#aspiring mediocre writer

[flapjackoctolover]

Genuine, oddly specific question…

If someone were to make a character a self-insert, and people started shipping said self-insert with other characters, would that be weird? Like, say, if I were to write a book and one of the side characters was basically a self-insert, but people started shipping them with other characters, would that be awkward? I don’t know how to feel about it, but I guess it’s hard to avoid within the shipping community. (Frankly, I’d find it kind of entertaining, but should I feel that way?)

Also, at what point does a self-insert become *not* a self-insert? Because if a character has similar traits to you, or you’re projecting your own experiences for the sake of relatability, doesn’t that make them a self-insert? Would that make many characters that are seemingly unrelated to the author self-inserts in some way?

I’m really sorry, this is a stupid question (and I only took one year of creative writing in high school). I’m also really dumb, so please forgive me.

[always-coffee]

My darlings, a moment.

Take the word “aspiring” out of your bios. YEET it into the sun. Never speak of it again.

Do you make art? Write? Take photographs?

Congrats! You’re an artist, a writer, a photographer.

If you create, you earned that fully.

[simple-and-cozy-life]

I went to adoration last night for part of Holy Thursday and spent two hours praying conversing with God.

I originally was just going to stay an hour, but I really had a lot weighing on me.

I really desire marry my boyfriend but we're both in wacky places in our careers and it doesn't seem feasible to get married yet. I really yearn to be his wife and he my husband. We could have so much joy through that. I've literally dreamt of it and we're so perfect for each other. I cannot wait to support each other and welcome little ones. I want to nurture and provide for all of them and have a wonderful little family.

I am also leaving to study violin/viola performance at a university in another state 3 hours away. I really am not sure if I made the right decision but I'm committed now. It's something I very much want to do and to become better at my craft so I can teach better and get better gigs.

It weighs a lot on me because I'll be two extra hours away from my boyfriend and I really like my students at my current job. I spent a lot of time in prayer about them because some of them worry me. I also don't have all the moving details ironed out yet, which stresses me out.

Much of the conclusion I came to is the things I want will happen, just not yet. I just need to make it through these next two years and everything will be fine. It might not exactly look like what I envision, but there are lessons I need to learn at grad school beyond the coursework itself.

Grad school will be challenging. Being away will be challenging. Starting somewhere new will be challenging. Finances will be challenging.

But I'm not going into this alone, even if I'm the only one moving there.

I will need to trust that He will lead me, and I will follow.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord. Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. - 2 Corinthians 5:7-9

Dare to declare who you are. It is not far from the shores of silence to the boundaries of speech. The path is not long, but the way is deep. You must not only walk there, you must be prepared to leap. -St. Hildegard of Bingen

[puckinghischier]

PuckingHischier’s Masterlist

quick intro: alli, she/her, 20s, big devils enthusiast, aspiring canucks girly, mediocre writer, yapper 🫶🏼

hello lovelies!! i wanted to try to put all of my writing in one spot so it’s a little easier to navigate. This might not be the prettiest masterlist in the world but it’s functional and that’s what matters. I hope you enjoy!! :)

Nico Hischier

Locksmith series (ON HOLD)

1. Locksmith

2. Bouy

3. Jersey Talk

4. Hat Trick

One-Shots

- Chef’s Kiss

- Suds n Sorrows

- Desperate For Dessert (18+)

- Tattoos Together

- Shadow Puppets

- Tentastrophe

- The 7th Year

- Falling, Fallen

- Neighbors

- I Don’t Dance

- In-Between

Headcanons

- Gameday!Nico

- Boyfriend!Nico

- Disney!Nico

Jack Hughes

One-Shots

- Nervous

- Sunburnt

- Meet the Parents

- Choices

- Fakers

-Dogtooth (18+)

Luke Hughes

One-Shots

- Prison For Life

- Surprise…?

- Cart Girls and Curly Q’s

- Crowded

- Spotlight

Quinn Hughes

One-Shots

- Mornings (18+)

- Quick Study (18+)

Rambles

- hughes brothers

- jealous!quinn, cont.

- comfort!luke, cont.

- luke’s curls

- pouty!jack (18+)

- asshole!jack (18+)

- golf!quinn

- insecure!quinn

- book!quinn (18+)

- munch!quinn (18+)

- another munch!quinn (18+)

- boat!jack

- jack & luke love quinn’s gf

- girldad!nico

- studybuddy!nico

- angry!quinn (post game), bonus (18+)

- needy!nico (18+)

[cosmiccare]

WELCOME TO COSMICCARE

If this is annoying, do not fret- this will be the only time I will post in the main tags.

This is an ask blog derivative of @sparklecarehospital and @askcometcare. Aside from lifting the green cat and purple dog, the general gist of their partners, and the hospital in which they met, everything else is warped beyond recognition and largely made from scratch, so please don't expect canon complicity.

The ask box is currently OPEN.

Below the cut is most of the about page, featuring descriptions for the characters.

Content Warning

Per the source, there may be mentions of canon typical medical malpractice and mental health struggles up to suicidal ideation and self harm. This webcomic also focuses entirely on dysfunctional family dynamics and familial discourse.

The Family

They are collectively called the Cosmic family, for no particular reason except that the majority of the members enjoy the night sky. The below character listings are information as currently known, and some things may not be disclosed immediately.

The Parents…

Aluminum (Ale) Mint

48 yr old, transmale (he/him) bisexual Professional physicist and direct father to Aurora Din Airy, Winter Green Mint, Reese Ent Mint, and Ace Oort Cloud Mint.

