#so now i think that even constructive criticism (which is obviously good and needed!!!) is aimed at me as a person & always cry 🙃

[victonair]

Courting Azul Ashengrotto: A short concept (and a result of brainrot)

Intro: In which you propose to court Azul right after your confession, and surprisingly, you succeed in this endeavor.

Author’s Note: Hi! This is my first time posting on tumblr and despite this being just a short blurb, I would appreciate feedback and constructive criticism! I based this concept off traditional Filipino courting methods, but the reader’s race is ambiguous.

-

Courtship is a delicate process that has two meanings: to win the favor and affection of someone who you’ve chosen to solely dedicate yourself to or the process of putting in the effort to win someone’s romantic favor with the intention to marry them. Now, in this case, it would obviously be the former - considering you and Azul were still teenagers. But who said, you weren’t aiming for the latter as well?

The moment you proposed the idea of courtship to Azul; it became a fairly pleasant surprise to you - seeing his face turn completely red with his hand held up to his mouth in surprise and taking a step back. He looked so faint, especially right after the confession.

Initially, he was hesitant - considering he wanted to take the role of spoiling you first like what he’d done a good amount of times within your friendship, he had not made it obvious of course or lest he risk the discovery of his feelings for you back then. But now? He was at free reign to do as he pleased after listening to your heartfelt confession. Weirdly enough, it felt as romantic as an engagement proposal, with you preparing an entire well-worded speech to deliver the most romantic words he’d ever heard in his life - incomparable to even the ones the most talented script writers and actors had given.

The moment you had proposed the idea, words of disagreement were on the tip of his tongue until he saw the determined, longing, and absolutely charming look in your eyes. Effectively, that immediately shut him up, because of course, you only had the capability to do that.

And so with a meek nod, he had agreed, unable to resist you entirely. At that moment, he had not known the consequences of agreeing to your actions.

To put it short, it was nothing but being showered with affection at least once a day. Despite not having as much money as him, you always found a way to give him flowers once a day or every other day. He suspects that someone had given you access to the botanical gardens because not only were the flowers always fresh, but you always sorted them and left a handwritten note on why you picked them and the meanings of each arrangement.

Everyday was a surprise for him: from flowers, handwritten love notes (regardless of your handwriting), and gifts ranging from different varieties like trinkets and additions to his collection of coins. He could see the amount of effort you were putting into courting him.

It was an endless amount of affection that was a testament to your deep feelings for him; it was the fact you worked so hard in doing odd jobs and put in effort to every gift and each thing you presented to him with the most smitten smile on your face, like you were the one receiving a gift instead of him.

It left him speechless and always deep in thought about you; he often thought about many things: the mostro lounge, the amount of work that needs to be done, but most of all: he thought about you the most. It was no deception or lie that he was the happiest when with you - practically anyone could see the genuine smile on his face or flustered expression when you showed up, spent time with him, or gave him one of your courting gifts once more.

Even Azul could see that you were smitten with him, and that was something that was impressive. He was no stranger to insecurity and self-deprecating thoughts: it haunted him and made him think he was incapable or not worthy of you - but whenever you looked at him like he hung both the moon and stars just for you, his heart couldn’t help but just melt at the sight.

The most memorable experience of his in fact, was you serenading him with a traditional courting song from your culture - you ended up inviting him to Ramshackle late at night, when the fireflies were out, telling him to go to the balcony in the letter. At first, he was initially confused when you weren’t there, but when the soft sounds of a guitar started playing accompany with a sweet serenade of your voice from below - he immediately looked down to see Ace, Deuce, and you - you were singing with a guitar in your hands, strumming the strings to a soft beat whilst singing a tune that practically sang of charm and romance. Ace, on the other hand was carrying a sign that said, ‘Please accept my feelings’ - and Deuce was carrying another guitar that followed different yet similar beats to yours.

It was one of the many moments that Azul realized his feelings ran deep into his veins and with each beat of his heart. By the time you had finished singing and serenading him, he was a mess of emotions that were all positive in every sense. And when you went up to the Balcony to meet him, after telling Ace and Deuce to give both of you space - that was the first time you had kissed him, despite it only being on the forehead.

It was a magical moment that had been engraved in his head, something he’d never forget.

However, it wasn’t only the fact that you put in effort into the traditional courting gifts and methods; it was the fact that you made the effort to recognize the feelings he felt at times when he was overwhelmed or when he felt anything akin to a negative emotion; you always took the initiative to comfort him and do the best you could to make him feel better, whether it be aiding him with words of comfort or giving him space he needed, you always tried your best to help him with his emotions. It was clear you cared for him so much and if the gifts didn’t communicate that; then it was every moment you held his hand, and did your best in each situation to do as much as you could for him.

It didn’t matter if you were merely giving him a trinket or surprising him with a bouquet of flowers right after class and walking him down proudly down the halls; he was smitten with you in every action you did and everything that showed you…ever so remarkable and sweet you. He may not be sure of the future to come, but all he knew is that he wanted you in every path that would alternate from his decisions. He would take you hand in hand in every twist and turn, and when time is right, he’ll take you as his forevermore.

You can’t blame him if he never lets go of you; his greed is unmatched and he could never bear to have you out of his reach when you were the one who provoked feelings that no one on this earth had ever awoken. Do take responsibility, won’t you?

And although you were courting him first, you wouldn’t mind if you took your hand off the reins and let him take over, right? After all, rewarding you for the amount of effort you showed in order to prove that you loved him would only be the only viable option in this situation. So sit down, and let him spoil you with flowers, dinner dates, love letters, and more - just as you’d initially had done.

[candlewaxandp0lar0ids]

How to Leave Comments on Fanfiction

So, I recently made a poll to know if people might find it helpful to have a list of things they could talk about when leaving comments on fanfictions, be it on Ao3 or on here. A majority of people were interested in seeing the post so, well, I'm making it. I started writing and posting stuff online when I was a teenager, on a website where leaving constructive criticism was the norm. It's by far the place where I've gotten the most feedback and it was an incredibly formative experience for me as a young writer — and it taught me how to leave detailed comments.

Writing comments doesn't necessarily come easy. It's something that you may need to learn how to do, but the good news is that you can learn how to do it, so don't worry if you don't know what to say at first. Hopefully this list will give you some pointers on how to do that.

This is more or less the list I go through when I want to leave a detailed comment. Even if I don't have a specific idea at first, I'll go through the steps and I never come out empty-handed.

Comment etiquette:

What became apparent with the poll I made was that a lot of people worry about how they'll be perceived by the writers if they leave a comment. Now, obviously, writers aren't a monolith, but 99% of the time writers will be thrilled that you took the time to leave a comment to let them know what you enjoyed in their fic. I cannot stress this enough. We're not going to judge someone based on a positive comment they leave.

As it stands, on Tumblr and Ao3, it's seen as rude to leave negative feedback, unless the author has explicitly asked for it/agreed to it, so that's what I'll be going over here. Since quite a few writers did say on that post that they would like to get constructive comments as well, stay tuned, I'm trying to get something together to do that for authors. Other than that, you're good to go.

The main ways to let an author know your thoughts on a fic on Tumblr are:

reblogging a fic with your thoughts underneath it

reblogging with your thoughts in the tags, which is often less formal

leaving a comment as a 'reaction'

sending in an ask if they're activated on the blog (which means you can stay anonymous, if anon asks are allowed)

Reblogging means that your followers will see the post as well, and is therefore really appreciated on Tumblr.

As a note, you may find different systems work for different fics! Maybe leaving tag rambles works for you when commenting on drabbles, for example for me it's the system I use to leave comments on smut.

General advice:

Everything I'm saying in here is for people who want to be able to leave longer/more detailed comments and don't always know where to start. If, for whatever reason, you're not comfortable or you don't have time to do it at the moment, a simple "I love the fic, thank you for writing it" always goes a long way for an author.

The key thing to keep in mind if you're trying to find something else to say, I think, is to try making the comment specific to the fic you're leaving it on. It shows the writer what you took away from the fic and the fic's strong points, which is both meaningful and helpful to an author.

Comments don't have to be long to be meaningful. Don't stress about writing a ton; a one-sentence comment highlighting the fic's humor or how emotional it made you can be incredibly impactful.

With this out of the way, I'll go through things you can talk about in a comment, starting with what I think is the easiest and moving on to things that could require more thought. You don't have to do all of that. You may never use some of the things on that list. Leaving comments should not be a source of anxiety. So take what you want from the list, maybe come back to it if you need more inspiration, and don't worry too much about it :)

Favorite line(s) : pull from the fic to let the author know what your favorite line was. If you wish, you can expand on that by saying why it was your favorite: did it make you laugh? Did it make you feel something specific? Did the author nail the characterization with it? Was there some incredible metaphor? Did you find it beautiful or poetic even if you can't go into detail? Is there one line in particular at the beginning of the fic that hooked you in and made you want to keep reading?

All of that is very valuable for a writer to know. Some of my favorite comments I've gotten were a list of a reader's favorite lines from a fic with one or two sentences to explain why they liked them, so don't hesitate to do that more than once if you can!

Emotions:  if there’s one thing I know about writers, it’s that we’re thrilled when we’ve made you cry. So tell us: how did the writing make you feel? Did you laugh out loud? If you did, was it the dialogue, or the narrator? Did it make you cry? Which part? Could you relate to one of the characters? Did it make you feel seen? Did the fluff make you feel all fuzzy inside or did the angst twist knots in your stomach? This isn't an exhaustive list, and emotions are great to draw from when you're leaving a comment!

