#but also i need to establish wtf is happening

[aeros-lab]

so I'm currently working on rewriting Colony Zero and Immortal Whispers concurrently. (IW is a working title. I've never been super attached to it but I need a placeholder).

Anyway. I just finished rewriting Charity and Ilum's introduction scene which makes me giggle when I think of how they are later on in Fire and Silver. He's SO MEAN to her. And she's SO ANNOYED by him. Buddy you're gonna marry that girl.

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[damagedcoda6669]

this is stupid

lets talk about this dumb ask for a minute. (leaving them anonymous so they dont get SLAUGHTERED)

ive gotten a handful of comments on my youtube video accusing me of the exact same things, so im gonna use this as an opportunity to teach you HOW NOT TO ACT TOWARDS CREATORS ONLINE. first of all, my financial situation is NONE of your business. i will establish that i pay rent, i have an income, i help synni out financially, but i dont owe you ANY of that information. making an assumption about my private life and then using said assumption to demonize me is exactly the kind of behavior exhibited by the internet growing up which ruined my childhood. you are making an assumption about me and using it to victimize synni and demonize me, two people who you have NEVER MET and in reality you know next to NOTHING about. stop making me out to be the bad guy in every situation, it goes to show that you have learned nothing from my video and are continuing the cycle of birdie hate for no good reason.

second of all, this is fucking ableist. assuming im mooching off of my best friend and being lazy because i happen to be disabled and mentally ill? fuck off. there is no "you need to get your act together" youre not my fucking parent, and also??? i need to get my act together??? you mean stop being disabled??? wtf are you on about??? synni chooses to vent about her financial situation, but i choose to keep that part of my life private. me and synni are in the exact same boat. you know NOTHING about me. for all you know i could be working a 9 to 5 like everybody else, but you never considered that possibility because im disabled. i did say in my video "fuck work" but guess what? people who have jobs also dont like working. synni has expressed the same "fuck work" rhetoric but instead of treating her as manipulative and evil in this situation you make her out to be a victim. we all know why youre talking about me the way that you are.

third of all, its not my fault synni is working 24/7??? its not my fault we're poor??? did you ever consider the economic climate rn??? or think to blame capitalism for making us need to work all of our lives only leaving us with a few hours to ourselves, barely surviving and scraping by? but of course, you dont want a rational answer to why synni and i are suffering financially. the internet always wants somebody to throw under the bus, and it will always be me because you will always see me as a mentally ill dangerous freak. think for yourself, unpack your own ableism. its exhausting.

OKAY BACK 2 NORMAL JACK MODE srry 4 writing a whole bible abt this, i feel VRY strongly abt this. my disabilities have been effecting me so badly ive been considering getting a wheelchair. (dont forget im physically disabled as well!!!) its not FUN 2 not be able 2 do the same things every1 else can (and it certainly isnt fun 2 have 2 explain that 2 ppl who dont care enough 2 understand) but i will never stop advocating 4 myself, becuz i never had any1 2 do that 4 me when i was a kid

[brisquad-unit-4402]

luxiem as bad sex

don’t worry about it this is mostly for the lolz. might fuck around and do this for other livers next time i feel restless. make sure to properly communicate with your partner

tags: gender neutral reader, established relationship, smut, humor/crack, chatfic in shu’s entry, public sex, uki violeta cameo, cheating/ntr mention, just imagine the baldur’s gate 3 scene with the luxiem guy of your choice you know what i’m talking about

⚠️ nsfw under the cut. content not intended for minors.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

🖋 Ike Eveland: anatomy

there is a chance that, when you sleep with ike, despite his title, it’s his first time.

25% chance says that he fully does not know what he’s doing, and asks you for a full-blown tutorial on how to stick part a into part b.

25% chance says that he fully does not know what he’s doing but he doesn’t even admit to it. it’s a lot of trial and error and insistence that no, don’t worry, i got this when he very clearly does not.

25% chance that, for the first time in his life, eroge has come in clutch. he understands! kind of. it’s more like as he penetrates you he tries to compare your sounds to the moans of eroge characters. the more you sound like a hentai protagonist the better. it’s also worth noting he pumps into you to the beat of a huniepop song that worked its way into his head while he was trying to figure out what’s a good or bad sound.

and finally 25% chance that it’s just fine.

but let it be known that he 100% does not know how to find the clit. barely knows how to find the prostate either. ike won’t admit to either of these things

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

🦁 Luca Kaneshiro: openness

never let it be said luca is solitary. he’s social and likes to explore different spaces. it means dates happen often, and so does getting dragged off to give him head in public.

this would be fine if it was a bathroom stall. you know, the standard couple spots. what you didn’t expect was in a fairly open alley. or an amusement park ride with automatic souvenir pictures. or on the shady side of a beach full of people.

hell, even when you get into a changing room while shopping there’s still a risk. he’s gotten you to jack him off while wearing not-yet-purchased jeans more than once and as exciting as it was you have no clue what happened to the poor retail workers that had to find them hanging on the return-to-hanger rack.

at home he leaves doors open since it’s just the two of you, including when he goes down on you. he leaves them open when there’s guests, too, and guides you into your bedroom when he needs a break from talking to people. the doors are still open. you’re a master at being quiet but sometimes his puppy wanders around looking for his owner, and…

(side note: not about sex but i just know he would leave the door open or walk in on you using the bathroom and that terrifies me)

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

👟 Shu Yamino: attentiveness

Me: hey

Me: hey

Me: are you awake??

taro_twink: abt to sleep

taro_twink: what do you want shu

Me: idk c:

taro_twink: so you blew up my phone??? bitch??

