#AND while i have opinions on the dialects i think he prefers i don't think he has one which feels 'native' bc he was passed around so much

[quatregats]

Also sorry I'm thinking about all the linguistic details that POB managed to cram into this book. Specifically the way the coffee house is called Joselito's (Spanish diminuitive for José 'Joseph') but Stephen, when speaking in Catalan, refers to the waiter as "Jep" (Catalan diminuitive for Josep 'Joseph'), and also that he uses "the Catalan of the island" which I'm not sure if POB uses that phrase intentionally but I'm guessing he does - Stephen is not from the Balearic Islands, and would certainly not speak Balearic Catalan as his native dialect, so while in English the line seems to convey that he's at home (he's speaking his native language - and this is true), the fact that even in his native language he's still chameleoning into another dialect feels very interesting, IDK

[smaller-comfort]

Djoseras/Zultanekh Mildly NSFW In the aftermath of the treaty between Ogdobekh and Ithakas, there are still territorial disputes and high tensions on both sides. A wedding between houses from both dynasties will serve to resolve some of that lingering tension. Djoseras might not have chosen to attend such a wedding, ordinarily- but when the invitation comes directly from Zultanekh, how can he refuse?

Yeah like this was gonna happen without a fuckton of notes from me lol let's fuckin goooooooooo

This is my first time participating in an exchange! @ocelly bullied me into it, and I'm grateful for it. XD

I was halfway convinced I was going to default a week before the deadline but I somehow got my shit together at the last minute. December turned into an entire shitshow from start to finish.

I made a few concessions to general fanon around Djoseras here- you can blame his drink preferences on the necron discord server and his hair on various necrontyr fanart conceptions.

My personal headcanon is that Djoseras is asexual and as much of an ascetic pre-biotransference as he is afterwards; his head would've been shaved, and hot water is too spicy. (Oltyx's head is also shaved, entirely out of a desire to imitate his brother.) So this is not actually a pairing I ever thought I was going to write, except in the context of unrequited pining on Zultanekh's part.

I am very glad I did write it, though! It's funny how much this Sanguinalia has had me thinking about Djoseras, when I was originally firmly of the opinion that the books had said all that needed to be said about him.

Zultanekh looks like a Minoan statue- lots of curly hair, big curly beard. Amazing tits. Dedicated service top but willing to do anything Djoseras wants him to do, and generally Short King Djoseras tops.

Zultanekh is weird even by Ogdobekh standards- *especially* by Ogdobekh standards. He and Enashkebet were terrors as children. Zubenakr often threatened to drown them both.

"how will someone guess its your fic" well I WAS going to say probably from all the weddings, but then there were like six wedding fics in the exchange. So now I'm not really sure; I don't know how distinctive my voice actually is relative to other writers in the fandom.

At any rate, I really was very very excited to get these prompts- even before assignments went out, the wedding one was giving me ideas. I was slightly nervous about not quite meeting the prompt exactly, so I'm really glad my recipient was pleased. I had a lot of fun writing it.

I didn't manage a full reread of the books before writing this, but I did go back through most of the necrontyr flashbacks in Ruin and a lot of Zultanekh's scenes in Reign. What we see of Djoseras is largely only through Oltyx's extremely biased memories- or through Zultanekh's extremely biased memories.

Much like Oltyx, my memory of his character after reading Ruin was kind of wonky. I feel a little better about my understanding of him now, but I had to switch around some things in the story for canon compliance. I realize that canon is, at best, a suggestion, but I'm too fond of these books to try and twist too many details.

Djoseras tells Oltyx he made the decision when he went into the furnaces to never stray from the correct and loyal path again; this story is set while he is still conflicted about things, obviously. It may be that biotransference itself is the catalyst for that decision, or maybe it's something that happens between him and Unnas after this story takes place.

I'm still not fully satisfied with the way I wrote the Ogdobekh dialect; Zultanekh in the books doesn't actually use the rhetorical question framing as much as I thought he did. The intent is for third person and rhetorical questions to be markers for the formal register- addressing someone directly can be considered very rude depending on the social standing of the people involved. Zultanekh dropping into the informal/direct mode when he says "I have dreamed of this since Vorronezh" is meant to be impactful, but I'm not sure I pulled it off. He's slightly less formal with Djoseras in general after the wedding, though.

If you think Djoseras would use anything other than vague euphemisms to talk about genitalia, I dunno what to tell you. The word 'cock' has never passed this man's lips. whether or not the thing itself has is another matter entirely

I couldn't get my brain to produce anything fun for the wedding ceremony but, you have to understand, I was raised catholic and my parents got married in the orthodox church. The actual ceremony is not the fun part; the fun part comes after you spend three hours standing and chanting.

The "you have to have a partner" rule from the prompt only gets applied to actual members of the wedding party, who stand in the ritual circle. So if Zultanekh and Djoseras hadn't partnered up, they'd have both been banished to the peanut gallery.

I should've included something about astromantic equations determining the correct number of witnesses for an optimal union. Odd numbers are right out; they were lucky Djoseras and Zultanekh could be paired up without having to add or remove anyone else.