Imogen Airy

45 yr old, bigender (she/he/neos(pup/swag/paw/love)) pansexual Professional streamer and small time personal artist as well as direct mother to Enon Haus Zero (estranged), Aurora Din Ary, Lumin Airy, and Ace Oort Cloud Mint.

Rhys Per

49 yr old, intersex nonbinary (they/it>he) gay Professional grocery store cashier and restocker and direct parent to Ed Salut Zero, Lumin Airy, Reese Ent Mint, and Ace Oort Cloud Mint.

Kevin Zero

50 yr old, genderfluid (any pronouns) aromantic Professionally unemployed and direct parent to Ed Salut Zero, Enon Haus Zero (estranged), Winter Green Mint, and Ace Oort Cloud Mint.

The Kids…

Ed Salut Zero

22 yr old, trans man (he/they) undisclosed sexuality Child of Kevin Zero and Rhys Per. Obligatory takes care of his family.

Aurora Din Airy

18 yr old, transfem nonbinary (she/they/star) straight Child of Ale Mint and Imogen Airy. A talented engineer currently in college; when not working on her career, she’s teeters on the edge of mad science.

Lumin Airy

17 yr old, nonbinary (she/pup) lesbian Child of Rhys Per and Imogen Airy. Aspiring (and failing) artist and writer. Considers herself a princess.

Winter Green Mint

15 yr old, male (he/him) undisclosed sexuality Child of Ale Mint and Kevin Zero. Mediocre artist and writer. Does his best to help his family, despite apparently holding known resentment towards many members within it.

Reese Ent Mint

12 yr old, female (she/squeak/kit) undisclosed sexuality Child of Ale Mint and Rhys Per. Likes ‘cool things’, like dinerries, sports, and bullying others.

Ace Oort Cloud Mint

10 yr old, genderfluid (they/it/(bit/byte)) aromantic Child of Ale Mint, Rhys Per, Imogen Airy, and Kevin Zero, all together. A chemistry savant and eternal ray of sunshine.

[tyrantisterror]

What's the worst legacy sequel you've ever seen? What, in your opinion, separates a good legacy sequel from a bad legacy sequel and what's the worst thing you think a legacy sequel can do?

The worst that I've seen is probably Rise of Skywalker. It's close competition, though - both Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World: Dominion have moments that are significantly more stupid than anything in Rise of Sky Walker, but I also think both have a bit more creative effort put into them - Fallen Kingdom has that third act where it basically becomes a Resident Evil adaptation except with a murder-saurus in place of the Tyrant, and Dominion has the whole locust plotline which, while terrible, is at least an unexpected direction for a Jurassic Park sequel to go into that tries to figure out something ELSE you could do with the genetic engineering premise of the franchise beyond just making dinosaurs. Like, all three Jurassic World movies have big problems and they get progressively dumber with each installment, but they're also all ambitious to some degree that I still feel respect for, even if they never really actually reach those lofty aspirations.

Rise of Skywalker, on the other hand, has no ambitions at all. It has nothing it wants to say, no unique twists to pull, no real identity of its own. It's a potroast made of leftovers from better movies, a resuscitated corpse of something much more interesting, patched together like a Frankenstein's monster and abandoned to a cruel world just as callously.

It has no desire to do anything new, merely a checklist of Things You've Seen Before That the Focus Groups Say You'd Probably Like to See Again. Any character that can be slipped into an arc that was done in a previous Star Wars film is slipped into one no matter how little sense it makes for them, and any character who can't is either forced to tread water with nothing to do (hi Finn!) or just quietly shoved off to the side early on and forgotten about (hi Rose!).

Any story beats that weren't in the original films are simply grabbed from a box that reads "time tested cliches to keep your script moving with minimal effort." Make the plot a treasure hunt so we can just race from scene to scene with the flimsiest justification possible and try and trick the audience into thinking something is actually happening! What's that, audience interest is flagging? Quick, throw in a cameo of someone from an older movie! What's that, they're bored again? Pretend to kill one of the old characters, but make sure to reveal they actually lived in no more than two scenes down the line, or else we might piss off the fanboys! Hey, let's look at the Cinema Sins videos for the original movies and see if there's some gripes we can "fix" with this one for added fan cred! Can't disappoint our audience!

It's the story-telling equivalent of smothering something in salt to cover up the funky taste of the close-to-the-expiration-date ingredients.

As for what makes a good vs. a bad legacy sequel... ok, so, let's define legacy sequel first. A legacy sequel is a film or TV show that is a sequel to a popular film or TV series that ended a good many years ago, which brings back some of the old cast of characters (generally played by the same, and thus much older, actors that played them in the past) along with adding a new cast of characters played by younger actors. It tries to replicate the tone of the original series despite being made in a different era and probably by different writers and directors, and generally aims to give you that Ratatouille style moment of nostalgia.

I think most Legacy sequels are kind of doomed to be mediocre at best on the outset because the goal of them from the moment of conception is so mercenary - they're not created to Tell A Good Story, they're created to Keep Consumers Invested in a Lucrative Content Franchise. They have the artistic aspirations of a McDonald's Hamburger - "This tastes exactly like what you had as a kid, and doesn't that make you crave more of it?"

I don't think that art made for mercenary reasons is doomed to be bad, mind you - I mean, almost ALL movies and television were made to make money first and foremost. Even the classic High Art movies I love like Seven Samurai and The Third Man were made for mercenary reasons at the end of the line - it didn't stop the people who were working on them from having artistic goals, but it's a fact nonetheless.

But Legacy Sequels just have an uphill battle in the "artistic aspirations" department, because most people with artistic aspirations don't want to recreate the feeling someone else inspired with their art - they want to put their own stamp on it, their own spin, their own voice. And that will often mean something VERY different will be made, something that might piss of the fans - something that doesn't taste like the McDonald's hamburger you had as a kid, even though it came in the same wrapper.

