#please guys you can do better

[aroaceleovaldez]

Nico and Percy's dynamic through the series is eternally funny to me, because it's just. like.

Percy's having a constant mental struggle between his fatal flaw of loyalty with a promise he made to Bianca to protect Nico, versus his Big 3 kid desire to maim other Big 3 kids / Poseidon descendant urge to totally maim Nico specifically. He hates Nico so so much. He thinks Nico's annoying and weird at best, and creepy/sketchy when he's older. The only positive thoughts Percy has towards Nico are "He's Bianca's brother and Bianca was my friend and I owe her/He's Hazel's brother and Hazel is my friend and would kill me if I was mean to him," "He's a powerful asset and useful ally (if questionable)," and "He's kinda pathetic and I feel maybe a little bad about it." Percy has multiple occasions throughout the series where he strongly considers - and on one occasionally actually goes through with - throttling Nico.

Meanwhile, Nico is following around Percy like a lost puppy. He explicitly can never bring himself to even dislike anything about Percy no matter how hard he tries. He has a whole bit in BoO where he's mentally going "UGH he's so stupid BUT IT'S ENDEARING HOW DARE HE." He's totally smitten. He's making deals with his dad for Percy. He's making convoluted plans to help Percy stand a chance against Kronos. During the entirety of BoTL it's like he's playing tsundere - "I'm helping NOT PERCY SPECIFICALLY with this quest! Me helping Percy would be SILLY because I DEFINITELY HATE HIM." Then he proceeds to show up to Percy's birthday party to basically ask him on a weird date and spend the entire next book scrambling around trying to help him or protect him or impress him. And Percy could not give less of a shit.

Just. That dynamic is so funny to me. Percy is the founder of the Nico Protection Club in that he's the one they're all protecting Nico from and meanwhile Nico is throwing himself at Percy to the point where the literal god of gay love calls him out on it.

#pjo #percy jackson #nico di angelo #Percy shows up at CJ and squints at Nico like ''hm. why do i feel like i hate you? like i just wanna punch you in the face?'' #and Nico just immediately goes ''huh no idea anyways i have to go-'' and jumps into Tartarus #but not before he gives Hazel essentially a detailed explanation of ''this is Percy i cant say much but please dont let him die <3'' #and Nico's whole Tartarus trip was basically a whole ''im doing this so no one else has to'' #only for Percy and Annabeth to fall in like one book later and Nico proceeds to spend the next book internally screaming about it #and then Cupid calls him out on it and the next book #Nico's just like ''at this point im hoping i keel over within the next week just so i can force this dumb crush to chill the fuck out'' #Nico staring pointedly at Will: ''For my own sake i need to form another crush RIGHT NOW so i can finally get over Percy.'' #''this has been so bad for my health'' #Nico's crush on Percy is just too funny to me. horrible pick my guy. terrible job. love that for you. he could not be less interested. #Percy LITERALLY TRIES TO KILL NICO and ditch him in the underworld and Nico is somehow STILL like ''but i love him'' #Percy basically chokes him. beats up his dad. tells him ''go get smited by your dad for me.'' and ditches him. #and Nico's opinions/crush on him DO NOT CHANGE #though also Nico's reaction to Percy beating up his dad + skeletons is SO funny. his jaw is on the floor. he's flustered about it. #he just witnessed Percy be incredibly hot and proceeded to go ''yea i'll do anything for this man. collect reinforcements of 3 gods? sure'' #nico you absolute DISASTER with HORRIBLE TASTE. you can do better. raise your standards. #which tbh is funnier when you factor in sun and the star. Nico just wont stop crushing on guys who dislike him and everything he stands for

[jackstheprinceofhearts]

y'all gotta stop making AI art of book ships... it makes me so mad because there are so many talented artists who show their love and support by working hard to make a great drawing for their favorite book. the thing that actually shows that you care is putting work into it not making a computer do it for you. if you wanna use AI to make art please clarify in the post that it's AI and DONT DO FANART THAT WAY BECAUSE ITS NOT APPRECIATING ANYONE OR ANYTHING BECAUSE YOURE MAKING A COMPUTER DO IT!!!!! there's no love or support in AI art.

stop slandering my favorite ships

#like #guys come on #i know ai is fun to mess around with #but it has no soul to it #please stop making ai drawings of book characters #especially characters like jacks and evangeline #if you wanna show your support but aren't an artist you can do something like write a story or fic #or make a video showing pretty book covers of the book you have #or just say something nice about it #or make memes #or a blog like i did #there's better thinngs to do #tbona #ouabh #jacks prince of hearts #evajacks #the ballad of never after #evangeline fox #jacks x evangeline #caraval #books #stephanie garber #ai art #book ai art #acftl #a curse for true love

[kedreeva]

Went to let the birds out and found this furious little (baby) lad in one of the trenches, exhausted from trying to get out of the coop he so bravely wiggled his way into. I fetched him out and let him go outside the pen. Hopefully he won't be trying that again.