Enashkebet always kicked Zultanekh's ass when they fought as kids. Her threats were genuine.

(Sorry not sorry all my necron/tyr OCs are loud women and their tiny spouses. *facepalm*)

Zubenakr is technically a vitriform noble; her house has been serving the Ogdobekh royal family for generations. Her daughters are all responsible for raising the children of the nobility in the palace; they are also responsible for the deaths of at least a third of those children in infancy. (They all become deathmarks in the war.)

Enashkebet and Imireth have a whole West Side Story forbidden romance going on- intrigue! romance! secret encoded messages! Disapproving family members and direct intervention of the king! Love blooms on the battlefield! A huge amount of diplomacy, bribery, political assassination, regular assassination, and threats of exile went on behind the scenes to make their wedding happen. Enashkebet did a lot of it herself, but Zultanekh was covertly involved.

Meanwhile, Djoseras and Zultanekh themselves are just the romantic comedy B plot.

Zahndrekh and Obyron are also in there somewhere, having a different romantic comedy B plot. I wanted to include them in the wedding feast more explicitly, but ran out of time. (If this were snecrontyr-verse their b-plot wouldn't be romantic comedy, it would actually just be hard-core porn.)

(I haven't decided if Enashkebet and Imireth survive the War In Heaven; if they do, they manage to escape back to Ogdobekh territory after Shadrannar's rebellion, thanks to Djoseras 'accidentally' letting them escape during a battle. If they don't survive, it's probably one of their children who leads the rebellion, and Djoseras still lets them escape.)

I tried to be careful about not having anyone on the Ogdobekh side use explicitly gendered terms when talking about Anathrosis, although I realize that "phaeron" is technically male. Anathrosis was so upset about the treaty, she decides to transition about it. If I had written this in snecrontyr-verse, they'd have used null-gendered pronouns to refer to Anathrosis during the transition period. (I do think she probably fully transitioned in the furnaces, though.)

It's not uncommon for necrontyr to change their gender markers; there are forms you fill out, and you update your interstitial signature to use the correct forms, and that's usually it. But there are longer and more complicated rituals that can be observed if you want to, and generally those aren't optional for higher ranking nobility.

[akihayakawife]

don't think anyone cares but i wanted to talk about and rate each fob album. i am rating based on personal enjoyment and not on any professional music knowledge lol i barely know how to read musical notations. not gonna include evening out with your girlfriend coz i haven't listened to it enough to have an opinion. but i like pretty in punk!

remember this is just my opinion i am happy to hear what u think even if u disagree

take this to your grave

i really really like this. i love how patrick sings in this, he got that emo dialect ON. dare i say it's one of my favorite albums by them. i just really love emo/pop-punk and i love the energy in this. i'm super bad with words and ratings this is a bad review LMAOO im sorry but i think ill rate this a 9/10. just because i feel a lot of the songs sound the same and i feel like there's albums i like more. but i really really love it.

fav songs from the album:

tell that mick he just made my list of things to do today

homesick at spacecamp

the pros and cons of breathing

from under the cork tree

i discovered fob at 12/13. i mainly listened to srar, ab/ap, fad and ioh back then. i did listen to some of futct, but i rediscovered the album at 16 and then rediscovered it AGAIN at 18. and it's so so nostalgic to me. spring/early summer of 2022 is one of my favorite times because i played this album constantly while riding my bike or getting ready to go out. again, i love the sound of it and the more pop-punk/emo direction of it. i guess a lot of it is nostalgia, but it's just so 🩷🩷 . 9.5/10 because sound wise it reminds me of tttyg and i also feel like a lot of the songs sound similar (not necessarily a bad thing), but i do like it a tad bit more than tttyg.

fav songs from the album:

a little less sixteen candles, a little more touch me

xo

of all the gin joints in the world

infinity on high

i love it!! who would've thought!! contemplating if i like it more than futct. i like how the songs sound more different from each other, but still have this pop-punk sound. obviously contains bang the doldrums which is a huge plus. lyrically i also really like. super fun to sing! i really like it. not much else to say here. there's a little bit of criticism i have (which is just personal taste) some of the instrumentals are just not my type of music. like, ill ignore what i dislike though, because the whole song is so good that i can ignore what i dislike. yk? yeah -0.2 points for that

dare i say 9.8/10

fav songs from the album:

the take over, the breaks over

don't you know who i think i am

hum hallelujah

folie à deux

liked it a lot too! i know a lot of people think it's their best album, and i see where they're coming from. i absolutely love it, but i feel like the songs were just a tiny bit less energetic than in previous albums (which, if you couldn't tell, are my favorite types of songs). but lyrically and sound wise i still adore it. i'll give it an 8.8/10 coz i prefer the others over it but i couldn't bear giving it an 8/10. lol. oh also i don't care nightcore version went platinum in my room in 2017.

