#don't ask me how my inspiration works

[birbie]

it’s nandermo time :)

#who am i kidding it's always nandermo time #i have a slight fever of course so i just drew this #don't ask me how my inspiration works #nandermo #nandor #guillermo #wwdits #guillermo van helsing #what we do in the shadows #wwdits fanart #what we do in the shadows fanart #nandor x guillermo #nandor fanart #excuse me while i tag the shit out of this post #birbie draws

[averlym]

" just...come here. just sit here with me" (...that one scene from princess momonoke, click for better resolution)

#tw death mentioned for the tag rambles!! (sorry) #meme redraw gone wrong (high effort). don't ask me how i did this- i don't know either. consider this perhaps an AU of the pyre scene? #or more accurately just my internal wonderings visualised. sometimes the vibes from the implications don't pan out the same way #i also lost the original sketch somewhere in my papers. alas. i vaguely recall thinking this would be haha funny and then somewhere down #the line it turned to angst. other quotes that inspired this from the show were 'ily. i'm sorry' and 'i will always be so proud of you'. #smth smth they met on the roof!! vincent stops quincy from jumping off and then. vincent tries to die + eventually quincy kills him on the #very same roof. anyway the quincent death scene was spinning around for a bit in my head and out of the miscellaneous sketches this won out #wanted to play w the strong blue lighting + bg + silhouette things that you get w stage lighting // replaced the knife w vincent's scalpel #quincy is kneeling bc poses + idk why it's fun staging for him ;-; // also the proximity + intimacy.. // the pyre is also in the bg #but it's silhouetted behind quincy. i think the last quincy post made me associate symbolism (help??) bc as i was painting i was thinking o #angel wings ksdjfh // not to mention the halos. halos are always fun to paint.. shiny stuff... #and from the last vincent art. i guess the star and eye imagery carried over. hm. tried to get the quincy halo to match so its like a #rounder less spiky star? which hehe aligns w the sun vibes (that i??can't explain??) but more importantly here i was thinking about #binary stars for the glowy parts. two in orbit in pull to one another.. tension.. ue. also the glow for vincent goes to stabby eye so like #behind the face shown to viewer. meanwhile for quincy it goes in front of the face #and of course u have the downward linking implied line from quincy's tears +scalpel + glowy eye. #this is supposed to be rotatable.. in landscape form u can have either quincy or vincent upright (pov) + it should work both ways #//bonus stuff is vincent holding the skask w bloody hands + shadow looks like blood spatters. like it would if quincy did the stabby. #hhhh this is the most. confused i have been making a piece lately.. just toss in a lot of fun visual stuff and mix.. #if the rambling analysis here seems pointless and confused i think that's why. this is why u should plan out your essays o.O.. #oh. stuff i just remembered: the whole impetus for vincent planning his own death was so quincy would be happy / it's already #mentioned before quincy kills vincent that he's severely injured- vincent says it's fine- ig u could intepret it as a finishing blow? #hastened over the phaethon announcement- when they make the second announcement quincy looks up smiling until the admin gives it to #beatrix-he didn't know.. // <- so for this it's possible to infer that vincent wasn't very attached to living anymore.. hence why they look #more accepting above. while quincy is looking very angsty and conflicted. yeah.. // tldr! don't look into it too deeply it's a meme redraw #adamandi #quincy cynthius martin #vincent aurelius lin #tw knife

[thegreatyin]

the adventures of the neath's most annoying definitely-totally-a-bat-and-not-the-scoundrel-in-a-robe continue (cards. their name is mr cards. or so they insist.)

this time: coworker antics. tune in next week on dragon ball Z where we'll be killing all of them with hammers

