#at this point writers should make up characters and a basic plot and hand it to Tumblr

[my-drama-heart2406]

I love how every recent 'the impossible heir' YouTube short with Inha has reactions like, "Oh my god! So it was Inha all along?!", "Inha is the one who did this to Taeoh?!", "So Inha never really liked Hyewon at all?!", "He only liked Hyewon because of Taeoh?!", "So Inha turned villain and did this to the person who got him this far?!?!".

And then there's us on Tumblr who had predicted this is exactly what would happen since the first two episodes dropped.

[emeryleewho]

I've noticed that people take writing advice way too literally and then get really mad about it, so here's a quick guide of what the typical "bad' writing advice is actually trying to tell you.

[Note: you don't have to take literally any piece of advice. It's just there for your consideration. If you hate it, leave it and do things the way you want. But the reason all of this advice is regurgitated so often is because it has helped a lot of people, so it's okay if it's not for you, but it may still be life changing for someone else.]

Write Every Day

"Write every day" is NOT supposed to be a prescriptivist, unbreakable rule that dictates anyone who doesn't write literally every day isn't a real writer. It's supposed to be a shorthand way of saying "establish a writing routine. Get used to writing at certain times or in certain places or in certain patterns, both so that you can trick yourself into writing even when you don't feel like it by recreating certain conditions, but also because if you only write "when you're in the mood", you may never get around to finishing a project and you likely won't be able to meet publishing deadlines if you decide to pursue publication."

The point of this advice is basically just to get used to seeing writing as part of your daily routine, something that you do regularly. But if you decide you can't write on Tuesdays or weekdays or any day when you have certain other activities, that's literally fine. Just try to make it a habit if you can.

2. Show Don't Tell

"Show don't tell" DOES NOT AND HAS NEVER meant "never state anything plainly and explicitly in the text". Again, "show don't tell" is a shorthand, and its intended message is "things tend to feel a lot more satisfying when your reader is able to come to that conclusion on their own rather than having the information given to them and being told they just have to accept it." It's about giving your reader the pieces to put the puzzle of your book together on their own rather than handing them a finished puzzle and saying "there. take it."

So if you have a character who's very short-tempered, it's typically more satisfying that you "show" them losing their cool a few times so that the reader can draw the conclusion on their own that this character is short-tempered rather than just saying "He was short-tempered". Oftentimes, readers don't want to take what you tell them at face value, so if you just state these sorts of details, readers will push back against that information. People are significantly more likely to believe literally any information they are able to draw conclusions on without being told what to believe, so that's where this advice comes in.

3. In Medias Res

This one is so often misunderstood. "In medias res" or "start in the middle", DOES NOT MEAN to literally start halfway through your plot. It also DOES NOT MEAN that you should start in the middle of an action packed scene. It just means that when you start your story, it should feel like the world and the characters already existed before we started following them. It shouldn't feel like everything was on pause and the world and characters only started acting the moment the story begins.

This is why starting with a character waking up or something similar can feel jarring and slow. We want to feel instantly compelled by your character, and the most efficient way to do that is [typically] to have them already doing something, but that something can be anything from taking a shower to commuting to school to chopping off a dragon head. We just want to feel like the story is already moving by the time we enter.

4. Shitty First Drafts

The idea that you should let your first draft suck and not revise it as you go is a tip presented to combat the struggle a lot of people have with not being able to finish a draft. If you find you've been working on the same first draft for five years and barely gotten anywhere, you might want to try this advice. The point is to just focus on getting to the ending because finishing a draft can give you renewed energy to work on the book and also makes it easier to get feedback from readers and friends.

That said, if your story is flowing fine even as you go back and make edits, then don't worry about this. This is advice specifically designed to target a problem. Likewise, this doesn't mean that you can't clean up typoes when you see them or even make minor edits if you want to. It just means not to let yourself get completely bogged down by making changes that you never move forward.

A "shitty first draft" also doesn't mean that your story has to be completely illegible. It just means that you shouldn't let perfectionism stop you yet. I see a lot of people say "well, I can't keep going until this first part makes sense", and that's totally reasonable! Again, the point of this advice is just to get you out of that rut that keeps you from making progress, but if you spend a couple weeks editing and then move on or you find the book is still making forward strides while you edit, then you're fine. You don't need this.

5. Adverbs

The idea that you "shouldn't use adverbs" DOES NOT MEAN that any time you use an adverb, you're ruining your story. It just means that you shouldn't *rely* on adverbs to carry your story, namely in places where stronger verbs or nouns would do a lot more heavy lifting.

For instance, you can write "she spoke quietly", but generally speaking, that "quietly" there is a lot weaker than just subbing out this clause for "she whispered". You probably have the word "spoke" all over your draft, so subbing out one instance of it here for a stronger verb in place of the same verb + an adverb makes for stronger prose. This doesn't mean that you'll never want to use the phrase "spoke quietly" over the word "whispered". For instance, if I write, "When she finally spoke, she spoke quietly, like that was all the volume her weakened lungs could muster." In this case, I'm using "spoke quietly" specifically *because* it echoes the previous spoke earlier in the sentence, and it evokes a certain level of emotion to have that repetition there. I also used it because she's not actually "whispering", but trying to speak at full volume only to come off sounding quiet.

So when people tell you to cut adverbs, they're saying this because people often use adverbs as a crutch to avoid having to seek out stronger verbs. If you're using your adverbs intentionally, having considered stronger verbs but ultimately deciding that this adverb is what does the job properly, then there's nothing wrong with using them. This is just a trick to help you spot one common weakness in prose that a lot of authors don't even realize they have.

6. Write What You Know

This is potentially the single worst-underestood piece of writing advice. "Write what you know" DOES NOT MEAN to write only what you know or that you have to put all of your life's knowledge on the page. It just means that drawing from your own experiences and already there knowledge will help you craft a better story.

So, for instance, being an eye doctor doesn't mean you have to write a story about an eye doctor. It doesn't even mean you need to write a story that directly deals with any eye knowledge. It just means that there are likely things you've experience as an eye doctor that can help inspire or inform your story. Maybe you remember a patient who always wore the same yellow shoes, and so you include a character who does exactly that. Maybe you spent a lot of hours dealing with insurance so you decide to write about insurance agents. Maybe your practice was located next to a grocery store so you decide to write a zombie apocalypse story that takes place in a location inspired by that shopping center.

The point is that, as people, our lived experiences allow us to relate to other people and craft more believable worlds. So don't limit yourself to your lived or experience or feel obligated to only write the things you've done, but when you find yourself wondering what to write about next or how to give a character more depth or how to describe this random location, pull things from your life and let what you already know bring a certain level of unique you-ness to your writing.

And the MOST important advice I can give you is to stop looking at writing advice as some holy, unbreakable rules passed down by the gods that you cannot ever deviate from. And if a piece of advice sounds totally bonkers, do some research on it. There's a good chance that whoever's passing it to you has no idea what they're talking about. But even if every other writer swears by a certain piece of advice, you absolutely do not need to take it. Try it on if you want, and throw it away if you don't, but stop making yourselves miserable by letting random internet people dictate your life. Most people giving advice on the internet aren't where you want to be anyway, so don't expect them to be able to guide you somewhere they've never been.

Everything's made up, and nothing matters. Write what you want.

