#i'm gonna work on improving the quality a bit more and do a couple more tests but right now it's good enough

[semi-sketchy]

I seem to finally have a working stream setup, so if everything goes well, tomorrow I'm planning to stream the Wii U one last time.

I'll schedule it probably about an hour before going live, just to be sure nothing comes up last minute.

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton is interviewed during the press conference on media day, canada - june 6, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "Lewis, let's come to you now. Back to the scene of your first Forula 1 victory and six subsequent ones, as well. You've always gone well here. What is it about this place?" Lewis: "I don't know. Hi, everyone. I think it's probably just kind of a street circuit, and a bit like a go kart track-long straights-so it's a track that bodes well for late brakers, and someone that's aggressive, I guess; aggressive driving style." Interviewer: "And is that you?" Lewis: "I think I've had an aggressive driving style for a long time, yeah." Interviewer: "Look, tell us about the car and your chances this weekend. The team is telling us that you're making a lot of progress in recent races. Are you feeling that in the cockpit?" Lewis: "Yes. Yeah, the car's continuing to improve. I think everyone's obviously taking that step hopefully closer to the Red Bulls, and I think that's been really positive. But incredibly proud of everyone back at the factory, just how hard everyone's working and how resilient everyone is, and everyone's just staying very focused, head down, and the morale's really great in the team, so I'm hoping that we can get closer to these guys and start actually competing at the front with these." Interviewer: "Do you think that's actually possible this weekend? Is a podium on the horizon?" Lewis: "I don't think it's far away, and so we've got the upgrade. Both cars have the upgrade this weekend, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that feels actually on track." Interviewer: "You've got the new front wing. Gonna out-qualify George this weekend?" Lewis: "I'm gonna try." Interviewer: [laughs] "Alright. Well done, Lewis. Good luck." [time jump] Journalist [Nelson Valkenburg, Viaplay]: "Question for Lewis. Lewis, you already spoke about the improved potential of the car and the way that it's heading. What aspect of the car is improving, and what is then needed more to be able to fight for the podium?" Lewis: "The biggest improvement, I think, coming into this year has been ride quality and being able to get the car lower, which is what others have been able to do, and then stability on entry of corners. The car's far more predictable than it ever was, particularly the last couple of years, and particularly this year it's a lot more stable, so we can be a lot more committed into the corners. But then through-corner balance is where we've been lacking, as where some of the others have really taken a big step, so that's what we're trying to work on." Interviewer: "Thanks, Lewis. Any more? Yep." Journalist [Roldán Rodriguez, DAZN Spain]: "To Lewis, as well: In the contract with Ferrari for next year, the question is, was Frederic Vasseur, a man you know pretty well, directly involved in your contract?" Lewis: "Yes." Journalist: "Yeah. Good." Lewis: "Yeah, he's the boss, and really a huge amount of support from John Elkann, who I've got a great relationship with, and so with those two together, Fred and John, we worked really closely."

[cjgladback]

And that's a wrap! On the first 100 grams of this oyster-colored Wool of the Andes roving. I'm very happy as my yarn quality and understanding continue improving; definitely getting to those consistent thin yarns I wanted. The green skein is absolutely the favored child, but I swear it is actually better than everything else, not just green. Which gives me some hope for all the wool I intend to card, actually.

My rambles got extra long, as were the image descriptions, so please enjoy this cut:

I wanted to test blending fibers with the same staple length before I get into more complicated things with the fiber festival fleeces (I am still slowly accumulating what I need to wash and dry them) and was honestly a little worried about how disorganized and snaggy it felt to card and draft, both. But my oh my that squishy, soft, wonderful yarn. I'm gonna keep trying to emulate it, though I still love the organization of just spinning nice long semi-compact roving. Versus even once I get a diz aka drill a hole in my designated piece of curved laminated cardboard, I expect carded sliver to be loose and fall apart if I do things like wrap it around my wrist as a proto-distaff. For the green yarn, I tried making kinda loose sideways rolags that I both compacted and drafted the tiniest bit so they could be wrapped into nests.

So! Mayhaps I should try carding something that isn't already organized. Like the little bit of very lanolin-laden wool that was packed with the e-spinner (EEW Nano, original flavor) I recently acquired from a thrift store. And maybe I won't want to wash all the lanolin out and lose the learning experience if I also blend it with other, clean fiber. Perhaps if I cannibalize the first skein here...? Good thing I never fulled it after all!

The above is not actually the train of thought that lead me to wanting to combine those two; I'm just realizing that there are basically no projects that I want to do that would actually use that yarn as is, and I'm already planning my limit of small and patchwork projects for other things. One is that I'm planning to put together all of these oyster skeins into maybe a hat? to commemorate my improving spinning skills, maybe with lace for the underplied and color work for the green, and I already have my actual first spin in a scarf so I don't feel too beholden to preserve this. I really like textured knitting that needs even, solid or slow-transition, thin yarn, whereas this wild and lumpy almost-twenty-feet would maybe work for someone who did tapestries? But that is not me. And I think if I calm down and maybe tweed up the bright colors I'll enjoy them more, as well. So. These may be the last photos of the yarn in its current state.

Whether that's my next project or if I try to get some mileage on the Nano with the next bundle of oyster, I'm not sure. I'm already missing my fidget activity after just a couple days of washing and drying the last skein, but I also wanted to design some bookmarks with the clearance yarn I got at the same time as the roving. So if I can get a prototype pattern laid out so it's not as much ongoing brain power, that might fit the bill.

[ID: Three images of various small hanks and balls of yarn laying on a wood table with notes digitally hand-written in light purple around them.

The first photo shows all eight of the skeins in the order they were spun, all but two a light cream color. The first is a chunky, uneven skein spun from a bright purple, pink, and orange gradient, labeled "chain ply" and 6.6 yards. Next is a cream center-pull ball that is 36.25 yards, and next to it a smaller, more even center-pull ball of 22.5 yards, perhaps 21 wraps per inch. Next is a forest green skein, labeled "hand carded," 49 yards, balanced and soft! Next are two cream skeins that were "underplied and broke," 116 plus 33 yards, 30 wraps per inch. The penultimate skein is longer than the rest (having been wound around more than one chair back) and 158.25 yards. The final skein is labeled "intentionally thicker to pair with green," and 99.75 yards.

The second photo compares the green and final skeins, with winding notes starting with a cloud of hearts by the green. It is a "50/50 blend of Oyster and Aurora roving colors on handcarders," and "took no notes so of course it's balanced, soft, and sturdy." Its cream counterpart has a smoother surface, more even thickness, and is slightly more tightly plied, with the note "didn't card but made an effort to match on ply back tests -- decent weight, almost balanced, not soft" (flat-mouthed face).

The third image compares the first and last skeins, the first labeled as 23 grams of gifted cheviot or shropshire, chain plied from ball with core, for a total of 6.6 yards. The latest is 24 grams of clearance peruvian highland, plied via book-wrapped bracelet into a two-strand ball, totalling 99.75 yards. End ID]

[indescriptequilibrium]

ok b4 i make these damn credit requests n send reports to customers i gotta write a bit of testicles philosophy that's been clankin around inside my cranium for a while. if u don't wanna read bout stuff like this pls scroll by but if u do pls bear with me while i talk about an incredibly sensitive topic that's almost impossible to tackle with any level of seriousness due to the Absurdity of transness

so im gettin neutered in 2,5 weeks. this has been a long time comin n now it's suddenly crystalized into a tangible date that's rly close (close enough that it alrdy caused sum Despair n schedulin stress on my part cuz im a anxious scaredy cat (sorry n thank u<3)). this is a huge fuckin deal. i've had dysphoria bout these guys for as long as i can fuckin remember. i'm nowadays pretty ok w/ havin a dick, but the accessories r abysmal n need to go.

first things first, they're uncomfortable. anyone who has some will attest that life w/ balls is at best bearable (mens underwear n pants leave a lot of space for convenience) n at worst horrid n painful (to safekeep reproductive capabilities they're equipped w/ a frankly ludicrous amount of nerve endings). i'm in almost a constant state of mild-to-severe discomfort cuz i'm very dysphorically aware of them at most times, like rn. they're always moving around no matter how well secured in place n the more u secure them in place the more uncomfortable it can get. n Adjusting their position especially in public no matter how stealthy i am about it makes me feel like some kind of a pervert cuz well i AM grabbing n moving my junk around. ugh. so this is very much a dysphoric "THIS BODY PART DOESNT BELONG" type situation.

