#want context? i'm in search of a beta reader

[bgiering]

“Take your anger out on me, on everyone around you, see how far it gets you. You are only following his example, are you not? We can only hope our new little prince doesn’t succumb to the same vices as your father.” She barely got the words out of her mouth before he was up and across the tent, his hand colliding hard with her cheek. “I am nothing like my father.” He ground out, angry blue eyes staring down at her.

They’d just set up camp north of Balkwood when Sylvain had received the news. Not via formal letter, or even word from one of his friends, but from a whisper that seemed to cascade over everyone around him. It was hard not to notice the stares as they spoke under their breaths, or the way people seemed to try and avoid him more than usual, but when one of the young mages let out a gasp and repeated what her friend just a little too loud, Sylvain was stopped in his tracks.

“There is a new crown prince?”

The girl's exclamation was followed by a cacophony of shushes and concerned murmurs, but Sylvain didn’t even spare the girl a glance. The news, if it were true, was not her fault. It would do him no good to question the girl or let his temper show here. Instead, he continued his walk through their camp, jaw clenched tight, as he made his way to the officer’s tent.

Pushing through the flap of the tent, he expected to find Gideon, Desgrom, Rinna, Vivian, anyone but her. She sat tense in one of the old chairs in the corner of the tent, her eyes quickly shooting from the paper she held to him. He stilled, still only halfway into the tent, and their eyes locked.

His blood boiled.

It wasn’t her fault, he knew that, it was irrational to take out his frustration and anger on her, but who else?

“Congratulations are in order, I hear.” He said stiffly, glare staying firmly locked with her wide, green stare.

“Congratulations?” She breathed out, confusion edging its way onto her expression.

He finally stepped in, making his way over to his usual seat at the table. “Did I hear wrong?” He asked, gaze only leaving hers long enough for him to sit, take in the brief view of the map laid out on the table, and then go back to holding her stare.

“Yes,” she blurted out, hands clenching at the note she held, “No, but yes. I am owed no congratulations, this is…” She looked back down to the note. “No one wanted this, I did not want this, you must know that.”

“Must I?” He ground out, “Why would one assume that you are not ecstatic to be the aunt of the new heir? Your position in society is rising rather quickly, Magi.”

“None of us ever asked for this.” Frustration seeped into her tone, its familiarity an almost calming sense of normalcy.

“None of us?” He questioned, arching a brow. “Would you really have me believe your sister—sorry, our Queen—didn’t hope for this? That her child would have any and everything he could ever ask for?”

Mylath scoffed. 

“Do you find this funny?” His voice rose, hands clenching, knuckles white, at the arms of his chair.

“Anything he could ever ask for?” Mylath set the letter aside. “How well did that work out for you, Sylvain—no, sorry, your Highness?” There it was, her usual temper, easing to the surface, breaking through whatever nervous energy had enveloped her before. 

Her mouth twisted in anger, she wanted to say more, he could tell, but the words were kept from leaving her mouth in an all too familiar way. It only served to anger him more, a reminder of all the blood spilled, binding them both to secrecy.

“Take your anger out on me, on everyone around you, see how far it gets you. You are only following his example, are you not? We can only hope our new little prince doesn’t succumb to the same vices as your father.” She barely got the words out of her mouth before he was up and across the tent, his hand colliding hard with her cheek.

“I am nothing like my father.” He ground out, angry blue eyes staring down at her.

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, cheek reddening, and it looked like she’d ceased breathing as she gazed unblinkingly at him.

And he knew he’d made a mistake.

----

She couldn’t believe he’d done it.

Their relationship hadn’t been what anyone would have described as gentle or kind in a very long time—a fact that saddened Mylath, but what was she to do?

She shouldn’t have pushed him, but she could not sit by and let him hurl insults at her sister, or her defenseless nephew, it was not as if the child had asked to be brought into the world this way. The child, Tavyth, she had learned, would have a hard enough time as it was, he did not need his one and only brother hating him so.

She knew it had to be hard on Sylvain, and so maybe she should have bit her tongue, but now? Now she couldn’t hold back.

She stared up into those hateful blue eyes, so much like his father, he had no idea. He expected her to cower, to grovel and ask for forgiveness from her Prince, as any of his other subjects may have done, but she would have thought he knew her better by now.

“Nothing like him?” The shock had finally washed away, replaced once again by a raw anger. She pushed herself to her feet, standing too close, hoping he would step back, give her some space, but he stood his ground.

The magic in her palms bristled, the heat leaving her cheeks and snaking down the length of her arms. She wanted to hit him back, to show him that she was not someone he could just push to their limits and not get burnt. But she remembered Rinna’s training. She ground her teeth and breathed deep as her eye caught the movement of the discarded letter falling to the ground, and she recalled the final lines.

I cannot express to you how happy, yet terrified, I am. These last weeks have been unreal, I want nothing more than you by my side—to meet your new nephew, for us all to be a happy family. Please, Mylath, give Sylvain my regards, I know this will be hard on him, someone needs to be there for him. I love you. Please come back to us in one piece.

The breath in her throat hitched, a trembling sob threatening to rise. But she would not cry, would not lash out at him, she couldn’t. So, she turned and left. Her final words repeated under her breath. “Nothing like him.”

Image Sources: 1 2 3

[bigassmoonchild]

The Hearing

Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Reader

Word Count: 2.3k

The first four parts give context, but may not be required for this read.

Summary: Being stuck in hearing sucked. Especially when Price revealed things about yourself you hadn't even known, and now Ghost was unsure of the choices he'd been making.

Content Tags: Separation, Mentions of Violence, Mild Storybuilding, Scenting, Mentions of Possible Pregnancy, Ghost Walking Out, Ghost being Unsure, No Use of Y/N, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha! Ghost

A/N: This took me half of The Wolverine, 16 minutes of Hamilton and 12 episodes of Bluey to get through. No sex yet, but if y'all don't want the pregnancy ark do let me know. This series may be coming to an end soon, but that doesn't mean Doc is going away forever. As always, content under the cut and requests are open <3

P.S: I was going to adjust part of this, but I've figured out a way to extend this story a little further, so I'm removing it from being privately posted. My apologies!

Part 1 | Previous, Next | Headcannons, Masterlist

This keeps fucking happening. It took four months before you and Ghost got in trouble again. Instead of having each other, now you were stuck without the other. The rest of the 141 was busy smuggling items between yourself and Ghost, it finally having gotten out that the two of you were mated.

That you were an Omega.

You were removed from training your squad for the time being, currently being investigating for the incident that had happened. Too many times you had seen the same people for hearings. Too many times you were stuck sitting in the same room and looking among the same people.

"Can you explain to us how no one knew that Michael wasn't taking his suppressants?" Was the question posed to you.

