#and bc i have a much better idea of the late story plot i can do so much more foreshadowing

[silverislander]

prof said congrats for writing up a proposal so early i am going to get a good grade in. well this is literally going to be graded. but yk the meme

[hopefulqueer]

rewriting early Distant Melody may never come to anything--i doubt i'm going to rewrite all ~100k plus the Part 3 i've been thinking about adding for a year, certainly not quickly, and i can't even begin to think of how i might publish it, not to mention the fact that it's 6 seasons out of date so it's not going to have any audience even if anyone is still in that fandom--but if nothing else, it's serving as an extremely good way for me to convince myself that i'm an astronomically better writer now than i was in 2016-2018

[lowaltitude]

Dial Tone | Matt Rempe

- NHL, New York Rangers - x Reader

❪ FEM! ❫

───── ❝ description + disclaimer ❞ ─────

𖥻 Matthew Rempe x FEM!reader, in which a wrong number friendship is more than you'd hope for. OR he falls first, he falls hard, he's NYC's biggest enforcer.

𖥻 99% texts. established relationships? the most basic plot idea everrrr bc I watched The Idea Of You before watching a playoffs match. PART 1. 3.5k words

───── ❝ ❞ ─────

I had just gotten home and sprawled out on my apartment's couch, letting Netflix autoplay something random after finishing Brooklyn Nine-Nine again. My phone buzzed, interrupting my thoughts.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024Today, 3:16 PM UNKNOWN: Alley said she tried to call you, text me when you're on the way to the rink.

My phone buzzed again.

Today, 3:42 PM UNKNOWN: Steph?

Today, 4:01 PM UNKNOWN: Are you on your way or not?

I glanced at my phone, seeing another message from the unknown number. Smirking slightly, typing a quick response.

ME: Not Steph, good luck finding your girlfriend.

I tossed my phone aside and settled deeper into the couch, trying to distract myself from the uninspired short story I had been working on. Hours passed, and I still hadn’t made any progress. The story was just another tall tale that could easily end with "and then I woke up," and at this rate, it might.

My phone buzzed again, and I groaned before reaching for it.

Today, 12:19 AM UNKNOWN: Gross. I was looking for my sister.

I sighed, feeling slightly amused.

ME: Okay? Hope you found her. UNKNOWN: I'm sorry to have bothered you, I realise the area code is wrong.

With nothing better to do, I found myself replying, curiosity piqued.

ME: 212, Manhattan. Nice area, rich boy charm. UNKNOWN: Not really rich, or much charm. But boy, yes. 619, where's that? ME: San Diego.

A pause. I put my phone down, trying to focus back on my assignment, but the ping of a new message distracted me.

UNKNOWN: I'm guessing you're just as bored as I am right now. ME: Definitely bored, that is correct. UNKNOWN: So San Diego, what’s keeping you awake that’s so boring? ME: Nothing much, Manhattan. Just assignments. But it’s only 12:30 here, isn’t it 3 AM in NY? UNKNOWN: That would be correct. ME: Then what’s keeping YOU awake? UNKNOWN: Won my hockey game, went to celebrate, and now I’m just sitting here.

I chuckled, intrigued by the late-night conversation.

ME: Hockey? Do you play for a college team or just for fun?

There was a long pause, a stark contrast to the quick replies earlier.

MANHATTAN: Yeah, I do college hockey. ME: Nice, what position? I don’t know LOTS about hockey or anything, but I'm friends with some guys on the SDSU team. MANHATTAN: Haha, right wing. But really, I just rough people up 💪 ME: Oh cool! (no clue what a right wing does) MANHATTAN: Then what position does your boyfriend play?

I raised an eyebrow, feeling the conversation shift.

ME: I never said that word. MANHATTAN: And I'm just checking. You are a girl, right? I’m not about to hit on a 50-year-old man.

I laughed, surprised by his forwardness.

ME: You’re about to hit on me? Are you meant to tell me that? MANHATTAN: Probably not, but I had a few drinks a bit ago so I can blame it on the alcohol if it goes wrong. ME: Yes, I am a girl. MANHATTAN: Wonderful, now that I know you're not trying to lure me into your mother's basement so you can use my skin as your new rug, can I get your name?

I smirked, enjoying the playful tone.

ME: Whoa, never said anything about NOT making a new rug. I kind of like the whole Manhattan & San Diego anonymous thing we have happening. MANHATTAN: Hmm, I guess so. A secret identity might not be the best move though. ME: Are you sure you want to risk it? Might say something regrettable since it’s 4 AM for you now. MANHATTAN: But it's only 1 AM for you, so it’s a risk I’ll take ;) I smiled, feeling a mix of excitement and curiosity. ME: Exactly how many strangers do you text like this? MANHATTAN: If I say only 1 will that make you feel special? ME: So you just go around contacting random numbers in hopes they’re girls your age so you can try to knock their socks off? MANHATTAN: You catch on fast, San Diego.

I rubbed my eyes, getting off the couch, typing as I walked through my small apartment. I passed my roommate’s bedroom, noticing her snoring with her phone still looping the last TikTok she’d been watching.

As I reached my room, I took off my hoodie and left my phone on my bed, watching for the next message.

ME: So, tell me about your hockey match. MANHATTAN: Well… I actually got ejected so I didn’t do much. ME: Ahh, a ruffian. MANHATTAN: All I did was elbow a guy! ME: In the face? MANHATTAN: No comment. ME: While going really fast on knife shoes? MANHATTAN: I said no comment, San Diego 😠😠 But yes. I may have a little notoriety for… enforcing. ME: How many fights does college hockey have? Oh wow. MANHATTAN: I think that's enough of my sports career. Tell me about you. ME: About me? MANHATTAN: I want to know about you. I mean it, tell me something.

I hesitated, then smiled.

ME: Um, I can't think of anything… I just got into bed. MANHATTAN: Then you should go, San Diego, get some rest. Nice chatting with you (and I'll text you later in the day if that's alright). ME: Bye, Manhattan 👋 (and I wouldn't be opposed).

I placed my phone on the nightstand, my thoughts lingering on the unexpected connection as I drifted off to sleep.

───── ❝ ❞ ─────

I woke up to a new text message, my groggy eyes struggling to adjust to the brightness of my phone screen.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024today 10:32am MANHATTAN: Morning, San Diego! Did you sleep well?

I smiled at the message, feeling a little flutter in my chest. I hadn’t expected him to actually text me again, but here he was.

ME: Morning! I did, thanks 😊 How about you? Finally got some sleep after your 4 am texting spree? MANHATTAN: Eventually, yeah. Slept in a bit, but now I’m back at it. MANHATTAN: Classes and all that. ME: Fun times… What’s your major? MANHATTAN: Business. It’s alright, but hockey’s the real passion. You? ME: English, hence my very exciting letter-writing assignment 🙄 MANHATTAN: Ah, right. The one you’re totally not procrastinating on. ME: Exactly! I’m just waiting for inspiration to hit. MANHATTAN: Maybe I can help with that.

I raised an eyebrow at the screen, intrigued.

ME: Oh yeah? You’re a secret writing genius, Mr. Hockey? MANHATTAN: Hardly. But I’m good at roughing up boring ideas. Give me a shot. What’s the assignment again? ME: I have to write a long letter. Could be to anyone about anything… It's supposed to show off my writing skills. MANHATTAN: How about a letter to a stranger? Like some random person you met by mistake… 👀

I laughed, seeing where he was going with this.

