#i feel like the nitty gritty is boring and this is so hard to write without going over the nitty gritty

[vaya-writes]

The Wyvern's Bride - Part 3.2

When Adalyn gets sacrificed to the local wyvern, she’s a little annoyed and a lot terrified. Upon meeting the wyvern, she discovers that he’s not particularly interested in eating people, and mostly wants to be left alone. In a plot to save himself from the responsibilities his family keep pushing on him, Slate names Adalyn as his human Envoy, and tasks her with finding him a wife.

2000 words. Cis female human x Cis male wyvern (slow burn, arranged marriage, eventual smut). firefly-graphics did the divider.

Masterlist - Previous

Adalyn wakes early. She’s used to getting up at sunrise to start baking, and up in the Spires with the balcony door propped open, she has an unimpeded view of the lightening sky.  

Slate had woken earlier still and is nowhere to be found. There’s evidence of his stirring here and there. A blanket in a pile by the chaise. Crumbs at the table. A covered plate of cold toast waiting for Adalyn. She bites into it, relishing the jam Slate had procured.  

She’s tempted to go back to bed. To sleep in until the sun finishes rising. To loaf about and relax, perhaps with a book. But she’s not yet game to go through Slate’s collection, and the threat of boredom chafes at her skin.  

Instead, she dresses for the day, gathers up some of her cleaning supplies, and makes for the kitchen. She’s not sure what state she’ll find it in but is looking forward to using the area herself.  

Light streams into the windows as she makes her way down the Tower until finally, she enters the passage that leads to the kitchen. Its dark, but thankfully short, and when she finds the dining room, the skylight illuminates the area enough to see her to the kitchen. 

Adalyn swears under her breath as she locates the flint and steel and lights the nearest brazier. Perhaps lighting is another thing she’ll have to talk to Slate about. 

When the kitchen is lit, Adalyn leans against the counter and surveys the place. Her legs are wobbly from the trek – it had been nice to stretch them, and she can move without discomfort now, but the hike will still take some getting used to. 

The Matron’s staff had tidied the kitchen. Dishes had been washed and put away, and any remaining food had been sealed and put in the larder (dried fruits are all that remain). Still, there are crusts and crumbs scattered about, and the fire pit is overflowing with ash.  

Adalyn sinks into cleaning. She marvels over the plumbing as she wipes and washes the counters. She puts on a pot of tea when she works, settling into the familiar routine. She even rummages through the larder for ingredients, and once the counters are clean, starts baking some bread and biscuits. She’d brought her starter yeast from home, and Slate’s kitchen is stocked with everything else she needs.  

By midmorning she’s surveying the fruits of her labours with satisfaction. There’s a platter of sweets to snack on, jam sandwiches which she eats on the spot, and a tea set which she resolves to take upstairs. She sets aside a handful of other things to take to the Tower, so that she won’t have to descend to the kitchen each morning for supplies.  

Throughout the morning Adalyn had noted a distant rumble. It had been almost comforting. In the stillness beneath the mountains, with Adalyn’s busywork being the only sounds, it soothes her to hear something else. 

When she finishes her work and takes a moment to breathe, she listens to the sounds with curiosity, then recognition. The occasional boom and slight tremors beneath her feet could be indicative of a cave in but had been too consistent. It’s more likely Slate, at work somewhere within the Spires. 

She glances at her food, then around the kitchen. There’s honestly not much else for her to do, and with the rest of the day stretching out before her, she decides to explore. 

She sets off in the direction of the byway, following the distant sounds of earth rending, retracing her steps through the dining hall and a winding passage before she emerges into the enormous cavern. At the size of it she blanches. Awe inspiring as it is, the walls are still unremarkable, and she worries that she might lose her way. She’s looking around for landmarks, anything to help mark one passage from another, when she notices the pile of stones beside her.  

Their purpose immediately becomes clear. Adalyn notes the number of stones and their arrangement – unique. Each door marker is different from the next. She resumes her exploration, walking alongside the stream and taking in the sights. Plant life creeps down from the ceiling, spilling over the edge of the cave opening, high above. The area is almost lush. 

She doesn’t have to walk the entire cavern, thankfully. The sounds are coming from just across the main-way, and she eyes one passage speculatively. The gouge marks around the edge of the doorway are fresh; debris and dust litter the ground and a set of footprints, visible even to her, track through it all. She spies a bundle of white and stoops to examine it. A shirt, discarded in a heap. 

She’d go in after Slate if it weren’t for the darkness. At its thickness, she balks. Even if the wyvern were through the passage, she has no way of knowing about any hazards.  

“Slate?” She calls. 

The noise ceases. For a moment she hears nothing. Then there’s the crunch of footsteps. 

“Adalyn. Are you alright?” 

The air swirls with dust. Adalyn waves the particulates away from her face and coughs. “I brought you lunch, though it might be early.” 

Slate emerges from the darkness, pausing at the threshold of the shadows. “It’s never too early to see you, dearest.” 

Adalyn squints at his outline, using the expression to cover her embarrassment. “Do I get to see you?” 

He straightens, and steps out of the corridor. Contrite, he runs a hand through his hair, smearing a white streak through it. “Sorry. Difference in eyesight, I guess.” 

He’s shirtless, in his demi form. There’s a layer of filth and grit covering him, almost creating patterns against his grey skin and dappled scales. 

She eyes the swarths of them: thick and dark on the backs of his arms and shoulders, lightening colour at his sides, and thinning into skin over his chest. There’s a fresh scar above his left pectoral, and Adalyn recognises it as the place where Slate had removed a scale. 

She drags her eyes away from his chest and forces a polite smile. “Did you want to wash up first, or...” 

Slate gestures towards the cavern. “Let’s go over there. You can sit in the light, and I can take a dip in the stream.” 

Adalyn takes a seat at the bank before unwrapping their food. She sets the remaining sandwiches aside for Slate while she picks at a biscuit. She watches with bemusement as Slate kicks off his shoes and socks before stepping straight into the stream. She catches sight of his back – tessellated scales the colour of coal – and the amusement slips her mind. 

“What are you working on today?” 

His arms are wreathed in shadow, fingers tipped with long claws. Adalyn watches, riveted, as he dispells the claws into puffs of smoke and begins rubbing water up his arms and chest. His skin from the forearms down is still shadowy, and cloudy water streams off him in rivulets. 

“I’m carving the passage from the main-way to where your quarters will be.” 

“By hand?” 

“The first time, yes.” 

He climbs the bank to sit beside her, and she wordlessly hands him a sandwich. He smiles his thanks. “What about you?” 

Adalyn sighs. “I don’t know. To be honest, without a bakery to run, I fear I might get quite bored.” 

“What did you used to do with your free time?” 

She leans back, watching a cloud pass. “Cook. Clean. Garden. Sometimes spin and sew.” 

“Do you like doing those things?” 

“Yes, sometimes. They help me feel in control.” 

Slate considers while he finishes his food. Then rests his hand in his chin. “We could find you a project. I always have several to keep me busy.” 

She grins. Slate seems the type to keep multiple pots on the burner. “You got a list, or something?” 

He straightens and counts on his fingers. “Finish the blueprints for your quarters, carve out the passages and main spaces, contract a smith for fittings, designate a permanent space for my workshops, build said workshops, prototype different elevators,” he pauses, and a blush touches his cheeks at Adalyn’s expression. “To start.” 

She enjoys his enthusiasm. Even if she finds it hard to relate. “I thought you’d finish the Tower first.” 

He brushes some crumbs away and reaches for a sweet. “I don’t want to crowd you longer than necessary. Your space is my top priority.” 

Some of her mirth fades, and she tries to keep a neutral expression. Part of her fixates on those words, searching them for further meaning. Perhaps he is being genuine.  

Tentatively, she replies. “I don’t feel crowded.” 

She misses the way he looks at her, somewhat sharply. Fearing he had misstepped. “You don’t? I- well, I know how humans value their privacy.” 

She purses her lips. Part of her very badly wants to protest the distance he’s literally building between them. But she doesn’t want to push, and risk seeming clingy.  

She lets the topic drop. “So what project do you suggest I take up?” 

He thinks. “You like cleaning.” 

A nod. 

He looks almost pained as his picks his next words. “I suppose I don’t mind if you go through my things. Organise them, I mean.” 

She’s torn again. She wants to react with brevity. Tease him for his tastes. ‘What if you don’t like my system.’  

Instead, she approaches the situation with growing anxiety and caution. She wonders if having her in his space, touching all his things, will drive him to push her away faster. She’s practically a stranger. And he’d been so frustrated with his family meddling.  

“If you’re sure. I know it could be a bother.” 

He shakes his head. His fingers creep towards hers. “It’s not. You’d have to try really hard to bother me. Just wait until tonight. Some of the magical artifacts can be aggressive, and I’d better point them out.” 

She eyes his hand, next to hers, and some of the tightness in her chest lessons. Anxiety temporarily assuaged, she manages a smile. She stands and readies to leave, allowing herself some humour. “Okay dearest.” 

--- 

When Slate joins Adalyn for dinner he is both late and sodden. He lands on the balcony and lingers there, sheepishly wringing his clothes out. 

“There is a bath here.” 

“I don’t want to track dust through my room,” he says before going to fetch a towel.  

Adalyn had rekindled the fire herself and lit the braziers, and dinner is set out when he joins her at the table, once more in his human form. She wonders if there’s a particular reason he chooses the form so frequently. 

“Sorry I’m late. My timepiece is broken.” He bites into a pastry and lets out an appreciative groan.   Adalyn hadn’t found any substantial supplies in the larder and had managed to make some fruit pies with the jam preserves. He swallows and smiles at her. “How are you finding the keep?” 

She shrugs. Adopts a teasing tone. “There’s room for improvement, I suppose.” 

“Oh?” 

“I don’t want to seem like I’m complaining.” 

“Please. Complain to me.” 

“Perhaps you could build an exit or two? I’m getting plenty of fresh air from the balcony, but it’d be nice to go for a walk on the surface.” 

“That’s a quick fix. Though I’d be careful walking around the karst. There’s a lot of places you could fall.” 

“We’re also down to bread and cheese. Some supplies wouldn’t go astray.” 

Slate nods. “I go hunting every few days, but it’s slipped my mind, with all the changes. I’d planned to visit the valley tomorrow; we could stock up then?” 

“What are your plans in the valley?” 

He smiles, coy. “Oh, you know. Post some letters. Check in with some craftsmen. Pick up a gift for my wife.” 

“You’re too sweet.” 

“Right?” 

She rolls her eyes. “I’ll forgive your tardiness then.” 

“Was that all you wanted? A door and some food?” 

Adalyn narrows her eyes. “I could make a list if it pleases you.” 

“I love lists.”

---

Next

#the wyvern’s bride #my writing #vaya writes #monster boyfriend #tetaro #monster romance #exophilia #i feel like the nitty gritty is boring and this is so hard to write without going over the nitty gritty #like the important part of this next arc is these two showcasing their love languages and how they have completely different ones #unfortunatly that means a heck of a lot of slate building stuff and adalyn delivering him food and making small talk with him #which just seems boring to revise and edit #please tell me this reads okay #regardless of my concerns

[artist-issues]

I Saw Wish

And it was the worst animated Disney movie I’ve ever seen. I have to watch it again before I can get into the nitty gritty details. But I don’t need details to sum it up, because my dad actually said it perfectly as we left the theater:

“It was like someone who didn’t really understand Disney movies tried to make a Disney movie.”

Both the form (the technical arts of filmmaking) and the content (the morals, values, and themes of the movie) were totally horrible.

I don’t know who’s fault it was. Jeremy Spears was in the storyboard room and Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg did some 2D animation. But they must have gotten outvoted, or they must not care anymore.

Because holy cow. Here’s some stuff that’s just off the top of my head.

SPOILERS. Not that it matters, because nothing interesting happens in this movie.

The writing? Terrible. Ninety percent of it feels like the characters are filling time with quirky one-liners that are trying too hard to be appealing, then failing, then taking you out of the movie. The jokes aren’t funny. The characters just respond to each other in conversation to check a one-liner box. The other twenty percent is whole conversations repeating tell-don’t-show exposition that has already been covered, usually twice, in previous scenes. Like if in Tangled, every scene had included some variation of Rapunzel saying to friends and enemies alike, “I have to see the floating lights so I’m sneaking to the castle with this thief who wants a mysterious tiara I hid from him. Don’t tell my mother, she’s a bit overprotective!” Over. And over. And over.

