#im working on improving my writing and focusing on only the stuff that matters!

[malulurivers]

To the Wind | Link x Reader

Word count: 3.1k Summary: you've long travelled with Link. now having a small rest between travelling and aiding Hyrule, you find yourself facing a vast expanse—of questions, and the possible future. the hero speaks so little, so many things go unsaid. but is it right that they do? Warnings: unnecessarily flowery description? none

AN: this is an old piece i had lying around that i always meant to fix up a lil bit and i finally have! it's not really what i'd write for here (i did it more as a writing exercise years ago, so it's a bit... dense lmao) but i still think it's quite cute! {Gender Neutral reader} Link does talk, but only rarely (if i was to write this now, i would write him signing as i much prefer that interpretation!)

☾ ₊ ˚ ✩ ˚ ｡ ☽

the rain had long passed but the two of you remained huddled beneath the stone canopy of an overhang you’d found. the evening was cool, the clouds slowly clearing to reveal a dusk sky adorned with stars. the moon was peeking above the lanterns of a stable below in the valley, and though it promised warmth, you knew you were heading in the opposite direction.

relishing in the peace and quiet, you leant back on your cloak, which was sprawled upon the ground to offer a protective layer against the cold stone and the odd crumpled leaf.

the small orchard across the path bristled in hushed tones, melding with the crackle of the campfire by your feet. their crimson leaves shivered in the night, knowing that there was no relief for them. as a shimmering trail cut through their branches high in the darkness beyond, you couldn’t help but grin. 

“hey, did you see that?” you asked quietly, not looking over to him. you’d been travelling for so long together alone, that there was never any other person you could be talking to. despite the odd occurrences that led up to your strange companionship—things you perhaps regret but would not change for the world—the two of you made a seamless team, and an inseparable one at that.

you’d forgotten to count how many days your time together was supposedly overdue moons ago; caught up in the excitement and awe of visiting new places and meeting new people. as well as facing monsters so gruesome your nightmares could never have festered them. even now, you didn’t even consider beginning to trace it all back, despite the lull in the pace of your travels. 

after he remained still in the corner of your eye, you glanced over as you spoke louder this time. “there was a shooting star! not too far from here i bet…”

your words gradually became quieter again. of course he had heard you. 

Link was without a doubt shorter than you, by quite a bit too: you could lean on his head with a slight stretch and you knew that from playful experience. but he wasn’t small—he never appeared to be. 

whether it be how he charged into battle, a force to be reckoned with. how he glowed when he cooked, and practically cackled when he soared into the air on a fiery updraft of his own making. or how he rose to any challenge put before him, clambered up cliffs for absolutely no reason other than because he could, or how his eyes would glint so mischievously to the point that you wouldn’t dare turn your back to him, lest he spring chuchu jelly on you again. Link was never small. 

and yet here he was, eyes glazed over as he stared into the glowing embers, gold dancing across his face and casting his hunched form partially into pure shadow. his rough hands were pressed into the pebbles and dirt by the wooden pyre and you couldn’t help but wonder if that was a more accurate descriptor than you first thought. 

despite how long you had spent in his company, you hadn’t heard his voice anywhere near as much as people thought you had. they would ask you in fake-sweet tones what he sounded like, how much he actually spoke, why he withheld his voice from them, as if there was something malicious in his silence. you never spared them your time and at most offered them an underhanded comment before following after him.

and so it remained that Link rarely spoke, and you did much of the talking for him. you didn’t expect him to speak, and never wished him to, and he seemed relieved by this. but as you felt an unfamiliar pang in your chest, you began to wonder if there could be an exception.

there was a lot of weight on his shoulders—not only the fate of the kingdom and its future, but the past as well. there were an awful lot of words on those lips that were never spoken. the thought of the sheer weight of them worried you, and carrying them around without respite even more so. but you reminded yourself that the two of you were inevitably different. perhaps that’s why you worked so well together. although, it remained that talking problems out wouldn’t help him in the same way as it helped you.

frowning for a moment, you had an idea and shuffled across to sit on the edge of his cloak. he didn’t register your movement, so you carefully placed your hand on his shoulder. 

Link snapped out of his stare, eyes meeting yours before the air that had been caught up in his chest slowly left him. he was trying to be subtle—you knew that before he offered that small smile he always used to cover stuff up—but you didn’t mention it. 

“back in Hateno, when i was younger… my mother used to help me cope with my worries and fears, even though she didn’t know what to do,” you began, avoiding his gaze to look at his dirty cheek. there you met the familiar sight of the scar levied across his jaw.

you always found yourself gravitating to the lines of his past, now light and melded with his skin near perfectly; so many were invisible until his cheeks reddened in the cold or he stayed out in the sun for too long. you could never work out what drew you to them. whether it was astonishment, in how they were etches of a century ago, trapped in the skin of a living being. or if it was curiosity, to know every detail he was willing to spare, even if they were morbid.

whatever the reason, you ignored it and pushed yourself to look him in the eye once more. 

“what she did wasn’t… well, I haven’t done it in a long while, but… then again I haven’t needed it.” you smiled at him warmly, knowing full well he was the reason why. “and now that I think about it, it might help you.”

his gaze softened. he nodded silently, and watched intently while he waited for you to show him what you meant. 

shifting behind him, you subtly admired his form. he was sat up straighter now, no longer as still as a corpse, instead poking the fire with a half-charred stick. you readjusted your weight on your knees as you spotted a hole beginning to form by the collar of his tunic. you poked it absentmindedly, signalling to him its presence, before attempting to draw your fingers up to his hair.

at that moment, apprehension rushed through to your stomach and brought your hands to a halt. 

you questioned yourself then, as you studied your weak hands. why would you stop? it wasn’t like you were strangers, far from it. you’d helped adjust his straps and bags numerous times before to save time in the desert. he’d untangled you from your own clothing mishaps when the storm whipped your cloak round your legs, and chased after your hat flung far off in the distance. you’d washed his clothes and he’d washed yours, and upon so many mornings had you awoken to yourself swaddled into his side after the night grew too cold and the fire had cooled.

and yet, nerves began to ripple through your stomach, like the pulses of butterfly wings, at the idea of touching his hair. of running your fingers through it, seeing it loose. somehow, this was different, and you couldn’t put your finger on as to why. 

Link turned to look at you, his head tilting. knowing well what that gesture meant, you chuckled sheepishly. 

“oh, yeah, i’m fine, sorry. nostalgia, that’s all.”

he looked away from you again, nodding knowingly whilst he became focused on his hands. he began rubbing the dirt off his fingers, and with his distracted attention you took the opportunity to recompose yourself. with a brief sigh, you pushed through the apprehension while it was off-guard, and gently pulled the cerulean ribbon out from his hair. the dirty blond tresses hardly caught the wind once they were freed, retaining their tied back shape. too long of a time spent in bonds, you reasoned, and the knots between your fingers seconded that as you gently combed through his hair. you tried to catch a glimpse of his reaction by placing the tie on his knee, though to little success. he was looking beyond into the valley so you would have no trouble, but it meant that whatever he was thinking was an utter mystery to you. delicately threading your fingertips past his ears, you finally spoke up.

“my mother, when i was worried, used to sit me on her lap and get me to think about everything i was upset about. and while i did, she would weave a plait in my hair.” you took a lock of his and split it into three. “it would only ever be small, and we would just sit in silence as she wove.” you followed your own words, beginning to entwine the strands sitting in your palms, paying extra care to not accidentally tug. “when she reached the end, however, she never tied it, and just left it open. and then she would say, it’s all to the wind now.

"the first time she did it, she didn’t explain what she meant, and i didn’t work it out until later that day, when i pushed my hair out of my face one windy afternoon and found it missing,” you chuckled. “the wind had pulled the plait apart naturally without me noticing, just as it was supposed to do. it was supposed to take your fears away with it, though i never felt that it did—i found ranting to Ivee much more helpful personally, which is… hardly surprising.” you waited for him to laugh at that, but your quip was met with silence. you leant round with a faltering grin to see if he was just smiling too, but you found you couldn’t lean quite far enough to see properly with his hair in your hands. all you could note was that his eyes were closed. 

diffused, you continued nonetheless, “she often said things like that. Like, the wind would fix it all, and you just had to wait as the… that patience was the purest trial of them all and… other things that didn’t make a lot of sense. i’ll admit, it never got rid of my worries, but i did always find it soothing.” you pulled a final weave into the plait, your laugh fading into a small smile. “so, maybe it’ll help you.” 

tracing your fingertips carefully over the rises and falls of the new braid, you waited for him to respond.

in the silence your mind wandered, and with every hush of the breeze your thoughts grew louder. Link remained still, offering neither a shake of his head or hum of disapproval. no longer preoccupied, you peered round to see what was wrong, only to find his eyes still closed. his hands were still in his lap, the twig discarded by his knee, while his breathing was steady. 

“Link?” you whispered, amused by how he’d seemingly managed to doze off sitting upright—it would be a first! Though before you could place your hand on his shoulder his eyes flickered open. You barely got the chance to be startled because of the way he was looking at you. And because of how close you were to him. 

“sorry,” you stuttered, suddenly unable to look away from the bright dawn sky of his eyes. you tried to ignore the comments suddenly fluttering about in your head, and the one word they orbited. “i thought you’d fallen asleep, i didn’t mean…” 

he was drowsy, but he smiled nonetheless. it’s ok, you recognised. 

it most certainly isn’t, you thought, the voice in your head flustered. you’d never felt this hazy before, this giddiness in your chest. not when just looking upon someone's face. 

you were about to make an excuse so you could move back to your side of the campsite and catch your breath when he looked back to the valley, frown sweeping across the horizon’s mountains to where that star had fallen. and to your surprise, he spoke. “did you make a wish?”

you thought about it for a few seconds, unable to remember if you had or hadn’t. it had only been a few minutes since you’d seen it arc across the sky, yet it felt like hours had passed since then. “no… no, i didn’t. i guess… i’m not sure what to wish for. there’s so much in the world that it’s hard to choose. greater good, personal regrets, revenge, mercy…” you paused for a second once he had nodded in understanding. “did you?”

“no,” he answered. his lips remained parted as if he wanted to continue, but after a few moments they returned to a sad smile, his eyes dropping back down to the ground.

the crackling of the fire became the only sound to be heard once again as you watched him from the corner of your eye. he picked up the stick and poked at the silvering wood. still knelt behind him, you were thankful he couldn’t see your face. you struggled to hide your emotions, at least with him, and you were aware that your expression was likely one of blatant concern. yet there was little that could be done. there was a reason why he wasn’t talking about it, and it wasn’t tough to work it out. 

in that moment, you felt a wave of powerlessness wash over you. your heart was no longer racing, and instead ached. your limbs felt like they were laden with iron.

the weight that he bore was not something that you could bear with him. there were no words you could offer that would make the absence formed of what little he could remember cut any less deep. your arrow could not pierce the Calamity’s brow, and you could not wield the blade that could. after all that you had accomplished together, it was nothing in comparison to what he faced.

you swallowed thickly, finally pulling your hand away. slipping off your knees, you wrapped your arms around his waist and let your head rest against his shoulder. 

“i’m sorry, Link,” you murmured, voice weak.

you didn’t dare look up when you felt him turn to you. whether it was a quizzical stare or a blush you knew you wouldn’t be able to handle it. and you were right to think so, because as soon as he leant his head against yours you felt your heart pick up tenfold. you didn’t want to think how he must feel it racing against his back. 

“you shouldn’t be sorry,” he explained quietly, his thumb coming to trace across your wrist, “you’re here. just like the others.” 

the wind picked up and you felt the light dim across your closed eyes as it played with the fire. you tried to commit his voice to memory, gather words and phrases to try and describe what it sounded like, to yourself. just in case the wilds finally did creep back to collect what they once gained and now had lost. there was always that innate fear that gnawed at the very base of your stomach, those ‘what if's' of catastrophe. “i’ll always be here,” you insisted, clutching onto him just that little bit tighter, “no matter how far we go.”

the cool of the night began to seep further into your campsite, the fire beginning to dwindle at the will of the weather, and Link made no effort to rekindle it.

you could see why you had shifted towards him in your sleep these recent nights; he was so warm to the touch, his strength a blanket of security as he cradled you. you did so again now, still holding him as if he was your only shelter. in some ways he was. you almost had the thought to wonder why you hadn’t done this sooner, but you knew exactly why. 

as tiredness began to seep into your eyes, Link shifted. he tapped your hand to gain your attention, and you quickly unwrapped your arms. however, before you could apologise and make your way back to your cloak, he held onto your fingers.

“stay.”

his expression was forlorn, but hopeful. there was a tension in his jaw as he waited for you to say something. his other hand gripped at his knee. 

you didn’t want to leave him hanging but there was a problem with your breath being hitched in your throat. his fingertips were rough against yours, yet still so gentle. they sought your palm, following the lines that were etched into your skin. the lines of fate, as fortune tellers called them. and yours were alight with warmth, now. 

you slowly exhaled as he’d done earlier, trying to be subtle. if he noticed he didn’t show it, simply offering a flicker of a smile. it reminded you of the ones he gave you when he asked for a favour, to be the one to grab the apples off the tree or track down the cuccos yet again. however, this time his favour was quiet, so much so that he didn’t want to ask for it. his grip on your hand could barely be called that, his fingers were so flighty and ready to pull away at any moment.

but he had asked, despite everything. 

silently, you let him guide you back down to earth, into his lap. and there, you curled up in his arms. he leant against your bags as a makeshift pillow, and then pressed you gently into his chest, as close as he could get you. the chill of the wind could no longer reach you, as you were under his protection now. but he was also under yours.

finally, he relaxed, resting his chin on your head. his heartbeat thrummed by your ear, gradually slowing, beat by beat, until it was a soothing rhythm; one of near sleep. the crickets’ chorus began to outsing the crackle of the flames, with darkness having now fully fallen across Hyrule, you spoke up for the final time that night. “goodnight, Link. sleep well." your voice was barely above a whisper, and spoken into his tunic so that you weren’t sure he would hear you. but the hand nestled in your own squeezed your fingers.

a gust of wind blew the remaining flames out, and as shadow engulfed the camp your eyes fell shut, the heartbeat of the hero soothing you to sleep. and with the fire lost, the brightest light upon Hyrule became a fallen star, glowing upon the mountainside above.

