 'what? OH right, the timer!' which is great for me, because a lot of times I get distracted by timer countdowns and they turn out to be more stressful than helpful
*there's a focus mode! I've never used it, because I prefer being distracted
*I genuinely like that my writing only goes in about half the width of the screen -- it really reduces the 'scary blank page' effect for me, and makes me less worried about what my words are doing (similar to the benefits of writing on a phone for me, just way easier since it's on my computer and I have a full keyboard and it's easy to move blocks of text around)
*can't speak to its ability to handle really long files (internet says it's not great, similar to the issues gdocs has with anything over 10,000 words), but it does very well with the low thousands
*it's not full of a bunch of random other docs and work stuff like my gdrive, so that's a big plus for me!
*yes, I'm absolutely going to see how work-appropriate I can make it look to see if I can get away with using it once they drag us back to the office, though I've previously had better luck using popped-out email windows or writer for that (writer has the benefit of typewriter sound effects!)
*you can change the background color scheme to be a soft rainbow, so that's definitely a plus (there are other options too, I just like the rainbow a lot)
*there's a timer! I've only used it once, and immediately forgot about it until a little pop-up window congratulated me for writing 114 words, and I was like 'what? OH right, the timer!' which is great for me, because a lot of times I get distracted by timer countdowns and they turn out to be more stressful than helpful
*there's a focus mode! I've never used it, because I prefer being distracted
*I genuinely like that my writing only goes in about half the width of the screen -- it really reduces the 'scary blank page' effect for me, and makes me less worried about what my words are doing (similar to the benefits of writing on a phone for me, just way easier since it's on my computer and I have a full keyboard and it's easy to move blocks of text around)
*can't speak to its ability to handle really long files (internet says it's not great, similar to the issues gdocs has with anything over 10,000 words), but it does very well with the low thousands
*it's not full of a bunch of random other docs and work stuff like my gdrive, so that's a big plus for me!
*yes, I'm absolutely going to see how work-appropriate I can make it look to see if I can get away with using it once they drag us back to the office, though I've previously had better luck using popped-out email windows or writer for that (writer has the benefit of typewriter sound effects!)
six sentence Sunday
Jul. 20th, 2025 07:54 amFor once I am actually writing something, but alas, all sentences are [redacted] until the exchange is over. Instead, I offer this six-theme overview of probably every story I write:
1. everyone is friends
2. the conflict was probably just a misunderstanding
3. cats, somehow
4. teamwork makes the dream work
5. fake explanation that's covered by the POV character also not understanding what's happening
6. naptime
1. everyone is friends
2. the conflict was probably just a misunderstanding
3. cats, somehow
4. teamwork makes the dream work
5. fake explanation that's covered by the POV character also not understanding what's happening
6. naptime
it's BATTLESHIP time
Jul. 13th, 2025 07:46 amI've now written 100% more fics in July (aka: 1 fic) than in the entire first half of the year (0 fics). YAY!!! Love that fic exchange energy.
*discord is now on my phone, will I regret this choice?????? NOT YET!!!!!
*trying out ellipsus for writing; so far it's fun! pretty! no offline mode, but that's been fine
*weather looks like it's going to be Extremely Summer this week, which means staying inside as much as possible to write will feel like an even better choice!
*discord is now on my phone, will I regret this choice?????? NOT YET!!!!!
*trying out ellipsus for writing; so far it's fun! pretty! no offline mode, but that's been fine
*weather looks like it's going to be Extremely Summer this week, which means staying inside as much as possible to write will feel like an even better choice!
2024 writing year in review
Dec. 29th, 2024 08:28 amIs it time to do the year in review posts yet? AO3 says I've posted 59,892 words this year over seven stories, hooray! Since there are only seven, I figured I do this in yearbook superlatives style!
*SHORTEST FIC: Travel like a slingshot
“We’ve definitely been in worse situations than this.”
*LONGEST FIC: Waiting for a sign,
“You always hope it’s a quasar,” Mariner reminded him. “And it never is. We’ve run into more Romulans than we have quasars.”
*MOST KUDOS'D FIC: All the time I thought of you
“Ooh, soulmate goose, who’s the lucky recipient?”
*FIRST FIC I'VE WRITTEN IN THE FANDOM: Whoever finds it first
"Isn’t there something in our contract about not having to do a nebula tour for my nemesis?”
*MAXIMUM FIX, MINIMUM EXPLANATION: Mixtape of humanity
“Is it true you’re from Indiana?”
*MY FAVORITE TITLE: A kind of spirit music
“Mariner, the last time you said that, alien raccoons ate our shuttle.”
*THE ONE WITH A BABY: All their hopes depending
“Did you steal this baby? Is this your baby? Am I an aunt now? I would be a totally kickass aunt.”
*SHORTEST FIC: Travel like a slingshot
“We’ve definitely been in worse situations than this.”
