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[meloraspeer]

Snippet :)

[meloraspeer]

OKAY POSTİNG THİS HERE JUST SO WHEN THE REST OF THE TRİLOGY COMES OUT, İ CAN SAY İ TOLD YOU SO (This might actually be pretty obvious to readers but still)

Spoilers for Luminaries by Susan Dennard ahead

Erica is a Diana. İ feel 100% confident. First she had the bandaid on her finger, then when it was taken off it was revealed to look exactly like a burn. And then she had another bandaid at the end of the book. Like the burns Dianas get on their hands from magic.

Then when she runs into Winnie in the library, she's in the Diana section.

Then the Whisperer. İt sounds exactly like Jenna. Even before we see Winnie say she hears Jenna singing after jumping from the cliff, we know Jennas singing is very whispery.

So basically Erica is a Diana, and she's trying to bring Jenna back to life. But it's not going too well, hence the Whisperer

İ mean this might seem obvious? But İ feel like İ still had to say it lol. Just in case.

[meloraspeer]

[meloraspeer]

I was never told about this scene???

[meloraspeer]

Deathtouched

For @heroes-villains-side-blog because I saw your little collection of Villain with Death Touch powers/Hero who is immune fics and got inspired. ^.^

Technically, Hero was not cleared for field work. Sure, they knew some self defense moves in case of emergency. They carried a taser and knew how to shoot a gun with great accuracy. But their power was not an offense-based power and so Hero’s job happened after the villainous defeats at the hands of other Heroes.

Hero was a Nullifier. A touch from them prevented any other Powered individual’s abilities from activating. Their blood was drawn monthly and used in serums given to imprisoned Villains. Sometimes, when a Villain’s power was particularly dangerous, Hero stepped in to bind them or dose them with serum.

But they had never faced a Villain awake and at full power. They never confronted anyone.

Until today.

Villain first appeared on body cam footage, in the middle of a street fight between Superhero and some low level villain grunt. He appeared like a ghost, a shadow figure that materialized from the shadows. In fact, his sudden presence stopped both Superhero and Grunt mid swings.

 Hero had initially rolled their eyes. Villain was tall, dressed in all black, complete with billowing cape and leather gloves. Like a Darth Vader fanboy, but without the mask.

No obvious powers either. No electricity or super speed or invulnerability. Hero wondered if this really was just some glorified cosplayer with a couple of gadgets and no real power to speak of. Just someone desperate for a little notoriety from the body cam footage.

“Who the fuck are you?” the Grunt had demanded.

Villain ignored him and looked straight at Superhero. “I need him. Hand him to me and no one else gets hurt.”

“Why?” Superhero had asked suspiciously. “What do you plan on doing with him?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“I’m afraid, as an Hero of the Agency assigned to this area, it’s every bit my concern.”

As Superhero and Villain faced off, Grunt had tried to slink away. Before Hero could warn Superhero, Villain whirled around and grabbed a handful of Grunt’s jacket and slammed him up against the wall.

“Look, we obviously both have an interest in Grunt,” Superhero had said, approaching the Villain in slow cautious steps. “Why don’t we work together? You could come with me and question him back at the Agency.”

Villain leveraged Grunt against the wall with a forearm to the throat as he worked one of the leather gloves off.

“I don’t want to question him,” he had said before placing a long-fingered, elegant hand against the side of Grunt’s face.

Grunt let out an earsplitting scream of agony that lasted only a few seconds before he slumped over.

Lifeless.

The camera shook as Superhero immediately took several steps backward.

“What did you just do?” he had demanded.

“Walk away and you won’t have to find out,” Villain had warned.

If only Superhero had listened; he would still be alive.

Over the next week, a trail of bodies followed Villain, mostly grunts and spies and brokers for Supervillain. This was clearly a mission of vengeance.

 The Agency had debated on teams to send out, but hesitated to act. Superhero had been one of their strongest agents and he died in seconds at a mere touch. They didn’t want to risk anyone else to fight a Villain they knew nothing about.

And frantic searches revealed nothing about this guy.

Time ran out when Villain himself appeared at the doors of the Agency, like a nightmare come to life. The only person who volunteered to meet him was Hero.

“What is your name and why are you here?”

Hero’s voice didn’t shake, but their hands did. They kept them tightly in their coat pocket, fingers tightly wrapped against the glass syringe.

