#some writing advice

[yautjalover]

Remember my fellow writers, try to flesh out every thing that you can so you don’t have to come back later and try to figure out something that was small but has turned into a full blown thing. 😀

Context: My dumb self mentioned in my fanfic “The Elder’s Mate” that there was a war going on when my oc Rhage came to power was clan leader, but I NEVER WROTE DOWN WHY THE WAR WAS HAPPENING. T_T

I’ve been planning a short fic showing that happening and some snippets thrown in of Rhage having to raise an unruly young unblooded Dhare. It’s a long way off, but I’m at least starting it. 😭

I have never written this genre that it would fall in, so it’s quite the experiment and I hope folks like it when I eventually start posting chapters. I actually plan to finish it before posting so I can focus on my main stories, Kira and The Orc’s Bride (original).

But yeah, long post short: Flesh out little details in case you need to expand on them later. It’ll save the pain of having to do it later on.

[strscrossed]

What are your Top Three Do's and Don'ts when it comes to Writing and generally what are some helpful tips you would give to new writers

ah! I always hesitate with this because there’s really no right way and everyone has their own style. I guess here are some that are more about the process! and because most of the advice I see I don’t necessarily agree with.

1) Do not: edit while you write. now this is really tempting to do but sometimes, it actually hinders the creative flow. because you’re going back and forth, doubting yourself instead of just writing it all down. there’s a whole editing process to follow but first, just write it down. rewrite later.

2) Do: read a lot! I think the biggest thing that helps as a writer is reading others. of course you’ll have your own style but different books and different genre’s can offer so much. like maybe fantasy can help with world-building. drama can help with tension and conflict. I’d say find books that you like and really take note of the things you liked and didn’t like.

3) Do not: force yourself to write! I know there’s a lot of advice that says “make yourself write even if it’s just a few paragraphs!” and while that might help with the skill, it doesn’t really help with creativity. honestly forcing yourself to write while in writer’s block is actually more detrimental. sometimes it’s good to take a break.

4) Do: write down your ideas! I know we may not end up writing every idea that we have but sometimes leaving small notes here and there can go a long way. personally I get a lot of good ideas in the middle of the night and if I don’t write them down, I’ll forget them the next morning. so even if it’s one or two words, write it down somewhere!

5) Do not: rush yourself! this sort of goes hand in hand with don’t force yourself to write when you’re not feeling it. a lot of the time you’ll make errors, you’ll stress yourself out, and it won’t be as fun if you rush. so take a deep breath and write at a comfortable pace. even if it takes you weeks just to write something,

6) Do: proofread and edit after you’ve finished the first draft. also yes, draft! go through one time, make notes of what you liked about what you wrote, what could be better, and what can be rewritten or changed. recently a friend told me that they color code their drafts and I thought that was seriously so helpful so I’ve started doing that.

I kept it more to the writing process because within writing itself, it really depends on what you do and don’t like. it’s individual preference. for example: my brain completely tunes out of there are paragraphs upon paragraphs of description about something. personally I like one to two paragraphs giving me just enough but leaving the rest up to my own imagination.

my biggest advice: JUST WRITE! don’t doubt yourself, just write your idea down if you have one. follow your muse! 😊

hope this is somewhat helpful.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Before we start this: I’m Nonbinary, female presenting and into girls. I call myself a lesbian cause it’s less words. I come from this perspective when I discuss things.

Secondly: I do make references to fics I have read. I try to keep them vague but I’m a grown up and can admit you might see a fic you know. Or maybe you wrote it. I’m not going to spread it around.

Thirdly: some of this is technical help and writing advice. You don’t need to follow it but it’s helpful.

Alright, so we begin.

Things That Diminish/Damage How Good Your Fic is

- Whenever people are writing curse words and instead of writing them they go like f*ck or whatver? That instantly downgrades the quality. That one fic I mentioned that was 10/10 but became a 5.5/10? Yeah. That’s why. It instantly takes some one out of the mindset and is just jarring. I know in todays culture and with TikTok censoring works like fuck or shit is the norm. However it is terrible writing. Don’t do it, it’s awful. If you do not feel comfortable enough to write them I can think of several ways to get around it. (He said a word that his mother would wash his mouth out with soap for./The amount of cursing could make a sailor blush.) If you still don’t feel comfy… get out of the fandom. No seriously. If you do not feel comfy with writing cursing or work around that aren’t censorship, drop your writing and leave. They are quite literally just words with social stigma attached.

-Similar, if you don’t feel comfortable writing slurs or discuss illegal activities. This might be more controversial but for me, I find that people who want to have stuff like homophobia or transphobia or heavy discrimination and don’t use the words… it falls flat for me. It just does. Yes those words are disgusting and writing them may make you feel the need to shower. However, it comes to again the fact censorship and blocking out words is just… dumb. It’s really dumb and looks ugly in a story. Again I was reading an amazing fic, who censored a slur. Look I get being uncomfy again, but there are work around rather then doing that. (He continued his sentence with a word that made the room go silent and breaths stop.) As well you cheapen the experience your characters go through. How is a reader supposed to feel when you won’t go through with your writing?

-To long to get to the plot. This is really common with AU fics, such as fics where Izuku has a Quirk. People really want to expand on the backstory for this change, and it's understandable. What's not is when it takes 10+ chapters of his childhood. I have lost count of how many fics I just drop because it's chapter 10, and we are still age eight for Izuku. It's to damn long. If you feel that it's needed, then make it it's own fic. Don't combine it with the canon changes, becuase I promise you: a lot of us readers want to focus on the changes to the plot we know.

There are exceptions to the above. They're RARE though, and in my experience really what they do is expand upon All Might's training. Think about books, few if any would go into detail on the main character's backstory. At most, you're looking at perhaps 3 chapters before the plot-plot starts. Or at least the introduction to it.

-To long fics. I'm not talking word count. What I'm talking is a fic 100+ chapters without stopping. It's daunting, and honestly it feels... hmm... I think the word best used here is it feels unprepared. I also honestly think people are scared of splitting up their stories for some reason, which makes no sense. Series are beloved for a reason! Having them all in one story just makes most of us mentally check out of the fic, feeling exhausted, rather then invested.

-Stutters where it;s "l-l-like t-th-this'. You just ruined your own fic. I have no patience to read the damn thing now. It looks terrible, it's hard to read and honestly? Half the time it's with a character you just want to woobify (Izuku is the primary target of this.) I actually want them PUNCHED seeing this.

Trying to seem edgy/cool/woke

-I am so freaking sick of how many fics take 'Quirkless Discrimination' and ramp it up to RIDICULOUS levels. Like oh my god, my brain melts every time I read a fic where Izuku gets denied everything, gets emancipated at fourteen, has his parents beat him and make him sleep on the floor, the list goes on. Yes, horrific child abuse happens. Horrific tales of discrimination happens. But you're going to look me in the eyes and tell me that none of this isn't just you trying to be edgy? This is just... torture porn. A level of discrimination against Izuku is understandable. One thing I've found annoying about the source material is how we get told of the discrimination but recieve no actual evidence or proof. But again: some of ya'll go way to far to be edgy.

