#and try to write some replies lol

[townofcadence]

Artair's fit for the party--- I drew the right one first but then settled on the left and then decided to do an extra doodle hehe

[lord-squiggletits]

One of my favorite parts of phase 2 (and indeed one of the few moments I resonated with IDW Prowl) was when the neutrals were coming back to Cybertron and Prowl said that he refused to let Autobots be pushed aside and overruled after they were the ones who fought for freedom for 4 million years (the exact wording escapes me atm).

And I mean, that resentment still holds true even once the colonists come on bc like. As much as it's true that Cybertron's culture is fucked up, and as funny as it can be to paint Cybertronians as a bunch of weirdos who consider trying to kill someone as a common greeting not important enough to hold a grudge over.... The colonists POV kind of pissed me off a lot of times, as did the narrative tone/implications that Cybertronians are forever warlike and doomed to die by their own hands bc it just strikes me as an extremely judgemental and unsympathetic way to deal with a huge group of people with massive war PTSD and political/social tensions that were rampant even before the war?

Like, imagine living in a society rife with bigotry and discrimination where you get locked into certain occupations and social strata based on how you were born. The political tension is so bad there's a string of assassinations of politicians and leaders. The whole planet erupts into an outright war that leads (even unintentionally) to famine and chemical/biological warfare that destroys your planet. Both sides of the war are so entrenched in their pre-war sides and resentment for each other that this war lasts 4 million years and you don't even have a home planet any more. Then your home planet gets restored and a bunch of sheltered fucks come home and go "ewww why are you so violent?? You're a bunch of freaks just go live in the wilderness so that our home can belong to The Pure People Who Weren't Stupid And Evil Enough To Be Trapped In War" and then a bunch of colonists from places that know nothing about your history go "lol you people are so weird?? 🤣🤣 I don't get why y'all are fighting can't you just like, stop??? Oh okay you people are just fucked up and evil and stupid then" ((their planets are based on colonialism where their Primes wiped out the native populations btw whereas the Autobots and OP in particular fought to save organics. But that never gets brought up as a point in their favor)) as if the damage of a lifetime of war and a society that was broken even before the war can just magically go away now that the war is over.

Prowl fucking sucks but he was basically the only person that pointed out the injustice of that.

And then from then on out most of the characters from other colonies like Caminus and wherever else are going "i fucking hate you and your conflicts" w/ people like literal-nobody Slide and various Camiens getting to just sit there lecturing Optimus about how Cybertronians are too violent for their own good and how their conflicts are stupid, with only brief sympathetic moments where the Cybertronians get to be recognized as their own ppl who deserve sympathy before going right back to being lambasted.

Like I literally struggled to enjoy the story at multiple points because there was only so much I could take of the characters I knew and loved being raked over coals constantly while barely getting to defend themselves or be defended by the narrative so like. It was just fucking depressing and a little infuriating to read exRID/OP

[hanzajesthanza]

(Adam Dudaczyk) The fact that vampires drink blood to get that *meaningful hand-neck gesture* - you made that up? (Andrzej Sapkowski) Yes, I didn't model myself on anyone here, I don't know anyone who wrote before me about the fact that vampires drink blood not to satisfy their hunger, but to satisfy their thirst for… entertainment. Texts: the guys sent me to get blood, I was flying drunk… The fun was great.

as i reread this i couldn't stop thinking of this meme

[daz4i]

ok so. inspired by a certain fandom discourse, i have a question, mainly turned to poc but hearing other opinions is also welcome 🙏

so, the scenario is this: the writers are stupid as fuck and named a planet in the game after a literal slur. these writers are either incredibly ignorant at best or racist at worst (tbf, this company doesn't have a good track record when it comes to racism in general, so)

now. there are characters in the game who naturally refer to characters from that planet as [slur]ians (<- worst word i ever typed jfc). and i've seen ppl argue that it makes the characters racist too, even though in-universe it wouldn't be different from us calling, say, someone from italy an italian ig.