The worst parts of Legacy Sequels are the only parts that Rise of Skywalker is made of - the parts where the story is clearly only trying to show you things you know, only trying to reheat the leftovers so they taste like your memories, only trying to trick the nostalgia center of your brain that you're four years old again eating at McDonald's. "Here's the thing you know! Here's the running gag you liked, repeated five more times by actors with far less enthusiasm! Here's the same basic premise as the first film, but the stakes have been inflated to make it feel like a progression! Cameos! Catch phrases! Eat your hamburger, you consumer pig!"

The rare good legacy sequels don't really TRY to be legacy sequels. They're just... sequels. Another story in the same world as the first, bringing back the characters who actually have interesting arcs left in them, creating new characters with their own shit going on who have good chemistry with the pre-established characters and setting, expanding on themes from the original and exploring parts of the setting that hadn't been explored yet, and all in all telling their own story that's related to the first one's but still manages to be its own distinct thing.

There are not many good legacy sequels, because a good legacy sequel is different than the McDonald's hamburger you ate when you were four, and might make less money than desired because of it.

[artiststarme]

Midlife Crisis

Should I write this into a longer fic or leave it as is? I hope you guys like it and please leave your thoughts in the comments!

~*~*~*~

Steve didn’t know what to do with his life. It was a common thought he had on his shifts at Family Video. What was he doing? He of all people knew how short life could be and yet, he was wasting his own. Steve spent his weekdays working soul-draining double shifts just to sleep all weekend or work some more to make a meager $3.25 an hour. It was pathetic. 

He didn’t have any goals or aspirations. His friends were making plans, trying to impact the world and make a difference. Dustin was taking a bunch of STEM classes so he could apply to MIT in a few years and work at NASA like some type of hotshot mathematical genius. Robin was applying for elite linguistics programs at colleges across the country to understand more cultures and ways of communicating. Even Eddie ‘repeated high school three times’ Munson had goals. He was traveling to different cities with the band, trying to make it big as Corroded Coffin. 

Steve’s biggest goal was to get out of bed in the morning and stay alive for another day but he wasn’t even doing that very well. He needed something to be interested in, something to devote his life to and take pride in but he had no idea where to even start. 

Steve was twenty years old and having a midlife crisis. He hadn’t even enjoyed any of the twenty years he’d been around and now it felt like he was too late to do anything about it. He was too old for college, too dumb to get in even if he wasn’t. He couldn’t get a good job without a degree or quality life experience and he couldn’t mention any of that thanks to a stack of NDA’s.

He needed something though. His parents were done with housing their deadbeat son who managed to disappoint them with anything he attempted. He was sick of his friends saying that they had to study or they’d end up like him. And he was sick and tired of being the only person he knew that had nothing going for him. 

So one day, he decided to be spontaneous. He put in an application to the University of Illinois with an entrance essay about personal struggles, neglect, and self-doubt. He poured his heart and soul into that essay hoping against all odds that the admittance committee would look past his mediocre grades and would take a chance on the kid that struggled all by himself behind a smiling facade. 

He forgot about the application until he got a letter in the mail from the university. He almost threw it away right then but decided to take a look just to reinforce what he already knew, no college would want him. 

But they did. They congratulated him on his acceptance into their school in the fall and complimented the writing skills in his essay. They said they looked forward to having him join their program and mentioned that he would make a difference. 

So Steve took them up on it. He kept the news to himself until it was time to leave and said his goodbyes to the Party on his way out of town. He was moving on so they could too. Steve wouldn’t be the one holding them back anymore. Then, he drove past the Leaving Hawkins sign without a backwards glance. 

Years later, Steve thought back on his midlife crisis. He was just a stupid kid at the time that didn’t know all of the options he had at his disposal. Now, he was a world-renowned novelist with novels on the New York Times Bestseller list. He never would’ve seen himself becoming a writer but here he was, working his dream job. 

He never would’ve seen himself dating Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson either but here they were, partnered since 1988, married since 2014, and touring the world together on the Corroded Coffin international tour. 

Steve was having a crisis about a lot of things but everything turned out better than he ever could have imagined. He could’ve given up or accepted that he would never make a difference in the world or have a purpose in life. But instead, he took a chance and now he was living the best life that he could’ve ever dreamed of.

Permanent Tag List: @doubleb11 @nburkhardt @zerokrox-blog @newtstabber @i-less-than-three-you @carlyv @pyrohonk @straight4joekeery @conversesweetheart @estrellami-1 @suddenlyinlove @yikes-a-bee @swimmingbirdrunningrock @perseus-notjackson @anaibis @merricatty @maya-custodios-dionach @grtwdsmwhr @manda-panda-monium @lumoschild @goodolefashionedloverboi @mentallyundone @awkwardgravity1 @anzelsilver @jestyzesty @gregre369 @mysticcrownshipper @disasterlia @lillys-weird-world @messrs-weasley @gay-stranger-things @pnk-lemonades @coolestjoy30 @strangerthingfanfic @dangdirtydemons

[gayleonofcuy]

Writing Lessons from ASOIAF

The last night fell black and moonless, but for once the sky was clear. "I am going up the hill to look for Ghost," he told the Thenns at the cave mouth, and they grunted and let him pass.

