#if u write things stories poetry etc and i follow u this is probably about u

[skellydun]

absolutely love reading such a well-written story and falling a bit in love with the author based solely on the way they write. like baby the way you italicize words makes my heartbeat quicken.

#i cannot tell u what this is about bc i do know that some authors of things i read follow me and i will be outed #if u write things stories poetry etc and i follow u this is probably about u

[rollercoasterwords]

Hello ! Your writing is very impressive, you have a talent to create sentences and images that have a real impact on the reader and push the story to another level (from my personal perspective haha)

Have you ever thought about writing a completely original story ? And if you prefer fanfictions, what do you like about them ?

hi thank u!! appreciate the kind words <3

i've definitely thought abt writing an original story + have made some attempts--the first writing i ever shared on the internet back when i was a kid was original stories, but as i got older i felt like if i was going to write there was no point unless i was writing something that could be published. i tried to start writing a novel a few different times but i would always get frustrated and quit pretty early on, and the only things i managed to finish from the ages of like. 16-21 were a handful of short stories and a whole bunch of shitty poetry lol

i started writing fanfiction purely for fun and at first i was just rewriting stories i already loved from other povs, which was much easier for me because the plot was already there for me to follow. and doing that helped me like...develop my writing stamina ig to the point that i then was able to write a long original story, but since it was still canon compliant within a specific universe there were still guideposts of plot points to meet, worldbuilding already mostly done, etc--all of which made it easier than writing a completely original work for me.

honestly the jegulus au fic i wrote is probably the closest thing to an original novel i've done--if i'm being honest it's really just got the vaguest connection to hp via names + some relationship dynamics lol. but it still felt lower pressure + i wasn't trying to write, like, a novel-length work of fiction, which made it easier and more fun for me.

and now with wfrau it's like....kinda in-between i guess? it's v original in a lot of ways, but it's also still rooted in this backdrop of canon + worldbuilding despite being an au, which in some ways makes it easier to write. it's very, like....derivative, ig? so it kinda feels like writing my own story but with, like. training wheels.

and i think that's the thing i really like abt writing fanfiction--aside from the fact that there's no pressure to make your work marketable so you can publish it, which means u can go wild and write whatever the hell u want, there's also this already-built universe for u to play around in, and u can lean really heavily on that if u don't wanna do the heavy lifting of worldbuilding or u can just steal a few crumbs. i do think i'd like to try writing an original novel still, but writing fic has helped me actually develop my writing skills to the point that i even think i'd be capable of like. writing 50k+ words, something that used to seem like an insurmountable task. and it's also helped me get over all the pressure i used to put on my writing, the sense that it wasn't worth it if i wasn't gonna get published--now i can imagine writing a novel just to write a novel, without worrying too much about publication.

#ask

[harvestdew]

pls will u ever elaborate on kiki's backstory im dying to know what on earth is going on there

yeah i was like wow i’m gonna be so cool and mysterious and NOT tell anyone not even my friends what’s going on with kiki til i pump out my comics because i thought it’d be better that way? but school saps the energy from me so idk why i expected to get comics out in a timely manner when comics take a lot of time. i also feel bad because i’ve had multiple people go like “WHAT the fuck is going” so i’ll just tell you all as a little 500 followers treat so you guys don’t misunderstand and think she’s a murderer

also if you ever want to hear me talk about my oc’s more you can always come to my livestreams (i stream my stardew valley gameplay w/ friends or when i draw)!

disclaimer: this will be long. it’s complicated, if you’re more confused just send me another ask and i’ll elaborate, and i’ll split it into 3 sections! i’m so sorry

childhood - after kiki’s parents divorced, she chose to stay with her dad, her mom remarried to a rich CEO (more on this later), whatever. her dad dies in an accident, but instead of being passed over to her mom, kiki got sent to pelican town to live with her grandpa on her dad’s side when she was 13. i think at this time haley is too young for her to hang out with because i always thought she was younger than kiki BUT sebastian is her age and they’re actually put in the same class

kiki struggles with acclimating to pelican town because she’s a) grieving b) joining the class in the dead middle of the year so everyone thinks she’s a loser LOL. i guess sebastian felt really bad for her cuz he finds her crying outside once of class and gives her like his juice or something out of pity. they end up becoming friends though, and by extension, she becomes friends with sam and abigail. she hangs out with sebastian the most though, plus they’re kinda neighbors so robin was used to her stopping by constantly out of convenience

unfortunately kiki only spends 2 years in pelican town because her grandpa died, but before he does he gives her the envelope like in the intro of stardew valley and tells her not to open it. everything goes downhill for her at this point because it means she has to move back in with her mom. kiki knows that her mom has 0 attachment to stardew valley so the only way she thinks she can really keep in contact with everyone is writing them letters which sounds pretty infallible at first

anyway i may or may not have taken inspo from an e ve MV here because childhood friends parting makes me really sad

teenage years up to early 20s - around this time surprise her mom is (surprise) awful. by this i mean her mom literally married a chairman at joja corp., enrolled kiki in private school, and tried to siphon any connection she had to her dad, grandpa, and stardew valley by substituting it with her new life in zuzu city. not to mention kiki’s step-sister irene who i’m going to design lately hopefully (?) also loves making her miserable only because she hates kiki’s mom 

the only thing that makes city life bearable for her is frequent letters from her friends, most often (if it wasn’t obvious again) sebastian. daelin told me he probably sent her emo poetry and i think that’s literally SO funny but even then the letters don’t last that long because within a few months her mom decides the letters are getting in the way of her kid’s success and starts throwing them out before kiki gets them or sends her own. naturally she thinks sebastian just doesn’t give a fuck about her so she stops writing after a while. but then this makes HIM think she doesn’t give a fuck about him and he holds a grudge against her for it for years even though she has no idea

then kiki forgets about stardew valley since there seems to be nothing else tying her to it, goes to business school, and eventually gets as a job in PR at joja corp. if that’s not bad enough she gets engaged to a MAN she doesn’t even like. her fiance is someone who manipulated her into dating him which i’ll again elaborate on in a second, plus her mom is obsessed with him like ohhh big handsome man WHATEVER except he literally only wants to marry her because her step-dad is a chairman. but kiki’s absolute breaking point (which i’m still kinda hashing out and only have a vague idea of) is when she figures out her fiance orchestrated a PR disaster by logging into her computer and messing a bunch of stuff up (idk if i should do hacking or whatever) so she gets blamed, only to take blame/save the day for the thing he LITERALLY started so she could feel indebted to him enough to date him. at this point she feels so suffocated by her life in zuzu city that she contemplates running away, so while packing she finds grandpa’s letter and decides to run away to stardew valley

present - i know the missing person stuff didn’t make sense but i hope everything i explained kinda gives you more context? her mom put out a missing person notice and her peers/family from zuzu city are still looking for her. this is partly why she doesn’t have a phone when she moves in, she tries to pawn her engagement ring off to clint for extra gold, and refuses to have pictures of her taken by haley for the first few weeks of their friendship. ofc when kiki goes back, she is escorted by robin, talks to lewis, etc. whatever is in the official intro and it’s kinda standard but on her way to pierre’s for cleaning supplies she accidentally runs into sebastian and realizes he hates her guts and has no idea why because he literally won’t tell her. the idea of childhood friends to strangers is really fun to write imo and then the story persists from there! 

LASTLY - I’M SO SORRY for writing so much i just couldn’t condense it into less paragraphs if i wanted but i hope it was interesting!

#answered

[goosedawn]

i've never listened to Friends At The Table (though it's on my list now, dnd campaigns podcast wooo!) what would the storyline of the crossover entail? with the HermitCraft characters i'm guessing it's chaotic and interesting 😊

:0!!!! :DDD!!!!!!! if u end up giving it a shot i hope u enjoy it! they dont actually play dnd, they play a bunch of other tabletop games which are all really neat also! (also if u need a suggestion for where to start if/when u get to it, feel free to drop me an ask)

the story follows the typical structure of "group is sent off to do tasks for money, and eventually realise something bigger is going on" so i am largely following the plot in that way, where groups of adventurers are sent out to investigate a series of towers that appear to have some connection to the gods of the world. ajhsjjejhfhjef most of my thoughts about the au are more character based,, so instead of a proper plot summary i can give details and thoughts on where some of the hermits fit into everything so far (while. trying to avoid the big twists revealed in the podcast ig,,?) i also ended up including some sleepybees (sbi + beeduo) in the au but im still not 100% sure on where they fit in (as in i have too many ideas djhdkndnj)

ANYWAY uhhhh some spoilers for the universe im basing this off of, under the cut cos it got long :'D

context/setting:

the specific arc/universe that this au is set in is the one from Seasons in Hieron (SiH) which is their fantasy season! (its. its long,, this arc spans i think. 3 seasons? plus a short interlude season)

the setting was previously a traditional fantasy world that had some sort of great catastrophe (the Erasure) happen, and the current world is after people have rebuilt a new society! its described as "post-fantasy, post-post-apocalyptic" its very fun and subversive and afhdjfbj the worldbuilding is just. real good :>

-----

characters:

im still figuring out where different hermits fit into the au but i am basically taking aspects of various characters from the podcast and splitting roles and traits to hermits, so its all mixed up! also,, there are just. so many hermits,, i have not found places for all of them (not even most of them i dont think) but here is what i have so far:

impulse and zedaph work in the New Archives (a series of huge warehouse-like archives run by the orcs of this world!) impulse is an orc, zed is not! impulse works to retrieve artifacts for the archive, and zed,, hes just kinda there. learning and experimenting with pattern magic (a type of magic done by arranging and rearranging things in specific configurations, often they are obscure and weird things like "27 brown birds in a tree, 5 table legs, 500 buttons, 16 steps to the east" etc.) when the story finds them they are studying a fallen tower in the center of the Mark of the Erasure (a location still showing the effect of the great cataclysm that befell the world)

tango vaguely takes the role of Ephraim, prince of something or rather,,, idk man hes cool and has fire powers, very anime. his powers were a gift from the gods, and he goes on to hv close relations w them! he meets up with impulse and zed later on and become fast friends obviously

joe is an expert in pattern magic, and is on the run from the archives after having stolen a pretty nondescript notebook. its a nice notebook! hes just a human guy. he writes and recites poetry in order to do pattern magic using the notebook!

cleo hails from the city of *Nacre*, where people get multiple chances at life. people from there can get killed but will exist on as zombies, then if they are killed again, they exist as ghosts, and then they pass away fully. she is an undead pirate captain that joe somehow manages to sway over to their side ahjbhfbjf,, she is hunting down the lost prince/king of Nacre.

wels is a pala-din (pal-ah-deen, rather than paladin), a sort of living marble statue that serves one of the gods in the pantheon.

scar is ofc, a wizard! it. it should be noted that wizards dont really exist in this world, people who perform and study magic are mages, not wizards,, "wizard" is kind of a weird term to use sjbdbjhfjjhb scar takes place of The Great Fantasmo in the podcast, and similarly has an invisible assistant! he doesnt seem to remember much of his past...

cubfan works in Velas, a fishing town where the story "begins" he does not enjoy talking to scar, and seems to be sad whenever hes around. perhaps scar reminds him of someone, or perhaps of better times...

tfc hes a priest aagsuijdjhkdgjdkihwhjvd i swear theres a reason for this later,, the role of the npc alyosha is somewhat split between tfc and cub!

