#I know there's been some new writers on the scene regarding this too that I've been meaning to check out! just haven't gotten around to it

[zephyrusswinds]

A bit of a very rambly, MK-analysis supplement to this original, absolutely delightful post;

This entire episode is has an entirely new layer of messed up added to it when you realize that Macaque emphasizes that MK is a "good kid".

I believe the line is, "[...] You're a good kid, and super nice. [...]" And in a situation where someone is getting groomed or manipulated, making them feel good or in this situation, validating them is one of the biggest indicators of grooming. Your original point of MK getting isolated feels so, so much worse when Macaque is literally giving him the validation that Wukong (at this point) didn't give him.

Before this moment, MK wasn't properly validated. My memory is a bit off so excuse me if this is wrong, however, I don't recall any moment within MK's relationships where somebody directly complimented his skills or how "nice" he is. But Macaque does.

And it makes MK feel good. It makes him want to try harder and push himself to the max.

Wukong was quite dismissive of teaching MK before this episode. Despite how much MK idolized him. Macaque stood in as that idol that MK could look up to and not have to question himself. And so, when MK is in that position where he can both worship an idol and not have to constantly struggle with his own self worth- he becomes a different type of nice.

Not nice in the way he treats Mei or his other friends. MK is not necessary simpatico with Macaque, he's just very, very obsequious. Well, early on, that is.

The further and further Macaque isolated him, the more questioning of himself he is. It turns an earlier point of mine on its ass, but that's the thing. The way Macaque treats MK entirely changes; he starts off isolating him and telling him that he can do better if he lets Macaque train him. And then, unexpectedly, he's good enough! He can fight the demon, all thanks to Macaque!

But then, all that validation goes away. And there's no more of it to chase. There's just... a deep and primal need to be better.

Side note, Macaque is incredibly handsy with MK- which is a common tactic by groomers to build repor with a victim. But also, Wukong doesn't do that to him, I mean, not before this episode. Interperate that how you wish.

Macaque's physical contact with MK grows from these very gentle but obviously sinister moments where he puts his hand on his shoulder or holds him close. To becoming very rough and violent pushes or the like.

MK also doesn't even mention it either, I suspect he's been groomed into becoming numb to it. But regardless;

Our beloved manipulative, conniving dictator of a monkey falls into manipulative and grooming behaviors SO MANY TIMES it has begun to stress me out.

There are many scenes wherein Macaque continues to call MK a "good kid", knowing exactly what it reminds him of or isolates him.

The best example of this is that one scene in season 3 where some of the gang gets trapped into the shadow van and Macaque gets MK alone. This scene gets me to my core because he's doing it again.

MK offers up another chance for redemption. When Macaque is literally to kill him. Once more, this is another example of Macaque's effects on him. MK becomes nice when Macaque is aggressive, because he has grown used to the way Macaque treats him.

MK is unreasonably kind = Being groomed by Macaque.

Macaque nose dives directly into his emotionally abusive behaviors when he's alone with MK, because MK still has that idolization of him, because MK still wants validation, because of him.

You've made some of the most beautiful points I've scene in regards to their relationship. Barring the later writers way of writing their relationship, I would have loved to see a more nuanced bond for these too.

An abuser with terrible coping mechanisms, and his recovering victim.

But unfortunately, LMK is a show for young children. I don't expect such heavy themes to ever be accurately represented no matter how much we holler.

There is so much potential here for a long, complicated, and compelling healing arc between these too. Macaque is deeply traumatized and wants to be in power, so, so fiercely. But trauma doesn't excuse his behaviors. MK's hurt is deeply intertwined with Macaque and their brief mentorship. There could've been some recognition of MK's pain and a potential reflection from Macaque.

But it never happened.

There is an LMK rewrite project (potentially written by yours truly, but who knows) that hopefully is going to tackle the issues with the relationships in this show.

For now, I verily hope that this state of grooming isn't justified or romanticized by members of the fandom.

Anyways, I'll state again that you are a beautifully compelling analyzer and have given me much to work with in regards to this more iffy relationship in this show. I haven't seen many people who view their bond in a similar fashion, so I sincerely thank you for shedding light on the matter and appreciate how little you held back on explaining Macaque's exact dangerous behaviors (that even I looked over)!

Macaque Episode Analysis ramble

So I was talking with a friend about the possible psychological and therapeutic take aways from each episode of Lego Monkie Kid, since I love Psychology as a whole, and came to a conclusion. Macaque's episode has a fuck ton of things to analyze. Such as - Not every role model you meet will be a good person Trust your teachers Don't push yourself too hard otherwise you'll get hurt, manipulated and possibly die (let's be real, Macaque would've killed MK if Wukong didn't step in) And, grooming They will all be covered as I explain the episode in depth. When MK first meets Macaque he thought he was Wukong but even after Macaque declines, MK still had stars in his eyes of pure admiration. He clearly looks up to Macaque since he was just as cool if not cooler than Monkey King. Within the very next second Macaque started the process of grooming, after a tiny test to see how strong MK's admiration was. "[...] I thought uh Monkey King was training you. [...] but you can never have too many teachers, I'm sure Monkey King would agree. [...]"

Then Macaque starts to train MK. This shows the duality of Wukong's more MK's current strength and capabilities training versus Macaque's more destructive and dehumanizing training. With Wukong's "Patience and focus, step into the strike", clashing with Macaque's far more brash "You don't use a weapon, you ARE the weapon." This is effective at isolating MK from Wukong and his teachings because MK feels like he is actually powerful now.

As Wukong says, MK's body isn't strong enough to handle the power. This applies to real life too. If someone tries to weight lift something too heavy for their skills, they could get seriously hurt. This is the just magical equivalent of weight lifting. But because of Macaque's influence, MK fights back and isolates himself from Wukong, his trust worthy mentor. This leads Macaque to his final part of his plan, lure MK into a trap with his full hearted trust in him.

Then Macaque finishes his plan by stealing MK's powers. Let's be honest, with how things were going and by our impression of Macaque in this episode, Macaque would have likely killed MK if it weren't for Wukong. OR left MK to die with the staff pressing him against the moutain. What can we gather from this? Well, first and foremost, MK's admiration made him an easy target for manipulation, and what resulted was MK nearly dying from the ordeal. Check for "not ever role model will be a good person", since Wukong is ALSO a role model, but a good one because he doesn't literally groom MK. (More on that in a minute.) Wukong was right and MK does what he taught him then admits his wrongs by the end and opens up on why, which Wukong responds with "Hey, your heart is in the right place, kid. We can work on the rest." MK learned to trust Wukong when he was teaching him something because ultimately that's what saved his life. I'm not saying trust EVERY authority figure, but one that is teaching you something that you trust and know will not hurt you. Get yourself a Wukong for your MK. Macaque's training has lasting impact on MK, making him feel like he needs to give himself up for others. Before this episode, MK never had the need to sacrifice himself or really seemingly blamed himself for anything. Macaque's dehumanizing training left MK with lasting damage to his mental health and also led to MK not being able to pick up the staff, granted that was after Macaque gut-punched the power out of him.

Ouch...

So, I hear you ask, "Ok, you made your point about various things, here but what about grooming? That's a bold word." Yes, it IS a bold word, especially considering the fandom space being primarily for children. However, I will clarify that grooming does not only apply to sexual circumstances.

This is from the official Canada public safety about child grooming. Notice the none sexual tactics.

"Make promises of a better life" - Promises to make MK stronger/a better fighter/hero

"Cause divsion saying "your parents are too strict" or "your parents don't understand you"." - Macaque says "Other people are going to tell you to be patient. They are slowing you down." to directly conflict with Wukong's training, further dividing MK and Wukong.

