Writing stuff

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[otpnessmess]

Works Masterlist

Miraculous Ladybug

Prompt n°3 - "Do you even own a shirt!?" (Lukanette)

Maribat

Daminette December 

D1 - D2 - D3 - D4 - D5 - D6 - D7 - D8/9 - D10/11 - D12/13

Of Casual Encounters And Late Nights (Jasonette)

Pt.1 - Pt.2

For you, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do (Jasonette)

Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4 - Pt. 5

Prompt n° 44 - "It's 2 am, why are you here?" (Dickinette)

Prompt n° 12 - "Stop complaining, at least you only broke one leg?" "YOU BROKE MY LEG!" "I said I was sorry!" (Jasonette)

By this sword (Timari)

Obey Me!

An Overflowing Glass (Mammon/Fem!OC)

[dionysiaproductions]

[rosemoonweaver]

GUYS. DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN WRITE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE FICS ON AO3

[rosemoonweaver]

Other things you can do:

Linked footnotes

Customized page dividers

Sticky notes

Lined paper

Paper that looks stacked on top of each other

Old looking paper

Newspaper articles

Tumblr posts

iOS text messages

Emails

Fake ao3 authors notes and kudos button

Freaking discord chats

Its fucking amazing. Ao3 is fucking amazing. Can I legally marry a website?

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[starkerfilth]

WHAT

[the-stars-our-destination]

One of those times I'm reblogging something so I can find it again later

[brritzchilly]

Oh, HELL YEAH

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

It's good and cool to give your characters a single simple, straightforward, non-urgent, super-achievable goal that shouldn't really cost anything or hurt anyone, make that the driving factor for most of their decisions, and then have the Plot do everything in its power to stop them.

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

Goals include but are not limited to:

Wanting to go home

Wanting people out of your house who shouldn't be there

Trying to find a reliable babysitter

Trying to deliver a letter or package

Trying to do a favor for someone

Wanting to see a specific thing, place, or kind of animal

Wanting to collect the money somebody owes you (the lower the debt the better)

Trying to win a bet

Wanting to punch a specific person in the face

[unmooredonasundayevening]

writing tip: don’t tell us your character’s backstory. don’t tell us what your character is thinking. don’t tell us what your character is doing. don’t tell us anything. the reader should simply look at a blank page and be suddenly overcome with emotion.

[clinticalthinkr]

Good tip. I know a lot of writers who cry uncontrollably when they see a blank page, so I’m sure that feeling will translate directly to the reader.

[spiribia]

The thing about character design theory is I really think we shouldn’t just keep reinforcing our “this is what a sneaky and untrustworthy character looks like, this is what a threatening and intimidating character looks like, this is what an innocent character worth protecting looks like, this is what a smart and competent character looks like, this is what a man looks like vs what a woman looks like” conventions like they’re innate human wiring that we tap into scientifically and not like, heavily societal

[gayteensupreme]

NOT staying in the tags on my watch

[detectivehole]

what's that one thing where they asked how ripely from alien was so realistic and believable as a female character in scifi for once and they were like "well we just took the dude from the original script and made him a girl and changed nothing else. it works bc men and women are the same?" and people were like "woah no way" and then didn't learn anything from that for 20 years

[detectivehole]

"how do you write such believable men as a woman?" "how do you write such believable women a man?" and the answer people who are good at it always give is "i just write people. were literally the exactly the same. do you think the opposite sex is some sorta totally different animal???" and people respond "woah that's wild. yea i do. and im not gonna stop thinking that goodbye :)"

[anarchistmemedistro]

[self-loving-vampire]

[vedajuno]

Ah, yes, I see you’ve taken notice of the fine knight I keep dangling in a big gilded cage above my evil throne. Quite the pretty little ornament the would be savior makes, wouldn’t you agree~?

What? No, it IS a big cage. That’s- it’s the standard size for a knight’s cage I’m pretty sure. NO I’m not going to invest in 500 square feet of dungeon, it’s ONE knight! I’m pretty sure knights live in hovels in the wild anyways which is basically the same- Look, the cage is quite literally gilded. He loves the cage! He loves obediently preening in the cage! Yeah well, when you capture your own knight you can keep it in whatever size castle you want to, but this one’s mine. Especially since you’re so obviously jealous of me and my cute and awesome knight anyway.

