#also these paragraphs make it sound like i have more developed but this is genuinely kinda the extent of it

[optimizim]

tell me abt your ocz?? (>_<)//

(first of all woah my first ask! yippee!) (second of all. this got long. i'm so very sorry.)

skutz, skee and poot are their names! i don't have them developed as much as i want to; i've just broken back into the oc-o-sphere after a couple of years of succumbing to cringe culture.

skee is a, hm, xenoecologist? 🤔 it's a really cushy job, even though it sounds scientific. he's tall, impressively so, but flunked out of invader training and sucks at anything that requires a lot of long-term commitment. essentially, his job is to explore planets with No Sentient Lifeforms and log anything interesting he finds; anything that could be useful for the empire. he's kind of bitter about sucking at every job he's ever tried but he's also not self-aware enough to make any sort of genuine improvement in his life B^)

poot is the irken equivalent of a NEET. yeah TECHNICALLY he has a job. he's skee's """"assistant"""". skee is fond of him and since poot livens up the base on whatever planet they're on, he gets to loiter doing barely anything. he's loyal, upbeat, generous, and also INCREDIBLY stupid. he's less xenophobic than most of his fellow irkens but also genuinely not any threat to the empire whatsoever by virtue of his sheer stupidity. talking to him would probably be pretty grating (and you'd feel bad for not liking him because has good intentions 😬)

(there is NO way they'd have a SIR unit. why did i draw that!!!)

skutz doesn't even really know those two even tho i drew them together. he's the one i like to think about in bed before i go to sleep :,) he's yer standard irken piece of shit. short, but "pulled himself up by the bootstraps" and got a job overlooking drones and laborers, where he got to ego trip around people who couldn't really do anything about it. way too cocky and ambitious, he took a "great opportunity!!!" to test out the interdimensional tech that was being developed in his universe. he thought he'd get famous but he ended up getting catapulted into a dimension where irkens don't exist and had to kinda rawdog existing in a universe where he has absolutely 0 influence.

i've been thinking about what aliens he might encounter in this dimension and i like the idea that they'd be VERY nature heavy but not in a way that's disconnected from technology; maybe irkens even used to exist in this dimension but their tech was absorbed into this other empire instead of em achieving dominance. but! that universe is secondary to most of my thoughts about my ocs, and i just like to think about the possibilities there before i go to bed. skee and poot have a muuuch more canon adherent sort of deal, and skutz is easy to adapt for that too.

WOW and that ended up being a lot but i'm glad its written down somewhere now 👍

[crystalyssa35]

A General Guide to Writing Well, Now, & Consistently

In all my years writing, I have struggled with keeping writing as a fun and healthy habit. It took me five years (and many instances of writer's block and giving up) to actually have a basic set of guidelines to keep my writing going...

And I would like to share these "rules" with you all today!

Now, a bit of a disclaimer: developing the quality of your writing skills comes with time, research, and thinking. It may sound frustrating to hear, and you may hear it often, but the only way to get better at writing is to write and read often. Many times, just by jotting a silly thought down or reading fanfiction, you can spawn ideas without realizing it.

Now, to the list of tips that (I hope) will help you on your writing endeavors!

If you are not having fun writing your story, your readers will not have fun reading it. It sounds silly, but it's true! If you're enjoying your writing, you're more likely to write more and input more ideas into it!

Even if you have people to check your works, reread them on your own anyway. This may be a little frustrating tip for some, but let me tell you: I used to HATE checking my own stuff. The worst way I learned that personally checking it is a necessity was when my aunt checked it and pointed out tens of mistakes within my grammar, storyline, and characters. Check yo work, it will save you a LOT of embarrassment in the future.

Write anything. Read everything. As ambiguous and obscure as it will sound, it makes sense with context. As I mentioned before, the only way to get better at writing is to write and read often. Write anything your mind desires, that's simple enough. But read EVERYTHING; not only books, blogs, and articles, but also games, texts with friends, billboards, pictures with text, and (sorry, students) even homework as well. You'll be surprised how much your vocabulary expands when you actually pay attention to anything that is written (for me, it was video games. Seven-year old me knew vocabulary that I was taught in seventh grade because of it). And on that note...

Research what you don't know. Please, this one is genuinely important (I'm biased because it's one of my pet peeves). This includes words you don't know the definition of, spelling, and even generic, real-life information you want to add into your stories (e.g. I actually spent four hours researching how gemstones are categorized for my sci-fi story: Eco-Adstrum). Unfortunately, sometimes researching and fact-checking your ideas before writing them down can prove to be unmotivating, especially when you're wrong. But, it's always good to stay optimistic and be creative enough to twist the actual fact to mold it to your stories. Unless you're writing non-fiction, then maybe don't do that last bit.

If you have no ideas, keep wiggling your pencil. To those that recognize that phrase, yes, it is not my own. This is a piece of writing from former Tumblr user "officialtheonite" (I was only able to find the post because it has been reblogged multiple times) and their fifth grade writing teacher. Essentially, even if you have no ideas, keep writing. Write ANYTHING, even if it doesn't make sense. You will always be able to double-check it later and you will save yourself a lot of wasted time sitting around trying to stir the soup in your brain.

Balance the usage of your names and pronouns. To this day, I still struggle with this. I tend to use an abundance of pronouns when I'm referring to a character, so much so that sometimes, it becomes unclear on if we are still talking about aforementioned character or if we're talking about a different character entirely. Use names when the focus or action of a character is on stage; use pronouns if we are still talking about said character (even if we are talking about the same character, make sure you at least reiterate their name when there's a new paragraph).

I'll be editing and reworking this list as time goes on. I hope these tips can be of use so some of you all. Feel free to ask me any questions if needed. Enjoy writing and keep at it! I believe in you all!

[not-poignant]

Do you have any advice on how to write more words on a regular basis? I find it difficult to write regularly but am fed up of only being able to produce sporadically in small amounts. Whenever I sit down to write it feels like I'm feeding gravel into a blender (if that even makes sense). I've tried getting advice from others and am told to just "stop trying to write then". But I can't because I want to write. Writing is all I ever think about. It feels like oxygen to me and when I'm not doing it (or thinking about doing it) I feel like I'm dying inside. But damn, I just wish it wasn't so difficult.

I really want to finish my stories and I know I could if I just wrote regularly but I don't know why that's so hard for me to do.

Hi anon!

I might have some thoughts on this because I certainly never used to write as much as I do now!

Firstly, I'll get this one out of the way now, if you have money to spend, join 4thewords - ignore this if you don't have it. But this gamifies writing in a genuinely fun way. Each monster you kill gives you loot, and fulfills quests that give you more loot, that opens more worlds and more options that give you clothing / house furniture and more. This was - given how much more productive it made me - a game changer re: writing more.

If you don't have money to spend, let's ignore that and go to other methods.

If you want to write more, the answer isn't to stop writing, it's to write more. The best time to hear 'it's time to stop writing' is if you're burnt out, or you hate everything about it. It sounds like you don't hate everything about it, you just wish it was a bit easier.

Decide what you want regularly to mean. I don't have a daily writing habit - I don't write every day! I'm too sick to, so i have a monthly minimum wordcount instead of a daily minimum wordcount and try and hit it by about week 2/3. Regularly for you might be once a day. Once every two days. Or it might be 'I have to write this many words a month.'

