#i love them both as individuals and together

[writing-is-a-martial-art]

every time I see this I have the same feeling I can't quite put into words. Imagine you were made out of cut corners and sharp lines monotone monochrome economy of predetermined self-destruction. There is nothing about you that could possibly be individualized, be used with care and love and time. The idea of what you should have been is made out of papier mache mediocre marketing marvels and none of them is you, none of them you could ever be or were ever supposed to be, really. Anyways here's another thing just like you, just as thin and deadly to the people it's supposed to protect, lies of a comfortable future held together with glue and tape, and you know in this moment it would be less terrible, less lonely, if you could just get to this thing that knows what it's like to be nothing, if you could just open up each other's lie-guts and shitty metal and shittier wheels and spill into something finally unique, finally your own.

As you crush in a perfectly predictable failure of mechanics it sighs only the way something that was never allowed the courtesy of breath can and in this moment you're both something you never dreamed of being. You are art. The promises of oligarchs spill out of you like bile, and you are free of them. You are free of everything.

[one-green-frog]

Hi! I was so happy when I saw that your requests were open for your platonic yandere batfam series, also I’m sorry if I send in too many, just do the ones that interest you bc I can’t wait to see them!!

Can I please request them dragging you to a family movie night and sleepover (if you want) together

Snuggled in

By now, it felt like you had lived at the manor since the very beginning. The grand halls, the endless corridors, and the hidden nooks and crannies—all of it was as familiar to you as the back of your hand.

Your life had settled into a new normal. Or at least, as normal as it could be when surrounded by the Wayne family and their complete and utter devotion to you. They were obsessed, and you knew it. Their attention was intense, overwhelming at times, but you had grown to accept it. Maybe even crave it. The way they cared for you, how they anticipated your needs before you even voiced them—it was comforting, intoxicating even.

Earlier today, Dick had texted you.

"Movie night. I'll come get you later."

There was no room for declination, not that you wanted to refuse. Movie nights were one of the best things about living at the manor, especially when everyone was present. It wasn’t just about the films—it was about them, about the closeness, the warmth of being surrounded by people who made you feel safe. Sure, you loved spending time with them individually, but when they were together, it felt like a real family, a family you never wanted to leave.

So, all that was left to do now was wait, to enjoy the "calm before the storm."

It didn’t take long before Dick appeared in your doorway, his signature grin in place as he grabbed your hand and practically dragged you toward the theater room. His grip was firm—just a bit tighter than necessary, as if he feared you might pull away. As if he was still afraid you might reject them.

You knew they had doubts. That paranoia whispered to them constantly, telling them that your love for them wasn’t real, that one day, if they let their guard down, you’d disappear. It hurt knowing they feared that, but at the same time, you understood. They knew what they were doing wasn’t exactly right. The way they needed you, the way they clung to you—it was too much, even by their own standards. And yet, they couldn’t stop.

And you? You didn’t fight it. Maybe you should have, but deep down, you liked the way they cared for you. How they made you feel wanted.

When you arrived, everyone was already there, and unsurprisingly, a spot had been saved just for you. Judging by the tension in the air, there must have been a fight before you got here. The privilege of sitting next to you wasn’t something any of them would just give up. It seemed that this time, Damian and Dick had won, both looking entirely too pleased with themselves while the others shot them varying degrees of annoyance.

But now that you were here, no one dared to argue.

Time with you was precious, something none of them wanted to risk ruining. You were the one thing that held them together, that kept them from spiraling apart. They all knew it.

“Jason, why don't you pick the movie?” you said as you settled into your seat.

Jason raised a brow, looking mildly surprised but pleased. He was always good at picking movies, always knowing exactly what suited your mood. Sometimes, he chose thrillers, knowing you enjoyed the adrenaline rush. Other times, he picked romances, sweet and indulgent. No matter what he chose, you knew it would be perfect.

But in the end, the movie never really mattered.

Because the real highlight was always the closeness, the warmth of your family surrounding you.

Dick wasted no time wrapping himself around you, his body practically molding to yours. He had always been the most physically affectionate, taking any excuse to hold you. On your other side, Damian leaned against you, quiet but solid, his presence grounding. He never admitted it, but during movie nights, he always ended up snuggled against you like a cat seeking warmth.

Time passed in a comfortable blur. The others rotated around you, each finding a way to be close. Jason would ruffle your hair as he got up to grab snacks, Tim would drape himself lazily against your side when exhaustion took over, and even Bruce—ever the stoic—would rest a steady hand on your shoulder, a silent reassurance that he was there.

It was getting late, the movie long ended and the comforting presence of everyone slowly lulled you to sleep. You tried to fight it, wanting to enjoy the moment more, but at some point you lost the fight with sleep.

Your head grew heavier, your body sinking into the warmth around you. The others noticed almost immediately. Their voices quieted, movements slowed, as if afraid to wake you.

Bruce was the first to move. Carefully, he lifted you into his arms, his grip firm yet gentle, while Dick untangled Damian from your lap. He fell asleep first and somehow always ending up in your lap, snuggling into you as if seeking your warmth. The transition was smooth, practiced. They had done this before.

Your room was dark and quiet when Bruce laid you down, pulling the blankets over you with practiced ease. He lingered, brushing a hand through your hair, his eyes never leaving your face.

You had saved him. Saved all of them.

Bruce had long believed that some wounds would never heal, that his family would remain fractured, bound together only by shared tragedy. But then you came along—his son, his light, the one thing that brought them back together.

There were many things he regretted. Things he would never be able to fix.

But with you here, it felt like he had a second chance.

That was enough.

And as he sat beside you, watching over you as you slept, he let himself believe—just for tonight—that everything was exactly as it should be.

Taglist: @lilyalone

This was so much fun writing!

Thank you so much for requesting, I'll get to your other ask as soon as possible!

[avicinda]

More thoughts on Infinity Nikki's themes that I'm still rotating in my head, but like.