So many stars, he thought as he trudged up the slope through pines and firs and ash. Maester Luwin had taught him his stars as a boy in Winterfell; he had learned the names of the twelve houses of heaven and the rulers of each; he could find the seven wanderers sacred to the Faith; he was old friends with the Ice Dragon, the Shadowcat, the Moonmaid, and the Sword of the Morning. All those he shared with Ygritte, but not some of the others. We look up at the same stars, and see such different things. The King's Crown was the Cradle, to hear her tell it; the Stallion was the Horned Lord; the red wanderer that septons preached was sacred to their Smith up here was called the Thief. And when the Thief was in the Moonmaid, that was a propitious time for a man to steal a woman, Ygritte insisted. "Like the night you stole me. The Thief was bright that night."

-Jon, ASoS

I have this passage marked as 'writing inspiration' and wanted to share why I like it, if (like me) you are an ASOIAF fan and struggling aspiring writer. GRRM does a few things in this passage that I think are helpful 'advice.'

Exposition: When people criticize bad books not set in our world (or even mediocre books that could be better), one of the most common complaints is clunky exposition or info dumping, especially in the first few chapters of the novel.

Here, GRRM is expositing in a way that adds depth and richness to Westerosi and Freefolk societies. Jon lists the stars by talking about his childhood (which we already care about) and compares and contrasts his names with the names by which Ygritte knows them. This is more retainable and interesting for readers than if he had simply looked up at the sky and listed them for us.

Importantly, we are three books into the series, but we are still learning about the world. Everything hasn't been told to us already.

Lesson: Find memorable ways to show your worldbuilding. And you don't need to show everything in the first few chapters.

Cultural similarities: By this point, we've learned that the Freefolk are descendants of the First Men who were kicked on the worse side of the wall. This is one way of reinforcing the point, by having them share names for 'universal' things like stars.

Cultural differences: The influence of the Andals' religion on the common tongue, even among the First Men, is obvious here with the star named the Smith. But the passage is also pointing out at least a couple of other differences between their geographies and cultures.

1. The Fauna of Beyond-the-Wall: At the beginning of ASOS, Chett's prologue notes

It was a rare thing to find even a dozen mounted wildlings, and five hundred...

One of the advantages that the Rangers have over the Freefolk is their properly armed and armored warriors, but it seems clear that horses is another. Jon mentions that most of the people in the column are traveling by foot.

And even more telling, only one in a hundred wildlings was mounted. The Old Bear will go through them like an axe through porridge.

Stallions, while important in both cultures, are perhaps less important to lay people beyond the wall. At the very least, they're not important or perhaps relevant enough to the common person to merit the name of a star. The King's Crown also falls in this category, obviously.

2. The importance of thieving in Freefolk culture: The harshness of the North, especially during winter, has been established many times. This is magnified north of the wall, which is colder and more brutal. Aside from climate, a big reason is because they lack regular commerce with the rest of the Seven Kingdoms due to the Wall. They can't exactly show up to the Vale to buy grain during hard times.

Thus the Freefolk have had to become necessary thieves, and thieving has in turn been raised to a point of respect or reverence, even extending to their courting or mating customs.

We don't know at this point, whether stealing women was part of First Men culture that the Northerners gradually discarded. But, I think we can say that part of the reason the Freefolk have elevated stealing to a virtue is because it's so necessary. Thieves are needed for luxuries, like silks, wine, spices and so on. But they're also crucial for survival, by taking weapons and perhaps food and goods that you can eat or trade for food during their harsh winters.

So the Thief is great name for a major star in their culture, in the way that Jupiter was in western European culture.

Movement: We learn later that Jon is (brooding) on a hill near the wall, a long ways away from The Fist of the First Men where we saw him last. The end of the passage also sets up Jon describing the beginning of his physical relationship with Ygritte, but he does this in post. There is no 'and the next day, and the next day' until we get to the meat (heh) which is the instinct of many newbie writers. We have arrived here without tedious descriptions of progress, while also covering a lot of physical, emotional and narrative ground.

[autism-purgatory]

Writer intro or something

Hey! I’m G.J, I’m an aspiring writer and (kind of) fanfic writer! I wrote Old Republic fanfic when I was 12 and was never the same again. I’m particularly fond of dark fantasy and revenge stories.

current interests: MW2, Dungeon Meshi, Bloodborne, Dark Souls, Fear and Hunger, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

here are some of my WIP’s! (Jfc there’s so many)

Altered_Humanity: The New (and better) version of Augmented Humanity. Post apocalyptic urban fantasy. Humanity already collapsed centuries ago, and whatever’s left is being wiped out by the remnants of a fantasy world that strangely fused with ours when it began to die. An android and a demi-god are convinced they’re the good guy, fighting each other for the greater good. (Inspo: NieR: Automata, Drakengard 3, Dying Light)

Tales of the Sculpted Lands (my magnum opus): A Dark Fantasy anthology, about various stories and myths of the ever-evolving sculpted lands. (Inspo: Berserk, Demon’s Souls, ICO trilogy)

Grayguard: A fantasy adventure story about a group of “elite” knights with three goals in mind

1: rescue their master from an ancient demon with magic robots

2: stop the major kingdoms from imploding after said master got kidnapped

3: Therapy? (Inspo: Aurora, Jujutsu Kaisen, Tears of the Kingdom)

WanderStruck: About a popular knight that gets kidnapped into the regular world and his growing love for the nerd who got him there (inspo: Panty & Stocking, WALL-E, Little Witch Academia. Yeah I know these make no sense)

Shadows Over Novald: An Urban Fantasy story about two peculiar partners in crime when their home, the city-state of Novald, is cloaked in darkness, the only way to lift the curse is to kill the five magic wielding humans that lurk in the city. There’s magic, espionage, a dash of steampunk, and so, so much murder and chaos. (Inspo: Discworld, Inglourious Basterds)

Chaos Travelers: A dragon bard with a southern accent, a necromantic death cult runaway, a cat lady with magic paint, and a knight with a spooky clone get invited to save an island kingdom. The results? Absolute madness. (Inspo: Dungeon Meshi, Belkinus Necro Hunt)

And here’s my AO3 fics!