☾ ₊ ˚ ✩ ˚ ｡ ☽

masterlist | buy me a hot chocolate <3

[sparklinpixiedust]

Basic Training

This post has been sitting in my drafts for months now, during which I've come up with a few ways I wanted to write this post. This is what I've come up with.

Basic Training is the episode which made me hate Ben the most. The whole episode consisted him of being a stuck up brat only to be rewarded for it in the end.

This episode was the perfect opportunity to have Kevin in the spotlight and show how skilled and smart he is.

Gwen's presence in this episode was actually fine, there's no change needed for that.

Look, I know the shows named Ben 10 but we have seen Ben be the hero tons of times already.

And Ben being egoistic about his heroism is not something new in the franchise.

There have been episodes on the OS where Ben got a big head, yet I dont ever see anyone complaining about that.

Was is it because he was 10 that we excuse this behaviour? Nope.

15 - 16 is still pretty young and his attitude can be excused at this age as well.

My opinion? It was handled better in the OS.

There were times when Ben wasn't always the main focus.

In Lucky Girl, Ben has his ' who's your hero?' Moment.

They showed Gwen feeling jealous and hurt by the fact she wasn't noticed much.

It was realistic.

Then the epsiode proceeded to focus on Gwen , having Ben being kind of like a sub plot to the story.

Towards the end Ben compliments her.

So yeah Ben got big head, but at the same time they shifted focus so that the audience wouldn't find it annoying.

Gwen was in the spotlight for a bit, giving people a break from Ben.

Secondly  , in Be Afraid Of The Dark, Ben again is shown to be slightly stuck up, but towards the end of that episode he learns and acknowledges Gwen and Grandpa for help and understands his crime fighting is more of a team effort.

In Galactic Enforcers, we are shown there are other heros besides Ben as well.

Ben wasn't the sole focus of that episode. Yes it was about him but also about the Galactic Enforcers.

I don't think he was shown to be over confident here , but it was nice to see some other heros in the scene.

The Ben 10,000 episode focuses on how Ben was too focused on his job and the lesson at that was Ben needed to relax and have them Galactic Enforcers take the lead instead.

Again , his attitude towards everything was brought in focus but towards the end he learnt something.

I recently started watching Generator Rex and I can't help but compare Rex's character to Ben's.

Rex is also proud , rushes into things and considers himself to be a hotshot. But they also show him being down ,having trouble with his nanites and actually voice out his insecurities.

He's still the hero, still has things go his way most times but it's not annoying like Ben.

( I've only seen like 7 episodes so far so I don't know if this going to go down hil or not but so far so good)

The issue with the sequels after the OS was that Ben was the focus a bit too much.

We as the audience were rarely ever given a break from him.

Other than a few conversations here and there about his attitude,  nothing really was done about it.

Gwen should've been appreciated more for saving Kevin and Kevin should've been appreciated for stopping Aggregor.

But they weren't.

If it had been Ben , they would've made sure to show him getting some sort of recognition or trophy.

Back to the Basic Training episode.

We know he's the legendary Ben Tennyson, we know he's a hero. We didn't need another episode on it.

Instead the plot should've focused on Kevin. His skills, his abilities.

Ben would act the same but Magsiter Hulka should've put some sort of cover so Ben couldn't use the omnitrix.

Ben goes on breaking rules,  and having a hard time being a hero without the watch.

Towards the end, it should've been Kevin who cracks the case and saves Hulka. Ben is mad he can't use the omnitrix but instead uses the guns and other weapons he's learnt to use at the academy

He's not amazing at them , but it makes him realise that he is hero , watch or not, something that has been emphasised in the show. Its not impossible for him to function without the watch.

Towards the end, Ben getting a 95 was a stretch. I'm sorry , but the guy wasn't great with using weapons and without the watch I dont think he would've been able to complete that hostage excercise.

I'm thinking more like 89%.

Gwen gets 98, that's fine and Kevin gets a 100.

Hulka comes in and awards the medal (?) to Kevin, suggesting he's becoming more like his father.

( im ignoring the ret con, plus the retcon I'm assuming wasnt thought off at this point by the writers)

Ben is shown to take one of the guns back to earth, because he thinks they're cool and he wants to practice and get better at them.

The whole hostage situation makes him want to get better at making strategies.

Yes he's good at improv, but he needs to learn to properly plan as well.

It doesn't matter if he's never shown to use the gun ever again, and he's back to relying on the omnitrix.

Or maybe some time down the line, he could use the weapon, even if it for a second, to show that he is improving and getting better.

Before you say 'he's already a hero, he doesn't need to learn anything ' sorry but no.

He's 16. He may have saved the world but he still has growing up to do. Different battles are going to arise all the time.

Saying he is perfect at 16 is dumb. Saying he's perfect when he's ben 10k , it'll make some sense. He's been around for a while and is pretty experienced.

The watch is a part of him, but seeing him try to explore other options would've been a fresher idea.

Another scene that made me mad was the court (?) scene in Vreedle, Vreedle.

Ben being a hero shouldn't make him above the law.

Domstol ruling in favor of Ben just because he's the legendry Ben Tennyson was stupid.

After Ben's little monologue , and destroying Domstols desk, the judge should've just informed him that being a hero does not excuse him from following the law.

Kevin could've had his little moment doing some negotiation ( would've been nice to see how he works as con artist) and Ben could've jumped in and helped while making some good points for the argument, showing us he's not stupid.

Then having Domstol rule in their favor would've made sense.

On the way back to earth there could've been a joke about how Ben watches Judge Judy too much which is where he learnt about trials and stuff. Or maybe Gwens dad taught him a thing or two at some point.

All this doesn't mess with Ben's character all that much, he's still the hero of the show, he still has his ego but it makes him more likeable, shifts focus from his attitude, and shows us he's pretty smart and is growing into a good hero.

Ben's not a bad guy. I mean he is the hero of the show. There are tons of scenes which show he's good , like the whole sacrificing thing so the ultimates could live and all.

But little scenes here and there tend to be enough for someone , especially for someone who isn't a super hard-core Ben lover to form negative opinions on him.

Although calling him a psychopath / narc is out of line because I don't find him to be like that. His attitude was magnified by him being in the spotlight too much and writers not having a good balance in writing situations.

Ben being the main character of the show is at risk of becoming hated or less appreciated just because he's the font runner of the show.

Admit it, side characters tend to get more love most times than the main agonist of shows.

I've been watching videos on YouTube on this topic as to why this happens , and what I've come up with is that writers of shows tend to focus too much on main character. Things seem to go their way most times and this tends to get on peoples nerves, consciously or subconsciously because it's not exactly realistic.

Having shows where everything focuses on one person most times tend to backfire.

I don't mind Ben having a big head, I dont mind him making jokes and being so casual.

It's his defense mechanism to protect himself from drowning into the struggles and pressures of being a hero. But always having him be that way isn't good.

The writers should've executed it properly.

( okay this post got really long,  more than I thought it would. If you're read the whole things , congratulations on making it here lol.

I'm not going to stop anyone from replying to this because everyone has different opinions and we all have the freedom to express them.

Although I believe I've made my point and I've made sure to keep in mind all the arguments about why bashing Ben is wrong when he's not a bad guy while typing this out.

I don't think I've directed any major hate towards him , its mostly towards the writers for making the situations like that,but if you think I have you can reply to it.

I'm not gonna reply back though , because again I feel I've made my point.

Any agreements / disagreements you have with the post feel free to share because it is your right.

Any disagreements you have with other members,  as long as its related to the post you can share it.

Any issues you have personally with other members,  please keep them to your selves.

I will not tolerate bullying , harassing,  name calling and petty arguments on my post and blog page.

If this happens I will simply delete this post and re-upload it.)

[latetaektalk]

hi there ^^' i'm... kinda new to this whole tumblr thing and have been wanting to write on here for a while but this huge place is kinda scary sometimes haha ;; do you have any writing tips or tricks that would be good to know for newcomers? (also your music taste is immaculate, i love it)

hey love 💕 first of all, welcome to tumblr!! its a fun place,, youre gonna love it, and learn to hate it lol second of all, thank you for complimenting my music taste 😳

now im not quite sure if you want only writing tips or writing blog tips, so ive included tips and tricks for both!

WRITING BLOG TIPS :

have a masterlist. this might seem stupid and obvious, but ive seen people with no masterlist. people are lazy, so if they cant access your writing easily, they will just click away.

have a clean theme. aesthetics are important. they are. people love clean and easy to navigate themes. again, people are lazy, so if you make it easy to click through your blog and get to your writing, youll increase the chance of people reading your stuff!

how to get your work show up in general. putting links in your fanfic might lead to your story not showing up in the search. ive also heard that a banner thats too big can cause that. even using too many tags can lead to your work not showing up. its complicated.

the first five tags. im sure youve heard abt this already but the first five tags are the tags that will actually show up! so if someone follows #bts fluff and you tag your fic with that, your fic can show up on people's dashes as a recommended post!

tag accordingly. speaking of tags, please tag accordingly! theres nothing more annoying than finding a jimin fanfic in the taehyung fanfic tag. i really discourage you from mistagging your stories. if im scrolling through the taehyung fanfic tag and find a jimin fanfic, it makes me want to not read it. just tag your fics accordingly.

reblog your fics. i mean it. seriously, reblog them as much as you want! people live in different time zones or sometimes forget abt wanting to read your stuff, so reblogging it consistently for a week or so to get it on people's dashes helps!

teasers and taglists. i recommend doing both! teasers help to get people excited for your story and taglists ensure that people will read it, or at least remember to!

dont stress abt notes. now, this is less of a tip but rather something i just really really really want to tell you! i know youve heard this before, but please do not stress about notes. tumblr fame does not exists! it doesnt matter if your writing gets 2 notes or 300 or 5k notes! i do understand how getting a lot of notes can be motivating (every fics deserve all the love in the world by the way!!) but in the end, it should not be your motiviation to write. focusing on notes will ruin writing for you. it will. the amount of notes your fic will reach has nothing to do with how good your writing is. dont let something as superficial as notes ruin the fun of writing for you. its seriously not worth it! write for you and no one else!

WRITING TIPS :

write self indulgent fics. i seriously think all fics should be self indulgent. writing fics should be fun, so please write whatever you want! also, theres no such thing as an overdone trope. if you want to write a fake dating enemies to lovers fic, please write it! you might think there are already a bunch out there and its not worth writing another one, but youre wrong! there isnt one out there thats been written by you yet. go write it!

make playlists. now this is a bit specific to me because im absolutely obsessed with music, but making playlists that fit the mood of the fic has always helped me while writing and gotten me out of writers block before!

take your time. writing is freaking hard and when writers block hits, theres rarely ever something that you can do. try not to stress too much abt it! it happens to the best of us!

balance dialogue and detail. its important to find a middle. if im reading a fic and theres paragraph after paragraph after paragraph of detail, the chance of me just skipping that part is really high. because even though i love detail, it does get boring. so use dialogue to spice it up!

reading. okay, this sounds weird because youre asking for writing tips, but reading seriously help your writing so much! if you wanna improve your writing skills, reading a lot is going to be key. now, im not saying reading is necessary, but i do think that it can help you to better! whats even more important though is that you try to analyse people’s writing while reading. when i say you should analyse people’s writing, i do not mean you should write an entire analysis of a book, but to take a second and think to yourself how the authors just did that. how did they convey oc’s sadness? why did they just describe the weather? whats the purpose of this scene?

switch up sentence/paragraph length. shorter sentences/paragraphs = emphasise something and pick up the pace. longer sentences/paragraphs = slow down the story and allow for more detail. its important that you do a mix of both. utilise the length to your advantage. a well placed short sentence/paragraph can pack a lot of punch and turn your sad story in a heartbreaking one.

outline your fics. look this is very personal again because some people dont like to outline their fics, but i recommend outlining your fics. and when i say outline your fics, you can do it as little or as much as you want! it can be a few notes, or a long list of every detail you want to include. i just want you to know where this story is headed. its so easy to write yourself in a corner and trust me, you dont wanna end up there.

allow yourself to be free. this connects to the previous point i just made. even though i do recommend outlining your fics, i am also a firm believer of taking the story somewhere else if you feel like it. ive scrapped complete outlines before. half of the scenes i write also arent in my outline at all. you dont have to stick to the outline. if you think that a specific scene would add something to your story, then please go ahead and write that scene. just always remember where youre headed and dont loose focus.

have fun. i just really wanna reiterate this point again. its just so important to me that you have fun while writing! seriously. its just fanfiction. it should be fun. go crazy. i support you!

okay bub i hope this was helpful 💕 if you have any other questions/want more tips/want me to elaborate on something, please just hit me up! my ask box is always open!

[itsclydebitches]

Hello again! Im the tinfoil hat anon with the long ass asks and I finally had the time to read your response. Thank you, it makes my day reading your answers. I honestly just enjoyed them over a cup of coffee like a good book.

Now, the gun pointing scene I mentioned was in fact the one from the droid fight facility like the other anon suggested. But I really liked that you covered the boat scene too, I haven’t thought of it much myself and now I definitely have!

I also would like to mention I love your “candy bar” choice analogy and I 100% agree Hunter’s “invitation” to join back wasn’t welcoming in the slightest. It is very likely just an obligation as you said. Sort of “you gave us a chance, we owe you a chance too”.

And the problem with it is now I am struggling to figure out how the batch members might change their attitude toward Crosshair going forward, especially Hunter. As of right now Crosshair’s best relationship is not with his brothers but with Omega(as surprising as this is). And I think he does realize now she cared about him the most out of all of them during the short time they interacted(both 1st and last episodes). Even between themselves(not counting Omega) I find most of the bad batch members to be cold and distant to each other. They feel less like a family than Rebels for example. And they aren’t even a “found family”(a trope everyone loves) but an actual one! And I get that they’re soldiers and supposed to be tough, I don’t expect them to share all “the feels”. I just can’t put my finger on it but something feels off. I agree with your previous post, the show doesn’t do a very good job showing or even telling they love each other.

Will Hunter and co only start caring about their brother again only after he leaves the empire?(assuming he does at some point). What about Disney’s prevailing theme and message that “family always love and care for each other no matter what”? I guess it’s “family always love and care for each other but only if you’re good guys making right choices”. There is no room for mistakes or wrong decisions. In the last episode everyone form the batch seemed to have given up on Crosshair(besides Omega). For now their attitude seems to be just “you’re not our enemy” and that’s that.

