There should be a fanfic writing game called the showrunners challenge where someone writes a story and partway through someone else can play things like "actor leaves after 4000 more words" or "topic now too politically sensitive due to unforeseen world events" or "lost rights to that reference"

these children istg

Swing the Spinning Step

Alex went to the gay bar with June and Nora on a Thursday night and walked out with the blond smokeshow he’d been exchanging heated glances with for hours.

His name was Henry, and his hands were on Alex and under his coat as soon as they walked through the front entry of his beautiful, enormous fucking brownstone. Alex would circle back to that later.

Henry swiftly divested him of two and a half layers as Alex loosely gripped him by the elbows, just trying to hold on. Eyes slipping shut on an appreciative groan, Alex swayed forward to capture Henry’s mouth with his own.

A firm palm at the center of his chest stopped him halfway there.

Alex blinked to find steady blue eyes staring back at him.

“No kissing, if you don’t mind,” Henry said coolly.

AU. Alex and Henry are friends with benefits. Henry has a rule about kissing.

Chapter 2/2 | 8k | Read on AO3

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats  🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?  🌵 ⇢ share the link to a playlist you love 🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that? 🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis 🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help? 🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love 💌 ⇢ how many unread emails do you have right now?  🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis 🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both?  🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before 🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time?  🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings 🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual? 🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now 📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app?  🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character 🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project? 🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on ❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best? 🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity 🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh  🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work? 🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate 🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told? 🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately  🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?  🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing 🐚 ⇢ do you like or dislike surprises? 🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here ☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username? 🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them 🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them 🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it 🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

The One Direction ones honestly, well there's two things… I have like certain songs that I like more than others in the One Direction stuff but then.. what's been a challenge at times is... let's just take maybe the cheesiest of our songs, right, let's just take a What Makes You Beautiful- you kinda have to do that as it was, I couldn't reinvent that and make it [huge air quotes] "cool," I don't really think it exists in a cool realm or something like that you know it's a slightly different thing

--Louis talking about maybe adding a different 1D song to the set for the upcoming tour leg

Mary Oliver, from “Franz Marc’s Blue Horses”, Blue Horses

Louis joking about the interpreter’s memory skills

If you see this you’re legally obligated to reblog and tag with the book you’re currently reading

i hate it when i cant even write a poem about something because its too obvious. like in the airbnb i was at i guess it used to be a kids room cause you could see the imprint of one little glow in the dark star that had been missed and painted over in landlord white. like that's a poem already what's the point

hi, i saw you recommended some lgbtq books a while ago but it's impossible to find anything from tumblr later on, so do you know any good fantasy/sci-fi/action/contemporary m/m books? like with actual plot instead of just romance and also with characters and (platonic) relationships other than the main couple. thanks!

hiiiii, sorry this is super late, but of course i can!

(apologies in advance cos some of these are prob books i’ve recced before 🤪✌🏻)

-> captive prince trilogy (cs pacat) | if you’re looking for something with actual plot, cp has a big political overarching plot that’s super compelling about the two princes of neighbouring enemy kingdoms trying to reclaim their respective thrones. there’s lots of triggering content so do look it up before… but while the romance is the main event, the political aspect of the book is really detailed and engaging.

-> dark rise trilogy (cs pacat) | 2 out of 3 books are out currently and the m/m romance is not the focus so far though it’s been well teased/a good slow start. the whole trilogy is a subversion of the classic medieval chosen one trope ft. an old world of magic being reawakened, a dark king’s return and an order of knights trying to prevent it. great found family vibes. ya historical fantasy.

-> hither page (cat sebastian) | a jaded spy and a shell-shocked country doctor team up to solve a murder in postwar england. historical murder mystery!

-> big bad wolf series (charlie adhara) | an ex fbi agent gets transferred to a secret agency dealing with werewolf crimes after being attacked by one of them. human and werewolf relations are tense and he ends up paired with a wolf agent from the wolf agency that echoes his to solve a series of brutal crimes. ok, i know this sounds like straight up werewolf porn, but i was really surprised by how engaging and well written the mysteries were in this series. i’m talking twists and shit, compelling/complex side characters…. this series completely took me by surprise.

-> seven summer nights (harper fox) | post war england, a shell-shocked archaeologist and a vicar fall in love while trying to uncover a small town’s archaeological mystery in the south downs.

-> the last binding series (freya markse) | edwardian magical mystery series, each book focuses on a different queer couple while following an overarching mystery/plot that threatens the welfare of magical britain. big found family vibes, lots of great side characters introduced in each book that then become leads in later books, beautiful writing.

-> a taste of gold and iron (alexandra rowland) | ottoman empire inspired fantasy world, a prince and his bodyguard must investigate a break in at one of their guilds, the results of which could save their queen’s reign.

-> the will darling adventures (kj charles) | 1920s mystery adventure series. great side characters, insp by 20s pulp novels. a wwi vet turned bookseller get swiped up in mystery and a spy he’s not sure he can trust. first one is a bit slower, but it picks up in book 2 & 3.

