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thumpersdae · 11 days

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I Am once again asking for season 3 Dndads to be about adults <PLEASE>

specifically my adults here that i have already made!

WELCOME, Folks!!! to my Cyber Punk Nursing home Dndads Pitch!!!

DNDADS PRIDE

(pride is a brand of a motorized wheel chair)

[straps activate on you chair you are stuck here you must read!]

So the idea is that Grandkid's (Scary, Link, Normal, Taylor) Grandkids (shown above) are the playable characters, but there are all seniors who have been placed in a Long Term Care Facility (a better name for "nursing homes" btw). But the world has progressed enough that things are cyberpunk!

maybe all of the PCs loved one's all stop showing up on the same visit day. The PCs combine their efforts to try to find out why, and then they run into a big mystery or conspiracy through that.

themes that could be in season 3 just because we set it in a care facility and have senior Characters.

Normalizing a variety of disabilities and dreaming of how accessibility devices can advance

humanizing people over 50, [Please please please, we've done it to the middle aged, we sexualized the heck outta those dads. ive seen what people have done with Omega Daddies in certain circles (my circles) we have the Power to let retired people be more than a punchline. i want something to look forward to in my older years! let them be silly complex sexual full people PLEASE!!!]

community building!!! alot of care facilities in my area Have social and communal activities they do because their residents get together and demand/them. groups -just like the one ive drawn- get together, out of boredom and loneliness (often people who have better mobility and memory) and then make it their job to work with staff and people who have a harder time advocating for them selves. to make sure social needs and wants are being fulfilled. and now that we have (what i perceive to be) a younger audience. it would be great to show them how that sort of work is done and how it can make a big change to quality of life. [the 3rd character (who i designed for Will) seemed like the type to start one of these groups. just look at her with that big purse and cool jacket. thats a move maker folks!]

the way that older/disabled people are often overlooked, and therefore people often forget to keep secrets away from them. [the second character (i designed for Matt) i wanted him to look as unassuming as possible, for this exact reason]

Interesting Villains and Problems that aren't often shown because people font write about older folks.

an exploration on how technology can help people (and how corporations will make people have to pay for medically necessary things)

the way nurses and care staff can be very helpful and empathetic. and how others are assholes who are at best just here for a paycheck, and at worse actively hurting people for amusement.

Elderly abuse, not just actively hitting people. there are countless examples of people taking advantage of people who are disenfranchised (like an older people or people with disabilities). often we see and talk about financial abuse. [my idea of the first character (hopefully played by Freddie), was someone who seemed oblivious to a deadbeat family member using them for money maybe because of a memory issue. (potentially there could be a twist about the PC knowing the whole time, and deciding to go along because they think its funny that their kid has to sit threw a marathon of daytime television to get 50$ a week instead of just outright asking for a lump sum)]

#dndads #my art #dndads season 3 #please please please #let them be adults at least #dndads Pride #dungeons and daddies

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cleromancy · 3 months

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oracle year one born of hope from batman chronicles #5 (published 1996) is hands down the best defridging story ive ever read for a lot of reasons--the first being just that its such a damn good comic in the first place. but every time i read it im so struck by the way it reframes the casual *incidental* violence done to barbara in TKJ, where she's just an obstacle in the joker's way to get to jim (to get to batman) and it's not *about* her. on the very second page of OYO we have this:

the entire page (...minus bruce in the bg up there) is drawn from barbaras point of view while she recounts the incident from her hospital bed. literally recentering her and her perspective, her experience and her feelings. where TKJ sensationalizes and sexualizes the violence done to her we see an illustration of her choice--love for her father, "don't get up"--then the shock and pain of the injury, then the operating room.

and she opened the story with "i cant believe i was such an idiot," berating herself for not looking through the peephole or using the chain on the door before she opened it, emphasizing that she knew better, and its a very human response to being the victim of something like this--almost fixating on a small mistake you made. inside the story its about the grief and the sense of control bargaining gives you--"if only i had--!" and then on the meta level its actually addressing the "well why DIDNT barbara look through the peephole???" (<- the answer being that TKJ never considered whether or not she would have, bc that was less important to the story than hurting her.)

and the next page. god. its masterful:

the balance of OYO being a response to TKJ on a meta level and the genuine story-level exploration of barbaras feelings just in the first 3 pages alone... chefs kiss. the way it addresses the previous bullshit storytelling choices--but builds something new off of them, because that shouldn't be the end of barbaras story.

and its so fantastic bc it doesn't shy away from barbaras ugly feelings...

she's so angry and she's allowed to be. and thats also what makes it such a good defridging--that its a resonant portrayal of becoming disabled. anger, grief, humiliation, shame, fear, the absolute *slog* that is recovery, the realization that your independence has been compromised... it really reckons with what this means for her in that moment and moving forward.

just posting this one bc i love her...

and the crux of the story is barbara taking control back over her life, barbara not feeling helpless anymore. its a superhero origin story to its core and its fantastic at what it does.

and i mean... i do always feel iffy about this part:

the juxtaposition of her wanting to do this without batmans help with her, well, unknowingly accepting bruces help. makes seesaw motion with hand. i always feel like its a bit of a weak spot... i like elements of it, particularly *because* this work is addressing so much of TKJs bullshit; this is making bruce actually care about barbaras injury because fuck you he *should* care, he *should* do something. and barbaras need for independence and her struggles to accept help are pretty central to her character and in a story about disability... i mean interdependence is a core tenant of disability rights activism, no man is an island and all that. but btwn it being bruce who finds richard dragon for her to train with, and richard dragon both being yknow a man and not a wheelchair user himself, it falls flat. which is really something you notice bc the rest of the story is so damn good... its hard for me to put my finger on exactly what i think they should've done instead, bc they only had 18 pages for this story and like. it's incredibly tight, not a panel wasted, so it *was* important that barbaras teacher be someone we the reader already know, and there was no *time* to establish some other way for barbara to find someone of richard fucking dragons caliber on her own without bruces connections.

but that i guess does bring me to. the other thing i find frustrating re: OYO which is just that it's. 18 pages collected with two other stories, neither of which is memorable... i mean how many other year ones of a heavy hitter like barbara freakin gordon can you think of with less than a single full issue? and batgirl year one had 9 issues (9 mediocre, mediocre issues). i dont think OYO needed that much time (but hey neither did fucking bgyo)... but come on. come on!!!!!!

anyway whatever. oracle sweep

#dc #text #note for the record that like #barbara had already been doing oracle stuff all the way back to suicide squad in like 1988 #and i think the first bop mini was the winter before this came out #but when i say this is the defridging story i hope u still know what i mean.

