#try to describe things using the senses

[meownotgood]

what are the tips you can give out to the first time writers when it comes to description, proper wording or just writing in general?

I'm flattered you'd ask me for tips but... I'm not the best with giving advice like this.... so I think the best tip I can give you for writing is to just write what you like, and what you enjoy writing. don't force yourself to make anything you don't want to make, and don't worry about whether or not your writing is good or whether or not people will like it. write something that you will want to read. then, when you go back and read it, you'll be able to see how you can improve for next time!!!

[puppyeared]

Odd couple <3

[lovelyrotter]

ill probably delete this in a minute but ive just been fuckin boggled by what ive seen across tumblr in the last few days in particular. its why i havent really been around. like holy fucking shit, its really like some of yall just dont want a chunk of the trans community to exist. like some of yall are thisclose to saying it verbatum. way too many already have. 'shut up sit down be quiet and smile for us' type shit, gee where have i heard that before. oh yeah my entire life cause i was forcefully gendered as someones daughter. shock horror i know. you might be surprised to remember and/or learn that very few trans folks know theyre trans before we're 5, or even 10, and that that gendered experience stays with all of us in both/either small or large ways. either bc we literally dont have a solid identity yet (bc we're very small children), dont have the words, we're repressing it out of fear from how others will treat us, we're actually enjoying or enjoyed being another gender in our childhood, or we just genuinely didnt fuckin know until shit lined up later in life. weird isnt it that transmascs dont pop out as 6'1 brick shithouse cis men when we're born so yall know for certain that we're confused lost girls/women oops i mean big dangerous scary men. its almost like we're transgender too. none of yall actually know what intersectionality is or means

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What's your opinion on malewife/house husband Adrien posts? I asked this to another blog, and like I said to them, I find them a guilty pleasure: The concept is cute, but I know that would be the last thing Adrien would ever wanna be after all his dad put him through.

I don't think that it would be the last thing that Adrien would ever want. I actually think it suits his character in a lot of ways, you just have to handle the topic with care.

First let's talk about why it suits him.

Miraculous has totally failed to give Adrien any sort of career-based passion and - if we ignore the senti complication - I honestly love that for him! I want more characters with no major life ambitions to balance out the Marinettes of the world!

I think that society places way too much pressure and value on finding the perfect career that fulfills us in every way while also allowing us to put food on the table. Most people will never find that and that's okay. It doesn't mean that you've failed or that you're lesser. For most people, the goal is to find a career that pays the bills and that you enjoy enough that you don't hate doing it 40hrs/week. Along similar lines, for most people, your passion will be something that doesn't make money. It will be something like a hobby or spending time with those you love or analyzing badly written French TV shows.

This brings us back to Adrien.

Adrien seems to get a great deal of joy from being around his loved ones and making them happy, so I can absolutely picture him finding a lot of joy in running a home. This is extra true because Marinette is pretty clearly career driven and she's planning to go into a creative field, so she'll probably have a pretty crazy schedule and struggle to stay on top of it all. Having a loving husband to take things like cooking and cleaning off of her plate would be a blessing and a gift that she'd greatly appreciate, but that would feel unbalanced if Adrien was working, too. (Yes, they could hire staff, but that risks the secret identity thing, so I don't see them doing that.)

If they both have power careers, then they'd barely see each other and I hate that for them. I think that it would make Adrien incredibly sad and depressed. Plus, while Marinette thrives off of competition and staying busy, only needing occasional breaks before diving right back in, Adrien seems to hate busy schedules and heavy work loads.

Given all of that, I think that there's a lot to be said for Adrien stepping away from the working world. Especially since he's been in it for years and being a child celebrity is no joke! I think it would be nice for him to escape from strict schedules and expectations. Dinner fails? Order takeout!

While we're on the topic of food, I really like the idea of Adrien falling in love with cooking. Dude needs a creative outlet and that's honestly a great one (I hate it when people write characters as unable to figure out cooking like it's some cute quirk. While an initial struggle is believable, it's not a mystical art that takes years of practice. Between YouTube, the wider Internet, and maybe some classes if he wants to get fancy, I think that he'll be fine.) There's so much variety with what you can do in the kitchen and the end result gets to be shared and appreciated by those you love. It just seems like a perfect fit for him, but I would never make him a professional chef because the hours are insane and the pressure to be perfect is high. I only see him loving it as a hobby where he can go at his own pace, take days off, and make lazy meals when he's not feeling like being a show off.

The big concerns that come with making him a homemaker are a lack of financial independence and a lack of socialization. I don't see the first thing as an issue for Adrien since he comes from a wealthy family, so that one doesn't phase me.

The isolation could very easily be an issue, but it could just as easily be a problem if he started working, too. It's not as if a job is a sure way to have friends or even just consistent positive social interactions, which is another reason why I don't really see a need to give him a traditional job. You can get a vibrant social life in lots of other ways.

