#it really is just trial and error!! good look anon have fun :]>

[iknowshocker]

Anon from the last question here 🙋‍♀️ LOVED your answer and love a good Kai psychoanalysis 🙌

You mentioned it’s hc that 1994 Kai is virgin!kai, which got me thinking… did he ever really have any romantic or physical experiences? (Legacies Kai never happened in my mind 🥲)

And kind of on the same note, what do you think life was like for him when he was 18-22? It’s hc for me that he was homeschooled, but we don’t really know anything from the time he turned 18 until he was sent to a prison world

omg hi!! thank you for the question i've been having so much fun answering! i should have made a place to talk about my boy sooner, i could yap about him all day 😂

(oh man legacies kai my deeply insane beloved) he's really cracked out in those episodes but there are a few little moments where he feels like himself that i hold onto lol i just wish they hadn't put in his fling with the immortal teenager like he was 👉🏼👈🏼 close to being the only man to make it out of the TVDu without an inappropriate relationship i know there's an age gap with bonnie but it's simply not the same imo

okay here we go 18-22 kai:

so i assume, in the most affectionate way possible, that he gave off major JD from the heathers vibes. (the black cargo pants with the heavy ass combat boots?? he's a scary boy and he knows it lmao)

that age of young adulthood is such a volatile time, but for kai his resentments are growing, it's getting closer and closer to the merge, and if he can just wait it out a little longer everything is finally going to change. so lots of pent up energy, studying like crazy, in general running himself into the ground to insure everything goes the way he desperately needs it to. this also explains why he built up to such a violent snap. it's the one thing he's been holding on to, he was literally born for it, and then they still take it away.

those stupid christmas sweater photos make me think that everyone was living at home up until may 10th. unlike liv/luke i think joshua kept jo/kai close because he felt he needed to watch kai. i've always found it interesting that Jo goes into the medical field but Kai has the anatomy knowledge to cut out her spleen correctly lmao i hc they both had an interest in medicine, with him looking for a cure probably and jo maybe helping him at least at first. crazy to think that they probably would have still become a dr regardless of which one of them won the og merge!

anyway yes i think they were stuck living at home, with kai basically being held hostage and Jo being forced into a caretaker role since their mother died giving birth to the baby twins. (that's not like fully confirmed but the timeline works out so to me it's basically canon lol)

i mentioned kai having PTSD centered on touch and i think that would make any sort of social stuff hard for him. he's been taught to think he's dangerous and he's not been given any tools to keep from being that way. i hc most of his knowledge of his power came from trial and error, because joshua was like "alright no magic for you keep that in check demon spawn" from the time it manifested. (listen i could write dissertations on how despicable it is that they KNEW about gemini siphons and just refused to find ways to help him) that sort of fear/mistrust over his own abilities starting at such a young age would be totally crippling.

i read a fic once where he sleep siphoned Jo when they were young and nearly killed her during a nightmare. i could absolutely see things like that happening, and it leaving him terrified to do it again. but then his sociopathy developing would give him the ability to lash out without worrying about the guilt of his actions. but just because he doesn't let himself feel guilty doesn't mean he doesn't know what he did was wrong. i can imagine it would be so conflicting to need magic to work/feel normal but the only way to get it is to hurt the only people around you day to day. just a nightmare all around.

(have you seen the deleted scene with Jo/Kai? because that monologue from him lives rent free in my mind. the panicked breathing, the sad eyes, the desperation in his tone !! i just can't handle it lmao they 100% cut it because leaving it in and still killing him would have caused riots in the streets)

being homeschooled would limit the entire family's outside interactions, but i imagine they usually left kai at the house when they went out to the shops/coven gatherings/general outings. he does have basic people skills when we meet him so it's not like he's 100% ostracized but i do think a lot of his personality is him mimicking things he's seen in movies/mirroring the people around him in a given moment. he's faking it based off of what he thinks would be correct and when he gets it wrong you can see him deflate.

if he was allowed to go out growing up, i think he probably stuck to Jo and let her do the talking. so when she started pulling away from him too and he didn't have a buffer, it was probably easier to just stay home instead of risking it on his own.

i'm a person who hears his version of "they isolated me" and Jos "our parents saw him pulling away, isolating himself" and lands somewhere in the middle. i think they had rules over him not touching anyone/made it very clear he couldn't be trusted and that left kai feeling like "okay well f you guys i'll just go back to my room" it was just easier for him to go ahead and leave instead of let them bully him into leaving.

like he's the oldest, but do we think the other siblings listened to him ?? nah, man, there's simply no way. by the time they reached 22, no one in the house but liv/luke showed much interest in him. and he had to know that the older they got, they'd grow to believe joshua/fear him too. that had to be freaking exhausting, not to mention hurtful as hell.

(i mean... "When your family decides that you are nothing but an irredeemable piece of trash, well…I guess the best thing to do is prove them right, right?” like by the time we get to the red wedding, they broke him. there's no more second chances or trying again or believing they'll change. he's done. but he had to get pushed to that point and i think it was building his entire life.)

i hc as the oldest Jo/Kai shared a car, but to be so honest i always assumed he taught himself how to drive (fast lol) in the prison world. i would love to believe they snuck out to concerts together or had little adventures growing up but i think Jo turned on him somewhere around the time she realized she wasn't going to be allowed to go off to college. she would have had her own resentments around being stuck with him because of him, and so i don't see them having much of a relationship past the age of like 16.

to circle back to romantic relationships, i just don't think kai ever had an opportunity to be close enough to anyone for anything to happen romantically or even platonically pre prison world.

that's why bonnie showing up is such a big deal. she's this beautiful, funny, smart witch and she's just suddenly !! in his world !! the fact that he can't help getting close to her means everything to me. there's something about her/her magic that just tugs him in. "yeah but i wanted to feel your hand on my chest" come ON once you know the implications of that statement how do people not melt. babes is so touch starved he's dying for anyyyyoneeee to love on him.

bonkai sidenote: im a firm believer that grams was playing matchmaker. i hc she knew kai growing up and tried to help him when she could, which is why they went the prison world route instead of simply getting rid of him. without a bennett to bind the spell it wouldn't have been possible, so she agreed to keep something else from happening to him. she literally tells bonnie she gave up her peace so that bonnie could find hers, knowing 100% she was sending her to a world where kai was waiting/he couldn't be killed/and they would have to work together to escape. even more than that, damon wasn't supposed to go !!! so grams knew they'd be alone and either assumed bonnie could handle him or believed there was enough good in kai that it wouldn't go badly for bonnie or both lol we know from the jump that grams adores bonnie, there's not a chance in hell she would have sent her there if she thought for a second kai would hurt her. i just don't think she realized how sick he would become on his own, and adding damon into the mix changes the dynamics because kai is trying to come off stronger than he is.

yikes sorry i dont know how to discuss him without discussing bonnie 🙈

again thank you for your ask!!