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gayhenrycreel · 3 months

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i think people need to stop being so angry about people having genital preferences. its not transphobic to not want to eat cunt.

im a trans man and im only attracted to men with a dick and a flat chest (this includes trans men). i cant help it. its just how i am. its not because i don't see trans men as men or something, im just not into pussy.

stop shaming people for not being into girldick or boypussy.

ive also noticed that a lot of these people shaming others about this are also very... weird about bottom surgery. bottom surgery is just as life saving as top surgery. if you actually look on transbucket you can see that it does look real and its very rare that someone completely loses sensation after bottom surgery.

im not as familiar with vaginoplasty, but it seems that people who fear phalloplasty think that scars are hideous and that the first stage is the only stage. thats not true. scars are just a part of someones body, and phalloplasty has secondary stages, after which the neo penis looks just any other dick. stop looking at photos a few weeks after surgery, look for photos a few years post op. it takes time to heal.

people who fear metoidioplasty just think micropenises are gross. thats it. they also think bottom growth is disgusting.

weirdly, all of these people are trans. i have not seen a single cis person on this site go into trans tags and claim bottom surgery is mutilation. ive seen many trans men do it. (the terfs seem to stick to their own tags).

honestly with all the terfs around here its really fuckin weird.

they also seem to believe that there are 4 genders: men, trans men, women, and trans women. thats clearly not right.

they stereotype trans men (they call them boys regardless of age) as being white, submissive, and never wanting to transition. its very rare i see art of trans men who are not white femboys.

they do the same to trans women- sorry, "trans girlies".

interestingly, they always draw feminine women and men, but never masculine anyone. art of masculine people is always drawn by those who are in the process of transition or butch lesbians.

its the terf kool aid. they think masculinity will make them like their oppressors, so they cant imagine that anyone would ever want to be masculine in any way.

they really seem to think bears are gross too. smells like fatphobia.

theyre also weird about trans people who are... not young twinks? why do they keep drawing us in maid outfits? consistently?

and then theres the fanfics. a while ago i made a post about cis people doing this, but since then ive realized trans people do it too. a lot. i am yet to find a fanfic featuring a trans man who is not a submissive bottom. always with tits. always scrawny. always ALWAYS into having his cervix destroyed.

some trans men are like that and they deserve representation, but its the only representation i see.

also, when you look at these peoples bios, you see that they are either cis women in their 20s, or teenage trans guys.

i think they are so out of touch with real world queerness that they have come to believe the stereotypes chasers have made for us.

and thats why trans tags read like fetish tags.

also, transhet people get thrown under the bus. completely erased. i have never seen a fic depicting a straight trans man- sorry, "pussyboy". sometimes i see one saying noooo, hes bisexual. and then he gets railed by a cis man youd see in hollywood.

and why is every fic about trans people porn? do we exist outside of porn or are we just mpreg fetish fuel? yeah, a lot of its mpreg. and they react to REAL LIFE MEN getting pregnant as some kind of joke. they make suggestive comments, theyre just all sorts of weird and invasive. its gross. those are real people.

it fucking hurts to see other trans people talk about bodies like mine as if we're not real actual humans, just sexual fantasies.

i cant go into ftm tags because theres porn everywhere. and its not bots. its young trans men who think trans men are only defined by pussy.

thats not how it works. we're defined by being men. not all trans men have tits and vaginas. surgery exists. this place is crazy.

on youtube men declare that women and faggots are destroying western civilization for wanting basic autonomy.

on tumblr, everyone, except a select few who stop to think, declare that masculinity is inherently restrictive and oppressive and that testosterone is poison. which republicans on youtube also claim. the difference is that tumblrinas think cis men are included in being poisoned by testosterone.

go back to terf island and grovel at the feet of jkr like you have wet dreams about.

just because youre trans doesnt mean you cant be transphobic.

have you heard of tirfs? trans-inclusive radfems. they believe that trans women are women and must be saved from the evil men, and that trans men are men and so are rapists. terfs love them.

you need to understand that transphobia is not the defining trait of terfs. the defining trait of terfism is the belief that men are disgusting, violent, sex driven, out of control, abusive, and rapists in waiting. ive seen them say that male fetuses should be aborted by law. thats eugenics. ya know, like fascism.

because thats what it is. by my definition, fascism is the belief that certain humans are not worthy of life. terfs think men are not worthy of life, and drag trans people into it.

before you decide that trans men, or whatever fetishy term you call us, are all twinks, think. like, at all. is there a reason you think this way? do you have room in your worldview for hairy trans men? hairy feminine trans men? trans bears? trans men of colour? masculine trans men with long hair?

trans men who have surgery and T shots?

or does that seem too much like... i dunno... body horror to you?

thats how these people react to sex changes. they make comments on photos of phalloplasty scars and say it looks like a horrible burn scar. it looks painful they say. "how do you go out in public?", "why would you put yourself through that?".

if someone had a kidney transplant would you say such things about those scars?

both are life saving surgeries. treat them as such.

stop writing the same smut over and over about a woman who can only have vaginal sex and never be anything other than submissive and breedable and slap the word "cuntboy" on it. has it occurred to you that some trans men would like to read about guys like them? not a bunch of white twink clones? fucking hell, it hard to find twink clone smut where the twink even has a flat chest!

it actually makes a lot of trans guys really dysphoric to have so much attention put on the parts we're born with. not all trans guys, but a lot. honestly the lack of representation makes me feel like i have to use parts of me that i cant even look at. ive seen a lot of other guys express this feeling too.

are we not sexy if we don't have sex a certain way? not getting representation hurts. it feels very isolating. the only kind of people like me who get called sexy are called sexy for things i can not do. (seriously i am physically not able to get anything in my front hole without extreme pain. how do you think trans guys like me who are physically incapable of vaginal sex feel about boypussy fetishism?)

anal sex is a thing. do you think its too gross for your twink clone to try? almost like... its unnatural...?... its dirty...?... its... sinful?

good fuckin job, buckaroo, ya reinvented classic homophobia.

there is no form of consensual sex that is sinful. you're just anti kink! if ya think anal sex is gross wait till ya hear about fisting.

youre all "i wanna turn that femboys prostate into jelly" until you realize it in his ass. so you give that femboy a g-spot instead. it doesn't take much to realize that all holes have something gross that comes outta them, not just ya asshole. i mean, blood and earwax is pretty unpleasant too. youre fine with kissing and vomits definitely gross! (your nose is also connected to the back of your throat so if you french someone youre gonna get nasal cavity mucus on your tongue)

if you think anal sex is gross youre just an 80s homophobe.

think of of it this way: i dont wanna stick my dick in a hole that ejects a buncha blood every month anymore than you want to acknowledge that some people prefer to shove something up their asshole. both are equally gross, and neither of them are actually gross at all unless youve been told its gross your whole life.

stop deciding that (however unconsciously) trans men can only be skinny white young twinks. i have actually yet to met a trans man above the age of 20 who is skinny. the trans guys ive met irl are fat and hairy. its quite obvious that the twink thing is just a stereotype.

seriously, yous are missing out on writing smut about fat hairy men, but youre too scared of being *gasp* not perfect under white cishetpatriarchy, ergo it is incomprehensible that someone would be attracted to that let alone want to be like that.

ever since i watched Jumanji: welcome to the jungle, i have wanted to be a fat middle-aged man. i was genuinely confused that that barbie didn't like it. cant remember her name.

yous are the same people who wanna "fuck that old man" arent ya? the people who are usually grossed out when you see an old man above the age of 30? it seems like the same sorta mentality.

if a cis guy got hairy would you call him disgusting and unattractive? not that ive seen. its reserved for trans guys on T.

tldr; theres nothing wrong with having a preference for certain genitals, those people who say its wrong just think its transphobic because they think not being attracted to someone means you hate them. they just don't realize that some people get bottom surgery and that its not a bad thing. theyve been drinking the terf koolaid

#transphobia #trans #queer #queer liberation #transgender #transexual #transmisogny #transandrophobia #trans men #transmasc #transmasculinity #ftm #mtf #bottom surgery #phalloplasty #metoidioplasty

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unexpectedbrickattack · 5 months

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You know, a bonus to designing the oc is that other people will drawn them in the scenarios you share! I know your lore really made me excited to see your little fella ^^) it's so nice to encounter someone eho likes SDV in the wild and your world building makes me want to boot up my computer and deal with the lag to see everyone again. I do have to wonder though, what's your take on how the valley feels about JojaMart? It seems like it replaces extensions on the Vally's magic if you fund it.

