#this is...... this is why i've never written a concise thing in my life
Text
the baby
♥ summary: almost loosely based off of this by @ukor02. This is really just a small little writing thing I did at 4am.
♥ relationship: no direct romance really, just some cute stuff between Lucifer and reader.
♥ word count: 1.6k
♥ notes: no childbirth mentioning and this is written like just as summaries of the situation tbh, almost like a bullet point format without the bullet points, the entire cast are characters, hospital scene, I made Alastor a main character and her main bestie because of course I did, reader is happy to be a mother
You wanted to give your baby a chance to get into Heaven, even if it meant they'd leave without you. Hell is no place for a child. Both you and Charlie knew that.
.
"What a pleasant surprise," you sign to Alastor when you see that damn smiling demon right outside your hotel room.
He laughs; aw, you're describing his arrival as pleasant. Did he make a good impression on you when you saw him last when he introduced himself in person in Pride Sign Language? You never seemed to have paid any mind to him, giving one motion signs as responses whenever he tried starting a conversation. But even when you interacted with him like that, he couldn't help but wonder why you always looked at him with your sweet, shy gaze. It's not on purpose, which is the worst part.
Pleasant, you called it a pleasant surprise.
"It's good to see you too, my dear!" He signs, bowing a bit and pushing past you into your room. "What have you been up to?"
What an obnoxious question.
You close the door, squeezing the doorknob tightly. This is going to be a long evening. When you turn back to Alastor, he's in your living room examining the decor, your random art pieces taped to the walls and organized together, though not concisely.
He waves his hands. "I love what you've done with the place."
"I've been bored." You sign with a slight nod to yourself. It's awfully isolating, which is obvious. Still, it has never hit you as hard as it does now as you watch another person walk through your chambers.
"I'm glad I can be in your company then." His smile widens, and the static he emits gets heavier. His ear twitched a bit, which you noticed but tried not to directly look at. Was it a good or bad thing?
"But it's often relieving to be alone," you start and look him up and down.
"You're quite used to being alone, aren't you?"
Your lips tighten, your hands stiff, and you are unable to finish your sentence. Absentmindedly, you rest them on your plump, pregnant belly. Alastor does his best not to let his eyes draw down to analyze it. Still, his head tilts, even just a little. He hates looking at your hands when you touch your stomach. Did his mother hold her belly like that when he was inside of hers?
"Don't you have others to talk to?"
"They're out on their little journeys, you know them."
"Of course."
Alas, he lets his eyes trail down to your stomach. It's not quite full, but it's obvious enough to gain attention from others. Charlie will put her hands on it every day, waiting for the baby to show its presence. She can feel the heartbeat, and so can you and Vaggie, though everybody else can't feel a thing. Alastor refuses to put a hand on your stomach. Life is precious and loud, and the few who were never human understand that differently than the others.
"I wanted to check in on the baby."
A twitch of your eyebrow makes his smile widen.
"Why?"
.
The day before, Lucifer arrived.
You try on your best clothes, laying them flat against your front, looking at your belly in the mirror. For the king, should you try to hide it or show it proudly? He has a daughter, but does that affect his thoughts about Hellborn pregnancies? Gosh, what do you have to worry about? So stupid.
With the other people, your new friends, you stood with your head proud.
He swirled with the dragons and hugged his daughter as if he hadn't seen her for years. What a kind man, unusually kind. His eyes... Those soft, precious eyes. And when they landed on you, your heart almost stopped. He looked at you as if you were an angel. When his lips started to move, the smile you didn't even know you wore faded.
Charlie put her hand on his shoulder and whispered something to him. And there came Alastor, saving the day.
"The idiotic king was just telling you how happy he is for you." With the signs came the grinding of his teeth.
Lucifer approached, his cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment. He addressed Alastor with aggressive hesitance. 'Tell her...' he said.
Charlie smiled excitedly, Nifty kept nodding, and Sir Pentious's eyes started tearing up.
Alastor grimaced. "He's asking if he could feel your stomach."
As always, you've put a thorn in the flow of interactions.
Still, you put on a smile. "Of course."
And there you stood, the King of Hell's hands gently holding you. You could feel the cold of his touch even through the fabric of your shirt. The heartbeat vibrated through both your body and his. The baby was alive and well; you could tell through the pure glee that spread across his face. Beyond your tiny ounce of worry, you knew he'd find hope within your baby.
Alastor watched with a terribly strained smile.
.
"Why?" You ask again when he doesn't answer. "What's with the sudden worry?"
"Worry? No, no." Alastor waves you off. "More like..."
You watch with interest as he trails off, a vulnerability you love.
He squints his eyes and clenches his fists, but only for a moment. His lack of vocabulary kills him. "...Intrigue."
You crack a smirk. "Are you finally gonna feel my stomach?"
Another pause. Alastor considers it, but all he can imagine is his claws accidentally drawing blood.
"No."
"That's okay." Again, your hands rest on your stomach.
.
Alastor has been watching it grow, but so has Lucifer. Charlie's father scarcely visits, and you've convinced yourself it's to see you. Every time he enters the hotel, he asks how you are. He tries to lift his hands to sign but finds no words forming. A language was created in his world, and he has yet to learn how to learn it.
Whenever he presses his hands against your belly, he can feel the liveliness of the soul forming inside you, and he can feel your appreciation at his care.
Begrudgingly, he always has to ask Alastor for advice on communicating with you. Alastor always has a cocky smirk when he teaches.
Charlie has to ask Alastor for help, too, but more willingly. Alastor raises his chin and squares shoulders when people ask him for help. Charlie went to him for help on a conversation you knew she was going to start with you:
"You're not going to stay here for the battle."
"I know." There was no argument on your behalf. Charlie's cheeks still went pink.
"But I have to figure out where it's safest for you. Alastor told me Cannibal Town, but uhh... Maybe not."
"They'll all be here anyway. Maybe they'll distract the angels from going over there."
Her bright eyes widen a bit. "Do you think so?"
"I can stay over there, even if they try to eat me." They won't, and even if they try, they know Alastor would end their lives, don't they?
She fiddles with her fingers before lifting them up again. "I suppose..."
She's so quickly convinced it's cute. You're right, though, of course. Cannibal Town might be the safest place, specifically under the hands of Rosie, who Alastor had previously told you would be more than willing to help you. You can imagine her smile at seeing your belly, twice the size as when Alastor first told you about her. Unbeknownst to Charlie, he's been planning this for a while.
Your stress for their safety irks you more than you expected.
You place a hand on Charlie's, lifting your other one. "I'll be okay."
Before you left for Cannibal Town, you met Lucifer once again, a more loving side of him. He cradled your head and held the back of your neck as he did. His cold body felt like warmth to you. He whispered things to you; you could only tell from how his breath constantly brushed against your ear in sing-songy waves. Was he singing to you? A lullaby? He pulled away and finally signed to you. "You're going to be a great mom."
A moment before, Alastor finally put his hands on your belly. His hands were warm. Like Lucifer, he was whispering to himself, holding silent words from you. In another life, you'd imagine they were prayers. At that moment, only an instinct, you put your hands on his, and he allowed it.
The stress of their safety worsened when they were left alone in Cannibal Town without a word of winning or losing.
The winning of Hell was all you wanted to focus on when you noticed the contractions getting worse, spaced out in purposeful ways. Oh goodness, you found yourself thinking, oh my God.
What if Lucifer dies on the same day your child is born?
But after the battle, he was right there to cradle the baby in his arms, his heavenly grasp relaxing the tiny baby. The rest of the group sat in your room, Sir Pentious absent, tears in their eyes at both the birth and the death.
Beyond Lucifer's cradling, Husk was the only one who touched your child that day. He placed his furry paw against the baby, feeling the body heat that they admitted. Life could be beautiful, he decided.
Vaggie's sense of revenge deepened. She sacrificed Heaven to save a child, and now she's even more than willing to kill her sisters to save yours.
While Charlie stares at your baby with tears, Alastor smiles warmly at you. He knew you could do it: birth something beautiful and worth protecting.
Your eyes are locked on Lucifer. He's an amazing, supportive dad to Charlie, and your heart begins to swell. Your heartbeat increases, and a blush weakly forms on your already flushed face. His rough hands hold a forgiving softness. He's beautiful.
#x deaf reader#hazbin hotel#x reader#lucifer#alastor#lucifer hazbin hotel#lucifer morningstar#hazbin hotel x reader
94 notes
·
View notes
Note
authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤
Yayy! Thanks Mary! <3 After agonizing it for a while, my top 5:
The Real World (Mob Psycho 100, post-Mogami arc) is absolutely my favorite fic I've ever written. It's some of my best prose, I'm really pleased with how concise and focused I was able to keep it despite touching on so many characters, and it let me distill down a lot of my thoughts on the themes of the show and why it's so important to me. And I wrote it during the absolute worst stretch of the curse, painstaking sentence by painstaking sentence over the course of half a year. I am so so so proud of it.
Fisherman's Knot (Gravity Falls, post-canon fic focusing on the Stans, their deeply-entrenched mental health issues, and their eventual recovery. Also there are selkies.) At 104k words, the longest piece of writing I've ever finished. Writing it was a journey; I took a long break but I'm so happy and proud that I managed to come back and finish it and that there were still people who were as excited as I was to get to the end. The response to this fic blew me away; it started out largely as a coping mechanism to deal with my own poorly-treated mental illness and I feel really honored that my writing resonated with so many people dealing with similar things. I grew so much as a writer over the course of it. Both the big moments of catharsis--Stan's glitter and Ford's realization by the harbor--were things that were so powerful and electric in my head that I worried I wouldn't be able to put them down in words that did the feelings justice, but I did!