Me: fjakajsjsldj i wanted to talk to my friend!

taro_twink: wish granted

taro_twink: wyd?

Me: reader

taro_twink: don’t text on a date

Me: we’re at home

taro_twink: go spend time with reader then ffs

Me: i am

Me: reader feels really nice c:

taro_twink: wait

Me: and i like making reader say my name too

taro_twink: SHSKDKLSJA

taro_twink: WHAT FHE FUXK

taro_twink: ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TEXTINF ME RIFHT NOW

taro_twink: SHU YAMINO WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU

Me: dw reader hasn’t noticed my phone yet

taro_twink: THIS ISNT ABOUT READER ITS ABOUT ME

Me: my phone is by the pillow so it’s hard to see

taro_twink: ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TEXTING WHILE SCREWING SOMEONE????????????

Me: yea :homiekiss:

taro_twink: you are fucked up and i’m going to bed

taro_twink: so done with you jfc

taro_twink: gn

taro_twink: bye

taro_twink: if you say anything else i’m blocking your number

Me: you’re no fun

taro_twink: you are literally texting me while you’re doing your partner i don’t want to hear it

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

👹 Vox Akuma: names

vox is noisy. delightfully so. it’s easy to communicate with him because he’s unconsciously vocal whenever he likes something.

these sounds, however, are usually limited to grunts, moans and cries. all well and good, but when things get more intense, he’s more inclined to scream your name.

and when his dick is in your mouth he can’t think straight, in the worst way.

this is just to say that even when you’re not roleplaying, he’s cried out a lot of names that aren’t yours. usually celebrities or fictional characters. you’ve lost count of how many tall/dark/handsome guys with long hair he’s cum to, or sassy women. hell, his celebrity crushes don’t even look like you.

if you have cheating fantasies this is excellent. if you have ntr fantasies, excellent as well. what isn’t excellent, however, is how last time you poured wax on him while fucking him from behind, he buried his face into the pillow and whimpered out your coworker’s name.

he was very lucky you didn’t have more wax to splash him with

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

✧. ┊ masterpost ✧. ┊ kofi

[edgeray]

Ray! 🍅 anon again here xD

Was hanging around twitter and saw @arlecock (yes, wtf is that name) wondering what happens during Arle’s periods (I mean. Valid concern?) she’s probably so used to going on and functioning with them.

Indulgent yes but any Thoughts? I personally do want to spoil her with a massage and warm hugs and cuddling her if she ever had any cramps! (Okay this is just an excuse to spoil her but still) Though I would feel like Arle would be one of the ones who is so used to pain period cramps don’t really faze her anymore…

(Or when there’s a long established relationship post canon and Arle also uses it as an excused to get babied)

Lullabying Arle to sleep… hehehhehehehehehehehehehhehehehe.

She deserves it.

Hi 🍅 anon! I'm not going to be using this as a request since you're only asking for my thoughts, I'll just keep it to kind of a ramble lol.

first of all, arlecock is a valid af (and real af) user, have you seen the users on tiktok? lmfao, there's way worse on there. slightly irrelevant, but i saw a tiktok video of a literal arlecchino pride flag at a pride parade. what would that even be called? arlesexual?

anyways

arle powers through periods like nothing, regardless of how painful her cramps are. she has so many better things to worry about and concern her than whatever her body decides to do once a month (her curse hurts way worse anyways, cramps are incomparable.) I'd imagine she also uses her pyro vision to help relieve her cramps. i doubt many people can tell the difference between when she's on/off her period, except maybe you and her children. She's a bit more snippy, a bit more impatient, but besides that she doesn't really give off any signs of when she's on her period, and if it doesn't bother her, then she feels like there's no need to tell you.

however, you do you tracking them, mostly be noticing when your guys' shared bathroom's feminine products have been depleting. of course, cuddling arle is a given. she loves to cuddle with you and she will most definetely fall asleep to your pretty voice humming/singing to her as you stroke her hair.

to me, arle also seems like the type of person to secretly have a sweet tooth. i don't know why, but she strikes me as those type of people. you'll also buy her lots of dark chocolate candy to also help. you also make her a warm bath before she comes home, and that's where you usually massage her. y'know what's another thing that helps with cramps? sex.

I don't think think I need to say more about that.

but yeah, those are just this silly axolotl's thoughts <3

this may not be... super accurate in terms of what you should do for cramps, considering that I'm very fortunate to not have cramps during my periods.

[pythoness94]

Fanon party and how they react to Byler. (and how it makes the party OOC.)

