#in general your writing will improve

[unwhitewashthebadbatch]

When we say that future creators can do better, we mean it. Our carrd has some reasources, but everyone in the Star Wars fandom is encouraged to not only go out and do their own research, but to spread what they find among their peers. Learn how to draw the facial features of different ethnicities. Large noses, flat ones, hooked ones. Round faces, full cheeks, hooded eyes. The full range of skin tones. Learn about the tropes and stereotypes surrounding your marginalized characters. Learn what to do, how to avoid doing the same things as the Bad Batch creators. You'll be shocked to learn how popular media has historically gone out of its way to demonize people of color, disabled people, neurodivergent people, and Jewish people, among others. What may seem like a harmless trope to you often has decades or even centuries of hate behind it. No trope exists in a vacuum, and no creation does, either. You can do better.

[sgiansporran]

Due to the massive scraping incident that happened on AO3, I have decided to make my current fic as well as all of my future fanfics available to registered users only.

It's very unfortunate that this happened, especially when the Still Wakes the Deep fandom is so small. I love writing for this game, and I especially love writing for its characters.

To the many guests who've visited, read and enjoyed my work so far, please know that I haven't deleted my fic but have instead simply restricted access to it in hopes of protecting my work in the event that another scraping incident happens.

To everyone who's had their work scraped, you have my condolences. I'm so sorry your hard work, your very passion, was so shamelessly stolen and unethically used without your consent. I hope you can still find the inspiration to continue doing what you love, despite this ongoing threat to creativity. Rise above it and roar as you do.

I might reverse this decision later (especially if protection improves) or, more likely, I might occasionally unlock my work for a limited time.

[thewolffairytaler]

Want to improve your writing?

_____________________________

For all of those who are just starting to become a writer, wanting to become a future author, or just want to improve their writing skills. I want you to be aware of this book called Steering The Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Back in my third year of high school, I took a creative writing class as not only a way of expanding my creativity, but also learning about how to improve my way of writing short stories. And thanks to my Canadian teacher, he not only showed us beyond this book, yet also ways of understanding how some writing choices work. Like POV, or better known as Point Of View.

Le Guin provides justifications before presenting her principles, often referencing profound ideals and making writing accountable for a greater good. She emphasises clarity along with understanding, not just correctness, and encourages others to share their own reasoning. She also uses passages from her favourite famous authors/writers, such as Zora Neale Hurston and J.R.R. Tolkien to demonstrate her reasoning.

I highly recommend this book for those who wants to expand their writing skills, however, this isn't exactly for beginners. Because Le Guin highlights in the introduction that the book is intended for writers who geared towards aiming to advance their profession, distinguishing between narrative and expository writing, emphasising transformation in storytelling, and recommending reading classics beyond modern fiction.

Of course, beginners can read this book too, but I bring this up for the simple reason that this book might not be for everyone. Or some might not like the "rules" she has mentioned in this book, wanting to write things their way because maybe you just prefer to write things how you see it. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with that, some publishers or people just won't accept things that are different, especially if it dosen’t make sense in their eyes.

_____________________________

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Fallen Thorns

dark urban fantasy coming-of-age

follows a boy settling into university, when after a date (that he didn’t even want to go on) turns bad he’s made into a vampire

as he settles into his new existence and the local vampire community - while they try to find who’s been leaving bodies across the city - he discovers that there’s something different and darker within him

aroace neurodivergent MC

[clumsypuppy]

Atla live action 😐

[moon-buggg]

Hi! I felt obligated to leave this message after binge reading all your fanfics, as I absolutely loved you writing style. It was a rather immersive experience and I haven't felt so invested into a premise in quite awhile. I left a few comments, but I'm not sure they show how much I actually loved, LOVED your writing! Thanks for sharing it with the world, I will now proceed to think about your Sun, Moon, and aus every night for the next 10 years :]

thank you!!!<3<3 I saw your comments and they really did make my day!!

It's kind of wild to me that so many people consider my writing to be really immersive, I always worry that I get too caught up in writing internal monologues and trains of thought and totally neglect to write whats actually physically happening in a scene lol ^^'

[antirepurp]

One of the things that annoys me about Shadow and Silver's naivety is that Shadow has had like 3-4 games where he naively just gets dragged around by others on pure faith, good or bad, while Silver was only really dragged around by Mephiles, learned not to trust him half way through the game and hadn't been as naive since.

