#not really writing advice but like kinda in a way yknow

[notoriousmasc]

As someone who's written and read a fair amount of stories with fat or weight-gaining characters, do you have any advice on how best to convey fatness and everything that comes with it in text? I'm a very visual person, and there are certain things (like physique, weight, etc.) that feel so much easier to convey in art than in prose. At the same time, overloading the story with attempts to get something as all-encompassing as the body a character has At All Times in every single line or paragraph (how they walk, sitting in furniture, etc.) feels unnecessary and perhaps risks turning readers away.

Any advice is appreciated, if you have any!

i'm going to assume that you're asking this in a sexy way, since i have a lot of people who follow me that wanna fuck fat people either because they're (speaking frankly and without judgment) fetishists, or because they have taste, so i think you're probably asking to convey how to describe the fat appearance as attractive. most of my advice is gonna revolve around that

first thing is that you probably shouldn't bring their weight into everything, that's kinda the same thing that fatphobic people do and even in reverse it still doesn't feel good. it really should only come up during bodily interactions, when describing appearance/feeling on appearance, or if the POV character just really wants to have sex with them. there's obviously other situations where it would be fine, but we could spend all day listing those, so i'll just keep it to my examples

that being said, when you do wanna bring it up, there's a couple ways to have it be natural and not scream I AM REPRESENTING A GROUP or anything like that. this is a flawed method since it can easily fall into infantilizing territory if you're not careful, but softness is a good place to start. even people who like skinny people like softness. soft skin, soft faces, boobs, they're all conventionally attractive things that are still related very closely to softness. when describing a fat character as attractive, softness and warmth as descriptors can make even people who don't find fatness attractive at least see where you're coming from.

in more risque works, the fit of clothes is also a good indicator of describing fatness. personally, i find the little indent of a belly-button on a slightly too small shirt really attractive, but other things are also good to write wrt fatness. the way the chest pushes up against a shirt, the fit of sleeves, butts, stuff like that is all a good visualizer of a person's size in a way that's attractive and natural-seeming

the last thing i can think of is probably just to like... not be coy? no one's going to kill you for saying a character has a big belly, and only reactionaries on either side would be mad at that being described as attractive. my man brennan has done both ends of this where he described alejandro in tuc as "extremely rotund", being vague, and an NPC in calamity as a "handsome man [with a] big stomach". it seems to be a very popular thing in YA romances that happen to have a fat love interest where they'll just kind of like, immediately switch to the fat one's POV during intimate scenes so that they don't have to describe someone finding a fat person attractive -- don't do that. you can be very upfront about what someone's body looks like. it's fine.

here's a piece of erotic fanfiction that goes about all of this very well. i'm not into wwdits, but like, yknow.

also, if you do wanna use a euphemism; if you describe a man as having "wide hips", people are gonna assume you mean he's fat. that's about all i've got in that department lol

[dr3amofagame]

I feel like in general c!sbi got butchered in most common fanfiction trends because writers tended to forgo their canon relationships for much more...cookie cutter ones I guess? There's the bio family fics where Techno, Tommy, and Wilbur are all Phil's kids, the dark fics where Phil is a violently abusive parent to Wilbur and Tommy, the fics where they're portrayed as a seemingly evil group of 'good guys', etc. And there's nothing wrong with people writing these fics, I don't have issues with the individual authors, but it's tiring when these ideas become large enough that they tend to overtake works based off of their actual dynamics. Like. Phil's attempted kindness but complete lack of understanding or connection to Wilbur is interesting!! Tommy, bearing no relation to Phil, being the one to try to bridge the distance between them and being the only person to seek out his advice is interesting! Tommy and Wilbur not being biological brothers who weren't raised together adds layers to their dynamic! Techno's shifting relationship with Tommy over the course of Pogtopia to Doomsday was interesting!!

I also may be off base on this, but I feel like more often than not when an author cracks out 'The Dream Team' as the main antagonists, they're much more likely to have completely different characterization than if an author chose one of them to focus on. IDK. I think many people try to look for tropes to slot characters into, and having multiple characters with complex relationships treated in that way tends to make the results more egregious.

mmhm mmhm -- i'd say that the cc dynamics kiiiiiinda influence a lot here shrug. the idea of "sbi versus dteam" has its roots in conflicts that are decidedly not based on the dream smp roleplay, honestly, and a lot of that carried over into the fanworks that were supposedly based on the dream smp but really took a lot of creative liberties dabbling in elements of both rpf and fic about the server itself.

not that that's a bad thing, or anything! people can write what they want, etc. but it sure did lead to a lot of err misleading? i guess? "advertising" when it came to people's "dsmp AUs" -- maybe confusing is a better word. like, look ooc-ness is something that every fandom has to deal with, but in most fandoms fanon isn't so obviously based on what is still the fandom, but like. a part of the fandom that's technically kinda separated from the fiction of the fandom. most of the time with actors they don't necessarily have a whole career founded on their playing a persona with other people in a context that ISN'T acting yknow? or maybe there is it's not like id know lmao

but yeah the phenomenon of bleedover from cc personas is all too real in this fandom, for better and for worse

[angellurgy]

I was lurking through your blog and saw that you made a post asking

And, yknow I figured that I'll be a cunt who says something.

