#This is all first draft so don't expect it to be all that concise or completely consistent ^^''

[flare-dragon]

Ron's Gone Wrong: An Analysis

I recently rewatched (most of) Ron's Gone Wrong and remembered a few reviews I'd read of it, describing how its message seemed muddied and not very clear...which, ultimately, is true.

But, with that said, there's something I realise about it that it almost gets right (literally, all the way up to its second-last climax is so perfect, and even its ascent to its final climax is still consistent with this realisation). The realisation is that there's one thing it describes really well:

Artificial/Algorithmic "Friendship" vs Organic Relationships

It seems almost simple or obvious that this is the message the movie tried to portray, but the way that it ultimately ended tells me that they either missed the point they were making or someone else forced them to have a different ending (sadly, I think it's the former). I cannot call it a bad movie for missing that point (it's still one my most watched recent movies), but it makes me wonder what it could've been had it brought this point home.

So, without waffling on for too much longer, here's a quick analysis on how it goes about this message, and why it's a good message that doesn't inherently contradict the pervasiveness of social media (even if it also didn't do much about that point)

Barney vs Friendship

The beginning of the movie shows us a "revolutionary invention", designed for making friends: The Bubble Bot (B-Bot for short). From the get-go, we're given a presentation of what the modern friend-making dynamic intends to be: Interact with interests and media, share them online, and the algorithm uses that to help connect with others who shares those interests and enjoyment of media. It's an intentional reflection of modern social media, albeit a somewhat simplified version.

It quickly shifts to a large number of kids connecting to their B-Bots for the first time in a short montage, cut at the end with a hand touching a similarly-coloured door. An assumedly unintentional, but well-placed, contrast and summary of the story. Here we meet Barney.

Without rehashing too much of the beginning of the movie, we learn that everyone else at his school (supposedly?) has a B-Bot and he's the only one without it. Similarly, he doesn't have any friends he talks to during school (or outside of it apart from family). He himself states that he "kinda, actually" needs a B-Bot to make friends these days. One could call this a simple set up to the idea of "You won't make real friends using computers" by starting us off with a B-Bot-less Barney...if it weren't for the fact that he gets one the next day.

This is when we really start to see what I mean by "Barney vs Friendship": His attitude towards what his new B-Bot should be is pretty consistent with how everyone else has been using them: "You are meant to be my friend, and know everything about me." It's hammered in later on during the friendship montage, with Barney making a board on "How to be my friend" (underline by me).

Barney's perception of friendship, then, is revealed as "You are my friend. You are on my side. You like the things I like." A very selfish and self-centred perception. This might seem to set up Barney to be a selfish person...but isn't that how the algorithm is supposed to work? Finding people with the same interesting ("the things I like") and rejecting those who don't share it (which we see at the school, two B-Bots rejecting each other, and thus the two kids, Savannah and Ava, simply walk away from each other). It isn't Barney's fault his understanding of friendship is like this. He's been inundated and surrounded by it.

Barney vs Ron

Up to this point (after the school "riot"), we see Ron as trying so hard to be Barney's friend, to the point of taking Savannah's words to heart and going outside to find people to be friends with Barney (since Ron wants to not be pointless and is connected to Barney). It isn't until now that Ron asks the question: "Barney, are you my friend?"

Barney's response is typical and expected: "What do you mean? My dad bought you for me." After all, Ron is just a robot, right? It does make the idea of the message "Artificial Friendship vs Organic Relationship" difficult to apply since Barney literally doesn't see Ron as a person. He's just a self-moving machine designed to be a friend.

But, interestingly enough, that makes Ron a perfect vehicle for the message. A machine that was intended to just follow the algorithm, instead forced to (and willing to) create their own way through life by whatever limited tools it has access to. Even in the moments Barney sees Ron as just a machine, he's also treated him as an important person in his life.

When they meet up again in Barney's shed, it all finally shifts into what it always should've been: A two-way street. They'd already spent so much time bonding, regardless of the way they'd perceived each other before then (Barney seeing Ron as just a friend machine, Ron seeing Barney as the one person he needed to be a friend to), that the change to actually being a friend to each other and allowing each other's individuality to shine but never be the only priority allows them both to be better friends, differences and all.

To contrast, we also follow in pieces the journeys of Savannah, Rich, Noah, and Ava's own experiences with their functioning-as-intended B-Bots. We see Savannah and Ava miss an opportunity to be friends (and Ava's loneliness from very few B-Bot owners showing an interest in science). We see Noah's constant struggle to be at the top of the leaderboard. We see Rich attention-starved and making as much "content" as he can just to get some. Instead of exploring the possibilities of relationships with people who may not share the same interests, they're steadfast focused on what they're used to, never really getting a chance to evolve it into something more joyful (more on that later)

Barney & Ron vs The World

...a dramatic subtitle, but this is when the two of them run off, away from Bubble's attempt to capture Ron to stem the damage they've seen from him. Barney still doesn't have any friends aside from Ron, and Ron doesn't have any friends aside from Barney. Barney refuses to lose his one and only friend, so they run off, separated from the rest of the world, and just...enjoy each other's company.

In the montage and subsequent scenes, we see more bonding from both of them. Ron is still trying to be a good friend, but Barney gives him a chance to say things for himself and to do things for himself, even if Barney doesn't like it. Even when they argue later from the stress of living outdoors in the woods, they stick together and try to keep warm.

There's not a lot to say about these scenes, except that we see a very stark differences from when they'd first met. It's almost as if this is where we get to see how far they've come as friends. We've seen the relationship grow over time, shifting from seeing each other as a particular purpose into treating each other as individuals. A shift that would've been impossible if Ron simply followed the same algorithm the others did.

Would Barney have found friends if Ron functioned as intended? Would Ron have shown the personality he does if he had ever been connected to the Bubble Network? Would there have ever been a discussion on how to actually make friends? It isn't until later that we find a likely answer to all of these: No. Barney would have fallen into the same trap every other B-Bot user did: A constant hunger for validation that only resulted in disconnection and loneliness.

It al comes to a head when they both find themselves in danger from being caught by Bubble (by remote-controlled B-Bots being controlled without user consent or knowledge. Makes one wonder~). Barney does everything he can to hide and protect Ron (which only succeeds due to Andrew's complete disregard to human life), even risk death from asthma. Ron then does everything he can to ensure Barney doesn't die in the woods, even if it meant being taken away and destroyed.

It's a beautiful relationship, given a chance due to them having to discover who each other were over time and in an organic matter. Ron had to learn Barney's interests manually and even began to observe new things about him over time. Barney shifted the way he looked at Ron to seeing him as his own person, and spent the time to learn his own likes and desires.

Barney vs "Ron's Gone Wrong"

I figure it's also important to include where - in my opinion - the movie loses the message and the storytellers mess up. In the last segment of the movie, we have Ron having been connected to the Bubble Network and losing everything that made him unique, each interaction with Barney being a shallow facsimile of what made Barney become best friends with him (right down to Ron's individuality being erased).

I'm sure there was a way to make this work, but it instead has Barney try to rescue Ron's personality (a backup Marc created somehow) and then, after getting it back, Ron sharing his personality with every other B-Bot (due to seeing how the original algorithm just lead to sad kids disconnected from each other) at the cost of his own life (although that's technically ambiguous, especially with the ending).

I'm...not sure what the intent is, but it misses something big. What made Ron special to Barney was not simply that he existed outside of the mould that every other B-Bot was forced to fit into. It was that Barney got to know him and his eccentricities, and Ron got to grow and evolve alongside Barney. They both grew organically alongside each other, and demonstrated the need for a more natural approach to friendship making compared to the rigidity of the algorithmic connections that occurred through the B-Bots (and not questioning this algorithm or given much chance to examine the issues).

By simply sharing Ron's personality to every other B-Bot, it only really achieves one thing right in relation to the message: It forces each person to operate on their B-Bots level and develop their own connection to their now-chaotic buddy (I suppose not focusing on "online vs offline" as far as friendships go was also a good point for it, as it didn't really feel like a strong enough point for the movie and there's better ways to go about such a message.)

Had there been a greater focus on how it was that Barney's friendship had developed - or at least some kind of portrayal that the updated B-Bots weren't just copies of Ron but had actually become wide and varied individuals for their owners(?) to get to know - the ending might've been able to work better. Ron's sacrifice was a tragedy, but it displayed Ron's sheer selflessness and self-developed kindness and generosity.

If there's one scene that at least supports the message of "Artificial/Algorithmic Friendship vs Organic Relationships", it's the moment Barney sees how unhappy his former-now-again friends as they stare at their B-Bots screens and try to make some semblance of happiness, however shallow it is. Having a contrast of their artificially-built connection compared to Barney and Ron's hard-earnt friendship felt like a good way to help demonstrate the point. I just wish it could've lead to a more satisfying ending.