ME: Sounds like something I’d do. Maybe I’ll take you up on that. MANHATTAN: If you need material, I can keep sending you nonsense texts. You know, for inspiration. ME: Careful, I might just put all your deepest, darkest secrets into my assignment. MANHATTAN: Bold of you to assume I have any secrets, San Diego. ME: Everyone has secrets, Manhattan.

There was a pause before he responded, the three little dots appearing and disappearing a few times. I wondered what he was thinking or if I’d said something to make him hesitate.

MANHATTAN: Guess you’ll have to keep talking to me to find out 😉 ME: Smooth. Real smooth. MANHATTAN: It’s part of my so-called charm. So, what’s your day looking like? ME: Not much, honestly. Maybe I’ll hit the library, try to get some work done. MANHATTAN: Or you could do something fun instead. Life’s too short to spend all day in the library. ME: Fun? What do you suggest? MANHATTAN: Well, if you were in Manhattan, I’d say we go skating. But since you’re all the way over there… What do people even do for fun in San Diego? ME: I could go to the beach… but it’s not really the best weather for it today. MANHATTAN: Rainy? ME: Just cloudy, kind of chilly. The ocean looks a bit gloomy when it’s like this. MANHATTAN: Gloomy beaches, sounds like a whole vibe. Maybe that’s your inspiration. A letter to the ocean or something. ME: You really think a letter to the ocean will get me a passing grade? MANHATTAN: If you write it well enough, why not? Make it all deep and meaningful. Professors eat that stuff up. ME: Haha, I’ll think about it. Anyway, what about you? Any big plans? MANHATTAN: Just practice later, then probably hanging out with the team. Nothing too exciting. ME: Sounds like a solid day. Try not to get ejected this time. MANHATTAN: No promises. Gotta keep my reputation, you know? ME: Right, the tough guy. I’ll keep that in mind. MANHATTAN: But I’m a softie at heart, San Diego. Don’t let the hockey fool you. ME: Noted. Maybe I’ll write that in my letter. “To the boy who’s tough on the ice but soft underneath…” MANHATTAN: Now you’re getting it. Make me sound mysterious. ME: Mysterious, huh? I’ll see what I can do.

I was grinning now, the banter flowing easily between us. There was something about this random stranger that made me feel lighter, like maybe today wasn’t going to be so dull after all.

ME: Alright, I should actually get ready if I’m going to do anything productive today. But thanks for the distraction, Manhattan. MANHATTAN: Anytime, San Diego. I’ll text you later? ME: Looking forward to it.

───── ❝ ❞ ─────

I was curled up on my couch, a mug of tea warming my hands as I absentmindedly scrolled through my phone. The past month had flown by, and my unexpected friendship with 'Manhattan' had become a regular part of my routine. We’d been texting nearly every day, sharing snippets of our lives, random thoughts, and plenty of playful banter. But lately, something had shifted—his messages had taken on a more flirty tone, and, honestly, I didn’t mind it.

My phone buzzed, and I smiled when his contact name popped up on the screen.

Friday, April 12, 2024today 8:45pm MANHATTAN: What’s up, San Diego? Missing me yet?

I couldn’t help but grin at his words. He’d been dropping little hints like this more and more, and each time, it sent a little thrill through me.

ME: Why would I miss you? We just talked this morning 😏 MANHATTAN: I don’t know, you tell me. Maybe you’re secretly counting down the hours until you hear from me again. ME: Oh, totally. I’m just sitting here pining away. MANHATTAN: Knew it. You can’t resist my charm. ME: Your ego is something else, you know that? MANHATTAN: Only because you feed it. Anyway, what’s the plan for tonight? Any hot dates?

I felt a little flutter in my chest at the question, even though I knew he was probably just teasing.

ME: Just me, myself, and I tonight. Super exciting. MANHATTAN: That’s a shame. If I were in San Diego, I’d take you out somewhere nice. ME: Oh yeah? Where would you take me, Mr. Big City? MANHATTAN: Somewhere with a view, good food, and even better company. ME: Wow, smooth talker. Do you use this line on all the girls? MANHATTAN: Only the ones who accidentally text me back 😉

I laughed, shaking my head at his response.

ME: Lucky me, I guess. MANHATTAN: I think I’m the lucky one here.

I paused, reading the message again, feeling my cheeks warm slightly. There it was again—that flirty edge that had been creeping into his texts lately. And I couldn’t pretend I didn’t like it.

ME: Is that so? MANHATTAN: Definitely. How many girls are cool enough to joke about turning me into a rug and then end up being someone I actually want to talk to every day? ME: Fair point. I’m one of a kind. MANHATTAN: That you are. So, since I’m not there to take you out, what are you doing to entertain yourself? ME: I’m just relaxing, maybe watching a movie later. Nothing too crazy. MANHATTAN: Sounds cozy. I’d offer to keep you company, but I’m not sure you’re ready to handle my charming self in person. ME: Oh, I’m sure I could handle you just fine. MANHATTAN: Careful, San Diego. I might take that as a challenge.

I bit my lip, feeling a mix of excitement and nerves at his boldness. This was definitely new territory, but I couldn’t deny that I was enjoying it.

ME: Maybe I want you to.

There was a pause, and I watched the typing bubble appear and disappear, wondering what was going through his mind. My heart raced in anticipation, unsure of what to expect next. Then, my phone buzzed again—not with a message, but with a photo.

I opened it and stared at the image for a moment, a smile tugging at my lips. He was standing in what looked like a hallway, wearing a worn white T-shirt and a Yankees baseball cap. His hair was a little long, curling out from under the cap, and he had a faint mustache that gave him a laid-back, almost mischievous look. His smile was subtle but warm, like he wasn’t quite sure what to expect either.

MANHATTAN: Figured it’s only fair you see who you’re talking to.

I couldn’t help but feel my heart skip a beat. He was more than I’d imagined—there was something so genuine and relaxed about him, and that easy confidence I’d sensed in our conversations was clearly just a part of who he was.

ME: Not bad, Manhattan. Not bad at all. MANHATTAN: Glad you approve. Now, your turn?

I felt a rush of nerves as I realized he was asking for a photo in return. This felt like a big step—more real than anything we’d done before. But there was also something exciting about it, about finally showing him who I was after all this time.

I took a deep breath, then snapped a quick selfie, trying to capture something that felt natural but not too staged. I hesitated only for a second before hitting send, my heart pounding as I waited for his reaction.

ME: Alright, but don’t judge too harshly.

My phone buzzed almost immediately after I sent the photo. I could practically feel my pulse in my ears as I watched the screen, waiting for his response. It didn’t take long.

MANHATTAN: Wow.

I bit my lip, a small smile creeping onto my face. Just one word, but it was enough to make my stomach flip.

ME: "Wow" good, or "wow" bad? MANHATTAN: Definitely good. You’re beautiful, San Diego. I wasn’t prepared for that.

I felt my cheeks heat up at his words. There was something different about receiving a compliment from someone who’d only known me through words until now—someone who hadn’t seen my face but still wanted to know more about me.

ME: You’re just saying that. MANHATTAN: I’m really not. I mean it. I didn’t expect this whole wrong-number thing to turn into something like this, but I’m glad it did. ME: Me too. It’s been… nice, talking to you. Getting to know you. MANHATTAN: More than nice, if you ask me. But now that I’ve seen you, I kind of want to see more of you.

