#me try not to enjoy my favorite characters suffering challenge

[meowdy-all]

Jayce Talis is the perfect shape to put through the horrors and satisfy my need for hurt/comfort. I need more fics about Viktor finding out about how Jayces time in the other world affected him. Like yes, he saw the world, but i need him to find out about the leg,specifically the infection, the months of solitude (which he was driven insane by), the starvation, the lizards, the hallucinations. The dude's been suffering for months and has not had a moment to spare for anything good. Let his husband comfort him.

And i know jayces suffering is meant to be a mirror of viktors. Im not discounting that. Hell, viktor more than deserves to be comforted. But this fandom tends to overlook how fucking traumatic what jayce went through was.

Isolation is a tourture method. Jayce literally went mad. He's drawing and writing on walls, and he's hallucinating. The human mind is cruel and even worse when you have guilt, which jayce has PLENTY of.

And if how it affected him mentally doesn't get you, let's talk physically. Resetting your own bone is a gamble, and it obviously healed wrong. He can't walk on it, so in order to survive, he has to move. And as someone who has problems with her own legs, there two was to do that and both are fucking Humiliating. He's at the bottom of a ravine. there's no food, and the water obviously isn't clean. Injesting either is a bad idea and a gamble, but it's the only food and water source he has.

Look at him before!

(Gif by @melmedarda )

In season 2

He's a shade or 2 lighter. He has stress lines, scars on his face and lips, and he's visibly lost weight. (The animators fucking SLAYED with that.) My man looks so fucking tired. Hes what? 31? 31 year olds dont look that fucking exhausted for no reason, and I wish we talked about it more.

[kalinara]

So I've mentioned before that I'm really enjoying the Phoenix ongoing. I think the creators are doing a really great job of balancing the idea of Jean as a human being and Jean as a space goddess, and giving her challenges that actually feel epic enough to BE a challenge, while also giving me adorable moments with her grasshopper concubine husband.

I'm hoping they'll be able to continue this for a long time, but I am somewhat realistic. There is likely to be a point where they run out of ideas as to how to write stories about a literal cosmic space goddess, and we're likely to get one of three things happen: Jean dies (I hope not, as it's been done. Multiple times!), Jean as the Phoenix goes flying off into the aether to do god-things elsewhere and MAYBE she'll occasionally pop up in other books as long as she doesn't de-stabilize the plot (which is better, but in practice, I suppose will basically look the same as option one), or be depowered - hopefully to about the level she was in the 90s, where she could be a significant and powerful part of a team without being a total game-breaker - whereupon she's likely to join whichever X-team that Scott is on. (IMO, this is the best option as there'll still be plenty to explore with her.)

So yeah, I'm basically assuming Phoenix will have a fairly limited run time and I'll consider whatever length it ends up being a happy gift to me.

I do have one wishlist item that I really want the series to tackle before its end. And surprise, perhaps, it doesn't actually involve my favorite character as a suffering damsel in distress to fuel Jean's character development. (Mostly because I feel like that's likely to happen anyway.)

My wishlist is this:

I WANT THE FUCKING GREYS BACK.

End of Greys was an incredibly mean-spirited book. I said it and I meant it. Even if you accept that it had to exist to give Rachel more angst and trauma, (I'd point out that she doesn't need it, but well, she IS a Summers), and it DID facilitate a reconciliation between Rachel and Scott - as she finally moved past her anger at him for everything after Jean's death, there is no fucking reason they couldn't have killed them off off-panel.

There was no fucking reason we had to watch the entire fucking family die, one by one, in gruesome ways, until poor Elaine loses her fucking mind and starts yelling at Rachel (because Rachel must suffer - which again, fair, and makes a kind of funny/terrible parallel with Jono's death, cursing Scott's name, in Rosenberg's X-run.)

But anyway, we're decades past that in real time. Rachel and Scott have brand new traumas to bond over. It became yet another pressure to freak out poor teen Jean, but she's gone back to the past and adult Jean is back and a fucking goddess of resurrection.

So let's bring them back!

I don't really care how we do it. Maybe their deaths were faked! The Shi'ar took them for study to try to reproduce whatever led to Jean's Phoenixing to begin with!

Maybe some renegade Shi'ar scientist cloned them, and the clones are off in space awaiting rescue. (I'd probably want to throw in a cloned Katherine Summers, just because I'm greedy and she deserves a chance to have adventures too!)

Maybe Jean just fucking wills them back to life. I don't care. I want John, Elaine, Liam, Sara, and all the countless other Grey relatives back damnit.

[stardustdiiving]

What popular familial headcanons do you not like? If you're willing to share, of course

This post was specifically about parent / child interpretations of Zhongli & Xiao and Nahida & Wanderer ! which r my favorite genshin character dynamics and also involve my two category 5 genshin blorbos . Like obvious disclaimer I don’t have a problem with people liking said hcs but I have kind of a bad grudge against both bc I’m a bit polarized out of people just Really Really insisting on them whenever I talk / make fanworks about the characters ☹️ along with just really not liking the characterizations attached to both dynamics esp in how they handle Xiao & Nahida

Elaborating on both for fun & how I like to characterize them under the cut

I like Zhongli & Xiao as a form of character study where you kind of lean into the god/follower power dynamic and the way Xiao’s idea of duty/devotion blends with his internalized dehumanization. The idea is Xiao gives Zhongli a lot of power over him bc he wants to be devoted to Zhongli as a weapon more than a person while Zhongli is, used to being in a position of power but trying to navigate around this bc he wants Xiao to learn to exist outside suffering

Its not a very actively destructive dynamic for either of them but it’s kind of challenging Xiao’s dehumanization of himself and willingness to die/suffer for Zhongli out of a deeply engrained loyalty and devotion to him. I sometimes enjoy zhongxiao (their ship) in the sense I think it can be fun to throw in very unbalanced complicated romantic feelings into this for added drama/ambiguity, though this is something I totally get people not being into, it just appeals to me the same way Pearl/Rose from Steven Universe was my gay awakening at age 11 ahshhxhx. Even then I don’t look to ship material very much bc I’m not really interested in a conventional romantic relationship with them, just a specific kind of Character Exploration if that makes sense?

But with that in mind I’m just really not into the father/son portrayal bc I feel it’s just really awkward and weird to do any of the complicated emotional introspection or w/e I’m interested in doing w the dynamic through that lens. People can be really pushy about the headcanon whenever I talk about it to a degree that’s kinda off putting….and im not a fan of characterizing Xiao as this edgy emo teenager like a lot of people seem to do with it you know?