Bloom (Discworld, a Glorious 25th of May fic set a few years after Night Watch) Everyone who sets out to write a Discworld fic is undertaking an extreme act of hubris, because not only are you trying to emulate a specific writing style, you're trying to write like Terry Pratchett, which as we all know is basically impossible. Still, I think I hit some good resonant Discworldy notes in this little piece and really nailed the Themes I was going for. Periodically the Tumblr post version gets a little burst of notes and it always makes me really happy that people are enjoying it.
First And Final Orders (Mob Psycho 100, Dimple character study) Hi. Have you heard of ring composition? I love ring composition. It is my single favorite literary device (and I love a LOT of literary devices), so I had to include one of my fics that makes heavy use of it. I also love pointing at a piece of media and going "Hey. Hey have you thought about how there's kind of some Discworld themes here? What if we thought about the Discworld themes together?" And ALSO i love DIMPLE!!! I hope this fic helps explain why.
Casualties (Gravity Falls, missing scene from the finale) So the reason this fic makes this list isn't so much its quality (though I do still really like it!) but the fact that it was my first-ever completed fanfiction. I'd idly poked at the idea of writing fic a couple times before but never made much progress. I hadn't actually done any creative writing for years at that point. I came to fandom late due to a combination of being scared of the internet and, when I did check out my real-life friends' fandom blogs, feeling like everything was so focused on shipping that there would be no place for me and the kinds of stories I cared about. Gravity Falls changed that. I'd made friends and felt like part of a community for the first time. I'd read fanfic that I loved and that focused on the sorts of relationships I really cared about. And so finally I decided that even though it still felt really scary, maybe I would try my hand at actually writing and posting a fic of my own.
360,000 words and 54 works later, I still think it was a pretty good idea.
#memeses#scribe writes#this is SO SAPPY bc that is just who i am as a person#also i limited this list to completed fics but#*flutters mine eyelashes*#have you heard of The Brassica Heresy?#I am very excited about The Brassica Heresy
20 notes
·
View notes
Text
20 Questions for Fic Writers
Thank to @ink-in-books for tagging me.
How many works do you have on AO3?
Technically, 3. Though, one is just the "smut" content of another fic. So, really, I just have the two.
2. What's your total A03 word count?
141,494 words.
3. What fandoms do you write for?
On this O3 account, just Clone Wars.
4. What are your top five fics by kudos?
M'dear, I only have two fics.
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
Yes, I do! Especially if they are engaging questions that ask about the world-building, the character study, or my plot.
6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
It isn't ended, but it has the most angst in it, and it has also left-off in the angstiest way. But, it would be Aay'han: Mournful Celebration.
7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
From what the readers can tell? Aay'han: Mournful Celebration because it has a clear end; it is after Order 66, so the damage has been done, and now it is time to recuperate.
Nightmare for Others, Dreams for the Self ends off pretty early in the war, meaning I haven't gone over with the readers what happens. However, when I can update Nightmare for Others, I know how it will continue. And, there's gonna be some angst, but other things that will make up for Anakin's poor little life.
8. Do you get hate on fics?
Not yet. Though, I get a lot of comments asking me to write Cody-wan instead of, say, ObiRex.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
I do. I just didn't get a chance to write any for Batakin.
10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?
No, and I don't particularly care for it, either. There's some Universes that I'd love a crossover, but I'd be picky as hell. I'd love to write a TCW and Transformers crossover!!!
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
No, I ain't important enough. Either is my works.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
No.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Just like Inky, I sort of did? Batakin was the love-brain child of @spacingstars and I. We were supposed to work on it together, however, I got possessive, and they were also busy with work. It ended up easier for me to just write it myself.
Mournful Celebration was an event gift, and I used some things from our private roleplay together. Does that make it a co-author?
14. What's your all-time favorite ship?
Again, I'm like Inky, that it depends on what my interest is. In TCW, Rexwalker has risen to the top of my OTP list, and that is entirely unexpected. I came in with a very different ship that I've mostly abandoned due to just... not vibing with its community. ObiRex is still so dear to my heart, and survives in a better state than say... other ships I'm still a registered with the manifest.
But, Rexwalker rose to the top. It tickles all my required ish-es. I love the potential for intrigue, for defiance of the narrative, the "solution" to so many problems found in simple places, and boyish cuteness.
15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
A few that will never see the light of day because I lost interest. For the most part, I keep my WIPs down to a low. Once a WIP will no longer be finished, it isn't a WIP; it is a dropped project, and it is okay to drop them.
16. What are your writing strengths?
Long plots, contextual detail, world-building, dialogue, characterization...
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
There's some grammar things I'm weak as thinning cheap denim. I wouldn't call it a weakness, but I am not the author for anyone if they want concise, short stories.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
Painful. I'd rather not. I don't like it because I'm trying to figure out the best way to convey to the reader what it translates. Including Mando'a is hard enough as it is.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Uhhh... I think a tiny little anime fandom called The Slayers. None of it will be found ever again. It has been lost to all time.
20. Favorite fic you've ever written?
Star Wars: Come From Water, which is unpublished. I am still working on it!
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
20 questions for fic writers!
Ope it's double tag time >:D thanks @spockandthings & @bazzybelle for the tags~
This one's got length to it so get the scoop under the cut lol
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
Shoot, how many do I have... let's see now... ooooh, that'd be 18!!
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
Eyyyy 104,261 since I started posting last year :3
3. What fandoms do you write for?
The Sandman and The Witcher, though mostly Sandman so far lol
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
hmmmm, those would be...
In Awe, I Stand -> 370 kudos
Dream of the Dark -> 226 kudos
My Comfort. Your Touch. -> 216 kudos
Every Inch of Me -> 161 kudos
Starlight, Star-Bright -> 139 kudos
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I do my best to, yes indeed! That doesn't always means it happens though cuz life and energy and honestly attention-span...but I read every single comment I get and cherish them. They are bright spots in my day and I like to share the joy I've been gifted with the person who gave it when I'm able 💖
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Ohoho that's gotta be Don't Ask Me To Say Goodbye!! I have Plans for that AU, but as it currently stands it's angst-central with only heartbreak~
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Most of my fics have happy endings I wanna say, but happiest has got to be a toss-up between Starlight, Star-Bright and My Comfort. Your Touch. They're both super soft, self-indulgent delights :3
8. Do you get hate on fics?
*knocks on wood* nah
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
I do [hellmo.gif] How do you feel about potatoes?
(but also like relatively "normal" stuff: butt stuff, mouth stuff, touching stuff, eldritch stuff, basically a variety of different stuff >;3 LOL)
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
Not so far, though I'd not be opposed to writing one.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
*knocks on wood again* not that I know of!
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
nope, but open invite to anyone who might want to! Just give me a shout when you're done cuz I'd love to see~
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
HECK YE!!!! @phinofthestorm is outstanding and I literally can't say enough nice things about writing with her!
The amount of time we've spent on the same brainwave with our collab fic As a Stranger I Know Myself has been mindblowing and fantastic!
14. What’s your all time favorite ship?
Honestly, I'll never get over GrimmIchi (Bleach) I don't think lol. The nostalgia factor is unbeatable at this point.
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Truss Me Up But Never Leave Me Hanging probably fits the bill best, much to my chagrin. It was meant to be a canon-verse Dreamling shibari fic, but *vague handwaving* I wound up getting in my head over whether I could write it to the level of accuracy/quality I feel it deserves
16. What are your writing strengths?
Setting the scene? aka "purple prose" and metaphors
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
Concise, "non-flowery" writing in general and dialogue
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
I mean if it makes sense, idk why not. Only caveat to that is if it's not a language you speak yourself, definitely get someone who does speak that language to proof it!
19. First fandom you wrote for?
The Witcher with the bday fic I wrote for my bestie: Where You Least Expect It
20. Favorite fic you’ve written?
Dang, twist my arm why don't'cha... Sheesh favorite fic I've written... I love 'em all honestly, but I reckon Along the Garden Path, We Meet. It's just a short little thing though Dream being a lil shit to Hob early on, before even their first centennial meeting in 1489, absolutely sends me every time.
Woooo we made it to the end! Now to torment tag to join the fun with 0-whole pressure @seiya-starsniper @phinofthestorm @mentallyinvernation @certifiedbisexualdisaster @blueberrymffn @gabessquishytum @delta-pavonis @aquabluejay
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
20 Questions for Fic Writers
Thanks for the tag @hereforanepilogue!!
1. How many works do you have on AO3? 16, with more on my mostly-abandoned FF.net account
2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 163,682 (and about ~200k more unpublished in my WIP folder)
3. What fandoms do you write for? Right now the big one is Stranger Things but my forever fandom is Power Rangers/Sentai/Kamen Rider. I've also written for Psych, Doctor Who, and Supernatural. (Most of my SPN and DW stuff is sequestered to my FF account.)
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Descent into the Depths of the Earth (Or at Least Milwaukee) (1093)
To Find a King (869)
Dream On (112)
In the Mood (112)
Cold Hard Bitch (104)
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I really try to, but sometimes it gets away from me and I worry it's been too long since they left the comment, and it turns into a whole thing (in my head ofc).
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Descent, easily. The post kiss freakout being resolved in another fic? When the fic was originally going to end very differently? Yeaaaaaaah.
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Toss up between TFaK (fully resolving's Descent's angsty ending) or California (literally a mini-fic about the OTP getting married).
8. Do you get hate on fics? Not so far?
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I have, mainly some pretty straightforward m/m stuff. A few funkier attempts swim around my WIP folder, almost certainly never to see the light of day.
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I've written a lot of subtle crossovers, but only two overt ones, and I think the craziest would be the Doctor Who/Office one I wrote back in high school. Dwight is a Dalek!