My heart skipped a beat at that. The idea of him wanting more, even though we’d only known each other through these messages, made something flutter inside me.

ME: More of me? How so? MANHATTAN: Not in a creepy way, I promise. Just… more of your thoughts, your stories. I like hearing about your day, what you’re up to. I guess I’m just curious about you. ME: You’re making me blush over here. MANHATTAN: Good. You’ve been doing that to me since day one.

I felt my face heat up even more, and I couldn’t help but smile. It was strange how this random guy from Manhattan, who I’d never even met, could make me feel this way.

ME: Well, if you’re really that curious, ask away. What do you want to know? MANHATTAN: That sounds perfect. What’s your favorite book? ME: That’s like asking a parent to pick their favorite child! How would you feel if I asked you your favorite hockey team? MANHATTAN: New York Rangers. Easy. Number 1 😉 ME: Alright, I'll take your word for it. MANHATTAN: So, tell me something else. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet?

I laughed softly to myself, feeling that familiar warmth from our conversation. The idea of us just getting to know each other like this, little by little, was comforting. It felt safe and exciting all at once.

ME: I’ve always wanted to travel more. There’s a whole world out there, and I’ve only seen a tiny part of it. MANHATTAN: Where’s the first place you’d go? ME: Italy, I think. The food, the history, the art—I want to experience all of it. MANHATTAN: That sounds incredible. I’ve always wanted to see more of Europe, too. ME: Maybe one day we’ll both get there. Until then, I guess we’ll just have to keep texting about it. MANHATTAN: I’m more than okay with that, San Diego. Talking to you is the best part of my day. ME: Same here, Manhattan.

As I set my phone down, I felt a sense of contentment wash over me. There was no rush, no pressure—just a growing connection with someone who was quickly becoming more than just a stranger on the other end of a text. And for now, that was more than enough.

───── ❝ ❞ ─────

It had been almost a month since the night I saw Manhattan’s face for the first time, and our conversations had only gotten better since then. We talked almost every day, sharing little details about our lives, random thoughts, and sometimes just silence on the other end of the line when we were both too tired to text much. I was surprised by how close I’d grown to him, even without meeting in person.

One afternoon, I got an email from one of my professors that sent my heart racing. My university was offering a select group of students a fully-funded, three-day trip to New York City to attend a special literary conference. The idea was to network, attend workshops, and get a taste of the publishing world in one of the most vibrant cities in the world. And somehow, I’d been chosen.

As soon as I read the email, my mind went straight to Manhattan. The idea of being in the same city as him, even if I wasn’t planning on meeting up, was both thrilling and nerve-wracking. But as much as I wanted to share the news with him, a different thought crossed my mind—a surprise. What if I didn’t tell him? What if I showed up in his city and surprised him with the news?

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. He’d been so open and sweet in our conversations, and I wanted to do something special. It felt like the perfect opportunity to catch him off guard, in a good way.

That evening, when I grabbed my phone to text him, I felt a little mischievous. I decided to keep the New York trip to myself for now.

Tuesday, May 2, 2024today 8:45pm ME: Hey, how’s your day going? MANHATTAN: Not bad, just finished practice. How about you? ME: Same old, same old. Classes, assignments, you know the drill. MANHATTAN: Ah, the glamorous life of a student. Anything exciting on the horizon?

I bit my lip, resisting the urge to spill the beans.

ME: Nothing too crazy. Just trying to survive this semester. MANHATTAN: You’ve got this. I believe in you, San Diego. ME: Thanks, Manhattan. I appreciate that. MANHATTAN: Anytime. So, what’s on your mind? ME: Honestly, just thinking about how much I’d love to get away for a bit. You know, escape the routine. MANHATTAN: I hear you. If you ever find yourself in need of a change of scenery, you know where to find me 😉

I smiled to myself, knowing that in just a few weeks, I would be much closer to him than he realized.

ME: I’ll keep that in mind. MANHATTAN: Good. I’d be happy to play tour guide if you ever made it to the Big Apple. ME: I’ll have to remember that. You seem like you’d be a pretty good tour guide. MANHATTAN: Oh, I am. You’d be in excellent hands.

I chuckled, the idea of actually seeing him in person lingering in the back of my mind. But for now, I decided to keep the surprise to myself.

ME: I’ll bet. Maybe one day I’ll take you up on that offer. MANHATTAN: I hope so. It would be fun.

A sense of anticipation buzzed through me. The thought of being in New York, in his city, and surprising him with my presence was exciting. It was something to look forward to, something just for me, and maybe for him too—when the time was right.

───── ❝ ❞ ─────

to be continued... hehehe

[thebestofoneshots]

IDEAS? I GOT YOU!!!

ok so this just came to me as I was reading your response but VAMPIRE READER MY BELOVED!!!!

Hear me out! Plot point I imagine:

It’s a full moon lily goes out to the forbidden forest (this could be before lily finds out about Remus being a werewolf or maybe she had to go get something and she’s only on the outskirts of the forest ) she’s trying to get what she needs quickly and efficiently as it is late and well forbidden. She hears something lurking around her but she can’t tell from which direction. Is it a deer? A bunny? Another person? She doesn’t really want to find out so instead she quickly and quietly decides to get the hell out of there but before she can successfully leave the forest MOONY JUMPS OUT! Lilly stumbles back before booking it in the other direction not thinking about anything besides “get the fuck away from the danger” moony is gaining fast but before he can catch her JAMES COMES TO THE THE RESCUE! he shoves moony aside and tries to keep moony away from lily. At first lily stares at the stag in shock because holy shit this giant stag just saved me but as moony tries to claw at her and the stag bellows (is that what it’s called?) she remembers her need to run and starts running again. But uh oh! Her ankle is twisted! So now she’s hobbling away as fast as she can cursing under her breath because she’s too smart to get herself into such a dumb situation like this!

Now there’s only so much James can do against moony by himself but he tries his damn hardest before moony gets out of his hold and starts chasing after Lily again this time with James hot on his tail. James yet again shoves moony aside and they tussle on the ground as lily is just inches away watching in horror as the stag who saved her gets throw into a tree. This is it she thinks. This is how I die. As the stag calls out a pained cry and as she closes her eyes accepting her early demise……nothing. Wait nothing? Quickly she opens her eyes to see someone in front of her. READER! Who in their right mind would fight a werewolf? How is this person fighting a werewolf bare handed? She stares up at this mystery person and can only see so much. because of the darkness theses not enough to she can conclude about this person but she can tell they went to hogwarts based on the clothes they’re wearing. As she continues to stare in shock she notices the person is holding the werewolf back by its jaw. Drool dripping down the persons arms. The stag is watching in shock or confusion? It’s hard to tell knowing he’s probably concussed.

The mystery person tells lily to run. She can see the persons canines and is appalled at how sharp they are. Are those fangs? She wonders. But before she can ask out loud they yell for her to run as they throw the werewolf back at least a couple feet and without a second thought she runs as fast as her sprained ankle can handle. Hearing grunts and growls in the distance. She runs as she hears screams. She runs until she reaches hogwarts. She runs until she reaches the gryfindor common room. She runs until she reaches her dorm room. She slides down the door and try’s to catch her breath closing her eyes until she ends up falling asleep against the door.

This was long and probably really shitty but hear me out. you can take this and make it like 10 times better it’d be amazing!