-----

others i have thoughts on but im not settled on yet:

im debating having xisuma as part of the pantheon, but if not, he would be a druid so he can shapeshift into animals sjbakjnsnfjb he would take the general role of Fero in the story, but would also be kind of split with evil x, who captures... a certain stubbornness and deepset frustration Fero has in later times.

etho could take the place of Samol, the first god to exist. he is the embodiment of this world, and is kind of isolated and strange wbhshjhbdbhjdjbdkjn,, strange /pos. hes also. kind of dissapearing though... i wonder why :)

while theoratically i could have xisuma as samol cos. yknow. admin. i think the vibes and role just fit etho better

and... if i had etho as samol i think it could be fun to have doc and bdubs as other members of the pantheon, if u go with their dynamic from the start of s7 they even fit the divorced couple vibe two of the gods have /lh /hj (nho pantheon pog..? maybe. theres a total of 5 deities in the pantheon tho...)

im leaning toward either false + stress or maybe gem + pearl pairs for two of the goddesses in the pantheon, but thatd probably depend on if i can find a better place for them ;P

techno and phil take the role of red jack, and techno is a Huge Oni Dude >:] in canon red jack has a cool horse!!! it fits!! hes also. heavily implied to be kinda immortal?? anyway. im torn on this because techno and phil ALSO fit the roles of some of the player characters, with relation to the missing prince/king of Nacre but im still working things out,,

no matter whats up with them, ranboo takes the role of bluejay, redjacks son, meeting up with tubbo and tommy who take the place of benjamin, the son of one of the player characters. tubbo and tommy kind of. get sent to another dimension to keep them safe,,? and live in a lie for many years before they are brought back.

when i first thought about this au, i also thought about the whole. sending child off into fake dimension to live life, and of course. i thought about. grumbot ofc and originally planned to have mumbo or grian take the place of that player character abhdfvnbrvbn but it also implies one or both of them would be paladins (not pala-din! just the normal religious knight) AND have connections to tubbo and tommy which is. funny but ehhhh idk.

-----

and that. maybe probably somewhat incoherent train of thought is what i have for the au so far! its. still very much a work in progress so thank you if you stuck through all that!! ive still got a lot to think abt in the au,,,, lots to figure out ;P hopefully i can iron it out a bit more in the future, but its fun to think about for the time being

#goosegoes #not g/t #i lost so many words from this draft #i kept forgetting to save it #anyway its like 2am ajbanjkjrjhfjdk i should sleep #anon #again thank u for asking aabjhskjnjkrhjbrjhjk #even if u dont read all of that it means a lot that u showed interest 💛 #obscure crossover au

[maggiecheungs]

2020 ~everything~ wrap

i finally have time to do all of the tag games that people have tagged me in over the past month or so! i cannot for the life of me remember who tagged me in which one, so i’m just putting ~everything~ in one huge post. if i tag you anywhere then consider it a standing invitation to do whichever of these you haven’t done :) in fact, this is me issuing a standing invite to any of my followers who wants to do it :) also, thank you all!

Creator Wrap: Favourite Works

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

this collection of philosophy quotes paired with thai bl series, (and its sequel) which is possibly my favourite thing i’ve ever made. for, uh, nerd reasons.

these gifted text post memes i made still make me laugh sometimes

this fic about green from 2gether, which i wrote in the notes app on my phone and published the same day. not my absolute best writing but i am very fond of it <3

i have a bunch fof friend zone dangerous area edits/shitposts which i like, but i’m particularly fond of my fzda as satire headlines (which now has a sequel!)

i also love my crisgood-walmart-lesbian post. i might send it in to gmmtv to try and convince them to do a crisgood-bffs spin-off

+ bonus: since i wrote this list i made this gifset (my first ever!) of jennie panhan in the shipper and i love her too much not to include her on here

+ extra nerdy bonus: this niche meme about Chinese philosophy, which still makes me crack up whenever I think about it

Favourite Creators/Follow Forever

i’ve completely lost track of who’s following who from which blog, so this is just going to be a haphazard, non-exhaustive list of people who i adore/admire/am vaguely intimidated by, mutuality be damned. maybe we talk all the time! maybe we’ve never interacted! maybe i am constantly there in ur tags... lurking... 👀... but if you’re on this list you have made me smile at least once this year and i love you for that alone <3

@wjmild kylie!! you make gifs of arm & tay & lee (separately or in various combinations) & the shipper & and kapook & random fluke pusit cameos & school rangers so i don’t have to <3 ilysm

@janeramida vianey, you have such impeccable taste in general, but your sizzy gifset in particular is so gorgeous it lives in my mind rent free

@applelapis bri, this post was a callout and i want you to know that it haunts me at night as i lie awake staring at the ceiling :((((( i hope you are happy

@gigiesarocha cata, i love it when you show up on my dash bc you have!! such taste!! also, every time you gif gigie i gain five years of life <3 pls continue doing the Good Work

@pvrrish​ eleni, i remeber legit thinking that this was an official poster when i first saw it, it’s so beautiful

@ahysopae​ juliette your khaithird fic is so good and it literally changed the way i think about khai (not an easy feat)

@kurosawadachi angel, whenever i think about grace’s speech i remember your gifset and get literal chills

@doctorbahnjit alexa, you have no right to be as funny as you are. your friend zone edits give me life

@khaotungthanawat sam, you’re probably sick of getting tagged in these lists by random strangers, but i just had to bc your gifsets are Pure Art

@tanwirapong roa, all your gifsets are so ✨iconic✨

faiza @asianmelodrama and rahul @petekaos! yours were the first two thai drama blogs i followed and for ages i lowkey thought of you as my fandom parents.

and some more blogs that make me happy: @curlykytta / @lee-thanat  / @fck-inspector-m / @pangwave / @tichawongtipkanon / @tawanv @kimmonv (violet istg i have spent more time this year trying to figure out how many blogs you have than i have spent admiring your gifsets. & i spend a lot of time admiring your gifsets) / @taytawan / @1akorn and @yihwas (and your radiant lovechild @lakornladies ofc) / @teh-ohaew / @vihokratanas (mel your gifsets are just so gorgeous) / @tootiredtoosadtooangry / @headcompletelyempty / @demiromanticmickey​ / and there are definitely more but my brain is a sieve so apologies if i’ve forgotten anyone!! i love you all!! 

2020 HIGHLIGHTS ✨

rules: list your top 10 shows (bl or not) you watched in 2020 (doesn’t necessarily have to be shows that came out in 2020 though!)

1. 2GETHER & STILL2GETHER

my first thai drama, and even after all the amazing shows i’ve watched this year, it still has a special place in my heart. watching 2gether was the first time i’d ever seen a queer romcom that just... was. for me, by the simple fact of its being, 2gether was revolutionary. and then still2gether came along and took all the best things about the first season and gave us something beautiful and quiet and lovely and just proved to me, once and for all, that queer happiness doesn’t need to justify its own existence. there can be gay cuddles on the beach for no other reason than that we want them. 

2. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

i don’t really have the words for this one but. it makes my heart so very soft.

3. FRIEND ZONE 2: DANGEROUS AREA

season one was mindless fun because everyone was an absolute trashfire and it was hella cathartic to watch, but season 2... wow. i love it for so many reasons: it has messy and authentic queer rep; the characterisation is excellent and i somehow care about all of the characters; amazing women taking centre stage(!); a wlw relationship with lesbian, ace and bipolar rep; multiple interesting plotlines; actual character development; arm weerayut as a chaos gremlin... absolutely one of my favourites of 2020.

4. CHERRY MAGIC

i don’t think i need to explain this one, which is fortunate, because i have no idea how exactly i’d describe the happy-warm-fuzzy-queer-seen-loving-affirmed-profound feeling that rises in my chest whenever i think about it. 

5. THE GIFTED: GRADUATION

confession: i liked season 2 more than season 1 (with the exception of the ending, which we don’t talk about). season 1 was enjoyable and interesting, but for me it was season 2 which made me love this series. it did some incredibly interesting and complicated things (even if it didn’t quite nail the landing): it pushed characters to the breaking point and wove so many layers into the story and questioned its own underlying themes. plus, watching it alongside everyone in the fandom made it 200% better. i love all of you and i love this show. egg girl 5eva.

6. THE SHIPPER

i 100% understand why so many people didn’t like this show, or found it problematic, but through some fluke it absolutely worked for me (even the ending). one day i will write an essay explaining my rationale, but for now i’ll just say that it’s one of my favourite shows about adolescence and queerness and identity and compassion and friendship and love that i’ve ever watched. 

7. YYY

this series is absolutely off its rocker, and it somehow managed to be one of the most affirming shows i’ve watched. it shouldn’t have worked by it did, and i love it so much.

8. 3 WILL BE FREE

absolutely iconic. amazing plot, stunning visuals, great characters, canon polyamory, jennie being incredible... what a series.

9. MANNER OF DEATH

i love the fact that this show exists; i love the mix of crime and romance; i love maxtul’s acting; i love the central relationship; i love bun. i know we’re not even halfway through yet, but this show is doing something special and i’m so grateful that i get to watch it unfold in real time. 

10. CHIHAYAFURU (SEASON 3)

odd one out on my list, but I had to include it. chihayafuru is my all-time favourite anime and it finally got a third season, which is somehow even better than the first two. mashima taichi is one of my favourite characters of all time and his storyline hits me on such a profound level. plus, in the years since i first say this show i’ve fallen in love with classical japanese literature (particularly heian poetry) so i had newfound appreciation for the karuta matches (aka i cried every time someone recited one of my favourite poems)

other favourites: together with me, he’s coming to me, sotus and sotus s, my dear loser: edge of 17, why r u, theory of love, wake up chanee!, gameboys, pearl next door, uta koi (anime), three kingdoms (2010), blood and water (netflix). (itsay would almost certainly be on my list if i’d had time to watch it. same with dark blue kiss, which i had to pause so i could do my assignments)

Final Thoughts

well, it’s been... a year (i don’t think anyone needs a reminder of the details) but writing this post has reminded me of all the amazing shows and people I discovered over the course of it.

thank you to everyone for being so lovely and creative and funny and quirky and kind and passionate. you’re all incredibly awesome people and i wish all of you the very best xx

#tag game #I think I was first tagged in one of these like three weeks ago? but I’ve been super busy #happy new year everyone #ellis talks #also I tried to keep this as short as possible bc otherwise I could have gushed for hours about you all #and this post is long enough already #but if any of you are in a low mood or want the unabridged version of my praise then message me & I’ll compliment you profusely to your face #:)

[katierosefun]

hi how are u : )

quick writing q, how did you come up with original characters? are they star wars characters or just like general?

i feel like i have ideas but like. struggle to make them into people. if that makes sense.

hiya!!! i’m good, hope you’re doing well!!! (and thank you for asking this question because,,,you should know i geeked out temporarily because someone’s asking me about original characters??? whooo boy!!!) 

also...things got lengthy (again), so i added all this under the cut!

okay, so i have like one (1) star wars original character named eiko, who i introduced in time, wondrous time. introducing eiko took a while and it was a lot of me being super anxious and kind of lowkey scared because...star wars fans tend to be a little protective, and sometimes original characters aren’t that well-liked, especially because of that fear of “mary sue”-ness and etc. 

so in the case of a star wars original character and to avoid the problems specific to and inherent to all the problems we run into with original characters in fanfic writing, i just kind of. make sure that she’s actually got some traits that! people can mostly relate to! 

so for instance, eiko’s just a very anxious kid who wants to be a good padawan, but: 

how do you be a good padawan anyways when there were already so many amazing jedi who walked the path  before you?

how do you handle those expectations? 

are you harder on yourself because of it? probably. 

do you glow when given compliments? absolutely.