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

ARIIIII HI HELLO HEY !!! i got a bit busy (i hate assessments) but I'm back and I will soon read all the things I added to my tbr that you posted !! soooo excited hehe :3 I wanted to ask how you guys are playing phanpara.... i also want to see all the fun stuff and play.. ☹☹ manifesting the banners for you so you get them easily <333 - ❄ anon

❄️ ANON MY LOVE !! welcome back!!!! :3 i hope your assessments went well…. i’m proud of you for working hard 🫂🫂🫂 AND PLS don’t feel any pressure w the tbr, my fics will always be here when you have the time !!! <3333

BUT YES . phanpara ….. i’m not gonna lie to you anon getting it downloaded on ios was a whole trial of will but 😭😭 it’s actually. fairly simple. it’s easier on android (you just need to download a bunch of apps to emulate it!!) but on ios you need to manually change your appstore region to japan. and then download a vpn app. the biggest downside w ios is that there aren’t really any good translator apps!! :(( on android you can get bubble translate which lets you translate on screen text really easily…. but you won’t get anything like that on ios. so you won’t understand what the characters are saying (unless you take screenshots and throw them into an image translator)….

buuut if you’re still fine with that!! (assuming you have ios and not android)…. then i’ll leave the instructions down below :33 i’ll try to make them as clear as possible but just ask if you have any more questions!! i’d love to help!!! phanpara is sm fun…

ok so . here are all the steps !!

1) make a new appstore account!!

this step is easy :3 … i don’t. remember how i did it tho. pretty sure you just go to the appstore browser page?? or something.., and then you obv just need to add a name and a functional email address!

when you’ve made a new account, make sure that your ios is logged into it . just go to settings -> click your profile -> click on the appstore icon -> log out from your usual account and log in on the new one!! then you just need to press ”show account” to go to the next step.

2) change your region to japan!!

this is the complicated step. it’s not really that complicated though it just took me a while to figure it out 😭😭 you can use this site for reference if my descriptions confuse you lol

when you try to change your region to japan, you’ll be forced to add your name and your address. you can use your normal name (assuming it’s made up of english letters), but you’ll need to generate a jp address!! it’s actually kinda easy. this is the website i used!! it lists all the information you need in the correct order, so just . copy and paste into the settings . (i believe you’ll need to choose the prefecture manually, so just look at the prefecture name on the website and match it with the options ios gives you!!) street name, prefecture, city, zip code, phone number… etcetc. this may or may not be an illegal process but if you’re a gacha enjoyer i’m assuming you like living life on the edge.

you’ll also get the option to add a payment method, but you should be able to skip it by choosing the option at the bottom. this is important because otherwise it won’t let you change your region (unless you happen to have a japanese credit card hanging around)….

when you’ve entered all the necessary information, click the blue text in the top right corner to move on!! if you’ve done everything correctly you should be taken to the jp appstore :3

3) download phanpara + ovpnspider!!

now you’re almost done!!! downloading phanpara should be easy, just search for it in the appstore and. well. download it. when i did this i had to click through some ios popup page..??? but just . click your way through it. trial and error. until it lets you download the app <33

while phanpara is loading, download ovpnspider!! this one is super easy and doesn’t take up much space at all. when it’s finished downloading, just go into the app, go to the ”jp” folder and connect to one of the vpns!! the status has to be ”alive”, but any of them should work :3

4) play phanpara !!

now you should be good to go <33 the only issue is that the vpn can be a little difficult sometimes. phanpara might take a bit to load, and throw you out if the vpn disconnects, but as long as you just exit the app and change the vpn there shouldn’t be any issues. could be a little bothersome sometimes but you get used to it quickly!! just make sure that you’re connected to a vpn, enter phanpara, and play :33 for me it takes up roughly 5gbs of space, so make sure your phone can handle it!!

aaaaand that’s it <333 i’m sorry if this is just. gibberish 😭😭 or if i’m making it sound more complicated than it is …. and pls let me know if it works for you!!! i’d love to be friends in game if you make an account :33 then you’ll be able to use my gojo in battle … hehehe ……..

[klug]

do you recommend puzzle pop? i keep really wanting to play it but i do not want to get apple arcade just for that. but i dont know of any other way to get it... so i keep waffling back and forth. i guess im mostly wondering if you think its worth it, i know youve been posting about it but i blocked spoilers so idk what your thoughts are fully

Hi anon :) This is a very good question and gives me a chance to talk about the game

So for starters: You can technically get a free trial of Apple Arcade for a month and this is honestly enough time to just play through for the story modes. I think there are free Apple Arcade trials offered through Best Buy and stuff if you've already used a trial though. If you have an Apple device I feel like it's good to just go for it and try it out?

My short answer is: Yes if you want to play for story and collectibles! Especially if you're mostly interested in the Fever characters! But no if you are more focused on online multiplayer or the Madou characters. The suzuran group actually get a decent amount of content in this game, especially Ecolo in their main story.

I can't really say if I recommend it because everyone in the fandom has really different tastes honestly? Like, if you care mostly about the Madou Monogatari characters, I don't know if you'll like it because the story focus is heavy on Sig and Amitie…and it raises more questions than anything. So I'll just put a personal pros/cons list.

Pros:

The game looks really nice for an Apple Arcade game. Yeah the models are reused, but they use the expressions/motions to their full potential and the cel-shading is great. I also love the environment design. It also isn't live service so you can play it without an internet connection.

The main story, overall, is really good. There are a few standout side stories too IMO! My favorites are Feli, Witch's, Risukuma's, Ally's and Rafisol's.

So many collectibles. The Puyo Card feature, a customizable ID card you can unlock stuff for, is probably the most fun thing they've added to this game.

There's not a lot of new songs but the new ones are very good.

The inclusion of Nazo Puyo-style puzzles in story mode is a lot of fun, but they're skippable if you're bad at them.

Photo mode is fun. Basically you have a diorama where you can pose the characters however you want, but I haven't used it much.

Cons:

Yes the models and animations are reused, most other stuff in the game is new though!

The main story starts out really strong but does feel a bit anticlimactic in the last act. If you have already read the novel Sig's Secret you most likely won't get anything out of the story, which was the case for me. I've known a lot of people who haven't and cried at the ending though.

Some of the side stories for certain characters are really whatever to me but this is subjective.

The translation can be really weird in places -- I think Suketoudara's side story is where it was at its worst, but there are random errors scattered throughout the English translation...

The music selection is a bit weird to me. Like, Rafisol's theme isn't in the game but the Color Tower theme is? It's just a weird selection.

