#obvs only so much I can do if I have a fatigue episode

[simplyghosting]

I’ll be honest, for as many years at I’ve seen October art/writing challenges (and art challenges the rest of the weeks/months of the year), I’ve only attempted a few and never finished any.

That being said, I think what I’m going to do for my umpteenth attempt this new October is to just.. do. Just do something every day. Any challenge, any prompt, any event, even if it’s mixed and mismatched. Doesn’t matter if it’s finished, though I will try for it. A few well-typed sentences, a sketched drawing, an unfinished study, I’ll still label them a success. I want my goal for this month to be to make improvements in my art and passions and to make an effort. Not bogged down by perfectionism or despair or lack of motivation or whatever else may stop me. I want to make the challenge of this month for me to live my life thoughtfully and love and respect what I bring into it again.

[hobbysognodilibri]

Thanks to @unrealistic-ideas-for-writers's prompts I have something more about Jiahui finally!! (Thanks again dude I loved answering these)

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- First experience with Resonance ability outside of whatever triggered its existence (very sensation focused! If it’s fire, maybe it was anger or pure joy that caused her hands to heat or sparks to fly!)

Well havoc is a quite peculiar element, even more so than spectro, being essentially destruction/annihilation. This makes it as interesting as difficult to figure out. What I’ve seen so far with all the other havoc characters in the game is that they have some sort of drawback or negative symptoms from using their forte (like Danjin draining her own hp and her frequencies matching those of blood, or Camellya and Rover’s idle animations). So I thought for starter to have Jiahui also experience some form of pain or fatigue from making use of her forte too much or too long (not in a hypothetical kit (which I’m also working on bc I’m that normal about my ocs), more like in lore).

While she doesn’t have too high a risk of overclocking, she does experience some mood swings, that highly affect her forte and for this regular check-ups and counseling with a therapist are required. Whenever she experiences highly emotional states (mostly negative) her brain feels foggy, and indeed a purplish fog seems to surround her and her tacet mark seems to be more active (you know how they kinda move, like that) and because of that she experiences frequents headaches and migraines.

- first combat experience? Did she have training???

Well as I mentioned in her backstory she was trained by her mother, so she can fight quite well. I think her mother, obviously caring more about her daughter’s safety than strength, taught her to dodge, evade and avoid fighting whenever possible, so I see her as a very agile and quick fighter. (Indeed for a potential kit I was thinking of making her primarily for quick-swap, double-dps teams)

Other than that first time (again mentioned in the backstory), which I barely would count as a fight on her side, I’d say her first actual encounter with the TDs that lead her to fight went pretty smoothly. I imagine it being once again in a cave or ruin of some sort, probably some small TDs she encountered on the way (like Tick Tack, Snip Snap and the sort). She was probably scared at first (her age at this point is no more than 14 so she’s totally still a kid), but managed to keep calm and remember her mother’s teachings. Also she didn’t have a forte then, so her fighting style probably changed with that, though the base stayed the same.

- does she know other resonators in her resonance category??? How do their abilities differ???

Help is resonance category the attribute or class??? I barely remember the actual terminology sorry, I think you’re talking about the class?? If I got it wrong and it was actually the attribute you can ask again obv lol

So she’s a mutant resonator (which I renamed the “trauma resonators”) and I noticed that all the other playable characters affiliated with the Huaxu Academy (Baizhi, Mortefi and Xiangli Yao) are also mutant resonator, so this is fun, I didn’t do it on purpose. But anyways that means she personally knows other resonators of the same class as her

I just finished reading their forte report, and for what I saw Mortefi is the only one with high risk of overclocking and who actually has previously recorded episodes, while Baizhi and Xiangli Yao do not and have pretty high stability with low risk of overclocking. That I guess sets her a bit apart, since she doesn’t currently have a high risk of overclocking but has been very close to an episode, and has those mood swings. I think she eventually will overclock, and perhaps even cause some incident or something.

Also (this one I probably didn’t mention anywhere and only exist in my mind) the pink-ish streaks in her hair only appeared after her awakening, before that her hair was completely black. So she did have some physical modifications, like Mortefi’s red scale-like things, or Xiangli Yao’s prosthetic (since it kinda became part of him and is where his tacet mark is located I’d consider this a body modification), (I wouldn’t include Baizhi in the body modification part bc You’tan isn’t technically part of her yk).

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Dude thanks again for the prompts these were amazing and helped me a lot!!

