#but i also like trying to write different stuff and i've done both a million times over

[yamujiburo]

i frequently get asked what other ships are canon in this au and i haven't really thought about it much tbh?

james is aroace and happy and i think butch and cassidy eventually find each other again. these are the only ones im sure about LOL

the rest of the characters are all kids and wouldn't really be touched on anyways LOL. i feel like most people are curious about ash tho

i think ash and misty would date for a little bit as teens, but misty is a massive romantic and ash is very much NOT (probably where he realizes he's aroace). misty is also set being the gym leader at cerulean while ash wants to continue his travels. i could see them breaking up after finding they're not the most compatible but remain the best of friends.

in my head misty ends up with lana (lana like... clearly has a big crush on her idk). then ash i think would find a life bestie who'd be down to travel with him. i've tossed around the idea of goh and angie (who i think's underrated)

#don't get me wrong i adore pokeshipping #in the same way i adore rocketshipping #they were my first ships hehe #but i also like trying to write different stuff and i've done both a million times over

[bunnyswritings]

ur blog is soo helpful !!!! ive been looking into writing more lately and this is like a godsend <3 i was wondering if u could do some starter tips?? like stuff to avoid as a new writer :o ps. hope ur having a wonderful week!!!

ahhh, hello!! this is such a sweet message, and thank you, i hope you have a fruitful week ahead too ♡ i'm so glad you're writing more lately- i'll def do my best to provide some starter tips (though i'm really also a starter myself 😅 so i hope you like these, and feel free to let me know what you think!) also, just to put it out there that these are what i found helpful personally / what i think will be helpful, and may / may not resonate with everyone. Also, this topic is soooo broad and there are a million things that can be covered, but for now I'll just keep it short and go with stuff to avoid (or rather, approach differently) as per request. if you / anyone else would like another post for more specific writing tips, feel free to drop it in my ask box!

Some general writing tips — stuff to avoid; little things to not overdo

over-planning

overusing fancy vocabulary

over-describing

over-criticising your work

over-comparing

more details under the cut!

Over-planning — plan the general outline, direction of your plot, message of your story, characters and their rough personalities; yes, do all that well! good planning makes for a good story, but i think it's helpful to remember that sometimes things don't pan out the way we envision them to. and it's important to let certain things go, appropriately of course. if your initial storyline doesn't quite fit the characterisation of the protagonist etc (and vice versa), then perhaps it's time to rethink things — and NOT be too hard-up about it. [tldr: be flexible!]

Overusing bombastic vocabulary — i'm sure you've come across millions of writing advice pieces that aim to spruce up your vocabulary with bombastic phrases. by all means go ahead and pick a few that fit the mood and style of your writing. otherwise, i'd say that sometimes, less is more. throwing in fancy words for the sake of it may not be as helpful as you think. there should be a fine balance between using words that add flavour + help to illustrate nuances and using words to make your piece seem complex. simplicity goes a long way, as i've learnt. but having said that, building up a solid repertoire of vocabulary / good phrases is always helpful, the key thing is using those phrases in the right context. definitely easier said than done, so i suggest reading your favourite author's works couple of times through and pick up their way of using language to their advantage.

Over-describing — narration, descriptive language are great, and can really help to nudge your story in the right direction. it helps set the scene, the mood, and all these are critical in writing... BUT! not the same can be applied to describing actions. not every single action has to be written out explicitly — an example: she walks over to the kitchen, turns around, and opens the refrigerator. she then takes out a canned drink, and places the drink on the countertop... etc — you get the point. some things can be left implied, rather than explicit.

Over-criticising your work — ahh, the age-old piece of advice. i do it all the time, and you probably do too... sometimes, being harsh on yourself and on your work may seem like the only way to better yourself and push your limits, but often times, i personally find that this is counter-productive both on the physical and mental front. it wears you down, it is a nidus for dejection and negative vibes. i think the way i try to get round this is by taking pride in my own work; telling myself that 'this is something i wrote, these are my ideas put into prose, these are my thoughts written on paper'. the caveat here is that avoiding being over-critical of your work DOES NOT and should not mean avoiding proofreading. proofreading is extremely crucial to check for grammatical and structural errors (i recommend doing it once or twice yourself, and if possible, getting a fresh pair of eyes to do the same).

Over-comparing — this ties in nicely with the previous point. take pride in your work! this is something original from you and you only, written in your unique style. having authors/writers whom you look up to is essential in moulding your writing style and habits, but should not be the sole focus when you write. remember that every writer is different, every piece of writing is different; this goes even for pieces with similar plots / tropes / character personalities. nuances, subtleties and underlying messages can come through very differently when written by different people. after all, our life journeys are all personal, which is a factor influencing the way we convey messages across through the written word.

and... that's it for now! i really hope that this helps. honestly, i'm scratching the surface here, and there are lots more i can talk about when i have more braincells >_<

feel free to drop any other requests or questions in my ask if you'd like ♡

#writing tips #writing resources #writing inspo #writing inspiration #writing advice #creative writing #creative writing prompts #writing prompts #prompts #writerscommunity #writeblr #fanfiction prompts #new writer boost #writer #writing dialogue #bunnyswritings #bunnyrequests #bunnyrambles

[pragnificent]

Tagged by @tina-mairin-goldstein! Tagging whoever else wants to play.

1.How many fics do you have on AO3?

78.

2. What's your total word count on AO3?

934,933. Wow, maybe I can break a million this year....

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just HANNIBAL right now (and for like the last seven years or so). Been vaguely thinking about picking up a second but nothing has caught my interest strongly enough.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Attachment - 7,592

The Fisherman and the Beast from the Sea - 4,565

Sashimi - 2,807

Hungry Ghost - 1,585

Identically Different - 1,382 <- This is my best series and yall should give it a shot <3

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to, and I enjoy doing so, but sometimes the brainworms win and I don't get stuff done even when I really want to.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Breathless

I don't love this story, but "Hannibal is effectively braindead after the fall, but Will keeps caring for the body and feels that Hannibal is there with him, up until the body dies and Will turns himself in because there isn't any point anymore" probably counts as the most angsty? If you are in the market for a "Hannibal receives a brain injury and he, along with everyone else around him, has to cope with that" story Tina's For Remembrance (Holes in the Floor of the Mind) is a much better pick. And as I continue to think about it, Means of Influence has a pretty angsty ending.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my stories have slightly bittersweet but still mostly happy endings. Part of the thing about that is I think it's really hard to envision a situation where Will is like 100% Happy Happy, his own mind hates him too much and every little scrap of happiness needs to be fought for and then vigilantly guarded. But I put both him and Hannibal through so much that I always want them to be as close to content as they each can be.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have gotten two flavors of Fic Hate. 1.) People calling the five year old kid OC in ATTACHMENT slurs like "r*tard" and saying "he belongs in jail" and etc.

Every time Hannibal or Will fuck someone who isn't each other at least one person decides to Yell At Me.

I think I've gotten the old "you didn't tag for bottom Hannibal!!" nonsense once or twice too, but who hasn't?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

A little. I actually started Hannishark bc I was really intimidated by sex scenes and wanted to see if I could pull off a short monsterfucker story. I feel like I've gotten better at writing these but am generally more comfortable leaving them sparce on anatomical details and big on feelings/conversations.

10. Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one?

I've got a WRONG TURN crossover series that I'm very proud of here: Bear Mountain Road AU. You don't need to have seen any of the movies to read it, or anything, the movies' premise of "a clan of inbred mountain cannibals waylays travelers" is really just an excuse to put Hannibal (and Will and D, as child members of the cannibal family) In Situations. If I counts as a cross over, I've got a universe swap between the novels and NBC HANNIBAL here: Shiloh

I also have a vague idea for a SAW / HANNIBAL crossover but I've been sitting on that for so long, who knows if it'll ever happen?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not so far as I know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, several times.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yep, a couple of times.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Hannigram and Reba/D (guys we need a fuckin ship name).

15. What are your writing strengths?

Character, emotions, dialogue.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sex scenes, pacing.

17. Thoughts writing dialogue in another language?

Fine by me, tho I only think I've done it one or twice.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

FARSCAPE.

19. Favorite fic you've written?

Identically Different AU !!!! This it the best thing I've ever written and probably the best thing I will ever write.

#hannibal #hannigram #francis dolarhyde #prag's fic #reba mcclane

[moodymisty]

Wondering if you’re in the mood to write a tooth aching Crosshair fluff? Female tall reader if you’d like specifics? I think your writing of the boys is spot on, and all your Tech fluff fics are so cute!

Author's note: Am I in the mood for- of course I am! It's been a hot minute actually since i've done something for snipeyboy, so lets rip. It's as fluffy as I feel Crosshair would get, without treading into what I'd feel was too out of character (for me! everyone has their own vibe). (Also thankies for such kind compliments, I'm glad you enjoy my interpretation of the boys)

Warnings: One or two silly little lewd jokes, shooting a rifle, references to canon typical violence

"So, what's it like?" "Like shooting. What did you expect?"

"Have you always had that same rifle?" "Maybe."

"Can I see?" "No."

Crosshair was, complicated. Is, complicated; For as long as you've known him.

He fights almost every single one of your attempts to get close, and only when the lighting is perfect and the wind sings, does he leave a tiny opening for you to squeeze in.

