#and i’m sure most people making those arguments DO understand that it’s not that simple

[the-al-chemist]

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday! As you've written a fair bit about Charlie, I'm sure you've thought a lot about dragons by proxy. Are there any headcanons/ideas you have about dragons in your world (that Charlie is likely to talk about at length to people)? - @hphmmatthewluther

Well, look who is here asking me about things that I love to talk about. Dragons? Yes please. Charlie Weasley? Even more yes please.

So, I had a good think about dragons when it came to Learning to Fly. I’m a stickler to canon, so I knew I wanted them to be completely wild animals, but I needed to have Norbert(a) able to interact with Charlie. So, I based my “characterisation” of dragons on a few things, some of which made it into the story, some of which remained unpublished.

Until now.

I’m so sorry, you hit my nerdy/hyperfocus spot. This is such an essay of a response. I’m leaning into it with picture examples and everything…

Anatomy/Physiology

Firstly, I used birds as an inspiration. This is an obvious one, sort of. Generally, you have two different dragon appearances in recent western fantasy: either they have four legs plus a pair of wings or their wings are their front limbs. In the Harry Potter films, they use the latter. It’s less cute, but makes more sense in terms of them actually being able to fly.

All the terms I used to describe Norbert(a)’s body parts were anatomical terms for these body parts in birds, e.g. the keel. The keel is the breastbone, and in birds the muscles used for flight all attach here in order to keep the centre of gravity low on the body for flight. There are tendons that then extend up through a loop of bone and act as pulleys for their wings, the bones of which are actually very similar to our own arms, if you look closely.

As well as their flight mechanisms, birds have a bellows system of air sacs that I wanted to borrow for my dragons. Birds use these for respiration (think about oxygen at high altitudes during flight), but for my dragons, they have another purpose. Because, what else needs oxygen? What is it that dragons are most famous for? What is responsible for those burns on Charlie’s arms?

Fire.

I am not much of a reptile expert, so I didn’t take much in the way of inspiration from reptiles when writing about my dragons. I do, however, have the headcanon that, like all reptiles, dragons are cold-blooded. Most physiological adaptations have more than one purpose, and so, my dragons don’t just use fire for hunting and defence purposes — they use it to keep themselves warm. They produce the flames in their thorax, where there is a good oxygen supply and the blood can be warmed easily due the proximity to the heart, and the muscles and thick bone of the keel are able to protect it.

Behaviour

I used more elements of dog behaviour when writing Learning to Fly than anything else, for the simple reason that it is the animal body language I understand best and that I thought most readers would understand best. However, I would argue that dragons are far more like cat species than dogs in regard to their behaviour, so I included some cat-like tendencies as well.

Dogs are social creatures, and most of their behaviours have evolved in order to maintain order within a pack. They hunt in packs, roam in packs, raise offspring in packs. Other than lions, cats are usually solitary creatures, only joining together as adults to mate. There are exceptions, of course, but this is usually the rule. The same goes for dragons, from what we see in canon. Therefore, their behaviour will largely be based on avoiding conflict in order to avoid injury to themselves, and on solitary hunting. I did put this in with Norbert(a) — in one of the final chapters, she engages in play behaviour by mimicking hunting, like a cat.

I also took a lot of inspiration from orcas, mainly in respect to the ethical arguments surrounding their captivity. If you haven’t seen Blackfish, you should definitely do so. I headcanon dragons to be immensely powerful and intelligent beings with wide roaming ranges, who do not cope well in captivity. In canon, it is known that dragons are too dangerous to keep as pets, and judging by the treatment of the Gringotts dragon, the ones that are kept in captivity do not lead happy and fulfilled lives.

I have written several times that dragons kept in captivity suffer from severe impairments to their physical and emotional health, to the point that they have reduced length of life as well as quality of life compared to their wild counterparts. Most of that has been in the form of dialogue from Charlie.

Three guesses what is the thing he really won’t shut up about…

#al speaks #charlie weasley #dragonology #about those dragons tho #dragons #wbw asks #did I mention that I love dragons

[danielnelsen]

while i get where this comes from and it’s true to an extent, i reeeaaaally don’t like how people try to explain “trans men don’t [necessarily] have male privilege” with things like “some trans men don’t pass”.

like sure that’s the most obvious example (someone who is seen as a woman won’t have the privilege that comes with being seen a man) but you’re still acting like being a passing trans man is just a free opt-in to male privilege which is………kinda the issue.

#personal #ohh don’t be weird on my post please this is just on my mind #i’ve seen it so many times just in the last few days #like yeah a passing trans man receives more benefits than anyone who’s seen as a woman #and i’m sure most people making those arguments DO understand that it’s not that simple #but very few people engaging in these kinds of discussions in good faith would argue that someone seen as a woman has male privilege #(note: VERY FEW people engaging in GOOD FAITH) #i see people be like ‘everyone thinks all trans men pass’ and like…….WHO is thinking that who’s also gonna listen to you here #maybe it’s just my grew-up-in-a-conservative-religious-environment thing but your experience is not universal #i would also like you to consider whether ‘anyone that looks like a man has male privilege’ is consistent with your other views #1k #(oh god guys please)

[womenaremypriority]

Headless Women Art in the Sims 4

This has little to do with the actual game, so this should be understandable to anyone!  I wanted to share this.  

If you don’t know what ‘headless women art’ is, it refers to a trend in which women are depicted without heads in art and decorations.  This disproportionately affects women and the excuse is generally that it is body-positive, but the feminist argument is that is dehumanizing and normalizes women as unthinking objects.  Here are some examples via @thatsonemorbidcorvid :

Now she has many examples in drawings and paintings, but in my collection, I sticked to objects- which I find more creepy, less defensible, with less male counterparts.  

In the Sims 4, you can build houses.  You can create and download custom objects for your game, and you can download houses which have these custom objects.  I’m not sure about the actual, official game, but when you download custom, fan-made content- this stuff is EVERYWHERE. Recently, I’ve been obsessing over looking at different buildings people have made for the game, but I got so tired of seeing this type of art that I started to collect it.  I have counted examples of men vs women.  Using the same standard of what counts as headless art, I found 22 men and 117 women- still a considerable amount of men, but as a trend heavily geared towards women.  There were a few that are debatable, usually because it was unclear whether male or female.  There were some that I debated counting because while technically having a face, they still felt as if they could count- but to keep it simple, I didn’t. When it comes to headless people in art such a paintings and drawings, I found it to be pretty equal, and didn’t count any towards the count.  I noticed that women are usually more sexualized in general art such as this, however.  For fairness, I will add that busts and sculptures that were just heads, it appeared to be mostly men, which could be argued is also dehumanizing/ornamentive.  However, for the most part, these men were given expressions and a face.  And when it came to full-body sculptures, it appeared equal as well.   Anyways, behold… headless women art.

There are a bunch of duplicates in my count, the same objects used multiple times.  I found about ~18 unique headless women and about ~7 unique men- it’s a bit hard to tell the exact number though.  For the men, 3 of the 7 showed up only once, 3 showed up two times, and the other object made up all the other appearances of headless men.  

Notice how similar the in-game objects look like the actual ones- I think some of them might be modeled after real-life art too.

Now, here are some the men.

9/22 times a man appears, a woman does, as well.  Either because they are placed together, or because they are part of the same object, like in the second photo above.

Out of the 7 headless male pieces, at least 3 looked less like they were intended to be placed in a house as-is and more like very old objects, such as the one below. But to be fair, these only showed up a couple times. I considered not adding to the main count ones were museum objects or in art workshops, things that may not be finished or “complete” but did so anyway. There were a couple of those for male and female. Here is one such.

Here is one that I wasn’t sure about including or not.