Something that people don't think about when it comes to writing is that you're never, ever, ever, gonna get the audience to view a scene like you do. They'll imagine the characters, scene, and environment in a way vastly different from how you envisioned it. Or even described it.

So, how do you get around this?

You don't. You can't, won't, and never will.

So, when you write, it's important to give the reader just enough information to imagine, but not enough that it's confusing. I've found that the best way to do this is through describing the way the characters (or you) feel about something, as opposed to how you would look and visualize something.

When I say: "Jamie was plain. Average height, average face, average hair. And, never wore more than a band shirt and a pair of jeans." Then you're not really getting a feel for who they are, and there's a fair bit of information, but it doesn't let the audience engage and imagine the characters in the way they want.

But, if you instead say something like: "Jamie was run of the mill, less defining features than a bowl of plain oats. They had the same type of style that'd you'd see from a seventeen year old MySpace user in 2004. They're the type to rock a radiohead shirt and say, 'They're kinda underground, you might not know them."

It's enough to cause the audience to envision who they want to, while still keeping the traits rooted enough in the vision the author has for them to affect the way the reader thinks of them.

The best way to be descriptive isn't to go into meticulous detail about how something looks, but instead how it can make you feel.

Hope some of that made sense. If not then I'll go fuck myself. :thumbs_up:

actually thank you very much for the advice! ive been seeing this more, its a bit hard since i cant picture the scenario in my head and often dont describe things to myself, the way a character or most people would. but its a practice thats been helping, ty for the xamples ^-^

[dabisbratz]

AGH okay hii there (・・; idk if u remember me, but i was the anon from a while back who asked how you got into impact play and was! really nervous cuz i didn't know if it was my thing, but i wanted to broaden my horizons yk? your reply helped me feel a bit better (thank u btw<3) , but since then i've sorta realized that it's DEF not my thing and i wanted to ask,, do you ever feel bad about not wantin' the rough stuff, if that ever happens? like, do you ever fear that it'd make ur partner/playmate like you any less?

i guess i'm askin' cuz i've been having that problem, and idk what to do about all the pressure to like pain and degradation n stuff :( nd i really look up to you as well!

i know this is a MUCH bigger question than last time, and professional or not, i wouldn't expect ya to give me advice for this kinda thing, so again, i'm hopin' i'm not crossing any boundaries,,, so so sorry if i am, and obvs ignore this msg if that's the case! or maybe i can try sending it off anon later, so u can answer it privately, if that'd make u more comfy? either way, i rlly hope ur havin' a wonderful week, and i'm glad to see that your writing is getting more attention :)

hi bubs !! absolutely do remember you, how could i forget ?! :D v’never been physically sexual with anyone before, but can tell you v’absolutely felt less-than when someone else’s ideas weren’t somethin i was into. t’the point id jus go with it even f’i wasn’t a fan. . which is !! a big nono!! that being said, f’youre with someone who makes ythink you have to fulfill every fantasy they have— darker or not— they’re not the one. n that makes them a terrible, terrible person !! it’s neverever your fault, n it doesn’t n shouldn’t effect how much they love/care about you! you like what you like, n that’s great !! don’t let someone pressure you into doin somethin you don’t wanna do.

n that leads m’to mnext point ! there’s nothin wrong with not bein into pain or degradation or anythin . . . jus intense. cause they’re exactly that, yknow? like . . m’actually not into intense impact play !! i like gettin slapped/spanked but mnot a fan of kickin or punchin or stuff like that.. n the funny thing is, m’only into it if the person doin it is super soft n sweet right after ! anythin you do (with a partner or not!) does not have tbe somethin intense n crazy n rough tbe a good time. what matters s’if you feel good— if they feel good too! n being rough most definitely is not the only way to feel good !!

anywho, yshould definitely talk it through with your partner!! communication is everythin. it’s important t’have boundaries set n placed— respected too. any type of. . play time ! should be guilt free, n it’s much better when everyone’s on the same page!! sorry f’it sounds like mramblin. . there’s so much i wanna say but it’s kinda hard tput into words. . tldr: i do! but we shouldn’t, so it’s important to talk about it t’diminish that feelin of guilt/inferiority !! no need to apologize, sweetpea!! mglad i could help, even if it’s jus a lil bit! <333 n thank you !!!

[nonranghaes]

your sweet svt drabbles are such an inspiration to me. I've been getting into writing fics slowly by writing just short ones off a single scenario, and i have too many prompts and ideas coming from my head (which is great !) that i already had laid out but i just couldn't find thee tempo to start. Soo I'm trying to get more inspo by reading around tumblr and to my luck i landed here! i found your writing style an exemplar to how i wanted to write (bonus if you'd like to give some writing tips? 🥹). Your drabbles looked effortlessly written, they're simple yet so expressive and visually evocative. Reading them makes me feel like it's easy to just get the idea off my head and picture it in words OK I'LL STOP HASJB it's literally midnight o clock (when the strong urge to give one of my prompts a shot kicks in)

aaaaaAAA AND IF I START CRYIN????

