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crying and sobbing y'all when people said that you only add scenes that advance the plot they didn't JUST mean the overarching plot. they meant the plot of the book... entirely. like a conversation between two friends can advance the plot by characterizing them and grounding them with a meaningful relationship. if your book doesn't have "filler" it's missing emotional beats. which are plot. which are important. fun and whimsy aren't mutually exclusive from what "needs" to happen in your book. the advice isn't bad it's just taken too literally stop come back.

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i'm a sucker for narrators who are like,,, part of the narrative. they're a part of the story. they may or may not be fundemantal to it, but they influence it one way or another.

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Writing is so much fun! You can be like "I should process this" and just go nuh-huh, see, I'm going to make up a guy and have them process it for me. Not me! It's the guy I made!

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Honestly, pragmatic villains who are just too fucking sensible and practical to be bigoted is a fondness of mine. I mean, consider a straight-up ruthless, heinous villain whose minions, henchmen and assassins are 90% female, for no other reason than because all these other wannabe Overlords of the Universe were overlooking these perfectly good, competent professionals because of their sex, and they’re loyal as well because they know he’s the only employee who’ll actually treat them fair. What else are they gonna do, turn good?

 The hero team has five dudes and one woman and for fuck’s sake she’s wearing heels.

#heroes and villains

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outlining a new wip be like:

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Do you guys remember how kidnap fantasies were popular on wattpad because young girls and queer teens were both made to feel shame at the thought of their own sexualities, so the fantasy of being kidnapped totally against their will was a way for them to engage with a romantic or sexual fantasy without feeling morally in the wrong for doing so? Added bonus that the fantasy involved being whisked away from repressive environments like home or school, right?

Finding out that Bram Stoker was in a sexless marriage and that scholars believe that he very likely was closeted gay puts the entire book into perspective as to WHY it reads EXACTLY like a self insert wattpad Dracula kidnap fic:

“I TOTALLY love my wife and would never do anything that an upstanding Good Straight Working Man wouldn’t do but oh nooo, big strong man with broad back and strong enough arms to carry me back to bed like a princess trapped me and claimed me as his, completely against my will 👉👈 But he protects me against the bad evil sexual women (who I assure you, I am TOTALLY sexually attracted to, as any straight man with a choice would be) but trust me, I do NOT want ANY of this. What’s that? The Count is not capable of feeling love? Would be a shame if I had the special ability to change tha-”

#tropes #romance

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I don’t know which author needs to hear this right now but even if you never update your wip i would never regret reading it a time of joy is never wasted

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You know what? Fuck it.

The amount of notes that this post gets by the end of April is the amount of words I'll write for one of my books.

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"Absolutely no one comes to save us but us."

Ismatu Gwendolyn, "you've been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress)", from Threadings, on Substack [ID'd]

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i need to show you guys when i print a copy but i made a ZINE!! i think i'm calling it a zine? anyway its 42 mostly-blank pages about a writer arguing with their word processor. i'm trying to figure out where/how to get a 42 page booklet published bc it's FUNNY and i LIKE IT and it's maybe not super economical of me to print 50 copies of it at home.

#they speak #i'm having fun with literature experiments :)

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Books of 2024: POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE by Carrie Fisher.

Continuing my "help I need something Funny and Reasonably Short" kick with a book by Space Mom that's been languishing on my shelf for [INCRIMINATING TIME PERIOD: REDACTED]. Since I, too, feel very close to sending postcards from the edge right now, this one seemed appropriate.

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Good art and writing doesn't discriminate between place or time or people making it and you can't make a mental guide on where to find it. This goes doubly for trying to make a mental guide for where not to find it, especially if you're excluding entire pools of creativity based on a shallow perception of the "types of people" you think enjoy it. There are stories written by stuffy weirdos centuries ago that'll blow your tits off. There are stories written by weird little girls more profound than any modern bestseller. And there are modern bestselling tiktok trending novels that are Actually That Good. You have to sift and mine and dig and claw around to hunt for the profound, and there's no getting around this ever, and if you try to you'll only create a sad, limited palette for Story. Also all art is subjective and one man's cringe is another's masterpiece. Hope this helps

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Nice going man, you've become indistinguishable from that which you sought to destroy

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May I request a supervillian who breaks their villian out of prison, and they do it in a flashy way?