The character motivations are way too broad. Asha? Her dream is just “that everybody around me gets to be happy.” That’s it, in a nutshell. No deeper exploration of that. Nobody asks, “why do you care so much?” Nobody tries to convince her she should look out for herself, and then she proves she was right all along. The King? We are told (not shown) that he doesn’t want anyone else’s dreams to be “destroyed.” But he in no believable way expresses that that motivation is still what’s driving him during the movie—what’s driving him is just a plain old lust for power, no nuance.

By the way, the whole premise of the movie? Undercooked. Half-baked concepts strung together with no definitive meaning. Therefore, it’s not believable. Example: The characters act like the wishes are beautiful—well, actually, no, this movie doesn’t know how to show, so there’s not a lot of meaningful acting—the characters just tell us that wishes are “the most beautiful part of someone,” and that’s why it’s worth going through this adventure to give their wishes back to them. But there’s no proof of that in the movie. In fact, it directly kicks it’s own legs out from under that idea, because it has every character who gives up their wish forget that part of themselves. Asha’s grandfather has forgotten his wish, but that doesn’t make him any less “beautiful.” She, and everyone, still treats him like he’s this wonderful old man who deserves the world, who everyone loves…but why is he so appealing? If he “gave up the most beautiful part of him?” The only character who is changed by their lack-of-wish is the Sleepy-analogue character…who is just sleepy, which is described as “boring.” But nobody else who’s given up their wish in the whole kingdom acts like that. It’s just him. Also, the King acts like it’s so important to protect the wishes from destruction. But what does destroying a wish look like? That actually happens to Asha’s mom. Her wish-bubble is broken, literally, and she just says she feels grief. But like. Why? She never remembered it in the first place; it had been missing from her life for years. Also, what the heck is a wish?! It seems to range from broad concepts like “inspire people” to “fly.” Just “fly,” like a bird. The desire to levitate off the ground is the most important, beautiful essence of one background character. Like, what?! But no character ever has the why behind their wish to make us care.

I could go on and on about that point. Like, think about Disney movies that wrote the book on how to make movies about characters with wishes. If Ariel were in Wish, her bubble would look like “dancing and learning and exploring on the Surface with someone who understands her.” But we believe that that is her real, genuine wish, and that it matters to her, because we are shown why being understood is so important to her. Because it’s missing from her life. There’s a scene where she explores a boat alone, and even her best friend doesn’t get excited about it with her. Her dad won’t listen to her point of view. Her siblings don’t ask her about her life even when they think she’s in love. She wants what she wants because of pieces of her life that we are shown.

We are never shown why Asha’s grandfather is obsessed with inspiring people, so we have no reason to believe it, or care whether he gets it or not. We can’t feel disappointed when his wish is said to “never come true,” like we did when Quasimodo was abused by the people he wished to join. We can’t feel elated when he finally “gets” his wish, like we did when Simba smiles on Pride Rock remembering the same way he used to as a cub and claims the crown with a roar. We don’t have anything to hang on to, nothing to relate to, nothing to grasp and feel with the characters. So we don’t feel, because they didn’t put the work in to help us feel. They just say, “the mom’s feeling grief. Feel grief.” And expect us to do the work ourselves. I have to stop harping on this point and move on.

But The main point of the movie is very broad because of that lazy premise, and it’s barely reinforced by any kind of appealing storytelling. If I had to guess, the point would be “Keep wishing for more even when it’s hard.” But the story they told to communicate that meaning was so unimpactful. Asha doesn’t have a dream of her own that’s such hard work to accomplish! (Neither does her grandfather; his wish is “to inspire people.” And at the end, we’re supposed to see him strumming a guitar and believe it’s inspiring? We were never shown how he worked hard to learn how to play the instrument. Or that he carved it with his own hands, or anything like that. So there’s no meaningful demonstration of working hard for it or achieving your wish even if it’s far out of reach.) And nobody except the king is trying to take wishes away from anyone, and he just does it literally, after they voluntarily give them to him, so there’s not even any impactful demonstration of “don’t let anyone tell you your wishes are dumb or unachievable, or stop you from reaching them.” Even when he takes them away, it’s just because they…could, someday, be used to threaten his kingdom in a vague, really unlikely way. There are so many things you could do with “keep wishing for more even when it’s hard.” For instance; you could say the main character has always been afraid to dream (wish for more), because maybe when she was a kid something wonderful almost happened but ended in tragedy, so she keeps her head down and doesn’t want much because if you don’t dream you’ll never be disappointed. She takes no risks, and has to learn that sometimes trying and failing is worth more than slogging through life all self-protective. I mean, the pieces were right there. She has this line about her dad, and how she wished he would get better but then he died. She has lines about how nobody should have to live with grief?? Then that’s never addressed again! It’s just a throwaway emotion-moment with no buildup or follow-through to tie it to and support that main theme.

The compositions of too many shots were so terrible. Characters got cut off in weird places. One shot has Asha dead center, with her grandfather on the left side of the table and her mother on the right, having a family dinner with a super exposition-heavy conversation that is meant to be emotionally charged. But despite everything else being perfectly centered, half of her mother’s body is chopped off. The movie’s shot like someone’s mom who doesn’t understand technology tried to take a video with her phone.

The charm of the art “style” wears off basically immediately. I know what they were going for. I see the sketch lines and watercolor textures. This is maybe the first time Disney ever failed to accomplish a visual “look” that turned out good. Everything looks dull. Muted. De-saturated. Slightly out of focus, but not in a cool Spider-Verse way. The sets or backgrounds are lazy; at no point does the scenery look complete; big, empty, boring spaces that do not create any kind of “stage” for impactful moments. The rendering looks unfinished. When Asha’s hair moves during her belting of the “I Make This Wish” song, it’s bad. It’s unnatural. It flops in a way that doesn’t make sense for the weight of her hair. The most impactful visual moments come from the villain, and they’re moments when he looks way too unhinged for the kind of line he’s saying.

There is no interesting character development. Asha goes from believing everyone is basically good and their wishes deserve the chance to come true , to….that, again. That would be fine, she could be a static character, if she proved contrast-characters wrong, in a believable way. But she never does. Because no other characters argue with her except the King. And it goes no deeper than “everyone’s wishes are basically good and they deserve the chance to make them true” vs. “nuh-uh, because I get to decide what makes them deserving.” The King doesn’t have any kind of interesting development, either. They don’t expand on his tragic backstory—it consists of one drawing of him near a broken boat, and a few images of the corner burned off of his family taoestry. They never say “King Magnifico wished for _____ and it was taken away!” They literally never tell you what his wish or dreams were, or what motivated him to create the whole kingdom that the movie’s premise sits on. So there’s no convincing sense of progression, how he got this way, why he’ll keep going “so far.”

The pacing is weird. It undercuts every moment that could have any kind of emotion behind it. One minute Valentino is suavely bouncing around, then he’s given a two-second beat to blubber with badly-animated tears that he’ll miss Star—then he instantly gets to have another funny one-liner so we forget he might’ve been sad a second ago. We’re clearly supposed to believe that the King and his wife are devoted to each other, and his turning evil was such a big betrayal, but there’s no time and no impactful evidence for us to believe either of those things. And even if we did, the moment he’s defeated and trapped in a mirror, and begs to be let free, the Queen kind of shrugs it off, makes a forgettable one-liner, and tells them to throw him in the dungeon. And he doesn’t look remorseful. And we don’t even get to assume he’s embarrassed or emotionally devastated that he’s come to this—because the last thing he says is “nooo, the dungeon is so smellyyy!” Like this is a half-baked LEGO short that can’t get emotionally deeper than what an actual 3 year-old’s parents might be okay with.

And that’s the worst offense: The movie is not genuine. It works hard for nothing, and it has no vulnerability. It just uses old Disney standbys to pretend to be vulnerable. Have the music swell and the characters gasp and the songs drip emotion when characters are meant to be saying or doing something emotional.

But truthfully, think of all the Disney movies you’ve ever seen with the hardest emotional moments. The sheer joy of Genie when he realizes he’s free. The anguish when Elsa thinks Anna’s been frozen forever, or when Anna thinks she’s dead. The trauma when Simba loses Mufasa. The longing and dreaming of Ariel when she reaches up out of her grotto. The sense of foreboding when Mother Gothel says “fine, now I’m the bad guy” or the heartbreak in Rapunzel’s eyes when she thinks Flynn has abandoned her, or the shame on Aladdin’s face when Jafar reveals he’s a street-rat, or the horror of cruelty when the stepsisters rip up Cinderella’s dress, or Kala’s tears when Tarzan leaves her in the treehouse, or Sarabi’s tears when Simba comes back, or Mulan’s father tossing aside the sword and token of the Emperor to embrace Mulan, or heck, even just Lilo pushing Stitch in the woods and telling him “get out of here.” This movie has no moments like that. It has moments you can tell that the filmmakers wanted to hit like that—but they don’t.

Because no work is put into building them up. You know how much Simba loves Mufasa, because you’ve been watching their chemistry more than any other character all the way up till he dies. You know how much Mulan wants to please her family because she spends all of Act I desperately attempting to do that. You know Quasimodo believes the world below is beautiful and wants them to accept him because he has interesting things like—talking to gargoyles, convincing us that he’s lonely; building a scale model of the townspeople, convincing us that he sees them in a beautiful way and wishes he were beautiful in more ways than one like them, too.

Right down to the facial expressions, none of them are as anguished, happy, sad, excited, silly, in any convincing way like all of Disney’s other movies. Asha’s “low moment” when she’s afraid her “wish” hurt everyone else (still vague on what that wish ever was) lasts two seconds, she’s not crying, she’s barely sitting with slumped shoulders, and her family barely spend two seconds comforting her. They basically just say, “aw, no, it’s not y fault, it’s the king’s.” And she’s like, “yeah okay” and that’s that. It’s like the animators we’re afraid to animate really intimate emotions on the characters’ faces. The voice actors, too.

And the whole movie is peppered with Easter eggs to past Disney movies. But all that does, if you really know Disney beyond the visuals, is make you think of how hollow this movie is in comparison. How much you wish you were watching Cinderella or The Little Mermaid or something with depth and vulnerability instead of Wish.

#I’ll talk more in an organized fashion later #wish #disney’s wish #wish Disney #wish 2023 #critique #spoilers

[cosmic-light-fics]

I am slogging my way through an extremely tedious bout of writing inertia but I absolutely needed, needed, needed to get my thoughts out about this wonderful piece of work created by @sashafiercer. It's hard for me to articulate myself a lot of the time. I don't always think I am saying the things I want to say in the best way or the right way, and I fear I won't do justice to the works that I long to praise. That's why it's taking me forever and a day to be securely confident in divulging my thoughts on the absolute freaking masterpiece that is intimates conquering intimacy (if you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? A sign? Well consider this your sign. Go read it and get blessed by brilliance. Seriously).

Back to the point, though. The fact that I haven't been able to fully impart any of my love for this series to the masses of the SydCarmy fandom is ticking me off to levels of annoyance that, up until this point, have been unknown to humankind. So now with my little preamble and aired grievances out of the way, let's get down to the nitty-gritty, which is my long overdue love letter to what I love and cherish most about this series.

What do I love most about a need to amuse and enjoy?

Simple. The fact that it exists. I'm being completely honest. I don't think I have ever stumbled across a piece of writing that felt like it was made specifically for my consumption. I feel selfish a lot of the times when I go back and read the series (I've lost count how many times I've re-read it all. Just know I have a tab open to it at all times). I feel selfish because this series is everything I could have ever wanted in a SydCarmy fic. From all of Sydney and Carmy's interactions, to their spot-on dialogue, to the freakishly accurate humor, to the stark beats of emotional vulnerability. It is all there, in this series, and I get to read it however many times I want to, whenever I want to, for FREE! I get to be in this world that @sashafiercer created and experience all of these super sweet and challenging moments that make Sydney and Carmy so special as a couple. That's not even the half of it though. Reading this series is like watching a special continuation of the show. That's how great it is. I don't for one second feel like I am reading a fanfiction when I read this series. It's perfectly in alignment with the character's canon. And best of all, it's focusing solely on Sydney and Carmy, not only as a couple but who they are as individuals.

