#i personally think it’s important to be able to give out and receive constructive criticism

[lucysweatslove]

I finished and submitted all my assignments from my rural thing. The last assignment was kind of hard; it was a reflection on the experience as a whole, the community, and also how we personally feel starting school after this. It’s not hard in the sense of actual cognitive difficulty with the material to cover and analyze, but rather, I wasn’t sure how to positively explain how I feel. WE all know here that I felt like shit most of the time, spent lunches crying in my car trying to nap and feeling alienated, spent evenings crying in the room overwhelmed and overstimulated and way too mf HOT, multiple times questioned if I made the right choice at all to enroll in this particular program. I don’t and never had doubted my love for medicine as a whole and my abilities to learn how to be a good doctor. But like, program specific fit? I doubted that.

So anyway since I didn’t have much room I tried to briefly state the concerns I have in a way that (hopefully) conveys my ownership of my role in this and what I learned I need to do / how I need to grow going forward. And then also focus on how I really did love the medicine side, and how (even though I question my “fit” with the culture at this one site) the experience has affirmed that rural care feels RIGHT for me. (Like I may be autistic and struggle assimilating into a mid-sized practice full of neurotypical extroverts, but the patient care aspect? The scope? The relationships you build? I know a lot of people view autism as “self focused” people who don’t care about those relationships, but that’s not MY autistic experience; my empathy and desire to care for the whole person, not just see them as a body, is one of my greatest strengths).

ANYWAY when I was finalizing and submitting that assignment, apparently my third assignment (the previous one, a patient interview + reflection) was graded. I didn’t know that my specific state’s track’s director (who I have a lot of contact with) would be the one to read and grade it. She had very positive feedback. But. Now I’m super super anxious about my last assignment. When I thought it was read and graded by somebody I’d never really interact with in person, it was easier to mention that I’m neurodivergent and yes, that lead to some problems that I need to address within myself. But now I feel… more open and raw. I didn’t tell my preceptors, I didn’t plan on telling anything who like, had any major dealings with me. Buuuut now it’s out there and fuck. 🙃

[devsgames]

The Art of Feedback

(This post cross-posted from my Patreon. Please consider supporting for access to my unreleased game prototypes, devlogs and blog posts just like this one. It helps me pay rent and supports the work I do!)

The biggest, most important ability anyone working (or hoping to work) collaboratively in gamedev should have is giving targeted feedback.

I'm not saying "you should be able to honestly tell people that their work sucks", but rather you should be able to elegantly and politely express in what specific ways their work could use improvement and, most importantly, why you believe the feedback to be valid.

In my opinion this is a lifeline skill anyone working in games needs to have.

Not being able to give polite and targeted feedback is something that sets apart an amazing dev from a competent one, and generally will make your critiques feel less like an opinion and more like a fair and specific analysis of a feature. It's what separates A Random Gamer Online complaining about a video game apart from an actual dev identifying pain points on a piece of work.

So how do you do it?

Consent

By far, the biggest thing to remember about feedback in my opinion is that feedback is all about consent.

When giving feedback you need to be positive that all parties are aware and on the same page about the feedback and its role in the conversation, and that the party receiving the feedback even wants it in the first place.

There's been countless times I've had conversations in the industry where it was obvious someone was receiving feedback that was not wanted and didn't consent to it - whether it was way too premature, focusing on the wrong part of the feature, not wanted in the first place or coming from someone who may not have been desirable to hear feedback from.

How do you navigate this? Simply ask for consent first.

A simple "Are you interested in feedback on [x] feature?", or "Is there anything you want me to focus my feedback on?" should usually suffice. If yes, give feedback. If no, don't bother!

Not only does this establish a clear line of consent, it also ensures your feedback is useful and you're not giving feedback that will fall on ears that don't want to hear it.

Empathy

Receiving feedback for many people can be intimately personal. Everyone has things about their work that aren't satisfactory, and entering into territory where you're pointing out these flaws can be devastating if not done correctly. There's an assumption that "honest" feedback is the way to go, but "honesty" can be a double edged sword and there's a lot of devs who deal real damage to others under the guide of "just being honest about feedback". Good feedback should be presented in a way that the recipient can take it to heart without feeling hurt. These are not mutually exclusive ideas.

To avoid this situation, the "compliment sandwich" is a time-tested method. Soften the blow of critical feedback by pairing it with compliments before and after, which allows you to deliver the feedback without it feeling like a direct attack. It's rather soulless to say "you should always talk like this", so of course this is not the end-all-be-all, but it's a good starting point for understanding how to deliver feedback in a way that doesn't harm.

In fact, I've found the structure of compliments doesn't matter as long as you're keeping the mindset of being constructive and in a 'building up" mindset about your feedback, and not a tearing down one. Usually I aim to incorporate one point of critical feedback with one compliment is often enough to soften the blow in many cases.

As an example, saying "I think your placement of the car needs work" feels colder and tonally more harmful than "I love how your use of trees to direct the player through the space, but I think the placement of the car needs work". See how those could read differently?

Additionally, you can change up your method depending on the person you're speaking to and your relationship to them.

For example, first impressions based around feedback are important. If you're giving feedback to say, a peer or student you've never talked to before, leading with complements is key. If you've been in a feedback session for a while the conversation might naturally veer into being more or less critical at certain stages, and you may find striking a constant balance of compliments may not be necessary. If someone seems defensive or upset, it might be wise to pile on some more compliments to make them feel more at ease. If you're giving feedback to someone you've know for a long time and given feedback to before it's possible you may be comfortable enough together that you may not even need to compliment at all!

TARGET

I really want to emphasize this point because this is how you make giving feedback an efficient task. If you don't know what specifically the person receiving feedback wants to receive feedback on there's a good chance you'll end up giving feedback on absolutely everything about the game, and ignore the elements that need feedback the most by doing so.

I've been in this situation plenty of times: a feature in your game is only half-implemented compared to the rest of the game, and instead of focusing on giving feedback about [x] new feature your playtester instead spends 15 minutes talking about the feature that is lacking despite the fact you already know it's missing. The feedback isn't about the thing that you as a developer need feedback on the most, and instead covers territory you're already well aware of.

As someone giving feedback, consent comes back into this. Ask "Do you need feedback on [x]?", or "What do you need feedback on the most?". This puts the ball in their court to identify what you should look out for, as opposed to you playing through and simply pointing out flaws in everything regardless of context. It also means the feedback session is going to be more effective at targeting what they need help with the most, and will be most beneficial to them in the end. In context like meetings and student feedback sessions where time is limited, this is vital to ensuring you're not wasting anyone's time.

Another way to improve the targeting of your feedback is to ensure you understand your subject's goals, and tie your feedback into that. Without this your feedback can be wildly off-base.

For example, if your subject is making a project to learn new implementation techniques, it's not going to be useful to provide feedback about their game's polish that would be more applicable to someone, say, trying to ship a game. Asking what your feedback subject's goal is with their project - or even just ensuring you address that and have a surface-level understanding about what those goals may be - is going to put you in a position of understanding what kind of feedback to give.

With this knowledge in your pocket you can now give feedback through a narrower filter that will more effectively improve their work.

"Why?"

"Why?" is the single most important question you need to attempt to answer when giving feedback. Answering "why" is how important changes get made.

Anyone can say "I think [x] feature needs to change", but not anyone can identify why it needs to change, or in what capacity. There's nothing worse than receiving feedback where a director says "I didn't like this feature" and they fail to address why they think that way. Especially as a designer, "why" is a fundamental idea needed to back up any approach you might have to changing or implementing designs - and it's why designers are often in a better position to identify changes than the average player.

Before you give a piece of feedback, ask yourself "Why do I think this?", and be prepared to include that with your feedback.

"I don't like the way the movement feels because it makes it hard to keep the enemies in my sights" is vastly more useful than "I don't like the way the movement feels". It gives what you at least believe is an actionable, and the person receiving the feedback now has a problem they may need to consider going forward.

There's truly nothing more aggravating than hearing - "I don't like this thing" without a reason why. That why needs to exist because if it didn't people would simply be making changes for no reason except "the vibes are off", and a vibes-based approach isn't exactly a sustainable one from a development angle.

Conclusion

The best feedback is when it addresses specific targeted points that are relevant to the recipient's context in a way that isn't going to be harmful to them! It's not a matter of simply saying anything that comes to mind however you want, but addressing relevant pain points that will best help them improve their work. ✌️

[softxsuki]

BIG BLOG UPDATES AND CHANGES. IMPORTANT. PLS READ

REGULAR REQUESTS:

Starting January 1, 2024 I will be deleting all my WIPs. Any request that is currently in my inbox will be deleted.

I thought about this long and hard and it’s something I’ve been thinking of doing for a while now; it started with me slowly deleting a few that didn’t inspire me, but now I think I just need a fresh start

And I just thought I’d remind everyone that my requests are now suggestions. So if you request something there is no guarantee that I will be able to write it for you

I’d like to start writing things that truly inspire me and maybe even sprinkle in a few writing with my own ideas

Ik writing in here is a hobby for a lot of other writers, but it’s my ultimate goal to one day have my own book published. This blog is just practice for me to write and honestly it became my safe place that I created after my aunt passed away, and I feel like I’m slowly losing that

With all that said, I’ll be leaving my wips up until the end of the year if you can’t remember what you requested, you can try and resend it in to see if ill be able to write that for you or not

URGENT REQUESTS:

Starting next year my urgent requests will be limited. I’ll have 3 urgent request spots open each month. Once they fill up, that’s it for the month

I’ve had so many events that had to be pushed back for months because I keep receiving endless urgent requests at a time. I know some of you really need it for comfort but other are just abusing them to get their requests written faster and this is the only solution I can come up with

If I’ve already written a requests regarding your topic, I’ll probably respond to your request with links to posts I’ve already written regarding that topic. I’ve written about suicide, self harm, depression, etc SO many times and I’m starting to run out of unique ideas. And it’s honestly not super great for my mental health to write stuff like that so often.

However if you urgently need a request about a topic like that, that I’ve written about already (so long as you’re requesting it for a character I haven’t used that topic for yet) and you can give me an idea that helps me out then I’ll do it. Bc I know these are issues that a lot of ppl struggle with and I don’t want to just ban those kinds of requests at all

Also please give me a short reason as to why this request is urgent. If I don’t think your request is urgent, I won’t be writing it. I’d like to save these spots for ppl who realllllly really need it and could be helped with this. And ofc any urgent requests that make me uncomfortable or topics that I know nothing about and don’t want to offend anyone with accidentally, I also won’t be writing.

And lastly with urgent requests, a thanks would be great. I’ve written like 10 urgent requests in the last few months and I’ve only heard back from one of them. It’s discouraging to write something for someone that they labeled urgent and then never hear a word from them again. No thank you, no feedback, nothing. A quick thanks would mean the world to me and encourage me to continue writing urgent requests for you guys. Pls and thank you

Which leads me to my next point

SAYING THANK YOU:

I come in here and write for FREE. I take requests for FREE. all of this is for free. And all I ask for in return is kindness

If you request something and I write it for you, a thanks would be wonderful

Maybe even some feedback. I’m open to constructive criticism as well, so long as you’re nice about it !

Out of all the writing I’ve posted, I’ve probably o my heard back from like 10% of you, which just makes me want to delete my account and not even both honestly.

I don’t even care about the likes or reblogs, my writing could get one like, but just hearing some feed back or even a thank you, especially from the person who requested it would make the world of a difference.

Even if you popped into my ask box to remain an anon, that works too!

This is a huge part of the reason why writing on here has started to feel so draining for me. I want to love writing again and I know this is something I can’t force ppl to do, but I gotta let it out

And lastly, when requesting, please don’t demand. “I want a drabble” I don’t write for people who demand. A please or “could you please” is perfect. Simple and easy to do

EMOJI ANONS:

I’m not sure how to go about doing this or even if I should do this

But I think most of my anons have disappeared or maybe just don’t interact with me anymore?

Perhaps we can do an anon role call? Where you just send me your emoji in my ask box just so I know you’re still around and if some emoji anons that I have listed don’t respond, then I’ll delete them?

Or should I just leave it as it is?

Idk so let me know if you have any suggestions regarding that

I love you guys a lot and appreciate so many of you, especially my regulars. I know some of you are shy and stay as ghost readers. I still appreciate you all 💗 but these are just some changes I’d like to make for my happiness and mental well being honestly 😭. I think I need a fresh start and just some more boundaries bc I feel like I’m stagnant RN and getting nowhere with the things I’d like to do.

SO these changes will begin January 1, 2024.

My wips will be wiped clean, starting over, so if you’ve recently requested something and want to try and resend it in to see if I’ll write it, give it a shot.

I hope I’m not coming across as rude or anything, im used to putting other ppl first and I tend to lose myself in the process so I just feel like this is something I really need to do. Im sorry if anyone is disappointed by this, but hopefully you’ll stick around to see any other new exciting events and writings I put out :)

Love you guys always 💗

[ashintheairlikesnow]

As a new writer who wants to post my content online, I often struggle with fear of how my work will be perceived. I know criticism is inevitable and that some criticism is necessary, but it's still kind of scary. Any advice on how to work with this fear?

Kind of? I find what is most helpful is the ability to discern between criticism that is actually criticizing the work to any extent vs. criticism that is just someone wanting to cause emotional pain.

I have received plenty of both.

I learned, through time and experience, to discard the latter. Consider it like Anon hate, as it often comes from the same basic root. Someone who just wants to make an internet stranger sad, and is screeching for attention about it. The best thing you can do is delete, block, and move on without responding or even, if possible, acknowledging it existed. Anon hate and uselessly hostile criticism isn't about you at all, it is a statement about the person sending it. I found making that distinction really important and freeing.

For useful criticism, it is worth taking the time to really consider it. There is value there! Does this criticism contain advice that can help you improve? For instance, "Hey, I loved the plot but had a hard time telling apart the characters" tells you that it can help to work on developing unique voices/mannerisms for your OCs. That's good to know! File that away, and consider it in the future.

It doesn't mean that your writing is bad, or you should stop. Just that you have found a thing that needs some polishing.

Good criticism also is not a statement about you as a person. It is just a tool you can use to climb a little higher. Think of constructive criticism like trying to build a house and having someone give you a hammer. Great, now you have one more tool to use! How awesome of that person to help you out.

Keep that in mind, and you'll be able to handle that criticism much more easily.

[droughtofapathy]

I'm too lazy to get my phone out and scroll through emojis, which I know you'll appreciate. "what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?" "share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on" "what's the fastest way to become your mutual?"

And because I know this is going to cause internal bleeding: "give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing"

Thank ya, love.

Oh thank god, I don't have to go scrolling back to find the post. Big fan of no-emoji asks.

"what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?" Essays. I'm lucky enough to have many beloved mutuals who will show up on the doorstep of my works with lengthy analysis, discussion, and favorite lines all ready to go. I'm a writer who wants to discuss the work in intimate detail, so these comments are like catnip to me.

"share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on" Stop giving a fuck. Do what you want and what you like and to hell with what others are doing or thinking. Having confidence in yourself is the easiest way to deal with problems. I have always been an extremely confident person, but as a kid I still had a lot of stress and anxiety, and though even at such a tender age, I was still doing what I wanted, I was also doing it with a lot more neurotic energy. I had panic attacks semi-frequently, but (and this is really bad advice from a professional mental health perspective because I'm realizing how trivializing it sounds) I got rid of all the stress and anxiety and neuroses by just...not having them. It sounds absurd, but I'm living the high life with none of the mental health issues so many of my friends have because I just decided to stop being anxious and stressed all the time, and more importantly, I'm so fucking sure of myself. This is not something most people are able to do. Proper treatment is important: I just... didn't need it. I looked at all those reasons I was stressed and upset and just said "who cares? So what? What's the worst that could happen and what am I actually going to do about it if it does? Nothing matters. I'm fantastic. So why am I wasting my time and energy being so worked up about everything?" And that's kind of just how I live my life. Nothing matters, things happen, life goes on. I know I'm a fucking delight. (And yeah, it's probably really aggravating to hear someone just say stop having anxiety, because it's not that simple. But it was for me.