fav songs from the album:

w.a.m.s

headfirst slide into cooperstown on a bad bet

what a catch, donnie

save rock and roll

the dreaded post hiatus albums. i actually considered srar my favorite album for a long time (before i listened to the others in full, lol) but i really don't think it's as bad as a lot of people make it out to be? sure, it has a lot of skips for me personally, and i prefer their old sound, and maybe its the nostalgia talking, but i do like a lot of the songs. death valley nightcore version with the aot season 1 poster in the background shaped me in ways i can not explain. you had to experience it yourself. i will say though that i really don't like fobs super popular songs (my songs know what u did in the dark, the phoenix, centuries, immortals) not sure why! i used to like them a lot more as a tween, now i just don't enjoy them. i don't hate them, and i will listen if i have to, but they're skips for me. especially mskwyditd. overall a 6.5/10 album for me.

fave songs from the album:

alone together

where did the party go (was my fave of fob for a long time!)

death valley/just one yesterday

american beauty/american psycho

i hate that i share the opinion of the mainstream but i also didn't really like this. i don't hate the album, fourth of july is phenomenal imo, i love it. but a lot of the instrumentals i just didn't like. i listen to a lot of different genres, and i love pop and pop-rock. but this album sometimes was giving annoying millennial imagine dragons maroon 5. which is a huge overstatement bc my glorious kings could never stoop this low. but you get the gist. 4/10 for me. not terrible, i just don't like it much. but the nostalgia hits.

fave songs from the album:

fourth of july

novocaine

the kids aren't alright

mania

i love and respect all mania truthers but for me personally it's just not that good. i know mania is overhated, that's not what im here to do. it's just not my kind of music and that's fine. i'm glad the band is experimenting and evolving. but it is a skip for me unfortunately. i like church though, and a few other songs are catchy. 3/10

fave songs from the album:

church

wilson (expensive mistakes)

so much (for) stardust

to be honest i haven't listened to this album often enough to really form an opinion so i will not rate it or say my favorite songs. but i still wanted to talk about it. so far this is my favorite album post hiatus! i really like it. it doesn't compare to my faves, but it's fun and definitely more my type of music. i like that it still feels a bit experimental, but more true to their origins (?). kinda feels like pre- and (the best of) post hiatus combined. it's cool :)

[eggtartz]

Hii!! Can I request if the Tokyo Revengers boys prefer to have a foreigner or a Japanese partner and why?

Characters: Mikey, Izana, Rindou and Souya (If it's a lot of characters you can just do the first three ^⁠‿⁠^⁠)

a/n : thankyou anon for requesting 🫶🏻 i added some more characters hehe hope you'll enjoy this!

characters : mikey + izana + rindou + souya + hanma + sanzu

summary : tr characters who prefer foreign or japanese partners! (please don't take these too seriously, they're just opinions and thoughts of mine!)

mikey

- being the leader of a gang, he has to travel a lot for missions and stuff

- he would then meet with you and try his best to approach you (despite the language barriers)

- would somehow ask you out for a dinner and have a translator secretly translating what you meant

- would try to learn about your language

- once comfortable, he would ask you to bring him to the best dessert places there

- would try to give you nicknames in your language (he'd do it randomly too)

izana

- being half filipino he came to japan not too fluent in the language

- however he met you when you both attend the same highschool so you'd try to befriend him

- he would give hand signs in the early friendship of yours

- nearing graduation, you saw him with a guy that has scar across his forehead

- you hesitantly tried to approach him until he called your name in japanese

- you two would be in touch a lot and eventually go on dates together (plus the scary man with the scar sometimes third-wheeling..)

rindou

- if rindou continued his dj hobbies, he'd definitely go outside japan to expand his tracks and music

- would make background music and while doing so in the club, he met you

- had a crush on you that he wrote a song about you (he didn't said it was about you, but ran read it anyways)

- ran being the nosy brother he is, went to the club rindou was doing the show that night and saw rindou staring at you

- so with long strides, ran boldly said rindou liked you

- poor rindou was a blushing mess

- you both went home together that night though

- say thankyou ran <3

souya

- first time met you at the ramen shop

- he thinks you looked very pretty and unintentionally stared

- until his brother smacked his head to get back to work

- souya saw you were sitting at the table, slurping slowly on the ramen while doing assignments that were on the table

- he thought you looked stressed "uh hi some tea if you like?" he gently asked while placing the mug on your table

- you smiled at him but his face was already burning hot that he avoided eye contact

- even his brother couldn't stop teasing

- eventually, you waited until the ramen shop closed and went to talk with him again

- (insert nahoya teasing him a lot that night because you asked him for coffee when he's free)

hanma

- he was smoking in a parking lot when he saw you that was going to smoke too (damaged lung besties)

- your lighter kept flicking but the flame wasn't lit so he offered his lighter

- muttering a silent thankyou in a foreign language, he nodded but looked at you again when you traced his hand, specifically on his tattoo

- you were interested with the tattooed letters on his hand that you two managed to achieve an understanding although there were miscommunications

