i don't do bad sauce passes
wallacepolsom
will byers stan first human second
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
trying on a metaphor
AnasAbdin
Keni
Product Placement
shark vs the universe
Peter Solarz
🪼
cherry valley forever
Cosimo Galluzzi
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Jules of Nature
blake kathryn
titsay
Monterey Bay Aquarium
we're not kids anymore.
seen from Türkiye
seen from Germany
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Hungary
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Argentina
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Saudi Arabia
@djmistic7
affirmations for oc artists:
* im allowed to change my ocs design
* nobody will kill me if i change my ocs design
* compliments are not threats
* just because somebody said they like my ocs design that does not mean they will hunt me down and kill me if i change my ocs design
* my ocs are mine and i can design them how i want
* im very brave and i can change my ocs design if i want to
realizing there's no logical reason for the characters to be doing the thing you want them to be doing
realizing that just means you can find an illogical reason instead
5 Tiny Writing Tips That Aren’t Talked About Enough (but work for me)
These are some lowkey underrated tips I’ve seen floating around writing communities — the kind that don’t get flashy attention but seriously changed how I write.
1. Put “he/she/they” at the start of the sentence less often.
Try switching up your sentence rhythm. Instead of
“She walked to the window,”
try
“The window creaked open under her touch.”
Keeps it fresh and stops the paragraph from sounding like a checklist.
2. Don’t describe everything — describe what matters.
Instead of listing every detail in a room, pick 2–3 objects that say something.
“A half-drunk mug of tea and a knife on the table”
sets a way stronger tone than
“There was a wooden table, two chairs, and a shelf.”
3. Use beats instead of dialogue tags sometimes.
Instead of:
"I'm fine," she said.
Try:
"I'm fine." She wiped her hands on her skirt.
It helps shows emotion, and movement.
4. Write your first draft like no one will ever read it.
No pressure. No perfection. Just vibes. The point of draft one is to exist. Let it be messy and weird — future you will thank you for at least something to edit.
5. When stuck, ask: “What’s the most fun thing that could happen next?”
Not logical. Not realistic. FUN. It doesn’t have to stay — but chasing excitement can blast through writer’s block and give you ideas you actually want to write.
What’s a tip that unexpectedly helped with your writing? Let me know!! 🍒
“if you love this character then you must make him happy in your fics, right?” wrong. the horror. suffering. internal hemorrhage. hospital. immediately
The thing about a good character flaw is that it has to be the same thing as their greatest strength just turned up too high. the person who loves deeply and therefore controls. the person who sees everything and therefore trusts nothing. the person who is so loyal they lose themselves. there are no clean villains and no clean heroes and once you understand that in fiction you can't unsee it in people. everyone is just their best quality at the wrong volume.
child: *is passionate about absolutely anything*
parent: gotta insult it
THISSSSSSS!!!!!!! curate your own internet experience. block them because they’re allergic to peanut butter, block them because they have what you don’t, block them because they dislike your favorite food, block them because you don’t like their layout, block them because you can.
blocking is NOT a personal attack against someone. it’s you curating your own internet experience and catering for your comfort, and you have every right to do that.
you, yes, you!!! you CANNOT tell other people to censor themselves for your own comfort and personal likings. you CANNOT tell them what they can or can’t post. you CANNOT tell them what they can or can’t write. you CANNOT tell them what they can or can’t draw. BUT you CAN block them for whatever reason.
that block button is offered to you for free. use. it.
this is true and all. but also never stop talking about your ship because if it’s what makes you happy then you can and should talk about it for yourself and your own enjoyment too.
there’s nothing wrong with the tweet in the screenshot, but I feel like we’ve forgotten that shipping and fandom are first and foremost for ourselves and our own enjoyment, not if the ship is popular or if there’re enough people shipping it.
just have fun. fandom and shipping is about yourself and your own enjoyment.
fanfic writers and fan artists are carrying fandoms. they are the backbone of fandoms.
thank you fanfic writers and fan artists
Things to consider when writing a character!! --2
continuing--
⊹ How do they treat people who can't do anything for them? Waitstaff? strangers? people they'll never see again? this is the oldest trick in the book for a reason. It works. How someone behaves toward people with no social utility tells you everything about their actual values versus the values they perform for an audience.
