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polarisbibliotheque · 9 months

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So like, less of a suggestion and more of a question - I recently found your works and have just been blown away by the details (like, seriously, you're on the top of my favorite writers list) and just how... perfect you craft everything? I genuinely inspire to be like you, but the problem is that I've hit a rut - I'm super unsatisfied with my writing, and whenever I try to get back into the writing zone, I just fall flat. Is there any advice you could give on how to improve one's writing? What would be your tips and tricks at getting into that writing zone?

(Do apologize me taking SO LONG to answer, but I had some health emergencies the last couple of weeks and ended up in the hospital – I’m doing better now, chilling at home and trying to recover. My doctor is 90% sure I have Crohn’s Disease and I’m having many ups and downs trying to find a proper treatment that I seem to respond to. BUT…)

…I hope you are aware of how much you made me smile, blush and almost indulge into my teary eyes upon reading this. Hahahaha seriously, thank you SO much!! I can’t even thank you enough, I’m just in pure awe that another being in this big ol’ world we live in thinks so highly of my writing!!

I mean, not even I think that highly of my writing. Notice a pattern? ;)

One thing I learned being an artist – not only writing, I also draw, play the piano, write music on my free time/when inspiration hits, everything creative, I’m there, doing it – is that we’re never really satisfied with our work. We will always think we could’ve done something better, and we’re definitely going to be pretty “meh” about a lot of things we do – even when other people think it’s a masterpiece.

And that is good! We’ll always strive to perfect our skills! You just have to remember to appreciate the work you do even when you’re not completely satisfied with it. You will get to where you want to – but then, you’ll wish to improve even more! And that is awesome!

But hey, I do have some tips and tricks on improving and getting into that writing vibe!

For the people getting to the party now, my main tip on improving is here, in the first part of the answer for this ask! Now, now…

(long post below, as expected YEE BEEN WARNED!)

Regarding improving:

Read. A. Lot. Hahaha I know that’s quite an obvious one, but it’s really important. Personally, I think reading mindlessly just to fill a quota of “I read 25 books a month” doesn’t work. It works when you absorb it – when you allow yourself to plunge into the world of the book you’re reading, feeling the characters, the emotions, the settings… That helps you build your “mental library” so to speak! And sometimes you’ll find things and expressions you like that you might use both on your daily speech and while writing – for instance, I have this awful thing of saying “there’s a lack of wings to my words” whenever I’m speechless, because of Homer’s Odyssey. I freaking LOVE that book, I loved that expression, I use it all the time, and it has definitely bled into my writing.

WRITE! A LOT! Write bad stuff, good stuff, short 2 pages thing-ys that you go “hey that’s a good idea!” but you’ll never actually turn into a full story, random scenes, fanfiction, stupid fanfiction, serious fanfiction, self-indulgent stories, stories for your family, stories for yourself, stories for whoever wants to read or not, dreams that could be great stories… The point is to write. It’s much like drawing or playing the piano: if you don’t practice, you won’t get better and you won’t develop your style. The more you practice, the better you get! So don’t be afraid to write bad stuff, cringy stuff, or ridiculous stuff – or even stuff you thought would be awesome and turns out bad, or stuff you think will never turn into anything that turn amazing! One way or another, you’ll be refining your craft!

Identify what you like on writers you admire. I started noticing that while reading The Silmarillion. The Lord of the Rings is my favorite book since I read it for the first time when I was 15, but I didn’t pick up The Silmarillion until I was around 22 – and by then, I started underlining with a light pencil all the phrases I liked most, something my mom did on her old books when she was around my age. I then started taking a look at what I liked about Tolkien’s writing so much – and in other books too: what kind of phrases seemed to resonate more with my soul. Which ones brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face. And then I notice I tend more to the unconventional ways of describing things.

For instance, instead of going like “she was beautiful, with pale skin under raven dark hair, blue eyes shining on her fair face” I tend to go for the unconventional, sort of eerie, not so much taken for granted kind of describing “her beauty glowed like the first pale star to glisten in the evening sky, under a deep sea of dark, velvety hair, making her eyes twinkle like sapphires with a smart look while carrying the light she kept in her soul”. If I had to, the second one would be how I’d describe Arwen or Lúthien, giving them that ethereal otherworldly beauty they have. It's also the one that evokes more feelings inside of me rather than just a mental image.

That’s why I try to describe some things in a different light. When I’m writing, I want people to feel something – but how can you describe that feeling of joy when you hug someone you love and the whole world fades for a minute? That’s when I go for the “his heart bled with gold while his hands never wanted to let them go. For a minute, time seemed to stop and there was nothing else but his heartbeat intertwining with theirs, beating as the same song – even if theirs was more melodic while his was more melancholic. It was that kind of tune that made his lungs not remember how to breathe and his eyes pour – while his lips reflected all the gold that cascaded from his heart.” It’s a quick (rather ridiculous) example, but I do think about some things: how when I feel like that, I tend to have a hard time breathing and I do cry, but it’s because I want to smile so much I cannot contain it. Then I try to describe those feelings with metaphors and poetic stuff because I’m a melodramatic bitch.

Jokes aside, it’s because I like that sort of writing that has that beauty behind it – or more of a melancholic approach. It’s what resonates the most with me and I adopted it, even if sometimes it feels too… Abstract. I like that ability of people piecing the abstractness together and having their own interpretation – and that’s what makes people have different feelings while reading the same thing.

Is this for everyone? Absolutely not. I bet some people despise all that poeticness I like to put on words to lace them like a painting, you know? So, the more you re-read the things you like, you’ll start identifying what resonates with you and you can apply that to your own writing!

And that doesn’t mean you’ll have to be locked on that writing style as well. I’m currently trying to finish a book (I hope someday I can publish it) which is a cyberpunk style story, with lots of inspiration from Cyberpunk 2077, Blade Runner, John Wick (yes, Keanu Reeves sends his regards) and all that poetic writing doesn’t quite fit there. I’m using more of a direct approach, but there’s a lot of existentialism and reflecting on overcoming grief, trauma, owning your own life and contemplating one’s own mortality – and that’s where that poetic, metaphoric, melancholic, bittersweet characteristic of my writing style comes into play. And then everyone starts cursing and shooting each other again :)

Having a style doesn’t mean getting stuck in it – it means knowing when and where to use it!

Now regarding getting into the writing zone:

I freaking ADORE music and it helps me A TON while I’m writing. It’s like setting the mood. I’m trying to be sexy, or mysterious, or having that vampire-y vibe? Depeche Mode playlist it is. Fight scenes? Metal and Electronic. I need to freaking focus and get to work without thinking too much about the music (or start dancing like crazy whenever a song I love comes in and there I am, dancing and singing in my room at 3 a.m)? Piano playlists – classic, modern, everything and anything, as long as it is piano.

Playing music that goes with what I’m writing also helps. For my cyberpunk book, for instance, I put on the Cyberpunk 2077 OST playlist/radio on, or I search for “Cyberpunk Ambience/Playlist” on Youtube and let it roll while I write. For my King Arthur stories (yes, still working on them), I put on Celtic music compilations, Enya, Loreena McKennitt or the piano playlists. For my vampire stories, be the medieval or the near-future one, dark piano, Dark Wave, etc. Perhaps searching for that one playlist that has to do with your story setting and listening to it for some time might get you in the zone!