and i guess when making a star wars original character, or an original character in any pre-established fandom, then you really want to make sure that if they’re connected to a canon character in some way, the canon character gets a storyline of their own. 

the canon character and the original character can rely on each other from time to time, but i think it would be kinda boring if the original character just followed around canon characters and never figured things out for themselves. 

basically: we want your original character to have some independence away from the canon characters.

how do they act when they’re alone? 

what do they do in their free time? those are things to think about when you’re trying to better grasp an original character in a pre-existing fandom.

but in terms of writing original original characters, i have this thing where like. i just take a singular personality trait that (usually) i have and dial it up to 100000. because, as one of my own friends likes to say, we contain multitudes. there are so many lives and so many different facets of you that are sometimes fighting for the spotlight--and sometimes, i like to give those different facets a little bit more of a voice in original characters. 

because really, chances are, those little bits of you that are still hiding around the corners? those traits are sometimes more exemplified in other people. so, like, if that was confusing (which i know it was), a quick example: 

i will be the first to admit that sometimes, i can be an incredibly rude person. (idk how much of a surprise that is to people. i hope it’s a bit of a surprise, because i don’t like to be rude.) 

and of course, there are tons of very, very, very rude people in real life. the reason why i’m not rude 24/7 is because there’s a part of me that dials it down a quick notch. but there are people out there who don’t have that dial, and they’re able to exist relatively freely just being the rude people they are. 

so that’s kinda where i start in making my characters feel a little more real/also a little more diverse in character! 

because as one of my creative writing instructors once told me, writers tend to be a quiet bunch. and i think anything we write--including characters--tend to reflect huge parts of ourselves, so imagine if we just had a cast of quiet characters who twiddled their thumbs all the time. that’s not a good story, and those aren’t always very dynamic characters. so have fun! take one singular trait that you find intriguing about yourself or in in others and say to yourself, “okay, but what if i dialed it up?” see where it gets you!

but i guess if we want to talk more about how to make characters feel like more real people, then i guess it goes down to the age-old question all writers need to ask when looking at their characters: 

what does your character want?

think about it. anything your character wants is what is ultimately going to drive them forward to do what they’re going to do. act the way they’re going to act, say what they’re going to say. 

there’s a story that i wrote a while back about a girl who’s the daughter of an assassin. she wants to be a lawyer, while her mom wants her to follow the family business and become an assassin as well. 

so how does the mom act? the mom does everything in her power to get her daughter to be excited about being an assassin--lets her in on interrogation rooms, takes her to a shooting range, gets increasingly frustrated and turns up the denial denial denial mode every time her daughter talks about the possibility of law school. 

the daughter? the daughter does everything in her power to make sure her mom knows that she doesn’t want to be an assassin. she deliberately lounges around during the interrogation, she misses all the targets on the shooting range on purpose, etc. 

so, in essence: your characters have to want something first. as soon as they want something, the rest will slowly come to place. even if you’ve never been an assassin or the relative of one, you still probably relate to at least the feeling of wanting something badly, and all people know that feeling too! it’s real, and it’s human to want something. 

combine that want with, idk, the type of background you have for your characters (and there’s a ton of different resources on developing that specifically), and soon, you’ll find yourself writing/communicating/tearing your hair out with a much more fleshed-out character.

and, if you’ve done all these and you still want to know a little more about your character, another thing to flesh out original characters/stories: 

1. write fanfic of them. no, seriously, do it. sometimes you can’t really write your big story/novel/whatever right away, but you have a very specific scene or you want to reimagine them in a different setting and just play around with them. that’s okay! what are they like in a modern day high school au? in a coffeeshop au? play around with it, and see what’s consistent (do they meet the same people in the same manner over and over again? do they like to listen to one specific kind of music? do they still talk funny? do they still wear x?) 

2. make playlists! like...music is personally one of my big inspirations, so this is where i usually throw in some good old playlists. more times than not, i’m able to write with my original characters with my original character’s specific playlist playing in the background. (and it’s wonderful! i have one character playlist that’s almost solely musical/disney music because she’s a very innocent kind of gal, while another playlist is very heavy punk/rock because that’s Just How She Is.)

3. write incorrect quotes! you know the ones i’m talking about--there are so many incorrect quote blogs on tumblr. i have a separate, private sideblog here on tumblr that’s completely dedicated to writing incorrect quotes of my original characters. i sometimes post screenshots of them here too, although i haven’t done that in a while. but incorrect quotes are fun, and they might give you a good idea of the kind of characters/archetypes you want them to fit into! 

(and, because i can’t resist, here’s an example from my own original characters:) 

galen: andrea, i need you to swear to me--

andrea: shit

galen: 

galen: i meant swear like promise, andrea //

rosalind: crushes are the worst 

dae: yeah, whenever i’m near one, i just start acting nervous 

rosalind: you’re always nervous 

dae: ...don’t think too hard 

myung, tired: bold of you to assume rosalind thinks

4. alternatively, make a whole private side blog dedicated to your original characters and reblog/tag the posts that remind you of them. like, you know the “[x] characters as tumblr posts”? yeah. i do that a lot. so, just because i really can’t resist, some more examples: 

“Bro, We Are Rivals . Its Ok To Pin ME Up Against A Wall . Im Ur Nemesis . I Hate You . ... Bro, We Are Kissing Now . . No Dont Stop Bro .. Bro ... // @gayarsonist 

oh so you’re just going to wear a black turtleneck?? like some kind of slut?? // @allergic-alien 

and sometimes, i’ll use that blog to also reblog poetry that resonates with my original characters/gifsets of actors/actresses that i would fancast as my original characters. (like,,,did i look at ewan mcgregor in mortdecai and gratuitously tag him as a villain character in one of my wips? yeah. yeah, i did. it’s fun writing that villain character now, though. :)) 

and those are all the tips that i have!!! i hope that helps!!! have fun writing, friend!!

#answered #anon #maybe i should start a tag called writing tips? #adsdsf i dont feel qualified to give writing tips though #but #just in case #writing tips #(also wow caroline stop writing...esssays challenge) #(but also im super excited about this can you tell)

[jam-is-my-food]

writing asks. all of them. ( for 50 uhh just write a paragraph about how hot emmy raver-lampman is in a suit please and thank you </3 )

fUCK YOU NESSIE

THAT’S IT IM DOING IT JUST TO SPITE YOU

this is gonna be long asf click keep reading at risk of death or boredom

1.     Do you listen to music when you write?

not usually, it's distracting

 2.     Are you a pantser or plotter?

naturally pantser but if i wanna actually finish smth i gotta plot it hh

 3.     Computer or pen and paper?

computer i'm not a boOmer /j i so am

 4.     Have you ever been published, or do you want to be published?

bitch i wiSh

actually technically i was published in this anthology thing once? and i think i have a piece in a magazine somewhere on the internet i forget those are cool

but yeah bye getting a novel published is my d r e a m (gotta write a novel first tho lawl)

 5.     How much writing do you get done on an average day?

n o t  m u c h

unless i get one of my bUrsts aka finishing a 2.3K almoons chapter before 8am the other week after procrastinating it for like two months 

but yeah jdsghliuedskj it um depends often none

 6.     Single or multiple POV?

i answered that for kiri so i'll just copy paste it over loll

mmm it depends. usually i do single? but i do do multiple occasionally. i almost never do alternating chapters, though, it’s usually more like part one is narrated by person a, part two person b etc.

 7.     Standalone or series?

baha like i could ever write a series (please, please be jinxing yourself rn refster) aside from that one trilogy when i was 7 but uh yeah atm just standalones but a series would be so cool in future 

 8.     Oldest WIP

the aforementioned trilogy. chronicles of clara. it is incREDIBLE. 10/10. so good. so, so good.

 9.     Current WIP

i haven't actually mentioned it on tumblr yet but hehehe it's called the wordweaver's apprentice it's fantasy and i'm v excited about it :DD that was ooc but :DD

 10.  Do you set yourself deadlines?

(also answered for kiri, copy-pasting over)

hahahahhahahuhdkjashdglauhsdaugediuskjlkehdsgihkdskhgdkjx

i? try?

it does not go well?

but then i never finish my projects?

send help pls im dying

11.  Books and/or authors who influenced you the most

lmao the list is too long

 12.  Describe your perfect writing space

somewhere w/o distractions

 13.  Describe your writing process from idea to polished

hm. idea. that's cool. that's cool. write it down. hype myself up. forget about it within a week.

el em mayo

but like

f r LMAO

okay but fr fr idk i don't usually finish stuff but it'd be idea, brainstorm, plot (sort of), write, agonize, write, finish, throw in the other direction and never touch again bc revision whos she

 14.  How do you deal with self-doubts?

cry and spam my friends

 15.  How do you deal with writer’s block?

i don’t - mm. i don’t tend to get writer’s block? or like - idk what to classify as writer’s block? bc sometimes i get blocked for a certain story, but then i get really into like poetry or sum for a week so it’s fine idk

 16.  How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied with a project?

o n e as i said i don't - revision is a no

 17.  What writing habits or rituals do you have?

uHhHhhhhh idk???

 18.  If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and what would you write about?

*laughs in gfc*

 19.  How do you keep yourself motivated?

i don't. if you have any ideas please hmu i need it.

 20.  How many WIPs and story ideas do you have?

m a n y.

21.  Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write?

mmmmmmmmm i love cass i haven't written her in too long but i think she's probably my most well-done character to date and i'm so proud of her badkghewiludkjs

 22.  Who is/are your favourite pairing(s) to write?

c y i l l

though possible imeini (ship name needs revision) in future we shall see (from twa) (the aforementioned newish wip)

 23.  Favourite author

there are Many

 24.  Favourite genre to write and read

fantasy maybe? ooh dystopia is fun

 25.  Favourite part of writing

everything about it when i'm motivated hh, my problem is getting more motivation

 26.  Favourite writing program

oh idk huh?

27.  Favourite line/scene

idk?

 28.  Favourite side character

j o o s t

 29.  Favourite villain

i def have one but i forget

 30.  Favourite idea you haven’t started on yet

too many

31.  Least favourite part of writing

motivating myself :/

 32.  Most difficult character to write

mmmm i'm not really in the throes of a wip atm so idk

 33.  Have you ever killed a main character?

yessir

 34.  What was the hardest scene you ever had to write?

drunk will was surprisingly difficult in a fun way. def not the hardest but yeah

 35.  What scene/story are you least looking forward to writing?

god idk

36.  Last sentence you wrote

And then Mei was gone, and in the space that she'd filled, Imani whispered, "I wish I was like you."

 37.  First sentence or your current WIP

It is said that when we came to this stretch of Tatys land, it was empty.

38.  Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had

mm there was one about anthropomorphic chickens battling sentient fruits, the fruits in question also being six-year olds

 39.  Weirdest character concept you’ve ever had

s e e  a b o v e

 40.  Share some backstory for one of your characters

cass's mom used to have a drug problem & she would leave her alone for long stretches of time, she went to rehab and is now sober but it's where cass gets her abandonment issues from

41.  Any advice for new/beginning/young writers?

just write! no one taught me how to do anything, and there's no rules per se, aside from basic grammatical stuff. do what you wanna do, don't worry about others' reactions. this is cliche asf but true.

 42.  How do you feel about love triangles?

mostly gross, but they can be good.

 43.  What do you do if/when characters don’t follow the outline?

adapt. i  g o  w i t h  t h e  f l o w.

 44.  How much research do you do?

not much usually, depends on the genre of story. i do as much as i feel i need to. and ofc i have the random writer search history.

 45.  How much world building do you do?

in the past, not much. twa (once again my new wip) is fantasy, though, so i' m attempting to remedy that.