#longfeather Lane #his brother or dad was sitting on top #yelling at me the entire time #very angry i had this guy #but maybe don't squeeze your little ass through the netting you turds!! #there's no food in that pen!! #none you can see anyway #usually it's the little juncos that get in #but they get right back out again #i was surprised to find a whole ass cardinal #please I'm begging you there's wild food all over for you #i cultivate my wilds for Cardinals you should have no problems #birds #Cardinals #just holding my finger and screaming away #sir please #my birds have killed birds bigger than you #and you were on the ground #i could not handle my favorite songbird being murdered #you must do better from now on

[bonefall]

post/734733274896809984/do-you-ever-worry-your-own-writing-might-come-off that makes sense. i was asking because i'm afraid of accidentally writing misogyny myself and i kind of admire what you do

Hmm... I wish I had better advice to give you on this front, but honestly, the only thing I can tell you is to consider the perspective of your female characters.

Women are people. They have thoughts and feelings of their own, so like... just let them have their own arcs. A lot of the worst misogyny in WC comes from the way that the writers just don't care about their girls (or, in the case of tall shadow, actually get undermined and forced to rewrite entire chapters), so they're not curious about their lives, or WHY they feel the way they do or what they want, or any direction for their character arcs.

Turtle Tail as an example. She'll often just end up feeling whatever Gray Wing's plot demands. She's gotta leave when Storm dumps him to make him feel lonely. She shows up again to love him in the next book. Lets her best friend Bumble get dragged back to Tom the Wifebeater, but is sad enough about her death to be "unreasonably angry" with Clear Sky, and then calms down and accept Gray Wing is right all along.

And then she dies, so he can have his very own fridge wife.

In this way, Turtle Tail's just being used to tell Gray Wing's story. They're not interested in why she would turn on Bumble, or god forbid any lingering negative feelings for how she didn't help her, or even resentment towards Clear Sky for killing her or Gray Wing for jumping to his defense. She isn't really going through her own character arc.

She does have personality traits of her own, don't misunderstand my criticism, but as a character she revolves around Gray Wing.

So, zoom out every now and then, and just ask yourself; "Whose story is being told by what I wrote? Do my female characters have goals, wants, and agency, or are they just supporting men? How do their choices impact the narrative?"

But that's already kinda assuming that you already have characters like Turtle Tail who DO have personalities and potential of their own. Here's some super simple and practical advice that helped me;

Tally the genders in your cast. How many are boys, how many are girls, how many are others?

And take stock of how many of those characters are just in the supporting cast, and compare that to the amount you have in the main cast.

If you have a significant imbalance, ESPECIALLY in the main cast, fire the Woman Beam.

It's a really simple trick to just write a male character, and then change its gender while keeping it the same. I promise women are really not fundamentally different from men lmao. You can consider how your in-universe gender roles affect them later, if you'd like, but when you're just starting to wean yourself off a "boy bias" this trick works like a charm.

Also you're not allowed to change the body type of any girl you Woman Beam because I said so. PLEASE allow your girls to have muscles, or be fat, or be old, or have lots of scars. Do NOT do what a cowardly Triple A studio does, where the women all have the same cute or sexy face and curvy body while they're standing next to dwarves, robots, and a gorilla.

Or this shit,

If you do this I will GET you. If you're ever possessed by the dark urge, you will see my face appear in the clouds like Mufasa himself to guide you away from the path of evil.

Anyway, you get better at just making characters girls to begin with as time goes on and you practice it. It's really not as big of a deal as your brain might think it is.

Take a legitimate interest in female characters and try not to disproportionately hit them with parental/romance plots as opposed to the male cast, and you'll be fine. Don't think of them as "SPECIAL WOMEN CHARACTERS" just make a character and then let her be a girl, occasionally checking your tally and doing some critical thinking about their use in the story.

