#what i want to write

[healerqueen]

a trope you’re really into right now?

Ooh, good question! I don't think a whole lot about tropes when I'm writing. I just write what I like and let my characters lead me. But there are a few tropes I perennially enjoy.

I really love that my fantasy series features blood family that becomes found family. A wonderful existing family welcomes lonely people to become part of their family. I honestly like that even better than found family (though I love both). I'm also enjoying exploring a very epic enemies-to-friends-to-lovers arc in the same book, which I've been writing for the past several years. I'm currently editing the first book in the series, and some of the scenes with these characters are very fun. I really like that there's no romance at the beginning, that the character arcs are not motivated by romance, and that the (healthy) romantic arc takes a long, long time to get off the ground, get into gear, progress, and finally wrap up. I think it works really well, and it's very satisfying.

ask a question from this list, if you're inclined to!

[charmikarma]

i dunno i think getting into homestuck again has made me ACTUALLY lose it. like. i have never felt the urge to write so many strange and unhinged things before in my life

[not-poignant]

thoughts on penny from stardew valley?

sorry if thats random

I don't mind her, but I don't really have any strong positive or negative feelings towards her either. I kind of nothing her sdkalfjas

She very much comes across as a victim of emotional abuse who just wants lots of babies and children, and as someone who personally is absolutely incredibly childfree, I could not be less interested in her character motivations if I tried. She's basically power-banging the storyline of 'how to fix my own mother issues with raising other people's children well and then having a ton of my own children' and it's like - more power to her, and she's extremely sweet as a character, but like...zero relatability. Probably one of the most two-dimensional characters that you can date.

OH, and I also HATE how much she's an ableist asshole to George and the game supports that. So yeah, wants tons of babies and is ableist. Like every character is flawed, Alex is an asshat, Sebastian is rude, Shane is actively cunty towards you for AGES, etc. but given I'm disabled, I take the ableist one personally. I guess my feelings do swing a bit negative now that I think about it. I have to skip that cut-scene every time we come to it.

I skip all of her cut scenes x.x

Like I doubt I could ever put her in a story of mine, unless I was writing characters concertedly interested in having children / raising children etc. and I'm just not interested in that.

So my perspective towards Penny is like 'you're good for the people who love you and I don't really have anything to do with you as a character.' I think the only reason she'd ever really be seen in Stain for example is maybe if Alex walks past Maru and Penny in town, or if Maru brings her up.

[landboundstar]

Some Side Fic Writing Projects Want To Work On

Just some random ideas floating through my head.

John Constantine is assisting the annoyance of everyone, including John. What he can't tell them is who hired him to investigate a threat to Batman: Thomas and Martha Wayne.

A weird thought I have with Bleach that zanpakuto powers might be tied to who shinigami were when alive. So writing some of the shinigami when they were people and how they died.

Brooks helping some local kids on an island the Straw hats stop on who are challenged to go into a haunted house.

Some Jill Kismet fics, because I just don't see enough

Let me know if you would like to see any of these.

[healerqueen]

I love potatoes. I heartily agree with this post above. But in my writing, I made the choice to remove potatoes from my original fantasy world just to be different and realistic. On a similar note, some writers can't imagine a world without coffee. Coffee is included in fantasy so often that it's no longer interesting or different. I am only using Old World foods and plants in my fantasy books, not New World foods and plants (even though some of the best foods in the world come from the Americas). Europe didn't have potatoes until 500 years ago, even though they're a fixture now. So I think it would just be INTERESTING and different to omit them from a fictional setting that is inspired by the actual history of Europe. (Which is the other thing I want to do differently--I want my worldbuilding to reflect real history, not just other works of fantasy. It's a medieval-esque mishmash and remix of many different historical eras, but it still reflects real historical times. I like fantasy with a sense of realism, no matter how fantastical it gets. And that's what I'm trying to write in my low fantasy.) So--no potatoes. My characters will eat parsnips and carrots and cabbage instead, as in Western history. (I'm learning to like cabbage.) And no coffee, because I don't like coffee anyway.