 46.  Do you reread your own stories?

i do! it's fun to look back at them after a few years and see how much i've improved.

 47.  Best way to procrastinate

random character headcanons/doodle writey spurt thingies

 48.  What’s the most self-insert character/scene you’ve ever written?

bAHA this one scene in the cHrOniCLeS of cLaRa book two when this girl lisa who was 100% self-insert got annoyed at her little sister daisy (sister-insert) for chewing too loudly and then proceeded to use her wAtEr pOwErs to like flood the house. that part was less self-insert.

 49.  Which character would you most want to be friends with, if they were real?

bye that's so hard. c a d m u s & l a u r e n t tho cinnamon rolls are liFE.

 50.  Write a paragraph about how hot emmy raver-lampman is in a suit please and thank you

i don't gotta write my own bitch i have everything i need to plagiarize from right here

"Raver-Lampman’s enthusiasm is contagious. So is her laugh. It comes from deep inside, just like her voice, and it rings out — ricocheting off furniture and walls. Her head is shaved, all except for a distinctive swath of tight curls on the top and left side of her head. She has the tiniest septum ring in her nose, and a tattoo of what looks like a musical note behind her right ear."

- the clearly gay jessica belt

thank you for the ASKS darLING and thank you if you read this idk why or whether you're okay but yup

[clairenatural]

The Road So Far (aka fandom firsts nostalgia game)

Aaah this is so cute!!! ty for @chill-legilimens for the tag <3 <3  It was a fun nostalgia trip :)

This is going to heavily expose my past but I’ve been on tumblr since I was 14 so try not to judge me too harshly

First fandom steps: I had a wholock tumblr and I saw it pop up around in the general superwholock (rip) community of 2012! My mom also loves the show and had been trying to get me to watch it

First handle or platform: o god....I didn’t have anything before tumblr. I don’t remember my first url overall, I *think* my first spn url was deanandsammeh? that was one of the first few at least

First blogs followed: I really don’t remember 🙈🙈🙈 and I can’t go check because technically this is my second tumblr account after the first was tragically deleted rip

First mutuals: again I also don’t remember :// I don’t think most of them are spn anymore....if u remember being like 2013 mutuals with me hmu!!

First post: Okay I distinctly remember the first thing I ever reblogged was a picture of John Barrowman in River Song’s red heels. I don’t remember what the first spn thing I did was. The first original content I posted was probably a spn poem 

First fandom Discourse™: I think it was when, at Emerald City Comicon in 2013, Misha called destiel “lip service” (as in he and and Jensen ‘paid lip service’ to destiel fans in their portrayals of dean & cas) and got absolutely ATTACKED for queerbaiting. not long after everyone got super mad about 8x17 because they teased all this stuff about ~a fan-favorite couple will be addressed~ (turned out to be meg & cas--good for them i mean no hard feelings) and the “i love you” got changed to “i need you.” Idk it was just really a surge in the queerbaiting discourse 

First character panic: When all the angels fell at the end of s8 and Sam was half dead. that was not a fun haitus lol

First crack spec: I don’t really remember but I think I’m gonna go back to how we were all 10000% sure they were gonna give us explicit destiel in 8x17, although idk if that counts as crack

First fic read (or art that inspired you, etc!): I again don’t remember but I know some really early ones were 300 Things, Forget Me Not Blues, and of course Twist and Shout

First fic written (or art drawn, gifs created, etc!): I used to write really cringy supernatural/destiel poetry lmaoooo  it all got deleted with that old blog but I tracked down three I did for the spn poetry challenge (which actually aren’t terrible tbh) here, here and here

also: unrelated to anything else on this list but I can’t do a fandom nostalgia thing without telling you all that when I was 14 I met Misha at a con, he told me he liked my hat (it was a sock monkey hat), and I hyperventilated. Literally. I got through the interaction, left the room and just. stopped breathing right

I’m posting this at midnight because i’m procrastinating so i’m not gonna tag anyone but feel free to do it!! say I tagged you! I wanna hear your fandom stories

#thank u this was really fun :) #if you read all of this congrats #about me #tag games #long post #mae.txt

[praeingmantis]

January Titles: RECAP

SO,

As you all can probably guess, I didn’t finish all of the books, in fact, I barely finished one. I have read most of these books before, so I’m still going to rate them, I’m just going to go off of what I remember, and February titles will be out tomorrow :)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

This was the only book I read this month, and I didn’t even finish it, but I wish I did because I really love it a lot. I have fully read it before, and I loved it then. John Green is an incredible writer, and I have a lot of his books, but I’m fairly new to David Levithan, but I really like both of their styles. The book is split in two point-of-views: one from Green, and one from Levithan. If you look at the picture, its split in half, one red, one blue, and as you read the book, the things written on the cover are uncovered throughout the book. I give it a solid 8/10 because it can be hard to follow, and its one of those books you have to read all the way through for it to make sense.

The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien

It’s part of the Lord of the Rings series, obviously, and while I have seen all of the movies, the books are somewhat different. I do have the whole box set, but I’ve never read the first books, so this book really wouldn’t make much sense to me. I like Tolkien’s writing style, this story line is just really hard to follow if you aren’t completely devoted to it. This one gets a 4/10. Not because of the book itself, just because I read the series out of order.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I LOVE this book, not because I’m a super basic person, but because the message told in this story, Thomas’ writing style, and the character development overall makes it one of the best books I’ve ever read. What I thought was also really unique about this book was the fact that the major character conflict happened at the beginning, and the rest of the book is the characters trying to figure out the right path for them. A good 10/10.

the sun and her flowers by Rupi Kaur

I haven’t fully read through this book, but I’ve read milk and honey and the first half of this book. Both are really deep and dive into hard hitting issues, like sexuality, sexual maturity, puberty, soul searching, etc. and I don’t think I have another poetry book that does as good of a job that this book does. Kaur is an incredible poet, and she understands herself and her surroundings quite well. A solid 9/10 because I haven’t finished it yet, but I anxiously await the day.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

This book makes me so happy for so many reasons. One, I have fully read this, two, it’s a John Green novel, so I knew it would be good, and three, I think the characters are so diverse and that helps progress the story line further. I also think the main character, Colin Singleton, has such an adorable personality and I really relate to feeling like a “washed-up genius” because of my current academic situation. Anyway, this book gets a 9/10 because it has a couple of weird parts where they talk about math formulas and I can’t follow that because once again, I’m a “washed-up genius”.

The Promise of a Pencil by Adam Braun

I like this book a lot because it is very spiritual and as someone who does not believe in God myself, a lot of my family does, or did, and they always make reference to God and the Bible, so it’s nice to read about it. This book isn’t all about God, it’s about a man who becomes a missionary and goes to third-world countries giving children the gift of pencils and education to help them better themselves. Throughout the book, he talks about his personal beliefs, his family background, and his experiences in these countries. I give this book a solid 7/10 because, just like many of these book, I did not finish this book.

#books #motivation #studyblr #student #school #ap student

[leoasters-blog]

henlo my peaches !! i’m zy (she/her/hers), i’m an unrepentant aquarius, i’m actually moving back to dtla in like a month lol, and i’m super excited to be here !! i’ll be playing my bby boy leo, who’s kind of a loser a sweet summer child. pls treat him kindly !! or not LMAO. i’ve included a bit about him below the jump to help ur muse decide which they’d prefer. that said, my inbox/d*scord is always open, and if u drop a lil ol’ like on this i’ll hop in urs !!

* ☆ ·˚ 「 ryan potter. cismale. he/him. 」 — oh, you mean leo aster, the twenty two year-old translator? they’ve been around the fold for seven months. i know they’re a sagittarius and when i see them, i can’t help but think of scuffed converse tapping on concrete, clacking joysticks, & a steaming drink in a chipped mug. but you’ll get to make your own judgement soon! 

background

hailing from tokyo, japan, leo was born to a prominent businessman and the manager of an international hotel chain. he lived an incredibly privileged life, but with that privilege came a stringent set of expectations that covered basically every aspect of leo’s life, from his future to his hobbies to his friends. leo’s life was planned to follow a tidy trajectory: he’d succeed academically, attend a prestigious university, then return to take over his father’s business. 

leo was an incredibly fortunate kid, for innumerable reasons. he never wanted for anything (physically, at least), and was given the best of the best - with the expectation that he would reflect his means, of course. but he also never really had a childhood. his parents treated him more like a successor than a son, to put it generously. there was no love in leo’s childhood home; his mother spent most of her time traveling to the various resort properties she managed, and his father, in his loneliness, found refuge in another woman. they were, for all intents and purposes, a farce of a family. but that was all leo knew.

but it isn’t until college that the plot begins to thicken. leo attended the university of southern california, and man. america was an eye opener for him.

for the first time, he was able to explore life beyond his parents’ domineering control. he could try out new interests - like the video games his freshman year roommate was really into - and speak to new people - like people who pursued higher-risk occupations for the love, not the money. leo fell in love with writing poetry, and had the opportunity to do the stupid things that his parents disapproved of - like writing dumb raps, for one. he kissed people. he found something like a family. this really strained his relationship with his parents, a complication exacerbated by certain developments back home: namely, increased pressure caused by the rollout of an ambitious expansion plan for the company. 

leo graduated college with one conviction: fuck the trajectory. leo’s life in america was the first thing he actually built for himself (kinda, mostly, if u ignore the fact that his family bankrolled his education LMAO) and he wasn’t ready to give it up. he’d been given a taste of freedom, and he wasn’t gonna let it go.

now

leo’s been,, making it work, surprisingly. his parents have threatened to cut him off if he doesn’t return to japan at the end of the year, but joke’s on them - his current job, translating japanese video games into english for a fairly prolific studio, sponsors his visa and pays him well enough to survive in los angeles, albeit much more frugally than he’s used to. he knows that he’s being humored, that they’re waiting for him to live out his rebellious phase and go home. but he knows for a fact that he’d rather exist in a perpetual cycle of existential doubt than return to the misery that’s his life in japan. 

seriously, his entire post-grad life has been dedicated to “finding himself,” usually through increasingly ridiculous hobbies. some highlights have included photography (not terrible), glassblowing (absolutely disastrous), dj-ing (the less said, the better), yoga (surprisingly successful), and pottery (consistently lopsided, but not altogether hideous). the one thing he always comes back to, though, is spoken word and rap - the latter of which he releases online to a small but actually existent following. 

his deposit for his room in the fold was the first purchase he made on his own!! he appreciates the social nature of co-living. it’s interesting, because leo is one of the most outgoing residents of the complex, but also one of the most notoriously private. he’s made it a point to share very little about his personal life and history, deflecting any genuine attempts to get to know him with some well-timed hijinks. 

etc.

leo’s birth name is uotani ryousei. leo is the americanized pronunciation of his childhood nickname, ryou, and aster is his mother’s maiden name. he started going by leo when he moved to the states for college, and started using aster when he decided to pursue full financial independence.

leo’s rap name is leo astra, bc he thinks he’s witty. i hc his vc as rich brian,, so,, yea lmao.

his mbti is entp and his alignment is chaotic good! 

he is somewhat allergic to cats but loves them regardless.

he’s decidedly a night owl. his favorite place to think is the roof at night.

canonically has ryan potter’s long hair. it’s an attempt to look his age. does it work?? u be the judge !! lmfao

wc / potential plots

a confidant - someone who leo’s told his story to. maybe they’re a good friend, but maybe it’s someone who stumbled on leo smoking on the roof at ass o’ clock in the morning, more pensive than they’ve ever seen him, and who wrangled the full story out of him. 

