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aroaceoutinspace · 10 months

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What I Read in July!

For so long now I have been in the worst reading slump, getting through a book a month at most, but I got so much read in July and I'm so proud of it. I finally feel a bit more like myself 🥰

1. Babel by RF Kuang

I was dying to read this book for so. long. and it didn't disappoint! This was a fantasy story set in 1800s Oxford in a fictional Translation Institute, Babel. The storyline and imagery was just incredible, and everything felt so accurate to that timeline. The way it explored linguistics and meanings that got lost in translation fascinated me, the characters broke my heart, and the way RF Kuang handles racism in the story was just as educational, accurate and raw as always. Anybody who read this and said 'oh it made me feel guilty for being white!'.... you're the problem.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

2. Gallant by VE Schwab

This was a really satisfying fast read in my opinion, or maybe after the monster that is Babel anything would seem fast 😂. Since many pages are taken up by illustrations and journal pages with little writing, the story itself is fast but still really good. It explores a girl in an orphanage who has always been able to see ghosts, and the only possession she has is her mother's journal who tells her she will be safe as long as she stays away from Gallant. I am a sucker for dark fantasy and the concept of entities entering from other worlds, and really loved this story. I did feel slightly underwhelmed at the ending, but the story and atmosphere was enjoyable nonetheless.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

3. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Trust me when I tell you that this is what Shadow and Bone wishes it could be. Murder, secret societies, college campus, magic and a girl who can see ghosts. What's not to love?! I adored Alex's sarcastic character, and her back story was so raw and unjust. If you like dark academia vibes and fantasy, just read it. One of my top books without a doubt.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

4. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

If course I immediately devoured the sequel and was not left disappointed. Finding out more about a certain ability interested me so much, and so many elements came full circle! Fair warning however, this is not the end, and now I must endure the wait for book 3 🥲. Story of my life.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

5. A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

Honestly I tend to stay away from romance books for the most part because of amatonormative themes that often crop up, but in my experience gay romance is more modern in that sense, and this plot was far to amazing sounding for me to skip. Yet another historical setting, a misunderstanding that plunges somebody not magical into the magical world, curses, and forbidden gay love. What's not to love! That twist at the end of something unrectified was brilliant and I will have to read the second book very soon!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️/5

Other

Now this isn't technically a book.... but I mean audiobooks count as reading so audiodramas do too? Right? 😂

I am currently in the depths of a Magnus Archives obsession, and finished season 2 in July. I am now halfway through season 3 and so much is happening I am enraptured. I need to know everything-

The Magnus Archives is a horror audiodrama (but more the slightly gorey than jumpscare type. As someone who reads dark fantasy and not horror I still enjoy it). The Magnus Institue deals with researching paranormal cases and investigating their credibility, but everything mentioned becomes important at some point. That is how beautifully crafted it is. Names and themes crop up over and over and you find yourself trying to make so many connections. Its just amazing

If you do plan on listening to it, don't worry if you don't notice connections at first. It's at MAG 16-20 you should start noticing the similarities. Season 2 (MAG 40-80) was a bit of a drag, but trust me when I say it crawled so Season 3 could run like a maniac. New obsession here I come.

3.5-4 stars for Season 2 but 5 stars for season 3 so far!

Thank you for reading, I hope you'll give one of these a try!

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killertoons · 1 month

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Oh LOOK!

wally found some candy while doing some.....chores.....and they resemble his friends in the haunted neighborhood!

What a great day! 🍭🍫🍬......🐛🪦

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mcworm · 6 months

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mr cage and crew

#this is a christmas present for my roommate she just doesnt have tumblr so i am posting here early #um. i actually started this in july and never finished it #so its like half older art #also dont read the bottom text. its not for national treasure. i dont know what movie it is.#nicolas cage #national treasure #movie poster

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lunarharp · 5 months

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figured i'd do this again..bit early i guess..