secondly, i do NOT want to reproduce, especially not via inseminating someone. that's a horrid thought n makes me feel like some kind of a gigeresque parasite-spewing breeding maschine. note: this is a Personal Feeling, making n having babies is a perfectly normal thing to want to do. but i do not have the need to do it via my own biology.

third, FORM FACTOR. fuckin gods i own so many pieces of clothing that will finally fit nicely when im free of the two pain orbs attached near a very critical part of pants n underwear. i've looked at n adored how pants fit ppl without this kind of junk in the way forever n been so so envious even b4 i had the language to describe it. i rly hope it's as comfortable as i imagine it.

fourthly, i kno it's not a requirement to be an androgynous person to lack reproductive ability, but shit fuck godsdamn it, it will help with the feeling. kinda like how changin my legal gender was altogether very unimpactful (as it should be tbh...), but gave me self-confidence n entitlement in my identity. the idea of being physically something between genders is amazing n freeing as hell. masculinity has weighed heavy on my shoulders n this'll take some of the load off. stop giggling

fifth n final point that i have in mind rn: i can stop takin fucking spironolactone!!!!!!!! im convinced just this will be a huge quality of life improvement, i'm so dried up it's crazy. i piss like every couple of hours n my lower lip has been chapped af for weeks. t1d dries u up already i rly don't need an additional drug doing that. plus i'm p sure spiro has some side effects goin that i'm not even aware of but i'm eager to find out what changes.

all in all this is HUGE. i'm gonna probs cope w/ the wait w/ a lot of humor n some of this humor will make me more dysphoric (dysphoria has been growing the whole winter) but pls bear with my ballsposting soon i'll stop talking about them forever and i rly have NOT mentioned the guys ever cuz of the dysphoria so final chance to say goodbye i guess? lol. anyway gotta work now bye hope this was somehow revelatory re: my feelings w/ this whole issue for those of u who r for some reason interested in the general genital situation lmao

[gluttonyedits]

Honestly you're one of my favorite blogs and I adore how you edit and your style- I don't interact all that much due to school and not being on Tumblr much to fill my queue to keep active, but I'm probably going to end up practically spam queuing up your edits because they're absolutely scrumptious!

I'm not all that popular of an edit blog either- though I have taken a bit of a break, and you're definitely very underrated for the wonderful quality of edits you have!

Thank you very much, anon, you’re appealing to my ego a lot here and.. it’s so awfully very kind of you.

I mean I have come a long way in two years, I’ve definitely improved so so much from my earliest work and I’m proud of my growth as an editor. The problem I face though is that I feel like a lot of editors and editblr nowadays is just… very samey for me not gonna lie. And even if someone is only editing for, say, a few months and they’re a couple years younger than me, they’re still producing the same level of editing as everyone else I see. I don’t know how to make those popular gif and still image headers. I don’t like the popular lace image, it isn’t my style at all. I don’t use PSDs because they confuse me and I don’t have a PC or any software, all I have is ibis. I don’t mean to ramble here, but it’s merely how I myself view what I do against all the other editors.

I do feel sometimes this kind of invisible peer pressure to resort to more popular editing styles, with all the pastel colours and laces, but I don’t follow that because I feel like if I did, I would lose my identity as an editor. And yet the problem is I’m seeing all these editors who have been here for say a month or two and they’ve had this storm in requests and followers and they’re having milestones every month or two. It’s taken me two years and I’ve yet to get to 300. And while yes I started exclusively as a kin blog for a fandom, and then widened my reach, it’s.. still depressing.

But yk what? At the end of the day I’d rather keep my identity as an editor even if I stay small and my sources are obscure. I’m proud of myself and that’s what matters. My only hope is people don’t start exclusively requesting the themed flags instead of my many many edit types!

/gen for all of this, I’ve had a terrible few months. Here’s hoping June will be better. Happy Pride Month anon. Sorry I sound like I’m drunk. I’m not.

[dwtsfun]

Dancing with the Stars Season 32 Week 2: I Have a Confession

So last night was week 2. And I was thinking of structuring this like last week, but only 1 and a half couples truly had me feeling energized about the night. So I guess we'll go back to the regular format. Because Jamie Lynn was eliminated, I'll just talk about her up here. After watching her dance, I wasn't shocked. With all the controversy that was following her, we needed to have at least one big week from her. We didn't get that at all. And outside of that one moment up in the skybox with Julianne when she redid that move from her cha cha, we didn't get much fun out of her either. So what happens when you have a controversial celeb (that people truly don't like) that has potential that is not even being scratched, who is kinda just there and not giving much in any department? You get a somewhat shocking (but not really when you think about it) elimination. If they wanted to stay, they had to do something to get our minds off of the Britney Jean sized elephant in the room. They didn't do that and I think I'm more shocked that they didn't vs the fact that she was eliminated. That being said, she went out on a positive note (for the most part). So hopefully she can internalize that.

The show itself was a snoozefest. Alfonso and Julianne have kinda been blah so far. The technique and performance quality of the vast majority of the stars was not good enough to have Latin night this early. I just feel like theme weeks should start week 4 at the absolute earliest. Week 5 is what I believe is ideal. Let everyone's skills get better so that we're not watching 4 couples stumble through a samba in week 2, all to fulfill a theme. And the dances that the pros have been giving to the celebs have been pretty ho hum across the board. So now let me start the recap.

Lele and Brandon- Samba (Score=21)- Lele did pretty well with this dance. This was the half a dance I was talking about and upon watching it back, I'm actually gonna up that to being fully impressed and I think this dance was underscored. It should've gotten at least one 8. I think Lele had an understanding of the technique and rhythm of the dance that none of the other samba doers truly understood. And her feet were pointed this time! Than you Brandon. I just want her to do some more refining things and she'll be set.

Tyson and Jenna- Salsa (Score=18)- What an improvement a week makes! Tyson was a completely different dancer out there. I just knew he wasn't a no hoper. We just needed him to get more comfortable out on the floor. What I want him to work on now is 1) getting the technique cleaner and 2) work on getting lighter on his feet. But he is definitely on the right path.

Barry and Peta- Cha-cha (Score=15)- Barry struggled a little bit more this week than he did last. But the foundation is there for him to give good Latin dances. He does have some rhythm and his technique is mostly nice. Those New Yorkers were really really nice. Now, we gotta get him to fix his pancake hands, work on the technique a bit more and loosen up them hips. But I really think these two could play spoiler to many couples this year if he keeps improving. And honestly, he might be a true dance contender.

Adrian and Britt- Samba (Score=15)- Mm. Okay so this was a challenge. So let me start with the good. His face was much better this time around. I also saw that he worked on cleaning up his footwork. Now, he struggled with the dance itself, he still needs to be lighter on his feet, the technique still needs work and he needs to do a better job of partnering Britt. Right now it's not working the way that it should. But if they stick around, I can see that getting better and him becoming a decent dancer.

Mira and Gleb- Salsa (Score=18)- Hmm. Okay. Mira has really nice technique. She has everything to be amazing. But she's currently petrified of the dances and she dances too light. I need Gleb to get her to realize that she's good. I also want him to tell her to dance through the floor and not just on top of it.

Xochitl and Val- Salsa (Score=24)- So I thought this was a good dance. It was missing something though and I can't really place my finger on what it was. Actually, I know what it was. It was too much and too fast. It's a critique I have of Val at least once a season. He jam packs so much into a dance that sometimes, his partners can't breathe. Xochitl did well enough, but I also felt like it might've been a little much and sometimes she got a tad behind. Also her arm in that last lift was not great. Very good dance though.

Ariana and Pasha- Samba (Score=20)- Ariana did alright for the most part part. There were several questionable moments where she either looked off balance or lost a bit of control. I'm gonna say it's her nerves right now because it's not bad. She's still a fantastic dancer and I'm also still worried about her fanbase. But she might benefit from the same things that Melissa Rycroft did in her first season. Only time will tell.

Mauricio and Emma- Salsa (Score=12)- Mauricio actually started out doing pretty well. The problems that most of the other men dealt with this week, he did not deal with it. That was up until he forgot everything. And then the routine crashed. I'm actually shocked that Mauricio didn't get eliminated this week. But I guess people really pulled through for them. I still don't think Mauricio will last long, but hopefully he can come back strong next week.

