#i like to break down complex idea and help people with problems but i was not build to teach in classrooms. i get knocked off points when

[milfbrainrot]

"claire's a bad mom" claire chose to have her kids claire tells her kids bedtime stories and claire pretends not to be in life threatening danger when she's terrified for her own and her kids' safety to help them stay calm and literally only wants to know if they're okay before prioritizing herself and keeping them far away from danger by rescuing herself i think ur just racist

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[malusokay]

Haiii !! I'm obsessed with your blog. Do you have any tips for staying motivated? I wanna better my life and I have all the resources to do so. it's just motivation that's the problem 😓😓

surround yourself with inspiration.

for me, my friends are one of my biggest motivations—having people around who inspire and encourage you to grow is everything.

it’s not just about support; it’s about energy. being in a circle of people who push you, directly or indirectly, to be better is so important.

don’t lose sight of your goals.

always keep in mind what you’re working for, whether it’s an academic milestone or something personal. knowing your “why” makes the process so much easier.

when you have a clear picture of what you’re striving for, working hard feels purposeful instead of just tiring.

set HUGE goals, and then work backwards.

start with the biggest, boldest goal, then break it down into smaller, manageable steps that fill the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.

here’s what I mean: let’s say you’re in high school, and your ultimate goal is Cambridge.

you now → finishing an essay → getting a specific grade → finding balance → acing exams → writing your personal statement → Cambridge.

this is a very vague example, but the idea is to create a roadmap where every step feels doable—and every step brings you closer. you guys get my point hahaha

find balance to avoid burnout.

I’m a total workaholic, and spending time on things that don’t align with my main goals usually makes me feel horrible. but balance is non-negotiable.

for me, balance means baking with my friends, diving into hobbies that challenge me outside of academia, reading something complex but unrelated to my studies, or creating content like this to inspire others.

whatever it looks like for you, find something that lets you reset and recharge.

visualise, but don’t let it become procrastination.

I’m all for making Pinterest boards and visualising your dream life and I highly recommend doing it because it ties into the whole “don’t lose sight of your goals” idea.

BUT: overplanning can become its own trap. making endless lists, moodboards, or ideas without ever starting the actual work is just procrastination in a prettier outfit.

so yes, make your Pinterest board, set your goals, but don’t stop there. Start taking action, even if it’s just one small step today.

I hope this is helpful to you, and I wish you the very best on your journey, if you (or anyone else hahah) have more questions regarding this, just let me know, and we can dive into this topic a little deeper. <3

my insta @ malusokay

[brujamala-aka-gigi]

sea bunny plushies and random tarot messages

( ( i had to take some time off because life was being too exhausting but now i'm back with my pac readings, missed tumblr so much tbh. ) )

so: pick a sea bunny plushie and let's see what random pieces of advice you can get from the tarot.

number 1 number 2 number 3

number 4 number 5 number 6

꒰ঌ ✦ scroll down for the results ໒꒱ ༘*.ﾟ

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁ Masterpost and Tarot Menu ❁༺ ˎˊ-

images are from pinterest and dividers are by @nicodefresas

reblog if you enjoyed this reading or if you enjoy sea bunny plushies <3

༘⋆♡⸝���💌⊹。°˖➴

꒰ BUNNY NUMBER ONE ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

Being overly confident and reliant on thoughts that don’t come from healthy spaces is understandable if you’re in a desperate rush to find stability in your life. But sometimes these ideas will make you unable to move further, especially if moving on involves the questioning of such toxic beliefs. It is quite normal to find comfort in what we already know, but just because something is normalized (on the outside world or on your inner world) it doesn’t mean it’s healthy, or that it’s actually genuine to you. Even if your ambitions are coherent, take time to reflect on how you understand and conceptualize your own struggle and your path to success.

꒰ BUNNY NUMBER TWO ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

Neglecting healthy conversations about your emotions for the sake of other’s comfort is definitely stunting the development of many unrelated matters, not recognizing the importance of preserving your mental and emotional stability, is taking a toll on other aspects of your life. You’re giving away too much of your energy to people and places that won’t make an effort to comprehend the real complexity and validity of your purest emotions. Even if you feel like you’ve recently been too emotional, that won’t be solved by dissociating yourself from something so human and natural as feelings are.

꒰ BUNNY NUMBER THREE ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

This is a great moment to understand that it’s okay if you are not entirely sure on what to do next with your life. Taking the time to rest or taking an entirely new direction is also part of your own life path. Don’t expect answers that will come from outside yourself, you will find more clarity if you focus on building your own spaces of comfort and growth with the resources and people you already have in your life. Don’t look for things that are not meant to find you yet, find the time to take care and nurture what’s already there for you to help you grow.

꒰ BUNNY NUMBER FOUR ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

Even if it is quite undesirable to be in situations where you have to embrace chaos and accept uncertainty, it is helpful to understand that uninterrupted stability eventually begins to feel like stagnation. Situations of conflict are necessary on time to time in order to test the value and strength of anything. It’s key to understand that what’s needed in moment’s of instability is not a toxic sense of optimism and hope, but more so an objective analysis of  what can be done since the problem is giving an opportunity to fix what’s broken and check what could break next.

꒰ BUNNY NUMBER FIVE ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

Your decision taking abilities might be affected by a false sense of urgency on time to time. If your mind is moving too quickly and it seems like there’s only few options where you have to go all in, just know that it’s likely that you are not thinking completely straight. Being paralyzed and stuck on unhealthy thought patterns is keeping you away from seeing the full picture. The overly rationalized insecurities and negative self talk might be unperceivable due to it being incorporated as normal and healthy “self criticism”. Is not, and it’ll affect your life negatively.

꒰ BUNNY NUMBER SIX ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

It’s okay to embrace the simple pleasures in life and feel confident in material success, yet being overly fixated on this will take away many opportunities to develop a deeper perspective on many issues you might be wilfully ignoring. Don’t allow yourself to change your core beliefs in order to appease hedonistic needs, as this will bring you to periods of stagnation. Take the time to establish your priorities and keep them in mind whenever anything feels too good to be true, if you don’t care for your success, nobody else will.

Hey hiii, it's me, Gigi. I hope you enjoyed this reading and you found something helpful or entertaining on it. In all honesty, im so so soo obsessed with those plushies like, i couldn't resist the urge to use them as visuals for this post i dont care how unserious it seems.

anyways, i'm back to being cronically online, my bookings are open so check my tarot menu if you're interested. and my masterpost has all my pac readings so far if you're into them.

if you feel like reblogging and liking this post, i appreciate the shit out of that and i love you.

i think i don't have much else to say, other than hi im back, missed this place so much.

so,,, bye <3 much love, gigi.

[jupitermelichios]

Hey, we need to talk about the way Batfamily fans write Cass using ASL, because a lot of it is really fucking ableist

But Cass can't speak, of course she needs to sign!

Not true! There is nothing physically wrong with Cass's vocal chords or mouth, there's nothing in her brain stopping her from making sounds, and she is not an elective mute. She actually learns to speak individual words really quickly after she puts herself into an environment where that's a useful skill. Basil teaches her to quote huge chunks of Shakespeare in Nu52, and that's easier for her than forming simple sentences. That would definitely not be the case if she had any physical limitations on her speech.

