#gonna tag my faves here cause this post is about them specifically

[tethrarisms]

Unpopular (maybe?) opinion but I wouldn't mind spending days on end just talking and doing small missions for my Dragon Age companions. They're so meaningful to me, I enjoy their banters and relationships even further than any combat and/or map exploring.

[v-anrouge]

Verryyy long ranting under this about vil and how this fandom treats him for absolutely no reason pls excuse any mistakes and feel free to correct me with any accidental misinfo i passed <3

Mentions of racism, fatphobia, eating disorders, elitism & ableism and also SPOILERS for Vil's character story (eng only)

Ever since this game started getting super famous in tiktok and twitter it seems that people just love to butcher literally every character in Twst and sometimes it's genuinely baffling how wrong some of the takes are, it really does make me wonder if some people just don't read the story and just skip every character who isn't their fave, and if they really do that, what makes them think they know enough about the rest of the cast to post in the character's main tag the most rancid read on a character, often accompanied by some accusations of literal crimes of bigotry that really should be taken more seriously instead of being terms thrown around.

I'm gonna be talking about Vil specifically but characters like Leona, Jamil, Sebek and a few others have it exceptionally bad as well (especially Leo and Jamil who's haters can even be quite racist)

I've been playing for a very long time (in eng) i remember being there to watch the Heartslabyul final release and the release of Savanaclaw's chapter and through these years ive seen the most horrific takes on Vil's characters, ranging from the accusations of racism (which have been debunked again and again especially by JP players) to accusations of supporting eds, fatphobia, elitism and ableism. The funny thing is that even with a very quick read of any of Vil's story you'll find out there is no support for any of such claims. They like to use the incident with Epel's accent when for years JP players have pointed out how this was strictly an error of localization since they couldn't find a situation similar to the one that is portrayed in the original game to put in eng twst, they went with the one we have where Vil asks Epel to "hide his accent" (he really doesn't he was talking about the way Epel is rude and disrespectful which would definitely end with him being beat up and then expelled bringing a bad fame to Pomefiore and also making Vil look bad for not properly guiding his dorm students) which is a terrible choice but alas it seems people prefer to ignore facts to stick with their claim that Vil is some sort of monster when this man is literally a teen. He's 18 years old and has to constantly look out for his image in and out of school since he grew up in front of the cameras.

Vil's character is all about beauty and self care and self acceptance yet for some people this seems to translate to "starve yourself if you don't want to be a disgusting fat pig" which is very weird to say the least considering all mentions Vil makes about diets he is talking about keeping a balanced diet to nurture your body and even has a voice line pointing out the importance of eating. Vil himself may be coded to have an ED in his overblot and Lab vignette but he has never and would never encourage one, he literally goes out of his way to annoy students to take care of themselves what makes anyone think he'd encourage them anyways? It's such a weird thing to assume of a character.

A lot of people seem to think that Vil is also the "beauty standart" king which doesn't even make sense considering vil is a gnc man, he already doesn't follow beauty standards and would definitely be against it, Vil's vision of beauty for himself may be twisted due to his traumas and troubles yet his vision of beauty for others is always exclusively on the person being their best version, this includes dressing how they want to and feel comfortable in, using whatever makeup they want (or just not using it at all) etc.

The way Vil speaks is often misunderstood as he tends to be strict and can be read as mean (I've already shared my theory on what may have caused this behavior here before so i won't be getting into too many details) but Vil is a famous and respected housewarden because if you actually stop and think about his advice the end result is always an effort to make the person's desires come true. (a good example is how Vil made Epel clean the windows and although Epel was displeased with the hard labor in the end he notices how the task may help with muscle growth and gets happy)

Vil's way of caring for others is often misunderstood and obviously that's understandable, not everybody may get his "rougher" way of handling advice, but also it's a bit weird how people react to it when in game all of the characters seem to be okay with it, Pomefiore has a lot of students and if they considered Vil to be a bad leader he would've been voted out a long time ago, no? And if i remember correctly wasn't it said in game they had very few transfers? (as in characters moving out of Pomefiore and into other dorms) That wouldn't make sense if Vil was really the cruel leader some people make him out to be. The truth is Vil is a nice caring person and his students recognize that which is why he is respected all across the school and not simply on his dorm (because ive seen people say Vil has brainwashed the Pomefiore students into thinking he is a good housewarden 💀)

Vil surely has issues he needs to work through, after all this game is literally about that, dealing with troubled teenagers and their internal struggles and the importance of asking for help (omg friendship is magic...) but Vil is also a teenager, and he is one of the characters that show the most desire to get better, immediately showing regret and apologizing to Yuu and his classmates for the danger he put them in, that is because Vil genuinely does care for them.

Another accusation people make is ableism, i remember seeing many posts saying Vil wouldn't respect disabled people and/or mentally ill people which is 1- extremely fucking rude to say? 2- absolutely wrong. Again just a quick read on Vil's character will tell you everything you need to know about how he'd feel about disabled people, he'd treat them like everyone else, and would adjust his handling accordingly to their needs, i really don't get where this claim comes from but it's quite ironic because a lot of Vil haters tend to be ableist themselves by claiming that Vil is a bad person mentioning traits that are often caused by mental illness and the effect of traumas, failing to analyze how their treatment of a character that displays common mental illness symptoms may affect people in real life who displays the same symptoms, and often being ableist themselves by judging these actions irredeemable and inherently evil/heartless, once again dehumanizing people with mental illness in real life who deal with the same symptoms.

Another common thing is the constant invalidation of Vil's trauma. A lot of people seem to read book 5 with their eyes closed and take away from the story that the reason Vil "got pissy and almost killed a guy" (wording of a terrible post i saw a few days ago<333) is because he's a "spoiled brat who couldn't handle getting the paper he wanted in a movie boo hoo" which is kind of funny with how terribly wrong it is, i really don't know what your thought process has to be to get his backstory this wrong but sure, let's start; The start of Vil's problems with being cast as a villain starts from when he was very very young, he was just a child when after being cast as a villain for a movie he was almost beat up by a group of boys for being an "evil guy" and by his reaction it wouldn't be impossible that this wasn't his first time dealing with that kind of thing. Vil also tells jack (who scared away the group) that he had trained so he would be able to deal with them on his own which again, could be a hint that this wasn't that uncommon in his life. In Vil's overblot dialogue is all we really need to know to debunk this claim.

What Vil wanted wasn't just to be a hero in a movie, he wanted to be seen, to be heard and cherished, he wanted to be more than a pretty prop they could put on the front to get attention only to be taken out of stage when he was no longer necessary in the next scene, do you get it? He wanted to be able to see his hard work pay off, to see his efforts of years being rewarded, to for once not be exchangeable for someone more favorable. Vil wanted to feel like all his pain was worth it in the end because finally he could shine in the stage, being himself instead of just another persona to attract people. In his overblot it's shown clearer than ever that Vil does not have a stable view of his own image unlike what he has trained himself to show, even calling himself ugly and begging them to not look at him. I don't think Vil is used to be being vulnerable, which would explain why he was so freaked out when the overblot happened, and why he cried when his beauty (the one thing about himself that was always recognized by others and therefore the thing he'd always been the most desperate to nurture) was taken away by aging in book 6 (note; the fact Vil sacrificed it for his classmates also just debunks the people saying he only cares for himself, if he did he wouldn't be who he is.)

I said i wouldn't give my thoughts again but i will, just briefly, i believe an easy explanation to Vil's behavior (the tough love he gives and his strictness) might be because of the industries he grew up in, we can't know for sure how similar twst's version of the movie and modeling industry is when compared to the real life one but considering the way Vil is, my guess it's that it's pretty similar, especially in the regard of their treatment towards children, in Vil's overblot he hears two staff members talking about how he'd never be able to pull off a relatable role because he is too perfect, and sure those may not look like insults, but to Vil who's only dream his entire life was to be seen in good light, those words stuck to him so deeply they'd come back to him during his overblot. (note; i have not seen a jp translation of the overblot scenes so i don't know if they also suffered from localization issues, if anyone has a link to one i could see id really like to see what the staff said to Vil)

The general point of Vil's overblot was how his efforts and hard work were always overlooked and ignored in favor of someone else, this happens with quite a lot of characters and happens as well with another overblot (Leona, who happens to be quite similar to Vil in many ways) and although i don't expect anyone to read it and think of analysing it more deeply even with a shallow vision of his overblot it's still incredibly insensitive to call it a "non-problem" especially considering the fact this is Vil's ENTIRE life, he's been working hard and failing for years again and again and that does get to you. I remember when i posted my first rant on Vil quite a lot of people who reported to be skilled at something (say for example music or dancing) as a child that any failures absolutely destroyed you inside, and that people who haven't passed through the same tend to call them dramatic and say they're overreacting to situations that can be classified as trauma depending on how much it mentally impacted said child. (and in Vil's case it's clear it had a massive one, after all he wouldn't have overblotted if he didn't have issues that had been bottled up until they finally exploded)

Mentioning Leona again, he and Vil share the same sentiment of anguish for being discarded and having their hard work be thrown away, the difference in them is the way they reacted to it, while Leona ended up not seeing any value in attempting to do anything because he assumes the outcome is always going to be the same, Vil overworks himself and forces himself to do things he might hate clinging to the hope that this time it'll work out.