TRUE…U ARE SO RIGHT!!! Luckily I have a small little ref sheet for him already made heehee. But ill post it on my sdv blog (when i make it). I can put it here too but ill do that under a readmore 😌

Also. U are so sweet 😭 I am so sorry ur game is too laggy to play but i am touched that my little bit of lore is enough for u to want to brave through that mess anyway LMAO

FIRST OF ALL….here is my boy….

His name is June and ive since tweaked some stuff about him. You dont need to know much about him, just that hes a bit of a cryptid among the town for almost two years before townspeople start interacting w him on their own volition. His best friends are Marnie, Kent, and Caroline, and he is really cool w Willy, Linus, and Marlon (old men gang rise up). Also romances Shane which is funny to Me bc whenever shane gets a male farmer to romance i am constantly rotating this image of vincent getting upset and saying ‘gee jas how come YOU get two cool godfathers’

To answer ur question about Jojamart; i feel like it truly wouldnt mess with the balance of magic in the valley. Magic is powerful BUT. It is adaptive. The Junimos harness the magic of the valley to fix things in the broken down community center, but if someone else came along and fixed it for them, well thats one less thing the magic of the valley is used for. Theres plenty of talented people in the valley that dont need magic to get things done 😉 (Robin my beloved)

But i do think jojamart is a big indicator that something is amiss with the town. I think it is a common idea to believe that jojamart is like. Evil. And like. Its totally a soulless corporation, but i think its filling a very specific Need of this town. Pelican town has some very skilled laborers that sell their work and services to help provide not just for themselves, but FOR pelican town; if that still leaves people unable to pay rent/mortgage or groceries, then people will absolutely swoop in and offer ‘solutions’.

I have more Thots but basically……magic is powerful, but it cant do anything on its own. Its utilized by magical beings to make tangible change in the world. But humans are capable of making real and tangible change without the use of magic. Jojamart says ‘here, give me money and time and ill fix this stuff 😉’ and that is not anymore different than Robin, Clint, the junimos, etc saying ‘give me some money and time and i can do this thing for u 😉’. Jojamart is like. Bad. But bad in the same way Pierre owning the only grocery store in town wo employing anyone is bad, and how Lewis is okay with all of this Mess. Its indicative of a bigger problem in the valley that magic cant really fix

#chattin #answered #sdv #TRULY it feels less like a sad mom n pop shop going against a huge corporation #and more like #Small Town Priest who also for some reason owns the most bougie whole foods wannabe grocery in town #competing with a walmart that doesnt even know his face #like hey u make a lot of money dude #maybe employ some people or like. help w feeding ur fucking town man 😭#i do like the idea of the farmer eventually employing ppl to help around the farm #bc the money u make is pretty Ridiculous #and the food (by game standards) easily feed the town #thats not even including willy fishing and contributing as well #and i KNOW he does in my heart i know he does…..#basically basically….jojamart sucks but its not doing anything weird to the valley or its magic #and them doing the repairs in the town doesnt really Steal magic away. it kinda just lets the magic get funneled somewhere else

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vthetease · 7 months

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my favorite things

it's me birthday

so just incase anyone wanted to know some stuff about V

heres some random info about my life as well as some of my favorite things

i am a libra sun, aquarius moon, capricorn rising

i like dark chocolate more than any other; i have since i first got my period. i like gummy candy and starbursts but my favorite are the little cola bottle candies. i like tea and coffee sweet, but flavorful. i like energy drinks and slushees and wanted my first tattoo to be a cola-mtn dew slushee but it wasnt. i like waffles more than pancakes but would prefer a toaster strudel or muffin. i like apples and lemons and cinnamon and garlic and truffle and black cherries but not maraschino. i dont like onions or cilantro or swiss cheese. i dont like chili because something about the consistency of wet, tomato-ee hamburger makes me ill. i also can't drink hard liquor.

i like smells like thick cologne that lingers and juniper and spearmint and old houses and honeysuckle and the smells of the earth when it stops raining in the summer. i like the smell of other peoples laundry soap and coffee more than my own. i like eucalyptus and aloe and teakwood and dragons blood incense.

i like classic rock from my dad and 80s pop ballads from my mom and afi and lincoln park from my older sibling and 4*TOWN for my younger sibling. one of my earliest loves in music was Paramore, and hayley is an inspiration of mine. i like pop punk and the band ive seen the most is sleeping with sirens, 4 times now. i like hip hop and rnb and acapella and piano. i like music that makes me feel alive. anything from violin to screaming, i just like passion. i'm a very passionate person and always have been despite myself.

i sing and like singing in the car, while i shower, and cook. i am very loud but sometimes can do cool things. i like how singing makes me happy and helps me relate to other people and also my predecessors. i like how i feel connected to those before me through my voice. my first time singing in public was my 4th grade talent show. I sang The Only Exception by Paramore because my parents thought Almost Lover was too dramatic and adult for a 12 year old

i like old movies and i used to fall asleep to them at my grandparents and wake up to them at weekends at my dads apartment. i like musicals like ride the cyclone and drama like the fault in our stars and action like john wick and will always be down for a horror movie. i like get out and candyman and hereditary and black swan and blair witch and creep. i like the twilight zone and rod serling has a special place in my heart. i also like alex trebek from jeopardy, matthew grey gubler, penn badgely, andrew scott, evan peters, and my biggest current celeb crush is matt rife.

i like being alone in busy places. i like to talk to people but i also like to disappear to the other room during the party. im the girl you find sitting outside sometimes smoking, or on the balcony. i enjoy walking back into a concert midsong and seeing all the happy little people being happy. i like stepping away from chaos to appreciate it. i like driving on highways at night when its empty and im high. i like watching airplanes land. i like sleep and i sleep in a tank top and underwear but never socks. my dreams always take me back to this very similiar place every single night doing different tasks with different people. i might start calling it the twilight zone. i like to paint my emotions in my makeup and artwork. i have always felt very deeply and openly.

i like the moon and the stars and it is so fascinating to learn about the same beautiful big rock my ancestors saw. i feel drawn to white butterflies and birds and bumblebees and skinks ( they r tiny lizards). i like history and culture, but im really bad at math.

thats all i can come up with for now. if you have any questions let me know

thanks for reading about me, lmk if youre in love yet

valentine, 22 today <3

#non tickles #nontickle #vthetease #info dump #my birthday #libra birthday #birthday yay #birthday #libra #libra sun

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sincerely-sofie · 25 days

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The finishing of this fanfic has left me with some pretty mixed emotions. On the one hand, I dont want it to end. It's such an incredible piece of work and even though I finally committed to reading it a few weeks ago, it already feels like such a significant part of my life. On the other hand, I'm a little glad that it's over. FAR from the sense it was bad (I'll steal your liver if thats how you interpret it) but moreso in the sense that it was like a good crying session. It's something that a lot of us (or I assume a lot of us) typically want to avoid even though we know its good for us, and satisfying after the fact. It's like catharsis in a way. Endings aren't always a great feeling in the moment, but it's something that we can look back on with a fondness.

I'm so glad I found this work. I'm being completely serious when I say that this fanfic, and the other content you make, has changed my life for the better. Its helped me reconnect with that love I have for creativity after nearly a decade of not making anything even though I wanted to. It's helped pulled me out of a few ruts of depression. It's helped me realize that I'm not actually emotionally stunted (per my own conclusions) and be more willing to cry instead of burying those feelings. In the past I would just, kill these kinda thoughts before they got far because of how much I wanted to avoid crying. Much less actually writing them down, or express them to someone else. But now, I've been crying the whole time I write this, and for the first time in, I think ever, I'm okay with that. I know we don't actually know each other, but you've genuinely helped me become a better person with the things you make. Thank you so much for everything you've done Sofie. hey look! I got your name right!