Little Doll (Bloodborne Fic): about the doll after the events of the third ending. With the reborn hunter in her arms, she goes on a little journey to the physical fishing hamlet and nothing bad happens along the way.

Breathtaker (COD fic): Soap and Ghost didn't get along too well when they first joined 141 (Or did they?) but all that changes when their mission to Alaska goes sideways.

AO3 Original Works (that are actually out):

LunuL: about three bounty hunters in the year 2199. they trek across the Solar System being mediocre at their jobs and accidentally get wrapped up in several conspiracies and near death experiences. (Inspo: Cowboy Bebop, the Mandalorian, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and a bunch of other sci fi shit)

Loop of the Hollow: About four friends reuniting in their hometown of Ciclo, Texas. However, there is much, much more to the town that it seems…

Viscered: About a father taking care of his 10 month old son after the death of his wife, and his past as a bio weapon coming back to bite him in the ass. (Inspo: Prototype, Berserk, The Substance)

Our Lonely Ocean: About a prince-turned squire and his commander, and their many, many shenanigans as they stumble into romance while hunting monsters together. (Inspo: Adastra, Dungeon Meshi…and a little bit of Peter Hart)

[gxilgramore]

Jubilee is a lot!

Yes i know the quality of the photo is bad, i couldn't find an high quality version of the OG cover.

First listen of Jubilee, and i assume you already know why i gave it a chance, because the episode Dalek from series 1 with Eccleston is an adaptation, and of course being a Eccleston fan i was interested in how the story would work with a completely different Doctor and Companion.

Basic stuff first, Evelyn is delightful, ok, she is not a standout for me, she feels like other companions to some extent, but make no mistake i still love her and the relationship with the Doctor, their dialogue feels kind of Donna, kind of Sarah Jane, even kind of Charlie Pollard but she still feels like her own character because of her aspirations and objectives, you can also say that she feels like Rose, but I don't see it besides the compassion for the seemly good Dalek and the confrontation of the Doctor's own internal hatred, i think she is pretty good and I don't know if other stories showcase her in a different light but im curious, if you have any recs for other Evelyn stories id love to listen.

Also the Daleks here, my previous experiences with them in BF were the first 8th Doctor/Lucie Miller story that i forgot the name, i as you all know i think this story is mediocre at best, and i thought most Dalek stories from this era would be like that and I'm so happy of being wrong, the Daleks here are not only full of the threat that made me love them in Victory of the Doctor but also more thematic relevance than ever, because of how much they add to the whole "humans can also be bad if fed by propaganda" thing, also the "good" dalek has an personality so unique by how much Briggs (i think its Briggs) put these inflections and manical laughter to him, it really makes him feel so alien even in the other parts of the storie where he should have felt like a normal Dalek.

And speaking of the TV episode that adapted this story, yeah i can see where the similarities come, but it also feel like the TV episode reconstructs from the ground up the story to feel to the 9th Doctor character, Dalek is (at this moment, i need to rewatch series 1) my favorite episode of that season, so seeing an episode that expands on those themes is pretty amazing, im not complaining of course that Dalek is a watered down version of Jubillee, those stories care the same themes but Dalek adds his own spin on it with discussions of PTSD and the framing of the Doctor as a being that can villain due to his traumas instead of the humans so they compliment and expand on each other instead of the TV episode feeding on it's source material.

And another thing is the build up, in my Chimes of Midnight mini review i made clear that the way Sherman builds a mystery is so anxiety inducing and i want to know more because what the actual fuck is going on and Jubilee also carries exactly that, this fucked up world that it builds is so weird that it feels off-putting even to think about it but you really want to know why these people are this way, how that happened, the mystery of the TARDIS, the Doctor's visions, the second legless Doctor, it feels wicked, dark, disturbing, also because it's kind of gruesome, yeah i know, its the wilderness years, Doctor who was like that, but i was not expecting a beheading, the "Doctor" dying like a maniac, it feels really tense and the cliffhangers, god they are so good, i literally gasped at 2 of them because of how tense they are, Sherman is really climbing to be my favorite who writer, him, moffat and Davies are my big 3.

Thematically is where things get... Complicated, because yeah the point of the story is fair and the way it explores it is intense and hammer the point home a lot, i still feel a bit weird about the entire conclusion tho. Don't get me wrong i felt more rewarded in that conclusion than in Chimes, it's not about the narrative rather than the themes being portrayed, thats why Jubilee is a lot, because it is so many themes, from propaganda, the relativation of fascism (even a kind of meta joke on the Dalekmania, somehow), the hypocrisy of the way governments deal with the rise of fascism in the modern era, it's so many themes packed into a 2 hour audio drama that it gets really dificult to discuss right after listening to it, requires some listens and thinking to grasp to totality of its political themes, and im too tired to think and with too much adhd to relisten, thanks college for both of these.

Jubilee is good. 9/10

[cantstayawaycani]

I want all you aspiring writers out there to know that you are talented and you should go for your dream career.

I'm reading a pilot script for one of our network shows that just got greenlit.

I have read better fanfiction.

And, this script is based off of popular IP that is in the public domain and has been adapted countless times.

This script is what I would describe as "mid" at best.

Go for your dreams kiddos.

The people who write and produce these shows certainly have no compunction about putting mediocrity out into the world.