I also usually write deep in the night. Because I’m a spawn of Dracula. After everyone at home has gone to sleep, I make myself some hot tea, sit on my computer, start listening to music and write. That’s because I know I won’t be interrupted, and I can do just that. Sometimes, I start writing at 1 a.m, other times earlier, other times later. Try to notice when your ideas seem to flow better and when you get more into the zone – but please, don’t be unhealthy as I am and go to sleep at a decent hour. I’m not an example here with my sleeping schedule hahahaha

Cringy moment: when I’m stuck, I act the last scene I wrote as one of my characters in the shower and, usually, ideas start to come in (and I have to get off the shower). Hahahaha now that’s just a weird one, but I have NO idea why, my best ideas arise in the shower. Water has a weird effect on me, so sometimes I just stand there with warm water pouring over my head and, lo and behold, I’m exiting the shower in a hurry because I just got my writer mood back HAHAHA so maybe some very mundane activity – like cooking, taking the trash out, cleaning the room – might be where your writer brain will come to life. You never know.

Needless to say, I talk to myself a lot, sometimes as if I’m talking to the characters. That is a very bad coping mechanism I developed when I was being bullied at school – I used to pretend Dante was with me when I was alone or something had happened and I needed someone by my side, so nowadays I have a very easy time writing this man. I started doing that with some of my characters, and that goes for repeating lines or part of the stories I’m writing to see if I can get un-stuck. It’s not the greatest of things, but it works. My neighbors might think I’m crazy, though xD

When I’m completely unmotivated or I keep staring at the blank page without being able to write, I try to immerse myself in what I’m writing about. So, if I’m stuck on my cyberpunk book, I watch some Cyberpunk 2077 let’s plays, I re-watch the Edgerunners anime, I re-watch Blade Runner, I re-read some parts of Do Androids Dream of Electrical Sheep? or I, Robot, I listen to Blade Runner’s soundtrack, I even try to play Cyberpunk 2077 (while praying not to get motion sickness or not having my pc exploding from overworking). If I’m stuck on my King Arthur works, then I re-watch the 2004 movie (may the gods bless Ioan Gruffudd and his wonderful Lancelot and Mads Mikkelsen as my beloved Tristan), re-read the 3 books on the Chronicles of Arthur series, listen to some Celtic music, research Arthurian stories for hours on the internet, search for my encyclopedias at home to see if they have something on King Arthur, read obscure translated manuscripts from ancient times on it … So, immersing yourself on reading, researching, listening to music, watching movies, playing videogames, listening to stories, watching series, reading mangas, watching anime, documentaries, going to the movies, basically doing anything that has to do with the theme you’re writing, may get you in the mood. Next time you sit down to write, it might flow wonderfully!

I don’t force myself to write, though. If I do, I usually can’t write a single decent word and I’ll hate it. If things aren’t flowing – and this I learned with my mom, who also draws – I leave it for a while and go do something else. Maybe I’ll have some warm tea, or watch a completely unrelated movie, or read my current book, or talk to my parrot in the kitchen, play some piano, draw a little, or just take a good nap. My mom says it refreshes the head and the eyes, and when you come back to it, you’ll be a lot more inclined to find things that weren’t working and let those creative juices flow.

I also have a very weird search history and I’m not ashamed of it. All writers do, and it’s better to have a weird search history than not knowing what you’re talking about, honestly. And sometimes, researching takes a lot more time than writing and might get you motivated – time spent learning is never wasted. Even if you’re learning what kind of dates grow in Greece and are offered to Apollo (bless his heart).

Sometimes, I write something completely unrelated, with a very different theme, and stupidly goofy – and that gets me back to the writing vibes. Sometimes there’s just this need of writing something for the sake of writing, and you just want something foolish to make you smile like a goof. It’s valid and it might be your ticket out of writing-rut-land.

Now some little uncalled for advices:

I spent too long being self-conscious and too serious about it. If it’s not your style, don’t force it. Some people need structure, other people thrive in chaos – know what’s your style and go for it. I hate planning novels, for example. But I will outline the main points of the story and the ending – the rest, well, the characters have to show me whatever else they’re doing, and I have to go with it. Sometimes there are huge arcs I didn’t plan as a main point of the story, but they pop up in the middle of it and they are important – I like leaving that room for impromptu writing/creating. So, find out how it works for you, not how it works for everyone else.

You don’t have to create masterpieces right at the first time you’re writing. Take my King Arthur thing-y for example. I wrote the full story when I was 15. When I was in college, I decided to re-write it. And then, when I was at work, I decided to re-write the re-write. And now, I just took all my files, read them, thought about it all, outlined a whole new story and decided to write anew. Not re-write, but take all that work and write as if I had never written anything before – in the original file, the main characters were 15 years old and in school, now they have their jobs at Universities and work on the secret society that is now a lot more fleshed out and built with loads of new characters around (including a new one I created yesterday after months not thinking about it).

If I hadn’t written the Twilight-sort of embarrassing thing when I was 15, I wouldn’t have this whole universe, characters and story to build upon nowadays. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but it was a good idea – and I’ll keep working on it until I’m happy with it. It’s been 13 years I’m working on it now, maybe when it reaches its 15th anniversary, I’ll be able to finally let it see the light of day!

Don’t listen to the “NEVER DO THIS!!” advices. Seriously. Writing is a form of art – and, as in all art, there isn’t a right or wrong. By all means, see what people are saying it’s bad and you should never do – I watch and read those advices so I can learn to be better too! – but don’t take it to heart. As Captain Barbossa would say, it’s more of a guideline than rules set in stone. Sometimes, something people say you should NEVER EVER do is something that works perfectly fine for you and your style of writing. Learn to make up your own mind: learn new things, listen to advices, but absorb those that resonate with you and leave those that don’t. That’s how you create your own opinion about things and how you find your writing style!

One fun thing to point out on this as an example: me, my mom, my sister and my dad ADORE reading. My sister loves Jane Austen, my mom is a super fan of Dostoyevsky and Russian literature, while my dad lives for Isaac Asimov and all things sci-fi. I love sci-fi, my mom can’t stand it. I read Dante’s Inferno in a week and my mom couldn’t get past the first verses. My sister can’t read poetry at all and is terribly bored by Lord of the Rings. My dad read my Chronicles of Arthur books and even told me to buy the complete the series. Me and my sister enjoyed Khaled Hosseini’s books a lot, but my mom never felt like reading them.

All of this to say: it’s not a matter of who’s more intellectual than the other, it’s a matter of who likes which kind of literature and writing styles. Some people are more comfortable with one way of writing or a certain kind of literature and can’t stand others – and that’s ok. Writing is pretty much the same. THERE ARE NO FIXED RULES! BE A REBEL!