Since we're talking about trauma ill already answer some things that may or may not come with this post (because in my first one i got this response a lot) "Vil's a fictional character it doesn't matter" and sure if you think like that cool, personally, when im talking about a fictional character that tackles real life traumas and issues, i talk about it as if referring to a real person because the character has been written with one (or multiple) in mind.

Twst may have issues but the character writing is undeniably about real life traumas and experiences, and the characters are quite accurate and good representation of the issues they tackle, so when you invalidate them, you are by result invalidating real life issues. Of course this won't stop anyone and i know that a few people will probably scoff at this and brush it off as being too sensitive but personally if you wouldn't dare invalidate say for example Riddle's traumas because you know it's a representation of mommy issues, which is a very real problem, to not go against your own morals you should also respect the issues of all the other characters, even if you personally think some are more "serious" than the other.

[toxicanonymity]

Hey there ✨️

I love your work 💕 I'm a long time fan 🫶🏼. I've been on tumblr a few years now, but I'd never found the courage to post anything of my own til now. I've been feeling a little optimistic these days, and genuinely excited about posting some of my writing and sharing it with the people out here. Do you have any advice on how to start posting and interacting from scratch? Cause I'm low-key nervous abt it and it seems like my target audience has already formed a solid community I don't know how to get into 🥺

Hi! 💕 Thank you so much. This is exciting. I’m flattered as heck but jeepers, a little underqualified. So, good news - I consulted a few friends for this, too.

Engage with the community early and often – writers, artists, anyone. Even if it seems like they’ve formed a solid community, there are likely still people joining or else it would die out.

Everyone loves to get feedback on their fics, so this is a good entry point. Comments, reblogs, thoughtful asks. If you have the time and interest, maybe a little fic mood board to slide into someone’s inbox. Tag games, etc. Have perseverance. It can be scary to put yourself out there socially, but this part can’t be any scarier than putting your fics out there, can it?

Become a “regular” on your favorite blogs, and you’ll start getting recognized. This will mean when you post your fic, there will be some name recognition, and they may think “Oh, she loves [fave writer], so we have common interests” *open fic*. Hopefully, you'll also get support from your favorite writers if you engage. It doesn't matter how "popular" someone is, they (most?) still notice and connect with regulars. I’ve had many readers turn into writers and am thrilled to support them. 

Accepting requests is a fantastic way to build connections and have things to talk about. Submitting requests, too.

Pay attention to the fandom tags and how they are used.

@aurorawritestoescape: I’m sure they have their fav writers/writers who inspire them and I saw many say that they love to be tagged in other ppl’s fics [toxy note: agree, please feel free to tag me!]

@beefrobeefcal: Dive in feet first. Throw caution to the wind. The first five tags are the one tumblr recognizes for some weird reason. Tag who you inspires you. No door is bolted shut in this community and everyone is welcome! [toxy note: hard agree!]

You've got this, it's gonna be great! Excited for you. Feel free to follow up if you have more specific concerns or questions. My DMs are open too. If you tell me the fandom I might have other ideas.

[cleanlenins]

Okay, so Twitter nonsense is bringing more people to Tumblr. I was going to make this post before, but it slipped my mind. So I am making it now.

How and When to Block People on Tumblr

There are a ton of helpful posts floating around about all the little things to make Tumblr more fun, but in my opinion this is the most important. THIS is what stops tumblr from being a rotted cesspool. So, I'm going to tell you how to use it.

There are 2 Types of Blocking people on here. The first is the block button, the second is the filtering.

When you want to block someone, simply go to their page and click the little person icon.

When you click it, it will give you the option to block them.

Click that, and you've blocked them.

However:

Blocking someone doesn't hide their posts from you, it just makes it so they can't see your posts.

If you don't want to see a specific person's, you are going to have to FILTER them.

To get to filters, first you are going to have to go to your page and click the Settings.

When you click the settings, it's going to take you to these options. Click on account settings.

Then, you are going to go down to Content You See. Click on that.

Then, you are going to have the option to filter things. There are two kinds of filters.

The first is filtered tags. This blocks posts that are tagged a certain way. They are great for blocking fandoms you have no interest in, as long as a person tags them.

The second is Filtered Post Content. This looks at the words in the post and filters them out. INCLUDING the person's URL.

I usually overkill it and just put a url in both of the filtering. But it SHOULD work if you just put it in the Filtered Post Content.

Fantastic job! You now know how to block someone! That brings me to the second part of the post.

When should you block someone?

The answer is easy: If you don't like what they post? Block them.

You don't need to moralize it. If you don't like the content they post, and unfollowing them didn’t help because your mutuals reblog their stuff, then block them.

Literally, I have blocked people just because I hated how they formatted their posts. I've blocked people just because I disliked the frequency that they posted. I've blocked people because I just didn't vibe.

No one cares. It's not gonna cause drama. If you don't like them, block them. Your dash is made up of stuff you like. Blocking and filtering someone is just getting them off your dash so you can see the stuff you do like.

Someone makes the dumbest argument about your fave character? Don't start fandom wank, block them.

Someone is acting like a bitch in your ask box? Block them.

Someone likes a ship that you don't like? Block them.

Someone tells you rudely that your fic is ooc? Block them.

Someone uses too much orange when they draw? Block. Them.

There is never a bad reason to block someone.

Heck, I'm sure at least one person will block me if this post gains any traction.

No need to argue and try to prove you are the better person. Shitty people don't listen anyways. And it doesn't have to be that deep. Just block block BLOCK and move on.

You'll be happier that way. Promise.

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 7

welcome the the seventh fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.  

1. tender by sunswathe [EXPLICIT]

This is the absolute last thing they should be doing right now.

Not when Pidge is known for crashing into Keith’s room in the middle of the night for no reason other than being bored.

Not when he can hear Hunk’s loud snoring, muffled through the door.

Not when his sister is just outside, sleeping on the couch, while Lance is in Keith’s room, sleeping with her childhood best friend.

But Lance couldn't care less.

i’m gonna be real w yall ur gonna see a lot of secret relationship fics bc im obsessed with them. theres something about the tenderness of privacy and intimacy of secrecy that just Gets To Me. this fic lived up to its title exactly

2. right hand man by laidellennt

As his right hand man, Lance grows closer to Keith and realizes a few things about him, as well as a few things about himself.

In other words, Lance realizes he has a major crush on Keith.

look the red paladin lance black paladin keith dynamics Grew on me okay. i cannot live without them now they are so so powerful. this fic is fun and fluffy and it features pining lance, whom i adore. also keiths whipped ass referring to lance as his right hand man and impulse control will never fail to make me scream

3.  A Look, a Dance by @ohcontrary [explicit-ish??]

What would it be like to have Keith's arms wrapped around him for real, not as a distraction? And that look. What would it be like for it to mean jealousy, to mean desire? Lance shuddered, heat curling at the base of his spine before he stopped, sobering quickly as he remembered the serious way Keith had named him ‘my paladin.’

i specifically remember having to walk this one off. u know when a fic is so good that u actually cant take it and have to take a break to cool off?? yeah that was this fic. the PINING. dear lord. it was so wonderful. i have several lines from this screenshotted in my devotion scrapbook. please please give it a read.

4.  Red Together by @ohcontrary [again explicit-ish]

A series of Klance fics featuring Shy!Lance and Flirty!Keith. Part 5 in progress on the.grrrl.aliens!

[Mostly based on fanart. Have a piece you wanna see written? send it to me on tumblr!]

another thing by @ohcontrary bc her fics are always a hit. this series was one of the first if not the first to pioneer the shy/flustered lance tag, so we all owe it a great service fr. i never got to read part five bc i dont have patreon but i imagine the whole thing was amazing. ohcontrary i miss u and this series will always be a fave

5. you love me (don’t let me go) by jjkimchi (orphan_account)

Lance forgets he's married to Keith.

do not be fooled, friends, for there is no angst here. there is a brief moment of disorientation from lance proceeded immediately by he and keith being Trouble and causing Drama, bc of who they are as people. this fic makes me laugh every time. 

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!  

[guardian-angle22]

2023 Character Wrapped

Thank you for the tag @welcometololaland & @heartstringsduet

From what I've gathered, the rules are just list your top 9 characters from the year? Right? I will put most of these under a cut to save the timeline.

#1. Paul Strickland

If anyone is surprised by my number one, you must be new here. I am the self declared number one paul stan and he IS the moment. he IS the year. and he IS the number 1 in my heart. I can't wait to bless everyone in the tag with more Paul sets during our collective rewatch in january.

