#then immediately writes something to fix it

[derinwrites]

The Three Commandments

The thing about writing is this: you gotta start in medias res, to hook your readers with action immediately. But readers aren’t invested in people they know nothing about, so start with a framing scene that instead describes the characters and the stakes. But those scenes are boring, so cut straight to the action, after opening with a clever quip, but open in the style of the story, and try not to be too clever in the opener, it looks tacky. One shouldn’t use too many dialogue tags, it’s distracting; but you can use ‘said’ a lot, because ‘said’ is invisible, but don’t use ‘said’ too much because it’s boring and uninformative – make sure to vary your dialogue tags to be as descriptive as possible, except don’t do that because it’s distracting, and instead rely mostly on ‘said’ and only use others when you need them. But don’t use ‘said’ too often; you should avoid dialogue tags as much as you possibly can and indicate speakers through describing their reactions. But don’t do that, it’s distracting.

Having a viewpoint character describe themselves is amateurish, so avoid that. But also be sure to describe your viewpoint character so that the reader can picture them. And include a lot of introspection, so we can see their mindset, but don’t include too much introspection, because it’s boring and takes away from the action and really bogs down the story, but also remember to include plenty of introspection so your character doesn’t feel like a robot. And adverbs are great action descriptors; you should have a lot of them, but don’t use a lot of adverbs; they’re amateurish and bog down the story. And

The reason new writers are bombarded with so much outright contradictory writing advice is that these tips are conditional. It depends on your style, your genre, your audience, your level of skill, and what problems in your writing you’re trying to fix. Which is why, when I’m writing, I tend to focus on what I call my Three Commandments of Writing. These are the overall rules; before accepting any writing advice, I check whether it reinforces one of these rules or not. If not, I ditch it.

1: Thou Shalt Have Something To Say

What’s your book about?

I don’t mean, describe to me the plot. I mean, why should anybody read this? What’s its thesis? What’s its reason for existence, from the reader’s perspective? People write stories for all kinds of reasons, but things like ‘I just wanted to get it out of my head’ are meaningless from a reader perspective. The greatest piece of writing advice I ever received was you putting words on a page does not obligate anybody to read them. So why are the words there? What point are you trying to make?

The purpose of your story can vary wildly. Usually, you’ll be exploring some kind of thesis, especially if you write genre fiction. Curse Words, for example, is an exploration of self-perpetuating power structures and how aiming for short-term stability and safety can cause long-term problems, as well as the responsibilities of an agitator when seeking to do the necessary work of dismantling those power structures. Most of the things in Curse Words eventually fold back into exploring this question. Alternately, you might just have a really cool idea for a society or alien species or something and want to show it off (note: it can be VERY VERY HARD to carry a story on a ‘cool original concept’ by itself. You think your sky society where they fly above the clouds and have no rainfall and have to harvest water from the clouds below is a cool enough idea to carry a story: You’re almost certainly wrong. These cool concept stories work best when they are either very short, or working in conjunction with exploring a theme). You might be writing a mystery series where each story is a standalone mystery and the point is to present a puzzle and solve a fun mystery each book. Maybe you’re just here to make the reader laugh, and will throw in anything you can find that’ll act as framing for better jokes. In some genres, readers know exactly what they want and have gotten it a hundred times before and want that story again but with different character names – maybe you’re writing one of those. (These stories are popular in romance, pulp fantasy, some action genres, and rather a lot of types of fanfiction).

Whatever the main point of your story is, you should know it by the time you finish the first draft, because you simply cannot write the second draft if you don’t know what the point of the story is. (If you write web serials and are publishing the first draft, you’ll need to figure it out a lot faster.)

Once you know what the point of your story is, you can assess all writing decisions through this lens – does this help or hurt the point of my story?

2: Thou Shalt Respect Thy Reader’s Investment

Readers invest a lot in a story. Sometimes it’s money, if they bought your book, but even if your story is free, they invest time, attention, and emotional investment. The vast majority of your job is making that investment worth it. There are two factors to this – lowering the investment, and increasing the payoff. If you can lower your audience’s suspension of disbelief through consistent characterisation, realistic (for your genre – this may deviate from real realism) worldbuilding, and appropriately foreshadowing and forewarning any unexpected rules of your world. You can lower the amount of effort or attention your audience need to put into getting into your story by writing in a clear manner, using an entertaining tone, and relying on cultural touchpoints they understand already instead of pushing them in the deep end into a completely unfamiliar situation. The lower their initial investment, the easier it is to make the payoff worth it.

Two important notes here: one, not all audiences view investment in the same way. Your average reader views time as a major investment, but readers of long fiction (epic fantasies, web serials, et cetera) often view length as part of the payoff. Brandon Sanderson fans don’t grab his latest book and think “Uuuugh, why does it have to be so looong!” Similarly, some people like being thrown in the deep end and having to put a lot of work into figuring out what the fuck is going on with no onboarding. This is one of science fiction’s main tactics for forcibly immersing you in a future world. So the valuation of what counts as too much investment varies drastically between readers.

Two, it’s not always the best idea to minimise the necessary investment at all costs. Generally, engagement with art asks something of us, and that’s part of the appeal. Minimum-effort books do have their appeal and their place, in the same way that idle games or repetitive sitcoms have their appeal and their place, but the memorable stories, the ones that have staying power and provide real value, are the ones that ask something of the reader. If they’re not investing anything, they have no incentive to engage, and you’re just filling in time. This commandment does not exist to tell you to try to ask nothing of your audience – you should be asking something of your audience. It exists to tell you to respect that investment. Know what you’re asking of your audience, and make sure that the ask is less than the payoff.

The other way to respect the investment is of course to focus on a great payoff. Make those characters socially fascinating, make that sacrifice emotionally rending, make the answer to that mystery intellectually fulfilling. If you can make the investment worth it, they’ll enjoy your story. And if you consistently make their investment worth it, you build trust, and they’ll be willing to invest more next time, which means you can ask more of them and give them an even better payoff. Audience trust is a very precious currency and this is how you build it – be worth their time.