Favorite element of the writing: Is there one thing in the writing that struck you as being particularly good, or what was your favorite thing to read? Is the author a master at writing dialogue? Are their descriptions so good you could see the whole scene? Are they really good at getting in a character's head and describing their emotions? Were you hooked from the start and couldn't stop until you reached the end?

Characterization: Now, this might be less instinctive, but if you've been in a fandom for a while, you'll probably be able to identify these things fairly easily. You can tell the author if you think they've nailed one aspect of a character. Did you have a favorite character in the fic? What did you think of them? Did the author manage to capture their voice? Was the attitude spot-on? Which parts of the character, if you can name them? Were there aspects of the character you particularly enjoyed? Did the author shine a light on something you hadn't considered or on something you don't think is highlighted often enough? Is there one thing from the fic you can actually picture/hear a character doing/saying in your head?

Style: I'd argue this is the hardest part, and you shouldn't feel bad if it's not something you can really comment on. As someone whose first language isn't English, I know I struggle with it. Style can be perceived as the way the author's voice comes through in the text. It can come through in punctuation, in the way sentences are formed, in the choice of the words themselves. If, when you read, you feel something intangible that doesn't fit well in the other categories, it just might be the author's style.

Here are some things (non-exhaustive list, of course) you could say about an author's style: it can be direct, straight to the point. The author doesn't bother with ornaments. Every sentence feels impactful. Maybe the writing feels intense. You're overwhelmed by the characters and their feelings and you feel truly engulfed in the story. Maybe the style is light and airy. It's so easy to read you don't even notice you are reading. Maybe the writing is intricate. Going through it is like piecing a puzzle together, sentences are foreshadowing and metaphors reveal deep truths about the characters. Maybe the style is rich. While not always the easiest, it's a pleasure to read through it, the author has a wide vocabulary, and you might want to compare it to a well-written novel.

If you identify specific elements of that style (metaphors, interesting use of punctuation, etc.), don't hesitate to point them out and let the author know you enjoy them!

That is it for this post, hopefully it doesn't look too daunting — again, you absolutely do not need to do all that in any comment, but maybe going through this list can help you leave comments for authors you enjoy.

I like to end my comments with 'Thank you for writing and sharing this with us', so I'll tell you thank you for reading, I hope this was helpful, and please consider reblogging if you'd like to save this or if you think it could help someone else!

As a bonus, my friend @elidebrey and I (but mostly her) made a 'checklist' for commenting, to help remember all this if that's something you'd like, so use at will!

A big thank you to @elidebrey, @yoongihan and @antoniorhinothethird for their precious opinions on this ♥

[majaloveschris]

So Chris presumably will be in "Doomsday." And what was most people's reaction to that? They obviously didn't like it. 

What I don't get is why people are being this hard on him. Why is it okay for other people, who also said they want to do other things, to go back, but not for him? He never said he didn't want to go back; he even said if it's the right story, he would even come back as Cap. 

I get that he made some questionable choices; I get that we don't like the people with whom he is surrounded, but at the same time, this man can't do anything good. He can't choose a good role, he can't wear a good outfit, and he can't say a good word. Everything he says or does is being ripped apart, and some people ridiculously take things too far. 

I get that those people's behavior and words to whom his name is also connected have to be called out, but it's not what's happening right now. Body shaming and twisting everything is what is happening. This behavior is one of the reasons why other people from different fandoms think it's just jealousy and nothing more. That people in this fandom are just envious of Alba, when there are actual problems with her and her friends that are being called out, but shadowed by people body shaming both of them and criticizing even the way Chris breathes. 

If you hate him and them this much, if you are so over it and have had enough (which I completely understand), then move on and forget them. But what some people are doing is not healthy. 

I'm personally happy that he is coming back; I'm interested in what kind of role he will play, just like I'm excited for RDJ. The OG6 meant and still means a lot to me, and they always will. I'm not trying to baby Chris or defend him; you know, guys, I call him and them out when it's needed, but I think we can all agree that what some people have been saying and doing is not okay. Constructive criticism and straight bullying people are two different things. 

[nina-renmen]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I love your writing ✨ it makes my day when you post!

Also whenever you have time and the motivation, would it be okay to have another part to the polar bear reader?

Thank you! Hopefully I’ll be able to keep making these stories!

Part 1

Warnings: Minimum nsfw themes and a bit of fluff, I kinda rushed this so please let me know if there are any mistakes. Constructive criticism is welcomed

Price wasn’t sneaky. At least with you he wasn’t. Your monster form was more adapted to the wild than his. You were younger, faster. Even though he was undoubtedly stronger than you he wouldn’t be able to use it if you could always outrun him. Your jaws were more powerful than his and yet you surrounded yourself with him.

Sometimes the older male wondered why. If he were you he wouldn’t even spare himself a glance. He’d try to find someone stronger than himself.

“Stop thinking so hard about it.” Y/n’s voice snapped Price out of his thoughts. She laid on the snowy ground, chewing on a bloodied bone from a human she’d hunted.

“Hard not to when spring is coming around.” Price said in a gruff voice. That’s right, mating season was coming quickly. The more he looked at you the more he found himself looking at your hips. Thinking about the way they’d hold his cubs nicely. He wondered if you’re stomach would show or if you’re body would keep his children hidden.

When y/n stood up that snapped him out of his thoughts once more. A growl ripped from her throat causing the male to stand up as well. His muscles tense until he spotted one of his men.

“He’s friendly.” Price put his hand on y/n’s shoulder.

“Looks like you found yourself a new pet Captin. Isn’t this the one that slashed Gaz’s face?�� His voice was gruff, almost like Price’s.

“Gaz got his punishment for provoking her. End of discussion Ghost.” Price argued, standing in front of you.

“First soap now you….great.” The unknown man said sarcastically.

“What do you mean by that?” Price questioned, getting more defensive over you. “Nothing! He means nothing.” Another male voice pipped up. It was the man that gave you back your food. Price turned around, looking at soap suspiciously. “What do you two have going on?”

“Spring is coming up.” Ghost said.

“And? You don’t necessarily have a mating season.” Price retorted. Folding his arms over his chest. “But Soap does. I owe him one for saving my ass the other night.”

Price pulled you behind him. “Nobody’s touching her.”

“Oh com’on Captin.” Soap interjected, taking a step toward you. His hands reaching out, letting y/n lean into the warmth of his hands. “You see the way her legs clench whenever she’s around you or me. It’s obvious the little thing-“

“You back the fuck off.” Price grabbed your arm, pulling you away from him. “She’s mine-“

“I’m not anyones!” Y/n exclaimed, tearing herself away from Price’s grasp. “You all need to leave…go back where you came from. Obviously the cold isn’t good for any of you.” Y/n spoke in an urgent voice.

“Y/n wait I didn’t mean-“ Price trailed off seeing your back turn towards him. Leaving the premises.

It wasn’t like team 141 could just get up and go. They were to be stationed there for quite some time. You were going to run into them again. It was inevitable. It snowed one last time just before spring would come by. Y/n was in the cold attic waters, a fish in between her locked jaws as she made her way back to her den. The sound of twigs snapping caught her attention. Turning around quickly the person behind her put their hands up in surrender.

It was that damn bird hybrid.

Y/n narrowed her eyes at Gaz. Her distrustful gaze locked onto him. “I-I’m friendly.” He stuttered. “What do you want?” Y/n muttered as she began walking away, giving Gaz the choice to follow her. To which he did.

“To apologize.” He spoke up above the snow that was slowly growing heavier. “I thought you were a panda or-“

“I get it.” Y/n grumbled as she walked towards her den. “So….you’re not mad?” Gaz asked. Crouching down by your den but not going inside. “I’m not one to hold grudges.” Y/n said as she curled up in her den. The snow had picked up. The winds growing harsher. Y/n looked over at Gaz sensing his unease with that harsh weather. The poor bird didn’t even have any feathers to keep him warm. “Come on…you can lay with me until the storm moves out.” Y/n said, switching into her monster form, moving to her right in other to give the harpy some space.

The man was hesitant. Rightfully so. But nevertheless he entered the den. Sitting a safe distance away from y/n. But as the minutes passed by the den soon began getting cold. And within an hour the two were practically snowed in.

The bear hybrid woke up. She looked over seeing Gaz huddled in a corner. Trying to collect as much warmth as possible. “Are you just going to freeze to death or are you going to come over here?” Y/n asked, motioning the male to come closer to which he did.

His cold body coming in contact with y/n’s warmth. She was like a warm blanket to him. Within minutes Gaz was asleep, his soft snores filling up the den. Lulling y/n to sleep as well.

“Captin…have you seen Gaz?” Soap questioned. “I’ve been looking for the lad everywhere but I can’t find him.” Price only shrugged his shoulders. To which Ghost spoke up. “He left for the forest by the creek.”

Soap glanced worriedly at the Lieutenant. “Isn’t that where y/n lives?” He asked. “Shit…..you’re right.” Price stood up. Grabbing his jacket. “You just let him go?!” Soap exclaimed turning towards Ghost to which he only shrugged. “I’m not his father.”

Johnny scoffed. Following his captain out the building. Who knows what could be happening as of now. You could be mawing the harpy’s face off now. And with the spring rolling by who knows how out of wack your emotions could be.