You adjusted in your seat, smoothing down the pair of nice pants you'd thrown on and smelling the thick perfume you'd put on to block the distressed scent you'd been throwing off. "No one in the compound is capable of scenting other people, those abilities are blocked with the military grade suppressants we are given. Scents are also dulled with the suppressants, so no one would've been able to tell," you explained. Short and simple, not nearly as scientific as it should've been.

"And you couldn't tell? Being mated means off of suppressants, which means you should've been able to scent him."

"It takes a minimum of two days off suppressants for a scent to begin coming back and another week before the androstenone in an Alphas body to increase dangerously high. I was on leave for three weeks prior to the incident, so I had to have returned back to base at nearly the two week mark," you wanted to see Simon.

You each had a babysitter, swapping out in shifts so neither of you were unattended for more than five minutes. You'd began self-soothing, rubbing the gland on your wrist aggressively against your neck gland, the clothes you were receiving weekly from Price wasn't doing enough.

No matter what, you were still stuck in this god damn hearing. Until you could smell Simon. You spun in your seat, searching the general room for him, watching as he was led forward, taking a seat across the aisle from you.

"Now, Mr. Riley, what caused you to attack Michael?" You were still watching him, only his balaclava to protect his face from those around you. You could just barely see his side-profile, his hardly blinking eyes as he stared down the person questioning him.

He glanced briefly at you. "My Omega was being attacked, I could smell her distress from a few halls down so I was going to find out what was happening. I heard him screaming at her and threatening her life, so I did what I had to to protect her," he answered, no hesitation. They hummed and nodded, glancing at you before looking back to Simon.

God, he smelled so much better than his clothes.

"Doctor, please try and pay attention," you looked down into your lap, giving a small sorry before the hearing proceeded. "What caused Michael to attack you?" At this you had to pause. It all happened so fast and you'd shoved the memory to the back of your head.

"He wanted to get out of the squad, he didn't want a Doctor ordering him around. I assume Mr. Riley said something to him, as he was causing problems with the soldiers covering my squad while I was on leave. He tried to press for information regarding my relationship with the Lieutenant, but I wasn't going to allow him insight he didn't need to know," they were writing everything down, clacking of keyboards and scraping of pens and pencils against paper.

"Do tell us what happened next,"

Looking away, you had to take a deep breath. You could feel the panic setting back in. "I told him that he wouldn't be able to remain in the military or find a new branch if he left. He had too many infractions and I pulled his file to show him, and he lunged for it. Michael was trying to take his file from me, and he could smell I was an Omega. That's when I realized he was going feral," you picked at your fingers, not looking at the group of people as you tried to remember what happened.

They glanced back at their notes, speaking with each other for a moment. "How would you know he was going feral?"

"I have medical documents of my squad. I know when their last heat or rut was, and I decide when they go on leave to ensure they aren't on suppressants for too long that it becomes dangerous, such as what occurred between myself and my Alpha. The androstenone inside an Alpha increases, albeit being dormant, the longer suppressants are taken without a natural rut occurring," you explained. This was the easy part, the things you knew exactly the ins and outs of.

They nodded along with you, fingers still clacking on keyboards as you explained.

"Once someone stops taking suppressants, the androstenone becomes active again. The longer they go without the rut, the more that become active. If they don't rid themselves of the androstenone, it'll force them into ferality to keep the increasing hormones from severely hurting them," they interrupted you for a moment.

"What does ferality do for the Alpha?"

"It ensures that they mate with the nearest Omega in or out of heat to naturally expel the androstenone. If they don't, their rut gets worse and they begin to have different areas of the brain shut down until they are no more than an animal, looking for the next thing to breed," you explained. "Most cases are euthanized, to ensure they don't suffer for long," you added, ensuring they would understand why it was so dangerous.

You had zoned out once they began talking with Simon again. His scent was washing over you every now and again as the AC unit blew cooler air into the room. This room had no windows and was in the middle of the building so they installed AC's for the stifling summer, which meant scents were wafting around with each other and mixing.

But Simons? It was amazing, being able to get it damn near straight from the source. You were waiting for all of this to be over so you could crawl into your nest with Simon. Your heat had been due a week ago, but with the proceedings dragging on you had been far to stressed for your body to allow it to happen.

And you could feel it building within you. You were exhausted all the time, eating more and building a larger nest, moving things in your room around. Now that you had your Alpha near you, you could feel your mind slowly slipping away from you.

You had to think harder, trying to remember how long ago your heat was and when you had to expect it. To be honest, you didn't really want to think that hard right now. You were still exhausted, you didn't get much sleep, considering you'd been without your Alpha for weeks now.

"That should wrap today up, we'll reconvene tomorrow. Same time and location, we'll review what we have learned from you two and Michael and give you our final decision in one week. For now, you two will stay separated and we'll have people watching to ensure you don't meet up," you wanted to argue. So badly, you wanted to tell them that he was your Alpha and he was supposed to be with you.

Even then, you knew that they wouldn't rescind their decision. You watched as Simon was led out, giving you one more look before leaving.

"Listen, kid, I'm really sorry," Price leaned in next to you, whispering as you waited for Simon to get far enough away that you could leave as well without possibly getting in trouble. "I know another week is going to be hard on you," he looked away.

You sighed, leaning back. "It's no harder than the first few weeks mated to him. The only problem is my heat isn't coming and I'm past due," he gave you a weird look before nodding with you.

Standing up, he gestured for you to follow him. You stood and followed him out, allowing him to lead you back to your room. It stayed quiet between the two of you, you figured he was deep in thought and you were just thinking about the nap you were gonna take in your nest.

Quite the exciting life you held now, being stuck back in hearings. You could only do paperwork and most of the work for the week you'd finish right away. It was so boring, the task force only being able to come by every now and again.

When you walked in, he handed you a bag. You looked down and back up at him, brows furrowed. Price gave you a smile and walked back out, the door shutting behind him. You sat on your bed, running your hands down your face and sighing deeply.

You reached into the bag, pulling out another of Simons hoodies. The amount you had at this point made you wonder if he had any left, just about the entirety of your nest was made out of his shirts and hoodies. The scents on some of them were fading, but you didn't remove them just yet.

Without him to be in the nest with you, the scents were fading quicker and quicker. You hated it. You had grown accustomed to having him scenting you at night and before he had to leave in the morning, him remarking your gland every now and again when you were able to.

Moving to throw the bag in the bag of bags, you felt something move inside it with your movements. Setting it back down, you opened it to look inside.

A pregnancy test.

"Price!" You shouted, his office door slamming open. You were heaving, having run straight to his office after finding his last little gift. "What the hell?"

He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was talking to my own Omega and they mentioned giving you one. A lot of the symptoms you'd been mentioning had lined up with their own pregnancy. You don't have to use it, obviously, I just figured you'd want it," you stopped to think.

How had you been exhibiting all the signs of a pregnant Omega and yet you'd been unable to recognize it? You were a bloody biologist, so you'd already known exactly what the signs were. Intense nesting urges, increased eating, increased amounts of sleep.

