#Let's go with that

[tippenfunkaport]

there is something so darkly comical about tumblr potentially outliving twitter

tumblr, which is held together with duct tape and madness, run by three raccoons in blood stained Yahoo! hats and a handful of crabs, its only discernible source of income the sale of shoelaces from an inside joke so inside no one knows the original source anymore and fake blue checkmarks... that website still lives on

truly the cockroach of social media and I love it for that

[calista-222]

New super form!!

[fixyourwritinghabits]

No Such Thing As Filler

Okay, so yes, this is another post based on something I saw that irritated me, but it seems like this idea keeps coming up, so I need y'all to internalize this. There is no such thing as filler in good writing. None. Do not approach your work thinking you have to fill space in a story, I will beat you with this wiffle bat. Don't ask me where I got the wiffle bat. Don't even worry about it.

The idea of filler comes from a very particular place - when an anime or TV show has to fit in a certain number of episodes, but doesn't have enough content (hasn't caught up with the manga, the source material isn't long enough, etc) to cover those episodes. An episode has to be written, but the characters can't really progress, and so are given something else to do. Many a trope has come from these episodes, and they're sometimes necessary. Filler in this context is something that makes sense.

The dark side of filler is the idea that you need some space between Big Event 1 and Big Event 2 in your story, therefore you need throw anything in there to take up space and make your word count. This is a mistake I've made and I've seen plenty of other writers do it too, but it's a huge waste of your time. You do need something between those big action scenes, but you should always be writing to accomplish something.

Instead of thinking of that writing as filler, try to approach it with three things in mind:

Move Forward With Character Development and Backstory - Your characters barely survived a huge gunfight, and they won't encounter the big bad again for another few chapters. How do your characters decompress from that gunfight, and what does that say about them? Did a cocky character go in guns blazing, only to be deeply shaken by how a real fight works? Did that fight spark a moment of deep trauma for the main character that they have to reflect on afterwards?

Filling this space with meaningless scenes is a huge waste of opportunity. Think about how to dive deeper into your characters.

Move Forward With Plot and Subplot Development - The bad guy beat the heroes to the stolen gem, but they left behind a clue to why they want it. However that clue could reveal some painful truths about the protagonist's beloved great aunt... Carmen Sandiego???

A major goal following a big action scene is having the characters figure out what to do with what they've learned and what to do next. It's where romance subplots or secret relative subplots make progress, when truths are revealed and next steps are taken. You can absolutely do this in any setting - a flirty conversation while at the battling cages, a tense moment of feelings while hunting down a wayward chicken - but your main goal is making progress for both the characters and plot.

Move Forward With Worldbuilding - Worldbuilding has it challenges, believe me. You don't want to write a chapter on how an airship works only to have to cut it later. But you should still try to flesh out your world, and you should do so with the perspective of how to use that worldbuilding to your benefit. Maybe a critical scene hinges on the main characters knowing how that airship works, or that lake your main character often stares at is the setting of the big Act 3 Boat Battle. The weather can play into both perspective and emotions. Knowing what the main character's house and car looks like can reflect a lot on their personal character or backstory.

When you're struggling with a scene or a chapter, rather than writing filler, take a few steps back and think. What can you establish with your worldbuilding? What can you reveal about your characters through their dialogue and actions? What subplot could you explore or add in these between moments?

Filler from a fandom perspective - Now let me make this clear - if you're writing a fanfic just to have a cute moment between the characters you like, or you really want to force everyone to do that weird Twilight baseball scene, that's fine. You don't need a grand goal to achieve for every story, there's no need to justify your fanwork in any way other than you wanted to do it.

But I'd also argue fanwork doesn't fall under the filler label either - something you create, be it a character snapshot or a 'what if the gang meets Slenderman' parody, isn't taking up meaningless space. It's something fun you did that you and others enjoy, and there's nothing wasteful or pointless about that.

