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[aboutoriginality]

[ominous-signs]

Official ominous sign

[ballgame]

I don't think I've seen this shared here yet (newsletter excerpt for context ↓)

[nickiemoot]

...like... like jesus...?

[fourletternani]

Well, judging by that white puddle..

[vidyaphage]

[writingdose]

I am once again begging people to realize that AI checker doesn’t work. it’s never worked. it’s notoriously known to have flagged human-made works as AI and AI-generated works as human-made. and by feeding it people’s works, you are feeding more works to AI, because apparently the machine itself is AI.

the only thing AI checker does is harm genuine artists and people in general too.

[oldcoyote]

if you ever doubt that your ao3 comments matter or mean something: i have been struggling with my writing for 6 months straight, crying myself to sleep afraid that i will never be able to write again, that the thing i love most in the world has left me, that my writing is just gone

this morning i got this comment:

and after i stopped blubbering over it, i picked up my writing notebook, and re-read all my fic research, and opened up my document again for the first time in weeks without being afraid of it

you have no idea how much writers treasure every single comment we get. you have no idea how big an impact you can have. sometimes, just sometimes, your one "insignificant" comment changes everything

[mallomon]

Still incredibly proud of getting to the end of Deltarune Chapter 5...

I got to drop the line "sayonara you weeaboo shits" right when Kris ran Flowey through, because I've been playing it with the roommates watching.

[fourletternani]

YOU DIIIIIIIIIID

It was fricking great

I still wanna go merc the knight though.

[maul-of-shame]

I actually recommend everyone write for a rarepair once because it completely changes your relationship with fandom. Engagement stops being numbers and starts being names. You know who's going to show up. You recognize usernames. Someone disappears for a while and then comes back and you're like “OH MY GOD WELCOME HOME.” It's incredibly wholesome. It is also deeply inconvenient when all six of you simultaneously get writer's block-

[ao3legendarium]

how the fuck does one achieve these heights

[fourletternani]

Well, first things first

Find the NASA engineer in your community. It may be harder to do than you think, since they look and sound like everyone else until, like sleeper agents, they're activated by a codeword or phrase- in this case, 'hey, do you like Space?'

Barring that? Make your own. Which is to say, email one. NASA's full of nerds who LOVE this kinda shit. Just make sure you're respectful about it.

[luna-azzurra]

Mirror neurons are the reason you cry at a funeral for someone you never met. your brain literally cannot tell the difference between watching grief and experiencing it, it just runs the program. and writers who understand this are playing an entirely different game. you don't describe the sadness. you put the reader in the body that feels it. the mirror neuron does the rest. you're not writing emotion. you're building a trigger for theirs.

[writingdose]

(me with fanfics except I keep writing them)

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

Do you think authors need more than just the dead dove tag to properly warn people of what's to come? For example, should I label my works "dddne because of *this* triggering topic" or is the dead dove tag simply enough?

dead dove tag alone doesn’t tell anyone anything. like. at all. dead dove means “you have been warned”, but if you don’t tell your readers what you’re warning them about, they’re not gonna know what the content of the fic you’re warning them about is. is it non-con? is it violence? is it gore? they’re not going to be able to know it. dead dove tag is supposed to be used to emphasize the actual warning tag(s). it’s not supposed to be used as a standalone tag.

that said, most writers don’t use “dead dove: do not eat because of xyz”. how it’s commonly used is “dead dove: do not eat” as one tag, and then different tags that tell the audience about the actual warnings.

for instance, “dead dove: do not eat”, “blood and gore”, “rape/non-con”, etc

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

HEYYYY so I write fics and wanted to know if you had any advice on writing people's responses to problems (such as self-harm and finding out someone someone cared for died) because I suck at it. My brain doesn't respond to tragedy or things that make people worry in a way that I want to write in my fic cause I want him to get comforted, but I come off as aloof Ig?

I’ve talked about this here

[malabu]

drunken confessions

"it makes me mad how pretty/handsome you are"

"i don't have to be drunk to know how much i love you."

"i wish i was the only person you looked at like that."

"goddamnit, i told myself i wouldn't cry."

"we should just, like, run away together." "and go where, exactly?" "anywhere."

"you know me better than so many people."

"i don't deserve you." "yes you do." "no. no, no, no, i don't. you're, like, so out of my league it's insane."

"i think you're my soulmate."

"i knew i shouldn't have said that. i'm sorry."

"kiss me." "you're drunk." "pfft. it's just a kiss."

"your hands are so warm. feels nice."

"i don't wanna go home." "why not?" "'cus you're not there."

"you're my favourite person in the whole wide world."

"you're not gonna leave me, are you?"

"you should let me paint you. i'd do such a good job at it."

"if you keep looking at me like that i'm gonna fall even more in love." "even more?"

"i don't care if i forget this in the morning. i'm just happy to be with you right now."

"i should've told you how i felt before. woulda saved a lot of time and heartache."

"your smile is so beautiful it almost makes me nauseous." "you don't know what you're saying." "in a good way."

"i can't believe i just said that. it was supposed to be a secret."

"i wasn't lying when i said i didn't want anything serious. i just didn't realize i only want it with you."