Jesus, were you pregnant? Maybe you should take the test, just to be sure. Price opened his mouth to say something before shaking his head and going back to his paperwork. You were going to pester him about what he was going to say, but you didn't.

"You could get this hearing pushed off if you're pregnant. They'll consider it an Alpha protecting his pup. You didn't hear this from me,"

The next day Simon was back where he'd been sitting, in the back of the hearing room waiting for them to call him forward. He could see you, some rows ahead of him. Your scent had become more delectable to him over the last few weeks, even if he hadn't been able to smell you directly.

The rest of the task force was playing a dangerous game, smuggling items between the two of you. He knew that, if caught, they could be put on a probationary leave and investigated to figure out if it was more than just items.

Simon watched as you stood from your seat, hands folded in front of you. He could smell you better than when you'd been sitting, the scent sweetening to something he couldn't explain.

All he wanted to do was scent mark you and hold you in your nest, maybe find you some food and feed you. What the hell was up with him? He'd been stalking as close to your room as he could get, snarling at every Alpha who walked near.

"I haven't made you aware yet, but I have been in for a pregnancy test," everyone went silent and Simons eyes widened. "The results should be coming in another day or two, depending on who will be finalizing them. I'd like to request that the current predicament be pushed back so my mate and I can speak about possibilities," he watched as the group leading the hearing leaned together to speak and his eyes never left you.

He could smell your distress from where he was, and he could feel his heart hammering in his chest. Pregnant? He thought you'd been on birth control, even if it you'd still gone through your heats.

To be honest, Simon was terrified. A father? Him? All he could do was walk out, even if he heard his name come from you and your scent changing sharply. Winding through the halls, he found himself walking outside with a cigarette lit, the slight burn as he inhaled the smoke.

Neither of you had talked about this. You'd been mated for a few months, not even hitting a year yet and prior to that you'd only spoken professionally. He knew you, but you hadn't even shared a room yet.

Was he wrong? For biting you, when neither of you had agreed upon being mated. For getting the two of you in that situation in the first place, he should've been the one who had gone and swept the building to make sure everyone was safe.

Simon knew exactly where his life would be had the two of you not been stuck in that situation. He'd never imagined his life moving this way and it terrified him. He was almost... regretting the choices he'd made.

Regretting mating with you.

Next

[charmspoint]

Full Foreword

(Context: I wrote a long foreword for dance with the devil but AO3 nerfed me so I'm posting it here :3)

On 30th of June 2021 I published Rabid Dreams, Neon Lights and Your Teeth on My Tongue. It was supposed to be a one shot for an exchange, one that I at first struggled to write, before suddenly managing to find my stride. And what I wrote ended up capturing my imagination so intensely and viciously that on the night I posted it, I started planning the first prequel.

It’s now 14th of June 2024.

Three years later and we are finally here.

In many ways, this fic is my child. I truly think it’s some of the best writing I’ve ever done and certainly the best, most in depth character study I’ve ever done. This fic technically has two iterations, because when I first started writing it, it was supposed to be a 10k oneshot...then a 20k oneshot...then a 70k oneshot. Faced with such a big number, I couldn’t in my right mind post it all together and expect people to read 70k incessant words of a deep au (without a ship dynamic!) so I set to separating it into chapters. To separate it into chapters each previous section of the oneshot had to be rounded into a story that could stand as a chapter, and then of course there were some things I ended up not liking about certain arcs so I changed them, expanded them, shifted the character roles around, gave certain characters more screen time and more impact and well...you can expect to read about 101k words once this fic is fully finished. Just of this. Just of the prequel from Satoru’s POV. It’s hands down the biggest thing I’ve ever written and the big word count is one of the reasons this took so long. The other reason is that I wanted to have a weekly posting schedule. Currently, all chapters save from last two have been fully written, beta read and edited. I’m confident I can give you a regular posting schedule every Friday around this time.

Now for some dedications.

Firstly, this fic is dedicated to Sesshom0ru, who originated the initial prompt that fired off the oneshot and then this fic right after it. Thank you for patiently waiting for the prequel that was promised to you three years ago lmao!

Secondly, this fic is dedicated to Frappe. I met Frappe when she did art for CotA and we became very good friends, so much so that she was quickly wrapped up into the production of this fic. Frappe was going to draw the cover for this fic as well as spot art for each chapter. We were both very excited about it and talked about it constantly and some of that art, especially the cover which is completely stunning, does exist. But unfortunately, Frappe fell out of contact almost two years ago. I don’t know what happened to her but I hope it’s nothing bad. I hope life was just life and she got carried away with it, I still hope I see her discord avatar pop up in my dms again. Out of respect for Frappe I won’t be posting any of the art she had made for the fic, but this fic is still dedicated to her and I hope that one day she still gets to read it. This is for you Frappe, thank you for loving my boys as much as I did <3.

Thirdly, and most importantly, this fic is dedicated to Ker, my beta reader. If there are readers here who had read multiple of my fics, they are probably familiar with Ker’s name. Ker beta reads most of my big projects and most of the little ones that I think are really good. The reason you might have been seeing less of their name pop up in current projects is because I had them sat and beta reading 18 chapters for this crazy fic. And they did such a wonderful job with it too. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better beta reader if I tried, couldn’t find one if I searched the whole internet for them. Ker brings such incredible love and attention to detail to beta reading and editing my fics. I’ve had a fair number of people edit my fics, but only Ker does it with such care and attentiveness. I often say, me and Ker, we are coparents of this fic. It’s theirs as much as it’s mine. They not only beta read it, but also listened to my endless rants about it, encouraged me when I had doubts and cheered me on when I did something well. They don’t just point out grammar mistakes, they carefully go through the chapter and point out where things don’t flow well, when scenes should be expanded, when things should be better explained. They also react with a lot of baby emojis to Satoru’s antics. I have taken to referring to Satoru as Ker’s son whenever he’s doing something stupid. I cannot overstate how much Ker does and has done for this fic. They truly, honestly make me a better writer, not content with just correcting my grammar and then patting my back, but constantly challenging me to do better, to develop more, to surprise them again. I cannot overstate how important Ker is to my writing process and to me personally. This is why this might sound like someone endlessly gushing about their spouse, lmao. But they do deserve it. They stuck with my crazy, violent little story from beginning to the end and are already at the next starting line, eager for more. Ker is the best beta reader I could ask for, my loudest cheerleader and my most beloved. Thank you darling, for being you, you’re irreplaceable to me <3

It might seem silly to have such a long starting note on a silly little gang au fic of a manga that has almost run its course. But this fic took three years to make. A lot of love was put into it, a lot of energy and effort. I hope you all enjoy it and love it as much I do.

[literaticat]

I would bet this has been asked before, but the search isn't working for me, so sorry if it's a repeat! So: can writers post snippets of unpublished works online (to the tune of the "tag games" that a lot of writeblrs do!) if they hope to be published in the future? I've heard some people say agents/publishers won't mind, but some say that it's an instant rejection. Do you have any thoughts/experiences? TIA!

