#i need to expand my vocabulary honestly lol
Text
word search tag
i was tagged by @duskforged! ty!
tagging @treesandwords @kaiusvnoir @avrablake and @i-can-even-burn-salad. your words are: play, sink, swell, tongue and cradle.
my words are: bury, visit, breeze, plot, and authority.
this one was though. only two out of five!
bury
She trails off, mind somewhere else. An yearning that isn't his own blossoms inside Rowan's chest, a longing for something he never saw crawling up his throat to rest on his tongue, bitter, biting, angry. The first forest swells between him and Moira and Rowan shrinks under its weight, wondering, not for the first time, if one day it will just grow tired and bury him alive.
visit
nothing :(
breeze
nothing :(
plot
nothing :((((
authority
Once, when Ada was but a child of five and Ash wasn’t much older, they found a dying bird near the Bone River. They shouted for Rowan, arms flailing in the air, eyes wide as saucers, tiny bodies brimming energy and a touch of fear. Rowan, feeling very mature at ten years old, had exercised all his older brother authority to get the younglings doing something actually useful, like getting water or preparing a nest. Meanwhile, he cradled the tiny animal, eyes fixed on the barely-there beating of its heart, terrified that any wrong movement of his would break its thin bones, tear apart its frail feathers.
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fourth wing thoughts (no spoilers):
while reading:
- MIRA IS HOT she reminds me of totk zelda
- xaden scares me lowk
- why is xaden so mf big. HUH?! enormous ginamanasaurus motherfucker. in my head he’s 5 foot 10 inches and sleeper bod. next question
- i know rhiannon is sexy. need more of her!
- omg chronic illness mc YES
- violet is so cool lowk like acknowledges her weaknesses ✅ improves herself ✅ isn’t annoying ✅ isn’t a bitch unless ur a bitch to her first ✅ smart as fuck ✅
- bitchass jack barlowe reminds me of nacho cheese doritos.
- dain more like DAMN why don’t u shut the hell up 🤣
- dain is so protective savior complex core like bro has no faith in her aaaahdhdh honestly i would have snapped sooner because like why is he always talking like she’s a child and needs to be saved
- xaden on the other hand is always hyping her up. which is great but occasionally he goes over the top imo . we get it ur down bad my guy
- she’s sooooo silly calling xaden out in public all the time
- so happy dain x violet romance didn’t last. he reminds me of chaol from throne of glass
- ngl thought violet was gonna be the whiny shy useless mc but the whole book up to 60% is all about her getting stronger and cooler and hotter and she’s confident and figures her shit out without complaining
- i loooove her and her sibling’s relationship. it’s so real ngl. book of brennan is so cute. brennan and mira, and mira and violet. i love them.
- violets armor from mira is so cool ik she looks hot in it. fan art better slay
- NAOLIN MENTIONED ‼️‼️
- if she says “rippling muscle” or “he’s so beautiful” one more fucking time—expand ur vocabulary girl 😩
- dain bruh stfuuuuu bro is so annoying he probs looks like this 🤓
- so many cliches but all the cool world building and shit balances it out so well like i don’t even mind that much
- yeah she’s gonna get a special dragon obvi
- i was right 🤭
- dragon descriptions make me 😁😁😁 it’s so httyd and so much detail and care put into it i love it
- dragon world building is so 💗💗
- tairn the dragon u are so cool to me
- i want a dragon
- i miss mira
- xaden is so cool. reminds me of a wolf
- TAIRN IS SO UNSERIOUS 🤣🤣 sarcastic ass dragon
- MATES LMAOOOO so sarah j maas coded
- LIAM IS SOOOO CUTE so puppy dog :) sawyer too
- oh the telepathic connections. it’s so sjm up in here
- telepathy aspect is cool tho i like how this author writes it <3
- why r the dragons getting hot and heavy 🥵 🤨
- omg kisss!
- MIRA OMYGOD I LOVE U I MISSED U SO MUCH MY WARRIOR QUEEN
- ngl around 70% it’s not as entertaining as all the deathly challenges and trials from the beginning
- omg violets power 😮 im a slut for opposite aesthetics
- oh. not a fan of the monster dick sex. uncomfy lowk. good for them though 👍
- ok politics. i don’t care that much.
- OKAY CLICHE DIALOGUE I SEE YOU it’s so weird i’m not even that bothered by it when normally i would be
- this is becoming more romance than death-defying war college stuff :/
- lovers quarrel. lovers share trauma. then lovers make up. idgaf!
- me when the romance book is romancing 😐
- basic adult romance dialogue! welcome back. how are you today
- more monster dick sex. how lovely.
- xaden’s muscles keep rippling. bro stay still!
- man what kinda sex is rebecca yarros having 🧐👁️
- omg plot
- omg TENSION! BETRAYAL! TWISTS!
- oh the climactic end-of-book battle. ngl none of these details are processing in my head. what fight?
- i know someone had to die but why that particular person. man :(
- i’m sure this battle and strategy and action scenes are so slay. i’m dissociating tho lol
- aw xaden likes her so much. simp
- CLIFFHANGER 😮
overall: i liked the first half better than the second half. first 50% was soooo addicting. i loved the world building and dragons and war college and challenges so much but i’m just not a huge romance person. like the romantic buildup is amazing but afterwards i’m just meh. of course there was the expected tropey/ cliche/ booktok moments BUT most of it was overshadowed by how great the other aspects of the writing was. i dissociated at the end and didn’t really feel attached to violet or xaden or even the dragons (this is a me problem) but i think the ending is great set up for book 2 (will probs give it a read). like u can tell where the book is going but then the author does something unique to make it a little different than other books in this genre, so idk how many surprises book 2 will have. the fact that i read this is in less than 24 hours says a lot though. i hope mira comes back :D
#fourth wing#violet sorrengail#xaden riorson#violet and xaden#rebecca yarros#the empyrean#xadenviolet#tairneanach
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Hi hibs, Ive been wanting to get into writing alot recently, and just wanted to know how you Got started. Your work is literally iconic
Hello!!! I'm so glad you want to get into writing! I'm not sure if you want to know how I got into writing period, or how I got into writing fanfic. I'm going to assume the former :) (also thank you for the compliment!!!)
TLDR, I started writing because my mother invested in my ability to express myself. I kept writing because I couldn't live without it. If you want to start writing, you need to maintain discipline (actually write), write because you want to not because you feel like you have to (from the heart!!), and engage with other written works (reflect as you read).
I've been writing for as long as I can remember. Honestly! I was a voracious reader as a child. My mother was a massive proponent of my reading habit, and she basically gave me book after book to devour. I also watched a lot of cartoons, so I had a massive imagination from a young age. I also, uh, was a maladaptive daydreamer. There were a lot of stressors in my life and in retrospect I have realized that I was a really, really anxious child, so fiction and fantasy offered me a world to escape into. As a result, I think I really did start with writing fanfiction. I used characters from stories and cartoons I loved and created stories in my head involving them and myself!! I was a little self-insert baby LMAO but I don't think there's anything wrong with that! Especially when you're a child, you're your own point of reference, right, necessarily? So I used to put myself in my own stories, whether acting them out on my own with my imaginary friends or drawing art and comics or writing things. (I also really enjoyed converting fictional characters to Islam as a child AKLJGKLAJGLKA fun fact!)
When I got older (like 6 or 7), I asked my mom for writing prompts. I took any opportunity I could to write. This is around the time I think I got into writing non-fiction as well! I LOVED writing persuasive essays (also on prompts my mother would give me, or as part of homework I got for my English or social studies classes). She also really emphasized the importance of reading widely, and I think that's a huge reason my vocabulary expanded as much as it did. She never really stopped me from reading books, no matter the genre, which...in retrospect, maybe not great, LOL, but it did mean I was getting exposed to complex writing and advanced vocabulary very young. She would give me long words and tell me to make shorter words from the letters, buy me tons of logic puzzle books, crosswords, etc, and she actively fended off other adults who were concerned that I was spending too much time on my hobbies and not enough time, idk, doing sports. I really appreciate how much she protected me from other people. She always had complete and utter faith that I would turn out just fine, and that my hobbies (writing, reading, painting, arguing lol) were going to be a huge reason why. Also, she pretty much read everything I read too, so we were able to actually talk about the books I was reading! I think this was huge tbh.
I fell off the writing train for several years, largely because I was suddenly surrounded by people who didn't think my ideas were interesting or complex or worth exploring. I was told my writing was too flowery (I now think that person was just jealous TBH.....), that I wasn't imaginative or novel enough, that I should just stick to writing poetry. So I convinced myself I was a persuasive writer and poet, but nothing beyond that. And there's nothing wrong with that!
Throughout, though, fanfic kept reeling me back in. I was 10? when I wrote and published my first fanfic (GENDERBENDED BEYBLADE), and I wrote on and off ever since - sometimes to publish, but mostly just for myself. Whenever I was dissatisfied or emotional over a book/piece of fiction, I'd let myself write fanfic to process it. I also had original characters that I created with some friends that we would roleplay through and I really do think that helped me understand how to create distinct characters who react to different stimuli in different ways. This is so important!!! And I think the early 2010/2011 tumblr landscape that offered OC tag games REALLY helped with this too. And again, none of this writing was really going anywhere...which was also really key. I was writing to my own satisfaction, no one else's, and I found that I was really critical. Throughout, I was still reading books. So my understanding of what good writing was changed and developed. It never stayed stagnant - and yet there were books I kept coming back to, no matter my age! What was compelling about them? That also really helped me figure out what timelessness in writing might look like.
But I still didn't see myself as a creative writer. I was a poet and an academic writer. Maybe an essayist. But I certainly didn't have the imagination to write original plot. I had been told that enough times my certain people. I believed it. When I wrote fanfiction, it was porn without plot. I could write smut. Really well, too! But that's not the same thing as being a creative writer (this is what I thought - it's not true at all).
It wasn't until March 2021 that I started regularly writing fanfiction to be published again. But it wasn't until late last year, when I started working on Carlando fanfiction, that I actually realized that I might really be a creative writer with the capacity to come up with plot. And now I'm really pissed off because who the fuck was anyone else to say that I wasn't, or that anyone else isn't, a creative writer? Writing is a muscle! No one is born a runner. No one is born an athlete. Some people are predisposed to certain activities and maybe are more naturally talented, but talent atrophies! Talent is useless without discipline! And you don't have to be a childhood savant to be good at something! You can start writing at 4, 11, 18, 25, 32, 40, it doesn't matter, so long as you are disciplined and curious and open-minded and dedicated to the craft, so long as you do it for YOURSELF first and foremost because it's something you enjoy and something that makes your heart happy even when it's difficult, because if you don't write it, you'll always feel like something is missing, because if you don't write it, it doesn't matter who else does: because you didn't write something when you wanted to write it.
Writing is a muscle you exercise. Writing is also an internal compulsion. And it is also an interactive process. If you want to start writing, you need to be able to do all three things:
Be disciplined in writing (not that you need to write a certain way or be organized in a certain way, just that you need to be able to write! period! no matter what! set goals and try your best to meet them! this will help SO much later on)
When you write something, write it because you NEED to, not because other people have told you you should write it or because you want to get views (that's important and it'll come later, but not early on!). Good writing really does come for the heart. It's very obvious when you read writing that isn't heart-felt. And it feels worse when you write something you don't want to write.
Engage with other works. I'm not saying you need to take a pencil to everything you read (though you can and it doesn't hurt lol) but really, reflect as you read! Why did this work? Why didn't it work? What might have made it better? How did it make you feel? And then incorporate all those lessons in your own writing!
Sorry. Wow. This got very autobiographical. And super long. I do not have a degree in English or creative writing. I'm a political scientist and proto-lawyer by training lol.....but I hope this helps anyway!
#hibi answers#hibi writing tips#i love stuff like this i loveeeee stuff like this pls feel free to ask similar questions
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Heyy🦙 I'm writing fanfiction for Hinata (form Haikyuu) and I'm gonna post it once I'm done but that's besides the point..
actually request: Any of the MHA/BNHA boys catch you writing/reading/drawing fanfiction/fan art
the characters are your pick
um- I never tell you this but dont stress yourself either🥰😚
BNHA GUYS CATCHING YOU WITH FANFICTION/FANART
w/ Bakugou, Iida, Kirishima, Denki, Shoto
warnings: suggestive themes
a/n: i'm having trouble falling asleep these days and it's taking a toll on my daily activities but i'm sure i'll manage, thank you :")
navigation
KATSUKI BAKUGOU
catches you reading fanfiction
blond bb knows you love to read, as a matter of fact, he's aware you read more than you spend time with him. and he's alright with that cause he'd rather chill with you in silence than listen to you talk his ear out lol
just because he doesn't mind you with your hobby doesn't mean he isn't curious about it
what kind of books are you reading that have your eyes glued to your screen the whole day every day?
he never does this and really doesn't want to do it but curiosity killed the cat. as you bake cookies with Mina downstairs, you left your phone in your room to charge
Katsuki takes this as his chance to snoop. He won't go to any other app, he'll head straight to your reading apps and sites.
Jujutsu Kaisen x Reader?
Haikyuu x Reader?
Naruto x Reader?
and what the fuck is 'lemon' and 'smut'?
he puts your phone back, discreetly leaving your room to do some research in his room
ah, so you've been reading 2k-10k worth of words of fanfiction about Jujustu Kaisen, Haikyuu and Naruto characters pleasing you...
he shall now delete his search history and pretend he never found out about this part of you
TENYA IIDA
catches you drawing fanart
everyone in 1A knows you draw and that you're amazing at it
Class press never forgets/fails to compliment your drawings, even if you the pieces are half down
but that's the thing. you always let him see and sometimes you even let him watch as you draw, so why are you hiding this particular piece from him?
he guesses it's a surprise for him- but hold on, he doesn't have tattoos or pink hair. so who is it?
while you're in the bathroom, he sneakily takes a peak at your work and thinks he should regret it but honestly, the art is so good he can't even find it anything remotely negative
it's a fanart of who he remembers is Sukuna, the kind of curses from the TV show Jujutsu Kaisen. he's on a throne with a mountain of skulls underneath it, a corner of his lips tugged up into a smile as a woman's head rests in between his thighs
he probably should regret ever taking a peek but the details, holy shit. the shading, the hand- everything just sends shivers down his spine
EIJIRO KIRISHIMA
catches you writing fan fiction
red boi always loves listening to you type as you study or do your homework, he uses it as a sleeping aid. as you work diligently on your desk, he lays on your bed, slowly drifting to sleep land
today, however, your typing sounds different. it's much faster, more rushed and he can't help his curiosity from growing at how you're biting on your lip, smiling as you typed
from what he knows, you absolutely hate typing essays so why do you look so excited right now?
he lets it slide, sleeping to the sound of your rushed typing.
the next day, you ask Eijiro to bring your laptop with him cause you're about to watch a movie with the whole class and the files are in your comouter
it's not even his fault, your laptop was left open and on and when he moved to turn it off, he catches a glimpse of "Tsukishima runs a hand down your thigh, his hot breath rising goosebumps all over your body." and suddenly he's reading the whole chapter
you barge in your room, yelling and asking what took him so long only to catch him glued to your computer screen, mouth left ajar.
you quickly snatch the PC from him, earning a whine. "Give it back! I need to know if Tsukki likes me back!" He pouts.
