#also most of these writers have written more than one thing so I definitely recommend going through their archives to check out more

[gouden-carolus]

Probably been asked. But what got you into Gen Kill?

Also, favorite fics from the fandom if you want to share.

Also, love your artwork

I don't think it's been asked before no! That being said, I don't think my venture into GK is particularly original. I watched Band of Brothers first (which I enjoy as a show but don't feel particularly fannish about) and then followed the natural progression into The Pacific and Generation Kill.

That was around 2013 though, and because I expected GK to be similar to BoB I didn't actually like it at first (I never made it past the second episode I think). For some reason I'd occasionally keep thinking about it now and then though, until I decided to give it a go again autumn 2022. After that there was no escape, lol.

Also, thank you! It always makes me really happy to hear that people like my art!

And sure, I can share some fic recs. I'll put them under a cut to give myself some space to talk about them.

Since this fandom has some incredibly talented authors it's very hard for me to pick favourites. So consider this more of a sample-sized selection of some of the great fics out there.

Brad/Nate Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt by hackthis This one starts with Brad finishing up his time with the Royal Marines throughout which he's been staying in contact with Nate by phone and email. It then follows Brad making questionable decisions about what to do with the change of status quo. I think the fic manages to balance a fine line where you can understand and sympathise with his thought process, while also wanting to roll your eyes at the stupidity.

Leading the Way by nogoaway Nate-centered fic that follows the somewhat convoluted path to self-acceptance, starting from childhood. Having never lived in the US I can't say if the setting's actually realistic, but it sure felt convincingly grounded in time and place. I also find myself comparing this one a bit to Born Ready by Makeit_takeit. They contrast each other, but both fics are to me equally convincing in their differing takes which I really enjoy.

Static by Nightanddaze What if there was a zombie outbreak in the middle of OIF? That's what this fic is about, and it's great. Great pacing that really lets the unease and hopelessness settle in. While it's definitely a Brad/Nate fic, this one's also plotty in a way that almost resembles an ensemble fic. If you'd rather have your zombie apocalypse fic with Brad/Ray flavour then there's also anthropocene, interrupted which is equally amazing.

Brad/Ray Day is Done by ama Given the canon that Generation Kill takes place in I think it's natural for there to be fics where someone is killed in action and this one is amongst my favourites. It follows Ray during Brad's funeral, giving us the perspective of the one left behind. It's beautifully written and painful to read, as I think it should be. If you like MCD fics I also strongly reccomend in ceremonium which goes for a slightly different premise but is equally amazing. (Much more upbeat is At the End of Your Life, You're Lucky if You Die, which is a Brad/Nate MCD fic with supernatural elements, but also really enjoyable).

Feel Like I'm Fixin to Die by codswallop Ray's got some psychic abilities in a world where this isn't unheard of, and where obviously the military is interested in that kind of resource. I think what I really like about it is that it mixes the added supernatural element with canon really well, and that the resulting conflict and resolution between Brad and Ray feels convincing. Another fic that's got Ray struggling because of supernatural abilities/mutations is Short Change Heroes, although I think the similarities between the two end just about here. It's still another good fic though.

it's time for a switcheroo by lennynards A body swap fic taking place during OIF, which is definitely very poor timing for these things. This one's really well executed and funny though. It also forced me to think hard about whether I'd fuck myself or not, if given the opportunity.

Misc. Pairings Remedial Action (Trombley/Walt) by paintstroke Not a pairing I'd ever given much thought to before, but I think it's great when an author wanders off the beaten path. What I really liked in this was Trombley's voice and how it feels like the guy we see in the show while also taking the necessary steps of going a little deeper to turn him from a caricature into more of a character of his own.

You and I Both Know that the House Is Haunted (Christeson/Stafford) by marycontraire Kid fics aren't usually my thing, but this fic makes excellent use of a character in Stafford's daughter to provide an outsider POV that really elevates the story. It's a fic that's maybe more about PTSD than romance, but I still found that it strikes a good balance. If you want something more ship-focused, then the author's also written a prequel of sorts which is also great.

[anistarrose]

This is my online accessibility (especially image descriptions) masterpost, which I update periodically whenever I find a new resource or guide. I worry this has the side effect of looking overwhelming in scope, so if you're learning about IDs and/or Tumblr-specific accessibility for the first time, I recommend you start with the first five starred posts. All post titles are clickable links!

*Why and how to write image descriptions

*Accessibility on Tumblr for new users (has templates, also talks about how to tag for flashing lights to accommodate photosensitive folks)

*I see an image and want to describe it: a step by step guide

*Fanart-specific and Tumblr-specific advice for image descriptions

*How to describe screenshots of tags

Why a short ID is always better than no ID

The key word for writing IDs: "Relevancy"

I want to make my posts more accessible, but can’t write IDs myself: a guide

Google Doc full of template descriptions for memes

Online image to text converter

Describing skin tone and describing hair (heads up that the posts themselves are undescribed and were written with fiction writers in mind; potentially still very useful)

How to remember to write descriptions (spoiler: by putting yourself in situations where you see descriptions more often)

Related, a Google doc of described blogs (almost all the blogs linked earlier in this post have tons of described posts and resources too)

(In my opinion, writing IDs is easiest to learn by doing — but especially if combined with watching other people do so. So follow some described blogs!)

Why not to put image descriptions in small fonts/italics (also, some non-definitive thoughts on IDs vs alt text, and why "both" actually makes sense as an answer in many cases)

More on IDs vs alt text from a visually impaired Tumblr user

Alt text vs IDs vs Captions with examples

Brief Intro to Transcripts/Video Descriptions

The People's Accessibility Discord sever (a very friendly community for crowdsourcing image descriptions)

How to make your blog's colors visually accessible - one of the easiest thing on this list!

Other easy things: show love to artists who describe their work, edit descriptions into your original post when someone provides one in the notes, and copy-paste inaccessible (eg, small text or italicized) descriptions as plain text when you reblog!

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, how to continue writing image descriptions while avoiding burnout.

Let me know if any of these links break! I personally don't describe nearly as much audio/video (got those audio processing issues), so this list is sparse on those resources, but if anyone has good guides/blog recommendations for that too, feel free to add on!

[thegirlwhowrites642]

Could you recommend us some of your favorite hinny fics? Love your work btw!

Thank you <3

I would tell you to look at my bookmarks on Ao3 but I'll give you some highlights (I'll keep wips out of this because I never know how to feel about recommending unfinished work):

Gone was any trace of you -- I'm pretty sure I've read this something like a billion times, I can quote it word by word

Come stay for the summer -- this is always such a light fun work to re-read, I'm a big fan of muggle hinny, I really have a soft spot for it

Altered -- the obsession I have for this one-shot, this to me is hinny in its purest form

A Weasley reunion -- some hardcore pining from Harry, and fake dating, what do you want more from life?