I realize Crosshair is a “bad guy” and consciously made his choice(and we know it’s the wrong one) but to me it felt like he thought he didn’t even had a choice or rather became so lost and confused he actually thought he chose the empire as “the lesser evil”(as in the less shitty choice out of all the other bad ones). We as audience have the benefit to know exactly how atrocious the empire really is but maybe Crosshair still doesn’t realize that.

So what exactly must Crosshair do to get back “in their good graces” as you say? Start saving “the good guys”? Save the bad batch multiple times? There is a popular opinion on how Crosshair can redeem himself. That he eventually heroically sacrifices himself to save them. I personally REALLY hope it’s NOT what’s going to happen but I heard so many people speculating his story is set up to be redemption=death. I know you mentioned you don’t want “Vader style redemption” either. Personally I think it would be a waste of a character who has a lot of potential. And I just think that the batch kind of don’t really deserve his sacrifice(maybe save for Omega) after how they never tried to save him themselves and how they treated him overall. Maybe he will risk his life to save Omega at some point and that will “prove” to Hunter he cares? Although he has already shown he cares by saving her(even if in Crosshair’s own words it’s just so they’re “even”). And the thing is, he doesn’t need to prove that he loves them, he already did that in episode 15 and made it clear he does care. He actually went to extreme by shooting his squad to prove his loyalty. What were the moments the batch demonstrated they care about him? Hunter saying “you never were our enemy” and taking his unconscious body to safety? To me Hunter “not leaving him behind” during bombardment felt more like guilt about the last time it happened and an obligation to Crosshair for helping them with droids, rather than them showing care. And I kinda of think if that was any random civilian(or anyone other than an enemy or a threat) they would carry them out too just because that’s what good guys do and not because it’s their brother. You also mentioned that minutes later Hunter snaps at him with “if you want to stay here and die, that’s your choice” which I agree can be interpreted in different ways. And I think it’s one more point to it being an obligation that in Hunter’s eyes is fulfilled now. He corrected his mistake of leaving a brother behind and saved him this time, now his guilt won’t burden him any longer.

Anyway, I can’t wait for season 2 and I appreciate you and all the anons sharing the tinfoil hat, interacting and speculating together. Those discussions have been a lot of fun!

TLDR: How do your think the relationship between the brothers will mend or evolve in the next season? Do you think S2 will improve in portraying the batch more as a family rather than a group of mercs doing missions together? What are your thoughts on the popular idea of Crosshair’s redemption by ultimate sacrifice? As in, how likely do you think this scenario is?

Anon, that is just wonderfully hilarious to me. Ah yes, the sunrise, a good cup o' joe, and the overly long character analysis of a snarky, fictional sniper. Exactly what everyone needs in the morning! 😆

You know, TBB is far from the first show I've watched where there's an obvious, emotional conclusion the creator wants the audience to come to—the squad all love each other Very Much—yet that conclusion isn't always well supported by the text. It creates this horribly awkward situation where you're going, "Yes, I'm fully aware of what the show wanted to do, but this reading, arguably, did not end up in the story itself. So what are we talking about here? The intention, or the execution?" It's like Schrödinger's Bad Batch where the group is simultaneously Very Loving and Very Distant depending on how much meta-aspects are influencing your reading: those authorial intentions, understanding of how found family tropes should work, fluff focused fics/fan art that color our understanding of the characters, etc. And, of course, whether someone saw TCW before they watched TBB. I personally wouldn't go quite so far as to say they're "cold" towards one another—with Crosshair as an exception now—but there wasn't the level of bonding among the squad that I expected of a show called The Bad Batch. Especially compared to their arc in TCW. The other night I re-watched the season seven premiere and was struck not just by how much more the squad interacted with each other back then, but how those interactions added depth to their characters too. For example, Crosshair is the mean one, right? He's the one picking fights with the Regs? Well yeah... but it's also Wrecker. While they're trying to decide what to do with Cody injured, Jesse calls out Crosshair on his attitude—"You can't talk to Captain Rex like that!"—and Wrecker's immediate response is, "Says who?" and he hefts Jesse into the air. And then he just holds him there, clearly using his superior strength to do as he pleases, until Hunter (sounding pretty angry) tells him to put Jesse down. If Wrecker had put him into a more classically understood bullying position, like pinning him to the ground, it would probably read as less funny—less "Haha strong clone lifts Jesse up in the air!" and more "Oh shit, strong clone can do whatever the hell he wants to the Regs and few are able to stop him." It's such a quick moment, but it tells us a ton about Wrecker. That he's going to stick up for his brothers, no matter the context (Crosshair deserves to be called out). That he will gleefully assist Crosshair in bothering the Regs (something that is reinforced when he later throws the trays in the mess hall, after Hunter has already deescalated the situation). That he's likely been hurt by awful treatment from the Regs too. That he'll only listen to Hunter when it comes to backing off. Little of this work—that interplay among the squad that shows us new sides to them other than basic things like "Wrecker is the nice, happy brother"—exists in TBB.

Or, at least, little exists after Omega becomes an official member of the squad.

Because, as said previously, she becomes the focus. I don't mean that as a total criticism. As established, I love Omega. But if we're talking about why the squad can feel so distant from each other, I think she's the root cause, simply because the story became all about her relationships with the Batch, rather than the Batch's relationships with each other. Having dived headfirst into reading and writing fic, it occurred to me just how many of the bonding moments we love, the sort of stuff we'll see repeated in fics because we understand that this is where the story's emotional center is, are given to Omega in canon:

Someone is hurt and in need of comfort. Omega's emotional state is the focus + moments like her being worried over Hunter getting shot.

Someone needs to learn a new skill. Echo teaches Omega how to use her bow.

Someone reveals a skill they never knew they had before. Omega is a strategic genius and plays her last game with Hunter.

Someone is in serious danger and in need of rescue. Omega rescues the group from the slavers + is the most vocal about rescuing Hunter. (Which, again, is a pretty sharp contrast to the whole Crosshair situation.) Omega, in turn, needs rescuing from things like the decommission conveyor belt.

Similarly, someone is kidnapped and in need of rescue. Omega is kidnapped twice by bounty hunters and the Batch goes after her.

Someone saves another's life. Omega saves Crosshair from drowning.

Someone does something super sweet for another. Wrecker gives Omega her room. Omega gives Wrecker Lula.

A cute tradition is established between characters. Wrecker has his popcorn-esque candy sharing with Omega.

Someone hurts someone else and has to ask forgiveness. Wrecker is upset about nearly shooting Omega and they have that sweet moment together.

Note that most of these examples could have occurred between other Batch members, but didn't. Someone could have created a space for Echo on the ship too. Wrecker also could have apologized to Tech for choking him, etc. It's not that those moments shouldn't happen with Omega, just that there should be more of a balance across the whole season, especially for a show supposedly focused on the original squad. Additionally, it's not that cute bonding moments between the rest of the Batch don't exist. I love Hunter selling Echo off as a droid. I love Wrecker and Tech bickering while fixing the ship. I love the tug-of-war to save Wrecker from the sea monster. Yes, we do have moments... it's just that comparatively it feels pretty skewed in Omega's direction.

So, as a VERY long-winded way of answering your question, I think we need to fix the above in order to tackle Crosshair's redemption in season two. Now that we've had a full season focused on Omega, we need to strike a better balance among the rest of the squad moving forward. We need to re-established the "obvious" conclusion that the rest of the Batch loves Crosshair and that's done (in part) by establishing their love for one another too. To my mind, both goals go hand-in-hand, especially since you can develop their relationship with Crosshair and their relationships with each other simultaneously. Imagine if instead of just having Wrecker somewhat comically admit that he misses Crosshair (like he's dead and they can't go get him??), he and Tech had a serious conversation about why they can't get him back yet, despite very much wanting to. Imagine if Echo, the one who was rescued against all odds, got to scream at Hunter to go get Crosshair like Omega screamed at them to go back for Hunter. Imagine if we'd gotten more than a tiny arc in TCW to establish the Batch's dynamic with each other, providing a foundation for how they would each react to Crosshair's absence. Instead, what little we've got in TBB about Crosshair's relationship with his brothers is filtered through Omega: Omega's embarrassment that she knocked over Crosshair's case, Omega treating Crosshair's comm link like a toy, Omega's quest to save Hunter that just happened to involve Crosshair along the way.

Obviously, at this point we can't fix how the first season did things, but I think we can start patching over these issues in season two. It would be jarring—we'd still be 100% correct to ask where this "Brothers love you, support you, and will endlessly fight for you" theme was for Crosshair's entire time under the Empire's thumb... but I'd take an about-face into something better than not getting any improvement at all. It is frustrating though, especially for a show that I otherwise really, really enjoyed. For me, the issue isn't so much that the show made a mistake (since no show is perfect), but that the mistake is attached to such a foundational part of the franchise. Not just in terms of "SW is about hope and forgiveness" but the specific relationship most clones have with each other: a willingness to go above and beyond for their brothers. The focus on Omega aside, it's hard to believe in the family dynamic when one member of the family was so quickly and easily dismissed. I couldn't get invested in Hunter's rescue as much as I should have because rather than going, "Yes!! Save your brother!!!" my brain just kept going, "Lol where was this energy for Crosshair?" It messes with your reading of the whole story, so in order to fix that mistake going forward, we need to start seeing the bonds that only sometimes exist in season one. Show the guys expressing love for one another more consistently (in whatever way that might be—as you say, soldiers don't have to be all touchy-feely. Give us more moments like Wrecker supporting his brothers' bad habits) and then extend that to Crosshair. Which brother is going to demand that they fight for him? Which brother is going to acknowledge that they never tried to save him? Which brother is going to question this iffy statement about the chip? In order to buy into the family theme, Omega can't be the only one doing that emotional work.

Ideally, I wouldn't want Crosshair to go out of his way to prove that he's a good guy now. I mean, I obviously want him to stop helping the Empire and such, duh lol, but I'm personally not looking for a bunch of Extra Good Things directed at the Batch as a requirement for forgiveness. Simply because that would reinforce the idea that they're 100% Crosshair's victims, Crosshair is 100% the bad guy, and he's the only one who needs to do any work to fix this situation. Crosshair needs to stop doing bad things (working for Empire). But the Batch needs to start doing good things too (reaching out to him). Especially since Crosshair made a good play already, only to be met with glares and distrust. He saved Omega! And AZI! And none of them cared. So am I (is Crosshair) supposed to believe that saving one of their lives again will result in a different reaction? That doesn't make much sense. And no, his own life wasn't at risk when he did that, but does every antagonist need to die/nearly die to prove they're worth fighting for? As you say, he's already shown that he loves them, far more than they've shown the reverse. Every time Crosshair hurt them (attacking) it was while he was under the chip's influence. In contrast, the group has no "I was being controlled" excuse for when they hurt him (abandonment). Season two needs to acknowledge the Batch's responsibility in all this—and acknowledge that they're all victims of the Empire—in order to figure out an appropriate arc for Crosshair's redemption.

Right now, the issue is not Crosshair loving his brothers, the issue is how Crosshair chooses to express that love: trying to keep them safe and giving them a purpose in life by joining the organization that's clearly going to dominate the galaxy. The only way to fix that, now that his offer has been rejected, is for him to realize that a life on the run from the Empire, together, is a better option for everyone. And the only way for that to happen is for the Batch to seriously offer him a place with them again. They need to make the first move here. They need to fight for him. And yeah, I totally get that a lot of people don't like that because it's not "fair." He's the bad guy. He's with the fascist allegory. He's killed people and has therefore lost any right to compassion and effort from the good guys... but if that's the case, then we just have to accept that (within the story-world, not from a writing perspective) Crosshair is unlikely to ever come back from this. When people reach that kind of low, they rarely pull themselves out on their own. They need other people to help them do that. Help them a lot. But with the exception of Omega's reminder—which Crosshair can't believe due to how everyone else has treated him—they leave him alone and seem to expect him to fix himself first, then he gets their support. It needs to be the other way around. Support is what would allow him to become a good guy again, not "Well, you'll get our love when you're good again, not before." That's unlikely to occur and, as discussed, it doesn't take into account things like this bad guy life being forced on Crosshair at the start. If the story really wanted this to be a matter of ideological differences... then make it about ideological differences. Let Crosshair leave of his own free will, right at the start. Don't enslave him for half the season, have him realize he was abandoned, imply all that brainwashing, give him no realistic way out, and then punish him for not doing the right thing. This isn't a situation where someone went bad for the hell of it—the story isn't asking us to feel compassion for, say, the Admiral—it's a situation where Crosshair was controlled and now can't see a way out. That context allows for the Batch, the good guys, to fight for him without the audience thinking the show is just excusing that behavior. They should have been fighting from the start, but since they didn't, I hope we at least start seeing that in season two.

Ultimately though... I don't really expect all of the above. The more balanced dynamics and having the Batch fight for Crosshair rather than Crosshair going it alone... I wouldn't want to bet any money on us getting it, just because these are things that should have been established in season one and would have been more easy to pull off in season one. (If the Batch wouldn't fight for Crosshair while he was literally under the Empire's control, why would they fight now when he's supposedly acting of his own free will? It's backwards in terms of the emotional effort involved.) But again, it could happen! I'd be very pleased if it did happen, despite the jarring change. I don't want to make it sound like I think they're going to write off Crosshair entirely. Far from it, I think there are too many details like his sad looks for that, to say nothing of Omega's compassion. But the execution of getting him on Team Good Guys again might be preeeetty bumpy. I expect it to revolve around Crosshair's sins and Crosshair's redemption, even if what I would like is balancing that with Crosshair's loss of agency, the Batch's mistakes, and their own redemption towards him.

Honestly though, I just hope that whatever happens happens soon. It's a personal preference, absolutely, but after a season of Crosshair as the antagonist, I'm ready for him to be back with the group, making the Empire (and bounty hunters) the primary enemy. Whether his return happens through a mutual acknowledgement of mistakes, or through Crosshair being depicted as the only one in the wrong who has to do something big to be forgiven... just get him back with the squad lol. Because if the writing isn't going to delve into that nuance, then the longer he remains unforgiven, the longer some of us have to watch a series while going, "Wait, wait, wait, I really don't agree with how you're painting this picture."