It wouldn't be worth it, if you didn't love him and those perfect little moments in time so damn much. How his touch lingers for ages and his lips taste like fire, you can never get enough of him because for awhile, he didn't let you have enough.

But your incessant hammering on that wall of his has left cracks, enough so that he lets you close more often now; Enjoying a part of him that no one else has seen. You just needed to prove you were sticking around. And overtime, you've learned that Crosshair enjoys the type of interactions where you can both relax and just enjoy each other's presence, when he feels like no one but you is watching.

Now is one of those moments, as you lean against the wall next to where Crosshair is standing, looking down the scope of his rifle and preparing to take another shot.

You don't really know why he even entertains a range like this; It's so far underneath his skill level that it's almost laughable. Though you've learned it's more of a relaxing thing for him to keep him busy than anything. Much like some people tap their feet or chew their nails, Crosshair shoots. You'd call it a mindless gesture, but when is Crosshair ever really mindless?

You don't mind if he does this anyhow , as it's just as entertaining for you to relax here and just watch him. It's quiet and almost peaceful, the quiet noises other than the occasional shot. He's never directly asked you to leave, and while at first you might've thought it was to show off, he also seems to just like someone being around.

You run at a different pace than Crosshair, and he's become quite attached to it over time. You doubt the words will ever leave his lips, but his body and his eyes show it enough.

He fires another shot, hitting a small rock balancing off the hillock on the far end of the range.

He always makes this sort of stuff look so easy; And though you quite well know it isn't, you can't help but be curious about it all. You're always watching him intently when he shoots, and he's probably caught on, if you're being honest. But he's never let you anywhere near his beloved rifle; The closest is when you sit next to him while he cleans it.

Maybe today he just feels different; Or perhaps your curious stare has finally wore him down enough to share his passion more intimately, as he leans back and jerks his head in the opposite direction of you.

"Come here." He's staring at you, the barrel of his rifle pointed at the ground and the butt at about his hip. It takes you a second to realize what he's trying to do.

He's actually going to let you!

You almost have to contain your excitement, after so many times of just watching him. Scurrying closer he stands just behind your right side, speaking as he does something with the scope. His fingers deftly slide over a million different unknown pieces as you watch, the barrel pointed down to the dusty ground. The all move against each other in different ways, speaking a language only he knows.

"Ever shot a rifle before?"

You’ve shot normal blasters before, but not this. The toothpick between his lips flicks from one corner of his mouth to the other, looking down as his fingers brush over the dials of the scope. The base you're at is mostly dirt and dust; Hot and dry. It makes you miss Coruscant, even Kamino.

"Nope, not like this." He hums in acknowlegment. Crosshair finishes whatever he'd been doing it to ready the rifle for you and sets it in your hands, pushing the butt into your shoulder and adjusting your hands, and then your shoulders and back.

"Handling something a bit big for your first time."

He hears the way you snicker, and sighs.

"Dirty mind."

Once you're firmly holding the rifle he doesn't back away, instead just jerking his head quickly in the direction of the far end of the range and giving you a blunt:

"Shoot."

You can feel his eyes on you; They've always been so sharp that it's as if he's cutting right into you, as they glance over your body. They don't stop when you glance in his direction of a moment, before looking down the scope. You know snipers have to take into account things like gravity and the wind, and at some points even the curvature of the planet, but this is a shitty target range on some dusty no-name planet, so you just decide to wing it and see what happens.

Finger curling over the trigger you slowly tense, feeling the way the rifle kicks back into your body as you fire it. His hand against your back presses harder, as if trying to counteract it. You then instantly pull your face away from the scope, looking down the range.

It's not a perfect shot by any means, but it's a chest shot on the target. For a novice still at such long range weaponry you'll consider it a victory.

"Not bad." Crosshair says it with no undertone, lacking the snideness or venom he usually coats his words with for others. He tells you to do it again, and so you line up as best you can, adjusting before taking another shot at the same vaguely bipedal shaped target.

Better, right in the middle of the upper chest. On a person, it would've been quite close to their heart.

"Hmm. Good job." Crosshair's hand is still laying on the small of your back, and even drifts up and down once or twice, ghosting against your skin through your clothes.

You've seen glimpses of this Crosshair before; You know he's there under all of that prickliness. It's just apparently taken some quality time alone to bring it out.

"I think I still have some practicing to do, though." He looks down towards the end of the range.

"More than some." You can see he's baiting a response from you by the way his eyes are raised and his mouth is tight, trying not to smirk. It's one you know quite well, as it's the main way Crosshair gets you to do the things he might not want to say outright.

“What, are you gonna teach me?” Crosshair let’s a out a small hum. “Depends; Are you going to listen?” He watches the way your mouth curls into a sneaky little grin, with his much more reserved amused expression.

“I’ll listen at least sixty percent of the time.” Gently taking his rifle from your hands, he switches spots with you but doesn't assume a shooting position quite yet.

"That's wishful thinking. I know you don't have any patience." You roll your eyes.

"Can you just come here so I can give you a kiss? jerk." At first he doesn't, looking at you with a shit eating grin; Before he finally relents only in the slightest. You move the rest of the way, hands cupping his jaw as the tips of your fingers brushing against his hair.

His lips are warm against your own, before he pulls away and your lips part with the smallest 'pop'.

"Awfully rude to demand things from someone before insulting them." You see the rest of the Batch walking this way, so you just shrug and smile. "It works, doesn't it?" He can't disagree with it, since it's one of his main go to's.

Especially when he's being particularly bratty.

But with the rest of the group having located you both it's probably time to head out, leaving your brief little moment to end here.

"Ready to head out, you two? We have the coordinates and the ship's engines are hot." Hunter looks between the two of you, while Crosshair puts the Firepuncher in it's case. Hopefully this isn't the last time he shares it with you.

"Lets go!" You nod, before following him with Crosshair right beside.

#crosshair x reader #tbb x reader #the bad batch x reader #Crosshair/Reader #mywriting #the bad batch crosshair x reader #reader insert #reader

[katmaatui]

omg hal for this ask game AND the other ask game!!!

You didn't give me a number so I may have done all of the second one? So read more. Tw for suicide attempt mention under the first ask game, favorite moment (its not hal)

First Ask Game

First impression

I actually have a screenshot of me, last january, going I think Hal would be cool but I've never read anything with him in it. Uhhh I did use to think he's scared of the bats which eww.

Impression now

How can I put him down to a single sentence? A single paragraph? He's literally everything to me. He's so complex. He's insecure, he's suicidal as hell. He's flawed, he hates himself and he makes that other people's problem, he takes so much onto himself, he wants to be the shinning knight of the stories, he's inspired by old tales of knights and fair damsels and good and bad and black and white. He thinks himself as right and those who disagree with him as wrong and i just love him.

Favorite moment

It's like telling me to pick a favorite child. You're talking to someone who has a 200 issue long hal rec list, but I want to do a more neglected moment beyond the popular issues like emerald twilight and gl 0.

I would have to say Spectre #23, I love the dynamic between Sinestro and Hal there and the way it harkens back to older comics and how it can make later comics make so much sense???? Hal always reaching out to Sinestro, despite Sinestro not wanting his help. It's such a good way of showing Hal's character of reaching out to those he once trusted even once they betrayed his trust!

Another favorite of mine is action comics #615? I want to say. It's after the Hal gains his ability to feel fear back arc, but only directly. He's barely able to fly he's so unused to feeling fear, but he has to. He has to because there's someone on a ledge about to jump, and he's able to work through his fear just because he wants to help someone else, and that's who Hal Jordan is to me. Someone who deeply, deeply wants to help others, even at the expense of himself.

Idea for a story

Hmmm, I want to do one I haven't talked about here so none of my fifteen million different Parallax wips.

I haven't really thought it out much beyond oooh wouldn't it be fucked up if this the guardians did this, but we know from silver age comics that the guardians can see the future, and we know from all comics that the guardians are controlling bastards, so what if in an attempt to be even more controlling than usual, the guardians kinda um kidnapped younger gls, once whatever that happened to put them on their track had happened.

The original idea focuses mostly on Hal and John years and years afterwards, trying to rebuild the lives taken from them. They don't really remember their names from before, they're trying to find their family, trying to find out who they would be if they weren't green lanterns, if the guardians hadn't taken them, and the scene floating in my mind is Hal, Jack, and Jim reuniting. Hal's been missing since he was 10 years old, and none of them know how to react.

Also I want a fic where Hal and Jess compare their experiences with possession but I don't want to write it myself so I'm stuck there.

Unpopular opinion

oh god so I'm like blocked by like half of Hal blogs for some reason???? I honestly don't really know why, it's like half of them are my mutuals and half have me blocked :(.

okay my biggest one in the circles I'm in is that I feel like the parallax recon could be done well. Geoff was a little coward with it, but if tweaked slightly, relying on the amount of inconsistencies even within issues that Geoff wrote, let alone the amount of different writers tackling it, it could be fixed. (Like both Hal and the space bug say they don't know what stuff Hal did versus the space bug, and Hal says he murdered the green lantern corps before becoming parallax multiple times).

Also I have fun with Hal and pals. It's not the best comic (especially at the beginning with Soranik) but the last 20 or so issues are enjoyable and I've read everything 30 on multiple times.