#to cheer me up.. i feel bad atm.. these things don't even make me feel very good tho bc i'm such a narrative/sketch-based artist..#but Proper Beautiful Finished Pieces are what grab attention and look good at the end of the year all neatly lined up lol.....#so looking at a “yearly review” where i can only choose 'the best image of the month' (??) is like...What have i even been doing...#i did a month by month look back on twt for myself instead..but even that doesn't express the quantity of comic-based stuff..#that i do put a lot of time/heart into..but alas i feel bad bringing even them back..RTing/reblogging my own art simply feels bad lol..#AND WHY IS IT ALL B&W...trying to accept that i LIKE doing that and sketching and scribbling..not like i'm trying to like..Get Artist Job..#this year was so profoundly lonely at times bc i spent all my time drawing instead of socialising and trying to find friends....#please please please have achieved more of your dreams in the future so you can look back at 2023 and think..#It was good that happened so that it got me further to the future. Or whatever i guess.....................#regardless i did have a great amount of fun drawing and improving this year and dwelling deeply & heavily on witch hat atelier.#art-wise and emotionally....march july & september were the best months i think..AUGUST WAS SO WEIRD SUMMER IS SO EVIL ALWAYS.#thank you very much if you are reading this for enjoying & leaving nice tags & such like <3 i've realised how fulfilling that is to receive #really keeps me posting stuff here instead of keeping it all to myself in my head #i wish everyone in this world could have a safe and happy end of year. i wish living in this world were easier

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entomolog-t · 10 months

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Finding Strength

Finally finished a G/t July Prompt; Impulsive! I’ve been planning this story for a little while based off of this post, and I’m so happy for an excuse to start posting it!

- - - -

Next Chapter: Chapter 2

Word count: 2715

CW: Adult language

Life was good, thought Tamius, and he needed it to stay that way. The tiny man slipped out from the small hole he’d made behind the fridge, with more than just a little skip to his step. He found himself dancing as he trotted out from beneath the appliance, some peculiar human song stuck in his head as he strutted out in the open. Like clockwork, at 4:01 pm he had heard the human clamor down the stairs, apparently giving up the hunt for some misplaced bottle of perfume, followed by the thud of the door as she darted out of the house. A near identical scene would play out almost every other day; Always in a rush.

This human's apparent lack of time management leading up to whatever it was humans did when they left their homes was the greatest blessing he could ask for. That titanic fool would pick up her phone, notice the time and barrel out of the house, hastily leaving whatever it was she had been doing unattended. Most days this was usually in the form of food left on the table, alongside whatever they had been doing on their laptop.

He quickened his pace to a jog, the air around him filled with the scent of something absolutely divine awaiting him on the kitchen table. His parents had been so worried about him going out to find a place of his own- but man, they were worried for absolutely nothing. All that fretting and bothersome nagging about safety protocols and potential dangers had nearly had him question if he was ready to go out on his own- but this was so easy! He’d somehow managed to stumble across the easiest human imaginable; The epitome of obliviousness. This colossal oaf a woman was scattered, unorganized, and inattentive; the perfect combination in his mind. Scavenging was always plentiful, and even better yet, she never noticed a single thing he took.

A total ditz, he thought.

His luck hadn’t stopped there either. Even with her chaotic nature, this perfect mess of a human was somehow still wonderfully predictable; Out of the house by 4:00pm nearly everyday, back by 7:00pm, in bed by 10:00pm.

But the best part? That enormous twit was the least intimidating human he’d ever seen. He had watched them countless times, almost pitying them as they struggled with each step up the stairs. Their movements were perpetually stiff and sluggish, as if they were perpetually exhausted… The only time he’d seen any sort of energy from them was when they’d dart out of the house.

He tossed his hook upwards, a smirk playing across his face as it caught the edge of the table on the first try. Oh yeah, this borrowing stuff is a cakewalk. Hand over hand, he scaled the length of kitchen twine he’d swiped a few weeks back, loving how its rough texture provided him extra grip as he climbed.

Heaving himself up, he surveyed his score. He could have kissed that bumbling idiot. There it was, a half finished stack of banana pancakes, complete with chocolate chips and maple syrup. His mouth watered. He walked up to the plate, hands perched on his hips. He had brought a wad of cling wrap to take back food in his bag… but…

Fuck it.

She wouldn’t be home until 7:00, why not enjoy a meal at the table?

