#writing tips to remember

[thedeerman]

So, I’m just going by what I read, so this may not be the most accurate answer. Just so you know.

I typically read 195 wpm, so I’m a bit of a fast reader I think, but I know there are people who are faster than that. It usually takes me about half an hour to an hour to read your average chapter in DYWTK. Sometimes longer.

I’m reading another book that’s about 15 pages per chapter and in one sitting it takes me about an hour to an hour and a half to read it.

So to answer your question, I believe a twenty page chapter is too long.

Again, that is just my opinion, and I know others have different opinions. So don’t solely go by what I said. Also, I am not doing the math to figure out how long a twenty page chapter is.

So there’s my opinion.

thank you!!! i very much appreciate the input! i’m was trying to keep chapters a consistent length, but i’m starting to think i may have to just make certain “important” chapters longer than the rest and try to keep the others from getting too extremely long. thankfully with the broken up POVs it’s not too terribly difficult to move things around most of the time!!

[smartass-hoot]

IF YOU COPIED SOMETHING BUT ACCIDENTALLY COPIED SOMETHING ELSE AND LOST THE TEXT YOU ORIGINALLY COPIED, JUST PRESS [ WINDOWS + V ] AND YOU CAN SEE YOUR CLIPBOARD HISTORY

[demigod-of-the-agni]

#LongPost: A Few Hyper-Specific Things About India for India-Based Stories and Art

No this isn't a cry for more Indian-rep in Spider-Verse stories. (It is.)

Anyway. I recently went to India, and after returning to my hometown in Tamil Nadu, I reintegrated a whole slew of memories and collated new facts.. And considering I've been wanting to do one of these for quite some time (and because I need a new variety of Pavitr Prabhakar content), I thought it'd be cool if I shared some of my experiences and ideas with you.

It's best to take this with caution, though: the only places I've been to are Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, and a few towns located close to the Eastern Ghats, so my knowledge is heavily South India-based. I know for a fact that there are various similarities and differences between other geo-cultural areas of India, which is I why I've linked the other cool India Resources here as well.

In Which I Ramble About Pavitr's Character Design and the Indian Cultural Stuff Related to It by @chaos-and-sparkles (+ my addition + @neptune432's addition)

A culture post for the girlie pops (and non-girlie pops) looking to write Pavitr Prabhakar accurately by @summer-blues-stuff (+ my addition + @fandomsfeminismandme addition)

Also a timely reminder of @writingwithcolor's wonderful resources on writing about South Asian characters respectfully and sincerely

Now, for the things I've noticed in South India..

ANIMALS

There are a lot of street dogs. Like... a lot of them. And honestly it's so hard not to go up to one and give them a snack or two. The most notable dog breed is the Indian pariah and they can be found all over India. Mixed dog breeds are also common and results in a variety of features like differences in build and coat colours.

There are also other types of animals are pretty common to see alongside the roads.

Cattle are seen a lot (cows and bulls are easy to distinguish; cows (left) have udders and a small hump on their back, while bulls (right) are generally stockier and have a super-defined hump on their back). I'm pretty sure the specific cow breed is the sahiwal cow. They are either herded into paddocks for grazing or can be found wandering city streets on their own.

Goats are often herded by farmers into large masses of wool and horns and are guided to paddocks to graze. Sometimes, like cattle, they'll be found wandering city streets on their own.

Chickens are usually kept close to stalls and homes. These chickens are not plump and fluffy like most Western chickens, but are quite skinny. Mottled feather colours are usually a result of mixed chicken breeds. In Tamil Nadu, the most common chicken breed is the asil chicken.

Various birds are often seen flying around traffic if they’re not disappearing into the sky, the most common being crows, pigeons and mynahs. (The chart below on the right is not an inexhaustive list of birds; you best search them up yourself.)

TRANSPORT

There is obviously a huge amount of trucks and lorries and buses. They all have beautiful designs or crazy LEDs or large detailed fluorescent / iridescent stickers that are impossible to ignore, whether it be at high noon or midnight.

Expanding on that, the most common method of transport are motorcyclse or scooties, cars, and autos.

Also, as expected: traffic is insane. It’s horrible. It’s exhilarating. Western honking is akin to swearing, but here? Honk whenever you want. Honk if you’re happy or if you’re sad. You get a million dollars if you honk. You need to honk. It’s more important than breathing

Similarly, road rules don’t exist. Well, they do, and the Indian government does everything it can to make sure people do follow the rules, but based on the aforementioned honking, most people don't. Everyone just drives. Most bikers and motorcyclists don’t wear helmets. Only a few people wear seatbelts. Cars and motorcycles drive on the wrong side of the road and right into oncoming traffic. The chance of someone dying is 99% but it’s countered by desi stubbornness.

ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE

Houses and buildings are painted different colours!!! Pastel pinks and purples and deep teal hues, either plain colours or decorated with elaborate murals. This also applies to interiors. I reckon it was surprising to a lot of people when they were confronted with Mumbattan's vibrant colours, but honestly: coloured buildings slap, and it's based on the real thing. They are a sight to behold. Couple that with the architecture and oh boy- you've got such a beautiful environment.

From @jettpack's concept art for Mumbattan buildings

jettpack's concept art of the Mumbattan collider

From @chenfelicia's concept and colour keys of Mumbattan

Don't be shy to really immerse in crazy descriptors - that's how you capture the liveliness of cities like Madurai and Mumbai and ultimately, their physical manifestations like Mumbattan.

Funny enough, movie posters and political banners and flyers are EVERYWHERE. They’re huge and take up entire billboards, or congregate along walls so it becomes practically a collage. It's impossible to ignore the image of "Makkal Selvan" Vijay Sethupathi about to beat some poor loser into a pulp with a stick, or the political parties roasting each other on paper with impressive photoshopped graphics.

To tie in to the point about transport: there are hundreds of coffee stalls and snack shops and one-of-a-kind food stands. You can’t go 200 metres without running into one, either on the highway or in the city. I remember having jaggery coffee on my first night in India, and guys- it tasted so fucking good. I only wish I can transfer the taste to you. Absolutely splendid.

The climate in India is generally very humid and warm, but that doesn't mean we don't get cooler days; it is obviously cooler on winter nights. Also I've heard from many conflicting sources on India's seasonal weather (probably due to India's geograpghy), so you will have to talk to someone who is from India to really confirm. I've somewhat boiled it down to five seasons:

Summer - May-Jun; very hot (35-45ºC/95-113ºF), characterised by shrinking water bodies and droughts if there aren't any rainfalls; this time is good for plant growth/harvest if you've successfully managed water supplies

Monsoon - Jul-Aug; (34ºC/93ºF) very variable in terms of timing, characterised by torrential rains and floodings; the raining itself probably lodges somewhere in Jun-Sept but the aftereffects are felt long after the rains have stopped

Autumn - Sept-Nov; cooler but humid (25-35ºC/77-95ºF), and generally much drier since it transitions from autumn to winter

Winter - Dec-Feb; much colder, but the extent is dependent on geographic regions (20-25ºC/68-77ºF)

Spring - Mar-Apr; humid (33ºC/91ºF), sudden downpours, only occasionally do you get pleasant weather in this time

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

For some reason, there are still loud speakers blaring out music across the roads and as far as a few city blocks. I honestly thought that that had died out by the time my parents had graduated university, but it still seems like people like hearing music played at 120 decibels.

This is a complicated issue but people are not piss poor. Yes, India is a developing country, and yes there are slums and there are homeless and there are those who are stuck in a horrific sociocultural cycle, but people are rapidly getting into high-paying jobs at much higher rates than before. Overall, India is getting better; do us a favour and not have us be represented by the same poor struggle-riddled Indian stories that Hollywood and Western media is are fond of portraying.

