#writerly ramblings

[setaripendragon]

Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

[From this ask meme]

Oh! Um... You know? I can't think of one? I... don't tend to resist when a new idea strikes me? ^^" Even if I haven't published it, I've at least started writing it.

There are... less tropes, and more techniques I want to try that I haven't found the right idea for. I really want to play with flashbacks, and how to work them into narration in a way that flows? I want to practise working symmetry into my longer stories.

But tropes... Like, the closest I can think of is Body Sharing, but specifically how the characters would deal with romantic relationships that they don't share while body-sharing (complex and weird polycules are my jam), but... I've written (started writing), uh... three fics with that premise, it's just I didn't get as far as I'd like into them before I got distracted? So I didn't get to the really juicy bits of interpersonal shenanigans I had planned ^^"

-

Oh, um... I'm sure there must be? XD Uh... infidelity plots? I really don't like writing that at all. Um...

Oh! Blame the Bastard! I hatehatehate that trope. Haaaaaaate it. I'm pretty sure I'm never going to write it, not unless I plan to subvert it. Not even if the Jealous Wife is the obvious villain. I hate that this is even a trope, tbh, that it's prevalent enough in our stories, and realistic enough to human nature to be that prevalent. Blame the person who did something wrong, ffs. Argh!

#ask meme response #good questions #very difficult to answer for me XD #on my writing #writerly ramblings #tropes

[chthonion]

Hey, where's the next chapter of the Harrowing?

So, shoutout to readers of the Harrowing for not complaining about the delay on chapter 29 (and in many cases for instead notifying me that rereads are in progress, which is one of the most motivating things I can hear). You are all being SO PATIENT and I appreciate every single one of you!

Basically, I had to shred three chapters and rebuild them all together, so it's been slow going. The next chapter will probably also be delayed further by life stuff that is happening this week.

But soon! Very soon! Probably next week, and although this won't be the one with the Maedhros/Fingon reunion...the one after this, which does have the Maedhros/Fingon reunion, should not take nearly this long because I've already rewritten it.

...and it is, in my completely unbiased opinion, much more awesome now.

#the harrowing #my fic #writerly rambles

[fictionadventurer]

Beloved 📚

Here is a stack of books that were so beloved that I made a special point to buy my own copy. I've left out some of the obvious series--Narnia, the Fairy Tale Novels, and Anne of Green Gables--on the grounds that the first two have shown up in a bunch of stacks already, and I don't particularly love the copies I have of the Anne books. There are complicated shades of nuance behind choosing books for the stack--there are several very beloved books that were easy to find, so buying them didn't have quite the same treasure hunt feeling, while some slightly-less-beloved books made the stack because their acquisition was more purposeful or felt more exciting. Because of that, I'm going to give a little info for why I chose each book.

Books In the Stack:

The Electrical Menagerie by Mollie E. Reeder: I read the ebook and loved it so much that I made a point of ordering print copies for myself and a friend.

Baby by Patricia MacLachlan: I read it so many times in middle school (because it's short and it's about a baby) that I had to buy a copy when I found it at the thrift store, even though it's nothing particularly amazing.

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers: My favorite of the Wimsey books I read from the library, so I made sure to order a print copy of my own.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff: When I finished this book, I wanted nothing more than to buy my own copy at a used book store. The next time I went to one, I happened to find it.

Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke: Such a fun little graphic novel that, when the opportunity arose to get a signed copy, I jumped at it.

Tales from the Blackberry Bushes by @isfjmel-phleg : I love these stories so much that I hand-bound my own copy so I can have it on my shelves forever

Entwined by Heather Dixon: One of my favorite retellings, so I ordered myself a copy as a Christmas present one year

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne: I had so much fun listening to the audiobook that I bought the very first copy I found at a library book sale.

Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton: I read it on Gutenberg, and it's so important to my worldview that I bought my own copy from the religious book store.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery: This is just such a cute little book that I couldn't resist buying a falling-apart copy from a garage sale, and later buying a replacement copy in better condition from a thrift store. It's not quite beloved, but for some reason I'm very fond of it.

Matched by Allie Condie: The library book left my head spinning with concepts of free will. When I got a Barnes and Noble gift card, I bought my own copy. The story is rough, but the concepts of the world only get more relevant as time goes on.

A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis: Such a heartwrenching look at grief. When I happened to find a nice used copy, I couldn't leave it behind.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: After I read the series, I bought ragged copies of my own from garage sales. They're far from difficult to find, but at the time, getting my own copies was exciting.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery: It became one of my favorite romances, so I ordered my own copy online. Then I bought a replacement copy when I happened to find a much better edition last summer.

