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susan sontag’s writing on writing, from her journals

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barry + fidgety hands –requested by anonymous

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your draft isn’t bad. it’s just going through its awkward teenager phase. let it wear a hoodie and slam its door.

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Yes, that’s a gun in my pants. No, I’m not happy to see you.

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It’s funny because while I was reading through them I was just thinking how much I missed you doing kissing prompts <3 How about “kiss for luck”?

For real, I love kissing prompts so much! ;_;

IDK why, this prompt made me think of my JLA!Verse, so...I hope you enjoy it? <3

Kiss for luck! (Also on AO3.)

~*~

Leonard pulled Barry into the shadow of an alleyway, planting his forearm against Barry’s chest; his glare was fierce enough that Barry almost apologized on reflex, even though he didn’t exactly know what he was apologizing for.

“Do you even know what my life was before I met you?” Leonard’s voice was all gravel and grit, made rough from hours of running through dust and dodging debris, and it caused a pleasant shiver to race down Barry’s spine.

Not the time, Barry told himself sternly, but he still curled his hand around Leonard’s side and stuck his fingers in Leonard’s belt loop. “Boring?”

Leonard pushed his hood off and leaned to his left, peering around the corner of the wall. “Predictable. I sure as hell wasn’t fighting a giant alien starfish hivemind, that’s for sure.”

“Shut up, you love it.” Barry rested his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes, stretching one second into a ten minute power nap. “Okay. Anyone out there still on our side?”

The ground rumbled, and a car went sailing over their heads, smashing into the opposite building. Broken masonry rained down, coating them in mortar dust. Leonard sneezed—it was so cute that Barry slipped back into Flash Time just so he could appreciate it.

“If there are, they're taking a breather. Fortunately, it looks like the big guy is the only one still standing. The rest of the Starro deputies are down.” Leonard stole another look around the corner to verify his report.

“One isn’t so bad,” Barry said, and then he turned hopefully toward Leonard again. “Give me a kiss for luck?”

Leonard scoffed, pulling back to look at Barry in disbelief, but he leaned in anyway, giving Barry the kiss he wanted. Adrenaline thrummed through him and the day caught up with him all at once, memories of every close call they had during their fight flipping through his mind. Barry made an unhappy sound when Leonard tried to pull away and he grabbed a handful of Leonard’s coat, hauling him in for a second kiss.

“Snake eyes ain’t lucky,” Leonard whispered against Barry’s mouth, and they were kissing again, Leonard pressing Barry against the side of the wall with his weight. It was comforting, warm and reassuring, and Barry curled his arm around Leonard’s shoulders as they kissed again and again and again and again.

“Lucky seven,” Barry murmured, pulling away from Leonard with sheer force of will – where was his Green Lantern ring, he wanted to know!?-- “Cover me.”

“Always,” Leonard agreed, stepping away only to pull his parka hood back up and ready the cold gun. “Hey. Remember that hotel in Jinan?”

“Oh my god.” Barry laughed and shook his head. “Their grilled starfish was amaz… oh. I see what you did there.”

“Let’s get this over with. I’m starting to get hungry.” Leonard tapped the side of Barry’s cowl, activating the full face mask that had protected him from Starro in the past.

Barry wanted at least one more joke. One more kiss. Unfortunately, he really had spent more time out of the battle than he could afford.

He took one more deep breath, turned toward the epicenter of Starro’s attack, and hit the ground running.

~*~

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it is non optional that you fuck with me

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Crafting Breakup Scenes That Actually Hurt

(because “we can still be friends” is a war crime)

Listen, if your characters are splitting up and the vibe is “mutual and mature” and “no tears at all”, congratulations, you’ve written a politely boring obituary for a relationship. Breakups are messy. Even the amicable ones. Especially the amicable ones. Because it's not just losing a person, it's losing the version of yourself that existed next to them.

❥ The “We’re Still Halfway in Love” Break Most people don't walk away clean. They still love each other a little. Or a lot. It's not a neat amputation—it’s tearing Velcro off skin. Show that ache. The lingering looks. The fingers almost reaching out and then clenching into fists instead. The “if one of us said ‘stay’ right now, this wouldn’t end” tension. Make your readers beg for one of them to crack and then don't let them.

