#maybe this is just a pet peeve of mine but

[incandescent-creativity]

I don’t post writing tips myself very much anymore, but a very easy manuscript polishing tip is to do a search for the -ness suffix, and then replace the word with a more appropriate noun.

Quickness? Switch it to “speed.”

Tenseness? Try “tension.”

Easiness? I think you mean “ease.”

Even words like sadness can sometimes be traded for something more precise. Like what kind of sadness? Would disappointment be better? Melancholy? Even just “emotion,” and then add in another detail that helps the reader understand they’re sad?

[mamawasatesttube]

no more "kon got his piercing by asking tim to use a kryptonite needle" (lies, straight up wrong, ignores the significance of kon's earring as a reclamation of his own bodily autonomy after being dehumanized to the point of being tagged like a lab mouse).

instead, if you want something about timkon and intimacy, listen. just picture tim "overthinker" drake in the jewelry store staring at two nearly-identical pairs of simple studs for a full 30 minutes as he tries to determine which would make a better gift for kon (he got overwhelmed by the novelty earrings rack. too many options). he knows why kon wears an earring instead of letting the piercing close up (kon likes the look, but moreover, it's about the fact that it's his body to do with as he likes). so picking the one kon would like best is important!!! he has to get it right!!! he needs to make sure kon has that special little smile on his face when he opens the gift box and understands how much thought tim put into it!!!

(coda: tim sees kon actually wearing an earring he bought him and runs into a mental blue screen of death, realizes he's staring, and then immediately climbs out the window.)

[boimann]

every time people draw the mercs with smooth skin and zero wrinkles an angel looses its wings and plummets to earth in a raging ball of fire

[creativity-deficient]

Me when I see some really cute creek art but they’re fake dating in it

[lake-cosay]

this is super nitpick-y but it kills me when in fics the cosays give lake a guest room. idk if the writers are just from a very different culture or what but middle class americans don't just have an empty guest room (unless like, a family member died and they converted it or something). sure they might have an air mattress or a pull out couch but a whole ass guest room??? who can afford a house with a guest room???

not to mention the cosay's house is pretty small. i would guess 3 bedrooms max in that house and even then jesse and nate would both have pretty small rooms.

also, basements aren't common in arizona, so that's even less space for a potential guest room.

just. please. i feel like the cosays are so clearly middle class it's okay to write them as middle class. we see their house in the show and it is a small, middle class family home in a middle class suburb. technically if the lake by the house is an actual lake that would hike up the price making a house with a guest room even harder to afford!!! (though personally i think it looks more like a pond which would only have a small price increase)

tldr the cosays do not have a guest room y'all are crazy /lh

[valewritessss]

What are some fanfiction pet peeves or icks?

I specifically had percabeth in mind but other ships or fandoms is fine too

[keshetchai]

As someone who enjoys religion blogging/discussions, I've come to realize that it's a good practice to be aware of the general signs/symptoms of religious-OCD thinking (aka scrupulosity), because if the conversation is taking on all the hallmarks of scrupulosity, it's actually a definitive sign that we cannot meaningfully and compassionately engage in a conversation about religion in a healthy way. I've actually had this play out a significant number of times online, and when I realized what it was, I also began to realize that the intrusive thoughts/obsessive and compulsive thinking are only ever fed by continuing the discussion with that person.

[[ Important edit to clarify why I am saying it's not healthy — made after I went back to look for more concrete facts about OCD or anxiety (I have GAD, not OCD, but many resources overlap since they're both anxiety disorders):

When Reassurance is Harmful — this explains how/why reassurance-seeking specifically about an OCD fear is a compulsive behavior, and engaging with reassurance-seeking interferes with recovery/management/treatment.

This table from the Anxiety Disorders Center lists key differences between Information Seeking and Reassurance Seeking.

This IOCDF page on Scrupulosity info for Faith Leaders identifies "symptom accommodation" as enabling. Two of the examples of doing this by participating in the OCD behavior are: "Engage in excessive conversation focused on if-then scenarios (e.g., "If I did this, then would X or Y happen? And what if Z was involved? How about W?")" And, "Repeatedly answering questions about ‘correct’ religious or faith practices."

That page also goes on to outline more info about reassurance seeking. "Although providing answers to (often simple!) questions may seem harmless, providing reassurance serves to maintain the anxiety disorder cycle." (This BMC psychiatry article cites a lot of related studies establishing this.)

The IOCDF page on What is OCD and Scrupulosity? ]]

Imo, the responsible thing to do is to recognize that (even if the other person hasn't outright stated it/isn't diagnosed)* the conversation is not about religion, it is about needing mental health support from professionals and experts. Talking to me, the layperson who enjoys chatting theology and my religion — is not only not helping, but is actively harmful. I'm not just talking about the person who I replied to today, either. Like I've said, I've seen this happen dozens of times in various online forums.

*[while I am against diagnosing strangers on the internet, it's important to realize A) lots of people don't know what Scrupulosity is, so it's possible they've never considered this is a mental health concern that could be treated, and that B) for the purposes of my concern, it doesn't matter if they actually have diagnosed OCD. The only thing that matters is that their thought-process causes them genuine distress/fear, and every response given to them seems to only incite new/additional distressing questions/thoughts, or further entrenches the original distress.]

Ultimately, any discussion aside from "you might want to speak to a mental health professional about scrupulosity OCD" seemingly puts me in the position of feeling as if I am being used for their self-harm. I hate that feeling. I do not want to be leverage for fear and pain. I have GAD, I despise the idea that I am making things worse.