One thing I hate about some fics is that SOME people get to damn deep into the fanon. Like, I swear some people treat Will like he's incapable. It's like people think Will is going to completely break and fall apart if Mike is straight. Like no? Will already thinks Mike IS straight, chat he's sad but he isn't some "uwu baby". It's completely apparent that some people think Will NEEDS to be protected at all cost and it shows in how they write the Party treating Mike. Basically, in multiple fics and videos i have seen (Cough, cough, gacha reacts, cough, COUGH.) the creators write the party absolutely LOATHING Mike. Berating him, putting him down, taking apart his every insecurity, calling him homophobic, MAKING him homophobic, acting like he's satan for not showing that he likes Will back. I've seen a few were they kick Mike OUT OF HIS OWN PARTY, for not liking Will back. Like, I've also seen a couple where they treat the garage scene like it was worse than the upside down. They don't even have the party try to understand why Mike did that, or ask if Will forgives him, or even make Mike apologize. No! Because that would be just TO inconceivably. No, they say fuck that noise and chose the secret fourth option of making Mike into some homophobic dickhead that hated Will from the start and everything he did before that was just acting. Like WTF???

The way they treat Will is WORSE. Like I touched on it earlier, but they have the party FAWN over him. Acting like Will can do no wrong, and like Will needs every member at the party at his beck and call while sobbing every five seconds. This is, of course, the most extreme cases but once you see these things you can't UNSEE it. They make Will into some fragile thing that Mike sought out to break, it also seems to like babyfy? (i don't know the word.) Will, he's more childish and well fragile. he's not Will anymore. Like did we all collectively forget the POINT of season two's byler relationship? Mike was the only one who didn't treat Will like he was going to break, Will hates that shit, he would NEVER act like this and yet some fanfic writers do that. Also,also, Will would be SO FUCKING PISSED at the party if they excluded and bullied Mike like they do in those fics. He would lose his shit on him. People forget but while Mike and Will may have crushes on each other. They are BEST FRIENDS above all else.

One of the plots of season four was that despite the relationship getting in the way of their friendship, they will stay friends. That "let's make our own party" line wasn't just romance coding, it was saying that they are always friends solo. If Dustin and Will fought, Mike and Will would still be friends. If Lucas and Mike fought, Will and Mike would still be friends. If something happens to the rest of the party, Mike and Will are always going to be Mike and Will because they have their own "Solo party." they are best friends above everything. So the party bullying the fuck out of Mike would NOT slide with Will. The party babying Will wouldn't slide. The party trying to keep Mike and Will away from each other wouldn't slide. Which is another thing, the party would NEVER pull that shit on Mike, because they are FRIENDS too.

Season one was Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and El being best friends without Will. Mike even said that they are all his best friends. The party all adore each other, they would never side with one person and isolate the other. No, they would make each other work it out. They would help Mike make it up to Will and visa versa (REMEMBER THIS REMEMBER VISA VERSA!) because of that "Drawn first blood" rule. You think that they would establish that in season one for no fucking reason? Hell no, Lucas and Mike made up because Mike drew first blood, he apologized, and Lucas held no grudges and that the fucking point. The party doesn't do grudges, they are all each other have and they know it, they know that each member doesn't mean to hurt each other. They will make up every time because they care for each other EQUALLY above all else. So them taking one side doesn't make sense.

Now, here is where visa versa comes in. Some fanfics treat Will like he can NEVER be in the wrong, ever. Like even if it's a throwaway line. i've seen in some really good fics that the characters first reactions, even Nancy and El's, are "Oh, what did Mike do now!" When they have a fight. Like it's never. "Oh what happened?" It's always. "What did MIKE do?" It's a small thing but it shows how DEEP fanon has it's claws in all of us, hell I'm at fault of doing it and I try to go back in fix it. Since, being for real, not a single party member would say that other than Max. As said about, they are all about equality, equal grounds and first blood, they would always say. "What happened?" instead of, "what did Mike do?" because they would be drawing first blood by saying that since it's a unfair slight against a party member. Especially since they've all dealt with bullying in the past, they all know how hard words dig into you, so they would never do something like that to one of their friends. I also hate how some authors don't make Will start a fight too? Like relationships always have dumb fucking fights from both sides, Will would pull some stupid shit just the same as Mike. They are both fourteen in season 4 not only old enough to work their own shit out without being coddled but also old enough to be responsible for their actions.

Will lied to Mike, it doesn't matter if he's trying to save Mileven, he lied and Mike would hate that. Pulling up Mike's past actions doesn't change the fact that Will can slight Mike just as Mike can slight Will. So the party dismissing that but hounding on Mike for paying attention for his girlfriend (even if the way he went about it was dickish and completely messy.) is OOC. Jonathan hating Mike is OOC, the party hating Mike is OOC, Will hating Mike is OOC, Mike hating Will is OOC. They are all equal and equal rights is equal fights. Also, doubling back for a second. Jonathan would NEVER fucking hate Mike. EVER, he's worried for Will's feelings. He wants Will to be happy, but he's known Mike is WHOLE life. Jonathan would be more concerned about why tf Mike is wigging out like this then angry. He knows well enough that you can't make somebody love you (Being in love with Nancy and the whole Steve thing.) He would be annoyed that Mike hurt Will and El, but not pissed of and cold to him. That's the thing fics get wrong. Jonathan would be CONCERNED not COLD. He would grill Mike for answers but not interrogate aggressively, more like gently guide it out of him. Creating a safe space to get the information.

