#and i'm happy with the results because that's my goal as a writer

[totallyboatless]

"Enemies to lovers" has important distinction categories, and depending on how you want your audience to feel about the end result of the couple, there has to be some kind of internal logic to support it.

If you want the end goal to be "they live happily and love each other and support each other," then the audience needs to be given reasons to believe that the couple would be ultimately compatible, even if they started out grating on each other. Maybe it's because I've hit my thirties, but every time I read or watch a story that has a couple who continues to fight and lie to each other, while in the same breath we're told they want to commit to each other forever, I start rooting for a breakup.

To clarify, I'm totally on board with characters who despise each other and still want to fuck nasty -- I just also want the writing to reflect that the relationship dynamic isn't trying to pretend to be something else; I never want the characters' actions to be excused because "love conquers all."

I love when writers/directors/actors pull off chemistry in antagonism, not just the horny kind but also a hint of believability that these characters won't just get along despite their personalities initially conflicting, but because they'll eventually see the ways they're similar and compliment each other.

This brought to you by having the Red, White, & Royal Blue movie on in the background -- and look I knoooow there's a lot of conflicting feelings about this story from very many angles, but bear with me because it has one very short interaction that I feel like packs the punch of what I'm talking about:

When Alex and Henry are being interviewed and pretending to be friends, they start purposefully trying to annoy each other. Alex lies about Henry loving to rap, and in a great narrative choice Henry doesn't contradict him. It would have been so easy to write Henry a line where he fake laughs and says "oooh, this guy, always teasing me." But instead he continues the bit with a perfect "yes, and" and builds onto the mythos of their fake friendship that Alex does a perfect Barbra Streisand impression. We're shown quickly and clearly that they have the same sense of humor, and the same way of expressing it. In this case they're trying to be antagonistic, but the way they bounce off each other sets the groundwork for being able to see how, in the future, they could be having the exact same interaction with the result being shared laughter instead of annoyance.

The strongest happy-ending-oriented "enemies to lovers" stories imo don't require characters to change core parts of themselves or force themselves into a relationship. They require the characters to change their perspectives on each other so that every retrospective antagonistic scene holds the capacity for love that was veiled in misunderstanding.

#red white and royal blue #enemies to lovers #another mini essay i didn't mean to write

[neoswiftology]

so I made a search engine of taylor swift songs

hello! so um. yeah. I made a pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript search engine of Taylor Swift songs because I'm not normal.

Swift Song Search v. 1.0

Catalog:

All studio albums including all bonus tracks and some remixes

Both rerecordings excluding ATW10 Sad Girl Autumn and Short Film versions

The Holiday Collection and Beautiful Eyes

Features:

field search by song title, writers, or producers EDIT: producers search is not working and writers search is glitching. looking into it!

filter by album

filter by type of album/collection (studio album, rerecording, EP)

filter to only show songs Taylor owns

filter to only show self written songs

filter to exclude alternate versions - remixes, demos, acoustic versions, etc.

combine any number of filters, though some will obviously produce zero results (ex. filter by Reputation and Taylor owns)

combine the field search with any number of filters, or just use filters to search the full catalog

click the song title to show/hide more detailed song info

fully responsive

Important notes:

Songs that have been rerecorded are labeled as alternate versions

All Too Well and ATW10 are considered unique versions

Results will display below the filters box, so you will have to scroll to see them on mobile

Credits are from Wikipedia (I know >.< but it was the quickest way) so lmk if something is inaccurate

Also just give me feedback in general if you wanna! this is my first real JS project so i'm still learning for sure

This is just the first iteration of this project, so feel free to follow here or the tag #songsearchupdates for updates! I will be adding the rest of her catalog bit by bit and adding functionalities like searching featured artists and boolean searching. My ultimate goal is to add subject tags for themes like heartbreak or falling in love and for motifs like rain, midnight, or gold, which is well beyond the capabilities of one person. If you are interested in helping with data entry for this project, please send me an ask here on tumblr or email me at [email protected] and I will get in touch when it's time to start on that phase of the project.

cool thank u for reading happy new year

#swiftology updates #songsearchupdates #taylor swift #neocities #idk how to tag this but im so proud yall my brain is melting asdjaldknasdk

[lololollywrites]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you for the tag, @discordantwords!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? I have 10 as of now (7 for Sherlock and 3 for Harry Potter, though the HP fics were either begun or completed in 2012 (first posted on ff.net)... in other words, before I knew about JK's raging transphobia. I finally finished a HP WIP in 2020 that I had abandoned years ago, after my resulting disillusionment, because I decided that my work didn't deserve to be in vain. I'm so glad I did!

2. What's your total A03 word count? 168,333

3. What fandoms do you write for? On AO3, just BBC Sherlock and HP, though I have Smallville, Supernatural, and even a Gilmore Girls fic on my ff.net account (the earliest of them written in 2006) that I will NOT be linking here. 😂

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? (Since I've only been posting Sherlock fics on AO3 since September 2021, there's not a ton of variation between these):

The Waning of Withdrawal

Of Sweat, Sociopathy, Scars, and Secrets

Never Been Better

Pressure Points

Genius is a Star Whose Light (is Soon to Sink in Endless Night); I think I may change the title soon since it's so unwieldy)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes! Mainly because I love when authors reply to mine - it acknowledges my gratitude and can open a line of communication. Plus, I just get so excited by every single comment notification that I need to squee and send hearts to the sender.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? None of my Sherlock fics have angsty endings, though that was my original goal for Never Been Better. It originally ended with Chapter 1, but I added two more chapters upon popular demand to fix things. :) It's a classic Sherlock-leaves-John's-wedding-early fic, so I'd intended to explore what may have happened within canon as sort of a missing scene/character exploration. Ultimately, however, I decided to throw a bone to poor Sherlock and disregard canon events.

However, my Harry Potter fic The Burn of the Phoenix, which I migrated to AO3 in 2020 after it's huge reception on ff.net back in 2012 (it's a 13k-word oneshot with 273 reviews and 951 favorites, though I'd definitely not write it the same way today), is definitely angsty. The end is hopeful, but ultimately... I killed Harry Potter. So. 😂 The ending, as it doesn't miraculously entail Harry coming back to life, can certainly be considered angsty as well. The entire fic is from Dudley's perspective as he learns of Harry's death (an alternate version of canon) and attends his funeral.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? As described above, all of my fics have happy endings! Though I'd say the one that's most unabashedly happy with minimal lingering pain and turmoil is Cold Inside. Genius comes close, but Sherlock is horrifically injured even despite happy news that comes in the last chapter so there's still an uphill battle ahead.

8. Do you get hate on fics? No, though I did get a very direct comment on The Waning of Withdrawal - the first time I ever wrote smut - that said the following (the "At all" was particularly harsh):

"I loved the fic and the way you formed everything with the comforting,and the understanding,the guilt and stuff and angst in the main part of the fic but I'm not a huge fan of how much detail went into their love part and stuff.. Not saying it's bad! I'm sure some people absolutely love it but I'm personally not a huge fan of the sex scene. At all."

(Luckily, two other commenters jumped in to my defense!) It seems innocuous enough, but I'd included an A/N that said it was my first time writing a love scene, despite it being brief, so "please go easy on me". The rating and tags were appropriate, too, so it seemed a bit out of the blue. That one little comment knocked my confidence for a while and made it impossible for me to re-read the fic without cringing.

