writing rambles

this is my writing/fandoms I write for sideblog she/her

[papayafromtv]

i do think that a severely under-talked about idea between Jason and Damian within the whole league-brothers AUs is the communication factor. like, if we go with the idea of Jason basically being a catatonic zombie who has to relearn how to be human after his pit-dunk, and with him meeting Damian when Damian was like. barely out of a diaper. the communication between those two as they got closer would be fascinating.

like, aren't there psychological studies claiming that twins are more likely to have delays in language development because they become so in tune with each other that they don't need to learn how to speak as quickly? can you imagine that with Damian and Jason. Jason whose communication development was put back to square one after the pit, and Damian who was only just starting to get the hang of it anyway. those two become close and suddenly they're learning how to communicate together--and it causes fucking chaos within the league.

i want them to be able to communicate fluently with each other before anybody else can understand a single word they're saying. they have their own weird half-grunt-half-gesture-half-body-language thing going on and i bet you the rest of the league is so tired of having to deal with this bullshit.

Jason is still like. actively being used as one of Talia's top assassins/guards, is the thing. somehow despite the fact that fucking verbal language is escaping his post-lazarus mind, he's still a beast with a sword. or a gun. or anything, really, to the point where Ra's is specifically requesting Jason as a personal guard during particularly risky situations. so like. they kind of need to be able to talk to him. it gives Talia a migraine every. time.

Talia: Jason. you are needed. Jason, intently watching three year old Damian draw in the sand with a stick: *looks up at her cluelessly* Talia: Talia, internally sighing: Jason. you have to *gestures* come. Damian: *glances up and blinks* Talia, speaking slowly and clearly: Damian, tell Jason that he has g-u-a-r-d d-u-t-y. understand? g-u-a-r-d. Damian: *looks at Jason* Jason: *looks back* Talia, under her breath: finally, Damian: *jerks shoulder and clicks tongue* Jason: *grunts back and stands up* Talia: yes, now lets- Jason: *hands Talia his sword and sits back down* Talia: Talia: what. Damian: you want sword. Talia: NO!? ~ Ra's: grandson, how are your lessons going? Damian: *wiggles his fingers and whines slightly* Ra's: Jason, in the corner: *claps his hands, congratulatory* Damian: *preens* Ra's: Damian's tutor: ...he is doing well. Ra's: *sighs*

I think even after they both learn how to speak normally they still have their weird little baby-twin language. it's like their mother tongue, what they default to whenever they aren't paying attention. whenever Jason gets genuinely pissed off he starts speaking in this weird mix of grunts and clicks and Damian's the only person that understands. after Jason's assigned his own team of subordinates at the league it becomes a regular occurrence that one of the guys will barge into the room while Damian's training and demand that he go with them. Damian has to stop mid-kata and follow some random assassin into Jason's meeting room because he's been yelling at his squad for the better part of an hour and they can't for the life of them figure out what they did wrong. Damian walks in, listens to the incomprehensible mix of jerks and noises for four seconds, states plainly 'he found out one of you fell in a koi pond during a stealth mission and killed three fish.' and then leaves instantly.

it keeps happening, too. even in Gotham, the language just never stops being an instinctual fall-back for the two. if Damian is woken up while half asleep by Tim or Dick, for the first two minutes or so he will be completely incomprehensible because his brain hasn't kicked into gear and he's speaking the language that comes most naturally to him. there's an occasion where Damian forgets the English word for some inane thing while talking to Tim and he just. cannot fucking remember what it's called. ends up instinctively reverting back to what it would have been if he were talking to Jason which is a weird hum/grunt, and Tim looks at him like he's insane. Damian can NOT remember this word in English, and Tim can NOT understand what Damian's saying and it's driving them crazy. they're still arguing about it on patrol three days later when Red Hood comes across them and he hears

Tim: -I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THAT MEANS! Damian: that's not my problem!! i'm speaking very clearly!! Tim: THAT'S NOT A WORD. Damian: YES IT IS. Dick: how are you two still on this??? Damian: IT'S A *grunt-hum*. I CANNOT SAY IT ANY PLAINER. Tim: WHAT THE FUCK. Jason: *drops in* what's up? Tim: ROBIN'S FUCKING- I DON'T EVEN KNOW BUT I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HIM. *to Damian* say it again, fucking show Hood. Damian: *grunt-hum*. Jason, without blinking: pogo-stick. Damian: SEE. Tim, genuinely about to loose his shit: FUCKING WHAT.

everybody is so sick of these two's shit.