Persuasion by Jane Austen: Of course I have print copies of all Austen's novels, but the others are mostly just the copies I happened to find. With this book, I saw the Word Cloud Classics edition in a Youtube video and knew I needed that specific edition, so I ordered it online. I haven't regretted it--it's a pleasantly-designed book.

World Series by John R. Tunis: The Dodgers books are some of the only books that stuck with me from my teenage years. I happened to find copies of The Kid from Tomkinsville and The Kid Comes Back, both of which are more beloved. But after my last reread of Tomkinsville, I wanted to continue the series, found my library had gotten rid of their copies, so I ordered my own copy of the second book. (And then never reread it, but that doesn't mean I don't love it).

The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander: I saw it at the religious bookstore, decided to read it from the library instead of buying, and then loved it so much I eventually went back to the same store and bought it.

#answered asks #books #writerly-ramblings

[m1ssunderstanding]

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: The Beatles (Band) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: John Lennon/Paul McCartney Characters: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Denny Laine, Ringo Starr, Linda McCartney Additional Tags: Post Beatles break-up, Wings UK Tour 1979, Fix-It, POV Alternating, Pining, Jealousy, Eventual Smut, Eventual Fluff Summary:

During the Beatle years, John left a jumper at Paul's house, and Paul kept it and started to wear it. Now, in 1979, John sees a picture in a magazine of Denny Laine wearing the jumper. HIS jumper. John decides to go meet up with Wings to get it back.

No words for my love of this fic!!! I just finished it and it needed to be shared. Everyone should read this ASAP. 

#Linda fucking Eastman you beautiful sneaky woman I love you #uggggggh #they love each other #she knows this #She's going to get shit done #i love the way Mersey writes sex. #so much love so much emotion even laughs and yet the sexiness is still so strong #I loved that it was angry and passionate and hands were pinned and wrists were clamped and the power dynamic was set up from the cigarettes #and yet it was so sweet #i love that it came back around to the sweater just from like a writerly perspective too y'know #And Paul's being like it's MINE #and how even though John didn't remember what he said he definitely felt what he said even in the first chapter when he was thinking about h #they're such sops #Everything the other does is so magnified and romanticized and over-thought #anyways enough ramblings in the tags #I'm just obsessed #I'll be rereading who knows how often #Fics where what should've happened happens #and all because of Linda and her mischievous streak

[wickedlittlewordsmith]

How does one go about building a platform for original writings?

#☩│redd speaks #writerly things #this is only partially asked earnestly #though mostly just the ramblings of a sleep-deprived writer #also platform isn't the word i'm looking for but brain is too addled to bother finding it

[raven-writes-fanfic]

I just have to share my moment of writerly triumph. Last night I had a thought of something very small that I wanted to add to my current WIP, but I was too tired to get my laptop out and add it in. I thought to myself that if it was important enough, I'd remember it in the morning. Well, folks, it's morning. AND I REMEMBERED THE THING OMFG!!!

#writerly triumph #no you don't understand #lately if I don't write something down immediately it's gone forever #long covid thing I think #so this really makes me happy today #plus it's my half-birthday so there's that #okay that's all #bye for now #Raven rambles

[olderthannetfic]

With all this talk about AI, the one perspective that appears missing from the discussion is that of someone who actually uses AI writing tools in production of their fanfic. So here I am, stepping in to provide my (anonymous) two cents.

I've been using a generative AI program especially made for creative writers for several months now. Initially, I had a lot of the same reservations I'm hearing form others, but I was curious about the tech and wanted to try it for myself. I quickly discovered that it's insanely useful, and I truly believe it has improved my writing. 

I also believe these tools will become commonplace among creative writers in the near future. In fact, I've heard that generative AI is coming to a writing software near you (MS Word to be exact), and I suspect that that once more people have actually tried it, use of AI will begin to seem no more remarkable than the use of spelling or grammar checkers does now. 

In the meantime, as you can see, I am staying anon, and there is absolutely no way I would tag my fanfic as AI assisted given the current environment. People are very quick to make assumptions about what a statement like that means, and are all too hasty in reaching for their pitchforks.