I love how no moment between them is a boring moment, even if it is the most seemingly mundane thing ever (e.g.: Sydney wrapping her arms around Carmy while he washes the dishes, Carmy eating a pb&j while Sydney freaks about them having sex for the first time, Carmy finding Sydney eating Mini Wheats in the middle of the night). I could read moments like that between them for the rest of my life and never get bored because there is a magic to those moments that @sashafiercer just grasps spectacularly and executes flawlessly. It truly is magical how this writer puts so much love and care into these intimate moments. It's so needed between them, this constant layer of every moment between Sydney and Carmy being on a level of intimacy and vulnerability that pushes them to continuously acknowledge, confront, and find peace in their love for each other.

Speaking of their love for each other... those sex scenes....

The epitome of fucking with feelings. I feel entitled to rest and recuperation after reading them make love for the first time because WHAT EVEN WAS THAT?!?! How in the world am I going to be able to describe all the ways in which I just COULD. NOT. EVEN!?!? Carmy's gentleness and passion and eagerness and Sydney's eagerness and her vulnerability and their utter devotion to each other is HURTING ME!! In the best way.

with the intention of forever just dropped and I don't even know what to do with myself and all these emotions. I don't want to spoil anything because it's new, but I didn't believe I could root for SydCarmy anymore than I already do. I don't think I will love any other depiction of Sydney and Carmy's love for each other more than I love this depiction. I love this series. I love it with my whole heart and I will be a glutton and just ravish every single word every single time I read it. It's a whole meal. It's seven course, three star cuisine. It's love defined specifically for Carmy and Sydney and I just want to be a part of every single moment. I want this series to go on forever. And if it doesn't, I'll just be so grateful to have what I have, which is everything to me already.

I don't want to stop singing this series' praises, but I've run out of words (thanks, writing inertia).

I love this series with my whole heart and it's the best feeling in the world. Thank you creating this @sashafiercer. Thank you for all the work and hours you put into this work. Thank you for the care and small little details that make this work so exceptional. This series has taken residence inside my entire being and truly is the highlight of my SydCarmy fandom experience.

#it needed to be said #10/10 highly recommend #magnificent in every way possible #sydcarmy #sydney x carmy #carmy x sydney #chef's kiss #carmy berzatto #sydney adamu #the bear fx #the bear fanfiction #starlette's list

[campgender]

hiii i was wondering if you had any sam/gabriel fic recs?? i read your fic (you talk like a man & taste like the sun) and it's driven me insane and i need more of them hehe

thanks for your time and also love the fic !!!! excellent excellent writing i cannot stop thinking abt it

thank you so much, that one is really special to me and i’m so glad you liked it!! & OOH excellent question and although i’ve read a lot of them, i’m also on the lookout for any recs folks may have because it’s very difficult to find something without one or more of the seven deadly sins of sam/gabriel fic - ableism, untagged w*ncest, anti-addict rhetoric, an abundance of diet culture, random transphobia, plain old bad writing, and gabriel not being enough of an asshole.

multiple choice, open response by @bendingsignpost is far and away my favorite. the characterization is absolutely immaculate - the layers of mind games, distractions, and defensiveness make me genuinely jealous of the craftsmanship in the best way. i’ve read it like three times in the past two weeks. 12k, rated E

Gabriel snorts. “How’s this: if you can prove you know me so well, I’ll tell you all the boring little nitty gritty details of my tete-a-tete with Death. Deal?”

Hollow’s Gate by chiaroscure fucks hard; the atmosphere and tension are ramped up in a way that can’t be described as anything other than delicious, the premise is original and engaging, and this one also hits the oft-neglected but very vital fact that gabriel often sucks. i rarely read works that aren’t yet complete but this was very worth it. 46k, rated E, in progress (10/11 chapters posted)

Sam holds the glass tightly and searches Gabriel’s face. There’s something mischievous about the crinkles around his eyes and the sharp line of his mouth, but he’s easy to talk to and unjudgmental of anything that he has seen or that Sam has said so far (lots to judge in a gathering of hunters, for a guy wearing a silk waistcoat). He makes Sam feel like he’s in on a joke, even when there’s no joke to be in on. That kind of reminds him of Dean, and it sets Sam at ease.

A Feeling Like You’ve Been Here Before by @majorenglishesquire is languid in the best way, like being half-asleep on a humid summer afternoon. really captures the aimlessness of their states at the time and does some interesting emotional exploration. 15k, rated E

"It's alright," Gabriel says at last, waving it all off. "It's alright. You know what? I'm gonna get you ripped, I'm gonna loosen up whatever has you screwed up so tight. We're gonna make out, and it's gonna be fine. So it's alright," he repeats again. "Say whatever you gotta say."

Open and Shut by @entanglednow for a short and not-quite-sweet glimpse into their dynamic. 1k, rated E

"Do you enjoy playing with me?" Sam asks. He means it to sound like an accusation but it comes out quieter, stranger.

"I always have," Gabriel says simply.

for anyone interested, my fic they mentioned is available here - 12k, rated E. and as i mentioned please hmu with recs if you have any :)

#mothmanchronicler #sabriel #samgabriel #spn #fic rec #asks

[organchordsandlightning]

3, 15, and 25 for the fanfic writer asks!

from fanfic end of the year asks

3. Favorite Line/Scene You Wrote This Year?

hmmmm. 🤔I was glancing through my fics and this one came to mind, from Herald of Death - I really like writing Sherlock Holmes, because the cadence I tend to fall back onto lends itself really well into pretty-sounding lines.

“Watson, if a patient came to you presenting symptoms of a most severe degree, almost obviously pointing to a swift and certain demise, would you be at all surprised to find them passed away some days later? In those circumstances, do you feel like a doctor, or only some herald of death?”

15. Something You Learned This Year

so I wrote a lot of mystery and/or science-fiction this year, and a lot of the time, I get caught up in the nitty-gritty details what happened when (I'm thinking a lot of 'Oh, I Love You So Much' that involved alternate timelines/time travel, etc. and an Ace Attorney murder mystery I'm working on). A lot of things can happen off-screen, sometimes you have to explain how technical science fiction works in your specific fic, etc etc and I had a hard time with over-explaining it to death just to answer any imaginary questions the reader might have.

what I did learn is that over-explaining can make things super boring, and a really helpful way to go about it is... write it. over-explain it. make sure you, the author, understand exactly what's going on, who's doing what off-page, etc etc. and then delete, like, 85% of it and make sure what you've deleted comes through the world without being explained. if it doesn't, then it probably wasn't important to begin with.

25. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read

I've making several references to fandoms that we don't share jay :blobuwu:

All That Glitters Is What's Holding You Together - Critical Role, Ashton & Milo obfuscate - MASH, BJ & Hawkeye, Hot Lips & Hawkeye Tables and Chairs - Zombies, Run!, Jack Holden/Eugene Woods

#ty for the ask jay!!! i only answered it three thousand years late

[vacantgodling]

this or that writer’s edition!

thanks @void-botanist for the tag! 💛 i’ll tag @kudzucataclysm @jezifster @henrike-does-writing-sometimes @calicojackofficial & anyone else who’d like to do this!

1.historical or futuristic

a rule of thumb about getting to know me and my writing is i’m not a fan of writing things that are TOTALLY in the realm of our reality. i will write fanfiction and i have (1) story where it’s fully set irl with nothing crazy happening but i’m just not a fan of being historically accurate. i’d rather get inspired by history and make my own shit based off of, or just be generally futuristic or removed from a time that can be recognizable.

2.the opening chapter or closing chapter

this is hard bc i kind of don’t like doing either. however i have written more preemptive endings than beginning sequences and i enjoy being able to tie everything up with a bow based on all that history established in the narrative before.

3.light & fluffy or dark & gritty

if i had to pick i’d pick dark and gritty simply bc extremely light hearted stories do bore me fjfjfjrj. it reminds me of a conversation i had with my religious mother once where i said i think the concept of heaven is boring simply because once you’re totally removed from struggles and hardships it becomes difficult to find the value in happiness and good times. i don’t want people irl to struggle for shit they don’t have to (like food or shelter or safety or whatever) but learning to work towards goals that you want and having roadblocks or hurdles you have to overcome really makes you appreciate when you get there imo. so as irl, i apply the same logic to my storytelling. if there isn’t shit the characters have to overcome then what’s the point of the story lol.

i will say this with the fact that i do enjoy thinking about and talking about characters being happy and fuwa fuwa, and i don’t typically like writing bleak or dire endings, but i think some struggle is important. builds character (literally).

4.animal companion or found family

to keep this answer short i’m just not that attached to animals personally. i think they’re cute and should be preserved and taken care of but i don’t wanna do it so i don’t put them in my stories like that.

5.horror or romance

definitely both but i really like injecting my work with horror. horror romance itself is a great genre lol so like. would rather not pick but i think horror slightly edges out.

6.hard or soft magic system

eugh this is hard bc all magic is good magic to me— however i think soft magic is a bit more flexible which i like. semi-hard magic systems are usually where i’m most comfortable because i like having established overall guidelines for how magic works and who can use it or what it entails but i don’t like getting into the super nitty gritty spell type shit bc that’s more video game land aka practical application. stories are more about the aesthetic and about the vibe so some flexibility is good :)

7.standalone or series

i am incapable of writing stand-alones every time i try it always ends up bigger than i planned. i have some standalones in the works tho that won’t be getting any bigger i know for a fact (they’re contained and i have self restraint occasionally) but i love being able to worldbuild and plan to my hearts content so series is more fun lol.

8.one project at a time or always juggling two+

adhd brain go brrrrrrrrr. tbh i’m usually juggling 10 or more ngl 💀

9.one award winner or one best seller

one award winner only bc if only one of my books was a bestseller idk if i’d ever be satisfied with which one it was and that others weren’t lmao. i think the only story i would be satisfied with being my ONLY best seller would be paramour but that is a pipe dream, this is not the climate for that raunchy mess lol.

10.fantasy or sci-fi

i like scifi but i tend to gravitate away from it bc it tends to require more hard/practical application—as in i feel pressured to have a legitimate reason why shit works as it does bc it’s more technological than fantasy where i can say “shit happens just cuz.” i think a sweet spot for me would be if i can learn how to chill out and do more fantasy-scifi hybrids but i have no clue how to do that yet LMAO.

11.character or setting description

i enjoy both, but i picked setting bc i think with how this question is worded it means characters physical appearance and that’s lower down on my list. i like describing characters emotions and headspace more than what they look like lol.

12.first or final draft

i’ve never gotten to that point but the idea of being so happy with something that i don’t have to FULLY rehaul it is a lovely fantasy.

13.love triangle in everything or no romantic arcs

you can pry romance from my cold dead hands

14.constant sandstorm or rainstorm

i hate precipitation but rain is better fkfjfjfj

#about renjamin

[slaughterchichi]

Letter Ask Game:

B, N, T, W

Hey, thank you! Sorry this took a while to answer.

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind

If this has ever happened, I don’t recall it. On rarer ships usually I’m the one going “look at this” and trying to make people see my side.

Anyway, because this is a boring answer I will give you different but similar lore. When I first decided to watch One Piece, my friends insisted I was going to love Sanji and ZoSan. I’m a fickle bitch so I wanted to prove them wrong and really, really tried not to fall into ZS hell. Obviously, that did not work out lmao

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

This one’s hard. There are things I don’t want more than things I want extra, if that makes sense? But I guess I want… more people to ship things that I like. If more people were into Kiryu/Akiyama I would be incredibly happy. When I posted my fic for them, it was the 8th work on AO3 and now they have 37! So that’s nice.

Overall I want more kink content in every fandom I’m in, and… well. I wish people would be more vocal about liking things in general.

For example: I’ve been told multiple times that people have really liked some things I thought had flopped (lesbian ZS, all that glisters) and it’s kind of depressing. I was shown some screenshots from a server and I was like “...okay” because none of that enjoyment or excitement actually got back to me. If the people who like it never tell me how am I meant to know? I just view the initial kudos and the comments, and when there’s not many of them it tells me that no one wants more of that.

Please, for the love of everything that is holy, tell creators directly when you like their works!!

