#but i remember really enjoying figuring out the structure while i was writing it

[tackytigerfic]

Hi, Tacky!

I've been thinking about past fics I've read, and I had a scene come to mind that I just can't quite place into a fic. But I think I read it on your blog as one of your fics, so I thought I would send an ask to see if it reminds you of anything you've written?

It was a Draco/Harry scene where they were both laying on the roof outside some party their friends were hosting at night, and they were passing a cigarette back and forth while talking. I remember it just being a scene with this lovely ambiance, but I cannot remember what else happened to search for it.

Does this ring any bells to you? No worries if not. I hope you have a lovely start to your year!

Hi Anon! Thanks so much for this, I had actually completely forgotten it existed but I think it might be one of mine alright.

It's called Even the Night and it's a short I wrote for a fest that was based around the senses. It's dual POV and just a few snapshots of the development of their friendship—they smoke on a roof outside the party, and Harry shaves all Draco's hair off for him, and they have sex in a bath. Does that sound right?

I think I have them sitting out on rooftops a lot, there's a blowjob scene in one fic iirc, and in my current WIP they used to sit out on the roof and drink wine. I think it's my feral 90s upbringing, we spent a lot of time climbing out windows lol.

[callsign-rogueone]

study season

fourth wing characters (Aaric, Bodhi, Brennan, Dain, Garrick, Imogen, Liam, Mira, Rhiannon, Ridoc, Sawyer, Sloane, Violet, and Xaden) x reader the ways our faves help you study for exams. words: ~900 🏷: no book spoilers, no triggers. gender neutral. and I included the girls this time!! some of these can be read as platonic and others mention kisses / cuddles, implying you’re a couple. idk, I just work here. I’m really liking this format lately, and it’s (fairly) quick and easy so you can expect more of these in the future while I procrastinate all the girlfriendverse chapters and smut I have to write lol

First, the more studious of the bunch:

Brennan is all-in, no hesitation, pulling up a chair next to you and learning this with you for moral support, but also for fun (can you believe this guy?) though you suppose it’s easier to enjoy this if it doesn’t count for a grade. Either way, he’s a very nice study partner, and he encourages you to take breaks every hour / chapter / etc. Brings snacks, too.

Violet somehow already knows all of the material, and explains it better than the textbook or the professor. Walks things back if you don’t get it and gets into the why and how, which so many teachers skip over, even though it helps explain the what (pet peeve of mine showing here lol). 

Aaric’s study skills are unmatched -- years of the best private tutors money can buy really paid off. Teaches you new strategies that you’ve never heard of in your life, and when you ask, he admits a bit shyly that he came up with it himself, but it works, and you get it done in half the time you would have before. (work smarter, not harder, baby)

Rhiannon gives you the pep talk of your life (we all need a Rhiannon in our lives) and convinces you that you’ve got this. Packs you a little snack for the day of your exam with a little note reminding you that you know this, just breathe and think. 

Xaden sees you struggling and forces you to take a break. During said break, he’s reading the book himself and figuring out what exactly has you so stressed and exhausted. Breaks down the tasks into smaller, more manageable steps and guides you through it -- “find three reasons why XYZ happened.” done with that? “Now make them into paragraphs.” etc etc, and an hour later, you have a passable essay. 

Dain is taking this more seriously than you are, and his discipline is like no other; you’re not stopping until the work is done, or until midnight, whichever comes first (because sleep is important for the brain, or whatever. Definitely not just because he misses you and wants to cuddle). 

Garrick may have no idea what you’re talking about, but he suffers through it with you, offering to let you explain things to him, because teaching is a good way to test if you understand something. Though you get what you pay for -- he’s a total smartass about it, asking questions about the littlest details even if they’re common knowledge -- he’s gotta be thorough, right? 

Ridoc may be the class clown type, but he’s smarter than a lot of people think. He comes up with a bunch of jokes that actually help you remember things. Somehow manages to relate the most complex topic in your book to a sandwich, and it actually works. He’s incredibly smug about this for the rest of the week, especially when you get the highest score in the class (he’ll take payment in kisses, thank you.)

Bodhi makes flashcards with you, quizzing you and giving you a kiss if you get it right (this definitely is not a distraction, and things definitely don’t escalate from here, nope.) He’s also really good at proofreading essays, and gives excellent feedback regarding the structure and the order of the information.

Liam sits there with you all the while, completely silent, working on one of his wood carvings at the other end of the table, but you know he’s there and he’s watching -- and that provides a healthy amount of peer pressure and keeps you on task. He’s an incredibly observant person, and he can see the stress building; he knows when to intervene and suggest that you take a break.

Sloane is the best person to commiserate with. She doesn’t want to be doing this either, but she’s also incredibly stubborn, and she doesn’t give up; after a healthy amount of complaining, she’s forcing you both to keep trying until it works / until it’s done, and then you’re treating yourselves to something for getting it over with, because you deserve it.

Sawyer is gentle and supportive, having a heart-to-heart conversation with you and reminding you that yes, this is important, but the world will not stop turning if you fail one exam. He knows how it feels to be compared to his peers, especially in how long it takes you to accomplish something (poor bb) and doesn’t want you stressing yourself out about that, either. 

Imogen is the opposite, all tough love, giving you gentle but firm reminders: “you didn’t make it this far just to give up,”, “I know you can do this, so do it,” but she balances it out with tender affirmation when you’re done. She’ll even let you skip out on training for the day since you’ve been studying so hard (and she takes training seriously, so this is more of a reward than it seems). 

Mira’s default approach is similar to Imogen’s, but she can see that you’re reaching your limit and dials it back, being more gentle with you and doing whatever you need -- encouragement? someone to just sit there? help / explanation / etc? she’s got you covered. herds you into bed at a reasonable hour so you’ll be well rested for the classes and exams.

And all of them are incredibly proud of you for working so hard and getting good grades 🤍

[natt-writes]

~5 Writing tips that actually help~

(These tips are meant for fiction books, especially fantasy. so if you’re writing nonfiction a decent amount of these won’t apply to you. Sorry!)

Find your writing voice.

one of the biggest issues I find in things written by beginners is a lack of emotional connection with the narration. Sure the story can be great, but without personality, without looks into the characters minds, without little quips here and there, it really isn’t all that interesting. Something that really helped me to realize this was a book called the tragical tale of birdie bloom. It’s a kids book but it honestly has such a good narrator (and storyline tbh) that you can look past the little kiddy-ness. I recommend you check the book out if you’re looking for some inspiration. I will be making a post about how to develop your writing and character voices soon so if you want some extra help with that, stay tuned!

2. Get to know your characters.

I know that you all probably already know this, but characters are one of, if not the most important part of a book. Readers don’t want to read about a flat, boring character who just feels like a vessel for the horrifying amount of trauma you add to your story. They want to read about people that feel real, people with flaws and feelings and hobbies and backstories. When I wanted to develop my characters I started going through the drafts, the plot outlines, everything and seeing what the characters did, said, felt. Then I took their basic backstory and started lining things up. Like if a character decided to get into a fight with another character, I would see what had happened to them that might have caused this. Maybe they had been abused as a child and thought that any disagreement meant they had to fight for their life. Maybe this person reminded them of a former enemy. After you start to figure out what connects the characters to the big plot points, you can then start to develop subtle things. You could start writing something, realize this situation would have triggered a character, and then drop subtle hints towards them feeling uncomfortable. Go nuts with it, after all you can never over-analyze a character.

3. Describe things uniquely.

Descriptions are what help us to understand what’s going on in a scene. They can tell us about the tasty drink a character is enjoying, the slick dress that someone is wearing or the way a characters muscles tense when a certain someone enters the room. But sometimes descriptions a fall a bit flat and that can ruin the experience for the reader. Something I always try to remember is to try and come up with new words describe something, for example; “her eyes were a beautiful shade of brown.” Is a very basic and over used description, instead you could try; “her eyes sparkled as she sat across from me, gleaming a rich chocolate shade as the light from the candles reflected off of them”. This is a much stronger sentence as it gives both environment hits and a description of the eyes, all while staying away from overused terms. I often see this theme in stories written by beginners, things being described in a very straight forward manner. And of course this is ok once in a while, especially if this isn’t a very important topic, but it still sounds better when you branch away from that basic sentence structure. I always like to use descriptive sentences to push things forward. Here is another example; “she was wearing a fluffy green dress with lots of lace. She walked over to the door and opened it.” Vs “the lacy trim of her green dress dragged on the floor as she walked towards the door. She smiled wide as she held it open, inviting her guests into the building.” Making strong sentences is very important, so please toy around with different words, structures, etc, until the sentence fits the type of book you’re trying to write.

4. Make trauma realistic.

Yes, even if you’re writing a fantasy book, characters experiences have to be realistic. Something that always gets on my nerves is when writers come up with a good idea for some trauma, so they just give to a character, even when it doesn’t suit them at all. if you are going to give a character trauma you need to explain it, set it up so it actually fits into their character arc, then have the character actually be affected by it. They can’t just randomly be like “I got shot by a dude.” And that’s it if there is no way that character could have gotten shot given their life experiences. Also if you want a character to be relatively unaffected after an extremely traumatic event you have to plan it out so that they have a specific and consistent trauma response that makes them not react shortly after an event like that. Characters are supposed to be like people, and no two people react to trauma the same way, so you do have some leeway if necessary, but people also don’t just stay the same after something horrible happens, they are affected by it and that has to be accurately portrayed. This does get easier the more you get to know the characters though, as soon you will know how they react to things and how to plan trauma that suits them.

5. Make a plot outline.

I cannot stress this enough, make a plot outline. Making a plot outline literally saved my book, and they are really easy to make! I recommend you download a spreadsheet app like XL spreadsheets or Apple numbers but you could even use google docs if you want. You want to put in all the chapters and then give each chapter at least six spots to write scenes. Add a spot for adding the main event of the chapter/a summery of what you have to write. This will help you to understand what you have to write for that chapter and how it fits into the next chapter. After that you start to fill all the scene boxes in with your plot information. Having a plot outline is great as it can be super vague and messy, but still hold all your ideas. It also helps to prevent unnecessary rewrites later, as you can just edit the plot outline before you start writing the first draft. You can even make a plot outline after you’ve started writing your book. That’s what I did and I promise, it still is very helpful. (Example of a plot outline below.)