As far as I can tell, the main concern seems to be that Ao3 will be flooded with 'bad' fanfic as a result of AI use. But 'bad' fanfic has been a thing for as long as I've been in fandom (decades, at this point), and in my experience, human beings are perfectly capable of writing poorly without any help from machines. Readers are, as always, advised to curate their own reading experience. The 'back' button works the same as it always did, and someone's possible use of AI changes nothing about that. 

But the general assumption that AI input automatically leads to 'bad' writing seems rather short-sighted. Yes, obviously if someone were to go to ChatGPT and tell it to write them a fanfic in 'x' fandon about 'x' pairing, the output would be bland, generic and probably a bit rambling. AIs are not great storytellers; they can't maintain narrative logic. 

If this hypothetical person then copy-pasted the unedited output directly onto Ao3 and called it a story, the result would most likely qualify as 'bad' fanfic. Whether it would be worse than a story the same person might have written on their own is debatable. Our hypothetical protagonist obviously decided that the output was good enough as it was, and chose to post it without bothering to edit, which suggests (at least to me) that they would have similar standards about a story they'd written without an AI.

Since the above seems to be the scenario everyone has in mind when talking about "AI fic," I would like to point out that what I just described is not the only way to use AI in one's writing. My own use is more akin to using an online thesaurus; a very powerful thesaurus that can make suggestions for things like phrasings, descriptions, dialogue, and so on. The key there is that it makes suggestions. 

My AI assistant is smart enough to 'read' the scene I'm working on and tailor its suggestions to the mood, style and context of what I'm writing. But it's still my story. The AI doesn't write it for me. I'm the one who sifts through those suggestions, takes the bits that work, and shapes them into useful text. Sometimes the AI comes up with amazing things. I wasn't kidding when I said it's improved my writing - and my rewriting. It knocks me out of those mental ruts we writers tend to get into, coming up with descriptions and turns of phrase that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. 

But it's still just a tool, and at the end of the day, I'm still the writer. The words that end up on the page do so because I chose them. Those writerly choices are what make the story mine, regardless of where the words might have originated from. And whether they came from my brain or the AI, they are still subject to the same standards of rewriting, editing and proofing.

So no, I don't think I'm going to be tagging my fic with an AI disclosure statement any time soon. Not until the current moral panic dies down to the point where people don't read that and automatically assume it means 'copy-pasted from ChatGPT.' And for anyone who's curious about AI... I suggest you try it for yourself. Play around a little and find out what it's about before making judgments. I think you'll find it's a tool like any other - and just like any tool, it can be used well or it can be used badly. That's entirely in the hands of the human being using it - which is one thing that hasn't changed, and never should.

--

Yeah, I fail to see any major issue with more sucky fanfic getting posted. That's just the default for big fic archives.

The actual problem problems we're seeing are with paid markets with open submissions that get flooded beyond what staff can handle and big corporations replacing humans they already try not to pay.

The main potential issue I see with other uses of AI is that it may end up with samey suggestions, but it's hard to know how much that's 1. a thing and 2. an actual issue when writing genre stuff that often sounds samey on purpose and where that's a desirable characteristic.

[you-remind-me-of-the-babe]

I have been having ✨A Time✨ recently, both writing and personally, so my sharing today is a 🔥Hot Mess🔥 (much like my brain rn). Feel free to skip if you have no patience for my rambling.

But first, thank you for the tags today @fatalfangirl @j-nipper-95 and Wednesday @palimpsessed @artsyunderstudy @forabeatofadrum @ivelovedhimthroughworse @chen-chen-chen-again-chen

Adding just a few tags today because I don’t want to burden too many people with my word vomit @cutestkilla @captain-aralias @shrekgogurt @ebbpettier @whogaveyoupermission @aristocratic-otter @facewithoutheart @raenestee @thewholelemon @hushed-chorus 😘

On to said rambling. Really, truly. Last chance to back out from delving into Writerly Indecision Hour. You have been warned. Below the cut for length:

Ok! I have mostly been trying to get chapter 6 of Depth of Reason up and running. I know what I want the bulk of the chapter to be about, but I have been having trouble writing the start and getting them to that point. I have two separate documents going, one with 1k, the other with 2k, and both of them feel like they aren’t quite how I want to start. Why don’t I just jump into the parts I want to write and go back to do the start later, you might ask? Well, for better or worse, I usually have to write in a linear fashion and writing scenes out of order rarely work for me.

So! My plan was to start with Simon and Baz out to lunch with Penny, getting some legal advice on how best to take on the Coven. My first attempt had a some Simon/Penny banter as they walked to the restaurant, as I wanted to toggle back to their relationship, and checking in on Penny’s pregnancy. Here’s a bit:

“Are you feeling okay?”