Tamius continued to hum that strangely catchy human song, reveling in the freedom of being out in the open. He found himself bouncing along to the rhythm, anticipation building for the oh-so-sweet bounty before him. Nimbly, he danced around the plate, his skillful movements filled with lighthearted vigor, as he avoided stepping in the pools of syrup. He ripped off a large and syrup soaked chunk of pancake, and proceeded to stuff his face. Thank God for dumb huma-

His thought was interrupted by the slam of a door and a myriad of expletives. He felt his body go rigid.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, I’m going to be late.”

Fuck was right.

Deep breath. He hastily scanned his surroundings. Kleenex box on the table. Cup to his right. Bag on the chair- Bingo.

He dove.

Tamius landed in the open bag with a soft thud, rolling into a stand.

He felt a familiar cocksure grin creep back onto his face. Too easy. This human could throw no curveball that could catch hi-

For the second time in the span of less than a minute, his thoughts were interrupted. His world lurched and he was flung back, narrowly stifling a yelp.

Oh- oh no.

She had come back for the bag.

It was his turn to curse; a torrent of expletives slipped from his lips, whispered fiercely through gritted teeth. Where the fuck was he supposed to hide?? He was trapped. Unknowingly caught. No. This couldn’t be happening. His heart pounded in his ears, nearly drowning out the thunderous steps taking him further and further away from his home. He felt his throat tighten. Fuck. He ran trembling hands through his hair, pulling at firstfulls as if should he pull hard enough he’d rip an idea straight from his scalp. The booming slam of the car door pulled him from his spiraling thoughts.

He needed a plan, and he needed one now.

Breathe. Scan. Asses. Decide. He inhaled deeply, and tried desperately to ignore how his breath quivered in his chest. He was fine. Not scared at all. This human was an absolute ditz. The epitome of human idiocy. He just needed to figure out how to keep out of that colossal ditz’ line of sight. The car engine roared to life and Tamius felt as his every muscle stiffened. They were leaving. He steeled his nerves.

Think. Don’t focus on the car. You need a plan.

His legs seemed to move on their own, as if trying to keep pace with his frantic thoughts.

Okay, so I’m trapped. We are driving away from the house. If I stay in the bag, the bag will get brought back to the house around 7:00…

He chewed his lip. Three hours was a long time to lay in wait in the stupid confined space of the bag, but what other option did he have?? He could try to escape while that big oaf was driving, but then he’d still need to get back in the bag to get back into the house… The house that was growing farther and farther away by the second.

What if he had to abandon the bag? He had no idea where he was. Even if he did, the distance to get back would be insurmountable. His heart hammered in his chest. Leaving the bag was not an option. There was no way in Hell he was leaving this easy life behind. He would figure something out… He had to.

Tamius scanned his surroundings. The bag hadn’t been zipped all the way, and there was just enough light pouring through the opening that he could aptly assess his situation. He sat atop a towel, a pair of shoes to his left, haphazardly thrown in. There was a water bottle beneath him, along with various articles of clothing and a mishmash of smaller items scattered about; pens, deodorant, a granola bar, lip chap, perfume... He let a small smile creep on his face. This human was a mess, and he would not let himself be unintentionally found by someone incapable of intentionally finding their own belongings. If this idiot would just put things in the proper pocket, she’d have no-

Thats it!

He took the small knife he’d fashioned from a discarded razor from his hip. That massive idiot never used the proper pockets! Carefully, he crawled towards the front of the bag. Closing his eyes, he tried to visualize how the pockets were oriented on the bag. In his mind's eye, he saw it; the pouch that sat at the lower half of the front of the bag. Yes! This would work! Opening his eyes, he cautiously judged the distance to right and left. He was dead center. Perfect.

Taking his knife, he sliced methodically, keeping the incision as small as he could manage, lest his handiwork be noticed before returning home. Gingerly, he cut his way into the front pocket, clambering inside. He breathed a sigh of relief; it was completely empty. She had no reason to peek in this pocket. He was safe.