He just hopped he wasn’t too late.

[xjulixred45x]

Platonic! Korra Gang x Chef! Reader

This is the Request of @chantillymoon i hope You're doing good with your Cooking, i'm sure it's fantastic😋! I hope this give you a little motivation💞

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: neutral

Warnings: none, pure fluff

Korra

Korra probably met you in the events of book 1 (did you see the Gala where Mako went with Asami? one of those), you were in food service.

and since Korra was a bit moody and in a new city, you were friendly with her and they got along quite well. You tried to entertain her a little with your cooking (like the chefs in certain Asian places, if you're a firebending master or something like that, even better).

Thanks to this Korra was going to see you when she needed to talk and generally let loose a little. You guys became friends pretty quickly.

If you have your own place, Korra tries to promote you when she interacts with important people and the topic of Catering comes up.

She firmly believes that your food is much better than the holidays food honestly. especially those of Unalaq.

I have a feeling that in the water tribe, especially in the south, there is not a very complex gastronomy thanks to literally living at a pole.

It's a more personal hc, but I think Korra grew up eating mainly fish and its variables (maybe rice and vegetables)

Obviously, she ate more things in her training to be an avatar, but it's not like it was food as such to "eat" but rather those for nutrition purposes.

so when she becomes a friend of yours (cutie) and you give her VERY varied and VERY delicious food, she is delighted.

like “FINALLY something that is nutritious and TASTES GOOD!”

Besides, you cook a lot of variety, so Korra doesn't know where to choose. but she has a big appetite, so it's not unreasonable to think that you probably won't run out of leftovers with her.

If you're stressed about a particular recipe, she may try to help you by giving you a hand with things in the kitchen that she knows she can't screw up, like reading you the recipe book or handing you things, all while trying to joke with you to relax you and make you laugh.

If you want a definitive break, flour war! Whoever ends up completely white loses and Naga will have to clean it up!

Now, apart from improvised or high-survival food, Korra doesn't cook shit, she doesn't know how to handle herself very well, so seeing you be so fluent in that habit is something new for her. Of course, she was used to her parents cooking. but not at your level, so there's a lot of excitement on Korra's part about how you learned all this.

If you try to teach her, can she go either very badly or...decent? which cannot be said whether it is good or bad.

Since at first Korra may even, trying to make things easier (or imitate you, if you use your elemental control to cook) use her avatar skills in the kitchen, which since she has no experience ends very badly 😅 with muddy dough everywhere.

or even with BURNT water in some way??

but after a few attempts and several burnt bouls, Korra gets the hang of it and manages to start improving her cooking skills!

She can make simple meals now at least.

but she always prefers yours, you make them much more delicious, according to her.

Korra is not going to tolerate any destructive criticism of you, who does she have to hit?she's going to scare them with the fucking avatar state🤣😅

Sure, she can TOLERATE constructive criticism because it's not malicious, but she doesn't understand why people eat your products if they're not going to like it anyway?

do not understand.

In general, Korra encourages your vocation a lot and encourages you to try new things with her :3

Asami

Asami knows you because of Varrik, he needed as many staff as possible, including the kitchen, so he hired you as soon as he liked one of your meals without thinking about it.

Asami needed a break from all of Varrik's antics, so she went to the staff areas for a while (without realizing it) and you noticed her state.

So you talked to her while you prepared something simple for her to eat and get energy back.

It was kind of nice, since you didn't feel intimidated by her or what had happened with her father, a breath of fresh air, so you continued seeing each other after that (in a platonic way).

Asami is used to eat in High Quality and/or fancy places before this, and still doing it.

which most of the time is not bad, on the contrary, it usually produces rich and delicious food.

but there are also times when for some people (ahem VARRIKahem) it just needs to be prettier and tasteless to be considered "gourmet" and even if it's not high quality food, Asami sometimes misses the feeling of having a normal meal. .

That's when you come into her life, her bubbly friend, to make things way better.

Asami probably never had a home-cooked meal as such (no, it doesn't count if CHEFS make it for you Asami) so it was a new experience for her. In the good sense.

Instead of eating aesthetically impressive but disgusting food, with you I could eat things that were really modest but that TASTED GOOD.

If you are having problems like not finding someone to give you more advanced cooking classes, don't worry! Asami will give you a hand with her contacts and help you find a good tutor.

If you already have your own place, rest assured that Asami (and in general the entire Avatar team) will come to see you and buy you food often no matter what you sell.

Even if you have any financial problems with the place, Asami has your back and helps you as much as possible. You may even become a constant Catering associate for the company!

Asami also tries not to let her friendship with you affect you so directly, especially when scandals arise with her father.

He goes to you for advice when they go out to eat, your food gives him a certain feeling of peace after all, so when you both go out he can be with a cooler head.

It's a feeling of familiarity that she hasn't felt in a LONG time.

You can definitely see Asami especially liking food with meat or more complicated things, but then again, he also really likes it when you make really simple things, like pasta or pizza, for example.

She says that it is because "you do it with love" and it is partly true, that you put so much effort into the preparation makes it much more special and she appreciates it a lot.

but in general I think she doesn't usually give you negative comments.

I mean, if you happen to screw up some food and it tastes REALLY bad, you know it just by looking at her face, even so she will never give you a "bad" word so to speak, she use very sweet constructive criticism and still assure you that you did a good job.

and you can also guarantee that if there is a particular food that she likes, she will pay you to make a couple of reservations for her ;) she can't help it! She loves how you cook!

If someone tries to criticize you in a non-constructive way and is simply Bullying you, she will directly kick their ass and deal with the consequences then why would someone be mean to a little sun like you? It doesn't make sense to her.

In general, a friend who supports you financially, emotionally and psychologically is always willing to give you a hand in the kitchen.

That's right, don't let her cook☠️ she may hace good intentions but she'll burn everything.

Mako

OMFG he LOVES THE FOOD YOU MAKE FOR HIM.

Now, let's get a little sentimental.

Mako and Bolin growing up on the streets probably never really had much to eat, not to mention they probably didn't eat every day.

especially Mako, I imagine that he probably even gave what little they had to eat to Bolin.

It's a habit for him.

So when he meets you and you give him a taste of your food, for FREE, he thinks you're too good to be true.

but he appreciates it very much.

but seeing how much his opinion matters to you. warms his heart.

For the same reason you could feed him the most disgusting thing you could cook and he would eat it like a big child.

He will tell you the truth, but he doesn't leave a crumb.

For the same reason, I have two possible versions of how the two of you met and became close friends.

One, the one I like the most, is that probably when you were younger and trying to cook on your own, Mako and Bolin tried to steal your food, failing miserably.

But from then on you started leaving food scraps on your window for them to grab so they wouldn't die of hunger.

Thanks to this little by little they began to interact more and even began to help you to apply seriously in the kitchen!

and the other possibility is that he knew you thanks to Pro-control, being the one who will be in charge of the food at the events.

In this scenario at first he would be colder but eventually either because of Bolin or because of your adorable personality, you end up liking him.

other than that he can see that you can't swing a fly, and that you're REALLY passionate about your job, so he respects you a lot for that.

We all know that Mako is more of a tough guy or expresses that he cares through actions, so he shows that he cares by showing interest in your hobby and helping you as much as he can.

But when he already has a stable job and can give you a hand.

When something specific goes wrong, he tries to cheer you up in an unconventional way, such as telling you something about his work to distract you a little or even inviting you something to eat to de-stress.

Maybe even Mako himself has learned to cook from you, of course, he is not at the same level but when you are very stressed or tired he has your back.

and when you manage to do what you want, he sincerely congratulates you, he knows that you deserve it after all.

Similar to his other friends and Bolin, Mako is quite protective of you, especially if you can't control any elements.

It's like the dynamic of "Sunshine + Sunshine protector" basically.

It also tries to help you accept criticism well, which is necessary to improve after all.

Although of course, if there is someone who is telling you shit just because and without really wanting to help you, give them the names, they will not tolerate it.

In general, he is a friend who is a bit rude but who defends you, appreciates you and supports you in your tastes, hobbies and career. regardless of how You two met.

He knows that you are as good a person as you cook well, and you are a VERY good cook ;)

Bolin

Again, HE LOVES THE FOOD YOU MAKE FOR HIM.

Bolin, similarly to Mako, has two possibilities for how he met you.

one more painful than the other.

the first, in which he knew you for trying to steal something from your leftovers when he was little, in itself, living on the streets of a republic city is not nice.

but at least you took pity on him and started leaving him leftovers. which left him EXTRACTED because (according to him) YOU COOKED AMAZING. even if at that time you were just practicing.

Even if you try to tell him that he was probably just saying that because it was his first meal in god knows how long, he still thinks the same thing.

and the second way, unlike his brother, is that he simply found you working somewhere he likes.

Maybe even with his amorous nature, at first he had a crush on you, but over time he realized that it wasn't what he really felt.

In general he is your personal cheerleader.

No matter how many times you fail to make a particular meal, Bolin eats it like his life depends on it. unlike Mako, he doesn't have the heart to say anything even remotely critical of your food :,)

He's also the kind of friend who constantly gives you ideas for new recipes. some good, some not so good, and some quite extravagant.

ex: some dessert based on Pabu.

It breaks Bolin's heart to see you sad when you don't get a particular recipe, but he will immediately move on to a session of giving you compliments and reminding you how you made other recipes to motivate you.