"May threaten or pressure your child to do what they ask, which could lead to sextortion." - Might not be explicit but it is implied MK had some minor doubts by the end of the training and was literally pushed into battle. Also he threw MK into the weapons rack on their first session, showing that MK was "weak" and prompted him to take up his implicit challenge, his trick. It's unclear if Macaque ever threatened MK while training, but I doubt it and he just pressured him and manipulated his drive and determination.

One that people might argue is "Approach your child online by pretending to be someone they're not - may falsely identify themselves as a person from school, or someone their age, to build a connection." but I believe it applies. - Macaque comes in creating a show with his own kaiju form, either to make himself popular or to attract MK or Wukong. Regardless, he seemed uncomfortable at first but once he prompts up "But you can never have too many teachers", that's when he starts creating a false identity, a trustworthy teacher who knows better than Wukong. That's also neglecting the fact Macaque pretended to not be that smoke demon.

If that's not "pretending to be someone they're not", then I'm not sure what is. Also for specifically adult grooming,

More signs I feel apply are;

"The person becomes withdrawn, or they may seem troubled by something but unwilling to talk about it. Alternatively their emotions might become volatile." - When Wukong points out MK has been running around other mentors, MK sounds calm and cold, like he was withdrawn. Then when Wukong presses on, MK yells at him and doesn't talk about exactly what was bothering him other than "You just don't like that there's someone who actually teaching me what I need to know."

"You notice them using or wearing something new, that you didn't buy [or teach] for them." - I added teach because Wukong points out he never taught MK how to break a wall like that, and was concerned and upset that MK learned that too quickly. Within that same scene, after MK yells at him, that's when Wukong notices the new symbol on MK's jacket and frowns. That's when he knows MK is being groomed, and by who.

"Groomers often aim to isolate their targets from their family or friends." - Well, we never see Mei, Pigsy, Tang, or Sandy in this episode, after the first meeting and they act like MK was gone for a month or more (could easily be a week lol). On top of that, Macaque was causing a divide between MK and Wukong. MK was very clearly pretty isolated already, and so Macaque just had to remove MK for MK's full reliance.

"The person might be spending more time on the phone, or online, than usual. But they won’t say what sites they’re visiting, or who they’re talking to." - This speaks for itself, but it's likely MK was training more and more with Macaque than being around his own friends, especially considering by previous point.

This video goes into great detail on how it happens, why the victim is manipulated easily, and what it does to someone. Granted this video is about a long-time grooming, but I believe the point and the awareness stands. If Macaque had been grooming MK for about a year or more, I feel MK would be closer to these signs than he is in the cannon LMK. Anyways! I hope you had fun with my analysis, and let me know if you'd like more! I love to just ramble about the psychology of certain characters or the takeaways of LMK episodes! I'd love to do Wukong, Macaque as a whole (not just the episode), MK, Xiangliu/Nine mayhaps?? Or even the Focus episode or something else- I have a minor analysis on the focus episode already in my head lol

[adelrambles]

I am so sorry I promise I’ll stop spamming you about Bishop now (maybe.)

Do you think Bishop could ever be in a healthy relationship? What would the dynamic be like with evil Bishop versus Fast Forward Bishop?

And no I don’t mean Stockshop. 😭

Oh no worries at all I'm enjoying your questions!! Please feel free to spam to your heart's desire. Sorry it took so long to get around to this one, I have admittedly not put much thought into Bishop in romantic scenarios, so I had to think on it a bit!

So, could Bishop ever be in a healthy relationship? Short answer NO. NOT AT ALL LOL

Slightly longer answer, there is some potential depending on how you like to interpret Fast Forward!Bishop. I think it's impossible for Present-day Bishop to be in any sort of healthy romance (and I'll go into way more detail than neccessary about that below 👍) but if you take FF's presentation of the character at face value, there's certainly a possibility.

So long answer, Bishop is one of the single most self-centered, unexamined people to walk the damn earth. There are a lot of factors that go into why he would be just, the absolute worst in a relationship, but the biggest issue is he doesn't give a shit about anybody but himself. If we throw everything else out and consider a hypothetical where he enters a relationship for the relationship's sake, he is not capable or willing to see things from a partner's perspective. In any disagreement he will be unwilling to consider he could be wrong, and will go to great lengths to ensure the other person concedes or backs down. He is a paranoid control freak who would not stand for anything less than being agreed with and obeyed, and he is perfectly willing to break someone down to achieve that. And in a scenario where, indeed, his interest is actually in the other person, we know he has a terrible possessive streak. As long as his interest holds, there is no out for the hypothetical partner. He is going to be emotionally and mentally abusive at best.

Moving more to the particulars of what he'd want a relationship for, it's worth pointing out that Bishop is very single-minded and relentless in his ultimate goal. I find it very difficult to consider a scenario where any single person would be considered worthwhile enough to distract him from that. We've seen him willing to sacrifice personal friends in-canon for the sake of his experiments, (if you ascribe to the theory that J. Finn was mutated on purpose to some degree,) so his work is ALWAYS going to come first. But that's the nicer option, because there is always the possibility that he would consider a relationship if it benefitted his greater goal (OR fed his ego tbh.) In which case, he's only in it for what he can get out of the other person, and the second they've outlived their usefulness to him, well-- I guess it depends on how much sensitive information they know, by that point.

But, okay! Let's consider President Bishop. He's certainly less likely to lure in a partner just to use them and then dispose of them, so he has that going for him. With him, there is a lot of room for how you want to interpret his "change of heart." You could take it at as presented in the show, or read more into his actions based on what we know about his past. Personally, I prefer the latter, but I'll examine both for the sake of thoroughness, and also for funsies.

So let's assume Bishop is being genuine in how he acts, first. In this case, I think there's a decent chance he could learn to be a good partner, though I don't think he'd start out that way and I doubt it'd come naturally to him loL. His job requires a lot of time and attention from him, and he is always going to prioritize it; he is, after all, "a bigger picture kind of guy." Kindness does not come naturally to him, so in times of stress he may default to meaner actions. However, he is also pretty effective in learning and adapting, so with good communication he probably won't make the same mistakes too often. In this scenario I think time constraint really is the biggest obstacle, given his job.

Now, assuming his Good Guy act is just a mask for politics? He's still pretty damn toxic. Bishop's tactics have changed, but his personality remains pretty similar. I'm not sure his pleasant demeanor goes that deep, once you get into more than small talk. It's a necessity for his job, but he still appears to be cold and utilitarian underneath it. He still thinks he's right about everything, and based on the insidious ways he phrases his own backstory to always shift blame away from himself, (even throwing Stockman under the bus, STILL, just to look better in comparison,) he's gotten a LOT better at making it feel like he is always in the right. What you've got is a Bishop who can lie, persuade and charm better, who also still doesn't care about much beyond protecting his territory and using the people around him. This presents us with a partner who, unlike 2000s-era Bishop, is far FAR more subtle with his abuse. And again, heaven forbid he actually genuinely has an interest in his hypothetical partner, because now he has galactic-wide surveillance and public sway on top of the immortality, and they're never getting away.

I hope that answers to satisfaction! Honestly while it's not my cup of tea it is really interesting to examine this facet of his character, so thank you for the question!!

[windvexer]

hi there! I wanted to say two things. :-)

One! I loved your post about daily cleansing to stay in practice with energy work. I've struggled for a long time to consciously focus on my practice at set times during the day for a variety of reasons, whether it be me being busy, ADHD and whatnot. Since reading it I've cleansed five random things throughout the day each day and I can say so far after a week it does show a difference in helping with my confidence (main sturggle) and also my visualization and focus. So I just wanted to say thank you for that simple and creative post, it's been really helpful for me.