[threerattsinatrenchcoat]

2024 Writing Challenge Wrap Up

This year I wanted to put out a piece of writing—either a complete piece or a chapter—every week. My main goal was to quit getting stuck in editing hell. This is what I learned:

Writing for output gets you faster but it really highlights your weaknesses as a writer. I found myself reusing a lot of genres, themes, characters, sentence structure, etc, as a crutch to make the process easier. The worst was when I would simply list everything that happened in a scene, like a micromanaging script writer—she did x, he did y, she did z—without taking the time to prune it to the story I wanted to tell. (Funny enough, a friend sent me this article today that perfectly highlights what I'm trying to describe here. This past year my consumption of visual media definitely increased). I'd finish a piece and the word count would seem impressive, but those words didn't actually say anything. Quantity was reducing my quality.

Compared to my earlier writing, I also slipped into using more obvious/dull similes and metaphors. Every character started to speak and act the same, and instead of writing endings, I found myself just writing characters who simply "won" the plot.

Writing short stories combatted almost all of the above. It forced me to remove parts that were hiring the story and remember that I rarely needed the text to describe everything. The dialogue, characters actions and values, my audience's own brains would fill in the gaps. I think people even enjoy a bit of vagueness, especially with jokes; explaining the punchline doesn't make it funny. Letting people have that moment of "aha!" is more effective.

Sometimes I overcorrected—I've read a few older pieces where I'm like, "wait what just happened," but at least I didn't find myself skipping parts of the story.

Applying the concepts of "but it went wrong" and "they would not say that" also helped the above. When I caught myself just writing a list of all the things my characters did to win the plot, I would combat that by either having them fail or fuck up or both. My stories were way more fun/interesting when I figured out the line a character would not cross and then made their victory beyond that line, so they either had to cross the line or avoid it entirely. Example: in The Gang Goes to the Underdark, Zarys will not leave the shipment, even if it means leaving part of her team behind and traveling a very dangerous route, so she goes to ridiculous lengths to deliver it, including capturing minotaurs and walking straight into a trap.

Refusing to have characters act out of character made for more interesting stories, I think. After all, there's a reason I like these characters. (Shout out to @graysparrowao3 whose toxic Aradin/Rugan fics encouraged me to let people be more awful, and to everyone who stans villains). Whenever I had to have a character break "they would not say that" I tried to figure out a good why. Why would this unempathetic character be nice to someone? Maybe because they really love them… or maybe because they think they can get something out of it.

Writing is time consuming. I joked a few times about how I need to step away from the keyboard, my family misses me, but I work full time, go to the gym, volunteer and aim for 7 hours of sleep a night…and then was writing 10+ hours a week. For my pieces, I tried to note down how long they took because I think people devalue free things, but every made thing has a cost.

I can write through (almost) anything. I originally thought I would fail at this goal. Technically I did—4 things I wrote were never posted (projects fell through), and I was without power/cell/internet/water for weeks after a hurricane and while I did write, posting wasn't on my agenda. I also was wildly burnt out/grieving after the hurricane and found myself mechanically getting pieces out there, using the challenge as a way to implement some normalcy. But I posted most weeks and wrote something for every single one. I learned how to barrel through writer's block and how to say "good enough" for a deadline.

Avoiding burnout is a proactive, not a reactive, activity. I fully planned to abandon this challenge if I thought it was ruining my relationship with writing. However, really prioritizing other parts of my life did a lot to protect my relationship with writing, especially prioritizing exercise and my family/friends. Towards the end of the year I started writing less and less, mostly to pick back up other hobbies (gaming especially).

I can write characters, ships, kinks and stories that I don't care about. I did several exchanges/challenges this year because coming up with so much to write is hard. These exchanges meant that I wrote a bunch of stuff where I started the fic not giving a single flying fuck about the characters. Three of a Four Course Meal is an example—I picked it up on a pinch hit mostly because "vampire dinner party" was too hilarious a prompt to let it not be written. I'm not into robots, most of the mages, or Cal/Geraldus (or most of the couples I write, sorry! Like 90% of them are from talking to people online and being like "I like this person, I want to make them something") but I wrote each with the mindset of "I don't need to be into this, I just need to figure out how to write it." I think this helps a lot with output and with pushing yourself to write better. The advice to kill your darlings is also a lot easier when the piece doesn't start out as darling.

Stats:

I debated not including this because all that ^^^ is the real victory, but fuck it, I want to link fics, haha.

I posted over 300,000 words in 2024 (I started to do the math to remove all the words in collab chapter fics I didn't write and gave up) across 48 fics and 105 chapters, which for me is a massive quantity. Every single fic was a rare pair. I cracked several new tags on AO3—I'm probably most infamous for Dammon/Strange Ox, but I also did others, like Vorgoth/Rook, Guex & Pandirna and a bunch of Salazon tags. I also contributed to so many Elturian Refugee and Zhent tags. I'm still a little confused how there are only 43 works with Alfira/Lakrissa, but 4 of them are mine and 3 of those have Alfira/Lakrissa as the main couple. I'm doing my part!

My most popular fic for hits was Wine, Iron and Other Damnables. This was also one of the first I posted, closest to the "height" of activity in the fandom. It was my longest at 44,047 words. I recently reread it and it's not as snappy as my stuff ended up in the end, but it does have a lot of fun plays on words I'd like to return to.

My most kudos'd fic was Where There's Smoke. It was posted pretty soon after Veilguard came out and got a shout out on tiktok, which quadrupled its kudos in 3 days. Really a testament to how much the "when" you post matters; it's pretty standard Ratt smut but so much more popular than my other stuff! The word count was 2,988, although you can pick your pronouns and stuff so the word count is actually higher.

My least popular fic for hits is The Curse of a Promise. It's a rair pair, is WLW, it's SFW—basically everything people say won't get hits haha. But it's my little fic (878 words) and I love it. Least popular for kudos is Popper's Bag of Popping at 700 words, which I was a little surprised by. Maybe it's an issue with the tone not matching the subject? Either way, I'm glad it's no longer one of my Wyll fics.

My shortest fic was Perception at 141 words, and I'm honestly very fond of it!

What's next?

I plan to keep writing, but definitely not at the same output. I would really like to return to some of the creativity and wordplay I had in my original stuff, and I can't do that and put out as much material. I also really want to prioritize longer pieces again.

I'll probably step back from exchanges. It was pretty disheartening to work hard on something for someone and have the receiver comment "can't wait to read it" and then nothing. Or, you know, get literally nothing, not even a kudos. It's kind of soured my feelings toward exchanges. However, shout out to @commander-krios and @lolliputian for running several solid collabs/exchanges and the Zhentil keep for their round robins.

I would like to do a bit more art this year. I know practice generally makes improvement, and seeing how much other artists like @littleplasticrat and @redroomroaving have improved has made me want to get back at it. I cannot do a piece a week, though, haha. Maybe one a month, we'll see. I haven't decided.

Overall, though, I would like to spend less time online. I miss my family, I miss DnD, gaming, reading and hiking. There were things I delayed last year to meet this goal that no longer exist. I'm tired. Happy I did this, but tired.

Additional thoughts that didn't really fit anywhere:

I never expected to make friends during the challenge but I did. I made a lot of friends, and they're all driven, creative, ridiculous, intelligent, hilarious, honest, silly and so valuable to me. I really missed making things with people. I'm just so grateful to everyone I met.

I'm also grateful to all the people who tagged me in their end of the year posts, thank you so much. You're all very lovely

[billveusay]

I watched Gundam 00 and...

It's a very mixed bag. So mixed in fact that I have trouble figuring out my feelings on it. I think of a good episode or character moment and my opinion goes up, then I remember some iffy writing and it goes down, then I think about those beautiful mobile suits and fight scenes and it's up again, and then the character design comes to mind and we're down the slope once more. But nonetheless, I'd still say that I enjoyed it. It throws a lot of good ideas with potential, and actually follows up on some of them in interesting ways, but also fumbles with others and suffers from overall very generic characters.

It does open on a positive note with a very powerful hook. See those guys? There's like 12 people in their organisation, they have four Gundams, and they're gonna declare war on the entire world. Now let's show you why they not only have a fighting chance, but they actually put the world on the back foot for the majority of the season. This show really gives the Gundams narrative weight, you can feel everyone going "oh shit" when Exia lands on a battlefield and Kenji Kawai's music starts playing.

However, I won't give it too much points for exposition because as usual, there are five hundred different characters and a complex geopolitical mess, which they drop you into head first before you can put your swimsuit on. But at least, they include a summary of the global situation after the opening, like the original MSG did. So when I had a rough idea of where everyone was standing, I was hooked. But in the first season, my thoughts at the end of each episode were mostly "man, I wonder where they're going with that". IE, the Schrodinger opinion, that hinges on the pay-offs fulfilling the promises of the set-ups. Especially the whole "solving war with an independent force of dissuasion". It's an interesting concept, but that's because its flaws are immediately apparent and deconstructing them raises interesting questions. And... they do pay it off somewhat. And make relevant points. Celestial Being succeeds in uniting the world, but because they did it by creating global chaos, the driving motivation behind this unity was fear and a desire for security. And these are the feelings that lead people to relinquish their rights and give way to totalitarianism. There are also other episodes that add nuance to the plot and their actions, with varying degrees of success.

And yet, I still found a lot of it dubious. I think that's mainly due to them biting more than they could chew, choosing to tackle such complex topics. And that's not even touching on them bringing real world conflicts into the mix. I'm not saying you can never do that, but the standards by which you're gonna be judged are gonna skyrocket. And I really doubt they lived up to them, because the few that are mentioned mostly serve as background for an episode or two. And while I'm no expert on these, that left a bad taste in my mouth. It's kinda weird that they didn't stick to fictional countries and conflicts.

But focusing on the more episodic side of the show, they overall managed to keep things entertaining. I like that they put a lot of emphasis on the tactical side of the battles, it gives them variety and leads to creative set pieces (like the Ptolemaios diving into the sea to generate a tidal wave and mess with the visibility and beam weapons of their opponents). I especially like the run for the orbital cannon.

Now, because this show is such a mess, I have trouble structuring this review. So let's just immediately move on to the characters and address what's relevant to each of them. Though before that, I must admit that this is one of the weaker Gundam shows character-wise. They do avoid some pitfalls though, like the main cast is pretty good at communicating and not getting caught up in easily avoidable conflicts.