"This isn't for you to read, Eij! Leave it alone!"
"Oh sure, so your ten thousand followers in tumblr can read it but I, your boyfriend, can't. Okay, yeah. I see just how Eijirophobic you are."
he's pouting the whole day until you finally give in and let him read your drafts. allowing him to correct your grammar and spelling errors along the way
SHOTO TODOROKI
catches you reading fan fiction
this man is utterly confused why you're suddenly reading so much and how your vocabulary is slowly expanding but he's happy for you
as the both of you are in his room, silent as the both of you read your own books, Shoto can't help but get curious
so as you fall asleep with your phone still turned on, he takes his chance to get a peek
he also wants to read the books you're reading, he wants to learn more and improve himself. if your english grades had risen up from reading what you read, surely he'll also learn from how "Toji places your leg on his shoulder as he continues to pound in"-
as a matter of fact maybe he is okay with what he knows now. sometimes ignorance is bliss after all
DENKI KAMINARI
catches you watching fanart
you've forgotten about the wall of mirrors behind you and you're scrolling down your current favorite artist's twitter page, flood liking their posts
mind you their fanarts are 18+ so you thought it'd be best to face your boyfriend so he won't be able to see what you're looking at.
no, yeah you're a complete idiot.
Denki presses his lips together, trying to contain his laughter as he videotapes your reflection. you're zooming into the intricate details of a Gojo fanart with his blue polo shirt completely unbuttoned and sweat glistens over his sculpted abs
"Babe what are you doing?" Denki asks, now zooming into your face after showing to the camera what you're zooming in to
"There's a mirror behind me, is there?" You ask, now feeling like a complete idiot as your boyfriend laughs, absolutely no sound coming out of his mouth as his mouth stretches widely
You face your phone screen at him, showing the fanart. "I'd cheat on you with Gojo."
Denki continues laughing, now out of breath. "And of course I'd be pissed cause why the hell did Gojo pick you and not me?"
#bakugou katuski x reader#bakugou x y/n#bakugou x you#bakugou hcs#bakugou headcanons#kirishima x you#kirishima x reader#kirishima x y/n#kirishima hcs#kirishima headcanon#iida x reader#iida x y/n#iida x you#iida hcs#iida headcanons#todoroki x you#todoroki x y/n#todoroki x reader#todoroki headcanons#todoroki hcs#denki x y/n#denki x you#denki x reader#denki hcs#denki headcanons#my hero academia imagines#mha headcanons#bnha headcanons#boku no hero headcanons#my hero headcanons
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Hello there... This is my first time requesting so hopefully I'm doing this right but... Karl Heisenberg with S/O who's learning German? S/O is doing it in secret, they have their headphones on and listening and practicing Pronouncing words and they just don't notice that Karl is there? When they get startled by him they just tell Schiesse (I tend to do that 😂) also they got a bit of an accent? (obviously lol)
If possible can you make reader British?
I don't mind what gender you give reader what you like works just don't make reader too kind or soft just normal or tomboyish also not short
Okay, so I forgot about making them British, so sorry about that, but I hope this is good enough.
Rating: Teen and up
Word count: 786
Warnings: foul language.
"Gottverdammt, dummes Stück Scheiße." (God damn it, stupid piece of shit.)
You jumped at the sudden sound of Karl's voice, that and him hitting the table hard with his fist. Despite not knowing German you could tell what he'd said was some form of expletive. Looking up from your book you noted that Karl was studying his hand, you then noticed the blood trickling down his fingers.
"Are you alright?"
You set your book down and moved over beside him.
"Yeah yeah. Just jammed my fingers is all."
You inspected his fingers, despite the amount of blood that was seeping from the cuts they didn't seem too deep. You sighed.
"You should go clean those up."
Karl clicked his tongue and stood up. Exiting the office he spoke once more as he disappeared into the factory.
"Tut weh wie ein Motherfucker." (Hurts like a motherfucker.)
Other than motherfucker, you weren't sure what he'd said. You could glean context, but other than that you were in the dark. Karl didn't use German too often, well, not with you. But you'd hear him using it here and there under different circumstances. You were always curious as to what he'd say, you didn't like being out of the loop, and honestly, you felt like if you could understand him it could bring you just a little bit closer to him. Not that you weren't close as it was, just, Karl was a cautious man. It had taken time for him to trust you, and more time for him to realize his feelings towards you, yet you knew a part of him was scared of the closeness. Scared that you'd leave him, betray him, or worse he'd lose you. So the thought of learning German for him made you think that maybe it would show him how devoted to him you were. Yet, you were hesitant to ask him to teach you, he was busy with orders from Mother Miranda and building his metal army. You didn't want to ask him to do anything more. Maybe you could teach yourself? The thought had crossed your mind before, you were smart, surely you could figure it out. You'd need some kind of guide though, a book or something. Perhaps the Duke could be of assistance.
It was a few days later and the Duke had arrived to drop off some things you and Karl had asked for. Karl was busy with work so you had the perfect opportunity to ask Duke for help.
"Hey, Duke? Do you have any books or something on German?"
"Looking to expand your vocabulary, are you? I don't have anything like that at the moment, but I can certainly attain something for the right price." The man grinned.
"Whatever the price, I'll pay."
"Excellent." Duke laughed and clapped his hands.
It was a week before The Duke had returned. You'd found that he'd acquired you quite a few books and audiotapes on German.
"I hope these will suffice."
"This is perfect. Thank you, Duke." You gave him a big smile.
"Anything for a paying customer."
You dove right into learning, you studied the books and listened to the tapes. Every day you would practice in secret while Karl worked. You wanted it to be a surprise.
Sitting at the desk in the bedroom you had your headphones on, listening to one of the tapes. While you listened you worked on writing as well, you nearly had a whole sheet of paper written out. Suddenly a hand came down on your shoulder.
"Scheisse." You jumped.
Pulling off your headphones you looked over your shoulder to find Karl.
"Don't scare me like that." You scolded.
"I called your name, obviously you couldn't hear me. What are you doing? And did you just speak German?" Karl leaned forward around you and plucked the sheet of paper off the desk.
"N-no, don't." You tried to stand up and snatch the paper out of his hand, but he just pushed you back down into the seat and held the paper up out of reach.
Scanning the paper Karl Smiled.
"You did speak German, and you're writing it too." Karl laughed looking down at you. "You're learning German and you didn't tell me?"
"It was supposed to be a surprise." You groaned.
"I see, and what made you want to learn it?"
"I hear you speaking German sometimes, I want to know what you're saying. Plus, I thought it would make you happy." You stood up, his hand now gone from your shoulder.
Karl nodded and smiled. Pulling you in close by your hips he gave you a kiss.
"Alles an dir macht mich glücklich." (Every thing about you makes me happy.)
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if you’re open for regular requests i’d love to request lil scenarios of the boys learning english alongside their english-speaking s/o! this is totally self-indulgent i’m doing the TEFL program and i’m going to south korea next year to teach :)
first of all, that’s amazing omg!! congratulations my love, i hope you have the best time over there and please don’t be shy in sharing your stories with us!!! i tried to stick to the boys actually learning english with their s/o but i strayed from that with a few members just bc i ran out of ideas lol but i hope you still enjoy!
fair warning....i’ve never ~seriously~ tried to learn korean, so i’m not entirely certain of the parallels between korean and english. i just hope these are wholesome enough to override that lmao
namjoon:
“You know,” Namjoon looked up from his phone, “I understand expanding your vocabulary, but why are there so many weird slang words?”
“Kids these days?” You shrugged, the man chuckling in response before flipping his phone around to show you what had puzzled him.
“If something slaps, that’s...good?” He wondered, watching as you suppressed a smile at the tweet he was showing you.
You could tell by the profile picture that the user was an ARMY, one of the many fan profiles on the platform, and the tweet was written completely in English.
Although there was a ‘Translate to Korean’ option readily available with just a tap of his thumb, you knew Namjoon never missed an opportunity to challenge himself to be able to fully comprehend what a native English speaker was trying to say.
You nearly snorted at the tweet’s content, smiling as you read it out loud.
“The Dis-ease bridge just saved my life. Seriously, this song slaps.”
Glancing at Namjoon, he raised his eyebrows, eagerly waiting for you to translate and explain what that could equate to in Korean.
“It’s definitely a good thing, Joon. They love it.”
At your interpretation, Namjoon grinned, nodding to himself as he pulled his phone back in front of his face to scroll through more reaction tweets to the new album release.
seokjin:
“What the hell is that?”
You picked your head up from your sketchbook when you heard Seokjin whine from beside you, eyebrows knitting together at his distressed tone. Taking a glance over at his laptop screen, you found his mouse bouncing from letter to letter on one of his weekly english lessons.
“What is that, like 15 letters? How do you even use that in a sentence?” He went on, obviously flustered by the word on the screen.
Pulchritudinous.
You placed your hand over his to stop his panicked counting of the letters, causing him to look over at you with a sigh as he frowned.
You nearly giggled at his reaction, but the genuine fear in his eyes made you stifle it as you soothingly held his hands in yours.
“It’s just an over complicated way of saying beautiful. I don’t know why they’re teaching you that, nobody ever uses it.” You assured him, his eyes going down in size a bit at your words before he nodded.
Watching as a smirk tilted his lips, you raised your brows at the sudden expression.
“What?”
“Well like, I could say I’m...that?” He said, eyebrows raised cockily as he gestured to the long word stretched across the screen.
“Well it’s actually not used like,” you paused, giving in with a shrug as you grinned back at him.
“Sure, love.”
yoongi:
“Why did I skip English class all the time?” Yoongi sighed, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers as he plucked at the skin in frustration.
“Because you were trying to be a rebel.” You answered without looking up from your phone, the man obviously not liking your answer as he reached over to where you were laying beside him to pinch at your hip.
Yelping, you scooted across the mattress to get away from his hand, whining his name with a scoff before looking over at his notepad.
“What are you doing, anyway?” You asked, leaning on your palm as you scanned the rows of scribbled English letters written on the page.
“I’m trying to get better at writing.” He admitted shyly, a small grin on his face to match the fond one on your own.
“Aw,” you pouted, Yoongi raising his eyebrows at your tone, “but I like your chicken scratch.”
“You’re such a brat.” He chuckled, adjusting the velcro on his brace with a grunt.
Since Yoongi’s shoulder surgery took away obvious straining activities like dancing and performing, he’d turned to studying English from the comfort of your bed during his recovery as one of the only safe activities he could partake in for a while.
It was now one of his favorite past times, learning new words and phrases he could potentially use in the future. It worked for you both because it took his mind off the pain and kept him motivated, and since you could speak both his and your language, you could help him out whenever he got stuck on something.
Usually he did lessons verbally on his phone, but it seemed today he had taken the old fashioned route.
“Your handwriting really isn’t bad, Yoongs.” You observed, the carefully placed tails at the end of each ‘a’ making you smile out of fondness for the man.
“My man has the prettiest handwriting.” You cooed, pushing a strand of his stark black hair out of his eyes as he blushed down at his notebook.
“Stop that.”
hoseok:
“Hey, babe?” Hoseok called for you, listening to your footsteps growing closer before you popped your head into the kitchen doorway.
“Yeah?”
“I’m having a little trouble.” He gestured to his open laptop on the counter, you recognizing it as an assignment from his English course.
“What happened?”
“Pronouns. Pronouns happened.” He pouted, his disdain for the new chapter quite obvious as he stared down his computer screen.
“What about them?” You asked, stepping closer to the man sitting at the kitchen island and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“I need to make ten sentences using proper pronouns and I feel like I’m doing it all wrong.” He explained, causing you to hum as you looked over his sentences.
“These look great, Hobi.” You smiled as you glanced over the first three he’d written, flawlessly executed on the document.
“Can you help me with the next one?” He wondered, you nodding your head as you took a seat on the stool next to his.
“What do you want the next one to say?” You asked, watching as he glanced off to the side in thought, slightly squinting his eyes at the tile floor beneath the sink.
“My house is next to,” He spoke in English, pausing as he searched his brain for what pronoun to put next.
“Theys?” He answered as more of a question, then shaking his head as he switched back to Korean, “wait, no.” He sighed, placing his chin in his hand in thought before glancing over to you.
“I know it’s wrong, I just don’t know what the right answer is instead.” He explained, you shooting him a loving smile as you pushed the dark raven hair off his forehead and pressed a kiss to the newly revealed skin.
“I’ll help you, Sunshine. No worries.”
jimin:
Flopping onto the bed, you let your tired body fall on top of Jimin’s hoodie clad chest, his arm encircling your body as he mumbled a soft greeting to you.
“Hm, what are you learning about today?” You nuzzled into his chest, peering at his phone propped up on his thigh.
“Animals. Birds, mostly.” He answered, briefly turning from the screen to press a kiss to your head before focusing back on the row of English words matched with pictures of popular birds glowing from the device.
The first was a robin, the next a blue jay, and then a dove.
You listened as the virtual instructor prompted Jimin to repeat after her, spelling out the letters before stating the whole word. You smiled as your boyfriend followed instruction, pronouncing the words the best he could after the microphone chimed for him to do so.
“D-o-v-e. Dove.”
“Dove.” He repeated, smiling to himself as the app announced he got the point with a little heart.
“That’s cute.” He went back to his native language, you humming in confusion as you lifted your head up off his chest to look at him.
“The heart?” You asked, reaching up to twist a stray strand of hair out of his eye as he shook his head.
