#doesn't mean it's pointless or useless or bad

[definitivelydrivel]

As someone with very very very bad but effectively treated OCD, this. All of this. Though for me, it's more, because pragmatism is the name of the game for me, because morality is subjective enough that the inherent doubt used to eat me alive until I found a new way to look at things.

I used to have this terrible perfectionistic OCD dread about a vague sense that there's some ethereal impossible perfect way of being and doing that I'm always falling short of. It ate my mind and tore apart my life for years till I finally took off the values judgement punishment goggles and started thinking about things more objectively.

And it's funny. Once I stopped trying to moralize every little thought and deed, I started looking at my actions based on a combination of intent and cause and effect. Focus on actions and consequences instead, things got so much better. I wasn't wasting all my time hating myself instead of putting in work to do better.

And that is the thing. Feeling bad because you're obligated to feel bad is useless as penance. It doesn't fix anything, doesn't help anyone, and it actively hurts you. Others too, sometimes.

If feeling bad does fuckall to help improve your outcomes and actions, then fuck it. It's a useless pointless waste of time. If you insist on performing penance then seek absolution in action. Take steps towards habits and actions that align with your values and produce meaningful outcomes instead of torturing yourself needlessly.

Cuz guess what? Torturing yourself needlessly, wallowing in your emotions makes you more of a burden, but the people who love you are already putting up with that. Feeling bad for burdening them doesn't help. So if you feel bad then stop focusing on ot, stop drowning in those bad feelings. Try to accept yourself and your situation and focus on what you can do to do better.

Trying to do better while throwing all your energy into feeling bad is like trying to drive while stomping on the brake. You're just fucking up your car, dude.

I think the bit about thinking about who you want to be is good but for me that means living based on my values. I know what I want and what's important to me. I know my priorities and how I want to treat people, so I try to think about whether my actions and decisions fit my values, because being kind and understanding is one of my most important values and frankly, living up to that is tough but I am always happier living up to my values. There's a satisfaction in it that you just can't get by hounding yourself over every little failing of flaw.

We're human. Flaws come with the territory. Please, if you're stuck in a punitive mindset, please try to make peace with the fact that perfection is impossible, some people will always be shit and we can't fix that. Focus on moving yourself forward instead of tearing yourself and everyone around you down.

It's not a green light to let people hurt you but ffs give yourself and others some empathy.

Every single day people on tumblr say "what if the shit moral OCD tells you was true and living by it was the only way to be a real progressive"

[sga-owns-my-soul]

i have seen SO many post going around about how everything is a video these days and no one needs or wants this and just make the info written down and like. i absolutely understand the sentiment and their frustrations but uhh. as someone who struggles a lot with following just written or verbal instructions and benefits greatly from being able to see what's being done

please stop asking for no video explanations to exist. people think differently than you and saying videos are pointless and unnecessary is kind of exclusionary for people who. need the videos

i'm not saying y'all can't have your written explanations but maybe can we ask for both instead of saying only one form is wanted or necessary?

[renthony]

On "Consuming Content"

Every now and then a post crosses my feed that follows the vein of, "you have to do things other than consume media or else you'll be a dumb person who doesn't know anything about how the real world works and does nothing but pointless fandom stuff."

I hate those posts for three major reasons, not counting the inherent ableism and classism of "you must have approved Smart People hobbies or else you're worthless" rhetoric:

You don't know what people do or talk about outside of what you see on their social media. Responding to fandom communities on a fandom-driven website as if all these people are one-note cardboard cutouts of people is asinine. In many cases this genre of post feels like repackaged 2012 tumblr "not like other girls" and hipster discourse. Yes, yes, you think you're better than everyone else on this website because your hobbies are less mainstream, more morally pure, and have greater intellectual merit, we get it.

What do you even mean by consuming content? As someone who purposely avoids using the phrase "consuming content" because I find the term too vague to be useful, please be more specific. Are you including every single form of media engagement and art enjoyment? Are you just talking about mainstream TV and film? What about novels? Plays and scripts? Nonfiction books and instruction manuals? Do you mean to imply that going to a book club is a worthless non-hobby? Are you including academic reading? Are you including going to the art museum? Going to the theatre, concerts, or other performances? Taped liveshows? Watching sports events on TV? Are you including news media? Are you including YouTube tutorials about how to do various tasks, crafts, or other hobbies? Are you including trade magazines? Are you including industry publications in various fields? What constitutes "content," and what constitutes "consuming" in this discourse? Define it. "Consuming content" is a nothing phrase that people use to mean multiple different things depending on what they, personally, judge as valid media. It's a buzzword at best, and when the same buzzword can be used to describe both "idly scrolling social media" and "reading and discussing a book," it's a meaningless phrase.

As an artist and author, if engaging with media is bad and worthless, am I supposed to conclude that making it is equally worthless? If "consuming content" is a bad, lazy, worthless, fake hobby, what makes creating art a worthwhile pursuit? If I am constantly being told as an artist that engaging with media isn't a worthwhile pursuit in its own right, and the people who want to engage with my art are just brainless fandom losers, what incentive do I have to make that art anymore? Furthermore, to everyone reading this paragraph and thinking, "that's not what content creation is," I refer you to bullet #2: If the phrase "make content" can be used to mean "low-effort posts made to advertise cheap and useless products" as well as "being a novelist" or "getting a gig as a writer on a TV show," it's a meaningless phrase.

None of that is even getting into issues such as the way influencers are preyed on by both brands and targeted harassment from trolls. Influencer culture has major issues, but boiling those issues down to "stupid vapid young people who are too lazy to make real art or get real jobs" (which is a mindset I see frequently online) is unhelpful. So many people pursue influencer deals because they're living in poverty but are skilled at various social media and advertising related tasks, and just like any worker, they're being exploited because they need to eat. Labor rights for influencers are a huge topic that entertainment industry unions have been actively discussing and working toward. (Related links for further info: [x] [x] [x] [x])

"Consuming content is not a hobby" is a worthless statement unless you define what you mean by both "consuming" and "content." Quite frankly, you also need to define "hobby," because if you're putting requirements on what is and isn't allowed to be a "real" hobby, you mostly just seem like you're moving goalposts and defining "worthwhile hobby" as "hobby I, personally, think is good." Use more specific language to articulate your actual problems with the entertainment industry, the art world, influencer culture, or whatever else you're actually upset by.

Media and fandom can involve any number of enriching, satisfying hobbies that take up a perfectly acceptable and healthy space in someone's life. If you aren't into it, go find hobbies you do like and stop policing how other people spend their precious free time in this nightmare hellscape of a world.

[stellocchia]

I absolutely adore the fanon Nightmare Gang found family stuff but... If one of these suckers gets sick they're gonna struggle.

Like, okay, I don't think Nightmare can reasonably get sick. It would make no sense for any virus, bacteria, or parasite to have evolved to survive and thrive in a goop that literally only he posses. He's fine.

But he's also gonna be completely useless when it comes to looking after his team. He would fall for the good old paranoia-inducing mistake of googling the symptoms and finding only death-sentences. And then he's just gonna be miserable and mope until his boys are better.

Killer meanwhile, would logically get sick, but also he would definitely hide it. Like, he was still conditioned by Chara to be a killing machine, no way my guy would just share such a big vulnerability. The others would only find out once he's already in really bad shape and most of the time they wouldn't find out at all.

On the other hand, while I imagine he'd be adept at setting broken bones and the general basic field medicine (again, because of his past he probably had to learn the basics to survive and remain functional), his solution to deal with any actual illness would be "just ignore it until it goes away".

I'm pretty sure Horror is technically already dead, so I don't know if he can get sick... Though I'd say probably? I mean, his body doesn't seem all too different from that of other monsters. Regardless, when sick I say he'd go in full survival mode, build a nest somewhere and be completely unapproachable unless you want your hand chewed off.

On the other hand, being the only one with a living brother and with both of them living in really harsh conditions, he probably has had to handle sickness rather often. Of course, with the lack of resources back in his universe, he mostly had to go for the basics, so his solution is a warm broth and some wet pieces of cloth. At most hot water to disinfect wounds. He's still at least doing something.

Cross is basically like Killer. He doesn't want to appear weak (with a father like his I highly doubt weakness was allowed) so he hides any minor sickness. Though I do think he'd tell, like, Horror if things are getting really bad. If anything, ao he doesn't become a burden for the others during missions.

And, again, much like Killer, I think he definitely would know field medicine. He was trained as a Royal Guard after all, they must have taught him things like that. But actual sickness? Yeah, they probably had medics that handled it when it got too severe. He doesn't know jack shit. His solution is just going to Horror and hoping he's got it handled.

Dust would straight up gaslight himself into thinking he's not sick and that's just his body punishing him for his sins. He literally would not believe it's anything else until someone (again, most likely Horror) pointed it out to him.