OK IM GONE!!! 🏃‍♀️

BRO I LOVE THIS!

AND it could totally be the beginning of the story as well. We could INTRODUCE the reader like this and start it with Lily's POV. I mean omniscient but focusing on her, and then from there build up until that point and the moment she sees the reader she can have a mini sexuality crisis bc HOW can this hot person do this?

But also, I kinda dig the idea that Remus would absolutely love the reader on a platonic kind of way because OMG there IS someone in the world that could actually fucking control Moony and they would become besties bc neither of them asked to be what they are and it'd be so freaking interested in exploring that side of the story as well.

AND since I AM writing vampires for the last Maraudween I feel like I'm actually going to have enough practice to be able to make this one happen ufff.

AND THE NAME?!?!? We could have a super meta name for the story bc Vampires are already super cool and did I mention to you guys I'm currently reading Dracula? I'm SOOOOO ready for this one!

[oneirataxia-girl]

oc new years challenge 2023~2024 ⇝ day two

I Polish Up Real Nice ft. Mirage Carmichael/Five Hargreeves

"You know that I'm not the type you should waste your time on."/"Too bad, you're the only one I want."

x

this is a remake of a gifspam about a year old, it's under the cut along with some notes about Mirage's evolution!!

Mirage Mirage Mirage... when I first created her, I simply wanted a self-insert oc to ship with Five bc I am In Love with the grumpy old man. As I delved deeper into her relationship with Five though, I realized that I had to give Mirage her own problems and challenges, she couldn't just be Five's lover because in my interpretation of his character, Five isn't the kind of person to just fall in love with a pretty sassy girl, he has to be able to connect with the person, and he has to have a love interest that's competent in their own way, being able to stand up on their own two feet without Five coddling their every move. The first-ever ideas for Mirage were basically just "Kaz Brekker but make her do government-ish stuff, assassin, targeted by the Handler and nearly gets killed by her, aversion to touch" Absolutely no notes on her relationship with the other two kids that were adopted by AJ -- Emmy and Telepath -- and an entire google doc dedicated to her and Five oneshots

yeah, I was whipped af lol

but after some time, in which I poked around in other fandoms and got "better" at creating backstories and motivation, I circled back to Mirage. I started thinking about what could've turned someone who was groomed to be AJ's successor, someone who was only taught the basics of fighting before the Handler came, into an assassin who bided her time until she could finally regain control of the Commission? I realized something that was very much inspired by a certain Marvel show that someone might have heard me complaining that I neglected the plot bunny I made for it (I swear I'll do it next year) was literally perfect for Mirage, it's a play on her name and power, and it fills in all the plot holes I ignored in the first few drafts of her story. So yeah, that's basically the story of Mirage's evolution, along with her faceclaim change due to me admitting that pairing someone in their late twenties with a teenager is just... weird and uncomfortable to me lol; Mirage is one of the first ocs I ever introduced on here, and she's also one of my most constant brainworms, like literally I can talk about her any time and place because there's so much to share about her asldaksda

the enabler's call: @arrthurpendragon, @bibaybe, @daughter-of-melpomene, @auxiliarydetective, @starcrossedjedis, @fakedatings, @carmens-garden, @nightmaresart -- want to be added? shoot me an ask!!

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

17. talk about your writing and editing process <3

Man apparently I’m allergic to checking my inbox but HEY better late than never my love!

So my process, if you can even call it that, is chaotic as FUCK!!! I stare off into space writing it mentally first, type all my bullshit in my notes app like a heathen, don’t proofread, drop unsolicited personal lore in the notes, all that. Gonna use TWITR as an example again btw

I’ve said it before, but The Webs In The Rafters is based on a WHACK ASS DREAM I HAD. specifically chapter 17 and the climax of the story. Like I was the Kenny character, Sansa the dog was telepathically speaking in my mind, there were piles of cuddling cats everywhere, the sound of helicopter blades and a trail of spiders in the hay. I woke up like bro what the hell this is a story right here and I went from there. And in fleshing out the plot, pinning the story beats, the time I was writing it was PERFECT TIMING. Because I had a six hour drive to make for a friend’s wedding. And what did my insane ass do? I FUCKING RAWDAWGED that drive. No music, no audiobook, just silent highways and plotting TWITR. By the time I got home I had a very clear idea of where I was going with the story that at that point was only a few set up chapters and a title.

Speaking of titles, a lot of the time I have titles before I have plot, which is kinda weird bc I know a lot of people struggle with titles, but that’s one of the first things that comes to me. Especially with my one shots, like my kysterion fic All The Punches That I’ve Thrown. That lyric popped into my head and a fic idea with it. Song lyrics inspire a LOT of ideas for me.

So does art. Like with In The Truly Gruesome, I saw a drawing emilyartstudios did of Stan and Shelley working a booth for Tegrity at a fair and I was like YO WHAT IF I FUCKED THIS UP AND STUCK ZOMBIE ALIENS IN THERE lmfao. And ofc, the OrangeJuiceVerse wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t seen foxydodo’s art of basketball player Kyle and mascot Stan.

While oneshots come together pretty fast for me usually, being written out in my head to be typed out in the course of a day (back in the days of janitor Riley bored as shit at work and having the time and energy for that lol), multichapters are require more thought structurally. So what I like to do with a multichap:

Think of it in three acts. In script writing, there’s something called the “page 12 event”, the event that gets the plot rolling near the beginning of the film. And I like to stick an event like that at the end of chapter 1 of my stuff a lot of the time, like ITTG and uhhhh yeeting Stan into a mineshaft after we find out the boys are being chased by monsters (jesus what is wrong with me). What I’m getting at: I like to know where my beginning middle and end are, how the characters are feeling at each step, how their relationships change, all that. And a lot of the time I think of the end before I do the middle or beginning tbh. Like I said, chaos. I think of a random scenario (as we know usually someone is hurt and getting taken care of bc I’m fucking evil and that’s where my brain goes constantly), hence the WhumpShots.

And I do primarily operate in WhumpShots. I picture a scene with a character getting their injuries tended, sick and dizzy but having a friend or loved one at their side, etc, and BAM that scene becomes a oneshot. Even the REALLY short ones, like the sot bunny I did last summer called So Only Say My Name, was about 700 words and one sequence of events. That kind of to the point structure comes easy to me, which is why I loved doing Style Week so much; new oneshot prompt every day. And while I don’t usually proofread after I finish a work, I edit as I go, sometimes post random lines on here or send a screenshot to the R.A.N.T. homies (I’ve definitely done this more as of late, a habit from when I attempted writing smut for the first time and would send neen a screenshot all “IS THIS CRINGE?!?” lmfao I love the Idea Trampoline tho). And I can’t spell so autocorrect is fr my saving grace unless it betrays me. Off the top of my head I can think of 3 words in 3 separate fics that I need to fix but am simply not going to bc that requires effort and oh fuckin well.

And I say that, but I may be lax about the more fiddly stuff but I care SO much about the big picture. Like “does this convey the feelings I want it to? Is this going to be a bright spot in someone’s day? Is the vibe I want there?” That’s my priority. If I can leave an impact on a reader, entertain them, make them smile, that’s what matters to me.