honestly i dont rly know if i have any solid writing tips haha i like reading a lot since it can teach me a lot abt what i like in writing and what i dislike!! + reading helps u pick up on how other ppl describe things and how their writing flow. idk if that makes sense though. like... book i just finished (a death in tokyo) is very to the point and practical with its writing. it was written in a way that i could clearly envision a lot of things and my mind would fill in the holes since its set in a real world setting. other stuff i read might take care in describing things in more detail, but reading higashino's work kinda made me understand further how just plainly stating things can have its own power and paint a picture just as well--just depends on what you're writing and what kind of vibe it should have, yknow?

like. i wouldn't expect a thriller to have the same writing flow as a romance novel, but the gritty details can still have importance depending on what the topic is. little things like that. genuinely, imo, the best writers are those who read a lot and my advice is rly just to kinda read everything u feel safe w reading!!!

also i think ive said this a lot on wooahaes but ive also been writing since i was like. 11. if not younger lol so ive had a looooootta time to practice and refine and get to where i am now and i'll still be improving into the future hopefully!!!

other than that... hmm...

i'll admit this one isn't something everyone can do (and obvs no shame to ppl who can't!) but i always try to envision the space i'm writing and the people within it.

i think for me personally, i care a lot about the physicality of whoever i'm writing? if they're nervous, are they acting shifty? are they wringing their hands? is this a situation they want to get out of, or are they nervous because they're kinda excited for what's to come? how are they vocally, too? are they the kind of person who rambles when they're nervous, or do they get really quiet? is it obvious, or will it seem normal if they're quiet/chatty?

like... with the mark lee drabble where he's nervously dragging out the question of "what if we kissed?" it was kinda important to me to just kinda have him dragging it out because once he says it, there's no way to take it back, and once he says it, the nerves take over in a "and now i must ramble, lets talk about anything but what i just said, so the aquarium-" where even though we don't SEE mark, we still can tell he's a nervous wreck over it all. its little things like that that just kinda stick out to me?

mmm but for my drabbles specifically... i think i kinda function off the fact that i'm not writing an actual fic here? if i wanted to write something longer, i'd put it on wooahaes (and sometimes i do! i've had a couple fics now i was gonna just post as a drabble but then they kinda ran away from me). i've deleted parts of drabbles before because i felt like they were getting too irrelevant. the point of a drabble, to me personally, is to just kinda give somewhat a quick snapshot of a moment. i think my stuff usually takes place in a single place as far i can remember, because changing scenes makes it feel like a bigger thing (barring stuff where there was a short flashback).

i think it can help to have an idea of what you want to capture if you're writing a short drabble. reader/seungkwan caring for one another, minho teasing reader over the cats, reader trying to get one over on joshua (ft seungkwan). occasionally the more fantasy-ish stuff is like "merfolk reader in love w jisung" and "merfolk reader saving minho" or "android!shua being saved from the facility by reader" comes to me, too. i just kinda write purely by vibes and what i wanna write. idk if this helps but i usually do try to have some idea of what exactly i wanna do!! the times i have opened a post and closed it again bc i had nothing..................................... yeah

(obvs no shame in those moments ksdhfds i just always end up sitting there like. what was i doing again.)

ummm idk what else to say!! i can always try to give advice on other stuff if u ever have specific questions but this is all ive got rn <3 good luck!!!!! i believe in u!!!!!!!!

[jamieedlund]

Aaravos for the character ask

First impression: There were 2 first impressions since we got introduced to his voice without knowing who he was first. -About his voice: I thought to myself woah this narrator sounds kinda smexy... Can you talk more sir?👀 -About his first appearance: I'm not one to grow attach to a character based on appearances but because of how ominous they introduced him and how beautiful he is, the only thought that crossed my mind was: damn I wanna see him genuinely smile. I bet he has a smile that can light up an entire night sky - Yknow that kind of smile that radiates warmth and comfort and kinda makes you wanna cry-

Need I say more?

If no one's doing it then I'm doing it myself- DO yo u S E E ? ? ? you're not a real simp until you just wants this man to be happy.

Impression now: HELLO MISTER MAN YOU ARE MY ONLY HOPE OF A CHARACTER THEY HAVEN'T RUINED BY BAD WRITINGS PLEASE TAKE CALLUM AND RUN AWAY SAVE YOURSELVES!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH PLEASE---

Favorite moment: Need I say more?

This spell casting --- these movements--- *clenches fist* Hell yea if I wasn't a simp before I am now. Just this entire sequence of him being hot pls I can't-

Idea for a story: How about you and Callum run away from the plot for 3 seasons doing chaotic good things huh?

You all know what I'm talking about.

Unpopular opinion: He is not a villain. The show keeps telling me that he's evil and bad and all the terribleness but what it SHOWED me was the complete opposite. He is an enabler. Manipulative for sure but fucking hell if the person he's speaking to doesn't listen to him, it's not like he can do anything about it. All he gave was advice... semi-terrible advice but just advice nonetheless. HE IS NOT DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY BAD CHOICES VIREN MADE and consequentially Claudia's in ss4. He enables what it is that the person truly desire and sayyyy idk... if the person wish was simply for Aaravos himself to be free, happy and for him to stop hurting (whether it's hurting himself or others) *cough cough callum cough* then he would just go from "evil" smexy whisperer to enabling his own therapy and I do not take this any other way. He amplifies the person's wants. So I guess the better take should be what if the person's want wasn't the world, or power or love but simply just to be with him? What then?