This photo is a bit blurry, and I couldn’t in good conscience count it- maybe most people would, as it’s a humanoid shape more female in appearance than male, but the quality isn’t good and there’s enough room for doubt. I wanted to be sure I was fair. There’s a bunch of tinier things next to it that could also be headless art but are even harder to make out.

These figures appear to be breasts, but again, room for doubt. I’m honestly not sure the intention, but if you want to add them to the count, it appeared 6 times.

These weird legs showed up twice. Honestly, they’re very close to being counted.

Now, this does show a bit of face, but since it’s still somewhat covered and degrading in nature, I considered adding it. It showed up thrice The problem is that I don’t think I saved photos whenever I saw similar things for men, and so can’t accurately count. To be clear, I don’t think I saw anything for men that was the same as this or similar, but there were some that had only half a face. Here is one example that was next to a headless women.

There is the male-looking face with plants coming out of it, which I saw quite a few times. There were a couple like that for women, but the question is, if I count the lamp women, do I count this? The main difference is he has eyes, and most of his head is there, giving him individuality, so can’t really be classified as headless. I can’t count these, but I can say there wasn’t really an equivalent for men other than the weird object I showed before with a man and a woman, that could be interpreted as a lamp I suppose.

There’s also whatever this is supposed to be, which I saw twice. A less obsessive person would probably count it, I didn’t. At first I thought it had breasts, but it might be eyes. I will also note that I saw plenty of headless mannequins and silhouettes, virtually all coded female, but didn’t count those. Here’s some other… interesting things.

Does she have a head? Yes. But is this objectifying? Also yes. And again, there were plenty of male fall-body statues, as well as female, but those were dignifying and artistic in nature. But among these types of high-art, modern objects like this, where you have to wonder the point, all I remember are female. They all appear in an unnatural manner. There are a few male-looking heads as well, however-

Here’s what I would consider the closest alternative for men. You can even see the second photo has much of their face missing, as much as the women with the lamp head! Is this as dehumanizing? You decide. There were a few statues of women that were just heads, but none as big and not as many that had missing pieces like this.

None of this is in the final count, but it’s something I found interesting to think about. The last 3 pictures were all made by the same person, but I’ve seen stuff like this used in buildings from other people. I didn’t save everything like this, so I can’t compare or count how many appeared, this was just a couple I remember. Anyways, that’s it! I thought it was super crazy. When I decided to start counting, I thought it would take a while to find any headless women art but it didn’t, at all. Most of what I have screenshots of is the more realistic style of building, because that’s what I prefer, but near the end I started looking more into styles that match the original games graphics. There was probably a higher ratio of men to women when compared to the other style, but still more women in general. This is a plague for real.

#my post #radical feminism #radfem #radblr #feminism #feminist #Misogyny #objectification #Sims 4 #Games #headless women art

[unexpectedgeese]

I’ve been thinking about how ORV is like, 100% made to help teenagers like KDJ cope with the Horrors. The prose, the tropes in the beginning, the length of it, the themes– All of it!

Those first three are simple, and I already lost a draft of this to the Tumblr gods, so I’ll keep it quick.

PROSE: as @kimdokja pointed out in a post a while back, ORV sits firmly at the reading level of your average high schooler. This is intentional; It’s a story for those highschoolers, so it stays simple so it doesn’t alienate anyone.

TROPES: I’m pretty sure someone’s already talked about how ORV sets the stage up in the beginning so it can subvert itself later– that’s not what I’m here to say. I’m here to point out how ORV HARDCORE presents itself as a power fantasy. In the beginning, Kim Dokja’s the archetypal power fantasy self-insert character. He’s got a purposefully vague appearance, a cold and ruthless demeanor in the early scenarios (don’t say otherwise, I’ve SEEN the comments on the webtoon), and the world’s most overpowered cheat of knowing everything ever. 

The length, too, plays a big part in this. By giving us 500-some odd chapters of story, Sing-Shong is letting the reader engage with ORV’s themes over time, cloaking them in Cool Scenes to make the experience fun as well as helpful– and they’re giving their audience an escape from the real world, which!! Is both what KDJ had in WoS, and!!! When paired with the book’s later conclusion of ‘books great, but real world also great’, is a really gentle way of getting the audience to not Kim Dokja themselves into inexistance!

The Prose, the Tropes, and the Length are all the ‘how’ of it: ORV uses them to attract their target audience and keep that audience engaged. 

But… What’s that? It’s the Themes, coming in wiTH A STEEL CHAIR?!?!??!

That’s right! The themes of ORV. We’ve talked about these a LOT in the ORV community. But today, I have a different thesis on them:

*Almost every single one of ORV’s themes is hand-tailored to help struggling teenagers.*

(read more, bc this post boutta be LONG.)

If you try, you can point out a lot of examples of this!

The idea of people being able to do bad things without being a bad person, for example, is something I personally really needed to hear when I was younger. And KDJ’s character development from being this closed off non-character to letting down his walls, making friends, and giving a shit about his own life is a really strong argument for the reader doing the same, made all the stronger by its focus on what was originally an emotionless self-insert for the reader. The importance of reaching out across boundaries is a big argument for asking people for help/making friends, etc. etc– I could do this all day.

But my favorite example of this is KDJ’s relationship with WoS. Because it manages to stress the importance of livin through more than just stories without, in any way, vilifying the readers who use them to cope, by portraying stories as both important (you can understand things from new angles, feel new things, cope with reality) and ultimately limiting (you can’t understand someone fully from just reading about them, in order to be loved you need to be seen, reading together > reading alone, KDJ taking down his walls, etc.).

And it’s just like… MAN. This really is a story written for just that one reader (you)...

#orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #hope this makes sense.. #and that nobody's already made this post #my posts #i could talk abt this soo much more too

[davidfarland]

The Secret Ingredients for Writing Theme

Many people in the writing community caution against writing with a theme in mind. They argue that if you do, your story will feel contrived, or worse, preachy. But this is only true if you don’t know what you are doing. And for many writers, unfortunately, that is exactly the case.

Setting, characters, and plot are much more concrete, and are—more or less—physical. Theme is the abstract component of story, but this doesn’t mean it’s less important or completely inaccessible. Theme can be controlled and understood just as setting, characters, plot, or even structure can. One of the primary problems, though, is that so few writers can identify, let alone understand and utilize, its components.

Hi all, September C. Fawkes here ( @septembercfawkes​ ), and I’m going to share the secret ingredients of theme.

The Abstract Components of Theme

First, I need to make sure we start on the same page by defining theme. Some define theme as an argument made through the story, while others define it as a recurring topic that is explored through the story. So, which is it?

The truth is, both viewpoints are critical to creating a strong theme; this is why I often prefer to break theme down into parts:

The thematic statement is what the story is arguing (and it should be able to fit a complete sentence)—this is proven true by the end of the story.

The theme topic is the subject the story explores, through the middle of the story. It will be included in the thematic statement.

For example, in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope the thematic statement is that “we should trust in faith” (as is illustrated through the Force). This is proven true at the end of the story when Luke chooses to rely on the Force instead of technology to destroy the Death Star.

The theme topic is “faith,” which is what the Force represents. The Force (i.e. “faith”) is explored through the story, particularly as Luke begins to learn about it, but also through others interacting with and voicing their opinions on it.

Beyond the thematic statement and the theme topic, I like to add what I personally call the anti-thematic statement and the anti-theme topic. After all, if a theme contains an argument, then your story needs a counterargument: You can’t really argue if no one is disagreeing.

In Star Wars, the anti-thematic statement is that “we should rely on technology.” And the anti-theme topic is “technology.” The anti-thematic statement is ultimately proven false when Luke turns off technology to blow up the Death Star (which is, itself, the most powerful form of technology in the story). And the topic is likewise explored through the characters’ experiences and voiced opinions on it.