Jesus sorry this was a convoluted answer lmao it’s 3 in the morning and I woke up all “hey I should actually check my inbox” and here we are

Thank u for asking abt my chaos melda tâe

[wolfieworld]

4/6 Diary: Dead Projects

it's hard to acknowledge why something isn't working when you're in the middle of it, sometimes it's hard to even know why. There's a few plots that have been in my brain for years that I've rewritten and rewritten and rewritten with little success. I think a big part of failed projects is actually over-estimating ones own capabilities, for example I plan out mechanics that I don't have the experience to achieve, or characterization too far from my own experience that its not fun to write. I often plan out stories that require a lot of research and I feel like I can't write until I know everything-therefore most writing doesn't get done and what does is full of holes. It's kind of embarrassing to look back at stuff and just think "I didn't know what I was talking about at all."

Sometimes shit just doesn't work out. In the words of Pretty Boy Detective Club giving up on a dream can be more beautiful than achieving the dream itself.

Probably 90% of everything I try doesn't work out and it's been on my mind lately that that's a good thing. Of course in an ideal world we learn from finished works bc there are things from those you can only learn by sharing with others and by wrapping up a story and by saying goodbye to your characters but there isn't such a thing as an ideal world and everything we do we learn from whether other people see it or not. There is something special you learn from unfinished projects, the types you choose to put down forever, which is you are forced to acknowledge precisely why it could not get done.

These are all images from 2 retired vn/comic projects.

These projects are prisons for some of my best and worst writing, full of ideas with no through-line or real objective, and no real thorough understanding of these characters who I loved just collections of feelings and images and facts I thought were cool.

What is improvement? I'm not a person who looks at my old art and feels like I've gotten better at drawing, and when I look back at old writing I only really get the sense that I've become less cringe but not become a better writer. I think improvement is more esoteric than becoming better at the skills you use to express, maybe it's just knowing yourself better and playing to your strengths, and crystalizing what you want to say (or finding it in the first place). Aesthetics form naturally from writing and drawings that plainly express what they need too and they are drawn like blood from stone from work that is trying its hardest to be clever.

Personally I find these digital pages from 2020(21?) to be better drawings than anything I've done in the last two years in a technical way but it doesn't matter, I couldn't finish it, and I didn't know the characters. It's just portfolio work, it took me months to do five of them. They're just "cool shots" even though I didn't know it at the time.

As I get further into working on Youth Who Was Killed I'm noticing that cutting corners produces better results, there's more emotion in sketches so why finish a drawing, why design a logo which I'm not good at when I can use a font, why color grade the images myself when limiting the palette to one or two or three colors provides an unmuddied result? This is the kind of laziness you would think would harm 'improvement' but I've found that too much brute force is a highway to burn out, and then you're not learning anything at all.

Making art is a war against human nature I think, cavemen definitely weren't built too instinctually develop a five year plan every new years. However it becomes like less of a war when you work with your nature rather than against it. Maybe. I don't know. I really hope I don't make a blog post two years from now about why I couldn't finish YWWK. If that happens blame ren'py.

i drew my ocs in funny t shirts for the first time in my life so maybe all that stuff i said about improvement being that you become less cringe is untrue, maybe you get more cringe. thats ok with me i guess.

[firesnap]

Your tweet came up on my timeline today (which is wild bc i didnt even know you had a firesnap twitter lmao) and just out of curiosity, can you expand on the tweet about Tommy’s bit about Wilbur needing more credit? I was never really into the dsmp so i missed like a lot of it, but i assume it was about wilbur writing, but who was getting annoyed by it? I assume it was green dude who had to address it on a podcast but like… what did he have to address? Lmao. Sorry if this is a weird ask!

If asked, I do not have a twitter and don't know what you're talking about at all.

But yeah, there was this period during like late 2020-early 2021 where Tommy would constantly make sure to mention, whenever he was asked or was talking about how big the dsmp was, how it was Wilbur who wanted him to role play and Wilbur who got everything organized and set up the server with a plot and came up with the idea for L'Manberg. This was in contrast to uh, other versions of how the server started which essentially boiled down to "I started this smp with my friends and then Tommy joined and we decided to make it a big story."

And that would annoy the fuck out of fanbases for certain other CC's and usually start this discourse of "if Wilbur was in charge of this that's why THIS thing is better now that he's not in charge!!" or saying the server was better pre-lore when it was half-dead and just people playing vanilla minecraft. Or worse, saying that everyone was overestimating what Wilbur did and that it was actually _____ who did all the groundwork.

Eventually that one cunt went on a podcast and talked about how much Wilbur actually did and how much the server was more organized when Wilbur was more active (to the surprise of no one, this was after the server had been essentially written into a corner).

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Good evening,

Just popping in to say hi and check in on how you are doing? I’m really enjoying the pieces you have put forth for your febuwhump! There are all so good and leaving me wanting more and imagining what would happen next. I’m also loving how each piece features a different character I.e Dean, Jensen , or Beau. And especially Beau since we got to see so little of him so I’m enjoying all fics that expand on his character.

Couple of questions.

When ideas spark for a new fic with no specific character in mind. You know you want your reader to be this and dealing with that and have X Y Z happen but it doesn’t matter who is the character, my question is how do you pick. As in how do you decided to make it a Dean, AU Dean, Sam, Soilder boy etc? Do you just choose your favorite or brainstorm the world you want it happen in and then think the idea would fit if better if it was in a world with powers or spn-verse? (I hope that made sense)

Also who is your favorite non Jensen character to write for?

Lastly do you ever go back and just read your own fics for fun or simply to dive back in the world or are you the type of person who doesn’t like to read your own stuff? I find myself personally doing it a lot lately and it makes sense cause I wrote it bc I wanted it and was curious if others did the same.

Hope you are doing well. Thanks for everything!

Hi there! Things have been a little hectic lately! Overall things are good but work's been a wee bit nuts to put it mildly. I've been working late most nights this year (and last) but my boss told me to leave early today which was a win!

The febuwhump drabbles have been fun to work on! They're definitely snapshots in time that could easily keep going. There's one in particular that's not out yet that I think could draw a lot of interest for more 👀 I'm glad I'm able to jump around with the characters! It makes things a little harder which is a good thing to me since it makes me think.

For your first question of how I pick characters for stories, I try to let the plot drive the decision. If it's set in the SPN world, in cannon where the boys are hunters, I generally go with Dean because he's my favorite but also because I feel like I can write him better than say Sam. Now say it was a story about a superhero. Well let's say I've got AU Dean, AU Jensen and Soldier Boy as my options. Do I want the hero to be dark? Vulgar? Sensitive? Rich? Poor? How do I want the relationship with the reader to develop? Short answer is I ask myself a lot of questions in a short amount of time and branch down whatever path I think makes most sense. Sometimes where it really could be anyone, if I'm leaning towards someone in particular I'll pick them, or if I haven't written for them lately it'll go to them. It's a complicated answer but it really does change depending on the story!

Favorite non-Jensen character in the fanfic world to write for is Benny and Michael (I'm going to consider him separate even though he's Michael!Dean). Benny's one of my favorite side characters to throw into AU's you might notice. He's easily a good fit for a best friend character but has a certain...roughness to him that compliments Dean if that makes sense. If they do more SPN, I demand more Benny lol. As for Michael, I think he's a truly complicated character that is capable of both good and evil. When I wrote Wicked Game that was a big risk since it's a story focused so much on Michael. A reader is absent for a significant part of it even. But I just find the concept of the villain having a soft side so much fun (and writing that dark side too).