I'm assuming this is sharing like, just lines / "tweet-length" excerpt kind of thing? No problem.

I don't suggest you share, like, WHOLE CHAPTERS or lengthier excerpts*, but lines? fragments? snippets? Don't worry about it. If somebody thinks that's an "instant rejection" they are simply wrong.

(Reasons I would not share lengthier excerpts of a drafty WIP to the general public aren't about "instant rejection" either. Basically it comes down to privacy. You might have close friends, beta readers, a critique group you are sharing with -- but not everyone on the internet needs to know the intimate details of what you are writing. This work is not yet professionally edited -- it might change A LOT before it is ever published -- what if future you is like, A BETTER WRITER than past-you, but you already put all your Past You stuff out there for people to judge? And those people include agents and editors -- you don't want THEM to judge you based on past-you's messy WIP chapters posted online, etc. And you don't want people to take your work out of context or decide THEY want to write that premise, or for the book, when it does come out, to feel "old" because you've been posting pieces of it for six years -- just, meh. I'd personally play my cards closer to my chest.)

[yuriko-mukami]

(( These questions are very interesting 🤯 I would like to know:

Do you like constructive criticism?

Do you comment on stories you read? ))

Get to Know Your Fic Writer

Do you like constructive criticism?

Oh yes, I do. But I mostly search for that from my beta readers. I love to talk about the story when it's still a work in process and get feedback on which parts work and which still need some more thinking.

Beta readers help me construct a better story when they can pinpoint what they like and what doesn't work yet, plus tell me why they think like that.

The why part is very important to me. I don't make all the changes beta readers might suggest because no one else knows my full vision of the story. When a beta tells me why they think like they do, I can put their views in the context and decide if the change is really needed or not. Sometimes it's enough to make some clarifications in the text instead of bigger changes.

Also, I love it when the beta tells me if they liked or disliked something a character did. Again, explaining why they feel that way. That tells me if the scene worked as I intended it to work or if the emotional outcome for the reader was different than I expected. Then I can either let the scene be as it is or adjust it a bit.

So, yes, I do like constructive criticism.

But... when the work is done and the story has been published, I don't really care about criticism. If you really want to tell me why it didn't work for you, feel free (except if you are only ranting, then keep it to yourself). However, I don't usually make changes in already published work. Unless it's fixing a typo or because I feel I want to change something after all. But most likely I have already moved on to the next project.

With already shared stories, I'm more interested in what the story or the characters made the readers feel, which parts they liked, and why.

Do you comment on stories you read?

I do but not always.

I comment when I have something nice to say. Also, sometimes I don't comment at all if the story just doesn't work for me. If there is something I personally dislike, the writer doesn't need that information.

But sometimes I have other reasons for not commenting. I write many analyzing comments for texts every week at work, and it's tiring. So, when I have free time, there are moments when I only want to read something and enjoy it without any pressure to say something coherent about it. Then I might not comment even if I liked the story.

Still, I try to leave comments to the writers because they put time and effort into their writing. They are sharing their work with us for free, so I want to give them back something nice. I think that it makes the fandom more of a community if we leave comments for each other. So, I'm doing my part of that whenever I can.

I don't leave many critical comments though. As I said, my work includes supporting other writers and helping them to grow better with gentle and supportive critique. So... I don't usually do that in my free time. I much rather focus on what I liked in the story and simply lift up others.

[smallraindrops-blog]

And Don't Call Me Shirley

Word count: 640

Hypnos x GN! reader

Summary: You will make Hypnos do self-care or else.

Warning: Nonsexual intimacy, kissing. No beta

A/N: Quick note about oilve oil. This doesn't work for everyone or every hair type. Also it work best for using to hold on to moisture thanks to the fats, it won't add moisture. For context, I hc that Hypnos' curl type is a mix of 2c and 3a and that it leans more to 3a when cared for properly.

Enjoy!

You tighten the fluffy towel around your body as you walked into the bedroom, scrubbed clean and warm.

Hypnos sat crossed legged on the stool by the vanity area you had, loose pajamas pants on him. His hair still damp and his skin flushed from the warm bath.

He was staring at the numbeous bottles you had, all different shapes and sizes. Hypnos picked up a small one, squinted at it and placed it back down as if worried it would break in his hold.

You patted his bare shoulders as you moved past him to grab the wide tooth comb. He watched you, fingers tapping on his knee.

“Are you sure about this?” He asked, his golden eyes, normally bright, were darker in the dimly lit bedroom you shared together.

You tapped his shoulder with a comb, “Yes, your hair is super dry and that makes it more fizzy. You will sleep a lot better if you didn’t have to fight it every night and every morning.”

He mumbled under his breath but allowed you to continue. You handed him the comb and reached for the olive oil, heated up and waiting in a bowl.

He blinked when he realized what you were going to put in his hair. “I’m not some piece of bread!”

You rolled your eyes, “This will help your hair, trust me. It needs help holding on the moisture.”

You moved behind him and paused at the nervous look in his eyes, and placed the bowl down on the table. “Hey if you really don’t want to, we don’t have to.”

Hypnos met your eyes in the mirror, biting his lip. “I'm just not used to…all this.” You leaned on his back, wrapping your arms around his waist and rested your chin on his shoulders.

“I know. I didn't mean so to be pushy, I just want to make sure you take care of yourself.” You said, "But it matters more you're comfortable."

Hypnos ran his fingers along your forearm. He leaned back in your arms with a sigh, his eyes still on the mirror. "I do want to try to it. I just feel rather silly, like I shouldn't have to do all these of kinda of things."

You pressed a kiss on his shoulder, searching for the right words. You had been slowly working on getting Hypnos to take care of himself since you started dating him really.

You didn't want to change him, you adored his smart mouth and dry humor. Or the boyishly sweet smile he got sometimes, when he made you laugh or surprised you.

But he didn't take care of himself, napping between long busts of paperwork and goodness knew he wasn't really resting when sleeping either being the god of sleep. It was rare for him take time for himself, between work and his family.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that this was something made you feel that way." You said finally. "I just want to make sure you feel cared for… And I thought this would help."

Hypnos twisted in his seat to face you. "You already do and it will be." He pressed a kiss on your jawline, one on your cheek and finally pressing a kiss on your lips.

You leaned into the kiss, fingers caressing his waist and he studdered. Slowly the kiss broke, with you and him pressed seveal chaste kisses on each other's lips as you moved back.

You returned his smile, pressing forehead together. He moved away with a smile, that sweet one you loved so much and glanced at the bowl, "So do you just pour it on my head or I dip in it somehow?"

You laughed, surprised at the honest questions. "No, I will rub it in and use the comb to detagngle your curls." You guestured for him to turn around and he obeyed.

You pressed a kiss on his temple and got to work.