So that's my advice: be confident. Be apathetic. I'm sure of what I think and what I do. Have trust in yourself. Just do whatever it is that you need or want to do.

"what's the fastest way to become your mutual?" Barrel into my DMs with lengthy rants/discussions at the ready. Talk to me about my writing or the theatre. I'm actually not great at fast-tracking mutuals. I know all of my current beloved mutuals can attest to the fact that it did take time for me to follow back. Just stick with me. I'll get there eventually if I like what's on your blog and I connect with you personally.

"give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing" Me talking to myself: Jesus fucking Christ, why won't you take some goddamn time to edit your work? Would it kill you to take a breather in between finishing the last sentence and putting it up on the archive with barely a cursory reread for typos (especially given how they keep slipping by anyway)? Why must you be so stubborn? It's not admitting incompetence by doing a second draft. Try it out sometime and see what happens. You might even like it.

(Unfortunately, I am cursed with a staggering amount of confidence--bordering on arrogance--and my first drafts are pretty damn fantastic. I never had to try very hard to get top marks for school essays, so I was stuck in this no-edit lifestyle from an early age and just never bothered to get out. It's working for me.)

[croziers-compass]

🤗, 🤯, 🥰, 💌, and 🧠 for the fic writer asks

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started? - Just write. Don't worry about how you think it sounds. Do not worry about how "good or bad" it is. Do not. Just write. Get all of that out of the way. Insecurity will be your greatest adversary. Improve and think about how you could re-do or write better in the future after you've written! You will never be able to improve or be better at writing if you do not first start writing! It is also okay to take ideas and styles that you see other writers use and implement them! That is how you grow and learn! If you enjoy a particular aesthetic of writing then try it out for yourself! See how it feels! But most importantly simply write regardless of that voice in your head. You can do it. Even if it's "bad" or you do not like what you've made later, do it anyway! Worry about improvements after you have something to improve upon! 🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)? - Hetero Romance because I feel like the straights are not okay 99% of the time. I do not struggle in writing conflict in romance at all! But with hetero people it simply feels unfit and poorly constructed like a sad facade I cannot replicate. 🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics? - I adore reader interactions! This not only is beneficial for me as a writer but it also builds a bond between me and the communities that I adore being a part of! It's critical to me as a writer, myself, to experience this. I do not need to share every little bit of fanfic that I write. And I do not. There are vast amounts of fics I do not share or have withheld. But the substance that I do share I share because I wish for it to become part of the community I love, adore, and support. It is, in its own way, my method of building bridges. I create. Some people draw and create fanart. Others write. That is my contribution to community. My creations and my writing is how I build those connections and so engagements with and through others wishing to connect with me about my writing is incredibly valuable and deeply, deeply cherished.

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback? - I am always open for comments and feedback. I have a personal policy that follows something that Neil Gaiman posted once where it is considered in poor taste to offer feedback unless someone asks for it. I, however, do not mind it myself for myself if someone wishes to offer it. I feel I have a good healthy grasp in sifting through what I am able to use and apply for feedback and what feedback is not particularly useful for me. I am comfortable and confident in my writing and always looking to gain improvements. But those improvements can only be applicable if it helps push me in the direction I would like to see my writing go. I also always love comments! To see and hear how my work impacts other people is incredibly important to me! Even if it's not something writing related. To see how any of my words might help someone else grow, think, or evaluate themself is so incredibly important to me. There's a quote by Chuck Palahniuk that goes: "Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known" I like to think of how my work and my words impact others as having this same effect. And visa versa. I am made up of all of those I engage with and interact with. And you all, are made up of parts of me in a way. 🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them. - There was no character selected for me to run off with! so I will give you my own personal headcanon for two of my favourite characters of all time. One, Francis Crozier (both not just as a character but a figure so I suppose Historical Headcanon) - It's a small one, but he has a little charm/emblem of St. Brendan that probably is hung or stays next to his berth aboard his ship. And Raskolnikov is Narcoleptic. Hands down that man is narcoleptic.

[zenkindoflove]

8, 12, 25, 27 ♥️

08: What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?

I didn't really know how to answer this because nothing really stood out to be as "the best". So I guess I will go with the feedback I get most consistently - whether it is to compliment my writing or criticize my writing.

People tell me a lot what essentially amounts to "your writing is easy to read. It flows". Often when I receive this commentary for my fiction it is a compliment. When I have received this as a criticism, it was in academic/scientific writing. Specifically, my PhD advisor told me "you write like you talk and its too colloquial".

Now, fiction writing and academic writing are two different beasts, yet, my experiences in both have informed how I have grown as a writer. My "easy to read" scientific writing in many ways was an asset once I was able to also adapt more of the jargon and denser presentation of information that my advisor wanted from me. It's now my job to tell other scientists that their writing is too dense and too inaccessible and show them how to make it flow better. And vice versa, when I was a young fiction writer I really rested on my laurels of being "naturally talented" rather than thinking about my writing more like a craft and something I could always build upon and improve. So now I apply some of the principles I learned in academic writing to my fiction writing, which is that writing isn't always just about stream of consciousness flowing of words that sound good. You really need to think about what it is you are wanting to communicate to the reader. How are you constructing the narrative in a way that convinces your reader of your vision and what the story is supposed to be about? I think it made me a more intentional fiction writer, both in figuring out characterizations and plotting.

12: Who is your favorite author?

I don't really have one favorite author. I have some authors who I've really enjoyed several of their books like George RR Martin and Gillian Flynn. But I probably want to use this opportunity to plug who is actually probably my favorite author which is my friend M.H. Reardon who wrote Flight of the Monarchs and the second book in the series, Catch the Wind, is going to come out literally tomorrow. I'll share the links on here when it's live. But I met her through fanfiction and she was amazing then and she is even more amazing now. I have always been personally inspired by how she writes and the way she handles emotions, dialogue, romance, and writing vulnerability in characters.

25: What advice would you give to young writers?

You only get better by writing a lot, and you can't expect yourself to be your best when you start out. Also do not be scared of reading other people's work, especially your peers. It is natural to compare and many people struggle with insecurity. But I promise you, opening yourself up to other writers and forming a community with them is so important for your growth and self-confidence. And when you do read someone who is really good at something and you start to doubt your own writing, turn that negative voice in your head around and ask yourself, "What is it about this writing that makes it good and how can I learn from this to make my writing better?" I promise, that same person is reading your work and having a similar crisis.

27: Which is your favorite genre to write?

Romance! It's my obsession and I always infuse all of my stories with it. It's what fuels me and the kind of stories I want to write. Now, I do love mixing romance with other genres. Because honestly, GOOD romance should be apart of every genre imo. It often elevates the experience for me.

Writer's ask game

[its-ashehausen]

Why not!

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi chapter fanfics? For me it depends. Sometimes I like to write just one-shots, get all my thoughts and shift into one lengthy chapter but sometimes I find myself being lazy and having the desire to separate sections. So I guess it depends on how I'm feeling, and the ship itself.

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go? I definitely plan things out, or otherwise I'd get writer's block easily, since I hop from fanfic to fanfic.

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic? I often have a playlist for that specific fanfic on spotify, and gather my plots/ideas and immediately start writing. However it usually takes me weeks, if not months, to get my chapter to the exact way that I want it.

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas? Playlists, Moodboards, Anime, C-Drama's, etc.)

5. Do you like constructive criticism? It depends, as long as you're not insulting my entire writing, I'm okay with it.

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process? No everything I write is 100% my writing, I tend to fix some of my mistakes that I catch while re-reading but not everything will be grammatically correct which I'm fine with.

7. How do you choose which POV to write for? I usually know which one I want to write for, prior to what happened in the chapter before

8. Do you prefer the beginning, the middle, or the end in a story? When I'm reading other people's works it's all about the development, storyline, and the characters. So it really depends, whilst for me when I'm writing something, sometimes I like to write the ending beforehand, so I know that's the goal, that even if I don't know what to write next, that ending will keep me invested into the story. However most of the time I like starting from the beginning.

9. Do you comment on the stories you read? Sometimes

10. Ctrl+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy and paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up? I'm not on my chromebook so I won't be able to do that

11. Link your three favorite fics right now? I will once I'm finished with this xD

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you? I usually don't get that much feedback as it is, which is fine with me, however at times I do wonder if people are enjoying what I'm writing so far, and I do wish sometimes people would comment and give me advice for how to make my fics better for the readers

13. What's a common writing tip that you almost always follow? I always try to build a connection with the characters that I'm writing for, then let them all develop on their own pace.

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences? A mix of both, but having music in the background that fits that exact scene helps.

15. How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic? I rarely ever write smut, mainly because I'm asexual but I do enjoy reading it, if I were to write it, I wouldn't necessarily want it be very visualizing but I would try to get as detailing as I would like for the story.

16. How many fanfic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them? I have a few, but the one inside my head currently that I want to write once I finish some other Ulquihime fanfics is a fantasy/Enemies to Lovers fanfic with Ulquihime from two separate wealthy families, they immediately hated each other from the moment they've met, but unfortunately for the both of them they're tied in a forced marriage, but as they're forced to spend more time together they start to think differently of each other

17. What do you do when writing become difficult? (Maybe lack of inspiration or writer's block) I usually lay in bed and listen to music or take a shower to see if I get an idea for a fanfic

18. Do you title fanfics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come with titles? Songs or a title generator

19. What is the most used tag on your Ao3? Angst/Hurt And Comfort

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/Expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc? I often use the same tropes in some of my fics

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story? I'm not sure given how it takes me months to update xD if I can improve on that, then maybe

22. Are their certain types of writing you won't do? (Style, Genre, POV, Tropes. Etc) The only thing that comes to mind is the throuple fics (I do enjoy reading fanfics with that trope especially with UlquiGrimmhime since they're my ot3, and amongst other ships,) but I personally don't see myself writing it, unless it's a love triangle plus I wouldn't know where to go about writing it.

23. Best writing advice for other writers? Don't worry about being perfect when you write, do what makes you happy, explore your characters and their dynamic at your own pace.

24. Worst writing advice someone gave you? When I finished my first Ulquihime fanfic I believe in Sophomore/Junior year, someone criticized me for my grammar and assumed that I wasn't good at English. Which English is my first language, with Chinese being the only language I'm really learning currently, it kind of made me feel disrespected and insecure about my writing for quite some time

25. What fic do you wish you got more responses on? I Get To Love You (Methan One-Shot)

26. Which of your fics would you consider your wildest pride? Tear Into My Soul (Fiend/Alexa/Braun Fanfic)

27. My favourite part of writing is going back to my favorite pairings and exploring their dynamics and imagining "what if" my least favorite part is getting writer's block

28. On average how much writing do you get done in a day? When I'm not taking breaks, I usually can get 1,800-2000 words a day depending how I'm feeling

29. What's your revision or editing process like? I skim through my writing and rephrase some of my wording and work on my punctuation to my best capability

30. Do you share rough drafts or wait until it's all polished? Sometimes I'll share a paragraph or two on here or Facebook but most of the time I'll wait until it's finished and perfect in my eyes

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when you write? Both

32. Name three of your favourite fanfic writers? @perhapswhoknowsvamp @aerodaltonimperial @jkrobertson

33. Do you want to be published someday? Yes

34. Five years from now where do you see yourself as a writer? Hopefully getting better at my fics especially my Ulquihime one's

35. What is one essential thing to remember while writing a villain? Storytelling and how it'll impact the other characters they interact with

36. How do you write kissing scenes? I go based on both characters perspectives and how they feel about each other, and listen to music that I'd envision would be played in the background of the scene

37. How do you choose where to end a chapter? The classic leave a cliff hanger

38. Would you ever write commissions? Maybe

39. Share a snippet of a wip? N/A

40. If someone were to make a fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you like to see? Any of my Methan one-shot kiss scenes

41. Do you tend to re-read fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person? It depends but I often like to go back and re-read some fanfics especially Ulquihime one's

42. What's the last fic you read? Do you reccomend it? Crush by Isharaine on A03 which is an Ulquihime fic. I definitely recommend 😊

43. Do you take sadistic joy in whumping your characters or are you more the "if you hurt them, I'll kill everyone and then myself" kind of person? I've never once written whump, I think the only ship I could envision writing for whump is Kishigo but from Ichigo's POV maybe, but yes mostly I'm protective of the characters that I write for

44. What mistakes do you keep making no matter how many times your beta keeps correcting you? I don't have a beta

45. Do you want to break your readers heart or make them laugh? Both

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/Emotion/Action Driven?) I don't really have a style, I usually just go with the flow but most of my writing is on the Angsty side especially with my characters

47. How many times do you revise your fic/chapter before posting? I usually just skim through it and rewrite things but when I'm writing a chapter that I dislike, I often get rid of multiple paragraphs or the whole thing and rewrite it to the way I want and then I post it

48. What do you look for in a beta? Not looking for one

49. Do you ever get rude reviews? And how do you deal with them? I rarely get reviews at all, but if I get hate comments about something I usually either ignore them or I use it as motivation

50. How long is your longest fanfic? It would be my first Ulquihime fanfic that I wrote during Middle School to High School, which is a total of 24,197 words

51. What's your total of Ao3 word count? If I add every fic I've written so far and working on that's, 102,971

52. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I don't get much comments as I said but if I did I would respond

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer? Or a perfect split 50/50 of both? Both

54. What's your favourite part about the fanfiction writing process? Probably already said this but evolving the characters development and dynamic with other characters and also exploring alternative universes with those characters from various shows or anime

55. Of the characters you write for which is your favourite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers reactions to certain ones? Ulquiorra and Nnoitra, they're the two most well written characters in Bleach in my personal opinion and I just love to write for them the most. Again as I said lol I haven't got much reviews, but I'm certain that some would agree with me

56. What's something about your that you pride yourself on? For me it's how my writing has evolved the last 7 years.

57. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it's finished? I like to edit as I write

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, etc) My favorite parts are the Brainstorming for sure! I enjoy planning everything out weither if it's on sticky notes, on my wall or door lol, on my notes app on my phone or, on google docs on my chromebook. I also enjoy the writing part and editing

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? If not, would you tell anyone? Yes my mom, dad, boyfriend, friends, and amongst others do know

60. Had you ever had a writer that you admire comment on your fic? What was that like? Hasn't happened yet

61. Why do you continue writing fics? Because it's my passion

62. Thoughts on cliffhangers? I love to give my readers suspense so I enjoy them

63. Something you hate to see in smut? No storyline behind it

64. Something you love to see in smut? Details, storytelling and how it effects those characters and their relationship

65. Tell us about what you're most looking forward to writing - in your current project, or a future project? Definitely looking forward to writing interactions with Ulquiorra and Kisuke, I think it'll be fun :)

66. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie. Pressure to update, negative comments, deadline, etc) I usually ignore them or do it when I'm ready to.

67. Do you prefer prompts, and challenges or completely independent ideas? Independent ideas

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration? As I said to a question similar to this, I would create a playlist for ideas, watch some romance anime, make a mood board, watch Chinese dramas to see if I can get inspiration

69. What work of yours if any, are you the most embarrassed of? None

70. When asked, are you enthusiastic or embarrassed to tell people that you write? Mostly enthusiastic

71. When it comes to more compilcated narratives how do you keep track of outlines, characters, developments, timeline, etc? I have an app called story plotter, where if you're stuck with coming up a fanfic or stuck in the middle of it, you can create/figure out the plot, setting, problem, solution, characters, etc) it's a very useful tool for writing! It has helped me quite a few times

72. What order do you write in? Front book to back, chronological, favorite scenes, something else? I mostly do from order, other times I like to write my favourite scenes first.

