#i wish i could write it but i'm an.... average writer at best

[eviltothecore13]

I wonder if the writers ever regret putting the rebecca easter egg in

I am not sure the writers have much interaction with the Western side of the fandom, and I don't know what the Japanese-language fandom reaction has been to it. So I don't know for sure that they're even aware there has been a fandom reaction to the easter egg that wasn't viewing it as funny or just going "hey a hot girl" as the average cishet male gamer in the late 90s unfortunately would have.

Honestly people seem to have talked more about the easter egg in the past year than in my entire time in the fandom before that? Like, yes there were always a few people who headcanoned something creepy going on with Wesker and Rebecca because of the easter egg, and there were always a few people who shipped them, too, and also that one old fic that explained it with "she's his secret daughter and he just wanted to keep a picture of his daughter where she was happy and playing basketball like she loved doing, rather than only having an official ID photo of her", but it used to be much easier to talk about Wesker without people mentioning it? Most people in the fandom never really seemed to give it that much thought beyond "yeah, yeah, 90s videogame sexism, trying to 'reward' you with a picture of a girl, kinda cringe", and most discussions of Wesker's characterisation never really seemed to involve it.

For that matter, before RE6, the primary assumption among the fanfic/fanart side of the fandom was that Wesker was 100% gay (generally using his distaste for Excella's attentions as proof). The "gamer guy on Reddit and/or videogame forums" side of the fandom, meanwhile, didn't so much see him as straight, as take a position somewhere along the lines of "Wesker is such a badass killing machine that having any kind of relationship or even being attracted to anyone is beneath him, all he thinks about is mad science and world domination". (Large numbers of people on both sides of the fandom--not just the gay headcanoners and Chrisker shippers as you might think--derided RE6 as OOC because they simply could not picture Wesker ever having had sex with a woman! It's just that one half thought he had sex with men, while the other half thought shipping was lame and for girls and can we get back to the zombies and explosions now.)

"Wesker is a sexual predator who preys on women" wasn't a nonexistent position back then, but it really wasn't the majority, and most people depicting him as such were...well, straight women writing 50-Shades-esque fantasies, rather than people who seriously thought he was a creep and hated him for it. And those would often involve Claire or an OC rather than Rebecca.

It's only the past couple of years that some people have been loud about using the easter egg as 'proof' that Wesker was preying on Rebecca and as a reason to hate Wesker, and only the past few months that I've started getting LOADS AND LOADS OF ASKS about it.

I'm rather surprised by this turn of events and wonder what caused it, to be honest, it seems like a very sudden switch. Is it just the RE2 remake reminding people of it? Wesker seems a more controversial character in general these days though than he used to be. He used to be unquestionably one of the most popular characters with a very high demand for more content of him, the decision to put him in MVC3 being very popular, him regularly placing highly in "best character" polls, lots of people wanting his return from the dead, etc... sure he was evil and there were people who "disliked" him in the sense of "he's an awful person who I'd hate in real life" or maybe "he hurt my favourite characters", "killing him in-game is satisfying because I'm beating the bad guy" kinds of dislike, but not "I wish he wasn't in the series" "I want to see less of him" "I hate anyone who likes him" kinds of dislike, you know? Mostly he was viewed as a badass scheming ruthless supervillain with cool powers, and frequently also as hot. Obviously enthusiasm for "MORE WESKER!!!" will die down after it's been so long since his death (though DBD revived it a bit) but I don't know where the increased amount of outright hate for the character and his fans has come from over the past few years.

Is liking villains just less popular? It used to be a fairly common belief that, no matter how evil they might be (in fact, the more evil the better sometimes), the villains were always the coolest characters in anything. Especially in horror, considering the number of horror franchises that are ultimately villain-based (the Cthulhu Mythos, most slasher things, a lot of kaiju things though how much those count as horror varies, basically all of Universal Horror though Dracula isn't the coolest character in the book). But I know some other villains who used to be seen as a main draw of the series now have a lot of people wanting them killed off for good.

In some of those cases, though, I think decreased quality of the writing is in large part to blame (the Joker used to be seen as an entertaining source of dark comedy and was one of the most popular characters in BTAS and the Arkham games, but now liking him--far from being an uncontroversial opinion--is associated with a Very Specific Unpleasant Type Of Guy...but that's probably because a lot of recent writing of him just hasn't been that interesting or funny). The increase in people who really vocally hated Wesker happened BEFORE RE4make, at a time when he'd basically not been in anything for years, so can't really be blamed on "he recently appeared in something badly written"--so I'm not sure where it's come from.

[kriskrossapplesauce05]

Okay so, I'm still in the kotlc fandom, right? But I haven't kept up reading the books in a while since I was very busy with school and tbh the fandom gave me a bad taste since everyone is always like "Everything is about Keefe now" and "the writing has decreased drastically" (i cannot confirm or deny this because i'm still stuck on the sixth book [lodestar, ithink???], but i hope i can make a judgement of my own soon)

Anyhow I decide to take a break from the series and pick up a new one called "silber" (it's a german series and pretty nieche, so finding info about this could be a bit difficult) and I kid you not it has SO MANY resemblances to kotlc, or at least the characters do, 'cause plot wise, it's very different.

Basically, the MC (Liv, ♀️, 15-16) after moving with her mom, sister and their nanny (Lotti) to England, to meet the mom's new boyfriend and his kids Grayson (♂️, 17-18) and his sister (♀️,17-18) and get this.

Grayson and Florence both have brown hair, okay, pretty average. But after it's revealed that Liv and co. will move in, Florence freaks the fuck out and Grayson seems very indifferent, up until that point, Grayson and Florence are repeatedly reffered to as "perfect" by the MC. Sound familliar?

Anyhow, we skip forward and we meet a bunch of characters, but one I want to focus on is Henry, Henry is characterized as the sarcastic, rebellious one of his friend group and in the book it is often refferenced that he has some sort of

family issues tm

okay, common trope, nothing special, lets get back to grayson, in the beginning the writer likes to scare the audience into believing that the MC and Grayson are gonna get together, yk, the step siblings. But nevermind that, that whole thing get's thrown out the window like after the first quarter of the book. But we find things out about Grayson, such as the fact that he likes sport and he has a fear of letting down the one's he loves,......anywayyyyy

Okay, now get this, Grayson and Henry are Best friends from childhood...*deep inhale* Also did I mention Henry was blond???????

And the most obvious things for last are:

- Liv, the MC, has a big FAT crush on Henry and the writer is not subtle about this AT ALL, like, it's very much in your face

- the second thing is, that henry has expressed that he wishes he could meet someone LIKE HIM (refferencing the MC, Liv)

Am I cursed? Am I cursed ? Or just imagining things like ???? Am I doomed forever to only read books wearing the lense of kotlc, everything is kotlc I could read Pride and Predjuce and still only percive all the connections it has to kotlc, I can't escape kotlc please god help me help help help

[spunkytomboybeat]

Long post about Makoto x Elena from Street Fighter

Once more I am thinking about Makoto and Elena from street fighter and i am debating on making a youtube video on my thoughts about me shipping the two.

I had my old post on here reblogged and it got me thinking about how Makoto x Elena is a rarepair for some reason, sure there's some fans about it (I've slowly been finding people who take interest/like it) but it's somehow the least common one when talking about the street fighter 3 gals. It is significantly more common for me to see Ibuki x Makoto, Elena x Ibuki, or even Elena x Makoto x Ibuki somehow. I'm not saying any of these pairings are bad, I do like them (I am somewhat mixed on Ibuki and Makoto for a handful of reasons but this isn't about them) and I love seeing art about them, what I am confused about is that the one with the LEAST art of talk about is Elena x Makoto.