But how do you know what your audience does and doesn’t consider an onerous investment? And how do you know what kinds of payoff they’ll find rewarding? Easy – they self-sort. Part of your job is telling your audience what to expect from you as soon as you can, so that if it’s not for them, they’ll leave, and if it is, they’ll invest and appreciate the return. (“Oh but I want as many people reading my story as possible!” No, you don’t. If you want that, you can write paint-by-numbers common denominator mass appeal fic. What you want is the audience who will enjoy your story; everyone else is a waste of time, and is in fact, detrimental to your success, because if they don’t like your story then they’re likely to be bad marketing. You want these people to bounce off and leave before you disappoint them. Don’t try to trick them into staying around.) Your audience should know, very early on, what kind of an experience they’re in for, what the tone will be, the genre and character(s) they’re going to follow, that sort of thing. The first couple of chapters of Time to Orbit: Unknown, for example, are a micro-example of the sorts of mysteries that Aspen will be dealing with for most of the book, as well as a sample of their character voice, the way they approach problems, and enough of their background, world and behaviour for the reader to decide if this sort of story is for them. We also start the story with some mildly graphic medical stuff, enough physics for the reader to determine the ‘hardness’ of the scifi, and about the level of physical risk that Aspen will be putting themselves at for most of the book. This is all important information for a reader to have.

If you are mindful of the investment your readers are making, mindful of the value of the payoff, and honest with them about both from the start so that they can decide whether the story is for them, you can respect their investment and make sure they have a good time.

3: Thou Shalt Not Make Thy World Less Interesting

This one’s really about payoff, but it’s important enough to be its own commandment. It relates primarily to twists, reveals, worldbuilding, and killing off storylines or characters. One mistake that I see new writers make all the time is that they tank the engagement of their story by introducing a cool fun twist that seems so awesome in the moment and then… is a major letdown, because the implications make the world less interesting.

“It was all a dream” twists often fall into this trap. Contrary to popular opinion, I think these twists can be done extremely well. I’ve seen them done extremely well. The vast majority of the time, they’re very bad. They’re bad because they take an interesting world and make it boring. The same is true of poorly thought out, shocking character deaths – when you kill a character, you kill their potential, and if they’re a character worth killing in a high impact way then this is always a huge sacrifice on your part. Is it worth it? Will it make the story more interesting? Similarly, if your bad guy is going to get up and gloat ‘Aha, your quest was all planned by me, I was working in the shadows to get you to acquire the Mystery Object since I could not! You have fallen into my trap! Now give me the Mystery Object!’, is this a more interesting story than if the protagonist’s journey had actually been their own unmanipulated adventure? It makes your bad guy look clever and can be a cool twist, but does it mean that all those times your protagonist escaped the bad guy’s men by the skin of his teeth, he was being allowed to escape? Are they retroactively less interesting now?

Whether these twists work or not will depend on how you’ve constructed the rest of your story. Do they make your world more or less interesting?

If you have the audience’s trust, it’s permissible to make your world temporarily less interesting. You can kill off the cool guy with the awesome plan, or make it so that the Chosen One wasn’t actually the Chosen One, or even have the main character wake up and find out it was all a dream, and let the reader marinate in disappointment for a little while before you pick it up again and turn things around so that actually, that twist does lead to a more interesting story! But you have to pick it up again. Don’t leave them with the version that’s less interesting than the story you tanked for the twist. The general slop of interest must trend upward, and your sacrifices need to all lead into the more interesting world. Otherwise, your readers will be disappointed, and their experience will be tainted.

Whenever I’m looking at a new piece of writing advice, I view it through these three rules. Is this plot still delivering on the book’s purpose, or have I gone off the rails somewhere and just stared writing random stuff? Does making this character ‘more relateable’ help or hinder that goal? Does this argument with the protagonists’ mother tell the reader anything or lead to any useful payoff; is it respectful of their time? Will starting in medias res give the audience an accurate view of the story and help them decide whether to invest? Does this big twist that challenges all the assumptions we’ve made so far imply a world that is more or less interesting than the world previously implied?

Hopefully these can help you, too.

[landosjpg]

so high school | ln

the one where you feel like a teenager in love.

lando norris x fem!reader

word count: ~1.0k

warnings: fluff, smut (MDNI, +18), public masturbation, fingering, orgasm denial

note: i’ve been listening to this song on repeat for almost a week now, it’s so catchy and the GTA lyrics made me laugh so i had to write something inspired by it. it’s short but i hope you enjoy :) not proofread

being in love had never been as easy as it was with lando.

you had been in love before, sure, but your heart beat in a different rhythm whenever he was around.

you both had felt the spark between you the very first time you met. you could swear the sound of his laugh would always be your favorite song and something as simple as the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled made the butterflies in your stomach flutter all around every damn time.

“come on, tell me again!” your voice was high-pitched, it always was when you were with your boyfriend.

you heard lando let out a chuckle at your insistence, his body spread on the couch as you rested your head on his lap. his hand found yours, fingers entwining under the blanket that covered your body and you gave him a little squeeze, encouraging to tell you once more what you were asking.

“alright, alright,” he facetiously rolled his eyes, earning a giggle from your lips. “i thought you were the most beautiful girl i’ve ever seen.”

you had heard his first impression on you about a thousand times before, but it always brought a smile to your face, being reminded of how enamored he was with you since the very first night.

“fuck, i could barely sleep that night because you wouldn’t leave my mind,” and you had felt the exact same thing.

you two had just clicked instantly, your friends surprised at the chemistry of the both of you.

despite of how crowded the club was that evening you met, it had felt like no one was around you. endless conversation and laughs that seemed to never cease lured you away from the presence of everyone else, and when his lips finally met yours hours later you felt your heart exploding. your bodies moulded together as if you were made to each other, smiles and soft giggles breaking the kiss every few seconds.

and wrapped in his arms you felt like you were sixteen again; and admittedly, no one had ever loved you quite like him before.

୨୧

for the almost eight months that you had been together, you and lando had always loved to invite your mutual friends over during the weekend. at the end of the day, they were the reason you two had met in the first place, and there weren’t enough words in the english language to just show how grateful you were.

every few saturdays all of you would reunite in your —his —living room, a few bottles of alcohol and snacks set on the tea table as you played some stupid drinking game. after that, you would just play the first movie that one of you could think of, lights off as everyone settled either on the couch or, most likely, on the floor, a little too tipsy to even bother getting comfortable.

that night it was american pie playing on the big screen as you cuddled into your boyfriend’s embrace under the soft blanket; it was chilly, the cool summer freeze making you need to cover the bare skin of your legs.

you softly sighed as your leaned your back to his chest as his arms circled around you; and then one of his hands was creeping under the blanket, fingers gently brushing the skin of your thighs.

you smiled at the comfort of his warmth, eyes fixed on the screen mindlessly.

but lando had had a little too much to drink that night, so his fingers slowly moved up, up, up, until they found the seam of your shorts. and the innocence of his previous touch was immediately thrown away the second you looked up to his face, eyes furrowed in confusion, just to meet his smirk.