[chordsykat]

How I write action/fight scenes

From a prompt posted by a friend on Discord last night. :3 Just thought I would ramble a bit before getting to work, this morning. If you're a writer and want to know what goes through my head as I come up with combat scenes in my stories, then read on. In this way, I hope we both learn a lot. Because I honestly don't think I've ever laid out my "formula" before...

First, know who you're dealing with.

This tutorial is going to stick mostly to the actual writing aspects, but if you're going to do an action series, you should factor in the combat abilities of your characters as you develop them. This doesn't have to be anything fancy. Keep it to the natural human responses at least. In other words, during a conflict, how will your character react:

Fight: Push back

Flight: Run away

Freeze: Do nothing

Knowing just that will give you enough to start thinking these dances through. And indeed, that's what they are - a dance. If you know more, like, specifically what kind of fighting they do, what their strengths in combat are, etc -- all the better, but know that what I list below goes in order from most to least important, and that stuff won't be on the list until the end.

Second, (and always) make the audience care about the action.

This sounds dumb and counterintuitive but people won't find an action scene compelling just because it's an action scene. Not to knock it, because it was brilliant for a different reason and a lot of the writing staff's hands were tied... BUT... During my time as a fan of, all the way into my employment with, Archie-Sonic, I can't tell you how many action scenes happened just because some executive at Sega was like "I think X and Y need to fight." So they would, and for reasons that were muddy at best. I think at one point, we had Sonic and Knuckles literally exchanging this dialogue:

Sonic: Yo dude, be cool. Last time we met, we left on good terms! Knuckles: Maybe, but you're still an intruder and just because you did me that favor on the day my daughter was to be married does not mean I owe you anything in the way of kindness.

IDK, my memory may be foggy, but that was the gist of it. Point is, don't do that - and first make sure your audience understands the motives behind the action, the potential stakes, and why it's all taking place to begin with. Else, you can make it as cool as you want and people are going to walk away with a sense of "that was cool" instead of "holy shit I was freaking out through that whole scene." If there's any question as to what you should be striving for as a writer, it's the latter.

Third, plot it out like it's a mini-story.

To the point - figure out the end first, and work backwards, just like so many writing tutorials have said before. Again, keep it simple: Who wins? Does the conflict result in a casualty of some kind? Does a character learn something?

Before you show how it goes down, you need to establish what goes down as the action happens, and what happens afterwards. Keeping the ending in mind as yo write a scene is always a good way of making it feel tighter. And throwing littlte twists for interest (maybe a character has the upper-hand for all but the end of the fight - maybe a character is losing until a specific turning point, etc) is made much easier, too.

Fourth, mind the rhythm.

A little weird to explain this, but the back-and-forth nature of the scene needs to flow well. Generally, conflict follows a pattern of:

Character acts

Opposition reacts

Opposition acts

Character reacts

If this pattern looks familiar to you, it should. This is the basic pattern of human dialogue as seen in stories and, YES, real life. Consider your scene like a dialogue all its own (even if the characters are talking throughout). The twists and turns I spoke about in the last point should be "off beat" because there's an unexpected nature to them. When a twist happens, consider breaking the above pattern.

Fifth, showcase character traits and skills (again, always).

Some characters have a high sense of honor and would put down their weapons if their opponent was unarmed. Some of them would fight dirty and hit someone with a chair when their back was turned. Some characters are scrappy and will jump into a conflict even when they're sorely outmatched. Some are straight up cowards who might run away even when there's a good chance they could win. Some are smart enough to bow out and will not engage -- hiding at the first sign of trouble. Some will throw snowballs at the oppressor and be surprised when they pull aggro and the dude comes after them.

You get the idea -- fights, conflicts and action scenes are great ways to show your characters' strengths, weaknesses, traits, and personality. Times of struggle are going to lay emotional responses raw, and it's a great way of showing "who someone really is" as it were.

Sixth, showcase unique defensive behavior.

Some characters have specific training: military, martial arts, street-fighting, etc... which, if you're aware of those, should come out during combat or conflict. Some characters have access to weapons. Some characters' bodies are the weapon. Etc, etc etc...

Whatever you do, about the only time you're going to show off the fact that your character knows Muay Thai is during an action scene. If you yourself do not practice this martial art, then research what you need to incorporate to make it believable when you write. Watch videos and write down the ways you would describe the movement. If you're doing a comic, then sketch the movement. Use that in your story.

Last, create more interest by tying in and highlighting story themes or disparities between protagonist characters, antagonist characters, and/or the conflict as a whole.

A little trickier, but if your story has a central theme or moral, try showing pieces of it shining through the action. Just as one wild example, if you have a theme of "love conquers all" this might mean your fight will end with the two people falling in love, instead of fighting. Think like a dungeon master. If you rolled a natural 20 on "try to woo the orc" in a combat situation (remember that comic?) what do you think would happen?

Too, if your combatants have something in common, or especially something that they are diametrically opposed on, feel free to show that off in these scenes. It'll leave the audience knowing them better (and set them up for further head-butting... or romance(?) down the line. And that's always fun).

Anywho, that's just a few of my thoughts on action sequences in fiction. If this helped you, or you want me to talk about this even more -- send me a message or a note or something. Always up for discussing this kind of thing.

And your reward for reading this far is an invite to join my discord if you wanna hear me ramble on about this sort of thing, in perpetuity. :)

[nondelphic]

Hiiii! May I ask for some advice? After a really long time of not writing fan fic, I recently started getting back into it but have been struggling… So I started using a little bit of the chat.ai help me but I feel icky about it but at the same time, I’m constantly struggling with writers block and being burnt out… What should I do?

i'm actually really glad you asked this because i've been preparing a post about using ai responsibly for writing, might just post it here lol:

tldr: this post isn’t about using ai to generate your story for you. it’s about how to utilize ai to enhance your writing process while still keeping your voice and creativity at the forefront.

the rise of ai has stirred up a lot of talk about ethics, originality, and how much tech should really be in our creative space. as writers, our work is highly personal, it's a reflection of our thoughts and experiences. so it’s totally normal to feel icky about bringing ai into the mix.

here's a hot take, though: ai isn’t here to replace your creativity. it doesn’t get the deep, emotional layers that only a human writer can bring. sure, ai can generate text, but it doesn’t really understand what it’s saying. that’s where some of the ethical concerns come in—if we rely too much on ai, we risk losing that personal touch that makes our stories resonate.

on the flip side, when used thoughtfully, ai can actually boost your creative process instead of taking away from it. think of ai as a helpful assistant, it can take care of some of the boring, tedious stuff, giving you more space to focus on what really matters: writing your story, your way. it’s not about letting ai take over, but using it to support and streamline your process.

this is not a post about my experience with ai, but i have to say, that as someone with adhd, ai has been a game-changer for me. it helps me keep track of my ideas, organize my thoughts, and even manage my writing schedule when my brain is all over the place. it's like having an extra set of hands (or, you know, a brain) to help me stay on top of everything, so i can focus more on the actual creative part of writing.

the key is to make sure ai never overshadows your original voice or creative vision. ai should be a tool that helps you bring your ideas to life, not something that writes the story for you. if you’re curious about how to use ai in your writing process while keeping your authenticity intact, here are some tips to do it responsibly:

brainstorming ideas: when you’re stuck on a plot point or character development, use ai to generate prompts or ideas. these can spark new directions for your story, giving you fresh perspectives to explore.

