#but to everyone that commented nice things i've read you all and have made 100% of the motivation i've been having lately hahaha

[can-of-slorgs]

Finished the Seashells collection a couple of weeks ago, so I drew my girl who did it all possible.

[mostlyihyperfixate]

WrightWorth Fic Recs

Okay, so @moongasux told me to give some fic recommendations on last night's post, and I thought it would be easier for me to put together a list in a separate post. And then I can update as I go along.

Please note that these aren't all the fics I've read or even the only good ones, just my favorites so far--the ones I've gone back and reread multiple times since discovering them. I've got several explicit ones to recommed but I literally just started reading smut so I can't actually comment on how good the sex scenes are.

A Long Way to Fall by prospectkiss

Rating: Explicit; Content Warning for stalking and torture; set pre-AA4; finished

Words cannot express how much I love this fic. It was the second one I ever read, and it's still my all-time favorite. It sounds really dark, but the subject matter is treated with the reality and seriousness it deserves. The author also simultaneously knows where and when to stop with the angst so it never gets overbearing. I especially love that both Miles and Phoenix seem like 100% equal partners and adults. The character voices are *chef's kiss*. This is, hands down, the best Franziska I have come across. Be warned that there are explicit sex scenes!

A Night You'll Never Regret by MaudMoon

Rating: Explicit; Content Warning for drinking in excess; set post-AA6; finished

This is another excellent fic, a sort of pure-fluff alternative to A Long Way to Fall. It's just good times from start to finish. The character work here is also very good. The author deals with a pretty large cast masterfully. Larry is amazing in this. This is the story that introduced me to my NOTP, but I'm coming to realize that it's a fairly common ship in this fandom, and who am I to rain on a collective parade? This story is too good to ignore just because of that. Again, there are explicit sex scenes.

Turnabout: Bloodline by LeFlayART

Rating: Explicit; Canon Divergence post-AA6; Spirit Medium!Miles AU; finished (the first two of the three stories, anyway)

You have got to read this. I started reading the first story in this series yesterday, and I've hardly been able to put it down. I am crushed to see that the final story never got finished--but a look at the number of comments on the second part shows that the number of comments this received at the time was a travesty. This is a masterpiece. They say the mark of a good story is that you keep saying to yourself, "Just one more chapter. Just one more chapter," and I have been saying that since, like, 9:00 in the morning yesterday. There is explicit sex. There is a lot of explicit sex. Please go shower this fic with the praise it deserves.

pressed beneath the burden of proof by harmony

Rating: Mature; Content Warning for amnesia fic; one shot

I effing love an amnesia fic, okay? I know it's not for everyone, but it's one of my favorite fic tropes. (Seriously, if you know of any other Wrightworth or Klapollo amnesia fics please send them my way). This is a nice lengthy one that doesn't overstay its welcome by making you wonder where the heck the plot got to. There's no big, overarching legal mystery to solve, but watching Miles put things together is plot enough. The interactions between Miles and Phoenix are wonderful.

res ipsa loquitur (the thing itself speaks) by griffonage

Rating: Teen and Up; finished

This is a fun miscommunication fic that isn't going to leave you wanting to rage at the couple for not just communicating. It's fun miscommunication. Another great "It's about the pining" fic, but without all the angst that usually comes with all that pining--and it's only five chapters, so you can read it in a snap! The author wrote another similar story from Phoenix's point of view later, but of the two, this is my preferred one.

Guilty as Charged by JustNerdyThings

Rating: General Audiences; finished

Do you like seeing Apollo tortured in the fun sense? Then this is the fic for you! It's got some additional Klapollo which finally made me go, "Oh, yeah, this ship is cute," and while shipping (and fumbled matchmaking) is the plot of the story, the place it really shines is just watching Apollo deal with the rest of the cast as the only sane man. It's all cute enough to give you cavities.

Epoch by citsiurtlanu

Rating: Teen and Up; Content Warning for Soulmate AU; set through the series; in the process of being posted

I feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest when I open this up and read it--every single damn time. It hurts. I mean that in a good way. I don't typically read soulmate AUs because I always have more questions than what is addressed, but this one's sort of (at least thus far) a deconstruction of the concept. I am genuinely upset that I have to wait for weekly updates on this when I just want to unhinge my jaw and swallow it whole. Every week's update leaves me wanting more. Also, the author is terribly nice.

[2skyflorix2]

I Love Us

Honestly, I'm so, so very glad AvA is the first fandom I've actually been an active participant in.

LONG RANT INCOMING

Throughout the years, I have "been in fandoms", but I never felt like posting my own art or works, commenting on vids (i didn't have a youtube account back then, still don't), or being anything other than a silent observer.

Back in March, when I came home from that math competition, and found AvMath in my recommendeds, and just clicked on it, I did not expect to get dragged into a fandom about stick figures, of all things. I remember watching AvPhysics directly after, then finding "Wanted", and watching it with no context. I remember going to the wiki, seeing all of the content that was made, and and binging AvM and the actual shorts and literally everything else.

And most of all, I remember thinking, "I wish I could just erase all of this from my mind and experience the magic all over again."

-

In May, I took a chance and went to Ao3. I knew it was a site to post fanfiction, but it had never been something I was interested in. But I was just curious, to see if fanfiction about this amazing fandom really existed. I didn't have an account, no; I think I just wanted to see.

There were about 1600-1700 fics on there about AvA, during that time. I didn't know how hits worked or kudos worked, but I just remember scrolling down until I could find something that looked like a lot of people had liked it.

And even then, I clearly remember the first fic I touched. "Identity", by LeenaFreeBird (I'll link it at the bottom). I absolutely loved it. I spent the rest of the month simply reading, and consuming all of the cool hcs, learning what fan terms meant, having an idea for my own fic that I thought, back then, I could never write.

Because I didn't.

I never made an account or wrote. I never left comments because part of me though people without an account wouldn't be able to, and that was just habit, at this point.

And even though I stepped slightly away from there in the months of June and July (we were in the process of moving halfway across the country, I had just watched the new Demon Slayer season, and upon recommendation had binged all of Haikyuu in a week), I always made sure to keep updated on whatever new AvA/M videos had been posted.

In August, I went back on Ao3.

SO MANY AMAZING FICS HAD BEEN WRITTEN IN THE SPAN I WAS AWAY.

I remember binging all of them for the month. I sat alone at lunch (as I was new I didn't have any friends), just reading them on my phone and getting sucked back into there.

In September AvI began. On a whim I logged back into my tumblr account that I had made like 5 years ago in 4th grade to post random rambling stuff about my life (I tagged nothing but my username wth), and redid my entire blog. I was sooo happy when one of my posts reached 100 notes.

I felt way stronger, and way braver. I joined the invite queue for Ao3, because I decided I DID want an account, and I DID want to post my own fics.

And everyone was (and is) SO NICE about it. They love my fics and posts (which I still consider really crappy, btw) to pieces, and always give me good comments. Even my bad fanart (another thing I got the courage to post during this time). Shipping wars never happen here (if they did, I wouldn't know about it). Rarepairs are appreciated, and we unanimously know the ships that should be completely illegal (not naming ship names here).

Everything and everyone is loved, and this is like the one little corner of the Internet where mostly all is safe and your opinion is valued. Sure, your fan theory may be wrong, but people here don't go and tell you "that's so stupid lol, no way that's true". They'll give you actual feedback, explain the evidence that falsifies it, or add to it because they like it.

Even on YouTube, if someone posts a yellue ship video, for example, they'll get hate, or "the color quad are just siblings lol", or "they r stickmen why are u shipping them". If someone HCs Blue as a girl (ik that's been debunked where we are at rn), they'll get a comment saying "it's stickman for a reason".

Like, let people have their opinions. Alan has never confirmed the color quad as siblings, or their origin story. I know he has said that he would like to avoid romance by not making female characters, but it's not like the people who ship yellue or grapeduo barge up to his door and demand he makes it canon. They're just peaceful, and everything that you're saying is fanon. For all we know, four different animators could have collabed on the sticksfight website and each animated a different character (not saying that's true, but we don't know).