Time -- Harry realising he wants children, with Ginny. The specific way in which the realisation is written is something I adore

Summer rain -- this is great, what else there is to say really, it's just great

Sacred new beginnings -- I love how this somehow manages to be a retelling of sixth year despite being a muggle AU with young adults hinny

Orchards -- the author definitely has a higher opinion of the "golden trio" than I have but the way she writes dialogues between Harry and Ginny is perfect, she also does a thing I love which is to make Ginny actually funny. It's one of her main personality traits and yet it's forgotten so often, I think it happens due to some sort of unconscious bias about women not being funny (not native English speakers writers are forgiven though because being funny in a foreign language can be quite hard)

After the leaves have fallen -- this talks about what I call Harry and Ginny's never-ending argument and it's written so beautifully

Everything I am is yours -- I just noticed that on ao3 it's signed as the first chapter of two but it definitely can stand on its own and is a very well done muggle retelling of Harry and Ginny's story

take what I took and give it back to you -- a beautifully written soulmates marks au that doesn't really change Harry and Ginny's story but, as one of the comments says, seems to bring up an existing implied element of the canon one

Already here -- because Hannah's stories that I love the most (they are all great though) are wips, I'll put this one in the hopes that one day she'll decide to turn it into a multi-chapter story (@takearisk-ao3 think about it 👀)

The brilliant dance -- this is so fucking funny and entertaining while also being heartwarming. Fucked up but inevitable/obsessed with each other hinny spending their early 20s being a hot mess is my AU drug

Someone else's life -- finished reading this a few days ago, a very well developed brilliant idea

[I already know the second I post this I'll realise I've forgotten some brilliant work]

[sfstranslations]

hi! thank you for all of your wonderful translations ^^ however may i ask what resources you use? i am trying to translate stories as well but i dont have much experience and was wondering if you have any books or videos to recommend

(Disclaimer that most resources I can provide will by nature be tailored to Korean translation.)

If you mean resources for translating itself:

For a machine translator, Papago is the main one I rely on. Of course, learning the language yourself remains your best bet and one I would strongly advise over solely MTLing, because there's a lot that machine translation misses, so you'll have to essentially rewrite the text anyway to include nuances, implied meanings of idioms that the MTL translated literally, speech patterns, and more. You also have Google Translate among others, of course, but I find it misses the mark even more often than Papago.

Naver Dictionary will save your life. Of course, you can also look words up on Wiktionary, and also just actual Korean Wikipedia. Namu Wiki can be somewhat useful on occasion but it's rarely if ever got decent citations so don't over-rely on it.

Hinative is very helpful for confirming specific words including slang with native speakers! This one is a cross-language resource.

The Korean Wiki Project also has some useful reference pages, such as the ones on online slang and body part-related idioms.

If you mean resources for learning Korean, then I am definitely not the best person to go to for advice, because the way I did it was just frogboiling myself in 370 chapters of My S-Ranks over the course of 4 years and then slowly realizing I didn't need the MTL to finish processing before I understood what the Korean was saying anymore, which is neither a fast nor simple method 😅

Of course, for the early basics like the writing system and basic grammar, I used Duolingo and the Talk To Me In Korean podcast; here's the latter's SoundCloud with the lessons organized by level. I only listened to a few lessons, but my sister who listened to the whole thing is fluent in Korean! (And also one of the editors/quality checkers I rope in from time to time.)

One thing I would definitely recommend is to make sure you're balancing your exposure to written/spoken forms of the language. I am very much a reader over a listener, and my sister very much a speaker over a writer, so we frequently run into issues where I can't recognize a word she's saying because its pronunciation differs from the actual written spelling and I've only ever seen the latter. And that then creates problems when I need to research something that's in an audio format and can't understand what they're saying. Listening to music and watching shows in your target language can make the balancing process both fun and instructive :)

That's all I can think of at the moment. If I remember any other resources, I'll come back to add them. I hope this is what you were looking for!

[krsnaradhika]

Fanfictions and Hinduism.

Those who are active on Wattpad, might know that there are many many writers (including myself) who tend to write fiction over itihāsa or historical epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, purely for fun and our love for them. It seems very odd, yes, and we do get to see blasphemy there too. People love some characters, hate the others with a burning passion and there are hour long debates over human nature, characterisations, myths involved, folklores and the many versions both of them have.

We have OCs, we make graphics and video edits, we pair the said OCs with CCs and sometimes with other OCs. The comment sections are the most fun things because writers and their audience interact there. Some works are much more impressive than published paperbacks while some are simply atrocious. You know it, shades are everywhere.

Now, very recently did I come to know that in Tamil literature, a fictional tale that is weaved around a couple or more incidents or points coming from the purānas or itihāsas is called a prabandha. Fun, right?

We do get to see fanfictions in Hinduism by the name of Pancharātram by Bhāsa (the one who also penned Svapna Vāsavadattā) and Kalidāsa's Abhigyāna Shākuntalam. While the latter romanticises and adds non canon events to the canon event of Lady Shakuntala and King Dushyanta's love story, the former is about a "what-if" scenario based on the Mahabharata.

So, do we promote fiction writings on such stuff? Definitely. I got much into the Sanatana culture solely via such fictions. They promote higher thinking skills, brainstorming, even fun facts many a times if the author is literate enough. And is that different from disrespecting scriptures and our very own ancestors? Also yes. Because neither of these authors claim to strictly follow the canon events. You do not like something you see, click away. As easy as that.

Do I support all of them, tho? For sure not. There are some which whitewash the bad guys and blackwash even the divine figures. Some straight up induce cringe. But that's just my opinion. A debate is always based on facts, not personal opinions. So yes, you do you.

But are they also dangerous? Umhm. Look at the Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. One word : atrocious. Some modern day prabandha style novel which sat a little above average in my reading experience? Abhaya by Saiswaroopa Iyer is the one (she's also written Mauri, Avishi, Draupadi and a few more if I'm not wrong.) (Abhaya is an OC paired opposite Kanha and tbh their chemistry was chef's kiss jsjshdjsjd-)

Should you write such, if that is what you want? Yes! I'd love to read-

But do you have to be careful with the message you deliver via your work? Swayam vichar kijiye *wink wink*

Some fanfictions which I may recommend. Note : not all of them involve OCs. All of these are from Wattpad. The authors' usernames are in bold.

— To Love A Murderer, Hope Embodied, and Samsrishti ; ruhitherambler.

— Satata Haritam ; Ramayana_Lover.

— Hello Mahabharata and My Days In Mahabharata ; thewomanwhobleedsink.

— Sambhavāmi ; indeevara18ls.

— Mathuraraaj ; Shivran86.

— Ehi Murare ; kanakangi.

— The Diary Of A Gopika ; Thoughtshub.

[turtleblogatlast]

hey!!! this is less of an ask and more of a fic rec tbh 😭 but have you read 'I May be Invisible, but I Still Look Good" by Dandy over on Ao3???? It's after the movie AND Leo-centric and like he gets cursed so his spirit is ripped out of his body. It's like 125k words of wonderful storytelling

OH- but for an actual question, do you have and fic recs?? or any AU's you think people should go check out?