Nahida & Wanderer I do enjoy exclusively platonically / even as “found family”, but I am a rare case of being more of a Nahida guy over a Scaramouche guy so it doesn’t do much for me when Nahida is reduced to being his mom/therapist/emotional crutch/etc especially when a big reason I love hat radish is the way both characters compliment each other and have a lot of basis for a very mutual and balanced relationship. I feel mom/therapist Nahida adds a kind of, inherent emotional imbalance(?) to their relationship that kinda contradicts with what appeals to me about hat radish in the first place. I think the way both characters narratively foil/contrast each other and become friends who very much seem to be on each other’s level when both of them have often felt alienated/isolated in their lives is what makes them very charming, so I’m only really interested in interpretations that maintain that mutualness & sense of them being able to learn from each other evenly you know!

I’m also just not fond of maternal/therapist Nahida in particular because I’m just really not a fan of the way female characters in fiction are often regulated to just being “the mom friend” or emotional crutch especially for male characters. This is especially off putting to me with Wanderer & Nahida because while yeah by technicality they’re both 500 years old, I think Nahida being childlike is very relevant to the narrative of her character, so I’m even less enthusiastic about making her dynamic with a comparatively adult man one where she parents him and helps him through all his emotional angst. Because when I see people portray Wanderer as this angry emo teenager who yells at her for telling her to clean his room (which I think is also ooc for him tbh!) or only exist to comfort him emotionally because they think it’s funny/cute the first thing on my mind is like….well, why do we think the idea of a girl being motherly and nurturing to fix a guy’s emotional angst is cute? Why do we think a teenage boy screaming at his mom in a very “boys will be boys, the girl is the mature one” way is funny? It’s just, EUHFHFJF. The undertones of it of it just don’t agree with me and I don’t like the idea of waving off potential bias in how we engage with gender, race, etc in fiction just because it’s “not that deep” or just one headcanon. And I don’t mean this as like a moral, personal judgement against everyone who does this headcanon of course, just that it does very much follow certain trends of how female characters are treated in fandom and I don’t think we have to tip toe around that you know

Like…I don’t know! Like I said, I think Nahida’s childlikeness is important to her character & how she furthers the themes of Sumeru; I mean that the reason she’s neglected her entire life is because Sages disregard the idea a child has any “useful” wisdom to offer them + feel emboldened to mistreat her because of that:

The same beliefs that lead the Sages to abandon Nahida are ultimately the same beliefs that lead them to collaborate with the Fatui to construct divinity for Scaramouche; it’s the antagonistic rhetoric of Sumeru’s story that Nahida exists in conflict with! Which is also foundational for hat radish, you know? Because I think something that makes them charming is how much they can contrast another—them ideologically crashing like this at first just makes any development where they get to know each other later on a lot more impactful bc stuff like this does a lot to ground the characters in a story!

Nahida & Wanderer are both characters who long for human connection after frequently being isolated/alienated/discarded, so naturally it would be great for them to make a friend they feel on equal standing with and feel understood by. People talk alot about what Nahida can do for Wanderer, and we see it very explicitly in Inversion of Genesis; she knows what to say to help him feel humanized while not feeling pitied or coddled, but this naturally in my eyes would go both ways where Wanderer being less bright eyed about the world I think would help Nahida feel grounded in a lot of places.

There’s also just something cute about Wanderer being generally established to get along well with kids and him being friends with Nahida, because it really makes me imagine ur setting up for a dynamic where Wanderer probably likes Nahida’s more childish qualities that she was formerly very discarded for. Azar talks very disparagingly of Nahida’s capacity for empathy/compassion, but it seems to be those exact qualities that Wanderer comes to respect about her. He rolls with her being silly and playful with him (see: Hat Guy nickname) & just generally gives me the impression their friendship is probably one both characters could come to comfortably be themselves within. And i just feel I’d lose a lot of that if I did like a maternal or therapist route! So UM. That’s my long winded reasoning for why I’m not really into the dominating familial hat radish fanon SHUSHXJX

[aventvrina]

Author portrait. Get to know the author behind the blog! repost, do not reblog.

Basics.

Name/nickname: Z/Uzi/Uzir all from Uziris Age: 29 Pronouns: She/her Years of writing: 13 on tumblr, 16+ if we count MSN

Reflection.

Why did you pick up writing? - I picked up writing around the same time I picked up drawing. It was just something I kinda always did on instinct, I gotta thank a lot my cousins for putting up with me being my first beta readers. But honestly it was mostly do I could make my own fun with my characters. Do you have any writing routines? - I fear I am a very in the moment writer. I've tried all my life to change it but if I'm not feeling it it's not coming. (Yes, I did suffer a lot writing my thesis how could you tell?) However, when I'm in the mood I only have two options, either I write a thesis and two books in one setting or I write one paragraph that satisfies the urge and call it a day. There's no in between. What's your favorite part about writing? - Character exploration. Love to put to words the gremlin's thoughts and explore the living hell out of everything they do, think, own, feel. Every little detail offers so much, a gesture, a pause, a glance, it's so telling I love it. And well, breaking them in too, I don't mean this in a literal sense, but more so, in putting them in challenges (good or bad) that put to test their foundations and see what comes of it. Let's get that inner development!!

Three things you like about your writing.

One. Oh man this isn't really something I think about? I just kind of go with what comes to mind at the moment. I guess I like the simplicity? I try to go for something that's easy to read through and get the gist mostly cause I know a lot of times my writing can come off weird by trying to put to words what makes sense grammatically in one language for another. Two. I'll be very honest I am coming at a blank here. Maybe the length? I know it's stupid to like lengthy replies but i'm a yapper by nature and I guess that also translates into writing which I don't mind at all. A lot of times I have to slap my wrist over length and erase a few paragraphs cause there's no need to offer that much info for something small, I wish I knew how to be short and concise but alas. Three. How direct it is? I could go and try to double read or rewrite stuff but honestly the less i think about it the better it comes off. So all my replies are first tries. I do sometimes put some previous structure to it so i remember what i wanted to go for but in the end, whatever comes out is what i was telling myself at the moment without thinking too much.

A question for the next person.

Write a question for the next person to answer. Once you've answered it, leave a new question for someone else to answer.

When life throws you lemons, and gets you down, does writing become something that you're drawn to as to get you through it, or do you feel like it does the opposite?

This heavily depends, I have used writing and rping to work through bad times before, it helped me as much as it damaged me but then again it's not like i had much choice back then. Nowadays I rather keep it at arms length. As much as I feel that it could help, this is supposed to be a hobby I enjoy, if i come with a spoiled mood to it, it'll ruin the fun. I will look at what I wrote and be reminded of what I was going through rather than whether I enjoyed it or not. Specially if I'm going through a very rough time, as it has happened before.

Tell me about your favourite roleplay experiences ! what was a thread that you really enjoyed ?