[lovelylogans]

is there such a thing as a beta but instead of reading for line edits or plot notes, they just read my work and recommend what tags to put on ao3 outside of like. warnings.

[centrumlumina]

Lulu's Totally Unofficial Guide to the Top 10 Freeform Tags to Add to Your Fanfic

Genre - Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Life, Case Fic, etc.

AU - If it's an AU, what kind? What role do each of the characters play? How is it different to their canon role?

Parts of canon - If it's not an AU, what part of canon is it about? Is it set before, during or after a particular episode?

Themes - Are there any topics or ideas which you are trying to explore, or which come up repeatedly?

Minor Warnings - Is there anything you think you should warn for that isn't included in the archive warnings?

Format & Length - Is your work art, video, podfic, etc? Does it use a particular format like a Drabble or 5+1?

Characters - What is going on with each of your major characters? If you had to describe them with one or two adjectives, what would you pick? (Format as [Adjective] [Character Name].)

Relationships - What is going on with each of your major relationships? Are there any relationship tropes like Slow Burn or Enemies to Lovers in your story?

Tropes - Are there any tropes or common story elements in your story that haven't been tagged yet? If your work was on TV tropes, what are the first things you would add?

Sex - If your work includes sex, what kink(s) and specific act(s) does it involve?

Remember: you can always look at the drop-down menu for suggestions. But! If you want to tag something that doesn't appear on the drop-down menu, you can & should write in a new tag!

[mikkeneko]

This is a good guide!

[businesstiramisu]

This is one of the things r/ao3 is actually pretty helpful for, in fact I think centrumlumina's guide is almost word-for-word match for advice that i see posted regularly on there. Its also great for "here's a thing that happens in my story/i want to warn readers about, is there a tag for that?" (Or even "this tag i already know about doesn't suit my purposes for xyz reasons. What can i do instead?")

[astronomical-bagel]

god it’s so sad living in an allocentric world. There are so many relationships that are so complex and nuanced that are all put under the label of ‘romantic’ and immediately all the intrigue is taken from it. Like don’t you realize that these relations are actually ENHANCED by the fact that they are not romantic or sexual?

[astronomical-bagel]

NOOO DONT PUT THE CHARACTERS IN A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP YOURE TAKING OFF THE SEASONING!!!!

[astronomical-bagel]

[lighthouse-wizard]

"I would do anything for you; I would cross worlds for you; I would kill for you; I would die for you" etc in fictional romance= tired and expected

from a boss to their employee= what the fuck is happening there

[quietwingsinthesky]

the Relationship Ambiguity Zone™️ is a beautiful place to be. safe place to put your characters. put all characters into Relationship Ambiguity Zone. is that guy your mentor or your dad? Ambiguous!!! are you friends or enemies? Ambiguous!!! is it romantic? is it platonic? is it sexual? Ambiguous!!!!!!! never categorize anything ever in the Relationship Ambiguity Zone. just make them fucking weird about each other.

[torchturtle]

[hamsternamedmarinette]

[ao3org]

Errors Accessing AO3

We are investigating reports of errors when trying to load AO3, including errors saying that AO3 is down, which seem to be related to the previous incident. We will update when we have more information!

Posted: 22:36 UTC 02 March, 2026

[inchidentofftrack]

I hope that they (the phenomenal ao3 maintenance team) bring back my wife (ao3) from war (unscheduled maintenance) quickly.

