#but also if you're not writing but still think about it maybe you're a writer too

[miss-m-winks]

i remember when the game of thrones show was just hitting its peak popularity, people would just pass around that one time GRRM was like "oh i write women so well because i just write them as people" and he was being lauded as this amazing feminist for it. it's so cathartic to see more people pointing out what a pretentious and incurious writer he actually is lol

like what was the point of making up a world with such a unique seasonal cycle if you're not actually going to make the rest of the story mesh with it?

what was the point of having the looming ice zombie threat while also making your people look stupid because they keep burying their dead in crypts where they're easily turned into more ice zombies? there's a line between "we need things to happen for plot reasons" and "actually this is just stupidity"

and as was pointed out earlier, the biggest reason it's so annoying to see all these inconsistent and unrealistic lore details is precisely because GRRM was so openly pretentious about how much he likes to ground his fantasy in realism. he wrote with a sort of contempt for the genre, and it shows.

like would you want to read a scifi space adventure written by someone who scoffs at the idea of sapient aliens and explosive space battles, but also writes mono-climate worlds or weirdly shaped planets and never actually makes life on those planets any different from earth? while still claiming they're writing very realistic scifi? I wouldn't.

i think it's entirely possible to write a world where there are long cycles of winter and summer. since it is fantasy, there's space for flexibility! perhaps we actually explore the religion of the world in a meaningful way and have the seasons be literally affected by deities? or maybe we look at the redundant ice zombie apocalypse and actually give it a meaningful connection to the long winters? maybe the ice zombies are the cause of the long winters??? that would sure be a logical plot arc! it makes sense! because if they're not connected like that, you're telling me the long winters will still be an apocalyptic problem even when the evil ice zombie king is defeated. so what was the point of that? it really makes the ice zombies less of a threat if defeating them only removes the problem of being killed by zombies but the winter apocalypse is still there. if they're the same problem though, hey! that's a pretty neat plot! literally not even changing anything else, that alone would fix a lot of issues.

I too am a fantasy writer (as yet unpublished) who enjoys grounding things in reality. the difference is that I am having fun exploring what "reality" means in the world I'm writing.

Someone over on Discord asked, "I'm morbidly curious: How BAD is A Song of Ice and Fire in terms of the authenticity George claims it to be?"

My reply was straightforward:

The long and the short of it is that ASOIAF is basically a vehicle for GRRM to present both his rape fetish and his Hobbesian view on human nature and has less historical accuracy than Frozen or most other Disney movies.

That's actually a good way to think of it, now that I've said it--he's Family Unfriendly, they're Family Friendly, but both have the same relationship with History: just Pure Aesthetic with no consideration for how the worldbuilding would work.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

“If Chloe caused Marinette’s trauma, then why they’ve United to humiliate Kagami in “Animaestro”?

To be fair, I’ve read a post which was written a long time ago where one user said that Marinette uniting with Chloe to do the same things to Kagami that Chloe was doing to Marinette for years was Out Of Character for her. And this was before the first draft of infamous “Derision” was ever written…

Two things can be true at once. You can criticize Animaestro in the context canon has put it in while also agreeing that it and Derision don't fit the narrative and basically have to be discarded to make any sense of canon. I take both of these stances and will happily explain them.

If Derision was "always the plan," then Animaestro's writing choices make the writers look extra terrible as it means that they had no issues making their lead put another person through the same kind of traumatizing humiliation that she'd gone through herself. Even worse, Marinette inflicts that trauma by willing joining up with the instigator of her own trauma, never once stopping to wonder if this is too far. She's too obsessed with her crush to care about another person's suffering. It's perfectly reasonable to look at these two moments and come away hating her. It's even reasonable to just hate her after Animaestro. That wasn't a good look.

Even if Derision wasn't always the plan, the writers still wrote it after writing Animaestro, not caring how that choice would effect people's view of Marinette's actions. It's not reasonable to expect your audience to disregard one episode in favor of another. People aren't being unfair for taking these two episodes at face value.

If you want to tell a good story, you have to own what you've already written and allow that to limit what ideas work for your story no matter how good they are in a vacuum. Animaestro and Derision are just generally a bad episodes, but they should never coexist unless Marinette is supposed to be seen as a bad person OR Marinette is getting a complex arc around overcoming her trauma and Adrien obsession. It is perfectly fair to ask why we're not getting either of those since the writers chose to make all of this mess canon.

However, I also agree that Marinette's actions in Animaestro are just generally not suited to her character. The show did a terrible job of writing Marinette and Kagami's cat fight over Adrien. Because every conflict had to be established and resolved in 20-minutes or less, Marinette was constantly coming up with random petty, unflattering, and downright insane takes on Kagami. It made Marinette come across like a total mean girl in several season three episodes which sucks when you consider the way the conflict was played in season two. Episodes like Frozer allowed Marinette to have a good balance of jealously and being a good person making her feel realistic, but not a petty mean girl.

In Frozer, Marinette sent Adrigami on a date to the ice rink and went along to help Adrien even though her girl friends told her to back out:

Alya: This is gonna be your worst mess up in history. You have got to get yourself out of this right now. Ideas girls! Quick! Alix: Tell him you'd already promised to hang with your GFs. Rose: Maybe you got lost on the way over? Juleka: Maybe you're gonna go to a concert? Mylène: You had to finish an essay on Periwinkle's migration. Marinette: Actually, girls... I don't think I want to cancel. All Girls: Huh? Marinette: Adrien really needs me and if he wants my advice then why not? After all, it's not an issue and I'm definitely not jealous because... Rose: Because you two love each other. Marinette: Because there's nothing between us. (looks down sadly) Alya: What do you mean nothing between you? Mylène: There's everything between you, actually. Marinette: I always jumble my words around him. So how could I even manage going out on a date? I think we're actually just meant to be friends. Whenever I talk to him as a friend, I hardly stammer at all. That's a sign right there. Right?