In contrast to the Faewish Sprites who evoke children despite also living for hundreds of years, the Pieceys as a whole are old. There's this sense of...decay around them, coupled with the way the Abandoned District is designed as the literal ruins of human civilization. Pieceys cannot naturally heal, their fabric only grows more worn over time. They patch themselves with fabric, but do that too much and there's not enough of themselves and they die.

The Abandoned District itself is a sharp contrast to the Wishing Woods, and IMO it's a pretty carefully crafted difference. The Abandoned District's aesthetics and music carry this undercurrent of melancholy that permeates nearly every part of the experience in exploring it versus the way the Wishing Woods is whimsical.

The story of the Faewish Sprites revolves around the Coming of Age Ceremony—it's been delayed and it needs to happen. The Faewish Sprites are about the future. Meanwhile the Pieceys have multiple stories exploring death or remembering the past. I think it's not a coincidence their downtrodden are specifically those who cannot remember where they came from?

But there's another difference I think. The Faewish Sprites are a very collective kind of society. They all dress exactly the same with only minor variations—there are no Faewish Sprites with their hoods down, for example, but many wear makeup or accessories which provide only really inconsequential differentiations. Even their names follow a strict naming convention (-bo/-da).

Meanwhile the Pieceys are much more varied in appearances. If you look closely there are model recycles, but IMO that's more of a limitation of the medium than the way it's handled with Faewish Sprites. The Market of Mirth and the Handsome Lads Circus also stand out to me as celebrations of individuality and life, much more than any place in the Wishing Woods. Pieceys also have theatre and arts and tell each other stories, connecting them closely to the humans they succeeded.

The contrast brings with it a difference in mentality too. There's a letter to Giroda post-story from an anonymous Faewish Sprite (probably Morimada IMO) that states that they never really hated him but Faewish Sprites had no reason to question Chigda as their authority, so they followed him in mistreating Giroda. It's arguable how sincere this letter was (I assume it is because of the way Faewish Sprites are in general), but compare that sentiment with how every Piecey we met all treated Raggy in different ways.

maybe it also goes back to the Wishing One. He created the Faewish Sprites in life, so they're perpetually his children. Because of this, we get the Ascetics who punish themselves and the Faewish villains who cannot accept this death. The Pieceys were created when he died and became the Silvergale, so they carry a perpetual grief within their bodies. So they try to celebrate life where they can.

I don't really know where I'm going with this! Despite focusing on Faewish Sprites more, I love both and I think they're both very well written and tie well together within the lore.

[ryemackerel]

Me infodumping about my headcanons of musical themes for the Eddsworld gang, specifically the ships!!

Get ready for me to go absolutely silly over TomMatt’s music because AGAHHAHhh I love them so much.

For context! This is based on my TomMatt Spotify playlist @starrixle helped out with!

Pictured above: Two gay guys, who are very stupid silly, take a selfie together, circa 2017. Original post!

First things first: This goes for all of my character playlists, but I always go by a certain genre, mood, and/or instrument I associate with each of them!

For example: I see Edd with a lot of songs from the mid to late-20th century! He loves artists such as The Smiths, Tears For Fears, and Beach Boys. Outside of that, he even loves a lot of Indie genres, like Mac DeMarco and Vacations. I generally describe his music taste to be very calm and easygoing like his personality, and a lot of guitar or keyboard songs, since those are the instruments I generally see him playing.

In this case, for Tom and Matt as individuals:

Matt’s songs are very lightweight, romantic, and daydreamy. A sort of echoey, floating feeling amidst the clouds. He’s the kind of guy who expresses his love upfront to the people he adores and cares about, and a good amount of his playlist has songs with the main theme being love and romance. Some of his songs can be rougher and louder, reflecting more of his love for rock when he was a teenager, but as he got older, he’s generally more lighthearted. I associate a lot of his songs with guitar since he’s the guitarist for The Creatures, and the guitar fit his personality a lot to me. :-] He has a good amount of Soul and R&B. His playlist has artists including Thee Sacred Souls, Common Saints, Steve Lacy, Ginger Root, Frank Ocean, and TV Girl.

Tom’s songs are generally heavier, rougher, louder, and harsher, with a lot of metal, rock, and grunge genres, though with the occasional ska, which shows more of his sillier side, and hip-hop and rap. Tom is usually very concealed and closed off when it comes to expressing his true emotions, but compared to his playlist, his music is very loud and outspoken; either it’s a weighed down feeling in your shoulders, or calmer and more relaxed, yet rough. I highly associate Tom with the bass (also a bassist for Creatures), and there are a good amount of bass-heavy songs in his playlist. I associate him with artists like Deftones, Whirr, Alice In Chains, Type O Negative, SOAD, ATCQ, MF DOOM, and Radiohead. (THANK YOU STAR for introducing me to Deftones and Whirr LOL)

Tom and Matt are almost opposites of each other, with Matt being more upfront and lighter, and Tom being concealed and heavier. And it’s clear that, yeah, evene though their personalities contrast each other, and their main music tastes are different, I still LOVE seeing how this works thematically, and specifically how they get along in the first place.

Tom and Matt together:

A TomMatt song I associate with this segment :) Listening to it right now as I’m typing this!

I associate a lot of what TomMatt is with harmony. This warm, soft embrace, quieter and calmer, but full of rhythm and energy. You feel like flying into space, and the guitar echoes and sustains throughout the air, flying skyhigh, but the bass settles it down, keeps it grounded to make sure it doesn’t fly too far away. They both play together, a melody of highs and lows, both intertwined into one.

Tom and Matt have kinda almost this harmonious relationship with each other, where one of them helps the other realize their own qualities that they never realized before, and helps one other realize things that the other loves about them. They love each other dearly, and as they’ve grown older, they’ve learned to love themselves.