Favorite relationship

See the favorite child comment above. Okay, so my top three romantic relationships are Hal and Carol, Hal and Sinestro, and Hal and Ollie. I discussed Halcarol in the carol post so I'll focus on the other two. Hal and Sinestro...Hal and Sinestro like actually make me fucking insane. Its the homoeroticism of killing someone while calling them your best friend, your best enemy. It's about being so similar that you hate and love someone at the same time, its about wanting them by your side, no matter the cost, but it can never truly work, they'll never truly be on the same side again. But, but, but, the tragedy of all this is that they'll always be friends, that they're the same underneath the skin (cries).

Hal and Ollie are opposites who want the same thing, in comparison to hal and sinestro who are very similar but want different things. Halollie to me is about nostalgia and rose tinted glasses and a past you can't go back to, a truck you pulled out of the river but its never the same, they're not the same. Plus they also have the whole murdering each other and resurrection thing going on and I have well demonstrated my love for a good murdering each other story.

Platonically? oh god. I love Hal and Kilowog and then i love Hal and John. Hal and Kilowog are so...like they also have the murdering thing going on. Like issue 40 of gl 2011???? Its complete insanity. The devotion the two of them have towards the green lantern corps??? also the scene in gls where Hal goes I would have done the same for Kilowog to Simon who had let jess go free??? I love the little mentions like that.

Hal and John are so interesting because Hal is an absolute shit friend and sector partner to John and John says that explicitly in story and still forgives Hal anyways, still says he loves him, still says they're best friends. Like my brain is mostly spitting out !!!!!!! for them but its a very excited !!!!!.

Favorite headcanon

Undiagnosed adhd Hal for the win! Like he suffers for it too, his relationship with his dad shows a lot of his dad doesn't understand him and doesn't want to. He can't focus, he can't stay still, he can't keep his feet on the ground and his head out of the clouds. It's just very much something I project on him based on canon evidence.

Second ask game. You didn't send me a number so I did all of them.

a fun headcanon

Okay I actually did this last because I have a lot of sad headcanons? But um, I really like the idea of Hal and John having a lot of inside jokes. They will reference random things during jl meetings and sometimes they're true sometimes they're not. The justice league sure doesn't know.

a sad headcanon

His father's jacket was destroyed in Coast City along with all of his stuff. The one he has now is one made out of his memories, which is why its different than before post emerald twilight.

Also I have a headcanon where he gets invited to do a speech at the 10 year anniversary of Coast City's destruction. He cries during it.

a headcanon that canon doesn't disprove

He's using his ring to cover up his gray streaks. They never really went away, Parallax wouldn't let him go that freely, but he covers them up because he's too scared to see everyone else's reaction.

a headcanon to spite canon, specifically

I don't do a lot of headcanons to spite canon? Like I genuinely think that canon is fun and something we should work with. The closest I got is my joke that current gl hal is the ring suppressing his emotions again because that ain't my hal.

a headcanon that's all but canon, and that's a hill I will die on

See the undiagnosed adhd headcanon above. Also the fact that he has some sort of genderfuckery going on, I saw your she/he pronouns spectre hal, I know what you are <3.

a headcanon about their family

I have so many. oh god one of the biggest I would say would be that Jack and Hal were specifically pitted against each other. We see this sometimes, with in a few flashbacks Martin saying why aren't you more like Jack, but I would like to see more of it. Hal hates Jack because he was the perfect one and then he went to college and Hal and Jim were left behind in the suffocating house.

In my head, Jim was very young when Martin died and does not remember him, and Jack was almost in college already and he left, leaving Hal to really baby Jim. He saw Jim as his responsibility, his little brother to protect, which is why he still calls him his kid brother, even when Jim has two kids of his own.

Also Jim really looks up to Hal which is basically canon. I mean he counts down the hours in between Hal leaving and returning and his security password is Hal's birthday.

a pre-canon headcanon

He and Jim used to go to baseball games together, sneaking into the coast city angels baseball field. He always thinks of Jim when making his baseball construct.

a post-canon headcanon

hmmmm. My biggest one is that due to the amount of ridiculous bullshit that he dies and comes back from, he's functionally immortal. He physically can't die. He's stuck here forever, even after all those he loves are dead. He becomes a legend, the man without fear, the man he never wanted to be. He wanders out in space, only coming back when he's needed, which these days are few and far in between. Eventually the legends morph to him never having existed, a story made up and embellished over all the years. He just wants to sleep.

a missing scene that definitely happened

Okay so something had to happen in between Spectre and gl rebirth that made hal go from going I don't deserve to be human to I have to have my life back and geoff does not show it. I usually have something happen with Helen that makes Hal have to erase both of their memories, which is why she isn't there in gl rebirth, and pushes Parallax, the entity into being.

I recognize canon has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it (+ what should have happened)

The fucking Hal is younger than Roy post resurrection thing. Literal hatred in my heart, that man is in his 50s and everytime dc makes him younger he gains a year.

something [other character] believes about them that isn't true

This is basically canon but specifically Guy and Ollie most believe that he wasn't in control during Parallax. Hal himself "tries to forget" who was in control and that interests me so much.

something they believe about [other character] that isn't true

He genuinely believes that the other founding jlers, especially Superman doesn't think much of him. He projects his own insecurities onto them, while they do think he's capable, they don't think he's going to go evil again.

their happiest memory

This is basically canon, but to me the memory he's most nostalgic for is being on the road with Ollie, just the two of them. That's what he thinks of when he thinks of home, and it'll never return again.

their worst memory

People like to say its his father's death, but he barely remembers that these days. It's not even coming back from space and learning what happened to Coast. No, it's his older brother looking at him and snarling that what happened was his fault, that he murdered their mother by the crime of existing.

a secret

oh uh. Well, I do really love some variation that Parallax happened later then people think and that Hal had some hand in parallax being unleashed, so something about that.

favorite canon relationship

Answered above.

favorite fanon relationship

He doesn't really have any fanon relationships? Like besides bruce but I can't stand fanon's version of that. Ummmm, fanon makes his and barry's relationship a little less boring but that's not hard to do because a sock is more interesting than them.

Oh wait! Okay my fanon version of Hal and Arisia (not romantic). I basically jumble up all the different versions and recons and plus put in some of my own extraplations to make a good friendship there. Arisia looks up to Hal and holds him to high standards but she doesn't hero worship. She's still holding a grudge for the beating up Kilowog plot.

favorite should have been canon relationship

Seeing this as romantic so sinhal. I mean if one of them was female they would have been mainline canon years ago. Morrison is the only dc writer who gets me (made sinhal canon in an alternative universe and I'm eternally grateful for that). They're such good parallels and if they got together??? Insanity

[blank] / dealer's choice

When in space and lonely, Hal will make a construct of those he loves and just talk to them, and then cry.

#Ask Reply #kyleraynered #Hal Jordan

[addisonacres]

That's a wrap.

2023 is on its death bed and I'm both happy and sad about that. Personally, this year has sucked on so many levels and for so many of my loved ones. But four months ago I published my first title under Addison Acres and so my foray into the world of M/M publishing began.

It has not been easy. It was a hell of a learning curve, and I still feel out of my depth some days. It's hard bloody work. I work full-time and I also study part-time so it's not like I can sit and write all day (as much as I wish I could). I needed to take the leap though because if I kept on saying 'I just don't have the time' then it was never going to happen.

I've published 2 shorts and a novella on Smashwords and I think I've done okay with them. To date I've sold 768 copies. Yes, some of them have been freebies (Draft2Digital counts those in total books sold) but hey, I'm pretty happy with those numbers. Have I made millions of dollars? Pfft, no. Have I made thousands? Yeah, nah. But I've made a about $700USD so far.

Yeah, I don't have a problem talking about stuff like this. I know a lot of people are very hush hush about money but one thing I've discovered coming into this gig is that there's very little data to measure against. Who knows if this means I've been successful? I fucking don't! But maybe another indie author will see this and go 'Hey, that's similar to what I managed' or 'I made more than that so I'm doing really well!'. So yeah, I'm happy to throw out my figures if it'll help someone else. I'm not raking in the cash, and I haven't had my first title become a crazy best-seller and I'm suddenly playing with the big kids. I'm still very much a baby in this industry, finding my way.

Ultimately, yes I got into this publishing gig to make a few extra bucks. The cost of living has sky-rocketed and my job does not pay well. I adore it though so I needed to do something to supplement what I make. This isn't going to pay off my mortgage but it's paid for a new water pump for our rainwater tank and a delivery of hay for the alpacas. I've also re-invested some of my royalties into my writing. I've purchased the Atticus software and I got a bundle of photos from Depositphotos to use for book covers.

There's still a lot I need to do. I have yet to set up a newsletter, which is much to my detriment. I feel like I need to have a NL magnet first (which is the term used for a free story readers get when they sign up for your newsletter). I feel like no one will sign up for nothing so I've not set one up yet, but I have no idea what to write for the magnet...

I've been doing a lot of promo work on FB with joining release parties and giveaways but it's hard work. The marketing side of things takes up a lot of time, which yeah, I don't have a lot of. I did set up an Instagram account but I've hardly used it as it's very, very full on and I haven't really had the spoons. I know I need to invest more time in that, and I will try in the New Year but we'll see how full the cutlery drawer is first.