If it helps you: character sheets. Around 8 years ago – or more – I searched and searched online for the character sheet that could help me the best. I had never done it before and thought it was quite useless, until I downloaded one and started filling the infos on my main characters of my Arthurian sort of story. Lo and behold, they became SO MUCH BETTER and that’s when I started rewriting everything: I understood all characters a LOT better and made better decisions when writing them. It doesn’t work for everyone, though, but it’s a lot of fun for me. Currently, I don’t use it much because I now know what are the main things I need for my characters to seem alive, but it’s always nice to have a reference when you’re writing.

My cyberpunk story, for instance, it has A BUNCH of characters with scars, different hair colours, different eye colours, the way they dress, birthmarks, cyber-implants, cyber-prothesis, dressing styles… And sometimes I get lost in it. So it’s nice keeping a character sheet when I go like “wait, she has burn marks on the left arm or the right arm…?”

And keeping a file on worldbuilding might be helpful as well. I noticed that writing my cyberpunk thing. The first thing I wrote was a huge file explaining the city, the factions, the districts, people’s styles, who are the viruses, the sub-types of viruses, the political parties, the police and secret police, the difference between artificials and organics, how does access to the world works, what is the Ocularis system, the most important corporations, their names, their owners… And all those things will probably never appear on this story.

But I felt a HUGE difference. Instead of info-dumping right at the beginning to make the reader understand how the world is built and how it works, I started it right at an important point in the story. No one knows anything about how things work, but, as the characters speak to each other, they talk about so many things that the reader catches things and pieces together how all things are organized.

Don’t try to explain everything. Tying with I said before, if you have a very good idea of how things work, how the characters relate to each other, how they react and how they think, you won’t need to info-dump. I usually think I’m seeing my characters going about their day and that is ALL I’m describing: what they are saying, feeling, thinking and doing. If I feel something is missing for people to fully understand, then I add something quite minimal to help. But I don’t overexplain: people are intelligent and they can piece things together.

Don’t go full Marvel movies and explain everything as if no one can understand unless you say it. Go Nolan and try to make people understand with images, feelings, glances, metaphors and such. It’s very effective in writing! (Don’t get me wrong, I do like Marvel movies, but they have become those kinds of movies that require little mental effort because literally everything will be explained in a huge monologue or through dialogue. You don’t always need dialogues – and if you say “oh that’s too ambiguous and people won’t be certain about it” that’s the beauty of art: it’s always up to interpretation)

Having someone to read and give you feedback might be very helpful too. I have a few friends every now and then I send some of my stories so they’ll read and give me an honest feedback. I try to listen to their opinions and refine my work – but if I think they critique doesn’t make sense, I thank them anyway and keep on doing my thing. Like I said, know when to take what makes sense and when let go of something that doesn’t. Also: feedback is NOT a personal attack. DON’T TAKE IT TO HEART. See it always as something you may need to improve – and you’ll improve quicker.

At the end of the day, writing is art. And all art is relative.

Your art will be great to some and horrible to others – and that’s ok! Again, learn to NOT make it personal (the critiques, I mean, because art is always personal and that’s wonderful, I think).

And repeat after me: you will not please everyone. The point is to make yourself proud. You’ll find your people along the way.

Do it because you love. Do it because it comes from your heart, from your soul. The world has become so filled with content, mindlessly created by artificial intelligence so we will keep consuming, that things have lost so much of their soul.

To make art, to write, is to have soul. If you have that heart, that passion in your work, it will show – and people will follow. When you sit to write, don’t make it a chore, don’t make it an aesthetic tiktok post, don’t follow the routine of this or that famous artist – do what you have to do and let your heart flow. Do it for you.

I think that’s the main advice I can give. Don’t do content to post on social media and look good, do your art. Push your boundaries, test new things, write in ways you never did before, but do your thing.

When everyone is doing the same thing over and over again, you’ll realize your words will stand out by doing what you want to do.

Again thanks for attending my TED Talk xD

#polaris speaks #writing advice #writing tips #writing #writing help #writing tips and tricks #answered asks #asks #anon ask #there we gooooo second part of super long post xD #do forgive anon #and do forgive taking so long #but I hope these will help somehow #I'm not the best person to give advices #but maybe these things I did for learning and refining my writing will help other people too #and the motivational speak at the end as well xD #we all need some of that

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shkretart · 6 months

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Hi! I'm so sorry I just spamed you! Not a question but the thing is it hasnt been a long time since I entered this fandom (which is a fckin paradise) and I had seen your work on other platforms but never knew who was the artist and today I just stumbled with you on tumblr. Lucky me! Scrolling down your blog I saw you said your Ghost didn't completely convinced you for your own personal reasons, even tho all of us find your draws incredible (fr i love your ghost), but I completely understand your feeling cuz I struggle sooo much with the same self-criticism. I as an artist too who doesn't have half the impecable technique you have but fantasizes with posting her drawings because actually doing it feels so scary when my work never seems just right to me, even if I'm just sketching, it doesn't feel perfect and that leads me to share nothing or even stop completely drawing.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you, there's tons of illustrators and artists whose works are so unique, but nobody does it like you do yours and that's what makes yours so fantastic and special. Might not be relevant, but I wanted to tell you I love how you draw all the cod characters and how for a second it did surprise me you didn't fully like some of your drawings I found so impressive, it help me see how delusive our minds are when the perfectionism hits, so subjective. You inspire me, thank you. Who knows, maybe one day I'll dare to share my own drawings even if they aren't as admirable as yours.

Send you tons of love ❤️

Hello! I don't know exactly when this was sent, and I'm very sorry for not responding to the message sooner. Due to prolonged sadness or I don’t know how to say... roughly speaking, depression in drawing, I completely pulled away and was afraid to show my drawings.

But I want to answer everyone. Even if they probably won't be seen.

I really appreciate what is said here. I'm not even sure "thank you" will be enough. No. This is more than a thank you. Your words are very kind and just warmed my heart. You gave me real motivation that I shouldn't give up because of doubts. I am very glad that you wrote such sweet and kind words. and I'm really glad that there are people who like my drawings.

So, I want to tell you: don't give up and don't doubt. Share what you want if you want. I'd love to see how much you grow in your creativity! And it doesn’t matter who and how much better or cooler. We all have room to grow, we all make mistakes. So go ahead! We all started somewhere.

Sending you tons of love and hugs too ❤️🫂

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13tinysocks · 10 months

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FAQ because fags ask questions.

Gimmie the basics

I'm Rea, 21, butch bulldyke, I live with and am dating my coauthor @itsabee pronouns ??? She her I guess???? Art account @11largesocks

Wait are you seriously a lesbian?

Yes. I hold no attraction to men fictional or real. I think playing Barbie with them is just really fun.

Where can I find your fics?

Avaliable on Ao3 (linked) or on Quotev (just search the titles you should find us)

Spill Your Guts - proxies x reader - completed

The Hunt Is On - EJ, Jane, Clockwork x reader - completed

You'll Catch Your Death - proxies x reader - completed

House Of 1000 Corpses - various creepypasta x reader - in progress

Uhm? Tag slurs?

Can you give me writing advice?

No🤗

Can I make fanart/fanfic based off your interpretations of the cpp characters?

Yes of course I don't own them at all and I'm happy to inspire others to get creative!! Tag us if you ever do anything like that!!

Check my #writing tag. Anything unanswered free to ask.

How do you write so much?

What do you listen to while writing?