9. Do you write smut? Just two of my Sherlock fics so far are rated E for smut. The Waning of Withdrawal, as described above, and Cold Inside, which has a lengthy sex scene in Chapter 4. It was so much harder than I thought to write - there's nothing quite like meticulously editing writing comprised of graphic depictions of anal sex, haha.

10. Do you write crossovers? No, nor do I usually enjoy them. I really admire the creativity, but tend to prefer fics that are plausible and in-canon; it's just a preference (with exceptions, of course!) That being said, crossovers that could happen between comparable universes - such as Sherlock and Hannibal - really appeal to me in theory.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but I'd be so thrilled!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, nor do I have a beta. I'm sure it could improve my work, but I feel horrifically self conscious during any editing process that involves another person. It's something I need to work on!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship? Sherlock & John and Arthur & Merlin are pretty neck-in-neck. I don't have many Merlin bookmarks, as it was my prior obsession before Sherlock, but I've been delving more into the Merlin fandom lately. Writing for it just seems harder for me - accounting for historical accuracy (though the show isn't historically accurate at all, it's just an entirely different universe) and the bounds of Merlin's magic would be tricky. Maybe one day.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? HAHAHAHAHA so... I did use to write more than one fic at once, waaaay back in the day, but have long since learned my lesson. I refuse to have true WIPs anymore - I only develop one idea at a time - and don't even publish a story until it's complete or almost complete (and fully outlined). Why? Well, there's one WIP I will NEVER finish. It's a Supernatural fic on ff.net with 6 chapters (out of a planned minimum of 10), first published in March of 2007 and last updated in February of 2008. Ooops.

It most recently received a review in 2015, which reads as follows: "WOW! ...update any time soon?...PLEASE...k"

Yeah. So. Never again for me.

16. What are your writing strengths? Based on the comments I receive, I think my strengths are characterization and dialogue. Oddly enough, these are two of my insecurities, but I think that my hyperfixation on both (knowing that I need to consciously work on them) has led to vast improvement.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I often have a difficult time coming up with the initial premise, and am not nearly as creative as many of the writers out there I admire. Ideas usually come without me trying - such as late at night or in the shower - so I jot them down whenever that happens. That's all that seems to work for me. FTH was great in that it took a bit of the burden off and allowed me to elicit prompts from bidders instead.

I also struggle to weave incredibly complex stories. I don't think I'll ever be one of those writers who can write 100k-plus fics full of twists and turns. My plots tend to be more narrow, focused, and immediate.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? As cool as this is - and I may be able to do this with Spanish, as it was my university minor - I wouldn't want dialogue to read as clunky or unnatural to a native speaker or to impede the flow of the prose (I'd want to add translations when possible in parentheses so as not to discourage readers who are not bilingual, unless the dialogue is short and can be translated in an end note).

In Genius, I have excerpts here and there in Serbian, but I ultimately use English to express longer Serbian dialogue (between <brackets> rather than "quotation marks" to indicate the difference in language being spoken and with the acknowledgement that translations are never 1-1. For me, this also helped preserve Sherlock's personality and ensure it could shine through.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Smallville! Way back in 2006. It was terrible; I killed Clark in an alternate version of S5's Hidden. I'm not sure what used to be the appeal of character death to me. You'd never catch me writing it now.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? It's hard to choose, but I have two answers for different reasons. The fic I'm most proud of writing is Genius. I worked SO, SO hard on the story outline, plot, and the symbolism and clues thrown in throughout. It's my longest and most complex story so far at 51K words, too.

The story I believe to be my best is Never Been Better; specifically, its first chapter. I don't think I've since written a more in-character version of Sherlock or a starker portrayal of his emotions.

I also have a huge soft spot for my Harry Potter fic The Truth at Last, which is the first fic I ever posted to AO3. It marks a huge improvement in my writing from when I first started it in 2012, as I was able to return to it in 2019/20 with a more mature perspective.

I'll tag anyone who hasn't yet been tagged and would like to join! (Sorry for the lack of creativity there - I'm always afraid I'll forget someone).

#20 questions for fic writers #my fics #AO3

[strangertheories]

the biggest reason I don't rlly like romantic ronance is because I don't really ship nancy with anyone - I am a firm believer in Single Nancy Supremacy! I think that the two romantic relationships we see her have (with steve and with jonathan) both struggled because of her grief in relation to barb - its much clearer with her relationship to steve as it literally breaks down as a result of her grief and guilt and that idea of faking happiness, and I think that may also be the case with her relationship with jonathan as well, and we know that she's been questioning things about the relationship and hiding that she feels unfulfilled, though in her eyes she feels like she wants steve, but i think she just remembers how easy things were with steve before all the upside-downy stuff and wants to go back to how things were back then. I feel as though she struggles in those relationships because the type of companionship she is searching for is the easy, comfortable, platonic love and closeness she had with barb back then, and its clearly a huge part of her character arc, since losing barb is what caused her to become actively involved in all the upside-downy stuff and piqued her interest in journalism through her work with murray (alongside her clear desire for solving mysteries and the like). what nancy needs right now isn't a romantic relationship, but a platonic female friendship, a connection that is not fueled by anything sexual at all - hence my stance as a Platonic ronance truther!! we already see the closeness and trust the two of them have with each other as they scheme to break in to see victor creel and as they work together later on, and I think that kind of platonic connection between two women will be wonderful for the both of them, and robin as well deserves a platonic friendship that isn't just with the guy people keep thinking she's in love with. I really hope the show does take it that way, especially since platonic relationships have played such a key role throughout the show (the party's dedication to each other (excluding byler and their romantic love for each other but thats a whole other thing), dustin's relationships with steve and eddie, platonic stobin ofc, jonathan and argyles friendship (this one is so important to me as well as robin and nancy because of how dedicated they are to each other), and especially the friendship between el and max (I could write a whole nother essay about that tbh)) and I think it would be a wonderful ending for both robin and nancy to find that friendship with each other!!

This is completely fair and valid, plus a good analysis. For me personally, I prefer Ronance to single Nancy. Firstly because I just like their dynamic being 80s sapphic enemies/rivals to lovers. Secondly, I think Robin dating an established character is easier writing wise cause the show adds too many people and has less time to flesh out Vickie because of it. However, I also like it because of Nancy's character arc.

I think her character is very male centric and the writers seem to abandon her life goals to push her into the box of being Steve's suburban wife or in other words, her canon worst nightmare. Despite being the badass feminist character, she feels so focused around men and Steve and it's really odd to me. Especially how weirdly confrontational she was to Robin because she assumed she was dating Steve. They broke up two years ago and Nancy never even loved him, it's so odd.

Anyways to circle back to my point, I like the idea of Nancy's ending not being her settling down with Steve. I'm very anti-St4ncy if you can't tell. I'm less opposed to Jonathan and Nancy but even then, she's still at risk of falling into her nightmare with him. I think this is part of the reason why single Nancy is good and canon wise, I think that's her best outcome.

However, Nancy says right from the start that she wants to truly rebel. She dates Steve as an act of rebellion but because she's rebelling in the way everyone else does, it's ultimately a way for her to safely fit in and tell herself she's doing something radical as Jonathan points out. She hides her true feelings because whilst she knows she won't be satisfied by the life she's heading towards, she's scared to do anything otherwise.