Favorite relationship: The one he has with Callum in my writing because again I can't count on the show to give him justice...Not after ruthlessly murdering Callum as a character...

Favorite headcanon: He sure as hell isn't interested in romance and he has more important things to care about than sex. I see everyone make him out to be this sex deprived horny ass 5000 year-old man and I'm sitting over here be like... Haha what if man really is a good person??? What if he is chasted as hell? What if he just... wants to look presentable but doesn't really have the need or even wants to be desirable because - character complexity??? He should be someone who normal people misjudged and cant quite understand, therefore adding to that alluring charm he has to him. I feel like making him a walking contradiction is far more fun and meaningful than just straight up shoving him into the horny bastard box (though i understand everyone sorta kinda really are thirsty for him...AND THAT'S ALRIGHT GOOD FOR YOU GUYS.) I just prefer to view him in a little more wholesome light.

[spaceshipkat]

Hi Kat 👋

How's your manuscript/publishing journey going? Last I saw you were still editing.

Any advice for the current climate?

probably the most accurate way to describe it tbh. i'm turning in a brand new book next week that i've had quite a bit of fun writing and my agent is really excited about, so yknow fingers crossed!

as for the current climate...oof. now i'm by no means an expert, but there are things i've observed or been told, so if i had to sum it up in a few points (i'll stick them under a cut so i can add more as i think of them, so this list is absolutely not exhaustive but my brain is kinda mushy so this is what i can think of off the top of my head):

shorter is better. novellas are really having a good time rn, but even in full length novels, shorter is better. it used to be that you needed at least 90k for an Adult fantasy, for instance. now, you're better off aiming for as close to 80k as possible. the only people still capable of selling enormous books (as if 120k is enormous but in publishing terms in the day and age when everything has to be shorter? yeah that's a gigantic book) are bestsellers already (either through tradpub or selfpub) or the exception to the rule.

AI continues to exist. saw today that the RWA is now pushing an AI writing class with an author who claims to have hit book #100. i'm not sure how many of her books were written with AI, given the post i saw claimed she's only been using it for about a year, but still. i expect quite a lot of lawsuits tbh, especially if whichever AI tool she uses was trained on the work by, say, Nora Roberts.

promotion is...changing? idk i have seen a lot of authors say that they're tired of being the lone person at their publisher bothering to promote their books, so it's very difficult to generate enough buzz to sell any copies. author promo is one of the things i've dreaded most about becoming an author because i get very easily tongue-tied and hate being on camera. i think this is why tradpub is looking to selfpub (beyond trying to make a quick buck) for which books they're acquiring. a selfpub success doesn't need as much promo as a debut with no platform.

selfpub to tradpub pipeline is likely gonna continue. these books often hit bestseller lists (Gothikana and Serpent and the Wings of Night were both megasellers as selfpubbed books, and they both hit the NYT upon publication). hopefully we all know how i feel about this so i can avoid another rant (i still have a deadline to meet) but a tl;dr summary of my feelings about this: i'm happy for the selfpubbed authors and despise tradpub using them for a way to make easy money.

likewise with the fanfic to tradpub pipeline. but i do think publishing might start looking wider than just reylo fic, given we now have an HP fic that's been sold as a reimagined tradpub book.

now i don't know as much about YA these days as i do Adult fiction, but the big genre everyone is after rn is romantasy (not to be confused with fantasy romance or fantasy with romance--both are similar, but each is different: romantasy = romance as the main plot, fantasy as the secondary; fantasy romance = fantasy and romance plots are kinda neck and neck; fantasy with romance = fantasy main plot, romance subplot).

[eirian]

so i talked abt this w ruby last night but i wanted to share my thots here as well in case anybody had anything to say lol

when i started writing one way dream, i had planned for it to be my catch-all universe--one kind of adjacent to mirrors in that it had everything i liked in it. angels, demons, aliens, deities, battles, superpowers, supernatural stuff, friendship, teamwork...and also inspiration from medias i like such as sonic and dragon ball and inazuma eleven. maybe even pokemon idk.

but as ive developed it, its kind of become its own contained thing. it no longer feels fitting for it to be my catch-all universe. im starting to accept that its ok for this to happen bc i still love owd. but like. now i have to start over LOL i still want my catch-all universe!!

ruby suggested that i might be looking at a picture thats too big rn and thats why im struggling. she says i should break it down into parts and write it according to arcs, kinda like how inazuma does it--each arc has some wack crazy shit in it that all works together when you put them together but you dont have to think about the full story always. and i think thats a good piece of advice

sometimes i am a little sad that mirrors is a fanstory based in a media that i didnt create. bc then i cant say i really..made it 100% mine, yknow? :( the characters are mine sure but i based them in a premade media so do i Really own them completely..

i really want a universe i can throw any oc into and have them fit. superhero? done. alien? done. demon/angel? done. soccer player? done. monster hunter? done. BUT LIKE....that feels so difficult :( as much as i REALLY REALLY want to do it

theres a good chance i am overthinking it and its actually a lot easier than im making it and if that is the case please somebody tell me how to fix it lol