Let's start with Setsuna. I don't... love him, but I'm surprised by how much I don't hate him, if that makes sense. Cause at first it really felt like I should have, with the edgy Sasuke vibes he gave off. I think they avoid it by letting him grow a bit as a character, which shows that we were not supposed to think the angsty shtick was cool. It's no Vinland Saga's Thorfinn, going from broody to blasé isn't a huge jump, but it's better than nothing. What also helped is that after a while I started finding him very funny. His gender-envy but for Gundams is a factor, but also his deadpan expression at everything that happens around him makes for some fun contrasts. One of my favourite moments is when Saji punches him, he falls flat on his face, and while Saji continues to yell at him he just... lays here, for 10 seconds. Like he's rebooting

As for the whole indoctrinated child soldier in a holy war thing... at least he's from a fictional country, but the imagery they used still made me uncomfortable. I won't go farther on that topic though because I am very much not qualified.

Then you have Lockon. And I mean... he's obviously made to be the audience favourite, but damn it, how can you not love an irish Han Solo with a pet Haro? On that note, this show has the best Haro content in the franchise. Not only are they consistently very funny, they pulled off a tear jerking pre-sacrifice goodbye scene with a god damn Haro.

As for Lyle... bringing back the identical twin brother of a dead character is a hell of a writing choice, and I'm not a fan of it overall, but at least they semi-introduced him in the first season (in a single shot that I would probably have missed if I hadn't been spoiled) and his relationship with Katharon gave him a subplot that was his own. But I'd still have preferred someone brand new, who could also have come from Katharon.

Next, Allelujah. By far the weakest of the quartet. When I watched it, I made myself laugh by thinking "Well to be fair, he probably needed that second personality because they forgot to write the first one". One that made me recall Beyblade Metal Masters (2010), sequel to Beyblade Metal Fusion (2008), spin-off of Beyblade (1999), for the first time in years. This is an achievement, but not a compliment.

Plus, every time the story focuses on him, it's very rushed and wonky.

"Oh god, they're still making super soldiers. I gotta do something about this... hey Sumeragi! They're making super soldiers, can I do something about this?!"

"A'ight"

"Ok, imma go do that then"

And then he does. He shoots at the building, and that's the end of that arc. We don't even see the children he's killed, but we know he feels very bad about it for the rest of the show.

Tieria starts out annoying, but that's on purpose and like Setsuna, they let him grow and become better so it works as intended. It was very fun and cathartic to see him berate everyone around him for not being worthy of Aeolia's plan, then having a nervous breakdown following the reveal of Nadheel and its luscious hairdo. Then you have the adorable moment where Setsuna goes out on his own to attack Trinity, and Tieria shows up with Virtue going "No I'm with you on that, fuck those guys". And eventually he comes around to his teammates and proves that he actually cares for them, and you end up with a perfectly decent character. Also if I had a nickel for every time a Gundam protagonist went undercover to a ball by crossdressing very convincingly, I'd have two etc, etc... And like with Loran, Tieria 100% had fun with it.

Next, Sumeragi. She's cool, and as I said, I like that she added a tactical element to the battles. However she made me understand the meaning of "knockers", because she could indeed knock someone out with those if she turned around too quickly in a crowded room. Made me realize that up to now, Gundam was pretty decent with that kind of fanservice (I know that Seed has a bad case of the boings but it'll be a while before I get to it) and this contributes to the more generic feel of this show. Not in the context of Gundam as a franchise like say, F91 is, but in anime tropes in general.

The rest of the Ptolemaios crew is alright. Mostly stock characters, but they do the job. And without much screen time, they at least manage to make the secondary cast identifiable enough so their death in the season 1 finale doesn't feel like killing off the red shirts.

One who does suffer from a lack of screen time is Wang Liu Mei. And her brother. It's telling that she has to summarize their backstory in like two sentences, five minutes before they both die. I frankly could have gone without them, they're neither interesting nor contributing much.

Marina is as generic as they come, and my feelings towards her are equally lukewarm. I don't mind her, she has a few somewhat heart-warming moments, but I wasn't cheering from the sidelines at every conversation between her and Setsuna.

But let's go from bland to god damn spicy. Graham Acker is relentlessly and delightfully intense, and definitely one of the highlights of the show. He, alongside Harry Ord, proves that if you are contractually obligated to feature a Char Clone, you might as well have fun with it. I love how you could easily tell the whole story of 00 without including him, and yet he vehemently refuses to be made irrelevant out of spite. It's great.

Also... "Mr Bushido". Sir. You're a captain of the pseudo-United States of America's military. You're probably from Kentucky. If people took you seriously, this would be offensive. What's especially funny is that he takes off the mask in A Wakening of the Trailblazer. So in Season 2 he's actually going through a phase.

And finally, I feel like I should mention that I pointed at him and Billy minute one of the first episode and said "you guys are the stars of so many fanfics and fanarts". Didn't even have to check.

As for Ali al-Saachez... eh. He's menacing enough as an antagonist, but again nothing new. And he's at the center of every middle-eastern conflicts subplots, I.E, the parts that I prefer not to touch on, so I'll also leave him aside. It's a bit weird than he gets killed by Lyle. I mean, he does avenge his brother, but he had much more history with Setsuna, he was basically his nemesi-

"EXCUSE YOU?!"

Fine Graham, he was his second nemesis.

Then there's Colonel Smirnov and Soma. Now this is where I'm really pissed off, because those were the characters I was the most invested in. A child made into a weapon who tries to be the perfect soldier for an officer that actually sees her as a child. They start off on completely different pages from completely different books, but they also immediately form a bond based on empathy for Smirnov and respect for Soma. Then they become closer, and Smirnov's efforts help Soma rediscover her humanity. Then in season 2 it's revealed that she went on to live with Smirnov during the timeskip, and she's visibly in a much better place, speaking more naturally and showing more emotions. And he tells her that if she wanted to, he would officially adopt her. And a few episodes later she accepts, and I cried a little bit, but she's torn because deep down she still sees herself as a weapon and it's poignant...

...And then they COMPLETELY fuck it up! Remember when I said that whenever the plot focuses on Allelujah, it gets worse? Well surprise, she also has a second personality, but hers was the original. We'll send a few flashbacks your way so you can catch up but trust us, she's as interesting as Soma, we promise. So we're gonna have her take over her body and leave Smirnov to go with Allelujah, but it's okay, Soma is still inside of her (probably screaming). And she has her memories so that's cool, never mind that functionally she's a completely new character with the personality of a ":)" emoji. And don't worry if you were invested in her relationship with Smirnov, because we're gonna bring her back. After Smirnov gets killed. Yes, of course he was throwing death flags this entire time, but they still botched their bond, and it was still Marie who witnessed her death and not Soma.

This makes me so angry. I'm gonna talk about Patrick Colasour to calm me down. He's too twinky and he doesn't drink enough respect-women-juice to qualify as a himbo, but he definitely has some himbo DNA. And I respect him for falling in love with the woman who punched him in the face the moment he walked into a room. They're adorable.

I'm mixed on Saji and Louise. They work on principle, it's a great idea to regularly cut to random guys living their normal life and see how the world-changing events are affecting them, first in small doses, then escalating with the death of Louise's family and Saji's sister. Their discussion in the hospital right after Louise lost her parents and her hand is truly harrowing. Then in season 2 they get drawn further into the war and it destroys their life. Plus, Saji has some genuinely interesting moments, berating Celestial Being because everything was going well until they showed up, before getting smacked down with "yeah, it was going well for you". He tries to disengage from the conflict since "it doesn't concerns him", and it backfires horribly. And later when he's on the Ptolemaios, he learns that Celestial Being is gonna go fight the A-Laws or something and he almost runs away, but in the cockpit he realises on his own "...oh my god, I was just about to do it again". It felt like a very human reaction, having a moment of weakness and panic, acting on instinct, and then suddenly becoming aware of what you're doing. There's good stuff there. But... well he's still a bespectacled pot plant. And Louise is not much better. Before getting unhanded, her personality is "girly girl of the girl variety". Pretty abrasive too, made me wonder what Saji saw in her. Following that, she switches to a different generic archetype, so not much is gained.

Then there's Trinity. Not only annoying, but also extremely tonally jarring. I just mentioned how good the hospital scene between Louise and Saji is, but it's all happening because of a girl going "Oooh, I'm cute, kooky and violent (≧ω≦) imma go kill some people, uwu so random". That's the problem with this show, even if there's a lot of good stuff, you often can't separate it from the bad stuff. Her brother (the one with the fangs) is also annoying, and I guess the elder appears tolerable by contrast. Their deaths were very cathartic though.

Oh god, there's so many characters. Ok, Alex... ander? Alejandro? Alejandro, right, what's the deal with that guy?

"Hmm yes, we will introduce this mysterious character with a mysterious agenda and an equally mysterious boyfriend who will regularly show up to comment on the situation, and we'll make it unclear on whose side he's on, he seems interested in Celestial Being but does he want to help them, or use them, or destroy the... wait, it's the season finale already?! Oh shit! Er... er... okay, let's shove him in a big golden mobile armour and throw him at the protagonists. He's gonna say some typical villain lines, then his armour is gonna turn into a mobile suit and he'll have a cool duel with Setsuna aaaand he's dead. Well I guess that wraps it u- OH SHIT HERE COMES GRAHAM WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!". The funniest thing is how he's apparently part of a shadowy cabal that only exists for the recap episode. Which, judging from the way they use art pieces as avatars, is basically Evangelion's SEELE but with old right-wing French dudes.

As for Ribbons, big meh. He reminds me of Paptimus, of whom I'm already not a fan, but without the charisma. It's kinda fun that he's voiced by Amuro but sadly I only discovered that after I finished watching the show. And at first I kind of liked that they seemed to subvert the Newtype concept by saying "hey, a superior race of advanced humans that are supposed to show up and lead us towards a better age is actually kind of fucked up, let's explore that", but then Setsuna's eyes started glowing orange and I ended up with a whole omelet on my face.

There's a bunch of characters left but this is really starting to drag on so, the other innovators... Smirnov's son... they exist. I will give them that. Let's move on to the movie.