Tom doesn’t open about his issues a lot and closes them off out of fear of burdening others. He insists he’s able to manage these issues on his own without anybody’s help. He doesn’t see himself as anything special, a nobody or “just another problem for someone to deal with.” Especially as he’s grown into his 20s and started taking on harmful coping habits, he’s constantly beaten himself up.

And you can imagine how Matt would react knowing all of this. He never saw Tom as a burden, a nobody, or a problem, but someone that he just genuinely loves to be around. He sees Tom as his whole entire world, and constantly expresses it multiple times, over and over again.

“You’re everything to me, Tom, and you mean so much to me. I just want you to remember that, okay? I love you.���

Tom doesn’t always express his happiness out loud, but being around Matt has helped him realize that “Hey, maybe there’s some good things about me that people love about me. Maybe shit isn’t all so bad.”

Sometimes, there’s moments where Tom slips back into that mindset. Sometimes, he doesn’t understand why Matt would love him for simply “being himself.” The things he hates about himself feel so much more amplified than the things people appreciate him for. Tom sees Matt, who loves every single part of him, and he asks Matt, “Why do you love me so much? Don’t I just stress you out more?”

“Well, you feel hurt, right? I can’t just leave you be when you feel hurt all on your own.”

“You should be spending time with else. Don’t put all of your energy just on me, man. Go with Edd or Tord, maybe they’ll make you happier.”

“But what if I want to spend time with you? You make me happier.”

“…

Do what you want.”

Sometimes, Tom never understands Matt. He sometimes accidentally says things that hurt her, and he sometimes stresses her out with his issues, so why would she want to spend more time with him? But you know, no matter what, he appreciates how much someone is willing to stick around and never give up on him.

Even Matt has her own shit. She can be really fun to be around and loves talking to other people as much as she can, but there’s times where being out overwhelms her. Whenever she’s out in public, her anxiety can skyrocket. She picks up on every little conversation others say around her, and she constantly thinks about what others feel about her. She can have a good day, but as soon as she feels like her surroundings overwhelm her, she shuts down.

Tom doesn’t always know how to help or what to say, since he isn’t someone who uses a lot of words to help others. But during those quiet moments, the best he knows what to do is take Matt into his arms, and embrace him, so so tightly.

“(Hugging Matt) …Had a bad day today?”

“…”

“Hey, hey… It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. Just breathe.”

“Today could’ve been a good day.”

“It’s okay to have a bad day. We all get those sometimes.”

“I missed you a lot.”

“(Hugging her tighter) I missed you a lot, too.”

I love how well the guitar and bass work together, just like Tom and Matt together. A lot of their music I associate with Steve Lacy, BADBADNOTGOOD, Tyler the Creator, Childish Gambino, and Piero Piccioni. Some of the songs I’ll list below shows a lot of bass and guitar, and also some orchestra, which I associate with Matt. :)

Some by Steve Lacy was the very first song I thought about when I imagined what Tom and Matt's duo theme would sound like. A lot of Steve's discography is what I see being TomMatt's genres :-) Lots of bassline and very funky guitar tunes. Again, very lightweight and enthusiastic, but also relaxed and calm. I imagine them playing together in almost all of these kinda songs. <3

Some other songs I absolutely ABSOLUTELY love and associate with TomMatt:

I'll end off this post for now because I don't want to make it TOO long HAHAGAA But this is just a little insight to my TomMatt brain! This is solely based on just my headcanons and roleplays of them with the help of my partner. Been wanting to talk about my thought processes behind all my other Eddsworld playlists, so hope you enjoyed this super long one! GAHHA

[deadchannelradio]

i just think bruce isn't very good at grief. not that it's something anybody can be "good" at it's an emotion and loss is just loss there's no moral good or evil attached to loss but he has built his entire life as a monument to the dead in a way that makes it so he can never really interact with the living. bruce himself is pushing through the veil of the dead to interact with his (living) (sometimes undead) children in essence he does haunt them and because he is incapable of seeing them as anything other than pre-dead individuals they haunt him right back.

in a way this is something of the issue he has with dick when dick is a child- Bruce loves Dick terribly, fiercely, and with his entire heart, which is why he is so brutally controlling and awful to dick. he is terrified of losing him- to other pursuits, to growing up, to death- and so he ends up sabotaging himself over and over by becoming violent in the face of those threats. when you spend all of your time pre-mourning it almost is a relief to actually mourn- kicking Dick out of the manor is easier than experiencing Dick leaving, so he kicks Dick out before Dick can grow out of him.

the issue there- both in the metanarrative and in bruce's life itself, is that batman needs a robin. Robin is in essence Batman's rubber ducky to allow him to verbalize things to the reader, so he's more opaque, and without robin he's just less fun, and Nightwing is making big waves that are almost drowning batman stories out. and in the narrative Bruce is unmoored from his grounding point (robin) and adrift and unsure and misses him terribly, so he finds another little boy and puts him in robin's clothes!

Jason and Bruce have such an. ugh. it's kind of so insane it's so fast paced and so close so rapidly in a way that you only really get from people going through stressful situations together. Bruce does everything in his power to not make the same mistakes he made with dick- he adopts jason immediately he made sure their relationship had no ambiguity he is trying to hold on to jason in the ways he could not hold on to dick and like Yes they loved each other Yes jason was good for bruce and bruce was good for jason Yes it was some of Bruce's best (arguably only) parenting (the first child to call bruce his father!) yes they loved each other fiercely. but it was so mind bogglingly codependent. ive said this before sorry friends but i have to say it again Jason is the only robin who like. did not have friends. did not have a team. did not have A Life Outside Of The Batman. he didn't have peers, who might make him want to change or grow in ways bruce isnt ready for. he just had batman!

and so in this completely insular world when Jason fucks up (you can read how that situation broke down in whatever way you want to- i personally think felipe garzonas jumped tho [shrug]) and Bruce sees a way Jason might change and leave him and freaks and immediately falls back on How He Acted With Dick. but jason and bruce don't have dick and bruce's relationship and jason has nobody else and so it is just like an all out rejection to jason, who immediately starts looking for a new parent.

this is all because of Dick and Bruce's previous relationship with a sidekick! he's haunted by dick. he says over and over he wishes he could go back to those days of batman and robin. those days were Bruces high point as a person if not as a parent and he wants them back so badly he is willing to try and recreate it with someone else- everything Jason is as robin only exists because Dick grayson carved that path in the hillside for him- he's wearing dick's colors and his fucking name, for christssakes. And not only does this attempted redemption/recreation not work (because people are people and cannot be replaced) but it does work in the worst way possible, because now Jason Todd is never going to be able to grow up, just like bruce wanted. worst monkeys paw curl in the world.