Two! The other thing is. I didn't know you were writing a book! That's really awesome. I am also working on one (fiction fridge "horror" about self acceptance) and though not directly tied to my spirituality it's cool to see other spiritualist writers around. I always struggle with starting the book. I feel like once I get past the introduction and get into rising action, that's when my writing really picks up. Intros SUCK. Do you have any personal quips about how you manage the starts of your books? Motivation wise as well?

Thanks for your patience with the long ask 😅 feel free to ignore if it's too much. I hope you have a nice day.

Horribly sorry this took me a month to get to. As you can see, I clearly have no advice regarding motivation.

I'm super happy that post about practicing sorcery was helpful to you!

I write commercial pulp fiction, which is focused on just telling a ripping fun story - yet also formulaic. In that vein:

Action scene: The POV character attempts to solve a problem in order to achieve a defined goal. There is always a scene antagonist who directly tries to stop the POV character from carrying out their plan. When the scene ends, things will never go completely to plan. The scene ends when the POV character fails in some way, forcing them to retreat and re-evaluate their plans and goals. An action scene always increases tension and pacing. The only exposition allowed in action scenes is there to give context for what is happening right there on the page. Exposition in the form of flashbacks, infodumps, and extended internal monologues is not allowed.

The first time everything goes completely according to plan, the book ends.

Reaction scene: The POV character processes what has happened to them, and has a chance to change. The POV character develops a new plan of action. There is always a scene antagonist who directly challenges the new plan. When the new plan has been finalized, the reaction scene ends. Reaction scenes always resolve some tension/conflict and decrease pacing. Exposition is appropriate in reaction scenes to provide greater context for past events, and to establish upcoming events.

Your opening scene must always be an action scene, never a reaction scene.

Reaction opening:

[exposition] The small town baker wakes up and gets out of bed. She looks in the mirror and thinks about how nice it is that she's a baker who inherited a house from her grandpa, but it's also stressful that her best friend always dates bad guys.

[antagonist] Her friend texts her and asks to go on a double date with the newest bad guy.

[plan] But instead, maybe she should finally get around to baking the rare pokeberry pie who's recipe is so hard to perfect.

Action opening:

[conflict] The small town baker is at a farmer's market. There is a basket of pokeberries, enough to make one pie. There is also a pokeberry bush for sale, but it's sad and wilted. If she can bring it back to life, she could have infinite pokeberries. She only has enough money for one.

[antagonist] The best friend encourages her to give up on her pokeberry dream, saying that the POV character's strawberry pie is county-famous, and that pokeberries are poisonous, and that nobody should ever make a pokeberry pie.

[action/failure] The baker decides to buy the basket of pokeberries, but her biggest competitor buys them first.

[conclusion] She is forced to buy the wilted pokeberry bush.

Between these two openings, I feel like the action one is a lot more interesting to read and write.

Prior advice for writing novels used to recommend your introduction last maybe 20% of the book before you get to rising action. Now, it is common for books to functionally begin with rising action.

As a thought exercise, find a project where you feel like things are starting to get good in the rising action. Cut out everything before the story starts to get good. The chances are that you cut out a lot of exposition and reaction scenes; but by necessity, those reaction scenes are processing things that never happened on page, so they're less engaging.

Start placing stated, on-page goals for your POV characters. Try placing them in the first paragraph of a scene, ideally within the first 1-2 sentences.

If there is any quick trick to zap lightning into a scene, it's giving your POV character a defined goal to work towards. Then, just make sure there is always a scene antagonist, and things will take off.

(Remember, in the example above, the scene antagonist isn't a villain - her best friend is giving her really good advice, but the friend is trying to stop her plan. That is what makes the friend an antagonist)

Your hero is wandering the grimy streets of neo-tokyo, hunting for vampires, but as a worldbuilding thing you want him to walk around so we can see the streets. It's important because we need to start drumming in these specific locations as part of important plot elements later on.

The only problem is, he's just a guy walking around. Give him a goal, immediately. You don't have to say things crudely so there is no mystery; "Jacobo was walking around, looking for vampires."

You can orient your goals around character POV, leaving a little mystery: "Jacobo was walking around, looking for a ramen place well stocked with pork blood."

Once you have defined a goal, worldbuilding and characterization both become more organic:

Jacobo was walking around, looking for vampires. Their dens were easy to find; they always hung out at restaurants, so they could store animal blood in the walk-in freezers.

versus,

Jacobo was walking around, looking for a ramen place well-stocked with blood. He turned the corner and saw a sign for a little cafe that advertised pork blood buns, but that wouldn't do. He was really craving some tonkatsu.

By giving your POV characters specific goals in each scene unique to their immediate interests, you are developing the character. This lets introductory scenes be immediately engaging, because you're immediately developing a character and putting them in situations.

This also creates immediate stakes, because stated scene goals allow you to challenge characters, and facing those challenges is what creates conflict, drama, and tension.

tl;dr:

Start books with action scenes

Start all scenes by telling the reader what the POV character's goal is

Make those goals unique to the character's immediate point of view

Include a scene antagonist in every scene

[willymontana]

[REVIEW FOR DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, SPOILER ALERT FOR THE CAMEOS BUT NOT THE PLOT]

Okay, I wanna start this out by saying that I am NEITHER a professional movie critic NOR a huge movie geek NOR a comic book geek. I'm just someone with some thoughts about a movie I enjoyed recently and wish to share. My opinion doesn't reflect the general consensus and y'all can agree or disagree all you want, just be nice about it, please🥲

I've anticipated this movie for a long time as a casual Deadpool fan. When Disney acquired the rights to the character, I, like many, was worried that Mr. Bob was gonna try to family-friendly-ify Deadpool. There was also the fact that the quality of many Marvel projects since Endgame has gone downhill, which made me stop keeping up with them for a while. But Ryan Reynolds is passionate about Deadpool, he said it himself (I believe), and I quite enjoyed the first 2 movies despite not having seen them in a while. So I, with a couple of friends, walked into the cinema last Monday with a pretty high expectation. And oh boy did I come out feeling so goddamn high.

First of all, the CHARACTERS. The man of the hour, Deadpool, still has all of his charms. The jokes, narration, fourth-wall breaking, violence, dirty-ass innuendos, etc. are all very much still present. His growth from the previous movies carried on in this showing. Of course, he's still your good ol' merc with a mouth but now rather than acting out for selfish reasons, he always puts his found family and friends first, even if it means stop being Deadpool or losing them and never seeing them again (this growth might have been present already in Deadpool 2 but hey, like I've said, it's been a while). Another thing I'm utmost joyful about his characteristic this time around is that Deadpool is finally fruitier🤭. For those who don't know, Deadpool is canonically pansexual (don't believe me, look up the Deadpool/spiderman 2016 comic run, the girlies in dying of a new otp; you'll thank me later). And seeing such a big part of his character unapologetically being represented on a big screen is truly fulfilling. Ryan really pulled off one heck of a performance here and it really shows his passion and dedication for the character.

Next up is Wolverine. I've got to be honest with y'all: I wasn't a big Wolverine or X-men fan, not for any particular reason besides many fans and critics alike weren't too fond of the live-action movies. So I've passed out on the X-men franchise, even the highly-regarded Logan from 2017. This movie is actually my first introduction to Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and I must say, he REALLY did the damn thing. The gestures, his accent, the aggressiveness, they told me exactly who this character is. And I really was just blown away by Hugh's performance. I've only seen him through The Greatest Showman and some interviews, he seems like a pretty nice guy. So, to see him pull off the whole aggressive act and do it so well and flawlessly, I was speechless. I also love the redemption arc the writers gave to 'The Worst Wolverine'; it might not have been as epic as Logan from what I've heard, but it was solid.

