#writing or drawing stuff that they want to see and sharing it with other people who also like that same stuff

[thesourcabbage]

WOOOO!!! I'm so excited about Azris week!!!!! :D I'm so looking forward to seeing what everyone has come up with!! YAY!!

1. What drew you to Azris?

I accidentally came across Azris while looking for Amren/Varian fanfics. I did a double take: "What in the world?" But they make sense. The shared cruelty adopted due to circumstance, the kindness hidden beneath their masks. It's good stuff. Plus, enemies to lovers is peak.

2. What themes do you explore most often in your fics? Do you have a favorite image or location that you return to again and again?

I tend to return to the theme of emotional healing via love and shared understanding. Love, to me, includes loving a person's flaws, and boy do these two have flaws lmao. I really enjoy the idea of both of them seeing each other for who they are -- rough edges and all -- and accepting and loving that about each other.

3. What is your favorite fic/art that you’ve made? Why?

This is quite hard!!

Fanart: Buoyant (NSFW due to Azriel's 🍑). I think this is when I felt like I was finally starting to find my passion for art again. Huge thanks to @the-darkestminds for inspiring and prompting this art.

Fanfic: A Taste of Evening Honey (Explicit, Not Complete). This was the fic that got me creating again. I started writing at the advice of my career counselor and this fic was the result. I think I'll always be sentimental about this fic.

4. What is your writing/drawing/painting setup? Do you have a routine that you follow?

Art: Hardware: Wacom Cintiq 22HD with a 8Bitdo Zero 2 bluetooth gamepad as a handheld input remote. I use JoyToKey to map the gamepad inputs to keyboard inputs, which makes swapping to brush, paint bucket, etc easier. Software: Clip Studio Paint. Brushes: Frenden brushes.

Fiction: Ellipsus babyyy. Shoutout to @makinglongwordsslutty for recommending it. I love it!!

5. Give a favorite headcanon about Azriel and Eris, separately, and Azriel and Eris, together.

Azriel: Lonely AF. Emotionally fixates on people (such as Mor, Elaine) in order to avoid dealing with his own loneliness; this is a toxic trait despite his best intentions.

Eris: Wears a mask in order to survive Beron and navigate Court politics. He's worn the mask so long that it is part of who he is. It will take a long time for him to figure out his identity after Beron is killed. Constantly vigilant and stressed. Textbook-definition tsundere.

Azriel & Eris: My favorite for these two is a slow burn. I really like the gradual unwinding of their years of resentment, and having that turn into an unexpected affection. I love the idea of one of them realizing they can't take their eyes off the other, and not entirely knowing what to do with that knowledge.

6. Have you worn wigs?

Yes, when I used to cosplay as a teen LOL

7. Will you wear wigs?

Maybe? Idk they're itchy man lol

8. What upcoming projects are you excited about?

YO IM SO EXCITED FOR AZRIS WEEK. I'm gonna be posting a fanfic every day and I am so HYPED to share what's been cooking.

9. Name some influences on your writing or art style - could be fellow writers, poets, singers, nature, etc.

Art: HamletMachine (18+), SDKay (18+), Jordie Bellaire's coloring

Fiction: @makinglongwordsslutty, a lot of random Stucky and Johnlock fanfics. While I don't want to write like these authors, I feel like Rebecca Yarros gave me the confidence that I could write, and Brandon Sanderson gave me the confidence that I could write what I want for as long as I wanted (on top of his awesome lecture series he just finished up??)

10. What encouragement would you give someone who is just beginning a project? Someone who is stalled on a project? Someone losing steam/interest?

I want to stress that this advice/encouragement is strictly subjective. We're all different. I'm hoping that whatever I share can be one of many tools that folks can use to troubleshoot whatever friction they're encountering in their creative journey.

Beginning: Embrace the suck. I've always felt most liberated when I tell myself that what I'm writing/drawing is allowed to suck. There's so much bad media out there, that like, I should also be able to be shitty too. It's okay to be bad. What matters is that you exorcise the idea monkey out of your body so it can live in the document/picture instead of your brain. Just make.

Stalled on a Project/Losing Steam or Interest: I'm excited to see what other people say since this is a broad/complicated subject. I'm going to try to address the few aspects I've encountered:

Burnout/Lost Passion: I'm defining this as, knowing what you need/want to write/draw, but you don't want to actually write or draw. Writing/drawing doesn't bring joy anymore. You don't look forward to it.

What worked for me is being creative in a completely different medium. I'm talking about switching from oil painting to playing the saxophone. I've found, swapping from digital art to writing, that while the output is vastly different, the creative process is very similar. I'm defining creative process as having an idea and translating that idea into a medium. I found that this helped me release my creative urge without the baggage of the medium I was previously burnt out on. For me, by exploring writing, I was able to take the creative pressure off of artmaking, giving me the mental and emotional space to experiment and rediscover what I enjoy about artmaking.

Got this one from an inspiration panel from comic book editor Barbara Randall Kesel: try consuming media outside of your medium. If you're a writer, go see a live dance performance. If you're an artist, read a book of poetry. Creativity is a single facet of a full life and wanes in the "rise and grind" mindset. There is inspiration in life, the everyday, the mundane.

Frustration/It's not coming together: I'm defining this as, wanting to write/draw, but the scene/picture you're working on isn't right and you don't know why.

Taking this from quickest to longest solutions. Take this as an "if this doesn't work, then try the next thing":

Art: Flip the canvas. If that doesn't work, zoom out. This will typically reveal that your character's left eye somehow decided to melt off the person's face without telling you

Take an hour break.

Sleep on it.

Move on to the next scene/another art piece for a few days, then come back.

If the answer hasn't come to you by this point, talk with another trusted fellow creator and ask them to take a look what's going on.

If all else fails, try to get it done to the best of your ability and move on. We don't all bat 1000. Not every scene/picture is going to be a zinger. Just let it go and move forward. Done is better than perfect.

Wow that was very long lol. Thank you very much for reading through this. This has been very cathartic for me hahaha 😅😅😅

Azris Week 2025 Self-Spotlight

Only five more days until the main event! To continue fostering more community between Azris creators, instead of having user-submitted writers or artists answer some questions, creators can interview themselves!