- asked you out immediately the next morning when he saw you during his mission

sanzu

- prefer a japanese partner so he won't have misunderstandings

- haru can be quite troubling in communicating with his partner so he would like to sit down and understand throughout what you said incase you both argued

- he would really love the way you say his name "haru" in that dialect you have

- he'd feel like he's unworthy of love so he never seeks for it until you came (you did the first steps and such)

[k1201a]

Hi, I'm new to the fandom and as I was looking through plan's tumblr I found your page and saw that you're Chinese, and I want to ask over your opinion with this twitter thread (dunno if this had been discussed).

https://twitter.com/flowerofgusu/status/1525904659478552576?s=20&t=BOMF8feFh6M_Zfd-PIZ8Ag

I'm not Chinese, but I'm trying to learn Chinese and I don't know why there's something bothering me about this. I saw another screenshot of the whole interview in question and went "Where's the preference mxtx is talking?"

Q36. 会考虑再写有副CP的文吗？

墨香铜臭：这个问题也是我以前反复思量的。

不会了。写耽美感情戏是很需要精力的，一对主CP已经占据了我全部的注意力，如果不是恶搞欢乐向，没有多余的精力再分给其他人了……

其实最初渣反的向天打飞机和漠北君我也没想过要写成CP的（讲道理，他打飞机其实一开始根本没有这么多戏份好吗，就是个临时拉出来打酱油的），但是因为渣反大纲本来就很随便，后面瞎写着，突然发现，咦？怎么回事？他们好像还挺可爱的？！加上这本很恶搞，CP不CP无所谓，所以为他们破一次例了。不过不会再有例外了。

看别人的作品我偶尔可以接受多CP，但是叫我自己写，我就不太喜欢了。因为我会觉得在这么几个人里出现这么多基佬真的很不可思议。忘了在哪里看到的一句话，一个作品的真实感来源于感性真实而非物理真实。作为作者，我脑海里的世界对我来说就是真实世界。我可以说服自己一个神神鬼鬼满天飞的世界是真实的世界，但我无法说服自己一个全民BL的世界是一个真实的世界。

之前瞥到有个提问者说：“即使不是爱情，人与人之间还是有很多复杂的感情也非常动人，一味归为爱情很微妙。”是的，许多冲突的设计动力就不是基于爱情，所以会有更多可解读性。对我来说，这种程度已经让我觉得OK了，写的够爽了，情感真实，故事可以成立，冲突也足够��烈。

在非爱情的前提下，一些人做一些事可以用辩证的目光来看待（什么），而一旦直接打了个爱情的标签，思考问题的方式就会多少有些扭曲，讨论点会偏移到一些我觉得并不用纠结地方，比如，谁对不起谁谁付出更多谁配不上谁谁渣谁贱。这并不是我设计故事的初衷，所以多少会有点可惜。

但只要不拆逆主CP，萌什么我都不会管。我自己看正常向番也经常吃CP吃得很开心，看文不就找个乐子。脑补或吃CP随意，不拆逆主CP就行。

但不要太真情实感。尤其不要走火入魔。不知道怎么回事，的确会有人因为萌她想象中的“副CP”萌到走火入魔，发展到极端，开始对不给她盖章的作者我产生怨恨。对这种事，我很无语，也很无奈了。所以告诫大家，随便看看就算了，小心不要被白衣逆那种人带进阴沟，走火入魔。

Q36. Would you consider writing a novel which contains vice ship again?

MXTX: I've considered this question many times.

The answer is NO. Writing BL emotional drama consumes lots of energy. I put all of my concentrate on the main couple, so if it's not a burlesque comedy, I won't have any spare energy for any others......

Actually, I didn't ship Airplane bro and MoBei Jun in SV as a couple in the beginning. (TBH，Airplane bro really didn't have as many appearance and parts at first. He was supposed to be a minor role temporarily). But because the original outline of SV was quite casual, while I was writing, I suddenly realized that, what? He seems to be a little cute?! And also, this novel was created for shits and giggles, so it doesn't matter whether they are a 'couple' or not. They are just an accidental exception and I won't make this exception again.

I can accept multiple ships when I read other people's work, but I don't like to write it myself. Because I think it's unbelievable to have so many homosexual people in such a small group of people. "The realism of a work comes from emotional reality rather than physical reality." I forgot where this sentence comes from. As an author, the world in my mind is a real world for me. I can convince myself that a world full of cultivators and ghosts is a real world, but I can't convince myself that a world of homosexual-only is a real world.

I saw a person before questioning that: even if it is not love, there are still a lot of complicated emotions between people and those are touching too. When these feelings are always attributed to love, it's kind of ambiguous. That’s right, often designing motivation for conflicts are not based solely on love, so there will be more room for interpretation. For me, this degree has made me feel like it's OK, it’s good enough to write, emotionally honest, the story can be set up, and the conflict is intense enough. 

Without love，people can do things from a dialectical/logical point of view；however，when it comes to love, the way people think about things will become a little twisted. People may be more concerned with points which are unimportant, like who should say sorry, who paid more, who doesn’t deserve the love, or who is the bastard and the unprincipled person. These things are not what I intend to tell in my stories, so it's a little disappointing.