#or: doodles of that bastard FL oc im still obsessed with yes #yin art #fallen london #ft. fires and wines! fires' design is inspired by @waterlogged-detective's art bc it's delightful #the masters are all just horrid little creatures in big cloaks. to me #anyway. microdosing on tuning down my standards for myself by posting the more sketchy wines doodle #it probably eats up the attention the scoundrel/cards keeps giving it bc it's. well. it's wines #they don't even mind that it keeps making them pay for its revels! they're the perfect stooge! #the scientist thinks they desperately need to raise their standards. and also stop being a freak #the scoundrel doesn't care what the scientist thinks (it has to save room in its brain for caring about wines instead) #also ✨Glorious Ascension✨ is how they refer to their bat hrt. they say the whole thing. every time. without fail. sparkles mandatory. #nobody knows what's wrong with them #not even themself #despite what this art implies they get along pretty okay with fires. insomuch as fires can get along with anything #the real reason nobody invites them to masterly meetings #is bc they react to literally everything with big wide eyes while enthusiastically asking if that's how it normally works #and everyone's getting really tired of telling them for the 15th time that no. veils biting people isnt usually how curators socialize #veils just does that #i mean. curators DO socialize by biting. but veils is doing it wrong

[dropthedemiurge]

my heart is bleeding into every vodka shot and every drag of cigarette just makes it worse i don't know how to make the people stay they look at me, then roll their eyes and go i am a burden. just a trash you find on any street i have been told i'm sensitive and fucking rude, a spoiled brat but all the money can not buy a single kiss from someone who does not desire my body nor my mind my heart is drowning in another whiskey glass hands trembling, I light up my own cigarette and spill the bitter, honest thoughts amidst a laugh: i love you. please, don't leave me. please. i beg.

Poem about Ray [Only Friends]

[can be seen as another form of this fic i also wrote as Ray's character study] p.s. strong hugs to @xagan for patiently working with me to make it sound better < 3

#yeah do not even ask me why am i suddenly writing poetry about this show #i do not know myself nor i control my inspiration #how many references to first episode can you find kasjdfa #this would probably work best with screenshots from the show and like web weaving style but uuuuhhh i don't know how to do that #so i just drew some fanart to the side #only friends #ofts #only friends the series #ofts ray #hope you guys like it #dropthefanfic #dropthefanfic ofts #dropthepoem #poetry #poems

[zukkaoru]

so then talk about them instead of whining that other people are having fun with what they like. if those other ones are so interesting than make that content in place of behaving like a child because someone else is actually enjoying themselves.

omg guys look my first bsd fandom anon hate ask 🥰🥰🥰

#first bsd fandom anon hate and it's over a post that only had SIXTEEN notes at the time! wow! #anyway i actually am very much enjoying myself too i love being a hater ❤️ #and i DO talk about the rarepairs and minor characters i like literally All The Time #but there are so many and i am only one person and i would actually like to be able to go to the beast tag and find stuff #about characters and relationships that are actually relevant #i'm not going to like. go into the ask boxes of beasts.kk enjoyers and anonymously criticize them for liking it 😐 #but this is MY account and i can post whatever i want #and i would LOVE to read fics and enjoy art and posts made by OTHER PEOPLE #bc fandom is a community and i don't *want* to be the only person talking about the things i like #i want to be able to rb other people's fics/art/headcanons too #i want to inspire them and i want them to inspire me bc that's how fandom is supposed to work! #anyway don't come back i will figure out how to block anons specifically for you lol

[timeisamarmaladeconstruct]

Super random, you don't know me lol, but I was looking through the notes of the most common breakfast post and I was wondering if you'd be willing to share your breakfast cookie recipe. I've been wanting to make some but the one recipe I tried I didn't like, and I haven't been motivated to look for another one

i actually love this ask and that's partly because @averymayhemeveryday just asked me for this a few days ago and i typed it all up into a discord server we're in, so i'm just editing that braindump into a slightly neater recipe and including the pictures i took on my most recent batch. still, i made this up from nowhere and i cook on vibes, there is precious little exact measurement in here so you will have to do your own experimenting and figure out what you like.

recipe is Long so it's under the cut

step one: soaking your grains

i mix about two cups old fashioned oats, a couple tablespoons or so of chia seeds, about a cup of unsweetened applesauce, and enough (oat) milk/water to get it fairly loose, then let it sit in the fridge for at least a few hours to let the liquid soak into the grains. overnight is better. i've done it for over 24 hours and i really like the texture i got. i tend to mix in a bit of instant coffee granules at this point for taste and caffeine content, maybe a tablespoon or two. you can add cinnamon or other spices before or after soaking, i think i've done it both ways. iirc em said they put in cardamon after soaking and wished they did it before so it would soak into the grains more.