Bruce is an extremely reactionary person. All of this ^ is a reaction to loss. everything that comes after is reaction to loss. Bruce has been mourning for so long that he doesn't actually know how to function outside of it- who he is outside of grief does not actually exist. it could! arguably it even does! but bruce does not believe he exists without the dead and his grief, and so he keeps writing his own joy out of existence in his internal narrative, thusly denying himself from actually experiencing it. And he is insistent on dragging everyone else down with him! and in some ways they are dragging themselves down, but Bruce is the only one literally sitting in a dark hole in the ground with some poor baby's clothes on a mannequin with biohazard brain juices all over it. He doesn't want to lose anybody but he knows he will because he believes everything to already be over, and so he reacts to things as though it's already done, and in his mourning of things yet to happen he does not live in the now, and so he loses people. over and over and over again, and without having spent the time with them that he wanted to spend.

its kind of a classic tale. Bruce is just the only man unlucky enough to have to do it over and over again.

so yeah. long rant about basically what you just said. bruce would rather lose exactly 0 children but he has already lost them all in his mind (and in some cases has actually put them in the ground) and all of his relationships with his kids are highly valuable to him, and acting like only one exists or is more important than the others actually shoots your own narrative in its foot because they all dont actually exist without each other. except for dick grayson. who kind of did just Do That. he set the precedent for all this & Bruce is reacting to Dick's ghost in many of his decisions. it's like how when you were a kid and you would do the food web demonstrations in science class and with every string you cut more of the web falls apart way beyond that one string. except dickie g is a keystone species like mosquitos or something and when you get rid of him 80% of the ecosystem dies off because the thing that ate the thing before them that ate the thing before them that ate the thing before them that ate mostly dickie g died due to dickie g being gone

tldr relationships are incredibly complicated and build off of each other and so cutting one out or trying to cheapen it actually ruins the whole thing but you know what you do you booboo [skull] [crylaugh]

i love when people try to make bruce and jason's relationship cuter by making it sound like dick does NOT exist AT ALL like "batman's first son and he loved him" and "he would rather lose everybody than lose jason" like im pretty sure that bruce would prefer to lose neither dick nor jason but you know what you do you 💀😂

[alicentsgf]

i think people tend to stumble into investing emotionally in tragedies without being fully prepared for it because an important element is that they dont start off tragic. Obviously. so you can be in too deep before you realise how bad its gonna get

the core element of tragedy is that it gradually reveals the inability of flawed characters to escape causing their own inevitable downfall. Yellowjackets is a tragedy and it always has been. more people will die, probably most of the survivors, if not all of them. and they will commit some truly heinous crimes along the way. i need everyone to be okay with this because i love the fan culture thats been built around this show (like fuck you guys are so funny and creative??), and i really dont want to see this become another space full of people who are angry and jaded because they refuse to accept the genre of the thing they love. if you love the characters and the tragic element becomes too much thats absolutely fine i totally get it and everyones allowed their own space to vent and share their opinions, but just remember its a feature of the genre, not a fault.

Van is probably also going to die this season, and if not that soon then probably in season 4. sorry i love her too, but the stage is set for it, there are so many signs. when that happens i need fans of the show to remember the genre of the story they're invested in and accept it as part of the journey. please believe me, i also very much wish we'd got more adult lottie and i totally feel for simone wanting to stay, but her death was not "just for shock value". i called it ages ago and so did others because it makes sense. Lotties individual arc in the story (to bring the other characters back together, back to the wilderness, and spark callies curiosity) has come to a natural end. and now we can begin to see the potential her death has to change the trajectory of every other main characters season. it could also propel callie (who is due some major character evolution imo) in some really interesting directions.

Besides. even if it hadnt happened right now, eventually it had to. this always had to be lotties ending because its what this story holds for every single character. every death confronts the audience with the idea of testing your faith and it failing you - for most their faith is in a friend or a belief system, or both (in travis' case). so yes, lottie dying like this was pretty inevitable.

[scriptstructure]

!! NSFW WARNING !! Hey, I totally understand if you don't want to answer this I've been trying to write smut. Specifically, an orgy with ~15 characters with ~7 of them having more focus. Things are happening at the same time and partners/groups are changed all the time and not together i.e. a single person finishes and just joins somewhere else. I don't know how/when to start switching who/which group to write about or even backtrack to a different group. It's rather jumbled up now.

I think the most important thing to remember when it comes to writing sex scenes, is:

Sex scenes are action sequences

We are developing a series of acts between a number of characters, and we hope to do a number of things:

There is an arc of action, beginning at the beginning point, moving though the action, and a crescendo & denoument

Who did what -/With whom -/and where

Give a sense of mood, theme, and continuity with the rest of the story (or, jarring discontinuity, if that's what you're using it for)

and so on, as with any other action scene

So, as we do with any kind of action sequence, we need to figure out the order of events, the way that we want to feel about those events*, and the time we're going to take to show all of this.

First up, you probably want to think about how central this scene is to your story. Is it a major incident, or a minor incident? ie, do we want to spend a lot of page space and detail on it, or is it something that just needs to be glossed over in a few paragraphs, just so we know that it happened?

This is going to change depending on what you're trying to do with the sex scene, and what your story is about.