Alyson and Sasha- Tango (Score=19)- Alyson also had a major improvement this week. I have to admit, I didn't think we could get this level of dancing out of Alyson. But we got it and it was a legitimately good dance. Now, I want her to dance with more intention. She placed everything pretty well, but it wasn't as strong as it could've been. I also want her to relax a little bit more throughout the dances. But we're moving in the right direction.

Charity and Ezra- Cha-cha (Score=21)- As we know, Artem had COVID and had to sit out this week. So we got Ezra as a fill in and I'm glad we got to see Ezra in this capacity. I would not mind seeing him as a pro next season. Ezra is also gay and we're lacking that representation with Louis gone (even though Louis is a bitter and hateful ass bitch and I don't get that energy from Ezra at all) and I don't think we've ever had that on the women's side of things (please correct me if I'm wrong). Now onto Charity. It was cool. Technically, it was a great dance. But I feel like she was timid and stiff. I'll chalk up a lot of that to having a new partner and just being nervous in general. She'll be better as the show goes on, but this just wasn't her best.

Harry and Rylee- Salsa (Score=15)- Harry moves very small and is still terrified of these dances. I think he handled this one better and I saw some improvement. He stayed on time more. But it's still not great. I don't think he can get to a great or even a good level. But he is improving and he can shock us. I mean Alyson definitely shocked me this week.

Jason and Daniella- Rumba (Score=24)- This was the best dance of the night. I think Jason might be the one to beat. I have to see a ballroom dance from him but I do not have any reason to believe that he will really struggle with those based on what he's shown and the past work of Daniella. I did see the misstep that CAI was talking about, but wow, what a dance. I was incredibly impressed.

So that's what I thought about the show. Let me know your thoughts and I will talk to you all soon.

[skitariiposting]

funct.print ("[statement] so. Just a little update on the imperator titan situation. I decided to sit down with the .stl files just to see what I'm working with. First off, most of them seem to be set up for a larger build plate, which is fine, I can cut most in half and just baaaarely fit them on a Mars 3. The problem is before I even do that there's already a funct. ton of models. Like holy shift so many models. I got like 4 or 5 sliced, just to see what I'm working with here and just those 5 added up to a little over 24 hours of printing. So when I say this'll be a long project, it's gonna be a long project.");

funct.print ("[optimistic] on the bright side, the poll I made is looking pretty positive, so if I did start the project, I know that at least at the beginning I'd have a couple people watching, which is a confidence boost. I wanna bring this up for people questioning the quality of the videos: I'm about to graduate as a Creative Media Production major. Producing high quality things is what I've spent four years of my life learning how to do and what I intend to do for the rest of my life to make a living. The question will be if it's entertaining or not, which I'm still worried about.");

funct.print ("[statment] I mentioned it in the replies, but if I started this project <and this is still a big if> I'd open a patreon to go along with it, because I don't think I can manage this project without a bit of support. One of the patreon rewards that I think would be cool is if you get the tier, I'll send you one of the pieces to paint however you like. No color scheme, no set amount of detail or quality, just paint it how you want to paint it. Scrawl your name in leadbelcher after painting it light pink for all I care, just no bare plastic. After I get everything printed, the patrons will send back their painted parts and then I'll assemble this big patchwork chaotic conglomeration of paint schemes and colors and we'll have a big art piece that the community helped to put together financially and physically. I've also been thinking more on the whole "giving me money" thing with patreon, and I have a morality thing I've reached a conclusion with. On top of paying for me to continue the project, any money I'd have left over that I didn't spend that month won't go to me. The budget will focus on the print first, video production second, helping with rent and groceries third, and then the excess past that. I'd feel guilty taking the excess money to pay for anything besides those three or four things. So instead, I'll use it to make donations to small upcoming creators in the community and artists, without sending it to the patreons for benefits or whatever. Just direct donations from my community to them. Because while yes money to buy more fun stuff for me is cool, I feel like if I'm taking money from the community, it's only fair I spend it on things for the community and give back to the community anything I don't spend.");

funct.print ("[statement] Now. I want to specify. This is all still hypothetical at this point. I'm still a college student living in their parent's basement with a part time job for three to four more months. While yes, I've been making connections with full time jobs, prepping for moving out again, <my roommate graduated, so I couldn't afford the dorm room anymore> and making plans, my future is not set in stone by any means. So, I'm not making promises that this is going to happen. More than anything I'm just sharing my idea to see if it's even a good idea and if there's anything I can do to improve it, or make it more enjoyable for people. So don't go holding this to me like it's 100% going to happen, it's just a project I'd love to do if I have the capability to. -Jerry");

[prentissluvr]

hi! not sure if rqs are open rn, so i wont request anything rn, just wanted to say i absolutely adore your writing!! youre probably my favorite author that i've discovered on here so far! <333

also! haha i feel silly asking, but do you have any tips for new/aspiring writers? im looking to start writing fanfics, but i feel like im kinda awful at writing 😭😭 i think my problem is a lack of like.. emotions behind it?? like.. IDK im not sure how to make it really come to life.. it seems so dry and lifeless when i write?? im not sure how to describe it. hope this isnt a bother, have a super great day!! ^__^ much love

hello there sweetest!! this is such a sweet message ahhh thank you so so much!! like seriously wow that is such a kind and flattering thing for you to say about me, you're making me feel so special heheheh <333 i'll be thinking about this a lot that's for sure!! grinning like an idiot right now for real <33

as for requests, general reqs are closed but i have an event going on right now that is very open for requests! you can request a drabble or other type or req on there or you can wait until i reopen requests! which will be after i finish the event, likely in a couple of weeks!

as for your question, that's not silly at all to ask! writing can be overwhelming at first because there's so much that you see out there and a lot of it can be very different and feel like something you can't quite achieve, plus you don't have a set method of how you go about things yet as you first start! so don't feel silly at all!!

i wrote a lot more than i intended so i apologize for how long this got!

i'm gonna be sort of blunt here, but i mean it will all the love in my heart i promise. unless you are like a total natural with some sort of god given talent for writing, i sort of don't think it's possible to not suck a little bit when you first start. when i first started writing IT SUCKED SO BAD!!! and that's okay! basically i think it is so so important for new writers to not set their expectations too high, especially because writers you might be comparing yourself to have been practicing for years (in my case it's been 6 years already which is crazy lol). it's so so so okay for your writing not to be any sort of masterpiece, it can be basic or cringe or lack depth or be all of those things at once, because genuinely i think that's where we all started. i think the act of just writing, no matter what the quality is, is the most important part of getting into it.

that being said, it's great to seek out advice or ways to make your writing better. that's something i disregarded for a long time lol so if you're actively trying to improve your writing, you'll grow faster!

also, writing is just hard in general! and one of those really hard things is definitely putting emotion into your writing, especially if you feel like you're forcing it. i don't necessarily have like solid step by step advice for this issue, but i hope that something i say could be of help to you!

i think that the best way to bring your writing to life is probably to focus on the emotions and the liveliness of your characters. sometimes as writers we may become too focused on getting the plot right or getting the characters from point a to b, but it's really important to slow down and add details about what the characters feel as they move from point a to b and what's motivating them to do so. it's okay to abandon the plot for a good paragraph or two just to describe what the characters are feeling about the situations that you're putting them in.

i think that two ways i use to bring a character to life is through expressing their emotions and their wants! for emotions, you can simple just state them! it works effectively and remains readable. you can state emotions within your prose, while describing voices/how someone said something, or through actions and facial expressions. ex: "he was upset because ..." | "... she says, sounding annoyed/happy/literally any emotion." | "his eyebrows were pinched in worry." | "they rolled their eyes at the suggestion."

for wants, i think it works similarly! what a character wants is such a big part driving force of how they are going to act. what are they doing about that want? are they acting on it or not? if you write "in that moment, all you want to do it kiss her. but you don't," then it's pretty clear what your character is feeling about "her", but it's also showing that they are also feeling hesitant because of some other thing in play. and i think a big part of bringing life to things is showing how characters feel + what they want and how that interacts with their circumstances, or creates conflict or solutions. that all being said! start simple and try not to overthink that sort of thing! it just could be nice to have that idea floating around in the back of your mind as you work.

dialogue may also be a part of this! for more realistic or lively dialogue, see how the lines feel when you say them out loud (whispering or mouthing them can work too! or just trying to read it in the sort of tone/way you're imagining it would be said!) this helps me see if it sounds natural.

another factor is just going to be personal style, and of course that comes with time and just continuing to write! while you read books or fanfic, try to figure out what you think makes that writing come to life, and don't be afraid to try and emulate that in your own writing! but most importantly, be patient with yourself and give yourself time to grow! and don't be afraid to keep asking for advice or anything like that! there's plenty of people like me who are willing to beta read or edit or give feedback on things you've written if that's something you want. you can also start out just writing for yourself until you feel comfortable publishing it, again if that's something you want.

once again, sorry this is so so long lol but i do hope something here can be of help to you!! i also was already thinking about making a writing tips post when you sent this ask, and since it turns out i've got a lot to say LOL i'll also be posting a list of a few writing tips that i've got floating around in my brain!