-> the kingdoms (natasha pulley) | 19th century alternate history mystery. an amnesiac journeys from london to a scottish lighthouse to try and unlock the mystery of his forgotten past. complex narrative and extremely immersive storytelling. the romance is central but subtle.

-> the binding (bridget collins) | 19th century historical fantasy. emmet is training to be a bookbinder in a world where books contain people’s memories and are highly controversial… eternal sunshine of the spotless mind vibes.

-> less (andrew sean greer) | arthur less is going on a worldwide literary tour to avoid going to his ex’s wedding. this book really took me by surprise, it was so delightful.

-> the house in the cerulean sea (tj klune) | linus baker, a case worker for the department in charge of magical youth, gets sent to an orphanage for so labelled 'dangerous' children in order to evaluate whether they're about/able to end the world and if the orphanage/the man in charge of it is best for them. big feel good book, really funny, great found family vibes, subtle love story, wonderful side characters.

-> the bedlam stacks (natasha pulley) | merrick tremayne is called upon by the india office to go on a dangerous expedition deep in peru to fetch quinine (essential for the treatment of malaria) despite the debilitating injury that almost cost him a leg. every expedition before his has yielded no results apart from dead bodies, but merrick has family history deep in the country so he goes against his better judgement. there, he meets raphael, a priest surrounded by strange stories of disappearances, cursed woods and living stones, and who might hold the key to his family’s past. really cool world building, really immersive writing, very subtle romance. more plot heavy than romance heavy, but it's still !!!!

-> salt magic, skin magic (lee welch) | lord thorny is cursed and can't leave his father's estate. trapped there for over a year now, he is slowly losing his mind. until industrial magical john blake arrives on the land to investigate an unrelated case involving witchcraft. soon enough the men get closer and must work together to figure out a way to break thorny's curse. historical fantasy, good mystery, fun twists. i haven't read this one in a while, but i remember really enjoying the mythology.

-> the watchmaker of filiigree street & sequel (natasha pulley) | telegraphist thaniel receives a mysterious watch on his birthday whose pre-set alarm saves him from a terrorist bombing on scotland yard. since the bomb was made with clockwork parts and only the bomber could have known when to set the alarm, thaniel is sent by a detective investigating the bombing to live with the suspected watchmaker to figure out what’s going on. sherlock holmes vibes. slow burn/subtle romance. delightful writing.

-> under the whispering door (tj klune) | an unpleasant and selfish man in life, wallace price meets his reaper at his near-empty funeral and gets taken to a whimsical tea shop where he meets hugo, the ferryman whose job it is to help him move on and crossover into the afterlife. a task that becomes complicated as wallace starts developing feelings for hugo. found family vibes.

Tecate Pa’l Norte. (30 March 2024)

x

I’m sorry, but I immediately thought of you 😭😭 https://www.instagram.com/reel/C40sPTiLLuQ/?igsh=NXJncWZveXl0cGo=

LMAOOOOOO

ok i see this is a roast dfkvjdfknvdfks

people always talk about leaving comments on ao3 like it's a nice thing to do, or the best way to encourage writers to keep writing, or overall like it's how you Do Your Part in fandom

and yeah, all those things are true, but having spent the past few months leaving enthusiastic comments on as many things as i can, i have a different perspective

you should leave comments on fics because it's fun

taking the time to stop and focus on what i like about a story has made me way more aware of what's going on in stories and what i like about them. there's bit more actual comprehension and appreciation and not just beaming content into my eyes to fill time

i like noticing cool little things in fics, or riffing on funny events. i've never been very good at speculating or picking apart characters, but sometimes something clicks and it rocks.

and of course it's pretty nice when you get a response and it's clear you've made another person happy

so yeah, you should leave comments for your own sake, too. it makes reading better!

Harry with Sarah, Mitch and their child Scout backstage! (14 March 2024)

x

Edna St. Vincent Millay was a poet whose work was definitional to the glamour of Roaring Twenties America. She was born in 1892 and when she was just seven, her mother divorced her father and took her and her sisters to live in Maine. The Millay household was one of strong, intelligent, independent women and the bond they shared is one of the most fascinating I’ve ever read about.

Millay wrote poetry from a young age, and when she was twenty, her poem Renascence got the attention of a wealthy woman who decided to sponsor her way through college. She went to Vassar and was nearly prevented from walking at her graduation for breaking curfew one to many times, but her classmates all rallied to defend her and the headmaster relented.

People could not stop falling in love with this woman. In her Vassar years, many women fell head over heels for her. She also had many affairs with men. When she did marry, in 1923, she and her husband loved each other dearly, but neither gave up the relationships they had on the side, they “lived like a pair of old bachelors.”

Her poetry is beautiful and aside from being the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, she was also such an evocative wordsmith. Themes of love, death, and nature are prevalent throughout, but she has a unique twist on them. I really appreciate the way that women are depicted in her work as whole beings with wants and needs outside of being a chaste object of desire for a male narrator.

And also she’s very beautiful. I could only attach one picture here but she really is very good to look at.

Me to to my cat when I'm getting out the vacuum: please leave the room if this will affect you

Puffin Stuff

a digital painting

my deviantart