Second up, the 'blocking' or figuring out the choreography of the scene. Who is where, what are they doing, and with whom. You can probably figure out a skeleton outline, just so that you can be sure that characters have time to participate in each scenario that you're including them in. (This is also a good time to think about the pace and rhythm of the scene--are there going to be snack breaks, lulls in the action, time for characters to catch their breath, etc)

If you're having trouble thinking of how to shift focus between different groupings, think about when and why the characters decide to move on from what they're doing to join someone else. Or about how what each group is doing might change the vibe of the scene.

Then, we'll think about mood. The mood can shift throughout the scene, eg frantic/ high energy->slow/ romantic->lazy/sated, or nervous->focussed->confident, whatever the emotional beats and journeys that you want to show.

Mood is also something which is going to lend a great deal to the scene in terms of communicating what it is for** in the story. Is this scene a way of showing the group dynamic, or of exploring individual character's psychology, or illustrating a cultural norm, or of celebrating a victory, or any other thing that it could be about. These characters are having sex, why are they doing that, and what does it mean in the context of the narrative.

So now we know that we need to have an understanding of what the purpose of this scene is in the overall narrative, what exactly happens and in what order, what sort of mood we're trying to evoke with this scene, and what other things we might be learning about character/ place/ culture through this scene.

Next, what about some examples of books that use sex scenes with more or less complex staging to develop various plots and themes:

In the Court of the Nameless Queen by Natalie Ironsides->exploration of gender and identity, with both orgy scenes and couple scenes

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite/ Billy Martin->this is a horror novel featuring two serial killers falling in love, look up some content warnings if that sounds like it isn't for you

Leash by Jane Delynn-> a classic of lesbian weirdo-erotica, about societal alienation and BDSM

Some posts about plotting and POV that might be useful:

Multiple plots with different character groups [HERE] Multiple plots that converge at the end [HERE] Multiple plots and subplots [HERE] Multiple POV characters and narrative shape [HERE] Third person POV and focalisation 'depth' [HERE] First person POV strengths and limitations [HERE]

I hope that's helpful! If there's anything that needs clarifying, please don't hesitate to ask again!

-Mason

*note: you might think that I'd say that we're assuming that people should read the sex scene to get horny about it, but that is just one option of many, and while it has its place, there are far more things that you can do with a sex scene

**note: I also do want to be clear that there's nothing wrong with writing sex scenes explicitly for the horny factor. That, traditionally, is one of the major reasons to include sex scenes in a story. But I do think that more narrative weight makes a sex scene more memorable and interesting.

[thechy-fychannel]

Aough i love your analysis and headcannons augh

... do you have any more for hilson? Any kind? I'd love to know!

Thank you kindly,

Ramble anon

Hi ramble anon!! Thank you so much, I love rambling about them so much alfjlaf. I have so many hcs, I don't even know where to start!! Here's one I've been thinking about:

Both house and wilson are such smart and talented individuals, I really love the hc of them teaching each other things they're good at. Like with wilson bringing house along to his cooking class and house gets really into it, stuff along those lines makes my domestic-loving heart sing ❤️ I love the hc of house teaching wilson to play music, although I think wilson is just terrible at it, even after being taught alfjalfk.

When they're teaching each other something, it goes one of two ways: either the other picks up on it and they get very excited and there's a lot of praise being thrown around that eventually gets them all riled up. At some point the hobby is tossed to the side so they can have sweet old man sex on the couch.

Or

The one being taught is just straight garbage at it and can't seem to figure it out. They start bickering and badgering each other ("the A key— no you moron not F, A. A! Jesus Christ do you not know the alphabet?" "I can't do it when you're yelling at me!" "Oh, since when do you have performance anxiety?") until one gets fed up with the other and they wrestle each other down onto the floor and have poorly chosen floor sex that they will regret later when they can't peel themselves up off the floor without their bodies sounding like a glow stick.

But sometimes they find a fun lil hobby to take up together and gives them something to bond over. Maybe they take a ceramics class and wilson is actually very good at it and house is very bad. But house is so envious of wilson's natural talent that he secretly practices on his own until he makes a nice vase or bowl or something and gifts it to wilson with a note that says "in your face" or smth. He's very smug abt it (even though it's like mediocre at best) and wilson cherishes it like a it's a Picasso or something. Many years down the line it gets knocked over and broken and wilson actually sobs and mopes around for days. House disappears for two days and comes back with a trunk full of handmade bowls and mugs and vases for his Jimmy so no matter how many get broken, he still has another to cherish ❤️

[greenleaf4stuff]

Hi and thank you for the tag @gauntletgirlie! <3 The tag game is a wonderful idea, but I want to spread the posivity both ways. So um - I will do it my own way. Aka, I will give the person who tagged me compliments and also compliment the people I am tagging. That way everyone in this post gets the positivity they deserve I feel like. <3

@gauntletgirlie: You already write so well for someone who has just shared their own writing for the first time; I love the way you wrote Adar's and Celebrimbor's dynamic in your silverscars fic, the way Adar tried to keep his distance and Celebrimbor gently but insistently got closer to him and coaxed him into giving into his desires; you had me sitting there like "ohhh I wish this continued" and "I hope she writes more!" after I finished reading <3

Now for the people I am tagging (absolutely zero pressure to respond btw! I mean it! I am doing this because I want to, not because I expect anything in return!):

@plotdesigner Your lore and world building for the uruk is absolutely stunning and wonderful an I love every little detail I learn about them in your fic(s); I love the way you alternate POVs between characters and manage to give them distinct, individual voices and rich inner lives, even going the extra mile to write Adar in the 2nd person POV; you have a lovely way of weaving in little bits of humor that feels very adequate for the circumstances and also humanizes the characters a lot!