[sakis-sweets]

one weird thing i've heard people suggest is that yan dev should rebuild the entire game from scratch because the original game is "unplayable". while i think some aspects need refactoring, spending a couple years rebuilding the entire game sounds utterly ridiculous. what do you think?

Oh I'm boutta go off. Gonna steal this from my bestie @sassy-inkyu because it perfectly describes my reaction rn:

FIRST OF ALL, Yandere Simulator is perfectly playable. Aside from the myriad of streamers and Let's Players who have proven this by having a ball with the game, I have also played it and can personally attest that not only is it playable, it is FUN AND GOOD. You want an unplayable game? Try Hello Neighbor, or any shitty Yandere Simulator clone ever. I'm sure other people can name more truly unplayable games, that's just all I can think of off the top of my head.

Secondly, the gremlins have once again proven that they know nothing about game development, because Yandere Simulator cannot be recreated by one person in a couple of years. Sure, maybe YandereDev's experience could speed things up a bit, but do you think he could maintain top quality mental health no matter what at no time cost to guarantee productivity? Would doing that compensate for not replicating the period of development during which he worked on the game for like 12-18 hours a day?????? Obviously not! If Yandere Simulator were that easy to make, people would have done it by now! We all know that SEVERAL have tried, ALL have failed. They either delivered a shitty mobile game, broke down in drama, or gave up because the workload was simply too much. It cannot be done.

And THIRDLY, what kind of hypocrite does it take to suggest this? If YandereDev actually took this advice, I guarantee you gremlins would accuse him of scamming us by pushing back the game's release again! As they've been doing this WHOLE DAMN TIME!

I'm so glad my experience with the Yandere Simulator fandom is pretty much isolated to Tumblr bc if I was exposed to this shit firsthand regularly, I'd probably have an aneurysm. The game can be improved upon in its current state. It's not perfect, but it'll slowly get there with player feedback and a LOT of work on YandereDev's part, and possibly whoever he hires if the crowdfunding campaign goes well. We just need to have patience and enjoy our lives in the meantime, not... whatever the hell it is they're doing at r/Osana. Yikes.

[icypantherwrites]

How do you get people to interact with your work? Especially on something that you spent hours slaving over and not a single person has interacted with it (except for the exception of my friends, who I'm very thankful for)? It's very disheartening. You know, I used to be kind of against the fact of 'interact with artists/writers/etc because it inspires them' because I thought 'why not just do it anyways, who cares if you get interacted with? You don't need to beg for comments' but now I totally understand what that means. I still want to write, I'm starting to love it honestly, but I wrote almost 2,000 words (which is a lot for me) and it took hours and no one seems to like it. I'm not sure how to feel about that yet. Did I post it at the wrong time, or do people just not care?

Ah, you have found the largest difference between "writing" and "posting." Writing, as you noted, is something you love to do, as do I. It's a fantastic feeling to get ideas down on a page, to pull together ideas, to write that line that just speaks to you. Writing is glorious and I'm glad you've found the beauty of it ♥

Posting, however, is very different and just like how they say everyone should work retail once in their life to understand it and learn some patience and empathy for those workers, I honestly I think everyone should have to spend hours creating something -- whether it's a story or a piece of artwork or a music video or even an in-depth analysis -- to post online and then get to experience that awful feeling of barely anyone (or even no one) engaging with it.

You write for you. You post for others. And that is a huge difference. People, even yourself as you noted, don't feel that they should have to engage with a creation. The person creating it should just enjoy the process and not care if no one stops by to say if they enjoyed it, what it made them feel, that they appreciate you sharing your time and talent and craft. But as you learned, we do care. And so we ask ourselves, why bother posting if there's no one there to appreciate it? You may as well just keep a personal folder of your works like a dragon and their hoard and never share it with anyone. I posted this quote a bit ago and I'm gonna paraphrase here, but if you have an audience of 1,000 people but no one engages it may as well be an audience of zero because you don't know those people are there. You don't know you have fans. You don't know people are looking forward to what you create. You have no idea they exist and it's a terrible, awful feeling.

It's why I so strongly advocate for reader engagement, in making that author, artist, creator feel appreciated. They spent their time to create something and they had the urge to share it, to connect to others. That's what being human is: connecting with others. And in this case it's connecting with others through art and a shared love of something (fandom) and wanting to get back just a little bit of what you put out. Because when a creator does get that engagement they crave it's amazing. Wonderful. Inspiring. It makes them want to create more (or maybe just post more often, cough, me) because they have an audience saying that they're here and that they appreciate you and it makes you want to continue to share your works rather than hoard them because you have now connected with someone.

And so now that you know firsthand how important that engagement is, be a part of the solution. Engage with stories and artworks and edits and whatever may have you that you enjoy. Tell that creator thank you. Quote back a favorite section or pull out a specific detail because that tells that creator you don't just care about quantity but about quality, that you see them and their efforts. I've made a post previously about some ideas to try to encourage engagement if you were interested and maybe a couple will give you some ideas to try to help with engagement on your stories. I can't say I use all of these things anymore myself, but sometimes all you need is a launching pad and some ideas. To your question about the time to post, I struggle very much with the timing as I've done polls and seen every day and hour suggestion there is so it's very difficult to say when to post, but I know for myself I do prefer posting earlier in the day.

I hope things improve for you and good luck with both your writing journey and your future engagement :)

[fnafslinky]

Fazbear Frights 1-9 review.

Into The Pit:

Slow and meandering during the first half but picks up speed after Spring Bonnie shows up. Good message and good idea, but the execution could be better. 6/10

To Be Beautiful:

This story is so full of fluff, you can cut out like 60% of it and lose nothing. I know it's going for a fairy tale thing with the repetition and all, but fairy tales do that because it's made for children. Repetition is to train a child's brain to remember better. These books are aimed at teenagers, so this narrative device is not needed. On top of that, it has unfortunate implications of "Not like other girls" memes that we don't need to revisit. Only saved by its creepy af ending. 3/10

Count The Ways:

Legitimately my favorite story out of FNAF and one of my favorites of all time. It fixed the previous story's Not Like Other Girls problems by having the goth main character hate the pretty blonde and being called out for not even knowing her and being shallow. It is actually surprising to have these two stories be back to back.

The narrative device of switching back and forth between the MC facing her death and how she got up to that point means it keeps your interest throughout that the previous two stories had problems with. It makes for great drama and tension.

The main reason I love this story in particular is because of this exchange near the end:

“Silly Millie, for someone who doesn’t want to die you sure spent a lot of time talking about it,” the voice surrounding her said. “But that’s the way of things, isn’t it? Talk is always easier than action.”

“I think,” Millie said, sniffling, “that when I said I wanted to die, what I really wanted was to escape. I didn’t want death. I just wanted my life to be different.”

“Oh, but that really takes action, doesn’t it?”

And, if I can be real for a minute: I feel like that kinda changed my life. Or very least, my point of view.

As someone who has made attempts on his life before and frequently battles depression- It made my problems so much less overwhelming. Of course I didn't want to die. I wanted my life my life to improve. And now whenever the thought of suicide passes through my head, I just remember this phrase and it helps me keep it together and calm down.

And also F.Freddy's follow up with having to work for happiness is spot on too. Misery is comfortable, that's why so many people prefer it. Happiness takes effort. 10/10

Fetch:

I'm in the minority for not caring for this one. I felt like there wasn't any direction or character arc, I didn't find Fetch particularly scary or interesting, and the MC makes a lot of dumb decisions in it.

That being said, I love how it jumps right into the action instead of taking awhile to get to it like the other stories did. The stories tend to play out like a different book and then FNAF characters are slapped in at the end. This one gets right to it and makes it integral to its plot. 6/10

Lonely Freddy:

Another one I really love. The Frights series has a good traction with its tragedies and this one is no exception. I really connected with the feeling of being pitted against your siblings, usually by accident and circumstance with your parents. Particularly this line:

“Maybe you’ve made them what they are,” Aunt Gigi said, pausing for a moment before adding: “Hazel’s the easy one. Alec is the hard one. It’s like you put them on their own little islands.”

