#other writers plz help me i need advice

[amnevitahwritesstuff]

A fanfic writer finds herself sucked into her own story after battling with writer’s block and is not allowed to leave until she finishes it. Chaos ensues.

Fandom: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Pairing: Original Female Character/Rhysand

Rating: Mature

Triggers: N/A

Chapters: 1, 2 (WIP)

AO3 Link

 • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻  • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ •

1: In Which I am Held Hostage in My Own Fanfic. (Help)

This document was taunting me.

I slammed my laptop shut with the kind of disgusted frustration normally only reserved for telemarketers and people who cut in line at the supermarket. It had been months since I had managed to write more than a few words (which were then quickly deleted) and once again today was looking to be more of the same.

Fucking writer’s block.

Didn’t every piece of advice about writer’s block say you just needed to get up and do something else if the words weren’t coming? Good advice in theory, but so far all that had resulted in for me was a frankly embarrassing amount of trashy reality TV consumed and exactly zero words written.

Like a masochist, I re-opened my laptop just so I could look through my inbox and scroll through the many comments demanding to know when the next chapter was coming out.

Still no chapter?

I really love this fic! Any news on when the next chapter is coming out?

next chapter plz?

It’s been a while. Are we sure this hasn’t been abandoned?

When are you going to update?

“If I knew that, I would tell you,” I muttered.

With a sigh of defeat I closed my computer again. Maybe I did need to give up? The words that had once come so easily those first few chapters had now stalled out like the inspiration faucet had been abruptly turned off. Now, whenever I sat in front of my laptop, my brain just went…blank. No words. No scenes.

Nothing.

I didn’t know how professional authors did this every day and just pushed through it. And they had actual editors and publishers on their ass about deadlines. All I had were a handful of people in my comment section wondering why I’d gone from posting every week to posting once a year (if they were lucky).

Knowing I would be getting nothing else done tonight, I dragged myself to the kitchen to make some dinner.

Maybe things would be better tomorrow.

 • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻  • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ •

Things were not better tomorrow.

At first I didn’t notice anything amiss. I awoke as I usually did, smashing my face back into my pillow and hoping the sun would have the decency of disappearing for another hour.

Then someone shook my shoulder.

Which was quite a shock since I didn’t live with anyone.

I jolted up to an unfamiliar blonde staring down at me in a most aggrieved fashion, as if I were inconveniencing her in some way.

“Get up. You should’ve been awake hours ago!” I stared at her as she turned and made her way to the other side of the…cabin? Was I in a cabin?

…Why was I in a cabin?

And who the hell was that?

I blinked at unfamiliar surroundings as my brain tried to process what the fuck was going on. The cabin was barely bigger than my living room, with an ancient looking wood stove and two women already bustling about in…were those ballgowns? And corsets? It suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t see a single modern amenity anywhere. It was like I’d been dropped into the 19th century.

“Feyre! Get up! Dinner isn’t going to catch itself!”

Feyre.

She’d called me Feyre.

Clarity hit me like a punch to the face.

I was…this was…

I laughed.

And laughed.

And then I cried.

 • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻  • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ • ☻ •

It took a while for me to reign in the hysterics. Frankly, I thought I was doing pretty great for someone who had just found themselves in a fictional house with fictional people. I’d only cried for a whole hour!

Elain seemed especially worried as she handed me a mug of tea (weak tea, I soon discovered as I tried to contain my grimace) and rubbed my back soothingly. Nesta mostly just seemed disturbed. Had Feyre ever really had a breakdown in front of her sisters? I imagined not if this was their response to my meltdown.

“Are you alright?” Elain asked for the tenth time in the last hour.

I just nodded. How else was I supposed to respond? ‘Hi, I’m not actually your sister, I just seem to be borrowing her body for a bit? Oh and, by the way, you’re all not real’?

Nesta just narrowed her eyes.

Suddenly, all I could think of was that dumb ‘Don’t be suspicious’ song from Parks and Rec. I forced down another hysterical giggle.

Jesus. Get it together.

“Just…a weird dream…” I lied lamely.

Oh yeah, Nesta didn’t believe a word.

At least Elain seemed sympathetic.

“I’m just gonna…go hunt now…” Yep. Not suspicious at all.

I was so eager to be away from these uncannily unnerving fictional people though that I didn’t really care what came out of my mouth, just as long as it got me out the door and as far away from them as possible.

“Are you sure…?” Elain asked but I was too busy grabbing the first cloak I spied on a hook by the door and rushing out of it like the hounds of hell were nipping at my heels.

It was cold outside.

That was my first thought as I emerged into the snowy forest outside. My second thought was that this was way too vivid to be a dream. Because, of course, this had to be a dream…right?

Right?!

It was as I stood there, shivering and in a complete daze, that I saw it. There, in the snow, was something…written. As if scratched into the snow with a stick.

This isn’t a dream.

I blinked.

I read it again.

What the fuck?

I glanced around, wondering who the fuck wrote this, but saw nothing but endless snow and frozen trees.

Was this a joke?!

I glanced back down at the writing but discovered something even more alarming.

It was gone. Now replaced with a new sentence.

It’s not a joke either.

“What the fuck?!” I whispered.

This time I spied new words in a different patch of snow nearby.

Oh, stop so being dramatic.

“Excuse me?” I felt like a complete lunatic speaking to a bunch of words written into the snow, but frankly this entire morning had been beyond insane so honestly talking to the snow was the least of my worries.

Again, I found myself looking around for a reply and found it scratched into the wood of a tree with its bark stripped away.

You should be thanking me.

What.

What the fuck did that mean?

Again, I spied a new sentence whittled into a tree just behind the first.

I’m helping us finish our fic.

I frowned.

“…What?” Maybe I truly had lost it.

No seriously, a new sentence read, this time scratched onto a rock. You’ve been so whiny lately about how you can’t write anything so I decided to take drastic measures.

“Drastic measures?” I whispered as a sinking feeling began to take root.

Don’t act like you haven’t already figured it out. The writing continued, back in the snow. It’s genius really! If you’re stuck in there then you’ll have no choice but to finish it!

I suddenly felt hot and cold all over. I felt faint. I felt…

“What do you mean?”

Because that’s the only way you’re getting out, said a new series of words scribbled into the frost over the cabin window like an ominous warning.

“What?!”

Have fun!

And in the blink of an eye all the writing everywhere had vanished. And no new words appeared. They was gone.

I sat in the snow then, mind reeling as Feyre’s borrowed threadbare clothing grew cold and damp and a slow and horrifying realization came over me.

I had just been talking…to myself.

I had done this…to myself.

And I was so fucked.

[honeybeefae]

Hey! Can I ask a few questions? Imma ask my every fav author these.

1. How long have you been Writing?

2. Are you planning to make a profession out of this or just doing it for fun?

3. Who or which character do you prefer to write more for?

4. What do you do when you're out of ideas?

5. Lastly, Will plz give an advice for the young writers out that.

Hey anon! Of course, I love answering questions (even though this is so late and I am so sorry!)

1.) I've been writing since middle school(?) I started off writing poetry, which was not good at all, lol, and then from there, I started writing short stories, which then turned into this! I think my first fanfiction was WWE fanfic on fanfiction.net 🫣

2.) I would LOVE to make a profession out of writing. I only recently started posting my fics in the last 3 years? The beginning of my "official public" profile was Kylo Ren/Adam Driver fanfics, and then I went to ACOTAR! I have a few story ideas that I could definitely see myself writing, all fantasy romance ofc, but I always second guess myself on actually publishing. It is such a huge leap, and I am SO self-critical of my writing. I hope one day to be a published author!

3.) Eris Vanserra had my heart the moment I met him in the books. He is definitely my favorite character to write for. I don't know if it is how ambiguous his intentions are or even his character, but I am drawn to him. Other than Eris I would say Cassian, Nesta, and Lucien!

4.) Writers block is SO hard for me. The things that help me are watching tv shows, reading books or fics, or looking at artwork! If that fails, I'll look up sentence prompts to inspire me!

5.) I don't want this to sound preachy or pretentious but to write is to create. The world NEEDS more creators, more dreamers, more feelers. In a world full of ordinary things, it is artists and writers who create things extraordinary. I know how scary it can be to write something, to second guess yourself, to worry if anyone will see it, but I implore anyone who wants to write to do it! You are the master of your story, the creator of your universe! It is the most amazing feeling to write a story, to make characters and plot lines, and to have people read them. And people WILL read them. Doubt is something that holds us all back, but I don't think any of you will regret the leap of faith it takes when you are ready to take it. I am always happy to support new artists and help them grow. Idk if any of the above made sense but the basic gist of what I am trying to say is to have faith in yourself, in your creativity, and light the spark to your own excellence. May it never fade and only grow to inspire others. <3

[tadpolesonalgae]

Hey! Can I ask a few questions? Imma ask my every fav author these.

1. How long have you been Writing?

2. Are you planning to make a profession out of this or just doing it for fun?

3. Who or which character do you prefer to write more for?

4. What do you do when you're out of ideas?

5. Lastly, Will plz give an advice for the young writers out that.

Okay first of all, I’m so flattered I’m one of your favourites! Thank you so much 😭🧡💛

‘How long have you been writing?’

So I wrote a single piece of fanfiction back in 2019 for a separate fandom, but other than that, I’d say I started writing as a real hobby in 2022 :)

‘Are you planning to make a profession out of this or just doing it for fun?’

Not out of writing specifically, though I’d love to be able to! I am hoping that it will come in handy with something else I think I might be able to achieve later on though?

‘Who or which character do you prefer to write more for?’

As a general answer, definitely Az 🧡💛

However if I’m feeling sad or in need of comfort it will probably be Feysand 🫣

‘What do you do when you’re out of ideas?’

Usually if I’m out of my own ideas I’ll switch to completing requests? However if I’ve lost the urge to actually write, then I’ll put on some music and see what happens, or watch a horror game (resi 7 has become my comfort series), read a book, take a shower, eat a meal, laze in bed if it’s the evening, just general things I know improve my mood to get me back on my feet I think :)

Though if it’s the morning of a weekend or something and I’m trying to get tumblr stuff done but it’s not working, I’ll usually try and find non-tumblr related tasks to do just help me feel like I’ve gotten something done 🧡💛

‘Lastly, Will plz give an advice for the young writers out that.’

Gosh, okay, I think it really depends on what sort of person you are for this? Naturally different things will work for different people so maybe consider what you want to write? In the sphere of fanfiction do you think you’ll be writing only for one fandom or a few? Do shorter pieces like drabbles and headcanons, or longer pieces like one-shots and series suit you? (Obviously you can write a mixture, I think it can be useful to have variety so people can read what suits them?)

This might be more on the boring side, but being aware of what suits you in terms of how much you can write? Fanfiction can take up a lot of your personal time, so if you ever start to feel like it’s getting too much you can always take a break, or decide to shift posting days around—this isn’t something that has to be permanent. Heck you don’t even have to have a schedule for uploads if that’s not your style which is the fun part of having this as a hobby!