[denimbex1986]

'There’s something rather extraordinary at the core of the new Netflix miniseries RIPLEY, based upon the famed 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. It’s what drives antihero Thomas Ripley (Andrew Scott) to covet the lifestyle of the rich. It has less to do with any glamour and glitz, or even access to Italian villas, fine dining, and tailored clothing, and all to do with sheer relief. The relief that comes from never having to worry about money, the nagging to make more of it, or living the fear of losing it. When con artist Tom Ripley reaches his status of privilege and money, he achieves a zen-like calm, even if he’s achieved his goals via notorious means. It’s access, sure, to better living, finer accommodations, and designer clothes, but mostly it seems to be access to peace of mind that this thief has never known.

And that’s why filmmaker Steven Zaillian’s eight-episode miniseries is so strong. It strips away all the easy things for an audience to drool over in it and concentrates on motive. Why does Tom do what he does? The landscapes and fine wines are incidental. It’s what having money does to his headspace that is dramatized here with such cleverness.

The story remains the same from the book and previous filmed adaptations: Tom Ripley is asked by the wealthy Herbert Greenleaf (Kenneth Lonergan) to convince his prodigal son Dickie (Johnny Flynn) to return to NYC from Italy. But Tom’s introduction to Dickie’s leisurely lifestyle in the coastal city of Atrani turns out to be catnip for his former college classmate.

Still, this is a film about cons and crimes, not country splendor and that is why Zaillian shot his adaptation in black and white. He doesn’t want the camera lusting over sunny days, tanned torsos, and electric nightlife like director Anthony Minghella did with his lingering shots of such things in 1999’s THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. In Minghella’s film, everything was glamorous, especially bronzed playboy Dickie (Jude Law) and his leonine girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow). It was easy to see why the impressionable and naïve Tom (Matt Damon) would become so mesmerized. Heck, Damon all but played the character as a kid in a candy store, wanting to gorge himself on everything associated with the one percent.

Not Scott. He plays Tom as a desperate criminal who wants the calm that comes with a fat wallet. And Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning, playing Dickie and Marge this go-round, are hardly worth putting on a pedestal. As directed by Zaillain, their rich characters are dead-eyed, soulless zombies. These two world travelers are not bright, nor personable, and far from gorgeous. What they are, are the type of entitled rich kids who sleepwalk through their lives of privilege, so used to daddy’s money that they aren’t impressed by it one iota.

And wow, is this couple lacking in any discernible talent. Dickie wants to be a painter but his work is simply awful, while would-be writer Marge’s poems and prose are wholly mediocre, as are the bland photographs she’s taken during her time in Atrani. Tom likes them less as people and more as aspirational figures; those who never have to scrape and claw to survive. These two dullards just sit around their homes all day with nary a worry. It’s a state of bliss that Tom would love to know. So much so, that he’ll kill to experience it.

The black and white cinematography is Zaillien’s way of showcasing how Ripley delineates his “have and have not” sensibilities. It’s also there to underline the miniseries noir-ish tendencies as once murder enters the frame, the remainder of the series becomes a cat-and-mouse game between Ripley and an intrepid Italian detective ((Maurizio Lombardi) on his trail. The black-and-white palate is also there to underline that this is essentially a dark comedy. It’s pretty funny watching Tom have to continue his life of labor once he starts killing people as it takes a ton of effort to dispose of bodies and keep track of his ever-mounting series of lies. The poor bastard was already huffing and puffing enough as it was simply following Dickie up and down the various staircases they encountered through the winding streets of the city, and now homicide is really making him put in the work!

At times, Scott’s performance recalls a jittery Anthony Perkins in his male ingenue days, but more often than not, his Tom is played close to the vest. Even when Dickie’s loutish friend Freddie (a scene-stealing Eliot Sumner) comes a calling, suspicious about why Dickie has disappeared, Scott’s Tom remains stone cold. And it’s darkly humorous how he returns a square, glass ashtray he weaponizes to its proper place on an end table. He adjusts it just so.

It’s always easy to vilify the rich, of course. and Hollywood has done it time and time again, from YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU in 1938 to SALTBURN this past Christmas. RIPLEY may be the third filmed adaptation of Highsmith’s classic book but I think it’s the best of all of them due to its slyly subtle nastiness and emphasis on Tom’s truest motive. Class warfare has rarely been as apparent as it is here, seen in black and white by both Tom and Zaillian’s camera.'

[ghcstlimbs]

my name is [ JUDE TILLMAN ] … and i am from [ HELLTOWN ] and i’m a [ MANAGER AT BELIEVE IT OR ROT ]. i lived in helltown for [ 27 YEARS ] because [ I DON’T KNOW HOW TO GET OUT ]. i am [ 27 ] my pronouns are [ HE/HIM ] and i am [ CURIOUS, EMPATHETIC, ASTUTE ] though some may say i’m [ BYRONIC, UNRELIABLE , OBSESSIVE]. i also hear i look a lot like [ HARRIS DICKINSON ] but, i don’t know if i see it. i’m here because [ I HAVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BASEMENT ] but, maybe there’s more to it than that. you never know with helltown.

BASICS full name:  jude mitchell tillman age:  twenty seven date of birth:  november 6th, 1998 place of birth:  helltown, ohio gender identity:  cis man pronouns:  he/him  sexual orientation:  bisexual zodiac sign: gemini PHYSIOLOGY height in feet:  six foot two eye color:  blue  hair color:  brunette notable marks: covered in a smattering of tattoos from the shoulders down FAMILY father:  joshua tillman, deceased.  mother:  florence tillman sibling(s):  tbd ! relationship status:  single children:  none  BACKGROUND education: highschool diploma and BA living arrangements: a solo apartment language(s):  english, mostly forgotten french PERSONALITY positive traits:  bright, dedicated, deeply empathetic, curious negative traits: secretive, obsessive, byronic, often unreliable

Jude wishes he knew why he can't leave Helltown, despite all his best laid plans; he was going to live in Paris, London, Florence -- he'd sit where the greats had written their finest works, enshrined in history and sunlight, and make something that would set the world on fire. And yet he lingers. He only went as far as Chicago for college, and promptly came back home -- the death of his father was the catalyst, but he's made no attempts to leave. And now he can't. 