-Similarly, the Commission fics. Yes, they're corrupt. Yes they probably cover up shady shit. Yes, they raised Hawks as a weapon. But again, the level of drama ya'll include makes my eyes bleed. 'They run orphanages to create villains', 'they force heroes to work overtime', 'they would try and murder Izuku if he went as a Quirkless hero'. It again approaches the level of: to bleak, stopped caring. I think a fic would be way more interesting if a Quirkless Izuku gets roped into a Young Heroes program and blackmailed because the Commission wants to control him.

-Disclaimer again: I'm NB. But one thing that really annoys me is the amount of neopronouns introduced in a fic... only for them to never be used. And honestly, some are plain dumb. I am honestly curious if people try to use 'book/bookself/booked' as actual pronouns because I'll be honest: that just... doesn't work. But yet I have seen it included in fics. And again: no one ends up using them. Pronouns are tricky, I won't deny it. I use they/them, but accept she because I've been raised as a woman and thus experience the world as it as well. Some people use multiple but default to one. It's all valid. But it's REALLY obvious that ya'll are just trying to be woke or whatever when there's six pronouns like 'book' or 'vamp' or 'pup' but NONE are ever used. (I also have complicated feelings reguarding pup thanks to the comments I've heard comparing NB people to animals but that's just me)

-I said it before, and I'll admit there are actual exceptions but like... dude, the amount of times I get exhausted with a fic because everyone is trans is high. Again, exceptions are around, but the majority I find tend to have the vibes of 'I am so cool and edgy by having everyone trans even if nothing changes in the fic and everyone acts the exact same'. That is NOT making people trans, that's just wanting a pat on the back.

-Said it before... any fic where Bakugou is 'a sad baby uwu because Izuku took his advice' is an instant no because you just gave him man pain. "I'll be a hero for you," and then he's fucking canon? Nah, that's him deciding Izuku is a rallying cry, not him actually seeing his own faults.

This is just transphobic/homophobic/sexist

-Any gay fic where you make the female love interest a bitch. (I like to have actual onesided feelings and a nasty fall out but like... wow. Just fucking WOW. More so when you mix in shit like 'Uraraka is a gold digger after Bakugou so she'll try to break up BakuDeku uwu'. Dude if you want her to be a gold digger, Yaoyorozu is RIGHT THERE)

-I said this before but I notice that a lot of harem fics tend to have a bisexual Izuku but an all female harem. Look, yes preferences exist in real life. But fanfic is NOT REAL LIFE. You doing that is just a giant ass sign you're not okay with Izuku dating a guy even if you make him bisexual, which is pretty homophobic to me, no matter how many gay ships you slip in (which all get maybe like a second of screen time compared to the heterosexual ships). More so when you go for 1B girls. You have to basically make them OCs to have it work. No hate to OC/Canon ships, but like.... dude. I don't care if you didn't mean it like that, it is pretty fucking homophobic, because it isn't a real life person choosing it. It's you writing it.

-Said it before, but the amount of people writing NB Izuku fics which changes nothing but pronouns for Izuku and then going on about how making Izuku a girl isn't the same and it's way to much of a difference... transphobia much? You LITERALLY genderbent Izuku.

-Plus, again: I see way more transgirl Izuku being straight up fetishization where she dates all of the class 1A girls (dude we can tell what you're doing) compared to transguy Izuku. (It exists but it's rarer). A lot of NB fics (with exceptions again) as well give me sexist vibes by having it pretty apparent they consider it no different then canon Izuku but act as if him being a girl is to far. It's just sexism and transphobia then.

-Having one of the characters in a mlm pairing be super feminine. Do these people exist? Yes. But wow. Ya'll are leaning hard into heteronormativity dudes.

-Making the canon arospec character actually interested in romance while making the canonly heterosexual character aro/ace to explain why she's so cruel and so focused on a boy character. Hey, guess what that is? AROPHOBIA.

-Fics where Izuku is only friends with guys despite canonly being friends with girls, and we basically sideline all the female characters.

Bad Genderbends (With a focus on Male to Female)

-The majority of my fics/ideas are genderbends. Mostly cis!Female!Izuku cause I have fun exploring her life but like... as soon as I read a fic where nothing changes. At all, and everything is exactly the same as it is for canon Izuku? Out. That's an actually terrible fic, I am out, gone. Bye-bye. PEOPLE ARE NOT SOCIALIZED THE SAME. NO I DON'T CARE YOU ARE ALL ABOUT EQUALITY. Girls are not treated the same as guys.

-Completely abandoning the canon personality. Yeah, I know, the above, but just because socialization changes people doesn't mean you can completely change a character. Izuku as Izumi can still be a giant nerd who is super into working out, mutters up a storm and loves to watch hero fights. She can also love pink, gossip about boys and giggle over magazines. You can combine them. Again, I think this is related to sexism in a way due to the amount of people who seem unable to just... see that while the world does treat girls and guys different, they aren't in fact different?

-The fics where the assholes are right. You're just homophobic. Somewhat the same as the top, when people just turn a character into a girl without acknowledging the differences or the fact somethings would be the same to pair up characters they normally don't cause it's gay.

These Tropes are Overdone or Suck

-Bakugou faces consequences but it's a slap on the wrist, and he changes NOTHING about himself, but oh everything is okay and he dates Izuku/Ochako/Whoever.

-Izuku takes Bakugou's advice but it's blamed solely on All Might and Bakugou's actions are ignored and they become best friends/start dating! Or he takes Bakugou's advice and gets a Quirk, so everything is okay!

-Abusive Mitsuki is why Bakugou how he is. I only read 1 fic where this was actually treated like it should be. 'Cool motive, still murder'. Just because you have a shitty upbringing doesn't mean you can get away with assault and abuse.

-All Might bashing where they take his character and put it in a blender while claiming things are canon. No, I am serious. I have said someone say it's canon All Might overworked Izuku on purpose. Meanwhile canonly, Izuku decided to ignore his plan to work on his own time. All Might did agree to adjust the plan but like, holy shit. Or the ones where they act like it's canon he despises all Quirkless people/mutation Quirked people. Meanwhile he's the uncle to Melissa and has nothing but good things to say about heroes with mutations. There is ONE type of All Might being an Idiot I like, and it's where he's just a very stubborn old man set in his ways who doesn't see what he's doing is wrong. That makes sense. Not All Might murdering Izuku for knowing about OFA. He's a shit teacher who doesn't know when things are to far but wow. Nice character assassination there.

-Iida bashing cause he's a rule following nerd who hit Izuku while Ochako, who left Izuku alone in a mall so he got attacked by a villain and gets jealous of other girls, is an innocent pure angel. No seriously- both of these people are literally the same. It's just that people hate Iida for some reason? Meanwhile he's a dork who gets excited about beef stew, loves his family enough to kill for them, is the guy willing to help his friend come back to UA and while he did hit Izuku, it was in a situation where Iida was emotional and worried for his friend after he was permanently injured by Stain for doing something similar to Izuku.

