#writing strategies

[tahbhie]

How many drafts should you go through before deciding your novel is ready?

There's no specific (official) number, but to create a foundation that ensures you don't burn out quickly, overwork yourself, and get tired of your work, I'll say four. It's the same number I use for my students since most of them have other engagements outside writing that take up a copious amount of their time.

1. Initial or Zero Draft:

This draft is also called the 'just write' draft. Focus on putting that idea down. As the creative juices flow, let it all out. Don't worry about perfection or coherence; the goal is to capture your raw ideas and get the story out of your head and onto the page.

2. Second Draft:

This is the plot draft. Read through what you have written to see if every detail you added was meant to be. Here, you focus on the structure of your story. Ensure that the plot makes sense, the pacing is right, and there are no major plot holes. This is where you might add, remove, or rearrange scenes to improve the overall flow of the narrative.

3. Third Draft:

Character development draft. In this stage, you look deeper into your characters. Make sure their motivations, backgrounds, and arcs are well-defined and consistent. Flesh out their personalities and relationships, ensuring they are compelling and believable. This is also a good time to refine dialogue and make sure it sounds natural and true to each character. That's for this drafting stage.

4. Fourth Draft:

Grammar and punctuation draft. This is the polishing stage. Focus on correcting grammatical errors, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. Pay attention to sentence structure, word choice, and overall readability. This draft is about making your manuscript as clean and professional as possible.

Keep in mind that the goal is to define what completion means for each draft. Once you reach the goal, take a break and return to it for the next drafting stage.

Some writers pay people to carry out some of the drafting stages for them, so if you fall into that category, you might have fewer drafting stages to handle yourself!

Reblog to save for later 😉

Thank you all for the support 💜!

[ajmonarch]

I just saw a post titled:

How many drafts should you go through before deciding your novel is ready?

And it basically said: 'There's no official number, but to create a foundation that ensures you don't burn out quickly, overwork yourself, and get tired of your work, I'll say four. That's the number I use for my students as they have other engagements outside writing that take up a lot of time.'

😅 Right... firstly, I hold no malice to this post. Secondly, I recognise they said there is no official amount. Thirdly, their comment section said replies were deleted and restricted, so I didn't comment, repost or tag them since I'm assuming they don't want direct discussion.

Finally... I want to hold the writing community's hand when I say this cause some of you need to hear it:

Your book is done when you decide it is done.

You could do 2 drafts or 100 and you'd still find things to change. Burnout is NOT measured by the amount of drafts you do, and you can get tired of YOUR story before you finish draft number one if your heart isn't in it.

Burnout wise... Guys, from an (ex) psychologist and wellbeing consultant here. Literally someone could look at you funny tomorrow and you burn out. It's an accumulation of stress and pressure that causes physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. 1 draft on top of other stressers could burn you out. The number of drafts doesn't directly correlate to burn out.

You are building a world, creating from YOUR mind. Build your process to suit YOU.

One agent may support your book as it is, another won't. One reader may love it as is, another won't—it doesn't matter. What matters is your experience with YOUR story and YOUR process. Literally, your beta readers and/or editor will still find typos after you've scanned it 50 times—your brain will blank them out. It's natural.

You're trying to squeeze your personal process into a one size fits all. Lovely, no one else is YOU or can create exactly like YOU.

Okay, so I'm here ranting, but what about me, right? How do I know this? Why should you even consider what I'm saying?

Me & my process:

I wrote my first book. It's a dark fantasy epic with 170k words for the 1st draft.

~ Finished writing it 2 months—I wasn't rushing, I'm just in love with my story (seriously, I'm smiling just thinking about it).

~ Got my beta reader feedback and polished it.

~ Submitted my 2nd draft to agents.

I didn't limit myself to 'my first draft should be unreadable or bad'—I wrote the way that felt right to me. I didn't focus on the amount of drafts I should have. Believe me, I tried at the very start to plan it all out based on what other people were doing, but it stressed me out.

Being a psychologist, conducting research and consulting 100s has taught me many things. One is: individual differences. We can't plaster our research results on everyone because everyone has differences in processing, feeling, learning, creating.

Anyway, in the end, I loved every single step of the process without following someone else's plan. Let me say that again:

I loved every... single... step of writing & refining my book. I'm in love with writing.

I have the next 4 outlined already as proof, even took a break from this story to outline a new 4 book series. Why? Because I wasn't concerned about if I was doing it right by someone else's standards. I'm having fun! And you can too!!

We need to stop limiting ourselves and our process based on outside guidance and external validation. And we wonder why we get stuck or creative block?!

So basically in one line:

Follow what feels right to you, YOU have the POWER.

And one more shake for good measure:

Stop making yourself suffer like your characters. You're creating a new world, leave the rules of this one behind 😊

End of rant, lovelies. Run free and create 🧡✨️ Have faith in yourselves

[crow-with-a-typewriter]

I just had , the strangest writing idea I’ve had in awhile but it just might work? I have a really hard time getting myself to write any of my wips, but I’m able to do online rps really really easily.

What if I just, made a server, and wrote it in Discord

No one’s gonna stop me

I can just ctrl C, ctrl Z it into google docs to edit it.

I could put all my notes in there too …

It’d be real easy …

[thisisgraeme]

Mastering Free Writing: Unlock Your Writing Potential and Improve Skills

Introduction to Free Writing as a Tool for Enhanced Writing Skills Imagine your writing ability as a form of fitness, where free writing is like to a gym session tailored to strengthen and develop the essential muscles for enhanced writing prowess. In the realm of building muscle and achieving peak fitness levels, we apply a twist—it’s all about honing the skills and stamina needed for superior…

[ancientroyalblood]

Plot Twists and Turns: Keeping Readers Guessing

The allure of a gripping narrative often lies in its ability to surprise and captivate readers through unexpected twists and turns. Delving into the art of crafting these surprises, this exploration uncovers the techniques and strategies that authors employ to keep readers on the edge of their seats. Understanding the Essence of Plot Twists: Begin by dissecting the anatomy of plot twists.…

[captainadwen]

Damian Wayne vs the World

Sixteen year old Damian Wayne is on the hunt for a younger sibling. Being more discerning than Bruce 'child collector' Wayne, Damian's firm criteria for Batman's latest adoption problem includes but is not limited to: black haired, blue-eyed, tolerable humor, not evil, and most importantly - younger than Damian.