*LONGEST FIC: Waiting for a sign,
“You always hope it’s a quasar,” Mariner reminded him. “And it never is. We’ve run into more Romulans than we have quasars.”
*MOST KUDOS'D FIC: All the time I thought of you
“Ooh, soulmate goose, who’s the lucky recipient?”
*FIRST FIC I'VE WRITTEN IN THE FANDOM: Whoever finds it first
"Isn’t there something in our contract about not having to do a nebula tour for my nemesis?”
*MAXIMUM FIX, MINIMUM EXPLANATION: Mixtape of humanity
“Is it true you’re from Indiana?”
*MY FAVORITE TITLE: A kind of spirit music
“Mariner, the last time you said that, alien raccoons ate our shuttle.”
*THE ONE WITH A BABY: All their hopes depending
“Did you steal this baby? Is this your baby? Am I an aunt now? I would be a totally kickass aunt.”
fic posting caturday: 100th fic!
Dec. 21st, 2024 09:53 amI now have 100 fics posted to AO3, dating back to the mind-bogglingly distant date of 2007! Got my November novel posted today, with only two 'oops you missed the end-italics tag' bloopers (now fixed), and one 'why won't this line spacing match the others' that I eventually gave up on.
Title: Waiting for a sign
Author: marcicat
Fandom: Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Characters: Beckett Mariner, Bradward Boimler, D’Vana Tendi, Samanthan Rutherford, T’Lyn, D’Erika Tendi, T’Pring, Spock, Christine Chapel, James Kirk, Christopher Pike
Tags: AU, Time Travel, Alternate Dimensions, Space Monsters, Team as Family, Found Family, Family
Summary: In an alternate universe where Orion was a core member of Starfleet from the beginning, the Lower Decks crew encounters space monsters, time travelers, and a weird rock. So, basically a normal Thursday.
Author’s note: Title is from the song ‘Sounds of Earth’ by Jim Moray. There’s also a quote about soulmates that was adapted ever-so-slightly from a poem by Victoria Erickson.
on Dreamwidth
on AO3
Title: Waiting for a sign
Author: marcicat
Fandom: Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Characters: Beckett Mariner, Bradward Boimler, D’Vana Tendi, Samanthan Rutherford, T’Lyn, D’Erika Tendi, T’Pring, Spock, Christine Chapel, James Kirk, Christopher Pike
Tags: AU, Time Travel, Alternate Dimensions, Space Monsters, Team as Family, Found Family, Family
Summary: In an alternate universe where Orion was a core member of Starfleet from the beginning, the Lower Decks crew encounters space monsters, time travelers, and a weird rock. So, basically a normal Thursday.
Author’s note: Title is from the song ‘Sounds of Earth’ by Jim Moray. There’s also a quote about soulmates that was adapted ever-so-slightly from a poem by Victoria Erickson.
on Dreamwidth
on AO3
re-reading my November fic
Dec. 18th, 2024 07:55 amI'm working my way through a re-read of my November fic, and I've made it about 20,000 words in. Hoping to get it posted by (or during) the weekend.
Best errors found so far:
*misspelled the word 'all' as 'alll'
*swapped the letters of the spaceship name
*one sentence that just genuinely made no sense at all -- I have no idea what I was trying to say, so after some contemplation, I took it out
General thoughts so far:
Wow, it's almost like I wrote this story and included all the things I like! I have only a vague idea of what happens for the next 30,000 words, but I'm sure it will come back to me as I read. So far it's been fun.
Best errors found so far:
*misspelled the word 'all' as 'alll'
*swapped the letters of the spaceship name
*one sentence that just genuinely made no sense at all -- I have no idea what I was trying to say, so after some contemplation, I took it out
General thoughts so far:
Wow, it's almost like I wrote this story and included all the things I like! I have only a vague idea of what happens for the next 30,000 words, but I'm sure it will come back to me as I read. So far it's been fun.
oh, well, in that case
Dec. 17th, 2024 07:35 am*Just remembered that I've written Christmas-themed fics, went to go look at them on AO3 (very invested in procrastinating this morning)
*Noticed I have exactly 99 fics posted
*Thought 'ooh, I wonder if I could write something real quick to end the year at 100?'
*Realized I never posted my November novel (have not even re-read it yet... not really sure what happened in that story...)
*NEW GOAL: post November novel before the end of the year to reach 100 FICS
*Noticed I have exactly 99 fics posted
*Thought 'ooh, I wonder if I could write something real quick to end the year at 100?'
*Realized I never posted my November novel (have not even re-read it yet... not really sure what happened in that story...)
*NEW GOAL: post November novel before the end of the year to reach 100 FICS
DAY 30: GET READY TO WIN
Nov. 30th, 2024 09:54 am*today's the day! time to pick a title for this story, at long last!