Also, as dull as it might be, trying to remember to proofread things 🫠 I know I still sometimes reread my older fics (sometimes also newer ones) and end up spotting simple mistakes that just take away from the immersion of a fic, so as monotonous as it is, I’d really suggest trying to proofread, or if you know grammar isn’t your strong suit, just brushing up on that, too! I don’t think it’s the end of the world, or that it will push people away, but I do think it’s something that’s important to writing :)

[writers-ex]

Hey there I know I'm asking a random Tumblr writer but I saw y'all talking about studying and such,can you guys please give me advice on studying effectively? My parents don't know how to help and I'm genuinely like..dumb, but I will try my best , I am trying my best but it's just not working,I'm at the brink of giving up but I believe that I can do it but the goal is soo.far.away. , great now I'm teary eyed. Academically sexy people please help

i LOVE giving study tips <33333333 no one usually listens to me but maybe these will help you ^-^)

depending on the subject its best to have a color system with pens or markers/highlighters, keep it at 3 colors to start and then add more as you see fit YOU DON"T NEED NO FANCY MARKERS GO BUY CRAYOLA OR OFF BRAND MARKERS AINT NO ONE JUDGING YOU///ex. blue-review/exam questions you got wrong to go back and study, red- impt terms/remember this, black- examples/dates/names/lecture notes

PLEASE- write a mini review/summary of what you learned that day/ch like on a sticky note or make a journal/google doc just for reviews or even on the textbook, having smt to look back on will help refresh your memory b4 the exam VS being like me and spending a whole weekend reviewing 80 chapters but not being able to really understand it and failing my exam by a point UGH

if you fail just suck it up and keep going, i still need to remind myself this but like as long as you pass be it the lowest score possible or the highest as long as you make it by the borderline score that's all that matters

READ THE CHAPTER/MATERIAL B4HAND, omg this helped me soooooooo much and also on a sticky or separate sheet of paper/or like doodle a question mark write questions abt what you didn't understand and then see if the teacher answers them during class, if they don't ask them after class

there are no dumb questions period, its the teacher's job to help you learn as a student, say your question no matter how silly or simple bc chances are there are 5 other kids thinking the same thing, if the teacher gives you attitude abt it bc there are some that do ask the internet and others in class maybe they'll be able to help/

make a study playlist/collection, i have a youtube playlist dedicated to classical music, lofi, video game soundtracks, or chinese instrumentals to listen to while i study bc it just makes it more pleasant and my house is too noisy so i just listen to music and study

DRINK WATER!!! and snack on smt too

do yourself a favor and try the 25 min study and 5 min break method, just when you do your break actually get up and walk around or use the bathroom don't just sit there, and come back ontime

do a little tracker thingy, like make check boxes/list of what you need to do and give yourself the joy of filling in all the boxes with a check or sticker and reward youreslf afterwards

keep track of your deadlines <333 like make a reminder on your phone or sticky note it

if you geniunely can't study or feel stuck stop for the day and take a shower, go watch smt nice, play your pizza game on your phone, or eat a meal, you shouldn't be studying 24/7 you're only human

i can do more but i feel like you'll get too scared but one more impt thing is to never ever ever call yourself dumb or look down on your progress, the you you are now is completely different from january you, acknowledge what you've done and take a moment to feel proud of yourself, you did good <3

if you have any other tips and tricks that've helped you plz share in the ask box or comment on this post plz and thank you, hope this helps anon

[spikeface]

3, 23 and 24 plz 🥰

Thank you so much for the ask!!!

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

It depends on the fic. For shorter fics and character studies, like halfway to nowhere, I write a bunch of scenes I like in no particular order, with a vague sense of what narrative/arc I want. As I write, I figure out how they can form a structure. This is my favorite kind of writing, but only works for fics with no real plot.

For longer and more ambitious things, I'm trying to get better at outlining. I always need some sort of mystery/problem to solve, and I also worry that if I spend too much time chewing the cud of the outline, I'll lose my appetite to write. It's not a great system! I usually run into problems.

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

Get an editor. No matter what your experience or skill level, a good editor will improve your work. And there's so much they can do for you! Beta readers can help with copy, structure, plot problems and other writing walls you're bashing your head against, sanity checks about things you're worried about, cheerleading when you need or want it. Most importantly, they can help catch all the problems in your work you don't even know exist. Beta readers don't need to be experts to be helpful. It's amazing what a simple second pair of eyes can do for a draft.

Having your work edited is also a sign to your reader about how much you're investing in your work. I'm always excited to see a thank you for a beta in the author's notes, and more willing to trust the author/work as a result.

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

Probably the idea that finding your own voice means ignoring good writing and solely looking inward. There's a great anecdote from Allan Gurganus's article praising John Cheever that illustrates it:

The main difference between me and my fellow students shuffling toward his classroom? I had actually read John Cheever. The two others who’d managed were Ron Hansen and T. Correghesan Boyle. Amazing: nine of our twelve classmates, allowed to work with Cheever at the most competitive writing program in America, had never read a word he’d written. In 1973, Sixties youthfulness reigned: spontaneity sometimes means a lack of preparation also called stupidity. When I asked one fellow student what he thought of our teacher’s brilliant stories, the kid, who always seemed to have a head cold, replied, “I don’t want to be influenced.” I longed to pat the back of his hand and say, “Risk it!”

I think about that "risk it!" all the time.

[comfort-person]

I want to start writing stories (not just smut duh more of sfw and something pleasant) but idk how to start 😅 plz help I suck at starting with new stories

I’ve been writing since the age of 8, I don’t know how or why I started but I suppose the creativity just came to me. The best advice I can give you is make a playlist with songs that relate to the story/ ideas you already have and imo the ideas will start coming to you naturally. It takes a lot of patience and resilience but if you really want it you’ll do it.

Another point is don’t rush through it, go slowly. Writers block is completely natural and normal and 100% expected but with that, you just need to find your focal point again. Aka- listening to music, reading other things, watching the game/ tv show again. It isn’t easy trust me. I suggest downloading wattpad (if you haven’t already) it’s much easier with the chapters and different books on there with different genres help with motivation and ideas.

Honestly just write and see what happens, that’s my best advice. Edit it as many times as you like and one day whether that be in the future or near future you’ll make it.

Another point is definitely use bullet points and write down the plot idea/s you have and then the characters (add oc’s if you so wish) and eventually it will all come together!

This probably isn’t the best advice lol, but please feel free to message me privately if you’d like more advice/ help!(:

[sincerely-krp]

you just need to know where to find one but if you want me to list out a few, i can help! // anon, plz say more. i want to get back into forum rp but when i left the jcink platform the whole community was attacking anyone using a korean face as a fetishizer. has that changed? or are there actual krp's on the platform now?//

as long as you dont solely use korean fcs on non krp forums, you're eager to plot and as long as your character has a solid background for development opportunities, the jcink rpc is pretty chill after a lot of very huge resource site shut down. the issue was a mess too, causing a lot of people to leave both from lack of resources available for public use for free and people just decided to focus more on irl things now that half of the community comprises of mature writers. but the remaining peeps who are still actively contributing are very eager to help anyone willing to join! my advice is to check the member directory for each site to see if there's a diverse range of faces used. but dont use this as an excuse to make only korean characters and try not to use exclusively korean faces. also, reach out to other members for plotting opportunities as well!

some of the sites i'm in and have heard of are:

driving towards death (a supernatural rl town set in alaska) has a pretty diverse range of characters and supernatural creatures, including east asian and southeast asian mythological creatures. https://drivingtowarddeath.jcink.net/index.php

@lucidjcink has a very strict rule on racebending and the portrayal of korean culture. it's an idol/supernatural rp set in seoul with tons of species and idol groups to choose from. i haven't had the time to drop by to say hi but i have been lurking on the forums and have plans on making a character soon. this rp is invite only and you're required to fill in a gform and answer a bunch of questions as part of the screening process though so do take your time.

sleepless in seoul (rl crime) is a newly established rp, but the members are pretty active. i also haven't had the time to make a character but the rp has an interesting premise with lots of interesting character requests to grab! and the admins are always happy to welcome newcomers and im sure they're happy to help you get situated on how jcink roleplaying works <3

https://sleeplessinseoul.jcink.net/index.php?act=idx

seeing double (rl scifi about clones/crime), my current humble abode, has long been established with a small amount of members but they do have tons of canons and character requests to choose from too! so you'll always have pre-established plotting opportunities with the other members. there's plenty of character opportunities available due to the diverse nature of the site's lore. there's canons for idols/ent industry and college student characters and many others as well, so im sure your character will fit in just nicely. this rp is pretty quiet and activities are lax (most muns are mature writers with irl responsibilities), but do come over and make yourself known. i would definitely make a character solely for you :') https://weseedouble.jcink.net/index.php?act=idx

golden era (historical fantasy) has a pretty diverse range of races too! i have seen someone use exo's suho and actor kim soohyun for their characters and was pretty active mingling well with the other muns. i was on this site last year before i have to leave due to irl responsibilities but this site was fun to join! they're still running despite the low activities but dont let that deter you from joining. it just means that posting requirements are lax and very forgiving <3 https://goldenrpx.jcink.net/

overall, these are the sites im in/was in/have heard of that are pretty welcoming with asian faces! im pretty sure there's many more western forum rps that are pretty welcoming with poc faces but i dont have any experience with any other sites besides the ones listed above so i cannot say much. i would also like to add that the roleplayers in the jcink rpc are mostly in their mid 20s to late 30s, meaning that everyone are adults with irl responsibilities, so thread replies can be pretty unpredictable. but dont let that bother you or make you sad because the rp is inactive! the jcink rpc in general is pretty lax with their activity and wordcount requirements. hmu at discord @loeykji_ if you need to get situated to forum roleplaying 🫶🏻

・❥・

[rosieethor]

In the spirit of sharing more of my writing advice for free, here's my old post about Synopsis writing from my patreon as well:

Hello friends and foes! By popular request, I'm going to do some synopsis talk today. This post will include:

How I write a synopsis and the different types of synopses/their uses

A bunch of tips and tricks for making your synopsis the best it can be

My argument for why synopsis writing is actually good and you should do it (hear me out plz i know i sound like a villain)

How-To

Okay but HOW do you write a synopsis? Short of summoning a demon to do the work for you, my best advice is to check out this post by Susan Dennard. It is by far the best synopsis writing post out there. Everyone I know swears by it and truly it is the synopsis post to end all others, including this one.

The first thing I have to do when writing a synopsis is determine what kind of synopsis I'm writing. There are three different types of synopses that I routinely write. There are probably more, but let's focus on these three:

One page synopsis

Proposal synopsis

Only-for-my-eyes synopsis

The first is the one you'll be writing if you're querying or submitting to mentorship programs. The one-page synopsis is arguably the most evil document publishing makes you write, and I feel for you. The proposal synopsis is for if you are writing a book proposal to sell to a publisher before writing the full book. This is usually longer than one page and you have a bit more freedom with it. The last one is something I write for myself as I'm working on the book to map out my path forward and work through plot beats and emotional threads. It can be as chaotic as it needs to be, BUT the goal is always to take that version and turn it into one of the first two types of synopses eventually.

Depending on the type of writer you are, I recommend doing one of two things to start:

1. Write a for-your-eyes-only synopsis that tells the whole story in all its chaotic glory with no mind for the audience just yet

2. Write a list of events that occur in the story. Just a bulleted list of things that happen.

Once you've done one of these things, you have your first draft of a synopsis. 

If you did the former, you'll need to distill it down to something more readable and friendly for people who haven't read your book. This will involve a lot of detail editing, line trimming etc. If you don't love editing for wordcount, this is NOT the option for you. (This is usually how I do things because I love mess, but it's definitely not for everyone!)

If you did the latter, you'll need to connect the dots. Try putting connecting words between each event. Things like "so," "because of," "when," "but," "however," etc. 

Et voila! You have a... workable synopsis. It's a starting point. But, much like books, you really just need your first draft to exist. It's a place to work from.

Some quick tips

I did a thread on twitter with some tips and tricks for improving your synopsis, which I present to you now here as well:

1. First, don't stress too much about the synopsis. It's the least important part of the query submission package.

2. Remember to all-caps character names the first time they are mentioned! It's a weird formatting thing, but it's standard. So instead of "17-year-old Anna Thatcher" I would write "17-year-old ANNA THATCHER." I can just call her "Anna" in future instances.

3. Limit the number of named characters. 5 is a good number to shoot for. I named 4 in mine for my PW book. Name the main characters and the villain. Use shorthand for others if you can, like "his teacher" or "the king" or "her rival" instead of names.

4. Use specific descriptors where applicable. It's way more helpful for us to understand the utility of people/places/things than it is to know their proper name. For example, "she is implanted with a translator chip" tells us more than "she is implanted with duolingo"

5. Use active verbs in your transitions. Instead of "She ends up as tribute in the hunger games" tell us HOW. What does she do to get there? Show us her agency. For example, "She volunteers as tribute for the hunger games to protect her sister"

6. A good thing to help you with the prior tip that deserves to be its own tip is to ask yourself "How" at every single paragraph break. Make sure you are using the most specific and active language you can.

7. Another good and related tip: ask yourself WHY. "She volunteers for the hunger games" tells us a lot less than "She volunteers for he hunger games to protect her sister." The why is arguably the most important thing to know because it what drives the MC's actions

8. Transitions are a really good place to look for problems within your book too. If you don't show us why or how something happens, that probably points to a breakdown in your character motives or agency

9. If you're having trouble starting, try listing every event that happens in your book. Then, string them together with linking phrases like: 

but 

however 

so 

when 

because of 

and then

For example, "Katniss's sister is chosen for the hunger games. Katniss volunteers for the hunger games" becomes "Katniss's sister is chosen for the hunger games, SO Katniss volunteers in her place."

Keep an eye on events linked with "and then." These are probably signs that these events are either unimportant to your synopsis OR improperly linked in your book. Remember, we need to know the why and how in order for something to matter. Show us agency.

10. Another good way to think about the events in your synopsis is to always ask yourself for cause and effect. What's the cause of an event? what's the effect? One or both should be important.