-Aizawa bashing where they also take his character and shoot it out back. The guy who is terrified of people ending up like his friend ignoring outright abuse of their Quirks, willingly letting Izuku be beaten by classmates, refusing to read the files, brushing off students DYING, and trying to force students to stay in the hero course because he can't be wrong? Wow. Just make an OC and call it a day.

-Izuku has an OP Quirk that makes him a ladies man and he is so awesome and I can't finish it holy shit no.

-Inko is 100% a plot device and not really a character but DAMN ya'll need to chill out with the abusive Inko fics. Her systematically beating him and starving him and shit is just... WOW. Give me neglectful Inko who ends up abandoning him. Same amount of screentime as canon. Or give me my own blend, where she is a helicopter parent who is convinced she knows the right path for Izuku and gets angry enough to ignore him if he doesn't listen.

-Toga gets adopted by Inko and has a weird ass relationship with Izuku.

-Wooby Hawks fics when in reality this guy is a predator who can and will fuck you up, and I 100% think he's some level of yandere about those he considers 'his'.

-If I had a penny for the amount of times Dabi gets redeemed and it's the blandest shit on earth, I'd be rolling in money. Give me drama if you want him redeemed.

-Anything where Endeavour wasn't that bad/misunderstood. Though also, in general I find fics where he's actually a terrible hero dumb to. He's number two out of how many? Man is a shit person, but a good hero.

[soy-sauce-and-mothra]

Hey! Are there blacksmiths in your story? I'm a hobbyist blacksmith and I'm here to help!

Blacksmithing is one of those things that a lot of people get wrong because they don't realize it stuck around past the advent of the assembly line. Here's a list of some common misconceptions I see and what to do instead!

Not all blacksmiths are gigantic terrifying muscly guys with beards and deep voices. I am 5'8, skinny as a twig, have the muscle mass of wet bread, and exist on Tumblr. Anybody who is strong enough to pick up a hammer and understands fire safety can be a blacksmith.

You can make more than just swords with blacksmithing. Though swords are undeniably practical, they're not the only things that can be made. I've made candle holders, wall hooks, kebab skewers, fire pokers, and more. Look up things other people have made, it's really amazing what can be done.

"Red-hot" is actually not that hot by blacksmith terms. when heated up, the metal goes from black, to red, to orange, to yellow, to white. (for temperature reference, I got a second degree burn from picking up a piece of metal on black heat) The ideal color to work with the metal is yellow. White is not ideal at all, because the metal starts sparking and gets all weird and lumpy when it cools. (At no point in this process does the metal get even close to melting. It gets soft enough to work with, but I have never once seen metal become a liquid.)

Blacksmithing takes fucking forever. Not even taking into account starting the forge, selecting and preparing metal, etc. etc. it takes me around an hour to make one (1) fancy skewer. The metals blacksmiths work with heat up and cool down incredibly fast. When the forge is going good, it only takes like 20 seconds to get your metal hot enough to work with, but it takes about the same time for it to cool down, sometimes even less.

As long as you are careful, it is actually stupidly easy to not get hurt while blacksmithing. When I picked up this hobby I was like "okay, cool! I'm gonna make stuff, and I'm gonna end up in the hospital at some point!" Thus far, the latter has yet to occur. I've been doing this for nearly a year. I have earned myself a new scar from the aforementioned second degree burn, and one singe mark on my jeans. I don't even wear gloves half the time. Literally just eye protection, common sense, and fast reflexes and you'll probably be fine. (Accidents still happen of course, but I have found adequate safety weirdly easy to achieve with this hobby)

A forge is not a fire. The forge is the thing blacksmiths put their metal in to heat it up. It starts as a small fire, usually with newspaper or something else that's relatively small and burns easily, which we then put in the forge itself, which is sort of a fireplace-esque thing (there's a lot of different types of forge, look into it and try to figure out what sort of forge would make the most sense for the context you're writing about) and we cover it with coal, which then catches fire and heats up. The forge gets really hot, and sometimes really bright. Sometimes when I stare at the forge for too long it's like staring into the sun. The forge is also not a waterfall of lava, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Welding and blacksmithing are not the same thing. They often go hand-in-hand, but you cannot connected two pieces of metal with traditional blacksmithing alone. There is something called forge welding, where you heat your metal, sprinkle borax (or the in-universe equivalent) on it to prevent the metal from oxidizing/being non-weldable, and hammer the pieces together very quickly. Forge welding also sends sparks flying everywhere, and if you're working in a small space with other blacksmiths, you usually want to announce that you're welding before you do, so that everyone in a five-foot radius can get out of that five-foot radius. You also cannot just stuck some random pebbles into the forge and get a decent piece of metal that you can actually make something with, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Anvils are really fucking heavy. Nothing else to add here.

Making jewelry is not a blacksmithing thing unless you want jewelry made of steel. And it will be very ugly if you try. Blacksmithing wasn't invented to make small things.

If there's anything here I didn't mention, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.

[heywriters]

If you want to write a dumb little story with a dumb little plot and ridiculously silly characters. No one's stopping you. Genuinely, no one should be allowed to stop you. Write that dumb story with your whole heart and don't hold back.

[cepheusgalaxy]

Tips for writing black characters

Day-to-day practical and minor stuff, specially regarding hair

If you have curly/afro hair then you are only going to need to wash it one or twice a week

But it can take a while. When I had long hair it used to take me 2h in the bathroom to properly wash it. That's why I only did it once a week. But it really will depend of the thickness and lenght of their hair.

It can be a little harder to find products for their hair, because straight/wavy hair products don't work on ours

If you wash curly hair many times a week it will eventually lose its nutrients, differently from straigh hair

If your character originally had curly hair but straightened it, it's probably going to look a little drier than naturally straight hair. it's a case-case scenario, though

If they have a skin care routine or want one they'll also need products made specifically for black skin

Your character is not immune to sunburns. It's harder to see if it gets red depending on how dark their skin is, but it's there. The more melanin they have, the more protected from the sun they are, but it's not gonna 100% prevent them from getting sunburnt.

Oh, and it can be pretty hard to dye it because first, if your hair is very dark, you have to decolor it, and depending on how black it is it can take a while and a few tries to get in a tone good for dying.

If they have long hair they're probably going to take a while combing it because you have to apply the hair cream lock by lock

They may have a haircare routine every month or so. Not everybody does it but if your character is disciplined and wants their hair to be extra healthy and neat they'll probably have one

If they care a lot about their appearence they'll probably have a lot of hair brushes of different types because depending on your brush you can comb it in a variety of ways, making your hair look fuller, making the curls look defined, etc.

[ask-the-prose]

Do Your Research

This phrase is regularly thrown around writeblr and for good reason. It's important to research what you are writing about to know what to include, what can be fudged, and how to depict whatever you're writing. I see "do your research" most thrown around by well-meaning and highly traditionally educated writers. It's solid advice, after all!