I also made the choice to do Tumblr instead of Tik Tok. Probably a very stupid choice since BookTok is huge and people get a lot of exposure on there. Why didn't I? Well, firstly, I'm really not very good at making videos and editing them. It's so very time consuming. Secondly, I like Tumblr. Is it a dumpster fire? Yes. Am I a bin chicken masquerading as a human? You betcha. So, yeah, I feel comfortable here. But I know I need to invest in more time here also.

Anyway, next year is a new year. I am currently working on a project that I've told no one about because I feel if I do, I will jinx myself and my motivation will fuck off to the moon. So, there is something in the works for publishing maybe in February. I'll be looking for beta readers once I've gotten it finished so if you're interested, hit me up.

I've also created a new logo because I haven't really done that and I figured I really should. I've made 4 variations to use for different situations and I really like it. It's pretty.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Just wanted to do a little wrap up for the year and to prove that I'm not dead lol

Enjoy the final days of 2023 and I shall catch you all on the flip side.

#addison acres author #mm romance #writing #2023 wrap up #author

[altschmerzes]

first let me say that i adore your writing; i've read your TL fic so many times. it's the reason i'd love your opinion. i'm working on my own fic and it's my first multi-chapter work. i'm debating whether to post what i have or wait until it's complete. on one hand, i'm worried it i post it in progress, people will get annoyed or lose interest if i take too long between chapters. on the other, i'm so so excited about this and just really want to share it and get feedback. as someone with multiple wips, what made you decide to post? have you found most people are kind about waiting for updates? is there a tipping point for you when you decide that NOW you have enough done to start posting? i know everyone's different, but i'd really love your take on what works for you. <3

ahhhhhh you are so sweet i'm so???? thank you so much i'm so flattered both that you enjoy my fic that much and also that you value my opinion on this sorta thing

SO let's see. this is tricky because i am a simple beast and i have a great degree of difficulty resisting the instant gratification urge of Post It As Soon As It Is Written, To Hell With Restraint. but i so totally get all the same concerns that you have here.

the vast, overwhelming majority of people are absolutely positively indescribably lovely in waiting for updates. i've had a few people get rude with me about it but interestingly enough the people who've gotten weirdly demanding or impatient have mostly done so within a pretty short time of having posted a chapter? so many more people are exactly the opposite - wanting to be encouraging and express interest in the continuing story but also being really clear about not wanting to be impatient or pressuring. it's absolutely wonderful, especially since i've got a couple of fics i haven't updated in about one million years, though i am still actively working on and intending to finish all of them.

at the end of the day, the best answer is gonna be what works for you and your schedule and is able to keep your interest level up at the same time! your interest and investment in your own work is so much more important than a reader's for so many reasons - and if that means you gotta post what you've got when you've got it to enjoy The Thrill Of Posting, and then have a long break between chapters, so be it! but i also totally get how the opposite can be true - how posting right away no matter what can be disheartening because then you get stuck and have no runway.

so my genuine, sincere advice is: post when you have stuff ready to post WITH the caveat that planning ahead is extremely helpful and has been vitally necessary to me in posting wips and then continuing to work on and udpate them. not necessarily in writing out everything ahead of time fully, but in planning it, outlining if that's your bag, at least listing a sense of like. what your chapters are going to probably be, and where in the arc of the story you are. sometimes this changes - it does for me a lot - like when a thing needs more space to breathe or you suddenly realize you have a character with a subplot that needs some attention or resolution, but having that scaffolding to work with has been indispensable to me. my 'tipping point' as you put it at this stage is when i have a full and complete first chapter, usually a couple more scenes down the road written out, and a good idea of the shape and size of the story. with bigger projects, i usually try to build up more before i post, with varying levels of success XD.

also, having buddies to bounce ideas with and encourage you and get jazzed for your writing is another huge plus. i can't more highly recommend it, and i love to chat about people's work so my door's always open for that (feel free to ask for my discord as well!). this is especially helpful when you start getting down about feeling like you haven't updated soon enough or w/e - having friends to remind you that this is first and foremost about joy and having joy in creating is everything.

good luck with your fic, that's huge and so exciting!!!

#long post #gav gab #gav answers

[foxymoxynoona]

foxy i have a very serious questions … how can you possibly keep your laptop organized with the million & one stories you’re writing/have written/just randomly occurred to you!! I have so much less than you on my laptop but I’m still constantly losing documents so I can’t imagine how you do it 😭

Ok this is SUPER NERDY but here you go:

So many nested folders!! I have this on google drive and mirrored on my laptop and an external harddrive; I mostly work in google docs but every few weeks do a manual backup of everything onto my laptop and an external harddrive.

Ok let me see how to illustrate this in a way that won't be confusing. There are definitely other ways I could configure this (I'm even thinking things as I type this up haha) but this current set up is what lets me jump around most easily between the files I am actively writing, editing, and posting from, usually multiple different stories on any given day. I have to strike the balance between very organized and not having too many annoying click throughs.

World/Theme/Type of writing (that A Catch All Writing is my BTS writing) are the top level folders. Like this:

All the writing I don't post yet or abandoned or just never got far on is here, either as individual files or as its own folder if there's an obvious grouping (hybrid stories, for instance, or a single folder for multi-chapter stories). I probably should go through here and organize things better but since this is all abandoned stuff, I don't spend much time here. The important folder is that Posting folder ('A Catch All Writing' is my BTS folder):

The Posting folder is where all the stories I am actively writing and/or posting live. It looks like this right now:

The DONE folder has all my long stories that are completed UNLESS they are part of an ongoing series (Birdtan, Sasha, Lowlander) and then they live in their own nested folder under the series folder so I can share reference files and easily access if I need to look something up. My DONE folder:

compared to Birdtan folder with a done story in it:

You'll notice most of the short stories I've posted aren't there though. All the short stories I write live in that Short Stories folder higher up--they get moved to a subfolder within there once they are posted/done so they're only one click away. If they turn into a multi-chapter story or need additional notes/inspiration/whatever docs, I pull them out to the higher level so they can have their own folder (like Tell Me What Changed.)

There's defintiely some messines with what's in the Short Stories folder and what's in that further back high level "everything" folder --both have docs where I throw down notes or outlines or start ideas. I try to keep the Short Stories folder focused on things I am actively or in the near term writing but files do get moved between those a lot as my inspiration changes.

Short stories also have their own DONE folder so it's quick and easy to drag things into there, and because sometimes the posting doc (+ a pdf version for patreon) are just a portion of another file, like with amended shorts, sugar fairy shorts, etc.

Within any story I'm writing, I organize its folder pretty much the same way too:

An outline file

Reference docs, photos, spreadsheets --characters, timelines, dates, etc.

raw Writing files

and Editing/Posting files I copy and paste the content from the Writing file into the Posting file and that's where I edit and format. This way I still have stuff that gets cut during editing, so I can always go back if I change my mind later or feel like I messed something up during editing or I just want to reuse stuff from the cutting room floor for a different story.

I keep about 100 pages of writing per file. I've learned previously that the docs start to chug once they get over 1000 pages, and this also makes it a little big easier for me to jump around and find things if need be. I used to include a key reference in the title to make it easier to "find myself" in time in the story if I'm looking for a particular event. I haven't been doing this lately but I should, it's really useful. Example:

The Z in the title is just so it got moved to the bottom of the file folder, so visually everythign I'm actively working on is at the top and the things I'm "done" with are at the bottom. That's really only important to me in stories like the Sasha stuff where there are literally over a hundred docs.

Let's see what else... for brainstorming, I have a single excel sheet I dump ideas into unless I have enough to start putting together a few paragraphs or an outline, and then it gets promoted to its own word doc.

And then for archiving old stuff, I sort by year of the last time I worked on something. So say I decide I'm all done writing BTS stories, I'd just drag the whole folder into a 2022 folder into my Writing Archive folder, for the last year I worked on things in that space. That helps me find things later, if I'm like oooh what about that idea I was working on in high school...

This is what's in my google drive, but most of my archived stuff isn't there, it's on my laptop and my harddrive. They have files going back to the last century 😁

Unfortunately I've lost a lot of my oldest stuff, largely because technology and data systems have changed so much since I started writing by hand in journals. I'm stil in the process of typing up old things from journals, and unfortuantely not everythign survived my floppy discs (YEAH THAT WAS TECHNOLOGY BACK THEN).

So this is my system! :) Sorry I nerded out, it was actually really fun to take stock of it. I'm in these files literally every day, so organization is really important! Now I'm going to go do some reorganizing looool.

#my writing #mywriting #writingtips #asks #anonymous

[collectionoftulips]

Hello! I hope that you are well! I am super curious about your writing process. How long does it take you to come up with a chapter? Do you have a playlist? If you feel comfortable, could you share one song that represent Both Sides Now story? Also, I am fascinated by how you crafted deep emotions in your writing. Anyways, take care and I am sending you love and positives vibes.

❤️❤️❤️❤️ What a lovely question, thank you so much!

First, I think a bit about 'what do I want to convey/what kind of story do I want to write?'. Sometimes that can be a concept, a vibe I want to convey, a specific end point I want to reach, so it can be really diverse. Usually, I will have a vague idea of this already as there usually is a reason why I'm drawn for a particular concept or prompt.

