#page 250 ruined me

[xdbug-bob]

Thomas: Didn't you die?! Newt: That was weeks ago, dude. Things change.

[babisawyer]

not to go on a tangent but I finished all of the acotar books and I don't know what to do with myself!

[sunset-a-story]

Writeblr Intro

Hello, Writeblr. I joined to connect with other writers, especially folks who write/are into LGBTQIA+ sci-fi/fantasy stories. I’d love to connect with writers looking to hype each other up!

Sunset, a serial fiction in three arcs (Sunrise, High Noon, Sunset) is posted weekly. (Patreon members get issues one week earlier plus extras!)

Sunset Vol 1. Sunrise (Posted)

Patreon | AO3 | Wattpad Dramatis Personae page Playlist Audiobook version

Sunset Vol 2. High Noon (Releasing now)

Patreon | AO3 | Wattpad Dramatis Personae page Playlist

Content Warning List

@touloserlautrec is my amazing co-writer and artist behind the Sunset artwork.

When asked to sum up Sunset badly, I usually go with: Telepaths ruin everything.

An actual blurb:

SolCorp was founded to hide the existence of knacked people and their myriad of superhuman powers from the world, keeping humans safe from out-of-control knacks and keeping knacked people safe from human intolerance. So when they discover that one rogue Sol scientist had generated 25 babies with a defective Probability Manipulation knack and abandoned them out in the world fourteen years ago, it's up to SolCorp to find them and bring them back. But maybe their knacks weren't so defective after all because as three of the Venus 25 grow into adulthood, improbable things start happening that will change SolCorp and the world forever.

Sunset is a slow-burn of mounting tension and stakes that only get higher with expansive worldbuilding and a majority LGBTQIA+ ensemble cast that has something for everyone from espionage to adventure to romance and even a dash of monster hunting.

Extras on Patreon include things like exclusive deleted & bonus scenes, Baguette updates, early access to art and fiction, correspondence from LAHQ, and gift packages of merch.

Vol 1: Joey sees the history of everything and everyone he touches as translucent blue ghosts acting out the past all around him. And this includes his own past, which is how Joey knows he wasn't born, he was made. Made and thrown away. What he doesn't know is that the people who made him, SolCorp, are actively working to find him and bring him "home" to be with others that have supernatural knacks like Joey. Neither one has any idea how much that will change them both forever.

Vol 2: And then nothing was the same ever again.

Current Stage of Writing Process:

Sunrise (115k words/250 pages): Posted

High Noon (325k words/717 pages): Releasing now

Sunset: (580k words/1,348 pages so far): Drafting in progress

If you're interested in being on the taglist for Sunset, please let me know in a comment/dm!

Worldbuilding Posts

SolCorp Pharmaceuticals "A pristine pharmaceuticals office park where everything that happens is always in everyone's best interest."

Entropy Games Inc. (our Big Bad) "All games have winners, and all games have losers. Not all game pieces are made of plastic, and the warehouses have seen all of them."

The Church/The Children of God "Sanctuary will be given freely, no questions asked. There is just one edict--Fell the Dogs."

I also offer Alpha/Beta Reading Services!

Details below!

If you're looking for someone to put eyes on your original WIP and offer helpful but gentle feedback, message me!

Why me? I have a degree in Creative Writing. I was gainfully employed as a professional writer for 6 years. I have been published in literary journals and was a founding editor of a literary journal that I helped run for years. I have a 1,800+ page serial, and I just plain love stories. As far as pricing, I charge a $40 flat rate for pieces under 10K words and $0.004 USD per word for pieces over that.

[lia-land]

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

3/5

Spoilers for the first book in the Blood and Ash series*

I cannot start this review with anything other than how bad the audiobook is. This is an incredibly slow book for about 250/300 pages, as lots of fantasy series tend to be, so I wanted to get the world building over with on the audiobook. I could not continue listening to the narrator after the first few chapters. Hawke’s voice and accent combination is the worst thing I have ever heard and I can’t believe there was no one else who could have narrated this. Give me a microphone at this point... It’s like she was purposely trying to make it sound bad. I don’t know her name but I refuse to believe that she is not Jennifer L. Armentrout’s biggest hater.

Hawke is a relatively sexy character and maybe a little bit like ACOTAR’s Rhys, but this narrator completely ruined him for me. I can’t even read the books without hearing that stupid voice she gave him. I won’t even digress about every time she says ‘Oh my Gods…’ but I do like that this story eventually acknowledges the Gods that it’s referring to.

The world building was dragged out and I was very bored until around 50% in. I didn’t love that the book immediately jumped into spice; it gave me the impression that this series was just going to be porn with a weak plot, but I was somewhat wrong. Not entirely wrong, but the plot was stronger than I expected.

