#(not a joke - idk if my structure flows)

[chenouttachen]

great news everyone: the first draft of a very low stakes messy atots fic is very close to being finished!

[cinderellarhea]

people i want to know better!

tagged by @herrmannhalsteadproduction (I love stuff like this thank u for tagging ❤️❤️)

LAST SONG? Live and let die by Paul McCartney (it was in my head bc of this bucktommy spy au fic by @herrmannhalsteadproduction (whaaa who’s that hehe 🥰) which everyone should read!!!! https://archiveofourown.org/works/57261649/chapters/145654609 )

FAVORITE COLOR? PINK 🩷

CURRENTLY WATCHING? I binged all of 911 this summer so then I just…. went back to season 1 and started again 🥰 I’m also rewatching Leverage for the like 1000th time ! Everyone should watch/rewatch leverage in the summer it’s so fun!!!!!

LAST MOVIE? Twister (my sister wanted to see this as a joke and but it was like really good) also. Whenever I watch stuff I ask: Could Destiel do this? The answer for Twister is yes.

SWEET/SPICY/SAVORY? Sweet!!!!!! I love chocolate the most 🩷🍫🍩🍪

RELATIONSHIP STATUS? Single :0 I want a girlfriend sooooo bad is anyone taking applications hahah 😘🏳️‍��

CURRENT OBSESSIONS? Im like. Obsessed with 911. Like it’s bad I have it bad. Like Evan Buck Buckley is soooooooo blorbo I’m rotating him in my mind 🫡❤️ I have like …… 124 ao3 tabs open rn. I’m not exaggerating. 😂🥰 also !!!!! Really obsessed with storytelling/story structures rn - I think it’s bc a lot of my students are doing college essays rn and bc I took another writing class this summer ! But I’m just so interested in the movement and flow and structure of stories rn ! Im like usually obsessed with that but I’m working on my own fiction too rn so like the obsession is stronger again!!!!!

LAST THING YOU GOOGLED? Im not 100% sure and when I went to check my tabs it’s just all ao3 so like. Yeah. Idk.

This was fun! Tagging ppl no pressure but if you wanna make one!!! ❤️

@daalcuntynatural @butch--dean @chronicpainnatural @kerryweaverlesbian @ohithankyou @desert--moonchild @kinard-buckley @ily-tothecore @perfectlysunny02 @aspecbuddie

[bigtreefest]

Chapter 2: Traitor Jim

From: The Banes of the Ball Series

Pairing: Jimmy Dobyne x Heiress! Reader

Summary: Jimmy’s good at keeping his own secrets, but can he keep yours?

Word count: 2,513

Content/warnings: institutional misogyny, 1920s debutante ball themes, southern speakeasy themes, alcohol consumption, mean!Jimmy (more like defensive, but still), secretive reader, allusions to a a want to disrupt the social structure, cross-dressing?

Author’s Note: So in my research, I found out that this movie universe occurs during the prohibition, so even when they drank in the movie, it was illegal. Therefore, I guess I made an illegal bar scene? Idk, I guess that there were gin distributors in Memphis during this time, so we’re gonna roll with that.

I’d love to hear you’d feedback in all forms! Comments, reblogs, and asks are so appreciated.

Dividers by

< Prev | Series Masterlist | Next >

Your invitation to Fisher had brought her back into the social circles, earning a few more opportunities for run-ins through the end of the debutante season. As you opened your ears and walked through the venues, you could tell not many wanted to entertain the young, socially exiled heiress, but from the apparent liking you took to her, they felt her inclusion was an obligation.

Outside of this environment, you were nowhere to be seen by the young men and women of town. That was by design, but for now, you walked through the ball, seeking your next hiding place. For this one, there was an upper level balcony pseudo cut off from the mingling areas by an appetizer table. It had already been picked through after you had made your first set of appearance rounds, making it perfectly unpopulated. You looked down upon the dance floor, counting the minutes, and the songs that would need to pass before you could acceptably leave, off to your more desired….obligations.

In your shroud of curtains and tiered food displays, your eyes wandered over the crowd below. New loves were being formed as men asked for a dance, secrets and gossip shared between spinsters-in-training along the sides, and jokes or plans to obtain the next jar of moonshine whispered amongst the men. Absolute fools. Everyone thought they were so sly, but you read their lips and body language easier than a book. It was almost as if they wanted their plans known, or better yet, spoiled. It wasn’t going to happen at your hand though. You didn’t have need for that right now, but should you, it would be easy to ruin any soul in this dated, yet fancy ballroom.

You turned around to find the punch bowl on the upstairs table. Perhaps if you were lucky, the boys had already spiked it and you wouldn’t have to pull from your own reserve tucked under your dress.

You knew they had gotten to it by taking a single step forward, the smell easily reaching your nose and burning the sensitive hairs. Perfect. You quickly made a cup before heading back to your balcony and looking down among the crowd. Hopefully it was good quality alcohol in the bowl and didn’t make you go blind. How ever could you properly interact in society then? Tragic.

As you sipped, you looked down at the crowd again, seeing the tops of heads flow and weave between each other. No one ever looked up; it was human nature. If you could find an exit route now, it would be your great escape.

As you moved to set down your cup, though, you saw something in the corner of your eye that didn’t fit the patterns and waves formed by the other party-goers. It was a man, stopped in the middle of the dance floor. His bright blue eyes looked up at you, piercing through the foliage and decor that often left you covered. He must have been searching specifically for you.

After your previous conversation with Jimmy Dobyne, you didn’t feel as though there was much to say. Based of the fact that he was looking to catch your gaze, you had figured that he was looking for a read on whether or not you had shared his secret. Evidently, you had not. You were never a fan of loose lips.

You lifted your skirt and ran down the back staircase to the rear door of the mansion. You had planned to leave through there and walk around the front of the house to your car as to not have to encounter anyone else, especially that certain farm boy.

Before you could reach the bottom of the steps, though, you were stopped in your tracks.

“Wonderful to see you this evening, miss.” The blue eyes had come to cut you off and pierce more harshly than before. His entire demeanor was in juxtaposition to his kind words, jaw clenched, gaze hard and unyielding with an unspoken demand. You maintained your formality, though, praying it would serve you well on your way.

“Good evening, James. I apologize, you have just caught me on my way out.” You hurriedly ducked past his shoulder just to be followed through the nearly hidden French doors at the rear of the house. Jimmy followed you out and down the stone steps and into the garden.

“That’s no problem, I was going to ask Fisher to leave soon, as well. I actually wanted to speak to you.”

You walked as fast as you could without reaching a run, getting into the front seat of your car and starting it. Luckily, your chauffeur had taken your bribe to leave you the vehicle, like most other nights, unbeknownst to your family.

“Perhaps another time, James. I really must be going.”

You could see the way his shoulders tensed forward in anger at your deflection of his statements and attempts to ignore. He began to run alongside the car as you weaved around the others in the driveway of the house.

“No. I demand that you stop and speak to me. I want you to never bring up what happened again. It was all fine. Fisher got her earrings back.”

Not from his command, but more due to shock, you slammed on the breaks of the car, causing you to lurch forward and Jimmy to skid to a stop in the gravel. He caught his footing quickly, though, taking the opportunity to open your car door and get in.

“You have no jurisdiction to demand anything of me, Mr. Dobyne. And you well know this is not about the earrings. Now I have somewhere to be, so either you go back to your fiancé, or you deal with me dropping you off in the middle of nowhere. What’ll it be?”

Jimmy closed the door to your car and settled into the passenger seat, looking straight forward. “Drive, go on.”

You rolled your eyes and huffed, continuing down the long road of the manor. You looked briefly over at him before you spoke up.

“I have no interest in becoming your next sexual encounter if that’s why you insist on being here. I’d never do that to Fisher and I most definitely have no desire to be the next Vinnie, who, speaking of which, just sent out invitations for an engagement party. Did you receive one?”

Jimmy’s jaw clenched again as he turned to face you in his seat. “Stop doing that!”

You feigned confusion. Men always believed you never quite understood what they were talking about, anyway. “Doing what?”

“Changing the subject and trying to make me feel bad.”

You simply shrugged, continuing to stare ahead. “I have no desire to make you feel bad. If that’s the way you feel, then I assure you it’s all self-inflicted. So tell me, James. Do you yourself feel bad for your actions? Maybe you ought to repent, or at least tell someone of your dirty little secret. I find it quite distasteful to take a woman’s hand and to not be honest with her. To keep things from her.”

Jimmy scoffed and rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms. “You have no place to speak about keeping secrets. I see the way you leave half of these events early. Never sticking around and never to be seen by anyone around town. I’m sure that’s a secret worse than my own.”

Your nostrils flared and your lips tightened. Sure, you taunted him on his private matters, but yours were to remain untouched. He didn’t know what was going on, or technically even if something was going on at all. “Careful where you step, James. I do not have another to care for. And what I do with my free time does not concern you, so I suggest you rethink your attempts at refutal when it comes to me.”

He huffed as you pulled to the side of the road to let him out. You were at the edge of town. Walking or finding a ride to wherever he needed to go shouldn’t be too difficult from here.

