#I googled it for a fic when I was trying to see what grades they'd be in in relation to each other

[imagitory]

i used to be an absolutely MASSIVE harry potter fan and the only reason i don't still love it like i used to is because of jk rowling being so insanely bigoted, but like... i remember for years the fandom treated charlie weasley as aro/ace rep, because even though she never directly confirmed it JKR did say that he wasn't gay but was "more interested in dragons than women", and a lot of people took that as basically the closest thing to confirmation that they'd ever get. this was so long ago that i remember aroace charlie headcanons being the way that i learned was asexuality even was as a kid! i just googled and found an article from 2015 that someone wrote about how charlie was incredibly important to them as an ace person and how heartbreaking it'd be to them if JKR eventually decided to confirm that he got married or something! ...and now she's out here saying gross things about ace people. 🙄 leave it to her to find new ways to disappoint every possible part of her (former) fanbase.

*nods sadly* I'll be perfectly honest -- Harry Potter was my comfort fandom for a really long time. I read the books over and over in grade school as an escape from my problems. The series really got me thinking critically about writing and storytelling for the first time, and reading all of the books one at a time chapter by chapter with my mum really helped us cement our bond through the toughest time of my life. Even now, I can still remember minute details of the Potterverse without trying: I'm the person my friends go to when they have a question about the books/movies or need an answer in Harry Potter trivia. I was the definition of a superfan. Even with all of the criticism the books have received over the years, including the very justifiable kind, I still have always stood by the idea that the HP fandom by and large was built out of people who Jo wasn't writing for (such as members of the LGBT+ community) and who better internalized her books' messages of tolerance, diversity, and love than she ever did. The books themselves inspired a lot of people just like me, and so although I haven't spent a cent on anything Harry-Potter-related in years, I've tried to enjoy what I used to love so much about the series with like-minded fans while also actively condemning She Who Must Not Named at every opportunity. I even made a whole blog for my OC's in the Harry Potter universe that I poured my soul into for several years, many of whom are LGBT+. And I have always silently thanked whatever entity of hope and resilience smiled on me whenever I receive another comment for that stupidly long Gordon Ramsay/Harry Potter fic I wrote all those years ago that actually has managed to touch others. I will always be grateful for that, and to all of the people who've read and supported Lack of Lamb Sauce, no matter how much time goes by or how much of a spiteful river troll Rowling deteriorates into.

Recently, though, even that's been really hard for me. I will still talk about the series with other fans when prompted and I'll still enjoy it with the kids I see at work who wear Potter merch completely naive to its creator's BS...but on Tumblr, I almost never seek out Harry Potter stuff to reblog anymore. I haven't written as much for my old OC's either, in part because I've been working on my first original novel, but also because the pain is just too real, a lot of the time. The pain knowing that even just enjoying something that was so formative to my identity, personal writing style, and close relationship with my mother has been so poisoned by its creator actively using the money she's made off of her creation to hurt people. Separating art from the artist is possible to a degree, and again, I will probably always have some love in my heart for the Harry Potter series. I frankly think it might be easier to reflect more fairly on the books again when its creator is dead and not forcefully egging on the flames of hatred for anyone she has deemed is a threat to her very narrow definition of womanhood, because I think the active harm JKR is causing might make it harder for some people to appreciate any part of what she created. But a piece of art can be good, clever, or even just emotionally impactful even while the artist is a garbage person.

To Charlie specifically, though, yeah, I'd always interpreted Jo's words as signalling that too! People even now associate ace people with dragons, and I'm honestly not sure if it's a chicken or egg situation where the "ace people like dragons" idea was prompted in part because of Charlie Weasley or if the idea already was around and Charlie's lack of romantic interest just fueled that fire, but either way, it would say a lot about how much the HP community ran with that interpretation. But yeah, considering I'm an ace person who was similarly active in the HP fandom, I can say definitively that I'm not happy. Not really surprised at this stage, given that Jo has practically insulted everyone who isn't a white cisgender straight TERF by this point...but reading her posts did still elicit a rather weary sigh from me.

[bookishjules]

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats 

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh 

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

<3

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats 

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

hmm 🤴🏻🔃⛺🤫💕

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

lena @ann-perkins4 . does she count as a mutual? idk she'd definitely be the first and possibly only call. second .. might actually be nero @potato-jem bc ik they can keep a secret and keep a cool enough head in the situation. also idk.. i feel like they'd have some good instincts. also australia is very far from the us, which has benefits. okay actually i'm adding marissa @dontdoitfrancis bc she can get to me in an hour and also idk her favorite book literally starts with covering up a death so... i'm trusting my scorpio bestie here.

