peachnewt

[peachnewt]

GenAI and writing in its shadow

I see a lot of creative writers express anxiety or even despair because of how good GenAI or LLMs (Large Language Models) seem to be at writing.

What I want to say is, please don't worry.

Having both worked in software development and been writing for a while, I'd like to happily say that GenAI is ✨garbage✨ at writing good stories because of two big reasons:

They lose the plot too easily and can't do callbacks or non-linear writing, because there is a hard upper limit to what an LLM can 'remember'. Even when presented with something like a plan that they have to follow, they don't necessarily connect each step of the plan to each other; they'll do each calculation in isolation, finish with it, then move on to the next. Because narratives, especially when you have more than one character, become these tangled webs of different 'plans' happening simultaneously, the LLM will 🎶 itself trying to remember and instead begin to 'improvise' solutions, much of which will deviate wildly from the plan and the narrative itself.

Also, did you notice how I used the words calculation and solutions? LLMs understand words and meaning as numbers. The next word in a sentence is math to them: they use statistics to guess which word would probably follow the word before it and still be relevant. This doesn't work for narratives because there's these wonderful things called ✨nuance, subtlety, emotional resonance, and subtext✨, and none of that is quantifiable. You can't put a number value on the 'why' of a character shrugging, or heck, not saying anything—that is literally 0 to an LLM, and thus impossible for it to calculate.

Both of these issues aren't just math or coding problems. The first requires absurd (and insanely costly) leaps in computing power and hardware. The second requires building an LLM on something that... isn't a computer.

Write your hearts out. Don't be afraid. The world needs us to stay creative, because while science and technology give us the ways and means to live our lives, creativity and emotion give us the reason to be alive. 💖

[peachnewt]

It's a sensitive subject among dragons, hoards. It's not polite to admit you compare sizes, though most do. And questioning another dragon's choice of subject is just not done.

Except... hoards are, above all else, meant to be valuable.

"Face it, Fafnir. It was a fad."

"I love my Beanie Babies!"

[peachnewt]

"What does your infernal device do?" Captain Clever asked while locking the handcuffs.

"It's a hopebeam," Dr. Dastard said. "When I start it, everyone in the city will find hope that things can change."

"Why?"

"So they'll get disappointed and buy my ice cream to cope."

"Hm. How do I turn it on?"

[peachnewt]

merfolk vampires oughtta be lampreys. plus imagine the visual of them having a normal-looking human mouth but they can stretch their mouth wide into a circular saw-blade sucker

Mermay in June? Its more likely than you think.

Watch the quality gradually get better as I pull myself out of burnout/artblock

Y'all can thank @drinkme-gt for encouraging my leechy delusions

[peachnewt]

why bother caring about the environment when 1. It’s so obviously a lost cause and 2. There’s definitely going to be a nuclear war?

And what are you doing about it Anon? Learn about ecological restoration or get out of my way.

[peachnewt]

You've always had a sneaking suspicion that your friend was secretly a god pretending to be human, but you've never been able to prove it. Until they slipped up one day by doing something only a god could do.

[peachnewt]

Zoom In, Don’t Glaze Over: How to Describe Appearance Without Losing the Plot

You’ve met her before. The girl with “flowing ebony hair,” “emerald eyes,” and “lips like rose petals.” Or him, with “chiseled jawlines,” “stormy gray eyes,” and “shoulders like a Greek statue.”

We don’t know them.

We’ve just met their tropes.

Describing physical appearance is one of the trickiest — and most overdone — parts of character writing. It’s tempting to reach for shorthand: hair color, eye color, maybe a quick body scan. But if we want a reader to see someone — to feel the charge in the air when they enter a room — we need to stop writing mannequins and start writing people.

So let’s get granular. Here’s how to write physical appearance in a way that’s textured, meaningful, and deeply character-driven.

1. Hair: It’s About Story, Texture, and Care

Hair says a lot — not just about genetics, but about choices. Does your character tame it? Let it run wild? Is it dyed, greying, braided, buzzed, or piled on top of her head in a hurry?

Good hair description considers:

Texture (fine, coiled, wiry, limp, soft)

Context (windblown, sweat-damp, scorched by bleach)

Emotion (does she twist it when nervous? Is he ashamed of losing it?)

Flat: “Her long brown hair framed her face.”

Better: “Her ponytail was too tight, the kind that whispered of control issues and caffeine-fueled 4 a.m. library shifts.”

You don’t need to romanticise it. You need to make it feel real.

2. Eyes: Less Color, More Connection

We get it: her eyes are violet. Cool. But that doesn’t tell us much.

Instead of focusing solely on eye color, think about:

What the eyes do (do they dart, linger, harden?)

What others feel under them (seen, judged, safe?)

The surrounding features (dark circles, crow’s feet, smudged mascara)

Flat: “His piercing blue eyes locked on hers.”

Better: “His gaze was the kind that looked through you — like it had already weighed your worth and moved on.”

You’re not describing a passport photo. You’re describing what it feels like to be seen by them.

3. Facial Features: Use Contrast and Texture

Faces are not symmetrical ovals with random features. They’re full of tension, softness, age, emotion, and life.