But enough about me. I feel like it's getting indulgent at this point. (I've gotten dehydrated with how much ive cried writing this and from what I can tell, you cry a lot more than I do. So go drink some water first, and then) I wanna hear your thoughts. What are your thoughts and feelings about your work being finished? Do you have plans to take a break from creative endevors for a while, or are you gonna keep going? Are you going to be expanding more on this and other au's, different fanworks or move into something completely your own? Whatever the case may be, I'm excited to see what more you are going to come up with!

From the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of everyone else, Thank you for everything.

It's so surreal to have posted that final chapter. I finished the first draft almost 100 days ago exactly, and I spent a number of days after completing it kind of adrift. I'd go to my computer every morning like I had during the month prior and sit down, ready to write, only to remember that I was actually supposed to be taking a break before I made the final edits. It didn't click in my head that I had actually done it… until a couple weeks later when it hit me like a truck that I had an entire completed manuscript sitting in my Google Docs. I think I was making myself lunch at that moment, and I had to bolt to lie down on the floor and put my legs up against the wall because I was ready to pass out at the realization.

This feels pretty similar. For me, The Present is a Gift— the main fanfic, at least— was finished in mid-January. But the process of uploading it and agonizing over what people thought of every passing update wouldn't be formally done until about 3 months later. It still hasn't clicked in my head that I won't be posting a new update once Tuesday rolls around.

On the subject of taking a break— I've actually been taking a break, at least partway! I've barely written anything after I finished TPiaG's first draft, and I haven't drawn much “serious” art, for lack of a better word, since I started my blog. I've still been making things, yes, but scattered oneshots and sketchy pieces without solid lineart are not my typical fare. I'm usually a lot more “exact” with what I make— words fail me here— I hope I'm not being too vague! I might take a brief break as I finish up the winter semester, but that would be less a break from creating and more of an “OH MY WORD I NEED TO FOCUS ON NOTHING BUT PASSING THESE COURSES” kinda thing.

TPiaG (along with its derivative AUs) is still very much a living project to me— there's a lot more stories the characters have in them, even if I struggle to envision a full-on sequel. I'm absolutely going to answer the asks relating to it that I've received over the months along with any I continue to receive, and if I get any ideas for comics or oneshots here and there, I'll make them. As for what's officially next up on the Sincerely Sofie menu, I'm planning to make a visual novel that's a lot more meaty than the last one I made. I'm not sure if it will be original or based on TPiaG— but a visual novel is the medium I'm planning on!

I'm so overwhelmed by your kindness. I truly don't have any words. This project started off as something private to help distract me from a depressive episode and to process trauma, and it's become so much more. I'm so glad it was able to help you. Catharsis was the keyword for TPiaG— I wanted it to uproot difficult emotions and help people start to heal from them, but I never dreamed it would really help anyone but myself. So to hear it was able to provide you with that is unbelievably meaningful to me.

I gave myself the goal somewhat recently to let myself cry whenever the urge strikes me. I used to go months without crying, and whenever I did shed tears, it was alone in my room while muffling the few sounds I accidentally let slip. I'm a natural crybaby, but I had schooled myself into thinking for a number of reasons that it was bad to cry— that it was selfish, or attention-seeking, or weak— so I've been trying to reclaim my teary-eyed identity. It's been difficult, but it's so freeing to let myself feel things fully. All of this is to say: let the tears fall. I've helped more people by crying than my stoicism ever did.

Thanks again. I can't properly word my gratitude, but know that it's overwhelming :,>

#sofie answers asks #the present is a gift au

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andromeddog · 5 months

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the way your draw uniforms tickly my brain very nicely, they always look amazing! do you have a specific source for reference pictures or have you drawn them so often now you don't need them that much anymore? xoxox- struggling artist who can't find good refs

hehehehe anon i love talking about uniforms so this ask is a real treat… this may get long so it’s going under a cut

first of all thank u for noticing i do really try to make the uniforms as accurate as possible. i spend a long time trying to figure out what specific coat/gun/boot/helmet/whatever people are wearing and what its purpose is…. thats really just googling around and clicking on links until i find something. luckily for band of brothers/ww2 related stuff theres a lot of interest and you can often find ppl on forums from like 2003 discussing the minutiae of gear that will point you in the right direction. ww1 related stuff is a bit harder to come by but i bought a full illustrated book to help with that lol

as for straight up references- pinterest is one of my main resources!! there are lots of pics of the boys from bob if that’s what you are specifically looking for (some boards i like are here and here.) these can be hit or miss sometimes if you’re looking for ref of a very specific thing, because they don’t always capture the angle of that bag or clear shot of a belt that you need.

if that’s the case then i just… rewatch the show lol. i have it downloaded on my phone through the amazon prime app so if im drawing a scene or looking for very specific reference i will literally go frame by frame to get what i need. i cannot tell you how many times ive watched this series just looking for reference. so many. too many??? for this secret santa piece im doing i have watched the same 10 second scene so many times that i can see it when i close my eyes. the bad thing about that is you cannot take screenshots (fuck you amazon prime) and also, it’s rly easy to get sucked into the show and spend an hour just watching it bc it’s a damn good show. i think ive watched the breaking point like 20 times by now bc of this. this is insane idk if you want to do this but if you are looking for straight up accuracy then it’s not a bad option

also, and this is not specific to uniforms, if you draw something enough the pieces will start to stick in your head… this happened to me with 1917 and ww1 british kits lol. i drew them so much they just stuck. knowing what layers are under a jacket, where a belt sits and what’s attached to it, the specific shape of a helmet (fuck you stahlhelms fuck you m1s AND FUCK YOU BRODIE HELMETS) and shit like that just comes with drawing them a lot. and also watching how they fit and move on an actual person is why rewatching the show is good. researching stuff also helps but i know ppl don’t always want to spend hours doing that shit if you’re just looking for a basic reference. but i’m rly into uniforms so that is fun for me!!

i’m realizing this is a lot but…… i like uniforms! thats part of why i like military history shit. its fun to think about how all the gear interacts and moves with a person! how different each country’s uniforms are and how they carry everything they need on their backs and how they change over the years! i just think its neat!

#asks #anon #reference #this is insane. i’m insane. i love uniforms.#you’ve hit my niche interest anon #i’ve made ocs simply bc i like the uniforms and wanted an excuse to draw the uniform slot #*a lot #like my highlander ocs

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yuukei-yikes · 1 year

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kind of a specific random question but do you think theres a possibility that shintaros the first one to try and stop being so attached to takane. like one day takane is all haha hey do you need me for anything then shin goes well uhhh- actually no its okay. takane goes what no you arent let me help you with something COME ON

ive drawn this before. so yes i do (from here)

YA i totally think it's like this AT FIRST. takane is totally shamelessly clinging to shintaro and shintaro's like GET. OFF. MEEEE!!!!! and takane's in his room like carpet she's a fucking parasite roach infestation of 1.

like immediate post str i picture this bitch just sleeping over every single day stealing all his clothes and shintaro's like COME ON. i love how in the novels shintaro dresses in front of ene and no one gives a shit in fact ene is like YOU LOOK SO HANDSOME UR SUCH A MAN'S MAN like. when takane has her body back shintaro's like at least get out WHILE I GET DRESSED!! and takane's totally unbothered like whaaaa im not even looking and u never seemed to care to dress in front of me as ene whatever dude. shintaro seething. he's like this sucks she's right ive been getting dressed in front of her the whole time. also takane changes his nasty bed sheets bc she also sleeps in his bed. literally existing symbiotically. srry they're so close and have no privacy i need u to understand.