⊹ What's their relationship with their own body? Are they comfortable in it or is it something they carry around like a problem? do they take up space or make themselves small? are they aware of how they look or completely indifferent? Physicality is psychology and most writers forget the body entirely until someone needs to throw a punch.
⊹ What do they lie about and why. Not dramatic plot lies necessarily. the small everyday ones. the things they exaggerate or omit or reframe. Because people don't lie randomly, they lie to protect something. Find what your character is protecting and you'll find what they're afraid of. That fear is the ENGINE!!
⊹ Who did they used to be? not their whole backstory. just: who were they before the thing that changed them. because that person is still in there somewhere, showing up in small ways, wanting things the current version of them would never admit to. The ghost of a former self is one of the most interesting things you can write into a character without ever stating it directly.
⊹ What would make them walk away?? from the goal. from the relationship. from the person they're trying to be. everyone has a breaking point and it should be specific to them, and please not a generic "too much" but the exact thing, the particular betrayal or loss or realisation that would finally be enough. know this even if the story never reaches it.
⊹ What do they love that has nothing to do with the plot?? a specific kind of light in the afternoon. the smell of old paperback books. bad television they watch without apology. something small that belongs only to them. details like this cost you nothing and they make the reader believe in a person completely. characters who only care about plot-relevant things are not people. they're chess pieces. sorry not sorry.
Non-spicy ways to show Intimacy
Intimacy isn't always just the spicy stuff! Here's a few ways to show it through your characters in a few, simple ways...
Kissing their S/O's hand, knuckles, wrist...bonus points for eye contact!
Speaking of which...eyes. Glances across the room, prolonged eye contact, staring at each other
Tending to the other's wounds/ injuries
Knowing the other's tiny habits
Reaching out to the other when in pain, trouble, ect
Whispering jokes to each other
Carefully wiping off a stain from their clothes or face
Taking care of each other when sick or hurt
Hand over the heart/ ear over the heart just to hear it beat
Pressing their thumb over the pulse point for the same thing
Tracing scars, tattoos, birth marks, freckles
Giving the other something tiny that means a lot, a picture, a shiny rock, a flower
In fantasy settings, helping the other put on/ take off armor...trusting the other to know where daggers, knives, poisons are hidden
Telling each other secrets/ thoughts they've told nobody before
Tucking back the other's hair
Putting a piece of jewelry on the other or letting them borrow clothes
Keeping each other warm in the cold
In cases with chronic illness, letting the other care for/ know symptoms
Brushing, braiding hair, applying skincare, etc.
Nightmare comfort
Wiping away tears
Proximity- sitting near each other, sticking close, standing beside each other while doing a task such as cooking, laundry, painting...
Sharing a book, sitting close enough to read it together
Tips for Writing Grief! (AGAIN)
the five stages of grief were never meant to be a checklist your character moves through in chronological order across three chapters. Let me save you from writing a grieving character who is simply having scheduled emotions:
⊹ Grief is not primarily crying. i know that sounds wrong but hear me out. a lot of grief looks like doing laundry. cooking something the person liked and then not being able to eat it. watching a show they recommended and never told anyone you finished it. grief goes very quiet and very domestic for long stretches and then ambushes you at completely unreasonable moments like a petrol station or a Friday at 4pm for no reason at all.
⊹ people who are grieving often seem fine. not because they're suppressing or being brave or in denial, but because humans are genuinely capable of functioning and being devastated at the same time. your grieving character can make jokes. can go to work. can have a good day. can feel guilty about the good day. can feel guilty about not feeling guilty. grief has a very active internal bureaucracy that has nothing to do with what's visible on the outside.
⊹ Grief also changes shape over time in ways that aren't necessarily about getting better. the first year is often adrenaline, there are things to do, people around, ritual and structure. year two is frequently harder because the adrenaline is gone and the world has moved on and expects you to have moved on with it. your character being more visibly undone eighteen months later than at the funeral is not a pacing problem. it's accurate.