“Dove.” He said again, making you tilt your head, not knowing what he meant.
“It sounds like ‘love.’” He connected the two English words, you smiling fondly at him in response before scooting up the bed to kiss the tip of his button nose.
“You’re so cute.”
taehyung:
Three knocks at the door announced someone’s arrival to your bedroom, causing your head to lift from the novel you’d been so immersed in. Taehyung was home, but you’d wanted to give him space because you knew he needed to work on lyrics for his mixtape in order to submit them on time.
“Hey,” he poked his head in with a small smile, “can you help me with something?” He asked sheepishly, stepping further into the room when you nodded.
“Of course. What is it?” You set your book down, marking your place before closing it to pay full attention to your boyfriend.
“Well, I’m trying to write this verse in English and,” he trailed off with a shrug, “you know.” He finished, you nodding in response with a gesture for him to come sit next to you.
He eagerly walked over to you with his notebook in hand, lowering himself to the mattress before rolling his way over to where you were leaning against the headboard.
Honestly, Taehyung’s English wasn’t bad at all. He was insecure about it, but you’d never really understood what the reason for that feeling was. His vocabulary was more than decent, his comprehension was good, and his pronunciation was great for having such a thick accent.
But there were many times where Taehyung came to you for guidance, as you were a native English speaker yourself.
And so, as he rested his head on your shoulder confiding in you about everything he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it, you patiently took him through what would work and rhyme best, smiling as he hummed the melody to himself to see if the phrases would work in his creation.
jungkook:
“Baby, can you read it to me again before we go on? Just one more time.”
You glanced over at your boyfriend in his makeup chair, several employees bustling around the man as they attempted to get him ready to go on stage while they had him seated.
With his arm extended backward to where you stood behind his leather chair, he offered his phone to you while shooting you a grin through the reflection in the mirror.
Taking the device from his hand, you opened it to the notes app where he’d written what he wanted to say in his statement on stage in just a few minutes.
You were in London tonight, which meant that all of the boys had been rehearsing their English so that they could communicate easier with their audience.
Jungkook, ever the over-achiever, was determined to do the toughest English tongue twister he could possibly find. Not only that, but in a British accent for his British ARMY’s.
“Betty bought a bit of better butter to make her bitter butter better.” You read from the phone, barely able to read the sentence yourself before you glanced up at Jungkook through the mirror again.
You watched your boyfriend nod as his brain took in the words you’d just said, taking a deep inhale before he began speaking the phrase back to you.
You gawked as the man effortlessly repeated after you, a few of the makeup artists stopping as well as Jungkook raised his eyebrows back at you.
“Was that okay?”
#bts#bts writing#bts fanfiction#bts scenarios#bts scenario#bts reactions#bts reaction#bts blurbs#bts blurb#bts fluff#bts member x reader#bts x reader#namjoon x reader#namjoon fluff#seokjin x reader#seokjin fluff#yoongi x reader#yoongi fluff#hoseok x reader#hoseok fluff#jimin x reader#jimin fluff#taehyung x reader#taehyung fluff#jungkook x reader#jungkook fluff
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I can't stress enough 'wows' in tve way you write along with the fact that it's you first few posts (i think? Pls correct me) can you do luci mammon and satan with a reader who takes naps bc of overthinking? They just tug their sleeves and shot them a tired look, while looking down shying away. Also, have a nice day and take the time to be yourself!
Aw thanks fam! I am fairly new to posting my works, I tried twice before this with two different writing blogs but I deleted them both bc I felt discouraged. I’m older now and I feel a lot better about my writing, so third time the charm and all that lol! I’m so glad you like my writing! I know I need some work on grammar and expanding my vocabulary.
This was a super cute prompt ;.; I hope I did it justice!
Lucifer
He is a mix of jealous and pissed. He wishes he could fall asleep so easily when he gets inundated with too many things at once. But also- just don’t do that? Where were your manners?
He starts noticing your little peculiarity in class. Specifically that you tend to nod off in advance alchemy and rune scripting. You were being so studious, jotting down notes, ask great questions. Next thing he knows you're out like a light.
He is shocked for a moment before he will wake you up. Your wide doe-eyed frown does nothing to him. JK his hearts clench at your wounded look.
He makes the other brothers report to him about your behavior and odd sleep habit. Were you ill? Was this just something humans did? Devils, was Belphie rubbing off on you?
They all say the same thing. One moment you are working hard or talking to them about a topic you are passionate about, and the next you are yawning hard enough to pop your jaw and shyly asking to lay down.
Well-he can’t have that.
If you are going to fall asleep around anyone it’s going to be him.
He sets up remedial lessons with you after dinner to make up for the work slept through. You sit by him at his long ornate desk while he tutors you on what you missed.
You weren't having any problems, you even finished a few pages. He is proud and then-
“I can almost hear those gears slowing my dear.” Lucifer interrupts himself mid-explanation of Zosimos of Panopolis and Maria the Prophetess's theories of alchemy in human medicine.
You jerk awake and turn to him blinking owlishly. "Yeah, I just need to lay down." You admit.
Lucifer eyes you critically. This was sudden, were you ill? You had been fine moments ago, bright-eyed and enthusiastic. He cups your face, turning it from side to side. "So suddenly? We haven't even discussed the properties of mercury yet." You hum letting your eyes droop. He was always so warm.
"Hour nap break? Please?" His stern gaze softens at how your nose scrunches up cutely as you yawn.
“Very well.” He relents letting you slick over to his couch. You flop over face first with a grunt of satisfaction. You toss and turn for a while, moving his pillows around unsatisfied.
“Luci-” You call in defeat. He ignores you at first. If you wanted to nap fine, he would get some work done in the meantime. “Luci~” You say again. You could see his brow twitching. “Lu-”
“My dear,” He shoots you a withering look. “You are treading a thin line. If you have the energy to call for me you have the energy to study.” You say nothing at his brisk tone, instead of opening your arms to him to join you. “You tempt me.” He purrs hiding his smile behind his paperwork.
“Learned from the best.” Lucifer shakes his head laughing at your smug reply. He glances over you to his grandfather clock. Hmmm-perhaps he could spare a few minutes. He rises elegantly discarding his tie and waistcoat to his abandoned chair. Running a hand through his hair he snorts at your little whistle.
“Move.” He commands. You shake your head patting your belly. “I will crush you.” He laughs but lays over you regardless.
“Good-you’re warm.” You say muffled in his shirt. Wrapping your arms around his middle you drift off. Lucifer holds you close, running a still gloved hand up and down your side. Perhaps he should bring out some more complex topics next time. If this was the outcome-
Mammon
He noticed you get drowsy before in class. Your cute little head jerks as you nod off, hands rubbing at your face as you fight to stay awake before giving in to the need to sleep. It was adorable- not that he was watching you because of that! He was just doing his job of looking out for you
Ye-that was all.
Honestly, he thought you were just like him. He never cared for the books being forced on him in class. Boring useless crap in his opinion. He much rather sleep through a lecture on stats too.
Now books on photography? That's where it's at. He has a legitimate passion for it.
He likes being behind the camera just as much as he likes being in front of it. Though he doesn't snap photos often.
He doesn't need more beratement from his brothers than he already gets. Sides, he just feels like they would look down at this like everything else he does.
He'll share his hobby with you though. You at least seem interested in it. He'll show you his collection of vintage to high-tech cameras and talk your ear off about the makes, models, and features.
You nod along and ask questions from time to time, smiling along with Mammon while he prattles on about color theory next to you on the floor.
He was just getting to Auguste Lumiére when he feels a gentle bump on his shoulder.
"O-oi!" Mammon starts, shaking his shoulder to rouse you. You look up at him, blinking the sleep from your eyes. "Was...was I that boring?" He deflates a little, all previous excitement gone in a flash. You had seemed so interested...
"What? Oh, no. No Mammon I'm sorry. It's really all fascinating," You grab for his sleeve so he couldn't run away. "It was just a lot of information all at once. I just got a bit overwhelmed."
"So you fall asleep?" He raises a brow not believing you for a second. Who falls asleep when something is interesting? He'll admit he's fallen asleep while listening to Levi talk about a new anime or Asmo with a make-up release. But that's because it had been boring. "Is that like a human thing?"
You shrug snuggling closer. "I don't know- but it's a me thing. Give me five? I'd love to hear you talk more about your collection, promise."
Mammon glows scarlet at your words. "Of course you do!" He puffs out his chest excitedly. “I got great taste.” You nod into his shirt before drifting off again. He tilts his head slightly to look at you chuckling internally when your breathing and heartbeat slow down. Damn, out in seconds. Well, better get comfortable.
Uncrossing his long legs he picks up the camera he had been showing you. The old Polaroid lens reflects his face back at him. He remembered the day Land had debuted this marvel of engineering.
He just had had to get his hands on one. It was useless now, he had much better quality cameras than this old thing, but he remembered you reminiscing about your human friends and their portable camera. Would you take some pictures with him too? He would take one now, but the sound of the flash would definitely wake you up.
He fiddles with it for a few more minutes, opening and closing the film canister and checking for any parts that needed fixing as he waits. You stir at his side a few minutes later with a little mew of satisfaction. Mammon hears your joints creak and pop as you stretch. "Morning." He says sarcastically, earning himself a light punch to his shoulder. "Ready to continue?"
You nod eagerly, perky and aware. At least for the moment.
Satan
He didn't really notice at first the pattern of your behavior.
You would come over for book club. Which was really just him reading his current novel and you picking something at random to gain a little random knowledge.
You would find a comfortable position on his bed, curl up nice and small and read. Then after a bit yawn and start to snooze.
He first thought it was the atmosphere of his room. It was quiet, warm, and the sound of flickering candles and the rustle of paper sometimes caused him to doze too.
But when it starts happening outside of class he notices.
Hmmm….this is new.
He looks it up in his human anatomy books and finds nothing.
He's not particularly worried about you per se. You always bounce back quickly after a quick snooze.
Then you start dozing when he is talking… >:(
Like his brother/dad he is a little miffed at first but then your behavior reminds him a cat and he loves you 10x harder now
Satan stops in his pacing of the back gardens. His book of poetry hanging limply in his hand. He had been reciting some of the most fascinating lines of work from Lord Byron's later works and wanted a human's perspective. He had thought you were interested. You never complained before when he asked you out here. Perhaps you were just being polite all those times before. Anything to soothe wrath. He snaps his book shut sharply, take some perverse satisfaction in the way you start out of your light sleep at the noise.
"Why'd you stop?" You ask wiping at your face.
"No point talking to someone that doesn't wish to listen." He snaps tersely.
"Oh-Satan, no I was listening. It...it just got to be so much so fast." You flush. “You had some great points going, I just needed a minute.” He watches your eyes grow heavy again, and it dawns on him.
"Do you just sleep when overwhelmed?" He asks incredulously. In all his years with humans, this was new. You shrug making grabby hands for him to move closer. He scoffs but moves into your space. You grab at the hem of his shirt and pull him down to sit next to you. He goes willingly getting comfortable by your side. You eye his lap longingly, hands clutching around his coat sleeve. “Fine-” He rolls his eyes. “Come here you odd thing.” You smile in triumph and crawl into his lap. Once settled you nuzzle into his warm chest.
“Wake me up in ten? I want to hear more about your conversations with Byron.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” He kisses the top of your forehead, opening his book to read again with one hand. You hum at his soft kiss, returning it sleepily with one of your own before passing out again. Ten minutes go by in an instant and Satan looks down at your peaceful face. He smiles to himself, perhaps he’ll let you sleep for a little while longer. You’d need it for his next point.
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Fic Writer Questions!
@oddsocksandstuff tagged me in this, thank you so much, sweetie! ❤️
1) How many works do you have on AO3?
I’ve got 40 so far (of which 25 are SPN fics). There’s more to come!
2) What’s your total AO3 word count?
486,667, apparently. That tells me each of my fics has an average wordcount of 12,166.675… Seems about right. I was never any good at keeping things short.
3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?
Uhh… On AO3 I’ve written for Supernatural, Supernatural RPF, X-men (Cherik) and McFassy (James McAvoy/Michael Fassbender). But I’ve written a lot when I was younger that has never made it online, including NCIS, Pirates of the Caribbean, and lots of weird one-shorts starring everyone from Michael J. Fox to Kevin Sorbo from “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”. 🤨
4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
“A Lesson to be Taught” – an SPN Wincest pwp fic where a dominant Dean fucks (and spanks) Sam and they discover that Dean apparently has a daddy!kink. Comes with a photo manipulation too! There be dick.
“Taking Game” – a semi-dark medieval Cherik (Charles Xavier/Erik Lehnsherr from X-men) AU. Basically, Charles is a poacher hunting on king Erik’s land to his great dismay. And so, he’s captured and gets the choice between losing his life or serving the king for a bit… Dubcon and smut ensues.
“Only Like This” – a little SPN Wincest dub-con fic about hopelessly pining Dean doping Sam just so he can touch and kiss his oblivious little brother. It’s okay. Sam won’t remember when he comes to.
“It’s Only Carnal” – A dark SPN Wincest noncon fic where soulless!Sam needs to blow off some steam. And when it comes to carnal activities his brother isn’t exactly a novice – so why not use Dean’s body to make them both feel good?
“Demonized” – a long and dark af SPN noncon fic written in collaboration with the awesome @palishere. Sam is captured by some nasty demons who use him to lure in his brother. At first it seems the demonic scumbags are just really perverted and have a weakness for sexual torture, but they turn out to have ulterior motives…
5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?
Yes, always. I think it can be a bit demotivating for a reader to leave a comment and get zero response – and so, they might not bother to comment on the next fic. At least, that’s how I feel personally. And besides, I really want to let readers know that I appreciate them taking the time and effort to actually tell me what they think.
6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
Oufff… Seriously? How can I possibly pick just one when 99.8 percent of my fics are not only dark af but have gut-wrenching ambiguous endings as well? I, err… I’m gonna have to think really hard about this one, hold on… *Insert buzzing cicada sound*… Uhh… Well, I guess it might be…
“Play or Pay” – a dark female!reader-insert Wincest fic where demon!Dean has you and Sam trapped somewhere underground. Sam ends up being on the receiving end of the demon’s cruelty when he tries to save you. Using Dean’s body the demon ends up raping Sam while the reader tries to escape to get help... There’s a little twist in the end. Loads of dead dove here, including death (not Dean or Sam).