[arlert-angel]

i had something i wanted to talk about since discourse earlier took place where a couple big blogs stated that headcanons and drabbles were "clout writing" / "writing for clout".

needed to get these thoughts off my chest, i don't mind if anyone wants to add their opinion as well or talking it over.

warning: it's kinda long

i did not bother interacting or arguing with the people involved– seeing how they reacted to many others– but when reading through their definitions and reasoning i wanted to share some thoughts of my own.

they claimed that headcanons and drabbles are a quick and easy way to get notes and many times discouraged people from writing in that format.

not directly, but they continuously stated that people who write in that format only want notes and they used to write like that and they write so much better now.

that really is indirectly shading everyone who does right that way, you know?

but they failed to mention that there is much more to headcanons and drabbles then gaining notes.

drabbles are quick and fun.

it really does give writers a fast, FUN outlet to get something off their mind and share with others. it's also a good way to gauge if readers likes that small piece of writing, so the writer can later expand on. i enjoy reading all drabbles no matter how short.

GASP

am i thinking about what the readers like too much?

does this make me a clout chaser!??

personally, i don't think so.

i respect my readers. i LOVE my readers. so i wanna know what i'm doing right and wrong, so that as a writer i can improve.

and drabbles are great practice for that.

yo since when is learning and listening from readers about clout and fame?

their mindset is the one perceiving it that way. i guarantee majority of headcanon and drabble writers don't think about the notes they're gonna get.

they are more focused on what type of reaction they're gonna get.

there's a difference!!! maybe their mindset can't comprehend that.

it really sounds like they just don't like what's popular/gains notes.

a classic gaslight gatekeep girlboss moment (derogatory).

another thing mentioned amongst the chaos was that certain tags were flooded with these headcanons and drabbles.

i could understand the annoyance if the tagging was incorrect. (ex: looking at armin fic tag and then only seeing headcanons) that's not a fic, but if it's not incorrectly tagged...

don't complain.

headcanons are also all in good fun!! there are some interesting scenarios (a lot of the time from readers requests or the writer's own imagination).

again, a good way to spitball ideas for a whole fic or sometimes it's something that doesn't need a whole fic, but is still a good concept that the writer wants to put out there.

writing is meant to fun

i cannot stress that enough. they even mentioned it themselves that they write because they like to, not to gain exposure.

what makes you guys believe that anyone else is different?

i feel like through out most of that discourse i saw the people saying that stuff talk a lot about themselves rather than consider anyone else's point of view. so many personal examples and feelings "i see this..." "i used to do this..." "i don't like..."

me me me

when they aren't stopping to consider anyone else's point of view.

the actual current writers that write in that format.

i really do get genuinely confused when people can't take other people's feelings into account.

maybe i'm sensitive or think about others TOO much, but there are those who try very hard on their work (headcanons and drabbles) and produce great content only to be belittled by some big blogs with an odd grudge.

and there's this:

wow.

i'm so happy that you were able to overcome your troubles. many haven't. many have to deal with that "depression and anxiety card" every day.

how dare you belittle mental illness? no really... how? like with your full chest??

but go you for conquering your struggles because apparently yours is the only one that matters.

(that one especially made me mad)

AND EVEN IF PEOPLE ARE WRITING FOR CLOUT...

there is no wrong reason for writing.

writing is beautiful. it's a creative outlet with an infinite amount of possibilities.

you want lots of views? cool.

you want to write privately? great.

at the end of the day, the number one reason why someone writes fanfiction– above all else– is:

because they like whatever fandom they're writing for.

or else they wouldn't write.

simple.

you can not like a format of writing, but you do not take it out on the writers.

i personally mostly write full fics too, but i still respect and cherish many headcanon and drabble writers. (they do be feeding me daily unlike most full fic writers 🥵)

also headcanons and drabbles have been around a looooong time. it's a great way for beginners to start writing and get comfortable posting.

it's disrespectful, insensitive, and discouraging what they continued to post. i don't care that it is their opinion because i have my own as well.

if they had just said i don't like headcanons and drabbles, no one would've cared. people like different formats, it's okay!!!

but they targeted the writer specifically and labeled them as some sort of greedy, uncaring content producing machine. (not their words, just making a point).

it's alright to have different opinions, but it's not okay to be a dick lol.

i blocked most people involved but if anyone ends up showing this to them, whoo! give me attention big bois 🥵 (they're big blogs i think lol)

i just felt like i needed to say more especially for my lovely writers and hope that no readers were overwhelmed.

i also hope their posts didn't make anyone doubt their work.

keep writing. all writing is practice. the more you practice, the more you're able to achieve.

im done, needed to speak my truth.

-moon ☪

[juni-ravenhall]

my opinions on mistfall!

under a cut bc spoilers and/or not everyone wants to read :D 

overall experience: 

its fun that there IS a sso cartoon now even if its not exactly amazing quality, and im happy to see if there will be more series or movies after this. it was fun to watch and see sso things in cartoon form too and i wish that we had more already (of sso animation in general). imagine if there had been a ssl cartoon? i also kept thinking throughout this, that it wouldn’t be hard for me myself to make an animated series with around the same length episodes and in a similar quality to this (aside from voice acting and music production), which made me feel a little inspired.

favourite scene:

skye taking photos of blaze and hanging out

positive points: 

i like the background art a lot, i think the style of it, and the colour schemes, helps give the series a specific vibe that fits for an sso series in my opinion. 

i like the concept art (i assume) illustrations which we saw in the recipes and other posts on sso ig, i think it looks a lot better than the characters in the series, but thats normal for concept art!!

the music is really good quality (whether or not its your taste, the quality is good) which is ofc bc its sso - theres already good music and not something they only did for the cartoon but something they care about in all of the starstable media. 

i think skye is a nice character (despite the series’ overall low quality writing) and i like her design. i also think rania’s cartoon design (visually) is cute.

skye and rania being a teensy bit gay (minus points for sso if they dont end up really gay in later canon)

i like that blaze wasnt actually like... mean or anything to skye, and i like that shes a mare since typical stories like this usually have stallions. but i just like that there wasnt really any “ooh difficult horse” things between skye and blaze in the current time of the story, blaze actually was sweet to her most the time. blaze seemed pretty charming whenever there wasnt “omg fire” drama. 

the animation itself (not meaning the details of the drawings or scene timing, just the actual frame by frame / puppet movements) was fine! not amazing, but absolutely fine.

points i have constructive criticism for, which doesn’t mean that i expected more from the series, but that we’re all allowed to discuss the quality and our opinions of media regardless of the target audience, budget, etc:

the writing was childish and rushed - this is not to be rude, but a matter that affects a lot of “media for girls / kids”, and a topic talked a lot about by Lauren Faust (creator of the FiM reboot of MLP) who wanted to show that a show about rainbow ponies “for little girls” didn’t have to be badly written, and could be engaging and interesting. if you watch the older MLP cartoons and compare to the first season of FiM (where Faust was still on the team) you can see a huge difference in quality of the storytelling, characterisation, etc. Mistfall, so far, did not subvert any expectation in the quality of what typical “cartoons for girls” are like, and is reminiscent of stuff like “The Ranch” (french horse cartoon) which imo is so bad that its hard to watch. (and ofc... that goes for a lot of “cartoons for girls / kids”, but doesn’t have to be like that.) in order to improve on this, the writer has to study more on storytelling and study from better writers.

on the topic of being rushed: no, it’s not an excuse that the episodes are short: - you have to ADAPT your storytelling and writing to the length of the episodes, not do a bad job and blame the episode length. being able to adapt to different types of media is a necessary skill if that’s what you work with. this comes down to proper planning and structuring the story and writing in a way that works for the length of the episodes. i don’t think that was overall done well here (at times it was okay), and bc of that, it feels rushed and has exposition thrown in your face instead of being shown through better storytelling. the classic thing with exposition is “show, don’t tell”. this is what the writers/directors should study, or pay more attention to. 

the timing (length of shots, length of scenes, or parts of shots, etc) was rly bad at times and overall unimpressive - this comes down to the skill of directors and editors. to improve this they have to study more on the topic. bad timing and pacing can really ruin a good scene or a good story and make it feel disconnected and hard to immerse in for the audience.

the artstyle of characters and horses is fine at times, but appears very low quality at others (skye’s childhood scene really bothered me bc her kid-self had really badly drawn eyes in my opinion). this, like everything else on this list, is ofc something that appears in almost every single “cartoon for girls” that ever existed. to improve on this, most likely it’s not a problem with the artists but with the budget and the production timeline (allowing the artists more time to produce better quality art and animation), and it can also be a problem with the art direction, if the art directors aren’t very skilled or experienced (i don’t say that they aren’t, im just giving examples of what could cause these problems.)

the character design for all characters that aren’t skye, rania, or blaze was very lacking. none of the not-main-3 characters looked interesting or fun to look at, they looked very dull and like the most boring NPCs you could think of. even though its understandable that the mainest-main characters would have the most interesting designs, that doesn’t mean everyone else has to look that boring. this is an issue with art direction or character design. i think most likely there was just very little time (equals money) put into designing the other characters.

the horse design could be improved for a cartoon that focuses on horses this much. like, horses are a big part of the selling point here, so make sure that their designs and art/animation is good. at times even blaze looked awkward and uninteresting, as did the other horses.

“alonso” looks nothing like sso alonso and i don’t like that they used his character if it’s not going to have anything to do with him. they should have given this character a different name if they wouldn’t make him seem like he had anything to do with the sso character aside from being a male ranger. (also in the game he’s like 22 or something, skye is 15...?)

why did they add a “he’s cute” dumbass fucking stupid hetero comment for literally no reason other than adding a dumbass fucking stupid hetero comment?

considering that they “can’t confirm whether a sequel is happening or not”, it seemed very meh to throw in druid cult magic stuff and not really connect to it and now the series ended? you would have expected to find out more about the cloaked people, the runes, the magic that the ranger guy did, and blaze’s magic in general, and skye herself, why her mom is “a witch”.... thats a lot to throw in while saying that you can’t say if there’s a sequel coming to answer all those questions. (it wouldn’t have been a criticism from me if they said “we’re working on season 2″ or “there will be a comic book that continues the story” or anything that told us that these questions, in this particular iteration of a story in jorvik, will actually be answered. - and i assume they ARE working on the continuation of the story, but i dont agree with that they’re not upfront about it, when they left so many questions unanswered.)

at times rania’s blindness was handled stupidly and i think they should have gotten more consultation from actual people with visual impairment, but i think its still good to HAVE a blind character in the main cast and that it’s not a big dramatic story thing but just an everyday thing. at some points it was fine though; and i personally don’t think the scene with rania being able to see blaze was necessarily a problem - because - a lot of blind ppl can see sharp contrasts in light and dark, and this seemed relatively realistic to me when blaze is on fire. (however, the way it was drawn as if she could see the whole shape of blaze and skye could be criticised for sure, and makes it feel more like “i can see because of magic” and not “i can see bc THIS MARE IS ON FIRE”). 

personal opinion which i said before, but i don’t think rania’s voice fits her at all, and it’s not the voice actor’s fault (i’m sure they’re lovely) but the casting and the directors. from the sso character, rania would seem a lot more lively, quick and adventurous, and not as calm and gentle as she appeared here. she seemed a lot too sort of motherly or just adult, instead of an adventurous teen who runs off on her own to do whatever she feels like. compare in-game rania going “MC, thats a jorvik wild!!!” and alonso going “stop talking nonsense” (paraphrased), to Mistfall rania going “jorvik wilds are really rare...” (calm, sort of disinterested, doesnt seem like she cares that much about adventures)

the voice acting overall was meh. i see this as a direction problem, not an individual voice actor problem (and the writing didnt help - it’s hard to provide good quality acting with a poor script unless you can just toss the script aside and improv, if you have good actors). it felt childish and uninteresting at most points and generic low quality for “cartoons for girls”. from a voice acting perspective i think skye had the best result. anyway, the way to improve this is for the director in charge of voice acting to not direct the actors to perform in this childish manner. (again, refer to cartoons with better writing and better voice acting, that have a very similar target audience.)

ok, i think that was everything that i wanted to write about for now, might think of more later lol

[quarantinebreakup412081121]

Day 273 - “Hey so I’m garbage”

“Hey so I’m garbage

I’m talking to someone didn’t know how to bring it up and/or wanted to wait until holidays were over but then I would ruin your damn year already if I wait so fuck it.  I’m sorry, could have handled it way better but I guess that’s just classic ------”

That’s the message I received last night.

That’s the message I received after he apologized 5 weeks ago and said that he handled ending things with us poorly and that I deserved better and even during the years we were together that I deserved better.  “You meant a lot to me, maybe I wasn’t the best at articulating that or showing it but you’re really all I had. A job and you, unfortunately I focused more on the job and im sorry for that” were his actual words.

He also hit me with the “you’re an amazing person... and you deserve someone that will smother you in the affection and attention you deserve.  I’m the one that failed you.”

He said he had a lot of things to work on.

Well he has apparently miraculously fixed all of the issues he had within 5 weeks because he’s dating someone new.  So all of the things he couldn’t or wouldn’t do for or with me-- and the basic boyfriend-in-a-relationship things that he fought against doing constantly- I guess those have magically sorted and he’s ready to move on.

That’s sarcasm and very unlikely- but what’s more realistic is that he intentionally treated me the way he did because he could.  And he continued to do it because he wanted to and he knew I would pretend it was fine.  And he didn’t show me respect throughout most of our relationship, and he’s continuing to treat me like that now as well.  Maybe it made him feel powerful and in charge.  I don’t know.  I’ll never know.  It sounds to me like he lied to me about everything he said in his apology and probably only brought that stuff up because he was talking to someone new and wanted to clear his conscience of whatever microscopic amount of "guilt” he was feeling.

He has done a stupendous job of finding unexpected and creative ways to hurt me, put me down, and make me feel worthless.  But last night took the fucking cake.  No, honestly, that even beat his “It’s not working out. We should move on.” text back in March on Day 1.

“It’s not working out.  We should move on.” after 5 years and 2 months.  In the months leading up to it, there was no Christmas present, no anniversary acknowledgement, no Valentine, and no idea as to why I was hurt by any of that...  Then he blessed me with the breakup initiation via text.

Some people are trash and I get that.  But how did I allow myself to date one of them for 5 years?  Someone close to me told me that I shouldn’t let him control how I’m feeling- but that it made sense that I was feeling this way and that it’s the same way people in abusive relationships still have emotional connections to their abusers and have a hard time getting past things even though they’re in a better situation away from the abuser.  That’s the closest thing I can compare this to.  Don’t get it twisted-- there was never any physical abuse, but emotionally... it’s the worst I’ve ever been treated by anyone.