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending, about anything at all (gender identity, sexual or romantic orientation, extended family, sexual preferences like top/bottom/switch, relationship with poetry, seriously anything)

Yes. I’m very much a “no reverse” kind of person when it comes to pairings. Feelings can go whichever way you want but when it comes to the nitty-gritty of sexy time I have a set way I like things to go. This is why I don’t really write opposite things. When it comes to who’s initiating or Dom/sub dynamics I’m way more flexible though.

Because I’ve been in fandom for a veeeeryyyyy long time I have had so many headcanons over the years that have been disproven or things have changed to make them less fun so I dunno on that one. The longer you look at things the more open your mind becomes to other possibilities too, so some stuff I was hard-and-fast about (ZS being virgins) has definitely evolved. Sometimes all you need is a good trustworthy friend with an intriguing argument haha.

W - 5 favorite ships and 5 kinks you like best for said ships

I tend to gravitate towards characters with similar traits so it’s kinda hard to separate kinks and ships from one another like this. Mainly though, if you look, most of my ships have one (or two) smokers in them, often a big burly guy and a slimmer guy and the slimmer one usually fights with their legs, so… hahaha. One day I should make a venn diagram and then you’ll see what I mean.

There’s also a difference between kinks too, because…well. I tend to view “kinks” as BDSM things whereas people will call pretty much anything a kink these days. So there’s like BDSM kink, physical trait kinks and then the sort-of fantasy ones (transformation, vore, etc)? I’m not big on the fantasy kind. I like stuff that is possible in reality the most.

The other thing about this is: some ships are not made for kink content. I know this may have people side-eyeing me given my history but I do actually take into consideration the characters, their dynamics etc before I try to throw kinky stuff on them. Would they be into it? Is there a way I can validate this kink on this character? There’s kinks I really like that simply don’t fit with the pairings I have, so I don’t write them. Perhaps one day I will be able to write those kinks, but not right now.

This was a lot of paragraphs not to actually answer the question but hopefully you have an idea.

Fandom meme: Come at me friend | Send an Ask!

#ask game #fandom meme come at me friend

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

What are some books you genuinely enjoyed and think are really well-written?

Liking things?? Me?? Unheard of!

So these are pretty much all SFF because that’s the majority of what I read. Contemporary bores me to death rip

Young Adult:

Shadow glass by Rin Chupeco

I liked the first two books a lot! Unfortunately I think it didn’t really stick the landing in the last one? But the first two are fun, I enjoyed the worldbuilding particularly. And it’s told through a framing device where the protagonist is relaying the story several years in the future, where the circumstances are *completely* different and it’s cool to try to figure out how things are going to turn out the way they are. And like trying to predict how the protagonist is going to inevitably spiral and what is the cause of her falling out with the majority of the people in her life.

The Diabolic by S J Kincaid

This is probably my favorite YA book series? Ever? It’s kind of like… Hamlet in Space if Ophelia was a super soldier bodyguard pretending to be the *real* Ophelia. It’s incredibly YA, it’s incredibly soapy, and an absolute roller coaster. It’s also hard for me not to point out failings in the things I like, and I do think this series makes some… choices, but I do generally love it for how wild it is.

Also the last book came out at some point last year and while I read it on release I’m still percolating on how I feel about it lmao. So I’m still undecided there.

Adult:

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Her writing style >>>>>>

I adore the imagery in all of her stories and the atmosphere. I’m incredibly picky about fairytale retelling and I’m generally pretty damn bored with them at this point, but this collection is just so good.

The titular story is a Bluebeard retelling and it’s just so evocative and brutal! Idk I love it. Erlking and Lady of the House of Love were notable faves.

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This is such an ambitious, odd little space opera! The story follows a colony ship, housing the last of humanity, on a desperate journey to find a safe planet to settle down in.

Meanwhile the chapters alternate by showing us the gradual development and evolution of a society of telepathic matriarchal spiders? Idk it’s impossible to succinctly describe everything this book deals with but it’s very compelling! I felt like the ending was… mildly a cop out? But it’s a very cool book

The Poppy War by RF Kuang

I went into the first book somehow under the impression that it was YA because of the initial academy setting and then it really. really. was not lmao. It lifts heavily from Chinese history, and while it’s not a 1:1 it’s really interesting how it engages with real events. The second book is probably my favorite. Bring me all the naval warfare lol.

But yeah it’s an absolutely gutting series. And like the protagonist commits actual legit genocide. The trigger warnings list is… very very long. So maybe check that out before getting into it.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

I’ve yet to finish this series but I looove the worldbuilding and the protagonist is fucking stone cold omg.

I’ve heard this book described as econipunk? It’s everything I love about court intrigue and getting into the real nitty gritty of how government *works.* Basically the protagonist tries to rise up the ranks within an evil empire that colonized her home country. And she’s just a fantastic Machiavellian type. I love her so much.

Misc:

Anyway I ran out of bandwidth to go over everything else in detail rip but I also love most of Haruki Murakami’s work! NK Jemisin has the coolest ideas, and Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, while def her most uneven work, as a debut, also left a huge impression on me. The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence is also extremely grimdark with a villain protagonist but I enjoyed it a lot! Another one where I suggest checking out TWs first. Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo is REALLY GOOD it’s also a fairly short novella and I’ve yet to read the sequels. The world buildinggggg. The authors other books also look promising.

I’m also a huge fan of the Vampire Chronicles though…I wouldn’t call them necessarily well written.

Honorable mention to SJM’s first Crescent City book, not because it was necessarily groundbreaking but I was so astonished to actually like it. I haven’t read the sequel yet so idk if that’s going to ruin it for me.

Also to rattle off some classics: the Philip Marlowe series by Raymond Chandler, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Dracula by Bram Stoker (surprising no one). My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier.

#this is just off the top of my head I’m sure I’m missing so many good books #book talk #i ramble sometimes #all the bendy punctuations #a mysterious stranger has appeared #*writer's cap*

[thetypedwriter]

Firekeeper’s Daughter Book Review

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that all of my in-depth reviews contain spoilers. 

Firekeeper’s Daughter Book Review by Angeline Boulley 

Well, this book review came quicker than I thought it would (which after weeks since my last published review for an actual novel that may sound absurd, but I promise it isn’t). 

There’s a lot of great things about this book and a lot of really important representation, but I also found it to be an incredible slog to trudge through. 

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley is the story of a girl by the name of Daunis Fontaine who finds herself stuck between two worlds: her Fontaine side, also known as her zhaaganaash or white side, and her Native side, or known as her Anishinaabe side, or even more specifically, Ojibwe side. 

The debut novel from Boulley mainly describes Daunis’ struggle between these two worlds, the important people in them, and the war within herself to follow her heart, her gut, and her mind. 

In the background of this identity struggle, or perhaps largely influenced by it, Daunis finds herself inexplicably tangled up in a secret federal investigation into a specific type of meth being produced in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that affects people not only in her community, but other Native communities as well. 

Suddenly finding herself becoming a spy, Daunis starts to learn and keep secrets, those in regards to the investigation as well as those regarding her feelings for fellow investigator-Jamie Johnson-an undercover narcotics cop posing as the cute new highschooler in town. 

As Daunis deals with her own internal struggles, her community, her relationships, and her burgeoning romance, her past, future, and present all collide and come to a head in this new novel. 

Now. Reading this summary, you might be thinking: this book sounds awesome! Love? Undercover cops? Drugs? Mystery? It has everything. 

And you’d be right. 

When I first read the jacket cover for this novel I knew it was a book I was inevitably going to read. Everything from the gorgeous cover art, to the intriguing summary, to the representation of Native Americans, I was completely drawn in. 

Too bad I didn’t like it very much. 

I will start off by saying that I think this book is incredible in its realistic depiction of the Ojibwe experience and I know how important it is to increase representation of all kinds of people and backgrounds in literature, especially YA literature. 

Boulley did an absolutely stunning job of relaying the nitty-gritty of the Ojibwe community-the elders, the geography, the food, the stigma, the finances, the politics, the reputation, the racism, the prejudice, the community, the love, the healing, and so much more. 

I always am in awe when authors utilize the golden rule of write what you know. Per the back jacket of the novel, Boulley herself states that she is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and an active storyteller of the Ojibwe community. 

This is beyond incredible. Having an accurate and active portrayal of people writing and drawing from their own experiences are powerful and significant. I could taste, feel, and see how clear and how real Boulley made the novel. 

I questioned a lot of things during this read, but the Ojibwe community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was not one of them. From vocabulary to the extreme details depicting Sugar Island to the care and craft when talking about specific ceremonies like funerals, Boulley did an outstanding job of bringing in what she knows from her own experience and that of her community in order to breathe life into these pages. 

This was by far the best part of the novel for me. 

On the back jacket, Boulley also states that she was a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. While I did not know this until a few minutes ago when I sat down to write this review, I am in no way surprised. 

The book was extremely intelligent. I could viscerally tell that Boulley knows her stuff and does her research. Everything from biology and chemistry processes and vocabulary, to mushroom identification, to legal matters like having an underage informant, politics regarding becoming a member of the Ojibwe Tribe, and due process of the law regarding FBI cases was very clear cut, very detailed, and obviously very accurate. 

I appreciated how much time and effort was put into this, even if I did find a lot of it bone dry and dull, I still could appreciate the time, effort, and knowledge to make sure that everything in the novel was precise and correct. 

That being said, it also made the book come across almost like an informational pamphlet at times, or like I was reading non-fiction. I understand being accurate, and I applaud her for that, but I don’t need or want five pages of in-book description of how one of these processes work. Just give me the bare-bones outline and I will go from there and look it up more if I so desire. 

This brings me to my first critique of this book and a large reason it was so tedious to get through: it was mind-numbingly long. 

Now. I just read a 2,000 page fanfiction not that long ago. That is long, you could argue, and you would be right. But, none of All of the Young Dudes was a bore to get through (sad, sure, but not boring), whereas whole sections of Firekeeper’s Daughter were too dragged out and too explicitly explained that I inevitably got bored and nodded off. 

The pace was too slow and too bogged down with unimportant details, like Daunis’ daily visits to the elders or her overthinking every single thing, or her making lists of all the things she doesn’t know (these are long lists). 

She often spends whole pages grieving about her Uncle David as well as her best friend Lily, and while understandable and realistic in real life, it was not fun nor productive to read about over and over and over again. 

Take for example, the very beginning of the book. It takes over 100 pages for Daunis to realize the new-boy-next-door isn’t who he says he is and that he’s actually an undercover cop here to investigate a new strain of meth and asks for her help. 

Over 100 pages of set up. 

It was so goddamn boring. 

It got better once she became involved with the investigation, but then so did the whining, the overthinking, and the reflecting. The first 100 pages could have been condensed to 20. No joke, I would have gotten the same exposition out of that I did. 

In addition, despite things taking so long or not serving a purpose, I was often confused about what was happening, which is an overall unpleasant experience. Boulley simultaneously describes everything and yet nothing at the same time.

 The reason for this discrepancy is because she often used native language to describe feelings, events, people, etc and while some of the words I learned over time, often the words left me confused or bewildered. 

I appreciate the use of native language, but it also left me with big gaps while reading or made me struggle to put pieces together as they were happening. 

The pace of the novel overall was incredibly bad. Things either took 12 years or two minutes. The actual plot to show up? 12 Years. Daunis and Jamie to fall in love classic YA style? Two minutes. Daunis to find Uncle David’s notebook? 12 years. The final confrontation of the bad guys? Two minutes. 

With any event, it either felt sluggish or way too quick and mashing these two together in one novel was disorienting and frustrating, not to mention it made me not want to read. 

Additionally, while I generally thought the plot was very interesting, who doesn’t like undercover cop stories? I thought all of the characters were very forgettable or downright shells. 

Daunis was...a textbook female character in my eyes. The way she spouted off knowledge like the periodic table to fall asleep or reciting the scientific method wasn’t cool or new, it was irritating.

To me she wasn’t real. 

She was someone’s idea of a female character who seemed cool, but wasn’t. Nothing about Daunis made me think of her as a great character. If anything, she just seemed like an empty vessel I was reading the book through, like the book was happening to me instead (cough cough Mary Sue). 