Find a way to track the words you're writing. The only way you can accurately see how much you're writing is by tracking those word-counts! Because you will have days where you feel like you wrote nothing and actually wrote a fair bit, and days where you feel like you wrote a fair bit and sadly wrote...hardly anything, lol. But it's also the best way to see yourself achieve more as you increase your wordcount.

Let's also talk about flow. Sometimes you don't get to feel 'flow' - that feeling of the words coming out easily onto the page, and you have to kind of struggle for every sentence. Are you okay with writing more knowing that this is actually normal for many writers, and the gravel blender feeling might not go away? It will over time get easier to write more words, but it might mean more of that gravel blender feeling. Flow is not predictable, and is often story and scene dependent. Chances are you will have more times feeling writing flow, I just want you to be honest with yourself in case it doesn't happen the way you wish.

From there, it's a combination of developing the discipline (which is like exercising a muscle - start small and grade upwards, don't aim too high at first, consistency is better than bursts), and finding the tricks that help you.

Look at how many words you think you could write a week. Let's lowball and say about 100 words a week. When you assess this for yourself, always undershoot, don't round up! 100 words is like... a long paragraph worth of words.

The following week, depending on if you want a daily / once every two days etc. habit, you'd aim to write 150 words that week. A paragraph and a half.

The week after you'd aim for 200 words.

You might find in week 2 it was easy to write 1000 words, great! But the week after you're still only aiming for 200 words. Don't base scaling up on the bursts / writing sprints - they'll lie to you. If you want consistent discipline, base your increases on the low days. If you reach a week where 200 words feels impossible, aim for 200 words the following week, if it's still impossible, go back to 150.

Now for you it might be... 500 words in week one, 600 in week two, 700 in week 3 etc. It might not seem like much, but you'd be surprised how quickly you start scaling through those numbers with practice.

Increasing writing output is a numbers game. And it's a patience game. And it's a 'being forgiving and gentle with yourself while also being a little bit stern with yourself' game.

Here's the thing no one tells you (except for NaNoWriMo every single year) re: increasing your wordcount.

Those words don't have to be good. They don't have to be good in fact it's better if they're not.

You're just getting used to the feeling of writing more. Not writing more good words, that will come naturally with time. You're getting used to sitting in front of a document for longer, thinking of more sentences you don't necessarily love (it's better if you don't! Write the bad ones!) And this is what I mean by it's a numbers game. Getting better at writing happens the more you do it anyway, so you can just focus on 40 bad sentences.

The trick to letting yourself write badly? That one is just...gritting your teeth and screaming through them while you go 'AHHHHH' in your head and let those suckers loose. Or whatever version of this that you have.

Because here's the thing, it's actually pretty easy to write 1000 words of inconsequential terrible story that no one's going to read. I mean 'pretty easy' - it's easier than writing the stories and characters you love the most and are so invested in, it's hard to write the sentences because you want to do justice to it all. That's fucking stressful, friend, and increasing writing output is just better if you're not always a) doing it on those stories or b) invested in writing those stories well in those early draft/s.

But once you're used to writing more words of stuff you don't love, it becomes easier to write less words of stuff you do, and chances are that will still be more than you're writing now. <3 Some of my stories are really easy to write, and some are way way harder. A chapter of The Ice Plague took as much time as three chapters of Underline the Black. So story is important here too. But also the point is basically that... you don't have to scale up your writing output with the stories you're most invested in, but need to be at a certain standard of writing. You can scale it up any time, with any kind of story - anyone can do this. Increasing your wordcount is a matter of like... easy methods that are less easy to implement irl because of the psychology around letting yourself write badly, and letting yourself validate the time / put the time aside to do that.

And here's the other thing - find a ritual that helps you. Whether it's brewing some tea before writing. Setting up a little space. Putting on some music or a noise generator specifically for writing. Listening to Lo-Fi Girl or Synthwave Boy. Whether it's writing a few words on paper first, or changing the font. Eventually you will have a Pavlovian response to the ritual, and every little bit helps.

As for the psychology, this is why you lowball. You make it as easy as possible. 'God writing 1000 words seems really hard oh but I only have to write a sentence today, cool, I can do that.'

The thing about lowballing is that on the good days, you will write way, way more than your goal. Which means a) you're done for the week if that happens if you want to be done and b) when you're back to feeling exhausted and like GGHGHGHGHHHHH about writing, you're still back at that initial lowball wordcount.

On my worst days, I lowball to like, 5 words, 10 words, and just write 5 / 10 / 15 etc. down on a piece of paper and cross them off. 30 words can be a sentence. 10 words can be a sentence. It feels nice to cross off numbers on a sheet of paper and see the increasing words. I can almost always get to 500 words with that method, and I think you could definitely get to 100.

Anyway the TL;DR

Consistency is way more important than quality

Don't be surprised if you don't find 'flow'

ALWAYS lowball when you're developing an increase in words

Figure out what 'regular' means to you (daily / weekly / etc.)

Make a ritual

Focus less on the stories you love most when developing this habit

If you have a bad week, just go back to the previous wordcount goal. And keep doing that, this won't be a linear process!!!

...It didn't need to be this long I'm so sorry anon idk why I'm like this.

I wish you all the best! I 100% disagree with the folks telling you 'just stop writing then.' I'm like nope, embrace the gravel blender, eventually you'll end up with smooth sand in an hourglass, I promise. <3 You just might have to add more gravel sometimes. ;)

[bonesandthebees]

Hi Bee! You seem to read a lot of books, and I've been trying to get back into reading books rather than fanfiction as of late (which is going good atm). I used to read a lot of actual books when I was younger, but once I was a pre teen I'd discovered fic and had trouble reading actual books unless I had to for school lol. Anyway, my question is do you have any book recs? While for right now, it is going well, I only have two books I'm planning on reading after I finish the two I'm reading simultaneously right now. So it'd be nice to have some more for once I finish those as well. :D

Another reason for my wanting to get back into reading actual types of books is studying a more formal written literature to improve my writing, and to observe what author's do with their writing style that I'd want to incorporate in my own writing. If you have any tips for studying/observing, I'd also love some of those.

While this doesn't really have to do with the whole book thing, I just wanna say that you definitely inspired me to want to write more. Most of your titles always sound so cool and make me wanna read anything of yours solely based off them, and your plot, descriptiveness, metaphors, Greek mythology references, and so many other little things about it make it so enjoyable to read and something I'd strive to be within my own writing. A little silly, I know, considering it's MCYT fic, but your writing is genuinely so cool.

That's all I wanted to say, bye bye.

this is so kind thank you!! it seriously makes me so happy anytime someone tells me my silly fic writing inspired them to start/improve their own writing. writing is such a beautiful art but it's also a skill you have to put so much time into. you're off to an amazing start already with recognizing that you have to read published novels to improve your writing. it seriously helps so much.