The challenge dungeons for unlockables can feel really tedious since you're not guaranteed to get characters' special items. If you have a grind mindset and really enjoy Puyo Puyo gameplay though, this is probably fine.

The online is terrible and nonexistent. This kind of renders the Puyo Card moot if you really care about showing it off.

You will need a controller for some of the harder stages. The touch controls are fine if you just want to get through the story, but you'll need a bluetooth controller for more precise inputs.

I basically do think it was well-constructed at the start, but most likely Yoshino (the writer) ran out of space or time for the last story in the game.

[danmeichael]

Dumbass thought but instead of shizun (sy) x Tony the tiger what about shizun (sj) x Tony the tiger (yes iam the same person no I haven't stopped these asks is just that no on has been answering :<)

have you considered that the reason people are answering is not because your thoughts are dumb or uncreative as you've told me you feel previously, and instead because you aren't opening a collaborative dialog with people where both of you can have fun?

for example, the possible text responses to "could lqg do a sonic rainboom" are "no" "yes" or "i do not know what a sonic rainboom is" (i thought it was a sonic the hedgehog thing.)

people generally don't want to respond with "no" or "i don't know" unless they can think of a funny way to say it.

this isn't a question most people can infodump about unless they're already interested in it.

drawing art for a response takes time, effort, and energy and people will only draw what you're sending them an ask about if it's particularly inspiring, funny, or something they're already passionate about. i don't draw 90% of my own ideas, let alone a response to every ask people send me.

i don't even answer every ask people send me! i have over 300 unanswered asks in my askbox right now. i want to answer a lot of them, but just couldn't come up with something good to say in response. most people don't answer every ask they get, presumably for similar reasons.

anon. i am leveling with you here. i am reaching out a hand to you.

have you considered, if you want people to answer them and have a meaningful interaction with you, instead of sending a dozen people the same ask about something they potentially have no context or passion for, you could ask them about something that both of you actually care about?

if i were going to send my friend fish, for example, an ask i would probably look at his blog and notice that he writes fic, and that he seems to like mermaids and q!jiu (censored so it doesn't show up in the tag). i also really like shen jiu and yue qingyuan, and mermaids/monsters. that gives us common interests we're both excited about. i would probably send him an ask saying "have you considered writing a mermaid qijiu au?" or "if you were putting sj in a mermaid au, would sj be more of a classic mermaid (misleadingly beautiful to lead sailors to their death) or would you go with the modern monsterfucker idea of mermaids where they're uncanny and a little bit scary?"

if you want to shitpost about tony the tiger and his attempts at wooing every peak lord, you can post about it on your own blog. that allows people invite themselves over to play with you if they're interested instead of you struggling against trial and error on anon.

i don't send random people anons asking about vampire sj even though i'm passionate about it, because they might not be. i post on my own blog about it, and then other people who like vampire sj come over and play with me and we all have a good time!

[chuluoyi]

hi chuuu im such a big fan of yours ♡

i found your writing so great that's why im so highly invested in your fics esp the love entries omg they're so cute

im so curious how do you write so lovely 💖 do you have any writing patterns/techniques you'd love to share or any piece of advice in writing? or some writing resources you usually use?

im starting my very first fic and idk where to start huhu thank u chu (⁠◕⁠દ⁠◕⁠)

— potato anon

potato nonnie!! welcome welcome aaah 🫶🏻

oh my i’m so flattered!! i’m sure there are better writers out there with english as their first language so knowing that you think love entries as lovely makes me go 😫 thank you sooo much!! <3

writing tips (or what i do) is here and here. and i think the rest depends on what kind of writer you are: do you focus on emotions or actions more? i'm honestly the later, so i often take redundant sentences out of my first draft and pick up the pace to end it (i love fast and neat reads… but long reads with engaging premise are my favorite too!) but if you are the former, then you can elaborate more on the feelings with flowery words and such!

as of resources, i really think this one and other similar posts are very helpful! especially when english is not your first language. sometimes i also look up writing prompts too! you can just type it in tumblr search bar, there are many helpful blogs that post them 🥹

and lastly, just be confident! i believe that most things we never do before but we succeed later on is because we've been through many trials and errors 🥹 i sincerely hope you're going to have fun while writing, potato nonnie!🫶🏻 good luck! i believe you can do it <3

[positivelybeastly]

Hi!! Is me, Stray! After many a trial and error, I now have an RP blog! Just letting you know I'm here and, uh, favorite music genres & favorite song headcanons for Hank?

Welcome to the roleplaying community! There's always a few ups and downs when you're first getting set up, especially if you've only ever set up the one Tumblr for personal use, but there's always room to learn, and I find that people tend to be generally pretty accommodating if you're as polite as you've been on Anon! If you have any questions about roleplay etiquette or the like, feel free to send another ask or just IM me.

As for favourite music genres and song headcanons for Hank, I generally think he's a pretty open minded fellow? There are a good few bands and types of music we know for certain that he enjoys.

Jocko Homo, by Devo.

Dead Man's Party, by Oingo Boingo.

Chopin's Nocturne.

60s rock! I can see him being a Creedence Clearwater Revival kinda guy.

Acis and Galatea!

The Rolling Stones!

Something you'll often see assumed of Hank is that just because he's a man of the arts, well read, and eloquent, is that he's some kind of music snob, that he only listens to opera, that he only enjoys classical, that he looks down on 'lesser' forms of music. And I honestly just don't believe that would be the case?

Like . . . here's the thing. Hank may talk fancy, but he is still, at best, a middle class farm boy from Illinois. If he has an accent, it's probably closest to a Chicago accent, if he hasn't trained his voice to do something entirely different - he does mention his voice has changed during his feline mutation to a baritone, so it's not out of the question. But he is not (or at least, he should not be) a hoity toity snooty asshole.

This is something even writers often get wrong about him - they assume that he's the smart character, ergo he must be the snooty, elitist character, which is something Ben Percy leans into, but it's not even just him, it's Paul Di Filippo in X-Men Unlimited vol. 2 #8, too. It becomes an asshole trait, and it's just. Not. Accurate.

Hank likes all kinds of music. In fact, I struggle to think of a kind he's outright stated he hates, though he's been around for 60 years, I'm sure someone can correct me. He's a curious fellow! He likes to explore! He'll consume any media, he quotes 1940s Superman comics, he watches Robin Hood movies with Wonder Man, why in god's name would he be a snob?

As for headcanon? I have tons! I often think, hmm, this feels like a song Hank would like, or a song that feels like a Hank song, when I listen to music, because. You know. Big blue guy's p much always on the brain.

I have a Spotify playlist that I occasionally add to, but currently on there is:

Is She Really Going Out With Him? by Joe Jackson - self deprecating, but also kind of a banger.