Lucky for him, fourteen year old newbie vigilante Danny Fenton is the perfect fit. Now, to fulfill his end of their deal, Damian must defeat the evil government organization hunting Danny in order to gain a baby brother.

Or, @livinghalfway your post made my brain go !! but in such a different way I figured it was better to make a separate post, hope you don't mind/enjoy still

~~

Damian Wayne re-entered Tim Drake's life like a gnat revealing itself in a closed bedroom space. Tim was in t-shirt and a boxers, maneuvering ramen into his mouth with one hand and scribbling out an epiphany on a murder case with another, when Damian's demonic dulcet voice echoed down from the ceiling. "Drake," said Damian, judgemental, "You live like this?"

Tim nearly choked on his ramen, because the day Damian doesn't attempt to murder him - however doubtfully accidental this incident might be - is the day Darkseid decides to be friends with the Justice League. "Fucking knock," Tim coughed out. "And get out. No one invited you in."

"Put better traps if you don't want me here," said Damian, dropping from the ceiling where he'd crawled in on wall-clamps.

"This is my apartment," said Tim. "It's called courtesy."

Damian sniffed. He padded around to Tim's desk and frowns at his cases, then said, with no further lead up, "I need your assistance."

"No," said Tim.

"You did not even listen to my request."

"Don't need to," said Tim. "Answer's still no. Door is that way. Bye."

"Father says mutually assisting each other is beneficial," said Damian.

"Father," said Tim sarcastically, "blamed me for you exploding a glitter bomb in the batcave two weeks ago."

"That is your fault for not being able to provide evidence to the contrary in an appropriately efficient manner," said Damian. He squinted down at Tim. "And he apologized. Eventually."

"I would not have glittered the batcomputer," said Tim. "Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it is to backup those servers? No, because you don't like tech work, you just profit off it."

"Blaming me for Father's mistake," said Damian, "Most mature of you. But we must put our differences aside. I have selected a new family member and I need you to dismantle a government organization."

That drew Tim up short. He blinked down at his ramen as though it might explain Damian's words to him, but the ramen remained disappointingly uninformative. "Repeat that," said Tim, gesturing with his chopsticks. "Slower, and with more detail."

Damian pulled out his phone and sent him an email. Silence surrounded them in the brief moment it took Tim to set aside his chopsticks and open the email. The subject line was titled 'New Baby Brother', which birthed all sorts of horrifying nightmares of Damian Part 2: Demon Child Boogaloo. The teen in the inserted picture, however, was reassuringly not in possession of Damian's bone structure.

He did have black hair and blue eyes. "Who am I looking at?" asked Tim.

"Daniel Fenton," said Damian. "He is fourteen years old, enjoys puns, and has recently awakened 'ghost powers' that allow him to transform into the vigilante Phantom to fight other ghosts."

"Is he also an orphan with a tragic backstory?"

"No," said Damian, and Tim relaxed. "But that will not be an issue. We can share custody if they cannot be removed from the picture."

"Jesus H, kid."

"I am joking, of course," said Damian blandly. "Murder is wrong."

"Ha ha," said Tim. "If he has parents already he's not joining our menagerie."

"He will," said Damian, with a smug upwards tilt of his lips. "He and I have a deal."

"So you're coercing him in addition to stalking him. Anything else you want to share with the class?"

Damian considered this query with a serious frown, which was how Tim knew this was not a flight of fancy or a very early midlife crisis (although with their lifestyle and Damian already having died before...).

"He has," said Damian after a moment, "a rogue that calls himself 'The Master of all Technology' and is a technopath." This was clearly meant to be of interest to Tim, and not to be a stereotype, but it kind of was.

"Great." Tim turned his attention back to the email the demon child sent him. He scanned through it quickly. There was apparently a secret and evil government organization dedicated to the investigation and extermination of 'ghosts' and other paranormal creatures in the world. Their latest efforts were focused on the town of Amity Park, Illinois, which was 'infested with ectoplasmic pests'. Their words, not Damian's. (It was specified in the email.)

"Okay," Tim drummed his fingers against his desk. "Before I help you defeat this secret evil government organization so that," he opened the email attachment with a contract on it and squinted at the legalese, "this poor newbie teen you've harassed into signing this joins the family in exchange."

"I did not harass him," Damian huffed. "It was a gentleman's agreement."

"Does he know that?"

"I am not a politician, Drake. I thoroughly explained the terms and legalities before presenting any contract. Now ask your question."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because," said Damian, tone implying 'you are stupid and haven't noticed something obvious, idiot'. "Father has begun saying he misses the noise around the manor and looking wistfully at old pictures."

"We still live there though?" said Tim. Damian looked flatly at him. "Sometimes."

"If you lived there frequently enough," said Damian, "you would already know Father is having...empty nest syndrome." Damian sounded disgusted. "I refuse to tolerate whatever inadequate and incompetent child he will find."

"So instead you found an incompetent and inadequate child for him?"

"Don't be stupid, Drake," said Damian. "I would not have chosen someone inadequate. Daniel is merely lacking formal training. Father can rectify this. It will keep him occupied for at least the next two to four years, which gives me enough time to find another black-haired, blue-eyed, tolerable child I approve of to be his successor and my second younger sibling." Damian paused. "Or until one of you procreates and gives him a grandchild."

"You're really serious about this," Tim whispered in horrified awe.

"I am serious about everything I do," said Damian. "Now, you will help me defeat this evil government organization so that our new sibling joins us."

"Okay," said Tim, but his mind snagged on a minor, throwaway detail, so utterly in odds with Damian 'Demonic Jealous Child' Al Ghul it surely came from another person - "Did you just call this kid your successor?"

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

will this be the last chance to get a new signed JG book since you fucked up your arm signing them all?