Now, going back to the Will thing. if you can't imagine your party that you're writing, your cast if you will, being mad at Will but can imagine them all being mad at Mike with ease. Then you aren't writing them in character. They can all be mad at each other; Jonathan can be mad at both Will and Mike. Nancy can be mad at Will and Mike, the party can be mad at Will and Mike, and it's never all on one person. The party are scientists and detectives at heart, they don't jump to conclusions, they get the full story. Also, shovel talks. Another thing I hate is when the entire CAST, not just the party, tells Mike that "If you hurt Will, i'll kill you." but Mike is never given the same treatment. They will have NANCY threaten Mike about hurting Will but not Will? She'll threaten her own brother but not his boyfriend? No fucking wonder Mike doesn't really care for Nancy in some fics, I would to if my sister expecting me to hurt my own fucking boyfriend! WHAT THE HELL??? Like, never, in any fic that I have seen. (if you guys have one that does, DROP THE LINK OR NAME! I need to see it and comment my praises.) does any, ANY, of that characters give Will a shovel talk for Mike. They never do a "if you hurt Mike." it's like everybody expects Mike to being a callous bitch at all times.

Like if I was Will, and heard all my friends threatening my other friend and boyfriend but I wasn't getting the same talk, I WOULD BE PISSED. Because not only is that a dick move, since they are already expecting the worse out of my boyfriend and that's THEIR FRIEND too. But because they don't think that i'm capable of the same thing, I know damn well that i can accidently hurt my girl, I don't want to and I would never if i could but I know it. So it would feel like my friends expect me to be some frail thing that my partner could only hurt. FUCK THAT! I want my relationship to always be EVEN, no power imbalance and a shovel talk on always one party is implying one. (i'm not explaining this well but I hope my point is getting across.)

Anyways TL:DR, Will's not an incapable UWU baby that can do no wrong he's a fourteen-year-old boy as of season 4. Mike's not satan incarnated and is also a fourteen year old boy as of season 4. And the party wouldn't pick sides in a fight. Write your characters more in canon instead of STEEPED in fanon.

[internerdionality]

And just to be clear, it wasn't just Izzy's death or the way it happened that I found incredibly disappointing about that finale. For that matter, while there were some great moments, the entire season felt rushed and incomplete, with a lot of decisions that just baffled me.

The Olu/Zheng/Jim/Archie polycule got no resolution whatsoever and just felt crappily done. It felt like Jim and Olu transitioned from romantic to platonic between seasons and then got shoved at new love interests, instead of actually grappling with the interesting poly dynamics, jealousy, NRE, insecurity, etc., that they could have engaged with. And to be clear I LOVED every moment of Olu/Zheng and Jim/Archie! But it felt like the show didn't believe you can have meaningful romantic relationships with multiple people at the same time, so they had to make it as if Jim and Olu's romantic sexual encounter at the end of last season didn't mean anything and that the two of them are perfectly happy being chosen siblings. This after Oluwande is explicitly described as in love with Jim in the first season! WTF?

It also felt like they just abandoned Lucius and Pete being poly in favor of having a cutesy wedding? Like don’t get me wrong, yay for weddings, but honestly it felt very mononormative and forced instead of queer and affirming. Even if Lucius had like, kissed Fang on the lips right after, or if they'd had more affection shown between the whole crew during the wedding, that would have been something. It just felt off.

Zheng felt like a wasted character by the end. Her just letting Ricky know where all her ships were was unbelievable for how competent and badass they made her out to be, and literally her only impact on the plot was serving as a vehicle to drive Stede from place to place. Also just killing off her entire crew other than Auntie? Hundreds of mostly Asian women? Yeah, that's not a good look.

Why did they feel the need to destroy the Republic of Pirates, for that matter? What actual plot or emotional growth did it create? At the end of Episode 7, I expected Stede to have to grapple with how he's managed to not just bring down Blackbeard but the *entire Republic of Pirates* and *the Pirate Queen of China* to add to his whole "I ruin beautiful things" trauma and instead he just doesn't seem to care at all. Like how did he get from all of his trauma and grief about being inadequate in the first season—the actual trauma that led him to leave Ed in the first place—to "oh, it's not so bad being a failure once you get used to it"?!?! Throughout the season I kept thinking that he was repressing and it would come back up to bite him in the ass but no, apparently he just fixed that issue offscreen? What the hell?

And it was the same with Ed! After all that build up in the first season about how Ed doesn’t like to kill people directly—and maintaining that through the first two episodes, even, which was hard! We never see him directly kill anyone! The guy he shot had already been run through!—he’s literally joking while surrounded by corpses he killed and the show barely addressed the trauma that the character we knew would have experienced. Just a completely dropped note. What happened to Ed's self-hatred that they spent an entire dream sequence episode establishing?

Ed and Stede’s actual conflicts and problems just basically disappeared at the end, with a “oh I actually do love you, babe” glossing over Ed’s very legit reasons for leaving and then Stede (apparently?!?) being convinced to give up piracy without a second of screen time spent discussing it. If felt like they were actually setting them up to just be the toxic lesbians from episode four, how is that a satisfying finale? I honestly would have rather had them end the season apart again, but this time knowing they love each other and they have to do some work to get back to each other. Like, Stede sailing into the sunset after kissing Ed and promising to come back and Ed going "i trust that you will, thank you for giving me the space I need to heal"—that would have been a satisfying place to leave them.

And then Izzy's death... don't get me fucking started on what a complete waste of screen time and acting that was. Wow.

[capt-t-leela]

why don't the new Futurama episodes scratch the itch in the same way that the classic episodes do?

I'm dashing this off quickly while my kid naps, so please keep that in mind when I speak generally and broadly and mostly from memory. It's also a very rough draft.

