#something something fictional create = way easier to make expressive

[fanart-and-tingz]

ermmm some wof au dib concepts, i like to make his wings take the role of his trench coat

[erabu-san]

First of all, I would like to thank you so much for all your support and your kind message !! Thank you so much for being patient with me too !! (you will see, I thanks a lot in this post lol)

Haha tbh I believe that ignoring and move on is a great way too! Yeees when I read this anon ask, I was wondering if they are living somewhere where pale person are oppressed and they are personally in this case and it affects them so badly that they have so much hate in them or they are just being hateful toward poc w/o any explication ? It was a bit uncomfortable And what is appealing with Genshin Impact (for me) is the fact that they use real culture to create their game ; even in the last survey, they ask if we like Natlan's authenticity (weird they only ask abt environment and music, i think they know they have issue with character design bahaha). I learn a lot about persian, algerian, but also chinese and even about french culture ! It is because people recognize themself that they start talking about it. I know there is a lot of controversial topic in Natlan, but because of this, I learn a lot on Hawai'i 's culture too. So yes, even if it is fiction, representation *is* important. And it is because they take inspiration of their culture that there is people who want a better representation, and in my opinion, this is something to not ignore !

About taking well what anon said, thank you so much ! If i can be honest tho, I didn't take it very well neither, or just I don't know how do I really felt at the moment I am an adult but I still hard time to distinguish what is morally okay or not, what is bad and good ? So if someone doesn't tell me they are explicitly a bad person with bad intention, I won't get it haha (ofc I grew up and now I identify my value and morals, but I still questionning if my morals are objectively great or not- yeaaah i was called weird for that, I am aware) Since forever I always try to understand other so I can communicate properly (at least I try), and that's why I am always interested on how does people think, why do they react in this specific way etc etc. Pro, I am patient and can take even the most violent take "well" (all depends. I am still a human) Con, I give free speech to those who have a "bad" take </3 and I apologize for that aaaa

KFSDLFSD I wish to express my angryness sometime but I just don't know if it is really adequate What if I interpret their text in wrong way as they initially try to say ? I wasn't feel offended by what they said, I was just uncomfortable because their opinion is something I consider hateful. and what if i was wrong??? But reading you all's opinion just affirm that's they were indeed rude ! I should stop overthink, life would be easier Maybe next time I have a doubt I will ask my friends's opinion before answering ksdkfsf

Oh my god thank you !!! If i can be honest, I draw Kinich this way because when I draw him w a darker skin for the first time, I thought "Oh !!! he looks so cool !!!!" and seeing a lot of positive comment abt my Kinich just makes me happy so I keep him like this ! And thank you for sharing with me informations !<<333 This is not overstepping at all ! And it is a reciprocate feeling anon ! It might be a bit weird but "angry" is such a complex feeling for me. I feel it but I don't really know how to express it in the most healthy way and it is super frustrating. So... seeing people getting mad at something I also disagree on makes me feel better !! And for this, thank you all !

I SNORT SO HAAAARD Damn Macron you again..........!! I didn't put all ask here but I read them all !! Thank you for sharing with me your opinion and reaction, it is truly interesting (and way more relaxing that the hater anon kskskss) !! and again, your support is truly meaningful for me. You all have sincere gratitude Hope y'all have a great day !! Stay hydrated too <3

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Character Descriptions

Character descriptions are often the first way readers start to piece together their understanding of the characters that populate a work of fiction.

Here is a list of tips to help you write strong character descriptions:

Start with physical appearance

The most basic character descriptions usually center around physical details.

Physical attributes are the first thing we notice about a person before we’ve had the opportunity to speak to them.

Literature is a non-visual medium, so having a vivid and evocative physical description can help paint a picture of a character in the minds of your readers before you go into more detail about the character’s personality.

Physical descriptions may seem surface-level, but they’re the first step toward character development.

Carefully choose your adjectives

Try to spice up your character descriptions with inventive descriptive writing.

A good character description will instantly conjure an image in the minds of your readers without relying on trite cliches and bland description of physical characteristics.

Think about a character’s interests

Characters are much more than their physical appearances.

Much can be revealed about a person by thinking about the things that interest them. “A teen girl who is obsessed with K-pop” is a more evocative character description than simply “a teen girl with blond hair and brown eyes.”

Choose descriptive details you’ve observed

When you meet someone for the first time, what stands out to you?

Our first impressions generally center around a few details, whether they’re someone’s deep green eyes and freckles or their unique mannerisms and idiosyncrasies.

Practice writing character descriptions for people in your life

It can be great practice for writing fictional characters to take some time and write character descriptions for real people in your life.

You may find that it comes easier to you to talk about the specific facial expressions, body language, and hair color of your real life friends and family because you have spent so much time with them.

Once you’ve written out these real life character descriptions from your own point of view, you may find it easier to create a good character description for a fictional character in your short story or novel.

Make a list of possible physical traits and character traits

In addition to writing mock character descriptions, some writers find it useful to keep a running list of personality traits and physical characteristics that they can refer to when writing new character descriptions or brainstorming new stories.

When you’re deciding how to describe a character in a specific piece you are working on, you can refer to this list and come up with additional examples for a specific character.

Edit your list down to the most revealing descriptors

Once you have a list of possible descriptors to include in your character profile, it’s time to edit your list down to the strongest details that will help reveal character and evoke a strong image.

A great character description is all about quality over quantity.

Choose a few of the best details from your list and leave the rest to your reader’s imagination.

Explore how a character’s surroundings reveal their inner life

There are many ways to describe a character beyond simply reciting the character’s physical appearance—saying a character has blue eyes and black hair can only get you so far.

Think about a character’s home or workplace.

What objects do they hold dear?

What actions do they do on a daily basis that reveal something about their backstory or personality?

Compile a list of your favorite character descriptions

Keeping a list of your favorite character descriptions that you come across in fiction is a great way to notice elements that appeal to you that you can incorporate into your own writing.

These character descriptions can come from anywhere, but it’s always helpful to look for inspiration from authors you admire.

Keeping this list handy can help you break through writer’s block when you’re feeling stuck.

Source ⚜ Writing Notes & References ⚜ 100 Sensory Words ⚜ 170 Quirks More: Character ⚜ Worldbuilding ⚜ Word Lists ⚜ 600+ Personality Traits

[deramin2]

Critical Role Campaign 3: Political Situation vs. Monster Situation

Campaign 1 was a monster situation. The monsters created a disruption that was mostly ended by killing the monsters, even if the world was changed. Killing the monsters was the clear course of action.

Campaign 2 is a monster situation with a backdrop of a political situation. The political tension erupted into outright war, but they resolved the pretext (accidentally and then with intention) and things fell back into steady mistrust and unease. Meanwhile The Mighty Nein were dealing with multiple monster situations that by and large the public remained unaware of. Killing the monsters was the clear course of action.

Campaign 3 is a political situation with a backdrop of monster situations. Who the monsters really are and which ones need to be killed vs. worked with is very murky. Nana Mori and Ira Wendagoth are both by every definition monsters who create situations, but they're also consistent allies who are contributing to protecting the world from Ludinus, who everyone agrees is much worse. They don't agree on whether the gods are monsters who need to be saved, run off, or killed.

