bettsfic

[bettsfic]

Been playing hades 2 again for the most recent update, thought i'd repost this old piece. 2 forest dwelling baby gods trying to free death.

I've always had a comic idea for them but maybe i'll wait till the next COTL update or the hades full release.

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Reccer Spotlight: G!

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent

The Apothecary Diaries

Hild

A Sorceress Comes to Call

Little Thieves

G's recs this summer are all about nature, weird girls, and cool old ladies. Would you like your women fairytalecore, historical, or literary? Full text available in her tab of the Bella’s Book Club Summer Reading ‘25 Reclist.

more info on BBC Summer Reading 2025

more Reccer Spotlights

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i'm so glad i got to be part of this! recording it was a blast and it was great to see everyone again. it was also really cathartic to be able to talk about the aforementioned beautiful things that might have been.

Yes, yes, I've been terrible about actually posting on Tumblr. But the podcast, of course, has continued, and now we are up to 13x10... Wayward Sisters.

And joining us is not one, not two, not three, but FOUR special guests! Riley is back, along with her @waywarddaughtersofficial partner in crime @bettsfic - PLUS, extra-special guests...

KIM RHODES

and

BRIANA BUCKMASTER!

We had so much fun talking about the development of Wayward Daughters/Sisters, the episode itself, filming the episode, and the beautiful things that might have been (not that we're bitter or anything).

Download the episode here to learn about the space vagina and angel blade dildos!

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Season 14, Time for a Podcast! is a Supernatural podcast wherein an obsessive fan (Matt) and a fic author (PorcupineGirl) make PG’s little sister (Jess) watch the show for the first time for your entertainment.

Episodes drop every other Sunday, and you can find them on our official website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Play. For early access to every episode, bonus episodes, and more, check out our Patreon!

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Issue #13 submissions are OPEN!

We are accepting submissions for Issue #13 until 11:59pm EST on August 17, 2025. Issue #13 will be published on October 1, 2025.

Send us your dead doves, your blorbos, your plinkos, your wretched meow meows yearning to be free; that thing you wrote that made you think, “I don’t know where this belongs”; the stuff you’d never show anyone you know IRL. Give us your shameless, self-indulgent smut; the manuscript to the video essay you dictated to your YouTube subscribers in your head; your thoughtful explorations of trauma and identity; your Pepe Silvia wall; your sci-fi, your fantasy, your romance, your realism. We want anything and everything. As long as you identify as a fan, we want to read your work.

We are currently looking for:

Short fiction (only 1 piece at a time, max 12k words; if flash [under 1k], you may submit up to 5 pieces in one document)

Nonfiction (personal essays, articles, or meta, max 12k words)

Check out our MSWL!

Special Announcement: Issue #13 will be the last issue going to print. Starting in 2026, all issues will be published digitally. We have been so fortunate to print physical issues for the last ~4 years, and we thank all of your for the unwavering support that made it happen. <3

SUBMIT TO ISSUE #13 HERE! (fee waived)

site | subscribe | submit | faq

[bettsfic]

How do you compartmentalize your work and other responsibilities while still working on a (writing) project you love? Im looking to have a more balanced relationship with wring but it’s hard when writing can kind of take over. Writing in free time is often given as advice but I’m more so referring to how to not let writing fall off for you but also not be so focused on it throughout the week that you aren’t present for other life stuff.

i think the last time i answered this question i was neck-deep in a story that took over my entire life so it felt hypocritical to answer it, but since then i've made a lot of changes and i have some semblance of a writing/life balance now.

for me, it took a med change to tame my obsessive impulses, which is a real bummer, because for anyone else out there who has obsessive tendencies, you know that their intensity can be a great and addictive high. when i'm on the right meds, and i exercise and eat well, i find that it's a lot easier to start and stop basically all tasks as needed, including writing. that means i've gotten better at scheduling my day around the things i need/want to do so that i actually do them when scheduled. for writing, i write every morning from 10am to 12pm and then between calls and other work obligations, and i stop around 5 or 6 to make dinner and go for a walk. i usually get a lot of good thinking done during my walk and that ends up inspiring whatever i write the next morning.

in terms of not being present, i've transformed my own absent-mindedness into present-mindedness by feeding my reality into the project. we have a lot of bunnies where i live, and on my walks i can still allow myself to feel a sense of awe watching them bounce around while thinking about how these moments might connect to the project in some way. i keep a notebook on me all the time so i can record any ideas that come to me.

as far as dropping off, i think that depends on your relationship with writing. for me, i'm working on this kind of radical willfulness, where i do what i want to do and i don't do what i don't want to do as often as i possibly can without ruining my life. i've found that my motivation naturally comes and goes, and that when i just follow what i feel like doing (again, only from this strangely healthy space i'm in right now), eventually everything gets done.

that said, if you're working on ass-in-chair discipline, and you know that if you stop forcing yourself to write you'll stop writing forever, then it's best to give yourself a small daily assignment you can always do, regardless of how you're feeling. maybe that's journaling, or writing a single sentence, or letting yourself daydream. if you keep up some sort of simple daily something that you find easier than easy can possibly be, you'll be able to keep some inertia so that when motivation returns to you, you can pick writing up more easily.