The theme and anti-theme will essentially be opposites within the story.

Harry Potter: “Love is the most powerful force(magic) in the world.” vs. “Hatred is the most powerful force in the world.”

Les Misérables: “Mercy is more powerful than justice.” vs. “Justice is more powerful than mercy.”

The Hunger Games: “We should sacrifice ourselves to save others.” vs. “We must sacrifice others for our survival.”

In short, a strong theme has, at least, four critical (abstract) components: the thematic statement, the theme topic, the anti-thematic statement, the anti-theme topic. There are, admittedly, more, but because I don’t plan on writing a book-length article today, I’ll keep it simple. 😉

When you understand that a theme needs an anti-theme, you will be well on your way to writing with a theme without being contrived and preachy; one of the reasons those issues show up is because the author doesn’t fairly explore and argue (or even include) an opposing worldview.

That’s great and all, September—you may be thinking—but how do I actually create theme in a story?

I’m so glad you asked. 😉

Shaping Theme Through Story

Remember how I said that theme is the abstract component of story?

This makes it tricky to create. Personally, I like to think of theme as your story’s shadow—or perhaps more accurately, its shadow puppet.

The other pieces—setting, character, and plot—are essentially concrete. But theme comes out of them when an outside intelligence (writer or reader) shines light on them. This casts a shadow, or rather, a shadow puppet.

Working with theme can be tricky because you can’t hold and mold the shadow itself. In order to create the puppet you want, you have to rearrange the hands (the other story elements) in the proper way.

You can’t cast a blob on the wall and insist that it’s a rabbit. It’s ineffective, and the audience won’t believe you. (And yet so many writers try to do this when they attempt to slap a theme on their stories (often through long philosophical monologues).)

Instead, you must work with the concrete parts—the “hands”—to create the desired shape.

The Concrete Components of Theme

Critical Thematic Pieces 

1. The Protagonist

As the protagonist arcs through the story, he or she will arc in a way that taps into a worldview, belief system, or lifestyle. Often, the character has a dominant quality that will be challenged in the story. Harry flips from being hated by the Dursleys to learning he was so loved by his mother, he has a powerful protective magic. Jean Valjean offers mercy to others time and time again, despite being challenged by Javert.

How your protagonist changes or remains steadfast, and how your protagonist succeeds or fails, in the plot, conveys a value on those belief systems.

2. The Antagonistic Force

Because the antagonistic force is challenging the protagonist, it often embodies, represents, or taps into the opposing argument. If your protagonist has a positive arc (as is most common), this frequently means the antagonist will relate to the anti-theme. Voldemort doesn’t understand love, and mistakenly believes exercising hatred will lead to power. In The Hunger Games, the Capitol sacrifices innocent children for its own gain.

3. The Climax

At the climax, the protagonist and antagonist will go head to head and the main conflict will be resolved. Who wins and how conveys a teaching about the belief systems.

Jean Valjean extends mercy to Javert, who is so enveloped in justice that he cannot go on living, and takes his own life.

Katniss must defeat the antagonistic force by proving she will do more than simply save herself and survive. She must be willing to risk sacrificing herself to possibly save Peeta and beat the Games.

The fact the protagonist succeeds proves their conclusive worldview “correct” (simplistically speaking). Alternatively, in negative arcs, this is often reversed—the protagonist fails because they embraced the incorrect worldview (the anti-theme).

Supporting Thematic Pieces 

1. The Influence Character

Often the protagonist has a key relationship with another character—this may be an ally, friend, love interest, coworker, mentor, child, or what have you. Typically, this relationship makes up a secondary plotline. Dramatica Theory calls this role the “Influence Character” because the person has power based on how they influence the protagonist.

The protagonist and Influence Character are often tied together in plot, but have opposing methodologies—because they have different worldviews. This taps into the theme.

Most of the time, the Influence Character has a worldview that the protagonist comes to understand and adopt—a worldview that is "correct." In other stories, this is reversed and the Influence Character adopts the protagonist’s worldview.

In Star Wars, Obi-Wan is the Influence Character, and his methods revolve around relying on the Force, which Luke eventually comes to adopt. Because they share a plot goal, but different methods, this allows room for the theme topic of faith (the Force) to be explored more easily as they struggle to work together.

2. The Supporting Cast

Ideally, the supporting cast will also be feeding into the theme by offering different experiences and perspectives on the theme topic (and possibly the anti-theme topic). While Harry is hated by the Dursleys, Dudley is so loved by them that he’s spoiled rotten. Ron feels least loved as the last son of a large family, and Hermione is disliked and a loner, until the boys eventually befriend her.

While Obi-Wan talks of trusting the Force, Han Solo shares why he doesn’t believe in such things while opting to use technology.

3. Secondary Plots

Often secondary plots will mirror and foil the primary plot, and therefore tap into theme. In the plotline with Hermione above, Hermione moves from being, in a sense, unloved, to being loved, just like Harry.

However, I admit, this approach is more obvious in the second installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which argues that your choices make you who you are (theme), not what you are born as (anti-theme). Hermione being bullied for being a mudblood, Hagrid being used as a scapegoat for being half-giant, and Dobby being forced to serve the Malfoys for being a house elf, all mirror the thematic and anti-thematic arguments.

In Les Mis, the rebellion plotline offers another way to explore the topics of mercy and justice within society.

Critical Pieces vs. Supporting Pieces

The critical pieces are the "bones" of the shadow puppet. The supporting parts provide the "flesh" (they add breadth, density, or depth to the shadow).

Because the critical pieces are the bones, they inherently make the shadow puppet when the light shines on them. If you want to cast a rabbit shadow puppet, you need to arrange them into that. You can never cast a shadow that doesn’t match the bones.

On the other hand, the supporting pieces aren’t as vital, so they give you more wiggle room. They may reinforce the thematic argument, making the theme more straightforward, or they may contrast the argument, making the theme more complex.

All in all, make sure the concrete components of your story “show” the theme you want to write, and rearrange them until they do. This means they will need to tap into and illustrate the thematic statement and theme topic as well as the anti-thematic statement and anti-theme topic.

This will set you on a path that will have you identifying, understanding, and utilizing theme better than ever before.

#writing tips #writing tips and tricks #writeblr #writing help #writing reference #writing advice #writing theme #September C Fawkes

[celestie0]

hi, love! how are you today? are you doing well? is work treating you good?

i hope you are doing well! flowers 💐 for my favourite girlie ✨

also have you got any tips for new writers? like i’ve been tryna write this fanfic but i cannot really understand how to keep it flowing without forcing it out, and i’m hoping you can help us out. its absolutely fine if you’re busy or cannot for any reason. no pressure truly🥹

🫶💌

hellooo i’m doing well thank you 🥺💕 work is well i just got home, its rainy where i live so i made some hot cocoa and im just in bed now. i hope you’re feeling better i know you said you were sick <3 🌤️🌤️ some sunshine for you!