i only found out abt this discourse bc i've seen ppl post stuff like "stop defending [character] for being racist" and i found it baffling bc i didn't realize they're perceived as such at all. so this is why i'm asking, mostly to see if my initial reaction was indeed a logical one, or rather an ignorant one, in which case i'll change my views accordingly

[my-thirteenth-reason]

bro wtf is with this guy i swear when will he get the hint that i no longer am and do not want to be friends with his transphobic-in-the-weirdest-way ahh

[randomnameless]

It's crazy how both Adrestia and Almyra have just as much (if not less) worldbuilding and development as the neutral countries in Fates; even moreso when the latter are canonically complete fodder to Nohr and Hoshido, are mostly irrelevant to the actual war, and are just there to give Corrin and their comrades something to do while they travel to Nohr/Hoshido/Valla to put an end to the main war, while the former are meant to be two of the biggest and most important players in the main war and are shown putting up a good fight against the other major countries

Why do you think so many people developed intricate headcanons about Adrestia and Almyra anon -

it's precisely because they are supposed to be "big player" important nations (let's say compared to Albinea) but their games dgaf about them bar some "in Adrestia people love tea" low tier of development lol

All jokes aside,

Some people already said it better than I could, but in general you come up with headcanons to talk about something you really like but has many holes in the canon, that's why you can have a lot of room to come up with whatever you want (or it's easier to avoid the "not canon compliant" hammer since canon is a puff of smoke).

Hell, I took the coliseum + Rhea's Seiros the Warrior's clothes + Word of God saying Adrestia is supposed to be based on Italy with german names to come up with a general "ancient rome" aesthetic for early Adrestia in my own hcs.

Some people really developped an entire lore with languages and patterns and a lot of cultural stuff regarding Almyra - kuddos to them! - because, for a place that is often compared to "Fodlan" by Claude and serves as the basis of his character, well, the Fodlan games are... really scarce about giving us any details regarding Almyra as a country -

(and then Nopes happened - sometimes it's better for canon to remain in a perpetual foggy state than to become what Nopes did to Almyra !)

I like every breadcrumb I can find about Adrestia through the various supports, books and NPCs, but well, you can't make a decent meal out of breadcrumbs.

And Fodlan scattered so many breadcrumbs around that at first glance you expect a banquet... and then only find out that the "promised dinner" is just, well, a handful of breadcrumbs thrown here'n'there on the table.

That's why I'm so upset at the "worldbuilding" lol, it could have been so much (some breadcrumbs are tasty, where's the dish???) but we end up with... a plate of nothing.

Sure FE as a series isn't the best medium to develop and explore different countries/cultures (even if Engage tried to have the cast visit different places and talk to different people, just like Echoes where you can visit villages and talk to people living in said villages!) but FE Fodlan really dropped the bar, and unlike Jugdral, we have no Treasure Book to reveal more about the crumbs we're playing with.

So yeah, I can't really see where the "better writing and worldbuilding than Fates!!!" spiel comes from, and I say this as someone who wasn't particularly fond of FE14 lol

[arthurtristankingsmen]

I think it'd be really cool to make it an activity to go out and find people with OCs and draw them a fanart.

Sometimes it's hard to get people to love your OCs or ask questions or engage with them. I think it's mainly because there will always be a struggle to bond to a character that has little to no media that would help foster any fondness. Or not enough, I guess? It's hard to create a lot when you're just one person. But it's also hard to jump into something new, especially if there's the chance you might not like it. Getting into something is tough (aus are probably so popular for a reason lol). It might be tougher still to like a character with limited things to look at, and who there really aren't many people to engage with about it, or there isn't the capacity for some things like media analysis for.