She sighs. “Yes, just a side ache. My body has become far less efficient these days. I hate it.”

“You’re growing a human from scratch. I’d say your body has become far more efficient than it’s ever going to be in your life.”

She shakes her head.

“I don’t know how my mother did this five times. I’m barely halfway through this pregnancy and I’m already tired of getting winded going up a flight of stairs and getting heartburn any time I eat something spicy.”

“Maybe your mum just really had it bad for your dad.” I waggle my eyebrows at her.

Penny groans and laughs at that. “Please stop, you’re making it worse.”

Not bad, but I got stuck a little further down once they got to the restaurant with Baz. Basically, I wanted some tension with Penny not fully on board with how Simon has been handling things and taking it out on Baz. But then I got stuck on how I wanted said tension to go. So then I started another document getting straight into the legal advice. Here is a bit of that:

“That fact of the matter is, Baz broke the law simply by existing as an unregistered vampire,” Penny continues. “According to the Dark Creature Management Code of 2018, any individuals who did not voluntarily come forward and self register within 90 days of either their birth or their turning, depending on the type of creature, was in violation of said code and would be subject to the legal ramifications set forth under—”

“Penny,” I stop her. “We already know all of that. You don’t have to read us the whole law.”

Sigh. This bit gets tricky, too. Basically, I need to lay out what their plan of attack is and how they are going to take on The System. I need to strike a balance between giving the reader enough legal background without it being a snooze fest. (Cue Simon trying to speed her through the legalese to get to the crux of what they need to do.) I started this bit with having Penny compare the World of Mages’ judicial system to the UK at large, assuming it was much like what we have in the US. Upon further research…it is not. And my ability to understand and parse out this differences is limited. Therefore, I am going to have to take out some of these explanations and just lean heavily on my made up WOM system for this fic. Which led to this (slightly aggressive) note to myself in the middle of a scene:

DO I SHORTEN THIS WHOLE THING AS MORE OF A FLASHBACK AND GET US THROUGH THE ADVICE AND THROUGH PENNY DOING SOME SORT OF DONT FUCK THINGS UP FOR SIMON THING TO BAZ SO THAT WE CAN MOVE THE STORY TO THEM GOING TO WATFORD FOR CHARACTER WITNESSES?????

the Watford scene is what I wanted this chapter to really be about. The other stuff is just the lead in to get there. But some of it really is important.

This writing struggle is compounded by the fact that I broke my toe this week, had my car brake down, and I’m in the middle of report card and parent conference season at school. Plus dealing with all of my other obligations with family and such while limping slowly about. Anyways! If you read this far I love you and appreciate your interest in my struggle. 😅 I genuinely enjoy reading posts like this about other writer’s processes and road blocks, because it makes me feel like I’m in good company when the words don’t just flow with ease. If it feels like the muses have temporarily abandoned you, believe me, I get it! Here’s to hoping they bless us again soon. 💛

#my writing #depth of reason #carry on fanfiction

[melodraca]

Hey! I saw in one of your posts, in the tags, that you were an English major. I'm going to college soon, and I was wondering if you had any advice on picking out your major. What do you like about majoring in English, and what exactly do English majors do? Thank you!

First of all, congrats! That's really exciting! I really hope you enjoy your time in college! Second, this is gonna be a bit long, so I apologize in advance o7

I'm honestly not sure how helpful this is, but for the longest time I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I actually enrolled in university as a mature student a good 5-ish years after I graduated high school. I was so tired of school-related stress (and the way that the public school system functioned in general) that I was honestly considering not even going to post-secondary. I bounced between different potential majors, although I couldn't help but feel tired just thinking about them, like I would be going to school out of obligation or societal expectation rather than genuine passion.

When I came back around to the idea years later, I started poking around my local university's website. As I was going through, reading everything over, and clicking through different subjects, I realized that I was actually really feeling excited about school for the first time... pretty much ever. Because I realized that I had the chance to do things at my own pace, with a focus on subjects that I actually liked, rather than what my family expected would get me a traditionally "good job."

I narrowed my major down to a choice between English and creative writing, but I ultimately went with English. As much as I love creative writing, I prefer doing it as a hobby. It's the same with art for me: getting too serious with it made me feel less passionate and creative (to be fair though, I did take two first year creative writing classes as electives and I am genuinely proud of the stuff I wrote for them!)

