#also thank you so much anon that means a lot

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

How do you write comedy? I am lost and confused about how to be funny.

I am so flattered, unbelievably so, but also mostly stunned that people would consider me funny enough to be any kind of expert. Thank you, anon.

Though I'm going to say I am not an expert on comedy, and I can only speak for myself here, everyone is more than free to disregard.

That said--

At least for me, it's something I have a hard time putting into words of what's funny and what isn't. I can say "yes" and "no" to something I've written or read, but I can't tell you exactly why. I have no set formula of "if I do this, this, then this, the punchline will be fucking hilarious".

And note a lot of people disagree with me on what is and isn't funny. There's a lot of things people think are hilarious that I'm not too hot on. Friends comes to mind, I have never been able to get into Friends and people I know LOVE IT. I also love It's Always Sunny, which is well-acclaimed--but it's also a show that's not for everyone because it centers around such mean dirtbags of human beings. This isn't a bad thing, to each their own, but it is also something to keep in mind. You're never going to be funny to everyone.

Figure Out What You Like

But I think that's the best advice I can give: figure out what you find funny and try to think of why. What have you watched, and especially what have you read, that's fucking hilarious. The reading bit is important because writing is a completely different medium, and there's no direct translation from different mediums to it. Maintaining the joke with adaptations is difficult and requires a lot of thought about pacing and how it comes across.

But if you first figure out what you've read that's funny, you can then begin to ask yourself why and also how the writer pulled it off.

One thing I'm fond of, which is a reoccurring thing in pretty much everything I've written because I can't help myself, is miscommunication and a lack of introspection.

Character A has some internal goal 1 that for various reasons, mostly due to internalized conflict and stress as well as outside pressures, they must disguise as goal 2. Character B, on the other hand, genuinely has goal 2, and has no idea that Character A thinks any differently.

Therefore, Character A is in an increasingly desperate spiral trying to maintain the illusion that they want goal 2, which turns out to be diametrically opposed to what they really want of goal 1, while Character B either has no fucking idea or is slowly wondering "Does... Character A really want goal 2? They have to. Why would they lie about this? That's ridiculous".

I love that shit.

Some of the funniest stuff in the world to me.

Other things include Character A is in an awkward situation, some terrible polite nonsense, but they can't leave because then everyone would think they're rude, so they have to pretend they're enjoying themselves at this stupid dinner party, oh god.

And then the good old reliables like "Character A is confidently and consistently wrong and--oh--oh no--you want--hm--Character A has to prove it right now? Right here? In front of a national audience? And everyone genuinely believes Character A is the world's best expert because Character A has been bragging about this for months. Well." or even just "Character A says something so, so, stupid".

Never underestimate the comedic power of someone saying something really, really stupid.

But that's me, figure out what makes you laugh and try to figure out what it is about it.

Keep Characters Consistent/The Joke is in Service of the Story

This one's a bit more specific, and obviously people are free to disagree, but comedy works best when you know where you are and who's there.

Even for things that rely on a lot of gags like old Looney Toons, it works because Bug's Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road Runner, everyone is consistent.

If someone acts outside the realm of what they'd naturally do just for the sake of a joke, the joke doesn't work, it falls flat. It becomes "he would not fucking do this" and your audience just gets distracted.

Similarly, you can have a great joke going on, and it can even deviate from the plot/not wholly be necessary, but that has to be done very carefully otherwise it comes off feeling pointless and unnecessary. It shouldn't turn the characters into people they're not, and shouldn't take the audience so far out of the story they feel like they were slapped with a wet fish.

Don't Write Too Much but Don't Write Too Little

Timing is everything in comedy. A great joke can fall apart if it isn't delivered correctly.

Of course, "write gud" applies to everything else like prose, dialogue, and narrative, it's not exactly groundbreaking advice--but in terms of comedy for me the thing to watch for is a) if the joke takes too long/is explained in too much detail b) if it's not explained enough and the reader misses it.

In the case of (a), in writing, a joke can easily get bogged down by words. I can't tell you what is and isn't too many words, but it's one of those things you know when you see it, mainly that there's so much on the page that the readers forget the joke even happened. It gets buried which kills the joke.

The joke also dies if you repeat it too much, if in the prose or dialogue it consistently comes up and is reused, not so much as a running gag but a "did you get the joke?!" It's surprisingly easy to do and something to always watch out for.

