#if you're trying to write fanfic

[vashti-lives]

After vague blogging about fanfic and YA I will say that the issue of media for teens mixing poorly with all ages and adult media is not a problem exclusive to fanfic writers. 90% of the conflict in the star wars fandom stems from the fact that star wars’ YA and children’s media is to some degree canonically and philosophically incompatible with the mainline movies. In the movies the Jedi are unequivocally the heroes and we’re supposed to respect them even as they get backed into a terrible corner. They’re wise heroes doing their best.

In the media made for kids by necessity the adults of the Jedi order have to make absolutely wild and absurd decisions in order for the kid protagonists to get chances to do heroic stuff actual kids would find fun and exciting. This naturally puts their behavior at odds with the goals of the movies.

Add in that the movies don’t hold up to close reads because they’re intended to be fun summer blockbusters, and the fact that the Jedi are based on a fairly shallow understanding of a non-western collectivist lifestyle without nuclear families which is extremely foreign to western audiences and what do you get? Decades worth of discourse over whether the Jedi are actually good guys which can never be resolved because they're based on completely different ways of analyzing media. Worse, nobody can agree on what parts of star wars should be counted in the first place so even if you're analyzing things in the same style you might still be doomed.

[inkskinned]

this is just my opinion but i think any good media needs obsession behind it. it needs passion, the kind of passion that's no longer "gentle scented candle" and is now "oh shit the house caught on fire". it needs a creator that's biting the floorboards and gnawing the story off their skin. creators are supposed to be wild animals. they are supposed to want to tell a story with the ferocity of eating a good stone fruit while standing over the sink. the same protective, strange instinct as being 7 and making mud potions in pink teacups: you gotta get weird with it.

good media needs unhinged, googling-at-midnight kind of energy. it needs "what kind of seams are invented on this planet" energy and "im just gonna trust the audience to roll with me about this" energy. it needs one person (at least) screaming into the void with so much drive and energy that it forces the story to be real.

sometimes people are baffled when fanfic has some stunning jaw-dropping tattoo-it-on-you lines. and i'm like - well, i don't go here, but that makes sense to me. of fucking course people who have this amount of passion are going to create something good. they moved from a place of genuine love and enjoyment.

so yeah, duh! saturday cartoons have banger lines. random street art is sometimes the most precious heart-wrenching shit you've ever seen. someone singing on tiktok ends up creating your next favorite song. youtubers are giving us 5 hours of carefully researched content. all of this is the impossible equation to latestage capitalism. like, you can't force something to be good. AI cannot make it good. no amount of focus-group testing or market research. what makes a story worth listening to is that someone cares so much about telling it - through dance, art, music, whatever it takes - that they are just a little unhinged about it.

one time my friend told me he stayed up all night researching how many ways there are to peel an orange. he wrote me a poem that made me cry on public transportation. the love came through it like pith, you know? the words all came apart in my hands. it tasted like breakfast.

[spacedace]

Okay but the Justice League finds out their new baby hero teammate Phantom is the Ghost King by virtue of the Fright Night showing up while they're in the middle of a meeting, looking terrifying and such and scaring the shit out of everyone- even more so when Constantine starts freaking out over the fact that the sworn night of the King of the Infinite Realms is in the Watchtower what the fuck that's apocalyptically bad Pariah Dark is supposed to be locked the fuck up forever - but instead of trying to smite them all or yeet them into the nightmare dimension he just pulls out a space themed packed lunch??? And gives it to Phantom??

And the mildly eldritch giant murder ghost is talking about how "The Queen Mother commanded me to ensure you ate my Lord, she says you missed your morning meal."

And Phantom is just grumbling about over protective sisters and "there's a cafeteria i would have been fine" what the fuck is happening right now?

What do you mean "oops you forgot" Phantom I thought the ghost thing was just a theme!