“The Orange Hour” – where undercover inmate!Dean has to rape CO!Sam in order to save both of their lives and get them out of the jail in one piece. It doesn’t go completely as planned. (Comes with an nsfw photo manipulation).
“Demonized” – loads of bottom!Sam torture, full of hurt and absolutely no comfort... It’s just… I dunno, I think I and @palishere had a collective meltdown in the noncon and angst department. Sorrynotsorry.
8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?
Nope, I’ve never in my life written a crossover. Usually, I’m too laser-focused on 1 obsession at a time. I can’t multitask, okay?
9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?
Yes, the fandom purity police has visited me on AO3. The usual self-proclaimed know-it-alls vomiting their bullshit all over the comment section about how “problematic” noncon is and how “sick” I must be. I thought about moderating comments for a while, actually – but I just deleted their follow-up comments until they left me alone. 😤
10) Do you write smut? If so what kind?
Yes!! Gimme! Usually, I write noncon smut or just good ol’ pwps that feature some sort of dominance. That’s it. That’s my jam. In general, the only smut I don’t write is the cute, fluffy, feel-good, cuddly stuff… My smut’s usually pretty rough and/or some sort of dub/noncon.
11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Yes. Someone stole “It’s Only Carnal” and posted it as her own on some Portuguese fanfiction site. She even replied to comments, answered questions and talked about how much she loved writing it, etc… Luckily a sweet mutual on Tumblr let me know about it and I reported her for plagiarism. The stolen fic was taken down shortly after and the account deleted. Goddamn thief. 😡
12) Have you ever had a fic translated?
Yes. Honestly, I can’t remember which fic(s). But people have contacted me on AO3 and asked for permission to translate my stuff into Chinese. I have - of course - happily allowed them to. It’s such an awesome compliment to get, I think!
13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Yes, 2. “Demonized” and the fluffy Ficfacers prompt fic “The Masks We Wear” starring Sam and Dean taking their pranks a step too far. Basically, the brothers get angry with each other and they need to talk it out… No smut in this one, can you believe it?!! But that was kinda the prompt we received. The prompt was literally: “Sam and fluff”. Anyways, both fics are co-written with the lovely @palishere. You can find her AO3 here. 😊
14) What’s your all time favorite ship?
Wincest!!! Definitely. Gimme all the brotherfucking, please. No contest. And coming in on second place I guess there’s Samifer – never paired consensually, though. I just love Lucifer messing with Sam’s head and torturing him in all kinds of cruel ways.
15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
Oh, that’s a mean question… I have a noncon WIP where Sam and Dean are in prison. I wrote a whole story outline, gathered my own little dictionary of prison slang, etc… But I never made it past page 10 or something. Sam was supposed to get jumped by a gang of inmates and then Dean was supposed to helplessly watch from the sideline, offering to trade places if they’d just leave his little brother alone… And after that it’s all about a mix of healing and vengeance… But the story has been lying on the shelf for more than a year and I doubt I’ll ever continue it.
Oh, wait! I almost forgot – I have a long Cherik WIP sequel to “To Have and to Hold”! Just checked, its wordcount is 18,729! Holy crap…. What a waste, huh? But I honestly don’t think I’ll ever finish it, because I’m not into Cherik anymore. That ship has kinda sunk for me…. So, now I’m hyperfixating on Supernatural, yeah?
16) What are your writing strengths?
Description, I think. I just love details and setting the mood. I like to think I’m pretty good at writing in English too even though it isn’t my native language… I wish to be better and expand my vocabulary but I’m doing okay nonetheless.
17) What are your writing weaknesses?
Description, I think. Yes, you read correctly. I often describe things TOO much. Sometimes to the extent where the pacing gets so slowed down that I feel like the scene loses its ‘feel’. I don’t know if it’s just in my head, but that’s my major concern about my writing. That and my signature ambiguous endings, lol.
18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
Love it. It can be difficult to pull off, but if you get it right it can be magical. Just don’t overdo it and make sure that the reader can follow. I don’t think I have any fics online where I do it, but I’m not a complete stranger to it either.
19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?
Ack, my poor brain trying to go back to when I was friggin’ 13… You know how many years ago that was?! 25!!! Okay!? *Huffs*…. Anyway, I THINK it might’ve been Keanu Reeves’ character in “Johnny Mnemonic”. Or maybe David James Elliott’s character as Harmon Rabb in the early seasons of “JAG”. I dunno. Either way this question makes me feel really old and I don’t appreciate it. Don’t @ me. 😅
20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?
That’s probably a tie between “The Orange Hour” and “It’s Only Carnal”. They’ve both got nice pacing and that’s my biggest challenge, I think. Also, I love the whole Morse code thing in “The Orange Hour”. I don’t even know what happened or how I came up with it, but hey, I can surprise myself if I want to, I guess! And of course there’s the smutty noncon and all of the hurt… So, those two fics are my personal faves. 😏
I’ll tag @jackandthesoulmates, @pinkoptics, @palishere, @wrenseroticlibrary, @decadent-prince, @negans-lucille-tblr, @juinae and @impala-dreamer and everyone else who feels like doing it! Feel free to ignore, of course.
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I'm a novella roleplayer who writes long-term threads. Since this is very rare on tumblr, I've noticed that many muns are intimidated or put off by how much I write, how much information there is on my muse, and other things inherent to long-term roleplay. People have even told me outright, "I'm intimidated by you". But I do wonder if there's another component besides, well, just the amount of writing I do. Maybe there's a way to negate some of this by using certain techniques, wording, etc in my rules and overall presentation. Do you have any advice on how to reduce how intimidating I seem, even with the amount of writing I do? Any particular things I should avoid? And at what point should I just not worry about it, because it's out of my control?
Hello, Anon! Thank you very much for this question, I think it's a discussion many could benefit from. That should probably be head's up for everyone that this is going to get long, yes.
People have also told me, outright, that they're "intimidated," and I know that's something my writing partners have been told as well. It's also something that seems to be a common statement toward novella roleplayers in particular, and one's chance of having it said increases with factors such as being a long-term RPer, particularly good vocabulary, visible skill with writing, and indeed, having a muse you've dedicated obvious time to developing - made obvious in not only the amount of information available on your muse but also in your confidence about that muse.
I honestly do not think most people who say this any more realize that it's a little offensive than they know precisely what it is they are trying to tell you. Regardless, it makes it a bit hard to know what you're doing, if it's actually something wrong, is it something you can or should change, or is it just another case of being the minority in the RPC, therefore, having more muns out there that you're not suited to writing with? No one knows, because it's vague!
So, I’m additionally going to beg everyone out there to not say this. Please, if you find yourself categorizing another RPer as “intimidating,” do everyone a favor and consider what is making you feel this way, even if you never tell them this. Eventually, you will tell someone, and if you’ve thought on it already, you’ll be better able to express yourself in a way that is neither offensive nor vague. If you do tell someone they are “intimidating,” expand on it and be specific. Tell them whether it is the length, writing style, the mun OOC, it’ll be very helpful. You needn’t be shitty about it, just honest and polite.
Try: “I’m not confident enough to write with you, I don’t feel like I’m capable of writing that much, or that well, but I would love to keep following so I can read it!”
You’ve not been offensive at all, but have told them what your difficulty is. You’ve also kept this a you problem, not a them problem. When we tell people they are “intimidating,” that is a negative connotation that implies they are doing something wrong. We've made it a Them Problem. Maybe there is something they could work on, but your feelings over perceived limitations aren’t their problem. They can’t change the way you feel about yourself and your writing in contrast to theirs. By saying it this way, it’s still clear that you don’t think this will work out, you’ve told them why, and you’ve done it without projecting responsibility.
Alright, sorry, just in case anyone out there who says this and isn’t immediately turned off by the length of this reads it.
As I said, I've been told this as well, when it seemed like a mun that would be alright with me asking for specifics, I have. Unfortunately, they couldn't describe those specifics in any more detailed terms. I'm not saying this to shame anyone's capacity to describe their impressions or wishes, sometimes even the best writers aren't good at expressing themselves more personally. I'm just saying that a clearer description wasn't possible, and that I am taking this from what has been expressed by these people and others in limited ways, directly stated or vented about vaguely.
The length appears to be the predominating issue.
"It's just a lot," "I feel like I'd miss things in it," "intense," and "I like quicker back and forth" are some of the major points that have been made to or around me. They're the first and primary things that are mentioned, and they all deal with the length (though, the intensity thing also deals with the writing itself).
As you already know, as a novella RPer and how unpopular that is, the length is usually an issue, yes. Let me rephrase that - it is an issue that is a part of the vague descriptor of being "intimidating," I do not feel that lengthy RP itself is a problem! Just the problem that some muns are having with seeing you as a viable, approachable RP partner.
Looking at someone's writing is something I always highly advise doing while looking for new partners, but I believe that our writing as novella RPers can obscure it for some when they're not actively a writing partner yet, thus, not involved in it. I enjoy reading threads I am not a part of, and since everyone I write with is also novella, that means I'm essentially reading short stories every time I do - that's not typical. Most people just see Wall of Text in a novella thread they're not involved in.
It's kind of a seeing the individual trees in a forest situation, and might not have anything to do with the mun's potential interest or viability as a partner. I mean, I doubt you're looking to engage interest of short multi-para or one-line muns, since that isn't your preferred writing type and yours is not theirs. So, you're likely looking at the few and far between other novella and any lengthier multi-para muns. So, it's not going to be an issue of simply being novella, thus immensely overwhelming and not their thing. It's more likely to be that your novella is particularly lengthy, and again, they're not yet involved in it. They’re seeing a task, not the fun engagement of it yet.
I know that I've had several mid to lengthier multi-para muns approach me wanting to write, they're usually interested specifically in beginning to move toward doing novella. They also see the fruits of these great storylines, OOC friendships, and in-thread relationships on the dash, not the building that went into them. The expectation is different from the reality, and once they start receiving my replies, that can quickly turn overwhelming. They've now got something on their hands that has been too lengthy for other, established novella writers, and it's all at the beginning still with the muses.
This is when I tend to get that I'm intimidating from people who have begun to write with me, and I think it is telling of the Wall of Text problem with partners you've not gained yet, too. The problem of how they're viewing the writing is that they do not see things within it that are immediately, and easily, engaging to them specifically.
The people I referenced, they're having the same problem. Our muses do not know each other, there is no established connection of animosity or affection, no "dynamic" to fuel their replies. When looking at a lengthy novella reply and trying to judge interest in writing with the mun, they're naturally not going to see that either, since it doesn't exist yet.
And it might not exist at all.
I want to be clear to everyone that I am not saying one needs to write in a way that is not enjoyable to them, I'm just guessing at problems based on the majority of the RPC's interests and what I have been told over the years, a lot of years. Like, no one come at me about forcing anyone to write anything, or being acephobic or something fucking nuts, thanks!
People are really, really into the romantic ships. I do not care what the RPC says because it knows it's the right thing to say lol if it wasn't true, it wouldn't be a huge, and totally observable as true, problem that characters who are hard to ship with or do not ship are passed over. Regardless of beautiful writing, engaging muses, and incredible worldbuilding, they're passed over because they're not a ship partner in the waiting.
So, it's quite possible that if you do not have threads in which there are observable ships, muns are seeing the Wall of Text because there's nothing that grabs at their particular interests. I don't even just mean smut, either. I've found that far more muns than there used to be are willing to not write that, but they still want the ships.
You might be a RPer who does not do shipping at all, has a difficult to ship with muse, or who simply does not place this as a priority in your own interests. There is nothing wrong with either direction of this preference! It’s alright for people to have preferences, even if they can feel annoying to us because they’re leaving us out, or we genuinely just do not get the thrill. It’s totally okay for people to not be interested in shipping, or not place a particularly high value on it, and more muns than the RPC realizes feel this way. It’s as unpopular, and far more limiting, take on RP as being here openly only for them is. There’s nothing wrong with you as a writer or a person if you don’t write ships and smut, but it is the opposite of many people’s interests here. This would be something you can’t control, yeah. It’s still good to know as a part of the puzzle!
They see a lot of things they do not have any instant feelings about and/or what they perceive as interaction points. As, unfortunately, the predominant mode of writing here is reactive, and in brutal honesty, often self-interested. It's not rewarding to many muns in this RPC to build stories cooperatively together for the sake of those stories and love of the muses, they require putting their muse on display, having impassioned interactions through that muse's reactions.
So, you might be writing the most vivid scenes, the most beautiful character study, and letting your muse be a fleshed out, realistic person, but they're seeing "I can't react to this."
Which is, by the way, bullshit. Not just that it's bullshit as a way to try to write together, it's also bullshit in that you can react to anything. You can react to, literally, nothing. If you're muse has said not a word to mine for an entire reply, not physically interacted with them, they're just sitting there in a chair staring off into space (also not a great way to write, but I'm giving an extreme example) the whole time, I can react to that.
To be fair, my primary muse is really uh, busy, let's say lol it does make him both incredibly easy to interact with and very easy to generate natural reactions from. And that might also be a problem people are having...
Your muse is quiet.
They're the opposite of someone who is physically or verbally “busy.” They think more than they move or speak, they remain at emotional, verbal, and physical distances from others. The quiet, and still, type on the outside.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that, I love reading a muse's internal processes because I'm approaching this as a reader as much as I am a writer. It doesn't need to be something my muse can know or react to for me to enjoy it, I want to enjoy your muse, other people's muses are part of the joy of RP for me. And not just in what I might achieve having mine interact with them. There are muses mine very, very much did not work out with that I have continued to enjoy the stories of for years without writing with them!
But that's me. And I'm weird.
A lot of people are going to look at the sort of writing, particularly when not involved with it yet, and see...Words. Maybe they don't find them boring or any such thing, but they can't so easily envision themselves responding to it with the sort of vigor required to reply with length in kind. It's again the same dual issue going on that might just be making your writing difficult to approach.
It might be legitimately daunting, and might be more so if...
You're well-written.
One would think this would be a boon to written roleplay, but I haven't seen it be that in a long time. On tumblr, that has weirdly come to signify "elitism."
It's not just more legitimately intimidating for some out there because they feel they cannot write as well as you, might appear lacking or boring, end up dropped because of it. No, of course not! It's tumblr, where decent behavior as well as logic comes to die! It's because they've gotten the idea that you might be shitty to them because you posses more experience, skill, or innate talent with writing.
