#there is no consistent theme these are just snippets that i liked and which fit on tungler

[boinin]

2024 check-in

It's been a while since I talked about Cassis Orange here. For those wondering, I still don't have a concrete ETA on when I'll publish the next chapters. I'm actively writing the final chapters as of now however, after a few false starts and writers' block. All I can say from here is, I'll keep people posted 🐞

For anyone interested in behind-the-scenes rambling about my writing process, more below the cut.

What's holding things up? Well, I like to finish a full draft of a piece, allow myself some breathing space from it, before going back to review, edit and weave together the chapter's themes and ideas.

Emphasis on "finish a full draft". That's a mistake I've made with Cassis Orange. I've always had sight of the destination, and the scenes needed to get the characters there, but not always how these scenes should join up or how they ought to flow.

In addition, nailing down themes and authentic character growth has been challenging. Lastly, the gap between writing chapters 1-8 and writing 9-10 has slowed progress, as I end up needing to re-read what's already there for consistency.

None of this is to the fic's detriment (I hope), but it's knocked my own motivation at times. "Done is better than perfect" is a motto I continually remind myself of. It's taking me longer than I'd like, that's just life. But I remain excited to finish the story, which is the main metric of concern 😉

Anyway, why is finishing a full draft so important?

Well...

Here's a quick look at my old drafts folder:

Chapter 9's main difficulty, despite me knowing exactly what needs to happen, is hitting the right emotional notes and character milestones. I've already made three distinct stabs at the same scenes, none of which really achieve what I want them to.

Thankfully, these particular issues aren't on the same scale as what I faced with Chapter 7. shudders I am confident about where to go next.

If you're wondering, IMO the best solution to this issue is to just... write them anyway. See the events out, imperfect as they may be. It's more insightful to revise a dysfunctional scene from beginning to end, than a half-baked draft that tails off in author despair and confusion.

A recurring mistake, which I'll try to learn from going forward.

|| Spoilers for published chapters of Cassis Orange start here! ||

This is my note on the oldest draft (which I first started in May, apparently?? holy fuck). Because I wrote out of sequence, the Chapter 9 I'd started doesn't align with the direction Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 took. In fact, it's different enough from what I want to convey that I've considered recycling the draft into its own fic. May still do, but not before I finish CO.

The "Kunigami Sadboi" draft is exactly what it sounds like lmao. In short, I sketched out some angsty scenes in his POV that take place between chapter 7 and chapter 8. Alexa, play I'm Not Okay (I Promise).

Ultimately, I determined these don't fit the vibe of the Chapter 9 I want to publish. But they served a valuable creative purpose. Even if it's not spelled out for you (the hypothetical reader), it's important that the writer (me) and by extension, the characters, know what happened off-screen.

These drafts are imperfect. But now that I'm carving out the final Chapter 9, I can cherry-pick ideas and imagery from them. No writing goes to waste, even if it's destined to lounge in your drafts folder for all eternity.

Anyway, if you've got this far, you deserve a medal. Instead, have a snippet of how Chapter 9 could have looked, had I hit publish on that older version. Featuring out-of-character weepy Chigiri and indulgent author moralising via Kunigami!

I'm irrationally fond of this moment, though it doesn't hold up for a number of reasons. It's what the idiom kill your darlings refers to. I can like this excerpt, and it may have some merit, but it doesn't serve the narrative at large. So it dies, along with the 15,000 other words that didn't quite hit the mark 🥲

Here's another snippet, from Kunigami's sadboi days:

Again, something I personally enjoyed writing. Kunigami's dynamic with his kids is something I treasure a lot about this AU. It's simply one of those scenes that's best kept to headcanon, due to the shape I want Chapter 9 to take.

#in which boinin babbles at length about writing #contains spoilers for the published chapters of cassis orange #so if my longfic is on your tbr list avoid reading to the end (I'll warn for spoilers) #cassis orange #kunigiri #kunigami x chigiri #fanfiction #fanfic #kunigami rensuke #chigiri hyoma #blue lock fanfiction #bllk fanfiction #mine

[gleesongtournament]

Glee Song Tournament Update #1

I’m hoping to start the tournament on Sunday the 16th, but I will post a more concrete confirmation of the schedule once I get it 100% sorted

For now I wanted to talk about the songs that are included and excluded, and how I’ve set this up

What didn’t I included? Well the only two concrete answers were anything that was just a dance performance with the original song in the background (Single Ladies, Bubble Toes, etc), and any song that was album only with no filmed scene to go with it (Dancing On My Own, I Was Here, etc)

Some musical moments I left out might seem hypocritical. I left out songs by rival glee clubs that basically only served to show that yes, there is a third club competing, here’s ten seconds of their song (Broken Wings, Starlight Express, etc) but I included ten second snippets of songs from main characters (Respect, Mr. Cellophane, etc)

I also didn’t included (most) songs whose only purpose was to be bad or get cut off which unfortunately cuts out half the times Tina got to sing. Some exceptions are Crush (because we at least got a full studio version) and Pink Houses (which we heard enough of in the episode). But things like The Climb or Revolution will not be found here

Lastly, songs in deleted scenes. These were cut or kept in based on what I thought was more popular. I can understand someone being miffed if Santa Baby or I Want You Back wasn't included, but I doubt anyone would care as much about Oklahoma or Mr. Monotony (if you stan the latter two songs, I'm sorry). So I only kept in the ones I thought were more well known/liked

If you're upset about one of the above songs not being included, or think I'm not being fair, you should know that there will be 340 match ups consisting of 681 songs in round one alone. I only trimmed the tiniest amount of fat, and I promise there are still plenty of songs for you to vote on. But hopefully everyone can understand where I'm coming from and just accept what got cut x

Now, with hundreds and hundreds of songs in the mix, I wanted to do something a little more interesting than just throwing a million random match ups your way with no rhyme or reason. Bc 1) It could get boring and repetitive and 2) It could be harder to follow if it weren't split up in some cohesive way. That's where the categories come in

What are the categories? Generally speaking, they're the ways I've broken down the polls into themed sections. Hopefully this will make everything easier to follow, plus who doesn't love some good theming?? Specifically, the categories are...

Holiday Songs. All the Christmas songs + the one Hanukkah song. If you hate Christmas music, feel free to skip this round

Original Songs. Basically just any songs that aren't covers, whether it's the humorous or serious ones

Mash Ups. All the songs that are two songs combined

Same Songs. The songs that were covered multiple times on the show, pitted against one another. The only round that isn't matched up randomly

Tributes. Songs by artists/from musicals that the show frequently paid homage to (RHPS, WSS, Grease, Beatles, Britney, Fleetwood Mac, the Jackson fam, Madonna, Whitney, Stevie Wonder)(also the songs are from all eps, not just the one(s) that served as the actual tribute ep)

Musicals. Songs from musicals not listed in the last bullet point

Rivals. Songs performed by opposing glee clubs (The Warblers, Vocal Adrenaline, etc)

Guest Stars. Songs performed by, or heavily featuring, any of Glee's numerous celebrity cast members

New Directions. Songs performed by the main club. (Not necessarily a group number. Could be sung by half the club, or even two or three people, but as long as the rest of the club is there vibing, it counts)

Solos. Songs sung by one main or recurring character

Duets. Songs sung by two main or recurring characters

Misc. Everything else! Mostly trios, quartets, or group numbers that go beyond just ND

Of course there are plenty of songs that could fit into multiple categories. For example, "Somewhere" could fall under Tribute, Guest Star, and Duet, but will only be included in one of those. So if you think I left something out of a certain category, don't worry, you'll see it pop up in a different one later!

So I think that's all the basics so far. If you have any questions you can send them here or on my main @angelhummel

#glee #glee song tournament #klaine #pezberry #brittana #faberry #quinn fabray #blaine anderson #santana lopez #kurt hummel #mercedes jones #tina cohen chang #rachel berry #brittany pierce #finn hudson #etc etc

[itwoodbeprefect]

🌾🪡🪜 ^_^

🌾 A fic you really want to write but you haven’t (yet)?

oh! oh! i've been watching a lot of westerns recently, and i've been having a lot of thoughts about queer subtext in them, and also thoughts about hutch (from starsky & hutch fame) having thoughts about said queer subtext, particularly because an argument could be made that i started watching these movies for reasons related to hutch in the first place.

so. i really want to write a longer-ish fic in which (somehow, i still need to figure out in what way to make this work with the tech of the day) starsky does a kind of slightly hutch-guided first dive into cowboy movies (which mean a lot to hutch, and starsky has never really given too much thought to), and they talk about it but don't really talk about it (hutch knows his subtext but isn’t talking and starsky is trying to figure out things (and hutch, and the undertones/changing nuances in their relationship)), and there’s probably a vague background of a case fic here that kickstarts and complicates it all (maybe in a western themed bar?) and also, because it's me, louise the guinea pig is there. starsky probably smuggles her into a movie theater. maybe she hides out under a cowboy hat at one point. i have snippets of conversation written, which is maybe 2% of a fic as of yet, and this is all pretty ambitious so i'm not sure if this is ever really going to make it over the finish line or be feasible at all, but as a concept? this fic delights me. this ticks SO many of the boxes on my current interests. i'm doing a VERY good job at catering to my own whims here.

🪡 The scene you worked the hardest on in any fic?

i tend to read over every part of a fic a hundred times anyway, so that's weirdly hard to pinpoint! many of my fics are essentially a single scene by themselves, too. i do often start out with mostly dialogue (the easy part, usually) and then keep going over it to fill in all of the description around those words, which can feel like hard work when i can’t find specific and vaguely interesting/relevant physical details to anchor the characters to an actual space, and it keeps sounding like they’re just kind of ambiguously floating in a poorly defined probably-indoor location while saying words.

there are definitely fics where i can still feel the ghost of that problem hovering over my shoulder, even though i tried: Heaven help a fool who falls in love is one, Flowers for no reason but you missed me and Across the water, across the deep blue ocean (Under the open sky, oh my) two others. it’s probably not super obvious if you’re not looking for it, but i can see in those that i had to pull out some tricks and use a little force to make it a story instead of a transcript. the good thing about it is that it can feel like i got away with murder when someone says they love a fic like that!

🪜 Tell us a random fact about any fic!

for the longest time what eventually became I’d swallow the moon and the stars (To follow the beat of your heart) consisted of just the first two paragraphs with absolutely no idea what the rest of it was supposed to be. i really loved those two paragraphs, but they were essentially orphans, and then i wrote probably 80% of the other words of that fic in one sitting under a different heading without intending it to be a follow-up to those specific opening lines, and i got to have a moment of oh! hey! this really fits! this match doesn’t just kind of work, it adds something! which is just a gorgeous feeling.

#thank you for the questions!! #and particularly for giving me an excuse to talk about the Fic I Want To Write because oh. in my heart it's so good #ask #*

[fantasyforbeginners]

Hello! I was wondering if you have any writing tips on balancing an intense plot with humor? I have a story I’m working on and the overarching themes are pretty dark, but I want the narrative to still feel wholesome and have some funny moments without them seeming out of place. Thank you!!

So the strongest, most consistent humour for me is always character based! It's why certain stuff can walk a line between light and dark tones while feeling very natural (think ATLA, a Series of Unfortunate events which can be quite absurdist) and why other stuff can fall flatter, because it doesn't seem to fit the world or circumstances and the tone is a bit all over the place (that was one of the big issues I personally had with She Ra).