Tamius barely managed to finish his sigh of relief when he felt himself lurch forward as the car came to a halt. He clenched his teeth. Everything is fine. There’s nothing to worry about. The dumb human was just going to do dumb human things for a few hours and then he’d be back home, safe and sound. He just needed to wait it out.

His world was jostled as the bag was haphazardly lifted up and slung around the human’s shoulder. He gripped onto the internal fabric of the bag’s front pocket to avoid getting sent flying around. His stomach felt as if it dropped farther and farther with each step, and he swore he could taste the sweetness of the banana pancakes rising up in his throat. Tamius swallowed hard.

Enough of that. This was pathetic. He’d found a safe spot. All he had to do was wait around for what? Like 2 hours and change? A total cakewalk. Baby Food. An absolute nothing. This was fine and he was fine.

He listened intently, trying to gather any information he could about his location and surroundings. The sound of a door closing shut... Foot falls echoing… Voices… Voices with a particular resonance. He grimaced. Wherever he was, it sounded like a large open space. As he continued to listen, his scowl deepened. He counted the voices; one, two.. Three… four, five, six… seven…

He stopped after he reached 10. Suffice to say there were too many humans.

The feeling of dread was overwhelming. He couldn’t see a damned thing, and though he doubted he wanted to see his predicament, the lack of sight gave him a creeping feeling of being vulnerable. The booming voices resonating in an open room so far above him… he felt so small.

No.

Not felt.

He was so small.

Of course he knew he was small. He’d never stood taller than a coffee mug for the entirety of his life… and yet… he never truly felt small. Not like this. This was overwhelming. The mental barrier he'd work so hard to wedge between his conscious mind and the primal fear that lurked just beneath the surface shook under the realization of his own insignificance. Just the presence of beings so astronomically larger than himself made his stomach churn. His head fell into his hands as he struggled to keep himself from shaking. God, he felt pathetic. Just a few hours. He could manage. He would manage.

The booming chatter died down as the sound of human music filled the room. A strange rhythmic thundering coincided with the change in ambiance. He could feel the floor shake beneath him. As strange as the surrounding noise was, he welcomed the sound of human music.

You could never know what it's like

Your blood, like winter, freezes just like ice

And there's a cold, lonely light that shines from you

You’ll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use

He found his voice joining in, shaky and soft,

"And did you think this fool could never win?

Well, look at me I’m coming back again,

I got a taste of love in a simple way,

And if you need to know while I’m still standing, you just fade away,”

As he sang along softly he felt his anxiety melt away, slowly but surely. The minutes dragged on, punctuated by changes in songs, and occasional muffled shouting, indistinguishable from the surrounding noise. Tamius tried to calculate how long he had left by adding up the approximate time of each song… two minutes here, four minutes there -

Thud.

A tremor far more impactful than all those preceding it shook him from his thoughts. He heard a distinct grunt, and then, again, another thundering sound of impact, like something colossal crashing down. The noise was far greater than any foot falls he’d ever heard.

Thud.

He heard a human speaking somewhere above him. Though muffled, he recognized it as his enormous dolt of a human. She had muttered something about needing to use more.. hip?? Surely he couldn’t have heard that right.

Thud.

“Better, but like, I feel like I’m not getting any pop, you know?” What??

Another voice muttered something in apparent agreement.

“You mind if I try one more time?”

This piqued his interest. Carefully he gripped the rear of the zipper, opening the front pocket just a fraction. Just enough to see what could be causing such a commotion… and what it could possibly have to do with hips and popping??

As he laid his gaze on the pair of humans the fear he felt was instantaneous and palpable (tasting strangely like banana pancakes). He knew no amount of quiet singing would quell the rising panic from what he’d seen. For a moment, it was as if his brain refused to register the scene before him, as he stood unmoving, mouth agape. He saw his human, but it was as if he was truly seeing her for the first time.

Her messy hair, slick and soaked in sweat, and tied back revealing sharp and focused eyes. Her figure, no longer drowning in her typical oversized clothing, was not at all what he had expected. Her broad frame had always seemed to suggest she was heavier, and he'd assumed they had just been soft, or chubby… Looking now, she was certainly broad, but the size she carried was overwhelmingly muscular. Each thundering step caused her legs to tense and relax, giving Tamius flashes of muscular definition. He swallowed numbly. Awe and horror swirled in his mind. He wanted to look away… pretend he'd never seen the sheer power that had been sitting underneath her lazy attire, but he couldn't. This couldn’t be her.