11. Not every detail is important. It's okay to leave out small things. Look at the large arcs of your plot and weed out anything that doesn't directly impact those main plot threads. For example, if I was writing a synopsis for THG, I would leave out avoxes & madge

12. For synopses with multiple POVs, find the connection points between perspectives. It's jarring to switch POVs without understanding the connection between them. Show how events impact them both or how their actions feed into the other's POV before transitions

13. Be mindful of passive voice. It can be useful in synopses when avoiding extraneous detail, but it can also be distancing. Look for the most active AND economical way to say what happens.

14. You don't have to siphon emotional pathways from your book in the synopsis. Sometimes they can feel like super dry documents, but synopses can convey emotional arcs and character arcs too. Do this by establishing motives/goals early and answering "why" throughout

A Villain Monologue 

I fully recognize how evil I sound saying this but: synopses are good, actually.

HEAR ME OUT!!!!

I know we hate them! I know it sucks to write one! But! The synopsis is actually one of the most effective tools you have at your disposal for identifying weaknesses within your own draft.

Here's why: When you write a synopsis, you are distilling your plot down to the basics. When you take away the frills of prose and dialogue etc., you'll be able to see the character arcs and plot arcs more easily. As you write your synopsis, look out for places where the dramatic nature of events feels forced or not-present at all. These are places where events probably don't make sense in the book either. Look for the connective words you're using. Are you using "And then" because there's no cause or effect to the event? If so, that means you might need to edit for character agency. Are you having trouble answering the how/why questions? Probably you need stronger goals/motives driving your characters.

The synopsis sucks to write, I know it, but it also is one of the best ways to figure out where the problems are in your manuscript. If you're not chosen for mentorship or you aren't finding success while querying, something to do is look at your synopsis critically and see if you can identify weaknesses within your own plotting/structure. You may walk away with a strong revision plan that will make your book better!

Hi there! I had a quick question for you. You used to have a free post on Patreon that had a bunch of tips for researching agents to query, and I've had it bookmarked for a while, but I can't access it anymore because your Patreon stuff is all down currently. I was wondering if you happen to have that article up anywhere else? I'm about to search for agents for querying round 2: electric boogaloo and I was hoping to refresh myself before diving in. If you don't have it up anywhere, no worries, and thanks for writing it in the first place!

Hello! Happy to repost it here! I took down my Patreon, as it was causing me too much stress to create enough quality content to feel as though I could justify charging folks. Anyway, without further ado, my general overview of how to research and evaluate literary agents when you're in the query trenches: ~~

Lately I’ve been working with some of my mentees to build their query lists. It’s an exhausting process with a lot of research and guess work. In light of some recent discussions and advice floating around to “research” agents, I thought I’d throw together a sort of haphazard guide on how I do that and what I look for. “Research” is pretty nebulous advice and it’s just… not very helpful without any kind of caveat that no matter how much research you do, you’ll never be 100% sure about an agent until they reveal themselves to be a schmagent (shady agent). It’s sort of… Schrodinger’s schmagent, if you will.

This isn’t going to be an exhaustive how-to, but it’s a starting point. I hope it helps you as you figure out who you want to query and who you’re willing to trust with your career.

Depending on what type of book you’re writing, there are many tools the industry has to offer that you can use to figure out if agents are legit, what they are interested in signing, and what books they’ve sold.

MSWL 

Manuscript Wish List is an incredible resource. Agents can upload their wishlists to a profile on the website so you can see up to date information about not only what age categories and genres they’re accepting, but what other sorts of things they’re most interested in seeing like themes and writing styles and ship dynamics etc. This is a great place to start with building your query list and can help you narrow down who would be the best fit for you.

But… it doesn’t filter out schmagents. You don’t have to pass any sort of test in order to make a profile on MSWL except… be… an agent. Of any caliber. There are lots of agents on MSWL that I would never suggest someone query. On the flip side, there are lots of agents who are not on MSWL who I would suggest someone query.

Querytracker 

This is another great tool the industry has to offer. I didn’t use it for myself, but have used it to help others with building their query lists. The gist of it is that you can log all your queries and see when other people submitted and got their responses to see where you are in the queue. You can also see examples of form rejections from certain agents to see if yours was a form of personalized, and there’s a list of pretty much all the agents in existence.

However, this list of agents is not vetted in any way. There’s no quality control of the list, so again it’s just a starting point. There is a tool on the site called “Who reps Whom” where you can see an non-exhaustive list of authors and which agent reps them. This list is sometimes out of date though since authors leave agents sometimes and don’t announce their new representation until their book sells. It also sometimes lists multiple agents for an author when that author has sold different books repped by different agents. It can sometimes help you see which agents are losing clients, but it doesn’t really tell you why and that’s the important detail that will help you see if an agent is bad-bad or just bad for that author.

There is a paid version of QT, which I’ve never used, but I’ve heard it’s a great tool to have while you’re querying, but maybe not before you’re querying.

Children’s Bookshelf 

If you’re a kidlit writer of any age category, you should be subscribed to Publisher’s Weekly Children’s Bookshelf newsletter. It’s a biweekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays) newsletter that includes a deal report. This lists all the book deals from picture book up through YA that are being announced that week.

First of all, you should get on this whether or not you’re ready to start querying. It’s a great, free resource that will help you stay aware of what’s selling in the industry. Keep in mind, though, that books being announced now won’t come out for at least a year or two. They also probably sold months ago. What’s selling now won’t be what’s selling in a few months, necessarily, so be wary of chasing trends.

Mostly, though, this is a great way for you to see who is selling what to whom. See a book deal that sounds cool? Check who the agent was. Then check who it was sold to. Is that a publisher you’d like to publish with? Maybe check out that agent’s wishlist to see if you’re a match!

Old editions of Children’s Bookshelf and the deal reports are available online, too, so if you want to do a bunch of research right now, you can search for those on PW’s website.

Publisher’s Marketplace 

I hate this website very very much mostly because they charge so much money for you to get access to what should be free information HOWEVER it’s a very useful tool with lots of internal connectivity and links that are actually helpful. If you’re willing to shell out the money, you can check up on agents’ sales and see how their sales are.

A word of caution: PM has some “top dealmakers” lists you can peruse. These are misleading and simply list agents who are making the most deals. There’s no vetting of the quality of these deals. There is a well known schmagent who often tops these lists, so just because someone appears on a list, don’t take that as gospel that they are a quality agent.

Avoiding Schmagents

There are a lot of schmagents out there and really they fall into two categories: Bad agents who are out to screw you over and bad agents who don’t realize they are bad agents.

The former are usually a little easier to spot. I say usually because… not always. Sometimes very successful agents turn out to suck at their jobs. *stares at the current situation* But! You can sometimes spot these agents because there will be articles or blog posts about how much they suck. There will be podcasts where the hosts have to call the agent by a rhyming fake name to avoid a lawsuit. Etc.

The latter are a little harder to spot sometimes because they talk a good game. They sometimes talk about bad agent practices and share their own processes in the name of transparency (lots of good agents to this too!) These agents have the best of intentions and really want to be good agents, but they might have bad training or not enough strong connections in the industry to actually sell your book. They might not know enough about contracts to negotiate a good one, or they might not actually know what is and isn’t industry standard. They think because they are well-intentioned and not out to scam you that they’re not a schmagent.

Basically, the first case is like hiring a con artist to do your plumbing and they come over to fix your sink and break your toilet in the process. The second case is like hiring your really enthusiastic neighbor to fix your sink. They might be excited to do the job, but if they have the wrong tools and the wrong training, a lot can still go wrong.

So how do you know who to avoid?

Google

Okay I know this is going to sound extremely ridiculous but just. Just. Google. Google the agent’s name or the agency and scroll through the first couple of pages of results. If there are public facing horror stories to be had, you’ll probably find them here. Sometimes I see people sign with schmagents and I know if you google their name the second or third result is a detailed and horrifying blog post from an ex client all about her “year with a terrible agent.” A simple google search of the agency’s name would reveal this information, and it hurts my heart to see people signing when there are so many obvious red flags for them to find if they just search.

Writer Beware

This is a great website with detailed accounts of many known schmagents and Schmagencies. It’s not exhaustive by any means, but you’ll see some great info here about bad actors in the publishing industry, what they’ve done, and why it’s recommended that you stay away. 

Red Flags

There are also just a few red flags to look out for. Things like agents charging you up front—never ever pay an agent. Agents get paid a commission off of what they sell for you. They only get paid if you get paid. Money will flow from the publisher to the agent (who will take their 15%) and then to you.

Keep an eye out for agencies that charge a reading fee for queries. Again, don’t pay them money. Be wary of any agency that also provides paid editorial services. The same goes for if an agent tells you to work with a paid freelance editor in order to get signed. (This is different from feedback suggesting you work with critique partners or an editor. That’s a good suggestion. Prescribing that you work with a specific editor and pay them for their services as the conditions to get signed as a client is not okay.)

I am also very wary of any agent or agency that requires exclusivity on queries, partials, or full manuscripts. Exclusivity, to me, reads as though the agent doesn’t believe they stand a chance against other agents if they decide they want to sign you and… that’s a red flag to me. If they don’t think they can measure up, then they probably can’t and you shouldn’t be giving them a chance. (I’ll note that this is different from exclusivity on an R&R, which I think can sometimes be warranted in cases when an agent takes a lot of time to give you notes. Sometimes an agent will give revision notes and ask for exclusive right to consider the revised—be sure to nail down a timeframe for this so you don’t get stuck waiting for them to read for 6 months. Give them a head start of a few weeks or a month, but don’t give them forever to consider.)

Evaluating

When I evaluate an agent for a query list, I look at their sales.

If they have sales, I look to see if they are sales to publishers/editors you would be interested in working with? Likely, their sales are indicative of who they have relationships with. If you are submitting with the hopes of a traditional print deal to a large publisher, but the agent mostly does digital only deals to small presses, that’s probably not going to be the right fit for you. If you’re a middle grade writer but the agent has only ever sold adult historical romance, then… again, maybe not the right fit.

If they don’t have sales, I look at the other agents at the agency. Who has been agenting longer at the agency who might be mentoring them? Look at their sales and evaluate those. It’s possible the new agent you’re querying will make different contacts, but they’re likely being trained by the higher ups at the agency. Make sure you’re comfortable with that.

Check where the agent was trained too. Probably, you’ll see this in their agent bio. You’ll see some former workplaces—do they have prior experience in the industry? At a publisher maybe? A strong internship at another agency? This isn’t necessarily always going to be the sign of a good agent, but it can tell you what their history is and who might have had a hand in training them.

Other things I look at are their client list. Does the agent have a ton of clients already? Do they have a lot of high profile clients? These aren’t necessarily marks against them, but it might be an indicator that their plate is already pretty full. They might not be taking on a lot of new clients—or if they are, they might be overloading themselves and setting you up for very long wait times or even being neglected as a newer client. That’s definitely not always the case, and there are plenty of agents with huge lists full of very successful authors that juggle it all quite well.

This is where the last piece of the puzzle comes in and I realize I’m about to sound just extremely annoying but… do a vibe check. You don’t have to have a concrete reason not to query someone. If you feel at all uncomfortable or you get a weird vibe from someone, it’s okay to just say “Maybe I’ll skip that person.” I skipped an agent who was probably lovely, but gave of a kind of weird ra-ra feminist terf vibe to me that made me feel like maybe that wouldn’t be a safe relationship for me. I also skipped a male agent who I saw tweeting at women in a way that just felt a little uncomfy to me. That agent was later revealed to be a total creep, so… my vibe check war right on point there. Just… sometimes it’s worth taking a risk on a newer agent (it certainlywas for me) but it’s not always worth taking a risk on an agent who just feels off to you. Especially if you’re a marginalized person and you get a vibe from an agent that might indicate they’d try to exploit your identity or just be kind of shitty to you… you’re not obligated to query them! Even if they request in a pitch contest! Even if they slide right into your DMs to ask for your book (especially if they do this omfg this is so inappropriate). Basically… listen to your gut.

Okay so… what am I actually looking for?

There’s not one perfect checklist to use for this that’s a surefire way to weed out the baddies and keep the goodies. Unfortunately, a huge part of this industry is figuring out what works for you and being willing to communicate that. You won’t know what you’re looking for until you find it sometimes. If you’d asked me who my dream agent was before I queried, I would have given you the name of an agent I would never ever ever query if I had to go into the trenches now. Sometimes what you think you want and what you actually need are two very different things, and I’m really lucky that I got what I needed without trying to.

It’s helpful if you keep in mind some stuff about what youwant like:

· Do you want an editorial agent, or do you want to manage the editorial side yourself with CPs etc. and just have your agent sell your work?

· Do you want an agent who specializes in your age category/genre or do you want an agent with broader contacts in case you decide to branch out?

· Do you want a large agency that manages a lot of clients and may have a really strong internal subrights department? Or do you want a more boutique agency where you might be in a smaller pool of authors?