For a smaller example, it's also why I think the first How To Train Your Dragon movie has the best humour of the three. Every joke is character based, much of it is very sarcastic and dry (which fits the main protagonist's voice well) and the movie never holds on any given joke for too long, so even if it doesn't land, it still reads well as a moment of just pure characterization. The other two films were more "jokes for the sake of joking" which, while still carried well, are less funny on rewatches (Ruffnut drooling over Eret is her only joke in the film, for example, just on repeat) and only tell us one character beat at any given time.

For darker storylines, I think juxtaposition and deapan could be your best tools. For ex: when written well, an optimistic character who mindlessly cheers forward can be very funny (Brett from "Inside Job" on Netflix comes to mind). Cue seeing some dangerous creature and this dumbass going, with pure sincerity > fear based hope, "Maybe it's friendly!"

Deadpan snarkers can also pave the way for dry wit and sarcasm, which lends itself well to more serious situations. It lets you have levity without breaking the tone / theme. I have two main deadpan snarkers in my core cast of seven, so here's a couple of my favourite little snippets:

Ally looked away and spotted Jamie standing by the lounge chair. “Remind me to never listen to you again.” "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose?" Jamie replied, unimpressed.

aka dead pan snarker 1 and then dead pan snarker 2

“Relax,” she spoke out of the corner of her mouth. “They don’t take kindly to fear or weakness.” "We'll that's reassuring," Rayan said dryly as he hid behind Bill.

Observational humur, sarcastic quips, and much more await you in character based humour.

For study:

How often Sokka's sarcasm in Avatar: The Last Airbender is actually used to set up exposition (as he gets corrected a lot, especially in the early days)

Everything about Percy Jackson as a character voice - he's also pretty pessimistic about a lot of his situations, but never comes off as whiny, which is a delicate balance to achieve as well.

A lot of his character voice relies on a conversational omission where he tells us things without it feeling like he tells us things, a la "Am I a troubled kid? Yeah, you could say that."

Most humour situations have a straight man (more skeptical, rational) and the every man (more ridiculous to play off each other). The skeptic reacts to the every man, and it can be particularly fun if/when these roles reverse. Also does not have to apply to men at all, but those are typically the short hand terms!

One last snippet as everyone loves a Peak Loveable Dumbass, too:

 “You’re coming into town with me.” "Oh—I'm not in trouble?" Dearborn arched one eyebrow. "Should you be?" "Right," Ally said. "Stupid question. Carry on."

#thanks for asking #anonymous #my books #characterization #humour #tone #writing advice #advice

[good-frog]

recent poetry/prose dump

(transcript in alt text)

#poetry #my poetry #this is all very disjointed #there is no consistent theme these are just snippets that i liked and which fit on tungler #god idk what else to tag this #someone please validate me #i suppose

[thebreathofthewild]

i very much prefer the story of breath of the wild to the alternate timeline we got in age of calamity. not because i’m a timeline purist, i don’t really care much whether it splits off or not, but what DOES matter to me in a story (next to the plot itself) is mainly characterization, relationships and theme.

my main issue with age of calamity’s story isn’t just what they changed... it’s what they DIDN’T change, which then didn’t fit with the new stuff they’d written.

breath of the wild’s story is, in my mind, far from perfect, but it has a consistent, vibe, flow, and a character arc for princess zelda that i believe. more than an individual arc, it’s also a relationship arc with link. the development of that relationship is a key driver of the plot.

in age of calamity... despite reaching the same conclusion - that zelda saves link, her love for him activates her power - that development is absent.

i rewatched all the memories from botw and its like. bro. age of calamity can't even begin to compare. their relationship in botw has an arc.

every scene they're in together serves a purpose to establish a new relationship status or milestone. zelda goes through a Bunch of emotions about link: first quiet resentment, then Louder resentment at how he’s doing better at his role than she is at hers, then full-on ANGY, then admiration, mixed with guilt and regret for having lashed out that way to someone who would save her anyway...

from then, she humbly tries to be nicer through tending link’s wounds. she allows herself to be more playful and goof off with him, then Actually Opens Up about her insecurities - displaying true vulnerability when they're caught in the rain together. we know from zelda’s diary that link also shares his own troubles with her, and that she was trying to get him to open up was well. 

then, zelda’s excitingly sharing more hobbies (ancient tech) and hoping that maybe, just maybe, her research can substitute her lack of powers. in the same scene, link gets to witness a true relationship milestone: a parent yelling at your friend/gf in front of you. then zelda shows Even More vulnerability as she has a meltdown about her fears & insecurities at the spring of power in front of him (knowing he's there & not afraid to show him). at this point, she even allows herself to be angry at her dad, instead of solely blaming herself. 

then she gains further appreciation for link teaching her how to handle horses (and says she’s trying to be a bit more empathetic to the horse, as a metaphor for her being nicer to link and more selfless in general), sharing her faint hope for mt lanayru...  then that hope is crushed, and zelda decides to stay by link’s side (instead of urbosa hiding her) regardless of danger.

the calamity strikes. they flee together - which leads to zelda having a total beakdown, as the others die and link’s the only one she has left. the mix of guilt, despair and grief becomes too much, so she leans on him, both physically and emotionally, and he is always there to comfort her. 

THEN, finally, zelda has reached a point of loving link enough to be able to save his life, knowing he will do the same someday. which he does, and in the epilogue, she acknowledges both the pain of the past and how (because him remembering her is what unlocks this ending) he is a big part of the reason why she can accept herself now, even with her power fading & her role fulfilled.

that's an ARC, baby! 

i have my problems with botw as an overall narrative (especially its muddled messaging on whether zelda should be forced to have this traditional role), but i cannot fault how carefully they built the zelink relationship step-by-step without taking shortcuts. in these brief snippets, you see just enough to understand how zelda went from almost hating link to truly loving him.

by contrast... here’s the AoC zelink arc, despite having 3x the cutscene runtime: zelda feels quietly insecure, but doesn’t take it out on link. link saves her, as a bodyguard is supposed to. they exchange glances. they don’t talk / bond. link saves zelda again. they exchange glances. they don’t talk / bond... they flee together. then she saves link out of “love.”

that’s it. that’s literally it. 

AoC-zelink go from two (2) Meaningful Glances to zelda activating her powers, because of a bodyguard she has not spent one real second bonding with. 

link saving zelda was a turning point for their relationship in botw, yes - but here’s the key difference: it was a starting point, not the end destination. it made zelda re-evaluate how she saw link, because she was a dick to him first. THAT prompts her to try to understand someone who was kind and selfless despite how poorly she treated him. which leads to many scenes of them bonding more.

so, hot take: the real, original sin here which almost all of these issues grow from, is that they didn’t let zelda be flawed in age of calamity. 

because age of calamity-zelda was never a jerk to link, she has no reason to go out of her way to be nicer and get to know him when he saves her anyway. that’s just standard bodyguard stuff, and that’s all it’s allowed to be. they don’t share private moments of vulnerability. they don’t share at all, really.

because of this, their relationship - which became its own, organic thing in botw - is never allowed to grow. it stays knight & princess without any real flavor to it. 

i think this could be avoided if age of calamity-zelda was as strong of a character as botw-zelda was. neither is like, a literary masterpiece, but there’s a clear contrast. both are insecure and want to stop ganon, but... that’s all AoC-zelda is allowed to be, until she’s suddenly a Perfect Badass Goddess with no personality other than shouting “for hyrule!”

botw zelda didn’t just have that central insecurity. she has hobbies, she goofs off, she gets angry at people, she starts out with a huge inferiority complex towards link. she can be selfish and rebellious and clearly likes research more for its own sake than its ability to stop the calamity. she becomes nicer over time and more compassionate (unlike age of calamity, which treats it as given that she was always “boundlessly” compassionate), but that’s where she got because link was nice to her, not where she started out. 

and all of this fits into theme. age of calamity is a power fantasy in a notoriously over-the-top warriors franchise. its all about self-empowerment and looking good while kicking ass. breath of the wild is about exploration, slowly piecing together what happened 100 years ago and moving past grief into hope for the future.

i’ll put it this way - botw zelda had an arc to become a better person. aoc zelda only ever became a more powerful person.

#botw #age of calamity #age of calamity // spoilers #aoc spoilers #breath of the wild #loz theory #zelda #princess zelda #link #zelink

[renegadewangs]

Van Zieks - the Examination, part 12

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

Let's bring this thing home! It's time for the conclusion of the essay series!

Conclusion With a stupidly long essay series behind us, it's time to look at what we've learned! Let's go back to Part 1 and review what we needed from Van Zieks's character development for a fully rounded redemption arc, shall we?

1) Present an antagonistic (possibly immoral) force who personifies Ryunosuke’s biggest personal obstacle/weakness, in this case racial prejudice. 2) Humanizing traits begin to show. OPTIONAL: A backstory to justify any immorality he has. 3) Over time, Barok has his realization and sees the error of his ways. 4) Barok atones for his immorality, not simply through apology but by taking decisive steps. 5) The cast around him acknowledges his efforts and forgives him.

And looking at the main game (plus additional dialogue), we have...

1) Antagonistic force:

Etc. etc. I have many of these. We can all agree that as an antagonistic force, he does his job quite well. CEO of Racism and White Privilege in the flesh. It works, since we as the audience get very frustrated and want to see him defeated.

2) Humanization:

Giving him an old friend to be a defendant was a brilliant move, really. Albert's reflection on the friendship and the person Van Zieks used to be really helped flesh him out and make him appear more like a human being with, y'know, emotions and weaknesses. The little snippets of dialogue in his office really help too. Presenting evidence can also lead to fun tidbits. All in all, considering how gruff and distant Van Zieks is, they really did their very best to humanize him. The writers were given very little to work with but they exploited every opportunity to come their way.

OPTIONAL backstory:

Again, I don't think we needed a tragic backstory to have a well-rounded, redeemable character. Still, it ties in very expertly to the game's plot and the motivations of quite a few other characters. The story of Klint van Zieks and his death isn't necessarily Barok van Zieks's backstory, it's the center of an intricate web which also holds Kazuma, Stronghart, Gregson, Jigoku, (S)Holmes, Mikotoba, Sithe, Drebber- I could go on. A LOT. So because of how very integrated it is into the main narrative's recurring themes and characters, I'll give it props for being relevant and well thought out. The bigger question is: Does it justify his immorality? Not entirely. I think the game could have gotten more out of this if they'd involved the other two exchange students in this tale just a bit more. They could have given more attention to how Jigoku's aggressive behavior in the trial impacted Van Zieks, and explained whether he might've suspected Mikotoba of sabotaging (S)Holmes's investigation. If the narrative had done that, all three Japanese people to come to London would have been ‘the bad guy’ in Van Zieks's eyes and it would have given more credence to his racial generalization. They could have also given more attention to how the people around him reacted to Genshin being the Professor, because I'm sure Stronghart and Gregson stoked the fire in terms of xenophobia. As it stands, there isn't really enough there to justify hatred of an entire race as opposed to just one person.