Carry on by fun - fun is an amazing band, and I definitely feel the lyricism and scale of their music would appeal to Hank.

Rain on Me by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande - I don't know if Hank would listen to this, but it has his vibe.

Cells by They Might Be Giants - I'm sorry, but have you fucking heard a band that more encapsulates Hank's personality?

Dr. Wanna Do by Caro Emerald - my old Abigail RP partner used to use this as her ringtone for Hank. I think Hank likes some jazz.

Cure for Me by Aurora - again, not one I think Hank would listen to, but again, it feels like Hank to me.

Very Good Advice by Robert Smith - Hank totally digs new wave and the Cure, and literary references mixed in with that vibe? Totally.

Moonshine by Caravan Palace - this song leads into Lone Digger by the same band, which I put on Dark Beast's playlist, representing the continuity between them. It has the right energy.

There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards by Ian Dury and the Blockheads - songs Hank would sing in the middle of the fight if it weren't full of swearing and comics were allowed to do that.

I Want You to Want Me by Cheap Trick - he does.

On Melancholy Hill by Gorillaz - this just has exactly the right energy.

I Will Dare by The Replacements - "How smart are you? / How dumb am I? / Don't count any of my advice. / Oh, meet me any place or anywhere or anytime / Now I don't care, meet me tonight / If you will dare, I might dare."

Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift - another one that doesn't feel quite like something Hank would listen to, but I think we can all relate to this song a little bit (does that make me a basic bitch? Maybe), and some of the lyrics are so awfully Hank. "I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror," like, fuck.

Turning Japanese by The Vapors - Iunno, I just think he'd like it. I often think that if I were gonna make an OG X-Factor movie, this is what would start the movie during a fight scene.

I would also like to give @brw a shoutout for their excellent Hank playlist, which introduced me to, among other things, Touch-Tone Telephone, which feels like Hank's theme song.

Oh, also, The Plastic Age by The Buggles. Hank absolutely loves prog-rock, you know he does. Oh, and showtunes! The man just will not stop singing, in the middle of fights or while being filmed for the nightly news, so he totally vibes with some Broadway. I'd also be lying if I said that Dust and Ashes doesn't feel like a New X-Men Grant Morrison Beast vibe all over. And Hank would love it! A musical based on War and Peace? Sign him the fuck up!

[starrynightarchive]

hii i love your fics soso much sooo could i get any tips on improving?

anon that is so sweet. you just made my day <3 personally, i operate with the "fuck it we ball" mindset for everything, writing included. but just for you, my dear anon, I'll give some (hopefully useful) tips

write what you like, when you like. i know this sounds awfully simple, but it's very very important. at some point, you might start writing for the sake of writing/ creating content because you feel guilty for one reason or another. that will just make you unhappy with yourself and the quality of your work.

for example, i was once fretting over the fact that I hadn't posted something in my poetry account for a long while and forced myself to write something for a prompt. it came out awful. or maybe not. but looking at it made me feel so bad that I deleted it. later, when I was feeling better, I wrote another one and that came out good! your mood and willingness to write reflect on your work. keep that in mind.

2. read a lot! find your favourite writers and the kind of writing that inspires you. derive ideas from that spark and write to your heart's content.

i'm a person who gets a lot of inspiration from other people's work. for example, I've always loved @itowhotypes and @valleykey 's works and their way of viewing characters and writing has helped me hone my writing skills so much more.

3. don't be afraid to fuck around and find out. experiment with your writing as much as you want! you don't have to wonder if something is too clunky or too wordy or out of flow. write what you feel like writing. it's all about the trial and error method. eventually, you'll find out what your writing style is/what you love doing. if you figure that out, the quality of your work will improve drastically

4. if possible, find like-minded people to discuss your ideas and listen to their input. I've had SO many wonderful story ideas from my convos with @feralshadowdemon and @justadino-ig . also? it's insanely fun. company always makes things better

5. try not to think of "improving" your work quality as a final destination for your writing journey. because really, everyone has room to improve. hell, I have so much to improve on. and I look forward to that! it's all about the journey. have fun with it and you will soon be moving forward without even knowing it

[morrigan-sims]

hello friend! for a while now i've seen some of ur DnD ocs and i was just curious, do you have any advice for beginners getting into DnD? i've always heard about it, but doing research is a bit overwhelming sometimes with all the different things there are to know?

Anon, you have come to the right place!!! I love talking about dnd! And I absolutely am willing to answer questions about it! And don't worry, I totally get it. There is a lot that goes into DnD. But the good thing is that you don't need to know all of it, at least not at first!

I've only been playing for a little over a year. My first real exposure to dnd was watching Critical Role, but I had wanted to play for a long time before that. That got me pretty familiar with the rules and how the game works in general. (I started with Campaign 2.)

Watching some kind of dnd show (there's a lot of them, so look for one that really captures your heart!) is a good intro because you get to watch other people play, and so you learn the rules and the game flow, but you don't have to worry about keeping track of it all yourself. (Just bear in mind that some of them may be using homebrew rules that are different from the regular ones. But even so, you can still get a feel for the game!) (Like I said, my go-to recommendation for people just starting out is Critical Role Campaign 2, but I've also heard amazing things about Dimension 20, and Not Another DnD Podcast, among others.) (If anyone has any DnD show recs, feel free to put them in the comments!)

Another tip is: If you are in high school or university, check out your local clubs! I can guarantee that any university of a decent size is going to have a tabletop club, and depending on the high school they might also have a tabletop club. They often have "beginner's night" or something similar where more experienced members run oneshots specifically meant to introduce people to the game! (This is also a great way to find people with shared interests and make friends on campus.)

If you aren't in school, check if your local library hosts any kind of tabletop event! I know some do. And if that doesn't work out, then looking for a group online is a good thing to do. The subreddit Looking For Game (r/lfg) is a good place to find groups to play with. (Either oneshots or full campaigns.) It can take a lot of trial and error to find a group and DM you feel comfortable with, but I found a pretty good group through there, and I know several other people who have, too! (There's also a "beginner friendly" flag that people use if their game is geared towards / accessible for people who are new to the game, so check that out!)

I'd say start with a (relatively low-level) oneshot before you dive into a full campaign. Test out how comfortable you are with the mechanics and everything. Also, make sure that you have a good DM for your first experience. Having a bad DM for your first experience will definitely sour it, and make you more reluctant to play again. But, if you do have a less-than-ideal first experience, don't write the game off immediately! Give it another shot. And if you decide DnD isn't your thing, that's totally fine! But try not to let one person ruin the whole thing for you.

But at the same time, if you're not having fun, don't force yourself! It's okay to leave a group because you don't enjoy it, no matter what the reason is! DnD should be fun and enjoyable, and you shouldn't ever feel uncomfortable.