“We shouldn’t be too far that you can’t walk back to dear Fishy. Give her my best and do not come looking for trouble again. I am more than happy to greet you politely at gatherings, but your accusations leave a sour taste in my mouth. Good evening, James.”

You drove off and left Jimmy in a cloud of dust before heading to the other side of town. Right about now, the restaurants would be closing, making room for the nightly patrons and gangsters to move through. It was no place for a lady to remain after dark, but to them, you were no lady.

You pulled off near a corn field on the side of a rarely traversed road and opened the trunk of the car. Under a panel, you found your bag and pulled it out, grabbing the trousers and button-down shirt and laying them out over the door. You worked quickly to shuck off your dress before carefully folding it and placing it in the trunk, over the panel. You slipped into the trousers, followed by the leather boots. After shrugging on the shirt, you dug into the pants pocket to pull out a ribbon and pins. You pulled your hair up tightly and tucked it under a cap. Others would have a fit they they saw a woman in this wear, especially you. You were meant to be at a ball, sitting like an ornament of your father’s legacy, not in the slums of the city.

Now, although your family would have called it the slums, it was far from it. It was where the workers hung out. It was where savvy businessmen were making the most of the country’s prohibitory situation. It’s where you were learning everything it might take for your future plans to come to fruition.

You walked up the creaky wooden porch, your head on a swivel as you entered a pawn shop. At least, that’s what it was during the day. You made your way through the shelves and display cases to the curtain in the back, opening it to a bustling bar full of men both young and old.

With your makeup removed and a few light smudges of dirt here and there, your look matched theirs quite well. That was another benefit of staying out of the private eye as much as possible: none of them saw you enough to be able to identify you in this state. You just seemed like another farm worker.

You took your usual seat at the end of the bar, ducking your head to put your focus on the conversations going on around you. This environment gave you a completely different level of information than what your house maids would give you.

Usually, from here, you could catch anything from farmhands, to gin runners, to business men discussing what was going on. The true way the town was running. And that’s exactly what you wanted: an understanding of who was in control of business proceedings.

From your calm demeanor and regular appearance in this environment, you were known, but not much past a pseudonym you had fed them and the fact that you did odd jobs on your family’s estate. That was enough, though. Enough for you to seem unassuming and trust-worthy. Enough for their lips and morals to be loose around you. Enough for you to use very soon for your plans.

Men were stupid and again, you were in awe of it. None of them could recognize you. And for the ones that could? Well, they were already drunk off their asses. Problem solved. That’s how you were able to preserve your pub-dwelling Saturday nights for the foreseeable future.

As your drink was served, you felt a presence come up and sit in the stool next to you. You were used to that, men did anything to strike up a conversation and save themselves from the monotony of their lives. If only they knew how truly monotonous a life was when you weren’t allowed to perform half the duties that they’d spit upon when given the chance. They had so many options, but your empathy is what they wanted, not proof of their lack of hardships. Not yet, at least.

You put all those thoughts aside, though, taking a swallow of your drink before putting on your best smirk to strike up conversation. It was time to get to work.

Except when you turned your head to your left, you weren’t facing any old nobody. Well, to these guys, he would’ve been, but to you, it was someone starting to get on your nerves for invasion of privacy, someone with tumultuous, pained currents, not unlike the rivers run, for eyes: Jimmy Dobyne.

He opened his mouth to speak, but not before you slammed your hand over it while giving him a warning glare. “Careful with your mouth James. I know I wasn’t exceptionally stealthy tonight, but I thought you’d be smart enough to avoid a place like this.”

The bartender came over and you ordered a drink for Jimmy so he’d leave you alone to speak in privacy. “Now think before you speak. You’ve invaded my personal space and business already.”

Jimmy leaned in, speaking to you with anger that you knew came from your constant reminders of his wrongdoings. “You need to stop it with that and just tell me exactly what you know.”

You looked at him, keeping your face even bedsides the slight disbelief in his audacity. “I hold a keen eye, James. Keep your voice down and do be careful of who sees you and to whom you lend your trust.”

You turned back to the bartender to thank him for dropping off Jimmy’s drink.

His fists unclenched just for enough time for him to grab the glass and shove it away from himself.

“I ought to tell your father his daughter is out here disobeying him. A woman like you should not be in a place like this. Drinking much less!” The lowered volume didn’t make his voice any less cutting. You wouldn’t stand for that. You were trying to be nice. It seemed like neither your kind words, nor stern requests seemed to work on him. Perhaps threats were better.

“I ought to tell everyone you’re poor and loose with your belt buckle! But I won’t. Now accept a drink on my tab and sit to casually speak with me before you cause a scene. My my, James. One skill you do not have is subtlety.”

He scoffed before grabbing the glass and drinking it all down in one go, calling the bartender over for another.

“Good. Now listen closely because I’m not speaking above a whisper and you’ll only hear this once. I’ll let you in on some things, and by chance you could even help me, but first, you have to tell Fisher the truth.”

Next >

Bonus A/N: So sugars and carbohydrates are what yeast ferments to create alcohol. The alcohol we consume is ethanol (aka EtOH aka Ethyl Alcohol). Sometimes, though, when done improperly, a byproduct is methanol (aka methyl alcohol, which means it has one less carbon and four less hydrogen atoms, making a smaller and totally different molecule functionally). Methanol has actually been found to make you go permanently blind! That’s why it can be so risky to drink home-brewed alcohols and moonshines. I assume this risk was even higher back in the early 1920s when a lot was bootlegged and they didn’t have many ways to test for the methanol. And therefore, I assume they knew sometimes alcohol made you go blind, but not quite how, which is why I added it here.

Taglist: @hawkeyes-queen @ronearoundblindly

[tinamybeloved]

from what i can tell the mini-mes aren't admin controlled, they seem more like they have some kind of mob ai. havent been watching tina today (chronic foosh watcher) so idk if shes like playing more into the rp side of it but i doubt they'll be like super intrusive, i dont really think all is lost (even then i personally find i dont mind the eggs, obviously if the rp stuff isnt your cup of tea its whatever but to me they just feel like other players a lot of the time. but idk thats just where im at after also having been forced to adapt to this server over the months as a doozer, just trying to give some hope lol👍)

Yeah I mean I hope so as well but I think the eggs were also a lot more stiff in the beginning and I feel like there’s precedent for characters starting off as automated and then getting an admin to do rp stuff later. I don’t like the rp stuff especially because I felt like they would interrupt the flow of building (or socializing with other players!) To go towards the very structured tasks which could be frustrating I was watching foolish in the beginning and everyone would always joke an egg task that would take vegetta 30 min took foolish several hours because he would get sidetracked and that’s how Tina operates as well. I really enjoyed late nights where Tina was just hanging out with bad or building talking to chat I hope that still happens with a more structured (in my opinion forced) story beat

[voidwaren]

Hey can I ask genuinely how you’re so good at writing?

Are there specific exercises or authors or writing styles that you admire. Is there any kind of advice that you can give? How do you keep it from being so stressful and repetitive???? I want writing to be exciting but I feel that I struggle in the minute details and for the details that keep on coming up and up again. 

How do you make description sounds exciting the way that you do, and there’s a lot of personality in ur descriptions I think that’s pretty cool

(honestly I feel like I'm not qualified to give advice on writing. doesn't make sense since you're literally asking me about MY writing, but like. y'feel?)

read more because she’s got some length to her:

so, first of all, wow. like, wow, that’s one hell of a compliment and then some more. you’re asking me for writing advice?

this’ll be messy as hell because I don’t even know where to start, but here goes nothing.

I can’t think of how to make it less stressful, because sweet Rachel above writing is one of the most stressful things I choose to continue doing, but also the most exciting, especially when I get an idea in my head. executing it is the big bitch, and that will always be stressful for me, so I can’t help there, I’m sorry!

but otherwise, I guess my first this would be to take it slow, because the struggle and frustration probably won’t go away, but eventually you’ll get there. I get INCREDIBLY frustrated because scenes often don’t come out like they look in my head (which is one of the reasons I’m such a slow writer, I lose words in the deadass middle of a sentence ALL the time because of my ADHD and have to come back and hope for the best), and often come back, realize what feels too flat to me about the scene, and fix it the best I can. sometimes I will rewrite a sentence over and over again until it finally looks a way I can accept.

I don’t do exercises and was never taught to, but they’re probably a really good idea! (I swear, my minor in creative writing was a fucking joke because I didn’t learn shit about how to actually write so much as learn that a lot of people don’t take any writing seriously if it’s not realistic fiction, non-fiction, or poetry. but that’s a rant for another day.) I have been writing since I was in elementary school, though, so I guess all the fic I’ve written over the years is kind of like an exercise? (or is that just practice. idk.)

(yeah no that’s just practice isn’t it. anywho. practice will probably help.)