And even with hollowhead pairs. Alan created them, yes, but how does Creator transfer to father in this scenario? We don't know, because he hasn't confirmed the hollowheads as siblings either. They still get hate on YouTube.

But Tumblr just loves everyone. The AvA community, for example, will always make you feel like you posted something good. They lift you up, not put you down. They appreciate your headcanons because it provides a new way of looking at things.

They appreciate you.

I feel so much better about putting myself out there, and I know I will do so more in the future. I now cannot comprehend how someone can see all of this content and think "they are just stick figures". No they aren't. They are stick figures with trauma, feelings, pain, heroic qualities, fatal flaws.

You, tumblr, makes me feel this way.

Thank you so much.

(I did not expect to rant about my entire journey when I was supposed to be talking about how amazing the AvA tumblr fandom is, but now that I have I'll just keep it. Here's the fic I was talking about)

[snowblossomreads]

Where has Snow been!?

In hibernation! Sort of.

I didn't know if I should post this but if it's on the blog then I must have hit post. Anyways I'm alive even if haven't posted for months. Why is that you asked?

Well Ill put it under a read more in case you want to avoid my bitching and moaning.

Oh hello there, I guess buckle up for a crash out that has zero nuance.

So why I haven't Ive been active?

Burnout, writer's block, life etc etc. I could go on and on but I'm going to keep it 100 with you and be real. I feel like the things I write don't matter. I know the fandom Alan fandom is small, I know everything that is written isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, I get it.

But the lack of interaction on the things I've written 'recently' has really disheartened me and still does especially when I put everything into them. There are handful to a lot of likes, a reblog here or there and a comment once in the blue moon. And the first two are nice but it's the third that I feel like is important. Maybe it's because I don't post every m week or two weeks and it just gets lost. Maybe I suck (jk Im not a professional but I know im not that bad) idk.

It just really hurts because whenever I read peoples stories in the fandom I try to leave comments about how it made me feel whether it be long or short. And I put everything into what I right and get nothing almost.

Of course there are regulars who I love and thank for sticking around but the balance is so skewed towards silence that I just want to quit altogether.

But I'm not. Or I don't think I am.

I still have a lot of stories I want to share and tell. And I know people say write for yourself and I do but if I share it I do want people to say something . I do love when people come into my inbox with silly things and I want to be active again and in the community and gush about Alan characters. But I'm also still trying to grapple with the bitter feelings I have as well.

And maybe after reading this it only makes my problems worse because it's giving entitled. Idk, I just want people to comment more and pop by because as @smilingformoney said once "it feels like i'm screaming into a void".

For the folks who say "Well you should do the same." I did. But when you're no longer having fun you tend to stop doing those things.

Anyways...I like sharing my stories, I like reading others stories. Will I get to them all? No. But I know the ones I get to I want to make sure I share them with others because writing is hard and gets very lonely and we have some lovely writers and creatives around us!

Alright, theres my very messy explanation about where Ive been, sorry if it is 'woe is me'.

Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far lol.😅

I hope to come back with something but until then I hope the stories I have already out in the wild can bring some enjoyment! (And don't be afraid to let me know!)

[arathejedi394]

when i was little i loved playing with my grandmother's jewelry. my mom's mom. she wore clip-on earrings her whole life so I would take her hoops and fake pearls and play princess. i can remember her smiling at me while I wore her pearls. just barely. i don't remember hardly anything from my childhood. that's what dissociative amnesia will do to you.

i don't remember a lot of nice things about my gammy. i could tell I was her least favorite grandchild from an early age. it wasn't just bc I was a girl, either, I have another girl cousin on her side that she doted on. when I lived with her at 18 i was practically her maid and she used to berate me for not being on-call 24/7 or not doing things before she asked me to, for not reading her mind and anticipating her needs before she even thought of them. but I still remember playing dress-up with her and being excited to wear her clip-on earrings. she had clip-on hoop earrings of all sizes. i remember doing a solo ballet performance (barely) and how she applauded. when I wrote my first book she sent it to all her friends. and she kept a photo of me framed in her living room next to all the other kids she was proud of. she was so proud of my writing. she didn't read much of it bc she was old and a lot of my original content was too graphic for her but she was proud of me for it. but i still wasn't her favorite. bottom of the barrel. everytime.

i miss her. i miss both of my grandmothers. mimi wasn't all there at the end and she kept forgetting I came out as trans or gay, gammy... she was mean long before she died. she was mean long before I was born. and before that she was transphobic, she hated my facial hair, I overheard as she consoled her friend about how her lesbian granddaughter was going to hell bc being gay was such a slippery slope, she used the N-word as a verb to mean "interfered with" or something. she wasn't a nice woman. she was sweet as hell on the surface but the second she clocked a person as not pure 100% grade-A WASP she was making judgements and snide comments. when my uncle (family friend tbh like a brother to my mom) said "hey all gays go to hell so at least that's good" she laughed. but she would pet my hair and tell me about how my grandpa would call her kitty bc she'd purr when he petted her hair. and I would purr, bc I loved her, and I loved having her stroke her fragile hand down my hair. and when I hugged her she'd hug me back with her frail arms. i loved how she smelled. her perfume was called amazing grace, which I hate bc that means I'm gonna hafta buy Christian perfume to remember her. her and my mom always smell like safety to me. her smile could light up the marianas trench. i shaved right before she died bc I was seeing my fiance's parents and she thought it was for her and she was so happy. i wish I had been there, clean-shaven, for her to just,,, see her little least favorite granddaughter again.

when she was dying my mother broke down sobbing one night, wailing

"SHE'S NEVER GOING TO DIE I'LL HAVE TO DO THIS FOREVER"

bc she was so worn out from gammy's vitriol. i watched her burst into tears and I mean she wailed. her voice was like a banshee's and her emotions were incredibly potent. she made me cry. she was exhausted and was terrified it would never end. gammy was fucking mean. to everyone. I've seen my mom cry like maybe twice in my life, once bc of a panic attack and once bc I was crying, confessing she'd fucked me up with her parenting skills. I've seen my dad cry more than my mom. and I've only seen him cry a few times either. she went from laughing to weeping in about five seconds. both I and my aunt had bought her wine and we encouraged her to drink it bc she won't let out her emotions, we kept her drinking until she was able to release them. bc she fucking can't any other way. if we hadn't given her the wine she would have never said anything about how she felt. she loved her mom, gammy, and gammy was breaking her heart being mad we took her to the hospital in the first place. and honestly? gammy was a piece of shit bc she let my mom get abused as a child. that's ON TOP of my uncle, gammy's other child, saying nothing.

if my mom was so destraught, how did he feel?

but I miss her. i want her back. gammy was my first hero. i didn't know my other grandmother all that well bc we lived on opposite sides of the country but I saw gammy all the time. for years I tried to earn her praise and it was never enough.

but i don't think i learned my lesson. i think I'm always going to be striving for her acceptance. i don't think I'll ever feel like she loved me the same as my brother or my cousins. I've done seances to talk to mimi and my dead aunt before but gammy's been... dead... for about a month. it's not like I was a practicing witch when my other grandma and aunt died, but I still haven't talked to gammy's spirit.

i have a set of fake pearls from her now. and a pretty pair of clip-on earrings. the pearls are plastic and the earrings are glass but they're worth so much.

my grandma's dead. she's like the first person I remember other than my parents. she's just... gone. she wasn't supposed to die? she was supposed to angrily live to 103 being mad she wasn't dead yet. she's not supposed to be dead now. i was supposed to get another decade with her. she was supposed to see me get my ph.d. it's not fair. she shouldn't have gone. i want her back. i don't care if I was her least favorite she was my grandma. she died a few years ago and they brought her back bc they didn't see her DNR but they didn't bring her back this time and idk how I'm going to deal with it. she's just gone. i can't call her and lie about how I'm living bc she's not there. i can't call her anymore. at all. she's gone. i want so much to tell her I love her again. and I can't. i can't tell her that I love her ever again. i can call up her spirit all I like but that's not the same.. she's gone. i miss her. i miss her. she was my grandma and I miss her so much. i want her back. she can't come back. it's not fair. mimi died suddenly, my aunt died suddenly. like with gammy we knew it was coming but that didn't help. i miss her.