Barney and Friends

This is just a short little bit, but I wanted to at least point out one other good thing that happens in the last segment and ending. Barney may have started out friendless, but his friendship with Ron and Ron's selfless sacrifice (to get him medical attention) allowed Barney to reconnect with his former friends. It was a moment of realisation for Savannah, Ava, Noah, and Rich: After all this time, they let their friendship decay and be lost.

Seeing them, then, be together and hanging out alongside Barney? It showed another element of an organic relationship: Organic connections. Algorithms can give you other connection points, but it may leave you limited to other perspectives too similar to your own. Organic connections, though, force you to figure out if this thing that you never really thought about before is something you like or not, and if this person's appreciation and interest in it is something you like. It's one of those things that can just grow on its own and become something beautiful.

Just to note: I do not believe online friendships are worse than offline relationships, nor more shallow. Rather, it's algorithmic friendships that fall flat. The power of the internet is that it lets you get in touch with so many people you normally wouldn't have the chance to. Leaving it entirely in the hands of an algorithm (and not thinking critically about it) has you miss out on the beauty of the mish-mash nature of the internet. It's why Tumblr's such a fun place to be~ ^^

Conclusion

So yeah. The thing that always disappointed me most about the movie isn't that it didn't stick the landing. It's that it has such a beautiful message and the story it tells is so heart-warming and charming, but the message isn't carried to the end so you wonder if it was ever intended (I believe it was, but it's hard to say).

Seeing the way Barney and Ron's friendship evolves - and the way they each grow as individuals - contrasted with everyone else using B-Bots as they were originally designed/programmed makes for a pretty compelling portrayal of the differences between a friendship formed and informed by entirely through an algorithm, and a relationship that grew from organic interactions that, even when influenced by expectations from and of each other, created something much more different and complex and much more fulfilling for the two of them.

It's a beautiful friendship, and it's still worth watching to the end~

Bonus

It's more a funny coincidence I noticed, but the way that Andrew kicks Marc out when Ron loses his individuality, and then how Andrew was removed and Marc taking charge again when Ron's personality was distributed to every other B-Bot? Almost feels like its own reference to that message (Algorithmic Friendships may be ubiquitous and everywhere, but ultimately Organic Relationships will last the test of time)

A funny comparison honestly~

[lawsofchaos1]

Promptlet: Malec Early Meeting

Izzy and Jace start clubbing early because Shadowhunters consider themselves adults around fourteen when they begin full mission status at the Institute. So, sixteen year old Alec just sighs and brings his Advanced Clave Law seminar work to Pandemonium and sits in the corner of the bar with a thick legal text and his battered spiral notebook for his rough draft essays. He doesn’t care if Jace and Izzy are taking field assignments, they’re still his little siblings and need a chaperone.

Magnus, obviously, starts hearing gossip from his bemused bartenders about the young nephilim downing club sodas with lime while frantically highlighting a battered copy of the Accords and decides he needs to figure out what's going on. Immediately.

So, Magnus ends up chatting with Alec (who, as it turns out, really likes the Shirley Temple Magnus snaps up for him in what was supposed to be a joke) and starts flipping through Alec's latest homework assignment. Magnus blinks, snaps up another Shirley Temple to keep Alec busy, and carefully reads the essay twice over, pulling out his own notebook (bound leather and fountain pen with a gold nib of course) halfway through. Alec found a loophole, a big loophole, that would exempt Downworlders from being questioned without notification to their faction leader. 

Alec is an absolute disaster of a baby gay whenever Magnus so much as says hello or looks in his general direction, but, once he starts arguing the Law? He is vicious and ruthless and sharply concise. (Although Magnus becomes a little bit of a disaster himself when Alec absentmindedly starts chewing on his cherry stem while debating the finer points of interpreting The Clave vs. HOTI-Beijing, 1823.)

Ragnor comes over all the way from England just to see Magnus utterly lose his cool at this now seventeen year old shadowhunter who is literally drinking Shirley Temples and eating his weight in the extra cherries the bartenders slip him because they adore him too. Also, in terms of relationship dynamics? I think it would be kind of fun to explore Alec having a gigantic crush on Magnus (and Magnus just kind of utterly adoring Alec in turn between his obvious looks and, more importantly, his intelligence and his sharp humor and just .. everything) but also realizing that Alec is seventeen.

Alec is much more open (not that he had a snowball's chance in hell of hiding his Gigantic Crush on the High Warlock from anyone in Pandemonium except his siblings), and wages what amounts to pretty much open warfare to get Magnus to date him. He's insistent that Shadowhunters don't mature as slowly as mundanes (which.. fair) and makes bulleted lists and actions plans for every reason Magnus tries to say he deserves better/Magnus is too old/Alec is too young/etc.

And.. just how the Downworlders slide a stray Shirley Temple across the table for advice? Alec starts bringing little vouchers for a certain amount of advice time (or maybe little cupcakes or chocolate chip cookies that he makes for Jace and Izzy or something?) and slides them furtively across the table.

"Where might one take the High Warlock of Brooklyn out on a date?"

And then somehow two days later Magnus ends up in Central Park responding to a call from one of his warlocks and instead Alec is waiting there with a picnic lunch and a blanket and looking very, very smug.

This teenage Shadowhunter is outsmarting him. What even is this?

Also, Can you imagine the first time an old fling of Magnus' portals in to Pandemonium for the evening, expecting a night of fun, and the moment they ask where Magnus is at the bar, every Downworlder in hearing distance is glaring? Suddenly a good dozen wolves and vampires put aside their decades old fights and start running interference to keep this brazen interloper away from where Alec is holding court ranting about the Clave's shoddy grammar and lack of consistent position on Oxford commas (which, how dare) and how that can be used to interpret their latest ruling in three different ways, depending on what side you want to fight on.

(Magnus is sighing and staring dreamily from across the table.)

One day, Camille starts her usual nastiness and trying to get Magnus to come crawling back and Magnus feels .. nothing for her. The only thing Magnus feels is rage that Camille would try to interfere when he's clearly ... dating someone now.

And Magnus blinks wildly internally because holy shit he's dating Alec. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN MAGNUS DOES NOT KNOW

I do think Magnus would hold off on anything physical until Alec was what Magnus considered of age, so think how fun it would be to explore how the two of them date when their primary love language can't include sex?

Think of all the cuddles and the literal sleeping together and the hand holding and the forehead kisses and, excuse me but did I mention the cuddles? I really want Magnus and Alec cuddling on Magnus' throne at Pandemonium after a hard patrol and Alec falling asleep and all the Downworlders just kind of cooing at their very favorite nephilim.

(I also imagine an impressively oblivious pair of siblings who don't realize their brother isn't just moping in a corner while they dance for literal years.)

When Alec is older maybe Jace and Izzy start trying to subtly tell him it's okay to be gay, he doesn't have to hide it - they'll still love him, and Alec is just .. like .... 'what are you talking about?' as he smugly claims his gorgeous boyfriend.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 19/04/2024

i love(d) you

Season 6 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume FF Also on: Now That's What I Call Quality! 3

Ripped by vvsvlogs

Requested by oetaboy and an anonymous reader! @oetaboy (Ask Box)

I'm sure this rip's been a long time coming for many - I know it has for me. I've had i love(d) you sitting in my drafts as far back as in March, but truthfully it's...daunting, to write about. Requested by two readers. Close to 200 thousand views on YouTube, and recently featured prominently in popular Clone Hero YouTuber Acai's "The Quality of SiIvaGunner" series. And the rip itself being an emotional gutpunch in a season filled with them, from a ripper who's already gutpunched me plenty with Wham! Into Dreams and The Paragoomba and the Wiggler. vvsvlogs, Vivi, I ask this with the most sincere gratitude possible - why must you do this to me?

Minecraft as a game has its emotional hooks in at least two generations of people - that much I think we're all aware of. A sandbox filled with endless possibilities, community, friends, individual stories of survival or of great creative endeavors, all wrapped in C418's hauntingly beautiful score, one I've discussed many times before with Fell From a High Place (Reprise), M-O-O-G City and Every Mob Wants To Rule My World. All of these rips are beautiful, yet they're all aiming to play with Minecraft's sound in some way - the former two rips are arrangement of its music with other games' instrumentation, and the latter rip is a melodyswap playing Everybody Wants To Rule The World. They all play on my senses in their own ways, they're all rightfully impressive - but nothing hits quite the same as Minecraft's own music, on its own terms. i love(d) you isn't aiming to impress or amaze - but it lands a full-on critical hit on one's heart through leveraging everything that's kept Subwoofer Lullaby alive for so many years.