Then there’s the bad writing. The story is okay after chapter 15, but the bad writing outweighs it. I was constantly aware that I was reading, especially during the dialogue. It didn’t flow naturally and felt really forced. As many others have said, this book would have benefited from a good editor. Get Grammarly on this at the very least. The dialogue reminded me more of a TV show script where they quickly refer to/recap a previous episode since viewers might have forgotten. In this book, the dialogue sometimes referred to things that happened only a few pages or even sentences ago. I wanted to know what would happen, but I didn’t want to actually read it because the writing was really dull. The publisher is Simon & Schuster, by the way. Not sure how this met any standards of such a big publisher. Update: I've since seen a few people say that JLA doesn't have an editor at all? That should have told me all I needed to know before even starting this series.

Poppy was boring. She felt less like a character and more like a device for us to see the story unfold. Of course, every character has that purpose to some extent, but the only interesting thing about her is that she is the Maiden, and we still don’t even fully know what that means. I’m far more interested in the other characters. 

I thought Hawke was probably the Dark One after he made out with Poppy, otherwise he would just be really bad at his job as a guard. I was even more convinced after the Duke was stabbed with a cane right after. It seemed too obvious. Poppy is a very dumb character and I think the purpose was for readers to maybe relate to her? No clue. I could probably justify this partially by house secluded she is from other people, but the cane in the Duke’s chest right after her and Hawke made out was too obvious. Not sure how she didn’t pick that up in any part of her endless inner monologue. There's a big thing now about author's treating readers as if they're dumb and it was very clear in this book. I've also mentioned before that I don't base my reviews off of who authors are as people and I haven't, but if you feel like doing a deep dive into JLA's interactions with her readers, she does indeed think we are all dumb.

This isn’t a bad book, but it’s not good either, in my opinion. There really wasn’t that much plot. It’s just a bunch of repetitive inner dialogue with maybe 100 pages of things actually happening. I was so ready for this to be my next obsession, but it just wasn't for me.

Update: Tried reading the second book but it was just too boring. DNF at 12%.

[modern-inheritance]

Update (and thoughts on what I have read so far of the new book)

Yeah yeah I know. I haven't finished Murtagh. Work gets in the way, when I get home I just want to eat and sleep and not put my brain to work, and weekends are me trying to fix up the house, play DnD and video games to relax.

I'm going to say spoilers here because though I'm being very vague I still don't want to ruin anything for anyone.

I will say that what I have read so far (~250-300 pages) has been very good. My main complaint is that we know this entire book is focused on Murtagh and Thorn, but there's still a hell of a lot of 'you could loop in Eragon and Saphira and Arya and Firnen, it would make this not only easier, but safer for the entire region and could lead to a better outcome.' "No they're busy/we're traumatized/everyone hates us/they won't care (this one is the worst imo)/insert-other-very-questionable-reason-here." It's clear that yes, Murtagh and Thorn are traumatized and it manifests in their actions, so I'm very happy with that acknowledgement and continuing consequences (poor word choice on my part here), but it's also pretty clear that they both are, much like Eragon and Saphira, very young.

It's nice to not have Eragon being ultra wise and whatnot. That step after Eldest where he seemed to have completely transformed (not just physically) from a somewhat flailing 15 year old kid with way too many responsibilities to a young-but-wise Rider with a ton of understanding and a penchant for philosophy felt so rushed and sudden to me. Murtagh and Thorn are not given that weird elf training and it shows. They don't feel or act wise and worldly and it's a very good thing.

I know none of them show up because this is indeed Murtagh and Thorn's story, but I wish we got more info on what's going on with Eragon and Saphira and Arya and Firnen. It's probably the MIC bleed through, but when it was said at one point 'it takes more to rouse a queen' when it was clear there was some really, REALLY fucky shit going on, my eyebrows went up to my hairline. Arya's probably going absolutely stir crazy at this point, and it was mentioned that there was equally fucky shit going on with the elves. She'd probably jump at the chance to go out with Firnen and actually have Dragon Rider duties to use as an excuse to get out of the forest/political bullshit.

I will say that I have read the last couple pages. I am pleased.

Alright, that's it. I'm currently tinkering with a few different versions of the Scars short with Arya and Islanzadi, but it's very choppy and won't be ready for a long time yet. I do spend a lot of my time at work mentally going over stuff so maybe yall will get a bit of MIC sooner rather than later, but for now I'm focusing on getting everything settled in with work/life balance.

Cheers you lot! I'll be back on with more stuff after I finish Murtagh.

[editor-flower-shop]

Hey!!! How are you?

How do you make stimboards?