I tried answering this before and it erased my reply orz

ANYWAY YES I HAVE read this and I absolutely love it with every fiber of my being.❤️ 100% one of my top fics to read in this fandom that I even go back to for a reread more than once. The characters are perfectly done and the set up for the story is believable with a fantastic payoff, highly highly highly recommend to anyone who hasn’t read it yet.❤️

As for recs, I’ve always been terrible at giving recs since my memory is very bad especially for ones I haven’t read in a while.😭 Off the top of my head I can recommend (note these are practically entirely Leo-centric since he’s my special guy you understand (the others aren’t forgotten at all though!!!) - and most of these are very very well known so you’ve likely already read them…):

[Note many of these are unfinished and may remain that way - please no one harass the writers for more, let them write at their own pace if they choose to write at all]

- The Neon Void by sugarpastels is absolutely incredible, the dramatic irony of it all as we follow Leo in the state he’s in and see just how broken all the Hamatos are by his “death” is just 👌👌👌 The fact that this places with one of my favorite tropes aka “Leo being in the Prison Dimension longer than canon” is just so good. Genuinely a thoroughly gripping tale that I highly recommend. It’s not complete yet (a lot of this list isn’t) but what is there is so amazing please read (though you most likely have read it already haha)

- little kid with a big death wish and firefight by remrose are another two you’ve likely seen but by god are they worth the read. Firefight isn’t done yet but it and death wish are so amazingly well written and really go into how trauma affects people differently and how ties with family can be tested in traumatic situations. Hard subjects definitely but very maturely done. (Also I misread firefight as firelight for way too long before I realized it-)

- Power Up and Times Five by pickedcarrotsandradish are both unfinished but I can’t care because what we were given is so good that I’m fine with them as they are. Both deal with Leo’s insecurities and bad feelings about himself and, very importantly, the fics go into how these insecurities establish a base for Leo’s very real flaws and how those flaws push him to act the way he does. Very interesting and compelling stuff here!! Power Up especially does really cool things for the boys’ mystic power ups, especially Leo’s, and I loved reading about the ins and outs of what they could do.

- Race Against Life, Death, and the EPF by Cass_Phoenix is just so engaging to read??? Like I love the entire set up for it - it’s feels so fresh and like you’re in Leo’s desperate situation yourself. I was so excited whenever a new chapter came out because the atmosphere was so well done.

- A Mixed Bag by GreatlyBlessed is SHOCKINGLY not Leo-centric for once haha. It’s not completed, but again, like the others above it is so good that I recommend it anyway. This story is actually a crossover between four sets of TMNT (‘87, ‘03, ‘12, and Rise) and the dynamics set up in it are SO fun I love it. Team 2 is my fave because you have literally all my faves on that team how could I not?? I also highly appreciate that everyone gets a chance to shine and that there’s no bashing at all, they’re all just very much in character and it’s refreshing to read ❤️❤️❤️

There’s a LOAD more that I could recommend I’m sure but I don’t remember them off the top of my head at the moment.😭 If I remember I’ll come back and add them in!

(Forgot about AU’s- honestly there’s some that I see and catch up on when I see them but there’s just so many that it’s a bit difficult to keep track of sometimes! I’d have to go around and fully look through many before having a solid answer haha! The ones I do see are always so well done though, I may come back and add them here if I remember 😅)

[syn4k]

hello!!! as you are the resident miante person in mcyt (there might be another one but in my opinion it's you) I have a question: if I wanted to watch mianite how would I go about that/where do I find it? I know it's a youtube thing but I don't know which channel it's actually on and I am. Extremely Curious about it & want to watch it but I have no idea where to do that /genuine question

(also, I know it's got multiple POVs, is there anyone you'd recommend I start with?)

hello! thanks for the ask!

mianite has four main POVs that remain in VOD and episode form on the creators' channels, they all have a playlist for it and you can find them pretty easily by looking up "[creator name] mianite s1" on youtube.

i recommend starting off with jordan captainsparklez' POV like we did, as he is involved in mostly everything in both s1 and s2 and his episodes are edited down to only really have the important bits. if you decide to watch back through the series later from another perspective, tom syndicate's POV is another good one to watch as he's kind of on the opposite side of everything happening in s1 and it puts a lot of his actions in context that jordan left out of his episodes.

if you don't want to watch through the series in its entirety (which is completely understandable), fern @voidandradiance has made a playlist of the important lore moments in both mianite s1 and s2 that she'd be happy to share :]

also it's really funny to me that we are the resident Mianite Guy to you when we've only been here for like, six months. this series turns ten years old today and there are people in this fandom who have been here since the beginning of it or at least who have been here for way, way longer than we have.

if you do end up sticking around here, i cannot recommend these people enough:

@kiwibirdlafayette - AMAZING artist who has been here in the trenches here since 2014. syndisparklez enthusiast. his art-only blog is @grailknightmonty and he also posts Hermitcraft stuff occasionally :3

@transandor chase my good friend chase!! resident Jordan Captainsparklez Guy. brilliant writer, also happens to be fistfighting The Horrors, you know how it his

@voidandradiance i already tagged him before and i'll fuckin do it again because this bitch's writing is stunning beyond words and xyr brain is HUGE. if you like the style of the stuff we write, you'll LOVE fern's work. its so beautiful that i physically cannot overhype it. its so good, y'all. its so fucking good.

@syndianites is, as far as we're concerned, the mouth of god himself when it comes to Tom Syndicate SynHD. there is nobody on this site who understands this character better than she does. they consistently leave the most galaxy brain objectively correct tags about him on our posts and she never fucking misses. this bitch Gets It and i am very lucky to be her friend

@coolcattime's blog is more of a general purpose one, like ours is, but she carries the f/f ships in the Mianite fandom and is also a great writer! she's written a lot of neat AU ideas and although we haven't talked with her much she definitely lives up to her url- she's one cool cat :]

@cactusprisms is also someone that we see around a lot in the notes of our mianite posts, although we unfortunately havent talked much. also more of a general purpose blog but worth following anyways. shes vibing.

hope this helps! <3

[starful02]

Life is wild sometimes. I made a small decision almost a year ago, based on a recommendation of one of the most positive individuals to ever grace my life so far, and I firmly believe that it has changed the course of my life. The decision was to sign up for a class about fantasy writing and publishing that my university was offering, which is the exact genre I so desperately want to have a career in (I want to be a writer you see). That fall I took the 8 week class and it happened to be taught by none other than the absolutely wonderful, utterly amazing fantasy author Alex Rowland (aka @ariaste). If you asked myself or any of my peers, we will happily tell you that this class was one of the comfiest, kindest, most encouraging academic experiences we have ever had and that it has changed our lives. Anyone who has taken at least one creative writing class in their life will tell you of the horrors that ruthlessly plague them and all sorts of traumatic incidents endured. This class was a soothing balm to a disheartened soul with trampled ambitions. You might be wondering where I'm going with this? Well, when you take a class with an author, they tend to gush rather happily about their work. It did not take long for me to know in my heart of hearts that I NEEDED to get my hands on Alex's latest book, A Taste of Gold and Iron (aka ATOGAI). And when I finally got the perfect chance to read it a little over a month ago, when I tell you, it was chapter five when I became undeniably aware that this book had snatched my heart and I would gladly let it have it for the rest of my life. If I hadn't already bought all of Alex's books on a strong hunch that I would absolutely, completely and utterly fall in love with ATOGAI, I would have definitely right after I finished that chapter. This is inarguably one of the best books I have ever read, checking all my boxes (including ones I didn't even know I had). I don't think it's possible to praise it enough because it deserves it all. The wait I endured before I could read it was so worth it and I will be forever grateful for the sheer chance that it and it's author entered into my life. It shattered my high expectations and I will never be the same and couldn't be happier about it. Now, I still have to read the other books that Alex has written (and I will savor them like a piece of the finest of desserts and I haven't the slightest doubt, despite that I tend to be more on the quiet side, I will be absolutely mouthing off about them to anyone who will listen), but I want to specifically highlight their upcoming book, Running Close to the Wind (aka RCW). Because I was in their class and a part of their Discord, I have been treated to several chapters of the book and I can very firmly tell you that you need this in your life. It's terribly funny, utterly vibrant, very queer, full of gremlin chaos and pirate shenanigans, all good and wonderful things, right? I knew I needed it in my life half way through Alex reading chapter two to us. It comes out in June of this year and I so highly recommend you give it a look see. You can read an excerpt in the link below!