I've talked plenty about my musical illiteracy, and so I hope it doesn't come as a surprise that I've never really listened to world-renowed singer Billie Eilish. She's been on the radio, I've heard Bad Guy, but it was never a name I gave much more thought beyond seeing her discussed online from time to time. You can imagine the absolute awe I was in when I clicked on i love(d) you when it first went up, already expecting an emotional hit due to the Minecraft song used, only to get goosebumps from Eilish's vocals alone. i love you is the penultimate song from Eilish's debut studio album, the very same that Bad Guy was featured on - yet compared to that track's bass-heavy, almost seductive energy, i love you feels remarkably personal, with little more than an acoustic guitar and piano accompanying the openly emotional vocal performance. It's sincere in a way I don't hear enough music be, as if a diary translated into song, much the same emotion that Because I Love You conveyed yet with even greater magnitude due to the vocals in play.

i love(d) you, uploaded for 2022's valentines day, wields both of these forms of love - the connections many of us have to one of the most impactful games ever made, and the unfiltered emotion of i love you - to create something unabashedly beautiful. Mashups aren't a novel concept, mashups are nothing new - yet one glance at the comments tells me that I'm not alone in finding this rip in particular to have struck an incredibly sensitive nerve. Because there's a beauty to Minecraft that I think many of us oft forget about. It's a game that we all cherish, yet also one that's very easy to have left behind: we have adult responsibilities, we have school, we have other, shorter, more concise games, we have social media, we have friends, we have blogs...the solemn beauty of playing the game itself is, for many viewers like myself, not much more than a memory, something that can feel ever so difficult to recreate without feeling as if something's wrong.

We...I'm...not a kid anymore.

There was nothing about i love(d) you's concept that necessitated it to be more than just the mashup. There rip had no need for visuals that'd help convey the edit like with Plantasia 2 or Luna, mi Amor, no need to tickle the funnybone like with SUNGORE or the hundreds of other YTPMV rips on the channel. Yet, halfway through the rip, to the tune of Eilish's soothingly reverberating vocals, the background begins to change, not to a bit, not to a reference nor easter egg...but to Minecraft. To where all of this attachment began - to a far-off view of the game's beautiful landscapes as the sun begins to rises. That digital world that looks different for every player, yet the same in everyone's hearts - that place that, no matter how many years pass, how long its been since we last played, we all love. Its impact different to everyone, yet the feeling unanimous. It drives home how well the mashup works not just as a mixture of two deeply emotional songs, but as music tied to a shared experience: all of our Minecraft worlds looked different, all of our personal lives look different, but we've all played the game, and we've all had affection for it.

Every moment I spend thinking about this rip aches in some way. It's been well past two years since it was first uploaded, yet it continues to follow me as the years go on, my mouse drawn to it any time it reappears in my recommendations. In being featured on 2024's Now That's What I Call Quality! 3, I think the team holds much the same sentiment - even as the months pass, i love(d) you is the kind of rip that'll never fall out of favor, never stop meaning things to people. And realizing that it was made by vvsvlogs, the very same vvsvlogs who's already made me far too emotionally vulnerable on here twice before, has only made it mean that extra bit more to me.

I'm not a kid anymore. I know that. But I'll always be grateful to SiIvaGunner, the people behind it, and those who follow it along with me, for being able to bring me back to that state of mind when I least expect it.

Thank you.

[dizzythegreat]

Keeper of the Lost Cities meta: a hopefully-not-too-critical analysis

Starting off by saying that this whole thing is a just little too pretentious and a just little too fueled by irritation so don't take everything I say as fact! I'm just kind of ranting about things that I feel like most people are annoyed with (?) please share your thoughts with me! I think it's important for discourse like this to happen to keep fandoms alive!! non-Keeper mutuals feel free to DISREGARD!

First of all Keeper has such a special place in my heart, I started reading the series when I was 12 and I'm 16 now, so I really did kind of grow up with the books. I LOVED the series as a kid and hyperfixated on it for a really long time. As the series progresses and as I read it from a different lens, I'm seeing all of the flaws so much more clearly, so this whole rant basically stems from realizing something so special to me is flawed media and wanting to get my thoughts somewhere. All of this comes from a loving place! I'm just putting down my top few issues with the series and my opinions on a lot of different elements <3

DISCLAIMER I'm doing a reread but I'm only on book 1 and my memory is shit. Any false information is literally not my fault leave me alone

1. Length, redundancy, and predictability

This one really starts in Flashback #7 for me. It will always, always evade me why that book contains ~300 straight pages of Sophitz fluff and fucking around in the healing center. I know that a lot of people enjoyed those parts, which is totally valid! Shipping is a cornerstone of this series! But for me it felt so pointless and fan servicey, idk. And this is maybe my biggest problem with the books: they drag. We're at 9 and a half books now, each spanning like 500-800 pages, and the plot drags and drags and drags. I don't know if Shannon's publisher makes her fill a certain number of pages or what, but I feel like at least 100 pages of bullshit could be cut from each book and nothing would change. They start to almost follow a formula: 200 or so pages of figuring out the Neverseen's plan of the hour, another 200-ish to plan how to defeat them, and then finally we learn that the Neverseen is actually always one step ahead and the crew gets crushed oh my god tragic!! It worked as a subversion of expectations the first couple times but by now I feel like most people could basically just predict what's going to happen in any given book. Sometimes I wonder got left on the cutting room floor because it feels like SM wrote a first draft, barely trimmed it down, and published just that. The plot spins in circles, the protagonists are confused yet again, I am pulling my hair out in chunks.

It's a huge turn-off to a lot of new readers seeing these super thick books, and it's even a turn-off to me when I do rereads because surprise surprise, I don't actually really give a fuck if Fitz likes Sophie back, or at least not enough to read 300 pages on it per book. If the books were more concise, not only would that fix a lot of the plot and character development issues, it would also make them way more digestible because to be honest with you I probably couldn't remember half of what happens in most of them.

2. Sophie...

I think this is a very polarizing opinion but I just kind of don't like Sophie as a main character? I honestly think she's fallen victim to becoming a Mary Sue and not even in a "wehhh powerful woman make me mad" type way! It's just that Sophie at her fullest power is undeniably the most powerful elf in a battle, so to counteract this, Shannon has to keep finding ways for the Neverseen to take away Sophie's power. Whether through the whole "she can only inflict everyone at once" thing or breaking every bone in her hand or creating forcefields or literally fucking anything to stop this kid with five million superpowers, they have to find a way to effectively tie her down so the battles seem somewhat realistic. This then creates a weird pattern where every battle goes one of two ways: Neverseen finds a way to effectively debilitate Sophie and all her friends, or she just goes fucking sicko mode and destroys everyone. You just can't have a main character who's this much ahead of everyone else in terms of raw power.

For me, I think the biggest issue with Sophie is she's not relatable to the average reader. The age demographic for Keeper is preteens and teens. How many 13 year olds are the most powerful, unstoppable person in their friend group, in which three hot guys are head-over-heels in love with them, living in very comfortable conditions, with like five hundred friends? If you were that fucking baller at 13 then go fuck yourself that's super cool for you! But the core pillars of Sophie's life, disregarding the all the magical stuff (which obviously requires some suspension of disbelief) are simply not relatable or recognizable to the average reader. So how are we as readers supposed to feel connected to Sophie's life and situation if we never have (and let's face it, never will) experience anything close to the more realistically human parts of her life?

3. Character development (and the lack thereof)

Say what you will but to me the character development is so pale and arguably just doesn't exist. It feels like everyone has become so one-dimensional, so predictable, and so limp. Sophie has it the worst because we read from her POV, so all of her quirks and thoughts become really fucking annoying to read over and over again. For example, The whole oblivious "omg does Dex like me? does Keefe like me? DO I LIKE FITZ???" thing was cute when she was 12 back in book one but by now I am genuinely tearing my hair out when I have to read "Sophie blushed" every two pages. The whole "I'm a freak and nothing I do ever works and all is hopeless" thing was easy to feel sympathy for the first few times, but by now it's just kind of... exhausting? It feels like the naïve, oblivious Sophie from book 1 is exactly the same person as Stellarlune Sophie, no matter how many hideouts SM makes her burn down to prove she's ruthless or something. At this point, I feel like Sophie's choices throughout the series end up either being really predictable or wildly out of left field.

Every character other than Fitz, Keefe, and Sophie (and you could make a case for the three of them too) have become a shadow of themselves and they all get at most two conversations worth of pagetime. This can be attributed to a lot of things that I don't feel like talking about so here they are in point form: excessive focus on the main "love triangle", overloaded cast of protagonists, too much emphasis on A) furthering the plot and B) Sophie's inner thoughts instead of character relationships and found family. I think the books have lost sight of the original love, trust, and bond created by the five mains, and those super interesting dynamics between the different sets of friends that were so abundant in the first few installements have become few and far between. When I was a kid, I loved the books for the warm friendships and soft moments between Sophie and Dex, and now we're lucky if they even really talk to each other if not to push the plot. Biana barely exists, Marella and Linh show up every once in a while to be gay as fuck and then leave, Stina turned nice and then immediately went back to being a bitch because SM, for some reason, un-did all her redemption, and everyone else fucks around until they're plot-relevant. Where's the squad where's the crew where's the homoerotic undertones?!