However, in the case of (b), you have to have enough words on the page to convey the joke to the audience. You don't want to bury it or treat your audience like idiots, but they also do have to have enough to go on to realize a joke happened.

TL;DR

Watch and read stuff, learn by example

[yanderedrabbles]

No hate ,

Buuut the horror movie week isnt youre best work and it IS a bummer because you have other series that are super amazing like the outlaws, which you kinda left behind. 😬

Its just much more original.

Love youre work above all🫶

Thank you for the feedback anon, I really appreciate it.

Truth is, I write in a lot of different styles and not everything I write is going to be appealing to everyone. That's perfectly fine. That's not going to stop me from experimenting and trying new things.

Writing is something I enjoy and want to get better at. Naturally, that means I'm going to fall on my face a whole lot. I'm going to write pieces that are boring or cliche or trite. And that's just part of the process.

It's perfectly fine if you don't like every single piece I put out. For instance, I'm a pretty big Stephen King fan but there have definitely been times where I picked up one his books just to abandon it later on. It just wasn't for me and that's understandable.

I'll be continuing the Yandere Movie Week regardless, because I'm having fun with it. It let's me yap about fun movies with my readers, and it's a lot less pressure intensive and time consuming compared to my longer stuff.

I want to write often and I want to write a lot. That means writing stuff I enjoy, even if it isn't going to get a ton of notes. It's also the reason I post as often as I do - writing isn't easy, heaven above knows, but it is fun. Not what hemingway or dostoyevsky would say, but it's true for me.

I would like to point out that I'm not neglecting the yandere outlaw fic, because it isn't actually a series. The yandere outlaw fic is a one shot. I wrote the extra drabbles because I love my readers and I love answering their questions. I do have a few more drabbles planned for the outlaws, but not as part of any series.

It's up to you if you'd like to skip the rest of yandere movie week. I won't hold it against you. I've only done one fic and two reviews so far, so this is honestly just the beginning.

Lastly, I'd just like to say that I'm appreciative of all the feedback I get, positive or negative. The only way I'll get better as a writer is if I know where I'm going wrong.

That's all. Love you guys a whole bunch 😘

[tesscourtes]

blowing your bill a kiss because he was also one of my faves back in the heyday

The kiss cartoonishly lands on his cheek. He is now sending pics of your kiss to ford to make him jealous. congrats! you are now a culprit of his obsessive behaviour!

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

Hello may 31th anon! Look at that, another year behind us and a new one to come. Have a nice day! ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡

[bumblingbabooshka]

Your vulcan characterization is so wonderful, the light you shine on both canon and OC vulcan characters is genuinely VERY inspiring. You really encapsulate and give a believable look into daily vulcan life that’s fleshed out and, most importantly, loved. Your care for these characters is apparent in every word, and it shapes them into real people that feel both alien and familiar. In some of the fanfics I’ve read involving vulcans, it sometimes feels like the author is just writing very stern humans who are misguided in their approach to love and emotion. In your writing, however, it feels like you really respect vulcans and love their way of life- that you find beauty and interest in what’s alien to us. Which, I would argue, is a big part of what sci-fi should be. Idk, I’m trying to write vulcans myself, and the way you portray them is a huge inspiration. Thanks for all you do!

Anywho, how do you think Tuvok’s kids (as young children) would react to an arcade? The mental image of a vulcan kid submerged in a Chuck E. Cheese ballpit is personally very funny to me

I'm sorry this is so late but this ask is one of the most beautiful and touching ones I've ever received and I didn't know how to respond (overwhelmed, pleasantly) so here's a bunch of doodles of Tuvok's kids being incredibly well behaved during their family outing at the Space Arcade/Play Place

(Arcade Trip Play by Play Under the Cut)