im guessing your angle here is that shadow shows a lot more naivety overall compared to the likes of silver, but fanon in particular paints silver as needlessly naive and ignores shadow's naive traits. i would, perhaps gently, argue that silver's naivety still gets played up more than i care for in official material even today, though i suppose that's to be expected when his debut game wasn't received well and taking cues from that might sound like a bad idea to whoever is in charge of characterizing him. that, and at least i see a lot of people enjoying a kind of carefree silver who showcases naivety in a humorous manner, so it'd make sense for writers to lean into it. then again i don't fuck with supplementary material like the comics much, where silver has more presence than in the games rn, so i wouldn't truly know what's going on out there lol

but yeah i'd like to see people acknowledging shadow's naivety more. not in a way where he gets turned into a baby cinnamon roll or whatever, but as a trait that's a part of his personality as a whole, that might slip through occasionally when he isn't making a conscious effort to suppress or work against it

[katebihshop]

why did i talk to a career coach just for her to tell me to use chatgpt i hate it here

[mantisgodsdomain]

Occasionally we debate on illustrating random bits from our Discord PMs that we find really funny but then we remember that we're, like, the physical embodiment of the "ace that makes sex jokes" stereotype and phrases like "iterator dick discourse" would both be remarkably difficult to illustrate and probably require us drawing something at least somewhat NSFW (we do not particularly care to learn how to draw this)

[flowerslut]

u really inspire me to start writing i’m so nervous but reading and rereading your fics makes me wanna be that good too😭 i’ve started classes and everything, thank you!!!! <<<<<<333333

this is so sweet oh my god!!! I s2g every day you guys say something soooo unbelievably kind that it blows me away :’) I am glad that years of fanfic writing has made me better at accepting compliments so THANK YOU SO MUCH! liiitcherally being able to inspire even YOU makes every Writing Related Agony feel sooooo worth it 😭

I hope you have SO MUCH FUN as you start writing and learning etc!!! I’m only now doing my first writing workshop ever and have only started taking my writing more seriously in the past year or two as I’ve headed back to school, and I’ve had a BLAST so far. just keep writing bestie!! as I attempt to make time to study the actual craft i’ll be sure to share details/snippets/articles/books here too ❤️ good luck!!!!!

[paceywittters]

If you don't mind me asking, do you find it any difficulties writing smut scenes? Do you have any tips for other writers on the subject?

i don't mind you asking at all! i don't really have difficulty writing smut scenes anymore - i'm sure i used to because in the same way love scenes are choreographed on tv, smut scenes are technical to write. obviously they have to be...you know. enjoyable to the reader. but at the end of the day there are certain beats you have to hit, and that keeps it kinda technical in nature.

as for tips or advice, just...practice. you don't get good at smut writing without practicing smut writing. also, don't just copy other people's style - everyone does something a little different with smut whether that's based on experience, what you like, what you've read, etc...and that's good! smut should be varied.

you didn't ask for this but i will say my one big pet peeve with smut writing is when it lasts like, 3 sentences. like you're building up to the smut and then it's literally less than a paragraph's worth of writing. i feel like a lot of writers would benefit from letting themselves sit in discomfort for a few minutes and really try to stretch their muscles when it comes to smut writing. challenge yourself to write more and just try, because that's how you learn.

ALSO, find a friend you trust an ask them to read your work. ask for actual, critical feedback. ask about specific details or things you're not sure are working. just opening yourself up to that and knowing it's eventually going to help you improve is always good.

[generationlosscorkboard]

What exactly is Showfall?

Sooooo, Showfall. Lets Discuss that.

We all know and "love" Showfall, don't we? It's such a major part of the story of Gen Loss so far, so I'm sure a lot of theories are cropping up centering around it and it's total control and domination of the world of Gen Loss.

And Whilst I'm not saying they're wrong, I'm not saying it's entirely right either.

Long post. So.

:)

Showfall

From what we know, the future Gen Loss content won't contain as much of Showfall as we've had so far, so I feel it's somewhat obvious they aren't the entire being of whatever is putting the dis- in this -topia. Rather, judging from their clear commercialisation and public visibility, they are the face of the operation. They're the propaganda, the entertainment, that side of things.

If you know the book 1984, there's a really good omparison within it to my own idea of what Showfall stands for. This being, the Telescreen. If you don't quite get it or don't know 1984, I'll explain. The comparison of the Telescreen suggest that Showfall is just the Media, the control of perception, and the thing you watch that watches back. Everpresent, brainwashing, and the only source of information you have about the outside world.

Showfall has quite clearly demonstrated all of these aspects with it's control over perception of reality and how, (currently) they're the only view we have into this world because they're the only media of it (apart from some Ranmail stuff here and there) that we have a "solid" perception of what it's like. I have solid in quotation marks because AHAHAH it's um. Certainly. Stylised. Shall we say.