And when they were at the rink, Marinette gave Adrien actual good advice:

Adrien: I don't know what to do about Kagami. Should I offer to hold her hand? Marinette: You have to let her fall. Adrien: Huh? Marinette: No, what I actually meant was that you cannot let her fall in any way. I mean, do whatever you can so that she doesn't fall.

If you have to include a petty fight over a boy, this a decent way to do it. Show Marinette struggling, but ultimately doing the right thing. Acknowledge the temptation to sabotage the date, but let her be a good person in the end. Don't go the Animaestro route which makes Marinette come across as both awful and delusional:

Marinette: I'm not too sure about this. Chloé: Fine! Keep on not being sure about it and tomorrow, Adrien and Kagami will be on a plane headed for Japan! Marinette: Adrien? Japan? There's no way! Chloé: You think? They're already going to the movies together, their parents are signing papers together. (camera zooms in on Mrs. Tsurugi in the background, stamping a document with her signature) Marinette: (imagines Adrien and Kagami on a plane and dancing with kimonos on) We can't let her do that!

The fact that Marinette agrees to sabotage Kagami could be overlooked if she stopped herself before actually doing anything. We all have bad moments. But she doesn't stop. She spends a good chunk of the episode working with Chloé and there is no defense for that. Marinette is absolutely in the wrong here.

We can acknowledge that while also acknowledging that Marinette's actions also don't make any sense in the same timeline as Frozer which happened a full season before Animaestro. In both episodes, Adrien is on a date with Kagami. Why is Marinette willing to be the better person in one situation and not the other? What changed? Why was she better on an actual date than she was on what is arguably a friend-date where Adrien is just being Kagami's escort? Why was Marinette able to push aside her friends telling her to bail on date one - reasonable advice - while being totally susceptible to Chloé's insane advice that they should sabotage date two?

There is no in-universe answer and that's why I'm willing to agree that this episode just generally shouldn't exist. It adds nothing to the story and is a poor choice when you look at where this plot started and where it ends. We go from supportive Marinette in Frozer to sabotaging Marinette in Animaestro to supportive Marinette in Hearhunter, which has Marinette once again supporting Adrigami on a date:

André: Which flavors for these two? [Kagami and Adrien] Orange and peppermint, a perfect pairing that's always a success; nothing can turn it into a mess. And for you two [Adrien and Marinette] blackberry and peppermint, an explosive mix that's a fact but often times it's the opposites that attract. Orange and blackberry, quite unusual it's true not the most obvious but it works for you two. So what will it be? Kagami: You pick. I don't really get what he's saying anyway. Adrien: Yeah, you pick, Marinette. We trust you. Marinette: Can't you find a blend for the three of us? André: I can, but too many flavors mixed together may throw off the delicate balance. Marinette: I don't know. Blackberry and peppermint doesn't seem like a great pair. And what if the mint finds the blackberry lame and wants to be with the orange instead? And it's true that orange and peppermint are awesome together and well orange and blackberry just doesn't seem like they go together. (looks at Kagami and Adrien together, walks up to André) Look I think your first idea was the best. The orange and peppermint ice cream for.. for my friends here. André (concerned) Are you sure Marinette? (she nods, Adrien approaches cart) Marinette (walks away and speaks to Kagami) I'm gonna head back to the palace. I told my parents I'd bring them back those cocktail umbrellas.

And, yes, Marinette does mess up the date by getting Kagami to help in the day's akuma fight, but that's way more in line with her Frozer behavior than her Animaestro behavior because it's not petty jealousy. Marinette didn't come up with a way to mess up the date. She was going to let it happen until the akuma attack, which had already messed up the date anyway. That's a far more complex and nuanced way to play the conflict. It's not the actions of a mean girl. Where did Animaestro-Marinette go?

The only way to make Animaestro fit in a functional character arc is to have to come at the start. You don't put an episode like this or Ikari Gozen after Frozer. That's just bad writing. I'd even argue that Animaestro is a bad fit in general because you don't need to take Marinette that far to give her a solid arc around "sisters before misters."

While Ikari Gozen has its own issues, it has Marinette being more avoidant than mean, which is about as far as I'd take her. There is no reason to make her sink to Chloé's level. It just makes Marinette look bad for no good reason, especially when Chloé is right there, able to take the villain role on her own! It's glaringly obvious that this episode only plays the way it does because of the stupid "Marinette must always do something wrong" rule and not because of some greater story reason. Without that rule, Animaestro could have been a perfectly fine episode where Chloé acted on her own, leading Marinette to realize how bad it is to let jealousy drive your actions, which would have been a wonderful lesson!

The "Marinette's character has to be warped so she's always in the wrong" rule is why I can get pretty defensive of Marinette. It's not that I think her actions are okay, they're often 100% not, they're just also clearly writing issues and not intentional character beats. I'd feel very different if Marinette's worst moments were ongoing flaws or part of a character arc, but they're not. They're generally one-off moments that could be removed from the story and no one would notice. Marinette doesn't even learn anything in Animaestro!!! She never apologizes for what she did or anything like that. The best we get is:

Marinette: I promise I'll never take Chloé's advice again!

Which is not the right lesson here!!! Everything about this episode is so frustrating! Marinette should be able learn lessons without having to be the one to mess up, damn it!

[olderthannetfic]

I do not mind when people talk about politics in fandom. Looking in the worldbuilding to see how it works how it affects characters in the narrative but what grinds my gears is that suddenly everyone is a political scientist and decides how politically good representation is a certain ship.

CaitVi is my otp it has been before Arcane season 2, and even after the release of season 2 I still ship it and love it.

And I agree there are genuine narrative issues with how the political system of Zaun has been set up and the writers maybe didn't address all the problems and there's that tired "the rebels are also not so good and see how radical and violent they are" trope but I also hate how it affected the way people perceive shipping in the fandom.

First of all CaitVi turned into oppressed/oppressor ship which is inherently problematic in people's eyes.

Second of all it spawned a bunch of thinkpieces of how fascist Cait is and always was and here were the warning signs and you silly little goose didn't see them in arcane season 1.