Elieth is the only one interested in the ball pit. He isn't doing anything in there he is literally just sitting in silence and observing the different balls. He does NOT want to leave the pit!!! <- This is foreboding to his parents who know that he must, at some point, leave the pit. Varith and Asil go in the ball pit in an attempt to understand Elieth's fascination but are quickly bored. Sek watches them with his hands clasped behind his back. Whenever an adult asks if he wants to go in he says "No, thank you." He appoints himself the safety officer and will tell the other children not to play too rough and 'rescue' the smaller ones if they look like they're struggling. Asil wants to leave the ball pit and Sek manages to pull Elieth away with the promise that they will return - they will each pick an activity so it is fair! They all go into that large overhanging contraption (reminds them of caves - fun to play in!) but only three make it out again. They try to use telepathy to find their lost brother but they can't do it (too little) so they have to go find one of their parents who has to telepathically lead them to the exit. This almost gets the trip cancelled but they all promise to stay together this time!! Sek fulfills his older brother duties of being fucking sick at a video game all his younger siblings watch him play. This actually draws a crowd of more than just his siblings - a VULCAN playing video games? He goes up against a human, wagering their tickets, and he wins. However, since Sek is against gambling he does not accept the human's tickets. This only makes him cooler. Elieth wanders away to the ball pit during this time. The remaining Tuvoklings figure out that the claw machine is rigged and think this is unethical and unfair. To remedy this, they find a way to plant their sister inside the machine where she proceeds to hand out as many toys as she can before the employees catch wind and alert their parents. That is it. We're going home. Where is your brother? (In the ball pit.) While Tuvok wrestles Elieth out of the ball pit, T'Pel takes the kids to the prize counter and they put all their winnings together and ask to be able to take a ball from the ball pit home. The clerk says that isn't a prize and they ask again to be able to take a ball from the ball pit home. The clerk is tired and says Sure. Whatever. So they each carefully select one ball from the ball pit and give them to Elieth which stops his tantrum. On the ride home Elieth happily stares at the balls from the ball pit which his siblings got him and Asil takes out several toys from her backpack which she took from the claw machine. A very satisfying trip! Indeed, we should endeavor to make a visit once a week. (No.) Twice a week? (Further.) Once a month? (Perhaps.)

[moeblob]

Oh that's a dwagon! (they're so cute!)

Siblings that hoot and holler together, stay together. (thank you so much!! I love these silly lil kids)

[skeletalheartattack]

...am I just losing my mind or did yer icon become evil? I don't remember that BeAst behind Boe

yuuuump always been behind me

[marshmallowgoop]

Repostober Day 29 | 29 Years

Detective Conan began its serialization in Shonen Sunday 29 years ago, and it's still going strong!

I think this is the first Cone I ever drew, in December 2012. At the time, I had no idea that several years in the future, this series would become so dear to me—and would introduce me to so many wonderful people!

[xxplastic-cubexx]

your art got me back into x men…. (cherik specifically) i was in denial abt losing my previous hyperfixation but your art was the final nail in the coffin (NOT DEROGATORY BTW I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR ART)

WELECOME BACK MY FRIEND you can never escape !!!!!!!!!!!!!! not if i can help it ....

[sentimentalslut]

Sometimes I want to yell at you to update your fics but I remember you’re a whole ass lawyer and have a life.

also writers block dont forget the writers block

[presiding]

What is your favourite thing about Billie Lurk?

(Answers are obvious possibly but i love when people talk about her👍)

thanks for the ask!! YEAH ME TOO I love when people talk about Billie! I can't say I have a favourite thing specifically, but I can explain why she's my fav. apologies for not taking this qn literally, but -

short answer: she’s really cool

& you can stop reading there, or, for the maybe 2 mutuals who might have time to read this my thoughts on her as a character, her meta, and her character as raw potential...

long answer:

i considered making this entire thing a gush so you could read a gush about Billie. but, part of what draws me to her is that she’s not always well written, and in fandom she’s underrated for a literal protagonist.

since you ask...

billie is a cool character

when I played Dh2 (hadn't played Dh1), I was excited to see a black woman with disabilities who was captaining a massive ship by herself. wow.

then I discovered Billie’s backstory with Deirdre, the way she responded to that, then having to survive while living on the run, and her bisexuality. as well as her history with daud & delilah. fascinating!

she’s an outsider who has so much to lose, and knows what it's like to lose everything - having lost everything not once but three times - but nevertheless speaks truth to power. she's so brave! she went and helped Emily & Corvo and she must have known they might kill her! plus, she’s smart, she’s funny, she gets shit done, she’s gorgeous.

but... the meta

mild critique of fandom & arkane incoming.

skip this bit if you want - you've been warned twice now - jump to tired Hayao Miyazaki and read from there if you'd like my thoughts on writing her.

i thought Death of the Outsider was going to be amazing and then... well. *sad trombone* i've written about that before so i won't keep banging on. i figured others must be disappointed too, so I joined a few fandom spaces in hopes of finding camaraderie.