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated? If anyone has, they didn't ask or tell me (or it's been long enough that I forgot).
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have not!
14. What’s your all time favorite ship? At this point, feels safe to say Maddie/Nick, even if that's at least 75% my own interpretations and projections. Destiel, Shassie, and Steddie are pretty darn close, especially Destiel, even if I haven't been involved in that fandom in over a decade.
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? A few of my orphaned fics on FF.net will probably never see the light of day, as well as some of the half-formed works in my current WIP folder. Technically have the finished final chapter of Magical Mysteries but no motivation to edit, so still holding hope for that one.
16. What are your writing strengths? Dialogue, I think. I spend a lot of time trying to imagine the scenes I write and hear the dialogue how I think the actors would deliver it.
17. What are your writing weaknesses? Conciseness, clearly. Takes a lot of self-editing to wrangle a story to a manageable, clear narrative.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I've done bits and pieces of it here and there, mainly with the like five languages that I can double-check against my own thin linguistic knowledge.
19. First fandom you wrote for? if you dig back far enough, pretty sure it was Pokemon on the Bulbagarden forums
20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Descent, easily. Despite the angsty ending, it was fun to write a slice of life centered on two characters I love, going to an event I love even more.
no pressure tags for @eriquin @serpentinegraphite and whoever else sees this, go wild
3 notes
·
View notes
Note
Can I ask about Lan Wangji for the character opinion bingo?
Hi Anon,
Thanks for this! Prepare for an essay! 🤣😅
I absolutely LOVE him. He is such a complex, beautifully crafted character. As others have said, I actually feel like I fell in love with LWJ as WWX did also. I found him absolutely fascinating from the start.
He is just a total sweetheart. On the outside he is seemingly cold and emotionless, but underneath he is just so loving and passionate. Just my type! I can actually see why WWX was attracted to him from the start, we must have the same type! Although he comes from a prominent clan and has a title - he never makes anyone feel different, he never looks down on anyone. He treats everyone as his equal, no matter their status. He really is deserving of his title as Hanguang-Jun.
LWJ is also a true hero, brave and noble. I adore how he has a reputation of being 'wherever the chaos is'. He's not bothered about fame or glory, he just wants to help whoever he can.
LWJ is such an attentive person when it comes to WWX. He picks up on every little detail about WWX, storing it in his memory and using it when he needs to. It's just utterly adorable.
I also love his skill of being able to be concise with his words. Just a few simple words convey so much, so effectively! He's also incredibly resilient, he's been through so much - but he's continued on no matter what. As I've written in previous posts, he has been through so much, but he always carries on.
Who wouldn't melt at the sheer hot, endless passion he has for WWX. He just gives his love completely, offering his entire self to his soulmate. His love is so deep, it transcends all. I honestly think he'd love WWX no matter how he looked, or indeed what he was 'reborn' as (mind out of the gutter people!). LWJ would have loved and protected him no matter what. One of my favourite things about WWXs second life, is how much LWJ relishes protecting him. WWX doesn't really need to be protected, but LWJ does it anyway - and they both absolutely love it. He's already lost WWX once, he will simply not let it happen again.
I think it's quite evident from the above, I'm a sucker for a seemingly cold man, with a passionate heart. Not to mention that sexy icy glaze of his 😍❤️
#mdzs#mdzs lan wangji#mdzs lwj#lan wangji#i adore him#ask game#character bingo#lwj and his sexy icy gaze#anon ask#lwj is just my type#lwj is a dirty angel
22 notes
·
View notes
Note
Why do u like fan fiction so much? Is it just because of passion for writing/reading or is it more just like a way to read something fun as a pastime and also make up fantasies based on men you already like? I’ve never really understood the whole appeal of fan fiction at all or why it’s such a big deal across fandoms so I hope maybe I can get some insight from a writer
There really isn't a simple answer to your question. And obviously it will be different for different readers and writers, but I think my explanation would be a fairly common thought with fanfic readers and writers.
Yes, a passion for reading and writing would be common among fanfic writers and readers. I'm 43 and have been writing stories all my life. I wrote fan fiction as a child before I knew what fan fiction even was. I've also been published in a professional writing sphere as a newspaper columnist. I personally know multiple fan fic writers with creative writing degrees and those who have published original novels through publishing houses at the same time that they've published fan fic for free on ao3. So that mystery novel that you've read...might be written by someone who has posted fanfic on ao3. Just saying that there's some incredible talent and skill being published in the form of fiction about people or characters you already like.
All that being said, fanfic is not just for writers who have a degree in it. It can be for someone who just started writing or who writes in a language that isn't their native language or someone who just has a story they'd like to share. And these fan fics might blow you away with how good they are, too.
Ultimately, fan fic is indeed a hobby, one that is generally adjacent to a fandom the writer or reader is already a part of. So it does feel very natural that if you have a passion for reading or writing, you would find yourself checking out fanfiction in your fandom of choice.
As for it being about the fantasy about men we like...I'm sure it is for some, but you'd find more of that in the realm of y/n or reader insert types of fan fiction. Oof, I could talk forever about this part of it, but I'll try to be concise. I think a very large part of fanfic's appeal is for POC, women, and the queer community to change or create a new narrative that is more meaningful to us. It gives us the opportunity to include identities that better represent ourselves in a way that mainstream media does not.
As I'm both a writer and reader of fanfiction in multiple fandoms, I'll leave you with how I became an offiical reader of fan fic. I'd been in the 1D fandom for about a month when I first encountered it. I've been a voracious reader all my life, and I'm also a former teacher. The amount of money I have spent on books is...a lot. I have thousands of books in my house. Not hundreds, thousands. Most are in boxes because as you can imagine it's difficult to store this many books. lol. Let's not even talk about how many are on my kindle account or how many I've borrowed from the library. You might say I'm well read. ha. Discovering fanfiction has been a revelation. Yes, I still read traditionally published books, but what I found in fanfiction was that I can easily find the kinds of things I like to read for free and written by incredible authors. So why wouldn't I?
12 notes
·
View notes
Note
This is exactly what I meant with "don't start acting as if your hc is canon" IT'S NOT! Why did you even have to mention Bill Cipher and wind magic? WHY?! You are again acting as if your lore is the series canon when it's not and will never be. And saying that you are "consistent" is the biggest hypocrisy possible. You arbitrarily change things as you see fit. This is the stupid arrogance I'm talking about.
Clearly, you missed the part where I said that a lot of it was my personal lore, my headcanons, and not actual canon. And I don't "change things", I add to my lore. I have a notepad with my lore written up for me to keep track of what I've put in it.
As for the Andrew and Saporians part, anyone with unbiased eyes can see that Varian was NOT abused. People heard "adult guy was in a cell with a child" and assumed the worst. As I said, Varian was a lot more uncomfortable with Eugene, Rapunzel and Lance in his lab than Andrew. His lab is, to him, his safe space, his place in the world, and to have someone in there makes him uncomfortable, unless he trusts them a lot. He was calmly working while Andrew and Clementine were in his lab with him, and when Rapunzel, Lance and Eugene were in his lab, he was watching them warily and acting nervous about them invading his privacy. This is proof that he felt safe with them and was not being abused.
As for Bill Cipher, yeah, that's just MY personal lore. Obviously, it's not canon that Bill Cipher is connected to Zhan Tiri. DUH. Alex Hirsch has nothing to do with Chris Sonnenburg and would probably throw that piece of shit into the Bottomless Pit and Bill only cameos in stuff that is done by people he is friends with. And the magic? Magic is an established thing in Saporian culture, canonly, and I just built on that. The show gave us an interesting culture and didn't really tell us anything about it, so I filled in the blanks.
But, hey, if you want me to write a fic where the Saporians are as bad as people claim, then I'm ready to employ the CHARACTER DEATH tag and KILL OFF MOST OF CORONA. I have an outline for that fic, and I frankly don't WANT to write it, but you seem to be a selfish little bitch that isn't happy enough with my stories and want me to write something horrifying!
You call me "arrogant"? Who's the asshole that is sending me comments and Asks ON ANON accusing me of things I'm not doing? I'm just trying to enjoy writing my stories, with my established lore, and you have the choice to NOT read the stories I write FOR FREE. Get a damn life and stop harassing me over my established lore. I tried to explain everything in a calm, concise way, and you fucking call me arrogant. GO. TO. HELL.
I know who you are on AO3, and I know not to trust you with anything now. Fuck you. Go write your own fucking stories and stay out of mine.