Things to look for:

Asymmetry and character (a crooked nose, a scar)

Expression patterns (smiling without the eyes, habitual frowns)

Evidence of lifestyle (laugh lines, sun spots, stress acne)

Flat: “She had a delicate face.”

Better: “There was something unfinished about her face — as if her cheekbones hadn’t quite agreed on where to settle, and her mouth always seemed on the verge of disagreement.”

Let the face be a map of experience.

4. Bodies: Movement > Measurement

Forget dress sizes and six packs. Think about how bodies occupy space. How do they move? What are they hiding or showing? How do they wear their clothes — or how do the clothes wear them?

Ask:

What do others notice first? (a presence, a posture, a sound?)

How does their body express emotion? (do they go rigid, fold inwards, puff up?)

Flat: “He was tall and muscular.”

Better: “He had the kind of height that made ceilings nervous — but he moved like he was trying not to take up too much space.”

Describing someone’s body isn’t about cataloguing. It’s about showing how they exist in the world.

5. Let Emotion Tint the Lens

Who’s doing the describing? A lover? An enemy? A tired narrator? The emotional lens will shape what’s noticed and how it’s described.

In love: The chipped tooth becomes charming.

In rivalry: The smirk becomes smug.

In mourning: The face becomes blurred with memory.

Same person. Different lens. Different description.

6. Specificity is Your Superpower

Generic description = generic character. One well-chosen detail creates intimacy. Let us feel the scratch of their scarf, the clink of her earrings, the smudge of ink on their fingertips.

Examples:

“He had a habit of adjusting his collar when he lied — always clockwise, always twice.”

“Her nail polish was always chipped, but never accidentally.”

Make the reader feel like they’re the only one close enough to notice.

Describing appearance isn’t just about what your character looks like. It’s about what their appearance says — about how they move through the world, how others see them, and how they see themselves.

Zoom in on the details that matter. Skip the clichés. Let each description carry weight, story, and emotion. Because you’re not building paper dolls. You’re building people.

[peachnewt]

"Why are they calling me an Evil Overlord?" the Evil Overlord said.

"There is a saying that 'evil starts with treating people as things'," a minion said.

"So? I treat all people with dignity and respect!"

"You often change your definition of who's 'people', though."

"Doesn't everybody?"

[peachnewt]

Here we gooooo!

(If you're an Aussie at Sydnova come say hi~)

[peachnewt]

Jax so normal about Ceres when he finally figures out his feelings towards her.

Sometimes he just looks at her and his heart goes flflbblblblbl <3

[peachnewt]

The sketch of the bush vs the sneaky pic my mum took while I was struggling with tape on my fingers

[peachnewt]

watching a movie at home circa like, 2001 was like

put your TV on channel 2 so the VCR will work

open up the clamp shell case that held the VHS that has that satisfying crrlikkkkkk

put in the movie

gdi it has to be rewound

press STOP and then rewind because its so much faster that way

start the movie and it takes a few seconds for the movie to actually start cause you rewound to the VERY beginning

FBI will get you if you illegally distribute or exhibit this movie

and then. because you forgot that movies are always so much louder than TV

COMING SOON TO OWN ON VIDEO AND DVD

QUICK LOWER THE VOLUME LOWER THE VOLUME LOWER THE VOLUME OH FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay crisis averted.

although. these ads are kind of quiet. a little hard to hear.....

better turn up the volume...

THX

[peachnewt]

kill the imposter syndrome in your head because not only is there someone out there doing it worse than you, they’re also using chat gpt to do it

[peachnewt]

"I worry about the prince," the king said.

"What is the issue?" said the witch.

"We held balls with all eligible ladies, but he found none. So we held tourneys, with all eligible knights. Still none."

"There are those who seek none."

"So none can turn his head?"

"Perhaps. Ask him."

"Amazing!"

[peachnewt]

The other night husband and I were watching a documentary about the yeti where they were doing DNA analysis of samples of supposed yeti fur, and every one of them came back as bears.

Anyway, the next night we watched a thing about some pig man who is supposed to live in Vermont. People said it had claws and a pig nose but walked upright like a man. Now, I happen to know that sideshows used to shave bears and present them as pig men. So every piece of evidence they gave of this monster sounds to me like a bear with mange.

So now the running joke in our house is that everything is bears. Aliens? Bears. Loch Ness monster? Bear. Every cryptozoological mystery is just a very crafty bear.

Bears. They’re everywhere. Be wary. Anyone or anything could be a bear.

[peachnewt]

Kzerplt extruded a querysome appendage.

"Professor, why is my report marked as Fail?"

"Clearly, you have just made things up."

"I did not! I found and studied an uncontacted world, and reported truthly!"

"Absurd! A technological yet irrational society? This 'Earth' you dreamed up is nonsense!"

[peachnewt]

"May I have your name?" the faerie said.

"William," she said with a smile.

"Ah ah!" The faerie gave a wicked laugh. "I have your name! Now no-one will call you by it!"

"Thank you," she said.

"To win it back, you must- what?"

"I will find me a new one," she said, "one that suits me better."