She was smiling; saying something to another human towering above him. He hated how familiar it was; her smile, her laugh… it was undeniably her, yet it was as if he could barely recognize the behemoth standing before him. He stared up at the pair, mind somehow both racing and numb simultaneously… And then they moved.

He felt like the wind had been sucked out of him.

Humans were supposed to be slow. His human especially. But the reality he had become so accustomed to seemed to crumble around him. The other human reached towards her, but with uncanny precision, she redirected the incoming arm before it could touch her, her body moving with obscene fluidity. Tamius found the ease of her movements disturbing, as he watched her clear past the oncoming arm, stepping in flush to the other human's side. Her free hand reached around their body, with her trailing hand snapping around the opposite side, locking her grip tightly around the other human's body.

Before Tamius’ brain could catch up to what was happening, the human was airborne.

Thud.

His whole world seemed to shake. Both physically and metaphorically.

No.

No. No. No.

He felt bile creep up his throat. This… this couldn’t be her. She's a mess. An idiot. A ditz. Not.. not this! She fucking threw another human with such well practiced ease as slinging a bag over her shoulder. His knees trembled for a brief moment before giving out entirely. He fell back into her bag, tension rising as reality set in around him.

That human was a threat.

He looked down at his hands. They trembled. Stop.... Stop. Stop! STOP! FUCKING STOP! It felt as though he was pleading with his body, begging it to submit to him. His hands never stopped shaking. Hiding was all he had, wasn't it? Not strength, not speed, not agility… The only thing keeping him safe was the fact he was too small to be noticed.

And he needed it to stay that way.

#LETS GOOO #G/T JULY BABY #I actually proof read something for once #praise me #Bonus points is anyone realizes what Tamius is named after #NEW OC WHO DIS #g/t #g/t july #g/t july 2023 #g/t fearplay #giantess #borrower oc #macro/micro #TamiusOC #Finding Strength #Giant/Tiny #g/t writing #Entowrites

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titsthedamnseason · 10 months

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unlucky like us reading thread starts now since chapter one just dropped on pattern

#LETS GO!#and by just dropped i do in fact mean yesterday #also i don’t even know what actual day the book comes out but it must be soon 😭#juli reads unlucky like us #mine #like us series #reading threads

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rosepompadour · 1 year

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JULIE CHRISTIE rests between takes on location for DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, 1965

#julie christie #doctor zhivago #the silver screen #marshmallow worlds #*#this is a christmas movie #much like die hard #but with bolshies #i first read the novel during my freshman year of college #and every week we had to go to a seminar where we were supposed to talk about our ~new exciting lives and being away from home etc #and the professor was like 'sarah rose! what is on your mind?'#me: 'yeah why does pasternak kill off lara guishar in just a few lines?'#professor: 'pasternak? don't you have any questions about college?'#me: 'no. this is literally the only thing on my mind right now.'#i wasn't even reading it for a class #i was just a girl with her priorities in order 💅🏻

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bbreaddog · 10 months

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Okay I’m rewatching jatp (as you do) and it just stumps me every time how Julie can just sight read AT TEMPO without making a single mistake after almost an entire YEAR of not playing??????? OR SINGING? Did she even warm up?? There is seemingly NO SIGN of muscle regression, or loss of technique, LIKE. I don’t think anyone could get their vocal folds to thin out into THAT clean of a chest mix after not singing for a year.

JULIE?????????????