I can definitely see him recommending you to the important people he hung out with when he worked with Varrik, both to do you a favor and to be able to see you in those moments when Mako couldn't pay attention to him.

Bolin's favorite food is definitely desserts. cakes, cupcakes, pies, candies, anything that is sugary.

and if you get to practice making animal food (like for Pabu) Bolin is OVER THE MOON.

I can see Bolin trying to learn cooking things with you, both to spend time together and to be more independent, to help Mako out.

Apart from that, he would have the opportunity to try more of your food :D but he makes a great effort to listen to your advice and follow the instructions you leave him.

The results are quite promising! along with Mako, he is the best cook of the group (hc personal).

Similarly to Asami, he seeks advice from you when he feels left out of the group and doesn't know what to do.

Normally you prepare something hot for him so he doesn't feel so bad. It would probably be his second favorite food of yours, hot soups. In general they remind him of you, a warm and comforting presence.

Bolin is more passive when it comes to criticism and when it is constructive he makes sure to remember it and even writes it down so as not to forget it and thus apply it in his own attempts.

but eventually you can better distinguish between constructive and destructive criticism.

and when someone like that shows up, no matter how strange it may seem, they usually just ignore it. He wants to believe that he is better than them after all...

...only to launch Pabu on the attack in defense of your honor. Although well, didn't you see it coming?

He is generally a very sweet friend, he does not distinguish in social class or how or how long the two of you have known each other. He is convinced that you have genuine talent for cooking.

and he is very willing to show you that you have that talent and support you through everything.

Conclusion: They all love your food but they love the person behind that food more and how you support them in difficult times :,)

Shares, reblogs, and comments are very welcome!

Thank you very much for this Request ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[excalibur-gone-missing]

Paring: wonwoo x fem!reader

Genre: lovers to exes

warning(s): angst

summary: wonwoo realizing that good things dont last unless one takes care of them.

words:750

a/n: I request each and every one of you to comment on this fic don't be a silent reader it helps me as an author to understand my readers and i would love to communicate with all of you. Constructive criticism is always welcomed by me so do talk about this fic or send me an ask.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Wonwoo had realized you were the love of his life from the prime age of fifteen. You obviously were not aware of this revelation of his, but you did not need to, he was fine with keeping it secret from you till he was comfortable with sharing it.

He had met you when you were six and though a series of unfortunate events, wherein you shoved his face in dog shit and he pushed you into the lake without knowing you could not swim, you both became best of friends, almost inseparable.

The first crack in your ever so strong friendship came with Wonwoo realizing his feelings for you, he stopped talking to you trying his level best to make sure it goes away. It resulted in you breaking into his house to inquire his sudden disappearance from your life and decreasing his life span in the process.

He had his first serious conversation with you about your relationship then. After spending the whole night talking, you both realized you were equally in love with each other and felt the innate teenage need to get into a relationship.

That was the second crack. Now that he thinks back to that day, he realizes the foolhardy risk you both took. It just resulted in a lost friend and a broken relationship.

That was five years ago, both of you were young and dumb, and did not know how to actually work out a relationship. Now at the age of twenty, both still young and dumb, but wiser than your fifteen-year-old selves stand in the living room of his college dorm teary eyed and exhausted from the conversation you just had.

"Maybe it's time we take a break you know experience the world, because I don't really have the energy to do a long distance anymore Wonwoo, not when it's just me putting the effort." You spoke.

That was the topic of the argument, 'his extreme ignorance to your presence', as you had stated, taking utmost care to point out all the time when he went wrong and how you are the only one putting enough effort.

In return he had used up his energy to point out valid reasons as to why he was not able to be available for you in his schedule. His head is throbbing, and he would very much like to have a glass of water but alas the predicament he is in refrains him from doing so.

"let's break up then, what are we waiting for", he says.

All he gets is a scoff from you as a reply. You turn around while running a hand through your hair, you mumble something that sounds similar to 'prick' and walk out of his dorm slamming the door shut.

Maybe if he would have tried to understand where he went wrong instead of making excuses, maybe if you would have tried to understand his predicament or maybe if you both would have sat down for a discussion, you could have salvaged the broken relationship of yours.

But that was not the case here, you both were too deep in your emotions to even try and feel the others, the years in uni had made you both incapable of accepting the changes you both went through. It has made you both hardheaded souls who refused to accept their own shortcomings and blame the world for everything when they could easily fix the problem with accepting their faults instead of defending them.

You were Wonwoo’s first love, and he knows he was yours, but maybe good things do not last long or maybe to make them last one must put in effort, which you both just refused to do. He knows before anything else you both were friends; he does not know if you will be anymore, but he sure does hope that the friendship stays.

Maybe he is a prick he thinks, but you are no less, he knows both of you are equally at fault here, but he will take the easy route this time too, he will blame you because it takes too much courage to blame one’s own self.

He just hopes when the storm dies down you come back to him maybe not as a lover but as a friend because you are too precious for him to lose, and he hopes you think the same as him. Because at the end of the day, you are best of friends.

[funandwhimsy]

I finished a quick bad ending run of Veilguard yesterday and I have some thoughts!! Obviously very spoiler-y. For context this is my fourth complete playthrough.

It is really charming how hard the game tries to get you to engage with your companions and the central mechanics. It is begging you to care about your people, it gives you every opportunity to change course and decide you do care, and then it just gives up in the clumsiest way possible. The Butcher meeting is so funny if you've done no Crow quests. The Ivenci reveal is even funnier - I hadn't met them!! We engaged in banter and then I told Teia & Viago I never trusted them. Since I met them thirty seconds ago, I mean.

(Also there's a very brief implication that because you didn't do A Slow Poison Ivenci did use qamek on Treviso? But I blighted Treviso so I have no idea if Jacobus - in his first appearance in that game - was coughing about poison or coughing about becoming a darkspawn if I did a late-game pivot and did decide to do any more quests)

I don't think I could have avoided the initial Taash & Neve conversation about gender, which is kind of sweet. And since that conversation had triggered I did get a mid-game "hey Taash uses 'they' now" interruption in a team meeting which was VERY sweet. I don't really buy the 'team doesn't care about Rook' interpretation but in a dark timeline run they do really step in and try to take care of each other in between being rushed from fight to fight in a way that makes it feel like they get that Rook isn't up for the emotional component of leading and aren't even going to try anymore.

Choosing someone to die at Tearstone Island felt kind of like a mercy in this run, like, Harding got out before having to watch a bunch of the team die violently and that's so good for her. Nobody needs to see that.

Visually Hezenkoss' construct is so much cooler than the giant Venatori bot. This big glowing green energy in a sea of red Venatori magic is so arresting, and does a lot of work to create a thematic "you didn't build a strong coalition, and the bad guys did" thing. Like you miss all the story behind it, except frantic letters from NPCs warning you about their individual big bads, but clearly while you were chasing gods with single minded purpose the gods were investing in community. Whoops.

Tarquin's voice actor is very good? I truly wasn't expecting Viper's death to be the one that pulled me out of like a disengaged "hoo boy this sure is rough" thing to getting kind of teary and re-settling into experiencing this as tragic.

Strife, the construct death, and death of whoever you send to help Morrigan and the Inquisitor are the most violent and brutal, imo. Dragon King especially really goes for it, in a way that's particularly shocking because if you actually do his quest you don't fight him at all. Everyone else gets hit with magic in a way that's upsetting, but not so violent. They don't even really bother to visually confirm Bellara's (or Neve, if you have her do the wards) death; she gets covered by blight tendrils, and everything else is so bleak and dire and deadly there's no point to making you look at the throne and wonder if she's going to burst free.

Tearstone island team lead (Harding)

Strife

Hezenkoss/Construct fighter (Taash)

Aelia/Venatori mage killer (Neve)

Viper

Dragon King/Elgarnan's army fighter (Davrin)

Ward disabler (Bellara)

Final fight companions (Emmrich/Lucanis)

Rook, probably (could Solas heal us in the fade to make us endure being his only company? Maybe!!)

I'm glad I did it, it was a fun experiment. Dragging Solas into the fade kicking and screaming while dying of a gut wound is an extremely metal way for Rook to go. A lot more criticism of the game makes sense in this context, but the game so aggressively pushed you to not do it this way that it's not like that absolves bad faith critics. Also, the ending screen scolds you about how "with more time and preparation, things could have been different" and that's so funny.

[writers-potion]

Writing the "Mean Girl" Character

How do we write the "mean girl" without making her another shallow copy of the brainless, pink-clad, cheerleader we see in high teen dramas?

Of course, there's nothing wrong with such a character if you want them to be funny/light in the first place.

However, I can hear myself slowly losing my last two brain cells when I keep reading about such papercut characters for more than an hour - reading clearly requires more effort than watching a class B movie, so I always appreciate when authors put more effort to make the characters dynamic.

No "Mean for the Sake of Being Mean

The classic way to avoid this is to give them a sad backstory. They used to be overweight/ugly and were bullied, or their parents don't care about them enough, or they are too insecure. Obviously these plot points are quiet stale now, but the basic principle still stands - if your charcter is mean, she needs A REASON.

I love reading about a mean character's backstory then feeling, "actually, I would have felt like doing that, too."