ohhh to be asked for writers tips is so flattering! i tried to think of my top few, and i have them below the read line :”) hope they help in some way and if you do end up posting your works don’t hesitate to tag me i would love to read them <3

my writing tips ₊˚⊹ ᰔ

dialogue. this one is toughhh bc i feel like a lot can ride on dialogue. my biggest tip for dialogue would be to just write all of your dialogue for a scene completely stripped down. none of the “he says” & “she says” or action verbs inbetween, just write it all out like it was a simple text convo w quotation marks. that way the words will sound realistic because you’re only picturing a convo in your head, rather than also trying to juggle all the descriptive prose. after you’ve got the dialogue, then you can go back in to fluff things up. if it’s meant to be comedic or a fast-paced argument, i think keeping it relatively stripped down is the way to go, but if it’s something intense or suspenseful then fluffing it up may be the better choice. also, i find dialogue becomes easier the more you write for a specific character, so if it’s not flowing right away, don’t worry!! their words will find you eventually once you get to know the character better :)

on choosing conflicts. this can be harddd because sometimes you just want the story to exist in happy land haha. but just like you said so beautifully in the sweet kickoff ch8 review you gave me, characters won’t always act perfect, but i think a great way to make conflict seem realistic is for them to act in character but with flaws, rather than just randomly out of character with flaws. maybe make a list of what that character’s good qualities and how those qualities could also work against them, and use the latter to brainstorm realistic conflict that those qualities could put them in (ex: a character is self-sufficient, but that causes them to rely on ppl less when they need it -> they fail to reach out for help in timely manners and leads to mistakes/regrets)

pacing. the biggessstt most important thing in my opinion for writing i believe is nailing the pacing. especially for fanfiction where people may be more interested in specific niche scenes rather than all of the stuff built around it. when starting off a story, don’t be afraid to just jump straight into it! or jump straight into the dialogue and then build the scene gradually as it progresses, rather than [gigantic block of text in beginning of scene that reader must drag their eyes through] and then get to the dialogue (im sooo bad w this myself lmao i fluff things up too much). in a world where attention spans are decreasing (rip), a lot of the times less is more. make sure the pacing fits the scene (romantic -> longer paragraphs more focused on subtle details, comical -> short paragraphs w simple n relatable diction, etc)

creating characters. with fanfiction this can be easy since you already have fleshed out characters from shows/books to work off of, but a good way to characterize is to just include little details that give them personality! not only is it a way to allow the reader to resonate with the character, but also it gives other characters in the story an opportunity to notice those lil quirks and create bonds over them as well. i just picture my friends or family in my head, the things i love about them, and incorporate it (i know nothing about film photography but my friend is a film major n thats where i got the idea for mc in kickoff)

for tone and mood. i think to get words flowing for different scenes, it can be really useful to get into the environment of those scenes while you’re writing, such as listening to a song that fits the vibe of the scene prior to/during writing (i blasted tgif by katy perry while writing the party scenes in ch6 of kickoff lol), or if its a scene at night, write it w the lights off, or watch a youtube vid w scenery that matches. may sound silly, but it could help! if i write something angsty in a really bright sunshine environment it’s hard for me to get the words

read more. this is sort of a miscellaneous one but a good way to subconsciously get better at writing is to just read more! your brain kinda learns how to write on its own when you read. also, when i’m reading, if i see words i really like i jot them down in my notes app so i have my own lil vocabulary of words that i know i would like to use in my writing

on writing insecurities. be proud of your writing!! your first draft does NOT have to be perfect. some days the words will flow, but on some they won’t, and that’s okay. don’t get too into your head about “i wonder what readers will think of this plot point or this character action” etc, i think having faith in your own process but also in your readers will bring you a lot of peace as you write :) create what you want to create and the rest will follow!! when i first started posting kickoff i was overthinking sooo many things that ended up being received just fine by readers in the end, so just stick to your plan 🫶🏼💕

use chatgpt. looool ai can be useful in writing too! i usually only use it after i'm completed with a draft, and i just plug select paragraphs into it to see if it can come up with some better words for me to use. it's also useful to come up with logistical details for aspects of your stories for world-building etc (no clue anything ab professional collegiate soccer games i've never been to one but i used chatgpt to come up with the scenes)

woooow i wrote way more than i thought i would haha but i hope this helps!! ive never given tips before so idk if these only make sense to me 💀 but hopefully they can be applied to what you’re looking to write as well :)

#asks #writing tips #just writer things

[icycoldninja]

I’m in an angst mood so what about human Raiden (MGS2) x female reader who was man made and became to be an assassin who has truma after being deemed a failure in her youth so had never loved agian until she found Raiden…. But make it headcanons

One bowl of angst, coming right up.

MGS2!Raiden x Fem!Man-made!Reader headcannons

-The first time Raiden met you, he knew something was off. The way you talked, how you moved, the strange indents in some parts of your body--it just didn't seem right.

-Raiden knew his suspicions about you should have been put at ease when you introduced yourself as an assassin, but for some reason, they weren't.

-He wasn't sure why, or what it was, but there was something about you that disturbed him, deeply.

-The two of you went on missions together quite often, with you usually taking the lead. You were very cold and mean towards him--and very bossy--which made Raiden wonder if he'd done something to upset you.

-"Y/N, if I offended you, I'm sorry, but I don't get why you have to-" "Shut up! Don't talk to me, human, not unless it's about work."

-That's when he made the connection. You weren't a human, you wre some sort of cyborg, or maybe an AI that became sentient.

-After digging in the records a little, he discovered a top secret, long since completed project with your name. You were a man-made killing machine, implemented with the brain of an orphaned child. Now Raiden understood why you were so hostile towards everyone. Years of pain, both emotional and physical, as well as grueling training had taken it's toll on you.

-Discovering this information tugged at his heartstrings. He, too, knew the pain of being forced into immoral work at a young age.

-He wanted to talk to you about it, but ever since your short argument the other day, you were even colder and distant than normal, so he kept silent.

-He didn't know that you were just as bothered as he was. Raiden had no idea that you were emotionally suffering too.

-Not like there was anything you could do about it. After all, how could you tell him that you were afraid of loving people? Afraid to be loved?

-It was still fresh in your mind's eye; the day your mentor had struck you down and told you, simple and harsh: "You are a failure, and you always will be."

-Those words haunted you every moment of your life, even in your sleep. Your life and all your choices were influenced by those words; the desire to never be seen as a failure ever again.

-To love someone was weakness; weakness made you fail, and you couldn't afford failure, lest the ghostly memory of your mentor beating you for your weakness return.

-But Raiden...this one was different, wasn't he? More understanding than the others. He was a child soldier, one who understood battle as well as you did, maybe better. Surely, you could trust him--surely, he wouldn't hurt you as so many others did.

-No, you couldn't. You were too afraid, too fearful of being tricked and hurt again. But what of this sense of affection you harbored for Raiden? Ignore it. Ignore it like you ignored the pain etched deep in your skin; ignore it like you ignored the awful nightmares that often plagued your sleep. Put on your armor; encase yourself in a cold shell of disinterest and stoicism. The humans could never know what you really were--especially Raiden.

-Both of you would continue your work together, with him keeping mostly to himself and only speaking to you when necessary, and you keeping your mouth shut all the time, neither of you knowing of the feelings you had for each other, and most likely, neither of you never would.

#Mgs #Mgs2 #Mgs2 raiden #Raiden x reader #Mgs2 raiden x reader #Mgs raiden x reader #Mgs raiden #metal gear solid #metal gear solid 2 raiden #Metal gear solid 2 #icycoldninja writes #requested #thanks for requesting #Metal gear solid #Angst #headcannons #Fanfic in headcannon form #Hard angst

[freyjas-musings]

In regards to the influencer post about getting hate: forreal, this is the first book release that I’ve been a part of the fandom for and the behavior of some people really ruins the experience.

So many hateful comments, unnecessarily starting fights with strangers on both Instagram and TikTok (and I’m lowkey pissed bc the Today Show is intentionally feeding the arguments to boost their posts)

And people can claim it’s Gwynriels all they want but the ONLY hateful comments I can find are E/riels. I wish Sarah wouldn’t bait people to start arguments (girl knows what she’s doing in those interviews) but I’m a little heartbroken because I got into these books because they gave me hope and I thought others felt the same.

Attacking people on Instagram, tumblr, and TikTok just because they ship differently than you is CRAZY. And the hate towards Gwyn is sad, she’s objectively a wonderful character😅

I hope SJM sees the hate E/riels spew.