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #julie molina #mine #LIKE. IDK MYBE I’M PROJECTING OR SOMETHING BUT. I DIDN’T SING FOR THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE IN LOCKDOWN AND THEN SOME #WHICH IS MORE THAN A YEAR BUT I’M PRETTY SURE EVEN AFTER A FEW MONTHS MY VOICE WAS NOT AS FIT AS IT WAS BEFORE #THE FACT THAT JULIE STILL RETAINED ALL THAT AGILITY AND DEMONSTRATED SUCH SMOOTH TECHNICAL TRANSITIONS. LIKE.#hang on i can be normal about this just gimme a sec #GIRL DID NOT EVEN WARM UP HER VOICE #I DOUBT SHE COULD EVEN THINK ABOUT WARMING UP IF IT WAS ALREADY SO DIFFICULT FOR HER TO COME UP TO THE PIANO IN MUSIC CLASS THE DAY BEFORE #okay wait i said i would be normal about it and i will be from now on #idk enough about piano to comment on that #but i do know about sight reading and i can tell you sight reading at tempo without error is like. highly highly improbable #even with more consistent and regular practise than Julie has had. I still would NOT START SIGHT READING A 3-4 MINUTE PIECE. AT TEMPO.#JULIE????#HANDWRITTEN MUSIC NO LESS #THAT’S EVEN HARDER TO SIGHT READ #WHAT ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH #no wonder mrs harrison tried so hard to keep her in music class #i would too if i had a student like that #does Julie even need music class #seems like music class needs her more

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coquelicoq · 1 year

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gurathin, thiago, indah...starting to get the sense that if murderbot didn't have any specific person playing the role of "someone i deep down respect who i'm convinced hates me" at any given time, presaux would have to assign someone, for enrichment purposes

#murderbot #the murderbot diaries #mb needs an anti-support human. like instead of a service dog it has a human that frowns at it sometimes #and it interprets these frowns as 'oh i guess this human just HATES ME. i guess we're ENEMIES. but WHATEVER I'M FINE WITH IT'#even though that's just what this human's face does when they're thinking really hard or something #like i'm rereading network effect and every time mb is cranky about thiago not liking it i'm like. babe you are reading way into it #he's skeptical. you love skepticism! he does not hate you he's just being cautious #in some ways quite similar to you really #'thiago doesn't trust me. how DARE HE' babe we have been here before #that's exactly what you said about gurathin!#i mean is he an asshole? yes. but so are you and so is your best mutual administrative assistant. you love assholery #i just think it's funny that 1) mb trusts no one until it knows them really well and 2) mb is SO OFFENDED when people who don't know it #super well don't trust it fully and implicitly right off the bat #my posts #f #well it's christmas and i don't have anywhere to be today because my family stuff is on monday this year. so i am very bored #you know what that means. deep dive into the drafts #also probably trying to find an ask meme to reblog #this draft is from july i think

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pastafossa · 2 months

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How do you get past writer's block? I have a fic that I'm working on that is updating on a schedule, and I made the mistake of giving myself a month off in between parts and now I can't really get back into writing it. I don't want to leave it abandoned because I have a few people who I know are really invested and I don't want to leave them hanging, but I'm having a hard time getting as excited to write it as I did before.

Ok so I'm in a weird place for this, hilariously. Because The Answer That Usually Works For Me (TM) and that carried me through a regular weekly update schedule for almost two and a half years is, in fact, not at present working for me apparently my brain can write through a pandemic but not through recovery from the shit that went down in December/Jan so we found my writing kryptonite. However, I'm going to assume you're closer to 2021 Pasta than 2024 Pasta. SO LET'S GO WITH THE METHOD I NORMALLY USE SINCE IT WAS SUCCESSFUL FOR YEARS. Cause that's the thing: sure, I've written almost a million words, and pumped out chapters for years (ignoring the past few months) but I promise, I hit the same walls as everyone else even when nailing weekly uploads. But over those years, I came up with a fairly solid list of steps that I'd go through one by one.

Fun one first: when I'm in a block, I almost always try re-engaging with canon first. I'd rewatch my favorite episodes, binge a whole season, or even the whole series depending on how much of a boost I needed. For me at least that was often like Pavlov's bell, my favorite story triggering a flood of affection. I'd remember why I loved this fandom and the characters so much, and it could often kickstart my brain and excitement back into gear. If you really want to dangle a carrot and your fic touches on canon, focus on watching parts you're excited to get to in your story. A big one for me in TRT for example was the post-Nobu, Nelson v. Murdock episode, since I'd had that planned for TRT almost since the start, and I was very excited to reach the hurt/comfort I had planned. Even if your fic isn't following canon though, see if it'll give you a creative rush again!