Some of you may be upset with this statement, and that’s fine, but other than her love of science, her knowledge of geography, and her ties to the community, nothing about Daunis was a real person. 

She hardly had friends, I don’t recall learning anything she liked or disliked (other than Jamie, hockey, and running) , and she was entirely surmised of the people who had left her and the identity struggle she had been born with. I don’t mean to undermine people who struggle with their identity, I know that’s important, but there is more to people than just that. 

None of the other characters are frankly worth mentioning. 

You might ask, what about Jamie? The shadowy, scarred love interest?

*Shrugs*

He’s fine. Genuinely that’s all I can say about him. We don’t even learn his real name as Jamie Johnson is a fake. All I know is that he’s got curly hair, a scar, and doesn’t know who he is. It’s hard to like a character when the character themselves have no idea of who they are. 

The other characters either die or are in the background to progress the plot along. 

To be fair, it’s a good plot. It’s intriguing, it’s mysterious, and I learned more than I ever thought I would about meth and mushrooms, but it doesn’t make up for the dead-end characters or the pacing issues. 

I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t like it. I guess I can say that I feel indifferent about this book, although the representation of Native Americans bumps it up slightly for me from being dead average. 

The storytelling isn’t spectacular, even if the idea is promising, but if you have been searching for representation like this in YA I can see how this book would be much more impactful and important and I’m happy to have it as a part of the YA collective. 

Recommendation: At the end of the day, this novel is a true smorgasbord. I love the representation, the draws from Boulley’s real life, and the intelligence, but I didn’t see any of the characters as real people, the pacing issues made it hard to gain and keep interest going, and the dialogue often came across to me as someone's warped version of what teenager’s sound like. 

Score: 6/10

#firekeepersdaughter #angeline boulley #ya fiction #YA Books #YA literature #book blog #book review #Book Recommendations #YA Book Review #ya book rec #nativewomen #nativebooks #representation in fiction #book rec #book reccs #6/10

[trillgutterbug]

Fic Writer Questions!

tagged by @palamedessextus 😊 thanks friend!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

64! only five more to the magic number ayyyyy and then i’m legally obligated to never post another one.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

289,575 apparently??? which seems way way way higher than i ever would have guessed, wow. who knew!

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

31 on ao3, although that’s lumping, eg, all marvel subfandoms together. but i have a ridiculous amount of wips in all kinds of other fandoms that i haven’t/won’t post, soooo.... more than that! and i don’t want to list them all bc that’d be a long boring read!

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

it serenely disdains to destroy us, a magnus archives fic that, i somewhat vainly note, has been orbiting in the top few top kudosed fics in the tag since i posted it womp womp.

concerning flight, because we all thirsty for thor/loki+gender and i for one support us.

untitled porny snippet (yes that’s actually what it’s called), because same as above. (i see u, kudos-to-comment ratio and i aint mad but.... i see u. all you dirty birds out there shamefully yet silently jerking it. kudos to YOU.)

an experiment in posthumous subsistence, a batman/joker zombie au i wrote fucking TEN YEARS AGO ALMOST. why???? why is this fic so popular?? i’m barely a good writer now and i sure as shit wasn’t one a decade ago! the terrible title alone should disqualify it from being read, but i guess the people want what they want. and what they want is batman and joker handcuffed together, trying to escape the zombie apocalypse  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

all good things, some stucky hydra trash party-adjacent smut regarding piercings. i stand by this one 100%, it deserves every kudo(s?) tbh.

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

i do, depending on the comment! i don’t think comments like “loved this!” / “thanks for writing!” are written with the intent to receive a response (or at least, when i write them on other people’s fics, i certainly don’t expect one). they’re like an extra kudo(s?), and i appreciate them a lot, but they’re not really an invitation to Discuss. whereas if someone clearly has put a lot of thought into a comment, or asked a question, or made some observations that i jive with, or just seems like they want to engage, then hell yeah i jump in there. love that shit. 

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

i guess arguably thine own self, which is some hydra husbands abo. laugh all you want, it’s one of my fave of all my fics lmao. probably specifically bc of the unpleasant/open ending.

7) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

probably moderation is a memory! since it, unlike 99% of all my other stuff, isn’t just total smut, and the whole point of writing it was to wallow as deep as possible in the sauce of giddy teenage infatuation, it got the opportunity to have an actual emotional arc (more or less). furthermore i could not possibly bring myself to break johnny lawrence’s tender little heart ever, that would hurt me far more than it would hurt him.

8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

i only realised while answering this question that apparently.... no i don’t write crossovers! which is not at all a deliberate choice, i guess a compelling enough one just hasn’t occurred to me yet! 

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

shockingly no! by some accidental miracle i’ve managed to fly under the radar so far, despite some of the really buckwild stuff i’ve posted. however, considering some of the stuff i’m probably ABOUT to post.... that clean track record might soon come to an end lmao.

10) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

lmao. uhhhh. almost exclusively, and i guess??? all kinds? this is clearly a question composed by someone who does not write smut.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of, and i wouldn’t really care if i did. 

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

yeah i think a few....? a number of people have asked anyway and i always say yes, so probably there’s at least one floating around out there somewhere.

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

i have! just once, and we really made it count. it’s called a reptile dysfunction, which should tell you all you need to know. 

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

thorki, probably. i always have and always will come back to it, no matter what. it’s got such a ferociously timeless staying power and so much potential variation, i don’t think i could ever get bored of it, regardless of what level of marvel-exhaustion i might feel at a given time, or what tropes, kinks, or stage of literary pretension i’m at. truly the oh tee pee. 

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

ohhhhh all 836575927 of them, but. there’s this one thorki fic i started almost ten years ago as an experiment with a new-to-me style, which turned out over the intervening years to become my main style, and looking back on that fic, which for many years was a touchstone of writing-to-aspire to for me, it’s actually Not Very Good lol. but i still love the core concept, which is a canon divergence berserker thor au, but not only is it a somewhat inaccessible (admittedly less so since the deadpool movies came out, which was a hilarious pipe dream back when i started writing it) x-force comics crossover, but i wrote myself into a bunch of corners and have yet to dig up the energy to write myself back out of them! i go and reread it every year or so and think “hmm... maybe now...” but tbh it’s just not really good enough to bother! perhaps someday i’ll repurpose the best elements of it into something new.

16) What are your writing strengths?

man, it’s so hard to say. in much the same way that you can spend hours every day staring at yourself in a mirror, yet be utterly incapable of picking yourself out of a lineup, i spend a lot of time eyeballing my writing, but stepping back it seems like a chaotic mass of nonsense with few cohesive throughlines. i’m good at writing smut, i know that much! and in that vein, i think i am good at smut bc i am very good at committing to the bit, as it were. getting into the nitty gritty of experience and sensation (physical or emotional) and rendering largely abstract internal concepts in fairly comprehensible ways. i think my prose is quite decent on a sentence level too.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

utterly incapable of finishing anything! or plotting anything! can’t mange a cohesive emotional arc! write myself into overly structured corners or out onto a vast plain with no structure in sight! all the macro elements of storytelling totally elude me, which is very frustrating when i have all this tasty fleshed out micro-level character stuff, but no narrative skeleton upon which to drape it.

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?   don’t! unless you are very sure you know what you’re doing, and the other language bits are a) very few, b) easily contextually understood, and c) actually adding something other than a weird flex that you know google translate exists.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

11yo me wrote spock/kirk/janice rand and thought she invented the concept of a threesome. brand been stronk since day one 🤘. (the vulcan salute is right next to the devil horns in my emoji list, so....)

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

i love the (ongoing) better with you series very much, not least because i’m still absolutely flabbergasted that i wrote something that long. i think it’s actually pretty good all things considered and it’s very dear to me on many many levels. but the fic that i just viscerally adore, that i love the style of, and that i had such a transcendent, invigorating, organic Experience writing, is temper its strength, adding honey until quite cold, which is a terror fic with the inexplicable pairing of edward little/hartnell, featuring crossdressing and gender stuff. it just burst out of me fully formed one day and i don’t think i’ve managed to top it yet! 

lowkey tagging @lingua-mortua @pitcherplant @kaasknot @froggy-babyy @deputychairman @nomercyonlytears @clockheartedcrocodile

#writing meme #whoops it's 3:30am #excellent life choices courtesy of: yours truly

[pocmuzings]

hi g! i am an admin of an rp and i really strive to make it as inclusive as possible so muns of all fcs feel welcome. i'm curious to know, when you are looking for an rp what do you look for in terms of admins making it inclusive? this isn't meant to be pointed at all, i am just genuinely looking to improve!

i feel like i answer this a fair bit , and honestly my answers don’t change too much ? there’s a plethora of things u can do , and by no means  are these definitive . these are things ive noticed make me feel more included , or Safe to join a rp . speaking as a woc , and somebody in the Cursed tz . .

if ur an admin ..  u should absolutely be playing a diverse character . please for the love of god . u should be the example of what the rp is about and what u wanna see . if ur char is just a cis whitey . . that just doesnt cut it for me ! thats not what i wanna see in 2021 !

when asked for most wanted fcs . . really name some ‘ unpopular ‘ fcs . aka faceclaims of colour . faceclaims that are gender diverse , body diverse , religiously diverse , different able bodied , etc , etc , etc !!! put these fcs in the forefront ! push for them ! strive to see them !

if somebody joins ur rp as a ‘ non popular fc ‘ aka . . a fc that isnt a whitey , or like . .zendaya . pls put in extra effort to plot and rp with them ! pls pls pls. because i guaranteed for the most part , especially in an established rp , they will be ignored otherwise ! if ur rp is super inclusive ooc , then this most likely wont happen , but also . . most rps arent super inclusive ooc lets be 100 here . 

either write skeletons for chars that are DIFFERENT and ‘ challenging ‘ to some , or ENCOURAGE these characters to be written . write more smooth talking business men who are indian ! write characters who are hard of hearing ! write characters who wear hijabis ! who are ethnic but have great relationships with their parents ! write characters who are in wheelchairs , or are sexy and confident in their plus sized bodies . write characters who are black women who are soft , but still strong . write gentle black men . write a  trans man , write a nonbinary god , etc , etc . defeat the stereotypes ! turn them on their head ! there are guides ! there is so much out there ! we can create the world we wanna live in , so why fill it with boring white cis , hetero normative ppl ???

know what ur gonna do with ur characters , plot wise . if ur rp has a plot , thats fantastic ! but . . u probably have to carry that momentum . ppl join ur rp bc they probably LIKE the plot and wanna explore the plot . so how r they characters gonna be involved ? whats their part in it all ? how will it help them develop ? what plot drops / tasks / events can u host that will make ppl do more with their chars and be more active ? 

don’t have an ooc chat . just don’t . please . they’re so cliquey , they literally always are . those who like ooc chats are usually the ppl who r cliquey , im being honest fjknfjn . there is no point in having an ooc chat , really either . ppl can add each other on discord at any time , for free , if they want .

have clear boundaries . what can and CANNOT be rped . what fcs can and CANNOT be used . have a very very clear line . no lazy ‘ no taboo plots ‘ or ‘ no big plots without talking to admins ‘ ‘ no triggering topics ‘ ‘ no deceased fcs ‘ . no . u need to get in the nitty gritty . u need to ensure ur harbouring and keeping a safe space for those entering ur rp

be friendly , as an admin . be firm . but also , be very very open and candid and honest . if something goes wrong ? its so fine , and honestly v human , to post abt it ! if there’s drama ? its rlly good to address it and talk abt it amongst ur rpers . listen to ur rpers , if theres a problem . create open communication . maintain it . show that u care and want to help , when u can help , whilst also maintaining ur own sanity !

advertise ur rp for different timezones ! if ur entire ooc list is just rpers in the united states . . look .  nothing wrong with it , but firstly , make sure everyone in the rp doesnt think america is the whole world ( the rpc  / america rlly thinks its the whole fucking world sometimes ) . this means , dont make fun of ppl for spelling things differently ( honestly im  just australian and this guy once made fun of me for spelling it as ‘ offence ‘ not ‘ offense ‘ . like . . ok im not american . the whole world isnt america kjfnjf ) . this doesn’t mean u need to be online at bizarre hours or ruining ur sleeping pattern , but try and get an admin thats in a diff timezone to help cover things ! or just make sure ur rlly advertising ur rp at allll times of a day . including when us ppl are usually asleep ! try and encourage other muns in other timezones to apply ! and when they do apply , pls try ur best to include them and make sure theyre not left out of everything !

theres probably a lot more but this is what first comes to mind for me , personally . this are usually my ‘ green signs ‘ ( go go go ! ) for a rp ! when i see this stuff on a main , or by an admin . . i feel very Warm n fuzzy . 