All of what you said Anon is pretty spot on with how I feel too. Bullying is never ok and what makes the entire case with the influencer terrible is that the girl literally has nothing to do with the fandom or the ship war so these lunatics could have left her alone. As far as SJM knowing I am sure she does especially given her best friend has been harassed by Elriels.

She does look like a nerdy modern Gwyn!!!

With the Today Show interviews , to be fair literally nothing changed in terms of what we already know. It still made it pretty obvious it is Azriels book and that he does mostly have a mate, here is the key thing people miss.... Elucien's bond being accepted or rejected has nothing to do with Gwynriel.... Az wants a mate and if that mate is Gwyn they are endgame simple as that ....

If it was Elains book Lucien would have been mentioned in some capacity but that never happened , it was Elain and Gwyn with Az as the focus thereby further proving it is Azriels book . We also know Azriels feelings for Elain were never really deep. So, I have no doubt that Gwynriel is end game , how can anyone refute Canon info?

The hate towards both Elain and Gwyn is unnecessary. I am not a fan of Elain but I would never relentlessly make shit posts about her. She is not a character I prefer and indifference is as far as I would go.

Yes, I am disappointed that the interview did fuel the ship war , we all beat our chest and spill our hearts when two fictional females are being put against each other.... Yet here we now have two groups of real young women who have been pit against each other , it goes against everything I believe in, this fandom has basically fostered the most unhealthy environment of women pulling other women down... We are never going to win the battle with Feminism aka equality if we keep being each others enemies instead of atleast tolerating one another enough to grant dignity and respect ... and I was upset for all sides and this the truth....

These are young impressionable women and the publisher is most certainly taking advantage of the passion they have .... If the book is only a year away like they claim they could have just said whose book is next so people had time to process and get on board. Would the publisher have kept the news on who the book is about if it wasn't for the ship war? I think we all know the answer to that.

I am sorry this has been your first experience with the fandom and while I understand it's been hard I would request you to hang in there because there is a wonderful side to this fandom too, one that you will see during events , with friends and we are also officially entering the ACOTAR Era and its going to be exciting 🤗

#gwynriel #gwyneth berdara #Azriel #azriel shadowsinger #azriel spymaster #gwyn acosf #gwyn x azriel #acotar #azriel #post acosf #acosf #pro gwynriel

[kloofspeaks]

Mistletoe | A Robert 'Bob' Floyd One-shot

Words: 1218

Sneakpeek:

“Just like how you deal with me?” She asked, having a snarky grin spread on her smooth face, “I’m always willing to deal with you, doll.” 

“That’s a new one, what’s got you in such a pet-name mood?” She raised a brow once more, Bob rarely used pet names unless he needed something from Y/N, or was severely drunk from Rooster berating him with a bunch of unneeded drinks and pep-talks. 

“I think it’s the mistletoe,” She rolled her eyes at his silly words, “A pair of leaves made you spill a pet name? Where’s Floyd and what have you done with him?” She went to give him a teasing shove but he grabbed her hand in a swift motion, it made her look at him funny. 

(Tags: @notyoursbutlewis, @callmemana, @viothewolx, @bayisdying)

“Have you ever wondered what a mistletoe really is?” Bob spoke as he was hanging up the final touches around the apartment, Y/N looked over at him with a questioning glance, “I don’t wonder what plants are, Floyd.”

“Most people don’t,” He breathed out, jumping down from the ladder with a small thump as he pushed his silver-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose, his eyes looking her over, “Which is why I’m asking,” 

“Aren’t they just plants people hang to drag a simple kiss out of somebody, Floyd?” She personally didn’t fall for the simple kiss underneath a mistletoe, she normally avoided them at all costs.

“They also have a lot of romantic meanings behind them,” He was getting all snarky as he finished placing the mistletoe in place, they had a party coming up with the rest of the pilots, Bob figured it would be bitterly sweet to have a mistletoe to change someone’s day. 

“I thought we stopped speaking all about the floral languages when winter hit,” Y/N perked a brow at him, she loved when he spoke in beautiful detail about his love for flowers, their languages always charmed her, but during winter it was hard to share his love when they all welted from the intense snow and growing ice. 

“We do, I’m just saying,” Bob had a small smile on his lips as he stood in the doorway with his hands on his fine hips, he was making sure it was just right, he arched his back so he could look at Y/N from a weird angle to make her smile, “Can you come and help me with centering this?” 

Y/N gave him a flat glance, “Are you trying to get a kiss out of me, Floyd?” Bob shrugged, “Depends if it’s magic powers even work,” He had a soft chuckle escape his lips, “I’ll help, but I don’t want any forced kisses from that mouth of yours.”

She made her way over to where Bob was standing, her hands resting on her hips when she was mere-feet away from him, “Why’s it have to be perfectly centered? It seems to look fine to me,” it was hanging slightly crooked, she could see it, but she also wasn’t irritated like Bob who was frustrated with how it hung. 

“I just want it to be perfect,” He tried to move it again which made it worse, “Here, Floyd, let me try.” 

She moved up towards him, they both were standing underneath the sweet mistletoe, she used Bob’s chest to balance herself as she stood up on her tippy-toes, she struggled but finally got the plant to hang straight, she looked down at Bob who gave her a nod of approval before falling flat on her soles. 

“See, that wasn't hard was it?” She looked up at the now swaying plant as it was rebalancing itself, “You didn’t make it look hard,” She was slightly shorter than Bob so it made her confused on why he would struggle so much with trying to center a mistletoe. 

“I always don’t make anything look hard,” She muttered, her eyes falling on Bob, he was looking up at the mistletoe, they both were proud of the hidden plant, the plant that sometimes had people fall into a kiss underneath it, or get in an argument about having to kiss someone they hated. 

“I wouldn’t say always,” Bob muttered. 

“I’m hurt by those words, Floyd,” She teased, pushing up his falling glasses once more, “I don’t understand how you fly in these, they almost fall all the time,” She felt like she was always pushing up his classy glasses, the ones that made their eyes connect at The Hard Deck that one summer evening, the one night where he mentioned they were practically going on a suicide mission, he kept talking like he would never see her again. 

“I deal with it,” He had a charming smile, his eyes soft as he gazed over every detail on her toned and fragile face, the way her skin seemed to melt underneath the lit candles from the kitchen that was right behind Bob, the song Last Christmas by Wham! Hummed in the background, it was one of Bob’s favorites. 

“Just like how you deal with me?” She asked, having a snarky grin spread on her smooth face, “I’m always willing to deal with you, doll.” 

“That’s a new one, what’s got you in such a pet-name mood?” She raised a brow once more, Bob rarely used pet names unless he needed something from Y/N, or was severely drunk from Rooster berating him with a bunch of unneeded drinks and pep-talks. 

“I think it’s the mistletoe,” She rolled her eyes at his silly words, “A pair of leaves made you spill a pet name? Where’s Floyd and what have you done with him?” She went to give him a teasing shove but he grabbed her hand in a swift motion, it made her look at him funny. 

“He’s right here,” Bob laughed at her comment, his hand letting go of her small one, his hand finding a way to rest on her hip, “Did you want to test the mistletoe?” Now, it all made sense on why Bob dragged her over here to help, the changing of the mistletoe, the staring, the pet names, he wanted a sweet kiss from his loving lady. 

She tilted her head at him, her eyes making a narrowed look up at what she called a pair of leaves just moments ago, “Your glasses are going to get in the way, Bobby,” She spoke softly, she felt as if her voice could swallow her whole. 

“They never gotten in the way before,” She snorted at what he probably called an excuse of an kiss, “You mean the drunk, half hearted kiss we had at The Hard Deck the day before your suicide flight?”

“No the other one,” She looked up at him confused, “What other one?” She was suddenly pulled up to her tippy-toes from Bob’s arm wrapped around her waist, she was brought into a silver lining kiss, one that sparkled and shined more than the star that sat on the top of their tree. 