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works? I'm not sure, my style of writing maybe?

74. You've wrote a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you've written it? I'm not sure lol, it's just something they would have to figure out 🤷‍♀️😅

75. What scene in [fanfic name] took you the longest to write? The current scene I'm working on Ulquihime: Drowned In Humanity *remake* where Ulquiorra asks Orihime about her brother

76. Did you have any ideas from [fanfic name] that didn't make the final cut? Nope

77. Do you have a favorite scene you've written from [fanfic name] story/chapter? Oh definitely! In my Nnoinel fanfic: I F*cking Hate You, the ending is my absolute favourite but unfortunately I can't share it until I'm officially done with the fanfic

And as promised, my three favorite fanfics!

Get to know your fic writer!

Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Do you like constructive criticism?

Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

How do you choose which POV to write from?

Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

Do you comment on stories you read?

Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

Link your three favorite fics right now

how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

Best writing advice for other writers?

Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

On average, how much writing do you get done in a day?

What’s your revision or editing process like?

Do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it’s all polished?

Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

Do you want to be published some day?

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

How do you write kissing scenes?

How do you choose where to end a chapter?

Would you ever write commissions?

Share a snippet from a WIP

If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

What mistakes do you keep making no matter how many times your beta corrects you?

Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

What do you look for in a beta?

Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

How long is your longest fic?

What’s your total AO3 word count?

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

Why do you continue writing fics?

Thoughts on cliffhangers?

Something you hate to see in smut.

Something you love to see in smut.

Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

How do you deal with writing pressure (ie. pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc.)?

Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

What scene in [Fanfic Name] took the longest to write? What was difficult about it? 

Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [Fanfic Name]? 

Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [Fanfic Name] story/chapter? 

[transitiontopropractice]

Interviews

Throughout the duration of this subject, we were required to attempt multiple mock interviews to hone our interview skills. This involved filming ourselves delivering short elevator pitches, selecting interview questions to simulate with peers, and attempting complete mock interviews.

"Constructive feedback can increase students’ confidence and preparedness to perform well in an actual job interview." (Spence & Russell, 2023).

The first activity that we completed, the recorded elevator pitch, was the one I found the most difficult. I struggled with the broad nature of responses that I could give to the prompt "tell me about yourself", and often found myself looking away from the camera to think about what I was about to say. My body language suggested that I was slightly uncomfortable, and upon rewatching the pitch, I did not seem as confident as I would have liked.

In the following interview simulations, I put a focus on maintaining eye contact, which I eventually was able to do reasonably well in my Assessment 3 interview. This was partly because of my conscious effort to improve in that area, but also because I found it far easier to engage in conversation with a person in front of me, rather than talking to a camera.

Another area that I improved over the course of these trial interviews was talking about my skills and personal attributes. Prior to this subject, I put far more weight into achievements, education and work experience as far as importance in a resume and interview. Throughout this subject I learned the importance of knowing your strengths and weaknesses personally, and detailing the skills that you have gained through your experiences, and how it has benefitted you, rather than just listing a range of experiences.

Throughout multiple exercises, I identified my strengths that I talked about in each interview and detailed how my experiences had benefitted me, even ones that I previously thought were less significant.

I also was able to have realistic practice at our Assessment 3 interview as I completed many mock interviews with peers that I was not particularly familiar with, ensuring that I was simulating the level of pressure that I would face in a real interview.

Towards the end of the subject, we ran mock interviews in groups of four, with 2 interviewers, an interviewee, and a member to provide feedback. This was the final mock interview I took part in, the feedback I received from one of my peers is attached below.

Due to the positive feedback I received, I was quite confident in the lead up to my Assessment 3 interview. I made sure to dress professionally, greet the interviewer and make eye contact. I also made sure to arrive at least 10 minutes early as punctuality is something I struggle with at times.

I was generally happy with my interview performance. I was told that I spoke clearly and concisely without making my responses too wordy. I also received good feedback on the skills and personal attributes that I laid out in my responses.

I also received some valuable constructive criticism of my responses. In my real internship interview I will place a greater focus on making sure I

Take more time to introduce myself at the start of the interview

Make sure I phrase my questions in a professional way

Directly address the key words used in the question.

References:

Spence, & Russell, A. (2023). Using Mock Interviews to Improve Students' Resume and Interview Skills. Radiologic Technology, 94(4), 296–298.

[blueprint-han]

[Image ID: A black picture with the title “HOW TO SUPPORT FANFICTION AUTHORS” written in bold caps lock, colored with a winter forest picture. End ID.]

Well, this post has been made countless times, but I’m making one too because I’ve seen a lot of people say they’re new to tumblr and don’t know the whole “reblogging is better than liking” rule and other stuff. So without any further ado, here are ways YOU can support the fanfiction authors. Now keep in mind this applies to almost every author out there, not just the stayblr fandom, so if you’re a silent reader (or even if you aren’t), I advise you go through this post. Warning, this is a fairly long post going into detail, so yeah. I still expect you, the readers to read this, and if you’re a writer, feel free to lmk if i’ve written smth wrong or if you want me to add something! ^^

In this post I’ll go into thorough analysis of the pros and cons of each of the methods listed here and how YOU as a reader can show the authors whose fics you read more love and motivate them to produce content.

WARNING; LONG POST! GOES INTO A DECENT AMOUNT OF DETAIL. NOT EDITED, EXCUSE ANY TYPOS.

#1 : LIKING !

I think this is basic common knowledge, and a lot of people tend to do this. When you like the post, the author sees it, you see it, and if the author has their liked posts accessible (which majority of the time they don’t), and if someone deliberately goes to check it, then they see it. See why so many authors say just liking does nothing? Only liking says “Hey, I’m gonna tell you your story is not that good by simply liking it and not sharing it with other people. :D”

♯ PROS:

You’re telling the author that you've read their fic, and either you’ve enjoyed it to a certain extent, or you’re just saving it to read for later.

Likes are seen by you, the author and anyone who has access to your likes (which, most people don’t).

♯ CONS:

If you ONLY like, you’re not really helping the author’s work reach a wide audience because this site isn’t Instagram. Reblogging is the only way people can SEE our works. I’ll cover more on that in the next section.

In a nutshell, liking is good! But you should most likely use it in a combination with the other stuff I’ve listed below, because just the like itself doesn’t really do much in giving the author any feedback or interaction on their fics.

To clear shit up; I’m not talking about those people who don’t read the story or appreciate it in the first place. I’m talking about those who appreciate the fic, like it, but don’t leave any sort of feedback to show that.

#2 : REBLOGGING !

This is SO, SO important. I cannot stress on this enough. Let me explain WHY so many writers stress on reblogging content: 

Tumblr’s tag system is inherently fucked up, and has grown more so over the year. I’m not kidding, at first, the fic either used to show up in the tags or it didn’t, but now, sometimes your fic can be REMOVED from the tags because of,,, idk tumblr tag shit. Anyways, as you can see, it’s very demotivating for authors at that point, because the major way for people to find their content and expand their blogs has been blocked.  

Due to this reason, tumblr authors need to RELY on you, their followers to help spread their works to a wider audience. Now again, before you get me wrong, I’m not saying you ae forced to rb our works regardless of whether you like them or not. BUT, that being said, if you DO infact like the story, there’s no harm in reblogging, right? By doing this you’re indirectly telling the author — “hey! :D I liked your fic! Which is why I am gonna share it to my followers so they can read it too :D” Trust me, you’re doing nothing but helping the people who produce content for you to read. Seems like a worthy cause to hit the reblog button, right? It’s only a one, or maximum two step procedure.

Leave tags in your reblogs! Trust me, as an author myself and as much as I know from all my author friends, we oft check the tags of your reblogs to see if you found any part amazing or even if you have anything to say about the writing we put so much hard work into. Even a key smash or a “This was so [insert adjective] 🥺” is enough to leave a smile on your authors face. 

♯ PROS :

You’re !! Sharing !! Your authors !! Works !! This leads to them getting more recognition, so for the content they’re so graciously providing for free, you’re promoting their blog and helping them expand it.

If the tags are being a shit, which majority of the time they are, then you’re literally making an author’s day by reblogging! You’re showing them that you, a follower and appreciator of their works are willingly sharing their content because it deserves to be seen by more people. Again before any dumb people decide to attack me, i am talking about people who like the fic but don't bother reblogging and are silent/ghost readers. I am not forcing anyone to read anybody’s work.

YOU’RE MAKING YOUR AUTHOR SO HAPPY WHAT MORE REASONS COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT !! 🥺

♯ CONS :

Literally none, because as far as I remember no author is against reblogging of their works. It’s quite literally the way this platform functions. Reblogging is IMPORTANT.

#3 : COMMENTING/SENDING FEEDBACK !

This kind of overlaps with the previous section, but THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT STEP !! When you leave feedback, you are directly giving the author something so much more valuable to them than high follower/note counts or money. Your feedback is literally our serotonin. I kid you not the number of times I’ve received a positive comment and smiled and it has made my day. There’s a reason youtubers (though not the best example, bear with me here because it was the only one I could think of) ask people to subscribe, like and COMMENT. The subscription is like a follow, the like is ofc like a heart, and the comment is equivalent to an rb with comments in the tags. 

You might argue and tell me that a comment is basically like an ask so the reblogging step isn’t necessary, but I’m sure 99% of you use YouTube and you know that more comments leads to people’s videos boosted in the stream/trending charts. This is what reblogging does. Reblogging shares the piece with other people like minded, which leads to a boost in reads. You are literally helping your author grow.

It’s quite literally the same thing as youtubers. Youtubers NEED validation to keep their content creation going, so do writers, so do other ccs on this site. This post is however, focused on WRITERS, so keep that in mind.

♯ PROS :

By doing this, you’re giving author valuable feedback! It’s similar to what you do in rbing with tags. Interactivity with their fics boosts their note counts and helps expand their audience, so srsly, now think of it: your one comment is playing such a massive role to help ccs create more content.

Imagine how much of a difference the note counts will be in when every person who simply likes after reading the fic, reblogs, leaves a comment and sends an ask. the note counts would be high on each and every fic, which is validation in itself, but your comments would inspire the writer so much more! Please, don’t skip the commenting part. Even a simple one like: “this is so cute!” is wonderful. 

♯ CONS :

Remember, if you’re gonna give constructive criticism (which I’m sure you all are smart enough to know if different from hate), make sure the author is okay with it. Authors need to be in a specific mindset and must be ready to accept criticism, so if you’re gonna give constructive criticism to them when they’re at a low point, it may demotivate them.

Just commenting, instead of reblogging and commenting in the tags/ reblogging and then leaving an ask in their inbox, while it gives validation in plenty, will not lead to the author’s work being spread. Therefore I suggest either reblogging and commenting in the tags or reblog and then leave an ask, or comment under the fic!

!! reminder; I am not saying that if you don’t rb and just leave feedback, your feedback has no value. We authors truly appreciate every bit of feedback, but this post is aimed to help you learn how to interact with and support authors, and make them feel more motivated, because the current scenario of liking and scrolling is taking a toll on their creative abilities. Take it from a person who’s been writing for a year.

#4 : COMMSIONING VIA THEIR KO-FI/OTHER APPS !

Before any of you attack me, let me tell you that this is not a step that is 100% necessary to do. ONLY donate if you can and if you genuinely want to, and if anyone is forcing you to pay for something against your will, you need to get yourself out of there.

Regardless, if an author has a kofi and you’re able to and you want to donate, you definitely should! It’s also a valid form of support.

#5 : ADDING THEM ON REC LISTS/ RECOMMENDING THEM TO REC BLOGS

This is such an underrated option, to be honest. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen my fic was recommended onto some rec list and it’s made me smile so hard. If you like some fics, create a rec list! They’re oft very popular amongst the fans too. Making rec posts is such a great way to share your favorite stories with others. 

Rec blogs! I’ve seen a couple going around, and needless to say they are a great way to get someone else to read your favorite author’s work whilst also giving them your own feedback. These blogs oft accept recs via a form or ask box, and they leave your feedback along with their own, or else they’ll oft tag the author in the feedback post, so look! You’re basically helping your author share their fic to many more people, because you’ve given them feedback and a reblog.

♯ PROS :

Validation! Feedback! Reblogs! More exposure! Helping a blog grow! Spreading love! basically a run down of the stuff I’ve said before!

♯ CONS :

Literally no con of this. Unless, a one in a million case, this author says they don’t like receiving feedback/being tagged, and I’m sure NO person has said this before, at least none that I’ve heard of.

#6 : FINAL COMMENTS; MISC !

When an author points out about how the interactivity is drastically reducing, don’t just give them blind apologies. Yes, you feel sorry for not interacting as much, we understand, but rather show that you’ll become a better content consumer through your actions. We need to see that we’re not just throwing words into a void and that people are actually trying to be better content consumers. 

Understand the fact that authors don’t get paid for this, and 99% of the time, these authors don’t take commissions either. They’re giving you novel worthy writings for free. Take Percy Jackson: You think the author would have felt motivated to write the subsequent parts, let alone two whole series based off of it if literally no one showed that they were interested? Rick Riordan has sales, he is being paid, there are millions of people and big agencies who provide him feedback. Now take that huge amount and simmer it down to an audience of maybe 10000 people This is what fanfic authors want. They don’t want your money, nor are they telling you to risk your lives for them. All they want is, a reblog, some tags, some feedback, some INTERACTIVITY.  A sign that they aren’t throwing fics into the void and that people actually like them, some motivation to continue. Seems fairly easy to throw an rb with some tags, right?

Don’t bother to tell me that we do this for ourselves and we shouldn’t ask for likes and reblogs and feedback, because 1) you are consuming the content that we “write for ourselves” and 2) writers post their content here for interactivity and feedback. We could just not post and write and save our fics in our dungeon drafts for years. But we choose to post to entertain the readers, the consumers. And we aren’t even asking that much in return.

Don’t give me the whole “I’m scared that authors feel that comments are annoying” excuse either because seriously this has been DEBUNKED SO MANY TIMES. Istg, in the nicest way possible, if you still think writers are annoyed by interaction and feedback, after so many posts, long rants have been posted as to how we’re not, then you must truly be living under a rock. There, I said it. Please stop thinking this way, I’ll say it again, AUTHORS ARE NOT ANNOYED OF FEEDBACK, COMMENTS, TAGS, REBLOGS. WE LOVE IT. Saying this is like saying that the audience in a theatre play shouldn’t clap when the play ends because the actors would find it noisy. 🤡

I’ve seen some people saying they have anxiety issues and such, so pls note that I’m not invalidating your condition. If you’re trying to be more interactive, I really appreciate it! If you can’t, that’s fine too. You’re trying.

But for the people who have no reason other than feeling lazy to rb and comment, your lack of interactiveness is not excused. Please. Tumblr is a reblogging site. If you’re gonna consume content like authors are some sort of machines, I encourage you to go get some more perspective.

This site is not Instagram or the satan bird app. Your likes are appreciated but frankly speaking, they do nothing to the author except tell them “Hey i read ur fic but i'm not gonna support u :D” and honestly, that is detrimental to their creative capabilities and mental health. 

DON’T FOLLOW AN ACC JUST TO MINDLESS RB THEIR SIGNAL BOOST POSTS AND THEIR REBLOGS OF GIFS AND NOT INTERACT WITH THEIR WRITING AT ALL ! Trust me, authors prefer a lower amount of interactive followers than a high count that doesn’t even give them any feedback. Again your follows are appreciated, but when you’re following, you know the type of content the author creates, so the author expects that the more followers, the more interactivity. These days, this is just becoming the opposite. So don’t do it! If you’re gonna follow to read, interact with their works. I promise, this will make both you and the author happy. A win-win situation.

