#Don't get me wrong I love writing for me myself and I it's the cornerstone of this blog

[kakusu-shipping]

btw not to be annoying but I'm in a huge drawing rut right now and almost everything I've made the past few weeks feels like garbo to me so if anyone has any X Reader requests from medias on my F/O list you want done, now would be a great time to send them in

[llondonfog]

My bro showed me this and I laughed, hope it makes you laugh too.

https://youtu.be/Dm2qng5aWnM?si=T0uh6sbnz3ebnpEJ

https://youtu.be/8YqGSQCwmDs?si=hyEytjBr4G4J2Uzp

Also, please share with me some of those darth vaders raising Luke stories, they sound so sweet.

Have you ever read Darth Vader and son? Or Are You Scared Darth Vader?? Both are funny and cute. (Both are children’s books but I love them and have them in my bookshelf. 💚)

Hope you feel better Lettie 💞🌺

ljdfaskjkdsfl thank you for sharing these, i cannot wait to start the ahsoka show for myself after all of these gifsets and memes— hayden is a real treat to the fandom and i'm so glad he's finally getting all the recognition he deserves!!

AND YES I LOVE THOSE LITTLE BOOKS ; u ; if you really want some vader raising luke fic recs, i am more than happy to provide the ones that i go back to time and time again for some good old comfort under the cut!!

ao3:

Force Bond: this series i read YEARLY. it is such a wholesome cornerstone piece of fanfiction in my life, i cannot get enough of it and am amazed by the fact that the author has kept it going with new updates twenty years later. basic premise is that luke escapes from tatooine and a crazed ex-jedi who wants to kill him as a young child and winds up on coruscant where a chance encounter with the emperor's right hand man might change their lives forever :')

The Emperor Skywalker Conspiracy: this short one is just for laughs, it's a great use of memes to react to the news that luke skywalker is darth vader's son as if you were in the sw universe and learning about it in real time through tumblr updates

Where Our Intrepid Hero Doesn't Get Away: a fun set of short drabbles exploring various different au possibilities within the sw universe of vader having to come to the rescue of his reckless son<3

The Family Tree: THIS ONE IS SO GOOD, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT CHANGED ME. i fucking love this trope- character a and b get stuck somewhere with no escape and are forced to have a heart-to-heart conversation ITS SO DAMN GOOD AND EMOTIONAL AHHHH

The Heir: i absolutely adore this concept and how the author presented it; palpatine raising a young luke as his son and creating a rift of hatred between vader and his child, only for vader to find out the truth and murder the emperor thus making his young son the rightful ruler. so full of angst and delightful twists, it's a fun read!!

ffnet

My Bitten Heart: told through an outsider pov of a rescue mission gone wrong. fully changed my perspective on writing when i read this over ten years ago.

Three Days, Two Nights and One Lifetime: one-shot where luke gets shot down over a desolate planet and experiences brief blindness and amnesia. who should find him in this state? :)

Between Flight and Longing: luke and han go to a distant planet in search of....something. vader happens upon them and a hilarious (and hurt/comfort) trio emerges as vader struggles to understand what could possibly be ailing his son.

[oodlyenough]

oh yeah, i've finished the first 3 episodes of ntftbl. some more impressions:

this game isn't very good. it isn't, at this point*, excruciatingly bad, either, it's just extremely mid and any time i kind-of enjoy something they then derail into something i don't enjoy.

the humour is not very good, which i guess is uh, how borderlands is, lmfao, but i do feel like tales tricked me into thinking this franchise could be funny.

i like anu a lot still, wish she was in a better written game. I also wish phuong was around! i liked their relationship! which brings me to a bigger crit

eta - the replies now include spoilers for ep 4+5!

so far, by ep 3, the only characters you interact with consistently are the player characters. I find this quite boring, actually -- somehow the idea of trying to mantain relationships with and balance the desires of differing NPCs is more appealing to me than just... talking to "myself" x3, in every scene. the only relationships that seem to matter are the ones between the player characters. at the beginning of the game, i thought it was like, anu+phuong, octavio+pals, fran+???, the way you had fiona with sasha, rhys with vaughn, and then athena, jack, august, etc as the game progressed. this is really just octavio-fran-anu with louie occasionally popping in to grade my ability to interact.