Idk I got autism powers. Also making writing even a little everyday as a goal is a good way to form a long term habit of doing it every day.

What does the average chapter of your fics go through before being published?

A lot more than people think that's for sure! We pre draft our fics general plot and major events before starting. As for chapters: Abby and I write an outline together. Once completed I will write the chapter. After that Abby goes through to fix character interactions, add depth, and fix my awful spelling mistakes. I then go over Abby's edits and completely reread the chapter to make sure it's cohesive. Give it a silly name and add a song that's related to the vibe and then she's live, baby.

Mostly Pup, Rob Zombie, TPOF's soundtrack, Harley Poe. Sets the mood for the type of stuff I write.

What do you call each fic YN?

We named each of our yn's to refer to them more easily. Syg yn is Ryan. Thio yn is Dylan. Ycyd yn is Dianne. Ho1c yn is Joan.

When is the published version of spill your guts coming out?

No idea. It needs to be drafted and redrafted, edited and reedited, and then I gotta query for agents.

Spill your guts is getting a published version??

Yes! However because of bad writing and copyright it is being completely overhauled. The story is mostly the same but better. The characters are different. Goober is even goobier. It will be split into two to three novels due to word count restrictions.

Head cannons?

I'm not a matchup, head cannon, or mini fic blog. I talk about my fics mostly. If you have questions about those fics I'm happy to answer.

Will you be writing more fanfiction?

Yes I am currently writing house of 1000 courses with Abby. It's our take on a various x reader and mansion fic. It will update slowly. We are both busy and trying to focus on the book.

Why haven't you answered my ask?

I've been getting a huge influx of asks recently and it's hard to take the time to answer all of them. Sometimes I just need to think on it, other times I don't know quite how to respond. I appreciate your kindness and curiosity but I am just a regular guy.

Kys

Thank you

Is there anywhere to support you and Abby?

Our Kofi

Our Etsy

#since ive been getting an influx of followers #faq #rea talks

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you-remind-me-of-the-babe · 7 months

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20 Questions for fic writers!

Thanks for the tags @artsyunderstudy @wellbelesbian @prettygoododds and @bookish-bogwitch! It was fun reading your answers 💜

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22! 3 are collabs, and some of mine are quite short but I am still proud of that number.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

315,168. (That number is crazy) but again, some of that is collabs, including Birthday Man which is 39k and written by several people, and my part was very short. I would guess the real number is around 265k, which…damn. That’s still a lot.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Carry On! That’s it.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Plus One

Rose-Colored Glasses

Shield Me

How to Avoid a Scandal

Archery 101

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always! I love getting comments. We have such a rich comment culture in our fandom and it’s something I really enjoy participating in. I feel like I’m doing my part to keep that comment culture robust when I engage with other commenters.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I was about to say I don’t do angsty endings, but then I remembered my mafia fic Button Man and, fuck. Yeah, that one’s real angsty.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of them are happy I think. Beastly is a fairytale with a traditional happy ending, but honestly most of them are, especially the longer ones. I even left Button Man as ambiguous because I’m a wimp 😂

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope! This fandom is so nice, we rarely see hate and I hope we can keep it that way.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! Mostly super tender and full of emotion. Sappy porn.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope. A few AUs but none with any actual character crossovers.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of! Is that a thing? Beside AI scrapping I hadn’t ever heard of that.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A few! Plus One with @fatalfangirl and Archery 101 with @whatevertheweather, plus contributing to Birthday Man. Co-writing can be challenging at times but mostly it’s been good fun.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Snowbaz. Always and forever

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have some things languishing in my docs but the only WIP that’s published is Depth of Reason and I fully intend to finish it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Probably emotions and inner thoughts. I like the plots and premises that drive my stories as well. I think I’ve got some creative ones in there.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

When I read other works I can always find things i appreciate that others do well that I wish I could do better. I wish I was funnier. I wish I could write banter or witty dialogue or crack. I wish I could be more poetic. I wish my writing was sexier or more visceral. Maybe I’ll get better at these things. And maybe I’ll never write in styles I appreciate. Which is okay. We can’t do it all.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Besame mucho 😘 No, idk my language skills are crap so I doubt I’d do this in a fic unless I saw a need for it in a story and I had someone’s help with it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Carry On is the only fandom I’ve written for. And the only creative writing I’ve done, too!

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Probably Depth of Reason. It isn’t finished but it’s my baby.

This was fun! No pressure tagging @fatalfangirl @whatevertheweather @cutestkilla @aristocratic-otter @facewithoutheart @hushed-chorus

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aromantic-misguide-to-romance · 10 months

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A Short Guide to Tumblr Culture

If you've set up your account already, for example following this guide, it's also good to know how people use Tumblr.

tags - tagging is great to get your post seen and also great to keep some kind of order in your reblogs, but many people use tags to add an usually appreciative commentary, so the tag section can get... chatty. The commentary is usually meant for your followers and the OP.

do NOT censor words, especially not in tags. NEVER do anything like "#tw sp*ders" in tags - you'll effectively reach people who try to avoid and block this trigger. Name things properly. And also remember to disable iOS app censorship in your settings in browser if you're on iOS.

usually you don't add any captions to reblogs until you have something relevant to add or want to discuss as reblogging often results in a conversation. Starting a conversation on any creative post like fic or art is not very polite.

the comment option is barely used. Many people won't even respond to a comment if the original post was on their side blog (side blogs can't comment), and comments are generally for the OP as no one really checks the comments on someone else's post. You can definitely comment under artworks though! The writer/artist will appreciate every nice word!

you can follow reblog dominated blogs if your taste in posts/art/fandoms match and reblog from them. You'll have a daily dose of nice stuff on a silver platter and no one will really mind.

time doesn't exist on Tumblr. Unearth and reblog that fossiled post if you like it! Others might appreciate your archeological discovery.

you'll generally see plenty of old posts/reblog convos making rounds - heritage posts are a thing! (ex. high geologist thread) They're old, have a load of notes and get back on your dash periodically.

spam liking/reblogging is not a thing. Spam people with appreciation if you binge the blog! Waking up to 99+ notifs because someone loved every single post I made in last 3 years is awesome. If someone doesn't like it, they just state it in their bio or something but I suspect those are migrants from other platforms.

if you're still worried, there's a thing called queue. You can set your posts/reblogs to get auto posted at an interval when you add them to queue in the reblog screen. The interval is yours to decide.

you might see a destiel meme with "I love you" and a reply that summarises some recent real world news. That's how we pass important information around.

if you see a shortened post "Do you like the color of the sky", don't extend it. If it's the original post, it's long. To the point you'll keep scrolling for 84 years and we're traumatised already. And if it's not, it's a meme that references our collective trauma so not aimed at you anyway.