“what are you doing?” you whisper-shouted, your thighs closing together as he tried to get closer to where he knew you wanted him.

and he shushed. that sly grin of his not leaving his lips.

you bit your lower lip and complied, legs slowly giving him access to your core as your eyes went back to the movie. with slow, teasing movements, he managed to push your shorts and your panties to the side, fingers finding the nub of your clit with ease. this was the most patient you had ever seen him, the tip of his digits slowly rubbing circles on you as he pretended to watch that stupid movie, not even looking at you.

your breath got heavier and unsteady as he touched you at a tauntingly pace, inaudible to everyone else thanks to the loud volume of the tv.

but when he slid his fingers down your folds, coating them in your slick before slowly pushing two of them into your hole, you couldn’t help a gasp from escaping your lips.

you felt your face heating up when the sound earned a look from some of your friends, and you tried your best to cover it with a chuckle. that scene better had been funny, you thought.

lando, however, seemed to find your situation hilarious. you looked up at his smile as he kept fucking his fingers into you slowly, and you could tell he was trying his best not to laugh.

as the seconds passed, stifling your sighs was getting harder and harder, your walls already clenching around your boyfriend’s digits. your fingers wrapped around his wrist, warning him that you were close, and that’s when he stopped.

the withdrawal of his fingers almost made you whine, and you shot a glance at him, this time, a disappointed one. he seemed to like how you responded, because his smile widened and he lowered his head to press a gentle kiss to your temple.

“later, baby. i want to hear those pretty sounds you make when you come,” he whispered into your ear before leaning back on the couch again, shamelessly cleaning his fingers on your thigh and leaving you craving his touch even more.

[bby-deerling]

HIIIII!!!! As you know, ILYSMMM and I stg you are my ABSOLUTE FAVE ON HERE ❤️

I was hoping for Zoro, Law, Ace, Shanks, and Mihawk... with a reader who is just going through it, like straight up not having a good time. They are really down on themselves and are almost at their breaking point.

(It's me. I'm a reader, and this is a straight up self indulgent ask)

(Sfw/NSFW dealers choice)

(Also, if you are not comfortable writing this, a) I am so sorry, b) please do not feel like you even have to respond to this, and c) DONT HATE ME IM SO SORRY)

aww ilysm and i'm so sorry to hear that you're going through it, i'm sending you so much love </3! i could never ever hate you, i always look forward to all the little messages and comments you leave on my fics <3

i've written something similar before for how zoro + law (plus a bunch of other characters) would comfort you when you're feeling down, but here are some additional quick thoughts about ace, shanks, and mihawk <3

ace knows just how warm and loving his hugs are, and as someone who frequently needs words of reassurance himself, but is too prideful to outright ask for them, he knows exactly what you need to hear in order to calm down a bit. he's also good at shifting perspectives, and helps minimize your worries that seemingly feel like the end of the world.

when your sunny disposition fades, shanks notices your shift in mood immediately and tries to fix that with some good old-fashioned revelry. laughter and good times with good people is the best distraction from a crisis, and he hopes that showing you just how much he (and the rest of the crew) love you and enjoy spending time with you will help to you cheer up.

when mihawk notices that you've been isolating yourself, he can't help but pry and ask what's wrong. he's a quiet listener, and provides you with the basics to help keep yourself running; he takes over laundry, cooking, and other chores for the time being, to make sure you have as little burdens as possible weighing on you while you go through this rough patch.

<3

[thesassypadawan]

Repair Kit (Hayden x FemReader)

Summary: You’re the on-set medic for the new Obi-Wan series. A verily simple, straight forward job…except when it comes to a pair of dumbasses. Who have no problem texting you in the middle of the night when they overdo it practicing…or when your new boyfriend accidentally gets out drunk. And tells you some things.

Warnings: 18+ (mdni), because there’s a slight hint of smuttiness. Some drunk dumbasses and a booty grabbing Hayden.

Notes: Happy Hayden's (And Mine) Birthday Event! In honor of the man, the myth, the legend; I will be posting nothing but Anakin, Vader, and Hay stories all April long!

A little something for @ittybitty-rt ! It was truly a pleasure to write this! I had a lot of fun with it!  Hope you like it! ❤️

- It was 2am when your phone goes off. You only know this because it was glaring at you from the lock screen. Along with an interesting message from a certain ‘hello there’ saying gentleman… ‘Vader Repair Kit’. Bring. Hayden’s trailer. Now.’

- “Oh, what the hell now,” you grumble. Begrudgingly rolling out of your nice, cozy bed; you hurriedly throw on the first thing you can find. Grabbing the requested ‘kit’ on your way out.

- This was your job; well, to a certain degree. You’re the on-set medic for the new Obi-Wan series. Normally, during the DAY, you can be found fixing up beaten knuckles…soothing minor burns…maybe even stitching up a wound or two. Pretty much you just keep everyone happy and healthy.

- Simple enough. Except when it comes to a particular pair of grown ass men who act like stupid teens the moment they’re together. Who see absolutely no problem with texting you in the middle of the night. About the most moronic things…aka usually practicing after hours and completely overdoing it.

- However though, that wasn’t the case tonight…

- Before you can even knock, the door flies open. Revealing ‘Dumbass #1’ in all his grinning glory. “D-Darling, you look stunning.”

- Stunning…they must have fucked up good. “Shove the sweet talk, Ewan. Who did what this time?”

- Rubbing the back of his neck, the ‘jedi master’ laughs nervously. The smell of alcohol VERY noticeable on his breath. “Well, y-you see-”

- “Meee, I did!” A familiar voice calls out drunkenly.

- Shooting Ewan a look, you push your way inside. To find…

- ‘Dumbass #2’ sitting on the bed; big, goofy smile on his face. Arms flung wide open. “There’s my angel!”

- Staring blankly, you let out a heavy sigh. “Seriously? Don’t make me regret agreeing to date you.”