That's not helped when every time someone is told on any basis at all, in any manner at all, or one has any existent expectations for RPing that someone else might take issue with as though they're being forced to comply with them instead of not interacting, people freak out and call it elitism. Since most people who choose to be mutuals only and as such, are going to have to decline sometimes, are also those who are lengthier RPers...we're all categorized as Elitists.
People see what works for us as different kinds of RPers as something that is in opposition to them, and judgement of them. We can’t have scores of active partners when we write ten thousand word or more replies to everyone, it doesn’t work for us, and that doesn’t mean we think you’re an awful RPer for doing this differently than we do. We’re just exercising boundaries that are necessary for the way we enjoy it. Like how much length in return, literacy, and dedication we’re going to give and expect in return. It isn’t passing judgement, but when you want to write with a particular portrayal and they’re limited threads, mutuals only, novella and it shuts you out of the interaction, it’s easy to agree with the posts you’ve seen condemning differences of choice as elitist and hateful.
While you'd hope that people would exercise their own judgement, with the way that the RPC is so often on edge, you can't entirely blame people for being willing to believe they can identity a potential source of unpleasantness to avoid. As wild as it is, that includes people within the novella community. Your OOC is too well-spoken, your writing is too well-written? Might be an elitist. Even while they write much the same way as you do without realizing it!
I think when most people say someone here is "intimidating," it's not exactly what they mean, but for others, it's more literal than it is literary.
If you have any reason to believe this might be part of the issue, while I would never advise anyone to alter their writing to be something they personally feel is lesser than what they're capable of, you might want to consider a greater air of the casual in any OOC posts you make. Try to be as approachable there as you can - so long as that doesn't mean lying about it, of course! If we're genuinely not that gregarious or socially open, we shouldn't act like that's the case. That sets up one party with expectations that are neither true nor going to prove anything but frustrating to the other party.
I've had some success with that! And, even at my most casual, I'm not the most approachable of people lol I come off as rather intense, kind of aggressive, way too salty, curses flow from me like water during a monsoon, interspersed with...well, things like "interspersed." So, if I've seen success with that, it's possible that muns who are more genuinely gregarious, chill, and verbally polite people might see it as well!
It seems to be a case of allowing other muns the opportunity to see that you, yourself, are not frightening. You're just a person like they are, and a person who isn't going to be hateful to them if they are not perfect writers or perfectly on your level of writing. When that is apparent, approaching the writing itself is more openly done - yes, this mun has a grasp on description/dialogue/vocabulary/descriptive scenes that I do not, but they don't aggressively think they're the shit for it, so, it's safe for me to try to interact.
The Wall of Words that was once a poster for how badly they might be treated is now a collection of RP replies.
Write for the partners you want to attract.
Again, I do not want anyone to stop writing in the way they enjoy! However, what we put out is also what we attract to a large degree. It could be that your writing is an attractant for only a very small portion of the RPC, and it already is, by virtue of being both novella and the sort of novella it is.
That's very easy to do anyway, but even more so if we have few partners to write with. What we have on display is minimal, it might not have the range we're actually capable of, and therefore, might not be attracting that range of muns.
This is something I have experienced as well, though it was a little different a situation. Upon first writing RP on tumblr, I couldn't find anyone writing novella. I could barely find anyone doing short multi-para. Just as I'd find it inappropriate for someone approaching me to insist that I do one-line RP because it's what they do, I didn't find it appropriate to force novella on these muns. That's what I agreed to by interacting with them, after all! It isn't what I enjoy doing, however, it's harder for me to write short replies, so, I was consistently on the lookout for novella partners.
Those novella partners couldn't exactly see decades of my lengthy RPs, though, since they didn't take place on tumblr. They could only see the current threads, which were all quite short and rather limited in range of action, tone, muse interaction, and so on. Basically, just about whatever someone was willing to give me, and those things were pretty similar. I couldn't exactly blame potential partners for looking at this "resume" and thinking that I just thought I wanted to write novella, but was capable of neither that nor the sort of stories I wished to create.
Since I couldn't find partners to organically give me these different things, I wrote them sans partners. Much of this was in headcanon form, showing that I had spent quite a long time thinking about my canon character as more than was presented in canon only, as well as showing that I could string more than a paragraph together, but it seems like you've got the muse information down, so this might not be the best direction for you.
That might be the other thing I wrote to this end: one shots.
Especially as I do not do open starters as someone who requires some plotting, these served as a way of allowing various situations to be displayed in which other muns could better see what interacting with my muse was actually like. They could see that this truly is the way I'd prefer to write, this is a better display of my muse under various conditions and emotions, and this is how interacting with my muse as this or that type of person might go.
I don't know if you have a canon, OC, or multiples of both, but it also seemed to be helpful that I took canon events people might be familiar with and wrote snippets of them from my muse's perspective - yes, even if they were already in those events, it shows your unique portrayal. People like that for the same reason they like fanfic, a dozen people can write a canon event and give you a dozen different takes on it. It meant that they'd be more likely to read it at all, too, let's be honest.
If you have an OC, you can flesh out a fandom-specific verse they have by writing such a one shot revolving around a fandom event. I'd say not to directly insert your OC into a major canon event, but if you're going to anyway, be sure you are giving realistic changes that might occur with this character's presence in that event. Not going overboard and making them the thing that saves the day, not just having them there in the midst of some great cataclysm miraculously surviving to bear witness only. It's still my advice to place them within that world and have them aware of an event.
Something like...trying to think of a fandom and event the most people would be familiar with here...your OC is in the MCU or has a verse there, they're employed as a police officer with the NYPD - tell me what they did at work the day of the invasion in New York City in the 2012 Avengers. Did they see superheroes in the distance while they and their fellow officers were engaged in a situation they were in no way equipped to handle? And how did your OC feel about that?
That sort of thing.
If it's a canon, try to think of a situation that isn't represented among your current threads, but that is also going to be of interest potential partners. If you have few threads showing your muse in friendship with another, find something in their canon that does. No threads with much action, go for that. Show an aspect of your muse that was present when they were younger, but that is downplayed in them now. Show some things that will be new information from your unique portrayal, and do all of this while displaying your range as a writer - you can be more serious or more fun, can destroy someone with angst or make them hope a ship works out well.
This way, you're showing people what all they might get, not just what you've been given to work with. That can go a long way toward negating feelings of "intimidation" if all they're seeing is you doing one thing extremely well, so well that they feel they cannot compete with it. So, yeah, write the things you feel you're not good at, too! It puts people at ease to see you're not perfect either.
As regards rules...
Oh, boy...lmao with no intent to inflame anyone's righteousness here, so long as your rules are conveying what you feel they should, they're fine. I'm not going to say that rules cannot be a turn off, that you shouldn't find a voice that is clear, polite, and when it needs to be, firm. It's simply that you do not come off as someone who needs to be told that, Anon. If you're worried about how your rules might sound, they're almost certainly fine.
However, rules are the way they are for a reason - if you feel like you're coming off as too strict, harsh, whatever, there might be a reason why that was your first inclination. If you remake them to be softer, are you going to run into the same problems that caused you to harden them before?
I know, you're trying to attract people and downplay a notion of being "intimidating," but it's important to realize that, short of either finding a way to please everyone who comes across them or telling everyone to do whatever they please, you have no opinions, expectations, or needs, you're going to put people off. I've seen people be incredibly offended by the nicest of rules simply because they were rules. They were still clearly stated boundaries that did not align with what was desired.
For example, if I were to have in my RP rules the following:
My rules are basically just have fun and don't be a dick! This is just a hobby, I'm not paying you.
That's going to turn some people off and anger them because that's, firstly, incredibly vague, secondly, the latter part has become seriously negative.
If I were to have in my RP rules this:
I have a lot of detailed rules because I want to only write with people who will be as dedicated to it as I am, I'd rather we know now than later that we're not a good match before anyone is disappointed or offended!
That's going to turn some people off and anger them because it is contrary to the way they view and partake in the hobby. To these people, it'll come off as ridiculous expectations that are aggressive despite the wording not being so.
The point is, because this is a hobby dependent upon interacting with other people, there is a lot that is out of your control.
I probably should have done a better segue to this, but hey - most of this is out of your control.
By its very nature of individuals interacting, what is "intimidating" means different things to everyone. What I find to be that, isn't going to be what you find to be so. You can't know what someone, let alone everyone who says this, means by it in order to make those changes.
Some of those changes are a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, like the rules.
Other changes are undesirable. You, obviously, cannot RP without partners, but it's no good making changes that will see the partners you won't work with being added, or that will ruin the things you enjoy about RP. If changing your writing style is going to do that, don't do it. If opening up new types of plots is going to do so, don't do it. Anything that is going to excessively give you stress or personal disappointment isn't a change you should make. That’s the sort of shit that was meant by it being “just a hobby” in the beginning - you’re not obliged to make yourself miserable like you are at a job sometimes, and you aren’t beholden to the standards of a professional author unless you wish to be.
It's wonderful that you're addressing this problem from the perspective of what you can do! The idea of changing much of anything is a negative one to many people. They have to be carefully approached to even consider that as a possibility, and once they do, it's more often than not that the reaction is volatile. We never think we're perfect until someone so much as loosely implies we might need work on something. So, your willingness and interest in what you can do to fix something nebulous is both incredible and a credit to how approachable you probably are in all actuality.
It bodes really well, is what I'm saying lol or...it would, if this were not the environment that it is. One in which people do react with volatility to anything that does not go exactly and immediately the way they desire. Including wanting to interact with a particular muse, then seeing that the mun doesn't write in their preferred style, length, or with their desired topics.
Many times, that's really what is meant by "intimidating." It isn't truly that they're afraid of you or your writing, but rather, that they're not getting exactly what they think they want, in the way they want, on the timeline they want. But they don't want to be offensive, they're walking on eggshells like most everyone is when telling someone, "I'm sorry, but I don't think we'll work out" is tantamount to personally attacking them.
So, giving what they feel is a compliment that still shuts down the possibility of someone trying to push for interaction anyway, that becomes the best approach. They're not giving you specifics because no, they may not even know those specifics, it might just be the feeling your writing gives them, but they're also not giving them when they have them because they don't want to be unfairly taken to task for the crime of being honest with you. After all, when we don't know someone OOC yet, we don't know that they're a reasonable person. Telling someone, "I like what you're doing, I love your muse, but the tone of your writing isn't something I can reply to, it's just too different," might have them defensively putting words in your mouth.
As I said, asking someone for details didn't get me very far. I've had to try to piece together what "intimidating" means to many different people over the years by what they tell me in conversations away from the mun they said was thus more than anything. So, don't expect that you'll get much either, but next time someone tells you this, if they seem like someone who won't take as you pressing for interaction and react badly, ask them to give you specifics. Tell them you'd like to know what makes you intimidating to them so that you can work on it, that it would really help you out to know. Make it about them helping you, not declining you.
Just going off of the only writing I have from you, which is definitely not sufficient (if you'd like, you can always submit a portion of your in character writing or tumblr message me some of it so that I might be able to be more effective) since it's both short and OOC, I'd say people might feel that you're not...relaxed? Not entirely the word I am looking for, I apologize! But something in that vein!
It doesn't come off like you're frighteningly or excessively official to me, but knowing tumblr, I can see it. Because you are quite well-spoken, and even in this casual format, you are displaying good grammar and principle. Fifteen years ago, I might have also felt something like “intimidated" by you!
Like everywhere, tumblr is full of educational snobbery. Which is insane, considering it's also full of crimes against writing that make me want to rip my hair out, but anyway...the mark of being authoritative is to display one's intellect the only way we truly can here - by suddenly out writing everyone. If we're already establishing ourselves as well-spoken muns, we've laid the foundation of being capable of utterly destroying someone publicly by shaming them on a core level.
Tumblr is also full of people who are not at a point of life experience, and the writing experience accrued within it, to use what they've learned in the higher education the majority have or are presently obtaining. It's easy for younger people to feel pre-offended by someone who writes with more skill and confidence than they do. They've bought into the notion of such validations of superiority, but they can't quite lay those down upon themselves yet, or see that they’re capable of this and it doesn’t make them an elitist, so, it’s absurd to assume everyone else is on the same pretext.
Please, everyone here under, like, 25, I'm not shaming you. I've obviously long internalized it as well! When I'm angry, I don't become less articulate, I become more so. That probably says something unpleasant about how well I understand this problem. So, don't be offended. It's a societal problem, we're all impacted by it. It just takes a little bit to realize these things is what I'm saying here. Not that you're dumb and malicious because you're young and learning.
With this in mind, it's very possible that some younger muns, or muns who have otherwise been given cause to feel they are lesser than you because of your proper writing, might be intimidated by it. Part of that is also that proper writing, and verbal speech, can come off as lacking warmth. It can be impersonal, give fewer clues as to someone's tone when that's already lacking in writing that isn't descriptive, as in an RP thread itself.
Again, I always have a bit of an issue recommending someone change something vital about themselves, and one's mode of writing is that. However, you might want to consider giving way to some indicators of not being official in your OOC behavior toward others. It's something that I did, something I will admit I still struggle with as well. I'm not naturally inclined to add things like a :) or a xD because I have some problems conveying those things either correctly or organically in person. If I'm not either, literally, acting or feeling something intensely, I'm the grand master of resting bitch face no matter what I'm feeling.
As a quick on-the-safe-side interruption: people, please, I am aware that some forms of neurodivergence can exhibit in struggles with understanding and conveying tone, as can be the side effect of some medications and physical conditions. It’s possible that you have this difficulty, Anon, it’s possible that some of the people you have approached do. Advising how to work on understanding and conveying tone with these difficulties in mind is a huge post of its own, however. (Though, if people might be interested in it, I can add it to the list, of course.) All we can do is try our best, work on it, and if we know we have this issue, politely warn partners in your rules so they know you’re not coming off less emotive and warm intentionally. You’re not thinking yourself in an ivory tower above them. I so do not want to be bitched at about how advising someone in ways to be more approachable in text is ableist, just don’t. I don’t know you, Anon, so I don’t know what difficulties you may or may not have, if you do have some complication that is impacting this in your own opinion, please, just send another ask and I can work with that information more specifically!
It's also...it grates on my nerves when people text speak, I'm not going to lie. So, forcing myself to do anything too close to it feels like someone has separated the halves of my brain. I do it because it can make people more comfortable, I don't sound like a damn robot like I easily can when trying to explain something with a lot of specifics, for example.