· Do you want to publish traditionally with a large publisher, or are you interested in submitting to some digital imprints or independent publishers?

Keep all this in mind as you do your research on agents. I recommend that you reevaluate these wants as you go along to see if that’s still what you want or if your career plans have changed. But, use these as a way to steer you with your search. Don’t submit to an agent just because their wishlist matches up with your book. Make sure their agenting style matches up with your career plan too.

Dream Agents

Lastly, a plea from me to you: don’t have a dream agent. It’s okay to have like… an idea of what kind of agent you want and the relationship you hope you’ll have but… don’t pick a real agent to have as your dream agent. Nine times out of ten what you’re going to end up wanting in an agent isn’t what you think you want now while you’re in the query trenches, but also it’s weird and maybe a little bit unhealthy to idolize an industry professional who may or may not be doing their job well. Just because you like an agent’s twitter presence doesn’t mean they would be the right agent for you. There are a lot of agents out there who do a great job, so it’ll be better for you in the long run to have a dream type of agent rather than an actual specific dream agent. Keep your options open and dream broadly.

Whisper Networks

There’s a lot of talk about whisper networks in publishing and… basically yeah. These exist. They spread a lot of good information. They also spread a lot of bad information. Basically these are avenues for gossip, so take it all with a grain of salt. I’ve heard things before from the source and then heard a very twisted and garbled version of that story again a few days later from someone else. It’s like a big game of telephone and everyone’s tryingto pass along the right info, but stuff gets twisted along the way. Be cognizant of who your source is and who their source is etc.

Not everyone has access to whisper networks and… unfortunately that’s kind of just by design. The reason we have whisper networks instead of a detailed database is because these conversations can quickly turn into big spectacles that end with a cease-and-desist order and threats of lawsuits. Agents hold a lot of power in this industry—especially the ones with daddy’s money to throw around—and none of us wants to deal with that, especially since we don’t get paid nearly enough to actually fight it. We also don’t want to burn bridges. Maybe there’s a shitty agent out and about, but they rep some authors we really respect or they work at a great agency that we might someday want to query. Until the power imbalance in publishing is more even, it will continue to be dangerous for authors to talk publicly about bad agent behavior—even when it is very clearly unethical.

I don’t have the solution here. Maybe there just… isn’t one… Maybe someone a lot smarter than me will come up with one. Maybe we’ll all just keep circling on this issue for decades to come. At the end of the day, my best advice is to talk to other authors. If you’re having a weird experience, talk to someone else. The best thing we can do is compare notes to see if what we’re dealing with is normal.

In Closing

So… I hope this is useful in one way or another. It’s definitely not a catch all and it’s not a perfect system. These are just the tools I know of and the way I think about agents/agencies when putting together query lists with my mentees. A lot of it is guess work. I think the industry would hugely benefit from more regulation and standardization but… that is another conversation for another time because we’ve crossed over 3000 words on this post and it’s time for bed.

With that… good luck!

[gardenergulfie]

I am so tempted to just ditch Emptober or at least just write the emptober prompts into this longfic idea because ITS VERY GOOD AND I WANT TO WRITE IT BUT I CANT WRITE BOTH LONGFIC AND EMPTOBER ONESHOTS SO I AM SUFFERING

[little-lee-froggie]

hi I read your writing about how some of the pillars with ticklish s/o could you plz do rengoku, tengen, and sanemi

Of course! This is literally the second request I’ve ever completed- wow, I’m such a good writer. Anyway, if you haven’t seen part one, here it is! Well anyway, let’s get into it:

IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ: while I’m a completely sfw blog, I do just want to say that tengen’s headcanons do mention some nsfw type things, but it’s the last one and very short. You can skip it if you don’t want to read that.

———————————————————————

Sanemi💨💥:

Sanemi Sanemi Sanemi… where to begin with Sanemi

Ok, yeah, first of all, MEAN

Mean bitch

But surprisingly gentle. Growing up with a bunch of little siblings made him able to just know everything, like how much someone can usual take 

And also alllll you spots. He doesn’t even need to see someone else tickle you, he just KNOWS. I don’t know how, but he just does.

A word of advice: PROTECT YOUR WORST SPOT. AT ALL COSTS. I don’t care if it will give away where it is, I don’t care if you like being tickled, (but like, same bro,) PROTECT. IT.  Because if you don’t, that’s when his ruthless side shows. You are being pushed past your breaking point, you are going to almost die, and you are going to wish you took my advice. At that point, you will have unlocked the monster within that man. If you thought he was already a monster, you haven’t seen SHIT.

But other then the fact that if he finds your worst spot you will literally almost die, he’s pretty fair.

Not that into teasing, he more just… glares.

But he will be a bit nicer to you then usual after 

Do make sure you’re always prepared for an attack after the first time. Because if this man tickles you, that means he sees you like one of his little siblings. And while that’s great, it’s also TERRIFYING. Because he’s always ready. He can strike at any time. 

Please do not provoke him, he will go straight for your worst spot, you will die, it won’t be fun. Trust me, you don’t even need to provoke him, he will sense what you want and eventually give it to you. Don’t provoke him, it’ll only end badly. Just be patient, it’ll work out so much better for you.

It’s also the only way he knows how to cheer someone up, so if you don’t want to wait, just act really sad, he’ll tickle you :)

Rengoku🔥🍩:

Everyone step aside, the king is here

Sweetest, nicest, kindest, most lovely ler ever, I will not be taking criticism.

He just…. Ahhhhhhhhhh!!! You know? Like he’s the kind of ler that could literally tickle you for a second and all your problems… GONE. Never to be seen again.

It makes him so happy to see people smiling. If you want tickles, just ask him, he won’t even be mean about, he’ll just give you what you want because he likes to see you happy 

He doesn’t really tease, but he will laugh and smile along. He can’t help it, he finds all laughter contagious 

He’ll take little breaks through out and check up. Do you need food, do you need water, do you want him to be more gentle, do you want him to be more rough, do you want him to stop, do you want him to tickle a different spot, do you want him tickle in a different way, all of your needs are met and tended to with a smile. If you need literally anything, just tell him and he’ll adjust to it.

Also, can I just say, aftercare ✨KING✨

Literally the definition of ‘head up king, your crown is falling’. He is so gentle and kind, he will take care of you. Holy shit, he is the definition of perfection 

He really really likes tickling people’s sides. He likes it because he can easily make sure you’re still breathing as normally as possible so he can adjust based on that and make sure you’re safe.

Once again, literally PERFECT 

Tengen✨🎵:

Okay, I’m not sure how to start this one, so I just will 

I feel like he definitely likes it more sexually. I’m not really comfortable with writing about kink, but I really can’t see him liking it any other way, so that’s why this one is really short.

Just tickles his wives, not really anyone else.

Though he does like it when people laugh loudly when tickled, he finds it flashy.

Anyway, yeah, that’s Tengen’s

———————————————————————

And those are my headcanons! I hope you enjoyed them. Once again, I’m sorry about Tengen’s. Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful day/night! Byeeeee!!

-Froggie :p

[miraculouscontent]

*rubs hands together*

The first thing to talk about with this episode is the pacing, and I think this might contribute to why people think it’s the best/least bad of Season 4 (personally, I’d rather watch “Furious Fu” but that’s just me; also, this isn’t the only contributing factor as to why I think people might feel this way, but I’ll get there later).

The episode has a very serious pacing issue, particularly with its more intense scenes. There’s only one minute of time dedicated to Ladybug landing on her bed, de-transforming, and her snapping at her friends plus them leaving. More time was spent on Chat Noir and Ladybug in the movie theater and Ladybug storming out.

I particularly remember watching the episode and getting eighteen minutes in, at which point I had the realization of, “It feels like nothing’s happened?”

This episode is supposed to be a big gut punch, but the season has been going by at the speed of sound, like they’re trying desperately to play all their cards at once (Lukanette break-up, Adrimi break-up, then Alya is told Marinette’s secret identity). Instead of letting things build and play out for a while in the interest of suspense, the show just throws whatever will get a big reaction out of the fandom (whether positive or negative) and it doesn’t care how shoddily put together everything is. The first two episodes feel like hastily put together drafts, and while this one is technically more put together, it still feels like a draft.

Let’s just start with Chat Noir, who feels completely out of place in the episode. Not only does he imply that he intentionally calls Ladybug “Bugaboo” (which she has told him to stop doing) in order to get a reaction out of her, but when Ladybug insists that she doesn’t want to talk, he tricks her into thinking that he has a good location to do so (and my heart breaks a little at how readily she trusts him) only to then take her to a romantic movie, then shush her when she calls him out for it because she “said she didn’t want to talk.”

Gee, and people wonder why she didn’t tell him her secret (even outside of “Chat Blanc” existing)?

And... look, I know it’s a joke, but I do not find it funny. The “joke” is basically that Chat Noir is taking advantage of the situation to flirt with Ladybug, and though I find it at least mildly cathartic that Ladybug is unaffected by all the people staring at them while Chat Noir is embarrassed, this episode is coming right after the one where Kagami broke up with Adrien, and here Chat Noir is getting his flirt game on. I already talked about all my problems with “Lies” so I won’t do it again, but I’ll just say that it’s not a mystery why Ladybug doesn’t want to talk to him and would rather avoid her problems.

(Not to mention that Ladybug knows that Chat Noir likes her, so talking about her romantic problems with him is awkward to say the least and would come off as insensitive.)

Honestly, at this point I feel like they must be building to something with Chat, like Ladybug finally going off of him with no mercy and that forces him to give up/fall out of love for her because reverse love square, but if that’s what they intend to go for, then that means Marinette is going to fall for this guy who’s repeatedly disrespected her feelings for multiple seasons, almost abandoned her and let Paris drown because she wouldn’t tell him a secret that wasn’t hers to tell, and just generally all the other things he did????

Ugh, I don’t wanna think about it. Let’s just move on.

Talking about Ladybug and her rant next, it basically summarizes the whole show in a nutshell, but simultaneously casts a shadow of sorts over “Truth” for people who maybe missed the episode entirely (which is also sort of the show in a nutshell). I mean, Ladybug confirming to the audience that she was genuinely in love and happy with Luka (you can’t watch how depressed she was over the break-up and not think that) was great, but Ladybug’s dialog implies that Luka “hated secrets” and that’s why they broke up, when Luka was more just... hurt that she couldn’t be honest with him, and he didn’t actively hate secrets. Marinette broke up with him because she felt like she had to; because she had to keep ditching and lie to him.

In addition, what she says also hints to the audience that they’ve both held and kissed each other, which not only indicates cowardice on the part of the staff (”yeah this happened but--um--off-screen; we’d still like credit tho plz”), but may perhaps go back to the theory I had about how Adrimi and Lukanette were supposed to last longer in Season 4 but their arcs got cut (based on the Adrimi kiss having supposed to have gone off). This could mean that Ladybug’s statement was originally accurate to canon but the scenes got cut and the scriptwriters just awkwardly left it in, which is made more awkward by the cinema scene in “Truth” that felt like Luka and Marinette were kissing for the first time (again, alluding to the whole, “this entire season has been a draft” thing).

Also, if you think about what that actually means - that Luka and Marinette did have successful dates and kisses but they were off-screen - then all it adds up to is that showing Marinette happy and comfortable was something that the series didn’t deem as “interesting/fun enough” to show, because Marinette being happy isn’t something they want to see; only watching her be miserable, which is exactly what Ladybug says, along with how everything was “almost too simple, too easy,” because Marinette isn’t allowed to have nice things without being jammed through the wringer first.

And... sure, let’s say that Chat Noir thought the movie was genuinely a good idea; let’s assume that it could be a joke, him wanting to flirt, and him believing that it’d make her feel better somehow.

If that’s the case, then where’s the apology when it fails miserably? Ladybug goes from her semi-anxious state at the start of the episode (a little scatterbrained but ultimately just looking for a distraction), to outright enraged by the movie, and then to this upon leaving the cinema.

She just got her heart broken from being forced to break up with a boy she genuinely wanted to be with and there’s not a single, “Okay, maybe coming here was a bad idea, I’m sorry,” (which could’ve been seen as another joke with the audience like “lol no duh Chat Noir” so there’s no excuse not to have it) or, “My bad, that was insensitive of me. I really thought this would’ve helped but I wasn’t thinking about what you would’ve wanted.”

No. The only people Chat apologizes to are the other people at the theater because he’s embarrassed by Ladybug’s reactions, yet he himself feels no remorse for taking her there and has the gall to go on now about how he’s “there for her if she wants to talk.”

Again, it’s no wonder Ladybug doesn’t want to open up to him.