Some writers can't imagine a world without coffee.

But I'd like to have things like peaches in my world--and I can do that according to my self-imposed worldbuilding rules for plants, because the Romans had peaches! Peaches came from China, but they made it to Europe 2,000 years ago. I don't think all fantasy should do what I'm doing, but it is an interesting and fun challenge for me, and it keeps things fresh and fun to write.

not even JRR Tolkien, who famously developed the concept of the Secondary World and firmly believed that no trace of the Real World should be evoked in the fictional world, was able to remove potatoes from his literature. this is a man who developed whole languages and mythologies for his literary world, who justified its existence in English as a translation* simply because he was so miffed he couldn't get away with making the story fully alien to the real world. and not even he, in extremis, was so cruel as to deny his characters the heavenly potato. could not even conceive a universe devoid of the potato. such is its impact. everyone please take a moment to say thank you to South Americans for developing and cultivating one of earth's finest vegetables. the potato IS all that. literally world-changing food. bless.

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[vulpinesaint]

quiz enjoyers! i am now inviting you to come create something in my workshop❕

[healerqueen]

Would you ever write a retelling?

I might! I am not usually a fan of retellings, and I didn't think I'd ever write one. I think there are too many in the world, and everyone is writing them. The publishing market is flooded. But now I have a few ideas up my sleeve, and I'd be willing to write one. I think I'd be willing to write an unconventional retelling. Such as a retelling of a classic book instead of a fairy tale, or a fairy tale retelling with zero romance. Mostly, I just wish for books that are good, not the same old things repeated. Retellings can be good if they're done well, and I do read them with friends.

[healerqueen]

You're right. I think more than one of us should do it. We need more characters like this. I volunteer to write more of them.

Alright.

You ready for a hard 'tag your oc' challenge?

Tag an oc who doesn't have childhood trauma. At all. Who's family is still alive.

I'll wait.

[pixiemage]

Please, for the love of god, please don’t be this person. No matter how long it’s been since an update, no matter how many unfinished stories are sitting on their account, no matter what - do not be this person.

Not only is it insanely rude, but you also do more damage than you think be being such a self-entitled ass about something someone created for free and for fun. “This author” can see what you say.

RIP decency indeed.

[inkskinned]

okay is she being actually immature or is it just a woman over 30 expressing a human experience you find to be immature.

like yeah. at certain ages... let shit go. im not defending the real immature shit. im not defending the karen you're picturing. i worked in retail i hate those people too. (once somebody got mad at me because she didn't like how our winter window decor was a snowman smoking a pipe. i wish i was joking).

but men at 57 will write books about how 17 year old girls are soooo sexy. they will invent worlds where women have to be naked for "armor reasons." they will write songs that treat women as objects. people rush to defend them. meanwhile a woman at 35 will be like "heartbreak is hard, actually" or "i feel betrayed by a friend" or "i am struggling with something emotionally." immediately people will say stuff like this woman is 35 by the way. by the way this woman is SO OLD to be experiencing this. BY THE WAY.

im 31, almost 32. the other day a poet was blasted online because at her "big age", she had written a poem about feeling unloved. top comment was "this woman is 29 by the way." this woman is too old to still be useful, by the way. she has to behave better . maybe if she was a good wife and mother she could stop existing loudly, and the story could continue on without her. this woman has served her purpose, by the way. she's so cringe, by the way. at 29 - so old! - she still hasn't figured out that her existence should be one of shame.

[hellishattempt]

nanami kento comes home on a saturday afternoon, hands full of groceries and hair freshly cut. in the distance, he hears his precious wife humming along to her favorite soundtrack. you must not have heard him come in. he smiles to himself, setting the groceries on the counter, but not unloading them. that can wait. right now, he wants to hold you.

he slips out of his shoes, padding quietly to the laundry room where you are folding towels. you have your back to him, headphones lodged in your ears. as nanami gets closer, the music bleeding from your headphones becomes audible. he chuckles softly. no matter how many times he tells you it's bad for your ears, you insist on listening to your music at just below full volume.

snaking his arms around your waist, you jump at the sudden contact. nanami presses his chest against your back as you take out your headphones, leaning into his touch. you sway in silence for a moment, nanami resting his chin on your shoulder. when you turn to face him, your expression changes at the sight of his hair.