[kindestofkings]

got a book for every situation

ryan mcmahon x reader

reader runs a bookstagram/bookclub but instead of just reading about love, until she meets a certain drummer...

authors note: guys i think i love ryan an unhealthy amount

yourusername

location: london!

liked by bookfan1 and others

yourusername heyy guys sorry I've been kind of quiet on here but I've MOVED egh it's been v scary and hectic even though it was only from Dublin to London. don't worry tho bookstagram will stay alive !

hows everyone doing?! what are yee reading rn?

view 100 comments

bookfan1 wow city girl! I'm reading normal people at the moment :)

yourusername ik shaking things up hehe, also hope you're enjoying the heartbreaking miscommunication ... bookfan1 it is hard out here :(

bookfan2 no way I'm living in london ! lmk if you need any friends here xx

yourusername omg yes! I was thinking of starting a bookclub? thoughts? bookfan2 yes I'd so be down !! bookfan3 me too! I just moved here aswell

bookfan4 currently just buying books and not reading them

yourusername meee, expect I'm now broke from moving so I'm on a self-inflicted book ban 😔😔

ryanmcmahon_15

liked by elijahhewson and others

ryanmcmahon_15 get on your jogging shorts and pick up a brush

view all 83 comments

inhalerfan1 ok artist 🥴

inhalerfan2 your bob ross era omg

yourusername

liked by yourbestie and others

yourusername new city but same old hopeless romantic <3 maybe london will hold a romantic interest ?

also next months bookclub is organised so keep an eye out for my story with the dets 💗

view 70 other comments

bookfan1 yayyy can't wait!!

bookfan2 omg getting closer to a face reveal by the day

yourusername 🤭🤭

yourbestie YOU COULD EASILY HAVE A ROMANTIC INTEREST IF YOU TEXTED THAT GUY ! (also come home I miss your bookclub)

yourusername ughh leave off it ! he was just being nice .. yourbestie oohh yeah he walked up to you at a bar, talked to you for a few and then gave you his number only because he was being nice... mmhmm bookfan2 omg text him what the hell! bookfan3 this is the stuff of books! bookfan2 is he cute?? yourusername ahahha yes. and fineeee I'll text him 😅 terrifying😅

ryanmcmahon_15 added to his story!

location: london!

replies:

bobbyskeetz ehhhhh what do we have here??

joshjennkinson_ IS THAT THE GIRL FROM THE BAR !!!

↳ ryanmcmahon_15 it might me yes 🤭

inhalerfan1 ryannnn okay cheater !

yourusername posted on their story!

location: national gallery!

fear I'm terrible date company, but in my defence there was stuff to read EVERYWHERE

replies:

yourbestie WE DONT CARE ABOUT THE PLAQUE HOW WAS THE DATE !!!!

↳ it was so good, he was the sweetest and really into art and and is really passionate about music and and and he was just really pretty ...

↳ yourbestie omg girlllll you are hung UP

ryanmcmahon_15 great company* lets not lie

↳ ahhh have you not made me blush enough this month !

bookfan1 stop you are slay, he's so lucky for your company !

joshjenkinson_,bobbyskeetz and elijahhewson just followed you!

yourusername

liked by ryanmcmahon_15 and others

yourusername happy 9 months to my pride and joy, our book club <3

your support has meant to me and has supported my reading addiction, big MWAH !

I've met so many new friends, insanely made it onto three publishing houses pr list?!?!? and got a job all through this little bookstagram. you all are the best xx

view all 100 comments

bookfan1 wooow we love a successful queen !

bookfan2 reading is sooo hot and sooo slay

bookfan3 is that a book bouquet? and a pic taken by someone else???

yourusername mwhahah eagled eye youuuu. also HOW cute is the bouquet ! (liked by ryanmcmahon_15)

inhalerfan1 high key why did all the band follow a random bookstagram?

inhalerfan2 shes irish living in london, maybe they're friends from home?? inhalerfan3 but then they'd already follow her tho

yourusername

liked by yourbestie and others

yourusername dating a musician means one thing... associating tunes with books !!!

(also getting your oranges peeled for you 😭😭)

view all 75 comments

yourbestie y'all are adorable, I love <3

bookfan1 he seems so sweet !

ryanmcmahon_15 you forgot forcing people to listen to lana del ray...

yourusername oh yeah !! how could I forget that I'm bettering the lives of others :))) bobbyskeetz he does be humming let the light in constantly. yourusername awhhh too soft for it

inhalerfan1 ooohhh is she dating ryan !?

yourusername

liked by elijahhewson and others

yourusername ugh sick with love, but he reads my favourite books and instead of annotations he paints them 🥹

also tickets for next month's book club are out this sundayyyyy ! Xx

view all 123 comments

inhalerfan1 omg boyfriend ryan is everything

joshjenkinson_ ryan being in his bookworm era has the tour bus kinda quiet

bookfan1 sooo invested in your relationship , also have the alarm set for the tickets !

ryanmcmahon_15

liked by yourusername and others

ryanmcmahon_15 black and white is owned by lewevans btw

view all 88 comments

yourusername being really cool is owned by you btw

joshjenkinson_ 2/3 pics you're reading, yourusername your power is unmatched 🤭

elijahhewson reading era

inhalerfan1 hahaha ugh I love them your honour

lewevans 🖤 🤍

yourusername posted on their story!

gorgeous boy <;3

replies:

ryanmcmahon_15 love you ❤️

↳ LOVE YOU MORE

inhalerfan1 im so so jealous of you

bookfan1 when are you writing a book about your love story ??

↳ hahhaha omg imagine ! dont tempt me..

yourusername

location: new york new york!

liked by ryanmcmahon_15 and others

yourusername yeah my boyfriends pretty cool but he's not as cool as

THE BOOKSTORE THAT I FOUND WHICH SELLS BOOKS AND PICKLES !!!

view all 64 comments

bobbyskeetz meeeee, im a brooklyn babyyyy

yourusername you get me.

yourbestie you are SO cool

bookfan1 wait I need all the details ??

yourusername it was the cutiest little secondhand bookshop in the lower east side of manhattan but they also make their own pickles

the end

what did you think? 😏

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hello! Do you have any advice on how to deal with the fear of bad-faith readers? Thanks to spending too much time online during Covid, my confidence took a huge hit, and now I’m quite worried about random online users discovering my writing and complaining that my writing is not good enough, not diverse enough, not social justicey enough, etc. It’s often made me hesitate a lot during my writing recently, so any advice to deal with this would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Fear of Negative Feedback/Reviews

Three things to keep in mind here:

#1 Reviews and comments aren't feedback. Unless you post your story to a place dedicated to writer feedback or where you're specifically asking for feedback, any commentary or review you receive is not there to educate you. It's either there as thanks and/or flattery, or it's there to let other readers know what to expect. On sites like AO3, for example, unless you specifically ask for concrit, you will probably only get neutral or positive commentary which isn't feedback. If you get negative comments, just ignore them if you didn't ask for them.

#2 Reviews are for readers. Let me say that again...

Reviews are for readers to let other readers know what they liked and didn't like about a book. They are not there for the author's harm or benefit. They're not there to educate the author. They're there for other readers, full stop.

Write the best story you can write, and if you can, utilize feedback tools meant for writers (alpha readers, writing groups, critique partners, sensitivity readers, beta readers, editors...) to ensure your story is everything you want it to be.

If your alpha readers, writing groups, critique partner/s, sensitivity readers, beta readers, or editors have concerns about representation in your story, those are the issues you need to address.

Once your story is out in the world, let it go, especially if negative reviews hurt your confidence and mental health. If you inadvertently do something terrible that blows up, listen, apologize, and take steps to do better next time. That's it.