What was easier was letting go of the inhibition of writing conversationally. That is always something that is advised against intensely, it isn't proper writing. Don't write like you speak, and all that. It's often been my inclination to write conversationally, even if I struggled to let the hell go and actually do it, and when I allowed myself to do so, people responded to it much better. It's something I get compliments on as a part of what can make my storytelling immersive, humorous, relatable, and frightening. (Just so that the last bit there isn't confounding - in addition to the professional writing that sometimes pays for my internet, I write horror lol...now y'all know! I deal in "freak shit," I'm sure.)
People responded to me much better. I still get that my writing is intimidating, but it tends to be over length and wording more than being wholly unapproachable. Too like trying to respond to a novel that most people would only listen to if it was about a character they were deeply into and read by an actor they were also deeply into. There seems to be a more natural engagement with the material for more people this way.
I'm only using this as an example of something I found that worked to some degree in making me more approachable, meant to say that there might be something that you would enjoy, unique to yourself, that would make your writing more approachable for more muns. I'm in no way recommending that you, or anyone else, try to go with what I did! That isn't going to work out for everyone, of course. It isn't everyone's solution in those specifics, just the idea that following what people have expressed they especially enjoy about your writing could be a good path.
Other things to consider:
When you have obtained a new partner who says this not in declining further interaction, but within a conversation or one of those interaction memes, especially if you are writing them a starter at this time, experiment with what you can do in your writing that makes it more approachable. I say “experiment” because this is another point of individuality, it's naturally going to vary like everything else.
Like I said above a few times, most people approach RP in terms of reaction. And, again too, that's part of RP. I didn't say it earlier because I felt like that was obvious, but after considering...how tumblr is, I probably should say it. It is necessary to have things to react to in order to build the interaction between muses and their world. I believe in the “yes, and” method and having things to react to. My meaning by saying that people approach RP in terms of reactions was that people excessively do so. Their muses have trouble existing fully in their own right sometimes, they literally require multiple points of possible reaction.
So, give it to them while you’re figuring each other’s writing out.
When you're writing your starter or replies, give them what I call Actionable Points in unexpected places. For example, when your muse is doing as I said earlier, sitting in their chair, having Deep Thoughts they're not expecting any action within, give them something in the environment itself to interact with. Perhaps there is a pet, an insect, temperature change, or sound for their muse to notice.
He was still, as though the animating force of his very soul had flown. So entrapping were his thoughts that the ladybug making its way across the floor, technically before his eyes, escaped notice. No notice, even as it briefly took flight like a tiny, skipping stone across water, headed for where his attention would truly prefer to light as well.
Which would be, of course, the other muse in the room. They can't interact with the things in your muse's mind that you're revealing to the mun, but they can have their attention jump to the insect. They can also react to your muse’s facial expressions, most people make micro-expressions even while in thought, but this isn’t as active or available.
Just small, simple possibilities that make no difference to the immediate happenings in the thread. They can become things of great difference, that's half the fun of it! How something like a bug can alter the course of a thread's trajectory is really cool to see happen.
By doing this, feeding multiple Actionable Points into the reply, you're giving someone who feels intimidated by the thread's length and weight more points to feel active within it. If they can see themselves interactively within the text of the story, it's less intimidating I've found.
Eventually, people relax and start creating these points for themselves. They're now part of this story and its direction, so they organically see things within it. While their muse is in the room with the Chair Muse, they notice a ladybug on the floor themselves because they feel comfortable and confident enough to create that sort of realistic moment.
Most of my experiments of this nature have had that objective - make my writing partner feel more confident about their writing, muse, themselves. It either works out wonderfully, or...you can spoon-feed some people actions, ideas, and confidence forever without them ever taking up the spoon themselves (some people will totally miss the spoon every time, even). At the latter point, if they're still feeling unconfident about writing with you, "intimidated," it's never going to change. It might be better that this be addressed as something that simply isn't going to work out for either of you.
Because it can become tiresome to do this. Tiresome and disheartening, and you never want to set yourself up to feel like you've wasted your effort and energy. That's a great way to experience burnout and frustration.
Another thing to make yourself, and by nature of that, your writing, more approachable and available is to put out a decent variety of memes for people to send you and engaging in tagging games. Not only do these not need to be writing memes like starters, it's better that they are not! If someone is intimidated by you/your writing, they're not going to engage with a meme meant to begin a thread.
Reblog memes that are meant to be answered OOC like headcanon asks, writing asks, and asks about the mun. Do tag games with tests in them, bolding aesthetics or other information, and those that give details about the muse...or even yourself, there are Munday versions as well!
The point of doing this is to show people you want to interact with them, neither you nor your writing is scary and removed from the vox populi of the RPC. You're not someone with so much skill that you're above such common pursuits. You're just another RPer with the same things of interest as they do - enjoying yourself whether it's something silly like a quiz that tells you what coffee your muse would be or an in-depth headcanon. Just another mun who loves their muse and wants interactions with them.
This, too, is something I tried, and it might have been the most successful thing I did. It's even easier to do these days, as more muns don't just tag people outright, but rather, offer that anyone can take it, they just want to be tagged back so they can see the results. You don't have to wait for someone who neither knows you nor knows whether you'd be alright with being tagged to tag you in them anymore!
And as an aside, this is why I encourage that. I've seen some muns out there taking issue with it, thinking it lazy and less interactive for people to be forgoing tagging others in it. Yes, it is unfortunate that you might miss such a game from a mutual or friend, but you do realize you can go to their blog anytime? You can search their tag for these kinds of dash games, or scroll what you missed while you were away, and I recommend doing that anyway with close friends because tumblr's notifs are perpetually screwed.
It's not less inclusive, it's more so. I think it could even go a distance toward lessening the illusion that all friendships in the RPC are "cliques." Instead of the same five muns, none of whom are you, being tagged every time because they occur more quickly to the mun who interacts with them often, there is an open invitation for you to do it. It allows muns to be more visible to those they haven't established friendships with yet and allows others to put themselves out there as approachable and interested.
Alright, back on topic!
Send others these sorts of interactions when you see them. Unless someone has it in the tags or their rules that memes are only for established writing partners, send them an applicable meme.
Applicable, in this case, would be those OOC-answered memes. With most muns, it would be poor form to send in memes that are too personal. Such as sending someone you've never really spoken to, plotted with, etc. a particularly raunchy headcanon ask. I was going to give an example, but for the sake of keeping this SFW lol...we all know the sort of ask I speak of.
With some muns, this isn't an issue. Any excuse to talk about their muse is a good excuse, and they'd not have reblogged the meme if they did not intend for people to send it in. I know that I'm such a mun, and unless someone only ever sends me sexually explicit questions like this, I don't mind at all. It's just an aspect of my muse to detail in a HC.
Just exercise reasonable awareness - "read the room." If a mun seems to answer those questions from anyone, then it is alright to send them in. If they have established openness on these discussions, have nothing in their rules that would imply they'd be perturbed, etc. Conversely, if they've established such opposing behavior that you have to wonder why they posted this meme at all? Don't send anything from that one. They may be trying to establish greater comfort with these topics, but whether they realize it or not yet, they may not be ready for this to sent by anyone who isn't a very established writing partner/friend.
You want to be attracting good attention, demonstrating that you're not someone intimidating, not giving muns any reason to be disturbed by you. Even if they openly asked for it!
This brings us back to: no, really, a lot of things are out of your control.
How people view us isn't as up to us as we'd like, on or offline. Everyone has preconceived notions, biases, and developed preferences. And everyone has had experiences that lead them to react differently to all of these things where they do and do not exist.
Unfortunately, the RPC fosters a serious environment of paranoia, hostility, and the inherent defensiveness of both. Even when that is coming across more peaceably, it can lead to things like...the multiple muns I've known in the last two years alone that seem to almost panic and block potential partners for extremely negligible things they're perceiving as a red flag portending of inevitable bad behavior.
I really do mean irrational actions that are often contrary from one move to another. One potential partner is too exuberant in response to plotting, they are designated a red flag for being too inclined to pester OOC. Another is lacking exuberance and does not easily come up with plots, they are designated as being too passive a partner who will drop. One is too nice, they won't possibly be able to tell that mun of problems in the thread, another is too aggressive, they'll do nothing but stress the mun and fight with their friends. And on and on.
It's not an unreasonable situation, as we all continue to be reminded, the RPC is far more hostile than it should be for what it is. We all (that's not entirely true, but let us pretend it is) want to avoid problems and enjoy the hobby, but in the attempt to avoid those problems, we often see them where they are not.
So, you really cannot control whether someone designates you as being too much this, too little that, an inevitable problem. Your presentation is in the eye of the beholder, just as what "intimidating" is, is in the eye of the intimidated.
You can only try to identify the things that might be putting off the most people you want to write with, work on them when and where they will not ruin your time here, and hope for the best.
It's wonderful that you care, but it's also wonderful that you seem willing to accept that there are things you just have to let go of as already being out of your hands. That's honestly the best way to approach RP, period. The only things you are fully in control of are your own creativity and your behavior. That's it, in the end.
Present yourself with honesty as to who you are as a mun, be as approachable as you truly are, and know what you're looking for in writing partners.
Personally, from what little I have seen of you, Anon, there isn't anything that glaringly needs changing. You're not possessed of a shitty attitude or unrealistic expectations. You seem like a pretty reasonable mun to me who is struggling with something any of us who concentrate on the writing do; being vaguely told we're "intimidating," and seeking other partners who are interested in the same variety of RP we are.
That's my final point to touch on, and the one most likely to piss people off: there are different varieties of RP, and the people telling you this might be in the wrong corner for you.
That doesn't make them bad RPers or anything, variety is good, it's an open hobby! We're not all compatible, though, and so many problems arise from muns not accepting this reality, but rather, taking extreme offense over it.
No one I have ever established the sort of RP I enjoy most with has told me that I am "intimidating."
The people who have said this to me have been those who would not have worked out anyway. That's not said in some bizarre bitterness lol I have the best writing partners, I could not ask for anything more! It's just said in honesty of continuing to see them on my dash and/or interacting with friends. They blog and muse hop often, prefer the genres and fandoms I do not, and so on.
Changing to be less intimidating to those RPers would put me back where I started when joining the RPC here years ago, and while it's great that a lot of people enjoy RP the way they do, I don't. I worked rather hard to get away from it.
So, you do have to consider what you want. Do you want any partners, or do you want the right ones for you?
I'm genuinely glad that people are enjoying themselves, especially when they do not have hateful things to say about those who enjoy RP differently than themselves, but it'd be nice if some of the niches in the RPC were a bit wider! It shouldn't be this difficult to find people in a writing hobby who are invested in the writing, but it is. And it is something you should keep in mind when figuring out this whole "intimidating" thing.
So, my ultimate recommendation would be to assess whether there are things you can be doing to make you, as the mun, more approachable so that your writing is less “intimidating" to people within the RP corner you’re trying to attract, but consider whether the people who have said this to you might just be looking for different things and not as viable as partners as you might have liked. There are definitely more RPers on tumblr who do not enjoy RP in this way than there that do, and while the only thing you have control over is yourself, you don’t have control over how you and what you are putting out there is perceived.
I really do think that most of the “intimidation” problem comes from different varieties of RP and what muns have been led to believe about them. You check off a lot of boxes for the false perception of “elitism,” as a literate, long-term, novella RPer. People are going to see many things that you do in a threatening or off-putting light through no fault of your own because of that. Even other, lengthier writers can fall into that because they feel overwhelmed at the volume of content you have, for example. A thing that should be promising of how well-developed your muse is and how committed you are to your interest in them can come off as overwhelming to people who are less well established or interested in being around for the long game. I certainly don’t think it’s a good idea for you to remove that material or stop writing it! I cannot encourage people enough to do what you have!
Maybe, since you expressed concern of this specifically as well, you could consider how it is presented?
Do you have approachable formatting on those posts? Do they appear to be a lot of very plain text, or do you practice adding some graphics like a header and dividers, formatting that also breaks up the text like segmenting it into clear topics with bold, bigger text, and so on? Is it the opposite and potentially difficult to read, like using font that is smaller than the default small size available, or incredibly busy with colors? It’s a difficult balance, and one that will never be 100% appealing or accessible to 100% of the RPC, to make things visually appealing, easy to read, and informative while being engaging. It could be that you have information people would love to know, but the design of how you’re putting it out there is adding to them feeling overwhelmed.
Maybe, consider how it is placed on your blog, as well? Using specific tags for organization and having a detailed navigation might help. Instead of someone pulling up every one of your many HC posts in the HC tag you have, they could choose specific topics to view at their own pace with a little more control over it. Giving people some control in their experience can go a long way to giving them comfort in it!
So, let’s say you have a headcanon that addresses how your muse portrayal diverges from strict canon, and in that HC, it’s important to address their mental health and how it impacts their relationships with others. That’s a great HC, it’s going to be informative, but it has multiple topics within it. You’d want to tag it with the overall HC tag, a tag for your “player canon” topics, muse metal health discussions, and a general tag for your muse’s relationships/interactions with others.
When you do that, in your navigation, if someone clicked your tag-based link for all information pertaining to the muse’s mental health, they’ll just get that. They’ll see this headcanon post, they’ll see all relevant, tagged posts you’ve made or reblogged, but only that pertain to this topic. They won’t also get twenty extra posts that don’t discuss this, but do discuss your muse’s personal opinion on making bread at home and why sourdough is a labor of love. Unless, of course, your muse is partaking in that labor of love as an exercise that benefits their mental health, of course lmao
Delineating topics for people to engage with at their own pace, need, or interest can prevent them from scrolling through what could be hundreds of HC posts. We all desperately want people to read every one of our posts, especially if our portrayal is different from canon or popular fanon or we have an OC whose entire existence has to be learned this way, but we have to resist the temptation to make people read them all, and all at once. Because that is how it comes across when someone pulls up a ton of HCs - they may be super interested, but it’s a lot that they may put pressure on themselves to learn immediately, back to back to back. It begins to feel like a task quickly. Most people who are genuinely interested in your muse and writing are going to end up reading all of them eventually! If they don’t shut themselves down on doing so prematurely, and this could be a way of helping them avoid doing that.
Hell, if you’re really feeling it, you can even link to closely related posts and your navigation on those HC posts! Just mention at the top of the post that this is related to the one linked here, and to find more informative posts on any topic, please visit the navigation page here. You can even remind at the bottom of the post with just the links.