most people with complaints about DotO didn’t like how the Outsider and Daud were handled. which is valid & I agree. but it seemed like most paid no attention to Billie; when people talk about her it’s with respect to Daud, as opposed to in her own right. you could argue for fandom misogyny because people don’t talk about adult Emily Kaldwin that much either, but in Billie's case, it’s misogynoir (compare & contrast with the popularity of thomas, particularly the popularity of thomas portrayed as a white man for no particular reason that i've been able to discern - i keep asking around, is it in the books???).

i think this is a LOT better now than it used to be, which is fantastic. or perhaps i have found the correct echo-chamber? ha.

ultimately, The Fandom is a fraction of the entire picture, and not even the important bit since The Fandom is not who these games are made for. you can't make money relying on only your hardcore fans even if all of them spent a fortune on merch, this is true for any AAA game.

while it's true that Billie is underrated from a fandom perspective - but Billie as an underwritten protagonist is squarely Arkane’s fault.

it was reasonable when she was a side character - the lack of info in Dh2 makes perfect sense (if anything there was more lore in Dh2 which is kind of wild)-

- but as a protagonist in Death of the Outsider?

.... there’s lousy writing, and there’s whatever is going on with Billie Lurk, a black woman who mostly exists as a foil or saviour for light-skinned characters. In her own game there’s barely any of her own lore except where it's relevant to saving two dudes.

lore hints at, but barely touches on what race means in the Dh universe (xenophobia is stronger in Dh1; separate essay i guess), but Arkane has patted themselves on the back for portraying non-white characters, which feels like the same thing as the aesthetic of diversity we're seeing in advertising currently because it’s in marketing trend guides. it's self-congratulatory and it's a missed opportunity for deeper storytelling.

you can see an example of diversity at its most shallow in the way that Billie’s written: there’s little engagement with her as an entire person with history & wants & preferences, and the world she walks through in that game feels like it has nothing to do with her. you could make a case for alienation as a theme, but then, how do you handle the titular premise of 'Dishonored' without ever letting Billie make changes in an environment without a chaos system? it's disappointing from that angle too.

in my opinion, whatever it's worth, it was an accident Arkane created such an awesome character - they needed someone to betray daud. congrats billie.

all this said, it makes her an underdog as far as characters to enjoy & create art & stories for. it's nice to find so many like-minded, switched on people! <3

billie's character potential

she’s got a wealth of unexplored lore, being deeply intertwined with both Karnaca & Dunwall’s fates & criminal underbellies, as well as her connections to the witches & whalers, and three Empresses.

she’s lived a few distinct lifetimes and in the games we get to meet her at two peaks (KoD & DotO) & a low (Dh2 as Meagan).

her voice is very distinct, her dry & often dark humour is entertaining & fun to write. her perspective is really interesting - she’s had the widest variety of void-powers of anyone canonically, and she’s also lived through the highest highs and lowest lows.

she's got everything going for her :) i couldn't really pick a fav thing!

[pardonmydelays]

favourite lyrics from paladin strait?

paladin strait is honestly so special to me... the melody, the lyrics, the music video... and that fucking ending that i will never recover from??? (to quote tyler robert joseph: when you hear the end of paladin, you tell me, does it sound like the end?). i don't know, i'm getting emotional. thank you for this series, my lovely anon. it was fun. i love this album so goddamn much. here's my favourite lyrics:

i would swim the paladin strait without any floatation just a glimpse of visual aid of you on the other shoreline waiting expectations that i'm gonna make it

here's my chance, time to take it can't be sure that i'll make it even though i'm past the point of no return i'm all in, i'm surrounded put my money where my mouth is even though i'm past the point of no return

on the ground are banditos fighting while i find nico even though i'm past the point of no return climb the top of the tower "show yourself" i yell louder even though i'm past the point of no ret- *nico's evil voice* ...so few, so proud, so emotional hello, clancy

ok, i'm not gonna teach you the lore right now, but just so you know where exactly is paladin strait, here's a map of trench:

(where you can probably see shit but paladin strait is between that part of trench surrounding the walls of dema and the voldsøy island.)

[loopkinnie]

Smut isn’t even something I enjoy but your stories have fun emotions about it, and also plot. Tbh I think I just like seeing Siffrin suffer in any way.