In conclusion: SUPPORT YOUR FUCKING AUTHORS! THEY ARE NOT MACHINES THAT HAVE NO FEELINGS TO PRODUCE CONTENT FOR YOU! FICS TAKE DAYS AND DAYS OF PLANNING, PLOTTING, OUTLINING, WRITING, EDITING, MAKING TEASERS. SO JUST SHOW THEM YOU APPRECIATE THEM WITH AN RB. IT’S THE L E A S T YOU CAN DO.

I will be liking this post here written by the lovely @chaninfused​ and @scriptura-delirus​ . Please take time to read it because if you weren’t convinced by my arguments, you will see how much frustration we as writers face on a daily basis. Please, just show support. Here is the post by @stayndays​ about how to get more people to read your work, because it also has a note on reblogging. Please educate yourself, and put an end to this mindless consuming culutre and bring up some interactivity.

If you’ve read this far, I want you to go to two of your favorite authors and leave some feedback in their inbox, and tag me in it (either tag me yourself or ask the author to do so, they won’t mind). Show your writers that our words are taking effect and you are becoming better consumers. I mean it. I’m serious. I want every single one who reads this post to do this. besides valid reasons, if you’re lazy to do this, you’re a part of the problem. PLEASE get more perspective.

Also, feel free to add to this post! I’d love to read your thoughts too, remember to be kind though. And, if I think your rb is somehow contradicting my points and is bringing down the reason I made this post, I will politely ask you to delete your comment, because this post is about being truthful about the harsh reality of tumblr consumers and how we can change it. I’m sure none of you will let it get to that point, though. <3 love you guys. 💓

And, just a reminder, don’t just blindly like this too. Do what I said before, and while I am not forcing you, I’d appreciate your reblog, because seriously, it took me 3 whole days to write this, plus, I’m sure this will help more of your followers understand the fault in consumer culture. haha, that’s it! This post was way too long uff.

also, this is ur cue to not be stupid in my inbox. You have something to say? Think I worded smth wrongly? I’m sure it wasn’t my intention to do so, point it out with manners. 

[mokutone]

Ok so, I've mentioned this before but since it's relevant to the question, and since people forget things: my mother was a watercolor artist. At since I was like 5 years old my mother would put her paintings in front of me and ask how they looked. Over time I learned more. ESPECIALLY when I got into this special boarding art school program during highschool that met up on weekends. There they had us every Sunday critique everyone's paintings. Like I was SCARY good at it. But at the same time, it was all constructive.

It wasnt "this is ugly, the style is gross, I don't want to look at it" it was more like: the shading doesn't contrast enough, since this is a pencil work, the grey tones blend in too much. You need to enhance the contrast of it to make things stand out. Or: the proportions of person A are off, the jaw is too wide and their shoulders are two narrow given the reference image and what you're going for. Person B is fine minus the hands being off. (Or something along those lines)

So I know not all artists are open to receiving criticism, whether constructive or not. Which is fine, that's their own right. But I was wondering how would I even be able to tell if they don't say it??? And how to advise approaching it? Because there's a lot of artists out there that I think are great, and the potential they have is amazing, but I also know what it's like to stare at something for 6 hours straight and be like 'this isn't fucking right but I don't know what's wrong' and then place it in front of someone else, have them tell you, and you want to bash your head in because of course that's what it is. But also you're grateful to them for pointing it out because now you can actually fix the thing. So...

Long story short... How can I approach an artist to give them constructive criticism on tumblr fanart?

(I REALLY want to emphasize the word constructive because I really dislike it when people insult a style or something like that because??? It's a person's style??? It's intentionally done like that??? Like are you going to critique Picasso on his proportions??? No. You critique color scheme, feel, and MAYBE shading. Not proportions.)

ohhhh this is a REALLY good question...this is something a lot of people myself included struggled with thruout my like. Art Learning Experience.

one of my teachers was die-hard on the "compliment sandwich" method—where one sandwiches a criticism between two compliments on the artists work, that way the criticism is neither the first, nor the last thing they hear about their piece.

In my experience, this is extremely useful for some people! particularly those who haven't had the opportunity to be criticized much! I think that, though, if you're going to compliment sandwich, you have to make sure that you put at least equal effort into identifying what makes the piece work and why, because when it's just "it's a really great piece BUT—" it can come across kind of condescending sometimes!

I think the most important part of this is probably making sure that you've got the consent and approval to offer criticism—like. for most people in my life, I try to keep a strict policy of "If you do not express dissatisfaction with your work, and if you do not tell me that you want constructive criticism, I am not going to offer it" and generally they know this too! This way, if they just want to show me something they've made, I can just support them on what they've done well! It helps me know how to engage with their work since I'm never wondering "should I try and offer to help or do they just want to show me something cool they've made?" since it relies on explicit communication! Like, if a friend says "this just isn't coming out right :(" I know that I can say something like "do you want me to try and offer some criticism that might be of use?" and then if they say "No, it'll just frustrate me more" or "yes! thanks!" I know what to do!

BUT that said, that's useful for friends who I have a rapport with and who trust me and my input.

If you are approaching somebody who doesn't know you well to offer critique, generally I would only offer it if they seem to be struggling or frustrated with something—like, if in the tags of a post they wrote something like "Something about [character]'s expression just Doesn't sit right...they're supposed to look confused, but instead they just look mad." I would be like: "If you'd be open to it, I have some suggestions which you could of course use or discard depending on how useful you find them?" Also. I just. generally like to put a lot of effort into complimenting people on what they do well, because I tend to zero in on something and try to Fix The Problem, and so putting a lot of focus on what people do well benefits both me and them—it benefits me because it helps me step away from my "fix the problem" mindset, and approach the art as a whole. It also helps the individual I'm critiquing because, so long as I genuinely put effort into complimenting what works, that is still constructive criticism!

Like, if I'm trying to find my way out of a pitch dark room, and I'm only told when I take a step in the right direction, I'll still get out eventually, you know? It might take a little more time than it would if I was told when I took a step in the wrong direction, but it still works for helping people with their art, and is the easiest kind of criticism to give and receive between strangers, those who (understandably) have developed insecurities about their art due to bad crit in the past, or even between people who don't trust each other much (I don't mean this in a bad way. just like. acquaintances or distant friends vs Close Friends)

It just has to be honest and and specific, for that to work. you, supervaca, have expressed that u've spent time in critique environments, so I bet you know the gulf of difference between "this is absolutely stunning!" and "I think the expression is very clear, and the flow from the character's pose and line of sight directs you very clearly to the next most important part of the image! Really wonderful work!"

Like, both are wonderful to hear of course! But one of them is a praising form of constructive criticism, and the other is simply praise itself.

[monster-bait]

I'm going to try taking this advice to heart. I don't know how you deal with bad reviews on public sites, because when I get bad feedback from my beta readers especially on fic I've been working on for a really long time, it takes me a while to get over it. How are we not supposed to take it personally?

You're always going to take it personally, but I think it's important to decide who is allowed to access you personally. Does that make sense?

The random opinions of strangers on the street shouldn't matter to you. They don't know you. They don't know your life, they don't know what you're dealing with, they don't know anything about you. We're able to shrug off the opinions of Karens in stores and cat calling men on the streets, and to a certain degree you need to put comments on your writing (or art or music or anything else) in that same category. The faceless anonymous name on your computer screen doesn't know you. OF COURSE We take criticisms of our work personally because we made it. They didn't. It's not personal to them. And so you have to get to a mental place of not allowing them to have the power to get into your personal headspace.

Beta readers and editors I guess are different because those are people you have CHOSEN to critique your work honestly. You have to let them do the job you've asked them to do. And if the feedback they consistently give you makes you feel bad without any positive softening or constructive means of improvement, I would question why you have them as a beta reader. A friend confided to me not that long ago that one of her betas had said something extremely hurtful about a piece she was working on and the critique completely ignored all of the other factors that writer was juggling (which the beta reader knew about.) Criticism that's not constructive isn't helpful in this case. You don't want to find yourself in an echo chamber, unable to receive feedback on the quality of your work, because you're never going to improve that way. But if the feedback isn't coming in a way that allows you to improve and it's just a verbal cut down, why would you allow that person continued opportunity to do so?

Ultimately my advice is this, and I have said this numerous times: You have to get real okay with criticism when you post your work for public consumption. Writing, art, music, graphic design, whatever it is - public dissertation automatically equals public dissection. You can't let those people grind you down or make you want to stop creating. Take the bits you can use to improve yourself and leave the rest behind, and remember that their opinions count as much as a stranger on the street's would.

I make this joke a lot with some of my author friends but, some people didn't bother cutting their writing teeth on fan fiction, and boy does it show. Writing fanfiction (or original fiction in this sort of public landscape) teaches you valuable publishing skills. You learn how to market yourself. You learn how to edit yourself and improve your character voices and your narrative arcs. You learn how to take criticism.

Both of my published books have received one star reviews. They received reviews where people point out what they think the flaws in my writing are. They point out threads they did not care for and storylines they wish had been tied up differently. But they've also received a lot of five-star reviews from people who love the the Girls and Cambric Creek as much as I do, and are excited for what's next. You don't get one without the other.

Keep writing. Keep improving your craft. Keep sharing your work. I promise it does get easier, and that thicker skin grows in eventually!

[astrolology]

The Love-Hate Relationship with Stelliums (Pt. 1) ✨

Guysss pls remember that astrology is holistic and this should be read taking into account your overall chart placements, as well as the planets in your stellium and what sign rules your stellium. TAKE NOTE lol

1st house

❤️: You may be a person who is very driven towards a particular goal, single-minded in behavior and with a sense of determination that is hard to beat. The focus is on self-improvement and is rather internally driven - there can be large amounts of time focused on figuring one’s identity out. You’re not afraid to say things as they are - you’re able to dish out criticism hard but you give credit when its due. You extend the courtesy you receive to others. You may have an innate sense of wisdom that you keep deep within that you don’t let slip unless to extremely close ones but in times of hardship you are a good source of motivation. You always seek to improve yourself and it’s hard (if not impossible) to drag you down because of your strong personality and how you tend to always move on no matter what. I think 1st house stelliums are the embodiment of “don’t look back” and y’all always try to make the best out of every best situation, sort of like seeing the silver lining in everything. And also when crises emerge you’re able to keep a calm head on your shoulders and are good at making snap decisions, which makes you good on your feet!

👹: I don’t think y’all are as self-absorbed as ppl make you out to be but there’s definitely an element of self-centredness such that when you do something, you often consider what is most convenient or productive for you. You might get upset when your plans are disrupted but sometimes do the same to others even though you might be aware of what you’re doing - in that aspect, 1st house stelliums can be hypocritical. For you, there is never enough - you’re never satisfied with anything, be it yourself or for other things so you can seem really unappreciative. Keep in mind that you also tend to force others to agree with you and don’t be so quick to dismiss the other party’s POV no matter how dumb it seems. Remember that there’s always something to learn from other people, no matter their status. You need to work on expressing your appreciation to others in a more genuine manner (altho I know y’all do it in gruff, slightly awkward ways when sincere - kinda cute ngl).

2nd house

❤️: You may be a person who has a strong moral code and has a staunch value system that you won’t deviate from no matter what. Sense of loyalty is usually unbreakable and it can take a lot to truly anger you. You can have a good financial sense and good instincts/foresight that allow you to plan ahead for stability’s sake. More often than not in certain areas you are a master of categorising and structuring things which means that your mind is analytical, critical and (usually) organised. You hate it when people think they know you because you (understandably) know yourself the best - there are many privatised layers of yourself that you prefer to keep... private so yeah it just annoys you when that happens. Y’all are a leader in certain aspects of your life and even though 2nd house stelliums tend to prefer being the right-hand man, your control freak tendencies come out and you end up leading anyway. You become really productive because of the fear of failure - you have crazy high expectations for yourself and expect the same of your closed ones (although ultimately you’ll support them in whatever they do). There is an appreciation for the finer things in life and when it comes to your loved ones you’re not afraid to spoil them hard. 

👹: Be careful not to let this driving need for stability restrict you from spontaneity and following your heart’s desire. There is an inherent inflexibility in your nature; stubbornness can really be your kryptonite. You don’t really take any opportunities that you think might threaten your security which, while giving you a stable fort, can hold you back in your own happiness + prosperity. You might realise that there is a limit to your perspective but really struggle in seeing outside of that perspective mainly because you spend so much time thinking about what matters to you that you’ve become accustomed to your train of thought (altho when you do break it it’s lowkey groundbreaking). The focus on this house is on stability, not only on material wealth, so while you may be reaping in one aspect you might tend to lack on the spiritual or emotional elements of life. You can be very, very controlling and demanding so you might want to tone it down a little if not people might get the wrong impression. People might think of you as judgemental (and you are tbh) but I believe it’s just 2nd house stellium’s way of assessing a person’s character/abilities. 

3rd house

❤️: You may be a person who puts in a lot of effort into various forms of self-expression (not limited to verbal communication but also finding a specific niche such as music, art, writing etc.) Your brain is naturally sharp and inquisitive and you may be able to pick things up very quickly. You might be rather adaptable but are surprisingly stubborn when it comes to your opinion or intellectual capabilities. You might have a dark/dirty sense of humor and because of that you also have a keen ability to see past the societal nuances of propriety and get to the heart/root of whatever a person is saying. You can spend your entire life trying to understand people and why things work the way they work - your brain needs to be stimulated in order for you to feel alive. Passion for you has to be applied in a productive manner - you probably aren’t a person to just take a passion for something as a mere hobby. Rather, you would either apply that passion to one of your existing projects, create a new one or use it as a motivating factor. Your interests are wide and varied, which makes you really well-rounded in certain aspects! 

👹: Many people say y’all are flighty beings and I can certainly see why they would think so. Because of your perceptiveness, you tend to change your narrative whenever you’re speaking to different people, so as to make yourself sound more convincing. In that aspect, you can be quite manipulative. Your ego probably isn’t the smallest either haha - you can tolerate being slighted at some things but if it’s a challenge to one of your passion projects you’ll probably become very upset. You need to stop giving people the hot and cold shoulder all the time and even though you’re quite sociable you tend to flaunt but hide your true thoughts. You have to be more open and honest in your self-expression, and not that idealised, constructed version of yourself you think people will find interesting. I’ve noticed that 3rd house stellium ppl have an obsessive need to “stand out” and make themselves feel unique which, despite all your charms and popularity, might be the reason why you find yourself sometimes so isolated. You’re a perfectionist (although you would deny it) and secretly quite controlling but unlike other stelliums you can manage it better I feel. 

4th house

❤️: There is a pressing insistence regarding relationships in your inner circle - be it your family, closest friends, or your future family. Extended focus on your cultural heritage can also be possible. Deep down, compassion is at your core and you are very protective of your friends in a silent but aggressive way. Having a stable family life is very important to you but I’ve noticed that more often than not, 4th house stelliums have turbulent family relationships. The beauty of 4th house stelliums is their ability to break through whatever toxic relationships they’ve been in and to create families of their own - be it unconventional or not. They are the epitome of “we choose our own families”. Y’all can be very empathetic and rather selfless to the point where you allow yourself to be manipulated (even though you’re aware of it) - but it’s usually for a justifiable reason. You find it easier than most to balance the emotional landscape but there are moments where you need an outlet to express yourself. There can be an obsession/possessiveness over your own culture - you take pride in your roots and become lowkey insulted when people disrespect it (and if you don’t, you somehow nearly always manage to find some other culture to assimilate yourself in). 

