#to all my fellow authors

[mossyteacup]

Virgil was so real for wanting to burn his masterpiece because he was insecure

[tyrantchimera]

Something I've noticed about being in a small, 'dead' fandom... when you're a content creator, it's like the whole remaining fandom *reacts* when you do anything. I'm in a small but dedicated group of authors for a small fandom. If one of us posts after a dry spell, the rest of us perk up. The fans react. Other creators (like myself) are inspired to make their own stuff.

For a small while, we aren't just small-time creators. It's like we're the franchise itself! Everyone knows when we post stuff. Our content is THE content.

Wow. What a feeling.

[mail-me-a-snail]

i just love that hawk is older than tim. i just love how he calls tim his boy and skippy and says often (or often enough in their short time together) how he's happy to have tim in that way. i love how tim is the one who in fact instigates being hawk's boy. he likes being hawk's boy. goddamn. something about their dynamic has me so ill it's so unique

[queenlua]

i read an article in The Point the other day b/c multiple people were like "i liked the analysis of Austen in it"

there is an analysis of Austen's work in said article (a pretty mundane take that i've seen before, by a critic much more eloquent/interesting than this one)

but also, the entire article had such a wildly sneeringly misogynistic undercurrent & utterly unearned air of haughtiness that i felt like i was losing my mind, because why did no one else point this out? was no one else bothered by this???

so then i did some googling b/c who the fuck is this writer even

and apparently the writer made their viral debut with one of those "confessional essay clickbait by the most unselfaware OR most cynically-manipulative person alive" articles in The Cut, on the topic of: "i don't get why my female classmates at Harvard didn't realize the whole point was to get their Mrs degree (with some rich older guy at the business school), clearly they must just be vain and short-sighted and foolish & they're all secretly jealous of me and my husband"

lol. lmao.

[piningpercussionist]

transfem scott getting lots of support from ramona and kim in the early 2000's when shit's very taboo but they all 3 have a fire forged bond and lord if they aren't going to make sure they're all as happy as they can be because they've come this far and I dunno it just makes me happy all three of them

YES YES YES

It makes me very happy as well,,

Like I've said before. General Trans Scott enthusiast here- I love the idea of their little support network *violent coughing* I (we?) mean polycule *violent coughing* so fucking much.

Ramona I think has a bit of a more gentle hand with reassuring Scott with gender issues, but sometimes she just can't help herself from some pointed banter or teasing- how could you with someone so dense? (Said w affection)

And then Kim I think is more blunt. But like, in a good way mostly, you know? The kinda blunt that makes you snap to attention and go "Oh. Yeah that was silly of me." And if Ramona's started some sort of banter? Kim is SO piling on. Maybe sometimes she's a bit TOO blunt with it- but it's only because she's so firm in her support. She wants Scott to Get It Together- and be happier for it. So if some ribbing now and again is in order, then goddamnit she will do so! Anything to crack that shell.

And ohhh can you imagine how they would react to some transphobic bullshit?? Unholy terror would be driven into the offender before they walk off with an absurd amount of coins between them. I can feel it in my bones. Scott doesn't even have to lift a finger (if the transphobe is even noticed/processed at all, bc I honestly can see Scott just. Not realizing someone's being transphobic.) Kim giving someone a lashing with her tongue as distraction and then Ramona coming in with the hammer- BAM! Free Money! Paying literally with your life for your transphobia. A Better And Just World.

And of course (transfem Scott more specifically, here,) the way Scott would start to flourish under their support... cagey and maybe a little (perhaps a lot-) resistant to start- but Kim's blunt affirmations and no nonsense attitude for bullshit (which is what Scott insisting on "being cis" would be, c'mon now,) and Ramona's also low bullshit tolerance but less Stabby (bc I won't lie, that's probably how Kim's comments would feel,) assurances? Ough... My Heart... Be Still-

I would Kill for them, Your Honor-

(Ran out of tags so putting this in the body of the post- I am SO tired someone pls sound off if this isn't as coherent as I am hoping this is. I WAS trying to nap and get the extra sleep I desperately needed but the writing bug... it Bit Me.... only a little but enough to stop that process-)

[chiropteracupola]

sometimes I forget that real live authors are out and about on this website and then I get jumpscared and go EEP and AUGH

[jezunya]

One of my favorite things is getting caught up on a fic and reading the author's notes where they happily proclaim that the chapter count has solidified at x number and then glancing up to the current actual chapter count and it has ballooned well past that

[larval-entities]

one of the biggest forms of self-care on tumblr for me rn has just been blocking anybody misusing academic terminology whether i think i agree with them or not

[cobra-wives]

i've been doing a lot of html/css work in my fic lately and i must ask - does scrivener make that easier when it comes to fic writing, or is it pretty much the same? i've been using a doc to html converter extension to keep my formatting the same from gdocs to ao3 and i really just wanna know if the transition is worth it.

[mappingthesky]

so happy for your progress on jupiter beach and i absolutely cant wait for the slay it would be! just know that your fics inspire me sm

rahhhh this is so kind!! thank you!!! i am hard at work making sure this chapter will live up to expectations, thank you for being so supportive!!