shintaro acts incredibly grumpy about it and is actively kicking her out daily but takane never seems to get mad at all and if anything she's just pathetically begging him to stayyyy pleaseeeeee u must need me for SOMETHINGGGGGG and shintaro. while yes he is like NO GET OUT also come on. he's so weak if someone especially someone girl coded flutters their eyelashes at him he immediately just goes YEAH ALRIGHT...haruka ayano or takane can all just flutter their eyelashes and shintaro will do anything they say its hilarious.

we've seen ene do this and while shintaro manages to stay strong i think post str he's very weak to takane because he's so guilty over route xxx so sometimes he just gives her whatever she wants out of guilt. like retaining is shintaro's big demise if it wasn't for it maybe he would've been able to just set his foot down and force takane to grow out of her unhealthy attachment.

but noooo... he starts enabling/reciprocating her behavior LOL!!!! like it's indeed takane the one to start the dynamic. she's always been the most attached of the 2. but shintaro is so guilty over the bad route and realises she's always been here even in all other routes. by just saying ugh yes whatever at everything she says he is accidentally becoming part of the unhealthy attachment. i think at first while he WAS attached it wasn't to the point takane drives it. and since she was shameless and pathetic abt it like not hiding it at all that's why he's unconscious it goes both ways bc he's like well ive been acting all grumpy abt it obviously its not me its her!!! but he doesn't realise that as time went on he started liking the dynamic bc its comfy LOL and takane is good company and they love each other ok. hold me im gonna pass out.

this is so early on post str. while takane still struggles with stopping resorting to opening eyes whenever anything gets uncomfortable and while shintaro is still sort of processing all timelines and how he feels about them and stuff. u know me i love flipping dynamics thats why eventually its shintaro following takane while she's like ermmm erm ermmm bc she's been healing while shintaro's been going downhill.

ALSO i think shintaro's mom "knew" of ene. like SHE DOESNT but shintaro was constantly talking to himself in his room so she asks if he's calling with anyone?? shintaro's like ERM...ERMM... YEAH... ITS AN ONLINE FRIEND.... so shintaro's mom is like omg this is THAT friend who was with him while he was all depressed in his room!!! so ratio + shintaro's mom loves takane and since she's always staying over keeps asking if they're dating and is very confused that they say no and neither is EVER flustered they're just like no we aren't 😐 also if shinaya are dating and kisaragi mom knows she probably talks to shintaro like Hey isnt this weird u have a gf and u seem to spend most of ur time with someone else. and shintaro's like UGHHHHH STOPPP ANNOYING MEEE!!! and like momo, kisaragi mom is also sorta scared of approaching shintaro in fear of scaring him away now that he's out and about. so she's like erm okay (still watches from afar)

sorry for going crazy abt shintaro & takane again. they drive me so crazies. they love each other ur honor and its so fucked up

#ask tag #headcanons #takane enomoto #shintaro kisaragi

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adanaac · 10 months

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Could I ask about your OC's? Specifically Ophicucus and Tsuru, I love how majestic Ophi is drawn and Tsuru fascinates me both with the concept and also how lovely you have illustrated him.

I hope you are well, and thank you again for helping me with my questions o7.

Sincerely HMAD.

oh good i get to talk about my son!!

my blorbo my beloved my babygirl he means everything to me

i made him in 2017 so hes sort of grown up with me (or i've grown up and realised things about him that i couldn't have when i was younger. i have so many complicated feelings abt this that i made a short comic about it last year)

to preface this im not a great writer dont expect good writing from me lol all i have is my personal experience and stealing tropes from stories i like

(got a lot to say so its all going under the cut. also a lot of death mention)

So. who is this dude

Tsuru (not his real name in-story, i havent come up with one im happy with), 18 years old, a ghost

he has a little sister, Ori, 15, who was meant to be my sona but then i just drew him more and like drawing him more anyway

first 2 drawings i ever did of him. he was based off natori natsume yuujinchou at this point, i dont remember why or if i even liked natori that much, but i remember distinctly hes based off him

u may have noticed he sort of looks older in my older art. this is because first of all art style drift lol but also as ive gotten older ive figured out that 18 isnt actually that old.

theres also a black haired version of him (two actually) its basically something like this ⬇️

important to know that everything about this dude is a convoluted metaphor

i lovingly summarize white tsuru as "people pleaser" and black tsuru as "nihilist prick" in my head and those are the things consistent throughout all the AU versions of him

(important differences only to me) alive tsuru doesnt act like black tsuru at all thats just his warped self perception (he also doesnt act exactly like white tsuru either)

also alive tsuru has black eyes and the shortest hair, black tsuru has blue eyes and slightly longer hair (also white tsuru is slightly taller than both of them)

if they all existed at the same time they would hate each other on sight but fortunately (unfortunately?) he is just 1 dude with issues

the general vibe is white tsuru is the "yippee floaty trickster" brand of ghost and black tsuru is the sort of ghost in horror media that stands just outside your field of view in the darkness dripping with blood

for the longest time only white haired tsuru was a "character", "black haired tsuru" existed just as his corpse at most, a footnote

but over the past 2 years ive figured that hes actually really fun to draw and play with, and in a different way than white tsuru

(wait fuck isnt this just abe trio. i do always almost accidentally draw tsuru when im trying to draw haruaki.... fuck.....)

(ive had tsuru for long enough that i just keep tacking details from my fav characters onto him.....)

halls smp

so ive been on this minecraft roleplay server called halls smp with other artists for the past 2 years, theres a new season of it every few months with a different theme each time to keep things fresh and ive just been making AU versions of tsuru for it so ive had a lot of opportunity to think about him

season 1 - halloween - jiangshi tsuru

this one is almost entirely unchanged from his base characterization because i didnt want to rp too much and also didnt know there would be future seasons at this point (also basically after the first day i gave up on being called "tsuru" bc its too hard to pronounce and everyone called me canada anyway)

same basic story, guy dies and theres now a white haired version of him (actually this is the same for all the AUs). in fact im pretty sure the black haired version of this one is exactly base alivetsuru. basically what ive been interested in exploring is different kinds of death, the events leading up to it, and what kind of person he becomes afterwards (but also in equal amounts im interested in making fun designs and playing minecraft and fucking around)

(this feels like the start of the beginners guide...)

i associate him with doves and at the time, tarot card 18: the moon, but in retrospect i now think he's card 0: the fool.

season 2 - winter - ishmael

guy who died at sea and eaten by a interdimensional whale and got isekaied. loosely conceptually based off moby dick, although i havent actually read it LOL but i did spend a week reading up on drowning and hypothermia

strangely, his death didnt create a white haired version of him, perhaps because he didnt have anything in life to give up his identity and replace it with. (and also remember the hair color doesnt actually mean dead/alive)

im only calling him ishmael now in retrospect, at the time he was just tsuru/canada

while designing him i had the biggest crisis bc i didnt want him to look to much like this old old oc i had (pic 1) but then i sucked it up and went with it anyway

i never got around to drawing it but his fingers are black from frostbite thats why he wears gloves all the time.

hes one of my favorite iterations of tsuru he looks so mad or upset all the time it makes me want to tease him, and also i think the grey skin and eyebags are very cute

i associate him with whales and tarot card 18: the moon

season 3 - golden grove - fox tsuru

honestly i think this is my favorite design of him i kinda popped off. i think im just a lot more comfortable working with warm colors. and also i associate white tsuru with foxes anyway (black tsuru is totally a catboy btw) (why is he not associated with cranes if his name is tsuru you ask?? bc cranes are hard to draw next question. he did start out based off cranes tbf, thats where the white hair and the tallness comes from)

dead fox possessing his dead human friend's body (although thats only the most literal interpretation of events; in all these iterations there's only ever been 1 person) the white tsurus are mostly interested in "moving on", whatever that means to each of them

btw my banner on this blog is him

hes sort of a set with s2 tsuru to me, mostly bc theyre the ideals that "white tsuru" and "black tsuru" hold taken to the extremes, and also theyre on opposite ends of the "hates people hates talking" and "loves to talk and mess with people" scale

anyway. hes tarot card 10: wheel of fortune to me

season 4 - wild west - mirage

the desert dragon, mirage. this is the season i started giving them actual names that arent "tsuru" and putting actual thought into the story lol previously it was just vibes-based character design. i have a short thing written about him thats meant to be the script for a comic, but i never got around to drawing it.