And if you too decide that you need this book in your life, go preorder it and then come join a Discord full of awesome queer pocket people that are also terribly excited for this book to be in our hands! I will also be posting fanart of ATOGAI and RCW if you also want to keep an eye on this little habitat of mine. :) Either way, best wishes and happy reading!

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  steddieasitgoes! @steddieasitgoes has 27 works posted to AO3 in the Stranger Things fandom and 23 of them are in the Steddie tag!

Our anonymous nominator recommends the following works by @steddieasitgoes:

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)

for a fortnight there, we were forever

honey i'm still free (take a chance on me)

You Were All Yellow

Eat Your Heart Out, Big Boy

"Her fics are SO FUN. I have enjoyed every single one that I've read IMMENSELY and am always talking about them to my friends after I've read them <3" -- anonymous

Below the cut, @steddieasitgoes answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

Was I supposed to watch Eddie throw Steve his vest – the quintessential 80s romcom moment – and be totally normal about it? But in all honesty, there’s just something about them that compels me. When you dig deep into their personalities and arcs, they’re really two sides of the same coin and there’s so many ways for that to manifest in fic.hen

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

I had to consult my ao3 bookmarks for this one and “getting together” tops my list, which really isn’t a traditional trope but I absolutely adore that mutual pining, idiots in love sort of thing that happens in those fics. Bonus points for slow burns!

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

Idiots in love for sure. Again, not a typical trope but I’m pretty sure it’s tagged on just about every fic I’ve written. It’s just so easy to slot them into those roles and banter their way into a love confession. The show is so life and death all the time, that I like letting them be goofy boys.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

This is like asking me to choose if I’m more of a Steve girl or an Eddie girl – impossible! But if I had to narrow it down to a top few, I’d say: the most remarkable thing by greatunironic, rounding third, sliding home by througheden, better by you, better than me by palmviolet, and is your light on? By Adure

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

Outside of fic I’m a huge fan of enemies/rivals to lovers so I think that would be fun to explore between Steddie. There’s a hint of it in Signed, Sealed, Delivered but I think their hatred fizzles out really quickly and I definitely want to play with something where that takes longer to happen.

What is your writing process like?

It sort of depends on the project, but typically I get a kernel of an idea. Somethings that’s a setting, sometime it’s a bit of dialogue, sometimes it’s just ✨ vibes ✨ Then I’ll add it to my jumbled mess of a notes app on my phone and keep adding to it as I get ideas. When I wrote my first fic (Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore) I had no outline whatsoever. I just knew I had this one scene in mind and kept writing and building the world until I felt the moment made sense to happen. Nowadays, I’m a bit more organized when it comes to longer fics. I’ll usually do a bare bones outline with the major beats I want to hit outlined. This gives me enough structure to not feel lost, but also lets the characters breath one the page and make their own choices. Every fic, but the one I’m working on now for the steddie big bang, I’ve written chronologically which helps me because I can see the progression of the relationship dynamics in real time.  For one shots, it’s somewhat similar. I start with a kernel of an idea and a general plot in my head and just write and hope for the best lol

Do you have any writing quirks?

I think I use the same sentence structure a lot which drives me nuts, but I can’t always help it. Motif-wise I don’t think I have a unifying theme amongst all my fics, but I can almost guarantee that there will be some kind of third act break up. Happily ever afters are always going to be in my fics, but I like to make them work for it. Also they do a lot of gazing at each other and things in my fics. So much gazing!

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Generally, I like posting when something is completely finished. But I get antsy and have been known to start posting when the fic is 85% done and then procrastinate on writing the end until my deadline is looming.

Which fic are you most proud of?

I’m proud of all of them for different reasons, but I was really blown away with Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore. I hadn’t written fic in years and had never written a third-person mlm story before. At the time it was also the longest thing I had ever written. It definitely made me fall back in love with fictional prose writing and the steddie community as a whole.

How did you get the idea for Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)?

It was actually inspired by a ficlet I had written earlier that year and decided to use as inspiration for the full length fic. I was driving around and I kept seeing mail trucks everywhere and I remember getting an image of Steve in those short khaki shorts, carrying a satchel full of mail. And then I remember thinking “I wonder what Eddie would think” and the worms took over. I will say, expanding it into a full fic did take some time though because the ficlet was just vibes

When writing Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours), what was something you didn’t expect?

How long it ended up being lol I think it came in double what I had predicted it to be. I also didn’t expect to write it in the way I did. All my other fics are very traditional in that each chapter is a day or a couple days and it follows a clear timeline. With Signed I really went for a vignette, slice of life sort of storytelling which was a bit difficult initially but I think it paid off in the end.

What inspired honey i'm still free (take a chance on me)?

That one was written for a valentine’s discord server so it was based on the prompt steddiealltheway on Tumblr had submitted. It took me a minute to work out the plot, but I liked the idea of Robin getting to be the wingwoman for Steve.

What was your favorite part to write from for a fortnight there, we were forever?

There was a metaness to that one that was so fun to write. You have Eddie falling in love with Supernatural, a show that was known for making questionable decisions in the end and talking about how fanfic saves the day and that’s exactly what I’ve spent the last two years doing for him lol I love the idea of Eddie being a fandom kid like all of us, and dragging and unknowing Steve into it with him.

How do/did you feel writing Eat Your Heart Out, Big Boy?

At the time I think I just wanted to write something fun and silly because I was deep into Signed, Sealed, Delivered at the time and was feeling bad about not sharing anything. It was like a palette cleanser.

What was the most difficult part of writing You Were All Yellow?

Definitely deciding which yellow objects I was going to use and figuring out how to string them together in a clear narrative arc. It was a puzzle of sorts that took a lot of patience to figure out. It was also a bit reverse-engineered where the objects dictated what the story would be. I think it would have been easier if I had the story first and then found things that fit that narrative.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

I struggle with writing poetically, so I was really proud of this line from Duck, Dodge, Don’t Fall In Love: “He feels like an astronomer falling in love with stars for the first time in the untouchable night sky. Because that’s what Steve is, right? A dazzling force that Eddie can steal glances at but never touch, never reach.” But also any and all smut scenes I’ve written. That was an incredible challenge at first and I literally wrote the first make out scene ever under the covers of my bed lol

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I’m planning to participate in this year’s Steddie Week with some (hopefully) short one shots. And then I have my big bang fic When The Buzzer Sounds that will come out later this year. Other than that we’ll see. My notes are overflowing with ideas it’s all about finding the time and the right one.