But how do you research?

For those writers who don't already have the research skills necessary to write something comfortably already downloaded into your brain, I put this guide together for you.

Where do I even start?

It's a daunting task, research. But the best place to start is with the most basic, stupidest question you can think of. I'm going to talk about something that I already know a lot about: fighting.

When researching fight scenes, a great way to start is to look up what different weapons are. There are tons out there! So ask the stupid questions. What is a sword? What is a gun? How heavy are they?

Google and Wikipedia can help you a lot with these basic-level questions. They aren't great sources for academic articles, but remember, this is fiction. It doesn't need to be perfect, and it doesn't need to be 100% accurate if you don't want it to be. But knowing what is true to life will help you write well. Just like knowing the rules of writing will help you break them.

You may find in your basic research sweep that you have a lot more specific questions. Write them all down. It doesn't matter if they seem obvious. Write them down because they will be useful later.

How To Use Wikipedia Correctly

Wikipedia is a testament to cooperative human knowledge. It's also easy to edit by anonymous users, which means there is a lot of room for inaccuracies and misleading information. Wikipedia is usually pretty good about flagging when a source is needed or when misleading language is obvious, but Wikipedia itself isn't always the most accurate or in-depth source.

Wikipedia is, however, an excellent collection of sources. When I'm researching a subject that I know nothing about, say Norse mythology, a good starting point is the Wikipedia page for Odin. You'll get a little background on Odin's name and Germanic roots, a little backstory on some of the stories, where they appear, and how they are told.

When you read one of the sentences, and it sparks a new question, write the question down, and then click on the superscript number. This will take you directly to the linked source for the stated fact. Click through to that source. Now you have the source where the claim was made. This source may not be a primary source, but a secondary source can still lead you to new discoveries and details that will help you.

By "source-hopping," you can find your way across the internet to different pieces of information more reliably. This information may repeat itself, but you will also find new sources and new avenues of information that can be just as useful.

You mean I don't need a library?

Use your library. Libraries in many parts of the US are free to join, and they have a wealth of information that can be easily downloaded online or accessed via hardcopy books.

You don't, however, need to read every source in the library for any given topic, and you certainly don't need to read the whole book. Academic books are different from fiction. Often their chapters are divided by topic and concept and not by chronological events like a history textbook.

For example, one of my favorite academic books about legislative policy and how policy is passed in the US, by John Kingdon, discusses multiple concepts. These concepts build off one another, but ultimately if you want to know about one specific concept, you can skip to that chapter. This is common in sociological academic books as well.

Going off of my Norse Mythology example in the last section, a book detailing the Norse deities and the stories connected to them will include chapters on each member of the major pantheon. But if I only care about Odin, I can focus on just the chapters about Odin.

Academic Articles and How To Read Them

I know you all know how to read. But learning how to read academic articles and books is a skill unto itself. It's one I didn't quite fully grasp until grad school. Learn to skim. When looking at articles published in journals that include original research, they tend to follow a set structure, and the order in which you read them is not obvious. At all.

Start with the abstract. This is a summary of the paper that will include, in about half a page to a page, the research question, hypothesis, methods/analysis, and conclusions. This abstract will help you determine if the answer to your question is even in this article. Are they asking the right question?

Next, read the research question and hypothesis. The hypothesis will include details about the theory and why the researcher thinks what they think. The literature review will go into much more depth about theories, what other people have done and said, and how that ties into the research of the present article. You don't need to read that just yet.

Skim the methods and analysis section. Look at every data table and graph included and try to find patterns yourself. You don't need to read every word of this section, especially if you don't understand a lot of the words and jargon used. Some key points to consider are: qualitative vs. quantitative data, sample size, confounding factors, and results.

(Some definitions for those of you who are unfamiliar with these terms. Qualitative data is data that cannot be quantified into a number. These are usually stories and anecdotes. Quantitative data is data that can be transferred into a numerical representation. You can't graph qualitative data (directly), but you can graph quantitative data. Sample size is the number of people or things counted (n when used in academic articles). Your sample size can indicate how generalizable your conclusions are. So pay attention. Did the author interview 300 subjects? Or 30? There will be a difference. A confounding factor is a factor that may affect the working theory. An example of a theory would be "increasing LGBTQ resources in a neighborhood would decrease LGBTQ hate crimes in that area." A confounding factor would be "increased reporting of hate crimes in the area." The theory, including the confounding factor, would look like "increasing LGBTQ resources in a neighborhood would increase the reporting of hate crimes in the area, which increases the number of hate crimes measured in that area." The confounding factor changes the outcome because it is a factor not considered in the original theory. When looking at research, see if you can think of anything that may change the theory based on how that factor interacts with the broader concept. Finally, the results are different from the conclusions. The results tell you what the methods spit out. Analysis tells you what the results say, and conclusions tell you what generalizations can be made based on the analysis.)

Next, read the conclusion section. This section will tell you what general conclusions can be made from the information found in the paper. This will tell you what the author found in their research.

Finally, once you've done all that, go back to the literature review section. You don't have to read it necessarily, but reading it will give you an idea of what is in each sourced paper. Take note of the authors and papers sourced in the literature review and repeat the process on those papers. You will get a wide variety of expert opinions on whatever concept or niche you're researching.

Starting to notice a pattern?

My research methods may not necessarily work for everybody, but they are pretty standard practice. You may notice that throughout this guide, I've told you to "source-hop" or follow the sources cited in whatever source you find first. This is incredibly important. You need to know who people are citing when they make claims.

This guide focused on secondary sources for most of the guide. Primary sources are slightly different. Primary sources require understanding the person who created the source, who they were, and their motivations. You also may need to do a little digging into what certain words or phrases meant at the time it was written based on what you are researching. The Prose Edda, for example, is a telling of the Norse mythology stories written by an Icelandic historian in the 13th century. If you do not speak the language spoken in Iceland in 1232, you probably won't be able to read anything close to the original document. In fact, the document was lost for about 300 years. Now there are translations, and those translations are as close to the primary source you can get on Norse Mythology. But even then, you are reading through several veils of translation. Take these things into account when analyzing primary documents.

Research Takes Practice

You won't get everything you need to know immediately. And researching subjects you have no background knowledge of can be daunting, confusing, and frustrating. It takes practice. I learned how to research through higher formal education. But you don't need a degree to write, so why should you need a degree to collect information? I genuinely hope this guide helps others peel away some of the confusion and frustration so they can collect knowledge as voraciously as I do.

– Indy

[frownyalfred]

my advice for writing dialogue:

be brave

if you can’t say it in one breath out loud, you should probably add some punctuation

for casual dialogue: can you imagine two people saying this at a local coffee shop?

people talk over each other and cut each other off in real life all the time. your characters should too

modern, conversational dialogue isn’t one person lobbing one fully formed, multiple-sentence thought at another person, and then waiting to receive one back

dialogue is filled with placeholder sounds — ehs, ums, uhs — and these differ by region, language, and culture

people ask for clarification and sometimes things are just, by nature, unclear. sometimes you have to let the characters figure out the disconnect even if you, the author, know what it is already

find clips and videos online of the people/region and listen to them! how do they talk? is it fast, or drawling? how can you convey this to a reader who may have never heard them?