#2. Henry from RWRB

Listen, I've left out the surnames cause who can keep track? especially since the book and movie have different ones lol. but I liked the book when I read it ages ago. I thought the film was a fun book to movie adaptation. and Nicholas Galitzine was the perfect Henry.

#3. The various tea dragons from the Tea Dragon Society series by K. O'Neill.

I read the 2nd book in this series this year: The Tea Dragon Festival. This series is just so lovely and cozy. It has dragons that grow tea and they're fucking adorable. LOOK AT THEM! (pictures are from this post in which K. O'Neill pairs each zodiac sign with a dragon!)

#4. Chidi Anagonye

2023 was the year I finally finished The Good Place. and Chidi... oh Chidi. I want to bundle him up and keep him and his anxiety safe in my pocket. but I also want to sit down and have a book club with him. and talk about how much better almond milk is. I bawled like a baby watching the finale episode.

#5. Mickey Milkovich

2023 was also the year I did a rewatch of Mickey's storyline from Shameless from the beginning and then got caught up on the seasons I never watched. The character growth in Mickey was so wonderful to revisit and Noel Fisher was one of the best things to happen to that show, fight me on it.

#6. Josie from Bottoms

If you haven't seen Bottoms yet... what are you doing with your life? it's a queer classic and it just came out. I don't make the rules its just true. and Ayo was fucking brilliant as Josie.

#7. TK Strand

TK will probably forever be somewhere on this kinda list. he's my fave little blorbo or whatever weird internet term we're using these days. 2023 wasn't my fave year for TK or Tarlos plots, that's for sure... but he was still his adorable, brave, strong self throughout it all.

#8. Anakin Skywalker

The return of my teen obsession: Hayden Christensen, everyone. He was great as Vader in the Obi-Wan show but this year coming back as Anakin... be still my heart. The flashback episode was some of my favorite star wars stuff in ages and wooo boy I loved getting to see live action clone wars Anakin.

#9. Garlic from the Garlic & the Vampire and Garlic & the Witch by Bree Paulson

I mean… look at her! a cute little anthropomorphic clove of garlic with anxiety. What’s not to love about her?

Some honorable mentions:

Judd Ryder. But specifically Judd Ryder holding this tiny espresso:

Paul’s pudding cups. May they find justice.

TK’s comfort bicep. Legend has it, he’s still clinging on at this very moment.

every other Nicholas Galitzine character that I binge watched after RWRB came out. particularly the one wearing this goofy outfit:

I don't know which mutuals have done this yet so I'm just gonna tag my sister: @drivenstardust and then @reasonandfaithinharmony because I said she needed to suffer with me ✌😜

[linusbenjamin]

Hey! I loooove your Lost edits so much. It’s my fave show of all time and I love seeing more activity in the tag, thank you ☺️

Your first watch of the show has coincided with my latest rewatch (I’ve just started s3, so I’m a tad behind you). But as someone watching it for the first time I just HAD to stop by and ask how you’re finding it so far and what your thoughts are? Tell me everything! No thought or detail is too small, I love talking about Lost so much 🥲

oh my god thank you so much!!! i just love it when lost fans come by here to say me they love seeing activity on the tag again and they say my gifs made them rewatch the show (i can't check tags cause ✨spoilers✨) it's shocking to see there are very few people who actually gif popular shows like lost, breaking bad etc. and i've even realized there are not any marvel fans anymore like it used to be, i don't know how i feel about this, but i'm glad to contribute 🥹

that's so great! <3 it's so great to see people are still rewatching it after 19 years because that's what this! show! deserves! i didn't know what it was about and after i read it, i said "a plane crashed on an island and some people survived? eh it's not that interesting and so cliche" and later my brother watched it and he was literally obsessed with it and he was very pissed off that i was constantly putting it off. so i started and the first two episodes were the most intense and chaotic episodes i've ever watched in any series 😬 so as i keep watching, i realized i love mystery series (which was sth i've noticed about myself) and i absolutely love science fiction and psychological series. it was so hard to keep so many character's name in mind at first and you know better than me, there are SO many details in such random places that i bet, most people didn't even notice in the first watching 😅 it's like, the smallest thing you saw in a random episode of s1 turns out to be something much bigger in a random episode of s3 etc. 😅 so since i can't see all of the easter eggs, i watch it with my brother mostly who has seen it 3 times and after finishing the eps he says "did you notice that" and then he goes "look there are numbers right there and there's hurley on the tv of the people jin went to kill" etc. 😅 but you know, this series is magnificent and full of surprises and it always ends with killer cliffhangers and now i'm on mid s3 and desmond started to keep saving charlie's ass, i've seen ben and his people, i feel like i'm really into the show and the scifi part of it 😅 i don't know how it will all fit together, you know, everytime roll credits, i'm like "i dunno what i've just watched and how it's gonna play out by the end but it's freaking exciting" 😅 i'm really glad that i'm watching lost at 22 because lost is mostly about life itself, good memories, regrets, personalities, sins and grace, there's always a moral of the story in the end. so, if i had watched it when i was little, i probably wouldn't understand a shit. but now i feel a little more mature and i've been through a few things so the character's stories are a bit more relatable now.

so what i'm most curious about is that, now i'm on mid s3 and i found out claire's father is WHO!!! (freaking out!!! not spoiling this cause there might be someone reading) can you say that i've seen the most of this show OR things has just started and i've seen nothing yet 😂 i can't make gifs a lot 'cause i'm currently busy with life and my thesis but giffing this show is fun, so if you have specific requests, i'm writing which episode i last watched in my pinned post, u can check it out from there ✨ i'm so glad you had to stop to ask me this, lost is going pretty mysterious and chaotic and i'm so thankful for that 😂

[whoseafraidofliloleme]

In response to your answer on my last ask lol

Oooo thats a tough one they’re all so good…. but I’m gonna have to go with Peace I love me some Park Jongseong (look away jungwon I’m loyal I promise) he’s just such a perfect man and I love their interactions and chemistry soooo much (her making the cheese corn dip for him specifically as a thank you after finding out he doesn’t like sweets (even though he ate all the sweets and thought they were good cause he’s down bad lol) was super cute). Love that fic so much.

Also I love your answer because you’re 100% right about the boys (can’t wait for them to come back miss our boys like crazy). I for sure can see JK just beating every zombie with his bare hands and then cheering afterwards. Reminds me of when Jin was doing that one arm wrestle and basically said if his jungkookie was there the other guy would be a goner so cute lol.

Hope you’re doing well and don’t worry about any timeframes to reply lol no biggieee, I know you’re probably busy. I get it, trust me! I have this Jake fic I wanted to post for October and I’m still working on it 😭 I’ve been so busy with personal stuff it’s a little hard to write. But please take care of yourself well and make sure you’re getting lots of rest and eating!

I said, I'd get to it!! Thank you for sending another ask!!! I love getting them ❤️❤️.

Oooh Peace does have a special place in my heart. The chaotic friendship in that one is some of my favourite friend groups that I've written... Beomgyu my love was great chaotic bestie. Both YN & Jay were down bad from the BEGINNING... Fun fact, I was legit scared of doing the whole gossip girl thing and keeping it secret, I just hope the reveal was worth it and it wasn't super obvious who it was 😂.

Right, these boys would be doing it and I'll try to help 😂. (I miss our boys too, 2025/26 can't come fast enough). That Run Jin ep, cracked me up, he really said JK will beat u up for me 😂.

I love Jin. He's just ugh too perfect and his album? I'm dead, it's still on repeat, I'll Be There would have to be my fave at the moment but it's forever changing. Not me going on a side tangent abt Jin's album 😂. If you have any thoughts lemme know!!.

I'm doing pretty okay. We had the first snow here in London so it's freezing but I'm a winter baby so loving the cold weather 😂. Girl, I better get tagged in this Jake fic when you post it!!! And if you have, well done or doing the thing!!.

Take care of yourself too, self care is important!. Get rest and eat well dearie!!.

[thunderpetal]

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @the-real-azalea-scroggs! Thank you <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

35! And hopefully one more before the end of the year.

2. What's your total AO3 wordcount?

201,451. Which is mad.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Zelda (Linked Universe), The Owl House, Spiderverse and as of that fic I need to upload before the end of the year, Revue Starlight.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Five Teaspoons - Also the fic that took me the least time to write out of all of them. But it's Wild-centric LOL

The Pink Heroes - Legend and Wild discuss gender while Twilight chills in the background.

Someday We'll Stand Here By The Sun - My Owl House longfic that explores Luz and Amity's relationship post S2, pre S3.

The Quiet Kitchen - The prequel to SWSHBTS.