These two have been on my mind forever. A taller than average bubbly capoeira PRINCESS is dating a shorter slightly grumpy tosan karetake tomboy is so funny to me. These two are just the polar opposites and yet despite it all they are dating? Incredible.

Like through the games and side media it's fairly obvious the writers and artists commonly pair the two together now on whatever they're doing.

First it was on sf3 where despite Makoto being a new character (and even having a special intro with Ibuki), Elena was the ONLY person to have a conversation on their own arcade ladder with Makoto (Makoto has a convo with Ryu since she was trying to find him to fight). And thing is Makoto wasn't even the most welcoming at first (dialogue below)

Makoto: What's wrong with you?! Stop smiling like that! It's creepy! Makoto: I'm here for a serious fight! I'll punish you if you make fun of me! Elena: I just want to be your friend! Elena: That's the reason why we fight! So let's enjoy the battle! Makoto: Friend?! I don't think I could ever understand you. [Dialogue ends.]

And it's honestly funny that Makoto of all people underestimates Elena, a capoeirista (I'll give her the benefit of the doubt since Makoto isn't the most knowledgeable of the world and doesn't know that Capoeira is arguably one of the scariest fighting styles to have on a tall person). Girl wanted to have a new friend and up for a friendly spar on her travels around Japan and Makoto assumed she was just here to make fun of her (And I assume they either went on a draw or Makoto lost the fight since I do believe Elena is stronger between the two). But even what Makoto said, Elena is unphased and knows she didn't mean any harm, Makoto is just someone who is very direct with words and is honest about what she says even if she's not the best person at communicating. Elena likes her friends and Makoto is her friend and is there to listen, be her with a grumpy face or not, Elena isn't here to make fun of you on purpose and would rather laugh with you.

Before 3rd strike Elena was normally paired with Ibuki (Even if Ibuki was being paired with chun since she was the most famous of the 2) because she was one of the 2 girls on sf3. But after 3rd strike something shifted and suddenly Elena was being paired with Makoto more often than not, and when they weren't it'd either be the sf3 girls trio, Elena was paired with Narumi (i wish we had more Narumi content) or Makoto was chilling with Ibuki. But other than that a lot of comics and official art just had Mak and Elena enjoy their time together and i think it's really cool we have more content of them, I really want the two to interact with each other more in SF6. Capcom please put me in that writing's room when you do decide to do a cutscene story mode for sf6 that isn't world tour (I like the mode I just wish it was the real characters interacting more with each other since we finally have a proper budget and can experiment more)

I really enjoy that I've been seeing more content of the Tall goober and the short goober kissing though, really lovely stuff :3

Like imagine being a Tosan girl with barely any social experience because majority of your life you were secluded because everyone didn't care about you or your dojo's history after your father died and dressed like a tomboy and did karate so much to the point you make your hands, which are bigger than that of a common girl, bleed and also one of your interests is woodcarving and then suddenly this foreigner capoeirista taller than your doorframe (and taller than you by two heads) comes up to you smiling saying they want to be your friend because you looked like a fun person to talk to even if your past wasn't the most superb thing ever to look up to. She doesn't mind what happened to your past and isn't here to make fun of you or to shun you away because you worked all your life for a goal that you set yourself to do for years, even if it was alone, she was here because she liked you as a person and found you cute and would yell at the world that she's your friend and would go out to eat, watch movies, do work, train, spar, debate fighting styles, study and just relax with each other. And then suddenly a year passes and you're in her bed and shes sleeping soundly next to you and you call her your girlfriend that you love very much and you don't know how to react. And then the next morning she picks you up because she found it funny since she's still significantly taller than you but you love her since she's someone you care about for all this time, giving you a kiss on your big forehead.

I like these two a lot, I really do.

[popawritter12]

Hello! I read your yandere Smoke story, and I liked it a lot! You're a great writer and I'd love to see more Mortal Kombat stuff :)

If it's okay with you, would you be willing to do a headcanons list for yandere Rain (MK1, preferably male reader, if that's okay)? Thank you so much in advance! Feel free to take as much time as you need. I love your work so far! I'll have to check it out some more!

Author's note: It took a little longer because I'm making a new way of making headcanons, after completing all the orders this week I will upload the "first prototype" of this second way of making headcanons <3

By the way, anon, I actually feel comfortable writing any type of gender! It's just that sometimes I think I'm a bit ambiguous when I change the gender of the reader, but if you like it, then I'll just try to improve on that aspect!

Yandere! Rain x Male! Reader

First impressions

He met you when he was trained by Sindel; you were a healer whose skills were nationally recognized for the exceptionality of him; you could cure deadly diseases with inhuman ease.

You were also trained by Sindel, but there was something very different about you, something that caught everyone's attention.

Your pacifism.

Even in the most stressful situations, or with aggression involved, you never raised your voice, much less your hands.

You always preached peace, helping everyone who needed it.

At first, he had a lot of admiration for you. He tried to imitate your techniques sometimes, and he felt that you would be a great guide in his life.

Seeing his enthusiasm for learning, you approached him to accompany him in his training and give him all the information about the use of his type of magic.

Fall in love

He believed it was simple admiration, and in fact you did too, but there was something deep in your soul that doubted; When he followed you like a puppy follows its owner, you assumed it was out of admiration, but that thought that he was looking for something more was always there.

You looked for answers to that question; If you were religious, you went to your God to answer your questions, but if you were not, you looked for the answers in your teachers, in Sindel or in your teachers before her. But unfortunately for you, all of them doubted that Rain could wish any harm on you or those around you.

If he finds out, he would doubt it; Did he really look that scary in your eyes? No! He couldn't let someone like you be afraid of him!

He becomes visibly more intense, everyone notices it and especially you; He is kinder to everyone, but especially to you. He seems more desperate to try to please you, so much so that he even scares you, but he doesn't notice how scary he looks trying to please you.

Beginning of “Yanderism”

His desperation begins to consume him, do you know what is the worst thing that can happen to a man in love? That the person he adores so much is afraid of him.

And do you know what is worse for a man in that situation? Exact! May his despair over your approval cause him to start distrusting people; everyone except Sindel or anyone from the royal family was suspicious of your fear of him.

He thinks anyone could want to wash your head, your best friend? your family? or even unknown?

Any one of them could try to put fear into you, and he ends up hurting a lot of people trying to figure out the root of that fear.

Whenever he saw you he had the feeling that you were perfect in his eyes; You were always so kind, so gentle with all people, with an affinity for magic so miraculous and unique that… it seemed as if you had been born as a God.

But you were weaker than an average human; not only because of your soft personality, but also because the lack of physical training punished you with little possibility of defending yourself against an attack.

But it was okay… After all, they lived in a peaceful world, right?

Relationship or kidnapping

He is manipulated by Shang Tsung, made to believe that “his God” needed protection, that Sindel limited him so that both he and you remain under her command, that if he released all his power, he could defend you, he could keep you safe, protect you. and show you that you don't need to fear him.

It was easy for him to manipulate him, to make him believe that he just needed to work harder to be able to have you in his hands, and take care of you properly.

When Liu Kang himself announces the betrayal on the part of Shang Tsung and Rain, a part of you knew that it was inevitable that sooner or later he would seek more power through other means.