And the worst part is that, once he knows, there's no fucking way he'd let anyone treat him for it. That self-loathing fucker would rather suffer through it in some pointless attempt at receiving some form of redemption. He's cooked. Horror would need to tie him to the bed just to force him to get some rest.

So, anyway, this is my propaganda to say let's get at least one Sans who is mentally healthy enough and knowledgeable enough to keep these guys from dying in here.

My vote is for Lust Sans. Just because I love him.

Though someone like Color could also unlock some very fun dynamics. And he may actually get Killer to stop hiding his symptoms like an idiot. And perhaps Cross too. Literally, those guys would lie about getting bit in a zombie apocalypse

[wasteofbandagesxx]

Unwanted

{Fyodor x Reader}

Conent: unhealthy relationship, manipulate, gaslight, toxic, neglect

The relationship was a mistake, something you shouldn't have gotten yourself involved with. Now, here you are, stuck with the devil himself. He could care less about your relationship, too busy with his own shit. You felt useless, honestly. You didn't know why you bothered to stay at his side, you were stuck.

You guys never went out on a date, never had alone time together, nothing. You were well aware of being his puppet, but you couldn't care less. You keep tricking yourself into believing that Fyodor needs you and that he loves you, but your well aware of the truth. You've thought of hurting him so many times, but you could never bring yourself to do it. Fyodor would give you little attention and that was enough for now, it's better than nothing. Even if you had the guts to kill him, you knew he would get to you first. He has his way with things. He's a demon, a very cold hearted man that only cares about one thing in the world and that is to make the world pure. Fyodor himself is the opposite of pure, his twisted beliefs clouding his mind. He'd do anything for the world to be pure, he wouldn't let it burn for something like you.

"Fyodor, wanna go for a walk? You've been staring at those monitors for hours and it's bad for your eyes."

"No thanks, another time. I'll be fine, now run along and do some errands for me."

"Fyodor, I've made dinner. Come eat please."

"I can't, I'm too busy right now."

"Can we cuddle?"

"Cuddle a pillow or something."

"I love you hun."

"Mhm, I know you do."

As much as you tried being affectionate and caring for him, he just pushes you away. He doesn't desire you the way you desire him. He's too busy in his office, typing away ion his computer and chewing on his brittle fingernails. You walk in with a cup of tea, you thought it was needed to sooth him and make him relaxed. "Fyodor, I brought you some tea." You carefully placed it on the desk, away from the monitors so no accidents happen. "Thank you darling, I really needed some tea. I do need you for something so it's a good thing your here." He turns his chair around to face you and pulls out a long list of errands. "I need you to do this for me." He hands it to you and turns back to his monitors, on that list was just nothing but bullshit to you. It's always cooking, getting food, kidnaping, murdering, ect. Sure you agreed to this relationship but never agreed to being a full time house wife. "If I do all this, can we please relax in bed together?"

"No, I'm far to busy. Just get out and do what's on the list." He said firmly, not even taking his eyes away from the screen. You were growing impatient, you were tired of his games and acting like an oblivious little puppet. You threw the paper back on his desk and prepared yourself for another argument. "No." Fyodor stopped typing and turns his chair around again to look at you. "No?" He gives you the look that he knows would intimidate you. "I'm tired of this Fyodor. I'm tired of not being treated like I should be. I'm your partner, I should at least have some respect, and my needs are important too." You slightly raised your voice so you can give a clear message of how tired you are. "Now your acting like a spoiled brat. I provide you food, clothes, a reason to live. I even give you compliments here and there. I took you from the streets and now your complaining about doing too much work? Not only that, but also saying that I don't satisfy your needs. It's not my fault I'm always busy." He wasn't gonna let you win this argument, he knows that standing up to him is pointless. But the man can't help but find it amusing.

"We hardly do what couples do. Whenever I do something for you, you never say thank you, only once in a while you do but the lack of appreciation is unacceptable. The love and care I show means nothing to you. Your calling me a spoiled brat when you can't even appreciate the things I do for you. I only ask for you to help me out with things and give me affection, not brush me off and act like I'm not a person. Like I said before, I have needs too. I-"

"Am I not enough for you?" Hearing that made you stopped talking, you froze from hearing that simple question. "I try my best to take care of you, and as much as I want to give you affection, I'm busy. What I do is for you, all my hard work is not only for the world but for you too. I work day and night to achieve my goal, our goal. It doesn't help that your whining about your own needs not being satisfied and it sounds like my effort is for nothing. You make me feel worthless, wasting my time with work means nothing to you. Is all my hard work not enough for you? Am I not enough for you?"

You wanted to bitch slap him but your body was frozen in fear and guilt. You start to think if standing up to him was a good idea. He was getting under his skin, there was no way you could win this argument. "That's not-"

"Your hurting me, love. All my love and work is unwanted. I do everything for you, you do everything for me. I don't see why there's a reason to complain. Maybe you should stop being selfish and go do what you were told to do."

Hearing all those things impacted you alot. Tears welling up in your eyes, you didn't want him to see you cry so you tilt ur head down so ur face is covered by your hair. There was no point in arguing anymore, the guilt was eating you alive. "I'm sorry..." You apologized, was cracked as you try hard not to cry. Fyodor felt no guilt what so ever. "Aww, come here darling..." You looked at him in shock as the man you love opened his arms. You got close to him and accepted his embrace. He hugs you tightly, as if you were going to fade away. He tries comforting you, his sympathy fake as always. "It's alright darling. You've done a lot and your probably tired from the work you have to do. I shouldn't be so hard on you. I'm sorry love." He gently pets your hair and whispers sweet nothing into your ear.

He knew that if the argument were to continue, you would break up with him and try to leave. He couldn't have that, you know too much. He can't have his little doll running loose and snitching on him about his plans. He realized he needed to satisfy your needs in order for you to stay. You were too useful to him. You are wanted, but the same time not. "I love you dear. You know that, right?" You let out a quiet whine and shook your head, answering his question.

You were just giving up at this point. Everytime this monster would manipulate and gaslight you to put you in your place. The last time you tried standing up to him, it didn't end well. That's why you gave up so easily. You felt useless. You knew you were wanted, but not in a loving way. You were always unwanted. "I love you dear."

"I love you too."

[topazadine]

Extremely controversial writing opinions that will make you mad (but I'm going to say them anyway)

I don't know why but I am in the mood to be pilloried. Before I start, I will show you a picture of my dog so you realize I'm not a heartless monster.

Anyway, obviously this is just my opinion and you are perfectly free to disagree.

None of this is some hard-and-fast rule or even a universal truth.

It is just my opinion as someone who has 15 years of experience, has written about 2 million words, has an English degree, tutored dozens of students, etc etc etc.

Even if it seems like I am universalizing, I am not. Take what you like and leave the rest. Ignore it all if you want. That's your right.

Here we go. Please, don't throw your tomatoes until the end of the post. It distracts me.

Your first book probably sucks (with caveats).

Ideas are pointless if you don't do anything with them.

You are not a writer unless you consistently write.

Making moodboards, playlists, etc, before you have started the project is a form of procrastination.

No one cares about your idea as much as you do and never will.

Most people in your life will not care about your book.

A lot of peoples' opinions about writing are useless to you.

You need to develop healthy self-esteem if you want to be a good writer.

You also need to be humble and have a beginner's mindset forever.

Being mentally ill doesn't make you a better writer. It just means you're mentally ill.

Your real actual life matters more than your writing.

You will burn out if you don't have other hobbies.

Okay, okay, let's make you hate me.

Your first book probably sucks (with caveats).

If this is your first ever long project in writing, it is likely not going to be publishable (or, perhaps, even readable). It takes years, sometimes decades, to learn how to write well.

Do not think that because you have one singular idea and have slapped a book together that you can publish it to widespread acclaim. People who do this are deeply overestimating the quality of their work, seeing it through rose-tinted glasses.

One of my first long-form writing projects as sort of an adult was utter garbage. You can read it if you want; it's a BBC Sherlock fanfic. And it's fucking awful. I had written a lot of smaller things before this, but nothing to this scale. That much is quite obvious.

I'm grateful I started my journey writing fanfic, because otherwise I would have thought this was brilliant life-changing stuff.

In fact, I actually put together a copy of all my Sherlock fanfics called 11 Ways of Playing a Stradivarius that is probably floating around somewhere on the internet (though it got smacked down for copyright infringement eventually, because I was stupid). It sold absolutely zero copies, and rightly so. It's bad.

And that is okay. Shitty writing is par for the course when you are learning. It doesn't mean you'll never be good. It just means you're not there yet.

I have, to my great relief, improved immeasurably over the years, to the point where I have felt confident selling my work for real human money. You can purchase the culmination of that hard work right this instant, if you so choose. Should you do so, I am certain you will see exactly how much I've grown as a writer.

Ideas are pointless if you don't do anything with them.

