#i just went off

[nerevarswritingstuff]

Okay, I NEED to know:

How do you draft your chapters/stories? Do you have a set ending before you even start or do you just go with the flow, outlining it chapter-by-chapter? Do you have set goals?

I am very rusty at writing and would appreciate your wisdom, great Nerevar! (m´・ω・｀)mﾍﾟｺ

OKAY OKAY OKAY SO LIKE I genuinely don't have a solid answer for this OUIEJHRVOIUERJVOIERV

I do have this old post an anon had asked me about planning a fic in general, and I do go into planning out chapters, so you can take a quick look at this: https://www.tumblr.com/nerevarswritingstuff/717226640623681536/first-of-all-hi-how-are-you-second-ive-been?source=share

As for planning a story... HMMM //cracks knuckles

Lemme see what I can put down for ya, my love

Planning a Story

So when it comes to planning a story, the first thing I think of is the main theme of it. Is it comedy? Tragedy? Action/Adventure? Slice of Life?

The main theme does not have to be the sole theme either! You can have multiple mixed in, but you gotta be careful with how much of the other side-themes you put in there. Too much comedy in a tragedy makes the intense scenes fall flat. Too much tragedy in a comedy makes the audience wonder why it's being labeled as a comedy in the first place.

For TIaF... I suppose it could be labeled as a Action/Adventure for the main theme, with the side themes being: tragedy, slice of life, and a hint of comedy.

I feel like Guardians of the Galaxy does a very good job of having that perfect blend between comedy and tragedy (especially after seeing Vol. 3), where the comedy in it never feels abrupt or out of place. I'll dive deeper into this in a minute.

To answer part of your question as well, I always have a set ending before I start writing my story. That's just how I've always rolled, but it doesn't work for everyone, so I highly recommend you find what works for you. If figuring out how you want it to start is easiest, then go for it! Or if finding out the middle section would be a cinch, then do that!

In my other ask post that I linked above, I wrote a series of questions for how to incorporate a Reader-Insert into a story. For writing a story in general, here's what I usually ask myself:

What is the end goal or our MC(s)?

How will they reach this goal? Will they be the same as they were when the story started, or will they be different? How different will they be?

What allies or enemies do they make along the way? Do the allies stay as allies and vice versa? Or do they stop being friends/enemies with the MC(s)?

Who is the main antagonist and why are they trying to be in the way of our MC(s)?

This is kinda just a small list of questions I usually have, but there's definitely plenty more you can find to help you make the layout of your story!

Now before I go into drafting, let me just do a small salt-filled PSA

Writing Angst In Your Story

I'm talking from a more personal preference and experience here, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt.

I've been around several RP communities where I've seen many, many, many people not know how to do the "Relief Rule" as I like to call it.

What is the Relief Rule? I'm glad you asked!

The Relief Rule is simple: When you've had a tense moment, you need a moment of relief.

Allow me to further elaborate by using a section in my fic as an example. We'll use... Chapters 10-13 for this.

Chapter 10 and 11 was the extremely intense moment of Macaque's entrance, threatening Nibby's life and the mother fucker nearly fucking kills them. On accident, mind, but still. That's really intense! And will absolutely cause a bad relapse in Nibby, who has had traumatic experiences like this before of demons hurting them!

Chapter 12 and 13 are the relief chapters that follow up. A break from the intense drama, the pain. It's the healing that comes after the pain. Chapter 12 focused on Wukong's side, seeing it through his eyes. And then we finally get to see Nibby's side in chapter 13, hearing their own thoughts on it, and they finally let it all out to Wukong. It ends on a good note, with the promise of moving forward and getting better.

It 's a common thing I say, but I genuinely mean it when I say that it's about the hurt. It's about the comfort after the hurt. A lot of people tend to forget the comfort that comes after and just focus on the hurt itself.

Yeah yeah yeah angst helps the story and characters move forward, but I'm here to make you take the hard to swallow pills: Angst does NOT help the characters/story move forward. The HEALING THAT COMES AFTER does. What is the point of moving forward when all that comes next is just MORE ANGST? MORE PAIN???

It makes no fucking sense to me. As I said, I've been in several RP communities that just do not stop the angst train for anything. There's no break between the tense bits, there's no relief, there's not even a lick of a sign of healing.