This is both the sweetest thing ever and an ironic backhanded compliment

I'm trying really hard to write shameless smut here! The themes and plot keep sneaking in. I'm hitting them with newspapers but I still miss a few/silly

[midnightwind]

Quick Question again

If you Rook was a dog, then what breed? And what about the type of bird? Aaand maybe cat breed? 👁️👁️

Spite said that coffee smelled like Lucanis in one of the cutscenes, sooo What does Rook smell like to him?

What is favorite companion quest for your Rook?

*cracks knuckles* let's get this bread

Dog Breed: something very energetic and intelligent, clever and loyal, like an Australian Shepard! (or a husky for the simply image of Viago bringing a stray puppy home and then having to live with the fact that she can scream like a person and she does it all the time for fun) but Renn hates sitting still and needles Viago for a contract all the time when she's left to her own devices for more than a few days lol

Bird Species: some kind of corvid is the easy answer, like a Jackdaw! taking anything and everything shiny does match up with Renn looting every location the gang visits for an extra coin lmao but if we're going more for a pet bird, then something in the parrot family I think. like uhh, a yellow-naped amazon! they're social and vocal, but moody which lines up with Renn swapping from very easy going and nice to burying a dagger in your heart without warning!

Cat Breed: similar to the dog breed, so something like a bengal perhaps! it's another high energy breed, it's good at adapting, and it loves to climb which matches Renn very well~ I haven't gotten to write about that habit much, but if you can't find Renn she's either out on a run or you haven't started looking up enough

Spite Smells: First and foremost is her perfume! Red Berries and Jasmine is quite a sweet scent, not as bright as a citrus perfume but it's up there. Underneath that, though, it starts depending on Renn's mood. Sometimes she smells more metallic, like blood and blades, or that sharp burn of the ozone before a storm when she's using her magic a lot, or the sour decay of the poisons she keeps hidden in her gear. And of course, the usual Crow scents of leather and blade oil! Renn comes across as very sweet to him, with complex, sharp scents lying underneath for him to untangle.

Favorite Companion Quest: She's a fondness for Lucanis' quests simply because she loves having the excuse to return to the Crows and bother Viago, but with how dire and depressing the actual content of those quests are, she's not having fun with it. So, I think she actually has a lot more fun with Emmrich's quests. It's a whole new culture and approach to magic and, after finding Lucanis has a +1 in Spite, she kind of takes her previous fear and hesitation for necromancy and spirit calling and drops it over a cliff. She wants to learn more about spirits so she can understand Spite better! And she found a kind of solace in visiting the Memorial Gardens with the Professor and taking part in the Rites. Renn has a complicated relationship with her past before the Crows, but she never really dealt with what happened (or her father's death when she was little), she just pushed it all aside and threw herself into training and work. So I think that specific quest helped her find a way to let it go, to "put it to rest" in a sense.

thank you for more questions!!!

[lambilegs]

hi!! this is the anon who asked for the english major yap :) (uhmmm prepare for a long message i fear i also yapped for a hot moment HAHAH) i'm not an english major (it was my second choice though!) but i'm actually a criminology major!! still, it was so interesting to hear your opinions and stuff about being an english major and some of the things you have studied!!! all of those classes sound so interesting and i really want to see if my uni offers any ones similar to those!! i'm definitely going to find "i'm afraid of men" in my local bookstore this weekend. english was also one of my favorite classes :) and i LOVE reading and writing and definitely relate to not having time to read/write (i also relate to the "don't judge my writing" because i like reading and writing). i really enjoyed the yap session!!! the audio ramble felt like i was listening to a voice message from a friend, it was lovely :) and i would love love LOVE to hear (or read!) a ramble session about "does it happen in a season?" i loved that fic so much and hold it so close to my heart <3 (it was so fantastically written) anyways that's all i'm going to stop myself from yapping more HAHAH thank you so much for responding to my ask!!! i hope you have a great day/afternoon/night <3

[xxplastic-cubexx]

I think I remember you mentioning corset tops in some tags, so let me tell you that your fashion sense sounds amazing. I love when people are able to express themselves through clothing, it's always so cool, and your art is impeccable so I feel like that might be a good indicator too lol. love your blog!

AWH ty for lovin my art AND my alleged fashion sense 😏 i dont own a lot of corset tops- just like. Three (tho ngl i would like more) but i do have a. Particular style i suppose (enough of a style that people are semifrequent to compliment it). S’def real fun playin round with clothes and accessories :]