👹: Y’all probably get very upset when things don’t go your way but the problem with this stellium is that there is a want to speak out but you choose to bury everything inside instead - giving you a very passive-aggressive and even aloof image. Internally, you guys might think that you are giving off a very soft/giving aura but some people are wary precisely because you are hard to read. You are very, intensely private (rivalling 2nd/7th house tbh) and you have to learn how to share your true thoughts, no bullshit, no suger-coated thoughts with your family and dearest friends even though you are capable of handling yourself. You are independent, ambitious, and people often underestimate you, but you have to let people in first in order for them to know what you’re capable of! Also, idealisation of certain things (eg. a future family life/partner) can be prevalent and you overthink things to the point where sometimes you make yourself miserable. Again, please talk to someone hahaha you don’t have to deal with everything yourself. 

5th house

❤️:  Insecurity runs rampant in any 5th house stellium BUT y’all are quite paradoxical in a sense that you also have a very strong aura of confidence. Sometimes, in crucial moments, you manage to convince yourself and others that you are the most important person in the room haha - literally the epitome of “fake it till you make it”. Still, a deeply rooted kindness is found in 5th house stelliums such that you’re always looking out for the underdog in the room. If you are developed you probably have a strong sense of righteousness which prompts you to look out for people who might be struggling. Y’all are very concerned about your physical appearance and most of the time you like to keep your body in good shape, which draws the attention of people in the room. You likely have an infectious smile (this is just a hunch but I don’t believe 5th house stelliums smile a lot - y’all quirk your lips or smirk but a true smile is rare so when you do... it melts the hearts of people). Everything that you do will have a youthful flavor and you have a healthy appreciation for downtime/self-care so while you might not (contrary to popular belief) be that fond of kids, kids are attracted to you. Oh and actually I think the stronger this stellium is in a person, the shyer the person seems at first impression but inwardly and as time goes by, they become more humorous and dramatic. 

👹: You aren’t exactly manipulative, but you know how to use the power of suggestion (and your charms) to get what you want. If unchecked, it’ll become a habit because to you, it’s an instinctive thing to do and you might not realise you’re hurting other people because of it. You are stubborn and prideful (which isn’t a bad thing sometimes but) you take criticism quite badly such that if a person tries to offer their opinion or goes against your beliefs, you might take it as a personal attack. You have a fear of being restrained/constricted (like 9th house) so you’re actually quite aggressive to those who you perceive to be a threat to your authority. You can also experience extreme mood swings (from crazy happy/hyper to melancholic in a snap) and when you do you expect people to give you attention. But you are hypocritical in this aspect because you yourself can be quite insensitive to other people’s feelings, or you brush them off if you’re not “in the mood”. 

6th house

❤️: You are most probably quite an organised person, not in a tidy way (although you could be) but in matters of life there’s an insistence on order and structure. The way you think can be very logical - you are able to think concisely and connect the dots in a quick manner and logic is probably prevalent in everything you do. However, in contrast to this pragmatic behavior, you are deeply caring and you won’t think twice to give up something if a loved one needs it. You are very disciplined in certain aspects of life and you are able to maintain a consistent effort in everything that you do. You’re probably someone who finds joy in small things and although you have high standards, it doesn’t take much to make you happy, as long as it’s genuine. You can be a perfectionist and really quite meticulous in your work which makes you someone who is detail-orientated. You give a lot of yourself to other people and most of the time you don’t expect anything in return, which is one of the great things about 6th house stelliums. You take effort into maintaining your physical health and you mighttt be a fitness freak or someone who keeps track of their diet really carefully. It’s likely that you encourage other people to follow your lifestyle and generally, you exert a sort of mellow influence around other people that makes them want to be better. 

👹: There’s a tendency for 6th house stelliums to fall into pessimism, precisely because of your pragmatic nature. Y’all may say that you’re being “realistic” but in actuality it does dampen the spirits of some people. You can also become really unreasonable and inflexible once you’ve made up your mind on something and that makes you a bit narrow minded because you simply refuse to listen to other people’s POV. This can also cause tunnel vision which can really limit your full potential and I think it’s something worth spending your time working on. When pushed into a corner or feeling insecure, y’all might try to cover it up by being condescending or giving the cold shoulder. There’s also a risk of being overly reliant on a schedule/structure and hence, cautiousness when it comes to being spontaneous or embracing something foreign. Because of your affinity towards maintaining health, your hypochondriac tendencies may be exacerbated and you need to try to lessen your over-worrying behaviour haha. Although you never dish out something you can’t receive (eg. high expectations - you’re truly your worst critic), your demanding tone can really make others cautious of you.

OVERALL, I strongly believe that the way to embrace your stelliums isn’t to reject or force yourself to change the values they represent, but rather taking those eccentricities and moulding it into something more precious and beneficial to yourself. It has to be done with a thorough understanding of yourself; with patience. 

-C

[sasa-gay-yo]

His Little Teacher (Levi Ackerman x Teacher!Reader)

Request: Here

Summary: You never knew your favorite kindergartener, Isabel Ackerman, had such a good-looking father until Parent-Teacher Conferences. 

Timeline: Modern!AU

Warnings: this bitch is LONG, Some slight mentions of sexual activity, drinkin 

Art Credits: ? help pls

She was the only child who never had a chaperone, or a parent come with cookies or treats on their birthday. If you didn’t look at her profile, you wouldn’t even know what day her birthday was and that it had passed a month prior to today. Even when you would go on field trips, like today, sending home permission slips encouraging parents to come to museum, all that came back was the five dollars for lunch and his elusive signature.

Levi Ackerman

Despite that, you loved the little raven-haired girl. She was smart, she always listened, washed her own face and hands after craft time, and she always talked about her father. Even now, on the bus to the museum with her pink princess backpack on her lap, she was talking about her father to you. From what you gathered, her mother had passed away when she was born, and he was the only one taking care of her. That’s what her preschool teacher had said to you in the teacher’s lounge last week. You felt bad that you judged his parenting when you finally learned that, now knowing he was probably working hard to take care of her and raise her as well as he did. You just wanted parents to be involved with their children, especially with your favorite child. However, from what she’s told you about her father, you didn’t need to worry about that too much.

“And he’s so strong Miss. (Y/L/N)! Yesterday, Daddy and I went to pick out a fish tank and he carried it even full of water to our kitchen table. Daddy got a Dory fish and I got a Nemo fish.” You smiled down at her, nodding at her stories. She grabbed at your hand harder, trying to convince you at how strong her father was. You did wonder what the man looked like, again, having the preschool teachers tell you all about her glorious looking father. Still, halfway through the school year, you’d never met him, and she took the bus back and forth from school every day. You just had his neat signature.

Throughout the whole field trip, she didn’t let go of your hand, dragging you around to all of the stations while you let your other fellow teachers deal with the whole group. They knew that they couldn’t do anything to drag you away from that child. She was like a magnet to you, even on the first day of school. Your fellow teachers said that your first class of students was always special, and so it made sense that you had a relationship with a child like that. Bright-eyed, cute, and very insightful on certain things. The only thing that you would write down on her monthly report cards was how blunt she was to her fellow students.

You would have to hide your laugh with the things she said to them. In her defense, nothing she said was wrong, but you did have to teach her how to give constructive criticism without insulting anyone. When you sat her in the time out corner, she would give an annoying look at the calm-down toys, her arms crossed. It was comical, but oh, so cute. This is why you taught kindergarteners. They were just learning how to live life, and you were there to guide them along on their quite funny mistakes... and you got a front row seat to those hilarious moments.

“Miss. (Y/L/N), did I tell you that Daddy can come to student teacher conferences? He gave me a note to give you!” She dug through her backpack again and pulled out a cleanly folded white piece of paper to give to you.

“That’s great, Isabel! I can tell your father how good you are.” She beamed up at me, and you knew how much she loved when you praised her. It must be what her father does at home. You took time to read the tiny note, taking in neat and orderly handwriting.

Miss. (Y/L/N),

Next week’s Parent-Teacher conference openings are at weird times in my work schedule, but I do really wish to attend to talk about Isabel’s first school year. Is there anyway we can have a meeting later in the night? I’m sorry if it’s too much of you to ask to stay in the building that long, but either 8 or 9pm would work best for me. I am able to get Isabel a babysitter then.

My email is: lackerman23@gmail.com

Thank you in advance,

Levi Ackerman, Isabel Ackerman’s father

There it was, that signature. You had seen it almost every week on a random piece of paper or Isabel’s planner. You would make sure that you would stay late for him. You wanted to meet the man that raised your favorite student on his own. Even if it was Friday and you were planning to go out for drinks, you were sure your friends would understand your lateness.

When you had waved all the children goodbye, including Isabel who was always last on the bus wanting to keep talking to you, you went right away to email Mr. Ackerman back.

Hello Mr. Ackerman,

This is Isabel’s kindergarten teacher, Miss. (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N). I received your note today, and am totally willing to meet with you at 8:30 or 9 pm. The last scheduled meeting for Friday is at 8:00 pm, so you won’t be holding me back in the building at all. I am excited to meet you and talk about Isabel’s progress!

Best,

(Y/F/N) (Y/L/N)

You sent the email and sat back in your chair, thinking about the man before you got to grading the color tests. From what the other teachers had told you, he was short, but very good looking. He also seemed a bit young to be a father, or at least that’s what their judgement was. You probably wouldn’t be very focused on his looks, but his personality. If it was anything like Isabel’s, it was to be enjoyable. You wouldn’t be upset to stay back for that.

In the teacher’s lounge, you took out the early dinner you packed, turning to the others who had done the same. The town had to be small enough that even if they didn’t have Isabel in their class, they would know about the Ackermans. You didn’t grow up in this town, and you only did your student teaching here, so you knew absolutely nothing besides what the PTA moms gossiped loudly about in your classroom.

“Do any of you know about Levi Ackerman? All I’ve heard is that he’s young and good looking. I have a conference with him this week.” You sat down with the younger teachers whom you formed a bond with your first day here. They also looked eager to answer your question in hushed tones.

“The only thing I know is that the woman he got pregnant was like a one-night stand or something. They didn’t like each other, were in the same friend group, and then it was like a drunken fantasy or something.  Then, she shows up a few months later after he got hired at this big company in town, pregnant. Rumors say that she was going to terminate her pregnancy, but he vogued to keep it. The day after Isabel Ackerman’s birth, she took off, never to be heard or seen from again.” You mouth widened as you shoveled in your rice.

“I thought she died? Isabel said something like that.” The all shook their heads no.

“It’s probably what he tells her since she’s too young to understand.” You nodded in agreement and turned to Mella who was student-teaching for the preschool when Isabel was there. She was the one who told you how he looked, and she apparently went to school around him.

“Is he as handsome as they say?” She shrugged and took a drink.

“He is, short, but like, he’s a dark handsome if that makes sense. It’s the personality that people didn’t like. He’s really antisocial and mean to other parents, like he’ll insult you for anything. He was the best at everything during high school, and people always thought he was cocky, hence the attitude..”

“So that’s where Isabel gets her little problem from. I hope he isn’t like the other parents then, thinking their kid is the best. If he is, I guess he’ll just be nice to look at.”

Friday 8:39 PM

“Yes, well, sometimes when we see this behavior in a student, we first tell the parents to see if it is something at home affecting them. Perhaps other older siblings? Someone who may show negative emotion to him?” She scoffed in your face and grabbed the behavior evaluation sheet out of your hands.

“There is nothing wrong at our house! How dare you to assume that about us!” The husband just sat back in the chair almost glaring at his wife. Right, right, nothing going on at your house. You felt bad for Ryan too. The boy was smart and incredibly creative, but he couldn’t play well with anyone else. He felt the need to yell at any child who tried to get him to share, probably emulating behavior of an older sibling or parent. No doubt, the mother… but you had to be professional about the headache she was giving me.

“I’m so sorry if my words offended you! I didn’t mean anything like that,” you held your hands up in defense, “Maybe it could be TV shows he watches that models this type of behavior? Something to spur anger?” That made her calm down and think about it. You didn’t think a six-year-old was watching violent TV shows on PBS, but who knows what goes on in that house.

“Maybe we can monitor his TV intake, yes.” You sighed and looked up at the clock. This had gone over thirty minutes because they had to pick apart everything you said about Ryan. You sneaked a look out the door but saw an empty hallway. When was he going to come?

“Thank you both for coming. It means so much to me that you are involved in your child’s education at such an early age. It shows them the importance of an education and makes my job that much easier!” You gave them your spiel, standing by the door, and she refused to leave for some reason. She probably wanted to stay and brag loudly to the next parent who was coming. That was a common thing, for the parents waiting to talk about their kids, but how much genius could you find in your kids scissor practice paper?

“Do you know what parent is next? We’re friends with most of them, you know, PTA president things! It’s getting late however, are we the last ones?” She was looking left and right down the dimly lit hallway to stalk her prey.

“Next is Mr. Ackerman. He’s the last parent to go.” Her smile dropped.

“Oh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him around. He doesn’t donate for the fairs; he hasn’t come to any of the Daddy-daughter dances we’ve had… I wonder what he even does, all alone like that.” You heard the tone of judgment ricochet through her words and your headache got bigger. She had no room to judge other parents.

“Well, I think it’s very commendable how he’s raised such a wonderful child in the circumstances he’s been given. Being a single parent is never easy. My mother raised me and my siblings by herself.” She looked you up and down, now judging you for your upbringing. She should be judging how her attitude affects her son’s interpersonal skills.

“Ah, yes, how commendable of your mother! Honey, we should get back to the kids.” She gave me a sickening smile before hauling her husband down the hallway, no doubt to insult you. You made sure she turned the corner, and the hallway was clean before you collapsed back on the door frame, holding your head.

“I swear I never had such bad parents when I was student teaching. Ugh, my head. How much can you analyze a five-year-old’s sight word recognition?”

“And they want judge me for not going to any PTA meetings when they act like this.” You jumped, covering your mouth as a silent scream ran through your body. How had you not seen him? He was leaning on the wall right next to the door, suit coat in hand. You were sure you checked both sides of the hallway before you said that. Damn it. Strike one to you acting professional.

“M-Mr. Ackerman. Nice to meet you finally!” You re-tucked your shirt back in before extending a hand. He looked down at it, smirking, before shaking your hand back.

“Nice to meet you too, Miss. (Y/L/N). My daughter seems to only talk about you these days.” You almost blushed at his words and from the fact you finally got to see him. He was incredibly handsome. You didn’t know why you didn’t listen enough your fellow teachers, and you wish you prepared yourself more than the sweater and the midi-skirt you were wearing. You did have a change of clothes for the bar you’d be going to with your friends after this, but that was highly, highly school inappropriate. What was also inappropriate was how long you were staring at his suit clad form. It was the way he had his sleeves rolled up and two buttons undone that made you stare.

“Let’s go in,” you smiled at him, gesturing to the circular table you set up in the center of the classroom. You had Isabel’s file right on the desk waiting for him. It was funny to see him sit in the small chair that was meant for a child who tagged along, but you didn’t have the heart to tell him. It fit his height a bit, and was very cute.

“That chair is for the children unless you would like to sit in it. I have no judgement though; they are surprisingly comfortable.” He looked up at me before seeing the regular sized chairs at the other end of the table. He then just shrugged and set his suit coat to hand on the side of the purple chair.

“We have these at home, so I’m used to it.” You nodded and opted to sit down on an equal sized chair to be eye level with him. He noticed your gesture and smiled at you. Now that, you would literally pay to see him smile again. You thought back to what Mella said. Cocky, insulting; you didn’t see any of that now. Maybe he’d matured the few years after they went to school or just was trying to act nice in front of his daughter’s teacher.

Isabel had talked so much about her father, but he never said how incredibly hot he was. I mean, that made sense, but still. He couldn’t have been older than you, there was no way. How was this man hiding in the midst of all the middle-aged parents? You were excited to share the news with your friends after this. A hot parent was always nice, and you hadn’t had one yet. He would be your first.