One character leaves their favorite sweater behind. Not on purpose. Not exactly. They just... forget it. Or maybe they want to give themselves an excuse to come back for it later.

❥ The "Wrong Words at the Worst Time" Implosion Nobody says the perfect thing during a real breakup. They stammer. They say too much, or nothing at all. They lash out in clumsy, cruel ways because "I’m hurting" doesn’t sound heroic, but "you never loved me right anyway" comes out real easy. Write the fights that should have gone differently. Let your characters regret what they said before the echo even fades.

“I guess you never needed me after all.” Silence. The other person blinking like they’ve been shot. Because that wasn’t true. But now it’s hanging in the air, poisonous and permanent.

❥ The “Silent Break” Because Sometimes Words Are Useless Not every heartbreak needs a monologue. Sometimes it's sitting in a car together, staring out the windshield, saying nothing. Sometimes it’s standing at a door, one hand on the handle, too many words trapped in your throat. Let silence be heavy. Let it say, “I love you but I can’t anymore” without making anyone say a damn word.

The engine's ticking as it cools. Neither of them moves. One finally gets out of the car. They don't look back.

❥ The “Stupid Mundane Detail That Breaks You” Moment Big speeches are forgettable. But a breakup feels real when it’s tied to something stupid and tiny. Like they’re arguing and suddenly one of them notices how the other always folds the pizza box before throwing it out. Or how their coffee mug is still sitting on the table. Ordinary things take on the weight of the extraordinary loss.

She’s screaming, he’s begging, and somehow he notices her chipped nail polish and thinks, God, I’m losing her, and I still know what shade that is.

❥ The “One Last Selfish Touch” Goodbye Before they walk away, before its final, one of them touches the other’s face. Or smooths their hair. Or pulls them into a hug that lasts way too long. Selfish, tender, desperate. Knowing it’s the last time and doing it anyway because they physically cannot help themselves.

“Don’t go.” “Then tell me to stay.” Silence. Shaking heads. They kiss. It doesn’t fix a damn thing. It just hurts better.

Remember: The breakup isn’t the death of love. It’s the death of hope. That's what you need to break. Not just the hearts. The possibility of a different ending. That’s when it wrecks your reader in the best way.

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One of my favorite Coldflash things that I think should get more love is the idea that Len loves Central City as much as Barry does and that’s why he’s lowkey (at least he thinks he’s being lowkey) okay with the Flash doing what he does to keep the city safe.

Like I definitely want to see them doing more little city things together. Walking around cool historic neighborhoods. Waiting in line for that one bakery to open that has the best donuts but you can only get them hot out of the oven on Saturday mornings. Accidentally running into each other at the monthly art walk. Tipping that one really good guitar player who busks outside the bus station. Playing chess in the park. Pls give me more cute city kids in love.

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give your characters exes.

give them a variety of exes. give them relationships that shaped who they are but did not last. give them people they tried very hard to love but it didn't work out. give them situationships that taught them things. give them something deep that was real but could not endure. things that hurt. things that ended amicably. people with whom hot passion cooled to warm affection and became undying friendship.

no more first and only. give me the context of what made them know the next or one after was final and right.

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“You shouldn’t miss me that much, kid.”

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My world is stranger than yours. Arrow 4X08

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imagine a goat with a hat

STOP-

what hat did you give the goat what is the instinctual hat you gave to this goat

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i can’t lie they did also get me with a flash hoodie. i went from owning zero flash merch to two flash merch in one day because it turns out putting me in a theme park with friends who will go ‘hey look, this is a flash thing, do you want it?’ is a situation i have zero defenses against

thank you to six flags specifically for paying for the DC comics IP so i could buy this $5 flash mood ring in the park today

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the funniest thing legends of tomorrow did was when they lost the rights to use John Constantine they just wrote him off the show and made up a new completely unrelated character played by the same actor the next season