[memryse]

kind of a personal post but i just need to yell into the void for a bit in a way where maybe there will be somebody with advice

i moved abroad about seven months ago to study, i’m seven thousand miles away from literally everybody that i know irl. i’ve been able to make a couple of friends who i hang out with sometimes but not properly clicked with anyone so. it generally feels very lonely here i don’t really have any kind of support system

basically as soon as i arrived my body decided it was going to develop pretty awful ibs. i did not have ibs when i left the uk other than feeling sick after i drank orange juice. ever since arriving here however i’ve had chronic pain, or rather chronic “feeling like my lower abdomen is burning from the inside”, about as often as i’ve not had it. it happened less over the winter but i think that might be because it’s partially connected to how hot it gets here

and theres just kind of. nothing i can do about it because you can’t fix chronic pain. i’ve been living mostly off convenience store food because i don’t have a kitchen and the small food places and night markets that most people usually eat at here instantly have horrible effects on me. and within the convenience store food i mostly alternate the same few options because i already have a pretty limited food palate from the probable autism (fun fact gastrointestinal issues are more common in autistic people) and even if i didn’t have that going on i’m so hesitant to try anything new here because i haven’t figured out what the main triggers are for making me sick. and not even that helps anyway i am still in pain.

there isn’t any point in paying to go to a doctor because i know full well what the issue is and there’s no treatment for the chronic pain so all i can do is wait it out. but it sucks because i keep having to miss classes, i don’t go as many places as i want to because either i’m physically ill or generally just too demotivated from being in pain to organise anything myself and also not having much of a social circle so i just feel like i’m wasting my time here. i’ve done some really cool stuff but it’s hard not to be jealous of the people who are having the time of their lives doing stuff every day when i can’t even go to university without being in pain a lot of the time and my own views are one thing but whenever other people ask me what i’ve been up to and it’s not much because i’ve been sick or just don’t have enough friends to be doing stuff as constantly as they are and they’re obviously being judgemental about it. That kinda sucks.

and i know bad sleep and not eating regular meals make it worse but when i don’t want to go to sleep because of the pain and i don’t want to eat because of the pain it’s just the world’s worst cycle and now i’m up at 5am being sad

i only have two months left until i go home but also it feels so lame to be so looking forward to leaving but god i’ve had so many misfortunes here. i really hope this goes away when i go back home and can eat my normal diet again and just like. Exist without pain :(

i don’t usually make personal posts i like to vent elsewhere but sometimes you really just need to write a long rant somewhere that maybe someone in a similar situation will see yknow

[faithdeans]

hi, it's ace anon <3

i'm just kind of weird feeling right now because like, i like the idea of romance, i think it's cute, i just don't think it's for me, or if it is, it's gotta be somebody i havent met yet. so that would make me aro or demiromantic, which is cool, and i'm fine with that, i just,

i'm visiting my cousin and his girlfriend of three years and she's so nice and they're so sweet together and i think they're going to get engaged soon based on how my cousin is acting, and it kinda makes me sad to think that i've never met anybody who would ever make me feel like the way they feel with each other. i feel so on the outside and i'm so happy for them, i am, and i'm so excited she's going to be part of our family.

it's just that the way their relationship works and how happy they make each other would never work for me. i realize i'm a different person than them with different boundaries, but looking at them so in love reminds me of how uncomfortable i would be if someone did that to me and also of how awesome love can be, so it's just a sucky feeling.

sorry if this bummed you out, i love you and you really helped me last time, so i'm like praying you have advice for how to not feel sad?

-ace anon

hiiii aceanon!

100% understand how you're feeling rn. when i realised i was aro, i definitely went through a kind of grieving process over it. very much thinking 1) there is something wrong with me and 2) i'm never gonna have that. i don't even think i want that but i'm never gonna have that.

it's like a whole world you can see and have to come to terms with missing out on and it's hard and it's painful. (at least it was for me)

i was actually talking about this yesterday and it's like, i feel like a hopeless romantic still. like i still crave that closeness and honestly some relationshipy things but. it's not romantic for me. it's more like a bond or a trust or just an understanding.

the thing i found the most helpful was romanticising the fuck out of my friendships. idk if you've seen the way i talk to the people i'm closest with on here but it helps so much. we're stargazing together. we're napping together. we're writing each other love letters and poems and getting fake married. it's beautiful and it's so joyful.

i try to bask in the love i can feel rather than mourn the love that i can't.

and you know i still get blushy and butterflies sometimes, when people are particularly sweet or kind. sometimes it feels like little platonic crushes! (and i know that's "all" they are, bc if someone actually told me they felt romatically towards me i'd be pretty uncomfortable yknow?)

also like, if you want a qpr or a partner in the future just maybe take some time and think about how you'd like that to look for you! i can promise you, you will find other people like that, especially with the internet.

honestly realising i'm aro has opened me up so much more to love because i'm not watering down my affections for my friends in fear that it might look romantic. they know i'm aroace, they know i'm just being sillysweet and i know it's the same from them.

idk man, just remember romatic love isn't the only love that can make you feel whole. in the meantime i'm here for you!! i hope you're okay and i love you so very much <3

[phantomdecibel]

Your writing is so character-centric and like. Good at dynamics and characterization and I’m just like “GIVE THAT TO MEEEEEEE”

ashfjgfhgsfjhkjhghdgdgfjkhljjggdsfdgjghkfhgddgdhjfkhhohofusgsggdfjhkhkkghfsgsgfhjghkhkjfstfs haha thanks :D

I’m. not so sure I’m qualified to give writing advice or even if ur looking for it lol, but I’ll write down my… kinda my thought process? and try to make it coherent haha

I dunno I think it’s mostly a matter of… like. getting to know the character, yknow? getting to know their personality and body language (which is different for every person/character), what makes them different from other characters, and then taking all that and using it to determine their interactions with others!