Late you realized that the perception that made you distrust Rain was due to his search for more power, you knew that it was going to be a matter of time before he sought to get out of the limit that Sindel established for him, to seek to break that limit and be able to have a lot of power. more strength than before.

And yet, when he broke in so he could talk to you, you tried to reason with him peacefully.

When you mentioned his mistake, he reacted badly; He tried to justify his decisions for you, mentioning that he did it for you, because he needed you, because he longed for you to understand him, but that wasn't the case.

When he tried to convince you, he went so far as to stand in front of you, on his knees, holding your hands and talking over and over again about how much he admired you, how much he needed you, how divine you were in his eyes, how much he loved you. I needed your presence in your life.

But you rejected it.

“When you make a decision, you must notice the consequences, and if you don't accept them, then you are not willing to mature” That's what you said.

You accepted that he chose a side, but as a consequence he lost you.

And the mere idea that you were going to leave his side ends up driving him crazy, and he ends up making that decision.

In case of kidnapping, where would he take you?

Currently I don't remember the name, but let's say it's where he hides with Shang Tsung temporarily.

And in the end, if we assume that he manages to take you to a secluded place between both worlds, managing to hide you from all the annoying crowds that dare to take you away from him.

Coexistence

He tends to be somewhat annoying, he usually insists on being on your lap or that you hug him, so much so that there comes a point where he stops insisting and just… does things without asking you.

And yes, he loves you to heal his wounds, so much so that he often hurts himself on purpose with knives or weapons that he doesn't know how to handle very well, he only knows that they hurt.

And obviously, because even with all the hurt he did to you, you loved him like a friend, you healed him.

Who knows? Maybe you'll end up being a great dad to… well.

Marriage and family.

He doesn't take marriage very seriously, but he would like it in a sense, in fact he thinks about it sometimes, but then he just forgets, later thinking that it's just a silly idea.

And your family… Well, he doesn't care, in fact he doesn't care almost at all about what your family wants for you; You are one of the best healers —not to mention the best he has ever seen and will see in his entire life— that he knows. It is obvious that you can make decisions for yourself! Of course, as long as he can keep you safe and avoid any “harmful” decisions for you.

In this case, would he adopt?

Yeah, especially if it's some mysteriously orphaned kid who needs two father figures who are also like them. I mean, with your knowledge of healing, and his knowledge of magic... I could be a great idea! He loves the idea that both of you offspring when it grows up will protect you from the same thing he does! Although he also wish they had their own life, you know… Yanderes stuff.

Bad ending

Worst case scenario, they find you; Mileena or others find your location, and try not to come to violence with him.

But Rain can't stand it, why are they doing this? Separate him from the love of his life? Of the only man who always treated him with all the respect in the world? Was this his fault for not protecting him well? Or for not being strong enough to protect you?

He gets carried away, and let's just say he ends up killing those who were actively seeking to "separate" him from his beloved healer.

He hopes that you will heal his wounds, so that he can take you away, to a place where you both can go and have your long-awaited happy ending, where you can both be happy without depending on any other being that feels the need to separate you.

But you refused, you shouted no, and you refused to treat his wounds. The main reason was obvious; he had chosen the most extreme and bloody path ever known to you or others.

He didn't take it well at all. Almost immediately, he uses his magic on you; he hurts you, hurts your skin and tears your clothes, threatening and screaming about what he was going to do to you and all your loved ones.

He threatens to end your life, to make you suffer if you don't cooperate with him.

In his mind, he thought that he had finally eradicated those who tried so hard to separate the two of them and keep him from his only source of happiness, and you were crying because you didn't understand that your happiness was worth a price, and that price was blood and life of others, and it was one that he was willing to pay thousands of times over to hold you in his arms, worship you and hold your face in his hands, so he could tell you how miraculous you are.

And it is after that threat that he releases you, abruptly releasing your body to the ground, almost compressing your bones; An extremely painful sensation ran through your body, one such that it only made you sob due to the pain. Even if you had never cried in your life, that strong, suffocating feeling had made your fear for him increase like never before.

Obviously after that you healed him, and told him you would never leave him.

After all, if he had damaged your bones like this just by letting go of you, what could he do if he really wanted to see you suffer?

Reasons to be Yandere:

-This greedy son of a bitch doesn't usually fall in love easily; Since he was too busy pursuing power, he thought he wouldn't have time to fall in love.

-He sees you as a great magician, a person whose abilities are so divine that you must be protected, you NEED his protection, he is not interested in what you tell him about that.

-When you are "playing" a powerful but physically weak character, it is inevitable that someone like Rain will feel intrigued by someone so powerful but at the same time so vulnerable to any attack.

Extra data:

-He doesn't think he's in love, you're just someone he admires a lot, I mean..., who wouldn't kill for someone that admires?

-He knows that his power is devastating, that's why he does everything possible to get along with you, but when he doesn't succeed… he gets frustrated, he gets so frustrated that he even thinks about it for several nights.

-I feel like he is someone who needs someone to tell him when to stop, and you are that someone, that someone who just drives his energy to an almost inhuman point, but it only focuses on loving you, pampering you and giving you everything you want.

-He usually has certain flashes of anger when Shang Tsung refers to you as an object to fulfill his dream, more than once he wanted to kick his ass, but there were more important things, at least for now.

-He usually comes to you when he needs advice or instructions on what to do with his life; After understanding that his quest for power was meaningless, he felt quite disoriented on how to love you correctly, on how to serve you as you wish.

[a-s-levynn]

Okay so i finished Kaos a few days ago, and all in all, it is a fun series to watch. In short: it is a fresh take on the "ancient gods in the modern era" and i love that. It does some clever takes on the myths. I like it.

A bit (a lot) longer, and maybe a smidge spoilery in one particular case, as spoilery you can get with something with a pretty well known source material:

So. Let me get through the more.. negative-ish things? Ish, because i wouldn't say there is anything de facto bad with the series. Everything boils down to preference. What could become a negative is usually used in a way that at least levels out or even turned into an advantage. The writers clearly knew what they had to work with and what they wanted to do with it and pulled through.

I have to preface this, the series is very very contemporary and very much netflix. It is super consistent with it tho, which creates this effect of not really feeling too much or forced. It also makes some parts feel safe, but it doesn't affect it neither positively nor negatively which is both surprising and really cool. Especially these days. It just is. And i love that for it.

Also it is not my favourite thing ever. Here is where the personal taste thing comes in. I usually don't really love to see our contemporary (tho mostly western) world in a fantasy (even if urban) setting this heavily but this one does it in a refreshingly campy, not too serious way that makes sense for the story. I can't say i was able to be fully immersed but it never pushed me out either. It kept me hooked and i very much enjoyed my time with the show. I'm also sad i never going to get to see the conclusion because netflix canceled it like everything worth watching for the past few years.

There are some changes to the myths and mythical characters that some people would not vibe with, but i don't mind. I love recontextualizations of things i know when it is done with both purpose and thought behind it. I'm not saying this is the smartest series ever but the writing is consistent, a story makes sense and thank fucking god the dialogues are actual dialogues.

There is some inherent stupidness to all of it but we are in the realm of dark comedy. It works. The show knows exactly what it is and works with it very nicely. It's cohersive, and enjoyable. It does not want to be more than it is. Which i appreciate.

Also way too fucking short. For god sake can we start making 10-12 episode series? The amount of exposition they dumped into these handful of episodes, not leaving room to breathe is painful. Or just leave out some exposition. I don't have to know everything verbatim. Let me think, let me use my brain. Let me get to really know the characters.