Thridly it turned into some strange ship war between JayVic and CaitVi which is inherently stupid mainly because one is canon and the other is not and also the circumstances are different? But suddenly JayVic the most standard yaoi ship out there is better and more correct to ship than CaitVi.

And if you're writing CaitVi fics you have to write them correctly to fix the situation and the canon.

For some reason I feel like if JayVic was the one that was canon and in the same situation it wouldn't be as "problematic" and everyone would be on that toxic yaoi train.

But since it's CaitVi we should think about the narrative.

There are literally youtubers out there who were never into fandom stuff with Arcane and were doing episode reviews who are chiming in on why exactly CaitVi is a bad ship.

UGGHHHH I hate it here and then they say why people don't ship femslash.

--

[longagoitwastuesday]

Kusakabe, dear, you're too beautiful to be saying that kind of stuff

[sir-fenris]

Thank you for the tag :D <33

-

1. What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it? 

Honestly, my stories are more about feelings than "lessons". But if I have to pick... it is that kindness is strenght. Cyrus does not fight fire with fire, and despite all that happened to him, he has a gentle heart, and that requires so much strenght.

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding? 

Well, fuck XD, this is hard. The ideas kinda came to my mind? The words just came to my mind and I wrote them, but there were some whump stories that helped.

This was the original drabble that started the world-building, from @floral-comet-whump 's prompt.

Destroyer, by @paingoes was the first inspiration that came to mind <3, about how it works the role of a living weapon, and Cyrus&Wilson have traces of Delta&Martino XD. Also inspired me into doing different species in the story.

Also, for different species, I got some inspiration in DnD, but since I've never actually played it, I'm using it more as a species inspiration than a guide.

Fog and Furrow from @wildfaewhump and TJ and Danny from @tendertenebrosity also helped in inspiration for how the unwilling gifted in my world are treated in the military. Those stories are super cool, so they were there in the back of my mind as I decided how to do the system.

Liam by @just-horrible-things also helped in the same way as the path verse. I really liked the story, so it stuck with me while I was writing, helping me to build up the system.

Handler and Healer also by @just-horrible-things plays a part in a part of the story I didn't post about yet, but it's also an inspiration to how the militar settlement works and the system I made.

Thank you to everyone who I took as inspiration for world-building <33

There are certainly more stories I read and that were in the back of my mind, but I can't remember them now. Also, I do use a lot of prompts to help me guide the narrative, and I do end up building words around it.

There are more protagonists to my universe than Cyrus, because I want to show different views of the system, but that's only after Curse of Withering (Cyrus story) is complete.

3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness or help the reader grow as a person? 

Cyrus just wants peace. And in a way, so do I.

Guess the story is not much more than a whump/comfort story meant to entertain XD. I want to share my work, and Curse of Withering just took the first place.

4. How many chapters is your story going to have? 

You're gonna ask me that so soon? :')

I have around 10 half-planned, but honestly there's no way for me to tell. It's gonna have as many chapters as it needs to for me to show all I want to show about Cyrus and the universe he's in.

5. Is it fan fiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it? 

Original. And here on Tumblr :D. Might post on Ao3, but not sure.

6. When did you start writing? 

This story in specific? Ahhhm... 2 weeks ago? I don't remember, but it's pretty recent.

In general? The first story I created, I was 7, the first time I wrote one, I was... idk, maybe 10? Around that age.

I'm bad at counting time, you can tell.

7. Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

I follow more than 50 writers, I have a really long list of "to read" :'), so I can't name all of them.

But words of encouragement... I think what Alia said is top tier. Write for yourself! You can still crave interaction and want people to read your work, but first comes yourself. Write for yourself, and only after let yourself look at others, or else it'll feel like a duty you'll always be anxious about.

And don't overthink. Kinda hard, I know. But trust me, theres ALWAYS someone who will like it. No matter what it is about or how well/basly written it is. Add the whole amount of tags Tumblr allows you to add, make sure it all is in your work, and someone looking for that will find you eventually.

-

I think everyone I would add already has been added? If any of my moots want to take this as an invitation, here you go :D

-

Tag Game: Author Ask Tag

thxxxxxxx @sacratos for the tag!

Question Template: 1. What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it? 2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding? 3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness or help the reader grow as a person? 4. How many chapters is your story going to have? 5. Is it fan fiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it? 6. When did you start writing? 7. Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

1. What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it? 

Don’t be an idiot and actually communicate with those you love, lol. In all seriousness, I don’t know if my story has a main theme, but there are several themes for sure. The importance of having family that loves and supports you (whether found or biological), taking back autonomy of oneself, and the importance of community.

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding? 

Other BBU/pet whump authors! If you have written for the BBU, trust me, I have used some idea of yours as inspiration somewhere. I also use middle school me’s obsession with dystopian novels as inspiration as well.

3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness or help the reader grow as a person? 

All my MCs are trying to heal, in one way or another and I want my readers to connect with my characters in some way. Not really teaching a lesson or having some big, major theme, but I want my characters to feel real and connect with the readers (yes, even if you want to kill them you cannot touch Star, he is immune from death)

4. How many chapters is your story going to have? 

Hahahaha ha ha ha. . . yeah, no clue

5. Is it fan fiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it? 

Original content from my brain! I post it here, and only here

6. When did you start writing? 

The minute I learned what stories were. I think I wrote my first “story” (bible fanfiction. No I will not be taking questions about that) when I was about seven or so, then my first full fanfiction at nine and I have not stopped since. 

7. Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

Read! Seriously, I cannot stress this enough! Read! And not just to compare yourselves with other writers–please don’t do that at all–but read to see how others write emotion, descriptions, characters, plots! Take what you like and figure out why you don’t like other kinds of writing, then apply what you want to your own writing. Also, your writing voice will develop in time. Don’t worry about that.

A large chunk of people I follow are writers! Can’t list all of them here, but they know who they are and their writings have inspired and shaped both my style and my content. Ilyasm! 

Tagging (w/o any pressure!) @quietly-by-myself @whump-card @sparrowsage @whumble-beeee @whumpyourdamnpears and anyone else who wants to join in!