step two: mixing in the rest of your stuff

after soaking, i put in a generous amount of peanut butter, maybe like a third/half cup? i don't measure it at all really, just scoop it in. sometimes i add a bit of molasses, you could do brown sugar too. might be nice to do that before soaking so it soaks into the oats, idk i don't think i've tried it. usually like a big spoonful. i frequently do mini chocolate chips, but i usually do sweetening OR chips, not both, that's just a lot of sugar. then if it's too stiff i put a bit more water or milk in, i get it a little looser than traditional cookie dough but still thick enough to hold together.

left picture is straight out of the fridge after soaking, right is ready to bake

step three: baking

i use a cookie scoop but if you don't have one a spoon is fine it's just more work, flatten them down because without any butter or some kind of fat they won't flatten themselves, you can pack them onto a cookie sheet tightly cause they won't rise or spread, whatever shape you put them into the oven in, they will stay that shape and size. bake about 25 minutes at 375f. might want to check them at 20 depending on your oven. they get a bit brown around the edges when they are done. i use two cookie sheets stacked together, it's a trick my mom taught me that decreases the risk of burning the bottoms.

EDITING THIS TO ADD: please grease your cookie sheet or use parchment paper you do not want to try to bake something without any fat in it and then get it totally stuck!

notes:

i find that it makes enough to eat 6-7 a day for a week, i keep them in the fridge so they don't try to mold or anything, i just split them out into individual storage containers so i just grab one each day and eat on the way to work. i usually take the container out of the fridge the night before so i'm not eating them cold because that's a misery tbh.

for the weekend i usually crumble up that day's portion into a bowl and mix in more applesauce and milk so it's a bit of variety.

my friend em doesn't like peanut butter so we talked about ways to replace that for texture, since it helps it hold together in addition to adding protein. obviously another nut butter or sunbutter would be great if you need to eliminate it for allergy reasons. we talked about using cream cheese instead and i tried that this week, that's the batch those pictures are, i used half a 16oz block and still put in a little peanut butter, and honestly it may be the best batch i've made yet.

honestly it just now, as i am editing this for tumblr, occurred to me that you could add an egg or two in place of pb for protein+holding them together. i'm allergic to eggs so i didn't think of it before and i'm not sure how the texture would be but it might be worth a try.

this week's cream cheese variation, baked, with bonus roasted veggies that were in the oven at the same time, sunday is batch cooking in my house cause i never have any energy (or executive function) by the time i get home from work on weekdays.

they really are more of a cookie by shape than anything, the texture is not at all what a traditional cookie would be, but i quite enjoy them. even on the weeks that they don't turn out quite as well, it's something to nibble on the way to work and i'll eat practically anything half awake at 730am if it means i won't be shaking with hunger halfway to lunch. this week they are so good i am really sad when i reach the end of the day's portion and i will for sure be doing cream cheese again.

#cooking #food #recipes #when i wasn't working last year i was doing overnight oats every day and honestly i think these were inspired by that more than anything #it's very similar to what i was doing then except made into a solid format to eat on the go #em please feel free to add your comments from you trying it too if you like #please don't judge me for my ancient battered hand-me-down cookie sheets i don't even notice how ugly they are #until i'm taking pictures to show someone else ofc #also if you want to ask about the roast veggies i can do those too and it will be SIGNIFICANTLY shorter than this so-called recipe

[downtherabbitholewithlucy]

A crossover you never knew that you needed...

(Please don’t re-post/share this video edit anywhere else. I worked hard on this sorry ass edit, so please just only reblog this video edit on Tumblr. Thank you!)