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

As I write this I’m not sure who nominated me, but I want to say thank you to them! It’s so wild to me that people resonate with the silly stories my brain comes up with and I’ll never take that for granted. There’s so many creative steddie fic writers out there and I’m so happy to be one of them. We really blew up overnight and it’s been so fun watching everyone grow together. And I want to thank all the mods behind this blog for helping share writers hardwork!

Thank you to our author, @steddieasitgoes, and our anonymous nominator! See more of steddieasitgoes's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[luthwhore]

a while back i made a recommended reading list for lex luthor, and originally didn't plan to make a superman one, since it's a lot easier to find reading lists for him, but a lot of the reading lists i see either tend to be very short and have the same 5-10 books on them, or feel way too expansive and overwhelming, so i wanted to make a list of some of my personal picks!

this list is designed to help relatively new readers get to know the character, so i've tried to focus mostly on things that are accessible to people with only minimal knowledge of the character/world (with one single exception).

i also have not included any pre-crisis stories because i don't feel like i've read enough pre-crisis content to confidently recommend any specific comics, but i might one day come back and add a section for pre-crisis comics later!

❤️ = Personal favorite

Origin Story

Superman: Birthright, by Mark Waid ❤️

Superman: Birthright is what I would consider to be the definitive modern Superman origin story, featuring modernized versions of many Silver and Bronze age concepts. Mark Waid is, imo, one of the best modern day Superman writers in the sense of really understanding the core of his character, so I would highly suggest starting here for an understanding of who Clark is and what makes him tick. Optional: If you like "Birthright", the presently incomplete "Last Days of Lex Luthor" is a direct follow up to it, also written by Mark Waid, and delves deeper into the complicated relationship between Superman and Lex Luthor.

Superman: Secret Origin, by Geoff Johns

Written a few years after Birthrigh, "Secret Origin" technically supplanted Birthright as the official canon. Like "Birthright", it attempts to modernize many Silver/Bronze Age concepts, though it takes a different route than the aforementioned "Birthright."

Post-Crisis

Superman: Up, Up, and Away, by Geoff Johns & Kurt Busiek

Set after the events of the DC events Infinite Crisis and One Year Later, though it's not necessary to read either to follow this arc. After a year long break from being Superman, Clark returns to the cape. Since Infinite Crisis served as one of many soft-resets for the pre-Flashpoint DCU, it's a solid arc to start with.

Superman: Last Son, by Geoff Johns

Clark learns of another Kryptonian child on Earth and decides to take him in and introduces the character of "Chris Kent." Follows "Up, Up, and Away". This arc technically ran concurrently with the "Camelot Falls" arc, with "Last Son" being the Action Comics storyline and "Camelot Falls" being the "Superman" storyline. (I would recommend reading "Last Son" first, since otherwise you might be confused by Chris's presence in "Camelot Falls".)

Superman: Camelot Falls, by Kurt Busiek ❤️

One of my personal favorite post-Crisis Superman stories. Clark is told that the only way to avert an apocalyptic future is to give up being Superman. One of many, many stories that asks the philosophical question "Do heroes actually make things worse?" but has a very fresh and uplifting take on the premise.

New 52

Action Comics (2011), by Grant Morrison

Grant Morrison's Action Comics is a very sharp departure from the pre-Flashpoint version of Superman, instead choosing to do with the Golden Age what Mark Waid's "Birthright" did with the Silver Age. Morrison's Superman here is significantly more hotheaded and aggressive than the previous decade's version of him, but he's by far the closest to Siegel and Shuster's original vision for the character, so it's worth a read.

Superman: Unchained, by Scott Snyder

A Superman vs the US military story, with art by the legendary Jim Lee. It's a little dark in tone (and in color scheme) for Superman, but pretty in-line with the tone of most n52 books.

Rebirth and Beyond

Superman: Up in the Sky, by Tom King

A story that shows the lengths Superman is willing to go to in order to save one person. Has some very cute interactions between Clark children, and in general really gets the heart of Superman as a character.

The Warworld Saga, by Phillip Kennedy Johnson ❤️

A massive story following Superman to Warworld, where he works to free a group of Kryptonians being kept as gladiatorial slaves. Leans heavily into the idea of Superman as a Moses allegory, with the Authority as supporting cast. Over all a really beautiful story, both in terms of the plot and the art. Imo, the best Superman story from the last decade. Optional: If you like "Warworld" make sure to read the rest of PKJ's Action Comics run. His last issue of Action Comics just dropped recently, so you could absolutely sit down and binge the whole three-year run straight through.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest (2021 - ongoing), by Mark Waid

Set during the early years, featuring Superman, Batman, Robin (Dick Grayson), and occasionally Supergirl. In true Mark Waid fashion, it pulls heavily from the Silver Age, and manages to balance Silver Age campiness with more modern storytelling. (If you're a Superbat fan and you're somehow not reading this already, you should be.)

Superman (2023 - ongoing), by Joshua Williamson ❤️

The current running Superman arc. Another soft-reset for the Superman canon, meant to serve as an easy starting place for new readers. Beautiful art, hopeful and uplifting, and features my personal favorite take on the Lex in the comics, which should really tell you something. Optional: Action Comics issue #1050 sets up some things for this comic, but you won't lose much by skipping it.

Self-Contained Stories

Superman Smashes the Klan, by Gene Luen Yang ❤️

A YA graphic novel based on an old radio show. Set during the 1940s during Superman's early years, and really takes Superman back to his roots as a champion of the oppressed. If you read no other book on this list, please read this one. It's a quick and easy read and gets right to the heart of who and what Superman is.

Superman: For All Seasons, by Jeph Loeb

A story spanning four stages of Clark's life, with gorgeous artwork by the incomparable Tim Sale. Delves into Clark's relationships with most of the important people in his life, including his parents, Lois, and Lex.

Superman: Secret Identity, by Kurt Busiek

A meta twist on the Superman story with a boy in the real world develops Superman-like powers and has to grapple with what that means for him and what to do with those powers. A really excellent deconstruction of Superman.

All-Star Superman, by Grant Morrison

Superman, upon being told he has only a few days to live, chooses how to spend the rest of days. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Superman stories of all time, but features a lot of deep cut lore and will resonate more if you're more familiar with the characters. This is the one book I would not recommend starting with. Also leans heavily on the Silver Age canon.

[sadiegirl2021]

Writing tag game by @bonecarversbestie !

Describe your writing process from idea to posting/publishing?

I have a notes app called EasyNotes where I jot down all my ideas as I get them; bits of dialogue I think would work in a fic, interactions between characters (which always come to me just as I'm about to drift off to sleep) and very, very rough outlines of chapters.

Then, I'll word vomit onto a doc and copy in any notes I had.

Because I'm better at dialogue than describing the scene, I'll write out all of that first and then work from there to flesh it out. Like starting with the skeleton.