3) Realization/Redemption

We see him already start to realize the error of his ways around the end of 1-5, which is technically only about halfway into the full narrative. Unfortunately, thanks to 2-2 being played afterwards (but chronologically set before 1-5), any progress made in 1-5 can become invalidated in the player's eyes. Growth works best when it's done linear. Don't get me wrong, flashbacking to earlier times when a character is still more morally tainted can work well, but it needs to be executed properly. Barok's behavior in 2-2 is downright insulting towards the audience itself and therefore, it causes emotional friction when relaying the narrative endgoal of redemption. It also makes it extra jarring when we hit 2-3, and suddenly Van Zieks is meant to be relying on the protagonist's desire to expose the truth. How on earth can we as the audience trust that Van Zieks believes in Ryu's abilities when we just came fresh out of a case where this man actively sabotages Ryu's efforts?

Still, the line of redemption continues from 2-3 into 2-4 well enough. He admits that he was wrong- that his hatred was illogical and that he needs to change. This is the very definition of redemption. I need to stress once more this is not to be confused with atonement, which comes next.

4) Atonement

Here it is. It's not enough to simply acknowledge mistakes; one needs to work hard to fix them. Since Van Zieks is the defendant for two whole episodes, equaling roughly 20% of the full narrative and 67% of the time following his first true realization (chronologically), there isn't much that he can actively do to atone. Because remember, not only do these actions need to fit the situation he's currently in, they need to fit his personality. These two limitations ensure the atonement mostly takes the form of dialogue. Of apologies.

One might want to point out that he never apologizes specifically for his racism, but there's a reason for that. If you pay close attention, you'll notice that there isn't a single character who ever uses a word like “racism”, “xenophobia” or even “racial prejudice” in this game. It's for the same reason you'll never see an Ace Attorney character utter words like “alcoholism”, “drug abuse” or “depression”. These things may be implied very strongly, to the point where you'll know for certain a character is suffering from it, but it's never given these exact labels. It has to do with the tone of the game. In Great Ace Attorney's dialogue, Barok van Zieks is only ever described as holding “a deep hatred for Japanese”, which is then the only thing he could apologize for. And he does, so long as you aren't looking for a literal phrasing of “I apologize for my deep hatred of your people”.

Regardless, he can't take more active, decisive action until he's freed from prison and two scenes with Van Zieks later, the game has ended. He still manages to take two actions, though! The first is to publicize the truth of the Professor, taking the blame of the mass murders off Genshin's shoulders (and losing his own privilege in the process). The second is to take Kazuma under his wing as his disciple. I'm not certain there's anything else the narrative could have had him do. What is decisively missing, however, is the following:

5) Acknowledgment

The above aren't good examples of cast acknowledgment that Van Zieks is taking part in a redemption arc, rather, they're the best I could find. Characters are acknowledging that he's changing- that he's being kinder to them and they can get along with him now, but they're not acknowledging that he caused hurt in the first place. This, in my opinion, is the Great Ace Attorney's biggest narrative flaw. I've talked before about how Ryu's reaction to Van Zieks's racism is 'indirect communication', a typically Japanese manner of dealing with negativity. I've also talked about how Ryu is not in a position to speak up, as he's a literal minority who is there to represent his country in an official capacity and can’t afford to make enemies. However, characters like Susato and Kazuma are far more outspoken in their opinions, as is Soseki. The only one who ever calls Van Zieks out on his racism is the British judge, and even that is done very meekly. When an old crusty white guy is the one who condemns white privilege in a cast full of minorities, you've got a problem. The Japanese cast's refusal to acknowledge that Van Zieks's words were harmful is like Team Avatar telling Zuko that sure, he can join since he's a good guy now, but never once acknowledging that he burned down villages or betrayed everyone's trust in Ba Sing Se. There's something very vital missing, see? If indeed the cast had called Van Zieks out more actively on his harmful ways and how necessary it was for him to change, he in turn could have taken more atonement steps in response.

So, for the conclusion: Does Barok van Zieks tick all the necessary boxes for a complete redemption arc? Yes. In a very technical sense, all the requirements are there. But does that mean it's a successful arc? Not necessarily. The game has a few slip-ups, a few things not executed as well as they could have been. For that reason, whether the audience is satisfied with the arc is entirely up to them. Taking into consideration that they had to cram a whole lot of story into just two games- the second game in particular, I can acknowledge they did their very best with the limitations that were there.

And there we have it! That’s all I could think to say on the matter. I hope everyone who read this till the very end enjoyed it, maybe even learned a thing or two. I’m always open to questions, input and constructive criticism!

#dgs #dgs spoilers #tgaa #tgaa spoilers #barok van zieks #I'M FREE! #well until I tackle the DLC content #but until then... #FREEEE

[taggerbug]

Krel Fic Rec List, Pt. 1

I’ve been kicking around the idea of making a Krel-centric fic recommendation list for a while, but only just got around to it. Whoops!  Just as a disclaimer, I won’t be able to fit every Krel fic in here, so there might be a part two, depending on if I have time.

Fics that are not bold are complete. Fics that are bold are in progress.

-- Longfic, Plot Heavy --

Wizards: The Ones Who Stayed by AkozuHeiwa - Rated T - 137k

Where do I start? This is a pre-Wizards sequel to 3Below, featuring Krel, Steve, Seamus, most of the central cast, and some truly incredible original characters as they contend with existential threats based on Arthurian lore and a side of Gaylen’s Core theory. There’s strong themes of whump and hurt/comfort, threaded between well-crafted plot threads that meet in a devastating conclusion. Ako is an amazing writer and their effort really shines through here.

Legacies by AkozuHeiwa - Rated M - 20k (so far)

Yes, there is a sequel to Wizards: The Ones Who Stayed (Wizfic for short), and it’s being posted on a weekly basis right now!! Legacies has only just started, and it’s already intriguing - so much so that I took three pages of paper notes on the latest chapter to aid in my theorizing. Krel’s back, along with Toby, Douxie, Steve, and a few of the OCs from Wizfic in a story that’s got so much angst already that I’m almost afraid to find out what happens next. 

As Above, So Below by Taggerbug - Rated T - 40k (so far)

Yeah, this is mine! It’s inspired by Danny Phantom fic and is full of angst, speculative biology, and ethical dilemmas. I felt weird writing a review since I know what happens next, so here's a summary from Ako:

“ AASB is an in-progress multi-chapter fic full of angst and intrigue. The suspense through each chapter keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it looks like it's going exciting places with an interconnected plot and mysterious enemies and compelling OCs. Krel's plot in particular looks extremely angsty and exciting, so definitely check it out!” - AkozuHeiwa

Base II by just_another_author01 - Rated T - 15k (so far)

Now this is a real find. Krel is arrested by a military research base, where he encounters other aliens and some suspiciously sympathetic staff. There are several well-written original characters and some very intriguing worldbuilding. Definitely worth getting into before it updates!!

Odin’s Eye by AzTheDragon - Rated G - 14k (so far)

I don’t usually read HTTYD fic, but this crossover caught my eye because Krel and Jim aren’t often written together. It starts with some unexpected time travel and suspenseful unnamed monsters, and the mystery only grows from there. I’m very much looking forward to seeing where this one is going!

Ricochet by Depreshroom - Rated T - 6k (so far)

A post-Wizards whump and hurt/comfort fic that places Krel at a crossroads with the Arcane Order and his friends, with hints of Krel’s connection to Gaylen. Calamity occurs, and Jim and his friends have to find a way to solve it. This fic is just getting started, but shows a lot of promise.

stay up, like a good fight by Euphoriette - Rated G - 9k (so far)

After the events of Wizards, yet another apocalypse descends on Arcadia, with Krel at the center of it. He’s being pursued by Akiridion zealots who are determined to capture him by any means possible, resulting in angst and heartbreak. I’m looking forward to getting my heart ripped out in future chapters for sure!

-- Ships --

The Limit Does Not Exist by PurpleRose244​ - Rated G - 178k - Space Camp

This is a must-read for space campers, a completed longfic that has it all - angst, hurt/comfort, four-armed hugs! It’s mostly canon compliant to 3Below but with more focus and development on space camp. It’s pretty long, but ends with a satisfying conclusion

Somos Algo by jetblock - Rated T - 22k (so far) - Space Camp

A space camp canon divergence, focusing on a summer in which Krel is trying his best to fix the Mothership while Seamus deals with being held back from the space program by his father. Slow burn ensues.

Win First, Think Later by Lobel - Rated T - 17k (so far) - Space Camp

After Krel is left behind in Arcadia, he looks forward to finally getting to spend time with his friends. However, he still has to confront - however unwillingly - the aftermath of fighting Morando and losing his parents. Even worse, he hasn’t adjusted to living as a human as much as he’d like to believe.

The View From The Sky by AkozuHeiwa - Rated G - 2k - Hammerhack

A fluffy one-shot of my favorite gaymers (Toby and Krel) who get dragged to a ski resort by Aja and Jim. It’s so sweet it makes me blush!!

California Friends by spideyfool - Rated G - 2k (so far) - Hammerhack, Starry Knight

A series of delightful one-shots with various rarepairs.

-- Gen. One-Shots --

Bitter Water by spideyfool - Rated T - 5k 

This one-shot is a really interesting take on Krel’s relationship with Aja and his dead parents, and features some vivid body horror - so be sure to read the tags! Some excellent hurt/comfort, and Starry Knight (Krel x Jim) if you squint.

Press Restart by spideyfool - Rated G - 1k

An extremely interesting character study of Krel, consisting of snippets set throughout 3Below. Very introspective and thoughtful.

And these dark roads aren’t so lonely by YellowMagicalGirl - Rated G - 1k

An ominous one-shot exploring the concept of Krel contemplating the use of Gaylen’s Core and dark magic to bring his parents back from the dead.

---

This list is in no way comprehensive, so feel free to add on any Krel-centric fic recs!! :)

#tales of arcadia #3below #krel tarron #toa #3 below

[unfunny-quips]

Snippet from my (other) overly complicated Akeshu Time Loop fic where everyone except Akira (mostly) remembers the previous year:

Akechi Goro’s apartment was nothing like what Ann had expected it to be. Though admittedly her imagination had been a bit conflicted on what she should expect.

The shiny, polite Ace Detective facade he showed the world suggested she should expect a living space ripped straight out of a designer magazine. Attractive but stiff, nice to look at but difficult to actually live in let alone be comfortable in when visiting.

On the other hand, what she’d seen of his other side - the feral, blood thirsty and thoroughly nasty Black Mask - made her think of a dungeon like space. Chains on the walls, maybe one of those disturbing cluttered spaces shown on crime dramas when the heroes were hunting a serial killer. Pictures with blacked out eyes pinned to the walls, red string connecting disparate and terrifying thoughts and images, a collection of weapons on display.

What she got was…neither of those.

Shiho led her down the kind of pleasant residential area that put Ann in mind of the best kind of summers as a kid. A big park, open friendly faces, a community that seemed friendly and kind to each other. Shiho smiled and waved to a number of people on their way, the few they stopped to chat with for a bit telling her to give their hellos on to Akechi before letting them continue.

The apartment itself was the converted guest house in the back garden of what looked to be a cheerful family home. Ann counted no less than three fat cats lazing about and when they approached a delightfully plump old woman seated in a rocking chair on the front porch sat up from her reading to say hello and welcome Ann. Shiho called her Obaasan and rushed to give her a hug like she really was Shiho’s beloved grandmother before the old woman ushered them down the side path towards the back of the house.