[creation-help]

"Wah this section of worldbuilding I'm doing is so minute and kinda pointless to the larger scheme of things, hurr durr I'm just focusing on some whatever part when I have actual story and plot to figure out-" WHO CARES. YOU ARE THE GOD OF YOUR UNIVERSE. HAVE FUN CREATING IT.

[katballesteros]

Sachi

Commissioned by @inusmasha for @mustardyellowsunshine

Enjoy, Robin! :)

[so-many-ocs]

Researching as a Writer

Start Broad

begin with a list of more general topics and get specific as you go.

for example, research for a historical fantasy novel might follow a chain that looks like this:

life in the 1700s -> life in 1700s france -> 1700s french etiquette and lifestyle depending on class -> 1720s french fashion for middle and upper-middle class women.

starting with a general understanding of the topic you want to cover and narrowing down to specifics will make it easier to build on your knowledge as you go.

Think Critically

consider the source. if it doesn’t cite primary sources (for example, letters and photographs from a specific era and location), what sources does it cite? follow those sources if possible.

is the information reliable? is it provided by an educational institution or an expert on the subject?

who is the author? do they present any bias? what do they have to gain by promoting a specific mindset or conclusion? has any of their research been debunked?

Anecdotes

in general, anecdotal evidence is not sufficient for academic writing. luckily for you, this is a fiction writing page, and anecdotal evidence is usually fine!

work with a combination of scholarly sources and personal experience. if you’re trying to depict a specific health condition, you might consult medical sources about the technical details of the condition, as well as seeking firsthand accounts from people who have that condition.

remember that people are not monolithic! there are often forums online where people are more than happy to discuss their experiences; cross-consult these for common elements.

Lists

keep track of your sources!! if you ever need to consult something later on, it will be way easier to open a list of resources than go digging through your search history.

additionally, if you come across lists of sources compiled by other people, save those!! you are probably not the first person to research the specific topic you’re looking into, and there are entire websites dedicated to gathering research!

wordsnstuffblog.com/research has compilations of sources for everything from writing injuries to global period pieces by century.

Resources

if you can, check out your school or public library’s websites! they will often compile scholarly resources to access for free.

look for open access or open source sites like project gutenberg that archive and digitize historical documents and other works. scienceopen and the directory of open access journals are more of these. search using keywords!

keep an eye out for websites made specifically for educational purposes (those with .edu at the end of their addresses).

[magnusbae]

"...You had to be able to show too much of yourself. You had to be just a little bit more honest than you were comfortable with. And if people judged you, if they felt they knew who you were, that was just something that you were going to have to live with. And what was strange is, once I started doing that, and I was expecting to be judged, or shunned, or people’s opinions or to have to deal with things, what I discovered was, actually, their opinions were, we really like this. We love this story. That’s a good story. It felt huge. It felt personal. And I realized that’s because I was being honest about me.“ —Neil Gaiman

[zabreus]

one thing i see a bit with disco elysium fan script is a conflation between a failed skill check and bad advice from a skill. one of the beautiful things about DE is the skills are not arbiters of truth; successful checks won’t always lead to the correct outcomes, and a skill level being too high can impair you. in that sense, a failed passive (“anti-passive” according to wiki) wouldn’t be a skill giving bad advice, but a skill failing to fulfill its duty.

(bad example ahead) so it wouldn’t be:

LOGIC [Trivial - Failure]: Stick a fork in the toaster.

but more like:

BREAD-TOASTER: You peek into the narrow opening at the top of the electric bread-toaster.

PERCEPTION: You find a slice of bread wedged between the filaments. Smoke wafts into your nostrils. It’s burning, and you seemingly have no way of retrieving it.

INTERFACING [Challenging - Success]: The metal fork you found in the cupboard. It should be both long and sturdy enough for the job.

You: Grab the fork.

INLAND EMPIRE [Medium - Success]: The tips of your fingers tingle. This seems like a very bad idea.

LOGIC [Easy - Failure]: You are uncertain of the outcome here.

1. Use the fork to fish out the toast.

2. “This is beneath me.”

3. [Half-Light - Godly 16] Establish dominance. Fuck the toaster.

[creatingblackcharacters]

i just wanted to say a massive thank you for the writing advice specifically, i havent seen very many things focused on that

are there any specific words to describe black hair texture that you would like to see used more often?

Thank you! And oooohooohooo I wanna offer this one to the floor too! I'm gonna expand a little, to how I want Black hair described more often just bc I got excited:

Adjectives of beauty. Our hair and hair textures are beautiful and versatile, and I want to see writers take advantage of the opportunity to laud it in the eyes of the beholder.

The way it feels! Soft, coarse, coily, curly, silky, moisturized, strong. Even if it's not a good texture in the moment, it still strengthens the description if you actually know what the hair feels like. It lets me know as a Black reader that you're not just making something up that you know nonblack readers will just skim on by (for example, I once read a fic where the character was supposed to be Black, but his natural hair was described as "able to run his hands through" and I was like.... That's not the majority of us. And it wasn't intentional writing, either. Kinda fucked up the whole experience for me.)

The way it smells! Look. When I spray my hair with my rose water oil mix? My lemon herb mix? Peppermint oil? Coconut or almond oil? Omg the way our hair smells during wash and oil (at least with the right stuff!) is PHENOMENAL! Like it smells like a fresh damn garden lmao. SO good. (DON'T ever say straight castor oil smells good though. Idc how good it is for our hair, it smells terrible, I'll stand on that 😤) so like... Yeah, however you feel when you smell those smells (refreshing, uplifting, relaxing, rejuvenating, etc.) why not try that?

[afewproblems]

50. "I need you to forgive me."

You know why...

But please!!!

I know this took forever so I hope you will forgive me! (Also when I originally received this ask I had just posted part one and mentioned in the tags that prompt 50 could be a good 'fix-it' prompt for a follow up, and well, here we are! Also when I received it, I laughed for a solid minute, like evil laughed so thank you @happymediummm )

Part Three of Prompt 53. 'I'm flirting with you!'

Part One, Part Two

It's on Friday that the cavalry arrives.

Dustin bangs on Eddie's bedroom door, with a mace by the sounds of it.

He's about to snark that Dustin doesn't play a class that uses martial weapons when he hears the kid yell--

"Eddie! You have five seconds before I come in there and get you myself, I got your uncle's permission and everything!"

Eddie groans and detaches himself from the bed  flipping the pillow he had been wallowing in away from himself.

He stomps towards the door and flings it open, leveling an unimpressed glare at Dustin who barrels past him into the bedroom.