(Also remember I'm not a professional or anything, I'm just trying to give advice)

#I wish I had more succinct and practical advice to give you besides the woman beam trick #Honestly I just kinda feel it out because I like telling stories about girls #I made it fun for myself by clapping and cheering and whooping and hollering whenever a girl does something #because it's not fun to write like a monk in a monastery #With the spectre of Brother Smockbimble looming over your shoulder telling you to Write Perfectly Every Time #Characters aren't real people. You can just fix it if you happen to fuck up or do better next time with what you learned. #Making mistakes is just part of acquiring skill #and writing is an art just like painting or drawing. #So don't make a fun OC project into homework! You should be enjoying making your own art! Express yourself! #Please understand that when I'm ripping into the series I'm being so harsh because it's bestselling corporate media #Read by HUNDREDS of thousands of kids worldwide #Raking in millions of dollars a year. Written by a TEAM of professionals. #So I have higher expectations of it than of a fandom rando on the internet. Or even a self-published author who's just One Guy. #Hence why I'm infinitely more charitable to Ratha than I am to Battle Cats #bones gives advice

[guinevereslancelot]

babe would you still love me if we were superheroes and you were in danger and i went absolutely bonkers and crossed every moral boundary imaginable to protect you at literally any cost?

#would you still love me if i was covered in blood for you? #anywayyyy more superheros going of the fucking deep end for love thanks <3333 #this isn't based in anything in particular unfortunately i would simply like to see it #anyway.....people compromising their morals for love!!! doing the wrong thing for selfish reasons!!! #too many people commenting on my betrayal post think its about ur lover changing your mind/making you realize u were wrong #no!!! its about choosing the wrong side in purpose!!! going against ur beliefs bc u love someone more than ur conscience #KNOWING its wrong but doing it anyway in absolute AGONY because what other choicebdo you have!!! #anyway <3 #sacrifice ur soul for ur lover or don't waste their time #this has been a shitpost #please tag your blorbos <3 #ig this is lowkey and anidala post but i want the superhero version please and also without the totally implosion of the ship and hero #i want the good guy lover to live with the weight of his sins knowing he can never atone but he would make all the same choices again 🤌 #devotion to your lover above everything!! past the point of redemption or the ability to forgive yourself!!! #(this is good when the lover is horrified but better when they forgive their lover for the atrocities committed for their own sake) #otp dynamic fr #worm discourse

[aaandbackstabbed]

Can everyone pretty please drop their favourite Della fics? I’m researching.

#I want to put della in my little blender #but I need to know her better #and I trust you guys more than I do me fishing through ao3 #please and thank you #🙏🙏 #Della is about to become my best friend #I can just feel it #della duck

[the-stubborn]

i love star wars and this fandom, dont get me wrong, but wtf is up with so many people whitewashing poe dameron in their fanart????

anytime i look at sequel fanart i go 'wait who tf is this guy with light brown hair ive never seen him bef- POE DAMERON????'

#star wars #sw sequels #poe dameron #cmon guys we can do better #yall realize oscar isaac isnt white. right. please tell me you know that.

[last-in-line-for-hell]

// mpreg , pregnancy

There’s something intensely hilarious and fitting about imagining a Wei Wuxian who, as Wei Wuxian does, finds a way to get himself pregnant, only to act like a Harvest Moon/Stardew Valley farmer and go about business as usual. Pregnant Wei Wuxian out in the fields tending to his crops as if nothing was different.

#mpreg / #pregnancy mention / #mdzs textpost not art #I love Wei Wuxian having a little farm post canon and thinking about it just made me think of this scenario #bc Fr why does the female farmer character of these work still when they’re pregnant in these games 😭😭 #can you imagine being lwj here like ‘wei ying please rest’ ‘but lan zhan my potatoes need watering :(‘ #wwx 100% the guy who chatters nonstop to his plants #they’re very healthy and happy #turns out it was a miracle itself to grow anything at all in burial mounds #so anywhere else is much easier to grow things #including the life inside wwx 😌 #of course he doesn’t do super hard manual labor the closer to term he is since he knows better #but if it’s just himself that’s achy then he’ll just deal and whine dramatically later 😌 #also imagine he still goes on night hunts with the juniors and laughs as they make him stand farrr back #as if he needs to be close to fight lol #mdkdkdk this was just a random thought don’t mind me

[napping-sapphic]

I’m not cut out for even slightly more intense health issues than my usual stuff yall so here’s my will for when i die of feel too bad disorder: i’d like to dedicate my few life achievements to all the sapphics out there and also they can have all my stuff i guess

#i did not go to a doctor yet because i was better yesterday #and it is now worse again!! rude!! #now i have to consider going today🙃 #i do have a few general health issues but i don’t ever get sick or anything #so now im an absolute WIMP when it comes to feeling bad #im ready to fight whoever invented feeling bad cause it is not fun!! #also ready to pass away so pls enjoy my objects i love them a lot #you guys don’t get to have my books though please bury them with me as my final request #you can however keep my degree which is useful as tinder or perhaps a part of a decorative stack of useless papers #this is a joke and im over exaggerating and probably fine btw #just some things acting up probably not anything bad or serious #however the only thing im yearning for rn is for this to go away #so probably won’t have enough yearning for women to make many posts #unless i find some in my drafts or some such #idk #but i wanted to post about it since i know sometimes radio silence gets yall worried #so!! im good just going through it lol

[naamahdarling]

.