If you (or anyone else) have any other question/prompts or literally anything send them my way!!!

[transfemlogan]

(Trying to keep it low) 1, 2, 9, 16 for the fan sides ask game. (No pressure and feel free to answer a diff one if you really want to)

Fan Sides Ask Game

1. How many sides do you have?

I have 6 sides! I have debated adding another one, for the sake of having them fit all the colours in the rainbow, but I don't know if I need anymore. They all mesh together really well & I don't think I have any other large traits in my personality.

REST UNDER CUT BCUZ THIS GOT SO LONG HEHEHE

2. What are your sides traits? Are they the same or different from the Sanders Sides?

Egotism, Impulse, Paranoia, Compassion, Creativity, Fatigue

They USED to be the same as the sides, back when I only had like 3 (Logic, Anxiety, & Morality) in middle school, but I changed them to fit me better!

Logan became Fatigue, Anxiety became Paranoia, Morality became Compassion.

I used to have a bunch of other side ideas, like having 2 twins 2 represent my aroflucuality (1 being romantic attraction, the other being lack of romantic attraction), but I don't (personally) like the idea of having a side represent my sexuality. It was mostly 4 silly fun.

(Fun fact: Creativity is one of my newest sides!)

9. Do your sides interact with the Sanders Sides? If so, who gets along with who? Who hates each other?

YES THEY DO!! They interact with the sides in my swapped self-insert AU (near the end, when I meet up w/ c!Thomas & now we're like "ok. How do we... switch back.")

I would like to make an AU where they interact regularly, but I can't think any plot ideas that would need us to Meet in any sort of way.

Wentz (creativity) 100% gets along with Remus. He'd get along with Roman for like 2 seconds, bcuz "hey it's another creativity!!", before Roman realises this freak is just like his brother. Wentz & Remus r both running around & making dead bodies & going "LOOK ITS ART!!"

Patton like, has a weird relationship with Melvin (compassion). He assumes that they'd be very similar in personality and opinions, and they kind of are, but Mel speaks his mind & is very blunt & straightforward & it makes Patton feel Odd. Mel is not afraid to point out anyone's mistakes & I feel like Patton would take this as Mel not liking him, when Mel holds no negative feelings 4 Pat (Mel just think he's a little misguided).

(+ I feel like Patton would find out that Mel + the rest of the undead sides have no empathy, since I don't have any empathy, & . He's def not ableist, but his upbringing & the way he thinks makes him immediately react negative & hold like... a grudge? Against them, esp Mel? IDK NOT IN A "UNSYMP PATTON" WAY, OBVS, HE'S JUST u know. He has a lot 2 learn & mel is willing 2 lend a hand)

Mel & Logan also get along. Like, being compassion, Mel cares so much for everyone around him & will drop everything to help anyone. Mel probably says some nerdy thing abt something & Logan is like :O ur smart wtf. (I also think Mel would 100% be like. "HEY! CAN WE FUCKING LISTEN 2 LOGAN RN HES TRYING 2 TALK" & its both uncomfortable & euphoric 4 Logan.)

Mercury (Paranoia) wouldn't really get along with anyone, though xe might find comfort in Roman. I don't have any reason why. I just feel like no one would be able to comfort him good during a delusional episode (minus Logan) & Roman is this loud man being like "THERES A MAN IN THR CLOSET?" (PULLS OUT SWORD & STARTS FIGHTING CLOTHES IN THE CLOSET) LIKE FJWHFK Roman's willing 2 be a hero 4 this little man whos terrified to step in front of mirrors & mercs couldn't be happier.

MERCURY WOULD NEVER GET ALONG WITH VIRGIL. Not 4 any reason, mercs is just holding a rlly lame grudge against him.

Memphis (egotism) & Janus might get along bcuz of their similar opinions on self care & selfishness, though ... I don't want to say Memphis is "more extreme", but she isn't doing things out of Self Care. Like, in SVS, Janus is trying to get Thomas to go to the callback to show that it's okay to be selfish and care about yourself. While Memphis would also want Thomas (or me, in this situation) to go to the callback, Memphis is doing it out of "you're inherently better than the people around you."

& that line of thinking is... Very Much against what Janus is trying to show Thomas. Janus (& Remus) are trying to show that no one is inherently good & no one is inherently bad, but Memphis believes that she (& I) are inherently better & that everyone is "below us"

They'd get along, but have very differing opinions.