Honestly? I wasn't expecting to like it that much, at least the first half. I knew beforehand that they brought aliens to the party, which didn't bode well for the whole tone issue since we started off with middle-eastern child soldiers indoctrinated into a holy war. But the way they leaned into the weird and incomprehensible side of these aliens took me by surprise. I was not expecting the Gundam show that reminded me of Beyblade Metal Masters to also remind me of the Blake and Mortimer comic issue "The Septimus Wave" (if anyone gets that, I'll be astounded). The first half has genuinely creepy and eerie moments, and that really cool action scene where Allelujah has to parkour to avoid possessed vehicles. It also features an adult woman and top-level scientist pouncing on Billy Katagiri the moment he walks into a room and shaking her butt like a cat, because this show won't let us have things that are just good and don't need big bold concrete asterisks. Second half is... okay? With literally trillions of aliens, of course it's gonna turn into white noise at some point. And 2001/interstellar style endings are hit or miss for me. There are a few that have hit me like a truck but most of them I'm just nodding through, and this one leans towards the latter.

Let's end on a more positive note with the visuals. Hot demn, those are some slick Mobile Suits. And not only are they gorgeous but the animation really does them justice. The other Gundams fight, but Exia dances. And even though it sometimes has the same issue as Unicorn, I.E towards the beginning, the fight scenes have the perfect balance of readability and energy, but as time goes on and they need to up the stakes, it leans harder into the visual noise, they manage to regularly feature great choreography up to the end. The final clash with Ribbons is a great 1v1 duel and not a splurge of yells and SFXs.

BUT, this is sadly counterbalanced by the bland and uninspired character design. They all have the same noodly body type and roughly the same face, so the only difference is often their hairdo. Which makes it extra frustrating when they decide to switch it up or wear helmets. Yes, I know this could be the only thing preventing your lungs from exploding out of your mouth if your cockpit was damaged, but now I can't tell any one of you a-holes apart!

Phew.

You know, I think I was excessively mean towards this one. I still liked it, and it remains in the top half of my overall ranking. But... writing over thirty paragraphs on a piece of media on which you mostly have lukewarm feelings is kinda exhausting, because you're not even fueled by enthusiasm or spite. It's still a recommendation despite its flaws. And hey, if most of its good ideas were squandered in the execution, that means you're free to take inspiration from them but do better!

Next is... MS IGLOO. And I have some fun opinions on this one.

Cheers!

My gundam reviews :

> Hathaway's Spark > Mobile Suit Gundam > Gundam Zeta > 0083: Stardust Memory > 0080: War in the Pocket > 8th MS Team > The Witch from Mercury > Gundam Thunderbolt > The Origin > Turn A Gundam > F91 > Gundam Unicorn > Gundam 00 > MS IGLOO > Gundam Narrative > Iron-Blooded Orphans

[howlingmoonrise]

How do I write as good as you? Where do you get inspiration to weave your words as beautifully?

Hello sweet anon! Thank you so much 💖💖💖

Answering the second question first because it's shorter and it's also a part of the first: mostly, I get inspirations from other stories. Take the things you love from them - why do you love them? What resonates with you? Which scenes/characters/quotes come to mind and why did they leave such a mark? How can you make it so that yours come close to that? Dissect them and figure out what about them makes you tick, and how you can adapt it to the genre/voice/ambience you want to write.

As a more concrete example, I love the writing styles of Juliet Marillier and everythursday (the latter used to write for the HP fandom, you can still find PDFs/EPUBs of her work floating around). While you're reading for pleasure, if you come across passages that you feel that sound interesting, analyse them and try to figure out how you would write a sentence like that.

I'm still trying to figure out how everythursday uses verbs so deliciously - instead of the most logical choices, she often picks verbs i'd never even have thought to associate with a certain action and make it so much more vivid/real, and I'm insanely jealous of however she manages to do that. Every time I reread her writing I take mental notes of when/how/with which verbs she replaces more common ones with; another thing that endears me greatly in her writing are the tiny details that humanize the characters such (the MC noticing that there is "a freckle or perhaps a fleck of dirt" on the knot of the ML's wrist, or that he's wearing a black sock and a navy one because either he didn't notice or didn't care enough to match socks - and these are actual tidbits that are on her fic Finders that were so vivid that I just remember them off the top of my head like that).

More concrete writing advice (that specifically works for me, YMMV):

Vary it up. Don't start sentences and paragraphs always in the same way. Change paragraph lengths instead of keeping to consistent blocks. Change sentence length too - and sentence structure! - or the brain will get bored and start skipping ahead because it's always the same old rhythm. The image below is the best example of this I've seen yet:

Riding on the coattails of that one, I'm a fan of using different kinds of punctuation to change up the rhythm and sentence structure, but it's good to know whether you're actually using them correctly or it's bound to get distracting to the reader. This is very much a personal taste one though, even more than the others.

"Said" isn't dead! "Said" is very much alive and kicking! "Said" is the default verb your brain will basically ignore and won't be bothered by, and that means you should use it the most often. You use the others when you want to emphasize certain dialogue bits or want a particular inflection (like when there's a question), but it's going to get distracting if you use too many variations in a row.

Adverbs also aren't dead and this is the hill I die kill on. "Said softly" is very different from "whispered" and on many occasions it's less jarring. Much like the above, though, you don't want to use too many in a row unless it's for specific stylized sentences/emphasis (e.g.: "completely and perfectly and incandescently happy").

Mood is important. So important. And which words and sentence structure/lengths you use influence this greatly! You want a higher frequency of short and snappy words/sentences for fast-paced scenes; languid, longer sentences and more flowery words for, say, painting an idyllic day on a Victorian era parlour where the most they do is enjoy the sun and write correspondence. The places and ways you work in the descriptions also works to build this up.

Simplify. Sometimes you have this one specific habit/description/colour you really want to work in! But sometimes, idk, "as blue as the lake waters by the spring morning sunlight", or "her pacing habit that had existed since she was a kid living in the old foster house in Mulder's Lane" will absolutely clog up and wreck your sentence/paragraph, and despite loving that particular description you might have to simplify it to "spring morning blue" or "her pacing habit".

Kill your darlings (yes, I hate some interpretations of this too). This one follows up a bit from the point above: remove the bits/characters that are ruining your scene/story, even if you really like how they sound when examined on their own (you can move them to a scraps document for if you want to add them back in later and/or hate deleting stuff like me).

I hate this one but. You're gonna have to delete stuff. If you're stuck and have been despairing for days over how to continue a scene, the solution is very likely in deleting the last few paragraphs, or the whole scene, or perhaps more. The issue is rarely in the last sentence you wrote. Figure out where the scene started going off the rails and go from there instead of trying to fruitlessly continue a scene you're not enjoying and that isn't going anywhere.

Mix in description with dialogue/action. Unless I'm writing-- idk, food? I don't really like to do huge descriptive blocks. We all hated reading four entire pages describing some curtains in high school, right? So for me what works is to work in little bits of description amidst the rest. "She had long raven hair tied up in a ponytail" is far less engaging than mentioning the way her ponytail bounces when she does a quick jog for the bus, and at some later point saying that she brushed back her dark hair, for example.

Break up dialogue, actually. Going from the above and also the very first point, you want to vary up your rhythm, and a huge block of dialogue is one of the things this applies to. Also having only quick dialogue exchanges with no tags can be fun for a portion of a scene (or a specific genre of fic) and it's perfect for humour/snappy banter, but you rarely want to read a fic where all the dialogue is only that. Throw in some action/descriptions between dialogues bits, or even in the middle of a sentence a character is speaking, and give it some oomph. Take care not to overdo it and make the reader forget how the sentence started, though!

Pacing. Working with the above, but adding "description" (word used loosely here) to a place where you feel like things are going too fast is going to help you make it feel not as abrupt and give it some breathing room. Conversely, removing all the interim action/description is going to make it feel like the next bit happened right after.

"Write the same way you speak" is bullshit. I know several of my friends defend this but. Nope! Sorry, you can't sell me on that one. If you're writing an atmospherical story you're not going to write a character going "Uh, no, but wait, actually, I said like--" all the time unless that character is either shy or nervous. You also don't usually use people's names all the time in real life conversations, for example, but in dialogue it can help the reader situate themselves regarding who's speaking and make it feel more intimate/pointed depending on the scene.

Love the words you use. Note that this is different from loving your writing: what I mean is that if you use a series of words you find unpleasant (and this is especially noticeable with smut and words referring to genitals, which people usually have very strong feelings about) in places where something is supposed to be nice and flow prettily, it's not going to sound nice or pretty. Nice words can be "sing", "mulled", "cruel"; not so pleasant words can be "warbled", "groin", "odoriferous" - not so much due to their meanings, but due to how the word itself sounds to you, especially in the context of the sentence. There are ill-meaning words that can sound pleasant, and vice-versa. But "her body sings as she stretches" hits much different than "her body warbles as she stretches" - which can absolutely be used for humour and in other situations, but you need to be conscious and aware of how your specific word choice will hit. I personally agonize over word choices for hours, because for example I will want the specific implied meaning of "sussurred" but I will hate the sound of it in the context of that particular sentence, and no synonyms are working in a sufficiently pleasing manner (and I will often end up rewriting the sentence because of this).

Try to stay in-character, especially in dialogue. Characters don't all speak the same. A character that canonly only says "Mm" and short sentences suddenly dropping a huge speech will be a hard sell. Similarly, a character that speaks formally isn't about to drop slang and "yeah" left and right. A Fantasy Medieval Era character will speak far more formally than a modern day one - unless that's the gag on the canon media (or your original stuff) - but a commoner will generally not speak the same as a king, and neither of those will speak like a modern person at all.

Also, the one things everyone hates to hear, myself included: practice. I've been writing for... a pretty long time, oof, and I was very lucky in my first forays into fic writing, with a very chill and supportive fandom (Danny Phantom in like... 2007-2009 or so) - and back then my writing was terrible. But I had the space to experiment and commit all manners of writing atrocities, and getting that out of the way allowed me to understand a lot of what works and what doesn't. It's kind of like drawing: just because you can picture something perfectly in your head, it doesn't mean it's going to get translated well to paper, and to get better at that you're going to have to study and practice anatomy, shading, folds, etc before it starts getting anywhere near what you have in your head. It's much the same with writing, though the equivalent notions feel a lot more abstract and aren't as easily categorized.