[kiingocreative]

The Structure of Story is now available! Check it out on Amazon, via the link in our bio, or at https://kiingo.co/book

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Every author starting out will know how important reviews are. If you’re yet to be convinced, here are some fun facts about reviews*:

1. 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations.

2. 72% of consumers will take action after reading a positive review.

3. Positive reviews tell Amazon and Google you’re worth ranking and can boost search results for your book by feeding into SEO (reviews account for almost 10% of total search ranking factors).

So reviews aren’t just a nice to have — they’re critical to the success of a book.

Now, amongst the writers community, we talk a lot about receiving reviews, but less so about giving reviews. I enjoy writing book reviews immensely, because it makes me think about what I’m reading on a different level, and forces me to learn how to articulate that opinion. This is actually one of the main reasons why I got into professional BETA reading.

I was asked recently how I structure my book reviews (all of which can be found on my blog), so here you have it: all the secrets to how I go about writing book reviews, along with some concrete examples!

Start With Why.

The most important question to ask yourself before you even start writing a review is this:

Why do people read book reviews?

In essence, they want to know whether the book is good, what it’s about, and — more importantly — whether they should read it. They generally like some context and detail to back the review so that they feel it’s genuine and trustworthy.

If you can keep in mind what people generally want to get out of a book review, this will help you keep your review relevant and useful. It’ll help you figure out what’s worth including and what isn’t. If in doubt, ask yourself what you would want to read about in a review when you’re trying to decide whether or not to buy a book.

Some Key Questions.

Before you start writing, you also need to ponder a few things. It may not always feel natural to reflect on a book on this level of detail — it didn’t for me at first. I either liked a book, or I loved it, or I didn’t, but I rarely spent a lot of time critically thinking about why I did or didn’t like a read.

If you’re also finding this uncomfortable at first, I say stick with it. I found it extremely interesting to make myself think these things through. It’s made my writing so much better, because I’ve developed that objective evaluation muscle that activates even when I’m with my own work. It’s also made me much better at forming and formulating an opinion, which is something I didn’t use to be good at!

Here are some questions to start with before you start on your review:

• Did you like the book?

• What did you like about it?

• What didn’t you like about it?

• Are there any themes that were particularly well handled?

• Were there any characters you liked above others, and why?

• Would you recommend the book to a friend?

These few questions will start shaping your view of what you’ve read and provide the main elements of your review.

To take your critical reading to the next level, you may want to ponder the various elements of the story and the writing as a whole. Think about:

• The plot / storyline — is it strong? Consistent? Original? Enticing? Are there gaps?

• The characters and character arcs — are all characters well developed? Multi-layered? Do they make sense? Are they relatable?

• The key themes — what are some recurring topics through the story? Are they well handled?

• The pace and timeline — is the story progressing at a good pace? Where does it lag? Does the timeline make sense?

• The writing style — how was the writing style? Did it flow well? Did it feel unique or original?

• The dialogues — did they feel natural? Were they believable? Were they engaging? Did they add to the overall story?

• The editing — how was the editing? Were there any typos or formatting errors?

Example Review Outline

Once you’ve spent some time with those initial questions, you’ll find it gives you the best part of your review content. At first, you may want to note down your answers to each of these. With time, you may find you can process these in your mind faster than you did before, and you don’t need so many notes. Whichever way is right for you, once you have this, you’re ready to start structuring your review.

I tend to use the following outline (though, of course, this isn’t the one and only way to write a review!):

1. Star Rating:

It’s most common in this day and age to include a rating in your review. There are talks out there about not leaving a rating on a book, because these can be extremely subjective — someone’s three-star rating may mean they loved the book but for others it’s a negative rating, some people don’t leave five-star reviews out of principle etc.

If you’re reviewing the book on Amazon and Goodreads however, you don’t have a choice but to pick a rating out of five stars. Have a think about how that rating system relates to you. For instance: would you leave five star ratings? What rating do you use for a book you liked versus a book you absolutely loved? What kind of book would warrant a low-rating? etc.

2. Opening:

Start with a short overview of what you thought of the book. This should give the reader a concise view of what you thought of the book, in two or three sentences. The idea is that, if they read only this opening part of the review, they should know your view on the matter.

Here’s an example opening paragraph I wrote for Heart of a Runaway Girl by Trevor Wiltzen:

‘Heart of a Runaway Girl is a breath of fresh air. As far as crime and murder investigation novels go, I only ever read Agatha Christie, so my standard is high. But this book did not disappoint.’

3. Synopsis:

The next section of the review is a short summary of the book, which should give the main elements of the plot. I tend to keep that part really short because I find that, if anyone wants to know the specifics, the book blurb the author so diligently wrote for the back cover is a much better place to learn more about that. Yes, you need to give a sense of what the book’s about, but it shouldn’t be the bulk of the review.

I think this is a matter of personal preference, I’ve seen reviews out there with a much longer synopsis section, but I always find myself skipping those bits to get to the nitty gritty of the review, which is what the person thought. There again, go back to the why — people who read reviews do so to find out whether or not they want to buy a book, so the more valuable pieces to help with that (in my view) are your opinions, more than an in-depth summary which they can find elsewhere.

For instance, when I reviewed Counter Ops by Jessica Scurlock, the second opus in the Pretty Lies series, I kept the synopsis paragraph to:

‘In Counter Ops, we meet a familiar duo, Ivy and Nixon, as they face the aftermath of the Elite Auction, and each endure its painful consequences. We follow their journey as they try to escape their fate and attempt to come to each other’s rescue — in more ways than one.’

4. Highlights:

The next part is what I call the ‘highlights’. This is where you talk about what you liked most about the book, or what you thought the strongest parts of the book were. This can focus on one element of the book (a character, a part of the plot, a theme etc.) or cover multiple elements.

See, for example, the highlights I picked for my review of Age of the Almek by Tara Lake:

‘I loved the author's ability to give every character their own voice and a distinct perspective on the world around them. I loved how involved I became with every character's fate and woes. I loved the precision with which the Almek world has been created, with such minuteness you can picture it down to the finest details.

My favourite part is the portrayal of the many facets of human nature, be it through the reactions of the masses to the barbaric ways of their rulers or the individual views of the protagonists. In every Almek citizen is a piece of the great puzzle that is humanity at large, and the author has a gift for writing it as raw and real as it gets.’

5. Mitigate your view:

Right after the highlights is where you’d add anything that mitigates your view. That’s anything that wasn’t quite as strong as you’d want it to be, or anything you weren’t a fan of.

You can skip this part if there’s nothing you didn’t like about the book — you don’t have to go nitpicking if nothing comes to mind. And it doesn’t have to be a bashing of the author and their work either. Keep it constructive and explain why you felt that way. There’s never a need for insults or expletives, and these wouldn’t enhance the quality of your review anyways. Formulating constructive criticism takes practice, and requires tact and subtlety. It’s a valuable skill to have if you’re willing to invest time in honing it.