- Not paying any mind to the whines of ‘how mean’…or the ungodly adorable pout…you immediately get to work. Pulling out various rehydration items and whatever can possibly lessen the inevitable hangover from your ‘kit’. “All right, dark lord, you know the drill. Just like when you overheat in the Vader suit. Drink and take what I give you. And you’ll be sort of good as new.”

- Right as you’re about to hand him a bottle of what you both so affectionately call ‘blue milk’ and some aspirin. Those arms you’ve been avoiding wind around your hips and… “Heh-heh, booty.” …unceremoniously pull you down onto their owner’s lap.

- “Hay, what the…stop!” You squeak, face all flushed while trying to wiggle out of his hold.

- “No!” He giggles excitedly, squeezing your plush posterior like crazy. “Booty!”

- You hear the sound of Ewan clearing his throat behind you, a slight smirk in his voice. “You h-have this under control. I’ll l-leave you two love birds b-be.” Followed by the trailer door closing. Bastard…so much for being your only hope.

- Barely a second afterwards, Hayden has his face buried in the side of your neck. Nipping and sucking your sensitive skin. Hands still kneading greedily. “He right, ya know. We that…because I loves you.”

- Did he really just say that? You haven’t…he hasn’t… “You’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re saying,” you mutter. Scratching the back of his head, doing your best to ignore the awakening beast pressing into your stomach.

- Pulling away, not before giving your collarbone a gentle bite, Hay looks up at you with puppy dog eyes. Whining a bit while not so subtly grinding. “Maaaybe, but don’t mean it not true. I loves my angel. Wanna shows her.”

- Forcing back a soft moan, it takes everything you have to not cave. Sure, you’d love nothing more than to do so; to just tear it up like nobody’s business. But right now…right now he needed you in a whole different way.

- Despite his protests, you untangle yourself and slide out of his lap. “How about this?” You coo, sitting besides him and wrapping an arm around his waist. “You drink your ‘blue milk’ and get some rest. And…you can show me as much as you want in the morning. Okay?”

- “Fine,” he huffs, resting his head on your shoulder. “You numb me?”

- Although this isn’t exactly how you pictured the two of you saying it, you can’t help but smile. “Yeah,” you whisper, kissing the top of his head. “I love you too.”

- “Good, because I no give up booty,” Hayden mumbles. Giving aforementioned booty one last good pinch before dozing off.

Tag List: @espinathena-17, @myheartwillgoon2022, @wifeofasith, @princessswifie, @kenobiskywalker16, @loverforoldermen

[mydollish]

Hi!! I already love your account, hon!! 🎀 🎀

But if your taking reqs right now, could I ask for cockwarming Price? I think that would fix something inside of me right now 🦢

you have me HOOKED

also, thank you sm for liking the acc!!! i’ve been doing state tests all week and have no brain power to write anything down.

listen, price is an ass man. he would do anything to see and touch your ass.

so when he finds out that you would like to sit on his cock and do nothing? he would die of happiness.

it became an obsession.

he would do it anywhere, anytime. he doesn’t care if your parents are over or if he’s at work. if you are with him and you guys are in the room alone, he’s sitting you on that cock.

(im not saying he wouldn’t fuck you like his life depends on it afterwards)

one time, he forgot his lunch at home. you remembered he was having a rough time at work so you brought him his lunch. innocent enough right?

but when price saw you in your tight shirt and skirt, he went wild.

you knew it, you saw it in his eyes. his blown pupils and disheveled hair was a clear sign that you were going to be there his whole lunch break.

immediately, almost in a trance, he locked the door and sat down in his chair. he quickly unbuckled his pants and grabbed your hand to pull you down with him.

“shush.” is the only word that comes out of his mouths as you gasp and whimper. he just sits there for a while, kissing and leaning his head on your shoulder.

after about 10 minutes, his phone rang. he groaned and put a finger in your mouth.

“shush doll.” he whispers and answers. the person and him talk quietly for a few minutes before price hangs up.

“good girl. now when i come home, you better be on that bed.”

his words were gruff and sounded almost animalistic. all you could do is nod your head and slowly slip off with a whimper.

he quickly kissed you and slapped your ass before opening the door for you.

[adamsrcnan]

i'm thinking about jean and his magnets and postcards again and it seriously breaks my heart. the way he pulled out that first postcard and his heart sank when he saw the writing was blotted out and how he desperately spread them all out trying to find any still salvageable. and then the bear missing a piece and the hope that maybe the missing bit was at the bottom of the box but there was nothing there so it would never be fixed. like they knew it was his favourite and purposely left it irreparable.

and i need to know so many things!!! like when was the first time kevin gave him each of them?? what made him think of jean and pick them up?? what had he written on the back of the postcards??

what did jean think and feel when kevin first gave him them??? did he clutch them desperately in his hand?? bc it had been so long since anyone had given him anything after he'd been snatched from his home and come to the nest empty handed and reduced to a number. did he immediately display them proudly in his room?? or did he keep them hidden at first?? afraid that riko or someone else would take them away from him.

why was the bear with the beret his favourite??? what if it's because kevin handed it to him a stupid smile on his face saying "this one reminded me of you" and jean looks at it skeptically and says "why?? bc of the beret and i'm french?" and kevin just snickers a little and jean rolls his eyes and kevin says something teasingly in french newly taught by jean and jean feels something pull at his chest and he clutches the magnet tighter and says a curt thank you but every time he looks at it he'll remember how kevin smiled at him and how for a second they felt like normal kids and not helpless caged animals. and then he gets them back and they're broken and ruined but they're the only thing he's truly owned in so long so of course he will keep then forever even if he can't bear to look at them anymore. even if the thought of them damaged and destroyed makes him sick to his stomach.

and then!! and then there's jeremy who notices when jean's gaze lingers on the magnets on cat and laila's fridge and gets all excited when he spots jean's collection and tells him they can make room on the fridge and isn't aware of the sadness jean probably has to force down when he tells him they don't stick anymore and how jeremy automatically assumes it's because they were well-worn and sentimental bc he has no idea how much they meant to jean and how they were used as a way to get to him to hurt him.

my heart hurts it really hurts thinking about it. i really hope the trojan's start gifting him some and he starts a new collection and idk maybe jeremy learns the truth about what happened to them and tries his best to fix them up again or even searches desperately to find the same ones and maybe kevin hears about it too and starts sending jean new ones whenever he travels so that one day jean will think of those old ones or even see them up on his fridge or in a drawer and he won't feel an ache in his chest anymore.