But in the world of 1984, it's not the telescreen who's in charge. So, I don't think Showfall is the head honcho either. Someone (or rather some Company, most likely) is behind it all, and Showfall is just doing all of the publication media stuff to make it work.

But they also perform Social Experiments, on its Cast and its audience. Which is. Odd. For a thing that's supposed to be (as far as I can tell) what is essentially crowd control before a crowd even forms, its such a strange thing to be doing. A lot of freedom with their media and toying with their audience. Which leads me to my next lot of discussion.

The Social Experiments

Why are they necessary, or at the very least, why are they being done? Social Experiments, by definition, are to investigate the actions/reactions of people when given a situation. So, who would need to do that?

If we wanna go down deep into the sci-fi dystopian route, it could be anything from Aliens, to Robots, to some kind of Artificial intelligence, or otherworldly being. Other dimension, even. But. I don't think so. At the very least, I'm not entirely convinced that this is the route we are taking. Mayyyybeee AI/robots? It would fit in with some of the details I'll bring up later on in this post, but I feel like there's probably still room for a very disconnected humanity to be behind it all.

As long as I'll get to stab the founder with a knife I'm happy with whatever they are.

For now, let stick with the assumption that they're just human. It's worse (in a good-ish way) when they're human in my opinion anyhow.

The Social Experiments were broadcast as a "new live show experience" so currently it's not exactly common place. Is it a study of the people of the world? Or is it just a maniacal show of power? Are they toying with us? Or testing us? Are they doing it to distract us from something else? To keep us glued to our seats as we try to figure a predetermined mystery whilst they slowly do something elsewhere that would otherwise gain a lot of backlash? Or are they simply doing it as a demonstration of their abilities, their control over reality and perception and how there is nothing we can do but keep watching?

There's a lot of potential reasons behind all of this, I'll tell you. I can't currently stick one thing down and say "this is it!" Because we don't quite yet have all the pieces. I'll likely reference this a lot in the future as more Gen Loss content comes out and more theories are made. But, even though I said above that I believe Showfall isn't the top, it's quite clear they have a lot of freedom with what they do and say, so some of the theories are certainly weighted in their favor by that.

The Mall

Also- why a mall? Don't get me wrong, it's cool and all, but when you supposedly have all of society at your beck and call, why would you have to use a mall and make everything you do and create out of what's left? What's stopping you from owning actual studios and such? The only logical reasons I can think of is either they don't have that far of a reach and just pretend they do to a limited population, or. Those places just straight up don't exist anymore. Like, something REALLY big happened.

So. What I'm saying is either this is veryyyy localised (mostly likely in a place called Lostfield, seeing as Gen Zero is the Lostfield incident.) Or its insanely big scale but to the point of there not being much left of anything at all, and that's why they're having to live off of the scraps of an abandoned mall.

It could go either way, there's a lot of evidence for both.

Continuing onwards-

The Masks

Every Showfall employee wears a mask, but that's not all. The emmployees are completely different from humans, though the blurring of what is and isn't reality does make it difficult to tell wether they got just blood, just wires, or some ghastly mix of the two really hard to tell. Also, the guy who told us they aren't human anymore turned out to also be Showfall, and an absolute liar when it comes to the truth as to what was happening. So. Take everything we know with a grain of salt as I continue this.

Though it does look a lot like enslavement of the human mind, either way. So showfall does not give a damn about its employees, in the most twisted sense of removing individuality and emotion, basically making programmed robots out of flesh and blood.

(If you wanna think about something really f'd up, it's entirely possible that the crew members are also reused from the mall. As in. Shoppers. (Wether changed alive or dead is unknown, but.... yeah))

The only person in Showfall that shows a high degree of control over themselves whilst wearing mask is Hetch. (and I suppose Ranboo? But remember my prior theory on his own mask, and the lack of actual control there.) Hetch is initially posed as the attempting rescuer of Ranboo, likely just wearing the mask to conceal his identity from Showfall and prevent them from finding him. Also- it's simply HackerCore. Slay!

But of course, as we all know, he's in fact part of the Showfall crew, and clearly has some degree of hierarchy due to how free his speech is, dispite obviously being very supportive of Showfall. So. Is he controlled? (and if so, by whom?) Or is he simply part of the great machinations of what makes Showfall Showfall and is just actually that Sick? But feels like wearing a mask bc again, slay! Or even just to play a character in his own show (haha how meta!)

I'm leaningggg more to the side of being controlled? But tbh I kinda do like the idea of him just genuinely being apart of Showfall's control.