I can definitely give you some recs! I'll put them under a read more, but since you asked for tips when reading novels:

try to pay attention to things you like and don't like about the author's writing style. like if you're reading a novel and there's a line of description that's particularly gorgeous or sets a scene super well, consider annotating the book with a pen or highlighter or if you don't own the book itself, copy down the line/paragraph somewhere (notebook, notes app, smth like that) to refer back to later. or if you find yourself super immersed in a conversation going on between two characters, take a step back to notice how the author writes out the conversation. is there a lot of physical description of what the characters are doing while they speak that lets you picture th escene easily? or is the dialogue rapid fire back and forth which forces you to just be sucked into it? what about it do you like?

or, on the contrary, if you find yourself struggling to enjoy a book try to notice what about the writing style is pulling you away. is there too much flowery description that makes you want to skip ahead? is there too much exposition so you feel like you're just getting an infodump instead of a narrative? take stock of what your own thoughts are as you read and then try to figure out why that is.

also, a tip I heard once is that you can always try to emulate a specific style. if you want to improve your writing and you just read a book with a writing style you really want, maybe try and write a random scene in that same style. it doesn't have to be anything original or even good, no one ever has to see it, it can just be for your own practice. just keep the book beside you and try to pick out what makes the writing style distinct, and try to emulate that. not saying you have to adopt that style, but just trying out a new style can give you some variation to help you develop/improve your own.

okay now book recs time, this'll get long so putting it below

now you didn't specify what kinds of books you like to read so I'm going to just throw in a few from a few different genres I've read. most of these are books I've recced here on my blog before but they're all a bit scattered so I'll rec them again. now, I mostly read fantasy or historical fiction because I just like those genres but I'll try to include some variety here

Genre: Fantasy (Typical Medieval)

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

one of my all time favorite novels. incredibly expansive fantasy worldbuilding that draws from a variety of cultures that's not exclusive to just europe. of course there's one country that's fantasy england, but you also have countries that take inspiration from asia, africa, and the middle east. you follow several characters that vary in age, race, gender, sexuality, etc. and they're all wonderfully fleshed out and fascinating. the story itself is also just fantastic and the world really swallows you whole. there's also a prequel to this called A Day of Fallen Night that I actually think I liked a bit more than Priory, but I'd recommend reading Priory first because it's easier to get into the world through that one whereas ADOFN is a bit more dense.

Genre: Fantasy (Apocalyptic? Sci fi? Kind of?)

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin

similar to priory, the fifth season is a masterclass in worldbuilding and creating interesting worlds. that's where the similarities end though. technically speaking The Fifth Season is a fantasy and not a sci fi, although it feels more like sci fi to me tonally. The Fifth Season explores a world that is so regularly tormented by apocalyptic natural disasters that everything is formed around survival and it makes for such an interesting culture. the story also does an incredibly interesting and unique thing with POV that I rarely see in novels so that's also super fascinating to dig into for writing study. currently reading the sequel to this one and I love it so far.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Hild by Nicola Griffith

alright if you really wanna stretch some writing/reading muscles this is definitely a book you can try out. but be warned, it is dense. I'm a fairly fast reader and it took me so much longer to read this than I was expecting just because of how dense the writing is. this story takes place in 7th century Anglo-Saxon Britain so there's a lot of Old English words thrown in, and while there's a glossary at the back it doesn't cover everything. this is a really interesting novel though that dives deep into the time period and the specific life of one girl as she grows up at the heart of the political machinations of the Anglo-Saxon kings. really great if you're like me and think learning a lot about what life was like in this time period is super fun, but I could see it being a drag for people not super into history like that. I still think it's a really good story though on its own, especially with how the main character is characterized as she grows up, and how it represents all the politics going on at this time

Genre: Satire/Dystopian Fiction

Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

I'm including this because I'm trying to give you a bit of genre variety. If you want to read an adult dystopian book for our modern day this is definitely an excellent one to pick up. warning, it's incredibly effective as a dystopian novel because all I felt was dread and fear after finishing it. it takes place in the near future where the prison industrial complex has been combined with the entertainment industry. prisoners who are serving a sentence of either 25+ years or life are given the option to compete in televised gladiator style death matches. if they survive 3 years, they'll be released. the novel is incredibly on the nose and not subtle whatsoever about it's criticisms of capitalism and racism, especially the racism that the prison industrial complex is built on. the horrifying thing about reading it is how easily I could see this becoming a reality, especially the brand sponsorships. it made me want to laugh and cry at the same time because of how ridiculous but realistic it was.

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

And here we have my all time favorite novel. this novel is a great example of unreliable narrator and how to tell a story two different ways. if you don't know the twist for this already, go into it blind, I promise it'll be more fun that way. the premise of the story seems simple—the morning of their 5th anniversary, a man's wife goes missing and the story follows his attempts to find her. but it gets way messier than that. this novel is an excellent example of how to characterize horrible people and still make them enjoyable to read about. also, if you're like me and enjoy media about two shitty people having an unhealthy and fucked up relationship, you'll adore this.

Okay that's a lot so I'll stop there for now, but feel free to pop into my inbox if you want anymore recs! especially if there's a specific genre you're looking for. if I've read anything that fits what you're looking for I'd be happy to throw it your way!

[moonyinpisces]

Hi! I finally read HDWTOTL after seeing the cover art submissions on my dash for days. I won’t be emotionally the same ever again. Thank you, genuinely. But anyway, I was wondering if I could get some general writing advice?

I haven’t ever finished a story, and my problem is this: I can’t propel it forward. I have ideas for the beginning or middle of a story, but they’re just vague, disconnected scenes or emotions. I can never bring it to an end. And I can’t seem to bring people from location to location in a way that doesn’t feel very awkward.

Sometimes I look back at the writing I’ve done in a day and I realize it’s nearly all dialogue. Is this just my sign to be a screenwriter?

Or is there another angle to telling a story I’m not seeing?

How does one go from being a shit storyteller to a good one?

Thank you❤️

oh my gosh, thank you for reading hdwtotl and reaching out!! and yes, i can absolutely help you out, i'll throw my thoughts + advice down under the cut <3

i've always struggled with exactly what you're describing until relatively recently. i could get the barebone structure of a story down (beginning, end, vague plot points, dialogue-only scenes, etc.) luckily you mentioned you have disconnected emotions as one of the building blocks, which is, imo the most important thing you can have as a writer.

all that writing is is having an emotion and using all the tools in your arsenal to make someone else experience that same emotion.

that's all it is. what you're describing re: pacing and progression are all valid concerns, but i think you should remove that from the equation for now and just focus on what certain plot ideas make you feel, and how to evoke that feeling in others. personally, i struggle with properly explaining myself UNLESS i'm writing fiction. like, i can't tell you what i'm feeling, but i can make you feel the same way, and in the end we're now on the same wavelength. i don't think that's THE way to write, but it's the way i approach it and i couldn't do it any other way.

as to how to grow/push past what you're specifically struggling with: i think what helped me the most to develop myself as a writer is write the world around you. if you saw a sunset over farm hills in late october, how would you describe that to depict the feeling it evoked in you? the chilliness, perhaps spookiness, the beauty WITH the context that it's ushering in darkness, the dying plants, the cows huddling for warmth, the sound of a passing train. both the material and the immaterial work together in tandem in fiction -- what does the narrator sense from both? do that until it becomes second nature; if i see something incredible irl, you best believe my mental typewriter is going nuts. (the bentley scene in chapter 11 of hdwtotl had existed in my brain for MONTHS sentence-by-sentence WITH paragraph breaks before i finally got it down lol)

so if i were you, that's what i'd work on first before trying to bring it bigger picture with a beginning-middle-end as i think your pacing will naturally develop from it as well. what do you see, how do you feel, and how can the reader come away with both of those things without having been where you are themselves. also single scene oneshots to get in some practice translating that to fictional spaces.

good luck, i hope you break past this!! we need more storytellers out there

[boysborntodie]

@motorcycleboy9 thank you the ask!! I literally love you all sm<3333 I answered 4 here!! As for the others;

5: I think it’s already clear that Jally is everything to me<333 I could go on about them forever because their relationship is so fucking good, no matter how you interpret it.