@neptune432: One thing I think it's important to acknowledge though is how your experience in India changes depending on your caste. I feel like most of the indian voices talking online are savarna (I'm not an exception) so this doesn't get brought up as much. It's a complicated issue and one that I don't think non-indians (or savarna indians) should worry about tackling in their work, but it's worth saying because what's assumed to be everyday aspects of indian culture are actually specific to things like caste, class, and what region you're in. ex: in kerala, there are also examples of people eating on banana leaf with lots of vegan food for special occasions (namely during onam). but veganism is heavily tied to brahmanism so most of these people will be savarna. even if they eat meat otherwise, the specific interest in eating vegan for special occassions has clear implications. Though many people of different castes eat meat, it's a practice that gets discriminated against, being treated as barbaric and unclean. this is because of brahmanism and is usually only strictly followed by brahmins. dalits/bahujan usually face the worse treatment for their eating traditions. there's also the fact that hinduism is more of a recent term and a broad umbrella where many different gods and cultures have been put under (and usually done forcefully). a lot of local dieties and specific cultural practices come from outside the vedic traditions of aryans (upper caste north india), but now are treated almost as one thing. ex: kali is a south indian (dravidian) goddess who's still heavily worshipped there and who later got adapted to brahminical traditions. that's also why south indian practices of worship are different from the north and are discriminated against ex: north indians getting angry at the idea of worshipping kali by drinking alcohol and smoking even though it's an older tradition than theirs. these traditions are often connected to dalit/tribal cultures as well, which adds to why these traditions are attacked. Now, I don't feel comfortable with non-indians writing about india in general but I feel it's important to mention these things cos most people don't even realize they're only getting shown certain perspectives. How many people don't even know they're a north/south divide, for example? People are fed narrow viewpoints on India and assume that's everything to know. it's a problem cos that's what the brahminical forces in india want. This is all very general info too and I'm no expert so it's worth more research (like reading what dalits have said on their experiences). I'm not trying to criticize you btw, I just wanted to add some things cos this has been on my mind for a long time now. Couldn't have said it better myself, neptune!! (I barely mentioned it at all lmao) The caste system despite it being "abolished" still defines many traditions within India, and almost always in harmful ways. Like @summer-blues-stuff and I have mentioned in their post A culture post for the girlie pops under the Religion and caste section, it's best to leave the caste and social hierarchy alone even if you've done your research. That doesn't mean you shouldn't talk about it, it's just that people, especially those of non-South Asian decent, have to be extremely careful about it. Introductory resources on the caste system can be found on ABC, Pew Research and The Conversation.

Furthermore, the automatic assumption is that people living in shacks or remote villages have no access to greater populations and resources, which I'm happy to completely disprove. Guys: majority of the people living in my village, a rather remote village, have phones on them. Ranges from iPhones to Androids to good ol' Nokias.

(And, side note: as an Indian, I get amazingly pissed off when people's ringtones are set to maximum volume and play the same famous part of a famous song every time they get a call. Like shut the fuck up. At least quieten down? Please??)

(Also this might be a South Indian thing but Man some people are so entitled. Dudes you do not need to rub your ego into my face. Dudes you can, you know, keep all the cool things you think will get other people jealous out of the public eye. At this point I'm not jealous of what you Have, I'm pissed off at the Audacity To Think You Can Make Me Feel Bad About Myself With The Things That You Have).

Alright. Moving on.

Tiny temples and shrines are everywhere, dedicated to broad-Hinduism deities like Ganesh, Shakthi, or Vishnu; other times, they are shrines built for local deities that protect a particular village. For example, my village dedicated a little plot of water-logged land to a benevolent spirit called Subbamma, where people would leave offerings or place their sick/injured animals at the water's edge so that Subbamma could heal them. These tiny temples are almost always super colourful and amazingly detailed despite their small size

It could be a whole month before a celebration like Diwali but it’s the perfect time to set off hundreds of fireworks and firecrackers. People are just inconsiderate in many ways, it seems.

Some women wear strings of jasmine flowers in their hair. This might be completely regional-based, but most if not all women, ranging from little kids to old ladies, will wear these strings of jasmine in their hair. It's supposed to represent good fortune and beauty, and it smells wonderful.

@esrev-redips: #i usually only visit the north side of india (went to banglore and or chennai once) but im pretty sure most women in mumbai wouldnt wear #flowers in their hair unless they were of an older generation #they dont in new delhi at least and i t h i n k you can compare them but im not sure since i dont live in india either Thank you esrev!!!!! glad to see an old hunch be confirmed!!!

Normally you can wear any type of jasmine, but the common subtypes in Tamil Nadu are ஜாதிமல்லி (jathimalli; "Spanish jasmine"; left) and மல்லிப்பூ (mallipoo; right).

Eating food from a plate made from a banana leaf is more than just an aesthetic, and is often reserved for certain occasions; other times we eat from metal or ceramic plates. I can't vouch for other areas of India but I've been told the reason why banana leaves are predominantly used for large gatherings is because they can signal to diners if the food is rotten or has been poisoned; supposedly the leaf itself starts rotting and releases liquid, but I personally have never seen this happen. But of course, there are also other reasons as to why banana leaves are used (all of which are valid) ranging from being an eco-friendly disposable plate, offloading nutrients into food, or even to make the food taste better. Pick whichever reason you like.

I'm literally so hungry looking at this. (Realises this is a Pavitr thing to say.) Anyway.

FOOD RECS!!!!!!

Reblog with your favourite foods >:) The list will be routinely updated...

JAGGERY COFFEE (from me) - GOOD FUCKING STUFF. ACTUALLY. if you see it.. GET IT IMMEDIATELY

PANI PURI (from @esrev-redips) - #also you forgot to mention the PANI PURI STANDS AHHHHHH YUMYUMYUM | RRRR YOU'RE SO RIGHT. PANI PURI FOR LIFE ACTUALLY.

JASUBEN PIZZA (from @the-witch-forever-lives) - okay this is specific to Ahmedabad | okay but as specific as it may be that sounds and looks delicious??? hello??????

DABELI (from @the-witch-forever-lives) - this too???? also it LOOKS wonderful i need it right now actually

VADA PAV (from @the-witch-forever-lives) - Also Vada pav from Mumbai is so one of a kind | you are absolutely correct. vada pav is truly something magnificent

I think that's about all I can give you right now. This took me a while to type out. Feel free to ask any questions, or if you have anything you would like to add on, like anything I might have glossed over or your favourite desi foods, please do!!! I'll be sure to reblog your addition and update the original post.

The point is that this post can become one of those few other reference posts that artists and writers and other creatives can use if they ever want to make anything related to India, because it's genuinely so cool to see your culture represented so well in popular modern media.

(And in fanfic and fandom. Especially in fanfic and fandom. you have no idea how many times I've gone insane reading a Pavitr-centric fic or reading comments on Pavitr-related posts and it's just outdated ideas and harmful stereotypes and all sorts of sick bullshit, and it's always to the point where I physically have to go outside and bite into a fresh rhizome in order to ground myself. Like damn, people, you need to know things before you start creating)

So uh, I hope this was helpful if not interesting! Happy early Diwali everyone! Knowledge-over-ignorance and all that; hopefully this post does that notion justice!

[sunscreenstudies]

A Step-by-Step Guide for Socially Anxious Email Senders

Read the horrible, horrible email you have to reply to and then feel relief at the fact that "well, at least it's not a phone call!"

Determine what parts you have to reply to i.e. if they asked you a question about something or if there's a part where you need to ask them a question about something

Set a timer for 2 min, 5 min, or 10 min depending on the importance of the email, but no longer!

Write your greeting: "Hi [their first name]" for friendlies, "Dear Mr/Ms/Dr [their last name]" for acquaintances

Write your ending (Yes, we're doing this now before we write anything else): "Best wishes, [your first name]" for friendlies, "Kind Regards, [your first and last name]" for acquaintances

Write "Hope you're well!" This is a game changer because now they know you're thinking of them BUT they don't feel like they have to answer in the way that typing "How are you?" does. Plus, the exclamation mark always helps to lighten up an email that otherwise might feel stuffy.

Answer their questions. If they asked multiple, then split up your answers with filler phrases such as "In relation to...", "In regard to...", "As for...", etc. Finish your paragraph with "I hope this helps, but if you have any further questions, please feel free to ask!"

Ask your questions. If you don't have any questions, then find the most complicated/unclear part of their email, rephrase it, and throw it in after a "Just a quick note to confirm my understanding of the project: [the rephrased bit]". This will let them know that you did thoroughly read their email, and it also provides them with an excuse to email you back with "yes, you're right" or "actually..." which removes the awkwardness they might be feeling as to whether there's any need to reply to your email or not. Finish your paragraph with "Thank you!" (it never hurts to be nice)

Check for spelling or grammar mistakes (if you don't have an extension like Grammarly, then copy and paste your email into Google Docs/Word doc/LibraOffice doc/etc. to check for errors there. Once you've corrected them, copy and paste the corrected text back into your email, replacing the original text)

Reread your email three times. Look at me. Look. At. Me. Three times. That's it! No more and no less! Your timer should have gone off by now, so times up, tough luck, you have to send it, the timer said so. If your timer hasn't gone off yet, then congrats! You beat the clock! Now let's celebrate by sending that horrible email immediatley.

Check your "sent" email box once - just once - to make sure that your email did successfully send and to shut up that part of your brain that's going "but what if they didn't get it?!" They got it. Exit your email browser/app.

Turn your phone/laptop on "do not disturb", leave your desk, make yourself a big mug of something hot (I personally prefer black tea, but you could make tea, coffee, hot chocolate, soup, etc. - whatever you enjoy the most!). Bonus Points: If you're at home or in an enclosed office, then throw on your favourite song or a dancing playlist, and spend five minutes dancing and shaking off that nervous energy before getting back to work. Congratulations: You did it!