Here’s how I phrased that part of the review for Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan:

‘But - and there's a but - my qualm with this book is that, for a story that revolves entirely around Nick and Rachel... There's actually very little Nick and Rachel in it!

Yes it's all 'about' them and it talks 'of' them loads, and we're told theyare happy together and want to be together... But it's all 'tell' and no 'show'. Their intimacy is sorely lacking, so I was left missing that added colour to convince me that they, in fact, do love each other. And I'm not talking saucy passages — I 'm talking about basic things suchas them actually talking to each other and spending time together.’

6. Conclusion:

The final part of the review is a short paragraph with closing remarks, such as a short summary of your view on the book, whether or not you recommend it or some indication of what readers the book may be for (e.g. ‘if you liked… you may like this book’).

When I reviewed Collision by Kristen Granata, I ended the review with:

‘Readers used to intricate, far-fetched romance plots may find this book too straightforward for their liking. In my mind, this is what makes the book's key strength: it's real and honest, it takes the reader through difficult situations and complex emotions beautifully, and that makes it all the more relatable.

A great read overall - and the moment I finished the last page, I was on Amazon ordering the next book in the series!’

How long should a review be?

I don’t think there should be a minimum or maximum word count to a review, though I find that mine end up being around 300 to 500 words. I feel this is a good length because as a reviewer this forces me to be concise and clear in expressing my opinions, and as a reader it’s long enough to give people a sense of the book, but not too long that they’ll drop off before the end.

Final Thoughts: To spoil or not to spoil?

My view on adding spoilers in your review is simple: DON’T.

Try as I might, I can’t fathom what could be gained from adding spoilers to a review. Once again: back to the why. Someone reads a review to find out if they want to read the book themselves. If you ruin the plot for them in that review, what’s the incentive to pick up the book?

It just hurts the author’s chances of making a book sale, and it robs a fellow reader of the joyful rollercoaster of finding out those plot twists at their own pace. Don’t do it, it’s just rude.

*Sources:

www.bookmarketingtools.com

www.searchenginewatch.com

www.dealeron.com

[prismatales]

Comfort

All my love and gratitude goes to @sugacookiies, @pixxiesdust and @hawks-senseis for beta-reading this, you guys were some of the greatest help I've ever had! ❤

Pairings: Bakudeku x Reader

Warning: Tw:Depression, Tw:Suicidal thoughts, angst, fluff and comfort.

Fingertips slam a frantic yet steady pace against the keyboard, your eyes go back and forth between each paragraph with a growing sense of panic. All your senses are running on nothing more but pure anxiety and stress, not even the thought of eating something crosses your mind as the one and only thing to worry about seems to be this specific assignment.

Neither of them can remember the last time they saw you in another spot of the house that wasn't that chair before the computer, sure sometimes you take a break to go to the bathroom, but sleeping? That word doesn't seem to have a meaning in your vocabulary.

Except for that one time you fell asleep on the couch for less than 30 minutes before startling yourself awake and jumping away from the plush cushion to keep working.

Both Midoriya and Bakugo knew how important it was to complete your thesis, but was it worth it when your health and body is on the edge of giving up? They both know how badly this kind of routine can end up affecting your health.

The last time you got this stressed it ended up fucking up your stomach all the way from the esophagus to the intestines. The whole digestive system was so affected it started to feel like your stomach was literally burning itself into nothingness from the gastritis you developed. You had to get treatment for two whole weeks, which was right before your high school finals, and it was one of the worst experiences you've ever had to go through.

There's a reason a huge portion of people going through College ends up feeling dead on the inside, the overwhelming amounts of work, spending so much time in the library one could literally claim they live there, assignments and impossible amounts of field work, all of that could be more than enough things happening at the same time to cause plenty of people to go insane. And if that was bad enough, preparing your Thesis was like one of the deadliest of trials.

Just from the look on your face, it was obvious you're starting to develop another health trouble just like that time, the tips of your fingers start pressing right on the spot above your stomach with a face full of discomfort.

Deku's the first one to see that and in less than five minutes he's already outside on his way to get some medicine, he doesn't think twice about using One for All to go faster. 

Everyone in the apartment was more than used to hear mumbling during the day, courtesy of your beloved Deku, but not even Bakugo was prepared to hear you of all people mumbling such dark things the very next day, when the stress began taking a harder toll. He could hear every single word loud and clear even when he's standing near the kitchen counters at the other side of the house.

"Why do I even bother?...It's not like anything I do even matters..." He can hear the the long sigh followed by more self hatred while he's stirring the noodles for dinner. "Sometimes I wonder if people would even notice that I'm gone...hahaha...I wanna die"

"...! That's it!" The wooden spoon gets slammed roughly against the marble counter, searching through his pocket Bakugo pulls out his phone to text Deku, who's already on his way home from patrol.

It takes less than an hour for the two of them to be there right besides you trying their best to comfort their shaking and panicked S/O, it makes them feel useless seeing how much you're struggling to hold on to the remains of your mental stability.

And when they hear the next course of muttering they know things are just about to get worse unless they do something about it.

"I can't do this anymore...I just can't," The tiny voice coming out of your mouth was heartbreaking. Your whole body is trembling uncontrollably as Midoriya walks up behind the chair, he lifts your whole body so he can take you to the bedroom, that way you could finally get some well deserved rest and calm down, in the meanwhile Bakugo goes back into the kitchen to fetch you something to drink.

Their dynamic was simple and yet effective, most of the time Izuku tends to be the one calming both of you through words, if that's not enough to help he's trying to find another solution to the problem through physical actions. Katsuki on the other hand tends to prefer being the one letting his actions speak for themselves first, even through the smallest of gestures he's always looking out for the both of you, in a reverse context to Deku, when his actions are not enough he's trying to make an effort to comfort you with his words.

Everything came crashing down inside your head like a landslide in the middle of a storm, bringing chaos and despair from every direction. It's easy to recognize the signs of your depression kicking in due to all the work piling up at once, and they're aware you're one of the most dedicated and passionate persons when it comes to your studies.

Midoriya tried to lay you down into the soft mattress and walk away to get that blanket they bought specifically for this type of occasion, but his shirt is quickly clutched into a tight grip, the broken sobs are barely audible to someone not paying enough attention have him on high alert as he realizes you've already started crying.

He has no other choice but to ignore his quest for the blankets and sits back on the bed. His back rests against the headboard while you're laying on your side, face resting softly against his well-toned chest, your body surrounded by his own arms that hold your shaking body against his with the hope that it can help you relax.

Bakugo comes into the room shortly after, carrying your favorite cup steaming with some nice and warm drink, your favorite judging by the glorious smell coming out of the cup in small puffs.

He carefully passes the cup to the green haired man sitting in bed before walking to the corner of the room and towards a dark gray, medium sized basket where the additional blankets are kept, rummaging through the furniture he finds one of the biggest, fluffiest and softest blanket of them all before walking back towards the bed. 