It's why I'm extremely biased when it comes to angst-fics or angst-riddled things because it's just... there's already so much pain in the world. Why make more of it? Why make a story where the characters get no relief???

I don't want to just see the characters just broken, bloodied, and bruised. I want to see them fight back and get up and keep going. I want to see them fucking win. It's not always sunshine and rainbows, but it's not always stormclouds and depression either.

And I think that's something people tend to forget a lot when it comes to depression. It's not just a downward slope. It's a rollercoaster. It'll have it's ups and downs, backs and forths. The road to healing is never a straight line, and everyone goes through it differently. But the only reason you don't progress is because you don't let yourself move forward. Let yourself move forward. Let your characters move forward.

STOP THE FUCKING ANGST TRAIN MY GOD PLEASE I'M NOT EVEN JOKING GIVE YOUR CHARACTERS A FUCKING BREAK GUYS!

Anyway, that's my salt-filled PSA... ONTO THE NEXT BIT!!

Drafting/Writing Chapters

Ok, so for drafting chapters, I have the example in my other ask linked above, so definitely look at that. But Im'ma also tell you right now that I genuinely don't know how to explain my process for this X"D but I'll do my best!

When it comes to drafting and writing my chapters, I'm very much a mixture of "go with the flow," "chapter-by-chapter," and "set goals." Lemme see if I can elaborate in a way that makes sense...

Set Goals: This kinda goes arc by arc for me after I've planned out the ending for a story. For right now, my set goal in TIaF is to get to the section where Wukong discovers Macaque is alive (which will be delicious let me tell you). Once I get to that section, the next set goal will be to write the aftermath of that.

Go With the Flow/Chapter-By-Chapter: This is more for when I write the chapters. Usually, my set goal is still there, but it's a smaller goal now. The set goal for the chapter is: Can I fit what I wanted to put into this chapter? Just an example: For the Undercity arc of the fic, my goal for the entire arc was to have Red Son join the crew for some fun spider times. So each chapter had to count towards that. For example: In chapter 21, my goal was to give off a description of the Undercity; home of the demons, as well as throwing hints to future events that will happen, and show off pieces of the life there and how other demons react to Red Son himself, with the chapter ending on Red Son and Nibby running into Mei, MK, and Sandy. I always have a set ending for each chapter that makes the readers feel satisfied while also wanting to know more. Of course, the occasional cliff-hanger never hurt anyone, but using too many cliff-hangers can get very tiring. So be careful with how many of those you use!

I think.... that's it??? I hope so. It's very difficult to put into words how my brain works when it comes to typing out chapters X"D (I know how it works and how to make it work, but going to explaining? That's the hard part).

I hope this was helpful! And if you need me to elaborate on anything else, just let me know!!

[tea-twords]

Having some thoughts about Shinobu and Heizou tks...

I know I'm constantly in a lee Heizou brainrot and it's true I am but like

Ok yk what I'm just gonna spill all my thoughts

And if you don't want to know the full plot for my next fic then don't read because I'm going into detail

Cause I'm gonna start writing as soon as I post this is just my planning page

In gameplay, Shinobu and Heizou have perfect synergy and I always use them together, and the fact that they're pretty friendly in canon is just an even better plus. But also in gameplay, Shinobu has to be at low hp to function to her best potential. Now I'm just thinking, Heizou's a really sweet guy. But he's also a smart guy and understands the situation and that's just how she is, but he takes care of her too the best he can. He'll always have food on him for her if it's ever needed, never lets her hp drop below 4000 (same), and just always be making sure she stays safe because with her low hp she's more vulnerable to damage. SO ANYWAY WHERE I WAS GOING WITH THIS WAS. Was. Imagine this. They're handling a fight with a bunch of hilichurls, Shinobu swaps in to use her skill to support Heizou, but then bam Blazing axe Mitachurl swoops in before she gets a chance to dodge and her hp gets knocked to the hundreds. Heizou flips out, swaps her out, and just deals with the hilichurl camp without her skill support. After he deals with that, he is so fucking worried and just frantically wrapping her injuries and trying to get her health back up. She's just like "Chill out I'm gonna be fine" and he's like "NO. Eat the dango rn." And then it's like after she's healed, she's being like "You don't have to freak out" and he's saying "yES. I DO. WERE FRIENDS. I DONT WANT YOU DYING." And I'm still thinking about it but eventually he just tickles her because he's trying to convey how much he cares and also kind of as a punishment for not caring enough about herself. He's such a wholesome guy omg but yes this is my entire plan I am dying rn