Do you have a source for stims other than Tumblr?

heya, anon! we are doing well!

so, i'll start on a tutorial in a second, but I'll answer your second question first.

i guess the only suggestion i'd have for stims from outside of tumblr, is just general gif websites. tumblr is very much the best place to find stims though. there isn't really a specific source for stim gifs other than tumblr.

also, i will preface this with the fact this will most likely be for pc editors only. i have no idea how much of this works on mobile. i’m really sorry about that.

anyway, onto the tutorial!

How To Make Stimboards

1. find + download your stims.

so, you’ve got your character or your theme, and now you need to find the good stims. what terms do you search, what things do you look for. i’ll tell ya.

tumblr tip!!!!! ~ when you search on tumblr, don’t click enter after typing, look at the search and pick the option under ‘go to #tag’. you’ll see more posts that way!

for specific aesthetics, it is very easy to just search up ‘’aesthetic’ stim’ (eg ‘light academia stim’, ‘kidcore stim’) and then just go through and find neat stims you feel fit.

you can do this tip with pretty much anything else, like colours, specific stims, etc.

the best stims to use is subjective, so there isn’t really a rule to it. just pick what you think is best.

so, when i pick my stims, i:

find a stim i like and download it. i usually save it in a specific folder for gifs.

i then like the post, so that i can refer back to it later when i credit the gif sources.

i then find another stim i like, download it, like it, etc etc, until i have eight stims.

2. converting your gifs from webp to gif.

so, tumblr has an annoying habit of downloading everything as webp, so here’s the work around i use. you have to do this individually for all the gifs. you can find bulk converters, but i’ve found they ruin the quality of the gifs, so i use this method.

i start off on this page, though resizing your stims isn’t required. i go for 250 x 250 px.

once you’ve done that, do not download the gif, instead go to the button next to it, to GIF.

if this doesn’t appear, that means tumblr downloaded it as a gif and you can download it and move on! this can sometimes happen, but check all your stims.

when you click on that, you come to another bit of the website. this is actual part where you convert from webp to gif.

all you have to do is click the convert button and redownload the gif! and you’re done!

3. (optional) editing your gifs!

if you pick stims that all fit together pretty well, you can just move on to 4. but, if you picked a few stims that don’t fit together colour wise, etc, i’ll tell you how to fix that!

there are a few ways to make your stims look cohesive.

for matching colours, go for hue or colour layers! these are a very easy way to make your gifs match. but, they might not work as well on stims with hands, stims with multiple colours, etc.

experiment with other things! if your stims are too bright or loud, lower the saturation; if your stims are too dark or too light, mess with the brightness!

this is all trial and error, i’ll be honest. but if you can’t find a solution to a problem, don’t worry. chances are, no one will take notice of it in the finished post. trust me.

4. making the middle icon!

you can do this at any point in the project; honestly, we tend to do this first, so we know how to make the stims look when we edit them. but, you can do it whenever.

these are easy, just go about them as if you were making a regular icon! i usually go for a smaller icon size, and make them simpler than my usual icons, but its really up to personal preference.

5. compiling your post!

we have tips on stimboard composition you can find here! but otherwise, this step is pretty easy. add them all to your post and align them into the three grid you usually see.

now, you can type in your title, add any comments you want to make, and then pick how you are going to lay out your credits!

6. credit

so, on the stimboards you usually see around, you will see a line of emojis or symbols, with links. this is where they found the stims they used!

pick your symbols/emojis! lay them out in three’s, representing the layers of your stimboard.

refer back to the posts you liked earlier when picking your stims. and find where the link for that specific gif is on that post. its usually pretty obvious which one it is.

you might have to click through a few different web pages to find the original creator, but the best way to tell if its the original poster, is if it links back to youtube, or instagram, instead of tumblr.

if the link goes to a dead blog/link, go back and credit the last post you saw it on.

then, go back to your post and copy that link into the symbol that represents that specific stim.

do this for all your stims! 

7. tagging

tagging stimboards is like tagging most other posts, but there are a few things that are reccomended!

first tag your usual edit/fandom stuff, then the specific stims used. 

this is because, its common for people in the stimming community to block tags of the stims they do not like, so make sure to tag the specific stims.

after that, tag things like hands, knives, etc! this is for the same reason as above.

and you are done! well done, you created your first stimboard! they are a little time consuming, but really, really fun. i hope this was helpful!

[mystic-writings]

okay so. in regards to the maze runner books. i have finished the death cure and page 250 didn’t catch me too off guard. however. pages 142 onward of crank palace have officially ruined me beyond repair

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 2.5/5

Book Blurb:

Ellie never expected to see him again.

Two years after the Unravelling revealed monsters and their hidden realm to the world, garden designer Ellie Harding seems to have her life together, living out her cottagecore dreams on the picturesque island of Motuwai, New Zealand.