Classic Futurama had a pretty reproducible format that made it work from a story telling perspective as well as comedically and emotionally. The main source of humor was character driven - put a bunch of very different people into a sci-fi situation that they need to figure out and the conflict, comedy, and resolution will come together from that.

You could break the episodes down roughly like this and they'd all come together, with all of these established things paying off in the end in someway. Again, speaking broadly you establish the first act:

ACT ONE:

a. some big over arching sci-fi OR culturally satirical adventure / theme / scenario

b. an emotional conflict between some of the main characters / something someone is struggling with on their own and they need help with. This conflict is consistent with what we would expect from the characters and their development / traits.

c. a third seemingly goofy thing that was often played for laughs, but had some sort of plot relevance and helped drive the story forward.

Basically, in the first 7 minutes of the episode you'd get all three of those things laid out. The pacing is QUICK and it doesn't patronize its viewers.

Let's look at My Three Suns as an example:

ACT ONE:

a. delivery to the planet trisol - a unique and interesting setting that's new for everyone, not just fry.

b. fry is annoyed that Leela is so protective of him. Leela is annoyed that fry is being a careless idiot. Note: they both have VALID points here, one of them isn't just being irrational and easily dismissed.

c. wtf does bender actually do around here? SO once all of that is setup, we see the humor, conflict, and twists and turns stem from the questions all of these beats raise.

To boot, the characters work through whatever interpersonal / intrapersonal conflict in the context of the Big Adventure.

e.g. Fry realizes that his impulsivity has an effect on the people he cares about -- thanks to Bender's cooking leading him to drink the emperor and getting mixed up in another planet's dealings that then requires Leela to save him, despite her repeated warnings that he shouldn't be an idiot. None of this would have happened without the delivery to Trisol.

Another example:

Farnsworth Parabox:

ACT ONE:

a. the boxes with an infinite number of other universes. big sci-fi scenario to work through. with the potential for adventure! (big overarching adventure)

b. why won't Leela go out with fry??? they both know there's something there, but why is Leela so hesitant? what's stopping her? (interpersonal conflict / something emotional that needs to be resolved)

c. this episode spends a lot of time in the first act showing us key facets of the Planet Express Crew's personalities and quirks - how Leela goes about guarding the box (and her coin flipping, specifically), fry and bender trying to steal it and getting distracted (and Leela knowing what will distract each of them), professor being a crackpot, Hermes being a no nonsense pencil pusher, zoidberg being the worst - these are the goofy things that pay off because The Fighting Mongooses are our crew's foils and fun house mirrors and the comedy comes from their similarities and differences. (something seemingly goofy that helps drive the plot and conflict forward)

All of this is established in the first seven minutes of the episode!

Think about your favorite episodes, and I bet they breakdown similarly. Think about the episodes that don't land for you and I bet they're missing one ingredient (usually one, some, or both of the first two with the third thing usually being something completely irrelevant to the story).

Some Comedy Central era episodes that absolutely follow this formula to great success (not an exhaustive list):

The Prisoner of Benda

The Late Philip J Fry

A Farewell to Arms

Fry and Leela's Big Fling

Which leads me to my final point here....

IMHO one of the best Hulu era episodes is Related to Items You've Viewed, not just because I love me some Freela, but because it follows the formula. Momazon - tech company / monopoly cultural observation. Fry and Leela move in together, they have to navigate that big change together within the context of using Momazon. Bender does a Bender and feels left out, so he acts impulsively and runs away also to Momazon.

The formula isn't EVERYTHING, but it's a solid structure on which to hang lots of references and jokes and character growth.

Ok I gotta go actually like do parenting things, but there ya go. whatcha think?

[shepherds-of-haven]

I've been wanting to ask this for a while but this story has stayed in me and my bff heads for literal years (this rarely happens)

How did you learn to write!? This is like a brainworm that won't leave. Sometimes I'd lay in bed and remember something from this story. It'll flash before my eyes like a mirage

You're magical wtf. Tell me your writing secrets.

This is one of my favorite messages! 🥹 You have no idea how gratifying it is for a writer to hear their story has taken up residency in someone else's head :') Thank you so much for the lovely message!!!

I learned to write the conventional way, I think: by reading my Favorite Things voraciously, and then chipping off little bits and fragments of them to plant in my own garden, where they mutated into their own variants and permutations over time. (This was everything from fantasy novels to manga to fanfiction to story-heavy video games and martial arts films, by the way, all of which you can see flavors of in Shepherds.) After that, it's just a matter of time, practice, and persistence!

For the sake of answering your question fully, though, I'll note that I did attend writing workshops at different colleges from a young age, then got my undergraduate degree in Creative Writing, then my MFA in Fiction, then taught writing at the university for a handful of years. But I don't want to make this sound like a deterrent of any kind! I genuinely think you don't need any of that to write or to be good at writing (I am also somewhat notorious in my programs for having stubbornly done my own thing for years and not really incorporating anything from my coursework into my writing, haha). But writing is truly special in that I think a lot of fiction from "amateurs" or hobbyists with no special background or degrees in writing can far surpass published works from established academics and professionals. So I don't think the path I took was necessary to learning to write at all: in fact, I think it can sometimes be dangerous, which is a ramble for a whole other day.