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

have i talked before about the trauma nurse that came to our school in 6th grade (age 11) and the assembly we had where she showed us videos of what could happen if you don't wear your helmet, or if even one person is unbuckled in a car? yeah turns out everyone dies. needless to say the bus ride home was torture. i cried the whole time and then immediately put a helmet on when i got home and refused to take it off the rest of the night. and still to this day i refuse to put my car out of park unless everyone in it is firmly buckled in. and every time an uber driver tries to be efficient and starts driving away before i've even found the seatbelt, my anxiety starts spiking so high. forever thankful that my mom did not make me go to school when the same assembly came around the next year.

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

i made a friend at my new job. i'm going to oregon and seeing my whole family next weekend. bc of my new job i have a free gym membership and i'm finally starting to try and get back in shape <3

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

genuinely i would not remember. i am constantly googling anyway, so nothing really feels weird to me to look up, and i kinda tend to avoid writing anything that would require heavy research tbh 🙈

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh 

just one? look at all those chickens!! (used to refer to literally anything)

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

okay i could tag so many people but i really want to shout out @thephonyqueenofengland who i think has read and commented on more of my fics than probably anyone outside of my close mutuals. every time i see a notif from them i smile, and their sweet comments during my 12 days of christmas thing were so encouraging and really made the whole thing feel like it was worth it. <33 (i've been wanting to say something to you awhile. to thank you. but i didn't know how, so here is an official thank you for being you <3)

writing truth & dare ask game >:)

[mawofthemagnetar]

Hi, is there any advice you could give to beginner writers? Your works really inspired me as a writer for whom English isn't a first language and i wanted to say thank you so much for that, even if it wasn't intentional. I wanted to try writing something a bit more serious than short fanfiction and i figured you'd be the best person to ask about that. Sorry if it's a bit too weird ^^"

Anon, I'm truly and deeply flattered, and thank you so, so much for letting me know this. This isn't weird at all, and don't apologize for asking!

As for your question, uh...

So, the thing is, I've never, ever taken any sort of formal training for writing or English. I did okay in school, but as far as writing goes, I'm entirely self-taught.

The most basic piece of advice I can give is: For the love of god, use your enter key to break up paragraphs and make sure everything is roughly grammatically correct. That's the single biggest thing to keep in mind.

Aside from that, here are the only real pieces of advice I have:

Write for yourself.

And write the specific content you want to read.

I know that's easy to say, but the thing is, it's incredibly easy for fic you think is killer to get ignored, and at the end of the day you need to be your own target audience. If you ONLY write for numbers or comments or reaction, you're going to go insane and want to quit. Now that's not saying that feedback isn't important- it's critical, and it's a huge help. But having a story you really, REALLY want to see to completion is such a powerful motivator, at least for me. It's the only way you'll have enough steam to keep going for longer works. So, when I walked into the Hermitcraft fandom, I looked around, saw that nobody else was giving Keralis the nightmare monster treatment he deserved, and dove in with both feet.

Another thing:

KILL SECRET RULES.

Full send. Every time. Write something and full send it, slap that shit on Ao3. Obviously edit and spellcheck, but don't get bogged down in "is this good enough". No, it's not perfect. Because nothing created by human hands is EVER perfect. If you agonize over every line you'll hate yourself. So when you have something roughed out, give it a day to rest, give it a polish, and then drop it like a lead potato. It's fanfiction. We're not getting paid. It's for fun!

So who cares if the fic is short? Who cares if the fic is weird? Who cares if it's something odd or strange or whatever? Don't give yourself minimums and requirements and regulations. Let the words do what they will.

Both of these things tie into my biggest single tip, which is:

START WRITING AND DON'T GIVE UP.

The thing is, fanfic is a fantastic way to sharpen your skills. There's an old anecdote about two classes of university students in a pottery class, and how one class was graded on number of pots produced and one was graded on a single pot at the end of the semester. The class that cranked out pots like there was no tomorrow had better clay pots at the end of the day, because they'd put in the time to actually practice pottery instead of stressing over theory!

So just...start. Just open a word document (or a google doc if you're not a piratey pirate like me) and just put some words down. The more you write, the easier it gets.

If you don't have an idea for a story, look for some prompts- or just start asking questions. This is sort of how I come up with plots:

Grab a hermit. Grab your favourite hermit. Your protagonist doesn't have to be a nice person, or a good person, or even a hero at all, but if they're a blorbo it really helps.

Let's say it's Zedaph. Now let's put that fucker in a situation. Think of something you're interested in! For me, I have an extreme obsession with aircraft and aircraft disasters and the wilderness. So, okay, let's do a pilot AU. Now I get to dress Zed up in a pilot costume! (Keralis can be his co-pilot!) It's fanfic- you're allowed to spoil yourself! And then, from there, we make decisions about our story- does Zedaph crash his plane? How do they find rescue?

Plotting a story, at least to me, is about putting these bitches in a situation and then asking questions about how things will turn out based on how these characters act.

So, in general, just... go for it. Your first stories WILL suck. Christ knows mine did. You don't have to post them! But you can. And you might be surprised- because as you grow as a writer and a creator, people will look at everything you've made with very different eyes than you have. Even the old stuff you come to cringe at is often loved by someone, somewhere. (This is why you should orphan old works instead of deleting them, trust me!)