kitchen confidential - the unfortunate soul who’s run into leo attempting to set the building on fire cook. maybe they’re a good cook doing their civic duty and teaching the poor boy to not burn down the complex, or maybe they’re equally inept and figure that two heads will be better than one. either way, they’re gonna cook together !!!!

eternal rival - someone to assist leo in commandeering the second floor tv to play smash for hours with.

other ppl in the music scene?? particularly in the rnb/hip hop sphere, extra brownie points if they regularly go to events like brownies and lemonade or 143!!

lovers?? ex-lovers??? honestly if u’ve hooked up with leo i guarantee there’s a 99.99998% he still has a lil bit of a puppy crush on u.

co-commuters?? leo works in santa monica but lives in dtla like a Fewl so if ur muse also takes the expo line every day they probably Suffer Together

college friends!! - these people are leo’s rock, and the first family he’s ever truly known. bffls they 100% have matching engraved flasks.

dfs;adkfjg;sh coming up with wcs is Difficult let’s just plot collaboratively !!!

das it ily sorry this was A Lot ty for reading this far lol

#foldintro #✧ HEADCANON //

[sethkate]

💍 for any ship!!

macy & andre 

where they get married

somewhere outside of chicago, smaller venues that are a bit cozy?? prob outdoors like (x) with the reception looking like (x)

when they get married ( ie what time of day, what month and season etc. )

sometime in the spring, probably late april or early to mid may? sometime in the late afternoon! 

what traditions they include ( do they get married under a chuppah and crush a glass, garter toss, ‘something borrowed, something blue,’ etc. )

jfc they definitely do the garter toss per andre’s insistent request!! and then the bouquet toss too.  

what their wedding cake looks like

like this (x) and then (x) with this on top bye (x)

who smashes cake into whose face

they smash it in each other’s face and then give each other a nice big smooch while laughing and being stupidly in love!!!

who proposed to who first

andre proposed to macy

who walks down the aisle and who waits at the altar ( or neither )

macy walks down the aisle with andre waiting for her at the end

what their wedding dresses / suits / other look like

macy’s dress (x) & andre’s suit (x)

what their wedding color scheme is and what sort of decor they have

blush, navy, burgundy

what flowers are in the bouquet ( if applicable. bonus: what do the flowers mean? )

macy’s bouquet is here (x) & bridal party (x)

what their vows are ( eg poetry, traditional, improvised etc. )

they wrote their own. although i think andre would be more likely to have taken time to write his out formally (because he doesn’t want to forget anything) and macy would just speak from her heart

if anyone’s late to the wedding

selah and sergio are ALMOST late… but they end up making it on time. they’re just a bit….disheveled. 

who’s in the bridal parties / groomsmen / other

kaley is the maid of honor and selah is a bridesmaid and sergio is the best man

what their bridal party / groomsmen / other are wearing

bridal party (x) & groomsmen (x)

who gives speeches at the reception ( bonus: what do they say? recount a sweet memory or two between them? tell an embarrassing story? )

kaley will give a really heartfelt speech about how special macy is and how she couldn’t have been given a better big sister and how she wouldn’t be where she is today without macy’s help. and sergio will probably start with a funny story of andre because there’s like 7 trillion of them. and then he will 100% get mushy….because andre is the brother he never had and everyone in the world knows he basically loves andre more than he loves life itself so

who catches the bouquet(s)

SELAH OF COURSE and afterward gives sergio him a look like *eye emoji*

what their wedding photos are like ( are they sweet, with the couple holding hands or kissing or ~gazing into each others eyes~? are they silly, with a snapshot of the ‘cake-smash’ moment? or are they artistic, with one of them facing the sunset or holding their bouquets? )

i think they have a healthy mixture of all of them??? some that are super forced and out of character just for the ~aesthetic~ and then ones immediately after where they are crackin the fuck up because they can’t believe how ridiculous some of this is

what sort of food they have at the reception

a mix of stuff… lobster, filet mignon, spaghetti, salads, oysters, roasted veggies, the works basically.

who cries first during the ceremony

dre will tear up when he sees macy in white… walking down the aisle. macy will cry when she and dre are reciting their vows

how wild their reception gets ( who dances the best, who gets drunk first, etc. )

i don’t think their reception is gonna get super wild because it will be a sober wedding!!! no drinking allowed. i think they’re all gonna be….drunk on happiness tho which sounds cheesy af but it’s true??? because they usually have a lot of dark shit going on so to be able to enjoy one night together will be really special to them

what their rings are like

macy’s (x) & andre’s (x)

what sort of favors they have ( heart shaped sparklers, mini champagne bottles, personalized candy etc. )

things like (x) (x)

where they go for their honeymoon

many places in europe!!! macy wants to see….all the dumb touristy things in the big cities then they’ll eventually end up somewhere on the coast like saint tropez or monaco 

something memorable that happens during the party / ceremony ( do they run out of ice and someone goes to get it in full formal wear on foot, does anyone fall asleep in the middle of the party, etc. )

i’ve decided the night is going to be super uneventful because i want them to have one nice thing that isn’t tarnished by anything so they can blissfully remember it for the rest of their lives kbye 

who officiates the ceremony

idk some guy they probably googled honestly lmao will their marriage even be legal? who knows???

what song their first dance is to

speechless by dan + shay (x)

who gives who away as they walk down the aisle

kaley gives macy away!!! bc who else would tbh

selah & sergio

where they get married

downtown chicago… here (x) for the ceremony & here (x) for the reception…can you say Extra

when they get married ( ie what time of day, what month and season etc. )

fall time!!! probably late september or early october. early evening time. 

what traditions they include ( do they get married under a chuppah and crush a glass, garter toss, ‘something borrowed, something blue,’ etc. )

selah’s mom probably wants her to do the something borrowed, something blue nonsense shit even tho selah is like ‘yea right ok lady’. they’re obvs gonna do the garter/bouquet toss too for…..reasons 

what their wedding cake looks like

this (x) 

who smashes cake into whose face

i think they agreed that neither of them would smash cake into their faces??? bc selah’s like ‘lol if u wreck this snatched face we’re getting a divorce’ djlsdkl so they just feed it to each other real cute instead!!

who proposed to who first

sergio proposed to selah ofc even though selah was prob getting impatient enough that she was ready to do it herself :/

who walks down the aisle and who waits at the altar ( or neither )

selah walks down the aisle with serge waiting for her at the end

what their wedding dresses / suits / other look like

selah’s dress (x) & sergio’s suit (x) 

what their wedding color scheme is and what sort of decor they have

champagne, ivory, rose gold

what flowers are in the bouquet ( if applicable. bonus: what do the flowers mean? )

selah’s bouquet (x) & bridal party (x)

what their vows are ( eg poetry, traditional, improvised etc. )

i think they’ll probably stick with the generic, non-religious vows and then they’ll add their own little bit in to follow so they can make it more personalized

if anyone’s late to the wedding

no because selah would…..hire markus to come shoot them

who’s in the bridal parties / groomsmen / other

selah has macy, ximena and one or two girls from school in her bridal party and sergio has andre (obviously), seth, maybe a cousin or close security pal to even out the numbers because there’s no way bridezilla selah is gonna stand for odd numbers

what their bridal party / groomsmen / other are wearing

bridal party (x) & groomsmen, the same as sergio (x)

who gives speeches at the reception ( bonus: what do they say? recount a sweet memory or two between them? tell an embarrassing story? )

macy probably gives a really short and sweet one about selah bc you know…they haven’t known each other THAT long. but still long enough to have established a pretty good friendship, especially considering the fact that they’re pretty much gonna be bonded together forever because of the boys. and andre is gonna give one of those funny speeches where he’s got everyone in the crowd laughing (sometimes genuinely, sometimes uncomfortably) and basically flatter the fuck out of serge and also embarrass him a bit too? but it will all be super meaningful and out of love 

who catches the bouquet(s)

ximena. and selah and serge both look @ each other like THANK GOD bc home girl needs some good dick in her life lmao

what their wedding photos are like ( are they sweet, with the couple holding hands or kissing or ~gazing into each others eyes~? are they silly, with a snapshot of the ‘cake-smash’ moment? or are they artistic, with one of them facing the sunset or holding their bouquets? )

selah makes them take a lot of cute, romantic ones so she can enlarge them and you know…..hang them over the mantle?? but she also probably has like a small squadron of photographers to capture every single moment because she wants to remember every bit of it for the rest of her life

what sort of food they have at the reception

serge’s family prob took care of all the food so… his fave empanadas, tamales, chilaquiles, a taco bar, enchiladas, etc. 

who cries first during the ceremony

selah will cry before she even leaves the dressing room probably omg 

how wild their reception gets ( who dances the best, who gets drunk first, etc. )

LISTEN if you don’t think that selah makes the squad learn a choreographed dance for this shindig you are WRONG. they’re gonna tear up the dance floor and everyone is gonna wanna join them bye

what their rings are like

selah’s (x) & sergio’s (x)

what sort of favors they have ( heart shaped sparklers, mini champagne bottles, personalized candy etc. )

stuffs like this (x) (x)

where they go for their honeymoon

ooo somewhere beachy and warm. st. lucia, fiji, maldives, etc. 

something memorable that happens during the party / ceremony ( do they run out of ice and someone goes to get it in full formal wear on foot, does anyone fall asleep in the middle of the party, etc. )

they prob have something super extra planned like… have a firework display outside at the end of the night that spells out their initials or some nonsense… i can’t even

who officiates the ceremony

probably someone close to the aguilar family that’s been doing it forever??

what song their first dance is to

can’t help falling in love – kina grannis (x)

who gives who away as they walk down the aisle

selah’s dad will give her away!! even if he’s still :| about the whole thing tbh 

#cosmicslcve #ship: selah & sergio #ship: macy & andre #this took 27 years

[jawnkeets]

hello sorry to disturb you lovely person but i was wondering if you had some advices to have a better literary analysis, or a better culture well, i mean how can i improve my literary intelligence basically ? ( it may not be really clear but i hope you'll understand because i feel like i'm lost... )

hello anon! no need to be sorry, ur not disturbing me at all :+) feel free 2 send an ask at any time ✨✨✨

i’ll attempt to answer this by splitting ur ask into 2 parts. first i’ll try to give some tips on literary analysis, and then i’ll try to talk about the sort of wider awareness of lit (or the culture as you call it).

a little disclaimer: pls bear in mind that i am by no means qualified to speak about this in any way (i still very much consider myself a learner). i’ve generally been left alone throughout my education to do my own thing, which is a good thing in some respects and a bad thing in others; i don’t have the solid foundations that most ppl do, never following things like paragraph structures throughout lower school, and i didn’t know a thing about metre until the start of this month. however, because of my education i think i’ve managed to avoid a few conventional pitfalls. so, in short, you can take as much or as little of this advice as you like!