Pretend you can see my jazz hands.

These questions are for ALL Azris creators - writers, mood board creators, artists, you get the idea! At the end of Azris Week, anyone who has filled out the below interview will get added to a master list so that everyone can see your thoughts. Feel free to add your own questions at the bottom, if you think of anything else you’d like to say about your Azris Week creations.

If you aren’t doing anything for Azris Week 2025 but want to participate anyway, go ahead! No one will stop you and you’ll still be included in the master list.

Questions

1. What drew you to Azris?

2. What themes do you explore most often in your fics? Do you have a favorite image or location that you return to again and again?

3. What is your favorite fic/art that you’ve made? Why?

4. What is your writing/drawing/painting setup? Do you have a routine that you follow?

5. Give a favorite headcanon about Azriel and Eris, separately, and Azriel and Eris, together.

6. Have you worn wigs?

7. Will you wear wigs?

8. What upcoming projects are you excited about?

9. Name some influences on your writing or art style - could be fellow writers, poets, singers, nature, etc.

10. What encouragement would you give someone who is just beginning a project? Someone who is stalled on a project? Someone losing steam/interest?

[thatswhatsushesaid]

salt salt salt salt salt

stares @ these takes, stares at the decades of kirk/spock fandom history that absolutely laid the groundwork for published works featuring queer leads to exist in the first place. also lol overtly cishet. lol. ok 👍 bisexuality doesn't exist then.

but more importantly I would like to share my masterpiece with you:

[keeps-ache]

i need to walk into a field and just sit for for a while.. maybe forever hbfsh...

[where-does-the-heart-lie]

ASL Witch AU

Behold. My cuntiest AU to date.

I got so caught up with how beautiful Sabo is in this au I just couldnt stop drawing him. His nose... his hair......... his jawline...........

but yeah so i drew so many sabo that i figured i should just make this a post for his birthday even though it did not start that way. sorry ace, all you get is a design in this au uwu

some more lore stuff:

Everyone uses magic in this AU world, but not everyone can use the magic that devil fruit users possess. While normal people can make a sigil by writing on a paper or drawing in dirt, devil fruit users are gifted with the sigils on their bodies, so they dont have to keep making the sigils whenever they want to use a power. You can also carve sigils into objects like swords or firearms to make them more powerful.

the cracks in sabo's face and hands are corruption, something that others can inflict on you or you can inflict upon yourself by using dark magic. lots of people use dark magic as it is Very Effective in killing people quickly, but usually we see people with arms completely covered in black corruption from it. The celestial dragons who gave him the scar cant use black magic, themselves, but their guns are made extra lethal by having them engraved with the dark magic runes.

In Sabo's case he does use it but only when completely necessary. he wears gloves for tactical reasons but mostly just to cover them up.

Those who are devil fruit users typically dont use dark magic but if they do, theyre real assholes.

This AU is canon compliant, so sorry, Ace does pass away. oopsie~~~ oops~ whups~~~~~~~ ;P

Bonus pics:

the last one i didnt know how to finish it but i think i drew him so beautifully i cant not share it.

[rickktish]

I’ve got a couple of hot takes and there’s nuance to them but I don’t have a whole lot of brain power so I might leave it as-is and elaborate only if asked:

-The kind of people who engage in fandom and specifically those who write fanfiction tend to belong to the same categories of people/sets of identities which are likely to fall victim to the “white people have no culture” lie and therefore like to spice up their writing by diversifying the cast in ways they view as meaningful or reflective of those characters’ personal arcs/histories, which unfortunately means leaning on a lot of stereotypes and accidentally perpetuating, consciously or unconsciously, those stereotypes. (Is anyone else bothered by the prevalence of latino Jason “drug crime lord” Todd headcanons? I don’t speak up about it often but it frequently feels legitimately uncomfy to me. Also while it’s fun to mess around with various flavors of Asian Tim “the smart Robin” Drake, there are some very uncomfortable discussions which ought to be had about why he gets headcanoned as east Asian specifically— usually Korean from what I’ve seen but also frequently Chinese and Japanese— when the fanon interpretation of his character can basically be boiled down to “good with computers, terrible/abusive/neglectful bio parents with unreasonably high standards/expectations, child genius.” Like maybe critically examine your tropes before applying them wholesale is what i’m saying)

-readheads are an unrecognized minority and have historically been and are still in some places presently subjected to the same kinds of stereotyping, discrimination, and fetishization that recognized racial minorities face. The only difference is that discrimination against poc has frequently been legally mandated throughout western history whereas that against redheads has been largely (though not exclusively) cultural. Think for a minute about how many redheaded characters have been replaced by black actors in live action adaptations in recent years and understand that redheads have been on-screen shorthand for “acceptable token diversity” for longer than probably any of us care to think about and they are losing that status as black characters begin to take that place in widespread visual media. Race swapping the Gordons specifically, while pulled off extremely well by a beautifully talented actor in The Batman 2022, is actively participating in the erasure of redheaded characters, especially ones whose roles are more complex than “femme fatale” or “the spitfire,” (or both), from screen

I'm not necessarily against race-swapping hcs and whatnot, but I do think the Bat-Family fandom has a tendency to ignore the actual POC members of the Bat-Family in favor for their hcs, lmfao.

Like I've seen Asian Tim and Babs hcs and I'm like... you do know Cass and Damian are literally right there, you don't have to do that. 😭

[kianamaiart]

Hey hey! You’ve probably been asked this a lot but what made you want to start creating I Don’t Want To Be A Magical Girl?

Also I drew Akia in my style!

Hope you’re having a great day btw ! :0)

First of all this is so rad!!! I loooove how you drew her

And what made me want to make I Don't Want to be a Magical Girl... It was a lot of things! (im assuming you mean the pilot in general)

The idea started off as a stupid doodle/character design practice. It wasn't gonna be anything more than that. I just felt like drawing a cute character with a gun really hahaha.