4. Miscellaneous whining

Fitz's character is wildly inconsistent imo. I love you Sophie but I'm going to consistently get mad at you over irrelevant things and ice you out even though you need my support! Your boyfriend is for the streets girl

Fuck this whole half-book thing I'm sorry. Understandably, things have slowed down now that SM has two kids and I'm really truly happy for her and I'm glad she's taking time out of her work for herself and her family. But when she keeps releasing these weird novellas every year as some kind of "solution", it really just seems like a cop-out or a cash grab. I wish we could tell Shannon that we don't necessarily need a 700+ page novel to consider it a book! I personally would love if book 10 was more concise!! Let's just get this plot moving a bit!!

Sophie burning Gisela's book BURNS MY BLOOD. SM just had no fucking idea what she wanted that book to say + it would probably end the series too quick so she got Sophie to burn the most crucial piece of information they could have ever used under pretense of "refusing to follow Gisela's trap" or whatever OH MY GOD

Sooo many dropped plot lines/plot holes there is no way this shit is being resolved in the next 1 and a half books. See you all in 2034 for book 13.125

Sokeefe endgame was great but so predictable. Half the reason most people read this series is for the will-they-won't-they thing with Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe (justice for Dex!), and I think it was executed very badly. You could predict that Sophie and Fitz would burn out, you could predict that she would end up with Keefe, there was net 0 suspense by the time Fitz made his 500th dick move. I know I just complained about things being stretched out for so long but this one could have done with some taking it slow without making it obvious what was going to happen

Can Marella and Linh just kiss already

Anyways this all comes from a place of loving frustration. Oh Keeper my love, look what has become of you. Ultimately, SM started a fantasy series without knowing the ending, and it's spun out of control, but what can you do? I appreciate the series for what it is, I wish it was better, but I'll always love it. Through all my bitching and moaning I'm still rereading it to this day so who's really winning here? Please rb and comment and dm I love discussing Keeper!!! If you think I'm an idiot tell me!!! If you agree with me tell me!!! Don't be a dick!! Thanks for making it this far! Don't forget to like and subscribe and smash that bell

[evelasco-art]

Hello hello I started following you after seeing your wonderful LeGuin art, and I was really curious about your novel as well, if you’d be willing to share a little bit about it…👀

Oooooooh, thank you so much!!!!! 🥺 Omg, my novel… Thank you for asking this question. Tbh I can talk about it for hours, but I’ll do my best to be concise.

Disclaimer: I mostly write in Spanish, which is my native language, and the novel is far from being completed (I'm currently at around 25% of the first draft of the first book). So don't expect to find it in the shelves of your local bookshop any time soon, sorry...

Anyways, I actually believe my story is partly inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s work. I first read The Left Hand Of Darkness when I was around 23, which was also the time I started to develop stories of my own (mostly through GMing), and also got heavily interested in human evolution and anthropology. And I know LHOD had a heavy influence on me (on how I understand gender and humanity, for instance). So it would make sense that there is some of it in my work.

The story I'm working on will probably be a bilogy or trilogy. It explores the theme of two different human groups making contact with each other after being isolated for hundreds of thousands of years (at this point they’re two different species). It’s epic fantasy with a substantial science component (mostly anthropology and cell biology) and delves deep into colonialism, genocide, faith, trauma, queerness and empathy.

Now, to the juicy stuff. There are two main characters: Delshed and Vahna.

Delshed is a military officer from the Celestial Empire. After years hating what his job has made him do, he has left the army to pursue diplomacy. However, he is called back to it and tasked with the mission to eradicate the ‘demons’ that are attacking the empire’s eastern border. He then says: well okay let’s go they’re demons they have no soul so I can go kill them with my mind at peace (he is very religious, and celestial faith states all souls are sacred, hence his conflict with his own occupation). The problem is the enemy is way harder to fight than anyone had expected, and his soldiers pay the price. Which tears him apart. And let's say he doesn’t have the healthiest coping mechanisms in the world.

Here’s an old sketch of the problematic yet handsome man:

On the other hand, Vahna (she/they), whose name is Keahane at the start of the novel, is a warrior of a Heruze clan, aka one of the ‘demons’ that are attacking the empire. When the Celestials first arrived to their native land, the Heruze were massacred and displaced, and now they’re cornered into a barely inhabitable mountain range, hiding and slowly dying from hunger. So they decide to try and take back their land. Their advantages are: 1) the empire has mostly forgotten them and 2) they have the power to grow and modify the tissues in their own bodies at will. Keahane is a bleeder (one of the 3 Heruze genders), an expert at body modification, and one of their best warriors. However, horrified after being ordered to kill a whole family from the empire, they do something that is forbidden for their gender: voicing their opinion. They are then banished from the clan and stripped from their name (the worst possible punishment for their people). Their whole arc then revolves around finding out who they really are and what they want.

Here's a sketch of Intensity Queen aka Vahna:

So the story starts with a war between these groups, which leads to Delshed and Vahna unexpectedly clashing in the battlefield. The central point of the novel is how they, instead of killing each other, end up bridging the gap that exists between them and, after much conflict, become a sort of precarious link between the two species. Which ends up spiraling into a revolution that will rattle the predatory foundations of the empire itself.

You may have seen other characters in my pieces. Such as Isenjat, one of Delshed’s officers and also his best friend. She is totally on board with eradicating the Heruze because one of them killed her first love and left her with permanent injuries that turned her life into a nightmare. She can be an insufferable spite-driven asshole sometimes but I love her.

And the other icon I draw the most is Tairitz, who appears quite late in the story, but also has me obsessed. He's a musician and a storyteller, of an ethnic minority absorbed by the empire long ago. He has lost everything yet somehow manages to be the emotionally healthiest and most deconstructed member of the cast. As an anarchist, he will be more than happy to join a revolution. It may pose a bit of an internal conflict if he falls for the imperial prince tho. Which he totally won't.

As you may have guessed, most of the cast is queer. I really really wanted an ace protagonist who would manage to have beautiful romantic relationships in which their identity is not only respected but honoured, and that is Delshed. Vahna, through the discovery of her own identity, allows me to question the whole construct of gender. And I don't know, I was craving complex and beautiful stories about queer people healing together and making the world a better place. There aren't that many in fantasy (although thankfully that's changing).

If you've read through all this, you have my eternal gratitude. I love these characters with my whole heart and they are the thing that has kept me going through very dark times. 🥺

Once again, thank you for asking. 🧡

[circusinthewalls]

So.. Where Have I Been?

Well, let's talk about it, yeah? It's about fuckin' time anyway.

I haven't posted any actual writing since June 29th, so that's about 85 days of borderline radio silence on my end. 85 days with stacks of unfinished writing sitting in my drafts. Finished requests and one-shots and blurbs and whatever the hell else.

I'd really prefer to keep this concise, so the long and short of it is that life is crazy sometimes and it's like twenty times worse when you're unmedicated and this mentally ill. 💀

So what happens now?

First off, I apologize for promising a part two to a number of things along with an entire story that I never delivered on. Like I said, life is crazy, mental illness, etc.

Second, I start posting again. I don't know how soon, but I've got a whole backlog of stuff that's just waiting to be put out for y'all. Some of the stuff I'd promised is coming regardless of how long it's been since I last worked on it.

Third, I open my ask box again and actually update my masterlist + ao3.

With that said: Thank you all for your patience and for anyone that's stuck around. I never expected so many people to enjoy my writing to such an extent and it really does mean a ton to me. My ask box is open if you'd care to send requests or just say hi! Take care. o7

[queen-tashie]

Writeblr Q& A

Tagged by @mrbexwrites as usual lol. Thank you!!

Gentle, non-obligatory tags to @ftmerriweather, @ahungeringknife, @elizmanderson, and anyone else that wants to jump in! (Remember to tag me so I don't miss your responses!)

1. What motivates you to write?

If I don't I will explode.

I have ADHD and because of it I am just filled and overwhelmed with ideas. I've started keeping a 'thought dump' list where ALL my half-baked ideas go, and when I get more ideas for that same concept, I pull it off there and pour my heart out onto the page.

Writing has been one of the few hobbies that has been easy for me to jump in and out of because of my ADHD. Painting is great but there's clean up after. Writing, I create a new doc, or open a blank page in a journal and have virtually nothing to clean up or put away later. It's the most accessible hobby for me because of this.

And because I keep doing it, I keep developing skills and each time I write I improve a little. It's a piece of immense stability and pride in accomplishing something that it gives me so much purpose in life. So it compels me to share what I have to say through the medium of fiction. :)

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

For all its first-book flaws, I think this line from The Quiet Forest goes hard.

Runnicka stood before her home and knocked on the door. She didn’t know why she knocked, maybe Farewai didn’t feel like home anymore, like she was a traveller passing through.

3. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

I used to say fight scenes. While I still think I'm pretty good at those, I think that's been overshadowed by my ability to write concisely. I am an underwriter, but once I've edited and beefed up a story, I think I have gotten pretty good at giving detailed and vivid information in few words.