Dustin crosses to the desk, his head on a swivel as he looks around the small space, Eddie scoffs as he steps towards Dustin, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing Henderson?" Eddie spits out as Dustin shrugs his hand off, he seems to spy what he's looking for as he crows a single, 'Aha,' and makes his way to the dresser.

"Seriously, Dustin, what are you doing here?"

"Saving you from yourself dude," Dustin scoffs as he takes a tape out of his pants pocket, the familiar writing on the label makes Eddie's stomach fall into his feet.

It's Steve's tape.

"No, nope, absolutely not," Eddie snaps. 

He reaches for the cassette in Dustin's hand, only for the little shit to spin away from him and toss the tape from his right to his left hand in a move that seems so much like the teen's babysitter that Eddie wants to scream.

Dustin manages to pop the tape into the player and hit play before Eddie can get close again.

A few notes of a bass guitar reach Eddie's ear and his hands drop from Dustin's shoulders as he perks up…he knows this song.

"What the fuck Henderson?" He breathes out with wide eyes that flick back and forth between him and the cassette player.

'Oh yeah!

Some people say my love cannot be true

Please believe me, my love, and i'll show you

I will give you those things you thought unreal

The sun, the moon, the stars all bear my seal--'

"You are being an idiot," Dustin says matter of factly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he frowns at Eddie, "I don't exactly know what you said, but I think I got the gist out of Steve earlier today when Robin wasn't acting like a guard dog". 

His dark blue eyes scan Eddie as he shakes his head, "you thought it was a joke, do you know Steve?"

Eddie rolls his eyes before crossing to the cassette player and slapping the stop button. All at once the sounds of Black Sabbath halt, leaving the room in tense silence. 

"Look," Eddie snarls, "I've known people like Steve over the years, it's all the same bullshit--"

"Stop it!" Dustin snaps, he steps closer to Eddie and jabs a finger into his chest, "you don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

Dustin's cheeks are flushed with anger as he shakes his head again, "he's nothing like that Eddie, you're being an asshole!"

"What is all the yellin' about?" Wayne's voice trickles through the door, a hint of concern running through it as he leans against the frame, eyeing both Eddie and Dustin warily. 

"When I gave you permission to barge in here I don't remember agreeing to participate in a screamin' match son,” Wayne says, biting back a smile at the indignant expression on Dustin's face.

"Sorry Mr. Munson, but Eddie's being an idiot!" Dustin crosses his arms once more as he looks from Eddie to Wayne challengingly.

"That so?" Wayne laughs, "care to argue the charge," he directs at Eddie who rolls his eyes.

"It's nothing Wayne, Dustin is leaving now--" 

"Steve made that tape for you," Dustin yells, pointing at the cassette player, "and you threw it in his face!" 

"That true Ed?"

"It was a stupid joke," Eddie growls as Dustin throws his hands up in the air, "it doesn't mean anything". 

Wayne looks at Eddie for a long moment, his face unreadable.

"Steve Harrington?" He asks softly. 

Dustin nods nervously at Wayne before shooting another glare at Eddie.

"The one that came by your hospital room every day till you woke up Ed? The one they couldn't get to leave on the day you opened your eyes, that Steve Harrington?" 

"So?" Eddie huffs, wrapping his own arms around his chest tightly, incredibly aware of the two pairs of eyes trained on him.

 "Wayne, you told me I had to be careful of who I opened myself up to, I'm just following your advice!" 

Wayne sighs, lifting his hand to pinch into his eyes.

"You'd be lucky to have a friend like Steve," Dustin grumbles as he moves to the bed to sit down. He pulls up his legs up to his chest and glares at the back of Eddie's head.

"Kid, I think Ed and I need to have a conversation, alone," Wayne says quietly to Dustin.

Eddie watches in fascination as Dustin opens his mouth to argue, but after whatever silent conversation takes place between the teen and his uncle, Dustin merely huffs and slips off the bed. 

"Listen to the damn tape and get your head out of your ass," Dustin bites out as he passes Eddie, he levels one last impressive glare at the metal-head before leaving the room.

Wayne sighs as he makes his way over to the bed to sit, taking over Dustin's vacated spot.

"So, Harrington, huh?"

Eddie scowls and says nothing, leaning against the dresser. He winces as the sudden weight of his shoulder jostles everything, causing his loose D&D dice to fall off the edge and plink and plunk across the floor of his room.

The D4 will be a bitch to accidentally find with his feet later on, but Eddie ignores the mess and continues brooding against the dresser.

Wayne scratches his face, tapping an unsteady rhythm against his jean clad knee with his other hand, "okay," Wayne says gruffly from the bed as he shifts to stand. 

"I don't know what ya did or said, but it was enough to make that kid beg his way in here," Wayne huffs, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the open door. 

Eddie shrugs, refusing to lift his gaze from the floor. He hears Wayne sigh and the shift of fabric as he steps closer. 

"You were so small," Wayne mutters suddenly. 

Eddie looks up in confusion, but Wayne isn't looking at him, his eyes are trained just over Eddie's shoulder.

"When you came home that day, all black and blue," he shrugs and scratches his face again, "I didn't know how to help ya, and you wouldn't explain". 

Eddie swallows roughly, horrified at the sudden brightness of his uncle's eyes. A man he has only seen cry twice since he's known him, the first time was at Eddie's mothers funeral, the other was the day Eddie woke up at the hospital all those months ago. 

"I don't think I could stand it if anything happened to you Ed," Wayne breathes out wetly now as he roughly scrubs at his face, "and you being in the hospital, you were suddenly that small kid again, standing on my porch all black and blue". 

Eddie feels his own eyes sting as his uncle turns slightly to wipe his face again, "What are you saying?"

"You weren't alone this time, Ed," Wayne says softly as he steps towards his nephew and grasps him gently by the shoulders, "you have so many more people looking out for you, hell --one of em' carried you home". 

"I think a person like that deserves at least a chance to know you, and to see what I see".

It's Eddie's turn to swipe at his misty eyes, "What's that?" He asks with an unconvincing cough to hide the wobble in his voice.

Wayne smiles, giving Eddie's shoulders a soft squeeze, "a damn good kid with a big heart, who I hope knows how to apologize when it's needed".

"But what if you're wrong?"

"Then I'm wrong, and we'll get through it," Wayne tugs Eddie towards him without warning into a tight hug and reaches behind Eddie to press play on the cassette player; the sound of guitar and drums begin again as Ozzy's voice fills the room. 

'Your love for me has just got to be real

Before you know the way I'm going to feel--'

"But for the record kid, I don't think I am".

***

Eddie listens to the tape. 

He listens to it again and again, both sides. Steve filled both sides with music for him…

He lays on his bed while it plays, staring a hole into the ceiling as the last few piano notes ring out before the tape stops, filling the room with silence.

The songs don't all go with one another and out of a dozen there's about eight he knows. The other four seem to be a mixture of songs he's heard Steve play in the beemer with the kids, or while dancing in his kitchen with Robin.

it's not an expert mix by any means, but Steve did manage to collect a decent amount of metal songs just for Eddie and even a one he's never heard before --since when did Scorpions write love songs? 