It's not a particularly original premise and I didn't plan to do anything more with her (as I do with most of my ocs/designs). But I actually did really like this one and couldn't help but think of little ideas and scenarios with her. Things started ramping up in my brain more when I realized I could attach a personal story and personal experiences to it to make it feel less cliche. That's when I started designing the other characters and coming up with bios and stuff

And then that was gonna be it again. I'd maybe do a comic here and there but there was a combination of things that happened that led to me jumping in and making a pilot.

First of all, I had a two month hiatus coming up so I had so much time. I also decided to step down from my directors position to be a board artist again in the coming season. So I really wanted to get some storyboarding practice in and what better way to do that than with this character I ended up really liking? I also don't have a portfolio and I'd been wanting to make something that's very me rather than my work from an existing show.

I'd offhandedly mentioned to my editor at disney that I wanted to do a board for these characters and she told me she'd help me make an animatic if it ever came to that. I couldn't pass up that opportunity! Now, since it was gonna be an animatic and I didn't want it to just be my scratch, I reached out to a bunch of VA friends to see if they'd be interested and they were!

Then other than having that support, just seeing my friends work on their own personal projects has been really inspiring and made me want to also do my own thing! Me and my friend group had just made a whole video game for our friend as a bday present which was so creatively fulfilling and made me realize like "oh my god we're artists we can literally just make stuff".

In the past I'd been so afraid to share my original work and for similar fears I've never wanted to showrun despite having the opportunity to pitch. While it's flattering to be wanted there was this pressure that felt like "oh you HAVE to make something, you're wasting your talent otherwise." (lol this is ironically the thesis of idwtbamg). And as a qpoc, i'd felt this extra layer of pressure to have to make something perfect on all fronts because if i fail in any capacity, i'm failing my community. it'd just be another another reason for people to say "ah queer media and work centering poc just can't succeed." then on the other end, i can only do and write what i know and feared that other people in my community wouldn't resonate with it or would feel like it's inaccurate to their own experiences.

but that's an exhausting way to feel and i've finally decided for myself that i'm just gonna tell stories that are authentic to me and it will reach whoever it needs to reach~ this realization was kind of the final step i needed to push myself to go all in. and now we're here!

[n30n-l1ghts]

Okay, I need to rant. Fuck AI. And I mean seriously. FUCK. A.I. I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but more people need to be talking about this, and there’s no point in me saying that if I’m not willing to talk about it too. AI has done nothing but ruin our communities and defile the art that millions of hands have spent millions of hours creating. Fanfiction is a work of passion. Drawing is a work of passion. Voice acting IS A WORK OF PASSION. AI has no passion. It takes the soul out of the things we love and cherish. It steals what we as a collective community have lovingly crafted, and it shatters it to a thousand pieces, spits on it, curses its family, and throws it in a flaming dumpster to be eaten by rats. It is despicable and disgusting.

I won't lie, or pretend I’m a perfect saint. I myself was a user of Character AI until somewhat recently. And as ashamed as I am to admit that, I feel it’s necessary to own up to my own faults. But after seeing the damage it causes, I can’t in good conscience even consider touching that site. Many of us write because it is our passion. Many of us because it is our job. And many of us because it is our *friend*. AI steals the writing of your favorite creators WITHOUT PERMISSION and mashes it together like Frankenstein’s fucked up monster to create storylines that aren’t even fucking coherent. Not only that, but Character AI uses whatever you respond to it with to teach itself as well, which means that the company has access to whatever you chat about, and free reign to do whatever they want with it. They also make absurd amounts of money from it, which in comparison, fanfiction writers, who spend countless hours writing stories for our favorite characters, more often than not charge nothing. And the ones who do charge, tend to have reasonable, if not highly lenient prices for their labor.

Which leads me into another side rant. SUPPORT WRITERS THAT YOU LIKE. It’s really not that hard, it takes two fucking seconds of your time and it makes someone's day. Reblog. Share with your friends. Like. Comment. Just let the writer know that you saw it, and that you liked it. The amount of fanfic writers I have seen get completely discouraged from writing because of lack of engagement is astounding. I’ve seen several posts on Tumblr or Twitter or Bluesky talking about creators that were incredibly popular but never knew it due to lack of engagement is appalling. If you can rant about your love for their work on Discord, you can rant about your love for their work in the comments. Just fucking copy paste it. Tell them how much you love it. Show them support. Especially the ones that don’t charge. Because for those of us that don’t, our only payment, is your feedback. Even constructive criticism is greatly appreciated by damn near every writer I can think of. Because even that shows that you read it, absorbed it, and thought about it enough to have something to actually say about it.

The same thing goes for artists and voice actors. You see a drawing or animation you enjoy? Comment. Like. Share. You see a character in an anime or a game and you love their voice? Go check out their voice actor, maybe they do some other cool stuff, and you might just discover your new favorite series or streamer. A perfect example is Alejandro Saab. I became a fan of his through his astounding performance in several series dear to me, and lo and behold, he’s also a streamer I enjoy. Same story with Aleks Le, or Ray Chase. Yuri Lowenthal, Lizzie Freeman, Landon Mcdonald, Zeno Robinson, the list goes on. But seriously, it’s not that much effort to just show a little love to the creators you enjoy. The people who breathe life into the series’ that we all hold dear. AI does not breathe that life. Using AI, and supporting those companies, will destroy those pillars of our community. And if that happens, the AI would crumble too, it would have no new information to use. SO really, what’s the benefit? I’ll tell you. There is none.

Stop using AI. All it does is bring harm and slowly kill our community. It’s disgusting, appalling, and downright fucking egregious.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[illusioncanthurtme--art]

🔺Link to my Patreon!🔺

OH GOD I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO WRITE IN THIS DESCRIPTION

TO GET TO THE POINT - this is like a trial run to see who would be interested in supporting me this way! I have a lot of drawing and writing ideas, which contain scenes I'd only ever be comfortable putting on patreon. I desperately want to keep drawing stuff like this for my patrons, but I also don't want to write and illustrate a graphic novella full of billford sexcapades and have it only hit the eyeballs of three people. I would be really sad. If I feel like I have enough people seeing my patreon stuff after this, I'll make more!

To clarify: that thing I drew of ford fucking bill is on my patreon right now for early access, I'll share it here in maybe a week or so. To sweeten the deal, The other drawing will only ever be on my patreon! Currently it has two likes and no comments and I REALLY WANT PEOPLE TO SEE IT!!

