leo-sharks-struggles - Tumblr blog

[leo-sharks-struggles]

it used to be 2007 you know

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i love you intimacy in reverse order. yes we've had sex before and i know all the details of your pleasure, but i don't know anything else. i don't know what it feels like to embrace you carelessly. i can barely hold your hand, the grip is so slight it makes me lose my breath. i want to kiss you but what pressure is the right one? how much is too intimate? yes we've had sex and i've done all these things before - but without the guise of mutual pleasure, can i be sure you won't turn me away? will you allow me the delicate feeling of your hand in mine when you know it is me asking to hold it? i know i've held you before with our clothes off, but can i hold you even tighter? may i listen to the steady sound of your heartbeat? is it alright to look for it in front of everyone? yes, yes of course we've had sex before. i know what you look like naked, ive touched you with the lights off. is it alright to want see you with them on? in the morning, with the sun flitting through the blinds?is it alright to want you when the sun is up? yes we've had sex before but have we ever been intimate? can we be? tell me that it's alright to hold you. no, not like that. just like this.

[leo-sharks-struggles]

How to write antagonist to love interest

By @writingquestionsanswered which you can read here, formatted by Writerthreads

There are a few things to consider when tackling this sort of thing.

First and foremost: you have to remember that physical/sexual attraction alone is not enough to turn an antagonist into a love interest. Your character (and your reader) will need to have a reason to look beyond the fact that this person was (or still is) the antagonist. If the love interest was the antagonist but isn’t anymore, you’ll want to put the former antagonist on a path of redemption and try to earn the character’s trust. If the love interest is still the antagonist and you want your character to fall in love with them anyway, you’ll need to make sure the antagonist is humanised, and that their motivation is clear and understandable. You’d essentially want to shake your character’s faith in their own side and make them unsure enough about which side is right that they’re able to walk the line between, allowing them to give in to romance with the antagonist while not entirely giving up their loyalty to their own side. It would be a delicate line to walk, but an interesting one. So, things to remember in either case:

1) You can start with some sort of physical/sexual attraction/chemistry, but that only opens the door.

2) Make sure the antagonist is humanised, that the character sees the softer/humanised side of the antagonist, and that the character can understand the motivation that led the antagonist to their antagonism, even if they don’t necessarily agree with it. So, for example, if you find yourself in a jail cell with a thief, you’re more likely to befriend them if they stole a loaf of bread to feed their starving children versus if they stole an old lady’s car to sell for drug money.

3) Give the characters something (or multiple things) in common that gives them that initial point of connection and creates opportunities for further bonding. For example, they might have once been loyal to the same king before ending up on different sides after rival heirs battled to inherit his throne. Alternatively, they could simply have a friend in common, a hobby, or even their place of birth. Anything that creates a point of connection and material for further bonding is good.

4) Create bonding opportunities and moments where chemistry and sexual tension come into play. Just as with any other romance, you’re starting with that first moment of connection, building up the foundation with moments of bonding over things shared in common, and letting their chemistry shine through as those moments play out. You still want to build in the normal elements of a blooming romance, like stolen glances, locked gazes, bashful touching, feelings of curiosity or interest, etc.

5) Whether the love interest is the former antagonist or is still the antagonist, it can help to create an enemy for your character and the antagonist to share. If they can unite against another foe in some way, that can help to blur some of the lines of them being on otherwise opposite sides. It also creates an opportunity for the antagonist to show concern for the character’s safety and even to illustrate protectiveness and sacrifice in a protection/rescue situation. Remember that your true goal is to convince the reader that your character and the antagonist would fall in love despite being–or having been–on opposite sides. If you can do that, you’re in great shape! :)

[leo-sharks-struggles]

For the last goddamn time...

"Kill your darlings" means "if something is holding you back, get rid of it, even if it sounds pretty."

That's it! That's all it means! It means if you're stuck and stalled out on your story and you could fix the whole block by removing something but you're avoiding removing that thing because it's good, you remove that thing. That's the darling.

It does NOT mean

That you have to get rid of your self-indulgent writing

That you should delete something just because you like it (?wtf?)

That you need to kill off characters (??? what)

That you have to pare your story down to the absolute bare bones

That you have to delete anything whatsoever if you don't want to

The POINT is that you STOP FEELING GUILTY for throwing out good writing that isn't SERVING THE STORY.

The POINT is that you don't get so HUNG UP on the details that you lose sight of the BIG PICTURE.

Good grief....

[leo-sharks-struggles]

New York City ballet production of Midsummer Nights Dream

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There’s something so calming about a boardwalk trail

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Enchanted Forest, Kitsap County, Washington

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self ships aside: nothing will ever beat enemies to lovers for me. it’s the anger, the jealousy, the pettiness, the tension, the messiness, and the emotions; the blurred lines between hatred and love and everything that comes in between; the harrowing realization that they were wrong—hopelessly, completely, and humiliatingly incorrect—and even worse: they must admit that they were a fool all along.

[leo-sharks-struggles]

Cross worlds by jeanjoaquim 

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please i love you i'm begging you bring back suspension of disbelief bring back trusting the audience like. i cannot handle any more dialogue that sounds like a legal document. "hello, i am here to talk to you about the incident from a few minutes ago, because i feel you might be unwell, and i am invested in your personal wellbeing." "thank you, i am unwell because the incident was hurtful to me due to my childhood, which was bad." I CANT!!!!

do you know how many people are mad that authors use "growled" as a word for "said"? it's just poetics! they do not literally mean "growled," it's just a common replacement for "said with force but in a low tone." it's normal! do you hear me!! help me i love you please let me out of here!!!

[leo-sharks-struggles]

The most common modern fantasy convention is that the mainstream scientific community rejects the idea of supernaturals, and they are only a fringe belief. This makes sense, it takes the least change from our real world, but it sort of invenitably ends up presenting a conspiritorial worldview. It feels very 90s. I'd like to see more modern fantasy where the scientific consensus is that supernatural creatures exist, but the general public and government reject the idea..... There should be a "supernatural debate", there should be a belief that any proof is faked by the government or that supernaturals are just people acting out for attention, there should be a beleaguered scientist trying to educate the general public about werewolves in world cultures and being told they're a revionist degrading western culture or something

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“I can’t believe I used to think you were cool.”

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julieaucontraire

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unstoppable force (i want to see this tragic character survive and heal) vs immovable object (their death was the most thematic and narratively satisfying resolution possible for their character arc and anything less than death just feels cheap)

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it’s almost surprising to me how few people have jumped on the potential homoeroticism of the knights. like oh you dedicated yourself to serving someone’s cause to the point where you will sacrifice everything to avenge them? sounds pretty gay