[ficking-capitan]

he's scared, Ada come get him

Twitter

[bramble-scramble]

what if... frankensteins monster phantom was like this guy v

AAAGH, yes!!!!! So cool- like his tummy is transparent but he has organs and veins and stuff in there.... reminds me a little bit of an idea from @color-cacophony with Phantom essentially being cut in half and preserved by his "bubble", except a little less morbid, and more functional (still morbid though, hah)

If Woodrow were to try and construct his Perfect Singer, using his self-engineered merging technology, perhaps he would use a balloon (just like main-universe Phantom) to symbolize and grant lung capacity... but it doesn't work out quite the same, and he ends up with something freaky like this. Maybe due to not using a Boo Balloon but just a regular one.

[hydrachea]

I would like to formally apologize for ever assuming Wriothesley and Sigewinne were father and daughter. They are clearly husband and wife.

[salemoleander]

I fucking love reading academic articles on fandom

[lookslikethatsallthetimewehave]

Poptropica fandom:

A villain gets proper karma for trying to doing horrible things (Ringmaster Raven)

Fandom: My poor little meow meow 🥺

A villain who does objectively worse things and has an even worse reason for doing it gets away scott-free (Schehrazade)

Fandom: *shrugs*

To be fair, I think it's mostly because nobody cares about that villain in the first place XD

At least, I barely saw any fanart of Schehrazade back when the fandom was at its peak. Ringmaster Raven and Myron Van Buren were introduced in the same year as Schehrazade, and they definitely have more love and attention. Even Omegon has more attention than her.

So I think it's because nobody really cared about her in the first place XD

[probayern]

btw wrote a whole fic after watching that video where seb calls lewis the goat. because surely they're just trying to get each other's attention at this point. right. (it really mostly ended up being about something else but. for anyone who's interested. posting here)

[ingravinoveritas]

“There’s more than one story in these isles...”

[hells-greatestdad]

//

I think to some extent I am channeling my muse's energy cuz I've just been extra lately, but also.... I'm a goofy bitch by nature too

[thebooktopus]

for the @drarrymicrofic prompt "blood." (T, 325 words) tw: blood, minor character death, canon-typical violence

When he was 8, Draco’s father taught him that his blood was good and clean and pure. Never once tainted by mudbloods, who had sludge in their veins, impure and black.

“Sanctimonia Vincet Semper.”

When he was 16, his blood stained the water that puddled around him in a dark bathroom. No amount of purity would save him now. He felt glad for it.

But life was siphoned back into his veins, black eyes piercing his, willing him to stay. There would be many times in his life that Draco wished he hadn't listened.

When he was 17, he was living a nightmare. Watching his aunt carve a slur into his classmate, Draco had gripped his left forearm, phantom pain blooming under his palm. Her blood pooled around her as she grit her teeth and proved herself to be ten times the person he was.

He noticed her blood was indistinguishable from his own, bright red as it pulsed from the wound.

When he was 23, he watched a blood curse drain the mother of his child. Astoria was perhaps not his one true love, but she was his best friend no less.

He cradled their infant son in his arms as the life left her eyes, her blood and body cooling in death.

When he was 24, he held Scorpius in his arms in the St Mungo’s waiting room, agonizing as patient after patient got called in before them. He considered approaching the front desk for a third time when a familiar voice called out. “Malfoy?”

Verdant green eyes held his own as Potter said, “Don’t worry, it’s just a bit of blood.” Potter’s powerful magic tidied Scorpius right up and stole the breath from Draco’s lungs.

When he was 28, Draco betrayed his lineage for a half-blood. It was the easiest decision he would ever make.

As he slit his palm and let Harry’s blood mingle with his own, he whispered, “I do.”

<<previous microfic>>

[howlbear]

A Court of Fey & Flowers couldn't have been more perfectly made for me and I'd like to thank the academy for this absolute win and I'd like to apologize to my followers because this is absolutely all I will speak about once it drops

[giggly-squiggily]

I have an idea. Write tickle headcanons for a ship that was introduced to you through tumblr you hadn't thought before and are now like! :D That one ask from a few days ago that asked you about new ships from the blog, write headcanons for one of them! :]

Oo, this is so clever, anon! Since I'm never good at picking just one; I'm gonna do a headcanon per tumblr-introduced ship! Here we go! :D

The post in question

Twice will clone himself and hide his doops around the league hideout like little traps for Dabi. One minute the flame user is minding his business, the next he's getting ambushed by Twice- repeatedly. It all comes to a head by the end of the day where Twice's got three of himself surrounding the burnt chicken nugget; all grabbing an arm and playfully getting at his worst spots.