I know I have said this before but I just need to drill it into your heads. Your idea means nothing unless you actually write the damn thing.

Millions of people have story ideas. Most of them will never do anything with those ideas. At best, they'll daydream about it but make up a billion excuses why they can't. At second-worst, they will badger actual writers to do the idea for them.

At worst worst, they will use AI to do it for them and call it a day. And we will all hate them for it.

You do not need to be protective of your idea or hide it, because someone has already thought of it and then made excuses as to why they can't be bothered to execute it. You have to be the one who doesn't fall into the trap and does the damn thing.

Look, I'll give you all the story ideas I have if you want. I don't care. In fact, I share them frequently and encourage others to give it a shot if they want to.

I'm not hiding any ideas because I know you will not do it exactly as I will. My voice is unique and it doesn't matter if there are dozens of people with the same idea: my story will be mine, and no one else's.

You are not a writer unless you consistently write.

This doesn't mean writing for five hours every day, or even doing 100 words every day. When I get to the tail end of the project, I tend to start slowing down because I have to think more critically about how to tie everything together. During the active drafting phase, I might do 2,000 words per day, but things ease up at the end, both because I'm sad that this phase is almost over and because I don't have much left to do.

But you don't get to call yourself a writer if you write like 100 words a month and spend the rest of the time doing moodboards and talking about your ideas. Whatever your rhythm, you need to stick with it and develop discipline, or you just have an idea and nothing else.

Making moodboards, playlists, etc, before you have started the project is a form of procrastination.

Note I said before you have really gotten into the meat of your project. Moodboards are a great way to promo your project and get peoples' attention, because visuals are more interesting than a wall of text. (That's why I start these kinds of posts with a picture.)

Oh, there's another one!

The thing is that a lot of would-be writers get trapped by the "oh this is research, this is plotting, this is giving me ideas, this is inspo." It's not. It's visual daydreaming and nothing more.

Any time that I have done a moodboard before starting a story, I give up on that story, because then I feel like I've done most of the work when I categorically have not. When I do moodboards once I get to the halfway point, I'm already in the home stretch and have no reason to stop. When I do a moodboard after I am already done and in the revision stage, then I'm good to go and building hype for my project.

Do not waste your time doing moodboards and playlists and visuals before you do the real stuff: worldbuilding, plotting, hammering out characterization. Get started before you start playing around with pretty pictures because it's not really getting you anywhere.

No one cares about your idea as much as you do and never will.

This is pretty self-explanatory so I won't expound too much. Your writing is the most important thing to you, but everyone else has their own stuff going on. If you're building hype with other writers, they have their own projects and are not going to be your free promotional team. They want your attention for their stuff, not yours.

Most people in your life will not really care about your book.

Again, everyone's got their own things going on. Also, most non-writers don't really understand how difficult it is to write a whole book. They are consumers and see the finished project; it's content to them. They care about you, to be sure, but your book doesn't really click as a big accomplishment because they're not familiar with the process.

You may notice, and seethe slightly, that relatively mundane things like weddings, graduations, and baby announcements will get WAY more attention than your book. A friend showing their ultrasound pic will get dozens of likes and comments and congratulations, while like 1 person will say "good job!" when you announce your book.

This is because these kinds of announcements are more relatable to the average person. They may have gotten married, or graduated, or had a baby (and of course probably know dozens of people who have) so they are aware of the challenges and joys.

Unless you are friends with exclusively other writers, your achievement is abstract, and your friends can't really sympathize. Your book is just a way to pass some time.

A lot of peoples' opinions about writing are useless to you.

I do not really like getting beta readers from places like r/betareaders because I have no idea how much that person actually knows about writing. Being able to visualize and suggest ways forward requires an understanding of the craft, but many people think that because they like to read, they know how to critique, when they are completely different skills.

Yes, unknowledgeable beta readers can give you a "man on the street" perspective of your book, but they tend to forget that beta readers are meant to help you fix your book as it is. Not turn it into something they personally would enjoy reading if they are not the target audience.

This requires recognizing audience and putting aside one's own preferences to focus on how the book would come across to an imagined ideal reader. Not everyone can do this. Actually, most people can't.

Some of the dumbest comments I've gotten about my work are from people who want to wrest control away from me and make it their preferred genre/plot/etc. These are useless suggestions.

Wonderful beta readers help to enhance your story, and they are golden. Instead of demanding you do something different, they offer their honest reactions of the work as it is and suggest opportunities to enrich the writing, tweak it, deepen the characterization, and so on.

Helpful beta readers are typically other writers regardless of their specific writing level. Newbie writers can be an excellent resource! And you're helping them, too: they will see your mistakes and know what not to do, and they can learn from your strengths. It's a positive experience all around.

Writers must come to understand what is good advice and what is not. Essentially, anyone who suggests things that are completely out of left field and totally unrelated to what you're trying to do is giving bad advice, and you should ignore them.

You need to develop healthy self-esteem if you want to be a good writer.

When you constantly put yourself down, complain about how bad your first draft is, say you have no idea what you're doing, and insist that no one will ever enjoy your work, guess what: you're right.

But you're right because you're essentially telling other people that your work sucks and they should not give it a chance. What you say about your writing will influence how readers interact with your work. You are priming them to dislike your writing and telling them what to think.

Imposter syndrome strikes all of us at times, but you need to push through it. One of the best ways to do so is to just continue writing. Keep going. Soon enough, you will develop experience, and experience will create confidence, and that confidence will shine through in your work.

When you consider saying something self-deprecating about your work, stop. You're going to make it come true.

You also need to be humble and have a beginner's mindset forever.

Doing so means understanding the difference between being self-deprecating and being humble.

Self-deprecation is when someone says your work is great and you immediately go "oh you're saying that to be nice, it's awful, I hate it."

Humility is when someone says your work is great and you go "Thank you!" and leave it at that.

You're not gloating or bragging by saying thank you, but you're also not cutting yourself off at the knees and making people uncomfortable by self-flagellating.

Honestly, the best thing you can ever say when you get a compliment about anything, including your writing, is just "thank you." Nothing else. Maybe an "I appreciate it" or "I'm glad you think so!" You don't need to go into detail.

But humility also means acknowledging that no matter how long you have been writing, there is always something you can do better. You will always be learning and making mistakes. Thinking you've peaked is when your writing gets stale and boring.

I have been learning rock climbing, and one of my favorite things to do is to watch pro climbers critique their own technique. They're not self-deprecating or saying they're horrible, but they're also not claiming they are perfect and can never do anything better.

Magnus Midtbø is incredible because even though he is a truly masterful climber, he posts a lot about his fails or when other climbers make him eat shit. This is an amazing video of him getting wrecked by an Olympic climber and taking it on the chin! He doesn't whine about how bad he is, he's just like "hmm, yeah, I can see where I screwed up, I'm so glad that I got to watch you climb, this is an honor."

That is the perfect blend of confidence and humility. He knows he can improve, but he doesn't deride his own skill. This is the mindset you need as a writer.

Being mentally ill doesn't make you a better writer. It just means you're mentally ill.

Anyone can be a good writer. Mental illness does not give you a super-secret advantage. It actually puts you at a disadvantage because your brain is expending so much energy staying stable that it does not have the same capacity as other people.

Fix your mental health issues instead of using them as a crutch or deluding yourself into believing they make you special. Like half of the population will develop some type of mental illness during their lifetime, and insisting that you need your mental illness to write is trapping you by making you not want to get help.

I have severe bipolar. This does not necessarily make me a great writer. In fact, it can make my writing suck ass if I am not stable. And no, you are not somehow exempt from having consequences for refusing to take care of your mental health. I promise you that you will be a better writer when you have sorted out your mental health issues.

Your real actual life matters more than your writing.

This is related to the above point. Your mental health, your stability, your social circle are all crucial elements of being a good, productive writer, and you can't ignore them in favor of suffering for your art.

The quality of my work has skyrocketed at two significant points in my life: once when I got out of a relationship that was hurting me and once when I ditched a toxic friend. The first one was when I started writing fanfic again, and the second was when I finally began The Eirenic Verses.

I would not have written 2 million words if I still had those nasty influences in my life, and I would not be living my best life. I likely never would have found my favorite hobbies and started going to therapy if I was still trapped in those negative cycles. Attending to my real-life problems both enhanced my writing and made me a better, more likeable, more functional person. I expect you will find the same thing.

You will burn out if you don't have other hobbies.

Hobbies. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have other hobbies that have nothing to do with writing. Yes, it means you have less time to write, but it also means that when you do sit down and write, you have better focus because you've fulfilled your other needs.

I picked up horseback riding again in February of this year and go once a week. I can't stress enough how good this has been for my writing and for my overall well-being. I have pretty bad agoraphobia, but since I started riding again, I have been less scared of leaving the house and less worried about what people think about me. My world has become larger and friendlier.