[atalana]

the curse of adhd:

i will remember with absolute clarity, when the thought strikes me that i have a text to send someone, that this is the fourth time in three days i've attempted to send this specific text

i will forget, in the time it takes me to pick up my phone, that i picked it up intending to send a text

[spookberry]

Its past their bedtime

[humming-fly]

I love how Gerald was trying to keep Shadow from spoiling anything about the future meanwhile literally everything Shadow says and does around Maria is the biggest death flag ever

[shitty-check-please-aus]

What we need to do is convince all the disney adults in america that high speed rail would be a preferable way of getting to disneyworld compared to driving or flying. We could maybe harness their fondness for the monorail or something, but this is a group of people that has time, income, and passion that we could leverage. If we could direct 5% of the enthusiasm they have for limited edition popcorn buckets into calling their representatives and demanding high-speed interstate rail, we could get it by 2030

[bastardlybonkers]

i feel like not enough ppl are factoring in the cultural clash between laios and shuro and the many micro agressions shuro faced while being in their group. literally the name 'shuro' in itself is one

his name is toshiro 😭 lets also not forget that he has his own communication issues, in the opposite way that laios does- thats literally a factor in their argument, that his envy for laios's ability to express himself sincerely manifested as part of his distaste for him.

ig all this to say like, was their fight heart wrenching, especially when reading laios as autistic? absolutely. anybody whos ever been in laios's position knows how much it hurts to realize someone you thought was your friend doesnt actually like having you around, especially when they didnt tell you and you had no way of knowing due to not understanding their cues. but im begging yall to step back and see the nuance of this situation cause im gonna be real a lot of you are kinda just brushing over it acting like everything is toshiros fault and that hes a terrible person when in reality hes an average guy who really, really clashed with laios and it led to a very long misunderstanding due to their supremely opposite methods of communication. even laios and toshiro, after letting everything out in their fight, were able to come to an understanding and start a foundation for an actual friendship built on better communication

ok yknow what Edit: i shouldve made it even more explicit at the end of this post, i hadnt thought i would need to since i started the post with this, but i think a few too many people are missing my point so i just wanna clarify. i shouldnt have said 'really clashed' and left it at that because yeah they did, but it wasnt just their opposite methods of communication, it is also very much that toshiro was experiencing microaggressions via laios. it may have been unintentional on laios's part, but it still happened and wore him down, made it harder for him to communicate on top of both the more subtle social cues that he was raised with and his own communication difficulties. i also want to say that the fandom reaction to toshiro and the complete ignorance of this point is also racist tbh or at the very least ignorant. i understand that the anime did not cover this panel, and neither did the manga, as this was an omake, but im gonna be real with you guys. there are enough context clues within the story to clue you into this. if you didnt pick up on it thats ok, but i think this is a good lesson in picking up subtext in the stories that youre watching and/or reading. kui shouldnt have to explicitly say 'by the way laios was racist to toshiro' for this point to be understood, and at the very least, when the author portrays a character in a sympathetic light (as kui clearly does) it should make you question Why they are doing so and what makes them sympathetic, rather than youre immediate and only reaction to be 'well i hated what this guy did/said so i hate them and they suck'. idk exactly how to finish this, just. idk. question your biases and gut reactions to things you see in media and stories, and think about whether or not theres subtext that youre missing.

[egophiliac]

buckle up lads we're going BACK INTO THE BOOK

[time-woods]

this goesout to theperson who wanted me todraw him with an even bigger lollypop here it is

[starspilli]

morning kori. she’s lovingly watching dick burn the shit out of her pancakes

[hinamie]

*catboys ur shounen protag*

[jay-wasstuff]

Mike: is struggling financially and mentally

Vanessa: *throws his prescription medicine*

Edit: it's not just about whether Mike needed the drugs (which he didn't, i understand), it's about the fact SHE LITTERED and most likely polluted the river too.

[bigfatbreak]

Birds of a Feather previous / next

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

[uncharted-constellations]

Them, your honor

Anyways thank you echoes for giving poor a-ttp link a rest

[heartorbit]

searching for a star that's still unknown to anyone!