#considering this episode aired in 1993 perhaps Freddy D was inspired by Wakko #from the backwards cap fit all the way down to the flow off “Show Me What You Got” #I'm not saying for sure. I'm just saying it's BIG coincidence. #slapped this remix together because who wouldn't want to learn American cities from the help of LB and Animaniacs #but yeah “Wakko's America” song is basically Fred Durst recording “Show Me What You Got” in the studio #like it's just a glorified LB deep cut that aired on WB Kids in the early 90s years before Significant Other (1999) dropped. #don't ask me how time works. this is just how it happened. take my word. k bye. #Also Wes gives off Wakko vibes just as is. So the whole damn band are on that Animaniacs -ish... they are the Animaniacs of nu metal #Limp Bizkit #nu metal #Fred Durst #Wes Borland #Sam Rivers #John Otto #DJ Lethal #Song: Show Me What You Got #Album: Significant Other #lucy the rabbit's video edits #down the rabbit hole

[misalpav]

so... I was bored and i did a thing

it’s def not perfect bc i’ve never actually tried colorizing black and white pics before but yk it's a learning curve. obviously original pic (on left) is of savitramma in the telugu movie gundamma katha (1962), and I used the colorized version of mayabazar as references for things like skin tone and stuff but yeah.

#i hate posting art it gives me too much anxiety #somehow this was inspired by a project from my AI class #don't even ask how that works #savitri #gundamma katha #telugu movies #telugu #telugublr #desiblr #digital art #art #shri's art #to post or not to post #that is the question

[iknowwhereyousleepatnight]

trying to change my major on the second day of classes just to keep things interesting

#i have come to a decision that i might regret but whatever #i just realized that the field i'd be working in would put me somewhere i'm not sure i want to be (it's comp sci btw) #and my eyesight suckssssss. i don't think having a job that requires a lot of looking at screens will do me any favors #so we're changing it! #and i might be double majoring too because i'm bad at making decisions and i have very varied interests #(maybe i want to be allowed in the art studios. is that too much to ask for?) #thinking i'll go with psychology and studio art #that or psych and geology (<-likes rocks) #currently trying to figure out how to do it w/o losing my financial aid #because if i lose it i'm just dropping out tbh #if this wasn't mostly covered i wouldn't be touching college #even if i love the campus and the buildings and a couple professors #actually my fav professor is a history professor maybe i should minor in history so i can see him again? i do love history a lot #but majoring in history would be silly because wtf would i do with a history degree? #anyways i'm also working on a stupid drawing thing today while i ignore my classwork because i'm dropping all of my classes #i was very inspired by that washing machine post #so get excited for that #or not. live your life #and unrelated to anything at all but i'm sitting outside and it is. so nice today #like beautiful weather even if it's been sweltering all last week #maybe it's because it's early as fuck #also unrelated to anything #but i love tumblrs tagging system #i want to tag all day every day #i will write a whole essay in the tags #no-one can stop me because i am undefeatable

[leviadraws]

GGDHFGFB I SWEAR SEEING YOUR ART IS JUST

It's so visually pleasing to look at! Like, it's like 5 star meal at a restaurant! Reeeeeeee it's really good srknsdjkdsjl

omg tysm! Tbh I've not been feeling all that confident lately so this means a lot to hear /gen

#ask loz #I've been feeling quite down about how my stuff looks lately #so this really made my month #I'm a little burntout on DRA atm the inspiration isn't really striking #I'm hoping to get the last couple of requests done next week (including yours!) but I wanna make sure they're nice #but thank you for sticking with me! /gen #I've been thinking of working on some personal projects in the interim but I'm not sure anyone would want to see that? #sorry I'm rambling haha I don't often get such a nice message I'm crying / pos

[kanerallels]

Platonic sebezra, circus au?

Oh-ho-ho I did NOT expect this prompt to take root the way it did. Ahem. But here's a little ficlet that doesn't even begin to touch the depths of brain rot you've given me

“You’re the new tightrope walker, right?”

Sabine didn’t look up from lacing up her shoes as she replied, “Looks like it.”

This wasn’t where she’d expected to be— a circus in the middle of nowhere, barely breaking even. Clearly, it wasn’t as popular as it used to be. Everything made that clear, from the worn out waistcoat that the ringmaster had been wearing when he hired her and the threadbare costumes hanging on a rack near her, to the fact that the tent was still nearly empty, and it was fifteen minutes until show time.