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Hi! I've been trying to get into writing for almost a year now, but all I've got so far are way too many ideas and thousand-word long outlines and brainstorming notes. When I do start writing, my brain always finds things to pick at in the details (like how to start the fic, the backstory, etc) and I'm unable to move forward. Please give any advice that can help with this. And also how do I be patient with learning to write? Because I always drop it when I see I'm not improving. Thank you!

it's always better to have too many ideas than too few. i think the best thing you can do for yourself is try to relinquish control of your creativity and see what happens. when you restrain yourself to an outcome (like finishing a story) you can sometimes be preventing your natural growth. in other words, when you see you're not improving, it might be because you're saying "no" to yourself too much.

so keep churning out ideas and outlines for as long as they come to you. they *will* run out eventually, and when they do you'll be able to look at the bigger picture and see that actually all these seemingly disparate ideas are really just one or two ideas you've churned out in a dozen different ways. and by that point, you will have done so much planning and plotting and thinking that you'll be able to look at and tackle the stories that are most important to you.

it's hard to succumb to the creative process, because it's like giving a toddler a bunch of markers and leaving the room. but if you follow your instincts for long enough, they'll take you where you're meant to go. they'll just do it in the longest, most frustrating, most ridiculous way possible.

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Hi Betts! What do you think about Severence? Do you like it?

i LOVE severance. it's so rare to find such a high concept premise executed in such a thoughtful and thorough way. it's amazing what happens when really talented, motivated creatives come together and make something they're really passionate about. i'm really excited to go back and watch seasons 1 and 2 together so i can pick up the threads i might've forgotten

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Betts, have you watched Andor!! it's SO good and the emotional arcs are SO satisfying

not yet! but i've heard great things and i definitely want to watch it

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I'm so sad whenever I realise I've gone down the wrong road somewhere when writing and I have to scrap a good chunk, go back and turn left. Even though the time spent was still valuable because I tried some plot things, I know more about all the characters now, but goddammit does it feel painful.

that's a really hard thing to go through, definitely. one thing that's helped me a lot though is reading through the parts i scrapped and highlighting my favorite sentences or even just clauses. then when i have a draft finished, i go back through and see if there are any ways i can recast banger lines in the current draft. i'm always surprised by how much i end up repurposing.

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is your anora fic still coming 👉👈 🥺

i hope so!! i'm trying to pound out the second draft of a novel by the end of june but i'm hoping after that i'll get to write some for-funsies stuff that i've had on the back-burner for too long (finishing up some WIPs, anora fic, SotR fic, FTH fic, a new short story idea...the list goes on)

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I had a dream about you and you were writing an adaptation of some lesser known classic novel, think Jane Eyre only it wasn’t Jane Eyre it was an original Claire-brain creation and you were posting the adaptation on Ao3 only you had also made an incredible quality movie of it and in the dream I was watching the movie and it was about a man living in a mansion that had ghosts and he could talk to all the ghosts and they could feel things and a new ghost came to live at the mansion only she couldn’t sleep on the couch bed so he let her share his bed and they talked through the night face to face and then I woke up.

So if you’re looking for a new project, a Victorian era ghost/human love story??? I waive all rights lol

i love that idea??? truly honestly putting it in my idea notebook

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@lunarriviera is a long-time mentor of mine and a phenomenal teacher. i've taken a workshop with her before and i ended up with four of the best poems i've ever written.

even if you're mainly a (fan)fiction writer, this workshop is a great way to learn how to elevate your prose.

also i'll be in this workshop! so join me!

hi hey hello beloveds, in a reckless unprecedented crossover from real life, i'm linking my very seldom-offered, once-in-a-blue-moon private writing workshop, in case you want to write poems this summer—you'd be welcome to join us! we've often had fic writers in the workshop, and y'all always have a fun time and create amazing work. the workshop is suitable for beginners or those who've been writing a while; we'll meet every wednesday for eight weeks, and you get feedback and reading/craft suggestions (course outline below).

please feel free to message with any questions; i'd love to see you there (and please share if you're able? thank you!) <3 <3 <3

jsalowe.com/workshop

[bettsfic]

you keep dancing with the devil… one day he’s gonna follow you home.

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[bettsfic]

How Stories Can Save Us – The Philosophy of The Fall

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I miss when I would get Tumblr asks that actually said things and weren't just digital panhandling scams.

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(voice of a girl who's already weird about it) can i be weird about this