The gods are an extremely handy proxy for institutional powers that present a set of ideals they don't follow. They have more in common with other institutional powers than the mortals they often send to their deaths. But Earth is not controlled by a family of incomprehensible cosmic horror beings, some of whom are benevolent. So there's a useful separation from real people's struggles while still expressing a meaningful dynamic. (Those are also important speculative fiction stories, they're just a different approach.)

There is not a definitive answer to "Are the gods monsters?" Or "Would be better off without the gods?" They may be monsters, but they're better than Ludinus. At the very least they might be a problem for later. Ludinus is a charismatic leader running a mainstream cult on the promise that the chaos and upheaval he cases will disrupt a harmful status quo. He promises that all the death and destruction he unleashes will one day be regarded as the greater good. Internally he may simply believe that everything would be better if he was in charge. (Sound familiar?)

Bell's Hells aren't a unified front, they're a conflicted coalition who mostly just agrees on what situations they need to stop. No plan survives contact with the enemy, and they've been under attack the entire campaign. At best they're breaking bread together in foxholes. No one knows what's going to happen, even as they're planning their next move.

Which can be a really fun and freeing way to play if everyone's down for it. It takes a lot more communication to manage conflicts and keep them in the game, but getting to pluck all the narrative strings just to find out what sound they make can be a really rewarding way to create. All possibilities are on the table and there isn't a right solution. In the end something will happen and no one really knows what that will be or what it will change. The world building toys don't have to go back in the box at the end.

Politics doesn't have one completely correct answer for how society would function best, even if individual battles seem pretty clear. Unfortunately Ludinus has a few good points despite being widely considered the worst person even his allies know. Those disputes won't go away if he's overthrown.

There isn't a binary choice of "no on Ludinus, yes on gods." "No on both" is something that could happen in the power struggle. The uneasy tension of both existing has ended. Whether it should is a matter of debate, but things developing on the ground in the moment may end up making a bigger difference than philosophical choice (doing nothing is a choice to cede the outcome to other people).

Many viewers think of Campaign 2 as "the political campaign" because the backdrop was zoomed out and easier to see. Campaign 3 is more of a "the personal is political" situation. No one fully knows what change will result from their actions when they're in the middle of it. Everyone's got a different vision for what the best future looks like. Unfortunately we have to act anyway to collectively shuffle in a favorable general direction. The individuals who are totally certain of the best course of action end up being like Ludinus. The rest of us have to work towards our goals while holding space for the possibility that we're totally wrong.

[malorisaurus]

No shade, promise! I just don't really understand taking murderous and toxic couples that we love for those traits and putting them in scenes of domestic docility? In other contexts, I am perfectly happy to watch characters arrive at their conception of domestic bliss, so it isn't necessarily a problem of not jiving with the concept. Perhaps I get too hung up on my own ideas of what would make sense for a character?

For example, embracing while being gutted/gutting is definitely a penetrative sex act, and bleeding out on the kitchen floor is climax. Even when not doing a stab, characters that express intimacy as though it is a chess game to be won light me up. I am obsessed with that particular dynamic, and I don't really imagine scenes where they set those aspects aside to play out cultural ideals of domestic tranquility. I don't mind or judge people for imagining that, but I just don't understand it (literally). I am trying to! I will often like images that people create because they are so talented and it is clear that so much love goes into it. Plus, little snapshots like that are easier for me to wrap my head around. I struggle more with fanfiction.

To continue to use Hannibal and Will as an example (if it wasn't obvious in the above), I don't even anticipate them having particularly vanilla sex. Vanilla sex was a part that Hannibal played with the people that he was fooling (Alana). And hey, my dude still likes to get off. Good on him. With Bedelia, my personal interpretation was that their relationship flirted with wider exploration, but Hannibal was still playing a part. In my world, if Hannibal and Will even have sex (much of the time, I don't even get there and instead ruminate over their power dynamics as desire), they get absolutely freaky-deaky, and their growth is counter to everything that is held up as ideal culturally (in the US). No nuclear family, obsession as a feature not a bug, and a deep commitment to absolute depravity. And there is plenty of that to be had amongst the fans, to be sure.

I suppose for me, these characters are a vehicle to allow the exploration and expansion of something within me, becoming, as fiction always does, my own. This, of course, is also happening for everyone else. I think what confuses me is reconciling an attraction to these "depraved" aspects of these characters and then seemingly removing them entirely? What is happening for people there? What is it doing for them? What makes that exciting and what feelings arise? Is it a way to reconcile one's own attraction to those themes and dynamics with ideas of how relationships should look? Or is it simply a joy in placing characters in unlikely and varied scenarios? Of course there are probably a million answers.

I am glad that there is a diversity of expression through the characters and these shows, though. I think this is one of the reasons I so obsessively watched film and TV growing up. Going through this process has really helped me to understand a lot more about people. I despise not understanding! XD

[ghostingpen]

hi!! i’ve been meaning to ask u abt this for a while, but the pic u posted of your 2025 journal inspired me to reach out. i would rly like to get back into using a journal as a way to organize, plan, and feel more in control of my life. i used to use a bullet journal throughout high school and college. but my situation is different now (no classes or defined work schedule) and i remember often having a hard time keeping up with it + missing a day or two and then just falling off. i also tend to be a perfectionist and get stressed out abt making The Perfect layout. ig i’m just wondering if you have any tips or advice for getting started again and figuring out a setup that feels good + manageable? i’d send this as a message but i feel this might be helpful for other ppl too. ty!!!

(rubs hands together) ty for asking >:3 i was in your boat too for a while, and what a lot of bullet journalers tend to understandably forget is that the bullet journal system is customizable and flexible. what this also means is that you can frankenstein the bullet journal method and create your system made up of sewn together components of various other methods.

if your primary goal with your notebook is feel more in control and present in your life, then it's important to view it as a second brain. it is reasonable to believe that not all brains work alike. when combining both thoughts, you can start to see the reason why many people who try the bullet journal method are unable to keep it up long-term. they try to be too rigid with the method. they expect themselves to create artsy complicated layouts that aren't actually conducive to their brain. they need to have the same notebook as other people, the same pens, the same supplies.

but each of our minds work differently. when you believe that, then it becomes easier to accept that your notebook does not have to look the same as others to be successful. you aren't failing because you're unable to work with the system the way others do. it is the current system failing you, and that simply means it's time to tweak it and change it as necessary until it becomes more compatible with your brain. maybe the size of the notebook is the problem. or the type of paper. for example: i find that tall and skinny notebooks like the traveler's notebook work best for me. but maybe you prefer big a4 sized notebooks. i also refuse to work on anything that isn't grid paper. but maybe lined paper works better for you.

for me, i use my notebook as a writer the way an artist keeps a sketchbook.

that means i don't play with the layouts unless it serves me. my creativity is expressed solely in the pages i want to be creative in, like when i'm writing fiction or sketching storyboards, but i am intentionally not creative and artistic in the basic setup.

for the basic setup, i'm using a hybrid system of the basic bullet journal method and the life hacker. my intentions are to be mindful of the goals i want to achieve and keep some memory of each day. otherwise it feels as though the month has gone on without me and before i know it, it's the next month and i remember nothing of the past few weeks.

i make sure to keep an index on the back of my notebook. i write down page numbers of pages i want to refer back to later.

i start with a "one line a day" page:

that way, if i miss a few days, i can always try to catch up and write down a single line of what i remembered that day. i also tell myself it's okay to write "i don't remember what happened" on days where that happens. in a way, that also indicates something about that day - usually that i was too depressed to engage with my interests, and that's important to log.

then i set up a basic monthly spread to track upcoming events, bills to pay, habits, tasks i want to do that month, and goals i want to achieve. i also added a d20 roll every day just for fun. if i really need the guidance, whatever i rolled that day determines how i go about with my day.

i also don't really treat it like a chore. i miss days here and there, but when that happens i just set the next day up and move on. this notebook is meant to serve me, not the other way around!

this notebook also serves as my commonplace book. if you've seen me occasionally tag posts as #commonplace, that's me saving posts to write down in my notebook. i love to save advice i appreciated, quotes that resonate with me, and other bits and bobs of information i'd want to re-read in the future.

i also like to write down my thoughts on topics that interest me. it actually is one of my biggest passions and special interests: optimizing a notebook system for myself and helping others find their system. so if you flipped through my current notebook, you'll find rambles about notebook systems and how simply following trends is ineffective.

hope this helps!! i wrote a lot more than i thought i would dfkghdf but this is a huge interest of mine.