*it's the last day of November, which means that at the end of today, we have all WON THE MONTH, regardless of word count or story completion status
*HECK YEAH WINNING
*current word count: 49,191
*a sentence I wrote today: “You think the baby space monster did it?”
*(what even is happening in this story???)
*LET'S GET THIS DONE!!!
*(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
*it's the last day of November, which means that at the end of today, we have all WON THE MONTH, regardless of word count or story completion status
*HECK YEAH WINNING
*current word count: 49,191
*a sentence I wrote today: “You think the baby space monster did it?”
*(what even is happening in this story???)
*LET'S GET THIS DONE!!!
*(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
*oooooohhhhh noooooooo I keep getting distracted by shopping!
*but it is a day for writing!
*(and also shopping)
*definitely writing!
*and also some holiday decorating
*maybe just a lil' bit more shopping
*gotta get back to that writing...
*but it is a day for writing!
*(and also shopping)
*definitely writing!
*and also some holiday decorating
*maybe just a lil' bit more shopping
*gotta get back to that writing...
DAY 28: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Nov. 28th, 2024 08:14 am*three days, 5000 words!!! WE CAN DO THIS! (also Thanksgiving, we can definitely do Thanksgiving too)
(*HOW IS IT DECEMBER 1ST ON SUNDAY, NO THANK YOU, I DID NOT AGREE TO THIS)
*I was feeling burned out (and bummed out) about writing yesterday, because I pretty much ran out of story, BUT then I had a fantastic conversation with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
starandrea and now I am excited again!
*here's the (NEW! IMPROVED!) plan: dragons
*no, really, hear me out: dragons are great
*dragons can definitely fill 5000 words
*have dragons been mentioned in the story AT ALL prior to the 45,000 word mark?
*no
*but I did mention a rock earlier, because it was funny, and WHO'S TO SAY the rock isn't a dragon egg? NOT ME
*except YES ME, because I'm apparently going to spend the next 5000 words pretending that makes sense
(*HOW IS IT DECEMBER 1ST ON SUNDAY, NO THANK YOU, I DID NOT AGREE TO THIS)
*I was feeling burned out (and bummed out) about writing yesterday, because I pretty much ran out of story, BUT then I had a fantastic conversation with
starandrea and now I am excited again!*here's the (NEW! IMPROVED!) plan: dragons
*no, really, hear me out: dragons are great
*dragons can definitely fill 5000 words
*have dragons been mentioned in the story AT ALL prior to the 45,000 word mark?
*no
*but I did mention a rock earlier, because it was funny, and WHO'S TO SAY the rock isn't a dragon egg? NOT ME
*except YES ME, because I'm apparently going to spend the next 5000 words pretending that makes sense
DAY 27: THANKSGIVING EVE
Nov. 27th, 2024 08:05 am*FOUR DAYS TO GO
*6200 WORDS TO GO
*yesterday I reached the bowling part of the story, only to remember that I don't love bowling? so that turned out to be only about 350 words, lol
*MOVING ON FROM BOWLING
*there's not much left on my list of plans, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm thinking maybe some family cameos
*not that those haven't already happened in the story, but they could happen more
*also the classic circling back to whatever I wrote about in the first few sections
*time to mention that stuff again, as if there was some kind of plan to this story!
*6200 WORDS TO GO
*yesterday I reached the bowling part of the story, only to remember that I don't love bowling? so that turned out to be only about 350 words, lol
*MOVING ON FROM BOWLING
*there's not much left on my list of plans, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm thinking maybe some family cameos
*not that those haven't already happened in the story, but they could happen more
*also the classic circling back to whatever I wrote about in the first few sections
*time to mention that stuff again, as if there was some kind of plan to this story!
*goal word count today: 43,333
*current word count: 42,000ish
*very excited that I am now fully in the FINAL FILE! (one file per ten thousand words, which is a number gdocs can handle without slowing down too much, and easy-ish math for me)
*they are ALMOST out of the nebula, AGAIN! HOORAY!
*now I'm planning to spend at least a thousand words on 'writing reports,' aka 'recapping everything I've already written'
*every word of report writing is one I don't need to make up about bowling!
*current word count: 42,000ish
*very excited that I am now fully in the FINAL FILE! (one file per ten thousand words, which is a number gdocs can handle without slowing down too much, and easy-ish math for me)
*they are ALMOST out of the nebula, AGAIN! HOORAY!
*now I'm planning to spend at least a thousand words on 'writing reports,' aka 'recapping everything I've already written'
*every word of report writing is one I don't need to make up about bowling!
*this is not a drill! this is the last 10,000 words!
*SEND HELP PLS
*goals for today:
-try to resolve some of the "plot" (lol, such as it is)
-time to leave the nebula again!