He’s an asshole, so of course he dropped that on me last night, when he knows I’m still celebrating and enjoying Christmas.  And I was.  In fact, I was enjoying it and not stressed about him at all because we’d been talking again recently and while it wasn’t with the intention of leading into another relationship- it was nice to have that gap in my heart temporarily filled during this time of year.  But he couldn’t wait until January- when nothing of significance was happening, when I’d be able to take my time and process things and work my way through this heartache all over again.  Nope, that fucker made sure that he hit me when and where it would hurt the absolute most.  I suppose at least he didn’t do it right before actual Christmas, and he probably expects me to be grateful to him for that.  Of course.

Last night when I read his messages, my entire body felt like it was on fire and my eyes started to swell up, and that sensation spread across my whole face.  I was with my family so I fought to hold in the tears and sniffles.  I stopped the Christmas movie that I was watching because I don’t want this to be the feeling I associate with it the next time I watch it.  I put on Avengers Endgame because that’s my “make me feel better” movie.  Not sure why- but it usually works, at least a little.  I cried.  I stared at the message and kept opening it to read it over and over again.  I wondered why he wanted to do this to me now.  Weren’t we trying to be civil and remain friends?  Isn’t that what was happening for the last few weeks?  I broke down and let it all out to a friend who was texting me to find out if I wanted to use his account to watch the new Wonder Woman movie.  He was sweet and kind and tried to make me feel better, but it didn’t fix anything.  I texted my best friend, even though I didn’t want to because she’s dealt with a lot lately and I didn’t want to throw a wet towel on her and her family’s happy Christmas break.  But I didn’t know what else to do.  I broke down and cried to my mom.  I tend to avoid talking to her about things that have to do with my ex because she didn’t like him (didn’t like the way he treated me, he was condescending, and he could come off as just being downright rude a lot of the time) but I couldn’t keep it in, no matter how hard I tried.  She brought up a lot of valid points and tried to make me feel better, but despite my ability to understand what she was saying and agree with her on all of it, it still didn’t do much in the way of helping how I was feeling.

I’ve never been so livid in my life.  I’ve never felt so sad and angry and dejected and hurt and hopeless and betrayed all at once and I couldn’t process it; to be honest, I’m still having quite a bit of trouble with it.  I went to sleep around 3am, still watching Endgame.  It didn’t really help but it didn’t hurt.

I laid there for hours, not actively crying, but tears were streaming out of my eyes constantly.  I had to take my hoodie off because the sleeve was soaked through.  I woke up feeling like I’d fallen and hit every part of my body at once, just one huge ache.  I couldn’t eat breakfast.  I ran errands.  We got things done, but for me it felt like 3 hours of anxiety attacks coming and going.  I started to feel anxious and panicked being in stores and around people and it felt like some sort of strange sensory overload that I have never in my life experienced.  I indirectly took it out on my mom a tiny bit without realizing it, and I beat myself up internally for doing that.  I got home and asked my brother to make a post office run for me so I wouldn’t have to go out around people again today.  I haven’t eaten anything in over 24 hours.  I have no desire to.  I need to make myself drink some water because I don’t think I’ve had water all day either.

His message is still sitting there... showing as read but not replied to on Snapchat.  I don’t know what to say or how to reply.  I want to say all of the things I’ve posted on this blog over the last year... I want to yell at him and scream at him and make him understand what he’s done to me for the last year (plus 5) and make him feel some of what I’m feeling. But somehow I feel like that would just give him some strange feeling of satisfaction and he’d be content knowing that he obliterated me and he’s moving along without a second thought.  It’s not fair how this is all unfolding. It hasn’t been fair for the last 6 years and it’s continuing down the same path again and I can’t take it.  I just can’t.

And in reference to the first line of his message.  Garbage doesn’t try to hurt you and ruin as much as it can for you then skip away like, “lol, but fuck it, that’s just classic me, rightttt???  lol haha lollllll”

Speaking of “haha” and “lol”-- I am just this second realizing that his increased usage of emojis and little fillers like “haha” and “lol” were probably things he started doing to change and improve his communication for this new girl he’s talking to, and I just got some of it because that was the default mode he was already in for her.  I fucking hate him so much I don’t even have words... but maybe later tonight I will, and I’ll write another post.

[discountshostakovich]

How to make Be More Chill a good musical

Be More Chill is a show I have a huge soft spot for- it’s a fantastic premise (both the idea of the Squip and the elements of parodying all the shitty tropes we have in stories about youth) and there’s some pretty clever and fun music.

However, in the transition to Broadway, the producers of the show compounded on the flaws of the original, while moving farther away from what made the Two River version likable- most notably, trying to pander to the fans of the show that boosted it into popularity on social media. Not even a bad idea, but they did it really poorly. The way they ought to have gone was to rewrite the leading characters, among other stuff.

But first, I’ll quickly go over what works about Be More Chill that spoke to me when I first stumbled upon it- defining the paradigm of the concept makes it easier to understand why I’d change what I’d change.

Be More Chill, in a lot of ways, is/was a deconstruction of the School Musical- think Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Dear Evan Hansen, and, to an extent, Heathers. That deconstruction is pretty half baked because it focuses too hard on being funny, but all of the pieces are there. For example, Jeremy being the stooge that he is allows for some commentary about the nature of the milquetoast, inherently relatable protagonists we’ve gotten too used to. Michael, the stereotypical best friend who would do anything for the protagonist, is a vessel for the show to ask us to think about the plot-devicey nature of these characters- are they people with feelings, or do they exist for the protagonist to bounce off of? The ever-present trio of popular girls seem to be bratty queen bees, but we get to peek into the dysfunction and insecurities that drive that behavior. (This is the pretty much the only aspect the Broadway show nailed almost perfectly.) You get the idea for the other archetypes- the immaculate Love Interest, Dorky Dad, Jock, Bully, etc.

Keeping that in mind, the way to make this a good show is to reframe Be More Chill as a revision of the cultural staple of those tropes into a modern context. Those rewrites I mentioned start to really fit into a more cohesive and satisfying narrative when you do so.

Character rewrites: Michael and Christine, as they are now, exist as characters that enable Jeremy to develop- realistically, yes, that is the job of every supporting character, but that doesn’t exclude them from having their own arcs and development.

Michael: Michael in The Bathroom is so effective- not only is it a punch in the gut, but it’s a big moment where the archetype is ripped open and the audience realizes that Michael actually matters and how harmful Jeremy’s actions are. However, the show does nothing with that- Michael goes right back to existing solely for Jeremy. For Michael, I’d suggest that his ending isn’t just straight up forgiving Jeremy unconditionally- Michael is willing to take the shot, to come in and save the day, perhaps in a reprise of MITB where he decides that he’ll be brave enough to confront his friend’s stupid actions. After working with Jeremy in the Play, he is reassured that he and Jeremy are good friends who work well, but he makes it clear to Jeremy how hurt he was by his treatment and that Jeremy needs to be a better friend. As such, Michael learns that he is worth being treated well by others and most importantly himself. That gives him an arc- he starts dependent on Jeremy, anxious, and using his love for his friend as an excuse to ignore his own issues, and ends having learned how to healthily give and take in a relationship and to respect himself.

Christine: Christine, on the other hand, is an object on a pedestal for Jeremy to attain and literally almost nothing else. There’s a little bit to her- Christine is afraid of life skipping her by, and wants “things to be easy”. So, instead of being the cardboard cutout she is, Christine should be motivated by finding the easiest way to meet her self-imposed standards of being fulfilled- successful at Theater and in a happy relationship. This characterization displays the problematic nature of the generic love interest for love interest’s sake. Christine dates Jake not because Jeremy needs a motivator to embrace the squip, but because she’s afraid and lonely. “A Guy I’d Be Into” and “Upgrade” would feel disingenuous and artificial, which both explores how wrong Christine’s forcing a relationship is, and the trope-y teeny bopper song. At the end of the show, she fights to break put of the trance, which leads the Squip to bring up Jake, offering Christine the chance to become that fulfilled person she dreams of. Christine refuses, and she becomes the one to deactivate the Squips. That way, both Christine and Michael’s decisions to do the best thing allow them to be heroes alongside Jeremy. (Jeremy’s moment of redemption comes anyway, when he decides to try and break the Squips hold on the school, but fails because of his previous surrendering of control to the machine.) When Jeremy finally gathers the strength to ask her out, she declines, saying that she doesn’t really know Jeremy all that well and that she just isn’t ready for a relationship- but she won’t close the door. So, her arc goes from feeling helpless and needing to meet arbitrary standards to finding the independence she wants for the rest of the world in herself.

Jeremy: Christine and Michael’s new arcs, of course, both define the growth Jeremy needs to undergo perfectly. Jeremy needs to learn how to expect respect from others and for himself, and he needs to learn that dating Christine and being popular aren’t the keys to his happiness. As a result, the supporting cast enables Jeremy’s development by teaching him by example while still being relevant and alive characters. However, Jeremy doesn’t deserve the happy ending he gets. I addressed that he shouldn’t magically become all chummy with Michael and Chrstine already, but Jeremy’s decision to decline the Squip only earns him the chance for redemption. It makes no sense that everything is perfect with his dad and the rest of the school all declaring themselves his unconditional friends. Brooke should be rightfully upset at being used by Jeremy, Mr Heere should be furious at Jeremy for his misbehavior, and so on. Jeremy made the mess, and it will be a lot harder for him to earn forgiveness. At the end of the story, Jeremy should instead come to the conclusion that he has a long way to go to become happy, and begin the climb to self improvement- the current resolution is only half of that. (“Of all the voices in my head, the loudest one is mine/So I guess I’ll start the uphill climb/It might be hard but that’s just fine! [Im no lyricist, but you get the idea.]) So, the story ends on a high note, with the people who did the right thing succeeding, and Jeremy repairing the damage he’s done and to earn his happiness- a modern refinement of the ending of these kinds of stories, thus completing the deconstruction.

Other stuff:

Transitioning away from character fixes, the show has an awful flow from song to song- numbers like Halloween and the Smartphone Hour are vestigial little criticisms of youth culture that jack up the pacing of the thing and rip you out of the story. You know something is wrong when someone burning down a house is irrelevant to the plot. The way I’d fix that is to more closely involve Jeremy in those parts of the plot. Jeremy should immerse himself fully in the party, singing his own lyrics about his transition into the lifestyle the Squip wants for him. The audience can be aware of how dangerous this is- the drugs and alcohol at the party, the gossip loop about rich, Jeremy’s awful treatment of Brooke, and so on, but Jeremy is invested in it and loving it. That makes his decision to fight the Squip after seeing Christine’s disgust at him taking one that much more impactful- it’s the turning point of the show, and yet it is irrelevant in the plot compared to the Play.

The show tries to be too much to be liked by its younger fans- Loser, Geek, Whatever is the worst example of this. Just because a line  makes someone go “SKDKSDSKDJSKDS MICHAEL IS SO GAY I CANT” or “JEREMY IS SUCH A GOOD PORTRAYAL OF G.A.D. OMG” online doesn’t mean it’s good writing. Some other examples where pandering ruins stuff: the “Do you love him?” joke in the Pants Song, “My mothers would be thrilled!”, that god awful ADD joke in Play Rehearsal, Rich coming out as bisexual.

I love the idea that the squip adopts the persona of someone it knows the victim will trust and idolize- it’s great worldbuilding that lets the viewer participate in the story by thinking about who theirs would be. However, that doesn’t mean you go all in on the Keanu Reeves joke! Jason Tam’s quip is so bad! Stop the stupid Keanu/Surfer voice! Please!

[xiaomomowrites]

Omg, omg❣️✨ Soo excited *_* Can you do a nerdy Eren headcanons with an ugly, acne, bad-teethed, weak health and cosplayer wannabe version of Mikasa? x‘)

Introduction: Okay haha sooo I’ve gotten used to writing these two as cool, calm, collected, with Eren as a huge fuckboy, and wow it was fun making a complete 180. I added a bit of a twist, so I hope you like it anyway! P.S. this was written at 1am and you totally got @unironicallynapping to laugh hard enough to start crying in the process of digging up these hilariously painful adolescent memories haha. -s.a.

Nerdy Eren, yes. 

He’s like really into Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh and he’s watched Dragonball Z all the way through. Jean tricked him out of giving him his most valuable trading card in elementary and he never let it go.

Trading cards and video games and posters and everything.

Please, he’s thirteen.

Childhood friends with Mikasa and Armin, as per ushe.

Lanky, awkward, lil bit of social anxiety. He’s got some anger issues that come with this, it’s hard not to be insecure, especially at this age. He’d get a little snappy with some misdirected anger in social situations. 

Thick glasses. Obnoxious bifocals and he sits in the front of the classroom.

Eren has braces, and yowzers does it make that cute middle-school-childhood-friend-after-the-school-dance-first-kiss awkward as hell because, shit, her mouth gets stuck in his braces. It doesn’t matter though, they’re on cloud nine that night.

He’s very happy go lucky, absolutely does not want to go into medicine just because his dad does it or business like his brother. 

Eren, my poor baby boy, he has asthma on top of everything. 

Mikasa! Oh, Mikasa. Really into cats but her parents won’t let her have one. So she settles for being one. 

She was a sickly child, taking frequent visits to the hospital, so her parents are pretty protective.

Baby’s got A-cups, barely.

Cat ears, cat stockings, cat phone case, the whole enchilada

Mikasa likes to cosplay her favorite characters, but she’ll only closet-cosplay because her parents, her Asian fucking parents, won’t let her spend any more money than necessary.

But her cat phone case was $40 LOL BECAUSE SHE GOT IT AT SAN JAPAN.

Eren has a little bit of a crush on her though, he thinks those cat ears are cute and she’s honestly the nicest person to him aside from Armin. Never entertains the thought though, kid’s got too much else going on at the moment.

Mikasa, on the other hand, is stupid in love with him but she won’t tell him (Armin finds this painful, but decides against intervening. It’ll happen when it happens, he reasons).

Mikasa buys her first pair of wedges and Eren can’t stop staring at her legs. Her skinny lil legs. 