This got a bit long (to no one's surprise), but I hope this helps! Let me know if you'd like me to explain any points further, and once again thank you for you lovely words 💖

[01-05-2001]

how are you so good at writing??? genuine question tho like what is your writing process or do you have any advice for someone trying to get more into/better at writing fiction?

hi anon!! thank you, this is so so sweet :3 i wouldn’t consider myself like. an authority on writing and i definitely think i have a lot to improve on, but here’s some advice i can offer up!

my general process for my oneshots is maybe unconventional? but it works for me.

a basic premise. eg, “oh, i want to write a caldre vibrator fic. how the hell is that going to work?” and figuring out how to get from point A to point B.

this is random, but it helps me keep track. at the top of all of my fics, i write this:

TITLE:

DESCRIPTION:

TAGS:

NOTES:

the title is usually left blank for a while. but the description is an incredibly short summary of the fic’s contents. tags helps me plan in advance for posting. the notes is just anything additional about their dynamic that i want to remind myself of. i find this really helpful to check back on every now and then.

bullet pointing key scenes of the fic. helps to have a writing buddy who can help you troubleshoot or bounce ideas off of!

under each bullet point, i write the scene out like a script, adding in notes about body language or general actions. i also copy paste in any little excerpts that come to me!

i find this the biggest step in avoiding writers block: blocking the entire scene helps keep the flow uninterrupted, helps me establish a pace, and helps to establish a strong tone in dialogue that i can then follow through in action and description. worst case scenario, i can just jump into the next line of dialogue and come back to fill in the gaps.

working top-down, i follow my script and fill in the gaps with action and description! this is obviously the hardest and lengthiest part, but that’s just the truth of it. i stick on some music or a video essay in the background and get to writing!

i usually end up working the start around, restructuring paragraphs until i find a flow.

Some general advice:

write what you enjoy. nothing will burn you out faster than trying to please everyone. it doesn’t matter if it’s cringe, or ooc, or whatever you think. write it if it makes you happy.

READ MORE - and REAL BOOKS (and poetry!). seriously. i notice the fastest improvement in my writing when i’m reading regularly. look at books you enjoy and ask: why do i like this? is it the themes, the characters? is it the writing style - the rhythm, dialogue, pacing? connecting with literature and developing analytical skills will seriously help so much. look at what you like and mirror it.

back to basics. especially with longer form stuff - use classic structures like three acts, freytag’s pyramid, etc. they are classics for a reason! learn the rules so you can know how to effectively break them. consider metaphors, flow, phonetics.

also, basic grammar and structure is non negotiable - walls of text or lack of punctuation will turn anyone off no matter how good the content is. i understand english isn’t everyone’s native language, but even a basic run through a spell or grammar checker online can make a world of difference.

on a more technical level:

variety is KEY. vary sentence length to keep a tight control over pacing, to control flow. read your sentences out loud to find the rhythm. try to keep from using the same structures or starters. sometimes i have to pull up another book to remind myself of different ways to open sentences when i’ve been staring at my writing for too long, lol

balancing description with succinctness is trial and error. IMO it’s better to be sparing than excessive. “purple prose” is hard to keep track of, and can feel like padding to a story. pacing is always, always key. remember, you CAN part with things: copy and paste little excerpts into a spare document. learn to delete!

understand the impact of intentional word choice. i love punchy verbs over wordy adverbials! but i also prefer to use descriptive phrases over niche words that readers won’t know. it’s about balance: complex language has its place, but using it intentionally is key. get a feel for a word’s nuance, otherwise your work can feel like Baby’s First Thesaurus. also, NEVER underestimate the impact of PHONETICS!!!

[stardropsaloongossiptrain]

Bachelor/ettes and Farm Chores

Bachelors:

Shane -- I think he's the most likely to do actual farm work, especially if you killed Morris fixed up the community center. He really loves taking care of the chickens, and remembers the ones you got from Marnie's. He also likes the other animals, and will probably spend all day with them. He'll water the crops sometimes, if it's not too hot, but will really just wonder why you don't get more sprinklers.

Alex -- Alex will also help out a lot around the farm, partially as a means of staying fit and partially to help you. He'll haul materials and supplies where you need them, and help keep the animals fed and crows chased off. Will train your pet to do tricks. This is not a farm chore, he trained Dusty.

Sam -- Mr. Sunshine will probably fall back on stuff his mom had him do around the house-- vaccuming, doing the dishes, etc. If you show him a few times how to do something, he'll put it in his routine, but will probably forget every once in a while. Undiagnosed ADHD King!

Harvey -- He has a full time job, so he doesn't have much time to help out on the farm itself. He does keep the house tidy, though, and will do the shopping for anything you don't make yourself. He is an extreme couponer and though he will never admit it misses Joja when it's gone just because of the savings. On days off, he does like to help with production stuff like making pickles or jam, and will help on harvest days if he has the time to do so.

Elliott -- He helps but it's never very structured. His writing schedule takes up a lot of time, but he does like helping with the crops. If he accidentally stays up all night working, he'll go out when the sun starts to rise to water the crops and make sure they're healthy, removing dead leaves and such. Not very helpful with the animals, he doesn't like the smell and is lowkey uncomfortable with so many animals around. Will feed/water the pet, however.

Sebastian -- Just because he's married and doesn't need to save up for Zuzu doesn't mean he stops working. He enjoys his work. He does the least around the farm, I feel. He will take care of the pet, and sometimes offer to feed the animals for you, but will probably just do a little around the house on coffee breaks. It isn't that he's lazy or anything, he just figures you know the farm better than him. Most likely to help when you're crafting stuff, he's good at machines.

Bachelorettes:

Abigail -- She's got the energy and the time, and I think without her dad and mom around she would actually want to help contribute. You aren't going to focus on everything she does wrong or nag her to help, so she actually likes to do it. Most enjoys maintaining the slime hutch if you have one, or knocking down trees for more lumber for you. Introduce her to Marlon, get her a sword, and she'll keep monsters off you while you mine. Just don't mention it to the in laws.

Leah -- When she's not focused on making her next piece, Leah likes helping around the farm. She's there every harvest, but will also keep an eye on kegs/casks/preserves for you and remind you when they're ready to turn over. Will pick an area to do work in so she can sketch it when she's finished.

Penny -- She's still pretty busy tutoring the kids, but she likes taking care of the house. She makes most of the meals and will help reset makers when she gets home in the afternoon. She might keep her own flower garden, if there's space for it.

Maru -- She's not the best at helping with actual chores, but will upgrade things for you to make life a little easier-- better sprinklers, autofeeders, automated makers. If you do really need a hand though, she will be there helping.

Emily -- Another one of those full time job havers. Emily will help out on the farm if you need her to, but she's more likely going to do house chores. Would most likely help turning over makers, if anything. She doesn't want to throw you off schedule, though, particularly if you run a big maximized farm.

Haley -- She barely cleaned the couch cushions living at home, homegirl is not gonna be the type to get her hands dirty on your behalf. The least employed woman here, the most time on her hands, the least helpful. Might eventually contribute if you asked her to, but she doesn't do much willingly. Maybe as she gets older it might change, but she's your wife and not your farmhand.

[zelandiangelo]

🦈 🏷️💌 for the fic ask game!! (o^▽^o) <3 

hiiiiiiiii! <333 thank you for asking hehe \o/ hope you're doing well!!

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

You know it's funny that you ask because getting into a character's head is actually one of my favorite things about writing! I usually don't have an awful lot of trouble with it unless I've started with an idea that I'm not as interested in as I thought.

So, there's probably been other times that I struggled but the one that I remember the best is Kaeya from Genshin LOL. I was never so super into Gempact but for a while I was playing it w my friends bc it was a Group Activity so I ended up writing a fair bit of fic just because I was so plugged into it. I stalled out on a fic from Kaeya POV that I was writing that I ended up wrapping up at what felt like it Could Be a stopping point and just posting what I had. The trouble with him, I think, is that he has this mysterious backstory that informs his character that's alluded to in events, objects around the world, etc, but I hadn't really gotten an understanding of that backstory. (I could have looked at the wiki I guess but I prefer to use the wiki to confirm stuff that I already knew or look up little bits of trivia; it doesn't feel right to learn everything about a character in a wiki review that might leave out important story or emotional context.)

THIS GOT LONG LOL tl;dr I was writing a lot of genshin fic even though i'm not really built to be a Gacha Lore Understander so i had some trouble with Kaeya!

🏷️ Is there a tag you like to search for when looking for fanfics to read?

>///<

i like sickfic hahaha;;;;;; if I'm being so real unless I get really extremely into something (eg. KNB or Yugioh) sickfic is the ONLY kind of fic I'll even read LOL. I've also written a lot of it myself, when I first got into fic writing I wrote it pretty much exclusively.

I didn't think this was gonna be a long answer but now i wanna talk about it LOL. I just think that when a character is ill (or injured tbh) the Vulnerability that it forces them into can be a really interesting trigger for changed character dynamics. You can have a standoffish or antagonistic character unwillingly in this position be treated gently, with kindness, and soften some of their relationships; alternatively, you can have their soft side come out if they're confronted with someone ELSE being vulnerable. You can have a character who tries to do Everything have to ask for help, you can have just plain fluff between characters with an established good relationship... it's even ok if characters act a bit out of character bc you can blame it on delirium LOL.

Essentially, unless you're getting really funky with it (which you can and it's fun!) a lot of sickfics follow a similar structure/set-up (character gets sick, character deals with being sick, other characters find out character is sick, they are now also dealing with it). Plot and structure is something that I still struggle with even now that I've stepped outside of writing sickfic exclusively, so at the time that I started writing, sickfic offered something of a baseline for me to write what I was really interested in (character dynamics) without having to think too much about the structure! Also it's fun haha >_< even though I've branched out I definitely still favor them quite a bit LOL

sorry for writing u a sickfic essay i am really Normal about it

💌 Is there a favorite trope you like to write?

OMG I WROTE ALL THAT ABOVE AND NOW IM LIKE WHAT DO I SAYYYYYYY I THINK THE ANSWERS ARE THE SAME LOL

let's see. Sickfic Good for the reasons outlined above. I enjoy writing polyamory quite a bit too (character dynamics are so fun!!) but I don't write it as frequently as I'd like bc not all characters are built for it and it can get a bit complex besides.

OH. OH OH OH. teachers/mentor figures. my favorite fic that i've ever written is shockingly not a sickfic: it's called I Accidentally Fell In Love With My Childhood Friend The King And Now My Students Are Also My Sons!? and it's for one of my most favorite animes ever, Oushitsu Kyoushi Haine (The Royal Tutor). (I thought the silly light novel title was funny LOL)

The entire premise of the show is just This Guy Is An Extremely Good Teacher For These Four Misunderstood Students which like. Is lab-grown to be like catnip to me RAAAAAHHHHHHH i've watched the show twice through and cried at the end both times. Anyway. The fic I wrote is technically a ship fic between the royal tutor himself (Heine) and the king (Viktor) who hired him to teach his sons (they get married in this fic hehe >w<), but the focus is really on Heine's relationships with his students, and how they handle their favorite (only) teacher getting married to their father.