His childhood in Helltown is akin to that of most of his peers; normalcy, living in tandem with an air of the sinister and macabre. Knowing something isn't right, but feeling it is as common place as PTA meetings or football games -- Jude loves his home, and fears it. His family is loving, so wrapped up in the town they can't imagine leaving either. As the eldest, Jude aspired to take care of his family -- to get a job that would lift them to a higher status, to buy his siblings a house each. Instead, Jude works at Believe it or Rot; it is perhaps sadder, that he loves his job. He loves scaring tourists with tricks and long-winding tales of horrors (some may be true); he's a manger, a title that's slightly elevated about mediocre minimum wage employee. He covers himself in tattoos, visits his mom weekly, smokes more than is healthy, and maintains a life befitting an aimless man in his twenty -- but he too, uses a blanket of normalcy to cover his unorthodox hobbies. 

He's a thoughtful person, slightly quiet when in thought but incredibly friendly; Jude worships books, and still aspires to be a writer; Helltown may be the main character of his first book. When he's not up until three snooping, you'll probably find him out at a bar or catching another movie at the drive in - he's a regular. 

But his life, his obsession, lays in unraveling this town; Jude cannot stop looking for the source of rot that has started to blacken the soul of Helltown. He pours over the archives, posts endless accounts of his findings online, sneaks into buildings at night -- if the town is a malevolent spirit, it has found a willing host in Jude. He's latched onto the burning of St. Michael's, focusing his frenzied devotion and sleuthing onto this singular event - Jude's convinced this will lead him to whatever dark forces are at play. A skeptic at heart, he isn't one to believe in ghosts; but the aura of Helltown is clear. Things that have died, do not stay dead. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS

1. Siblings! : Ideally I picture Jude as having several young sisters, but I'm incredibly flexible! I'd love to have his siblings in play - Jude is a devoted sibling, and in lieu of their father's passing, he attempts to fill that void. The Tillman's have been in Helltown as far as anyway can recall, but his siblings could have left (or run away at eighteen) only to come back now. But his double life as a detective has begun to take its toll -- and in tandem to whatever his siblings are up to, could leave to strife or conflict. I'm open to adopted siblings also <3 

2. Childhood friends/peers: fellow locals around Jude's age that he grew up with. Jude's friendly, though slightly serious and during school was likely buried in some book. I'd love friends that are only coming back home, while he's been here for years since college; friends he's stayed close with regardless of location, or friends he hasn't spoken too in a long time -- but strange happenings have brought them back into his orbit.

3. Fellow sleuths : Jude is not a professional by any means sksk he's just snooping and coming up with theories on his own time. He could be working with others (if your muse is also interested in figuring out what's going on) or they run into each other trying to break into a graveyard, and start to team up. If they're new to town, he'd be someone to go to for lore or the town's sordid history. 

4. Antagonistc relationships : Anyone who has gotten wise to the fact Jude has become nosey, and it rubs them the wrong way - maybe they're mixed up in things, or they think someone digging into stuff will only cause trouble. Also childhood nemeses, general vibes don't mix, etc etc!!! 

5. I'm entirely open to anything !!! Teenage exes, co-workers, the bartender that always serves him, neighbors, even cousins, etc :) 

[the-wip-project]

End of the year kick, week six

Perfectionism

Today I want to talk about perfectionism. We're writing along and then, suddenly, bam, it hits us. "This sucks! This is so bad! It will never be as good as it should be. I should be so much better! This is worthless."

Sounds familiar? Trust me, you're not alone. 

Perfectionism makes us think that we're bad writers because the story can never be good enough. We keep editing and fiddling with a story, instead of writing something new because we just can't let that thing go. We lose the joy and the satisfaction with our writing because it's just not as good as we think it should be.

I think, rationally, we know that the perfectionism hinders us in our creativity, instead of making us work harder. But how do we bring our perfectionism under control?

I recently came across this post, which has an interesting perspective about perfectionism, which shows a series of gifs from this video by cjthex.

Text:

Perfectionism is not something to aspire to. It's a disease that kills creativity.

When you're afraid of starting something for fear of its potential, theoretical inadequacy, the concerns isn't for bad art existing.

The concern is what you're making means about you.

You wanna be the person that's good at art. You want to be a genius.

Essentially, you care more about your pride than you care about the art.

When your fear of creating something stupid or bad prevents you from creating at all, you are not serving anyone but your own feelings.

Because everyone makes stupid and bad things. That's how you make good things.

We have to learn to accept that nothing will ever be perfect. Only if we allow ourselves to make stuff that's potentially bad or mediocre, can we at some point create something good. Let the art be what it is and don't define yourself over it. Learn to accept "good enough".

Don't aim for perfect, aim for good enough. 

barbex

[kiefbowl]

Not the same anon but re : HIMYM. My god. My god I could write a book on the horrid misogyny in this goddamn show. The waving away that Barney is a fucking rapist (rape by deception). The fact that lily went from aspiring artist to breeding housewife to marshal, who of course got to fulfill all of his dreams as a judge while she stays at home, unfulfilled. Ted who is the most boring mediocre man of all time yet expects his perfect little wife to be perfect in every way.