[justhannigramfics]

How I feel whenever I see another author have a similar idea to one I just had:

[tytonnidaie]

people who are starved of stories that make them feel things to the extent they groan and writhe like a worm HATE being told that they might have to read technically poor writing. like grammar is that important

[risingshards]

Some writing theories on my 2025 self promo journey:

Getting people to actually buy anything is really hard to the point that I don't know how anyone gets sales on their books

Getting people to click on a web novel just by a general post about the series is hard but not as bad

It is potentially easier and more feasible getting people to click on individual web novel chapters than it is to get people to buy a book, especially for my free novels

I am wondering if it's at all possible to have new readers that jump onto the current chapters, like starting a TV show a few seasons in

I'm kind of thinking of doing an event some point that's like specifically a "OK if you don't wanna read ALL of this feel free to jump in here!" type of thing

I am still hoping to build up readership with the print/ebook releases of Rising Shards, (which you can get here), giving people a maybe easier method for people to catch up then jump onto the current chapters, but the jury's still out if that's a feasible idea. It would be neat to have impressions from readers who are only caught up on the newest stuff I think

I wish I had tried the individual chapter promotion more earlier in my series' runs BUT it's been kinda fun trying to describe what's going on in each chapter as a synopsis/description practice.

[madame-fear]

I am NO writer by any means at all, but maybe to help with writers block, try writing completely random blurbs about anything. Something that doesn’t need to be structured or make any sense at all if you don’t want it too, something that you wouldn’t post. If that makes any sense? Like write about your day, write about your fav character going to the store and what they buy, write a little blurb about the bird outside your window etc anything at all! Just throw something down on paper! Maybe that can, you know, help get the ol’ brain going, sort of get into the writing groove and then you can just transition over to one of your stories. Bc I think right now you are just driving yourself crazy, putting yourself under so much pressure to sit down and do nothing but get the perfect story out immediately and off it goes for tumblr. And also thinking you are disappointing all of us 24/7, that’s not good either. That’s not helpful my girl! Bc then you start thinking omg I’m terrible at this, I can’t do this, I don’t know how to write anything!! And down the sad rabbit hole you go :(

Write something down that doesn’t have expectations attached to it

Maybe that might help writing be enjoyable again. Just writing some small, silly, random things down that no one else will ever see. Basically proving to yourself that yes, I can absolutely still write, I can come up with ideas, I can do this bc look *holding your little writing blurb* here’s the proof right here!

Or even just read some of your old writing, more proof you can do it, and an old story of yours might inspire you!

I don’t know, like I said I’m not a writer so i’ve never experienced writers block (except for school papers lol). But anyways, maybe this could be helpful. I hope it works for you!! 🩷🩷🩷

Aww nonnie, I swear to God I don’t think words can be enough to express my entire gratitude to you, and how sweet I found this message to be!! Everything you said makes the perfect sense 🥹🩷

You hit the jackspot in everything you said, and I agree. It’s more my brain gnawing on me about having not written anything and being scared that it won’t fulfill your expectations, rather than me actually writing! And yes, trust me it’s not helpful— I feel consumed by these thoughts and it makes me lack even more writing inspiration... Damn... 🫠

I will do exactly as you said, nonnie! Everything bit by bit. I will try writing some small little things, and lately I was also thinking that I could write small fandom imagines & blurbs— because I have done that too before and it often helps to get me back into the writing wheel, plus I will also apply your suggestions to see how it all works out!! But I believe it should go out perfectly 🫶

You might not be like a writer, but you sound just like one— and a very helpful one, as a matter of fact! 🥹 Seriously, thank you for taking the time of giving me a little bit of advice and boost to not bang my head against a wall due to not writing!!

You are the absolute sweetest,, I will keep your advice somewhere visible & near so I can always see it whenever I go through this writing block once again. I wish I could give you tons of big hugs & foreheads smooches for the greatest help!! 🥺💗

[gingerhastoomanyobsessions]

Things that actually happen in hunchback of notre dame, in no particular order

The book mostly is told from the POV of Pierre, a self-insert who is failed author and, I cannot stress this enough, utterly pathetic 

Quasimodo damaged his hearing as a teenager from years of bell ringing and now uses sign language whenever he can

There is a scene where Quasimodo and a fellow deaf guy have to have a conversation without using sign language because they’re in a courtroom and the jury doesn’t know sign. It goes about as well as you’d expect 

Frollo has a little brother, Jehan, who he raised after their parents died. Jehan is now a frat bro in college whose hobbies consist of getting drunk and being mean to Quasimodo. In his first scene Jehan complains about college DEI because an Italian guy got a scholarship he wanted. 

Esmeralda is accused of witchcraft because she taught her pet goat Djali how to do math

Djali may or may not be sapient. He can and does imitate human mannerisms to make fun of people on purpose. He does this while on trial. 

Yes. They tried the goat for witchcraft, too. 

Pierre writes a whole play riding on the pun of dolphin/Dauphin. Nobody likes it. 