After hours alone in his room, sitting on his bed, listening to Steve's tape over and over again, there is one thing he can't deny.

Steve Harrington has feelings for him…had feelings for him, and Eddie ruined it. 

He wants to take the version of himself that pushed Steve away and shake him. 

Eddie winces as he pictures the devastated expression on Steve's face when he left. His normally bright hazel eyes and wide goofy grin were left pinched with hurt.

Eddie had done that, taken six months of tentative friendship, of lingering glances and soft teasing smiles -how had he missed those, and tossed this delicate thing away from himself like it was nothing. 

He looks over at the glowing green hands of the clock by his bed. It’s nearly midnight; Dustin left a few hours ago now and Wayne is now at work. 

Eddie breathes out a sigh through his nose as a sudden wave of determination flows through him.

He looks towards the far wall by the door, his Sweetheart hanging up on her hooks. 

Dustin had apparently insisted on grabbing it, doubling back on a severely sprained ankle while Nancy tore a verbal strip off his back for wasting time as an unconscious Eddie slowly continued to bleed out in Steve's arms.

Eddie shivers, it had been so strange to consider everything that happened, or what he was told happened during the gap in his memory. 

Steve had been the one to carry him out while Robin and Nancy helped compress the worst of his wounds with torn fabric and left over gauze from the patch job they had done for Steve.

He vaguely remembers a string of words, a whispered sentence that made no sense as Eddie drifted in and out of consciousness but now…

'You can't do this, come on Munson, open those stupid beautiful eyes of yours, who's going to yell at us about the corruption of youth in America huh? We need you man, I-I….'

Eddie had really been so fucking clueless. 

He gets up from the bed and crosses to the wall, taking the guitar off the hooks. 

At least now, he has a plan.

***

It was a shit plan.

Cutting down the road the kids had taken to calling Mirkwood and through the woods by Loch Nora seemed pretty sound in theory, giving Eddie the element of surprise and hiding him from any watchful neighborhood eyes. 

What he had not taken into account, however, was the pitch darkness, the unfamiliar maze of trees he now found himself in, and how fucking heavy his portable amp was going to be.

Perfect.

Eddie stumbles over a fallen log, nearly careening into the mulch and rotting leaves of the forest floor. The half moon above him, not nearly enough to light his path through the thicket.

At least this version of the woods feels alive, Eddie thinks to himself; the smell of damp dirt and the sound of frogs and crickets singing in the darkness is infinitely more appealing than the strange forest they had found themselves in a mere six months prior. And with the gates finally sealed, the most dangerous thing he could come across would probably be a rattler or a coyote. 

Eddie peers around at the thought, he's not quite sure he's entirely comfortable even running into those animals anytime soon…especially the snake.

Finally, after another ten minutes of walking, warm yellow light begins to sift through the trees ahead of him as he brushes away low branches from his field of vision. 

Eddie hikes up the guitar strap higher up his shoulder and steps fully into the light that illuminates the Harrington backyard lawn and pool.

Eddie scans the back of the house, flipping the mental map of the Harrington home around to visualize which window was most likely to be for Steve's bedroom.

He steps further into the yard, setting down the heavy amp onto the concrete patio before leaning down to grab a handful of wood chips from the shrubs next to the house.

Here goes nothing.

Eddie tosses one of the pieces of wood at the window above him. 

It barely connects with the windowsill before dropping back down onto the patio with a muted clack. 

Oh this is humiliating.

He tries again and again to hit Steve's window with the wood chips in his hand, each one completely misses the target. One bounces into the eavestrough, another careens off the siding and back into the pool behind Eddie. 

"Fuck this," Eddie growls, throwing the rest of the wood chips back into the shrubs as he snatches the cord for his amp and shoves the plug into the nearest outdoor outlet. 

He turns the volume down slightly, the plan won't work if the cops get called on him immediately. 

Eddie takes the guitar off his back and plucks a few notes, adjusting one of the tuning keys until the sound is just right.

"Here goes nothing, come on Stevie," Eddie whispers as he begins to play. 

"I hear the ticking' of the clock, I'm lying here the room's pitch dark," he sings softly, strumming out the cords, it's slightly harsher than the piano but sue him, Eddie only managed to play it once through by ear at home before he left the house.

This was Steve's last track on the tape, and Eddie's sure he put it there for a reason.

He listened to the song again and again, slowly picking up the cords as he did so. 

He could do this, he picked up Master of Puppets in just a few weeks, Eddie could handle Heart.

Eddie keeps going, his voice carries over the yard, growing in volume; so much so that he misses the patio door slowly slide open and the sound of a pair of feet padding onto the patio. 

"What are you doing here?" Steve's voice calls out to Eddie from the door, he jumps, nearly dropping the guitar. His hand jolts on the strings as Eddie attempts to keep his hold on the instrument, letting the guitar scream for him.

Steve stares at him as Eddie unplugs the amp cord and swings the guitar around his back once more with shaking hands, his thoughts spinning, trying to figure out how to start.

"I listened to the tape," Eddie says softly, Steve cocks his head slightly to better hear him, his face shuttering as the words register.  

Eddie's heart races as he watches Steve begin to turn towards the patio door once more, he needs to act fast.

"And I need you to forgive me," he blurts out, louder than he intends, but Steve does pause with his hands on the door handle.

"Why's that?" He says sharply, dropping his hand away from the door, turning to fully face Eddie once more.

Eddie chews his lip nervously as Steve's gaze hardens the longer they stand in silence, his arms come up to wrap around his chest tightly.

"I thought you were playing a prank," Eddie sighs, saying it aloud makes him want to deflate, to walk right into the pool and sink to the bottom. 

If the look Steve gives him is any indication, Steve would be more than happy to watch him go.

"That's a lot of effort to put into a fucking prank Munson," Steve bites out, there is no heat to the words though. He just sounds tired, resigned.

Shit.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Eddie mumbles, he reaches up to scrub his hand over his face, missing the way Steve's face softens ever so slightly and his arms drop from the way they seem to be holding him together. 

"But I'm not going to make excuses," Eddie takes a step closer to Steve, his heart threatening to break through his ribcage the closer he gets, "I'm sorry for how I reacted and for thinking you could do something like that".

"I know you aren't like that, you're honest, and kind," Eddie reaches out and takes the tape from his back pocket and gestures towards Steve with it, "and so fucking thoughtful it makes me ache to think I ruined everything". 

He puts the tape back in his pocket, Steve’s eyes watch him curiously now as he does, it fills him with wary hope, enough to keep talking. 

"So, I need you to forgive me Steve, because I hope you'll let me make it up to you sweetheart".

Steve's face tips down suddenly towards his socked feet and the cold concrete patio, making it impossible for Eddie to make out his expression. He holds his breath as the silence stretches between them.

"Robin was right, you can be such an asshole," Steve says quietly, Eddie's chest tightens painfully at the words.