@themalhambird Your Adar/Finrod fic had some very well-developed OCs that were very distinct and interesting to read about, each had their own individual voice; the pairing wasn't something I thought I would be interested in but I finished the little fic before I knew what had happened; the way you wrote the interaction between the main pair was sweet and heart-wrenching to the point it made me emotional (I mean that as a compliment!)

@thephoenixandthecrocodile I love the dynamic between Adar, Celebrimbor and Narvi, they all have their strengths and weaknesses and complement each other very well, I love how you give each character weaknesses and humanizing elements that make them so very relatable; I think it is so cool that your first fanfic is a multi-chapter one and already goes on for so long - that is quite the feat! (and that your 2nd is also multi chapter and finished! Congrats!); I'd love to see more of the way your throuple develops Mordor together, the concept of a dwarven/elvish/uruk construction sounds so cool! and also what their relationship will be like in the future!

@gingeragenda The one fic of yours I read (Adar/Balrog) took a concept that should have been difficult to pull off and made it seem effortless; the interaction (cough) between the two was very sexy; despite the fact that the Balrog got sent out for rather sinister purposes, there was a tenderness that I did not expect between the two characters that I quite enjoyed while reading!

@wowstrawberrycow I love how you want to give Adar good, soft and cute things always, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside; I loved the dynamic between him and Gil-Galad in your AU fic, how Gil is taking care of him as best as he can and is a rock for Adar; love the worldbuilding so far, despite the dire circumstances, there is hope shining through and the two are fighting so hard to carve out their happiness. It's really fascinating!

I think I as a writer I am somewhere between "good most of the time" and "every so often I have a good line" tbh; my lovely readers, mutuals and friends on here make me feel like I am a very good writer (TYSM!) while I myself would tend to believe I am...okay? Maybe? If I have a good day. ^_^'

Writing compliment for myself...I manage to write and share my works despite a lot of self-doubt, anxiety and perfectionism? Does that count?

I want to do a compliment exercise. I got the idea from a poll I saw.

First, vote on this poll:

Now, reblog and tag 5 writers that you would want to see do this (no pressure, of course)... and in your CAPTION (not tags), give 3 compliments to the person you reblogged this from's writing. In your TAGS (not caption), put what your answer was.

Give yourself at least one writing compliment too, while you're at it.

If you reblog it from me, don't worry about doing the compliments since almost none of you have actually read my writing (if any of you have 😅).

If you really want to do the compliments for me, you can compliment something else but it isn't necessary when reblogging from the original source.

Let's get a compliment/positivity/love thread going. ❤️

[sakialumei]

Nevarran Marriage Headcanons

OKAY I wanna write some headcanons that I've had about Nevarra and their marriages because I just feel it in my soul that they go hard. I'd love any feedback, comments, suggestions etc. <3

pre-ceremony I know Hezenkoss was just being a little shit when she tells Emmrich that she'll "bury [him] and [his] new lover in the same tomb" but like married couples *are* probably buried in the same tomb. Which means they need a shared family tombstone. Once the couple is engaged, they have to commission the new joint tombstone

It's tradition that the couple visit each other's family's graves sites and ask the spirits for their blessing. If the spirits show displeasure (and it has happened) during this, the marriage will surely end in doom.

It's customary to send invitations to deceased relatives and leaving them at their tombs. That way, they can attend in whatever form they are comfortable with. Not inviting the deceased is seen as a great insult.

ceremony So the idea that a bride wears white was popularized by Queen Victoria when she wore a white lace dress at her wedding. White was a very expensive color so this was definitely a status symbol. SO what do Nevarrans wear? I believe they follow the convention of the time period in that brides would wear their best dress and men their finest tunics. These formal clothes would have to match their grave gold as THAT is the most important aspect. I imagine garbs of black, green, and purple are popular for Nevarrans. In addition, we see spirits take the form of skeletons with veils, floating as if holding their own souls in hand. Therefore, I think one could argue that BOTH bride and groom (or brides and grooms) could wear veils and carry bouquets.

The couple marries with their new joint tombstone. In fact, I think Nevarran weddings are VERY similar to funerals. It is encouraged that the onlookers cry at a wedding just as much as a funeral because in both instances, you are the celebrating one's death. At a wedding, it is the death of the individual being reborn into joint souls.

THE single most important bit of the ceremony is the exchanging of grave gold. This piece should be one that you have had for a while. The idea of commissioning a piece of new grave gold for this is seen as odd. Ideally, this piece of grave gold should be one passed down generations of your family. The point of gold is that it LASTS which is what you want your marriage and lineage to do as well. The older the better.

Instead of tossing bouquets, the couple distributes the flowers amongst the graves that have not been tended to in a while, bringing their new love to those who have lost it. They do this alone without any officiants and guests.

celebration Goes without saying, but like any good wedding, the food and drinks are immaculate. There is music and dance. Spirits and skeletons are invited to partake in the revels, naturally.

Now, anyone who's read any ounce of historical fantasy with romance knows that bedding ceremonies are a thing. I think Nevarra does it a little different. First of all, why use a bed when you could use a sarcophagus? At the end of the celebration, the couple will lie down together in the sarcophagus inside of a crypt. This is symbolic of course of their eventual fate of being buried together when the time comes. In fact it's an IDEAL to aspire to - staying together to make this an eventual reality. There is a final mourning for the couples before the guests leave them in the crypt. It is the couple's discretion if they actually wish to consummate then and there.

[grumfield]

i'm humbly begging for tips on how to plot/structure a long-fic 🙏😔

ok please do not take this as law whatever, because I have been told time and time again that my process is insane and very antithetical to a lot of creatives but that’s how I work on literally all of my long projects SO. neuroses be upon ye below the read more.