The kiss was one she could relive in every movement, her heart and soul both melted with love when she felt his soft lips against her own for longer than a second, longer than the sloppy kiss they shared that one scary night. 

She could remember the song playing when they first kissed, it was a smooth Otis Redding song that Rooster has chosen to play over the machine, Hangman had a small attitude from the Chicken’s sudden change of his rock, the unplugging of the machine to play an old folks song on the piano, she remembered laughing and slurring her words to her delight. 

But Bob had kissed her better this time, it wasn’t sloppy, it wasn’t done with grown men arguing over a music machine, it didn’t have two other pilots fighting with pool cues like they were swords. It was just her and floyd in that moment, 

It was the mistletoe that brought them together, 

The mistletoe she simply called a pair of leaves. 

#Kloofwriting #tgm #robert x female reader #robert bob floyd x you #robert 'bob' floyd #robert bob floyd #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #christmas #top gun #top gun maverick #oNE OUT OF THE TWO CHRISTMAS SPECIALS FR

[injellyfish1218]

okay i’m just going to get this off of my chest because i haven’t even been on tumblr long but i’ve seen this argument so many times it’s ridiculous😭 i hate to see black writers get shitted on for writing what makes them happy. not only do they put time and effort into their writing but they also share their works for free! just in hopes that other people like them will enjoy and consume their work. that’s just the simple truth. if you don’t like the way someone writes reader in their works, then don’t read it. nobody cares that you don’t like something. it also really bothers me that people claim that they hate that black reader is always depicted as hypersexual and ghetto and toxic. which… BITCH HUH??? the black writers that i follow are definitely versatile in their writing and don’t only write smut, don’t only give reader one specific personality. because most black writers goal is to make sure everyone feels included in their works. might i add, being hypersexual is not a bad thing. that one post that started this conversation again, so many comments were people saying “why can’t reader be normal?” ummm…. babes… being ghetto and hypersexual IS normal. very normal people are like that, it’s apart of their personality. i guess the hate towards hypersexuality stuff really bothers me because i am hypersexual (from sa trauma as a child) and i feel like those types of comments feel like indirect slut shaming. but being hypersexual does not equal sleeping around. i’m a perfect example i am hypersexual but am a virgin yall😭 it’s just strange and i think a lot of this comes from being ashamed of their blackness and sexuality. especially because as black women we are often shamed for these things. but i understand not ALL black women but a lot are like the reader in these fics. ALSO, this is FICTIONAL why do you want reader to be JUST like you??? i don’t drink, or smoke, or party, or whatever, but best believe im reading a fic where reader is doing all of those things and im eating it up!!!! USE YOUR IMAGINATION!!! loosen up and pretend. that’s the whole point these stories aren’t real and would never happen! and if you don’t find what you’re looking for write it yourself! it’s not hard! no need to shame others for what they like to read and/or write! okay? okay. i don’t understand why black women can’t have fun, or why the shaming is coming from their own PEOPLE, but it’s weird. PERIOD AND I STAND ON THAT!! anyway, moral of the story is… stop being a buzzkill. you don’t like something keep scrolling. and don’t get disrespectful if i said something you didn’t like because i don’t play like that💋.

#black reader #smut #i’m just a girl #girl’s girl #keep it cute #i’m not playing #black #black writers

[juneviews]

i've seen love in the air (LITA) and i would like to argue in its favor... i think in 2022 we should all be past demonizing or belittling bl shows which plot focuses mostly on sexual relationships as if they're an unimportant part of lgbt people's lives (this has happened recently with ''only friends'', just after the trailer was released, its own director had to come out and /defend/ himself against what were blatantly puritan and subtly homophobic ''bl fans'' making this same argument). first of all, LITA is a romance bl so of course, the main plot is about the main characters falling in love with all it entails. and they do a excellent, excellent job at portraying 4 very different people in 4 different stages/backgrounds in life with 4 very different life experiences and how they come together and work through all things standing between them. LITA is more than a simple romance bl that says nothing once it's done. it has incredible SA survivor representation with all that it entails (dealing with PTSD, how it affects someone's perception of love and sex, how people help victims, how to slowly heal from it, etc) and it also has a great representation of ''you're more than just someone's boyfriend and being in love is not everything in life'' in the sense of academic success, hard work, determination, etc. yeah the NC scenes are good because the chemistry between the actors is great, but there's literally 5 NC scenes in 13 episodes total and they all make sense in the totality of the TV show.

i understand romance-based bls might not be everyone's cup of tea and people would rather watch things like triage, manner of death, not me or vice versa, which are more about the storyline than the love line, but ruling out LITA just because it's got NC scenes in it is doing a disservice to the effort and talent the actors have in portraying human, real and raw lgbt love experiences.

i hope you can give it a try, especially prapai and sky's story, since it tells a very beautiful tale of care, acceptance, overcoming trauma and building a healthy support system. <3

okay, that's another way to see it. the way you describe this series makes it sound way better than the basic university bl it seemed to be, which makes it seem actually interesting. I still probably won’t watch it bc I have many other shows in store & also sa survivor storylines that are too graphic bother me. (also mame’s OBSESSION with having sa survivors in every single on of her stories is weird, I’m sorry 💀 especially considering she’s romanticized sa multiple times as well 💀) that being said, I wanna make something clear (which I thought was clear if you scrolled to my blog but anyways): I am not against sex scenes. only friends is one of the 2023 shows I'm the most excited for, and I've praised p'jojo's (the same director) works featuring sex as an important part of life like the warp effect before. my issue with sex scenes in bl comes with bl not being a genre for lgbtq+ people to start with. it suffices to look at the original novels that inspire 99% of thai bl shows: they almost all feature & excuse sa in some form, and rely heavily on stereotypes of the small feminine main character with his pushy masculine love interest to only present ONE type of relationship, when lgbtq+ people are all unique & different. sure, bl has now a huge lgbtq+ following & many of the people creating bl shows are now lgbtq+ themselves, but that doesn't mean that most bl shows aren't still mostly meant for straight women. and if anyone opens their eyes for five seconds, they will realize that there is a reason why bl shows are a thousand times more sexual than straight thai dramas: bc most of those scenes are for fanservice rather than in service of the plot. and fyi I LOVE romances. it's the reason I love thai dramas so much, bc pretty much all of them are romances in some way. and I LOVE well done sex scenes like seanwhite's first time. so to pretend I'm demonizing all bl sex scenes instead of acknowledging the truth that most bl sex scenes are unnecessary & only there to arouse its audience is misplaced. if non bl thai dramas were as sexual as american shows for example, I wouldn't say a thing bc this oversexualization would be generalized (still not sure it would be okay though.) but here it's present ONLY in bl, which tells me everything there is to know.

xxx

#answers #also - I didn't start the discourse about love in the air so I would appreciate it to not continue further #I don't have the energy to argue about shows I haven't watched. #ALSO the thing with only friends is that it uses sex to carry a message - that often sex is used to avoid real intimacy & love with others #the sex in shows like don't say no & cutie pie said what? that the couple is in love? yeah we got it the first time. #(also a dumb pet peeve of mine is when people talk about a group of bl shows & don't put not me first cijdeihbdc let's be fucking for real)

[useless-englandfacts]

I'm pretty sure that the attempts to wipe out all Gaelic languages in the UK and shit like the Highland Clearances do count as colonialist violence though even if whether Scotland was 'colonised' is in question

(Also England also brought in monarchs from Orange and Hanover - they were rulers of those regions too, just as James I was ruler of Scotland - and those aren't part of UK, so...)

yeah i mean i don't want to pretend that the relationship between scotland and england has always been/is currently equal and i don’t want to ignore instances such as scottish children being beaten in schools for speaking gaelic as recently as the early 1900s, or how much england profits from scottish oil.