Walking the Same Path - Wind and Wild discuss gender- yeah this is a running theme isn't it LOL

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

I respond to comments because you must be crazy if you think I'm gonna pass up a chance to discuss the blorbos I write about more

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

Probably the weight of your actions, but I swear it's only angsty bc the canon of Gwen's universe in Spiderverse is angsty! Author is not responsible!

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

Can I cheat and do a fic I haven't written yet? Because the ending of the Wind and Wild gender series is going to be so sweet it may cause cavities. Other than that, probably Eudemonia, cause it's just pure fankids fluff.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, I think half my fics are probably too niche to attract bad faith types.

9. Do you write smut?

I'm baby.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I rotated the idea of Owl House x LU in my brain for a while but never wrote it, and now that I haven't, I probably never will.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Lol yeah someone uploaded an incredibly similar fic to in how many grey hours a few hours after I did, but nothing ever came of it. It wasn't Stolen stolen so I don't really care.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I haven't hit that milestone yet :(

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

The Lumity fankids are a brainchild of myself, @heleirylis and our friend maisa even if the fics on my profile for it aren't actually co-written. Also me and leir still need to do a joint fic for one of our fandoms (it WILL happen soon)

14. What's your all time favourite ship?

Lumity or Kuromaya now I've gotten back into the latter. I could write essays about both. I have in the case of Lumity

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

Can I say all of them? LOL er jokes aside I could answer this question with my timeloop fic where Time dies in front of Twilight and Twi uses the ocarina to try to save him over and over, but I haven't even started that properly, and I still reserve the right to say I WILL finish it. It's just a way more complicated fic than anything else I've ever written and requires much more brainpower than I fear I currently have. I guess the WIP that is actually never getting finished is my Fluffbruary 2023 collection. RIP.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and writing characters in character.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Anything other than those two things. But particularly writing descriptions.

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

A couple of my fave blorbos are bilingual so I do it occasionally. But my brother is the one with a languages degree, not me, so I honestly try and avoid it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Zelda, back when I was 11. Which makes me happy that I'm still writing for it now.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

It's a bit hard to choose but I really love I've Built My Life Around You. I was attempting to capture a very specific feeling and I think I did it. Plus my writing is way too good in that fic, to the point where whenever I reread it I forget I'm the one who wrote it. And I reread it a lot cause it's my niche I want to read, which is why it probably qualifies as my fave.

Tagging anyone who wants to do this!

[shiningclown69]

@musa-agreste-cheng

Hi! Thanks for your interest in Brandon haha 🥰

For anyone else also finding more info, here's some links to the Russian Winx website under cut!

I also talk about Brandon content in general here

(This went off the rails when i started talking abt the comics lol)

Link for the entire Winx Russian wiki. Its all in Russian so just google translate the articles into your language!

This is the link to the wiki for Brandon specifically

I saw Bianca under his "relationships" profile status and that's how I found out.

It also features some interesting facts not found in the English wiki, like his family background. Those tend to come from the winx magazines.

This has the synopsis (+ some illustrations) of the book Bianca comes from: Peace in the Family

I've also briefly mentioned a plotline of Stella mistaking Brandon's cousin for him cheating on her in the tags.

Well, here's the synopsis for the book: Podium for Stella.

This book features one of my fave Brella moments (aka the ending), which I'll probably talk about in another post!

Give the rest of the books from the same series a read too, they all feature love-related plot lines if you're into that.

I hope to be able to find more Winx books with their own one-off plots, the art and stories always interest me!

Honourable but not niche mention:

The Winx comics feature Brandon many times, especially in earlier comics (aka from S1-4).

You can find full scans of these easily by searching "Winx Comics Issue XX" on google haha

They have a ton of wild plots, I'll just list down the Brandon centric plots I can rmb

These range from:

1. Brandon getting near-fatal food poisoning in an assassination attempt (bc he's Sky's bodyguard). He is kidnapped from the hospital and has a near-identical doppleganger that replaces him.

2. Another assasination attempt where spies ambush the specialists at night and almost stab Brandon. He does not get stabbed don't worry.

3. Brandon is framed in a yacht accident and he is questioned for his presumed involvement in an attempt to harm Sky. Yes, ANOTHER one.

4. Because of said assasination attempts and Sky's father falling ill, a war brews up on Erakylon. Sky and Brandon leave Red Fountain and return to Erakylon for a prolonged period of time. This takes place accross multiple comics and has repercussions on both Stella and Bloom.

5. After a period of little to no communication due to the Erakylon situation, Brandon and Stella's relations are strained. Stella has issues with her mother, while Brandon is stressed from work. They get into an argument and break up.

6. Brandon and the specialists get stuck in a mirror dimension caused by a dimensional rift. Brandon relays his location coordinates to Stella in her dream and the Winx save them.

7. Brandon jumps into a river to save a drowning witch, Shilly. He falls unconscious and finds himself stuck in a cave with Shilly, who has healed his wounds with her magic. Shilly is absolutely smitten with Brandon, but he is uninterested. With Icy's help, Shilly creates a love potion and brainwashes Brandon into loving her. Stella is so upset that she breaks up with him. Shilly eventually realises her mistake and un-does the spell.

8. The winx and specialists' ship crash and they land up on a deserted island. Brandon and Musa have been knocked into a coma by the crash. The group (except bloom and stella) get kidnapped by pirates but the two girls save the group.

I'm honestly q amazed how much I rmb...wtf I was gonna only write 4 plots how did this turn into 8????

Anyway, that's most of the Brandon content I can remember. Happy exploring! :)

[captain-lovelace]

i know nothing of there might be giants, what are like, the top five must-listen songs for people about to make playlists of theur faves? (or just any fuve songs you wanna rec or feel like talking about tbh)

This took me forever to answer but here goes!

Ok so like I said there’s almost 40 years of songs (and their most recent album came out in 2021), I have not listened to a lot of them, and most of the songs could apply to a character in one way or another so I have chosen a few and have described the character type that they remind me of as well as some extras that could describe a specific kind of dynamic. And then for good measure a few more that I just like. I have also added some lyrics to demonstrate what I mean. Here we go:

1. Kiss Me, Son Of God— very good for corrupt leaders/cult leaders/corporate evil types/incredibly egotistical characters in general. I associate it with Cutter from Wolf 359 even though it’s more explicitly religious than might strictly apply to him.

Lyrics: I built a little empire out of some crazy garbage/Called the blood of the exploited working class/But they've overcome their shyness/Now they're calling me Your Highness/And the world screams, "Kiss me, Son of God"

2. Push Back the Hands of Time— lyrics describing a car crash and the subsequent trauma and inability to move on from the event. Very good for any sort of trauma that causes a character to develop a desire to go back to a specific moment and change it all. I have it in one of my OC playlists because his entire life has been shaped by a moment like that.

Lyrics: You would give up your right arm to go back/To when you had a right arm and You wanna sing to drown out the car horn/Squeeze your eyes shut and scream like a newborn

3. Aaa— Curiosity and panic. This is the one with a comment on the music video that read “a first person POV of what it’s like to be chased through the woods by They Might Be Giants” and that is what it feels like. I don’t have a specific character I apply this to but it is Very Emotion. Unfortunately I do also associate it with Among Us though.

Lyrics: What's this button do?/I wonder what's inside this ticking package that's addressed to me?/How are sausages made and what am I made of?/I'm gonna find out now

4. We Want A Rock— look this isn’t a character song though I guess it could be. It’s taking up a spot that could go to other songs because it’s a song for me. I want a rock to wind a piece of string around.

Lyrics: Everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around

5. Stuff Is Way— Ok I’m not really sure what to say here but I know for a fact this one applies to at least one character because someone tagged the post I made saying they’d put it in a character playlist. And they have the biggest brain on earth.

Lyrics: You say, stuff is way/Way to go/Go away/Who had you was?/I yes you would/It was catastro, catastro-feeling good

Bonuses: Am I Awake, Hate the Villanelle, Brain Problem Situation, I Broke My Own Rule, Careful What You Pack, Climbing the Walls, No Answer, I’m Impressed, Hopeless Bleak Despair, Finished With Lies, there’s definitely way more but this is what I can think of right now

Dynamics/relationships:

1. Darling, the Dose— the dose is poison and the poison is love <3

Lyrics: Make no mistake, I still need you the most/Time has the power to bind us too close/The dose is the poison we've had more than most/Darling

2. Mrs. Bluebeard— love leading to Betrayal and Murder

Lyrics: Most people wouldn't hang the corpses up for review/Dearest, I can only hope most people are nothing like you

3. I Love You For Psychological Reasons— title really says it all

Lyrics: Flammable undiagrammable sentiments pass between animal beings/Hard to explain but it's plain that/I love you for psychological reasons

4. Answer— ok I really like this one because it can be read either as a sincere plea for someone to realize that the person they’re looking for has been there the entire time OR (more likely) as a self-centered asshole being like “trust me even though I am nothing like what you want in a guy I am the answer to all your prayers”

Lyrics: All this time/Interested agents have been eavesdropping upstairs/When will you recognise that I am the answer to all your prayers?