#shutup g. #rph #rpc #again i know im missing a lot but hee honk #Anonymous

[tmntgirlie]

Saviors in a Half Shell 4

Ah, the plan. The plan to help Y/N, the plan specifically created and constructed to assist Y/N. The Y/N Plan.

Splinter was, as usual, the first to wake up.

He loved his sons dearly, but he also loved the quiet he had when he woke up before them. Once at least one was awake, he knew he would be forced to socialize, step into his fatherly role (not that he didn’t love it, but everybody needs a break from time to time), give advice that only a rat father could. Especially right now, he knew that all four of his sons were nervous about their roles. It was warranted.

It was the ripe time of almost noon. He decided it was about time to make his first cup of tea for the day. Tea was always a pleasant beginning.

As the kettle began to head up, he heard a rustling near the doorway. “Leonardo, you’re awake early-” he began to say, but stopped when he saw who it really was.

Y/N stood, rubbing her eyes. Her hair was a little bit all over the place, something dark shaded under her eyes. “I’m so sorry, what was your name again?”

“You may call me Splinter, my dear. What are you doing up so early?” he asked warily.

“I don’t usually sleep this late,” the girl said, covering her mouth when she yawned. “I’ll take it that last night wasn’t really a dream.”

Splinter quietly added a little more water and tea leaves to the kettle. “You would be correct. Did you sleep well?”

“For someone that doesn’t like sleeping anywhere but my own bed, I’d say so.” She gave him a small smile. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Welcoming me into your home,” Y/N said with a shrug. “A stranger, giving me a safe place to sleep.”

“We help those who are in need of help,” he told her, leaning against the makeshift countertop. “You were not in a good place last night. Would you agree?”

Y/N nodded silently.

“I won’t pry into your personal health,” he said. “But I’d like you to know that we can be here for you if you want us. My sons aren’t like anybody else. They may be rough around the edges, but they have good hearts. They want to help you just like I do.”

He poured two cups of tea and gestured for them to continue their conversation elsewhere. She followed him down a few more narrow hallways, carefully holding her cup to keep it from spilling. He pushed back a few curtains to reveal a greenhouse of sorts. It was warm, the air was moist, and the room was filled with potted plants, flowers, and what she thought were herbs of sorts.

“It’s amazing,” she said quietly. “I never thought these kinds of things were even possible down here. You live down here. It’s amazing.”

“We made do with what is available to us,” Splinter said with a small smile. “This is all we have ever known.”

“How did you- you know, come to be?” Y/N asked.

The question he was waiting for.

“As you probably could have guessed,” he chuckled. “We aren’t your typical rat and turtles. Years ago, we were subjects in an experiment to create a substance that could withstand a harsh environment.” He spared her the nitty gritty details, it was likely too early for that.

“One night, a fire erupted in the lab. We managed to escape, though at the time we were still seen as the ordinary rat and four turtles. As years went by, we grew into what we are. It has been twenty-two long years. I took the role as both father and master of the turtles. It wasn’t easy, but it needed to be done.”

“That’s amazing,” she repeated, a little more enthusiastic this time. “You could write a book about this.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “I’m afraid not. You see, we aren’t accepted by the general population of this city. A select few humans have actually had the pleasure of seeing us for who we are and not what we look like. You are now one of them.” Splinter carefully sat his cup of tea down on a bare crate. He picked up a watering can and began to get to work.

“Need any help?”

“I enjoy doing this myself, but the company is appreciated. If you have any more questions, I’m sure my sons would be happy to explain their life stories to you.”

Y/N searched her mind for their names. It had been so late, the events of the night prior were blurry. She remembered their faces. Each wore a different colored mask. They were all so different, so unique- what were their names?

“Dad, I can’t find-” A voice rang through the greenhouse-room. She instantly recognized it, the first voice she heard. The first one she remembered.

Y/N turned to see who she instantly recognized as Leonardo, Leo. It had just dawned on her that their names were in reference to Renaissance painters. She’d have to ask about that later.

The turtle stopped. “Oh. There you are.”

She waved awkwardly. “Here I am.” She gave him a small smile.

Yeah, okay. These guys were freakishly huge turtles. Who were extremely muscular, bore weapons draped over their shells and at their sides. Sure. But they were her rescuers. She was comfortable with using that word now.

Leonardo noticeably relaxed. “You’re up early.”

“It’s almost noon. I usually wake up before eight,” she said. “...Thank you.”

He tilted his head. “What?”

“Thank you. For last night. I know it was… Not the greatest way to meet you guys, or for you to meet me.” Her gaze shifted down to her feet. “I just have some… Issues. That I need to work through.”

Leonardo turned to his father, who only nodded before going back to watering his plants. He wondered what all was said before he got there.

This wasn’t technically part of the plan, but this was a good start nonetheless.

“The other’s won’t be up for a while still. I’m heading to the dojo for my morning meditations.”

“You even have a dojo?” She couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice if she tried. Mutant turtles that meditate. That live in the sewers, that drink tea (at least one of them), that like Thai food, video games, and who knows what else.

Leonardo held back a chuckle as he gestured back towards the doorway. “You can join me, if you’d like.”

Y/N quickly shook her head. “I don’t even know how to meditate.”

“We all start somewhere. Are you coming?”

It was hard to say no.

Leonardo positioned her at the opposite end of the dojo as him. He gave her a few quick pointers to get her started before he sat down and shut his eyes.

Y/N watched him for a moment before she did the same. His words echoed in her head, so few instructions but so many at the same time.

Count your breaths.

In one, out two, all the way to ten and start again.

Let your mind feel what it needs to feel. Don’t let it engulf you, but allow yourself to feel.

When your mind wanders too far, start at one again. In. Out.

To think that she thought she was good at taking instruction.

In, one.

Two, out.

As she counted up, she could feel a metaphorical weight lift from her shoulders. She could hear Leonardo’s breathing in the corner, though it was soft. She felt his presence.

Shit, did I leave the tea in the greenhouse?

Back to one. Out, two.

Y/N could feel the darkness in her mind. She allowed herself to feel it, welcoming it as a friend as opposed to an intruder. It was part of her, her own way of feeling.

Out, six.

Meditation wasn’t something she thought of to do. Her life was too busy for something like that, she thought. Those minutes could be better spent elsewhere.

Maybe it was time to slow down.

Alright, back to one now.

Time became an afterthought. When she finally opened her eyes, Leonardo was beginning to stand. He reached his arms up, then held them behind his back in a stretch. She swore she could hear some joints popping.

Y/N slowly got to her feet, reaching her arms up towards the ceiling. Where she could see Leo could easily touch the ceiling, her arms were feet away from it. At least she knew she would never bump her head here.

Not that that was a general worry of hers. Not many walls were only five-foot something.

“That was nice,” she said, breaking the silence. “Do you do this every morning?” She recalled when he had said ‘morning meditations’.

“Every morning when I wake up. It helps clear my head and get me ready for the day,” Leonardo told her with a nod. “I’ll do it before nightfall if I need to as well.”

“A healthy habit,” she mused. “The others don’t join you?”

Leonardo gave her a shrug in response. “Sometimes. They’d prefer the extra sleep. Honestly, they could do with a little more meditation.”

“I definitely feel more ready for the day. Or breakfast at least.” As if on cue, her stomach began to growl.

He laughed. “Come on, let’s get you some breakfast.

“How long did we go, anyway?”

“Thirty minutes. You beat Mikey’s record.”

A small feat, she told herself. Mikey did not seem like one to keep still for that long.

Y/N should have referred to their meal as ‘lunch’, especially considering the time. She thought this as they passed through another corridor, one that was a little smellier than the rest. She did applaud them for keeping the place smelling less like sewer than it actually was. Did turtles have a sense of smell?

“So, you meditate. Do your brothers have any habits or hobbies?”

“Raphael does the most physical training,” Leo said, pointing to a door at the end of the hallway. “Weight training, boxing, you name it. Donnie keeps to his science-y stuff. He’s good with technology and chemistry, that pretty much covers most of his free time. Mikey… He has trouble focusing on one thing.”

“Shocking.”

He laughed. “He’s gotten better, more tolerable to live with. He’s not allowed near Donnie’s things anymore, though.”

Y/N stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest. “Now you have to tell me this story.”

Leo was amazed. She had a completely different presence to her now than the night before. She was sarcastic, she was witty. He could tell she chose her words carefully, but when she looked at him, it wasn’t with the usual disgust or fear. It was with amazement, intrigue.

Strange human.

The tale began of how Mikey had accidentally caused a bad chemical reaction in Donatello’s lab area. It wasn’t a small sort of reaction- in fact, it ended up ruining most of Donnie’s equipment. He refused to speak to him for days as he tried to both fix and replace what had been lost. Y/N made a mental note to ask how they got equipment like that in the first place.

By the time Leo had no more to say, they were settled at the table in the kitchen with some food. He had made up a couple dozen sandwiches with various meats and toppings, all with cheese. When he set the platters down at the table, he paused. “I didn’t ask you what you wanted, did I?”

“I’m not that picky,” she assured him. “You probably need to explain what all these are, though.”

She picked a simple turkey sandwich after an entire speech ensued about each sandwich. They liked variety. As she took a bite, she smirked. “I had no idea turtles ate meat. Good to know.”

“Not sure if you’ve picked up on this yet, but we’re not your run-of-the-mill turtles.”

Oh, she definitely had.

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2k14 #tmnt 2k16 #tmnt leonardo #tmnt leo #tmnt raphael #tmnt raph #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt mikey #tmnt donatello #tmnt donnie #tmnt splinter #tmnt leo x reader #leonardo x reader #tmnt reader insert #tmnt x reader

[reverieblue98]

Make Building a Plot Easier!

I think one of the biggest mountains writers have to face is coming up with a plot. This post will equip you with some better climbing gear to get over that mountain faster and better!

Conflicts

Let’s get into the nitty gritty right away! One of the main reasons writers find it so hard to come up with a good plot is that they have no conflicts! Remember that the basic parts of a plot are: what is the problem? and what is the solution? If you have no problem, you’ve already failed the first step! Here are some examples of conflicts you might have seen before. They’re very useful, so check it out!

Person vs self (internal) 

Person vs person (external)

Person vs society (maybe both)

Person vs nature (external)

Person vs supernatural/technological (external)

Most conflicts, big or small, will fit inside these categories. It will help if you identify which category your main plot fits into, or help you come up with one all together. Now, don’t assume that by picking an external conflict, you don’t use any internal ones. External conflicts in real life affect internal ones, and vise versa! 

For example, in a world where society forces you to work an awful job, (external conflict) you feel bored and depressed. (internal)

They directly correlate each other, so if you have one the other should come very easily! These complicated conflicts that create more conflicts are what gives stories purpose and interest. So, the hardest part is the part that you need to do first: What is your main conflict/problem? From there, decide how that problem affects the world, then how the world affects the people in it, then how the people affect each other. It’s a domino effect that requires some practice, but I promise that getting your conflicts sorted out will help you plan out your plot! 

World Building

Another huge issue I see a lot is that the author doesn’t actually know how their world works, or what makes it interesting. Let’s use some examples!

The Hunger Games is a bestselling series, and most people will tell you that they love it so much because it’s exciting. Why is it exciting? I don’t know, maybe it’s because THEY ARE IN A LITERAL FIGHT TO THE DEATH! If that isn’t intense world building, I don’t know what is! Suzanne Collins created a world where people are forced to competed in deadly competitions by a cruel overlord. Her world is so different from what ours is, and that’s what draws people in. It’s also what makes her plot easier to map out. Her main problem is directly connected to her world. In a world like ours, Collins’ main conflict wouldn’t make sense, but it works in her story because she knew how her world worked. 

Same for the Harry Potter series! If it was set in a world without magic, fighting a dark wizard probably wouldn’t make any sense. So, J.K. Rowling created a magic system, and explored how it would work in her story. She created a world where her conflict makes sense, and that paves the way for more conflicts/subplots. 