Oh, and one more thing. DnD is far from the only ttrpg system out there! There's one for just about every theme or concept under the sun, if you look. (There's a Star Wars version of dnd, there's Vampire The Masquerade, there's Pathfinder, and those are just the big names! There's also tons and tons and tons of indie ttrpgs!) So if you find yourself not really vibing with DnD for one reason or another, maybe another ttrpg is more your speed!

Please let me know if you do end up getting into DnD! I would absolutely love to hear about your OCs and campaigns!! I really do mean it!! And if you feel comfortable coming off anon, I have a discord server for simmers who also play DnD. It's pretty small and cozy, and we aren't always super active, but everyone there is really sweet. And I've always intended to run a oneshot for some people in there. (I keep saying I'm gonna do it, but I never get around to it. My ADHD is kicking my ass lately. But it is an eventual goal!!)

Sorry for rambling so much. I do hope some of this is useful to you! And like I said, I'd love to hear an update in the future if/when you do end up finding a group!

[bunnimew]

How did you start writing on ao3? What was the learning process like, formatting and etc?

Hi Anon!!

Writing on AO3, honestly, was a dream, because both of us started on ffnet, and posting to ffnet is exhausting. In comparison, AO3 is easy as pie. Kam and I actually met because we were both authors of X/1999 fic on ffnet. Someone put all the authors they knew into one giant AIM chatroom and the rest is history 😂

But that was back in high school, sometime around 2005. Kam primarily draws/paints, and really only wrote one (1) thing. I wrote a handful of short fics, tried to write regularly, but just could not keep it up through college. Idk if you've got a physics degree, but it kind of takes a lot of mental energy and there was nothing left for writing for fun. I managed, like... istg like 3 short fics early in college (And they went on lj, lawl) and then nothing for years.

Somewhere in there, I started reading on AO3. I consume fanfic like it's an Olympic sport. Eventually I got an account.

And then, one day, I just got tired of not writing. Instead of saying that classic, "If only I had the time..." I decided to make the time. I looked up tips on writing. Took a glance at the writing shelf in the library, and read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Took actual notes. Applied them. This was around 2015.

The biggest thing really is making it a habit. Even if you just stare at a screen, putting the time into staring at it makes a difference. But Anne had another tip that revolutionized my process: writing advantageously. I don't only write when I make the time; I'll stop in the middle of the grocery store and write down an idea if I have it. I write anywhere and everywhere.

In 2019, a good friend of mine hit me with a new technique that changed everything again: word tracking. I use Tris' word tracking spreadsheet every year now and it doubled my output in 2019 and has increased steadily through 2022.

And 2022 had an insane output, because I unlocked another new skill: writing out of order. I used to have to write chronologically, but now I've figured out how to not do that, and I managed that illusive 50k in one month last year.

So what was my learning process like? A whole lot of trial and error. Sometimes tips didn't work out, but I kept trying everything. Sometimes I had to try them more than once, as I grew as a writer. Writing out of order didn't work for me until I figured out how to make it work for me. Shitty first drafts also didn't work for me, until I found a half-way method that does work for me. If every author out there tells you the same trick, chances are it's a good trick. But tricks take practice and time to get good at them. I had to be patient with myself, and I had to keep at it, one bird at a time.

Grant Faulkner's Pep Talks for Writers has an excellent anecdote that boils down to: write more things. We like to get caught up in trying to make our projects perfect, but we learn more by just finishing it up and moving onto the next. Sometimes you need to learn from the next project before you can figure out what's wrong with the first. Some stories will just never be that great. And it's okay. Don't get stuck. Write more things.

“if you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate, this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse. Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.”

― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

So thank you, Anon ❤ and I hope something in all of that was what you were looking for.

PS, if you write on gdocs and don't like removing all those extra spaces between paragraphs when you copy to AO3, just change the gdocs spacing to 'add space before paragraph' + 'add space after paragraph' and that'll make it match AO3. Only real formatting tip I've used 😂

[banjo-bugs]

I see you’re doing blender art! Super cool! Are there any tutorials you recommend? I’ve tried using blender myself but I just can’t wrap my brain around it and all the tutorials I’ve watched don’t help me much

very cool!! oh yeah blender is. a lot. lol it’s taken me about a year of just noodling around to finally sit down but this video ^^^ old reliable. honestly just sitting down and watching/following along the full thing really helped me get a more solid understanding, plus it’s really insightful!

southernshotty and blenderbitesize are two other channels that are really really helpful, definitely recommend them for fleshing out skills and whatnot ^_^

[the5n00k]

Tips on drawing scratch? Sounds like a weird ask but I cant figure out how his body bends. Is he a pillow sorta shape or how? I love ur art btw!!!

Anon you are completely valid it took me like six months to get his look just right (and even then he's still wildly off model lol) but I'll tell you how I do it! (Pillow/flour sack shape is a good way to describe him, especially when bending or laying flat) Just a disclaimer, I highly recommend you search up his model sheets and rules because I tend to gloss over and bend a few of them but if you're planning on drawing him more stylized, here's the rules I follow:

1: As with all characters I draw I start with a circle sketch, it's not necessary but it helps when drawing multiple characters to keep them around the same size in comparison with each other.

2: colored line art sucks, especially with this character because you have to make sure that if he has any overlapping parts with another character (say Molly has her arm around him or something), they're on separate layers which makes coloring a NIGHTMARE. I have no advice for that other than play around with it until it looks right to you

3: coloring can either be really fun and satisfying or a pain in the ass, again it's trial and error for what looks right to you

4: some more dynamic poses and fluid actions are super fun and what I get complimented on the most! Breaking the model sheet to push your expressions more is super fun once you get the hang of it, just try drawing a bunch of random squiggles and shapes and try to draw Scratch over them, it's a super fun exercise!

Like I said before I'm not the judge or end-all when it comes to drawing scratch so just have fun with it! Experiment! Maybe study how some other artists draw him! I know I greatly admire some of the ways some artists I know and even some crew members and storyboard artists draw him so definitely start looking at fanart for inspiration. Hope this helps, I'm not a very good teacher!