4. What do you enjoy most about the Writeblr community?

I tried for years to make friends on the twitter writing community. Everything felt so superficial there, similar to instagram. When I finally stopped using twitter so much and focused on what I could enjoy on tumblr, I ran into the Writeblr community and made friends quickly. Within months. Trying to be part of the community feels effortless here, and so much more welcoming and genuine. Thanks Writeblr for giving me a place to belong! :D

5. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

Blank writing docs to create a thought dump, outline, and each version of my WIPs' drafts. Plus, additional info if needed like worldbuilding. Anything that helps me keep my thoughts on the project organized. Oh, and folders.

6. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I've always thought that stories where a bloodline is cursed, or someone is blessed with powers, are one and the same, just depending on one's perspective, or the intended outcome. So in Copper Frames, my current WIP, I created a ritual magic system where a 'curse' is a 'blessing' gone wrong, or a curse is a blessing that the recipient didn't want, and vice versa.

7. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Take a break. Your writing and your desire to write will be there when you come back. Not just 15 minutes, take a vacation from it. Go do things, recharge your creative well by experiencing new things. Take a walk in a new park, watch a new movie, read a new book, hang out with friends or family you don't often see. Listen to what they have to say and ask questions. Inspiration strikes when you least expect it.

And always have a way to write down those ideas when they come to you.

[avaetin]

I really want to write a story about where Nico Leaves camp halfbood and tries to heal from the Trauma while also trying to keep it a secret from his friends because he doesn't want to put them in danger. But first I have to make a bunch of ocs and figure out their character and backstory...I already did that but I don't really know how to start writing(I can continue but I can't start)

Any tips? (A beginner asking a pro)

You sure you're asking the correct person? I don't see any pro here 🤣 But, I can answer based on my experience so far, and hopefully, that will help you out.

But first, I just want to say that each writer's approach varies. What works for me might not work for you, so please take them with a grain of salt.

Figure out what you want in your story: You have the premise already. "Nico leaves Camp Half-Blood to heal from trauma." But in order to start, you have to ask yourself a bunch of questions first. What finally pushed him to leave? What do you mean that he keeps it a secret to protect his friends? Where does he go? You have to know the answer to these questions in order to start. Then, in order to continue, you need to answer these questions: What do your OCs add to the story? How does he heal? Did he find healing in the way he least expects it? How does your story end? Does he go back to Camp Half-Blood? Does he finally stay in one place? Does he roam the world freely? Is he alone, or does he have companions with him? For me, it helps knowing before I start how I roughly want the story to begin, and how it ends. It doesn't have to be concise, but you need to have an idea on that, because once you have those ideas, it's easier to fill in the middle. Also, once you know what you want with your stories, it's easier to know what you want to put in each and every chapter. It makes writing the first draft easier.

Make a first draft: I've only recently started doing this. Don't overthink too much, just type/write the words out. They don't have to be perfect on the first go, because it's the first draft. It allows your thoughts to keep flowing. What I did before was settle everything in one go, and a second read through the chapter would be to check if I wanted to add anything else. But yeah, burnt out recently, so I've been doing this method recently. You can do this per chapter (which is what I do) or you can do this in one-go (finishing everything first). Both have their pros and cons.

(Anything beyond this point is just advice in general. Just adding them in case they could help you start.)

Do your research at the beginning & during: You already have your OCs and their backstories, which is a start. But you also have to do research for the rest of your story. For example, where Nico ends up at, what's the background of that place? Is there any history to it? Does it add substance to the story? Things like that. His process of healing as well, for example. How does he heal? Does he have a support system? How do they help him heal? (I'm making assumptions here since I don't have much information on your story) It helps out to start because knowing all of this can help you highlight the issues that pushed him away in the first place. It gives you a problem to address and a solution to said problem.

Dump all your information in one folder and categorize them properly: I don't do this LOL. But I know some who do, and I know that it helps them out too. Create one main folder and sub-folders. Maybe one of your sub-folders is "Characters". Then there's documents inside for each character, with details regarding them. It helps if you're trying to be consistent too.

If it doesn't work, get rid of it: If a passage hinders you from continuing the rest of your story, get rid of it. Sometimes you have these passages that serve as filler between one point of your story to another. But sometimes, they just don't work. You write them, and suddenly you're stuck on how to continue. If they don't add anything to your story, get rid of them. If they do, and you just don't know how to tie it up yet, what I usually do is I change the text to red, and I just come back to it later. Or if I'm done with the passage but I feel that it's lacking, I add "(Edit this part)" at the top of the passage. (If I'm too annoyed, "(Fix this shit)" 🤣

Take a step back: If your mind draws a blank, take a step back. Taking a break helps sometimes.

Umm that's all I could think of for now. I hope this helps you, and I look forward to reading your story in the future!

[usersasaki]

hello tumblr user usersasaki 🫵 you will never know who i am! (or who knows lol hi karma <3) this anon has been looking into getting into orv but keeps procrastinating like they do on many other things and so asks you, one of their resident orv likers they know, to uh. idk. but feel free to ramble on about why you like orv so much & why someone should get into it (like me!) so maybe i can finally be convinced to read it Now instead of putting it off for later again and again !! ... or something like that 🥺✨

OK GUYS THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS NOT A DRILLLLL AAAAA HELLO U BEAUTIFUL PERSON I THINK IK WHO U ARE BUT RN I'M SO READY TO CRUSH U IN A BIG HUG REGARDLESS OF THAT

ahem. yes. anyways. i'm totally normal abt this, i totally didn't go feral for a few moments before i started typing this. OK BUT I'M SO READY TO TRY TO CONVINCE U TO READ THIS CUZ WHEN I SAY THIS WEBTOON + WEBNOVEL HAS CHANGED ME ENTIRELY. pls bear with me, giving me a chance to word vomit was not a good idea /hj. i'll put everything under the cut :] and i'll try to keep everything as spoilerless as possible so that u can safely enjoy the story when u get to it

i will apologise in advance for the person i've become, this might end up becoming a HUGE post (edit: i think it did, this is apparently at a lil more than 2k words rn cuz i typed this in google docs for fear of tumblr nuking my entire draft and me having to start all over again)

tldr for those who don't want to go through a 2k essay; orv is for you if you enjoy clean art, stories that will break down your initial expectations and surpass them, and things like found family, love (all kinds), and just an emotional rollercoaster in general. prepare snacks and tissues.

i'll start with the webtoon because that's where it started for me! honestly one of the things i look for most when i start a webtoon is the art. and there are times when even if i like the story, if the art ain't it for me, i'll drop the story 😭💀 but orv has such beautiful and crisp art, very edible art HAHAHA (both webtoon and novel by the way but i'll get to the novel in a bit) it makes me go so O.O sometimes. here's an example of the art, you might've seen it somewhere but i'm still adding it here for the pure beauty of these men named kim dokja and yoo joonghyuk AND ALSO han sooyoung and jung heewon (yes i'm gay, no it's not obvious /j). every character in this webtoon is so well drawn and just. chef's kiss okay, so if you like pretty art, you've got that right here folks.

moving on, the story seems, at first, like a very generic action fantasy webtoon where the world of a novel becomes reality and our mc aka kim dokja is the one who knows how to get to the end and he gets to meet his favourite novel’s protagonist yoo joonghyuk and decides to save the world. but as the story progresses on and on, it becomes so much more than that. the storytelling skills have to be applauded because webtoons can't use lots of words and have to convey things more concisely than their novel counterparts but they've done an amazing job of using the right dialogues in the right places with the right amount of impact. AND as of right now, the story is starting to head towards what i'd like to say is the actual beginning of this webtoon >:) that’s all i can say without spoiling some major things from the novel so,, yeah!

another beautiful part is the portrayal of each of the characters, especially kdj, and their different dynamics with kdj. now kim dokja is our mc and the main narrator of this entire thing so we’re quite limited in that sense because all we see and know is what kim dokja tells us through his narration. a lot of posts have accurately pinned him down as an unreliable narrator because he really only ever shows his companions (and us readers) one part of things and we’re all left to speculate about things. each companion holds a different opinion of kdj but all of them are united in the fact that they trust him to help them get through everything. while the webtoon hasn’t had a chance to explore that yet, i’m looking forward to how they will show it to us :] i’d say that this webtoon is worth a read also because kim dokja is the most mind boggling, intriguing and frustrating character you will ever meet. that’s a fact that’ll get clearer as you get closer to the recent chapters of the webtoon, but i love how he’s relatable in the sense that he both makes me screech in awe but also makes me want to wring his neck with how he is sometimes. i love him *holds him by the neck* (affectionately). oh and when i say every character is just a beautiful piece of art, i mean both their literal art and also the way they’ve been written, though it is more clear in the novel as of right now.