5. Another First Kiss— this is one of my favorite TMBG songs. It’s just so. Soft. I’ve listened to it more times than is maybe healthy.

Lyrics: I could tell you "We belong together."/And I could tell you "You belong with me."/But we've run out of things to say/And we'll be happy anyway so/"How 'bout another first kiss?" she said

Others: Madam I Challenge You to a Duel, I’ll Be Haunting You, When Will You Die, I’ll Sink Manhattan, Birdhouse in Your Soul (this IS a love song in addition to being literally about a blue canary night light don’t @ me), You Don’t Like Me, She’s An Angel, They’ll Need a Crane, Take Out The Trash (this one is also apparently available in Simlish? Wild), and once again, many others

Again though I am serious: I am not a TMBG expert and there is probably at least one TMBG song that applies to most characters, even if it’s not listed here. Do recommend people to listen to these ones though!

[yokohamabeans]

Hello yoko!! How have you been ?

I hope you're doing great! <3

I've got a little question to ask, I dunno how to phrase it tho, and i don't want to seem rude or disrespectful (cause I know writing is no easy thing) BUT THERE'S NO OTHER WAY TO SAY IT😭😭😭

So, euh, when will you be uploading requital's next chapter?? I had been checking your blog everyday from the past December to see if there were any updates (thanks for the spoilers!! I would've died a long time ago if it wasn't for them😅😅)

I LOVE your fic SO MUCH !!! (it's my all time favorite!! ) You can't imagine how happy it makes me!!! It's very well written!! (I LOVE YOUR WRITING STYLE!!), the OC's personality is just perfect, Plus kakucho is my favorite!!!!

So, yeah 😅😅

PLEASE let Kaku be happy😭

My little boy had been through a lot already, he deserves the whole world!!

Also, I'd like to get to know my favorite author (aka: you) better!! (only if you're comfortable tho)

Like, what's your zodiac sign/ mbti type ? Favorite book/ author? Got any recommendations?? What inspires you most?Do you like Haruki murakami?? Do you base your OC off of yourself??

Gosh there's a lot to ask, but imma just start with that..

Well, that's all for today (I hope that wasn't creepy 😅😅)

Bye!! please take care of yourself <3

ANON AHRIRWHWHIFHEHSAHDHFJFKGHG I’M SORRY FOR FREAKING OUT BUT THANK YOU FOR THIS MESSAGE!!! I truly did not expect to receive something like this!!

Ahhh I’m so sorry for the delay in chapter 3!! My busy period at work and life lasted longer than I expected…. But if it’s any help, it’s over now and I’m able to focus more on writing!! I hope to be able to update ROAC within the 1.5 weeks! Chapter 3 is about 60% done so far!! And I’m glad you liked the snippets!! Tbh I posted them cuz I got too excited about some parts 😅

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR KIND WORDS!!!! It really made me happy and more motivated to write, because tbh I feel like I’m still figuring out my writing style. I’ve been opting for a style that’s more simple in prose (I was quite a purple-proser in the past…) and still figuring out what should/shouldn’t be said. I’m glad you like my OC so far, though I hope it’s not just from Chap 2, cuz chap 3 is gonna be from her POV and she is way more of a dick than what Chap 2 portrayed her to be 🤣 Anyway you don’t know how much your words mean to me!! And I swear I’ll hit the gas on writing now!!

FAVOURITE AUTHOR FHSGAHFGJH YOU ARE TOO KIND!! And I don’t mind, not at all!! Thank you for asking about me!! Here you go, off the top of my head:

Zodiac : Year of the boar / Aries! Idk what my rising sign is though. Tbh I’ve never really gotten into astrology cuz I don’t think I embody any of the traits often associated with Aries people. But I know others who swear by it!

MBTI Type : I’m always fluctuating between INFJ and INFP, though I think I’m more towards INFP!

Fave Book/Author & Writing Inspo : Ahhh I gotta admit I don’t think I’ve read enough to have a conclusive favourite author/book!! There are books I enjoy a lot at the time of reading and I think it’s my favourite book ever, only to read another book and that THAT’s my fave book haha so it really depends a lot on my mood…. But (and maybe you’ve already seen me rambling about it) Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino was the book that I loved a lot recently!! I also got quite enamoured by Gregory Orr’s poems, they talk about grief so beautifully! I’d say that the author/book I’m reading at any point would be inspiration for my writing!! For example, if I want to write a ‘soft scene’ I’d go re-read some books for inspiration in writing. I also imagine very specific scenes when writing, down to the smallest details like breathing and eye movements (which I’m trying to curb cuz it’s making my writing too rambly tbh), and scenes from movies or pictures help with the visualization! (I have a #finsp tag where I tag things that I think can be used for fic-inspiration, though it’s a mish mash of themes)!

About Murakami : I think I generally prefer his short stories over his full length novels if I’m to be honest!! Tbh I don’t have that much of an insightful opinion about him cuz I don’t finish his full length novels 😓 but I really like the way he’s able to weave complex emotions in his writing!!

About my OC : Ahhhh I don’t base them off myself!! My own self is too boring for a story haha and I can’t see myself (personally) paired up with my fictional husbandos for some reason. I guess I come up with the OCs when I’m wondering how this OC will fit and interact with the characters, and if I’m being honest it’s sometimes pure self-indulgence cuz I’m writing them in romance stories with said faves 😬 (But the OC in Requital is more of a character study imo so the focus may not be too much on the romance!) I’d say that I do try to put myself in the headspace of my OCs when writing so I can bring out the emotions!

Anon this was so fun to answer ahhh please feel free to ask me anything you wanna know!! AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I swear you are welcome to drop asks or even messages any time!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!

[thyandrawrites]

tag memes

(don't mind me as I do these literal WEEKS later but it be like that. if I don't do them immediately, they get buried in my notifs and I forget 😂)

tagged by the lovely @draphrawrites and @bittermoonswrites. Thank you both! I love writer memes even if I'm not much of a writer rn

Name(s): thyandra

Fandom(s): bnha (derogatory)

Where you post: Mostly ao3. Sometimes just here on tumblr tho when I write ficlets that I don't feel are good enough for ao3

Most popular one-shot (by kudos): things change, things stay the same (4k, KamiKiriBaku), which has a whopping... 825 kudos, holy shit. When did that happen. I had a feeling this one would be on top since it's the name I see most often in my kudos mail but I haven't actually checked in so long ssajkfsak

Most popular multi-chap (also by kudos): Butterfly effect (116k, DabiHawks). Which also doesn't surprise me, lol. It has been my longest and most ambitious work so far, and you can tell by comparing the first chapters to the last ones just how much I've grown as a writer thanks to it. The feedback I've gotten from it was also mindblowing. I didn't expect much to come from my very first longfic. It was a project I started mostly for myself, to explore all the routes I knew were never gonna be told by canon... maybe that's why it got so popular. Maybe this fandom is just full of people who wish canon went differently, LoL

Favorite story you've written so far: people always expect BE to be my fave but it's actually not, lol. I spent too long fistfighting that one to truly love it 100%, and in general I always have a love/hate relationship with my fics. So I'm gonna suprise even myself and state that my fave is probably Hoist the colors (14k, DabiHawks).

The friends I complained to about this know that the process of writing this fic was excruciating. My first big bang experience and a horrible one at that. But maybe that's why I was able to write a fic I'm fully happy with, cause I was so salty at the universe that I think it was the first time I spite-wrote a fic entirely for myself. I wasn't worrying at all about how it was going to be received, if my partner or the mods liked it, and I think that's what got me to write a story that checked all of my boxes (even as I literally had to fight several writers block along the way). The only regret I have with this fic is that my original concept was meant to be much longer and have several arcs, but thanks to the aforementioned blocks I was only able to write the first one, and had to wrap the story up with an open ending. Maybe one day I'll come back to this universe and write the rest tho.

Fics you were nervous to post: Honest? any chapter in a multichap project. But especially butterfly effect updates. I kid you not, it was my FIRST longfic and it got an overwhelming amount of attention from the very start, which I totally wasn't ready for, and that influenced me a bit. I wrote that fic under a lot of stress (that I put onto myself by trying to meet nonexistent "expectations" and hoping not to disappoint readers). For however happy I am with that story, I'm glad it's finally done.

How do you choose your titles: there are writers who know the title before even starting to outline the fic. I am not amongst them. I choose titles either after finishing the first draft or when I'm about to post. What I typically do is looking for the point where the tension in the story is at its peak and try to come up with a title that references that specific bit of the fic. Sometimes it's lines taken straight out from the text. Sometimes it's a descriptor of the vibes of that climax. Sometimes it's a single word that just feels right.