2 notes
·
View notes
Note
Ooh someone else who's not against Aaron crying more. That seems to no longer in en vogue 😂 I just want more Aaron full stop at this point. It feels like he's been underused so much recently (almost 2 years actually lol). Maybe not in stats but in terms of how it feels and actual storylines that last over a period of time. I miss him. Let him be rude to people in the cafe even idc. It's a given that I always want more Robron too ofc. Comedy/angst/casual village interaction for them both please!
i think that (imo) (or at least from my personal perspective as a viewer)
(and as a preface, i don’t mean to compare robert and aaron in a rob vs aaron way - it’s more that robert is a very easy character to use here in order to demonstrate my point in this post about aaron, because they share so much screentime/storylines together)
robert is a character that they enjoy using in a way that a lot of other characters don’t get used or can’t be used quite so freely - they like putting him up against big dogs and making sure he’s got some sort of scheme in motion lmao, just because that’s sort of core to who he is, in a way
he’s probably very fun to write for and/or plot for in that way, because he’s a fucking lunatic and also gets to be kind of quippy and terrible
(and i will… fucking eat my hat if they haven’t set this graham plot in motion to ensure that both the kings and robert are in kim’s general orbit once she comes back to the show, just bc why wouldn’t they)
so robert usually has some sort of insane scheme happening - or before that, last year, we obviously had him involved with lachlan and rebecca, because of his ties to the whites and who knows maybe he’ll be tied back to lachlan again
but this has just sort of meant that he’s always had a couple of different stories happening at once lmao
it’s a rare day that the show doesn’t have robert doing something, even if he’s not being used very heavily
aaron on the other hand gets thrown into liv-related plots, or dingle plots maybe (but not very often) - stuff that’s really a lot smaller and kind of involves him doing the same thing over and over again lmao. i think he’s going to appear in jacob’s plot again at some point soon (potentially without liv???)?
but beyond that, he’s really just in the robron stuff
and if the robron stuff happens to be more robert-centric, then i feel like it makes sense that it might feel aaron-lite
plus they just don’t really use him in the same fun ways that they use robert
(and honestly!! not many characters do!! possibly bc it’s just fun to watch robert be terrible lmao, in much the same way it is nicola or charity or cain)
(again this isn’t supposed to be rob vs aaron bc i love how they use robert on this show lmao)
(but they also should use aaron in fun things too bc we deserve it)
(and i hope the robron/jimmy stuff this week is good bc i miss aaron doing crime things)
so he had a super quiet 2018, relatively speaking - mostly he was just supporting other things that were going on at the time with liv and robert and that’s cool and good and all characters should have a supporting period in soaps etc
but now it’s his time again we’ve done our waiting
!!!!
and maybe bc he’s largely been very valuable as a presence but in a supporting function, it feels like he’s been a lot more underused than he actually has? just because he hasn’t really had anything that focused on him as a character since early 2018?
but also now the billy thing is happening
and i feel like (and i think maybe ppl might agree) we really haven’t had aaron say enough about his side of the story yet
and that’s fine, because he actually seems at the moment to be trying to act like everything is totally cool (even though he’s concerned about literally leaving the house)
he’s just like lOL robert drop it!!
bc robert immediately got himself arrested, i guess, so maybe aaron isn’t quite prepared to let robert know exactly what’s going on in his little head, because he’s worried about what robert will do
which is clearly valid
but that doesn’t mean that something somewhere shouldn’t give that ultimately makes aaron have to tell robert (or someone!!!!) (uh preferably robert)
I GUESS THIS LONG FUCKIN USELESS POST IS JUST ME SAYING
that i want the aaron/billy situation to be an actual storyline for aaron
and an actual storyline for billy/ellis/jessie
which i assume it will be
but it’s still such early days so it’s sort of impossible to say how it will play out at the moment
but i hope like fuck that they
dont drop it
develop it into something interesting that gives aaron some focus
gives aaron a story that’s sad bc danny’s good at sad scenes and i enjoy them lmao
also ryan is good at sad dramatic stuff and sad dramatic robron stuff is good and like
give us more of that as a part of this
i know who i am
more robron angst!
let billy go after robert and have aaron get mad!!!!
i’ve got ideas @ ed writers hit me up
like, i’m totally fine/thoroughly enjoying robert trying to casually ruin billy’s life at the moment in an attempt to get rid of him and again, it works because aaron literally is acting like everything is fine, even to robert (for the most part)
i just hope it’s leading to more emotional stuff and aaron explaining what’s happening in his head and what happened
and more aaron/billy scenes honestly lmao
for the #drama
at the moment everything that’s happening is very shallow/face value stuff and the show really hasn’t started delving into the dynamics between any of the characters yet
there are so many depths for them to mine here
they’ve just started to bring up billy and jessie’s feelings about billy’s dad, which is a good start
but i need more yk
this shit is heavy and we deserve heavy angsty tear-filled aaron scenes to go with it
the show should work up to those imo thanks
like… it’s all promising stuff though? and i’m always chill about waiting for shit to go down, if it feels like there’s space for shit to go down.
i just hope they follow through and write it well and don’t just drop the story
and then i hope they take it somewhere interesting
until then i’ll just enjoy robert being a lunatic on aaron’s behalf and aaron very quietly trying (and frankly failing) to deal with his trauma
#answering anons#this is...... this is why i've never written a concise thing in my life#shit like this#spoilers#Anonymous#long post
11 notes
·
View notes
Text
⚝───⭒─ 30 DAY HC’S | RHEA ─⭒───⚝
RHEA | lightly tanned skin. wavy hair that comes down just past her shoulders, the colour of a lion's mane. her eyes are a yellow-green, and across her right-eye is the symbol of a laurel leaf, which represents her authority as a queen, and her victories over her father and her husband. she is on the shorter side of average, with an athletic build.
┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☟━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑
i've actually already written my hc's for Rhea here, here, and here, but i think this is a good opportunity to compile them a little more concisely into one post :)
in my head, Rhea is a very headstrong, ambitious, and courageous goddess. she's got plans, she's got ideas, and once she's put her mind to something, there is no one in this universe or the next who can stop her.
in her youth, i imagine her to have been really wild with a little hint of playfulness in her eye.
i've mentioned this before, but i think that Rhea's closest sibling was Theia. however, once Theia and Hyperion became a thing, they sort of drifted apart a little. likewise, i think that Hyperion used to be extremely close with Kronos and Iapetus, but he also drifted apart from them.
and at this point, i think Kronos and Iapetus filled up their void with Rhea, and Rhea filled up her void with Kronos and Iapetus. i imagine these three to be a triple dose of mischief, much to Oceanus’ distress.
in saying this, i don't think that Rhea is immoral, or would do hurtful things. she has a strong sense of justice and an immovable moral compass.
following this, i really love the idea that Rhea was the one who approved the most about Kronos becoming king after the Castration of Ouranos... not just because it meant she'd be queen, and that appealed to her ambitious nature, but because Kronos was honourable in the beginning and she knew that there was no one more worthy of the role.
did Kronos and Rhea love each other? anyone who follows me here on [tumblr].com knows the answer to this. their relationship gets extremely complicated, but that Kronos and Rhea loved each other in the beginning is a hc i will never let go of.
and that's why Kronos' defeat has to be delivered by the hand of Rhea herself. because of the love that Rhea once had for Kronos, she knew that it would be unacceptable for her to simply sit back and let him poison himself. she puts her foot down and saves him.
in the myths, Rhea only successfully saves Zeus, and sometimes Poseidon depending on the version. but my hc is that Rhea begins her attempts at saving her children starting with Hera.
i don't think Rhea ever believed much in Ouranos' prophecy, but after Kronos swallows Hestia and Demeter, i think she starts to take serious action.
but when it comes to her fifth child, Poseidon, i like the idea that, because all her previous attempts seemed to fail so badly, she just gives up. she has no more strength to fight back and so, she pretty much just gives Poseidon up without so much as a tear. i think that this was the lowest point in her life.
however, when she visits Gaia and realises that there is still hope, she becomes invigorated once again and is able to put in the work and save not just Zeus, but all her children :D
one of my favourite hc's about Rhea is that she is incredibly kind and forgiving. that's her strength.
and even though Kronos does unimaginable harm to her, my hc is that, in the end, she forgives him. she has no love for him (how could she?), but she forgives him... and that's not an easy thing to do, but i definitely think that it's important because it reflects her indomitable character.
as an older goddess, i think that she becomes very reserved. certainly, the events that Kronos put her through take their toll. the energy she had in her youth slowly disappears, but she remains behind the scenes to watch over her children and to make sure that they don't walk down their father's path.
in particular, i think that she watches over Zeus a lot because there are many aspects of him that sometimes remind Rhea of Kronos.
and the myth concerning Metis would have definitely caused her panic. but she has an iron hand so she straightens him out eventually :)
in the myth concerning the parentage of Chiron, i love the part where Rhea catches Kronos and Philyra and scares Philyra away. my hc is that this event comes after Kronos and Rhea get unofficially divorced because i think that Rhea getting angry at Kronos even after all that time reinforces Rhea's proud nature. she still has dignity.
also, my hc is that baby Chiron was found by Rhea first, and even though she knew exactly who the child's father was, she still took him in and raised him with love... until Apollo popped by a few days later and adopted Chiron from Rhea.
i imagine her, as an older goddess, to be extremely elegant and regal. she always carries herself well and she doesn't tolerate crass behaviour. once a queen, always a queen.
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☝︎━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙
#about rhea having a laurel leaf over her eye- technically this doesn't make sense because the laurel is only significant due to apollo-#-but the laurel represents victory to me and rhea is ALWAYS victorious so i think it suits her#and i have this hc that all the elder titans have a symbol over their eye/ the titans have it on the left and the titanides on the right.#30 day hc#rhea#hc
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
Shisui Uchiha and the Lost Treasure of Asura - WIP Wednesday
I realised it's been quite a while since I shared any updates on Shisui Uchiha and the Lost Treasure of Asura (mostly thanks to work--in case you haven't noticed by now, I'm basically married to my job, and it's very needy).
Aaaanyway... in the spirit of the first WIP Wednesday of 2022, and in celebration of finishing the 5th chapter (which is actually now the 7th chapter, because I have never once written anything concise in my life, and having two random 20,000 word chapters in the middle of a bunch of shorter ones offended my sense of order), I've decided to share a bit about how it's going, and another sneak peek.
In short, this thing is a behemoth. It's proving to be hands down the most difficult story I've ever written. If I didn't love the characters and world as much as I do, I would have smashed it into a million tiny pieces by now, set those pieces on fire, smashed them some more, then possibly ordered an exorcism for this entire project.
I have literally spent hours poring over Google Maps and Street View, and researching everything from haikus and local foods, to world famous buildings, to the intricacies of Japanese law, to world history and historical figures - both real and legendary, and honestly, just far more other shit than I care to recall (also because a lot of it would give away the story).