[dansconcepts]

Pink-Tipped Locks And Guitarists Rock

Or Adrien gets his hair dyed by everyone's fav guitarist (this is shamelessly Lukadrien fluff).

|◁ II ▷|

"Are you sure about this, Adrien?" The blonde nods. Luka continues to strum his hands through his (soon to not fully be!) blond hair, humming his acknowledgement. He chuckles under his breath.

“What’s so funny?” Adrien asks, but his smile is wide. It’s silent for a few minutes, with Luka grabbing a fistful of his hair gently, before replying, “I was pretty surprised by how soft your hair was.” He confesses. 

Adrien shrugs. “I’m a model. Not that it’s a requirement, but too many ads seem to emphasize how soft my hair is or whatever, so it is what it is.” 

The musician hums once more before he feels the bristles of a comb being moved up and down rhythmically. 

“I think it’s kind of strange...?” Adrien continues, “I don’t mind though. I do like my hair looking and feeling nice. But…” He motions his hand in a circle around his face. “I think it would look nicer if it was a little messier, you know?” 

He can’t help but grin a little evilly at that one. An inside joke only he and his kwami would have. 

A soft pat on his head is his only warning before his head shakes under the weight of Luka’s hand. He can feel the laughter welling inside him as he chuckles loudly, feeling light even as his product-filled hair is un-modelfied. Hell, if anything, that’s probably his favourite fact about all this. 

“Lu-ka!”  He yelps, but he’s grinning wildly. 

At the sound of his name, he’s suddenly turned around by the shoulders and held under the scrutiny of Luka’s gaze and his calloused hands. 

Blue eyes meet green. “...Interesting.” Luka murmurs. 

His hands rub his neck almost instinctively under the sudden spotlight. “Is that a good thing?”

Luka’s serene smile widens. “It’s different.”

“I ask one question and get an unrelated answer.” He teases playfully. “What, chat got your tongue?” He almost purrs, lips spilled out in a manner almost vindictive, if it weren’t for the creases along his eyes. 

He gets a surprised expression as a response, and he pulls away immediately. 

Sorry. Is ready to spill from his mouth. 

Why did he think he could get away with acting like that? 

“You know,” Luka interrupts. He looks more pensive than upset, but he can never be too sure. His pale lips are pressed together in this way he’s sure meant something. Impatience, maybe? 

“You sounded almost exactly like Chat Noir there.” Teal eyes roam over his body from head to toe. Luka nods to himself, affirming something with the quick check. “Look like him, even.”

He can say does that mean I look pawsitively handsome? 

Instead- because unlike Ladybug thinks, he’s not entirely impulsive- he spits out, “What can I say? I’m a fan.” which, okay, not that much better, but better than nothing. 

Luka seems to step out of his stupor and nods at him. He takes a few seconds to just blink at him, for another reason he doesn't know yet. 

“I am too.” 

And Adrien's cognizance has left the station. He laughs nervously, and he hopes the half-baked "ha. Ha. Ha." doesn't show through, but he does sound like he's uncomfortable. He instinctively winces. Luka seems to take pity on him and softens. Gently, he twists Adrien back around before chiming, "Now time to get your hair tipped and you can tell me all about being such a Chat Noir fan, Adrien."

He could not be any more glad he wasn't facing the musician anymore. 

It would've been too dist-cat-ing. 

He could hear Ladybug's familiar groan in his head and even he could concede that one was pretty clawful. 

"What's there to talk about? I just think he's the cat's meow. Wouldn't you agree?"

Luka gently massaged his hair and if he were Chat, he swears he would've started purring. Instead, he leans into the soft touch. 

"Adrien." Luka calls out, soft, but firm. "I'll need you to be a little more still than that so I can apply the bleach." 

The boy in question turns around slowly to notice black-painted nails dangling a brush a few centimetres away from a dish. He chuckles, embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry."

Luka chuckles. "It's cute. You're like an affectionate kitten. But do try to keep your head facing the front, hm?" 

He nods a little too enthusiastically on his part, and the chk-chk-trk of the foil around him gave him all the warning he needed not to melt. He did want to get that tipped hair, after all.

Even if father won't approve. 

But he trusts Luka. It’s only temporary, even if it lasts a while. At least he could do his own hints of rebellion the Adrien Agreste way (since he certainly won't be telling his father about Chat Noir’s way...). 

Almost too soon, it’s over. His hair was painted and it was left to dry after a whole blow drying session. And good riddance, he's gotta admit. He was kind of getting a little antsy, because even with modelling he can at least have some sense of mobility, but really, one hour compared to a few and a cool new look? Definitely one of the better trade offs he's ever gotten out of sitting still. 

"There. It's not completely dry yet, but what do you think of it so far?" His temporary hairstylist of the day asks.

"Hmm. I don't know. Think you have a mirror I could use to actually see it?" He replies snarkily with a shit-eating grin. It just came out, but he doesn't try to hide it anymore. He catches Luka's eye briefly as Luka steps around him, his lips pulled into a smirk. 

"Gotcha. Just give me a sec!" The musician yells out as he rummages through his cupboards, before finally pulling out a quaint mirror with a black cat-themed rim.

"Huh. You really are a Chat Noir fan." Adrien muses nonchalantly, but internally preens at the sight.

Luka laughs it off easily with a fond look at the object (or at least, he's pretty sure that was what it was) before explaining, "Heh. Juleka got it for me as a joke." 

"Do you treat it as a joke?" He replies. He swallows, hoping to ignore how his voice sounded like a kicked puppy just then and the thought of the object being used to make fun of his superhero persona. 

"Of course not. It's probably one of the silliest gifts, but not meaningless to me." The mainly-black haired boy defends immediately. The now-partly blond boy's shoulders relax at the quick admission. "Although, the green doesn't match my aesthetic nearly as well as the black does."

"I don't know, I think black, blue and green could go really well together." 

He thinks of Viperion's costume, and despite the blazing face he gets whenever he thinks about it, it's an image that supports his argument well.

"I suppose you're right. But pink and yellow make a beautiful combination too, Adrien. You were right to pick it." 

Jade eyes dart toward the mirror. His eyes settle on the foreign colour in his hair and his heart stutters.

"Whoa..." He exclaims, openly admiring how his yellow locks are complimented nicely by the soft, strawberry pink Luka picked out.

"This is awesome, thanks Luka!"

"No trouble at all, Adrien. This was… calming... to do."

[nonbinary-octopus]

in my dream last night, I was a sizeshifting super, and my best friend could duplicate himself. His code name was Duploux (I may be a bit off on the spelling but it definitely ended with a silent x)

someone decided to do a thing that was supposed to turn off the superpowers of everyone in the city, but instead it kinda just. locked us into whatever we were currently doing. So I was like. "I'm stuck at thirty feet tall, there’s a couple dozen of Duploux running around who can't re-merge, and I know at least three Invisible Men who, chances are good, are probably currently stuck invisible. Amazing."

Powers came back online in fits and starts, and during that process I discovered a new power, which was the ability to sizeshift other people

you see, I had managed to shrink back down, except that I overshot and ended up around chest high to Du, and we were having a sort of fight with this other guy who had pretended to be Duploux, and then I was trying to hold him still and also trying to grow back to normal, and as I did so I shrank him.

oh also the guy who was pretending to be Duploux wasn't actually great at it, but I'm a bit faceblind so it worked on me up until actual Duploux showed up and I realized that the guy impersonating him was like a foot taller. Du whisked me away, and that's when we realized I was currently very short and only came up to his chest, and I was like "do you see why I didn't realize he was too tall?"

Duploux was also quite frustrated with powers being offline, because it also disrupted the usual telepathic connection he had between his many selves. When he got that back he was quite glad. I was also glad, both for him and because it had been a very odd experience having the various instances of my best friend have different knowledge, and having to find a specific one if I wanted him to remember something I'd told him. Which, of course, is very hard when they're all completely identical.

another bit in the dream, we were trying to get into a Very Secure Building and had to check in at reception, and the receptionist wanted to check in each of Duploux individually. Basically ask, who are you and what are you doing here. And he was like. "Can't you see we're all identical? We're all me." and tried to convince her that one check-in was sufficient.

[ink-stains-and-constellations]

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE WHEN YOU CATCH A SNOWFLAKE ON YOUR TONGUE

I need to know for writing purposes. Please help.

[sarcasticgaypotato]

I know some people have a hard time commenting on fics because they don't know what to say, so allow me to let you in on my personal hack for a super easy, 2-step comment that authors appreciate:

Say that you liked it. "This fic was great," "I love this chapter," "I really enjoyed this," etc.