That's why I don't have any fancy or eye-catching titles btw, lmao. I literally choose them on the spot

I put some more thought on zine fic titles cause zines don't have summaries or tags so titles are all you have to promo your story if you don't want the buyer to simply skip over it... but tbh my process is still the same

Do you outline?: It depends highly on the fic. Outlining is fairly new to me, I only started doing it when I began BE, so only 2 years ago. And I'm not much of a plotter, I'm more of a plantser, so to say. I do outline but I try to keep plot details more generic and spend a lot more focus into the characters' backstories, goals and motivators. I find that outlining a plot too rigidly doesn't work for me because I base my stories off strong emotions and internal challenges, so my characters evolve a lot and sometimes I don't predict well where they'd go from there until I write it. So my version of an outline is just giving myself a guideline on who that character is as an individual, where they come from / where they're headed, how they interact with other characters, what sort of push will make them go in a certain direction and how to achieve it

Complete: right now just two zine fics that I can't post yet (a dabihawks dororo AU and my Miruko zine piece). I am ashamed of this but I haven't written a single line ever since I finished BE. Idk what's happening to me but despite having ideas I'm hitting a stage where I completely lack the motivation to sit down and outline or write them, or even discuss them. Maybe cause I'm too burned out

In-progress: *shrug*

Coming soon: I'd like to know it too, @ brain. *taps on watch*

Not started: haha. you don't wanna know how many ideas are in a larval state in my brain and then die because I don't feed them OR forget them

Prompts?: I'm not sure what this means but I'm not participating in any challenge

Upcoming work you're most excited about: I wanna share my dororo AU bc a couple of people on ctabb showed interest in it and suprised me (I thought it was going to be super niche content like my demon slayer AU that was maybe read by three people, but guess not)

Tagging: all my writer friends probably already did this since I'm so late to the party but I guess I'll try anyway. Feel free to ignore! @starship--phoenix @linkspooky @theycallmebol

annnd another one!

Tagged by aphra again

Indoor plants or gardens / cloud-watching or star-gazing / water or fire / paperback or hardcover / running or hiking / sleeping with socks or without socks / fruit or vegetables / hanging plants or succulents / dark wood or light wood / handwritten or typed / instagram or pinterest / braids or pigtails / books or movies / oceans or meadows / forests or fields / sweet or salty / ice cream or chocolate / hoodies or sweaters / long hair or short hair / piercings or tattoos / summer or winter / boots or sneakers / cars or motorcycles / curls or straight hair / castles or cottages / sunny days or storms / reptiles or birds / disney or nickelodeon / strawberries or watermelon / essays or posters / phones or laptops / glass or stone / dark or light / photos or paintings / circuses or theaters / reading or writing / dogs or cats / poetry or novels / monsters or ghosts / thrift shops or libraries / fiction or non-fiction

tagging (feel free to ignore): @todosiblings @haleigh-sloth and uhhh anyone else who wants to do it

[franeridart]

Anon said: How are you just like "Oh these are just some warm up sketches" and post a full finished piece, while I'm over here sketching a triangle person and calling it a finished piece.

I dunno if this was a legit question asking for a legit answer, but I do happen to have a legit answer so I might as well give it! If I wanted to go into detals with it it’d take me forever though, so allow me to separate it into two points to make it easier

I learnt how to be very fast in putting down my lines and trained myself into not overthinking every single dot I put down. This took about five or six years of drawing daily and a whole life of drawing occasionally before then, because to do so you need to reach a point where you’re drawing something you’ve drawn so many times that by now your hand sort of goes without you needing to think about it much, so it’s not a fast process, but boy is it worth it. Mostly learning how to not overthink it, overthinking it used to be 90% of my time spent on a drawing and dear god did it suck the joy out of everything I drew

I have two very distinctive ways of approaching a drawing, one where I actually put effort in it and the other where I just want to let the squiggles out of my pen, and warm ups are the second one - the lack of effort I’m putting in can have different forms and show in different ways, so a warm up could be a fully colored piece as it could be just a pencil doodle, depending on where and on what exactly I’m being lazy: it could be the type of tool I’m using that allows me to draw without having to line, it could be a very tiny canvas that lets me avoid a ton of details a big canvas would demand. I might be cutting the time I usually put in making sure my anatomy is correct, I might be using a shading technique that takes a tenth of the time my usual one would, I might be using a style that’s just easier and faster to draw, or drawing characters I’ve drawn a trillion times in extremely generic poses and clothes. There’s a lot of things that I can do to make things faster for me! It’s skills you gain as you draw a lot - you learn how to draw things the hard way, and then you realize that along the way you learnt how to do them the easy way too

hope this actually answers your question! If it was a question at all lol if it wasn’t then sorry for rambling, please pretend I didn’t say anything hahaha

Anon said: I love your newest comic!!! So adorable!! I noticed Bakugou's mom does the affectionate hair rustle thing to him in the manga/anime, do you think Bakugou subconsciously does the same to show affection cause of it? I love the way you draw faces and poses, it's so expressive!!

Ahhhhh thank you so much!!! And yeah, it might be! After all we do take a lot from the people we live with even without realizing, and he’s already so similar to his mom!

Anon said: I saw your bakushima comic from October 9th (2019) where Bakugo falls asleep studying and Kirishima sets him down on the table properly and it was so soft my heart is crying

;;;;; !!!!!!!! I’m glad you liked it!! <3<3

Anon said: If it not to much, could I possibly get a Ochamina doodle pls? I just love some sweet lesbeans 👉👈

Awww I’m not taking requests right now, but I’ll keep it in mind for next time I want to doodle and don’t know what!

Anon said: I love your art! I envy you.

Please don’t! There’s a lot of reasons why being me isn’t a lot of fun - if it’s just my skill you envy, then all you gotta do is draw a lot! 

Anon said: i just went through your entire kiribaku tag and omg it was beautiful seeing the progression in your art skills but still keeping the same funny/cute/heartwarming/etc traits you thought up for their dynamic!! i hope that makes sense haha !! love your art keep it up

It does make sense!!! Thank you so much both for looking through the whole tag and for thinking so, it means a lot to me!! ;;; <3<3

Anon said: Hey fran! I hope you're doing well(especially with quarantine and all)!! I really love your anatomy and how fluid and stylistic it can be! It's super fun to look at! I wanted to ask you if you ever did any in depth studies on anatomy? Like muscles and bones. I've heard a lot of artists mention the necessity of studying bones/muscles, i'd really like to know your opinion on the subject

Ahhh god thank you so much!! And... hmm let’s see if I can word this properly and have it make sense - always keeping in mind that this is just my opinion, of course!

If all you want to do is to draw, then all you need to do is to pick up your pencil and draw - it’s really that easy as far as I’m concerned. You don’t need to know anatomy in depth to just draw, everyone has seen a person, everyone knows how a person looks. That is, if all you want to do is to draw for the sake of drawing. If you want to draw an anatomically correct looking human being, though, you do need to know how anatomy works - and the deeper you’ll go into studying it the more correct your people will look. It’s kind how everyone can draw a bicycle, but if you want to draw a realistic bicycle you’re gonna need to look up references for it, you know? It’s all on the level at which you’re interested in drawing, the more technically skilled you want to be the more you’ll have to study

As for my personal experience with this, I hate studying with a passion. Studying puts a damper on my enjoyement of everything, and drawing isn’t excluded from this - you put a book in front of me expecting me to study it and suddenly I never want to pick up a pencil again. This means that I never sat down and studied anatomy in depth and all in one go just to learn how to draw a human being, but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t, slowly and now and again and in bits and pieces, study parts of the body to get a better understanding of it. I know better about the skeleton than I do about muscles, and I still have enough to learn about everything that anyone who’s studied anatomy properly would find a trillion mistakes in everything I draw, but my way of going about drawing has always been and always will be putting my enjoyement of it first and foremost, so I’m not interested in putting myself through a tour-de-force to learn everything there is to know about anatomy just to make my doodles look appealing to someone with a medical degree haha I’m just doing me, and when the mood is right I look up how to properly draw something, but until then I just do it as best as I can with my limited knowledge, being fully aware that what I’m producing is far from accurate but being willing to make that compromise for my own comfort

So that’s my opinion on it lol it all boils down to how important it is for you to know how to properly draw the human body - of course it’s gonna look more professional and better if you’ve studied it, but everyone has their own priorities, you know?

Anon said: Thank you for your hard work, seeing an upload from you is so nice, and the colors are so pretty

Thank you so muuuuccchhhhh!!!! TTATT <3<3<3

Anon said: Opinions on Tokoyami Fumikage 💕

One of my top faves in the whole manga, actually! I have a drawing in the making of him, I should get back to it..........