The scope of this thing is wildly out of control at this point. I'd hire a research assistant if I could, so I could ask them, "What types of cactuses grow in Joshua Tree National Park? How do you belay when rock climbing? Is there a map of XXX location so I can bullshit my way through writing it? What's that Japanese legend about the rabbit in the moon again?" just so I didn't have to do it all myself.
*Deep breaths*
All of which is to say, the writing is progressing normally.
If that leaves you imagining I write my stories in a flaming dumpster while telling myself "this is fine," then congratulations... you now understand my creative process.
Anyway, I have about 72K words, and I'm estimating 110-120K by the time I actually finish. So including editing (noooooo), this story is probably still months away from being published. If I don't smash my computer first...
On that happy note, here's an excerpt:
As the conversation rapidly degenerates into an all-out argument, Shisui concludes his participation in it is likely to be more inflammatory than it is helpful. Having long since learnt that it’s a bad idea to get in Izumi’s way when she gets riled up, he beats a quick retreat to the entrance of the office, intending to examine Itachi’s assembled artifacts in greater detail. As he stops beside the pretty shield, a suspiciously loud thud from outside of the office catches his attention. A series of them, in fact, accompanied by raised voices.
Frowning, he glances back at Itachi and Izumi. Mid-squabble, it doesn’t seem like they’ve even noticed.
Shisui sighs. Of course, it could be Itachi’s students marching en-masse down the corridor to beat down his door, complaining about poor results and nitpicky marking. Which would be highly entertaining. But that seems a whole lot less likely than the other possible explanation. Resigned to fact that some new unpleasantness is most likely about to insert itself into his day, Shisui takes a deep breath and carefully cracks the door open.
What he sees makes him close it again just as fast.
Fuck.
Waving his arms wildly to get Izumi and Itachi’s attention, he calls across the room in a hoarse whisper, “Hey, Izumi… any idea why an angry guy who looks kind of like Two-Face from Batman is kicking down office doors out there with a band of anaemic green-haired thugs?”
Immediately, Izumi’s face pinches in a way that almost certainly indicates she knows the answer. “Uh…”
Covering the distance in a couple of short strides, and doing his best to ignore the delightfully startled look that seems to have taken up residence on Itachi’s face—and possibly rent-free in his brain—Shisui forms a circle between the three of them and the desk. Snatching up the Key, he waves it in Izumi’s direction. “How did you say you came by this this again?”
Izumi folds her arms defensively. “I acquired it…”
“Yes, you said that. But where?”
“At a party. In New York.”
Enunciating every syllable with pointed clarity, at a speed completely at odds with his racing heart, Shisui pushes on. “Whose party?”
The ruckus in the corridor gets louder.
Making an irritated noise, Izumi finally gives in. “Okay! I stole it from Madara Uchiha, all right? Are you happy now?”
Itachi glances between them—taking in Izumi’s dismissive expression, and Shisui’s well-contained but not entirely smothered irritation—clearly processing the turn this situation is taking, and realising it’s not in his favour. Something sharp needles the pit of Shisui’s stomach as he watches it, realising his fabled reputation for chaos and destruction seems to have followed him through the door within fifteen minutes of their first meeting. Even for him, that’s got to be some kind of record.
But there’s no time to dwell on it. Or to apologise. Slamming the Key on the desk, harder than intended, Shisui drags a hand over his face. “Hijo de puta! Madara Uchiha? The Mad Mercenary? Of all the people you could’ve pissed off, Izumi...”
Rolling her eyes, Izumi cuffs him on the shoulder. “I don’t speak Spanish, asshole!”
Oh for fuck’s sake… Barely missing a beat, Shisui repeats himself. “Why the hell would you piss off someone like him!”
Izumi throws up her arms defiantly. “I didn’t think he’d trace it back to me!”
Shisui rolls his eyes. “No, because apparently you just didn’t think.”
She makes a face at him, beyond unimpressed. “Oh, like you can talk.”
“I’m not the one who orchestrated a surprise family reunion.”
Interrupting them with a surprising level of confidence and composure for someone whose office and person is under imminent threat of harm, Itachi clears his throat. “Madara has been disowned,” he points out helpfully. “For his unbecoming behaviour.”
“Great!” Shisui exclaims sarcastically, any ideas he might have been harbouring about Itachi being some profound genius evaporating instantly. “I’m sure that’ll stop him shooting us. Maybe if we just ask nicely.”
#my writing#my art#wip wednesday#Shisui Uchiha and the Lost Treasure of Asura#caution salt#did I need to vent?#maybe I needed to vent a little#I love all my stories really#but holy hell I'm writing something shorter next#or finally finishing the Stucky long fic I've had 90% done for the last two years
12 notes
·
View notes
Note
(1/2) Okay so I'm still new to Naruto so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Also, this is long. I'm sorry. I'll split it.😅
Out of the K12 kids, Naruto, Sasuke and Neji were fucked over by Konoha (either by their clans, the old man hokage or the villagers). I'd include Rock Lee but I think he was just bullied as a small kid for being... weird? or not having chakra?? And he worked super hard and that didn't last long.
Anyway, I've read plenty of reviews about how the series ended poorly and how messages like "you can change your fate" were disregarded. That the the Naruto franchise would've done better staying an actiony, ninja shonen that focused more on changing the shinobi system instead of turning into the forced romantic shojo that it became. I agree with all of that.
And I said that to say this, I really am disgusted with how things went for Naruto, Sasuke and Neji. Naruto doesn't receive any apologies from those who should give him one (like the villagers! I think the old hokage bastard died so.. no apology there I guess). Like, I know Iruka apologizes to him and I don't know why. I know Iruka was Naruto's first bond, what'd he and only him have to apologize for.
Not only that but Naruto just accepts everyone and then hides the fact that those in charge of Konoha planned the Uchiha massacre!!! (Does Sasuke know he's doing that?) It's ridiculous to just hide the genocide committed by the state (because he's patriotic? Wants to stick to the status quo as much as possible while trying to change things??). And it's somehow worse to hide it when you have this intensely close relationship with the lone survivor of that genocide.
Like, why write Naruto like that? To receive no actual closure (imo) on how he grew up in Konoha and tp make him a top tier bootlicker
included the second part of the ask
(2/2) With Sasuke, that genocide happened and he was just left to his own devices on the outskirts. And he's treated as a villian for justifiably wanting to "destroy" Konoha and wanting a revolution. It gets under my skin how much the K12 kids don't give a fuck about stuff like this. (I like all of them (except for 2) and stuff like this sours my opinion on them)
Not only is he treated as a villain, it appears that no one pay's for the Uchiha massacre (except for Itachi?) which is bullshit. It's just swept under the rug. And THEN Sasuke is written to become another Konoha bootlicker??! He has to go off on his own to atone for his sins? What!
And finally Neji. He died as he knew he would, for the main house family. I will hate that forever and always. His destiny didn't change. Little!Neji in the chunin exams exposing how fucked up the Hyuuga clan is, no one (except Naruto?) cares. He gave Hinata a chance to back out before he killed her, which was allowed, she didn't, he was about to end it and then 4 teachers(?) jump in to save her because, special treatment. Can't let the (former) Hyuuga heir die, she means more than the other kids.
And he was treated as an antagonist for being rightfully pissed off. But no, he just gets over it I guess after befriending Naruto, the Hyuuga clan continues with its slavery bullshit and he dies sacrificing himself for Hinata. What a way to go.
And I know they don't address the slavery Neji wanted to abolish in Boruto. They just ignore it and act like everything's fine and dandy. Naruto isn't one of those series where things just happen offscreen and we know it's cool, right? They can't just expect ppl to think the Hyuuga clan changed right? They don't even focus on them, Neji died and so did any relevance to the Hyuugas because Hinata doesn't do anything.
(Had Neji lived I know he also would've been turned into a major bootlicker too)
In conclusion I can't stand how these 3 boys were screwed over by the village in many ways and then screwed over by bad writing. It's irritating. I love Naruto but there's so many problems with it.
i tried to be concise, hope i covered everything!
I agree that if the Naruto franchise didn’t end off with lackluster romance plots and instead gave closure for all the things they left open ended after the end of the war it would have made a much better ending to the series.
Kishimoto had even admitted he had trouble writing romance in as he hadn’t ever planned on it. He never considered it that relevant so when they did include it, the whole thing felt so forced and awkward it was even kinda ooc for Naruto and Sasuke (scenes like narutos flat ‘im not in touch with my emotions’ reaction to hinatas confession that butchered his character were an absolute pain to sit through)
Nejis death being an awful plot devise to develop NH was a terrible move, like neji sacrificed himself for someone who moments later held narutos hand and went "his hands are warm"??
Don’t even wanna list anything I dislike about ss cause their marriage is so lifeless i feel dead thinking about it.
As for the villagers, they were happy to alienate a poor kid who couldn’t fend for himself and let him believe he was a demon and was deserving of it all but then started licking his boots when they realized they had the equivalent of a nuclear weapon desperate to protect them, and even then they weren’t remorseful of their actions, its all very sickening really,
I think the whole end of Naruto was handled in a way that went against the characters values? like I can easily imagine Naruto being rightfully enraged at the people who issued the massacre of hundreds of innocents, and he wouldn’t ever think of hiding anything like that, especially from the victim who was also his friend??.
How they wrote sasuke as someone who now fucking bows down and becomes a soldier for a village that destroyed him and has done nothing for him is just absolute bs. Although with sasuke, even if one argues his loyalty was for Naruto, the patriotic lines are just too much.
As for the rest, I don’t have much to say cause they never tried to understand why sasuke was doing what he did, they only saw a power hungry uchiha who was seeking revenge.
And yes nejis end was tragic for all the wrong reasons, i was more pissed than sad watching it. He was treated as a tool for nh and his anger at the hyuga clan and their issues was brushed off without much thought because the series never delved into it or resolved it.