I’ve only once tried to emulate an author’s writing style (for my fic Fishboy), but subconsciously I have no doubt I’ve been slipping in my favorite authors’ writing styles. I would LOVE to one day write like Madeline Miller or M.L. Rio, because they’re the ones who have made me feel so many things. (you too, Stiefvater. you wonderful monster.) that’s probably a good thing to do, though. read your fave authors and try to directly emulate their styles until you can change it into something of your own, I know a lot of writers do exactly that. (I know I must do it too, with my fave fic writers in addition to published authors, I’m just very bad at noticing when I’m doing things like that. I just kinda do it.)

I know I use a lot of synonyms for things that I have to mention more than once, and will reread constantly to try not to use a word or a specific sentence structure over within the same scene or chapter. repetitive writing is one of the things I pick up a lot when reading books that bothers me and bores the hell out of me, so I try not to do it. (though I do fail to see it in my own stuff from time to time, ESPECIALLY when I’m first posting something bc you know a bitch didn’t read through it properly at the very end.)

another thing that might help is to maybe read it out to yourself as you go? I’m not totally sure how to put this into words, but, like. there’s a flow you’re going for when you write, and sometimes it’s easier to find that flow when you read it aloud (or very loudly in your head, which I do, because I don’t live alone and my house carries sound like a motherfucker). punctuation also can help with how a scene is read.

I think maybe the best thing to do overall is to find what you like and copy it. not like word for word, but where the words fit in the sentence, punctuation, word choices, things like that.

if there’s a specific scene or something that you’re thinking of, I could probably try to break down how I went about it, to help explain what I do if you’d like that more in-depth kind of vibe? 

again though, thank you so much for the ask, the ego boost I have right now is UNPARALLELED and will fuel me for quite a while.

(deadass gonna go tell my friend, “someone likes my writing so much they wanted to know how I did it, how cool is that?!” I will be insufferable.)

[nullshocked]

@orlesianapologist Been busy this morning but now I can sit down and talk about this aaaaaaa!

I'm putting it under a cut to spare my dash. But:

My Process(TM) for Getting That Shit Edited

Step 1: Write the Draft

Like obviously you need a base to work from. I won't tell you how to draft your stuff, because everyone approaches it differently. I try not to focus too much on how something looks or sounds when I am writing a rough draft because fixing it and making it nice is what revisions are for. Sometimes when I write drafts I skip over details and just try to get the action down on paper.

I also have a habit of outlining SECOND rather than outlining first because that's what works for me: I write drafts in what I've seen Chuck Wendig describe as the bring your flashlight method of plotting a story, where I have a vague idea, kinda sketch it out either in the document or in my head, and write from there. (I found this post from him like ten years ago and have found it to be very valuable. Your mileage may vary of course, and what works for one person may not work for someone else.)

Step 2: Rewrites

You have a draft! I'm so proud of you! Now write it again. Writing is rewriting is rewriting. We know the saying.

I focus on fleshing out parts of the story I didn't flesh out the first time around, or adding in details that I didn't think of the first time. Sometimes there's a lot of me planting in FORESHADOWING(tm) that I didn't do the first time because I hadn't thought of it yet. This necessarily tends to balloon my wordcount because of how I tend to write, but it's fine.

I do at this point also take into account what I'm going to call Structural Edits. (I think that's a film term? idk someone probably uses this. Or I might sound insane.) That's the part where I move chunks of the story around for better narrative flow, or remove superfluous chunks that don't fit in. At this stage I am not concerned with how it reads, I am concerned with the plot beats and getting as much detail in as I think is important.

Step 3: Scribble All Over That Shit

It's a little bit of a running joke that I do this stage of editing like a total weirdo. I prefer to print things out because working with paper is easier for me, but you can do this however you want: comments in googledocs/word/etc, make it a pdf and write highlights, etc. Recently when I did this I made the file into a PDF, then turned THAT into image files and draw all over them in photoshop because physical notes help me. Yeah idk either.

This is the stage where I go line by line and pick things apart. I'll list what I look for and why, but this is by no means a hard and fast rule and please do not take my preferences as the arbiter of what makes good fiction. If I made good fiction, I'd be published in something non-academic.

╰┈➤ Paragraph Construction: Everything I talk about after this will largely feed into constructing paragraphs, so I'm gunna start with it. Words matter, as so does the word order. Sentence order also matters. I have a habit sometimes of placing just whatever details I think of down, and it doesn't always flow with the rest of the paragraph it's in. Take it out, rearrange it, use it in a new paragraph. I underline stuff like this to rearrange as needed.

╰┈➤ Sentence Structure As Mood Music: Now into the nitty gritty! How you structure sentences is SUPER helpful for conveying emotion. A lot of the last piece I wrote had structures where Jack is feeling extremely anxious, so there are parts where I let sentences run on and into each other to help convey his anxious mental state. Shorter sentences can hit harder and faster. Longer ones can feel meandering or dreamlike. It's all in the language and the structure. If you wanna be seriously annoying about it, there are entire courses on syntax you can look into.

╰┈➤ Sublimation vs. In Your Face: So the whole "show don't tell" argument is fucking annoying and I don't really pay much attention to it anymore. So my rule for stuff is this: what is a character trying to hide, versus what are they more obvious about? If someone is manipulative and cruel, I'm not going to fucking point that out in the text. I try to work that into how they move, speak, and react to a situation. Body language and expression. All of that. If something is more obvious, then I make it more obvious. I might have the POV character outright state that they think someone is acting manipulatively if they think that's what's happening. I think that's far more useful as a storytelling tool personally and also lets a clever reader piece together little details as they go, which is frankly more engaging.

╰┈➤ Adverbs (-ly) words: This is preference and there's lots of arguments for why it's fine to keep these in. For me, I find that I tend to rely on adverbs in spaces where I can stand to be more descriptive. I usually circle the ones I find on the page and then in the next step I'll look at them and see how I feel. If the adverb feels like the best choice for that moment, I leave it. If I feel like I can use a better word or description, I change it. That's entirely up to you and what you prefer!

╰┈➤ Commas, commas, commas: I tend to learn toward a LOT of comma splices when I write drafts, which leads to a lot of long and confusing sentences. I do try to eliminate some of these if I feel like a passage is harder to follow. Others I leave if they suit the mood.

╰┈➤ The rest of it: Lastly, I just look for how things are worded. Sometimes I see a sentence and I just hate how it reads, so I underline it to see if I can do something better with it. Sometimes I don't like how a scene is flowing so I make a note of it. I also make what I will call "stage notes" in the margins for things I am trying to convey, like "Jack in this scene is feeling very anxious because of x thing" or "this is a tense situation" etc. This is for me to remember when I go to do the next step so I can make sure I am getting across the information I am trying to get across.

Woof, that's a lot. Okay so...

Step 4: Rewrites Two: The Rewritening

WRITING IS REWRITING IS REWRITING— anyway.

So this is the full revision process. Take your notes (however you decided to compile them) and get through and make those changes. Sometimes you will come across other things to fix in the process and that's perfectly fine. Sometimes you may decide not to go with something you made a note of before and that's also fine. But this is where you are making your little tweaks and making it better. There's not a lot to this phase.

Step 5: Optional Beta

I don't tend to ask people to beta read my stuff because I am an impatient asshole and just want to finish it. Don't be me. Find a trusted friend and ask them to read over your work. They don't need to dig into huge details at this stage unless something is just really not coming together for whatever reason. Getting another pair of eyes to make sure something is flowing the way it should is very helpful. A scene may make sense in your head, but another person may have difficult parsing what you're trying to say.

Also my dumbass ADHD brain has a problem with things like missing typos when I go to correct, or leaving out entire words because my brain mentally skips over them, so someone who can find those for me and point it out is helpful.

Step 6: Final Tweaks

Find your typos and missing words. Make sure your punctuation is in the right places. Make any final adjustments you want. You've got this I'm so proud of you. It's not a big thing, mainly just combing to be thorough.

And that's it! You're done! Go forth.

Additional Notes

╰┈➤ Take your time with a piece. I know it's extremely tempting to put something up as soon as it's done. I've speedran finishing fics for a laugh. But between each of these steps, it's a good idea to let the draft sit for a day or two before returning to it with fresh eyes. It's good for your brain and also it'll help you find shit you may otherwise miss because you're too close to it.

╰┈➤ Rough drafts are rough drafts. They're allowed to suck. The entire point of editing and revision is to make it not suck. This was a lesson I really had to beat into my skull so I wouldn't get discouraged from finishing anything.

╰┈➤ Writing is not one size fits all. I do all these steps because that is what personally works for me. I look for the things I do in my nitty-gritty editing because those are personal preferences. Do not take any of this as a hard and fast rule, but rather as insight for how to develop your own process.

╰┈➤ Like a hypocrite, I did not edit any of this post. That's not really important, I just thought it was funny and you should know that.

╰┈➤ I've said this elsewhere, but READ!! Read lots of books! Read different eras and genres of books! Reading will teach you how to be a better writer. Reading theory is also nice if you like, but really just read a bunch of authors and think on their stories. Learn from how they write, and apply those lessons.

THAT'S IT SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG.

My writing advice is to learn how to self-edit your work. It's a skill that takes time and practice to develop but it helps so fucking much. I probably edit way more than is necessary for my fanfic but tbh it's also my practice for learning how to edit my other writing.