[mikimuun]

He loves the cage!

[mersei47]

finally found this image. It expresss how I feel evertime I draw ship art perfectly

[butteredtoastcrumbs]

Me @ writers: you just make that shit up from your brain???

[infinitelyblankpage]

*squints at the three lines in Word that have remained unchanged for weeks* In theory

[excuseme-howdareyou]

We make that shit up in our brain and sometimes that’s where it stays

[elljayvee]

Genuinely don't know what it's called but there's a particular way of violating reality that doesn't work. For example, I am willing to accept an omegaverse university AU of nearly any fandom you care to name (except, for some reason, Sherlock, because I have an inexplicable hatred for unilock). However, a lot of Star Wars university AUs specifically fail on this aspect: they make Anakin an engineering PhD student and Obi-Wan something like literature or classics, and then they make Anakin his TA or GA.

You can't do that. Absolutely not. Anakin is unqualified for that and a university would not do it in any case. A university would literally hire a junior or senior undergraduate workstudy student to do as much of that work as possible first. They would do NOTHING other than do that and make the prof do all his own grading.

Is there a name for "I will accept [wild fantasy premise] but not [ordinary wrong thing]?" Please tell me there's a name for this. Probably someone who studies lit will know? I'm a systems person I don't know from lit theory just like Anakin

[tzikeh]

No idea if there's a formal name but I think of it as "you have to play by the rules of the universe you create". Like okay, I'll buy that Superman can fly into outer space because those are the rules set up by the Superman universe and so the author and audience both agree that this can happen in the story. The minute Superman picks up a human woman and flies her into space with him, the author broke the compact they made with the audience and now that story is bad.

[penwiper26]

Ironically, the wikipedia article for verisimilitude cites Superman as an example

[elljayvee]

I think "it violates the rules of verisimilitude" is as good a name for it as any

[pluckyredhead]

It's walruses vs. fairies. If a fairy shows up at my door, okay, fine, I don't know how fairies work. But a walrus is not qualified to be TA for a lit class.

[pyracantha14]

The fact that the last three sentences added here made complete sense to me instantly is making me feel some kind of way

[plaidadder]

So G. K. Chesteron has his detective Father Brown explain this phenomenon in a story called "The Curse of the Golden Cross," included in a collection called The Incredulity of Father Brown (1926):

'It's what I call common sense, properly understood,' replied Father Brown. 'It really is more natural to believe a preternatural story, that deals with things we don't understand, than a natural story that contradicts things we do understand. Tell me that the great Mr Gladstone, in his last hours, was haunted by the ghost of Parnell, and I will be agnostic about it. But tell me that Mr Gladstone, when first presented to Queen Victoria, wore his hat in her drawing-room and slapped her on the back and offered her a cigar, and I am not agnostic at all. That is not impossible; it's only incredible. But I'm much more certain it didn't happen than that Parnell's ghost didn't appear; because it violates the laws of the world I do understand. So it is with that tale of the curse. It isn't the legend that I disbelieve—it's the history.'

This quotation has been circulating on Goodreads and elsewhere out of context and it's kind of maddening how long it took me to find out whcih story it appeared in.

The improbable/impossible distinction is also discussed by Aristotle in the Poetics, where he argues against using plots that are possible (because they did really happen) but improbable (because they don't seem like things that could happen).

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

ok but DID I come back wrong, or did you build up an idealized version of me in your head that was easy to love while I was dead? but now that I'm real and alive and complicated again, you resent me for not being as simple and compliant as a mere memory?

do you resent me for coming back "wrong," or for coming back at all?