#3 Everyone isn't going to love your story. All writers get bad reviews. If you expect to receive only glowing praise on every story, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is a beloved classic that has sold an estimated 500 million copies worldwide since it was first published in 1605. Among the reviews on Amazon: "repetitive and frustrating," "book is trash, don't know why it's a classic," "I absolutely hated this book," "silly, lengthy, display of low humor."

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is another beloved classic, and it has sold an estimated 200 million copies worldwide since publication in 1859. Among the reviews on Amazon: "boring as heck," "incomprehensible jibberish," "has significant flaws," "great if you want a nice nap," "way too slow and boring."

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is a classic that is still very popular and beloved today, and has sold an estimated 100 million copies since its publication in 1937. Among the reviews on Amazon: "very slow paced and confusing," "I found it mind-numbingly dull," "the worst piece of writing ever," "zoned out because I was bored."

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is a hugely popular contemporary book that has sold an estimated 80-million copies worldwide since its publication in 2003. Among the reviews on Amazon: "One of the worst, if not THE worst book I've read, ever," "much ado about not much," "couldn't overlook the shallow characters, boring car chases, and general lack of quality," "unnecessary ramblings about scenery," "horribly written, full of cliches."

All stories have people who don't like them. Period.

It's something we have to accept as writers.

As long as we're doing our best to put the best possible stories out there, and as long as we listen and learn when legitimate concerns are brought to our doorstep, we're doing all we can.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[not-poignant]

Hello! I read some of your reposts about importance of comments and that any can be usefull to self evaluation as author. My question - is it weird and uncomfortable if people bring too many personal problems commenting your fics? Like, do you distant yourself out from comments that bring a lot of person's drama, does it feel uplifting in the end, if comment is a lot about reader's not so happy history? Can you still feel joy from that kind of comment?Thanks for unswer if you do.Have a nice day!

Hi anon,

So, this is kind of complex. I would say the vast majority of people don't overshare at all, and when they are sharing from their lives, it's in a way that makes complete sense and is very 'contained.' I can tell they're not expecting emotional labour from me, and that they're sharing because they found a point of resonance between themselves, the story, the situation, or the character/s, or a combination of all of the above.

And like, that's a part of why I write, y'know? I want to strike up that sense of resonance in folks who relate to these characters, so when people share that it has resonated, that's like... purposeful and meaningful to me. I feel like I've made a connection. I also sometimes feel sorrowful - like when someone explains they relate to Efnisien because of abuse they've also experienced, or when someone explains that they relate to a character's chronic illness because of their own.

But I can also generally tell through tone and language that the commenter doesn't expect labour from me, they're speaking their pain into the world in a way that's like 'this is me, and here's this character, and we both share this thing in common.' In a perfect world, none of us would know what this kind of pain is like. In this world, a lot of us do, and we get to feel less alone when we read stories where we feel seen.

And that is, by and large, the general experience when readers share something personal that they resonated with in a comment.

That being said, I do also maintain very strong boundaries with people's personal matters, because I'm not someone who's 'healed and above all my own issues who is sharing what I've learned to people still going through it' I am someone who is still going through it. And often folks have no idea what kind of day I'm having or how I'm feeling when they comment, and so... on the very very rare occasion I do get a comment that feels like it's pushing for some kind of emotional labour that's beyond what I can give... I will not give that labour. I will acknowledge their comment, thank them for reading, and not...give energy I don't have to spare.

And like, honestly, 99 times out of 100, everyone is very respectful of that and even caring towards it.

I can probably count on like two hands, in ten years, the commenters who I felt had become very self-focused or what I felt was over-sharing in comments in a way that sort of...was no longer about me or the story, where they just treated the comment section as a diary instead. In those cases I tend to leave very brief acknowledgements, as a kind of 'I see this, I know this is painful, but this is not my lane, and I don't want this to be my lane.' But a more compassionate version of that.

If anything, the most personal stories, anon, come to me in Asks that are sent via Tumblr, off anonymous, so I can reply privately. These folks are usually very...aware that I might not be in the space to hear them, and are frankly the most 'if you don't have time or energy to reply please don't pressure yourself', so I feel no burden or obligation and that usually makes it easier to reply in my own time.

The ones that come to me via anon, I only reply to selectively, and that depends on a few factors. Some things are extremely personal and frankly I'm not comfortable replying because even if I did it would be to say 'I think a professional needs to handle this.' I've also - very rarely - had a few people do things that were not cool, to manipulate me into caretaking them, usually because they want the comfort feeling that one of my characters creates, and then from there thinks 'Pia made that character so they can give that to me instead.' This doesn't happen often, but it's very distinct when it does.

But that's rare! Super rare!

It might be that others read the comments of folks in fics and think 'I would never share those kinds of details about my life like that' and that's fine for them - but some folks do need to share, and want to feel seen because they felt seen during the fic, and I have no problems with that in general.

I have learned so so much about the human condition, about the fact that things that I thought literally no one would relate to are things that actually a lot of people relate to, etc. through the grace and vulnerability of the folks who comment on my fics with personal anecdotes or even just 'I've been through something like this, and I thought you showed it well / it's a painful thing to go through.'

I know a lot of authors wouldn't have much patience with that maybe? I don't know. I'm literally writing trauma recovery, mental illness and chronic illness, queerness and neurodivergence, and people going through tough times. I don't think an author ends up writing that stuff if they're generally not looking to make a connection with fellow folks who have also gone through some tough times! And even if I can't be those people's support systems, I think all of us having these ephemeral moments of effectively saying: 'Same bro' through the comments, is pretty powerful, and magical, actually.

Caveat: If a person brings personal problems into my fics with the expectation that I will then fix them, that's something I don't really do and don't enter into. That's where my boundaries are firm. Sometimes I won't even acknowledge those kinds of situations at all. If a person reads something for free and then seeks to obligate a complete stranger into being their support or therapist, there's a much bigger issue going on there that isn't my business, and I generally will maintain significant distance in those situations.

TL;DR - I don't think I'd write these stories if I didn't want to make connections with folks who have also gone through some hard times. The vast majority of people who bring up personal stuff aren't necessarily bringing me 'joy' - but I don't just look for joy in the comments, anon, I also look for connection, resonance, moments of feeling less alone, and sometimes that's not easy, but it's still very special. As for the very rare occasions where someone wants me to personally hold their hand, I step back, because a) that's not my job, and b) I don't think folks realise sometimes just how much proverbial hand-holding I need as well lol - I might sound like I have my shit together, but I do not.

[numinously-yours]

Messages from a pet

I've felt like a bad cat mom lately because I've had to manage my time differently and spend a little less with my kitty. I've also introduced my partner's dog into the mix and feel bad that Robbie (my cat) hides in the room when the dog is over. So, last night I did my own reading to see Robbie's perspective on everything happening. After I did that, I thought it'd be nice to do a reading here! A couple turned out to be more advice from your pet, but I think those that came out that way still feel like messages from them :)

Pick the photo that resonates with you most and let me know in the comments your thoughts!

The pet you’re thinking of is 100% a part of your spiritual team, group one. The messages are very insightful and come from a proud energy. Your pile called me to look at chakras for one of the first times and how they relate to tarot suits. Swords relate to the Solar Plexus, Wands relate to the Sacral chakra, and The World relates to the Crown chakra. All three of these chakras, and all three of your cards, refer to personal journeys. The Crown chakra especially is also a very spiritual chakra which is why I believe your pet is on your team. You are either starting a new journey or are about to make it past the hardest part of your current journey. Your pet wants you to how proud they are of you! In times that you doubt your abilities or your place in life, they want to encourage you to look at how far you’ve come. As you reflect, make note of all the strides you’ve made. Also acknowledge the downfalls. This isn’t to remind you that you’ve failed BUT to help you understand what happened so that you can adjust your methods as you need to. As a 3D member of your spirit team, your pet wants you to know that everyone fails, but it doesn’t make you a failure. It only gives you opportunity to become better.