Mikasa has acne because her Asian skin calls for too much oil, and the dirt buildup causes so many breakouts (im cryin)

She’s devastated, and uses her cosplay makeup to cover it up

ANIME CLUB ANIME CLUB ANIME CLUB

MIKASA WANTS TO BE A KPOP IDOL, AND VOWS TO TRY OUT WHEN SHE’S 15

She learns the dance to Like a Cat by AOA and sends a video to Eren (and hey, she’s really not that bad)

He locks his bedroom door that night

Every day after school they walked to the fast food restaurant one block from the school and paid in cash, feeling so cool because they got there on their own and paid. Eren goes there wanting one thing and ends up wanting something else, thus, “I didn’t bring enough money…”

She buys it for him, but tells her parents she bought her own food.

They share food at lunch and he walks her to class every day. 

He’s her shoulder to cry on when she fails her first exam and has to show her parents. They’re chill, she’s just so hard on herself. 

Eren moves to Marley Independent School District [MISD] because of his dad, so they go to different high schools. He hates it and they’re both devastated, but promise to keep in touch every day. 

Mikasa tries to tell her she likes him before he leaves, she really does. But it just didn’t work out, and Eren moves without knowing. 

They Skype a lot freshman year. Most of the time they’re not even doing anything or talking, just living with the other’s digital presence there. Even in school.

This dies out after first year for little things like, “I don’t have wifi”, “I almost got caught at school”, “connection is terrible, can’t hear you”, “I have an exam so I can’t call you this week”, “I got grounded for a month for something stupid”, and spring break just doesn’t line up for them.

OH SNAP TIME SKIP

They get into the prestigious Reiss University because Mikasa was valedictorian and Eren’s dad was his connection

Oh shiiit Eren ditches the thick frames and now sports cute thin round glasses. He overcame the asthma with meds (thanks dad) and now he’s super into sports and working out. Kid’s jacked and thinks he doesn’t need a shirt most of the time. His social skills improved since she doesn’t talk for him anymore. Now he’s just a closeted nerd, it’s still there deep down. He’s a bio major because maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to follow his father’s footsteps.

Mikasaaaa baby girl. She’s a solid C-cup now and wears heels (stilettos ayeee); bye wedges. Girl’s got curves for DAYS. Somewhere along the line she had outgrown the acne and the frequent health issues, and she’s also obsessed with working out. Ah, and she finally has her own cat. Got accepted to Reiss Uni for being top of her class, but her major is undeclared/undecided for now.

“Oh my god…Eren?”

“….Mikasa?!”

“Wow, it’s…been way too long.”

“I fucking missed you. Shit, you look amazing.”

“You too.”

Oh now they on snapchat ayeeee. So much flirting. He asks her out on snap, to which she replies, “try again”. 

Pretty much start dating like a week after reuniting.

He takes her home to Marley for winter break and Carla pulls her into a mama bear hug, “Oh my…Mikasa! Oh my god! You’re so beautiful!!” 

Mikasa’s parents, on the other hand, don’t even recognize Eren at first when they visit Shiganshina the following week. “Who’s this…? Oh! Eren?? Jeager??? You’re so big now!”

FRAT DADDY ZEKE comes home for break while they’re visiting and doesn’t recognize Mikasa as the Mikasa from Eren’s childhood at first. “Ayeee hah, Eren, oh shit, you uh…you hittin’ that?”

“Yes, clearly, I took her home, jackass gO AWAY.”

postscript:

Mikasa stands in the doorway, waiting for Eren to look up from studying. He’s sitting on his bed, brows knit together in complete concentration, with at least three different books in front of him. It was winter break, she had no idea why he insisted on studying even after finals. Guess he’s always been this way. 

“Hey,” she calls out to him. 

“Mmm,” is his lame response, eyes still focused on his readings. 

“Eren,” she crosses the threshold into his room, hoping what it is she was wanting to show him would at least get his attention. “Look what I found when I was looking through my parents’ attic with my old stuff!” 

“What is it, Mikasa? I’m…” the words seemed to die on his tongue when he finally looked up at her standing beside his bed. She was wearing his oversized hoodie and maybe some shorts underneath. He gives her a once over until his eyes land on the old relic she was trying to show him in the first place at the top of her head. “Are those…?”

“Yes,” she smiles. On her head sat her old cat ears headband, a little worn out, but full of cute (if not cringy) memories. Mikasa flicks the right ear and laughs, and the sound is music to his ears. “I can’t believe I used to wear these everywhere.” 

Eren swallows thickly, suddenly aware of how dry his mouth had become. Not three feet away from him stood his girlfriend, the girl of his adolescent dreams, wearing his hoodie, legs distracting as ever. And the cherry on top was the headband that he found so adorable years back. Oh boy, if his thirteen-year-old self could see this now…

Maybe he had acted on impulse, he wasn’t sure, but the next thing he knew she was underneath him on his bed, his books discarded to the side and his hands were all over her. She laughs again, and it’s enough to make him reel back, flustered.

“I didn’t know you liked these ears that much.”

[comicteaparty]

June 13th-June 19th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from June 13th, 2020 to June 19th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is your physical and digital workspace like when you’re working on your story?

🌈ERROR404 🌈

LOL it really depends on what stage I'm in of the process - My storyboarding space is at home, as comfortable as I can be, a beer and some food at the ready and pure silence. The cats have to be freshly fed, otherwise I'll be harassed and lose my headspace entirely LOL. I usually work on my story boards digitally, just at a very small scale, with my script/outline on my computer and working on my ipad! The double screen helps a LOT, although i would just print out the script if I had access to a printer, haha. When I'm working on the actual page itself, it's a very different story. I usually just try and work on it in tiny little batches during the day when I'm stuck at home, and usually work around the animals as best i can, lmao. Truthfully, I really prefer to be in a coffee shop when I'm working on finishing pages, it makes me so much more productive than i am in this house with so many things to take care of right in front of me, but, obviously, that's a bit difficult to do these days. ;; I usually reserve food and drink until after I pass a milestone in inking/sketching to help motivate me to keep going for as much as I can before taking a break, and I need some kind of music or video playing in the background to keep myself from being absolutely bored out of my mind. My shading process, since it's in black and white, is very easy and i can finish it in one setting, easy, no matter what I'm working with. I also work digitally for my pages, of course, although I don't need more than my ipad and clip studio for it!

DaeofthePast

freshly fed cats

🌈ERROR404 🌈

They are BEASTS when hungry, the little bastards (love them)

I may only work in peace when they're post-food napping lmao

DaeofthePast

we only have one, but same

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I work almost entirely in the corner of my IKEA couch at home I used to work at a proper desk with a Cintiq, but when I switched to Procreate on an iPad, I migrated to the couch and surrounded myself with a nest of clothes and blankets and books and... here I am, bein' cozy. With terrible posture But when I was between jobs last year, I did rent a little coworking space down the street so I could get out of my pajamas and go get comic stuff done there. It was a godsend. I like drawing at my favorite coffee shop every so often too, but I tend to hide my work while I draw, and there, everyone can look over my shoulder The coworking space had a tall artist desk that was rarely used, so I often grabbed that one. Not cheap, but to stave off cabin fever, heck yes, worth it.

🌈ERROR404 🌈

Ahhh I've been really thinking about getting a studio space one of these days I really shouldn't rn, with my finances as they are, but I could REALLY make use of one recently

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I loved the space I used last year. They recently had to close for... current-event reasons... and are going to reopen with all sorts of plexiglass barriers between the desks I feel so bad for them. Good studio spaces are wonderful, I would support them again if I ever was out of a job!

🌈ERROR404 🌈

it's good they've found ways to make it safer, though!

carcarchu

My old workspace was in the basement of my home in canada and it was always perpetually freezing even in the summer and i was frequently visited by spiders so my current workspace is a huge improvement in that regard. I do miss my old ergonomic desk chair though. I'm definitely not the kind of person who can draw in bed or on the couch. I need to be in workmode and having a designated space just for that is necessary for me to get in the right headspace for that.

DaeofthePast

my workspace rn is just my desk with my laptop and my drawing tablet. my laptop is stacked on top of a pile of books so i can see the screen (otherwise my tablet blocks my line of sight). it's kinda simple

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Depends. I have a Cintiq Mobile Studio, so I can draw pretty much every where and sometimes in the oddest position, but most of the time I am on my desk with the cintiq hooked up to a second monitor so I don't have to look down so much.(edited)

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

For Wayfinders: Thumbnails are somewhere cozy and the only physical work. Me and Q sit and plan them out together. The rest of wayfinders are made on Photoshop, and flat colors in clip paint studio. In the world I would love a nice studio place in an office with others. During corentine I have been working from home, and I am not that good at it, being quite the extrovert. Before corentine I was in a artist residency where I worked on Wayfinders which had a workstation and all the programs we could need. It is so nice and me and Q are going to return there when it opens up again!

Miranda

I have an iPad so usually on the couch, cozied up with coffee and pillows and blankets. But sometimes at the table. But usually on the couch like the gremlin I am

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I have a large drafting table, a mini drafting table, and a lapdesk in my papasan when we ink/draw! Toning and letters are all done on the desktop in its own space

Miranda

I need to get a good lap desk. But that sounds like a grand setup!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

My first time hearing about a lapdesk

Omg I need one

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

They are the best things ever Mine has just the pencil holder !(some come with cup holders and its a waste of space imo)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Wow I like your setup of the drafting tables

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I wanna show pics of them....if im allowed in this chat?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I hope so, I'm not sure which channel we can post studio photos at? I did see some did before?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Ill post in shop talk since creator babble gets archived

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

my current space is uh.... a bit better than my last one. I used to work on an old writers desk for a decade and I did most of my comic work sitting there cramped up with my desktop taking most of the space. Now I have an L shaped desk where I have my desktop on the shorter end. The longer end it's my pen, pencils, and watercolor stuff. my display tablet occupy the space at times so switching from digital and traditional without worrying about setup hassle is a lot better than what I dealt with before lol.

I'm glad the days I had to curl up and draw with no privacy are long gone now

kayotics

I’ve got a little drafting table where I draw all my comic pages. I’m messy with my pens so they’re kind of strewn about until I start to lose them. Then I put them back. I’m not particularly neat. I spend most of the comic process off the computer, so most of my digital work is just on an iPad where I can sit anywhere. I try to keep good lighting around my drafting table and there’s always loose eraser shavings all over.

Natasha Berlin (Pot of Gold)

I got myself a lil corner desk by the dining table. Not as well-lit as I'd like, but it's decently ergonomic and I started putting posters on my wall Plus I can leave work mindset easily by turning off my computer and forgetting about the dark corner in the dining room XD(edited)

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

My desk is really sloppy and covered in all kinds of junk. I have a harmonica, a ball of yarn, a bunch of ink bottles, etc on my desk. I have my sketchbook under my tablet and usually a notebook somewhere for writing. My tablet sits to the right of my laptop (on top of sketchbook) while I'm not using it and when I'm using it it goes over my computer keyboard. I sometimes have a glass of water or some food sitting to the lefthand side

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

The only thing I wanna share about my workspace is this

once i spent over three hours looking for that damned pen

never again

🌈ERROR404 🌈

Ajkdhfkjs the models for hte magazine im crying

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh my God

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

mad giggling

Deo101 [Millennium]

youre gonna manage to lose the string

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

omg

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i know in my heart deo is right but still i hope

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

You should weld a metal chain to it

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Watch me lose the whole tablet

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh nooo

I believe in you!

TaliePlume

My workspace is a black table with a white, yellow, blue and green tablecloth with 3 black chairs. It's next to the kitchen. On it, is my laptop and the left side is my clipboard, 3 blue folders full of writing. Then above it, is 3 sketchbooks and another blue folder from a class that I took in community college.

June 16, 2020

sagaholmgaard

I have one long desk at almost three meters. On the left side is all my coffee and tea supplies, in the middle is my work space and on the right is my dining table xD I get everything done from there, despite having a mobilestudio so I COULD sit anywhere and work, lol. It's a blessing during holiday seasons to be able to bring it everywhere, but at some I like my designated working space. Although I am moving in a few weeks, so who knows what my new workspace will be

Moral_Gutpunch

My workspace is anywhere I can draw or write. It's more of a "Will I be interrupted over something petty or stupid" issue than space. Not that I don't want more space.

Mitzi (Trophallaxis)

My workspace is a big, broken corner desk I managed to lug out of an old apartment when it was gonna be trashed. Before then, I'd just draw in bed. I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure the folding chair I sit at is a similar affair. It's got a Dollar General throw pillow on it so I can at least say I'm trying to save my back. The top of the desk is a mess of mostly old bottles and cans, pencils, incense ash, and my old tarot deck. I love this setup dearly. This is the first time I've ever had my own desk space, much less a space I can decorate or leave as messy as I want. Got my own art up on the walls with sticky tack and all! Also the cat's scratching post is directly behind me, because we've learned the cat won't use it unless it's as in the way as possible. What can ya do, lol.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh cats...

Desnik

I got spoiled with an adjustable desk. It is six feet long, and has a whiteboard top for noodling with dry erase markers

my main computer is set up on an adjustable stand so it floats over the desk, and then I have my cintiq, which we tried to mount on a similar stand but then it was just too heavy

I keep my dice collection nearby because fidgeting helps think things through sometimes

and rolling to make odd decisions never hurts

lately during the quarantine I've been sharing the office with my spouse so we've had to establish rules over when it's okay to bug each other(edited)

oh yeah and we also have a whiteboard installed in the office, and it rules!(edited)

Shizamura 🌟 O Sarilho

Mine is pretty simple: I have a laptop that's long stopped being portable and is now mostly just sitting at my desk at all times and a 19 inch Ugee as my display. I usually keep a lot of stuff on top of my desk, but it's mostly just a mess because I have been using it for work too for a while now

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I suppose I'll talk about my setup too :) My main setup is where I do digital art. I share an office with my SO, so we both have workspaces on opposite walls from each other. I work on a corner desk that holds my beefy computer, two monitors, and a Huion Kamvas GT-191. That's where I draw my comic and pretty much everything else done digitally. Ngl, it's a mess right now. I have comic notes and location floor plans in sketchbooks and DnD character sheets spread out all over the surface, and random pens and sticky notes. In the corner of the room, we have a nice large-format printer where I produce prints for conventions. I actually sketch my pages on an iPad pro in Procreate, so during the sketch phase, sometimes I'll just bundle up on my couch and do it, or before quarantine, sometimes I'd sketch on the go. My other workspace (which hasn't gotten much love as of late tbh) is a drafting table in the corner of our living room. I keep a tabletop easel on it and my Copic markers, as well as whatever I'm working on at the moment. (RN it's some ink washes.) The drawers hold all my ink, pencils, erasers, etc. Next to the drafting table is where I keep all my large charcoal, graphite, and oil pastel drawings (mostly school projects), and my large paintings. Other than that, I have a nifty little cart where I keep painting supplies :) I will say, this setup is by far an enormous improvement from my previous setups.