dialogue experimentation: if your dialogue feels flat, try using ai to generate conversation snippets based on your characters. it might not be perfect, but it can give you new ideas for how your characters might interact.

synonym suggestions: tired of using the same word over and over? ai can help you find synonyms or alternative phrases, keeping your writing fresh without losing your voice. i've found this very helpful as an ESL writer!

outline generation: got a rough idea but need a structure? use ai to create a basic outline, then tweak it to fit your vision. it’s a great way to get a head start on organizing your story.

character backstories: use ai to brainstorm character traits, backstories, or names. you can take these ideas and expand on them, adding the depth and personality that only you can create.

quick research assistance: save time by using ai for quick facts or historical details. it lets you focus more on storytelling and less on getting bogged down in research. (disclaimer: never 100% trust what an ai generates, fact check everything). i've found it a great starting point if i have a very niche question for my research.

editing help: use ai for basic grammar and spelling checks to speed up your editing process. just remember, it’s your judgment that will shape the final draft, not the ai’s.

plot analysis: use ai to scan your draft for plot holes or inconsistencies. it can help identify gaps in logic or missing links in your storyline, giving you a clearer idea of where to tighten things up.

tone consistency: ai can help you maintain a consistent tone throughout your story by analyzing your draft and suggesting adjustments where the tone shifts unexpectedly.

pacing adjustments: ai can review the pacing of your story, highlighting sections that may be too slow or too rushed, helping you find the right balance.

character consistency: track your characters' traits, behaviors, and dialogue to ensure they remain consistent throughout the story, preventing out-of-character moments.

theme reinforcement: use ai to analyze how well your themes are being conveyed across the narrative, suggesting areas where you might strengthen or clarify your message.

draft comparison: if you’ve gone through multiple drafts, ai can compare them to highlight what’s changed, what’s been improved, and what might have been lost in the revisions.

to answer your question more personally, i think we can never please everyone, and ai will continue to be developed and get better and better. i understand feeling icky about using ai, and you might get judged for it, but do what you need to do, tbh.

i have found myself in a writing routine where i use most of the advice above in my writing process. i write most of my work myself, but i use ai as a tool to bounce ideas off of, and it's been a life changer. i managed to finish my first novel draft with the help of ai, and it fuelled my creativity to have "someone" (or rather something) to feed my ideas and help them identify what i could do better.

[lavendersugarplum]

Why Ben’s Death Was Important.

These two TUA characters could've died earlier, and I would not care.

Now that The Umbrella Academy has come to an end with Season 4, I feel like it's the perfect time to share some of my thoughts on the characters, and one in particular—Jennifer. If Jennifer had been killed off at any point during the season, it honestly wouldn't have affected me in the slightest. I just couldn't bring myself to care about her character. Jennifer's presence throughout the series has been minimal at best; she's barely had any screen time or development, making it hard to connect with or invest in her story. In many ways, she felt like a character who was simply there to serve the needs of the plot, rather than someone we were meant to root for or even understand on a deeper level.

The show could have handled her just as they did with Harlan—abruptly writing her out without much of a send-off. Harlan, who was once an important character, was discarded with little fanfare when his role no longer fit into the narrative. But because Jennifer is more closely tied to the central plot and Sparrow Ben's storyline, the writers clearly felt she was too important to be cut off so easily. Despite her being integral to certain plot points, it felt like her character never truly got the attention or development needed to make her compelling. So, while her survival made sense for the overall narrative, it didn't do much to make her any more memorable or likable to me as a viewer. If they had killed her off from the start, then the show would basically be over. Happy Ending for everyone....except her.

Another character I would have had zero qualms about losing is Sparrow Ben. Especially him. I HATE this character with a passion. No one can ever replace Umbrella Ben in my eyes; he will always be the best Ben, the only valid Ben, and the one who truly mattered. Sparrow Ben, on the other hand, is an entirely different story. I wouldn't give two flying fucks if something terrible happened to him. 😭 From the moment he appeared on screen, it was clear that his character was meant to be unlikable—arrogant, self-centered, and constantly at odds with everyone around him. And while it seemed like the writers tried to soften him up in late end of Season 3, hoping to make him more sympathetic or relatable, it just didn't work for me. Any attempts to redeem Sparrow Ben fell flat, and he remained just as obnoxious as ever.

Frankly, I'm convinced that the only reason the Umbrellas kept him around was because he looked like their beloved Umbrella Ben. If it were up to me, I'd have left his ass somewhere along the way, probably "accidentally" letting him get swallowed up by the Kugelblitz or one of the many other apocalyptic threats they faced. The Umbrellas' insistence on keeping him around felt misguided; he's not their Ben, and he's made it painfully clear he doesn't want to be part of their found family. I kept thinking, "Just let him go! He's not your brother!" The whole dynamic was forced and uncomfortable, and it's hard not to blame him for a lot of what went wrong this season. The group's willingness to cling to this hollow version of their lost sibling only made things worse.

Because let's be real, most of the things in Season 4 can be traced back to Sparrow Ben's actions or his selfish decisions. If they had just left him behind earlier on, half the disasters they faced might never have happened. The Umbrellas should have cut their losses instead of trying to see something redeemable in a character who had no interest in being part of their story. To me, the only decent Sparrows were Sloane and Marcus—characters who, unlike Sparrow Ben, showed some sense of loyalty, vulnerability, and a willingness to grow. Sparrow Ben was just dead weight, a constant reminder of what the Umbrellas lost, without offering anything meaningful in return. He is a prime example to show how none of the Umbrella's are willing to just let go of some things and move on.

The entire series of The Umbrella Academy revolves around one central theme: the siblings' refusal to let go of the past and accept things as they are. They're constantly clinging to old traumas, memories, and regrets, unable to move forward. This is why Sparrow Ben's antagonistic personality is in a way important to the storyline. If he had been as loving, kind, and brotherly as Umbrella Ben, his role as the catalyst for the Umbrellas' downfall would have made no sense. Sparrow Ben's cold and selfish nature was a direct contrast to what the Umbrellas once had, highlighting just how much they were still trapped in the past, desperately trying to hold onto something that was long gone. So even though a lot of us might absolutely loathe this character, he role was a reminder that you can't recreate what you've lost, no matter how hard you try, and this refusal to accept that truth is what ultimately led the siblings down a destructive path.

Rewatching the series with this context makes Umbrella Ben's death feel even more important. On its own, his death is a heartbreaking and tragic moment, a sudden loss of a beloved character. But when viewed within the entire narrative arc of the series, it transforms from a purely sad event into something more complex—almost a bittersweet relief. I believe now that Ben's death was a subtle foreshadowing of how the story would ultimately end. It was a powerful hint at the series' overarching message about the necessity of letting go. Ben's journey was a microcosm of what every character needed to learn but often resisted—the painful but necessary act of moving on.

Ben was the first sibling to accept his fate, to realize that holding onto people, memories, and pain when it's time to let go is not only unhealthy but self-destructive. His decision to let go wasn't just about moving on from his own death; it was about ending his cycle of self-inflicted suffering. He recognized that by clinging to the past, he was only perpetuating his own misery. His final act of release allowed him to find peace, breaking the cycle and allowing his spirit to finally move forward. This stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the siblings, who repeatedly fall into the same patterns, unable to break free from their own personal demons.

To break the cycle, you must be willing to let go, just as Ben ultimately did.

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

It was a documentary, not a series, that's why we were not satisfied because we wanted fiction, not a docuseries.