"your hair," you state dumbly. "you cut it."

"yes," your husband muses. "is there something wrong with it?"

"no, no!" you assure nanami, studying his hair. "i just wasn't expecting it. you normally have me do it, which you know i don't mind doing."

"i know, but i didn't want to bother you on your cleaning day."

your expression softens at his words. nanami, your ever loving, ever caring husband, always thinking about you before himself. you reach one hand up, smoothing the hair down the back of his neck. as you bring your hand up, the freshly cut hair pricks your palm, and nanami lets out a low hiss.

you immediately apologize, pulling away. "did that hurt?"

"yes, but it's okay. it felt... good," nanami confessed. "... do it again. please." his voice is thick and demanding, and you obey without hesitation.

this time, you use just the tips of your fingertips to graze his undercut, beginning at the base of his neck. his breathing quickens as you continue to to run your hands through his undercut, going up and down, switching from one hand to both, thumbs caressing the sides of the cut. the laundry room fills with his melodic whimpers and faint groans. his eyes are shut tight, teeth digging into his bottom lip.

"fuck..." he cusses lowly.

"you okay, nani?" you giggle, stopping momentarily. his eyes flash open, pupils blown. "kento?"

"let's go to the bedroom," he insisted, grabbing your hand and dragging you towards the master bedroom. you barely have time react before nanami pushes you back on to the bed, practically ripping your leggings off.

"kento, what are you doin-" you try to protest, his hands clamping around your wrist and bringing them down to grip his hair. his head disappears between your leg, lips latching around your clit. involuntarily, your fingers tighten around his sharp undercut. he moans into your cunt, the vibrations sending waves of pleasure through your body.

from then on, nanami kento always got an undercut.

[healerqueen]

I am so proud of myself for putting pen to paper this week to write the opening of a thematic story that has been haunting me ever since I came up with it two years ago.

I didn't know if it was ready to write or if I could do it justice. I was going to wait.

But I'm glad I didn't. I thought of a first line and jumped in.

I hope my other special stories will follow.

The most frustrating experience as a writer is having a clear vision in your mind of the story you want to tell but being too afraid to put pen to paper for fear of failing to do the story justice. I’m so scared that my actual execution will fail to meet my expectations that I’m paralysed to even start.

[legolambi]

say it with me melvik pre series toxic situationship

[tariah23]

The manga industry, especially JUMP, needs to hurry up and do away with weekly scheduling for mangaka. There needs to better regulations put into place for their health and safety because this is pitiful. Two weeks - monthly updates should’ve already been the standard for the manga industry at this point. These money grabbers will only continue to put the lives of these artists at stake for the sake of capitalism unless some serious changes are implemented.

[healerqueen]

Write the stories and themes you love. Don't be afraid to use similar elements, symbolism, and tropes in multiple books. Readers want that. If they love one of your books, they might love the others. My books (not yet published) are written in many different genres, but certain aspects of the writing, characters, style, and tropes are similar among multiple books of mine. I think many of my future readers who like one of my books will also like some of the others.

It's a good thing when you sample an author's work and find that they have more like it. Because where else are you going to get more of what you crave? It's okay to write similar things again and again. Not just okay--it is a good thing.

Call it a remix--because the new mix will still be different every time.

The same thing goes for musical artists. It's disappointing when you can never find another song like a song you love, unless the same artist has written others like it.

You can also call it an author brand--because that is what it is. It's a good thing when an author has defining qualities that characterize their works.

Think about your favorite books by an author who wrote multiple works. (Agatha Christie or Louis L'Amour, for example.) Authors often repeat certain elements in more than one book, but each book does it in a different way.

Each book shares elements, but it is still unique.

Yours will be too.

few things more humbling than the realization that you really do write the same fic(s) over and over again