#this ibs flare is atrocious #i am not QUITE at the point of being set off by drinking water but i am in the neighborhood #and it sucks that doctors can do p much fuckall to stop them #and my type doesn't respond well to medication #not that most doctors are any good at treating it either #it's just fad diets and eat more fiber which yeah no if you don't even know how bad insoluble fiber is for us i think you need to pipe down #and lay off the fodmap thing it is discredited and even the guy who devised it said it doesn't work #and it's effective for some folks for reasons that overlap with but are not exclusively fodmap related #i've tried everything i have access to including bovine IgG and it has only made it bearable not better #i lost like 30 pounds when it started because I was literally eating only broth and bread and peeled potatoes #anyway no advice please #this just feels awful

[artist-ellen]

I have a Ko-fi!

This exists! I just... keep forgetting about it. ┐(︶▽︶)┌

Like my work? Want to send me a treat to reinforce the good vibe rewards for an art series you're a fan of?

Like any small creator support for my work is game-changing. It makes my work more and more legitimate as a source of income. Ko-fi has donation options and shop options. It also usually has commissions, but I'm going to pause those until May so I can take a quick break to recharge a little bit.

#ko-fi #look at me mom i'm trying to make a business #this is how you write a request for monetary support right? #no? #well that's par for the course #I do better art than writing #Carving out a living after being laid off kind of sucks #you guys make it worth it #honestly #tiny business #ellenart #ellen artistic #please support me #i know money is tight #sharing my work so it more people can see it helps a ton

[craycraybluejay]

i have this insanely good fic idea but its way past my bedtime.. tomorrow we write

#wincest #oh you guys are going to be in for a treat if this is your thing #any hypersexuals out here? its going to focus a lot on that and how that manifests realistically #and how sometimes you are mean to yourself indirectly because the need is stronger than anything else #lile u straight up be disrespecting yourself even tho u know u can do better #not at all a personal thing nope #anyway #hypersexual!dean and loving!sam #like big bro please stop letting you do this to yourself i will take care of you this is sad as fuck #but in a sweeter way #i dont usually like fluff but like #writing a hypersexual character getting treated with kindness and respect and love is like crack #it is so important to me #hypersexuality is a lot like other addictive/compulsive behavioral patterns #u end up in a bad place w the good intention of keeping yourself happy or content #and i think addicts deserve endless love and compassion and patience and accomodation #just #yeag

[the-racer]

you know. i made a post about remus + his jewish characterization. now it's time for james and his adhd. everyone always talks about how james is so adhd, right, but i see a lot of truly awfully written adhd and as someone with adhd, it bugs the fuck out of me.

in fics, it's usually just written as "MY GOD, SPARKLY!" and yeah, sometimes it is that way in my brain. but that's not all adhd is. i never see adhd james written with the bad side of adhd.

1) sensory issues. this was the big one for me. i never see james with sensory issues. it's such a reality for adhd people tho. james who hates certain textures and gets unreasonably upset when he bites into a plum one day. he hates anything squeaky and nearly cries when remus' shoes squeak on the castle floors. he has huge issues with clothes textures and he literally shoves Sirius into a wall when he gets an unexpected hug and hates sirius' shirt material.

2) distracted and forgetful. you do see this with james but only as funny things and not things that seriously cause problems. james forgets things a lot- words and places and important dates. he forgot the word pen one day when trying to ask peter for one and he spent the whole rest of the day trying to think of it. he gets distracted by things and it upsets his friends sometimes. lily talking about her family issues and james finding sweets in his pocket that he forgot were there so he just starts talking about his sweets.

3) stims. i hadn't even realized i had them until my therapist pointed them out. james is HUGE on stimming. his most notable is bouncing. he bounces his leg when he's anxious or overstimulated. james bounces up and down when he's happy or worried. he loves bouncing. his hair ruffling thing is a perfect example of stimming. excited and happy, so he ruffles his hair. he wiggles/sways a lot too. his snitch, too, stimming constantly.

4) food. food. he loves specific foods and refuses to go outside of his designated safe foods. he has a specific love for sugar cookies and will eat them always. he always has them on his person. same with grapes, eggs, orange juice, noodle soup. those are his "safe" foods. notices slightest differences in foods. slightly burnt taste, unsalted food, too crispy/soft, stuff like that.