“That’s Goro’s landlady, Shibata-San,” Shiho said as they walked the narrow path that led along the side of the house and through a truly beautiful garden. “She’s super sweet but has trouble with her arthritis sometimes. She gives Goro a deal on the rent since he helps her out so much around the house and with her gardening.”

Akechi Goro being nice to little old ladies. Ann wasn’t certain if that was exactly what she expected from the deranged killer pretending to be a charming teen detective or something so far out of the realm of expected as to be laughable. She chose to make a polite hmm noise of interest instead, not wanting to break the good mood Shiho was in by bringing up how very much Ann hated Akechi. She was rewarded by Shiho smiling warmly at her, which was really all the shorter girl would need to do to convince Ann to murder someone in Shiho’s name.

Shiho knocked at the door and Ann took a final calming breath to prepare her for the night that lay ahead of her. It was just a few hours, and she’d be there with Shiho and there would be plenty of other people to help buffer her from Akechi and Akira. Ann had helped shoot a god in the face once, she was ready for anything Akechi might throw at her over a few hours of talking about a book.

She wasn’t even close to ready, as it turned out.

The realization settled in the moment the door opened to reveal a yawning Akechi standing before her with messy hair and Featherman themed pajamas. Rumpled and clearly well worn Featherman pajamas.

Ann felt her eyes widen comically at the sight of the boy that had once been her and her team’s arch nemesis. A known and dangerous killer who had taken countless lives in the name of his twisted revenge scheme. 

He was wearing adorable unicorn slippers. Their horns were rainbow.

“Ah, Shiho!” Akechi said through his yawn, face stretching into a warm smile as he spotted the shorter girl on the other side of the threshold. “Just in time, I need help hauling Akira’s dead weight to the bedroom.” Ann watched him scratch lazily at his chin before blinking his attention over to her and offered another smile. It was a  brittle, plastic thing in comparison to the honest warmth he’d offered the shorter girl. All polish and teeth, no actual emotion. “And Takamaki-San, I’m so glad you could join us for the evening.”

He looked anything but, especially with the white knuckled grip he had on the door handle.

Ann offered a strained smile of her own. She’d made a promise to Shiho damnit and she’d see it through if it killed her. Or if Akechi killed her. Whatever. The point was that she was going to try damnit.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world!” She said as Akechi stepped back to allow them inside. Shiho gave a faint wince at the overly perky tone Ann had and shoot she’d overshot the enthusiasm a bit. Oh well. Better to be too excited than not enough. She followed Shiho’s lead in taking her shoes off and slipping on a pair of house slippers before turning her attention to the apartment itself.

It was…surprisingly cozy.

Ann was surprised too by the amount of clutter taking up the apartment. A laundry basket of half-folded, clean clothes sitting next to the couch, a knocked over bag tossed on a side table by the front door, more pillows and blankets than Ann would have expected making it seem like a nice place to curl up and read in. The apartment still managed to look tidy despite the half hearted attempt at organization.

Most of the space consisted of a living room with a tiny kitchenette tucked in a corner. There was a small nook beside the cooking area likely meant for dining. The small table placed there was taken over by a nice looking chess set, leaving no room for any actual dining. A small blackboard hung on the wall beside it, tallying victories of each player - tied, from what Ann could see, between Akechi and Kurusu. Other than that there were a couple doors leading to what she presumed to be a bedroom and a bathroom. 

It looked so remarkably normal.

Hardwood floors, plush rugs thrown everywhere, overstuffed bookshelves, pictures on the wall. There was a larger one hung over the couch showing off the entire book club smiling brightly at what looked like a cat cafe. Shiho, Akechi, Kurusu, Yoshizawa, even Togo Hifumi and Iwai’s son Kaoru. All of them squeezed together to fit, hands up in peace signs or giving each other bunny ears.

They looked normal. Just kids hanging out, enjoying each other’s company and reading books. It was hard to reconcile the photo with the mental image Ann had of several of the members as potential agents of Yaldabaoth.

Seeing how happy Shiho looked in the pictures didn’t help.

Ann pushed the thoughts away as best she could and followed other two to where a half asleep Akira was laid sprawled half under a large kotatsu. The delinquent had his head thrown back on the couch behind him, one of the many throw pillows Akechi apparently owned curled in his arms. She was surprised to see his usual oversized glasses he so often hid behind tossed haphazardly on the kotatsu. His eyes were closed, but he cracked one open when he heard them come over.

“M’fine here.” He muttered, curling up further around his pillow.

Akechi rolled his eyes. 

“There is a bed literally right there.” he pointed at one of the two closed doors for emphasis, mere steps away. Akira was already turning away and wiggling further beneath the kotatsu blanket. “Just go to bed Akira, no one else is even going to be here for another hour at least.”

Ann blinked. “What?” She turned from the drowsy Akira to Shiho, the shorter girl giving an unapologetic, challenging smile.

“Goro said we could come over early so you could get settled in!” Shiho said, chipper and all too aware of the fact that Ann had been banking on keeping her attention on other people in order to ignore Akechi. She really shouldn’t have been surprised. Shiho really did know her too well.

Akechi offered another brittle smile before turning his attention back to Akira, his expression softening again. Ann watched as the detective attempted to scoop the dark haired boy up, only for Akira to slip out of his grasp by going boneless, earning an undignified swear from the detective. 

Ann watched as the detective attempted to drag the delinquent away by an arm, amused as Shiho strolled over casually and hauled Akira up over her shoulder - pillow and all - in a fireman’s hold. She did it with such ease that Ann was a left little breathless at the show of strength. Akira wasn’t heavy by any measure but he was tall and she’d seen him working out at the gym the one time she went with Ryuji. The boy had muscle and that couldn’t be light. It didn’t matter to the short girl and her exceptional strength and well… Ann was weak to Shiho in so very many ways.

A few minutes later Akira had been safely stowed in a proper bed, the faint sound of soft snores heard from the dark haired delinquent before Shiho had even made it through the door. Which just left the three of them standing awkwardly in the living room.

Joy.

“I’m not nearly as good as Akira or Boss,” Akechi began, “But I can make a passable cup of coffee with what I’ve got here. Would you like one?”

There was a very real chance he might poison it. Ann nodded anyway to appease Shiho, resigned to the fact that she really was willing to do anything to see the shorter girl smile. 

Akechi shuffled towards the kitchenette in his ridiculous fluffy unicorn slippers and began fussing with the various coffee supplies that took up almost all of his very limited counter space. He was even nice enough to pull out a container of some cookies - a favorite brand of Ann’s on top of it - that hadn’t even been opened yet from a cupboard. She felt secure in the knowledge that those at least hadn’t been tampered with as she began happily devouring them.

“He’s still refusing to move in?” Shiho asked Akechi softly as she settled on the plush loveseat adjacent to the couch, tugging Ann down beside her. The dark haired girl pulled her feet up and under her, Shiho’s expression turning concerned as she watched Akechi work.

Akechi gave a soft sigh as he began boiling some water for the coffee. “He’s just so damn stubborn.” The detective said, shoulder’s drooping as he measured the freshly ground coffee out. “That place is killing him, but every time I bring it up he digs his heels in.”

Shiho gave a soft sigh before turning her attention to Ann to explain. “Akira is…” She paused, frowning, “His living situation is…bad.” Ann flicked her attention to Akechi as she heard him mutter a faint fucking understatement of the year under his breath. “Goro has offered to let him stay here but Akira’s worried that his record would hurt Goro’s reputation.”

“Oh,” Ann said, turning her attention on the delicate chocolate dipped cookie she held. Akira’s criminal record, that had been made public and well known by Mishima at Komashida’s request. Because Akira had stepped in and kept the teacher from getting to Shiho. Something Ann should have done. “Isn’t there something he can do? He’s staying with a guardian right? Couldn’t he just request to be moved under someone else?”

Akechi snorted bitterly. “Great idea, so that scam artist can report him as being “dangerous” and get him sent back to Juvie?” Red eyes turned to Ann, pinning her in place as Akechi’s mouth twisted into a sour frown. “You know about shitty adults. You know there really aren’t options like that for people in Akira’s position.”

Ann was struck again by the strange clash between what she expected from Akechi from the last run of the game and what he was showing her in this one. 

A facade of niceties for the camera, a howling soul of insanity for anyone who got in his way. Where, exactly, between those two extremes lay concern for a friend in a difficult position? Where did friends lay in that mess at all? Where did the cozy apartment, helping out an arthritic old lady, the weekly book club, the Featherman pajamas? Was there a graph somewhere that might map it all out? Or was she just supposed to guess at what was a real glimpse at the boy that had once murdered her friend’s father and what was an act to get what he wanted?

“Here,” Akechi said, and for a moment she half expected him to hand her the answers she wanted. He didn’t, of course, instead handing her a cup of coffee resting on a matching saucer. Both cup and saucer had cute chubby cats on them. “Cream? Sugar?”

She blinked and nodded, watching as he turned on his heel to get her what she asked for. Shiho beside her shifted where she sat, butting their shoulders together gently. Her face, when Ann met her gaze, was thoughtful. Considering Ann as if she was the puzzle and not the serial killer juggling a carton of cream and an oversized container of sugar across the room. Trying to stow her apprehension away for the night, Ann offered her friend the best honest expression she could while knowing how many lies she’d given the shorter girl over the past months. 

Shiho’s expression shifted slowly, the look in her dark eyes difficult to read. Ann watched as the other girl turned to sip at her coffee. Shiho didn’t even wait for it to cool. She always liked her drinks hot enough to scald.

“You know, maybe it’s the way you’re asking.” Shiho said, the complicated emotions Ann glimpsed the moment before shuffled away as the dark haired girl turned a devious smile on Akechi.

The detective looked weary and wary all at once. “Shiho…” His tone had something like a weak warning to it, though the bite Ann was used to hearing from him was absent.

“I’m just saying,” Shigo said, looking delighted, “You’re asking him to move in with you as a friend.”

“Don’t.” Akechi said, it might have been sharp and snapping if it wasn’t for the color rising high on the boy’s cheeks. Ann blinked in bewilderment. Was Akechi Goro blushing?

“Just ask him to be your boyfriend already!” Shiho said, all cheer and delight with an undercurrent of something challenging directed at the now definitely blushing Akechi. “We all saw you two kiss at the ice rink! It’s not like the thing between you it’s a secret!”

Ann choked on the cookie she’d just popped into her mouth. Akechi - so red that Ann was fairly certain he was going to turn purple soon - made a high pitched squeak and buried his face in his hands.

Well that put a new light on things.

“You kissed Kurusu?!” Cookies crumbs went flying as she spoke but Ann didn’t care. The news was just too big to be taken in calmly. Makoto had suspected that Kurusu, a known criminal, was a pawn in Akechi’s devious plan and the rest of the group had been thinking the same. Morgana suggested that the dark haired boy might even be the new player they’d been warned about.

At no point at any of them considered Akechi could be so human as to simply just like Kurusu.

“It’s not that - you’re taking things out of context!” Akechi almost wailed, not a psychopath ready to kill at a drop of a hat but an embarrassed teenage boy being teased about his crush.

Shiho laughed, “You two held hands!” 

“I didn’t know how to skate! Kurusu was helping me balance!”

“You stayed on the ice during the couple’s song!”