Mention (1) thing that happened in the fic/chapter that stood out in a good way. You don't have to do a line-by-line analysis, just point out something specific. "The fight between (x) and (y) had me on the edge of my seat," "The conversation at the end of the chapter was perfectly in-character," "(x)'s internal dialog during (scene) was really good," etc.

That's it! You can leave a two sentence comment with this method and I promise, you will make an author very happy.

Of course if you feel able—expand on this! Point out multiple things you liked, do a full scene analysis, gush about stuff that made you laugh or cry, we adore those comments. But if that's too daunting, just try this version and work your way up to the bigger stuff.

Now, go out and make a fic author's day!

[diodellet]

bearing with it (for now)

On Lou Tang and pain cw: internalized ableism, symptoms of somatic anxiety, mentions but no overly-graphic descriptions of pain. all of this is unbeta'd and disorganized asf. do not take any of this as proper medical advice, take it with a heaping of salt. i'm just writing this to fight the horrors™

i already mentioned in her intro post that she tends to suffer from tension headaches because of her high twintails

she also gets headaches when she gets really mad but shhh that's for another day

unrelated, but still on the topic of chronic pain: lou also gets really really bad cramps during menstruation (might be bcs she's generally bad at taking care of herself, dehydration, sleep deprivation, and what have you, but also👇)

a lot of her pain tends to stem from the fact that she's going through life unmedicated

girlie had one bad experience with ibuprofen and refuses to take anything out of fear that it'll make her feel worse

so she tends to bank on hot water and grim's bodyheat, or a nap

naps are her biggest saving grace, but ill save that for another post

though, as bad as the pain gets, she doesn't faint. (tho if she did, she'd flomp in the other direction of someone else's attempts to catch her)

the only time she fainted was when grim lobbed a spelldrive disk at her head (tho she did come close to crumpling on the ground in sheer pain in the class hallways because of dysmenorrhea)

but even then, she was more embarrassed it happened in front of oh, yknow, just the whole student body.

(in fact, when she woke up in the infirmary, she took a look at everyone and tried to go back to sleep. "this is all just a bad dream," she tries to delude herself. Which obv u can't do as someone with head trauma so she had to be shaken awake, much to her dismay)

and i just imagine that this "lifestyle" would Piss Off jamil so much. because he's used to having meds on hand and giving first aid

but here's this girl outright refusing help - diD she JUst SlaP hIS hAnd AwaY????

"Lou?" At the sound of her name, the girl's head turned towards Jamil. Her lips pull into a weak smile - which, combined with the pallid color of her face was enough to signal that she was not okay. "Hi! Nice weather we're having, aren't we? It's nice and windy~" "What's wrong?" Judging by the way she has an arm curled protectively around her midsection and how she is heavily leaning against the railing, she was probably - "Nothing!" Her gaze wavers and looks back out to the school field. "Well, looking down at the courtyard makes my hands all clammy, but as long as I keep my feet planted on the ground - " "You're cramping, aren't you?" He cuts off that long-winded drivel before it spirals out of control and starts searching through his pockets. "Can you take pills without water?" "No, no! I'm fine, really!" She waves her hands dismissively, features flushing with shame in spite of her attempts to keep her voice light. Not that it stops him. "There's a water fountain by the second floor stairs. Can you walk?" He pulls out an opened blister pack of over-the-counter painkillers. "I. Told. You! I'm fine." She pushes the offered meds back towards him. At the slight brush of her hand against his, she quickly pulls back. Takes three steps away from him for added measure. "See? The pain's passed. I'm okay now." Somehow, Jamil gets the feeling that Lou was lying through her teeth. But he won't press, the color's returned to her face. Somewhat. "Alright," he relents. When an awkward silence falls over them, her eyes flit from his face, to the floor, then to the wall sconces. Her hands fidget with her fingers. "Anyways, I'll get out of your hair now. Thanks, goodbye." And she walks away. "The infirmary's in the western wing. On the ground floor," he calls out before she could round the corner. (She doesn't turn around, in fact her walking pace speeds up. A loud curse leaving her lips. Jamil can almost envision the way her brow would crinkle in frustration. And a part of him can't stop that strange sense of amusement from welling up at the sight.)

sure, it's cute for the first time. but then this happens every time he offers her help and it stops being pitifully adorbs anuna!! nugagawen mo jamil viper!!

sadly, lou has a lot of internalized shame (and fear) to undo when it comes to asking for help with dealing with pain. (though when she's in Ramshackle or in one of the beds at the school infirmary, she won't bother to hide her misery unless company invites itself over)

maybe it comes from the fact that when she was back in her original world, she viscerally remembers the few times her pain was brushed off as her causing a scene

or maybe it stemmed from how her family has ingrained a strong sense of hypochondria into her (getting into arguments over how to treat her illness - even if it's just a slight fever, and "joking" about what kind of hospital treatments would be done to her, all that fun stuff that relatives like to do /derogatory), that she just gets overwhelmed with the onset of any kinds of symptoms

maybe it's a mix of both.

though, later down the events of the main story, her usual coping and defense mechanisms are gonna be so worn down that she'll take a bowl of soup from jamil (he tells her it's leftovers since it's obv she would reject the food if she found out that it was made for her)

tagging: @viperwhispered @crystallizsch @twstgo (if anyone’s interested in being tagged for more stuff with the yuusona, lmk through the replies)

[malikselfindulgence]

MEI X GN!READER ☆ 4.6K WORDS

♡ Cherry flavored chap-stick ♡

AO3 link can be found here!

Description: in which Mei dresses you up for a party, and things simply escalate from there.

Content: reader is not referred to with any pronouns, reader is gender neutral, reader does wear make-up and is referred to as "pretty" "gorgeous", ending could be interpreted as suggestive

Fic under the cut!

You notice Mei's new lip-stick shade immediately.

As soon as she'd walked into the shop, your eyes were drawn to her like a moth to a flame, following the curves of her face as she moves over to the counter. Something felt….different about her today- you think her cheeks shined a Iittle more brightly, and as your gaze falls down to her lips, you finally realise why. 

She'd changed her lipstick today- going for a warmer toned pink rather than a cool magenta. The color brought out the warmth in her skin, making her face glow in the orange light of the restaurant. 

You liked her usual lipstick shade, too- the cool tones highlighting her eyes and green hair streaks, the color suits her. You think any color would suit Mei, to be honest. But this one…well, it's more glossy, making you look down more than once at her lips mid conversation- she's speaking to MK, thankfully, so you can stare all you want without the worry of being caught.

She's pretty, you think. Her bangs frame her face perfectly, and the scales around her eyes only make her look more ethereal- even the scuffs on her skin and bandages around her hands are endearing. Your eyes fall down to her lips again, and you wonder if the lip-stick is flavored. Maybe it's apple? Dragonfruit? You wonder how it'd taste.

Your thoughts trail dangerously down a path that has your cheeks flushing- you wonder if she'd let you find out, let you press your lips against hers gently, taste the chap-stick on her, smear it prettily down her chin as an imperfect work of art. You wonder if- 

Mei clears her throat, and your fantasy-induced haze immediately shatters apart.

You scramble a little in your seat, utterly humiliated at being caught gawking at her like this- or, you assume that's what she's frowning at you for. You wonder for half a second if you can just ask MK to drown you in the kitchen sink to spare you.

"Well?" Mei cocks a brow at you, one hand settling on her hip in a show of annoyance. You quickly look towards MK for help, but all the bastard does is smile cheekily in your direction. You wonder for half a second if you can drown MK in the kitchen sink.

"Well….uh- well, what?" 

Her frown only deepens, and you feel a pang of guilt nestle in your chest- you don't want to upset her ever again, and you claw through your thoughts for any recollection of what her and MK had been discussing only to wind up blank.

"We asked if you wanted to come along to the anti-gravity arcade tomorrow- for the p- for the, uh, dress-up event?" MK's voice rings out cheerfully from your right, perhaps feeling merciful on you today. Your shoulders fall down in relief.

"Yeah- yeah, for sure!" You nod, eager to spend more time with them, and watch as Mei's pretty pink lips turn upwards in a smile at your reply, "is there a dress code or anything?"

Mei's gentle smile morphs into a wolfish grin in a matter of seconds, her arm looping around your shoulder to bring you closer into her side. Your body presses up against hers, warmth seeping into you, and you try to will your heart to stop beating so damn fast. It doesn't work.

"You leave that to me. You just come over early so I can glam us up, capiche?" Mei's eyes bore into yours in a way that makes your brain fuzzy, and you find that you couldn't ever say no to her. She could've asked you to rob a bank blind and you'd have nodded with the same eagerness you are now, muttering a quiet "Yeah, sure, sounds great." 