Then I'm a huge proponent of outlining a story. I know some people do it really thoroughly before they even start writing, but I'm somewhere in the middle and tbh I use outlining continuously through writing a story in different ways. But I'm not massively rigid with it because the story can easily develop and you might realise that certain bits need some 'space to breathe' so I might add certain scenes etc. But before I start the first chapter, I try to have an outline for at least the first couple of chapters. As much as I love being in a world or just having the characters exist in it, I think it's important to write to something. You have an end goal in mind, a theme or something that you are working towards so I even try to have descriptions etc that partly do 'world building', but those descriptions need to also matter either to the character or serve the main thematic narrative of the story. Describing everything is impossible so figuring out what's important and focus on a few things is kinda my approach (then whether it's 'the way you're supposed to do it' I have no idea). Sorry I'm getting rambly but I really like thinking/talking about writing (and if anyone wanna share their thoughts, feel free!)

But yeah, I've noticed that I at least try to have a solid outline for the first few chapters of the story with the end point set at the bare minimum. With stories where I haven't done that as much, I end up getting a little bit stuck, even if I might have an endpoint etc.

I do have a playlist for my stories, where the vibe or ambiance of the song is way more important than specific. It tends to be a lot of melancholy singer-songwriter stuff, which tbh might be my genre, but also the music needs to blend to the background when I'm writing. Although I don't always listen to the playlists when writing. Sometimes I don't use any music in the background and sometimes I put on classic music (so like a lot of Chopin, Grieg, Tchaikovsky etc) because quite frankly sometimes lyrics are distracting.

As far as what song embodies Both Sides Now it has to be the song that inspired the title of the story:

(Joni Mitchell left Spotify as a platform because of Spotify's platforming of Joe Rogan and COVID misinformation so I hope this version should hopefully be her official YouTube. Side note: has people got any experience with Apple Music? Is it any good?)

But I don't know if that answer is a cop out or not. There's a good number of songs that I now firmly associate in my head with certain stages of BSN. For million years ago, I also did like a 'soundtrack' because I fell deep into learning my learning my photo editing software rabbit hole that might be of interest about the other ones

When it comes to writing emotions in the story, I guess the really 'obvious' point is that at least for me, I try to relate to the situation that the character is going through, so I try to get a sense of what I think my reaction might be (and how it might probably be in reality versus what I theoretically think my reaction would be). I then try to imagine that in light of the background of the character, how would the characters behave in that situation. What is at the forefront of their minds? What's the most crucial thing for them in this moment? etc.

Another thing that I think has made the relating or I guess empathising with the characters easier or given what I think/hope is a different way of relating to characters' behaviours is that during the pandemic, I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole of watching therapists react to reality television (and using that as a jumping off point to talk about a bunch of stuff) and I think that's probably helped inform different ways of understanding human behaviour. I might watch a reality television clip and be like 'wtf are they doing?' and then listen to the therapists sort of talk about why someone might behave in that way etc and while I'm definitely not a psychologist, I weirdly think that watching that type of content just made me train that 'operating from a place of empathy' muscle and I try/hope that I try to translate that into my writing, even when characters behave in ways I might not do or might not agree with (but if I understand the rationale for their motivation it becomes less - for me - about agreeing or disagreeing with certain behaviour).

Thank you so much for this really really lovely ask and sorry if it got a bit wordy. I just really enjoyed answering it and I hope it was useful or interesting to read as well!

#kathony #kanthony

[foggyparadisecandy]

Ooof. I'm honestly not a huge fan of this person's stuff tbh, but this is such a ... savage ... and spot on assessment of Anxious Preoccupied attachment style.

A quick summary of the different attachment styles:

Secure Attachment people live with need for connection and need for independence (mostly) in balance.

Dismissive Avoidants live with high value for independence.

Anxious Preoccupieds live with a high value for connection.

The thing is ... she doesn't actually give practical ways to do the things she states - accurately - are the path to clearing an Anxious Style. But she does nicely sum up the main things that need to be done.

Look ... it's worth watching just to hear how Anxious Preoccupieds tend to create the very situations they are afraid of (being abandoned) ironically by being people pleasers and never speaking about their own needs.

I also liked her idea that anxiety comes from always living in the future and not the here and now. And she offers a practical - but scary af - suggestion of "let what will happen, happen, and don't ruin your life living in the future - either good or bad. The future will unfold as its meant to and the person you are with will either stick around or they will cut and run / hurt you. (I'm paraphrasing.)

I had a pretty shitty day Saturday.

K gave me a final goodbye DM without the courtesy of a conversation. NGL, it hurt. It ... hurt. I don't have the words for the hurt tbh. Isn't that odd considering how many words I know and use.

But I've been working on my attachment style enough that I am bouncing back faster than before (look - no lie - I'm still very much hurt but I'm not devastated).

Plus I have to shout out the support of a very lovely friend <3 <3 <3 who took time away from a birthday party to remind me that I am not a shitty human being - which was my first reaction to the rejection.

I honestly wish K would have made room for me. I am not happy with her choice … I feel like her subconscious was driving her away - “I can’t make time.” :(

K has to find her own way and I have faith in her to do it. I have said it a million times: I believe in her and I know she is strong and capable.

I know people will think I'm a sucker but ... I forgive her - and I always will because I empathize with her, I understand her pain, and I love her. Yes. Still love. Still caring. Still forgiving.

It costs me nothing to forgive her and she has more than earned my forgiveness with everything good she brought to my life. And she has been shit on by life - it hurts my brain to even think that I would add to that intentionally.

Enough said there.

On the off chance she reads my blog, I hope she watches this, sees herself, and starts digging into Attachment Theory and healing her Anxious Preoccuppied style.

I can tell you all firsthand - it has helped me tremendously. The proof is I'm not curled up in a ball in the corner of my room rn with the painful blow K delivered.

No promises but ... I *think* I'm mostly done talking about K and writing posts for her after this.

Oh ... one last thing about K ... I haven't been trying to consciously "win back" whatever we had. It was unhealthy af for both of us. Early on in that relationship though, I had suggested some day we might evolve into something else if and when she found a RL partner. For me, I kind of wanted to see what we could do there. I don't think K could get her head around it. I don't blame her. It's an unusual thing - particularly given how complicated our relationship was with hypno + kink + nurturing + ddlg elements. It is what it is at this point.

I will keep sharing some of this stuff because I am geeking out on it and it's helpful to share it in my own words. It helps me absorb it better. And I hope it is useful to some of you all!

#self care #self healing #self reflection #self improvement #self love #love #Youtube

[oveliagirlhaditright]

These last few days, I've been trying to think of what I want out of a Final Fantasy XVII. And I've definitely had some interesting thoughts there.

But one thing I definitely want--which I just know is a surprise to everyone, I say sarcastically--is a female protagonist... which I'm sure would go over really well with the people who hated Final Fantasy XIII. -shifty eyes- (However, people seemed excited about the idea of Agni's Philosophy, that would have no doubt had a female lead.)

However, enough time has passed since XIII, right? I'd like to try this idea again. Especially since, let's be honest, the real leads of Final Fantasy VII, X, and XII are Terra, Yuna, and Ashe respectively, even if you might not know it because you don't necessarily play as them... So obviously female Final Fantasy leads can be done and done well. Why, then, does suddenly making them the playable character make a difference? (I know it's just because people didn't like Lightning. So let's make a character that everyone likes, then.)

Although, if I'm being honest, I also mostly don't trust Square Enix when it comes to writing female characters anymore. Though I still don't want them to give up, of course. So who would I even want to attempt this?

Kazushige Nojima comes to mind, as he's penned a lot of our favorite Final Fantasy games, of course (and some of our favorite leading ladies in them, like in VII and X). So if he wasn't busy, he could surely be great for this... However, I'm also somewhat afraid of his work now, because of the Final Fantasy X-3 stuff, but hopefully that was the one time he really failed--and will ever fail--amidst all of his stellar work.

Yasumi Matsuno, who was responsible for Final Fantasy XII and Vagrant Story? I'll admit that I'm a terrible person who has never played Vagrant Story, though I did start watching a walkthrough for it years ago... and though I loved it, for whatever reason I never finished it. Back then I had started watching a million different playthroughs of games and couldn't commit to one (I think because I had a busy work schedule hen, and if I chose one, I wanted it to be worth it. Not that Vagrant Story wasn't. It most definitely was... I also was so overworked back then, I would sometimes fall asleep while watching the games, sadly, like with Final Fantasy VI--that had nothing to do with the games themselves, but how tired I was, which is why I inevitably gave up on this whole endeavor). But even so, I of course could tell how genius the game was, and I can definitely understand why so many people love it and are clamoring for a remake of it. As a whole, I feel both of these games are very well-done and greatly scripted. And, while I'll admit, that the Final Fantasy XII heroines don't grab me as much as some of the other ones in the series do, they're still extraordinary ones, nonetheless. And no one can argue how great Ashe was at directing the plot of XII. So if Matsuno wanted to direct a female led FFXVII, I would be all for it.

Naoki Yoshida. While I do think some of the stuff with Jill fell apart at the end of Final Fantasy XVI, I felt like she was a wonderful heroine for most of the game--and I like the girls in all of this installment--so I wouldn't mind giving him another chance. And another chance at the next FF installment in general, as there was so much about FFXVI that really hit the mark and that I loved: and I think that many people agree with that sentiment.