“We just didn’t want to get off the ice!”

“You stopped, in the middle of the rink, looked deep into each other’s eyes while holding hands and kissed.”

As if to drive her point home, Shiho lifted her phone to show a picture - a bit blurry at the edges but clear enough to make out - of Akechi and Kurusu definitely having a sweet, romantic kiss on the ice. Clearly completely oblivious of the world around them as they did so. It was possibly the cutest thing Ann had ever seen.

Any idea Ann ever had of Akechi Goro being intimidating was thrown right out the window.

#My writing #Fic snippet #snippets #drabble #this is way too long to be a drabble but idk #persona 5 #persona 5 royal #persona 5 au #akeshu #shuake #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #goro akechi #ann takamaki #shiho suzui #ann x shiho #time loop au #the phantom thieves remember the last year but don't remember akira #akechi remembers everything #akira is just having a rough fucking time #shiho ships akeshu #shuffled deck au

[chiveburger]

I’m not gonna be a debbie downer about this, but evidently I feel like the hype and general interactions for pentagon’s comeback this time is trailing a bit behind do or not. I don’t think it’s abnormal nor do I think they’re doing unimaginably abysmal like pentagon has gotten to a point where I don’t think they’ll suffer another dr. bebe charting disaster but it makes sense why data that’s available right now is not surpassing their previous comeback. that means this song HAS to fucking hit in order for people to start crawling back on their knees. a lot of the content is also not comparable seeing as love or take had 3 physical albums, all of which were designed, packaged and conceptualized very nicely and generally appealing. from the scheduler to teasers and album art everything was ONE and it fit in the same theme. even if I weren’t a pentagon fan I might’ve still really fucked with their album versions and bought it purely for aesthetics (which I know a lot of people did). I can’t say the same for invite u. part of me feels like cube did allocate money in different parts of this comeback based on the content we do have like their audio snippet? I don’t think pentagon has ever released one where each song had it’s individual music video, and outsourcing to some other producer probably took a bite out of their budget too. music videos, brand name styling and others might’ve been their focal point which is why their albums this time round look a little boring as shit. obviously I want the best for them, but I would take them staying consistent as a win too. I just want them to stay together for a long time and to have the freedom to make music they care about all the while having enough income and success to continue that...

#pentagon #borger diary

[goatsandgangsters]

do you have any writing tips pls 🥺🥺

Ohhh big question! I’m flattered that you want my writing thoughts, anon!

So. Are we talking about tips on getting through writer’s block/sitting down and actually writing? The mechanics of writing itself, the individual sentences and word choices? Developing a plot? Characters or dialogue? Drafting and revising? If there’s a specific part of the process that’s angsting you, let me know, I’m happy to say more on that. For now I’ll try and touch on as much as broadly as I can.

Writing is a process, a craft, a practice. A joy and a trial. The act of hitting some keys with your fingers but also making something out of nothing. Which is to say—it comes with practice, it can be frustrating, it can be rewarding, and however you’re feeling about writing, you’re not the only one.

Inspiration/actually sitting down to write:

I find that writing is like exercise. Yes, in the sense that it takes practice to build up those muscles, but MORE IMPORTANTLY writing, like exercise, makes me groan and go “but that’s haaaaard I don’t wanna doooooo it, what if I just siiiit here insteaaaad.” And then I grudgingly get started. And I start to get into the rhythm. And then “oh goddammit. This DOES feel good.” I’ve still never experienced a runner’s high, but I have experienced “no I don’t wanna write. well I guess I’ll write. oh hey I’m writing. oH HEY!! I’M WRITING!!!” Sometimes you just need to push yourself through to start.

That said, sometimes you don’t need to push yourself to start. Sometimes it’s better to let something sit. It’s okay to pivot to another project if you’ve stalled out on one. I saw a post once that called this “crop rotation” and I think that’s true. Sometimes the challenge is getting started, but even when you can’t get started, the time away can be valuable, because it allows you to return with fresh ideas and fresh ideas.

I love using Fighter’s Block for when I can’t get started. It curbs my perfectionist tendency to write the same first sentence over and over again by forcing me to write consistently and quickly without refreshing tumblr between every sentence. Once I’ve got a paragraph, I’ve got enough of a rhythm going to keep writing on my own. You can use it for longer stretches of time, but I find a couple rounds of 200 word count goals is enough to get me through the inertia of getting started.

Read a lot:

Reading makes you a better writer. You will absorb aspects of the craft in the process—sentence structure, rhythm, plot beats.

Then think about what you read. Think about what works. Think about what doesn’t. Notice sentences that you love—not by meaning but by sound. Think about how the story is told, how the plot elements come together, how the themes operate, how the narrative is structured. Did the flashbacks works or were they superfluous? Did you love the metaphors and descriptive language, or did it feel vague and unhelpful? What parts grabbed you, what parts didn’t?

Being able to identify what does and doesn’t work in someone else’s writing will help you apply it to your own. It will also help you craft your own voice and style.

Use writing tips as a challenge, not a rule:

We’ve all seen those “writing rules” like don’t use adverbs, don’t say feels or thinks, don’t say said. Never listen to writing “rules”; instead, see them as a writing “challenge.” You don’t need to jettison every single adverb or permanently strike certain words from your writing. Sometimes, an adverb is the best word. And sometimes it isn’t.

These tips are useful, but not as hard-and-fast rules that must be obeyed every time under every circumstance. Instead, use them as tools to challenge you to think about your writing in new ways, to see if there’s a better way to say something (and maybe there is and maybe there isn’t), and to bring a freshness to the process.

I actually do really like to challenge myself to minimize feels and thinks. “He feels sick to his stomach” will pretty much always be less powerful than “His stomach lurches.” But sometimes feels and thinks work better, either because I need quick exposition or because it specifically emphasizes a thought or a feeling as perception. Again, it’s not about rules. It’s about challenging your habits to breathe new life into your writing. 

Revising tools:

if you’re a tactile person and you own a printer (which I am but I don’t), I like to print out a draft and sit on the floor with a pen and a highlighter and highlight anything that sounds clunky or that doesn’t quite fit. Then I massage those specific sentences, looking for other ways to say them, and narrow in on those parts rather than trying to edit everything overall.

The hemingway app method (as long as you know you’re allowed to disagree with it) can be good to catch certain things. Sometimes I use it and think “yeah that sentences IS too long and awkward, I should rephrase it” and sometimes I think “nah, that sentence is long but it’s controlled and it works.” Sometimes it’s useful in pointing out that I used the word just way too many times; sometimes I’ll keep my adverbs thanks.

Retyping the entire thing in another word document is another revising trick. So is reading the entire think out loud to yourself (your actual ear will catch awkward rhythms or typos that your inner voice glossed over).

(Note: I don’t do all of these all the time. I revise with whichever method I happen to be feeling at the moment)

Character interactions:

Overly expository character interactions are probably my #1 writing pet peeve. People don’t say what they mean. They don’t calmly and carefully and eloquently articulate exactly what they feel. If your characters are conversing in well-practiced monologues where they’re able to objectively analyze and express their exact feelings, it’s not believable. It’s also not fun for the reader, because Explanations of Emotions are being used as a stand-in for actual emotions.

Example: You don’t have a breakdown because you’re stressed about losing your job and you had a fight with your sister and you’re also the protagonist who has to save the entire world. You have a breakdown because you can’t find your fucking pen. It was here a moment ago, you know it was, you put it THERE because that’s where you PUT things but now it’s gone and the pen is gone and you can’t even find the fucking pen so how are you going to save the world and everything is going to SHIT because you can’t FIND your goddamn pEN.

Your character is probably not even an expert on their own feelings, let alone able to objectively explain them to someone else. There are things we can’t make ourselves say out loud. We deflect. We put all the big feelings into small things. We squeeze someone’s hand and say come on, let’s make dinner because you can’t say everything is going to be okay I promise you and I love you so much and one day you’ll see that it’ll all work out.

What are your characters saying with their body? What are they saying with what’s left unsaid? And when are they saying something Else that’s really about Them? (“You did what you had to do,” character A assures character B, because character A’s own guilt weighs on them. They’ll never say this out loud. They don’t even need to specifically think “just like my own guilt, which weighs on me.” We know it by what they say, about other people and about other things, because these are the times when you’re really talking about yourself)

Also, the size of the emotion displayed does not translate into the size of the emotional impact on the reader. A big sweeping declaration of I love you shouldn’t be used as a stand-in for real chemistry or a moment of love that is specific to those characters. An absolute sobbing breakdown isn’t inherently more tragic for its size. You don’t need torture porn to evoke angst. Emotions are a lot more subtle than that. Using a caricature of emotion in the extreme often cheapens the emotion for the reader, rather than enhancing it. 

Other assorted tips:

Write notes! Sit up at 3 AM and write down a snippet of dialogue in a note on your phone! Jot down the plot idea for later! Note the phrase you heard someone say that sounds like it would be a good title.

If you can’t figure out how to end your story or your section or your chapter, it might be because it’s already over and the story has finished telling itself. If the beginning doesn’t feel right, if it feels slow and clunky, it might be because your starting place is too early. If the character interaction feels wrong or the scene isn’t going right or you can’t make that line of dialogue work, the problem is probably about 5 or 10 lines up where you took a wrong turn.

An em dash—like the one I used here—separates out a part of the sentence that couldn’t be a sentence on its own. Semicolons join two independent sentences together; this is an example.

The dialogue tag is part of the sentence. Correct: “I love dogs,” he said. or “I love dogs.” Incorrect: “I love dogs.” he said. or “I love dogs,” He said.

That’s everything that comes to mind immediately. If there’s another part of the process that you want me to focus on, let me know! I’m happy to go more in-depth on specifics! 

#writing #me??? you want tips from MMmee??? #a n o n 💖 #writeblr #anon tag

[marypsue]

For the fic ask thing: Question 1, 3, 5

from this meme

1. Is writing cathartic or stressful for you?

Yes.

3. Do you have any upcoming WIPs? How far along are you with them?

I always have way too many upcoming WIPs. In order of how close (I think) they are to finished, though:

The Monster Stranger Things Longfic, currently titled the road goes ever on, is about...a third of the way through the final chapter? And then it needs extensive second-draft work, so it may not be ready to post until after I’ve finished

The sequel to the kids aren’t alright, currently titled put your curse in reverse. I’m currently drafting chapter 12 of what I had roughly outlined to be 14 chapters, though it’s looking like it might end up being closer to 15 or 16. I am always, always guilty of fic sprawl. This one is going to need less second-draft overhauling, though, so it might be ready to post before the monster longfic is. 

This Bob/Joyce/Hopper time loop fic I’m calling how many times (do you want to die), which I thought at first would probably be much too angsty a title for what was going to be quite a silly little fic and then...I actually thought about what it would be like to have to live through the demodog attack on the Hawkins lab over...and over...and over...again. I am on the final loop and trying to figure out how the hell to solve the entirety of season 2 in one day without Kali who I sadly could not figure out a way to fit in, but once I do...it’s over for you bitches.

The Stranger Things ageswap AU which has the working title that same small town in each of us, which I’ve actually posted some samples from! (There are also some samples from the monster longfic in this tag, too. I really should have consistent tags for posts about each of my WIPs. That would be smart.) I have no idea when this is going to be finished, because I’m still trying to figure out a good chunk of the middle, but I have most of Nancy’s plot sorted and one really great scene for her for the ending that I really want to get to, so it’ll happen eventually.