-move on to writing reports & bowling
*can I stretch report writing & a bowling tournament for 10,000 words? I'M SURE GONNA TRY
*STILL NO TITLE
*SEND HELP PLS
*goals for today:
-try to resolve some of the "plot" (lol, such as it is)
-time to leave the nebula again!
-move on to writing reports & bowling
*can I stretch report writing & a bowling tournament for 10,000 words? I'M SURE GONNA TRY
*STILL NO TITLE
DAY 24: IT'S 40,000 DAY!!!
Nov. 24th, 2024 08:06 am*Which means we have exactly ONE WEEK left to go!
Current story status:
*still no title
*in the 5-POINT PLAN, still firmly in the "they go back to the nebula" stage
*in the 18-POINT PLAN, "time agency grifters" is definitely happening; "something about the anomaly" sort of already happened (I guess???)
*the "ghosts, a misunderstanding?" thing maybe also sort of happened, if you split 'ghosts' and 'a misunderstanding' into to separate things
*some words I wrote today: “I wanted them to impact my emotional state!”
Current story status:
*still no title
*in the 5-POINT PLAN, still firmly in the "they go back to the nebula" stage
*in the 18-POINT PLAN, "time agency grifters" is definitely happening; "something about the anomaly" sort of already happened (I guess???)
*the "ghosts, a misunderstanding?" thing maybe also sort of happened, if you split 'ghosts' and 'a misunderstanding' into to separate things
*some words I wrote today: “I wanted them to impact my emotional state!”
*Good news! The cat has recovered enough to return to her regularly-scheduled activities of jumping up on furniture and sleeping on fluffy beds!
*Good news! I decided that since the only other things I've written this year were for the Battleship Exchange, and all of those fics were titled with lyrics from 'Sounds of Earth', I should just stick with the theme. I haven't actually picked a title yet, but it seems easier now.
*Good news! ::insert additional good news of your choice here::
*Good news! I decided that since the only other things I've written this year were for the Battleship Exchange, and all of those fics were titled with lyrics from 'Sounds of Earth', I should just stick with the theme. I haven't actually picked a title yet, but it seems easier now.
*Good news! ::insert additional good news of your choice here::
*Let's goooooo!!!!!!
*Uh, not sure I have anything more specifically motivating than that.
*Next Saturday, November will be over, no matter how many words are written, so we might as well have fun while we're in it.
*lol having said that, time to do some early Black Friday shopping!
*The cat is still kinda loopy from the pain meds she got at the vet, but she's doing much better. Breakfast consumed and litter box used, both very good signs!
*Some words I wrote today: “Okay, this definitely wasn’t on my bingo card for today.”
*That's 10 words! Only 1657 left to go!
*Uh, not sure I have anything more specifically motivating than that.
*Next Saturday, November will be over, no matter how many words are written, so we might as well have fun while we're in it.
*lol having said that, time to do some early Black Friday shopping!
*The cat is still kinda loopy from the pain meds she got at the vet, but she's doing much better. Breakfast consumed and litter box used, both very good signs!
*Some words I wrote today: “Okay, this definitely wasn’t on my bingo card for today.”
*That's 10 words! Only 1657 left to go!
I am completely discombobulated today. Took the cat over to the vet for an early drop-off so she can have her teeth cleaned and checked, and now I keep looking for her everywhere. My brain seems stuck in the loop of 'it is work time now, but pre-work things were not done, WHAT DO???'
Also it's 35,000 day???
Also it's 35,000 day???
LIFE UPDATES
*I was so wrong on DAY 4; clearly DAY 20 is the screaming day
*AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STORY UPDATES
*still no title (though, I mean, 'AWESOME 2024 STORY' does have a certain charm)
*officially in 'they go back to the nebula' territory now
*the 18-point plan describes this bit as "something about the anomaly"
*very helpful! I will certainly attempt to write something about the anomaly today
*I have no idea what's happening in this story
*I was so wrong on DAY 4; clearly DAY 20 is the screaming day
*AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STORY UPDATES
*still no title (though, I mean, 'AWESOME 2024 STORY' does have a certain charm)
*officially in 'they go back to the nebula' territory now
*the 18-point plan describes this bit as "something about the anomaly"
*very helpful! I will certainly attempt to write something about the anomaly today
*I have no idea what's happening in this story
*all right, we have 20,000 words left to write, and 11 days to do it!
*I'm still trying to finish up two sections in the 'stuff starts happening on the ship' portion of the story
*but I've also moved on to start the 'go back to the nebula' portion
*conversations are now happening completely out of order
*since there's a time travel element to the story, it's possible I can pretend that's on purpose?
*PS: I should really do some work stuff today
*I'm still trying to finish up two sections in the 'stuff starts happening on the ship' portion of the story
*but I've also moved on to start the 'go back to the nebula' portion
*conversations are now happening completely out of order
*since there's a time travel element to the story, it's possible I can pretend that's on purpose?
*PS: I should really do some work stuff today