Yoko Taro. I'll admit that the only thing I know about Yoko Taro is the little bit of the first NieR I saw from a playthrough I watched (so I might not be the best person to talk about this). But he's always willing to bring crazy ideas to the table, it sounds like, and to experiment. So if he'd be up for trying such a thing, I'd most definitely let him try.

Motomu Toriyama. Yeah, this isn't going to happen with how much everyone hated his XIII trilogy. But all of his female characters in the XIII games were so great, imo (-shot-). And he's partly responsible for X and X-2, as well, and the ladies were wonderful there, as well (he's also helping out with the FFVIIR stuff, and we all love Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie). Oh well...

Akiko Ishibashi. She was a female writer on Neo TWEWY. And I loved how our ladies there were handled--and, of course, having a woman write other women (or to at least help out with that process) is most definitely a good thing--and now she's helping out with the Kingdom Hearts series... which is a godsend. And I don't really want to take her away from there, because Lord knows we need her when it comes to KH. But if she were to also help out a bit with FFXVI, I certainly wouldn't mind that.

#and how i miss sakaguchi... #also. tomoco kanemaki. i know you mostly write the kh novels. but you were actually brought in to write for kingdom hearts dark road #and. i may be wrong about this one. but i think also maybe to help with the 358/2 days script? #if square enix wanted to bring you on board more to help out with the writing of kh #or to even help with ff--as is the topic of this post (like with the female characters). i certainly wouldn't mind that either

[marypsue]

why don't you just clean up the final chapter, then? it's not against any rules made up or otherwise and people wouldn't be bothered by you making improvements! if someone is gonna reread, they'll be happy to see you make the fic as you like it, and if someone isn't gonna reread it, then it doesn't impact them in any way. i've seen a lot of people go "X kind of edits made at (date)" in the a/n as a reader and it never gave me a pause

That's a fair question! There are a number of reasons, ranging from the practical (I have a million other writing projects that are not completed and posted which I'm trying to finish, and I haven't been back to this one to check how much of a project it would be; the ending that's on there is not perfect, but I think it's satisfying, and I could very easily overwork it if I tried to make it perfect and end up ruining it instead) to the personal (I have enough trouble currently letting go of a piece of writing and saying 'okay, this might not be perfect, but it's as close as I can get at the skill level I'm at right now and it's finished', and if I give myself a license to go back and make edits to my old fic, I'll never feel like I've finished anything and I'll forever be tweaking and stewing on how to fix things that may not really even be problems and maybe never be able to let anything go into the world again; if I go back and make edits to one fic, I'll feel like maybe I should revisit all my old fic and try to bring it up to my current standards, and that would both be a huge undertaking that would eat into my Write New Stuff time and also erase the record of how I've grown and improved as a writer which I think is important to preserve; Feels Wrong, Don't Wanna).

Mostly I think the best way for me to continue to work and improve as a writer is to be able to look at my old stuff and recognise where there are places where I didn't quite achieve what I was going for, and to have an idea of what I could have done differently so that I can apply that to the next thing. If I start looking backward, I don't know that I could keep moving forward.

#chatter #also that fic's a little unique because there was an outside imposed deadline on it (the s4 drop date) #if I'd had all the time in the world I would have sat with that last chapter longer but I didn't #and now I have learned a valuable lesson about working to deadlines #also maybe once I get enough distance from it to reread with fresh eyes #it'll be fine actually and it'll turn out that I was tying myself in knots over nothing #that exact thing has happened before and I'm sure it'll happen again

[breelandwalker]

Hi Bree,

I just found your blog and absolutely love it. I've been interested in witchcraft and wiccan beliefs and practices for some time now, and I've reached a point in my life where I want and need something new and something to hold onto. Something with meaning. I apologize that this isn't a more concise question, but I was just wondering what advice you have for someone just starting out. Be that personal advice or just places with sound information that I can go to for learning. I don't have any specific area that I'm most interested in, I just want to lean the basics of the history and what is involved and elaborate my research and practice based on what calls out to me. I've done a little research, but a lot of what I've found contradicts something I've read elsewhere or heard from someone, so I wanted to reach out before delving too far into doing my own research.

I hope you're doing good and I appreciate any and all help you can offer! :3

Hello, witchling! I have lots of stuff linked on my blog that I think might help you out.

For starters, you can check out my Advice For Beginner Witches tag. That's where I keep all the posts with practical tips and advice for newer witches, or witches who might want a fresh perspective.

I also have a post listing dozens of podcast episodes dealing with witchcraft and witches in a historical context, which I'm updating whenever I find new content. If you like your learning in an audio context, that might be something to try. I also highly recommend BS-Free Witchcraft, hosted by the fabulous @traegorn, since you have a particular interest in Wicca. Trae has lots of good information on the modern witchcraft movement, minus a lot of the usual bullshit. I also have a show called Hex Positive that examines modern witchcraft from a more secular angle. Both shows can be found on your favorite podcatcher or on the Nerd and Tie Podcast Network site. (We also have a Discord server, feel free to join us!)

I understand what you mean about encountering contradictory information. That's something that happens to every witch. Lots of so-called foundational texts are older books that may have some good information, but they also have outdated or problematic views on things like gender, history, and cultural appropriation.

The best thing you can do to help mitigate that confusion is to do your due diligence. If a new piece of information conflicts with something you already know, look further into it. Try to find a mundane academic source that talks about the same subject. If a witchy source says, "Dump mugwort in your tea to see visions," look up mugwort in a book on botanicals or herbal medicine to see if this is safe. (The answer is, "Not always, and there really needs to be warning label on mugwort for pregnant people or folks with allergies.")

I highly recommend Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler and The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton if you want a good thorough overview of modern witchcraft. Both are books (TOMES, really) on the history of the modern witchcraft and pagan movements, but Adler writes from the pagan perspective while Hutton writes from the view of an outside observer and historian.

Also, if you're hearing things from people on the internet and their ideas are conflicting, that's just something you'll need to get used to. Everyone's practice looks a little different and yours certainly will too. A lot of modern witchcraft carries some degree of Your Mileage May Vary. Just take things with a grain of salt and when in doubt, fact-check.

Oh and one more thing - don't believe anything you hear or read that directly cites Margaret Murray or talks about an "unbroken line" or secret surviving goddess cults or touts Wicca as an ancient religion. Anything that talks about "the Burning Times" or claims that millions of actual witches died during the heyday of witch trials is also suspect. All of this is revisionist history that either ignores or greatly embellishes the historical record.

Also, don't believe anyone who tells you that you "must" do this or that or believe such-and-such in order to be a "real witch." There is no prerequisite, no exam to pass, no mold to cram yourself into. You are a witch because you choose to be one, and you are a real witch from the moment you set your foot to the path, even before you cast a single spell, and you will continue to be one unless and until you decide to leave it.

Hope this helps! My inbox is always open for questions. Happy Witching!

#backseatofdeansimpala-05 #I also have three books available if you're interested in such things... #witchcraft #witchblr #baby witch #Advice for Beginner Witches #beginner witchcraft #Bree answers your inquiries

[hypmic-writings]

Im not sure if you do kids but if so, id love some Ramuda, Ichiro, and Jyuuto raising a little girl headcannons. I hope youre well!

Hello! Could I ask for a one-shot where Ramuda has a child with his S / O?, Will he treat him to his real personality when he grows up?, I can't find much of his other side and I need a little of that ;-;. your writings are really wonderful. it's the first time that i've request something, so I really don't know how to do it. I am using google translator so sorry if it is misspelled or if it sounds bad, that is not my intention. anyway thanks for considering my request <3

━━ ∘◦ ☆ ◦∘ ━━

Pairing: father!Ichiro Yamada; father!Juto Iruma; father!Ramuda Amemura

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None

A/N: Aww, this one was so cute! I love dad headcanons and these three would all be so different but they’d be so cute with little daughters. I’ve done some more Ichiro dad related stuff here and here and one dad!Juto here! I included the other Ramuda request because they were kind of similar, so I ended up writing more for him just to flesh out his dark!side and then general dad headcanons. Hope you enjoy~

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

Ichiro Yamada

Ichiro is such a loving, fun dad and he’s always going to want to make sure that is daugher is safe and happy

from the first moment he holds his baby girl in his arms, she becomes the most important thing in the world to him

whenever she cries at night, he’s on his feet and picking her up, cradling her in his arms and rocking her while hushing her gently 

when she gets old enough to start talking and begins to ask him a million question, he’s always pulling her onto his lap 

and then just talking with her for hours about everything and anything she wants to talk about

he always picks her up and puts her on his shoulders, running around and asking her what the view is like from up there

whenever she cries or falls and hurts herself, Ichiro is there with a plethora of little Hello Kitty bandaids to patch her up

Ichiro’s daughter is definitely going to be spoiled rotten because Ichiro has a hard time saying ‘no’ to her

he’s going to try to put his foot down when he has to, but most of the time he gives her exactly what she wants

all Ichiro really wants is to raise his daughter to be strong and kind-hearted to be a good person

so he’s always making sure to be gentle with her whenever she does something wrong

rather than just yelling at her, he always sits her down and tells her why she was wrong and how she can better communicate her feelings

when his daughter’s in school, she ends up writing an essay about the person who inspires her the most

and of course it’s about Ichiro and when she shows him the essay with a little drawing she did of the two of them together, Ichiro practically breaks down into tears

because he’s so happy that his daughter loves him and looks up to him

as she gets older, he’ll want to take her on different vacations like camping or going to Disneyworld

and when she goes through the middle school phase he’s going to be sad that she doesn’t want to spend as much time with him

but he’s going to take her to all of her sporting events and activities

and is going to be her number one cheerleader at everything she does

he’s the type of dad that demands a hug before his daughter gets out of the car to go to school