Hi there, twos. Right off the bat, I want to mention that your pet may be a rescue animal and/or the first pet you’ve had on your own. This pet wants you to know you’re doing a great job as a pet parent! They are really content with you and they’re so happy to be at their forever home. They know that you likely didn’t expect the learning curve that they posed, and that there was a rough start to your lives together, but are thankful that you stuck with them. Not only did you help them learn to be a good/well behaved pet, but they can tell how much you’ve learned about being a pet owner. You both also found the unconditional love that you’ve needed. Your pet trusts you and knows they are safe. You love your pet and are starting to believe (actually believe) they’re the companion you have been waiting for. Both of you can rest easy knowing you have each other.

Practicing patience can be hard, group three, but your pet wants you to know you’ll make it through the wait. I am picking up a situation about a new relationship or the yearning for one. Your furry (or scaley) friend has been by your side as you’ve dealt with heartbreak in the past. Now, as you’re looking ahead to your future you are optimistic, but you’re anxious at the same time. You want to know what is going to happen because something HAS to happen, right? Sometimes your optimism feels too good to be true and then you revert to the polar opposite and start thinking it’s NEVER going to happen. Your pet feels your internal struggle (like pet empathy lol) and wants to remind you to take your time. Just as they live their lives by the minute, just going with the flow, they want you to do the same. Slow but steady wins the race, they say. (Okay, this is the second time I pictured a turtle in this reading, I really hope some of you have one!). Investing in yourself, your interests, YOUR greater good is going to bring the long term success you’re looking for – including in relationships. By taking things slow, you have more time to reflect on your needs. By reflecting on your own needs, you can home in on what you really want and need from a relationship. And by homing in on this, your setting yourself up for sustainable success in the future.

[aerithsage]

Moving to Subscriptions: Patreon & Inkitt

Hi everyone!

Yes, I am back. Thank you so much for the warm welcome!

Over the years since I stopped writing, I've never truly stayed away from this world. I still read books, sometimes I wrote the stories in my head and kept them on drafts. Also, I was a ghostwriter for several published books (I cannot say what, sorry!).

Other than those things listed above, I also created a new account on Wattpad and finished an entire book.

The community was chill and nice when I finished that book which made me think maybe the toxic readers from before have truly grown up so I went back to my AerithSage account and started writing again.

And I am 100% back! The love for writing is also back. If there's anything that changed, it's that I monitor the comments section more thoroughly now. I click on every single notification and make sure I don't give the trolls an opportunity.

This time around, I went back with a plan.

For so long, I've kept my completed works free. This time around, I'm trying out subscriptions. I don't really like the coin-based ones as I feel this is more expensive. The subscriptions like Patreon and Inkitt work well because people can subscribe and binge-read.

So here goes:

While I was still debating which platform to choose, and at the same time, setting both up to test out features, 3 people subscribed (2 on Inkitt and 1 on Patreon) and I guess I have to do both this time.

So dear readers, I leave it up to you where you want to subscribe! You can go choose between Inkitt and Patreon.

I understand Inkitt is better for readers in terms of the actual reading interface but Patreon has more features like the polls, ability to upload images, podcasts, and the chapters have graphics!

Here's a sample of how a chapter looks like on Patreon:

Pretty, right? Too bad the reading experience is not as good yet as Inkitt or Wattpad.

THE TIERS:

The Billionaires ($2.99)

This gives you access to all my previously completed works. If you want to just binge-read this is for you!

The Immortals ($4.99)

This gives you access to all my previously COMPLETED and early access to all ONGOING works.

I will still post chapters on Wattpad for Ongoing Books but there will be more advanced chapters on Inkitt / Patreon.

OTHER STUFF:

If you subscribe on Patreon, there's also other features like Polls, Chats, etc. One way I was thinking of using polls is to put on a vote which book gets updated along with my main book.

For example: Right now, my main goal is to finish How to be a Queen so that's my main book. I'll open a poll on which book my subscribers also want to be updated aside from How to be a Queen.

Let's say How to Defy Fate won. I will also then post 1 chapter for How to Defy Fate.

Let me know what you think about this system and if it sounds interesting! I think I can put polls up every 1-2 weeks depending on workload.

**********************************************************************

LINKS:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/aerithsage (Read Online via web or Download the Patreon App)

Inkitt: https://www.inkitt.com/AerithSage (Read Online via web or Download the Inkitt App)

**********************************************************************

Anyway, thank you everyone for reading!

I hope you can support my writing by subscribing. I researched this pretty heavily and I think this is the cheapest option for my subscribers rather than me going by coins which always end up being more expensive.

Also, if you can't subscribe, that is totally fine! As I said previously, ongoing works will still be cross-posted to Wattpad just on a delayed schedule.

Not subscribing is fine but please do not send any hate. Just like you, writers are humans too and we need food to eat and a roof over our heads. Please do not get mad at us for trying to earn something by doing what we love.

Thanks so much for reading this long blog post! If you have any questions, here's where you can reach me:

Facebook Group: AerithSage's Immortals

Facebook Page: AerithSage

Instagram/Threads: @aerithsage

Twitter/X: @aerithsage

Love lots,

AerithSage

[isahorcrux]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you to @kay-elle-cee for tagging me !

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

10, which is wild because I think the last time I was asked this it was only 5.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

109,801 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Exclusively Harry Potter, I can't imagine writing for any other fandom at this point. Within HP, I'm pretty exclusively jily, though I have dabbled in hinny and even some scorose in my early fic writing days.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

some with arrows, some with traps london is lonely laundry day glad he's gone (this genuinely shocked me, but I do love this one so much) love it if we made it

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I usually try to respond to everyone commenting right when the fic or latest chapter drops and I'll keep it up for a couple of weeks, but I often forget to respond if they come in any later. If it's a particularly long comment I will usually respond though, just because I'm so in shock that someone took the time to write something that nice.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hmmm....I mean probably champagne problems (though it's incomplete). This is also my most polarizing fic I think out of everything I've written. I do think i am no mother, i am no bride will eventually usurp the fic with the angstiest ending though. Or my hypothetical remus lupin halloween fic I'm thinking about for this year.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Ooohhh, I mean probably some with arrows, some with traps, right?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. I'd say the closest is people getting angry about how slowly I update certain fics. I'd also say a lot of people REALLY don't like Lily in champagne problems, which I sometimes take personally because I put a lot of myself in her lol.

9. Do you write smut. If so, what kind?

I am terrified to write smut. And I know I'll probably have to write it for something I have planned for a false start, not really sure how that's going to go.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I don't...but I do write the jily version of other pieces of media. Obviously SWA is much ado about nothing, and then I'm working on a Love, Rosie version of Jily for the Jilytober rom-com event right now.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have not, but this would be the highest form of flattery if someone ever asked to translate.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Never, but I'm definitely open to it!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I mean... it's jily, it's gotta be jily.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I mean probably champagne problems. I think the ending I intended works if it's a continuation with the rest of the folklorevermore songs I had planned, but it's quite ambitious and I've lost the steam for the other stories. I'd like to wrap up champagne problems as best I can, but I don't think it'll be the ending anyone wants to read.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, 100%. There's a reason SWA is all texts. I also think my Sirius Black is quite good and also weirdly very consistent across all my fics no matter the world he's living in.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing things...

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

If it was Italian or French I'd take a pass at it since I can speak both, but anything else I'd worry I was majorly mucking it up.

19. First Fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter (specifically scorose)

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I mean, it's some with arrows, some with traps. It's probably my most favorite piece of anything I've ever written. It's also the first fic that wasn't a one shot that I finished. There's a reason I keep coming back to the world with a false start and with a big cake, happy birthday.

This was so fun!

Tagging @oyprongs @emeralddoeadeer @theesteemedladydebourgh @clare-with-no-i if you fancy and anyone else who'd like to give it ago !