Once I have the first draft done, I start my editing process. I go paragraph by paragraph correcting spelling and grammar (I have a Chrome extension called LanguageTool), and then I play the whole chapter through another Chrome extension called Read Aloud. Because of my ADHD, it can be difficult to catch all my errors by reading alone, so hearing it out loud helps A LOT! Would recommend it. (Although the voices used are hilarious. Hearing your smut scene's read out by a monotone robot is slightly traumatising 😂)

Once I'm happy with a paragraph, I will add HTML coding to it - the <p> tag. In my head, it's just the easiest way to mark that a paragraph is complete. If I'm still not sure about a sentence or paragraph, I will mark it in red to rework. I also add all my <i> tags as I'm writing, so I don't forget about them later!

I realise I'm doing too much! But, I quite enjoy the editing process.

Once I get a chapter or One Shot uploaded, I try my best not to read it again so I'm not continuously making little changes.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I want to be a plotter SO BAD! I've got Excel sheets, multiple docs with outlines, plot points, and a solid plan. And then boom! The characters run off like a crazed toddler in the opposite direction, and all I can do is follow. So… I guess I'm a pantser!

What do you listen to when you are writing?

I have multiple Spotify playlists depending on the mood of the fic/chapter I'm writing. If I need to write emotional scenes, I'll put on some heartbreaking Emo songs from 2006! Or, if my energy drops while writing, I'll switch to 90s pop. Generally, though, I just listen to instrumental music. One of my fav playlists is this one.

What’s your drink of choice (while writing)?

Water. I am booooooring. It is sparkling, though!

Promote yourself! What’s your favourite thing you’ve written?

I think it's Hot Girl Summer. This was supposed to be a little funny, 5-10 chapter fic that wasn't serious. And it has spiralled into a multi POV, 40-chapter story with so much plot! I'm loving the process, though. And I think I will definitely have to get it bound when it's all done.

Share a fic of yours that you think is underrated/deserves more love.

I'm going to say Hot Girl Summer too. I think a lot of people aren't as interested in stories that follow both Gwynriel and Elucien (and sometimes E/riel or another pairing with their favourite characters) at the same time. I haven't seen many fics that do it, but they’re some of my favourites in the fandom, and I’m so happy to add to that list. If you're hesitant, I highly recommend giving them a try!

My favs are:

Call Me Home (by @propagandaprincess)

A Court of Vision and Bloom (by studentwriter666)

Best Laid Plans (by @trappedoutside124)

Do you have any advice for new writers?

First of all, just do it! It took me 33 years to build the confidence to try. For most of my life, I didn't think I was good enough to write, even though I had so many stories to tell. In my 20s, I probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to take the plunge. Writing opens you up to criticism (which I hate!), but I’m forever grateful that 99.9% of my readers have only ever been incredibly supportive and encouraging.

Don’t be afraid to use tools that help you. I know my limitations with ADHD, so I created a process that works for me. Everyone has a different method, and the right one is whatever works for you.

Finally, finding a community of like-minded people makes the whole process a lot more fun. I love helping others develop fic ideas or beta-reading for them, and appreciate all the support they give me. It really motivates me to keep writing.

What is a writing style/technique that others do really well that you'd like to get better at?

Flow and angst! I'm really working on improving these areas in my writing. I'm quite impatient and tend to rush through the plot rather than building up tension. I know I need to slow down and let the story breathe, but it's so hard! I just want my characters to kiss within the first 5 seconds 😂

Is there a character you were surprised you enjoyed writing as much as you did?

Eris Vanserra!

Gods, I love torturing this man! I've redeemed him so much in my fic that I'll be heartbroken if he truly turns out to be just a dickhead in the canon ACOTAR world!

Thank you for tagging me @olenvasynyt

No pressure tags: @sunshinebingo @avabrynne @thevalkyriesshadow @aldbooks @hlizr50

[cinnamonest]

I know nothing about Persona let alone Goro Akechi but after reading the bsf and yan profile post I want to give this man a hug (and my tits). His story seems so sad ;-; and he's so pretty and for what?? 💢

Honestly, as much as I enjoy genshin I never truly found it to have any meaningful or extremely well written characters (which is not a bad thing, I just can't take them seriously when they all look like that lmao). All credit to making me think twice about them goes to writers and artists in the fandom. So the change in content feels soooooo nice. Made me appreciate your writing in another way

I've heard about Persona a LOT for years, but I didn't have a huge drive to play it until your liveposting (p.s I love the LP so much) and especially the posts with that one insane policeman guy who is a loser (affectionate, also giving him my pussy). Any recs? 😅

HE IS MY BABY BOY you're so right he is so pretty 😖😖😖 Akechi is genuinely an excellently written character, and Persona 5 Royal is one of the few games I think fully deserves to be so hyped as it is.

Tbh I think the problem genshin and similar games has is that there's so many characters, you have to essentially go out of your way to dig into lore to get anything beyond surface level from them. This happens a lot in series with lots of characters — like with Danganronpa for example, your experience of a lot of characters completely changes upon playing their free time events. A lot of genshin characters get very little screen time on the main story, so all their characterization is in their quests, lines, and character profile content. Which to be fair, with a game of this nature that's kinda the only way to really do it, so, I'm just glad they give us that extra content tbh. I've played some gachas that would introduce new characters but give very little beyond a design and name which is kinda sad when you want to know more about the lil guy you're playing with.

But AAAAAAAAAAAAAA thank you so much anon I am going to ramble here, but I'll put a tl;dr at the bottom!

Soooo if you want to get into Persona, I'd recommend the series in a certain order with some notes. There's 5 main entries in the series and a lot of spinoffs.

A word of advice in general with marathoning a game series: with any series it's a good idea to play in order of chronological and thus technological progression, especially if you intend to play the series back to back, otherwise going from a more recent game to an older one can damper your experience due to the decrease in graphical quality, gameplay smoothness, and general content quantity.

However for this series, the ideal order to play really depends on the factors of 1) which version of Persona 3 you choose to play, and 2) if you want to play Persona 1 & 2.

Regarding Persona 1 and 2: These are some of those games where your enjoyment will strongly depend on whether or not you're a person who is okay with some of the frustrations, limitations and slowness/jankiness common to old games (they came out between 1996-1999). I know some people don't mind or see it as a sort of vintage charm, while others get very frustrated with that — if you're the latter, I'd recommend saving yourself the frustration and skipping them, but if you like old games or have a high tolerance for jankiness, you could start here. I will also say that, even amongst the vintage/90s games fan crowd, P2 is definitely more popular and considered better than P1. It's also much better on the aforementioned issues.

Also, unless you have an original PlayStation or PSP, you'll have to emulate these.

Regarding Persona 3: there's several versions — the original came out in like 2006, then there was a remake version called P3 FES which added an epilogue (which is being added to the recent remake soon anyway), then a PSP remake called Persona 3 Portable (which has ports on modern consoles), then the most recent remake, Persona 3 Reload, came out just a few months ago in 2024.

Obviously the newest remake has vastly improved graphics and added lots of gameplay content. However, one of the biggest differences is that P3 Portable had the option to play as a female protagonist — this altered a lot of aspects of the game and is exclusive to that version (which has disappointed a lot of people hoping she'd be in the 2024 remake), so you can't play as her if you play Reload (unless, I believe, you play PC, there's a volunteer team currently making a mod for her).

Personally, I bought P3 Reload, and couldn't get into it, so I dropped it. Then I bought P3P on a whim and LOVE it so far. Getting to play as the girl protagonist makes a massive difference in my opinion, and more than compensates for the older graphics/gameplay. It's not just the romance routes either, her dialogue options, interactions, music, and overall vibe is different enough that it changes the feel of the story.