I wasn't Alec, but Hazel in this situation. And it made me realize what my sibling went through because of it.

And this is another story where Freddy's is more integral to the plot too, and one of the few times it's not already abandoned.

I really like how well done Alec's back and forth he had with himself whether to befriend his sister or not. It's a believable character arc when he realizes his mistake at the end unlike another story that we'll get to.

And the fact they made a God damn teddy bear legitimately creepy is a mastery of horror writing that I can only ever hope to strive for. Definitely the scariest in Frights 2. 9/10

Out Of Stock:

I agree with Dawko that this one feels best to make a 30 minute special out of. It feels like a Halloween special or creepypasta you would watch/read as a preteen. Old enough to want to explore more mature stuff, but young enough to still have more cartoony stuff be familiar. And I mean that as 100% a positive.

I also like how this one is a bit more comedy based. Like the scene where the MC gets thrown across the room after electrocuting himself and his friends dont even notice. I can picture that bit so clearly.

The climax is the best part of having a dire game of Red Light, Green Light with the Plushtrap Chaser. It's very energized and exciting that the other stories don't have as often because the subject matter doesn't lend itself to it.

The trend in these stories of kids learning to appreciate their parents, and they're parents realizing they have to sacrifice some stuff to make their child happy is very sweet. And it's no different here. 8/10

1:35 AM

What I like about this series is that you never know where its gonna go from story to story. I though for certain this story was about how the doll was gonna have an evil spirit possessing it.

But no, what actually happened is that it's never made clear if the MC is losing her mind, being haunted, or just seeing stuff because she's sleep deprived. That ambiguity makes the book a lot creepier and sadder because you don't know how this poor woman should be helped. And it ends without any clarification. That's great and a perfect idea for horror story.

That being said, Scott's writing quirks (and it's definitely Scott doing it, I can tell) of front loading info, constantly stopping the flow to have backstory and over explaining things that don't need makes it frustrating to read after several books of it. And we're not done with that either. 9/10

Room For One More:

I skipped over all the dream sequences because it adds nothing to the story. Its great you remember Sister Location, but it feels like you don't trust your audience to read a FNAF story if there isn't animatronics every couple pages. And honestly? Understandable.

I do know based on my own FNAF comic, pages featuring humans is a lot less popular than the ones featuring animatronics. And I get it, you're a bunch of furries it's more interesting to visualize. And you can go in the opposite direction and have very little FNAF stuff when they're needs to be more. The New Kid doesn't even bring it up til the last third.

But I digress. The strongest qualities in Room For One More is three points.

The location is very vividly described. The underground security office with steel walls, the radiation disposals, the musky scent. It paints a clear and unique picture.

The main character's fallen arc of self care and distrust of others is a well done cautionary tale. It goes hand in hand with the speech before of having to work for happiness, and the difficulties there are from even trying. But you still need to do it.

The body horror is not as visually disgusting as it could've been, and more conceptually horrifying. But if you have a fear of bugs in your skin or crawling in your mouth, prepare for something so much worse! And no, that's not a spoiler, it's pretty obvious where its going from the beginning. 7/10

The New Kid:

This one was disappointing. This is not the way to do a tragedy, because I don't care about the MC.

Throughout the entire story, the main character has literal sociopath tendencies. He is controlling of other people, he doesn't have any empathy, he sees other people as tools to use, he kills a bird and doesn't care- So at the end when he accidentally kills someone, I don't believe him feeling bad about it. And I sure as shit don't care about his death after him leaving his victim to die, while he was still breathing, and not coming back for a week.

Also the twist at the end makes no God damn sense and I'm not even gonna dignify it.

A better tragedy would've been his friend, Mick, getting into trouble for the murder after refusing to ever stand up to the MC. Or even the MC being betrayed by him last minute for him to learn how his shit behavior really screwed him over. But the end result ended up being an unsatisfying mess. 2/10

I'll review the 4th's books with 5 and 6, since I'm sticking with a three at a time theme and because I haven't read 4 yet.

[shibalen]

hi !! can i get a romantic haikyuu matchup with ♫︎ + 𑁍 please? she/her pronouns, i'm pan, infp, with a libra sun+moon ! i'm introverted, very chill and free spirited, also very patient, to the point that i'm sometimes a doormat :/ i'm in touch with my emotions, i'm usually quiet but can get really talkative when excited. i get in my own head a lot and have a hard time asking for help. cursed memes and playful banter are my cups of tea, and i'm not easily flustered (but that's probs partly bc i'm kinda dense oof). 🃏 [1/3]

i do competitive debate and it's kind of my sport! i'm a theatre kid too, i absolutely love performing! i'm bilingual and learning french, i love classic books, philosophy, and cats. i'm a pop culture nerd! i speak very animatedly. sharing songs is a love language for me. i think i'm very supportive towards my friends, i don't always give advice but i always try to be there for them as much as i can (even if i nag them sometimes).🃏 [2/3]

i love writing analyses on media i like! i'm especially into stuff that has lots of themes and focus on character psyche, i like picking them apart. i also like fashion and playing uke! i don't have an ideal type for an s/o, all i ask is they understand when i'm super busy and need to be alone to recharge, but also know when to call me out when i'm trying to burn myself out lol. i like spontaneous, spur of the moment dates! this got long hshs but thank you sm and hope you have a great day !! 🃏 [3/3]

♡ matchup for anon

haikyuu: i match you with . . .

tetsurō kuroo !!

• i'm convinced you'd go great with Kuroo, and that you're exactly his type! relaxed and quiet yet fun, you'd catch his attention quickly.

• he adores your analytical, nerdy side but also your funny and free-spirited personality. definetly the type to playfully make fun of you for those traits to express his affection tho (until you point out he's just as much of a geek himself)

• being Kenma's friend, he has no problem getting you out of your head and laying out the facts. he'll help you focus on smaller goals to keep you from burning out. taking breaks is obligatory and if he's not there himself you guys will have video chats to take your mind off work. his dedication knows no bounds, trust me.

• boy is super vigilant about your health but not in an annoying naggy way. he sends you reminers to drink water and have a meal because he doesn't want his dearest person hurting herself (｡╯︵╰｡)

• you guys met at a debate competition. Kuroo didn't really want to be there but he was recruited by his peers to fill in for another person from the debate club who couldn't make it. he's always this kind, right?

• funny thing is that you never had an "official" debate but instead one in the corridor of the building the competition was held in. you were trying desperately to get a drink stuck in the vending machine when Kuroo came to your rescue.

• he taught you a useful hack how to get those things free but also teased you about not asking for help sooner you know he had to

• you ended up arguing over whether or not it was okay to ask strangers for help. it was dumb and far from any structured debate, but it was fun! Kuroo really had a bast seeing you switch from your polite ways to excitable chatter during your conversation and knew immediately he liked you.

• so, you exchanged numbers and social media before parting ways. getting together as an official couple no doubt took a while but that only resulted in a relationship that was all the more sound and comfortable for the both of you (*´▽`*)

• if anyone plans to take advantage of your politeness, Kuroo will just stare at them over your shoulder with that smile of his. i assure you no one is going to take advantage of you on his watch! "hmm? what was that you were about to say? let us hear it."

• you playfully tease each other on daily basis, light-hearted banter and snarky remarks, but by god when he tries to be the slightest bit more romantic you completely miss the point. rip Kuroo he's taken it as a challenge to make you flustered and will stop at nothing.

• you guys would have so much fun debating over everything from philosophy to ridiculous opinions such as whether cheese goes before or after the ham on a sandwich.

• gets all smug when you start being more talkative with him because you're showing a special side to yourself, hehe.

• has the s o f t e s t smile on his face when he listens to you talk !! like, resting his chin on his palm and leaning in, hanging on your each and every word while thinking how precious you are ♡︎

• can't forget about all the cursed memes you send each other in the middle of the night! not mention how you have entire conversations in them??

• it's completely all right if you don't have advice to give. when Kuroo's feeling down you being there is all be needs ♡︎ your presence alone is enough to remind him everything is going to be okay.

• !! sharing earbuds during bus, car and train rides !! change my mind. he especially likes it if you rest your head on his shoulder all the while, it makes him feel happy that you trust him so much. plus the fluffy intimacy.