I don't know if anyone here knows what IScribble is but it was one of my first rp spaces where i rped both in writing and drawing. It was genuinely fun, met one of my irl best friends there and we kept rping through MSN with OCs. Despite the obvious cringe plots/ideas and very, very bad english, it was one of the most fun i have ever had rping where we started with two ocs and ended up crafting a whole entire community and lore surrounding them. And of course, ended up with a life-long friend.

Thread wise though, it has to be back on 2017/18 when i was rping in a Firefly themed closed rp group. Since it was closed, all our characters had to personally know each other and their stories merged together on the ship, during one of the events there were huge breakthroughs in a significant character relationship that still lives rent free in my head cause it was completely spontaneous. We had nothing planed except that they were acquainted from a mission before boarding the ship, all else that transpired was just pure back and forward jumping on the characters reactions to each other and it was -chefs kiss- We ended up having a lot of fun before the rp shut down and we all moved on with life (mel from hell if you're out there love ya! sol to my sid & jane to my petra)

New question: When you're in a writing funk what inspires you to write?

Tagged by: @artisaen & @iniziare (smooching you both) Tagging: @liecoris, @shrineofprophecy, @wolfkcst, @pairidaezah & you!!!

[somepsychopomp]

binge watched all of scavengers reign in one sitting! I have many thoughts, though they all feel jumbled up right now. I think the show starts off VERY strong but faces some pretty significant writing challenges as it progresses. Basically my opinion is:

episodes 1-6: an absolute triumph of imagination and environmental storytelling. They have genuinely some of the best ideas for alien life I've ever seen. The human characters are also all interesting, too. Azi and Levi were my favorite plot line but I really relished in how our first glimpse of Kamen is this sad, lonely malnourished man slowly starving to death in a tree... only to be revealed as a violent selfish asshole who genuinely gets what he deserves as the story progresses.

side note- I'm also a huge fan of the weird plant(?) that basically clones living beings and makes The Thing(s). Also Levi is probably the most compelling character in the entire show.

episodes 7-10: I enjoyed episodes 7-10 and maybe 11 so little that i considered giving up on the show in its entirety. To me, this segment dropped the show from like a 8.5/10 to a 4/10 or even lower. They were such an unenjoyable slog to get through imo (no hard feelings on anyone who liked them tho) because of the small crew of new characters we meet. No surprise you're not supposed to like or trust them, but the show just seemed unwilling to commit to them being actually evil or arguably sympathetic characters just trying to survive their own hostile situation, and kinda waffles between the two possibilities.

I guess that's the attempt at a gray area/morally gray characterization but I just fucking hated all of them and they meant nothing to me. Also it really, genuinely feels like the show speed ran Kamen's arc and completely ran out of ideas on where to take his character from here on out. Which is a bummer considering he's the type of character you absolutely love to hate.

And I'm so, so sorry, but I felt nothing when Sam died. TO MY DEFENSE, I can articulate why! Basically, out of all the characters on the show aside from arguably Kamen, Sam gets beaten up the most. He gets his blood sucked during the early storm, then gets wounded by the freaky cloning plant and almost dies from that, and then almost dies from getting buried alive, AND THEN gets implanted with the parasite from that mysterious lady. The best way I can put it is that his character just made me feel fatigued. His situation wasn't the kind where a protagonist suffers injury after injury but gets up anyways via sheer will/desire to complete their goal/what have you (Mizu from Blue Eye Samurai is a good recent example from adult animation who embodies this trope well, for example).

In contrast, Sam just spends too long on the brink of death for the stakes to feel high anymore. He also does nothing to improve his own condition, relying entirely on Ursula, which I think robs him of his agency and depth. In fact, I spent so long prepared to mourn him, kinda expecting him to not survive the planet, that when the time finally came, I already expressed all my emotions and detached myself from his character. I will say that at the very least, I did like his actual death scene and felt it was nicely done and paced.

episodes 11-12: Perfectly fine finale, I had no major problems with it but these episodes just didn't quite hit the highs of the first half of the series. Will say tho, Levi turbo blasting the Hollow was perfect. Love that for them.

Overall, I think I'll have to rewatch the show again when it's not late at night and I have all my wits about me. Maybe I'll change my opinion on it, because I really, REALLY want to like it in its entirety and will absolutely watch a second season if/when it comes out because, despite all its flaws, Scavengers Reign is something genuinely special.

The first half of the series feels like lightning in a bottle and MUST be seen by all sci fi and fantasy fans!! Even though everything is intensely organic and raw, the planet also has this strange biomechanical feel to it, from the shrapnel wind storm to the big triangle-head birds with electric/static feathers to all the animals that look like statues or toys but still live and breathe. It's such a unique take on an alien world and it was beautiful to see.

[gregorbud]

M!A Gregor gets to ask the blog runner 20 questions, and the blog runner must answer him truthfully.

Are you actually serious about the pickle soup, blog runner bud? //Yep, I actually make it quite a bit, and plenty of the people that've tried it have asked for me to make it again.

Why did you tie me to the pickle soup? //Well, when all the cooking shenanigans were going on, I figured I needed to find a way to get you bullied, and I knew from experience that pickle soup would do it.

Can you cook anything other than pickle soup? //Of course, I don't live on pickle soup alone.

Did you make me? //Nah, you're just my interpretation of a character from a game.

Why did you choose me? //Because you're my favorite character in the game, and I relate to you.

Do you enjoy watching me suffer? //Can't lie, it's entertaining.

Is that why you let anon buds torment me? //Kind of. Though honestly it's more of a challenge for myself. I want to try and answer everything that's sent in the inbox.

If I'm just your interpretation of a character, why didn't you make me less pathetic? //Well, part of the goal and challenge of the blog is to keep you as in character as possible. Sorry.

Why do you do this? //It's a fun creative writing exercise, and these anons get me laughing with their nonsense.

What do you do other than this blog? //I'm just a corporate slave. I'm a writer and editor by trade with way too many hobbies.

Do you live in the City? //I live in a place called Florida, so close enough.

Are you satisfied with your life? //...I guess? I've got a good job, so I can't complain, but, y'know, it is what it is.

The anon buds gave me a book called "The Metamorphosis". Have you read it? //Yep, a few times actually. A nice, quick read, though I usually go for longer novels.

Are the others also blogs run by people? //That they are pal, you're not alone in this.

Do you plan all this out? //Sometimes we plan stuff out, but I mostly just play your blog by ear and go with the flow.

What're your thoughts on those dark shelled critters? //Honestly, if I see one in my home, it's kill on sight. Here in Florida we've got massive roaches, you'd hate them

Do you want a smoke bud? //No thanks, I don't actually smoke.

Do you have any regrets? //Plenty, but there's no use dwelling on them. Not like I can change what happened, eh?

I feel like I’m going to die. Does this mean you’re shutting down the blog? //Nope, no way. It's just an anon wanting to watch you squirm. You aren't getting out of this that easily.

How long do you plan to do this for, blog runner bud?