[heybinnie]

life update from 2 weeks ago:

[poliphonic88]

Soulmark Au - First Words

Pairing: Diluc x gn!reader

Contents/Warnings: Fluff, sfw, reader has a word written on their wrist, reader is not from Monstadt

Word Count: ~1.3k

A/N: I'm a sucker for soulmate AUs! This is my take on the Soulmark- First Words trope. Idk what the "classic" trope is, but 'Setting' explains how it works in this drabble!

Setting: All setting/lore is the same as in game. Only addition is that adults, once all parties are of age, will receive the first words they will hear their soulmate speak on their wrist. Once heard, the words will gently pulse, signifying that they have been spoken.

Background: When the word "No" appeared on your wrist, you thought it a sick joke. Fortunate friends received sentences or information about their pairing, but you? You received no-thing.

Unaccustomed to the stone streets of Monstadt, you rubbernecked around the city, often pausing to admire the architecture or flora before moving on to the next interesting thing. Between your behavior and attire it was clear you were an outsider, garnering you light attention from passerbys. Specifically the attention of a more elaborately dressed man.

Introducing himself as Kaeya, Calvary Captain of the Knight of Favonious, he offered to introduce you to the city. How a captain had that kind of time was beyond you, but he seemed friendly and without ill intent so you accepted. That is how you now found yourself escorted toward a tavern, the Angel's Share, with a freshly borrowed Travel Guide in hand. He had a way with words, convincing you to leave the calm library in exchange for a social hangout, but he assured you the tavern would be just as quiet this time of day leaving you to trust his position before accepting.

Being the local, he easily guided you through the streets, conversation flowing effortlessly through his lips even if you chose to keep your own shut. "Don't tell the owner," he leaned slightly towards you, lowering his voice as he continued, "but the Angel's Share is the best tavern in Monstadt."

In the short time you'd known the man he danced around all things personal. Unsure if he was somehow baiting you on, you hesitantly tested the waters, "If you like their business, you should tell them." Glancing over to him for how our words landed, a flash of something... complicated crossed his face with your query. You could almost read an internal journey warring behind his blanked expression, but just as quickly as he faltered he recovered.

"Well now," He began, facade now revived with a playful grin, "a captain shouldn't play favorites." Winking in your direction, or what you presumed was a wink due to his eyepatch, he pulled away from you. There certainly was more the captain kept hidden away, but with how the city walls began to curve the tavern must be close so you paused any response.

Curiosity kept you quiet as you examined each structure, trying to pick out the Angel's Share instead of prying at your companion. Buildings kept passing by as you scanned for any clues, it wasn't until you nearly reached the last one that you cursed yourself for not noticing sooner, tables and sign neatly out front. But with your destination now discovered, it was time to resume the conversation.

"You said 'don't tell the owner,'" quoting his words back, unsatisfied with his earlier dismissal. "Oh did I?" Kaeya hummed towards you, indifference in his tone but his eye told a different story. The playful twinkle bore into you, silently daring you to press further to see how far you would go. As the captain reached out to the tavern door, holding it open for you to enter first, you accepted his dare and passed through the threshold. Glancing back towards him, mouth ajar and ready to quip back, his attention quickly curved around you towards the tavern interior.

Credit where due the captain had been right, excluding the closing hinges, the only sound inside were your own steps and rustling. For the "best tavern" you were surprised to see no other patrons inside before finally following his eye to reach the subject that diverted his attention. You missed whatever greeting Kaeya called out, focused instead on the man behind the counter and his deepening scowl with each new word the other spoke. Flaming hair swayed as he reflexively began preparing whatever drink had been requested, seemingly using the beverage as a distraction while Kaeya kept speaking.

The longer you observed him, the more questions you gained. Knowing Monstadt housed another tavern, why would Kaeya insist on visiting the one where his presence was met with displeasure? And why did the man serving him glare at each sentence, but soften whenever the other looked away? No answers came and perhaps you'd never receive them, but any current chance of learning was soon lost as Kaeya drew you from your thoughts, "Pardon my manners, (Y/N), would you like something to drink?"

Flicking your eyes back towards him, worried you had been caught staring, a surprised puff of air left your lips, prefacing the gentle "No," that shortly followed after. In truth the breeze had been nice and cool leaving you satisfied for now. With the quiet inside you had no plans to leave soon, giving time to request a beverage later if you grew thirsty, but for now whatever answers watching the two of them would give was your priority.

You returned your eyes to the bar to see if you needed to repeat your answer, expecting a brief acknowledgment or clarification. Instead crimson eyes gawked at yours as the bartender froze, pulling back the pouring bottle for a split second before returning to his ministrations. Declining a drink shouldn't be that odd you thought, but Kaeya once again caught your eye and distracted you as his head eagerly whipped around towards the other man.

Seconds trudged by as the two locked eyes, only the instinctive preparation of Kaeya's drink marked the slow passage of time. Completely unable to read the captain's expressions now that he faced away from you, you relied solely on the other as the two held a conversation through looks alone.

Though neither of them bore an electric vision, the room sparked with sudden tension. Each cock of Kaeya's head was quickly met with a leer in return from the redhead, him eventually raising his brows with stern annoyance. As the scowl returned to the bartender's features he capped the bottle, placing it behind the counter and huffing towards the captain in front of him. It wasn't until the drink clanked against the counter top, droplets leaving the glass due to the force, that the silence finally broke.

"No."

Time moved quickly for you as the bartender spat towards the other. At first nothing changed, your eyes still affixed on the two interacting, but as red eyes locked with yours once more, the gentle pulse of your wrist pulled at you. Lifting any fabric covering the patch of skin, you stared down at the common, useless word, that haunted your life. As the sensation died down and pieces fell together, you gawked at your wrist, missing how the two men had both turned to look at you.

Unfazed with the sharp tone thrown his way, the captain stated "You both had 'No', didn't you?" even though its answer was clear. Flicking your eyes up to meet the captain's frosted one, you instinctively nodded in response, clearing any doubt to what just passed. It wasn't until the captain's eye closed and a smile began to spread across his lips with a chuckle that you looked away. A knot formed inside you as you met deep crimson once more, nervous that somehow you had misunderstood the situation.

Silky laughter filled the room as the captain downed the fresh drink in front of him. Had you been in his shoes you too might have found humor in the situation, the likelihood of sharing the same word, and it being such an annoyingly overused one were slim. Neither of you joined in with his cheer however, instead you stared blankly, processing the predicament neither of you have prepared for.

Drink finished, Kaeya immediately bid farewell, claiming a forgotten meeting he must attend but felt confident with the new guide to replace him. You doubted any truth to the excuse, but were too stunned to snap back before his escape out the door. After a muttered apology for lying, you and your new companion carried along with pleasantries, you forced to provide most of the content. Through the conversation, your mind continued to add questions to the growing mysteries from your first visit to the City of Wind. Maybe one day you would get answers to them all, but for now you received his name, Diluc, and that would be enough.

[k3rm1e]

hey hey! it’s me 🥀 anon.. micheal x reader in 3rd grade ( being friends ofc:] ) 🙂 tommy’s daughter ( or gn reader any is cool😎 ) but reader beats up bully for making fun of micheal

friends

hey hey! it’s me 🥀 anon.. michael x reader in 3rd grade ( being friends ofc:] ) 🙂 tommy’s daughter ( or gn reader any is cool😎 ) but reader beats up bully for making fun of michael

hello 🥀 anon! apologies for the long wait, i have been doing things ;-;

but!!! i am here now with this so i hope you enjoy :D

cw: cursing 

friends:

  you hated him. you hated the small half-piglin half-zombie kid. it was unreasonable, he was your dad’s best friends’ kid. the infamous bench trio, with kids of their own. the legacy left behind, of fallen countries and terrible men, to fall on your shoulders.

  you always spoke with him. sat with him on the bus, at lunch, in class, sitting. talking. more of he spoke, you listened. even though the other students came to ask questions, they never stayed. the simple existence of two of you, two kids, with the parents you had was too much.

  the old stories of l’manburg, manburg, pogtopia, the infamous button room, the burnt mushroom house, the obsidian walls, logstedshire, the disc confrontation, pandora’s vault, all of it. every story, every tale, included your father. in history class you were stared at, you and the piglin boy. when students wanted to ask about the historical figures they learnt about, it was to the two of you. and you hated it.

  the attention, it was never on you. always him. whether it was from students, teachers, family, friends, hell, even the hecking sheep that belonged to the fading soul of a long gone man cared more for the kid. not even tommy, your father, paid more attention to you. he was always out, causing trouble even now. tubbo and ranboo, despite their efforts to keep michael safe, had somehow ended up with him becoming even more of a trouble maker than the three of them combined. you would much rather spend time with the fading soul, listening to his songs as you sat on the glass covering a crater. he claimed it gave him inspiration, to sit above the symphony he never finished.

  so, when you saw the small boy talking to others at lunch, you were conflicted. was it good, good he had gained more people, more friends? you never enjoyed sitting with him, having to listen to him speak for hours. he never even realized he was being annoying, causing trouble.  so, shouldn’t this have solved your problems? knocked them down the drain?

  and yet, you felt bad. staring at them on the playground, your soul hurt. you didn’t want to be like the fading soul, to feel like this. michael, turned to look behind him. the look on his face seeming like it was begging for you to walk over there. but you felt guilt. and so, you ran.