• once he tried doing the same to you but he's kinda heavy so eventually you had to tell him to lift it. but in exchange, you let him lay his head on your lap. he actually prefers it that way now.

• such an overly dramatic couple honestly. if one of you starts acting dramatic, the other will jump the bandwagon no questions asked. yeah . . . your friends don't third-wheel on your dates much . . .

• your dates include shopping for fashion (imagine trying to style his hair to fit with the rest of his outfit but the last second it just goes poof), aimless "we'll figure out a date on the way there" drives, trying out funky science experiments from youtube, donating blood, pillow fort parties and childhood movie nights ♡︎

♫︎ music box

— Yellow by Coldplay

— Nicholas Sparks by Kinda Collective

— Sweet Talk by Saint Motel

— Backyard Boy by Claire Rosinkranz

— Dance, baby! by Pablo

𑁍 jewellery box

— favourite memory with you

afrer a big volleyball game victory Kuroo had decided to cofess to you. it was the perfect opportunity, he was feeling the most confident and ready. so, after the celebration with his teammates he invited you over to his place where you'd get some peace and quiet. however, before he got to say what he'd been agonising over for months now, you asked to play a song for him. you had written it yourself, especially for him, for this victory and your own confession! boy was absolutely shooketh but all the more smitten. he almost cried you were so perfect shh it was you both laughed as he said his confession right after ♡︎

— favourite activity to do together

i said it before and i'm gonna say it again: Kuroo loves playfully bantering with you. your wit never ceases to surprise him but it also gives him an excuse to throw an arm around your shoulder and get even closer to you ♡︎ as for actual activities i wanna say simply hanging out with you is more than enough for Kuroo because it's then when you're the most relaxed. it also leaves room for more spontaneous dates, your adventures are always new and exciting!

— favourite place to kiss you

Kuroo is a tease and will kiss you anywhere but the lips (or any other place you want him to). he loves giving you kisses but in most situations you might think he lives to see your pout or glare as he takes his time. in the end though, his kisses are the sweetest, meant only for you. in conclusion, i think his preferences very much shift according to yours.

— favourite nicknames to call you by

okay i know 'kitten' is very popular in the fandom, and i think since you like cats he enjoys calling you by it. but the nicknames he likes calling you by the most are usually in foreign languages, like 'chica' 'ma cherie' etc. if you like nicknames then do i have good news for you because cheesy ones as 'hunny bun' and 'boo' are also on his list!

— favourite thing about you

your sense of humour, among other things, is something Kuroo finds endearing about you! it's very similar to his own so he thinks of it as something that connects the two of you. also, the fact that you're in touch with your emotions is precious in his eyes. it's not common these days so you're a special treasure to him ♡︎

♡︎ runner up: Rintaro Suna

hihi! here i am doing requests hahahahaa . . . right. no excuses. i am terribly sorry for the wait so i'm trying to improve the quality of these in an attempt to make-up for the mega long wait. i sincerely hope you see and loke this!! stay safe and remember to be kind to yourself ♡︎

[theshinsun]

brace urself, this is for the writing meta ask: 2, 6, 7, 14, 17, 19, 20 (if you need a direction for this... I always wanted to hear more about Bring Me Roses), 21, 22, and 24 bc i'm nosy and still very into your craft. thank you buddy!!

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I'm so excited/terrified to finally start my knb college AU. I've been sitting on this idea for almost two years I'm so ready but at the same time I'm so not ready.

The gist is it's every single self-indulgent, chaotic, projection-ridden idea I've ever wanted for these boys all rolled in a big ball of shenanigans and character growth. It's a beautiful mess and I can't wait to make it happen as soon as ANR is done.

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

This is gonna come right the fuck out of left field, but I love writing Himuro. I have so much fun writing just... snark, and that boy is the perfect outlet, there's no bottom to that salt mine. I remember getting a similar kick out of writing Tsukishima in the past, I just live for sassy dialogue. It ain't much but it's honest work.

7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

My style is very present, I think (which is funny bc there was a time I never would have considered writing present tense) focusing on what's happening and how it makes the character feel in the moment. I like to write specific, detailed imagery, but I try to keep it short and relevant to the scene, so I can move along and focus on what's important. I wouldn't call it fast-paced, exactly, but it is pretty to-the-point. And I think, based on the feedback I've received, that people who read my fics might agree with that. I've heard that my writing is very personal and character-driven, and I think that might be a byproduct of the time I spent writing in first person. Now I write almost exclusively third person limited, but I still like to get in the character's head and tell the story from their "point of view", I guess. 

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

It depends almost entirely on how quick I'm able to come up with a pun lol. Sometimes a fic has a title before I've even written the first sentence, sometimes I have to scramble for something, anything in the last few seconds before I publish it. A lot of the time I'll have a working title like "that one really fucked up aokaga oneshot" for pretty much the duration of writing a new fic… and a lot of the time I'll end up using song titles, even though we're past the days of writing songfics. 

17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

I think, to a degree, people get different things from my writing than I intended -- which is good! The way a piece of writing can be interpreted completely differently depending on who's reading it is one of the best things about being a writer tbh. I think people might be surprised, though, how different my fics often turn out from how I set out to make them. These days I've usually got a pretty detailed outline for what's going to happen, but even with all the preparation in the world, sometimes a fic will take a sudden detour I didn't expect, or something I wrote before will take on new meaning and change the direction I meant to go in. This definitely happens more with my longer fics, but there are times even with oneshots where I look back at what I set out to write, and what I ended up writing, and they're completely different.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

I tend to write a lot of scenes with characters talking while in the car (cars are an intentional motif in ANR, but in something like GWGE there's not actually a lot of narrative purpose to this) I don't know why, maybe because it's a convenient way to have characters talk one-on-one, or maybe it's because I've had a lot of meaningful conversations while riding passenger, couldn't tell you, but it's cropped up more than once in my current fics and will probably feature in some of my upcoming ones (the college AU strikes me as a likely candidate), and I think it's worth taking note of.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

SINCE you mentioned Bring Me Roses, and I never really get to talk about it, pls allow me to go on a lengthy tangent about my most underrated fic of all time. (Like 90% of the reason it's still incomplete almost two years later is because the response when I posted it was so underwhelming, but I still stand by it. Someday I'll finish it, hopefully, if just for myself.) 

I'm so fucking proud of the language in this one. It's not perfect, by any means, but the imagery in my opinion is very strong, and almost every line of dialogue is saying something without really saying it. There are frequent allusions that something happened to Aomine's mother, relatively recently, and that Momoi is worried about him overworking out of grief or guilt, but none of those things are ever actually stated. There's also some pretty heavy implicit flirting between Aomine and Kuroko, even if it's a bit unusual and they're both playing it coy at this stage, the chemistry is there and the interest is mutual. And of course, because it's a florist AU, the flower symbolism… I spent so long researching bouquets, plant husbandry, how to prep and preserve cut flowers, and of course… flower meanings. The main ones that keep getting brought up are dahlias, which have just as many negative connotations as positive ones, including betrayal and instability, but also dignity, creativity and change, and come in a variety of colors shapes and even sizes (Islander or "dinnerplate" dahlias were definitely going to feature in part 2… as well as the connection between them and Aomine's mother). I know a lot of these things might not hit as hard because there's no actual payoff (yet), but still, in terms of "show don't tell" and setting up things to come, I don't think I have a single better example in my fic repertoire, I really went all out with this.

It's a shame I never got to follow through, but I got the impression that there just wasn't a lot of interest, and even if that alone is kind of a dumb reason not to continue, after I worked so hard to pull off what I did, the lack of response really killed my motivation. (I wonder sometimes if it would've been better received if it was an AoKaga fic… actually, I don't need to wonder, I'm sure it would have been, but that's not the story I set out to tell and I'm not going to change it.)

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

Oh, I'd love to do some of my fics as comics. I even tried it at one point; GWGE was going to be a comic originally, before I decided a multichapter fic would probably be less exhausting (the first couple pages are still floating around in my art tag somewhere, though this was back in high school so the quality is… heh).

22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

Yeah… I reread a lot. Usually while I'm working on a new chapter, I'll go over the ones that lead up to it to make sure I don't repeat the same phrases too much and that the continuity lines up, and I'll also admit to going back and just reading my own fics for fun. Sometimes the only one who's written exactly what I want to see is me. 

How I feel about them depends on the fic… some of my older ones are a mix of nostalgia and cringe tbh, but there are some I still genuinely enjoy revisiting from time to time. 