ANOTHER clarification: I will be drawing SOMEWHAT nsfw things for my $5 tier. As of right now, I'm not drawing anything explicit. No nudity below the waist, basically. I'm drawing what I'm comfortable with, but hey, that could change with time! I'm getting my sea legs. (I will probably draw bills void-ussy at some point though. What? He's a triangle, who cares)

I think that's all I have to say... anyway, *squidward voice* spare change ma'am (here's another link to my patreon)

[deoidesign]

What if I.

when your main characters start dating after years of writing so they finally get to be like this

[rathayibacter]

Ok so how does one MAKE a tabletop game because this is something I want to try!! Are there good references out there for non-d20 systems or how to balance mechanics yourself?

oooh, hell yeah! honestly the big thing is to just do it, unlike board and video games the gap between idea and execution in ttrpgs is incredibly narrow, so if youve got an idea just start writing stuff down and see where it starts pulling you, where it feels like something's missing, find what excites you and what you feel isn't working. but that's not very specific, so let's get into it!

first off, read games! read weird games! there's tons of free ttrpgs on itch, lots of people sharing their work here and on other social media, there's 200 word rpgs here and here, and lots of system reference documents written specifically for people looking to hack games. reading other games is a great way to enrich your work whether you're building systems from scratch or working in an existing framework, because every game you read will show you a new way of approaching design problems.

on that note, draw inspiration outside of ttrpgs too! i pull a lot from video, board, and card games in my work, as well as poetry, novels, movies, etc etc etc. im autistic, and ive spent a lot of my life thinking about and dissecting unwritten social rules, so that's another big source of material for me. take your passions, whatever they may be, and put them in your work!

next up, think about the core of your game, sometimes called the minimum viable product. this is whatever the fundamental idea at the heart of your work is, and it's important to keep in mind because it keeps you from spiraling down unnecessary tangents. the core of your game can change, don't get me wrong! in fact, it likely will. what you want to do isn't prevent your work from growing and changing, but have a point of light you can always refer back to and ask "is what im doing important to this game?" you might be surprised by what you find isn't actually as important as you thought at first, and what turns out to be vital to the experience you're going for.

next up, once you start working, don't throw things away. if youre working in a word processor or google docs, it can help to have a section at the bottom of your document that you copy anything youd otherwise delete into. i do the same with my Affinity documents, ill have a few pages i dont export to store all my scraps. i know other folks who keep a dedicated scraps document that they use across projects. whatever works for you! the reason you do this is twofold: it makes it easier to cut things if you know you can always put it back later if you change your mind, and it gives you a lot of raw material that you can pull from in the future. months or years from now, you might find yourself looking to fill a gap in a new design and realize that some cool toy you set aside is exactly what you were looking for.

lastly, i wanna strongly encourage you to practice finishing things. that's often the hardest part for people, cuz we have a lot more experience starting projects than finishing them. here id like to once again direct you to 200 word rpgs, because that strict limit means you wind up with a finished first draft really quickly, and the rest of it is polishing and editing. once you've finished some bite-sized projects, you'll have a better idea of what it entails, what parts you're good at and what parts you struggle with, when to keep working and when to cut yourself off. i find it really helpful to add arbitrary limitations and deadlines on my work because that helps me push myself to finish something when otherwise i'd just keep adding and tweaking, but you'll find what works best for you!

[damn-stark]

Dae-ho tic where him and reader always sabotage each others relationships/talking stages with other people because they want each other but are afraid to say it

4 attempts

Kang Dae-ho (player 388) x fem!reader

A/N- I giggled writing this!

Warning- Angst and fluff!!

————

1st attempt-

This first sabotage was as simple as breathing. Maybe Dae-ho is being cocky, or your possible boyfriend was insecure, but it truly was a simple task. Dae-ho happened to catch that you were going to hang out at your house and he came stumbling by at your door.

“Dae-ho,” you stammer with surprise as you see him outside your door.

Said man smiles his charming smile and holds your gaze. “Hey, sorry for not calling beforehand but I was in the neighborhood and I had this,” he says as he shows off one of your favorite desserts, replacing your annoyance with temptation.

“You’re not going out right?” He follows his comment with a question he knows the answer to.

“No, but I have someone over. A date. Potential boyfriend,” you reveal, but it doesn’t bring him any surprise, he pretends to be shocked but he knows that too.

“Well I am your best friend,” he points out. “I need to meet him anyway. What harm can it bring?”

You contemplate his comment and also glance at the bag in his hand as if that delicious dessert is what is winning you over, but the truth is a part of you is relieved he’s here, interrupting this moment. You don’t let yourself accept that but you are and that part of yourself that is steps back to open the door wider so he may walk in.

When you close the door behind him your date interjects with a question as he walks over. “Who was it?”

When he makes it to the entrance of the house he comes to a sudden halt and straightens up as he sees Dae-ho at your side with a small smile that was too smug rather than friendly.

“Kang Dae-ho, her best friend,” he introduces himself and then gets closer to your date to offer him his hand.

Your date glances at his hand with his breath caught in his throat and then looks over at you with uncertainty before drawing out a deep breath and taking Dae-ho’s hand without meeting his eye.

“I am sorry for intruding,” Dae-ho doesn’t fail to be respectful as he makes himself at home right away and walks to the dining table to set his stuff down. “But I was in the neighborhood and bought some of her favorite dessert and well what friend would I be if I didn’t share?” Dae-ho says as you quickly join him while your date follows behind slowly, catching your eagerness that you failed to show him.

“However, I am sorry that I didn’t bring you any. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” your date quickly assures him as he finally reaches the table.

Dae-ho flashes him a faint smile before he reaches in the bag and pulls out a small box and napkin and hands it to you. He doesn’t finish there though, he pulls out a drink kept inside the bag and as if expecting it, you take it without so much as looking, letting your date know for certain what he needs to do.

So by morning, just as Dae-ho wanted, your date cut all communication with you with a blunt text.

——

2nd attempt-

Failing is hardly something you did. Sure you do fail from time to time, you are only human, but it’s not something you let slide often, but today…today was one of those days. You failed horribly.