I’m a hardcore planner and don’t like to start things without clear direction. If I’m planning something long that isn’t a self contained story, this is how I visualize it. It’s sort of the way that weekly serialized TV works, probably because I went to film school and used to want to be a showrunner, so I approach it with the mindset that I am the showrunner of my own weekly serialized one man show

And then each “story” is broken down like this:

(Keep in mind the beats above are very metaphorical. Funhouse just means the key facets of their character are on full display, like evasiveness or whatever, and seeing how they interact with the overall physical events of the world. Bad guys isn’t always bad guys, it’s just the looming threat, like a deadline)

Now onto the actual process. This is through the lens of shippy fics so it’ll usually be using terms/goals within that context!

“The thesis” is the first thing I decide and with and when it comes to fic it’s often a ship. It’s just the overall goal or point of what you’re writing. If you’re writing a shippy fic, your thesis is “X and Y Character get together” and everything that happens within that thesis is ultimately in pursuit of them getting together and then their happily ever after. The complexity of what happens for that to come into fruition is up to you.

“Thing I want to have happen” is usually a progression of a romance beat or the development of the relationship. Awareness of feelings, kissing, sex, etc.

“The story” that happens is the set of circumstances that lead to those beats, and for longfic pacing, I find it best to have each of these be thematically self-contained narratives to push things along.

Here’s an example:

Joe is in love with Brad, and they are in high school. “Story 1” they are paired together for a school project, and by the end Joe realizes that he enjoys Brad’s company, and invites him to his party. “Story 2” is Brad getting ready for the party, working up the courage to go, and then they play spin the bottle. By the end, Brad realizes that he likes kissing Joe. “Story 3” Joe has been avoiding Brad because kissing made him feel weird, but then he finds out they’re rooming together on a school trip. After they spend time together, they mutually realize they like each other and want to date; and screw. Then they go to prom, happily ever after”.

You have 3 separate situations with 3 different developments in Joe and Brad’s relationship. This sort of idea can be expanded to galactic scale, because ultimately when it comes to anything about people, human drama is all relatively the same. I think the important thing for longfics, both for keeping yourself interested and others, is providing some closure for some threads while opening up new doors, and this is conducive to that.

As for the individual story structure, that’s just how I plot everything self contained, it’s Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat Beat Sheet. I like compared to other plotting structures specifically because of “Theme stated, Fun and Games/promise of the premise, midpoint, and dark night of the soul.” I find that each of these are really conducive to understanding how to propel a story forward when you’re stuck, which can happen often when working on big projects.

Theme stated is usually what the characters need to learn, stated by someone else. It’s less a motif present and more of an emotional goal that the protagonist isn’t emotionally aware of and is resistant to. In romance it’s usually “you need to open yourself up more” said by a friend. This is usually a good thing to keep in mind in each scene, because sometimes if you write yourself into a corner; you can fall back on this and try and work out what your character can do next. Is Joe antisocial and needs to learn to trust others? and you’re not sure where to take it? Have him try being avoidant to Brad during their partnership, and Brad push back against that. Additionally, a great way to add drama is to have characters fall back on their old ways/not ingest the lesson of the theme.

Fun and Games/Promise of the Premise: basically just shennanigans that happen based on what you’re setting out to do. If Brad and Joe are working together, it’s the moments that arise from that. Moments where they clash, or go to the library, or one of them skips out on doing the project. Anything that they could experience while working together, as well as the romance implications of that. Bad guys close in is an extension of this—usually a deadline is approaching.

Midpoint: when everything seems great. For example, say you don’t know where to take Brad from the Fun and Games, have them create a really good project! They’re finished working, and realize they enjoy each other.

Dark Night of the Soul: they lose the project, they fight, Brad doesnt show up for the final practice and Joe feels betrayed. Anything that sets them emotionally back to square one, and then something happens to rally them once again to finish their school project.

In a big project, the big emotional issues may not be fully resolved from this, but from a plot basis, it gives you an idea of how to keep plot-based emotional momentum that all works through the ultimate development of the the thesis.

The theme of each arc should be different as they start to learn new things, because rehashing the same material doesn’t keep that momentum you need. So, if Joe learns to open up in arc one, maybe arc 2 is about him examining what he actually wants out of relationships with others.

Fic is a great place to do this because there’s so much shit you can mine for each story arc, and is really rewarding to readers when you bring it into play. And if you run out of that, eventually you can mine older arcs you write and bring their content back into play too. When you do this it basically allows you to have infinite arcs and shit if you want which is fun, and how TV shows go on for ages, for better or for worse

Anyways hope this is as in any way helpful! This is just how I do it haha

[thwackk]

my ass will be like “idc abt romance at all. shit sucks lmao” and then all i ever draw is romantical intimate shit for fictional couples i made up in my head

[ruporas]

endless love!

[ID Two drawing collage pages of Vash and Wolfwood from Trigun Maximum. In the first collage, top corner, Wolfwood looks upwards disgruntled with a flushed expression, lying against a pillow, as his hair is being pet by Vash's hand. Next shows Vash and Wolfwood from behind, Wolfwood with his top bare and hickies covers around his nape area. Vash lifts hair away from his nape and asks, "More?" Wolfwood nervously says, "No." Next is a side profile of Vash, his arms around Wolfwood from behind while Wolfwood rests his hands against Vash's arms. Next to this are two smaller drawings; Vash turns to Wolfwood and says repetitively, "Wolfwood, Wolfwood..." Wolfwood, not looking at him, says "What?" He finally turns his head and looks shocked as he exclaims, "So close!" Vash says plainly, "You just noticed?" Below these is a drawing of Vash and Wolfwood sitting together as Vash kisses and hugs him from behind with his right arm around Wolfwood's neck and his left hand around his side. He also has his right leg propped against Wolfwood's knee. Bottom of the page has a comic. Wolfwood looks annoyed, speaking to himself, "Where is that idiot?! Need to get out of town before--" A chat bubble exclaims, "Wolfwood!" The next panel shows Vash running from the townspeople, small text saying "Get him! Vash the stampede!". Wolfwood, mad and about to pull the Punisher off his shoulder, says, "Argh, you fucking dumbass!" Vash exclaims, "Ah, don't!" before pulling Wolfwood into a quick kiss. He then tugs on Wolfwood's collar and says, "There's no need to shoot, just run!" Wolfwood stammers, "R-right..." with a flushed, dumbstruck expression.