While like anything, it could make people feel you’re too organized and “serious” about RP, but you probably want other “too serious” RPers to interact with, so it might be a passive way of establishing partners that won’t work out. I think, for the right partners, an organized system they can interact with easily would be appealing, and again, a lot of people in the RPC do have problems that disrupt their ability to engage with a great deal of content at once. This might make them feel less overwhelmed and frustrated by themselves, or negative about themselves that they cannot but aspire to your level of content and organization.
Willing to bet that much of “intimidation” comes from negative feelings about oneself projected outward protectively and unconsciously, honestly. So, when you see ways to combat that, take it on. Make it clear that you’re not expecting anyone to be anything other than themselves, you appreciate your partners’ unique approaches and skills. The more of them you have, the more approachable you are proving yourself, too.
Since you are interested in long-term and have so much material on your muse, I have to assume this is a case of having gone on hiatus or had partners who have left. You could be appearing as less approachable because you’ve few interactions, and that’s a problem that will start correcting itself as you have more of them. If that’s the case, it may be adding serious frustration in the slow process of getting your foot back in the door, but I believe you can do it!
I hope people haven’t made you feel too anxious or bad about yourself by telling you you’re “intimidating,” Anon. Try not to internalize it or make into a more serious matter than it is! I really do think it has less to do with the RPer being told that than it does all these other factors, poor ability to express ourselves very much included. You’re interested in what you can do, willing to accept what you can’t do, overall approaching this from a chill and reasonable place, I think you’re going to find the people you need to with this attitude!
Keep at it, keep doing what you love, and my sincerest best of luck to you! Thank you for giving me the excuse to discuss this topic, it’s an important one that I hope made some difference to others out there as well. I apologize that took me a minute to get it out, and that it is still a bit more disjointed than I’d have liked.
#answered#anonymous#the intimidation problem#interactions#rp advice#tumblr rp advice#tumblr rp#long post#rpbetter
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Hey dude! Nice blog you got here.
1. Do you ever find yourself switching between accents when singing along to songs by groups from different Spanish speaking countries?
2. As a native English speaker, do you have any recommendations for short stories that are easy enough for someone with a Spanish minor to read quickly, yet difficult enough to expand my vocabulary without me resorting to using the dictionary every five minutes? I already got some great suggestions from @puroespanol about authors and setting reading goals - in fact, I already have some of their works on my shelf (read: most of them reading for college I never finished, lol) - yet other than knowing about the famous Latin American authors like Isabel Allende, Mario Vargas Llosa, Jorge Luis Borges, Roberto Bolaño, as well as lesser known ones like Horacio Quiroga and Julio Cortázar, I'm kinda lost lol.
3. What's your favorite Latin American or Spanish cuisine? Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
Yo dude bro dawg! Thank you so much!
Answer 1: Not as much as I used to. I remember probably about 9ish years ago I really switched accents depending on the songs I'd be singing along with. I am a David Bisbal fan and saw him live once. I used to switching accents A LOT to sing along with his songs to pronounce the ceceo used commonly in peninsular Spanish. You know, the th- sound. These days, I'm pretty consistent with keeping the same accent all the time. Mine is pretty neutral.
Answer 2: Hmm. You honestly named some of the people I was going to lolz. I was going to say Horacio Quiroga first but you beat me to it. I really liked his book Cuentos de Amor de Locura y de Muerte.
This probably isn't a common recommendation but I'm going to say it anyway. I'd suggest reading the Bible in Spanish in the Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI). I have this one and it's a bilingual English and Spanish Bible. So the pages are split one side English and the other side is Spanish with the exact same pages. This makes for easy peaking whenever there is a word you don't know. All you have to do is look at the opposite side of the page. This helped me a lot. Plus, the bible has plenty of short stories that might only be a chapter. Most of the words aren't too complex but you'll definitely learn phrases you didn't know you need to learn in Spanish. So, yeah! Keep that in mind if you like!
Answer 3: Ohhh I like this question. Well, I'm a sucker for tacos (I know how generic of me, right? LOL) but I don't mean gringo tacos. I'm talking about REAL Mexican tacos. If you haven't had real Mexican tacos from some guy making them on the street where you're the only gringo, you haven't had real tacos LOL. One thing I've learned about being around the latino culture is that freshly squeezed lime juice belongs on tacos. If you haven't had this, OH MY. You have to. It is such a game changer. It adds such a delicious element to the tacos.
I also love tostones, tajadas, mofongo (Shoutout to Puerto Rico and the DR if you're reading this. Go ahead and debate whose is better. Ya tú sabe'. I like tamales, nacatamales which are a Nicaraguan version of tamales. Gallo pinto (rice and little red beans mixed up). Fried Cheese. If you haven't had fried cheese it's amazing. Not like mozzarella sticks with breading but just fried cheese. A little oil and throw that sucker in the pan and you're living large.
I've come to appreciate corn tortillas. I know flour tortillas are big here in the States and most people don't like corn tortillas that much but I believe this is due to people not knowing how to eat a corn tortilla. Most will pull them out of the pack and tried to make a taco with it right away. That is a big NO NO! You have to heat a skillet really hot and let the tortilla brown a little bit on both side. If the tortilla starts puffing up, you're doing it right. Flip it over and do the same to the other side. You gotta be careful not to overdo and then you have hard tortillas and that's no bueno.
For my colombian homies out there, I really enjoy a nice bandeja paisa with the morcilla and the arepas. Mmm that's good too.
So yeah. That's basically it! Thanks for the Q!
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Hello luce! It’s been a hot minute. My brain has been a little empty lately, with… bleh. School work. I’ll never get quite use to homework, and my grades will suffer all the more for it. But in any case. How have you been lately?
Recently, the Mondstadt reputation rewards caught my eye. I’m curious about the NRE and the portable waypoint. I could just look it up or whatever, get the experience there, but then there wouldn’t be much of a point of playing genshin on the first place for me. That all aside, how do you like fishing? Ive been really enjoying it, but I feel distaste for the long respawn times of the fish. I wish it was like, only one real life day instead of three. Did you participate kn the Lunar Leviathan event?
Do you have any tips for expanding vocabulary? I’ve been trying to check thesaurus’s word of the day, along with other dictionaries, what advice you have on it if any?
I don’t have any good transitions for this, but here are some Kaeya hcs I came up with on the spot.
-Kaeya putting his cape on your shoulder when he has to leave the room. People staring at him incredulously, “The Calvary captain??? Without his signature cape???” “That’s Sir Kaeya for you. He gets uncharacteristically sweet when ever his s/o is around,”
-Kaeya coming to work in braids because you braided his hair while you two were cuddling that morning. Adamantly refuses to take it out unless it’s by you at the end of the day.
-memorizes your favorite takeout orders, every side, every specification. Then, when you need comfort food, he’ll be able to bring your favorite food to you with no hassle.
-begging you for attention when he’s bored. “Y/nnnnn, you’re so cruel… coming so late to pick me up from the angels share… hold me, y/n… I’m so incredibly touched starved from your missing presence..!” It’s all playful, of course, but he hopes the genuine affection for you isn’t lost in translation. Because after a stressful day of work, you really are all he needs.
-I like to imagine that if you were a knight of Favionous, on some days, you’d be able to talk to Jean and take over most of Kaeyas paperwork, giving him a break. He’d be startled, wondering if the small pile of papers on his desk is a trap, as if when he finishes it the more typical pile up to his neck will appear. He’ll scold you for it when he finds out- he’d really rather be the one taking the extra stress instead of you, after all, he’s use to it- but those days you help him split the work are the ones where he realizes now much he was in need of a break.
-🎃
🎃 nonnie!! hello hello hehe how are you? :) i'm doing pretty well myself, thanks for asking! booo i hear you on school, but it'll get better! it's only september after all and everyone's still adjusting :)
ooh i've had the nre for a while, it's a bit of a life saver (especially for me who relies on zhongli's shield far too much HAHA) but the game will always be there for you to play at your own pace! take your time and enjoy what you like best about the game :)
fishing? honestly i really like the mechanic HAHA it's sort of like animal crossing (i used to play animal crossing new horizons A LOT before i got into genshin) and fishing was always my favorite part in ac! i also like the pretty fish in genshin eeeee i really wanted this gorgeous looking crystalfish but i was fishing in an event pond and couldnt pull out the fruitpaste bait :( i'm glad you're enjoying it too!! but like you said, i hope the respawn times can be fixed!
hmm, i found that my vocabulary was best expanded the more i read. i'd find new words and remember them when i'd do google searches for more intriguing words. additionally, you can substitute a word in your writing with a suitable one that you find on thesaurus.com or onelook.com! it really depends on how much you like reading and what methods you prefer best: in the moment stuff or long-term expansion of vocabulary. either way, don't worry about rushing! take your time and find words you like the best :)
WOOHOO HEADCANONS WITH THE BEST BOY!! :D
- kaeya without his cape is like klee without her hat LOL but he'd sacrifice his appearance if it meant you'd stay warm >:)
- YES AAA he doesn't care if he looks ridiculous or whatever, his!!! s/o!!! braided!!! his!!! hair!!! and no one but you is going to take it out >:) also putting flowers, barrettes, and hairclips into his hair with his permission OOOO HE'D LOOK SO PRETTY :D
- he'd also just memorize it because when the inevitable "what do you want to eat" "idk what do YOU want to eat" scenario happens, he can just go and get your favorite since it's his favorite as well now >:)
- awww yes YES he's like a puppy that needs attention AND HE DESERVES IT MWAH MWAH HE DESERVES SO MUCH AFFECTION
- this!!! :( i think he'd definitely appreciate the thought and would cut himself some slack after tasting some relaxation in a long time :D and he might just prefer working with you opposed to working alone since you make for good company ;)
thanks for your messages and hcs 🎃 nonnie!! i absolutely adored them ehehe >:)
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Dear Vanessa! I am forever in love with your art and it helped me through my depression back in spring, I am very grateful for it. There is something special about how you painting emotions, it makes me so soft and sentimental, but I can't figure (as a painting method) what exactly do you do - to pass them so truly and touching. I'm working on my drawing skills (I'm a beginner) and faces are my weak spot. If you can - can you give some tips on how get better at drawing them (faces and emotions)?
Oh wow. 🥺 I’m so touched to hear my artwork had a positive impact on you during such a tough time. Thank you for sharing something so personal with me, and I hope you’re feeling much better now!
As to drawing emotions, I’m so happy you think I do a decent job, because it’s something I work hard to improve on all the time. I could probably do a tutorial series on just this topic alone, but as the internet has loads of resources on drawing emotions already, I’ll try to expand a bit on what I do personally to push expressions into more subtle territory.
Let me just start by saying there’s nothing wrong with hunting down photographs and using them as references for painting expressions if you’re having trouble articulating an emotion. It is, however, easy to over-rely on them and—especially where illustration, sequential art, or animation are concerned—you run the risk of drawing a face that, because it’s a facsimile of a photo, might not have that living “spark” that comes of inhabiting a character from the inside and drawing “off-script.” And illustration needs to tell a story, not copy an expression.
1) Step into your character’s skin.
When I drew last Saturday’s scene from Wayward Son, I literally made every expression on the page as I was painting them, because the value of the scene was in the subtext, or things unspoken (i.e. Baz and Simon’s faces needed to do double-duty in communicating what was happening). Making the faces as I drew made a difference because, in wearing the expression myself, I could feel how the muscles in my face changed, and where my eyes, eyebrows, mouth, etc. were “storing emotion,” if that makes sense.
Let’s take Baz’s face in this panel:
Rainbow gives us a very brief description of what Baz looks like at this point: “His eyes are narrow and shadowed.” Naturally, I started there, but that’s not quite enough to visually convey what’s also happening here:
Baz is hiding his pain.
So what do we do when we are both in pain but trying to shield others from seeing it? When I tried that emotion on for size, I realized I wouldn’t make eye contact at all. My lips pursed a bit, as if to seal my mouth shut and prevent the pain from leaking out. My eyebrows furrowed, not quite in anger, but rather in resignation. Sitting in Baz’s skin, I realized I wouldn’t slouch either. These are all things that informed teeny adjustments to the sketch and helped back up Simon’s assessment that Baz was lying.
Here’s another:
We don’t get any description of Simon’s horror at seeing what has happened to Baz’s chest. What we get is a gruesome and graphic depiction of what Baz’s skin looks like and Simon’s italicized “Baz.”
It takes stepping into the character’s skin to see what his face would look like (and that would go for anyone who’s reading the book, let alone drawing from it). So I thought to myself, the person Simon loves most has been wounded in a way he’s never seen before. When I “tried on” that scenario, a hybrid expression took shape on my own face. My upperlip was slightly curled in horror. My eyebrows pulled in and up in fear. My eyes went wide, but stayed just a bit soft (because that’s the product of mixing shock with concern). And the end result is what you see above.
Sometimes I have a mirror handy for this sort of operation because emotions are complicated things to nail. But often it’s enough just to feel it and see if what I’m looking at on the screen or on paper is matching what I feel. If not, I have to reassess and see where certain lines can be pushed/pulled to capture what I am aiming for. Occasionally this strategy doesn’t work, but I will say that my success at nailing expressions skyrockets when I act it out myself. Lol
2) Build emotions from broken down gestures. If you are a beginner to drawing expressions, it helps to think of the face as an equation with components that add up to an emotion. Look at comics, cartoons, and other illustrations/art to see where certain gestures show up again and again, and use that exposure to build a vocabulary of features that you can mix and match to create some basic expressions.
For example:
(Forgive the crudeness of the above illustration. I’m cranking this out on my lunch break! Lol)
3) Experiment! Honestly the best way to get good at drawing emotions is to practice and play (and those are not mutually exclusive terms) with expressions. I started out studying the work of one of my all-time favorite animators, Glen Keane, because I always thought his characters looked so soulful. So I looked at his character sheets for Ariel, the Beast, Tarzan, etc. and tried my hand at duplicating them. It helped me learn that I often had to be more exaggerated with my expressions than I was naturally inclined to be if I wanted people to resonate with the emotion I was trying to convey on paper.
That’s all I’ve got for you today, but I hope this gave you a bit of insight into my personal process. Again there are LOADS of resources on the web if you even just type in the words “how to draw facial expressions,” but the above should help take you a bit further than the tutorials and establish a personal connection to the art that you produce.