Patton fucking hates Memphis. Memphis is what Patton does not want Thomas to become. I also think it'll throw him for a loop seeing Compassion & Egotism in one person.

Maven (fatigue) doesnt like making friends or getting 2 know ppl & would much rather be alone 4ever. The concept of interavting w/ others is like. So annoying 2 them.

(Id type more but im running out of spoons & this cant stay in my drafts anymore)

The "dark" sides & my sides have a good relationship automatically. Like the concept of sides that r excluded is something all my sides do not like & would immediately support them. They'd have like a... idk the word. Just, like, when u see someone & u nod 2 them & they nod back but u dont rlly know anything its just like... were in the same community.

Maddox (impulse) hates every1 & is like actively trying 2 murder them all /J

16. FREE SPOT FOR ANSWERERS! Ramble about anything you want!

I just went on a 13 paragraph long rant abt my sides & the sanders sides. I am not rambling anymore i am so tired

[mego42]

207 Discussion Q’s

shout out and thank you to @pynkhues for putting these together even though she wasn’t gonna be here this week

1. What was your favourite scene of the episode? Tell us why!

obvs the dubby but underrated fav is Ruby and Jane in the closet, idk exactly why but I am starved for the families interacting with each other content (screw the timeline, the most unrealistic aspect of this show is that they aren’t constantly in and out of each other’s houses with ben and sara continually being called on to babysit) so this little snippet makes me levitate

2. Was there any scene that missed the mark for you? And if so, how?

the annie and noah scenes for sure. I mostly feel betrayed bc I really liked them the first time I watched (i have a lot of built in affection for sam huntington let me live) and now I’m like BEGONE FOUL BETRAYER and feel pre-emptive fatigue over annie’s taste in men and how that’s not going to get better any time soon

3. I know time does not exist in the Good Girls universe (or in reality anymore), but let’s start with a timeline question! The implication of the opening montage is that a bit of time has past since Beth strongarmed the partnership with Rio at the end of 2.06. How long do you think it’s been? And more importantly, what do you think these early days of their partnership looked like?

I tend to lean towards at least 2 months, maybe more based on:

the number of shoeboxes and how many times Beth’s shown making a closet deposit

how lived in their annoyance over Beth’s dividing her time and Rio pushing back feels

the implication (at least how i read it) that Rio’s annoyance stems from having to track Beth down which presumably implies they’d grumbled their way into a semi-functional working relationship prior (supported by their ease with each other in 208) and if the montage has only been a month, that would be a maximum of 4 meetings and I don’t particularly think that’s enough time for them to get over being extremely prickly with each other

the fact that Beth goes to Rio for help when Jane’s missing (again, to me implies a longer period of time to get over some of their antagonism than a max of 4 meets)

I imagine their initial partnership went something like Beth being a smug brat about forcing her way in, Rio being deliberately unhelpful and trying to force her to admit she’s in over her head (while still keeping enough of an eye on things that his money isn’t jeopardized), Beth stubbornly refusing to and finding ways to rise to the occasion, Rio being grudgingly impressed, Beth being annoyed with herself for how pleased she is over that. Lather, rinse, repeat until they’ve worn a cantankerous but bizarrely comfortable groove into each other.

meanwhile, Mick, Annie and Ruby are absolutely disgusted by everything happening in front of their eyes.

4. The first scene between Ruby and Turner in this episode is a really dynamic one! It’s pretty clear that Ruby’s afraid of Turner, but what do you think Turner thinks of Ruby?

I think he sees a big cartoon canister labeled "Beth Boland Bait"

5. Taking the kids to the drop was a pretty big mistake! What do you think Beth should’ve done in this instance? Do you think saying no again to Rio was an option?

CALLED BEN OR SARA FOR A BABYSITTING ASSIST. For fucks’ sake.

And yeah, I think she could’ve said no to Rio but he would’ve kept her cut of that drop and, even worse, would’ve been able to hold the fact that she didn’t deliver that one time over her head forever more.

6. The krav maga teacher offers some sage advice telling Dean to not order the hit and instead just divorce his wife, haha. Do you think that he thought the baby hitmen would come through for Dean? Or do you think he was deliberately setting Dean up to get robbed?

I choose to believe the krav maga teacher knew exactly what kind of an idiot Dean was and set him up because the dude clearly had at least two brain cells to rub together and anyone with two brain cells to rub together would never get tangled up in a murder plot with Dean standing on the street corner telling random bystanders in detail how he wants to kill the guy that fucked his wife what do you mean established means and motive Boland.