[moodymelanist]

Want to write the reverse of your wlw nessian drabble where cas doesn’t realize she’s gay yet but nesta thinks cas stares at her boobs a little too much to be straight

hell yeah I do. hope y’all enjoy this one and happy @nestaarcheronweek day 4 🩷 got the title from tangerine by kehlani hehe

Read on AO3 here!

“Are you going to keep staring down my shirt, or can we get this presentation done?”

Cass startled so badly at Nesta’s words that she nearly knocked over her water, only barely managing to catch the reusable bottle at the last second. “What?”

Cass and Nesta had been paired up as partners for their advanced writing requirement course, and they’d been making steady progress on their presentation in one of the library’s group study rooms. Cass was an education major to Nesta’s political science, and Cass had never been so excited for a group project in her life.

At least, until Nesta had shown up to the library wearing that shirt. It was just a simple, blue, wrap-tie shirt, but between the way it made Nesta’s eyes look even bluer than usual and the way it perfectly cupped her breasts, Cass was having a difficult time staying focused on the task at hand.

“Sorry,” Cass said, hoping her face wasn’t as red as it felt from being called out. She’d thought she was being more discreet, but Nesta had clearly proved that theory wrong. “I was just, uh, zoned out.”

“Were you zoned out the other three times, too?” Nesta fired back without missing a beat.

“I…” Cass trailed off, trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t sound insane. “I just think your shirt is really… cute.”

Nesta Archeron was easily one of the most gorgeous women that Cass had ever seen. With her gray-blue eyes, bronze hair, and amazing fashion sense, Cass spent most of her time wanting to be just like Nesta. Granted, Cass was way too much of a tomboy to pull off even a quarter of Nesta’s wardrobe, but a woman could dream, right? And who better to dream about that Nesta Archeron, especially when she had on a shirt like that?

“Right,” Nesta replied with the most deadpan voice Cass had ever heard. She sighed heavily before shutting her laptop altogether, fixing Cass with a slightly incredulous look. “Are you ever going to get your shit together and ask me out?”

“What?” Cass blurted out, all the blood in her body rushing to her cheeks. God, she hoped her face wasn’t as red as it felt. “I don’t—”

Nesta rolled her eyes. “Cass, I can do this assignment in my sleep. I just wanted to make sure my gaydar was working.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cass answered. Okay, maybe sometimes she found herself staring way longer than she should’ve when it came to pretty women, but that was just… what everyone did. That didn’t mean she was anything more than a strong ally, no matter how many times she cringed when a man came near her.

“Don’t you?” Nesta asked, cocking an eyebrow. She leaned forward, a victorious little smirk gracing her lips as Cass’ eyes immediately tracked the motion. “Well that’s a yes.”

“It’s not my fault you have a great rack,” Cass blurted out, her brain to mouth filter evaporating altogether.

Nesta snorted. “I’m not making you look at it.”

“If I wasn’t looking, I’d have to be dead,” Cass muttered.

“You’re lucky you’re pretty,” Nesta retorted with a roll of her eyes.

Before Cass could think of a proper reply — Nesta thought she was pretty? — Nesta reached out and grabbed a hold of Cass’ chair, pulling her own so close that there was no room to escape. Not that Cass was feeling particularly inclined to do that, anyway. It was dizzying having Nesta so close; she was pinned under that icy gaze and couldn’t back away even if she wanted to.

Cass didn’t want to.

“I’m going to finish this assignment when I get home,” Nesta said, her voice low and offering no argument. “Give you some time to think about… things.”

“Think about what?” Cass said back. She was hardly breathing as Nesta leaned in even closer, placing her hand on the chair in between Cass’ thighs for balance.

Nesta was close enough now that it would’ve been easy for Cass to lean in and kiss her, and find out if her lips were as soft as they looked. Cass’ lips parted in anticipation, every thought in her mind besides Nesta emptying out like they’d never been there at all, and she was torn between leaning forward to kiss her or letting Nesta continue to order Cass around like she owned her.

What the hell was wrong with her?

“That’s what I thought,” Nesta breathed after a few moments, her lips still dangerously close to Cass’ own. When Nesta laughed quietly at Cass’ reflexive frown, Cass could almost feel the vibrations on her lips, and God wasn’t that a thought. “You’re taking me to dinner tonight.”

“I— okay,” Cass agreed. God, she hoped she didn’t sound as dumbstruck as she felt; Nesta didn’t suffer fools, and Cass wasn’t trying to be one. “Whatever you want.”

Nesta finally leaned forward to press a kiss to Cass’ cheek, pulling back with a smirk. “I think we’ll get along just fine. See you later.”

Cass watched Nesta grab her things and saunter out of the room, the only thought in her head I love when women…

Well. At least one woman, that was for damn sure.

tag list: @perseusannabeth | @bookstantrash | @fieldofdaisiies | @goddess-aelin | @c-e-d-dreamer | @talkfantasytome | @whyisaravenlike-awritingdesk | @sv0430 | @talibunny30 | @unlikelypersonalknight1 | @champanheandluxxury | @lilah-asteria | @burningsnowleopard | @sayosdreams | @readskk | @simpingfornestaarcheron | @bellaful08 | @readergalaxy | @podemechamardek | @pearlfortears | @nerdperson524 | @jmoonjones | @kale-theteaqueen | @autumnbabylon | @hiimheresworld | @illyrianshadowhunter | @dustjacketmusings | @live-the-fangirl-life | @that-little-red-head | @sweet-pea1 | @brieq | @queercontrarian | @jsmelodies | @afflicted-with-wanderlust

[snitchesnsneeds]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Baseball Episode!?

I decided, while I was readying myself for the finale and Chloe's character death, why not write one of the Miraculous ideas buzzing in my head not related to my fic? This one's a baseball episode because I like baseball episodes.

In terms of background plot, the Peacock Miraculous is fixed and Hawkmoth (no, not Shadowmoth, this is my canon,) has whittled down the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir to being in Mme. Bustier's class. He doesn't immediately think Ladybug and Chat Noir are the only two students unakumatized in class because he knows Miraculouses can be swapped around, and Miraculous wielders can change their appearance. As for the episode prior,

Ms. Bustier's class is playing baseball for whatever reason. Gym class or something.