[larrythefloridaman]

Thinking about Prism's relationship to motherhood and honestly I cant decide if its more thematically interesting to assume she did or didn't have a choice in the matter in being the cibling's parent. I think that not being directly addressed is a good choice not because it wouldn't inform things about prism but because either way works on different layers of the cpuk authorship metaphor and the ambiguity allows both possibilities to exist simultaneously.

If she didn't choose to be a mother, and spectrum just dropped them in her lap, well, she never REALLY got much of a choice in anything, given shes a fictional character with a Role To Play, its just one more thing on the pile that becomes painful due to her percieved or actual lack of choice in it, that she both embraces and abdicates responsibility for by placing it in spectrum's hands and distancing herself from it, hence taking the 'babysitter' title rather than the more Personal one of 'mother', enforcing a role on herself as much as anyone else, albeit with a caveat appealing to her own desire to keep her hands clean, showcasing the hypocrisy at the heart of her beliefs about controlling people and understanding the characters as tools and nothing worth more respect than a tool, 'its bad and ugly and evil to control other people but not when i do it :)' and 'its good for me to do what i do i have to play my role its my job you can't hold me responsible- but ill make some exceptions for my own comfort :)' two sides of the same self-interested coin.

On the OTHER hand, if she made the ciblings and chose to be a mother, and then abdicated that label at some point... alone at the endless well of possibility, the origin point of the world with absolute power, you choose to create, to create people that are not you, an Other, little hearts shaped by your every move, even in ways you don't see. They begin to act on their own, personalities blossoming. Autonomous little people you guide and shape. You're their whole world, and you love them. Your power still is absolute. But then, something starts to change. They start to develop and become their own people, self-possessed, expressing their individuality and autonomy they develop in ways that... displease you. They're not pets, theyre not just your little dolls to play with anymore, they have wills that can conflict with your own, WILL conflict with your own, because theyre not even JUST shaped by you anymore- theyre shaped by eachother and everyone and everything else, too. You start having to manipulate their personalities to get them to do what you want, to play along with your game, you mean them no harm, your actions arent guided by willful cruelty... you just need them to listen to you. To behave. To make things easy for you. You made them, you have responsibility for them, you have authority OVER them, you had a job to do. do you judge someone for loving a dog enough to train it?

This works. It takes learning how to twist the strings on each of your little poppets, closely and personally, but it works. And things are so much easier when it works! But sooner or later, the illusion starts to crack. They can't see the strings yet, and they wont, not for a very long time. but they know something is wrong, and they grow willful and resistant again. All this work to craft them and direct them and make them the best they can be, and they show you no gratitude, only skepticism and rebellion. One in particular, the youngest, offputting and mischievous since the start, had grown bratty and insolent. And so, pushed to your limit, you... make an example out of him.

But what you hadnt counted on was that you'd spent long enough learning who they were as individuals for the fresh cruelty of this act to be... meaningful, to you. You felt awful. You could glimpse, in your periphery, just how low you'd really sunk. It was wrong and you knew it. But you couldnt bear the thought. You couldn't look directly at it. So you didnt. You cast off the responsibility, along with the title, trading it for another. From a mother to a babysitter.

And you got what you wanted. Unconditional love didn't, conditional love didn't either, but fear? That kept your house in order, neat as you wanted it, you thought. You didn't even have to do as much anymore- the eldest, a thorn in your side who once demanded sense from you practically ran the ship for you now, smoothing out as many bumps as he could before they could even reach you, terrified of what you'd do. Sure, you'd permanently ruined your relationship with your youngest, but whats a few eggs for an omelette :)

[anneapocalypse]

I have really complex feelings about the idea (often implied or tacitly agreed to be true even when it's not stated outright) that realism in sex scenes (and specifically sex scenes in fanfiction because that's what I'm thinking about) is always preferable and desirable. That it's always better to be more realistic, and any kind of unrealistic or fictionalized portrayals of sex are inferior--or in some cases, worthy of contempt and an indication of the inexperience/immaturity/poor writing skills of the author.

I have mixed feelings about it because I do think there's a place for realism. There are things that add realism to sex scenes that I really enjoy. I enjoy watching certain characters communicate their desires and negotiate activities. In some scenarios I like seeing characters employ safer sex practices like barriers. I will always enjoy when an author takes the time to figure out a form of lubrication that's appropriate and believable in the setting! I can even enjoy when a character gets up to pee after sex before returning to bed to cuddle; it's a very human touch to the scene that can itself be comforting and enjoyable to read. I like it when people who have experience with certain types of sex create helpful guides to writing those things, offering details you might not think of or know about if you haven't had that type of sex. It gives authors more to work with! It's a tool. Realism is a tool, and one that can absolutely enrich scenes and make them more interesting and fun to read.

And at the same time, something really does rub me the wrong way when I see posts that express contempt for a realism gap in fanfiction and imply that anyone writing it that way must be a) stupid, b) inexperienced (while kind of implying that writing about sex when you haven't had sex is inherently a problem, which I object to fundamentally), and c) completely unaware that what they're writing isn't realistic, which kind of points back to A. It's less on the nose than it would have been like ten years ago, when a lot more people were willing to just come right out and mock "stupid girls writing stupid fanfic" (and all the assumptions that go along with that) but still... that tone lingers. I won't even get into some of the smug posts that used to circulate about anal sex that ended up coming across as "don't you know anal sex is GROSS" in a way that was kind of lowkey homophobic, intentionally or not. Nor am I going to get into the prevalence of queer people telling other queer people they're doing queerness Wrong (in fanfiction, in original writing, in life in general).

To bring a personal angle to this, I'm a nearly-40-year-old bisexual cis woman, married and monogamous, chronically ill, and with some lifelong undefined sensory issues that I don't have any kind of diagnosis for so I'll just call them that. For me personally, due mostly to sensory issues and some physiological quirks, sex can take a lot of energy. Sometimes it's just a lot of work! That doesn't mean I don't want it or enjoy it, or that my partner is failing in some way; I have an active and fun sex life with a very thoughtful and caring partner (and I am not looking for advice on this post, so let's not get sidetracked). There's just challenges! And sometimes I wish my own body made it easier!

So sometimes, when I'm writing smut which is definitionally for fun and primarily for me and my own enjoyment, I find myself caught between: do I want to make this character's experience of sex very realistic in a way that's relatable to me? or do I just want to indulge in the fantasy of sex being easy and low-effort?