This only solidifies my POV, which I have already gone over on the Under The Table Podcast and in many previous entries on my blog, about the whole problem with S3 being in the WR. Coming from a very solid S2 and amazing S1 award season, only made matters worse, of course.

Viewers appreciate realism, as a matter of fact the kind of audience The Bear appeals to is the kinda public that digs realism and adult content, with lots of cussing, raw directorial style, fast-paced, etc. We are not the typical rom-com or even drama series audience. The Bear became a hit show back in 2022 because its eps were fast-paced, with a dramedy quality that made it original, lots of adult language, and with a hint of sexual tension that was "promising" if explored in future seasons, that at that point were not confirmed yet. S2 was ordered in July 2022 in the middle of the momentum the show was starting to get, and shot from February to April 2023, then it premiered in June 2023, only to compete now, in this award season that opened a few weeks ago at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Meaning: the reason why S3 didn't work as expected, and the numbers back that up that is why they haven't released them yet, is because the writers were not able to write a BALANCED plot. Yes, it hit all the realistic marks in terms of mental health struggles and fine dining 7th circle of hell, but at the same time, it lost every other "ingredient" that it used to have. THERE IS A WAY to write the best of both worlds, and I certainly expected that coming from who I considered the best script writer out there, the sadist. And his right hand wired for romance, Miss Calo. They didn't do it. They disappointed me. They went all in with the docuseries' raw realism style of Carmy hitting rock bottom, which if you were really paying attention in S2 was nothing but PREDICTABLE → as I proved even before S3 premiered here and here but they didn't build towards a cliffhanger that left you wanting more, actually, 03X10 is altogether hard to watch, there's no balance like in FISHES 02x06, for instance, just one punch after the other, all below the belt, no comedy, no breather, just tragedy and more tragedy and more sense of doom and more PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! THAT'S IT, END THIS, PULL THE PLUG, STOP IT! etc... Like I said: No balance.

Storer only focused on Carmy's background story, but didn't give us anything we couldn't have figured out on our own anyway, he didn't explore Syd's background story, which should be a collection of gems and absolutely Sydcarmy friendly because the more we know about her, the better we will be able to figure out how will Sydcarmy happen and when (I already know when, but still) and he also focused on Tina's background story, IMO that was completely unnecessary as T is not a central character, what he showed there was also easy to guess anyway and could have been summarised in a couple of scenes, not an entire bottled episode, not when other characters are UNEXPLORED after 3 seasons. So basically, all the decisions made in terms of SCRIPT were WRONG. The acting was perfect, the direction was too, the soundtrack, the cinematography, all of it, but the foundation wasn't there because in the WR the creative decisions made for S3 were completely fucked up, we were served a docuseries as opposed to the fictional show with a realism bouquet we were watching the previous 2 seasons.

WE WANT TO WATCH FICTION, write it realistically, sure! BUT DON'T LOSE WHAT YOU HAVE SO FAR, DON'T MUTATE INTO A DOCUMENTARY OF ALL THAT'S WRONG IN THE MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT OR IN SOCIETY OR IN THE CULINARY INDUSTRY, we already know that and if we don't, we can always tune in the motherfucking news, not FX, and certainly not Disney+. Thank you very much.

[magpod-confessions]

(loosely responding to a confession i saw a while back, but just a lot of stuff in general)

i don't like how the fandom is so quick to slap labels like 'sexist, racist, misogynistic, etc' onto anyone who dislikes a certain character. i know these things are very much an issue, especially in fandom culture, but it's really anoying when people will just throw those labels around just because people dislike a character that happens to be a woman of colour. because 1. people are allowed to just dislike characters 2. people can have perfectly good reasons for disliking minority characters that have nothing to do with them being part of a minority group

specifically i want to talk about preferring michael distortion over helen distortion. obviously michael is widely depicted as a white man, while helen is widely depicted as a black woman so it's easy to look at the general favouritism towards michael and shout racism and misogyny. but that doesn't account the numerous reasons people could have to prefer michael over helen that have absolutely nothing to do with helen being black or being a woman. So, I present several such reasons:

(now, to the people that are going to say "why are you comparing them?? they are different characters and you should treat them like it" first of all, why have you read this far. second of all, that does not apply here. these are not two seperate characters. these are two different interations/personas/whatever of the same being. comparison should be expected if not encouraged)

michael is more interesting than helen. becuase michael is the distortion when jon and the viewer know very little about the distortion and the fears, he gets to be more cryptic, he can hint at things and and be all mysterious and vague about the nature of himself and the world. helen on the other hand is the distortion when we have a much better idea of the distortions nature and the fears and how they work. thus, she has less opportunity to be cryptic and vague and mysterious, which , in my opinion, is one of michael's best qualities-and what makes him so loved by the fandom. helen attempts to be weird and cryptic like michael, but it's just very repetitive and boring because we already know how everything works and there is very little she can hide from us

michael is a more 'iconic' character. this basically comes down to, he's more quotable. he has his whole trademark laugh and all his great quotes "i am not a who archivist i am a what" "how would a melody decribe itself when asked" "does your hand in any way own your stomach" "there has never been a door there archivist your mind plays tricks on you" i could go on. i'm sure helen has some great lines as well but i don't know any off the top of my head, which honestly proves my point a little. anyway, helen doesn't have all that. probably becuase the writers didn't want her to feel too similar to michael but yeah. this reason is a bit basic but it's still true

michael is made to seem more important. I just want to clarify, what i mean here when i say a character is more importamt here, is that the podcast makes this character seem more important. they both had their effect on the storyline, but the show definitely makes one of them seem more important and influential (this reason encompasses a lot of things so i'm sorry if it gets a bit ramble-y) this kinda ties in with the michael being more mysterious thing. micheal is treated as this mysterious unknown character, a potential threat, an antagonist at some points. Michael affects the characters quite a lot, and jon specifically seems to dwell on him a lot. So despite having a lot less screentime than helen, he's built up to be quite an important figure. Helen is not treated as important by the show in the same way. by the time she comes along, the whole mystery and drama of the distortion has already happened, so she isn't that important. she becomes a little irrelevant to the plot, occaisionally popping in to bother jon. and that's what she's really framed as —an annoyance, a bit of a nuisance, but not that important or influential. especially in season 5, she becomes almost a comedic relief character. mag 187 is the exception to this, where she is very important for about one episode before being almost immediately forgotten about. her effect on the characters is made to seem important only in retrospect. michael remains relevant even after his 'death' because he plays an important role in jon's struggle with his humanity and his conflict over gertrude's morals. even though michael has very little screentime compared to helen, every bit of it is made to feel relevant and important to the overall plot. I AM NOT SAYING MICHAEL IS ACTUALLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN HELEN. YOU CAN LOOK AT HELEN'S EFFECT ON THE PLOT AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE. I AM SAYING THE PODCAST ITSELF CLEARLY MAKES MICHAEL SEEM MORE IMPORTANT. sorry i just want to be super clear on that

michael has a more tragic/serious backstory. we all know what i mean here. michael shelley being manipulated and decieved and betrayed and kept in the dark, to become a monster that's whole purpose was to do those same things to countless innocents—there's so much that can be drawn from that and it's so poetic and interesting. it's also relevant to the overarching plot of the podcast like i said before. and like i mentioned before, helen is treated as a more funny character, not as serious or tragic as michael. don't get me wrong, there is tragedy in her becoming but it is not explored in the podcast canon. you can definitely talk about the srious stuff of helen's character but it isn't as grounded in canon if you do. also michael's death seems more tragic because michael shelley was framed as super innocent and undeserving of his fate while helen richardson was canonically kind of an asshole (not saying she deserved it either of course)

helen replaced michael. this relates to what i said at the start of this list—helen is going to be compared to michael as she is literally his replacement. for one, that does set michael fans against her slightly already because she's complicit in his 'death' a tiny bit. but the real problem is, she's expected to live up to michael—while also being different enough that it doesn't feel like the same character—which i personally don't feel that she does. i think i'd like her better if she was her own character and hadn't replaced michael, and i think that's a big reason that many people that prefer michael don't like her as much. it's also a valid reason to dislike a character. also, this has absolutely nothing to do with her being a woman of colour in fanon. if she was another white boy i'd still probably dislike her when she didn't live up to michael standards.