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

Oh hell yeah. For… better and worse, honestly. I feel like I've lost some fluidity and confidence in my writing, and it sometimes turns kind of stilted, so I try to overcompensate which results in pretty jarring changes of tone, but at the same time, I've gotten much better with rhythm and syntax, my grammar skills are always improving, and I'm able to incorporate a lot more intentional meaning and subtext without always stating things outright.

[ficsinhistory]

Sharly - An Analysis

Hello! As I said, this is a post analyzing my favorite couple from The Good Doctor, Sharly! Believe it or not, I've seen them as a couple since 'Mont Rushmore' and the end of the second season made me thrive! I wanted to make this post because besides talking about my babies, I want to show that although surprising, the writers already showed that it would be possible to happen. Making it clear that my intention here is to speak my point of view, if you are not ship is ok, we can all have different opinions. Second, I am a neurotypical person, so I will explore more Carly for reasons of knowledge, not leaving Shaun aside, of course.

I, at least, since the first time I saw Carly, I've been shipping she with Shaun. I like her personality as we saw in the incredible episode between her and Claire, for example when Carly said that guilt shouldn't always fall on the lab every time some sample was lost, but also not insisting on it after the search (besides the fact that a duo between these two is iconic by itself) and how Shaun feels comfortable around her, which is very important in any relationship.

When they met, their interaction already showed how reasonable Carly is. Shaun is wanting to accomplish the tasks in the best possible way, including wanting the exam as quickly as possible as Melendez asked. But of course he has to wait and Carly makes this very clear, besides explaining that he can't tabulate the samples in degree of importance as he wanted. That's when he says he's gonna throw a rock in her window. However, I love how her reaction wasn't to get angry or offended, on the contrary, Carly, although initially surprised, followed Shaun's line of thought saying that she really wouldn't like it and in the end said that the test would come out in 15 minutes, making it easier for him to wait.

Despite being firm, she is also a balanced girl who knew, in the short period she had with him in the first season, to understand and understand Shaun, so much so that in the same episode, even if visibly confused, she heard Shaun ask for a series of tests, even if in the series they seemed unnecessary at the time, still trying to alert him that he could stay in trouble, or in "trampoline", where he had scenes that I will comment on after they made me melt.

Carly has always been a kind and worried person, "Intangibles" also shows how much she knows how to work in a team and gets along with other people, including Claire, with whom Carly showed a very great affinity, and now that her character has been promoted to the main cast, I really want to see more of the friendship of these two! She, like Shaun, heard Claire vent while she was still looking for the sample. Besides having an A+ sense of humor!

After that, unfortunately, there are no more appearances of her in the first season, however, Carly comes back at the end of the second and in ways that made me ship Sharly even more. As soon as Shaun gets to pathology, I just absolutely love how excited Carly is about the fact that he works there! She gets him excited and says she doesn't need to be called Dr. Lever, showing that she wants him to feel comfortable and seeing him as someone accessible, besides understanding that it must be all too new for Shaun, it's 'like going to Disneyland for the first time'.

I also like very much how it pays attention when Shaun sees a biomass printer and uses the term "we", not only to say that it also works in pathology, but to show that it is including in this world and that it is part of a team, which makes him happy. She also asks him if he wants to test the machine and comfort him by saying how important and vital their work is. This reveals that Carly imagines how much Shaun loved being a surgeon and does everything in her power to make him more comfortable on the spot.

Much of their interaction in this episode is Carly trying to help Shaun move on, which due to the short time they had and because she is not part of a more immediate circle of Shaun's coexistence, she can't cope with the fact that he insists so much on going back to surgery. Even so, he doesn't get angry at her, thinking she doesn't understand, on the contrary, Shaun has a positive view of her, so much so that in "Breakdown", while talking to Lea, he remembers her after a comment and speaks of several quality of her, saying that Carly is intelligent, nice and aggressive, also casually commenting that she wants him to stay in the department because Carly thinks that they are a good team.

I love it, very much, because Shaun doesn't like the pathology, he doesn't want and doesn't like the idea of being there, but, he likes the presence of Carly, he feels good in her presence and, when he talks to Lea, he visibly already shows that he is slowly falling in love with her and that's very cute! Shaun has difficulty with some parts of the social interaction and, he's working on it including, so I think it's sweet and touching how quickly he came to the conclusion that Carly likes him, and how she makes a point of showing that too, revealing a great dynamic of friendship, which later evolved into a romance, where both express affection and are open about it.

"Trampoline" for then, was the peak of their two this season and showed how much they both care. When Claire is helping Shaun practice flirting (the scene was iconic with Claire advising him, she is a roll of cinnamon too pure for this world), it is clear how scared he is of being rejected, due to previous experiences and shows how much he really wants to try a relationship, showing that not a bit one-sided this romance, at least when it comes to Shaun.

They'll talk to Carly later, who makes it clear she misses Shaun in pathology. He, on the other hand, don't miss the pathology, which she responds with a smile, however, showing that she understands it. Later, Shaun begins to get a more serious picture due to the injuries and tries to get an exam, he goes straight to Carly, and it is in this scene that I may have had a fangirl outbreak.

Carly says Shaun can't order more tests, saying that he doesn't work in the hospital anymore and can't have a patient, already suspicious of the situation. Shaun says said it's from a Claire's patient, but once again, she doesn't buy the idea and says the sample has no name. Shaun realizes that Carly already knows the truth and assumes that she won't be able to do anything, and that's when she does it:

She pulls the sample, and that's when you know she really cares. Carly is attached to the rules to some extent and what he's about to do can get her into trouble, however, she will not only take the test but also ask more to know what Shaun has, referring to him as "the patient", respecting the fact that Shaun wants to do everything with discretion. When he says he's coughing up blood, her face says it all:

She's worried. This is a serious symptom and this fact stirs her up, which then claims it will do the tests. Later, with the results ready, she finds him in the cafeteria and tells him what it could be, when Shaun said he was induced by Trauma. And that's when, for the first time on the show, she interrupts him. Again, Carly shows that she cares about Shaun. She sits next to him and, still referring to him as "the patient", says that the symptoms will get worse and that he needs to take a medicine, which she writes a prescription, to improve. And what follows is a series of cute Screenshots. My favorites are how Shaun looks at Carly and how she watches him leave.

After Shaun passes out, he recovers, Claire manages to save the patient, he gets his job back. The end of the episode without a shadow of a doubt and the most incredible and kind part regarding these two.

Shaun's gonna ask Carly out, who's pretty surprised and stunned. He asks if she would like to go out to dinner and she asks if this is a romantic date, which she agrees to go on. With this, Shaun goes away cheerful and the scene gets even softer with the fact that Carly was watching him go away with a smile.

And that's it. I really wanted them to be the endgame, they have a great dynamic and complementary personality, but that's for the writers to decide. For all intents and purposes, this was my analysis to show that Sharly was always possible and that I can't wait for the third season. Until the next pals, I'm out!

[rainforestgeek]

If you lose your strength to stand (I'm gonna reach for your hand) pt. 1

I’ve been working on this Plance slowburn on ao3, and I just finished the fourth chapter so I decided to post the story here, too. Here’s the ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14440329/chapters/33353805

Part 2  Part 3

Part 4.1  Part 4.2  Part 4.3 

"Your stance has improved."

The musical sound of Allura's voice distracted Lance for just a tick. But that was long enough for the gladiator to graze his side before he could fully dodge the strike.

“Ooh. Your focus could use some work, though.”

“Gee, thanks for the advice,” Lance gasped. He grit his teeth against the sting. He parried a couple more strikes from the gladiator, then stepped under its guard when he found an opening and thrust his sword through the robot’s torso. It sparked and crumpled to the floor as he withdrew his sword. He’d feel better about this if the quiznacking thing wasn’t set at level 1.

Allura approached him. “That looks like it smarts.”

It did. “Just a bit.” It stung even worse at his movements when he sat down.

“Here let me patch it up. I did distra – ”

“I can handle a cut, Allura.”

She froze at Lance’s sharp tone. She stared at him while he applied healing salve to the slashed skin under his torn bodysuit. He looked up at the hurt look on her face and guilt stabbed through his annoyance.

“Did you want something, Princess”

“ I – ” She stuttered. “It’s okay. It can wait. Is there something bothering you? You don’t seem – quite yourself.”

“What, not the usual cheery, jokey, Loverboy Lancey-Lance?”