Once you've given her confirmation, she slinks away from your side, and your body mourns her touch. The day continues like normal, you piping up every once in a while through MK and Mei's rants about some video game, but you have to look down at your fidgeting hands more than once so you don't end up entranced by her lips once more.

It's only the next morning as you stand at Mei's ridiculously prestigious porch that you realise just what you've gotten yourself into. 

You barely flinch as her security system activates, thousands of lasers pointing at your head. You barely talk as she greets you with her gorgeous, stupidly perfect smile and leads you inside, the walk long and painfully slow. You can't hear her over your heart thundering in your ears, your clammy hands grappling onto your sleeves in an attempt to keep themselves busy. 

"Right over herreee is my bedroom! You can go ahead and make yourself comfy, I've gotta head over to the bathroom to get my makeup bag," she ends her impromptu tour with a smile and finger-guns, moving past you and into the long hallway across, "be back in a jiffy!" 

You wait until she's completely out of sight to walk into her bedroom, settling yourself down at the edge of her bed, legs swinging back and forth anxiously.

Mei was going to 1] dress you up, and 2] do your makeup. Do your makeup, as in cup your cheeks between her soft hands, lean in close enough so she can see every little mark she leaves behind, her eyes furrowed in concentration at your face- 

You put your face into your hands, embarrassed by your thoughts. What is up with you lately? Usually it's easier to manage your feelings around her, right now you can't even look her in the face! 

You peek one eye between your fingers, looking over her messy room. You'd been here before, of course. Mei had been just a little more open to sleepovers at her place, but only when Pigsy was far too exhausted to hear you three yelling and laughing all night above his bed. You're usually here with MK, though, and the electric energy crackling between him and Mei keeps you all entertained. You'd never gotten a chance to really…look at the place.

You eye the My Chemical Romance poster above the door frame, snorting at the memory of Mei belting out the lyrics during karaoke, MK screaming the words more than singing them. Your gaze falls down to the guitar by her night-stand, your smile turning soft as you recall the few times Mei had played for you. She was skilled, but got frustrated easily once she missed a note, puffing out her cheeks. It was cute to watch.

Your hands fall back down into your lap as you note all the little things that make this space so Mei- the posters, the pillows strewn across the floor, the half-opened comic books, the gaming consoles, the weird mannequin she uses to show off her ties and funny hats, and the-

Ah, the…the plushie you'd won her at the arcade.

It's right next to you on the bed, so it's no surprise you hadn't noticed it till now. You pick it up and turn it over in your hands, tugging at one of its ears. It's a cute green striped cat, it's tongue sticking out playfully. You'd seen it and thought of Mei, and had spent nearly all your coins and a considerable amount of effort on the claw machine to gift it to her. You pull back the tag, seeing a red heart drawn on- you hadn't noticed that when you'd won it, but perhaps you just missed it.

"YOO! I'm back! You ready to look drop-dead gorgeous for tonight?" Mei's voice startles you, your head swiftly moving upwards as she slams the door open and walks inside, multiple make-up bags in hand. She grins at you in excitement, her body practically vibrating with all the ideas of things she can do to you. You feel your heart melt like magma in your rib-cage, and you wonder just how you'll live through this.

"Did you have anything in mind?" You force out through your teeth, breathing in deeply to calm the fuck down. You should not be acting this way- especially not in her room of all places. This was- this was absurd and unfair to her. Your fingers clench and unclench around the plushie before you let go of it, the thought that Mei slept with it in her bed too much to process.

"Do I have anything in mind?" She echoes back at you, scoffing, but her tone is anything but annoyed, "I've been wanting to do your make-up for ages. I've got a whole hoard of ideas." 

Your mind rushes at the revelation that she's been wanting this for a long time, thinking about it for a long time- "But first, outfits! It'd suck to get your make-up smudged while changing." 

You furrow your brows in confusion, gesturing to your clothes, "I'm…already wearing..my outfit?" 

She blinks at you for a minute, eyeing you up and down with growing disdain- you feel embarrassed, if a little insulted, arms wrapping around your chest to hide yourself a little more. 

"You- you're not going out in that! You wear this every day!" She squeaks in protest, tugging at your sleeve to showcase the tattered edges. 

You pull back your arm indignantly, pouting at her. "Yeah, because it's comfortable, and I like it. Plus, I didn't bring anything else with me." 

"Well, because I knew you wouldn't have picked something cute for yourself," Mei starts with a cheeky grin, and you flick at her arm in response, her laughter ringing out through the room, "I did the honours of picking something out for you." 

You barely have time to speak before she's rushing into a corner of her room, rummaging around the heap of blankets and clothes to find what she's looking for. Mei had always had impeccable style- even if you weren't pathetically head over heels in love with her, you'd still think she had a way of matching colors and fabrics together that makes even the rattiest of shirts look pleasing to the eyes. 

So, no, it's not that you don't trust Mei to pick something nice for you to wear- it's that you don't trust Mei to tone it down for you- while Mei and MK were loud and boisterous, turning heads left and right wherever they went, you preferred to lay back unnoticed. You were their middle ground- reigning them back in by the scruff of their shirts. 

So imagine your surprise when you see Mei present the outfit for you, chest puffed out proudly.

It's….pretty. You knew it'd be pretty, of course, but more than that- it fits your style perfectly, with pops of color [mostly green] here and there that don't completely push you out of your comfort zone. You like this outfit a lot, and you're excited to try it on- you think some of the jewellery she's holding out looks familiar. 

You must've been silent for a little too long, because she starts rocking back and forth, her smile turning more strained by the second, "I, uh, tried to look through your wish-list and pinterest boards to get something you'd like- you can look through my closets for something different though!-" 

You're still reeling from her words- no wonder the jewellery looks familiar, it's in your wish-list, and she'd bought it for you specifically, and holy shit you need to say something before she overthinks herself into oblivion- 

"It's…nice- really nice. It's really pretty." You mumble out, smiling towards her as you reach out to thumb at the fabric, tugging it into your arms. Your heart feels as though it'll burst out of your chest just so it can find its way to her.

Mei's shoulders slump in relief, her usual cheery attitude bouncing back.

"Duh, I picked it, it's gonna be pretty. Now shoo! Go change so we can start on make-up." 

You snicker heartily at her obvious excitement as she hurries you towards her dressing room, walking in and shutting the door behind you.

You tug off your current outfit, leaving it on the chair by the mirror. You take this moment away from her gaze to slump against the door-frame, squealing into your hands silently like a schoolgirl with a crush. 

Your smile is giddy and bashful as you put on your outfit- the outfit she'd specifically catered to you, based on your interests and favorite colors- admiring yourself in the mirror between each layer. Once again, Mei didn't fail to deliver. You looked good. You strike a ridiculous pose in the mirror, giggling at your childishness. Perhaps Mei was rubbing off on you too much. 

You take a deep breath in to calm yourself down before leaving through the door, trying to keep your grin hidden. Your clothes fit around your body snugly, and the jewellery matches your eyes and hair. The shade of green endowed throughout your outfit matches Mei's hair streaks, you notice with a fluster. 

You sit down on the bed and wait for Mei to leave her dressing room- which you're still appalled by, because who even needs two dressing rooms?- wondering if she'll wear something entirely new or repurpose one of her old outfits.

You hear the door creak open this time, glancing upwards as Mei walks in, hollering at you, "Wooh! Looks just as good as I imagined, maybe even a little better." She nudges your shoulder playfully, her cheeks flushed and pink. "Seriously, though, you look good." 

"Oh." You breathe out, gaping at her with wide eyes. 

Mei looks….Mei looks gorgeous. She's wearing a white button-up shirt, the first few buttons undone to reveal inch above inch of tantalising skin. Right under is a pretty corset that cinches her waist, with a short slitted skirt to match, highlighting her toned scarred legs. Her sleeves are folded upwards, showing off her muscles. You feel your face heat the longer you stare, her earrings glinting in the light, bangles strumming together in a harmonious tune as her hands move aside with a flourish. 

She strikes a pose even more ridiculous than the one you had earlier in the hopes of making you laugh, and it works, your concealed snickering dissolving into full-blown giggling the longer she keeps this up, modelling for a camera that isn't there- or perhaps she's just modelling for you.

"So? What are we thinkin'?" She makes a little kissy-face towards you and you pretend that didn't get your heart thumping, "You think we'll be voted cutest couple?"

Okay- you can't pretend that didn't send a shiver racing down your spine. You splutter at her words, hands wringing each other nervously before she barks out a laugh and lets up on the posing, arms falling down to her sides.

"I'm just joking. I wouldn't complain if you complimented me juusstt a little, though." 