that's all i can be bothered to write, i think i had more ideas but i forgot sorry lol. anyway, notice how none of those reasons had anything at all to do with helen being a woman or often being depicted as black? if michael had been a woman of colour and helen had been a white man instead, these reasons would still apply

anyway i spent so long on this i thought of a couple reasons someone might preferhelen because i still love her and i don't want to make it seem like i dislike her. i don't. i just prefer michael but helen is still definitely top5 tma characters for me for sure.

we get to see the distortion adapt to it's new identity as helen which is super cool (i do not understand why no one talks about this.like hello????? it's so interesting?)

sometimes it's nice to have a more funny character, especially the juxtaposition between the more dark stuff of the podcast and lighthearted moments between helen martin and jon in season 5

i like her more subtle manipulations and the whole 'fake friend' thing. i thought that was a really interesting concept and a good way of bringing something new to the distortion

anyway, i know that white-twink-favouritism is an issue within the tma fandom (and dare i say tumblr as a whole) but let's remember than not everyone who likes or dislikes certain characters or prefers one character over another does so because they are sexist or racist. there are so many different reasons for someone to dislike or like characters that have notihing to do with race or gender.

i notice this debate particularly with michael and helen and i agree there could certainly be an element of sexism and a bit of racism too (not racism so much because she is not canonically black it's just a fanon thing so racist people probably just see her as white idk) but i think most people have genuine reasons like these to prefer michael and should not be called sexist or racist for having preferences.

🗣️ if i remember right mod i know you prefer helen so disagree with me if you wish. I'M NOT SAYING MICHAEL IS OBJECTIVELY BETTER THAN HELEN I'M POINTING OUT REASONS THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE PREFER HIM. i'm not really here to debate whether michael or helen is 'better' i just wanted to point out something that annoys me a bit

oh my god you are so right anon. at the end of it all both distortions are just. the distortion. michael was more impactful to the actual story as a whole, being one of gertrude's assistants, but helen is also super important in jons journey into avatarhood. both of them affected how jon sees himself through this ( him seeing himself as a monster definitely is also from the distortion ) in their own ways , and while helen is more of comedic relief , she still is new. she's fresh. she is a blank slate for the distortion after having been michael for so long and that is so interesting , especially with how she feels at the very start after merging. - deceit

Agree agree agree. I love helen sm and I find her incredibly interesting (and well the disortion in general) and I do prefer her over Michael personally (partly bc im gay as hell), but I definitely understand why ppl love Michael sm. And yea I dont think ppl should be called sexism or racist over liking a character. Like theres a big difference between liking a character for genuine reasons and liking them bc you have a bias. Idk yea - Rosette

[dadattebayo]

You know what guys…

I just watched this teaser for the final episode, and of course I am thrilled and blown away by Sauron's maniac face telling he is gonna rape his preciousssss eat Galadriel alive

oh fuck help me i can´t

BUT

I still have something to say. Like okay, i get it, all this unspoken sexual tension and stuff between them, and kinda obvious crazy thirst for her in his creepy face - all could be fine by me except the one tiny detail. What we can see more in this teaser is another freaking kiss that is going to happen this time between Isildur and his girl sorry I forgot her name,

so what’s really pissing me off is that so far we would have 4 kisses in the show and basically these are 4 KISSES NO ONE ACTUALLY GIVES A FUCK ABOUT.

1. Harfoots. Who cares about the hobbits kissing scene? Like what the hell was it for? Does someone for real ship them? Was this kiss important to the story?

Fucking NO.

2. Elrond and Galadriel. Totally unnecessary. No one expected this and no one would want this to happen actually. Especially considering the fact he eventually just put the key into her hand without any special use of his mouth required.

Okay I get it can explained he wanted to distract the orcs, but anyway, somehow the writers did came up with this particular idea!

3. Arondir and Bronwin. Totally fine by me except she´s dead now.

4. Now Isildur and Estrid (I remembered the name).

At first I was blind enough watching the teaser to think it was Halbrand so I got a mini stroke.

Pretty sure once we will see Elendil/Miriel kissing too. Of course I do not mind any of these kisses happening, I even ship some of them but still these are not something the whole fandom is waiting for.

There is literally only one kiss EVERYONE is expecting. Not only the haladriel shippers, but everyone (some might want it to happen, some might not, but it would not be a surprise for anyone) since in fact nobody has ever asked for Saurondriel in the first place, it was totally up to the showrunners to literally just start pushing this ship into our throats from their first meeting using all scrupulously planned moments between them throughout the season 1 and countless hints and moments of nostalgia in the season 2! God, they even invented the whole Mirdania character just to prove Sauron´s feelings (and of course to show his cruelty later, but thats not the point)

guess where the kiss should have happened if they hadn't been interrupted

The writers made this ship up consciously and intentionally. THEY HAVE BEEN FEEDING US WITH HALADRIEL SINCE THE BEGINING,

So why the fuck this couple which has always been promoted in such obvious way is the only one that is not likely to get a goddamn kiss?! At this point i would rather believe that even Stranger and Nori would kiss, but not Saurondriel.

This is disturbing. BECAUSE EXCUSE ME WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT 2 MORE YEARS to get the s3. I am not still quite sure though cause there is still no official announcement on s3

So, they all have already messed up enough with the original plot by putting some of the kisses mentioned above in the series, so why just not let also Saurondriel finally happen? What difference would it make anyway? none! all plot holes will all be fixed thanks to impossibility to fix sauron.

I am just fed up with another 'LETS TOUCH THE DARKNESS TOGETHER', "NO NEVER', 'DIE BECAUSE OF ME', BLABLA...

It needs something better to get us screaming and making views to the show.

[tuakaai]

Good morning people. Since Ep 3 review I have gone outside and touched grass trying to process the ending of the series. So here we go.

Ep 4

First of all. I knew it! I knew it was the dad that killed Ben!

Second of all, the episode was between boring and annoying.

Klaus is doing his completely separate thing from the entire group.

The main group, instead, is on the search for Ben

Which himself is having his own soap-opera

Meanwhile Jean and Gene spend the whole episode in a burger King

Ep 5 & 6

We all know what I'm gonna say...

Lila and Five is just a no, I'm not gonna go too deep on it.

We get to see the in-laws!

The entire cast is separated by duos with very little mixing and I don't like that. They feel so much less like a family than any other season. And I purely believe you could make a more united/mixed season by changing some characters arcs, for example Klaus's exclusion from the main plot!