What she never expected was for Van Livingston, the wealthy American she grew up with every summer, to walk back into her life nine years after a tragic event destroyed their romantic relationship. What’s more, it turns out Van is a wolf — a hybrid werewolf/wolf-shifter, to be exact — with two wolves and two wolf forms. He’s just as handsome as ever, and without the glamour, his gold eyes and towering height have her feeling hot and bothered all over again.

Van was her first love, and she could never blame him for how things ended… but that doesn’t mean Ellie’s ready to take him back. She has her own problems to sort out, including a secret that’s been eating away at her.

Van’s wolves know that she’s his mate.

He wasn’t supposed to find Ellie yet. After breaking away from his father’s pack, Van’s plan involved settling into his newly-purchased vineyard on the island of Motuwai. Only then did he plan on tracking Ellie down — to apologise, to grovel, and to beg for her forgiveness.

But the moment he scents her in the unlikeliest of places, he’s done for. His wolves won’t let it go — Ellie is his fated mate — and this time around, he’s not going to ruin things.

However, Ellie isn’t quite the same woman he used to know, and something sinister has been lurking in the shadows. Van’s alpha instincts drive him to protect her, but will it be enough to keep the danger at bay?

A Wolf in the Gardenis a first-person, dual POV novel, and the first in the Unravelling Monsters universe. It is a monster romance that features a female lead of mixed New Zealand European and Māori descent who is not afraid to love her man in both his human and his werewolf form. There is a HEA. CWs available on the author's carrd.

Review:

Two exes find themselves running back into each other after their terrible break up and now they are completely different people... but the romance between them is still there they just have to figure out what exactly went wrong in the first place. He's a werewolf with a complicated family, she's a fae hiding her identity, they used to be lovers until his sister was killed and he left the island and now he's moved back and he's determined to prove to her that she is his mate and that he never left her by choice. Ellie loves gardening and has made a life out of it. She is still nursing the heartbreak from when Van, her ex boyfriend, left her all those years ago. Yet when someone new moves into town and hires her... the last person she expects is for it to be Van... and for him to be a werewolf. Van was forced to leave Ellie, the one woman he loved by his father, and now he is back to claim her as his mate. If only he could get her to believe he never truly meant to leave her in the first place. Let me start off by saying this book had promise, its got tons and tons of sex and for a 500+ page book it was packed with it. I actually found myself getting bored of the sex scenes and hoping for some actual plot. I wanted more groveling and actual emotional connection between Ellie and Van, if I'm being honest, she forgave him pretty early and fast and for a heartbreak that lasted YEARS it seemed kinda meh. I just found myself getting super bored as the book dragged on, if I'm being honest this book should have been cut down to at least 250-300 pages max. The 500+ page is not justified in the least. If you like super smutty werewolf romances with barely any plot, this is absolutely for you.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Let's not waste any time, we'll get right into it!

(Edit: I just realized this is my 250:th post. Woo-hoo!)

I tried not to, but I accidentally glanced at the name of this episode in advance. Based on that, I figured we’d probably get some flashbacks or learn more about the past in some form. And I was right.

It’s young Eda. Well, young-er. This is clearly a few good years after the curse took hold, but she hasn’t lost all the color in her hair yet. Her hair is also shorter than it was when she was a teen. I’m not sure how old she was supposed to be when Lilith cursed her. Actually, now that I think about it, I’m not sure how old she is in the present. I have a feeling I might’ve looked it up before and then forgot it. Now I don’t dare to look it up again because of spoilers.

Anyways, what is she doing here though, out and running in the boiling rain? Is she running from something, or towards something? Chasing a cure for her curse?

i didn’t take screenshots of it all, but I paused a few times to try and get a feeling of where we are. It appears to be some kind of ruin or old building. It is overrun with vegetation, but appears to be quite fancy, with golden markings. In this above screenshot, Eda stands in front of some kind of doorway or portal vaguely resembling a keyhole. There are also stars decorating the ceiling. The strangest and most eye-catching detail though are the several piles of rocks, with the top rock being bent, almost like a banana. Or a bean. Or a macaroni. Or a smile.

The keyhole makes me think of the portal door to the human realm. Could this be where Eda found it?

I feel like the piles of rocks are important in some way.

As I said, I already knew the title. Based on it and the opening flashback, I’m gonna go ahead and guess that we’re gonna learn more about Eda’s past. Maybe someone or something will come back to haunt her.

We also see here a few of Luz’ notes on glyphs. We see her pondering what else the Light glyph might be capable of besides just making pretty lights. The one thing that catches my eye is the ”Power?” In the last episode, Eda mashed together and Ice glyph and a Light glyph. The result was an ever expanding mass of ice. Almost as if the Light glyph made the Ice glyph more powerful…

Furthermore, if you look on the right page up at the top, you can find the sign for Fire and Earth respectively from the Engelsfors Trilogy.