Hawkmoth, knowing Ladybug and Chat Noir are in the group, decides to strike, but instead of the overdone and constantly-failing akuma method (not to mention no one's having that bad of a day,) he decides to get creative.

Hawkmoth shows up at the baseball field the Miracuclass is at, in full baseball gear as well? The exits are blocked off by a mass of mold created by the peacock Miraculous, and Ladybug and Chat Noir have trouble running and transforming due to said mold having eyes everywhere, including, yes, the toilets.

He's also created a full robotic baseball team with the peacock miraculous, with 7 basic robot players, 1 armored catcher, and 1 pitching machine on wheels. The latter wields a bat by having it duct-taped to its "head," btw.

Hawkmoth merely wants to wager a game of baseball. If the home team wins, Hawkmoth will leave the class alone. No more akumas or amoks targeting them. However, if Hawkmoth wins, and he might, he gets to take all their accessories! Necklaces, Bracelets, Jewelry, Earrings, Rings, etc.

After the initial cries of shock, confusion, and "Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!", the class decides on what to do. Some members see this as a low-cost high-gain game, not to mention they were already playing baseball in the first place.

Marinette and Adrien, being Ladybug and Chat Noir respectively in the first place, realize Hawkmoth's plan and are not for playing, although they have problems explaining why for reasons that don't expose themselves. Same with the classmates that have figured out their identities (Ivan, Nathaniel, Juleka, and Max,) although they fare a bit better in the reasoning department. Also Chloe is on team no for obvious reasons. As is Sabrina.

Lila's with team 'no' at first for the same reasons as Chloe, but changes sides when she figures out Hawkmoth's scheme and comes to the same conclusions as him.

Ultimately, not willing to risk what would happen if they said no, the Miracuclass takes up Hawkmoth's offer. Also they have uniforms now. From the power of baseball or something.

Since a baseball team only needs nine players and Ms. Bustier's class has fifteen people (six too many,) Chloe, Sabrina, Rose, Mylene, Lila, and Marinette form a cheer squad instead with uniforms as well. Very modest uniforms. Like at the lightest no sleeves and yes modesty shorts.

In terms of positions (because I care deeply about this,) Alix is the pitcher (a great one at that!), Ivan is the catcher, Nino looks over first base, Max looks over second base (he can catch and throw well by calculating the trajectories), Adrien looks over third base, Alya, the girlboss that she is, handles Shortstop, while Kim, Juleka, and Nathaniel are all outfielders. While Kim's highly athletic and a runner and Juleka is frequently at the right spot to catch the ball in midair, Nathaniel is an art kid that wants nothing to do with this and would rather doodle comics.

As for batting, it's as you'd expect. The students that are muscular, sporty, or have spent time as superheroes (mainly Alya and Nino for the latter,) bat better. Ivan's a bit on the slow side and Juleka's a deceptively fast runner, however. It helps that her girlfriend's cheering her on.

Finally, the cheer squad. Chloe, being a talented gymnast and Mean Girl, kills it as a cheerleader, with Rose and Sabrina not being too far behind. Mylene's doing her best, Marinette keeps on tripping over her own feet, and Lila's doing the bare minimum and using faked health conditions as excuses. She also tries to take the other cheerleaders' earrings and rings in case they're Ladybug or Chat Noir, and makes more fake excuses when noticed. At one point Chloe and Lila start fighting. Sabrina tries to break it up.

Hawkmoth's really getting into the sport, by the way. Yelling, telling the enemy team what to do when they mess up, getting mad when his robot baseball players try to cheat, etc. Mostly because some of Gabriel's best times with Emile were at baseball games. He even proposed to her after a game!

Adrien, sweating a bit: "Why does Hawkmoth keep on looking at me? Has he figured out my identity?"

Hawkmoth, looking at Adrien: "My son isn't doing as well as I'd hoped. A pity. Is he not interested?"

Also the bleachers are filled up with some audience members, let in by the Mold. Not a full crowd by any means, but there's people! It helps Nadja is broadcasting the game as well. Marinette's parents are there. The Gorilla is whistling in support of Adrien and has a foam finger. Nathalie isn't there, though. She was never into the sport.

Of course, a bunch of middle schoolers don't fare too well against a team of lifeforms designed to be good at baseball. Alya, using her own form of Ladybug vision (or whatever it's called,) on the cheer squad, determines that Marinette should join the team in place of someone else. Nathaniel seems like the best choice due to being the worst player.

Nathaniel: "NO! I am not becoming a cheerleader! Can't I just sit on the bench or something?"

Alya: "We need six cheerleaders. We can't have a full pyramid with only five!"

Murmur of agreement from the others

Nathaniel: "...Well can't you get someone else to be a cheerleader instead? Why can't it be someone like Jule-Gets hit by a thrown baseball mitt and shoe-OW! Hey!"

Adrien: "Everyone, calm down. I'll be the cheerleader. I've never liked competitive team sports like baseball anyways. I'd rather be my own rival."

Adrien walks over to Marinette and hands her his hat and baseball mitt

Adrien: "Win the game for everyone here, okay?"

Marinette: (Internally) Adrien's counting on me. I can't let him down again! I'll win this game not just to keep my Miraculous, but so I can rebuild Adrien's trust in me!

For the record, I decided in my canon this episode takes a while after Marinette and Adrien got together before having a horribly messy break-up three episodes later, and in general this is meant to be platonic, but if you make art of this and change that dialogue a little for the sake of Adrienette, I won't be cranky.

But yeah. The entire cheer squad welcomes Adrien in with open arms because they're nice girls, Lila, Chloe, and Chloe's girlfriend. Also maybe I'd have Adrien in a skirt but I'll need consultation on that.

As for Marinette, her passion and muscle give the team the nudge and morale to outplay Hawkmoth's team and ultimately win. Taking the pitcher position from Alix, she throws fast, unpredictable balls to strike out the basebots, and she manages to outbat the pitching machine and hit a home run at the ninth inning while three of her teammates are on each of the bases.

Hawkmoth, is a man of his word, thankfully. A pretty good sport, too. He was pretty impressed He dispels his baseball team, skedaddles away, and finally dispels the Mold so Ladybug and Chat Noir can't immediately chase him.

At the ending part, in the Agreste Manor, Gabriel goes over to his son and said he heard all about his game, including what he said about competitive team sports.

"Did you mean all that?"

"Yes, father."

"Would you rather be a cheerleader than be in the basketball team?"