But on the other hand most of the characters being stereotypes work here beautifully. Because we are based in the myths. Which all work with stereotypes. And this. This is why i say this is a smarter than most your average shows. They know what they have to work with and how turn it to an advantage. Or at least don't let it become a hindrance.

That said, i like this show. No small part to that is the cast, and boy this thing has an awesome cast. I am biased. Heavily. But this is a great cast of actors on all realms. Goldblum as Zeus is such a based idea and so fittnig. Also this show probably has the best depictions of Hera, like, ever? I kinda wish D had a bit more to him, but i figured his character was supposed to grow more over the planned three seasons. Well alas.

Also shoutout to my man Thewlis as Hades. I love that man in nay everything. No wonder he is one of the main characters of my favourite movie. Anyway. The rest of the cast is great. Probably the weakest for me was Killian Scott as Orpehus and even he wasn't bad. Just mostly one tone.

That said. I enjoy the spins on the mythos'. Especially our main pair's. The most well known part of the Orpeus and Eurydice story is the you can't look back, trust that she follows and i was waiting for it the whole time. I was kinda sad not seeing it and that is why Eurydice asking Orpheus to look back at her, and him saying "i don't want to look at you, because you are not coming with me" part hit so much.

I kinda wish he would have just left without looking back. I understand the scene (and the series at this point) needed some release of the tension and somberness but man.. imagine if he just... walks away, never looking back. And maybe it get's resolved along the line in like the next or 3rd season. If those ever would be a thing.

Anyway.

I think i rambled on long enough. I could cherrypick moments i aslo liked and maybe make an attempt at those i didn't but i feel it's redundant. This is a good show at the end of the day and i don't want to over analyze it in my head.

Because as i said, all in all i loved this show a lot. It is a fun watch, and i might rewatch it again somewhere along the line because there are exceptionally cool moments peppered through. Especially the darker ones. Both the writing and the acting is great. I am genuinly bummed there is not going to be further seasons.

[beevean]

(1/2) Unpopular opinion: While it is a problem, as seen with so many villains being woobified and others being stripped of their edges, I think the criticism about judging characters by whether they're likable is only one half of the scale, since you have characters like Lanolin being praised SPECIFICALLY for being an unpleasant asshole with no other traits on the basis of "we need more cynicism uwu, you just can't handle a woman being real and honest uwu".

(2/2) And that's not even going into other current year female characters who are written similarly and for similar reasons, or the continuing trend of derailing idealistic characters because the writers consider them boring or unrealistic. Bad or contradictory character writing comes in all shapes and sizes, and I fear that Tumblr's focusing solely on just the one type could lead future writers to learn the wrong lessons, and instead triple down on OTHER bad writing pitfalls via overcorrection.

I think it's all a matter of trends coming and going.

Sonic is a good time capsule. At first, Eggman was the main villain, the only villain even not counting minor spinoffs, and he was always depicted as a goofy guy who nonetheless could be a serious threat. As we all know, the very name was considered too silly for the Western audience of the time, so he got renamed Robotnik and given an edgier redesign in cartoons.

Then come the 2000s, and Eggman isn't good anymore. He's too goofy, too stale. We moved onto cataclismic gods, whose appeal was how scary and dangerous they were, with little to no funny qualities (intentionally ofc). This is also the era where Sonic, the quintessential '90s mascot, was unofficially replaced by 2000s mascot Shadow.

2010s, we're going back to appreciating the Classics, Eggman is once again the star of the show and the series takes again a lighter tone, in hopes of recapturing the series' lost magic. (Sonic was far from being the only one, shout out to Mega Man 9 ofc)

And now the 2000s are en vogue again, but with a distinct nostalgic "hey remember when we were cool?" flavor, and the desire to have "deeper" stories - this is where IDW and its pseudo-moral dilemmas thrive. On top of that, fandoms have become more... socially aware, let's say, and they grew tired of the tired old sexist tropes, so now it's time for new sexist tropes! Such as the tough, no-nonsense, harsh #girlboss who is just as good as any man, and if you dislike her then you are just sexist! "you can't even handle [insert mildly controversial female character]" and all that. Before, women were only "good" if cute and demure, while now, women are only "good" if they're aggressive and strong in combat.

We got used to the idea that the best characters are the "morally grey" ones. Asshole heroes, woobie villains. Soft, cute men and brash women. And these characters are absolutely allowed to exist, but in the worst cases the "subversion" is the only appeal, and they simply lack charisma. Presence, style, a reason to root for them that goes beyond their tragic past. I don't care about Lanolin's potential trauma being conveyed in an unsympathetic way that might be #relatable to some if she's as interesting as a rock and her only purpose in the plot is being frustrating.

I find myself a bit unequipped to talk about this, but I'm reminded of this very good video from Mr. Enter comparing the OG Fairly Oddparents with A New Wish, and how trends have changed in 20 years:

Two points jumped to me: the difference between Timmy being "the average kid" and Hazel having her own unique quirks, and the infamous meanspiritedness of the OG show that was all but retconned in ANW, because we generally grew tired of it and no longer find it a joke.

[pierrotwrites-hc]

Hello! I just found The Golden Bird, and it is hands down the best whimper/hurt/comfort hurt/comfort work I’ve read, and one of the best stories on AO3, period. I love dark whump stories with recovery, and this hit all the sweet spots while also having an amazing plot and work building! This might be a stupid question, but how often do you update? I know this is going to be a super long series and you’ve already written a significant amount, so would you ever be open to faster updates? Sorry! I don’t mean pushy or anything, I just love TGB so much. Also, I would love to see a ton more whump and hurt for supporting characters that we love, like Asher and Ged… I love to see my favorite characters suffer (and then recover.) Will you introduce new complex and badass important characters with heart wrenching backstories, or is our main cast pretty much set? One last question: is there a discord for TGB? Thank you for answering my questions!

thank you so much for your lovely words! dark whump with recovery is like my whole bag, and if you have any recs, I'd love to hear them.

updates...ah, updates. I have in the past attempted an every-two-weeks posting schedule and, yeah, that didn't work out. in my defense, my chapters usually average 15 pages in ms word, and writing a page a day just isn't feasible with my work schedule/other projects/ADHD. I know there are writers who update that much or more, and I stand in absolute awe of them. there are also writers who are able to update frequently because each update averages >1k words, and as a reader, this just isn't a satisfying experience for me. as a writer, I want to feel like each chapter is complete, with its own fully-realized narrative arc, and that's just really fucking hard for me to do in under 2.5k words.

so: monthly (rather than bi-weekly) updates. and sometimes every three weeks if I'm in a work lull. I wish I could write more, and faster, but I'm also glad I don't write less, or slower. I'm committed to putting something out in the world that I can be proud of.

Will you introduce new complex and badass important characters with heart wrenching backstories, or is our main cast pretty much set?

oh, there will be many more characters. much of the cast hasn't even been introduced yet.

is there a discord for TGB?

there is an absolutely AMAZING discord which you should totally join. endless endless thanks to the amazing mods who make it possible <3

[dream-beyond-the-fantasy]

4, 13, 21, 24, 25, 33, 42, 57, 63, 70 and 71 for the fic writer ask game!

Thank you for the questions! Okay, this took some time and thought. And some of my answers are long. It will be under a "read more" out of convenience and respect for my mutuals and followers.