Good luck, and if you feel so inclined, I hope you’ll share your creations!
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hello, i'm not if i can ask this but i was wondering if u had any writing tips?? meaning like what do u do when u feel like you've repeated the same word too many times but need to convey this feeling.. does it make sense? haha. do u use a thesaurus or..?
Hi, anon! This makes complete sense! I know there are words I overuse, so I try to be conscious of this during my editing. Honestly, the best advice I can give is to read more. This sounds obvious, but is truly the best way to expand your vocabulary. The thesaurus is nice for jogging your memory, but unless you specifically understand the context behind each word, you might end up with a silly-sounding sentence. This is a very over-the-top example, but I always think of this Friends clip regarding this phenomenon LOL:
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Understanding how words might be used (through reading) is really the best way to expand your vocab as a writer. In the meantime, I’d employ the use of a trusted beta/editor to help flag when you might be overusing certain words. Best of luck on your writing, anon!
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Do you have any tips on writing smut? Sorry if this has been asked before (I'm not sure if it has) I'm new to writing it for my favorite characters I like and it's kind of hard to write but I do enjoy it it's fun.
I swear I answered a similar ask months ago but I can’t find it :(
Anyway, writing smut can be tough! For me it’s because I get burned out on writing sexual content. To remedy this I try to focus on the plot. If there is a concept (smut or not) that you really love, write a fic featuring it! I find that the words flow without problem when it’s a fantasy and a character that I’ve been daydreaming about irl.
You are going to write content that you don’t feel is “good.” Write it anyway. I have trouble with this but I know that I’ll at least write one good sentence or paragraph.
This is a tip given to every writer but read other works often. Also diversify the content you read; fanfics, original works, poems, etc. Since I try to be very active on tumblr and my patreon, I am writing more than I am reading and I can get too much in my head and use the same wording over and over again. Reading really does expand the vocabulary but it also helps you understand sentence structures and pacing.
Sometimes I write down 1-2 sentence concepts, words, phrases, and ideas whenever I can. My twitter drafts are full with paragraphs of random fics I haven’t even started to write yet.
I write self-insert fics so I personally don’t describe what ‘Y/n’ looks like because I don’t know what my readers look like and I want it to be inclusive! I find that my writing doesn’t suffer because of the lack of description and plenty of amazing fanfic writers do the same.
Reading my own work is like pulling teeth but editing is a must. I don’t always edit my work so I don’t think it’s always a necessary thing to do. I usually wait a day or a few days after I finish writing because I come back with a clear head. Reading things back drastically improves my work. Even though it’s hard I still try to do it.
Don’t get caught up in the numbers. I need to take my own advice but constantly looking at the word counter has really hindered me! Writing long fics takes stamina that is just rare to come by for a lot of writers.
The biggest step that transformed my writing was being completely self-indulgent. It’s harder to do that with request, but if I’m writing for a person/character I really like and/or I’m really into the plot then I prioritize that. You work will suffer if you start thinking about how to please people. Some of my best works started off as fanfics for myself and then I shared them on my blog. Sometimes you have to be your own main audience. I know some may see it as just writing fanfiction but writing sexual content can be draining at times.
I have notebooks full of smut that I sometimes read at night before going to bed. You have to be the biggest fan of your work. Now that doesn’t mean you won’t feel like your work is lackluster at times. But removing judgement by viewing your work as some that should make you happy and please you will produce better work. When I was younger on the internet people use to shit on mary-sues, self-inserts, cliches, and work that was clearly self-indulgent. Sometimes those things do make the work suffer but honestly who gives a fuck lmfao! If I want to write about a character I’m really enamored with then I’m going to indulge completely! We are writing for these characters for a reason and there is something about them that attracts us to them so it’s great to show that in the writing. I love reading a fic and being able to tell that the writer is very passionate about the character and what they’re writing.
Being a “good” writing is subjective. There are people are who are great writers but they’re all so diverse and different. I enjoy the work of my favorite fanfic writers for different reasons so don’t think you need to write in a certain style or write about specific things to be “good.”
It may take some time to find your writing voice. It may also feel like it’s disappeared after you thought you finally understood yourself as a writer. It’s like having an identity crisis lol I’m currently going through this phase for the third time since starting this blog!
This is all I can think of right now but feel free to send anymore questions!
#I hope this helps this is kind of no coherent because it's 4am and I have yet to go to sleep lol#these are just things that have helped me and also things I need to remind myself of constantly!#answered#writing tips
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Two things! One, I’m happy you wrote Bi-Han tbh because it sounds pretty accurate. In fact, you took the words out my mouth (or out my head lol) with some other things I added in my head. Thank you bc NRS didn’t give us too much. Second, I remember you saying you speak Japanese (?). Was it your first language and if not, was it hard to learn? I’m learning it and I’m curious. Okay I lied, three things. Are you doing okay, hun? 🥺
I write for more than just Bi-Han, albeit reluctantly lol it’s no secret he’s my favorite to write for, we have a very, very long history together as he’s been my favorite video game character for the past almost 28 years. It’s never easy to do a kharacter when the source material gives you so little to go off of, but I really appreciate hearing that I’m doing it right, so thank you. :)
Japanese is technically my third language as in I learned it after I was taking mandatory French classes in high school. I’m a native English speaker and honestly I’m reluctant to bring up French because I don’t remember any of it, much to my Mother’s chagrin (she has a Masters in French). Japanese is a very, very difficult language to learn, it really takes a lot of discipline and dedication to really master and even though I (and my former Japanese coworkers) would consider myself fluent, there’s always room for improvement and expanding my vocabulary/reading/writing etc. It’s one of those languages that I would say is near impossible to really grasp without having structured lessons as well as constant use. I spent about two years studying abroad in Nagoya and up until about a year and a half ago I was the only non-Japanese employee at a Japanese bank in New York City. You really need that immersion and constant usage to really grasp Japanese, or at least I definitely needed those things and most people need them too. If you need or want help or like a conversation partner though I can definitely help out with that.
As far as being ok? I don’t know. I’ve just been kind of stuck in a really bad slump for a long time I guess? All the shit with the pandemic really isn’t helping and the like constant stress and drama from people who claimed to be my friend didn’t help a whole lot either. So, I guess I’m just trying to take things a little easier and just kind of keep putting one foot in front of the other while kind of keeping everything to myself. There’s just no real point to putting the real me out there when even “friends” criticize, judge and belittle the way I am. So, I’m happier just answering asks I guess and keeping myself farther removed. I hope you’re doing well though. :)
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Hey!🤗 How ‘bout 27, 28 & 39! Thank you!✌️
27. best review you ever got
I love every review I’ve ever gotten ❤️ Including the gif responses on Tumblr 😂 But these are some I’ve saved to read when I’m having a bad day that make me laugh or make me tear up. I couldn't pick one and they remind me how much fun this is:
“My word! This fic is amazing! What I loved most about it was that it's quite poetic and artistic in creating its own canvas of Barry and Iris, how colourless both of them felt after the breakup and how full of life they are together. I genuinely enjoyed the art commentary at the beginning and the seriously hawt sex. Hot damn. The paintbrush should have grossed me out but it was seriously hot af.”
“Where does one even start with this precious story you've given us? You paint such a beautiful setting with the ice cream parlour and Noah's feelings of having to work on such a busy summer day and of course, the sweet West-Allen family. I love the idea that Barry and Iris's love creates this little bubble around them that protects them and that they unintentionally get lost in their own little world with just the two of them. It only makes sense that this little world would expand to include their two sweet children. So much loves abounds between them, so much so that even Noah can see it in such a short amount of time. This story captures all that Barry has ever wanted: building a life with Iris and making their own traditions with their children while also keeping the memory of his parents alive as best as he can. Goodness. This is truly such a special little story.”
“Whew, chile....this had my blood pumping first thing in the morning. LOL. OOC or not this was SUPER HOT so thank you for sharing.”
“Once again, love the character reveal, specifically, Iris's determination, self-reliance and work ethic, even while masturbating! But like you say in one of the comments, I can only imagine that she does feel like this regularly. While there are many, many benefits of being with a speedster, there are a ton of drawbacks and regular loneliness is one of them.But check out how neither of them is surprised when Barry returns. She's relieved and not embarrassed and he just comes in and finishes the job without hesitation. sigh.”
The stories I've read from you so far are perfect in rendering the sheer emotion that's generated between these two. You can really feel the palpable force or love and pain, joy and sorrow between them. It makes reading that much more enjoyable”
“OMG *CRIES* THIS WAS SO TENDER AND SO FLUFFY CUTE I DIE!!!!!This cuteness is TO MUCH FOR MY POOR HEART *AHH*I DONT THINK THERE ARE WORDS ENOUGH TO EXPRESS MY LOVE FOR THIS OMG (Hence all the caps)“What’s your treasure, Daddy?” Don poses.“You guys are my treasure,” Barry answers with soft reverence, the glimmer in his eyes as he looks upon hischildren visible even from where Iris stands, and her heart swells so tremendously that she feels it might burst."*flows of tears* OH MY GOSH!!! BARRY ALLEN IS THE BEST FATHER EVER SERIOUSLY..I MELTED WITH EACH WORDHE WOULD SAY TO HIS KIDS AND HOW LOVING AND CARING HE IS OF THEM WHILE IRIS IS AWAY GAH MY HEART“You’re my treasure, you know that?” she murmurs, clutching him more tightly.His beaming in response is instant as he recognizes that she’s been home all along, and he slides an arm down her back to tug her close to him while they head to their bedroom together.Yup, Iris thinks to herself as she leans her head against her husband's shoulder, upholding what she always believed. I wouldn't change a thing."*DEAD WITH FEELS* AHHH IF THE INTERACTION WITH THE TWINS WASNT ENOUGH, THIS WITH IRIS WAS THE CHERRY ON TOP!!!! GAH SHE LOVES HIM SO MUCH!!! SHE WAS TOTALY IN AWWS OF HIM AND I CAN'TI HOPE WE GET SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN THE SHOW BECAUSE IF NOT IMA RE READ THIS A MILLION TIMES OVER.. IM LIKE DROWNING WITH FEELS RIGHT NOW ITS NO JOKE LOL THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!*Goes to a corner to cry some more happy tears*”
“Gorgeous! Iris's love for Barry is so tangible here, and I love how you managed to draw out how Barry says things to Iris and waits for her to interpret them for them both! Such a great piece, and one of my favorite moments! Thanks for writing and sharing!”
“You write sexual sensuality so well. It's so beautiful. It's like you really understand their characters and how they would approach their relationship. Well done, as always!”
“So much perfection. I can practically feel the smut that is to follow. The sizzle is REAL. And how wonderful that Grant's tweet inspired this! Just another wonderful after-effect to CP&GG's flirty twitter convo. hehe.This is my favorite:"His reply is instant. Right now? Your legs, he admits."Lmao. It's just so...like a knee-jerk response. He doesn't think much of it, just answers the question honestly & immediately, and just so casual. That stops immediately with HER VERY SUGGESTIVE response. haha. Oh goodness. But all of this was so lovely & steamy, in only a way yours can be. It's sexting for crying out loud & yet the UST is just...I mean..."Goddammit, Iris."XD So fabulous. Can't wait for your next piece!(Oh & also! - Even for The Flash? Especially for The Flash. lol)”
“Thank yo so much for this amazing fic. I wanted a fic like this for so long, even though about writing it myself but with lack of time it's hard. This is everything I wanted, because ever since she said she couldn't stop thinking about him and really wanted a fic where that was the case and you did it perfectly. Thank you. This is magnificent.”
“This is beautifully written. I wouldn't class it as smut per se but it is most definitely erotic and the pacing was perfect for a short story. I couldn't believe it was only 600+ words because you managed to get so much in there: Iris' regret, Barry's longing which turned into his conviction when they did get it right. Thank you so much for sharing and I hope to see more from you.”
“I couldn't get through a sentence without crying and trembling (you fuck me up). Wow! you took my breath away. It took me forever to finish reading because I had to stop and wipe my eyes several time. Excellent execution! Thank you”
“You did them justice with this short piece. A blow job has no business sounding this romantic, but it is, because you channeled the WestAllen into your words with your amazing talent. Thank you for sharing!”
“Beautiful story. Perfectly in character. I could definitely see them having "private" vows and "public" vows and that Barry would be the one to suggest it....he's such a romantic. Loved this so much and thanks for writing.”
“Ok for real, you are soo sooooo talented and I always look forward to reading your fanfics, those writers should reaaaaally hire you one of these days. Am supposed to be prepping for an exam but am literally glued to my phone right now reading and re-reading your fics, but what can I say.... TOTALLY WORTH IT:-P!!!”
“Inksmudge does westallen better than the tv show does westallen”
“AND PLEASE BE RESPONSIBLE THAT THIS FIC MADE ME SOOOOO TURNED ON AND SEXUALLY FRUSTRATED THINKING ABT WESTALLEN GET ON AFTER SEEING CANDICE AND GRANT GORGEOUS HIATUS FACES ON THEIR RESPECTIVE INSTA TODAY KNOWING DAMN WELL ILL NEVER GET OT ON THE SHOW”
“Whenever I see you posted a story, it's like fanfic christmas or easter. You know, because you don't do it a lot so whenever you do post it's special. It's like when you open your ask on tumblr. I'm just like "Ohh Ink is Back, YAY!" No matter what the story is about. Cheers!”
“I don't know how you do it--how you manage to integrate love, lust, grief and sadness into one beautiful thing. This particular chapter feels like a combination of the ones that came before in terms of themes. Iris trying to maintain on her own, the struggle to have and give up control, her beef with the Speedforce, etc. But I would also like to point out just the DAMN GOOD WRITING. Your writing is so fluid and your vocabulary so rich that you kind of make it look easy, to be honest. But sentences like these are just real gems://She cries his name loudly, moans in euphoria like she needs the Speed Force, God, whoever took him to hear her as a vengeance, to know that she had him back and was never letting him go.//That line just won't let me go.”
28. worst review you ever got
I can't remember if it was my brief story about Barry and Cisco getting haircuts together or the little story I wrote about drunk Iris after Cecile’s baby shower, but someone on Fanfiction.net reviewed it as just “Stupid.” I deleted the comment 😂
39. do you want to be published someday?
I would yes, but I think I would want to be published for poetry or a personal narrative essay as of now. I don’t have many ideas for original fiction at this time, but I would be thrilled to be published for that one day. A girl can dream 😔
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