#Good writing

[writerofstuff]

Dead Boy Detectives was surprising.

It surprised me when, instead of Crystal dropping in and fracturing Charles and Edwin's thirty years of friendship, they went with Crystal sinking into the fold of Charles and Edwin's friendship and becoming an important and unique addition to the group.

It surprised me when, instead of Gay Boy Pining Over Straight Best Friend, they went with Gay Boy Realises Feelings For Straight Best Friend And Confesses Almost Immediately with a bonus of Straight Boy Accepts Confession With Surprising Grace And Nothing Changes, Not Really.

It surprised me when, instead of making the female characters repetitive and semi-rational and ultimately less powerful, they went with characters who are smart and selfish and kind and cruel and strong and flawed and oh, they happen to be female too.

It surprised me when Charles liking Crystal did not affect one bit of how much he loved Edwin.

It surprised me when Jenny talked about spinsters with cats and Niko did not bat an eye.

It surprised me with Edwin and Niko. It surprised me with, we have forever to figure the rest out. It surprised me with Crystal's kindness, Jenny's empathy, the casual and absolute, the good you do will come back around.

Dead Boy Detectives was surprising. One day, I hope I can sit back and watch another show and none of this has to be surprising anymore.

[a2zillustration]

Buddy we literally JUST read a scroll about hubris AND you were just inspired about something called "Don't let history repeat itself," that 10 wis stat is really coming through.

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[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]

[mothlady-garden]

I find it fascinating how, despite the characters being “adults”, they still grow and change throughout the story-whether it’s through exhaustion, the evolution of their philosophical perspectives and mental struggle or even the toll their deteriorating bodies take on them. It’s „only“ been 7 volumes and we’ve gone from this:

To this:

(What amazes me even more is how the author manages to weave so much depth into just 16 volumes of manga while still delivering such a remarkable and satisfying conclusion.)

[thewaspsnestinyourattic]

despite jon literally not being entirely human for the majority of the show, he's one of the few main characters I've seen portrayed in a way where it's like "you know what? yeah, that makes sense."

his actions aren't always the most moral or heroic, but they are the actions of a regular guy who is just trying his best. he gets scared and angry and obsessive and sometimes he does stupid shit. he's also willing to go to extreme lengths to keep the people he cares about safe.

all of the characters in the magnus archives have that human feeling about them but I feel like it shows the most in jon and martin. they love each other, and clearly they love each other deeply, but they're not willing to doom the world over it.

everyone's feelings are messy and twisted up and perfectly written. if you pulled a normal guy off of the street and made him the avatar of a fear god, he probably would have a reaction like jon's.

[dimlylittorch]

My fic recommendation list🖋️:

THESE ARE NOT WRITTEN BY ME

- Ruins: Joel Miller x ftm!reader - Author

- Epiphany: Logan Howlett x fem!reader - Author

- Taco Tuesday: Gambit x reader - Author

- Not Titled: Joel Miller x ftm!reader - Author

- Who’s Your Daddy?: Joel Miller x fem!reader - Author

- Nooner: Darth Vader x fem!reader - Author

- Is It That Sweet?: Joel Miller x fem!reader - Author

- Bouquet: Dieter Bravo x fem!reader - Author

- At The Emperor’s Word: Viktor x Jayce x fem!reader - Author

- My Burning Sun Will Someday Rise: Joel Miller x fem!reader - Author

- Say My Name, As If It’s Drowning In The Tide: Jayce x fem!reader - Author

- Come Quietly: König x fem!reader - Author

- A Step Into Hell: Joel Miller x fem!reader - Author

- Unsweetened Lemonade: Ghost x reader - Author

- Trainer König: König x fem!reader - Author

Hope the authors don’t mind being on here!! If you do just lmk and I’ll remove your work from this list!

@slamminslamminmcgill @mypoisonedvine @joelsgoldrush @taintandviolent @gutsby @void-my-warranty @joelscruff @le-fruit-de-la-passion @littlcdarlin @aurorawritestoescape @girl-lostconnection @anghimalaaynasapuso

[amorphousbl0b]

Arcane does a fun thing with its narrative Darkest Hour.

Or: yet another post about how insanely smart this show is and how absolutely genius its writers are (and how jealous of them I am).

For the uninitiated, the Darkest Hour is the moment just before the climax in which the heroes are at their lowest point. When the Avengers are scattered and Loki opens the portal in NYC, when the Falcon has escaped the Death Star but lost Obi-Wan, when the Fire Nation is set to annihilate the Earth Kingdom, when Frodo fails to destroy the Ring at the Crack of Doom. The heroes must confront their flaws and change for the better for a happy ending.

Arcane’s darkest hour is, of course, in Act 3. One might place it at the very end of episode 9, and that’s certainly where the story is at its most hopeless. But I’d contend it starts as early as the end of episode 8 and carries on through the entirety of episode 9.

