#nonfiction and fiction alike

[luciddaydreamingworlds]

I think it'd be cute if the Thorny Towers polycule opened a library together.

[gailynovelry]

Thinking a little bit about that one "I'm an English major and a professional as opposed to you amateurs" anon. Gonna roast 'em a little bit, but with the intention of addressing a thing we've had in mind for a while.

Real talk, coming from someone who WAS an English major; majoring in English is not necessarily a guarantee that someone is a good writer. For one, you can be bad at your major, full stop. For another, it's not even a guarantee that someone identifies as a writer to begin with. English as a major is pretty broad, and it covers reading too, among other things. There's library science, analytical academia, historical preservation & interpretation (MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS HELL YES), editing, nonfiction trades (often crosses over with STEM majors), marketing (crosses over with business majors), and also book design and typography (<3 <3 <3 our favorite, crosses over with art majors).

Someone can major in English and take a specific minor with the goal of falling into a trade that is not writing literary fiction. In fact, we would argue that most people who get something useful out of their major are the ones that do that.

It's also worth noting that it's possible to be an English major focused on "lowbrow" fiction. There are people who major in English and use the experience towards the end of writing erotica. There are people who major in English with the intent to write genre fiction. There are people who major in English to study the history and social context of fanfiction.

These things are, in fact, worthy fields of study! The realm of the "amateur" is the realm where a lot of cultural conversations and innovations happen!

Expecting English as a major to be a tract specifically for producing acclaimed literary fictionists is not realistic, not how the discipline typically works, and it's certainly not a thing you can use to hold over other writers' heads. It is perfectly possible for people to write good things (professional-grade things even) without ever touching a college course.

I sat through so much bad writing in college. Technically bad, thematically bad, gramatically bad. And I routinely bump into non-graduate authors who write texts, formal and informal alike, that blow my own writing clean out of the water with their quality.

In short, dismissing other people in your general field as "amateurs" who are beneath you is an incredibly unprofessional thing to do.

[shark-myths]

do you have any book recs for books about girls that feel like girl out boy. i want to read about girls but i don't want to read about fall out boy yk

I love this question! I am constantly seeking for books that feel like Girl Out Boy because I want to live in that muggy girlspace at all times. These cut a wide swath of genres and probably only 2 of them are genuine read-alikes in tone; the rest share a headspace or ethos or were otherwise important in shaping that world. I would love to collect other peoples’ recommendations on this question, so please chime in!

Nonfiction:

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

Any book by Melissa Febos

Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers by Sady Doyle

The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic by Jessica Hopper

The Riot Grrrl Collection ed. by Lisa Darms

Fiction:

The Scapegracers series by H.A. / August Clarke—the most GOB thing I have ever read in my life!

Supper Club by Lara Williams

Anything Resembling Love by S. Qiouyi Lu

We Were Witches by Ariel Gore

It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

You Know I’m No Good by Jessie Ann Foley

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg

The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Girl Mans Up by M.E. Girard

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman

Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson

Comics:

Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Man-Eaters by Chelsea Cain

Paper Girls by Brian K Vaughn

Girl Town by Casey Nowak

The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag

Okay, I'm stopping myself now, because this is clearly just becoming a "Book About Women Sharks Want You To Read". And I could go on, and on, and on. Please let me know if you read and like any! Reading and talking about reading are my favorite things in the world.

Go forth and read about girls!

[fiction-quotes]

She loved any library, big or little; there was something about all that knowledge, all those facts waiting patiently to be found that never failed to give her a shiver. When friends couldn't be found, the books were always waiting with something new to tell. Life that was getting too much the same could be shaken up in a few minutes by the picture in a book of some ancient temple newly discovered deep in a rain forest, a fuzzy photo of Uranus with its up-and-down rings, or a prismed picture taken through the faceted eye of a bee.

And though she would rather have died than admit it – no respectable thirteen-year-old ever set foot down there – she still loved the children's library too. Nita had gone through every book in the place when she was younger, reading everything in sight – fiction and nonfiction alike, fairy tales, science books, horse stories, dog stories, music books, art books, even the encyclopedias.