And yes we got no real closure for the uchiha massacre, all the messed up things in the hyuga clan and the way Naruto was mistreated his whole life etc. Its aggravating how they expect us to believe its all fixed and fine now
I really do love the pre shippuden arcs like the zabuza and haku arc especially though. They were the peak naruto experience for me and are always the scenes I reminisce and often get nostalgic over.
39 notes
·
View notes
Text
Put On Your Raincoats #21 | Double Chinn Double (Double) Feature (with Hyapatia Lee)
By the time the '80s rolled around, Bob Chinn, best known for his collaborations with John Holmes (the inspiration for Boogie Nights), had been directing movies for over a decade. For much of that time, he'd been making them for peanuts (in an interview with the Rialto Report, he recounts being once asked to make a movie for five thousand dollars, which was handed to him in fifties on the spot), but in the early '80s, he was directing for Harry Mohney's Caribbean Films, working with respectable budgets (by porn standards). Some of these films starred Hyapatia Lee, one of the most popular porn stars of the era and one of the first contract girls. Now, I suspect these aren't necessarily the defining works of Chinn's career, and I do intend to get to some of his movies with Holmes. But Vinegar Syndrome had a sale and there were two double features of their collaborations going for dirt cheap, and because I am weak and foolish with money, they ended up in my cart and a few weeks later in my grubby little paws. How did this happen? Through the magic of Canada Post, of course! Anyway, what I found was that these didn't represents any extremes of artistic ambition. They were neither seeking to elevate the genre, nor were they hackwork. Rather, they represent a happy medium, movies that seek to deliver the genre's goods in a polished, diverting package. Slick cinematography, courtesy of Jack Remy. Catchy theme songs that wouldn't sound out of place if you caught them on the radio. Flashy titles. Lee recounted the atmosphere on set as one of professionalism and engagement, where everyone present wanted to do as good a job as possible. Chinn claims to have been losing interest in his work at this point, but the results onscreen are the result of confident execution by somebody who had been doing this kind of thing for years and knew how to put the production's resources to good use.
The first one I watched was The Young Like it Hot, where the operators at a phone company worry about being replaced by computers. To keep their jobs, they scheme to go the extra mile in helping their callers. As this is a porno, most of this help is sexual in nature, as when Rosa Lee Kimball stays on the line while an obscene phone caller played by Bill Margold finishes. (In an interview on the DVD, Margold says after shooting his scene, he was invited to record additional dialogue. Being the method actor that he was, he insisted on whipping it out during the recording session despite the lack of cameras.) Sometimes they are informative, as when Bud Lee (real life husband of Hyapatia at the time) explains why the perineum is referred to as taint ("cuz it taint cunt and it taint ass"). But the highlight of their efforts are Shauna Grant's increasingly life threatening home improvement advice to one poor sap played by Joey Silvera. Hyapatia Lee is ostensibly the star, and has a certain charisma, playing the supervisor, but this is really an ensemble piece, and she's joined by more experienced actors like Kay Parker and Eric Edwards. The latter I've occasionally found bland elsewhere, but he has a nice obnoxious quality that serves him well as the villainous manager whose idea it is the automate the operators' jobs. The movie reflects a very real concern (that's very much still an issue in the modern workplace), but overall this is a breezy, affable comedy.
A bit more serious in tone is Sweet Young Foxes, a coming of age story whose dramatic parts are more sensitively realized than I expected. The screenplay was written by Deborah Sullivan, Bob Chinn's wife at the time, and this is a case where a movie definitely benefited from having been written by a woman, and it seems like an earnest effort to capture the anxieties and yearnings of its young women protagonists. Lee moves closer to a real starring role, and is joined by Cara Lott and Cindy Carver as her friends, who aren't quite as strong actors as her but do have decent chemistry. I can believe they're friends even if their line delivery can be stilted. (That the movie has a good ear for genuine sounding dialogue also helps.) Kay Parker is especially good as Lee's mother, hitting some of the same notes as Taboo, and has a credibly emotional masturbation scene in front of a mirror that did not leave me unmoved. (In what way? That's none of your damn business.) This was shot by Jack Remy, the same cinematographer who worked on The Young Like it Hot. That movie looked nice and slick, but this one is a little more stylish, with the solo sex scenes in particular resembling magazine centerfolds. There's also some nice new-wave-ish music that shows up on the soundtrack, which I certainly didn't mind. I do wish some of the sex scenes didn't run quite as long (the previous movie kept them refreshingly concise) as I'd prefer more of the runtime was dedicated to the dramatic elements, but what's there is still good.
Body Girls goes back firmly to comedy territory, where Hyapatia Lee and the members of her gym are trying to win a bodybuilding contest despite a rival gym's attempts to undermine them. This comes in the form of a pair of schlubs in yellow tank tops who break into the gym after hours to sabotage their equipment, only to be foiled by Hyapatia and her girls who just happened to be having sex in the locker room as people do. Of course, despite Lee's attempts to teach them a lesson (which depending on your proclivities, may have the opposite effect), they don't give up, and during the contest threaten the judge at gunpoint. Not one to take things lying down (okay, poor choice of words here), Lee finds a way to influence the judge back in her favour. (The judge is played by Francois Papillon, bringing a dopey charm to the character as he fumbles through his lines in his French accent.) Her method is pretty ridiculous and certainly in service of genre requirements, but I did laugh.
Now, there's probably a dilemma in audience sympathy here as both Lee and her rivals are cheating, but Lee's methods are more agreeable and directed at the judge instead of her rivals so I guess we ought to root for her. She's also buoyant, charismatic and has a real star quality, and is joined by such fan favourites as Shanna McCullough and Erica Boyer, all of whom sport wildly different hairstyles. As can be expected given the exercise theme, most of the ladies have toned, athletic bodies (and given the decade, voluminous coiffures), with the exception of Tigr, who brings a wiry punkish energy that stood out to me despite her limited screentime, and she also performs the miraculous feat of making a mullet look cute. (I'd previously been moved by her work in Kamikaze Hearts, the great mockumentary about a porn production and her relationship with Sharon Mitchell. She didn't stay in the industry for too long, but I'd be interested in seeing more of her work.) The screenplay was written by Lee with her husband Bud (who plays the judge's assistant with an agreeable presence that's neither too alpha nor too schlubby) and is full of exercise-related dialogue. Most of this is pretty clunky and calling it wordplay might be a bit generous ("sexercise" features at one point), but I did appreciate the effort. Also as is requisite for the premise, the longest set piece in the movie is an orgy in Lee's gym with the various participants snaked around different pieces of equipment. I must note that one of the male actors resembles Barry Gibb and that Francois Papillon is shown to wear a tiger-striped speedo. Did I enjoy the movie? Yes, but not for reasons cited in that sentence.
At the end of Body Girls, Bud Lee suggests to Hyapatia, "Let's get physical", which is the title of the next movie. (Body Girls also features a character looking at dirty magazine with stills from Sweet Young Foxes and ends with a plug for some of these other movies, anticipating the MCU's narrative and marketing strategies by a few decades.) Now, all of these movies have had decent theme songs, but the one in Let's Get Physical has lyrics that are plagiaristically close to those of Olivia Newton-John's 1983 hit. (The delivery however is more shrill but not unpleasing.) This movie is a drama where Lee plays a dance instructor trying to put together a ballet performance despite her strained relationship with her impotent husband played by Paul Thomas. (In the interview I listened to, Lee speaks well of almost everyone she worked with on these films, with the pointed exception of Paul Thomas. If there was bitterness behind the scenes, it arguably helps their performances.)
Lee wrote the screenplay for this one, and unlike Body Girls with its surface level references to bodybuilding and exercise, the dialogue here feels packed with knowledge of the real thing, which is understandable given Lee's real life interest in dance going back to her childhood. (I looked up "Luigi jazz dancing" after finishing the movie and was pleasantly surprised to learn it was a real thing.) This movie goes all in on her star power, and features a number of dance numbers that seem genuinely interested in the form rather than just leering at the performers. (There is one scene where the song Lee dances to sounds suspiciously like "Beat It".) I did appreciate that the sex scenes were kept relatively concise and tied into the dramatic aspects, although in some cases, the choices made could be goofy, like the scene where Lee makes love to her student Shanna McCullough while Thomas, in a dramatically justified but still awkward gesture, watches from another room and jacks off. (I assume he's playing the audience in this scene. Also, McCullough's character remarks "I've never done this before" when going down on Lee, and yeah, okay Shanna.) Other highlights include a car stunt that may or may not have been lifted from elsewhere but still looks decently executed, as well as a dream sequence where Thomas (or his character at least) plays the piano and sings a song. This is held back a bit by the genre's demands, like when it places a completely superfluous sex scene at the end after Lee's reconciliation with Thomas, but on the whole this is probably the best one of the lot.
#film#put on your raincoats#movie review#the young like it hot#sweet young foxes#body girls#let's get physical#bob chinn#hyapatia lee
28 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi, english is not my first language so if I don't make any sense you know why. I'm sorry if i gave you the wrong impression with my ask.I've never read the book so "the shape" of these characters for me personally comes from the movie where Richie is gay. I've recently found out that people that read the book consider him bi. That's why when i read a fic where it's not explicitly stated i always wonder. I saw that you have a tumblr so i was like why not ask.
Hi nonny! Thank you for coming back to clarify, I’m sorry for the defensive tone of my response. Thank you very much for reading my stuff. Nothing about the phrasing of your question was what made me respond that way, just the topic, because I know it’s a hot button issue in fandom at the moment. Nobody wants to be responsible for erasing a sexual minority or a canonical sexual identity--and while in the book Richie’s sexuality is only coded, I’ve been told that André Muschietti explicitly stated that the film portrayal of Richie is gay. So of course, I think that film!Richie is portrayed as gay, and if I were to write Richie based on the film alone, I most likely would write him as gay.