[basbird]

how did you start life painting? im kind of learning trial by error here but your highlighting & proportions are so good, if you have any tips to share they would be greatly appreciated, have a grsat day!!

aw thank you anon :D Honestly drawing from life is something I always struggled with. There are lots of things you can do to help yourself along in the beginning. Mentality is important. it WILL be confusing and hard in the beginning. you're gonna make paintings you don't like. That's normal. Try to focus on one small aspect of improvement from painting to painting. Such as brush control, highlights, overall values, etc. You HAVE to find some measuring stick, no matter how small, of improvement from painting to painting. Even if it's just "Paintings made: +1". Doing this will keep your morale and motivation strong. Also you're gonna have to make a lot of them...I've probably made 150 of this mini acrylic paintings I've been posting. The only thing that'll really slingshot you forward is doing it a lot. I would really recommend painting with black and white paint only at first. That way, you don't have to worry about balancing color. You can focus on just getting your lights/darks and shapes correct. The most important thing in painting is the lights and darks, or "values" (which is the proper technical term). Next is huge: make some color strings before you start. Mix up some little piles on your palette, give yourself pure white, pure black, then a grey 20%, grey 50%, and grey 70%. The percentage here refers to the amount of black mixed in with white. so 20%, meaning 20% of the mixture is black, would result in a light grey mixture. Try to stick to these at first and not mix more. you're looking for shapes, and how they interlock with each other. Here's a little mock up of what I'm talking about. I made "strings" and then created the image on the right using only the shades in the paint swatches in the middle.

Keep it simple at first! Feel free to ask more questions, and I also do private tutoring for anyone that's interested :) and for fun, here's the painting I did based on this still life. The original mask was made by the incomparable missmonster.

[wandaswifeyforlifey]

hi! could i make florence x reader request where reader likes to skate but always hurt herself so her lovely and worried girlfriend takes care of her

A/n: Hey Anon! Thank you for this request it was really fun to write and feel free to send in more!! I hope you like it :) :)

Ship: Florence Pugh x Reader

Summary: You’d been skating since you were a teenager but you stopped skating as much when you got into acting. Recently, you realised this and decided to take it up again and your girlfriend, Florence, was completely supportive until she saw you covered in scrapes, bruises and grazes but she accepted that this was part of relearning so she was always there to patch you up.

Navigation // Taglist // Masterlist

To your dismay, you couldn’t remember the last time you had skated. It came to your mind when a couple of people rode past you on their skateboards and went down to the park. It seemed to dig up old memories of skating with your sister helping you out and patching you up until you didn’t need to anymore. That was one of the happiest times of your life and skating seemed to free you from the real world for a minute. So, you decided to take it up again. Why not? At the beginning of your career, you weren’t quite sure what you were doing, so you spent all your time figuring it out but now you have a sense of how it works, you can spend the rest of your time doing what you want to do.

“Flo? Darling, I’m just going to go outside and have a go on my skateboard again,” you called up to your girlfriend who was still half asleep considering it was 8 am.

“Ok, but be careful. And I mean that!” she replied and you knew she was wary about this whole skating thing but what’s the worst that could happen? Well, this was.

You weren’t really sure how much of the skill you remember so you thought you’d just try skating around a little bit, trying some of the basic tricks and if you can do that easily, try some of the more impressive ones. You set your skateboard down and attempt to step on it. It’s always a good sign when you almost fall over before you’ve even got two feet on the board. Maybe you overestimated yourself and you should just take it slow?

After almost 10 minutes of ‘taking it slow’, you had scrapes on your knees, elbows, the palms of your hands, your shins and your shoulders. After Florence stopped hearing grunts from you falling over she panicked and ran outside to see you sitting on the floor.

“Jesus, Y/n! You’ve been out for what? 20 minutes? And you’ve grazed yourself countless times. Come inside, I’ll give you some stitches and plasters and you can just relax a bit.” she said with her brows furrowed in worry.

“Yeah… yeah.” she helped you inside and sat you down in the main room while she got the first aid kit.

“You really need to be more careful, you know?” she murmured while focusing on disinfecting the cut on your shoulder.

“Yeah, sorry, thanks because I was trying to fall over.” you roll your eyes.

“Jeez, ok. I’m just trying to help.”

You sigh,” I know, I’m sorry. I’m just a bit annoyed that I could pretty much do nothing. I knew how to do so much and now all of that has completely gone?”

“Y/n, it a part of relearning is trial and error. You need to know what you can do, to learn what you can’t. The only thing is, we need to accept that in the process you might get hurt.”

You looked her in the eyes with pure adoration and said: “What did I do to deserve someone as perfect as you?”

Taglist for all fics: @alotofpockets @catasha @kiwiana145

[pumpkinpaix]

Want a *really* unpopular opinion? I not only *liked* the Incense Burner extras but found them sexy, as a portrayal of two dorks using potentially dangerous magical R&D as a tool for exploring their past feelings and history and negotiating consent by trial and error and error and error.

ANON YOU FUCKING GET IT | STRONGLY AGREE | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

slams hands on table  C O R R E C T

you know what, i’ll do you one better, not only did i like them and find them sexy, i ALSO found them extremely meaningful and important!! i will defend the incense burners unto death, you can pry them from my cold dead hands!!!!

not to get super emo and personal about like, kinda silly smut, but you know what, it’s that kind of night so let’s GO oversharing time, and maybe it will help someone along the way!!! isn’t that what vulnerability is for!!!!

i don’t know if it’s common knowledge that i have ocd -- i haven’t made a secret of it or anything -- but: i suffer from pretty terrible intrusive thoughts and when you add that together with intense moral scrupulosity issues + a complicated relationship to shame and sex, you get some pretty rough thoughtcrime, self-hatred, and sex-related neuroses. i was so completely horrified by the idea of wanting sex that I thought i was ace for like, the better part of my teen years. i’m really grateful to the ace spaces i was lucky enough to find in that time because they gave me a place to feel safe while I was still figuring shit out, and I still feel a lot of kinship with them because even if i’m not ace, sex is still Difficult for me as a concept and aspec people Get It.

together with just my generally really fucked up thoughts, plus the rise of purity culture etc, i have A Lot of fear about my inner self being perceived because there’s a part of me that is convinced that if anyone really knew me, they’d find me disgusting, that they’d think i was a genuinely bad and dirty person beyond redemption. that no matter how hard i tried to be good, i was doomed to fail because there was something wrong with me internally and inherently. that like, no matter how kind or helpful or dutiful or accomplished or smart or thoughtful i tried to be, it wouldn’t make a difference!!!

im getting over it lol don’t worry

but the point is: the incense burners, especially the one in the library, really embody the ultimate fantasy of a person you love seeing your most shameful thoughts and desires and not only NOT abandoning you, but saying “oh shit, that’s hot”. can you understand the palpable relief of that!!!! ;A; and!! to take it one step further, it’s not even a big deal! wei wuxian laughs and is like ohohoho?? hanguang-jun? like this secret that lan wangji was carrying and fearing was just like. kinda cute and funny. that there was nothing to fear at all.

screams into my hands

i joke about being shuangbi kin all the time, except like, it isn’t a joke. the moment when wei wuxian notices that lan wangji is tense, when lan wangji says, “stop looking,” and tries to leave -- idk i just. i felt for him so hard there. stop looking at me. what if you don’t like what you see?