(love your work btw I’m trying to get a copy of everything is TB as I type)

Probably.

I mostly fucked up my shoulder, not my arm, but there is some long-term damage there that seems to have resulted directly from my signing my name 700,000 times in the last twelve years.

I'm very grateful for the chance to have signed so many books, but at some point you have to realize that you will never recover your youth and will in fact continue to degenerate until you are no longer able to maintain homeostasis.

Worse still, you become a nostalgia act, wiling away your days on an undead social media platform answering questions written by a five-headed dragon.

But even if you can't sign books, you can still write them, so that's a bit of a consolation.

[goblinhoursinsomniaramblings]

dc x dp prompt: Jack Fenton is a long lost Wayne... sorta

Bruce hears rumors of a cousin he hasn't seen in decades, Jackson Wayne. Except he's changed his name, started some sort of ghost-hunting scam, and is hitting all the items on Bruce's checklist for 'obvious theme supervillain.' Clearly, this needs investigation.

Meanwhile, Jack Fenton mainly remembers high society being boring and stifling, picking his mom during a messy divorce that had them leaving Gotham city altogether, and going all in on ectoscience, which resulted in the few members of his gotham family that still spoke to him cutting him out completely. He has absolutely no idea Martha and Thomas Wayne, the famous murdered philanthropist Waynes, were 'Aunt Mar-Mar' and 'Uncle Tommy', and is totally oblivious to lil' Brucie up and disappearing for a few years. So when Brucie calls and wants to reconnect, well, that sounds like a fine idea! Bring the kids! Sure, all of them! Yes, ALL of them.

Bruce was not expecting this. The trip ends up extremely surreal as a result.

[petiteredthinker]

Therapeutic writing; can it be a daily habit?

It may seem really trivial, but using writing as a daily practice can really be a panacea for mental and emotional health; in moments of confusion, pain, difficulty, but also when we need to be with ourselves and get to know ourselves better, therapeutic writing becomes a powerful ally with which to become familiar. A very practical and simple piece of advice that I can give you is to get into…

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Miraculous vs The Power of Love

I've written several posts where I talked about Miraculous' poor use of the power of love trope and how that massively turned me off to canon. Three strikes and you're out! When this topic comes up I usually bring up Adrien and only Adrien. This has led to some anger at the fact that I didn't mention love failing anyone else as it absolutely has. I've also seen some anger over my desire for Adrien to defeat Gabriel's control and win the day since Adrien is a victim and that means that it's perfectly fine if he fails to beat his father's control no matter what the consequences of that failure are. After all, the failure isn't really on Adrien. It's on Gabriel. A sentiment I understand, but don't agree with since this is a writing blog. I'm discussing the message the writing is sending not which character gets the in-universe blame.

I'm not going to change how I discuss this topic since it is my honest opinion, but I can explain that opinion in depth to hopefully save us all from miscommunication! That's why I'm making this post! It addresses all of the above. I'll be linking to this whenever the topic comes up so that I can include some nuance without having to go into all of the detail I'm about to go into because - as you'll see - this is a long one which is why I don't go into this depth in other posts. It would just totally derail them. I'm also not going to go into the deconstruction aspect of things here because this is already really long, but I do have a post on that for even more nuance!

If you disagree with any of this, that's totally fine! I just ask that you keep the your counter arguments civil. Remember, we're talking about a badly written kids show that none of us have the power to change and the magical power of love isn't real so it doesn't actually matter if I'm right about this. Nor is Adrien going to thank you for coming to his aid. He doesn't exist and, as always, my issue is not him as a person. My issue is the way the narrative uses him as a storytelling tool.

What Is the Power of Love?

The power of love is a trope where either platonic or romantic love saves the hero from some type of conflict or upsetting situation. It's a rather broad trope that can be used in conflicts of any size, but even TV tropes acknowledges that it's primarily "applied in dire situations to make things better. In fact, in many Disney movies it's the solution to everything." That definition is how I approach the power of love.

To put it more bluntly, unless we're talking about a specific example, when I say "the power of love" I am thinking of a story's climax or, in the case of something like a multi-season show, one of the climaxes. More specifically, I'm thinking of the lyrics to one of my favorite cheesy pop songs:

There comes a time When you face the toughest of fights Searching for a sign Lost in the darkest of nights The wind blows so cold Standing alone Before the battle's begun But deep in your soul The future unfolds As bright as the rays of the sun You've got to believe In the power of love

If it's not the toughest of fights or the darkest of nights, then the power of love failing may disappoint me, but I don't consider it an unforgivable sin. In some cases, I'd even be disappointed if the power of love was brought in before the climax! The power of love is the ultimate cheesy move so it makes sense to save it for the last minute if using it earlier would lessen or even ruin that last minute epic save.

To show what I mean, let's talk about another trope that Miraculous has failed to use well, but that doesn't ruin the show for me. A trope that has led the show to do the exact thing we just discussed: ignore a small moment when love should have won to allow for a bigger win when all hope seems lost.

The Evil Clone Thing

[Image description: the Buzz and Woody meme with the words "Evil Clones. Evil Clones Everywhere"]

There have been an absurd number of episodes where the evil clone/evil twin trope came into play, but the three big ones are Ladybug, Optigami, and the season four final. In each of these episodes, we see a good character replaced by an identical evil version. We also see the good character's love interest fail to recognize that their crush/romantic partner has been replaced. That means that all three of these episodes see the power of romantic love failing. We also don't see a more platonic version of love show up to save the day.

The worst of these episode is the season four final where Marinette doesn't recognize that Felix has taken Adrien's place. That deception is how Gabriel steals the miraculous so it's obviously a pretty big deal and can be argued as a major fail for the power of love. I don't disagree. I think that Marinette's love should have let her see through the lies and dislike that the writers took this route to make her lose. However, I don't have this on my list of moments when the power of love needed to win for the story to work.

While Marinette failing to recognize Felix leads to her darkest hour, it does not happen in her darkest hour. Her darkest hour comes when she actually loses the miraculous which happens in a completely different scene from the one where she's deceived. It's also worth noting that Felix is not present in this moment of loss so there was no opportunity for the power of love to pull off a last minute win.