(typing this, i realize supermassive uses this same dynamic too ... but i don't know, supermassive also has MORE characters per game, and let's be real, supermassive isn't what i consider a cornerstone of character writing, lmao, you're there for the jump scares and stuff.)

also, the intentionally oblique choice system is something i was on the fence about, but I'm not loving it as the game goes on. my "skateboard" level by the end of ep 3 is fairly low (I think it's like, a 50% range?) and my 3 relationship meters are all sub 60% and I have no clue why! sometimes i think things seem to be going well and then louie pops in to be like "actually you all hate each other". lmao.

more specific plot spoilers:

-the healing ray is a good idea. i like it. there you go, game. gold star.

-did not find the shark tank thing particularly funny at all it was just an extended sequence i had to survive. and then it built into NO ONE THINKING TO USE THE HEALING RAY...I get that was kind of the joke, but it was a bad joke, because it meant I as the player was just sitting there like :| waiting for characters to realize something i realized 5 minutes ago

-i don't like the licensed music montages :( i mean, i like the idea of them existing, however, i do not like the on the nose music choices

-the scene where octavio and fran shoot each other went on WAY too long, i was so irritated and bored, like anu, lmfao, and i kept intentionally missing QTEs trying to end it but it forces you to continue. you will never be the finger gun boss battle (which i also thought went on too long when i first played it, but my god, take me back.mp3)

-it seems extremely obvious the angel investor has sinister motivations. i guess there's nothing wrong with that as plot points go. i would maybe expect any of the cast to be a bit more cynical about it? maybe fran? i dunno. whatever i guess lmao

-i also think it's funny that apparently anu got caught as a wanted woman by going to the morgue, rather than by appearing on a popular tv show. ? ok lol

*I have no spoilers past this part of the game, nor do i want any, except that i know many people hate the end of 4 and episode 5. LMAO. uh. soooooo ..... can't wait to find out ....

[sentfromwolves]

hiiii! For the constellation asks:

Cassiopeia, Draco, Libra, Ursa Major, Aquila, and Virgo!

~Morri🗡 (@memento-morri-writes)

AHHH MORRI THANK YOU! ; A ; <3

✧ Cassiopeia: What’s your favorite scene so far? (doing this for EAE/Birthright)

AHH Gosh I am really really loving the scenes of very early tension between Atticus and Aurora right now. Especially this confrontation that they have at the pond where he asks who she is after making assumptions about her, all of them wrong.

“Then what are you?” he asks. His voice is not an accusation but a wolven growl. There is a smoldering hunger in the dark carnation of his eyes. “You have never told me. You have never once given me so much as a name. Who are you? Tell me. Now.”  I open my mouth. For a moment, the words rest on my tongue, heavy as iron.  I am Aurora Polaris. I am Diana’s younger sister. I am the one they call Starless. "I am no one, Heir Jupiter," I whisper instead. "And nothing at all to you."

✧ Draco: Who’s your favorite character to write?

I really do love writing my POV character, Aurora, in the context of Birthright alone. But if I'm thinking more broadly about my favorite characters across all of my drafts, I love writing for Wren the most. I've been writing his voice for over five years now, and he hits incredibly close to home for me on many intimate and personal questions and thoughts on identity that we share. To be very sappy for a moment, he is my character that truly holds the most meaning to me, and I treasure him so much.

✧ Ursa Major: What scene are you looking forward to writing?

I thinkkkk for Birthright I'm looking most forward to the Hamara transformation sequence. In the revamped edition, Aurora does get turned into a beast in Hamara that reflects all of the inner distortion she has around her sense of self and her identity, specifically her self-loathing and insecurities. The stronger those are, the stronger the beast, and Hamara's arc is specifically about her coming to terms with how malignant and malicious her own thoughts have become.

✧ Libra: Which relationship dynamic do you enjoy writing the most?

In the context of Birthright, Aurora and Atticus are my favorite dynamic to write. The evolution and growth the two go through to even have a chance of beginning to consider a relationship in this rewrite is immense. They won't even broach becoming lovers until book 2. Atticus humbles because of Aurora, and Aurora's self-confidence grows so that she can stand and face him as herself and not as someone running away from their own identity.