With English, I could do my favourite thing in the world: overthinking literature and talking ad nauseam about the media I like. I love rambling, and writing essays is pretty much just organized info-dumping. I also wanted to learn more about history and culture, especially the way that they influence and are influenced by the works of literature, film, etc. of the times. In my experience so far, English classes have mostly consisted of reading or watching a bunch of texts, analyzing them & picking them apart, discussing said texts with my peers, and comparing/contextualizing them with each other. It's way more fun for me than it probably sounds to most people haha

Side note: I'm also taking biology as a minor (specifically with a focus on zoology because I love animals). The contrast between using the more creative and writerly side of my brain, and the more logical sciencey and side works well for me.

I'm still not super career focused, though I have certainly thought about it. I'm on disability support right now, so thankfully I'm fortunate enough to not need to juggle work and school. Ideally, I would love it if my degree landed me a stable job that doesn't make me feel miserable or put the same strain on me that retail and food service do. But I'm kinda just going with the flow for now.

Anyways, that's all to say: look over all of your options and narrow it down to the ones that draw your interest and passion the most. Consider what you want out of school, explore the potential career options that each subject could bring if that's your goal, and generally go with what makes you feel the best.

I know most schools have exploratory courses and academic advisors that can help you figure out what you want to do, so I would definitely look into that! Oh, and look into the required classes for each subject too! It personally helped me organize and prepare for everything I would need to do so that I was less blind-sighted by, as an example, my mandatory statistics class for my biology minor (I'm DEFINITELY not a math person)

Good luck, and I'm sorry again for how long this got! I wish you the best :D

#asks #gabeposting #it's like 2am rn so I hope this actually makes sense and isn't just me rambling #thanks for the ask btw!!

[wheels-of-despair]

I want to thank everyone who read Worth it, especially those of you who rambled in the tags or left comments. I'd love to give all of you a personal shout-out, but I'd probably make it weird, so just know that I see you and I appreciate you. That being said, I've got a few weird things to say to a few of you who are in too deep to bail on me now:

To @eddiemunsonsmum, my tumblr wife and favoritest person on this whole dang site. This is all your fault, I believe, since you're the one who encouraged me to start writing. Thanks for letting me ramble about weird 1920s things and throw random ideas at you. If we're sharing a writing mojo, you can have it back for a while. I wrapped my series a few hours ago and I miss my babies already, I can't imagine how you must be feeling about yours. 😘

To @heyndrix, my #1 cheerleader and beardifier, who badgered me relentlessly for details and spoilers and generally kept me excited to release new chapters. (Sorry I didn't make Whatshername whore-y enough for you.) I look forward to teasing the crap out of you about my next series, which may or may not ever actually materialize. 🤣

To @pollenallergie, whose enthusiasm and writerly second-opinions were invaluable. I live for your dramatic-ass commentary and excessive reaction memes. Thanks for keeping me hyped, and for taking such good care of Billy while my focus was elsewhere. I felt guilty for abandoning him until you took over. You're doing great. 🥰

To @ghosttownwherenoonegoes, who leaves the sweetest reviews on every fic she reads. On Worth It nights, I literally would not go to bed until I found out what you had to say about the new chapter. I hope this strange little story was able to bring a few moments of gentle, peaceful fluff to your otherwise stressful life. 😍

To all the blogs I blocked for being ageless, blank, or pornbots: You're probably not gonna see this, but I FUCKING WARNED YOU.

#ralph is worth it #the ralphing hours #meant to post this before i went to bed #buuut i got caught up in writing a new eddie blurb and forgot #*victoria voice* typical!

[setaripendragon]

🧭An alternative title to your/ one of your WIP(s)?

Oh, hmm...

I wish I had some funny answers for this one, but...

"Riding on Storm Winds" was almost called "Fearless Flight" but I'd already had an Icarus reference in the previous book, so I scrapped that idea.

Oh, "I Want to be Free" almost had a title from 'Hell's Coming With Me' by Poor Man's Poison. "It is Well with My Soul" maybe, or "You Hear Me Ring that Bell". (Still considering those for if I ever write enough to throw it up on Ao3, tbh, but I also have ideas for a pantheon!AU that those might work for... -shrugs-)

...One of my scraps for my GoT Self-Insert is called "The Lion, the Wolf, and the Transmigrator" (I am probably not going to call it that if I ever write enough to publish it, but I thought it was funny at the time.)

Ah! There's one that actually feels like a genuine Alternate Title! "404 Battalion Not Found" is also called "The Lost Legion" in some of my notes.