Other note! The CEO guy who appeared in the Announcement video doesn't wear a mask. So, control likely doesn't reach all the way to the top.

Of course. A lot of the Cast in Episode 2 doesn't wear masks, but we all saw what happened to Sneeg. So. Take being maskless with a grain of salt.

"Approximation"

This is in reference to the Hetch quote of "this is an approximation of an office". So. Showfall, or what is above Showfall doesn't know what an office environment is like outside of set decoration and basic premises you might see in a film or show. Very interesting. Again, salt your thoughts, cause this was Hetch again, but it's such an important detail to note.

This, combined with the whole lack of care of humanity from the masks does make the Big O theory lean more towards Ai/robots/aliens/the stuff I mentioned before, but again it could still be a very disconnected humanity (with little regard for other humans for a variety of possible reasons) behind all this. Maybe the world has been in shambles for so long all they have left to remember what humanity was like was reruns of the Office and various other Sitcoms. Guh, imagine that.

Regardless, it's important that we understand that whatever is going on isnt so casual, and is either really apocalyptic, or really, really disconnected from the rest of reality. The guys in charge (the GICs. Let's call them the GICs) were literally living under a rock and then decided to take over the world I guess lmao. Goals!

Time inconsistency

This one has been kicking me in the butt quite a bit I'll tell ya-

Is this set in 2024 or the 1990s?

A lot of people seem to be vibing with the 90s idea, basing it on The idea that the asthetic of it all, from Ranboo's costuming to the use of VCR and video tapes, means its set before the big time.

I beg to differ.

For one, on the notice board in the Office (as seen on the Behind the Scenes Twitter page) has a time off request form which is dated for 2024. Now, this could be a prop/set error, and wasn't intended to be seen close up except on a behind the scenes Twitter post, which is supposed to be just BTS and not canon, but I'm putting my faith in the prop/set guys. The year is 2024. This is also backed up by the quality of technology they have, from the really modern flat screens tvs on the Box Wall, to the fact they're Tony Starking mind control from Mall leftovers. Also- wire monster? Modern (or really close to) Mall? Yeah.

Also USB flash/thumb drives were only invented for commercial use in the year 2000, so.

But Zero! I hear you say. Why is the mysterious figure recording on VHS! When supposedly they could just download it or screen record or something if it's so futuristic in the far off year of 2024????

Because 1. VHS are cool if you like to be vintage 2. VHS are physical copies of the media, rather than digital copies that could potentially be accessed or at least seen by the GICs if they're anywhere as socially powerful as we think they are. And 3. It's like the oldest trope of a conspiracy theorist in the book! Storing your files on physical and/or outdated technology bc of the above reasons.

Although this could totally be a matrix situation in which everyone THINKS its the 90s. But it's not, it's actually 2024 and everyone is just a slave to the control of the GICs. I doubt it, but I'm putting it on the table.

Branding

Showfall? Did it get up okay?

Jokes aside, what in the blazes does the name Showfall mean. My first impressions are the following: Showfall sounds like Snowfall, Showfall implies it's gonna fail (fall from glory, that sorta thing), it's very Showy, and it's somehow the exact sort of Corporate Name I would expect to hear from a big corporation.

This is not a hate on Ranboo's naming conventions, I just wanna know WHY cause I'm sure it's interesting and plot relevant. Eee.

Another branding thing of note is the Gen loss four/GL symbol. It was purposely integrated into the design of Showfall's Logo by Ranboo. I'm still unclear as to whether the 4 is the logo of the GICs or of those who seek the truth behind it all, but I'm currently leaning towards the former, with how prominent it's been in their branding and such. Course, I'm open to anything. It could just be that Ranboo wanted it as a meta hint, with the GL or the name Generation Loss not actually meaning anything in universe but it's there for us to see and go "hey look it's the GL four! Neat!", but I feel like it will have something of lore interest. I just don't know what yet.

Extras things:

- We've seen it's CEO, it's head of operations. If Showfall was the big guy of the entire story and part of our goal as the viewers is to "Find/Kill the founder" then. Well. Wouldn't that be him? Lmao no if only it were that easy, we could of stabbed him ages ago. No, the founder is not Showfall. The founder... is not related to this atm so I will leave that to a different theory.

- Another note: I was talking to my mum the other day about Gen Loss (only vaguely, she's not a horror fan, so no mentions of live crucifixtions for her), and she compared what I was saying about a dystopian society based around control and what you see not necessarily being true, breaking free of that and seeing reality for what it is, all that suff... to The Matrix. So. Take that as you will.

[effanineffableposts]

I am the very model of a genderqueer asexual I've information LGBTQIA+ general The only dates i care about are carbon and historical And all attempts at flirting may as well just be rhetorical.