However, across all my wips, my favorite dynamic is actually the dynamic of Wren and his father, Brisbane. The two have an incredibly dysfunctional relationship. Wren's mother died when they were a child, and unable to cope with the tragedy, Brisbane left Wren with his aunt on his mother's side and became emotionally and physically distant. He eventually remarried and had kids who he loves and cherishes, and Wren spites him for it and for the sense that Brisbane abandoned them to try a clean start somewhere else.

The fact that this dysfunctional relationship becomes a huge cornerstone of what draws Wren back after they've gone over the brink and deep into the corruption of their celestial divinity, corroded and malformed now as it is, makes me extremely emotional. There's a point where the only person that can drag Wren's humanity back in from the tide of the malevolent deity controlling them is their dad, and that does start a healing journey for the two of them.

✧ Aquila: What do you do when you’re stuck in your writing?

Man... I'm bad at it honestly. I keep trying to write. Like, over and over again, running myself into cliffs and boulders. I'll try a different wip, a drabble, anything. It's half because I've created such a routine of writing daily for myself that to not do it even for one feels REALLY WEIRD so I try anyways. But when I'm absolutely unable to do anything, I don't beat myself up over it thankfully! Usually I'll relax and create pinterest boards or playlists or graphics to revitalize my own creativity, play a game if it's an inspiration piece for what I'm working on, or rarely watch a show or go on a walk too. I just try to give myself the breathing room I need to re-approach writing with a clear head.

✧ Virgo: Describe your favorite tropes.

OHHH GOD IM SO BAD AT THIS BECAUSE I JUST DONT REALLY KNOW TROPES VERY WELL.... I'm a super basic bitch though. I love:

➺ SMALL VERSUS TOL! (points aggressively at Aurora and Atticus!!)

➺ Dysfunctional found family that might yeah...be family... but they're gonna kill each other over it (HOLDS UP TERRA-9 CREW!!!)

➺ Knife to throat, sexy but still murderous intent (Marek and Wren!!! DO THIS!! A LOT!!!)

➺ Only one bed listen... ok... I need cuddles... in general I just love any sort of bed sharing trope. It's my kryptonite. My achille's heel, if you will.

➺ does feral angry trans kid destroying the world count as a trope because I feel like if not I'm starting a one-person trend with Wren and Nemesis both

I'm sure there's more but I'll be honest I don't really know tropes that well and these are just the ones I know feature in my stuff and can be easily boiled down to the trope nature. ; w ; Thanks again for all the asks!!!!!

[drabbles-mc]

Anonymous Qs: What would you say are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer? And...what fics/writers on here would you say gave you new perspectives, ideas, inspiration?

I would say that my strength definitely lies in my dialogue. I think that ever since I started writing fanfiction way back in the Before Times, that was always the case. I love it about my writing, but I think that it also has made me reliant on it, in a way, and my ability to write description has suffered because of it. I've been making a more conscious effort lately to get out of my comfort zone and try to put more description in my story. I have to get out of my own head with it, because when I do description I tend to feel like I'm rambling but I know that it doesn't have to be that way. I've also been trying to get more comfortable with having my characters make shitty decisions 😂 I know that might sound kind of weird but I really do want to get more comfortable with writing characters just making the absolute wrong moves, doing things that might make them unlikable to people, etc. Gotta get that conflict from multiple sources, you know?

I also have a really bad habit of letting myself get overwhelmed by stories, especially multichapter ones. Hence why most of them have been on unplanned hiatuses. 😅

In terms of fic writers who have inspired me, I gotta give it up first and foremost to @withmyteeth and @garbinge because these two lovely humans have talked with me about writing more than any other people on the planet and I couldn't be more thankful for that. Knowing you have people in your corner that you can talk to about whatever and they're going to be along for the ride? More valuable than I can put into words. Plus their writing slaps I go back and reread their stuff all the time amen god bless.

Other writers who have inspired me:

@lovebarefootblonde can build out worlds and characters like nobody's business. Like, I could just revel in her OC's and universes for the rest of my life and never get bored.

@ashlingnarcos is 100000% the writer that made me want to round out my description-writing skills. Every fic I've read of hers has brought me to my goddamn knees. I'm weak and in awe.

@charmingoutlaws will always get a shout-out for these types of questions because their The Other Guy Saga is something that hit me so hard and inspired me so much as a writer. There aren't words to explain it.