[lost-tanuki]

Hello Tanuki! I just wanted to take the time to tell you how much I'm envoying reading GM,L right now. I've discovered it last week and I'm only halfway through but I have such a hard time putting it down because your writing is just that good! I was so intrigued when I read all the tags and I was absolutely hooked when I read the first chapter (that whole override scene with Amanda gave me literal chills and I my heart was beating so fast!)

I honestly think it's the best characterization of Connor's emotional distress and trauma that I've ever read and I'm being 100% serious. Healing is never a stable process and having bad days is part of the journey, and I'm so glad to see your writing reflect every aspect of that. I'm especially enjoying the realistic elements of Connor's relationship with everyone: it's so nice seing him open up to Hank, Markus, Nines and Josh, but I like that he has a hard time with other characters and that not everything is going smoothly with the others (such as North and Simon, for example). It's incredible how much love I can feel into your writing; it only shows that you care about Connor a lot and you've absolutely nailed his personality. Every chapter is an absolute pleasure to read!

I also like how you depicted Markus. I feel like he's not an easy character to write because, in the games, he feels like this perfect pacifist leader that always keeps a cool head and doesn't make mistakes, but the way you chose to show his flaws and how he deals with grief and guilt is incredibly fascinating. Again, you've completely nailed his personality, and his interactions with Connor feel so natural that I can hear their voices inside my head!

Nines is also super interesting: I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but I feel like the fandom likes to depict him as more of a heartless "machine", so it was very refreshing to see his sibling dynamic evolve with Connor throughout the story! I've grown to care so much for him that I always get excited when he's present in a chapter. You've taken what little information the game gives us about the RK900 and made something unique and beautiful with it: that's how talented you are!

I feel like there's a lot of other good things I want to say about your story, but I'll comment the rest on ao3 directly! I still have a lot left to read thankfully (I really don't want this adventure to end), but I wanted to thank you for sharing this fic with us readers. I can't even find the right words to tell you how much I'm enjoying it, so thank you for taking the time to write it and post it on ao3.

I'm really excited about what's going to happen next, so I'm gonna go back to reading it now! I hope you're doing well ❤️

Hi pumpkin, thank you very much for sending me this ask. It was wonderful to read it. And thank you for all the comments you've been leaving on GM,L! I'm sorry I'm not answering, but know that I read them as they show up in my inbox and that I really appreciate that you're leaving them as you read.

I hope that you will continue to enjoy my depiction of these great characters and their relationships. GM,L really was a labor of love, and I'm always very happy to hear that a reader loves it as much as I do. I'm looking forward to when I'll be able to take up writing again like I used to write before.

Have a nice day :)

[imogenleewriter]

8 & 13 for the ask game

8. What kind of document do you use to you write? Microsoft Word? Google Docs? Straight in the AO3 text box?

I used to only use scrivener, but now that I tend to send my fics to people to be read through I tend to use google docs. It also means I can write them on any device. But I honestly prefer scrivener. I still use it to keep all my info in.

13. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Lol. So, here is the thing. Ychiits is the 7th most commented-on fic EVER. Ymaewk is the 22nd and Smfm is the 58th. Given I only started uploading ychiits 7 months ago and the other two are like 3 and 4 months old, it shows that I am blessed enough to get a lot of comments and I LOVE THAT!!! It does also mean that I get a lot of opinions on my writing.

No one has ever been really mean, and no one (surprisingly) has criticised my actual writing (to me), but yeah, I've had a fair few criticisms. If you ever want to see hate, though, read bookmarks; people STILL don't seem to know that unless they're private, everyone can see what you write.

I think if I wasn't so visibly active on social media, there would be more visible hate. Like I know some people on Tumblr didn't like something, but they don't come straight out and say it but I think if I wasn't here, maybe they would? Idk.

It's so tricky to answer because I can be overly sensitive, so it's hard for me to know if things are hate or not. Rationally I know that I could have gotten a lot more overt hate, but at the same time, I have cried multiple times over comments/bookmarks/tweets and things I've stumble upon. But it kind of comes with the territory, you know? At least that's what people tell me when I'm crying, lol.

Actually! Because it's kind of related @enchantedlandcoffee made me this literally a few hours ago for when I need to vent in one of our discord groups (and it's ONLY ever about mean comments!! If you're not being mean, I don't need to vent, I promise!!!) And, on that, shout out all the people in that discord group that have to put up with me going in there every couple of weeks just to cry about comments or mean things I've seen.

Overall, I try to focus on the positive feedback, but it's hard. And then I get angry at myself when I get 100 nice comments and one shitty one and I put so much attention on the shitty one rather than focusing on the nice ones.

But, yeah. That's a me issue and I'd say there have only been a couple of times people set out to hurt my feelings or were aware they were going to hurt my feelings.

Writer Asks.

[farehamflorist]

Was it worth it?

The very words Chris said to me the morning after Valentines Day. In short, my answer to his question was a resounding "No"! This was followed by "absolutely not" before I continued with my usual ranting about how I hate the day, vowing as I (and many other florists over the years) uttered the words I have done for the past twenty years "I'm not doing it next year; I'm going to shut for the week" to which I added "I've already booked the time off on the calendar". I really have too. I did it around lunchtime on the offending day itself. 

On a personal level I don't understand Valentines - never have; even as a teenager I didn't get it. Why would a boy tell me he had a crush on me the same day everyone else was being told? As an adult I understood it even less. I didn't want my partner, fiance, hubby to waste money on me, tell me he loves me, on a day everyone is. If he's going to treat me to flowers, chocolates, a nice meal out or with a nice sparkly diamond, I want him to do it on a random day, or a day which means something to us. 

I understand how back-in-the-day the concept of it started with good intentions and romantic notions, but like so many things these days it has become all about commercialism and money making. The making of money though is mainly for the big corporations, the million/billion companies who are already making enough - you all know my feelings on those companies, the ones who are making their millions off the back of the smaller businesses they screw over. I love competition, always have, always will, but the small, local indepenent shops can't even come close to completing against the million pound companies. Not that I would really want to if I'm being totally honest. 

I have no doubt many, many people went into the supermarkets on the day where they picked up a bunch of roses at a rock bottom price to take home to their loved one. I even sent a few people who came into my shop to a supermarket. One guy was arguing with me that I should have sold him an A grade bouquet of roses for the same price as the bunch he could get in the supermarket. The only way to get him to eventually shut up - why people think it's acceptable to speak to me like I am a piece of dirt stuck to the bottom of their shoe is beyond me - was to show him the price I had paid to my wholesaler that morning. I watched as the colour drained from his face when he realised I was quoting him the exact same price I was paying. "You're being ripped off" he commented, which made such a nice change to being usually told I am ripping customers off. It got me thinking though; are we all being ripped off?

I've always stuck up for the growers at peak period times of year stating that they have to guarantee they can grow a set amount of flowers for a specific date so it's only natural prices will go up. Then you have the demand aspect; the more people who want the same thing, the more the price can be raised. An example of this is an auction, something we are all aware of. If we've not been to one we've probably all watched one of the programs on the BBC at some point. Two people at an action wanting to purchase the same thing. An item may be worth just £10 yet to a couple of people in the auction room it may be worth much more, and so a bidding war begins. The item could eventually sell for £100, or even more. The dutch flower markets work on an auction system, so naturally the prices are going to end up being however much someone is willing to pay for them. For those of you who don't already know it is often Russia who creates the biggest issue to us when it comes to flower prices. I'm not entirely sure how it works but do know their bidding causes our prices to be so much higher than they should be. This leads us back to the grower. They may only want 50p per rose when they send their flowers off to market, but because of the demand and actioning of those roses, they can be getting as much as 1000% more - yes, you read that correctly, one thousand percent more than they need. 

I have always blamed the supermarkets for the price increases in the past, and to that point they still hold some responsibility. They are using their power, their ability to be able to purchase more than the rest of us, to go directly to a grower for their pricings. No business in their right mind is going to turn down a company wanting to buy a million roses from them - or any other flower for that matter. Hmm, off on a quick tangent that's now got me thinking about how the price of lisianthus has risen in the past three years; I'm now paying as much as 300% more than I used to. This has happened at the same time as supermarkets have begun to sell more bunches of them. The same happened when the price of freesia rose drastically - I literally went from paying 15p per stem one day, to 57p the next - and the cost of white lilies increased to us as the supermarkets began to sell more of them. Orchid plants now cost me 30% more than they did a few years ago too. I see a pattern emerging!