The plot, what is there to say about it except EVERYTHING. Ryan Reynolds really gets the audience and also pop culture in general. I understand and hollered at most of the jokes and references. The soundtrack is absolutely FIRE. We have the mesmerizing BYE BYE BYE by NSYNC dance sequence at the beginning, the suit-up scene with GLAMOROUS by Fergie in the background, a road-trip montage with I'M WITH YOU by Avril Lavigne playing on the radio. Heck, there's also a lovey-dovey-stabby-bloody scene featuring YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT from Grease for all the goldies out there. As a US-UK pop music enthusiast, I was like a kid in a candy store. And also, how can I forget about the EPIC battle near the end that used LIKE A PRAYER by Madonna?😩 All I have to say is 'fantastic, glorious, EXTRAORDINARY'. Ryan went through one hell of a journey just to get the license to the song and he sure did make the most out of it. I'm not kidding when I say that that montage is probably one of the best I've ever seen (I might be a little biased 'cause I love that song but the scene, overall, is truly incredible). And while we're on the topic of action and montages here, everything was beautifully filmed. The fighting sequences were such a treat to watch, nothing ever felt too busy to the point of not being able to focus on anything. Also, Ryan and the Mouse did not spare any expenses when it came to cameos. My gosh, like I've mentioned above, I was in the dark when it came to everything mutants-related, but even I was able to recognize a few familiar faces that fans online would go crazy over. And in addition, when Blake Lively came out as Ladypool, I literally lost my shit. She looked so good, her body was SNATCHED, like HELLO MOTHER???💅 But all these amazing cameos and jokes brought out what I considered the downside to the movie. I felt that the plot was outshined by them. To be clear, the plot was not bad but it wasn't that spectacular either. And when the credit started rolling, it was the thing I remembered the least.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I had a great time at the cinema and laughed out loud with friends. Sure, there might be a few flaws, but the product, in general, is truly outstanding and worth checking out. I, your casual movie enjoyer, rate this movie 9/10❤️

[ninjaturtlecosmo]

So yesterday the season 2 finale/Christmas special for Helluva Boss came out on YouTube, and since everyone is talking about it, I just have a few things I wanted to share about my thoughts, namely how some people are calling out how the IMP crew were hypocrites for not killing the gay couple we saw in the episode, but were ready to kill Martha and her husband in the very first episode.

Nothing justifies cheating at all, but when people keep talking about how the man IMP was supposed to kill cheated on his wife, this is something I noticed that others either didn't notice or they chose to ignore, that being how happy the man and his partner were..... Not just them, but their 2 daughters as well. Both little girls in that scene were clearly very happy celebrating Christmas with their dad and new stepdad, so whatever happened between their dad and their mom (the woman who wanted IMP to kill her husband), and based on how the woman acted and how bigoted she clearly was in that episode, I have a theory she was probably really abusive as a mother, and whatever happened that led to her husband meeting the man he cheated on her with, maybe his new partner was a chance for him to escape his wife and get his daughters out of such a toxic household.

And regarding people comparing the family in the Sinsmas episode, and Martha and her family all the way back in episode 1? Well..... Keep in mind we're comparing the very first episode of the show, versus the season 2 finale. Why did IMP choose not to kill the family in the Sinsmas episode? Who knows, maybe as time passes and more stuff happens to them they're slowly learning to develop a sort of moral compass when it comes to who they go after or not, especially as we see the show develop a more serious tone. It's called character development, guys. Even murderous IMPs and Hellhounds like these guys can have it. Fictional characters are capable of changing too if the writing calls for it.

Look, I get it, we all want more of a glimpse into Stella's backstory and hers and Stolas' relationship, but a lot of the posts I've been seeing claiming that the writers were just trying to use that plotline with the woman and her cheating husband as a way to justify Stolas and Blitz' situation all have just seemed really shallow to me, especially since we don't know the full story about those two particular characters.

[jess-the-vampire]

I loved the finale but kinda wished hunter got to stomp belos too then sobs from happiness knowing it’s finally over or belos stuck in the between realm forever or reliving his worse nightmare as a fate worse than death

Honestly the finale felt so odd to me because we felt like were were getting setups that just were not given resolution in the finale.

And these are setups post cut, so these are things the writers had to have planned while knowing their time, which makes it more odd to me.

like at that point the focus should be to only set up things you are going to touch on and that come back into play, not add things you don't.

I personally don't think hunter needed to watch belos die, but when the show gave him new powers last episode i kinda expected them to like....come back in the finale?

like hunter's dash has no role in the finale at all, it was useful for the one scene he got regarding willow and gus and figuring out flapjack is with him and everything.....but it's one episode before the finale and it is completely forgotten after the fact outside of a couple dashes in the archive that are relatively minor.

and he ends up getting a new palsiman anyway so it just feels....off to me. I mean i was expecting him to get a new palisman but it now almost makes his dash a bit more irrelevant to even have.

kinda like how they kill glyphs, but we get glyphs at the end anyway so why the loss at all if it's not really going to stick?

honestly, let's ignore the fact the way belos died really should not have killed him for a second, Eda, Raine, and King are the characters with some of the least interactions with belos at all in the show.

Like his rule had affects on these characters and their loved ones and he did try to have eda killed, but when you think of belos' victims.....these three tend not to not be the first 3 you think of.

i kinda think the death would of been a little better if none of them jumped in and the rain just did it.

There was some minor set up for camilia or the other kids to help finish him off so i almost think it would've been more fitting if they were the ones to do it if we HAD to have that.

i dunno man, i've heard all the arguments for why belos's death works, and a lot of it seems to be rooted in the fact that "Belos is not complicated, he's evil, he doesn't need a big death and yada yada"

but it's like, it's not that belos isn't complicated, it's that the show seemed too afraid of making him complicated. I mentioned this in my last belos post but there's lots of evidence to suggest he's a more 3d character, because of how his story ties into the stories of other characters, because he symbolically represents what people who grow up in these oppressive systems can turn into. There's a lot of real potential for belos to stand out as a villian that comes from sympathetic origins but can't be forgiven or redeemed.

Which is a good lesson for kids, that people can come from bad spots but that doesn't mean you can forgive their actions.

Something that would be far more revolutionary and interesting and tie into the themes of this show much better.....then implying his depth, not committing to it and making him generic, and everyone praising this as if generic big bads who get killed aren't extremely common in most shows.

Su was a rare exception of redeeming a big bad, not the norm, and everyone seems to be under the weird vast impression it's the other way around. Unless you're a lacky, you die as a villain in pretty much every show.

But instead that gets replaced with "Well he did it cause he's inherently a bad person", even tho the show directly told us the audience that he was in indoctrinated child when it came to witch hunting, that this wasn't something he got into because he wanted to but because he NEEDED to survive in the town.

The show has plenty of set up and evidence that he does have something deeper to him but backed out of it for one reason or another.

And remember here, they were cut at ER, so they added this whole caleb backstory AFTER the cut, so even if were were to say they wanted belos to be deeper and changed their mind.....they added all the bits that implied depth AFTER the cut.

like frankly, in retrospect, if you want belos to just be an ozai metaphor esq character and not have any depth to his villainy at all, caleb should of been entirely cut.

Do something different with hunter, because having this half finished thing with caleb that is not relevant to belos's end at all feels like baiting the audience with complexity they never get.

You could of easily just reduced philip's backstory as just being this witch hunter who went missing years ago and that would be more fitting of making belos one note as they want him to be during the finale.

having all this drama with his brother leaving him for a witch and philip acting out in response feels strange to even implement if it's not even going to be touched on that much.

the show draws so much attention to it too, which makes it extra odd.

'They wanted to tell a story in the bg for the audience to figure out", ok, so that implied they want us to care about belos's origin....right??? So why not pay that off and reward those you got invested?