I also have a soft spot for Stevepop. Don’t have too many thoughts on it except they’re good for each other and have a fun dynamic.

I know nothing about Darry/Tim but oldest sibling/oldest siblings (for whom oldest siblingism manifests differently) is the best dynamic. Can’t beat it

I usually see Johnny as gay but I make an exception for Johnny/Cherry because it’s the funniest outcome that will piss literally everyone off (mainly Dally, Bob and Pony which is such a win)

17: A thing with criticisms about the book is that since it’s Pony’s POV, a lot of things can be chalked up to ‘Pony didn’t see or know this thing’. Like I wish we got more Dally backstory because it’s very vague and confusing but also Pony doesn’t know Dally super well and isn’t close with him. Still I think SE Hinton should’ve given more details (although she also dodges the hell when asked on her Twitter)

(Iconic tbh, you have to respect her for this)

I think the book has a Tell Don’t Show problem unfortunately. We get these paragraphs of Ponyboy recounting a lot of stuff and telling us about the gang which can feel unearned and unnecessary (scattered details and hints are better imo). I think this is especially apparent in Steve’s character because he hardly appears but we know so many details about him, making him unbalanced as a character.

I also wish we got more about the gang as a family. Untraditional family dynamics and the rejection of the nuclear family as a status quo is an important and main theme in the book and while we do know the gang care for each other, we don’t get to see this enough since Pony and Johnny run away pretty quickly and Johnny never gets to rejoin the gang. Maybe a longer scene after Ponyboy gets jumped before they go to the movies. We’d also get to see other interactions between characters outside the main ones (Curtis brothers, Pony&Johnny&Dally and their variations). It would’ve been a good chance to flesh Steve out too so we don’t just know him from descriptions and small glimpses.

I also wished we got more Dally&Johnny interactions. This may sound like I’m just being biased (and I probably am a little) but I do genuinely think we don’t get enough scenes of them together, and since this is Pony’s POV, he is constantly there even in scenes that centre them (taking away the attention from them onto Pony). It’s takes away from the fact that these two characters in particular have a special relationship, especially outside of Pony (don’t get me wrong, they’re important as a trio but Dally&Pony and Johnny&Pony get more development as relationships)

[ice-and-lightning]

Character Analysis/Headcanon - Arlan || Character Story: Part IV

It's time to dissect this part. A very interesting part in my opinion. Let's go.

"Everyone's evacuated. Arlan. Hurry up!" "There may still be survivors inside." "No... There aren't any more life signs in there." He thought he could trust Asta until the moment when countless Antimatter Legion pawns pour towards him like a tsunami. The signal from the watcher zone is faint. Asta won't be able to see this situation. He is now standing, alone, in the elevator. He has to make a decision, even if he has to disobey Asta's orders — No matter the cost, he has to block access to the elevator to save everyone. He cannot allow these monsters to get to the master control zone. "Sorry, Miss Asta..."

Here we see Arlan doubting and disobeying Asta for the first time ever. He's not doubting her because he distrusts her, no, he's doubting her because he can see something she can't. He has information she lacks.

I think this part is very important to his development. Here he comes to realise that Asta might actually miss things. That she doesn't always know best. She's human and humans sometimes miss things. Yes, she saved him from the streets and will therefore forever be his saviour (even if she dislikes this thought), since without her kindness, he doesn't know how his life would've turned out. Most likely not good.

Yet, she can be wrong. This is a sort of emergency revelation to him and not something he fully comprehends there and then, since he is being attacked, but it will fully sink in later. Though, this doesn't mean he will care any less about her.

The Antimatter Legion strikes him down from behind before he can explain himself. He falls, and his remote communications disconnects. He had never hesitated, whether working in Miss Asta's home or after becoming Herta Space Station's head of Security Department. He had always taken for granted that, since Miss Asta decided to head in one direction, he has to follow her.

First of all, in the game, we're told he hurt his hand and leg, but here he's said to be struck down from behind, and together with next paragraph, it sounds like he was hit on the head. So, I'm going to hc that he got a concussion (which would explain why he doesn't fight as well as he otherwise would) first from that blow and later got the injuries to his leg and hand. The hand on, I hc, is an old injury acting up again.

Anyway, here again we see that Arlan has always just followed Asta, not even considering he can go against her wishes and whatever direction she heads towards. I think part of this is because he has never had much opportunity to choose. Usually it's been a case of 'do this or suffer' or just following orders. Partly, I also think that he has not had anything against following her lead and Asta does seem to genuinely care about him and I don't think she'd let anything happen to him or make him do anything she thinks he wouldn't want to do. If I remember correctly, besides telling him to relax, she also tells him in game to not do all these tasks that's not part of his job description. He do them anyway.

Arlan raises his head with great difficulty, and the monsters move closer to him. He had never disobeyed an order from Miss Asta before. This is the first time. "Hopefully it won't be the last time." This thought pops up in his head. Propping himself up with his greatsword, he slowly and firmly stands up.

And here we have the tenacious guardian getting back on his feet to protect those he cares about. Although he might not care about all the researchers the same way. It is clear from things he says in other places that he does care about and respect the work they do. It's all definitely more than just a job to him, with or without Asta.

We also get to see that although he doesn't back down from making sacrifices, he is in no hurry to die and also ready to disobey Asta again, should he ever need to. Arlan is making a stride in his development as a person while getting ready to fight, which honestly suit his protective and always-ready personality, in my opinion.

So, that was a little bit of a character analysis. If you read it all, thanks. If not, that's fine too.

TL;DR: Arlan gets a personality development in a crisis, disobey Asta before getting a concussion that later leads to him injuring his leg and hand.

[melop-sia]

HELLO @elphabaoftheopera ! i hope youre doing well! ive arrived with more lfay thoughts and some analysis!!!!!!!! 🥳

READING THOUGHTS:

im so, so glad i rereading lfay, it is honestly such an awesome fic and the writing so amazing! personally, since this was kind of my first time reading through the entire thing without multiple day breaks, i was definitely able to pick up on less obvious details (which are compiled below!) that made everything so much better!!! i genuinely felt like i was experiencing the story again for the first time, which made me able to appreciate and become engaged with the more emotional scenes and chapters! some of my favourites of these include chapter 23 (i was evidently moved enough to leave a comment mid read 😅😅), chapter 28 and chapter 34.

for sister sunrise, the description of elphaba reflecting over her room for the last time really got me :') the paragraph was written super beautifully and after going through most of the story i reallyy felt the nostalgic and sentimental aspect.!!!! dorothy and the dark was already a pretty emotional last chapter, but in particular fiyeraba saying goodbye to glinda and elphaba reflecting on her relationship with fiyero to get through the dark were some i really appreciated and loved!

aside from that, i loved being able to notice how elphaba went from following the rules to playing by her own since it was written with a pretty clear distinction! despite it, you managed to still write her so in character and i applaud you for it! 😁

i was wondering, was it difficult for you to write each character through all of these emotions and emotional scenes? im super in awe of how well characterised they are, i can't lie my mind started mixing some of the musical and this fic together because of it how accurate it all is!!! 👏

EDIT: i was also wondering, which parallel in lfay is your favourite / was the most fun to write in?