"are you sure you don't want anything serious?" "i'm sure." "you're breakin' my heart."

"that guy/girl you're seeing? he/she doesn't deserve you."

"you're my favorite person, you know that?" "i know."

"i'm so scared i'm gonna fuck this up."

"sometimes i feel like you're the only one who gets me."

"i know i love you more than you love me. but that's okay. i still get to be with you. and i love you."

"i wrote a song about you." "did you now?" "yep. and it's super poetic."

"your hands are so much bigger/smaller than mine."

"i'm so glad i exist at the same time as you."

"you ever think the universe wanted us to meet and fall in love?" "i know it did."

"babe, look, that car is your favourite color. how cool."

[theaawalker]

Alternatives to "Heard"

ᚑ      ᚑ

When the sound is sudden or startling:

Flinched at Started at Jolted at Was met with Was struck by Was greeted by Recoiled at Winced at Was interrupted by Was jarred by

When they're listening carefully:

Listened to Focused on Hung on Attended to Tuned into Followed Tracked Strained to hear Zeroed in on Locked onto

When the sound is confusing or uncertain:

Thought they heard Could've sworn they heard Believed they heard Mistook Half-heard Barely caught Couldn't quite make out Failed to catch Wasn't sure they heard Wondered if they'd heard

When they're eavesdropping:

Overheard Caught Listened in on Eavesdropped on Picked up Managed to hear Listened through the wall Caught snippets of Made out Secretly listened to

When they're emotionally affected by the sound:

Absorbed Took in Froze at Processed Balked at Recoiled from Welcomed Clung to Hung on every word of Sat with

When the sound is overwhelming:

Was bombarded by Was engulfed by Was surrounded by Was drowned in Endured Sat through Couldn't escape Was assaulted by Was consumed by Was overwhelmed by

ᚑ      ᚑ

Follow me if this was helpful :)

[luna-azzurra]

Tips for Writing Trauma!

i love you all and i need you to stop writing trauma as a single breakdown scene in the rain after which the character is Healed and Ready to Love Again. that is NOT trauma :(

⊹ Trauma doesn't announce itself. it shows up as your character suddenly not being able to eat a specific food, or going very quiet in a loud room, or laughing at the wrong moment because their nervous system decided that was the appropriate response. it's mundane and weird and it makes no sense from the outside. the dramatic flashback sequence is the least realistic part. the most realistic part is your character suddenly needing to leave a grocery store for a reason they can't articulate.

⊹ The body keeps score and it keeps it in the strangest places. a particular smell. the quality of light at a certain time of day. a tone of voice that sounds like someone who hurt them. your traumatised character doesn't think "this reminds me of the bad thing." their heart rate spikes and they don't know why. they feel wrong and they can't locate the feeling. they're irritable for three days and only later, if ever, do they make the connection. write the disconnection. it's more honest.

⊹ trauma also does not make people universally sympathetic and wise. it makes some people controlling. some people funny at inappropriate times. some people very good in a crisis and completely unable to handle a normal day. some people are generously kind to strangers and absolutely terrible to people they love. trauma shapes behaviour in contradictory, inconvenient ways that don't resolve into a lesson. your traumatised character can be difficult to like. that's not a flaw in the writing. that's the WRITING.

⊹ Healing is not linear and it is not a destination. your character does not get better and stay better. they have a good month and then something small undoes two years of progress and they have to start again with slightly more tools than before. that's the actual shape of it. the spiral, not the arc. the scene where they finally open up and cry is not the end. it might not even be progress. sometimes it just means they were tired that night.

[writingisbestonrainydays]

high-tension romantic scenarios to get lost in

fixing each other's collar/zipper/tie/etc - getting unexpectedly close, breath catching when they realize (or their light touches burning into the other's skin)

^ also moving someone's hair out of their face/behind their ear

^ or touching someone's necklace/bracelet/watch

eye contact in a crowded room, but not exchanging any words/expressions - just looking at each other, the rest of the world going still.

^a(n unironic) wink in this situation. or an eyebrow raise, lick or bite of lips, or head tilt. there's something in the subtlety of it - like "this is between us"

pulling someone in by their belt loops??? this is so random idk

feeling the other's breath/lips ghosting their neck

any sort of whisper. anywhere. goddamn.

a long pause when someone is speaking, as though they lost their train of thought while looking at the other person

their bodies accidentally pressed together - being stuck in a small space, falling onto one another, or having to sit really close together. the pause when it's realized.

^this but they're hiding

"make me"

"i dare you"

"and if i do?"/"what will i get (if i do)?" "show/tell me what you want"

the pinky reach before holding hands for the first time

slow dancing (the hand placement, eye contact, proximity, MUSIC)

teaching the other something that involves physical contact (like holding their hands while trying to balance on a skateboard, or guiding their hands somewhere)

eye contact, waiting for one to fold

"don't do that to me" (tempting the other)

sharing earbuds - forced proximity, the vulnerability in sharing things that matter to them

i'm back!! i'm in a huge slump rn, so submit to my "ask" box if there is anything you want to see :) alsoo if you have anything to add to this list, reply to the post!! i love hearing what you guys have to say