Having a little story to figure out is neat but not when its the basis for the plot and not when it's existence is gonna be boiled down to "Well none of this is relevant to why he became evil. He was just like that".

like having his backstory told like this could of been great, but the show ends saying belos is not complex and that none of this matters to why he's evil despite caleb clearly being important in why belos hates witches to begin with.

i might be less bothered if i knew the crew wanted to showcase the brother's story someday but they don't even seem to be high on the list of toh spinoff ideas.

it all feels like teasing a really compelling story that tied into the themes and then dropping it last minute. And now people are rewarding that because apparently now making villains just evil is revolutionary despite the fact this has been done to hell and back since the dawn of time.

Belos went from potentially being one of the most standout modern day antagonists, to being just like everyone else, and i'm not sure why everyone thinks that's supposed to be a good thing when we had the potential to look back at toh and reward them for diving into what can make people into a belos and the cautionary tale behind it.

and now instead of being memorable in that category for doing something interesting, he's just gonna be looped in with every other generic modern day big bad who represents this specific kind of evil.

If belos is not going to actually be allowed to be complex, don't bait the audience into thinking he is.

[quackle]

so glad you pointed out the "sidekick dilemma" because it's always bothered me lol. that's one issue i have with ripaxel- it made me like ripper a lot more but axel still kinda feels like an empty character to me? there just isn't a lot to say about her except she's dating ripper 😭 same mk and raj being too glued to their own partners as well, as much as I like mkulia/rajbow/raj and wayne. i wish we could see them revolve less around the other half of their main duo, especially when said other half has more to their character allowing them to stand on their own so they DON'T just come across as "this person's love interest/bestie."

yes precisely this!! for someone who went from being out 15th to 10th place... we don't have a lot about axel. which, okay, not every character can get as much writing as others (this is a cast of 16 characters, after all; it'd be hard to give em all substance), but axel's character is very bare in comparison to others. it's why i wish she got some more individual time to shine.

i've always been slightly disappointed when one person of a pair just receives more on the writing end in general, and this season really caught my eye in that regard. mk's situation... very wild to me. who was mk without julia? i know their new budding friendship is important (their bond is one of my fav details of this season, if my ao3 isn't enough evidence of that lol), but i just wish we got some more individual play from mk. she is much more than a sidekick to julia. she's crafty! tech-savvy! viscous in her own right! the bear did not take away those abilities like cmon!

and raj. MAN. won't lie: this one strikes me the most. i was so certain that bowie's elimination scene was thee scene for raj, the one that shows that he's in it to win fairly, make his boyfriend proud, be the protagonist he was destined to be... but i fear the writing didn't really pay him as much attention as i thought it would once bowie was eliminated. it's why i wish he would have held a slight grudge against players like julia and mk, even if he is a silly, forgiving goober at heart. would have made more tension, more motive. but alas.

and the main thing is that the other parts of these pairs—ripper, julia, and bowie—have enough going from them in both seasons. but their partners/besties? well, not as much. it's why i think interactions outside of their norm is a needed thing. otherwise, how can they possibly grow? to learn a character, truly learn them, we have to see them in situations that both comfort and discomfort them. i really hope if there is a season three, the writers take that into consideration

[hayatheauthor]

Update Regarding My Sudden Hiatus + Author/Publishing News

Guess who's back from the dead!

Jokes aside, I truly do feel terrible for going on hiatus without saying anything, and then I come back and see that I've hit 2k (which btw is absolutely amazing and left me shell-shocked) and that just made me feel worse for leaving unannounced. So, here's everything that's been going on:

(click read more if you want to learn about my experience at my first writer's workshop & pitching to an agent ++ publishing updates for The Traitor's Throne)

If you DON'T want to read more: long story short I'm back and will revamp this blog Monday onwards.

Would you look at that I'm finally getting the hang of Tumblr etiquette!

Anyways, I know if I took the liberty of casually explaining everything we would just be here all day and I would ramble endlessly SO, I'm going to summarise everything into a list:

One of the biggest reasons for my departure was because *insert drum roll* I graduated! That's right, your girl is officially a diploma holder and ready to conquer college! Although I've seen the 'finals week or my final week' meme enough times to start questioning what I signed up for.

My writing life has been a little...disappointing. There's no other way to break it to you folks, but when I started this blog, I was knee-deep in the query trenches, and now, I'm still there. Does that suck? Yes. Am I going to give up? Absolutely not! BUT I do have some changes planned:

I've officially decided if this final shot at traditional publishing doesn't do well, I'm going to give in and self-publish The Traitor's Throne in May-June 2024. Which means you might potentially be able to purchase my baby pretty soon!

BUT I decided to give querying one last shot and actually joined a writer's workshop (which is going on as we speak btw). I joined the online Boston Writing Workshop, I'll drop a review on that on Sunday, but so far I've actually learned A LOT from it, and have decided to give querying another go while implementing what I've learned. Dw I'll also be putting out a review about the workshop on Sunday.

So, here's a summary: I've created a self-publishing deadline for my current project while also giving traditional publishing a final shot. I also joined my first ever writer's workshop this weekend and will be pitching to agents for the first time.

Overall, I think my lack of success in the querying scene kind of made me feel like a fraud when giving writing advice. I'm the type of author who does A LOT of research when I write, which is why I have so many tips on so many topics, but that doesn't make me an expert.

This workshop especially made me realise I've been making some rookie mistakes and focused so much on my story that I forgot the query and synopsis are just as important. Maybe this realisation came too late and I've lost my chance of traditionally publishing The Traitor's Throne, but I am grateful for everything it's taught me.

ANYWAYS—see what I meant by we'd be here the whole day if I didn't use a list??

Let's get back to the important stuff; yes, I will start putting out blogs again, and answering my asks. I'm also thinking of launching a beta reader project where I'll beta read some of your works for free! Stay tuned to see that announcement since it'll come soon.

Thank you so much for supporting this silly little blog of mine, and I hope you have a good weekend! As always, I'll see you on Monday! 💕✨

[andromeda4004]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @carry-the-sky, thank you!

How many works do you have on ao3?

7 (8 by the weekend!)

What's your total ao3 word count?

276,499

What fandoms do you write for?

Exclusively Good Omens at this point, not that I don't enjoy others. But the more I give myself permission to write for fandoms, the less likely I am to ever get around to finishing off my own OCs' story.

Top five fics by kudos:

Morningstar Abbey (Regency AU, T rated, 116K)

Mission: Ineffable (spy action AU, M rated, 25K)

Vaster than Empires (non-angsty S3, E rated, 5K)

The Serpent of the Loch (historical crack, T rated, 8K)

Antoinette (1920s wives AU, T rated, 118K)

Do you respond to comments?

As much as possible, although it does sometimes take me a while. I prefer to do them at my laptop than on my phone (typing is quicker) so sometimes I catch them up in a batch.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That would be The Truth I cannot Speak, a post-1827 Edinburgh diary entry from Aziraphale where he reflects on all the things he cannot tell Crowley, and might not ever get the chance to now. That one has poetry!

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I do tend towards the happy ending for preference, but I guess Morningstar Abbey would be happiest, since it ends drinking wine in the garden the day after the wedding 💕

Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet, I haven't.

Do you write smut?

I do now! Vaster than Empires was the first E rated fic I've shared, and I have a new one coming out this weekend for the High Pollen Count sex pollen event.

Craziest crossover:

Mission: Impossible, probably! Although that's not a crossover, it's a human AU. I haven't written a classic crossover yet, and I don't know that I will, it's not quite my style.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of, and I've only been doing this just over a year, so seems unlikely.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet, but one lives in hope!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I would love to! I do like beta reading and providing some collaborative suggestions when people are looking for them, so I suspect I'd enjoy formally co-writing something with an author I clicked with.