I do read my own stuff! Generally I do this with series more than one shots or imagines but I have my favorites I revisit with those too. I think all writers should re-read their stuff for fun. There's so much that's freeing when you're not being critical of the work but just enjoying it and it really helps you understand why readers might love something you think is awful. One of my favorite things is to see someone like or reblog a fic in my activity feed and then I get reacquainted with a story I completely forgot about! You're definitely not alone in re-reading!

I hope you're doing good and have a great day!

[ahiddenpath]

For the fanfiction ask game: 17, 18, 25, 49, 51!

Citrus! Thank you so much for the asks! If anyone is looking for Digimon Adventure and 02 fanfics, you can read mine on FFN or on AO3 if you are logged in <3

17.) Do you have a writing routine?

A few years ago, I was big on finding a place with a closed door and lighting a candle (partly for vibes, partly to discourage wandering off). But these days, I try to be as informal as possible, so that it's easy to write anytime, anywhere. Sometimes, all you can do is get 15 minutes of copying edits into your draft or jotting down ideas, and those 15 minutes are way better than nothing.

18.) Do you enjoy research? Which fic of yours required the most research?

I enjoyed research a lot more about 10 years ago. Search engines are a nightmare these days! I tried to research courtship in Japan and France in the 1930s for Puits d'Amour, and there is. Nothing. Searchable on Google in English for anywhere except the states and the UK. I ended up purchasing some books on the history of courtship that are, sadly, still very US and UK oriented, and just. Making it clear in my fic that the countries portrayed are fictional, largely in part bc I just could not get my hands on the info I needed.

I did some medical research for Seeking Resonance that was really interesting for me at the time, and oddly, came up in my career just last week! I was floored lol!

25.) What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

I seem to be comparatively light on the worldbuilding and outlining. I love writing because flow state feels amazing and I love editing because it's challenging play. Often, I find that what I want to say evolves from the moods and ideas that occur during flow state. It's been interesting, because over the 12 years of publishing as ahiddenpath, I can see reflections of what I was dealing with personally at the time, and how I resolved that strain with the story. Of course, this kind of writing demands more editing later, as it's so freeform. But I enjoy editing, and I believe my love of writing and need to write are strongly connected to the fact that I use writing to deal with things, to understand myself, to challenge myself, and to grow.

49.) What fic of yours would you say is the best introduction to you as a writer?

How I write and how I think about writing is always changing and evolving, so I suppose my more recent fics? But for the digimon fandom specifically, I usually say After August. Like most of my stories, it's a character-based drama. Specifically, it's about the Adventure Chosen dealing with the loss of their partners and the difficulty of shifting from life as a Chosen in the Digital World to life as kids on earth. Each of them copes in a resoundingly individual way, and they reach out to one another to offer what comfort and support they can.

My works tend to be about people grasping for self-growth and dealing with their demons. They usually aren't plot heavy, although I've been pushing myself to explore plot-based stories recently.

51.) Does what you like to write differ from what you like to read?

One of my closest friends has a master's in literature, and she obligingly wrote me a list of what is... How do you say this? Expertly??? Considered the best literature available in the English language. I've spent the last several years feasting on that, hoping to learn and grow. So, um. My writing can't compete, lol!!!!!

But lately, I've gotten back into reading purely for fun, rather than growth/challenge/experience. I devoured three modern Greek myth retellings in like a three week span, and I have another waiting at the library for me to pick up! Typical, lmao!

The sudden contrast made me notice that, at the risk of sounding snobbish, books written because the narrative is fun, imaginative, and joyful to behold are a different experience than books that encapsulate some aspect of humanity with painful, exquisite, brutal clarity. It's like, hello reader, would you like enjoyment or an existential crisis???? It's been a privilege and a joy to grow from these uh... Literature degree required reading list books. But man it's fun to eat a novel like it's cake!!! OM NOM NOM MORE PLEASE!

I'm not sure if that answered the question at all, but I guess recently I am trying to explore books that I find delightful rather than personally challenging.

Thanks for the asks friend, they were a great distraction from some difficult stuff <3 I really appreciate it! I'm happy to take more if anyone is interested.

[1-up-chump]

Hello, I share your indignation about the new part of MK. Everything was changed too much and strangely. Can you write down the moments you didn't like? For example, I’m not happy with this whole situation with Kuai Liang - Scorpion, Tarkata - a disease, Raiden - Liu Kang 2.0, Fujin - Raiden’s sister, who is Kung Lao’s lover, seriously?

I WILL STATE that i have not bothered to look at everything myself but hear from reliable sources of the basic information of the game so i cannot give a full and fair critique. And i will not give this game anymore attention than i already have given it since it is just NOT a mortal kombat game.

Lets talk about the reasons you listed bc i agree.

Kuai liang as scorpion and in role reversal:

I am not a fan of this even remotely being "canon" Although the idea should be explored by fans WHO UNDERSTAND BOTH KUAI LIANG AND HANZO HASASHI AS CHARACTERS ORIGINALLY. It completely disrespects hanzo as a character and erases his connection to scorpion being a "gimmick thing to slap onto someone" as a title rather than a personal journey of meaning. And kuai deserves more respect as well, originally being an assassin whose clan tried to "modernize" by removing free will of warriors to ensure obedience and make their spirits and talents disposable. Trying to fight against that. It seems ironic in the end his fate is nothing more than to be toyed with by this unoriginal and uninspiring "role swap au lolz"

The tarkatan race being a disease:

I shouldn't even have to clarify how fucked up this is. Right after in mk 11 we saw tarkatans just being another race living in outworld minding their own business, and kotal fucking up (kotal khan is a wasted character but thats for another post) so we got what was once a "bad guy evil race" to something better. AND THEN THEY FUCKED IT UP AGAIN like isnt that, at best, the most tone deaf shit after what happened in real life with a certain disease and people being uber racist??? And dont get me started on how they messed up mileena with that too. (God damn the writers fucking hate her just as much as kung lao)

Raiden role reversal:

Let me tell you as a raiden enjoyer i fucking HATE them making him a basic ass protag like they did with liu kang (i love liu but lately they just removed all personality from him) its so fucking uninspiring and boring as shit AND THEY MAKE HIM CHAMPION INSTEAD OF KUNG LAO???? THE ABSOLUTE DISRESPECT WHAT THE FUCK i love raiden but he doesn't deserve champion title, that belongs to KUNG motherfucking LAO.

Fujin being a sister????:

Listen i havent seen it but this is the dumbest ass shit i have ever seen in my entire life. As if they couldn't show how little they actually care about fujin......

And the shallow fans who care little about fujin other than a "pretty fuck toy to do teh yaois with uwu" which is also what they did to shang tsung now which is like YOU FOOLS! CARY HIROYUKI TAGAWA-SAMA IS RIGHT FUCKING THERE!!! YOU SEXUALIZE HIM WHEN HE'S AN OLD MAN TOO OR YOU'RE A COWARD AND A SHAM!

And then there's the absolute nothing plot that really shows they ran out of ideas and just slap together bullshit. The villains arent really villains and they suck, its just "stop evil shang tsung but hes not actually evil bc theres this other timeline-" ITS FUCKING LAZY AND PATHETIC WRITING it shows that they want to have it all just to appease fans to take their money. Thats it, thats all this story boils down to. A shoddy scam to bullshit a story to take people's money. I mean you cant even get shang tsung or marjory of fan desired characters without dlc and the base game is like 60-70 bucks like the fuck????