Cass's disability is that she was not taught any language, and so she is having to grok the entire concept of language from the ground up. Grammar and syntax; tonality; how to combine words to convey more complex ideas; how putting two words next to one another can change their meaning; how to break down a whole idea into the individual parts needed to turn it into words; the fact that people's words might not line up with their tone and body language so you have to pay attention to both; how to tell if someone wants a response or is stating a fact; how to work out meaning from context if a word is new or someone has an unfamiliar accent; how to know if someone is using a new word or if they actually just have an unfamilar accent and all the ways words can be bent and changed before they become something new; the fact that two words can use the same sounds but have the same meaning; the fact that there can be two different words that mean the same thing. This is all stuff she didn't learn as a baby, and not knowing it would be just as much an impediment to learning ASL as learning English (for accent, swap out things like having limited movement in their hands, or having learned slightly different forms of the same sign, using a lot of home-signs etc, it's the same concept in a different medium).

There is no language on earth Cass wouldn't have these problems with. ASL is not any kind of shortcut.

But she reads body language, and ASL is kind of like body language right?

Not true, also pretty abelist! Just as the sounds which make up spoken language are essentially arbitrary (there's no objective reason why the sound "gud" should mean good, English speakers just all agree it does) so most of the signs in ASL are arbitrary! There's no reason for

to mean good. ASL users just all agree that it does. Cass knowing body language would not help her any more with ASL than it would with English, and if anything, it might make it harder, because sign uses the whole body and therefore changes the way people use body language so unless she saw a lot of ASL users as a child (and there's no particular reason to think she did), she would have to adjust what she knows about body language to account for those differences!

But she signs in the comics!

Nope! She uses hand gestures to communicate sometimes, but that's not signing. Pointing at food and miming eating to convey hunger is not sign. Pretending to punch someone and pulling it at the last second to convey you could hurt them but won't (Cass's actual first communication with Bruce in the comics) isn't signing. I've done the point and mime thing in countries where I didn't speak the language, that does not mean I knew that country's native sign language!

But she learns ballet, that's like a physical language, so sign is the same thing!

Nope! Also low key kinda abelist. Dance is a method of communication, but it isn't a full language. There's almost no grammar or sentence structure, the vocabulary is extremely limited, and also you can just make up new dance moves or use moves from different styles of dance together and still convey your meaning (you cannot just make random gestures or use BSL and expect ASL users to understand you, because they're full complex languages). Cass vibes with dance pretty hard, but that's precisely because it isn't a language, it doesn't require any of the skills she struggles with in order to communicate emotion.

But ASL isn't like a real language, it's not as complex or nuanced as spoken English so it would be easier for her to learn

That is so fucking gross I don't even want to have this conversation with you. Go and sit in the timeout box and think about what you've just said, and then commit to doing better.

But I just think that once she learned it, she'd like using ASL because [it's very expressive/she's used to her world being very quiet/she can use it on stealth missions more easily/etc]

Valid, understandable, have a lovely day

But I'm writing an AU were she uses ASL because her backstory is too comic-book-y to fit in no-capes AUs but I didn't want to erase her communication difficulties so I've written her as having a different disability

Cool. Send me a link when you're done.

But what if I write her using makatong?

(For context, makatong is a form of sign developed for people who have intellectual or phsyical disabilities that affect language use, which uses more descriptive signs which require less precise hand possitioning than other sign languages, and which has very simple grammar, making it easier to learn than ASL). Yes this would be easier for her, because it's intended for people with similar difficulties to hers, but since her difficulties stem purely from a lack of experience which can be (and are, in canon) overcome with practise, it would be kind of needlessly limiting compared to her just starting out with very simple spoken language, and wouldn't give her as many chances to develop those language learning skills. Makatong is also not mutually intelligable with any other sign language, so she couldn't easily transition from that to ASL once she got used to signing, she'd have to start learning it from scratch.

But I HC her as deaf

There is 0 comics evidence to support that, but it's a headcanon, so who cares. You do you. Have fun.

But learning sign language would be better than learning to speak anyway because it's a universal language!

That is not even slightly how it work. Go read the wikipedia article on sign languages around the world or something. Do some research.

TL:DR; Cass does not use ASL in the comics, and nothing about her disability or sign languages in general would make learning ASL easier or more convinent for her than spoken English. That does't mean writing her signing is inherently bad, but you should examine your reasons for doing it to ensure you're not just perpetuating ableist stereotypes about the language.

[wovenintosilk]

Stubborn

Received a request through a reblog for something related to Miguel's fangs. It's not exactly focused on them but they're definitely part of it!

No Content Warnings

GN!Reader

Word Count: 1100

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

“Get your fingers away from my mouth. Are you a child?”

You pouted and withdrew your hand, thwarted in your attempts to sneakily lift the corner of your boyfriend’s lip. “I want to see them,” you defended. “They’re so nice to look.”

“If you’re that bored, I will find you something more productive to do,” he reminded you and twisted his face further from your reach. “I’m not in the habit of allowing people to lounge around my workspace for the fun of it.”

“Can my something productive be getting you to smile?”

“Absolutely not.”

You sighed and sank further into your chair, head tilted back to the ceiling you stared at far too much. “You said you would be finished with this by now.”

“It was a possibility but it required far more attention than I expected. It won’t be much longer.”

Miguel’s desire to be busy never surprised you. From the day you’d met him to the day you kissed him for the first time, you always understood why he obsessed in the way he did. It didn’t hurt you but you worried – more about his own health than anything else.

When was the last time he’d even eaten?

“You know, I actually do have a job to get done,” you said. “I’ll be back soon. Try not to get too big of a headache by scowling at that screen.”

“I know.”

The grumbled words didn’t help your concerns. You cast a glance over your shoulder in his direction. The harsh artificial lighting of his office highlighted how he hunched over his work, shone off his suit in a piercing way.

It really couldn’t be good for him to stand like that.

Your first stop took you over an hour to reach and you still didn’t doubt for one second that Miguel would still be working on your return. Though he cared little about food quality lately, you insisted on getting him something healthy and what you knew he would enjoy.

If it took you ages to find, you didn’t mind too much. You knew it wouldn’t impact on your plans going forward.

Around the side of Miguel’s office, a few wires connected just behind a broken section of the wall. You had to hold your breath to squeeze half into it in order to reach them.

“This is a very bad idea.”

You jumped, hit your head against the wall in your startle, and groaned in the unexpected pain. Lyla watched with a humoured smirk from where she’d appeared, projected out of your personal watch.

“It’ll be fine,” you said. “He won’t even know it was me.”

“He will,” she corrected. “But that’s not what I’m worried about. I know you can handle Miguel yourself but I think you shouldn’t play with electricity.”

“When you asked me to get him to take a break, you should have known I’d need to resort to some extreme measures.”

She sighed and waved a hand for you to continue. You squeezed your way further in so you could reach the wire that fed his office and a few of the surrounding halls. Hobie showed you it wouldn’t turn off the rest of the complex when he did it last time as a joke.

“I’ve already backed up everything he’s working on. If he throws you out, I take no responsibility for it.”

You grinned cut the wire. Everything plummeted into darkness around you, computers shut off loudly and the ever-present hum stopped. You grinned proudly and dropped your cutter back into its space before you headed to the office.

You realised one of the main problems when you walked through the doors and spotted him on his platform. The one that wouldn’t move now without electricity.

“Wow,” you said loudly. “Can you believe the timing of this?”

He turned slowly. The silence stretched thickly between you, your smile a match for his glare. Lyla was right, he knew exactly what had happened.

“Either you have to come down here or find a way to get me up there,” you called. “Because I can’t reach you otherwise.”