Tumblr is the source of the fandom of Goncharov, the greatest mafia movie ever made. Shenanigans and running jokes like that might happen, if they annoy you, block the tags/words! If you find them delightful, jump into it!

if you post a thing that's not SFW, use community labels. In case of fics, people use Read More option too and often tag it as smut. This tradition is truly worth continuing.

if you're wondering if you can post stuff that isn't very SFW is allowed on Tumblr, text posts are usually fine. Images, despite the rules having gotten a bit less strict, might be flagged more or less randomly and it takes ages to appeal it and no one really knows the rules, probably not even Tumblr staff because all the information is... vague. But appeal it. Who knows.

about Read More option - aside from covering smut, it's often used as means to hide a part of the post that might be upsetting or triggering. It's good manners to make sure that the reader is informed what they're about to encounter and put that Read More in the post.

report spam tagging. It's in your interest not to have your tag feed littered with spam. Tumblr culture is being very passionate about tags remaining relevant.

report and block sexygirlbots. Letting them follow you or spam tags will only result in a bot siege and nothing else since we don't have public stats here.

also XKit (currently XKit Rewritten) is a very popular browser plug-in that adds even more useful features like shuffling your queue or customised timestamps. Scripts that alter the layout are also popular since Tumblr is generally a mess, we just learnt to reshape the interface.

Tumblr is still relatively anonymous. People don't put their selfie, location and name in their profile... bots on the other hand do. And we block bots on sight.

speaking of anonymity, the checkmarks you see sometimes mean nothing. They're a meme. There are no "verified" Tumblrs but you might actually see Neil Gaiman here.

last but not least, if you're confused about reblogging vs reposting, reposting is a no-no. Do not download someone's work to post it as an original post. Reblogging is one of the basic Tumblr feature and is good. It doesn't take anything from the OP, the reblog links to their blog and the OP gets all the notes on the post and its reblogs. The reblogger gets those notes too, but only for their own reblog. So basically, two people get notes for the reblog. That's very nice.

#Tumblr #Twitter #Reddit

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mistysblueboxstuff · 1 year

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i have really bad anxiety so i usually would never do this, but. your art is some of the most beautiful i've ever seen. it's more than simple portraiture, there's so much love and personality in it. your art looks joyful and i truly believe it's bc you're notably in love with your craft.

art is nothing without soul, imagination and the ability to be inspired. art comes from who the artist is, how they've experienced and viewed life and all the ways that manifests mentally, emotionally and physically. you can't program technology to have an organic imagination or to get inspired from said nonexistent imagination. it can only ever steal from the imaginations, creativity and hardwork that already exists.

it's not new for people to devalue other human beings in an attempt to fill some personal void and it's not right, and it should always be argued against. life becomes miserable when people stop being able to connect with each other and we often do this through art. it's a way of trying to reach each other or to simply make others feel something.

when people don't value themselves, they cling to what they can do to compensate for what they think they can't or hadn't been able to. this debate on the moral and legal integrity of ai art stems from built up internal frustrations where one side (pro ai art) think they've finally found a way to make themselves valuable (under capitalism) and feel personally attacked by those (anti ai art) who they believe already possess inherent value bc of their ability to contribute to society via a notable skill.

our current social economy sees to it that there's an entire generation that feels behind due to the pandemic. they think that this is a good way to catch up or a quick and easy way to feel good about themselves. so when you tell them ai art is bad (bc it is), they lash out thinking that their ability to catch up or feel valuable is being taken away from them or that you're trying to tell them that they're undeservering of feeling good or valuable (even tho you're not).

it's not a justification, but in order to argue against anything, you have to understand why such a bad thing is so persistent in the first place and why people defend it.

artists are so fucking valuable, it's undeniable and ai art wouldn't exist without any of you. you all have every right to be outraged and to talk and vent about it bc you all deserve more respect than this. capitalism fucks everyone over in the end, some people will be very slow to willingly realize how this has applied to them and their sense of self worth.

you've worked incredibly fucking hard to get where you are. don't let people on the internet make you want to tear your hair out. doing things to build community and human connection is still valuable. some people — living under capitalism — see everything as monetitary and can't fathom how harmful this is when applied to art and other human means of building connection, community, etc.

life should not be dog eat dog and i promise you, your art is one of the most beautiful and necessary contributions to life you could every make. you're doing a wonderful job and i really want you to internalize that.

(this was written to support misty and all other artists against ai art, this isn't for anyone else. if you decide to be argumentative, argue with your bedroom wall. i'm not responsible for how you interpret, process, react or respond to anything not addressed to you. neither is misty or any other anti ai artist. i'm not arguing with strangers over the internet. cope and seethe.)

thank you so much for such a wonderful, insightful and supportive message, nonny. i can't tell you how much it means to me and I'm sure other artists will appreciate it as well. thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#thank you #my brain is chaos rn so this really helps #reply #anonymous

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pain-in-the-butler · 10 months

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Do you have any tips for people who want to write more but are really self-conscious about their work?

Hello, anon! I'm sorry it took me so long to answer this - I do very much appreciate being turned to for writing advice. All the same, I wonder just how helpful I can be... I'll do my best to support you!

By the wording in your ask, I'm not entirely sure if you are concerned about how other people would respond to your writing, OR if you feel that your ideas aren't even good enough for yourself. Either way, I'm sorry you've got a bad mental block in the way. I too am my own worst critic; I understand what it's like to have to deal with yourself every time you simply want to write.

I wouldn't call the way that I deal with such blocks conducive to writing, unfortunately: really I just let my passion and drive build and build until I get to the point that I absolutely need to write, no matter what it ends up sounding like. Some things that help me get back into a writing mindset more quickly are:

Digesting media that I think is really, really good, whether it's stuff I've read/watched before or stuff I haven't

Talking to other creative people and hearing their passion for what they're making (or, better yet, helping them with their projects)

Listening to my playlists based on the emotions in the scenes I want to write

Rereading my own writing and thinking about how I've grown and how I'm proud of myself

When I do things like this often enough, I can usually get so caught up in the process of creation that I can't stand it anymore and I need to make something new.

You aren't alone in your feelings. A lot of us creative types feel exceptionally connected to what we create; we see it as an extension of who we are, and that can mean wanting what we make to be our reflection, yet also wanting that reflection to be one the world accepts. The best thing we can do in that case is just write what we love, just as we can only be ourselves, and gravitate towards the people who understand.

I personally also struggle to have a professional mindset around writing at all - when I try to write on a schedule, it all goes to shit. So maybe you aren't so different, anon. Maybe, especially in the beginning, what you need to do is try and be very curious and patient with your writing and treat every idea as if it's something beautiful. Though I will say that just forcing yourself to write a single sentence can sometimes do wonders for unlocking your brain. Just the same with coming back to a passage you've written after a good night's sleep - I have gone from loathing to loving my own work after I give myself a bit of separation from it.

This advice isn't very formal, but I do hope that a bit of empathy can aid you as well. I wish you only the best in your endeavors, fellow writer!

#though this ask is old it's a good enough time as any to say that anons are welcome in my inbox again #a privilege not a right - but I know I don't have to say that to anybody reading this rn. you guys aren't the unkind ones 💞

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tirsynni · 1 year

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Tirsynni....?

I feel like the meme where somebody touches the ground and goes "something terrible happened here."

Man, buddy... what happened?

I've been back on my Resident Evil kick lately, because of the Resident Evil 4 remake. I got super excited about it and I started rereading a lot of fanfics and I stumbled across your stuff again, and I started binging those again!