#writerly ramblings #titles are hard #a lot of my WIPs have 'placeholder' titles #but that's not quite the same as an 'alternate' title #mainly because they don't HAVE any other #because I haven't come up with even ONE proper title for them

[chthonion]

Writing is hard

Some days you manage to pull together an intense and meaningful emotional moment that has been 200k words in the making.

And then other days you're sitting there going "How do I make this scene stop happening?"

#the harrowing #am I adding another chapter? #I don't know! #We'll find out together! #Annatar's not having a good day though! #writerly rambles

[missamyshay]

what gravitated you towards peter & mj, what is about their relationship and characters that make you want to write them so often?

also i literally love everything that you write i didn’t think it was possible to love everything someone posts but here we are 🤭

Oooooo Anon, you have made The Ultimate Mistake of asking me The Perfect Question. I hope you have time on your hands…

Let’s start with Peter.

This might seem like a detour (I promise it isn’t), but I grew up watching Dr Who (if you’ve never seen/heard of it a quick Google search would be fun—it’s a very weird, very English show). And a lot of the same things I love about The Doctor are the same things I love about Peter Parker. There’s something so captivating about following the journey of this person who is at once both an invaluable hero and an absolute menace to society lol. A person who creates half of the problems that they solve and who is completely unhinged and often reckless but is also the one person you’d want around in a dire situation. A person who has probably seen a little too much, lived through a little too much, and still somehow has the ability to possess all the whimsy of a child and such a lust for life. A person who is so deliciously flawed. I love the undercurrent of grief that sets the foundation for what these characters choose to do with their lives, but also the abounding message that There Is Always Hope.

Although I have my issues with Far From Home as a story, it contains, in my opinion, one of the best Spider-Man moments across all the movies: in which he gets hit by a high speed train, wakes up in the middle of nowhere…and just fucking walks it off 🤣 That’s peak main character energy and such a great example of what makes him so freakin’ annoying (awesome).

And now, to the beloved MJ Watson.

MJ, in my humble opinion, is canonically Built Different. Being beside Peter Parker is simultaneously the safest place and the most dangerous place to be all at once. It’s both the most fun and most frustrating place to be. And MJ navigates that with such finesse. She’s her own person who forges her own path (many different ones) and doesn’t let Peter consume or dwarf her. She has a complex and intricate life of her own, and yet is still able to find enough space in her heart to love, unconditionally, this guy who is not just one person but two people in one. I think she’s one of the few people who understand the entirety of what it means to be Peter Parker, and that’s a really big thing.

I think there’s a reason why writers—both in the comics and in fan fiction—can’t seem to keep them apart. As evidenced by their history across the comics—the inevitable tragedy of them, the loss, the suffering, the reconciliation, the passion—they’re two characters who are destined to orbit each other forever.

As for why I write them—

It’s something I only really started doing in the last couple of years. I’m definitely not a veteran here lol. For a long time I was just a reader, mainly because I didn’t think I had the capacity to take on these characters and stories that are so well loved—especially when there are so many other people who do it so much better than I ever could. I read some of the comics growing up (but have to admit that I was more interested in the art than the plots at the time), and like many readers rediscovered my love of the characters through their few iterations on film. These films, and many of the fics I’ve read over the years, have led me back to the comics I grew up with and perhaps didn’t appreciate as well as I should have. So, in short (but actually quite long), me writing them is me showing appreciation for them. For the complexities of the characters as they were created, BUT also the possibilities of seeing them in new lights informed by my own experiences and writerly whims.

I’m sure this is a hell of a lot more than you bargained for, dear Anon, but if you made it to the end of this near-nonsensical ramble, then thank you very much for your time lol.

And thank you, so much, for reading my work, and loving my work. You have no idea how much it means to me. 🫶🏾

#as previously stated #sorry for being intense about everything #but also #it has happened again #peter parker #mj watson #spideychelle #amy words

[avelera]

My dreamling fic writer flaw is that I'm always gonna have Hob be going by his original name of Robert Gadling in the current lifetime I'm writing, no matter how unrealistic it would be.

(My ADHD-brain felt the need to over-explain this beneath the cut, but the point above stands!)

It does not matter to me if he used it in the previous lifetime or in the previous story I wrote.