[what-am-i-doing-in-this-fandom]

My sister made a good point, she said, "Why does Fiddleford have to be a vampire? What if he was a ghost that haunted Stan instead?" And honestly that's a really good idea! Fidds is gonna stay a vampire in my au, but here's a small taste of ghost Fidds (I was being lazy :P)

Oh and here's a drawing of Fidds I got my sister to draw 🙏 as you can see, artistic talent runs in the family 🙂‍↕️

[skarkkk]

People are so sick they make me want to vomit. Stop writing like Robby cheated on his girlfriend when he was raped, stop acting like it was cheating and not the fucking rape, my god, I have no patience for that kind of people because it's the height of stupidity.

People hate him for nothing and for nothing. And yes I say nothing, don't get me wrong, I completely understand the whole situation of the third season, but fuck it??? If the characters themselves forgave, moved on (not in the way I wanted it to be developed, but you can't expect much from a Netflix series) what the fuck are you going to do?? ( And I'm not even going to say my opinion about the fight because it would be an even bigger outbreak)

They put Kyler as a joke, Tory as a very deep plan that was never touched on again and now Zara and Robby as cheating??? It's disgusting.

I search the Robby Keene tag on ao3 and I want him to be comforted by someone trustworthy (give him happiness, I dare you Netflix) and so far I've only found three, three that were actually good, because the rest either make the situation 100% worse for no reason or are about things that have nothing to do with the situation. Give him a trustworthy adult who actually works, here we believe that Amanda would have done it differently and that she would see the situation because she seems to be the only sane one in this whole karate thing (and Shawn, but that's another thing).

I hate that they're going to treat it as a cheat plot in the last part, I hate that they're going to romanticize this as much as fucking hell and that it's going to fuck with Robby even more for no reason. It was completely UNNECESSARY to put SA there or at all other times and it's not even used for character development, for the plot, or who knows what, but for a fucking joke, a cheat plot to mess with the best couple in the series.

Fuck it, forever faithful to the opinion that Robby deserves much more.

Tumblr, surprisingly even though it's an american app, is safer to discuss this than with the brazilian fandom on TikTok, holy shit.

This post shouldn't even be this long, but I can't help myself.

[erinwantstowrite]

hi! hope your having a good day/night/timezone/etc.! u got any writing tips (like how to not lose motivation/use up as much of it as u can while u have it, any ways to get the words flowing/“get in the writing mood” that have worked for u) for any of ur fellow fic writers? (idk if this’s been asked b4 (it seems like a common question lmao), but if it has, ‘pologies, lolol ^^)

i have a few that i've been thinking up to try and post!!

remember that you aren't on a deadline to write, and to take the time you need. no one wants to read something you rushed, let alone do YOU want to read it. and it REALLY matters if you love what you're writing. you'll kill your motivation trying to keep up with something like that!! if you only had time to write 300 or you had a great day and wrote like 3000, you're doing great either way!!!

there's a lot to keep up with when you're writing, and you have to remember and understand all of it. if you're trying to write while you're tired/upset/etc, you'll likely end up with something you're not that proud of. (granted, art is art, and sometimes these emotions can create something beautiful or meaningful). take metal breaks so you can come back to your work with a fresh mind, and don't overexert yourself. you'll remember and understand more if you treat your writing time like you would when you're studying. sometimes i make flashcards to remember characters, places, events, etc.

sometimes i can get too analytical with my writing, or it starts to become flat? if that makes sense? meaning, like... i'm putting words on paper rather than delving into the story. too many "they felt this way" and not enough "Character A turns to face the man that had changed their entire life with the single shot of a bullet, careless to what damage he could have caused. It's haunting to see that the man is simply that: a man. Not a monster as they had imagined, laying awake at night and wondering what their father had seen in his final moments. He's just a man." what helps with this is putting myself into the shoes of a narrator, remembering that i am telling the story as if i already know what's happening (even if I don't know where I'm going with a scene yet). i imagine that my reader is right there next to me and i'm telling them the story in real time like we're sitting around a campfire telling ghost stories, or that i'm the quirky narrator of a book they just picked up.