NOW i’m gonna move onto the webnovel because i honestly fell deeper into the rabbit hole purely because of the novel. and sing shong (the author of the webnovel) is an absolute genius for the way they have both intricately and simply pushed a single message throughout the length of the novel. i constantly joke about how reading the orv novel has changed my brain chemistry but i’m not joking most of the time because it really did. in many ways, i’m sure this is a novel i will remember for a very long time to come.

the same points i spoke about for the webtoon stand for the novel as well BUT of course the novel is just immaculately written and it deserves a chance of its own. it’s not that the writing of the novel is extraordinarily fancy or anything, it’s actually quite simple reading without too many complicated words but i think that has a beauty of its own. it’s able to convey what it needs to without having 10 pages of description and that’s awesome to me. there are issues with some things written in the novel but as it isn’t a focus or the point of orv (i got this point from this tumblr post, feel free to read through it if you want to because they have written some great points that can’t be said better by me!), it’s still a novel that entertains you to the fullest.

the characters are admittedly more fleshed out in the novel than the webtoon but that’s because the webtoon is still catching up while the novel is complete (it ended with epilogue chapters but recently the author came out with side stories). the relationships are just very detailed and it gives you a look into not only kim dokja’s head, but also yoo joonghyuk and other characters’ heads as well, though they’re not as common because the majority of the story is in kdj’s point of view. i’ve neglected mentioning other character names so far but kim dokja has a set of the most loyal and sweet and sometimes feral companions besides yoo joonghyuk like yoo sangah, who is someone kdj knew before the novel became their world, jung heewon and lee hyunsung, kdj’s trusty sword and shield, lee gilyoung and shin yoosung, his children (not biological but yes). there’s also lee jihye, an avid yoo joonghyuk follower who insults kdj at every turn but cares for him, and han sooyoung, who is portrayed as a bit of an antagonist or an anti-hero (as far as the webtoon goes anyway wink wink). and a lot of other characters you’ll grow to either love a lot or hate with a passion oR even have your opinion take a whole 180 about as you read on and on, that’s just the kinda novel this is.

don’t even get me started on the underlying themes of this novel. this is me being an english major (and psychology major unintentionally, double major woohoo) through and through but i love analysing characters and figuring out themes that come out through the writing. i won’t go too into the details so that i won’t spoil it for anyone who happens upon this post. but there’s the overarching theme of love; not just romantic love but also platonic love, familial love and the most important one of this novel, self-love. another theme i think is quite relevant and important to this story is more easily relatable to people who read often because it goes into how books can change you BUT you can also change books by reading them over and over again and understanding it better. also how stories can save you but you, as a reader, have the power to save stories by reading them. because in the end, a story continues because you read it. OH I CAN’T FORGET THIS, found family <3 if you’re a fan of found family, this is for you, it’s present throughout the story as a small but encompassing theme.

now this could be just me but i get extremely emotional when it comes to my favourite media, so i squeal with joy at happy parts, sob uncontrollably when sad scenes come up, punch my pillows when something makes me mad⏤ you get my point. and this novel gave me an entire rollercoaster of emotions and made me so URGH in good, bad and ugly ways. it kinda brings me back to my point about kdj being an unreliable narrator since the reason why it gets so hard and sad is because this man never tells anyone anything. he takes it upon himself to do everything, much to the annoyance and despair of his companions and us the readers. we know nothing other than what kdj is willing to tell us, not about his plans, not about him, not about his own feelings. and we’re left to guess and guess until everything is laid bare and then we’re still trying to. process everything. yeah i don’t know if this part is making any sense but i can’t really go into detail without majorly spoiling the story. so you’re gonna have to come back to my post once you’re done to be like “ohhh, right this is what they meant.” /j

To move to a lighter and probably my last point, the novel illustrations are gold i tell you. it’s done by a person named blackbox or bb-nim for short and i love just going through their art for fun. of course, if you’re reading it on a website like i did, then you’re not going to see the illustrations side by side so you should definitely check out blackbox’s twitter which i’ve linked here :] you’ll probably also find their art on pinterest. gorgeous art i tell you, BUT BUT BUT there are spoilers here and there so beware if you go digging through their media tab on their twt. I’ll put some of my favourite pieces that are as non-spoiler as possible under this

so. yeah. these are my reasons for why you should read both the orv webtoon and novel. In the end, all i can say is that if you give them a chance, you’ll probably get hooked just as i did. i knew to a certain extent about how the novel was but nothing prepared me enough but i’m not complaining because it is genuinely so good. i’ll add a list of content warnings here that i got from the wiki page because i don’t want anyone to be ambushed by anything they’re not comfortable with reading: graphic violence, death and murder, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, suicide, body horror, dissociation, transphobia (this might be a deal breaker and it would be for me too as a nonbinary person but it’s not a major focus and happens a couple times throughout the story), cephalopods, tentacles (yes these are real content warnings on the wiki HAHAHA), and finally hospitals.

to all of you who actually read this far, thank you! you are a great person for reading through a random person on the internet go on and on about a webtoon and novel, hope you have an awesome day/night ahead of you! if you have any questions about things in the webtoon or novel, feel free to hit me up, i’m always down to have conversations about orv (none of my irls have read it but i will use this essay to convince one of them to give it a chance so wish me luck). anyway, peace out folks! :]

[4me-yo]

How to write content as a freelancer

Introduction: In today's digital age, content is king. Whether it's blog posts, articles, social media updates, or website copy, businesses and individuals rely on engaging and well-crafted content to connect with their audience. As a freelancer, becoming a proficient content writer is not only a valuable skill but also a gateway to a successful and flexible career. In this blog post, we will explore the essential steps and strategies to help you write outstanding content as a freelancer.

Understand the Client's Requirements: Before starting any project, take the time to understand your client's expectations and requirements thoroughly. This includes identifying the target audience, desired tone and style, word count, and any specific guidelines. Clear communication and asking relevant questions will ensure you're on the same page from the outset.

Conduct In-Depth Research: Once you have a clear understanding of the project, conduct thorough research on the topic. Explore reputable sources, gather relevant data, statistics, and examples. A well-researched piece of content not only adds credibility but also enhances your overall writing quality.

Develop a Strong Outline: Create an outline that organizes your thoughts and ideas before diving into the writing process. An outline helps maintain a logical flow, ensures all key points are covered, and prevents you from getting off track. It serves as a roadmap for your content, making the writing process smoother and more efficient.

Craft a Captivating Introduction: The first few sentences of your content are crucial in capturing the reader's attention. Start with a compelling hook, such as an intriguing question, an interesting fact, or a thought-provoking statement. Engage your readers from the beginning and set the stage for the rest of the content.

Write with Clarity and Simplicity: In the realm of content writing, simplicity is key. Avoid using jargon, technical terms, or complex sentence structures that might confuse or alienate your readers. Write in a clear and concise manner, conveying your ideas effectively. Break down complex concepts into easily understandable chunks and use examples or analogies to illustrate your points.

Maintain a Consistent Tone: Adopt a consistent tone throughout your content that aligns with the client's brand and target audience. Whether it's formal, conversational, or a blend of both, ensure that your tone resonates with the readers. Consistency helps establish credibility and builds trust with the audience.

Incorporate SEO Best Practices: To enhance the visibility of your content and attract organic traffic, familiarize yourself with search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Conduct keyword research to identify relevant terms and phrases, and incorporate them naturally throughout your content. Optimize headings, meta descriptions, and URLs to improve search engine rankings and increase the chances of your content being discovered.

Edit and Proofread: Once you've completed the initial draft, dedicate time to edit and proofread your work. Check for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and inconsistencies in tone or style. Editing ensures your content is polished and professional before submitting it to the client.

Seek Feedback and Continuously Improve: Don't be afraid to seek feedback from clients or fellow writers. Constructive criticism can help you identify areas for improvement and refine your writing skills. Embrace continuous learning and stay updated with the latest trends and techniques in the field of content writing.

Conclusion: Becoming a successful freelance content writer requires a combination of talent, dedication, and continuous improvement. By following these essential steps and implementing effective strategies, you can enhance your writing skills, deliver outstanding content, and build a flourishing freelance career. Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep writing, refining, and exploring new opportunities to thrive in the ever-evolving world of content writing.

Source Code: ”TransCurators- Quality Content Writing Company”

[australianwriter]

Top Strategies to Excel in University Assignments

University assignments can be daunting, but excelling in them is crucial for your academic success. Whether you're a first-year student or nearing graduation, mastering assignment writing can significantly boost your grades and overall performance. Let's dive into the top strategies to help you excel in your university assignments.

Understanding Assignment Requirements

Before you start writing, it's essential to understand what the assignment requires. Thoroughly read the assignment brief to grasp the expectations. If anything is unclear, don't hesitate to ask your professors for clarification. This step ensures you're on the right track from the beginning and saves time in the long run.

Effective Time Management

Time management is vital for handling university assignments efficiently. Start by creating a study schedule that outlines all your tasks and deadlines. Break down large tasks into smaller, manageable chunks to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Prioritize your tasks based on deadlines and their importance to ensure you're making steady progress.

Conducting Comprehensive Research

A well-researched assignment stands out. Utilize your university's library resources and access online academic databases like JSTOR, Google Scholar, and PubMed. Evaluate sources for their credibility and relevance to ensure your arguments are well-supported by solid evidence.