You ignore the pang in your heart at her words, your giggles dying down into a gentle quirk of your lips. "You look nice, Mei, we already know- and thank you…for the outfit, by the way." You answer sincerely, squinting at her earrings. You don't think she'd ever worn those colors before- it struck out to you.

"New jewellery? You don't usually wear things like this…" You wonder aloud, your hand moving to dangle at her earrings, fingers brushing against her cheek by accident. Your skin burns where you touch her, and you wonder if she can feel it, too.

Mei gulps audibly, "Yeah, it- it's new. Wanted to match with you." 

You look up at her through your lashes, heart beating so rapidly in your chest you're afraid she can hear it. Each and every time you think you can control yourself around her, she always just- just says things that pull your feet out from under you. She smiles down at you, a little strained, her hand moving up to hold onto yours, the one still pressed up against her cheek.  

"That's really- really considerate, and nice of you." You pull back, and you try to ignore the implications behind the way Mei's expression crumples. You send a smile her way, tugging at your sleeve. You have to- you have to stop seeing things that aren't there. Thinking that Mei liked you was only wishful thinking.

You had her already, like this, and that was enough for you. It had to be enough for you.

"Well, Red Son and MK always match- granted MK practically forces them to, buuuttt that leaves us behind, so we gotta stick together, right?" 

You nod at her answer, your heart clenching painfully right in your rib-cage. Of course that's why she wanted to match with you- she was joking about the cutest couple thing earlier. You have to stop. 

Mei claps her hands together to catch your quickly declining attention, grin back in place. "Now, make-up!" 

Ah- you'd…almost forgotten, despite that being the main thing you'd come here for.

She gestures towards the chair by her vanity mirror, and you wordlessly follow her request, settling down into it, spinning it around so you're facing her. She recovers quite quickly from your…moments- you try to give her the same mercy she serves you.

"I'm gonna make our eyeshadow colors compliment each other- but you can always let me know if you're not liking the colors, alright?" She reassures you, opening her cat-themed bag to start laying out the brushes and pallets, "I can just brush up my own make-up after." 

You nod soundlessly, afraid that if you so much as breathe in her direction she'll notice how flustered and tense you are. She takes your chin between her fore-finger and thumb, leaning down to look at you closely, her tongue poking out in concentration. 

You think you might collapse into a heap of pathetic goo in this chair. She's so close- so so so close- close enough you can see every little blemish and feckle on her face, the way her scales shimmer in the light, almost translucent, the way her lips pucker as she pats your eyes gently with the brush, focused on getting the lines just right. 

The next few minutes pass by in a blur- you can only remember your hands clenching around your pants, your shoulders set rigidly in place. You remember her fingers pressing against your jaw, positioning it the way she likes, and her hair tickling your skin as she leans in to fix up your eye-liner. You remember the air crackling between you two, and you were sure she felt it- her breath hitching each time she noticed you staring at her, the nervous swinging of her legs.

"All done! Yeesh, you can relax now." Mei smirks down at you, pulling backwards and letting the cool air flood the space between you both. You pause for a second, trying to get yourself together, spinning the chair around so you can look in the mirror. She'd shown you progress in a little hand-held mirror, of course, but seeing your make-up paired with your outfit punched the breath out of your lungs.

If you thought the outfit alone looked good- you were drop dead gorgeous now, just as she'd said- you're not sure how she managed to keep the imperfections on your face, refusing to use a foundation base, while still making them look right. Like they fit there. The blush she'd used made your cheeks glow, and the highlighter only served to make your natural features shine. You see her face in the mirror, her eyes roaming your features. She doesn't look pleased.

"Nope- something doesn't look right." She says with a huff, rummaging through her drawer. You're not sure what she's looking for that could bring the look together.

"I dunno what you mean- you made me look great. Definitely gonna win best couple now." You can't help but let it slip in a sorry attempt to cheer her up- and you both immediately pause as soon as the words escape your mouth. Her face is hidden behind her bangs as she leans into the drawer, but you think you see the hint of a blush against her cheeks. You wonder if it really was wishful thinking after all.

That's when you see it- a pretty pink lipstick, the shade strikingly similar to the one she'd worn yesterday, you think it's the same one, if anything. You tap her arm. "Maybe- uh, that new lip-stick you wore at Pigsy's last night? I think it looks pretty cute." 

She hums, bringing it out the drawer before shutting it with her hip. She unscrews the lid, swiping it across her lips casually, and your blood rushes to your face. "You noticed it was new?" She says with a shy smile, looking at you, lights dancing in her eyes. 

"Well- yeah, you usually only wear the same shade, so it makes sense for me to-" Your blabber comes to a stop as she puts her finger right up against your lip, watching Mei laugh for a minute, stunned.

"I was just teasing you, no need to get so worked up. I saw you staring, anyways, and I'm flattered." She says with a nonchalant tone like she didn't just drop a bomb on you in your already frazzled state, "Good to know it was because you think my lips are pretty and not because I had sauce on my face." 

You think you can feel steam pouring out the top of your head, because you honest to god can't believe Mei just said that- she moves back to rummaging in a different drawer, and her bangs do little to conceal her grin this time. 

She brings out a different tube of lip-stick, and you try not to act too disappointed that you won't be using the same one she did. You still wonder how it tastes.

She tugs your chin back into her palm, starting to apply the rouge to your mouth. Your lips tingle at the contact, and you picture the press of her lips against yours instead, wondering how she'd taste. You don't think you're imagining the tension between you two, now.

"Hmm…" Mei hums, and even though the hand with the tube falls down once she's done, her other hand remains cupping your jaw, thumb rubbing under your lip to clean up the lip-stick. Her eyes are half-lidded, and a contemplative look crosses her face for a second.

She leans in closer, closer, closer. Her palm cradles your face gently, keeping it in place. You hold your breath. She waits for a moment, giving you the chance to pull away. You wouldn't ever dream of it.

You're barely inches away now, her nose brushing against yours. You feel her breath, hot on your cheeks, and your body shivers in delight. Her eyes fall down to your lips for a split-second, and she finally leans in-

And moves a little to the side at the last second.

Her lips end up just at the corner of your own, pressing firmly. She lingers for a while, and you feel both frustration and adoration bubble up inside you, a flurry of butterflies erupting in your stomach. If you'd had just a smidge more courage, you'd have pulled her into you for a proper kiss immediately.

She pulls back, still close enough to make your heart rush with heat, admiring her work. There's a pink lip-stick stain at the corner of your mouth, smeared a little to the left, marring your otherwise clean makeup.

"You know, I thought the asymmetry would make you look less perfect-" She starts, voice quivering, "but I think it just did the opposite."

Mei stares down at you, a little nervous, a little bashful, but happy. Her own lip-stick is a little messed up now, too. You don't think you've ever seen a prettier sight. You want to find out what her lips taste like.

You grab at her shirt collar, and her eyes widen for a moment before you pull her into you, lips melding together messily. Your eyes are screwed shut, and you only start to relax once she starts kissing you back, pressing insistently against your lips. The lip-stick clatters to the floor, but neither of you pay it any mind.

Her hands settle on your hips, tugging you closer, closer, pressing your front up against hers. Your hands tangle in her hair, tugging at it lightly, and the muffled moan she lets out against your mouth sends a rush of heat through your body. You can't get enough of her- her taste is addicting, and you hazily wonder why you hadn't done this sooner.

Your tongue pokes out against her lips, and her hold around your waist tightens. You pull backwards just an inch, enough to speak, whispering hurriedly, "cherry."

She stares at you, eyes foggy, breath coming out in pants, "whuh?"

"Your lip-stick. Tastes like cherry. I was wondering earlier." You mumble against her skin, nuzzling your face into her cheek as you speak. Her chest shakes with laughter against yours, "That's what you were really glaring at me for?" 

Mei pushes you forward, your back straining against the foot of her bed. She keeps going, your body flopping on the bed unceremoniously, hers following after you. She stays above you, caging you between her arms and thighs. She smirks at you and your heartbeat rushes through your ears.

"If you wanted to know so bad, you could've just asked." She says with a snicker, her head angling itself towards yours, breaths mingling together, "Now you've got me wondering what yours tastes like." 

You're about to tell her to shut up and kiss you when the atmosphere is promptly shattered when her phone starts to ring, Welcome To The Black Parade being her ring-tone.

Mei tries to ignore it, flopping down on top of you. She groans into your chest, "god, what does MK want? Now? Really?" 

You clamber upwards, frantically reaching for her phone on the night-stand, "shit, Mei, the party!" You click her phone open, the screen showing you that you're a full two hours late. 

"Just- hand it over here." She grumbles, and you do so without a complaint. She swipes right to answer the call, "Hellooo-" 

You can't quite hear what MK's saying, you just know he's shouting real loud- or maybe that's the background noise? You're not sure, but whatever it is makes Mei gasp. 