Anon said: HOLY SHIT FRAN THE TOES HOW YOU DRAW THE TOES SO WELL FEET ARE THE DEATH OF ME AND YOU’RE OVER HERE DRAWING TOES THEY’RE SO GOOD PLEASE TEACH ME YOUR WAYS!!! -❤️

Thank you!!!!!!!! So pretty much my way of learning this specific skill was being obsessed with elves when I was fifteen and wanting to draw them all the time  and also for whatever reason being convinced that they were not supposed to wear shoes so I just drew a lot of feet with references and tutorials and stuff till I could draw my elves properly. Which isn’t necessarily what you need to do to learn how to draw feet, but, I mean, it worked for me lol

Anon said: I love ur Bnha ships and all but what would u do if some of them didn’t become canon??

Oh, I actually don’t care about that at all? I don’t expect most of them to become canon anyway - like, ochadeku sounds reasonable and kamijirou seems to be getting there, but everything else I never even considered it as an actual possibilily. I don’t really ship because I want to see my ships become canon, I just like the potential in what I can make with them? If that makes sense? They’re just fun to think about and I like making fancontent, that’s all there is to it really haha honestly if I had my way no ship would ever be canon ever ha ha ha

Anon said: Slep is for the wek

No actually sleep is for Frans who want a chance at getting up tomorrow morning without an headache for once, so I should do that and go to sleep already lmao

[hayjeon]

Practical Tips on getting your fics out there!

I’ve gotten an influx of these types of questions here recently, and the more i thought about what i was gonna add, it became really long :(  

disclaimer: a lot of the things i bring up are just from personal experience as a writer on this site, what my followers have told me they appreciate, and what i tend to look for when im looking for fics to read! If you don’t like these tips then pls move on :) 

although i’ll mention them, i’m also not going to be focusing on cliche tips like “write for yourself” or “grammar issues” cause those are pretty obvious!

1. accessibility of your blog 

when you’re trying to get your name out there, make sure that you’re creating an inviting experience for any potential followers! this includes:

a memorable url! be creative!

have some fun designing your blog’s aesthetic! (i love cute blogs because it reflects a bit of the writer’s personality), and (i prefer blogs with white backgrounds because it’s easier to look through/read, say, in contrast to a pitch black one where the words need to be white!) 

put your masterlist link in your bio (even better if you can link most recent fic! found this most helpful when i revisit authors that i like and can easily see if they’ve updated or not)

an organized and easy-to-navigate masterlist (personally, i prefer masterlists organized by band, instead of types of fics ie. i hate when i have to choose between drabbles, oneshots, and series masterlists; i really prefer to see them altogether!) --> see section 3 

organized tags (if you’re going to be posting a lot of non-fic-related content like pictures or videos, tag them properly so followers can sort through and find your fics easily!), or (if you’re going to be writing in different mediums like drabbles, or answering asks, make sure to use a unified #mine or #writing or #fics to centralize your content) 

2. get your name out there!

write write write! once you have some fics that show your talent, don’t be shy! 

join writing groups: when i first started out, I joined a bunch of groups that would reblog my fics in the midst of the content of much bigger writers; these blogs developed a following, and as a result of my content mixing in with bigger blogs’ content, so did my own tumblr! there’s been a stigma recently with these groups, but im sure you can find one thats supportive and not clique-y! 

send your fics to rec pages: what’s the harm? the only bad thing that can happen is that they ignore you! who cares! get out there! 

if you can do the above, i really encourage you to ask your fave writers for advice/to read your fic: again, the worst that can happen is that they say no or don’t respond or don’t have enough time, but it’ll be a good opportunity to get some feedback! i for one read (or try to read) every single rec that falls into my inbox. if i like it, i’ll #rec it, and if i don’t, unless the writer asks me for feedback, i move on!! 

utilize your tags!!: i’m not entirely sure if this is still the same or not, but from my memory, it’s the first 3-5 tags that matter the most? so utilize them well; push back the tags that aren’t really relevant (ie. #writing, #fics) and push more the main subject line of what you wrote (ie. jungkook fluff, bts smut, namjoon angst). these will populate your fics into the tags better!

headers!: when i’m scrolling through an infinite page of fics, the headers catch my eye the most; try being creative! you can find a lot of info out there on how to make ur headers super aesthetic, but i can share my tips too! --> see section 3

3. your masterlist 

here are some practical tips! 

organize by band, not type of fic/member/centralize your masterlist: i went onto a blog recently and clicked their bio mlist link to find a page full of 20~ish “JUNGKOOK MASTERLIST”/ “JAEHYUN MASTERLIST” and when i clicked on each one, they only had like 2 or 3 fics per member. i think it would’ve been better if she’d centralized all her fics! that keeps whoever is looking interested and more likely to click on another fic while browsing

add info about the fics!: when scrolling through a masterlist, it’s easy to get lost; try to add some snippets of info (ie. a short sentence you liked from the fic, a quick summary, a description of the au/scenario, or even a header!) this all gives some info about the fics you have tagged! 

headers: this isn’t a requirement, but i personally love a good header on fics i read and i love making them myself as i finish up a fic and get ready to upload it; here are free sources: unsplash for HQ stock pics, crop/edit/filter in VSCO, and then add aesthetic script with fontcandy) 

try to fill it up!: after i visit a blog after reading one good fic, i usually browse through their mlist to see if there are any more that i’d be interested in. if there’s a lot to look forward to, i’ll almost always follow; try to write as much as you can in the first few months to try and fill up your mlist and give blog viewers a reason to visit your blog again, follow, or even reblog your content!) 

4. try not to reproduce cliche fics: 

honestly tumblr’s writing community (and armys) has grown insanely these past few years and, unfortunately, even from my perspective, in the past 3-4 years, all the writers have sort of become blended together in my brain. but, i can say that the ones who consistently stand out are the ones who produce consistent content and think outside of the box! 

i tend to gravitate towards fics that have really interesting plotlines (ex. btssavedmylifeblr’s VOID is always a surprise to read because it’s sO unique! i usually don’t read ot7 fics but this one is legit my fave) 

I know it’s tempting to try and just write typical smut fics to try and gain some traction, but tumblr is already too overloaded by that kind of content; try to write something that’s special and unique! this will set u apart from the thousands of other writers here --> see next section

5. create unique fics: 

this is also personal to my writing style, but i get so bored writing just casual fics about the members, and it affects the fics i choose to read too; i prefer unique fics which you can achieve through: 

circumstance/au: create a fun au!; don’t just create an arranged marriage, create an arranged marriage in joseon dynasty, or between a werewolf and a hunter! (shameless self plug); don’t just give me friends to lovers, but give me spiderman!jungkook friends to lovers! (ie. cupofteaguk’s exchanges)

jobs: give them out-of-the-ordinary jobs; don’t just give me enemies to lovers, but give me rival!anchors who end up loving eachother! (ie. jimlingss The Newscasters)

fun dialogue: create good back-and-forth, (something i’m still working on!)! this will help your characters develop personality, and that way, readers will start to develop that themselves as well (ie. dad!yoongi from insemination wars by prolixitae is such a specific character that i love so much!, or obiwrites’ garden characters were so memorable!)

create memorable personalities: don’t give me a flat character, try to develop 4d personalities in all of your characters! (im still working on this too!) this way you can really make an impression on your followers! a great way to practice/recognize this is: “Ask my Character.” Can your followers ask a specific character a specific question, and would you be able to deliver an answer that is very specific to that character’s tone/voice/personality? If yes, then ur doing well! If not, try to think of ways that you can make tht specific character from a specific story, really unique and separate from your other characters.

6. some practical writing tips

be yourself, write for your own pleasure, blah blah blah; yeah you know already haha but here are a few more practical tips! 

grammar check: if you can, try and hone your grammar! makes for an easier read 

write like you: i personally LOVE this by obiwrites, but even the way she writes exudes her personality and is so specific; try not to be caught up in adding hundreds of synonyms and exquisite language; in fact, simpling it down and being more concise and honest with your writing is better than a superfluous sentence; this will also give ur characters so much more dimension and funk

use those commas/sentence variation: try to use more commas; this will feel like you’re the narrator to your own story; it also makes it more fluid to read in my opinion, over those short. clipped. sentences. (ie. “he came over, sitting down on the corner of your bed with an expression you’d never seen before” over “he walked over. he sat down, looking sad.”) 

half-half dialogue/narration: a fic with too much dialogue can get confusing, and a fic with too much narration can get dry; try to balance them out, and weave in and out of each! 

quality over quantity: don’t feel burdened to write a 30k word fic. in fact, i think some of the shorter fics (ie. any of versigny’s stuff) made a bigger impression on me over the longer fics because they were short, left me wanting more, and were just so high-quality in such small quantities. try out your hand at drabbles and one-shots, and don’t feel too burdened to try and develop a series right off the bat! 

abandon pigeon-holes: i’m guilty of this; i start series and then end up with no vision for the stories and they end up giving me writers block. its okay. just stop or discontinue them or leave them on a hiatus; it’s okay. your priority is yourself, and if abandoning certain works are part of that, then go ahead. it’ll help you progress more. 

and finally.......

i’ll add more as they come up! but if you liked this, then pls lmk! i’d love to give more tips and tricks; i think i started this blog 3-4 years ago when there weren’t as many writers here, but im glad you’re thinking of starting out/wanting to grow more! don’t feel intimidated! it’s not all about the notes/followers but creating a blog you’re proud of. 

so write what you’re proud of, or interested in, and keep going. i truly thoroughly had so much fun writing this post. if there are any writers who read through this and have some more advice, pls msg me! 

all the best to you! 