@imagineredwood has been someone whose writing I have looked up to since I got into the SOA/Mayans fandom and continues to be one of my fave fic writers.

@yourwonkywriter is another one who has been a real cornerstone for me in terms of writing. If I hadn't come across their fics for Nestor I truly don't think I ever would've been brave enough to try writing any myself. The amount of times I reread them to try and get just a sliver of the grasp they have on his character??? Too many to count.

@awildcur writes things and I immediately lose myself in them in the best way possible. You ever read stories that just give you that warm, cozy feeling of coming home?? Yea. That's it. I just love them all.

There are definitely more but guess who is terrible at remembering url's 😅😅

[concerningwolves]

Hej, I actually have three questions: How do you handle plotbunnies? I currently have 14 - more or less fleshed out. But they are mere notes. Secondly: I'm in a bind with some of my pieces. The introduction is more or less there and I have a cornerstone (an important scene) but I don't know how to get there. Thirdly: Is there a tag or so for beat readers and how much research is good? I can sink week into research a single detail. Thanks.

(A note before I begin: as of 02.04.21, asks like this violate my ask guidelines. This isn’t a personal scolding, @quamatoc, but I just want to make you and readers aware that I won’t take multiple unrelated topics in a single ask anymore. More on this AG update here.)

Handling Plot Bunnies

Honestly, the most helpful thing I've learned is that it's okay to just... let your plot bunnies be. Leave them grazing on your metaphorical mental lawn. You don't have to do something with them straight away – in fact, managing which projects you work on and when, instead of chasing down every plot bunny you see, is an important skill to learn.

I like to keep an Evernote notebook for each plot bunny, so I can update it whenever I get a new idea but don't feel like I'm abandoning the ideas or like I have to work on them Right Now. You could keep a physical notebook, a file, a digital folder full of word documents – it doesn’t matter what you use, so long as it’s something you can access easily and keep relatively organised. Sometimes fresh inspiration will strike and I'll realise that an apparently unrelated plot bunny is actually really useful for a current project, or I'll get struck with a full plot for a previously fragmented idea. Either way, it’s been really liberating to realise that I can just keep plot bunnies safe somewhere for later on.

Getting from Point A to Point B (Building the Plot)

► PLOT STRUCTURES & GENERAL NOTES

To get from place to place in a story, you need to think about what makes it tick. You don’t need to write scenes in order, though! For me, figuring out a plot is really just me asking myself a very, very long series of questions. If I know what the Big Scene is, I’ll work backwards, asking myself things and seeing how the answers could get me from point A to B.

You don’t have to figure out a plot freehand, either. If you’re struggling, you might find it useful to use a pre-made plot structure outline such as the. There are loads available online. Print out several different ones and see which fits best, put your important scene where you think it goes and work backwards, write all over them, use a giant whiteboard, write on the wall – if it helps, use it. Here’s a blog article on different types of plot structure.

I also think it's important to actually write. It's so easy to get caught up in plotting that you don't put your thoughts to paper. Make sure you don’t fall into that trap! I'm a plantser, meaning I like to do a mixture of pre-plotting and flying through drafts by the seat of my pants. Even if you’re a rigid planner, be sure to see how your ideas look in action by drafting out scenes.

► “WHAT IF?” QUESTIONS

“What if character A and B discover a secret? What if they have different opinions on what to do about the secret? What if this becomes a friends to enemies to friends to lovers plot?? – wait, no, what if they’re already enemies and this secret forces them to work together? What if—”

Brainstorm  "what if...?" questions and explore various options. You don’t have to make any final decisions – that’s the beauty of drafting! The point is to put together subplots and main plots, and see which one works best in getting you to where you want to go.

► GOALS, WANTS & AMBITIONS

A character’s ambitions, wants and goals are very important to a story. They help hook the audience in by giving them something to root for. Knowing what a character wants and what lengths they would go to to get it is crucial to driving a plot forwards, especially if your story is character-driven.

What does a character want? → A character can have multiple desires, but it’s helpful to pick one key thing that undercuts most of their actions. Maybe they want to find out who killed their mother, or escape from somewhere. Perhaps they want to steal a pretty gem. Maybe they want to be king, or they want to escape from their responsibilities as a ruler.