Here are the two big things that I keep in mind when writing an Adrien-as-a-homemaker or similar setup as it is where I tend to have Adrien land for all of the above reasons:

Adrien needs to be active in some organization or project. Volunteer work is a good fit as is being an active stay-at-home parent or some combination of the two. Voice acting is also on my radar, but my default is to have him act as the head of team miraculous' out-of-battle activities. Scheduling meet and greets. Going to see sick kids. Jetting around the world for humanitarian aid missions. Basically let Chat Noir be his "career" which gives him a lot of much needed flexibility for making his own schedule, especially if he's a stay-at-home parent to any eventual kids. I also like the poetic nature of Adrien finally being proud to be the face of a "brand" via his hero side while his civilian side becomes just some guy that people kind of remember from old ads.

Consider having a non-traditional living arrangement. I am a big fan of hero teams living together, so my default is to take the Agreste mansion and remodel it into a secret HQ for the team. Adrien and Marinette would have their own apartment/wing/whatever, but they'd still be surrounded by their found family on a near-daily basis, so that social isolation is the last thing on Adrien's mind. There's almost always someone to hang out with! You could also just have Alya and Nino or other friends live in the same apartment building so that they're over a lot/Adrien has a place to hang when Marinette is working late because you know that she'd do that.

Basically, Adrien's rich, so he doesn't need to make money and he doesn't seem to have any interest in a normal job, so I really like letting him having a unique life where he doesn't have a traditional job. He is a superhero, after all. Unique career paths are pretty par for the course. You just have to be careful to make sure that all of this feels like his fully informed and carefully considered choice and not like you forced it on him to make Marinette's life perfect (I only brought her up earlier because this is a story and it makes sense to design characters around each other). I usually do this by sending Adrien to therapy in his late teens or by giving him some other parth of self discovery.

Do note that all of the above is inspired by my read of Adrien which may be totally different from your read of him and that's fine! I just can't picture him as someone who thrives in a traditional career path based on knowing people who strike me as similar to him and from whom I draw my understanding of how to write that part of Adrien's character. I think that he'd be perfectly able to have a traditional career path, but I also think that he'd be pretty miserable for a lot of reasons.

I'll also note that I'm not sure what posts spawned this ask, so there may be elements of those that I'd have criticisms of. This post was about the general concept of Adrien being a homemaker. I tend to avoid the broader fandom for my own sanity and the use of the term "malewife" has me concerned that I'm implying support of something I wouldn't actually support because that's a new one for me and it sounds incredibly sexist.

I'm not a fan of implying that the default definition of "wife" is "submissive homemaker" so a man taking on a homemaking role is clearly submissive and acting like a woman does while his aggressive, domineering wife is acting like a man, which is the definition of this word that I'm finding online and yikes! Wife and husband are legal/social status in my book. They are not clearly defined jobs/roles/personality types, so I'm not a fan of using gendered terms to refer to stuff like this especially since I do actively try to use gender neutral words in my own writing whenever I can, though I'm certainly far from perfect on that front.

I also don't see homemaking as a submissive act. It certainly can be, but that's not how I picture Adrien at all! I picture him as relaxed and plesent, but 100% in charge of the home and all choices about how it's run. I also see him being in charge of their finances like homemakers often were in the "old days" since they were the ones in charge of things like scheduling cleaners, buying food, and other things that needed strong budgeting skills while the person who worked wasn't actually spending money or managing the home since they were at work. I like to think that Nathalie would prep Adrien to be a wealthy man and so he'd have strong skills in finance management.

[someonesomewheredown]

Hey so. What did he mean by this.

[Image ID: A set of screenshots from the game Dialtown that show a conversation with God/The Local Hobo. God is depicted as a white man wearing an unbuttoned white shirt and loose black pants tied with a black and white striped belt. Instead of a human head, he has a beige tv displaying a picture of a fluffy white dog holding a waffle in its mouth. Instead of the normal city backdrop, the background has gone dark, leaving only God's sprites and the dialogue visible.

The dialogue reads:

"I didn't say any of this yesterday, and maybe this is just the rum talking, but I want you to know that I see you."

"The others might not, but I do."

"...I see you."

For the last line of dialogue, the two options given for the player to respond with are "...Huh?" and "...Thank you?" /.End ID]

[corset]

Our mental health has been in such an interestingly terrible place for the last month or so. Genuinely kind of fascinating to watch from different internal angles....like watching the ocean ebb and flow and change temperament at random sometimes based on weather or the moon or something. Like this shit is just terrible

[nexus-nebulae]

suddenly remembering how we used to write down conversations between our old host and their "ocs" (see: headmates) during school when we were super stressed out. hmm.