I think 80s badass sapphic feminist Nancy dating a woman would both act as her embracing her true feelings and rebelling away from the trap of being a suburban housewife that her mother fell into. Single Nancy can work for that too, but I think having Nancy canonically like girls would perfectly fit into her framework of actually truly rebelling against expectations instead of seeking safety in a boy she tried to force herself to love.

I think these two opinions can coexist but that's just why I think romantic Ronance is great for Nancy. I do agree that platonic relationships would be good for her, but I also think that this relationship romantically would work with her character arc too. Thanks for the ask!

#ronance #anti jancy #anti stancy #nancy wheeler

[aniron48]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you for the tag, @anyawen! These were so much fun!

Answers under the cut, and tagging @sweetbabyangels, @mr-iskender, @stinastar, @aprettyspy and @thestalwartheart, in case you haven't done this already and it's of interest!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 30! That number seems astonishing to me now, considering I started writing fic in earnest like a year-and-a-half ago. 😁

2. What’s your total A03 word count? 138,358

3. What fandoms do you write for? James Bond, Glass Onion/Knives Out, and I just wrote my first fic for The Old Guard fandom, which has pulled me in by the lapels and refused to let me go. And the very first fic I ever wrote was for Stardew Valley.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? 1. A Good Man (Benoit Blanc/Phillip) 2. rain (00q) 3. open line (00q) 4. The More Loving One (00q) 5. Must Love Cats (00q)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Ok yes I definitely do and I love to *and also* I'm so sorry, I'm 288 days (yes I just checked) behind in responding to comments, because this year has been...something else. So, taking the opportunity to say that a) all of your comments are incredible bright spots for me, and b) I am working my way steadily through and enjoying your comments all over again as I re-read and respond to them.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? WELP (eyes my pile o' fics warily). If we go based off the fics with "Major Character Death" as a warning, for a certain value of angst, it's a tie between offering and and the wind at their backs. But both of these fics deal with grief, and the complicated emotions that result from the persistence of love even after the object of that love is gone, and there's some hope in that, too, I think.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? lmao most of the rest of them other than the two in number 6? 😂 this is a hard one to answer, so I'll list my RomCom-iest fics for now (Must Love Cats for 00q and in a space that they belong for The Old Guard). Special shout-out to 'tis the damn season, though, because the happiness at the end of this fic feels like some of the hardest fought, to me, and some of the tenderest I've written, I think.

8. Do you get hate on fics? No--I've gotten a few less than diplomatic comments, and a couple people making unflattering notes in bookmarks that I don't think they meant for me to see, but nothing terrible.

9. Do you write smut? ::offers you rain and for the age of the earth, and after as if I am a sommelier presenting you with some very fine wine:: "this one has notes of--" you know what I'm just going to stop there.

10. Do you write crossovers? I haven't yet!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No, thank goodness (knocks on wood).

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not yet! #goals

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Use. Your. Words., which was a collaborative poem for 007 fest 2023. 😁

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? I spent about five minutes hemming and hawing about this but you know what, it's impossible to pick. 😂

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Like Anyawen, I have aspirations of finishing all the ones hanging out in my Scrivener app...someday. Probably the one I have the most doubts about is a 5 + 1 fic where Bond tries out different activities post retirement. I still love the idea and some of the vision I had for this one, but it lives almost entirely in my head, still.

16. What are your writing strengths? I think maybe I have a good ear for language, both in terms of the rhythm of sentences and paragraphs, and for conveying a character's voice or accent. But it's hard to assess your own strengths, sometimes, so that's just my best guess!

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I'm actively working on trying to be better at descriptions, especially in giving details about setting or background. I realized I give these things short shrift, sometimes, and want to change that!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I'll do it with languages I'm fluent in (and have done it with Spanish, since I'm a native speaker).

19. First fandom you wrote for? Stardew Valley, in What Dreams May Come.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written? Omg, another one that is almost impossible to answer! I think I have to go with all the flags we've hung. This is one of my least popular fics--it's a rarepair, the love depicted in it is complicated (though no less real), and it deals with light topics like, you know, structural racism in the United States. As one does. But it's a fic that's incredible close to my heart, for many reasons, and I remain so proud of this one.

Phew! If you have read all of this you deserve a cupcake. 💜

xoxo, Ani

#20 questions for fic writers #my fic #this was a fun one! #also now I am tired 😂

[embyrinitalics]

Hi, I'm a HUGE fan of you and your work! I think my favourite so far is Selfless. You constructed everything perfectly with his identity issue to his addiction. As a writer, if I may ask, how do you know just how you can write around intercations and actions without it growing tiresome? I always end up too straightforward or too redundant so I was hoping for some pointers if it's something you learned. And another thing is how you always find the words and metaphors to explain something. I always find myself unable to explain the feelings and sensations or just plucking it from another story somewhere. Is it because of experience, something you learned, or does it just come to you eventually? Sorry for all the questions. I'd be really happy if you could provide me with some pointers or stuff you learned because your writing truly boggles my mind more than I honestly wished it would lol. Have a nice dayy!!

YOU ARE SO INCREDIBLY KIND! 😭 Thank you! I'm so glad you liked Selfless. And someone liking my stuff enough to ask for WRITING ADVICE? 🤯😍😭 I'm a wreck over here.

I know every writer is different and what has worked well for me might be extremely unhelpful to someone else, but I'll try my best!

If a scene feels tiresome it might be because it lacks purpose. Without a clear direction to move in, it's easy to write yourself in circles. Having the foundations of your scene clearly in mind, like what your characters are feeling going into it, what they will learn/how their opinions or attitude will shift as a result of this exchange, and the end goal that will mark the end of the scene, can help keep the pace appropriately brisk and the interaction meaningful. As a "discovery writer," I often find myself asking those questions halfway into a scene (or even after it's written), which can lead to a lot of editing or even just erasing paragraphs that aren't contributing. If you can answer those questions before you get started, that's great; but if you're like me and have characters that often surprise you with their reactions, there's nothing wrong with editing or rewriting the scene to include what you've learned along the way.  

If a scene feels too straightforward it might help to inject a little subtlety. Showing how someone is feeling rather than telling can breathe a lot of life into a paragraph. (Not "She felt happy," but "She smiled so hard her eyes crinkled.") Introducing a third unrelated element for your character's feeling to manifest towards is also a neat trick I've been playing with recently that can add another layer of depth. (She bought a pie she's excited to eat when she gets home, but after something disappointing happens, she no longer wants to eat the pie.)  

If a scene feels redundant it might help to trust your audience more. Writing is among the most participatory art forms in that your reader's imagination is going to supply a lot of what you don't say. Over-explaining not only leads to rambling paragraphs but can also inhibit your storytelling. Let your reader infer things. Leave them breadcrumbs in your characters actions (drifting eyes, twitching fingers) or in the unsaid (like in Selfless, when Zelda says, "The moon looks beautiful tonight," and Link scoffs, "You think so?"). On the sentence level, less is usually more. Because I'm wordy, I can almost always cut a good third of the words in my sentence with no impact on clarity. Especially look out for overused whisker words (however, still, and, but, yet, etc) or qualifiers that aren't adding anything ("She smiled at him" vs "She smiled").  