They talk for a minute, Mei cackling at every word MK says on the other end- you think you catch a few mentions of Red Son, something about the building shutting down?- 

Mei says her goodbyes quickly, hanging up before MK even replies. She's grinning at you, excited and elated.

"What'd he tell you?" You ask, hand threading through her hair. She giggles for a second, trying to get the words out.

"He- god, we should've been there- Red Son's cap fell off while he was- hah- dancing, and apparently everyone recognised him immediately, and they tried to kick him and MK out-" her words dissolve into laughter, and you laugh alongside her.

Once you both quiet down, you brush her hair behind her ear, pursing your lips. "So…no party, then?" 

Mei's smile turns pleased, her hands settling back around you, "Nope. We've got the whole night to ourselves."

You peck her lips quickly, "better make the most of it, then." 

You're both late to group breakfast the next day, and despite MK's pestering questions, you don't explain why.

You and Mei share a knowing smile across the booth, fingers intertwining under the table as you eat. When she moves to re-apply her lip-stick after her meal, you ask her if you can have it, too. She leans in and kisses you, short and sweet, and you thank her while MK gawks behind you.

[thedeerman]

I read very fast (and my friend makes it very obvious that it’s weird) so no chapter is ever “too long” for me. In my opinion, I love longer chapters!

thank you!! definitely appreciating the input from everyone!! i think I may start making the gaps between POVs more obvious/noticeable so it can kind of bookmark a stopping point for people that don’t want to read it all at once. since most chapters have at least one POV switch, i’m hoping that could be best of both worlds- lots of content for anyone that’s ready to eat it all up but also slightly more segmented for anyone that wants to only read a portion at a time.

(y’all please give me thoughts and how you feel about this idea, other similar suggestions are welcome as well!)

[heartoflesh]

Some people go to college, others don't. Some people want to be lawyers, some people want to be authors, some people want to be social workers. Some people are really good at science, others are really good at music.

Some places get hurricanes, others get tornados, others get earthquakes, tsunamis, or monsoons.

That thing may not be for you, even though someone else has it. And signs come in different forms for everyone.

[mundanemoongirl]

here are some of the substansial changes I’ve made while working on my second draft. I was a little lost while starting this draft so I hope this helps other writers who aren’t sure of changes that need to be made

changed a minor character’s name to better fit the story

scrapped the prologue and wrote a new one. then after further thought got rid of it altogether because not every story needs a prologue

added more details about what my mc is thinking

added more details about my worldbuilding—this includes more explanations of the magic system and the world’s history

fixed pacing by taking whole scenes out of crowded chapters and working them into other chapters

changed the locations of some scenes to give more uses to unique spaces I created and to better match the mood

gave a minor character something to do after forgetting about her a third of the way through the first draft

fixed two plotlines I forgot to resolve by tying them together so I only needed one solution

fixed a mary sue moment by making my mc’s action remain successful but result in lifelong consequences

rewrote a character introduction after realizing I wrote a similar introduction for a different character

[optiwashere]

How do you manage to write smut that's like, actually arousing? What's the secret?

Well, first of all thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it, I really am. Happy to hear from you here as well 💜

Also, I'll let you in on my secret — I can't stand almost anything I write after it's posted. I see nothing but the flaws, grammatical choices, and technical foibles. This extends triple, quadruple, to smut. So if you're feeling the same kinda way, that your writing feels somehow off, then just know you're not alone.

I could give some pointers, but I don't really know how much benefit anyone will get hearing these from me of all people. But in my opinion it's a lot of the non-smut aspects that highlight the smut and make it shine. So here ya go.

Keep it in-character. I'm not out here talking as an authority on anyone's characterization, nor am I saying I'm some master of it and there are plenty of people out there with differing opinions, so take this with a colossal mountain of salt. But you should focus on making the voices, internal thoughts, and prose in keeping with the POV character. This is something called "POV control" and it's a very useful skill. Be able to flow in and out of a character's POV as the need arises. How Shadowheart interacts with sex is very different from Karlach is different from Orin, for example.

Strong focus on dialogue. This is a sorta addendum to the first point. Characters shouldn't suddenly turn silent when they're having sex. That is, unless that's the point of the story! They should also be speaking in-character even (or especially) during sex. Also, "porn dialogue" is something that gets brought up a lot in writing, and I think we all know it when we read it. That being said, people in the real world do say things during sex that, out of context, are hilarious. So it's a balancing act.

Fitting descriptions. This is actually one of the more important ones! If a scene is very romantic and meant to be light and fluffy, maybe avoid words for genitals altogether and focus entirely on simple visual aesthetics (how moonlight plays on a body, to give an example). If it's meant to be rough and focused on bodies or the mechanics of the scene, ham it up on those words. This also isn't a binary. Things flow back and forth all the time.

Firm language. I don't mean, like, power dynamics "firm." I'm talking about a willingness to use the words that fit the descriptions and sticking to it. Some people despise certain words, but other people will find the alternatives hilarious and completely tone-breaking. Find the words you like and stick to them; consistency gives your voice strength.

Don't try to appease everybody. You just can't. You have to write what you personally enjoy reading/writing/doing/thinking about, and go with it. If you try to cater to everyone's whims with any of the above, you'll wind up with a beige platter of nothingness. That doesn't mean you can't explore other tones or flavors, but don't try to do too much in one story.

Focus on emotions. Emotions could mean anything from love to lust to anxiety to fear to uncertainty and so on and so forth. My strategy is to center a fic on a theme/emotion that resonates with the characters involved and then I explore the smut around that central point. Revisit the idea between the action. Show how the characters' feelings around the theme change or how they're reaffirmed.

[myfemininedivine]

Can you please tell us what ending you planned for Taste? Always wondered if stupid Eva would have come back in the last chapters and what else you planned. It's my favorite story of yours.

I’ll give a very very bad and horrible run down of the last few chaps I had. I deeply apologize for not finishing, but I’m sure you understand. Still, im so sorry to not finish something I started.

The run down for the rest of TASTE would've been this:

Basically, if we focusing on the main couple..... (not gonna explain the smut but just know ofc it woulda been there)

WE LOVE IN SEPTEMBER:

I wanted to focus on all the miscommunication/horrible commitment issues. Most of the focus is on Lexi’s past relationship (guy basically ghosts her, moves out without comment, had commitment issues, extremely similar to Fezco in some ways except he never quite gets attached to Lexi unless she had other ppl after her; was planning on this guy and Fezco meeting in this chapter — Fezco does not know that this guy is the infamous ex).

You get a glimpse into Fezco and Lexi as an actual pairing, not just sex partners. Lot more domestic. curtains are OPEN. Fezco asks about her past relationship and gets the full picture. He sleeps over at her place most nights. He wants her to know that he’s serious about her, so they redo their entire first meeting. Retrace their footsteps under diff context. They go on an actual date, not just some meet up at the same diner I featured them in. She does meet Ash; some faye interaction. We r finally seeing a revealed business fezco voice!!!! lexi is like oh that's fine af actually.

Fezco does meet up with Eva to completely cut the tie. He feels that the only string between them is the fact that she sort of changed his life — I believe that it would’ve been like this reveal: how he got his job? She was the connect!!! And so he feels obligated to be there for her. From what I remember???). Lexi finds this out through Rue.

So, she inevitably doesn't know how to confront him. It doesn't matter tho bc Fezco tells her the moment that they meet!!!!!!

Anyway!

Rue is still plowing through relationship issues. Lexi meets up with Jules and basically sees the effects of heartbreak and gets some bad after taste of it. Jules reveals that it's not that she doesn't love Rue, it's that she doesn't know if they're ready or if they'll ever be ready. She's struggling with trusting the future. This sucks to Lexi. She trusts Fezco, but she also trusted rue and Jules relationship as it was the only stable relationship she had ever been exposed to. If not them, why would it would for her? (and nothing works out for her fr so it's like.)

Core thing is that Lexi is not really sure if she’s capable of trusting someone. All she knows is that she loves him and love is a fleeting, futile thing that doesn't have reason. Without reason, she goes to Fezco's apartment that same night, totally withdrawn and troubled, and he opens the door, doesn't ask question, pulls her into bed with him. This is where he tells her that he sort of really likes her, and she says that sort of really likes him. At first she's content with just that, but then he says something like 'I sort of really more than like you' and all of these thoughts sort of float and die away somewhere between that.