but wei wuxian does like it! and wei wuxian doesn’t think any worse of lan wangji, doesn’t think he’s fallen or disgraceful. lan wangji is still lan wangji, still hanguang-jun, still upright, still 雅正. and the narrative does the same: it never implies that lan wangji is any less of a good person because of this. it’s just an inside joke for the other extras: that lan wangji looks like the sort of person who’s a perpetual virgin because that’s what people expect from someone of his character and demeanor, but he isn’t.

i can’t like. begin to explain how much i treasure this dumb smut. it’s not the best smut i’ve ever read, not by a long shot, but it’s not anywhere near as terrible as a lot of people make it out to be. just. i got to read this thing. where a character i already identified with had his fucked up thoughts about sex perceived and accepted and loved, and it was a character who looked and sounded and thought like me!! down to the obsession with rules and fairness. a chinese character!!! and someone the narrative pretty consistently positions as a sympathetic and lovable person!! mdzs was my first danmei, so it’s entirely possible this isn’t revolutionary whatsoever. maybe this is a super common trope! idk! but it was really revelatory to me. that these really intensely complicated characters we’ve just spent like 500k learning about and falling in love with are also weird kinky dumbasses who don’t know shit. and that both can be true! and that’s presented as a fun, delightful thing! god!!!! i care them! i am so grateful to mxtx for it, regardless of anything else, i am grateful that she gave me this.

anyways, thanks for giving me this outlet anon and also like, letting me experience a version of that relief: oh i’m not alone!

(ko-fi)

🍵 ((un)popular) opinions meme

[letarasstuff]

Get-Along-Shirt

(A/N): This was requested by an anon and is based on this post. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it :)

Summary: The Hotchner-Siblings get their own ‘get-along-shirt’. What kind of chaos is going to happen?

Wordcount: 1.4k

✨Masterlist✨ ________________________________

Some days Hotch asks himself why he and Haley thought it would be a good idea to have two children this close in age.

Just a few weeks prior (Y/N) turned 13 and it seems to the single father like it was the beginning to endless teasing, arguing and fighting between her and her one year older brother. Without a fail they constantly clash against each other and drive the other one up the wall. Hotch swears he grew more grey hairs in the past two weeks than in the years prior.

“I tell you one more time, Jack Hotchner, and if you once again choose to ignore my advice I’ll get up tomorrow morning and choose violence. Do. Not. Touch. My. LABELLED. Food. OR I’LL CUT OFF ALL YOUR FINGERS AFTER PULLING OUT ONE NAIL AFTER ANOTHER. DO YOU UNDERSTAN-” “(Y/N) Hotchner”, Aaron cuts her off, “If you continue screaming like that your eaten meal is the least of your problems.”

Huffing the teenagers drops the sentence and sits down on the couch in the living room with her arms crossed over her chest. Jack looks at her and sticks out his tongue. “Wow Big Brother, didn’t pick you out to be that mature.”

“At least I’m not the one, who gets bitchy about food”, he responds. “Well, because you had food that was not yours an you aren’t bitchy, because you are not hungry”, she retorts. “I’m not the one, who gets craz-”

Suddenly Hotch groans. “You know what. I am done. You two stress me more than a hostage situation with a psychotic alpha male.” Then he gets up and leaves the room. Confused the siblings look at each other until their father comes back.

“This is your ‘get-along-shirt’ and I want you two to wear it together till it’s time for you to go to bed. No cheating, no fighting. You learn to get along in it.” With that the father tosses them a monstrous big white shirt with the words written in black Sharpie across the chest area. Unwillingly they slip it on, knowing better than to argue with him in his pissed state.

The rest of the evening goes relatively well considering Jack and (Y/N) were pressed to each other and only have one arm they can use. This is until they go up the stairs to their rooms.

“Jack, when you use your left leg I have to step on my right. It is that easy!” “No”, he declines, “It’s the opposite. When I go left, you go left. Think (Y/N), think!” It is a trial and error for straight five minutes, which Hotch watches amused. This is better than the evening program on the tv.

But the fun doesn’t last long. After the two teenagers get halfway up the stairs, they suddenly lose their balance and roll the whole way down. Immediately the father is right by their side, but they both swim in the fabric.

Due to the closeness and sudden darkness (Y/N) begins to panic. In her frenzied state she thrashes and scratches around her to get out. When Hotch finally gets them out of the shirt he is able to calm her down. Then he assesses the damage that is done.

Jack has several scratches and bite marks, left by his younger sister in her panic. She on the other side cradles her left arm and looks like she is close to crying. “What is it, Honey?” Aaron asks as he sees the state she is in.

The boy looks worried over to her, giving her a run down with his eyes. “My arm, I heard it snap I think. It really hurts.”

And so the Hotchner family find themselves in the ER at 12 in the night. A nurse gives (Y/N) painkillers at first, but they have to wait for their turn due to it being very busy on a Wednesday.

The whole time the older brother hovers over his sister, asking her if she needs something to drink or eat every ten minutes. As they are nearing 2 am on the clock he lets her curl up on his lap to get some sleep (the painkillers make her a bit drowsy) while watching her like a hawk. Or mother hen, choose your own take.

A doctor looks over her fracture at 3 am. Then she gets sent to get her x-rays at 4. At 5.30 am the teenager gets a cast in her favorite color. Jack, Aaron and (Y/N) are finally able to leave the ER at precisely 6 in the morning.

Now one can assume that the father has the mercy to take the day off and let his kids stay at home from school. But one assumes wrong.

“Ok, we are going to drive home, you are gonna change and get your backpacks and I bring you to school. After work I’m gonna pick both of you up, alright?” Both teenagers groan, but still know better than to argue with him, especially since they brought this upon themselves.

A quick change and wash later the three are back on track and right in front of the school. “(Y/N) if the pain gets too much go to the nurse and get her to call me at work, you understand me?” “Yes, sir”, she mockingly salutes and gives him a kiss on the cheek before stepping outside. Hotch holds Jack back.

“Watch after her. We both know that with that cast she is more likely to get herself hurt now than ever.” Jack nods confirmingly, remembering all the times his younger sister injured herself due to her clumsiness.

Not long after this he sits at his own desk at Quantico, rubbing his eyes and sighing constantly. The lack of sleep and the adrenalin crash from last night's event suddenly catch up to him. The team worriedly looks at him from the bullpen.

“He looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks”, JJ remarks. Spencer glances at the Unit Chief. “Maybe he hasn’t slept. I mean he has two teenagers at home and a huge workload on his desk. I don’t wanna live with his sleep schedule, but I’m also a blinker.”