At this very moment I'm having difficulty answering that question about some things! There's pros and cons to both, and I don't think either one is wrong. Because at the end of the day, my own enjoyment is the goal of this piece of fiction. It's self-indulgence either way. No matter what I write, these pixel people I'm writing about are not real and their sex scenes are still a fantasy. It's just a question of what kind of fantasy I want to indulge in.

There was a good post I saw recently about the fact that a lot of problematic tropes are problematic not inherently but by scale--in other words, because their prevalence reinforces ideas and narratives harmful to specific groups. And I will be the first to acknowledge that even in the realm of fanfiction--a sphere with relatively low impact on the culture at large--it can be frustrating to constantly run into the same tropes that we find unrelatable or just plain unenjoyable, whether it's rigid top/bottom roles or easy vaginal orgasms. I don't want to come across as like, scolding anyone for just being annoyed, or venting about that sort of thing. It's fine. Some people's forms of self-indulgence are irritating to me, and my self-indulgence is undoubtedly annoying to someone else. I also want to reiterate that talking about what is and isn't realistic in the context of fiction is fine and good and there's absolutely a place for it, and that I enjoy a lot of elements of realism in fiction. I just also want to leave room for fiction to be fantasy. I think that's okay. And everyone's gauge for just how much realism is enjoyable is going to be different. I think that's fine too.

[arainmorn-art]

Lots and lots and lots of thoughts. Also have some earlier sketches of Pheen, exactly from the period when I’ve decided to make his stupid face features even sharper. You know, English is not my native language, it’s actually Russian. But for some reason, even though I’m not at all fluent in English, it’s easier for me to talk about some weird stuff in it.  Of course Deciphering is a big project, I’m working on it for 9 month since I’ve started it, as I made myself not to draw the comic before I’d be fully confident in my script, which led to rewriting it 4 times. And even now it’s the 5th version as before there were no magical adventure in Edgey’s mind, no swords and flowers, the way to know how he feels inside, as outside he is quite reserved.

And it’s also a therapeutic journey for me. Yeah, duh, who am I trying to surprise with it? Anything we create is a projection of our own self. And through Phoenix, whom I love very much in canon games, I also deal with my own stuff.

For some reasons I relate to this character a lot. He seems to me like a person, who sincerely doesn’t see a big value in himself. He is not just being humble, nothing besides his job of saving people is a big deal.  

And he thinks he is not worthy of being loved.

Yes, his friends like him, his daughter loves him, but those are other forms of love. Being caring and likable is not a big deal, bringing home a lost child and rearing her is what any decent person and parent must do. Being selfless is a norm.

And looking at Edgeworth, a brilliant famous professional, a gorgeous smart man and a dear friend, Nick might believe a very sad thing: “I am not worthy”. Of course, through the rose-tinted glasses of being in love there are tendencies to feel blue and self-conscious of yourself, but it’s not the case. It’s about feeling weak and broken. It’s about looking at yourself and thinking: “No way a person I deeply value will think highly of the wreck like me”, as it’s also about being very, very harsh with yourself. It’s about believing that unless you are a harmonious strong-willed collected person with everything put together you do not deserve being loved.

But the thing is through the story I wrote about him, Nick is constantly fighting this numbing blob of insecurities, sitting like a nasty tumor inside his mind. He wants to try, he wants to check, what if, what if he is the only one who stops himself of being romantically loved. What if he actually has something to be loved. Both of them will have their character arcs through the comic, but Miles’s core struggle is the center of the story and will be fully described closer to the end, while Nick is in the outer circle constantly and expressively getting and loosing hope.

I don’t understand my feelings. I’m so confused and conflicted. It’s the first time I am actually insecure about my protagonist’s appearance. I like the way I’m drawing him. I can see him in my head like that, tired, sleepless, sharp yet with the kindest smile, with big nose, messy hair, small sparkly blue eyes, nervous, emotional and deeply caring, being through so much yet thinking about himself so little – a person I really like. And at the same time my own mind make strange things to me: I’m looking at him and can’t believe he can be liked and loved by readers. I wrote him feeling about himself as “somewhere not enough, somewhere too much”, but I also look at my own drawing and think about exactly the same, “not enough and too much”. And even think a fictional Edgeworth might not love him back, what is there to love? Not enough courage, too much emotional turmoil. Not strong enough core, too much self-doubt. Not pretty enough, he is so far from his original anime look, just look at this face, it’s the face only mother will love. Not stoic enough. Not manly enough. Not assertive enough. Not collected enough. Not mature enough. Not enough. So strongly not enough…

And I must remind myself – that’s the point. I freakin’ made this point several month ago in the script, why am I so distressed writing about it now?

Edgeworth actually loves him for what he is. Nick is worthy. And he doesn’t have only several single traits to be loved. He can be loved as he is. Just like that. For being cheerful and bringing smiles. For being caring and emotional. Being funny looking and clumsy. Being a soft gentle selfless loser, helping people, nurturing the best in them. It has a value. It has a big value for people who care about us.

I like the thought that I wrote Nick as a very nervous lesbian trying to win a girl’s heart while fighting her own deeply low self-esteem x)

Too relatable. Too much projection x)

But looks like I really need it. I need this comic to be completed. I need to prove myself I am worthy of being loved.

[wayfinderships]

I have arrived at last to give you a brief attempt at a gush about Hea.thcl.iff--that fictional man is the love of my life, I swear--

I can't even really tell you what drew me to him? I had a few friends who had him on their crush list when the game first released, and I knew someone who liked him up until they saw his teaser trailer mention Ca.ther.ine ... then they dropped him immediately. I went into the game expecting to like Gr.egor or Meu.rsau.lt, but no ... Hea.thcl.iff completely took me by surprise--although I did read his source novel before the game dropped, and I had a moment where I thought, "I really hope this doesn't awaken anything in me," because I thought he'd be a platonic--as you can see from the state of my blog, that was absolutely not what happened. /lh

I know a lot of people perceive him as "dumb" and "violent," but if you read the story--yes, even the early chapters--that really isn't the case. In the first Ca.nto, he actually picks up on a scheme some enemies are hatching: to let the Sinners through and then immediately attack them when they come back around to the exit. And the one time in Ca.nto II where he seems like he's being a problem, he actually gets the enemy to break something valuable, allowing the Sinners to advance a bit easier. Also, in Ca.nto IV, the enemy actually acknowledges Hea.thcl.iff's words as being wise, to the point he makes a point of hoping to avoid choosing people for his little band based solely on their education--in the future, that is.

He's also such a sweetheart--in Ca.nto IV the Sinners took a heavy blow from an explosive, and even though Hea.thcl.iff was hurt, he was more worried about Don Qu.ixo.te ... he tells Da.nte to turn back the clock because "the blonde lass is dying"--not because he's hurt. He also expresses concern for Is.hma.el in that Ca.nto that I feel a lot of people overlook because of how often they're at each other's throats--and even in the more recent update he's been telling people to leave Don Qu.ixo.te be because ... she's just being herself and there's nothing they can do to change her.