But as long as the main couples stay unbreakable and irreversible, I don't mind any other couples. I often enjoy shipping couples when I enjoy other regular stories. Having fun when reading is the only thing that matters. Ship any couples you like, as long as you don't break or reverse the main couple.

But do not take things too seriously, especially do not go wild with something. I don't know what happened on earth, there are actually some people who go wildly crazy to an extreme about their imaginary 'vice ship' and start to harbour resentment against me, just because I didn't approve of 'their love' as the author. For such issues, I'm speechless and powerless. So this is my warning to everyone, just read the story for fun, please be cautious with some people like *白衣逆，do not let them lead you to a deflected path and slip into the dark side.

*白衣逆，a MXTX's hater. She is a crazy fan of Xue Yang and once made rumours against MXTX.

The original translation is already very good, I don't know what more I can add to it.

There isn't a single controversial thing in this part of the interview. They're all mainstream positions and preferences in danmei community:

crack ships are fine. reverse or break up canon cp is off limit. of course you can still do it, but most danmei authors would say they don't like it. mxtx just said what many other danmei authors have said. it's not just about personal preferences, if you ask your readers to be invested in your canon ship, you don't go around and validate other ships that you didn't write and didn't make canon.

no body cares about being woke in danmei fandom. danmei writers do not compete on the number of gay canon ships. one canon ship per novel is the default. idk why people say this is homophobic, bg novels, the majority of them, have only one canon cp too.

people complain only the main characters get a happy ending. authors don't owe your fav a happy ending, authors don't owe you a canon ship at all. some authors had the nerves to give the main girl a harem and NOT have her ending up with any of them in the ending.

Personally I reverse ship canon cp too, but if I wrote something, and made a canon ship, I would dislike people reverse or break it up too. This shouldn't be hard to understand. I ship to my own preferences, but i don't own the characters, the authors have every right to tell me i'm shipping it wrong.

[spaced0lphin]

Thoughts on Writing

Just last month, I got into Jedi: Fallen Order, and I fell in love pretty much instantaneously. I used to read the Jedi Academy stuff way back in the day and was a long-time reader of expanded universe stuff before the buyout. But with the newer films, I got a little jaded. That's hardly a controversial opinion. I have to credit Andor for reawakening my passion for the Star Wars universe - it really was unafraid to explore new tones and some new ideas, even in a set period in the canon. It encouraged me to give Fallen Order a chance.

Everything I wanted to feel for Rey as a "new" Star Wars protagonist, I feel for Cal Kestis. I wanted so much to love Rey, but the execution meant I couldn't get into her as much as I wanted. I was primed and full of desire to love her, but it just never happened. Enter Cal Kestis, a character whom I was initially sceptical of ("Oh good, another 'new' Star Wars character, how they gonna balls this one up?") I should say, I don't normally approach media with an "Okay, fuckstick. Impress me!" kind of attitude because I don't generally feel that's conducive to emotionally meeting the material on the level it's being offered to you. You could say I was a little un-primed from what happened with Rey. Well, Respawn's constistently amazing single player narrative writing sauntered into the room, along with a tortured, sweet boy and a little droid. Though only in the later parts of the game, Merrin is truly a fascinating character, and their enmity shifting into a strangely easy rapport over the course of the game felt like watching a constellation form. Something beautiful and long-lasting you can tell stories about. I posted a snippet of Dialects before, but I may as well elaborate a little bit. With this story, I really want to chase that feeling of building on old ideas rather than being a slave to them. I want to lean into the idea that you can be universally and personally loving. There doesn't have to be a difference. I work on themes of letting go and redefining the self through situations as they are, rather than what the rulebook says they should be. If only we could all be so brave, trust ourselves and our good intentions... and allow ourselves to grow. ... And I need Betas. Did I mention that? I need people familiar with the characters to have a bit of a go-through. I've got it on a Google Docs and stuff. I love constructive criticism, it's set so people can comment. It's not done yet, but there's about 5k so far.

Blathering about character stuff and my experience with writing so far under the cut.

For me, falling in love with a piece of media is a lot like falling in love with a person, and I think that's because of the way I look at things. Characters, to me, can certainly be broken down into their constituent parts and how they operate as 'devices' within a story. I can think of them like that when I need to. But I much prefer to think of them as whole and entire people, living entire lives somewhere else.