[deltaengineering]

Winter Anime 2019 Part 4: That’s all, folks.

Over already? This is a pretty thin season with not a lot of shows, so it’s not that surprising that there’s not many good ones either. Still, a weak showing. Oh well, let’s get it over with. There were a few decent ones in the last batch.

Circlet Princess

What: Dimwitted schoolgirl is good at some vaguely defined virtual fighting sport, changes school based on it, finds out relevant club has been abolished. Forecast says: 5 member plot incoming.

❌ I think it’s already clear this show isn’t very ambitious, and not very well written either. A game adaptation at its laziest.

❌❌ Man, this girl is STUPID. What the hell.

❌ The rest of the cast are less stupid (which isn’t hard), but that just means they’re so forgettable they might as well not exist.

❌❌ It looks cheap, and by that I mean really really cheap. The character design is ISO standard anime and it’s mostly on model, but that’s as good as it gets. The animation just sucks. That’s a death sentence for an action/sports show with terrible characters.

Bermuda Triangle - Colorful Pastrale

What: Japanese Spongebob, as in cute mermaids. Doing things optional.

❌ To make this quick, this is almost exactly Pastel Memories, only every problem is just a little less extreme. It has fewer characters, it’s looking slightly better, there’s a tiny bit more going on, the setting is mildly more interesting. That still means it is:

❌❌ 1. A boring mess in which a handful of samey girls do nothing of much interest in a location that should be unique, but isn’t.

❌❌ 2. Conspicuously cheap. It even has the same sightline problems.

❌❌ 3. Featuring a character model sheet that is “off” even under the best circumstances. This time due to the very offputting decision to give everyone blobby triangular irises.

❌❌ Unlike Pastel Memories (which was an ad for a mobile game) this is an anime original, so it really has no excuse being this lame.

♎ I find it amusing that Pastel Palettes are providing the OP for an anime, and it’s not the one currently airing that they’re actually characters in.

Endro~!

What: Kiraralike comedy thing in a generic JRPG setting.

♎ Namori character designs, so it’s like Spyce in that it just seems like the Yuru Yuri cast cosplaying a genre. But hey, Namori character designs do look good.

❌ I’m not as done with generic JRPG settings as with generic isekai settings, but it’s still a real problem since the former is now a subset of the latter. Mildly making fun of it does not improve things much either.

✅ The tone is cutesy and pleasant. I find this much preferable to something like Mahoujin Guru Guru, which is pretty much the same thing but with abrasive, high-intensity slapstick instead.

✅ It’s backing that up with generally high-quality, agreeable pastel looks.

❌ Not being annoying is a start, but beyond that this seems very middle of the road and predictable. I don’t get much out of the genre “parody” and simply being cute is still not an unique selling point in anime.

Grimms Notes The Animation

What: Did someone say JRPG? This is a mobile one, vaguely based on fairy tales as the title implies.

✅ This universe runs on the idea that every NPC’s fate is controlled by a preset story they’re aware of. You could make a good story about that if you took it seriously. It even does that somewhat, but only to the degree that you’d expect from a throwaway sidequest in a moderately well-written JRPG.

❌ And the reason for that is that it has to make room for being a JRPG, of course. Read: It’s irritatingly mechanics- and combat-focused. Stuff like the characters changing form when in fights just seems overly complicated and adds nothing.

❌ Said combat looks competent, but not good enough to make up for detracting from what could have been an interesting setting. Merc Storia did this aspect far better (by usually not doing it at all).

❌ So it ends up being better than expected, but then that only amounts to a disappointment.

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai / Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

What: Kaguya and Miyuki are in the student council of a prestigious school and HATE HATE HATE each other. Specifically, they hate the part where the other one won’t just finally admit their love.

✅ The joke here is that it’s operating on full intensity at all times, over the most simple matters. It’s pretty much Kaiji, only about dating - complete with hammy narrator. This is another one of those shows where I can’t say with certainty that it’s solid, but I had a blast during the first episode.

✅ Regarding Quintuplets, I made it clear that I love me some sparks in my romantic comedies. It doesn’t get much more explosive than this.

✅ The characters are comparable to Quints too: Smart scheming upstart vs. rich scheming ojou, with a simpleminded girl in the middle that ends up winning more often than not simply by not overdoing it.

✅ The visuals are just as over the top as the proceedings depicted. Occasionally a filter massacre, but mostly cool.

♎ The long-term viability of this show depend entirely on whether they can consistently come up with scenarios that work, which isn’t a given. Also, this is so intense it might become tiresome - I already felt some fatigue towards the end of the first episode. We’ll see, I guess.

Kakegurui ××

What: Some weirdos think they can crash the party at Hyakkaou with an intent to scare the daylights out of Yumeko and Midari, of all people. Let’s just say they were not as prepared as they thought.

✅ As you might have guessed by me watching the sequel, I liked Kakegurui. It has its problems, but if you’re down for some crazypants madness, this show delivers.

✅ This is one of the better episodes of it too, because it gets right into it and the game they play is dead simple. Kakegurui was never about smart moves or strong characters, so not having anything detract from our girls deriving the entirely wrong sort of pleasure from danger is a plus.

♎ Sadly, the OP is a step down (though still great) and the ED is simply an inferior, overcomplicated version of the magnificent original one. They seem to know this too, because they play the OP cut of Deal with the Devil in its entirety for a montage. The rest of the production is on par with the original though, so it’s fiiiine. Oh well.

❌ It got Netflix’d again and the subs situation is dire. Since this is one I actually like, I might have to wait for the official release.

Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai / The Magnificent Kotobuki

What: Piston-engined fighter plane pornography.

✅ This delivers where Girly Air Force failed: Close to zero exposition, the majority of the episode is just planes dogfighting with barely any talking either. And that part is executed really well. I think the plane startup sequence alone is as long as the total of Girly’s airtime.

✅ Guess what, it’s Tsutomu Mizushima, previously known for unbridled panzer (und girls) pornography, and boy can you tell. However, this cuts out a lot of GuP’s bullshit: A plane doesn’t have the cast of K-ON in it, it’s not over-the-top zany, and whatever this universe is, it can’t be as insipid as GuP’s. The classy milwank exists you guys, we found it.

✅✅ The music really helps here, sky pirates vs zeppelins just wouldn’t work without some classic swashbuckling orchestra background. Fat sound mixing on the dakka too. It’s great.

♎ Can’t really say much about the narrative because we kinda skipped that in this episode aside from the obvious, but Mizushima’s Shirobako collaborator Michiko Yokote is writing it, and that’s a good sign.

❌ Now we’re getting to the elephant in the room though: There’s no way the planes wouldn’t be CG in 2019, but the characters are CG too, and their animation is mediocre. Also, they did the KADO thing where they 2D-animated the side characters that aren’t important enough to model. This has the funny side effect that you can tell who’s going to die real soon by them looking better. It’s far from great, but probably a worthy tradeoff if the mechanical side is this extensive and also delivers.

✅ This is definitely not for everyone, since you have to have more than a casual appreciation for those magnificent girls in their flying machines. I do, though.

revisions

What: A chunk of Shibuya gets teleported to the dystopian future, local doomsday prepper gets handed a large robot because he’s special.

❌ A Goro Taniguchi joint being a poorly conceived scifi mess? Say it ain’t so! I especially dig the tryhard English jargon (mecha: “String Puppet”, monsters faction: “Revisions”, particular monster, I think?: “Civilian”, tacticool operetah: “Balancer”).

❌ Works very hard to characterize the main character, to the detriment of everyone else. A for effort, but you made an unlikeable asshole though.

❌ This is another full CG show, with the quality of the animation being curiously variable. Sometimes it’s well above average and sometimes it’s painful. There doesn’t seem to be much method to it.

✅ Tries to establish stakes by being mondo edgy and graphically murderizing some poor bystanders. It’s adorable.

❌ If you’re really jonesing for some mecha, you can watch all of this on Netflix right now. It’s not like you have any alte- wait, Egao no Daika has mecha too. Well there you go then. That’s a better show.

[poetic-beats]

Criticism?

If you want to give me helpful feedback I am ALL EARS. Because that is why i post on a forum and have been for way before i made this blog like 2 years ago.

I LOVE to hear constructive thoughts on how to improve.

However I really do not get people who seemingly have seen little of my work. Especially since alot of my original posts to this blog were not what i considered ‘poetry’ in its most traditional sense a lot were in quote format and more like short prose...or those 6-10 word stories/poems.

Some were more statements and diary style entries hence the excerpts from a book i’ll never write tag.

Others maybe could be considered very very short poems but i guess it was not what i consider to be poetry poetry.

The stuff on the forum is the stuff i post more frequently now on here. 

Its not about length as such but also layout structure rhyme or no rhyme free flow etc.

Just all of it. 

And unfortunately the forum bugs out and stops counting after 500 poems on the main page but i know i have done quite a bit more than that because the no. has been stuck at 500 for months now.

If i go into categories i have posted my poems in less than 10% will be under the love category and within that are sad love poems.

So the comment i received today on a positive poem about love and support from  a partner during tough times being the same as every other piece of work i always write has baffled me.

I am making a deal out of it i guess by making this post and not just ignoring and moving on bcause i guess im wondering now is that how i am viewed am i just generic and spouting the same stuff over and over again? Are you my followers/readers tired of my poems?

Is there any feedback I can receive anon or not? Is there any other topics you would like to see me write about?

And also I kinda feel like when youve amassed over 500 poems around mostly niche topics like mental health specifically bipolar depression anxiety and BPD for the most part that there is gonna be similarities in the words i write. because i mean how many ways can you really talk about such a thing that makes it totally unique from your past works or even other peoples works on that subject matter.

Then we get into the philosophical debate of is anything ever truly original and unique anymore?

I dont know...And also honestly yes i want to improve my writing YES i want to write things that others find solace or happiness in or they can relate too. or that makes people FEEL something strongly etc.

But the only reason i ever started writing was for ME..a coping mechanism to handle my undiagnosed at the time mental illnesses and once i got diagnosed nothing changed. In fact by that point i had fallen in love with written word. 

I then focused on really improving and honing my poetry through advice on the forum i am a part of.

I want to write good poetry but first and foremost i do ultimately write for myself and to help me cope with stress in my life. So many nights recently ive wanted to die and self harm and instead ive sat at my laptop and just written poetry instead and its the thread that keeps me hanging on to life. 

It is my failsafe when all else is going wrong i have my voice through poetry to rely on. I dont know why but I just can’t say what i want to express about how I am depressed through voice or letter unless it in poetic form. I just find something about poetry itself as an easier vessel to express my emotions than any other form of writing! 

Anyways so YES please message me with other topics you would like me to write about and please if you have ANY helpful advice dont be afraid to message me anon or not just so long as you keep it civil dont outright trash me and just suggest how i could improve in a non confrontational manner we’ll be good!

[hajimailhinata]

hey hajime? homes been really stressful because im severely failing one of my classes in school and its already nearly the end of the first marking period, plus its senior year. outside of that i dont even have a job and i dont know how to start looking, and even then who would want to hire me. im sorry i dont mean to bother you with dumb problems i brought upon myself but. i know youll prob just say something like "but thats what im here for" so. please help me if you can, i need some guidance.

That is what I’m here for, and they’re not dumb problems! You didn’t bring them upon yourself, either. I bet you studied really hard and did your best in that one class, especially if people at home were bothering you about it. And how’re you supposed to job hunt if you don’t know how to start? Those are two very real issues, and I’d never put you down for them. I’m just sorry you’ve had to deal with them by yourself. I don’t know if I can be of any help, but I tried to think about the situation over the time I spent away.

First off, your class… Senior year is important, it’s true. From the way it sounds, you’re going to continue school, right? That’s why you’re worried about grades. But let me tell you, schools don’t worry about the first grade! What universities look at is improvement. Sure, GPA counts for something, but being able to show considerable improvement is just as important, especially with a rough patch on your records. So right now, don’t let that class get to you. It can’t be changed, so… what’s important is focusing on what you can do this next period. That probably won’t help your home situation, but keeping that in mind can help you bear it and maintain your sanity.

It’s not embarrassing to seek out tutoring if you need it. If you’re struggling with your class, pursue outside resources to help you improve for the next grading period. Getting that done is more important than agonizing over what’s already past. Are there textbooks you can read? Enrichment assignments? A tutoring program at all? If all else fails, talking to others in the class or even the teacher can go a long way. If I knew the class, I’d even see if I could find you something online. 

Videos can be helpful with math, and visual activities are good for sciences… For writing and stuff, practicing with other students offers perspectives helps you to broaden your way of thinking and work more flexibly. Try new methods. Just remember that you can still change this, and so long as you’re able to show progress, you’re still just as valid for getting into college as anybody else. Even with one bad mark, you can still write a good case for yourself to bypass the entrance bar anyway. Colleges are a business first and foremost, and they’re willing to work with you so long as they get their tuition payments. Don’t worry too much. Just continue to try hard, and don’t feel weird looking for help.

As for a job, well… I actually don’t know much about that sort of thing. I… never graduated. And I never will. I spent all my time studying with my parents paying all my fees, and now… I just kind of live here? I’ve never had a job. I do know a little, though. When you’re looking for jobs without a resume to back you up, it’s important not to be picky and not to overshoot. You can’t really get a good job without job experience and contacts to refer you, so that’s why landing an entrance position is the first career.

For most students, fast food and grocery stores are the norm. Stores in general, actually. Those are the kind of jobs you should look at; They’re less picky, even if the pay isn’t all that great starting out, and are known for letting in blank slates. The key to getting a job is to be stubborn, too- Apply anywhere and everywhere that’s a good start! Don’t be over ambitious, just focus on local businesses where other students are known to have been employed. Submit as many applications as you can! If you have volunteer work on record, you can ask the teacher who moderated those activities to speak for you as reference, too.

It’s kind of vague, I know, but… For a kid just starting out, that’s how everyone usually has to do it. Applying indiscriminately to every position within their range of travel. Sooner or later, persistence comes to fruition, especially with those low level jobs I was talking about. Keep your phone on hand for the calls, because missing them usually means they won’t call you back. Be ready for them, and dress well for interviews. Practice speaking, but know not to exaggerate too much. Tell the truth as sweetly as you can, avoiding things that sound too unpleasant.