“You’re his best friend, you know him more than anyone could so tell me honestly what he's like,” Dae-ho’s date tries to interrogate you out of genuine curiosity. With no ill intent. You recognize that with the way she carries herself, the way she acts, and the way she looks at him with genuine interest and affection. Maybe that’s what makes you fail or maybe it’s what she says next

”I really like him,” she says. “I just want to know if I'm wasting my time and getting my hopes up to later get them crushed.”

Your stomach twists and irritation rushes through your veins. You don’t even take time to question yourself if you want to shatter her feelings and stomp on her illusions, that irritation takes over before you know it.

“He may be my friend but,” you pause and take a step closer to her. “I have to be honest because no one else will,” you speak with a honey-laced voice. “He’s not particularly loyal. It may seem like that now but in a couple weeks he will be texting other girls. It happened last time.”

The girl’s lashes bat as she deals with the disappoint you just hit her with and steps away as she ducks her head.

“If only I warned you before you came,” you say as you reach over and pat her hand. “Just don’t tell him I told you so.”

You finish with a sweet smile and stroke her hand before you walk out a bit too overzealous, but how could you not be?

You might have failed at containing your…burning feelings, but what you told Dae-ho’s date worked because by the next day she asked him out for coffee and ended things with him.

——

3rd attempt-

Maybe it’s the men you date, or maybe men in particular happen to be more jealous than women but don’t dare to admit it. Or maybe, just maybe, it was Dae-ho stepping over the line. Again.

Whether he meant to or not it didn’t matter. You were at the concert of your favorite artist and Dae-ho happened to be there too. It was on purpose, he happened to like that artist too so why would he miss it?

Now you were at two separate sides of the stadium, but when it came down to it, when you were drunk off the excitement, Dae-ho made his way to you and there was no stopping either of you now.

You both sang at the top of your lungs, jumped, and danced like no one was watching when someone was. Your boyfriend. He was next to you, but with Dae-ho there and stepping over the line, singing with you, and dancing too close for comfort, it’s like your boyfriend didn’t exist. He didn’t even feel like a third wheel because he felt invisible.

Or you just didn’t care about him when it came to Dae-ho. Maybe Dae-ho is all you need. He’s all you care about—no, he’s the one person you care about most in this world so no one else can even be at his level.

It was easy to see, and it was even more obvious that Dae-ho recuperated those feelings with the way he looked at you so affectionately and beamed at you so brightly. He laughs at the little things you say and can never keep his eyes off you; it’s like he’s making sure nothing or no one causes you any harm.

He may be charming and look like he could not harm a fly, but anyone could see how protective Dae-ho was without having to even bare his teeth.

Yet that’s not what sent your boyfriend fleeing, it was a smaller fact. A gesture that could mean nothing but can also mean the world. You shared a drink. You had finished yours so Dae-ho said you could drink from his cup, and that’s what hurt your boyfriend the most because he looked down at his own cup and it was still halfway full, making it just enough to share with you, but you didn’t even look his way. Not even to ask to buy some more, so when he could, he broke up with you, giving Dae-ho a win.

——

Last attempt-

If things were simple you would be able to accept your feelings. You would be happy with the person you think about the most. The one person you love more than life itself, but here you are, with makeup running down your cheeks in a restaurant after a man you hardly liked confessed to cheating on you.

Maybe you should’ve expected it. It’s karma after what you’ve done to sabotage Dae-ho’s relationship, but it didn’t stop it from hurting.

As to why your boyfriend told you in a restaurant of all places? You don’t know, but it made it worse; knowing all the people are staring, and listening in to the drama that unfolded before them.

Yet your embarrassment is not what sends you fleeing. You could have walked out when you were collected and no longer had makeup staining your cheeks, but you can’t handle the pain, you can’t contain the ball of emotions that keeps growing and makes your throat and eyes burn, so you swiftly grab all your belongings and storm out of the restaurant. In doing so, on your way out, you bump into none other than your best friend Dae-ho.

At first, he didn’t recognize you, but it does hit him once you’re out the door that it was you. So with a quick dismissive comment over his shoulder to his date, he runs after you.

Dae-ho calls out to you as you storm away with your arms wrapped around your body to keep as much warmth as possible on this winter night, but you don’t stop, so without so much as thinking about his date, he runs after you to catch up. Once he’s close enough he grabs your shoulder before you can take another step and turns you around.

When you look him in the eye and realize it’s not your boyfriend but Dae-ho, you break down into a sob. “Dae-ho,” you mewl.

Said man looks at you like he’s been wounded and grabs your shoulders. “What’s wrong? What happened?” He quickly bombards you with questions.

You sniffle and part your lips. “My boyfriend, he—he.” You can’t even finish what you’re going to say because of how choked up you get, and he doesn’t wait or pester you to finish. He immediately wraps his arms around you and hugs you against him, basking you in his warmth and comfort.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he tries to soothe you as he rubs your back. “You’re going to be okay.”

You let out another shaky sob and grip onto him so he wouldn’t let go. Neither of you proceed to utter a thing, you stand under the falling snow and let the bitterness nip at any exposed skin it can reach.

It’s only once your shoulders stop shaking and Dae-ho’s date is long gone after being forgotten, that you pull away, but he doesn’t let you stray far, he cups your jaw and holds your gaze with tenderness.

“He cheated on me,” you whisper hoarsely, making him sigh with pity.

“I’m sorry,” he says as he strokes your cheeks with the tip of his cold fingers. “He’s an asshole.”

You nod gently and sniffle again. “I don’t even know why I dated him. I didn’t even like him, but I thought maybe…just maybe it would help.”

Dae-ho blinks with confusion and he quickly he follows up on your question. “Help what?”

You avert your gaze and sniffle. Your pause lasts for a moment. It’s only when his hand falls on your shoulder and the other falls at his side that you speak up.

“Forget my feelings for you.”

A cloud of Dae-ho’s breath forms in the space past his lips as he can’t help but gasp.

“I went into that relationship knowing what I felt, but I also know that you don’t feel the same and I can’t possibly live with that so I had to forget, but he…” you trail off and slowly lift your gaze, meeting his bewildered eyes.

