#you have to justify this

[zmediaoutlet]

if you're doing the fic writer asks, 44 and/or 52!

oh, thank you for sending one :) let's see:

44. any writing advice you want to share?

In general I think it's a good idea to think about what a character would actually do in a situation and have them do it, rather than think about what the story needs or what the trope requires and cram the character into that box. But this is a particular kind of writing which not all fic falls into. I much prefer character-realism, whenever possible. A lot of stories, you can tell someone's thought of a joke and they want to put it in, and humorlessly I go but Sam would never think that; or they want the sex scene to go a particular way for porny reasons or even thematic reasons, and horntlessly I go but Dean would never go for that in this moment, also where did the lube come from; or they want a character to have an emotional moment in order to further the plot, and coldly I go John would never express that -- and it's almost never because any of those things are literally impossible for the characters (...Sam's sense of humor perhaps aside), but because the writer hasn't done the supporting work to prove how a character might make such a leap.

All stories are a series of proofs that the writer is engaging with to lead the reader from logical step to logical step. If you skip a bunch of them, I fall down the stairs. And then I'm bruised, and mad, and not paying any attention to your story bc I need an ice pack. So. If you're going to have Sam crack an OOC joke, you'd better have meticulously set up the situation around him so that it follows logically that he will have done so, or I'm limping.

52. how many unfinished ideas/stories are you working on at the same time?

I don't actually pick up and drop stories in rotation, although I've heard that can be a good way to manage writer's block (though I've equally heard that it's a good way to have an endless parade of WIPs that you never actually sack up and finish, so. who's right). That said, doesn't mean that there isn't a sad pile of 'hmm what should I do next, idk, let's think about it for three years' unfinished bois sitting in my fic folder. I did used to think that none of them would ever be done, but given that I managed to finish the genderswap thing with only two paragraphs done ~8 years after the idea, I'm hopeful. It should be a year of finishing.

At the moment there are 8 fics I have an actual start made on and think it's feasible I could finish them. Ideas that haven't actually been started yet: 37.

[kensatou]

fascinated/horrified by this set of tweets…

[sexhaver]

calling the cops on someone else in america for drug use is the most comically evil action i can think of that you can still admit to in public and (unfortunately) not be shunned/exiled/physically attacked for. you're very explicitly saying that your sheltered discomfort with seeing someone do drugs is worth ruining that person's entire life over (even though you could get the same effect by just continuing to walk past the drug user until you never see them again). 18th century dauphin mindset. "papá! papá! i espied that peasant over yonder partaking of a snuffbox! throw him in the dungeon, lest my delicate morals be corrupted any further!" kill yourself perhaps

[un-ionizetheradlab]

It makes me so uncomfortable to see people post blatantly anti-Jewish content and then turn right around and stan Jewish historical figures. Like, do they hate us or love us?

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

Hot take: I actually think men and women are meant to work together and complement each other and not like,,, dislike each other and be divisive.

[damianbugs]

i got an ao3 comment a while ago saying how it was "uncomfortable" and "out of character" for bruce to use terms of endearment and nicknames towards his kids in fics. which proves to me that some people have truly rotted minds, but also that you've never picked up a batman comic. so, here are some nice panels that show it is very much in character.

sweetheart:

Batman (1940) #452

honey:

Batman (1940) #318 & Batman/Grendel (1993) #2

little one:

Batman and Robin (2011) #22

lad:

Detective Comics (1937) #573 & #574

chum:

Detective Comics (1937) #570 & Superman Annual (1985) #11

good boy:

Robin & Batman (2021) #3

[moonyinpisces]

the concept of crowley and aziraphale being like vocally pro civil rights of marginalized communities is especially hilarious considering witch burnings were like. canonically happening while they were on earth. neither of them were rushing to lift a finger about THAT one

[v-poreons]

That's it that's their dynamic

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The penisest of tunes.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[uncanny-tranny]

"What if I'm not trans, what if I'm choosing to be trans for [list of reasons]"

I am grabbing you by the shoulders and shaking you like a can of soda. If, for whatever reason, you looked within yourself and decided to be trans - you're still trans. We (as trans people) don't need to have an "I always knew" story. We don't need to have the ~magical transsexual gene~. It's incredibly hard for so many of us to figure out why we're trans, and if being trans was always a choice, the reasons for choosing to be trans would be complex. If being trans is always a choice, that doesn't negate that we deserve human dignity and respect for who we are.