You held up the food right as a bright web attached to your chest. It pulled you forward and lifted you into the air as though you weighed nothing. It might not be the first time it had happened to you but you’d never really get used to the sensation of being dragged around.

He steadied you when you landed, his hand rested on your arm until you gained your balance back. His lip curled up ever so slightly as he waited.

“I brought food,” you said and sat down in your chair.

“What did you do?”

“Went a ridiculous distance to get this for you,” you noted. “Do you know how far this place is? And then I got back and the power disappeared. Had to walk here in the dark.”

“Do you know how busy I was? How much you may have gotten lost?”

“I’m sure Lyla managed to get it saved. You can take a break while she finds the fault.”

He loomed above you, leaned down and opened his mouth ever so slightly. Finally, you had an opportunity to see those massive fangs you loved so much. You loved his habit of using them to intimidate. He didn’t even do it purposefully.

“You can’t really be blaming me for the electricity,” you said.

“I’m not stupid.”

You finally placed the packet of food aside, reached up and grabbed the front of his suit so you could pull him closer. You used your free hand to cup his jaw, ran your thumb over his bottom lip. Those fangs really were beautiful. What you’d give to have them showing more often…

“I need you to take a break,” you said. “It might take a while to fix. You may as well give your body a small rest, okay?”

Before you let him go, you pressed a small kiss to the underside of his jaw. He leaned into the touch just enough to let you know you’d been somewhat forgiven for your meddling.

He took the food from you, muttered something about stubbornness, and listened as you spoke about everything you’d been waiting to tell him.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Stuck in Planning Stage of Writing

Anonymous asked: Do you have any advice on how to get out of the planning stage and more into the doing stage of writing? I’m up to my ears in notes for scenes and fragments of dialogue between characters. I know where I want to go with the story, I’ve even written a handful of scenes when the ideas come to me, but now that I have this lump of thoughts I need to start organizing and placing them all in their rightful spaces. The one thing I truly know is how much I’d love to see this through. Do you have any advice for a girl who’s unwittingly made herself stuck with a puzzle?

[Ask edited for length]

Planning a novel can sometimes be like digging a really deep hole for a specific purpose, then suddenly realizing you've stranded yourself at the bottom of the hole without a ladder. You've spent so much time digging the hole, you'd like nothing more than to get out of the hole and move forward with whatever project required you to dig the hole in the first place. There's just one problem: you can't teleport yourself out of the hole. You have to climb... or, ideally, build yourself a ladder to climb out with whatever materials are available to you.

That's probably where you are right now with your story. The hole you've dug was necessary, and it's good that you dug it, but as much as you'd like to just magically leap out and write your story, you can't do that. You have to build yourself a ladder to climb out of the hole first. So...

My go-to emergency "get out of the planning hole I've dug myself into" ladders are timelines, scene lists, and outlines.

Timelines: Your story may take place over a single day or several centuries, but either way, time flows in your story. All of those notes and fragments of dialogue and partial scenes are moments or events that happen within the time frame of your story. So, plotting those moments and scenes out on a timeline--according to when they need to happen--is about the easiest way to break your story down into its existing pieces and to see what's missing/where.

There are lots of ways you can format a timeline, such as a table, a list, a horizontal timeline, calendar, or a roadmap timeline. My go-to is a basic two-column document where the left column is date/time and the right column is the moment/event. There are also apps and online tools that will help you build a timeline in various formats.

Horizontal Timeline:

Calendar Timeline:

Table Timeline:

More info: Making a Timeline for Your Story Scene Lists: Stories are made up of scenes, so a list of those scenes is another great way to organize the events of your story. You may even find that creating a scene list is easier after making a timeline, because a timeline may help you see where certain moments or events need to be their own scenes and which can be combined together into a single scene. Just like timelines, scene lists can be as simple or complex as you want to make them. Once again, my go-to is a simple two-column document with the left column for the scene number and the right column for the scene summary, preferably just a sentence or two. Ultimately, once I have my rough timeline and scene list done, I usually combine them into one multi-column document along with my story structure beats.

Table Scene List with Beats:

Complex Scene List/Timeline/Beat Sheet:

More info: Scene Lists

Outlines: Outlines can be really any format you want them to be, and some people count timelines and scene lists as their outlines. My go-to outline is just an exhaustive beginning to end summary of everything that needs to happen. Sometimes, just working through your story from beginning to end can be the best way to make sense of all those disparate pieces you've been piling up.

More info: Guide: How to Outline a Plot Story Structure: Finally, I want to talk a bit about story structure templates like Save the Cat Writes a Novel!, Larry Brooks story structure, seven point story structure, etc. Story structure templates can be a really great way to make sure you're hitting all the right story beats--almost like a road map through your story. It's just important to know you do not by any means have to stick to any particular story structure exactly. Use it as a guide, take what works, leave what doesn't, and don't panic if your beats don't fall exactly where it says they should. As long as your story is working, that's what matters. Some writers even like to frankenplan their stories using a variety of different structure templates.

More info: Creating a Detailed Story Outline (story structure)

Once you finally have a roadmap for moving forward, whether that's a timeline, scene list, outline, or all of the above, you know you're ready to start writing!

Final note: I just want to add that planning isn't for everyone. Some people are discovery writers who let their stories work themselves out as they go. The above is just meant for people who are planners, who have done a lot of planning, but need to pull that planning together into a cohesive, organized document. And... if you have all of the above and still find yourself unable to start, you might find help in the links below. Happy writing! More help:

Beginning a New Story Figuring Out Where to Start a Story Deciding How to Open Your Book How to Move a Story Forward Trouble Getting Started Have Plot, Can’t Write

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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

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[frankensoul-studios]

The Amazing Digital Circus: Episode 4 Thoughts (Gangle)

So, who would have thought that the masks were symbolic for masking??

God, the episode has my brain buzzing and I just need to throw it out there to see what others think too. Probably going to do several parts and link them below when done, but for now I wanted to start with the current star of the show...

Gangle

Okay, so. The moment everything really clicked into place for me was the moment where Gangle and Pomni were outside the restaurant having their heart-to-heart. When they were being genuine with each other, and being vulnerable, what does Gangle do?

Quickly reaches for her mask to put on a "happy face" and get back to work. Freaking masking, d'uh. In hindsight, it seems obvious.

Gangle is struggling with depression, and the happy masks are symbolic for medication or other means to manage and hide that depression in order to be accepted into society.

In the instances where the others make remarks about how the happy masks aren't actually assisting with her being likable or fitting in, there's a noticeable breaking sound.

Because, even though she's trying her hardest to hide her sadness - something the others have actively complained about - she still can't win. Her effort are wasted, and her deepest fear - that she's worthless and unlovable - is reaffirmed. Especially after Ragatha makes her remark. Gangle later communicates with Pomni that she typically thinks Ragatha is being insincere regarding her kindness (something people who struggle with self-worth think a lot), and this moment essentially cements that idea in her head.

Another thing I believe, is that Gangle utilizes control, authority, and rules to create boundaries in her world and function through her sadness. So when others don't take such things seriously, it can break her entire worldview and self-image. Hell, even innocent remarks like Pomni wanting to speak to Gummigoo initiated a "tink".

And when Jax completely disregards the entire situation - something not uncommon for him, mind you - Gangle scolds him and laughs calling him "bad" before sending him for more training and trying to reaffirm control.

When Pomni extends a gesture of kindness by offering to close and let Gangle leave early, she stops a moment to ask Pomni, "Would that... be okay?" with an intense expression of concern and hesitation in her voice.