During times where i'm losing inspiration or feel like i'm in a loop, i like to go back to my favorite medias and spend some time with them. i recently rewatched Gravity Falls, the Sea Beast, and the Adam Project, and it was a fun mental break that got me into the writing mood. i try to find similar media to what i'm writing at that time. if i want a scene focused on funny banter or a comedic effect, i read or watch comedy. if i want to write a scary scene, i'll watch a horror movie. etc etc. "studying" your favorite media and putting yourself into your fav writer's writing shoes is a great way to improve your own writing. think about why that joke was funny, what the set up was that made it that way, and if it would have been a different joke if another character said it (Gravity Falls is one of the best media you can use for this, but really, reading mysteries in general can help)

physical exercise, if you can. getting your blood flowing and treating your body well!! when i was in band, we used to do "body warm ups" set to music, and i still do them to this day. it gets me awake and alert while also letting me listen to fun music before i write

[quaranmine]

i think the whole cringe is dead, radical sincerity, depth of genuine emotion, earnest effort, and unironic love thing that tumblr has going on the past few years has transformed my outlook on things and changed me for the better. but it does mean that now the people i know irl will give me strange looks for being too sappy or too poetic or too dedicated or too excited about about something because they're still stuck in their "well i only like this ironically" phase. guess that's their problem tho not mine <3

[ananke-xiii]

I literally don't care about Dean teaching Jack how to drive&fish but I absolutely need a fic with Sam, Rowena and Cas going to meet the shaman Sergei who was recommended by none other than Ketch. Cas huffs and puffs about it for the whole drive, Rowena complains about Sam driving too slow and Sam thinks about driving them all into a cliff, the thought of dying Jack is the only thing keeping them all alive. What's even worse? The ride back home. With Sergei. Level of "I'd rather be in the pit of hell than in this car with you all" over nine thousand. It's, again, the thought of a dying Jack that keeps them all safe from eternal damnation because these people would otherwise Commit Crimes&Sacrileges.

[youchangedmedestiel]

Anybody else writes one sentence in their fic and goes on Tumblr, then another sentence and back on Tumblr and on and on and on?

[doom-dreaming]

for the prompts: will you just sit still?

“I need to make sure the kids are okay—” she pants, doing her best to shove aside the pain that spikes through her body as she tries, for the third time, to look over her shoulder.

Also for the third time, Fred sighs. “They’re fine,” he assures, threads of exasperation weaving in at the fringes of his voice. “I can see them. Will you just sit still?”

“Ash took a direct hit from the—”

“Veta.” Huge hands—hastily stripped of their armor and now stained crimson—clamp firmly, but gently, against either side of her face, keeping her anchored. “The kids are fine,” he repeats. Slower. Softer. “Trust me, they’ve been through a lot worse. You can check on them after I get this shrapnel out of you. Stop moving.” A slow second crawls by. She’s reminded—again—how much Fred’s eyes look like the ocean. “...please.”

Her instinct to nod is overridden by the heat radiating from his hands, still pressed tight right below her cheekbones. If this were anyone else, she’d feel threatened. Cornered. She doesn’t.

She breaks the settled silence a few moments after he’s finally released her and resumed his first-aid. “...you called me Veta.”

He doesn’t look up. “Trying to get your attention.”

She hums; a neutral non-answer. His hands had left echoes of warmth behind her jaw—smears of her own blood, too, but amidst the sting of injuries and biofoam, it’s doing her more good to focus on the former. “......you called them kids.”

[recurring-polynya]

My Top 5 Bleach Filler Characters, Appropos of Nothing

5. Inaba Kagerouza, Reigai Arc

Inaba is, simply put, the pinnacle of Soul Society worldbuilding. He's got this long dramatic backstory and a bunch of rage bottled up in his chest, but also a guy needs a paycheck, so he's just been doing the R&D grind for a hundred years. He knows a shit-ton about the Dangai, which is relevant to his evil scheme, but it's also just his day job (also the Dangai owns, I want a PhD in "the Dangai"). No one else in Squad 12 seems to have the least bit of beef with him, even after he builds an evil duplicate of every person in the Gotei. Unlike a lot of mad scientist characters, he's good with his weapon. Maybe he's weirdly jacked under his villainous smock?? Also, his evil scheme was generally well thought out, and took into account the fact that the Gotei is a bunch of buffoons. ngl, I kinda wish his plan had succeeded, if only for the fact that it would probably really piss Aizen off.