Bookworm, she heard the old jeering voices go in her head, four eyes, smart-ass, hide-in-the-house-and-read. Walking encyclopedia. Think you're so hot. “No,” she remembered herself answering once, “I just like to find things out!” And she sighed, feeling rueful. That time she had found out about being punched in the stomach.

She strolled between shelves, looking at titles, smiling as she met old friends – books she had read three times or five times or a dozen. Just a title, or an author's name, would be enough to summon up happy images. Strange creatures like phoenixes and psammeads, moving under smoky London daylight of a hundred years before, in company with groups of bemused children; starships and new worlds and the limitless vistas of interstellar night, outer space challenged but never conquered; princesses in silver and gold dresses, princes and heroes carrying swords like sharpened lines of light, monsters rising out of weedy tarns, wild creatures that talked and tricked one another...

I used to think the world would be like that when I got older. Wonderful all the time, exciting, happy. Instead of the way it is...

  —  So You Want to Be a Wizard (Diane Duane)

[pluralprompts]

Hello! I was wondering if you had any resources for reading about or writing systems?

A few of your posts have really inspired me and I wanna make sure whatever I put out as more "serious" work is a better representation than just "what this one headmate thinks plurality might be like", especially for other system types/origins!

Thanks :3

Hm... Well, I can't recommend @writing-plurals enough for advice, honestly! As for my own advice, here's three posts where I've given advice before:

Post 1 (general tips for writing plural characters)

Post 2 (general tips for writing plurality)

Post 3 (avoiding stereotypes and challenging the fears that come with creating representation)

I think the best thing to do in order to get to know a certain group better is just to talk to people of that group (or at least, read their posts and works about what their lives are like). Especially since no two lives will be exactly alike; the more people you talk and listen to, the more patterns you'll be able to notice, and the more material you'll have to use as inspiration (which is especially useful, since you never know what will or will not work for your story until you actually sit down to write it). Plus, most folks are happy to answer questions about their system and how it works! Or at the very least, most will correct common generalizations they've seen that don't actually apply to all systems. It's better to ask and risk getting rejected than not give yourself a chance to get any input at all, in my opinion.

On that note, it's alright to write things clumsily, so long as they're genuine. Plurality can be difficult to portray all the nuances and details of, as I've found through my own experience. It's alright if your work sounds clumsy or cheesy at some points – trying to talk about one's identity and personal experiences often is. As annoying as it is, such personal topics just aren't always going to translate perfectly into seamless prose, especially if you're trying to introduce the audience to new information about something that occurs in the real world. Finding that balance between informative "nonfiction" and the plot and flow of a fiction story is difficult (I think that's why a lot of language education videos have just fully embraced that awkward in-between and refuse to apologize for it, and honestly, all power to 'em for that, at least they've found a way to own it). Don't give up on a scene or idea just because it sounds clumsy, especially if it's your first few drafts. Sometimes, clumsy writing is the only way through the muck of it all (even if only on your first few attempts).

If you need references or examples, we have a lot of works on this blog under the pluralprose tag, or you could go to Ao3 and search under the Multiplicity/Plurality tag (they have longer works there than we get, so I definitely recommend it if you want an example of how a longer story could work). Reading – and giving yourself time to analyze what you're reading (what you like, how the author does something, any stylistic choices you might want to implement into your own work, etc.) – is important as a writer, after all! Especially here, where those works can double as resources for understanding other systems and how they might like to be written about.

I hope this helps!!

[klapollo]

Hi everyone! I'm officially opening serious commissions again as I'm trying to get finally move out already.

Without getting into details, my current living situation is taking a toll on my wellbeing and I want to get out as quickly as possible. Moreover, I'm almost 30 and just want to move into the next phase of my life. I've been saving for years now, but I made it a goal to try and be in my own place by the end of the year.

Art is more of a hobby for me, so my goal for now is to use commissions to supplement my income and help me pay for everyday expenses so I can allocate more of my salary to saving up and the expenses that come with moving/investing in a place to live.

This post covers the basic details, but if you have any questions, please feel free to DM me. You can also email me at kaicedcoffee@gmail.com. I know most of us are feeling the squeeze right now, and I'm happy to provide flexible sliding scale pricing for customers facing financial challenges in commissioning. Samples of my work can be found in my art tag.