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

I really want to write a background and sidestory for a one-off character from George Lopez that Tony O'Dell played. I don't think I've written it yet for a few reasons:

a) I don't know if his character is named Blaine (dialogue and closed captions) or Patrick (credits on IMDb and from the end of the episode).

b) I kinda want to ask Tony about that episode and role.

c) I haven't had time or haven't sat down and focused on it enough to start writing it.

No, I don't experience existential dread over it.

13. talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you.

This isn't going to take long. But in writing my first fic, Is This Love?, I learned that I can write sexy things. This is the opposite of the "write what you know" advice. I have done research and will continue to do more. I've talked with others who have written smut. And I have had some friends read over what little I have written. As I tend to write out of sequence, I haven't published the smut and I'm still a bit anxious about it, but I decided to do this to prove to myself that I could. I wouldn't be upset if Is This Love? is the only fic that I write that contains smut, but proud of myself.

21. pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about.

A fellow fanfic writer? Hmm, I would say @curiousdamage @missviolethunter @cecexwrites @rynnie-rynn @themaradwrites @avatarskywalker78 and/or @the-time-lord-oracle.

With Curious, MissV, Rynn, and/or AvatarSkywalker78, I would write something for The Karate Kid or Cobra Kai because that is the main fandom that we have in common. The first three were with me when I created my OCs and I honestly would trust them to write Julie or Alyssa. But all of them have strengths writing other characters in that fandom that I'm not sure I can do justice or write with the nuance they deserve.

Curious, MissV, and I could finally write that spinoff/revival-type fanfic for The Equalizer with Scott McCall and his OC daughter as the central characters. Or Curious and I could write a Cagney & Lacey story.

With Cece, it would probably be a story set in the Wizarding World with supporting and minor canon characters.

Obviously, a Doctor Who story with The_Time_Lord_Oracle.

And were I to write an original story, it would be with Rynn or Mara.

All of these writers are ones that I greatly admire, consider friends, have created some of the best original characters (I wish they all were canon and I would protect them to the end), and have written many of my favorite stories.

If you are asking about published/professional authors, I'm not sure. Maybe Rick Riordan, Richelle Mead, David McIntee, Timothy Zahn, Jude Watson, or Cassandra Clare (yes, I know some of the allegations against her, but she is still one of my favorite YA writers).

24. on average, how much writing do you get done in a day?

It really depends on it's a workday vs. weekend, how much time I've had to write, and how inspired I was. If I write at least 500 words, I consider it a productive day.

25. what’s your revision or rewriting process like?

I edit as I write, which makes the writing process longer, I'm sure. Then I send it to my beta. After I hear their thoughts and suggestions, I take into account if those serve the story and make appropriate edits. Then I will post it on AO3.

33. do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Honestly, a very rough plot idea. The characters are my main focus and I spend more time thinking about how to develop them and how they will react to the plot.

42. describe the aesthetic of a story in 5 words.

Let me preface this with "I'm not sure that I'm doing this right."

Family. Friendship. Discovery. Magic. Adventure.

57. what is the last thing that a fic made you google when you were reading it?

Okay, these might not be the actual last things, but they are the best that I can remember: Camille Coduri's natural hair color and Billie Piper's eye color.

63. what’s the best insult you’ve read in a fic?

I've read so many fics that I honestly don't know. I'm sorry.

70. are you very critical of your own writing? how much do you find yourself editing (either during the writing or after the fact)?

Yeah, I think I am. I second-guess myself a lot. I edit as I write, so I might spend hours on the same damn paragraph because I didn't like the original word choice, felt it was too similar to something I had previously written, or numerous other reasons. I once nearly trashed everything I wrote for Is This Love? and lay on my bed crying because I thought I was being too harsh on Jimmy and my OC Julie.

71. how do you balance writing and life? do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of writing you have to do?

Hahaha. Balance? What's that? Ironic isn't it, considering that I write for The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai? Yes, I constantly feel overwhelmed by the amount of writing that I have to do. I want to be able to post two chapters for three of my WIPs by the end of 2024. I haven't worked on two of them at all yet. I haven't done any writing since early or mid-February. Sometimes, I feel like a failure because I started writing Is This Love? in 2018 and I haven't even started writing the scenes concurrent with the plot of The Karate Kid, while I've got friends and mutuals who can write, finish, and post a few multichapter fics within a few months.

[wondereads]

Weekly Reading Update (06/23/24)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler (8/10)

This was my first ever Octavia E. Butler book, and it didn't disappoint! The way this story used Anyanwu and Doro's relationship to comment on power dynamics and issues in the world at large blew my mind; I found the discussion of eugenics particularly interesting. They were both such intensely flawed yet compelling characters. This book skirts the line between fantasy and sci-fi (something I'm looking into for my thesis as a peripheral issue), and it definitely made me wonder about the world. I wasn't aware going in that this was a prequel situation, but even then I do think I was a bit dissatisfied with how things left off. That's just my personal taste though.

Haikyuu!! Vol. 41 and 42 by Haruichi Furudate (10/10)

It usually takes me around half an hour or so to get through a volume of manga, but these took me a couple of hours. Why? Because I had to keep putting it down because I was crying so hard I couldn't breathe. As someone who has read a plethora of books ever since I was young, it takes a lot to get me to cry, especially that hard. I was sobbing. Furudate has created such wonderful characters and then puts them through so many struggles that I can't even be mad about because it's highly realistic that someone pursuing a sport would run into this! Seeing Hinata break down followed instantly by the third years graduating and the Brazil arc had me miserable in the best way possible. I usually never rate manga or graphic novels five stars because they're usually super fast-paced and so much relies on writing style for me when I read novels, but this just broke me.

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter (46%)

This is a very cute book so far. I could probably tell you exactly what's going to happen from this point onward, but it's a genre convention for romcoms to be predictable. Liz is a fun protagonist; she's quirky in a way that has a reason and isn't annoying. There's good chemistry between the leads with some great banter, and you really can't ask for more than that. However, I will say the constant song references are starting to irk me, especially with the lyrics included in the writing --I don't know, it just reminds me too strongly of my early fanfiction years.

Moon Rising by Tui T. Sutherland (45%)

If there's one thing about me, I love a mind-reading protagonist. Moonwatcher is probably my favorite perspective of the Wings of Fire series, even if I wish she'd speak up sometimes. Sutherland did a great job making her similar to Starflight, since they're the same tribe, without being a carbon copy, and while mind reading might seem a little too omniscient, her inexperience and general social ineptitude keep it from becoming overpowered. I'm thrilled to see the return of Peril, whose story is left open from the previous arc, and I'm excited to learn more about the other new characters (Winter, Qibli, and I believe Turtle) who have their own interesting introductions.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (43%)

Despite my fantasy obsession, this is my first time reading The Lord of the Rings (though I have read The Hobbit). While it is definitely much slower-paced than the average modern fantasy, I'm enjoying myself so much. If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know I'm a worldbuilding nut, so this is like my dream book. There are so many tangents to tell stories about the history of Middle Earth and all the goings-on of the world, and I keep noticing little details and wishing they'd talk about those too. Tolkien is also a rather funny writer; Bilbo's passive aggression in particular made me giggle. While this a bit of a dense story, it's definitely living up to its reputation so far.

Boys With Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell (42%)

This is a project for my part-time job, so I'm not sure how much I can actually divulge, but let me just say this: this book is compared to The Raven Boys in its summary, and it's living up to that.

Her Wolves by G. Bailey (7%)

I won't lie, the writing of this book so far does not give me hope. However, it could still be a fun read even if the grammar and syntax aren't the best. Also, funny thing, this book is set in the future on Earth. I did not know this. I thought it was a high fantasy. So imagine my surprise to see a landmass labeled "America Court" on the map. My misunderstanding was cleared up soon, but it still made me laugh.