Even when breaking the rules a tiny bit would offer some relief to her day, she has a hard time simply letting go of control. Side note... this reads to me the behavior of someone who has gone through some real traumatic shit. What happened to you Gangle???

And the moment she's freed from the constraints of the day, of societal expectations, she's able to throw her mask away and be her authentic self. Though, I do believe this is a mix of her accepting/wallowing in the depths of her sadness, smiling her way though it while having relief that the shift is over. I do not think she was trying to "game over" herself, it was an accidental trip while she was in the throws of her emotions. Though, does make me wonder on the symbolism from the real world again...

Final thing I noticed was when Zooble speaks to Gangle at the end regarding the happy mask failing. Zooble's remarks are deescalating and reassuring. So your coping mechanism / medication didn't fix this really deep and complex problem? That's okay. We still love you and we'll help you move forward anyway.

God this show makes me feel things.

For real tho, last tidbit that I liked - in their reviews, everyone tied with a B+ except for Kinger, but we're... breezing past that.

So if Gangle had punted the blame onto Pomni to reduce her score further down, I think Pomni might actually have been considered the worst employee and been given a punishment. Just a really wholesome moment of Gangle trying to return the favor from earlier.

[graceshouldwrite]

4 Ways to Get Back Into Your WIP

You know when you might have taken a long break, worked on other projects, talked to other people about it, and basically did EVERYTHING to get yourself back into it, but it’s not working?

Even though you still want to LIKE your WIP and work on it? 

These tips are based on my own experience dealing with that feeling. I went through something like that for around a year, but now, I’m getting past it and returning to my main WIP more excited than I’ve been for a long time! 

1. List out WHAT you don’t like and fix it

COMMON CORE ISSUES:

Plot + Subplots? 

They might seem too (among other things):

lackluster

complex

unnecessary

confusing

You might not know how to:

develop the plots

make them believable

add the scenes you want without giving the book 800+ pages

choose scenes to cut to fit the word count goal...

Characters?

A BIG ONE: some writers try to force themselves to like X character for whatever reason (e.g. based them on a specific aesthetic, felt forced to add specific rep, etc), but they just DON’T. 

Or, maybe:

you don’t know how to develop your characters

their group dynamic is too difficult to write/doesn’t make a lot of sense

your character voices, personalities, or appearances might not be distinct enough

Prose?

You might:

want to add more humour (prose is too depressing and atmospherically dark)

want to add more gravity (prose is too comedic and romantic)

want to shift from past to present tense, want to tell story from another POV, etc. 

Organization?

OFTEN, the book’s just TOO COMPLEX with all the characters, subplots, etc. and it’s too intimidating to try to sort out all the mess that’s your WIP 

SO…

The lists I gave you are most of the big, common issues. Once they’re sorted into SPECIFIC types of problems, don’t they get less intimidating to look at? 

I know you might think, gee, Grace, these problems will take [insert comically large time frame] to solve. 

Well, if you genuinely want to like your project again and work on it, DO IT.

Slowing down your WIP finish date is worth it if it helps you get back into it. If you never get back into the project, you’ll NEVER FINISH IT. Late > never.

Heck, you might not even be too late—you might find yourself back in the passionate fever you were when you started it, and be in the headspace to write furiously :) 

I think you know how to solve these broken-down problems. Some require more sheer line-editing, while others require big executive decisions (e.g. getting rid of a character or rewriting an entire subplot/the plot). But, it will be worth it when you start to love your project again.

2. Remember why you started it 

Before each project, write a STATEMENT OF PURPOSE at the beginning of your doc to remind you why you’re writing this story in the first place. If you didn’t do this, it’s not too late to start one now! 

It could be something as close to heart as “I want to express how unrequited love feels,” or something as grand as like “I want to write a tragic allegory of the political and economic state of the world that explores human nature” (I am projecting in both of these examples, but you get it). 

Something SPECIFIC is a lot better for this than things like: “I told X this story idea and they liked it,” or “I promised to write this for X,” or “I want to tell this story just cuz.” These latter examples probably won’t fill you with passion. 

3. Listen BEYOND your WIP playlists. Look at images BEYOND your WIP aesthetics 

Many people think revisiting your old playlists / boards help, but that often contributes to the staleness!!!! 

Instead, by purposefully expanding your scope of consumed media, you open yourself up to more inspiration and ideas of where you want to take your project.  New images and new songs will give you new ideas on atmosphere, mood, scenes, and so much more. 

4. Compare your WIP to a similar book you like

You know THAT BOOK that comes to mind whenever someone asks you which book is your favourite/impacted you deeply? Think of how your book will impact readers in the same way. All the emotional turmoil and mental enlightenment That Book gave you is what YOU will give to the readers who resonate with YOUR book one day!

The author of the book you’re thinking about went through drafts, edits, and maybe even wanted to give up at some point, (LIKE YOU!) but pushed through it. Now, their book is on the bestseller list/on a bookshelf/a classic (whatever appeals to you)!  Don’t stop before YOUR book is there, too. 

∘₊✧────── ☾☼☽ ──────✧₊∘

instagram: @ grace_should_write

A LOT of this comes from personal experience; I had this mental tussle with my main WIP a while back, so I hope this helps anyone else dealing with the same problem :)

Hope this was helpful, and let me know if you have any questions by commenting, re-blogging, or DMing me on IG. Any and all engagement is appreciated <3333

Happy writing, and have a great day!

- grace <3

[bayesic-bitch]

How could consciousness possibly not be real? I'm here perceiving shit and having internal experience all day. Surely you are too. So is "consciousness isn't real" just semantics, playing with the definition of "consciousness"? Or what?

So, this comes down to two main arguments: 1) I don't have to explain consciousness, I just have to explain your perception of your own consciousness and your belief that it's real, and 2) consciousness being real but not acting on the physical world does nothing to explain the former anyway -- odds are you're categorically wrong about what your own experience is.

We talked about 2) last time this came up. But to recap, basically the idea is that Chalmers and other modern epiphemoninalists avoid the problem of dualism breaking physics by taking this position: the world can create internal experiences, but internal experiences don't act on the world. Physical events can cause qualia, but qualia cannot cause physical events. This is necessary because if qualia could cause physical events, then you could observe that effect scientifically. Once you observe it, you can study it, quantify it, and then you would have to make a place for souls in the standard model. Very few philosophers think that's likely. But if qualia can't cause physical events, that poses problems too -- namely you saying "I see a red apple" is a physical, observable event, so it can't have been caused by qualia. So under this view, all your reportable beliefs about your own conscious experiences have no causal relation to your actual conscious experiences. And while it's conceivable that your beliefs about your qualia just so happen to line with your actual qualia despite there being no connection, that seems like an absurd coincidence -- there's no reason to believe that you are correct about any of your qualia, ever, and we know for sure that our conversation here is causally isolated from both of our actual experiences.

And all of this is something Chalmers & co are willing to accept, because at present it seems like this is the only way to make substance dualism work and not contradict physics.

@nightcore-nasheed mentioned that there's a similar argument for property dualism, but I'm nowhere near as familiar with it, so I'll leave that aside.