a sandworm-esque dragon that got tired of being a dragon and took up a passing witch's offer to give him a human form. this is all a metaphor i think. he has longer hair bc i wanted to spice things up a little

(also i consider this a form of death bc he left behind a giant sandworm/dragon skeleton somewhere in the desert)

the mirage-dragon thing comes from the shen 蜃 (which is used in the chinese word for mirage, 海市蜃楼 haishi shenlou, literally translating to "ocean city and shen's castle"). it's a clam-like dragon that produces foam that creates mirages over the ocean.

if u read "even if you slit my mouth", this is what the "shinkiro" or "shin" in recent chapters is. (i had one of those "smug because i already know all about the mythological creature a story is referencing" moments, which i also had with the four gods in yohaji bc i used to translate a game that mentioned them too)

isnt it romantic in a way? that the two places mirages are most known for happening are the ocean and the desert.

i dont have too much art of him because around this time i was uhhh (checks calendar) got back into yohaji and got consumed by it for a couple months lol (can u even blame me. it was july to september that was when like chapter 91 came out lol)

an earlier version of his design that i didnt end up using but i still really like this art

hes tarot card 9: the hermit to me

season 5 - fairytales/medieval - ophiuchus

NO FUCKING WAY YOURE NEVER GOING TO BELIEVE THIS for this one i actually ironed out what kind of people the black haired and white haired versions of him are. and also specifically this one isnt black tsuru but alive tsuru

i have a short poem thing about him, to summarize its like so many other fairytales about grateful animals granting their saviors something, but it doesnt end well for anyone

hes based off ophiuchus and asclepius of course, but also a lot of other snake stories in general, like the lindwurm and baishezhuan

to reiterate, for none of these stories do i consider there to ever actually have been 2 separate people, its always just 1 fucked up guy

i also sort of consider him to be a set with mirage, for both being serpents, and also for being "black tsuru whose personality is like white tsuru" and "white tsuru whose personality is like black tsuru", thereby codifying for myself that to him, someone who's stuck in his own head a lot, what matters most to him is his ideals, what all his actions are in pursuit of

he's tarot card 12: the hanged man to me

bonus: dnd character - alba

i also have a version of him i play for dnd, named alba to match with my party who all have color themed names. a halfling ranger who's very small and very loud. except he has amnesia and cant remember anything from before he was 12 (hes around 18 now according to him), including that he's actually a changeling who just transformed into a halfling to seem older than he is to work at a bar and nearly died in a bar fight.

(if you spend as much time fretting over semantics as me, you may note that changelings are medium sized and cannot transform into halflings which are small sized, for which my explanation is that he's been in halfling form since he was a kid, and after the amnesia he thought he actually was a halfling. this is also why his hair is white btw bc changelings have white hair. pre-amnesia in his "actual" halfling transformation he had black hair. i care too much about semantics but hey isnt dnd the semantics game anyway?)

anyway congrats alba for being the only version of tsuru that hasn't outright "died"!! if only because dnd has actual rules and i can't pull my usual death-ghost nonsense as easily!!!

hes very ship of theseus to me, all versions of him are. what makes up a person? what defines them? is it their face, their appearance, their name? their personality, their memories, their ideals? if you slowly replace each of those, one at a time, with a copy thats very similar to the original, at what point are you a different person?

as thanks for reading all of this i'll reveal what some of the metaphors are, the core of who tsuru, as a character, is to me. maybe this is fairly obvious, but all the death and personality weirdness stuff is a convoluted metaphor for depression and autism, as well as the experience of reading the things you've written years ago, seeing old photos and others talking about who you were years ago and finding that person wholly unfamiliar, that you understand the thought process of that person no more than you would a stranger's, as a result of having taken apart your identity and replaced it piece by piece with things from people you like more than yourself.

im always scared of scrutinizing tsuru too hard because he's just a weird reflection of myself, and i think i'll only be able to write a version of him thats more of a "whole person" once i figure that out for myself. the only way you see your own reflection is through a mirror after all, a flattened 2D surface.

haha this got kinda weird and depressing and personal at the end (mostly bc ive been writing this in the middle of the night, its now 4am)

after seeing my soul laid bare like this, if theres one takeaway, i think its pretty obvious why i'm so enamored by the parts of yohaji that i talk about often (huh wasnt this a post about my oc why did it become about yohaji)

oh yeah i just realised u probably also wanted to hear more about my yohaji version of tsuru specifically. honestly theres not really more to it i just like drawing him in situations. like of course the same themes apply but i just like drawing this dude thats 90% the reason hes my sona. like heres a pokemon au of him i drew recently bc i wanted to draw them as kids and also as pokemon gijinkas

anyway thats all. not really bc i could go on and on about him but this is way too long and also way too personal at this point. i think about him a disproportionate amount, i only have 2 other ocs i remotely care about and the extent of my thoughts for those guys is "i think hes fun 👍"

this has probably also been like, the 3rd most comprehensive description of tsuru that ive made, 1st being the thoughts in my head and 2nd being the past 5 years worth of DMs with my friend who i talk about tsuru with

(why was this sort of structured like the beginners guide. if youve seen the beginners guide tell me if im right or delusional. if u havent, go watch a playthrough of it, have an existential crisis, and then afterwards tell me)

#canada art #canada ocs #this hit the 30 image per post limit lmaoo

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pansy-picnics · 7 months

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ugh if there’s one thing this world needs is more Cass and Eugene interaction, like I don’t just mean bickering and the sort. Like actually being there for one another when they’re upset and helping each other out.

I’ve literally found about 2 fanarts where it’s just them and they’re not getting at each other! I still think that they would bicker but it would actually be way less intense and spite-fuelled after the series and they’d find some common ground, especially since they are the only ones (beside Pascal ofc) who know what it’s like to have died and come back to life, I can’t imagine how relieved Eugene would be to get to talk to someone about it and have them actually understand.

I hc anyway that after Cass came back she was like super out of it, and Eugene knew exactly how she felt and could help her, I think Cass would also be relieved that someone else knew what it was like and could sympathise with her.

I think though one of my absolute favourite hcs I’ve seen for them is that after Cass comes back Eugene defo sorts out Cass’ haircare routine and looks after her hair for her, cause he more than likely has wavy/curly hair too (but just straightens it most of the time). And although Cass is like super reluctant to let him help at first, she eventually gives in and it’s like the best her hair has been in forever so she just lets him do it regularly from then on and it’s just their thing. Also it gives Cass a chance to open up as well (no eye contact, relaxed and something to distract her if it gets too bad) which she definitely needs especially straight after coming back to the castle post ziti.