To summarize, you need to know how your world works, and what it looks like. It needs to compliment your main conflict so that the reader agrees that it makes sense. Rewrite the existing rules of reality so that your conflict is legitimate. You and the reader need to understand what’s going on, as well as how it happened and why. 

Development

You’ve probably heard of character development, but let’s go into more detail. 

The whole point of a fiction novel is to tell a story, right? A story should be comprised of a character who changes over time. If we get to the end of the book, and the character hasn’t changed, it’s not a very good book. 

Let’s say that you’re having a really bad day. Your alarm didn’t go off, and now you’re late to work. Oncer you get to the subway, someone spills some coffee on your shirt. It’s so hot that you drop your phone, and it gets cracked. You tell him it’s okay, but you’re not happy about it. At work, you get lectured on the importance of showing up on time by your boss. This makes you frustrated. After, the employees are talking about the stain on your shirt. You get embarrassed. After a long day of doing nothing but paperwork, you get home to find your wifi isn’t working. What would you do?

I”ll tell you what I’d do: I’d get upset. All those events through the day impacted me, and changed the way I behaved in different situations. This is what should happen to your characters. They should feel impacted by the events that happen around them, and that should change them into a different person by the end. Obviously, one terrible day at work wouldn’t deeply affect the person you are, (at least I hope not!) but your main conflicts should be big enough that they definitely change the character. No one likes a story where they character does nothing the whole time! We want to see their flaws and strengths, and how they change the outcome of different situation. It might seem small, but it’s very important. 

Brain Map

Alright, whether you have good conflicts, world building, and character development or not, you should begin to map out your plot. Personally, I like to use sticky notes to create a timeline for my stories. I use different colours for different characters, and each one has their own path. It allows me to visually see my plot, and identify any spots that might need some more attention. You could also write it out like an essay, talk it out with someone, or create a comic about it. It very important to be able to visually or auditorily see what your story is going to look like. If it’s all in your head, you might run into some problems like forgetting key ideas, unable to see plot holes, etc. I am a visual learner, so I love writing it out with different coloured pens on cool paper. 

So basically, don’t leave your plot in your head! Write it out so you can see what you need to work on, and so you don’t forget it. 

That was a long one, but I hope it helped you out! Creating a plot is definitely the hardest part about being a writer, and unfortunately, it’s different for everyone. Not all of these tips will work for everyone, but I think they are at least worth thinking about! There’s no formula to plots, so it’s all on you. No pressure or anything. 😉 Happy writing! 

-RB

#authors #Author #new author #author advice #author tips #new authors #writing #writer #write #writers #written #my writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr #new writer advice #writer advice #writing advice #new author advice #plot #plots #plot ideas #plot outline #book plot #plot help #plot tips #how to #writing tutorial #worldbuilding #worlddesign #magic world

[ladylofspades]

Headcanon for Piri and Iggy

Now this is my first time to ever make a headcanon for a series I love, so please take it easy on me!

For those interested, please read on :D

Human Name: Mariano Lorenzo Villalobos Balagtas Nickname: Enzo Name Meanings:

Mariano - male equivalent to Maria; 'bitter'; name also means 'Star of the Sea'; named after Mariano Gomez, one of the three priests executed for mutiny (GOMBURZA)

Lorenzo - means laurel in Italian; a symbol of victory, fame, honour or accomplishment; named after Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint and martyr

Villalobos - means 'town of wolves' in Spanish; named after Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, the Spanish explorer who gave Enzo his first name Las Islas Filipinas

Balagtas - means 'to trail blaze' in Tagalog- named after Francisco Balagtas, a prominent Filipino poet during the Spanish occupation; author of Florante at Laura

Personality:

Pre-Colonial - independent, organized, skilled fighter, resourceful, creative, family-oriented, hardworking, hospitable, proud of his heritage, a born leader, a great singer and a believer in the supernatural

Spanish Colonial - he still maintains the same personality as he did in the pre-colonial period, with developing traits of stubbornness, slight laziness (Filipino time), and religiousness. After being kidnapped by Britain for two years (who was a pirate at that time), he became knowledgeable in English. He develops a love-hate relationship with Spain.

American Colonial - bringing all his traits from his pre-colonial and Spanish colonial times, now with a more carefree air. Thanks to Britain years prior, Piri was fluent in English, surprising America. Piri becomes more fluent in the language to the point he made his own English language known as Philippine English -- a combination of both British and American English with a Filipino twist and -- since he was a former colony of Spain -- some Spanish terms.

Japanese Colonial - all above traits, but he became more solemn, more irritable and more stubborn after being told off by Japan right when Piri was about to graduate/gain independence.

Modern Day - he still maintains all his above traits but masked behind a more carefree, sociable, teasing, trendsetting, cheerful personality that everyone has known him for.

Headcanon for Enzo towards Arthur

At first, Enzo found Arthur weird when he spotted the latter sketching among the trees nearby. To Enzo, it's rare to find a blonde person in his home country.

But the more Arthur visited the area, the more fonder and more curious Enzo became towards him.

It was through Arthur that Enzo got a chance to see what magic is like, and is always enamored by it since then.

Whenever Arthur visits, Enzo always readies food and drinks for them. But whenever he doesn't show up and Antonio is around, Enzo would give them to his foster brother. Though he loved Antonio, the boy was still sad that his newfound friend didn't come to visit.

Enzo loved watching magic either for Arthur to him stories, or to be lulled to sleep.

Enzo felt betrayed when he found out that Arthur was a pirate. But after being assured that he was anything but in danger, Enzo relaxed, and even decided to stay with him for two years.

Enzo had a hard time speaking in a British accent; but apparently got to speak the language and learned it quickly. Of all the times he spent with Arthur, Enzo loved it when the Brit would test his vocabulary and then treat him to something sweet.

During his time with Arthur, Enzo gets to express himself more about his feelings and thoughts towards Antonio -- both good and bad.

Because of the admiration he had towards the Brit, Enzo was saddened when Arthur returned the boy to the archipelago.

When he was placed under Alfred's care, Enzo would write letters to Arthur on how he gets annoyed with the American, and openly complains about him.

To Enzo, he feared that by learning the American English, it would replace what he learned so far from Arthur. To prevent that from happening, he decided to make his own English form known as the Philippine English -- a mix of American and British English with Spanish terms. It was heavily influenced by American English, but some British terms and grammar were retained in it.

Of all the Allies, Enzo is very close towards Alfred and Arthur -- with Alfred who had watched over him until the night of independence; and with Arthur, who he had a history that dated back to when Enzo was a boy.

Headcanon for Arthur Kirkland towards Enzo

He is very much like how he was portrayed in the series, but has a soft spot for children and cute creatures.

To Arthur, Enzo was a boy whose future was taken away by Antonio. And believes that, even though Antonio meant well to keep the boy safe, Enzo would have to leave his foster brother and live on his own.

Even though he had the means to take him in, Arthur decided to not do so. But it didn't change the fact that he genuinely cared for the boy. He would watch over the boy, even if it means from afar.

Since he and Antonio are rivals, Arthur was the one who encouraged Enzo to rebel against the Spaniard. This was done not only because of the rivalry, but because he truly believed that Enzo is more than capable to fend for himself.

Though implied, even Arthur was saddened that he had to return Enzo after being called back to England.

When he found that Antonio was going to let Enzo go, Arthur immediately pushed Alfred to take care of him.

Arthur disproves of the skit plan, after finding that out from Alfred in one of the latter's visits to England.

Even after Antonio left the teen, Arthur made absolutely sure that Enzo is protected at all costs, even if it meant having Alfred taking care of him.

Whenever Alfred had problems in taking care of Enzo, Arthur would advise him on how he could take care of the teen. Having known the boy for a long time, Arthur knew how the boy acted, felt and thought. He was genuinely dismayed when Alfred decided to do things his way, and wasn't surprised when things went from bad to worse for the American; but he warned Alfred that the American doesn't do anything funny towards Enzo OR ELSE.

When the teen was finally able to live on his own, Arthur treated Enzo out to dinner celebrating his first night of independence. On that same night, Arthur says, "Let's make it official," letting out a hand for Enzo to take. They shook hands as a sign that Arthur now sees Enzo as an equal, and no longer someone else's foster child or ward; but as a person of his own.

== My Headcanon between Modern Day Enzo and Arthur ==

Since Enzo is old enough to drink, he gets to go to drinking parties with Arthur. And if there are any karaoke machines in the venue, the two would either sing together or have a singing showdown, hoarding the microphones until either both of them passed out, or sing until closing time.

Whenever Arthur gets tired to sing, Enzo continues to sing songs until he plops onto his seat.

When both are drunk, it was Alfred who drags them both to a friend's residence depending on the country they're in. If it's in Enzo's home country or region, Indo would be the one to carry them both home.

During Halloween, it became routine for Enzo to help Arthur come up with ideas in the scaring contest with Alfred.

Whenever he's bored, or when they were not occupied, Enzo would call up Arthur and invite him to a ghost hunt or a paranormal investigation.

Once they went to every haunted place in both countries, they would save up money for travel to other haunted places in the world.

Whenever they have a sleepover in England, Enzo was saddened that his Diwata couldn't come along since England was far away -- with hopes that he could introduce his fairy to Arthur's. To make him feel better, Arthur would invite Ms. Fairy, Unicorn, Brownie, Flying Mint Bunny and Captain Hook. Seeing Enzo interact with his companions was heartwarming for Arthur.

When Arthur became terribly ill to the point of being hospitalised, Enzo would always be by his side. A trained nurse himself, Enzo saw through Arthur's stay until the Brit's full recovery.

When Enzo falls ill, he would usually not tell Arthur so as not to trouble him. But was surprised to learn that Arthur found out about his sickness anyway, and cared for him until he got better.

Arthur and Enzo would cook together whenever they hang out in either residence.

Enzo would usually ask Arthur to take a selfie with him, the latter not minding at all. And whenever Alfred photobombs the selfie, Arthur would chase after him, while Enzo keeps snapping photos of himself with the two running in the background.

Enzo was the fourth person to follow Arthur in Twitter (Alfred, Francis and Matthew being the first, second and third respectively) and third to follow the Brit in Instagram; whereas Arthur was the seventh to follow Enzo in Twitter (the first six being the SEA family) and in Instagram.

Arthur is well-aware that Enzo's family was protective of the latter, and keeps a safe distance.

Ever since Arthur ran away from his group in Europe, he decided to stay with the SEA family. Enzo was more than delighted to volunteer to let Arthur stay in his house.

In contrast to Alfred, Pien grew friendly towards Arthur because of how delicately the Brit treats him. As a response, Pien would climb either on top of Arthur's head or rest on the shoulder, much to Enzo's delight.

Horror and fantasy are must-watch movie themes for Arthur and Piri during movie nights.

Whenever he finds the time, Arthur would help Enzo recap some British terms. BUT without telling Alfred unless the American asked for it.

Arthur still sketches birds from time to time, and would sometimes sketch Enzo with birds on his arms, shoulders and on top of his head, much to Arthur's amusement.

This is all I have so far for their headcanon! But for a more detailed (or nitty-gritty) story behind the headcanon, check this link out!

#hws england #hws philippines #hws hetalia #hws headcanons #hetalia headcanons #my first headcanon ever #i just love those two! #being very close friends #who would scare alfred during halloween

[solacefruit]

For the ask meme, 3) and 17), please? And maybe 25) if you're up to it? Irrelevant but I'm the Tormentil- missing/Harrierpaw ruddles from Ailuronymy – I love your writing too, it's amazing! (I'm very excited for a potential Riverclan full-length story, like MAMS, at some point – even if I have to wait quite a while)

Hello there! Thank you so much for saying so, that’s lovely to hear. Please don’t hold your breath for a Riverclan novel, though! It’s not even on my concept list at this point and there’s a lot of other stories, including full-length ones, I’m going to be attempting first. So it’s not impossible for me to write a Riverclan one--it would be pretty neat to have a novel for each clan--but I can’t promise it’ll ever happen at this stage. Maybe! But also maybe not. It’s a mystery for me too.

Now on to your questions!

Send an ask: get to know the author.