Now I'm doing rock climbing too. The physical and mental stimulation helps me focus better when I write, and I get way more done in less time. Plus, the quality of that writing is better because I'm getting more bloodflow into my brain and nourishing the tissues. There's also the fact that when I do have time to write, I'm not burned out and frustrated because all I've been doing all day is writing.

I look forward to my writing sessions more because they feel like a treat, and I have gotten a self-esteem boost by doing well in the gym. I am happier, calmer, and sleeping better due to the exercise.

Well-adjusted humans need social outlets, physical movement, a strong support network, good nutrition, and opportunities to relax. Our horrible capitalist system makes it very hard to balance all of these, but you must at least try.

Your hobbies don't need to be expensive. It can be something as simple as drawing, or going for a long nature walk, or learning origami, or buying a used camera and learning photography. Go to your local library and take a free course! Join a cheap gym and go a few times a week. Teach yourself something using YouTube. Buy secondhand equipment on Craigslist. There are so many affordable options.

Again, caring for your overall well-being is a true godsend when it comes to writing. Having something else to fulfill you will help you push through those hard days when nothing is coming to you, and it offers your brain a break from plotting, writing, revising, etc.

So that's it. If you read this to the very end, you're quite the gem; I know this was excruciatingly long. And mean.

Since you're here, maybe you will consider purchasing my debut novel, which was written by applying all these tips. (And not using AI - fuck off, NaNoWriMo.)

9 Years Yearning is a coming-of-age gay romance set in a fantasy world with poetry magic. It follows two young men as they grow from sorta-enemies, to frenemies, to friends, and finally to lovers.

If you do read it, please don't forget to leave a review!

Even if it's mean. Don't worry, I won't be mad. Reviews are essential to getting visibility on Amazon, so every single one is golden to me.

[rayday-mayday]

You know, I find it odd that people on TikTok use that censored language as much as they do.

Personally, when I comment, I can say things like "sex"/"sexuality," "porn," "kill," "rape," etc just fine and still get the usual amount of engagement/not receive any type of warning. Sure, the censorship is there based on the hidden comments feature, but it's flaky at best, ( and really odd cuz I've seen comments like "Hot" be censored, ) so the prominent word censorship culture on there is just really useless half of the time.

I've also seen this one specific creator reading the takes of pro-lifers, and she doesn't censor the words used either. I see her content just fine, even if she says shit like "rape"/"raped" multiple times. Not sure if her engagement takes a hit for it or if she gets warnings, but the content is still viewable to me, and I've seen her multiple times on my FYP ( as recent as just a day or so ago. ) Though do note that censorship is a lot harsher on creators from what I've seen, so I can give them leeway in some cases.

I guess it's a linguistic thing where a word over time changes meaning due to the original one being "bad," so people find a "less bad" word to replace it with until that new word also becomes "bad." But either way, it's annoying as fuck and pretty much pointless.

[wannaeatramyeon]

Reader telling off and piquing Sammy’s interest pls

Roll up roll up, time for Samuel's degradation hours. Er... so you know how I said I don't really do NSFW? This is a little steamy. Just a touch. A tad.

This is the first time I've even tried to write NSFW, IT ALL JUST CAME OUT (that's what she said). I am so so sorry if this is completely off the mark of what you asked!

Samuel Seo x Reader: Degradation

A little NSFW

You've been a thorn in Samuel's side for the last couple months. A VVIP along with strict instructions from Eugene to show the best Worker's hospitality.

Too bad you are at each other's throat from the moment you walk in.

"This thug is the president?"

Samuel wears one of his closed-eye smiles, especially prepared for the likes of someone like you. He lets your words wash over him, "All the better to look after you while on Worker's grounds, Y/N."

"Y/N? A bit familiar are we?"

"Sorry ma'am," he forces himself to bow.

.

.

Samuel dismisses you as another worthless rich daddy's girl, fed full with silver spoonfuls of nepotism.

"This is what you do all the time? Pointless meetings and admin?"

"That's how C-suites at my level operate. Maybe this is useful work experience for you." He eyes you lying lazily on his office sofa. He can't find any errors with his initial judgement of you.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that it might be useful for you to see how the way of the world works "

.

.

As the weeks fly by, your distaste for each other only grows.

"The president of the affiliates following me around like a dog. Don't you have anything better to do?" You round on him in a quiet corridor, digging your nail into his chest.

Samuel grabs a hold of your hand, "I only babysit those that are unable to take care of themselves."

Your face is inches away from his, "How dare you speak to me that way."

Samuel leans in close, murmuring in your ear, "I will speak to you however I want."

"I can't believe Eugene has partnered me with someone as useless as you,"

Samuel lowers himself to look you straight in the eye and baring his fangs, "Maybe you haven't shown your usefulness."

.

.

Each run in with you leaves him more and more heated.

Sometimes at night, Samuel would dream of ways to shut you up. Your mouth only screaming streams of unintelligble words and moans as he uses and abuses you.

In reality or fantasies, the way you look at him stays the same. Eyes full of revulsion and loathing. He prefers it that way.

.

.

You are exceptionally vexing and distracting one evening. Taking up your usual position, lounging on the office sofa as he works towards a deadline behind the desk.

You could have left a while ago, but something about making Samuel's life harder spurs you on.

"Enough, Y/N." Samuel has heard enough of your garbage. "I hear you need Workers as much as we need you."

"Excuse me?"

"So why don't you be a good little girl and behave."

Samuel watches you out of the corner of his eye, striding towards him with purpose. You slam your hands down on either side of his chair.

"Would you like to check your previous statement with Eugene? Because we sure don't need your little company."

"That's not what my sources-"

"I don't care what your sources say. If I walk away now, you and the whole of Workers is fucked."

Shit.

"You should really do your due diligence." He doesn't respond. You know you've got him against the wall.

You lean close.

"You can't touch a hair on my pretty little head, President Seo." You have never addressed him this way before, but fuck if Samuel doesn't feel his body flush at how the words sound coming out of you.

"You can't touch me at all." Samuel's eyes flicker down to your lips.

"And I can do whatever I want." You don't miss the way his eyes rove all over you. You think of a new way to domesticate this wild dog.

"Do you feel like a big man walking around as president? With all these little ants below you?" Samuel feels himself being pulled forward as you twirl his tie around your finger.

Usually he would stop this, but tonight he finds you aggravating, maddening, intoxicating.

"Did you pick out your glasses and style your hair and wear that cologne to impress everyone around you?" His adam's apple bobs as you inhale deeply from his neck, lips almost touching.

"To show how beneath you everyone is?" Feeling the ghost of your breath sends a thrill down Samuel's spine.

"Mr. President, I don't need any of that to show my power." Your tongue darts out for a taste as he releases a shaky breath.

"Let me guess, you rose up from nothing." You walk your talons along his inner thighs, feeling the muscles twitch underneath.

"You made it here and think you can go further." Your hands finally find what they are looking for. You grab onto his hardened length and squeeze.

Samuel represses a whimper, biting his lip to stop any sounds from leaking out. This is humiliating enough as it is. But he is powerless to stop your onslaught.

"You think you have that little badge and meaningless title, and you can speak to me like an equal." Samuel starts to pant as you take his earlobe between your teeth.

Your hand is relentless. You are not gentle.

"You are insignificant. The definition of mediocrity. Pathetic." Fuck. Samuel looks at you with anger and hostility. Never in his fantasies did he think the roles would be reversed, and so goddamn exhilarating. He can't bring himself to make you stop.

"Playing dress up and pretending to be a man?" You backhand him, knocking his glasses askew. Complete desire clouds his eyes.

"When really you're just a disgusting little boy?" Your hand moves even quicker, gripping harder, and Samuel feels his body tense as he draws closer to release.

"Who can barely keep themselves together in the presence of a woman?" You give him another harsh slap, and the cool air stings his cheek.

Finally, he allows himself to groan. Your name slips out unbidden between his lips.

"You will only do as I say, move as I say, think as I say." You suddenly remove your hands and Samuel barely stops himself from whimpering at the loss of friction.

"I own you, and everything around you."

You roughly grab his face, forcing him to refocus on you.

"Now come for me."

Samuel eyes widen equally in pleasure and horror.

The realisation sinks in a split second before anything happens, but there's nothing he can do to stop himself reacting to your words.

You silence his groans with a kiss as he comes undone.

[compassionatereminders]

Have you ever felt like you don't exist? And I don't mean "I feel ignored,I feel lonely"

I can't word it good enough so this is from google:

"Depersonalization-derealization disorder occurs when you always or often feel that you're seeing yourself from outside your body or you sense that things around you are not real — or both. Feelings of depersonalization and derealization can be very disturbing."

I FELT LIKE THIS EVER SINCE I CAN REMEMBER. Even at age 6, 7... I can't remember how I felt before that age but it's so... weird, such an odd feeling. It's like life is not happening to me.