Shinsou gets the occasional headache from his quirk. Midoriya offers to give him a scalp massage whenever this happens- but the one time Shinsou did agree to it Midoriya pulled out this torturous contraption. One swipe and poor Shinsou was dead on the floor, a puddle of blushing embarrassment while Midoriya laughed hysterically. It all went south after Shinsou stole the device and used it on Midoriya's knees.

Gonta is guilty of using the whole "Tickle bugs" game on Korekiyo. He'll place a hand on his shoulder and say something along the lines of "Don't move. Gonta found bug." Korekiyo is just *statue mode activated* and Gonta will make a big show of brushing his back before grabbing his ribs and giving him all the gentle tickles ever. It gets kinda obvious after awhile- Gonta isn't exactly sneaky- but Korekiyo finds it cute so he lets him have his fun.

One time as a joke Kuroo "bit" Matsu. He got vampire teeth in the mail for funsies and was running around with them, hissing at his friends and "seeking blood". It was then he learned Matsu's neck is ridiculously ticklish and his newly acquired teeth made it worse. One "nibble" and Matsu's a full turtle- shoving at his shoulders as he scrunches up and giggles. Kuroo nearly died that day from how cute it was (and how he almost swallowed his vampire teeth but he survived. He's not aloud to use them for tickles anymore after that.)

If White Lily's overworking herself in her studies, Pure Vanilla will sneak up on her and tickle her sides until she gives chase. When she does eventually catch up to him, she finds herself in a cleared out room with soft music and pretty fairy lights set up by her boyfriend. They'd slow dance until she decides it's the best time to get him back, giving his own sides a tickle under the guise of "Just getting my hands into position".

(New ship who's this aelkjakrjaejk) Rika likes to gently pull on Grusha's cheeks to make him smile if he's acting a tad too grumpy for her liking. He's stubborn and refuses until she goes for his good knee. It often results in a tickle war that our Ice-gym leader ultimately looses because Rika is simply too powerful for this world (not that he's complaining- he rather likes her smiling face). She'd poke his nose with a "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" that leaves him a flustered mess the rest of the day.

Hope these were good!

[hypernousnight]

Deeply dark thought, but I would love to see (or, spirit willing write) a fic where Jason's return actually irrevocably damages Bruce's trust in Clark.

Because look, whether it's canon or fanon, it's a very common fic trope that Superman can hear...a lot. Like, across continents a lot.

How does that look to Bruce? Jason, screaming his pain and fear and rage in a Pit induced word vomit, and Bruce hearing how Jason screamed in his coffin, buried beneath several feet of dirt.

Depending on your continuity of choice, Metropolis is literally right across the bay from Gotham.

Bruce, knowing Clark's powers, knowing Clark's range of hearing, would eventually see those pieces click. And it would just... shit that would break Bruce in a whole new angle. Because Clark is one of the few heroes Bruce usually trusts, across continuities.

And then one day, probably a particularly hard one, these two pieces slot together.

Jason woke up in a coffin, confused and likely very scared. He probably screamed. He probably cried. (Whether you have Jason tell Bruce this or have it implied or just have Bruce contemplate how horrific that must be).

Superman can hear clearly for miles. Across state lines if not country boarders or continents. Clark had to have heard a young man, maybe a teen, screaming and crying and likely begging for his dad. And did nothing.

Now you can make this worse/better:

Clark was off planet at the time.

Clark was otherwise occupied, either as Superman or as Clark, and was completely unable to interfere.

There was interference at the time which kept Clark from hearing Jason.

But like. Bruce is a prickly and untrusting person to begin with; that trust, that knowledge that Clark would always have his back would always have a significantly larger voice of doubt than before.

It's just such an excellent source of angst and pain for these guys and I'm sad I haven't seen it yet.

(That being said, someone has to have done this. I am not nearly creative enough to be the sole person to think of this).

[mananabuffins]

Walking home from work, I text my mother. Overwhelmed, anxious, I ask for advice.

She asks if the sky is clear. I can't tell- I say I can see the moon, but I can't see the stars.

I want to ask if she can see the stars.