That brings us to metaphors, which I struggle with immensely so I'm both flattered and shocked that you like mine. 😂 Of course skills inevitably improve with practice and I think aging in general helps (more life experiences = more to pull from), but two things I consciously try to work in are character perspective and mouthfeel. Character perspective: Dryad!Link is a tree, so he sees the world through the lens of nature, plants, the seasons, and the like, so as my narrative character his metaphors will likely pull from those sources. Huntsman!Link is a hunter, so he's more likely to think in terms of snares, traps, weapons, prey animals, stealth, a kill, and so on. Obviously this works best with a close narrative character, but it's a good trick for adding cohesion with the environment of the scene or story as well. Mouthfeel: Aligning the emotional undercurrent of the metaphor with the image usually works better for me than worrying so much about literal parallelism. Do I want this metaphor to feel melancholic, bright, hopeful, uncomfortable, creepy? Really clinging to that and running with it can lead to some unexpected (and sometimes illogical) places. I once wrote a line, "slipping through front-tooth gaps in time like pond water through soft-cupped hands," and my first inclination was to erase it because I thought "front-tooth gaps in time" didn't make any sense. But it felt like what I wanted to say, so I left it, and now it's one of my favorite little lines I've ever written. So. Don't be afraid to run with the feeling and see where it leads!

WOW THAT IS A BOOK 😂 Sorry for rambling, but apparently I like to talk craft! 🤪 If you ever want some more personalized feedback feel free to send me a DM! Thank you so much for the ask! 🥰

#asks #writingstarling #best readers ❤️ #thanks for the ask! #embyr's writing advice #long post

[wyattjohnston]

The Results Are In!

102 people took the time to complete this survey and while a larger sample size would have been ideal, I am eternally grateful to those who took the time to fill it in. I acknowledge that it was very long and I'll be cutting questions if I do this again.

Before we go any further this is not a list of instructions on what you absolutely must write. Your own creativity, inspiration and goals come before anything somebody else may want. At the end of the day, this is primarily a collection of data that fascinates me.

You will find that there are things you do that some readers have said they do not like to see. If that is going to upset you, make you spiral, or otherwise reduce your creative output then please leave. Nobody is forcing you to read these results.

Style Preferences

The Importance Of...

Rates These Tropes/Themes

Main Character

Player/Team Preferences

Engagement (currently incomplete)

Fic Finding

What do you want to see more of in general?

Is there anything you would like to see less of?

Feel the Love

These are the unedited compliments.

What do you want to see more of in general?

I’m happy with anything

already love everything!

I'm just happy to consume what's being put out.

Not helpful, sorry, but there is nothing I’d like to see more of because what’s out there is already a great mix of my faves

Nothing in particular I feel like there is a good mix of everything that I like I’m not very picky when it comes to things like that! :)

writers creating their content freely and experimenting with different styles and tropes

whatever writers want to write!

Authors writing for players they enjoy because it truly makes a difference in their writing.

Is there anything you would like to see less of?

I think writers should write whatever they feel like 😊❤️

No, never, fanfic is free and to be explored at all times. A theme is never overdone as it’s done differently each time

If something doesn’t interest me I scroll on by. I wouldn’t want to remove things other people might enjoy even if I don’t

not much im quite happy with what ive read/interacted with on tumblr

This is one of the biggest things I’d like to see change. Writers should be proud of what they create.

Just i'd like to see less of authors selling their own art, that they personally created and spend so much time on, short

Like sentences like "it's so bad/probably not good/don't think anyone will like it" cause them i'm gonna read it thinking "oh, okay, it's probably not good" and then i read it a lot more critical than i would have otherwise cause i always think that if the author themself says it, doesn't it have to be true? And usually if i would have just read the fic without this first i would have absolutely loved it but now i just feel a little conflicted (and might still love it, but it's just not the same)

It's just sad to see and i'd like to give every creator who does this a big hug <3

#nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #hockey fic #readers survey #writing tips

[zeldaelmo]

Have you ever been writing, and you accidentally changed the intended tone?

Example:

Your got about 1-2k words of fluff done. You needs to add in a few words of angst to give the fluff a good reason to exist, and next thing you know that character is have a crisis. What was once about 95% fluff ended up being 50%/50%.

Yes, that happens to me too. I love writing dialogue and that's usually where a scene runs away from me. I start out with characters sorting through their issues and end up with playful banter.

Sometimes, I leave it as a comic relief, but most often I have to cut it. The issue is mostly that the characters aren't at that point yet. It might be a typical fanfiction problem? I'm not sure, I don't write original fiction. But I think the main point is that I write Link and Zelda in all kinds of relationship stati, be it strangers, enemies, friends, or spouses, so sometimes the tone slips from my fingers because it gets muddled in my head. One day I'll write something like The Promise where they're still in the 'I like you but this is scary' phase and the other it's something silly like 'Of rocks' where Link speedruns both games and teases Zelda for eating rocks, so I have to remind myself about the goal and tone of the fic occasionally.

Apart from that -- as long as you're happy with the end result, there's nothing wrong with that. I understand that a lot of people love their fluff and slice of life pieces in fanfiction because they offer escapism, but I am, both as a reader and as a writer, a big believer in conflict carrying a story. The only problem I see is if it's a real detour and loses contact to the theme of the story entirely:

It's a sweet story about Zelda and Link drinking tea in Hateno. Your detour is a flashback to a tea date 100 years prior and they think about what they've lost. The story ends on a hopeful note because they're happy that they're still here and decide to invite some of their new friends to have tea. -> fine

It's a sweet story about Zelda and Link drinking tea in Hateno. Your detour is a flashback to how Link died on Blatchery Plain and how he rejected the sword at first but ended up fulfilling his duty anyway because that's what duty is and his father and the king pressured him and he also didn't want to disappoint Zelda, and oh, Hylia had a word with him, too, about this in the spring of power... The story ends with Link lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling. -> the story needs more focus and a theme.

Thank you for the ask!

#writing

[blossom-hwa]

✍️ Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to other writers you know. Let's spread some self-love!

shawNAAA it's so good to hear from you <3 thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about myself because I will do it any chance I get :D

A Yellow Scarf in Winter - I think this is probably the best thing I've ever written. This story was the first time I really felt like I succeeded in achieving my goals with a story - writing emotion is something I really try to do correctly, and because music has always made me feel so deeply, I wanted to be able to capture the subtle emotion of one of my favorite pieces in this work. I'm very happy with how it turned out, and honestly, I just love this story even more every time I rewrite it (it's gone through over four iterations at this point).

the things we lost along the way - this story...ugh. I have so many feelings about it, both good and bad (mostly because I'm trying to expand it now and I love it but I hate it 🥲). But it genuinely means so much to me. As I was writing my second or third iteration of this story (the latest one that was posted), I was working through grief in a way I'd never had to before, and I think this story carried it through in a really beautiful but heartbreaking way. I'm very proud of this story, and I look forward to posting a new version of it in the near future :)

If You'll Have Me - sometimes stories just bounce out of me and this was one of them. My summer 2022 baby <3 Bridgerton got me FUCKED UP for regency era aus (s3 is about to do it again) and I loved the result. It was just so much fun to write and I was very happy with the result :D

Look at the Butterflies - I'm not convinced I know where this story came from, but as ursa said...my love language is safe spaces, and this is just a manifestation of it. I've outed myself but eh. Whatever. The poem that inspired it was beautiful too <3

Swing! - man...this was the fucking HEIGHT of my marvel fixation and I still have no regrets. I love mark and my mc....my babies....this story was like the first time I felt like I really wrote actual 3D characters?? man I just love mark and mc so much they're my literal babies <3