As a regular fighting game? Mid but enjoyable i guess. But as a mortal kombat game? No, thats not even mortal kombat thats just some dumbasses wattpad fanfic after they watched avengers endgame in their crusty batman shirt

I'll end this with a small side note: if my opinions offend, I'm sorry im passionate about a series that was a part of my childhood and made me appreciate Japanese and Chinese culture and kung fu cinema in general. Im sorry if the memories of playing a fun game and caring about the characters having strong bonds of friendship in a violent world designed to be a "kill or be killed" system and despite that choosing to do the right thing in their mind.

Sorry if i seem to be playing a different game bc i am.

Its mortal kombat: shaolin monks for the ps2

-gets head ripped off-

[lilrobinbird]

Maybe some better questions would be: what visual artists inspire you the most? Are there any artists whose style or use of color you like to emulate? (I know nothing about visual arts, so I hope these are not dumb questions lol)

I really need to read more high fantasy. Should I start with The Witcher?

Long response by me (!!!) under cut, I'll not be held accountable for any typos as my autocorrect is currently not present

Letsgooo

Not to emulate a whole artstyle but I it's good to take little parts from different ones and translate it into your own (which honestly I should start doing again bc I'm getting stuck lately)

@/manny.oe (insta) is probably my favourite artists, he changes artsyles whenewher he feels like it but he is a professional and does visual dev work, he does so mych aauuh so much to kearn from him, I used to get inspired by the way he shades and picks colors, he also posts a lot of figure drawing sketches on stories that I try to just copy lolol (but these are the kind of studies you copy and never post)

@/ahmedaldoori_art (insta) when you look up his profile you see a lot of sketches and unfinished stuff but when you find his fully rendered pieces RAHHH THATSS how I want to render, very soft(?) rendering that I like

There is also someone from tumblr aaand from avatar fandom @/allgremlinart and they're my lineart goals (the line weight! yes!)....ok and rendering goals too..... They also have a side blog where they post their original art and yeeea good stuff good stuff

@/jamjoob (tumblr and insta) LINEART GOALS waaauuhhh such a nice light smooth lines, their colors are also tasty cozy..

So there's four digital artists I thought about first, there's WAY more but I'm not writing a book pointing out every artist I like (sadly. Hm ok I'd be too lazy)

(bonus five person a girl I had csush on fhgvjh legit best artist man give me your style. hand it over)

But I can get inspired with others all I want I still should learn color theory my biggest hater and enemy

I told you before you sent a fun good ask but I didn't notice a witcher part then shsjs

So hmmmm mmm m I'm not sure? It really depends on the person but the writing isn't that good, I was personally drawn by the characters and concepts (and the whole idea how witchers work is fun to me) (also I've read them in highschool so)

Some scenes can be kinda weird, it was after all written by a silly old polish guy

First two books- The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny are more of short stories and they're probably the best, after them the tone changes a little and the main plot begins (if I remeber it correctly)

I've read them in polish but I've heard some opinions that the writing in translations can be worse than original

But you already know I loooove legend of Korra, that is an art of taking good characters and concepts form stuff with questionable writing (but legend of korra is justified and forgiven by circumstances the writers struggled with (((and by me)))))))

But honestly that's up to you, I'd say you should try something else for your first time, you can look for other opinions too

[mzannthropy]

I absolutely agree that Camilly>>>> Daisybilly. Also Edmila. I'm just gonna pretend none of the cheating happen. Also, what do you think about fics that make Billy a bad father? I hate them lol. Billy was there for Julia's plays,soccer games, and to see her grow into an adult. You can tell he loved her.

(This got long...)

Thanks, it's good to see someone still cares about Billy x Camila! Tbh I've been thinking that I probably misunderstood the story, which is not unlike me with the way my mind works, but the thing is, I was only in it bc of Sam Claflin. I would never have had picked the book up if he hadn't been cast in the series. I barely care about real 70s bands, never mind fictional, and I didn't know anything about Fleetwood Mac (in fact I only started listening to them bc of DJATS and, funnily enough, I saw that 1997 performance on TV which they just happened to show at the time when the filming of DJATS was going on--but I didn't think anything of it. Don't those two hate each other?). That's my kind of longwinded way of saying that I had no idea I was supposed to ship Daisy and Billy, especially as I rooted for Camila right from the beginning. I'm also much older than majority of the fandom and have one failed marriage under my belt already, so I see things differently.

I think that Camila liked the rockstar side of Billy, hence why she was able to overlook some things (after all, this was the 70s), bc she knew he would always come home to her. Relationships are laundry and taxes, not omG tHE wAY thEY LooK aT eAcH OthEr on stage, but I guess that's not cool enough for the show. I'm not a fanfic person, actually, I read maybe about three a year (and that's only short ones) and with the exception of Jane Eyre, I don't write any (I prefer writing original). Occasionally I check AO3 for some particular piece of media or a ship, just to see what's there (in fact I did so twice in the last week, once for a particular pairing in a L.M. Montgomery book and once for all The Count of Monte Cristo fics, Sam's next project). I've never looked at any DJATS fics ever and I'd rather not know. So I didn't know there were fics that made Billy a bad father. I suppose people can write what they want, if they need to make Billy worse for their preferred ship to exist, well, they're free to do so, if it makes them happy. I loathe cheap, lazy plot devices and villainisation for the sake of making the protagonist look better, or making the reader/viewer care about the author's favourite pairing. I tend to feel the exact opposite of what the writer(s) want me to feel. So merely hearing about the Billy as bad father fics makes me hate them, lol.

It's not true, anyway. The show didn't exactly do Billy any favours with erasing the twins, bc in the book, he was with Camila while she was giving birth to them, holding her hand etc, in contrast to Julia's birth. But even so, we have some evidence of him being a better dad, like when he rang Camila while on the Aurora tour and wanted to hear Julia just sleeping. They could have done more and I suspect they really did, that there were more scenes that they eventually cut. Idk, but this picture just makes me think there must have been more. Who knows...

So while he may not have been the world's best dad, he was not a bad one either. After all, as I started saying lately, (about real people but it goes for fictional too), people can be more than one thing.

Saying that, Eddie gives me mild incel vibes. If Camila wanted to be with Eddie, she'd be with him. "I'd choose you over everyone" means nothing, it's just words. It was a bit of a lazy shortcut for Camila to cheat with him, but that's just one of the show's sins. They gave Camila a creative profession and then did a fuck all with it, like why couldn't she have connected with a fellow photographer? Like that dude she talked to in the dark room or whoever it was.

I wonder if soon we'll start seeing articles on Screen Rant et al about how "wrong we were to ship Billy and Daisy and how emotional affairs ruin the lives of everyone around them" or something similar. More likely, though, the show will fade into obscurity which I will honestly be thankful for. I'm glad that Sam got what he needed out of it (he talked about it in interviews) and I'm glad Camila got some recognition, she just won a breakthrough award at Critics Choice and I'm glad Suki and the others got to be in it and the songs are good, and I wish them well, and I wish the writers a very hope your pens break and drafts get deleted and I hope Hello Sunshine burns down.