The thing is, I don’t really write exclusively film!Richie. I think that there’s a very rich vein of characterization to be found in the book, which is of course door-stoppingly long, and compared to the limited amount of screentime the movies could spend on each of the Losers, not to mention the changes to their backgrounds the films made (looking at you, tween!Ben who suddenly morphs into adult!Mike), I like to pull from the greatest evidence pool available. That’s why I like to include the teenage werewolf, I like to include Stan’s bird book of North America, I like to include Eddie’s fascination with cars and trains and other mechanical transportation, I like to include Bev’s mother as having been alive during Bev’s childhood, I like to include Ben’s outrunning the track team out of spite, I like to include Bill’s uncanny charisma and his compelling nature, and I like to include Mike with a kinder more curious childhood than he’s allowed in the film. Also, I studied literature in college and I’m just more comfortable with analyzing that than I am analyzing film.
I also really liked the film casting for the adult Losers! It’s very shallow of me but I like how they look, I think they’re all very attractive, and I’m more interested in writing with their physicalities in mind than I am in, say, the actors for the 1990s miniseries. This is a personal preference, just because I myself do not enjoy Bill’s ponytail or Richie’s mustache or Bev as a brunette. I’ve also only ever seen clips of the miniseries. And honestly, I like Bill Hader as Richie in glasses, despite book!Richie wanting to wear contacts as an adult; I find without glasses I have difficulty perceiving him as the character. So I can’t claim to be a book purist--I like writing about the 2016 setting and those are mostly the faces of the Losers I see in my head. I tweak them sometimes--I don’t think I’ve written Richie with blue eyes yet, for example.
So I blend the canons when I decide what to draw on for the fic. That means that, for me, unless it’s explicitly stated, I probably don’t have an intention one way or the other when I write Richie’s sexuality. So far I’ve always written him as a man who loves men, and always as involved and in love with Eddie. I know that for some people that won’t be good enough, that for some people it’s very important to them to see their characters explicitly identify as one label or the other, but I’m afraid that just isn’t a priority for me in my portrayals.
This is informed by 2 things: 1) I like to write the Losers as 40-year-old adults in 2016, and we know that Richie produces a host of problematic content in his career. This of course shouldn’t mean that my portrayal of Richie /should/ be problematic and that’s not my intention--instead, I’m suggesting that when I write Richie, I write a lot about self-loathing and internalized homophobia, and so I focus a lot more on his attraction to men, which in my fic he’s usually not comfortable with, than any potential/past attraction to women. Of course I don’t feel that self-loathing is the necessary response to same-sex attraction, but I also think of the Losers as adults of a certain age who might not always be accurate or thoughtful in discussing the changing world of sexual identities (finding words for them specifically, filling the lexical gap).
I wrote a scene in Things That Happen After Eddie Lives where Richie runs across a gender non-conforming person and initially reads them as female, but then during the conversation remembers that isn’t always the case these days and switch to trying to avoid pronouns for them or trying to refer to them with gender neutral pronouns. But Richie and Eddie still call Jordan and Sarah lesbians, without asking whether they’re a romantic pairing of two bisexual people, or without considering that Jordan might be a man. Richie even wonders if “girlfriend” is being used romantically or platonically the way that women of previous generations do. I have a bead on Jordan’s and Sarah’s identity--but only because Jordan’s me! I think that, as a man born in 1976, growing up extremely closeted, and never engaging in the wider discussion around LGBTQ culture in a constructive way, Richie might be prone to simplification. This, of course, doesn’t mean I’m opposed to a Richie who openly identifies as strictly gay or strictly bi!
2) The second thing that informs the ambiguity of my portrayal of Richie’s sexuality is my own experience with my sexuality and gender. I am closeted in real life. In recent years I have tried a number of identities that, at the time, I believed to fit, but the labels were never clear-cut for me. I am coming to accept, slowly, that in the same way the physical body doesn’t grow to exact neat clean specifications, I might never be able to describe myself accurately and totally in one term. That’s all that I’m willing to share about my experience at this time. My personal philosophy is much like the one Eddie professes when he comes out in Indelicate: it doesn’t seem important to me that people know my preferences unless I’m a) sleeping with them or b) actively dating and trying to put myself out there.
Again, some people have completely different experiences! For some people being closeted is intolerable and having an identity--a word for what they are--really helps them self-actualize and live their truth! For some people, they’re very excited about their identity and participate in Pride events and take joy in asserting that this is who they are to the world! For some people, they never have the awareness that this or that idle feeling might mean they actually /don’t/ fit with how the world sees them. And while I’m a great advocate of self-exploration (comes of being vain as I am), some people don’t do that, and that’s fine!
I know that ambiguity is not a neutral answer when it comes to these questions. In the summer of 2019 when the Good Omens miniseries was released, many fans reached out to author Neil Gaiman asking for confirmation that the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley were gay. Gaiman said, “Theirs is a love story.” He said, “They’re not human and I can’t ascribe human sexual identity to them.” He said, “My coauthor is deceased and I can’t make such confirmations without him.” (These are not direct quotes and I don’t have sources, I’m sorry, it’s been a year.) This was not satisfactory to all parties. For some people explicit confirmation of that gender identity is important. And why shouldn’t it be? Their own is important to them.
But I’m from a school of literary analysis where I welcome different interpretations of my works, which are in this case of course derivative and dependent on evidence from the canons I draw on. I write Richie in love with Eddie, and that’s enough for me. If it’s not for the reader, either I feel there’s ample room to interpret my Richie the way they prefer--not just limited to gay or bi! After the first sex scene in TTHAEL Richie is stunned by how he enjoyed that far more than any other sexual encounter he’s ever had, and I think that’s welcome to interpretations of Richie with demisexuality /or/ Richie just finally having fulfilling sex with a man because he’s gay or bi /OR/ Richie has had good sex before but this was just WAY better because he likes sex better when he’s in love with his partner. And every portrayal of Richie I write is slightly different, so Richie from Indelicate might have different sexual attraction/orientation than Richie from Automatic - Mechanical - Pneumatic or Richie from TTHAEL. BUT I don’t want to say that my interpretation is the only valid one--just know that when I write Richie, I write him as a man in love with another man. If I were to write a story about Richie involved with someone other than Eddie, I would tag for it up front.
Again, I know this is a very long answer and probably not as concise or clear as you might like it to be. Thank you so much for coming back around to explain your logic, I apologize for my wariness the first time around, thank you for asking these questions in good faith. “Why not ask” is of course the simplest way to settle an issue and I don’t want to discourage anyone from asking me questions about my fic. If there are other things you have questions about, please don’t hesitate to ask, either here or by sending me a private message, I don’t mind either way.
#my fic#things that happen after eddie lives#tthael#now what i'm gonna say may sound indelicate#indelicate#nwigsmsi#automatic - mechanical - pneumatic#a-m-p#Anonymous
13 notes
·
View notes
Note
[1/2] Hey Lu! This is kind of a strange ask, but I've loved Malec since the books first came out, and have recently been getting into writing for the pairing. My issue is, I don't watch the show, and I don't... really enjoy watching TV, and especially drama (yay social anxiety!), so I have no desire to watch SH. A lot of the Malec stories are from people who watch the show, and while I've read enough to get a gist of the storylines,
[2/2] and I have nothing against Matt or Harry as the characters, I still have a mental image of Malec from the books’ description. I’ve also seen that a lot of people are Opinionated about book descriptions vs show descriptions, and as someone who’s written for both the books and show, do you have any recommendations for how to deal with writing for a strange amalgamation of both?
I don’t know quite why, but I’m really pleased you sent me this ask. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the show, it vastly improved upon many of the books’ issues (of which there were SO MANY) and the exponential growth of the fandom is wonderful. But there seems to be a common misconception that everyone who used to be in the book fandom (people like me!) just, like, blindly loved the books. And that’s not true! At all! In fact, I spent a lot of my time in the book fandom whinging with other people about canon, and analysing its issues, and someone wrote their damn dissertation (? the American equivalent, whatever that is?) on double standards in straight writers’ treatment of LGBT characters in YA fiction, using Alec as their main example. It was iconic.
But I digress. The truth is, to be completely honest with you, I ALWAYS write a strange amalgamation of book and show canon, with a little bit of a “fuck all canons to hell and back” thrown in. I have written my physical descriptions of the characters in line with show canon for the last few years, but that’s just because I haven’t read a SH book for years, so in my head, Alec and Magnus now look like Matt and Harry, not whatever I imagined when reading the books.
So my advice is this: someone will always tell you that your characters in your fic are out of character. Don’t worry about it. Someone will tell you that they simply could not possibly continue to read your fic because Alec had blue eyes. This is a strange squick, imo, but each to their own. I understand that it can be jarring to read a description that contradicts the image in your head. (Leaving a snide comment about it is attention-seeking and looking for a fight. Ignore it.) You’ll see people analysing how Magnus should always be written like THIS, or how Alec should never be written like THIS, and anyone who does is a BAD writer and a TERRIBLE person. Scroll past it.
And sometimes people won’t like your fics for other reasons, and that’s fine! As long as they’re not being rude about it, it really does not bother me if someone decides they don’t like how I write Alec so they stop reading my fics. That’s up to them! I’ve certainly done the same, sometimes.
(A side note: analysing a character’s canon characterisation is completely different and fun and I always love reading that kind of meta! Passive-aggressive subtweets about certain writers who write characters in certain ways is boring and unnecessary. Scroll past it.)