After all, that’s when Caitlyn and Vi have separated, lost all hope, and Cait is kidnapped by Jinx. Jinx’s mind is fully gone and throughout the episode everything falls apart around her. Silco is losing control of his chembarons and may well have lost his daughter, the thing most precious to him, and is only barely keeping his powerful façade in line. Zaun has realized how ridiculously outmatched they are in a war with Piltover and the revolutionary cause has become almost impossible. Viktor has manslaughtered his assistant and may never be cured. Jayce has manslaughtered a child and finally realizes how quickly he’s losing his morals. Mel and her mother are fully separating and she is struggling with her warlike destiny. Sevika gets the absolute snot beat out of her and limps to an empty office without a boss.

So yeah. Lot of personal Darkest Hours going on.

“But what’s the interesting thing?” I hear you ask in my ear. I don’t know why I hear you. Shut up. I’m writing. Are you even real?

Excuse me.

Arcane’s interesting twist on the Darkest Hour lies in part of the trope that I didn’t mention. That’s in the villain.

Most stories with a clear-cut villain have a plot structure something like this:

Whether things are going well for one side is inversely proportional to the other. During the Darkest Hour, when the hero is at their weakest, the villain is at their most dominant.

Wait… isn’t Silco the villain of Arcane? Not to be too blunt, but he’s having a shit time. Things are falling apart for him just as badly as for everyone else.

That's the trick. Caitlyn and Vi are suffering. Jinx is suffering. Silco is suffering. Jayce is suffering. Viktor is suffering. Zaun as a whole is suffering. There is only one party in the whole story that isn't suffering, that actually is benefitting from this horrid state of affairs...

EKKO AND HEIMERDINGER

Kidding. They're not really a part of this dance. A big part of Arcane's theming is that acting to help people without an agenda is simply more virtuous than fighting for any invariably-flawed nation that innately perpetuates the cycle of violence.

No, the side that is doing fine is the other that is conspicuously absent from my two prior lists. While the characters that make up its leadership are experiencing personal Darkest Hours, the organization itself is essentially on top of the world, having just scored a huge victory and getting set to bring the war to an end before it even begins. I mentioned how poor the situation for the Undercity looks, but not its counterpart.

Piltover.

Wasn't it so that Piltover started this whole mess? Didn't their oppression cause the revolt that orphaned Vi and Powder's parents? Isn't it their actions that drive Silco to ever greater extremes? Isn't it their normalized political backstabbing that causes Jayce to sacrifice his principles because that's the only way to get ahead? Isn't it their corrupt police force that lets Silco operate his drug empire with impunity?

Silco might look the part. He might be the most personally evil character, might be the one who causes the most misery for our main protagonists Vi and Powder.

But structurally, the shining city of Piltover, its political machine, and its Enforcers are the actual villains of Arcane.

[artist-issues]

When Simba runs back into danger to help Nala in Act 1

but then in Act 2 he won't go back to the Pridelands to help her

because he used to have a little "self-sacrificial assumption of responsibility" like his father, but then he forgot who he was.

[dreareads13]

Did Rick Riordan KNOW what he was essentially doing when he wrote Percy Jackson!? He essentially brought up a whole new generation of kids with that book that started as a goodnight story to his son!!? LIKE that book series has EVERYTHING. “No Rick you can’t put complex characters in a kids middle school novel” and Rick basically said WATCH ME. I mean!? PJO just gets better with every read???

Oh you any complex characters with sad backstories that they rise above HERE *thrusts Luke and annabeth forward* oh you want a character who is a comic relief but also has so much depth into him HERE *pushes Percy forward* oh you want INCLUSIVITY HERE!! *throws heroes of Olympus and Magnus chase towards you * you want a book with a reverse Gary sue where the main character is essentially useless HERE *have trials of Olympus * you want an amazing series with all of the above HERE *flings Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase*

[abstractef]

1 thing I found funny it's how many simils and comparision there are with Luffy being the sun BEFORE gear 5 and nika, not only in cannon but in fics and art.

Like even before we were all told explicity we agreed that he was the sun and I think that tells something about Oda's writing

[cipher99]

We got a lot of good moments in the final season with these two together, but this one stood out for me perhaps more than anything else. It’s set up as a gag with Boimler getting on the hoverbike facing backwards, initially.

If this were back in season one, Mariner would’ve insisted she drive after seeing this, convinced Boimler wasn’t ready for the responsibility.

But after multiple seasons and various misadventures, she knows despite his quirks that he is a very capable individual when he sets his mind to a task and she can trust him to come through for them. She doesn’t think twice about it.

These two helped each other grow as people, and really that’s the best kind of character development.

[bibliophilesince2003]

Strong Female Characters

Too many times I pick up a new book to read, but I am immediately met with the female protagonist whose personality is "toughness" and/or "meanness." The equivalent is making a "bad boy" character and calling it a personality. Male or female author, anyone could fall victim to this trap.