So let's say step 1 doesn't work, either because the canon just isn't hitting the spot or because your fic is dealing with something else. In this case, my next step was usually to jump ahead to write a scene I was really eager to get to. It was often a short blurb, but it was always something I REALLY wanted to explore, and because I'm also a reader who likes exactly the tropes and plots I'm writing, I want to read what fucking happens. Except, fuck, I'm not there yet, am I? And I can't see how that scene finishes until I write my way up to it and finish it. This is my own carrot. Multiple scenes in TRT were written months or even years in advance, simply as a way to bribe myself. This is also an option!

But maybe this doesn't work. Sometimes it didn't. This is when it got a bit more serious. For anyone who was reading at the time, you'd have noticed that I'd sometimes drop side fics, either Matt POVs or one-shots. This was me, in essence, working on the shower principle (basically, ideas/solutions will come if you stop thinking about it and do something else, like take a shower). I figured if I went and wrote something else - either with less stress, or something fun and dopamine-inducing - the part of my brain focused on my Big Fic would wander around the writer's block beneath my notice. And it almost always worked, all while I still kept my brain trained that, hey, even if we're not writing This Thing, we're still writing.

But let's say this doesn't work either. You're well, and truly, stuck. Been there now and then. And, you're going to hate this one. I hate it but it works 9 times of 10. And it is: Write anyway. Half of it was spite. I was not going to give up my schedule, I liked my schedule. The other half was that I knew myself. I knew if I could just get past the chapter/plot/dialogue I was struggling with, I'd be able to roll along again. And so I made a rule: whatever I wrote didn't have to be pretty. It just had to exist. If that meant I wrote, "Jane chased the cat in circles and caught it. She was happy." then that's what I wrote. Because everything, EVERYTHING, can be fixed in editing. But you can't fix what doesn't exist. And so there were those nights when I would scowl and groan and snarl and bash my head against that writer's block until 5 in the morning, but in the end Jane chased that fucking cat adn caught it, it was written. Hilariously, sometimes those chapters have wound up amazing (likely because I spent so much time hammering at them) and reader favorites. There are absolutely, I believe, moments where you can, and should, see if you can push through.

But that brings me to *waves* now. A lesson I've only recently recently and with encouragement. Namely... sometimes brain no go and that's ok. My steps work for me 99.9% of the time, but I've done the above during the past few months, and it just... hasn't dragged me out entirely out of it yet. Sometimes, our brains demand that break, especially when things just aren't going great. There's a reason TRT had a break of roughly 2 years between chapter 4 and chapter 5 (feel free to check the chapter index with dates on AO3!). I had some life things happening and I just was not in a place to write, even if I was still busily plotting and planning and thinking about TRT behind the scenes. And that was ok. We're not machines. I came back like a bulldozer in Jan 2021, yes, and bulldozed through weekly updates, but that break was needed. And now I'm obviously taking a short one again while I recover from everything. It's ok if you're not in a place for it. So the last step is one I've been told a lot by dear friends recently as they helped me through this: be kind to yourself, and try not to stress if none of the above works. The story will always be there, and if TRT is any indication through all its highs and lows, your readers will be there when you start up again.

#writer's block #i am on step five if that's not obvious and that's ok #steps 1-4 got me through about 2 years of writing and over a hundred chapters. damn near a mill words.#so i'm VERY confident it works most of the time #or it does for me anyway #just. you know. not all the time #what's funny is i suspect if you read all of trt knowing the above #you'll SEE these moments #moments where i clearly hit a chapter i'd written ahead of time cause it had more detail or more excitement radiating in my notes #alternatively no one has any idea which ones are which which is even funnier to me #look i do not judge *anyone* who just can't do weekly chapter #the pandemic was a weird period where i had the time to do that and the management required to keep up with it outside then is intense #like it's possible. i was doing it before shit started going sideways last year cause that was NOT my year basically from july onwards #but just be kind to yourself about it #the story will come #and your readers will be there for it

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