Second collage; Top left, Wolfwood spoons Vash in bed, his arms around his chest and the other beneath Vash's head. Vash has his hand on top of Wolfwood's as he sleeps while Wolfwood lies awake. Behind this drawing is faint sketches of Vash's face. In a small panel, Wolfwood hides in Vash's neck as he mumbles to himself "Stop. Stop thinking embarrassing things, Wolfwood..." Beneath this drawing is another of them in bed, Vash now turned to Wolfwood and a hand on his cheek as he kisses him good morning. In a simpler style, Vash wraps an arm tightly around wolfwood with the text "snork mimimi" next to him while Wolfwood says, "We need to get up. Spikey! HEY!" In this corner, there are faint sketches of Vash and Wolfwood; one of them looking at each other; Vash kissing Wolfwood's forehead; Wolfwood saying, "Hand" with an outstretch hand and Vash says "ok" behind a drawing of them holding hands, both turned away from each other shyly. Next is a 4 panel comic. First shows Wolfwood's face getting squished by Vash's hands with the text "squish" around his face. Next, his cheeks are stretched with the text "Chee--" Wolfwood then hits Vash's face with his palm, exclaimining "That hurts!" The last shows Vash on Wolfwood's lap, smiling to himself as he continues to have Wolfwood's face in his hands. Next to this is another comic; A close up of their hands, Vash holding Wolfwood's with both of his. He then kisses the palm of Wolfwood's palm and says, "They're soft!" Wolfwood looks at him with flushed cheeks, "There's no way that's true..." END ID]

[starry-bi-sky]

*points at bruce and danny in 'late at night when the nightingale sings'* THESE TWO MFERS MEAN SO MUCH TO MEEEE

no thoughts head empty just these two socially inept fools finding family in one another. like yes you go you funky little death omens stole that one from a comment on the fic, so if you see this you know who you are, discover that family isn't only tied in blood.

bUT onto less mushy stuff: these two being shenaniganizers; tomfools. Bruce realized that Danny didn't actually know he was Bruce Wayne and instead of going "oh actually im bruce wayne" he went; "hrm... how long can i keep this going until he realizes...."

like. i think they deserve to be the sillies. just utter goobers the both of them. like, danny makes the wittiest side comments, dry quips, under his breath towards Bruce while they're out in public (Danny covering his face with a face mask) and Bruce is trying not to laugh. Meanwhile if Bruce makes one sly comment about someone to Danny, Danny's gonna collapse with laughter.

Bruce plays straightman in most of their bits, he has the best fucking poker face. But also I firmly believe he does actually enjoy Danny's puns. Look me in the eyes- look me in the eyes. Try and tell me that a man that willingly agrees to call a car "the batmobile" even after his eight year old ward grows up (thus negating the need to go along with his antics) doesn't enjoy a good, well-placed pun. Look me in the eyes and try to tell me that. That's right you can't.

He's gonna spit out a well-placed pun in the driest, most boring Batman Voice Ever one day while he's getting ready for patrol, and Danny's gonna fucking die of laughter. He's gonna lose his mind. Bruce is going to have a half-dead sickly teenager laughing his lungs out in the chair. That's a new core memory right there, every time Danny thinks about that he's gonna start giggling.

just!!! these two making each other laugh! That's so important to me. So so much. I nEED Danny to get Bruce to smile and laugh and I need Bruce to make Danny do the same. Danny's all snark and sass and Bruce is all deadpan and dry quips. Do you all see my vision.

[turtleblogatlast]

Small but significant character moments that I actually really adore are from both the times we see the boys as tots. There is a reoccurrence that happens in both of them that I find so incredibly interesting.

For the turtle tot short, Splinter leaves the boys with weapons. In the short, Raph is the one who suggests they do “what Lou Jitsu would do” and Leo is the one who takes point when Splinter comes back to reprimand them. Leo, in taking point, is the one to defend them and get Splinter off their tails.

And then, in the flashback regarding the Kuroi Yōroi helmet, Raph is the one who grabs and throws “Skully” as a way to replace their missing ball which breaks it into pieces, but Leo is the one who speaks for the group and rushes into action to fix the teapot.

I love this for multiple reasons, but the biggest are how it shows that Raph has always been inclined toward the bold and fun and making the plans to include his brothers in what he loves and believes they’d love, whereas Leo has always been inclined to be the “Face” of the group and shoulder the attention even if it’s potentially negative all while coming up with on the spot attempts to fix the situation.

[skywalkr-nberrie]

Many misinterpret Padmé’s sense of duty to be loyalty to her position as a revered politician when that’s not the case. At least not at the crux of it. She’s not OW, she doesn’t feel a sense of responsibility for duty because of her affiliation. She stays out of care and her own strive to see justice. Padmé genuinely wants to help people, and she knows she can make differences because of the influence and power she has. She would feel guilty for leaving her responsibilities high and dry for someone else when she knows she’d be better off getting it done. But deep down, she’s always wanted to get away from all the politics and duty and run away with her husband to the Lake country. And often times Padmé uses those same said “duties and responsibilities” of hers to distract herself from always thinking about Anakin.

It’s the same with Anakin. Anakin isn’t loyal to duty and responsibility because he’s a Jedi, even if he tries his hardest to believe in that, his inner core was always about wanting to save and help people. That’s part of why he even wanted to be a Jedi in the first place. When someone is in danger, he can’t watch them continue to struggle. He wants to save them and fix their situation. Which mirrors Padmé’s ideology of peace and justice. They both do it out of passionate compassion, not because they feel obligated to a certain group, even though what they both want is to just run away together and live their lives in peace side by side. But they know people rely on them, and it’s the goodness in their hearts that stops them from making selfish decisions.