PART 1: literary analysis

• an excellent way to boost your analysis straight away, dull as it is, is to learn some literary devices beyond, say, alliteration and personification. being able to spot things like chiasmus and epiphora not only wows an examiner, but also enables you to talk about more things within a poem/ book/ play and thus broadens your literary scope in close reading.• remember that for each literary device you mention you should say what it REVEALS (DO NOT just list!!!). the best essays move from a literary device to an explanation of why this device is used - what does it reveal about a character, the speaker, or even the society that the poet or author was writing in?• rhythm and meter in a poem tick boxes in an exam, but can also lead to insightful analysis. how do the rhythm and meter add to the overall message of the poem? does, for example, the metre give a regularity to the poem? why might this be? is it broken at any point? how is this significant?• the above can be applied to rhyme scheme, too. look out for rhyming couplets at the end of a poem, which may give a sense of finality to the poem (or may seem to give a sense of finality when in actuality the speaker of the poem is far from decisive…).• it is important to remember that a particular rhyme scheme (or metre) doesn’t ALWAYS mean anything; it can mean different things in different poems, so instead of applying a ready-made formula, try to go into the exam knowing how to identify these aspects of a poem and then try to work out why you think the poet has used them in that particular poem. flexibility is key, which can be daunting but also somewhat liberating.• i personally find a ‘scribble method’ quite useful. this is where, when first approaching a piece of writing, you write down everything that comes into your head, regardless of how messy, or how basic. you then sort through your ideas, expanding upon what you think is worthwhile and discarding what you think is not. this method is generally more handy when not under time pressure, though, as it can get you into a muddle in the exam.• start simple and build up. it can be tempting to jump straight in but sometimes when you start simply new things can reveal themselves as you work your way up into more complex ideas! • perspective is extremely useful to consider. who is speaking and why? are they biased or objective? who are they speaking to and why?

unseen exam tips

• in an exam, i would approach a poetry or prose extract first by simply reading it, and trying to find out what it is about. then i would go through and highlight words/ phrases of interest, and label literary devices. finally, i would go through it again and build the main analysis. a brief paragraph plan can be useful before writing the essay.• acronyms can help sometimes as a go-to in an exam when you don’t have much time. for example, i use CFTTSOL - content (basic story, characters, who is speaking and why etc) form (poetry, prose, drama etc), tense (past/ present etc), tone (happy, sad, why? is the tone at odds with the subject matter? in emily dickinson’s ‘because i could not stop for death’, for example, the poem is about something dark but it is very jolly), structure/ syntax (rhyme, caesura, enjambment, any disrupted syntax, etc) other (anything not mentioned in the rest of the categories) and language (similes, metaphors, assonance, etc). i would recommend finding one that works for YOU and makes sense for YOU, because creating your own can really help to ease you into analysis.

PART 2: literary awareness

• read, read, read! i cannot stress the importance of wider reading enough, and also the importance of thinking whilst you read (making notes/ annotating books whilst you read is advisable). i am speaking from experience here - i didn’t read outside of the curriculum at all until the end of last year, and since i have started my literary analysis has increased tenfold. this is partly because practice is vital, but also because wider reading gave me an awareness that i could never have expected to gain. it enabled me to start making links between texts, genres, periods, etc – i began to see patterns and conventions in literature. for instance, a poem that breaks convention is easier to spot and talk about – to use a very basic example, a sonnet (usually a form of love poetry) about brutality/ violence toys with genre. if you had read some of shakespeare’s sonnets, you could then compare the violent poem with sonnet 18, to elucidate your point. this isn’t to say that you didn’t already know that sonnets were love poems, or that you wouldn’t have picked up on this without wider reading. but having read sonnets outside of class means that you can talk about this with greater clarity, authority and confidence.• i would also advise you to push yourself with the literary material you explore. it is difficult, but try to find nothing intimidating - read thick victorian novels, read modernist authors, read kant if you want, and even if the prospect of reading ‘harder’ texts doesn’t thrill you then try them anyway - you may be pleasantly surprised! part of the difficulty of studying this subject is that preconceived ideas can erect barriers and put you off. it is important to totally bulldoze these barriers and remind yourself that nothing is above you, and that you are capable. that’s not at all to say that you can’t read ‘simpler’ texts, and of course it is probably wise to admit to yourself when you perhaps need a greater literary background before you tackle a text (for example, i tried joyce’s ulysses, a modernist text full of allusion, when i have a barely working knowledge of greek mythology, and i admitted to myself that though it would not be impossible for me to read it, i would like to read more widely and then return to it in the future).• w i k i p e d i a. it’s often sniffed at but honestly don’t be afraid of using it! it’s an excellent way to absorb info fast. also don’t be ashamed of using websites like sparknotes if you don’t understand a poem to begin with! u shouldn’t rely on them for the crux of your analysis but they can be helpful to get started!• it’s perhaps obvious, but it helps to remind yourself that literature isn’t just fiction - try to read some critical essays if you can, and look at philosophy, history, psychology etc and how they relate to literature as studied in school. this is actually wayyyy more fun than it sounds (!) and will improve your general literary knowledge.• tumblr, whilst being a killer procrastination station, can also really help to broaden your knowledge. reblogged quotes from famous writers often stick around in your memory, and period moodboards can help you get a sense of different ages and help you to visualise what you’re studying. it’s also great to be in a community of passionate people - the passion of others on this site has definitely rubbed off on me!• make it relevant!! all of these texts and literary movements have shaped our society profoundly. as overdramatic as it sounds, look for the romanticism in a house party, or existentialism in internet memes, or hamlet in yourself. legacies are all around us, and seeing the world in this way can really bring literature to life.

literature is a subject where you get out what you put in. it’s relatively straightforward, if you work hard, to get very good grades in lit; if this is what you want, then having a solid knowledge of metre and literary terms, being able to spot them in texts, and then being able to describe what this reveals can get you top marks. but, in my opinion, to develop true literary intelligence you really have to let the subject permeate every aspect of your life. this is a subject where you really can take risks, be original and unique, and explore a huge amount of periods and ideas. if you see it reflected in the world around you, and think deeply and thoughtfully about everything you are reading, then the classwork honestly sorts itself out.

i hope this has been useful in some way and that it answers ur ask adequately!! if u have any further questions or require clarification please do not hesitate to let me know. i hope u have a wonderful day 💘

#sorry abt the length!! #this is longer than the essay i've been trying to write all day lol #asks #studyblr #litblr #english literature #literature

[montpahrnah]

hello, eve! i just wanted to tell you that i discovered your writing recently and it's honestly changed me as a person. the way it flows and your characterisations and, just, so many lines were (well, are) so strikingly beautiful they had me whispering them back to myself or tracing over them on the screen or just pausing to appreciate them before carrying on. i can't even begin to express how lovely your style is, and i love it with all of my heart. (1/2 bc i need to waffle)

(2/2) you’ve become my absolute favourite fic writer Of All Time™ and i wish i could give ‘let nothing you dismay’ a huge hug. honestly, i aspire to one day have a writing style as lovely as yours. if you don’t mind me asking, when/how did you get into writing? and, like, is there any advice you’ve been given or that you’ve found that has particularly stuck with you and that you think has had an impact on the way you write? and do you have a favourite quote? sorry for excessive qs!! ilysm!!!!

ANON………. thank you so so so much, this made my whole week/is incredibly sweet and i can feel my heart growing at LEAST three sizes in my chest as i type this to u. it means a whole huge ton to me to hear all of this and i’m thrilled to know any of what i do works for you–this gave me the most tremendous, swoon-y feeling

i started writing i was ten or eleven, when we did a poetry unit in school. but i remember having loads of fun with it and ever since i’ve been strongly drawn to poetry–i filled a bunch of notebooks with bad elementary/adolescent poems and everything just followed from there. i didn’t start writing fanfic until i was seventeen–the first fic i ever read was a truly hysterical eowyn/arwen bdsm fic featuring like, middle earth nipple clamps (hmu if you guys know what this is because i’ve never been able to find it again despite some semi-diligent searching… i wonder if it was a geocities casualty)

the best advice i’ve probably ever been given was from a friend when i was really struggling to write anything at all, which is:  keep asking “what if?” etc. which seems vague and maybe is, but for me it works. even if i’m writing first war era r/s again or hawke/isabela set post-breakup again, even if i’m writing yet another very short story with a midwestern setting, i don’t just want to retrace my own footsteps. unless you’re writing something within the same series, start from scratch every time. think about dynamics, character histories, relationship progression/changes/ups and downs, setting, personality–build it from the ground up every time and go from there. think about what you want to say, and how you’ve said it in the past. is that enough? is there another way to say it? what if x y z? could you come at this from a new angle? basically–there are many many many ways to say something. and i think it’s worth examining all of them.

also, and this is just from me, don’t fight yourself too much. i’ve learned the hard way. if you have a system re:  how you write, and it works for you, then stick with it. that doesn’t mean never try new things, but FOR EXAMPLE i know for a cold hard fact that i r e a l l y do not work well with much structure. when i write outlines i get frustrated because i deviate from them within 1000 words or i just straight up can’t make them work; they make me feel confined and sort of freeze me up. what i’m saying is, there’s no “”””correct”””” way to do this, and if something isn’t clicking for you, don’t keep slamming your head against a brick wall. stick with what works for you and make peace with it, even if that’s a million unorganized notes on your phone made at 2 a.m.

a while back i also read some really great advice @yeats-infection got from a friend, which was (paraphrasing i think):  don’t feel entitled to your craft. you DO have to work for this. and it’s some of the best advice i’ve read for those of us who tend to be crybabies when we encounter some difficulty i.e. me. keep at it, keep writing, keep reading. you’re never going to stop practicing, and that’s part of the beauty of writing.

idk if i’ve got a great quote about writing that sticks with me–i’ve read plenty tho i tend to forget them–but i really take joan didion’s feelings re:  first and last sentences to heart from this interview. essentially, everything flows out of the first sentence of a story, and the last should open the piece up again and make you want to go back and start reading from page one. i’m always trying to do that…

anyway i’m gonna cut myself off now–i hope some of this is helpful for you, and thank you x a million again for sending such a sweet ask. i’m going to be coming back to this on dark days so thank you for you–ilu2 bud, you’re a gift and i’m wishing you all the best/sending good writing vibes your way for 2018

#long post #ish

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

Wow, well I guess here we are at another wrap-up post where I end up combining my weekly wrap-up and my monthly wrap-up. That doesn’t happen too often, but it makes things a bit more fun/chaotic for me.

Umm…what have I been watching recently? Gosh, I don’t even know. My days have been starting to blend together. Oh, I can tell you what I will be watching very soon…as in the next day or two. First up, “Critical Role” is back tomorrow for episode 100. They have been off the air since like March, and it will be nice to watch some of my favorite voice actors play D&D again. And then on Friday “Hamilton” is dropping on Disney+. I have been wanting to see this show for four years now, and while this won’t be in a theater watching a live performance, it will be the main cast and is a recording of a live performance. So I’m super excited about that.

Most of my weekly wrap-up stuff will be discussed below, like what I read in the last week, and what I’m hoping to read soon. So I guess I’ll just talk about what I’m currently reading.

As usual with my monthly wrap-up, let’s start off by checking in on my overall goals for the year.

Reading: Well, I finished 27 books in the month of June, so I’d say it was another pretty decent month of reading…though 6 of those were single issue comics, 4 of them were volumes of manga, and 5 of them were children’s picture books. Still, I read a few incredible reads, and only a couple just okay reads, so I’m going to say it was a good month. So that puts me at 154 books read for the year so far, which I think is pretty great.

Blogging: I did all right on blogging this month. I’m still trying to figure out my time management so I can get things done in a timely manner, because I can admit that some of my posts have gone up late, or I’ve finished them and thought they were scheduled for publication and instead I guess I just hit save draft, so it doesn’t go up when it’s supposed to…and then I don’t realize it until days later. That hasn’t been fun. But I will get it figured out. I still have a lot more content to send your way. Oh, and because I’ve been busy and it has continuously slipped my mind…I hit 800 followers…I think it was a few weeks ago. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I honestly can’t believe that my blog has that many people following along. And to go along with that excitement, I reached 1,000 blog posts a couple weeks ago as well, which also feels like a pretty big milestone.