//Good question, guess I've never really thought about that. I suppose as long as I'm having fun with this and other folks are enjoying it. I've met some nice folks by doing this and gathered some awesome, engaged anons, so I plan to be at this for a bit.

[winterdeepelegy]

My Thoughts on Dawntrail

So having finished DT, here are some of my thoughts on the expansion as a whole. Expect spoilers below the cut, do not click if you haven't finished. Again these are entirely my opinions, I don't intend to present this from a perspective of fact.

Hmm. I don't hate DT, but it's not high on my list: 1. Shadowbringers 2. Heavensward 3. Stormblood 4. Endwalker 5. Dawntrail 6. ARR That said, I don't hate any of the installments of this game, but there are some definitely high and low points. Let's rip the bandage off and get the blanks out of the way: 1. DT has a dialogue problem. I don't hate Wuk Lamat as a character, it was kind of refreshing to see a green, earnest character take center stage while our characters stepped aside and provided a guiding hand. The big problem I have with her is her dialogue. She's basically a shounen character, complete with the 'I'm gonna be king of the pirates'/'I'm gonna be hokage!' schtick, and it really wears on me after a while. That's not the character's fault so much as it is the writing team. That being so, this game is best played in short stints, 1-2 hours at a time instead of trying to marathon the whole thing in short order. Any more than that and it really becomes repetitious. If they want to script it to sound like an episodic anime series, it will be best enjoyed in smaller bites. Sphene suffers from the same problem. I wanted to enjoy her more as a character, but the script made that a challenge. 2. Pacing and exposition. God. The first few hours of EW were enough of a slog with its slow pacing before getting to the first dungeon, this felt like an eternity by comparison. Up to about the level 95 content, it is a long span of exposition and lore stuffing (far be it from me to complain about abundant lore!), so much of which could have been covered in less time and with less repetition. They really wanted to hammer the tribes into our heads, and it felt like too much at times. They wanted us to care about the tribes and the people therein, but few things make me care less than overdoing it. Level 95-ish is when things start becoming more interesting, in my opinion. That's a long way to climb to reach the proverbial cookie jar. 3. The music. I'll be honest, soundtrack wise, this is not my favorite. I appreciate all genres of music, but swing jazz doesn't quite fit the feel of Tulliyolal. I would have liked to hear something closer to a cultural aesthetic to match the visuals and themes presented throughout the areas and civilizations therein. We didn't get that, and it's kind of a weird choice. The main themesong, also? Ehh... I didn't care for it in the trailer. This opinion hasn't shifted since my playthrough. I didn't really start finding enjoyable area music until Shaaloani. 4. 'My people are more important than your people'. This plot point has been done. We just dealt with the Ascians and pretty much got the same shpiel from Hades. They made Sphene and her subjects a little more sympathetic, though, so... good, I guess? 5. Erenville deserved better. Fussy Bunbun got done so dirty in this expack, the very least anyone could have done was give him a hug. He didn't even get that from his mother who, frankly, was the worst character out of all of it. He was also deadnamed repeatedly, which could have been a teachable moment. 6. Wuk Lamat and/or Bakool Ja Ja still owes me tacos. ------------ As for the positives? There are some. Thanks for sticking with me so far. 1. Pretty graphics updates - better over all. 2. No weirdly split zones - thank the Twelve for this. StB, ShB, and EW all had zones that you could only cover in part, and couldn't finish until later. The zones in DT flow pretty well for the most part, and the transition between upper and lower areas of Yak'Tel are nothing short of beautiful, especially in flight. 3. More Reflections - I'm glad to see more of these and I hope this trend continues. 4. For once, I'm not luke warm on the bard AF gear. It's actually a fresh look, but haven't found a dye pairing I like yet.

[goshdangronpa]

Hey, I finally got to tumblr! :D I think I'm pretty out of touch with DR fandom, so I'm jumping at my chance to talk to a fellow partner in crime. What did you like about Irumatsu in the first place? I'm so deep into my headcanons at this point, I'd like to know how others perceive them. I love how you're writing their dynamic!

Omg heeeey :) thank you so much for your kind words about "Kaede's Rhapsody"! I'm exploring that very question through this story - if not, I would've skipped all these thousands of words and cut to the smut! I hope you enjoy that exploration in upcoming chapters ...

... and I can still answer your question here!

What drew me to them isn't deep at all. I enjoyed Kaede as a protagonist (I really needed to warm up to Shuichi lol). Then Miu Iruma swiftly became my fave char in V3, with her outrageous dialogue, huge personality, and shockingly fragile arrogance.

That's only enough to make me consider a ship. In fact, from introductions alone, I first fancied Kaede with Maki and accepted Miu x Kiibo as a given. But I've discovered that "Normal Protag and Somewhat Antagonistic Weirdo" describes nearly all my favorite ships. Both saiouma and oumota from V3, komahina in SDR2, especially tokomaru and syomaru from UDG. It's the friction that gives it spice: shipping two perfectly nice characters (such as, idk, saimatsu) isn't quite as fun as shipping two characters who bicker and clash between (or during!) wholesome cuddling (such as, idk, irumatsu!).

There's a real opposites attract thing going on, too. Kaede is clearly a prep (not derogatory) who dresses conservatively; Miu struts around in BDSM gear and features other punk elements. Kaede strives to be nice but won't suffer fools; Miu talks a lot of smack but backs down from any pushback. Kaede is selfless to the point of self-sacrifice; Miu dies after putting her own life before everyone else's.

Besides how sharply they contrast, I also like how much they have in common. Kaede and Miu are capable of empathy, but equally capable of taking elaborate measures for what they consider the greater good. They both die as a result of trying to murder someone else. They can be deeply stubborn. And heck, they're 5'8" blondes who press lots of keys.

What really makes the ship for me is how they complement each other. Miu's a bully, but Kaede consistently argues back without hesitation, challenging the self-proclaimed genius. She's no passive victim, which is so important to making this dynamic feel balanced. Even more important is that she’s not a brute about it, either. When Kaede’s done parrying insults, she takes a genuine interest in Miu and tries to react the girl beneath the gorgeous girl genius. Kaede seems to be the only character who takes pains to treat her like a person, rather than just some misanthropic weirdo.

I think during or after the fourth trial, it's said that Kiibo and Gonta are the only ones who considered her a friend. I think about that a lot, and I'm sure Kaede would've shed a tear for her. Moreover, she would've protected her before that point. And I think that one pleasant relationship could've brought out the protective side in Miu as well. These two would drive each other crazy, but they'd be there for reach other. If they don't rip each other apart first, they'd be crazy in love and crazy good together. Not to mention, fun to read about ... and write about!

[beevean]

Passing this on ~

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love! 💞

Aww, thank you! 🥺

Let's see...