I feel like these descriptions don't do the anime or my fic justice LOL all I can really say is that as someone who works with children the anime really touched me and it felt so permeated with genuine love and care for students who are left behind and for teachers who see those students and put in the work to help them. and as for my fic well. now that you've reminded me of it i think i will reread it SKJKDFJSDKFJ

I HOPE THESE PARAGRAPHS ARE OKAY THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME QUESTIONS I REALLY LIKED THESE! YOU ARE VERY COOL!

[meltypancake]

hellooo!! i love your art sm!! do you have any tips on how to study something effectively? 🤔 how do you approach studying something for your art?

hi anon!! thank you so much 🥹and that's a really good question!

there's a lot of things that can go into it, since it will depend on what kind of artist you are - but here are some general things i look out for.

make sure the study somehow ties back into your personal work. for example, while drawing a character i'll notice that i'm struggling with a certain hand pose, so afterwards i will look up the same or similiar hand refs and do a couple studies of them. i'd approach the study like this: draw a hand based on the reference, then see if there's anything off about it. draw it again with the new knowledge you've gained. try to be careful and put your lines down accurately, since it's less about speed but about understanding the structure. finally, apply it to your personal work. this method works best for me, since it stops me from thinking "i should learn anatomy" which isn't that helpful, but lets me pinpoint something specific i'd like to learn about.

ultimately, it's about keeping the practice sustainable. it can be easy to lose your way when remembering all the things you have yet to learn (perspective, figures, muscles, colors etc.) and you end up frantically studying and studying without a clear goal except "getting good". i know the sentence "you need to practice" gets thrown around a lot, and i get where it's coming from, but i don't find it very helpful. art can be anything you want it to be, and for me, having fun with it and finding joy is a huge part of it. so if you're studying and dreading every second of it, it'll be hard to keep it up in the long term and it might even sour your relationship with your art. so a couple things you could do to study, but also have fun: - figure out what kind of art you want to do. legit, write it down somewhere and think about it. do you prefer more graphic art? more painterly and textured? bold lines, thin lines, lineless? what kinds of artists do you admire (though loving a certain art style doesn't automatically mean you would enjoy their process either!) do you prefer monochrome or greyscale or color? - depending on what kind of art you want to create, choose what you want your studies to focus on. if you just wanna draw everyone in super big poofy dresses, you don't need anatomy nearly as much as someone who's into drawing buff ladies in tanktops! - instead of thinking "i will get good at perspective and then i get to have fun drawing my blorbos", just draw your blorbos in an environment with perspective! you don't need to separate your studies from your personal art at all - you can combine them, having fun and learning from them at the same time. if it doesn't work out the way you wanted it to, set it aside, let it marinate, and try again if you like.

and if something is really hard to do, it just means your brain is changing, growing, adapting, OVERCOMING!! and it'll be a little easier the next time around :]

i hope this helped a little! feel free to hop into my inbox again if anything was unclear. hope you have a great weekend! <3

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/forgotten-fossilised/755642012938747904/the-h0td-writing-is-so-bad-how-can-they-go-on-and?source=share

I really can't understand why someone hates the targ so much that you just want to see them muddied, forgotten and destroyed and watch a show centered on them as protagonists while they get offended because *checks notes* They are treated as protagonists 🙃

These people realize that Arya being "AA" was a hole the size of the sun, right? Do they realize that Arya's girl boss moment was great on screen but it was done for shock value?

Martin can play and subvert tropes but he never breaks with the meaning and structure he is building 🙄

this stupid prophecy pissed me off on so many levels. "he called it the song of ICE and FIRE" ok but why tho. did it change its meaning over the years or what. I wonder if it's gonna be explained at all or did they just throw it in bc its the lazy convenient way to justify Rhaenyra's actions.

"Song" refers to war...as "dance" does. It's poetic language about the movement of swords in the air "singing" used almost like a metonym for war. And it refers to that final war b/t dragons/Dany/Westerosi against the unnatural figures that are the Others, or that person may know them as the "whitewalkers". This is something that has been known for literal YEARS before either show popped up from what I learned. This is what ASoIaF has always been about and what it's leading up to, ya dunce!

And Rhaenyra's actions? Why not Aemond, who was the one to truly end all possible means of peace by killing his own nephew...HER SON. For God's sake, he's known as the Kinslayer for all time in Westeros just as Cole is known pejoratively as the Kingmaker! Aegon is known as "grasping" by a highly respected and agreed-with Grand Maester in his tome called Lives of Four Kings. Aegon dies poisoned by his own council members, wanted a "better" Sunfyre, raped at least one girl, etc. PREWAR. He was always going to be bad locally and "nationwide". Meanwhile, what has Rhaenyra actually done to others unprovoked pre-war? Give it a rest, already!

The greens collectively, not her, triggered & enabled this war so they can disrupt the already established transfer of power. This is not a lie, but what happened.

if they really wanted to include it the great way would be to tie it with Cregan and Jace somehow? (their alliance being literally called Pact of ice and fire...) but nah apparently they just cut out the whole northern storyline.

...The Pact of Ice and Fire only exists and can exist bc the Song of Ice and Fire exists...it's meant to refer back to the Song and say the Starks and their northern MAGIC (direwolves, warging, greenseeing) will all be instrumental in the fight against the Others. No, the Starks are still not the main protagonist of this series even if they appear first and are focused on as one of the houses that has enjoyed the most privileges that now is divided and split due to bad decision making internally and out. The "whole northern stroyline" only matters within THIS context...otherwise GRRM is writing them to writer them. F&B is meant to contextualize Dany and her dragons; that includes all the Targs' purposes.

on a side note, as far as I remember the prince that was promised prophecy isn't inherently tied to the targaryens at all, and it definitely doesn't originate from Aegon, so I wonder if they changed that in the show canon (like Dany's dragon eggs coming from Syrax) or do the targs just believe that bc of course who else would be the chosen one if not them.

Already noted how this was a stupid ass take. Where else would the Song of Ice and Fire originated when it's been constantly tied to various Targs from Dany to Aemon the Maester to Aegon V to Brynden Rivers to the Dance to DRAGONS?! Who has dragons? The Targs.

Aegon is said to be the only source of this Song through his motivation to conquer Westeros, where does that person think elsewise the Song came from?

People really be sacrificing their already-paltry literacy skills for sexism, classism, etc.

[edge-oftheworld]

been thinking a lot about the way we treat stars (and stand by and let others treat them) and everything I’ve been blabbing on about since that shawn mendes concert in 2019 where a few seemingly unrelated things from my youth (fandom/celebrities and my irl high school experience) fell together and I realised, this is really important and personal to me and something I care about.

I remember hearing about scooter braun and a bunch of legal stuff I didn’t understand, and buying lover on CD with my money from my first big girl job and knowing it was, for once, going to Taylor. I remember buying copies of the re-records for friends, confused as to why they all seemed to be fans all of a sudden but so glad for the timing of it. I remember learning about conservatorships and the ableist injustice they are from the dedicated fans spearheading the ‘free britney’ movement, simultaneously being shocked her success wasn’t enough to prevent it, while grieving and hoping and angering for the hundreds who don’t have a dedicated platform of fans to raise an alert—and might not be known or cared about by anyone but their abusers.

I remember finding out in neurodivergent around this time, masking my distress both before and after finding out a short term mental health struggle wasn’t gonna scratch the surface of it because it happened to me too, I might’ve seemed capable at the time but decades of hiding difference and distress aren’t so easily undone and there’s so many ways a brain that’s grown up like that can get sick. and yet I used to write songs, too, and in a world where we valued string orchestras mimicking pop music instead of, say, STEM, and I started the viola earlier—could that have been me? I remember finding artists I related to. Still feeling the ick from the days when I ignored my classmates’ fan behaviour, thinking I wouldn’t be allo or straight enough to enjoy being marketed like that, are they?

I remember slowly figuring out my own way to be a fan, be there for the music and grateful for its writers and how much I relate to them. I remember applying songs to stories of other ND kids who weren’t as privileged as I was, relating to them on a secondhand level, thinking ��oh shit what if they’ve been neurodivergent this whole time’ going from feeling like failures in an ableist education system to puppets like I was when I let them pressure me to channel my creativity into science, but so much worse. I was only ever objectified for my brain—I can’t imagine if it was everything. I’m no stranger to overwork and burnout and feeling like I’ll never be enough while having that insatiable need to create in revenge, and just doing twice as much work with the two put together.

we’ve moved on from those days, surely, days where speculation from those who Get It and just long to be represented while having no one else go through it were gossip we paid no heed to, out of respect. we’ve moved on but now it’s when the stories come out. we’ve been through tragedy. we thought our generation would be different, but looking back, I felt the dread in my body for a long time. I came to understand what trauma does to your personality and your literal brain structure and I was scared and I was rambling on here because it sucks and did you know most activism is ableist and can you find me a child star untouched by this if no then maybe let’s stop demonising them. let’s stop judging them for their unwise decisions and call out the people who make this keep happening and maybe stop going along with it as a society. for the sake of climate or human rights and no one was having this conversation with me.

now I go to webweave with lyrics and I stumble over, again and again, the protest and the anger behind something like boy and I’ve been hoping for it, turns out it’s there if you just let it sink in a bit. I want to make cute melancholic posts but I just come back feeling angry. I come back motivated to have these conversations I’ve been brainstorming how to do something useful with for years. and I have to be smart about it because you think too hard, you say shit right out of your intuition that really shouldn’t grace the internet just for basic privacy, I know I have.

but is it really any more respectful to just gloss over the heavier themes that are there and you go back and you find them everywhere you look like it’s on purpose and yet. yet we talk about fashion and whatever else and there’s nothing wrong with being interested in that but you know how to make the status quo stay the exact same? by not saying anything. if an album can be read as ‘look what the industry made me, I’m healing in spite of it but it takes hard work and a lot of sacrifice on behalf of those who love me’ what are we doing if we talk about anything but that? what are we doing if we criticise a woman for saying it much more outright, only a week prior, and the minute something isn’t so in our face we can’t possibly ignore it, we go back to just that?