Allura rolled her eyes. Lance was pretty sure she picked that up from Pidge. “That’s what I mean. The bitter sarcasm. You sound like Keith on his worse days.”

The comparison did not help his mood. He finished cleaning the blood off his skin and taping up his side. Turns out it cut deeper than it looked.

Allura knelt in front of him. “Lance, I’m here if you need to talk.” She put a hand on his knee.

“You really scared me, Allura!” That touch, which was probably meant to be comforting, was the last straw that broke the dam. Or, something like that. He stood up and started pacing. “You flew into a white hole that nearly destroyed Voltron – the most powerful, resistant thing the universe – in nothing but your armor and a galra! Do you have any idea how worried sick I was? With clue if you were dead or ever coming back?”

At his outburst, Allura stared at him, mouth agape and apparently at a loss for words. She stood and reached for him but he moved away. With all the anger and upset-ness pumping through his blood, Lance thought he might start crying if she touched him. He took a shuddering breath to steady himself and sheathed his bayard. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.” He took off his helmet and looked Allura in her jewel blue eyes. “But when you and Lotor took off…we were dead in the water. We didn’t know for sure that Oriande was real and the only thing I could do was wait. I couldn’t go after you, couldn’t help fix the ship, just wait and try not to go crazy not knowing that you were alive. If you died I… if you had died we’d be waiting forever.”

Lance started at the touch of her fingers on his cheek. He froze when Allura threw her arms around him without warning in a surprisingly gentle, soft hug. “I’m sorry, Lance. I was so focused on my mission, and so enamored with learning Altea’s secrets. I hadn’t considered how that risk would affect my friends. I never meant to scare you so, I swear.”

Regaining his wits, Lance dropped his helmet and returned her hug. He huffed a humorless laugh. “Yeah, well. Watching the girl you’re in love with fly into a magical nuclear explosion in the space Bermuda Triangle with a handsome prince would terrify any guy.”

Allura pulled back to look at him. He was hyper-aware of her hands on his shoulders even through the armor. “Wait, what?”

“Well, I guess Lotor’s not a prince anymore now that he’s galactic emperor or whatever, but my point stands.”

“No, no, the bit about love? Did I hear that right?” The princess’s brows were drawn together.

He blanched. “Yeah? That I’m in love with you?” He finally registered the shock on her face. “Allura, how could you possibly not know that?” He stumbled away from her in disbelief.

She threw her hands in the air. “I’m hardly the only girl you’ve been flirting with, Lance! How was I to know your advances towards me were serious?”

“You’re not just any other girl,” Lance insisted. He couldn’t believe his round ears. “You’re Princess Allura! Pink paladin, rebellion leader - the magical Altean who brought a whole freaking balmera back to life! You’re brave and beautiful and my friend. I’ve been in love with you since day one.”

Everything was off his chest. All the feelings he thought were displayed in neon lights from the hear on his sleeve saw the light of day for real. And Lance had never seen Allura, princess of the rebellion, look so overwhelmed.

His heart broke.

“But you’re never gonna feel that way about me.” Lance scooped up his helmet and made to leave the training deck. “I’m sorry I put all that on you.”

He was only a few paces from the doors when she said, “Lance, please wait.”

And because he could never refuse her, he did. He waited and listened to her footsteps get closer and closer but that didn’t mean he had to turn around.

When Allura next spoke, her voice held the same regal confidence as when she assigned them to the lions all those months ago. “I understand if you don’t want to face me while I say this. I did not know the true extent of your feelings for me. And I regret how this hurts you. I don’t…have romantic interest in you, Lance, but I care for you very deeply. You’re my family. Please, for your own sake, try to move on.” His eyes stung. “I cannot give you what you seek. I don’t want that to cause you any more pain.”

Yeah, he was definitely crying now. Lance never liked crying alone – Dios, he missed Veronica – but he still couldn’t look at her. The words were so, so hard to hear.

“I’m sorry, too. I’m gonna just…need some, some space and time, okay?” He wiped he eyes with his glove.

“Of course. Ancients know there’s plenty of space to go around out here.” The pun surprised a genuine laugh out of him. Lance didn’t need to see her face to know the princess was wearing that soft smirk. “Thanks, Allura.”

He needed a shower and some quality time with Pidge’s video game. Good thing it lived in his room.

[dwtsfun]

Dancing with the Stars Season 4 Week 3 Rewatch

Shandi and Brian- Jive (Judges' Score=21, My Score=7)- This was my favorite dance from Shandi and Brian so far. They cleaned up a lot of her technical issues and Shandi looked a lot more confident. Her free arm was all over the place and her feet were not as precise as they could've been. Tall people have a difficult time with the jive as we have more leg that we have to work with than most others. I'm sad they couldn't use this dance as a springboard to improve, but it was nice to see them go out on a positive note.

John and Edyta- Tango (Judges' Score=20, My Score=6)- John is a performer. I can never take that away from him. The man can put on a good show. Now, his feet were a bit flat footed and his frame needed work as it was super loose. I also saw a mistake when they changed directions. He got a little tied up. But it was still a decent dance, even with the problems.

Clyde and Elena- Jive (Judges' Score=16, My Score=5)- As I said with Shandi, tall people have a rough time with the jive. The feet were not pointed. His arms were kinda just placed wherever. It was low energy. But I saw better performance quality from him and it wasn't terrible as he was on time for the entire dance.

Laila and Maks- Tango (Judges' Score=21, My Score=8)- Before I even hear the judges, I know they're gonna get spanked for breaking hold as long as they did. Also, this was the first time we saw Val on the show. Hey Val! He was so young. Anyway, I thought this was a strong dance. Given everything they had to contend with this week, I thought the finished product was actually really really good. Her hold was nice. She is such a gorgeous mover. It was really good. I agree with her needing to fix her pancake hands, but it was really good. Wish Maks had kept her in hold, but maybe that was too tall of an order for this week.

Apolo and Julianne- Jive (Judges' Score=23, My Score=7)- I thought this was cute. Apolo struggled with his legs and feet. It was a bit sloppy. I have to agree with CAI on that. But it does not take away from what they did otherwise.

Joey and Kym- Tango (Judges' Score=24, My Score=8)- This is definitely the best dance so far and I don't think it will be topped. It was super entertaining and his technique was pretty good. Joey was hunched over, his shoulders were at his ears and his butt was sticking out. It was pretty fun and very well rehearsed otherwise.

Ian and Cheryl- Jive (Judges' Score=24, My Score=7)- It was good. But like most everyone else tonight, I can tell they had less time for the dance this week. Now, Ian looks way more comfortable. And I do see that his technique has improved a ton. Was it 9 worthy? No. But 8s work for this dance.

Leeza and Tony- Tango (Judges' Score=24, My Score=8)- I'm giving Leeza an 8 because nothing was wrong with at all with what she did. There were no mistakes and everything was very clean and precise. I want Tony to challenge Leeza a little bit more as I think she can handle it. And I want her to push just a bit more.

Heather and Jonathan- Jive (Judges' Score=24, My Score=7)- I can tell this dance was more of a challenge for Heather. Her musicality is pretty good. And everything looked good. It was a bit more messy, but I definitely understand what the limitations were there. Still a good dance, but I just thought her mambo was much better.

Billy Ray and Karina- Tango (Judges' Score=21, My Score=6)- I'm noticing that the judges are finding it hard to truly critique the couples this week. Billy Ray wasn't terrible and there were moments that were actually pretty nice. But there were also some really big struggly moments where it looked like his body and mind were fighting each other and Karina was just kinda caught in the middle of the internal brawl lol.

My Rankings and Scores Out of 30:

1 Joey and Kym- 24 = Leeza and Tony- 24 3 Apolo and Julianne- 23 = Ian and Cheryl- 23 5 Laila and Maks- 22 6 Shandi and Brian- 21 = Heather and Jonathan- 21 8 John and Edyta- 20 9 Billy Ray and Karina- 18 10 Clyde and Elena- 16

This was a lackluster week. I could tell that the majority of the couples had a lot of problems due to the short rehearsal time that they are not used to. Luckily this is one off week in a mostly strong season. Also, I see the judges are starting to not judge and it's yielding unpopular results for them. Shandi and Leeza were the bottom 2 and while I don't think either one deserved to be there, I at least understood why Shandi was there and was ultimately sent home. And of the two, I do think she was probably the best person to leave. Still don't really understand how Leeza ended up there unless Heather is taking up a lion's share of the votes that she would've gotten. Anyway, let me know your thoughts and I will talk to you all soon!