[coffeeshib]

Hi! I’ve recently visited your page again, after a longer tumblr break and saw your posts about people’s comments on your fics. It made me both sad and angry. Sad because they’ve managed to take away your joy for writing Supercorp and angry that people feel like they can type out any hurtful thought that goes through their head, for a thing that is absolutely free and made with so much passion and care. 😒🤬

For what it’s worth, I always loved the way you write both of them. AND the fact that you don’t ignore Kara’s trauma and struggles. “i’m spilling all my words (but you keep 'em to yourself)” will forever be one of my favorites. Thank you for the hours of joy and fun you have given us! I hope you know that for every entitled commenter there are ten times more people who love your works! 🫵🏻🤘🏻

ahh thank you so much, i appreciate this. i have to say, sc still has me by the neck, i do plan to finish that fic & maybe write some more but it won't be anytime soon. i had hoped that the fandom would calm down with the kara hate after the show ended but i was wrong, it still hasn't changed.

when you've been writing for sc for so long, the frustration builds up, & there have been many times where i felt like i needed to (& did) restrict myself when writing them. it stops being enjoyable when people are constantly calling kara 'stupid' & insult her in many different ways for not being the happy sunshine kara danvers who takes care of lena all the time.

personally i love reading & writing the reverse situation (lena who's being the patient loving one & also the shoulder for kara to lean on) because the show didn't give us enough of that. unfortunately, people don't respond well whenever kara is struggling with her issues & lena isn't the one who's being comforted.

i write what i like & that's what i'm always going to do, but this build up of frustration over the past years & always anticipating kara hate every fic/chapter killed the joy a lot.

i've seen some authors speak about this too & it's genuinely sad to see! people can like & dislike whatever but it's important to note that there are readers out there who don't realize that their personal feelings against kara also affect authors & their love for writing supercorp

[giantkillerjack]

ur post about queerbaiting and the dismissal of people in fandom to critical analysis is so incredibly true thank you. i feel like marcille's writing in the anime has been super misogynistic a lot of the time and every time i bring this up all anyone wants to say is "well maybe this isn't for you! and you shouldn't watch the show!" like. i don't think this is about taste lmao, i am analyzing the text in front of me and coming to conclusions about the craft of it.

[This is in reference to this post]

YES!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

It is so so frustrating!!!!

It's like being at a restaurant and being served a bunch of delicious appetizers, but then one of the bread appetizers is literally just a plate of crumbs; and then when you're like, "Hey, uhh, why are we being served literal crumbs?", a bunch of the other folks eating at the restaurant are like,

"WELL HOW ABOUT YOU JUST DON'T EAT HERE THEN??!? YOU MUST NOT BE THAT HUNGRY, SO JUST FIND ANOTHER RESTAURANT AND DON'T EAT WITH US!!"

And maybe they say it politely, but "Aw, sorry, maybe this restaurant just isn't for you 💖" is just trading out an aggressive dismissive tone for a patronizing dismissive tone. It's the same message.

And it's like! I was honestly happy to move on from the crumbs once my complaint was acknowledged because the meal overall is still delicious, but then all these folks got SUPER WEIRD AND DEFENSIVE ABOUT IT, so now I find myself double-checking all the other dishes -- and, actually, you know what those eggs DO look a Iittle misogynistic undercooked!!!!

[lia404]

For the writing ask!

🧮💕😊

Why do I keep missing asks? It took longer than you probably thought, but here are some (long long long) answers! And the ask game is here for those who are curious. (Is it better practice to only keep the emoji or to put in the whole question? I went for emoji-only because I find the lack of context amusing, but maybe I'm the only one amused.)

Below the cut: answers, WIPs, tips on my writing process, and rambling.

🧮 - 20 words is not a lot, especially when you're like me and you have many WIPs at once. I like working on all of them little by little, like building puzzles that always end up complete at SOME point.

Malik hates my original character;

Emissaryshipping with a side of smut;

Puzzleshipping beast tamer alternate universe;

Shooting stars. Bang, bang.

Here you are! That's exactly 20. I could add more but the other WIPs are more dormant. I'll get back to them once I'm done with the ones up here.

(I like this "20 words maximum" limit. It reminds me of the snowflake method to build stories in which you have to start by writing your story in only one sentence. It's an incredible starting point. Difficult, too.)

💕 - I hate writing what. More seriously, there are multiple parts I like in my writing process, and while the most satisfying parts really depend on which story I'm writing, I can think of the three parts I like most:

The remnants of a dream: I never write my stories in order, and often begin by the middle or the end. So when I start a new story, I lay down the foundations in bits and pieces that come as they want. It's small sentences, sometimes just words, thrown on the page, kind of like what remains of a dream when you've just woken up, and you're writing things down super fast so you don't forget. The more those tiny pieces appear, the more come to my mind, so at the end of the process, I sometimes have already 2k words written. While it looks completely nonsensical from the outside, it's actually the moment that lays down the bases of the story: these scraps and lines already give a tone to the character, and an idea of how they will react to events. One of the reasons I like this part of the process so much is that it can happen anywhere, and while I sometimes sit down and have so many ideas to throw on the page, usually, I do it little by little. Five minutes in the metro, two sentences when I wake up, taking a break from work by adding a paragraph... Sometimes, when I drag this step for too long, I begin writing elements that are contradictory, but it just helps me see the different possibilities.

The epiphany: in general, it's not an actual epiphany, but rather the moment when I've finally found a way to organise all the bits and pieces in a structured story, with a beginning, an end, a something akin to a plot (even if I am usually guilty of writing too much charastudy.) This step is a lot of cutting and pasting in my document, a lot of "[FIND SOMETHING TO WRITE HERE]" that I try not to forget when I'm editing the story, and other "[JE SAIS PLUS COMMENT ON DIT EN ANGLAIS FIND THE WORD ALREADY]". I write to myself a lot at this stage, to remember why I put this or that paragraph in this or that place. Sometimes, I cut thousands of words and paste them in another document, because they won't make it to the final story. Sometimes, I move paragraphs 10 times before finding where they fit best. At this step, the story is like a massive Swiss cheese, with a good structure but so many holes. I love Swiss cheese.