Whatever their motivations may be, remember that bullies pick on the weak, not the successful/powerful. While the Mean Girl might feel jealous/inferior towards the protagonist, I hardly think that should be the sole reason why they picked their victim. There must be a flaw in your protagonist that happened to be something that the Mean Girl knows how to exploit, which makes them a target above others.

Give Them A Twist

There are two ways that I can think of: (1) A seemingly nice character is in fact a mean girlie, or (2) A mean character turns out to be kind and well-intended.

Personally, I love Mean Girls who are intelligent/ know what they are doing. They are purposely manipulative:"are you okay?" as if the victim has something wrong with them or providing "constructive" criticism. Or kindly inviting them to a party that she knows they wouldn't fit in.

The conflict deepens when everyone else likes the Mean Girl due to her manipulative nature, making the protagonist doubt themselves.

A Purpose beyond Providing Conflict

Think about what the mean girl aims to gain from bullying your protagonist.

Is she continuously trying to prove herself "superior" so that she can feel better inside? Is she an academic rival who just needs to be the first in everything, even is that means reverting to questionable behavior?

Overly ambitious/perfectionist characters can come off as mean when they feel like others fail to live up to their standards (which only they know about, and are usually up in the sky)

Give Them A Proper Redemption

If you plan on giving her a redemption arc, make sure that she has earned it! The worst thing you can do is make it sound like you approve of the horrible things she has done.

this transition doesn’t mean the character does a complete 180 and is suddenly all smiles and good favors. They can fall back on their old ways of thinking, but is trying to make an effort to step out of their old clothes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee! ☕

Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

References:

https://writingquestionsanswered.tumblr.com/post/668302340882857984/how-would-you-write-a-mean-girl-character-without

https://www.writingforums.org/threads/how-to-write-the-mean-girl-character.160729/

[mingiatz]

Summary: What started as an accidental encounter turned into something neither of them saw coming. Emilia never expected that a chaotic night in Frankfurt—where she met Ateez in the most ridiculous outfit imaginable—would lead to months of stolen moments, teasing, heartbreak and feelings too big to ignore.

Pairing: [Idol] Song Mingi x OC (Emilia)

Trope: Strangers to Lovers

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Light Angst, Slow Burn

Featuring: ATEEZ (being menaces), chaotic sibling energy, found family vibes, and an embarrassing amount of mutual pining

This Series will have multiple Chapters with around 4000 words. I hope you like it. Please be kind this is my first Fanfiction and English is not my first language. (I am open for constructive criticism). I will try to upload a chapter everyday.

Masterlist

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter Fifteen

Mingi’s POV

The tension in the dorm was thick as we all sat around, trying to figure out a plan. Mingi ran a hand down his face, staring at his phone like it might magically fix things for him. Emilia was still ignoring him, still blocking his number, and now he had to sit here and watch his members text her like nothing was wrong.

“Alright,” Hongjoong started, leaning forward, “we need to come up with something big. Something that’ll actually get through to her.”

“You mean like an actual confession?” Wooyoung asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mingi shot him a glare. “Obviously.”

Yunho nodded. “It has to be personal. Something that proves you really mean it this time.”

“She thinks you don’t like her,” Jongho pointed out. “You need to make sure there’s no room for doubt.”

Mingi let out a slow breath. “So, what do I do? Show up with flowers? Write a song?”

The room fell silent.

Then, Seonghwa smirked. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

Mingi blinked. “Wait, what?”

“A song,” San repeated. “Something just for her.”

Hongjoong nodded. “It’s perfect. Music is how we express ourselves best.”

Sophie scoffed from across the room. “And what, he just sings and expects her to fall into his arms?”

Noah, leaning back in his chair, shrugged. “Depends on the song.”

Mingi frowned. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Well,” Seonghwa mused, “why don’t we start with why you’re an idiot?”

Mingi groaned. “Can we not?”

“No, because that’s the key to all of this,” Sophie said, crossing her arms. “You pushed her away. You said things you didn’t mean, and she thinks you don’t care. So, how do you fix that?”

Mingi hesitated before exhaling. “By telling her the truth.”

Sophie raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”

“That I like her,” Mingi admitted, his voice quieter. “A lot.”

Noah clapped his hands together. “Good. Now say that, but make it poetic and with background music.”

Mingi rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help the small, determined smile forming. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

Later that night, long after Sophie and Noah had left, Mingi sat in the studio with Hongjoong and Seonghwa, working through ideas.

It wasn’t just about writing a song—it was about making sure Emilia felt every word.

And this time, he wouldn’t mess it up.

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

The studio was quiet except for the hum of the computer and the occasional sigh from Hongjoong. Mingi sat in front of the keyboard, fingers hovering over the keys, but no sound came out.

“You’re thinking too much,” Seonghwa said from the couch, arms crossed as he watched Mingi struggle.

Mingi groaned, leaning back in his chair. “I don’t want to mess this up.”

“You already did,” Hongjoong muttered, earning a glare from Mingi. “That’s why we’re here.”

Seonghwa leaned forward. “Close your eyes. Forget the pressure, forget what she thinks right now. Just—think about Emilia. About what she means to you.”

Mingi exhaled slowly and did as Seonghwa said.

He thought about Emilia’s laugh, the way it lit up a room. The way she always tried to act tough but cared too much for her own good. The way she looked at him when she thought he wasn’t paying attention. The way it felt when she walked away that night, leaving him standing there, realizing too late how badly he had messed up.

His fingers pressed against the keys, and a soft melody filled the room.

Seonghwa and Hongjoong exchanged a look but didn’t say anything.

Mingi started humming, then singing—a quiet, hesitant start. Words formed in his mind, raw and unfiltered. Apologies. Confessions. The things he wished he had said that night instead of letting his jealousy and insecurity ruin everything.

When he finally stopped, the room was silent.

Hongjoong let out a slow breath. “That… was good.”

Mingi rubbed his face. “Not good enough.”

Seonghwa shook his head. “It’s a start. We’ll polish it, but the emotion? That’s real.”

Mingi nodded. “I just need her to hear it.”

Seonghwa smirked. “Oh, don’t worry. We’ll make sure she does.”

Emilia’s POV

It had been a few days since Wooyoung, San, and Seonghwa had crashed at her apartment, and things had almost settled into a new normal.

Or at least, as normal as they could be when her phone was still blowing up with texts from Ateez.

From Yunho: Emiliaaa, are you still mad at Mingi?

From Jongho: I’ll send you cookies if you answer.

From San: You’re really gonna make me work this hard for your attention?

From Wooyoung: I found more of your old lyrics. Answer or I’ll start a dramatic reading.

From Seonghwa: We miss you.

The only name missing? Mingi.

And that was the one she kept staring at, the empty space where his messages used to be.

She wanted to be mad at him. She was mad at him.

But that didn’t stop her from missing him.

Still, she had a point to prove.

So, instead of replying, she grabbed her laptop and opened up her music playlist, hoping for a distraction.

Then she saw it.

A new notification.

ATEEZ – “For You” (Unreleased)

Her heart stopped.

Her hands shook as she clicked on the link, and the second Mingi’s voice filled her room, she knew she was screwed.

Because this song?

It was for her.

And she wasn’t sure she could ignore him anymore.

Mingi’s POV

Mingi was exhausted.

Not just physically—his knee still wasn’t fully healed, and the constant rehearsals didn’t help—but mentally. Emotionally.

Because now, all he could do was wait.

He had done everything he could. Written the song. Poured his feelings into it. Let the others release it in just the right way, knowing Emilia wouldn’t be able to resist listening.

And now? Silence.

No texts. No calls. Not even a reaction in the group chat.

He wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one.

“You need to chill,” Yunho said, sitting across from him in the dorm. “It’s only been a few hours.”

Mingi glared. “That’s plenty of time for her to hate it.”

Hongjoong sighed from the kitchen. “Or she’s just thinking about it.”

Mingi groaned, running a hand through his hair. “I just—what if I was too late?”

“Then you fight for her,” Seonghwa said simply. “But you won’t know until she responds.”

Mingi’s phone buzzed. His heart stopped.

He snatched it off the table, only to see a message from San.

San: She listened to it.

Mingi swallowed hard.

Mingi: And?

San: She’s not answering me either.

Mingi’s stomach twisted.

So she had heard it. But she wasn’t saying anything.

That scared him more than if she had told him to leave her alone.

Emilia’s POV

Emilia had listened to the song.

Then listened again.

And again.

And again.

And now, she was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, her heart a tangled mess of emotions she didn’t know how to handle.

Because Mingi had basically just laid it all out there.

In his words. In his voice. In the way the melody wrapped around her like a memory, soft and desperate and full of things left unsaid.

And she had no idea what to do.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, but she didn’t look at it.

She already knew what the messages would say.

Ateez, probably checking in.

Sophie, most definitely telling her to stop being a coward.

Noah, waiting for her to make a move.

And Mingi—

She exhaled sharply.

No, not Mingi.

Because he had already done his part.

Now it was her turn.

She sat up, gripping her phone tightly, finally opening her messages.

And started typing

Mingi’s POV

Mingi was staring at his phone.

Had been for the last ten minutes.

Because there, sitting at the top of his notifications, was something he never expected to see.

Emilia: Can we talk?

His heart nearly stopped.

He read it once. Twice. A third time just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

“Guys,” he blurted out, standing so fast he nearly knocked over the table.

Yunho, who had been in the middle of eating, almost choked. “What the hell, Mingi?”

“She texted me.” His voice came out shaky, disbelief laced in every word. “Emilia texted me.”