It shouldn't matter if you chose your trans identity or not, becayse you still are a person. You breath the same air I do, and you deserve to live how you want, on your terms. You watch the same sunrises and sunsets I do, you are here. I, for one, welcome you no matter what your inner reflections are about your transness. You have a place in this world, you have inherent worth.

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[luthienne]

anyway literally everyone is going through something all the time!!! everyone is wounded!!! everyone is human & no one makes it out of this life unscathed!! maybe try approaching people in good faith instead of always defaulting to the worst possible interpretations of each other

[benevolenterrancy]

("Always. Continuously. With increasing apprehension, and decreasing hope. I will love you if I never see you again, and I will love you if I see you every Tuesday. I will love you as a corpse loves the beak of the vulture. I will love you no matter what happens to you, and no matter how I discover what happens to you, and no matter what happens to me as I discover this." -- paraphrased from The Beatrice Letters, Lemony Snicket)

[ariaste]

swear to god if I read another motherfucking fic where these vampires pause to get the lube I am going to have a fucking mental breakdown and chew holes in the walls. i have had it up to here. this is an intervention. this is a come-to-jesus moment. what are you doing. are you thinking about your choices. why are you making them have sex like they're humans instead of weird fucked-up vampire sex. look into my eyes. can you please consider your worldbuilding choices and make ones that are less excruciatingly boring. look at me. you're being the softest beigest pillow if you make them use human lube. i'm serious. i will die on this hill.

fight me in the comments if you disagree or you feel huffy about this, i don't care. come at me, bro, i own the night.

[fingolfinwiththesteelchair]

It is a beautiful day, and you are a horrible research transport vessel. Things are progressing as normal (i.e. it's boring) when a SecUnit pings you, lies right to your metaphorical face, and then tries to bribe you with human media to give it a ride. This is as unexpected as it is unprecedented, and the sheer nerve of it is really to be admired. There's no protocol to this, so what should you do?

Now, this is against a bunch of rules, and could be dangerous if you weren't so impressive and incredible, and you're technically an employee (and can probably rewrite the Univeristy charter at will (until someone notices and puts it back)) so those rules are for other entities.

So, what you should do is allow the rogue SecUnit with a broken governor module and a sketchy story aboard. If you check the files it dumps and find zero (0) malware (which is confusing), and it doesn't even try to trash the place or lay in wait to ambush a crew member, then you've got a good candidate!

Next, what you're going to want to do is absolutely nothing. Just watch it patrol your halls until it's time to leave. Continue staring at it while you're undergoing embarkment procedures. Maybe analyze it a little (you've got plenty of processing power to spare) when it finally sits down and starts watching media. Allow it to settle in and get comfortable while you stare at it and get further and further from port.

Now that you two are alone (intimacy is key!) and you've determined that watching media is all the SecUnit is going to do, it's time to make contact! Make sure to open by telling it it's only survived due to dumb luck, and letting it know you could melt its brain into putty. This starter will work to develop conversation naturally and smoothly, just like you've seen the humans do, and it will be smooth sailing from there!

This has been Perihelion's guide to making friends/finding life partners/fuck off Holism I had to work hard for this find your own

[dykedvonte]

Curly's little blurb on his steam trading card just keeps reminding me he is a much more miserable person than people realize.

We don't get a lot of his thoughts, inner confliction that aren't bogged down by what Jimmy says or does. Even in the The Last One and Then Another, his dialogue is reflective, not the Curly before the crash but the result of everything. Parts of the him he was are there of course, but also disfigured and warped beyond recognition just like he is physically.

Curly really doesn't think much of himself and desires. He clearly chases fleeting moments of happiness. He doesn't really have prospects for himself, assumes in a similar way to Swansea, that if it should make it happy then he is happy. Though, he hasn't reached the point Swansea did to admit it doesn't. He neither sees the glass half full or empty, it's just water, something he needs and he'll take it from any perspective.

He wasn't running from anything but he's never really been going towards something either. He's listless. I've been using the term complacent to describe how he feels about his life and the closest people (really just Jimmy) in it, but now that word feels too neutral, too nice. Happier than Curly really was. There isn't just one word for it, he's unfulfilled, uncertain, uninspired. There are no active problems he faces and that's the issue, why should he be upset?

I believe he really is a person who doesn't know who he is or wants to be. He follows a structure. I don't think he's suicidal, but he clearly doesn't think about what makes him happy. He's numb. I suppose that is a better word than complacent, used to the feeling even if he hates it. It doesn't hurt so why stop it?