Now that I think about it, the Light glyph has both the Metal sign and Fire sign in it. And if you look at some of the other gly

[oh-my-may]

Felt like sharing that I've been in the process of finishing up Genshin content I skipped over. Especially Chenyu Vale exploration. Felt like a chore doing it when it came out so I pushed it to a later point when I'd actually enjoy it. And what can I say, I'm almost through with it now after two longer sessions and I've been loving it :)

After playing a game like Rebirth, Genshins casualness (?) is so refreshing and welcoming, it felt like a warm hug. The last few weeks I only ever did dailies and farmed through resin and logged off because I was busy with other stuff. Now I have the time to enjoy it again, and I feel so happy about it. It makes me so excited for the new map areas in 4.6.

Chenyu Vale exploration probably felt kind of nostalgic and welcoming because there'a lots of small puzzles and mechanics that are similar or the same as Liyue pre-2.0 which now feels so nostalgic to me. The weird bubble flowers that you have to shoot? Placing geo monuments on pressure plates? Count me in.

Also love the "weird" hidden chests that are also so old Mondstadt and Liyue. Like wdym there's a weird digging point that you can click repeatedly and ore chunks come out until it explodes in your face BUT you get a chest at the end :) Following trails of pinecones to caged in Simulacrums (these Treasure Hoarders really just do anything). The ruins were also just such a callback to old Liyue :( I was so happy throughout idk.

I alsl finally figured out how the Chenyu Vale exclusive exploration mechanisms and puzzles work. You know, the teapot (?) things and the light lotus in the water (or so). What can I say, it's been a breeze. The Vale is just so beautiful...

But it did get me to think... it is a part of Liyue, yet it looks so different... it's so green/blue/turquoise and the rest of Liyue is gold/yellow. Like... all of it. And ofc that's still pretty! Been loving to see the silhouette of the Jade Chamber or the other adepti abodes in the distance. But you can definitely see that the dev team has come a long way. I can't wait for Mondstadt to get its Dorman Port expansion :( I've got a feeling we're only gonna get that before Snezhnaya comes out during the 5.x patches, since it's probably gonna be very close... but I'm so happy that Mond will get attention again. I've already loved the events this patch, the potions one and the one with the cats. They definitely haven't forgotten about it! They keep on teasing the place names in characters dialogues so casually...

ANYWAY (is it obvious that genshin is a huge hyperfixation lf mine I could talk on it for HOURS) I have like 10% exploration remaining in all areas of Chenyu and I'll probably finish it within the next few days. I also still have Lynette'a hangout to do and a bunch of smaller world quests in Chenyu. Then my vault of primogems will be ripped open for Arlecchino <33 Will talk about her so much after her quest and listening to her voicelines about other Fatui members when she comes out. So obsessed with her lore. I have over 250 pulls waiting and I really want her weapon too... i'm kinda scared.

A good friend of mine who was the reason I started genshin to begin with also came back to the game after not playing since before Sumeru. We've been talking a lot about the game, she's in the process of finishing up all things Sumeru and we're gonna play together some time this week to get her coop achievements... and she wants me to summarize and explain the archon quests so far before she digs into Fontaine... welp. Anyway, it's just so nice to talk about everything wirh someone again, especially because we're on the same page what concerns all things genshin, be it lore, gameplay, critique or anything else. It's just nice sharing interests :)

Maybe I'll give some few thoughts after I actually finish up the area and did Lynette's hangout. Also maybe give some predictions on Arle's story or so.

Have these screenshots I took! I rarely actually take screenshots while playing genshin... since I played on an old laptop for so long I'm not used to the game actually looking nice :) will hopefully change that in the future

[draftmare]

I think in my last update I said I was going to read, or was reading A Court of Mist and Fury, the second book in the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas. Well, that book is well and truly finished. Another speed record on my part. I am 1/3rd of the way through the third book in the series, A Court of Wings and Ruin, when I took a totally random side detour to read Falling In Love With My Vampire Cat by Camilla Evergreen. It was… okay.

Similar to Jump that I read earlier this year it’s another “clean romance” in that there is nothing beyond kissing. Swearing is left up to your imagination, which left me having to reread some sentences to try to make sense of what was actually being inferred as having been said. In this world being a fairy or having fae blood is a stand in for being neurodivergent, and it’s heavily implied that the MC is autistic except it’s blamed on her being part fairy, which was an interesting concept.