I can’t webweave because it makes me want to organise. we’ve been all over the place, as a fandom, getting on each other’s asses for shit we have zero say in. what happened to real fans save bands? criticise. compete to be that girl. we won’t, because they’re doing everything not to, but keep it up and we lost the men in the fucking canyon and none of the rest of it matters. you can complain all you like and so can I but what actually matters is that we listen. a stupid viral tiktok trend or publicity by pure chance but now that it’s been said can we really just keep ignoring what we know? we see things in black and white. we live out not in the same way, a fandom with love misplaced, is it really so hard to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to love someone the right way? we care. it’s time we bring that together and talk strategic action

[bakerstmel]

Fall Favorite Fic Festival, Entry 5

Remember, winter doesn't officially begin until December 21, she said pedantically.

I've delayed writing this entry because I was trying to define the reason (or reasons) why I love this fic so damn much. I read this fic at least twice a year, usually sometime in February and then again in the fall. It's a sports fic, and while I am not in general a sports person, I do love me some baseball. But the sport isn't the reason I love this fic, and I think I may have figured it out. Stick with me.

I started the link at Chapter 2, because Chapter 1 is a guide to baseball for the uninitiated. Some of it is out of date now, because MLB in its STUPIDITY has messed around with the rules this year because GOD FORBID people have to wait longer than a minute for anything to fucking happen on a sports field, and of course only HITS matter, but it is still fun to read. You don't need it to appreciate the fic, though.

Whilst I was processing this fic, I spent some time thinking about sports fics in general, and that led me to reread a couple of other favorites. One was A Study in Winning, by Jupiter_Ash. I really like that fic as well, even though I know next to nothing about tennis. I like the drama of the story, I like Sherlock faking his nationality just because, and I enjoy John being a petty little bitch to Moriarty there at the end. I feel like there for a while everyone had read or was reading that fic. Another one I went back to was Of Ice and Men, by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John, which is an OT3 set during the Winter Olympics. That one has John in the Paralympics, which gives the relationships an entirely new dimension. There are other good sports fics - throw your favorite in the comments, if you like. I'm mostly limiting my scope in these musings to Sherlock, as I've said before, but I'll read anything if it's good. Links to these two fics are below.

One of the ways in which sports fics have an advantage is that they have a built in structure. There's a match, or a tournament, or a season, and the relationship drama plays out against that backdrop. Writing classes always talk about the "ticking clock" approach to narrative tension, and almost every sport has some type of literal ticking clock. The Bang and the Clatter plays out over a full baseball season, including Spring Training and the postseason. That's basically a year minus the main American holidays, and EarlGreyTea does a really good job of letting the story play out at an appropriate pace. That's very impressive considering that she was posting this as a WIP over the course of an actual season.

(I need to take a minute to talk about my issues with EGT, and by "issues" I mean "soul churning jealousy." EGT is ridiculously prolific. If you go back into the fandom annals and look at the timing of some of her biggest fics, she was posting what became major reference points for the fandom in tandem, writing multiple fics at the same damn time, while, you know, teaching law or moving cross country. She is the best example I know of the importance of writing regularly. Of course, she's incredibly gifted, highly skilled at plotting, characterization, pacing, and just words. She has a fabulous imagination. Her dialogue rings true, and it's fun. But she can turn really good stuff out relatively quickly because she's limber AF. She writes. Anyone who comes to Word Sprints on Sundays or just hangs with me writing knows I'm not fast. I'm lucky to break 100 words in 15 minutes. Part of that is that I edit as I go, but it's also that I don't write as often as I would like to, so it takes me some time to warm up. I would like to be more like EGT, which probably sounds kind of creepy. I hope she doesn't see this. Anyway, she's written many of my top 20, and she actually finishes her stuff. So, yeah. Issues.)

So here is where I ended up: this is a good AU that takes advantage of the time crunch of the sport in which it is set, but that is not why I read it 2+ times per year. I read it because this is one of my favorite John and Sherlock relationships ever. It feels so in character for the way we see them in the show (at least through S2; this was written in 2013). We see them meet, we feel their attraction, we feel Sherlock's very authentic confusion. We feel their fear at being caught out, at first by each other and then by the world. They earn their angst. The way to my heart is good characterization, and this has that. Alongside the battery, the OCs (especially Sherlock and John's families) are complex and have issues of their own. Moriarty doesn't show up until the All Star Workout, which is halfway through the season for those of you who don't know, but it works because by that point, John and Sherlock have things to lose. Lestrade is the best effing choice for a beleaguered, exasperated baseball manager there ever was. Mycroft saves the day AND fucks it up, which I wish we'd seen more of in those days.

Also, John and Sherlock never get too far away from each other, and when they're separated, it's usually for narrative reasons. I like that in a fic, I've come to realize. I like to watch the characters' interplay. It's hard for Sherlock to keep secrets from John when they work together, commute together, and live together, and John is no fool. Their office isn't 221b Baker Street, it's a stadium in Austin, TX, where shit plays out in front of 30k people. John loves baseball. Sherlock loves John. They fight, they fall in love, they eat Chinese food, and they play baseball. And best of all, they are themselves together.

If you read the parts that EGT wrote after the big story, there's a mention of Sherlock pulling together a pick up game in London made of American ex-pats for John's sake, and I'll tell you what. That really pulls this fic together for me. This Sherlock would do that for this John, and we end up a little on the outside looking in, and it's just charming as fuck.

In conclusion, read this even if you don't know baseball, if you want great characterization, a chance to be reminded of how beautiful John and Sherlock were together back in the golden age. Pay attention to the ticking clocks in your favorite fics; intentional or not, there's almost always some time pressure ginning up the conflict. If you're a writer, the best way to get better is to write more. Feels like bullshit, but it's true. And finally, fuck MLB forever for going the completely wrong way on the DH. Pitchers in both leagues should have to/get to hit, and more to the point, DHs should have to fucking do something when their teams are out in the field. I will die on this mound.

(Also, if I'm being honest, Bull Durham is probably my favorite movie, so maybe I'm more of a baseball fan than I'm letting on. I do generally love baseball in popular media. But I still think it's the characterization.)

[scre-a-ming-cupcakes]

What The Hell Did I Just Read? review and ranting

Personal Rating: 6/10

Ranking in the book series: Top 4

While I did enjoy myself while reading this book, looking back at it, I didn't like it as much as the rest of the francise. Mind you, I have only read it once and maybe a second read-through would change my opinion. It had some stuff I adored and loved, but sadly there were some aspects that weren't as good as in the other books.

The tone:

I liked the comedy a lot, as I always do. The beginning, especially, might be the best opening of the francise. There were some darker tones in the mix that I really appreciated. Both the personal story of the characters and the mystery of the kidnappings have a dark feeling to it, that make the smile vanish from your face at times. (The car accident that made John think he has killed the child, which lead straight to Dave thinking John ODed, made me put down the book and stare at the wall for solid 5 minutes) However, in some apects it made me feel like the humor wasn't working. Though, this might very well be a very personal opinion, and I won't speak of it as a fact. Aspects like Detectiv Whats-His-Name and the NON-organization felt a little bit too much. If your main characters are silly idiots like John, Dave and Amy, walking through the world in casual dumb-assery, there is only so much more idiocity that you can take from other characters before it starts being too much. I felt like the detective and the NON-agents crossed that sillyness-line a little. If the NON organization were more like REPER in book 2, it would've worked a little better. REPER had a dark mystery to it, it felt evil and was a serious threat. The NON-agents were almost cartoonish in comparison.

The horror was lacking a bit in this book. There were some tense moments, but I don't remember there being much horror. I missed some of those aspects, as well.

Pacing:

The pacing is nothing to complain about. Again, I really enjoyed the beginning. It has a solid three-act structure, and while it does lose the flow a little during the middle part, it picks up high again in the finale act. However, even the finale act seems to drag a little. Although the tension is high, it feels like it keeps going and going and never ends because there is always one more twist and problem getting in the way of success. Then, the real ending, the finale chapter feels quite rushed in comparison.

The monsters:

Let's start off with the fuck-roaches. First off, don't let John name any more creatures. Other than that, the fuck-roaches were an interesting and twisted antagonist. Their ability to sneakily change the characters' perception was very well written. Only the reader knows that something is off. (The casual mention of the snow man that seems to follow them around as if it's supposed to be there was genius writing) Their ability to shape shift also caused a lot of twisted problems for the main characters, after they change to make it look like Dave was the villain. It led some to high tension and made the reader constantly doubt whether or not the character was actually themself.

The maggots and Millibutt: Let Amy name all the creatures from now on. The kidnapped children being monsters that control your perception and memory was twisted. Didn't see that coming. The thought of it was scary and made my skin crawl. The chapter of them trying to figure out if one of them was a maggot all along was great. The description of how the maggots are eating away their "parents" was graphic and disturbing, and very confusing. First we think they are children, then they turn out to be creatures, then they turn out to be creatures that they are not supposed to kill, then they turn out to be children again (in some sick and twisted way)

Which is why the ending kind of left me confused. Letting the parents just live a life with creatures that they believe are their children but are actually creatures that are eating them alive just feels wrong. I understood that the parents aren't actually in pain and that the maggots don't mean harm (right?).

I understand that you could think about it as a metaphor for how having children eats you away to a point where it looks like you're dying from the outside. Your love for them is what keeps you going, bla bla bla, I get it. But it feels weird in this context and metaphor, but I may have to re-read it so the shock factor doesn't change my perception of the situation.

The BATMANTIS??? It's a fat little asshole and a huge dorky idiot. I wonder who it might turn out to be? Hmmmmmm?!?!??! Also, please let more clickbait YouTube titles name the creatures. Just... anyone but John. Anyway, I love the creature design. Jason Pargin once again put every corner of biological life on earth in a blender and gave it a shitty personality. Don't even wanna imagine the implications of how disturbing the human-to-monster transformation would be.

The plot twist was sadly spoiled for me. Which is why I was very confused about how Dave and the BATMANTIS??? appeared in scenes together. I kinda noticed how unreliable the narrator was during those moments and I understood early on that we're not being told the whole truth here. However, in my opinion, an unreliable narrator to THIS extend only works if you have a character like Arnie from book 1, who points out the bullshit. Since I knew the plot twist, I actively paid more attention during the BATMANTIS??? scenes. I don't wanna imagine how confused people were, who didn't know. The monstrealization!

The reveal only happened in the last 5 pages of the book, too. It makes you feel like the whole book you have just finished reading was a lie.

I knew that it was only a matter of time until Dave would turn monsterous, and I was looking forward to it. I liked the concept of the BATMANTIS???, I just feel like the execution of the introduction and reveal wasn't well done.