[robinismywife]

𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 (p2)

PAIRING: A!Elvis or (real)Elvis x fem!reader

SUMMARY: Elvis was done with making movies. However, when his manager approached him with another movie contract he couldn't resist. Especially, since Y/n Y/l/n is involved...

WARNINGS: Mentions of vomit, smoking cigarettes, eating. If I missed any plz inform me!!

A/N: Omg I hope you like this!! Writer's block has hit me like a truck these days and I can't seem to write anything I'm actually proud of. I know this is very short so I'm sorry if this dissapoints you, I'm trying my very best!! <3

(the gif is not mine! Found it on pinterest!)

Elvis found himself waking up excited to go to work for the first time in years. Even though, as he got ready, he tried to convince himself it was because filming was fun, deep down he knew why. Y/n. She was truly fascinating, not to mention a sight for sore eyes. She truly lit up the set when she walked in.

The entirety of the cast and crew stayed at the same hotel. Therefore, Elvis felt that he needed to get a little more dressed up and show everyone how professional he was. Honestly, he didn't really know what he was doing. Every movie he made felt like the first.

Elvis never felt comfort in the movie-making process. The only times he felt like he was in his element were short lived, since it only took a couple of weeks to record the songs in the studio. He hated these songs- The lyrics were repetitive and very stupid. It was embarassing having to sing these songs for everyone to hear.

After taking a last look in the mirror, he nodded to himself and walked out of his hotel room. The elevator reached his level and the steel doors opened, revealing the woman he had been thinking of all morning.

"Morning" Elvis mumbled, standing next to her

"It is indeed morning, Mr. Presley" She spoke coldly. Elvis's blank face turned into a dissapointed frown. It seemed as if he was the only one willing to be friendly.

"No- I- I meant good-"

"I know what you meant" Y/n stated stifly and the doors opened once again. After a long awkward pause the two had finally reached the hotel's cafeteria that was filled with people.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Elvis spoke irritably, trying to catch up with her quick steps.

"Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't" She told him casually grabbing a plate and filling it up with breakfast goods from the buffet.

"Lord, you're insane, woman" Elvis sighed in defeat. This was not going to end well.

"I've heard that one before- For someone who's all about novelty, your insults are predictably average" Y/n put down a spatula she had been holding and made her way through the crowded room. Elvis couldn't keep up with her pace and witty remarks. Even so, he jogged after the woman, who had already started talking to some of their castmates.

Y/n placed her plate down on the table, greeting her new coworkers. She sat down sighing, as the conversation around her became more lively by the minute. Deciding to focus on eating her breakfast, she didn't partucipate in the discussion much. Elvis, of course, found the opportunity to keep talking to her. He pulled out the chair next to her and made himself comfortable, not caring that Y/n was obviously startled, thinking that she had gotten rid of him.

"Don't ya run away from me like that" He spoke a little out of breath, trying not to be heard by their colleagues.

"I do what I please, Mr.Presley- Now, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave me alone"

"We were talking-"

"There is nothing left to say" She picked up her fork and played around with the bacon on her plate, that was slowly getting cooler and cooler.

"Isn't there? Don't ya wan't to tell me all about how much ya hate me?"

"I don't hate you. I wish I could but I can't-"

"You can't?"

"Are you deaf, Mr.Presley?"

"No-"

"Well, then I think I've made myself pretty clear" She finally shoved a small piece of bacon in her mouth, signaling the end of the conversation. The irony of their chat was that Elvis was even more confused now. Y/n was saying so much but yet so little. He never heard exactly the answer he needed and that pissed him off. She wasn't making any sense- At least to him.

"Elvis, aren't ya getting any breakfast?" Nancy, one of the cast members, asked, mouth full of toast.

Elvis audibly groaned, realising how wipped he was by a woman that wasn't even his. Looking right at her he shook his head in dissapointment. He truly hoped she wasn't enjoying this whole situation, but the devilish look in her eyes told a different story.

"Well, aren't ya, Mr.Presley?" She asked him playfully. Damnit, she was indeed enjoying his suffering.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

"She hates me Ron, I tell ya" Elvis frowned as he spoke to his costar Ronald Winters.

"Son, you're making things a lot more confusing than they actually are" Ronald filled both of their mugs with coffee. They were both waiting for the director to show up to their last-minute meeting. Y/n hadn't arrived to the office yet so Elvis had time to talk to Ron about everything.

"Nah, she's the one making things confusing and everything- I-I-I'm just trynin' to be friendly, ya know?"

"Maybe she doesn't want to be your friend, Elvis" Ron spoke with a weird look in his eye that Elvis couldn't quite place.

"Well, that's what I've been telling ya, Ron!"

"You misunderstand me, sonny, what I-"

"Good morning" The conversation died down instantly, making Y/n's entrance in the waiting room extremely awkward "Do you want me to leave?"

"Oh no, dear girl, me and mr.Presley were merely talking about this meeting- Unexpected, isn't it?" Ronald changed the topic quickly, trying to make Y/n feel welcome.

"It's probably a last-minute script change, nothing to worry about" Y/n spoke casually, pulling out a cigarette and putting it between her scarlet lips "Want one gentlemen?" she pointed at it.

"Ahh no, no I-I-I'm trying to give it up- Bad habit, bad.." Ronald mumbled and cleared his throat. Excusing himself he walked to the bathroom down the hall.

Y/n then walked towards Elvis, closing the distance between them "Sorry Ι scared your pal away, Elvis" She took a puff from her cigarette. Elvis couldn't help but stare at her lips as they produced the gray smoke. This whole situation was making it very hard to hate her, especially when the urge to kiss her face off was that intense. He needed to play it cool, just like she was doing.

However, Y/n saw right through the act and continued talking "Wanna take a puff, love?"

"N-N-No, I prefer not to smoke, if I can help it" He played with his rings, stressfully. This was going so wrong, he could actually vomit.

"Really? Wouldn't have guessed it," She spoke aware of her effect on him "Men such as yourself always love to indulge in a little puff here and there"

"Well, they ain't going to last long" Elvis shrugged, daring to look her in the eyes.

"What makes you say that?" She was intrigued.

"Trust me, honey, smoking a packet a day don't help with the rockabilly business"

"So, you're telling me you've never smoked a cigarette in your life, Mr.presley?" She smiled challegingly while her own cigarette was slowly burning up in between her digits.

"No, I'm sayin' that I used to but I don't no more- My mama hated it, stopped just for her, ya know?"

"I know," Suddenly her stare softened and she put out her cigarette in the ashtray "I bet she was a wonderful woman, Elvis".

Her gentle smile and quick shift in demeanor caught him off guard, but before he could form a coherent sentence the crew and director had appeared. It was time for the meeting and as Elvis' eyes searched the waiting room around him, he realised that Y/n was already in the meeting room. There goes his chance to get to know her better, to have an actual conversation with her.

Nonetheless, he felt somewhat proud of himself. She had let her guard down for him, even for a second. The ice queen was slowly melting and he was there to watch it happen. Perhaps Ronald was right, she didn't hate him. Y/n hated herself for not hating him. Now, Elvis had to find a way to gain her trust. This wasn't even close to love, he had to assure himself, just a challenge. A fun one at that.