So I found your Tumblr and I decided to see what was up and I scrolled down and I feel like I shouldn't have, but oh my goodness, what happened?

Has the Fandom gone nuts? You and fonulyn are some of the best Resident Evil writers I know! Why is everyone suddenly being so damn rude?! I just....

I guess I'm just disappointed. I haven't been in the Resident Evil fandom for a little bit, I've been moving around the stranger things circles and I haven't had time to come back until the Remake dropped, and I came back to this.

The same thing happened with another Tumblr author who writes for Resident Evil that I know, I won't name them but I really hope that this doesn't discourage you from writing and that this doesn't discourage you or fonulyn or any other writer for Resident Evil from your love of this wacky, action packed, funny, horror franchise.

I can understand where you're coming from, I do some writing in my spare time, and it's people like you on Tumblr and on Twitter and on Discord that inspire me to be creative! You're one of the people that inspired me to start writing for Resident Evil in the first place, and you're one of the people who inspired my love for the threesome of Leon and Chris and Piers. You're also the person who really made me realize how much I liked hurt/comfort and whump, and how much I loved both reading and writing it. Your self-indulgent writing style made me realize that I didn't have to wait for somebody to come out with the fanfiction that I wanted to read about the characters that I liked, because I could write it myself!

And I'm never going to be able to thank you for how much that means to me.

That anon prompt about the five plus one with the hurt and comfort and whump between Leon and Chris and Piers sounds like a lovely project, and I think I might give it a try, if that's all right with you. Eventually, I know that you would probably write something about it, but I think I'd like to try writing for those three again. You write everything beautifully, and I've subscribed to your author profile on Archive of Our Own because I know that anything you post is worth reading, and I know that you take your time uploading because you want it to be good for us, and I know you take your time uploading because stuff gets in the way sometimes, and I understand that, I understand that more than you might think.

I'm not even a full-time writer, but there's someone who has a lot of creativity and as someone who is anticipating a very big workload in the next couple of months as I prepare for my first ever full-time job, I'm severely wondering how I'm going to be mentally functioning, or even how I'm going to be able to write anything.

But, I have faith in you. Because if you can inspire me, a person with a lot of things wrong about them, a person who has such a deep ingrained fear of writing down the ideas in their head because of the bullying they went through when they were younger?

Then I have faith that you can make it through whatever crisis or situation that you are going through.

We are stronger than the things that try to make us weak.

Sleep sweet, sing strong, stay brave.

I want you to know that I've been cuddling this for a couple days now. lol I haven't had the time (or energy) to sit down and respond, but I want you to know that I absolutely love and appreciate this and want to print this and carry it around with me. <3 <3 <3

On the personal front, everything has been nonstop crazy for the last several years. My dad got sick with leukemia, we thought he was in the clear (he rang the fucking cancer bell even!), only for the cancer to return. Last October, we were told that he was probably not coming home. Since then, he's had another stem cell transplant and he's doing much better, but everyone is still anxious because he was doing good last time and if he relapses again? It's done. My middle kitty's urinary issues returned and she currently has diabetes on top of it. My eldest kitty has pancreatitis. These health issues have required some major changes, multiple vet visits, a couple thousand dollars in vet bills, and me needing to stab my middle kitty with a needle twice a day. They're both doing well now! All my kitties are currently doing well; however, these health issues are a major weight and I'm worried that they're going to cut my middle and oldest kitties' lives shorter than need be. There have been major issues at work, the political situation where I live is terrifying, and I've had a couple health issues myself recently, including covid two months ago or so. Ugh.

Writing has been my escape for years, both original and fanfiction. I love writing and sharing my fics. I love talking headcanons and such with other fans. I love hearing opposing views or different kinks and stuff that makes me think even if I don't agree with it. I've literally been writing for decades. It's my happy place!

Unfortunately, there's been such a dramatic shift in fandom culture that it's difficult for it to be an escape anymore. There's always been some insane drama going on in fandom, but whereas before people would grab the popcorn, now it seems to be nasty and pervasive. It's exhausting. My writing has always been self-indulgent or happily indulging of others, but now there's such a high risk of someone being an asshole or doing everything they can to ruin something you find awesome and fun and inspiring. It hasn't just been RE: many fandoms and fandom culture in general have been affected due to the loss of places like Livejournal and the rise of purity culture and the horrific, dramatic politics of the last ten or so years. There's no more "don't like, don't read." It's people thinking criticism is necessary and the writer should be grateful for it. It's people thinking writers are greedy for wanting to know if someone enjoys their works. It's the rise in policing others and their works, in people insisting that "thought crimes" are real, in people deciding that it's acceptable to attack others.

That fic prompt? The 5+1? If you like it, absolutely go for it. I would love to read it and I'm sure the original anon would, too. I just wish that the anon ask wasn't such a good representative of some of the issues with current fandom culture. When you write it, please make sure to be as self-indulgent as possible, because why not? That's what fic writing is supposed to be, not "If you write this, you're clearly a terrible person and probably a pedophile."

So yeah, there's a lot going on in personal and fandom life and I'm exhausted and burnt-out, but there have also been awesome people like you and so many others along the way. I hope that you remember that, too, when your workload increases. Things can get nasty and frustrating but it's never an absolute scenario: there's always awesome, supportive people and there are always moments where you can catch your breath.

Thank you very much for this ask. <3 I'm currently working on ficcage now... slowly but surely.

#personal #random #rant #fandom culture #i have no idea how to tag this #tw: cancer #need more coffee and chocolate #or just a vacation

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artificialqueens · 2 years

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Survey Results: Why Do You Write Fanfiction?

Hi Everyone! Remember taking this survey? 🙈

Since we’re no longer accepting responses, here’s a reminder of the main question/answers, just to refresh your memory:

Sorry it’s taken so long for me to post the results. I have no excuse except that I’ve taken a long time to put them into a spreadsheet and make the graphs look presentable. Anyway, here we go, after the cut!!! Btw the data/sources are all linked, at the bottom. XOXO

General: We had 222 responses to the survey, which is awesome! Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to fill it out. Your participation is greatly appreciated. 🥰 Also! I’m pretty good at math, but I’m not always the best with like…proofreading and stuff, so please let me know if I’ve made errors in any of the formulas.

Question 1: Here’s a bar graph that shows the breakdown of the first (main) question (I simplified the answers in the graph but tried to keep the meaning from intact from the way they were originally phrased):

(Sources: Appendix A, Appendix B, both linked at the bottom)

And then here’s another graph that shows the answers as a percent of the total responses, since people could obviously check more than one box. So you can see that there were actually quite a few answers that the respondents checked about half the time or more:

(Sources: Appendix A, Appendix B)

Interestingly, only one response came back with just 1 box checked, and less than 10 came back with 2 checked. On average, about 5-6 boxes were checked per response.

(Sources: Appendix A, Appendix B)

Also, 39 respondents filled in an answer for “other,” which I’ve tried to combine into categories. This is obviously a very subjective exercise: which answers to combine, which ones relate to the categories on the main survey, which ones are genuinely unique enough to stay in the “other” category as opposed to joining in with another.