Realistically, actually, enough people have the same name and Robert Gadling is common enough that I honestly believe he could just move to another town and get away with it, people really don't notice similar names or assume this person who looks like a younger version of the person they knew is the same person. That's a logical fallacy made up in our monkey brains from the fact we're at the center of our own lives, everyone knows us in them, and our monkey brains can really only conceive of 400 people in our immediate community and everyone beyond that is mostly "other", hence why people have statistically bonkers beliefs about their likelihood of winning the lottery and stuff y'all, 1/1,000,000 is so inconceivably vast but our brains can really only handle the idea of 1/400 other people being out there ANYWAY.

... But regardless, I just do not have the creativity or rather the creative interest in coming up with another "Robert Gadling"-sounding name likely Bob Gadler or whatever, except in passing as something he once used in the past and EVEN THEN I feel dumb trying to come up with new variations .

More to the point, from a Doylist perspective, all the audience has on the page is the character's name and pronouns to visualize them. When I say "Hob opened the door" you have a mental image. When I say "Robbie Gadler opened the door" you will probably have a different mental image. Given that writing characters as in-character as possible and having my prose be visual for the readers is a major priority for me, the last thing I need is for a different mental image to pop into the reader's head because I gave a named character a different name, even if he would realistically have a different name at that point.

It's also one reason I didn't switch Dream's pronouns or give him a wildly different name in "Come live with me". The minute I write "Dream looked around and then she opened the door" I have an allergic reaction. It doesn't feel like Dream anymore, even to write him that way. Heck, I have trouble visualizing the character and staying in his head and aligning his actions with stuff he would do when I switch even something as small as pronouns. It's why Dream is referred to as Morfea only sparingly when the characters speak aloud, or to remind readers what Dream currently looks like, which is the "Morfea" identity who uses "she/her" pronouns because that character does and should feel slightly off center from what the true "Dream" feels like because it's not his identity, it's not how he would choose to present himself if he could avoid it, and it disturbs Hob too because he struggles with recognizing Morfea as Dream when look at "her" as much as I feel like I and if I do it right the reader should fee like Morfea isn't "quite" Dream, the word isn't quite Dream's name when reading it and visualizing it from the page.

ANYWAY, writerly ramblings aside, yeah. "This Rough Magic" "Come live with me" and "Giving Sanctuary" all give reasons why Hob is currently going with the name Robert Gadling in his present life (GS doesn't really bother because as a vagrant, no one was really asking Hob anyway, but...) and if I set a longer fic in 2022 you'd miraculously discover that Hob has cycled back to using Robert Gadling again just in time for the story to take place because I just point blank simply refuse to fuck around with that shit lol

#maggie's writing progress #giving sanctuary bts #arranged marriage au dreamling #occultist hob fic #1689 fic

[aelaer]

Just saw your post about having to block the doctor strange x reader tag, and I must agree it's become the predominant DS fic that comes up as recommended on my feed as well. There are several authors I enjoy reading in that category (although lately the overall amount of fics is overwhelming), but I only started writing them myself as my stephen x ofc fics could never gain a bit of traction. I have a theory that if I went back and changed my ofc's to reader inserts, I'd probably gain a lot more readers--but I can never bring myself to doing that as I wouldn't be true to myself as an author.

I suppose that's just a writerly woe I'm sharing with someone who might understand.😏 But I'm curious; are you open to reading non-romance fics featuring original characters? I've found that tumblr can be quite snobbish towards that species of fic.

I wanted to reply to this ages ago but it requires my computer and some thinking, so I kept pushing it off again and again and again and whelp, here we are. My bad. ><

I'm the same way where being true to myself as an author is writing what I want, so I get you there. Doesn't get As Much Engagement as other tropes would, but y'know what, I can live with that. If anything, I've actually found that the fic I compromised most on (because it was for a themed exchange) is one I want to reread the least. So if anything, a lot of me writes for "do I want to reread this in the future" and that has helped me since.

It's funny since OFC romances used to be pretty popular way back when, but I guess "reader" took over that audience over the last decade because the majority of the people just wanted to insert themselves into the position instead of reading about a full-fleshed character? Honestly not sure.

Right, I keep delaying the reason I took so long to get back to you - non-romance fics with OCs. The answer, by the way, is yes. Great OCs are fantastic, but you don't tend to see many OCs outside of romance, or you only see them as side characters in another pairing's fic. They don't often have starring or co-starring roles. But I wanted to find examples with great OCs which would take time.

And now I'm taking that time. Here's some good OC-starring fics that I scoured through the tag. They're difficult to find. I had to smudge that requirement after a while. Then I gave up after I got to 2 years back in the tag.