  “ghost!” you ran above the glass, making sure your steps weren’t too heavy footed.

  he looked up, from his sheet music and the guitar. “oh, hello. are you just getting back from school?” the area around was abandoned. after so many years of being near such a negative place, everyone left. deserted it. all that was left was the glass and the small, somehow still standing structures. at the very bottom of the pit was a sea of red, always growing but never moving, sitting dead yet alive.

  “yeah. it was a long day today. and i need advice. but first, do you have any music for me?” you sat in front of him, pulling out extra snacks from lunch out of your back.

  “music later, speak now. what’s wrong? do you need some blue?” anytime you seemed upset, ghost gave you blue. when tommy saw, he was nervous. more distant. you didn’t want him to see it, you didn’t want to drive him away. so, you used the dye for other things. your pants, your shirts hoodies, what ever could be dyed. all of it, a deep blue the color of old, burnt suits, used for a country few actually remembered.

  “no, no blue today, ghost. i still have some from last time, so thank you. and i need to ask a question. if i do not like someone, should i help them when they are in trouble?” you laid back, the cold of the glass hitting your neck.

  “it really depends, what has this person done? in the past, i’ve been wronged by others. heavily.” in his eyes, you could see the healing wounds that may never form, as he felt the blue wool in his hands. the memories of a father and a brother and a sheep, you could see them in the fading soul. 

  “i was helped, or at least he tried to help me. i didn’t like him. as far as my knowledge goes, he did not like me. he hurt those i loved. even so, he helped me. tried to save me. it backfired, badly. but he still tried. i owe him my gratitude, i wish i could repay him. for all he’s done.” he stared down, reminiscing. the ever living dying red shone in the setting sun.

  “so, to conclude, you should help him, in my opinion. i think its good, to help others, even when they’ve wronged you. build amends, y’know?” he looked down to you, who was sitting silently.

  “thanks ghost. can you play me something now?” you watched him sigh. you needed to think about what to do, how to go about this. slowly, you heard the faint sounds of a guitar begin.

  “the cute bomber jacket you've had since sixth form…”

  in the morning, you were ready. at school you pestered michael to no end, speaking when he didn’t. he looked sad? here’s some blue dye my friend gave me , its supposed to make you happy! it’s even the same color of that sheep you like. when the older boys tried to approach him at lunch, you ran with him over to the swings.

  “michael, push me on the swings! after i’ll push you and we can try to knock each other off!” he pushed you higher and higher and higher. piglins are stronger than you expected.

  for weeks, it was like this. constant talking. michael, despite his usual talkativeness, was quiet. it was tuesday, and you couldn’t find him anywhere. what if those boys were rude to him? is he gonna get hurt? he may be strong, but he’s small. you found him surrounded by taller boys in the corner.

  “hey!” you screamed at them, inwardly terrified. dad had always said to be strong so be strong, ‘don’t be a pussy’ he would say (in a joking manner of course).

  “the hell you gonna do, shortie?” on of the boys turned around, laughing at you.

  “go away!” the boys chuckled again and you felt the anger flow through you. “fuck off you pussies! you cunts!” you screamed at them, using words you’ve heard your dad say. you pushed them over and grabbed michael’s hand. time to run. the boys chased you throughout the woods as you made your way to the location. once you reached the small forest clearing, they were gone. you started walking with him to the crater.

  michael was silent before looking at you. “... why’d you help me? i thought you hated me.”

  “i... i don’t hate you. not anymore at least! i was mad for dumb reasons and found you annoying because of that. but now, i know that its fine.” you tried to explain your self to him.

  “i always talked to you because i don’t like talking to others. i didn’t want you to feel lonely. i know uncle tommy doesn’t talk with you much. he gets nervous.”

  this was new information. “why does dad get nervous?”

  “i think it has something to do with his own dad. he might be scared of being like him, disappointing you.”

  “...oh. i’m sorry. for being bad to you.”

  “it’s okay. we’re friends now, right?” he looked over to you, smiling.

  you stared down at him. “yeah, yeah we are.” after some silent walking, you arrived at the crater. ghost was sitting on the glass.

  “ghost!” you ran to him, dragging michael with him. “ghost, this is michael. michael, this is ghost.” you proudly stood, making michael shake hands with him. he visibly cringed at the coldness of ghost’s hand.

  “oh, hello michael. would you like some blue?”

  you all sat, talking. you told michael about ghost’s guitar skills and the two of you forced him to play you songs. you were friends now, and it would stay that way.

  when the sun went down and you got home, your parents were pissed. your dad was on his knees, crying. he held you in a hug around your waist. “why are you crying?”

  “i was so worried about you. don’t do that shit to me again, okay?” you looked up at you and held your face in his hands.

  “...okay dad. okay.” you bent down and hugged him as the fading soul watched from a distance.

late post tonight aaaaa

y’know, i really need to stop going off track from asks just to write found family type fluff 

but nonetheless, i hope you enjoyed 

also is it spelt michael or michEal bc on the dsmp wiki its michAel but idk??

[islesnucks]

pls pls pls where are you? we need your expertise to analyse connor mcdavid's house <33

im so honored you asked omg thank you <3

let's star with the facade

i really don't like the materials it makes it look kinda cheap which i'm sure it's not, i would've gone with an exposed concrete like the driveway floor

but apart from that i really like the composition, the asymmetry with the two porches, the bigger one being retracted from the smaller one, i like the clean shapes, i'm not a big fan of having that many windows because i feel it unbalances the wall-openings ratio (plus then you have to add a bunch of curtains for privacy) i also don't like the garden but i don't know about landscaping

now let's see the back facade or whatever it's called in english

now this is the kind of wall-opening ratio i would use in the front of the house for privacy reasons and i would put the big windows to the back to you still have all that natural lighting and connection with the nature and not everyone that walks by can look inside your home

also i really really really like the way they continued the prism to put it some way, those lintels and column on the right corner they didn’t need to keep them for structural reasons but they did to not break the prism that is the house and it looks like they cut out a part, i love that i'm gonna use it in my next project

also i love their dog

now let's talk about the interior

from what i could see it has an open floor plan, there aren't many hallways or walls it's more like one huge space created by different spaces all connected that flow from one to another, i really like that, really modern and really like social in a way, you can have many people and ll be in the same room really good for gatherings and kind incites collective life to put it somehow

there's also a lot of natural light which we love, i really really like when the windows take up the whole wall (sorry don't know the term in english) makes the space seem bigger and creates a great connection with the outside blurring the line between interior and exterior

then regarding the decoration i'm not an interior designer so this is purely just what i think and like, i don't like it

she's an interior designer so i'm sure this is like super tasteful and extremely well thought and everything but i just don't like it, it seems really cold and impersonal and idk it doesn't feel like a home you know feels so impersonal (i remember there was this joke going around that it's a serial killer house and like yes i get that vibe)

i have to admit this really depends on the room like for example the main living room (first pic) i don't like it, but this secondary living room or whatever it is (seconds pic) i really do like and it seems more warm

however i have to say i like the way she stayed on tune with the architectural aspects when it came to the design, she chose an earthy palette with different metals and greys and browns that really combine with the house textures and materials of the house, also she kept the whole clean geometrical shapes on the furniture

but overall architecturally i like the house, really modern and stylish

also let me add im just an architecture student everything i said is just my take so yeah that keep that in mind

ok this was way way waaaay longer than i thought it would be sorry i really like rambling about architecture

[courtney-deserved-better]

whats ur writing schedule/process like! not in a “write faster” way, but i think once you mentioned writing in script form? and i like the way you wrote ur most recent fic! just curious bc ur works are just really good :)

this is a great question!!

if its not slippery slopes, ill usually get an idea for something and periodically jot down notes when they come to me until I feel like i have enough information to start writing (or if im just motivated), that's what i did for my horror challenge rewrite. and for stuff that's like... rewrites of an episode that aren't as character-focused as slippery slopes, i usually read the episode transcripts and try to replicate that total drama style with my own writing

for shorter oneshots, i usually just get a vague idea and run with it until i find a good ending spot, then i go back and clean it up a bit so the structure works

slippery slopes is an... interesting cycle. chapters are getting long enough that i cant just write them in one sitting any more (i think ch5 was the last chapter i did that for) and instead ill agonize over the beginning (always the hardest part to write for me) but once i get going with that i usually finish the chapter within a few days. then i reread the previous chapter to make sure it flows ok (and there aren't any contradictions) and then ill give myself a break where i dont do anything total drama related before coming back to edit and post. though before I do all that I type up notes and rough dialogue bits

and then once i post it it's like... a weight off my chest? like ive been purged or something?? idk its a weird sensation but im just like i Physically Cannot Write Anything For This Right Now and i don't start on the next chapter until that goes away. and then i either start the beginning and do nothing for a week before going back and finishing the chapter or i go into a manic state and write nonstop for a few days. right now i haven't reached a point where im ready to begin writing chapter 10 but i have a lot of notes for it.