I said above I read his book before the game released, and I do feel that was part of why I immediately liked him so much. He's been through so damn much--you've seen me talk about the racism he's dealt with in canon--and I want the best for him. And Sherry's the same way--I think it's amusing I created her before Limbus released, but she happens to also be from a British series ... it's as if she and Hea.thcl.iff were meant to be ... and if I hadn't fallen for Hea.thcl.iff, I wouldn't be friends with a good chunk of my current Li.mbus mutuals, either! He's just incredibly dear to me ... he's made my life so much better, and I just like to imagine a universe (or multiple) where Sherry does the same for him.

This is not brief, my goodness--you let me talk about this man and I won't shut up--

~ 🪻

Hiiii Sarah!! :D First off I just wanted to say I was smiling the whole time reading this-akgnskf I can just feel how much you love Hea.thcl.iff and it's so sweet <3 So fun how he took you by surprise and now he's the love of your life!!

He sounds like such a cool and amazing guy!🥺 Acjsnfksjfjd I want to be his friend maybe even sibling so hard now!!!

Also awwww! You two were certainly meant to be if you ask me! Anytime I see Heathcliff I immediately go "omg that's Sarah's beloved!!" I'm sure that you've made his life so much better, just as he's done for you! He loves you sooo much! And thank you for telling me about him! :>

[canmore-elblood]

The Art of Character Creation: Exploring the Depths of Human Nature

Creating characters is one of the things I enjoy doing as a writer. It is a very interesting and complex process, and you keep learning more and more about people as you become better at creating characters.

Creating characters is not a simple thing. It needs observation to learn more about people and the knowledge to write believable characters and for their reactions to make sense.

I find observing people very intriguing. I believe that at least a part of people’s personalities are displayed in their speech, tone, clothing, and general body language. I believe we can, at some level, determine people’s personalities through their body language and clothing because there is a reason for everything we do, and this reason has to do with our personalities.

Watching people has been very insightful, but so did watching myself. First of all, it is much easier and much less embarrassing than staring at other people. It is also much easier to determine the reason for your actions because you are free to speak your mind without a third party judging you.

Even if you don't intentionally observe yourself and try to use these insights in your characters, there is always a part of you that is embedded in the fictional characters you created whether you try to or not. It almost feels like you are rediscovering yourself and expressing your thoughts in new ways.

As a writer, fiction writing allows you to explore all your thoughts no matter how crazy they are. Whether you had or hadn’t given yourself time to journal about your thoughts and feelings storytelling is always insightful. The way you describe the scenes, the way the characters behave and talk, the places in your story, and the themes. All these things and more have a part of your interests and personality in them.

All stories have a central theme or idea that they revolve around, and this idea is the lesson the reader is going to learn by going on this journey with your characters. This theme could be something very complicated or something very simple and overused. Even though you are the one writing the story, it shouldn’t feel weird if you learn something from your characters as well. These lessons you learned might not be the central theme, but they are still as important. Embracing these lessons is as important as embracing the central theme.

[sodasa-was-taken]

The problem plaguing cishet romance and the biggest advantage queer romance has over it: A sociology of literature analysis on the history and prevalence of the romance genre

I've gotten some feedback where people have expressed that they thought they didn't like romances but later found out they liked queer romances. I thought it would be fun to go over some inherent differences between cishet and queer relationships in fiction and how they came to be. I've chosen to use cishet instead of straight because I want to make it clear that these things don't necessarily apply if someone in a straight romance is confirmed not to be straight, and they definitely don't apply if one or both are trans.

As usual, I hope you enjoy this.

So, what is the biggest problem with cishet romances? Its ubiquity. The type of relationships depicted in those stories wouldn't be half as problematic if they weren't so prevalent. It'd be one thing if a few stories had some questionable, to say the least, relationships portrayed positively. After all, countless stories have some questionable things in them that go unnoticed by the narrative, but that doesn't mean that people who like those stories can't tell that those things aren't commonplace. Nor does it have to mean that there’s any harm in those people believing those things were accurately portrayed. The times this becomes a problem is when the portrayal of something questionable becomes so widespread that people start to think that it's odd for them not to have this thing in their lives or when a popular work inaccurately portrays something that's already poorly understood and highly stigmatized. This, inversely, is also the main argument against setting requirements for one specific story since one story isn't going to change the world, no matter how popular. Storytelling is one of the most collective forms of expression there is, so what really matters is how much effect it has on other storytellers. Not to mention the role fandoms have in normalizing queer identities as someone who has previously been sheltered learns about different people’s experiences through a common interest.

So, how did cishet become so prevalent? Well, for starters, there used to be a time when a man and a woman getting together was seen as a societal obligation, and whether or not the people involved even liked each other wasn't a concern to anyone. There was also some method to their madness, as this sort of arrangement worked quite well for the societal structure at the time. It made sense to create stories where the justification for someone getting together is that they're a boy and a girl because that was the main requirement in the eyes of society. If anything, the stories often portrayed people choosing to marry someone for their personality, which many historians would say wasn't something people did. At least not typically. Though, who's to say? It's a lot easier to find out what people in the past did than why. The bottom line is that cishet relationships were so prevalent in stories because they were stupidly prevalent within society.

Then there’s the way a lot of cishet relationships are depicted in fiction. It tends to imply what a desired relationship should be like, which at best creates unreasonable expectations and sometimes straight up encourages girls and young women to seek out traits in men that ain’t healthy. Some of the most prominent of these are anger issues, controlling behaviors, and possessiveness. This, too, used to serve a function. How good of function that was is debatable, but the point still stands. Portraying these traits as manageable, at the very least, was a way to prepare girls to be married away to someone who might not treat them the best. Stories managed to do this by reassuring them they could tame their new husbands. The whole “I can fix him” mentality evolved from this. Telling someone repeatedly that they can fix someone by making them fall in love with them tends to make them believe it. This somewhat common delusion results from centuries upon centuries of multi-generational gaslighting. Long ago, believing this could be seen as a form of copium since girls at the time usually didn’t have much of a say in who they got promised away to and were stuck with that person until one of them kicked the bucket. Nowadays, in all the places where girls and women, or those perceived as such, ain’t forced into relationships, this mentality causes nothing but trouble. It should go without saying that if someone doesn’t treat others well, they are not relationship material.  

However, it’s worth noting that this has become less of an issue in recent years as there has been a decline in romance in pop culture, particularly in movies. There’s also been a rise in queer romances in more wide-reaching stories, and male/female relationships have gotten healthier depictions. Although a lot of those consist of people who are not straight, so they’re technically queer relationships too. The only place those outdated ideas consistently persist is in stories targeted toward people who are already used to those kinds of depictions.

Speaking of queer relationships, when it comes to fiction, they tend to avoid these issues. So, why is that? Well, for starters, despite what some bigots might say, it’s a lot harder to avoid being exposed to straight attraction than gay attraction. Many commercials are, in particular, needlessly straight. Also, there isn’t a precedent for two people of the same gender or anyone who isn’t perceived as a man and a woman to be obligated to get together. This leads to authors being less likely to either write or be asked to write a queer romance for the sake of it, which means that the romances in stories that feature queer relationships tend to be more deliberate. Then there’s the casual sexism that’s often brushed off in cishet romance that will more than likely come off as odd if it appeared in a romance between two people of the same gender. For example, it’s not too uncommon for one of the main characters in cishet romances to have had some unfortunate encounters with someone of a different gender, and the character does that thing where they think everyone within a group is the same. Try having a female character think that all women cheat without guaranteeing that it’s going to give someone pause. Unfortunately, internalized misogyny is very much a thing, but the point is that it’s not something people are just going to shrug off.