⊹ The relationship with the dead person doesn't stop. this is the one writers get most wrong. your grieving character is still in a relationship , still arguing with the person in their head, still updating them on things, still furious about something left unsaid, still finding out new things about them from other people and having to integrate a version of them they didn't fully know. grief is not the end of the relationship. it's the relationship continuing without any new information coming in.
Small human things that make a character feel real !!
☽ checking your phone and not registering the time. checking it again. still nothing. putting it away anyway
☽ the half-smile you do when you're trying not to cry in public
☽ looking at your hands during a hard conversation instead of the person
☽ laughing at something right after you say it like you surprised yourself
☽ going to say something and then deciding not to and the moment is gone and it's too late and you think about it for three days
☽ the way you hold your breath without knowing when something's loading
☽ saying "no yeah totally" when you absolutely did not follow what they said
☽ the very specific tired where you're staring at a wall and your face just. stops doing things
☽ nodding while on the phone even though they cannot see you
☽ the tiny pause before you say someone's name for the first time
Things to consider when writing a character!! --1
⊹ What do they want vs what do they need. these should not be the same thing. what they want is the surface goal ( the job, the person, the revenge, the answer.) What they need is the thing underneath that they can't name yet. The story is what happens in the gap between those two things. if they're identical your character has nowhere to go.
⊹ What are they wrong about. Not morally wrong necessarily. just. what belief do they hold that the story is going to test. What assumption do they make about themselves or the world that turns out to be incomplete? A character without a wrong belief is already finished. They have no arc, give them something to learn even if learning it hurts them.
⊹ How do they talk when they're nervous. Do they go quiet or do they talk too much? do they deflect with jokes? do they get weirdly formal? do they ask questions instead of answering them? the way a person behaves under pressure is who they actually are. And it should be different from how they behave when they're comfortable.
⊹ What do they find funny. this one sounds small and it is not small at all. Humour is worldview. What makes someone laugh tells you what they value, what they're afraid of, how they handle pain. A character with no sense of humour is just flat. even the gravest person finds something absurd. find the thing.
⊹ What are they ashamed of? not their tragic backstory. their actual shame. The small ugly thing they would never say out loud. The time they were a coward. The feeling they pretend not to have. The desire they think disqualifies them from being a good person. Shame is where the most interesting character work lives and most writers skip straight over it :(
⊹ What do they do when no one is watching? how do they move through a space alone. What do they reach for when they're sad. What do they do with their hands??? Public behaviour IS performance. Private behaviour is truth. you don't have to show all of it but you have to know it or the character will feel hollow in a way the reader notices without being able to name.
Signs your romance subplot has absolutely no tension (sry)
♡ they meet and immediately like each other (goodbye conflict, we barely knew you)
♡ the only thing keeping them apart is a misunderstanding that one conversation would fix
♡ both characters describe the other as "beautiful" within three pages of meeting
♡ their chemistry is told not shown (the narrator insists they have spark. they don't.)
♡ the love interest has no personality outside of loving the protagonist
♡ they argue once, make up immediately, never argue again
♡ obstacles are external. they always agree with each other about everything.
♡ the rival love interest exists for two chapters then vanishes without explanation
♡ they almost kiss. something interrupts. this happens four times. on the fifth time they kiss. the end.
♡ the love interest is described as funny, clever, and kind. we see none of this.
♡ their big emotional moment is in the rain. it is always in the rain.
♡ the breakup lasts exactly one chapter before they reconcile
♡ "i've never felt this way before" said by someone with no prior emotional history
♡ both confess feelings at the same time. no awkwardness. no stakes. just synchronized emotion.
♡ their first kiss is perfect. no bumped noses. no wrong angle. cinematic and frictionless.
♡ jealousy subplot introduced and dropped without consequence
♡ they have one shared interest and it is the plot
♡ trauma bonding mistaken for romantic chemistry (these are different things)
♡ the side characters ship them loudly. this is not a substitute for actual tension.
♡ one of them dies temporarily. other is devastated. they come back. no lasting emotional damage.
♡ they end up together because the plot ends, not because they chose each other
♡ epilogue: married with children. every loose end tied. nothing left to feel.