4. Ran'Tao, Bount Arc

Everything about Ran'Tao owns, including:

Sexy glasses

Condemned so hard by the Central 46 that they gave her a kidou seal back tattoo

KIDOU. SHOTGUN.

Stabbed Kariya in the gut

Noped out at the end of the arc because Who Needs the Gotei's Shit?

3. Kuchiki Kouga, Zanpakutou Rebellion Arc I think that when you hear the story about how Byakuya was forbidden from marrying Hisana because she was a commoner, you're supposed to feel this great sense of injustice, like wow! Byakuya actually showed character by standing up for his love! And that's great and all, and then you get the Zanpakutou Rebellion Vintage Kuchiki Bullshit Flashbacks and it's like, oh, the last guy they married into the clan mass murdered a bunch of people and then they had to seal him up in a cave and I feel like that's an important piece of context in the entire Kuchiki Family-Being-a-Bitch-About-Who-Byakuya-Marries debacle.

Which isn't to exonerate the Kuchiki, here! It's very clear that Kouga wasn't that bad before he got pushed over the brink by Kuchiki family machinations. I mean, this is very much an Everyone's The Asshole situation.

I love the fact that they never come out and say that Kouga is Byakuya's uncle, but he's very obviously Byakuya's uncle.

I love the fact that he dramatically cut his kenseikan off with his sword and threw them at Ginrei and they made a gree card of it.

I love that he appears to be exactly Renji's height and has one chunk of hair that is the same color as Renji's and he over-accessorizes horrifically, and at best the Squad Six old-timer's had to be like "Byakuya don't do this to us again" when he hired Renji, and at worst there's a chance that Renji the secret baby that was born after Kouga was banished and he was hidden away in the Rukon so he didn't screw up the succession line but he's actually the true Heir to the Kuchiki.

2. Harugasaki Seizo, standalone episode 313 This dude had a homoerotic rivalry with Ikkaku (doomed, of course, because who could compete with Yumichika?), lost his shinigami powers when he took a blow meant for Ikkaku, and then spent the next hundred years putting his entire pussy into doing laundry for Squad 11. This man invented yearning, even if he did choose the worst possible person in the history of ever as the target of his affection.

1. Amagai Shuusuke, New Captain Shuusuke Amagai Arc He looks like Ross Poldark. He can't hold his liquor. No one knows who witnessed his Captain's Exam. Ukitake and Kyouraku tried to talk him into a threesome. He was nice to Kira. His bankai was a tuba that made a foghorn noise when it belched out fire. His dad was the shinigami equivalent of a narc, who got done dirty by the Captain-Commander. He fought the Dangai Cleaner and won. I love him more than anything.

Honorable Mention: Kenryuu and Enryuu, New Captain Shuusuke Amagai Arc Because they are an important reminder that for all the shinigami buffoonery I am forced to witness, day in and day out, some people graduate from Shin'ou, get shikai even, and still can't get hired by the Gotei.

[brucewaynehater101]

I get asked, "What do you do with your life?" and have no clue how to respond. I tell people all I'm doing is working cause "post fanfics, have a batfam blog, and stream on Twitch" is not a conversation I want to try to explain to others.

[nemaliwrites]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Félix Fathom & Amélie Graham de Vanily Characters: Félix Fathom, Amélie Graham de Vanily, Colt Fathom Additional Tags: POV Second Person, Writing Exercise, Quintuple Drabble, Experimental Style, Implied/Referenced Abuse, POV Félix Fathom, Pre-Canon, Bad Parent Colt Fathom, Sentimonster Félix Fathom Summary:

Open your eyes. Breathe. Remember that you are alive.

--

so @torvalvt recommended me The 3AM Epiphany the other day, which is a book full of ‘uncommon’ writing exercises, and i decided to give it a try! 1 out of like...200 done 💪🏽

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

Request from @bloodgulchblog: first time palmer or lasky figures out roland is flirting with them dealer's choice. Thank you for the prompt!