(also as soon as i finish posting a chapter i try not to go on my laptop for like 12 hours so i don't obsessively refresh my email for comments. i love reading comments so much holy shit. please comment guys it makes fic authors feel so happy we will love you for it)

as for scripts: i am working on being a writer professionally, but specifically a playwright. writing in a script format comes more naturally to me than writing prose. funnily enough, i started posting fanfic just to practice my prose (and fix stuff in cobra kai that i didnt like) but things sort of... ended up here? idk man but im enjoying it.

right, so because writing in a script format is easier when im really struggling with a section in a fic ill usually scrap whatever i had and write it like a script, then translate that into prose. i was very excited to write the family videos for chapter 9 of slippery slopes, but i was Having Issues, so i redid it as a script and then rewrote that as prose. ill put the script version under the cut if you're interested in that.

but thank you so much for the question!! i do think my writing process is a bit unconventional but hey i think things are turning out well! if you have any more questions feel free to send them in!!

ok here is the last scene of ch 9 of slippery slopes in script format:

[SIERRA]

MOM: Hi honey! Omigosh this is so exciting! I bet you’re having such a great time! Especially since Chris is there! Is Chris watching this? Hi Chris! You know, I loooved you on that ice skating show. Your hair was fantastic! Well, it always is, haha. Do you really make your own hair gel? I’ve been trying to perfect the recipe but you’re just so hard to track down! Oh, you’re such a funny guy! I laughed sooo hard when you made all those jokes about marrying Chef.

Chef: hey!

Chris: ok just for the record, I wasn’t joking, we are married, Sierra tell your mom we’re married

Sierra: …can we just turn it off please

[COURTNEY]

DAD: Courtney, sayang, I know you’ve been going through a lot right now—

MOM: So you’d BETTER make it count. You’ve made it this far before, I want to see you getting all the way to the finale this time. And winning it. Enough moping about those hideous, good-for-nothing slackers! That’s what you get for hanging around freaks like them. You’re doing this for the million, now get the million. Is that clear?

ZARINA: And kick ass!

DAD: Zarina!

Video cuts out.

Alejandro: courtney you good?

Courtney: no, she’s right. Mama didn’t raise no quitter

Alejandro: [knows she’s still upset about duncan and gwen]

[ALEJANDRO]

MOM: Hola, Alejandro. We hope you are doing well, especially in such unsavory conditions. I’m glad to see you’ve made it to the final four— we expected nothing less, of course.

DAD: You have been utilizing your skills quite well. Though I wish you hadn’t been so… blatant about it. You’ll have to work twice as hard once this is over to convince people you’re trustworthy. But surely you were aware of that going into this… odd endeavor. That’s just politics. Reputation is everything.

JOSE: [snorts] Oh, and what a reputation you have, Al. I could easily compile hours of footage of your failures, but I, unlike you, do not waste my time on the frivolities of reality television. Though you always have been lacking in taste. Especially with that bratty girlfriend of yours— oh, my mistake, aren’t you dating the whiny weakling? It’s so hard to keep track! [laughs]

Alejandro: callate!

MOM: I’m sure Alejandro is just working an angle on them.

DAD: Whatever the case is, do not disappoint us.

[NOAH]

MOM: Hi Noah, I’m sorry, I don’t have time to record a full video, but I’m proud of you! Here are your sisters!

ISWARI: A million dollars? A million [bleep] dollars? Win it, Noah! Win it!

RUTH: Dude!! This is crazy! I know you can do this— good luck! Ark misses you! [holds up Ark who barks]

MARA: Are you insane? Why aren’t you dating Alejandro already?

Noah: shut up, mara, just because you can’t keep a boyfriend—

ANYA: Don’t let ‘em trick you! No mercy! Crush their skulls if you have to— no, wait, you’re not strong enough for that. We’ll get there!

LIYA: I say this as your sister, someone who loves you but is constantly annoyed by you— for someone who is quite literally a genius, you sure can be an idiot sometimes.

BALLARI: Okay, I literally have no idea how you’ve made it this far without an athletic bone in your body— are we sure you aren’t adopted? I’m kidding

ABS: You’re stubborn as hell when it comes to me, so you better be stubborn as hell when it comes to winning! And when you do win, get me a frozen yogurt machine, will you? I promise I won’t make you rock climb again!

JAEL: If you lose this, I’ll kill you with this racket. And then use your guts to make myself a new racket. So don’t fuck it up. Again.

Noah: [frozen, ashamed]

Sierra: well that was a mess

Courtney: ok show of hands, who felt better after hearing that? [no one raises hands]

Chris: yeah I was expecting this to be a lot more heartwarming…

Chef: chris just look at them. If they had stable home lives they wouldn’t be doing reality tv

Alejandro: can we please stop talking about this. Also aren’t you supposed to be flying the plane

Chef: oh fuck

Chris: yeah sure. I think im gonna call my mom

Everyone: …

Noah: ok so that was really shitty. Why dont we all go to first class and try and ignore our problems

Everyone: yeah ok sounds good

***

Courtney: so that sucked

Alejandro: at least your dad seems ok

Courtney: true. What are your guys dads like

Noah and Sierra: bold of you to assume I know my dad. Jinx

***

Alejandro: that last girl… you mentioned a sister who does tennis and hates you

Noah: yep

Alejandro: why?

Noah: none of your business. but… it is pretty justified

[caestusarchivum]

clover! your writing is wonderful and ill say its always a great time reading any of your replies. i love how each sentence and paragraph flows easily, how its enjoyable to read, and how you vary your structure and sentences to keep things engaging. good details. good insightful and personal thoughts. hikari is also a bit of a wildcard and is fiery, but she seems to also have a softer and vulnerable side. its always nice to see those differences and contrasts residing within the same person. im interested to see how she comes into her own, and how shell make peace or reconcile with being merciless.,.

UWAAYGGHH HIEN THIS HAS ME IN TEARS. I look up to you n your writing a lot so this really made me feel super good. I worry abt a lot of those points sometimes, ie. if hikari's accent is readable, or if my sentences are either too long or too short or have too many commas ( or parentheses-- talk abt an ironic joke ) but!!!

i try to have her hold a ton of strength with tenderness just below the surface. People think one person can be one thing in writing, but hikari is intentionally nebulous and even at times contradictory, to the point where like... sometimws idk what she's thinkin when she does shit.

[georgemackayhey]

hi love, first off I wanted to say how much I love your writing! secondly, and idea for a blurb: breaking up with George and meeting him again after a few months/years and maybe going back together? idk I want something angsty

Much love 🤍

Hi nonny dear!!! You're much too kind! Despite having writen something like this before I'm obsessed with the idea so here, have this!

You were together for a while. Long enough to go on holiday with friends but not long enough to meet the parents or anything. During the while you and George had spent the majority of your time together, the thing that weighed so heavily on your bond that it broke, was the time you spent away from each other. With his job, and all the travel, and the way your life had been working out, neither of you had much time for each other.

When George finally got back home, he arrived to the news that he'd been cast in another role that required his presence in an all new country, far from home as ever. And just when you were all eager to tell him about the new path in life you'd been gifted the chance to take. Suddenly all the good news seemed more bitter than sweet. And during the week you and Geogre devoted to spending entirely together, you both slowly came to the realization that that week would be your last. 

It wasn't easy to decide. George kept approaching the subject, but couldn't say the words. You kept pretending to listen but would cast your gaze to the nearest corner, unable to bear the reality of the truth. And finally, after a shared bottle of wine and a long bout of quiet that settled in after the film you were watching faded to black, you cried and called it quits. 

You stayed together that night still, before you gave each other some encouraging parting words, half-heartedly hoping the best for one another. And then you went on your entirely separate ways.

Life was cruel that way. It tore you from the things you thought you wanted more than air. And after a couple of weeks of wallowing in your pity, right when you'd gotten used to being on your own again, you ran into George. He was home for the holidays, out to dinner with his family where you waited to meet friends at the bar. 

It was an utter delight to see him, and he reached to hug you like no time had passed. Just as quickly George introduced you to his folks. You gave them each pleasant and warm greeting before meeting up with your friends at the bar, while his crew shuffled to find a table. 

Back to feeling sorry yourself it was, especially when your friends shot you knowing looks on your walk to meet them as planned. 

Life moved on though. You worked and lived without fighting the flow, and only saw George if a mutual friend dared sneak a snapshot of the fella to post on social media. Years passed just like that. Months of hard work. The occasional tragedy, or miracle throwing you a bit off rhythm. Parties and funerals and holidays and stormy nights.

And then you saw him again. At a resort, in a city neither of you lived in. He shouted your name from across the lobby of a fancy hotel and you abandoned your date to go rushing to George for a hug, his arms already outstretched, welcoming as ever. 

You laughed hard about how you'd ended up in the same place, at the same time, out of all the places and times in the world. And then you floated your separate ways like always. Somehow, beaming and aching in ways you hadn't been before running into the well built, soft-haired guy.