Remember: this was a ton of fun 💖 the idea of Black Doom rewriting Shadow's memories wouldn't leave my head for the sheer implied horror, made even worse in the game as you can choose if to let BD win or resist. I used HTML (and replayed the stage more times I'm comfortable to admit lol) to convey Shadow's fragmented state of mind. I'm still proud of this one :)

Let Go: the power of spite compelled me lol. This was basically me putting my money where my mouth is and rewriting IDW #50 to make Sonic more IC and Surge less of an author's mouthpiece and more of a genuinely tragic character, who is aware of being brainwashed but can't do nothing to fight it. Writing from the POV of a character you don't like is a surprisingly useful exercise. And I still like the idea of Sonic (wind) and Surge (electricity) creating a storm while fighting.

Grip: I will finish it. I promise lol. While it's a little outdated in terms of headcanon (thankfully I can still adjust the draft of the third chapter, but it's not going to be easy), I am proud of my first in-depth analysis of Hector and how he'd suffer from the trauma of living in the Castle for most of his life. It was meant as a very simple contrast between Isaac and Rosaly, but, uh. It ballooned lmao. I just love Hector a lot :P

What We Lost and What We Gained: a sort of fix-it fic, but made with love lol. I poured a lot of personal feelings into this one so it's particularly dear to me, but I also just like how I managed to find a, in my opinion, more suitable happy ending for Hector. Also I like writing Julia <3 i have a fluffy wip from her pov but inspiration isn't coming to me :<

Anima: yes it's very recent lol. Of the uhhhh about to become 20 Hecula fics I wrote (jesus what's wrong with me), it was a toss up between this one and Cold - you can see how much my perspective has shifted in less than a year lmao. Anyway, I think this one has nearly everything I enjoy in my vision of the ship: an obsessed Dracula whose love is intense but self-centered, a sassy Hector so painfully victim of grooming but trying his best to push boundaries and break free, uncomfortable wholesomeness, power games, vague ties with canon (my idea that Hector will soon grow brave enough to openly challenge his beloved Lord), a warped version of the soulmates trope, bottom drac...

[bonerot19]

🦷🍄🍬🥤

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on I don’t think anyone should do anything like I do, because I am suffering, within a hell of my own making, etc

but, uh, I do think it’s important to remember that you don’t have a deadline for “figuring things out”. you can just, idk, change your mind at 26 and go back to school and get another degree and that’s okay, you aren’t wasting your life or anything.

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings I think DC are cowards for not letting Jason and Steph be best friends in canon. I think she would challenge his belief system in an interesting way without completely rejecting the way he thinks. I think they have enough in common that she might get it, a bit.

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character idk anymore, I change my mind about things constantly and I have been ignoring discourse lately. idk if any of my opinions are unpopular.

I guess I don’t like it when people try to say Jason is Bruce’s favorite, and I don’t enjoy fics where Jason thinks Bruce hates him while, secretly — or obviously to everyone except Jason, somehow — he’s the favorite.

bc it always seems to me like it blames Jason? for not knowing? instead of Bruce for never being able to actually treat Jason well. like, why would he think you love him at all? (also he’s just so not the favorite lol)

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love butcherbird, fly away home by e_va

Lost Days-era. Jason's latest teacher is cruel man, but a boring one. There's no reason for Jason to expect that he will be any different from the rest—just another monster with a skillset that Jason wants to learn. He'll get what he needs and then take out the trash before he goes, as always. It's all going according to plan until, very suddenly, it isn't. ~ One of Jason's instructors kidnaps Bruce fucking Wayne. This changes nothing, or at least that's what Jason keeps telling himself.

[noirrelite]

So! Of all the Oc's you've created, who's your favorite? Like, is there someone whose backstory or personality or character design that are just so simply sublime that you can't help but giggle when you think about them?

Sorry for the super late reply! To be honest, I took AGES to finish answering this because I couldn't name just a SINGLE one if you put a gun to my head; I can't say I consider any of them full thought-out/developed and I actually love them almost equally Dx ...also I struggle to decouple what I love about them as a character from the narrative.... For the sake of my sanity (and mayhaps yours) I'll try to focus on Sierra for now (I'm still figuring her out tbh) TwT I did my best to omit *some* of the stuff that wasn't directly related to her so this ended up being more like a collection of stuff related to her that I think are neat and are very loosely in chronological order xD Let me just put this under a readmore cuz I'm a bit shy about answering these publicly TLDR: Sierra's a poor little meow meow who puts on a tough front but is an insecure, lonely mess inside and I enjoy that very much.

⦁ It wasn't intentional at first, but I really like that Sierra is a bit of a subversion of how Mesa (the archetype) is usually depicted/seen as? Mesa is generally depicted as this badass that's cool as a cucumber, confident in her abilities to the point that she handicaps herself with a bandana to "give herself a challenge". But the Lotus also introduces her as a vagabond/outcast, and I couldn't help but wonder why and wanted to put that into context.

⦁ Sierra is most of these things, but it's a front she puts on to act tough and reliable. She's lonely and insecure but would sooner gnaw her own leg off than let her vulnerabilities show.

⦁ She's confident in her ability to kill, but she has to be because it's the one and only thing she's good at and she can't stand the thought of making someone suffer. During the Old War, as one of the few sane autonomous warframes, she was often forced to put down her brothers and sisters that were too much trouble to keep alive because her abilities were perfect for the job, and since they were built to be durable, she often witnessed them suffering before dying, and cursed herself for it. The guilt became too much for her to bear and it became part of the reason she eventually lost her sanity and was placed in cryo for the rest of the Old War. As a result, she's very meticulous about modding her pistols, making sure they get the job done as fast and as painlessly as possible. ⦁ On the flip side, she's insecure about her abilities being nowhere as potent and as impressive as other warframes and felt inadequate in comparison to them. But it had never been much of a problem until The New War, when Tala went to face Erra and Ballas in her Excalibur instead of going with Sierra. Tala only intended to protect her, knowing how many Tenno were lost in the War at this point, but Sierra blamed herself for not being strong enough to be relied on, believing she could've saved Tala if she were there.

⦁ Vastly outnumbered by Narmer forces, she was desperate enough to resort to the Helminth system for healing and augmenting herself with abilities that weren't her own out of desperation, which ate away at her sanity over time. She also refused to open up to Drifter Tala, afraid that she'll abandon her (like she thought Tala did) if she perceived her as weak and unreliable.

⦁ She's aloof, distrusting and tries to keep her distance (especially when she first met Operator Tala and Drifter Tala) because she's afraid of becoming attached and going through the pain of losing someone dear to her again.

⦁ Sierra was the bastard child of a Dax and a commoner, and her hard work in honing her marksmanship (which landed her in the Warframe program) was so she could prove herself in the war and hopefully elevate her commoner side of the family to a better station and reunite with them, but the Old War and becoming a warframe made that dream impossible, and the scars it left made her close off emotionally, not wanting to hurt any further.