It takes you awhile to process what's actually happening because of the storm running through your head. But eventually, between the reassuring words and sweet whispering, the shaking and the crying slowly, but very slowly starts toning down until nothing but a small whimper can be heard every now and then through your bedroom. 

In less than a few minutes you've already been wrapped in that beloved blanket while resting between two warm and fit bodies, leaning back against the headboard with a comforting drink in hand.

"Are you feeling any better?" Izuku's voice is soft and sweet, just in case there's something still bothering your mind, at the same time one of Katsuki's hands is busy rubbing circles in the section between your shoulders in a steady rhythm, the feeling of his calloused and scarred hand touching that portion of skin helps relaxing your exhausted self at an almost exaggerated level. The last thing they want is for you to have another breakdown.

You want to reply but your mouth quickly opens and closes, so all you can manage to do is give them a soft nod in response, too tired to even try and talk to your sweet boyfriends. 

Sometimes the negative thoughts come during these kinds of moments to try and bring torment. It makes you wonder if one day they'll get tired of this and leave after realizing you're nothing more than a hindrance.

"Don't even think about it, Dumbass," Katsuki growls from his spot at your left side "I recognize that look on your face when I see it, you think you're worthless don't you?" That hand behind you makes its way to your shoulder, pulling your whole body towards him and positioning you in a way that makes your head rest on top of his well toned shoulders. For someone who's body is so nicely sculpted, the place where your head lays is one of the most comfortable places where somebody could rest.

"You are one of the strongest people I've ever met. You've always been someone who rarely allows small shit like this get the best of them" Katsuki's hand had long ago left your back to run his fingers through your hair, the friction against your locks of hair and scalp has a soothing effect that relaxes everything from your whole body to your mind.

A small tear manages to escape, but this time is out of relief and happiness for literally having two of the most wonderful lovers by your sides. The exhausted smile that spreads over your face sends the both of them into a state of relief.

"What did I do to deserve you both?" 

Deku lets out a soft laughter while Katsuki just smirks in satisfaction.

"Existing." 

MASTERLIST

@t-amajiki @undead0relived @shoobirino @bnha-ra @godtieruwu @mysticalite @bnhabookclub @gallickingun @unbreakableeiji @savagetrickster

[incognito-insomniac]

1, 6 and 10 for the meta asks?

Yay! Ask! Thank you! ^_^ I'm gonna answer #1 last because the other two add a tad bit of context to me talking about my WIPs.

6) What character do you have the most fun writing? Oooh this is tough. I kind of love all the characters i write in different ways. Otherwise why would i write about them?

But looking over my WIPs I think I have a real soft spot for big sad dudes in need of some TLC. So the Arthur Morgan's and Robert Small's of the world (Red Dead Redemption 2 and Dream Daddy). I do also love the snarky assholes like Lambert (Witcher) and Sera (Dragon Age Inquisistion) or chaotic messes such as Nyoka (Outerworlds) and Sophie Borg (Fallet).

I don't think that actually answered the question. But I tend toward imperfect characters with good hearts I guess.

10) How would you describe your writing process? Manic. Very on again off again. Whatever sparks the fancy when I have energy to work. Everything I write starts off with straight scripted dialogue and generic scene direction, possibly mention of character's feelings/expressions, and ever so rarely some descriptive text if it strikes me.

Then the torture begins. I add prose. And more prose. And then some more prose. If it was all just dialogue and people could magically just see what I see then it would be great. But sadly I must describe what's in my mind's eye using words that often feel inadequate.

Dramatics aside, I basically fill in prose around my dialogue much like a putting a puzzle together. I figure out different sections at different times and eventually have an entirely non-script format work....or really chapter because by the time I painstakingly finish one chapter I get too excited about it to wait and finish more before I post it, often with only two maybe three legitimate attempts at editing and almost never any beta readers.

1) Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it? TOO MANY WIPS T_T I will pick three.... no four... five..... aaaaarrgggghhhh

My big active WIPs posted on ao3 which have been glaring at me since 2019 are: Siren's Call (Endeavour) - Jakes catching the feels hard for an unsuspectin Morse. It's been at a dead stand still for about a year. I'm so sorry. I'm on a big chapter and I just can't wrap my head around it. But after that all the chapters are scripted and planned so, this hurdle then hopefully smooth sailing. Fav thing is half the inspiration for this piece came from one line of description in the second-to-last chapter which is "Peter Jakes running like the most beautiful anime boy to save his man." Seven Night's in Rose Creek (The Magnificent 7) - Faraday and Vasquez spend the seven nights they have before the showdown in Rose Creek falling in love with each other. I have the last chapters written! Yay! I have been procrastinating. I want to rewatch the movie because the last few chapters feel a touch out of character. But I'm so close! Fav thing, is the first chapter. I really got into Faraday's head and the feel of the character and the setting. I don't think I carried it through the other chapters as well. But that first chapter to me is just *chef's kiss*

Other WIPs I consider big current projects I have yet to post to ao3 and have yet to give good titles are: Two Idiots (Red Dead Redemption 2) - Arthur Morgan does some real soul searching and realizes his feelings for Albert Mason.....and then they bone....a lot....and then maybe if I'm so inclined after however many fucking chapters that fucking ;) turns into some more plot might happen where I assassinate Dutch's character because he's a big ol' poopy pants. Who knows. I have three chapters like 80% finished and then a disjointed mess of snippets that are just cute domesticity or porn. I hope to post first chapters some time this Fall. Fav thing, my dude, the whole thing just makes my heart happy. But how about how I researched skipping rocks for like three hours for this shit.....because I had to... I had to. Look at me. I had to. Stenvar (Skyrim) - Oh look it's me writing about strong sad men again >_> So Stenvar is about Stenvar....and my Dragonborn, Anla, as they go on adventures and slowly fall into each other. I adore Stenvar as a companion. He is just so excited by the world but also like...brutally honest. Anyway. First chapter is complete. Second chapter is >_> half finished....and then I have most of the script put together for the rest of the chapters. Fav thing, I completely rewrote the love confession a few weeks ago and I absolutely adore it now. Cannot wait to finish out those chapters.

And I'm gonna stop there because I could honestly talk about my WIPs forever and it's obscenely late now and I have to be at work early holy shit why did I stay up so late????? >_<

But if anyone else wants to hear about any of the other larger projects I'm working, they are for the following fandoms: Greedfall, Fallout 4, Dream Daddy, Witcher 3, Triple Frontier, and then I've got a bunch of Dragon Age and Endeavour stuff that I poke with a stick every so often but wouldn't call active WIPs at the moment. Oh and Fallet, my own little fandom that's got no one else in it :P

[script-a-world]

Clearly there are some settings which make no sense scientifically. But how do I decide when to intentionally ignore reality, can't bother to do research, don't understand research, and thus create scientifically impossible places? When are such things considered be offensive or overused cliche or have a reader point out the impossibility and can't get into the story? I'm guessing some of this might be structural issues instead of world building?