7. During Ben and Annie’s tense conversation, Ben tells Annie that she’s hard to keep track of - she’s parent mom, cool mom, sketchy mom. In a lot of ways, this feels like a parallel to Ruby talking to Beth in the last episode and calling her ‘drug Beth, gun Beth, human trafficking Beth’. What do you make of this? And how do you think it relates to the show’s themes?

I defer to @foxmagpie’s answer because I like it a lot. 

8. The scene with the girls in the house! Tell me all your thoughts please!!!

I love this scene a lot

Beth’s channeling Rio in general but also specifically in 201 you will never ever change my mind

Sometimes I lie awake at night wishing Rio had seen it

Prayer circle that he sees a version of it in s4

Can you imagine the nightmare level of boner he would get? The sheer narcissism!!

Ruby’s obvious wish for new friends is The Most Valid

I really love the main drug den guy, I love Blake Shields’s energy, it makes the scene crackle, and I wish they’d bring him back purely bc he’s gr9

9. Annie meets Noah in this episode! What do you think of their introduction to one another? And how would you rate Noah on the scale of ‘Garbage Annie Love Interests’?

at least he’s not her therapist I guess

10. Beth has two pivotal and emotionally revealing fights this episode - one with Dean and the other with Rio. How do these fights compare? And what do you think they tell us about her respective relationship with them?

UUUNNNNNFFFFFFFF

I L O V E how hard the show goes on Dean’s obsession with Beth and Rio as the primary source of his angst

the fact that he’s trying to rope Stan into murder while looking for Jane who isn’t even MISSING but Dean had NO IDEA bc instead of giving a shit he went straight to HOW CAN THIS BE THAT GUY’S FAULT

I love how clearly they delineate that it isn’t about Beth but specifically about someone else ~*~taking~*~ Beth from him and how emasculated that makes him feel (something something something the storyline opens with the krav maga guy choking him out and then telling him to divorce her and Dean being like I reject your rational and logical solution bc it doesn’t punish the man who touched my property, idk i have a half baked thought there but i can’t pull it out of my brain)

and then it’s all underscored how little Dean’s worried about Beth and her safety by him bringing her work up specifically as a gotcha (which, unless I’m forgetting something, is p much the only context Dean ever brings it up in besides maybe the sit down fight but that’s again, about Beth acting out vs genuine concern)

Meanwhile, this is contrasted with:

Beth flipping tf out at the mere suggestion Rio would ever hurt her children, showing how deeply and instinctively she trusts him in regards to her children aka what’s been established as her Most Important Priority over and over (in the same breath that she rips into Dean for losing Jane in the first place)

which is doubled down on her immediately going to Rio for help

and he is FURIOUS at her, but the thing he leans hard on isn’t how she could have jeopardized the business deal (aka his money, what’s been established as his Most Important Priority over and over) but how she jeopardized herself and how badly she can fuck up if she doesn’t take this seriously

putting himself in a vulnerable position (presumably burning a connect, letting on that Beth means something to him beyond business) to look out for Beth’s emotional well-being

And then, just to drive it home a little further, @sothischickshe pointed out the Beth and Rio fight over Beth’s self preservation is directly paralleled with Stan freaking out at Ruby over the IA stuff because he’s worried about her and I had to go and stare at a blank wall for a few minutes to calm down.

anyway, draw your own conclusions.

11. Ruby takes Jane being missing as an opportunity to try and find evidence on Beth for Turner and, in the process, finds Jane too. How do you think this scene captures Ruby’s moral dilemma? And do you think it’s a satisfying turning point in the Ruby-Turner arc?

I struggle a lot with the Turner and Ruby plot specifically because I HATE that Turner’s ruthlessly leaning on Ruby as the weak link but I’m also ferociously attracted to him so I’m less bothered by it than I feel like I should be so mostly I just try not to think about any of it.

Idk, I see it in some ways as a continuation of Ruby’s fight with Beth and Annie in s1 where Annie said she isn’t blood. They put Ruby on the outside but when push comes to shove, Ruby still puts the two of them above her own family. As far as I’m concerned, Annie still owes Ruby a massive apology for that. Beth I let off the hook a little because by the end of the season she’s ready to turn herself in to make it all go away for all of them (I think, unless I’m misremembering, which is entirely possible bc I don’t think I’ve ever rewatched all of 213)

12. RIO GETS BETH THE DUBBY!! That’s it, that’s the question. Please discuss.

I think a lot about how the gesture is so baldly honest neither one of them can face it either at all (Rio) or without taking a shot first (Beth) which, now that I’ve typed it out, is also an interesting flip of their general MO bc under normal circumstances I’d put Rio down as the one that, of the two of them, is more willing to face stuff whereas Beth’s the one that hides from it.