It really depends on what you value more — 2024-tier visual quality/gameplay and the epilogue, versus the Female Protagonist experience, so just pick which you prefer.

For the order thing, if you choose to play P3P (or the original/FES for whatever reason), I'd start here, but if you want to play Reload, I'd play it either last or just before P5 Royal.

Moving on, Persona 4: Golden and Persona 5: Royal are both the definitive editions of their respective games. They're remakes of the originals with a lot of added content, and unlike Persona 3, there's no reason to play the older versions over these. Notably their themes/vibes are kinda opposite of each other (big city world-scale societal rebellion versus small rural town murder mystery), I wouldn't say either story is better or worse, they're not really comparable and more a matter of personal taste.

As for the stories, admittedly if you've read my posts, you've essentially already been spoiled on the identity of the killers, but honestly it's still worth experiencing the story, there's multiple big plot twists before and after the reveals regarding Akechi/Adachi.

I would play Persona 5 Royal last, largely because it's widely considered the best entry to the series and is by far the longest. However if you only intend to play one game, it should definitely be P5 Royal. The only real flaw to P5 is it's much easier than previous games.

From here, there's a few more spinoff games, whether or not you want to play them really just depends on if you enjoy the genre. There's a bit of lore in some of them but nothing critical.

Dancing All Night/Starlight/Moonlight - dancing rhythm games

Arena Ultimax - fighting game, acts as an epilogue to P3&4

Persona Q 1&2

These are Nintendo DS spinoffs with chibi style art. I haven't played these and admittedly don't know much about them, I think they're dungeon crawler genre? It's popular for the aspect of which it involves the characters of the different main games, so you get to see them interact with each other.

The downside is that these games are oddly expensive, I think because there weren't too many copies. I intend to get them eventually.

Persona 5 Tactica/Strikers:

These are P5 spinoffs that put the cast in alternate stories, strikers is the closest to a true sequel from my understanding, tactica is more of a dungeon-crawler. I didn't get them because Akechi isn't in strikers and is just minor dlc for tactica.

The Phantom X

This is upcoming I believe, it's going to be a mobile game with a new cast.

The TL;DR of my advice:

- Play P2 only if you're into vintage gaming

- Play P1 only if you're REALLY into vintage gaming

- Play Persona 3 Portable if you really value the female protagonist/male character romance experience, otherwise play Persona 3 Reload

- If you play the original Persona 3, FES, or P3 Portable: start with that, then P4 Golden, then P5 Royal

- If you play Persona 3 Reload: play P4 Golden FIRST, then both P5 Royal and P3 Reload in either order.

- Play the spinoffs just based on what type of games you like, if any.

[highlordofkrypton]

Lucien

YESSSS LUCIEN THE KING LET ME RAMBLE ABOUT HIMMMM DISCLAIMER I DID NOT FINISH READING THE SERIES SO!!

How I feel about this character

Lucien is the real star of the show. I think he was written so strongly in the first book that even though I knew Tamlin was the main love interest, a part of me hoped that the book would swerve to Lucien. I hadn't read any spoilers, but I knew this book was HIGHLY recommended, so I expected something exceptionally good like... polyamory? Did that finally take the world by storm and were the girlies losing their shit over not one, but two book husbands? I was wrong, oops.

I think he has the most depth, all things considered, and it's a shame that SJM decided to cut Lucien down in favour of her favourites. As a writer, I believe that there will always be a character who steals the show unexpectedly, and when that happens, it should be nurtured, not destroyed.

He's definitely one of those characters who deserves the spotlight and can turn a story on its head if she just followed the muse.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

For Lucien, I look at his ships in different ways.

In canon, I think that Lucien and Feyre in the first book could've done amazing things. I DNF'd at ACOWAR so I have no business in the ship wars. I did write one Lucien x Elain fic, but that's mostly because I liked the prompt. I don't mind the ship, but I don't actively participate in Elucien things otherwise.

In my own fanfiction, I don't have Lucien shipped with anyone. The nature of the story doesn't leave room for Lucien to have a romance yet, and I tend to let these things happen organically than plan them.

In the Twitter AU, I do joke around with Tamcien or an OT3 with Tamlin, Lucien and Andras.

Lastly, I do have some oneshots planned for Cassian week and DO NOT ASK ME WHY my brain went this way, but Lucien x Cassian is on the list. Again, I don't really follow canon, so it's my himbo Cassian with Lucien. It'll be soft, loving things, which he deserves.

I'm generally open-minded to any ship, tbh. Someone just has to point me in the right direction.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

It has to be Tamlin and Andras. I dedicated the latter third of my fic to establishing their dynamic, and I really believe that the three of them balance each other out in a healthy way. Losing Andras upset that balance, and now everything is out of whack. I also had Andras w/ some Winter blood in him, so it was a nice balance between the fire of Autumn, the bloom of Spring and the cool winter (except Andras was not cold at all!).

My unpopular opinion about this character

Lucien's characterizations suffers at the hands of narrative that keeps putting him at the mercy of the 'main characters'. It's very possible to have charming and charismatic side characters, but there seems to be an inherent insecurity in the writing itself whenever another character other than the main couples starts to shine. I'm not faulting any of the other characters, I just really feel like after the first book, SJM seems to be forcing things rather than letting the story unfold organically. Not sure if this opinion is unpopular at all!

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

This may still happen, but I wish that we would have adventured with him when he disappeared for most of the narrative in ACOWAR. Where did he go? What did he do? How did he feel when he was apart from his mate? So much has happened to Lucien at that point, and he's such a clever character, I would love to hear more of his voice/see more of him. Not sure if SJM can deliver!

AHHH I HOPE THIS WAS OK!!

[orion-kenobi]

I finished stargate sg-1 a bit ago but instead of a full series review for now I'll be sharing my thoughts on seasons 9 and 10, Ark of Truth, and Continuum! These are just my opinions and I am more than happy to hear anyone else's thoughts and discuss. Everything is below the cut : )

I can understand why the plot and cast change would put a lot of people off the last two seasons, and it's possible that had I watched the show as it aired, my opinion would be different. But having known those things were going to happen I went in with an open mind. I ended up really enjoying season 9. Maybe it was the novelty, but I was mostly down with the Ori plotline starting out. It seemed like the writers had crafted a strong villain with a compelling storyline. Surprisingly I liked Vala and her dynamic with Daniel (considering I didn't like prometheus unbound) and while it took me a bit, I grew to love Cam. All around season 9 was a solid season with an interesting new villain and new characters.

Season 10 I enjoyed less.

It wasn't necessarily bad. There were a good bit of high points (the first 3 episodes, most of 200, the quest, the shroud, and bad guys to name a few) but ultimately I felt it wasn't as strong of a final season as it should've been. The Ori plot had so much potential but the ending was lacking. I also felt Unending wasn't a strong conclusion to the series. I would honestly prefer not to think about it. Enter Ark of Truth, a movie I found all over the place and disappointing. But at least they tried to wrap up the Ori stuff, I guess?