And I’m sorry, I just don’t buy that Marinette suddenly has all this free time. It’s one thing for her to have a little more time now that she’s broken up with her boyfriend (likely avoiding spending time with him altogether now), but “Truth” went out of its way to talk about all of the emergencies she had to deal with and how she doesn’t have any spare time. which is causing her to become forgetful and lose track of certain events (patrols with Chat, dates with Luka, etcetera), yet Marinette spends most of “Gang of Secrets” simply sulking on her bed. It’s so jarring to go from “Truth” where she was doing “too much” (which I called them out on for not describing what the “too much” she was doing was) and now “Gang of Secrets” where she’s not doing anything.

It’s almost like they invented that plot point to break Lukanette up and it served no purpose outside of it.

Furthermore, the scenes of her finally talking to Tikki and then deciding to live as Ladybug does nothing outside of making the plot more predictable, the latter because of the “Alya almost sees Ladybug” moment (an obvious indicator that Marinette is losing control and is struggling to maintain her secret identity due to her emotionally breaking down) and the former because of Tikki herself and what she doesn’t say.

Because, really, think about what actually goes on in the scene. Marinette (eyes rimmed red and filled with unshed tears, as she is for a good chunk of the episode) is venting to Tikki about - yes - her love life, but also that she has to lie to everyone in order to keep her identity a secret. The fact that Tikki focuses solely on the note of Marinette’s love life and not say a word about the identity/lying issue or even consider telling Marinette, “hey, this is clearly too much for you, you should tell someone, I think the benefits outweigh the risks right now,” really proves that the episode tried to avoid the topic altogether to try and make the ending more shocking (which ironically made it more predictable).

So yeah, not only does Tikki’s dialog with Marinette provide nothing except for a line about how she can’t help Marinette with love issues due to kwami not falling in love (alright, I guess aros can’t give good love advice then or have any input whatsoever), but Marinette’s line about lying to everyone being why she can’t pursue Adrien nor Luka is repeated in the very last scene of the episode. The only reason that scene and the scene after exist is because the writers needed Marinette to be emotionally devastated enough to leave for her balcony as Ladybug for the almost-reveal to Alya and so Rose would get close enough to the dollhouse to have an almost-reveal with the Miracle Box, making the scene feel further contrived because the emotional punch of Marinette wanting to live as Ladybug lasts for barely any time at all.

And it could’ve served a purpose, like if Ladybug had genuinely left and Alya finds her goggles and towel, recognizing them from a news story about how Ladybug had gone to the swimming pool after losing her temper at the cinema, which could’ve led to Shadow Moth making the girls believe that Ladybug was no longer heroic and had kidnapped Marinette, or... heck, Ladybug coming back inside would’ve been so much less jarring if she came back because she heard the girls’ voices talking about the dollhouse and had to hurry (but of course, then they’d have to point out the ridiculousness of Ladybug not hearing Alya calling her and the girls not hearing Ladybug literally shouting for Shadow Moth to come fight her, even though the kwami heard the girls calling for Marinette from the balcony).

But instead, the entire scene feels off and unnatural, forcing every part of it in order to get to where Marinette has to snap at the girls to make them leave.

(Oh, by the way, just a little detail to add to the annoyance: they bothered putting Tom and Sabine in the episode when the girls are leaving, clearly saddened by something that happened, and neither parent even bothers to go and check on Marinette to see if she’s upset or just to see what might’ve happened. They’re such a “blink-and-you’ll-miss it” moment in the episode and it’s not like I’m surprised because they’ve done this multiple times by now but really?)

As for the girls themselves... oof, where do I even begin?

Alright, first off is the annoyance that they assume Marinette’s problems relate only to lovesickness. Marinette has been an anxiety-prone mess throughout the entire series, and suddenly now the girls care about Marinette’s love problems on an emotional level rather than “we’ll meddle sometimes unless we don’t feel like it and be wholly inconsistent on how much we push for it.”? It’s not that I don’t see how they came to the conclusion (hearing that Luka and Marinette broke up and now seeing Marinette is depressed, it checks out), but considering they bothered noting that Marinette hadn’t told them anything, one would think they’d come to the conclusion of, “okay, we haven’t talked to her, we have no idea of what’s going on, maybe we don’t know her as well as we thought then and shouldn’t make guesses.”

Secondly is the “eternal friendship bracelet,” which comes off as a copy of the “Secrets” game from “Syren” extremely manipulative. Mylene goes on to explain that one is supposed to give a secret to the pearl “mentally,” yet when the girls actually show up to see Marinette, they expect to be told the secret directly. I’ve already talked at length about peer pressure and the mental stress Marinette goes through when they mock her and/or meddle for her, but this idea of, “well we all used this friendship bracelet after we mutually agreed to it so now it’s your turn because we said so!” just comes off really bad. I know the episode is going for this idea that their hearts are in the right place, but they’re really not. It feels like they’re the ones in denial and are trying to compensate by forcing Marinette to prove that they’re friends, unable to handle the idea that they might not be as close to her as they thought.

Thirdly, the show acts as if the girl squad are her only friends when we know that’s not true because we’ve seen episodes like “Befana” (the guys in the class), “Reverser” (Marc), “Ikari Gozen” (Kagami), and “Silencer” (Ivan) that all established Marinette having more friends than just them, but for the sake of “drama” and the depressing line of, “at least I don’t have any more friends to lie to,” the episode just pretends like Marinette’s friends are limited to Luka (who she had to break up with) and the girl squad (who she forced to leave and refuse the friendship of).

Fourthly is the actual set-up and the sheer grossness of it all. The girls call Marinette and leave a message about how they much they love her and how she can talk to them “where and when” she wants, and then - immediately afterwards - decide that they’re going to go straight to Marinette’s house completely unannounced, go into her room completely unannounced (not even knocking, by the way), and when Marinette begs them to leave, Alya basically tells her that she’s overreacting. When Marinette demands that they leave, Alya refuses and makes demands right back that they won’t leave until she tells them what’s wrong.

So much for “where and when” she wanted, right? It’s already one thing for the girls to invade Marinette’s privacy and demand/guilt-trip answers out of her, but it’s another thing to give the illusion of respecting her feelings and personal space only to actively plan to go back on it. I can’t tell if it’s a bad draft that they didn’t catch in quality check (you know, the quality check that they definitely don’t have) or just an intentional way to make them seem more sympathetic so Marinette looks worse for driving them out, but either way, it’s awful and I hate it. I would’ve rather had them be all in on invading Marinette’s privacy and learn a lesson in the end than outright contradict themselves.

There are also little nitpicks I could make (like Juleka’s constant mumbling despite Luka’s crush on Marinette playing a role in the episode, Horrificator getting sidelined due to being mute, and the girls’ akumatization ultimately being for spectacle and nothing else, serving no purpose to the plot and being furthered by the fact that Timebreaker goes after Marinette despite it being a bad idea and Reflekta’s power clearly not lining up with any sort of plan), but the real issue issue here comes down to the fact that these are Marinette’s so-called “friends” and the episode refuses to address their actual issues.

Alix, who is known for making rude comments at Marinette (”Gigantitan,” “Chat Blanc,” “Miraculous New York”) and then gives mixed messages by going along with meddling anyway.

Mylene, who is the closest thing to a background character in the girl squad but nevertheless finds her way into being definite voice against Marinette in “Chameleon.”

Juleka, who blamed Marinette for things she didn’t do in “Reflekdoll” and got huffy with her until Marinette apologized for said things.

Rose, who outright screamed at Marinette in “Chat Blanc” over a freaking stuffed animal, which pressured Marinette enough that she snuck into Adrien’s room to deliver her gift which nearly led to the end of the world.

And, of course, Alya; freaking Alya. I don’t even have to go into every single thing she’s ever done because I have a history of giving her absolutely no mercy.

...But let’s go through some anyway because I want to.

“Copycat” - Alya gives Marinette a script and tells her to memorize it, then immediately pushes the “call” button when Marinette hesitates after Marinette had just told Alya that she’s awful at improv.

“Darkblade” - Alya takes a jab at Marinette when Marinette says that she’s too busy to be class representative, implying that Alya thinks that Marinette does absolutely nothing with her time.

“Gamer” - Alya is busy recording the gaming competition when she and Marinette were supposed to be researching for a term paper. Alya then scolds Marinette for wanting to use the competition to get close to Adrien only to do a 180 and put up a fight about it when Marinette decides to quit.

“Animan” and how “The Puppeteer 2″ follows up on it - oh, I’m not going to touch that particular point right now, but keep those in the back of your mind, because I am going to absolutely go off later

“Simon Says” - Similarly to Marinette’s parents, Alya gives zero damns about whatever might be going on in Marinette’s life that's causing her to miss classes.

"Despair Bear” - Alya laughs at Marinette being forced to kiss Chloe’s cheek and then outright compares Marinette to Chloe after knocking Chloe multiple times during the episode (sure, just compare your “best friend” to her multi-year bully, how "hilarious” of you).

“Gigantitan” - Alya has no qualms about mocking Marinette’s over her failures, even if it embarrasses her and she’s been through enough already.

“Frozer” - Alya tries to find ways for Marinette to prevent herself from third-wheeling for Adrien, but when Marinette tries to show character growth by wanting to go, Alya gets into a shouting match with the other girls over how Marinette has “liked Adrien forever and isn’t going to give up now”.

“Catalyst” - Alya claims that Marinette is only salty over Lila out of jealousy when “Frozer” exists and literally is the prime evidence of Adrien liking another girl and Marinette telling Alya outright and very genuinely that she’s not jealous.

“Chameleon” - Alya doesn’t care about her best friend sitting in the back by herself while Alya herself get to sit next to her boyfriend and everyone else in general gets to sit where they want (Alya even acting confused at the mere suggestion that she’d tried to engineer things to let Marinette sit next to Adrien), then not only believes Lila over Marinette but contradicts herself twice (asking Marinette for proof when she has none herself, then claiming that she wouldn’t let her best friend sit by herself).

“Christmaster” - Alya leaves Marinette to babysit so she and Nino can go out on a date.

“Desperada” - Alya suddenly is for Lukanette for literally one episode and doesn’t know how/doesn’t even try to cover for Marinette’s Adrien blindness despite mocking her for multiple seasons over it.

“Reflekdoll” - Alya invites Adrien to something that’s crucial for Marinette to focus on after Marinette has already told her not to and continues meddling to the point where it gets Juleka akumatized (she also doesn’t get punished for it and the blame gets thrown onto Marinette).

“The Puppeteer 2″ - Alya pushes her luck with Nathalie to try and get Marinette to come with her, Nino, Adrien, and Manon to the museum, then traps Marinette in a room with Adrien to force her to spent alone time with him, even abandoning and forgetting about the child that she offered to watch for Marinette so she and her boyfriend can go off alone.

“Miraculous New York” - Alya is told directly by Marinette that she needs help seeing Adrien as a friend, which leads Alya to do the exact opposite throughout the entire special, at one point shouting at Marinette and pressuring her to chase after a car, in the rain, while there’s a supervillain rampaging through Paris, and all of this right after the scheme that Alya had set up caused both Marinette and Adrien to go missing.

And just saying, as Marinette’s supposed “best friend,” Alya sure doesn’t know how to handle her. It was acceptable back in “The Bubbler” when she asked Marinette about signing the gift too late and the same goes for “Dark Cupid,” but by the time we get to late Season 2/3 and Alya refuses to learn Marinette’s weak spots (unless it’s to mock her) and adjust accordingly (like if she’d already made sure the gift was signed in “Chat Blanc,” which would’ve prevented Adrien seeing Ladybug at all due to the time difference), it starts getting infuriating.

A best friend is supposed to cover for their friend’s weaknesses. Alya doesn’t do that; she meddles and often drives Marinette’s anxiety even further up a wall with absolutely no consideration for Marinette’s feelings (”Dark Cupid,” “The Puppeteer 2,” “Reflekdoll,” “Miraculous New York”).

And here, she and the other girls are rewarded for it. Luka actively resisted his akumatization whereas the girls gave in immediately, yet Marinette still opens up to them in the end, likely because they had pressured her and made her feel bad for the secrets she was keeping while Luka was willing to actually wait for her to be ready to talk to him. I can’t put into words how frustrating it is watching these girls trample all over Marinette’s feelings, not have their worst actions called out, and then jump cut post-deakumatization to Marinette telling them exactly what they wanted to know about her love life.

You know what this entire episode is really missing, outside of a coherent plot, properly-paced development, and a basic understanding of rewarding a character for things they’ve held firmly to?

It’s missing the apology. Chat Noir apologizes to a bunch of moviegoers and Rose apologizes for the broken dollhouse, but no one apologizes to Marinette for how they treated her, especially not the “friends” who got rewarded in the end.