Honorable mentions: Worn-Out Soles / Light the Pyres / Purple Sky / Forever, and Always

#lina answers #nas #shawna 🦋 #a yellow scarf in winter #the things we lost along the way #if you'll have me #look at the butterflies #swing! #worn-out soles #light the pyres #purple sky #forever and always

[hebimoonlightwrites]

hii~ since you have knowledge about candy anime and since the tray is open again, I had this idea about relationship headcanons for pomefiore with a fem mc who is similar to candy candy in personality ₍⑅ᐢ..ᐢ₎ yeah, like It is described in the anime as a hard worker, cheerful, stubborn with a strong personality, just like with that charisma that characterizes her :'3 well I feel that she would fit in a little with pomefiore jeje Thank you and have a good day ^^

Writer's corner: Ooh this is an amazing and unique crossover actually! I've never thought about something like this! I really like this request! I hope you'll enjoy what I've written for you! If not, let me know so I can fix it or write something else for you! Enjoy~♥ ps. I decided to point out some of the main characteristics of Candy Candy! You'll find them highlighted in purple hehe♥

mc's pronouns: SHE/HER

Warnings: sfw

⭐𝐏𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐞⭐ 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲-𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐦𝐜

⭐"She got in trouble again?!"

⭐That's how Vil would react to the news that mc got in trouble again and she's with the Headmage... again.

⭐It's not to deny that Vil would be the one trying his best to get mc into the right path.

⭐He's the husewarden, after all!

⭐Her being clumsy and troublemaker.. it'd be something Vil would get pissed off about, especially at first.

⭐He'd sigh each time he'd find himself in front of a apologizing mc.

⭐"What do I have to do with you, mc?.. You can't keep behaving like that as long as you're in pomefiore!"

⭐Of course mc would apologize, showing her innocent and kind side as she would keep her eyes on the floor, saying: "I'm... I'm sorry, housewarden..."

⭐But I'm sure there would be a side of Vil that wouldn't be able to be angry at mc.

⭐Of course he'd give her something to do as a punishment- because we all know that Vil can't simply ignore troubles made by his students.

⭐Maybe he'd give her something to clean? Some clothes to sew? Maybe he'd tell her to take care of Pomefiore House's garden?

⭐Whatever mc's punishment would be, she'd prove to be an hard-worker for sure!

⭐As long as it's necessary to show Vil that she's not a bad Pomefiore student, she'd do it and give much effort!

⭐And if she's determined to prove to Vil that she's a good Pomefiore student, then she'll do it!

⭐Vil would see mc dedicating herself to the garden (or the other kind of punishment) still clumsly..

⭐He'd see her pouring too much water on plants mistakenly and then whisper: "Oof! I don't do anything right..!", while trying to fix her mistake.

⭐Even if making troubles, at the end she'd finish her work and smile brightly at the result, which would be amazing, for sure!

⭐Vil would secretly look at her and smile slightly at the sight of what she had been able to do.

⭐"Her determination... Her dedication to her goal... uhmm... these ones are good characteristics for a Pomefiore student.. heh.. Maybe she's not so hopeless as I thought she was.."

⭐As everyone who's unique or has particular features, Rook would immediately notice mc.

⭐He'd keep his eyes on her, especially after realizing and knowing that mc would be in Pomefiore.

⭐"Oh... you surely have an interesting personality, ma cherie!"

⭐Rook would soon say to mc, with his French accent.

⭐Of course mc would get his interest by showing her abilities!

⭐Rook would see how agile and strong she is during gym classes!

⭐Mc would be stronger than guys- or Savanaclaw's students too- while trying flying on the broom.

⭐The fact that she's a fast runner or agile...

⭐Rook would be fascinated by her courage even in trying new- and almost dangerous- things.

⭐"Y-you want to try my bow, ma cherie?!.. Oh... but be careful, bon?"

⭐Rook would look surprised..

⭐Mc wants to try shooting with his bow? Oh.. That's kinda interesting!

⭐Rook would be happy to help her holding the bow, explaining her how to shoot arrows.

⭐He'd soon suggest her to try and hit an apple on the tree and then chuckle softly to himself

⭐Let's be honest..

⭐I'm sure he wouldn't expect her to be amazing at shooting with the bow!

⭐I'm sure Rook would simply be curious "to see the show", while crossing his arms and staring at her with his usual look.

⭐"I did it!! I did it!!"

⭐Rook would be completely taken aback.. What would his eyes see?! The apple pierced by an arrow..?! On the first attempt?!?

⭐The haunter soon would see mc twirling around happily while chuckling.

⭐"I did it!!! I really did it!! Haha!"

⭐Rook would soon smile happy.

⭐"Bravo! Magnifique, mc! Your courage and agility are really interesting, ma cherie! You really have some kind of uniquenesses in yourself~"

⭐"Mc! Hi..!! Uhm.. Can you help me with these apples?? Hehe.. I bought some because I want to try and cook an apple pie by myself!"

⭐Epel would be the first one to get along well with mc, for sure!

⭐He's such a cinnamon roll so it's practically impossible not to get along well with him.

⭐Mc would help him carrying some apples to the kitchen and even helping him to cook if necessary.

⭐I don't know but, even if sometimes Epel would seem the clumsy one, well..

⭐This time this role would be for mc!

⭐She'd be the one to do messes.

⭐"Ugh! Why am I always doing messes?! I'm sorry, Epel!"

⭐She'd say after dropping flour and get her face and Epel one all white because of it.

⭐Epel would start laughing adorably in response and soon would start a food war with her, for sure, throwing eggs and sugar at her.

⭐Because we all know that Epel is this kind of person too...

⭐Even if he tries his best to hold back this side of himself.

⭐However they soon would get in trouble with Vil, who'd be angry because of the mess in the kitchen.

⭐But mc would decide to step and talk to Vil:

⭐"Housewarden.. please, do not be angry with Epel too.. It's my fault. I'm the one who did all this mess..!"

⭐Epel would be surprised to see how generous and kind-hearted mc would be.

⭐Of course he'd try to say that it was his fault too...

⭐...but at the end mc would be the one who'd clean the mess in the kitchen.

⭐She'd find herself later that day in the kitchen, cleaning all the flour and broken eggs.

⭐Suddenly though she'd see Epel joining her.

⭐"Epel?.. What are you doing here?.. There's no need to help me.."

⭐"Mc.. I appreciate the fact that you defended me earlier, but... this mess is also my fault.. I cannot leave you here alone while cleaning it up.. Let's do it together.. hehe!"

©hebimoonlightwrites_tumblr Please, do not copy my contents nor repost it without my permission.

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland headcanons #twst headcanons #twst headcanon #twst pomefiore #pomefiore #twst vil schoenheit #vil shoenheit #rook hunt #epel felmier

[itsclydebitches]

I'm angry about Ted leaving to go back to Kansas but thinking about it, it is in character? Ted is not a person that would ask his ex wife and son to uproot their entire lives to go to London for him he is however, the type of person to put his own wishes and happiness on the back burner to make his loved ones happy. Also, realistically coaches usually don't stay coaches long, so it doesn't make since to ask his family to move to London when he might not have that job forever? So yeah Ted leaving sucks but it does make since if you think about it. Perhaps we will get a special with him coming back to Richmond one day? I can't wait for all the fix it's that are coming tho!