The MC is an avid reader of romantic fantasy, and that makes her very self aware of all the romantic fantasy tropes. Enemies to lovers, fated mates, love triangles, and how she refuses her story to be anything like that. It was cute and witty at first, and then it got exhausting. I found myself skipping entire pages of internal dialogue, similar to how I felt about Sunshine by Robin McKinley at times.

Anyway, it was free on Kindle Unlimited and only 250 pages, so while I don’t regret my slight break from my main reading obsession right now, I’m also glad that I didn’t pay for the book either.

[theaawalker]

Any advice for writer's block?

Thank you for your query!

Curing writer's block is no small task. The reason being is the idea is a myth. 'Cure' is defined by an infinite remedy to a recurring ailment. Sadly, there is no 'cure' this author ailment. But there are concoctions, so to speak...

[ ~ i close my eyes and i can see ~ ]

Eliminate distractions Limit your intake of anything that doesn't feed your writing spirit, be it scrolling through TikTok or watching reality TV. These external variables fuel your writer's block like a stack of papers. It piles, piles, and piles the more you purchase paper. Granted, that metaphorical paper stack can be used to write on, but it takes you to fill those blank sheets. Revisit your writing inspo's Go back to the thing that made you love writing. For 8-year-old me, it started as an outlet for trauma. Soon, it grew into something more, courtesy of My Little Pony, X-Men, Narnia, The Avengers, Rise of the Guardians, The Outsiders, and Disney classics. Read other people's work Growing up, I was an avid reader. I read anything I could ingest, from Jelsa fanfiction to 13 Reasons Why. As of today, I read a book every two weeks. If you wanna know how, ask me here. Read your own work If you have previous work, go back and read that. It could be your diary, school essays, or (if you're a wattpad or quotev girlie) online publications. If you don't have previous work, cautiously read your current work-in-progress. Give yourself grace and remember it's called a work-in-progress for a reason. Imitate your heroes Personally, I study work by authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Anne Lamott, C.S. Lewis, Lemony Snicket, James Dashner, and S.E. Hinton. I don't consider any of them my heroes, but they are undeniable trailblazers. As such, I follow their methods and styles, but will pave my own route to success. I will be legend like them, and this is my "day one". Write in pieces Don't write 1k per day. That's a good day's count, but should not be the norm. Have a word count goal that's calculated by your ideal page count. For example, my goal is 300 pages, so my word count goal is 90k. I write 300 words per day; as you can see, it's aligned with my page goal. If yours is 250 pages, that's your daily word goal. Follow an outline THIS IS IMPORTANT! Please outline your work before you begin writing. Preferably, this would be between the planning phase and writing phase. The brainstorm is over, now you can write chronological plot-lines (divided either by chapters or start, middle, and end). IF YOU'VE ALREADY STARTED WRITING, outline wherever you left off and go to the end. Here is an example: [the ogre, Shrek, spends his day at swamp] [come night, hunters come for him to scare] [he runs into a donkey begrudgingly befriends him] [creatures invade his swamp; cause: lord farquade] [shrek and donkey confront him and strike a deal] [shrek goes to rescue a princess for the lord in exchange for his swamp back] [they venture back to the lord's castle, and end up falling in love, 1-3 chapters] [the princess, fiona, is also an ogre] [shrek and fiona have a spat] [the lord retrieves her and shrek goes home] [donkey convinces him to invade the wedding] [shrek confesses his love for her] [they live happily every after]. Feel free to expand your outline as you write on. Write now, edit later Summarize if you must, just get it done. Write whatever your heart desires. For me, I wrestle with over-description and lengthy sentences, so I'll take my advice too lol. And you know what? That's perfectly fine. I can shorten, i.e. edit, anything later. For now, just let it all pour out and enjoy it. Make a playlist to fully immerse yourself in your imaginary world. Writing should be a fun, magical experience, and being self-critical ruins that. So, to summarize, keep calm, make it fun, and edit when the story's complete.

Want to Learn More About Writing?

Follow me here (theaawalker)

...On Instagram (_.sincerelyme._)

...On Twitter (theaawalker)

...Or Tiktok (@.the.aa.walker)

I post my fandom imagines, too. Check out my latest one here.

Did I mention I'm publishing a book soon?! If you're interested in YA fantasy, fiction, and philosophy, then see my website, newsletter, or email me at guardiansofcamoria@yahoo.com for updates.