The sequel to the sequel to the kids aren’t alright, which has the working title former heroes who quit too late. It’s got an extensive outline and I am very very very excited about some of the things I’m planning with it because I think I’ve figured out how to solve some of the major issues I had with s3 in canon. 

The Nancy/Jonathan/Steve bodyswap fic that I mentioned in a previous post, which has the working title why can’t we be ourselves like we were yesterday, which comes from New Order’s ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’, the theme song for OT3s in the 80s. I don’t know what the...actual...content of this one is beyond the four scenes I’ve written and the vague impression I have of what each of the characters needs to take away from the experience. I’ll get back to you on whether it’s ever actually going to get finished. 

(And also I need to finish Something Borrowed, Something Blues. I should also finish Imbalance, but...I’m starting to feel like that may have become impossible due to circumstances beyond my control.)

(Also also, I have not given up on finishing that original piece about the changeling and the AI who fall in love and also there’s King Arthur and superheroes. I’m very attached to it, It’s just...I’m going to remain very attached to it even after I’ve cooled a little on cranking out AU after AU for Stranger Things.)

5. Share a snippet that you’re proud of from an upcoming fic/chapter.

Have a scene from the bodyswap fic because otherwise I don’t know if it will ever see the light of day.

Jonathan really hopes Family Video makes its employees wear nametags. Otherwise, he’s not sure he’s going to know who ‘Robin’ is.

He shouldn’t have worried, though. Because he recognises the girl behind the counter when he comes rushing in, from the mall. And she recognises him, too, by the way she frowns. “Harrington! It’s two minutes to nine. What happened?”

“I thought my shift didn’t start until nine?” Jonathan asks, mentally cursing Steve for not keeping better track of what time his shift starts and Nancy’s mom for holding him up and whatever mysterious Upside Down bullshit put them in this predicament in the first place.

Robin frowns a little more. “Yeah, dingus. You’re two whole minutes early. If you’re gunning for my Employee of the Month title, you’d better be ready to do better than that. I’ve got this one sewn up.” She reaches across the counter to ruffle Jonathan’s – well, technically Steve’s – hair, and Jonathan jerks backwards in shock. Robin takes it in stride. “And your lustrous locks are somewhat lacking this morning. Where’s your vest?”

“My what?”

Robin tugs at the ugly green polyester vest she’s wearing with a knowing smile. “I knew something’d have to give to get you here any earlier than five minutes late.” The words are accusatory, but the way she delivers them is – fond. “C’mon, I’m sure Keith’s got a spare kicking around somewhere. Can’t help you with the hair, though.”

“That’s all right,” Jonathan says, sounding a little faint to his own ears. He hadn’t realised Steve had made an actual friend his own age. Last he’d heard, via Nancy, Steve was still spending most of his free time acting as the president of the local Babysitters’ Club.

Jonathan’s got to admit it’s a weird relief, though. He’d felt – maybe just a little guilty, when Nancy’d dumped Steve and Steve had immediately stolen Jonathan’s former title as Hawkins High’s biggest loner. Without King Steve making them untouchable, the asshole power couple of Tommy H and Carol had lost a little of the asshole and a lot of the power. Jonathan can’t honestly say he was disappointed. The fact that, once he’d ditched them, Steve might not have any other actual friends except for Nancy hadn’t even occurred to Jonathan until it was too late.

Robin’s still looking suspiciously at him. Jonathan swallows, hard. “I’m – trying something new. With the hair.”

“Yeah?” Robin gives the top of his head a long, assessing look. “Try something else.”

#chatter #this is so late ha ha haaaaaaa #somehow deciding to write the whole thing before posting any of it has made finding titles easier #or maybe that's just the leaning into the titling everything with song lyrics #either way i have more titles than i have complete outlines #every time i'm like 'i am going to share a snippet! something that's good!' i open up the WIP documents and stare at them like #wow I have never written anything worth sharing with anyone else ever in my life #this is mary's fic tag #why can't we be ourselves like we were yesterday

[stella-monstrum]

Bride Of Chucky (1998), Rated R [A beginners crash course]

WARNING: This article contains clips and photos that I do not own and are simply including to watch along with this article. NSFW CONTENT AND POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD)

(Written by Stella, edited by Jacob J.)

In the era of “semi charmed” living, the birth of Viagra, & heartthrob Leo, 1998 was also a time for some unique box office horror films.

For my first post, I want to really dive into the Don Mancini Chucky franchise. I have a history and (albeit irrational) fear of the twisted “Good Guy,” but dammit—I figured it wouldn’t really hurt to give Bride of Chucky a view for the first time.

To be fair, I did go into this without watching Child’s Play at all. If you, like me, are new to horror, let’s be honest—skipping it completely wouldn’t hurt. Let’s start by talking about the cast, shall we?

We’re joined once again by Brad Douriff (as notorious serial killer Charles Lee Ray—AKA Chucky), this time with a new slate of co-stars to join him.

Jennifer Tilly as Ray’s scorned ex-lover (Tiffany Valentine),

Romeo & Juliet like lovers Katharine Heigl (Jade) and Nick Stabile (Jesse),

Their best friend (and somewhat voice of reason), David (Gordon Michael Woolvett)

Chief Warren Kincaid (John Ritter), Jade’s shitty cop dad

Lieutenant Preston (Lawrence Dane)

Norton (Michael Louis Johnston), Warren’s officer rat

From L-R: David, Jesse, Jade, Warren, and Norton. (Screencap, Bride of Chucky, 1998)

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To sum the film up, Tiffany Valentine sets up an officer to bring her the ripped-to-shreds “Good Guy” so she can hold a ritual to put Ray’s soul back into the body of Chucky. From then on, the film deals with commitment issues, Tiffany ending up in the body of the “bride”, and two HS teens who run away on a road trip to New Jersey when Jesse gets paid to take the (unknowingly) possessed dolls to the gravesite of Charles Lee Ray. Moreso, shit goes south very quickly when Jesse and Jade get framed for the murder spree that the dolls commit.

------------

Now to the nitty gritty of what I loved, hated, and honorable mentions of the 1hr 29min film:

(Cont)

LOVES:

1) Balance of well-timed comedic one-liners, masochism, and satisfying kills

Let’s face it—every shitty character that a film makes you hate from the get-go eventually gets what’s coming to them.

—The karma-filled death of Officer Warren. Whilst Jesse and Jade believe that Warren is not home, they pack for their little road trip. Warren shows up to plant drugs into the van, which makes Tiffany and Chucky take matters into their evil little doll hands so that their plans don’t get derailed. Tiffany lures Warren to the front of the vehicle, only for him to be met with a face full of nails ejected from opening the booby-trapped glove box.

(Screencap, Bride of Chucky, 1998) (If you’re curious, you can view the scene HERE) 

Talk about getting NAILED, but not in the fun way HAHA

-----------

My most favorite thing about the film BY FAR? The comedic and perfectly timed one-liners.

 —On the theme of masochism, after Jesse and Jade elope at one of those cheesy quick marriage chapels, they spend the night in the honeymoon suite. They meet a swinging and swindling couple who steal the $500 Tiffany left for Jesse to make the trip. Tiffany and Chucky catch the woman and sneak away to get their revenge after Jesse and Jade fall asleep. The swingers die (in a very cool, albeit horrible, way) when Tiffany throws a bottle of champagne into the voyeurism mirror above the bed, leaving the swingers a shredded bloody mess amidst pieces of now-shredded waterbed. [Pt. 1, you can view HERE.)

 Valentine’s brilliance gets Chucky…“going” (look, I feel weird even typing that), and they decide to act out what every kid does with dolls when their parents aren’t looking. In the middle, Tiffany asks Chucky, “Do you have a rubber”? To which Chucky replies that he’s made of rubber.  (Okay, view at own risk of ruining your childhood HERE.)

-----------------

2) Story & timeline recap and consistency

Like I mentioned in the beginning of this review, you really don’t need to watch “Child’s Play” to get the gist of this film whatsoever.

—When we’re introduced to Tiffany’s trailer home, the camera takes a brilliant panoramic stroll across a shelf of newspaper clippings that she had kept. These clippings detail the date when Charles Lee Ray (Chucky) was caught & killed, as well as the snippets of Andy telling the police that the “Good Guy” doll was responsible for the murders all the way in 1988’s first installment.

The Heart of Damballa” AKA the Amulet

—When Chucky gets back at Tiffany for keeping his doll form locked up in a wooden play-pen, he eventually escapes, electrocutes Tiff in the bathtub, and transfers her body into the bride doll that she got to give Chucky as a sick joke (will explain later on). When they’re both stuck in their new bodies, Chucky explains (as the film shows), that when Charles died, he had the amulet around his neck that transferred his soul (as seen in Child’s Play)—hence the road trip to get it so they can do the same with living potential vessels, Jesse and Jade. 

[The Heart of Damballa, buried with Charles Lee Ray. (Screencap, Bride of Chucky, 1998)]

-------------

DISLIKES:

1) The extremely hot/cold cat-and-mouse game between Chucky and Tiffany throughout

This all stems from Tiffany finds a ring that she believed Charles had left for her after he’d been caught and gunned down. Chucky shortly informs her that she was “fuckin’ nuts” for thinking that he’d commit (hence Tiff getting set off and locking him in the pen). Sure, a couple argues here and then. But in this case, when the audience (I) think(s) that there’s a breather, they continue to pile on. I get that they’re laying out the character dynamic, but it’s a bit much. They have heartwarming moments (considering the fact that they’re serial killers), but as soon as you blink, they want to kill one another.

[Tiffany taunting Chucky after locking him in with his “bride.” (Screencap, Bride of Chucky, 1998)]

------------

 2) THE ENDING—okay, well, specifically one piece to the finale of the film

As the police hunt for Jesse and Jade, Lt. Preston finds them at the dug-up gravesite of Charles Lee Ray. Preston then sees the evil and very much alive doll. Preston tells Jesse and Jade that the police won’t believe what’s clearly unfolding. He then gets a call and simply says (I’m paraphrasing) “Well, Jesse and Jade, they didn’t do it.”

—Honestly, it came across as anticlimactic. I would have liked to see them get further framed, because, at that point, I couldn’t stand the couple anymore. That’s just me being a cynic.

(Screencap, Bride of Chucky, 1998) [Preston taking a phonecall]

-----------

HONORABLE MENTION:

The soundtrack!!! As much as I love films, the first things that stand out to me about any movie are the score and licensed music that go along with them.

If you’re not familiar with the artists, the groovy/rocking/brooding musical picks fit so incredibly well with their placements within Bride of Chucky and oh so perfectly encapsulates a true throwback ‘90s film.

From SLAYER and Judas Priest to White Zombie, Blondie, etc., this album fully kicks ass and makes you feel much more immersed into the movie.

(Credit: Genius.com)

-------------------------------------------

All in all, the humor aforementioned in #1 saves the minor annoyances in this film for me. If you’re terrified of the dolls (like I was), this is the perfect “ice breaker” to start out with.

Rating:  🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪 (4 out of 10 Stabs)

Anyone still want Tiffany’s meatball recipe?? 