No matter how much I love religious discussion, the answer in these cases is always "please reach out to an OCD specialist/mental health professional. I am not qualified to discuss this." And then to stop there. I have never once seen anyone stuck in this compulsive thought spiral be reassured or feel any better by hearing from someone else's approach to theology handled with things like empathy, compassion, logic, or even atheism. It doesn't matter what we say, how we say it, or how we relate to our own religion. The urge to engage in this kind of conversation in order to chat about religion is a sign that we are not equipped to help.

You can't have a conversation here, because intentionally or not, ten times out of ten, you are adding fuel to the fire. Just like people can't simply tell me something that would erase/talk me out of my ADHD/depression/anxiety disorder, you also cannot simply argue/reassure/persuade people out of scrupulosity. We should not try. We have a responsibility to consider that it's outright harmful to do so, and to disengage.

[adelinamoteru]

anyways I don’t really care if jason is written as an anti hero or villians bc

well written villains are ones who the audience can still empathize and agree with (to whatever extent)

I don’t need characters to be the symbol of unrelenting good for me to like them, its not at all a necessary criteria. in fact, in most cases I would argue that it makes them less interesting

[horsegirlhob]

I'm not an Angel hater by any means however I do think Spike should get to be as big of a dick to him as he wants to be and people shouldn't get to say shit about it.

[notyournightsky]

Tired of Dick’s history and skill in acrobatics being equated to gymnastics. They are two separate disciplines. They are not the same thing 😫

[bunny--manders]

I'm trying to get through Fourth Wing and let me tell you I am STRUGGLING with a fantasy empire that has produced characters named Dylan, Reginald, and Xaden. Big "Fake American names in a Japanese video game" energy in this worldbuilding.

[oifaaa]

I love people who also think that Jason calling Tim "replacement" is dumb. It's not even an insult. It's so stupid. Give me actual insults and hurting each other (and then give me forgiveness and understanding because that's what I came to the fan work for)

Its so so stupid I don't know why it's so popular it doesn't even sound right when you say it and not insulting at all like Jason you are the second Robin you replaced Dick it's the thing side kicks do - but it's also part of that whole stupid thing were people make it out that Jason was more angry at Tim then he actually was that was stupidly amplified by the idiotic titans tower fight - my favourite thing about utrh is that tims just not mentioned in that story at all it will always be hilarious to me

[practically-an-x-man]

the fine line between "not all sci-fi can be written by someone who understands science, suspension of disbelief is a good thing" and "okay this just doesn't make sense and it's taking me out of the story"

[cure-typhoon]

I hate when some people try to compliment a fat person/character and they're like "They look so cuddly and huggable!" djakbf please just. Stop

[maaskuline]

i can't sleep rn so i will run to this blog to cure my boredom hehe BUT I JUST RANDOMLY WANTED TO SAY.... pleeease please feel free to let me know if Johnny ever goes too far in a thread!! i try my best to keep a healthy balance between staying true to Johnny's personality & also staying respectful at the same time—but Johnny is inherently sort of a character that pushes boundaries, so that's something i worry about a lot! he's JOHNNY BRAVO, and he doesn't always have the.. beeest reputation with some folks out there? so i would completely understand if people have some worries upon seeing a Johnny Bravo rp blog at first glance. but i really wanna try to make my portrayal of him as safe and considerate as Johnny Bravo can be!

for instance, if you rp a muse who is a kid or teenager (or even muses who are 18 - 19), you can rest assured i will NOT have Johnny flirt with them. i always try to check other muses' ages before i interact with them for this reason!

i also try to keep Johnny's flirting in check—i don't tend to go the sexual route with it at all, unless maybe if we've discussed it beforehand and it's agreed upon, or if your muse prompts it first, but even then, if a thread is getting TOO steamy i'll probably wanna take it to discord DMs or something anyway bc i get embarrassed lol. but otherwise, Johnny's flirting is gonna be fairly innocent! but of course, communication is key! so if his flirting still makes you uncomfortable at any point, please feel free to let me know, i don't mind toning him down a bit if i need to!!

[melit0n]

From a fic writer, please don't say 'I wish there was a second part to this!' or 'part 2?' to writers, like, ever, because it is unfortunately not the compliment you think it is.

Don't get me wrong, I love every person who's taken the time to comment and make sure I reply to them, but it always brings me down a bit to see people asking for a second part, especially if it is quite clearly stated as a oneshot. It's half of 'oh hey! They think my writing is good and want more of it :D', so I recommend the other stuff I have on my page, and half 'They just want more.' because, when it comes to those comments, there is nothing else but asking for more.

In a general sense, the author has put time and effort into making that fic//oneshot happen! Might've been inspired by a song and written out in two days, or it could've been intractably planned over weeks! It is still time and effort and self indulgence! Don't ask for more when there is obviously nothing else planned.

I think, nowadays, even with fic reading, it's become a matter of quantity; basing whether to read a fic off of kudos:reads ratio, only being able to read fics over 50k words and not accepting any less etc. People also have seemed to forgotten that fic writers are apart of fandom as well; they aren't influencers farming out massive fics every two months, and, when it comes to a oneshot, quite possibly want to leave it as that. A oneshot.

So, instead of asking for more, maybe compliment what is there! Talk about a favourite line or scene, or give some constructive criticism if the author allows it. Fill your belly on the food served and don't think of the extra plate you could have.