“Sorry, we shouldn’t have told you that we’d respect your feelings and then showed up unannounced to make you talk about them.”

“We’re sorry we came into your room and invaded your privacy. You were right to be mad at us.”

“Oh my gosh, Marinette, we got akumatized and we’re so sorry for literally all five of us going after you and probably scaring the living daylights out of you.”

And as if that wasn’t enough, guess what else this is missing? It’s kind of important and brought up directly in the episode, yet the episode simultaneously goes out of its way not to bring it up again.

It’s the reason why Marinette didn’t tell the girls about her relationship with Luka. It’s not there - it’s missing - and the girls never try to pursue the subject. They talk about how Marinette didn’t tell them but don’t think for a second that maybe it’s them who have failed as friends. Instead, they don’t guess anything about why Marinette wouldn’t tell them (which is already strange considering how much they already assume about her) and jump straight to, “well clearly we just need to push for her to talk to us.”

Gonna just go out on a limb here and say that maybe - just maybe - Marinette didn’t tell them because they are habitually pushy in everything they do.

Because they would’ve teased her relentlessly about, “ohhhh you’ve got eyes for Luka? what about Aaaaaadrien~? aren’t you sooo tooorn between both of these cute guys?”

Because they would’ve meddled to force her and Luka together and gotten on her case when/if she ever had to bail on him.

Because their intrusion on her feelings for Adrien had caused her nothing but problems and she just wanted to be with Luka in peace without them forcing their way into things.

Because--hey, wild thought--maybe they’re not really friends???

But the episode completely avoids it, because that would’ve meant addressing it; it would’ve meant acknowledging that they messed up, which - fun fact - they actually don’t do in the episode.

They invaded Marinette’s privacy, insisted that she tell them how she feels (not about them of course because that would imply that they felt like they screwed up), and in the end it’s Marinette who gives them exactly what they asked of her, and the closest thing we get to acknowledging anything is Alix telling her/joking with her that they’ll help her confess to whoever she likes as soon as she tells them she’s ready.

That’s not an apology. That’s not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing. Even when the five of them are about to get akumatized, it’s not a circle of them saying, “here’s how I screwed up, I could’ve done better but I didn’t and I lost Marinette because of it.”

No. It’s just them talking about how sad the situation is. Mylene has the closest thing to remorse in saying, “I hoped it would work,” but where does it go? A grand total of nowhere, especially because Marinette still takes the bracelet in the end instead of the girls mutually deciding, “okay, maybe the bracelet was a bad idea; how about we all agree on making something together instead, no requirements attached?”

And then the episode has the gall to act as if Alya has gone through character growth when all they did was put Alya through the same thing that Chloe did. I’ll explain that last bit momentarily, but first let’s talk about the whole “growth” thing.

Because there’s no apology or acknowledgement of wrongdoing, all Alya does when she’s finally alone with Marinette is do a 180 from where she was at the start of the episode, going from, “friends have to tell each other everything,” to, “hey, if you don’t want to tell me, then that’s your right.”

The crucial part that’s supposed to go in the middle is missing. Instead of acknowledging her failures, Alya just cuts straight to “””being a better friend,”““ but storytelling doesn’t work that way.

It literally would have taken zero effort to fit an acknowledgement into that scene. “You don’t have to tell me everything, I get that now. All my meddling’s done is hurt you and I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t trust me.”

In a world where Marinette has to apologize for everything, has to learn lessons and suffer because the narrative says so, I will not accept anything less from other characters who are trying to develop and improve. That’s not fair to Marinette, nor has it ever been.

Instead of properly developing Alya, the show does whatever it can to get its audience to root for her as Marinette’s “best friend” (ugh) without having to put in the effort of admitting that Alya hasn’t been Marinette’s “best” friend.

Remember when I brought up Chloe? Yeah, “Malediktator” did a similar thing, showing Chloe doing something awful, then being sad (while not actually acknowledging the thing she did wrong), and in the end she was rewarded with a miraculous prematurely.

One show of character from Chloe and Marinette gave her a miraculous. One show of character from Alya and Marinette told her that she was Ladybug.

(Also, for the record, I think Chloe is far worse than Alya character-wise and I’m not comparing their characters; this is just the simplest comparison I can draw here from a narrative standpoint.)

“Miraculer” is another apt comparison, perhaps even more so. Chloe got Hawk Moth in her head after an akuma landed in her photo of her and Ladybug, but Chloe resisted and fought back, ultimately forcing the akuma out of her and freeing herself from Hawk Moth’s control.

But it wasn’t to develop her character; no, it was to convince the audience of Chloe and Sabrina’s friendship so they’d feel something during Sabrina’s happy flashbacks, then lay the foundation of tricking viewers into believing that Chloe might not go to Hawk Moth’s side.

At the end of the day, it was doing something that’s “never been done before” in order for the character to earn brownie points for something that the writers can just have them do because willpower is an easy thing to just write in. “Gang of Secrets” does the exact same thing when Lady Wifi breaks free from Shadow Moth, with Ladybug even hammering it home by talking about how no one’s ever done it before.

And the pacing is - again - awful. Not only is Ladybug banking on this working when she herself says that it’s never been done, but the conversation between her and Lady Wifi where Ladybug tries to convince her doesn’t even take a minute.

It also has nothing to do with Marinette herself; Ladybug relies on Alya’s adoration/friendship with her as Ladybug (you know, after Alya took a photo of LadyNoir kissing and posted it online without Ladybug’s consent, betrayed her by putting information on the LadyBlog that Hawk Moth was able to take advantage of, and is the only hero outside of Chloe to resist returning a miraculous) in order to break from Hawk Moth’s control, because talking about Marinette with Lady Wifi didn’t even work.

(Ladybug also uses her yoyo as a portal to the Miracle Box when this has never been pre-established to be a thing despite Ladybug acting as if she knew it was; further proof that this episode was rushed.)

And of course talking about Marinette didn’t work, because that would’ve meant convincing Alya that her reason for getting akumatized was “wrong” and the episode didn’t want to do that. It didn’t want someone else actually learning something and feeling bad; surely, this is just Alya being manipulated by Shadow Moth and having the power to break free because Ladybug “needs Rena Rouge” and not because Lady Wifi and her friends are chasing after their supposed best friend and that’s--you know--wrong???

Rena Rouge’s reappearance is also yet another thing the episode refuses to address because it avoids the topic of “but my identity--”. At least “Heart Hunter” had the tact to have Kagami question why Ladybug was giving her the dragon again, but “Gang of Secrets” treads as lightly as possible on any discussion of identities outside of Marinette saying that she can’t, as if it were Marinette who made the choice of concealing her identity and not the basic idea of heroing that has been stressed over and over for the whole show.

Even Plagg of all kwami stated back in “Origins” that no one is supposed to know about secret identities, a rule that continues becoming flaky and muddled with each passing season, almost like they kept attempting to retcon and make the audience dulled to the idea so that the reveal in “Gang of Secrets” would be more acceptable.

But now, with the way they did it and how they don’t even have Tikki comment on the matter, it once again has it look like they’re making it - say it with me, everyone - Marinette’s fault.

Alya says that Marinette has a choice in telling her secret, Marinette insists that she doesn’t and goes on and on about how it’ll change everything, and then just... tells Alya her secret in the end.

And remember all the way back in Season 2? “Sapotis”?

Alya: What were you saying about her secret identity?

Marinette: Ladybug needs it to protect her family and friends. Otherwise the villains could use them to get to her.

Alya: Well, if I knew who Ladybug really was, I'd keep it a secret. I would even help her! Like say, if you were Ladybug, I'd cover for you — when you needed to transform in school, go fight the "baddies", you know?

Marinette: Oh yeah? Well, if I was Ladybug I wouldn't even tell you, to protect you from the "baddies", you know?

Alya: You serious? If I was Ladybug, I'd totally tell you! Because I tell my best friend everything.

And now here we are in “Gang of Secrets,” as if the narrative is saying, “See, Marinette? Alya was right all along, you were just being ridiculous and making yourself suffer for no reason!”

Yet Marinette had a right to keep her secrets. When Alya and Nino learned each other’s identities, Alya took a hit for Nino in “Catalyst” and both of them fell to Scarlet Moth’s akumas. Chloe was a mess and a half because of Hawk Moth knowing her identity. Fu had told Marinette that her miraculous would get taken if she and Chat Noir learned each other’s identities.

The only ones who received no consequences due to someone knowing their identity were Pegase (who Chat Noir and Markov knew), Ryuko (who Chat Noir, Ikari Gozen, and Hawk Moth knew), and Viperion (who Adrien knew). “Chat Blanc” also exists where Marinette got the impression that people discovering her identity would be a disaster, and even all the way back in “Lady Wifi” insisted that not telling anyone her identity was “listening to her head and not her heart,” and the narrative has relentlessly humiliated her for going with her heart, so yeah, probably for the best.

I hate that the episode avoids talking about anything identity-related outside of what comes out of Marinette’s mouth to make it appear like it was her choice all along. I hate that they had Tikki fixate on Marinette’s love problems instead of having her actually support Marinette and admit that Marinette should tell someone before she has a mental breakdown. I hate that the episode inserts Rena Rouge into the plot as if to brush all identity issues away so as to make Marinette’s identity reveal seem less jarring.

Now, of course I’m glad Marinette told someone. Of course I want her to get love and support from someone. Of course I think the benefits outweigh the risks, or I wouldn’t have written multiple fix-its where her identity gets revealed in some way or someone already knows.

But I didn’t want it to be Alya, because I knew how they’d do it. I knew they’d do it wrong and I knew that they wouldn’t have the courage to address Alya’s issues properly.

Those familiar with my blog will know that I’d been taking negative predictions for future seasons for a while and adding them to cards whenever they were proven right. Does anyone remember the Season 4 predictions that were proven correct for “Gang of Secrets,” specifically these ones?

- “Alya will suddenly be portrayed as a good/worthy friend to Marinette in/if there's an episode where Marinette tells her that she's Ladybug”

- “Alya resisting Shadow Moth/fighting back against him will be used to excuse telling Alya Marinette's secret identity“

- “Alya will know that Marinette is Ladybug first because "BFFs" despite being one of the worst candidates for it“

- “The secret that broke Lukanette up will be resolved in episode 3 when Marinette tells Alya“

Each and every one of those were mine, because I knew that whether Season 4 had a proper chronological order or not, the writers would not have the guts to develop Alya first and then have Marinette tell her in a future episode after Alya has properly earned it.

I knew that they wouldn’t take time to develop Alya. I knew that they would have Alya resist Shadow Moth to make Alya look “worthy” of the secret. I knew that Alya would swoop in during the last minute and a half of an episode, insisting that Marinette “didn’t have to tell her anything” when Alya had been pushy and insistent for the entire rest of the episode and the whole series in general, and would ultimately be rewarded with the big secret simply because she’s “the best friend” and that’s it.

The Alya at the end of the episode isn’t the Alya I’ve known for the entire rest of the series before this, or at the very least they turned her into an Alya I don’t recognize.

Alya claims during the ending scene that she knows that Marinette is hiding something beyond her love problems because she - as a reporter and “her best friend” - can sense such things, and all I’m left wondering is

w h e r e ?

Where and when has Alya been suspicious or worried about Marinette keeping a secret from her? What, back in “The Pharoah” where she didn’t immediately disregard Marinette for the role of Ladybug, or “Simon Says” where she vaguely teased Marinette about having a double life, both Season 1 episodes?

Where was Alya in “Truth” saying that she didn’t know Marinette’s secret but knew that she was keeping one? Where was Alya anywhere in Season 3 being concerned that Marinette hasn’t told her something? Where was this “supposedly very observant” Alya when Marinette needed her to out Lila because Lila got her expelled--oh wait, Alya “observed” that Lila did nothing and Marinette was just jealous.

What, is it only now that Alya suddenly “knows” that Marinette is hiding something else? Now, after Alya has already not known that Marinette was literally dating someone, even when Alya had multiples pictures of Marinette and said someone giving each other heart eyes and saw Marinette leaving school with said someone riding on the same bike together, you know, like normal, typical, average friends would?

Where’s the line where Alya acknowledges the problem? Where’s Alya sitting down with Marinette and admitting, “hey, I’m sorry I haven’t noticed this stuff, but I promise I’ll do better starting right now, and that’s how I know now that you’re hiding something else, and I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that it’s been hurting you”?

I can’t tell you where it is, but I can say that it’s certainly not in this episode. 60% of the episode features the Alya we knew from the rest of the series and then switches her out the second she’s de-akumatized for another Alya who hasn’t done anything that the old one has because she pretends like it didn’t happen.