"Yes!"

And so Gabriel puts Adrien in the cheer squad instead of playing basketball and the two of them play a game of catch because Gabriel realized he's never done that with his son.

With baseball mitts and a baseball.

[thestobingirlie]

if someone criticises your creation, no matter what that creation may be, and tells you they find it racist (or ableist, or biphobic, or misogynistic, or that it romanticises abuse, etc), you have to take a step back and think on it. you can’t just blindly defend yourself or block them. because you can be ignorant, and not realise what you’re accidentally perpetuating, but that doesn’t make you innocent. and that doesn’t mean you can just keep doing the exact same thing. because at that point it’s not longer ignorance, it’s purposeful.

[mydemonsdrivealimo]

something so genuinely hilarious to me ab queer characters that have been written by someone who never in their entire existence has spoken, looked at, or thought ab real queer people

[whoviandoodler]

[Image description: a digital drawing of Thomas and Varian from Transatlantic in sepia tones. Thomas is sitting on a sofa smoking, one leg bent and resting on the couch. In his right hand he has an open book and in his left he's holding Varian's glasses. He seems to have just looked up from his book at a new arrival. Varian is lying on the couch, his head on Thomas's thigh, and sleeping while covered by a cardigan. End description.]

that awkward moment when you boyfriend said he'd just lie down for a second and totally wouldn't fall asleep (he has so much work to do, he can't take naps), but now he's been sleeping for an hour and your leg is cramping so badly but you don't have the heart to wake him because he's been exhausted for weeks

[revvethasmythh]

the necessity of me rewriting the final scene I finished last night vs my fervent desire to just move on and write this new chapter: FIGHT

[safyresky]

Ok, this is gonna sound dumb, but how does one get motivation to write? Like, I have characters, scenes, etc planned out in my head, but I'm always stuck on how to start out. I was wondering if you had any tips on going about that? Do you have endings planned out first in mind, or just go with the flow? Any charts made, etc?

Oh no, not dumb at all! A very good question actually. Starting something is the hardest part, imo :). I think it's the question I see most people ask fellow writers.

Starting is hard! I totally understand. It took me YEARS before I finally posted, and that was because Rise of the Guardians was coming out and after watching the trailer I went "ah shit, people are gonna think I ripped Jacqueline off of Chris Pine Jack Frost. That's no bueno, better get this mofo OUT!" I am a notorious procrastinator and the thought of negative feedback actually renders me useless, so I needed a bit of a kick in the butt there 💀💀💀

I think it depends on the person, really. Everyone has a different thing that works for them! Some plan, some just go FUCK IT, WE BALL, and do just that! Here's my kind of. Idk if I'd CALL IT a system? Or a process? But here's what I do, and maybe it'll help you find what works for you?

So I don't really have the end planned right away. I don't usually have ANYTHING planned lol. Generally, most of the things I write start with a hazy concept or idea. For example:

Crystal Springs: What if Jack went through the same thing Zuko did in Book 3, since he thawed? What if someone had to reteach him how to find what powers his powers? Who would they be? How would that work? (this then proceeded to spiral out of control into CS as we know it today).

Frostmas: If Jack was Santa, who was Jack Frost? How did we get from the usual business to a THEME PARK?!?!

Sometimes they're srs like that, other times they're downright silly:

Frog Warning: Haha, I misspelled fog when telling the hubbers about the weather. That's some Crystal Springs ass shit. Jacqueline and Charlie are just minding their business when a frog comes bouncing down the street, the weather is FROG WARNING--oh. Oh, this could be fun!

Actually starting is the hard part, but here's my lil secret: I usually don't start things in order! If I have an idea, I'll go ahead and write it down--whether it be in hazy notes, or actually writing a rough kind of draft, I just get it down and go from there! It works for me for the most part, and then I usually go with the flow from there. Where does this scene fit? What happens before it?

This usually leads to the mess that is my onenote notebook for Crystal Springs, lol. Each story has a tab, and each page is usually a chapter, and I just launch into notes there and go absolutely crazy. Completely HAM. I don't worry about proper grammar or spelling, I just write what I think happens, and brainstorm from there! That's how I get gems like this:

Or like this (CS spoilers abound):

Where on the left is the outline, I suppose, of the work (Chapter 26 of CS I believe this is) and thoughts I have after reading them back go beside the section I thought them about!

Then after that, the actual writing part becomes a LOT easier: I have a sort of outline, and can just refer to it as I make it less messy notes, more actual story chapter. And then, a couple read throughs later, maybe some scene rewrites, and voila! I've got me a story >:)

Starting is hard. SO hard. You're so right, Anon! And before I get too ramble-y, here's my "advice", if you will (aka a tl;dr)

Everyone has something different that works for them, because everyone's writing styles are different. Here's what works for me:

Start wherever. Not at the beginning, not at the end. If a particular scene/part is on my mind, I get it down right away! You don't need to start at the beginning! :)

Get those ideas down! Write out the scene, the character, the idea, the plot point. Doesn't matter how: could be notes, could be writing the entire scene, could be a shitty doodle, just get it written down. Make it real! Put it on a page somewhere!

GET EXCITED ABOUT IT! Be your main cheerleader! give yourself the Fandom treatment and theorize about what happens next, what happens where, etc. And write anything that makes you go OH YO THAT'S GOOD down!

If something else crops up, don't be like "oh man, I gotta finish this scene, though, I can't jump into another thing". Jump into the other thing. Just write it down! Who knows? It may become part of your final story (this has happened to me often enough that I've lost count).

Once I've gotten the burning ideas down, it tends to grow from there. Sometimes going with the flow works very well (and it does for me, for the most part).

After that, I sort the ideas, place them where I picture them (beginning, middle, end), and write notes leading up to the scenes I've already got.

The notes then make it super easy to write the rest of the story, and suddenly I've got a 16k chapter and 20 more ideas to fill the other portions of the story!

So, yeah! Long post, sorry for your dashes, I can stick a readmore somewhere in here if everyone wants, but there's my process. The takeaway?