Your first job probably won’t be the greatest, but you’ll need something to write down for your job history. It’s only one you have your starting point that other jobs will begin to look at you. You can worry about career-related jobs once you’re actually out of school, so don’t fuss too much in advance. There’s time for that later.

..Does that make sense? I’m not sure. But… Yeah, that’s my advice.

Listen. People will tell you this is a critical period to your life, but I’m saying it’s not. Early jobs, first term grades… Sure, they’re important to get a nice start on, but it’s not impossible to recover from if you’re late to the job market, or you slip up. You can make changes. You’ll figure something out. Graduating is hardly the start of your adult life, as much as people want you to believe. Even graduates are still struggling to figure things out, so don’t worry. You have time. And no matter what happens, it’s too early in your life for you to be totally ruined.

I believe in you, but I know that alone isn’t very comforting. So.. go forward with my best wishes. This is your future, after all. Nobody can ruin it. You can only keep molding it.

[fae-fucker]

hey! from one writer to another, i'd like to ask some advice you may or may not be able to give. ive finally found the courage to post some writing (although i am not at all overwhelmingly proud of it. anyway)... What advice would u possibly give a writer who's feeling like their work is Eh, at best, and Bleh at worst? have you ever had like, tons of projects and you just werent sure what to focus on, what to pour all of your heart into?? have you ever just... not felt passionate? im stuck! @~@

Bruh I struggle with this every day. 

(Also this is my book blog and I have a writing blog over here where I sometimes respond to people asking for tips and mostly post about personal projects.)

I’m gonna try to give you advice, but seeing as I’m really in no place to give any, feel free to ignore everything I say.

What advice would u possibly give a writer who’s feeling like their work is Eh, at best, and Bleh at worst?

Read some terrible, terrible books. This might sound and look petty, and who cares if it is, but this honestly helps me a lot. 

No matter how good you are, there will always be someone out there who’s better. But. This also means that no matter how bad you are, there will always be someone out there who’s worse. Look for good books when you need #goals and inspiration. Look for bad books when you need to feel good about yourself and educate yourself on what not to do.

People say “don’t compare yourself to others”, but we all do it anyway, so you might as well get something useful out of it.

Writing is art, and art is subjective. Some books that are critically acclaimed and loved by fans I think are pure and utter garbage. Some books that people consider to be bad I think are amazing. That applies to your writing as well.

As for how to feel good about your own writing, regardless of what others think: 

I think it’s one of those fundamental artist things that you can’t really avoid. If you think your art is amazing, you won’t improve, so self-criticism is good.

But on the other hand, feeling like everything you make is crap can kill your need to create as well as any outside criticism can. You have to find a middle ground where you feel like you can do better, bu what you have isn’t terrible either. 

I don’t have tips on how to find this mysterious balance, sadly. I struggle with it myself. 

What helps me when I feel terrible about my writing is having a few friends read it and tell you what they feel. It might not be the most nuanced and honest criticism, but that tiny bit of encouragement can go a long way and give you enough positive reinforcement to continue writing. 

have you ever had like, tons of projects and you just werent sure what to focus on, what to pour all of your heart into?? 

Absolutely! I used to have this a lot back in the day, where I’d have dozens of ongoing and inevitably abandoned projects clogging up my brain. 

I don’t have this problem quite as much anymore, because I’ve developed this technique that kills off any ideas that don’t hold my interest enough to become a good project I feel passionate about, kinda like natural selection (except not at all, I don’t know science).

I don’t know if this will work for anybody else (in fact, it definitely won’t, because some people need to actively and purposefully keep working on ideas to like them more), but I used to be a chronic plot bunny chaser and now I’m a skilled sniper, killing only the juciest prey. 

Basically, when you get a new idea: Don’t start writing it. 

Just don’t. Write down the basic concept if you don’t want to forget it (I do this all the time), but don’t start writing the story. Let it sit there in your head, let it stew in your brain juice. We tend to get attached and excited about new ideas becaue they’re … new and exciting, duh. But once they become “old” and boring, we give up and go look for something else that interests us.

This basically does that for you without you having to waste time writing it and feeling disappointed later. If you notice yourself thinking less and less of your idea, then it’s not something that would’ve held your attention for long anyway. If you notice one idea coming back to you over and over and over and you just can’t stop thinking about it: that’s the one. That’s the golden nug. 

Once you find it you’ll know that this is the one you want to spend time with. Write a couple of chapters, see where how you feel about it, but try not to figure it out all at once, because then it’ll become boring again and you’ll lose interest.

This process usually takes months for me. It’s long, but it pays off in the end. My new idea has taken me that much to cement itself, and I still don’t know everything, but I know enough to know that I want to find out more about it. 

Find a thing that interests you a lot and you know you’d love to explore, but leave yourself some room for development and discovery so you don’t get bored.

You want a project to pour all of your heart into, but how many hearts do you have? Just one, presumably. This is gonna sound cheesy, but logically, you can’t pour all of your heart into every project you have, at least not all at once. 

This is just my #deep way of saying that focusing on a few projects can help make them better. You want to make one or two things that are amazing instead of seven that are meh, right?

Pick one or two or even three, and alternate between those when one of them gets boring. It’s ok to let things rest and let yourself miss the project and rediscover your love for it.

have you ever just… not felt passionate?

Yep! With my #brainweirds, I feel passionate once in a blood moon. 

What keeps me going? 

I have no idea. I have a story and I want to share it. These characters torment me every day and I want them to torment someone else for a change. 

What keeps my motivation going is also the fact that there are people out there actually waiting for me to finish my book so they can read it. Find someone like that, it’s actually not super hard becaue the interner is a perfect place to find people who like stuff that you like. You only need a couple of cheerleaders to get yourself back on track.

And it’s ok to take a break. You don’t have to feel passionate all the time, and you definitely won’t even if you tried to. Do small projects. Do a low-effort fanfic. Or don’t do anything at all! 

But you’re asking what to do to feel passionate and how to keep going, and I honestly don’t know the secret to that, even though I’ve seemingly unlocked it.

I think you should just pack your stories full of things you like. Tropes, ideas, concepts, worlds, characters. Fill this thing with things you love and want to see more of, and you’ll notice how it pulls you back in because you just like it so much and you want to see it come true and share it with others. 

I have shamelessly made a post with all my personal tropes and it’s silly, but it’s what I write and what I gravitate towards, and I have a bunch of people interested in my work already. Not because I’m awesome, but because one will always find an audience, and if you love something a lot, there will be someone out there who will love it too. No matter how “eh” or “bleh” you think it is.

I hope this helped! Good luck!

[glassandmetalwings]

...No. These thoughts have been ruminating in my head for more than a month. They need to be let out.

Below’s gonna be my whole thing about rp and all that. For the record, I’m not trying to create drama or anything-that’s why it’s over here, where only a few rp will see it. I’m not attempting to target anyone or beg for attention. I don’t even expect change or anyone to try to comfort/disprove me. But it needs to be said or I’m going to implode.

You know why I at least tried to archive my rp blogs? Because I felt insignificant. If I had any role at all, it was to bolster everyone else, at the expense of my own happiness. It hurt.

I’m trying to accept a few things regarding my relation to the PKMN scene, and I’m getting there:

Since I can’t handle IM systems like d.iscord, I’m left out from a lot. OOC conversations have moved to that platform, which means my ability to befriend people is limited at best, made worse by me stressing even over tumblr’s IM system and not replying. That’s on me; I’m not expecting people to go out of their way to communicate with me in a different way.

I’ve passed the prime of my community experience. For everyone’s respective reasons, which I completely understand, most of my partners aren’t that active anymore. I’m not about to push them to be more active for gratification, because that’s a pretty awful thing to do. Most of the dash crack and focus has moved on to newer people. More relevant people. I had my time where anons sent me asks about my threads and plots, or started up their own little plots with my muses (Jules’ October curse MA a few years ago, for example), and now it’s other blogs’ turns.

Relating to both of the above, me being too nervous to talk to the newer blogs further limits my ability to do anything.

I fully acknowledge these, and probably more things that are escaping me. But the fact remains that I love my muses and I live for those interactions I do get, which is why I couldn’t stand leaving. When I left, I spent a lot of nights up until 2:30, mind spinning with plot ideas I felt I no longer had any right to discuss. So much creative energy, and no matter how I tried I couldn’t re-direct it.

So I returned, a few people expressed their happiness that I was back, and how they were worried when I left. I’m grateful to those people, don’t get me wrong. I hold them very dear to my heart.

But it hasn’t taken very long for me to return to feeling like shit.

I’m trying. My art has gotten a significantly more attention than it did before (when 8 notes is a significant improvement to 2 notes from non-rp friends...), and I’ve gotten quite a few new followers. I dropped old threads and started a threadtracker to keep on top of things. But...it feels pointless.

I try to get involved in dash commentary. Nothing happens. I don’t feel like pushing it more because it feels like I’m being obnoxious.

I send asks, even for memes I have no intention of reblogging. When I turn around and reblog memes, I get next to nothing. Or I get people reblogging the meme from me without sending anything, and them not only getting asks, but it blowing up and everyone else getting asks...except me. I have a small list of blogs I’m tempted to soft block because it feels like they reblog memes multiple times a week and either don’t ever send me stuff or send it once in a blue moon. It’s not worth the effort of confronting people over it, because it’s just games, right? It’s just for fun?

While it hasn’t happened since my return, one of the most painful things that happened to me were positivity nights. I would send out so many asks that were of the ‘send this symbol and I’ll shout out a blog I like or admire’-not for an ego-stroking, but because I genuinely want people to feel good and want to contribute to a healthy rp environment. You know how many times I’ve gotten mentioned in one of those posts since...early December?

Twice. It’s similar with those quizzes where you tag people at the end.

And yeah, I get that if I were to reblog the meme too, and share positivity, I might be mentioned more. But it’s so hard to get into that headspace to gush over others when you feel ignored. And then I worry there’s someone like me that I don’t hate, but who’s expecting me to tag them. I don’t want them to feel abandoned or betrayed.

I genuinely feel like I’m an afterthought, if that. The whole purpose of me existing in the community isn’t to interact, or contribute, or even write (headcanons and worldbuilding? Who cares.)-I sit, and I encourage positivity in others, and occasionally I’m a friendly face to see on the dash after a long absence. Sometimes I do an event that’s focused around others (like the Seafolk one right now, or even me handing out codes), and everyone says ‘you’re a great person for doing something like this!’. As if nothing else I do has value. That’s really...heartbreaking. It’s draining. It’s destructive.

Sometimes-often-I feel like there’s some kind of warning out about me, or rumor. Maybe that’s why the people I used to interact with don’t seem interested in me anymore, I tell myself. The only reason I don’t get anon hate is that I’m walking on eggshells, careful to be respectful even when I’m broken. And then every post I make, I’m just waiting for that ask, the one that confirms that I’m a problem and almost no one likes me. I honestly get nightmares about it.

Maybe, I tell myself, maybe I’m just that bad of a writer.

And I don’t want to act desperate. I don’t want to say to the dash ‘please! validate me!’. I try to reserve that to really bad days-to the days I honestly want to kill myself but can’t, because people in the real world are depending on me to exist. I can’t even say that without worrying people are a) going to panic even though I’m specifically saying I have no intent to hurt or kill myself (but the feeling is there, and it’s not going away), or b) will come at me claiming I’m just saying that for attention. So I sit, and I watch the dash pass me by, and I’m miserable.

So...yeah. There’s probably a lot more I could touch on, but my brain is drawing a blank. Like I said, I’m not blaming anyone except myself, my high expectations, and my depression/anxiety.

And it sucks, but right now there’s not much I can do about it. Hiatus doesn’t work for me, and we just saw how much of a mess me leaving was. I don’t want to move to another platform, plus the whole IM thing keeps me off d.iscord. But...at least I put some words to these thoughts and feelings.

[retrokon]

When Creativity runs out..

I am creative person.

When I create something from scratch, is it music, poem, level, review or anything really, it brings me the greatest joy in my life.

Sure, it's great to listen to fantastic music album, but it's even better when you create yourself a better one! I'm not bragging about my level, or hating on the album I listened to - It's about self-realisation, improving yourself and polishing your skills, to later use them to create finished product with original feeling and part of your soul!

But as a creative person, sometimes my music starts to sound like blip blops, levels are just plain and uninspiring, and my writing bores me when I write it. My creative power ran out, and my brain cannot produce anything fresh, new or intetesting. Oh, what I can do then?

I made mental list of steps what I do in that case. It took me many years to realize what should I do, and this is type of knowledge you want to learn as early as your creative ability depletes.

1. Stop;

It's 3'o clock, you sit next to your notebook, which is surrounded by 2 empty cups of coffee you drank some time ago. You're tired, not because of late hour, but because something is not right. It didn't happen before. You remember that your pen wrote every word by itself, and so your notebook was quickly filled by pages of your story you were writing so fast.

Sweat drops from your forehead. Your eyes are eagerly looking for answer, but they can find only one:

Nothing. Literally nothing!

There is no more energy to produce right now. Your mind cannot help you anymore. It is best to rest, have a walk or hot shower. Even salomon cant drink from empty. Chill. Trying to create more can be waste of time right now, so just S T O P.

2a. Inspire yourself;

After rest or day off (or 2, no worries!) You should pick up your work again and continue. Sometimes picking up your tools is a creativity firestarter, sometimes you have to read your stuff from begining to get same spark that made you create all of this. Sometimes it's not that, so what else you can do? Listen to some amazing musician, watch some paintings of your favourite artist, read some classic poem that makes enormous impression on you! It cannot be any piece of art, it has to be something that pushes you.

2b. Do something else;

Is it just me, when Im trying to create great music, it sounds like farts, but when I try do do something else, it's amazing? I just couldn't do anything more with my game project, so I switched to music. Sometimes your creative power doesn't run out, it just changes to something else! You will know when it's time to switch again.

3. Stay focused;

When you have that energy to finish that piece of music and fine-tune it, don't interrupt it. Do all other important things before. Got shopping to do? It's better to do that before your "studio time". Taking breaks and getting interrupted are completely different matters, so take breaks when needed. Tell your most loved ones that you need to have full block of time (Full 20mins, or 1hour, or more) to finish your project.