WE BLEED IN OCTOBER:

Halloween party is held to take place as planned by Fezco and Lexi (trying their absolute hardest to rekindle Jules/Rue) annnnddd Fezco does invite Lexi’s ex without realizing !!! It goes batshit crazy!!!!! Rue and Jules do not interact, Fezco's lead to believe that they're rlly done with each other (plot twist tho as Jules and Rue do reconcile and get caught being steamy in another room!!!!! who woulda thought !!!!!).

Lexi sees her ex, gets into a splat where this man is just DYING to get back w her all of a sudden since he seen Lexi and Fezco being full adults in love and shit. The guy does ask if Fezco is her boyfriend, and she hesitates. Fezco overhears this, basically gets this guy out and the energy between him and lexi just BOOM EXPLODE. They go into a separate room, have bit of an argument because he's confused as to why she didn't call him her boyfriend; she says she doesn't know why she hesitated.

Then, he says, "I love you, do you love me?"

She says yes but she admits to not knowing how to fully allow herself to. This literally KILLS him. Fezco says he's not a science experiment for her to prick and play with, and she either wants him or doesn't. They either work or they don't.

Lexi doesn't respond.

Fezco's distraught but calmly decides to take a break with their relationship at the end of this chapter. He isn't angry, he just really wishes they'd met with different intentions/desires.

WE FEAR IN NOVEMBER

you know how the chapter starts with the month? I was thinking of just being like "November." and then having blank space like BITCHHH LFAOOOOO I thought I was so slick for thinking of starting the chap all ominious with the twilight shit (Bellas depressed era!!!!).

ANYWAY. November.

Set the scene. They don’t talk. It’s hard to do that shit when you’re always 1 degree away from the person and planning a very very very small wedding ceremony that's due in 3 weeks. And the worst part? He doesn’t ignore her. He looks her in the eye, pretends as though they never tore away from each other. like !!!! He has literally no animosity for her and she's so riddled with guilt that she doesn't know how to soothe the fact that they aren't together without being selfish, saying she wants him when she, herself, is pretty broken in some way. but she loves him. she knows it but it's hard to accept that 'this' (her) is all she has to offer. She wishes he’d ignore her. He wishes she had more decency to not ignore him.

Wedding ceremony happens. Lexi IS best girl as Fezco IS best man, and they do walk down the aisle together. very much tension!!!! He tells her that she's beautiful!!!!!!! and she tells him that she misses him, to no response from him as the have to go on and walk in front of everyone. a bit gloomy but Fezco does stay looking at Lexi, and they do have a lil dance moment later in the night.

While everyone is cooling at the lil wedding after party, Lexi confesses to Rue that she always wanted something like that, what she has with Jules. And Rue basically hints that Lexi does even if it incarnated differently. Gives her some pep talk. If Jules didn't confront Rue, they wouldn't have gotten back together vice versa on if Rue didn't ask Jules out, they would've never been together. The chances of finding someone is slim and fleeting, that's why you grip onto the ones that root something into you. Fezco (of course) leaves the party.

Lexi does show up at his apartment later that night. He opens the door, doesn't know what to say but Lexi says that she's not all together, being broken and all. Fezco says that he is too, so they're of the same thing. A beat and then she says I love you and you love me. Fezco nods, says every little piece.

This terrifies Lexi and, in conjunction, terrifies Fezco. but what's worse to her is not being with him. And, thank the lucky stars, as he says some shit like “well I guess we gonna be scared together huh?” And she brightens up and says that she's never been so happy to be scared.

WE TASTE IN DECEMBER:

More of an epilogue. A calm after all that stupid shit.

Lexi decides to renew her apartment lease as does Fezco. They upgrade them friendship bracelets!!!!! Ash got himself a girl, on the phone with Fezco as he's getting ready for a lil party.

Reveal that mans has apartment key privileges!! He's letting himself in her apt and calling out her name !!!!

New years party that will be held at Jules's/rue's place (woop woop), Lexi is late as always but it’s ok bc daddy Fezco is there to joke about her needing to wear heels so she can stop running from him!!!!!!!!!!! They go, separate for a bit at the party where she DOES refer to him as her boyfriend, as he does refer to her as his girlfriend; then come back to the couch where they originally met. Lexi sits first, Fezco finds her this time!!! He jokes about whether she’s still in the streets and she says some cheesy shit like yeah, waiting for you (and we scream TOUCHDOWN!!!!). Fezco and Lexi basically simmer in their seats, smiling and kissing and finally fully engulfed, entwined to the soul.

P.S. Guilty pleasures would've morph into a connection between both characters; more interpersonal things rather than materialistic/celebratory items.

Here’s some of the writing that sits all glum! Hope this explanation gives plenty of closure.

[myymi]

ohh if you can i would appreciate some tips!! honestly writers are so admirable we dont give yall enough credit🙏🙏🙏

well, for me to give you the absolute best tips i can to help out, i need to know what exactly you're struggling with when it comes to writing. there are about a million different tips i can give you for about a million different things and some of those tips will be completely useless to you

for now though, i'll give you the things that help me getting into a writing mood + general tips i give to new writers and if you still need further help you can explain what exactly you're struggling with and ill do my best to help out;

1) whatever you learned about formatting essays; forget it.

a common thing i see in new writers is they try to write it like an essay. which isn't a bad idea really, but it is restricting. your paragraphs don't have to be four or more sentences. they can only be one if you want. it's your story, format it however you want. you don't need to follow rules

2) listening to music

this is mostly for when you have that one specific scene in your head but have no idea what to do for the rest of the fic. listening to music and connecting the lyrics to the characters you're using is a great way to get your mind thinking. one song can give you several different ideas depending on how you interpret it

3) make sure you are in a good mood

personally, i cannot write to save my life if im upset or just generally having a bad day. i know some people can use creating as a way to cheer themselves up, but it just doesn't work out for me lol

4) if you don't need background noise, don't use it

it's pretty easy to get distracted when writing, especially when you have something new playing. if you do need background noise of some kind, i would advise playing instrumental music or that one movie/show that you've seen a thousand times and could quote in your sleep. keep your focus on your writing

5) brackets will be your best fucking friend when writing

one of the most important things about writing is keeping your flow going. if you find yourself writing sentence after sentence for a good while and then you suddenly hit a stop because you don't know how to word what happens next; throw it in brackets and write the scene after it. its the same reason why you're told to skip questions you get stuck on when taking a test. let your brain do what it knows it can and come back to the tricky stuff later.

6) you don't have to write anything in order

you don't have to write a story exactly start to finish. you can jump between any scene you'd like and find out how to connect it to a different scene another time. this kinda ties into the last tip in the sense that you gotta let your brain do what it knows. if you only know the beginning and the end then write those first and figure out the rest as you go. if you need to edit either one of the previous things then that's okay. there's no shame in changing things around, it's just how creating things go. sometimes change is needed

7) writing prompts

for new writers, i like to tell them to find a prompt online to write a story for before they start their own. using a prompt someone else made keeps your brain from getting overwhelmed, allowing you to focus more on finding a writing style that works best for you. using writing prompts also lets your brain find ways to contribute to a story without having it make everything while also figuring out how to put it on paper. it's easy to overwhelm the brain, so let it get used to writing before you start creating your own ideas. (this is also something i advise to people who experience burnout or just cant think of anything to write. your brain just needs a break from creating ideas right now, go and find a prompt for it)

8) word count

listen to me because this is so important; ignore the word count. you need to focus on learning, not how much you're writing. it doesn't matter if you only wrote 50 words when other people have fics well over 50k. ignore it. you are learning, you'll get there eventually. if you focus too much on how much you're writing you're going to stress yourself out and ultimately drive yourself away from ever writing again. treat word counts as milestones. start with 50, then 100, then 150, then 200, etc. let yourself work towards it slowly rather than push yourself too hard right out the gate. you can't expect to draw the mona lisa the first time you put a pencil to a paper, so don't expect to write thousands of words the first time you write a story. it'll take time, and that's perfectly okay.

9) analyze the shit out of your characters

this is easier when writing fanfiction, but take a few hours to learn your characters. find the content they're in and hyper-focus on what they're doing. pay attention to their speech patterns, their body language, their relationships with others, etc. if they're not in a scene, try to imagine they are and what'd they do and/or say if they were. it'll help out with keeping them in character when writing

10) if you get to a point where you can't write anymore even when using brackets; stop writing for the day

we have our limits. you will get to a point where you can't get another word down and that's okay. it doesn't matter if you've only written a handful of words, close your program and wait until you feel motivation hit you again. if you keep trying to force yourself to write when you just can't then you're going to burn yourself out. the most probable reason for this is writer's block, which means you need to focus on other things for a while. give your brain time to recollect itself. it's annoying, i know, but it's better for you if you just let your brain do what it needs to. it knows how to take care of itself, so let it.

i also have a tag i use whenever i give tips, so you can check those out as well to see if anything helps! it's just writing tips