Eddie nods once,doing everything in his power to keep his face neutral but the downward curl of his lip is unstoppable as he reaches down to pick up the amp.

"But," Steve says, taking a step away from the door behind him, "as someone who was an asshole for a long time," Steve says quietly, pressing the palm of his hand into his chest, "I think it would be pretty hypocritical to not let you make it up to me".

He's grinning now. It’s small, barely stretching across Steve's freckled face, but it's warm and just for Eddie. 

"What did you have in mind, Sweetheart?" 

Steve is quiet for a moment, his eyes dart over Eddie's face before he finally whispers, "can you finish the song Eds?" 

"I think that can be arranged, " Eddie hums with a bright grin of his own. 

He swings the guitar off his back again, quickly plugging it into the amp. 

Eddie looks up to find Steve smiling softly at him as he takes a seat on one of the pool loungers. He pulls his legs up to rest his arms on his knees, basking in his own private concert. 

As the first pink and orange rays of sunrise begin to bloom on the horizon behind him, slowly painting Steve's face gold, Eddie can't help the relief that flows through him. 

He looks down at the shy grin Steve gives him, his hazel eyes bright in the new day's light, and thinks, 'holy shit, I almost missed this'.

"You don't know how long I have wanted, to touch your lips and hold you tight," he picks up where he left off, his voice mixing with the slow rhythm of the guitar, “you don't know how long I have waited, and I was going to tell you tonight--”

Eddie watches, surprised as Steve swiftly gets up from the lounger and walks towards him, his expression determined.

"I think that's my line," Steve whispers as he leans in to cup Eddie's face in his hands and kisses him.

Eddie short-circuits.

The kiss is chaste, short, not much more than the brief press of warm chapped lips against Eddie's own, but the way Steve lets his hands move from Eddie's face to his hair and neck, holding him in place. The way Steve steps into Eddie's space so all he can taste, smell, and feel is Steve.

It’s exhilarating.  

Steve pulls back slightly before placing a second kiss on Eddie's lips, his eyes half lidded and a deep red flush staines his cheeks and ears a bright red. Steve looks much more debauched than necessary and Eddie suddenly wishes they weren't outside, that he could take Steve into the house and show him exactly how sorry he is. 

"I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait, did you learn all of them or just that one?" Steve asks, his voice slightly breathy, he still hasn't let go of Eddie or stepped away.

"Just that one," Eddie repeats dumbly, feeling the urge to walk into the pool again as Steve laughs.

Oh Eddie loves that laugh.

“You sure,” Steve asks again, his eyes crinkle at the sides as he smiles widely, “I thought maybe you could show me some of the other songs you know, inside?”

Either he’s dreaming or Steve is a mind reader because holy shit.

Eddie nods, unable to even form the words as Steve reaches for the amp and gently takes it out of his hands. Steve transfers the amp to his right hand and takes Eddie’s now empty hand with his left as he leads him towards the patio door.

Eddie watches, transfixed, as Steve looks back to shoot him another warm smile as they step over the threshold of the back door, and the words his uncle said earlier in the evening come back to him as Steve leads him towards the living room. 

‘I think a person like that deserves at least a chance to know you, and to see what I see’.

Eddie halts his movement, grabbing Steve’s hand firmly in his own, pulling him backwards until Steve turns, his eyebrows furrowed in wary confusion.

“Thank you, for giving me another chance,” Eddie says softly. He lets the hand holding Steve's own move to trail up and down his arm, eliciting a shiver from Steve. 

“I mean, you gave me one, you came back right?” Steve says softly. 

Eddie's heart twists at the words, he feels his face fall slightly at the thought that Steve could ever think he was somehow at fault for this, “I was an idiot, that wasn’t your fault at all sweetheart”.

Steve looks at him again, his eyes scanning Eddie’s own for what feels like ages, his expression unreadable. 

“Co’mere,” he murmurs eventually, letting go of Eddie to sit on the couch. He pats the cushion beside him, with the same soft smile from earlier, “play some music for me”.

There’s more to unpack here, more to talk about, other apologies to whisper in this beautiful man's ear. 

But for now, he swings his guitar in front of him and slowly walks over to Steve.

Steve asked for music, and who is Eddie not to oblige?

@ihavekidneys @superchellerific @zerokrox-blog @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @croatoan-like-its-hot @messrs-weasley @samcoxramblings @warlordess @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @lostonceandneverfound @shunna @fairytalesreality @estrellami-1 @rlpersephone3259 @zaphodkilledthespeedforce @newtstabber @grtwdsmwhr @uwujinniee @anica-d @imzadidragonfly @orangeandthefairroadkill @starman-jpg @nabatute @goodolefashionedloverboi @wheatnoodle @novacorpsrecruit @lolawonsstuff @redlegumes @paintsplatteredandimperfect @scheodingers-muppet @thephantomhood @0o-queendean-o0 @blackholegladiator @nerdfighteratheart @hallucinatedjosten

(I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, thank you very much for following along with this little story everyone!)

[iguessthisisanewobsession]

Mix up manhattan au

After the hit that’s as heathers the musical set up by mix up manhattan Jason didn’t really think much on if he wanted to act again.

Sure, there was that quick stint of Noel’s Lament for charity but honestly he feels like it would be a lost cause to try and play another role because apparently he was a little too good at being JD.

“That’s bullshit, man. Like of course you’re going to act good, you were one of the main leads!”

Danny scoffed as gestured with a fry,

“An actor that can actually act. It’s not like you’re going to actually blow up a school.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying! You know they’ve been trying to send me back to therapy? Like gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Jasob sighed as slouched over the linoleum table.

“You know, I hate that I fucking get it in a way y’know? Like I have a shady past, and maybe my temper spikes a bit more than the average guy but that shit’s in the past! I thought thought it was at least…”

“You were built for the role dude, there’s a reason you got casted. It’s probably just because it hit a little close to home.”

“Well I wish it didn’t.”

Danny hummed as he took a sip of his shake.

“You know.. there might be an easy fix for this.”

“What are you thinking about now?”

“I’m just saying how for sure are you that you don’t want to do another audition?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim blinked.

And blinked again.

He rubbed his eyes until they were raw,

Nope.

No change.

“What the fuck are you doingJason?”

Jason for his part raised an eyebrow in the mirror as he continued to try to adjust his skirt.

“What does it look like I’m doing? Dressing up.”

“I-but-“

“Ah, Master Jason, how are the adjustments feeling now?”

Jason gave a grin as he grabbed a pile of clothing from the couch.

“A lot less like I’m going to flash everyone during a twirl. Thanks Alfie your a life saver.”

“Your very welcome dear do give me updates on how it goes.”

Jason gave a little twirl and a finger gun before leaving the living room.

Alfred held back a chuckle as he looked to his other grandson.

“Is there something you need to say Master Tim?”

“I-uh- The pink cardigan looked good?”

“Indeed, I do hope they do not accidentally stain it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That week at the theater signs we’re out out for Hairspray the musical.