When it comes to how healthy queer relationships are depicted, it varies greatly from story to story, but when these relationships are extremely toxic, it’s rarely done by accident. There might be some cases where people who have internalized that guys show affection by easily getting angry and being controlling and possessive could see a man being abusive to another man and not see a problem with it. The stories themselves rarely seem to depict a toxic relationship as anything other than a toxic one.

Lastly, the main characters in queer romances rarely seem to be reluctant to spend time together. That’s not to say they always like these others from the get-go, but that one of them is more likely to contemplate murder than think about how they’ll have to be in the other’s vicinity for an extended period of time. If one or more of them has something against the other, it also tends to last only as long as it takes for them to get to know each other. These characters quickly grow fond of each other compared to their cishet counterparts. Forget about spending half a novel for one of them to find out they were wrong about the other; it usually takes a couple of conversations at maximum before they start to enjoy each other’s company. It’s not clear why this is, but it is hilarious to think about.

[reborrowing]

How do you actually go about making conlang?

A love of language and probably some confidence that borders on hubris.

(this is kinda long and rambly and probably points to me not being inclined to teaching but)

I think conlanging is something works best if you jump straight into it, as long as you’re willing to learn as you go. Imo, there’s not a single “right” way to make a conlang, but there’s a dozen “wrong” ways that you only really discover/understand when you try them.

Really, step one isn’t going to be making anything, so much as deciding what you want the language to do. Are you trying to create a certain aesthetic for a given race/species? Are you experimenting with how communicate works—how to express emotions, maybe, or honesty or clarity or efficiency? Are you building off of a pre-existing language? Are you playing with grammar? With sound? What you want to do with a conlang should determine where you’re going to focus (and might also point out some blind spots). You should also think at least a little bit about who’s going to speak the language but imo that has the biggest impact when creating your words.)

Like, for Kíkítok, my first page is literally:

Language used by a diminutive people/mouseworld society that exists in parallel with a fictional version of the modern day, typically in urban environments. Culture values resourcefulness, knowledge, tenacity.

Reasonably naturalistic

Possibly toy with sound symbolism and/or ideophones?

Takes loanwords from English, occasionally from Spanish

Reduplication?

And then I looked up cross-linguistic onomatopoeia for mice and searched around for what languages people perceive as “cute” and picked a lot of my sounds from there. It doesn’t have to be too serious.

The actual language creation part is easier if you already have some linguistic background, but that background isn’t necessary. I started conlanging before I studied linguistics. There’s a lot of material out there that explains language building better than I can.

I’m pretty sure I started with Biblaridion’s playlist on how to make a language when I first got into conlanging. I also enjoyed Artifexian’s conlanging videos (It looks like he’s restructured his channel so things aren’t as organized anymore tho).

Zompist’s Language Construction Kit is probably the most-referenced conlanging starter guide. The material is free on the website and also available as a book if you prefer. (If you’re buying books, I really liked David J. Peterson’s The Art of Language Creation. But. Money.) It’s been awhile since I’ve been on reddit, but when I was, r/conlangs had a ton of useful references to work with.

Once you get the basics of a language down, most of your time will probably go into lexicon/dictionary building. It’s so overwhelming. I recommend keeping track of how you’re forming your words even though I’m super lazy about it. (It’s why I recommend it, I end up unhappy with some of my stuff lol). There are so many words. You will never ever have enough words. The last time I was working on mouse in the basement, I found out Kíkítok has three words for kill/cause-to-die but no words for injure or pain? Ugh.

Language is huge and majorly interconnected, so there's not really a single good entry point for starting a conlang. Especially early in the process, you end up going back and forth as other parts of the conlang evolve. You kind of have to just start somewhere, whether it’s sentence structure or a couple of words, and be open to the idea of changing things later. But! Do write everything down. It doesn’t matter how intuitive something seems when you first think it, you won’t remember your own reasoning. And it's fun to see how the language changes over time!

[kickingitwithkirk]

Greetings from Austin

Summary: Jensen and Jared are at odds over a monumental decision that changes their lives in a way they couldn’t have envisioned.

Pairing: Alpha!Jensen Ackles x Alpha!Jared Padalecki x Omega!OFC

Word Count: 2161

Warnings: a/b/o, J2 are married/mated, homophobia, bisexuality, biphobia, outdated beliefs, angst, cursing, jealousy, depression/anxiety, medical stuff, sexual dysfunction, infertility, IVF, surrogacy, subgender inequality

*additional warnings to be added in future parts.

Square filled: Non-traditional Alpha Traits @spnabobingo Maid Au @spnaubingo

A/N: Here we go again with one my weird as hell dreams, series Inspired by this art.

A/N II: There is no intentional hate or malevolence intended towards any of the Ackles or Padalecki families. This is a purely fictional piece containing real and created persons/names/events set in the fictional A/B/O verse. Some dates/events altered to fit story.

A/N III: thank you to everyone for hanging in there since it’s taken me ages to drop a new character, I’ve been doing rewrites/updating on all my series, more to come in future.

*no beta-all mistakes are mine

*divider by @writeyourmindaway​​​​​​

*images found online

Part IV

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

“DON'T YA’ BE YELLING AT ME, MR. MAN, EVEN IF THIS IS YOUR FUCKING HOUSE…”

“I gotta go,” tossing his phone on the bedside table, Jared, wearing his blessed socks, runs across the main room and slides on the hardwood floor into the kitchen and saw his husband standing three feet from Quinn as she’s vigorously gesturing with a paring knife while telling him off in her colorful language.

“Put the knife down!” The older Alpha’s voice resonates through the room, making Jared flinch, feeling the command’s power, watching Quinn set it on the counter and Jensen reach over, sliding it towards him.

She stood a bit longer before blinking in confusion, and then her demeanor shifted to madder than a wet hen, her natural lower voice dropped another octave, and the lilt became very pronounced. “Don’t ya’ ever use that fucking voice on me again!” 

“You were threatening me with a knife!” Jensen picks up the item, making her laugh, “Holy fucking shit, are ya’ serious? Ya’ could barely use it for a toothpick, let alone...” 

Jared stood there, mouth hanging open, have’n seen others take on his mate, wrongfully assuming he’d be the easier of the two to intimidate, but when let off its leash, Jensen's wolf made Dean Winchester look like a pussy cat.

“JARED!”

The younger Alpha's mouth snapped shut, “sorry, what?”

“I asked you what the surrogate is doing here?”

“The surrogate has a name.” 

 “What is Quinn doing here?”

 “So..uh..okay,” Jared slowly starts around the island doing his sometimes awkward, hesitant thing.  “A few days ago, I got a call from this number I didn’t recognize. It was about the ultrasound appointment scheduled while you were in LA.” 

He paused to see if Jensen remembered, and yep, his mate was wearing his get to the fucking point expression.

“They informed me she’d canceled it because she was leaving town.” 

Jensen's attention returned to the O, ”Don’t fucking start on me again, Ackles!”

“You know who I am?” 

“Duh, Sherlock!” 

Jensen would later try to justify it was jet lag and surprise finding their surrogate in their home, not her smart-ass mouth, for snarling at her.

“Och, save it for the cameras, drama queen. Ya’ put pants on just like the rest of us; the only difference is yours have designer labels.”