Ultimately, I thought that those 39 responses broke down into 50 separate answers, because some of them represented either multiple answers (separated by commas) and/or a complex answer that represented multiple categories. (For example, 3 of the categories were “For Fun, Writing Practice, and Community/Friendship” and one of the answers hit all three of those, saying, “fun, practice, and making sure my friends YELL AT ME because I have inflicted Emotions on them.”

Here’s a pie chart showing how those 50 answers looked when divided into categories:

(Source: Appendix B)

Additionally, here are screenshots of all the individual 39 answers. Some of them are very entertaining, so I think they’re worth reading:

***

Question 2:

This was more about people’s motivations by having a finished product (a completed fic), or whether they just liked the process of writing (whether that’s coming up with prompts, headcanons, scenarios, brainstorming, planning, or the writing/creative process itself). The answers were very divided:

(Source: Appendix A, Chart from Google forms directly)

***

Question 3:

This was really just to see how many people responding were people who were regular posters on our blog here (@artificialqueens) and how many were writers from other fandoms. It was an optional question, and 65 of the respondents (or 29% of the total), chose not to answer. Out of the 157 responses we did get, only 30* (or 14% of the total responses) indicated that they write or have written for the Drag Race fandom in some way. (*29 directly, 1 indirectly.) The rest of the responses, 127 in all, or 57% of the total surveys filled out, indicated that they write for fandom(s) other than Drag Race.

The most common “other” answers seemed to be Supernatural, Marvel, and Transformers — I say “seemed to be” because a lot of people used acronyms that I wasn’t familiar with, or just said the name of a ship. (If people would like a more detailed breakdown of this question, then I’ll probably need help parsing the lingo.) Or, if you’re curious, you can actually check out the raw data below by clicking on the link to Appendix A.

Again, thank you so much to everyone who filled out this survey! It was especially cool to see that it spread to far beyond our little blog! To those of you who signal boosted and shared with friends, etc, thank you! I hope you also share the results. Please don’t hesitate to comment, send asks, or let me know if something is amiss or you have more questions. XOXO, V

Appendices:

Appendix A: Data from the Survey itself.

Appendix B: Data I put into my own spreadsheets, since I found the google survey data a bit difficult to manage.

#surveys #survey results

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the-lincyclopedia · 1 year

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High school English doesn’t look just one way

I’d like to stab the next person who responds to someone’s failure to understand theme/symbolism/metaphor/etc. with “clearly you didn’t pass high school English,” but a.) we’re not in the same physical space, and b.) even if we were, I don’t want to get arrested, so I’m writing this post instead.

This site is abounding in assumptions about high school English, and I want to burst the bubble of everyone who holds those assumptions, because high school English looks a whole lot of different ways. Different schools and districts use different curricula, different teachers have different quirks, AP differs from IB, etc. For better and for worse (quite possibly mostly for worse), there is no uniform knowledge base held by people who did, in fact, pass high school English.

I did the International Baccalaureate program in high school, but I did that program in the Midwestern US, and this is very much a post about my experience in the US school system. Here’s what my high school English experience looked like:

FRESHMAN YEAR

My freshman English teacher was funny and personable but not very good at teaching English, and I have no idea what was up with the curriculum. We only read two books (The Scarlet Letter and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass) as a group all year. We read poetry (Emily Dickinson), short stories (Edgar Allan Poe), and excerpts from a variety of things (Thoreau sticks out in my mind), and toward the end of the year we had to pick an American author (I think from a list?), read one of their books, read a biography of the author, and then do a project, but overall it wasn’t a very reading-heavy year.

Nor was it a writing-heavy year! Most of our assignments were art projects. One of my least-favorite days was the day we came to class with the first of our “creative journal” entries (i.e. mixed-media projects that connected our personal lives to the topic we were studying) and my teacher said, “I can already tell, without looking at any of your assignments, that none of them are creative enough.” I have no idea why we spent so much time on collages and whatnot in my English class, but we did.

Point being, this was emphatically not a time when I learned a lot about metaphor, symbolism, plot structure, etc.

SOPHOMORE YEAR

My sophomore English teacher was new to teaching after having been a professional dancer for over a decade. She was really cool! She was both humble enough and secure enough in herself to admit when she didn’t know things, which is not a universal trait for teachers. She was also great at fostering community, and the class got close and grew to respect one another.

Unlike freshman year, this was an incredibly reading-heavy year. We started out with creation myths and excerpts from the Iliad and the Odyssey, and what followed was a barrage:

Antigone (the Greek play)

Canterbury Tales

Dante’s Inferno

Macbeth

Much Ado about Nothing

Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus

The Importance of Being Earnest

And then at the end of the year we had to pick a novel written by a non-Western author and write a report on it. (I’m not complaining about that assignment in particular; the whole lot of it taken together was just a lot for one year!)

So, okay, we read a fuckton that year. And we did write some papers. But, as with freshman year, many of our assignments were creative projects. This worked better with this particular teacher and this particular class both because of the community we had built and because we had several very creative people in the class: there was this girl who was a mixed-media artist who made sculptures just about every time, and this boy who was an aspiring filmmaker who would make little movies every time, and this other boy who was an amazing composer who wrote an original song for every creative assignment (and also wrote a 40-minute-long musical with a bunch of original songs at the end of the year to express his appreciation to our teacher).

In the multiple-page thank-you note I wrote to this teacher at the end of the year, I told her I learned more in sophomore English about respecting and admiring my classmates than I did about English. Once again, not really a time when I learned about metaphor, symbolism, plot structure, etc.

JUNIOR YEAR

This is the point when I entered actual IB classes (the Diploma Programme--yes, it’s British and is spelled that way--only covers the last two years of high school, and my school wasn’t officially part of the Middle Years Programme when I was a freshman or sophomore). My junior year English teacher was a hardass who denied my accommodations request and treated us all pretty badly, but she understood more about teaching English than my previous two English teachers had.

It was another reading-heavy year, with our reading list looking like this:

Poetry by Mahmoud Darwish

Short stories by Lu Xun

Agamemnon

The House of Bernarda Alba

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Othello

Junior year, finally, we were actually writing. However, none of our writing assignments were called “papers.” They were either journals, which basically meant we were answering a set of questions and didn’t need to be super formal about it (punctuation, grammar, and citations were still expected, but paragraph structure could be looser), or commentaries, which were usually about some very specific aspect or section of what we read (say, a single monologue from Othello, or an argument for why a specific character was the protagonist of One Hundred Years of Solitude).

The thing about the IB style of commentaries, at least as they were taught at my high school, is that they were very concerned about how language means--how individual words combine to create a very specific meaning. You were never allowed to summarize anything, because phrasing and word choice were the entire point. Any paragraph would have to introduce a point, cite a quote that illustrated that point, and then dissect the quote to prove how it illustrated that point. You were never allowed to assume the quote proved the point on its own, nor were you generally allowed to point to several connected instances in one paragraph and reference them without direct quotes (say, with just page numbers).

So this was a year when I learned some things about things like metaphor and symbolism. However, plot structure basically got lost because it’s a harder thing to talk about when you have to pull a quote every single time you want to make a point. Moreover, the definition that all the teachers and professors from throughout my education used for metaphors was very different than the definition most people on Tumblr seem to use (which I’ve rage-posted about before).