But yeah I neeeed more of these idiots interacting cause they literally have my heart istg (and also the show did nothing for them really post s1)

Hah realised I’ve just gone on a rant but like it 2am and I’m sleep deprived, sorry! :)))

anon you’re so right and let me just tell you ive felt exactly the same way for SO long so youve come to the right person

^ obviously theres been more since this was posted but THIS is a rlly good masterpost of art of them. THIS is a cassgene/uknighted dream triad fic and i dont know if thats your thing but it basically captures the exact bonding moment that you mentioned imo it fits them SUPER well both romantically and platonically!!

ur so right about the hair thing also omfg cass is the WORST out of all of them when it comes to taking care of her hair. like whenever it gets too long she just grabs the first sharp object she can find and cuts it all off. her ends are so broken and frizzy its SO bad. but eugene and rapunzel force her to do little spa days with them all the time. cass is very practical and really doesnt understand the point but she just likes spending time with both of them.

honestly as much as i love them i havent drawn a lot of art of cass and eugene individually….but theyre best friends actually. like they have banter and they tease each other but my general interpretation of them and uknighted dreams relationship is just. Comfortable. theyve come around to accept their differences and have a shared sense of solidarity with each other. and not just bc of rapunzel either!!! they hang out without her just as often and they genuinely have come to understand one another. they like to spar together and rapunzel watches while she works on anatomy sketches.

they’re not going out of their way to be physically affectionate or anything, but i try to make it obvious in my uknighted dream art that they arent averse to it either. it’s always the little things for me man!!!! the subtle affectionate gazes or the casual hand on the shoulder or just a gentle hand hold its so. IMPORTANT ok!!!!!!

they understand each other on a deep psychological level and yet they regularly tell the other to kill themselves. they are literally everything to me. i need to draw them soon

#tangled ask #ask #pansy rambling again #uknighted dream #tts headcanons #eugene fitzherbert #tangled cassandra #princess rapunzel #tangled the series #rapunzels tangled adventure

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zooone · 4 months

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hello!! I've just found your blog here and I've been really wanting to try and write for wilbur like you do!! though I'm new to writing, could you give me some tips on when you're new to writing? :DD

hi!!!! im so sorry it took me so long to answer this i was trying to gather up as many tips as i could ^_^ im sooo honored that youre asking for my help it makes me so happy!! here's a ton that ive learned just based off my experience, im no like professional and this is all just tips ive accumulated to my style over time

–one, and i think this is the most crucial in a fanfic setting, but CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS!!!

when i write, i try to replicate books as best as i can (more on that later), but this is the one thing that a book author could get away with that a fanfic writer cant.

because your piece is only something that people will find through scrolling and its (more than likely) not a fully fledged book, people are more inclined to click off if you dont IMMEDIATELY captivate them.

i often see people begin a fic with a couple paragraphs of context (and again this is absolutely no hate to anyone who does this, its just what ive found to work best) which can be interesting if done right, but chances are that readers wont enjoy it if you hand everything to them on a silver platter. they stay engaged when you keep them guessing or predicting.

and i get thats difficult to do with just a tiny little blurb!! but when i write- no matter if its 100 words or 10k words, i ALWAYS start off with dialogue. quotation marks are the first thing that people are drawn to and i find it catches people's attention more when there's immediate action.

the exception i have is with the gr!wilbur fic; i tried to set the scene a little bit without giving too much information, and then i started it with one of my favorite starters:

"he stomped away from her on the rooftop as she followed after him."

i remember researching "how to start a book" cuz i was so unmotivated with a blank space, and then i found a video that talked about a book (i cant find the video nor the book) that began with an intro along the lines of this.

it seems so simple but it does so much. it introduces the main characters (gr!wilbur and angel), shows the setting (rooftop), and sets up a conflict that can keep readers engaged (why is he stomping away from her? why is she following?)

it was such an actually life changing thing to find and its just so creative.

–two, make sure that youre making it clear whos talking!!

this is a bit more difficult if youre someone like me who doesnt like the you/your or even the i pronouns in fics (idk it just seems too personal to me, i like to think of the reader as a character in itself), but it is still equally as important to establish whose speaking in the text.

THIS ALSO INCLUDES MAKING A NEW PARAGRAPH FOR NEW PIECES OF DIALOGUE!!!!!

look at the difference between;

"hey- i didn't expect a hello from you, but a thank you would at least be nice!" she yelled as he speed-walked away with his grumpy walk and stone shoulders. "i'm talking to you!"

"and i'm not," he grumbled, fiddling to put his hood back onto his head as a way of closing himself off.

"just-" she flapped her wings, trying to be alongside him. "just have some gummy worms, please?"

and

"hey- i didn't expect a hello from you, but a thank you would at least be nice!" she yelled as he speed-walked away with his grumpy walk and stone shoulders. "i'm talking to you!" "and i'm not," he grumbled, fiddling to put his hood back onto his head as a way of closing himself off. "just-" she flapped her wings, trying to be alongside him. "just have some gummy worms, please?"

its the same words and the same text and the same dialogue but the second is just SO compressed and confusing to read "especially if you have a character talk like this" "and then another piece of dialogue with nothing in between"

another thing i like to do to establish this is have alternating dialogue. this was difficult to do since gr wilbur isnt exactly the talkative type, but i wouldnt make angel speak in one paragraph, and then the next speak again. if that makes sense.

like this;

"i want you to have them right now," she enunciated her words, crossing her arms and trying to copy his expression. she was fighting her usual bright smile under her pursed lips. "in front of me."

"you look like you haven't been taking care of yourself," as she spoke through a pout, he could feel his face warming up, like tiny little punching bags beneath his skin. "i wanna make sure you're eating."

its reallyyyy obvious that when there's a conversation, its two people speaking. and from just a reader's standpoint, i began to read the second pragraph as if it was wilbur speaking. which of course didn't make sense.

so even if character 2 (wilbur in this case) doesnt speak, i try to add either a description (what are they doing? even if character 2 isnt responding, how are they reacting to character 1? whats their body language? facial language?) or a small tinyyyy bit of dialogue.

–three, sometimes less is more!!!

a lot of the times when i try to paint a picture, i end up over explaining things and the meaning of the words get lost when i use too many of them.

you could have the most profound description thatll make readers wanna tug their hearts out, but if its too overused then it kinda loses its meaning. its like the dynamics of a song in the sense that the loud parts are only loud because there are super soft parts.

heres an example i have from one of my older fics;

"Your teeth bit on the inside of your cheek as you sat down, more closer to the stage this time. Your knee rose and fell quickly as your leg bounced with nerve."

it may not seem like a lot, but chances are that people already understood the fact that the reader was nervous, so showing that she bit her lip AND was bouncing her leg was just counterintuitive.

there are so many more examples of me doing this in the past but umm i dont wanna unearth those anymore

dont get me wrong; you should still add descriptors, but just dont overdo it. and sometimes i see people who have the opposite, in the sense that they dont have enough descriptors and its equally as confusing. so find a happy medium!!

example of not enough;

"hi wilbur!" she spoke.

"hi, angel," he responded.

"how are you?" she smiled with a giggle.

he sighed happily at her laughter. "i'm good."

im so guilty of this honestly and im so rusty cuz a huge factor of it is practice!!!

–four, this kind of links to the last one, but Little Details.

this might just be a personal preference, but i love little details When theyre done right!!

one of my favorite people who does this is the infamous writer . u know her . u love her. @harbingerofheartbreak my very good friend

i first noticed this in her fic, "archangel," soot;

"i know he's a prick. do you think i want him to teleport to me everytime i have a fucking mental breakdown?" you slammed the sponge down and turned to him, pointing a soapy finger.

reading the words "soapy finger" like actually changed my life in a way i didnt know was possible. just the adding of small details that arent just "she shrugged" or "he sighed", but instead adding to the setting and scene and adding special little details Without Overdoing It!!!

it just . ugh . i dont know if its just a writer noticing these small things, but i find it really cool how it adds so much and makes you really feel like the author put work into making those tiny little things.

also another huge personal preference but i really love alliteration and play on words type stuff. i will always sneak in a little alliteration just to keep my work interesting with a certain flow to it. also (if your reader is anyone like me), putting a little alliteration adds emphasis and attention to certain things.

its really really nice, but the accumulation of all these little details takes SO much attention and so much practice, so dont be frustrated if its difficult to think of on your first couple tries!!