The loss of the miraculous leads to a scene where Ladybug is sitting alone in the rain, ready to give up all hope. And what happens next?

[Image description: Chat Noir standing in the rain, smiling, holding out his hand to Ladybug]

Chat Noir shows up to reignite Ladybug's will to fight via his love and support. She takes his hand, he draws her into a hug, and they stand together as one, ready to once again face their enemy:

Cat Noir: We're gonna get them back one by one…until the very last. And we'll make sure this never happens again. Ladybug: You...and me? Cat Noir: You, the best superhero there ever was... and me, your loyal partner.

A lot of people love this scene and it led to some major hype for season five which means that it's time to quote some more of that cheesy song that I brought up at the start:

Stand by my side There's nothing to hide Together we'll fight to the end Take hold of my hand And you'll understand What it truly means to be friends You've got to believe (you've got to believe) In the power of love

While I don't love the season four final, it is a B-tier execution of the thing I was talking about earlier. Canon let love fail in a small moment to increase tension and give Ladybug a "darkest night" moment. That darkest night moment then led to a semi-epic power-of-love comeback that understandably got a lot of fans super excited for season five because they assumed that it was going to be the season of Ladynoir. In other words, for a lot of fans, the power of love did its job in the season four final!

All of this is why I don't bring up Marinette when I talk about the power of love failing. It does fail her, but not in her darkest nights and toughest fights. Any time she's overwhelmed and ready to give up all hope, someone comes along to give her the will to fight on. That person is usually Chat Noir because he's her end game love interest so of course the writers use him! His "you and me against the world" moments may not be the most epic example of the power of love winning, but they are the power of love winning, so saying that the power of love fails Marinette feels like an overstatement of harm. She's never had a total loss.

The closest we get to Marinette truly losing is the season five final. That episode feels like an ultimate-level failure to many of us, on par with Ephemeral, but the writers clearly don't agree. For them, season five had a happy ending which makes critiquing that final fight tricky. I'll be arguing that Adrien lost hard in the next section, but I can't say the same for Marinette and this section is about her so let's focus on that for now.

No matter how much I hate the final, I can't look at the picture below this paragraph and argue that love failed Marinette because what did losing cost her? This isn't the season four final where she genuinely suffered. This is her getting everything she's ever wanted! The miraculous are back in her hands, she won the heart of the boy she loves, and no one is actively messing with her love life anymore. That's a pretty solid win even if she didn't win the actual fight.

[Image description: Adrien and Marinette at the end of the season five final, kissing in the spot that used to house Emilie's statue.]

This is further complicated by the fact that - as written - the season five final doesn't put Marinette in a position to use the power of love. She's never given a chance to save Adrien or even just talk to him. She doesn't know that's he's in trouble, locked up in a padded cell, suffering all alone! And Adrien's love can't rally her in her darkest moment when all hope seems lost because - for the first time ever in a season final - she never got one of those! She was a badass in the final fight! No pep talk or supportive teammates necessary! She would have had a total victory if the writers hasn't made her try to talk sense to the villain or sent her Adrien's ring just so Gabriel could make the wish, further adding to the problem of this show's absolutely vile messaging around love.

In other words, lack of love isn't why Marinette loses the final fight. She loses because the writers wanted love to empower Gabriel in his darkest moment, a move the writers have the audacity to call a mutual victory. (Gross. Abusive terrorist should not get power of love moments without a massive redemption arc first. It's yet another insult to the trope. Gabriel did not deserve peace while his son goes on to suffer.)

If you think about the episodes Ladybug and Optigami you'll notice a similar problem. The power of love failed to let Chat Noir and Alya recognize that their romantic interests had been replaced, but that failure didn't lead to their ultimate defeat. It didn't even lead the villains to a minor victory! Both episodes maintain the status quo.

This doesn't mean that I like those episodes. I would rewrite both of them to let love win because they're good examples of small moments where love can win without cheapening or ruining the season's big climax. I just don't view these episodes as times when the show needed to use the power of love if it wanted to honor its chosen genre. That requirement only applies when it's a darkest night or toughest fight.

Before we move on, please note that Ladybug was the power of Adrien's love failing, yet I never mention it when I'm complaining about the power of love failing. That's because I'm never purposefully listing every time Adrien's love failed and ignoring everyone else. I'm simply listing the moments when love needed to let the heroes win because we were in one of the show's darkest hours and that is the only time when I consider the power of love a true requirement. Love can fail in small moments to increase the tension, but if love fails at the moment when all hope seems lost, then why are we even here?

There are only three episodes that get that level of criticism from me and each one had a single character whose writing infuriated me: Adrien.

Adrien vs The Power of Love

There are three episodes where Gabriel's identity is revealed and the final fight goes down. Those episodes are Chat Blanc, Ephemeral, and the season five final. In each of these episodes, Adrien suffers on a scale that no other character has had to suffer:

In Chat Blanc he is akumatized and forced to use his cataclysm to kill both his father and the love of his life, dooming him to spend eternity alone in a dead word.

In Ephemeral he is akumatized and forced to use his powers to hand the love of his life over to his father, thereby allowing Gabriel to win and rewrite reality.

In the season five final, Adrien is left alone in a jail cell, tormented by nightmares while his father dies leaving Adrien an orphan. Adrien is then told some truly colossal lies about what actually happened, leading him to believe that Gabriel scarified himself to save Ladybug's life. Since Chat Noir's usual role in fights is protecting Ladybug, this is arguably the equivalent of Adrien being told that his failure to show up killed his father. I'm not even sure if that's the wrong message because Gabriel did die from a cataclysm and Adrien would understandably blame himself for that, too, so maybe this was a way to address that without going too dark for kids and why does that argument hold water? Wtf was this trash fire of a story line???

When you compare Adrien's treatment in these episodes to something like Marinette's treatment in season four final you can hopefully see why it feels like comparing a broken arm to a mortal blow. It's not that Marinette doesn't suffer. In terms of individual moments of suffering, Marinette beats out every other character! But while she may beat Adrien in breadth, he is the clear winner in terms of depth and the only one who never gets a true power of love moment.