[glitter-stained]

Writing tip #1

As a reader, one of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a character introduced as "clever", their intelligence treated as some sort of super power that helped them out of impossible situations off-screen or even worse, they solved basic elementary problems that I remember getting as homework in middle school and everybody is in awe of such a wondrous mind. As a reader, few things irk me more than that kind of characterization.

But as writer, I get it! I understand the appeal of writing smart character, they can be so cool and challenge our traditional perception of strength and pose interesting questions etc... and as I'm not that bright myself either, I end up with the sensation of struggling to write a character much smarter than myself.

But that's okay! Luckily for me, I study developmental and cognitive psychology, which gives me tools to help me write smart characters without having the same skillset, so I thought I would share!

#1: research cognitive psychology, because there is so much more to say than what I know and can fit in a tumblr post, so go look it up- I promise it's worth it.

#2: your IQ number is practically a myth. Unless it helps diagnose and measure a global intellectual deficiency, that number alone is generally worthless as it's nothing but the average between scores of wildly different abilities which belong to the traditional model of intelligence (around which there is no consensus today, so keep in mind that it's incomplete at best.) From that it follows that it's a terrible way to describe a character, as it doesn't refer to any specific skill -and while there is partial correlation between these scores, I can guarantee you nobody is exactly as good in calculus as they are in English as they are in geometry etc. Describe what the character is smart in, what "kind" or smart they are if you wish; the separation between book smart, street smart and people smart is a good start, but still not enough: there are many flavours of booksmart alone, nevermind the others. Again, look it up: an easy background to use is the Wikipedia page for "Theory of Multiple Intelligences". I promise it will help!

#3. Sometimes less is more. Your character doesn't have to be the best student in the country or win every prize. Did you know that Einstein was considered a bad student? Or that the incredible mathematician Euler got second place in the 1727 Paris Academy Science Competition? It's fine for your character to be second place, it's fine not to win every time, even in their own domain of expertise. If you tell me someone got the bronze medal at the Olympics, I'm still gonna assume them a better athlete than the vaste majority of people, and few would disagree with that idea; it's the same with intelligence. Your character should be allowed to fail, and simply to not always be the best -if not because it makes them more humane, because we love to project on smart characters, it strokes our ego. Think of all the stressed out straight A students on the verge of burn-out projecting on your characters: let them know it's okay! A- is still very good! You're doing great!

Anyway I'll probably make more posts about this because there's so much to say but it's probably too long already so I'll stop here. You know how it works, this is just my opinion, I'm not the authority on writing, but I thought it could be helpful so if it doesn't work for you, don't follow this advice! Let me know what you think, and please be kind

[allwaswell16]

I was tagged by @magicalrocketships thank youu! ily!

Name: Anitra

Sign: Libra

Time: 1:47

Last movie: Oof I hardly ever watch movies. I think the last one I saw was Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse. I took my kids to see it and I actually really loved it. Do documentaries count as movies? If they do, then I just watched Class Action Park a few days ago.

Last show: The last one I watched was Barry. Still midway through Season 2 of that one.

When I created this blog: 2014

Other blogs: fades into the bushes like Homer Simpson, listen I'm always doing 50 things at once, okay?

@hlficlibrary - my Louis/Harry fic rec blog

@letsdocuboutit - my newest one! for my new podcast!

@1dmonthlyficroundup - where I roundup all the current 1d fics each month!

@louisrarepairfest - for the currently posting Louis rare pair fest I run

@soulmatesabroad - for a past fic fest I ran for 3 years and might run again

@1dbreakupfest - ran this fest once and might run it again someday

@podfic-pals - member of this one where we post 1d podfics!

whispers should I talk about the other ones? lol FINE

@louli5ever - dedicated to Oli and the Louli friendship, is it fairly extensive for something that's kind of a joke? maybe.

@hotguyluke - dedicated to Louis' hot friend Luke. Is this also fairly extensive for someone we rarely see? also yes. I don't do things half way, okay?

Let's pretend there aren't any more, okay? Those were the sort of active ones.

Do I get asks/may you ask me something: Yep! Mostly I get asks about fics, but sometimes I write silly things in the tags, feeling like I'm talking to myself and then someone will send me an ask about them and I'm like oh yeah you can all see these

Average hours of sleep: Sighhhhhhhhhhh. I try to sleep from 11-7. Do I sleep from 11-7? No. I probably get to sleep closer to midnight. And since June I have had nightmares almost every single night. Yay. They wake me up multiple times and then I go back to sleep to endure more nightmares before I wake up at 7. So much fun. Yes, I've gone back to therapy.

Instruments: I wish! My son takes drum lessons so I'm living vicariously for now.

What I’m wearing: I wear Louis merch almost every single day, but you've caught me on an off day. I have a pink sweatshirt on that's from my local zoo and some navy blue pants with a white graphic pattern on them and pink Care Bear socks. I have 3 types of hoodies...Louis, Chicago Cubs, and my local zoo. I do not know why I have decided these three things are my entire personality, but oh well.

Dream job: I used to say writer. But I don't know if I want to do that professionally anymore. Or at least I don't think I want to be a fiction writer as a job. And the reason for that is that I love it too much. I love writing so much and it has always been such a huge part of who I am. Do I want to make it into something else? Do I want it to be a job that I "have" to do? Will it still be fun? Will it turn into a chore? I can't stand the thought that I could lose that joy. This is going to maybe piss some writers off lol, but I've never experienced writer's block. I've never sat down and been unable to write something. I'm always writing the exact thing that I want to write in that moment. It's one of the luckiest best things about me. What I've kind of turned to now is podcasting because it is something that I enjoy that I think I'm kind of good at and that I could potentially monetize one day. And it does involve writing because I have to write up notes and talk about something. But that's not really the same as writing a story. blah blah blah sorry this was so long.

I'll tag: @dearlou @noellehenry-original @gaycousinlarry @fallinglikethis @ohharold @joliepetitelou @statementlou and anyone else who wants to do this just say I tagged you!

[nanamiscocksleeve]

Hey Ray, how are you? I've read about your flu recently. I'm very sorry and I hope you get better soon. Have a fast recovery, ok?

Regarding confessions, I have nothing much to say. I think other anons already mentioned lots of valid points. Sure- porn fics are obv exaggerated, characters get mischaracterized and ships get pushed down out throats all the time but hey, that's just an average fandom experience, right?

So I'm trying to ignore/filter all the negativity and allow only good, quality content on my dash. Unfortunately, the content is few and not many appreciate writers and artists here on Tumblr. So it's for the best if they'd just change platforms and try their luck somewhere else that offers more positive interaction/involvement. I miss Tumblr reblog culture and nice feedback on dif stories/art. Nothing is the same anymore...

Regarding mischaracterization- it's not a problem to headcanon things, in fact, to each their own. But it's a problem when people openly accept headcanon as canon and unapologetically fight others over inaccurate opinions. It's so beyond me. And the funniest thing- it's mostly minors. Can we get rid of the minors in for-them-inappropriate fandom spaces pls? Tumblr staff where you at?

I noticed that fans of less popular characters are more fun. I'm not that big into Choso you see, but his fans made the whole fandom experience so much more enjoyable. And I don't think that Mahito fans are weird if you compare Toji smut fics (I'm not calling out people but I'm calling out people). Sukuna fans I'm looking at you too...

I'm forever grateful for Nanami, Higuruma, Kusakabe and Shiu quartet. Gege, thank you for feeding us while it lasted. The fics are divine and I understand why Shoko didn't see the appeal in stsg, like girl I get you.

I'll come out and say it- stsg is overrated. And jjk girls deserve more content that isn't ship-oriented.