But she’d gotten stuck, and she needed the money. And luckily, she was good at more than one thing. Tightrope walking would be easy.

Rising, she turned towards the arena— and froze, coming face to face with a lion.

Her instinct was to scream, her second to run or fight. But instead, Sabine deliberately tensed her muscles, feeling the panic race through her, silently counting to five. When she reached five, she let out a long exhale, then lifted an eyebrow at the orange clad boy standing behind the lion.

“Let me guess,” she said. “Lion tamer?”

He grinned. “How’d you guess?” With a quick whistle, he called the lion back, and it settled next to him, looking like nothing so much as an over large cat. “I’m Ezra, and this is Jasmine.”

“Sabine. This how you greet all your new coworkers?”

Shrugging, Ezra said, “Only the ones who can handle it. And it looked like you could. Besides, it’s a good test of who’s going to stick around.”

Sabine had no intention of sticking around. This job would, hopefully, get her enough money to make it to her next destination, and then she would move on.

But for now, she just nodded. “Looks like I passed.”

“Looks like it,” Ezra said with a grin. “Welcome to Circus Spectres.”

#thanks for the ask!! #star wars rebels #swr #sabine wren #ezra bridger #writing stories is a kind of magic too #YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE WAY MY BRAIN LATCHED ONTO THIS #listen. they're a struggling circus because they owe people money but they're still trying to inspire wonder and hope and joy #and do what they love #ryder azadi is the ringmaster (the last place he worked didn't survive and there are all kinds of rumors but the spectres took him anyways) #and kanan is a fire eater (partially because. reasons. and partially because of my childhood obsession with dustfinger) #and hera is a trick rider! and zeb is the trapeze artist (who used to have a partner that died and now he refuses to work with anyone else) #and sabine would help them bring life back to this place and ANYWAYS #i have a shocking amount of ideas about this au and backstory #and how everyone here is lost or broken but they all wound up together #(probably thanks to hera) #like i said. a LOT of thoughts #*whispers to myself* don't lose self control and write more don't lose self control and write more #so uh. if anyone wants to send me another prompt. and they don't know what au to choose #you probably shouldn't enable me like that #I DIGRESS #swr circus au

[art-from-the-pantry]

I am insanely in Love with this drawing. Tumblr likes to botch the resolution tho, so if you want to see it in its full glory please click it (or open it in another tab, that also works)

#Sure it looks less like it is made of copper and more like it was made of brass but hey #For that sweet lighting effects? I can move past that #Also I am so so insanely proud of the lighting like look at it #Sure the dual light sources were on accident when playing around with some shading ideas but hey #And the lack of background is a little annoying to me but my art software would have crashed if I added any more layers with effects #This is part of a bigger project (an animation/story that I am entirely writing and animating in my pirated Powerpoint programm) #Do not ask me how it works for it took me 2 weeks to finish the current 8 slides (because of University etc) #And also do not ask me why I am using Powerpoint #Frame by Frame animations drive me insane (and I have no software to actually do that in) and I don't know how to work blender yet #Ahem anyway #My actual tags now #Uhhhh #Robots #robot oc #ocs #... Skull? #Man I don't know how am I supposed to tag this #tender and loving affection for your dead and long gone creator but you are a robot/program that only gained sentience after their death #How about that huh #(first one to correctly guess the two things the design for the robot was inspired by gets. A cookie. Two cookies... My lemoncake recipe) #digital art

[ancientdreamkdj]

My therapist sees a future for me, so maybe there is one

#Thoughts #I am just thinking about. How just existing feels hard so I can't imagine myself in the next college semester #And there he is. Asking about what I plan for my schedule. Where we can fit our sessions. How do I plan to commute #And that feels hard because I don't believe I can go on and thrive. At most it feels like I can always only pass by only barely scrap by #Which is due to me not trying - a cycle #But he asks like he is so sure I can make. Like it's already reality #Or destiny #And I'm only left with fulfilling that reality #And that doesn't seem like a lot of work anymore #It's inevitable so I will do it #I am thankful for that #The contrast in how we view me. Though. It gets me a little sad for myself #And very grateful to inspire that belief in someone. Even if he is paid for that ig #“Oh he believes in me so much. Maybe it's true after all. I only hadn't realized it yet”

[onebizarrekai]

How are you doing today Kai?