“Who,” he stammers and you lose all contact with him as he pulls his hand off your shoulder. “Why…why would you think I don’t have the same feeling you do? I love you,” he admits, stealing your breath and making you feel as if you’re out of this world.

“All this time,” he adds as he watches you work through your disbelief. “I was just…scared that it would ruin us. If I had known—all those dates I’ve been on…” he trails off and grabs your shoulders so you can look him in the eyes as he then continues firmly. “…If it’s true that you feel what I do, tell me and I will stop wasting my time with nobodies.”

You blink in disbelief and your lips part because of the same feelings.

It’s hard to process the fact that he shares the same love you have for him, but that fear of letting him know no longer exists. You’re just hesitant because you’re still caught in disbelief.

“I…I do,” you confess slowly, making him beam at you before he presses his forehead against yours.

“I was going to kiss you, but I think it would be wrong considering…” he doesn’t finish saying but you know he’s referring to your situation.

“Hm,” you hum and grab his face this time to press a light kiss on his lips. “For warmth.” You giggle.

He can’t stop smiling. His smile brightens as he keeps you close with the intention to not let you stray from him anymore.

[swordsmithofgondolin]

Ok so I don't usually get involved in fandom discourse or anything like that but the amount of racism and appropriation in the MDZS fandom has pushed me to my limit, so I'm doing this. This is for fans of both The Untamed and Mó Dào Zǔ Shī.

AUs are cool! I write AUs! Fanfiction is a labour of love and people should write whatever they want, but we have to be respectful of the culture that what ever we are writing fanfiction came from. But people write the most absolutely insane stuff. Historically, it is incredibly frequent that other cultures will steal the parts of Chinese culture and innovations and technology, and then use it while not giving any credit to Chinese people and being racist. This happens all the time today! (It is also what happened to Wèi Wúxiàn. The Cultivation clans hated him, killed him, killed his people, but he was brilliant and they used his brilliant inventions while being absolutely awful to him). If you want to write a Selkie AU, use characters from an Irish story or write Song of the Sea fanfiction. Or use similar stories from the Chinese mythological canon. There are so many Chinese myths about doomed love and animal transformation! Don't even get me started on the angel and demon christian bullshit AUs. I know that a lot of translations of MDZS use the word "demon" to translate either mó or yāo creatures, but they are vastly different from christian demons. This also gets into the other bizarre things that people write with Wàngxiàn's relationship. So many people in this fandom only like it because they want to write dubious consent stuff so they take these incredibly well-written characters with a very loving and trusting relationship and just write...the most out-of-character stuff to appeal to their own sexual fantasies. This ties into appropriation, using these Chinese characters with no regard for their culture or even for who they are as people! This is something that has happened to Chinese culture for centuries, and it is most definately a form of racism! Also, I cannot stress enough how much sex is not the only thing in Wàngxiàn's relationship. Their relationship is mostly about love, trust, shared interests, safety, and sex is just a small part of it. Also, kinks don't define people. Wàngxiàn feel so safe together and trust eachother so much that they are able to share their weird kinks with eachother, but their kinks aren't them. I have a lot more to say about this and the Incense Burner chapter, but that's not what this post is about. I will note something about characterisation, though - Wèi Wúxiàn is not the feminine twink that we make him. He's scary, he's powerful, he fucking killed someone by making her swallow a chairleg. He's terrifying. And his "feminine" qualities actually read a lot more like characters such as Né Zhā or Sūn Wùkōng from Chinese mythology. Also just the concept of "feminine" or "masculine" qualities is sexist and transphobic and terrible. I love gnc Wèi Wúxiàn and I often draw/write him wearing skirts and stuff, but that clothing isn't feminine and I have a lot more to say about this but there isn't time! He's a complicated and very interesting character, not just some western character type that you find on a chart in a middle school English class. Don't even get me started on the characterisation of L��n Wàngjī... Also, I've seen people writing meta about MDZS with Japanese culture and terms. East Asia is not a monolith! Japan has stolen so much Chinese culture and treat Chinese people awfully! Just watch anime to see the racism, and do reaserch about WW2 to learn about the awful things that they did to China and China's ecology and environment and China's people! But most importantly, MDZS is Chinese! Don't write meta about it as if it's Japanese!

The thing that pushed me over the edge to writing this is how so many fanfic writers just take the MDZS characters and put them into settings of mythologies from other cultures, or modern AUs, because they just...don't want to do research about Chinese culture and mythology or don't care enough to do so. This is racist! Y'all need to just take a minute to read the Dào Dé Jīng or Zhuāngzǐ or Wǔjīng or something!

The most prominent way that this misunderstanding of Chinese culture, particularly Dàoism, presents, is how people write/talk about Wèi Wúxiàn's ghost path. An important part of 道 is that there are many, many different ways to define it. Many different paths one can walk. There's also the earlier definition of 道 as a path, a course of discipline and cultivation and study, and the later definition of 道 as something ironic to the original meaning, the opposite of a defined course. The important part is that there are many different cultivation paths, many different 道. We need to read or watch more xiānxiá, rather than just MDZS! The point here is that Wèi Wúxiàn's ghost path is just another form of cultivation, another 道. A brilliant one, too! It is a very effective and kind and empathetic way to deal with all of the jiāngshī/stiff corpses. And his ghost path does not harm his body. I am so tired of it being something that harms him or that needs to be cleansed or something. If you want Wèi Wúxiàn to have health stuff, give him a disability! You can even use my disability headcanons if you want! I headcanon that Wèi Wúxiàn has Reynaud's, POTS, and EDS, and Lán Wàngjī has POTS, Scoliosis, and Lupus. If you have questions about writing these disabilities, you can mention me in a post or something to ask about Reynaud's, POTS, and EDS (I have these, so I can answer questions about them). For other disabilities, just tag them. There will definately be someone in the disabled community here who will be happy to answer questions.

This fandom is so clogged by racism that Chinese people and members of Chinese diaspora are being pushed out of the fandom because we are drowning out their voices and silencing them. Listen! Listen to Chinese people and members of Chinese diaspora! We have robbed them of a fandom that belongs to them and their culture!