Skills and tropes are not personality.

Sure, it's easy to mold a character to snap at everyone in an arrogant manner at every dialogue opportunity and call it a day, but the character remains shallow. Especially for your main character, you should have multiple "words" to describe them. This will bring ease to your writing, too.

For example, for one character of mine... I've put down 18 personality traits in her character chart, and I could likely put down more if given enough time.

When I'm met with a "tough" female protagonist, I'm always expecting more details. What sort of people or what kind of environment makes her stiffen, and - this is as equally as important - what sort of people or what kind of environment makes her relaxed? Being "tough" is more about mood than personality, because surroundings could easily change it.

Is she driven or shy? Is she humorous or serious? Is she observant or a free spirit? Is she clumsy or graceful? Is she friendly or cautious?

Notice how I said "or" and separated the two extremes. You cannot have clumsy and graceful... you must pick one side of the spectrum. A person will naturally lean one way or the other.

Some people make the mistake of choosing the other "extreme" to create weaknesses. "She's driven, but she's shy." Being shy is not a weakness... some people are naturally this way, and there are benefits to being shy.

Find weaknesses within the "extreme" you've chosen.

For example, if one is driven... the weakness is impulsiveness. She may get in trouble, or trouble will find her. Being over-zealous is fine... in doses. Let your character make those mistakes to better represent their personality.

If you're struggling, observe the people in your life. Personality will shine through how a person acts, treats others, talks, etc.

Here's what I do... write down multiple personality traits, decide how extroverted/introverted he/she is, and settle on a single word that wraps up his/her whole character, or most of it, to help refer to something simple during the writing process.

And no, that "single word" better not be a skill or trope.

I want complicated female protagonists again, ones that are more than just mood swings or their environment.

[reality-detective]

Written by - Lori Borgman in 1998 👇

"Obituary for Common Sense"

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved friend: Common Sense. He lived a long life but died from a broken heart (technically: cardiac arrest). No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He selflessly devoted his life to service in homes, schools, businesses — and yes, even in the government — helping folks have rewarding lives, and getting jobs done while minimizing fanfare and foolishness.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valued lessons as to know when to come in from the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, that life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple and sound financial policies: Don't spend more than you earn, Waste not want not, A penny saved is a penny earned, and so forth.

Mr. Sense was a tireless advocate for what used to be (in the old days) sage advice, like: Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, Two wrongs don’t make a right, and Actions speak louder than words.

He was also big on promoting effective parenting strategies like: the adults are in charge (not the kids), and the three R’s (Responsibility, Respect, and Resourcefulness) are the most important lessons to be taught children.

In his day Little League actually had tryouts, and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! Some students weren't as smart as others, so they received poor grades. Horrors! And the idea of a parent bailing him out if he broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Common Sense survived such cultural and educational trends as body piercing, new math and instant messaging. For decades, petty rules, silly laws and frivolous lawsuits held little impact on him. But his health started to decline when he became infected with the wide-spread Do anything, just for the sake of doing something virus. And in later years his subsequently compromised immune system proved no match for the ravages of rampant irrational regulations.

For instance, his health rapidly deteriorated when schools implemented and then mindlessly administered numerous zero tolerance policies: a six year old boy was charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teenager was suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student.

It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a female student, but could not inform a parent when the same student was pregnant or wanted an abortion. And to make sure that they were part of the problem, parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

Common Sense started losing the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than their victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional sports.

Common Sense took a beating when he couldn’t defend himself from a burglar in his own home, as the burglar could have sued him for assault.

Then there was a woman who couldn’t grasp the concept that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, and was awarded a huge settlement for her own careless small spill on her lap. And smokers who indulged in three packs a day for 40 years, surprisingly got lung cancer, and then sued the tobacco company. Hearing these and similar other sad stories caused Common Sense severe distress.

As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of consciousness, but was inadvisably kept informed of new irrational energy related regulations, like Renewable Portfolio Standards. When he was subsequently informed that “environmental” organizations like the Sierra Club were behind this profound pillaging of the environment Common Sense died of sudden cardiac arrest.

Mr. Sense was preceded in death by his parents: Truth and Trust, his wife: Discretion, his daughter: Responsibility; and his two sons: Diligence and Reason.

He is survived by three stepbrothers: Whatsinit Forme, Iknow Myrights, and Ima Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he had departed. It wasn’t covered by the media, no doubt due to their guilt about their complacency in bringing about his demise.

If you still remember "Common Sense," please pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

If memory serves me correctly this was written right about the time I noticed "Logical Thinking" beginning to disappear. And Löök Where We Are Today¿ 🤔

[gramarobin]

[swan2swan]

Yeah, Brooklynn always does great on her own. Absolutely devours it every time.