3. What order do you write in? Front of book to back? Chronological? Favourite scenes first? Something else?

For all my Warriors work so far, I’ve written from beginning to end. In part that’s just because of the episodic nature of chapters, but also I’d say that’s my default approach for all my writing. When I get into original fiction--and especially big original fiction, novel-length work--I expect I’ll be taking a much more flexible approach, probably jumping around based on the vibe sometimes, but I like linearity because the first draft is really just getting the building blocks on the page. After that point, then you start really sculpting and being clever with it and moving bits around once you have a sense of the whole.

But for me, I think that first stage is more about getting a clarity of purpose and a rough outline--and that can be done pretty well with front-to-back writing. 

17. If you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

Don’t sweat it. That stuff you think is important is completely not important at all. You’re doing all this nitty-gritty obsessive researching and “world-building” pointless, mundane aspects of the world because you: 1. are procrastinating actually writing; 2. have been tricked into thinking that’s what the “good” “serious” fantasy writers do, because that’s what a lot of boring old guys you don’t even like to read do and brag about, and you’re still believing can’t be a good fantasy writer without that, because that’s the popular image of a fantasy writer; & 3. are scared if you’re not perfect and exact in every detail, people are going to tear your writing apart for being “inaccurate” or making a mistake. 

That’s no way to live. You don’t like doing it, really. You’re trying to preempt criticism from people who weren’t ever going to like your writing anyway, and I think you know that. You’re trying to imitate authors you don’t even want to write like, because you think what they write is kind of boring and flat and it’s really straight and you sort of hate it, but you feel you should since it’s what’s “right”.

But you’re not being authentic to yourself, or your vision, or your talent, or what you want to write, and you should be. 

It’s really not your fault you feel this way, but you’re going to be so much happier when you realise this version of a fantasy writer is all total hokum and not your style and instead start writing what you want to, the way you want to. People are really going to like what you’re bringing to the table. It’s going to set you apart and you’re going to love writing fantasy that’s a bit weird and kooky and self-indulgent and fun and queer and all the things those old books just aren’t. 

I can’t stress how liberating it will be to put on heart-shaped pink sunglasses and decide that the most important thing your writing has to be is genuine and fun for you. You never wanted to write realist fiction anyway. Secondary worlds forever. 

25. Copy-paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of.

I thought about it for a bit because something I never do here is share any poetry I write, despite writing a decent amount of it. Partly that’s just not this blog’s audience, but also a lot of it I hope one day to put into publication, if only in a little chapbook. That said, I wrote this a while back on commission for someone’s character who was deathly ill and his lovers left behind, so I don’t mind sharing it now. It’s a tanka set (5-7-5-7-7, a bit like a haiku). 

summer has four hands,  he remembers, and twenty  loving fingertips-- and it doesn't end, ever;  it lasts a lifetime--at least, in his heart--even as his own fingertips grew slow and cold, his hands too weak to return a touch, to reach out and hold on, to find comfort in their  warm skin and promise them that he would be okay: each new winter weighed him down with the too-familiar  tiredness of a body with not quite enough life in it, like a garden under the frost, cold and withdrawn at the edges of the leaves, waiting for a sunrise that isn't coming. The ground, he remembers, was solid as stone under the snow that last winter, a final  cruel laugh from the world, as though giving him to the  earth--as though burying a lover--was not hard enough for them already-- but it was a pain that time alone could heal; so he waited, in the place so near and so far away, until the seasons moved once more and time brought them to his open hands, ten fingertips made of light, never to let go again. when he remembers the living world, he thinks of it better than it  was and forgives it for the brevity and falling snow.

#reply #also re: future warriors stories: i'm having a good time writing all of these and i'll keep going while i'm having fun/have the time #but i'm working a lot now (full-time + my extracurricular work) and also starting to ramp up with original writing. #at some point my priorities are going to switch from this to original work. i'd like to continue both ideally but that's just how it is. #anyway just want to be transparent with all this because i'd hate for people to be hanging out for something that isn't guaranteed.

[merryfortune]

Day 10 / Electric

Clover and Violets 2021

Ship: not applicable | Kyoko/Hayami

Universe: Vrains

Word Count: 1,580

Rating: T

Tags: Post Canon, Meet Cute, Fluff, Implied Redemption Arc

   Hayami wasn’t good at meeting new co-workers. Not for lack of trying though, more like because of trying too much. She wanted to make a good impression. Even if it was a good impression on people who really got into the nitty-gritty of Sol Tech’s shadier dealings.

   So, she put on a big smile and she did what she did best: played the gopher.

   Not to brag or anything but she had gotten really good at making coffee these days. She made a mean dirty chai, in her opinion. She brought out five throwaway cups on a cluttered, wooden tray into the office chambers where they were having their meeting, as well as milk, cream, sugar, any topping they could really want: Hayami was doing her best to make their guests feel at home. Maybe even so much at home that they would drop the facade and use their real names. Akira told her not to be so hopeful but Hayami thought that a little bit of hospitality would go a long way.

   Regardless, she was the last one to walk into the room and Akira closed the door behind her, completing the soundproofing of the room. She smiled, big and gawky, as she set down the tray. And as she did so, she did a head count: their boss wasn’t here but the main entourage of this upper echelon on were, the only one missing aside from Revolver was his little assistant who had duelled Blue Angel.

   “Help yourselves.” Hayami said.

   “Don’t mind if I do.” nattered the man closed to her, he was about mid-thirties to early forties, glasses, and green hair.

   Hayami smiled. She then flicked her gaze to the other two, the other man and the only other woman aside from her,  made sure they were welcome to have some coffee as well. In the meantime, she took her own drink and sugared it to oblivion and beyond. The woman - with sharp cheekbones and devilish red hair - hid a giggle as she did that.

   “Are we all comfortable yet?” Akira asked.

   He sounded a little testy so Hayami made sure that he got his coffee promptly as well: he took it almost black, one sugar and a teaspoon of milk. He thanked Hayami with just his eyebrows before he took stock of the rest of the situation. It seemed so and thus, Akira began the meeting.

   And what a dull meeting it was, Hayami thought. It was dark inside the room and Akira’s voice droned; Hayami could have gone straight to sleep in her chair. Thank goodness she had the coffee. She wouldn’t have been able to keep her eyes open through it, and her mouth closed, too. It was all hypotheticals on top of hypotheticals; action plans for future action plans. Very ambiguous and open ended, she mostly just nodded and hummed in agreement whenever Akira said something she thought made sense or sounded good or if he just needed someone in his corner to back him up. 

   So yes, the meeting couldn’t end quick enough but when it did, there was time to linger. To get up, stand around, stretch their legs. The Knights of Hanoi mostly kept to themselves so Hayami took the chance to clean afterwards. She collected up the mostly empty throwaway cups and all the foodstuffs she had brought over in the first place but that Baira woman couldn’t let fine enough be. 

   Hayami was perfectly capable of doing it all by herself but she insisted. She glared, with pursed lips, and she tried to help Hayami when she did not want the help. The outcome was about what was expected. Hayami attempted to trod off with all of it in her arms; Baira tried to cut in and take some of her burden but Hayami refused with a smile and a mildly annoyed, furrowed brow.

   The two ladies engaged in an exceedingly polite warfare of push and pull and it ended with milk and cream going everywhere. Though, mostly it went all over Baira and that nice white jacket of hers.

   Hayami was stunned with her error and it was, mostly, her error. “I am so sorry.” she said. “I can pay for dry cleaning for you, if you like.”

   Baira laughed. “It's fine, I’ve been covered in worse.” Her laughter was coarse, barky, but jolly and good natured. “How about you just show me to the nearest restroom, huh, sweetie?”

   “Oh, yeah, totally.” Hayami chirped, stiffening up, she loved pet names and didn’t mind if they were used by near or virtual strangers.

   Hayami gathered up what was dropped and with Baira, they dawdled off. The nearest restroom was on the corner of the floor and they got cleaned up there. Hayami helped dab off stains on Baira’s coat, both thankful that it hadn’t been actual coffee that they had dropped on her.

   It felt odd for Hayami to pick up and bundle Baira’s coat but she seemed content to watch, observing Hayami with a sharp eye. Hayami blushed. She didn’t actually think she was that interesting but maybe she was.

   “There we go,” Hayami said, “all done.”

   “You’re good at this.” Baira said and she shrugged. “I’ll be the first to admit, cleaning, housekeeping, cooking: never been my forte, you?”

   “Love all of the above.” Hayami admitted, a little bit embarrassed.

   “You’d be a cute housewife, feeding the OL to wife pipeline, it's an important job.” Baira teased her.

   “Oh shut up.” Hayami playfully replied with a giggle but she toyed with her hair. “Its always been my dream to be a June bride, a bit old fashioned nowadays but I can’t help it.”

   “Better than my dream.” Baira shrugged. “But, like, no, really, if you go and get hitched, I think I’d miss you. Gets so dull being around men all the time. Like they just go on and on, like get to the point, mister or you're as bad as us misses.” 

   “I was thinking the same thing the entire time - and I like Akira.” Hayami laughed.

   Baira smirked. She was really taking a liking to this little lady - and not just because it felt good to be tall around one someone shorter than her.

   The two ladies finished up shortly after. And Hayami had to admit, she had really taken a liking to Baira as well. As mean as a woman Queen was, Hayami did miss having another woman about the office, especially one with sharp wit and the like. She was so socially awkward, having someone more extraverted and graceful about, whilst anxiety inducing, was the good sort.

   And the connection didn’t just stop there, oh no, it started and Hayami was having a hard time puzzling out Baira’s intentions. They seemed a little bit more than just friendly. She was a gift giver, it seemed. Only small things here and there and Hayami was making the point to return the tiny favours but some of the things Baira couldn’t help but unload were a bit odd. And none of them were her actual, literal name and whilst that information was out there on the big, bad internet, Hayami wanted to be entrusted with it on Baira’s terms and consent so she would wait.

   Wait whilst holding onto all those bits and bobs that Baira told Hayami reminded her of Hayami.

   Like hand sanitiser in a pink bottle. Cute, cleanly, and convenient. Hayami liked it but she thought it was a little strange. But not as strange as the extravagantly handled coffee mug that Baira had gotten her. The squirrel motif was a bit too on the nose for Hayami, she thought and the pun wasn’t all that great either. And then when Baira handed her the electric toothbrush, Hayami thought she had gotten the picture. 

   Hayami stared at the offending implement rather than the beautiful cityscape view in front of them, “You know,” she said, “if I didn’t know any better, I would say this was an invitation to move in with you. Or at the very least come over.”

   “I was wondering when you would get the picture.” Baira said with a laugh, happily gazing out to said cityscape in front of them but her eyes kept wandering back to Hayami. She was too cute and a lot more fun than the soiree they were both ignoring.

   “Oh.” Hayami murmured.

   “Oh, indeed.” Baira said. “But, well?”

   “Well, what?” Hayami said.

   “I have a key to an apartment I used to own, would you be interested in visiting?” Baira asked.

   “A little, yeah…” Hayami replied, a bit embarrassed and trying to play it coy.

   “Here, another gift then.” Baira said.

   Hayami looked up at Baira, still holding that darn electric toothbrush with one hand and extending out the other, and Baira dropped something in her palm. Her fingers swirled against the skin of Hayami’s palm flirtatiously and Baira gifted her a key complete with a keyring: one of those cow tag-like keyrings and it had writing on it.

   “Thank you.” Hayami mumbled.

   Baira smirked and Hayami had a closer look at the keyring. She blinked. Taki Kyoko. 103, 3F. Hayami’s heart fluttered.

   “I should give you directions there, yeah?” Kyoko asked. “So you don’t get lost, I mean, this party’s pretty boring and I was the bookworm in uni who never went anywhere but even this shindig’s boring me.”

   “I’d like that, thank you.” Hayami replied with a blush in her cheeks.

#femslash #femslash february #femslashfeb2021 #yugioh vrains #vrains #yugioh #kyoko taki #taki kyoko #baira (vrains) #hayami (vrains) #risa hayamii #kyoko x hayami #hayami x kyoko #writing tag #clover and violets #clover and violets 2021 #im def gonna do ygo kink/tober this year; i want to write a fic where they have a quickie in a storeroom #hayami is just the office bike! and that's so good for her! i love that little tart