The Ladybug: actually, this one comes after the writing stage and happens at the editing stage. Its name originates from a glorious episode when I became serious with getting real feedback on my stories before publishing; my partner, who is also a writer and an excellent editor, cast a look at the story, went "...uh", clicked and typed and then turned to me, saying "all the red words on the screen, here? They're adverbs." Until then, I had never noticed how much I overused adverbs, but with so much red in the middle of the black font, the text was looking like a ladybug. So the name stuck. Now, it's not only adverbs: once I'm done with writing, I give the story a short cooldown of at least one day, then read it again with a very critical eye and spot all my written tics. It can be that my characters seem to keep sighing. It might be that they say "yeah" every two sentences. It might be that I've used the structure ", and" or ", but" every sentence for three paragraphs. It could be the ridiculous amount of "get/got", of em dashes, or (because I never learn) of words that end with "-ly". I list all of these. Then I use the research function, and I check how many times they come up and their distribution in the text. And that's when the fun starts: I need to remove them, replace them, reformulate whole sentences, rethink some scenes that are too close to others. It's beyond writing; it becomes a fun game of logics. It's like translating from English to English (or French to French, depending) or playing chess and swapping pieces. And sometimes I also get the satisfaction of discovering that what I thought was an unbearable writing tic actually happened only 3 times in a 6k-word story. The search function can be an incredible tool that gives me an objective point of view where mine is completely distorted by the annoyance of having found yet another ", and" ten times in my story. (As an example, if I were to Ladybug this answer, I'd probably try looking up all the words in "-ing". As I'm writing now, I feel like I've been using a ton of these and not all of them are justified. I could probably rephrase a lot.)

There's another moment I could mention, that I like a lot but still doesn't make the cut to what I "prefer", because it's a bit of a hit or miss. It's The highway, when I've been listening to Freed From Desire in repeat mode for 4 hours straight, my brain has disconnected and my hands are typing who-knows-what. I'm in the zone, and often it feels nice; but most of the time, I'm just very frustrated, because the circumstances around me make it hard to reach this state, and I usually only reach it very late at night. So I'm tired, and upset, and even if it's amazing to reach this level of flow in writing, it's still very uncomfortable.

But now that I sit down and think of it, that does make many moment I like in writing. Maybe I don't hate writing what.

😊 - I write well. If it were in French, I would even dare say I write very well. It's a skill I've been honing for the past 30 years of my life, with a lot of trials and tribulations, really terrible results and surprisingly good ones. I don't think I have the best writing style, because there's no such thing and it's all a matter of taste, but I like the grasp I have on the words and the meaning I want to give them. While I'm not the best at plot, I'm good at structure and pacing. I'm extremely demanding with myself, but not in a crippling perfectionist way anymore. From the outside, this whole paragraph may sound arrogant; the truth is that, while there's very little I am self-confident in, my writing is one of them. So, yeah. My writing in English is what it is, of course, but I know that I write well in my mother tongue. I suppose the way I've seen myself grow and evolve as an author plays a huge part in it. I like the control I have developed over my writing.

Thank youuuu for sending this ask! It was super interesting to answer.

[vi-is-badass]

I really appreciate that you took the time to respond! This is all really interesting and I'd like to respond to your thoughts one by one.

I hadn't thought of the "feel" of this season like you described here. I actually would like to understand this point a bit more. I definitely think this season got way bigger than the last and leaned a lot more into the arcane rather than the personal and political stakes of the first season. Is that what you mean? Or does it have more to do with a shift in tone?

I think this bit in particular is very interesting because I don't know if I really think of the "vibe" of a show when I watch it, so I'm curious.

I definitely understand the "not enough time" complaint. It's a frequent and genuine critique of the show that I do feel like compounds from little things into much bigger things. And I agree that the pacing was too fast.

I've actually talked with quite a few people about aspects of this and even the best-paced act of the season (act 1) has this same issue where it feels like certain scenes were cut for time. One big one that many people have mentioned is a scene where the strike team decides to use the grey in Zaun. The use of the grey is a very important plot point in the first act. It's something that should be a major decision for Vi's character, but it's skipped over.

I agree that I would have liked expansion on a lot of the things you pointed out as well.

I will admit that Vi is my favorite character (obviously) and I felt like a lot of corners were cut in regards to her character and arc. I absolutely love her writing in acts 1 and 2 (I do know that others have mixed feelings on it though. I'm curious about your thoughts if you're willing to respond!) but the lack of screentime makes it so her resolution is ultimately unsatisfying to me and a lot of the character arcs they set up for her felt incomplete.

In season one and the first two acts of season 2 Vi is struggling to find her place between the cities of Piltover and Zaun. She doesn't quite fit into either one. In the first season she's alienated from Zaun because she's just gotten out of prison after 7 years and Zaun has changed without her so she doesn't recognize the city or its people. She struggles to find the community she once held dear in a Zaun morphed by the man that killed her family. In the second it's due to her choice to join the strike team. Even if it was with good intentions she still joined their oppressor and became a "traitor". And she doesn't fit into Piltover because of the prejudice held towards Zaunites even though her only real tether after getting out of prison is Caitlyn-- a pitovan.

Unless you want to believe that the answer is simply "by Cailtyn's side" that thread isn't resolved. At least not in a direct way.

She also doesn't know her place in the world. She was never allowed to be an adult and discover what she wants to do or what she wants to be. League lore dictates that it's eventually to be an enforcer, which I guess we can infer she became off screen either between the meeting and the final battle or between the final battle and the epilogue, but the fact that it's not really addressed and doesn't happen onscreen I don't really count that.