Jared interrupted the speeding downhill faster than an Olympic bobsledder situation, “I remembered her saying something about managing Mulroney’s Bookstore, so I called Clif to see if he’d get her to contact me and calls back saying some Alpha...” 

“...who’s a flaming jackass!”

“Yeah, that’s what Clif called him. Anyways, he claimed to be the manager and had no idea where she was when another employee said they knew where she was living...”

“... that’s when ya’ boy shows up..”

“…I explained about the mixup...”

“…Padalecki followed me to my room to get the new date, then he caused a scene...”

“...I couldn’t help my wolf freaking out at where my..our pups were living...”

“…told ya’ it was there or the I-35 underpass!”

Jared bristled at the reminder, “The door had three locks, a barely functional heater, and a broken fridge. Cockroaches wouldn’t even live there!”

Quinn raises onto the balls of her feet and loudly reminds him about putting her in the shitter with the manager and getting fired when Jared shouts back in his booming voice, “there was a guy by the ice machine offering to sell me heroin!!”

“ENOUGH!” Jensen's Alpha voice echoes throughout the kitchen, quieting them both.

“She’s right,” Jared opened his mouth to retort, but Jensen countered with, “And so are you. Quinn, couldn’t your family help,” the Alphas wrinkled their noses at her souring scent, so he attempted another approach. 

“I want to clear something up. I recall one of the stipulations for surrogates is that they reside in an appropriate domicile. Why were you living in a motel? Could you tell us what happened?”

“The flaming jackass tipped off the landlord I’m an O, and that fucker evicted me even though I never caused any problem or was late with rent.”

“There is a moratorium on evictions..”

“..that moratorium is a fucking joke!”  

“What a minute,” Jensen said, and at the same time, Jared remarked, “It protects people...”

“Newsflash, Mr. Wizard, was created by and for the protection of Alphas and Betas! Take a hot minute to read the fine print, and you’ll find loopholes granting landlords, to quote, discretionary privileges pertaining to the eviction of those designated with the sub-gender Omega. In other words, they can boot O’s for any damn reason!” She gave the Alphas a hard stare, “So, enlighten me as to why y’all didn’t know a fucking thing about that bit?”

The kitchen got quiet as the Alphas glanced at each other, trying to find a non-assholey-sounding response. “Yeah, that’s what I thought; since it’s well known you two prefer Betas.” Quinn addressed the older Alpha.

“Padalecki and I have an arrangement. I keep the house and do meals in exchange for temporary boarding. No need to fret that pretty head of yours, Ackles; I’ll do me damnedest to stay outta the way."

🐿️🫎🐿️🫎🐿️🫎🐿️🫎🐿️🫎🐿️🫎🐿️🫎🐿️🫎🐿️🫎

December 23rd                                                                                                   Late Afternoon

Quinn heard Jensen’s surprised greeting covering the stewpot of goulash, slid it into the oven to stay warm, and peeked around the wall and saw him in the foyer hugging a small, older O, then a tall, bald Alpha carrying several bags crossed over to them.

“Let me help you with those, sir,” she offered, taking them couldn’t help but overhear his not-subtle sniff, “Jensen, who’s this?”

“Umm,” Jensen scratched the back of his neck, fumbling for a response, “this is the housekeeper, Quinn.”  His mother-in-law peered inquisitively at the tall Omega before asking, “What happened to your boys' service?”

“I worked for it.”

Gerald Padalecki dubiously eyed the O up and down as she continued. “They pared down the staff, and Jared offered to retain me in exchange for lodging...”

“You live with them?” Gerald barked, “Jensen, that’s unwise considering...”

“Considering what Gerry,” his mate sharply asks, “the boys wouldn’t let someone stay they couldn’t trust.”

 “I normally wouldn’t question their judgment, but she's an unmated O.”

“Whoa,’ Jensen jumped in, “are you suggesting that Jared or I...” 

“Mama..daddy..what’re y’all doing here?” Jared couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice, wrapping his long arms around his mother, “thought you were coming tomorrow.” 

“We decided to surprise you but got it instead.” Gerald’s gruff reply made Jared throw his husband a confused look, catching a whiff of his dad and Jensen, “What’s going on?”

“I bet y’all would like to freshen up after your trip.” Quinn blurted out, “Jensen, would you help me with their luggage, please.”

Taking the car keys, he follows her out the door, remarking, “you think fast, coming up with that story.”

“Ya’ were about to lose ya' shit on your father-in-law, and I didn’t precisely fib, just moved a few facts around,” Quinn shoots back, grabbing a bag while Jensen, fuming, retrieves the other, following her to the guest house.

How could the Alpha he considered his father even think, after everything they’d been through, found his dark thoughts distracted by two simultaneous acts; a deflating blow-up bed and his bewildered husband storming in shouting, “What the fuck was that?”

Jensen ticked his head towards the O and made the finger-in-hole gesture.

 “I’ve gotten that shit since I presented,” the pair look towards Quinn with confused expressions. “Loads of Alphas still carry antiquated beliefs about unmated O’s, and I’m…pick an adjective to fill in the blank.”

“So much for a peaceful holiday,” Jensen grumbled.

“Yeah, too bad ya’ boy stuck his nose where it didn’t belong, right?” Quinn's tone was caustic. “I don’t want to be a bone of contention with ya' family. I’ll figure somewhere else to stay.”

Jared’s wolf simmers under his skin, “How? You have $636.96 in your account. That won’t cover a security deposit, let alone fir..” 

“How the fuck ya’ know what’s in my account?!”

“Your laptop was open...”

“...and ya’ snooped...”

“...I happened to see it...”

“...still not your fucking problem...”

“...you’re carrying my..our pups, that makes it my fucking..”

“...ya’ are the most unfucking...”

“I’m tired of y’alls motherfucking bitching, so shut the fuck up!!” 

Jensen wrinkles his nose, “Dude, dial it down; you’re stinking up the joint! And Quinn, Jared screwed up...”

“I never asked...”

“...doesn’t matter! He's trying to make amends, for fuck sake!” Jensen felt the vein in his left temple throbbing again.

“There will be many people dropping in or staying with us this fucking week, and this is how we’re all going to handle our situation.”

🫎🐿🫎🐿🫎🐿🫎🐿🫎🐿🫎🐿🫎🐿🫎🐿🫎🐿

January 15th

“Humph,” Jensen jerked awake, slapping a hand around, and found his phone before cracking an eye open.

7:18 A.M.

Groaning, he dropped face-first into his pillow and wrestled his mates over his head to muffle the noise, but the pearls of his pup's laughter signaled he wouldn’t sleep much longer.

His fuzzy brain's insistence that coffee was more imperative than a shower has Jensen sleepily shuffling around the oversized couches, once again grateful they’d decided to move their bedroom to the main floor, spots the group in the kitchen muttered too damn early.

“That’s a bad word, Daddy,” JJ says, her frown a replica of his, “you owe the swear jar.”

“Your right, Birdie, sorry,” dropping a kiss on top of her and the twins' heads, stepping around them, pouring himself a mug, “remind me to pay it later.” 

Hopping up on the counter, Jensen sips his coffee, savoring the black elixir rolling over his taste buds; he feels the caffeine penetrate his system, working its magic to turn his morning grumpyass into a civilized human watching his brood.