[dementedgnomicwizard]

celestriakle replied to your post “oh my god i fucking HATE the wolf 359 finale no podcast has ever made...”

Man I feel you. Personally I didn’t see a tpk coming and for me that probably woulda been too dark, but I remember feeling so weird about the ending as is, it was just, uncomfortable? It felt like they were trying for a happy ending and def did not get there, there was for sure a balance off. (Keeping in mind I listened like 2 or 3 years ago probably)

yeah i think it was maybe me being used to/having a preference for slightly darker fiction generally gfdhsjkhf i like stuff that’s humorous and doesn’t emotionally fatigue you but the stakes are high as hell and you know that none of the characters are ever 100% safe regardless of how much of a main character they are yk

ok i just started writing and then it got Long so i’m putting this under a readmore, ALSO HUUUGE SPOILERS UP AHEAD OBV FOR ANYONE WONDERING

what put that idea in my head initially was when eiffel almost got sent back to earth and turned back—in my head i was like ah, okay, so that’s the moment where he makes his Choice to come back no matter the cost, they’re gearing up for an Ultimate Sacrifice ending. (now looking back i’m like.... well. i Guess that’s still what was going on but.... lol.)

i assumed that for most of the episode the plan would be “stop goddard+kill cutter pryce and young, get home,” and that towards the end it would become clear that there wasn’t enough time/options/whatever to accomplish all of the above (either that they would succeed in killing cutter+price+young but in order to finish it they’d have to stay on the station as it crossed the red line or something like that, or that they would realize there were no options left besides destroying the station with everyone on board) and they’d have some touching moment as a crew where they reflect on all the development they’d undergone as people throughout the journey and all things considered are pretty gung-ho about accepting what has to happen.

it just feels (to me) like the logical and satisfying conclusion for their arcs! they finally have ALL the answers they’ve been looking for, they’ve succeeded in stopping goddard, etc. for lovelace it would’ve been a pretty kick-ass “the captain always goes down with the ship” moment and honestly a well-deserved /rest/ after everything she’s been through and all the loss she’s witnessed (because... um... can she die? now? of anything? bc it doesn’t seem likely, and ‘going back to earth so i can settle into a normal life again and then watch everyone i know get old and die around me while i stay alive because i’m not fully me anymore’ feels like ... kind of a really cold and sad ending for her, considering everything). 

for hera it would’ve been a chance to (once again) reaffirm her humanity and just how much she’s progressed beyond what goddard tried to make her be; a really excellent final fuck-you, ESPECIALLY if the nature of the TPK in question was like “hera has to initiate the self-destruct and pryce is alive to witness this but powerless to stop her for once.” 

for jacobi... i mean... like am i forgetting something or did they just not really bother establishing much information about like, what jacobi has to return to on earth? bc it seems like blowing the station could’ve been a way for him to 1) let go of a lot of his guilt/grief over maxwell and 2) a salute to kepler for his efforts (assuming that by the time the TPK happens kepler has already been revealed as a double-double agent + swooced out the airlock)

for eiffel it would’ve been a good conclusion to the Massive amounts of development he had; he spent the entirety of the show slowly and painfully learning how NOT to be an asshole/selfish/basically everything that he Was that contributed to destroying his life on earth care about, and how TO Show Up For the people around him despite getting off on the wrong foot initially. he arrived on the hephaestus as a (mostly) well-meaning but self-absorbed jackass with virtually no concept of boundaries or self-restraint, and by the end of the show he’d Realized this about himself and put in a colossal amount of hard work in order to Be Better... and then at the very peak of that arc, which the audience and the characters themselves have invested so much time and energy into, the decision is just to... throw all of it away? IT’S JUST GDFKSJGHFDK SOOO MUCH MORE FRUSTRATING TO ME THAN IF THEY’D JUST STRAIGHT-UP KILLED HIM because they try to dance around it like “Ahhh but IS he the same person anymore... who can never be sure.... maybe it’s a second chance....” but that logic just doesn’t WORK given the questions+answers about what makes up one’s humanity/personality as established AT LENGTH by like everything else in the show!! according to everything we’ve learned so far from hera/maxwell/pryce etc as they address these questions through the lens of the AI system, the answer to “are you still the same person if you’re physically unchanged but every single one of your memories is altered or removed?” is a resounding “NO.” i hate it when writers spend their entire story establishing certain rules/information/logic and then suddenly make decisions that completely fly in the face of all of it and think it’s a “subversion” when really what that’s called is “a bad writing decision.” i genuinely think they were just too hesitant to actually kill him so they tried to do “the next best thing” but it just... didn’t work the way they wanted it to. i’ll elaborate more on why i think they would’ve been afraid to kill him (beyond just “he is the beloved main character”) in a second 