Now we can return to 1). At this point, we've proposed a view of consciousness that "takes consciousness seriously", but this does nothing to explain our belief in our own consciousness. Dennett in particular wants to say that this is the only thing we need to explain. I don't have any direct, voiceable evidence of my own qualia. I know I feel things, and I know other people also say they feel things, and those are the things I need to explain. The solution is then to turn this into a psych/neurobio problem -- why is it that we have persistent beliefs in our own consciousness? Is it evolutionarily helpful to have such a belief? There's a couple not-absurd answers you could have here. For instance, when the brain is Turing-complete or nearly so, it is necessarily impossible to deterministically model our own thought processes (because of the halting problem). We must necessarily view our own minds as being irreducible to themselves, even if they are physically reducible. And extending this notion to others simply involves generalizing from our own experiences.

If this seems unsatisfying, well, yeah, a bit. But as we said before, substance dualists are also committed to a position like this, because they hold that the brain acts purely independently of input from qualia. To an epiphenomenalist like Chalmers, consciousness is still an illusion in the brain, it just also happens to be correct for unrelated reasons.

So the position of Dennett and other more-or-less reducible physicalists is: why do this? why add the bizarre complexity of an extra-physical realm with no evidence to support it, if it doesn't even explain why we say we are conscious? Better to just accept that our belief in our internal experience is incorrect and try to figure out why than to add all these extra hoops to jump through. Besides, our conversation would be causally isolated from both of our qualia anyway -- since they can't affect our conversation no matter what, it's categorically impossible to learn anything useful about them by talking about them. So what's the point in even discussing this view in the first place?

There are other positions taken by non-reducible physicalists, but personally I've never found the explanations for why physical systems can be non-reducible particularly convincing. So for the time being I'm stuck with the reductive physicalists. I can't say I'm happy about it, but I don't see a better option. In reality, I feel like this is one of those problems that's better dissolved than solved -- somewhere along the line we probably made a mistake formalizing this problem, and eventually neuroscience will come along and render the question moot without actually resolving it. .

[mattslolita]

i'm sure alot of you are well aware about the current situation circulating @/selenascorner.

the very first time i ever spoke to her, selena texted me first on may 10th of this year, sending me the 'blackgirls4chris' picture. she said she loved my page and at the time she saw my post about hateful and racist anons in my friend's inbox. i guess she was trying to cheer me up? i have no idea.

two days later she texted me again checking in on me, which i definitely appreciated and found really sweet of her. we had a conversation about an irl girl she was having problems with, and i was comforting her about it and giving her advice on it. i just wished i could've found out sooner what kind of person she was before i gave my time and energy to someone like her.

on may 16th she texted me first again, asking me how i was and i asked her how she was - she told me she had relapsed again. it was due to another mutual of mine, but i will respect her and not mention who she is due to the fact that her name is currently being dragged thru the mud and she in fact does not deserve this the way selena made me believe. she told me this mutual friend 'traumatized' her because of the decision she chose to no longer talk to selena. my mutual friend made it clear ( from the message selena sent me from their dms ) that she was not intentionally trying to hurt her. selena has triggered my mutual friend because of the things she told her, and my mutual friend said she needed space to protect herself, and rightfully so.

and that's where i come in with my story and experience.

i gave selena my instagram to text me more because i genuinely wanted to be there for her. i should've listened to my friends, because they tell me sometimes i put myself in a bad situation due to me wanting to be there for EVERYONE.

every other day i texted her, she was always telling me how she had attempted, as well as self harm. as someone who used to self harm myself, this was so triggering to me especially with the things i have going on in my own life. but because i know what it's like to have done these things before, i have constantly tried to help her and be by her side no matter what. alot of the time, she made it seem like she couldn't get help no matter how many times i urged her to try. every attempt always ended in a text with her saying no or just completely saying she couldn't get help and nothing would help her. there are so many options to get help for self harm and suicide, and i will provide links at the end of this for any of you out there who have struggled with these same things.

as time went on, i began to feel emotionally drained and helpless about selena. i wasn't sure what to do to help her anymore, yet i still tried my best because i didn't want her to feel like she was alone. but a person can only take in so much shit before they eventually began to break down.

selena had become toxic towards me, and even whilst seeing that i told myself she still deserved a good friend and she just needed reassurance someone would be there for her. about two and a half weeks ago i told all of my friends due to my circumstances of my own situation, i would be inactive on instagram and tumblr because i needed to take time for myself. one day i was able to get back to people and text them. when i texted selena, i apologized for not being as active. she called me selfish, said i only cared about myself and never bothered to try and help her when she needed me.

after everything she had told me and all i tried to do to help her, she called me selfish because i didn't text her back. she has a victim complex as well as toxicity. i felt trapped being her friend at this point, because any thing i said i needed to be careful so it didn't set her off. i should've to my friends after getting their advice on this because she was clearly taking a toll on my mental health. she's scared me multiple times when she told me she had attempted.

i repeatedly told selena that i loved and cared about her so much, yet to no avail. she asked me about a few of my friends one day, asking if they were safe people to talk to. not thinking anything of it, i told her they were because they are. they ended up telling me she had texted each of them, beginning to trauma dump on them as well. i found it mighty fucking fishy that the things she would tell my friends did not always add up to what she talked to me about.

one of my best friends friend in particular experienced this trauma dumping, triggering experience with selena.

my best friend texted me and told me selena had texted her, asking if she could tell her some things. boom, she dumps all these things on her - now i know my best friend, and i know she's not gonna beat around the fucking bush about things and she'll tell you exactly how she feels. my best friend gave selena the best advice she could, telling her that she should seek some type of help. selena responds to her coldy, telling her there was no way she could get help. and rightfully so, my best friend blocked selena. my best friend made it clear to selena that she already had enough negativity in her life and if selena wasn't going to take her advice for trying to help her, she could no longer talk to her anymore.

selena then texts me and tells me how my 'best friend' traumatized her from the way she handled things. i will admit truthfully, i felt bad and i told selena i was so sorry for what happened and that my best friend blocking her wasn't the best way to handle things. but in all honesty? i said that to selena because i didn't want her thinking i was 'choosing sides' because then i felt she'd get mad at me. and i didn't want her to get mad at me. i was so afraid that selena might go off to other people and tell her i acted like my mutual friend i mentioned earlier.

and now after everything that's happened, my best friend was right for blocking her and protecting her peace, as well as my mutual friend no longer wanting to communicate with her. selena proceeded to be angry with me when i told her i understood my best friend's side, because there's always two sides to a story - she made me out to be a bad friend for defending my best friend, going as far as to tell other people about the situation. selena made me feel like i had to either choose her or my best friend, and that's when i decided i was done.

i was tired of the constant guilt she was giving me, making me feel like i was a bad person for how i felt and my decisions. she said i chose my best friend over her, hurting her and saying how she trusted me and how she never judged her. NOT FUCKING ONCE did i ever judge selena for anything she's been through or what she's told me.

i ultimately decided i couldn't keep this toxicity in my life, because she was draining me and all my friends could clearly see she was taking a toll on me. so i decided to tell selena it was not a good idea to be her friend anymore. i told her i still cared about her alot and would love her always, but i couldn't handle it anymore. i made it known that multiple times i wanted to tell her how triggering she could be and how much she's affected me. selena then proceeds to apologize for everything, say she didn't want to lose me as a friend and everything - and me being me, i ended up feeling terrible because i didn't want her to feel alone. but she needed to realize how she made me feel and how toxic our friendship had become.

she sent me one final text, once again making everything about her. she told me the first 'red flag' from me was how i chose my best friend's side over hers even though i made it clear i wasn't 'taking sides'. i left her on read after her final goodbye and her wishing me the best in the future. i felt a huge weight off my shoulders because i had finally rid myself of the clear toxicity i was enduring being friends with her.