Writing: Well, with juggling two jobs and reading and blogging, my writing somewhat got shoved to the back burner. BUT I am happy to say that I’ve just started the Colorworld Creativity Club over on the Colorworld Live VIP group on Facebook, and it is a place for people who are working on creative projects–whether that is poetry, novellas, short stories, novels, screenplays, music, artwork, etc–to get help working through any blocks, as well as a place to have a support system to hold us all accountable for actually making progress on our projects. I’ve set myself a goal of 20,000 words to write on my novel for the month of July. Now let’s hope that the CCC can hold me to it.

Conventions: While in-person Gen Con was canceled, they are holding Gen Con Online on the same days, so that should be pretty interesting. Plus, Damian and I booked a hotel room in Indianapolis for those Gen Con Online dates, so we can get out of town for a few days (and have lovely reliable hotel internet). We’ll probably still do a few of our usual Gen Con stops as well, like going to the comic book store–obviously staying as socially distant as possible, and wearing masks in public. And we’re still hoping that Cincinnati Comic Expo in September will still be good to go. My friends at Colorworld Books have actually started doing Colorworld LIVE convention style events just about every week, sometimes two a week. They gather up three or four awesome voice actors, hold a livestream panel, then a VIP panel for anyone who buys some signed merch, and of course you can get shirts, metal art prints, and more with characters these actors have portrayed. It’s pretty cool.

Okay, now that the general month wrap-up is over, let’s go ahead and jump into the specific reading wrap-up. As always, if I have a review up already then I will include the link to it. So, let’s go over everything I read in June.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas — 5 stars

Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari — 3.5 stars

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron — 4 stars

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall — 3.5 stars

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin — 4.5 stars

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory — 5 stars (review coming July 21)

Vox Machina Origins Series II #1 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #2 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #3 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #4 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #5 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Vox Machina Origins Series II #6 by Matt Mercer, Jody Hauser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher — 5 stars

Pride by Ibi Zoboi — 4 stars (review coming July 7)

Spellhacker by M.K. England — 4 stars

Black Clover Vol 21 by Yuki Tabata — 5 stars

My Hero Academia Vol 24 by Kohei Horikoshi — 5 stars

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor — 4.5 stars (review coming July 2)

Otaku by Chris Kluwe — 4 stars (review coming July 16)

Beach Read by Emily Henry — 4.5 stars

My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s Vol 1 by — 4 stars

Edens Zero Vol 2 by Hiro Mashima — 5 stars

All the unicorn books above — 4 stars

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory — 5 stars

Now it is book haul time, and I’m starting with my digital book haul, because I picked up quite a few e-books this month, due to sales, or physical books being back ordered, or because I have a bunch of books to read for blog tour reviews. So I’ll go over my digital haul before jumping into my physical haul.

Okay, now for the physical haul.

Next up is the OwlCrate Unboxing.

Finally I suppose it’s time to talk about my July TBR. Unfortunately I don’t have a completely set TBR for this month. There are a handful of books I need to read for review, and then I have stacks of books that I’ve been eager to read for a month or so now, and just haven’t had the chance yet. So I have a bunch of options.

Here’s some reads I can definitely say that I’ll be completing in July: Mayhem by Estelle Laure (I have a blog tour review coming July 14th), Shielded by KayLynn Flanders (review coming July 18th), Lobizona by Romina Garber (blog tour review coming July 28th), and Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter (Nell Ingram #5, blog tour review coming July 30th).

Other than that the above books might be what I pick up…but it might also be wholly mood dependent. I’m not sure.

How was your June? Let me know some of your favorite reads of the month in the comments, and I’ll be back soon with more bookish content.

June Wrap-Up and July TBR/Weekly Wrap-Up (71) Hey all, Dani here. Wow, well I guess here we are at another wrap-up post where I end up combining my weekly wrap-up and my monthly wrap-up.

#ARC #Blog Tour #Book Releases #Books! #Comic Books #Reading #Reading Challenge #Review #Writing

[pacman-tattoo]

All even? O:

under the cut since it got long

2. Favorite part of writing.

idk. maybe just being able to share a vision while also letting other people imagine things as they want? if that makes sense???

4. Do you have writing habits or rituals?

mmm….. i guess sometimes i’ll play certain songs/albums?

as in i basically listen to bmc on repeat sometimes when i’m stuck

6. Favorite character you ever created.

:0 i love jaden!!! my son!!! a good boy

other than that, i rly loved writing charlotte and joanne when i wrote countdown even tho they weren’t too prominent since they weren’t the main focus

8. Favorite trope to write.

can i count the new kid in school as a trope

thats a trope tho right

that one

i like it.

10. Pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about.

can i say i’d write a romance book with literally anyone that i’m mutuals w/ that write????

or any book. romance would be the best option imo but i’d be down for anything

12. How do you deal with self-doubts?

i dont

i technically bottle them up and they they overflow at fuck me up but

uh. alright so.

whenever i start having self-doubts about writing, sometimes i’ll just kinda… leave my writing alone for a while? like, sometimes i’ll end up taking a step back and basically seek some validation somewhere else maybe talk it out with someone else?

other than that, i’ll either push myself to keep writing since it’ll distract me from my doubts.

14. What’s the most research you ever put into a book?

i was about to say something else but.

alright.

countdown. that one rich soulmate fic?

i literally found what would have been the hospital rich was at (it wasn’t a hospital, but it shared the name), figured out how long it would take to get there and back by train, looked up train schedules + ticket prices, and basically how to get to the medical center from one of the train stations there

that’s the first thing that came to mind tbh. i’ve probably done more in the past but idk

18. What’s your revision or rewriting process like?

nonexistent.

ok no it’s more of me glimpsing over my writing before posting it

20. Post a snippet of a WIP you’re working on.

kk. from my poly fic:

       A week later and you’re already buried in your work. The contents of your room have practically been shoved into the closet as you invested all your time into each little detail in each costume. You spent your days either working on small details while in different classes, spray painting shoes during drama, or scribbling in answers to homework due the next period (or day, if you were lucky), courtesy of Christine. If you had a chance, you’d crash on the small, cheap couch in the drama room for a bit, and then you were back home and sewing and (rarely) burning your fingers on hot glue.

       It was hell, but it was worth it.

there u go.

22. How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied and a project is ultimately done for you?

ok it legit depends. usually my first draft is the draft since almost everything i post on this account is a rough draft tbh (which is also the reason why i get so much writing done tbh)

which sucks because you babes deserve so much better tbh i still dont see why you guys follow me if u want me to be honest

but anyway

i’ll usually rewrite something once or twice if it doesn’t stick the very first time. (aka this is what’s going on with control pt.2)

24. Poetry or prose, and why?

prose. im bad at poetry + im not a huge fan of poetry in general so :/

26. Standalone or series, and why?

probably standalone stuff, but series can be good sometimes. mainly standalone because i don’t have to really consider another part - most of the stuff that i wrote more than one part for i actually didn’t plan for a second part

stuff like Fish Out of Water and Control were things i kinda knew i’d have more than one part once i finished em

30. Favorite line you’ve ever written.

it’s not a single line but the i love you from michael at the end of Third Wheel

i think about it since it’s such a sweet, simple line tbh?

34. Handwritten notes or typed notes?

typed bc my handwriting is b a d

36. A spoiler for story _________.

Control Pt.2:

get ready for some shit to haunt you.

also, being sick can honestly build some bonds between ppl. nothing like texting each other complaining about being sick as fuck.

38. Have you shared your outline of your story ________ with someone? If so, what did they think of it?

i’ve shared my christine fic plans with scott!! he found the idea cute

plus i shared a michael fic idea with lucky and they basically pushed me to write it (since i was kinda :/ about writing it??? they basically made me decide to so

42. How do you figure out your characters looks, personality, etc.

for my ocs that i don’t rly talk about here: i usually draw their personality, looks, ect. from a single idea. jaden came from me wanting to write a more bookish character. welton came from the idea of me wanting to make a gamer, essentially. sachiyo came from a self insert and evolved from there.

for the ocs that i put in my fics: i don’t really have concrete looks for them - you guys can imagine them however you want! sometimes i might reference them twirling hair around their finger or a tattoo or dimples or something - but for the most part, you guys can legit imagine them however. personality usually draws from what the reader needs, in a sense?

44. Best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten.

i dont even know tbh

46. What would your story _______ look like as a tv show or movie?

uhhh

i have a Really old project called To Perdition and Back which follows a man named Carson as he and his team basically saves ppl from a sort of purgatory???

it would basically deal with his personal struggle. he had an affair with ivan, a man at his work who died during one of their expeditions - and the fact his wife is basically never there for him or his kids, which causes a bit of a strain on the family itself.

the tv show would basically follow carson + his team tbh? plus there’d be subtle hints leading toward the fact that (spoiler) ivan isn’t dead.

the plan is that the show also has representation tbh??? i’ll talk more about it if anyone’s curious.

48. Favorite genre to write in.

uhhh romantic shit.

52. How did writing change you?

idk it basically helped me develop a coping mechanism in a way???

#bean answers things #this is v long #snowjemmer

[katierosefun]

alright babes, it’s that time of the month again! 

unwarranted and unasked for things that i’ve been watching/reading/listening to in the past month that aren’t 100% star wars related, but for the sake of............[gestures vaguely] idk bro it’s my blog i’m mentally sitting on my bed and giving everyone at the sleepover a ted talk okay? okay. let’s do this. also.....long post, i was watching/reading/listening to a lot of stuff this month as a reward for....post-finals and also pre-lsat stress:

kdrama: hymn of death

god look at they

so, this was a kdrama available on netflix! it’s split into 3 episodes, each ep. an hour long, so i finished it in two days. this kdrama follows the story of a singer and a writer living in 1920s korea, back when japan still occupied the country. apparently, this kdrama is based on the real story of yun sim-deok and kim u-jin, whose tragic love story is still really popular in korea today. essentially, their love story is an affair--kim u-jin is married when he meets yun sim-deok, and they fall in love and write letters to one another in secret. things escalate, and unable to bear their lives trying to separate them, they decide to jump off a boat together, essentially killing themselves. 

it’s a tragic story, and i honestly expected this to make my heart hurt--and it did. i’ll admit that i kind of wish there was more to the story--a lot of this kdrama is told in flash forwards and etc., and while i really did love the dialogue and the aesthetics and the acting (oh man, the acting), i really wish we had more narrative-wise to go on. despite that though, the actors really brought this story to life, and once again: just like...everything is beautiful in this kdrama. so if you’re looking for a korean drama to take your mind off things but don’t want to commit yourself to a 16-21 episode ride, this one is probably for you!