I KNOW I AM REAL. But I don't feel like I'm real. It doesn't make sense really.

And I keep waiting and waiting till I'll feel the feeling I'm alive but it never happens. It's like I'm not real. My dreams sometimes feel more real than my real life... but I know what reality is so it's not like I don't know just I don't feel that...

And I'm sad because one day I will die yet I never felt alive... which makes me think my life is pointless and I'm useless.

And it saddens me because I will most likely never experience a feeling of being real. I want to know how it feels like. But I also don't want to go to shrink and be on medications (if there are even medications for that). It also says online that no medicine has been proven to effectively treat depersonalization-derealization disorder.

I feel like I'm depressed too but not depressed like people who are truly very depressed.

I have dealt with this in some capacity, yes, although not to this degree. And one thing I know about which has helped others through similar experiences is to stop asking yourself "is this real?"/try to stop obsessing over whether it FEELS real and instead turn you focus onto whether something feels good or bad, is constructive or harmful, entertaining or boring, etc. Because as someone else on tumblr once put it: "Even a fake milkshake can taste good!"

[jedi-enthusiast]

My Thoughts on Episode 3

...I'm gonna be honest, I do not have high hopes for this episode from how many of the people I follow have been going on angry rants about it.

Here we go, I guess.

----------

Well, at least now there's one acknowledgement that Sabine is Mandalorian.

----------

"Learning to wield the Force takes a deeper commitment."

...I swear to god, I really hope they're taking the "Sabine's just a little Force sensitive" route, because is Felony is actually trying to imply that anyone could be Force-sensitive if they just "tried harder" then I'm going to fucking scream.

If anyone can be Force sensitive, why hasn't everyone tried? What was the point of Order 66 and why were the survivors of it so important? Why the fuck didn't some random person just turn into a Jedi and take out the Emperor, why did they have to wait for Luke?

It just...it ruins literally the entire franchise and makes everything pointless and meaningless, if that's what Felony is actually saying here.

----------

I've never been more bored in my life than watching this sequence.

----------

*long sigh at calling Sabine a Jedi*

----------

Y'know, this would've been a perfect time for Jacen to just say- "I want to be a Jedi, like dad!"

Like, are we just supposed to forget that Kanan existed at all??? Not even a name drop???

----------

"I can't use the Force, I can't feel it...not like you do."

Great, that's just great.

So Felony's going the- "just try harder and anyone can be a Jedi!" -method, that's...just...

*UNHINGED ANGRY SCREAMING*

"The Force resides in all living things. Even you."

Yes, Ahsoka, because it's the literal life-blood of everything, but that doesn't fucking mean that anyone can use it. That's why there's a section of the population called Force-sensitives, because they're sensitive to the Force and can therefore use it.

If everyone had that capability, then that classification is useless and also---again---this calls the entire fucking Star Wars franchise into question and makes the entire thing meaningless!

"If that's true then why doesn't everyone use it?" "Talent is a factor."

No, sensitivity to it is a factor.

God, I'm not even 15 minutes in and I'm already so fucking pissed.

----------

"The Jedi Order would not have accepted her, she is not an acceptable candidate." "By their standards."

Yes, Ahsoka, by their very strict standards that are-

YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING FORCE-SENSITIVE, FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!

"Standards that were proven over a millennium." "And failed."

No, they didn't fail---the Jedi Order was very successful and helped spread good all across the galaxy until your shit asshole master fucking massacred them and then spent the rest of his shitty miserable life desecrating their culture.

I legit fucking hate Ahsoka now.

Like, I really do.

TCW was the only show that actually made me like her, and honestly I can't fucking stand her now.

----------

So Sabine and Ahsoka are bashing on Huyang for...following protocol so they aren't noticed by their enemies and/or other hostiles?

Seriously?

Do they want to get caught or give Morgan time to escape, if they're found out?

...

Fuck it, I'm rooting for the villains to win for once---I hope they kick Ahsoka and Sabine's asses, kill or capture them, and leave Huyang to go help Luke rebuild the Order.

Huyang deserves to be appreciated and he should be somewhere where he, and his knowledge of the Jedi, is---not with a couple of jackasses who'll harp on him for even the smallest thing, even if it helps them.

----------

PURRGILS!!! MY BABIES!!!

----------

Oh, so now they'll follow "standard Jedi protocol" when it's convenient for them? After just bashing Huyang for it? And bashing him for it the whole show?

Wow.

I don't think I've ever wanted to fucking deck a character this bad since Anakin---it's kind of ironic that it's Anakin's padawan that's making me feel this way, though.

Huyang deserves better.

[clonehub]

I don't think journalists and earlier viewers hyping up the whole season helped things tbh. The writing for all of S3 was still lackluster all around. The characters still don't feel emotionally developed. Crosshair's "redemption" is missing pieces and I don't think "I left the empire because they weren't loyal to ME" shows growth at all. Was the Empire's violence against Innocents -- including violence they made you committ -- not also a factor? Why? Assajj ventress's episode was...pointless? If we take it out how much do we really lose?

If both assajj and fennec can find the bad batch and the empire was able to find the bad batch why would they go back to Pabu? Why not try and leave the first time they were warned? I get project necromancer is done now but do the batch know that? The left right before Tarkin showed up. Why did Rampart think simply downloading the project necromancer stuff would be enough to blackmail the empire into rehiring him??? The EMPIRE. Why didn't hemlock just kill rampart? Why did they hold onto Nala se if she was useless and had also been tampering with the project?

What was the point in making Emerie a clone? She could have said and done everything she said and did and been a regular woman. It's not like being a clone gave her any particular advantages or disadvantages. She was just There.

They did nothing with wrecker. He's a weapons and demo expert who uses blasters and fights monsters more than he displays his knowledge of bombs and weaponry. He didn't get the time or attention that literally every other character got. This team of mercenaries still doesn't feel like a team to me. They're too stoic and too detached and the writers never go far enough with the themes or messages they want the audience to pick up.

They freed a bunch of regular clones but many if not most of them died to try and help free the bad batch. I'm not sure how many even get named, if any. Omega was the only one to consistently care about them. It's like any clone that appears has to work in service of the bad batch.

Clone CX2 ended up not really meaning anything. At first I thought maybe I misread the signs and he was just meant to be a watery look at what crosshair could have been, but even casual viewers are saying they feel baited. I definitely thought there'd be a reveal. If it's meant to be a crosshair parallel, not done well. If it's meant to just be a cool mysterious guy, not done well. If there was actually supposed to be a big reveal, not done well.

Underwritten and underdeveloped through to the end. The finale felt like a long episode that could have fit in with any other season, besides crosshair's misgivings about really being a team or being able to go into Tantiss (which also felt out of place to me).

[skayafair]

The thing about Hilbert that doesn't let me move on from this character is The Uselessness/Pointlessness and everything it brings into the picture. Because it was his end, but it also became the center idea of his character somehow? It ties everything into a whole and it's devastating.

Because he made his research or, rather, his aim to create The Cure (pure hubris if you ask me, how bad should one have it to actually believe... goodness gracious) the only thing that mattered. Hilbert discarded everything - his name, his life, his own affections (because as I've noticed on the relisten, to my surprise, he stated that he was actually very fond of the 1st Hephaestus crew more than once, and he obviously respects Eiffel at the very least), his morals (which he still very much has but deems irrelevant unless there's actually room for moral principles to be applied without becoming an obstacle to the research, like belatedly getting Eiffel's consent for the tests), - all in the name of success and saving humanity.

And yet, all of this was for nothing. His virus didn't work despite all the deaths he wanted to justify by succeeding. Instead of creating an ultimate cure he created an ultimate weapon potent enough to threaten an alien civilization on an entirely different level, able to wipe out all the humanity in record time. This is the opposite of what he was pursuing, the opposite of his whole life and its meaning. Like... it's hard to imagine a failure worse than that.

This alone would have probably be enough to keep me stuck for weeks - I mean, what a cruel irony, right?

But what has me hooked even more is the fact that even with all this in mind, I can't say his life or Hilbert himself are pointless or useless. Because even despite his failure at what he deemed to be the only important thing, he still made an impact. People who were supposed to hate him for all he's done were mourning losing him - not too deeply, or it wasn't shown, - and yet Lovelace came to respect him, in a way, and care a bit before his death, and it was him who Minkowski had an imaginary conversation with when having a hard time. Eiffel insisted on having a proper funeral for everyone lost even when Hera was opposed to including Hilbert in it.

It's another layer of irony that the actual impact, his actual legacy he's remembered by turned out to be what he didn't pay much mind to - just... his day to day life and personality.