5) special interests. quidditch, number one. he loves quidditch so much and knows practically everything about the sport. he loves to talk about quidditch and gets really rambly when asked about it. and he gets upset when people interrupt his quidditch talk. loves music, too, and hyperfixates on musicians he likes- bowie, abba, queen, whitney houston. stuff like that. special interest in baking since he was young.

i could keep going. but there's so much more to adhd than just going "SHINY" and getting distracted. it's a real issue, it causes a lot of pain. it's not funny and it's not just go make james seem interesting. pretending james' adhd is a joke is harmful and people with adhd are actually affected by it.

however, i love helping people with characterizations and i love helping people in general. so if you wanna dm me to ask about adhd things, im happy to help!!

#i just see a lot of bad portrayals and i want to help you guys know how to write it better. #there's a lot more and for anyone who sees this and wants to add #please do #please reblog #this is important for fandom writers to know #hp marauders #hp fandom #marauders era #marauders #the marauders #james potter #james potter headcanon #although all adhd is different and it's important to know that it doesn't present the same way for everyone #i have adhd so i can give a little insight #james with adhd #adhd #adhd things

[isfjmel-phleg]

🙄

#random personal stuff #the stupid p o l i t i c a l picture got unburied and is back in full sight in my coworker's box where I will have to look at it constantly #everytime I look left or get up from my desk or come back to my desk there it will be #I know it's just a dumb picture but it has come to represent a lot of simmering rage with this man's priorities & I am struggling with this #I found out yesterday that my predecessor in this job had issues with this guy over purchase selections #and so did a former distance librarian #who reportedly was told by this man that he believes he's 'doing the Lord's work' in selecting these books #is it the Lord's work to push a certain p o l i t i c a l agenda? these are not religious books #is it the Lord's work to push an opinion of something that is not directly tied to religious teachings? #is it the Lord's work to lie and call a book order a replacement so you can get a book you want without revealing you chose it? #it was suggested recently that I talk with the VP of Academic Affairs about this issue #as something that will need to be kept in mind when hiring the next library director #and I would have to be very careful about how I did it #but I really think I will #I am so tired of this. so tired. #we are supposed to be so much better than this #is it the Lord's work to mock public figures with whom you disagree? #especially about an issue that's not really an issue anymore? #2020 and so forth happened can we please move on now?

[ninjaaa-go]

why am I getting so emotional about a little plastic ghost??? morro seriously has such a grip on me it’s insane

#I have too many thoughts that I can’t properly articulate here #but I’ve been watching dragons rising and just saw episode 5 so no spoilers beyond that please #but oh boy and I feeling some things about Morro #I think part of it is just supremely unfortunate timing because literally right before I watched the episode #I finished writing a chapter of my Morro centric fic and the stuff I was writing today was about his identity and how #his connection to the wind plays into it #so I was kind of emotionally primed to just have a lot of feelings about a new master of wind #I have a lot of feelings about dragons rising in general both good and bad but that’s a whole separate deal #idk if I had a point and I’m just rambling now but Morro has just really carved out a soft spot in my heart #and I’m probably too attached to him but what can you do #he and Jay are my specialest little guys and I am not capable of being normal about them #ninjago #lego ninjago #dragons rising #ninjago dragons rising #Ninjago dragons rising spoilers #dragons rising spoilers #they’re just in the tags but I figure better to be safe #ninjago morro

[weidli]

would be very funny to me to introduce a bunch of americans who are used to the constitution being treated as a gift from god that's very hard to change and is holy Because it's almost never changed and has been in operation in nearly the same form since 1789 to the way the swiss constitution (last total revision in 1999, there have been several hundred direct democratic votes on possible changes to it since 1848, all you need to suggest a change is hundred thousand people with voting power who'll sign the suggestion) works

#i think about it every time we talk about volkainitiativen in öff. recht sorry it's So fucking funny to me #american view of the constitution is like oh this ancient unassailable thing and every change to it is earth moving #and swiss people are like ehhhhh should we put in a rule fining dog owners for not picking up dog poop in public parks? #what do you think guys? show of hands please #i'm not saying one way of doing things is inherently Better (there's some fucked shit in the swiss constitution Because the voting #population can do whatever with it (ius cogens aside) see for example 72/3 minarettverbot or all the bullshit around 121a) it's just #very interesting to me #i also think it's fun when i read works of fiction #often fanfic #that take place in alternate universes idk scifi sentinel/guide fantasy whatever introduction of magic you wanna do #that results in the author making up a legal system including a constitution #and it's just Very Obvious that the author's never encountered a different concept of thought around constitutions than the american one #again not bad necessarily! but fascinating to me #iuris