I'm also an experienced writer and editor who will both write for your and/or edit and proofread your own work. I've been a professional copywriter for three years and a general freelance writer for seven. My fiction has appeared in several literary magazines and anthologies, and I have a BA. I'm willing to proofread and edit nonfiction, original fiction and fanfiction alike, so DM/email me for a quote!

If you want something quick and convenient, I will also do sketches in exchange for ko-fis. Two ($6) will get you a sketch with light shading, and detail can be added with higher prices if you'd like.

KO-FI LINK

Thank you in advance for passing this along!

[wordswrittenbynight]

My Favorite Books of 2024

Another year has come and gone! I need a few days to do my writing wrap up, but in the mean time, I have some recommendations from the books I read in 2024.

(Divider by: @/saradika-graphics)

BEST NEW RELEASE (2024)

"The New Couple in 5B" by Lisa Unger

This is about Rosie, an author who moves into the very apartment building she's researching for her next book, only to have the building's dark history rear its ugly head.

If you like Rosemary's Baby, you'll like this too. It's got a very eerie atmosphere from the start, with tight twists around every page turn. Highly entertaining and perfect for horror readers.

BEST "NEW TO ME" READS

"Falling" & "Drowning" by T.J. Newman

Both of these novels tell the stories of airplane-related disasters. In "Falling", a pilot's family is kidnapped, and the only way to save them is to crash the plane and kill everyone on board. In "Drowning", a plane crashes and sinks to the bottom of the ocean while several people remain alive on board.

Both of these books are truly cinematic in their storytelling, which is why it should be no surprise that film adaptations for both are on their way. They're relentless and heart-pounding, refusing to let readers take a breath until the final few pages. You may never want to board a plane ever again, but it'll be worth it.

BEST NONFICTION

"I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy

This is the memoir of Jennette McCurdy, detailing her life as a child star at the behest of her abusive mother and the journey she undertook to heal and reclaim her life after her mother's death.

As you can imagine, this is a *hard* read. McCurdy is a talented writer, and the way she depicts events throughout her life is as heartbreaking as it is well-written. It also underlines something that a lot of media misses with mental health and recovery - that healing is messy and filled with setbacks, not perfectly neat and linear. Well worth your time.

BEST CHILDREN'S FICTION

"No Place for Monsters" & "No Place for Monsters: School of Phantoms" by Kory Merritt

In "No Place for Monsters", children are going missing, but no one realizes it, because no one can remember the missing children...except for two children named Levi and Kat.

In "School of Phantoms", Levi, Kat, and several of their friends become trapped in their school during a blizzard as legions of evil creatures descend upon them.

Were you a child who grew up reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark? Then you'll love these books.

Both of them masterfully weave together incredibly creepy stories that will appeal to children and adult readers alike. The art is just as lovely as the text, reminding me a lot of Junji Ito's style (just dialed back for younger readers). And, no joke, School of Phantoms is the first book in about two decades to give me an actual jumpscare. Talk about remarkable!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

"Miracle in the Andes" by Nando Parrado - A memoir from a suvivor of the Uruguyan Flight 571 crash in the Andes mountains.

"Convenience Store Woman" by Sayaka Murata - A neurodivergent Japanese woman enjoys working at a convenience store despite the judgment from friends and family.

"First Lie Wins" by Ashley Elston - It's better if you go into this one blind. You'll just have to trust me on this.

~

All right, y'all, your turn! What were your favorite reads in 2024?

[desdasiwrites]

Happy tdov! 🏳️‍⚧️

Here's a few books recs for the occasion

[verishere]

For Liam and Axel, how about 🎮🎻 💯?

🎮 three hobbies

Three hobbies for each, discounting their Skill.

Axel first:

Dance! They practice dance routines and make their own pretty often.

Next is pottery, mostly inspired from Hilrokin, though Axel isn't the best at this one- painting is their favorite art to do still.

Cooking. They learned culinary skills in Blonicku and have never forgotten, they love to cook (and usually experiment. Explosively).

Liam:

Singing. His partner is well renowned as the best singer in the world, and over 5000 years living with her he picked up some. He's never going to be famed for it, which is why I put it as a hobby, but he did get good at it over that long.