I know a lot of people are afraid to disappear without a trace, without leaving some noticeable impact on this world. I don't understand this fear on a personal level (please, we'll all be forgotten sooner or later, like millions before us, and the humanity in whole doesn't matter on a cosmic scale), but this is another reason why Hilbert stands out to me. He failed spectacularly in his sole aim he sacrificed everything to, made a lot of people suffer and die, and yet there was a trace left, one he didn't even think and probably didn't know about. You just never know. It's just... no matter how worthless one may feel, they may still be remembered by something good, completely unaware of this. Isn't it reassuring?

[period-dramallama]

How much worse would "Becoming Elizabeth" be if the two-headed monster known as Fraham had written it?

This ask kept me awake for hours.

The key difference would be that we would go in with zero expectations, so we wouldn't be disappointed, for the most part.

I think Fraham would accidentally make the good decision to not give Tommy S too much screentime. They'd give us Gaston from Beauty and the Beast with a side order of child abuse. That's it. Whereas Becoming Elizabeth spent aaaaaaaages trying to flesh out Tommy S and his insecurities and his terrible judgement and his relationship with his brother.

....and nobody asked for that.

Having said that, Fraham would squander 110% of the benefits of this accidentally wise decision.

What does the show look like? AU below cut. You have been warned.

-Upon the death of Henry VIII, Elizabeth receives a Mysterious Box. The label tells her she must open this box on her 18th birthday. What's inside the box? Watch the show and find out.

-Someone calls Jane 'cute'.

-Jane calls Elizabeth 'a mean girl'. References! Look how contemporary we are!

-Anne Stanhope has a pointless scene of her trying on Katherine's jewels, while topless. Why is she topless? No-one knows.

-For her 16th birthday party, Elizabeth does full Anne Boleyn cosplay. Katherine does the necklace thing but doesn't tell her to change. So.... it's still pretty obviously AB cosplay.

-Elizabeth Hates Sewing and wants to be a Leader so Robert Dudley gives her secret sword-fighting lessons. Shippers are torn between thinking this is cheesy and stupid, and the need to have Content.

-While hunting, Elizabeth accidentally shoots a peasant. Robert helps her bury the body in the woods. It's a Serious Moment for Elizabeth's Journey. So naturally it's never referred to ever again.

-The scene where Katherine discovers the truth about Tommy S and Elizabeth is... more graphic.

-Katherine has a graphic C-section.... and survives. Syke! She dies offscreen of a post-partum infection anyway.

-Mary Seymour dies as an infant... because Tommy S got drunk and dropped her down the stairs.

-John Dudley is a full-on Trump expy. He's racist to Pedro for no other reason than to signal he's No Good Very Bad.

-Alternatively, John Dudley is a Male Feminist who Leans In and Respects Wamen and tells Robert that his girlbossery comes from following his mother's example unlike his father Edmund Dudley who was a Useless Loser Who Got Beheaded. This clumsily foreshadows that John will one day be the Useless Loser Who Gets Beheaded.

-either way, we still don't get Jane Dudley.

-Mary chokes on a communion wafer and is saved by Pedro, because he's a Civilised Spaniard who knows something the Backward English don't know. (Basically the Heimlich Manoeuvre.)

-John Dudley tells Mary "we've had enough of your popish paraphernalia!" This line is so clunky and difficult to say that it becomes a meme.

-In their confrontation in the woods, Mary and Elizabeth get so angry they start to duel. It's surprisingly well-choregraphed. "Romola Fencing Champion" trends on Twitter. (Alicia is also pretty good).

-The duel descends into the two women rolling around in the mud and fighting. This sparks Discourse. Was it kinky accidentally, or on purpose?

-In their director's commentary of the scene Emma Frost calls the fight "their Anakin and Obi-Wan moment". She says this over a shot of Mary trying to crush Elizabeth's windpipe with her thighs.

-Edward's disease uses up presumably a large chunk of the special effects budget. He bleeds from the nose, eyes, mouth, and ears. Oliver Zetterstrom in an interview says this was his favourite bit to film because of course it was.

-John Dudley is so desperate for Edward to survive that he chooses black magic. Pentagrams, chanting, candles, sacrifices, the works. A black cockerel is sacrificed and John Dudley is sprayed with blood. Some members of the audience are kind of into it.

-Despite England being too backward for the Heimlich manoeuvre, Henry Grey performs mouth to mouth and CPR on Edward.

-No sign of Frances Grey, it goes without saying.

-Edward is dying and Elizabeth has just turned 18. Time to open the Mysterious Box! Inside are two canopic jars and a letter. The letter is from Henry VIII. He tells her that Anthony Denny is tasked with sending her the Mysterious Box. Henry says he has had a prophetic dream revealing that Elizabeth has been Chosen. He apologises for dismissing her because she was a girl and her mother was a Wicked Slut. She must wait for Edward and Mary to die as it has been foretold, then she will be Queen and preside over a Golden Age. After his death, the canopic jars will be filled and given to her as proof of his faith in her.

And what's inside the canopic jars? Why, the heart and stomach of a king! And of a king of England, too!

The End.

[a34trgv2]

The Problem With Exposition Dumps

In any form of entertainment, it's important to establish some context for the events of the story. There is a right way to do it and a wrong way. Dumping exposition onto the audience is most certainly the wrong way. For this post, I'm going to explain my problem with exposition dumps and how to better convey exposition. And in case you're wondering, no, I'm not going to put down writers who use exposition dumps as "lazy" or "pathetic."" My intent is always to educate, not belittle.

You should be familiar with what an exposition dump is as they pop up everywhere. In movies, TV shows, video games, radio podcasts and etc.. Characters will stop the story dead in it's tracks to spend more than a paragraph talking about lore, character backstorys, or the setting they're in. This makes for boring entertainment because at that point, the characters are just spouting random trivia from the story bible and not actually telling a compelling story. I'm all about fun facts and interesting lore, but not at the expense of good storytelling and creative world building.

Let's dissect this clip from Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Moon Girl says that she's tired, yet the way she's animated in the clip leads me to believe otherwise as she's not panting or sweating. She also mentions that the bad guy is getting stronger, then asks "but how?" I can suspend my disbelief enough to get behind a child prodigy befriending a dinosaur and fighting bad guys in New York, but I don't buy for a second she doesn't know what a troll is. But okay, let's actually assume she doesn't know what a troll is (as unlikely as that sounds); she should still put 2 and 2 together when she sees that everytime she takes his petty comments personally, he gets stronger. She should've known before this particular clip that he was feeding off her negative emotions like a parasite, or in this case, a symbiote. She then zooms in on the troll and realizes that it's a symbiote before spelling out for the audience what a symbiote's weakness is. First of all, even if people didn't know what a symbiote was, you could've still showed us what it's weakness is by having Devil roar immediately. Or better yet, leave it a mystery to be solved in a latter episode because it honestly doesn't matter too much in the context of the episode. Second, you mean to tell me this kid knows what an alien symbiote is but not a troll? This makes her less of a relatable kid who just so happens to be smart and more like a socially inept outcast who's so caught up in science and math that she's basically stupid when it comes to being a human. Not only was this exposition dump useless, but it was also poorly constructed based on what we already know about Moon Girl and what kind of girl she's supposed to be.

Is there a way to give exposition without it feeling pointless and boring, though? Actually, yes. One of the best examples I can think of is the opening to Samurai Jack. It perfectly sums up the main driving force behind Jack's quest with the late-great Mako's chilling and sinster voice, and eerie flute plaing, and the still images that look like ancient Japanese artwork. The lines used are also vague enough for the audience to fill in the gaps and we're told just enough to be invested in the story. Exposition can also be told in a way that's funny, such as in the Wander Over Yonder episode The Ball, where Beeza nonchalantly explains to Wander and Sylvia that the world is ending (again) at the paws of a giant space puppy. The comedic timing is on point as Tara Strong gives a very relaxed and soft spoken delivery as Beeza mentions cannibalism and starvation as possible fates for her people. Exposition can even be sung in a banging musical number, such as Part Of Your World from Little Mermaid, One Day More from Les Miserable, or the iconic Oompa Loompa songs from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In the hands of the right storyteller, the exposition scene could be an audience member's favorite moment from the story.

As the saying goes, less is more. This is especially true when you're writing exposition. Dumping exposition on the audience will either frustrate them or bore them to sleep. If you're gonna give exposition during the story, try having it delivered in a way that's interesting; i.e. during an action scene like in Kung Fu Panda, a funny scene like in The Bad Guys, or in a musical number like in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Just because exposition is necessary doesn't mean it has to be boring. Exposition is the avocado of storytelling. Alone, it's as bland and boring as paint drying on a rainy day. With the right ingredients, though, it can make for some pretty good guacamole. See you next time ✌️

[the-phoenix-heart]

Right. so uh. The final season of TUA dropped

I don't know how to feel.

(All the Spoilers Ahead)

Like halfway through this season I would have said it's not what I would've done, but I liked it. I enjoyed it. I thought it was iconic. Maybe a bit of an overuse of the Babyshark song, but you know, not that bad.