Developing a Strong Thesis Statement

A clear and compelling thesis statement is the backbone of any assignment. It provides a focus and direction for your writing. Spend time crafting a thesis that succinctly presents your main argument. A strong thesis helps you stay on topic and makes your assignment more coherent.

Creating an Outline for Your Assignment

Outlining your assignment before you start writing can save you time and help organize your thoughts. An effective outline includes your main points and supporting arguments, creating a roadmap for your writing. This practice ensures a logical flow and helps you cover all necessary aspects of the topic.

Writing and Revising Drafts

The first draft is rarely perfect, so it's important to revise your work. After completing your initial draft, take a break before revising to approach it with fresh eyes. Look for areas that need improvement and seek feedback from peers or professors. Revising multiple drafts leads to a polished and well-structured assignment.

Mastering Academic Writing Style

Academic writing has a specific tone and structure. Understand the conventions of academic writing, such as formal language and clear, concise arguments. Avoid common pitfalls like overusing jargon or writing overly complex sentences. Utilize resources like writing guides and style manuals to improve your writing.

Proper Citation and Avoiding Plagiarism

Citing your sources correctly is crucial to avoid plagiarism. Familiarize yourself with different citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago) and use tools like Zotero or EndNote for managing citations. Ensuring your work is original and properly cited protects your academic integrity and enhances your credibility.

Utilizing Technology and Tools

Technology can be a great aid in managing your assignments. Use software like Microsoft OneNote or Trello for organization and productivity. Grammar and style checking tools like Grammarly can help refine your writing. These tools streamline the writing process and improve the quality of your work.

Improving Your Writing Skills

Improving your writing skills takes regular practice. Read extensively to expose yourself to different writing styles and techniques. Consider taking writing workshops or courses offered by your university. Additionally, make use of writing centers and tutors who can provide personalized guidance and feedback.

Handling Stress and Staying Motivated

Assignments can be stressful, but managing stress is key to staying productive. Practice stress management techniques like mindfulness, exercise, and adequate sleep. Set achievable goals to keep yourself motivated and maintain a positive mindset. Remember, taking care of your mental health is just as important as academic success.

Participating in Study Groups

Study groups can provide support and enhance your learning. Collaborative learning allows you to gain different perspectives and improve your understanding of the material. Ensure your study group stays focused and productive by setting clear goals and responsibilities for each member.

Effective Proofreading and Editing

Proofreading and editing are essential for a polished assignment. Read your work aloud to catch errors you might miss when reading silently. Look for common mistakes like grammatical errors, typos, and awkward phrasing. A thorough proofreading process ensures your assignment is clear and error-free.

Conclusion

Excelling in university assignments requires a combination of understanding requirements, effective time management, comprehensive research, and continuous improvement of writing skills. By implementing these strategies, you can enhance the quality of your assignments and achieve academic success.

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FAQs

Q. How can I stay motivated during long assignments? A. Staying motivated can be challenging, but breaking the assignment into smaller tasks and setting short-term goals can help. Reward yourself for completing each section to keep your motivation high.

Q. What should I do if I don't understand an assignment? A. If you're unsure about an assignment, seek clarification from your professor or teaching assistant. They can provide valuable insights and ensure you're on the right track.

Q. How can I improve my academic writing style? A. Improving your academic writing style involves regular practice, reading academic papers, and seeking feedback from professors and peers. Utilize writing resources and workshops offered by your university.

Q. What are some tools to help with citation management? A. Tools like Zotero, EndNote, and Mendeley can help manage citations efficiently. These tools allow you to organize your sources and generate citations in various styles automatically.

Q. How do I handle last-minute assignment stress? A. Last-minute stress can be managed by staying organized and prioritizing tasks. Break down the assignment into manageable parts, focus on completing one section at a time, and take short breaks to avoid burnout.

[button-kin-games]

Development Diary: Jude's World, Part 7

At last my solo, tarot-based TTRPG about a plucky preteen protagonist struggling to reunite their warring parents is in the hands of play testers. I've been resisting doing any active development until I've received more feedback, but let's talk about what I've been hearing so far.

Feedback #1: Tone

Test readers said they liked the game but found the tone "sombre". This was cause for concern.

I'm not sure why I assumed that my little game about divorce would be a giggle? But I did. While the genre of the game is not comedy, it is inspired by 90s kids shows that I loved, which always sprinkled sassy one-liners and hijinks in even throughout more serious plots. They wanted their main characters to be likeable and aspirational, and they needed to balance the tone of the heavier drama for kids. Why didn't more of that source inspiration come through in my initial draft? Well.

Firstly I wanted to make the rule text clear. This means balancing detail with conciseness - I don't want to leave unnecessary ambiguity, but I also don't want to exhaust my reader with minutiae. It's easy to forget when writing game texts that it's okay to sacrifice a little of each of these for the sake of flavour. The field of optimisation is a triangle, not a line.

Secondly I have a lot to say about society's attitudes towards divorce. Maybe the introduction to a game text, which is intended to entice and invite the reader, isn't the place to explore those concepts fully. Was I wrong when I wrote that divorce is a women's rights issue and a hard won privilege, access to which should be expanded in a free and progressive society, or that an virulently anti-divorce tone of parent-trap-style stories is deeply problematic? No. Is that potentially a downer to read about when you're trying to get into a playful headspace? Maybe. (Yes.)

I may write up some of these more intense thoughts in a separate blog post or essay and refer to that in my text rather than including them there. That way those who are interested can read up while everyone else can have some peace. Credit for this idea goes to Laurie O'Connell who mentioned using a similar strategy in one of his games while being interviewed on the excellent What Am I Rolling? podcast.

Feedback #2: Organisation

I should have seen this one coming. It's telling that I've overhauled the structure of the text 5 times now. The feedback is that it's still not flowing quite right.

From experience this is something I'll continue to tinker with until near the end of the development process. Although I have hit upon an idea I want to try in the next version: I want to try writing my game like an academic paper.

I studied Psychology at uni. I didn't really like it because my tutors expected me to, like, go to the library and read a lot of academic papers, which clashed with my pre-existing plans to chain-smoke in the pub all day. In the intervening years I've both quit smoking and somehow retained some knowledge of the structure of an academic paper: abstract, content, then conclusion, with all the same information in those three sections using different emphasis and levels of detail.

When I first learned about this format I thought it was insane. Why all that repetition? Then I actually did a spot of teaching and realised: that's just how we learn. You cannot say something once and expect a listener (or reader) to retain it. No matter how simple the message seems to you.

So I'm going to try that for the next version of my game. Simplified rules, followed by a rules deep dive, followed by a glossary/diagrams/play examples to enrich what we've covered before using different presentation styles. I'm excited about this idea. Let's see how it goes!

If you're interested in play testing the game I'm more than happy to provide subscribers with a copy of my current draft. You can email me at yvris@buttonkin.com.

[redshiftsinger]

You're not. That's how I tend to work too, at least for shorts. I get the idea, I write it out, I sit on it overnight and then give it a second pass the next day to make sure I still like it, then I send it off to a beta or just publish it if I'm reasonably confident I haven't left out some important bit of information that exists in my head but will confuse everyone who isn't me.

Not that I write a LOT, but look, I started out writing poetry. I never did "drafts" that weren't pretty close to the finished thing, the biggest editing I've ever done to a poem was when I did one that was a set of self-contained but related/interconnected stanzas and the final editing work was deciding what order to put them in. I don't even know how someone would write a super rough 'first draft' of a poem, unless it's just missing lines in the middle that you'll work out later because you had to skip ahead to get something else down before you forget it.

For long stories I wouldn't say I really "draft" so much as, start with a mashup of a rough and mostly-finished scenes. I just keep adding detail as I work on it. It begins life as a rough outline plus maybe one or two scenes that are written out in detail, then more and more scenes get written as I work on it, and the outline gets fleshed out more as I figure out where the story is really going. It's not a proper "first draft" until the whole outline is converted to either written-out scenes or transitional-cut bits that give relevant plot/character info without dragging on in exposition, basically the final form of the story. And at that point it's really just gonna need going-over to make sure the scene transitions work well, the grammar is consistent and I haven't done too much tense-hopping, and any remaining typos have been wrangled. By the time I have a "first draft", I'm mostly satisfied that I've gotten the story into a readable form! Sometimes it will need some cuts to really become its best possible self, but usually I've already wrangled at least the majority of overwritten fluff down to a good concise form, because overwritten fluff gets in the way of scenes connecting together, and when the next scene in a sequence isn't working, it's usually because I need to go back and rework the last one to aim better at where I want it to go.

I tried doing the nanowrimo-style "word vomit as much as possible and then you'll have a story and you can fix it in editing" method and I ended up having written exactly one "typical" first-draft of a novel. It's exactly what people expect a first draft to be: overwritten, messy, plotlines and worldbuilding get confusing because it ended up going in surprising directions midway through and I never went back to adjust the stuff earlier to make it fit. And I'll probably never finish it because fixing all the problems would, effectively, require a complete rewrite from scratch. So I don't do that anymore, because that method does not work to get me to a point of having a story I feel good about letting anyone else read.