They don't really allow Vi to move past her guilt and responsibility. She feels responsible for what she did to Powder as a child, she feels responsible for what happened to Mylo and Claggor and Vander at that warehouse, she feels responsible for what happened to Caitlyn and her mother. She feels immense guilt and responsibility due to her parentification as a child and what she perceives to be her failures as a big sister to Jinx. I am a little confused at to how the last act allowed Vi to move past any of this. Maybe I missed something the writer’s implied or something, but I didn’t see what moment or beat was meant to be Vi moving out from under the weight. I get that Jinx tells her that she isn’t Vi’s responsibility (absolving Vi in a sense of the responsibility she feels for her and what Jinx went on to do) but if that’s the conclusion (plus her getting together with Caitlyn) it felt half baked to me.

Why would Vi move past her guilt after all that? Wouldn't the way that Jinx "died" (Jinx isn't dead but she believes that Jinx is) just add more guilt onto her shoulders? Wouldn't she view this as another failure on her part? She "made the wrong choice" and Jinx had to sacrifice herself for Vi as a result. (I don't view it this way but Vi likely does unless she worked through it off-screen)

Maybe other people felt differently. If you have a different view of Vi's arc or the conclusion to it please let me know. I think it would be interesting to hear.

Caitlyn is very interesting because the writing for her in the first act is incredible. I loved the writing for her in the first three episodes even if I was frustrated by her actions. But I feel like the rest of her arc fell flat.

Though I do agree that Caitlyn’s arc ultimately didn’t work, I think I differ from other people in what section of the story ultimately hurt her arc the most. I felt like it was the second act that hurt her arc the most rather than the conclusion. I want to explain a bit more.

I think the way they framed her eventual betrayal of Ambessa is the biggest issue for me. Her half of the story in act 2 is centered around her growing distrust of Ambessa rather than confronting her actions against the undercity or showing the self-hatred over her actions she tells Jinx about in act 3.

This makes it so that what she says about her actions "We can't undo our crimes" and "hating you, I hated myself" rings hollow.

I think this hits me as especially odd because Arcane really likes to make characters have to look at the consequences of their actions. Look at Vi and Jayce. They're the two most consistently well intentioned characters in the show and despite those intentions they constantly make mistakes that the narrative makes sure they have to confront the consequences of.

Jayce's decision to resort to violence over peace when he raids the shimmer factory leads to the creation of hextech weapons and the death of a child at his hands. It warps his dream and puts them on the precipice of war. He has to face the consequences of how he gave ground on his morals and confront the privilege he has had. He immediately shifts focus to broker peace and destroy hextech weapons.

In season 2 Jayce's creation of hextech-- his dream-- is revealed to have worsened the class divide between piltover and Zaun and will lead to thousands of deaths. Even though his intentions are good he is forced to face the negative ramifications he didn't consider in his desire to bring about his dream through his experiences in the future. As a result he resolves to destroy it and stop Viktor.

Vi is an even more extreme example. She constantly loses everything despite her desperate attempts to protect those she loves because of her flaws. Her impulsiveness and anger led to her leading the heist that kicked off the series. Her impulsiveness and struggle to accept change in season 1 inevitably push Jinx further away. Etc. It's only when she grows from her flaws that her actions bring about the outcome she desires. The end of episode 5 is only possible because Vi trusts Jinx, sees her as an equal/adult rather than someone to protect, and embraces this changed version of Vander, something she wouldn't have been able to do in season 1.

It's a very basic “character does things with negative consequences and they are forced to face the consequences and grow” type narrative. This it makes the moment they change feel earned and you understand their change. Caitlyn's arc in act 2 lacks this.

Caitlyn doesn't have to see the police brutality happening at the barricades and checkpoints that we see in the "paint the town blue" montage.

Caitlyn doesn't have to confront the fact that people and children were imprisoned in Stillwater without true cause by enforcers and ambessa's soldiers in episode 4. She only sees Warwick's rampage and comments on the fact that she thought she'd seen the most warped creations of Zaunites, but apparently she was wrong.

She doesn't have to confront the fact that illegal arrests were happening under her watch or that some of those people were beaten for information as well.

She doesn't have to come face to face with the brutality that's happened with her at the helm. The show doesn't have her acknowledge or confront the fact that she has become the oppression she swore to Vi she would oppose in season 1.

Even if Caitlyn opposes these actions (something the show makes sure to remind us of), it doesn't change the fact that she's made the oppression of Zaun worse and actively participated in it through her role as the strike leader and the commander.

I can in some ways be okay with this because Ambessa is implied to be hiding the worst from Caitlyn so she can keep her hold on her (at least I think that's what the show was implying), but with that in mind I wish the show had scenes where we got to see her hesitation and self-hatred.

There was a cut scene of Caitlyn breaking down alone that I feel like the second act sorely needed. She hates this and she hates herself, but she feels like she has to continue because she's already in too deep.

Or even have Caitlyn look conflicted in the background when she realizes Ambessa plans to attack a peaceful commune. Just some sort of conflict over her actions towards Zaun.

If there had been some variation of these things I would have found her turn more believable. As it is it's incredibly abrupt and they rushed Caitlyn and Vi's reconciliation and them getting together IMO. (I love them as characters. I promise.) The lack of time left also made it so people forgave Caitlyn too quickly too.

This isn’t meant to hate on arcane, but rather to point out the fact that I think this is very noticeable when it comes to Caitlyn’s arc in act 2 for me because of how well Arcane does it with every other character. It’s one of the biggest strengths of the character writing.

Wow. I talked about about Caitlyn a lot and I didn't even fully scratch the surface of what I thought of her arc and I’m not sure if I articulated it well. Sorry for the ramble. If the second act worked for anyone please let me know.

Even with these issues I definitely had a lot of highlights too! I bawled in the finale when that shot of Vander looking at little Vi and Powder after he adopted them while Warwick and Jinx fall in slo-mo in the present. I tear up thinking of the remember me montage and what it says about Vander and Vi as characters. I love episode 5, the interactions between Vi and Jinx, and the family hug! I love the "To ashes and blood" sequence in episode 3. That was so well-edited and built to the climax of the act perfectly.