But when you go for it, there's another thing you should keep in mind:

Take breaks. Rest. Take time off. It's not a job and it shouldn't feel like it! Go for a walk. Take a month off. Look at the daisies. Spend time with your family. Real-world experience is valuable to a writer, helping you understand sensations and situations. Reading other people's works is invaluable too, helping you get to grips with stories and plots and all the machinery of narrative. So take time to exist, and take time to consume, and take time to rest.

Take time to be.

To sum up, writing is a game of mental leapfrog where you shuffle puzzle pieces around in your head until they click into some kind of shape. The perfect is the enemy of the good and secret rules will make you insane. The actual act of putting words down is something that absolutely gets better with practice. And you're not a machine, so don't treat yourself like one.

And anyone can write.

I'm not some authority on writing. To be frank, I'm kind of clueless. I don't know the technical terms for things, I'm not an English teacher, and I'm not a professional. This is just my general, overly long thoughts on the matter.

I hope this was even slightly helpful. Go for it, dude. I believe in you!

Oh, and one more thing...

Listen to some Pendulum while you write. <3

[chateautae]

I just finished reading the last chapter of MID. 🥺

IF sammy decides to answer/post this, IF FOUND ON DASH BOARD PLEASE SKIP. Unless you already read it too.

First of all, I want to thank your parents for giving you life. Second, the angels for blessing you with HIGH CLASS GRADE A+++ talent in writing and lastly (I think) thank you for sharing MID with us, Sammy. 🥺❤️

I'm a new (?) reader here on tumblr, I just started this year. Begining with twitter aus, Ao3s, wattpads, most of them were fics recommend by my sister. I seriously searched on google, what sites offer fan fics. HAHAHA luckly, tumblr was one of them.

Maybe I do, was the first thing that popped when I searched for a Kim Taehyung fan fic.

Reading the first chapters I was swoon away on how you were delivering the story, their story. The words you use are exquisite!! Like you can deliver it in a more simple way, but you put so much detail and effort on each sentence, and it makes all of your books not just MID, entertaining and fun to read. It really does make me feel I'm Y/N.

You created this world for us your readers. You relieve tour stress writing, meanwhile your writings are out stress relievers. 🥺❤️

Its bittersweet that MID ended. But I'm still genuinely happy that it did. It only means you'll be creating more and growing more as writer. I promise, I'll read anything you'll put out!! 😁✋

You made me actually believe Tae is this BDSM Dom who's a total softie towards his person. You made me believe that its okay to break the status quo like how Y/N did.

You made me believe that being in love really does change one person. That's what the Kim's did.

The finale was written beautifully. Made me kick my blanket with all the fluffiness 🥺❤️ How Taehyung stood up for Y/N, how he expressed his love for her, how he showed all of them that he chose Y/N over his family, cause she was his. 🥺

The angst you inserted, when Y/N had a false positive result. How she pushed Tae away. How she thought Tae would hate her and keeping it all to herself, cause she didn't want to add to Taehyung's stress and because they promised to travel the world before starting a family. How Taehyung took the news being pregnant when they were in New Zealand. I was like will my boyfriend be this soft if this ever happens to us?!?

I loved how you inserted the slice of life struggle on conceiving for couples. I mean, come on, these two are sex machines HAHAHA Seeing them get frustrated and sad everytime they got a negative. It was also funny when each month the impreg kink was getting harder and harder. Can't wait for drabbles you'll be writing jesus!!

When they finally had the answered prayer from the angels 🥲 I-I was screaming and happy crying for them (these two are just fictional characters but they do stuff to me okay!! That's how good of a writer you are!!!)

With the teaser you left from the previous chapter, I kinda got the clue Tae was going to re-prose. BUT I did not expect them to try for a baby!!

Plus, how you added glimpse for the up coming Jungkook and Jimin high-class fic, i see what you did there, Sammy. I seriously can't wait for them!!! How I'll be seeing the Kim's in their stories and how they'd impact the other characters too. Especially on Jungkook's marriage hahaha

The vows, god the vows. I cried girly! Wishing to find a love like theirs. 🥺❤️ I envisioned their wedding compared to their first and how you ended it with Y/N's favorite flowers. ❤️🥺

I still have to read the epilogue until I say see you again to Maybe I do.

You are amazing, Sammy!! Thank you for Maybe I do. Thank you in advance to your other works!!!

Awh loves this review is so so sweet and detailed, tysm for reading mid, joining me on this crazy journey and loving mid the way you do. It makes me so happy to hear your loved my approach towards this chapter and even more so how the story's impacted you, I swear it's such a dream to hear and warms my heart ❤ and yes for sure!! we still have the epilogue but in a way it makes me so so sad to even start it because the epilogue really means the end 😭