What steps is a character willing to take? → Some characters are willing to do anything to achieve their goals. Maybe they commit a crime, end up in prison, get nudged towards more heinous actions, and find themself in a situation they never would have expected. Other characters are more cautious, but get pushed to breaking point – and then make a Bad Decision that bring about a major plot point. The steps a character makes are what puts them on the path of your plot.

Could anything change a character’s desires, or influence them to take different/more drastic measures? If so, what, and how would this change plot events? → Let’s say that your cornerstone scene is when character A steals from character B, but A starts the story unfailingly loyal to B and only wants to protect them. In order to get to that cornerstone, you’d need to work out what could happen to change A’s priorities. Change is invaluable in getting from plot point to plot point. If something happens that changes what a character wants – i.e., a betrayal, a sudden exile, or a change in fortunes – it can push them down paths they wouldn’t have otherwise considered.

► CONFLICT & OBSTACLES

Just as characters need to want something; plots need conflict and obstacles to make them interesting.

What could go wrong? How would the character(s) try to solve the problem? → “How can I create problems?” is probably the most valuable question an author can ask when building the plot; asking yourself how the characters try and solve said problem just pushes it even further, like this:

Does the attempted solution work? Whether it succeeds or fails, does it have any unexpected consequences? → Say that your Important Scene takes place in a different location to where your characters start out. So, the thing that goes wrong means your characters need to flee (the solution), and it works! They’ve escaped! Only now, they don’t have anywhere safe to go, and so they end up going into the place where Important Scene happens. Or maybe they don’t escape, and their attempt means that they’re transported to a more secure location, which in turn gives them an opportunity to get to Important Scene Location.

Do A’s goals conflict with another character’s goals? What would the other character do to protect their own interests? → If your cornerstone scene involves a clash of two armies, you need to think about what could ramp up the tension between the two sides, and conflicting interests is a great way to do this. Maybe your protagonist is trying to save the world from impending doom, but the queen of a neighbouring land is blinded by hunger for more land and riches. Or, the protagonist is a queen-in-exile trying to wrestle the throne back from the tyrannical relative who usurped her. Think about how each characters’ moves against the other could drive the plot.

The key is to think of it as building a structure out of bricks or slabs. You have your cornerstone – great! – now you need to work out what parts go where.

Research and Beta Readers

Research is something I wholeheartedly and unironically love. I will actually give myself research days a treat for reaching certain writing goals! So, naturally, I'm going to say that there's no limit on how much research one should do to create a story. That said, there is one caution to keep in mind: research is good, so long as you don't let it stop you from actually writing OR let it turn your writing into something akin to an instruction manual. In early drafts, try replacing any specific information you need with a code such as [ELEPHANT] or [KX] – basically, something you can find easily with the search function later on when you’ve researched it.

To find beta-readers, I recommend using the writeblr tag. It's where the bulk of the community puts their stuff. Make a post like "call for beta readers" with information about your project and use the buzzword tags like "writeblr" "writers on tumblr" "writers of tumblr" "beta readers" and whatever genre is applicable. Avoid external links in the post, otherwise it won't show up in the tags.

[ASK GUIDELINES | KO-FI]

[la-luna-es-amor]

I've decided to share this reading in which I communicated with Dragon Spirits. A few things to note:

- Last night I was getting ready to do a reading for myself, just a quick card pull, when I had the feeling like some dragon spirits wanted to come through and communicate. I didn't physically sense or see anything, it was a mental signal if that makes any sense; I got the mental feeling that dragon spirits were signaling that they wanted to communicate which I've never experienced before until last night. I've always deeply loved dragons but I had the notion that it's disrespectful to reach out to them first so I never did.

- I always make sure to call in protection and to state who is and isn't allowed to join me when I open scared space before doing divination

- After I did my personal reading I expressed that I'll be offering to light a candle for the dragon spirits, this particular candle's wick is kinda dying so I hoped that it would stay burning and it did! It burned throughout the whole reading! Only after I completed the reading it when it started to fade and give out.

- I do want to point out that I also acknowledge the possibility that what came forward may not even have been dragons or a dragon spirit, so if this reading doesn't resonate with your personal knowledge on dragons based on your experiences then you're more than welcome to inform me.