Thank you

"Bit over the top, don't you think?"

There were a number of things that the villain could have pointed out.

The fact that the majority of the prison had been smothered in a rainbow glitter sort of concoction so sharp that it could pierce through the average guard's shoe. The fact that the whole place had been rigged to loudly play the supervillain's very own rendition of 'I want to break free' through the intercom system. The fact that, as they stepped out into the fresh air, a small jet was in the process of inking the supervillain's and villain's initials in the sky in a smoky black love heart.

It was difficult to manage any of it through the weird lump in their throat.

The supervillain had come for them.

"Eh," the supervillain shrug. "I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. Just wait until someone is someone is stupid enough to bleed on the glitter."

The villain raised an eyebrow.

"Boom," the supervillain said.

"...Huh."

The supervillain took their hand, oh so gently, leading them forwards to where the getaway car stood waiting. The courtyard was conspicuously quiet. Appallingly empty for such a high-profile breakout.

The villain didn't ask what the supervillain had done to everyone. Maybe everyone was just hiding it out until the supervillain was gone, in the wise way one might hide when Godzilla cruised past the office windows. It definitely seemed better not to ask.

"And what," the villain's heart hammered, as they slid gingerly into the backseat, "exactly was the idea? Just out of curiosity."

"That they can't take you, of course," the supervillain replied, as if it were oh so simple, so obvious, and not at all devastating. "That you're mine."

They followed the villain in and shut the door. They waved at the driver to go.

Warmth flushed through the villain.

They glanced back at the no-longer grey building where they thought they might just rot forever.

The supervillain had come for them.

"Huh," they managed. Their voice cracked.

"Do you think they got the message?" the supervillain asked, softly.

The villain glanced back, to find the supervillain already watching them - gaze intent. They still held the villain's hand, feather-light, thumb caressing where the villain's knuckles were beginning to bruise. As the villain looked on, the supervillain pressed the villain's hands to their lips in a kiss.

I'll come for you. Don't worry, I'll always come for you.

"Yeah." The villain allowed themselves to bury their face in their supervillain's neck, to melt into their beautiful monster. "I think they got it."

"Good."

The supervillain held them close all the way home.

#heroes and villains #NICE #other people's writing

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Online argument finishing move

#oc: axton vale #i think of him every time i see this

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i think if you're going to complain about "problematic queer representation" in media you have to clarify what type of problematic you're talking about. is the bisexual character implied to be only "doing it for attention" or perpetuating homophobic stereotypes? yeah, you have a point, that's not great. is the lesbian "problematic" because she eats people? oh no that's fine, lesbians are allowed to do that if they want

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concept:

supervillain × henchman with the twist that the supervillain is a sort of cartoon foppish dramatic gay villain with gonzo schemes and no bodycount. and the henchman is secretly a grimdark ultrapowerful Apex Predator supervilllain who came to Stake Out the competition. got mistaken for a henchman and found this so fucking funny hes just 100% committed to the bit.

hes carrying around boxes of fucking Acme Corporation sticks of dynamite. hes dressing in the matching stylish outfit. hes managing the other henchmen to execute gonzo schemes flawlessly. genuinely the most fun hes ever had in his life

his dumbass gay boss has literally no idea the lengths he is going to behind the scenes to make sure nobody interferes with any of this shit.

(apex supervillain, in his Supervillain Disguise. homoerotically and terrifyingly flirt/threatens flamboyant supervillain. smash cut to this poor man lying face down on a couch unpacking this with the very attentive henchman)

("hes going to eat me maybe????? but GOD that was the HOTTEST fucking thing thats ever happened to me. but i might DIE?? do u think he LIKES me...."

henchman: i think he does :3)

the ruse comes out when someone who the apex supervillain didnt catch comes to ACTUALLY challenge/harm his gay boss in public and apex supervillain is like. yeah no we're not doing this. time for the power of unfathomable violence.

gay supervillain promptly has a FULL MELTDOWN. oh my god the blood. and also. "you LIED TO ME???"

apex supervillain, apologetically: "I was waiting to see if you'd ever figure it out yourself. And the longer it went the funnier it got."

gay supervillain: "I TRUSTED you!! you were my BEST HENCHMAN"

apex supervillain: aw. past tense?

#heroes and villains #GHDKFHSKF PLEASE THATS SO FUNNY