“Well, Mr. Ackerman, this is going to be a short meeting. Isabel is my model student really. Here’s some work of hers to look at. She’s smart, attentive, clean, and very, very sweet.” He smiled down at a drawing Isabel had made of him and that made your heart sing even more. This smile was very different from the short one he gave you. It was like his soul was singing through his eyes. How could he be so hot and so loving of his child at the same time? You could see it. The genuine love he had for that drawing and the little girl who made it. The little girl who looked exactly like her father, minus the eye color.

“But she does have a mouth, I know that for a fact. The fat mom called me a few weeks ago complaining about what Isabel said to… what’s his name? Rock? Rufus?” You couldn’t hold in your laugh this time, even if it was unprofessional to agree with him. The whole meeting was unprofessional at this point. You were sitting in foot tall chairs and thinking about how good of a figure he had. It was actually refreshing how laid back he seemed to be, unlike the other parents, especially this late at night.

“Yes, she is sometimes very… critical of her peers. Ryan is a student who doesn’t get along with others. She had to let him know that. To be honest, it is very funny, but still, we have to teach her to be constructive with it.” He nodded, now listening to your words with the same attention he gave to Isabel’s drawing. It made you melt even more. He cared so much about his child. Oh god, why was he perfect?

“I’ll work on her with that. She gets that from me. During quarantine, when she was doing preschool at home, I was also working. She probably heard me talking to some of my workers in that tone.” That made me perk up, knowing absolutely nothing about him. You usually do parent introductions at the first all-class meeting, but he, obviously, wasn’t there. Now that he exceeded all your expectations, you want to know more.

“If you mind me asking, where do you work?” He leaned back as much as he could in the chair, trying to spread his legs under the table. The way his ankle brushed against yours didn’t go unnoticed.

“I’m a Lead Captain in the Survey company in town. I’m fifty-fifty office work and on the job work, lifting and things.” That would explain how good his arms were looking under his sleeves. He did manual labor half of the time. 

You nodded and handed him Isabel’s behavior sheet out of the folder. You got your pen to explain him the scales, and when you turned back, he had leaned in pretty far to hover over the paper. Trying to hide your blush in your hair, you tried not to react to his closeness. He didn’t seem to pull back, so you continued to explain to him how her score was perfect except for group behavior. Again, he listened so intently to your suggestions and what you had to say about Isabel it made your heart glow with warmth.

“I guess when she was younger, the only interaction she would get was at morning preschool. She only has a babysitter since I can’t afford daycare. That’s my fault, one hundred percent. I-I heard that you know how single parenting is.” He pointed to the door with his thumb, referring to the interaction you had with Ryan’s parents. It was refreshing for a parent to take the blame too. He was getting more and more perfect by the minute. A perfect child and a perfect father. It made so much sense.

“Yes, growing up I was an attention hog. I only had older brothers, so when I went to school I expect to be treated like a princess. I had my first great awakening when a boy threw mud at my face during recess because I refused to share my swing.” He leaned his head back and let out a deep laugh and you matched him, taking in the view he was giving you. This seemed to be a one night only type thing, so you’d take your liberties where you could. I mean, if you didn’t study his face, how were you going to describe him well enough to everyone at the bar?

No. You shouldn’t be thinking this much about how good looking and perfect a student’s parent was. You shouldn’t be thinking about what’s under his clothes either.

“With the way Isabel talks about you, you might as well be a princess. It’s ‘Miss. (Y/L/N) does it this way, Daddy’ or ‘Daddy, today Miss. (Y/L/N) and I did this!’ You seem to be taking my child away from me, Miss. (Y/L/N).”  You smiled, and almost blushed at what he was telling you about Isabel and put a hand over your heart. The teachers were right about your first class.

“You can call me (Y/F/N), Mr. Ackerman. We seem to be similar in age.” He sat up again, nodding and taking the behavior sheet you gave him.

“Then it’s Levi to you, (Y/F/N). I’m thirty-two. May I ask how old you are?” Your mouth dropped and you couldn’t help it. You didn’t think he would be in his thirties and now your numbers were thrown off.

“You don’t look at all like you’re over thirty. I’m twenty-seven.” He smirked again and seemed to be comfortable enough to lean back again, arms coming together behind his head. The pose made your heart beat faster again. Oh yeah, you were telling your friends all about this.

“Well, thank you, (Y/F/N). I’m glad you think I’m so young. Isabel calls me an old man already.” You laughed and looked up at the clock. 8:52. You had time to talk more, pushing a few minutes, but you didn’t know if he had somewhere to go. This meeting itself was set up because of scheduling conflicts. You wanted to talk to him more about Isabel and his experience raising her, but you didn’t know if that would be too personal for him.

“Now, that might be my fault. She asked me sometime during our lesson about family how old did someone have to be to be considered an Uncle and I told her above 30. Then she asked if I was old, and I told her that compared to her I was. So, she now thinks that people about twenty-seven are now old.” He shook his head and let out one huff in laughter.

“Now because of you I have no game. Imagine, first, I already have a child, and now when I bring a date home, she tells her that I was an old man. I never get a third date because of that. Are you trying to keep me forever single, (Y/F/N)?” Was he… was he flirting with you? No, it couldn’t be. He was just talking, just bantering like every parent does. The problem was is that he was a very single, very good-looking parent. This was a dangerous situation and it happened during your first-year teaching. This was bad.

“I’ll talk to her on Monday to tell her to stop calling her father an old man. Does that atone for my sins?” He quirked an eyebrow up, smirking again, but this time you could tell that he was definitely flirting with you.

“Maybe, I’ll have to come to these meetings more often. To check up on your progress with getting my daughter to go against me. The only reason I don’t come around the school often is because of the other parents.” You leaned your head in your hand, finally just deciding to go along with it. Even if he said that, this was probably the only time you two were going to meet and Isabel was going to progress on to a new teacher in a few months. You both were young too, nothing was going to get to HR.

“Next week, I’ll try to get her to call you a silly, old man, how about it? We can have a progress check next Friday.” You felt your Apple Watch buzz, looking down to see who was calling. Armin. He was probably wondering where you were, but you thought you told them you’d be late.

“I’m sorry about that, it’s just my friends.” You went to hang up, knowing that in a few minutes Eren would call. Then Jean. Then Connie. Then Sasha. Then Historia. Mikasa wouldn’t care, but at this point, the train of calls would be never ending. You were going to yell at them for cutting into your time with Levi.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I also have something to do tonight, but it was great talking to you.” You almost pouted when he went to stand up, grabbing Isabel’s folder. You were dumb to think he was flirting with you, and now you got your hopes up.

“If you have anything you need or any questions about Isabel, I’m here to answer them. Also, I’m supposed to extend out an invitation for our Spring Festival celebration next week. If you would like to come, it will be on Friday at 2 pm.” You stood, matching his height. You really wanted him to come this time, as he never came to anything, but you knew he probably wouldn’t.

He smiled at you, “You know, maybe I will come. You’ll just have to protect me from the PTA moms.” You both started walking to the door and you took the chance, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Levi, I stay as far away from them as possible. It’s an all-school thing, so it will be easy to avoid them.” You saw the little glance down to your hand before he just nodded once and continued to walk out of your classroom. He put on his suit coat and looked back at me, smiling a bit to say goodbye.

“Have fun with your friends tonight, (Y/F/N). A great teacher like you deserves to relax.” You smiled back at him, leaning on the doorframe.

“You, too, Levi. With whatever you’re doing tonight. A single father like you deserves to relax.”

Club Rio 

“Eren, if I have to tell you to stop touching me one more time, I will break your arm off!” He winced, taking his arm off of your shoulders and drinking his beer. The bar was packed tonight, so there was almost seven of you crowded around a single circle tabletop. You already felt smooshed, so you didn’t want Eren to make it worse.

“How were your conferences today, (Y/F/N)?” Armin asked you from across the table and you held a thumb up while taking a drink. It may be squished, but it was worth it to get this buzz. You took Levi’s advice and relaxed hard. The amount of bullshit you spewed in the last three days to make the parents happy to it out of you.

“Most of them are the same old, your child is great, I love having them in my class, here’s something to work on though, and then they blame my teaching. It’s really annoying having to agree with their criticism of me, but I want to keep my job. However,” you held a finger up, “the last meeting was with a single father in my class. He was amazingly hot. A bit over thirty. He also is the father of my favorite student, so it just added to it. Like a treat at the end of a hard week.” You could hear Jean and Eren scoff, but Historia leaned in, her blue eyes wide and sparkly from the drinks. 

“What did he look like?”

“He’s short, like my height, but he has black hair. An undercut. Then he’s definitely muscular. You could even see it through his button up. Thirty-Two. His eyes are really narrow, but like a type of grey that shines. One of the teachers described him to be a dark handsome, and I completely agree. She also said he was kinda of cocky and insulted people a lot. Too bad he doesn’t show up around the school because he’s busy at working at some company in town.” You saw Jean and Armin exchange looks and you pointed at both of them.

“Hey, hey, hey. What was that?” Jean spoke up first.

“Um, well, is this person - is his name Levi Ackerman by chance?” Your eyes widened and you stood straight up, your body colliding with Eren’s. Jean now had your full attention.

“How do you know him? You two didn’t live here before!” Jean leaned to rest his arms on the table, looking at Eren to explain since he wouldn’t have to yell over the crowd.

“No, but he’s our team captain at work. Short, black hair, mean, grey eyes: I think you described him to a T. But, you said he was a treat? That doesn’t sound at all like the Levi that chewed me out today because I didn’t put a signature at the end of my email.” Eren answered and you gave him a confused look. Levi seemed really nice and he joked with you. Maybe it was just his work personality.

“He was though. He even called me a great teacher and we went by first name basis.” This time Mikasa spoke up next to Eren.

“Levi’s nice to women, Eren. Not to people who probably mess up all the time at work.” Eren groaned and you arched your body around his so you could look at her. She did look a little like him, but she was half Asian, so there was some doubt in your mind. From what you could connect though, they may act alike in certain situations. Maybe it was on her dad’s side.

“Ackerman! Are you related?! How did I not think about that before?” She nodded as Eren nudged her for the comment she made about his work ethic. 

“On my father’ side. We’re cousins, but distant. I don’t talk to him unless we’re forced to at family functions. But he does act how they’re saying. He’s cold and calm, you can’t tell what he’s thinking usually. Most of the time he has a scowl on his face and doesn’t talk a lot unless it’s an insult or something. Then again, you’re a pretty woman, so that could have changed his attitude.” You blushed a bit, trying to hide it in your hair, but Connie caught you.

“You have a little crush on the DILF, don’t you?! I can see it!” He poked your cheek, him and Sasha roaring in laughter.

“No, he was just nice to look at! He also really cares about his daughter, which is just… girls like guys who are good with kids. Teacher’s also like parents who care about their kids, it makes my job easier.” They still couldn’t stop laughing and you couldn’t stop blushing.

“A teacher-parent relationship, how scandalous,” Jean added in on making fun of me, “What will the PTA moms say about that (Y/F/N)?” You glared at all of them as they laughed.

“I told you he was just hot!”

Paradis Elementary Spring Festival     

“Do you need any help reorganizing this whole table so the PTA mom’s stop roping me into work I don’t want to do?” You jumped at the body that came close behind you. You also jumped because you didn’t expect him to show up. The little raven-haired girl ran to the playground and you turned around quickly, eyes wide.

“Levi! I mean, Mr. Ackerman. I’m glad you showed up!” He nodded and used both hands to lean down on the table seeing the cupcakes that I rearranged four times, so I didn’t have to talk to the mothers about their kids.

“You said you’d protect me from them, but there I was carrying all the boxes from their damn cars.” You looked over at the mothers, now huddled around staring at you talking to Levi and gossiping. Figures. Last year, one of the third-grade teachers breathed in the wrong direction and there were rumors about her having an affair with a married man. You hoped you weren’t next on the PTA list.

“Well, its not common for a father to come to these types of events. Notice how there aren’t any on the PTA.” He switched positions so he could lean on the table and watch Isabel play on the swings with her friends and the older children. You picked up the Capri Suns from the ground, deciding to organize them by flavor.

“You know what Isabel asked me the other night? After our conference?” You perked up at his words, signaling that you were interested in what she said.

“Hm?” He scratched the back of his neck, now debating whether he should tell you this. It was a bit personal and maybe would make you, as a teacher, uncomfortable with Isabel. Either way, he did it.

“Well, I actually had a date that night,” your heart dropped a little bit, and you scowled down at your chest, “and my date needed an umbrella, so I went in to get her one. When I came out Isabel was there outside our apartment, glaring up at this woman, arms crossed and everything.” You giggled at that, imagining it in your head. You could see her signature glare now looking up at someone three times taller and five times older. You looked over to Isabel, matching Levi’s stance against the table. Right now, it looked like she was lecturing a boy on how to play the floor is lava.

“She asked me why I didn’t bring you home,” he said through a laugh and you followed his cue laughing. You weren’t doing any laughing on the inside. Your mind was swirling now after he said that, but he couldn’t have meant that. It was just Isabel thinking like a six-year-old. If Levi told her he had a date, she might have just thought that the two meetings were connected. Yeah, he couldn’t mean anything other than that.

Still.

“Ah, she’s funny, isn’t she?” You almost winced at how dismissive your tone was. It sounded like you wanted to move on from the conversation and you were afraid he took it the wrong way. You didn’t want to dismiss the opportunity of it being him flirting with you, but you also didn’t believe that was his intention. Now he thought must have thought that it was your intention to ignore it anyways. He stayed silent after that. Goddamn it. You had to fill the space somehow.

“Are you related to a Mikasa?” He seemed to perk up after that, turning his head to look right at you in recognition.

“She’s my cousin, yes. How do you know her? Are you friends with those brats?” You huffed in laughter at his tone. Brats wasn’t a word you would use for your friend group, but you guessed since he was a bit older and, from what you heard, was annoyed all the time by them at work.

“We know each other from college, yeah. Since they had secured a job at Survey, I decided to follow by teaching here so we’d all live by each other. I met Eren first.” He lifted up an eyebrow and you could see a little trace of annoyance gloss over his face. It was very much an Isabel look, or rather, she’d gotten it from her father. Pretty much copy and paste.

“You met him first and wanted to meet the rest of them?” You rolled your eyes at that. You can see how Connie and Sasha got a bit wild, Eren and Jean a bit intense, but overall, they were great people to be friends with. Armin had helped you through a required science class, Historia and Mikasa stayed with you and bought you ice cream when your boyfriend had broken up with you, Connie and Sasha were the life of the party any hour of the day, and Jean and Eren, respectively, would provide you some stress relief and good times when you were down. No, they were the greatest people you’d met.

“They’re my best friends, Levi. I love all of them.” The annoyed look still didn’t leave his face and he crossed his arms. Was he really going to argue with you about your friend group? If he did, you would definitely text the group chat to make his next work week a living hell for revenge.

“You don’t seem to be like them. Maybe Historia, but still, I wouldn’t peg you to be with that group.” You turned back around, seeing the children starting to walk over to the snack tables. Soon, once they were done with their lunch, they would descend on the cupcakes you were guarding and destroy the orderly table. You had to tape down the cheap plastic tablecloth, so it stood a chance.

“What do I seem like then? They’ve told me about you, you know. I couldn’t believe what they were telling me.” You grabbed the tape, ducking under the table do you couldn’t see his expression. However, his legs moved as he turned to face where you once were.

“Much more professional and put together than them. Maybe Armin is okay, but the others, I had to teach them how to write a formal email.”