(Screencap, Bride of Chucky, 1998)

#horror #horror review #horror movies #horror film #horror films #chucky #chucky doll #films #film review #first post #tiffany valentine #don mancini #emo #goth #movies #movie #recap #90s icons #90s music #90's horror #90's aesthetic #90s #90s nostalgia #vintage 90s #movie musings #musings #horror business #horror babe #spooky #horror genre

[doofbox-hero]

Long Snippet from A Possibly Abandoned WIP

My first fic I was planning on writing and posting was a cooking competition similar to the The Great British Bake Off with inspiration from a few other shows as well. It was full of OCs and I had big plans but it has since fallen far into the back seat. I like sharing snippets a lot so here is a long snippet though the last paragraph is more notes for me lol. |----| CW Food (Of course) In the lobby of the Black Spire Hotel a very tired looking Remus sits with a cellphone in hand staring at the screen with eyebrows knitted close together in both concentration and slight frustration. The frustration comes from getting far too many messages from friends, family, and people he barely considers acquaintances linking the same promo video he has been avoiding for the past few days since the official Ultimate Kitchen Witch website made it public.

While he is happy the promotion for the show has been an obvious success he absolutely hates seeing any media with his face in it at any point in time. The attention is anxiety inducing in a way that feels almost constricting and leaves him confused on how he of all people ended up here.

But the longer he sits staring at the link the more curious he is what clips they used and which of the other contestants have been featured in the promo. Sirius of course and probably Ignotus if they’re using Sirius. He taps his foot nervously as he presses the link and waits for the video to load.

The video opens with the famous Ultimate Kitchen Witch logo transitioning into existence with some white sparkles against a black background as soft violins begin to play a tune that could only be described as jaunty. This fades from top to bottom to reveal “Mad-Eye” Moody and Nymphadora Tonks standing by a tree in a beautiful field looking wistfully out towards a tent set up in the middle of the space.

“It’s almost time you know.” Moody says with a soft smile as he gives the woman next to him a quick glance.

“Time for what?” Tonks asks with a slight crook in her neck, eyes still trained on the tent.

As he turns towards Tonk his face drops losing any amusement it once held as he raises a hand to punctuate his words as he speaks. “Tonk, did you really just ask that?” She turns towards him looking confused and shrugs her shoulders.

“Yeah I guess, I did.”

“It’s less than two weeks before the Ultimate Kitchen Witch begins, a show that you and I are hosting, and you’re really just asking, ‘time for what?’”

“Hold on. Hold on. What’s happening in less than two weeks? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Moody’s eye seems to almost pop out of his head as he looks at Tonk in utter shock and then shifts to angrily glaring at her in an almost comedic way. “Tonks, you agreed to co-host the show with me. Do you even know what the Ultimate Kitchen Witch is?”

“No I don’t think I do.” Tonk says as she rubs a hand against her forehead feigning an almost obvious fake embarrassment. The man looking down at her rolls his eyes and lets out a sigh before patting her back and gently turning her towards the tent again.

“Come on. Let me run you through the basics.” With a fade from left to right the two are now walking inside of the large tent down the middle of two rows of small, wooden workstations equipped with some basic cooking utensils in polka dotted holders and a cooktop on one end. Moody and Tonks turn to step behind one of the workstations and stop once they’re both standing in a spot where they can both comfortably rest their elbows on the countertop and rest their heads in their hands looking at the camera now zooming in on their faces.

“So what is the Ultimate Kitchen Witch, Moody? Is it magical?” She asks looking his way without turning her head.

“I would say very magical, but not in the wands and shape shifting ways you’re probably thinking.” As he continues on clips from past seasons show in a montage of many memorable moments. “The Ultimate Kitchen Witch is a competitive cooking show where we put 12 up and coming chefs to the test to show us the magic they can do in the kitchen. Each week they are given a different theme and a catch they must keep in mind as they prepare for the three challenges.”

All of a sudden it cuts to Tonk and Moody by a river side and she is reeling in a big, fake carp with a neon pink fishing rod. Tonks looks up at him with an inquisitive look on her face as she asks. “What’s the catch?” He rolls his eyes at her and lightly knocks the rod out of her hand with a displeased look on his face but she just shrugs.

Remus quietly laughs and shakes his head a little at the antics which have always been pretty slapstick on the show but he had a feeling it was only going to get worse with Tonks involved.

The video cuts back to the tent where Moody is leaning against the front of a workstation now mixing what seems to be cookie dough in a bowl while Tonks watches with wide eyes following the spoon. “The catch is mostly what it sounds like. Our chefs must make dishes that fit the theme as best as possible while keeping whatever factor has been chosen in mind as the catch. My favorite example from the past was the week the theme was cookies but chefs had to make everything gluten free. Themes can vary from an ingredient, to an aesthetic, or honestly some of the most random bull I’ve ever heard.”

“So what are these challenges you spoke of earlier?” As she asks she reaches her hand slowly towards the bowl which Moody catches and taps her hand with the spoon causing her to stop. He shakes his head as he goes back to mixing the dough and before he goes on he notices Tonks lick the back of her hand then looks back to the camera with an eye roll.

“There are three challenges. The first challenge is called ‘The Personal Charm Dish’ and it gives the chefs a chance to work on recipes that really show the judges who they are as a person and chef. Winner of this challenge is usually based on who best executed the concept within the theme while still making a spellbound dish. The second challenge is the Zippy Skill Exercise which is where the competitors are given a surprise recipe missing some key details they have to use their experience and knowledge to successfully complete in a very short amount of time.

Of course the winner of this round is mostly based on whoever can actually make the damn recipe correctly but on a rare occasion someone wows the judges with something less accurate yet spectacular. Now the third and final challenge…”

When he looks over at Tonk she’s now eating chocolate chips out of a bag while nodding along in a way that makes it seem she’s only half listening. He grabs the bag out of her hands and dumps half of the chocolate chips in his bowl before putting the bag down on the counter on the opposite side of where she is standing. As he continues to stir he side-eyes her with his non-eye-patched eye and purses his lips before asking. “Were you even listening to a word I just said?”

Tonks rolls her eyes and reaches behind him to grab the bag of chocolate chips. “Yes. Yes I was. Personal Charm Dish, Zippy Skill Challenge, and the third and final challenge is?”

With a face devoid of amusement he turns his eyes back to the camera and continues. “The Truly Magical Challenge. This is where chefs have to show the judges something that ‘makes them believe in magic.’” While he says the end of the sentence a sparkle effect floats in from the left side of the screen to the right passing over his head. “The winner is based on who does the best job of amazing all of the judges with something special. Over the course of 10 weeks the judges take into consideration things like amount of wins, consistency in performance, a real wow factor, and growth over the competition in order to pick an Ultimate Kitchen Witch.”

Now the video cuts to the two looking into an open oven as Moody slides a tray of cookie dough balls in. “But Moody who are the judges?” She turns her head to look at him as she asks and he gives her a glance before looking back at the camera with a cheeky smile.

Another montage of clips play including a very no nonsense Rowena Ravenclaw cutting up an onion while she tells someone off camera why they need to immediately leave her kitchen, Helga Hufflepuff precariously carrying a tray full of dozens of different cookies looking wide eyed and scared of the possible tumble, Godric Gryffindor laughing and handling a large blow torch in way that seems very unsafe, Salazar Slytherin just looking into the camera with a pointed unpleasant look before he grabs a plate from the table in front of him and throws it across the room against a wall, and then varying black silhouettes against a pastel blue background as the words ‘Surprise Guest Judges Announced Every Monday’ roll in front of the figures.

Once the video cuts back to Moody and Tonks she is softly bouncing with a cookie in hand while he just admires the tray holding the rest. “This is so great, I’m gonna get so fat on amazing food and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop me.” The two laugh a little before a look of realization appears on her and holds up a finger to single she has something to add. “What do the chefs get if they win?”

(Moody explains[I still need to figure that out] and then prompts a montage of the contestants this season. Each one has a few clips from various sources shown before they play a short clip of them against a pastel blue background with words with their name and occupation displayed beside them. Remus is annoyed with the clips they used for him, shocked by the clips of Sirius they used, and clicks off after a few more including Sable, Edmund, Ignotus, and Hudson).

[smabrothers]

11 Reasons Why You Should Update Your Site this Year

DO YOU LOVE YOUR WEBSITE?

If the answer is no or not really, you shouldn’t even continue reading this article. Just go visit our shop, choose a design that you like and start building a website that you’ll be proud to share online, and invite prospects to browse through. A site that will effectively promote your work and help you book more clients. Otherwise, what’s the point in keeping this powerful marketing tool, investing time and effort into it, if it doesn’t help your business grow and flourish?

It’s not enough to JUST have a website. It needs to look good, it needs to present information in a clear, accessible way. It needs to create a strong first impression and make your prospects feel like they’ve found THE ONE. Otherwise, you’re competing for the attention of the same audience alongside another few hundred businesses. And let’s agree, that’s an exhausting game.

If you’re not sure whether your current website does a good job, here are 11 aspects you can look into to decide whether it’s time for a revamp (listed in no particular order). Know that our Biggest Sale of the year is coming soon. If you want to grab a higher discount code this Black Friday, join our Facebook Community group. That’s where all the secret deals will be shared! 

1. It’s Not Memorable and Doesn’t Stand Out

What was cool 3 years ago, may not be this year. Maybe you were one of the early adopters of a new design style or aesthetic, but that was 2-4 years ago. Look around, everyone has similar website designs, especially if they use them ready out of the box. That’s why we created Flexthemes and Flexblock – to empower you with more design freedom. Create your blocks and page layouts. Make your website look and feel like YOU. It’s all simple and intuitive. No code skills are required. 

 And, you can personalize your mobile site version too, if you want.  

2. It Doesn’t Reflect Your Brand

This one should be straightforward. Your website promotes your business online 24/7. If you’ve rebranded recently, if your photography style changed and evolved, if you’re offering new products and services to your customers – your website should reflect and advocate that change. Otherwise, you’re attracting the wrong type of clients, those who are after your old type of work. This brings us to reason #3.

3. You’re Not Attracting the Right Clients

We explain this in more depth in How Design Affects Your Business Growth article, but the point is – if you are not getting inquiries from the type of clients you want to work with, you are not positioning yourself correctly on the market. One golden rule is to carefully curate your work. Check the content and galleries you show on your website, remove the type of work you don’t want to do in the future (i.e. family, portrait, editorial, etc). Carefully select your BEST, fresh images (the type of projects you want to do more of) and include them on your homepage. This will immediately filter out some of the inquiries which are not a good fit for you. Make sure all your content is consistent, including colors, fonts, icons. An example of consistency in a website would be this.

4. Outdated Theme & Technologies

This one affects your visitors’ experience on your website. “Old school is cool” does not apply when it comes to functionality. The digital world is constantly changing and evolving. Web standards shift each year, dictating new tools and technologies for building a good website. Your clients’ preferences and tastes shift even faster. What was trendy yesterday, may not be next week. Hence, if you want your business to succeed, you need to be agile with your visual presentation and website design.

 If you’ve built your website over 3 years ago, most likely it’s far behind in terms of looks and functionality. It probably has outdated code that can slow down its loading speed or the way it responds on different devices. It may also not be compatible with some of the latest popular browsers. Take our example, 3,5 years ago we launched our first Classic themes with the drag and drop page builder, a year and a half ago we released FlexBlock, and in November 2019 the world greeted the first Flexthemes. 