I’ll use ma boi Eurylochus as an example :)

So like, I see euryl as a character w a very stoick face; really subtle expressions, kinda intimidating if u don’t know him. Trusts w his whole heart once u get there, but not incredibly trusting. He speaks more with actions than words for me, though he’s not afraid to say what he’s thinking if no one else will. But he’s also a huge mother hen; cares about everyone, will always do what’s best for the majority of the people under his care – but especially his friends. And, as a result of growing up as odys friend, he doesn’t have much respect for authority (which is less canon compliment lmao), but he respects odys as his friend. He trusts him, so bc odys is in charge of the ship, he’ll listen, but he doesn’t have much respect for his authority as king. Hence; casual mutiny that freaks out the rest of the crew.

So we’ve got: stoic and intimidating but caring man who respects his friends but not necessarily authority.

How does that affect his interactions with;

The crew? Intimidated by him, but not afraid of him. He’s their second in command and always speaks up for the good of the crew; so while they don’t know him well, they know that he’s looking out for them. They’d likely be a bit hesitant to approach him, but still be willing to do so. Baffled and concerned by his seemingly lack of respect for odys (ie picking him up and dragging him off with no fear of repercussions), and would likely get pretty confused by all of his seemingly mutinous actions, but they’d eventually come to realize that at the very least, odys is never gonna call him out for it.

Strangers? Intimidated as hell, prolly a bit scared of him. It’s probably a reaction he wouldn’t mind; helps him keep his crew safe if the possible danger doesn’t want to mess a him, though it comes w it’s drawbacks. Strangers would see him like a brick wall, unless they were really good at or used to observing subtle body language.

And then the people he’s closest to; odys and poli;

A bit more complicated – each ‘main’ character has their own personality, each are essentially their own category, and that comes out doubly so when interacting w other characters they’re close to, like in this situation. I’ll just lump odys n poli together for the sake of simplicity, but they’ve each got their own unique way their characters mesh w one another.

odys n poli would know euryl’s body language and personality, and vice versa. They have no fear of him at all, not intimidated in the slightest, so the way they interact w him is a lot different than the crew who treats him as an authority figure, or strangers who’re intimidated by him. Honestly I wouldn’t put it past either of them to try and sit on his shoulders if they need a better view, but that’s not important right now lol. Point is; there’s gotta be a much larger sense of familiarity in their interactions with and around him.

odys n poli bring out a more obviously… playful? side of him; because they’re all friends, and are playful w each other. And vice versa – they’re playful around him, so he’s more playful around him, so they’re more playful now too, like a feedback loop!

Another thing is that, when writing from euryls perspective, or, well, any characters perspective, that helps determine how well they can talk/think abt what other characters are thinking. He knows odys n poli; so he can more reliably say “oh this is how he’s feeling” bc he knows how they react to things, what their body language is like. He can’t do that w strangers or as reliably w the crew – other than the base conclusion that they’re intimidated by him, which would be a bit more obvious – so that would influence how he interacts w them! I try and think about that a lot; how would this character react to the same situation, just involving different characters. How would euryl react in a situation w odys or poli, whom he knows and can, reliably enough, tell how they’re feeling v how would he react in the same situation but with a crew member or stranger, who he doesn’t know the tells of? That kind of thing, yknow?

…I also just treat them like cats. Any character I write? That there’s a cat now–

How would a cat react? That’s how that character reacts lmao–

But seriously it’s mostly just. a Lot of cause-and-effect, yknow? That’s how I try and write characters and like, character interactions :)

Hope that all made sense lol

[anaalnathrakhs]

Hey as a fellow Adeptus Mechanicus lover and a professional lore enjoyer I just wanted to share some advice regarding lore. Yes it's a confusing cluster fuck, but that just means you'll never run out of things to learn. If you wanna get into lore I say just pick what interests you most and learn about that. If you're going for the most entry-level videos (highly recommend it) try Adeptus Ridiculous or Bricky's faction summaries. Both are really funny with Ridiculous being also a podcast that can be easily listened to.

After that I then move on to the wikis or videos from Luetin or reading books.

If at any point you see something you don't understand, a seemingly important thing/character, or just some random tid-bit you find interesting feel free to fling yourself down that rabbithole instead.

Trust me it's a lot more fun and a lot less daunting than you think. Besides if you find a certain piece of lore dull go ahead and ignore it no one is forcing to learn about 40k for a grade. Lore in this series being long, fickle, and convoluted is kinda the point and there's no one way to enjoy so just have fun with, and keep following those rabbitholes just keep an eye on the clock because you will get absorbed otherwise.