Your date was a little pissed that you'd failed to introduce them to George in the couple of minutes he'd graced you with his presence. You spent that vacation making it up to the date that ended up ghosting you a week after you arrived home.

Life went on like that. Failed dates. Birthdays. Brunch parties, and deadlines. 

And then you saw George again. You'd actually seen him throughout the past year or so, shopping at the same markets, and going out with the same friends. He was always kind, and cared enough to ask after you. 

"You're both absolute idiots." A friend rang, after you'd run into George at the park, and shared a chat before he reluctantly continued his mid-morning run. 

"I'm sorry?" You choked on a small, fauxly offended laugh as you strolled sleepily at your friends side.

"Why don't you just date?" She exasperated. Like the sight of you and George apart personally disgruntled her.

"You know we tried." You pointed. Trying not to let too big a frown pull at your lips. "Isn't it obvious we're better as friends?"

"No." Your friend called back, shooting you a look. She scolded you a bit longer about not letting Geogre get away the next time your paths crossed. You hadn't ever seen it that way. You thought your run ins with George were small bonuses granted on account of your decision to stay apart. You feared approaching the chance of being with him again would only result much like your last and only effort.

And then you saw him again. At that same mutual friend's wedding. The worst occasion. As if you weren't already worked up by the speech your friend had given you, being in the midst of the most romantic setting wasn't going to help you start any kind of conversation with George. 

It was an intimate affair. A backyard ceremony and an in house reception. Foods and wine spread across the roomy, yet quaint ranch style home.

"Here, for you." George was at your side as one slow song faded into another. In his hand, your drink of choice. 

"You didn't have to-" You started to laugh a little at his greeting, an offer you didn’t have reason to refuse.  

"I did actually. It was the last one on the tray and you don't look like you're having any fun. So here." George gently shoved the glass to your chest and lifted his own chute of champagne to toast. You let out a sigh and gave into his very generous demands. 

"How's it you look better every time I see you? Isn't getting older supposed to turn us all grey and sad?" You joked, taking into account Georges tailored suit, the structure of his face, his smile. It hadn't been too long since last you'd seen him across traffic and lifted a hand to wave. But it had been a year or two since last you'd stood close enough to study the loose fit of his tie, and the wave of his hair. 

George rolled his eyes and let his grin grow, before lifting to sip from the drink in his hand. And for a while you stood there like that, trading small talk about life and where it had taken you. And then your dear friend, the bride, the woman of the hour, marched over to meet you and George.

"If anyone dares upstage my wedding, it'd better be you two." She declared, reaching for your wrist, and then George's. "Now get out there and dance together so none of us have to listen to you idiots complain about how you miss each other and wonder what the other one is up to."

You'd barely accounted for the song playing, or the other people pushed close together on the dance floor, as you were flung to join in. Before you could even find your footing, George was pulling you a little closer, out of the way of a great aunt who was only capable of repeating a drunken version of the charleston. 

He placed either of his hands on your waist, as yours found his shoulders, and then you looked right at George, and you realized your friend was right. 

"You still ask everyone how I'm doing?" You wondered in a whisper, peering into George's ocean eyes. He only kept his gaze fixed, and his lip between his teeth, and nodded his head. You were entirely entranced, and one thousand percent at a loss. Where did you turn now? What did you ask? What if what you wanted wasn't the same...

But you didn't have to ask. Because Geogre leaned in, and kissed you like he used too. Like you hadn't stopped sharing kisses since the short time you used too. He held you near, his fingers pressing ever closer. He still smelled like you remembered, so sweet and warm. He still let out a delighted little hum before you parted for air. And George still smiled at you like he used too, like he always did, when you gazed back up to him, unable to hide your blush. 

Maybe no one noticed the pair of you slip out of the party early. Or maybe your friend had been counting on it. Maybe you and George were always meant to be together. Or maybe that time apart wasn't wasted, between all those run in's and hello's throughout the years. Maybe life together would be just as tricky to navigate together as it used to be. But you weren't going to let George get away this time, and he'd promised the same thing, unprompted and often.

[starrysupercell]

Uhhhhh Belle for the character thingy :D

*rubs hands together, starts this and takes a nap halfway, wakes up and finishes this* hee hee

Fave thing: Ooohhh how can I pinpoint!! Her adoptive mom tendencies. She takes kids under her wing. She's the personification of be gay, do crime. She's SO good in game!!! Like so good. I'm not joking. I'm at Rank 24 with her and it would probably be more but I was suddenly busy yesterday and today. I also really like her scars and metal robot arm, I wish she didn't keep the glove on :)

Least fave thing: she made Ruffs go deaf in one ear :( I think I'm irrationally upset that I cant tell which tooth is the golden one. It's like 97% that it's an incisor, but it would have been so cool if it were a canine. Hypothetically, my least fave thing would be not only Belle+Byron being confirmed not siblings, but also Belle+Colt being confirmed mother/son. I will literally be so sad and mad because I. Am petty.

Favorite line: "Oof. Gotta do everything myself..." or "The Goldarm gang says hi." C: tell them hi back for me, gorgeous. (bonus: "My fizzle is ready to sizzle." Is my least favorite. Wtf does that even mean, Belle?) Aside from that I absolutely love her voice and voice lines! I wasn't expecting a tired voice but I love it.

Brotp: aside from anyone in her Goldarm gang, I can see her getting along with Pam because tech, mom stuff, other. But like.. I guess I can put it here? I'm upset that she has a lot of similarities to a handful of other Brawlers. It's funny because she steals stuff, including lines but idk. I'm not a fan of alike elements unless it adds to the character. Am I a baby? Probably. But so what 😤

Otp: Belle/Nani because of my Risk and Reward fic, which I'm starting to write chapter one of finallyyyy. I'm missing like one arc of character stuff but it should be fine....??? lmao.

Notp: nnnnone? I guess, I'm so convinced that she's a lesbian that ships with her and any guy is a surprise to me at first, but I could see why they like her with guys. OH YEAH, and multiplied weirdness with Byron because of the siblings theory I 100% stan. Like. Okay. If I NEVER saw them as siblings, I could see why ppl ship them. But I CAN'T not see them as siblings. Does that make sense!? 🤣

Random headcanon: She actually likes word structure a lot and she dabbles in writing. This is based off her knack in a lot of her lines where she makes rhymes or that clever weld sentence. She doesn't jot things down too often, I mean she has nobody to write to, and loose papers with her handwriting just means liability to be tracked. Shush no im not indulging and one more her horse's name is Elodie :)

Unpopular opinion: her design is a bit funky. Like. Over designed-ish? Or clunky. Cuz it's like super crowded at the top and then plain pants and boots. She has scars, a golden tooth, special goggles and a whole missing arm, and loads of accessories like geez lady save some character design for the other two members of your trio. Sometimes, simpler is better. :)

Song I associate with them: A lot actually, because she's in my mind like half the day but I think Angry Too by Lola Blanc is a good representation of how I see her character in general. I recommend the official video, BUT if anyone looks it up, warning that there's some flashing, it shows a woman being treated roughly and dressed against her will to convey the song's message, along with being tied near the end. If the sound of that isn't something you like, look up the lyrics only.

Fave pic of them: I know I can crop Colt out but it kills the quality but this cool af cryptic shot

and this one. She's saying bye, hope your day goes WELL (to Colt lmao). But I would wave back to her. :) I also love her HAIR flow in it. You go bandit queen 💎

[yume-fanfare]

hi i am that anon from like 29th Dec (last dang year) who said i read ur tsuki no hime and loved it and that u understand Aizou. i have read more of ur stuff since then and now i NEED to ask you for writing advice, on both characterization and general writing tips since I didnt mention it before. Sorry about that! i just forgot i sent an ask and i do not get notifs at all (or does anon asks not get notifs?) Also, ART STUDENT! That's why the nice art and art leaning!! I feel smart for sensing it

oh yup, tumblr doesn't send notifs for anon asks! but i'm glad you did see the answer anyway

this post is hideously long, so answer under the cut!

so, on characterization: it is mostly a matter of what would they say, rather than what you want them to say. the joke about "the characters do what they want to" instead of what the writer wants is pretty much true if you want them to be in character lol (that's why sometimes a little bit of OoC isn't too bad)

checking the source material is the most important thing: look at prior similar interactions the characters have had and how they reacted

this is kind of hard with LIPxLIP, as there aren't that many translated texts about them but with honeyworks the most canon and reliable thing to use as reference are the mvs. the mvs are drawn in a way that can pretty much be understood even if you don't have the lyrics, and sometimes it's even better if you can't read them, to properly focus on the images better

look at their expressions closely: while aizou is always explosive in his anger, yuujirou often has a more indifferent expression. so, when they fight, aizou is probably the one to blow up first while yuujirou maintains his composure better. it's kind of the classic "this was only a brief passing panel but i am going to expand on it" www

but the thing about fanfiction is that it's always a bit of a character analysis in itself. you don't start writing having already a color-coded folder of possible situations and reactions a character would have for each setting. you just throw the characters in a scenario and then think from there onwards, and eventually you'll be able to have the folder of situations and what you think their reactions would be like. (though, this links back to the prior point, if the characters have gone through a similar situation in canon, use that as guide! plus, finding little references to canon when reading is always fun)

for general writing, i'm going to mostly talk about my own experiences and process! i'm in no way a professional though

the basic is reading a lot. not just books but also fanfic. in fact, since you're writing fanfic, i Encourage you to read fanfic. even if your story ends up novel length, the way of treating the story is different from that of an actual novel. for example, because you're working under the premise that everyone knows the characters already. the general style of fics is different as well.