[mousemilf]

next time you encounter something confusing, try using your fan fiction reading device to access websites like "wikipedia" or "miriam webster" to break down those pesky difficult topics. its sorta like a "enemies to lovers" situation, where the scary new knowledge can become your friend - and then you won't look so unflattering when you comment

[booksinmythorax]

Advice From a Librarian to Combat the U.S. Literacy Crisis #1:

If you don't read books: Read a book. Read any book. Read a book you loved when you were a kid. Read a book that interests you now. Read an entire collection of poetry or essays and think about why the author or editor arranged those works in that order. Read an erotic novel. Read nonfiction. Read graphic novels or manga. Read a kids' chapter book or a YA novel. Read a book digitally. Read a book on paper. Read an audiobook and really focus on it - if you notice yourself spacing out, scroll back to the last words you remember and try listening again. Read any book. And then when you finish it, celebrate for a minute (get those endorphins going!) and then read another one.

If you read books: Try reading a book that intimidates you. Maybe it's thick. Maybe it uses archaic language. Maybe it's a book that was translated from a language you don't speak into a language you do speak. Maybe it's a genre you don't normally read. Maybe it's the same kind of book as always, but you put your phone away and really focus on reading for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. (I know I've been struggling with this.) What scares you about reading? What challenges have you been avoiding? Try getting out of your comfort zone just a tiny bit, celebrate for a minute, and then try again.

[carelisswriting]

Hiii so I made fanart for @sircantus story "chosen by the stars"!! So uh, yeah!! Read it if you haven't, it's amazing!

I had a hand-inked paper matrix which I then used pressure printing to transfer onto this paper, and the words are letterpress!

[exhuastedpigeon]

Realizing the writing doesn't have to be done alone and is often more fun and more engaging when you're doing it with friends is a life changing experience.

I don't mean co-writing either. I mean having a friend or two who you talk through plot ideas with, who you bounce ideas off of, who you trust to tell you if something doesn't work.

Nothing is created in a vacuum and nothing can be created alone. Sharing drafts and ideas is a vital part of the creative process and it's a really fun part too.

[jay--hawk]

@carelisswriting :)))

[carelisswriting]

Us!!! Also yes this post is so accurate!!! We love having writing friends!!

[gr8writingtips]

writing tip #4058:

if you've written over ten versions of your first chapter only to realise the first one you wrote was the best, you may be entitled to compensation

[gr8writingtips]

writing tip #4059:

fuck. did you know if you change things early in the plot, later plot elements need to change, too? someone should do something about that

[gr8writingtips]

writing tip #4068:

it's okay if your story doesn't have a deeper meaning. sometimes you should just write about a jealous twink for no reason

[gr8writingtips]

writing tip #4069:

stuck on a blank page? literally just put words on there. what are you doing

[pussyhoundspock]

joining the war on kids reading any book they want on the side of kids reading any book they want. simply you will be fine. it's even good to be confronted with things you don't understand and even find upsetting, uncomfortable and difficult. it's a surprise tool that will help you later.

[prismatic-bell]

And listen.

Sometimes stuff that is GENUINELY SCARRING to you can also be a surprise tool that helps you later.

I had to read Bridge to Terabithia when I was ten, and when I tell you that book fucked me up. I'm 37 and sometimes I still remember the ending and just stop in my tracks.

But it helped me to better appreciate my grandma's art when she died.

I've still got some of her work in my house. One of her painted plates is literally hanging behind me right now.

I read The Giver by choice when I was eleven, without any real idea what I was getting into, but when you guys hear me yell about the sanitization of the world, that is entirely The Giver and Brave New World speaking. The Giver taught me that pain and joy are intertwined and you can't pick and choose and still have a full life. That's why I rail so hard against censorship. It's The Giver, it's literally The Giver.

I read The Trial by Franz Kafka when I was nineteen. Yeah, the Metamorphosis guy. His work is abstract and reading it feels like looking through a melting mirror and the end is both horrifying and inevitable, and you will never read a more incisive critique of the concept of the panopticon.

Read it not "even if" it disturbs you, but because it disturbs you. Think about what you've read. Think about what it has to say to you.

It's worth it.