PARALLELS:

i pride myself soo much in picking up on these! i planned to have screenshots of all of them, but unfortunatly because of the image limit ill just have to describe some 😔 nevertheless, i hope you like reading through this segment and id like to thank @mystic-oni for his much appreciated help in finding some of these!

i loved how this parallel really developed from the beginning of their relationship, with the bickering turning cute banter :) 💕

i HAD to include this one, it is so so sweet and the parallels were all incorporated so well and warmed my heart ❤️❤️

along with these, there was also nessa making the same "you look dreadful" comment to elphaba at shiz and at kiamo ko, each in very different tones that made the second time very heartfelt :')

EXTRAS:

as well as parallels, i noted some a few references related to the book 🥳 i also noticed a few things that sounded similar but i wasn't sure were exactly parallels 🧐 but still wanted to include anyway... so here they are 😁!!! some captioned, some not but i hope you enjoy all!

i was super surprised at myself for initally not finding the lyrics snuck into the poem, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless!! also picked up on the mention of sarima from the book during chapter 14!

ANOTHER EDIT: another reference i got after watching wicked again was elphaba's book "discord and discontent" was mentioned by dr dillamond (can't recall in what way though 🥲)!

i noticed elphie celebrating in a similar way at going to shiz and getting into the sorcery seminar, she makes me so :))) SHE IS SO HOPEFUL AND DESERVES EVERYTHING!!!! i absolutely adore how you wrote her so excited and youthful during the act 1 chapters 🥺💕💕

fiyero having the same reaction to elphaba's temper from two different "lives" 💞 i can't help but love this little detail! i also picked up on how fiyero jokes about seeing the present in chapter 20 in comparison to him being sincere about it in the epilogue! super super subtle but one of my favourites !! there was also when elphaba sarcastically suggested enjoying the ocean in ev to considering in the last chapter, i laughed when i first read it and i still do when i think about it :)))

EXTRAS

nearing the last few chapters, i maaayyyy have impulsively made a LFaY chapter naming quiz 😇 it is linked below, i hope you have fun with it!

FINAL REGARDS

overall, im so glad i took the time to read over this outstanding fic, i don't think i could ever get tired of your writing!! ❤️❤️ i look forward to seeing more of your work, and im very excited to hear that there may be new works coming!!!!! however long that takes, i can't wait to be here yet again in support! :)))

[grimescum-2]

saw you were reworking ocs tell me about them :>

HIIII!!!!! i'm looking at yoy SOO evilly rn. rubbibg my little hands together soo mischievously you dont even know what you signed up for

long ass paragraphs under the cut 😈😈 i dont think its a lot to read but i tend to talk a lot ... so... i dont blame you for not reading all of it but if you do i'm literally grabbing u and shaking u and hugging you

basically i have.. like. a LOT of ocs i'm unhappy with (be it their design or backstory) and for a long while i've been working on them passively.. though as of recent i've been taking a more direct approach to developing some of my favourites AND working on a few new concepts at the same time :o3 (this might sound like a lot but i dont do anything EVER i literally only lay in bed and sleep)

for the new concepts i've been focusing mainly on this guy (any pronouns)

considering the boogie man or just boogie for a name. they're 7 ft tall and they love to scare and confuse the shit out of people.. but only sometimes. they're relatively chill otherwise, though they keep their intentions unclear. if the spirals didn't say this then they were very inspired by michael (the magnus archives) and uzumaki !! basically they're michael but with 60s-80s aesthetics (i plan on giving them more purple and a hippie/disco vibe)

a few other less notable ones are a sona, a jester (inspired by jevil) and a VERY self indulgent zombie scientist oc to feed the reanimator brainrot

for pre-existing ocs- all of my mains are getting some kind of revamp so i won't speak on all of them, but the closest to being finished is Frenzy!! heres one of a few concepts i'm happiest with:

she's like... a partial sona in a way. i might insert her into fandoms i like if i can get over the embarrassment and shame (i love seeing other people do it but when i do it i feel bad BHABAHA) BUT in short she's a 22 year old neet hikikomori who's only hobbies are watching horror movies, anime and browsing the internet. that + her family trauma and her poor health and mental illness naturally makes her a little crazy, to say the least. she's also transgender mtf because i support trans wrongs!!!!! i plan on giving her design a v-kei, menhera, pastel goth and yume kawaii vibe.

lastly, claudine is still in the works but I've made a fair bit of progress :o3 she's going to be a lot less harmlessly silly and just a little tiny bit more evil in the sense that she feels like recruiting vampires and giving them access to blood and people in exchange for working at her circus is a necessary evil that must be done to put on the greatest show in the world, an aspiration fueled by both her genuine desire to leave a positive impact on the world and her greed for fame. still as silly as ever.. if not more so, since watching The Mask gave me a LOT of inspo for her character BHABAHA

[inkykeiji]

Hi Clari!! I hope you’re doing well!

I saw that you’re gonna be exploring publishing some of your works and that’s so crazy exciting!! Is that your main goal? Like, working towards seeing your work on store shelves is what keeps you going?

What helps you get in the mood to write and keeps your motivation up? One of my goals is to be more consistent with my writing to keep developing my skills, so any advice or ideas you have to get in the zone would be taken to heart 💕

hello my friend!! <3 prepare yourself for a long and rambly answer oh my god i’m so sorry

my main goal (in life tbh) is merely to make a living off of my writing. it doesn’t have to be a lot, literally just enough to live off of. i have always wanted to be a novelist, so publishing in some form has always been a part of my plan!

my motivation, and i know this will sound silly and cliché, comes from the fact that i genuinely love writing. it’s the only thing i want to do with my life, and it’s my biggest passion, and these are the things i remind myself of whenever i’m feeling less motivated. i WANT to be creating, always. i want to create work both for myself and for others, to help us, to entertain us, to be catharsis for us, etc etc etc. this always reinvigorates me.

additionally, my screenwriting prof and i had a long discussion about motivation, and the ending consensus we came to was that, for people who want to write for a living, discipline is more important (and more consistent) than motivation. even on the days where you don’t feel like writing, you must force yourself to write—even if you think what you’ve written is bad, even if you hate every single letter of every single word you’ve put on the page, just WRITE—every day. it doesn’t matter if all you can write today is just a few sentences, or a single paragraph. all that matters is that you got something down. it is better than not writing anything at all!!! writing, like anything else, is a skill; a craft, just like you mentioned! it is something you can continually sharpen and improve at for literally the rest of your life (as is any other art form/medium, in my opinion). the phrase ‘practice makes perfect’ is very, very true.

but i think that for me personally, what helps with keeping that discipline is the fact that i love writing so so so much, and that it means so much to me, even on the days where it’s tough, even on the days where it feels like nothing is coming out right, even on the days where i’ve rewritten the same fucking scene THREE times in one day and i still hate it (this just happened to me, LMAO). i’ve also found that, even when i force myself write something and i hate it, when i come back to it the next day i realize it isn’t nearly as bad as i thought it was the day before. the other plus to this is that now, i have a base. i’ve gotten out the very basic ideas and points i want to convey, i have a foundation i can revise, rework, build off of, etc. and that ALWAYS helps. always.