Frollo is an alchemist and has a secret mad science lab where he writes on the walls

Jehan literally pulls a “buy my silence” and frollo gives him money to make him shut up

There’s a trio of catty girls who bully Esmeralda like it’s Mean Girls

Quasimodo and Frollo literally have Cryptid Status— Parisians circulate rumors that Quasimodo is either a familiar, a homunculus, or the result of demonic mpreg, and that Frollo is a wizard with wizard powers and/or a ghost

There is a little old woman who lives in a hole and shouts slurs at people. She has a tragic backstory. 

There is a homicidal con man/king of thieves named Clopin Troillefou (surname translation: The Fool of Fear) who deserves tumblr sexymanhood.

Pierre learns how to carry chairs with his teeth 

There’s an entire chapter dedicated to the layout of the streets of Paris in painstaking detail

There’s another chapter that is a rant about interior design 

Esmeralda and Pierre get platonically married due to Clopin’s murderous shenanigans. Pierre tries to make a move in her but ends up being more emotionally attached to Djali the goat than to her. I think that should be grounds for divorce

There is a scene where Pierre has to choose between helping Esmeralda escape or helping Djali. He picks Djali. 

Frollo hides from his own brother by laying face down in mud and playing dead. Somehow this works 

There is a Plot Significant Tiny Shoe. A Tiny Shoe Chekhov’s Gun. And Victor Hugo will not stop telling you just how Tiny this shoe is. 

There’s a soap opera style plot twist that involves a false accusation of cannibalism and the woman in the hole who shouts slurs

Quasimodo makes up a stupid little song that doesn’t even rhyme to confess his love to Esmeralda, who remains oblivious

He then attempts to demonstrate his affection via convoluted metaphors that involve props. She doesn’t get it. Boy please say what you mean

Frollo pulls the classic discord groomer tactic of threatening self-harm if Esmeralda doesn’t give in. 

Jehan rolls up to a party/rescue mission scheming session in Clopin’s secret hideout in full plate armor (how did he get that???), drunk off his ass, and acts like he owns the place. Everyone finds this so ridiculous that they just let him

Hugo goes on and on about how innocent and naive Esmeralda is but then casually reveals that Esmeralda carries a dagger on her person at all times to fend off assault. When Frollo attacks her and Quasi intervenes, she takes Quasi’s knife and almost kills Frollo (fair!) but he flees. She contains multitudes?

Frollo has a psychotic breakdown in the middle of a field surrounded by chickens and hallucinates skeletons everywhere 

For the first half of the book Esmeralda is like 70% sure Frollo is a ghost, not helped by his aforementioned Cryptid Status

Jehan eats a moldy piece of cheese off the ground 

Frollo tries to send Pierre on a suicide mission in drag. Pierre objects to the suicide part but not the drag part  

Clopin’s preferred weapon is a scythe, he’s very good at using it, and he sings when he fights. Again: sexyman potential. 

Victor Hugo has a foot fetish. I initially dismissed it as Frollo having a foot fetish until Victor Hugo included a foot fetish torture scene without any Frollo in it. So I can only conclude that the foot fetish is authorial in nature. Unfortunately the foot scenes are important to the plot. 

Frollo is canonically 36, he just aged like shit and is bald. The narrator will not stop telling you just how bald he is.

Despite being in full plate armor, Jehan gets splatted like a bug

Almost every named character dies. Djali the goat lives. 

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

I think a lot of what's currently informing my fellow white people curdling like milk and shitting their pants when asked to interrogate their relationship with rap is the way many people (especially well-meaning white people) still can't help but think of racism as something that you get accused of rather than something that influences the entire world in pernicious ways.

like, I think a lot of people currently posting the most cringe takes about rap right now would very much agree that Racism Is Bad and probably even acknowledge that rap has been and is still widely maligned and devalues for racist reasons.

but that last step, acknowledging that your personal tastes and interests are also influenced by systemic racism, is where a LOT of people stumble. it's very easy to assume that because you consider yourself against racism, then your tastes and interests cannot possibly be at all informed by racist. if you're a white American, that's simply extremely unlikely to be true.

speaking from personal experience, I had to Work to decenter whiteness in my media tastes. when I was like 19 I listened to a podcast where a white Jewish man talked about keeping a spreadsheet of the books he read to make sure he was reading a roughly equal number of men and women, and I started doing the same thing to track how many authors of color I was reading. at the time I took pride in my belief that I was reading diversely, but when the year ended I was shocked to discover that people of color had written barely a quarter of the books I'd read. I had been giving myself way too much credit while still unintentionally prioritizing white authors, because white authors were the ones I knew best. so I started making an extremely conscious effort to seek out books by authors of color, both fiction and nonfiction, that sounded like my kind of shit.

music was extremely similar. I grew up a little white girl in a very white city in a very white state; nobody was offering me an education in rap or r&b or soul or hip hop. as an young adult there were definitely some Black artists I liked, like Janelle Monáe, but I had to take the initiative of seeking out more artists to find out who I fuck with. you're not going to like everybody, which is fine, but are you even giving anyone a chance? are you even looking?

racism has roots everywhere, bro. it's not enough to just acknowledge it, you have to actively get digging.