When I'm writing a character, I try to squish my brain into the shape it needs to be to fit into their skull. That sounds a little gross, and I guess it kind of is. It can be emotionally messy trying to get myself into a headspace where certain decisions make sense versus others. I have to take who they are into myself, along with their past, strengths, flaws and all the rest of it. Sometimes, that's a bit stressful. Anyone who is familiar with my work knows I write a lot of Joker from Mass Effect - a person with whom I share a lot of anxieties. Joker is many wonderful things -- he's also anxious, defensive and insecure. I love writing him. He's a reflection of certain parts of myself that have needed to see light. The acceptance the fandom has shown me with my interpretation of him has been both moving and personally vindicating. I'm finding I love writing Cal just as much. "Being" Cal for a while is honestly one of the more restorative things I've done for myself in a while. I've seen him labelled as boring or plain or whatever, but the more time I've spent "with" him, the less I can understand the criticisms. I find there's a quiet depth to Cal that's easily missed. One of my favourite characters from Mass Effect often gets this same treatment - "Kaidan is so boring!" - I think some of the stuff I love about Kaidan is seen in Cal, but amplified. It's my favourite thing to compare how Joker and Cal would react to similar emotional situations because it just makes me love them both more. Where Joker would be insecure about living up to something in the past or even jealous, Cal is appreciative of someone else's happiness, and just wants them to feel that way again someday, somehow. Where Cal is nervous, withdrawn or conflicted, Joker is blasé and full of active deflection. Joker speaks up, Cal shuts up. Where Joker is ready to stop hiding and level with the other person, Cal has no clue where to begin with that. Hiding is all he's ever known. Cal is easy, friendly, patient, curious, disguising his deeper feelings through silence. Joker has difficulty socialising. He's snarky, avoidant and acidic, disguising his deep feelings through denial. Joker has a little bit more of a 'traditional' concept of machismo. It is important to him and he wants to be seen that way. Cal thinks plants are 'pretty cute,' and doesn't mind saying so. Both of them struggle similarly with wanting things for themselves - especially really, really wanting things that are against the rules. Both of them are pretty ride-or-die. I'm committed to getting this story out soon. I want it out there and floating around in the weeks before the new game drops. Reason being is I want this peaceful, loving and hopeful feeling I have of Cal to be preserved in amber. I want to share and enjoy this interpretation of him as being possible, just for a little while, before his official next chapter is out there kickin' Imperial ass and probably not dating Merrin, because... My ships? My ships do not come in.

[littlestarofthewest]

Hi, I love your fics and wanted to know if you have some tips for someone who wants to start writing? English is not my main language and I don't know if it's worth writting on my first language and then translate/adapt to english...

Hey anon, sorry this took me so long to answer, but I just wanted to do a somewhat decent job with it. Also, thank you. I'm really honored that you consider me to be someone who can actually give valid advice. I put this under a read more because it got super long (I’m sorry if that’s not at all what you were looking for).

Important side note: While I use phrases like "this is better," everything below is my personal opinion and not some sort of universal truth. I'm not criticizing any writers. I'm sure they know what they're doing, and we're all just looking for ways to put out the best works we can.

A lot of writers use things in their stories that I try my hardest to avoid, and they still have lots of happy readers. It comes down to personal preference, and all I'm offering here are a few ideas for you to consider.

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Let's start with the language issue. When I started writing fanfic I thought about the same thing. I think you have to consider 3 things:

1. Do I have the time / am I willing to translate everything?I'm usually so excited about finishing a story that I want to post it right away. You won't be able to do that if you need to translate it first. Also, writing itself can already be exhausting, and you're going to have to do the same work twice with each story.

2. Is my native language interesting for others?I'm German, and since the majority of the German people I'm in fandoms with speak English, there's no need to post anything in German. If the source material is English, they will consume English fics.

If you know your language to be interesting for other people, it would make more sense to post both languages to reach a bigger audience.

3. How close is my native language to English?Again, I can give you the example of German. The two languages are very different when it comes to sentence structure and how to phrase things. So, if I were to write in German first, a translation would be quite tricky. I'd probably end up "rewriting" the story rather than translating it word for word because the English wouldn't sound so good.

In conclusion: I know it's tempting to write in your own language because it seems more natural but unless you have good reason to do it that way (as mentioned above), I'd probably try to write in English right away. That's what I ended up doing. If you want to find the best way for you, try it both ways and see what works best.

Judging from your ask, I'd say you have enough knowledge of the language to write in English, and while it might suck a little in the beginning, it gets a lot easier over time.

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GENERAL ADVICE

1. Write! Practice is key. Talent might be a thing, but what makes you better at something is actually doing it. You don't have to publish everything, but the fact that you wrote it will help you to get better. I cringe whenever I look at things that I wrote 6 years ago, but it's also great to see how much better I am now compared to then. If you keep at it, you'll definitely see that change at some point.

2. Don't get discouraged if there's no significant response. Even for amazing writers, it takes time to get some traction. Especially on tumblr it's tough to be seen. There are also a ton of reasons why people might not interact, like forgetfulness, blog aesthetic, laziness, shyness, etc. That doesn't mean they don't enjoy your work. I hate to say "write for yourself," but that's the mindset you need. It should be still fun for yourself, even if you don't get a lot of feedback.

3. Have a healthy attitude towards your work.It's absolutely okay to love your own stuff, and if you enjoy it, feel free to show it. Still accept if not everybody else likes it, though.

BUT… don't hate on your work. A lot of writers are a little unsure about themselves, and that's okay, but if you say things like "this is garbage" about your own fics, you shouldn't be surprised if people don't read it. Why would they, if even you don't like it? So, don't put yourself down. Putting words on paper out of nothing is hard work, and every fic is worth at least the time and effort you put into it.