“Well, you’ve never seen me outside of a school setting. Arguably, you know all of them more than you know me. If I had to compare myself to any of them it would be a mix between Armin and Jean. When we all go out, it seems to be like that. I can see, though, how they’d be a bit tough to handle at work.”

“Well, then why don’t we meet outside of school?” Your breath had to have stopped, but his face was completely serious. Did he just ask you on a date? Right in front of the kindergarten cupcake table?

“Miss. (Y/L/N)! Can we have a cupcake now?” Two or three of your students gathered at your leg, and you looked down at them, probably with your eyes still wide. You then looked back to Levi who was giving the children a very annoyed stare, before stepping back from the table so they had full access.

“U-Um, what did you – Cupcakes! Yes, El, you can have one cupcake each. What color do you want?” You went to hand them the specific colors you wanted, and you thought that your business would make Levi go somewhere else, but he was there staring at you while you handed them out. His gaze was unwavering as he leaned up against the basketball net’s pole. Even when Isabel came to stand next to his legs, he didn’t look down at her. You knew he was waiting for an answer and you were having an internal crisis.

You didn’t think you’d get this far, actually, no you never thought this would happen. It was going to be the one parent-teacher meeting, then you’d never see him again and only complain to Mikasa and Historia about how you let him get away. Now, he literally just came out with it. Was this his whole intention of coming today? Your stomach did flipflops because of that. But now, you were thinking of how unprofessional it would look if you two did start something. You would be offender number one for the PTA moms and it was only your first year teaching. Then, on the other hand, the school year was almost over, and you would soon not be Isabel’s teacher and you and he were both single. And he was very good looking. And he was good with kids. And you did like him a bit, only having talked to him for thirty minutes. Still, what could fully develop if you took up his offer?

“Can I please have all the parents and their children gather?” You turned your neck to look at the principal who had yelled that through a blowhorn. He was standing on the makeshift stage in front of the school, probably going to give the day ending speech before dismissing the children with their participation medals for the games we played. You would have time to ask your crisis hotline and you were thankful that Isabel so eagerly pulled her father towards the front of the school. You still couldn’t shake his gaze, him looking over his shoulder at you while you tried to hide your blush.

Once you were alone on the basketball field, you used your watch to send a text to you, Historia, Mikasa, and Sasha’s group chat.. You knew whatever they were doing, they would take the chance to slack off. It also had to be important if you were texting during the school day. 

From Mi: What are you texting us for?

From Mrs. Potato Head: Yes, aren’t you at school?

From (Y/F/N): Okay, well a situation has occurred, and I need quick guidance. I only have like two minutes

From My Queen: We can help!

From (Y/F/N): Thank you, Historia. I know I can count on you.

From Mrs. Potato Head: Just get on with it! I didn’t eat lunch today and I’m starving!

From (Y/F/N): Ok, ok, ok! 

You glanced over at the parents and there he was, staring at you while holding Isabel’s hand. 

From (Y/F/N): Oh god, I can’t believe I’m even saying this to you guys. I think Levi asked me on a date!

From Mrs. Potato Head: OUR BOSS LEVI ACKERMAN?!

From My Queen: You sound like a sixteen-year-old, (Y/F/N)! Of course, he would ask you out, who wouldn’t?

From Mi: So, what are you asking us? It’s a yes isn’t it?

From Mrs. Potato Head: Yeah, by the way you were talking about him at the bar last week, it has to be a yes

From Mi: If you two get married, we’ll be cousins

From (Y/F/N): Stop that! I don’t know if I should! I’m his daughter’s teacher and I barely know him 

The principal was on his ending notes, and you could tell that Isabel was going to race up to you before saying goodbye. She always did. At the end of the day, you would take he to the bus with the other kids, and she would have to run her homework by you, tell you one or two random things, and then get yelled at before she would go on the bus.

From My Queen: Isn’t that why you go on dates with people or am I mistaken? Mikasa, is your cousin a serial killer?

From Mi: No, Historia, I don’t think he is. I think you should do it, (Y/F/N). Even if it’s kinda weird I’m setting you up with my cousin

You rolled her eyes at her remarks and the clapping notified you that in about thirty seconds a little raven-haired girl was going to be at your feet.

From (Y/F/N): Don’t tell the guys about this please. Not unless the date goes well, okay?

From Mrs. Potato: Oh, so you’re accepting! That’s mad crazy. My best friend and my boss. I’m going to tell Connie

From Mrs. Potato Head: Oh, wait, shit sorry. Nevermind

You groaned and knew that your request would fall on deaf ears. Soon you’d have Jean and Eren at your heels telling you that you shouldn’t go out with anyone but either one of them.

“Miss. (Y/L/N)!” Isabel started her bounding run towards you, and you could see Levi starting to walk in that same direction, his eyes never having left your figure. Jesus, this man’s gaze was so intense.

From (Y/F/N): We’re talking more later 

You put your phone away, turning around to face Isabel with a big smile hiding how nervous you were in her father’s presence. Everything wrong was going through your mind. What if he didn’t mean a date? What if he thinks you’re too young for him? What happens when the date goes terribly that you end up hating him?

“Miss. (Y/L/N), I got a medal from the principal, look!” She held up the participation medal that all the children got. Something about everyone deserving to win something. You were falling asleep during that meeting.

“That’s great, Isabel! You can hang it on the fridge, yeah?” You could see his eyes spark when you said that. He smirked, too, finding it funny that you knew about their fridge, completely covered with Isabel’s drawings, report cards, and various other trinkets. Perhaps it was even a bit heartwarming to him.

“Is, can you go get your backpack from the classroom? Daddy needs to talk about you to Miss. (Y/L/N.” The little girl just lifted her head up, almost falling over to look back at Levi.

“But Daddy, I’m not done talking to Miss. (Y/L/N)!” One second of annoyance reappeared on his face before urging her to go do it again. This time, with a pout, she walked inside with the rest of her classmates to go get ready to leave.

“So, how does Saturday sound?” He was really direct, and you’d guess it was his age or the fact that you haven’t dated anyone other than college frat boys in their early twenties. You looked back at him, remembering what the girls said. They wanted you to go on it and you, yeah, you definitely wanted to go on it too.

“At seven?” You suggested and you swear you saw a smile break across his face before he dropped it to nod. That made the butterflies come back again.

“Seven, yeah. I’ll get your address from Mikasa.”

Saturday, 3:57 AM

“I couldn’t believe he posted that either! When Mikasa showed me that, I thought he was for sure getting fired,” my hands moved with my words as I explained to Levi about Eren’s awful thirst trapping social media posts. While I was doing this, he gripped my shoulder with the hand shrugged around me, trying to steer me in the right direction. Granted, I was also probably a little tipsy from the alcohol we consumed at the second bar. It was cheaper and fruitier, so I obliged, and Levi seemed to find it amusing.

“Oh, he definitely got reprimanded. It took everything in me not to kick him. Erwin is usually away, so I’m the one who has to deal with everything. One time they started, oh what are those things called, the pictures that are supposed to be funny?” He was gesturing with the hand next to my ear, trying to get me to fill in the blank.

“Memes? I knew you were old, but not this old, Lev.” He rolled his eyes at you, ignoring your insult and continuing with his story.

“They started a Meme fight in the company group chat even though I clearly laid out the rules to them. Apparently, their explanation was that if they got everyone to do it, I couldn’t punish everyone in the office.” I smiled up at him and grabbed loosely at his fingers, trying to hold his hand, but not really. I ended up just playing with them as we walked up to my apartment building.

“So, you punished everyone twice, yeah?” He smirked as we stopped outside the doorway of my building.

“Three times.” This made you both giggle like children, and you were sure the alcohol, the third round of drinks, was starting to have an affect on you both again. You’d make sure he’d call a cab to get back.

“I can walk you up to your door?” He suggested and your eyes widened, shaking your hands in front of you. He couldn’t know that Historia, Mikasa, and Sasha were on a stake-out at your apartment. It was something you all did when the other would go on a date with a new person. It was to make sure that they got home right and that they had someone to immediately rant, cry, or laugh with depending on how the date went. Last time, you, Mikasa, and Sasha almost went to egg a guy’s house that made Historia cry. However, this stake-out was going to be very different.

“No, it’s fine. It’s fine. I’m actually against gender norms. If anything, I should walk you home.” He raised an eyebrow, taking his arm off my shoulder. He wore the same suit had had during the parent-teacher conference and you made sure to comment on how hot you thought he looked back then. Rolled up sleeves, buttons undone, and now, tousled hair courtesy of you. It was a very good look.

“You wouldn’t want your kindergartener seeing you drunk.” You hit his chest after that comment, knowing you weren’t completely intoxicated. You could get up to your house, take off your makeup, and have a very productive conversation about how he had treated you to ice cream halfway through your bar hopping session.

“I’m not drunk, just happy. Tonight was really fun.” He smiled at you and nodded in agreement.

“Let’s do it again? And again? You up for it?” You matched his smile and grabbed his hand.

“Of course I am. This was probably the best date I’ve ever had, Levi.” You saw the blush paint his cheeks as he went to scratch the back of his neck.

“Me too, (Y/L/N). Me too.” You sent him off in a taxi, a single kiss on his cheek that left a smirk on his face. You stood there for a while too, letting the cool spring wind blow over your bare legs. Yeah, that was a few hours of heaven. Your heart warmed as you went up in the elevator, replaying the events in your head over and over again. You were sad it had to end, but it was almost four in the morning and you’d exhausted all open sit-down bars.

When you got inside your apartment, you saw them all sleeping on the couch besides Mikasa who locked very annoyed eyes with you. You just smiled and slid down the door, sitting on the floor.

“Oh god,” Mikasa groaned, seeing your lovesick face. She never though she’d meet someone who’d act like this for her cousin, must less one of her best friends. Sasha and Historia woke up, rubbing their eyes to look at the time. You wondered when they fell asleep.

“Why are you back so late?” Sasha mumbled, seeing the clock hit four in front of her eyes. At least you left her a stocked fridge. Historia was the first of the two to be wide awake, seeing your face clearly. She almost jumped up from the couch and ran over to you on the floor. You smile was still plastered over your face, thinking about Levi.

“How was it? How was it!?” Sasha covered her ears at Historia’s yells. She would care in the morning when she was awake. For now, she just looked at you as you stared Historia right in the eyes and said those bone crushing words.

“Historia, I think I’m in love.”

“Love?!” Mikasa popped up, sounding so taken aback by that. No, she’d never, ever bet on someone liking, much less falling in love with her cousin. What had he done to you? She rested her head on the back of the couch, looking over to you. Historia grabbed your hand hard, excited for you.

“No way! Are you sure? How do you know? What did you two do for some long? Huh! You didn’t!” You shook your head, knowing what she was thinking. No, he was a gentleman the whole night with you, even if you did exchange a few buzzed kisses here and there on the fake leather couches of a swanky bar downtown.

“We went for dinner first at a hibachi place. We talked for hours and hours, I couldn’t tell you how long. It was just, I could’ve sit and talked to him in that uncomfortable chair for hours. We just walked about everything. Our lives, Isabel, how I became a teacher, you guys; it was just so refreshing. Then, when the hibachi place closed, he said he didn’t want to end it there, and so he took me to this high-end bar, and I had an overpriced martini and we talked and talked some more. I just couldn’t run out of topics, Historia. Maybe it was because I drank so much, but still, I was buzzing the whole time around him. Then when that bar closed, we went to ours, the one we go to, and I drank more. He did too. I guess the alcohol just opened us up. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to someone for that long about absolutely nothing. Even on the way back, we walked by the river, it was so pretty and there were almost no people. Just a little slice of heaven. I’m sad it had to end, but he asked if I wanted to do it again, and again. He’s just so nice and gentlemanly and funny and handsome and cute and-“ Sasha cut you off with her hand. She couldn’t stand someone talking about her boss like that. If she kept listening to you, she would definitely say something at work and she was too afraid of what Levi would do to her.

“Guys, she’s completely whipped for our boss.” You smiled up at her, acknowledging that fact. Being with Levi just felt so good. Your heart was light and your head was buzzing around. Every time he leaned over to kiss you, you had butterflies in your stomach like some little girl. You even went into the date telling yourself you’d have to act more upright than you really are, but that went out the window when the hibachi chef squirted Levi in the eye with water and you couldn’t handle it. You were just so comfortable around him, it was hard to be professional and upright. He did tell you that you were correct, you were different outside of school, but he loved it.

“He told me that my personality came out tenfold when I was outside of school grounds. He said he liked it a lot and thought I was cute.” You were wringing your hands together, the feeling hitting your toes. God, you never had a man make you feel like this. All of the fairytale books you read the kids now made complete sense. Even Sasha’s gagging sound didn’t take you out of that trance.

“You look so head-over-heals, (Y/F/N),” Historia said, laughing next to you while looking at your eyes. She took, well, they all had never seen you like this around a man you went on a date or one-night stand with. Not Jean, Eren, the one guy you dated in college, or the one right after graduation; none of them made you look like this. It almost made Mikasa sick looking at how lovestruck you were on the floor. All for Levi.

Five Months Later

From Captain <3: I venomed you for the pizza last night. You should use it to bring me a bubble tea from that shop we went to last week

From my little teach: I’m in a meeting, but in like an hour, sure.

From Captain <3: I never understood how you seem busier on summer vacation than you did during the school year

From my little teach: Not my fault you chose to date a teacher, at least I’m always free at night

From Captain <3: Then you have to leave early in the morning and the bed gets cold

From Captain <3: You know I’m anemic ☹

“Miss. (Y/L/N), do you find something funny about the change in our core curriculum?” Your eyes looked up to the fifth-grade teacher presenting and smiled to try and hide your embarrassment.

“No, Mrs. Warnas, I was just thinking about the unique drawings I’m going to get from my kindergarteners once we introduce them to storyboarding.” That seemed to satisfy her enough to turn back around and smile to herself at my compliment. I’m glad that was in my head still, because I didn’t want to get caught in front of all the teachers. They already knew I was in a relationship with a past parent, so them catching me texting like a high schooler in class would be mortifying.

From my little teach: You just got me in trouble

From Captain <3: I’m texting you in a meeting too

From Captain <3: You’re just bad at being sneaky

When you showed up at the office, two bubble teas in hand, you were greeted first by Connie who wanted one.

“Pleaseeeeee, I’ve been working so hard today!” You moved the drinks away from his grabby hands and glared at him. You knew that if Sasha came over too, you’d have to guard these drinks with your life.

“They aren’t for you, Con. I’ll buy you one another time.” He whined again and Jean’s head popped up from over a cubical, one arm resting on the edge.

“Jeez, (Y/F/N). Isn’t this the third time this week you came here? I don’t remember you ever visiting us this much before you started dating our boss.” You stuck your tongue out at him and took a sip of your tea to rub it in his face.

“You’re just jealous you didn’t land me. You had so many chances, yet it slipped through your fingers. You and Eren both.” His eyebrow quirked up, smirk breaking over his face. He was going to say something either sexual or annoying.

“I mean, if you want to talk about my finge-“

“What did you say, Kirstein?” Jean dropped his head, mumbling something, and sitting back in his chair. You turned around, locking eyes with Levi who was in the doorway of his office. His face was one you had gotten used to over the few months of visiting him at work. In this building, he was constantly on edge and it showed all over his face. His gaze was harsh, non-smiling, and always laced with annoyance or sleepiness. His words were the same way. Even the tone he took with Jean was the complete opposite of the one he talked to you or Isabel in.

“If I have to hear about Jean or Eren’s college relations with you one more time, I’ll fire both of them. I swear, I thought it would calm down, but almost everyday they have to say something and giggle to each other like fucking school children. Did you get the brown sugar boba?” You handed him his cup, sitting in the chair opposite his. He looked cute sipping on the boba while in his professional setting. The only time he wore his suit jacket was at work, but as he walked out of that door after clocking out, it was the first thing to come off.