I do agree that some characters are more independant during the entire series, like Viktor or Five (or Ben cos he hates the entire group). They can stay how they are. I like consistant characterization.

I also want to point out the butchering of female storylines this season. Especially regarding Jennifer and Lila.

Lila is a badass! She's a strong woman, confident in herself, doesn't wait for a no or yes to do something, independant, loving, crazy, stubborn, fun... She's all of it. And this season she's purely been used as Five's love interest. She went from punk to a cottage-core stay at home wife. We barely see her join any of Five's excursions outside the house, except for that last one where she effectively does nothing. Is it only crazy to me that the Lila that said "we're not giving up" has spent more than seven years in her domestic wife fase? And the only reason she is able to go back has been handed to her by Five while insisting she should stay cos he doesn't want to fix the apocalipse and that he's better than her "failed marriage"? She hasn't been given any agency, the writer has done whatever he wanted with her and just won't accept any criticism. He's literally made his fantasies cannon just cos he could.

And Jennifer? Much of the same. A romantic object to advance the plot. Do we know anything about her? No. Does she make her own choices besides sticking beside her oh so loved Ben? No. She's rescued when she has to be rescued, she's killed when she has to be killed, she's romanced just because. She takes no forefront, basically Ben's attachment!

Now, the ending

I don't care, I literally don't care. Is it shit? Very. But what are you supposed to do when you fuck up the entire season before it?

I don't mind the "we have to sacrifice ourselves for this to stop", but it has to be done well. With character arcs finished at the very least.

Also, are you telling me that if they didn't drink the marigold they could've literally throw it to Jennifer and it would've been sorted? And Viktor can remove the marigold from a person, can he not? (like in season 2 & 3)

Idk, I'm going crazy again

Anyway

Reginald should've died

Moon lady shouldn't have been included

A dance scene should've

Good night, can't wait for the fanfics.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Tbh I don't see the point of Luka learning mirakungfu while Adrien and Marinette don't, even more so if the reason why Suhan teach that to him is because he knew LB and CN identity. Then shouldn't those two learn it also since they basically holding the miraculous that the villain want most? But then again it feels like "adult is useless except for some" seems to be one of the rule in this show.

I kind of despise the concept of mirakungfu because it makes no sense and because it feels disrespectful. I am by no means an expert on Chinese culture, so I don't know if it's actually offensive, but when all the writers are white, the name for the made up martial art is a parody of a real martial art, the box of magic items has nothing to do with the culture it's supposedly from, and the main character is completely removed from her heritage, it's just not a good look, especially since the monks are Tibetan and everything about the miraculous themselves is pretty explicitly Chinese. It just gives me uncomfortable vibes of Asian cultures being treated as both window dressing and an interchangeable monolith, but I don't have the expertise to really discuss that issue beyond "this feels like a bad idea and you probably want to talk to an expert on these topics to make sure you're not doing something offensive."

On the other hand, I love the concept of Guardian Luka! I have actually always wished that he had been given the miracle box instead of Marinette simply because I don't think that Marinette's personality is well suited to the role of Guardian and because I wanted her to have an actual team. Meanwhile, Luka freaking shines when they have him in a mentor role (Wishmaker & Migration) and I am of the firm belief that the Guardian should be a mentor to the other holders. It's why I said Marinette isn't suited to the role. As written, she just kind of hands out miraculous and orders people about. That's perfectly fine for a team leader! It's not so great for what I expect when I hear "guardian who chooses the holders of the ancient and powerful artifacts."

But that's not what they did with Luka. He isn't the holder of the miracle box. He just knows how to fight off miraculous wielders because reasons, so I have no idea what they're trying to do with him. Especially since his existence is straight up breaking their lore. In this case, it's the lore established back in Furious Fu, Su-Han's intro:

Su-Han: Let me remind you about some of the Perfect Precepts that you have broken. (flips pages) Precept 14: Kwamis must not live outside the box. (flips pages) Precept 52: Guardians must never lose a Miraculous. (flips pages) Precept 133: A guardian cannot, under any circumstances, wear a Miraculous. (closes the book)

Su-Han accepting Marinette as Guardian because what's done is done makes sense because of the memory BS (why is there no other way to hand off the box?), but that whole "Guardians don't wear Miraculous" rule is there for a reason! I think it may go a step too far, but the general principle does make a lot of sense. The Guardians should be in more of a support role simply from a security standpoint.

It's another reason I'm iffy on Marinette being the Guardian. The Guardian knows everyone's identities and - in the context of canon - has a direct line to the miracle box that any rando can access by capturing them. This makes it a really bad idea to have them fighting on the front lines as they know too much and are something of a security risk. Meanwhile the snake feels like a perfect miraculous for the Guardian to wield since the snake is meant to watch the battle from the sidelines.

It's all very confusing to me because I'm getting a thing I wanted, but in the most confusing and least interesting way. Instead of this feeling like a big plot point, it just feels like something they did because it's cool. I fear this is going to be like Luka learning the secret identities: a thing that should lead to something big plot-wise, but that ends up mostly ignored because it would complicate things too much. If anything, I expect this to mean that he's left out of big moments because the writers very clearly don't know how to write him now. Like he should have been involved in the Risk/Strikeback fight! His powers made more sense than anyone else's! But he couldn't be because then the Felix thing couldn't happen.

I do very much agree that Luka leaning mirakungfu is a big WTF because, if holders are randomly allowed to learn it now, then Marinette should be learning it too! She's actively fighting against a rouge holder, she knows all of the other holders' identities, and she is the guardian! Why is Su-Han mentoring Luka and not the actual guardian? It's all very annoying and I do not like it. It would honestly make more sense if Jagged and Penny were trained, but Luka was not, because Jagged and Penny are not holders, but they are acting as Luka's bodyguards of a sort. Instead, the writers have once again shat all over their lore in the name of doing something cool for a season finale and I would bet you that they're now going to have no idea how to handle the consequences of that in the coming season because they keep doing that. See: season three ending with a mass reveal and the writers subsequently ignoring the identity rules.

[terraco-07]

I find the posts claiming that Rose and Jade were in character for their current series of actions interesting to say the least. Personally I can't help but see them far and away out of their original characterization, but I'll focus primarily on Rose here. I think it's really easy for us to forget the original comic when looking at subsequent works and forget the foundational information that informs us of who a character is. I'm sorry but less than a thousand pages of Epilogues and HS2 isn't going to tell you as much as 8k and the writers SHOULD be looking at the original and plotting off of that even if they were teens in it. When writing a sequel (Whether canon or not) the original matters! That all said when I look back at Rose on the meteor I see someone who let her nerves and her fear of failure and being alone propel her forward at all times. This girl got so nervous about impressing Kanaya that she was wasted and missed their first date. She's insecure and fearful that Kanaya might break up with her on the meteor as well. The way that scene went down and Kanaya yelling no to me reads as this wasn't the first time Rose has asked that. Regardless you take all of that and you add the fact that candy Rose was talking to John about how happy she was and how much she loved her wife and kid and we go from that to well I knew you'd forgive me and honestly I just wanted to see what would happen while Kanaya is actively going "You do remember you said a kid between those three would be horrible and you didn't like Jade right?" We have no reason to believe that Kanaya is an unreliable narrator here, if anything Rose more than likely is. The idea that Rose just went oh man my good bestie Jade wants me to cheat on my loving wife of over 10 years and went yeah sure anything for my friend is laughably bad I'm sorry. If that's actually a course of action being taken by the writers I genuinely question if we're writing this for a 5th grade reading level. HS2 has at times been a series of flatting characters into their most basic forms and I'm so tired of seeing this parroted by fans who take the most surface level shit and run with it without thinking a little deeper. I feel like I've gone over this before but making Rose into this sort of cold emotionless villain type is so uninspired while we're at it. We're creating problems for her when she had ten other things she could have been shitty for. The knew you'd forgive me line is especially egregious for some shallow anime villain type. I will say Rose is bad at communication I agree with those points, but that ignores the main issue. She's bad at talking about her feelings but she isn't bad at caring about Kanaya's. The idea that she would throw away or risk her relationship EVEN with the visions is kind of insane to me. Her fear of losing Kanaya would overweigh the trust in her powers. I think that Rose like a handful of other characters is just chronically misread and people are excited about an evil plotline but this is so half baked and the idea that she was always like this or this makes sense with her previous characterization is just actually insane to me. Look HS2 fans you can have your new Rose, but that's a different person I think we can all play nice under that assumption.