Wooyoung nearly fell off the couch in his rush to grab Mingi’s phone. “What did she say? What did she say?”

Mingi pulled it away before he could snatch it. “She wants to talk.”

Silence.

Then—

“What are you waiting for?!” San smacked his arm. “Answer her!”

Mingi swallowed, his fingers trembling as he typed.

Mingi: Yeah. When and where?

The three dots appeared immediately.

Emilia: Tomorrow. 5 PM. The park near my apartment.

Mingi exhaled, feeling something in his chest loosen.

It wasn’t a declaration of love.

It wasn’t an immediate fix.

But it was something.

And for the first time in weeks, hope didn’t feel so impossible.

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

“This is ridiculous,” Jongho muttered, watching Mingi pull yet another hoodie over his head. “It’s just Emilia.”

Mingi shot him a glare through the mirror. “It’s not just Emilia.”

He yanked the hoodie off, tossing it onto the growing pile of rejected outfits on his bed.

“That’s the sixth one,” San pointed out, sitting cross-legged on the floor, clearly enjoying the show. “At this rate, you’re gonna be late.”

Wooyoung smirked from where he was lounging against the door. “I’m still stuck on the fact that you actually styled your hair for this.”

Mingi ignored them, grabbing a denim jacket and trying it on over his plain white t-shirt. He turned to Yunho, the only one who wasn’t actively making fun of him. “How does this look?”

Yunho, bless him, actually took a second to consider it. “Good. Casual, but not too casual.”

San groaned. “Can we stop pretending this is a fashion show? You look fine in anything, Mingi.”

“That’s not true,” Wooyoung argued. “Remember that neon green sweater?”

“Okay, fair.”

Mingi exhaled sharply, turning back to the mirror. His nerves were eating him alive. He wasn’t even sure why—he’d seen Emilia a million times before.

But not like this.

Not after everything.

“Alright, I’m ready,” he finally muttered, running a hand through his hair one last time.

Yunho clapped him on the shoulder. “Then let’s go.”

Masterlist

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Disclaimer:This is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and scenarios in this story are entirely fictional and not intended to reflect the real lives of the members of Ateez or any other individuals. This fanfiction is purely for entertainment purposes.

[ceilidho]

Sorry to dump this here, but no one in my immediate and/or accessible circle reads as much as I do and this conversation came up at the right time.

I don't read a lot of romance and I started reading some popular ones last year to ease my way into it. I feel like such a snob to say this, but the plot and writing are never fully fleshed out nor are the characters. None of the romantic actions I see people swoon over are ever explained well enough for me to understand the hype. A scene in which there should be an emotional inner monologue is shorted to a paragraph and if the character is toxic (I understand a lot of people enjoy toxic/dark men, but romance books never write them well enough) and destroys the other character's life/says a relationship-ending lie/any other cliche, there is never enough explanation, justification, groveling, or any thought process behind the reconciliation.

It's always just one half-written and half-baked trope after the other.

Again, apologies for dumping it here, but I think there are such damning consequences for women (the main demographic of romance readers) who read things like this and don't give constructive criticism or thought when facing these problems.

no but you're 100% right. i mean, this is one annoying bitch's opinion (mine LMAO) but trad publishing is in the absolute pits right now. that's not to say that there aren't still some good books coming out because of course, every now and then you're going to get a gem. but i think the environment has become outwardly hostile to good writing.

i mean, i know this has been discussed a ton, but the "fast fashionization" of books has become a huge problem. every time there's a new microtrend or whatever, every author rushes to push out a book to meet the demand (see: the hockey romance trend). this, obviously, means that the editing time is severely compressed and you get books published by like harper collins and penguin with typos, grammar issues, and more.

i got some flack for this when i posted about it on twitter ahah but i honestly do not understand why the sequel to "fourth wing" came out so soon (not even getting into the messy qualities of the first book). sequels used to take a year or more to come out to allow for the book to go through several rounds of editing and fine tuning! what happened??!!

i think authors now feel compelled to get their books out as soon as possible out of fear that booktok/readers will simply move on after the initial hype and they'll lose their reader base. there's like an anxiety about being left behind in the current publishing world.

this is kind of in line with what i was talking about the other day with Bo actually - writing romance and smut is actually way harder than people think. you can't just use the same 5 recycled porn dialogue lines and call it a day. you have to care a little about the story you're trying to tell, not just churning it out to make a buck or to make people pay attention to you. i'm not saying belabour every single action and decision made by your main character or go crazy on description (i still think the sweet spot for a published book is between 250-300 pages, and maybe more if you're writing a genre specific book that involves a lot of worldbuilding), but as a writer you need to want to be writing that book in the first place.

no one who's legitimately excited about what they're writing is going to resort to cliches and overused tropes - they might lean on tropes they like, but there's inevitably going to be something original and exciting there.

also my lil controversial opinion about the state of trad publishing lately is that i think it's 100% influenced by this weird pervasive strain of purity culture that's on booktok where people feel like any enjoyment they get from reading a particular thing has a direct reflection on them as a person and their values. rather than it just being a book.

(by the way i actually completely agree with you that even dark romances are as bad as everything else we've been talking about - that's another conversation lol. i also kind of agree with the idea of more romance books coming with content warnings on the front page - this hasn't really caught on yet except with some dark romance authors but i think it's a really good idea)

i don't think there's anything wrong about people getting excited about books on tiktok and instagram and youtube btw. i think it's a fun way to share recommendations, commentary, and interests. what i think is the big problem is that the publishing industry has almost become beholden to trends and online perception because they've seen how much profit they can generate by catering to it, and i think that's why books now just feel bland and soulless. they're tapping into a FOMO on both the authors' and writers' side, of either being left behind and not being able to make a living, or missing out on what everyone else is reading and talking about.

[creature-wizard]

So, a pretty damn concerning thing is going on with starseeds, and I think we need to all be aware of this - not just as a problem with starseeds, but as a thing that can potentially happen in any context, and without critical thinking and discernment, lead to some... pretty worrying outcomes, let's put it that way.

There's a number of people who basically start learning about starseeds from stuff like YouTube videos. They start feeling resonance with the concept (which of course they do; the concept of starseeds is built to prey on certain vulnerabilities); and then a short while later, they start having everything from dreams to visions as they spontaneously "remember" their past life on another planet.

Now just in case anyone reading this isn't aware, the thing about starseeds is, this is a concept that developed over the 19th and 20th centuries, and is fundamentally rooted in colonialism, eugenics, pseudohistory, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories that are often as not just thinly-veiled antisemitism. It rides on fabricated and distorted evidence that there was no possible way ancient people (mostly POC) could have constructed sophisticated architecture, and claims that they were constructed by aliens. They have no evidence of these alien visitors, mind. What they try to pass off as "evidence" is largely cherry picked and misrepresented mythology, sacred texts, etc. Occasionally these texts are modern forgeries or channeled literature, such as The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean - not to be confused with The Emerald Tablet. Oh, and one piece of influential literature in the starseed movement - Other Tongues, Other Flesh - claims that the swastika is a holy symbol among the "good" aliens. Meanwhile, the "bad" aliens are pretty obviously antisemitic stereotypes in space. The book's author, George Hunt Williamson, used to be buddies with an actual fascist/Nazi sympathizer, William Dudley Pelley.

In short, it's not just bullshit; it's incredibly obvious bullshit if you actually take the time to look into it properly. And we have a bunch of people who are spontaneously "remembering" past lives that fit into this bullshit narrative. Based on their own reports, these people aren't even being hypnotized or anything; they'll just spontaneously have "memories" come to them in the middle of the day or something.

So yeah, it's very important for people in witchy and occult communities, or any kind of fringe interest communities whatsoever, to understand that these kinds of experiences can happen, and that they don't necessarily have any bearing on reality whatsoever. Because we can see right here that acceptance of these experiences as absolutely valid is leading people down dangerous roads - including the New Age to Alt Right pipeline.

[sp00kyvision]

Seeing it again after a long time, the "Gnomes" South Park episode feels so thematically conflicted it is starting to make my head hurt, which means I need to construct a "breadtube" style essay on what the fuck it is trying to say.

Tbh "thematically conflicted with what it is trying to say" can go for bunches of South Park episodes, but this one stands out in particular for me since it had such a cultural impact at the time.

Things in the episode that landed for me:

The critique on utilizing children for political centered messages. Not only is it often utilized in arguments to generate pathos, but it doesn't take into account the actual thoughts of the kids being involved. They are just a tool to generate sympathy without proper utilization of expressing a thought-out message. Not to mention when you involve kids in this kind of propaganda it is VERY structured upon a specific "script", and the children often have no clue what the hell they are even talking about. When Tweak's father makes the "joke" about selling his son to child slavery if he loses his coffee shop, it makes sense to his character in a dark way. He pretty much is already using children as free labor through having them be "spokesmen" against the satirical big corporation coffee shop totally not based on Starbucks. It's obviously not the kind of child slavery people usually imagine when they hear the term, but it is ideologically applicable in this circumstance.

The critique on the idea that small businesses are inherently moral by all standards. This should go without saying, but I think people do tend to get lost in the idea that just because someone owns a small business they are not above using tactical and manipulative maneuvers to stay on top. I enjoy the complication of the figure of a local business owner as a someone just as capable of making the same moves a corporate business does.