now i find out that selena's been dragging my fucking name through the mud, calling me a bad person and making me out to be so terrible to other people. even after everything i had gone through for her, all the times i tried to be there for her, this is what i get for being a fucking people pleaser, wanting to help anybody and everybody.

i don't even want to get into selena sexting minors, because what the actual fuck - i didn't even find out about that until yesterday, and it digusts me. for those of you defending her by saying "oh she's still a minor herself!" so let me ask you this, would you let your eight grade sister / brother date a grown as the fuck senior in high school? because it almost as equivalent to that. and you should be ashamed for defending someone like that.

i encourage anyone who's gone through the same thing as me to immediately notice the signs and cut whoever you cut out of your life, because it can and will negatively affect her. selena has done this to multiple friends of mine and / or multiple people i'm associated with, and they've unfortunately had this same experience with her. nobody deserves to go through this at all, and if you ever want to talk to me about anything or you guys need anything at all, my inbox or pms are open to anyone. and yes, i'm a safe person to come to because i genuinely care about all of you and your wellbeing. please be mindful and safe of the things you say to others, because you could end up having put yourself in a terrible situation because of it.

here are the links to some suicide prevention hotlines for anyone who needs them :

i love you all, please take care of yourselves and be safe on this app!

[zairene]

reconciliation, izuku midoriya x black female reader

synopsis: after breaking up with izuku midoriya, he stands at your doorstep months later seeking the care that you once had given him.

wc: 1.1k

a/n: a rewritten & improved version of a fic i wrote on my old page before i deleted it. i tried revising parts that i couldn’t remember but think of this as the better version of the last one. could be turned into a mini series to rebuild their relationship, if this does well enough that is. + not proofread, mistakes might be here and there

SOMEHOW, SOMETIME AGAIN, izuku finds himself right in front of your apartment complex. the bruises and scars on his skin submerged his body as if he were drowning. and the only thing that could possibly be racing through his mind is you. all the time that you both spent apart only made him realize how dependent he had became on how much you cared about him.

things didn’t work out between you two. izuku had the tendency to put his life in great peril in order to shield his loved ones from the reality of the world surrounding them. however, the idea that his life being taken away from him would cause a greater impact on the people he loved, and that it wouldn’t be seen as a heroic act but more so an unfortunate circumstance. once he came to the realization that being prone to making sacrifices wasn’t healthy, he had to go on the journey regain self control. to assist him in becoming fully aware of his worth as a person.

he seemed to not know that his life matters too. and you breaking up with him made him notice his damaging lifestyle. he had learned that it’s okay to make sacrifices, but also to think about how it would affect those around him. would his life being lost solve all the problems that were present or create more?

this brings him back to the present.

the loud crack of thunder had made him flinch, and gave him the ability to make his way to your front door. he held his head down and his arms swung by his side. he felt embarrassed. he felt stupid. it had been months since you both last talked. why would you open your house to him after everything he’s put you through?

his left hand balled into a fist, ready to knock on your door. as soon as he did, he stood waiting. seconds later, the door opened and there you stood. his eyes landed on your figure. your eyes had bags under them, your hand was fiddling with your bonnet which was slipping slightly. you froze in your spot, taking in the sight. you didn’t expect to see the man you broken up with back on your doorstep at 2 in the mornings.

“oh my god…” the only words you could seem to verbalize out before ushering him into your house. you sat him down on your couch, going to grab bandages and the appropriate medicine to help him heal even after he left your house. you came back to see that he had made himself more comfortable yet still having a troubling look on his face.

you sit down quiet close next to him setting everything in your hand on the table in front of him. you began to take care of his wounds. you scanned his body, searching for wounds you could treat successfully so he could go to a clinic for the worst ones that may require antibiotics for how deep the stab wounds were.

your started to wipe blood off of his hands and fingers and around the cuts of his wounds, wrapping it with bandages. you both hadn’t said a word, he just sat in the still of the place you considered a home.

“i shouldn’t be doing this to you,” izuku said. you look at him and sigh with uncertainty. you didn’t know how to respond to a statement like that. “this isn’t your responsibility. i’m still wondering why you even helped me.” he continued.

“i still feel obligated to help you, midoriya. i can’t turn you away looking like this, no matter what time it is.” his heart ached at you using his last name, the last time you both were involved you were on a first name basis. now it felt like the both of you were back at square one.

“i can’t help but feel guilty.”

“for what? needing help? that’s my job.” to you, he sounded absolutely ridiculous right now.

“no, for taking advantage of the fact i need help to get you to talk to me now.” you were stunned. in a way, he was right. but you couldn’t help but feel bad for him. it return back to his reticent attitude. trying not to make the situation as bad as it already felt. you were finally done with the things you could treat. to the rest he was on his own, he didn’t mind as most of his pain went away. maybe it was the adrenaline. maybe he just didn’t care about it at the moment. he didn’t even know himself.

he muttered a measly thank you, as he walked past you, ready to leave your house assuming that you didn’t want him there. you bit your lip, thinking about speaking. his hands fiddled with your doorknob but then he finally got a grip on it. the sound of your door opening had triggered your body to turn around.

“izuku, wait.” he stopped, and closed your door again, avoiding rain to get inside your house. he looked back at you. you walked up to him and wrapped your arms around him, giving him a hug.

at first, he was stiff. he didn’t hug back, he was more surprised than anything. not at the fact you used his first name again but that you hugged him. all the feelings that he managed to push away came rushing back in that one moment. tears pricked at his waterline and his arms wrapped around yours. he squeezed you slightly.

“i still care about you, m’kay?” you whispered into his ear, his head nodded in response. you pulled back to see that he had a few tears running down his face. he looked away in embarrassment as red hues coated his face. you chuckled slightly, putting both of your hands on his cheeks. you used your thumb to wipe his tears away.

“i’m not mad at you. i never was. i just… get worried about your well-being sometimes.” he nodded.

“i know. me too.” a smile came on his face.

“stay safe. and remember i’m here for you regardless of anything we went through. alright?”

“alright.” you both shared a brief hug again before he left your house. you felt a huge weight had been lifted off of your heart. sure, a long talk between you both was was long overdue. but knowing that you both were on speaking terms again gave you some hope for the future.

TAGLIST FORM

[oh-katsuki]

im listening to that fucking charlie puth song “i don’t think that i like her” because there is the INKLING idea of a fic / art there that i literally cannot put into words and it’s gonna make me blow up so here’s my best attempt.... 

tsukishima who is absolutely JADED about dating. not in a like... weird way... but just because he’s always hated it when people get close to him just because they think he’s handsome. hates when people behave that way.. feels like he’s being used. n to make things worse, when he does decide to give it a try... it never works and they always end up breaking things off right when kei starts to catch feelings. 

so when he starts liking you first... it drives him absolutely crazy. i mean... you haven’t even confessed to him (yet)... what’s he doing tying himself up in knots over you?? really... it’s the first time he’s liked someone this way and it makes him antsy... makes his chest hurt... makes him feel like his skin is crawling in a way that he (alarmingly) doesn’t hate. 

but see... he’s got this nasty little complex. kei doesn’t want to be close.. he doesn’t want to feel this way. hates how he gets red in the face.. how he feels like he has to clutch his chest whenever he thinks about something you did that was particularly cute. makes him gasp for air. it’s childish, really. a childish aversion to feelings and dating stemming from his middle and high school years. nothing extreme, but enough to be considered a complex.

yamaguchi, of course, figures out that kei likes you immediately. he knows his friend like the back of his hand, so it doesn’t take long for him to confront kei and wrench the embarrassing admittance from his grimy hands. 

in kei’s defense... it’s pretty hard not to like you. you’re friendly and upbeat, rarely ever gloomy and when you are, you get this earnest expression on your face that makes him want to fix all of your problems for you. you’re genuine, or at least you come across that way. kei and his complex know better. kei’s seen all of the tricks (he thinks). sure, maybe his ego is a little big for the bag it’s in, but kei likes to think he’s got it all figured out, feelings aside. 