Thank you for the recs! Most of my knowledge so far comes from whatever info about it my cousin fed me when I was a kid, writing a text analysis about the intro of the mechanicus game for school, and whatever I gather amidst the word salad when I go through r/grimdank, so there's... let's say there's plot holes.

I'm 100% down to read some long fickle convoluted lore, but I don't really want to buy a huge brick of a book and realize I picked a boring one and I'd have liked another type of long fickle convoluted lore better, yknow.

[juneviews]

youtube anon here!! omg thank you!! sorry im so late with this i was busy bc deepavali + wanted to make sure id thought of everything to ask ahsjdjdkf and ofc if you decide not to reply to this i understand as well, so really no pressure at all, okay? 😊 what software do you use to edit your videos? what made you decide to start making videos? do your videos get taken down bc of copyright? how do you deal if/when that happens? what are some of your favourite kinds of videos to make, and why? how long do you usually spend on a video (idea conception, filming, editing etc)? and since i know you from this blog, even before you started making videos: do you have any advice about putting out content in fandom? bc you make gifs + write + make videos and like. idk im just wondering if you ever feel shy about posting? (not that you should bc for real everything you put out is great- including all the off pictures you keep posting… thank you for that btw i dont have social media so thats the only way i get to see his beautiful face) i guess it sounds stupid but IM really really shy and the thought of putting anything out there for anyone at all to see makes me want to hide forever sdjfhskjg but like. i kinda want to make video edits too. mostly for myself as like a visual journal thing? like its a personal project. but i thought okay since im putting in so much effort why not share it with other people too? and id love if people discovered new music + shows bc of me yknow? but yeah anyway like. how do you deal with it if you ever feel that way? thats all i can think of for now, wow this got LONG. i hope its not too much rip. and again thank you for letting me ask you these questions ❤️

hi, OOF you really had QUESTIONS lmaooooo

I use the free software shortcut to edit my videos. I hate it & it's very slow which makes my already least favorite part of the video making, editing, even worse (:

I decided to start making videos bc 1) I saw a gap in the youtube market where people who talked about bl either did reactions or short analyses without showing their faces. 2) there were many topics that were easier to tackle in a longer video than a blog post. 3) if I were to be able to make a living off of youtube (which will not happen but wish I had known that then lol) it would solve most of my problems & allow me to combine pretty much all of my interests at once.

my videos ABSOLUTELY get taken down bc of copyright, if you look through my community page I've talked about that many times.

when that happens, I always appeal but most of the time it doesn't work, which means I spent 30+ hours MINIMUM on something that will never see the light of day (: it's in big part why I'm switching to thailand focused content instead of thai series content tbh, it was very heavy on my mental health for a hobby that takes so many hours out of me every week. not worth it.

my favorite kinds of videos to film are definitely my ranking ones or reaction ones bc they demand very little preparation & scripting and are just about me rambling for 2 hours, but my ranking ones take FOREVER to edit so on that part any non scripted video is the worst haha

the time spent on a video really depends, but usually the writing of a video takes me between 3 to 6 hours, the filming takes me 2 hours & the editing takes me a good 20 hours (funny bc I hate editing so much lmaooooo.) but some videos have only taken me 10 hours (short reactions), while others have taken me well above 50 (longer commentary ones.)

about putting out content in fandom, you're right in saying that I've basically done every kind of content LMAO. honestly the faceless one like giffing, writing fics, making fanvids, etc. is easy? like it needs to come from a drive of wanting to do it but bc your personal image isn't really attached to it, I feel like the trial & error is easier? if you wanna stop tomorrow no one will really care? but when I started making videos that demand significantly more time & that have my face clearly attached to it, that's when the doubts started creeping in. I never feel shy bc I just haven't been shy in a while, but I do feel ashamed to talk to irl people about my videos bc they aren't successful & I've invested over 2 years of my life in them so it's just kinda pathetic LMAO. but about you being shy, you can focus on the fact that it's the internet? like if you really don't want anyone to know it's your fanvids, create a new username & post them under it, bc then literally NO ONE will know it's you. to be honest it's taken me years but I've gotten rid of the notion of "cringe" and "embarrassment" out of my vocabulary. just do what makes you happy bc people will hate on you no matter what. I just know I personally want to live my life authentically & not filter it just so MAYBE I'm not as hated. so yeah, I hope you DO get to create the fanvids you want & good luck with that! thanks for the support as well, it means a lot <3

xxx

[metal-caregiver]

Any advice on how to look after system regressers

Our host regresses quite a lot, and me being co-host I'm the one who looks after them the most. I don't mind this, but I can't really do it "properly". Yknow the being in the same body part, I cant touch them or anything. The most I can do is get things they like and watch them to see if they're okay. Sometimes we talk over text or writing, but most of the time they're just to young to do that. Our host will not/refuse to leave front, so I can't look after them outside of front either.

Any advice on how to help them more and actually like connect with them?