putting the rest under a cut because, as ever, this is a long answer (sorry)

on the specifics: the 1609 act that first banned scottish gaelic was passed by the scottish privy council, not by the english. this is not to say that subsequent acts weren't supported by the english - especially after the jacobite rising in the mid-1700s, though that was as much about religion and securing the british monarchy as it was about the scotland's relationship with england. obvs doesn’t make it okay though and the specifics aren't the point here (i don't think?)

the jacobite rising was also what led (in part) to the highland clearances, though it could be seen as a long-term result of the 1609 act which changed the role of clan chiefs from patriarchs into de facto commercial landlords. significant thing here though is that a lot of the clearances were funded by rich scottish nobles who were fans of social engineering, many of whom had found wealth in the british empire.

and that kind of leads to my most important point: i don't think it's correct to compare the relationship between scotland and england to that of, for example, britain and india or britain and barbados or britain and kenya or britain and australia (you get the picture).

scotland profited immensely from the british empire. scottish people were administrators, merchants, explorers, soldiers, etc. all over the empire, and so much of their wealth came from the trading of enslaved people and the commodities they produced like sugar and tobacco. the first prime minister of canada was born in scotland - the same prime minister that introduced residential schools for the forced assimilation of indigenous children.

there was a partnership between scotland and england that was founded on whiteness. scottish people were not racialised, enslaved, and dehumanised in the way that people in the colonies were, and i think that’s an important distinction to make (not that white people can’t ever be colonised but hopefully you understand what i’m getting at here).

i'm not saying this to absolve england of anything, or to bad-mouth scotland, or to say that one country is better than the other and i don't want this to turn into an argument along those lines in the slightest. i'm just saying that colonialism perhaps isn't the best framework to explain the relationship between england and scotland, and that it’s not as simple as good guys and bad guys. there’s a lot of nuance and shade in the history of anglo-scottish relations, and we shouldn’t ignore the fact that the question of scottish independence has become more pronounced since the ‘end’ (using that term loosely) of the british empire, when the partnership has become less profitable for the scots.

finally, on william of orange and the hanover monarchs: it's an interesting point, but i think it's ultimately a false parallel. william iii was the prince of orange which isn't equal to a scottish or english king. orange was a tiny feudal state in what is now france that, tbh, was barely worth having. france were vying for it during william’s reign and i believe louis xiv actually captured it at one point, so yeah the context is wildly different. william also married into the royal family, unlike james who was a descendant of the tudors. similarly, the political system in hanover was different to that of britain, being part of the ever-confusing holy roman empire, and so again it's not comparable to the scottish monarchy which had a relatively easy equivalent in england.

also worth mentioning that by this point, the nature of monarchy had radically changed compared to james i's time. there had been a civil war, we executed a monarch, there was a period (in england) of no monarchy, the monarchy was restored, the glorious revolution created a constitutional monarchy that was accountable to parliament, the divine right of monarchs had been questioned... the roles being offered to william iii and george i were very different - even to each other! - compared to that being offerened to james i.

sorry, you probably didn’t expect a thousand-word response, but i equally didn’t want people to think that i was taking the question of english colonialism lightly because it is a conversation worth having. and i’m sure that it’s a conversation that will be repeated if/when the indyref comes around.

#i am... so sorry that this is so long and i really hope i've got the tone right like. i really don't want this to read in the wrong way #and thank u for ur ask like it's important to have these conversations! #even if it is just on tumblr and like 5 people read it shfkjdf #asks #anonymous #Scotland #Admin Dominique

[thewales]

I’m a different anon who actually agrees with you but I disagree with your first two points:

1. Over the last two years, they’ve worn morning suits and coatdresses to open parliament. Not the usual fancy dress. To keep up with the times and not appear tone deaf.

2. What judges in the U.K. wear to court are in no way the same as what Charles would. Sure, they are both technically robes but they are VERY different robes. Plus nobody cares about judges. Most people care about the monarchy and criticise their every mince so comparing them is not really applicable here.

I agree with your point about them dressing the part just not necessarily your arguments. Plus I get the anon’s points about it potentially causing backlash. I can actually see both sides. They are both risky in the sense that on one hand it could make people turn against Charles at a time when his popularity is fragile but I can also see how we don’t want pomp and pageantry gone from the monarchy. I think they just need to watch and see what public opinion is like. Maybe leak a few stories here and there and then come to a conclusion. It’s still months away so no permanent decisions need to be made just yet.

I guess I should have been more precise in what I said.

When I mentioned parliament I was referring to parliamentarians and not to royals. In the last two years the Queen did not wear full regalia because of the pandemic but Charles this year went in full military uniform. The MPs wore their Santa Claus gowns as usual.

When I mentioned what the judges wear, I did it as a simplistic example, trying to say that already in the UK in everyday life they wear silly outfits. The monarchy will be criticised no matter what, if they remove all that, they will be criticised and if they don't, they will be criticised too.

As I said in a post I made last night, I understand removing a lot of things that were done in the past in such ceremonies that are unnecessary today - they were in those days too but that's not the point - but they shouldn't remove the Core of what one expects to see at a Coronation because then what's the point of having one? Let them have a simple service, Charles signs what he has to sign-if he has to sign anything-and that's it. Everybody goes home after that.

The previous anon mentioned tiaras and coronets and, they already have them, so why not wear them? Not wearing them but still having them won't help anything, it would be different if they didn't wear them because they are going to sell them, that would be helpful. Not using something you already have is… what's the point? and before someone comes and says that's not the point, that looks bad and I don't know what else, look, I totally agree with not using full regalia or part regalia in unnecessary situations, I don't expect Catherine to arrive at the next movie premiere wearing a tiara but I don't think it's wrong to expect her to do it in an event that everyone expects her to do it. These days we can count on one hand the events where we can expect women to wear a tiara and we would have fingers left over after doing so.

Look, a monarchy is not necessary but Royals can be useful, having a monarchy can be useful but a monarchy nowadays is mostly ceremonial and one of the significant ceremonies of a monarchy is a Coronation, in it, you expect to see Royals look like Royals, they have the rest of their lives to "be and look normal". But obviously, that's my opinion, everyone will have a different one and that's fine. At the end of the day, it won't influence anything and they will do what they want to do, whether it's the best thing or not.

#BRF #charles's coronation

[brascu]

I honestly don’t get antis

I live my fandom life exacly on the opposite direction: Sometimes there’s things I originally disliked, but I see someone writing about it and I’ll read it and most times I’ll be like “you know what? You’re right. I support this now”

Like, yesterday I got three DMs of people being really rude because of my post asking people to let Dave stay dead and all of them did not adress how they wanted Dave back whatsoever, they all name called me because I like Horrance lol And I mean, sure? ok you don’t have to enjoy it. Three months ago I would tell you I’m against it as well hahaha

But then I ran into some posts, some stories, some fanarts and you know what? I was like, yeah, they both wouldn’t care enough about it. Ben literally checks Klaus’ dick and has to tell himself to focus? It’s not an invention of the Fandom, it’s there in the show lol

So I don’t get those antis beceuse they activelly ignore the show, they are rude and they want desperately me, a complete stranger, to agree with them? And like??? Babe?

You try to not see whatever you think is not nice before thinking about it, stumble into it and get mad at me because you don’t have enough maturity to look away from what you dislike? You’re unable to read a post online to try to understand a new point of view, but want me to change mine to acomodate you after you were rude? It doesn’t make any sense to me.

Also, imagine if I was really a person in a Incestuous relationship? Imagine if I was happy in said relationship? Why would it bother you so much? What I do in my private life is none of your business, nor what my versions of the characters and how they act in my imagination is. 