Writing. He really loves reading, to a neurotic degree, and he picked up writing as well. Most of what he writes is guides, nonfiction histories, etc, but under some pen names he has written fiction- mostly romance novels, which is why their under a pen name.

Hunting. Most of the meat in either the palace of the sun or the Nulyradon's palace (more on that in its own worldbuilding post, I only just realized I never talked about it) that the Nulyradons specifically eat was hunted by him.

🎻

Axel has never played any instrument, but Liam can play the piano and the organ. He's very good at playing it, doesn't compose well- his only well known composition was for his and Freya's wedding song (and that one he didn't actually play himself at the wedding)

💯 three random facts

Axel:

Axel has had to- multiple times- be stopped from adopting orphans they found. Or rather, convinced it was probably a bad idea, and send them on to someone else- no one can really stop them. After A Certain Spoilery Event Axel stopped doing this, but early on Hilrokin almost had a pack of dozens of siblings.

Axel has two usual, casual outfits. One is a dress that goes down halfway to their knees, with high heels and a ribbon tied through on top of their hair. The colors can be Literally Anything. The other is something they came up with, which is pretty much just a robe without any sleeves. It reaches their feet, and a part of it is capable of wrapping around their neck if they choose too.

Something I just recently changed, Axel is heterochromatic. One eye is red rimmed with golden centers, and the other is green rimmed with purple centers. This usually means that even though they look near nothing alike, Hilrokin is often assumed to be Axel's biological child even before she is introduced as Axel's daughter, purely for how rare heterochromia is (even rarer in this world than IRL, by like four times). Part of Axel's decision to adopt Hilrokin had actually been those eyes- they saw themselves in Hilrokin, and remembered what it was like to lose your home.

Liam:

He pretty much only drinks water. Almost no other drink at all, whether its alcoholic or not, he will almost never drink anything else. He says that flavor within liquid is "loud" which no one else is yet to understand. Freya thinks he's mad.

Despises tight clothing. He's got sensory issues and tight clothing of any kind is a nightmare for him. His shoes can be tight, no other clothing. In large part because of this, he shows the most skin out of anyone when he dresses, even if its for an important event. Not scandalously so, by our definitions anyways; several cultures in world do think it is scandalous, but he doesn't care.

Speaking of scandalous, here's something I've kinda talked about before but with a few details I defo haven't. He lives for the entire 5,000 year long dark years as a monarch of the whole world. He is in that role less often than his family is, as he's busy with Watcher and Keeper things, but he does at least once every few years end up in the council room or diplomatic meets of some nation. He does not give one single fuck about specific culture's ideas on whats proper. You know cutlery etiquette exists? He'd laugh in your face. Anyways the specific event I mentioned is at a meeting with the council of this one kingdom I have yet to name, several people were constantly giving him dark looks at their feast. He had no idea why they were, and didn't really care, though he did notice. Eventually they were done eating and changed venue to the typical council chambers, and on the way a courtier stopped him to explain the dark looks. It is in their culture considered improper to eat meats without cutting them first, so while he picked up the meet with the silverware and ripped it off with his teeth they were cutting it up into bites. He hadn't touched his knife. Liam smiled, said "thank you, I'll keep that in mind" and so the next day as they feasted before he parted from their region, he ate the entire meal with his bare fucking hands.

[queenlua]

Look back twenty years. What's the biggest change in your fiction/art/game preferences over that time? What's the preference that's changed the least?

ooooh that's a fascinating question.

biggest change: epic high fantasy usually bores me nowadays! i was really into it as a kid. now i need a really compelling pitch to pick the genre up. (and in general i'm getting less into sf/f lately, though part of that may be just bouncing off what's getting published recently, specifically.) also: i've gotten way more into nonfiction/historical fiction than i ever was as a kid. also, i feel like i'm way more invested in, like... nitty-gritty-psychological-thriller-type-deals-where-we-learn-all-the-way-someone's-a-weird-little-freak? is that a genre? basically, i'm way less interested in strictly-"well-constructed" plots than i was, and i'm more interested in messy psychological realism. i mean 20 years was a long time ago, i was probably getting in stupid forum arguments about how such-and-such character is Objectively Poorly Written because they behaved in an inconsistent way, whereas nowadays i want to read nothing but inconsistent and weird protagonists.