I sure do be existin man 👋

#my siblings and I are playing sonic frontiers on sundays #it's actually the highest quality sonic game that's come out in a LONG time #it gives me fond feelings #asks #that aside dude honestly I'm an up and down mess #music is one of the few things that brings me real peace recently #you ever go like #'I am not inspired to create anything because I'm almost all on my own with it and I think I actually have been for a long time now' #because that is a thing. that is happening #don't really have any project buddies anymore #no one fighting for similar goals as me #people to throw ideas with #it's rough #like man how do I be inspired to write when I don't know anyone who's working on their own thing? #in art + writing I mean #y'know maybe that's why I'm having such a hard time

[pokimoko]

summer winter reading/writing/arting tag

Thank you so much for tagging me @thealterscrolls in your post, you know I love an excuse to overshare about things I like and/or are working on. Though, I'll be nice and keep each list to a maximum of 8 cause otherwise I would go overboard and that would make this already long post longer than necessary. Alright, let's get into it:

Describe one creative WIP project you're planning to work on over the summer: No summer for me for a while but hey, winter for me personally is a great time to work on stuff cause excursions outside the house are at a minimum, and I don't have to feel bad about being inside all day when the sun's already going down at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Anyway, I'm hoping to work on my In the Absent Place prequel slash companion fic focusing on Jake and the events that lead into that story. It's been an idea I've wanted to do for months and I have indeed started on it but I keep getting distracted from it by other ideas and fandoms (and also working on zine fics). But I do want to finish it. I also have a fic for The Owl House and one for Wolf 359 that I keep coming back to (aka the fics that have been distracting me), so we'll see if I ever get round to finishing those.

Recommend a book: When it comes to reading books, I am both very easily entertained (I rarely give out 1 or 2 stars) and extremely reserved with what I consider a great book, to me at least. I have given only a few books 5 stars. These are those few books: • 'Project Hail Mary' by Andy Weir • 'Piranesi' by Susanna Clarke • 'Loveless' by Alice Oseman • 'Radio Silence' by Alice Oseman • 'Elatsoe' by Darcie Little Badger • 'Good Omens' by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett • 'The Witch's Heart' by Genevieve Gornichec • 'His Dark Materials' series by Philip Pullman

Recommend a fic: There are so many great fics I've read that are lost to time because I'm stupid and rarely bookmark stuff (it's that same 5 star problem, y'see). But here's some I have bookmarked or remember really liking: • 'Mens Rea' by yellow_caballero (Moon Knight) • 'the dotted line' by zippe (Moon Knight) • 'An Evolving Situation' by whiskyrunner (Moon Knight, ongoing) • 'Puddlejumping' by Davechicken (Moon Knight) • 'Misguided Ghosts' by petrichorishly (Lucifer) • 'Thermotemporal Equations' by blinkytreefrog (Captain America) • 'No Echo' by sh0rtwave (Wolf 359) • 'you were the song that i'd always sing, you were the light that fire would bring' by rnelody (The Owl House)

Recommend Music: I like listening to a lot of genres, but I think indie pop is probably my go-to, so pretty much all of these will fall under that. Here are some of the songs I've really been enjoying lately: • 'Word to the Trees' by whatever mike • 'Christmas in June' by AJR • 'Kelly Time' by Owl City • 'Bite Down (Bastille vs. HAIM)' by Bastille • 'Jigsaw' by Conan Gray • 'Bloody! Bloody!' by Junie & TheHutFriends • 'Serotonin' by girl in red • 'Talking to Myself' by Will Jay

Share one piece of advice: Nothing you learn is a waste of time. Nothing. Doesn't matter how obscure or pointless it feels like it is, everything comes in handy some way or another eventually (and, hey, even if it doesn't, it can still be fun to have that knowledge). So learn! Learn whatever you want, however big or small. Learn that fictional language or lore from your favourite story. Learn about a show you've never watched from an hour long video essay. Learn about that obscure historical event you found in a Wikipedia rabbit hole at 2AM. Learn not because you have to but because you want to and because you're interested. Because no time is ever wasted when you've gained something new.