The whole underpant gnome thing with "Phase One: collect underpants -> Phase Two: ? -> Phase Three: profit" was pretty clever. It makes sense why it became a meme and subject that outlasted the episode. Very versatile logic that can be applied to a multitude of critical topics.

Now, with that out of the way, onto the parts of the episode that DIDN'T make sense to me:

The whole conclusion of the episode is unapologetically pro-capitalist and pro-corporate competition. Obviously, I don't subscribe to this ideology. The real thing that irritates me about it, though, is how it feels like it comes essentially out if nowhere. The episode spends its whole runtime depicting the owner of the 'totally not Starbucks' coffee shop in a bad light, only for them to kind of circumvent that at the end in a way that is hard to follow nor convincing. It really just has me wondering what is even trying to be claimed here. I feel like a stronger message would have been the ethics of utilizing children for sympathy in political messaging, but they decided lean into the topic of capitalism that just feels like a half-assed afterthought.

You could maybe argue that the ending is a joke not meant to be taken too seriously, which sure, but the framing doesn't really feel that way to me. It genuinely leaves the impression that you should accept corporations on the basis of supplying quality goods to people that lead to growth in revenue. Either I'm missing something, but that is the gist I got, and other people seem to share this sentiment since actual economic professors have praised the episode as a defense of capitalism. The praise is inherently surprising to me because the pro-capitalist message just comes off extremely lazy, and therefore an unconvincing defense by any means.

This highlights a problem I have with a good portion of South Park episodes. The writing tries so hard to define itself by its centrist perspective it ultimately ends up kicking itself in the ass. Genuinely, what am I supposed to get out of this episode? Why did it feel the need to shoe-horn corporate defense to an otherwise interesting and nuanced satirical critique on the ethics of pathos messaging? What was the actual goal here?

[evelhak]

I saw some posts that suggested that people may not have such an easy time distinguishing what a fanfic author might consider criticism and therefore find unwelcome (unless specifically asked for, of course) so I thought I might add my two cents.

Things that I personally wouldn't (but honestly doubt anyone would) consider criticism include:

🌸 Pointing out typos. I would be very glad to receive notes about that and get a chance to fix them! I assume most people would be happy to fix their typos. Of course, some people more easily read a negative tone into a comment. If a typo is all you comment about, and do it bluntly, a lot of writers are probably going to think you didn't like the story. But if it's just a part of your comment, and worded something like, "I happened to notice this, so in case you hadn't noticed, and want to edit it..." I doubt that most people would take that as anything but a very kind and caring gesture.

🌸 Describing your feelings about characters' actions. "I hated when X did that!" "I really want to see A and B on better terms." "This chapter made me so sad." "I can't take this angst!" "C is such a jerk, I want to strangle them!" These are not criticism, this is you living and feeling with the story. Stories are supposed to make you feel negative as well as positive emotions, so the writer will likely be grinning to their ears for making you mad or sad about the things the characters do. The better you know the author, the more unhinged you can be about expressing these feelings of course, because you know that you understand each other.

🌸 Adding your own ideas. "When A did this, I thought they were going to go all the way and do X... I almost wish that they had!" "Wouldn't it be interesting to see A and B in this situation?" Again, this just shows that you are engaging with the story, which is very welcome, it's kind of the whole point.

🌸 Reflecting on ethical matters. "None of these characters seem to consider their actions." "I wonder if A's motivations are coming from the right place." This is not a criticism on the story either, it's just showing that it gave you food for thought and made you reflect upon your own values.

🌸 Mentioning your own HCs and preferences. "I loved this fic even though I hate character X!" "This made me ship these characters even though I didn't see them that way in canon." "I usually have a really different take on character A but this one convinced me too!" "If I wasn't a sworn A/B fan, this would be endgame for me, it was so emotional!" You don't have to hide your preferences, this just shows that you're not here to argue, that you can enjoy a variety of takes and differentiate between your preference and a good story.

🌸 Letting the author know you had to stop reading for a personal reason, if you used to be a frequent commenter. "I love this story dearly and wish I could continue, but the subject matter right now is too heavy for me." "I don't want to disappear on you without an explanation after reading so long, so I just wanted to let you know it's not because I don't like you, or your work anymore, I've just lost my hyper-fixation on this ship." "Happy to be back! I couldn't read fluff for a while, but I'm so happy I have so many new chapters to read now!" Obviously, no writer needs to know why a random stranger started and stopped reading their fic, but if you've been there for a while, the writer cares about you, and would likely be happy to know these things, if you want to share.

Feel free to add your own examples or to disagree with mine.

On the other hand, constructive criticism which is usually well-intentioned but still generally unwelcome on fanfic (unless otherwise specified) would look something like...

"I couldn't really see the setting in this scene, it might help to add some description."

"I couldn't connect to this emotionally."

"There hasn't been much tension in the story for some time now."

"I used to like this story but after G came along it got boring."

"I think your characterisation is a bit one-dimensional, have you considered..."

"You describe people eyes so much that it's getting distracting."

I kind of doubt I need to give examples of unconstructive criticism (and people who do it don't usually worry about it) but just in case:

"Why would you write about this ship."

"I don't like flowery prose like this."

"I don't think this character would ever under any circumstances work at McDonald's and if you think otherwise you didn't read or understand canon."

"lol this was bad"

Just a little end note on my own perspective when it comes to unsolicited criticism on fanwork:

I'm a published author, so not only do I know how to receive and use constructive criticism, I get really vile comments about some of my work, and that's part of the job. But I still don't want constructive criticism on my fics. That's not because I'm "just too sensitive" to criticism or don't want to improve as a writer. I obviously can deal with criticism and I work a lot to improve my craft. But fanfiction is not the place where I do it by actively incorporating other people's input.

Fanfiction is my sandbox, it's where I play around, and get to try ideas just because I had them. I don't have to be critical about them. As soon as criticism is introduced into the picture, it restricts creativity, because evaluating criticism and figuring out how to use it, is inherently unintuitive as a process. It's conscious effort, while letting your ideas flow relies on the subconscious. They don't go together, in the same place and time.

Fanfiction is where I let my ideas flow unrestricted. Sometimes I write in my comfort-zone for a 100k, sometimes I try something I've never done before, sometimes I try risky elements, structures, and combinations, sometimes I just write dialogue with little else because I felt like it. It's necessary for all of this to exist the way it does with minimal edits, because I can look back to it and identify what about all of it I want to do in my original fiction as well, and what I don't want to do. But I wouldn't be able to make those discoveries if my fanfiction was something I had to hold to a professional standard, or receive criticism for, because that immediately swifts where my brain is at. Fanfiction is an integral part of my process as a writer, because writing my original fiction is more stressful from the beginning. I haven't made the same kind of "breakthroughs" there that I have with fanfiction, but once I make them in fanfic, it unlocks a new level in my original work too.

Another reason is, that 99% of the time that I have received unsolicited constructive criticism, it's about things I'm already aware of, but am just not working on right now, or caring about at all in fanfiction. I know world-building or setting the scene isn't my strong suit. I know that I could have ended half of my dialogue scenes a third earlier to make it more readable, I know I could add action to almost all of them to make them more engaging. I know that some scenes sound different than I intended them to sound like, I just don't feel like editing the older parts of my stories so much, so I'm just trusting readers to give me some benefit of the doubt, because this isn't supposed to be so serious. The most useful criticism usually comes when the writer specifically asks for it from their target audience.

My point is that people may have different reasons for why they don't welcome criticism for their fanwork, but the feeling seems to be common enough among fandom to respect as the general rule. And I realised now that it may seem as if I think that being sensitive to criticism is not a valid reason, but I actually mean the opposite: I only brought myself as an example here, because I often hear people have an attitude like, "If you were a real writer, you would welcome criticism, you're just too sensitive". So, I just meant to point out that I as a published author don't want unsolicited criticism either, and just because I may be able to articulate why, better than someone who is just beginning their writing hobby, doesn't mean that they don't know what's best for them, too. They also know what disrupts their process, and just saying they don't want criticism, for whatever reason, is valid and should be respected, regardless of the person's ability to articulate why.

That's all. 🩵

[doonarose]

Fuck me that was an emotionally destructive work week. But it's 3.30 on Friday and I have little to do this weekend beyond chores and napping, and I am almost, almost, almost there. I will definitely be having wine tonight. I might also get cheap chinese on the way home and be asleep by 8pm.

Student that hasn't spoken to me for six weeks did not pass her milestone meeting. Other academics seemed to genuinely feel bad as they voiced their concerns to me about her presentation and overall understanding which I appreciated but also... I really want to explain to them that that's not because I failed to give her this guidance, it's because she's refused to talk to me for six weeks. So that was fine. She was then grilled in the closed door meeting after withe other supervisor and chair and I was properly forceful with some 'I am right, what I say goes' stuff which I've never been before, but this is stuff we have been over again and again and again, for over a year, and when it's something like how to structure a thesis, my opinion (plus her co-supervisor's and panel chair's and any other decent academic she chooses to speak to) outweighs hers. I know what I'm fucking doing. She also got proper push back about not having enough guidance. There are so many things she's been asked to do which she could have tried in a couple of hours, with no risk beyond failure and she has just stubbornly refused to do a single one. This isn't an exaggeration, of the hundred experiments I've asked her to go and try, she has not tried one. So she's going to end up put at risk of flunking out, given a performance plan, and then we will see. All because she decided a bit of criticism made me cruel and scary and mean... I mean honestly, the stuff she told our department head earlier this week made her look like an absolute child. She doesn't like that there's so much track changes and comments on her writing. Department head asked if those changes and comments improved the writing? were written in such a way that she could learn from them? were written in a professional way that was not rude or personal? All of which led to the revelation: Oh, so you just don't like constructive criticism? ME NEITHER. But it is not a valid reason to stop talking to the person giving it.