Fortunately, the writers did redeem themselves with Continuum! I found it very entertaining and fun. Definitely miles above Unending or Ark of Truth.

The general fandom consensus seems to be that the season 8 finale was a better ending to the show, which I agree with. I totally get stopping after season 8 if you want a nice, satisfying conclusion. However, I don't think everything after that should be completely written off. I genuinely think season 9 was good. If season 9 has one fan that is me. If season 9 has no fans then I am dead.

I'd at least recommend watching through season 9 and Continuum. Sure, you won't get an ending to the Ori story but you don't really get that if you watch all of it either :)

[julienbakerstreet]

Hi! What’s your favorite sherlock Holmes story/adaptation? Do you have any specific Holmes takes?

Hi! This is an overly convoluted answer because I’m incapable of brevity and love to ramble. In my defense, you asked. Obviously favorite story is an impossible question, but I will share the best response I’ve ever heard to this question by Sherlockian Peter Blau: “I am often asked that question and my standard answer is: the one I’ve read most recently. And to be mean, I’ll then say that it’s a story that most people don’t like, like The Mazarin Stone. I maintain that no matter what the story is, there’s something interesting and fun about it.” I definitely have preferences, but I agree that you can find something interesting in each of the stories!

On mystery value alone, I think The Red-Headed League and Blue Carbuncle are two of the best. Doyle didn’t always write fairplay mysteries, but I like it when they’re at least close! I generally recommend those to readers new to canon and/or the mystery genre. I also really enjoy how the stories deal with the concept of justice and social oppression, for which I love SCAN, YELL, COPP, SPEC, CHAS, and ILLU. It’s a pet peeve of mine when adaptations divorce mysteries from their social contexts and downplay Holmes’ deep-seated love of justice. Finally, there’s stories that I just love for how they expand the world and deepen the characters, like STUD, HOUN, GREE/BRUC (for giving us Mycroft), GLOR, 3GAR, DEVI.

Adaptations are also tricky because I love seeing how different people interpret the same stories and what aspects they choose to emphasize. One of the coolest things about being a Holmes fan is getting to see so many perspectives on my favorite stories. I love comparing how different adaptations from different countries/time periods depict Victorian England, because you can really see a difference in how the 80s viewed the 1880s versus the 2000s versus the 60s, etc. My favorite genre of adaptation, however, is Holmesian antecedents. The Holmes/Watson dynamic is really big in the mystery genre, but I have a soft spot for Holmes-inspired duos in other genres, like Bunny and Raffles and Jeeves and Wooster. 

As for Holmes takes, I recently watched a video essay that asserted that the main draw of the Holmes books is the mysteries, and I couldn’t disagree more. Sure, we all love the mysteries, but the pop-culture ubiquity and enduring appeal of the stories and the fandom are primarily due to how fascinating of a character Holmes is and how personal Watson’s narration feels. Reading these stories, told through the POV of a close friend, you feel like Holmes is teaching you his methods and encouraging you to apply them. I love Doyle, but other writers (specifically from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction) have written far better mysteries on a technical level that haven’t garnered half the attention and staying power as Holmes. The way Holmes encourages us to think about mysteries is dramatically more relevant to his popularity than the actual mysteries he solves. We see this in how people who’ve never picked up a Holmes book know where the “eliminate the impossible” quote comes from. There’s just something so cool about being in a niche community that’s simultaneously been so wildly popular for so long that references to it are inescapable– like, I caught a Holmes joke in Veep the other day! 

[ellesliterarycorner]

Tips for Underwriters

Last week we talked about overwriters, but now let’s talk about tips for all the underwriters out there. I didn’t mention this in my overwriting post, but whether you’re an overwriter or an underwriter, I definitely would not worry about it until later drafts! As I say all the time, the first draft is a messy, word-vomit baby, so don’t worry about a lot of the problems associated with overwriting or underwriting until your second or even third draft! It’s completely normal to underwrite a first draft, and a lot of times, underwriting your first draft will make it way easier for you in the long run! Laying down the skeleton of the story without a ton of description or other things is a completely legitimate way to go about it! But, once you get onto those later drafts, here are a few tips if you feel like you’re underwriting or your story is lacking! 

First off, I really recommend going through and asking yourself these ten questions for all of your scenes! If you answer all of these questions thoroughly, chances are you won’t be underwriting!

Where is this scene taking place? 

What does this place look and feel like? 

How much time has passed since the last scene? 

What is your character feeling right now?

What is your character’s reaction?

What is the natural, believable way your character should be reacting? 

What is the point of this scene?

What is your protagonist’s goal for the scene?

Where’s the conflict? 

Where’s your opening hook and strong ending sentence? 

These questions are a great place to get started making sure you provide depth for your readers!

But Does The Reader Know??? 

This is one of my biggest problems with a lot of books I have been reading lately. The writer will namedrop something that is clearly important in world, but does not explain it at all. They feel extremely underwritten because the writer assumes the reader has all of this background knowledge that they simply don’t have. I think a lot of it has to do with so many books being written like fanfiction. I’m not saying that in the sense that fanfic is poorly written, but in fanfiction there’s an understanding that the reader already has a decent understanding of the backstory they’re getting into. Anyways I digress into a completely different topic, but not explaining things properly is a problem that a lot of underwriters have. As writers, we sometimes forget that even though we have all of this information inside of our heads, the reader only knows what we tell them, so we have to make sure to give them a solid understanding the world and the characters. I also think that so many writers are scared of info-dumping that they just don’t explain things at all, but if you feel like you’re underwriting, go back and look through your story to make sure anything that needs explaining is explained!

Don’t Forget Internal Conflict!

Despite being my favorite conflict, I feel like internal conflict often gets left behind in a lot of stories. Most characters have one big external problem that they spend the whole story trying to solve, and while that big problem is absolutely necessary to the story, but if there’s only one problem in your story, you might find yourself more prone to having an underwritten story. How does this big problem affect your character internally? Are they super stressed out about it? Does solving the problem compromise their moral code? Do they have to forsake a core value in order to ensure their survival and the survival of their family? There are so many ways for your character to struggle with the main problem that ups the stakes of your story, adds conflict and character development, and can help up the word count as well! If you’re struggling and want a book with well-written internal conflict, see my favorite example the Hunger Games. It doesn’t get better than that!

All Go and No Show

Despite being a chronic overwriter, this is actually a problem that I struggle with as well. I think it’s because I write scenes out of order, and I tend to write all of the exciting scenes first because as a reader and a writer, I really like to jump right in and keep it moving to the last page. I used to get kind of annoyed when I stubble across what I consider a “filler” chapter where it feels like the characters are just sitting around and doing absolutely nothing. However, those less exciting bits are just as important often because they feature the internal conflict and character development mentioned above. If you’re only featuring the exciting parts of your story, it can definitely contribute to underwriting. It can also lead to another side-effect of underwriting: not having as well-rounded and fleshed out characters. Every time some big action thing happens in your story, you probably should include your MC’s reaction to it. How your characters react to things is important to them as a character and to your story overall. Now, am I saying that you need to write a 4,000 word chapter on every single detail of your characters’ feelings? No I am not, but if your MC gets hurt or betrayed or has a friend died, and then the next scene time has passed and they’re absolutely fine, it’s bad underwriting and unrealistic!