“I am here for Supervillain,” he said. “And if you let me kill him, no one else needs to die. I’ll even turn myself in.”

Revenge, just as Hero expected. Supervillain, locked away deep, deep, underground, was probably the worst of his kind. The personification of pure self-serving evil. If Hero was head of the Agency, they would roll the red carpet out for this villain to do exactly that.

But that would set up a dangerous precedent.

“I’m sorry. Even if I could take you at your word, I can’t allow you to waltz in and execute a Depowered individual.”

The Villain’s eyes narrowed and he took slow steps forward. Hero took several steps back before they even realized it, until their back pressed against the front door.

The locked front door.

Villain loomed before them, and Hero remembered how much the galaxy had feared Darth Vader, even if he did look ridiculous.

“You are not a fighter,” he murmured. “You have no profile in the Agency.”

 One gloved hand rose slowly to to cup their face. Hero shrunk back on instinct but had no where to go. Their heart thundered in their ears.

“You’re a sacrificial lamb they threw to the wolves while they scramble for an escape.”

He sound almost sorry for Hero, a thread of sincere empathy in his dark velvet voice. It did nothing to quell the choking fear. Villain’s power couldn’t hurt them, no. But a bullet could, or a hand wrapped around their throat, or even a good old fashioned beat down. Villain was much bigger than Hero and there were a thousand ways to die that had nothing to do with powers.

“There is no need for you to die,” he said softly. “Go home. Stay out of my way.”

He took a step back, putting enough distance to allow Hero to follow his orders. A locked door wouldn’t stop him and if he got into the facility he would kill every single person who stood in his way.  

They had one chance to take him out and they had no hope to win a fight. So Hero used their only other advantage — surprise.

Steeling themselves, Hero took two firm steps forward, fisted their fingers in edges of his cape, stood on the tiptoes and kissed Villain square on the mouth.

He flinched back immediately, but Hero kept their grip strong and did not pull away until the Villain’s mouth went slack in shock.

His gaze was a dark, glittering abyss.

“How,” he said hoarsely. “How?”

Hero’s only reply was the sharp jab of the needle into his neck as they plunged the sedative into his system.

[meloraspeer]

Writing Help

General Tips

The purpose of writing

Important: only you can tell your stories

Every fanfiction genre has value

HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED!

Maintaining Motivation

Reasons to Keep Writing

Stretch your hands and fingers

Analyze the stories that you like

Title creation

How to comment on your favorite fics

Moodboard sources

PIRATED FAN FICS!!!

Fanfiction is legitimate (featuring Neil Gaiman)

Angst and Horror: if you can't handle it

Publishing

Writing Smut: overcoming shame

Don't toss your work

Dialogue / Writing rules

Prologue

Paragraph breaks

Sentence length matters!

Dialogue punctuation

Scene Checklist

Body Language

Descriptions between dialogue

3 dots in a sentence (Ellipsis)

Using adverbs

Using adjectives

Coming Outs

Commonly misused words & phrases

Words to Avoid

Flirting!

World Building

World building through plot holes

Using context clues

Creating land

Government

Matriarchal society

Dystopia

Descriptions

Resources for Describing Physical things

Alcoholic drinks & cocktails

KISS SCENES

Clothing references

Sewing sources (includes history of fashion)

Hair texture

Skin color/tone

Sword / Martial arts inspo

Character Development

Character development, agency, plot

Esk*mo is a slur

Naming characters

Naming characters in other cultures

Character sheets

Character sheet

Emotional intelligence

Human body limits

Making threats and the third option

Bartenders

Children

Kids

Asian characters

Muslim characters

Slavic characters

Russian names

Mixed characters

Bilingual characters

Blind or Visually Impaired

Morally grey

Dangerous female characters

Liars

Romance development

Healthy Relationship

Sacrifices

Redemption arc

Redemption arc 2

Regret / Remorse

Prompts/one-liners

Prompt masterlist

Another prompt masterlist

A third prompt masterlist

Best friends to lovers

Mob Boss

Prophecy of lost child

Super power of truth

Enemies to lovers

Enemies to lovers: Reasons to hate

Enemies to lovers: Getting together

Enemies to lovers Prompts!