[daisyachain]

There are places where I think a sex scene can dramatically impact a story in a way that enriched the viewing experience and conveys important information. There are movies and/or tv shows in which this happens. I haven’t seen any of them. So much of the time it’s there to do exactly what it says on the tin. A woman and a man are banging. Sure. Fine. Happy for them. It’s just a literal scene used to pull a bit of a ‘well you didn’t think THEY would be involved’ plot twist or a ‘we’re so edgy’ signal. The only show so far that I’ve seen that uses sex scenes as an actual tool of storytelling is Black Sails, and the reason it works in Black Sails is that the sex is Bad. People are bored. People are distracted. The characters are so bound up with the plot that it’s physically prevented them from fucking like normal human beings. That works. The rest doesn’t

[gothsuguru]

reading over this satoru fic and omg… i honestly may just rewrite the whole thing :’) but that’s okay! anything for my beloved :3

[maeamian]

It's a shame Armageddon came out the same year, was about a similar thing and sucked ass, cause Deep Impact was a really really good movie about being human and especially the relationships between parents and children that made me genuinely cry at least thrice.

[upsidedowngrass]

will say it is SO challenging to capture liams voice. when i was rewatching it on my bday w my friend i was STILL noticing things . character dialogue is so complex and i NEED to perfect it or ill collapse into the ground

[girlscience]

okay. I read gideon the ninth. i gave in and read the popular book that i had a grudge against reading because it was popular and marketed as lesbian books and it got recommended every time anyone talked about the lack of women as main characters in sci-fi/fantasy. and it was exactly as good as people said it was. also, for those of you who thought i was unbearable over zoro?? you ain't seen nothing yet

[barnbridges]

not to sexualize that dead autistic man but... the undertone of sex in bunny corcoran is very clearly maladapative and dysfunctional (methinks intentionally so) but not in the "is hiding in plain sight" sort of way, in the "is so fucking detached off reality that he has no idea what real people talk and behave like during relationships" (see: autism)

[silhouettecrow]

365 Days of Writing Prompts: Day 235

Adjective: Alluring

Noun: Voice

Definitions for those who need/want them:

Alluring: powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating, or seductive

Voice: the sound produced in a person's larynx and uttered through the mouth, as speech or song; the ability to speak or sing; the supposed utterance of a guiding spirit; the distinctive tone or style of a literary work or author; a particular opinion or attitude expressed; an agency by which a particular point of view is expressed or represented; the right to express an opinion; (music) the range of pitch or type of tone with which a person sings, such as soprano or tenor; a vocal part in a composition; a constituent part in a fugue; each of the notes or sounds able to be produced simultaneously by a musical instrument (especially an electronic one) or a computer; (in an electronic musical instrument) each of a number of preset or programmable tones; (phonetics) sound uttered with resonance of the vocal cords (used in the pronunciation of vowels and certain consonants); (grammar) a form or set of forms of a verb showing the relation of the subject to the action

[bsaka7]

Sorry if this is weird or anything but re:the post you rb'd abt fanfic... i adore all your writing - you're such a talent, thank you for sharing the things you write!

I really do think of your stories a lot - as slashfic it is wonderful and very much appreciated, but so much of it just leaves me with a lasting impression of a theme or feeling that I can't shake; beyond the story itself. You have an incredible way with words, managing to convey things wholly but without any exaggeration, which makes for a perfect and usually heart-rending read

Thank you again :)

definitely not weird!!! i appreciate and cherish what everyone says about my writing and i am always deeply grateful for your comments. i'm clutching this ask like when otters float on their backs with the clam pressed to their chest!!! i often think that i'm -- trying too hard with fic, or i think too hard about it. i'm very glad that themes and feelings stuck with you because that is so often what i am trying to impart. i think -- i have these questions that go round and round in my head (connection, meaning, misdirection, etc) and sometimes my fic is a way of trying to figure out one perspective or another on those things, or is responding to something i've read in a book (i swear i'm not that pretentious okay. a little. but not TOO bad i hope.), or is just. i think this would be cool (or hot) can i execute it!! and i throw this all out to you guys and you are always far too kind. anyway long story short i really appreciate u and appreciate everyone who likes my writing haha!! i've only ever written like...history papers for school so you guys have seen nearly all the creative writing i've done in my entire life so it's very nice that you enjoy! and it's such an honor that anything i write sticks with u <333333333333333

[vynive]

Are there any smells/scents in Neana that you think would be interesting? I feel like with all the different types of flora and fauna, there's a lot in that world beyond just sights and sounds.

This is a really interesting question. It's something I've thought about before, to be sure, but I don't know if I'm actually equipped to truly like, conceive of smells or tastes I haven't encountered in some way. It's sort of like trying to come up with a new color. So mostly for the way things smell or taste, I try to reference or combine real life smells/flavors, and maybe put them in unconventional places. For example, there are parts of the world that use conifer cones as their source of capsaicin, rather than the fruits of a pepper plant.

I *personally* don't care for the taste of seafood or (many) mushrooms, so I also like to think that those things have differing flavors to their earth counterparts. There are a LOT of edible fungi on Neana (and comparatively few toxic species), and they feature as a staple crop in many cultures. Just like in real life, there's a gigantic amount of variation in their aromas and whatnot. There are fungi, for example, that smell and taste like fresh apricots (stole that from chanterelles and just magnified it lol).

Pretty much everything has a smell to it, if you think about it, so there are probably some wild ones on Neana that I'm just not galaxy-brained enough to come up with!