I think Gege needs to make up his mind because Yuta and Yuji can't exist as two mains at once. Everyone is taking away Yuji's spotlight, but they're dying and dying until nobody's left except Yuji... I don't know how jjk will end.

I miss Yuki and Todo's dynamic and all the funny stuff, I wish jjk was a comedy fr... Gege is writing an idol manga after this one so I can't wait for the things he has in store for us!

Hello! Thank you for your concern about my cold. Honestly, with all of you wishing me to get better, I'm recovering a little faster! 💜💜💜

I agree with mischaracterization, but imo, unless a mangaka explicitly states something, then a fictional character is always subject to having HC's being formed about them depending on the writer. What gets problematic though, is when fans of a writer start looking at those HC's as an actual canon, and now they're picking fights/sending hate to other creators who have different opinions.

Fans of less popular characters tend to be more chill from what I've seen. They just want to talk about their faves and have a good time, and are less bothered with what could be canon or not. They have their HC's and are open to hearing different ones too.

I feel like JJK gave us this genre of 'tired men in suits' which is very appealing, even to us older girlies who are in the same age range as these men.

Stsg being overrated...imo I don't feel that way. I think they had great potential as a couple and I'm filled with sadness at the thought that they didn't catch Suguru's spiral when it happened. I can see them with heterosexual partners too, but I love the concept of Stsg.

The JJK women definitely need content not surrounding ships or smut. Something more action-related or just let her shine in her own right in a fic.

IDK what'll happen going forward...The story is supposed to center on Yuji but it feels like he's constantly being pushed aside. I hope things resolve soon but it looks like Sukuna might win after all this. I'm just sad thinking about it.

I miss the slice of life feel to the story as well but what can ya do...Gege is the mangaka, so he'll do what he wants. But if he brings back Nanami I ain't complaining lol.

Thank you for your confession!

[v91233312il]

As averse as I am to apple I am afraid to admit I actually like using an ipad to draw.. compared to my display tablet which is just static on my desk it's actually way more convenient to draw and I can sit like an idiot and still be working on a piece. Actually I do enjoy being able to bring it over to school and my friends place while we do our little writers room . And I can draw while they talk. The issue with my current model is that I got the cheapest one I could use which has severely limited internal memory.. I can't even get more space on it but since the vilespace stuff requires relatively small images for assets like battlers and sprites it's not that much of an issue. For bigger digital paintings the layer limit isn't an issue either since I only really use two or three layers at most so that's _okay_ I guess . I just wish I could save and publish them directly from the ipad instead of having to send it to my Google drive I'm not that anal on the details either so I don't need bigger canvases beyond the A4 300DPI. Using it solely for art is fine but at the cost of like if I wanted to use it for music or other apps I'd have to adjust. I can't keep too many photos for the same reason . It would be great to be able to use more docs apps so I can also keep up with writing. That's another thing, the Bluetooth keyboard I use has its quirks and doesn't always work right, nor is it very good to type with. Cheap stuff. I don't care much for mobile games my phone has time wasters that I'm happy with so that's not something I'd need. Screen size I think is the average ipad screen size which is okay . Procreate itself has sliders I have difficulty using along with some gestures but it's the best art program I've used yet second to csp(I use on PC) which I know is subscription based on ipad. Also sometimes procreate crashes Maybe it's good I can't use social media as much on it. Photos storage is also an issue.

[corvuscorona]

officially reached the part of zestiria where things have begun to minute-to-minute Make No Sense. there remains an overarching feeling of intrigue; I continually wonder what Big Facts will later be revealed + how much sense they will force all these Smaller Nonsense Moments to make.

Interesting (!):

the latest No-Sense Event (after the wind trial. have any of you guys played this game? you should play it; i'm not spoiling shit.) put forth a Very Specific Themes Concept that the game hasn't really gotten into at all until now! DOES it immediately strike me as something that's gonna boil down to the perennial Tales favorite "if you exist you have the right to live your life"? ya. WILL it execute this with anywhere near the clarity of purpose of abyss, or with as much nuance as berseria? ABSOLUTELY NOT, I DON'T THINK.

there's a recurring Thing with this game, where. especially having played berseria already! it's STUNNINGLY clear that the Stage of the Writing Process they made it to for zestiria's story is, like. "alpha edits," pretty much. they gathered up all the Themes Characters and Facts they wanted to use and they dumped them on a big table and kinda organized them loosely into like, "here's what the story is pretty much like." + then after that they SUPER ran out of time.

the moment-to-moment character writing (which can be done at like a fully A+ level on-the-fly as long as the characters are coherent + the writer is practiced at it!) is above average in a major way and there are a million beautiful glimmering pieces of what COULD serve as useful and interesting Elements of a larger plot. but so far it looks like they stopped there without using most of those / iterating on what they already had!

(apparently this game was made with the 20th anniversary of Tales in mind as a release deadline? btwn that and how hard they went with overhauling the combat system, it makes a Lot Of Sense that 1. it is kind of a beautiful mess and 2. berseria, which iterated on stuff it introduced, is Way more polished.)

overall this game feels like a. toybox made with some questionable design choices but a lot of elements that make it catch your eye&brain? that's FULL of toys i extremely want to and will play with, but they ARE very much just kind of dumped in there w/ not a whole lot of regard for. organization. kind of a nicely-contained pile of a game. still probably The funniest video game i have ever played. localization & voice direction are excellent; rose is in a league of her own re: characterization-by-manner-of-speaking (THEY LET HER BE SO CASUAL.... SHE TALKS LIKE PEOPLE; I LOVE HER) & they put allllll their Cringe Points into 1 character for containment purposes (tidy!).

the stuff it tried to do w/ the arenas for fights being 1-to-1 with the environment you walk around in actually fucks severely (+ has led to many cherished Comedy Moments, such as "3 elephants stuck in a doorway getting hit by my sword at once") and i wish theyd tried to solve it by making the CAMERA work with it, instead of by hollowing out the overworld environments so there wouldn't be chokepoints to get stuck on anymore (berseria), bc the environment design is ALSO probably the best i've seen in a tales game?

just. not even "rough around the edges" as in "there's good in here but sometimes it Hurts me" but something more like "box of unpolished rocks i love to rattle around and open and pick up and enjoy but if you're expecting 'presentable collection on a shelf' or whatever you will not find it here"..... i like this game!!!

[maximumcatpress]

I don't write fanfics. Before anyone gets the wrong idea about that intentionally provocative statement, let me explain.

Fanfic is absolutely valid, real writing. In fact, some of the craft and creativity that goes into fanfic far exceeds the average trade paperback available at your local bookstore. In some ways, I really wish I could write fanfic.

The problem is that I really don't have any inspiration for it. There's nothing I'm a big enough fan of to want to expand the story of or create a whole AU around. I had a friend once tell me that I was an "uncategorizable nerd." At first, I was a little hurt by this, but upon further reflection, I realized what he meant.

Sure, I have my fandoms. I'm a Trekkie from way back. I got really into The Expanse. I'm a casual Star Wars fan at best. I did some time as a Whovian as well. I'm a massive space and sci-fi person, despite my writing mysteries. The problem, in this guy's mind, was that I wasn't truly fanatical or passionate about any of them; I have a wide range of casual-to-medium interests. As such, I wasn't a good fit for his "nerd culture" podcast. Ah, well.

So, for you fanfic writers out there, do your thing. Do it amazingly. Most importantly, do it for you. Feed your soul with it.