But my writing secrets? Patient and diligent practice. Absorbing and observing the writing you want to emulate, figuring out what about it you like and what speaks to you and how to replicate it in your own work. And! Telling a story that you are excited about, even if that's not the consensus from other people. The passion and love you have for a story will always shine through, whereas it will always be equally obvious if you're listlessly toiling away on something that fits others' desires, but not your own vision.

I hope that answers your question, or helps anyone else who's been thinking about writing out there! And thank you so much again for your lovely message!

[eiegg]

I just realized that during the last 500 years, only Rex Lapis was awake/aware of the world's happening, sort of, making another difference with the other Archons.

Venti slept for most of the time and recently woke up to help Dvalin.

Ei was in her plane and it was all the Shogun's doing.

Nahida, no need to explain. That poor child didn't deserve what she went through.

Focalors, it was a fraud (/j)/she was collecting that energy inside the Oratrice, so she wasn't really aware of the outside world beside what Furina whatever they discussed (I was spoiled but I still haven't finished the AQ so, uuh, correct me if I'm wrong.)

(I forgot there's also the Cryo Archon who changed 500 years ago and established the Fatui(and/or the Harbingers?)

Now it would be funny if the Pyro Archon was dead since the Cataclysm and she is resurrected and she's like "wtf happened there".

[cator99]

I was just at one of those fucked up type stores today... I was bringing up a bewildering product issue with the manager when he just said "yeah welcome to [store location], everything's fucked"... told him I already recieved a warm welcome, someone stole my jacket from its spot behind register... people here will steal anything that isn't bolted down..... later, someone's shelf slipped out of place with mostly glass jars on and I was called over to help because while they had managed to hold it in place to prevent disaster, they needed me to grab the whole thing and then lift and push it into place... How tf did that even happen........ oh also I watched the manager slap a woman's butt and then call her an old hag and I was like uhhhhhh wtf but she seemed into it and called him an old fart I thought they were just being cheeky and that was maybe his wife (why else would you do that) but after enough time spent in the vicinity of him realized that he had a well established flirtationship with literally every other woman his age (like... late 60s, early 70s??) that came in– knew them all by name, was very direct, very handsy, one was even there with her husband– to which the manager said "what are you doing with my wife?" and they all shared a good laugh and some gropings– Idk dude... the environment here was wack. Horny elderly people everywhere. Being old must be very weird experience and I don't ever see them at the night club so I guess they gotta have somewhere to get weird with each other. It would definitely be at The Fucked Up Grocery Store. But yeah I'm pretty lucky I managed to find my jacket again at all. I think the thief probably snatched it assuming there'd be anything in the pockets and then was pissed to find that wasn't the case n tossed it on the ground in front of the hamburglar. Also a dude had a freakout in the store at some point and everyone was trying to get him to calm down idk what it was about tho because I was focused on playing oat milk shelf puzzles... just another tyler day.....

[codename-adler]

Can't blame Danielle when it's wymack we talk about.

Au vise do you think David ever was in situation where he had to explain someone why relationship with him is not in realm of possibility ? Do you think he would see a need for such conversation as his failure of setting boundaries in the first place ? Would he ask bee or Abby for advice if he needed one ?

Would Dan be happy when those feelings are addressed in therapy and she can apreciate platonic relationship with coach for what it is

I like digging into concepts

now that it seems the heat has died on that subject matter... i'll gladly and gratefully answer u my friend <3 thank you for getting it.

AU wise, i DEFINITELY 100% think Wymack has had to establish boundaries in his career as PSU Coach. oh how i would looooove to write the first time it happened. add it to the pile of wips.

i think... the overall sentiment of surprise he's slapped with when he has to face such a situation for the first time, is divided into many levels.

a) at some point, when you're collecting kids with parental issues coming out of their noses and asses, you gotta be ready for when some misplaced attachments occur. Wymack is def not ready, which is very very dumb of him. Abby saw it coming. Bee saw it coming. how did he not? big big oversight of him. now he's gotta deal with things wayyyy above his paygrade for that mistake. surprise mf! the care and tough love you provided your team has been misinterpreted by an unadjusted athlete! what did you expect david. really.

b) not to borrow too much from dbh's Hank Anderson, but i like to believe Wymack is partly surprised that one of his athletes is infatuated with him, because it's him we're talking about. he is not the same man who won over Kayleigh Day, is not as in shape and confident in his body, and despite the scarce hook-ups here and there over the years since her, Kayleigh herself was not much more than a fwb situationship herself. Wymack can't see past his family history and all his scars (mental and physical) when it comes to romantic relationships. so for a young thing to confess to him? good ol' Coach? gotta be a joke. he's not flattered at all, he's baffled. he is also very much concerned about his athlete beyond this unprofessional and inappropriate infatuation. like, wtf are your standards? let's address that. if it'd been, like, Abby, of course he'd get it. but him? yikes, man. (Bee screams into her pillow about this self-deprecating bs Wymack refuses to consult about. somebody worship this man, please! not you Greenberg tho. you get therapy for your daddy issues. it's never gonna happen.)