Right, back to Valentines. We have a grower with a field of two-million roses. He sells one-million to the supermarkets for the 50p each. The other million end up in the markets where wholesalers throughout europe - and beyond - now have to do battle to purchase those remaining roses, in order to be able to supply their local florists, who in turn want to supply their local customers. The trouble now is can we really afford to supply our local customers? My flower bill one day should have been around £350; it came in at £891. We are not even being given the chance to compete, yet we seem to be the punchbag for customers who believe we are raking it in. The irony when the ones who making the millions are the very ones causing our flower prices to pushed up so high. It's a bit like what is happening in America right now. Trump supporters believing that the higher prices they are paying is down to the Democratic party, when it is in fact down to the very man they have voted for, worship, who is giving more money to the million/billionaires whilst screwing over those who have little. The average person with very little disposable income will go where the products are cheaper, not realising the reason they're cheaper is because other's like them and people like me, working all the hours out there to pay the bills for a our small businesses, are being screwed over. That's not a problem to the person getting the best deal, paying the cheapest amount possible; for now! Eventually though the small business will be out-priced. There were five other florists in Fareham when I first opened my doors here; now there is just one, and the only reason I've been able to hold on so tight is because I have a great landlord, and a Clive.

How do we stop this, how do we halt these billionaires from making even more money? How do we get back to a level playing field? Let's not be fools, the more small businesses that are put out of business, the higher those billionaires can begin to raise their prices. Look at how Amazon are no longer a competitive company, as they once were. In fact often the very same items can be found cheaper elsewhere, but they've put so many small businesses out of business with their cheap pricing structure to begin with, that people automatically log on now out of habit. They lured you in with great deals, which now are not as great as they once were, but we live in a world where people want the easiest option as well. Many people believe google is the internet. It's not, it's just become the go-to browser. Personally I use DuckDuckGo because they have better privacy and don't sell my data to their billionaire friends - look into the owner of google and see what an absolutely charlatan that billionaire is! 

Supermarkets have made it easy to get everything you want under one roof. Amazon has made it easy to purchase the bits-and-pieces the supermarkets don't have. Google gives you access to the web. These companies are all owned by billionaires, people who have got rich from consumers choosing the easy option, but at what cost? Those scam phone calls you get; they come from your supermarket selling your details when you sign up for one of their clubcards. How is it possible a supermarket can sell you a product at 30/40 or 50% less if you sign up to one of their cards when they won't offer the same price to someone who refuses to sign up. They've got to be making that many back somewhere! 

Small businesses, local shops, we don't have that option. What we can offer you though is first-class service. Quality products and the knowlege that if we don't have something you want, we will go out of our way to get it for you. We'll remember you when you walk through the door - yes, I know I often forget your name as I'm getting on a bit now, but I still recognise your face. I'll ask how your family are, how your loved one who had a bug last time I saw you is doing. I'll treat you like you matter, because you do. That doesn't happen when you deal with a faceless company. To them you are just a number. You'll find out just how little you mean if you ever need to contact their customer service! 

In typical 'Sarah' style I have, yet again, gone off on a tangent, yet at the same time it is all connected with how this post started. How do we stop this? How do we level the playing field? How do I go about selling my flowers at a competitive price to my customers? It's quite simple really; I get them to stop being duped into the commercialism that is Valentines Day, and I steer them away from the supermarkets, back into local shops, or ask them to boycott the day completely. Yes, how about that? As Chris said to me after I'd finished ranting about it all "Can you not talk everyone into having them a week later when the prices are a bit more sensible again?". Can I? Would you? Are people willing to give it a go? To ignore the day, to purchase flowers for their loved ones on a different day, a day when they will get far more for their money, or pay a lot less for the same bouquets!

The only way any of us are going to survive this current 'Cost of living crisis' is to make the changes. To think about who we are handing our money over to, and work out at what actual cost is their saving comparing a supermarket to a local shop? The knock-on effect for us all could be the very thing which gets everyone back-on-track. Maybe if the supermarkets weren't screwing over farmers the governement wouldn't have to keep defending them. Maybe if we only bought one item of something we want from a supermarket - if you really must insist on shopping with them - instead of three because of a BOGOF offer, the second and third of which quite often ends up going in a bin (not so much of a good deal after all, eh?). These little things can make a difference to all of us who are not billionaires. Just because I own a business doesn't mean I am raking it in. Quite the opposite in fact. I earn less now than I did as an eighteen-year old, back in 1988! Believe me I truly know what it's like to have no money, to have to watch the pennies, yet since I've gone back to buying local, getting fruit/veggies/meat from farm shops I've actually saved money on my shopping. The products I've bought may have been a little more expensive to begin with but then I've only bought what I need - the taste as well is so noticably different. I'm not being tempted by bright colours and cheap prices. I no longer end up wasting food because I'm only buying what I want, and unlike the supermarkets what I do buy lasts double (if not more) longer so I don't need to purchase so often. It's the same with flowers. Their's may be cheaper but ours will last longer, fill a bigger vase and bring a bigger smile! 

Will I be doing Valentines next year? Nope, and I hope that none of you will either. I'm starting the snowball, right here, right now. Who's going to help me get it rolling? Who's going to join me and turn that tennis size ball into something the size of the Las Vegas dome? Little changes really can make massive differences; to all of us.  

Just for an example. If the bouquet of roses below had been made for Valentines it would have cost the customer £350; that's a cost of 140 - one hundred and forty - percent higher than it cost today! Next week it could possibly be even cheaper still! The same size, the same variety, just a different non-commercial billionaires day!

[clockworkspider]

I can't talk to other people but if you read my fics at all I am giving you blanket permission to engage with my fic even if it's not 100% positive, as long as it is done in good faith.

If you have scathing criticism or witticisms, don't comment, but you're allowed to talk about it on your blog, or in your group chat, where other people can see and engage with your commentary, even if it's possible for me to find it.

I've been thinking about older fandom culture, and how people would do fic reviews and rec lists. And often you get very nuanced mixed reviews on how the writer handled setting and characterization and grammar. This kind of curative experience both bring visibility to writers and help other readers. But more importantly, it keeps people in the habit of 1) engaging with fics, 2) engaging with fic reviews. This keep the language to meaningfully engage with fiction in public consciousness and gives the permission to do so.

I sometimes feel like people are unwilling to talk about my fics (well, fics in general) unless they're paying me compliment. And it feels lonely, actually. I write fanfics cause I have thoughts to share and then everyone just claps in silence or tell me nice things. But like. Did that stir other thoughts in you??

Idk. I wanna see your own headcanons that this fic brought up/touched upon. I wanna see what other ideas this fic inspired in you. When I put a vague symbolism and/or double meaning in a sentence I want to see you dissect what you think it means, even if it's not what I meant. When you feel puzzled or haunted or baffled by a line you can just ask follow-up questions. No. Really. You can reply with questions. "Why did you write that?" I'd love to tell you.

Some writers will not like that. Some writers only want compliments because they made a labour of love. But we cannot began to meaningfully connect with people if we're afraid of offending each other without even trying.

Idk. I should take my own advice. I try. But I can't change the culture and I can't expect others to treat my work the same way.

It's okay to engage with what you're reading.

I see a lot of posts about people worried about engaging with fanfic. They are nervous, worried about offending someone or don't know what is appropriate.

I'm here to tell you to PLEASE engage with fanfic! As long as it's positive, please do it.

Please.

Fanfic is not like social media. You don't have to be scared of showing your appreciation for it. Think of fanfic like a database of content like a library, and less like the feed on your social media that is in (somewhat) backwards chronological order.