But like after that I think I started to hate the season when I realized things weren't going to be explained.

Like there is good about the season don't get me wrong. It was funny. The acting was stellar. I don't hate the ending in principle (I'll get to it later). I don't hate most of the ideas in principle. But it's the little things that keep piling up and piling up.

Like we're at the end of the series and I still don't understand marigold or durango. SO much stuff went unexplained. Why was Jennifer in a squid? Why was she in Moldova in the original timeline? Does she have powers herself or is she just a person until she touches one of the marigolds? Are there 43 durango babies like there were 43 marigold babies? Presumably she was the only one because she was the only one Reggie was protecting, but in that case WHY was she the only one. And that's just all the questions I have about Jennifer. Not even getting into her role in the story.

Because yeah, as a character she's pretty much nothing. She's vaguely empowered. She's vaguely interesting. She vaguely something. I'm not against her as a character. That scene where her and Ben are watching The Blob in different rooms is moving and great foreshadowing in hindsight. But that aside she's just a plot device to help destroy the world this time around. After her and Ben have sex she's just there to be in pain because of the virus. At least we known Ben. I can believe Sparrow Ben and hers connection, even if I'm so glad their romance was mostly just a horny world ending virus. Seriously the moment Ben started talking to her in the diner I got love interest red flags and was so uninterested.

Sparrow Ben by the way is a draaaaag on this season. Look, it was probably the right decision to let Original Ben move on, even if I think Klaus should have been involved with it. But it means when season 3 happened they trapped themselves to Sparrow Ben, who is not as interesting a character as Original Ben and also has less of a connection to the original Hargreeves siblings. Like I get why Luther or Klaus are trying to spend time with Ben, but the rest? I don't. Which is why I guess he's so disconnected from them this season, and doesn't get the big ending moment with them (times like this I wish they had kept Ghost Ben around).

But of course at least Ben has things to do this season. Imagine being someone as useless as Luther? Luther spends the season being a himbo, not at all the leader he used to be, and a repository of sex jokes and sconce jokes. And we REALLY aren't looking at his issues??? He's living in the condemned remains of his childhood home and also the place where he fell in love with Sloane, and we're not going to talk about that???

And then there's Klaus...Klaus, Klaus, Klaus. It's tradition that Klaus kicks off a personal sidequest/subplot every season, but by GOD this was the worst one. Like, it's funny, in a dark sort of way, but it's also so POINTLESS. We really wasted precious time in this six episode season on Klaus being kidnapped by his former drug dealer, working as a medium for one customer who is looking to find her ex's money he hid, getting Kill Billed, and then getting rescued. WHY?! Why was Alison the only one who cared? Why didn't Abigail at least say something like, "Where's Klaus? I've been wanting to see him."

And he was so close to really finally getting his this season. His introduction this series showed that more than anyone he was effected by the loss of his powers-ie. being terrified of the world and falling back into his old habits so he's very careful about everything. He also gets to be Claire's fun uncle this season! And then after he is forced to get his powers back he is rightfully pissed and in a state of distress and it's really working. And then it's just...a funny sideplot I guess?

The sideplot's purpose I suppose is to properly redeem Allison after last season, showing she'll still do anything for her family, and I'm sorry but that was the WORST way to do it. Allison and Klaus have always been close with each other in every season, and only now are they saying it's kind of unhealthy. And ultimately it doesn't matter since it's just a footnote in the last episode. Like, this season treats her so weird. For someone who was pushing the plot along last season she really doesn't have much to do this season other than her relationship with Klaus. They don't even really address the whole Allison created another world for us thing, or how much she screwed them over last season (And I am NOT an Allison hater okay. I loved her arc last season. I just also think that they should acknowledge it more in this season). The six year time skip really is doing so much work to ignore the events of last season.

And then there's Viktor. Who is both doing a lot this season and coming out looking like he's doing nothing. He's just kinda there for a few episodes, they imply he has commitment issues and then do nothing with that (I guess it's just meant to point out how awful this new timeline is?), and up until the flashback with him asking to go on the mission and being turned down, as well as the mission with Reginald I kinda kept forgetting he was there. Which is not something you want to do for your actor who gets top billing and is arguably the most important character in the series.

But of course he isn't the most important character this season. Which means it is finally time to talk about the clusterfuck in the room.

Let me just say, I kinda get what they were going for. Lila would be uncomfortable with being a housewife and would need an escape, and her and Five have been set up as connected since the second season so it's not impossible that she would try something with him, and it's not even that creepy from a Watsonian point of view because he's in his sixties and by the time they do anything he's in the body of a 24 year old at least; and from Five's point of view he is an incredibly lonely guy who has no real purpose in life anymore and is still a man out of time so it's not impossible that he might look at Lila as a person for that connection he's been missing since Dolores and yet-

My body STILL cringes at the sight of them.

Like, what should have happened logically is they kiss and then the two recoil in revulsion and talk about how much of a mistake that once and how gross it is. And yet the season tries to string us along with this awful love triangle.

And let's be clear it is not awful for Five. You can call it character assassination for him, personally I don't agree with that, but the framing makes it out that Five is in tragic love with her. Like they could have had a happy life together in that cottagecore universe, but OH the trappings of their universe kept them from it. Five ends the season as the most important character who has the answers and has to tragically give them.

I don't hate the diner with all the other Fives. I don't hate him traversing the multiverse for answers. I don't hate Five in this season, even if it is out of character for him to abandon a mission like that (He spent 50 years in the apocalypse trying to get home he wouldn't give up after SIX). I do hate what it does to Diego and Lila's characters.

It makes sense for Lila to be uncomfortable with suburban life. It also makes sense that Diego is uncomfortable with suburban life. At the same time it makes NO sense. Honestly the roles should be reversed, Diego should be putting all his time into being a full time parent and Lila should have the money making job, that makes more sense for their characters. Diego may be obsessed with heroism, but he also is obsessed with the ideals of family and taking care of them, it doesn't make sense for Diego to be so distant from them. Hell in the end LILA is the one with the big family moments, Diego doesn't even say goodbye to them I think. Diego's character is warped to fit this love triangle subplot they concocted and it REAKS. I HATE it. To make Five look like a viable option they have to make Diego this weird deadbeat-ish out of shape dad which makes NO SENSE.

And Lila is so hard done by the subplot because it controls her motivations. Why would Lila of all people choose to be a stay at home mom? I like that she's still disguising herself and doing her own thing on the sly, but she could do that even if she had a job. She's still a fun character, and I like that they played up her loyalties. I like the scene at the end where she almost dooms the world to stay with her family, but of course FIVE has to talk her down from that decision not her HUSBAND. Because her connection with Five is somehow more important than her connection with Diego that has been built up after three seasons.

And that's not to say anything about the small details that ruin this season for me. In no particular order-

The absence of Ray was the first major red flag for me. I guess he might've been unable to play the role this season so they just wrote him out of the show or they didn't know how to write him into it so they just said he ran out on Allison and Claire. Either way I hate it. Ray was such a good character in season 2 and I know this timeline is supposed to be kinda shitty, but that is doing Ray as a character so dirty, and Allison as well seeing as Allison and him were married and happy in season 2.

The absence of SLOANE. Did Luther not go trying to find Sloane in this new world? Did he just give up? He keeps mentioning her so why didn't he DO anything. Why didn't Sparrow Ben try to find his siblings???

I shouldn't still be mad about the absence of Dave, but I in fact am. His absence in season 3 was already conspicuous (the timeline had already changed with Dave enlisting earlier than expected and Klaus not being with him in Vietnam, who's to say he couldn't have still been alive in that timeline?) but the fact that he's not in this timeline either is so fucking sad for Klaus. Maybe him and Dave were soulmates, maybe they weren't, but the show sure treated it like they were. I know that the ending of the show is meant to be tragic, but we couldn't have THIS?

Seeing as Lila's family is alive in this timeline, why do none of the Hargreeveses have their biological families?

And let's talk about that ending shall we? Again, I get what they were going for. The ultimate sacrifice together as a family. The idea that they were so dangerous their existence was parasitic to the universe. The idea that after death they're still there as a couple of marigolds. It's sweet.

It's also FUCKING STUPID.

I might've been happy with the ending if Gene and Jean had been included being happy. I might've been happy with the ending if Eudora was there. I might've been happy if Dave or Harlan were there. As it stands none of them were there so that ending is already terrible to me, but it means I have no problem ripping apart the fabric of the ending.

Firstly, any story that says there is only one timeline is boring. Any story that says there is only one timeline and that timeline is normal is worse than boring, it's just plain stupid.

The idea that the Hargreeves are destined for an eternal tormenting cycle of destroying and saving the world is, at best, deeply nihilistic. I think it fails to understand that the end of the world could probably be avoided with therapy. But if we really take that as the gosphel then here is a bright idea, how about you spread all of them out across the timeline so they can't come together and end the universe? Then you still get a sacrifice without that horrible one timeline outcome.