smallest change: i think i first discovered Fire Emblem just shy of 20 years ago, so, yeah, i still love that series (and turn-based tactical gameplay in general), haha. also, at a high level, i'm still really interested in... loneliness? & alienation? & time & space? as themes, generally? it was super weird for me to read Virginia Woolf for the first time as an adult and realize everything i loved about her was essentially the exact same as the stuff i really loved about Chrono Cross when i played it at age 12, even though superficially those two things are nothing alike. (and i have no idea where that interest comes from—like, in my own life, i'm one of those fortunate few who had a pretty happy childhood, have had extraordinary luck in friends & rarely feel lonely... but i look at all the fiction i've written recently, or the stuff that's nearest to my heart, and man an awful lot of it has loneliness at its core. what gives!)

ok that covers fiction and games, but wrt art: i have never understood art and still don't. i probably like an awful lot of furry art for someone who's not a furry tho, that's been p stable over time

[askauradonprep]

Got any Alexander Blue Fairy with his half sister, Evangeline Bue Fairy hc ?

Their first meeting went well. He was nervous but she was so excited to meet him that they ended up hitting it off.

They're both bookworms, but he reads mostly nonfiction (with the occasional adventure fantasy or sci fi read) while she reads fiction and nonfiction alike.

Alexander wouldn't trade his adoptive parents but he kinda resents her for getting to grow up with the Blue Fairy.

They call sometimes to see how the other is doing, but they rarely get a lot of deep personal bonding that way.

He sometimes looks at the stars and thinks of her and he blames her dad for that entirely.

She was really happy for him when he got married. She visits Llyr every time she's even remotely 'in the area' to see how things are going.

She sometimes brings him maps, hoping he'll like them. Then he feels bad about being awkward around her and gets her something nice like a new book.

She won't ever give him wine. He's a lot more moderate than he used to be in his alcohol consumption but she doesn't want to risk it.

As they get older, they both look a lot like their mom. People can always tell they're siblings.

[eddysocs]

Introducing: Angelique Blanchard

Fandom: True Blood

Face Claim: Genevieve Padalecki

Full Name: Angelique Josette Blanchard

Nickname/Alias/Pet Names: Angel

Age: 25

Myers Briggs Type: INFP

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Love Interest: Bill Compton

Occupation: Bartender/Local Historian

Collections: Civil War Artifacts

Style/Clothing: Angelique wears a lot of plaid. Shorts in the summer and jeans in the winter. There’s nothing about her style that makes her stand out in Bon Temps, and that’s just fine by her.

Signature Quote: "I’m just a girl from Louisiana, but with you, I feel special. Important."

Plot Summary: Angelique Blanchard grew up with a love for history. She even gives historic home tours around Bon Temps and Shreveport on the weekends. The rest of her time is spent bartending at Merlotte's or reading historical fiction and nonfiction alike. And one night, she meets Bill Compton. No stranger to his family lineage, she instantly wants to get to know him, fill in the gaps of history as she knows it, but is she really prepared for what it means to get to know a vampire?

Forever Tag: @arrthurpendragon, @baubeautyandthegeek, @foxesandmagic, @carmens-garden, @fawera, @themaradaniels, @that-demigirl, @iloveocs, @bossyladies, @b1rvt4, @getawaycardotmp3, @misshiraethsworld, @kmc1989, @curious-kittens-ocs

[fortressofserenity]

Not much for others to read

I believe the other real reason why the North American comics industry has troubles attracting new readers is that it constantly churns out things that bore them, that it also doesn't offer anything else that would interest them. From my own experience reading comics, there's little (if any) comics where the dog not only hunts on its own but also attacks wildlife.

You could get this from both news reports and academic studies, I've done this before multiple times in whatever language they appear in (mostly western, bear with me here). But in the world of the funnybooks, this rarely ever makes an appearance if it ever does. You might say that this is an unpopular topic, but it's commonly noted in nonfiction enough to be the subject of both news reports and academia.

If you look hard enough and peruse foreign language media, it really does make a lot of appearances as a topic or subject matter. Or for another matter, the use of dogs for hunting rats in places like Vietnam and Indonesia which you could find more of those in their countries' respective languages. It's as if many comics writers and editors don't read much to write about anything else, let alone without resorting to repetitive topics.