for minkowski... i mean... from a character/writing standpoint, if lovelace, hera, or eiffel (not including jacobi here only bc i don’t think they were QUITE close enough by the end for his death to have caused her As Much guilt as the other three would have) died during the finale then minkowski would almost definitely have to die as well, bc her primary motivation as we’re all very aware is to ensure the safety of her crew above all else; i don’t think there’s a universe where minkowski is okay with leaving herself if all three aren’t with her. BUT i think this became a corner that they wrote themselves into with her by the end, because then (i assume) the dilemma became “well, as much as we might like to, we basically can’t kill off any one single other character, because it will cut minkowski’s strings” WHIIICH is why i think they couldn’t go through with killing eiffel. 

ANYWAY. YEAH. ALL THIS TO SAY for me personally an ending where the characters all have to sacrifice themselves, but it’s a choice they arrive at together easily + something they welcome and accept without much sadness/regret because they’ve done everything they could (and, in the case of those crewmembers w active ties to earth, successfully ensured the safety of their loved ones on earth) would’ve made a lot of sense and been satisfying. i’d be sad, definitely, but in an “this story and characters were excellent and i’m sad it’s over” way more than a “wait i’m so frustrated by this ending that can’t possibly just be It” way

[deliciousscaloppine]

Let me dump some writing stuff here.

Names: Character names belong to the auditory carpet of the work. Meaning they have to blend seamlessly with the language you are using to tell the story. 

They also have to be easy to memorize so the reader can keep track of them.

With a cursory look you will see memorable names are usually no bigger and no smaller than three syllables which is enough to give sound definition to them without becoming distracting. Obvs sticking a surname or a middle name, makes them bigger, but usually in the narrative we refer to the character by one name. This is not a solid rule, there can be smaller and bigger names, but they have to have a unique sound design to them - meaning varied contrasting sounds, harsh and soft consonants together with open vowels in one example.

When you are already using a name, and you find it difficult to change it, it’s because the sound of it fits perfectly to the sound of the sentence. So if you change it you have to preserve some of the sound of it. 

For groups of characters that move together in scenes, the names very often are complementary , and characterized by sound economy. A very famous example of this, is Harry, Hermione and Ron from Harry Potter, where the repetition of H, R and N sounds does not distract the reader too much from the action. (sorry for bringing jkr before your eyes, but it’s a glaring example of how multiple names fit together without losing definition. Another is Louis, Lestat and Claudia, where there’s an L repetition, an S buffer, and furthermore Louis contains closing vowels, Lestat opening ones  and Claudia a combination of both, this creates a sense of economy, but also rhythm - there’s also a visual element to it, but it changes from language to language)

Sex and anything else that’s exciting: Once a reader is trained to seek an easy reward in a text, they are going to pretty much ignore everything else and seek the reward. A lot of readers seek thrills, but add too much of it, and you are slowly desensitizing them to it, meaning you are left with very little to write that can keep their attention focused. 

There’s a threshold of excitement from which you have to back away before you start alienating the reader, especially during scenes the reader seeks for voyeuristic purposes. 

The counter to this is a very strong, and almost hyper-realistic character emotional development. It keeps the reader grounded and engages the LEARNING function of the brain. The learning function is intrinsically tied to reward-seeking behaviors, so once you engage it, you can add less direct rewards because eventually the reader is going to make their own rewards in understanding more and more about how the characters and the universe they function in work. 

Popular writing: There are few things that are not entirely staged in popular writing. When you are writing for the masses everything has to be immediately recognizable and that is why genres exist, so that their demographic can be easily monitored and analyzed for the production of content. Usually publishing houses are incredibly savvy of this, but won’t share their knowledge with starting writers who have to intuit themselves what audience they should be writing for.