[adamgant]

141: Ditching the all or nothing mindset Q&A episode

141: Ditching the “all or nothing” mindset, Q&A episode https://ift.tt/1Ym0EOM Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re enjoying the morning! New podcast episode is up with a little Q&A. Thank you so much to those of you who submitted questions via Instagram. If you have any topic or guest requests, please send them my way! 141: Ditching the “all or nothing” mindset, Q&A episode Here are today’s questions: – How do I improve my all or nothing mindset? I feel like when I’m on the plan, I can stick with it, but once I do something that’s not on the plan, the whole day is ruined. – How to adjust mindset/nutrition/movement when recovering from surgery? – Lab ranges that are different in functional medicine – Kettlebells! How to choose the correct weight? Where to start? Work with a certified kettlebell coach – Nutrition certification and deep dive of coaching options 1:1 Coaching – email me with the subject COACHING gina@fitnessista.com for an application Fit Team– phased strength training plans you can do at home, designed to improve strength, performance, and body composition Vitality– health foundations, functional lab testing, and personalized action plan to get you feeling your absolute best More resources from this episode: I love love love the meals from Sakara Life! Use this link and the code XOGINAH for 20% off their meal delivery and clean boutique items. This is something I do once a month as a lil treat to myself and the meals are always showstoppers. You can join their fall reset now! If any of my fellow health professional friends are looking for another way to help their clients, I highly recommend IHP. You can also use this information to heal yourself and then go one to heal others, which I think is a beautiful mission. You can absolutely join if you don’t currently work in the health or fitness industry; many IHPs don’t begin on this path. They’re friends who are passionate to learn more about health and wellness, and want to share this information with those they love. You can do this as a passion, or start an entirely new career. You can use my referral link here and the code FITNESSISTA for up to $250 off the Integrative Health Practitioner program. I highly recommend it! You can check out my review IHP Level 1 here! I just finished IHP2 and will share a review of my experience, too. I’m still obsessed with my sauna blanket. This is one of my favorite ways to relax and sweat it out. I find that it energizes me, helps with aches and pains, I sleep better on the days I use this, and it makes my skin glow. Link to check it out here. You can also use my discount (FITNESSISTA15) for the PEMF Go Mat, which I use every day, and the red light face mask, which is a staple in my weekly skincare routine. Get 15% off Organifi with the code FITNESSISTA. I drink the green juice, red juice, gold, and Harmony! (Each day I might have something different, or have two different things. Everything I’ve tried is amazing.) Thank you so much for listening and for all of your support with the podcast! Please be sure to subscribe, and leave a rating or review if you enjoyed this episode. If you leave a rating, head to this page and you’ll get a little “thank you” gift from me to you.  The post 141: Ditching the “all or nothing” mindset, Q&A episode appeared first on The Fitnessista. via The Fitnessista https://ift.tt/2Rn9O8H September 21, 2023 at 06:40AM

[kushielsmercy]

Shiel's Unsolicited Book Review #2:

Piranesi by Susanna Clark

Overall score: 8/10

TLDR; Go read this freaking book. The -2 stars are just because I'm a nitpicky bitch and to get 10 stars you better stay with me for years. But if you've been grouchy like me because it seems like every published book has the same damn premise, this is the book for you. Bonus, coming in ~250 pages it's short and sweet, but packs a punch.

The rest of the review is going under a cut. I'm going to try my best to include no spoilers, but - you remember the first time you watched Everything Everywhere All at Once and people said, oh it's SO good, but I can't tell you much about the premise or I'll ruin it? And you were like SURE Bill sounds like bs try harder but okay. And then it WAS that good but also that weird and all the better for not knowing what the fuck was going on? Yeah, that's this.

Pros: The Lovecraftian vibes. The eery stillness. The unreliable narrator. I am normally not a first person fan but it was vital and worked so so well in this case. The truly unique concept. The unravelling mystery that never stopped being a character-driven story. An ending that both satisfied and also fit the...off...asthetic of the book. The ending could have made or broken the whole thing and I was so relieved when I closed the last page and wasn't at all disappointed.

Cons: The middle bit is slow. The entire book is written as a diary, which, normally not my thing, but much like the first person, it works. But the middle is...hmmm..how to put it. A diary of a different kind, in which most of the exposition is crammed. Now, the exposition had to be delivery somehow and carefully, and this part wasn't...bad...exactly. But it was a bit of an info-dump and too many names and places were introduced quickly. I actually think LESS exposition would have helped here, if anything it explained too much and some things are better left a mystery in a book like this. I sometimes had to back up a few pages to reconnect names with events. It ruined nothing, and the pace picked right back up, but compared to the first and last third of the book, the middle lacked the same spellbinding magic.

Final verdict: Adored it. Will be thinking about it. Absolutely worth your time.

Shiel's Unsolicited Book Review's Masterpost

[mx-gnolia]

A part of growth I

Have you ever been in a relationship where you are the only person who tries to make things work?

I'm not talking specifically about romantic/intimate relationships but about ANY kind of relationship.

Friendship, family, business, etc, and of course romantic relationships.

It's tiring, right? I know.