Though admittedly I'm very guilty of this as well, sometimes to an embarrassing extent. But I feel if there are very few comics where there are any ship cats (that was a thing before), farmers using cats to hunt rodents and stuff then it will alienate anybody else who would be interested in those kinds of things. Same with dogs killing wildlife and vermin alike, you have to read or do something else to write something else.

You have to experience something else to write something else, that's why the North American comics industry has many of these problems. If many North American comics published are primarily about superheroes, but most especially American publishers like DC and Marvel at that, then it will alienate readers who want to read something else. It needn't to be about fantasy, horror, romance, crime or science fiction.

It could be something else like working in fast food restaurants or clothing factories for instance, it seems the topics that show up fairly often in nonfiction are barely, if ever, represented in comics. You might say that these subject matters are boring, but it could interest somebody else. It's really a combination of shortsightedness and selfishness to not realise others would be interested in reading those in comics.

This is also why comics aren't that welcoming to outsiders, especially if they don't want to read stuff that bores them and they can't find the stories they like to read in comics form.

[mageofseven]

Repressed Love: A DiaLuci Love Story

Chapter 18

Tag list: @astroseuss @zarakem @brielle043 @missloserqueen

•▪︎▪︎◇°●♡●°◇▪︎▪︎•

And so Satan moved into the castle. Diavolo made sure his almost-stepson had the best room he could offer; or rather, the best rooms.

Satan's room was connected via archway to a second room, about two or three sizes bigger than the room he was to sleep in. This was the room for all of his books, both the ones brought over from House of Lamentation and any new ones he might aquire.

This was a request from Lucifer, knowing how much his son cared for his books and therefore wanted a proper space for the blonde to put them that was close, where Satan could feel they are safe.

The father did give one rule for his son to abide by in his room though: the books stay in the library section; only books that he was actively reading were allowed in his bedroom section. The pride demon didn't want his son's new room to look like his old one. The blonde's room at HoL was a safety hazard and the dad couldn't tell you how many times his son has accidentally knocked over a big stack of books and was stuck under the avalanche that followed.

Lucifer...his heart couldn't handle anything else happening to his son right now so he was grateful the young man agreed to his rule.

Though the reason for this move was heartbreaking, Lucifer really did enjoy living with his son; the closer Satan was to him, the more at peace the man was. Both father and son needed each other now more than ever.

Each day during Audriana's nap, the father-son duo would be in the ancient library within the castle, the one with documents dating as far back as the late Primordial Era. It was part of the Royal family's duty to protect the rarest and most delicate written works, both those of nonfiction and fiction alike.

No one outside of the Royal Family have ever set foot in this specific library, a fact that was still technically true since Luce was now engaged to Diavolo, something the blonde was begrudgingly accepting.

Now, why were they in one of the Devildom's most protected locations, you may ask? For answers, of course.

Lucifer wasn't someone to give up easily, despite the guilty and hopeless thoughts that plagued him. Even if doctors didn't know enough about his son's condition, surely some record from the past did. This man was desperate to save his son.

However, Satan made no attempt to search for answers that might aid him. Instead, he read from old books and ancient parchment on topics from his wildest dreams. Even when dying, the wrath demon just needed to learn everything he could; it brought him comfort in his younger years and even now during a time he saw as his remaining, he found comfort in it.

Lucifer sighed.

"You're not even going to pretend to help me, are you?"

"This is your project; not mine." The blonde shrugged, as if this 'project' didn't concern his own life.

The blonde was sitting on a bench, currently reading a record from the one of the deeper sections.

The father huffed and decided to climb down from the latter he was on and sit next to his son.

"What did you decide to read then?"

"A personal account from the Loving Enlightenment period." He answered with a frown. "So many children were abandoned in the end...many more taken from their parents."

"Satan..." Lucifer frowned back. Somehow, it really didn't feel appropriate for him to read about such an event.

"So this is how humans were made." The young man said aloud, more to himself than his father before he looked up to meet his eyes. "Your Father really knocked up Lord Diavolo's ancestor just to abandon his new children in a third realm?"

Lucifer pursed his lips.

"From my understanding, yes." The older demon admitted. "Though it happened long before I was born."