JJ and Arrow are busily festooning Quinn’s long, wonky braided hair with ribbons. Zeppelin and Icarus are sitting on the O’s lap, watching something on his iPad that's precariously balanced against her feet; felt his wolf purr in contentment, starting him when his mate materializes and gives him an odd look.

“Alright, y’all,” hopping off the counter, Jensen scoops up his son and flies him around, making airplane sounds, “Uncle Jeff and Aunt H/W/N will be here soon. What do all of you need to do before going?”

“Brush teeth and hair,” Arrow says, then looks at JJ, “grab our snacks from the fridge,” she reminds her, “and put them into our backpacks.” 

“And do bath break!” Zep giggles as Jensen hands the pup to his mate and quietly says, “I wanna discuss something with Quinn.”

Jared reaches through their bond and finds a placidity in Jensen he hasn’t had for so long, but before he can deduce the causation, he gets distracted by the twins' squeals and escorts the pups upstairs. 

Quinn eyes the older Alpha while securing a hair tie around her long braids, “what the fuck I do this time, Ackles?”

“Jared mentioned something about your leaving..”

“...I know ya' expected me gone before now...”

 “...ya’ know what I expect?” Jensen snaps, mimicking her subtle accent, “I expect you to stop interrupting and let me get something out for fucking once! Now, could we please discuss this without fighting?”

Sitting at the dining room table, she says nothing, watching Jensen refill his coffee, grab another mug, and drops in a spoon of honey before pouring the brewed tea from the kettle, “Ya’ know how I take me tea?”

“I’m not a completely unobservant asshole,” Jensen self-deprecates, “you make a damn good cup of coffee,” he said, carrying both mugs over. “And I’m astonished how you balance everything, working at Emmer and Rye while keeping up with our hectic schedules. And what did you do to Jared?” Quinn looked confused, “you got him to put his wet clothes in the laundry instead of leaving them all over the bath. You’re either a witch or a goddamn miracle worker!”

“I gave him two options. Leave’um in the laundry or find itching powder in his clothing.”

“He’d just borrow my stuff...”

“...he did, once.” 

“So, you?

“Clif said ya’ boy spent the day denying it was jock itch.” 

Jensen was still laughing when the quartet came back downstairs, so Quinn placed both forearms on the table, leaning forward, and spoke softly, “okay, Ackles, the fucks going on with this little tête-à-tête? Cause ya’ been freaked the fuck out the entire time, so,” nodding to her mug, “What’s with the buttering up?”

“It’s about not leaving...”

“Quinns not gonna leave?” Jensen whipped around to find Arrow bouncing excitedly beside him, then she suddenly raced towards the front door, yelling, “Papa Jared, Daddy’s got Quinn to stay with us!”  

Jared stood there scrutinizing the seated duo with an indecipherable expression.

“Looks like ya’ the one dropping me in the shitter this time, Ackles.”

tbc

Part V

SPN TAGS: @donnaintx  @lyarr24  @flamencodiva  @b3autyfuldisast3r  @lassie-bird @nancymcl  @spnbaby-67  @leigh70

Sam/Jared:  @idreamofplaid Dean/Jensen:  @thoughts-and-funnies  @stoneyggirl2  @akshi8278  @beabutterfly987 @smoothdogsgirl @siospins2

GFA: @babypink224221 @waywardjoy @let-me-luve-you @all-4-wincest @ladysparkles78

[yellowocaballero]

Every time I read one of your works it takes my breath away. They're all so emotionally complex and weirdly surreal and each and every idea is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. And somehow they’re all the perfect length for however long I have to read at the moment. Just asking: how do you do what you do? How do you create something on this scale? How do you write well enough to have someone stare into space in awe the moment they’re finished? Have you got any tips?

This is such a sweet ask thank you so much! This is so nice!! jkalsdf

Obviously, if there was something to say that was the secret to writing good stories, then art would be solved and we could all go home. And I'm not even going to pretend to tell you it, because I'm not selling an online class for $19.99 a month. I wish I knew that secret. I sincerely don't.

I guess if I could possibly say anything about how to write stories that affect people...I dunno, I write about what's on my mind. Sometimes there's ideas that I've been thinking a lot about, or I've had a small personal journey on a topic. A lot of my work is just an unceasing dialogue with myself, and often I see my characters saying things that I'm trying to help myself believe. I just usually have something to say and something I want to express.

I think it helps that I try hard to be honest. Not even particularly about how I feel or what's going on in my brain, but I try hard to portray life honestly. Not realistically, but honestly. There is always that element of fictionalized exaggeration, but oftentimes it's only through fictionalizing something that you can actually express what it means. I always want to talk about the ways people fuck up and how they hurt themselves, and the weird connections we can form and the sideways love that follows. I think people are always looking for fiction that resonates, that they can see themselves in, and that can't really be achieved by isolating out the easier parts or by saying something comforting. Fiction resonates if you begin from honesty.

Sometimes there's things that are hard to talk about straightforwardly, so you have to package them through a lot of filters and metaphor and fictionalization. But people tend to understand what it is that you're afraid to say outright. It's stuff that any person has difficulty saying. Maybe it's just nice to have it said, even if it has to be said through such a convoluted and messy way. At least I can make it funny?

[neonjawbone]

So, out of curiosity: as someone who's got a long-running web comic AND who's got a novel coming as well, have you found that your process for writing each are very different?

Are there things that are the same?

Did you find one easier than the other?

Did the type of media you were making influence the genre you chose to work with?

Sorry, just super curious since I haven't seen anyone do both before!

ooh!! I love this question!

Yes, I'd say, the process is very different! I've said this to a couple friends so far, but working in prose has been like reuniting with an old friend. Pretty common story, but I was a huge reader until sometime in college (around the time i got on social media and my adhd really took a nosedive), so actually writing (and by extension, trying to get back into reading) has been REALLY fun and interesting. My process for storytelling itself is really similar, but writing for comics can leave a lot up to the visuals. What the backgrounds look like, expressions and character acting, these are things i tend to leave to myself on the page. When you rely on them overmuch in prose, what you get is a kind of boring slog. Working in prose has lead me to try and write not how things *look* (as is my instinct coming from comics) but how they *feel*.

Furthermore, prose is such a different game. Idk how else to put it. The act of writing is so uniquely vulnerable, and while theres things I miss from comics (expressions being wayyyy up there) theres also so much cool shit you can only do in prose. Stuff like really getting into characters interiority, and through multiple pov characters painting different pictures of the world and your cast.

Prose is easier, bar none (okay, this is kind of incendiary) what I mean is, prose is less labor intensive. The act of creating/storytelling/art is still WORK. No matter how you're doing it. And certainly, sometimes I'll beat my head trying to convey something in prose that isn't like, boring. But I can bang out 1k-5k words in a day without aggravating my RSIs, it is not draining in the way that comics are, simply put, yeah. It's physically easier to type words (for me) than it is to draw a comic.

Example: Though I started work on my novel, OTAS, about a year and a half ago, maybe only 6-7 months were spent writing with any regularity (and even on writing days I was still able to do many other things!). The graphic novel I worked on, TPATPG (out in AUGUST!!) took two years of near constant, daily work which allotted a majority of my drawing energy..

Now, I don't think my influences have really changed so much, BUT I made a conscious effort to read prose books with more regularity since starting to incorporate fiction writing. I think it's very important to take in the media you want to work in!!

In conclusion, working in prose has been really fun, and I'm excited to do more of it!