[tsunflowers]

the thing with romance for me is that you need to convince me through behavior and dialogue that the characters enjoy spending time with each other and seek each other out. even with enemies to lovers a foundation of mutual respect goes a long way. you can be like "he's the youngest ever general of the dragon slaying guild and I'm secretly a dragon, but he's the best swordsman I've ever fought and our sparring matches are the only thing that make me feel alive ever since my family was killed." if he implies something similar then bam, you have a reason for the two of them to hang out even though one of them knows it's dangerous. you can't be like "he's a dragon slayer and he's mean to me all the time but the flex of his arms when he swings his sword is just too sexy." it does not matter how many times you have your protagonist say "I shouldn't be drawn to him... but I am" if you never show a real moment of connection between them that draws them together

[skeletomez]

[blackheartbiohazards]

"I don't want to read this" is totally valid.

"This is disgusting to me" is totally valid.

"I don't want to read this because it is disgusting to me" is totally valid.

"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.

[blackheartbiohazards]

"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.

[spellscarred]

Bro, blocking someone and then using their tag like this is, all offence, weak as fuck. Like all you had to say was, na bro I don't promote pedo protags on this here blog, because I wholly agree with the premise of your argument given contexts (i.e., writing abusive relationships to show the evils, great; writing abusive relationships to show the romance, yikes).

This response is so, so comically shitty within the context of that tag, oh my god.

[blackheartbiohazards]

"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.

[blackheartbiohazards]

"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.

[blackheartbiohazards]

"Censorship of some topics in fiction and art is good and I would be happy if it were to be enacted in a way I approved of"

and

"some things should be banned from ever being written or read about in fiction"

are both authoritarian viewpoints to hold and express, even if you don't have the power to enact them.

If you hold these viewpoints you are holding authoritarian viewpoints.

[averageidiotenby]

DUDE IT’S PEDO FICS EVERYBODY THINKS THEY’RE NASTY

[blackheartbiohazards]

Let me explain this to you in simple terms.

Something being nasty is not a good reason to ban fiction about it.

If we accept that "something being nasty is a good reason to bad fiction about it" then we give a foot in the door for all the people who truly, genuinely believe that queer people are nasty to ban all queer literature.

This is not about defending bad people this is about defending the freedom of good people from tyranny, you moron.

[kawaii-pigeon]

I think if you take it to its logical extreme. Say, banning people from writing stories of sexual abuse. That could then be said "well ANY talk about sexual abuse is bad."

And from that, you could ban books that talk about it irl. Or books like how to recover after being abuse. If its not something to be discussed AT ALL.

[plague-of-insomnia]

The fact that I’ve seen this post in some form on my dash like 100x and each time there’s new idiots who do not get that you can’t have *some* censorship.

Either you’re for it or you aren’t.

The moment you agree that something should never, ever exist in fiction is the moment that anything can be banned.

Remember a while back how Tumblr banned a bunch of tags, including many popular innocuous ones that even people who are for censorship used and were upset about?

When censorship happens, stuff YOU like can and will be banned. That’s how it works.

Remember how a bunch of people had their accounts terminated here only last year for writing about their own sexual abuse?

When you ban “pedo” topics, say, any talk of child sexual abuse in any form, that means people can no longer write about their own experiences. It means people cannot educate others so they can learn how to protect themselves or get help from these situations.

Censorship is authoritarian. Full stop.

Even if “everyone” agrees something is “gross” and “shouldn’t exist,” that does not fucking matter.

Do you know who generally believes queer people are gross and shouldn’t exist??

The same people who are banning books left and right solely because they have queer characters or relationships.

The same people who attack and kill queer folk for simply exisiting.

This is not just some fandom matter or a case of being chronically online.

Protecting freedom of expression is essential, and if you do not get that, I don’t know what to say to you.

[scientia-rex]

And the people who keep bringing up child sex abuse as a reason for censorship are doing it very specifically because everyone feels like then they HAVE to agree with the person in favor of censorship.

It’s not that there isn’t widespread societal agreement on this. It’s that they want you backed into a rhetorical corner where you feel compelled to agree with them.

[ruffboi-mags]

Also, like, we KNOW how this shit shakes out in fandom because it's happened before.