⦁ When she was rescued by Tala (who only went by "Operator" at the time) from Alad V, Sierra barely remembered anything from the Old War. Tala was convinced she was a Tenno despite their ship Cephalon not detecting any traces of void energy in her, because she was moving on her own despite being cured of the Mutalist infestation (mind you, Tala at this point also barely remembers anything from before the Dream, so she believes the Tenno were just beings that possessed warframes), and also because there was a time where Tala couldn't use her void powers either, so the two dumbasses convinced each other that Sierra was just an amnesic Tenno and she just needed time to remember. Tala would even try to teach her things like switching from one warframe to another, to no avail.

pictured: scrunkly, committer of warcrimes

⦁ In the meantine, Sierra took a liking to Tala's defective, diminutive Kubrow which had been given off to Tala because it was too small to be used for combat, and its presence also set her at ease. She really likes how soft they are to touch. (They'd eventually get more consigned kubrows later on.)

⦁ After some point Sierra recovers enough and warms up enough to the Operator to follow them around, sometimes accompanying them on their missions and observing the ordinary folk in the colonies when off-duty, but she's still afraid to use the guns connected to her forearms. For a while they were just two low-rank Tenno sharing the same barely functional Orbiter, bickering over which missions/bounties to take and arguing over the Tenno's values and their unquestioning loyalty to the Lotus. Still, they help each other earn enough to repair the ship and buy better equipment.

⦁ It's only until the events of the Second Dream happen (Kanami was entrusted with the mission and was personally targeted by the Stalker, but she called Tala and Sierra to assist), when they find out Tala's real identity and they fail to find Sierra's pod that Sierra begins to doubt her identity as a Tenno, but she hesitates to confide in Tala, not that she could find the time to tell her-- Tala's still shaken by the fact that the Lotus kept their real nature from them and struggled to take care of herself as a human after living as a warframe for so long that Sierra had to step in and take care of her, asking Kanami for help and even taking up cooking later on.

⦁ It took a long time for Tala to even transference into Sierra, because Tala always considered Sierra her own person even after she suspected she wasn't a Tenno, and wanted to respect her autonomy, especially knowing that Alad had controlled her against her will in the past. She transferenced for the first time with Sierra as a last resort after Kanami and Rouge tracked them down on Earth and the two of them working separately were no match for the vanguard-class warframe and operator working together. (Tala had gone AWOL earlier after losing all trust in the Lotus.)

⦁ Similarly, Sierra used her Regulators for the first time since she was awoken during the fight after Tala transferences into her, doing her best to deflect Rouge's incoming fire with her own to buy herself and Tala time, and Tala assisting with close quarters combat when Rouge runs out of energy and resorts to melee.

⦁ SIerra's memories only return to her in full when Rouge goes berserk from Kanami trying to stop her from killing both of them, having been kept under a tight leash for so long. Rouge's frenzy during the final confrontation with her reminded her of the crazed warframes she was forced to put down.

⦁ Even if Rouge pursued them relentlessly and nearly killed her and Tala in the past, Sierra couldn't bring herself to fully hate her; at some point, Rouge hesitated long enough for them to escape, and it reminded her of the fact that some of the warframes she had to kill weren't all beyond saving. (honestly the desertion arc and Kanami's complicated relationship with Rouge and their backstories is a whole other post xd)

⦁ While they were AWOL and roaming Earth on their own, they came across the spot that would be called the Drifter Camp later on.

⦁ Both of them returned to the fold when the New War broke out and proved themselves in Operation Scarlet Spear and Operation Orphix Venom, gaining a lot of combat experience in the process.

⦁ When Tala left to take the fight to Ballas and Erra directly and left her, Sierra damaged the Orbiter enough for Ordis to relent and prepare the backup landing craft, but Tala's void energy signature had already been gone by then. They're still making the Orbiter spaceworthy again to this day.

⦁ Sierra was much more ruthless when she was fighting on her lonesome against Narmer, not being able to afford being merciful, but also because she felt like she had lost everything she cared about. ⦁ Narmer never found Sierra despite her proving to be a thorn in their side for some time; Rouge had taught her in guerilla tactics and how to keep her tracks hidden, and she learned from Tala when they did covert operations together, but more importantly, Sierra wasn't a real Tenno and didn't have any void energy signature for Narmer forces to track.

⦁ Sierra was too injured to fight when Drifter Tala made the choice to go to Hunhow for help, but she followed after her anyway despite her weakened state, and she was given a new, stronger set of pistols after Drifter Tala was given the Nataruk.

⦁ When Operator Tala came back, Sierra took a moment to hug her, something she rarely does. ⦁ Sierra and Operator Tala act like rowdy siblings together living on their own, bullying each other, bickering about which missions to take, paying the bills, and repairing the orbiter from time to time, and Sierra appreciates that a lot because it makes her feel like nothing much has changed since she became a warframe. ⦁ Sierra isn't as close-knit with Tala's older self, but Sierra often takes her along on her trips on Earth while she tries to get Drifter Tala acclimated to the Origin System, knowing how it feels like to be in a world that's completely different than the one you know. That's all I can think of for now; if I let myself include more of the story this would be way, WAY longer...

[seethesunny]

whumptober 2023 tessjoel version

Following the official prompt list—but with my own twist—for 31 days, I'll be writing pieces inspired by them focused on Tess and Joel (with some limited appearance of other characters) (mostly Ellie bc I love her) (not bc I like it when she suffers).

I don't really do challenges, so be patient, that's all! Enjoy the pain and suffering, and let me know your thoughts I pour my heart onto the angst <3 fics are under the cut:

Day 1:What am I missing?

Maybe it's bad luck, but between their streak of good days, something awful was bound to happen.

¹-.“But now this room is spinning while I’m trying just to fill in all the gaps.”

[safety net | swooning | “how many fingers am I holding up?”]

Day 2: know it's for the better

Maybe marriage wasn't for them.

²-. [Aftermath of failure]

Day 3: still, there's this horror at being left behind

It's been so long since Tess last saw Joel; didn’t even know what happened to Ellie.

³-.“Like crying out in empty rooms; with no-one there except the moon.”

[journal | solitary confinement | “make it stop.”]

Day 4:I'll meet judgment by the hounds

During their roadtrip, Tess gets sick.

⁴-.“I see the danger, it’s written there in your eyes”

[cattle prod | shock | “you in there?”]

Day 5: so terrified of the road that takes you

Unlucky bastards, they'd always tricked death, dangling on the dangers of this world. But not today, the horses' hooves resonated in the asphalt, not today.

⁵-.“You better pray I don’t get up this time around.”

[Debris | Pinned Down | “It’s broken.”]