The Reading:

These were some questions I wanted to know about working with Dragons. Keep in mind this reading isn't necessarily speaking on behalf of all Dragon Spirits, it's solely for the ones who were present during the reading. The reading is separated into three groups: Group 1 represents the first question, the Group 2 is for the second question, and Group 3 is for the third question.

Group 1

1. What is the Medicine that Dragons can provide?

6 of Water Reversed - "It does not serve us well to give in to the desire to inflict hurt just because we believe someone to be deserving of it. We may feel that we are justified, but what purpose does an act of spiteful retaliation serve but to make us less and perpetuate suffering. Anger used in this manner is rarely beneficial or healing. There are none who can remain untouched when cruelty is offered; both the person who inflicts it, and the person it is inflicted upon, will be marked by it." 

This is already a very powerful message, regardless of how one might feel about it if they disagree and have different beliefs. Dragons have been around for a very long time, have seen humanity go at one another for a very long time, and they've had to endure so much. They know how destructive anger can be. The medicine they can bring is to remind us of the power of walking away from situations and people that have hurt us, for ourselves, not because we're weak or we're showing that we've been bested but because we value ourselves and should prioritize our healing first instead of revenge. Revenge is something our egos tend to want when we've been wronged or severely hurt or don't get our way and we can benefit from learning a healthier manner of dealing with our anger and our egos.

 The Scribe - "The Scribe is the record-keeper, the keeper of all knowledge and information about past, present, and future. He is on a perpetual quest for knowledge, not just for his own benefit, but for all of mankind. He believes that record keeping is the cornerstone of civilisation, and without accurate records, the past has served no purpose. He is a man without intellectual bias or prejudice. He always offers knowledge from several perspectives and points of view. His knowledge is also feared by those who seek to control the information and knowledge he has amassed. With the knowledge he has, he can make or destroy nations; it is a power that inspires fear, but a power he would never use, because the machinations of man are of little importance to him."

The medicine Dragons can provide is the importance of documenting your life, recording memories, and writing things down so that you can have things to look back on but also I feel both this and the first cards are them wanting us to realize how ego driven we are and for us to not let our egos control the best of us. That we only prevent ourselves from stopping to see what really matter most because we waste our time by letting our egos lead our lives for us.

6 of Earth - The medicine Dragons can provide for us is the importance of responsibility and duty to our loved ones. They ask for us to be selfless and in service to those who are in need or dependant on us for love, care, and support. They want us to lead by example and they want us to remember our responsibility to both humanity and Earth to become the best person we can be, help whenever we can, share our knowledge whenever we can, and to remember how important it is that we understand that we share this planet and its resources, and each of us needs to do what we can to protect the animals, forests, and oceans.

Group 2

2. What is the Guidance that Dragons can provide for those who work with them?

9 of Air - They bring the guidance of how to connect with the Universal Consciousness, the guidance of understanding the importance of knowing yourself and your mind, of self awareness, understanding the beliefs and thoughts that limit and restrict you, learning how to allow your imagination and creativity to roam free, and learning about the power of belief and to be open minded. They also bring the guidance of remembering to not take their existence and the existence of multiple realities, dimensions, and spiritual beings for granted.

Love - They bring the guidance of understanding and appreciating love in all its possible forms and how important and powerful it is; they bring the guidance of understanding the importance of feeling gratitude and for love of life, and how beneficial it is for your growth and development to welcome in new experiences, new connections, and new lessons. 

4 of Air - They bring the guidance of the importance of maintaining structure, having some form of a daily routine, keeping organized, maintaining security, consistency, and discipline. They can teach those who work with them how to develop a better work ethic, how to be prepared for the unexpected, how to get better at time management, and how to break bad patterns and habits to be able to develop better ones.

Group 3

3. How do Dragon Spirits prefer people to work with them?

10 of Water - They want people to vibrate on a high frequency of love, empathy, kindness, and connectedness. They prefer a working union that is full of love, grace, self awareness, fully present in the moment, and a positive outlook on life. The Dragon Spirits that came through during this reading prefer to work with people who either already emotionally intelligent or that are willing to learn from the Dragons how to quiet the mind and better control their emotions as well as want to improve themselves and become more compassionate, kind, and elevate their energy to one that feels healing and comforting for others to be around.