If in the end it works and both parties in the relationship come to the same page, then, that is a fairytale with a happy ending.

Mostly it is not like that though.

You see, at least once in a person's lifetime, this kind of relationship occurs. You might be the only one who works in the relationship OR you might be both and be on the receiving end without putting in any work.

Yesterday, I had an argument with someone whom I care about dearly. Come to think of it they were right, every argument we had, it always never resulted in anything. On my end, I always had to talk to myself to be better, to feel better. They never actually had to do anything to make the situation better.

What they said was "We always come here every time because you pushed it. And what happened? You are hurt. You see, I will always push back and I don't care if you cry, be quiet, or be moody for days."

"You react the same every time, and it will keep on being like this in the future. Push me and I will push back. I don't care. If this ruins our relationship, so be it, my choice, so I don't have to deal with you being so annoying"

"Who are you to tell me what to do? Who are you to tell me to not spend on things that make me happy?"

Just someone who cares, and actually I never told you NOT to spend on anything that makes you happy. You asked for my opinion on your financial decisions and I found that to be unnecessary as someone who cares about your future. Why? The bike you bought for 250 bucks, you rode it 3 times :) You claimed it would make you happy. Oh, so fucking well spent.

I realize, thinking back, that this sounds like a childish, traumatized, small, and insecure person. They had to scream, they had to break things. What a shame.

For me, this is not the first time that things are like this. It is actually every time that we argue that I would be the one breaking down when they would just sometimes laugh, sometimes make jokes, call me stupid, say I make no sense, and go on and on about one thing I say in a mocking way.

Toxic right? I know. Why am I still trying to keep the relationship going? Oh no. The realization came yesterday.

I just want you to know that - if you are dealing with someone toxic OR - you are the only one trying to make the relationship work

And nothing changed, nothing improved with those countless discussions or arguments.

Give up.

More in the next post... :)

[patchworkofravens]

Rama afterwards -- because reading is good for your noodle. Better than Farmville, anyway.

Bee Movie Script

According to all known laws

of aviation,

there is no way a bee

should be able to fly.

Its wings are too small to get

its fat little body off the ground.

The bee, of course, flies anyway

because bees don't care

what humans think is impossible.

Yellow, black. Yellow, black.

Yellow, black. Yellow, black.

Ooh, black and yellow!

Let's shake it up a little.

Barry! Breakfast is ready!

Ooming!

Hang on a second.

Hello?

- Barry?

- Adam?

- Oan you believe this is happening?

- I can't. I'll pick you up.

Looking sharp.

Use the stairs. Your father

paid good money for those.

Sorry. I'm excited.

Here's the graduate.

We're very proud of you, son.

A perfect report card, all B's.

Very proud.

Ma! I got a thing going here.

- You got lint on your fuzz.

- Ow! That's me!

- Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000.

- Bye!

Barry, I told you,

stop flying in the house!

- Hey, Adam.

- Hey, Barry.

- Is that fuzz gel?

- A little. Special day, graduation.

Never thought I'd make it.

Three days grade school,

three days high school.

Those were awkward.

Three days college. I'm glad I took

a day and hitchhiked around the hive.

You did come back different.

- Hi, Barry.

- Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good.

- Hear about Frankie?

- Yeah.

- You going to the funeral?

- No, I'm not going.

Everybody knows,

sting someone, you die.

Don't waste it on a squirrel.

Such a hothead.

I guess he could have

just gotten out of the way.

I love this incorporating

an amusement park into our day.

That's why we don't need vacations.

Boy, quite a bit of pomp...

under the circumstances.

- Well, Adam, today we are men.

- We are!

- Bee-men.

- Amen!

Hallelujah!

Students, faculty, distinguished bees,

please welcome Dean Buzzwell.

Welcome, New Hive Oity

graduating class of...

...9:15.

That concludes our ceremonies.

And begins your career

at Honex Industries!

Will we pick ourjob today?

I heard it's just orientation.

Heads up! Here we go.

Keep your hands and antennas

inside the tram at all times.

- Wonder what it'll be like?

- A little scary.

Welcome to Honex,

a division of Honesco

and a part of the Hexagon Group.

This is it!

Wow.

Wow.

We know that you, as a bee,

have worked your whole life

to get to the point where you

can work for your whole life.

Honey begins when our valiant Pollen

Jocks bring the nectar to the hive.

Our top-secret formula

is automatically color-corrected,

scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured

into this soothing sweet syrup

with its distinctive

golden glow you know as...

Honey!

- That girl was hot.

- She's my cousin!

- She is?

- Yes, we're all cousins.

(I hit the limit of text in an ask, it was 250 text boxes btw)

mmm good to know

why is it always 250 with tumblr.

Oh god wait.