But people love the characters they create so much! They put so much thought and effort into some, or they just really enjoy some aspect deep enough to keep creating. I think that's worth celebrating! And maybe it's the reddit migration and how many people i see genuinely enjoying the community here and participating, but I miss when i did that, and had it. And part of me wonders if I could start engaging people on some posts, and doing things that again. I want to, I think. And right now I've been very into original stuff and creating characters and stories!

Fanart feels like it'd be a pleasant surprise too, especially for people who might not have the much reach yet for their characters. I know if someone did for me, I'd be over the moon about it. I feel inspired to try at least, so hopefully I can start doing that, and seeing what happens ^^

[mistrdctr]

|| Hello hello! I hope you all have a wonderful day! ♥

My queue ran out but I'll fill it back up as soon as possible. Might take a day or two, I'm feeling a bit exhausted... but Stephen-muse oftentimes just kicks in rather quickly and violently and then I end up writing lol. So! We shall see. Love him to bits, so the muse itself is no struggle... just me being a bit tired / writing takes energy dfsasfasd.

Let me give you all some cookies and a drink of choice, sending you good vibes and positive vibrations! ♥

[neoneun-au]

hello! throwing an extra message your way to say i'm really enjoying the series;☺️ i had the chapter saved in my likes so i could read it when i got home haha safe to say i'm invested!😅😅 hope your day/night is well!

Haha!! I'm glad you're invested, I feel like with series' it can be tough to keep people's attention throughout the whole thing so im glad that so far it's working at least LOL next chapter is going to be presently juicy so this one very much feels like the calm before the storm to me.

Tysm for keeping up with it and interacting!! Honestly, the few people like you are really what's keeping this whole thing alive and keeping me writing so I appreciate it!!

[forcebookish]

wrote that new topmew fic very quickly and now i'm not really happy with it (there's an inaccuracy that i don't actually want to get rid of dfslkdjf) but now i don't know what to work on >:(

[bookishmuggleborn]

hello?🧍🏻‍♀️

[downthecove]

starters to come for all the new muses:

brayden (derek theler golem): idk yet he's just a walking pole

london (ludi lin porn producer): someone's intro scene

isaiah (jordan elsass jock): bullying someone

malcolm (martin cummins dentist): doctor x patient fun

weston (dylan bruce, runs a sex auction): testing newest donation

eddie (ricky whittle gas attendant): glory hole

dustin (jordan calloway pov porn producer): paying someone for public deeds

oakley + ottis (carver twins pool boy + gardener): tending to someone's home

wally (tom holland pizza delivery boy): accepting sex as a tip

ryan (travis willingham video store clerk): showing a muse the back room

roger (david harbour sheriff): using someone in a cell

[superfluouskeys]

whew it's been so long since my inbox was under 100 ily all i just got really behind on comment answering like way too long ago and have never caught up LOL

[mollymarymarie]

i just spent my holiday break rereading like …… every? yeah every single one of your fics. you are such a gift. thank you so much for writing and sharing with us, and i CANNOT wait for the yuri on ice inspired wolfstar fic (i didn’t know i NEEDED it until you provided) for whenever we get to see it - thank you thank you THANK YOU for everything

Listen. LISTEN. how dare you come into my ask box and send me something SO OUTLANDISHLY CUTE while I am trying to finish this damn YOI fic! You have no idea the motivation this has wrought in me, you wonderful little sunbeam! I hope you just LOVE the ending of this fic!

[oculusxcaro]

What Comes INCLUDED With You?

"Look... I don't need a driver's license. There's plenty of buses and trains running on time." And there was no way in hell she was checking into Arkham Asylum anytime soon.

Tagged byStolen from: I forgot (☹) Tagging: Whoever would like to do it?

[archaeren]

How I learned to write smarter, not harder

(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)

A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.

The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.

As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!

Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!

2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)

Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.

Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.

I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) (Edit from the future: I answered an ask with more explanation on how I use Notion for non-linear writing here.) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.

Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!

This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.

As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.

When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD

People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.

What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!

What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.

You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.

And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.

And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.

If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?

And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD

In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.

Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.

Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)

And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)