Marinette's darkest nights and toughest fights ultimately work out so that she can go on to some new type of suffering, the old suffering fading away to nothing more than memory. Adrien's darkest nights and toughest fights lead to loss and suffering for which there is no cure other than rewinding time or rewriting reality. The season five final even has Adrien directly state that he's not worthy of Marinette's love:

Adrien: I'm not in my right mind. I'm too angry — at myself for falling short of Marinette's love, at my father for sending me here in London, at this stupid app and these rings that use my image... it makes me sick! This nightmare is giving me the horrible feeling that, if I transform, I'll get akumatized and destroy everything with my Cataclysm — Marinette, Ladybug... (Takes off the ring and hands it to Plagg.) Plagg: Surely Ladybug can help you. Adrien: If I ask her for help, I'd have to give her information that would jeopardize my secret identity... and I can't.

This is literally Adrien's last scene in the main story line. He doesn't show up again until the happily ever after epilogue where he and Marinette kiss. In other words, the show had Adrien directly state that he's unworthy of Marinette's love and then did nothing to counter that statement. I guess this poor unfortunate soul is just lucky that Marinette likes him enough to keep him around in spite of his many failings...

Writers, seriously, what the hell are you doing? This is the kind of dialogue that should lead into a power of love moment! How is thinking about Marinette leading Adrien to despair instead of strength? Why is Plagg just accepting this? Plagg is a magical being who was assigned to watch over Adrien. Shouldn't a character like that help Adrien rally in his darkest night? Where's Adrien's you and me against the world pep talk? That should go both ways!!! Have him break out, call Ladybug to tell her that he's not coming, only for her to rally him so he comes and at least fights outside in the city while she does her solo fight! Don't leave him alone to rot while almost every other character in the freaking show gets to fight!

It would be one thing if Adrien gave up because he was alone and scared, but Plagg is there and the writers directly bring up Marinette and love only to do nothing to show those as positive forces in Adrien's life!!! Instead, Marinette is the thing that keeps him from the fight because Adrien's nightmare is him getting akumatized and killing Marinette even though Adrien knows nothing about Chat Blanc.

[Image description: Adrien's nightmare where he's a blue haired version of Chat Blanc, holding Marinette's body in his arms having killed her with a cataclysm]

To be clear, in each of the three episodes I listed above, Adrien is undeniably a victim suffering at the hands of his main abuser. They're also some of the worst moments of abuse in the entire show. It would be perfectly reasonable for a real life person to give into despair if they were put into this situation, but real life people don't transform into magical cat boys who wield the raw power of Destruction. I was not looking for realism here. I was looking for hope and inspiration!

I wanted to see Adrien win! I wanted his love for Marinette and/or his friends to give him the strength to overpower his father's control because that's what the power of love is all about! When all hope seems lost, it's there to let the hero win because love is stronger than despair, hatred, fear, and magical remote controls! It is the bright light that blasts away the darkness in your darkest night! Unless your name is Adrien Agreste, then no love for you! Suffer, feather boy, suffer!

Example of what I wanted from canon

There are many ways to fix these three episodes so love wins, but to keep this simple let's focus on Chat Blanc and what the power of love winning might look like if we let canon play unchanged up until the moment where Adrien loses control of his powers:

Hawk Moth: Cat Blanc, I'm giving you the infinite power of destruction!! Together, you and I will seize Ladybug's Miraculous and awaken your mother!!! Obey!!! Cat Noir: (tries to fight back but fails) I'm sorry, Ladybug! (He succumbs his akumatization and transforms into Cat Blanc. Ladybug watches in horror at his transformation.) Hawk Moth: Seize her Miraculous, My Son!!! (Cat Blanc lifts his right arm to Ladybug, activating Mega Cataclysm.) Ladybug: No, Adrien! You have to resist!! (Cat Blanc whimpers as he changes his mind and points his arm to Hawk Moth.) Hawk Moth: How dare you!? Not me, Adrien!! Cat Blanc: (whimpering while looking to both of them) I... I don't know what to do!!!!!!

Instead of having the mega cataclysm go off here, we instead see this: Ladybug and Hawk Moth both realize that Chat Blanc is incapable of listening to either of them. Hawk Moth's reaction is to turn and run away, desperate to save himself. Ladybug's reaction is to run to her boyfriend's side, not caring about the danger. She wraps her arms around him, closes her eyes, and tells him that it's okay. That she's here and she loves him and she'll stay here and love him no matter what. It doesn't matter who his father is, it's still him and her against the world now and forever.

The more she talks, the weaker the mega cataclysm grows. By the time she makes her final vow, the mega cataclysm is little more than a flickering glow. A black clad hand touches both of her hair ties, disintegrating them, leaving her hair to fall free around her face since that was a thing in this episode. The minor wardrobe change makes her pull back and look at her boyfriend to see that he's back to Chat Noir, a purified akumas fluttering off in the distance. Chat Noir is crying, clearly distraught, but he's himself again because Marinette's presence allowed him to focus on her love over his father's poison. They won. Love won. Fear and abuse lost.

The couple embraces. Hawk Moth's big gambit failed and they now know his identity so the fight is almost over. Paris will soon be free.

From there you can have an epic battle with the temp holders where the butterfly and the peacock are recovered. Nino gets to punch Gabriel in the face a dozen times or so as a treat and Adrien gets to cuddle up with some treats, sitting the fight out since he's already done his part by surviving the reveal of his father's identity.

You could also have Gabriel just give up because he doesn't have any moves left and the full implications of what he did are smacking him in the face, sapping him of the will to fight. Anything that lets this asshole suffer is fine by me! Emilie's fate is up to you. I like to make her at least semi-decent and revive her to give Adrien a happier ending and Gabriel the horror of divorce papers, but that's just me.

Final Thoughts

As I said at the top, I'm going to continue to complain about the way that Adrien was written in these episodes. I don't consider his victim status a reasonable excuse for the way these episodes played out. If anything, his victim status is an even bigger black mark against the writing!