All time favorite ship?

It's got to be the Ineffable Husbands/Wives/Partners. The ship that keeps on giving!

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I try to focus as much as possible when writing, to avoid having too many half-done works at once, so I don't have any WIPs which are languishing at the moment. Except for my original work, but that will get finished, just quite slowly!

What are your writing strengths?

Plots and dialogue. I like to tell a story, a whole thing, with lots of developed characters and psychology and subplots, which leads me to the weakness...

What are your writing weaknesses?

Stopping! All my fics end up longer than I was hoping because I can't stop writing them! And on the smaller scale, simple things like working out where to stop a scene, I just can't do it! Rather, I can because I've worked at it, but it has been effort to get better at this.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Love it. I'm fluently bilingual, and have basic functional language skills in two or three more (or I do with a bit of warm-up!), but verbal is not the same as written, so I do try to get a native speaker to beta anything more than a word or two.

First fandom you wrote in?

In the beginning... the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

Yep, first fandom I remember writing things for was H2G2, back in the 90s when everything was on paper. Although I have been in fanclubs since Discworld as a teenager and further back I think Redwall as a kid?

Favorite fic you've written?

No, don't make me pick! They're all lovely! Although probably Mission: Ineffable, because I'm currently enjoying revisiting that AU to work on a sequel.

tagging! (no pressure!): @afrenchwriter @sabotage-on-mercury @suavissimapenna @hotcrosspigeon @homemadeapplecider @voluptatiscausa and anyone else who sees this and wants to play :)

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi I'm thinking about BBC Sherlock again, after all the great queer rep we're getting. And I want to scream in your inbox about it if that's alright.

And you'll have to excuse me because it's been years since I last read the discourse.

I just feel like, and call me a conspiracy theorist, that it was a bit of the show runners not wanting johnlock, and a bit of the BBC just not wanting queer rep in their big show.

Like the BBC has notoriously not been okay with LGBTQ topics (specifically on their news side, the recent trans lesbian article and the thing of their staff, I think specifically reporters, not being able to go to pride parades), it just screams some higher up going "nonononono we can't have a gay in our hit show!!"

Idk maybe I'm just a very-tired-of-the-bbc queer, on Terf island LOL but I just feel like the BBC has more to do with why we didn't get johnlock then people have brought up.

Like of course the show runners had to do with it, (I can't remember their exact reasoning but I know it was dumb), but in my gut and tin foil hat, I know it was some homophobic higher up too.

Anyway, sorry, this got long lol. I hope that made sense

Hey Nonny!

All good, and an interesting topic that we're always trying to work out, even all these years later. I lean on the "it was both Mofftiss and the BBC" side of it all... I've my own tinfoil theories about all THAT but it's mostly gossip and hearsay, so my opinion's kinda moot.

With regards to the BBC theory, though, I will say that, if I recall correctly, there was a big changeover in upper management between TAB and S4, AND the production time between TAB and S4 was about a year, with rewrite happening HOURS before filming, so like... eeeeeeeeee, Mofftiss isn't innocent in all this either. There was a lot of behind the scenes shit going down that I'm sure we're never going to know about until some NDAs expire, PLUS a huge breakup was happening that I think influenced a LOT of the decisions made. BUT that's my vagueblogging gossip I will leave at that.

And Mofftiss were really high on their own farts after the success of TAB, believed they didn't need a third writer because of it, and *waves vaguely* we got that.

Anyway. *shrugs*

[buddiebeginz]

When I go back and forth over what may or may not be happening in next week's ep I keep coming back to this 👇

Not to mention them putting Buck and Eddie together in practically every scene they've been in thus far in season 7. Them using Ryan and Oliver for 98% of the promo stuff and interviews. Plus allowing them to actually talk about Buddie repeatedly.

Putting a Buddie centric story in the 100th ep and naming it after a love song.

Having Buck be out right jealous over Eddie spending time with another guy.

Having some kind of make up scene with the two of them in Buck's kitchen with romantic mood lighting and Eddie touching Buck's waist.

Having two people who worked on significant Buddie eps work on the 100th ep: Chad Lowe who also directed 3x03 ("there's no one I trust with my son more") and Andrew Meyers one of the the same writers who did 4x13 (the shooting) he also wrote on 5x06 (when Buddie were kidnapped) and 5x02 (which gave us a lot of Buddie scenes especially their heart to heart about Ana) and 5x13 (with Eddie's breakdown)

This all has to mean something right?

I know we all overthink and overanalyze everything because we really want Buddie to happen but I can't see how this isn't leading to canon Buddie eventually. It just feels like it would be a really stupid move on the part of abc knowing how beloved Buddie is (and Ryan and Oliver have made it clear in multiple interviews everyone knows how big the fanbase is) for them to tease us this much only for it to be something where they just reconfirm their friendship and no forward momentum not even with Buck's sexuality or anything. Like why waste a 100th ep (something most shows will never see now) on something like that if that's all this ep is?

Plus if abc wants the show to go on for a good few more seasons and I believe they do (else they wouldn't have put money into the show and canceled their other first responder show) they're going to have to shake things up a little. Most people under a certain age aren't even watching regular tv now so if abc wants to pull in new viewers they're going to have to give them a reason to tune it. I know Buddie could do that. Honestly I think so many people will lose their shit (in the best way) if Buddie becomes canon. Like we love them and want to see it happen but I've seen lots of people talk about them who don't even watch. Even just this season there have been multiple Buddie centric articles from major sites especially some that are more geared towards lgbtq news.

Given everything that's gone on around and since season 7 has started it does feel like abc is more on board with the idea of Buddie than Fox probably was. And like I said I do think they're aware of how dedicated our fanbase is but they also obviously have to keep their general audience in mind when making decisions too. This is part of why I think they're moving Buddie forward in steps.

This gives Buddie's story a chance to play out slowly and organically with the added bonus of drawing out the drama in a will they/won't they kind of thing. It also allows the ga to get used to the changes and allows abc and Tim etc to see how people are responding as things move forward. I think what happens with Buddie in season 8 is somewhat dependent on how people respond to the changes they're making now. Which is why I'm hoping people don't flip out next week if they don't see exactly what they want in that episode. We have to be patient and see where the rest of the season is going. I also think the more we can give abc positive interactions on their social media regarding Buddie the better.

[castlebyersafterdark]

i've been writing more of my cabin fic where mike and will are finally coming together. and it made me realise just how difficult they are to write! theyre so harmonious that its really hard to find the adversarial conflict in their dynamic unless theyre specifically fighting, and you always need a bit of adversarial stuff to make a scene move along. not fighting but just... each character on their own 'script', their own train of thought and motivation.

i can vaguely see why some writers resort to making will super sassy or poking fun at mike - somehow mike is easier to do this to, because for mike to do this to will feels too cruel. but will does have his little edge, so i think some writers find themselves pushing that too far. it can be fun, but it's not will - to me anyway.

but writing will is hard! you always say he's easier, but finding who he really is beneath it all, outside of the supernatural stuff, is hard! because while all that informs him, it doesnt inform who he is on regular days, or who he was before it happened. i remember being really surprised to see s3 will when i first watched it - seeing him in summer clothes and just hanging out with his friends was so alien. but of course, will is more than his trauma.

and so i think that to find the balance where he and mike aren't fighting but arent finishing each other's sentences either (they cant do those things ALL the time) is tricky. theirs is such a tender friendship. i'm having such a new appreciation for the writers and how much effort they've put into the complexity of byler's storyline.