Enemies to lovers: Fake dating

Past-life Enemies to lovers

Late-night wandering

Compliments

Touch-starved

Romance/physical intimacy prompts

Romance: little acts of love

Smut

Reputation

Break-ups

More sources

Masterlist: body language, words, translator

Masterlist: prompts, LGBTQ+, NSFW Advice

Meme: fanfiction problems

Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)

Bechdel Test

Types of fanfic authors

[meloraspeer]

what are ur actual bookshelf red flags. please do not say american psycho 

[meloraspeer]

Prompt #4

Villain gripped Hero's collar in their fists, eyes burning, cheeks stained with tears.

"I. Fucking. Hate you." Their voice was low, full of hurt and loathing.

Hero stared up into the face of their nemisis - their friend - with wide eyes. They swallowed the lump in their throat, guilt burning in their blood. "I...I'm sorry-"

"Sorry?" Villain laughed and their voice cracked. "Oh, no. No, no, you're not sorry." They gripped the fabric of Hero's shirt tighter, pulling them close enough for their noses to touch. "You're not sorry," Villain murmured. "But you will be."

[meloraspeer]

the "came back wrong" trope except like... they didnt. like this mad scientists wife died, and so he studied necromancy, brought her back, and she came back and it all worked. like she came back exactly the same as she was before with literally no difference. but the scientist guy is like "oh no... what have i done.... shes Different now!!!! she came back Wrong!!!!" and shes just like. chilling. reading a book. cooking dinner. shes just so so normal but in the guys mind hes like "oh shes soooo weird" but shes just normal

[meloraspeer]

Surrender

“Seems like I’ve won again,” Villain gloats, their smile all teeth as they land near their panting nemesis.

“Oh fuck off,” Hero groans, pulling themselves up from the ground. Every bone in their body feels worn down and ancient. The past two months have taken their toll on their body. Hero brushes their fingers over their sore thigh, a huge bruise already forming along the outer side of it. “Asshole.”

“It’s your fault, sweetheart,” Villain claims, unfazed when Hero grants them with a scowl. “I thought you knew how to put up a fight.”

And no, Villain did not intend for it to sound insulting. It just came out wrong. It’s not like they did not enjoy their battles. This was their favourite pastime. What could be more fun than an intense clash with a worthy opponent? 

Except, Hero did not seem to appreciate their efforts anymore. Not for the last couple of months, they did not. And that would hurt Villain’s pride if only they weren’t so confident. Hero had hoped the evident lack of enthusiasm and vigour would make Villain question things, but alas. Villain was oblivious. Blissfully so.

Hero clenches their teeth, suppressing a growl when Villain decides they didn’t take enough beating yet and charges at them again.

“How many times am I gonna have to beat you for you to understand you can’t defeat me?” Villain’s tone is scornful, almost mocking. Hero is on the verge of plain eliminating them. Solely for attitude. 

Oh, how they want to show Villain what they’re capable of. Give the dense little shit a taste of their own medicine and send them flying across the city straight into the hospital. A month in intensive care would do them good. 

But they cannot. 

“How many times am I gonna have to lose for you to realise I’m not trying to defeat you?” 

Keep reading

[meloraspeer]

How to Write Characters With Romantic Chemistry

Writing great chemistry can be challenging. If you’re not super inspired, sometimes the connection between your characters feels like it’s missing something.

Here are a few steps you can consider when you want to write some steamy romantic chemistry and can’t figure out what’s blocking your creativity.

1. Give the Love a Name

Tropes have a bad reputation, but they can be excellent tools when you’re planning or daydreaming about a story. Giving the romance a name also assigns a purpose, which takes care of half the hard plotting work.

You can always read about love tropes to get inspired and think about which might apply to the characters or plot points you have in mind, like:

Friends to lovers

Enemies to lovers

First love

The love triangle

Stuck together

Forbidden love

Multiple chance love

Fake lovers turned soulmates

There are tooooons of other tropes in the link above, but you get the idea. Name the love you’re writing about and it will feel more concrete in your brain.

2. Develop Your Characters

You should always spend time developing your characters individually, but it’s easy to skip this part. You might jump into writing the story because you have a scene idea. Then the romance feels flat.

The good news is you can always go back and make your characters more real. Give them each their own Word or Google doc and use character templates or questions to develop them. 

You should remember to do this for every character involved in the relationship as well. Sometimes love happens between two people who live nearby and other times it happens by:

Being in a throuple

Being in a polyamorous relationship

Being the only one in love (the other person never finds out or doesn’t feel it back, ever)

There are so many other ways to experience love too. Don’t leave out anyone involved in the developing relationship or writing your story will feel like driving a car with only three inflated tires.