I have this same problem !! Im also part of a system (and have had 2 alters respond to this. One a caregiver, one a non-caregiver) for their input on how they handle fronting with a little alter.  If any of us feels that he's starting to front we try to make things a bit “nicer” for him. Like cleaning our room, getting out his favorite toys or putting on his favorite show. And when I'm fronting with him I do the same as any caregiver would. Ill put on our weighted blanket or pet our hand, sometimes hold it if i'm free when he's nervous. Ill talk to us out loud or “inside my head”,,small things like “dont forget to put on a clean shirt for school,,you did a great job (name), (mom) would be proud”,,,Its easy when we’re co-fronting to sort of “take over” for a bit to do things he cant like cooking, crowds, etc. For the most part my brother can do anything on his own. I’ve taught him to drive and he fills out our tax reports. If he wants to boil water on the stove to make pasta who am I to tell him no? Sometimes he has accidents and a harder time forming words, he gets overwhelmed very easily and is prone to “melt downs” (we’re autistic and I avoid using tantrum with him because its most often than not a mental health thing than him being a brat) - Alek  He's usually only a brat when he wants something we wont let him have. But its not like he wants toys, or candy or a 1am bedtime. He wants to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre marathons. anywho- the rest of us really just make sure he doesnt accidentally run us off a cliff. The only times the rest of us really coddle him is when he has accidents. All of us have incontinence issues cause of our autism but he really struggles the most. Its a mix of his young age and just us having really bad body ques. Thats when the rest of us bust out the “lets get you cleaned up” and “good boy (name), I know you feel messy but theres nothing wrong”. All of us kinda do that to each other in a way when that happens. We always try to reassure each other that its something we cant really control and its just part of our disabilities - Corey long story short,,, - You can do anything a regular caregiver can! You just need to get a bit created. - Try to work a bit on communication and ways of doing it (talking out loud, AAC, communication cards, internal communication).  - Have things on hand that they feel safe with. A favorite stuffie, favorite show, coloring activity, outfit, smell, food, etc - Reassure them and make sure they’re safe even if you aren't talking. 

[morgenlich]

i still have like a week left of winter year 1 but while i'm waiting to be able to shower here are some of my initial thoughts on 1.6; not really a Review just a list of some things

i love most of the new dialogue. some of it is a bit. corny. but look, i love this game a lot, the writing of the npcs has never really been its strong point lol. it's not bad by any means but. yknow. anyway. the dialogue gives them a lot more personality as well as hobbies imo--maru especially benefits--and gives even more helpful tips to players. for example, linus responding to being gifted a foraged item by saying he likes fresh finds from the wild is a good clue that you can keep giving him (most) foraged items, pam gives some advice about fish ponds, there seems to be more dialogue about what other npcs do and don't like, etc. i feel this will really be helpful for new players tbh.

i posted about this the other day but i feel the farm cave could really use a major overhaul if there's ever another big update

the visual changes are REALLY nice, the waterfalls ofc but there's some smoothing out of the cliffs and such--i'll have to nab some comparative screenshots on my switch soon

each update makes fiddlehead ferns way easier to get ahold of which. ok. lol

i'm glad i'm playing this save without one of the profit modifiers, because oh boy there are a lot of expensive things i want to buy (traveling cart's retro catalogue being 110k g, iirc the wizard catalogue krobus sells now is 150k.....the pet turtles....)

you can buy cat towers from marnie now (as well as dog houses)

desert trader now sells a wicked ass piano for 999 coal btw

hrm. the books and the prize tickets. i need to sit on these a little bit longer i think......first impression is that they're nice, but i kinda feel like the books especially put you on easy mode. i've joked before that i think stardew could do with something like hades' hellmode where you start with the dangerous mines as the default, and i think if you were to do that you'd have to seriously nerf some of the powers the books give you.

also mystery boxes are now a third non-geode thing that function like geodes and god i wish i could just use a geode crusher to open them lol, ESPECIALLY now that they no longer require coal

i love the icon for smoked fish it's just so funny to me. fish smoked so well it's STILL smoking as you put it in the shipping bin.

[chacolacereal]

Self Doubt about Somnium Extract

So this ramble is kinda just for me to work out my nervousness about writing out Somnium Extract.

Somnium, I do intend to finish, I'm thinking it won't be very long, probably a good 2 years of posting would get it done. I'm also aware I shouldn't put everything on this. I have so many stories I want to tell and personal lines to cross but I have to be aware that this first thing won't be able to do all of it. Like, maybe I shouldn't jump into the ocean after only being able to wade in the shallows for 2 minutes, yknow?

But the main thing about this is I'm worried the things I'm inspired by and love will not be done justice by this story. And like, that happens all the time, and it's really likely they won't be... but perhaps there really is a way to do it that feels original, and won't be bad. How will I know that I'm doing that very best version?

For instance, I've decided the way to make Reese's awake version more important to the story is to have her try to solve the mystery, while the sleeping version fights the monsters. I think that's a pretty good even split but I've never actually written a mystery before D: I've made stories with twists and turns but they revealed their stories in a straightforward way. I love mystery styled plots but how do I know I'm doing it right? What if I end up not hitting any of the points that I think makes mystery great? Finish the story and it just feels like a mess... Logically, I know that this happens all the time, no great writers ever start off with perfection, and its even in their imperfection that makes the stories special. Logically, I know that this doesn't have to be the best thing in the world. And I know that no one has any expectations for it anyway, but I'm still worried, yknow. The actual answer right now is to stop planning and start the story. Just jump in and go for it. If it sucks it sucks but it'll be 52% better than the story I never wrote. Why is it so hard to take your own advice..............?