In 2007, Livejournal capitulated to the "pedophilia and sex crimes!" cries of (hate group) Warriors 4 Innocence, and you know what communities got shut down? Slashfic communities. Sexual assault survivor support communities. Authors who'd written non-smut m/m fic even got caught up in it. It was DEVASTATING to fandom spaces. I think pretty much everyone knew at least one person whose account was literally DELETED, or were a member of a community that was wiped off the map because they were considerate enough to include topics like "sexual assault" or "BDSM" in the profiles under the badly-named category of "interests" to indicate that posts on said blogs or communities may include discussion of things like that. Even if it was for a SUPPORT group. And it was because a group of religious bigots came to LJ and said essentially "EVERYONE thinks it's gross and that it's promoting CSA, we should ban it."

Like, strikethrough and boldthrough were a large part of what propelled AO3 out of a more unfocused conversation on one person's blog about hosting a site INTENDED for fandom content, into being an actual archive and nonprofit. And it's a large part of why you won't find AO3 banning topics that you find "gross".

Censorship is authoritarian and it will ALWAYS have more collateral damage than you can imagine.

[nyxelestia]

Going to add that fiction which had sexual abuse and communities which played around with it as a writing topic are the very things that protected me from irl sexual abuse when I was a teenager. I was in a dicey situation, and realized that while my situation did not match up to any of the superficial or textbook cases mentioned in passing (if at all) through school, it matched up a LOT to what I'd learned about irl sexual abuse through works of fiction and the rhetoric of my communities. I got out of that situation and dodged what was, in retrospect, one hell of a nasty bullet. If it hadn't been for that "nasty" fiction and those "nasty" communities, I would very likely have been abused, and subject to further violence spiraling out from that abuse.

[benjis-house-boat]

you can’t have *some* censorship.

[isildur-elessar]

LotR + Blades

Next

[elodieunderglass]

Thank you so much @eldriwolf

[whetstonefires]

did elrond re-inscribe the sword before passing it down or was he just fighting with a lady’s sword in the Last Alliance?

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

just a heeeaaads up that some of these art commission scammers are upgrading their technique

they will now actually take notes of things that really happened in your fic, they make it sound personalised and genuine, but there's a way they talk that feels weirdly artificial, there's always a vague mention of some 'ideas' they have, if it raises your hackles trust those instincts and tread carefully, because ultimately-

they will ALWAYS LEAD YOU TO A SECONDARY LOCATION

suddenly changing up their writing style is a big red flag, wanting to take you off platform to some other site showcasing their 'art' is an even bigger red flag, REAL ARTISTS DO NOT DO THIS

no matter how genuine they sound, trust NOBODY advertising their art in your comment section, trust NOBODY who wants to take you off platform, NEVER go to that secondary location

STREET SMARTS!

[jadesolayray]

The only time someone should be mentioning their fanart in your comments section is when they are

A. Asking if they can draw fanart of the fic

Or

B. Telling you they drew something for the fic and where to find it

Also, be aware that there are bots going around accusing people of using ai in their fics, those are AI bros being mad they were called out about scraping ao3 and other art sites, don't pay attention to them.

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

👆👆👆

important additions

the AI brobots will usually say something about some discord blacklist they've put you on so people will know not to touch your work, it's all bullshit, there is no list, don't believe a word of it

[ryanthedemiguy]

Gentle reminder that sometimes people do Just Talk Like That. I've said damn near that exact phrase before. I'm asking consent to give thoughts on someone else's ideas — "I have ideas if you're interested" etc.

The secondary location is the tip off. Not the request for consent before discussing ideas.

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

👆👆👆 true!! this is the exact reason I didn't reply aggressively out the gate to this person and I recommended people 'tread carefully' rather than outright block immediately, and why I focused so heavily on the secondary location detail

if someone just wants to draw fanart of your fic for free then you're on solid ground, if they're linking you to fanart made specifically for your fic that they've already done for free, everything's above board, if they just want to talk about ideas for your fic and are happy to share them without taking you to another platform, it's all good

this is a multilayered issue and I apologise if I did not make that clear, it's all of these factors combined that you need to look out for, not just someone asking a question a little awkwardly