I could BARF anytime I think back on this show

It's actually fascinating to me re: Marshall/Lily that the writers seemed to lose interest in their drama and conflicts. I think one of the big reasons HIMYM was lauded in the first season and really gave it an oomph in the second was the fact that Lily leaves Marshall! It not something typically done in a sitcom, it was very compelling writing and it paralleled nicely with Ted/Robin's story (not only because they got together, but because we the audience know that Marshall and Lily are quote unquote soulmates, and Ted and Robin are not...at least at the time of writing it).

The story role of Marshall/Lily and Barney switch places at some point. The pathos of Barney's character truly doesn't matter in the first two and a half seasons. He's comic relief, he's player C for the B-plot. Very normal in a sitcom, you have five main players so you can pair two characters in the A plot (or the B plot sometimes), and the other 3 characters are doing the B-plot (or sometimes the A plot). One of the five tends to be, you know, the goof guy. He's not integral to the main over arching story, he comes in to be an imp and cause mischief and be a catalyst for some mayhem. Barney is clearly specifically written in that archetype from the very beginning. Now as sitcoms go on, these "fifth guys" do tend to have their role expanded and we will get more insight into the drama of their lives. They rarely get to be "promoted" as Barney did, even if they are a huge break-out character, like Barney was. Sometime the "fifth guy" is so break-out they become the main character, but that tends to make the sitcom very zany!! We're going to sea world! We're going to SPPPAAACE!!! etc. Barney wasn't made the lead, but his story was promoted. Marshall and Lily's dramas were then demoted.

This was a mistake, because Marshall and Lily were given a lot of story lines that weren't appropriate for Ted but fit into the theme of the show (the theme being "how are you still growing up in your 30s in the 2000s"). When should we have a family, what are our careers going to be, what have we lost by being each other's "only ones", did we choose New York, debt...these were interesting story beats for a sitcom.

I also have a conspiracy the writers were secretly torturing Jason Segel. They didn't actually care about Ted and Robin, they just wanted to make PG Saw Traps for Jason Segel. At some point the writers said "fuck our original vision, I personally want to make Jason Segel suffer." In season 8 they made him break the fourth wall (a thing they only did ONCE before to great effect) like six times already!!!! They want to kill that man!!! They wanted Jason Segel to die!!! They made Jason Segel show up to set at gun point and then gave him a doo doo garbage script on purpose!!!

Joking aside, yes it's atrocious they didn't use Marvin (the baby) as a jumping off point for Lily's career story. We had to spend time farting around about Barney getting a dog wing man (painfully unfunny) instead of spending some time with Lily's anxieties again (it's been well established and set up!!) that becoming a mother has put her that further out of reach of her art career. Again, haven't finished, but I don't think they really go back to this story beat.

only theory that makes sense is that they wanted Jason Segel to jump off a cliff and tried their hardest by making the most dookie hot garbage scripts they could think of.

[antspaul]

writers ask game: 🍄 🦴 🍅 🪲

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

hmm lemme think… okay so it didn’t make it into the ange/madders fic i wrote but ben and i talked about this once. i think that poch/kane did happen in that universe, and ange and madders have sort of heard whispers about it in the dressing room. not that they know any of the details, but they can kind of read between the lines — like they’ve heard about how poch took a special interest in H, how it affected h when poch left the club, how h would feel about ange had he stayed at the club… i think poch & kane kind of haunt tottenham and their absence would be felt even by people who had never known them there

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing? 

ooooo there’s a lot! obviously i’m out here writing fic LOL which is inherently derivative, but i’ll list a few pieces of media with writing that i aspire to:

Succession has such beautiful character writing and has made me think a lot about where i start and end a story, the difference between a which conflict guides the narrative and which conflict guides the characters in-universe (idk if that makes sense, happy to elaborate elsewhere), and the realism that humor adds to a story

I’ve read a couple of Ann Patchett’s books recently and i LOVE the way she constructs such intricate fascinating character relationships. In her books you rarely spend much time with any one character or place, and yet the worlds she creates are SO complex and compelling

A while back I read Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia which I’d seen a somewhat mediocre performance of yet loved anyways. Besides being a little strange but incredibly interesting, what struck me about Arcadia was how fun and engaging it was to read on paper! The dialogue conveyed subtext and emotion so well that it didn’t need dialogue tags or description or any of the other conventions of standard written prose. I sometimes catch myself getting really bogged down in making character body language not sound repetitive or something, when at times i think body language can be a bit distracting or jarring in text. Sometimes I’ll ask myself what i’d do if i had to convey everything i’m trying to convey without dialogue tags or body language or whatever and it helps!

🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing

truly i think my biggest weakness is how i write description - not so much character reflection but just literal description of a character’s physical surroundings. i feel like it often comes off somewhat flat and forced, idk. i’m definitely trying to pay more attention to this!! i don’t have an incredibly visual imagination so it definitely doesn’t come naturally to me, lol. i think part of the fix is to think critically about what a character would notice & also practice varying sentence structure and rhythm a bit? idk.

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

here's what i wrote! this character (ben chilwell) is in the depthsssss of a sexuality crisis atm hahahaha

Ben nearly ordered an actual drink but in the end he settled for a Coke, which he sipped idly at the bar counter, the aircon bringing a chill to his sun-warmed and sand-chapped body. The singles club were in the next room, laughing as loudly as ever. Their voices overlapped and echoed through the bar, and when Ben tried, he couldn’t make out what any of them were talking about.  It didn’t sound gay, Ben thought, though maybe he didn’t know what gay people sounded like in America. Maybe he didn’t know what they sounded like in England, either. He drank the Coke and closed his eyes.

Thank you for the ask Vida!!

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game