You and me both, anon!!! I fully plan to immerse myself in fic this weekend, as I know the speedy writers will have gotten at least some stuff up by then :D And I never thought about a special... Honestly, I've been praying for a Season Four after that ending (even though it would feel weird after the show "finished") but hell yeah, I'd take a short, canonical special to patch at least some of this up.

Regarding his characterization, I do think Ted has made great strides when it comes to speaking up for his own wants and needs. Just this season I'd point to things like his judicious use of the Diamond Dogs (turning to others for advice before making big decisions, something he notably didn't do with Kansas), his playful "You know how I feel about winning and losing, Trent" (acknowledging his newfound balance between striving for professional goals and people pleasing), and his entire speech to his mom, complete with cursing her out multiple times (recognizing when he hasn't been treated well and acknowledging that with full emotion behind it, rather than trying to bury it all behind a smile). I think that last one is nicely paralleled with what Beard and the others think is happening with Ted and Nate. Meaning, they believe Ted is once again burying his anger and feelings of betrayal, not realizing that he's already worked through his disappointment and come out on the side of forgiveness. The point though is that until Beard realizes that Nate is simply him X number of years ago -- a friend of Ted's who betrayed him and now needs a second chance -- he continually calls Ted out on (supposedly) burying those emotions and the need to acknowledge them.

All of which is to say that one of the (smaller) reasons why the Kansas ending hurts is because it does feel like Ted has gone backwards in terms of his growth... but I do get where you're coming from. 100%. Ted remains an incredibly self-sacrificial person, even after all the work he's done, so I think we could make a case for him being averse to putting Michelle and Henry out like that, or even putting them in the position of making a choice by saying, "I've decided to stay, you decide whether you'll move here or we'll keep this long distance." So yes, it's potentially in character for Ted -- or at least a Season One/Two version of Ted -- but that still leaves the rest of the cast OOC as a result. If Kansas was meant to stem from the flaw we've seen Ted embodying since day one -- AKA putting aside his own happiness to make it easier on someone else -- then EVERYONE should be calling him out on it. He has a support system now that is tailor-made to spot Ted's unique pitfalls and, like they've done in the past, gently and even not-so-gently correct him. If this was Ted's line of thinking, I would expect the writing to have him verbally acknowledge that at some point, leading to one of Rebecca's exclamations of "Bullshit!" Roy going, "That's fucking stupid." Beard muttering an "Oh my god" and looking like he's reading to kill him, a la the Paris assumption. Higgins shaking his head, Trent hesitantly raising a hand with a pointed correction, Keeley coming in with a bucket-load of concern, the team all sharing confused mutterings as they try to work through this ridiculous perspective, Ted's actual therapist getting to talk to him for the first time in an age and providing professional insight.

It might be in character for Ted to self-sacrifice like that, but it's out of character for everyone else to just let him do it. So we're left with this strange, dual reading of a) Ted is Totally Happy about going back to Kansas... he just doesn't look or sound or act like it. Funny that! or b) Ted is Very Unhappy about going back to Kansas and everyone around him (with the exception of Rebecca a bit) just shrugs and accepts that when they've never let Ted wallow in his self-damaging decisions before.

As for the other bit, I don't know anything about coaching, but I do know that Ted Lasso has played too fast and loose with those rules for it to really matter. I don't think we can argue for realism now when we started this whole story with a totally unqualified American football coach getting hired, the kitman is made a coach in like a year, Roy accepts his job by dramatically walking onto the pitch in the middle of a game... Even if coaches don't last very long irl, it's not like the show has ever adhered to such real world rules before, so there's no reason for them to start informing our reading of the story now.

#Ted Lasso #Ted Lasso spoilers #mymetas

[ticklygiggles]

Top 22 of 2022

I've been meaning to do this before the end of the year for obvious reasons, but I just didn't have the chance until now! Thank you everyone who had tagged me, you all are so sweet

I apologize in advance, though. My memory sucks and my perception of time is broken sdjfjdhf

Part 1: Fandom Faves 

01. Favorite new fandoms of the year: SPY x FAMILY, Demon Slayer

02. Favorite new ships since this year: SPYxFAMILY - Twiyor, Cynari, ScaraLumi - Genshin Impact

03. Favorite anime/TV show of the year: Extraordinary Attorney Woo, SPY x FAMILY, Pokémon Journeys

04. Favorite movie of the year: Hmm, I honestly don't watch many movies, so this one's hard... maybe Turning Red? Haha

05. Favorite character of the year: Scaramouche/Wandered, Tighnari - Genshin Impact. Uzui Tengen, Rengoku Kyojuro - Demon Slayer. Seo HyunSoo - XXX Buddy.

06. Favorite soundtrack of the year: One of my favorite soundtrack every year will always be Liyue OST - Genshin Impact!

07. Favorite book/manga/comic of the year: sajkhfjdf this year I read lots of new Manhwas and also a few books. Some of my favorite manhwas were Define the Relationship, Perfect Buddy, Actually, I was the real one, Who made me a Princess?, Under the Oak Tree, Love so Pure (side story), Forget About My Husband, I'd Rather Go Make Money, The Marriage Business and mooore.

I didn't like the books I read this year that much, but I guess my favorite was Six Crimson Cranes. Also read some light novels and they were The Marriage Business and I'll be the Warrior's Mother.

08. Favorite game of the year: Genshin Impact and Obey me!

09. Highlight of this year to remember: March 7th when I went to Disneyland JSAFHJ

Part 2: Community Review

10. Favorite Tumblr moments of 2022: Tickletober, my 2k milestone. @vqler and @dokidoki-muffin return aaaand... I think that's the most I can remember hahaah

11. Favorite fan art of the year: I have been blessed with so much fanart this year omg, some of my faves were this one, of course because it's the first time someone drew art for one of my fics!

Also this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one, but honestly, there are so many aaaa

12. Favorite fic of the year: I read good fics this year, I can't choose, but definitely some of my faves are these beautiful fics I got from my dearest friends in my birthday and Christmas, here, here and here.

13. Favorite ask game of the year: The tickly alphabet, this one and the 3 sentence fic

14. My top achievements as a writer/artist/creator/blogger: Participating in Tickletober for the first time! I didn't finish all days, but I'm happy with the result haha. Also getting to finish my 2k milestone event!

15. My own best fic/post of the year: I think I wrote a lot this year, but one of my faves to write was this Koi ga Ochitara one because I've been wanting to write one with them for sooo long!

16. My most underappreciated fic/post of the year: Probably not the "most", but this Mafuyu x Ritsuka x Yuki one?

17. A post of mine that got more popularity than expected: Omg these three Tickletober fics because they don't have a large popularity in the community, but they got more attention that I expected!

Koi Ga Ochitara, Junai Drop Out, Sign

18. Something I changed on my blog since this year: I think I did write more this year, so that was nice!

Part 3: Next Year

19. Something I didn’t post this year but would like to do next year: I'd like to work on this little AU idea thingy I have been neglecting because I feel unsure to write and post, but we'll see!