The animation is also absolutely gorgeous. You can see the love and care in every frame of the show. It’s the most incredible piece of animation I’ve seen purely from a visual standpoint. Fortiche Production is so talented and brought so much flare and life to this show.

There's so much to love, but a lot of things that bothered me as well. That doesn't make this a bad show. I still really like it. And I still absolutely love the first season. It affected me in a way that literally changed the course of my life (which sounds hyperbolic, but it's true. That's a story for another time haha) and I will remember and love it forever because of that.

If people have different opinions on any of the things I just wrote about please let me know. I genuinely want to hear other people's thoughts!

I actually think this video is really interesting. Not because I fully agree with it (there are a lot of points in the video I don't agree with and a lot that I do), but because I appreciate its intent.

I also fall in the same boat where I really liked the second season, but I didn't love it like I did the first and I appreciate that this is a video that wants to start a conversation. He wants to talk about why things didn't necessarily work for him, why it didn't seem to have the same impact as the first, and about how he wants to hear why those things might have worked for others.

So much discourse about this season has framed it as either the best thing ever, above any criticism, or the worst thing ever with no redeeming qualities and it's made it very frustrating and demoralizing to try and talk about it online.

I want to talk about how I loved aspects of this show and that I was also let down by certain aspects of the show as well, but anytime I try and talk about criticism it's rarely met with a genuine conversation.

I would love to hear how people interpreted things differently from me, why they felt that way, how it connected with them, because I feel like that's the purpose of stories. It's never going to resonate with anyone the same way and there may have been things I missed.

I also know I haven't always worded what I've wanted to say and my criticisms the way I want to get across what I mean. It has never been my intent to sound like I wasn't open to discussion, different interpretations, or counterpoints. I would like to actually talk more about this season and hear other people's thoughts as well.

[pyrriax]

ANYWHO goodnight tumblr i'll be back on the art grind tomorrow i think 🙏

[wnjunhui]

free the main tags from y/n fics and "imagines" 😭

[miabrown007]

eurgh pacing

[giantkillerjack]

See, this is why no one invites Doctor Fate to parties.

sigmund freud? in my 1998 young justice? it’s more likely than you think!

[sakumira-agashi]

Is it okay if I write a fanfic involving my dp oc and Francis (I’m sorry he’s too amazing) and maybe with some of your ocs involved? I don’t plan on making it public or anything, just for fun, but I still want your permission.

On a further note, what’s Francis’s personality like? I don’t wanna mischaracterize him or anything (I’m not exactly a good writer), so it would help.

BHJVHFDJFBAESJJA OMG? YES?? PLEASE DO I'M SO HAPPYYYY

Francis is kinda like the charming type of guy at work that everyone likes, just- cranked up a notch. He's calm but TOO calm sometimes and for some strange reason knows about the little details around everyone else that you wouldn't expect him to know. For example if you read the latest update on That Stupid Little Waiter, he noticed that Denis and Bernard are dating very quickly based on the very few times they almost slipped up. Not FULLY slipped, just ALMOST slipped. Also he can know who's the bottom in a relationship real quick LOL He's a lil gossiping shit at heart. I guess I can describe it as, he's too observant for his own good

He's that character in anime that always smile even when he's absolutely pissed off. Also kinda like that one character that always has his eyes closed in a ^_^ way but when he slightly opens his eyes, you know you're fucked cuz he looks... menacingly kind, is how I can describe it

(A doodle I whipped up rq to visualize it lol)

Also some small tidbit about him, he used to be a model and still does it occasionally, just as a side gig because he enjoys being a baker more. And he loves styling his hair so feel free to put him in other hairstyles XD

Okay I think that's all, thanks for giving me an excuse to infodump about him HAHA-

Also also you know you're not gonna post it and I respect it, BUT if you do PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tag me or let me see it somehow, I NEED TO KNOW THE GREATNESS RAAH

Feel free to ask me about anything else you wanna know about him! Also are you the same anon that's been talking about their dp oc? XD

[bluzebub19]

I have a request for how the Arcane characters (Viktor, Jayce, Jinx, Vi, Heimerdinger, Ekko) look so that the reader can access their cuteness. Maybe they are doing or saying something to the reader and the reader suddenly starts hugging and petting them, calling them cute. How would they react to this?

Note: So... I'm the only one who thinks Heimerdinger is really cute. Why aren't there fanfics with him? Mysteries of life..

Arcane characters being called cute by their s/o while they're working

Writer's note: Thanks for requesting! It took longer than I expected because I kept deleting some of the dialogue from how cheesy and cringe it sounded lmao. Heimerdinger is not on my list of characters I write for, but I figured I'll write him this one time. I hope you don't mind that I also added Mylo, cuz why not?

Request/s: Open!

Warning/s: Get a dentist. This is some tooth-rotting fluff. Not proofread and english isn't my native language.

Character/s: Viktor, Jayce, Jinx, Vi, Ekko, Heimerdinger and Mylo

● Viktor tends to get lost in his work, mumbling equations or sketching out blueprints for his projects. You find this incredibly endearing, but not when he gets so absorbed that he forgets to eat or sleep.

● If you suddenly hug him or call him cute, he’ll freeze in shock at first. He blinks up at you as if you just said something in a language he doesn’t understand. Then, his cheeks will flush a light pink, and he’ll chuckles softly. “Cute is... not a term I hear often. But thank you."

● Over time, he grows more comfortable and secretly enjoys the affection. He may even lean into it, but he’ll never outright admit it. Instead, he might deflect with a shy smile and, “You should focus on more important matters."

● Yeah no, that's a sign for you to keep doing it.

● Jayce is the golden boy—confident, charming, and ridiculously handsome. He likes to appear professional and put-together, but you know him well enough to see through that exterior to the dorky, hardworking man beneath.

● When you hug him out of nowhere while he cooks and call him cute, he blinks for a second but chuckles as he turns to look at you. “Cute? Babe, I’m going for ruggedly handsome and sweet here. But I'll take it."

● Still, he's flattered and loves the affection you give him. And unlike Viktor, he's not afraid or shy to show you he wants more of it. He might pull you closer and say, "You're one to talk." He's a romantic and albeit cheesy guy.