Day 6: favorite crime

A wonderful future mother, a father sinking down from his past actions, a chain of events.

An eye for an eye.

⁶-.“Do or die, you’ll never make me; Because the world will never take my heart.”

[Recording | Made to Watch | “It should have been me.”]

Day 7: wished that I could kill that thing that kills us first (and twists the way we love)

She looks down at her hand, the fingernails that got broken, and she fears what she will discover once their clothes are off.

⁷-.[examination]

Day 19: Cool About It

There’s a darkness that prickles her at night, sometimes. A raw, devastating feeling carving itself on her, and she’s clueless of where it comes from.

¹⁹-.“I’ll take one final step, all you have to do is make me.”

[Floral Bouquet | Psychological | “I’m not as stupid as you think I am.”]

[raw-law]

I. Have not written a first chapter yet. The writing I'm working on now is me working on my dialogue and things like that (Based off the song "Flight of the crows" by Jhariah, I recommend checking him out!)

I forgot to mention in my other ask, but it is not my art, it is my friend's! I often commission xem.

I dont. Plan on giving Travis any anymore trauma? But I do like writing him suffer(/affectionate) All of the four have something with them, for example

Mac doesn't have any real connection with any of her family anymore despite craving the "normal life" she sees people passing through having.

Jasper has struggles with his own self worth. He's like. A rich white boy. But he gets redeemed! He's not an asshole forever. He needs therapy. Like. Desperately

Travis has problems involving anything social, as in he has no idea how to interact with people he didn't grow up near. He also often falls upon his religion for comfort (Before his multiple encounters with Harmiona).

Taylor is. Aggressive. At times. Like a feral dog. He is also a compulsive liar. Even if he doesn't want to be with certain people, it simply slips out until he can't fix it. I don't talk about him enough

I'm just realizing that like. Travis is the only one with a loving mother,, The rest of them have parents but like. Oughhh I have to explain.

Mac lived in a large trading area, commonly called The Oasis, simply because the surrounding land is desert. It's common enough for teens to branch off from their family's when they are independent enough. It's better to be in smaller groups in most places. It'd be a risk to try and keep a large family.

Jasper, like I said, is rich. Well. Was rich. The whole. Parents with overwhelming expectations thing.

And I haven't fully decided for Taylor yet. But I don't imagine him with supporting parents.

Oh gods, I just realized how long this was. I'm shutting up now. Goodbye. Again I apologize for my late night ramblings my brain won't shut the fuck up about the little guys

-☾

Light:

Ooh...this is getting more interesting.

First of all, it's great to see that each character has their own unique challenges and struggles to overcome throughout the story. And I like that they also have different characteristics, each with their flaws and redeeming qualities, and their vastly different family backgrounds. Overall, I'd say this makes for a well-rounded cast of characters, and adds depth to the story as well. It would be very interesting to see how your different characters get along with each other: would they get on each other's nerves? Would they get along surprisingly well? Are two of them constantly fighting and the rest have to play the mediators? Character dynamics are always intriguing to explore; they're probably my favourite part of writing.

Thanks for sharing! And don't apologise, I can reassure you that we both enjoy your 'late night ramblings' very much.

L:

ooouhhhhhh,, i already like each of their character distinctions.. they're certainly intriguing little fellows.

i agree with what light has said about the characters. i greatly appreciate that they each have their own flaws and complex home lives. those are always my favorite parts to focus on when understanding characters, and it also gives a lot of insight into how they might act/react in other situations.

and i'd also like to see how each of the characters interact with each other. in my opinion, the dynamics of the characters and how well they play off each other are what truly make a story run. maybe i'm a little biased since i'm not all that obsessed with plot in stories.. and i suppose i also have an old storyline that was driven by characters instead of plot... but i still think it stands true to some extent, biased or not.

also, jasper's my favorite. i like annoying rich boys. they're entertaining to me.

do keep rambling. it was nice to read through. thank you for sharing it to begin with.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 3/5

Book Blurb: This captivating sequel to The Buried and the Bound draws readers into the twisted and irresistible world of the Fair Folk—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and The Hazel Wood.

As a new coven, Aziza, Leo, and Tristan faced evil and triumphed. All that’s left is to put their lives back together, a process complicated by the fallout from painful secrets, the emotional and physical scars they now carry, and the mysteries that still haunt them.

But with the approach of the solstice comes the arrival of strange new visitors to Blackthorn: the Summer Court, a nomadic community of Fair Folk from deep in Elphame. They’ve journeyed to the border between the human world and fairyland, far from their usual caravan route, to take back something that belongs to them—something Leo’s not willing to lose.

Refusing to give up without a fight, he makes a risky deal with the Summer Court’s princess and regent. The challenge she proposes sends Coven Blackthorn into the farthest, wildest reaches of Elphame.

But when you play games with the Fair Folk, even winning has a cost.

Review:

The sequel to The Buried and the Bound further delving into faerie politics, risky deals, and fights. Aziza, Leo , and Tristan have survived the hag... only to now face a new threat. The Summer Court, a nomadic community of Fair Folk from deep in Elphame. They've come back and want one thing: Hazel, Leo's changeling sister. Leo will do anything to keep her safe. Tristan is still keeping it a secret that he is Leo's forgotten true love and Aziza is dealing with the mystery of her family and a new librarian witch in town who is hiding many secrets. The three friends will have to find a way to work together to stop the threat at their door or risk losing each other. This is the second book in the trilogy and I can't wait to see how the story ends and where the characters go next. This one was a little less exciting than the first book, it kind of felt stagnant at certain points, but that does not mean this was a bad book in any way, it was just slower than the first one. I loved the first one a lot and this one was a pretty decent follow up to the story, it does suffer a bit from sequel syndrome, however I am excited for the third book. Aziza is my favorite hedgewitch trying to protect her coven and find out about her family. I wish there was a bit more progress in Leo and Tristan's cursed romance but alas, that is fort he next book. I did enjoy the fae court we got to see and how Leo played into it too. Overall its an interesting way to see how the story had continued and I look forward to the final book.

*Spoiler: Leo is the new prince of the summer court and he sacrificed his eye in exchange for the ability to see past all fae tricks (deal with the nymphs) while his sister hazel has gone off to train with the fae. Leo and Tristan end up sleeping together. Aziza finds out more about her family and what happened to them and meets some of the former members of her mother's coven. One of the members, Castor Thorn, had betrayed her family and was helping the faeries.*

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Roaring Brook Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[perri-berry]

Character profiles

In the spirit of starting my new novel, I'm creating character character profiles for my main characters. Also it helps me remember key-features of who they are so I thought I'd post them here as I write them out. Just for fun <3

Poll at the end <3

*Please note this list is incomplete and I will be updating it as I write more in my journal*

Astrid Blackthorn

Age: 27

Height: 5'6

Hair: Black curls down to shoulder blades.