“Bad day? You only ask for extra sugar when you’re feeling bad.” He huffed once in agreement with his bad day, taking another big sip and running a hand through his hair.

“A deal with a Japanese company we thought would be easy is toying with us and since Erwin’s out of town, it falls on Hange and I. I’ll probably have to take stuff home tonight and work.” You frowned, putting down your cup on his desk and leaning forward. He’d been stressed recently about work, which culminated in him needing daily visits to his office for you to calm him down. Pretty soon, he’d lock the door, making sure the blinds are all pulled, and have you sit on his lap to calm him down.

“I can take Isabel to mine if you need to concentrate tonight. We still have a few Barbie movies to watch.” That made him smile, but he shook his head, looking down at the papers sprawled all over his desk. 

Isabel had been very quick to accept the fact that her teacher and father were dating, and she probably happier than either of you. You both told her after school ended so she didn’t start something with the PTA moms, but it was your carelessness that caused all of them to find out over an email thread. Isabel, however, didn’t care that Ryan would make fun of her for having “Miss. (Y/L/N) as a mommy” because there was finally someone in her like that would play princesses with her that would fit the role. You asked Levi if, before you came, he was forced by the seven-year-old to wear a crown and fake earrings, but he refused to answer. It was also very easy to transition your relationship with Isabel from teacher to, basically, co-caretaker since she already saw you as such. When you told her she could call you your first name, she went crazy being able to call an adult by their first name. Now, she’d gotten more and more comfortable with you over the summer and just recently was able to finally see you as Daddy’s girlfriend and not Miss. (Y/L/N). Soon enough, she was falling asleep with you on the couch or your bed when you babysat her, and had just mistakenly called you mommy a day or two ago.

Levi and you had talked about that situation happening before, so you were prepared to sit her down and tell her that you weren’t her mommy yet, so you’d have to make up an easier nickname to call you. Both you and Levi were pretty sure that you were the person for each other, so there was no reason to forbid her from calling you that. Actually, it was during a post-steamy cuddle session that he’d brought it up.

“I can’t see myself being with anyone else. I know it’s early to say that. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, I feel the same. No one I’ve been with has made me feel like you do, Levi.”

“M-me, too.”

“I was going to ask you to come over tonight anyways. Mikasa offered to babysit Isabel over the weekend.” He trailed off on the last word, trying to suggest that we had three open days without a little girl trying to sleep in between us at night. Of course you’d go over.

“I guess I can come. You’ll just have to help me test out some kindergarten activities for the new core curriculum. School starts again next week.” He groaned, more work, but agreed to do it. How hard could it be? It was just cutting and coloring and he did that with Isabel on a daily.

“Mikasa and I are going to watch the Twelve Dancing Princesses tonight. I know you wanted to watch it with me, (Y/F/N),” she said lowering her head onto your chest as you laid on the couch. You laughed and ruffled her hair that you’d just combed out for Levi. He was still in his home office running over papers and making phone calls. Your job was to get Isabel ready and packed to go to Mikasa’s, but she was running late, so you decided to watch videos on your phone till she got there.

“That’s okay, Bel. I’ve seen it before. That means when you come back over, you can watch the Princess and the Pauper with me.” The little girl smiled, which was followed by a yawn as she watched some toy opening video on YouTube.

“Can we sing like last time?” You laughed a bit, so you didn’t disturb her tired form, slowly slipping into a nap as she laid on you. Apparently, Levi let her stay up last night, forgetting that this little girl won’t tear her eyes away from the television until you force her too. He had gone back to do some work and when he emerged at two in the morning, there she was struggling to keep her eyes open. So much for trying to get her back into a school sleep schedule. You were no better though, going to bed at three last night because you waited last minute to start writing lesson plans. This made you yawn along with her and close your eyes.

“Yes, we can sing like we did with Frozen.” She hummed a bit, snuggling again against your chest as she decided it was time to take a nap. You quickly agreed with that idea.

Knocking on the door broke Levi from looking at the figures for the latest project and he leaned out of his office to see both you and Isabel sleeping on the couch. He smiled to himself, heart singing at the view, and went to open the door for his cousin.

“Where’s she at?” He frowned at Mikasa, moving so she could walk in and see you two sleeping on the couch. Levi didn’t want to move you two, and in actuality he wanted to add another picture to the album on his phone, but it would be way too embarrassing to do in front of Mikasa. Mikasa on the other hand had put a pizza in the oven and was ready to go. Levi grabbed her arm to stop her from shaking you two awake.

“Let them sleep. They both stayed up late.” She rolled her eyes at Levi and he responded with an even more annoyed eye roll. Couldn’t she calm down for a few minutes?

“They get five more minutes of beauty sleep.”

“How gracious.” He stood there, arms crossed, looking over at the two who had no idea Mikasa walked in the door. You had one hand over Isabel’s head and the other hanging of the couch, gripping a phone still playing some YouTube video in the background. Isabel had her small hand touching your cheek, head buried in your chest as she snored soundly on her favorite bed. When Mikasa looked over at her cousin, she thought she was going to be sick. It was the same look you had coming back from you two’s first date and one she’d seen on your face when you bounced into their office. She’s gotten used to you, but this was the first time she saw Levi like that. She snorted at him and he dropped it, morphing back into his normal, harsh glare.

“Never thought you’d be so wrapped around (Y/F/N)’s finger.” Levi scoffed at her, making sure it wasn’t loud enough to wake you two.

“I’m just admiring my girlfriend and kid; can I not do that, brat?” Mikasa laughed a bit at him trying to hide his embarrassment with another insult. He did the same when she walked in on you two making out in his office, having forgotten to lock the door.

“You can, just not with my best friend. Makes me sick.” Levi felt like his eyes were going to roll out of his head. Once you two started dating, that whole friend group had been insufferable to him. Eren and Jean talking about all their college flings with you, Connie and Sasha always bursting out laughing for no reason, and Mikasa made fun of him for showing emotion. The only one he still liked was Armin who inquired about your class activities as school and the other kids besides Isabel. 

“When are you going to marry her?” Levi was taken aback by that question, but Mikasa was completely cool. It sounded so natural coming from her lips that Levi couldn’t help but actually answer back. It wasn’t a surprise to Mikasa when he told her his intentions. From the day you came back from your first date, she knew you’d probably become her cousin in less than a year.

“Haven’t planned out anything, but I have a ring.” She laughed at him again, this time adding a tad bit of happiness into it. Yeah, she was okay with Levi and you, but she didn’t know how the others would take the news. Eren and Jean would be distressed, Historia and Sasha ecstatic, and Connie and Armin probably neutrally happy. She’d probably have to pull Eren “that should’ve been me” Jaeger and Jean “if only she gave me a shot” Kiersten home from some random bar.

“Did you tell Isabel?” Levi nodded, remembering the conversation he had to have with her about keeping very, very important secrets. He even said that if Isabel told you, he would cry, which made it seem very serious to Isabel.

“She helped me pick it. Something about knowing what plastic rings (Y/F/N) liked. She slipped up this week though and called (Y/F/N) mommy. I had to bust my ass to cover that up.” This made Mikasa actually smile. Her best friend would be a great mom, but she didn’t want to think about it. You weren’t the first person she thought was going to get married in their group. Probably Historia, or Armin and his girlfriend, not you, the girl that fell into the Education major who partied all the time stereotype. 

“You’re marrying someone crazy; I hope you know that. By day, she’s a wonderful kindergarten teacher who all her students and parents love, and by night, she’s on top of some table in the club singing to Abba.” Levi grit his teeth, remembering clearly the first time he was forced out with you and the brats. Eren challenged you to a drinking contest and you stupidly accepted, which made it Levi’s job to drag you home and nurse a hangover the next day. It didn’t help that the next day you had another Teacher’s Institute meeting and complained to him that everyone there knew you were hungover. Those were some giant hoops Levi had to jump through to explain to Isabel why you were “sick”.

“Who do you think is the one getting her down and waking her up for school the next day?” Not caring anymore about saving face with Mikasa, he took his phone out, taking a picture of his two girls. Staring down at you holding his daughter, his heart swelled even more. You were going to be a great mom to Isabel, even if you told Levi that you weren’t made for it. Levi thought the same thing when he held Isabel for the first time, alone and abandoned. He reassured you, saying that Isabel has never had a mom in the first place, but you were still worried.

You don’t have to be worried, he thought watching Mikasa kick you awake, you’re perfect. His perfect little teacher.  

“Five minutes is up. Time to come to Aunty Mikasa’s so you won’t end up in therapy later in life for childhood trauma!”

xx Perhaps I got a LITTLE carried away, i hope you like it though! It’s a bit less cute than originally planned

[yumiyumeuniverse]

I agree with a lot of these points in regards to leaving concrit comments VS comments made in good faith/done as a means to show you liked something in a story, but one thing I'd also like to bring up that I've seen a rise of in recent years is that there are some people who don't know the difference between leaving concrit comments and hate/flame comments.

In other words, when it comes to leaving concrit comments, there HAS to be some sort of structure to the comment otherwise it's not constructive in the sense you're trying to help the author improve their writing, it just comes across as mean or petty (even if that wasn't the commenter's original intention).

For example, using the 1st person shown replying to OP on this post, lets say I wrote a fic about characters going to a concert - in said fic, I took the time to describe characters' outfits, what they ate at the concert, how they got there, etc. and received 2 comments: "I really like how you portray the characters XYZ, and my favorite part was ###, keep up the good work!" VS "Although I didn't like how you dragged the ending out towards the end, this was still a good story."

With the first comment, it's made clear that not only did the reader like the story, but they also took the time to describe certain aspects of it they either enjoyed or found interesting, things which are typically included in possible comments one can leave that come across as positive feedback: I as the author see this comment, and understand I was able to keep the reader engaged/entertained, as well as that the reader enjoyed certain points or parts of the story, leading me to come to the conclusion that they overall like my work.

On the other hand, when it comes to the second comment, while many people may not make a big deal out of it given in the end the reader states they still thought the story was good, leaving comments like this can be interpreted as passive aggressive at best, and can be disappointing to see as a writer (especially when you're just starting out) because there's no structure here to give anything to improve. In other words, these types of comments are often claiming to be concrit, but because they offer no actual advice/suggestions to help the author construct a better story, they then are left as simply 'critcism,' and in regards to writing fanfic, it's not surprising many people don't want to just be criticized in their inbox when they didn't ask for it and are writing for free.

As such, when seeing these kinds of comments, I try to get back into the mindset I had when proofreading papers for myself and others in college and, giving the commenter the chance to change (provided they aren't being overly rude, mind you) would personally suggest amending their statement so it's not so - well - critical: in this case, "Although I didn't like how you dragged the ending out towards the end, this was still a good story." could be reworded to "While I think this story is good, I think towards the end a few paragraphs sounded a bit repetitive and this messed up the flow of the story for me as a reader. Your writing style is great, but in the future, perhaps you could maybe go over your draft a few times to cut out unnecessary details or even cut a few paragraphs for the sake of the story's pace."

Doing simple things like changing your wording and how you speak can mean a world of difference - now this comment, again which could come off as passive aggressive or as just plain critical has now actually been given structure to offer advice for the author to actually improve while still being polite in letting them know the reader enjoyed the story.

As such, with all of this in mind, it's important to remember that NOT ALL writers want nor ask for concrit to begin with as previously mentioned on this post, so please keep this in mind before commenting on your favorite works regardless of what website you read your fics on! Additionally, there's a fine line, as demonstrated above, between what constituents being critical and opinionated VS offering advice while showing what mistake was made or suggesting how something could've been improved in a future story, and if an author doesn't ask for feedback, try to keep it to yourself and try to be a positive influence instead via letting them know how special their work is to you!

Fandom should be fun, and fic writers, much like fan artists, are not automatically content creators - they are real people, and most write or draw for free/as a hobby, so if you understand the concept that we shouldn't be attacking fan artists regardless of how you feel about what they draw or how their art looks, applying this to fic writers should be easy

Is it just me, or are there less comments being written on fics nowadays? I get to a fic on AO3 that was posted weeks ago, and it has like 30 kudos but no comments yet. It happens more and more now. Why is that?

I don't like it.

[benscursedkid]

Hi! Today I found your story, and it was well written and intriguing! So if you don't mind, can you please share some writting tips?

Thanks!

hi! wow, i’ve gotta say i never expected anyone to be asking me for writing tips. i can definitely be my own worst critic at times but i’m still learning and improving all the time! but, i will try my best to give helpful tips for anyone who wants them. take them with a grain of salt though! i’m no professional! <3

1. show don’t tell

this is something all my teachers told me in school that unfortunately took me a long time to understand. you want to show the readers what you mean and what you’re talking about, you don’t just want to say it to them. for example, if you’re trying to describe the closeness or relationship between two characters, don’t just say ‘they were best friends.’ instead, let it come up in dialogue or in the narrative naturally. prove it to me. have character a mention something about character b one would only know if they’d known b for a long time or if they were particularly close. or use body language and small little ticks that show how comfortable the two characters are with each other. if it’s done right, the audience will be able to pick up on what you want them to. i promise.

2. don’t be afraid of big paragraphs

of course, you don’t want all of your story or chapter or what have you to exclusively be in big blocky paragraphs, but don’t be alarmed if you find one forming in a monologue or other occasionally. i read an analysis earlier this year about the flow of writing. to save you the boring details, it goes on to say that things sound and are perceived to be more satisfying in writing when it can be characterized by variety. when a single writing has both long-winded paragraphs as well as short, simple, to-the-point paragraphs. just do what feels right! you have gut instincts for a reason. editing is for the worrying! if it looks or feels too long or like it might be a bit of a run-on when you’re looking back at it during editing, then adjust it as you see fit but don’t be afraid of them every time they show up!

3. when in doubt...describe

this one is more of a personal preference for me, but you might notice that I start out a lot of chapters or stories or the next perspective of a story with descriptions of the characters or the environment around them. this is because I sometimes find it difficult to begin something. so my solution to that is to immediately drop the reader into the setting. let them visualize the characters, their surroundings, or the atmosphere before any monologue or conversation begins. this just helps me to establish these things without worrying about how to organically bring it up later in the middle of something important. it can also lead into the details of the scene in a pinch!

4. feel the atmosphere

this one is a bit difficult to describe, but it always helps me to put myself in a scene when I write it. consider everything that is going on at once. what’s just happened, what has to happen next, who is here, and how do they feel about it? feeling for yourself exactly what you want the reader to feel before you write can help the right words and sentences come to you if you’re having trouble with it!

5. include little details too!

this has a bit to do with knowing when is and isn’t the right time for it, but little details can really make or break a character or an atmosphere if done right! little ticks, tells, and quirks can provide insight to how a character feels and what they might be thinking when using the perspective of a separate person. it immerses the readers too!

6. do what feels right

lastly, this might seem like a given but it really is crucial! everyone has their own writing styles just like everyone has their own personalities. and even if you don’t quite know what your writing style is or what it looks like yet, don’t be afraid to explore and experiment, but as I said earlier, stick with your gut! for example: i wing about 85% of all my dialogue. the only times I don’t is when I have a conversation already pre-constructed in my head that probably came to me on the edge of sleep or while I was in the shower. but...not everyone does this. nor will everyone be comfortable writing this way. some people map out every single detail and plot point and other notes before writing, some people wing the entire thing on a spurt of determined inspiration, some people do both, some people do neither, and some people fall somewhere in between! whatever it looks like, just do what feels right and your writing will likely look much better for it.

thank you so much for your kind words!! im really glad you liked my story, I was a little worried it wouldn’t be well-received considering the mc is my own oc and not an x reader, but I’m relieved to hear that’s not the case! I really hope this was able to help you and that it made some semblance of sense!! thank you for the ask!! <3