Firstly, so excited for your stories 😁😁

And oh yeah, they can be quite troublesome, certainly certainly. Because you don't want them to sound the same - a problem found in a lot of modern fiction I find, and certainly fanfiction. The need to make sure that each character has their own voice and thought processes and personality through the written word and it's trying to connect trains of thought and mental synapses and word choice and expression and how they react to lines of dialogue in conversation.

Some say that writing fanfiction is easier because these characters already exist and you are drawing from an established place - I disagree. In some regards. Because in original writing, that's all you! It's at least something of which you can create and make up personality traits and mental processes and emotions as you please, as long as your writing supports it and you can justify things to make sense in your narrative. The puzzle already exists for fanfic and "borrowed" characters, but some of the pieces are missing and the picture on the box might not be the correct image.

So... resorting to cliche comes in, sounding like a copy of a copy of a copy because you read a lot of other fic (why I have to only read fic in sporadic breaks now as to separate my creativity and existing fic. I don't want to absorb writing style too much which I find I can do when I'm beta reading or binging too much fic). Stereotypes (and not the true, realistic depictions) but fandom stereotypes.

I think it is a pretty easy crutch in conversation to make them hmmm bicker too much or resort to sarcasm. These can be easier to write because yeah, it adds some tension or conflict, however small. But it doesn't always apply. I've read some stories and I just feel... well, why do Mike and Will even like each other in this fic 'verse? What is this? And not for lack of writing skill. It's tough!! You gotta depict BOTH these guys who are long time childhood best friends and also romantically involved, or almost romantically involved, or thinking they cannot be romantically involved.

I still find Mike much more difficult to write and different characters click for different writers!! Hard to parse why. Understand all you mentioned about him, and I don't know. He just takes over so as much as I adore Mike, and as much as he's the leader - Mike rarely leads my way. The capital letter Writers get it, we're let spinning and pacing in the sandbox a whooooole lot.

[eemamminy-art]

1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 9 for the fic writer asks!

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

At this point, I think I prefer multi-chapter! In oneshots it's like, 2k - 5k words or so, and that's it so you gotta make it count. I found I would be agonizing over word choice and flow and how technically good the writing itself was more than just trying to tell a compelling story. In a multi-chapter fic, it's far too long to worry about every little paragraph or sentence, so I can see the big picture and focus on other things :3 Not to say I don't care about phrasing in multi-chapter too, but I think I'm more likely to seek out repeated themes and motifs than just seeking to make punchy lines. Like for example, in my stardew long fic, I have a repeated mention of movie cliches and tropes when Alex is agonizing over how to express his feelings, to show that he isn't personally all that experienced in relationships and looks to outside sources to model the behavior. And also to tie it off nicely with a particular scene that's related to that same theme (yet to be posted, I don't wanna spoil it! You'll see very soon, like in a few weeks from now)

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

For oneshots, I write as I go. In my multi-chapter fic, I have an outline of the entire story-- all 68 chapters of it!! My friend who is an excellent writer and I hold in really high regard with this stuff showed me how he does his outlines which is as an excel spreadsheet?? 👀 Totally rocked my world, so I've been able to easily visualize and plan out everything I want to put into my story! And I can also include data like word count or planned posting schedule dates, and I have separate tabs in the spreadsheet to keep track of things like ages and birthdays too!

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

I get a lot of my ideas when I'm waking up/falling asleep or doing something that doesn't require much thought. Some aspects of drawing don't really take up brain space for me so at times I'll be rendering or something and an idea just hits me out of nowhere! But it's usually when I'm waking up or half asleep still that I get the most of my ideas!

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

I don't, mostly because I'm a perfectionist but also because a lot of good stuff happens when I'm editing. Often times I will add literally hundreds of extra words even on a third or fourth pass of editing, and I just feel like it wouldn't work out as nicely if it was a beta reading it over and maybe giving me feedback.

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

Middle! I'm honestly so bad with endings. I have a ton of oneshots sitting half-finished in my google drive that are just like. Total banger ideas that maybe even I worked out a beginning for, but I have NO clue how to wrap it up. I think this is obvious in how I open and close chapters in my long fic too, there's a lot of cold opens and then ending on like, idk, some dialog or something haha

As it is I've been already working on the ending to my long fic, because I know it's gonna take a lot of work to iron it out to be just what I envision it to be, so the finale is on I think the third draft currently and still a long way off from being done. But I'm being prepared so I don't hit a snag in a few months down the line when I get to it!!

9. Do you comment on stories you read?

Always!! I read very infrequently because I have difficulty reading, so whenever I do read something, I always make sure to leave a comment! I like to compliment and encourage others! I try to always leave a nice comment in the tags when reblogging art as well, it just feels good to me :3

Get to know your fic writer! Ask meme

[jeejascoffee]

Hello there ! I’m a really big fan of your writing , and I’m in a slump at the moment so I’d like to ask ; do you have any tips for writing lengthier fics ? I’ve been trying recently , but it always seems to get to a point where it begins to drag on and sound sort of monotonous . . .

Thank you !

Hey there! Thanks so much for reading! Really glad you like the fics ^__^

Sorry to hear you're in a slump :( That can be so frustrating. I find that the Writing Juice comes and goes on its own sometimes. It has to do with a lot of things, life stuff too. Sometimes the best thing to do is read content that you love, that gets you excited about writing, and wait for the Juice to come back when it's ready. That can happen! As for lengthier fics, sure yeah I hear your struggle. I tend to feel like my stuff is super overwritten actually haha. So, making it concise is something I focus on a lot. A few things that help me:

Plotting. I don't know what your writing setup looks like, but for me it helps to put placeholder docs for each important plot beat of the story. Like major things that happen, how the characters go from point to point to point. Scrivener is a word processing app that helps me do this, I make a folder for each chapter and within those folders there are small text docs for each plot beat/scene. You don't need to use anything fancy though, I'm sure you could do the same on google docs. Folders for chapters, then a new doc for each scene. You might need to rearrange the docs according to what makes sense regarding the order, so if you can have your entire story laid out before you start writing it really does help. This way you know where you're going! What needs to happen in each scene.

To that end, I don't know if you're familiar with screenwriting at all, but I try to approach the scenes (especially in a long, fuck-y-type fic) like writing scenes from a movie. Rule 101 of screenwriting is: All the scenes should serve the larger purpose of moving the story forward. As a writer it's easy to get lost in the "flavor" of the story, but that stuff gets extraneous for the reader. Short character studies are one thing. For longer fics, you need plot movement! That's what keeps readers engaged and stops the story from stagnating. So, as you're writing, ask yourself: Does this scene advance the story? Do readers need to know this in order to understand something that comes later? If not, get rid of it! That may feel awkward at first, but try it. Get rid of any scenes that aren't essential and see how the fic reads. Most of the time you'll find the story flows a bit better.

Show not tell. This is an obvious one, I know everyone is always saying this, and it's true. As fic writers, especially working with characters that already exist and that we love so much, we can fall into the trap of writing long paragraphs explaining what's going on with the characters. Especially internal dialogue. I've found that internal dialogue is actually not as necessary as it feels when you're sitting there at the word processor lol. Show what your characters are thinking and feeling through the way they interact with the events of the story. Facial expressions, or if it's necessary to write a feeling or thought, use some nature imagery to make it more visceral/exciting (not too much! That can be a fine line too). Chapters that are all about characters reacting to previous events are generally not needed. Have them do something that shows how they're working through it. Because that's life, right? We rarely ever get a moment alone with our thoughts. We're always in motion, processing on our feet. Plus, going back to #2, you want your scenes to be forward-minded rather the recursive looks on things that have already happened. The motion should be forward not backward, if that makes sense.