SENIOR YEAR

Still IB, still writing commentaries that required direct quotes for everything and more often than not focused on a single paragraph or monologue. My senior year English teacher was much nicer than the junior year one, at least.

Our reading list:

Margaret Atwood’s poetry

Dust Tracks on a Road

Hamlet

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

The Lion and the Jewel

The Glass Menagerie

At this point, we learned about allegories, particularly when analyzing The Lion and the Jewel, a Nigerian play with a lot to say about colonialism. Once again, I’ll point out that the divide between allegory and metaphor in my high school English class was incredibly different than people on Tumblr claim it to be.

IN CONCLUSION

I spent the first half of my high school English career making art projects and the second half writing commentaries based on a single paragraph or monologue from the source material. When we spent time on the plot, it was usually for comprehension purposes, not analysis purposes; when we did analysis, it was usually at the word and sentence level, not at the story level. This means we learned a wildly different set of skills than a lot of Tumblrites assume are universal to high school English.

TL;DR: Shut up about “you clearly never passed high school English.” You have no idea how different high school English looks from one school to another.

#a lin original #academia #academic writing #school #high school

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sassy-ahsoka-tano · 2 years

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How much do you know about astrology? I'm a Libra (even though I don't act like one) and Elvis was a Capricorn. How would our relationship work if he needed a Cancer and Taurus in his life?

this got so much longer than i was expecting 😳

and tbh i'm not an expert by any means im just fairly knowledgeable about some specific signs because of my loved ones. hopefully this makes /some/ sense and isn't too confusing or too much information lmfao

SO i've done some research + read a book about astrology and my biggest takeaway from the whole thing is that there's really no such thing as compatibility. those online test things don't really mean anything because we're too nuanced for that.

we have signs which rule all of our houses and planets and those influence how we control and express things like anger, creativity, love, etc. so each sign brings something that another sign needs. i believe that people of any two signs can be compatible you just need to figure out how to take advantage of each others' strengths + work through any differences.

some signs are more similar while others are more different. it can be harder for signs with opposing positions on the zodiac calendar (which is a big circle lol) because their instincts for handling different situations might be in opposition BUT depending on where their other signs are, it can change how they might respond. like for ex. i'm an aquarius sun which means im hesitant to share my emotions but bc i have a capricorn moon, that softens me up and allows me to be a little warmer than if i had an aquarius moon.

but when i say elvis needed a cancer and a taurus, i'm mostly saying that he could benefit from their best qualities like cancers are known for being very attentive and caring while tauruses are known for being very grounded, practical and realistic. so i think elvis could have benefited from those qualities more than some other zodiac's strengths. like he probably wouldnt benefit from me being kinda aloof lmao

in terms of libra specifically, they're represented by the scales so in theory, they are more focused on balance, finding purpose in others and in companionship. they're also usually pretty easy going which are all qualities i think elvis would appreciate and benefit from as well!

capricorns are usually people who need emotional connection and loyalty in their relationships so depending on your sign those things may come more or less naturally to you, but like i mentioned compatibility isn't really real because it depends both on how all of your signs interact with each other + whether or not you actually follow those instincts haha cause while it's your instinct, it isn't necessarily your action so that's what i mean by some signs have to work harder to be compatible.

anyway, having the zodiacs are helpful when pairing because it gives me a general idea of what qualities the person might have + i like to explain how a pairing might work between two signs!! i just tend to see certain signs as more compatible overall than others which is when i usually point them out :)

hopefully this wasn't total oversharing on my part i didnt realize how long it was until i got going 💀 but if you have any questions lmk and i can do my best to answer them! also if i'm wrong about any of this lmk lolol

#answered #deke rivers #im so sorry for this mind dump omg

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eddies-spaghetti · 2 years

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oh goodness.. i am just now starting on this but i KNOW i’m probably posting this like a while after i got tagged in it.

any way @abstract-moth tagged me in the fanfic ask game (thank u for the tag btw 🥰) so here it goes!

How many works do you have on A03?

on AO3 I have 61 but have 100+ on my google drive that i haven’t posted.

What's your total A03 word count?

122468

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

The only ones that are still up are bnha, but back in the day i started on an IT one but never finished it and a Danganronpa/bnha crossover i also never finished.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

(this one is one of my favorites)

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

oh wow.. hmm.. i usually like to end it on a good note..

the first chapter of We Will Figure This Out is pretty angsty but i do fix it by the end.

ohh wait.. bracelets has a pretty angsty ending too.. i forgot about that one

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

most of them really.. Cold is pretty much fluff all the way throughout.. Gender is Weird has a v good ending too.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

tried and failed with the Danganronpa and bnha crossover

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

no..? not gonna lie i have thought about it.. but like it would have to be a very specific category where it’s mostly fluff and have a whole bunch of emotional depth behind it.. or will be important to the story i’m trying to tell.

I almost wrote some for the college au but chicken out.. but who knows i still might add some..

As an SA victim it’s something i’m definitely interested but also scared to write bc i have done so much of my healing through writing and projecting on to characters with similar truama so i think i could definitely see myself writing at least one smut fic just to try it but honestly it’s such a touchy and important subject to me personally and to others that i know i would have to be super careful when writing it.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

yeah! most of the time at least. I actually met one of my best friends and a lot of my mutuals on here through my ao3 comments!

The only times i don’t respond is when it is hate or if i don’t have the spoons to do so.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

only a few times, mostly just people who are mad when i call enji out on his abuse. Or people who are mad that I give tenya the love and appreciation he deserves.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i’m not sure but i don’t think so

Have you ever had a fic translated?

no but i think that would be cool

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

kinda? one of my best friends and i started on one but it was during a CHAOTIC time in my life so we never finished it. And idk if this counts as co-writing but i run pretty much all of my ideas off of @moonwack before they are ever written and they always have wonderful ideas for things i should write.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

i know this is unexpected and may surprise people.. but it’s todoiideku (/s on the first part)

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

oh gosh.. there are so many and i hate it.. probably my aroace soulmate au though..

What are your writing strengths?

tbh i don’t know if i have ANY besides my creativity. My dyslexia makes grammar and spelling so hard for me and i’m always scared it will turn people away from my fics.

but I am constantly writing stories in my head and there hasn’t been a single day that i haven’t thought about something i want to write in YEARS. so there is that.

What are your writing weaknesses?

can i just put dyslexia as an answer here and how much energy writing takes from me so i go months without posting sometimes.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

tbh i haven’t put much thought into it. It doesn’t really bother me if it’s done correctly. i’m p neutral on it.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I think IT but i’m not sure.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

oo such a good question.

On ao3 probably bracelets, Fresh Start, or We Will Figure This Out.

I have one written in my docs called worst moments that i love and i should probably post too though..

thanks again for the tag @abstract-moth! this actually made me think a lot and i enjoyed doing it.

I tag @sunnyillyana and @quasiimodo

(don’t feel pressured to do it if you don’t want to though, i just know both of you write and thought you might have fun doing this 🥰)

#bee answers asks #bee rants about stupid stuff ig #ask game #cw #sa mention #smut mention #enji todoroki mention #endeavor mentioned

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