The blonde's eyes dropped back to the page, though Lucifer could tell his son was not reading.

"Satan?"

The blonde pursed his lips, mirroring his father from moments ago.

"Were...were you ever tempted to?" He asked quietly. "When I was born, did you ever think of getting rid of me?"

After all, most children like him and his sister were cast aside as soon as they were born. Not many were strong enough to raise children born from their own trauma after all.

"Not even for a second." Lucifer answered, not missing a beat. "I...I was scared, confused even...but I have been raising children since I myself was a child. The idea of...sending you away. In my mind, that wasn't an option."

Lucifer still remembered that night, experiencing a pain so strong that he blacked out, only to wake up in a pool of his own blood with a tiny baby who wailed in pain and needed his comfort.

"You know...you were born in this very castle."

Satan raised his head, his whole body tense.

"I...what do you mean?"

"I gave birth to you my first night in the Devildom." Luce explained. "At first, we had no home here and had to live at the castle with Diavolo. I was still...well, what happened to my sister was obviously still fresh in my mind and I tried bearing that pain on my own. I retired early to my room because I just...couldn't keep my composure any longer. I was angry. Angry at myself for failing my sister, angry at my Father for starting this and wanting her dead. Then you grew and fought your way out of me, so strong yet so helpless...and that's when Diavolo found me."

The blonde's eyes widened at this, but chose not to interrupt his father.

"He knew what happened to me better than I did." The pride demon gave a small laugh, smiling with his eyes as he thought back. "He could just sense I wasn't okay and made sure to check on me. I still remember how worried and flustered he was from finding me like that. Despite it all, he still healed me up, got both of us cleaned, and never left my side that night. I barely knew him nor did he know me, but he worried for me all the same, took care of me when I needed it, despite the fact that no one has ever taken care of me before."

"Why?" His son asked. "Why would he care when he didn't know you yet?"

"Because that was who Diavolo was; who he is. He's more angelic than most angels." Luce was smiling, truly smiling as he thought of his fiancé and it took his son off guard. "He could of let me die alone in that room; he did not. He could have let me lay awake and worry about you all night on my own; he did not. He laid with me all night, assuring me that I was fine, that you were fine...that I could give you a good life. He comforted me and wouldn't let me despair on my own. That...that was the night I fell in love with him..."

Of course, Lucifer was attracted to the prince long before that night. Luce even knew Diavolo for a while when he was still an angel; the night his sister almost died was not their first meeting...just the one that changed everything.

Satan... didn't know how to respond to all of this, to his father speaking so lovingly about...him.

Luce looked down at his son, noticing a scowl on his face.

"Satan?" The father gave a worried expression to his son, who turned away from him.

"I don't like him." The blonde admitted. "I...I never cared either way for him before, but since...since my body started whatever it's been doing, I've hated him. I don't like him near you two."

Lucifer watched his son for a long moment, trying to find the right response to such crushing words.

"Why...why do you feel this way?"

Satan gave a bitter laugh.

"Since when have I ever understood my own emotions?"

"Well, what else do you feel?" His dad encouraged, wanting to help his son through this.

"I...I don't know." He admitted. "My chest gets tight around him. Every time he gets close to you or Audriana, I want to break free from my skin. I could be happy, or at least content in the moment, and then he walks into the room and I feel like I'm being choked. I feel like...like I need a peaceful moment with you. It's just supposed to be us; you, me, and Audri."

"And why must it only be us?"

"Because..." Satan closed his eyes. "Because we feel like a family. I never felt a part of one before...when I was younger, I didn't think you wanted me and I sure as hell knew your brothers didn't."

"Satan..." The pride demon pulled his son into a hug. "We are a family. I am your father. Audriana is your sister. My brothers are your uncles. And Diavolo...he's going to be your stepfather, but he's cared about you since the day you were born."

The blonde didn't respond, just buried his face into his father's embrace.

The two stayed like that for a minute or two till the alarm on Lucifer's D.D.D. went off.

The older man pulled back to reach into his pocket and turn off the alarm.

"You're sister will be waking up soon." Luce explained. "Do you remember where you got that book from?"

The blonde nodded and rose to put the book back so they could head back to Audriana's room.