[nolanhollogay]

i am very out of date on all of your obx ocs bc i have not been crazy interactive on here lately, but i would love to hear- literally whatever thoughts you want to share about any of them.

yesss getting to talk about my favorite thing <3

ok this will be long bcuz i have So Much going on but for context my obxverse, dog days of summer, is canon divergent bcuz i know better than the pates 😌

starting with our main character my favorite special little guy, edgar ramirez

he's deeply tragic (family trauma up to his eyeballs) but he's just a little lover boy!! his family owns a church in the cut, saint lucia's, and he gets wrapped up in the plot bcuz he has huuuge crush on jj, and then ends up in a secret relationship with him <3

in the later seasons, things get very complicated for him romantically (it's a whole thing, rafe is involved) and his faith is tested and he's just overall not having a good time </3

but he survives bcuz his heart is full of love

next we have nova morales!

edgar's complete opposite fgdgf she's the biggest hater girl in the obx!

her plot revolves around her issues with her family – her mother left her and her father about a year before s1 to start a new family on the figure 8 with a kook guy – and how that bleeds into her relationships with everyone around her

she's possessive and loyal but hates change and people trying to worm their way into her found family

she's a kie love interest and their very much enemies to lovers they cannot stand each other!!

next we have mikey caswell

his main plot is that he has no personality or interests of his own and just has no idea who he is <\3 bcuz of that he gets into a situationship with rafe (in his eyes they're dating, in rafes eyes they're just hooking up And he's using him to get close to edgar, it's a whole thing)

prior to s1, he was adopted by a kook family and the pogues feel like he abandoned them, and he honestly kinda did, so he's also trying to get back on their good sides!

also he's a john b love interest

next (again) is mags báez

mags is Also a pogue turned kook, but she moved when she was wayyy younger than mikey, around five years old, bcuz her dad got rich through computer shit

she's edgar's best friend, though they don't see each other much, and novas step sister thru marriage (it was her dad that novas mom left them for – im sure you can imagine how this might strain their relationship)

she's dating kelce in s1 and her story is about her coming to terms with her lesbianism and also trying to shed her people pleaser tendencies

she's a sarah love interest and she and her and kie are involved in a homoerotic girl best friend to enemies love triangle though none of them will call it that

we're almost done i promise!!

next is manny espinoza!

they moved to kildare at the beginning of the summer with their family and are trying to get accustomed to kook life which is hard when everyone around u is insane

he accidentally becomes friendly with rafe, topper and kelce, which is bad for a variety of reasons but mostly bcuz they bully them All The Time and basically haze them, it's a mess

they're a pope love interest and are just a little smitten kitten with him

last but not least! stella feng & lennon yang

they're minor characters but i love them!!

stella is a pogue, lennon is a kook, can i make it anymore obvious?

they have a star crossed lovers plot in the background!

also stella is a drug dealer & lennon is rafes only female friend! they're very normal and sane!

[allgather]

quick personal update: life is heavy for me at the moment, and i just want to get some stuff out.

work is disappointing and difficult. i’m working hard to run a program all by myself but I feel alone in it, and like my boss is too disorganized or careless to help me. its taking a real emotional toll and i am actively trying to leave. the only reason i’ve been here so long is bc my boss has been promising me a raise for the past 6 months, and this week she finally told me she doesn’t have the budget to do it. and it just feels like i’ve been strung along all this time.

i’m really exhausted and lonely. i’m doing my best to get out, see people, but folks are busy or i’m just too tired or in too much pain to leave the house. my chronic pain is really bad and my dysphoria is back with a vengeance. it feels like a lot to manage at once and i’m not even sure where to start exactly - with a doctor’s appointment, with new clothes, with a call to my friends? i’m not sure where to begin.

folks around me are going through difficult times, like really difficult. and i just stop myself from telling anyone that i’m really struggling and unhappy because i want to be that good, stable friend. i want to be that positive person i always am. i don’t know how to say that i’ve had this long, drawn out sadness for months when more pressing things are happening to the people i love. i don’t know how to articulate that i’m not doing well.

i wish i could write more and be consistent, but i don’t think that is quite where i am at the moment. i am trying to be kind to myself and tell myself it is okay. i want to afford myself the space to be absent and inconsistent. even if i can’t fully deliver in writing, i do want to talk to people, to my friends, but i’ve gotten worse at reaching out lately. i’m really sorry all the people i love who i have struggled to keep conversations up with lately. i want to do better. when i check-in and then disappear, it’s because i’m struggling to be a person right now. but i’m going to try harder and be better.

i’d love to plot with folks and find joy and levity in the beautiful ideas and stories and relationships and worlds we create, and the friendships i have. i think i can handle that, in small bursts where i find the energy. i am going to try. thank you for your patience and care. i hope you are all doing well, and i sincerely, deeply miss you.

[tetsuskei]

risu loved your hot take about smut.

also is it just me or like writing smut has always been relatively easier than fluff or even suggestive banter type shit? because in smut, you can bullet point- yeah they gonna do this and this and this and call it a day but fluff requires some depth. a perfect setting for the fluff or angst to actually be enhanced.

And according to each author’s writing style, they have to add imagery, or like metaphors or engaging dialogues to make it work. For me, when I was writing suggestive/banter related fics for kuroo or gojo, I was staring at the screen in despair so that my brain conjures some smart words or a perfect setting for them to act on. So it was relatively harder for me. And if other authors have faced such similar challenges and yet post majority sfws, you can guess the amount of hardwork they’ve put into it and would love for any sort of appreciation of their work. And

Im not downplaying smut authors by any means, every piece of writing takes up a fair share of effort and even I’ve had my fair share of challenges in writing smut too because firstly I experience high key embarrassment proofreading it and secondly, good smut requires the same criteria too (it’s just sfw fics gets the floor to portray a reader’s personality more than its nsfw counterpart) it’s just we want the audiences to interact with these posts with the same enthusiasm and not read and toss it aside :((

to our dear readers, Lores are fun. Just get yourself out of that sex bubble and you’ll see why a simple fic of having breakfast with nanami in scotland is actually so much fun to read and enjoy

happy reading!!

sami thank u for sending this! providing my thoughts under the cut.

i honestly am shocked by how many ppl commented on that. (someone said i was ‘insulting the intelligence of those who only read smut’ and was being ‘misogynistic’. i didn’t intend to do that, and think my words were taken out of context by that point, but it is what it is now.)

i do agree that with smut if i have an idea of the dynamic i want and what the characters might be into, i can plan a course of action for what is going to happen. sometimes i start w smut and then incorporate the plot later tbh.

you’re absolutely right, there’s nothing wrong with reading and writing smut. no one is any better if they don’t read smut than those who do. personally my comment was only towards the select who constantly intake content on here and aren’t always careful about what they read. even heavily more so towards the porn link posts too. hence why my original comment said ‘some’ because obviously it doesn’t apply to everyone.

i really do admire those who are able to world build so fluently and with great detail whether that is in smut or not. i agree with your point that it may be a bit more complicated to build a story without smut if you’re focusing more on characterization, personality, and setting. smut pieces that bring this to the table seem like the longer ones for the most part, but that doesn’t mean shorter ones can’t either. also i know it’s another tricky thing to mention is how people go about making their reader with personality or not bc ppl complain anyway anyhow when there’s something they can’t identify with.

at the end of the day i just wish to keep supporting ppls writing in general but also wish the tumblr community was more friendly like it used to be. a lot of ppl seem discouraged lately about their writing and i hope that things can get better soon.

(btw breakfast with nanami in scotland sounds heavenly! pls sign me up immediately <3)