The characters:

The characters, however, might be the best in this book. There is so much tragedy going on, so much humanity and growth and the opposite of growth (shrinking?). John had become so much more of a deep and well explored character since book 1. Dave is fighting with depression in a way that makes you sympathetic but also makes you wanna slap him and throw him off a building because his behavior is destroying everything and everyone around him, as well. Amy has the biggest heart of the three, but even she has her breaking point. She deserved so much better than Dave in this book, and she knew that, herself. I'm always here for the monster-hunter-silliness but I'm eating up the more personal stories about financial struggles, mental health and compassion!

Little aspects and bits that I liked:

-The list of "emergency" calls that Dave has gotten in the past year. They are so specific and hilarious, it gives John so much character, even in the first chapter.

-The instructions on what to do if you were to be confronted with a supernatural being. (also noticed some slight teasing at being sympathetic towards monsters who's decription were suspeciously close to the BATMANTIS???)

-The snowman made my heart beat faster, whenever he was casually appearing in a chapters.

-While I didn't like NON, I liked the scene of their zoom call with the masters of different universes. Very funny!

-The trip on the soy sauce. Once again very original and different from the other soy sauce trips.

->The nightmare was creepy

->The aftermath was hilarious

->Still don't know what they bought the butts for

->Dude, Where's My Car?

-Love the switches of POVs mid-scenes, where John sees Dave as this sexy beast as he has a badass exchange on how no one should fuck with him because he's the best. Meanwhile, Dave's POV of the same scene is just him pathetically trying not to get into a fight.

-Did I mention I love Amy?

----

Other reviews:

JDATE | TBIFOS | ITBEYITWU

[borathae]

Sibi I need some helpppp

Do u have any tips for getting rid of writer's block???

Mhm that’s a good question because I haven’t really figured out a 100% success guaranteed way either bshahshs but if I ever struggle with writer's block, I tend to do the things I'll list down below 💜

1. Switch up the WIP you’re working on. Sometimes it’s not because I suddenly can’t write anymore, it’s simply that the current WIP doesn’t do it for me. So I switch it up and a lot of the time, suddenly get inspiration again

2. Speaking of WIPs and it kinda goes hand in hand with the first tip. Don’t force yourself to write stuff and remember that YOU should have fun writing. I tend to go for the WIP I feel in the mood for this day, which means I rarely get writer's block because I’m always working on the one thing which brings me the most joy that day.

3. Remember that you can just step away for a while. We fanfic authors do this for free in our own freetime and we aren’t really bound by contracts which force us to keep producing on a deadline. It’s okay to just step away from writing for a while and focus on other stuff which brings you joy.

4. Speaking of doing other things. I find that if I genuinely just can’t write anything, doing other stuff I enjoy (painting, gaming, other creative stuff etc) really helps my brain to reset and fill up its creative juices again.

5. Consume media. Whether it be a show, a movie, a book, a song, a game, art. Genuinely, sometimes all you need to get inspired again is to consume something new which might inspire you. One of my examples: I finally know what I want to do for Namjoon's queendom story because of The Witcher 4 trailer which recently came out. Before consuming this new media, I had no idea and now my creative juices are flowing for his story.

6. Sometimes you just gotta give your brain some change, break out of your daily routine. If you constantly do the same things, are at the same places, only talk to the same people, you won’t ever get new experiences and therefore your brain won’t really be stimulated enough to get creative. Something as simple as going on a walk somewhere new, going sightseeing, meeting new people, going to a coffeeshop to write there or switching up your writing tools can already be enough for your brain to get enough stimulation to get working again.

7. Get off that damn phone and stop looking at social media (tiktok) 👵🏻 JSKSJS this might just be me but if I brainrot my day away on my phone, my brain is indeed rotted and I can’t write for SHIT. So if you’re like me sometimes, just don’t and do something else which is way more productive (like tip 4 or 6). Social media rot is not gonna inspire you BAHAH

So in conclusion I would say that 99% of writer's block is because the brain simply lacks inspiration, new stimulus or a break. Once you learn what works for your brain to get relaxed and juiced up again, focus on doing these things and you will see that the desire to write will be back in no time 💜

BONUS TIP: which always works for me and which still gives me the same kind of satisfaction than writing new plot does. Making headers for your WIPs, giving your blog a lil makeover or simply bringing your older stories/WIPs on par with your current standards by editing them also counts as writing, so if you can’t produce something new? Just create something which will be used for your writing later. I kid you not, this is a surefire way for me to get inspired again. Like, I'm making a new header and suddenly I have 390201 ideas for this particular story. I edit my WIPs or my older stories and I suddenly have the need to write more for this universe.

Example: Just yesterday, I edited some parts for Family Matters and this shit inspired me so much that I FINALLY figured out the structure and flow as well as the ENDING of the story. Like, miss gurl really had her breakthrough yesterday just because I did some minor editing.

[spacecadet-ticklesinspace]

Looking Good

Summary: Peter 1 hates himself and MJ reminds him just how amazing he is ❤️

(First fic with Michelle Jones! ❤️ Zendaya characters still terrify me to write because I don't think I can do her characters the justice they deserve, but it doesn't hurt to try ❤️ This is for the one Anon who asked about Peter 1's MJ :) Also, I had to play on the fact Zendaya is 5'10 while Tom is only 5'7 😁 Enjoy!)

Peter studied himself in the mirror. He had always been grateful for the spider bite muscles and worked hard to maintain them, but he still felt self conscious about his looks. He was skinny but didn't have the height to pull it off. He had the muscle build but the wrong facial structure to go with it.

He was just forever a skinny, awkward teenager.

As he continued to study his body, another figure stepped into the doorway of his bedroom. "Peter?"

The young teen whirled around. "MJ!"

The taller teen smiled at her boyfriend before her eyes trailed down to his bare upper half.

Peter blushed as he wrapped the shirt in his hands around his body like a towel. "Hey! Hey. W-what's up?"

MJ furrowed her eyebrows as she studied her boyfriend's face. "Peter, everything okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"Because that's not how you wear a shirt."

"What do you mean?"

MJ raised one eyebrow.

Peter cleared his throat as he turned away. "Yeah I-I guess you're right."

While he moved to pull the shirt on over his head, MJ stepped further into the room. "Sorry, did I make you uncomfortable?"

One whirled back around to his girlfriend. "No way! You could never make me feel uncomfortable."

"Are you sure? You seem really tense."

"It has nothing to do with you MJ. I promise."

The taller female wasn't ready to let the subject go just yet. "Did something happen?"

Peter scoffed. "Absolutely nothing."

"Peter."

One looked up at his girlfriend with no vocal response.

"Peter, please?"

After a moment of silence, Peter finally responded. "I don't know. I just wish . . . I was better looking."

"What are you going on about?" MJ wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's shoulders.

"I wish I was taller."

MJ smiled. "No you don't. You'd have a higher chance of hitting your face more than you already do."

This managed to pull a smile out of the teen. "I wish my face looked better."

"What?" The taller teen couldn't resist smushing her boyfriend's face with one hand. "This adorable little face right here?"

Peter playfully pulled away. "Ihim serious."

"Pete, listen to me." MJ pressed her forehead against his. "I don't care if there were a million different versions of Peter out there. You will always be my favorite. Looks have nothing to do with it by the way. Those are just an added bonus."

Although MJ wanted to boost her boyfriend's self-esteem, he still seemed unsure of her compliments. The taller of the two wracked her brain for a cheerup when a wonderful idea suddenly made her grin. She knew something that was sure to put a smile on her boyfriend's face.

MJ led Peter over to his bed and sat down. "If you won't believe my words then I'll just have to show you how amazing you are."

"What are you up to?" Peter asked suspiciously.

"You'll see." MJ pulled her boyfriend toward her. "Come here."

Although he was still suspicious, Peter let his girlfriend pull him between her legs and rest his back against her chest. "If you wanted to cuddle you could have just asked."

"Where's the fun in that?" The taller teen wrapped Peter in a hug. "Plus I didn't think you'd willingly be the little spoon."

Peter's blush reappeared. "I like being the little spoon."

"I'll remember that." MJ snuggled closer to her boyfriend. "But now you need to listen to me compliment you on how amazing you are."

The smaller teen groaned. "I could get free."

"But you won't. I know you won't."

"You're such a jerk Michelle Jones."

While Peter was distracted, MJ slipped a hand under his shirt. "No. I just know how to put a smile on your face."

The smaller male's eyes widened. "What are you---?"

MJ started spidering her hand across One's tummy. "Nothing."

Peter squeaked before dissolving into giggles. "Ehem Jahay."

"What was this negative talk you were saying about yourself? About your looks?" The taller teen let her finger lazily trace her boyfriend's abs. "Because I could trace these abs all day."

"Nohoho! Dohont yohou dahare!"

"Just think, if you were any taller, you wouldn't fit so perfectly in my lap."

Peter didn't respond. He was too busy giggling from the finger gliding around and around his hyper ticklish stomach. However, he had yet to move her hand or squim away from her either.

MJ lifted her other hand to scratch under his chin. "And if your face was any different, your smile wouldn't look right."

Peter's giggles became higher pitched from the affection.

Now the taller teen's finger circled her boyfriend's belly button. "You know, you and your belly button have a lot in common."

"Nohoho!"

"Yeeees," MJ teased as she ran her nail around the rim of his belly button. "You're both tiny and cute, you went through a lot to get here, and you're both so very important."

"Whahat?"

"Well, your belly button gave you a lot of nutrients in the womb. Now your torso looks incomplete without it." MJ finally paused her tracing. "And now my life would look incomplete without my tiny and cute little boyfriend."

Peter collapsed into a puddle of giggles, but the grin never left his face.

"Yeah, my life wouldn't be the same without you Peter Benjamin Parker."

With two of her fingers, MJ gently lifted her boyfriend's chin so she could give him a kiss on the lips. Both of them stayed quiet as the kiss lingered on, MJ's hand laying still on Peter's tummy.

Once the two pulled away, the taller of the two brought her hand up to run her fingers through her boyfriend's hair. "Feeling better about yourself?"

"Aha littlehel." The blush on Peter's cheeks darkened. "Think Ihi mihight neheed some extraha persuahasihion?"

"Oh absolutely." MJ immediately started dragging her nails across Peter's tummy with the lightest touch ever just to drive him up in pitch. "You're too stubborn to give up right away."

And for several minutes, MJ 'persuaded' her boyfriend to see just how amazing he really was.