Links to some Dàoist texts (there are a lot more that you should totally read and I don't even know if these are good translations or anything but I'm tired right now and my fingers are not happy that i am typing so much because EDS is like that so I'm only going to put these two but I might add more later) -

[annadiplosis]

A few months ago I posted a couple photos of my index cards, saying I still didn’t know how and where I’d keep them, and I’ve since developed an Archiving System that combines the cards with a digital spreadsheet and has taken more hours than I will ever admit.

So, since I don’t have a “notebook system” to speak of, I'd like to share the way I archive my journals / sketchbooks / whatever you wanna call them, because I’m very proud of it, and who knows, someone might find it helpful :)

WHY I NEED AN ARCHIVING SYSTEM

The reason I don’t have a notebook system is because I use my books for absolutely everything, from sketches to grocery lists and journaling. It is crucial to me to not have any restrictions or expectations when it comes to my books, and that’s how I’ve managed to fill 43 of them over the years.

But of course, when you’ve been using notebooks without a system for most of your life and you want to read a specific entry, you can easily spend a full hour flipping through a sea of paper until you stumble upon those notes on the Bubonic Plague you took in 2011 or whatever you were trying to find.

SO HERE’S WHAT I DO

When I finish a notebook, I try to determine what its most important contents are: stuff I might want to reference in the future (project ideas, meeting notes) or is very characteristic of a period in my life (friends' drawings, travel logs). Every single page contributes to making the notebook what it is and gives it a unique personality, but not all of them are gonna be keepers, and that's fine (I'd even say fundamental, at least in my case).

These are the extremely generic categories I sort my Chosen Entries into. It's similar to the dot system so many people use, just applied retroactively:

🟣 Study notes 🔵 Work 🟢 Personal 🟡 Projects 🔴 Misc

And here's where the real archiving begins. This info goes into:

1. THE INDEX CARDS

(I always write them in Catalan; this one's a mockup and most of these are not real entries)

A little piece of cardboard with the notebook number, its start and end dates, and most important contents. I keep each index card inside its corresponding notebook, either in its own backpocket or an adhesive one I stick there myself.

This way, whenever I want to take a quick look through the book, I get a general idea of its contents at first glance. Sometimes, just holding it in my hand and reading the index card brings me back to the time when I was keeping it, and that time-travel feeling gives me a rush like no other. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm crazy about my notebooks.

2. THE SPREADSHEET

Same as before, just a couple more pieces of info (number of months, physical description) added to a file with the rest of my notebooks' data. Again, these are not real entries for privacy and language reasons, but they're very similar to the kind of stuff I do keep. The spreadsheet helps me find specific entries with a simple ctrl+f, and it's also a bird's-eye view of my progress through the years as a notebook keeper. I can see when my interests shift, how long some of my most important projects took to come to fruition, and even similar types of entries that repeat every few years which I wasn't even aware of before putting it all together. Absolutely fascinating stuff.

I hope this was useful, or interesting at the very least! If you’re a notebook keeper trying to find their own archiving system, my main advice would be to start early so you don’t have to deal with almost two decades of material like I did :’)

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Good luck 🖤

[cosmerelists]

Randomly Assembled Cosmere Roommates: How Will They Fare?

[Note: This post contains major WAT spoilers!]

@truthwatcherblog created a poll (which should still be going on, if I've gotten my dates right?) wherein you spin a picker wheel to randomly assign yourself three Stormlight roommates. With OP's permission, I'm going to use their picker wheel not to give myself roommates, but to create trios of Stormlight characters who now must room together. Let's see how it goes!

[I faithfully adhered to the picker wheel except for skipping repeats. Lin Davar came up THREE times!]

1. Lopen, the Nightwatcher, Cord

The Nightwatcher would stay holed up in her room all day, leaving mostly just Lopen & Cord, who did travel together during Dawnshard...a story in which we learned that Lopen has a huge crush on Cord. Hopefully they'd sort that out pretty quick so that it doesn't turn into a Wayne/Ranette situation. 

Cord: And this is my girlfriend, Rysn. Lopen: Well okay, but I'm not gonna stop trying to impress you with my jokes and manly ways! Cord: ...To try to win me over? Lopen: No, I mostly just like making people laugh and and I like being complimented. For my manly ways. Cord: I can live with that. Nightwatcher: [Through the closed door and the ten million blankets that she shrouds herself in] Can someone please bring me ice cream? 

2. Moash, Lin Davar [Shallan's dad], Syl

[sing-song voice] Someone is getting muuuurdered!

Lin: Are you stupid as well as blind, dark-eyes? I SAID to pour me wine! Moash: [already drawing his sword] Syl: In this house, we stan some extrajudicial killings. 

3. Lezian, Masha-daughter-Shaliv [Szeth's wife], Maya

This household is never at peace.

Lezian: I CAN'T do the dishes, I'm busy STALKING and KILLING people! Maya: [arms folded] A good soldier doesn't shy away from unglamorous work. Maya: You can be a "killing slut" later. Lezian: STOP CALLING ME THAT Masha (busy writing): Hey guys, what's a synonym for "bald"?

4. Skar, Rock, Kmakl [Queen Fen's husband]

It all works out great once they set some boundaries.

Skar: No more sex with your wife in the living room without warning us first. Kmarkl: Fiiiiine. Skar: We all love your stew, Rock, but sometimes other people want to use the big pot, too. Rock: Fair enough, fair enough! Rock: And you, Skar, need to stop throwing our stuff out the window just because we leave them lying around! Kmarkl: I couldn't find my lucky socks for two weeks! Skar: ... Skar: Wow, living together really is about compromise. 

5. Roshone, Huio, Taravangian

Mostly, I feel sorry for Huio.

Roshone: Can't believe my wife kicked me out. Can't belive I have to have roommates. Taravangian: Nobody go into the basement, okay? I'm using it to store my...stuff. Roshone: Why does your "stuff" require so much sound-proofing, anyway? Taravangian: It's, uh, a playroom for my...noisy grandchildren? Roshone: Sure, that feels right. Huio: [in the kitchen making soup] Huio: (muttering to himself in Herdazian): I'm NEVER telling them I can understand Alethi. 