[roxannepolice]

Guess who has to write and email and like open a word document (to read her own writing, argh the ordeal!), so here goes more thinking about tragic vs. comedic choices with Doctor-Master relationship.

I keep saying that the last two times we got writers making a point of tragedizing the Master's final appearance, without giving a hint as to them being fine or at least fine-able, and how that really is a news thing, because in classic Who they would usually give a wink that they'll be back which is as much a part of the happy ending as their plans being thwarted, be it a smug phonecall, an 80s effects clock or TARDIS having indigestion. And also, now that I think of it, it tend to be the companions who ask about them, and that without clear hostility. Now, there are two caveats, I admit, the first largely technical, the second more poetic. The first is - I mean "normal" circumstances for the writers, i.e. when they are reasonably sure the show's gonna be renewed and no accidents will befall the actors. Basically, I have in mind the situations when the writer's mindset is that of writing a full story for the Master (and again, don't get me started on "the Master always just comes back without any explanation", no, not in a new body, then it's been a matter of a full cold opening or even an episode to explain it).

The second is, and I suppose this like a lot of issues I take especially with Chibs, stems from superficial look at how RTD handled tensimm, the fact that there is no wink at the end of EoT. Because yes, Simm!Master disappears into the portal, flashing into an electroskeleton that has been established as him "still dying". And yes, that is a break from tradition. Except, I would say, it is a result of the deeper novelty RTD went for: writing the Doctor as a tragic character. Like, Simm!Master's exit is tragic, because the entirety of EoT is a tragedy, frankly the entire Tenth Doctor story is a very shakesperean tragedy of hubris, and existential choices and needing to deal with them. Oh yes, there are elements of a happy ending, with Earth, time itself and more importantly Wilf saved, but that's Montagues and Capulets shaking hands over their children's bodies, or Fortinbras getting down to putting Denmark back into shape among a carnage, or Mark Antony and Octavius on a battlefield taking up power over Rome while declaring Brutus "the noblest Roman of them all". And yes, the story picks up in pace and mood once Eleven appears, but Ten's death is absolutely framed as a tragedy. So yeah, the Master's story only parallels his. Whether one likes or dislikes the general direction taken is up to anyone watching, but there is no jarring mar in the genre.

Twelve's and Thirteen's stories end in a comforting place and that contrasts both of their Master's endings. Missy's final shot feels final because Moff wanted it to feel final. Spymaster's last shot is less final but still mostly ominous, and I guess a nod is due to Yaz for taking a moment to hesitate if she should save him too, I'm sure Jo approved during the therapy session, but both of these moments are a clear difference from Twelve getting over his despression and Thirteen going out with a children's game line.

So yeah, RTD going out of his way to include a small side plot about the Master's whereabouts and ending it on a self-pleased laughter is definitely a sign of genre-saviness being back on the menu.

[zepskies]

Hey, Yep! Have you ever had writer's block? And if so, how did you break it?

Hey, Arty! 💜

Oh, definitely. 😅 No writer is safe from the dreaded state of "writer's block," but I do have some tactics I use to get through it...

5 Tips for Beating Writer's Block

Start plotting with an outline. ✍🏽

There are two kinds of writers, in my opinion:

Architects: writers who outline.

Adventurers: writers who freeform.

In most respects, I consider myself an Architect. My brain craves structure. So the way I beat writer's block while working on a project is by having a roadmap of what's going to happen next. That's thanks to my outline.

Even freeformers can develop some kind of pre-writing plan, whether that's creating a list of character bios, starting with the basic 3-Act triangle, or writing out a handful of bullet points to get you going.

For my personal process, I'll go from creating the basic premise/summary, to some loose bullet points of the story structure, to then fleshing out into full outlining of each chapter and scene, and finally drafting (and editing).

While I'm outlining, I'm also doing research and fact-checking as needed to get me through to the next scene and the next, until the end. My "roadmap" tends to be very detailed, so when I get to the drafting part, all I should have to reference is my outline.

Now, this doesn't mean that plot points won't change, or get switched around, or get chucked entirely. But if I have the blueprints of the house, I can change a window or a door, or even a whole support beam here and there, so to speak.

2. If I get stuck at any point during the outlining and/or drafting phase, I'll often go back and reread what I have already. 🧐

I'll edit and tweak as I do those readthroughs, whether it's my outline or drafted chapters. It freshens up the earlier scenes and plot points in my head.

In doing so, it'll hopefully unlock ways I can continue the later plot points, and even tie them back to things I'm setting up earlier in the narrative.

3. Revisit the thing that gave you inspiration in the first place! 🍿

Rewatch, reread, revisit the episode, movie, book, story, artwork that stroked your muse and had you daydreaming and brainstorming about the WIP you're working on. That can be a good way to revitalize you when you feel you're getting stuck on something in a plot point, or lacking motivation.

4. Create a music playlist. 🎶

I love doing this, especially for a series. I often create a playlist of songs that remind me of the setting, the characters, the overall story, or the romance I'm trying to create. Whether it's the words or the tone/rhythm that get me going, music inspires me greatly.

5. Go for a walk. ☀️

I walk for exercise, but it also gives me time to daydream and run through scenes in my head while vibing to my music (sometimes looking like a crazy person as I nod and make hand motions lmao).

This helps me clear my head, get some fresh air, then come back to my laptop with a little more pep in my brain, ready to pick up where I left off while writing. 👌🏽

Thank you so much for this question, @artyandink! (Sorry, meant to tag you when I originally posted.) I hope these ideas help you beat writer's block. 💕 Let me know if you have any additional questions!

[fangirling-heart]

Hi Heart! How's everything going?

For the fic writer ask game, how about maybe ✅️💕🎀 and ⛔️?

Hi there!

Things keep being so and so, since on the one hand I'm not sick anymore, but on the other college keeps kicking my butt relentlessly and I have to restrain myself from yeeting my laptop out the window.

So seriously thanks for this ask! I finally get to talk about writing I actually enjoy! Let's go!

✅ list one or two favorite lines you’ve written and explain why they’re your favorite

Okay, this is tough. A. because (just in case you didn't know) I am a terribly indecisive person and B. because most of my favorite lines I've written are less lines and more speeches.