Roland enters service December 5, 2557 and then sometime circa February 18th, 2558 during a live mission with Fireteam Crimson present and engaging with Promethean forces, Roland says to Miller after Miller attempts to shoo him away: "I can do a million things at once, like can talk to Captain Lasky, I can flirt with Captain-" from Spartan Miller E5.01 of SpOps. He is 2.5 months old and saying this. In front of at least 5 Spartans.

Halo doesn't give us any vetting process or inside look into how AI are chosen or when they come off the shelf vs go into active service.

-

Leading a campaign is stressful. Lasky had done it before, in all but name, as the XO behind Del Rio. He's the reason the UNSC Infinity was still afloat, not that he wants to take credit for helping the Master Chief stop the Didact. There's more important things he's dealing with, and getting more attention from the upper Brass doesn't seem like a good career move or life choice at the moment.

Returning to the Forerunner planet Requiem means balancing a million details all key to their victory. Olds hands returning do help, but there's a lot of new blood in the crew as well. Including the ship AI.

As captain, Lasky had been included in the vetting process. Roland was chosen because he was the best fit. Part of the newest generation of Smart AI, with a personality fit for managing not only the enormous and diverse needs of the crew, but also the retrofitted colony ship with Forerunner engines and more armament than the navy had ships welded to her.

Suffice it to say that Lasky had a lot on his plate, and maybe didn't pay the closest attention to Roland's tone. Or the little winks and knowing nods thrown at Lasky before he blipped away. Or how he motherhenned Lasky more than Aine ever did. It was just differences in personality between AI. Captain's duties took precedent over lilting tones and pointed questions and an avatar lingering in his presence at the end of the day.

Aine never said "sir" with so much weight. She wasn't so free with compliments towards him and didn't linger for him specifically. Aine enjoyed her time on the Infinity, the care in its construction, and her crew. Roland's focus was different, and something Tom might not want to label without a second opinion. Not that he was going to talk to Sarah about it… He could already see her face, eyebrow raised, as he'd try to connect two points in front of her.

The second Requiem campaign ends, badly, but with them alive and not in the heart of a star. Lasky exhales. Sarah's mad about his contingency with Majestic and Halsey getting away, but she's coming with him to face the admirals together. Not that they have much choice, but they've already gotten their story straight. Their friendship would heal. Tom fixes his uniform in the mirror and swallows. Going planet-side for an official debriefing felt more like marching to meet his executioner. At least Hood liked him.

"Captain, your chariot awaits in hangar 11." Roland announces with a flourish.

Tom nods and thanks him with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. He's not really in the mood for levity right now.

"If I may be so bold, sir." But when has that ever stopped Roland?

"When have you not?" Tom says, smoothing down his cuffs again.

"You're worrying too much. The reports are in, the commander is going with you, your pelican is fueled and waiting. It's all going to go smoothly. You'll be fine, you're very likable, sir. I like you!"

"I noticed." Tom says with a smile aimed at Roland's camera. "You were laying it on kind of thick there."

The look on his avatar's face is enough of a prize, but then Roland starts backpedaling. That's something Tom's never seen him do before.

"Well, of course, sir. I mean, you are my captain. The captain. Of the ship- that I run, mostly."

"Of course." Lasky says, turning for the door. "We can discuss it when I return. I leave the ship in your capable hands." He smiles, wry and teasing.

Roland snaps a salute with smothered smile. If Lasky's mouth does anything funny, no one sees as he's schooled his expression by the time he hits the hangar.

[spacealligator]

I just tried to explain ABO/omegaverse/mpreg to my boyfriend, someone very removed from fandom life, and he almost had a stroke poor thing

[quillsandblades]

A question for all the writers out here. Do y'all narrate stuff that's happening to you in your head? Like something serious, someone's dying in front of you or you're having a panic attack. Or you're heavily injured (especially that). And the first thought that comes to mind is hell yeah now I know how it feels, I can write it accurately.

And then you focus on trying to describe that pain and remember it?