Comment on everything you read. Comment on every chapter if you want to. As long as it's positive, comment! You can post a single emoji. You can post a 300 word essay of what you loved. You can write the comment in your first language, even if that's different to the language is written in. It's okay.

Give kudos. Tell the author you want to give more kudos in the comments. It's okay.Reply to your readers. Even if the comment is from a while ago. It's okay.

Subscribe. Tell the author you read the update after you got the email. It's okay.

Bookmark fics. Write comments in your bookmarks. It doesn't matter what you write in your notes. It's okay.

Follow your author on social media. Reblog things, even the things posted ages ago. Ask them questions. It's okay.

It doesn't matter if the fic was posted an hour ago, a week ago, or a decade ago. Time has no meaning. Engagement (again, as long as you keep it positive) is so incredibly welcome and needed.

It's okay.

It's all so incredibly, staggeringly, overwhelmingly okay.

I give you permission to do all of it. Show each other some love and appreciation.

[skinni-girls-eat-books]

Wednesday, February 21st, 2024!

4:13am: Ok I love when I read something online and it actually helps sometimes it just takes a day to find ofc someone, or a whole group/ thread of ppl to relate to. I love the Internet, it helps when you're alone 80% of the time.

Ok so a thread about shame/guilt. But it's a good one bc a lot of the time ppl will post about guilt but then everyone in the comments just yay/nays what they did. This guy never says what he did so it's definitely more applicable to other scenarios and not just a peanut gallery.

Basically, kind of like CBT for intrusive thoughts. Pretending like you're telling someone this story, how would they react? Pretending like ok your worst fear about this case comes true, then what? (Either breaking into my apartment, stealing my cats (idc about other possessions personally but to each their own) or being taken to small claims court I suppose. All of these things, even the worst being the cats being taken away somehow, I know I'll live and life will continue on. Things happen for a reason I 100% believe that nothing happens for no reason. There's a reason this chain of events occurred. Something is telling me God was maybe the one looking for any reason to cut him out of my life. Just have faith in something and you'll always have that something to live for (at a minimum, besides all of the other wonderful things there are to live for).

It happened, I apologized, I offered to help, I made my amends. Could things have gone better? Yes I'll take accountability for that. But also, did he have to threaten my brother twice last week? Absolutely not, and he does not realize how that impacted my decision to be much less cordial, less accommodating, because that would infringe upon my boundaries. I don't want my family to feel uncomfortable, this is a boundary for me now and yk it just doesn't only apply to relationships but also friendships. You were making my brother uncomfortable, there is now a crossed boundary and no shit I'm going to alter my behavior because you act erratically and think your behavior doesn't affect anyone outside of yourself. You are wrong.

The other thing the post says is identifying why you did what you did and how to not do it again. I did what I did because I was scared of you. I'm scared you would make a move on me if we went into that closet together. I'm scared of what would happen if I reject you. I'm scared that you were going to provoke a fight with my brother. I'm scared you're going to take my cats AND this is not irrational because you have given me reason to think you would because they are "in your name". You can't just say that shit to people and expect them not to fucking react to it, you are a shitty person for so many reasons and so many things you've said to me like WITHIN the last month bro, not even like I was holding onto shit you said a long time ago. No this was all recent bullshit you said to me and just thought you could get away with.

Ok so how to avoid this in the future? Don't associate with narcissist assholes who disrespect every person who has ever tried to be nice to them. Don't be friends with assholes. This is literally how I will avoid this moving forward. Don't move in with an asshole who is full of red flags. Ok I feel confident now that this will not happen again. Please feel free to refer back to this post. That's the remedy to this situation, don't get involved with a shitty person, once they show you they are shitty, time is up. Just don't get so entangled with a little bitch coward who is willing to value possessions over people time and time again. You know you're better than him, and there's other better people to be friends with. I actually feel like I can move on after writing this all out. I've learned my lesson time and time again with this one person. Repeated behavior doesn't change. Now if I had been known to destroy people's personal belongings, do you think he would've kept that shit here so long? No because I've never fucking done that before, intentionality or accidentally. So to act like this was some grand scheme of mine, he's just looking for a reason to hate me and dump his negativity onto me. I understand nobody likes getting their shit fucked up, and I apologized, he's too immature for me. I can't control what he does or how he feels, if this is how he chooses to react, my reaction to that is really all that matters! I just gotta do what's best for me.

"Life is 10% what actually happens and 90% how you react to it"

2:10pm: vibing in class, finally caught up with everything after being sick!! :') also sitting here thinking, I think my brother saved my life this weekend ❤️ truly, like how my neighbors saved my life. I love them all. I already feel so much less stress.

5:49pm: (text to speech while driving) I called his grandma and talked to her for an hour :) she told me when she saw that all of the things were wet that she just had to laugh and that she was not mad at me and this is why I love this woman she told him that he still could not be mad at me because of all of the f***** up s*** he did to me and she's right that's how I felt about it too I was like I could have thrown these things in the garbage and she & everybody is surprised that I didn't throw his s*** in the garbage like I what why would I keep the things and just let them get wet makes no sense and everybody knows it doesn't make any f****** sense except for his pea brain girlfriend. I feel better. This is so crazy and she even said that he did not mention anything about it to his grandma because he probably didn't even feel that angry about it and he knows it was an accident but that the grandma heard it from the girlfriend because she wants to run around and tell everyone that I left his stuff in the rain and then he just nods along to that, that's hilarious I feel like it would have been a non-issue except that his girlfriend is just running with it I knew it he doesn't hate me bro I f****** knew it he'll be back I'm going to give him his space because I mean I understand it's still not a nice thing to have happened to you and that's his ego talking, right, that ego that he has to protect by Acting mad or whatever but then once it blows over and nobody is bringing it up AKA she is not bringing it up I'm sure he'll find some reason to freaking text me again about something and then it's just all going to start up again. it's cool it is cool I don't know how long it's going to take but it will happen

Honest to God I'm just glad that Grandma thought it was funny and she's not mad and everybody still hates the gf and everybody thinks she's a snake and that she's fake and that something is morally wrong with her she's such a b**** and nobody likes her his grandma also said that she's working on giving him some type of timeline or ultimatum to move out because why would he still be living there as an adult like it just nobody wants him there AND she said it again she wants them to move in together so that they'll break up like and I keep telling her, you still don't like her?? like it's been literally 5 months they've been together for 5 months and I'm like, the fact that nobody likes each other still, nobody is trying to get to know each other, nobody has tried to make amends and everybody still is petty AF towards each other like that's not what I want to happen but that's what's happening and it has nothing to really do with me now it just has to do with the fact that she's fake as f*** and everybody can tell and he has too big of an ego to admit that he's just f***** up big time and then he just keeps f****** up it's insane the only thing that matters is my opinion about it, God's opinion about it, and his grandma's opinion about it bc she is a saint and she is amazing and I love her and I could talk to her for the whole entire night except I had to go to a meeting and now I'm here. What a relief such a relief I could talk to this woman every single day of the rest of our lives I love her and I mean even his grandpa even asked me like last week, called me randomly and was like when are you coming to town he's so cute I love them both, how can you not? oh wait unless you're a raging b**** 😂 he even mentioned to his grandma how nice it was that I sent him his birth certificate etc in the mail, like he KNOWS this was an accident, he's just being a little bitch for the time being 😂

6:06pm: Long story short, nobody is mad!! Normal people don't get mad about accidents plus everyone else would have thrown it away!! Grandma thought it was funny and still loves me, and he is just protecting his stupid ego 😂 I'm so glad I called her ❤️

P.S. Grandma did not GAF about poor grandpa dying 💀 she said I don't know that man 👀😂 aaaaaaaa I love her sm that's wild. She said the gf is so fake, just puts on this act like she's so innocent and everyone thinks she's just a weird POS. Plus she agreed it's fucked up and if she really cared about her grandpa she wouldn't have left!! I was like wtf?? Jeez so mf fake as helllllll and she's not fooling anyone yuck ick ick. And she STILL looks like a boy 💀 fucking dumbasses 😂