I come to family-oriented media for hope and happy endings! I want stories about victims being empowered! I want Gabriel's controlling nature to totally backfire on him and not in a mutually-assured-destruction way like we saw in Chat Blanc. I want Gabriel's choice to cost him everything and for him to suffer that loss for the rest of his life while Adrien gets endless love and support, allowing him to survive the reveal and go on to live a happy life. If that's not what you're selling, then I'm not buying thus me giving up on canon after the season five final. There's just no coming back from that kind of colossal writing failure.

I will try to remember to use the word "forced" when describing the problems (as in "forced to kill"), but that's the only thing I can change while still sharing my honest opinion since my main problem with these episodes isn't Gabriel's treatment of Adrien. While I don't like how far these episodes took Gabriel, you don't need to rewrite him to make the episodes work. It doesn't matter how far the writing takes Gabriel, he should never be able to successfully manipulate Adrien while threatening Adrien's supposed True Love.

As soon as Adrien knows that Marinette/Ladybug is in danger, it should be game over for Gabriel because love is supposed to be stronger than all of the awful things that Gabriel has done up to and including the sentimonster crap. In fact, the sentimonster crap just makes it even more important for Adrien to win! Gabriel should think he has victory in the bag because he views Adrien as a perfect doll, but love proves Gabriel wrong letting Adrien overpower his amok and win. The trope is called "love conquers all" not "love conquers the mildly inconvenient." The more dire the straits, the more important the win!

Unfortunately, that's not the message Miraculous is sending. By letting Adrien give into his father's control in the show's darkest hours, the message is that Gabriel's control is stronger than love. That Adrien will never be free. That he was Gabriel's perfect doll and you were silly if you ever expected him to be more than that. That's not a message that I'm that ever going to agree with and is yet another reason why I only bring up Adrien + these three episodes when I talk about the power of love failing.

You are never going to convince me that Adrien being allowed to give into despair was a good thing unless you pair that argument with some major changes to canon like love square not being together and/or Adrien not knowing that his actions would endanger Marinette. Even then you need to design that fix in a way that ultimately allows Adrien to win otherwise you are sending a terrible message to the audience. There should never be a scenario where the final battle ends the way canon had it end.

Gabriel is the show's big bad, Adrien is his main victim, and the theme of their relationship has been control. That means that, when it comes to the final fight with Gabriel, Adrien needs to be involved in a way that gives him agency. I'm not saying he needs to fight his father on his own or even at all! I'm okay with him sitting out the fight so long as you pair it with something big like Adrien being the one to learn Gabriel's identity or something more dramatic like my simple Chat Blanc fix.

However, Adrien sitting out only works if it's his own, freely-made choice. As soon as you pair it with something like magic nightmare dust you are once again sending the message that Gabriel's control is the strongest force in Adrien's life. I truly don't understand how anyone can embrace that message and call it good, especially when canon didn't ultimately do something positive with it like letting Adrien become stronger as time went on. He actually got weaker as the show went on!

Chat Blanc saw everyone lose because Adrien was able to at least try to fight back, denying his father total victory. Ephemeral saw none of that fighting spirit and Gabriel just outright won. Season five once again saw Gabriel win only, this time, the show didn't even let Adrien be part of the fight. What an uplifting character arc for Adrien! (That was sarcasm.) Play the episodes in reverse order and you might actually have something if you add a fourth one where he finally wins!

If you want to talk about more minor conflicts where the power of love should have won then I'm happy to do that! Canon has lots of options to pick from! But unless you specify that you want to talk about something minor, these three episodes are going to be my only examples of the power of love failing because they are the only times when love completely failed the character in question. Total loss, no silver lining, writers wtf are you doing?

Listing times when love failed Marinette or Alya in the same list as these three episodes just feels insulting to Adrien unless the context is something like a list ranking the failures from smallest to largest. I'll once again point out that I don't even list the other times when love failed Adrien because my issue isn't Adrien as a person. My issue is Adrien as a tool of the narrative and the asinine message that the Agreste arc sends to the young children this show is aimed at. I wouldn't even be okay with this in a show aimed at adults unless it was clearly marketed as a grimdark take on superheroes. Miraculous should not feel like a kiddiefied version of The Boys and yet here we are.

Why was Adrien granted magical powers and allowed to fight his controlling father for five seasons if Gabriel was just going to die without Adrien getting a decisive victory? Why focus season five on Gabriel controlling Adrien to such an extreme if Adrien was never going to be allowed to break free? Why make Adrien the main love interest and focus the entire show on romantic love if you don't have anything positive to say about romantic love? Why bother getting the love square together before every single final showdown in the freaking show if their relationship status was going to mean nothing? Where is my power of love always so strong?

(Btw, that song I kept quoting is from the original English dub soundtrack to Sailor Moon R - The Promise of the Rose. It plays as love and friendship save the planet Earth from an asteroid. The updated dub replaced the song with the original Japanese soundtrack and the comments are full of people complaining about the change because the song just takes this scene to the next level! I bring this up because Sailor Moon set many people's standards for the magical girl team show genre that Miraculous is clearly taking inspiration from, but failing to fully embrace. If you don't want love and friendship to be on par with nuclear weapons and asteroid attacks, then don't write a show about love and magic aimed at kids.)

[tahbhie]

Reasons Why 80% of Romantic Plots Fall Through.

Haven't you wondered why a romantic story you have so much hope for suddenly flops? Whether it's yours or not, let's see what could be the problem.

• Relying Too Much on the Outcome

Unfortunately, no romance is complete without an arc. In other words, it is more than just the intimacy. When writers don't allow the relationship to develop naturally, it feels forced. Rushing to the final romance without building a solid foundation will make the story feel shallow and unconvincing. Take your time, flesh out the idea, and follow the plot gradually.

• Creating Unnecessary Victimization

I often see writers make the mistake of portraying one character as too weak or pitiful only for the sake of it. This unnecessary victimization can undermine the character's depth and make the story less compelling. Your readers won't cry along with a female character whose decisions are pretty sour compared to a five-year-old. It's just simply annoying.