That's another thing that makes no sense. So what, the way to make the one true timeline is that in one timeline Lila, Five, Diego, Luther, Klaus, Viktor, and Allison have to sacrifice themselves Cleanseiffer and that fixes everything? When there are countless alternate universes where they still have the marigold?

The refusal to acknowledge all 43 marigold children has always been a thorn in my side, but I really felt it this season. This would've been the perfect time to include all of them. Hell, maybe use the subway system and the other Five's to send the message that they need to give up their marigold. THAT would have been evocative.

Or, I dunno, don't kill everyone. Maybe if you're going to do the durango/marigold plot then maybe have a bunch of durango children to parallel the marigold children. Have them be their equal and opposites to really nail down that whole yin and yang thing you TRIED to give Jennifer and Ben. Just something, god, anything rather than what you gave us.

[ravenzeppeli]

Claimed

Chapter 29 - Willing to Forgive, Definitely Won't Forget |Soft Yandere Melone x Reader Fluff|

Warning: strong language, nudity [forced]. MA.

"I am so sorry that I've been lying to you," you told Melone as soon as he closed your bedroom door. "I didn't want to lie to you. I did it because I didn't want you to attack Formaggio or Prosciutto, I don't want you getting hurt." You spoke quickly, immediately letting him know what you truly didn't mean to lie to him. You loved Melone and wanted to keep him safe.

Melone locked your bedroom door, making you nervous. When Prosciutto locks your door, it usually means you're about to get beat. Was he really going to spank you for lying to him? Your ass still hurt so bad from last night. You only lied to protect him. You didn't want him making enemies with the other men.

"It's okay, baby," he muttered, sighing as he turned to face you, tears in his eyes. "Baby.. you need to be honest with me. How badly did he hurt you? Please just let me see it, I want to see. What if you get an infection and die?" He looked genuinely worried, tears now rolling down his face. "I need to know."

No way in hell were you going to pull down your fucking pants in front of him and show him your bruised ass, the thought of it making your cheeks heat up slighly. It was so hard being comfortable seen naked, you've never just been naked around someone.

"No," you replied softly, his head dropping. "It's.. I don't want you to have to see that. I'm fine, I promise. You don't need to worry." You weren't in any pain right now due to the pain pills that Formaggio gave you. He only gave you a few, saying he doesn't want you to get addicted, so you've been rationing them out.

"I'm sorry baby, I hate to do this," he muttered. He quickly stepped towards you, hands wrapping around your waist as he spun you around. He pulled your pants down before you could stop him, your cast making your left hand useless as you tried to smack his hands away. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he kept repeating as he pulled down your underwear.

Tears filled your eyes, your face turning completely red. You weren't surprised, but you still felt humiliated. "I didn't want you to see!" You yelled at him, bending down to quickly pull up your pants, but he stopped you, his grasp weak, hands shaking. You could easily pull away.. but you didn't. It was too late anyways, pulling away would be pointless.

"Because you knew how fucking bad it was!" He yelled back suddenly, letting you go. "I can't.. I.. I.." you heard his footsteps trailing off, causing you to immediately turn around. "I'll beat the fuck out of him."

You pulled your pants up quickly, a low whimper escaping your lips as your underwear and pants rubbed against your ass. "Please don't!" That caused him to freeze up by the door, his back turned towards you. "Please! If you do, I'll never talk to you again!"

"What?" He muttered, his tone going dark, almost dangerous. "You'll never talk to me again? Are you fucking kidding me? You're my girlfriend!" He yelled, turning back to face you. "You will be my wife one day, how dare you say you'll never speak to me again!"

You looked down, the sudden aggression in his voice causing you to go silent. Are all seven of your boyfriends violent men? Did their lifestyle really fuck them up that badly? You're starting to feel trapped, like you can't speak freely or be yourself anymore.

Softly, his black dress shoes tapped against your floor, creeping towards you. "I'm not trying to make you sad, I'm sorry. I just love you so much, and I can't stand seeing those jack asses destroy you." He wrapped a hand around your waist, pulling you towards him. "Please don't be mad at me. I wouldn't hurt you."

It was difficult for you to say your true feelings out loud. You didn't want to express your love and one day get hurt, you didn't want for him to know how much you loved him, but you felt like him knowing that you loved him would make him calm down. You needed to tell him something that would make him calm down and not attack Prosciutto. You didn't want to cause violence amongst the group. The men fighting each other was something you did not want. You wanted all seven of the men to get along.

"I love you the most, and I loved you first," you replied. Melone likes honesty. That's exactly what you were going to give him. "I want all seven of you getting along and not physically fighting each other. You need to take into consideration that I'm stuck with Prosciutto. I want to be with you, but I'm stuck with Prosciutto, so I just have to tough it out. And you can't go hitting the other men. That stresses me out. I want you safe. Please, Melone."

You let your arms wrap around him, hugging his slender body, hoping that he wouldn't do anything drastic. You loved him, and you found yourself making excuses for his actions. Melone was really good to you, he was a great boyfriend, so you could talk him down instead of get mad at him. He deserved your love, not your anger.

"It's so good to hear that you actually want to me with me. Even if you're lying to me, I don't care, I'm so happy to hear it," he replied, voice soft as his arms wrapped around you, cool hands running up and down your back. "I want to beat the shit out of Prosciutto, but you are right. I am sad that you won't let me defend you, but I understand why. I'll keep my distance from him until I'm able to talk to him once more."

"I never wanted to lie to you in the first place," you told him. Lying to him was hard, and you regretted it, but you would lie to him if it meant protecting him. "If I lie, it's to protect you, Melone. Me loving and wanting you isn't a lie. I'm in love with you, and I love Pesci. The others are okay, and I care for them."

"Do you like Ghiaccio? He's a really good guy." Melone rested his chin on top of your head, a low sigh escaping his lips. "You need to come to me. Come to Ghiaccio. Come to Pesci. Do you really need to go to Formaggio or Illuso when you feel unsafe? You need to go to someone who won't hurt you."

You and Formaggio were starting to grow a friendship before he ended up breaking your fingers. You still found that friendship forming again, but you were cautious. At the end of the day, Formaggio had still cheated on you and hurt you, so you'll never let yourself fall in love with him. Like is as far as you'll go. Maybe if you ever get hurt again, you should just go to a hotel. Your boyfriends seem to make situations worse.

"I like Ghiaccio." You did like Ghiaccio. He was a good boyfriend to you. The two of you haven't moved past the making out stage yet, but you weren't going to pressure him for sex. He could take all the time he needed. You knew his situation with losing his fiancé and unborn child seven years ago. You were fine with him wanting to move slow. He was good to you, and his temper didn't bother you. He yelled, but he never made you feel unsafe.

Maybe Melone was right. Also, should you really run off to a hotel when you have boyfriends willing to actually treat you well and protect you? Shouldn't you be leaning on them more? It felt wrong running off to stay somewhere alone while being in relationships. Maybe you shouldn't consider that option. It might be a bad idea to run off when a situation occurs. You feel like you could start trusting Melone fully.

Melone pulled away from you, blue eyes staring down at you, his hands staying locked around your waist. "Listen to me.. you are my entire life. You are my universe, my reason for existence." His eyes landed on your lips. "You're my soulmate."

You stood on your tip-toes, planting a soft kiss on his lips, pink immediately dusting across his cheeks, a wide smile forming on his soft lips. "I love you, and you are my favorite. I'm going to be spending the night with you as soon as possible so we can spend some alone time together." You wanted to perk up his mood. You hated seeing him so stressed out and pained over you.

"Where are you staying tonight?" He muttered. "You need to be taken care of. You're hurt. I need to take care of you."

You were supposed to stay with him anyways, you were only going to stay with Illuso a second night because of the lie. "I need to go see Pesci, and then I'll just go to your place afterward." Illuso wouldn't mine, considering you already spent plenty of time with him last night, despite most of that time being him sitting in silence. He seemed off.. you wondered what he was thinking.

"Call me when you are done at Pesci's, then I will come pick you up," he said, squinting his eyes at you as you shot him a dissatisfied glare. "You aren't walking to my house, I may be only a 10 minute walking distance away from Pesci's place, but you're hurt. You aren't walking in this condition."

You were in no mood to argue with Melone, and you also didn't really feel like walking today. "Fine. I'll call you when I'm done."

He smiled, leaning down, placing a small kiss on the tip of your nose. "Thank you, baby. I'll take you to see Pesci now. You don't need to rush. Take your time talking with him."

You nodded. You were going to apologize to Pesci. You felt terrible for talking to him so poorly. He wasn't the one you should be talking to like that. You just wanted to keep him out of all the drama. You needed to hurry up and go to him, try and make things right. You hoped that he wasn't upset with you.