Making my own post because I hate to be a grump on someone else's, but the idea that the first draft is never good and that all the work of writing is editing down all the fluff and crap that you wrote makes me so annoyed.

That's true for some people! And I'm not going to pretend like I never have to cut stuff I've written. But I'm a classic under-writer. Editing for me means mostly "going back and writing out scenes that I referred to happening but didn't depict because the story will be stronger if you see it" (thanks, @invizigothx). I'm not doing a bad job just because I work over my sentences as I write and cut/rework very little afterward, and I can't possibly be the only person who writes this way.

[finesse1]

Mastering the Art of Academic Essay Writing: Unleashing Expert Tips for Unforgettable Papers

Introduction

Whether you are a graduate student or a high school student, writing academic essays is an essential part of learning. Writing essays that are organized, logical, and interesting is crucial for improving research, critical thinking, and communication skills in addition to helping students succeed academically. We'll go over important advice for producing outstanding academic essays in this blog, which will help you amaze your teachers and get top ratings.

Understand the Assignment

Make sure you thoroughly read and comprehend the assignment or essay prompt before you begin writing. Determine the essential specifications, including the subject, word count, style of formatting, editing and proofreading and due date for submission. Please don't hesitate to ask your instructor for clarification if you have any questions or concerns.

Conduct thorough studies

The foundation of any academic writing is research. Compile pertinent information from books, scholarly articles, journals, and reliable websites to create a well-informed essay. Make sure to keep your research materials organized and to differentiate between primary and secondary sources while you take notes.

Make a compelling thesis statement.

The main point of your essay is stated in your thesis statement. It ought to be lucid, succinct, and arguable. This assertion will be the focal point of your entire essay, so take the time to craft a clear, concise version of it.

Create a Robust Outline

Make an outline outlining your essay's structure before you begin writing. An essay's body paragraphs, conclusion, and introduction are its standard components. Every segment ought to possess a distinct objective, and the ideas ought to make sense.

Create a Captivating Opening

The opening of your essay should pique the reader's interest and provide them a concise rundown of what to expect. Introduce yourself with a hook, give some background, and then establish your thesis.

Give instances and proof.

Your thesis statement should be backed up with compelling examples, proof, and research citations in the body paragraphs. Make sure each of your points is coherently arranged and related to your main idea.

Continue to be concise and clear.

Steer clear of long words and convoluted sentences. Don't confuse your readers with jargon or more technical phrases; instead, speak clearly and succinctly.

Edit and proofread again

Take some time to editing and proofreading essay after finishing the first draft. Verify for coherence, clarity, and mistakes in grammar and spelling. Before rewriting, it's always beneficial to put your essay aside for a bit so you may view it with new perspective.

Request Input

Never be afraid to ask for comments on your essay from teachers, academic writing centres, or fellow students. Other people can offer insightful opinions and suggestions for development.

Be Aware of Formatting

Make sure your essay follows the formatting instructions included in the assignment. Page margins, font size, spacing, and heading styles are all included in this.

Recognize Transitions

To ensure a seamless transition between sentences and paragraphs, use transitional words and phrases. This facilitates smooth essay flow and leads the reader through your thesis.

Make Consistent Edits

Verify that the terminology, structure, and style are all used consistently throughout your article. Your work may come out as less professional if there are inconsistent elements.

Conclusion:

The ability to write a fantastic academic editing is one that can be developed with commitment and practice. You can regularly write high-quality essays by comprehending the task, carrying out exhaustive research, developing a compelling thesis statement, and adhering to an organized writing process. Keep in mind that academic writing aims to engage the reader, provide evidence to back up your claims, and showcase your critical thinking abilities in addition to providing information. You'll be well on your way to producing essays that shine and please your teachers if you keep these pointers in mind.

[airiat]

Hello! I am an aspiring graduate student, possibly going into a post doc. I love writing fanfic, yet I feel like I must focus on academic writing.

How do you reconcile both styles?

i'm interpreting this question in two different ways. let me speak to both of them. but also know that i am extremely biased--academic writing torments me. i have nothing positive to say about it. this is long, so here's a cut.

one: there is no need to reconcile both styles. you can keep the creativity out of academic writing, and, in many cases, it's necessary to do so. do not think of your academic writings as works of art. think of them as a means to an end. you just need to fulfill a set of requirements. you just need to get a grade. you just need to make a point. they can be soulless. it's alright if they are.

however. you can be creative if it's appropriate, if it makes you feel better to do so. here's the introduction to a paper i wrote last term. you'll see what i mean:

To be human is to tell stories. For as long as we have had minds to think and mouths to speak with, we have been weaving tales about ourselves, our ancestors, about how to explain the way the world works around us. People have been using art, for perhaps almost just as long, to grapple with the pain that comes as a part of living. From J. R. R. Tolkien conjuring a literary marvel out of the horrors he endured in WWI to a teenage girl scribbling angry poetry in detention, creative writing has become a way for us to cope and overcome. It is only natural that it could also be used as a therapeutic tool to process trauma.

this is not my best work. frankly, i don't care that it isn't. it just made me feel a little bit better to write this way. it gave me the relief of that little creative spark while i wrote something that i have to turn my brain off in order to cope. sometimes that's all it has to be. but my professors probably liked it. i got 100% on this paper.

you can grow as a writer through academic writing. it will teach you how to organize your thoughts and present ideas clearly. it will teach you how to convince and how to be concise. but, again, i say: your writing does not have to be a masterpiece. do not hold it to the same standard as the work that you are passionate about. but if you are, perhaps, passionate about academic writing, go ahead and give it that treatment. i'm not, so i won't. i'll cry about an assignment and grit my teeth through the whole thing. that's okay, too. it gets it done.

lastly, my first draft is my final. i run it through grammarly and then hit that submit button. if you have been writing, in any capacity, for a long time, you can probably do this, too. you'll have the foundational skills down, and you can be adequate, or even above adequate, in anything you write with little effort. you can also use your creative process in academic writing. if you outline, you can outline. if you pants, go ahead and do it here, too. use your editing practices. don't reinvent the wheel.

all in all, your professors are not expecting beauty. they just want you to follow their rubric. toss your work into the ether, get the grade, and then forget about it.

two: i'm not sure that this is what you were asking, but i thought i'd talk about it, too, briefly. how can you continue to pursue your creative endeavors while also in school?

believe it or not, you can. it just takes a lot of sacrifice. i'm in school, i work a highly, highly stressful job, and yet, just about every night i sit down and write. but i also have no social life. absolutely none. that's my sacrifice. but it does not feel much like a sacrifice because i need to write. i cannot live without it. it's the only thing i do that makes me feel like i can actually get through my days.

if there's a will, there's also a way. if writing is important enough to you, you will find a way to do it at any cost.

but even if you love writing with the whole of your heart, do not feel badly if you just can't swing it while you're in school, or when you're enduring another stressful time of life. it's okay. it'll be there for you again when you're ready. you're always a writer, even when you're not writing.

hopefully this helped in any small way. but i'm not really in the best place right now, being bitter and resentful toward academia. take it all with a grain of salt.

[lunawritesfics]

Excerpt from The Moon Laid Bear WIP

Her golden eyes traced my figure, ever so lovingly as they were apprehensive.

"From where did you get this child?" Her majesty inquired in a firm tone.

I looked down at the infant I was cradling in my arms. He was tugging and teething at his own feet, letting out cutesy gurgles and giggling occasionally. I truthfully hoped he would behave this way in time for the current trial, as my only other trump card, my foresight, would prove impotent against the Grand Council of Moon Priestesses.

With a knot in my stomach, I kneeled before the Elders and began to respond.

"Supreme Elders, your majesty, esteemed council members, I understand your concern regarding this child's existence which follows no known logic."

"That is quite the understatement, Imena." Supreme Elder Buesa interjected. I slowly shut my mouth that was hung open on unspoken words. I expected to get at least a bit further before the ridicule.

"You know very well that reality is at its most fragile during these trying times, and these outliers that evade the principles of validity should come to our attention first. Princess Imena, you are well known amongst the Grand Council as quite the meddler, so you best choose your words carefully and with concision if you hope to sway us regarding whatever happenings you got yourself into this time."

Concision. Concision. The circumstances are so unbearably tense and confusing right now that I can't even fathom how such a story could be compressed without revealing all the facts. There's the whole ancient conspiracy regarding our supposed 'benevolent god', the ripples of that concealed truth which explain the true reason behind reality's tenderness, the very fabric--

"Imena! Do shut that child up at the very least if you cannot get your excuses together!" There was clear disappoint and distrust weaved into Supreme Elder Buesa's command.

—

some more from my current draft!! i'm honestly having issues figuring out whether i like the direction i'm going in right now so i wouldn't be surprised if i don't keep this mlwkfjk writing is hard