c) it worries Wymack very much that he did not see this developing, and it plants doubt in his ability to manage his team, his players, and provide them with what they need. it's not about setting boundaries and closing that door, because he didn't even know there was a door to close to begin with. it's about knowing that door exists and noticing it open. it really destabilizes him, to the point he's not sure he even knows his players anymore, if he's even capable of seeing through their bs, to the point where he doubts if he even should be Coach of such a complex and precarious team. surely someone out there is more qualified. surely someone out there is more well-adjusted and observant. i don't know which OG Foxes gets through to him, but i know it takes one of them, or more, to tell him that it's not about being qualified and parrying every issue before they even arise, but about wanting to be there, for them, wanting the best for them, and wanting to give them chances. surely you can give yourself that chance too, Coach? talks w/ Bee and Abby are def had, but ultimately it's the Palmetto Nines that get him though it.

about Dan now. bc i based myself on my own issues for her misplaced infatuation with Wymack, i'll once again base myself on lil 'ole me for how she copes with it: she is taking that one to the grave. she's able to fly under the radar of Bee's built-in bs detector. she's just glad she's not the only one to get those yucky feelings, that yes she does have issues but it's also normal, and well, by the time a newer Fox infatuates themself with Wymack, she is well over it and the case is closed. she even teases Wymack about the number of recruits who thirst over him over the years (once Wymack is able to treat as a joke too, like, years down the line and he hears other coaches having the same problem and the Foxes having a betting pool on who the next poor fool is. once Nicky overtly makes his objective appreciation known, and there are polls online. etc.)

[v-tired-queer]

Alright y'all I need to convince my sorta-but-not-really fiance of something for our may-or-may-not-happen wedding:

The maybe-wedding isn't for . . . *checks watch* seven years, but we've already established that she wants a beautiful, elegant, enchanted forest esk wedding, and I want purple and gold details. Given the overall ✨️vibes✨️, I think it's only natural that we honor my family's (distant) heritage with a sword exchange ceremony (we'll also be doing stuff in honor of her family's heritage too) (also: capes). Yay or nea?

[uninformedartist]

So a review on Helluva boss So2 ep 6

Ok so gonna break this review down into positives and negatives with my additional thoughts.

Positives:

So always start off with this, big props and love to the animation team we know know and see your struggle working under Vivienne and animating her over-complicated designs. Props to the BG team really stunning backgrounds, was actually a bit over the top for me (Ozzie's palace and especially the dildo factory shit was moving way too fast) but did pause to have a look at the BGs it is really pretty, the shit pacing made everything a visual blur tho.

VA work stunning love always a joy to hear Alex and James in any VA work tho Fizz's song was eyyy not the best but don't blame Alex it was a shittly written song in general especially when it went to the heavy metal part, overstimulating af and again shit pacing during the song and the flashing visuals gave me a headache. Striker's new VA, Ed's voice really grew on me he should've been Striker in the 1st place because I know for a fact Norman couldn't reprise his role for future episodes.

I loved Ozzie and Fizz's relationship especially the end scene where you can see Ozzie development or got hold of the best technology to give Fizz functional limbs, was a tender scene their relationship and interactions made me smile. I'll give Viv 1 ty for not fucking up their relationship, ty Viv (I can be nice to her :). Tho 1 scene that bothered me... the 12 sec Ozzie dong scene 💀 my soul it was just so jarring especially with the fast pacing. Felt like a race car coming to an immediate stop then speeding off again. Would've like the scene replaced with Fizz telling Bliz something nice about Ozzie, why Fizz likes him. I'm tired of queer couples/pairings in this show describing their partner in 2 ways, 1. how good they are in bed or 2. they got x anatomy that's amazing. But its Viv writing this ep, sigh her and her damn middle school sex jokes I'll let it slide.

Now negatives:

I said it before I'll say it for all eternity, the pacing was dogshit bad oh my soul wtf... Viv, Adam whoever I know you guys don't listen to criticism but if any criticism you take fix your damn pacing 😑. I had to pause multiple times just to see what has happening, what was said, what this paper/sign etc said. It was bad, and that paired with the overdetailed BGs and character designs, for the 1st time ever I got overstimulted from a HB ep and had to take a 5 min break to rest my eyes (was by Fizz's song). Its a noisey spinning kaleidoscope this ep, so unpleasant and its all pacing. Stay on certain scenes a bit longer and allow the audience to take in the scene before them (that flackback scene) its makes a difference. If you get overwhelmed/overstimlated ect by such visuals I recommend watching the leaked episode its much better in terms of pacing since its mostly storyboards and there is no color, plus its just the VAs talking with no background music and zero to minimal sound effects.

I didn't care for Crimson in this episode, I know he became Viv's favorite 😒 but seeing this fucker back so soon, it wasn't enjoyable, especially since the only reason he's in this ep is for a "big score" 😑. Also I'm tired of this over convenient plots, Fizz so happened to be in the greed ring and so happened to run into Blitz and Striker so happened to be in greed meeting with Crim who need a man for a "big score" AND SO HAPPENED Striker sees Fizz/Blitz fighting outside the window 🙃. Its all too convenient for me it takes me out and I then think how the plot coming together is ridiculous.

Striker is so under utilized. Since Viv hates him (confirmed by sources I can't pull now apologies) and she wrote this episode, everything established of Striker in So1 is destroyed. He's a husk of his intended character, all talk no show, a misogynistic clown who you can see Viv has no care writing him properly because she doesn't like him which is fucking horrible, this woman will butcher an integral villian, one with a good motivation (he hates blue-bloods) all because "oh I don't like him he's not in my fav OC list", petty af.