4. Read! My English improved a great deal just by reading. You'll pick up vocabulary and ways of phrasing things without even trying too hard. Read with variety. Fanfic is great, and it's a good idea to see what's out there, but fic writers are still a certain kind of writer. Mix it up with published books (even if it's hard to find LGBTQ+ content), preferably with different genres you're interested in.

5. Mingle. It's hard to put yourself out there, but don't be shy to promote yourself a little. If you feel like doing that, offer to take requests. Check out other writers. One great way to find readers is actually to interact with other writers. We can all need the support, and you might end up picking up some good advice.

Be respectful, though. I've seen people leave comments just to go like, "Hey, you wanna read my stuff, too?" Not nice. If you interact in a friendly manner, there's a good chance they'll check you out anyway. No need to pressure them.

6. Make an effort. I learned that one early on, when someone commented on one of my first fics that they "almost didn't read it because of the way it was formatted." It kinda sucks when you finally have something to post and then need to "waste time" with that stuff, but it's just as important as the story itself.

You don't have editors who will fix every little thing but try to do the basics yourself.- correct your punctuation- try avoiding walls of text- make enough paragraphs (when different people speak etc.)- check for major spelling errors

7. Consider advice / ignore haters. When someone gives you advice (if you asked for it or not), consider it. It's not smart to reject it right away, but you also don't have to do what others tell you. Pick out what works best for you. If someone's rude, kick them out of your life and don't waste a second on them. It's not on you to teach them to be polite.

8. Be mindful of your readers. It's their job to construct a safe atmosphere for themselves online, but you can do a great deal to help them. If you post on AO3, tag your stuff!! I hate to give away spoilers, but a lot of readers will feel better reading your stuff if they know that you look out for them.

On tumblr, use the right tags. Don't tag every character and ship in the universe. People will hate you (for a good reason). Go with what's actually in your story. Mentioning the basics in your post might be an option, too. (I give a quick overview on top of each story, but many writers don't. That's personal preference.)

And due to recent events, a plea from myself. Please consider all genders, sexualities etc. when you post. Tag your male/gn/female/trans reader inserts, tag your ships, tag major triggers, etc. You can't know every dislike of every person, but you have a bit of responsibility here, so please make an effort.

9. Write first - edit later. I'm shitty at this myself, but it's still great advice. A good way to avoid writer's block is just to put down the words, no matter what. It sounds like garbage? It doesn't matter. Did you use the same verb three times in one paragraph? Fix it later. No idea how that sentence should go? Add [character is doing some great action move to defeat the villain] and move on. Fill it in later.

Neil Gaiman said: "There is no first draft worse than a blank page."

You can always change and fix what's already there, but you can't work with nothing.

10. Take writing breaks. You don't have to crap out 2k of words a day to be a writer. In fact, letting your mind rest can be a great way to gain motivation and inspiration. Do something you love and don't hate yourself if the words don't come right away. They'll be back.

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SPECIFIC WRITING ADVICE

There's one golden rule: You want your readers to be so enthralled by the story that they forget that they're reading it.

These are some things that I picked up and still look out for to get exactly that effect. If you do that or not is totally up to you, though.

1. Use paragraphs when another person speaks. Although pretty much every advice blog tells you this, I still see stories that don't do that, and it's super confusing for readers.

NO:Arthur stands up and comes your way. "Are you sure?" You put your arms around him and nod. "Of course."

YES:Arthur stands up and comes your way.

"Are you sure?" he asks.

You put your arms around him and nod. "Of course."

There are a few ways to do this, but the important part is that your readers know who's talking at all times. The second they have to ask and maybe reread to find who says what, they're thrown out of the story.

2. Don't be afraid of "said" and "asked." I know there are these great lists of other words, but there are a time and place. Imagine yourself in conversation. Do you switch between sighing, whispering, growling and shouting with each sentence? Most of the time, people just say things. Use said and pepper in other words when it matters. Also, people tend to read over said. When you switch each sentence, they'll notice which breaks the golden rule.

3. Read out loud. If a sentence is weird, that might help you distinguish what doesn't work. If you notice a point that makes you reread or pause for a moment, chances are your reader will too.

This is also a great way to find weird dialogue. Actually speak the words, and you might notice that nobody talks that way. It's also great to find "the voice" of a character. Read it in their voice and dialect (nobody has to know if you suck at it), and you'll see if that's something they would actually say.

4. Only use epithets if they are absolutely necessary or convey an important fact!!! (This one is a real pet peeve for me because it's so dominant in fic)

NO:The Blonde leaned over, holding out his hand. You shook it, and were taken aback by the older man's shining blue eyes. The cowboy had a voice that made your skin prickle when he finally talked to you.

This is bad for a few reasons:a) You have to come up with all those epithets and oftentimes, they're not very good. b) It can be confusing because it might seem as if you're talking about more than one person. c) Your readers will focus on each new epithet, which breaks the golden rule.