i don’t know what your personal writing goals are, if you write just for fun as a hobby (incredible!!!) or if you plan to write for a living (also incredible!!! i support you in either!) but i don’t think that such rigorous discipline is necessarily required for someone who just writes as a hobby/for fun. if that’s the case, the last thing you want this to feel like is a fucking job lmao. i think that, if you’re looking to build a habit of writing, that writing every day (and starting VERY SMALL, i’m talking just a sentence or two if that’s all you feel you can manage—only you know your limits!) is a great step, especially if you use writing exercises and prompts (they’re all over the internet & pinterest, very easy to find!).

but i also think it’s very, very important to remember that there’s a fine line between being disciplined and pushing yourself versus overworking yourself and burning yourself out; again, only you know your limits there. but anyway, if you’re looking to write more often then this technique may be something to try out/to look into, just to get yourself into that habit or writing every day, or every week, or whatever your goal is! if it’s possible, try to set aside a specific time for writing every day or every week and really commit to sticking to it. if you can’t, and you find you need to be more flexible, then that’s totally fine, too!! again, it all depends on your needs, your schedules, and your preferences. i need to stick to rigid schedules to ever get anything done, but not everyone works that way, and we’re all different people with different creative processes; find what works best for you! <33

ANYWAY, to actually answer your question and stop rambling, here are some things i do in addition to discipline that help keep me motivated!

- i always make playlists for each of my works that i like to listen to if i’m feeling i need an extra push. these vary from like, the lyrics reminding me of a character or the plot, to just the vibe of the song encompassing the vibe/atmosphere i’m going for.

- going on my aesthetic blog also really helps! if you’re into making mood boards and the like, those can help a ton, too. i suck so badly at putting them together so the aesthetic blog works for me, but i know quite a few people enjoy putting pinterest boards together as well!

- i love doing character sketches and fully fleshing out each of my characters, so sometimes i’ll reread whatever i have in my notebook for that particular character (i keep what i call a ‘character notebook’ where i do character sketches, and i always do those before i begin writing the story. keeping them in a separate notebook makes it easy to keep them organized and easy to find!).

- i also have a list of my all-time favourite pieces of art (books, films, songs/albums, singular characters, video games, paintings, photographs/photographers, etc) that i will revisit as well whenever i need to (true romance is always a go-to since so many of my relationship dynamics pull from clarence and alabama!). i am constantly adding to this list! i will also add a little description along with each entry, notes on what i love and why i love it, notes on particular elements (relationships, characters, setting, atmosphere, aesthetic, etc). the list is actually something that was taught to me in university by my screenwriting prof!

here is a link to an ask that compiles most of my answers to writing advice; they mostly just reiterate what i’ve said here, but i figured i’d link you to them just in case! <3

i hope this extremely long answer can help you at least a little bit, bb!!!! know that i always support you on your writing endeavours, whatever they may be! <333

[confessions-into-the-void]

I'm spiraling again. I'm guessing it's hormones even though I just got done bleeding for a month.

I'm sitting in a cold bath feeling sorry for myself with a fucked up tattoo I tried to do in an attempt to feel something.

I've been dealing with and processing more death and I am not any less angry that some stupid stars made some stupid bang and then organisms evolved and fucked their way into eventually creating humans and then all my ancestors had sex creating their offspring and then my father was born and my parents decided to create me and put a soul into a body that doesn't fucking work right.

I didn't ask to be born. Why be born if it only ends in death? Why do we have instincts to go on and procreate? What's the purpose? It all feels so useless. Throw in capitalism and someone who has no redeeming qualities and you get me. The person crying about the level of pathetic they are as they sit in a cold bath with the faucet slightly running because they need something to go along with the sniffling.

My bpd has decided that right now is it's time to shine and I'm feeling a new wave of insecurity brought on by a mention of an event that ended up with drunk friends confessing that snakes are everywhere. I was told that people I admired thought some of the most horrible things about me, and wanted to convince my partner how worthless I am. I can't help but be fixated on the line "they want to have an intervention with him to get him to leave you". To be told that people think you're that horrible that they want to organize an event to get you out of their lives feels really shitty. It's been like two years and there's still a sting whenever I see them. I am still mentally walking on eggshells, being followed by the fear that my partner may eventually feel the same way.

As a person with disabilities, I don't have a lot. I don't have a lot of skills. Hell, with how fucked up my teenage and young adult years were, I never had a chance to develop skills outside of entry level work. I have spent my entire life desperately seeking some sort of stability. And a nod to the above paragraph, people want to take that away with me.

He supports me. In so many different ways. There has been a huge level of financial support that has been his suggestion. Doesn't make me feel any less of a burden though. And I know it sounds like I'm scared of him leaving because he is my stability, but it's so much more than that. He is as close to perfection that I sometimes wonder if he's real. He is so kind, to everything and everyone around him. He will go out of his way to help anyone. I know it's cliche, but it's the whole shirt off his back thing. He also communicates. That should be standard with every person, but it's not. When he's upset with me or I have forgotten to do something, he doesn't yell, he doesn't belittle me, he talks to me. When we have a disagreement, we don't yell, we just tell our sides and try to see it from the others point of view and debate where we should go. Sometimes one of us thinks that the others point of view is better, sometimes it's finding a way to compromise, sometimes it's one of us realizing that it's a battle that isn't worth fighting, I'll give him this this time, but next time, it's mine. To have grown up around angry men, to have only been involved with angry men, someone who talks to me as a person is such a change. We have similar goals and have found similar interests (we were struggling there for a while). He's funny and he's sweet. He's smart and encouraging but not over the top. He also understands if I tell him to ease down on the encouragement for a specific thing because right now it's not the time. He respects that. He respects me. He takes care of me when my illnesses flare. He's been the transportation to more er trips than I can count. And he's just so damn genuine.

He has a few qualities I could do without, but who doesn't? His concept of time is really not good. Sometimes he gets too into games and can be a little neglectful. He can sometimes get angry at games, but does notice and tones it down.

I mean it so much when I say he is probably the closest thing to perfection that exists.

And he chose me. The mentally ill, disabled freak who is crying to a keyboard in a cold bath

I know everyone is right that I'm no good for him. I don't exactly have a lot to offer. I'm fat, I'm mentally and chronically ill, I just barely learned to drive, I have no skills, I can't hold a job and the idea of getting on an airplane makes my heart rate jump up at least 20 bpm. I don't know where either of us stand on kids because it's not something really talked about because there's always something else that needs attention. Knowing I have nothing of value scares me every single day.

I know it's a huge burden for him to mean so much to me and be one of my only supports. The other being family that doesn't live near me, they live in my hometown that would likely claim my life if I had to move back. I literally have nothing if he were to leave me and that scares the shit out of me. But I also have no way to change that.

It's not that I'm content with being nothing. I want to do better and be better. I am trying so hard to make something of myself that people can be proud of, make myself into something tolerable. I want to lose weight and look attractive again. I want to learn new skills and have a fancy job title that can be mentioned to people's friends and family.

I want to be who he wants because he wants it, not out of obligation. I don't want to be an obligation.

But I'm constantly in a cycle where I try and I push and push and then I break and each time it takes me longer and longer to recover. This last time took me a year and a half and two jobs that didn't last over 2 months. I start to get stressed which makes me flare, and then I miss days and then I get scared of being fired to the point where I absolutely cannot force myself to face it. Sometimes I just cannot make myself do something. It really feels like I am chained down, or like I have no control over the body parts required for the task. I'd try to get government assistance for my disabilities if I could have doctors agree on a diagnosis, and it was enough to somewhat live on. Ultimately I'd love to just do my own thing on my own time and be able to pay my bills with it. I mean, isn't that what everyone wants.