Ichiro is also going to be the dad that all his daughters friends think is super cool but to her, he’s just kind of silly and embarrassing

but at the end of the day, they’re close and both love each other

Juto Iruma

Juto wasn’t expecting to be a father, but once he holds his daughter for the first time, he vows to be a good dad

it’s frustrating for him when she’s a baby and he has to do all the (quite literal) dirty work

but when she becomes a kid and can talk and starts to have that wide-eyed curiosity, Juto loves to pull her onto his lap and talk

sometimes he’ll tease her and use big words and concepts that he knows she doesn’t understand just to confuse her

but he’ll always end up explaining things to her for real just to have her hug him and say ‘thank you’ with a toothy grin

which makes his heart hurt because she’s just too precious 

he definitely keeps a picture of her in his wallet and whenever anyone asks he’ll casually pull it out and play it off like it’s no big deal

even though he secretly wants to show off his kid to everyone

as she starts to get older, Juto definitely brags about all of her accomplishments to the other parents

but he’ll make sure to always tell her he’s proud of her even if she does poorly in a class or fails a test 

because as much as Juto wants to see her succeed, he knows that it’ll only lead to resentment if he tries to push her too hard

he puts her in all sorts of activities and sports, especially expensive ones like horse-riding and fencing 

I can definitely see him becoming her soccer coach after he bullies the previous coach to quit because he didn’t know what he was doing

and then Juto get’s weirdly competitive about it and leads his daughter’s team to victory

Juto’s definitely going to be a protective father, looking out for his daughter and not letting her do things he deems dangerous

which could lead to some arguments and fights when she gets older

but over time his daughter will teach him that he needs to be understanding and more patient

and he’ll work on hearing her side of arguments more frequently

because he really hates getting into arguments with his daughter and would much rather have fun spending time with her

whenever they go on family vacations, it’s always somewhere posh and first class, usually international 

because he wants his daughter to have the finer things in life even if she ends up being spoiled

his daughter definitely has his sense of keenness and slyness too, so the pair end up being lethal together

Juto has 100% used the ‘I’m her father and I’m a cop so if you hurt her I’ll end you’ trope before

and does a complete background check of all of her friends and s/o’s all of the time despite how irritated she gets by it

Ramuda Amemura

Ramuda never expected to have children, so he’s quite nervous when he finds out that he’s going to have a daughter

he definitely disappears for a while to clear his thoughts and it takes Dice and Gentaro telling him that he’ll be a good dad for him to come back 

because he realizes that he really does want to be a part of his daughter’s life and he wants to do right by her

and he knows the world can be a dark, cruel place, so he doesn’t want her to be alone like she was alone

Ramuda is going to be the definition of over-protective with his daughter, especially when she’s a baby 

he doesn’t like it when other people hold her and if she’s out of his sight for too long he gets nervous

he definitely spoils her rotten and gives her tons of toys and candy whenever she wants it

Ramuda loves to make clothes for her too, sewing them all himself and making her one-of-a-kind outfits that get her lots of compliments at school

even when she’s in high school, she still asks him to make her some dresses or designer fakes and he’s more than happy to do it for her

as she starts to grow up, he’s hesitant to give her freedom and let her go out into the word, but eventually he has to

he’s still protective of her, making sure her school teachers and schoolmates are treating her kindly 

if anyone ever tried to bully his daughter, Ramuda would not take any of that and immediately report them, pretending like he was going through all of the normal channels

but then he would also confront them and literally threaten their lives if they ever spoke to his daughter again

and when dark!Ramuda comes out, those bullies don’t stand a chance

the only thing Ramuda would be worried about is his daughter finding out about his dark side

Ramuda definitely tries to keep his dark side under control around his daughter, wanting her to see his happy, bubbly side instead

he’s always teasing and laughing around her, making jokes and pouting whenever she says something mean to him

taking her on vacation and wanting to do fun activities to spend as much time together as possible

because even though he’s a dad, he still only knows how to mask his true feelings by pretending to be happy all the time

his daughter always comments about how childish he can be sometimes and this will make Ramuda laugh and brush her off

but they’re both pretty close and they have a good relationship

and I can imagine her finding out about his dark side when she’s a little older and instead of being scared away, she hugs her dad

and tells Ramuda that it’s okay before asking him to tell her everything and explain his life when he was younger

and although it pains Ramuda to have to admit his past, he does end up telling her everything because he loves his daughter and it would hurt too much to lie in such a big way

of course, she’s understanding and she tells him that it doesn’t matter to her that he’s done horrible things because he’s been an amazing father to her and she can tell that he’s changed to become a better person

and that’s when Ramuda just breaks down sobbing into his daughter’s arms

because he’s never really felt like anyone would ever be able to accept him the way he is 

and now the one person he actually loves and wants to protect is the one person that allows him to be himself 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

#hypmic #hypnosis mic #hypnosis microphone #ichiro #ichiro yamada #juto #juto iruma #ramuda #Ramuda Amemura #ichiro x reader #ichiro yamada x reader #juto x reader #juto iruma x reader #ramuda x reader #ramuda amemura x reader #imagines #headcanons #hypmic imagines #hypmic headcanons #hypnosis mic imagines #hypnosis mic headcanons #hypnosis microphone imagines #hypnosis microphone headcanons

[zutaraplatter]

Avatar: The Last Airbender Critique

There are already a million of posts like this one, and I might be saying things that’ve already been said a million times but I’ve recently become reheated about the ATLA ending and wanted to let it out -_- No one asked, this is true, and this may or may not be a way to stall from this final project I still have to complete, but here’s 10 things I didn't like and/or would change about the show that likely shouldn’t need changing because they should have been done in the first place.

1. Katara should have apologized to Sokka after TSR

It should have happened and it didn't. In my canon-avoiding mind, Katara and Sokka have a heartfelt conversation where she apologizes for the awful things she said, Sokka says he forgives her and he's sorry if he wasn't as there for her as much as he should have been, which he follows up with "but I'm happy you listened to Aang and took his advice," leading into my next point

2. Katara should have said that not killing Yon Rha was her choice

And thats why it was the right one. Not because Aang already said it was wrong. No no. It was the right choice because that's what she chose. I love my mom to death and can't imagine losing her in any way, let alone the way Katara did. And I can't say for sure that if I was in her shoes that I know what I would have done f that yes I do I would have killed that motherfucker. But I also know that if Katara decided not to kill him, then that was one of two correct choices because they were Katara's choices to make. Not Aang's or anyone else's and this should have been clarified. I know it's a kids show but I said what I said. Next point.

3. Katara should have said more after telling Aang she was unsure at the Ember Island Players

Katara hasn't had any trouble saying how she feels, especially when it comes to helping others and making them feel better, whether she was right or wrong. But she holds back or overly softens blows and seems to even shrivel up at times when it comes to Aang. And me no likey. I had a boyfriend who I adored and admired and just genuinely looked up to. I'm also a shy and anxious person who hates confrontation, but because I loved him, I never refrained from telling him when he was wrong. I might have been a little shaky about it but I did it tho because when you want to be with someone you walk through the grass and stomp through the mud. And I personally feel like either in that moment or later on in an added scene that Katara should have voiced to Aang how unheard and disrespected she felt about his words before TSR and his actions on the balcony. I hate being uncomfortable and my secondhand embarrassment is toxic but I would love to see a scene of this. I always imagined Katara saying stuff like "But I'm not you Aang, and I'm not an Air Nomad," or "Zuko could understand why I needed to go, and I'd hoped you would too," or...I'm out of ideas but you get the idea. And you know what, I know I'm a hard Zutara shipper, but them having this conversation would honestly make me respect their relationship a whole lot more should it be believably written to end on a good note (I don't see how it could be but hey I'm an open minded person and I did think they were cute together once upon a time). Basically, all I'm saying is that Katara is no small voice and she should have been written that way when with Aang. Boyfriends can make you shy but should never make you weak. Period. Next point.

4. No rock! ONLY GROWTH!!!!!!!!!!!

I still squint my eyes whenever I remember that rock that unblocked Aang's chakra. What even was that? The laziest writing possible in my opinion. That's what. And Aang deserved better. What should have happened should have been that Aang started to lose to Ozai. And then as Ozai's about to deliver the finishing blow, Aang has flashbacks of everyone he's trying to save and honor, ending with a very prominent flashback of Katara with the guru's disembodied voice reminding Aang to let go of his attachments to become all he needs to be...then BOOM! Baby boy is back on his feet, chakra unblocked, he kicks Ozai's ass, I'm crying hysterically on the floor, as are the rest of us, and he wins. Then at the end of the series, instead of a kiss, he gives Katara an apology. She accepts, everyone else comes to join them on the balcony, cinematic group hug, camera pan into the sun. I don't know lol. Basically what I'm saying is that Aang did not deserve some deus ex machina. He deserved to grow and become his best self like everyone else got to.