“i don’t think i like them anymore,” kei admits one warm spring afternoon in yamaguchi’s dorm. 

the heat in the room that day is almost stifling and even the open window doesn’t help. for some reason, humidity creeps into the air early and kei adjusts the collar of his shirt. 

“oh?” yamaguchi spins in his desk chair. “what makes you say that?” 

“i’m over it,” he lies (unbeknownst to himself). “it’s all the same anyway. they’re just playing with me.” 

“you know,” yamaguchi laughs, “for someone who’s hardly ever had what could be considered a girlfriend, you sure are jaded.” 

kei shrugs his shoulders, avoiding sitting up to keep yamaguchi from seeing the pink covering his cheeks. 

“so what?” 

“so maybe don’t be like that,” yamaguchi rolls his eyes, not that kei can see it, but he knows that he does. 

“like what? practical? proactive?” 

“paranoid,” yamaguchi says. 

“whatever, i’m serious,” kei says, “i don’t like them anymore.” 

“right,” yamaguchi says, “i don’t believe you.” 

“you don’t have to,” kei scoffs, “but it’s true” 

course, kei knows somewhere deep down that he’s lying. of course he is, usually he doesn’t give so much as a word to yamaguchi about these things, let alone announcing to the world that he “doesn’t like you anymore”, but what else can he do? so kei and his complex convince himself that there’s no feelings. 

course that all flies out of the window when you come up to him in the library and kei once again has to resist clutching his chest like he’s having a massive heart attack. he “doesn’t like you anymore”, but you send his world candy-colored anyway. 

[rosanna-writer]

Fic Writer ask game

Thanks for the tag @whatishowedyouinthedark!

Describe your writing process from idea to posting/publishing For longer fics, I usually start with an outline. It's usually just a bullet point list of events with sub-bullets for random notes about the event (things to make sure get mentioned, scraps of dialogue I'm already thinking will be included, etc), and sometimes I'll write the summary first and throw that at the top of the document. Then I just follow the outline, mostly in order, and decide on chapter breaks as I go based on vibes. I draft pretty slowly because I clean as I go, and for canonverse-fic (especially anything that's first person Feyre POV), I stop to refer to PDF copies of the books pretty frequently to make sure things "match." Then I do a once-over, usually reading aloud, to catch typos and awkward phrasing, and then post!

Are you a plotter or a pantser? I'm a plotter for sure! I like to do all my thinking in the outline, so drafting is a brain-off, "just refer to the notes" type of deal

What do you listen to when you are writing? Nothing! I find it distracting, and I'd pause it all the time to read things out loud anyway.

What’s your drink of choice(while writing)? Coffee! I usually try to take myself on a coffee shop writing date once a week.

Promote yourself! What’s your favorite thing you’ve written? It's so hard to pick! But I have a soft spot for everything that gives me warm fuzzy feelings because I wrote it specifically with friends in mind, like I Knew You Were Trouble, The Great War, and Love At First Sight's For Suckers <3

Share a fic of yours that you think is underrated/deserves more love. with you i serve, with you i fall down, there's just not much of an audience for genfic centered around Mor's frienships (and it's a short drabble). But I think it works really nicely as a missing scene from canon

Do you have any advice for new writers? "Just keep going!!!!" feels like trite, unhelpful advice, but I think it boils down to this: it takes a loooooooong time to get decent at identifying problems in your work and fixing them because that's a skill in and of itself. There will be literal years of feeling like your work is meh but not really knowing why (that sort of "something is off, but idk what" thing), and it's frustrating as hell. All you can do is just keep going and practice until you get past it. Creative writing classes or feedback from a knowledgeable beta (i.e. someone who actually reads in your genre AND knows how to deliver criticism kindly) can speed the process along, but ultimately, the only way out is through.

What is a writing style/technique that others do really well that you'd like to get better at? "Atmospheric" writing that whisks you away somewhere else/pieces that feel "dreamy." There are SO many writers I admire who do it well (@bloomingdarkgarden, @thesistersarcheron, @popjunkie42, and @foundress0fnothing have all killed it with the otherworldly fairytale vibes), and I feel like I'm just sitting here writing the Generic Airport Novels of fic lol

Is there a character you were surprised you enjoyed writing as much as you did? Azriel! I've always liked him because a character archetype I adore is Very Sad But Very Sexy Spy. But in we said hello and your eyes look like coming home, I really didn't anticipate how healing having a quietly helpful "loyal attack dog" kind of person in her life would be for Feyre, who has her whole "years being the breadwinner burned me out because no one came through for me" complex at the forefront of her mind in that AU. Rhys combats it in more of a caretaking/mother hen/"let me be soft and spoil you because no one else did" kind of way, which I LOVE, but there's also something about Azriel's love language being a grim "it's handled" that goes so hard.

The Az that exists in my head is more or less the Night Court's Olivia Pope, and I want to write more of him quietly assassinating people/planting evidence/leaking damaging things to the press on the High Lord and High Lady's behalf.

Everyone I mentioned above can consider themselves tagged <3

[the-ellia-west]

spill the tea on your wips <3

heyyy it's been so long since i've interacted with you, how's writing going? i wanna know about everything!

OH MY GOSH I'M SO SORRY I FORGOT I HAD AN INBOX

So...

I've shelved most of My WIPs because I don't really like them,and I'm focusing on J&R.

I also have ideas for a side comic to improve my art skills

But for now, I'll explain J&R (Also known as JoR or The Jest of Royalty)

It stars a cast of eight intricately complex heroes from different kingdoms and different species coming together and overcoming their trauma to become a found family.

Ronan - Main Protagonist, 17 years old, Elf, Hunter - Ronan is the one who started the group and whose goal holds them all together.A feisty young man who solves all his problems with punching and is desperate for revenge on the people who killed his family

Mangrove - Ronan's Rival, 19 years old, fallen god of Chaos and Conflict - Mangrove is an egotistical wreck with a love of causing trouble who is addicted to the power high he gets from starting fights and causing chaos

Finn - Ronan's Main, nicer mentor, 32 years old, Messenger - Finn is a loyal, smart leader who can make quick decisions but often accidentally disregards the emotions of those he loves to protect them

Morena - The group mother figure, 30yrs, Witch/Cleric Healer - A kindhearted, slightly isolated potion maker who specializes in healing and loves to spend time with others, helping them out to the point of self neglect

Wild - Stealth Guy, 16yrs, abused child - Wild is a noble's son with the ability to turn himself invisible who has locked his emotions within himself to hide from his own pain and now struggles to feel anything at all. He is very quiet but very wise.