(Although, side note number 2: sometimes people are talking about more important things, like how certain stereotypes in fics can be harmful - e.g. the “tiny Magnus” trope. This is entirely different and is definitely something that you should pay attention to. Critical discussion is good!)
Truthfully, as much as the show differed from the books, Magnus and Alec are, at their core, the same characters. They’re not the same, by any stretch of the imagination, but I don’t think they’re quite as different as people sometimes make them out to be. Alec is a bit of a dick and he adores his family and Magnus is pleasantly disarmed by his honesty. Magnus hides his centuries of hurt and vulnerability behind power and sass and beautiful clothes and Alec turns into a disaster gay in his presence. (For example.) Conversely, Magnus is less morally grey in the show. Alec is more confident in the show. (Alec is also OLDER in the show, which I think is relevant. And also segues into a whole other discussion 😬). The show characters are more developed have have more depth to them, I think.
Pick and choose. Write the things that best fit whatever world you’ve thrown the characters into. Write the traits that you find interesting, or fun to write! I’m sad that Magnus lost his sass a bit after season 1 - cue me sometimes writing an overload of Magnus’ snarky comments and flagrant innuendos. Sometimes I want to write some h/c, so everyone gets more angsty and traumatised. Sometimes I need more detail/backstory (particularly true when the show was only a season or two in) so I steal from book canon, or completely make it up. Fics are fics for a reason - canon can be embraced in its entirety or you can ignore the whole damn lot of it, and both are completely valid.
I mean, I’ve never written a particularly in-character Jace or Clary in my entire life, because they annoy me so frequently in canon. (Both canons.) So I cherry-pick the traits I enjoy writing, and toss the rest out of the window.
So, TL;DR:
- I am apparently incapable of answering an ask in a helpful, concise way, lol
- write whatever you enjoy! if it feels authentic and if you’re having fun writing and you’re excited by (or at least interested in) what you’re writing, then people will read it, I promise.
- people will always find something to complain about. you can follow every rule that one half of twitter gives you, and then the other half will go ballistic. there’s no right and wrong. people have opinions on things, and that’s fine! but there are always going to be differing and conflicting opinions, so you can’t please everyone. if you try to, you will drive yourself mad and you’ll stop having fun writing fics. trust me - I’ve been there! just enjoy yourself - that’s what fandom is for!
An important one:
- tag your fics with TMI/SH chronicles and the SH show in the fandom section. that way, if somebody is really determined not to read anything containing any hint of book canon (or show canon) they can avoid it
I hope that helps! Have fun writing!
#lu talks#asks#anon#fandom fuckery#shadowhunters#tmi#the mortal instruments#do i even have that tag on this blog? 🤔#i do now lol
9 notes
·
View notes
Note
u always have such long in depth stories that are so well written. i've always wondered how you keep yourself motivated to write them and if you follow a schedule and if u have any tips to give to writers too
Thank you! I appreciate it!
An odd feeling fills my chest reading this because I don’t believe I’m in a position to be giving anyone advice. However, peer to peer, human to human, I’m more than happy to spare all the knowledge I got to you!
So, let’s break it down!
Let’s tackle the ever-pressing question: How to stay motivated and meth~od~ology. Again, this is just my input and methodology, so know this may not work for you or everyone, but maybe you can take bits and pieces of it and tailor it to yourself and find a better way to approach writing. Which is what I want you to do. My way of doing things is because...it works for me.
In regard to the product, I write long-winded stories because that’s how my mind works. Every author’s style is a “physical” manifestation of the way they process and emit information verbal, written, or symbolically. A writer’s style will match the author, so no style is wrong.
Sidestepping for a moment, but I’ll tie it in I promise. When I was younger I was painfully (I mean awkwardly painful that made others uncomfortable) shy. I even formed a stutter because I was terrified of speaking. Now, luckily, I can say that I have no issue with that and I’m totally fine public speaking or speaking intimately. I found my confidence by reading to pick up new vocab and mimicking people around me who were better speakers. I think by doing so I really formed the way I carry myself and write (i.e. going back to the point that a written is a manifestation of their personality). You can notice if you really look at a piece you can tell the state of mind a writer usually was in when they wrote this.
How does this tie into advice? Well, my “advice” is if you want to become a “better writer” work on yourself. Your perspective on life is unique. Mold your thoughts, ask yourself those questions that are hard, ask others questions, figure out different perspectives while you’re at it. This may be looking at things too seriously, but I want to give you a genuine answer. You know how politics can be divisionary? It’s usually them vs us? Well, both sides have their own reasons and to them, those are good reasons. Maybe not to you, but try understanding the opposite side, really look at their motives. You’ll be able to write antagonist better that way, and in turn, write a more solid protagonist.
So to bring it back, I write long stories because I found out I can’t do short fics (which I consider to be under anything basically under 5k) because it’s not how I process/imagine things. I’m huge on imagery, maybe because I’m also a traditional artist (drawing & painting) so I see the world with colors, shapes and relate those to emotions. I feel so unsatisfied if I write something that lacks a short background or gives the character a reason for something. I’m aware it’s possible to write short fics, because it’s the reader’s decision to interpret, but it’s not me. Know regardless of the way you write something the reader will have their own story.
This leads to my second point. I want you to answer these questions for yourself: why are you writing, who are you writing for, what are you writing about, when can you, where do you write? Simple questions, but they need solid answers. The simple things in life often need more attention than those that seem complex.
My answers to a few: I write for myself and no one else. I hope that this should be true all across the board. I find the biggest issue for writers on this platform (and maybe across other writing sites) is that individuals use it as a platform for validation. It’s not easy this day and age to go to a social media site and not be bombarded by likes, following, or any other feedback system that promotes that. However, I could care less if a post I put out has two, a hundred likes or a thousand.
Why you may ask?
Well, simply because—it doesn’t matter. This is for a number of reasons. A few of them are because people do click on the post but most often don’t leave a note or give feedback. This, I found to be true because people either forget, don’t bother to, or are too shy. This doesn’t mean that it wasn’t enjoyed, you have no idea the impact your post could’ve made, that could’ve been the best post they’ve read. I want you to keep in mind that you don’t need to prove yourself to anyone. Keep yourself in check with this. Also, remember, people will come to your story, sometimes it’s not the right time for them. Maybe the message in that fic, whether it be neutral or purposeful, will come to someone when they most need it. The time you post may just not be that time. So, don’t feel discouraged if you’re not getting notes.
You want long term building, not short term.
Motivation:
Motivation is such a fickle little minx, right? I want to address that usually the lack of motivation is because of many reasons, but typically its stress, anxiety, insecurity, and procrastination. Procrastination, the biggest factor in my opinion, under a psychological definition, is an irrational delay. It’s been linked to the activity under avoidance being the cause of stress and anxiety. When your feeling too overwhelmed you probably don’t want to write, right? It takes too much thought and energy. So when your feeling like this I advise you to either rethink why you write if it does increase your anxiety. Or distract yourself until you feel that you can come back with a fresh mind. There is no “deadline”. No timeline.
On the contrary, though, it’s a good method to keep yourself accountable, so if you can accomplish something with a bit of pressure then set a deadline. It’s how I was able to complete Gold Embers Touch the Blue Veil. I was so unmotivated recently. I always came home tired and nothing creative would come to me. But I said, “Nope, we’re doing this.” Because I knew if I just wrote something (i.e. drafted to draft) then I would feel better later because I gave myself a foundation. With that foundation and when I’m feeling frivolous with my words, I can now accomplish so much more because I have something to work with.
I don’t have a schedule. I write based on when the ideas come to me. How can I fit writing into my existing schedule? I always write a storyboard, then I tackle it from there, so start to finish always varies. Often my stories can take weeks if not a month or two to write. I take a few days break sometimes so that way I’m not hypercritical of everything I’ve written. I never rush to put out something for the sake of putting it out there. Rushing never usually gives good results.
There is no bad idea either. Don’t go into a story you’re about to write already knocking it down. Remember, write for yourself, I swear to you, if you enjoy what your writing someone else will too. You think J.K Rowling wrote HP thinking, “Ahhh, I need to change all this because my mind is telling me someone may not like this.” Hell no. She wrote her story the way she saw it and it’s amazing because it’s her.
Methodology:
Write a storyboard. Will you for sure remember the thing you told yourself to remember in the morning? Did you forget to write down that appointment? Did you remember that you have that assignment due if you didn’t write it down? The majority will say they don’t. That’s why I’m a huge believer in having a “story board”. What that means to me personally is mapping out how you want the story to go. I personally can’t use the write-and-go method. I need structure so I can reference back and tweak it later. So, I recommend opening up a doc or whatever you have to use and follow this set up. It’s concise, keeps things neat and easy to follow. It’s basically a flow chart but a bit more professional. I’m sure you can find other templates, but this is mine.
Write about something you want, not something you think would get notes. Write it because you see that niche isn’t being filled, or if you want to add to that genre. As an example, there are a million and one coffee shop AU's, but what can you add?
Other things to keep in mind is the hero’s journey doesn’t have to be linear, Try to teach, teach the readers and yourself something. That way you keep something fresh for yourself. Grow each time you finish something. Whether you know it or not, you grow a little bit each time. Your opinions will change and grow, so take it all in stride.
With all that knowledge you’ll become a better writer because you’ll be able to see a wider breadth of ideas and put in details that don’t always seem obvious and develop your own style.
I’m sorry that this post was long and that I got preachy. But from my writing style, I guess you could already have predicted I would’ve done this, huh? Haha. I hope this was helpful!! Feel free to send me an ask if you have any more questions.
4 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
potentko
PotentKo🇬🇭
daoravida1
daoravida
thebrayton
Brayton
thebrayton
Brayton
captain-sarcastic1
HnK Appreciation Blog