You know how I know? Because of this absolute gut punch of a line that showed that the series wanted to handwave everything away.

“I know how to keep a secret.”

...Really? Does she now? Well, I hope everyone remembered my point about “Animan” and “The Puppeteer 2,” because I’m bringing it right back.

Considering that “Truth” has been burned into all of our memories, we all definitely remember when Truth shoots Alya and questions her on Marinette’s secret, to which Alya states that Marinette’s secret is, “She’s in love with Adrien Agreste.” Now, at the time of Season 4′s airing, this is very much not a secret, as most characters already knew about Marinette’s crush, to the point where it’d been broadcast on television during Season 2.

But do you know when it was actually a secret? Back in Season 1, specifically in the episode “Animan” where Alya told Nino.

And not only did she tell Nino, but she lied to Marinette by claiming that she didn’t, acting as if Nino knew that Marinette had a crush but didn’t know who she was crushing on, which is then directly proven false as Nino accidentally implies that he does know who it is. This is also after Alya had gotten on Marinette’s case for trying to set her up with Nino, and then she had the gall to say that she wouldn’t spill Marinette’s secret because she, and I quote, “doesn't go around making decisions for other people,“ a statement that is directly contradicted by this little thing known as everything Alya has ever said and done in the entire series.

And while Marinette meddling in Alya’s love life actually ended up working out for Alya, Alya meddling in Marinette’s by telling Nino who Marinette is crushing on comes back to bite Marinette - not Alya (because of course) - in the infamous episode of “The Puppeteer 2,” where Marinette realizes that Alya really did tell Nino that she was crushing on Adrien.

Marinette: You told me you wouldn't tell Nino!

Alya: I haven't told him. Right, Nino? I didn't tell you anything. (elbows him)

Nino: She didn't tell me. And besides, I told her I wouldn't tell.

Then, when she’s called out on it, Alya lies again, and shamelessly so.

Marinette: Why did you tell Nino everything? You promised you wouldn't!

Alya: I didn't, I swear! Besides, even if I had told him everything, he would still be clueless. Ugh, who cares anyway? I've set everything up with Nino, who doesn't know a thing, so you can finally pour your heart out to Adrien, girl!

And now, here we are one season later - and not even half of a season if you go by production code order - and Alya claims that she knows how to keep a secret.

No. No, she does not. In fact, she does even worse because she won’t even admit when she’s spilled said secret. I absolutely refuse to accept that Alya is “worthy” or “deserving” of learning that Marinette is Ladybug when she couldn’t even keep a basic secret like who her friend was crushing on.

And no, it didn’t matter that Nino was her boyfriend, or that maybe she thought it would work out because Nino was friends with Adrien. By that logic, Alya would tell Adrien that Marinette is Ladybug if she heard that Ladybug is who Adrien was crushing on and we all know how that would’ve gone.

Marinette has a right to tell her secret to whoever she wants and I’m glad that a burden has been lifted from her, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy that it’s Alya. That doesn’t mean I have to be happy that, after so many moments of Alya disrespecting Marinette’s feelings, she is the one who gets to hear the big secret that the fandom has been waiting for someone to find out about since the very start of the series.

Luka said it best in “Truth” that the truth is meant to be shared, not taken by force, but Marinette was forced to tell Alya by the narrative because Alya is her supposed “best friend.” It pushed Marinette to her breaking point, forced her to break up with the guy who has respected her agency and feelings since the day they met, and gave her a version of her “best friend” with the same name and face but with none of the responsibility from previous events so that said version was there at the right time and the right place to hear what had to be heard.

And in the end, I end up feeling nothing. Marinette doesn’t even have a “Marinette” reaction to saying it as one would expect; for her to blurt it out and then immediately start panicking until Alya hugs her to calm her down. Instead, Marinette just says it and stares silently at Alya - after blabbing this huge, very big deal of a secret - until Alya goes in for a hug (the “happy/hopeful” ending of which is why I feel like this episode also gets less flak, as the previous two ended off rather depressing/upsetting).

It’s off. Everything is off. The pacing, the delivery, and the logic that the episode uses. The emotion in Marinette’s voice when she’s rambling about how hard it is to keep her secret is so powerful, but then the ending hits and she just says it, breaking the momentum they had going. They pulled the card of Alya walking away too soon when they could’ve saved it, having Marinette go quiet and letting Alya take a few steps away in order to let the moment build before Marinette finally blurts out the secret she’s been painfully holding in.

But they didn’t, and I’m so many levels of dissatisfied. I wasn’t against the idea of Alya learning Marinette’s secret at some point (though honestly, Alix would’ve been a better pick considering that Bunnyx will know eventually anyway, and I say that not even liking Alix!), but not now; not when Alya had so much to work towards.

And now what? What happens now? Now Alya will turn against Lila, not because she learned to have faith and believe in Marinette, but because Marinette is Ladybug, which disproves Lila’s ultimate lie that got Alya’s attention in the first place? Now Alya will be supportive and less teasing/mocking whenever Marinette will be late, not because she understands that Marinette isn’t perfect and has so many other things on her mind, but because she’s Ladybug and has “hero stuff” to take care of? Now Alya will be careful about what she puts on the LadyBlog, not because she respected Ladybug and what Ladybug would want, but because Ladybug is now her best friend and that changes everything?

Because now, Alya has a free pass to all of that, the show making her spontaneously “developed” now so they won’t have to develop her later, and disappointing doesn’t even begin to describe it.

[loveletterstowriting]

Writing a Perfect Love Interest

Dear Writers,

I know I have been MIA for a while...I even missed the one year anniversary of this blog...But first, I just wanted to open up and say thank you to everyone who’s been leaving notes on my posts and leaving nice comments! Thank you!! This blog has grown so much in the past year and it’s thanks to you guys :) Everyone reading this is super awesome, by the way. Now, let’s get on to the advice! Are you in that situation where you hate that leather-jacket-wearing-18yo-bad-boy but...you’re writing him? If so, here’s some advice for when writing a perfect love interest! (A perfect love interest, not the perfect love interest because there is not just one lol)

Cliches aren’t that bad. Really. There’s a reason why so many wattpad stories feature the “bad boy” and the “nerdy girl” or the “playboy”. They’re enjoyable and, when written well, can even come across as unique and engaging and thought-provoking. It’s 100% okay to take an archetype and mold it into a more unique character. The way you do that is through making them more real. Give them motivations, back stories (that are NOT far-fetched), inside jokes, friends, family, flaws, their own thought process. My point is, while I do not encourage anyone to write the stereotypical wattpad bad boy, it can be used as a good jumping off point.

More than one personality trait, please. Please. I’m begging you. People do not have only one or two defining personality traits. They have multiple that come into play in different situations. Yeah, someone might be rude in general but not always. They might be extremely kind to a stranger that helped them but rude to the people they see everyday. They might be quiet in general, but when they meet the right person, they completely open up. They might actually be more talkative to strangers than to fellow classmates or coworkers. My point is, people do not exhibit the same personality traits all the time. Some traits come and go with emotion, and sometimes even change with the situation. **Do this for all your characters, not just your love interest, thank you very much.**

Attraction. When writing the love interest, you have to know your MC like the back of your hand. From the MC’s pov, what is it that makes this other person so special? Why are they attracted to them? There’s going to be initial attraction (a shared hobby, looks, etc.) but what is sustaining that attraction? What is keeping it going? What makes your MC want to actually pursue a relationship with that person? Maybe they both love music, and so they become friends, but then the MC realizes s/he’s extremely smart, funny, kind, etc. 

Don’t reveal too much at once. Like stated in the above bullet point, the MC needs to know enough about the love interest to really like them. But we don’t want the MC to know everything about them!! Let the love interest slowly reveal things to the MC on his/her own time. Let the MC gradually discover things about them that they would have never guessed, or maybe that they would have guessed and those things just make them fall in love even more. 

NO TOXICITY PLZ. Last but not least--you’d think this would be a given--your love interest better see your MC as their own person. Don’t get me wrong, the love interest can be disrespectful, spiteful, rude, arrogant, close-minded and all these other things. But if they don’t see your MC as someone with their own needs, wants, and ideas, then that’s straight up toxic and we don’t do that here. Again, don’t get me wrong, your love interest can be complex and flawed and still be redeemable.

That’s all I’ve got for you today, guys. Sorry if you could tell that my thoughts were all over the place haha. I wasn’t planning on posting today; I just sat down and wrote something random. I hope you enjoyed reading and happy writing :)

Love, 

Ava

P.S. - Do you want a step-by-step plan on how to write a book?? I’m thinking of doing a series for that so let me know your thoughts and what advice you want to see!

[vldkeith]

Do you have any tips on how to be a better writer? I remember what you said about food to describe skin and I was wondering what else would make writing look bad

i wouldn't rlly say that comparing poc's skin to food is just Bad Writing--it has a patently racist connotation & past, so it's not the name thing as "stop saying 'said' so much in your writing!" or rhetoric like that--but i might have some tips! ill just be general abt writing and not necessarily touch on genuinely problematic aspects of it, since i think, despite ur mention of the food thing, that that is what ur wanting fjkghsk

under the cut bc this is too long lol soz

1. said is actually not dead! if ur still in middle/high school, and you're in a class that involves creative writing in any capacity, u have heard this. it's bullshit. well, mostly bullshit. if your entire story consists only of characters "saying" things ("I hate you," she said. "I hate you too," he said"), though, then that's bad writing and it's quite boring to read, so i think that's where teachers are getting it. but seriously, it sounds just as amateurish if you don't use "said" at all; people aren't saying things in a particular way all the time, sometimes they're just saying them! use something other than "said" when u want to emphasize smth--other than that, it's fine.

2. sometimes telling and not showing is okay if you do it in a unique way. like, you should still try to "show" more than just stating something, but tbh if you can make the telling it entertaining--like, for example, injecting character voice into the narration, or even your own--then i don't think there's a problem.

3. please stop making characters randomly switch languages/do your research before writing a bilingual character. i won't speak on this much, bc english is my native language and ive made these mistakes before, but other ppl have said it better than me. plz read!

4. pay attention to what tense you are writing in. adult writers still do this--stop it! it's disorienting and marks u as an amateur if u can't keep your tenses straight. i know it's hard but plz gjskfhjgsd just do a pass through before posting i beg you

5. u rlly don't need to describe what people are wearing all the time i promise gjkfdhgks especially if ur writing fanfiction. we know the character's it's good

6. use adverbs carefully. i am of the opinion that they are fine, which many writers disagree with, but they can be overused and become annoying. so just make sure it's the best way u can describe something, or even just that it flows nicely within the rest of your writing :)

7. if you want to emphasize something, describe it thoroughly! instead of saying "the blue cloth is important," talk about it's silky quality, that the blue reminds people of the ocean, how soft it feels, etc etc. this is partly just basic "show don't tell" advice but a bit more specific; readers will pick up on something that u describe with detail and understand that it means something, so it's quite useful!

okay that's it for now bc im tired but i hope this helps! lmk if you wanted tips on how not to be harmful instead gsfkdghjsk

[dreamylyfe-x]

heyo i've been watching the eps in real time, but i only got around to watching the gallavich hall of shame today and i loved all of it except the beg which i was really hoping you could help me with cuz i've been extremely upset by it (literally crying oops). so, why would the writers possibly use the phrasing "piece of my heart" and act like what ian felt for his other bfs is in any way comparable to mickey, only on a much lesser level? cuz we've seen it play out that that's just false [pt 1]

Hey! Sorry about not getting to this right away -- real life has been extreme today -- but I wanted to make sure to reply to this ASAP because it clearly bothered you a bunch. This ask has several parts and I’m going to pull the questions from the others so that I can best answer. And I may sound a little glib because I know this really, really bothered you, so I want to make it clear: I completely respect your feelings about this... but I don’t think the show was thinking about how people who love Gallavich would feel about that line. Because they had a brief and it was “write a clip show.” 

First: why would the writers make ian flat out tell mickey that doesn't have his whole heart WHEN THEY'RE MARRIED for god's sake.

So that they’d have a fight through which they would introduce themed clip packages that had already been decided on. 

Second: i'm just so confused and upset about what the writers were trying to accomplish with this?

Completely understandable that you’d be confused by it, because the primary thing they were looking to accomplish was to have snippets of conversation that would introduce themed clip packages. 

Third: why'd the writers chose such vague flowery BS wording for this? plz help me get it

Because nothing in the Hall of Shame episodes can actually add up to anything significant, because they’re clips shows that were put together entirely because Showtime needed to fill time while the show -- which is still shooting -- finishes up. 