(also,,,so much poetry you guys. my heart.)

school 2013 

“caroline your crush on lee jong suk is jumping out again” yeah yeah yeah i KNOW, so what i’ve been watching this moron’s entire filmography leave me aloneeee...but anyways, this kdrama is honestly?? pretty good? i’ll admit that i def. felt like i was going through a time machine because you can so tell that this was filmed in the early 2010′s just because of the camera angles and just...a bit of a rougher cut, but that doesn’t mean it’s still not a really wonderful story with super well-developed and interesting characters.

i’ve talked ad nauseum about this kdrama here on tumblr, and more of my thoughts can be found on my general kdrama rec post, but like...guys. it’s so good. i’m obsessed with all the characters, and this kdrama, while older, is so powerful. there’s so many heartwarming moments, not to mention the relationships between all of the students/the relationships between the teachers and the students/the relationships between the teachers (oh god......rivals to co-workers to co-parents of a class to lovers PLEASE)........it’s all just very beautiful. i think i just really appreciate how this kdrama hits ALL THE NOTES--from discussing how important it is to have a dream to demonstrating how the school system makes the lives of their at-risk students so much harder to like.......all the struggles that teenagers face because of school....bro. :’)) 

anyways, i really, really, really loved this kdrama. the whole cast was absolutely perfect, the soundtrack is perfect, the relationships are perfect. i recommend that everyone watch this kdrama at least once. get through the first 2 episodes--i promise things just pick up so much faster after those first two episodes, and suddenly you’ll be watching episode after episode just because you care about these kids. 

babyfaced beauty

so, like i said—choi daniel and jang na ra’s wonderful chemistry in school 2013 compelled me to watch babyfaced beauty right after. like school 2013, this kdrama is a little bit on the older side—i think it aired in 2011, so that explains some of the bizarre camera angles and some older tropes that i’m not particularly the biggest fan of. basically, this kdrama follows a 34 year old woman who has to fake her age to get a job in the fashion industry. because of some mix-up at a club, her life is now intertwined with one of her new co-workers, a brash young man who’s 7 years younger. so their romance kinda starts off how a lot of older kdramas’ romance start out—with some behavior that,,,frankly, i didn’t like. because of that, i think it took some time for me to actually like this drama—at around episode 3 though, i think i found myself caring enough about at least a handful of the characters, which was what kept me going. i loved the theme about deciding to persist and follow your dream, no matter your age.

however, even though i was a little turned off by some of the behavior at the start of the drama, i was pleasantly surprised by like...the character development? so when the romance officially started, i warmed up to it super fast, and i don’t think it’s just because i think choi daniel and jang na ra have good chemistry. choi daniel’s character definitely is brash and a bit clumsy with his words, but he grows and like...is a lot more gentlemanly than i gave him credit for at first? and also, he just...i think he’s very genuine, and his absolute adoration for jang nara’s character makes me :’)) and jang na ra’s character, whom i was scared going to be too much of a wide-eyed airhead, turned out to have a lot of strength and like...a good moral compass and a steady head on her shoulders. i genuinely rooted for her the whole drama through, and i rooted for her relationship with choi daniel’s character. 

so like...overall? i binge-watched this kdrama in the span of like...a week just because as soon as it gets going, it gets going. i honestly liked this kdrama a lot more than i thought i would, and i’m glad that i watched it, because it was honestly very bright and made me :’))

jugglers 

they’re so fucking cute i could cry also yes my crush on choi daniel is SHOWINGGGG

okay....so i swear i was watching while you were sleeping while also watching this....i didn’t actually watch three kdramas starring choi daniel in a row....i s-s-swear..........

but simply put: i loved this kdrama. literally one of the cutest and softest kdramas i’ve ever watched, and i’ve watched quite a few. it took everything in me to not re-watch it literally right after watching the final episode, and once again: that is saying a lot. this kdrama basically follows the story of a secretary being assigned to a man who’s notorious for not taking secretaries. 

not gonna lie, i kinda felt odd about watching a kdrama that included a love story between a boss and his secretary, and i of course would feel a little wary of it irl, but i think this kdrama shifts the playing ground between them so it feels a little less weird. also, it’s just impossible to not love them, just because...they’re really lovely? they’re so soft, and the cast is excellent, and the actors did a wonderful job in bringing out the genuine affection and respect between the two. :’)) 

but more than that though, this story is just about what happens when two people learn to trust each other. you have this story about people loving each other despite their own sad pasts and hardships. and it’s just. the softest. there’s other things that’s excellent about this kdrama too--and there’s even a storyline that i felt was a nod to choi daniel’s drama babyfaced beauty, and there’s another storyline about just...other young women who are involved in an office that often mistreats women. so i just. there’s a lot of good things about this kdrama, and i 1000/10 recommend this, especially if you just want a super soft love story featuring people who are so ridiculously in love that you feel like you’re third-wheeling constantly--

movie: the call 

bro this movie messed me up

based off the 2011 film the caller, the call (2020, dir. lee chung-kyeon) is about this young woman (park shin hye) who receives a series of troubling calls from a different woman who lives in the same house...but twenty years ago. this movie is def. a psychological thriller / horror film, and there’s blood, tragedy, and also...a super negative depiction of people with borderline personality disorder, which made me ://///

there’s some really beautiful scenes in this movie--there’s this one scene that absolutely broke my heart, and idk by the end i felt like i just appreciated my family a lot more, so there’s that. i also...weirdly felt for the antagonist of the film (played by jeon jong seo), although like...again, i really hated that having borderline personality disorder was like...one of the reasons / parts that contributed to her being...a flat-out killer. like. idk. i’m very tired of these tropes. 

that said though, i did enjoy the time-travel-esque element to the horror film, and the subplot was nice. park shin hye, who plays the protagonist, also really brought her a-game to this film, and she’s always been a fave actress of mine, but like...bro, i can honestly say as someone who’s seen a lot of her work, i think this is one of her best acting jobs ever. i also just...really love any horror film that’s super character-focused rather than horror-focused, and i think this was definitely one of those movies that made sure you were thinking a lot more about the characters and their pasts instead of like...the literal killing part (which, of course, def. occupies a lot of the movie, but in a different way from most, you know?). 

so like,,,idk. i watched this movie, i have some issues with it, i liked it, and it freaked me out. i think fans of psychological thrillers / horror might enjoy this, but like...again, be warned for some icky rep. on the borderline personality disorder side of things. :///

loving vincent

this movie was actually a lot shorter than i thought it would be, but that doesn’t make it any less powerful. in just the span of an hour and a half, this movie goes into how a young man delivers vincent van gogh’s final letter to his beloved brother theo. in the process, our protagonist learns of vincent’s last days. 

this movie is just...beautiful. you can tell the people who made this movie really love vincent van gogh, and that’s one of the best things about this film. each frame is painted too, which...just artistically wise? is nuts. the art blew me away, and again: you can just tell how much people really, really, really loved art and vincent van gogh and everything van gogh loved and stood for. 

i can’t really go that much more into the movie except my heart just hurt a lot thinking about this artist who didn’t know what else to do except just. paint. and at least he was living his own truth. i’m so. agh. the music is also beautiful (the final song playing during the credits makes me :’))) anyways, i fully recommend watching this movie for anyone who loves van gogh / art / wants to get into a creative field but feels kinda lost. because this movie. this movie makes you. feel things. 

podcast: greenhouse

this podcast is super cute. made by the same person who made the bright sessions, greenhouse is all about a writer recluse named rose who, in a bizarre final request from her late father, must write letters to a florist named abby. 

guys. after spotify recced me me & au, i’m genuinely starting to think that my mind is being fed into some computer algorithm, because first of all, writer character named rose, also lovely literature/movie references, also this is very gay. this podcast definitely leans into the trope of “seemingly suave but also kind of sarcastic protagonist falls in love with a literal ray of sunshine”, and i’m honestly here for it. each episode is pretty short (maybe 4-6 minutes long total!), and i’ll admit i kind of wish that there was a little more buildup between the two characters, but that could just be me. overall though, i really enjoyed the podcast, and like...there are cinnamon buns and emma and beloved references, and for a baking lit nerd like me, that’s...basically my kryptonite. also, the final episode made me smile really hard. also, the piano music for the intro and outros are very pretty, definitely a mimic of period dramas, i think. so. give this a listen if you too are a romantic lit nerd.

documentary: suicide forest in japan

 so...in an impulse decision, i decided to watch this 20-minute documentary after coming across this post. the aokigahara forest is infamous for the amount of people who have committed suicide there, usually by hanging or sleeping pills. sometimes people will just live in the forest for a day or two because they’re still deciding whether they want to die. 

this documentary was...quietly beautiful and also quietly sad. we follow geologist azusa hayano, who gives a brief history of this forest and also the things that happen here. first of all, he seems like a lovely man, and he sympathizes a lot with the people who have come here. he guides us through the whole of the forest: from the cars still parked outside that have never been restarted since their owners left, to the walking paths, to the part of the forest that’s corded off as a warning. we see bits and pieces of the things that people have left behind: a woman’s mirror, some notes, etc. it’s all very sad, but something i truly enjoyed about this documentary was just. mr. hayano’s commentary on the lives of those who stumble in here. how we need to take care of each other. how we should be able to co-exist and the like. 

there’s some more stuff that happens in this documentary, but i think i’m just glad to see something that was respectful and just. honest about the aokigahara forest. unfortunately, lots of horror movies have been made about this forest, not to mention that whole logan paul incident in 2017. i think mr. hayano said it best himself--about how like...there’s nothing scary about someone committing suicide / seeing a suicide corpse. it can’t attack you. it’s just sad. 

anyways, i’m glad i saw this documentary. it’s pretty short as far as documentaries go, and it’s very quiet, and idk. i think everyone kind of deserves to hear a mr. hayano say something about how we’re not all alone.

music: 

i can’t get through this rec list without mentioning olivia rodrigo’s debut album sour. i’ve been obsessed with everything she’s put out so far, but this album like...just blew me away. i’m so amazed by olivia’s powerful vocals and her wonderful song lyrics. i rambled on a bit about this album here, but i think my favorite tracks are traitor and good 4 u and hope ur ok and brutal and drivers license--honestly, they’re all very good, and i think something i just...appreciate how olivia rodrigo is able to so beautifully put words to all the difficult feelings that come with teenage angst. and, like?? i mean this in the best way possible, because like,,,olivia’s very self-aware, and there are plenty of lyrics in this whole album that nods to yeah, i know that i’m kind of being selfish / kind of petty / people probably think i’m overemotional and sensitive, but HERE ARE MY FEELINGS, DAMMIT, SO YOU BETTER LISTEN, and honestly? i’m here for it. i honestly think olivia’s going to go big and that she’s going to become a real big phenomenon, just because her lyrics are so powerful and also relatable, not to mention she has an absolutely stunning voice, and she’s only?? 18 years old?? bro. anyways, i absolutely loved this album, and i def. recommend that everyone gives it at least a listen. my only warning is that the whiplash from “YEAAAAAH I’M ANGRY AND I’M GONNA BURN SOMETHING DOWN” to “oh my god i’m so sad i’m going to lie down on the floor and cry quietly at 2 am” feelings are REAL.

i’ve also totally, absolutely caved and decided to listen to lizzy mcalpine’s album give me a minute. so, like...i’m a stubborn gal who for some reason built this wall around lizzy mcalpine just because spotify kept recommending her music to me, so i guess because of that i decided to be like “well, now i’m not gonna listen”, but then i listened to pancakes for dinner, promptly fell in love, and i’ve been mildly obsessed with her album. each song hits so hard and has so many beautiful lyrics, not to mention lizzy’s voice is just...very nice to listen to. highly recommend, because it just...good feelings, esp. if your heart’s kind of raw and you just. need music to help you put the words to your feelings.

some more music, because just...a lot of beautiful music came out this month for some reason, but:

funeral by maisie peters, feat. james bay. i’m really in love with maisie peters’ music, but i had this on repeat as soon as it came out. maisie peters has a wonderful streak for having songs about being a little uneasy about love, and this one is just def. a favorite in that genre. also, maisie and james’ voices are so lovely together. also “i want you to roll in your grave like you’re not dead / i want you to call off the whole damn funeral”...

astronomy by conan gray. this is a slower song of his, and as always, i’m absolutely taken away by his voice and his lyrics. there’s this one line about how distance is supposed to make the heart grow fonder but apparently not for us and yeah i might have lost my mind a bit.

#caroline recs #i watched and listened to a LOT of stuff this month which is why this is LONGGGG sorry! #also.... #tw suicide #tw negative depictions of bpd