That's it for me. I'll tag @pizzee, @yellowocaballero, @theophagism, and @mockspector. Consider it my not-so-sneaky way to learn about your projects and/or favourite books/fics. ;)

#tag game #my stuff #personal #book recs #fic recs #song recs #long post #this piece of poki advice brought to from that one time in highschool that: #a) i spent a week and bit learning how to read/write in cyrillic because i liked bucky barnes and I wanted to write/say the code words #in russian (and yes I still vaguely remember how to do that; can I speak or understand russian outside of that though? haha nope) #and b) learnt the origin of the word 'robot' for a sci-fi story I was wrting for one of english classes which hardly helped with writing it #both of which came together to help me on a visual arts exam when the artwork i had to examine had 'robota' written in cyrillic #that single moment made me realise that knowledge and random facts have funny ways of helping you at the most unexpected times #so now i don't feel bad for going down rabbit holes or for learning about things that don't have any apparent practical use #also researching stuff is fun i'm sorry i'm a nerd #and yes before you ask 'radio silence' by alice oseman was 50% of the inspiration behind the itap(listening to silence on the radio) title #it's on my bookshelf. i looked at it. went hm. okay. i think i can work with that

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

I need you all to understand that I worked for about two months on Further Than Blood (my 50k vampire fic) and banged out In the Gray (my 26k zombie fic) in roughly 48 hours. People like the former but they are going absolutely BATSHIT over the latter.

My first point is that writing is a bit of a crapshoot. You can never truly be sure what stories are going to hit an indefinable sweet spot that drives people to madness (complimentary). So write what you want to write, and don't destroy yourself over whether people will like it or not.

My second point is that I've gotten a lot of compliments for churning that second fic out in basically two days. People want to know how I did it. I joke that I don't know, and that I was clearly possessed, but the truth is: Two decades of work went into that fic.

The burst of inspiration and skill that allowed me to write that fic in such a short time didn't come from nowhere. It came from working on my writing almost every day for twenty years. It came from taking breaks from writing when I needed to. It came from reading fics and books and watching films and shows written by people far more skilled than I am. It came from making writing a daily habit, even if it was only a sentence, rather than sitting around hoping lightning would strike me.

Those two-day sprints of inspiration, where the writing just flows, where you feel in the grip of the story, where the muse is basically giving your writer brain a blowjob? You can't wait for them to come around. They will, but not without all the work behind it. And if you only wait for those moments, you'll write very little, and you'll be waiting for a long time.

The last time I had a fit of inspiration like that and churned out a fic that people went batshit over?

December, 2018. Confidence Trick, my best Timeless work. That's almost exactly four years ago, for those of you keeping track.

To summarize:

Write for yourself. Write what you want. You don't know what'll be popular and if anyone else says they do, they're lying.

You can't sprint the 500 meter dash and win a gold medal if you don't get up and go for a run every morning.

#personal #does this sound pretentious as fuck? #I worry that it does #I've just gotten a lot of people asking how I pulled off the Zombie AU #and I see people frustrated by their own work and their own writing process and/or lack of 'popularity' #as someone who didn't get much attention (if any) in her entire 10+ years in fandom #until my Witcher fics in January of 2020 #I just wanted to offer encouragement #I'm a 'popular' writer and hell even I don't fucking know what people are really gonna enjoy or ignore #and I didn't just spring out of the ground with a gift for writing #so I want to encourage people who feel their writing isn't yet where they want it to be #hell there are times where I go through a slump and I hate everything I write #and you don't HAVE to write every single day #but inspiration is really (in my opinion) what happens when you've done all the hard work and practice #and then you relax and let it all churn in your subconscious #does that make sense? #anyway I hope this was helpful to people and if it wasn't then ignore me #I just feel like if I don't say anything I'm feeding this myth #the myth of the talented genius where it just bam happens and the story appears in a weekend #I don't want to feed that myth