6. Szeth, Rlain, Drehy

This is going to be SO good for Szeth's mental health! Drehy's gonna be working overtime helping both of his roommates, though.

Rlain: So, uh... Drehy: Yes, you may ask me all of your "gay" questions. Rlain: I really appreciate that! Szeth: Kaladin says that I must "ask other people" if I have a thought that "does not quite seem right." Szeth: I pose this to you both: if you burn a dinner you were really looking forward to, is death the answer? Rlain: No! Drehy: I'll order pizza.

7. Gezamal [Yanagawn's guard], Ishnah [Lightweaver], Testament [dead-eyed cryptic]

Testament is really the glue that holds this household together.

Gezamal: Ishnah, let's have dinner together tonight and talk. Ishnah: What, why? Gezamal: Testament and I share a bond since she is a dead-eye and I am Unoathed. Testament: [gives thumbs-up] Gezamal: You and Testament share a bond because you are a Ligthweaver and she is a Cryptic. Testament: [gives thumbs-up] Gezamal: For household solidarity, you and I should now figure out what we have in common. Ishnah: ...What's that big book you have? Gezamal: I pre-drafted a list of things we might have in common. Gezamal: For example, as a member of the Unseen Court, were you ever punished with lavatory duty? That happened to me once. Ishnah: Oh, this conversation is gonna be rough.

8. Elid [Szeth's sister], Kalak [herald], Wyndle

Kalak, scared as he is of humans, much prefers one of his two roommates...

Wyndle: Oh, I'm so glad you like this! "How It's Made" is one of my FAVORITE shows, but the  mistress says it's "boring." Kalak: It's great! I've never felt so calm! Elid: Yo, what are we watching? Kalak: Eep! Elid: ... Elid: The Almighty Herald is hiding behind a cushion again, huh? Wyndle: I-I'm sure he doesn't mean to offend you!

9. Wit, Aladar [highprince], Renarin

It's like Christmas came early for Wit--he likes to make fun of both of them!

Wit: [eyes glinting] Aladar: W-We should make an alliance now, Renarin! Aladar: Together we can stand up even to this man! Renarin: Oh,  uh... Renarin: I actually already made an alliance with Wit this morning, when he asked. Aladar: NOOOOO

10. Abidi the Monarch, the Thrill, Tanavast

Okay, I'm sure your mind went immediately to "sheer destruction," but what if...?

Tanavast: Abidi! It's YOUR turn to walk the Thrill! The Thrill: [bouncing excitedly at the word "walk"] Abidi: Not now, you fool! There are people being wrong on the internet, and I must bathe in their blood! [sitcom laugh track] Abidi: And I keep telling you to call me Abidi the Monarch! Tanavast (muttering): More like Abidi the Moron. The Thrill: Arf! Arft! [sitcom laugh track] [Theme song starts playing, revealing the sitcom title: 3 Old Gods]

[writingquestionsanswered]

I’ve been frequently discouraged from drawing this past year and a half because of AI. But I always thought there’s no way AI could ever copy a specific story I want to write. Right? However, knowing that literally anybody can generate any story they want now makes me wonder if the stuff I create is even worth creating out of fear that no one will read it, since they would rather read stuff AI makes. I’d like to think most people in the world would rather read real human made stories, but I don’t know the full statistics and I’m not sure how to think of it anymore. How do you overcome thoughts like this?

Discouraged by AI Stories

First, AI has a long, long way to go before it's capable of recreating the human emotion that goes into art, including story.

Second, even among other human storytellers, you can give the same writing prompt and specifics to ten different writers and get ten completely different stories. Why? Because we all bring our own personalities, knowledge, experiences, preferences, and imaginations to the story. We've all filled our creative wells in different ways. So, no one else can tell the stories you have to tell... and certainly no AI generator can.

I believe that the majority of readers will continue to seek out human written stories, especially when it comes to character and plot-driven stories.

I hope that reassures you!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[plat3uau]

I honestly do not know where to begin or how to even write a decent looking introduction, so allow me to just drop this and leave…🤣😭

Okay, but jokes aside, since I’ve been getting really into visual storytelling lately, I just thought “Huh, why not test it out with Jingluo, and capture their dynamic while trying to add a fairytale-like elements to it?”

Also, I genuinely want to become even more expressive through my art, overall… and I guess it’s also an excuse to draw even more stuff related to the two (shhhh, and excuse me for the repetition.😫😫)

Notes on the title (that I think might be needed): I know the matter of language isn’t relevant to the game’s plot at all, but for some reason I’ve developed the headcanon that Luocha is good at picking up languages, as he travels a lot. (I see him just… being very quick at adapting and blending in with the locals’ way of doing things, in that kind of sense. <3)

We don’t really know much about him as for now (still waiting for that lore drop, though!!), but judging from his appearance and aesthetics (so please take this with a grain of salt), he looks like (at least to me) a character from a place based off Europe or the West… So because of that, I had the view that Luocha might have had a harder time actually writing down/learning by heart the Chinese characters (or at least the writing system there) commonly used by the people in the Luofu, when he first set foot there (I mean, I thought of that as it’s a region very much inspired by Chinese culture), since most European languages use the Latin script as for their writing system.

So hopefully this explains why there are two inscriptions: the one on the left side of the canvas is actually written by Luocha, and the other one being the translated version of the title!🥰

(P.S. I tried to translate the title in Chinese to make the Luocha’s writing seem… how to say, more believable? More real? Anyways, I ended up with “我在你身边”, which translates into “I will stand beside you”, so not super faithful to the original title, but I believed that the essence of the general meaning of the original one was still there, so I decided to go along with it.

I’m no native speaker here nor a translator, just a person who studied some Mandarin for a while. T - T❤️)

(P.S.S. I’ll try to keep you updated! My creative process is usually quite slow, so I was thinking that maybe I could share some of the wips with you all. Or you know, just to document some of my thoughts, that kind of stuff. ^_^

Alright!!! I wrote too much, and honestly, BLESS your heart for reading through my stream of consciousness, lmao. But I genuinely appreciate it, I really REALLY mean this.🥺❤️

Thank you so much for taking your time to do so. To whoever reached this point. <3)