But one line I really like (that isn't too long to be considered a speech) is this Eda line during a heart to heart scene between her and Hunter in my TOH fic:

"I hurt my family because of my curse. I should feel guilty. But you hurt yours, because he was hurting you and someone you care about. The one who should feel guilty in this situation, is Belos. Not you."

The reason I really like that line is because while trying to offer comfort to Hunter and let him know that Belos was the one in the wrong for hurting him, she also reveals so many things about how she sees herself and her curse (which also sets up a future plot point) and sets a great contrast between her and Belos, who always makes everything that goes wrong in his relationship with Hunter look like it's Hunter's fault and hides behind his curse as an excuse. Something that Eda never does and actually has never left herself move on from.

💕 whats your favorite part of your writing process?

Those days when a scene just flows. When I have such a clear idea of how I want a scene to go, that I basically see it unfold all the while I'm writing, as if I'm watching a show. Bonus points if I'm also listening to a fitting song!

🎀 how do you decide when something is done?

Well, I'm not sure if that something is a chapter or a story as a whole, so I'm doing both.

For a chapter, I'm not sure if I have one specific indication/rule for when it's done. Usually it's when I feel like its main plot points are complete and when there are enough words. Sometimes though, I've had to keep a plot point going, because I couldn't fit it in a single chapter.

As for stories, it's usually because I have planned it from before. (Says the person that has finished just a part one of a story and an one-shot).

⛔️ whats something you try to avoid in your work?

There's several things, but the main one is unnatural dialog. I am certainly not the first writer to complain about it, but sometimes writing dialog can be incredibly hard, especially in simple/everyday scenes, for me at least. Seriously, I can write the most dark, intense angst scenes I can imagine with ease, but for the life of me I can't come up with what a character would say in the simplest, slowest, most normal or fun day without slamming my head on a wall first.

[laststandx3]

I just finished Joker 2, and of course I had to understand what the hell happened to this movie. to be brief: the writer of the first movie was also hired to write the 2nd one but he hated it and how fans reacted to it so he wrote Joker 2 to be a meta-commentary about the people who liked the first one. a meta-commentary that was basically a big fuck you for enjoying the story in the first place and expecting this one to be a meaningful sequel.

but lets break it down on what i think the problems of the movie.

so first, you can feel it that the writer(s) hated Arthur/Joker, there's no empathy for that man. there's no writing made to i think meaningfully critique the anarchist message of the first one. Joker 2 is about deconstructing Joker to cancel the message but does it in a very inefficient way.

I've watched joker back when it came out so maybe i'm remembering it all wrong, but if i recall correctly the point of the first movie was about that when you put struggling people in an awful environement they snap. and if there's a lot of struggling people then you got yourself a movement, which in our case was pushing for anarchy. straightforward.

what the 2nd movie tried to do tho, wasnt to deconstruct a system built on chaos but just to punch Arthur Fleck again and again. the plot is about maximising his misery. it's sad and it's ineffective in the sense that the people who idolized him from the first movie will just see this excuse of a man getting beaten, drugged, raped, have a fast and sad sex scene, getting dumped, beaten again and then killed and won't recognize the main character from the first movie in him and will just end up disregarding this critique of the character.

what are the other problems: the musical part wasnt THAT bad, as a musical fan i actually liked most of it, the bad part was the second hand embarassment. it was terrible. joker and harley sang just out of the blue, in front of everyone. you could see people cringing in-story. you were cringing. it was painful. the trial scene when arthur questions his friend? painful. he thinks he's being funny and brilliant but he's just uugh. terrible. and i kinda get that's one of the point the writers wanted to make, that joker isnt cool and he's cringe and you shouldnt like him. but like? it's too late for that. people already liked him. writing a more pathetic version of him wont make people dislike the first movie,

my last critique and it's not really about the movie is that every time someone smoked a sign would pop up on the side of the screen reading "smoking kills" and i couldnt stop thinking about that meme of people loosing the ability to understand media and that sketch where there was a changing emoji on the corner of the screen telling people how they should feel during every scene. can we watch a movie and be free to internalize what we want from it? even if it's smoking. just give us back the freedom to like what we want to like. they could as well added a few lables with "killing is bad", "beating and raping the inmates is bad", shit like that.

tldr : the problem of joker 2 is that it was written by someone who didnt like the first movie and really hated the people who did. which is just sad beacuse in the message that joker 2 was trying to give it was well written, and i'd liked it so much more if it was only a psycological court drama. but it wasnt it was the sequel to a movie that had complete different premises

[olya-roo]

Some writing advice for Hunger Games fic writers

Saying this as an author of a longfic who also been writing for 5+ years:

1. When creating an OC storyline, do not just "switch" a canon character with yours, putting them in the exact position as in canon with only some minor tweaks. Be original and try to explore a special idea with your character, attempt to get them to mean and 'say'.

2. Don't shy away from descriptions - be it an Arena (that wasn't overly described in canon or the one that you came up with) or characters' emotions, descriptions are important. Even if the word count can grow with it and it can be seen as useless or a waste of time, this is also one of the tools for your writing to feel richer than just having straight to the point text.

3. Your character should have as little elements 'borrowed' from the canon portrayals as possible. If your character lives in D12, has sibling issues and hunts with a bow, why should anyone read your story when they can just pick up original HG books?

(Actual character in a fic that I saw, while also put in Lucy Gray's role, since she was basically a replacement love interest for Snow)

As a whole, this is very obvious to anyone with eyes in the right place and can come across as pretentious, especially if your character can end up bashing Katniss at some point in the plot.

4. Try to not reuse one trope too much, for example the “prostitution” trope - not every single victor was used for that and writing a tragedy around a single event can damage the perception of a story.

Coming up with trauma connected to different reasons is not that hard and can be seen as quite original.

5. Connecting every single character together is washing away the borders in the world of Panem (like putting Annie and Titus from D6 in one game) - the world of Hunger Games is LARGE, with hundreds of characters and at least 73 completely uncovered games with only a handful of victors known.

6. Background characters’ importance should not be underestimated - if you put too much focus on your character without a solid cast to back them up, the story can have an unfortunate fate of falling flat. And yes, this includes Original Games and character driven narratives.

7. If writing a specific district, try coming up with some unique features only that place can have. For example with District 5 give special focus to stations, try to imagine some power-related sayings or add places that you can imagine being only from 5. This helps the world feel more alive and also, not every single district can have a forest.

8. Make an effort with names. While can be seen as ‘clunky’ and stupid, industry-themed and Roman-themed names are a huge part of the HG world and it cannot be ignored. Doesn’t mean you have to name a District 6 tribute ‘Car Train’ but tweaking it around and deeply looking into the industry of the place your character is from, doing deeper research can also help to create a demonstration that you actually care about your story and want to make an effort in this.

Additionally, the name of a character can tell many things, so thinking about what it can mean and pushing away from it is a massive help.

9. When writing a scary/disturbing piece in the fic, think on why you are adding it to the story. Is it only for the intent to shock or does it actually impact the plot in a meaningful way?

10. Give the characters both realistic flaws and trauma. No one wants to read about a character who does not struggle or cannot challenge themselves/react to tragedies around properly. But on the other hand, it is never a good sign when you write trauma around a character that there is so much happening to them that it is only ‘misery-misery-misery’ and the trauma itself is so grotesque that it stops looking realistic.

Balance is needed and that’s what is important.

So this wraps it up. Hope I helped and also see your suggestions!