So she needs to deal with a close-watched performance review, basically, but she also needs to get over herself, apologise, and start engaging with me again. If she cannot figure that out, she's going to be dropped from the program.

I have just spent so many weeks really thinking I was this massive asshole boss and I'm not.

But then... My right hand man who officially finished up last Friday dropped in today because I gave him an extra week with the work laptop while he moved to his new job and place. We are friends, we still get on, this played out as best it could. Great. My fucking fourth year student, who has been leaching off him for eight months, refuses to listen to my repeated instruction to stop asking this ex-postdoc for help. Don't message him, email him, call him, nothing. He is not being paid to help you and he should not feel obliged to help you out of the goodness of his heart. He's here because I did him a favor and we have known each other for over six years and have a personal relationship which means we can chat. This student walks into my office to tell me they stalked him as he was leaving, chased him down, because he has a file they need.

Okay... why didn't they get the file off him back when he still worked here? Like is it university work product because obviously he needs to leave all that here, or at least copies. Maybe it's not a file... maybe it's some code... maybe it's a macro.... unclear. But basically, he made a program work for her, she has no idea how he did it, and now she's changed the program and it's stopped working. Even if she had the file she has no idea what to do with it because she has not learned enough about the code to run it by herself. That's on her. has she worked with IT? Yes, she's spent weeks trying to get them to help but they say they can't. Okay, forward me those emails... oh they were just phone calls. Okay. Wait, there's two other computers it was working on, could she use one of those? Yes... but those aren't the computers she likes (care factor) and she'd have to....

Anyway. She's a little shit is my point. My department head phoned me and now it's 5.16pm and I'm still here so fuck that I'm going home to my wine.

[sebstanismyspiritanimal]

Second chapter! I don't have a set schedule for posting but I am writing a chapter ahead so I always have something to post 🙂 again feel free to leave suggestions or comments, even something you might like to see in later chapters! Hope you enjoy! Heres a link to part one in case you missed it!

---------------------------------------------------

At 28, Eddie Munson had seen and faced a lot of horrors that would have many people running for the nearest asylum. That didn't mean that she wasnt almost shaking from nerves meeting the rest of the people that made up the behavioral analysis unit.

She was well aware that if this didn't work out, she would be placed somewhere else, and not every unit would be as welcoming.

Agent Hotchner -Hotch- she corrected herself cleared his throat to get the attention of the 6 people pretending to look busy and started to introduce her.

"Everyone this is Sergeant Edythe Munson, she will be the 8th member of our team, effective immediately. I trust that you all will show her around and get her up to speed with how our unit works." With a slight smile and nod in her direction, Hotch started back up the stairs to his office, giving the reins of introductions to his team.

"Sergeant isn't necessary, you can call me Eddie." Rolling her eyes slightly at the second time she was having to say that today, she watched nervously as the rest of the team had a silent conversation with each other before a short blonde woman in very loud clothes broke away and came towards her with a big smile.

"It's really good to meet you, Eddie! My names Penelope Garcia, im the tech analyst for the team, can I give you a hug or are you more of a handshake person?" Eddie couldn't keep the grin off her face, this womans warm demeaner reminded her a lot of Joyce Byers, just not so much in dress.

"I will take a hug Penelope." Garcia squealed and pulled the taller woman into a hug which caused the others to laugh and relax.

"Save some for the rest of us mama." A dark skin man grinned at the blonde before stepping up to Eddie, "Derek Morgan, pleasure to have you join the team." Eddie relaxed as he held out his hand instead of going in for a hug.

The rest of the team introduced themselves some giving out hugs and others handshakes before her gaze fell on the last one.

A tall man with long curly hair and an awkward smile on his face, "Dr. Spencer Reid," he gave a short wave, obviously not comfortable touching her but taking her silence as judgement for it. "Did you know that the number of pathogens passed from a handshake is less than if you kiss." It was obviously a fact that he had shared multiple times if the exasperated laughs and eye rolls of the rest of the team were any indication.

Eddie grinned back, not offended in the slightest, "I didn't know that, but now I feel the need to wash my hands." She said to the louder laughs of everyone present. Spencer seemed to brighten a little when he realized his ramble wasn't going to be mocked from the newbie.

"So Eddie, what has you joining the BAU?" A dark haired woman asked, Emily she thinks her name was.

Eddie cleared her throat, trying to buy time, "After being discharged, I decided I still wanted a similar career, just not one I needed a passport for." Eddie relaxed when the vague answer illicted a laugh from her new team instead of suspicion.

"What branch were you?" Jennifer asked her, leaning on a desk in a way that suggested the gentle interrogation was just beginning.

"I was apart of a task force, no specific branch, we went where we were needed when we were needed." Eddie had to consciously lower her shoulders that were rising up in defense, it was completely normal for new coworkers to want to about her life before they met, she tried to reassure herself.

"What kind of task force? Most special operations forces are specified by branch and training." Dr. Reid asked, taking note of the way Eddie's eyes started moving around the room, obviously scouting for exit points.

"I'm sorry but that's classified." Eddie grimaced as the eyebrows of everyone went up, obviously not expecting such a statement. "The task force was very small and never changed members until it disbanded 6 months ago, we aren't allowed to talk about it to anyone that wasn't apart of it." Eddie inched back, expecting a little backlash at the fact that the new member couldn't even share about the last 7 years of her life.

She relaxed slightly when the team just seemed to look at each other and then shrug, mentally deciding to give their new member a break.

"If Pretty Boy here can clean off his mess, you can have the empty desk next to him." Derek seemed to mock at the young doctor, making him squawk in protest. "It's been empty for years, Morgan! How was I supposed to know that we were getting a new member." He shouted at the other man as he frantically moved papers and books around to his desk to make room.

Eddie smiled slightly to herself, this team wasn't her Hawkins family, far from it, but looking around she couldn't help the warm feeling in her chest from spreading. She may be under the thumb of the government for the rest of her life, but at least she would have good company.

[personality-corner]

How to Avoid Mistyping

I’ve actually wanted to make a post like this for a while, I just hadn’t really gotten to it yet. Here’s how to know if you’re mistyping a character.

Mistyping vs. A Differing Opinion

When it comes to fictional characters, a lot of it comes down to interpretation, which means there will always be a level of differing opinions when typing a character. However, I do think it’s undoubtable that some types don’t fit characters at all.

At the end of the day, it comes down to argument. Does your argument make sense? Is it understandable to those who aren’t inside your mind? Is it obviously biased.

And here’s the thing- everyone has bad arguments. I’ve had bad arguments, even on this page. However, I am making this post, to maybe help people to think more critically about their arguments.

Are you grasping at straws trying to defend your opinion?

Honestly, this is a good sign that you are mistyping a character. Does it feel like you are trying way too hard to defend your typing of a character, like you can’t come up with any good arguments for it?

This could mean one of two things; you need to rewatch or reread the material you’re typing from or you need to consider a different type for them. Now, I would definitely rewatch or reread said thing first, because there have definitely been times I thought I was mistyping a character when in reality, I just didn’t remember enough about a character to type them appropriately.

But you should at least consider the fact that you’re mistyping a character if you’re struggling to construct an argument.

“This type would not do that!”

I do think there are times when this is appropriate, for example, when discussing a character’s actions, saying “this character’s interest in their environment really gives more Se than Ne.” However whenever I hear XXXX would never do that! It grinds my gears.

Usually, when people say this, it’s highly stereotypical, because technically speaking, each type is capable of anything… it’s why they’re doing it, what’s going on in their head that matters. Now is it unlikely for, say, an Si dom to make impulsive decisions? Perhaps, but it’s not that they can’t. In fact, some of the ISTJs I’ve typed have made very impulsive decisions when their Te or Fi kicked in.

Using your personal relatability to a character to determine their type.

Now this one, out of everything on here kind of annoys me the most. Now, there is nothing wrong with relating to a character and considering the type for them. However your relatability to them also cannot be your only argument to why they fit that type, because you don’t have to be the same type as that character to relate to them.

I’m an INTP, and there are plenty of ISTJ, INFP, ISTP, hell even ESFP characters I relate to. I also don’t think I’ve ever, at least not since starting this blog, have typed a character INTP solely because I find them relatable… in fact, it’s the second to last most typed on this blog.

Have you considered other possibilities for this character?

Typically, unless I’m really sure about a character’s type, I’ll consider at least a few types before deciding on one. I’ll keep these types in mind when watching something, and sometimes will decide on something completely different.

Obviously, you don’t have to do this, everyone’s system of typing is different, but the important thing is, don’t be so fixated on a particular type for a character that you refuse to see or listen to any other argument regarding them.

Don’t automatically assume a character is in a loop or a grip when you type them.

Now, saying a character is in a loop or a grip is not inherently wrong per se- but I will say, that I often see people use this to avoid typing characters certain types.

I have a post I’m working about on loops and grips, but I will say that if you can’t legitimize why a character wouldn’t be that type, even at their healthiest, it’s probably not a good type for them.