Instead, both characters should have strengths and weaknesses, make realistic decisions, making them more relatable and balanced.

• Cringy Conflict.

Realistic conflict is essential for a compelling romance. Over-the-top or contrived conflicts can make the story feel forced and cringy. Conflict should come naturally and blend perfectly into the plot. It's not advisable to pop a challenge that's definitely not necessary in the name of 'keeping the stakes high.'

Rather, focus on creating believable challenges that the characters must overcome, adding depth and authenticity to the plot.

• Neglecting Other Emotions Outside Romance.

It's not only about love, or roses, or dinner nights, or lucky dates with the billionaire. Show the other emotions fighting for dominance: the hurts, pains, joy, frustration, desperation, anger, sadness, jealousy, anxiety, or even moments when a character falls out of love with the other and can't understand their feelings.

Focusing solely on love can lead to a one-dimensional story. For a well-rounded narrative, explore these emotions to create a richer and more immersive experience for the readers.

• Underdeveloped Characters.

What's a story without a fully-fledged character, especially if they are the main character in a story?

You might have heard people talk about the importance of backstories and others saying too much of it tires them out, but here's the thing—balance. It's what people fail to incorporate. I'll try to cover this in any of my upcoming blog posts. Follow to keep up.

To better understand why we should cry for, laugh with, pity, admire, adore, scold, yell at, advocate for, and smile with your character, we need to know why they are what they are, who they are, and why they make the choices they make.

It's important to create characters with distinct personalities, backgrounds, and motivations. When readers care about the characters, they become more invested in the story and its outcome.

And that's my Christmas gift from me to you 🎁. Merry Christmas 🎄

[fiveht]

Daddy Remus and OnlyFans star James are currently doing Movember together. James does it every year, because his moustache is GLORIOUS and he raises a ton of money for a great cause, and this year he talked Remus into joining him. Remus' moustache grows in so fast that it has to be trimmed two weeks into the month because it's getting unruly, and James, savvy self-promoter that he is, posts a selfie of them together on all his socials, because he knows a hot daddy with a beautiful moustache is serious engagement bait for his target demographic.

Speaking of Sirius, he spends the whole month pouting, because he is UNCOMFORTABLE with James being in cahoots with Remus, and it's bad enough that they've started going to the gym together (because Remus asked about James' shoulder routine once and this somehow lead to them being Gym Buddies, and playing squash together every Tuesday while Sirius is in his night lecture?!), so this is just a step too far. 

AND, for the record, Sirius maintains that the moustaches are ABOMINATIONS.  He hates them. James looks like the 70s pornstar he always aspired to be, and daddy looks... Ridiculous, okay? He looks ridiculous. And if Sirius turns pink whenever he has to answer that question, it's no one's business but his own. And if he squeezes his thighs together when he thinks Remus isn't looking because he can't stop thinking about the scratch and scrape of that moustache on the most tender parts of his body, no one needs to know that either. And if they're sitting on the couch one night watching TV, and Remus keeps absently stroking his fingers over his moustache, and Sirius' restraint pulls taut until it snaps like a flimsy rubber band and he dives into daddy's lap and mumbles daddy-can-i-sit-on-your-face-tonight-pretty-please, well... Remus will never betray his secrets.

But of course, James wouldn't be James if he didn't take it one step too far. And when Sirius comes out of his night class and checks Instagram to see that selfie, with James and Remus sweaty and grinning on the squash court, and he reads the caption, "Just finished a great workout with Daddy Remus, my Movember buddy! #Movember #donatelinkinbio #menshealth #daddy", the post has already been up for hours. And Sirius can utter all the threats of bodily harm he wants, but it's too late. Even with the caption tastefully edited, the damage is done. James' legions of followers and fans will forever remember Daddy Remus and his killer stache.

[galaxyspark-6e16]

My Viva gijinka design ✨🌟🌠 isn't she fantamazing!

[muffinlance]

And now I remember why I haven't touched Blindsiding Badgermoles in months.

*stares at "outline" which is more like "aftermath of how-much-can-we-fit-in-one-chapter explosion"*

Oh boy.

[specialagentartemis]

daydreaming about the academic papers I want to write to procrastinate on the academic papers I'm supposed to be writing

[douqhnxtss]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ KISS MY TROUBLES AWAY ⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆.˚✧˖°.

𝓯𝗈𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗍, 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗋𝗎𝗇 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖻𝗈𝗒𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖻𝖾𝗌𝗍𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽, 𝓶𝘪𝘯𝘢. 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝗅𝗂𝖼𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗓𝖾𝖽 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽'𝗏𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗁𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝖺𝗒, "𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭��𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺."

✧ angst, fluff at the end (only a little), toxic/unhealthy!relationships, profanity, suggestive themes, bf calls reader slut, bf tries to force himself on reader (YIKES...), comfort person!mina, mina loved you since forever, proofread (that's smth new!) — bsf!mina x fem!reader ⋆ wc! 1.32k

°° boo bf BOOOOO he so bad I didn't even give him a name lmao, mina comes in at the end, there's more focus on the toxicity of reader's relationship if that makes sense, yes this was supposed to be an angst fic but I'm a fluff writer ok and this isn't very dark but some of the following cupids game fics may be more dark so stay tuned !! Likes n reblogs are appreciated ♡

✦ now playing! — kiss my troubles away ♪ twice 𐙚

Cupid's Game — 08

────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────

UPSET, DISTRAUGHT AND FRIGHTENED WERE EMOTIONS YOU FELT ON A DAILY BASIS. upset, seeing your boyfriend just a little too close to another girl who twirled her hair around her finger, hand brushing his biceps as she laughed at a joke he made.

distraught, seeing the mess he left behind everywhere in everything. how you'd be left stood up by him, how you always had to clean after him, how you had to be wet and in the mood when he wanted you, but when you were in the mood? he's too busy playing a game with his friends.