● Now, you probably might be thinking about why and how is he cooking, but that's for another headcanon! (I just realized how I'm not even sure whose side am I on. Can he cook?? Cuz I feel like he can. But I also see him burning food-)

● Jinx, as we all know, is pure chaos, always working on something explosive or messing around. She has a habit of humming and singing off-key to herself while she works, which makes you think she’s oddly cute in her own... quirky way. To be honest, it’s hard not to find her enthusiasm contagious, even if it’s a little dangerous.

● One day, you catch her doing exactly that while painting her trademark designs on one of her grenades. The sight just makes you smile as you walk up and wrap your arms around her, telling her, “You’re so cute when you’re focused like this,” or something of the sort.

● She’ll throw her hands up and turn to look at you, trying to play off your compliment as a joke. “Woah, you might be crazier than me!" She grins and laughs softly, before making her voice sound more gruff, "Ya buttering up the author nightmares with your mooshy stuff!”

● But after her initial over-the-top reaction, she’ll soften. “Fine, soak it all in.” She shrugs and continues working. But deep down, she really loves the affection and she's getting more and more attached to you. You're giving her the kind of love that she thinks she never deserved in her life, so she really appreciates these little things you do. She might even snuggle up to you later, claiming it’s to “soak in all this ‘cute’ energy.”

● Oh, by the way, she'll make this happen a lot more often. By how, you ask? Well, by doing the same thing to you, of course! It becomes a little challenge betweem the two of you who calls the other one cute first and catching them off guard with it.

● Vi is all tough love and sass, but there’s a soft side she shows only to the people she really cares about. You notice this when she’s being protective or just in those peaceful moments when you're both alone together.

● If you call her cute, she’ll raise an eyebrow and smirk. “Cute? Babe, I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

● Later, she’ll definitely tease you about it, saying something like, “So, how’s it feel dating the cutest person in Zaun?” or "Am I still cute?" with a playful grin. She'll be teasing you and making you smile with that while she's half naked and flexing her biceps (she knows you love them), or when she just got done with a fight and is still holding her gauntlets.

● She loves it, don't let that teasing fool you.

● Heimerdinger is an adorable bundle of wisdom and fluff. You often catch him rambling about science with such enthusiasm that you can’t help but smile. Look at him! He's just adorable!

● One day, as he’s showing you a tiny contraption he just finished, you can’t help but reach out and pet his fluffy head, saying, “You’re the most cutest genius ever.”

● Heimerdinger chuckles, his mustache twitching with amusement. “Ah, well, I suppose I do have a certain charm about me, don’t I?”

● He pretends to be unaffected, but you notice the way his tail swishes slightly when you hug him. “I must say, your affection is quite... energizing! Perhaps I should study its effects further.”

● From then on, he might start subtly seeking out your affection—like casually leaning into your hand when you pet him or “accidentally” bumping into you while working.

● Ekko is talking to you about his plans for the Firelights while sketching upgrades for their hoverboards.

● You were quietly admiring him, the way his eyes light up and the focused furrow of his brows, when you suddenly blurt out, “You’re so cute when you’re focused.”

● He freezes for a second, then looks at you with a mixture of surprise and amusement. “Cute? Me?” He grins, a soft laugh escaping. “You sure you’re not talking about yourself there?”

● He rubs the back of his neck, trying to act nonchalant, but the smile gives him away.

● “You’re not getting away with saying that,” he teases, leaning in to nudge you lightly with his shoulder. He goes back to doing his work before playfully adding, “But if you keep looking at me like that, I might just start believing it.”

● It's these little things that matters. These moments, even if simple, it gives him hope and motivation to make the world a better place. The way his eyes soften when you look at him in that moment, and how he lets his guard down just enough to show you he cares — it’s clear that, while he teases, he loves the attention, and he loves you even more for it.

● Dude's got lines fr fr

● Mylo has always been the type of guy who had a sarcastic, sassy remark ready. We all know that from how he treated Powder.

● When you suddenly hug him and call him cute, he freezes for a second, unsure of how to react. “Cute? Me?” He scoffs, trying to play it cool, but it's very obvious he's a bit flustered by it. “Out of all the compliments you could’ve picked, you went with cute? I’m more like... cool, and handsome.” He throws a dramatic, exaggerated pose, trying to hide his nervousness.

● Despite his teasing, there's a small, pleased grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He tries to act nonchalant, but the way he keeps glancing at you shows how much he’s secretly enjoying it.

● “Seriously, though. I’m cool, alright?” he continues, trying to regain his confidence. “I don’t do cute. But, uh... thanks. I guess.” He says softly as he shrugs, clearing his throat.

● Later on, when no one’s watching, you might catch him glancing at you from the corner of his eye, a small smile on his face, clearly still flattered.

Can you guys guess which is my favorite based on how long their headcanons are

[anyroads]

What's interesting to me about this discourse is whether or not it holds any place for how many series have been cancelled without an opportunity for a satisfying conclusion because of the very producers the WGA is striking against? If you think writers don't want to finish telling their stories, then wow are you confused about why they do what they do. As opposed to the networks and the AMPTP who don't care about story for a second, they only care about the bottom line. If their threshold for a show is 3 million viewers and it's only got 2.8 million, then that show gets cancelled, and don't think for a second they think twice about the 2.8 million people who don't get to hear the rest of the story they've committed to. They don't.

The writers not only don't owe you their labor, but most of them WANT to finish telling you the story. It's just that if they don't get reasonable pay and healthcare, then they aren't able to. And the guy who could be telling you a story in five years won't even get a chance to start it. That's what they're fighting for.

The big discourse on twitter right now is that writers going on strike or cancelling their own series are breaking an invisible “contract” they made with their fans and all creators owe their fans a satisfying conclusion to their stories. Actually if a creator says “I don’t want to perform this labor anymore,” then regardless of the cliffhanger that leaves you with, your only response should be “take care! Thank you for all your hard work!!!” :)