Fizz's disability and how its handled, spoke about it in this post:

It still remains the same though now we see it wasn't Wally holding the cake just some other imp and the card Bliz made for Fizz was a love confession still doesn't justify his reaction shoving the imp and his still underlying jealousy of Fizz since they were young. Yes it was backing off from a love confession/ashamed he's not as good a performer as Fizz, Blitz was jealous of Fizz. Made another post saying how I like how Fizz sees his disability, he's content, happy, has Ozzie who understands him and even made/went out his way to get Fizz the best prosthetics to better his quality of life, I like that good on Fizzy :).

5. Going to be a separate long post on (ಠ_ಠ) Blitz, THE FUCKING BIRD IS BACK 💀💀💀 why your rotisserie chicken ass not in hospital or we just skipping past that and how Viv keeps I'm gonna say it, forcing her characters to have daddy issues by writing this fucking irritating basic fanfic trope of killing the mother offscreen/not having the mother in the picture/us seeing her face. A commenter pointed this out and it irritates me because its the 3rd time she does this, she show Tilla (Blitz's mom) in pictures, you think there would be an episode revolving around Blitz's childhood etc but no she's "in" a fast paced pitty party flashback. This woman really can't show an ounce of respect to any female characters.

This is all for now, will be making more posts the more this ep settles in.

Score: 4.7/10

[lovers-tucked-into-a-quiet-cafe]

MW3 Thoughts VAGUE/NO SPOILERS

I just finished the campaign and I am, to put simply, confused. I was actually drafting my original chatty type of post and semi-watching the cutscene when I got the ‘complete the campaign’ achievement and felt my jaw physically drop cuz wtf? It felt so abrupt. Not even just for that character but also the storyline in general. Maybe the reg release is longer?? Idk

My og post draft:

So I got to the train mission… all I’m saying is NOTHING in this game is changing my current fic draft cuz I did NOT write over 42 pages of pre-established character x reader for this stupid game to do this to me.

And that is true! Ig it’s just gonna be a little sappier and more indulgent now that I know what’s canon, though I am NOT killing anyone off cuz fuck you.

I literally spent weeks writing this fic and thought ‘oh perfect, I’ve got some more content to flush out the story and characters by adding the events of MW3. It can’t change the fic plot that much.’

Yeah. So anyways. If you’ve played the prerelease of the MW3 campaign you know the pre-established relationship in this fic I’m writing. It’s poly!141 anyways tho so fun fun fun!

I’m going to have to spend a good week or two re-figuring out the timeline of events because I’m 99% sure the game messed up the timeline lol (that or Johnny and Ghost had met pre-MW2? But then their scenes together don’t really make sense in either game? Idfk)

Buuuuuut once that’s figured out I can post the chapters I already have earlier than planned cuz I already have some REALLY sappy loveydovey writing for that character and I think it’s needed rn. They’re decently long (usually 2-5k) and I’m p proud of them :,)

We’ll see ig. Post-game ramble over :,(

Oh and ofc can’t forget to mention how Price looked so good in those end cutscenes. Absolutely scrumptious. Delectable. Muah

Edit: okay so I’ve been doing some thinking… I’m still not killing off that character in my fic lol no not happening. BUT. I like the direction I can go with this for the rest of the characters. Hmmmmmmmm

-

<3

[animeomegas]

hmmm i dont know how much youve interacted with him but any thoughts on rex? i adore him and marz a lot

I'm going to start with Marz because I know a lot more about her character! Okay, let me first establish how I view the Stratospheric ship, because I think it will help frame a lot of what I'm going to say. My interpretation is that they are:

A cult.

Failing completely at their attempt to remove class, gender roles, cultural differences etc. and their interest in trying shows ignorance to an absurd degree.

Selfish and creepy. Bringing people so young paired up like that as if they're breeding pairs of cattle, and having children aboard the ship even though they could have easily predicted the untold hardships that would have befallen them.

That's the overview to my opinion on the adults of the colony. Obviously those born on the ship or who were too young to consent, like Utopia, don't inherently fall under those critiques. I should also make it clear that this isn't a criticism of the game, as I believe this is a supported interpretation, and it's super interesting!

The way I view the children is inherently based in this backdrop. They are, mostly, tragic tales. They are victims of the circumstances forced upon them. Each of them is a tragic tale in a different way.

Marz is the tragic tale of someone who loves the Earth and who was denied the opportunity to experience it against her will. She loves the arts, fashion, the ideas of concerts and people and cities... And she gets none of that. She gets a society where survival takes so much energy, there isn't always space for the things she loves. In one of my playthroughs, she only remained Governor for a short while, because she prioritised art, but it simply wasn't feasible when base line survival needed all the attention.

And the adults decided to take a risk on colony life. She never did. And she has to live with the consequences.

(also, wtf is her augment??? Who thought that would be a good idea??? Shame is an important emotion for humans navigating social situations, developing their moral compass, and making friends???)

I really feel for Marz, because she yearns for something more. And the chance of it happening in her lifetime (if at all) just feels so slim.

...

Rex... I don't know as much about him tbh. I think the Heliopause are a group of... absolute nutters, para military dictatorship vibes all over the place. Although it's much more overt in the narrative than the negatives of the Stratos' way of life.

But I haven't found out Rex's backstory really. I think his bar idea is cool, and I love giving him hugs haha. His character design is probably my favourite haha. I'll have to update more specific thoughts when I actually befriend him properly!