A few things about the Hall of Shame episodes. The first and the most important: It’s pretty much impossible to write a good clip show. They are creative black holes. I shudder to think how much time the writers were even given to do these things. They all -- All! -- exist solely to fill time.  So it’s always “The Golden Girls sit around a table and eat cheesecake and then reminisce about all the times they ate cheesecake.” One of the very worst episodes of Star Trek: TNG exists solely because they ordered another episode at the last minute and it’s -- you guessed it! -- A clip show. The best -- and I use that term loosely -- clip shows are the ones where the have some Voice of God narrator say “Mickey and Ian are the romantic heart of the show, but they don’t always get along! Cue clip package where Mickey and Ian fight about stuff. Voice of God: “But they sure do enjoy making up!” -- Cue clip package of Ian and Mickey making out. 

That still sounds pretty terrible. The best idea for a Shameless clip show is to do some sort of Frank-at-the-bar-talking-shit thing and I’m sure they thought of that and then I'm sure they were like “Fuck. We can’t spare Bill for that kind of time.” -- and then they had to do this. This whole thing is born of scarcity -- of time, of means and of new things to put on the tv -- And given the choice, having seen what came out of it, I think I opt for what they did because I truly do believe the Mickey gifs that the Fiona one produced have restorative properties and I am very grateful that they exist. 

The Hall fo Shame episodes giveth, and they taketh away. So my advice, in how to approach them is just this: 

They aren’t canon

Nothing that happens in them matters

But the parts you like can be as real as you want them to be

So take what you like and throw the rest away

But again, this might be easier said than done, so let me dig a little deeper into what bothers you so much about this line in the context that it happens. 

The 87% line is patently ridiculous and I reject its premise. Love is not finite. You do not divide it between people. You love the people you love, the way you love them, and if someone else showed up you’d love them in whatever way you love them and that would not lessen the love you feel for anyone else. You do not suddenly love your child 50% less because you had another child. That is insane. You just love the other child also. 

That said, the 11 seasons in which we have seen Ian love Mickey more than he loves anything -- his freaking words -- cannot be undone by one line of dialogue in a clip show. First, because clip shows are innately flawed, but also because 11 seasons are more important than one line of dialogue. Even ONE episode of Not a Clip Show is more important than what happens in a clip show. Every single episode of Shameless is trying to do something much more valid and important with the characters than introduce a clip package. 

This problem is also not restricted to the Gallavich episode -- People do a whole bunch of stuff in the HoS episodes that they’ve never done on the show. Carl and Debbie don’t punch each other in the face. Lip doesn’t completely and totally discount every single thing his sister did to keep a roof over their head. Mickey doesn’t act like Ian’s sexuality is a lifestyle choice and Ian is smart enough to know that Mickey Milkovich -- who he loves more than anything -- doesn’t want hear about the mathematical breakdown of how much Ian cares about Other Men. 

now i desperately need the writers to fix this and say mickey has ian's whole heart. 

This is probably not going to happen because I don’t think Actual Shameless considers that to be a thing that happened. On Actual Shameless Ian watched Mickey beat Ned up and then ran away with him when the cops showed up looking DELIGHTED that Mickey had beaten Ned up. On Actual Shameless Ian can barely stand to have Kash touch him once he’s been with Mickey, because Mickey is all he wants. On Actual Shameless Ian’s most viable non-Mickey relationship crumbles the second Mickey shows up because there’s just no comparison for him. Ian loves Mickey. He doesn’t stop. If something happened to Mickey he wouldn't look vaguely disconcerted and then get into an argument with some third party about whether or not it’s valid to be weirded out when someone you had sex with dies. You know that line, “show, don’t tell”? There’s reason that’s considered better storytelling -- because the stuff you show is the stuff that the audience feels and experiences. If Ian had said he loved Ned in any capacity I would have laughed out loud, because what I was shown was Ian mostly hanging out with Ned because he was missing Mickey, wanted a distraction, liked room service and the occasional nice gift, and... it made Mickey jealous. None of that was about Ned. 

And in the end: Ned’s dead, baby. Long live Gallavich. 

(it would of course be very nice if Ian would tell Mickey he has his whole heart, partly because it’s true, but also because Mickey deserves to hear these sorts of things, and we all want Mickey to be happy. And I do think Ian probably does tell Mickey that, after the clip show is over -if we acknowledge that this happened at all- because ultimately Ian’s whole life is about Mickey. Mickey is all he ever talks about. Even when he’s being pissy it’s all about how things are going with Mickey and how they are GOING to be going with Mickey. How he feels about his job, how he feels about himself, what his life plan is -- all depends on what is up with Mickey. Mickey is everything to him, and I’m going to assume Ian both shows and tells Mickey that in key ways, because Mickey sure seems happy in the Fiona HoS.) 

Anyway -- I don’t know if that helps at all, but that’s my take on this mess. Thank you for asking! 

[queenangst]

Talk all about it plz

this answer is re: my 30 min fic challenge + why i think writers should try it!

30 min fic challenge / ‘30 min fics’ tag / the original challenge post (feel free to reblog this or make your own, but it’d be nice if you credited/linked me)

Here is an ask i answered about how i manage my time, and here is an ask where i talk about the challenge.

from the second ask, because i think i put it well there:

i came up with the 30 min fics challenge last year as a way to push myself, to see what i could do—and it’s helped me learn about just how much of a story i can write in develop in a short time. every fic is a learning experience; 30 minutes is just the right amount of time; enough to write something with weight and substance, but not enough to sit there and think, or to go back and edit. 

i think the 30 min fic challenge is 1) a really great challenge, which you should strive to do with your writing 2) a lot of fun!

it’s also helped me develop a better relationship with some of my writing. it’s 30 minutes - mostly unedited and uncut. to be able to develop a full fic, you don’t have time to think too much about your work and what direction it’s going. you also don’t have a lot of time to change or fix things, so it’s a great way to learn how to problem solve and improvise. it’s giving structure to a sort of free-writing exercise, and to do this challenge successfully, you have to think fast and think ahead. 

also because of the speed of the challenge, it’s easy to distance yourself from your work. a lot of times i feel like as writers we put so much of ourselves in our work, and when our feedback or our result, etc, is not what we want/expect, we get very disappointed in that. but these are 30 min fics! they might be very good. they might only feel okay. the more you do, the easier they get. that’s fine!

and most of all it’s doable, and it forces you to write. you might be stuck writing a one-shot or part of a story for months. you might feel like writing hasn’t been coming to you easily. or maybe you just want to write something quick, without having to think about a billion different plot points. but you can take 30 minutes, or an hour, or whatever variation of time you like; and by the end of it, you’ll have created something.  

how the 30 min fic challenge works

30 minutes. 1 prompt. write a fic. 

this is originally designed as a writing ask game, but you can also use pre-existing prompts, or prompts of your own choosing/making. some advice - don’t use prompts that are too broad or too large in scale. here is an ask i got about what makes a good prompt.

there’s a couple rules that you have to follow in order for it to really be a challenge, so i’ll just add them onto this post. 

no/minimal planning planning takes away the heart of the challenge, which is to look at a prompt and adapt quickly - to create a story out of nothing. at most, you should have an idea or a direction of where you think a prompt will take you, and then you should start writing.  you should not be taking five or ten minutes to think about what you’re going to write. just look, get a general idea, and start writing.

continuous 30 minutes this shouldn’t be a 30 minutes that’s broken up over a long period of time, like a few days. though personally, i usually break the writing up into three 10-minute ‘sprints’ or two 15-minute ones that i do consecutively right after one another, which helps me get a better sense of time.

no/little editing after finishing try to do as little editing as you can after you finish. go back and fix any syntax mistakes, of course, and little things like that. maybe adjust some words. but that should be it. 

you can cheat a little :) these rules are what i try my best to follow. but honestly no one’s going to know if you break them a little. change up how you tackle the challenge, edit, plan... if it helps you produce a story, then i’m all for it.  these rules are, honestly, guidelines. they’re present so you the writer can have a slight level of disconnect, so you don’t get too deeply invested or spend too much time on them, and to challenge you... but break them if you need.

other thoughts: 30 minutes is the time i’ve found works well for me, not too long and not too short. but feel free to adjust. 

[babygirlwolverine]

Recently I have been getting around to writing fanfiction, trying at least. Ideas come easily time me, I am constantly thinking "wouldn't it be cool if this happened?" But when th time comes to write, it is the hardest thing for me. What advice would you offer to someone who is writing fanfic? How do you stay so motivated or inspired to continue writing? How do you avoid writer's block? Do you get anxiety about what people will think about your work? If so, how do you get out of it?

Congratulations on getting around to writing fanficiton! Trying is actually the hardest part, so I commend you on pushing yourself to try! Coming u with ideas is actually one of the other hard parts, especially when you sit down to write and your brain goes blank, so I’m really proud of you for being able to come up with ideas so easily! 

I’m actually so massively honored you’re asking me for advice. I never thought I’d get to the point where people wanted my advice on writing, so i just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for asking! <3

It’s actually funny, because the idea for the Daily Destiel Delights was actually born out of a phase of writers block. From April to the middle of June, I was writing and posting one fic a week for the SPNStayAtHome event. And then once that ended, I lost the motivation to write and hit this massive span of writers block where I couldn’t come up with any ideas or get myself to write. I really wanted to get back to writing, but just didn’t have the drive. And then I wrote a couple incorrect quotes because they were fun, light, and easy. I posted them two days in a row, and then my friend told me she loved them and said “omg plz keep making those I’m dead” and out of nowhere this idea came to mind of like why don’t I create this Daily tag and force myself to write and post every day. I’m one of those people who works well under pressure, and I can’t really get myself to write unless there’s a fire under my ass hahah.

My biggest advice would be just do it! And I know that sounds dumb like “Sophie what do you mean just do it?”, but I’m serious. Force yourself to sit down, put your hands on the keys, and tell yourself you’re not getting up until you’ve written 100 words, 200 words, 500 words. Set a goal, and push to it. Even if you go back and re-read it and it’s awful and you decide to delete it and start over, it’s progress. Progress is everything. I’m one of those people who gets in my head and I start doubting and questioning myself, and it makes writing hard. I struggle coming up with ideas sometimes, and it’s literally like one random word pops into my head and that’s all it takes to spark something.

Sometimes, when I’m really struggling to write, I listen to music at the same time. That can spark ideas, too. You have to find inspiration in the smallest things. Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with all these ideas that nothing can come out. So just sit at your laptop, or tablet, or phone, or even your notebook if you’re a handwritten type of person, tune everything out, and hone in on one idea. And run with it. 

As for what helps me to stay motivated and inspired, it’s gonna sound corny as hell, but it’s all of y’all. It’s the readers, the fans, my friends. The people who show any love of any kind to my writing. I see notes coming in- people liking or reblogging or commenting- and it’s this wave of euphoria that makes me want to keep writing. Seeing even one person like my content is inspiring, because it’s like, wow, that thing I slaved over for two hours, someone likes it, wow.  I’m not without my faults though. I struggle a lot. Sometimes I spend all night trying to come up with an idea and I strike out and I tell myself, we’ll try again tomorrow. Sometimes you just need time to reset and ideas will flow. To avoid writers block, I just try and write something dumb and silly and short. If I’m stuck, I change gears and write 50 words of something random. Wallowing in writers block for a few days is okay and normal, but you’ll never break out of it if you don’t try, if that makes sense? If something is giving me trouble, I try working on something else until I’m ready to come back to that thing I was struggling with.

Oh God, yes, I get SO MUCH anxiety about what people will think of my writing.  Especially lately with tumblr randomly removing my fics from the tags, I literally have so much anxiety when I post my writing that I’m shaking and sweating and I can hear my heart rate going through the roof. And then I anxiously sit and wait to see if anyone likes it or comments or reblogs. And that’s horrible and a habit I’m trying to break. The best way I deal with my anxiety is my friends. I ask them what they think, and I trust they’re there to boost me up and ease my anxiety. And I try to remind myself of the most important thing- I’m really happy with my work, I’m proud of myself and really like what I just posted, and that’s all that matters. Does that cure all the anxiety? No. But does it help a little bit? Yeah. It’s a fine line to balance between wanting other people’s validation, and wanting our own validation. Write what makes you happy, write something to make yourself proud, and others will see that and enjoy seeing your honesty. The anxiety of other people’s opinions never really goes away, but if you have a support system (I’ll happily support you and boost your works) then, in my opinion, that’s the best way to cope with it.

tl;dr: Just do it. Find the small things that inspire you and run with it. Sit down, set a goal, and don’t get up until you’ve made even the smallest amount of progress, even if it’s 50 words. And most of all, fanfiction is meant to be fun, so enjoy it and be proud of your work!