5. Aang should have heard differently in The Storm

Katara is a very fate-minded person and this is when I saw potential for her to become a toxic character in regards to Aang. When he admits that he ran away from home 100 years ago, Katara tells him that that was basically a good thing because he was meant to be here and now. Like...no? What Aang did, though understandable for someone so young, was still wrong. Yes he would have maybe been killed but I'm like 10000000% sure they had a plan to protect and evacuate the literal avatar. And what was technically "meant to be" was a new avatar. But hey, what's done is done and kicking Aang while he's down is a no-no in this household. But that doesn't change the fact that Aang needed and deserved honesty. Maybe the fisherman could have said this, I don't know, but I feel like Aang should have been told by someone that although running away was wrong, it's a blessing he and Appa were able to survive and be able to help save the world now with his amazing friends found-family. Maybe this is too harsh, and maybe even outright wrong, but I felt like Aang deserved a truer answer here to support and comfort him.

6. MAILEE!!!!

Do I even need to go into detail?

7. Spiritual sigh*

Don't make me go into detail -_- I will say though that although Aang and Katara are both amazing individuals capable of earth shattering things, they were not a healthy fit for one another. This is evident in the original series and especially in their children from LOK. They both deserved the best but better than one another.

8. ZUTARAAAAAAA

This is a Zutara blog you KNEW this was coming, as it should. There's just too much. There's too damn much. I would give a real paragraph to this too, but, I mean, there's already so much proving that this was the pair. Fics, metas, rants, this site. Scroll through my blog or any of the ATLA related blogs I follow and...dude. These two were meant to be together and I'll mourn the narrative brilliance WASTED for no good reason every day for the rest of my life. No reason these two shouldn't be married with three kids. sob. I will take this part to say thank you to the amazing fic writers that gave Katara, Zuko, Mai, and Aang what they deserved that the writers didn't have the guts to give them themselves. Next point tho.

9. AANG AND ONJI

Good God almighty. Why not this? WHY NOT THIS? I'm putting on my bullet proof vest and I'm going to say this; Aanji is cuter than Zutara. Now before you scorn me or whatever, let me explain. Zutara for me is like steak. No. Chicken parmesan. I like chicken parmesan better. The point though is that Zutara is savory. You know? I don't see them as cute, I see them as Obviously. Aanji on the other hand is like a bag of my favorite candy. They are like a brownie. A cookie. Girl Scout Samoas!...I don't know what words are anymore. This post got way out of hand. I guess what I'm saying is that for Zutara, I scream, but for Aanji, I squeal. I hope that makes sense. But here's the main point I want to make. Onji never knew who Aang really was. And Aang was always, at his core, himself. She very obviously had a crush on Aang for his personality and that was crazy cute and frankly preferable to Katara's "I...guess he is." (you know exactly what I'm talking about) Anyway, I kept wanting more of them together. I wish all the time that we'd gotten to see her again, with a more fleshed out character and all. And in the way that I imagine the show should have gone, she could have been the perfect love interest for Aang, during this episode or way later, even in the comics! Another WASTED opportunity for greatness and I will, again, never recover T-T

10. Iroh get your ass back here

Maybe this is a misguided critique but I hated that Iroh just left Zuko alone in the fire nation at the end of the series. Baby was in trouble in every sense of the word and Iroh was just like "See ya! You got this nephew." I'm expected to believe that? I'm expected to accept that? No no no. He should have at least stayed for a few years to help Zuko stay upright and, you know, alive. And by "upright" I don't mean "good." I just mean been there to support him because Lord knows he needed it, at least in the beginning of his reign. It was cute that Iroh was able to settle down with his own teashop after all those years of violence and mourning and running and this and that. I was more than happy for him for being able to have that peace finally. But I still think it could have waited a little while longer so he could support Zuko.

That's it I guess. I know not everything I've said makes the most sense in one way or another, but I enjoyed putting it together all the same. Thank you for reading and have a great day. I'll go finish my final now.

(Edited for a typo)

#zutara #katara #aang #aanji #avatar the last airbender #uncle iroh #onji #on ji #Im wasting more time with these tags #avatar the last airbender critique #avatar critique #mai #avatar mai #ty lee #avatar ty lee #tylee #avatar tylee #the southern raiders

[chaoslynx]

How do you keep yourself motivated to write/ get out of a writing slump?

Anon out here asking the real questions. Damn. Okay. Here we go.

Ways to fight the writing slump!

There are a million ways to fight writer's block, and not all of them are going to work for you. These are some that work for me! I wasn't sure if you meant of "no ideas" or "ideas but no motivation," so I tried to include some stuff that's helpful for both.

Try a writing sprint!

This is the "just fucking write anyway" method. A sprint is when you set a timer and say, "For x period of time, I will do y and only y." You can do this with writing! I believe Discord has a few different types of sprint bots for this, or you can literally just set a timer. Your goal isn't to write "as much as possible" during this time, necessarily—it's just to write and only fucking write. Don't do anything else. Don't check your phone. Don't change tabs. Need to research this one part? Put "[research later]" for now and use Ctrl/Cmd+F the "[" to find the spot later. Twenty or thirty minute sprints usually work best for me personally, but if your goal is just to Get Started, try out a five minute sprint! And remember that you can always edit later. One foot in front of the other: Just write one word and then the next.

Read a book!

Or a fic, or an audiobook, or a comic book, or a watch a TV show, or a play a video game, or listen to music ... Consume some fucking media, you coward. But! It's probably best to go for a book. I make the mistake a lot (including currently) of thinking "if I have the time to read, I'd rather be writing." But honestly? I'm always more motivated to write, and more confident about my writing, if I'm reading something I like. I'll be, like, "oh shit, I wouldn't have thought of that!" or, "it's really cool how the author did this," or even, "hm, I would have done that differently." Reading is learning to write, as well as you get to read some cool fucking stories.

If reading feels like a lot right now, that's okay! Other media can be an exercise on storytelling as well! And you don't have to go into it with the mindset of "I have to analyze this." You should still primarily consume media just to enjoy it, in my opinion. But when you find yourself thinking "don't like that" about that one scene you just saw—why didn't you like it? What would you have done differently? You could even write a fic where you change it!

Talk it out with a friend!

This is one of my main strategies. If I'm not sure where I'm going with a story, or if I lose motivation on it, I'll talk about the plot or premise with one of my friends. It can help rekindle that spark that made you want to write it in the first place, especially if the friend gets hyped about it too. Your friend doesn't even have to have been reading the story, or be in the fandom, or know anything about the content at all! In fact, your friend can be yourself, or your stuffed animal.

I was a computer engineering major for a while in university, and there's a method in computer programming called "Rubber Duck Debugging." Basically, the idea is that you put a rubber duck on your desk, and when your code doesn't work? You tell your little ducky friend why your code should be working, because you did everything right, even remembered to—oh. Oh shit. You put an OR instead of an XOR operator. Thanks, rubber ducky!

My point with this is that your friends don't need to even respond for this to work. But the idea of talking it out with someone—even if it's the rubber ducky on your desk—will often help you figure out what you need to do. I've even copy-pasted messages (or screenshots of messages) from DMs with friends into my planning documents for stories.

If your friend really wants to help out, usually the best thing they can do is to ask questions. You can also ask yourself questions, or pretend that your rubber duck or stuffed animal is asking! Sharing your writing (especially in the early stages) can be a very intimate thing, so don't feel pressured to share if you're not comfortable. Ask yourself the questions! I start with, "So it's a fic where Eiji is a fortuneteller and Ash is a skeptic who doesn't believe in magic." Okay, now I ask, "Why doesn't Ash believe in magic?" or "Whose POV is it?" or "Is magic well known in this world?" or "Do they already know each other?" and now we're getting somewhere!

Honestly? Just take a fucking break.

Either from that specific project, or from writing entirely. It sucks, but sometimes it's just not gonna happen. Take a nap. Drink some water. Do something else. Step away from it for a while, and come back to it with a fresh mind. A big part of this method is don't feel bad for not writing. I'm horrible at that part. But to be frank with you all, before I got into fanfiction and back when I was only writing original fiction, I would go months without writing sometimes. Sometimes, like, six months at a time. And yeah, it fucking sucked, but you know what? Now I can look back on that and say, "I didn't write for six months, and I was able to come back from it. I'm a better writer now than I was then, so any progress that I may have lost, I was able to make up. It wasn't forever." And whether it's been a few days or a few years for you or whatever, that's okay. It's okay to take a break.

General reminders

It doesn't have to be perfect, especially on the first draft!

You're not going to write unless you ... actually write. Pull up a word document or notebook and just write something. I have an ongoing joke with a friend that when I don't know how to start a fic, I just type "Ash" and go from there.

Be kind to yourself! Don't feel bad if it doesn't work out.

If you don't like how it turns out, you don't have to share it. This one can be just for you. That might take some of the pressure off.

Whatever your first thought for how to start is, write it down. Even if you don't like it. You can change it when you proofread, and a lot of times when you go back to reread, it's actually not as bad as you thought it was.

Finally ... please take care of yourself, as much as is within your control. There's catharsis in art, definitely, but writing will often be harder if you're struggling in other areas of your life.

Hope this helps! <3

#writing tips #long post #let me know if there's something more specific you need help with! #i'll try my best to respond however i can #anyway y'all let me know if this is helpful advice? #i really try to help out when you all ask for writing advice #i'm still learning too! #answers #anon