20. Goals for next year: As for this blog... maybe getting into more fandoms to keep writing haha. Also, Ginny girl is trying to write less trash, but I'd like to keep collaborating with her, because I just love how well we write together aaaa

21. 2023 releases I look forward to the most: MAHOUTSUKAI NO YOME SEASON 2! Aaaand more Genshin updates and also Obey me cards that I can actually get LOL

Part 4: Spreading Love

22. Shoutouts to people who made my 2022 a better year: 

Goodness, here comes the fun part haha:

@otomiya-tickles of course my sweetie girl precious baby boo. I already told you this, but thank you for making my 2022 a loooot better, thank you for your endless support and your love! You are the best and I'm so happy to talk to you every single day! You are so so talented and smart and amazing and I love you!

@ragewerthers my frieeeend, I always have so much fun talking with you! From just daily life activities to our endless hcs about our precious Toshi *teary emoji* you definitely did my 2022 a lot better too and I hope we can still talk lots this 2023!

@wertzunge Maaaax, I think this year we talked more than any other time haha, I'm happy we're both excited about Mahoutsukai no Yome sdbfhsdf I already said this to you, but I hope we get to talk some more this year as well! Thank you for your friendship!! (Also thank you for your kind support during commisions!)

@vqler @dokidoki-muffin we barely interact with each other BUT I wanted to say that you both are amazing and super talented people and I admire your abilities and your creativity and it's so so nice to have you back in the community! You both are GREAT and I get excited every time I see art from you both. Such talented people, let me give you a respectful kiss on your forehead.

@ticklystuff omg hi! I know we don't talk much, but I just wanted to say that I really like you and you are so so so so SO good at writing ome such talent! I love seeing you in my dash and seeing all the cool amazing stuff you write aaaaa I think of you every time I see Childe, no lies. Thank you for being amazing!

@happyandticklish Queen of writing. No words just admiration. Honestly, you are so so so GOOD. I wish I could write like you and you're so kind and amazing help askdjskf We've talked a bit before and I apologize for my awkwardness aaaaa Thank you for showing us all how cool you are and for being a cupcake!

@myreygn Reeeeey! I honestly get so so shy when you mention how you fangirled when I followed you back ahahaha, thank you for always being so supportive with me! You are amazing and I like chatting with yoouuu! I hope we get to talk some more during 2023!!

@thornoisdono Thank you for the generous support in kofi aaaaa, I love every single fic you requested and hopefully, you'll see them up in the next couple of days! Thank you!

@intheticklecloset @zeke-ism @lovelynim @xsezzie @bloominggiggles @ticklish-v-93 @soft-tk-fluff @chibimochii @nnainai @tickles-tea @looneytickles @tiredleekaz @ssnicker-doodless @spongeboblevel25 @justmaybee @itslittlegiggle @tiklart @lovelymessybubbly @italeean @ticklishfanart - whether we had talked before or not, I'm so thankful for you all! I love seeing and interacting with your content. You all are amazing and make my stay in tumblr so much better! I'd love to get to know you all more this year, but I'll be always be awkward, but I want you to know that you are some of my favorite blogs EVER.

#end of the year tag #top22of2022 #this took me two hours to finish omg #it was really fun though #i can't believe it's 2023 already #i hope this year is better for all of us guys

[filet-o-feelings]

Friday Fretting

Thanks for the tags @trickiwooao3 @tyfinn and @stereopticons!

Writers, do you document your output? Do you have daily writing goals? Do you achieve them?

I briefly documented my output when I attempted nanowrimo (I'm still working on that particular project in August, although I did come very close to 50k words if you include the other fics I wrote during the month) and have tried to document it once or twice since, but I'm not great at keeping up with tracking stuff.

I don't currently have daily writing goals as more days than not my brain just does not want to brain properly, so the goal has been to write when I feel up to it and try to keep the momentum up once I've started, so I can usually manage at least a few days in a row with decent results until I hit a wall again. I'll admit it's been a struggle for the last several months, but I'm starting to get back to it and hoping it lasts. I have learned to trust that sometimes I feel like I'll never write again but it always comes back to me eventually. I would like to start setting daily goals, even if it's just to write any small amount every day, but there's been days like yesterday when health issues kept me from even opening my laptop (hence this being posted on Saturday).

One day, perhaps, my writing will not be so chaotic, but for now I'll write when I can and just be happy to get words on pages.

And because as bad as I am at tracking, I do love data so here's some numbers from last November-

My lowest output was on Nov. 22 - only 19 words (but hey, still words!)

Highest output was on Nov. 9 - 3196 words between 2 wips (how?? Past me, tell me your secrets!)

My daily average for the month was (and this is not typical, but it's the only data I have to work with) 1582 words.

I was highly motivated of course, and I'd be lucky if I came anywhere near even 500 words/day any other month. I wrote about 300 words last week and was happy enough to have written anything, so my range is pretty chaotic!

Since it's no longer Friday I won't tag anyone, but if you want to share please do!

#friday fretting #on a saturday #gonna try to write today and maybe I'll try to set some goals and try tracking again #I should probably try to tackle the kiss prompt that's been in my inbox for over a month

[in-arlathan]

Writer's Round-up 2022

It's that time of the year again! Time to have a look at what I've achieved and celebrate a bit! <3

Thank you @midnightprelude and @barbex for the tags. Tagging forward to @johaerys-writes, @mogwaei, @serial-chillr, @faerieavalon, @juliafied, @dreadfutures, @baejax-the-great, @thebookworm0001, @rosella-writes and anyone who likes to join.

Let's goooooo!!

Words written (published or not, WIPs included!): So, having a look at my writing tracker, it seems like I've written 110,515 new words in 2022. This includes a lot of WIPs that I started and then put on hold or had to put in the trash because they weren't working. All in all, my writing year looks like this:

Adding to that, I published around 100k words across 4 novellas. I had to edit those original works a lot in 2022, so I'm not counting them as “new words written” but I celebrate the publication of those works nonetheless.

Smut scenes: Like, 4? I think? I'm not really a smut writer, although I do like to write them from time to time.

New things I tried: Hmmm… I'm not sure if I tried new stuff this year. I've continued working on the stories I had already started and picked up writing original works again. But I did participate in exchanges like @dasmutquisition and @arlathanxchange for the first time, which was really cool. The exchanges were a surprise to me and made me write for ships I've never written for, which was a challenge and a rewarding experience at the same time. I also did a giveaway at the start of the year that resulted in 3 fics that were so much fun to write! So I guess gifting others with fics was a new thing I tried in 2022.

Fic I spent the most time on: “The Rebel's Ascension”. This fic was such a massive undertaking and took a lot of time to write and edit.

Fic I spent the least time on: I was talking to @noire-pandora one day on Twitter, and then the silly idea of “A Wolf's Wardrobe” emerged. It took me about 30 minutes to write.

Favorite thing I wrote: No surprise here: “The Rebel's Ascension”. I spend more than 3 years on that fic and I'm super proud of it. I can't believe I finally finished it in 2022.

Favorite thing I read: I didn't read that much fic this year (sadly) but I absolutely loved “Ouroboros” by cedarmoons. I also want to give a shoutout to “An Immodest Proposal” by @midnightprelude, which was a gift I received for an exchange.

Writing goals for next year: All in all, I'm pretty happy with the things I wrote and all the projects I've got planned to write in 2023 including “The Rebel's Ruin”, some other DA fics and more original works. That being said, I really REALLY want to increase my yearly word count to 200k. There are so many stories I want to tell and I really need to get a move on. Let's see if I can do it. :)

And that's it for this year. I wish you all the best for 2023. <3

#writing #end of the year #writers round up

[mareenavee]

Hi there! I was wondering if there's anything you're happy to share about your original writing? I'd also love to hear about your writing process in general, from first conception through to finished product, and how it varies for you for fic vs original writing. Thanks so much for your time! 🌻🌷

Oh hello new friend :D Thanks for asking!