Try to use active voice as opposed to passive voice as much as possible. It feels like a small thing, but it's actually a big help in terms of making your writing flow. More on that here

Now, as I say all this, I realize I've probably broken all these pieces of advice a million times in my fics hahaha! And yes, writing rules are guidelines, not a "one size fits all" type of thing. There are situations where you need to put in a recursive type scene or use passive voice in a sentence for some reason. That happens! Don't stress yourself too much. Which leads me to...

5. HAVE FUN!!! Never forget, this is fic writing. We're not getting paid, we're not going on the NYT most-read list or anything. We're doing this because we love it! If you're having fun, keeping the passion alive, then you're doing great. Write that self-indulgent idfic. Fuck it! Enjoy! If you love what you write, that passion will translate to your readers. For sure. If at any point you're getting frustrated and not having fun, take a break. Not worth it. Also, tortured writing also translates to readers. It's counterproductive. Give yourself grace and tons of credit!! We're doing all this without professional editors. That's not nothing!!!

Good luck with everything, friend. Like I said before, slumps come and go. Give it time and I'm sure you'll be throwing these characters into the sack in no time ;)

Take care! Have a great one.

[berriiberrii]

I got finished reading Columbo: The Hoffa Connection the other day, so I thought I'd do a book review. I've never done a book review like this before, so bear with me. Also, for my followers, I know this is very different from what I usually post (namely, Sonamy art 💙🩷😏), but Columbo is also one of my hyperfixations, so bear with me 🤭😊✨️

Columbo: The Hoffa Connection puts the titular detective in the middle of the murder of a global sensation, who died under mysterious circumstances. The more the lieutenant digs, he realizes the star's murder may have roots in her home country of Italy. This is the third of four books in a Columbo series written by William Harrington.

While this book is part of a series, each one stands on its own and doesn't require any knowledge of the previous titles, or of the TV series, for that matter. With that said, this book, and the other books in the series, were published in the 90s, during the "New Columbo's" run. So expect to find a more racy, mature flavor similar to the later Columbo seasons.

For context, I have not seen any episodes of season 8 onward. I've seen several clips, but I've never sat down and watched an entire episode from start to finish. From what I have seen, there are some regular/semi-regular characters that appear in the new seasons that were not present in the old.

From what I can tell, either these characters are replaced in the book, or they are the same ones, possibly under different names. Like I mentioned, though, I haven't really seen the newer Columbo, so take that with several pinches of salt. Either way, since this book is based off the 80s - 2000s series, don't expect to find any characters from the original show in this book, other than Columbo and Mrs. C (and Dog!).

Incidentally, for this reason, Columbo has to be my favorite character here. If for nothing else than recognizability. Because honestly, no one else you encounter in the book is very enjoyable.

*Most of the other characters in this book are raucous, racy criminals. And it's hard to tell them apart from the ones who aren't all bad; Harrington's writing falls flat here. Every character has nearly the same dialogue patterns; the only distinguishing factors are their physical discriptions, which Harrington uses to his advantage in order to insert erotic, sensual references to bodies of both genders.

While Harrington's characters might not have been noteworthy, his pacing is fantastic. He manages to keep you turning those pages, searching for answers. The story unfolds slowly but surely, just tantalizing enough to encourage you to read to the end, and believe me, the conclusion is one of the most satisfying I've read.

If I have to pick my favorite part of this book, though, it's honestly a scene in the middle where Columbo decides to do some maintenance on his car. I won't give too many details so I won't spoil it for those who plan on reading The Hoffa Connection, but it was the most in-character depiction of Columbo in the whole book. (Not to say he was completely out of character the rest of the time.)

While I haven't been very generous in regards to Harrington's writing thus far, I have to admit that I really enjoyed a particular scene involving a character hiding in another character's vehicle. I was on the edge of my seat, dying to know what would happen. And the events following it are just as suspenseful.

But now that I've given him some praise, I'm going to deliver (mostly) more criticism to Harrington: he's not a particularly humorous writer. Nor is he dramatic. In fact, nothing really stands out to me about him other than the fact that he seems to have several fetishes that he somehow finds a way to shoehorn in onto every other page.

Aside from this, sometimes his Columbo just felt a little flat. Sure, there were plenty of quotes from the show; he said, "One more thing," or an equivalent, several times. But he just didn't have the same warmth as his television counterpart.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book for older readers only. There are several references to sex, drugs, and alcohol; racy scenes are described with detail; and every swear/cuss word in existence is used at least once.

If you're a die-hard Columbo fan, and the above doesn't bother you, you might enjoy this read. If you're more picky (like me!), I suggest you stay away. And, y'know, please be at least in the ballpark of 18 years old before you get an eye-full of explicit imagery.

To wrap up this review, I give Columbo: The Hoffa Connection a 2 1/2 out of 5 stars. The mystery aspect was handled better than anything else, but that's not enough to ever make me want to read this book again. Too many innuendos get in the way of an otherwise okay-ish tale of investigatory prowess by our beloved detective.

*Christie Monroe did stick out to me as a determined, confident person, and I admire that. But she felt very sexualized.

[cyandreamsinwords]

i’m ded. just spent two days reading from start to finish. I’m gonna bill you for all the tears I shed. Free Lyra my girl she deserves happiness 😭. You’ve taken this premise and just spun a whole new life in it. I’m in awe at just how well you’ve written everything. Given us a whole new glimpse at this universe and i’m just sat waiting. Ngl my butt is clenched for the upcoming book. Everything so far has gone canon but do you have plans for it to stick to it or will Lyra make potentially live saving waves 👀.

also the slow burn is delicious and so good i was kicking my feet and giggling at the scene of them just dancing in the shrieking shack, it was such a sweet moment. Part of me just wants to flip to the epilogue where they’re all happy but i know the slow burn will be so worth it. I do wonder how Harry will go about it, I didn’t realize because he’s so awkward but he’s actually quite forward, at least when he decides on something, as we’ve seen with Cho and Ginny 🙈🙈🙈. Lyra strikes me as the shy one.

Also Marie is me, she’s my spirit animal.

thank you so much for dedicating the time to write, fanfic is such a labour of love and i just want to say i deeply appreciate you (and your memes lol)

I'm so happy to hear you've enjoyed the story so far and that you took the time to tell me so. Fanfiction really is a labor of love, at first just for yourself, so hearing that others take joy in my work and see how much goes into it is so rewarding. It really means the world to fic writers when we get comments like this ❤️ And I'm lucky that I've gotten such lovely people reading mine who say such nice things.

As for your question regarding how much the story is going to deviate from cannon, I don't want to spoil anything (I know all eyes are on the end of Order of the Phoenix), but I'll go into why it's been so cannon compliant up to this point -- not really what you asked for, but I love to take a chance to ramble 😉.

Something I didn't want to do with Lyra was introduce her to fix all the problems in the books. In some cases, I want her to make them worse, because that's naturally going to happen when you add in a new factor, and it opens things up to more interesting scenarios. I also didn't want to attach her to Harry's story from the get-go, outside of their underlying connection, because I wanted this to be primarily Lyra's story and her take on things. So, a lot of events happen as they did in the books because there isn't a lot of interference. It's why she barely interacts with Harry for the few two arcs, and they are more her account of those events from a distance. As we go forward though and she does start becoming more directly intwined with the story's plot through her proximity to Harry, big to small things may or may not change--for better or worse.

The dancing scenes were some of my favorites to plot and write in the last arc, and I've loved the positive reaction to them. I worried they were a bit too self-indulgent, but they were such sweet little treat after all that angst and yelling they were doing, and a fun way for them to get to know each other better. I love awkward and blunt Harry, but I also love oblivious Harry just as much, especially when he's all three at once. It's really going to be a race between the two to see which one of them figures it out first. A second race will be held to determine who makes the first move.