–five, dialogue!!

i spoke about trying to replicate books as best as i can, and dialogue is one of the most important things in that sense. i often see fics who show expression through dialogue, and i used to do it too, but it just looks generally unprofessional (imo!!)

for example;

"WILBUR!!" she screamed. "WILBUR GIVE IT BACK!!!- I'LL KILL YOUUU!!"

wilbur laughed. "i-i dont... know what y-you're talking about..-! haha..."

"wilbur!" she yelped, suffocated through her laughter. her lungs betrayed her as she playfully slapped him. "wilbur give it back- ill kill you!"

wilbur frantically looked around, his hands behind his back and his eyes wandering. "i dont- i dont know what youre talking about." he spoke, in a sing-song tone.

kinda an exaggeration but ive seen so many fics write dialogue like the first one and idk if its another personal preference, but it just doesnt seem really professional. and usually when you put all the emotion into dialogue like that, it takes away from the emotion you could incorporate into a character's actions or body language or even their thoughts.

i try to avoid writing dialogue in all caps or with too much punctuation or stuttering, because again, less is more. but also dont do too little;

“see wilbur it wasn’t so difficult was it?” she giggled, and the noise stabbed wilbur a thousand times in the stomach.

“actually it was,” he bit the inside of his cheek, rocking back and forth on his heels with nervousness. “my bed is a literal stone i wish it were made out of feathers."

“see, wilbur? it wasn’t so difficult, was it?” she giggled, and the noise stabbed wilbur a thousand times in the stomach.

“actually, it was,” he bit the inside of his cheek, rocking back and forth on his heels with nervousness. “my bed is a literal stone. i wish it were made out of feathers."

it may seem minuscule, but things like this can ruin the flow of your work. what keeps me engaged as a reader is the plot or the writing style or the characters, not the fact that i have to slow down to remind myself whos talking or where they were supposed to pause when they spoke. that kinda stuff just unmotivates me to read it, if that makes sense.

–six, FORESHADOWING AND CONNECTING

one of the most powerful things ever is foreshadowing and as above so below has a TON of it. idk if i can share examples cuz a lot of it is foreshadowing for the sequel, but i like to picture foreshadowing as a sort of inside joke. its special cuz it feels like a little secret between you and the author that only you know. it also shows that you have a coherent plan and youre not just writing on the fly. its professional and its personal.

another huge thing is connecting. wrap the story up the same way you began it or make small nods to it as you go.

in the beginning;

she had a lot of questions about wilbur.

not the type of, "what's your favorite color?" or "what's your favorite band?" questions. more like, "on a scale of one to ten, how much does being a murderer really affect your mood?"

all of these questions would go unanswered. including "what's your favorite band?" no matter what, she just could not crack the code of wilbur soot.

to say he was intricate would be an understatement, and her ongoing curiosity would surely be the death of her.

unless he had something to do about it.

at a turning point;

“so, what’s your favorite color?” she asked in a light tone, licking at her ice cream.

a wave of dismay washed over his face. he couldn’t think. “t-teal?”

“really? i wouldn’t have guessed that,” she swung her legs beneath the bench, clearly unbothered by wilbur’s confusion. “you don’t really dress like a teal-lover. do you think the moon is real?"

what?

"no, bad question. hmm. what’s your favorite band?”

his heart fell into the pit of his stomach, thorns poking at his sides creating a terrible sting on his abdomen. he opened his mouth to speak- maybe cry and release his feelings; but nothing came up. not even an answer to her stupid question. it was nauseating.

she began talking about the sort of music she liked, but none of it struck his brain. he felt sick. he wanted to scream and sob and punch something. but he sat still like he was posing for a renaissance painting.

at the end;

she still had a lot of questions for wilbur.

not the type of, "what's your favorite color?" or "what's your favorite band?" questions. more like, "wilbur? hello? please help- this hurts- are you still there?"

and she was starting to lose hope in the fact that those questions might be answered.

one things for sure; her curiosity will be the death of her.

unless he's got the courage to do something about it

even just the slight nod to the beginning gives your readers a reminder of everything, and drawing back to your beginning is like wrapping everythint up with a nice little bow ^_^

–seven, characterization and descriptors

this could also connect to one of the previous tips, but Stop Describing Characters So Much when theyre introduced!!

if you're introducing a character, dont give an entire paragraph to describing their height, eye color, hair color, clothes, etc. its boring and doesn't engage people and it messes up the flow.

dont get me wrong, you can mention those things in quick passing so that your reader isnt confused (ie "his brown hair stood up, still clinging to the static electricity from his hat." or "her white dress went along with the patterns of the wind") but having just one big long paragraph like;

"wilbur was tall. very tall compared to everyone else. he had brown eyes and bushy eyebrows that carried his emotions. he wore a gray hood that sometimes covered his face. he wore a bag that slung across his torso. his brown hair was usually uncombed and messy. he had bags under his eyes."

its just generallt not interesting enough!! tell me about his body language; whats his posture look like? does he hold his head up high with confidence? is he slouched over in careless sadness?

AND ALWAYSSSS OVEREXAGGERATE INTRODUCTIONS I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGHHH

pick a signature trait for your character and make it THE most noticeable thing when theyre first introduced.

angel is naive and optimistic? shes gonna sound stuck up and unrealistic to such an extent that its almost annoying.

wilbur is grumpy? the first thing hes gonna do is be super duper mean and hurt everyones feelings

quackitys a jokester? first thing he does is tell wilbur to literally take his shirt off

there's such a power in establishing a character into a certain category and playing with that. think about their characterization; is this category gonna change? will it change positively or negatively? will it change quickly? what makes it change? why? theres SO much to he said about character arcs in itself.

another huge thing about characterization is just being realistic. it doesnt really apply to au fics like gr!wilbur, but if youre writing a blurb about wilbur at a concert- im so sorry but there is barely a chance that hes gonna go up to one of his Fans and instantly fall in love with them.

and everyone has a preference of course!! if thats your kind of jam, go ahead im not judging. but as a personal preference, i don't really enjoy it when the characters dont seem realistic or wilbur's dialogue is definitely not something that he would say.

but again, at the end of the day, everyone has their preferences and by all means tweak your writing to YOUR standards!! write whatever makes you happy!! dont let some writer named zone let you dictate how to write and what you should or shouldnt write. it should all be with your own preference (and also respecting other peoples boundaries ofc)

one of the biggest mistakes ive made as a writer was robotically writing, or in other words only writing so that i could Produce something and get a couple notes on tumblr and thats it. doing that is what made me fall out of love and with writing.

aasb was the first fic i finished on my own accord, and of course i had friends like flore and carrie to push me on to continue, but i wrote it because it was an idea i loved. not because i wanted to post it for the people of tumblr. thats one of the beautiful things that flore taught me, whether it was unintentional or not, but its helped me so much.

and a ton of these tips takes Time and Practice as everything unfortunately does. ive certainly improved my writing game since like 4 years ago from both reading and writing to pick up certain little traits that ive loved from other peoples works and incorporated it into my own style.

i think the person whose had the most influence on my writing is. in fact. florence harbingerofheartbreak. and im not even saying that cuz shes my friend im genuinely so amazed by her work and her stuff is severely underrated

and also this is only a fragment of tips, there are a plethora of actual professionals that could give out their tips but again at the end of the day its all what You Do.

and by all means id loooove to read any of your works (not just this anon, any of your guys' works) so please please please dont be afraid to send em to me!! i hope these tips help ^_^

#asks #writing tips

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