Tex: One of the perils of attempting to write about highly technical subjects is that you run into the issue of not understanding your writing. I do raise a nominal objection as your first sentence, because sensibility is a sliding scale based on one’s familiarity with a given subject. I don’t know crap about, say, textile art (however much I might have bluffed readers in the past - no, no, this is just good googling skills on my end), but that doesn’t mean the textile arts are an inherently incomprehensible subject.

Scientifically, automobiles were once thought to be insensible. Scientifically, phones were thought to be a flight of fancy. Scientifically, 3D printing was improbable. Scientifically, quantum computing was the stuff of sci-fi nerds who just wanted to slap the “quantum” label on everything.

And yet we are now on the verge of robotic vehicles, mostly functional smartwatches, laser printing cells (PDF), and quantum computers (VentureBeat, IBM).

So I would argue that the insensibility of a setting would be due mostly to, yes, a structural issue - on the part of the author. No matter what you put into your world, internal consistency is key; nothing, no matter how ostensibly outlandish, will make sense if you contradict yourself.

I’ll volley a few questions back to you:

“[...] when to intentionally ignore reality” - Are you ignoring reality entirely, or just parts of it? Why? How does that decision benefit your world? How does it detract from your world?

“Can’t bother to do research” - Is it because you are discouraged by the breadth of your comprehension of a subject, compared to the subject’s depth? Or is it because of something else?

“Don’t understand research” - Is this because you don’t understand the academic papers that turn up in your search results, or because you have a fundamental lack of or misunderstanding of the given subject? Or is it because of something else?

“When are such things considered to be offensive or overused cliche” - As someone who intentionally arranges their studying around the plausibilities of the future, I would quite frankly be delighted to see more conceptual stretches of the imagination in this regard, as do many others on this blog, and beyond it. Why have you already passed judgement on the offensiveness or clichéd-ness of incorporating scientific things? Is this related to your other comments?

“[...] or have a reader point out the impossibility and can’t get into the story?” - If you are writing to please a specific individual or demographic, you are inevitably always going to fall short, because it’s genuinely impossible to meet every single item on a group’s wishlist without devoting your life to it (not an entirely worthy pursuit, in my opinion, but alas). What made you decide to be so concerned over the potential reaction to your stories that you worry about it before the story is even written?

I think I will put the majority of my curiosity’s weight on the last bullet point, as I’m seeing similar themes with the other portions of your question. It’s a fruitless endeavour to tie yourself into knots over a possible (not necessarily probable!) reaction - and quite likely from a stranger, to boot. Education is a relatively easy situation to fix, so long as you’re patient with yourself; dealing with anxieties over readers is… not so easy.

I can really only recommend that you take a close look at the goals of your worldbuilding, and see where you contradict yourself - once you have that in hand, it’s a relatively simple yes/no process of what concepts you want to keep. If the issue of decision comes from a lack of understanding, then make a note to yourself to seek out either the million wikis we Pylons utilize ourselves like any other worldbuilder, or to chalk it up as a genuine lack of context.

Please understand that even someone who’s dedicated their life to a certain aspect of science won’t know everything about it - that’s the point of research! We’re constantly asking ourselves questions, and pushing the envelope of known boundaries. Star Wars has lightsabers, but we don’t need to know how they work; likewise with holodecks in Star Trek. So long as an audience is reasonably entertained with the least amount of head-scratching, you can get away with handwaving quite a lot.

Lockea: On a scale between Star Trek and Star Wars, how “hard” is your science fiction?

I mention that mostly to illustrate that science fiction exists on a continuum, wherein science fiction with more “science” than “fiction” drives a story towards the harder end rather than the softer end. Also, a story’s place on the continuum will change based on what we know and understand about science.

I feel like everyone always beats me to saying all the important stuff about questions, so I’ll just give a few thoughts from my personal experience as a science fiction fan with two engineering degrees and a thesis about robots on the moon (yes really, I wrote my thesis on AI for moon robots). I really, really, love the creativity of science fiction writers. I think so often in defending the genre, we can get caught up in saying things like “science fiction predicted XYZ!” Well, sure, I may have studied Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics in my introduction to engineering ethics course, but I was also greedily reading my way through “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins at the same time. The fact that I sincerely doubt Panem will ever happen didn’t dampen my enjoyment of Katniss’s story. It was a fun read and it gave my friends and I something to talk about that wasn’t “feasibility of Battlestar Galactica” during our daily lunches.

The thing about writing science fiction is that, without a doubt, there will be someone who knows more than you about a topic who reads your story. Most of the time, I end up being that someone since everyone likes to talk about Skynet and robots taking over the world to a roboticist who sincerely refers to artificial intelligence as artificial stupidity. Y'all are seriously overestimating the field, my friends. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” even as I thought how impossible Project Insight would be. Honestly, something every READER of science fiction needs to make peace with is the fact that writers will get something wrong. Writers, despite their best efforts, are not always going to understand that a facial recognition algorithm will fail if you introduce tiny amounts of random noise and are thus going to treat The Algorithm™ as infallible in your crime drama novel.

It’s not the writer’s fault, though.

That deserves to be on its own line. It is not YOUR fault if you get something wrong. Would it be nice if science literacy was just better all around? Of course! But it’s not your fault if your science literacy isn’t up to snuff enough to parse the article I cited above. It’s also not your job. Your job as the writer is to tell the most interesting story you can and to maintain your own internal rules and logic such that the reader never breaks the willing suspension of disbelief.

I watch Star Wars and get really into the light saber fight scenes and forget that light sabers are basically impossible to make. Star Wars has the Force, which is basically magic, and that’s okay. Really. I KNOW it’s not possible, but I still have a lot of fun watching it!

So yeah, write that story about how the robots are going to take over the world. I’ll probably enjoy reading it even as I laugh off my friends telling me that I will be the first to die in the robot apocalypse (of course I will -- I have five robots in my living room alone).

Constablewrites: Tone and consistency are the biggest pieces of this for me. If it’s the kind of story where the answer to “How does this work?” is usually a detailed and plausible explanation, then getting an answer later that is implausible or slapdash will stand out more. But if it’s the kind of story where the answer to “How does this work?” is “You push that button and it goes whoosh” from the start, my expectations adjust accordingly. (It’s possible to have the latter version in a story that is mostly the former, frequently when it’s played for last. Again, tone is key.)

So yeah, a lot of this is execution and the way the story sticks to the rules it sets for itself, and also how central the implausibility is to the story. A realistic thriller that relies on cartoon logic for a background bit might be a little jarring, but not nearly as much as a realistic thriller that relies on cartoon logic to set up its main showdown. The more central it is to the story, the more consistency and accuracy matters. Learning how to balance this can take some practice and some insight from beta readers.