frightened, everytime he walked in, drunk, slurring his vocabulary and got mad at you for no reason. the scream you let out as his hand collided with your cheek, because he thought you were out with another man while you spent all evening making a special dinner for valentines day.

you had enough of it all.

it started out small. getting pissy when he saw a bunch of dishes that you were yet to wash, commenting on every dish you made negatively, declaring your friends as not trustworthy.

maybe he had a bad day, you thought. he probably has a lot of stress. it's hard to live comfortably in this economy, right? yeah, it is. is it?

so, you let him use you. you let him throw you around, fuck you wherever, use you as if you were made to please him and your pleasure didn't matter.

then the abuse started.

he lost a deal, you'll get a punch. he lost a client, you'll get a slap. he isn't in a good mood, you'll get punished.

claiming it to be normal, you pushed through life all because you loved him. that's what you thought. you loved him, you'd been together for two years.

presenting, mina.

she hated it. so much. seeing the bruises, marks and hickeys that almost drew blood. her jaw tightened as she saw you limp-walk to her as she waited for you.

she constantly berated you to leave him, she knew you deserved so much better. she knew he isn't enough for you. one crucial information left out is that she is enough for you.

you never ceased to brush it off. he was your boyfriend, he loved you. you dreamt of getting married and having kids with him. mina had started to think she'd never get you out of this hellhole and she despised it.

she wanted you to be the y/n you were before you two started dating. she never liked him. he was always bad news in her sharp eyes.

──────── ✧✦

you never expected your world to come crashing down so quickly.

he walked in, too drunk to think of a word as you rushed over, trying to help him walk, yet he pushed you to the floor with a harsh shove. "wh-what happened?" your hushed voice spoke.

he leaned down, his hand interwining in your hair as he pulled you to your feet, a shriek leaving your lips. "you're a slut, you know that?" he laughed with a evil grin, the sight sending shivers down your spine.

"why? what did i-i do?" your meek voice broke his string of laughter, his dark eyes boring into yours. "i bet you let him fuck you, right?" he pushed you down on the couch beside you like you were a ragdoll.

"who? i didn't do anything!" you shrieked as his hand again yanked your hair, his hand trailing down. "you let him shove it in, yeah? had a lot of fun, no?"

you frantically refused, "no, you're the only one, trust me!" he didn't believe it. he didn't believe anything you said in the first place. "if he can fuck you, so can i, hmm?"

he ripped your t-shirt's sleeve and a scream left your lips, the tears you held back started flowing down your face. "stop!" you said between sobs, this isn't your boyfriend. this isn't the man you fell in love with.

he ripped your shirt off, fondling your chest through your bra, his hand going to the waistband of your shorts. you built up the courage to push him off you, grabbing another t-shirt from the stack of clothes you'd just folded prior to him coming.

you slapped him, hard across the face, before he could even comprehend what had happened.

you slipped the t-shirt on and rushed down the corridor with your phone which you quickly took from where it was charging, your wallet which was beside your phone; you hurriedly wore your shoes.

you slammed the door shut behind you as he cursed over and over while you ran. you ran as fast as you could. you didn't even know where you were going, your body was working on your heart's orders, not your brain's.

and your heart led you to her door. tears still rolled down your cheek as you pressed the doorbell. the door swung open to reveal your bestfriend and only solace in your chaotic world with your boyfriend, mina.

now, everything was clear as day. everything she said was true. you were blinded by love. the one thing you were sure you'd never let happen to yourself the day you saw your parent finalize their divorce after your dad cheated on your mom.

you jumped in her arms, sobbing uncontrollably against her chest, hands wrapped around her waist. your tears wet her t-shirt but she didn't care. she pulled you in, closing the door behind her as she let you cry as much as you wanted and listened afterward.

she consoled you, making sure you knew this wasn't your fault, he was toxic. he was the problem. he was always the problem, all along.

mina leaned in, giving you a tended kiss on your forehead before she went in the kitchen to cook something up for you.

this was the moment it clicked. every piece of the puzzle fit in to the solution of your problems. mina.

she was by your side, through all ups and downs, she never left you stranded. she was the one constant in your life. the soft smiles, treating you like you were the most special person on the planet, gifting you your favorite chocolates, sweets, fruits.

it was all because she cared for you. yet, you never realized it. you never realized that what your heart had been longing for all these months, was infront of you.

your boyfriend? he didn't matter anymore. your feelings? they were long gone the second he walked through the door and tried to force himself on you. he was nobody. absolutely nobody. you chanted in your mind.

──────── ✧✦

after around 10-15 minutes of mentally deleting all your memories with your asshole of a boyfriend, you stood up and decided to check up on what mina was doing.

you closed the door to her room and waddled across the corridor to the kitchen. mina stood near the stove, humming a song under her breath. she was effortlessly breathtaking.

your legs padded against the wooden floor as you softly tapped mina's shoulder, a light Blush coating your cheeks. she turned around, "hey, what happened?" she asked softly with a small smile.

"i think i like you, what should i do?" you stared up at her with you pretty chocolate brown eyes, hands cutesy fidgeting and lips spread into a little pout.

she was going to die right then and there.

"do what your heart wants you to, y/n. my heart wants to kiss you, if i'm being honest." her soft giggle made you blush harder. everything about her only made you more attracted to her.

her moles, her smile, her eyes. your heart was doing cartwheels and summersaults. "can you kiss me, mina?" you whispered, sure she wouldn't hear it, but she did.

the most whipped grin made its way onto her face and she pressed her lips against yours in a warm kiss. your boyfriend's kissed never felt this good.

your heart made the right call, in your opinion. she was everything he was not. and that was everything you wanted. she was everything you needed. this was what you needed.

"thank you, mina." you whispered as she broke the kiss to breathe. "for what?" she asked with an arched brow, her lips slightly swollen and her eyes glazed over in love.

"this was exactly what i needed right now. i just needed someone to kiss my troubles away, and you did just that."

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆.˚✧˖°.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 — 「cupid's game」

ᯓ✦ 𝓊𝗻𝚒𝘷𝐞𝗋𝓢𝙚 !

ᯓ✧ taglist! @woniefication

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