You can convince me of your point of view if you’re good with your arguments.

Like, yesterday I saw a post with a simple set of gifs: Klaus snugggling with Allison in season 2 and then with Ben in season 3. This was the first “argument” that made me think that maybe Klaus and Ben didn’t fuck in season 3. My headcanon is that they did, but I won’t die if they didn’t. I don’t really care.

There are great stories about Klaus and Ben’s relationship where they are in a romantic setting or not, that’s not what makes the story good, gosh. Nor what makes their relationship so fucking special.

Don’t go chasing waterfalls, stick to the rivers you know.

And leave me the fuck alone <3

[salmonthestoryteller]

“Shipping Lens”

AKA The Irony of Accusing People for having a “Shipping Lens” when the setup you want is by far the Shippier Choice

Time for Salmon says something not everyone is going to like!  Writing Edition!  Yay!  I know you all love these!  /sarcasm  There is a complete irony in how much I write in defense of romantic plots and committed relationships given that if you go through the bulk of my writing - fanfiction and original - I write so much GD platonic fiction.  But honestly, I feel like there’s this bizarre fad to lecture people for daring to want to have nice things, so here we go.

Fact: Wanting two characters to get together before the end of the Main Plot is actually less of viewing things through a “Shipping Lens” than wanting the couple to not be together until the entire story arc is completed.

There is this rather odd belief that because people want ships to become committed before the end of the story, they “don’t understand fiction” - which is pretty much the most condescending crap around.  It basically means, “You don’t enjoy fiction the way I do, therefore you are intellectually inferior.”  Which always brings me back to the tired old “X type of fiction isn’t real fiction” debate - which has been used against everything from Romance to Young Adult to Science Fiction and everything in between over the years.  And, frankly, is a bunch of bologna and always will be.

I don’t know how to break it you people, but there are entire books written with no romance whatsoever.  Want me to name three?

Treasure Island The Elves and the Otterskin The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

What does that have to do with the price of butter?

Simple.  If the only thing that is keeping your audience interested in the story is if the main characters are finally going to get together romantically - and you are not writing for the Romance Genre - then you aren’t writing very good fiction.  Period.

If I am watching a movie, I’m generally good with the couple not getting together until the end.  Or the 75% mark.  This is partly because most movies only last about 1 ½ - 2 hours, and partly because the plot of most movies takes place during a short time period.  Days to weeks is the general time period for a movie.  A few cover months and years, but let’s face it the years especially is a very rare phenomenon.

If I am sitting through 12 to 50 episodes of a series?  If I have to sit through more than 6 hours of plot? If that plot is covering months to years of time? And I am not watching something from the Romance Genre? There better be a real plot. “Don’t you want to find out if the Ship gets together in Episode 49?” Babe, if the ship isn’t together at that point, I’m not sure how much I have left to give a damn - just promise me the damn villain gets defeated.

And that’s the real irony of this whole accusation of those of us complaining about series drawing out romances having “Shipping Lens.”  We’re the ones who want more time spent on the actual plot, and less time spent on the various ships rinse and repeating the same arguments to make sure they aren’t together “too soon.”  Honestly, if you erased 50% of those arguments and just let the couple commit in episode 25/50, you’d have so much more time for the actual plot, and extra time to commit to the platonic relationships of the series.

But that’s a “shipping lens”? That’s failing to understand how plots work? Babe, if this isn’t a romance, how soon the ship gets together doesn’t have to do with the plot.  The plot is - is the evil king defeated?  Did they survive the zombie apocalypse?  Did they win the damn dance competition?  Seriously, the ship is not the plot, and us being like - will you just put them together in season 2 already - is not a “shipping lens.”  It won’t change anything, because most of the time we already know who the end ships are anyhow.  We generally know that 30 minutes into the series, tbh.  It’s not like it’s hard to figure out most of the time.

If you would seriously not watch the rest of a tv series because a ship is officially together by the 50% mark?  You are the one not interested in the actual plot of the damn show. You are the one viewing things through a “Shipping Lens.”

#salmon rants #salmonrants #writing #shipping

[lovelettersforababylove]

OPEN WHEN... WE HAVE A FIGHT

Hello, my darling

So... did we fight? Well, I don't really know quite what to say to you in this letter about it, I could tell you a million things about it, but I guess I'm just going to say what comes from my heart right now as I'm writing.

I know that sometimes I can be a little shit when we fight or that I act incredibly cold and distant. In fact when I even don't want to talk anymore you've always had this attitude of telling me "baby...come back". And I'm stubborn as fuck, but all those times you've called me sweetly are the times that made me react and realize that the fact that I love you with all my heart is bigger than any fight or argument we could ever have.

I know that sometimes I need time alone, but that is possibly one of my biggest and most unconscious lies. It's no surprise to anyone that I want to control things, and it's not because I like to have power over others or limit their freedoms. I try to have power over me and feel in control of things to calms my mind. I guess this is exactly why when the little things I plan don't go as I expect I lose my temper, I don't know, I feel my mind destabilize and I guess it sounds like a lot of nonsense, but it's how my brain reacts and I can't control it and when I try to control that and I can't either... well, we're back to square one, It sounds like a vicious cycle, huh? Because of this and how complicated I’m, I don't like to feel the abandonment. That's why when something gets difficult I want to leave, because I don't want to stick around and watch people leave me, I guess. It sounds even more stupid, I know, but I promised I was going to speak to you from the heart. 

I know it's hard to try to be reasonable with me when I'm angry or seized by the madness of the moment, but believe me, if you make an effort to give me some peace, even if I'm being a jerk... I'll understand.

I know you are reactionary too and you have your temper and usually our argument tends to grow rather than subside, but don't leave me all night recalculated, it will surely just make me even more of a mess and I really deep down love you and don't want to attack you, so I will probably try not to talk to you but at the same time I will want to be with you.

I want you to know that even though I have a hard time expressing feelings during a fight, I do love you. I find it hard to say "I love you" when I fight because I feel like I'm tainting a nice and pure feeling with the anger that overwhelms me in the moment and I don't want to, but it doesn't mean that I don't feel love for you. I do and a lot. I care that you know this and that I want us to be okay.

...............................................................................................................................

PS: Did I ever tell you that a few years ago I wrote on a piece of paper "how to defuse the bomb"? It was a guide in simple steps on what to do when I'm angry hahaha I showed it to Salvatore and I don’t remember if I did too with you. I'm going to show it to you now, it's in Spanish, but here goes the translation

"How to defuse the bomb"

If the person presents clear signs of contained anger, frustration, sadness, analyze the following:

Some situation or person has caused a disturbance to your person.

Being a bad year, month, week or day, it is more likely that the person is startled by something (perhaps stress).

Hormones

How to proceed? Do not despair, we help you:

Options (you can try all, some or just one. Whatever works).

1. Try a hug. The moment of the hug stimulates nerve endings and increases oxytocin, one of the hormones linked to well-being and stress reduction (in case of refusal of physical contact, keep trying other things).

2. Reason with the person. Remind him/her that you cannot always have control over everything and that is not a bad thing. Focus on showing him/her the positive aspects and calmness to solve. Help him/her to solve.

3. Sometimes it is sleep or hunger. Sleep is hard to fix at the moment. Hunger is easier to fix. Sweet or salty? ask.

4. Take a deep breath

5. A diclofenac

6. A meme, joke or similar. Caution: this can go wrong, use with care.

7. Allow venting, paying attention and practicing empathy. (before contradicting or proving wrong.)

8. Walk

9. Find a distraction

I wish we all came with a manual, don't you? Maybe it will help you understand, maybe it will make you laugh. I don't know, honey. I'm sorry if we're fighting or we are distant when you're reading this. 

I love you. I wish you and us all the best from the bottom of my heart.

Love, Vincent