It gets tiring to feel like you're watching the world and everyone around you through a window. Like the little kid who is forced to go to bed, and you can hear the other kids in the neighborhood outside playing. You look out the window in longing, wishing that was you, and angry that it's not. That kid was me. Hell, that kid still is me.

I'd do nudes and cam stuff if I was hot. And probably if I wasnt asexual haha. I wish I could just show some tits and make cash, but it doesn't work like that. Huge shout-out to those who go all in in that industry, it just can't be me.

I just feel like living is just postponing the inevitable, and I really don't have a lot to give the world until my end. I can't say that I have any urge to do anything about it and shorten my stay, cause I'm absolutely terrified of what comes next, but I do spend a lot of time wishing something else would just make it happen for me. I don't go out of my way to put myself into situations that would speed up my departure, but sometimes I wish the other car didn't stop. I don't know, the idea of departure sounds great, but the whole almost leaving and then not and you just end up in some way more fucked up, that is literal hell on earth. So I just exist I guess.

Too scared to live, too scared to die.

For anyone who has actually read this far or discovered this blog: I am safe. I am not in crisis. I have support systems and access to the helpline if needed. I am also not opposed to inpatient if my condition escalates. I do not have a plan, and I don't have any tools outside of general household items. I will not intentionally speed up my departure.

I'm just really fuckin sad

[pika2482]

AOTD 1/5/2024 - Graduation (Kanye West)

[All albums are rated subjectively based off my own enjoyment]

4/10

I am not a very large fan of Rap. Sure, some songs catch my ear and I do genuinely love and enjoy, but I have never been able to get into the genre as much as I'd like to. Of course, that effected my review, but with my usual review header that I give before I even write down the rating, personal influence is much to be expected in this thread. I am not trying to be objective, that is not my goal. This is my album review thread. My rules. My bias. Your problem.

I disliked Graduation. Most of it didn't speak to me, and the songs had a tendency to linger on for far too long. The instrumentals rarely developed past the chorus, and it's home to the worst song I've ever heard (More on that later). Most songs I wanted to skip after the second or third verse, but in the spirit of fariness with the rest of the albums, I soldired on. There's a phrase in songwriting that goes "People can loop your song as many times as they want, but they can't make it shorter". Either cut everything past the 2nd or 3rd verse or develop the instrumentals some to give it some more merit.

Stronger in particular suffered from this. The backbone of the song is actually pretty damn good! Somehow they got Daft Punk to clear a sample, and I jammed with the song pretty hard. It just... dragged. If it ended at like 3:30 or 4:00 it would have likely scored higher, but pacing holds this song, and most of the album back.

There however Was a highlight, And it was a pretty good one too! I found myself genuinely Jamming to Homecoming. What a sick fucking piano riff dude, fuck I wanna LEARN that! Good beat, nice atmosphere, good enough chorus, a flow I could dig, and it didn't outstay it's welcome. I'm gonna be actually genuinely reaching for this on in shuffle. It suffered a bit from the same developmental issues but it's length helped alleviate that.

Other highlights included Stronger, Everything I Am, and The Glory, though they don't make the main highlight for some of the reasons mentioned in the second paragraph.

And now, the aforementioned "Worst song I've ever heard, Barry Bonds. Between it's mediocre flow and vocals, subpar sample selection, and mediocre chorus, yeah sure it's not terrible, just a forgettable 4 or 5 out of 10.

But then Lil Wayne's verse came on.

Some people don't know this, but I am on the Autism Spectrum. Not by much! Just enough to make me struggle with my social life and any type of large gatherings (No, not social anxiety, I'm a complete extrovert). I suffer from something called Sensory Overload, which is commonly found among people on the spectrum. What this means for me is that certain combinations of senses can severely overwhelm me. Overlapping sounds such as; a large amount of people talking at once, somewhat loud music, and the sound of a ping-pong table or basketball dribbling, have triggered this consistently in the past, and cause me to start shutting down. It can also be triggered by other senses, but for me it's usually induced by sound.

Now this next sentence is about the furthest thing from a compliment I can offer

Lil Wayne's voice immediately started triggering my sensory overload.

This combined with its sample choice gave me a Viceral reaction to the rest of the song, as I had to take a short break before continuing the rest of the album. I'd be hard pressed to find a song I hate more than this one.

Overall, a combination of "not my thing" and "I dislike this", with the exception of 3 songs I liked and one song I can compare to nails on a chalkboard. Not a great batting average for a 13 song album. I'd recommend The Glory and Homecoming, but that's about it.

Favorite Songs: The Glory, Homecoming

Least Favorite Songs: Good Life, Can't Tell, Barry Bonds, Good Night

[pinktinselmonstrosity]

Spill the tea on Cleopatra and Frankenstein!

where to start?!? genuinely one of the worst books i have ever read.

overall, the book seemed like a crude amalgamation of various popular media form the past few years. the author watched Fleabag, and read My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Normal People and thought "I could do that", and it took her seven years, and she couldn't. i am honestly bewildered as to how this book has so much hype.

the characters are awful. this isn't bad in itself - in fact many of the books i've really loved this year also have incredibly unlikeable characters - but the difference in Cleopatra and Frankenstein is that the narrative doesn't want you to think they're awful. you're supposed to like these characters! you're supposed to think they're so cool and interesting and aspire to be in their places. for a book which focuses on privilege it is incredibly uncritical of privilege, instead presenting these characters as some kind of ideal. i don't find myself compelled by them, or by the plot more generally. the author skips around telling the stories of different members of a friend group, maybe to avoid having to develop any character or plotline particularly deeply. it's messy and unfulfilling, and, more than anything, boring.

the writing style is truly awful. this sounds mean but honestly what it really reminds me of is the infamous opening paragraph of My Immortal - it has the same weird focus on physical appearance, as well as the same insufferable attitude of superiority. this all ties in to what i was saying about the characters being presented as aspirational - their physical appearances, the clothes they wear, and the places they live are described in itemic detail in the same way as Wattpad self-insert fics (i put my brown hair into a messy bun etc etc) for seemingly no reason other than to let the reader imagine themselves as the characters. i find it actually hard to read (and i have the same criticism of the other one star book i read this year, Rosewater by Liv Little).

i also found the sex scenes incredibly odd and unnecessary. i'm no prude, i love a well written sex scene, even if it has no relevance to the plot. however, i found the numerous sex scenes in Cleopatra and Frankenstein very distracting. they seemed designed purely to shock the reader, but not for any interesting reason, just to make them think how 'daring' the book is, and because notable sex scenes are featured in the media the author is imitating (e.g. the 'kneel' scene in Fleabag)

anyway, i just hated it. i have no idea how people have read and loved this book, or how it's a best-seller. it made me wonder how it was even published

[bipresso]

Writing TOO MUCH

This is nowhere near my worst behavior while in (hypo)mania, but something that still wasn't great. That's why I want to share about it.

Earlier this year while rising into hypomania, I fell into a habit of writing long personal essays that seemed deep but like, seriously... probably were not.

(That sounds harsh on myself. Maybe those writings do have potential.... Regardless, I had a lot else I needed to focus on and the way this habit developed was not good)

I would write for hours on my little smartphone on the Tumblr app with an intense fixation, as if I've come up with something incredible and needed to keep going till I got it all out done.