Some of the stories that I know have very good OCs are also IronStrange, but I know that's not your cup of tea so I left it out. But I found a handful.

Keshwyn was the author that came to mind when you originally sent this ask, but I wanted to have more than one author when I wrote this. Read their series, highly recommend, top-tier OCs across the whole spectrum, with the main star being female.

This fic by LexLemon is technically PalmerStrange, but the OCs are her parents, so it's basically a delight in my eyes as Stephen's fish-out-of-water act is always funny to me.

Dragonnan writes good OCs, usually the mean sort though, the ones who hurt Stephen rather than befriend him (male and female lmao), but if you're in a whumpy mood at some point...

This isn't technically an OC, but I don't know the character from the comics, so she's an OC to me! This Stephen's new apprentice is Casey Kinmont fic by Stratagem. They just updated recently too, need to cheer them on at some point.

*sigh* Sorry love, I ran out of good OC fics that didn't have background/primary IronStrange that I could find/remember. But yeah. There's some fic/author recs.

(If anyone wants to add to the list, feel free to leave a comment or reblog. I was avoiding IronStrange for the asker in particular but I don't think the asker sees reblogs so go for it if you'd like).

Also, I love the OCs that I've come up with for my various stories in both LOTR and the MCU. I'll ramble all about them if you (or someone) wants me to, quite happily.

Hope that answers the question/reason for the ask, mostly.

#sobeautifullyobsessed #ask #answered #fic recs #stephen strange #fanfic #yes give me a reason to just write an essay about my ocs lmao #all the rp ones in particular were really well loved

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Ok, I've sent a version of this question to @mareenavee for writerly stuff, but figured I'd adapt it to the arting process and then come pester youuuuuu. Though feel free to answer it in writing mode too, just pick whichever you want to ramble about more :> 1. What are the (art and/or) techniques you're most comfortable with? What comes easily and naturally and just flows (and how come?) 2. What's the stuff that requires lots and lots of redos and revisions? What challenges you as an artist? 3. What do you want to try your hand at, but haven't yet?

Yes, art process asks! We're doing that now!

What are the (art and/or) techniques you're most comfortable with? What comes easily and naturally and just flows (and how come?)

My comfort zone is portraits. Drawing people is easy (relatively speaking), and as much as I complain about it, I do enjoy and have become semi ok at faces and hands in general. I don't know if anything flows (I have poor hand-eye-coordination so it's a bit of an effort on my behalf to do anything precise but I'm clearly a masochist and choose to do precise work) sketches take like 3 hours and lineart takes 1-2 so yeah...slow. I think painting flows best if I'm listening to music, easier to zone out/hyper-focus enough to resist distraction. Skin and hair are the most relaxing to paint (even if I complain about it, I just kinda complain).

Digital is something I fell into because I had Photoshop loaded onto the home computer (ye old 2008 lounge room computer box) and traditional mediums were giving me eczema and/or making me dizzy and triggering headaches so I switched around age 15 and haven't really used many traditional mediums since... No wait, graphite, I'll use that but it's been a time. I am most comfortable with digital. Plus I hate the feeling of stuff on my hands, sensory issues apparently.

My painting technique is kinda similar to both oils and chalk pastels (pastels being my mum's medium, so I picked up a lot from that) like a weird hybrid between the two applied digitally I kinda just pulled from a lot of things and found what came easiest for my process.

What's the stuff that requires lots and lots of redos and revisions? What challenges you as an artist?

Oh boi, this is where I get called weird... (for personal work) I don't do working drawings or thumbnails or studies, I don't do warm-ups and I don't revise sketches. I have a crystal clear image that appears in my head of exactly how I want the finished piece to look, sometimes it's informed by a reference sometimes I have to make one that fits. I know exactly what I need to do to get it to look like that image. That includes lighting and colour that I add at the end, I paint cold and turn the heat up at the end. It's easier on my eyes. I do revisions when I'm doing commissions and professional art, it's a collaborative project and I'm creating someone's vision for them (which I also enjoy). I'll make edits within reason, there's a cut-off point that no one has ever reached but it's 3. I can create to a brief pretty well after 12 years of client work.

Challenges would be backgrounds and scenes, I'm working on those so that they are no longer challenges.

What do you want to try your hand at, but haven't yet?

I want to make something out of clay, a little Horus replica broach.

Like this Ptolemaic Falcon Faience Applique but with more Horus symbology. One day!

#asks #my art process #for fun