3. Give the Conversations Stakes

Whenever your characters get to talk, what’s at risk? This doesn’t have to always be something life changing or scary. Sometimes it might be one character risking how the other perceives them by revealing an interest or new fact about themselves.

What’s developing in each conversation? What’s being said through their body language? Are they learning if they share the same sense of humor or value the same foundational beliefs? Real-life conversations don’t always have a point, but they do in romantic stories. 

4. Remember Body Language

Body language begins long before things get sexy between your characers (if they ever do). It’s their fingertips touching under the table, the missed glance at the bus stop, the casual shoulder bump while walking down the street.

It’s flushed cheeks, a jealous heart skipping a beat, being tongue tied because one character can’t admit their feelings yet.

If a scene or conversation feels lacking, analyze what your characters are saying through their body language. It could be the thing your scene is missing.

5. Add a Few Flaws

No love story is perfect, but that doesn’t mean your characters have to experience earth shattering pain either.

Make one laugh so hard that they snort and feel embarrassed so the other can say how much they love that person’s laugh. Make miscommunication happen so they can make up or take a break. 

People grow through their flaws and mistakes. Relationships get stronger or weaker when they learn things that are different about them or that they don’t like about each other. 

6. Create Intellectual Moments

When you’re getting to know someone, you bond over the things you’re both interested in. That’s also a key part of falling in love. Have your characters fall in intellectual love by sharing those activities, talking about their favorite subjects, or raving over their passions. They could even teach each other through this moment, which could make them fall harder in love.

7. Put Them in Public Moments

You learn a lot about someone when they’re around friends, acquaintances, and strangers. The chemistry between your characters may fall flat if they’re only ever around each other.

Write scenes so they’re around more people and get to learn who they are in public. They’ll learn crucial factors like the other person’s ambition, shyness, humor, confidence, and if they’re a social butterfly or wallflower.

Will those moments make your characters be proud to stand next to each other or will it reveal something that makes them second guess everything?

8. Use Your Senses

And of course, you can never forget to use sensory details when describing the physical reaction of chemistry. Whether they’re sharing a glance or jumping into bed, the reader feels the intensity of the moment through their five senses—taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell. 

Characters also don’t have to have all five senses to be the protagonist or love interest in a romantic story. The number isn’t important—it’s how you use the ways your character interacts with the world. 

-----

Anyone can write great romantic chemistry by structuring their love story with essential elements like these. Read more romance books or short stories too! You’ll learn as you read and write future relationships more effortlessly.

[meloraspeer]

Things İ've had to google as a writer

List of programming languages (Two characters were joking about naming their child after a programming language)

How many programming languages are there (Main character knows how to code, İ needed to figure out how many languages they would know and which ones)

Languages in Jewish communities (İ was trying to figure out what languages a character would know as an Orthodox Jew)

Hasidic Judaism (İ was trying to figure out what branch of judaism a character was in)

Auburn hair (Couldn't figure out the right word to describe a characters hair)

İs kidnapping against jewish law (Don't ask)

[meloraspeer]

My characters faces are more familiar to me than my own

[meloraspeer]

A. SHITTY. DRAFT. IS. ALWAYS. BETTER. THAN. NO. DRAFT.

Thank you.

[meloraspeer]

“God, you dated Supervillain? You really do have bad taste.”

“Hey,” The Villain stuttered, “That was a long time ago. And, besides my tastes has improved, I’m dating you now.”

Hero laughed. “That just proves my point.”

[meloraspeer]

Me (knowing I should just write and not edit now):

[meloraspeer]

I think the most heartbreaking thing is…writing does take practice. You’re probably not going to be at your best when you start out. The worst part about writing is that you’re going to be very shaky and probably pretty bad before you can get pretty good. Writing, like all forms of art, takes practice and discipline and willingness to try and keep going, no matter how difficult it may seem. And it can suck! We all know that! Creative ruts and writers block are tough but inevitable aspects of the process of writing. But just know that if you’re not satisfied with your work now, it only means that you’re going to be even better in the future. One day you’ll be able to look back at your work and go, “wow this kinda sucks, but that just means that I’ve gotten better now!” Writing takes time. You’re not gonna get good overnight. So keep going! Keep pushing! You only get better from here :)