JUST WRITE! WHATEVER IDEA YOU HAVE, WHETHER IT'S BEGINNING, MIDDLE, OR END, WRITE IT DOWN! :D

Once you've got something, it's a lot easier to start. And when you just go with the flow, and write what you have in mind, it becomes fun, and worrying about starting? Not a problem anymore because holy shit am I having fun, and wow! I've got so much to go off of now! (Also I hate deadlines and self imposed goals, they only make me feel pressure and then the writing isn't fun anymore, it feels like a chore, or a project, or an essay, or a work task. I'm going to be a terrible profesh writer one of these days)

ANYWAY I have no idea if this is what you were looking for, or if this helps at ALL. I hope it does a little bit! I'd strongly encourage you to write the concepts you have in your head right now, and don't worry about putting it all together just yet. Go with the flow, have fun with it, and see where it takes you! :)

And, uh, if any of my other writer friends have any tips and tricks, @lmelodie and @kscribbs and @shittyelfwriter (if u take a breather from kingdoming those tears lol), feel free to add! :)

[powdermelonkeg]

Novelist thoughts (aka I am holding myself accountable so help me)

I waited to make this post for over a month, just to make sure it wasn't a passing worldbuilding idea that I liked the thread of (I have a LOT of those, in the hundreds), but this one's stuck around and continued to develop into its own thing.

I need to state that this happens very, very rarely for me. Finding ideas is extremely easy, and finding ones I like enough to obsess over isn't much harder than that. The trouble is hanging onto it without getting bored—it has to develop, partly on its own, and hang onto my attention. As I get deeper into it, rather than approaching a topic and going "I need conflict from this, what can I do?" an idea that sticks long-term continues to give me threads to follow without my bidding.

My biggest (and arguably first) world like this is one called Oremus. I started it in October of 2018 after watching Mary and the Witch's Flower, and I'm still adding things to it to this day. It's a fun world I like to play with, from history to fauna to magic, and my roommate and I sometimes make mini-stories that take place in it that let me expand on it more. However, it's very much a kitchen sink sort of world; it started from a collection of concepts I just found vaguely cool and ran with, and some evidence of that can be seen in its construction—the names of different places having little cohesive identity, the bits and pieces borrowed from media I was into at its inception (which have evolved to become their own things, but still have transparent threads), the kinds of settings I like to explore with it.

This also plays into its size; while it's huge and expansive, with me doing things like making entire biomes just to account for the fact that I wanted giant foxes, there are parts of the world that have much more identity than others, and a cast of nearly a hundred unique characters with their own lives and stories. That's not a bad thing, by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it's evidence of how much I've been able to grow as a writer over time, and how much practice I've had at making settings and people feel unique with minimal input.

The problem with it is, I built a world without a story to tell.

You could tell a lot of stories in Oremus, but it wasn't made to tell a story. Which means that the things I want to show about it are completely isolated from each other, and trying to build a novel out of it is a daunting task, if not outright impossible. Which country do I start in? What characters do I use? How will cameos of characters I like not derail whatever I'm trying to tell with it, knowing what they're doing at that moment but not being able to show its entirety?

I've tried writing that very story, and I can never really get past the first half of the first chapter, both because the characters I've decided are my protagonists didn't get the same treatment as the characters IN the world, and because I'd have to cut and change so much of the world I made, just to fit them, that it might as well not be that world at all.

I still love it. I still plan to continue to play around in it, build and crash empires and make more and more nuances between countries. But it's not novel-making material, just like a composition notebook wouldn't work as a movie poster.

Another world I've constructed from this feeling is on a much smaller scale, called Amara. That one's a fanfiction exclusive; it takes the world of Fullmetal Alchemist and gives it an opposite foil. For those of you who play Zelda, Amara is FMA's Lorule. The characters have the same names and faces, but a few different traits that set them apart, and the world they live in is dying.

Because it's so small, and because it's fanfiction only, it's very self-contained. It's easy to make it make a story if I want it to. But that then presents the flipside of the coin from Oremus; because it's fanfiction, it wouldn't work as a standalone piece. Even if I renamed everybody and used the world I built as I pleased, without the context FROM the original world, the way I've twisted it doesn't hold any weight to it.

Both of these have been instrumental in my ability to grow as a writer. I learned how to make complex characters. I learned how to craft plots that were interesting and hammer out plotholes—I have my roommate @doin-a-heckin-science to thank for that, since any characters we put into the setting WOULD find those plot holes by interacting with them and asking questions.

Back to my original point.

I think I've caught that shooting star again. It started from an idea, then gathered up more sparks as I thought about it and what it could mean. It's an original idea I've held for a month, building a world around it and giving it its own identity. And the new thing about this one is, I actually have a plot.

Not just a cool story to tell.

Not just characters I want to play with.

Not just an environment I want to show off.

I have an actual plot. With themes. I have subplots and foreshadowing and an ending. I have an outline.

I never make outlines.

I'm writing this here partly, as stated, to hold myself accountable. I love this idea and I don't want it to burn out, which so often happens with fresh new worlds once the novelty's worn off.

But another big part of it is excitement. It's a world I want to see on paper. It's a STORY I want to see on paper. It's something that's actually motivating me to read, and study, and practice, with the hopes of publishing it one day and signing copies, running a blog about its worldbuilding and conlangs.

I don't know how to end this essay thing off. It's just sort of an update on where I am in terms of…ME. It's a thrill and a daunting task and it's something I really, really look forward to.

I'm going to keep it under wraps, at first. I don't know what exactly I can say or not say without wrecking my publishing chances before they've started, and I don't want to disappoint people by talking about things I might have to axe later. But as I get closer and closer to making this book a reality, expect to see more details and ramblings and other such pieces of this puzzle I'm cutting.

Thanks for the read.

[arsenicflame]

in the spirit of both showing i Can Complete Things, and that sewing projects are never really done, heres a dress i 'finished' back in 2020ish

this was my first time working with a crepe weave, which gave me never ending issues, that i definitely wasnt equipt to deal with at the time '''':)

it looks quite decent in these photos but there were some major fit issues (this was before i really started learning about fitting) i had an issue with the neckline rolling down to show the lining that i Could Not fix, and i did a shoddy job of inserting the zip 😅😅

ultimately i powered through to finish it, and then completely ignored it for two years (it was originally for an event but... 2020)

theres a lot to change on this dress, a lot i know i can do better. ive already revisited it once to remove all my basting and redo the zip, and thats made so much of a difference already.

im pretty sure the hem has dropped since i first hemmed it, but ill need to try it on to see what else i can actually fix and what i need to live with.

[unrequitedloveletter]

one thing about me is that I want to switch writing softwares but probably never will because I’m afraid my writing will become terrible if I do