It can be great to introduce a character as the tall, handsome stranger, but as soon as you know how they're called (and you should try to get there fast), for the love of God, use the name. It might sound repetitive to you since you're the one writing it, but readers usually read over names.

If you have to use a workaround, stick to one. The same person is always "the stranger," the next one is "the loudmouth," etc. That way, you can have multiple unknown characters without confusing your readers.

The only!! other reason to use an epithet is to emphasize a particular fact.

YES:"It hurt Arthur to leave John behind, but he wants his brother to be safe."

You could just write "he wants him to be safe," but in this case, "his brother" isn't only a replacement but is supposed to show that Arthur thinks of John as a brother and not just a friend. It actually means something and might even convey information your reader didn't have up until this point. It works well in dialogue, too.

"I need to go with them," you tell Karen, "and try my best to keep tall, dark, and handsome out of trouble."

Karen looks over to John and rolls her eyes. "Good luck."

Of course, the reader character knows John's name, but using the epithet here gives a little insight into how they think about John and that they're comfortable sharing that information with Karen.

5. Check your punctuation. Nobody's gonna kill you if you forget a comma, but try to get it right as well as you can, especially with dialogue. Those are a few rules that aren't hard to understand, and it's especially important if your native language does them differently.

English:"Would you just shut up," says Arthur, giving Micah a mean stare. "One more word, and I'll have to shoot you."

German:"Würdest du mal die Klappe halten", sagt Arthur mit einem bösen Blick zu Micah. "Noch ein Wort und ich werde dich erschießen müssen."

In German, you put the comma after " while you put it inside " " in English. It's a subtle difference, but it threw me a lot when I started writing in English. And if I notice, then readers might notice which again breaks the golden rule.

Besides, we're trying to make some effort, right? Let your story look pretty and professional. You can google a lot of useful guides about comma rules, dashes, and correct punctuation in dialogue.

6. Passive voice can be avoided. Or better said, avoid passive voice. I'm not saying, don't use it at all, since some very common phrases use passive voice, but try not to overdo it.

In most cases, there's always a better way to phrase a sentence, and active voice usually has more dynamic and drives your story in a way that passive voice can't.

7. Adverbs. Most writing advice blogs will tell you to avoid them like the plague. When I first started writing, I was a little on the fence with that advice, but by now, I agree with all my heart. Again, not saying that you can't have a single adverb in your story, but on many occasions, there's a better alternative.

NO:With his heart beating rapidly, Arthur moves quickly around the wagon, pulling out his gun. He fires back, shouting angrily at his attackers, "You gonna pay for this!"

YES:With his heart almost beating out of his chest, Arthur darts around the wagon, pulling out his gun. He fires back at his attackers, his anger sounding like a lion's roar in his voice. "You gonna pay for this!"

I'm not saying that version B is THE best way to write this, but I dare say it's way better than version A. Maybe that's because I'm not a native speaker, but it hurts my head if I have to read 3 words ending in -ly in one tiny paragraph.

A lot of writers very much abuse adverbs in their dialogue tags, which can make things repetitive and takes away the opportunity to put better information there. BUT, there's definitely a time and place for adverbs.

"He speaks quietly to her" is NOT the same as "he whispers to her," and that's the hill I'm going to die on.

8. Strong verbs. I suck at this myself, but this is where you should actually look for long lists of "other words for." This might be especially helpful when you have the above mentioned adverb problem (e.g., dashes, darts > goes quickly).

Still, don't overdo it. You might find words that sound fancy, but chances are that even native speakers might have no idea what you're saying.

9. Past or present tenseWhen writing in German, I often used past tense, but somehow I'm more comfortable with present tense in English.

From what I gathered over the years, most fic readers don't care either way; the only important thing is: pick one, stick to it! It's a widespread mistake a lot of writers make that they somehow switch tenses while writing. It happened to me a lot in the beginning and still does to this day. So be warned ;D

10. What POV should I use?

Again, google is your friend. There are a few different POVs you can use, some of them are very common in fic while others seem to be less popular (like 1st person as in "I do this, I do that"). There are 3 rules that I find important.

a) Don't switch inside of the story. Decide which one you want and stick to it. It's very confusing to switch at some point.

b) After you picked one, look out for the traps. If you write from one character's POV, they can't know things unless somebody tells them about it or they were present for the event. It's easy to suddenly have a character know something because YOU know it. Make sure it makes sense within the story.

c) Don't switch mid-sentence or mid-paragraph. I've seen this a lot lately in reader fics. You have 2k of story from the reader's POV, and then when they interact with the character, the author suddenly ventures into the feelings and inner thoughts of the character. That's confusing, especially if it happens without any marker or break in the text.

Don't switch just because it's convenient. If you want to give them both a voice, do it from the start. And if you do, switch where it makes sense, e.g. every other chapter, in the middle of the chapter with a visible break, etc.

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That's all I can think of for now. I hope it helps you in any way, and feel free to talk about it with me whenever you want. I can ALWAYS talk about writing.

Good fortune with your writing!!!