There are three axis on which popular writing rotates: 

Public fears and anxieties: New technologies the public does not understand or trust to not be abused, the rise of authoritarianism and surveillance, unexplainable paranormal phenomena that can kickstart a solid existential crisis, more recently, social isolation as well etc. 

Immediately recognizable characters: Characters who are pretty much archetypes and fit into preestablished literary universes. Like The Scientist/Journalist/Researcher, The Lovers, Girl in Distress, The Special Orphan, The Wife, The Yuppie etc. It doesn’t mean that these character tropes cannot be subverted, in fact modern readers will seek nuance, twists and wild redemption arcs precisely because archetypes are so well fathomed.

Setting an audience recognizes and likes: Monsters? High Technology? Living Rich? Conspiracy Theories? Traumatic/Heroic Events In History? Famous Lives? Anything popular that grips and excites the imagination of a general audience may be used as a setting. And the setting generates all the external pressure we put the characters under in order to make them behave in a satisfying narrative way. if it has an established audience, we work all the angles under which pressure can be generated.

How to write:

In general writing does not begin with writing for an audience, but writing for yourself. If you love writing, there’s probably something you do not accept about yourself or the world you live in, and are trying to create a narrative in which all these things are reconciled. It’s a long process, but it yields eventually if you do not become discouraged.

To write about others you have to be able to explain yourself very well on the page. Seek things that are very difficult for you to write about, and force yourself to find a way to write about them, because once there are places you’d rather avoid, you’ve mutilated yourself as a writer, especially if certain themes hound you and already exist in your work.

Pulling things out of yourself is pivotal in the development of a unique voice, that will help you stand out from the writing crowd. In general avoid plagiarizing things like the plague. It may be tempting to pick things here and there, but if you don’t learn to develop story elements yourself, you are quickly going to become fatigued and alienated by your own writing process. It’s also highly frowned upon in professional environments where a great point of pride is being very informed about the writing landscape of both past and present. 

People there are always searching for something that is unique and has not been done before, precisely because they’ve read so much in order to evaluate the potential of writing projects.

That does not mean you cannot create references in your work, if anything this makes you seem knowledgeable. The difference between reference and nicking, is that in a reference you complete and add to the point made by someone else, creating a sense of rapport. 

Understand your background and everyone else’s in the publishing field you want to include yourself. Try to discern what concerns this audience, what are their likes and dislikes and find a way to work around these things so that you can always exist in a balance between writing the content you are interested in, and offering writing that a potential audience can understand and process. 

Keep yourself updated to things that are general knowledge to this audience like popular works, stories that are not very common but sought after, tropes they enjoy etc. This will help you find the audience that is relevant to your writing interests, but to create a niche for yourself alone there has to be a balance between the things they seek, and things they can only get from you. 

View the characters internally, always in relation to yourself and the story you want to tell, and not with what would make a gripping, exciting read. This will augment their relatability, and emotional coherence, which are things an audience can track and engage with. 

Do not commit things to a page, when you are uncertain in longer works, it may be very difficult to change them afterwards. Instead always envision the kind of resolution you are leading the story to, and always write informed by that. 

Sometimes it’s difficult to know what the story is about before it ends, but training yourself to complete a story structure before you even start writing it (outline) can help you split episodes/chapters and develop scenes in relevance to what should be set up and achieved during every step of the story, which creates a pleasant flow and pace.

It will also help you keep track of embellishment that functions as a reader’s rest before highly dramatic moments - think on all those sailing scenes in Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea. They help create tension, a sense of drama before the actual emotional resolution, which is tiny in a relation to the rest of the text. Anticipation is key to a powerful emotional experience, and playing with it, or setting it up keeps the reader tuned in. 

Keeping the reader’s experience in mind will help you write with more dramatic economy, utilizing all the elements you’ve inserted in your setting and character development, so it will be clearer and easier to edit the work later, and will also help you achieve a unique to you stylistic coherence.

Do exploratory writing, eventually it yields a lot of material that can be later used in a working project. Meaning if you have an idea put it down, try to expand on it and explain where it comes from within you, pursue it and analyze it, create visuals and language around it. I basically use fanfiction this way. I have some concepts that can’t stand very well on their own, or support entirely a single project, but adding to them continuously creates new patterns and landscapes I can exploit in the future. It’s basically like planting a little seed of potential for you to harvest later.