[moonlight-breeze-44]

Hey Em! I've gone through most of your Malec fics and I really love them! (especially the autistic!Alec one but also all those dealing with Alec's mental health issues) I was wondering if you have other recs for me of fics you love, since I'm really new in the fandom and there's so much out there?

Hi there! I’m so glad you’ve been reading and enjoying my fics! That means so much to me :) You’re so sweet! <3

I always have fic recs, so I am more than happy to give you some anytime you want. Here’s a list of a few (or a LOT because I got carried away, oops) that I love with my whole heart. I’m not sure what kinds of fics you like, so I rec’d some of my faves and ones that are specifically about autistic!Alec or Alec & mental health issues.

~ ~ ~

- Walking With Death by Aria_Lerendeair. This is a fic about Malec becoming immortal husbands, and it’s angsty but so, so, so good. Death is a character and Alec buys him coffee.

- Stone Can Be Broken by lawsofchaos and the wonderful sequel Hearts Can Be Remade by Aria_Lerendeair. Both are very angsty, but Laws’ has a hopeful ending and Aria’s has a happy ending. Be sure to read the tags on Aria’s! <3

- Five Times Alec Hides His Tears And One Time He Doesn’t by notcrypticbutcoy. This fic is about Alec’s struggles with anxiety and it is such a heartwrenching read for me. 100/10 recommend. 

- Violet by cuubism. This one deals with some pretty serious suicidal thoughts, so be cautious! <3 Magnus and Alec meet each other on a bridge. Or, the one where helping someone else is sometimes easier than helping yourself. Written by cuubism of the Malec Discord server we’re a part of!

- Wish Upon A Shooting Star by Aria_Lerendeair. Another immortal husbands fic, and it is so, so sweet and has a whimsical, optimistic energy that will surely make you smile. (Bonus points: written by our very own sassy moderator of the Malec Discord server.)

- “You are hurt” by sugarandspace. I’m not sure how much you like parabatai feels, but if you do, this is THE FIC for you. Jenna, who is a member of our lovely Malec server as well, does it wonderfully. It’s set post-3x18 Malec breakup and it has Alec self-harming and lots of feels with him & Jace.

- A Different Time by TK_Extraordinaire. This fic is basically a character study of Alec, a look at how he evolved over the years told from the POV of others.

- Tell me I’m perfect (but tell me the truth) by SquaresAreNotCircles. This fic is one of my favourite fluffy ones and it’s basically 7.5k of Alec talking about how much he loves his boyfriend to everyone who’s not him and then one time Magnus finds out about these secret compliment-fests.

- Brother Let Me Be Your Shelter by alistoney. This fic deals with Alec’s self-harm and it is an add-on to that scene in season 1 when Alec storms away after Jace & Clary kiss. Lots of Izzy and Alec feels, provided graciously by the amazing Zia of our Malec server.

- I will catch you when you fall by sugarandspace. Another fic where Alec self-harms, but this time it’s Magnus helping him out.

- Quiet now, you’re gonna wake the beast by EternallySilverMagnusAndAlec. This is a wonderful autistic!Alec fic that also goes into the emotional trauma that Alec has to deal with from Maryse. Written by EternallySilver of the Malec Discord server!

- Not So Unrequited by Aria_Lerendeair. A best friends to lovers AU that goes through their journey together as friends (including lots of delicious angst) and eventually leads to the confessing of feelings.

- The Lonely Hearts Hotline by Fatale (femme). I prefer oneshots to long fics, so this is one of the only fanfics I’ve read that surpasses 20k. This is the story of CEO Magnus and phone sex operator Alec and yes, it is absolutely as good as it sounds. 100/10 must read.

- Subjective by Accal1a. This fic was actually just posted tonight in the Malec Discord server, but I wanted to link it in case you didn’t see. Hannah has an amazing way with words. This is a 5+1 about Alec & dealing with homophobia. It isn’t all posted yet, but it will be soon, and the first chapter is SO GOOD.

- Autistic Alec AU by AceOnIce. This is a series of fics where Alec is a mundane and autistic, and it shows the journey of his relationship with Magnus. It’s amazing and also written by one of our Discord server members, Amelia.

- shed my skin, my scars by ByTheAngell. This fic is another fic about Alec & self-harm, written by the wonderful Elle of the Malec Discord server, with a few mentions of other ways of not taking care of himself, too. It’s set post-canon and portrays the way that people can fall back into bad habits quickly and easily very well.

- On Thunderstorms and Scared Shadowhunters by alxdrlightwood. The fic in which Alec slowly begins to accept that it’s okay to have a phobia, and Magnus is there to provide cuddles.

- And They Were Roommates by CoolStoryMatt. A roommates college AU where Malec are oblivious idiots that really need to learn to communicate better. Another of the rare above 20k faves of mine. Absolutely hilarious, with great plot and so many moments that’ll make you yell at your screen.

- Whumptober 2019 by Donovanspen. This is a series of works with Malec hurt/comfort and angst.

- No reason to feel like this by sugarandspace. A fic in which Alec deals with depression, and Magnus is there for him.

- it took me years to say the words that you did not even need said by arekiras. A series of fics about autistic!Alec and his life as a Shadowhunter, Head of the Institute, and boyfriend/husband to Magnus Bane.

- Red-Handed by Carmenlire. This is a fic about Alec relapsing with self-harm and Magnus being there for him. Like Elle’s fic above, it also portrays the way one can slip back into bad habits quickly and easily very well.

- Reasons To Stay by AceOnIce. This fic is a 5 times fic with 5 times Alec wanted to die, but didn’t.

- holding onto you by anonlymous. Another Alec & self-harm fic where Magnus is there for him.

- Once You Taste It by Carmenlire. Yet another Alec & self-harm fic, with Alec making the choice to go to Magnus before things get too far.

- An Unlikely Angel by thatnerdemilyj. This fic is a Fraywood brotp where Clary leaves nice sticky notes for Alec after being exposed to all of the bad thoughts in his mind. Bonus points, it’s written by the lovely creator of our Malec server, the other Em!

- First step after the fall by sugarandspace. A fic about the aftermath of 2x08 but Magnus has wings as a warlock mark and he used those to save Alec when he jumped. Lots of angst for both Magnus & Alec!

- Survive In That Despair by thattrainssailed. This fic is one of the only no-dialogue fics I’ve ever read, but it makes the emotion that much more potent. It’s another Alec & self-harm fic, and it’s more graphic than the others I’ve rec’d here, so please be extra cautious! <3

- We Care For Each Other by ZequoiaRose. A bad day fic with absolutely ridiculous amounts of hurt/comfort. So soft, I don’t even have words. 100/10 recommend. 

- I cannot touch because they are too near by jillyfae. This fic is honestly the best fic about the parabatai bond I’ve ever read. It has a truly lovely amount of wordbuilding and is told from Magnus’s POV where he wants to know more about the bond Alec & Jace have. Extremely soft and written by jilly from our Malec Discord server.

- Between The Lines by Carmenlire. If you like pre-canon fics at all, this is an absolute must-read. It tells a heartwrenching story of Alec & his repression due to the Shadowhunters’ homophobic society, told from Isabelle’s POV. 

- Starling by cuubism. One of the best fics about Alec & mental health issues, in my opinion. It’s absolutely heartbreaking in the best way. It can also be pretty intense, so be sure to read the tags and the author’s trigger warnings! <3

- Astraphobia by AceOnIce. An autistic!Alec college AU where Alec’s fear of thunderstorms causes him to meet Magnus for the first time. So, so, so cute. Like, illegally cute.

- The Breath of a Lie by Secretness. This fic is another one of the best fics about Alec & mental healh issues. Although, please be aware - it is very, very intense. This fic will fuck you up good if you’re not careful, so please take care of yourself. <3

- 11:45 by bidness. This fic is the last of my above 20k recs. It is the sweetest workplace AU you will ever read, where Magnus keeps stealing Alec’s lunch and leaving apology notes behind. Also written by the absolutely wonderful Tilly of the Malec Discord server.

- The Best High School Love Story (Maybe Ever) by Aria_Lerendeair. If high school AUs are your thing, you will absolutely love this. It features competitive Malec, best friends to lovers, and the cutest storyline to ever cute.

~ ~ ~

So I ended up giving you like, half of my bookmarks, oops. Sorry about that. I hope you find some that you like among these, and thank you so much again for reading my fics!

Thank you for the ask!