Phenik - Team Heart, 17yrs, Merchant - Phenik is an upbeat lovable kid who tries his hardest at everything he attempts and just wants to help people and make a living for himself, instantly jumping at the opportunity to provide his unique skills to the group and have a home

Rose - Team Powerhouse, 29yrs, Magic Researcher - Rose is a massively powerful plant mage with a deep-seeded fascination with magic and a love and protection of her brother-in-law, desperate to push her magic as far as it can go to make sure she's powerful enough to save those she loves (and also for research purposes, making herself a living tast subject)

Jakkon - Team Negotiator/Tired Mentor, 31yrs, Politician, Rose's Brother-in-law - Exhausted and just wants to make sure Rose is safe. He is angry and sarcastic, not caring for the welfare of the group, and only doing necessary tasks, (copes with his shitty life with anger and amounts of alcohol that make many other characters concerned for his health)

The plot is centered around Ronan breaking Mangrove's godly magical artifact and having to hunt it down for his complex revenge scheme. Roping everyone else into the group bc they need help and it eventually devolves into this found family having to save the world from three psychopathic evil kings who want to use the magical artifact to become gods and rule the world.

I love all my babies, and their relationships and character Arcs give me life

(Jak and Mangrove are my favorites, though I love all of them)

Phenik and Morena are loved by the whole group, Jak and Mangrove are hated by the whole group (not necessarily everybody but still)

Relationship examples:

Morena & Finn are incredibly oblivious to the massive crushes they have on each other

Phenik and Wild are best friends

Ronan and Mangrove hate each other's guts

If Jak gets the opportunity, he will be a petty little bastard toward Finn in particular

Rose has tea with Morena after breakfast

Thank you so much for the ask BTW!

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch: 1x1 - leavetaking

Rewatching as prep for season two! These are going to be pretty spoiler-heavy for the books (will note how far) and kinda live-bloggy - I'm briefly pausing to note down thoughts but won't be writing out entire paragraphs. Just little notes as I go on.

Spoilers for the entire first season and some s2 spoilers plus through maybe The Dragon Reborn in the books. Maybe only The Great Hunt.

1. Fascinating how Liandrin's perspective on men and the One Power is the reverse of the truth. It's not men who make the Power filthy but the Power that makes men go wrong (because of the taint). I do think she genuinely believes what she's saying here though.

2. We get a lot of info from Moiraine and Lan here: we know there's an active prophecy, we know that the Dragon can channel, we know they should be 20 years old. We also see Moiraine's doubts and her wishful thinking both at play: she doubts/tests various parts of the prophecy but does not let herself believe he was gentled before he could ever be found.

3. The rumors in/out of the Two Rivers are interesting to think about - it sounds like the idea of ta'veren must be fairly widely known -- given that we know in TGH that at least one of Moiraine's eyes-and-ears is Tuatha'an, I wonder if the group of Tuatha'an near the Two Rivers that Egwene & Perrin run into (with Ila & Aram) is also the group that has Moiraine's spy, in the show canon. EDIT: we know from TDR about her spy, not TGH, lol

4. I am So Interested in whether or not s2 will get into the emotional details of Egwene not braiding her hair anymore.

5. It kinda feels like the show went more hardcore egalitarian for the Two Rivers than the books did -- we never hear anything about the mayor or village council and the women's circle is a rite of passage for womanhood as opposed to being a governing body.

6. Wolves! ❤

7. Some people apparently took Rand calling past-him a sap as him being... a Chad now? Very strange. He's obviously not being serious (and he brings Egwene a berry in this very episode).

8. The scene with the three boys is so good for establishing them as friends but also showing Mat is not supernaturally lucky here, and we see Rand and Perrin's concern and affection.

9. Enter our Mysterious Wanderers. It's a great dramatic entrance for our very Dramatic pair. Moiraine taking a good look around trying to clock all the twenty year olds.

10. So we get introduced to all the celebration and joy first... and then after Moiraine's intro, we get into the various emotional turmoils each of our younger cast are facing:

a. Perrin's marriage is somewhat troubled.

b. Mat's parents have created a troubled family life for him and his two sisters and he is basically the one raising his sisters even while having to deal with his drunk mom telling him he's a terrible person.

c. Rand and Egwene's relationship breaks up as they realize for the first time that they have grown into having incompatible life goals (a problem that will not go away even after their individual situations completely change).

Despite the idyllic scenery, the emotional undercurrents in the village are complex.

11. First we have Moiraine specifying that they need two beds and then we get the lovely non-sexual bath scene with Lan and Moiraine. I love how much we get to see Moiraine & Lan being platonic companions.

12. I like that Egwene and Rand truly care deeply about each other but that doesn't make their lives compatible.

13. Love how we go from the whistling background sound over the Fade to Fain actually whistling.

14. The next morning, we get Mat pawning the stolen bracelet -- this helps sets up why he steals the dagger later; Mat has an incentive to need money that isn't about being greedy. But then we also see in the later scene that his friends very much want to help him. And Mat shows deep emotional intelligence and concern with Rand as well.

15. Nynaeve gets knocked out as a Dragon candidate right away, due to being too old to be the prophecy baby. Sadly, in the process of figuring that out, Moiraine burns a bridge with Nynaeve (who already wasn't inclined to trust her).

16. The Wisdom cleaning the sacred pool fits very well with Nynaeve becoming a "servant of all" aka Aes Sedai (just like Egwene surrendering to the river is a mirror of surrendering to saidar). But also the Wisdom is really the only 'leader' that we get introduced to in the Two Rivers in the show.

17. I am very curious about if the issue of the Old Wisdom comes up again when Nynaeve is in the White Tower. Nynaeve does seem aware here that Listening To The Wind is connected to the One Power.

18. Again, I love how the Rand, Mat, Perrin friendship feels substantial here and not just because they're all the same age so they hang around together.

19. Love getting the themes here of rebirth and how the reincarnation aspect of the lore feels present in people's everyday lives.

20. Nynaeve being separate from all the other villagers so they can't see her pain. My heart!

21. Now that we've set up Life As It Is, it's time to break it so that the main story can start. Lan brings the news about the Fade & Trollocs and Moiraine confirms that she doesn't know which of the four kiddos is The One (a good thing, as it turns out).

22. Some good character work during the fight:

a. Nynaeve trying to protect and heal her people.

b. Fain just sauntering off without a care.

c. Mat going back into danger to save his sisters.

d. Perrin doing something to make him terrified of the violence inside hinsrlf.

e. We see that there's more to Rand's dad than meets the eye.

f. Rand defeats the Trolloc but at a cost (his dad getting horribly injured).

g. Egwene & Nynaeve both willing to fight back, even when they just have belt knives.

h. Once Moiraine and Lan are able to turn the fight (and we get some lovely choreography of then working as a team and seeing how Warders aid their Aes Sedai), the villagers take heart and really together against the Shadowspawn.

23. Overall just a good job showing how traumatic an attack like this would be.

24. Anyway, it felt clear to me that part of the reason our kiddos don't argue much with Moiraine after the battle is because they're all pretty shocked and traumatized. None of them have ever experienced anything like this!

25. I hope the implied flashback for Moiraine & Siuan in s2 has us getting the prophecy onscreen but it was still cool to hear Moiraine telling them about it here.

26. There's a great shot here of Moiraine facing Egwene and Rand and we see all three of them in shades of blue. Meanwhile, when we swap to Perrin and Mat, Mat has a tiny stripe of blue but the two of them are more earth-tones. Channelers vs non-channelers? Rand puts on an earth-tone coat as they leave - because he's going to be in denial?

27. Right now, Moiraine is saying they need to get to the protection of the White Tower (meaning Siuan and her attempts to ready the Tower). And that's a wrap on episode one!