[indigo-blueses]

Ever been in one of those situations where everyone around you knows their dream or passion or what they want to do with their lives except you? Yeah, I've been there and at most times when I was asked what I wanted to be, at 13 I had said journalist because because I liked writing. I liked writing children's stories but saying that just sounded cringe so I opted for something formal like journalism. Then at 15, I had said being an accountant because my teacher had suggested so since I was good at it. And so when I got to uni I registered for accounting. Then one year in I decided to change my major to information systems since it seemed more bearable than accounting. Fast forward to 2021 I no longer liked or enjoyed Information systems. Call it burnout or depression but continuing that path got so heavy to the point where my body even pained.

And so after graduation I had decided to take a "gap year". That's what I told my parents it was but deep down I had no idea what I was doing anymore or what I was gonna do. So for the rest of 2022 I would just chill at home and read books - fiction and nonfiction alike. Something to pass time until one day I started asking myself questions as to what I am even doing here on Earth.

Which led to searching on purpose, passions, dreams, spirituality etc. And somewhere along the journey I might have found my passion. Something that excites me, something I really enjoy learning about. And that something has to do with self growth, personal development, health & wellness. The more I learn about it, the more I wanna know. Would I say this is my dream? To be honest, I don't know but it's something I'm currently passionate about right now and I thought I could share what I find interesting about it and how it has helped me get out of a rut. So yeah, that's kinda the point of this blog. #purpose #passion #lost #health&wellness #firstpost

[literaticat]

Hello! Thanks for having your asks open :) I recently started mentoring a young person who wants to tell their story thru poetry. I've beta read for prose fiction before, but I'm relatively new to nonfiction & poetry story telling.

I know this isn't necessarily your area of expertise, but do you happen to have any advice regarding what sort feedback is generally helpful for nonfiction and/or poetry writing that might be different than feedback for prose fiction? Or any other advice for how I could best support this young writer?

Thank you!

This is NOT my area of expertise (I think you should be asking an educator!) But hey why not.

I personally don't think there's actually a ton of difference in critiquing or talking about fiction/poetry/nonfiction. Regardless, what is THIS story trying to do, and is it succeeding? Is it interesting/compelling? Does it make the reader feel emotionally invested? (Yes, really good nonfiction about protozoa or whatever will make you WANT to know about protozoa! A novel-in-verse still needs to have a story arc, just like any other novel! etc.)

So you might help them find great mentor-texts that are age appropriate -- so if they are writing memoir in verse, help them find great books that fit memoir, and verse, and memoir-in-verse. It could be interesting to do like a "book club" for some of these, where you both read and talk about them -- how are they structured? Why are they affective? What made this story interesting?

It also might be interesting to unpack the differences between memoir vs other kinds of non-fiction writing. (Like, if I'm writing about 9/11 in a journalistic way, I'm writing about the actual facts and talking to many sources and doing a ton of research etc -- If I'm writing a memoir about MY experience on 9/11, that's inherently biased, I'm an unreliable narrator basing things on my fragmented memory -- basically, even though what I'm writing is true FOR ME, it's also more akin to fiction than journalism.)

Something that a lot of new writers of ALL ages and ALL genre struggle with is the fact that most of the time, first drafts are not good enough, but you have to get them out in order to be able to REwrite them. The magic comes out of revision. (Kids and adults alike get impatient to see the magic and give up before they get there, or assume their thing is ALREADY magic when it isn't!)

You don't indicate how old 'young' is. Like do you mean an actual child, or young teen? Or like, a high school student? Or college-age?If you mean an actual child, like, 8-13, you might consider taking a look at this book, REAL REVISION, by Kate Messner. It's cool because it talks to a lot of popular Middle Grade authors about their own strategies for tackling revision.

If you are talking about a high school or college age kid / young adult, I'd share with them BIRD BY BIRD, by Anne Lamott (Maybe you read it first and share the things that feel most relevant, for a younger person, or just hand it to an older teen/young adult) -- again, she gets into the power of revision, encouragement for writers plagued by self-doubt (coughMOSTWRITERScough), etc. And her advice is simple, practical, and delivered in a homespun way that makes it feel very DOABLE and empowering. (At least, that was my experience reading it as a young adult!)

Good luck!