 The difference between our old, classic themes and the Flexthemes is huge (we explain it here). Building a custom-looking website with our new themes is a whole lot easier. You don’t need to know code, you don’t need to add CSS snippets or hire a technical team. The new visual editor is so simple, your grandma could probably do it (yet please don’t make her do your tasks). 

The bottom line here, if it’s been a while since you’ve built your site, start looking for website design inspiration and a more modern template to use as a base.

5. Mobile Friendly

I sure hope this is not the case, but if you still don’t have a mobile-friendly website – get a new theme NOW! Even if you do have a responsive or adaptive design, you still need to keep up with the latest trends. Newer themes include modern CSS code which allows your site to adapt nicely to any device. They also allow you to hide certain page blocks for mobile and ensure a faster and smoother user experience. Also, you must know that Google cares about the experience you offer to your mobile guests, since over 50% of website traffic comes from portable devices. 

Offering more control to our clients over the design and functionality of their mobile websites has always been an important goal on our list. With Flexthemes, the steering wheel is in your hands. You have access to the mobile view of your website sections, can easily make adjustments, hide or show certain areas of your site to ensure a truly wonderful and unique browsing experience for your mobile guests. 

If you’re not sure how many of your prospects access your website via their phone, if you’re wondering whether it makes sense for you to customize your mobile site – check your site’s stats. You can do that via your Google Analytics account if you have one connected to your website. 

Mobile is important and it won’t go away in the next years. Don’t leave money on the table with a poorly performing mobile site, it’s one of those crucial business aspects that you can’t ignore anymore.

6. Your Website Loads Slow

Aim for a loading time under 4 seconds. If you’re not sure how quickly your site loads, use tools like Pingdom or GTmetrix to check how long it takes for your site to load, and which files are the troublemakers. Poor results could mean you have some work to do. Slow loading speed could be caused by several reasons: heavy, unoptimized images, underpowered hosting and, even an old, poorly performing theme.

The first one can be easily solved by following this Ultimate Guide to Saving Your Images for the Web. For the second one, check out this article describing 5 key criteria to choosing a good hosting provider. Yet, if the issue is caused by an old, outdated website template, you can start shopping for a new one.

 View Flothemes website templates here.

7. Your Bounce Rate is High

This is extremely important. If you’ve been pouring your heart and time into blogging, SEO and marketing, bringing a lot of traffic to your website – yet the second they access your homepage (or any other page), they bounce right off of it – you have a problem. You’re losing leads and potential clients.

A high bounce rate indicates that you’re doing something wrong, either with content, with the navigation of your website, or the overall look and feel on your site. On average, a bounce rate between 40-60% is considered to be OK (this varies depending on your industry).

You can check your bounce rate via Google Analytics. Log in and go to Acquisition >> Overview tab. If it’s higher than 70%, follow these 9 Steps to reducing your Bounce Rate. If it doesn’t help, it’s time for a website redesign, and we do suggest seeking some expert advice in UX and UI.

In case you want to dive deeper into Measuring Performance and Tracking Success for your site, download our SEO guide here.

8. Security

To be honest, new or old, any website can be hacked. The experience is stressful and painful, especially when you lose information, or/and have to rebuild everything from scratch. However, older websites rely on older technology, therefore chances of a security breach are higher. Make sure your theme is updated and follow these 12 steps to make your site more secure.

9. SEO

Let’s start with the basics. Do you have a blog? You should, as it’s a powerful marketing tool to drive more traffic and users to your website, through keywords, internal links and, backlinks.

You also need to know that search engines love good, updated content. Every time you make an update to your site, Google and other search engines crawl and index your pages, thus your site ranking gets recalculated. If you keep your content updated and of GOOD QUALITY, you increase your chances of getting noticed on Search Result pages. Pair that with a charming, good-looking website, and you’re guaranteed more attention.

If SEO is something that you’ve been planning to dive deeper into, check out our SEO guide for photographers. Also, take a look at this incredible post by Dylan M Howell on Content Strategy and How to Blog like and Expert. 

10. Do I need Call to Action?

Of course, you do. And it’s not just a button or link added here and there. It has to be placed strategically, to keep your users engaged with your website and browsing through more content. We explain How Call to Actions work in Design in this article, but the idea is to guide your site visitors through your content to your Best Work, then to your contact form or sales page. If your current website is limited in CTAs (Call to Actions) and doesn’t allow much customization – it’s time to get something more flexible and powerful. With Flexthemes for example, you can easily create new page layouts to support your sales campaigns and convert more users into prospects. They allow you to fully customize any layout, add buttons, images, videos, texts, and other design elements. 

Never leave your site visitors wondering what they should do next. If it’s not subtle and intuitive, they’ll leave and never return. And that’s sadly a lost business opportunity.

11. All those Cool Apps & Integrations

An old outdated website template may not keep up with all the new apps, plugins, and integrations available out there. So, if you want to integrate your favorite Studio Management System, Photo Editing app or, any other useful tools that simplify your workflow – be prepared to update your website on a regular 1-2 year basis, and use the most modern, up to date templates for that. 

#integration #search engine optimization #yourwebsitematters #smabrothers #ProTips

[writingquestionsanswered]

Do you have any tips for getting my writing out there and noticed on tumblr?

Guide: Getting Your Writing Noticed on Tumblr

It can be really, really difficult to get your writing noticed on tumblr, especially if you’re just posting stories and hoping they get noticed. 

If you want to get your stories noticed on tumblr, the best thing you can do first is build yourself a little platform. You may want to start a side tumblr for this if you don’t want to dedicate your current tumblr to this new endeavor. Here are some quick steps to follow:

1. Decide on a Main Theme

The key to building followers is figuring out the best hook to catch the readers you’d like to have. If you want to attract writers who are readers, you probably want a blog themed toward books/reading and/or writing. If you want to attract people who like science fiction, because that’s what you write, you probably want a sci-fi theme. Choosing a theme doesn’t mean you can only post things relate to that theme, but the majority of your posts should stick with the theme.

2. Decide on a Blog Name

Choose a blog name that’s related to your theme. If you choose reading and writing as your theme, for example, you might consider a name that reflects books, writing, and/or your WIP or genre. For example, “The Dragon’s Pen” or “Reading and Writing in Space.”

3. Figure Out Content

Try to choose three or four main post types outside of your eventual writing. For example, for a blog dedicated to reading and writing, you might choose to post bookish pictures, book reviews, writing tips, and re-blogged writing resources. Or, if you’re doing a sci-fi blog because that’s your genre, you might choose to post sci-fi inspiration pictures, sci-fi book reviews, and original posts about science fiction. Again, focusing on these types of posts doesn’t mean you can’t post anything else, it’s just that the majority of your posts would be one of those post types.

4. Choose an Aesthetic

For any original posts that you create, whether that’s tip/resource posts, book reviews, genre posts, etc., it’s a good idea to decide on a consistent look for these posts. Do you use the title area or create your own? Do you use a header graphic for your post, or maybe one as a footer? If you use graphics, try to create something unified that you can alter depending on the post type. Ideally, you want someone to see one of your posts in their feed and immediately know it’s one of your posts.

5. Choose a Posting Schedule

Consistency is surprisingly helpful when it comes to building a blog following. If your posts go up at the same general time of day, you have a better chance of the same people seeing your posts over and over again, and if they reblog them, the same people who follow them will see them and hopefully follow, too. If you do more than one post a day, you might want to spread them out to different times, like one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. You can actually schedule posts to go up whenever you want to, even reblogs. (Just click on the down arrow next to the reblog button.) My one word of caution is to make sure you don’t over post. Nothing turns people off of a blog or social media site faster than serial posters. Limit yourself to no more than two or three posts at a time, no more than a few times per day.

6. Follow the Right Blogs

Make sure to follow a bunch of blogs that will produce content you’ll want to reblog as well as similar blogs that might be more likely to follow back. The more blogs you follow, the more content you’ll have to choose from and the more people will follow you and reblog from you, which results in a broader overall reach.

7. Interact with People

One of the most important things you can do to build up a loyal following is make sure you’re interacting with people. After you’ve got a handful of followers, try to make a post every day that briefly talks about something and then asks a related question. For example, maybe you bought a coffee maker to fuel your writing questions, so you can talk about that and then ask people what snacks or beverages fuel their own writing sessions.

Also, when blogs you follow ask questions like that, make sure you reply. This fosters a feeling of kinship so when those people see your posts, they’ll think “I know that person!” and will be more likely to interact/like/reblog. If any blog you follow makes a particular great original post that’s relevant to your blog, go ahead and reblog it. You might even try creating a tag, where you do something like post a line out of your WIP before and after you edit it, then tag some of your favorite writer followers and have them do the same.

Oh! And look for things within the community (tags, challenges, games, follow loops, etc.) that might give you an opportunity to find new blogs and followers.

8. Build Up a Buzz

After you have a bit of a following and are starting to feel a bit of a sense of community surrounding your blog, you can start building up a buzz about sharing your writing. You might start by talking about what it is you’re going to share and the fact that you plan to share it soon. If it’s fiction, you might post an aesthetic or two, maybe some inspiration photos, or even character profiles. If it’s poetry, you might just post an inspiration photo along with the title or a little snippet. Then, choose a date for when you’re going to share it (or the first part of it if you’re sharing it in chapters.) Create a graphic with that “launch” date and post that. Then, the day before, make a post about how excited you are to finally share your story or poem or whatever it is.

9. Post Your Writing

On the chosen day, go ahead and post the poem, short story, or first chapter. If you’re posting a story in parts or chapters, don’t post more than one per day. During this time, you might want to limit your other types of posts a little bit, or at least the text-based ones. This way, the writing posts will stick out the most during that time. Then, when you’re finished sharing, you can take a little break and go back to your regular content. Or, if you prefer, you might choose another site for actually posting your writing, like perhaps ff.net (if it’s fan-fiction), Wattpad, or even another blogging platform dedicated only to posting writing. Whatever works for you! Then, on the appointed day, you’ll just post a link to it rather than the actual writing, but in that case I would probably make sure to post a pretty graphic (matching your chosen aesthetic) to go with it.

10. Did I Mention: Be Patient?

I know I did, but I’m saying it again because it’s sooooo important. It takes a long, long time to build up followers. Like a really long time. It took me months to build up my first few hundred people here at WQA 2.0, and I was building off an existing platform. You’re going to feel like you’re shouting into a wind tunnel for a while, and it’s going to be super frustrating when you log on day after day to find that no one has liked or reblogged your posts, but stick with it. Do it every single day and eventually you’ll get traction.Finally, BONUS! (Because I just thought of this and it doesn’t fit anywhere else... and now my numbering is weird...)11. Know Your Tags

This is a BIG one... make sure you decide on your own posting tags ahead of time so that you can keep all of your like posts together. It also makes it easier for people to find the content that interests them the most.

Likewise, make sure you know the popular tags in your community. If you’re doing a sci-fi blog, what are the popular sci-fi tags? What are the popular tags for sci-fi writers? What about sci-fi readers? Make sure you know, use, and follow those tags! :)

I hope this helps you attract readers to your blog!

#writing #writing tips #writing help #writing advice #wqaadvice #wqaguide