in fact, the style is the main reason i'm saying this slfkslfkslkf

read a lot of stuff and find a style you like. think of it as sewing together pieces from here and there to make a frankenstein amalgamation: this person's metaphors, the comparisons from here, the descriptions from there

personally, i adore the "long one-shot with a long title formatted (like this)" fics that are mostly feelings and descriptions and as little dialogue as possible, and some that occasionally play with the "show don't tell" rule, and some months ago i read a book whose descriptions amazed me because you could feel what the character was focusing on the most, rather than being general descriptions of the situation (i actually have a lot of thoughts about descriptions but that's a post for another day). but also i really like dialogue and plot-driven stories, descriptions can get boring and before trying to break rules, you have to be really good at following them

but, let's go step by step: developing an idea

for this i'm going to mostly reference the multichap i finished a while ago as an example

i started with just a few vague concepts in mind: non-idol au with aizou who does some sport and likes music but is insecure about his singing and yuujirou who does some music related thing and encourages him to sing in a way that's somehow related to the hozier song to noisemaking (sing), because it's what inspired me to write in the first place

then, from then onwards i wrote down what would happen in the first chapter of the story bullet-point-list-style, including things like the roommates part or the clubs the boys were in (at first yuujirou was in the choir club lol the change was a last second decision that idk why i took) and then bits of dialogue here and there that would be The Turning Points. those first dialogues were for the fight at the end of ch 1, the apology-date in ch 3 and then some vaguely unused ones for the "yuujirou encourages aizou" part, as those were the first key moments i thought of

because, since it's enemies to friends to lovers, an important aspect was character development

not all fics have character development bc not all of them are long enough (if you're aiming for short and sweet then there's no need). but if they do, i recommend you write down how the character was at the beginning of the story and then how they were at the end and then fill in the middle later, think of what those key turning points that made the character change were (the more little things you add, the more gradual it'll be)

samishigariya illustrates this very nicely: the song starts and finishes with the same lines, but the ending ones feel more light-hearted. the beginning has pre-arisa ken and pre-getting-along-with-yuujirou aizou, when they were the lonely people the title mentioned, and the ending, when they're not lonely anymore. the in between can be seen in depth during the other songs: ken before arisa was a playboy who didn't take love seriously, but after meeting her he realized that games were not all there was to love; and aizou used to be quite cranky and high-key a loner, but then he "meets precious things and knows of love". i will not elaborate on that because this isn't an aiyuu post but Oh You Know

for the fic, aizou would go through that same process, more or less: someone who doesn't really form meaningful connections with people but who, in the end, would end up having quite a bunch of people who care about him as his relationship with yuujirou advances too

since the relationship was the main focus, i wrote a very simple outline for how it would develop throughout 5 hypothetical chapters that was just: 1. civil w each other but mostly bad > 2. bad > 3. half friends > 4. pining > 5. date

and then with that in mind and the bullet point list, the final basic outline ended up like this:

there were scraped ideas and ideas that made it in later, but i believe having a simple outline, a bare skeleton to add things to, is important. stories need continuity, development requires a prior buildup

it's especially important in multichapter fics where you post as you write, you need to have a more or less clear idea of what's going to happen because you can't ignore scenes you've already posted

shorter stories don't need it as much, you can think as you go, but it's still helpful to know where you're going with things to avoid getting stuck

and, on getting stuck: don't be afraid of deleting things. if you can't figure out how to continue things, then delete the situation and start again. it might feel like you'd be wasting time but in the end, it is so much better than being stuck on the same scene for weeks

in fact, you don't have to write in order. jump to the next scene and you'll figure it out later. you Can write the scene you want to write and then build everything else around it

it's normal to write a scene and then realize it would make more sense later in the story, or that it would be better if you added another scene earlier, or sometimes you just find it easier to jump from one part of the story to another. rely on your outline to keep track of what you've written, what you have left to write and what's the best way to arrange your story. make your story understandable

which bring us to editing

there's a lot of much better posts on editing stories, but yeah ctrl+f is your best friend: don't repeat yourself too much. and be sure to vary sentence and paragraph length, as well as sentence structure, to give dynamism to the writing

now, i've mentioned before the show, don't tell rule, but i'm going to talk a bit more about it because it's quite important

once again there's a lot of posts that explain more in depth what it is, so i'm not going to expand too much on that, but, very basically, try to avoid things like "then some time passed and they became friends". explain it: what happened exactly? how did they become friends? if it's important, show it to us, instead of summarizing

since things like these make the story longer, it also gives room for more development and proper explanation for things that happen

for example, the fic was originally going to start with them already in the room, and the whole situation would have been explained in a single paragraph somewhere, but by actually adding the scene where they first arrive to the dorms and argue with the lady at the main desk, the story flows better and it let me actually describe their first meeting

and uuuhhh i think that's all? this took super long to write i hope i didn't forget any super basic stuff lol

i want to add that for enemies to lovers i greatly recommend this post bc it's super good but yeah i think that's basically it, if you have any more specific questions just shoot me an ask

[storybookprincess]

HI i absolutely love your writing and i admire it sm and seeing your posts about aus, different fandoms, etc rlly makes my day idk if this ask is repetitive but i was wondering if you have any writing tips? like anything at all whether it be for planning or organizing ideas or writing plot or setting or whatever - i just really admire the way you handle your work !! have a lovely new year too <33 -sizhui :3

ahhhhhhhhh sizhui hello!!!!!  thank you so much for this sweet ask it really brightened my day!!!!  thank you for saying such kind things about my writing it truly means so so much to me TTT^TTT

there’s so so much i could say about writing tips, but i don’t want to be here all night, so i’m going to give what i think is my biggest piece of advice for growing as a writer.  it’s going to sound very simple, but it really does work.  and the advice is to develop your metacognition as both a reader and writer.

metacognition is just a fancy way of saying your thinking about thinking.  i think that often, when we read or write, we get caught up in the flow of the task & forget to take a step back to consider why exactly we think, feel, and do the things we think, feel, and do.  this is all sounding very abstract & general & probably doesn’t make much sense, so i’ll provide some examples.

metacognition as a reader is going beyond “i love this story!!!!” to “why do i love this story?  what elements are contributing to my enjoyment?  why do i think this is good writing?”  as you develop your metacognition as a reader, you’ll be able to say things like “this story is really well paced.  the writer seemed to slow down time & draw out a really intense emotional moment, and it made the scene much more powerful for me.”  or maybe “this story used a really repetitive sentence structure, and it got monotonous.  varied syntax would’ve improved the story a lot, because i found myself getting bored.”  or “i loved this author’s use of figurative language.  their metaphors really deepened my understanding of the characters’ experiences.”  metacognition will enable you to see not just that a story is working, but why it’s working.

and then you just steal the bits you like!!!

okay, i’m joking, but i’m also sort of serious.  once you’ve identified the parts of stories that you enjoy the most, you start incorporating them into your own writing.  obviously you’ll want to draw from more than one writer you like to avoid outright copying another author’s style, but if you find a certain element of a story really compelling, try it out for yourself!!  and this is where the metacognition comes in again.  let’s use our pacing example.  you found an author who you felt paced their stories really effectively.  as you develop your metacognition as a writer, you’ll be able to ask yourself “would this scene be more powerful if i found a way to slow it down?  am i spinning my wheels & taking too long to get to the point of this scene?  are there enough beats and pauses in my dialogue so that it doesn’t read like a screenplay?” so on and so forth.  once you can analyze what is an isn’t working in your own writing on a meta level, you’ll be able to implement that knowledge & improve your stories.

there are lots of ways to improve your metacognition.  if you’re reading a lot of fanfic, commenting with the specific elements a writer did well will help you learn to identify why a story was enjoyable.  discussing your own writing ideas with a friend will help you articulate what you’re trying to accomplish in any given scene/chapter/story.  a beta can give you feedback that will show you how your story looks through someone else’s eyes.  comments on your own fics, especially ones that go into detail about what’s working, will also help with that external perspective.

i know it sounds ridiculously simple, because it basically boils down to “don’t just read & write.  think about reading and writing,” but developing your metacognition will help you grow leaps and bounds.  and it’s the sort of process that you’re never truly finished with.  every writer on the planet is continuing to evolve their understanding of why stories work the way they do.  as your metacognition improves, you’ll be able to write more precisely and deliberately and get better at communicating to the reader what you want to say!!

thank you again for this ask!!!  answering it really really brightened my evening!!!  i hope you also had a happy new year & have a great 2021!!!!! xo