My gender is ineffable, I don't owe you androgyny And (much the same) I won't offer my parents any progeny On netflixing and chilling i demand the televis-u-al… The notion of a booty call i find nigh on delusional.

[CHORUS] The notion of a booty call they find nigh on delusional! The notion of a booty call they find nigh on delusional! The notion of a booty call they find nigh on delusio-lusio-nal!

Though i stand up to the notion of amatonormativity, You'll find I'm all for all the kinds of sex-shal positivity. In short, in matters LGBTQIA+ general, I am the very model of a genderqueer asexual!

[CHORUS] In short, in matters LGBTQIA+ general They are the very model of a genderqueer asexual!

I usually distinguish the platonic from the romantic, When friends are feeling horny I don't get what's got them so frantic. Because I am impartial then, they come to me for love advice, If not simply “communicate” then “dump their ass” must then suffice.

With sex appeal in media I am the captive audience And when it comes to “Smash or Pass” my answer is quite obvious. So rest assured, if I am og-guh-ling you from just down the street… … I'm tryna think of how you'd be as my next D&D PC!

[CHORUS] They're tryna think of how you'd be as their next D&D PC! They're tryna think of how you'd be as their next D&D PC! They're tryna think of how you'd be as their next D&D&D PC!

'Cause honestly I can't compute what goes on inside allos' heads. When I imagine fantasies, I think of endless garlic bread. In short in finding sexual attraction ineffectual, I am the very model of a genderqueer asexual!

[CHORUS] In short in finding sexual attraction ineffectual, they are the very model of a genderqueer asexual!

I'm neither man nor woman when such gender roles (at least to me) Carry a sense of ‘How I Love’ or ‘Who I’ll Love’ inherently. We're told that being single might just be the saddest thing of all, Which makes my firm rejection something important and radical.

'Cause when folks say “Don’t be a prude, you'll find someone eventually”, I'll say “No, I don't want it” and I mean it with sincerity. Society has certain thoughts on what relationships are right… … Though- I'd rather think of dragons, space and what I'm gonna eat tonight!

[CHORUS] They'd rather think of dragons, space and what they're gonna eat tonight! They'd rather think of dragons, space and what they're gonna eat tonight! They'd rather think of dragons, space and what they're gonna gonna eat tonight!

Learning to love in other ways is a great opportunity To build a better, strong, diverse, and loving queer community And so in matters LGBTQIA+ general I am but one example of a genderqueer asexual!

[CHORUS] And so in matters LGBTQIA+ general They are but one example of a genderqueer asexual!

[no1ryomafan]

Worst fucking thing ever when you consume new media is when the vibes are PERFECT like designs, music, basically every visual element aligns perfectly with your taste and tickles your brain but then the writing is utter SHIT so it’s just style with no substance despite the POTENTIAL being there. Cause even if you do end up finding something similar or already did and go just go back to that it just sucks when it’s like “damn this one thing that looks cool isn’t that good” since your just left with a bitter after taste especially when your gonna go through with finishing it anyways because it’s either so short that it wouldn’t hurt even if you know nothing gonna change about it that it probably won’t have the turn around you hope for or your just so bored and have nothing else to consume.

And I don’t know how people consume trash for FUN because when it’s like THIS when you can tell there was EFFORT but not in the part that truly matters it fucking stings more.

[bookwyrminspiration]

i realize this contradicts general social rules about fanworks, but for me personally, you are more than welcome and encouraged to make constructive critiques of my work. yes positivity and knowing what you like is helpful to a certain extent, but so is knowing what you didn't like and what I could do better. obviously don't be an ass about it, but feedback and peer review contributes to improvement! and I'm always wanting to improve! so just putting that out there

[amayikes]

The good thing about this specifically is that:

1- the marketing potential of AI has plummeted. Most likely companies will stop shoving AI in everything for clout and forcing its customers to interact with it. Fingers crossed.

2- It proved that US companies' claims that they need more resources and power was untrue. Basically deepseek is the 1 LED to replace OpenAI's 20 incandescent lightbulbs. If we can't extinguish AI, the least we can do is make it take up as many resources as your average minecraft server, and this is a step towards it.

3- It's a huge win for open source as a whole. The more human achievement is not locked behind a price tag, the better for all of humanity, and the more we can stimulate the funding of research and knowledge that isn't for-profit.

So on the 27th DeepSeek R1 dropped (a chinese version of ChatGPT that is open source, free and beats GPT's 200 dollar subscription, using less resources and less money) and the tech market just had a loss of $1,2 Trillion.

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