It would start out as a quick, short sentence of a thought. Easy! It'd be done in no time.

But then it'd quickly grow into several paragraphs. I felt like I couldn't stop, even as I I realized I needed to.

It seems I am being unkind to myself by describing the writings this way. Writing isn't inherently bad. I do enjoy writing, even just for fun. It's good to get your thought out to process things.

But this was not a good writing habit.

Writing that long on my little smartphone hurt my body. I had to see a specialist for a time to get treat hand, arm, and back pain caused by smartphone overuse. I am glad to says these days, my body feels so much better! ☺️

Also, most of the writings were very negative recollections stuff about the past. I already have a tendency to dwell on my sadness, especially childhood sadness. When I noticed this behavior, I worried that there was the danger of me falling into deeper negative spirals than I already tend to.

On top of all that, it wasted A LOT of time. I was so fixated on writing for HOURS that I was putting off food and sleep.

I didnt let myself stop writing, though, as I do get a type of release out of writing.

But I don't need to write for hours every day, especially if it hurts my body, puts me in a negative state of mind, and makes me forget basic self-care.

This led me to adjust that habit.

When I caught myself falling into this type of writing spiral, I immediately stopped and noted if I had realized how long I had been writing.

For me, a half hour is already dangerous. It could easily turn into an hour, then three.

Next, I make a point not to look over what I've written. I usually feel that I have gotten out whatever feelings I needed to, even if it's not a "perfect" version.

And then, I let it go. I save them as a drafts or post as private.

And I don't revisit these writings... not now, anyways. I know I'm still not stable. And as I said already, I tend to dwell too much.

I genuinely want to be more positive. This is way easier said than done! Sometimes, I feel corny af about it. But finding ways to adjust "bad" habits like this has been helpful.

The thing is, I do enjoy writing, even if it's just for myself. There is nothing wrong with that. I just need to make sure I'm doing it in a way is safe and reasonable.

[tabboty]

The thing about the internet is that as an European it taught me one thing: the USA sounds a lot like Poland but bigger, more developed, more dangerous, stronger in its opinions. But the result of it being bigger is that there is also a bigger variety in all the misinformed people you get. And oftentimes what they've heard and actually believed can be absolutely stupid.

I felt the need to vocalize this because apparently there are people out there that think things like beekeeping is animal cruelty towards the bees. And that is honestly the dumbest shit I've ever heard as a biology major...

(warning: I am about to release my bee obsession in a rant. that first paragraph was just an intro for my bee rant of getting mad at people who think beekeeping is bad)

Animals aren't as brainless and weak as you consider them to be. Especially bees.

Animals understand what a mutualistic relationship with another species is. If it didn't benefit them, they could just leave. There is nothing preventing them from leaving. Their beekeeper removing the excess honey every now and then doesn't harm them, in fact, it can be helpful.

Bees can make a hive everywhere and there are removal services out there that relocate those hives elsewhere. I've seen countless videos of people from such services walking up to a wild hive and just scooping up the bees- they do not care. Unless their hive is being actively damaged.

But even relocating doesn't harm the bees, if done properly. Even though the person taking care of it has to break each part of the beehive and store it in those frame things they have for them. Some honey may fall. It's not a concerning loss.

I think it's pretty easy to understand that if the bees aren't upset about honey dripping from their honeycombs, the removal of some honey doesn't kill them.

Relocation into a beehive taken care of by a person can help the bees. Say, if there was a beehive on a tree where the bees got agitated anytime somebody came near, and it was situated near a house, that would be concerning for the locals, right? Should they keep their kids inside until the hive goes downhill because the bees don't like the noise?

No. They'd hire a removal guy.

Now, those guys are often beekeepers (possibly all of them are- I don't know this, it's just that in every hive removal process I've watched, they take the beehive with the bees for themselves).

They understand how taking care of a beehive works, stuff like that, they're doing their job well, the bees get a new space for themselves that doesn't have people running around it and making them feel in danger.

Do you think those bees are feeling mistreated? That this is abusive? As long as the beekeeper does their job right, I genuinely cannot see how anything about beekeeping could be considered animal cruelty or abuse. You have to be stupid to actually think that. It's incredible how some people do.

I unironically think if I told the woman that taught me biology about the way some people believe things like this- she would crave nothing more than death because how utterly dumb do you have to be to believe something like that... Crazy

[crispy-chan]

a guide how to not f*ck over your writers

hello, i am joining the bandwagon with my own two cents on how tumblr interactions have gone from shit to lower shit.

first of all, let me just stress how much i appreciate readers who interact with fanfics. you guys are the true mvp's and i applaud you for doing god's work. (also let's be real a significant portion of those readers are fic writers themselves).

second of all, i want to say that i'm not trying to be “ungrateful” or sound like a prick, i just see so many writers leave this site because they feel unappreciated, alone or they think that nobody enjoys the fics they work hard on.

honestly, there were/are times where i think if this is even worth it. i get so much enjoyment from this, it's a hobby that allows me to be creative, to escape reality and have a little fun. yet i feel like what i'm doing is just good for nothing since it seems like people are allergic to me on this site.

it truly means a lot to us when you guys interact. it doesn't even have to be much, just a short comment, but it can still make our day

now onto the ways you can support your fave writers:

1. interact with the fics -- comment, reblog, send asks. trust me, you can't go wrong with this one. don't be afraid to send an incoherent wordspill or type out that essay in caps lock where you go nuts about your favorite scenes, comment on the characters and their development or compliment the author's writing style. again, i guarantee you'll receive answers that are similarly incoherent as the author tries to not lose their shit bcs what the fuck? someone is finally interacting with my stories

2. recommendations -- you can rec fics to networks for various events, send your recs to your moots or maybe even to fic rec accounts who accept recommendations. even by reblogging - you're already basically doing this. it can make our day when we see that someone recommended something we worked on to someone else :)

3. interaction -- usually, most authors on here wouldn't mind more asks that don't even have to be about fics. you can ask how their day was, talk to them about a favorite book/movie/song literally whatever. i feel like i don't really have much to say on this topic cause i don't really get these types of asks :} but yeah, i think most of us would feel really touched if people wanted to talk to us outside of our writings. note: if you're shy, you can go on anon :> it's there for a reason :P

4. criticism -- now be careful - this one is tricky. you should first make sure if the person is okay with you giving some constructive criticism. if it isn't mentioned anywhere on their page/at the bottom of their fic, just ask. i for one wouldn't mind hearing things like “just a suggestion but i think you could work on your descriptions more” or “be careful - you often use the same words in one paragraph” etc.

lastly, i wanted to stress that you shouldn't force yourself per se to do these. nobody wan't your feedback if it isn't genuine. i just feel like people think “oh well if i won't comment, i'm sure somebody else will-” bullshit! that's the problem here. this mindset is what has to change. if you want the writing community to not wither into dust, you'll have to give something. in this case it's interactions and feedback.

i won't go into the details of how long it takes to write but as someone who writes primarily long fics, i can tell you it's extremely time consuming. and i spent the past fifteen minutes typing this post instead of working on yellow wood @_@

so yeah, this is a desperate cry from me. i'm hoping that if you're a silent reader/serial liker who doesn't leave feedback, you'll learn something new here. thank you for reading so far and i hope you have a lovely day <3