Eye Color: Dark Sapphire/Hex #082567

Notable Features: Freckled cheeks and a mole on her ankle

Favorites: Food-Beef Bowl, Color-Light green but all greens are nice, Animal-Snow Egret, Time of day- night time.

Star Sign: Sagittarius

Birthday: December 3rd

Personality and Relationships

Astrid enjoys the perks of being a noble lady, partying down with the common folk, and spending money. In true Blackthorn fashion, Astrid doesn't give a single fuck about anyone else's opinions or views. Other than her beloved Princess Bowe. Her loyalty to Bowe is unquestionable and will throw everyone else including herself under the bus(well dragon I guess, they don't have buses) to keep her safe.

Astrid's relationship to Bowe's brother, Val'Syllan has seen different versions of itself but they have always remain friends. In their young teen years, the two of them had a weird, figuring it out phase where the two dated(if you can call it that) and coupled *ahem* on and off. The two of them laugh about it now and enjoy singing/dancing together at the Dragon's Nest Inn almost every night.

Childhood friendship to the imperial siblings(Bowe, Val and Mira if you weren't sure) will always be a bond, however the waters have been muddled with the Princess Mirethall. Once a good friend who enjoyed playing dress-up, having sleep overs and watching the stars, is now a whiny brat who can't listen worth damn(remind you of anyone Astrid?). Astrid's ire lies in the fact that Mira is constantly getting Bowe into trouble.

There's no relationship quite like the one between mother and daughter. A stubborn single mother raising a stubborn daughter will always prove challenging. Stubbornness is trait Blackthorns never seem to dodge. The love she has for her mother, Pippa, is real and deep, she will always be grateful for being rescued in her early childhood away from her grandmother Amelia Mantell, who she remembers vividly. Along with her father, Lonce. She knows Amelia was the cause of all her family's suffering but there are so many good, happy memories polluting it.

The King and Queen, King Belleran and Queen A'ommi. Such respect, such heroes, everyone loves and celebrates their protectors. Well, that's what the townsfolk say and this isn't about them. Respect for her two co-parents has never been the strongest. She can't stand how they treat her mother like a servant and cast her aside when convenient, when she knows just how strong she is. Astrid outgrew her need to have Belleran try to be her father when she reached a crisp 10 years old, only 3 years after her rescue. And then there's A'ommi. Very up-tight and rigid. The two never saw eye-to-eye. And now with her and Bowe's longterm romance, the tension is only felt even more.

That's Astrid in a nutshell! You might think, oh, second book? Yeah. Should you be posting character information for your second book when it contains spoilers from your first book? Probably not but I don't give a fuck! Plus like, I'm not done with it, you'll forget about this by the time I actually publish it. Oh you're working on your second book without finishing the first? You ask a lot of questions. Anyway yeah, my first book is on its last major edit before the grammar edit so like this is more just prep work for the second novel. Making sure we've got consistent characters, little call backs, etc. Uh anyway, I rambled, I hope you enjoyed it. And I will be coming back to add more of the main characters later.

[ambustested]

To start off this post, I am an insufferable stemlord (computer engineer) so thats my bias.

I program a lot lately to prep for interviews and for the sport of it, so I've been running into a lot of concepts that are pretty hard to wrap my head around and sometimes it takes a few tries/days to really grasp a problem. The programming community has a motto that is this: Consistency is key. Aka rome wasnt built in a day, and neither is a good programmer.

Theres actually an understanding that if someone is doing like 10 problems a day and not spending a serious amount of time per problem, theyre probably not learning much. "Hardcore grinding" isn't all that respected because humans have limits and information absorption is gradual.

Another facet of programming communities is to offer multiple solutions and if something isn't a good solution, even if it works, to explain why. Often times the intuitive approach isn't the best, so its good to show that approach

So anyways, all this is to say, I find it really frustrating that these values are common in the programming community but don't seem as common in the writing community:

That skills do not come easily, it takes time, determination and consistency to improve

It's better to try and come up with a non optimal solution, than not try at all

There are multiple ways to reach an optimal solution.

Whether you see programming as more art than science or science than art is up to you, but it frustrates me to see this open minded approach to learning and failure and then go into writing communities, where the ideas of "right" and "optimal" are way more subjective, and seeing people somehow being more close minded about the advice they give.

I'd like to see less "DONT" and more "I find this more effective" in writing advice, to be honest.

I also don't appreciate how much the difficulties of writing are glorified. Programming is something that is difficult and it takes time to get good at but I do not see the attitude that good programmers are born not made nearly as much as I see it amongst writing communities which annoys me to no end and keeps me out of discord servers more often than I'd like to admit.

Good writing skills, especially when it comes to long form, take time to develop. But that doesn't mean the craft is inherently loaded with misery.

I think a good piece of writing is something that can be written impulsively in a rush, sometimes everything just clicks. Other times pieces need to breath, there's tweaks and tugs to be made to capture the vision you have for the piece, maybe the right word hasn't come, maybe your headspace is too upbeat to describe a gloomy scene at the present moment.

But I don't like the glorification of how hard writing is, how suffering is inherent to the craft. I like to be a bit sardonic and joke about not being a good writer, because often times I'll reread a piece and find it flabby, the word choice loose, the dialogue awkward, the pacing too fast and the characters underdeveloped. But I didn't suffer doing it, I had fun, I enjoyed the challenge, and when progress on my story was to my detriment, I stepped away.

I definitely have the perspective that if you're trying, you're improving.

I guess what I'll say is this. I don't appreciate the way someone's writing is often disparaged as bad, without acknowledging the good parts of it. It's better to attempt, than not try at all. I guess what I really dislike about a lot of writing critique and communities is this attitude that seems like people would prefer if others didnt write at all if they're not going to produce something that conforms to their idea of good. And its like, well with that attitude, how do we ever improve?

I love writers that are vulnerable enough to share hundreds of works and millions of words because it will inevitably show their progression, their change, their experimentation. Do I love everything all my favorite ao3 writers write? Nah dawg!

Do I sometimes find things that broaden my horizons, read things I find lacking, but also inspiring? Does another authors fumbling sometimes give me good perspective and a lesson to apply to my own art? Yes! And I appreciate them so dearly for sharing their attempts, their not perfects, the first draft written slapdash in a sleep deprived, caffeine fueled haze and published to at 3:29 am. It's all so fun!

I read a lot of fic I don't find up to publishing standards, but it's got enough compelling elements to keep me reading. I'd rather read something with flaws and blemishes that resonates than something that is pristine with nice prose but the emotional core rings hollow.

I wish writing communities celebrated the odd, the awkward, the unusual more often. I find criticisms like "self indulgent" really weird. Let the author indulge, I'm here for them to indulge, I want to be down the rabbit hole with them. I am not looking for right, or compliant.