So I can talk a bit about what's been happening with me lately lol I think it can be important for a lot of us, especially in kind of the climate we're in as creatives right now. And while the story might not seem very happy at first, I am still happy to share so others might not feel alone if they're wandering, too.

Something about my original writing:

So I went to college for Creative Writing. I had started in English Edu, and switched about halfway through for many reasons but suffice to say if I didn't do what I loved, that degree would still be unfinished. My goal was to get into editing, if I could, and eventually write a book. After college, my full time, in-office jobs at first had nothing to do with writing. I was doing things like tech support, sales and data entry until I got into advertising. And I was editing, using my degree, but I was also more using my skills from sales. And here we stumble into something of a burnout problem. I was working so many hours on unrelated nonsense that I simply did not have the energy to stay awake half the time, let alone write. And I was away from the desk for so long that when I returned, I felt couldn't manage a single good thing. I kept trying even during the dumpster fire the last few years has been collectively.

I'll time skip for the sake of the story. The cure for burnout is simply rest, regardless of it's professional/career burnout or creative burnout or a combination of the both of these things. One doesn't always realize this in the middle of the issues, though. So here I was barely writing anything that I'd be willing to share, frowning terribly at the blank page every opportunity and just being down on myself and my work. I wrote a couple flash fiction pieces, and plenty for dnd but I'd kind of lost track of my goal of writing THE BOOK, ya know? So I decided I was done with feeling so, I guess, unmoored about it all and I wanted to return to longform projects without second guessing myself at every turn. And I broke the spiral, because it was a spiral, by returning to fandom and starting my fic.

So my original writing, long story short, is short form for the most part! And I want very much to finish a novel. I'm giving myself the space to practice again with fic and prove to myself what I am capable of. It's a slow process, healing, but I am and it translates back at every step. I don't tie my original works to this screenname but a few of my fic writin' and Skywind writin' friens have read a bit here and there of both my dnd and my original short stories. It feels good to not feel bad about them as loudly anymore and to have people interact in a positive way with what I've done. I lost a bit of that after college, and writers really ought to stick together. It gets lonely and difficult without friends otherwise. (:

Something about my writing process:

I am a planner and a fragment writer! This is a result of my schooling. When I was younger and didn't hear a different way, I would pants the entire story. Now I suppose it's about 85% planning, and 15% finding ways to cause problems on purpose for my characters and running with a scene idea. (and cutting it if it doesn't work, saving it for later of course.) I outline plot points usually and if I have specific details I want to elaborate on, I have in-depth pages for that in the planning docs. I tend to treat my character sheets sorta like dnd without the build stats. Just break down into sections describing how they'll look, and their backstories. I also really enjoy the tumblr asks regarding OCs, too, because a lot of that ends up in my planning docs too, where it hadn't been thought of before. I like to really KNOW my characters and where I want the story to go as I proceed, but again -- sometimes I just cause problems on purpose for them and for myself (: But that's the fun of it. There's room for unmitigated creativity if you let go of all the headspace nonsense whenever possible.

As for fragments -- sometimes scenes come to me out of order or in ideas that don't have a place in my current project. I keep idea docs and an idea notebook on hand almost always and write down stray thoughts either as more of an outline, or just a jotted down piece of a thought -- OR something more. Like a whole in-prose scene. That's what I mean by fragments. I've found, especially lately, considering what I wrote above, that if inspiration strikes, let it distract you from everything whenever you can. Write that shit down and save it for later. (:

The last part of it, of course, is the editing process. I try to fire the editing brain for drafting purposes and then go back in to proofread and then do editing passes two or three times before I post / consider a piece to be finished enough to possibly share. I enjoy that part of the process so much. It's like finishing a good jigsaw puzzle lol. That said it's not always sunshine and rainbows, it can be a brutal difficult process. And I am not always right. It's different looking at editing your own work than others' just due to how close we can be to our own writing. Worth it, though, all the struggle (:

Is it different in my original work than fic?

Nope! I mean I suppose the glaring difference would be I need to spend more time in original with worldbuilding than I do in fic, as fic kind of has a bit of a safety net in that department. That said, there's still plenty of worldbuilding to do, lots of hcs to write about, and lots of planning how the pieces will interact. And asking -- why tell this specific story? (Always the fun part for me.) The process, regardless, still remains the same. Plan, write, cause problems on purpose, plan around those problems, write more and EDIT, EDIT, EDIT. (:

Thank you so much for asking this!! I hope this was insightful!

#AskMareena #on writing #writing advice #writing tips #writblr #fanficblr #writeblr

[merge-conflict]

8, 20, & 56 for the fic writer asks, please

Questions here

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

The long middle! There is a point in the very middle where you start to panic about pulling all the threads together, but also at that point it's so open to possibility. There's a beauty in the start and finish where you're carefully setting up the underpinnings of a story, and then carefully wrapping it back up (but not too much of either!), but I love love love the middle. Sometimes it's something you crack open and sometimes it's a lesson in how every plan falls apart because the world is so Big and you're only at best the protagonist in your own story with so many other stories going on around you...Is that too sappy? I love when I'm in the thick of things even if it means I have to straighten out my plot game.

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Oh this is a good question. I think there are a few recurrent themes or tropes I use but lately I've been thinking about masks and vulnerability. About how people present themselves differently in different contexts, and to what extent they're aware of it, control it, resent it, revel in it. About what it means when they let someone see under it, or help them maintain that mask. Trying to create the perfect mask, or longing to tear it off, sometimes at the same time. It's all identity crisis all the time over here at merge-conflict.tumblr.com. My specialty is probably the scenes where there's a big obvious elephant in the room but for various reasons no one will acknowledge it, no matter the growing absurdity. Catharsis!

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Oaugh. Hard one for me to answer right now because I'm in one of those moments where everything I've written looks and feels like a dying glowstick in direct sunlight. (It'll pass, but it hasn't yet. Rude.) I guess I'm pretty happy with my ability to imply certain things just by briefly showing an action but not dwelling on it directly– just continuing on with the scene reinforcing the action.

I was pretty proud of my most recent chapter of fleeting fits of reason because I switched povs to a new character, and because I restrict myself to 1.5k per chapter, I've got to make Rogue feel fleshed out and a part of the story, even though she's mostly mentioned in passing previously. What exactly she notices about a scene that plays out every day (and by contrast, what is too boring for her to comment on). Johnny's crisis from the previous chapter is just a somewhat normal occurrence for her. Annoying, but not noteworthy. It's clear she has a good working relationship with Alt despite Johnny's declaration several chapters ago that they'd never get along. Her relationship with Kerry is kind of strained, but you get the sense that she's slowly letting go of old resentment because it's best for everyone including herself. She's keeping an eye on the dynamics of the Kerry/Johnny/V shit, but she's also purposefully keeping distance. All of the little internal arguments and domestic squabbles and old wounds are just background to her researching and planning a job- which is what she's good at. I'm still developing my ability to do weird things with perspective (my goal is always primarily to revisit previously described events or situations from another view, rather than just use it to show what's going on Somewhere Else). But I've been happy with the results!

#my periodic reminder to myself that I should actually WATCH rashomon #ask game #thank you for the asks :3