“Why don’t we ask him if he needs some help? I mean we can divide his paperwork between all of us and he can go home early”, Emily suggests. But Morgan laughs at this. “Prentiss, we know Hotch. He wouldn’t give us any more work voluntarily. You have to claw it out of his hands or get it over his dead body.” 

Penelope sighs. “I’m so sorry for him. He doesn’t deserve any of this. Did you hear the rumor that Strauss is again up his back? Can’t he get a breather?”

“You all are profilers for god’s sake.” Rossi mutters and climbs the stairs up to Hotch’s office.

“Hey, are you alright? I think you groaned more the last half hour than in your first two years here. What is it?” Dave takes a seat across from him. To his and the team’s surprise Aaron lets out a hearty laugh.

“You know how I told you that Jack and (Y/N) are arguing non stop? I took your idea and made them wear a ‘get-along-shirt’. This ended in a night at the ER, because (Y/N) broke her arm while falling off the stairs with Jack. But they both are fine and the shirt did its trick. Though I’m counting on getting a phone call in the next hour, so I’ll go get her and bring her here with a few heavy painkillers. She’ll be knocked out on my couch, so there won’t be any disturbances.”

Aaron continues to laugh every few minutes, whenever he thinks back to the angelic fall of his children, making the team worry even more. But they guess that a sleep deprived Aaron Hotchner is a less strict Aaron Hotchner and they aren’t going to complain. And like predicted, they get to see their favorite teenage girl less than an hour later, sporting a cast with many signatures.

It’s needless to say that they all fight each other off to be the first of them to sign it.

All works:

@agentshortstacc

Criminal Minds:

@averyhotchner

[enhaheeseung]

or maybe i'm just getting carried away 😂 idek if i can handle writing on top of my 2 jobs and making fanart, esp if i somehow manage to build an audience.

not that that's required! it'd just be nice to interact with people about smut and kinks and stuff outside of anon asks 🤷‍♀️

anyway, sorry for dumping this on you! (though i'd honestly still like to know about starting a fic blog... just in case)

- 🐋

So I’ll tell you how I started first and then I’ll throw in a few tips (but I’m definitely not who you should be asking about this lol)

When I first started I had no idea what I was even doing I didn’t know how to put links I didn’t know about proper warnings or how to add tags and images so I basically started from scratch with no knowledge

Which was highly frustrating at first but when my first fic reached 100 notes all of it seemed worth it

So I used that as motivation to continue writing fics and I slowly starting building an audience however just cause i got followers doesn’t mean my writing got better if anything it kinda got worse but I didn’t ponder on it any longer cause I knew I was capable of writing better than that

That being said it’s basically trial and error so don’t get discouraged when some works get more notes than the others sometimes it’s just cause it doesn’t show up in the tags (for whatever reason)

Bestie an audience is definitely a requirement (for me) I literally almost deactivated because of the lack of interaction I had cause basically if no one is reading what I post there was no point to even create a account and post it

As of late my notes and followers have decreased like crazy which is very discouraging to me and I haven’t had motivation to write for a long time and it’s hard to look past and keep writing but I’m trying

I know I’m getting ahead of myself when I say that seeings how you haven’t even started yet but I just want you to know some of the things that can happen after you start posting.

At first I thought it was fun just posting story’s for your bias and interacting with people however it’s not that cut and dry.

You might possibly have droughts where you don’t know what to write or how to write it which is was also very discouraging for me

In the beginning I didn’t realize how much effort you really had to put into writing even if it is something as unserious as smut is you still have to do research

Since I’ve been writing I’ve searched all kinds of things such as mental illness pregnancy sex positions you name it

So if you have an idea for a fic it’s not as easy to write it down on paper as it is to imagine it sometimes the wording is the hardest part of writing

Another big problem I faced was when I would read others work and compare myself to them wondering how they were getting so many likes and had so many followers yet I didn’t

That was just me being stupid though cause not everything I write is for everyone and look at me now 2300 followers and multiple fics with 1000+ notes

Not sure if I’m the only one who experienced this but it did effect my mental health in a way I was constantly trying to think of plots and I’d bang out 10k words in a day without rest and after awhile that had taken a toll on me especially with working and barely sleeping

And of course if any of this ever happens and you get discouraged you could always quit writing (I should have but I’m way too hard headed for that) but if something is causing you more harm than good I’d say drop it

I know I said way more than I should have but I’d just like to give you a little idea of how I started my journey

So now for a few tips I’d suggest starting with shorter fics to get comfortable with people seeing your content

Oh that’s another thing I was (and still am nervous about people seeing what my mind conjures up lol) but everyone that I’ve encountered has always been nice except a few hateful anons every now and then which I think every writer has atleast three hate anons so don’t sweat it

Second I’d find a plot that’s easier to write about that you don’t have to do so much research on to make it a better first experience for your first post

I’d find something that’s unique to you as well rather that be a nickname or saying.

So for me at the end of my post I’ll say have a good day / night and that quickly caught on with my followers as well something else was every time I changed my theme I’d change my heart color emoji so if I used blue my followers would use blue and if I used brown they would use brown etc so I think that’s a cute way to interact and have your own unique little signature

Before any of this though make sure you have a good understanding on how the app works (which I’m sure you do cause you post fanart) just learn as much as possible before posting it’s not like it’s the end of the world if you make a mistake but it’s a lot better knowing how to avoid those mistakes (also look at the structure of other blogs that helped me a lot)

So now I’ll break it down to some key points that I’ve covered throughout this post and things that I think a lot of us writer’s experience at some point

1 learn as much as you can before posting so you don’t hit a sang along the way and get caught up

2 don’t get discouraged if all your works do not do good everytime you post cause we’ve all been there no matter how many followers you have

3 don’t let numbers get to you they will come eventually just don’t give up

4 don’t compare yourself to other writers you’re good enough in your own way

5 do your research

6 you get a few haters but that’s just life

7 make something unique for your blog something that people will remember you by

8 be careful and don’t think too much while writing it’s supposed to be fun and if you ever don’t enjoy it take a break/ stop

9 if your first fic isn’t good don’t worry you get better with time and I’m living proof of that (let’s not mention my first fics lol)

10 if you have a plot but you’re not sure about it just post it it’s normal to feel nervous but just know most of the time it’ll be received well

I know I sound like a hypocrite cause I still even face some of these problems now but I just wanted to give you insight of what can happen along the way and that there’s more to fic writing than meets the eye

However this is just speaking from my personal experience you may never run into have of these problems but still

Anyways I hope I’ve helped in some way and I’m not just rambling on and on

And don’t apologize bestie there’s no need I love helping people if you have anymore questions feel free to ask🤍

One more thing I hope this didn’t scare you away from writing cause like I said this is just my personal experience