r u i n

they/them . writing . coding . roleplay . overwatch enthusiast . obsessed with rvb mercs . outlast eddie/waylon . @yoimwander on AO3

[rederiswrites]

History will remember you today, Minnesota. Well done.

[without-ado]

2026 ESA Hubble & Webb Calendar l PDF download

[maureen2musings]

Winter's kiss

kajeh

[what-even-is-thiss]

I'm volunteering for a literary journal right now and there's two things I think you all should know.

1. Most people that submit to literary journals are cis white men. We know this because our journal has an anonymous survey about demographics for people that submit.

2. Most things that get submitted to the creative non fiction section are on the level of middle school "What I did over the summer" essays.

I cannot see the demographics of the people whose essays I'm reading, but guys, if you are wondering if you should submit your work to a literary journal or not, I promise you that just in terms of statistics there are a lot of mediocre cis white men and people in general confidently submitting weird crap that isn't literature to literature magazines. Do it. Submit your work. Please. If you want there to be more diversity in literature, be the diversity. Do it. Do it do it do it.

[what-even-is-thiss]

In general literary magazines want to include more diversity, but if poc, queer people, disabled people, etc. don't submit their work then they aren't gonna get more diverse because we just won't have the material necessary to get more diverse. Submit your work. Do it. Do it. Do it do it do it.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Here's a list of university run literary journals. Do it. Get published.

[what-even-is-thiss]

[wilthered-dreams]

Many indie lit mags also welcome works from BIPOC and LGBTQIA creatives because the editorial staff themselves are in that demographic. Quarantine brought on the start of the SO many indie lit mags - it’s almost a golden age. Don’t be afraid to submit — there will always be so many niches and aesthetics that one will bound to be the one that fits your style. 

There is so much work from marginalized narratives in litmags these days — people lament there is no representation in media, but that disregards the progress and diversity of the works of editors and writers who help make these litmags possible. 

There is representation, and it is flourishing. They are waiting to be read. 

The Lumiere Review compiles a list of submission opportunities every month, and it are always very useful: 

https://lumierereview.com/sub-sep-oct-2021

List of Litmags that Specifically Look for Work from Marginalized Creators or is Run by Marginalized Creators:

Warning Lines: https://warninglines.com/

With Confetti: https://with-confetti.com/

Giving Room Magazine: http://www.givingroommag.com/

The Bitchin’ Kitsch: https://www.talbot-heindl.com/

Tealight Press: https://www.tealightpress.com/

Tipping the Scales: https://www.tippingthescalesjournal.co.uk/

The Winnow Magazine: https://www.thewinnowmagazine.com/

perhappened: https://www.perhappened.com/

AZE Journal: https://azejournal.com/

Honeyfire Lit: https://honeyfirelit.com/

and so much more!!

(And even if some litmags’ mission statement isn’t specifically for marginalized creators, they will always welcome these narratives.)

So please, please submit!

[what-even-is-thiss]

Independent magazines are great too! I’m more familiar with the university journal scene so I appreciate this addition.

[martabat]

hello, this is a list of asian literary journals!! it emphasizes south-east asian journals, but there’s a few from other regions as well

[youre-only-gay-once]

"you can use ai to improve spelling and grammar"

[purgaytorysupremacy]

if you’re wondering why spellcheck and grammar check is worse now, it’s because they replaced it with AI! 🥰

now, instead of maintaining a comprehensive, nuanced, and human-maintained encyclopedia by which to check your document, they have switched to an AI that just compares what you’ve written to what other people write in, say, Google Docs, and use the most commonly used iteration.

ever have it change something like “all intents and purposes” to “all intensive purposes” or “should’ve” to “should of”? that’s why!

people make the same spelling and grammar mistakes so often, AI thinks that’s the way you say it because it is a PATTERN DETECTOR and cannot THINK let alone use language.

[youre-only-gay-once]

"you can use ai to improve spelling and grammar"

[ruinmegently]

So that's why spell check devolved into misery.

Who knew "being autocorrected to something dumber without your consent" is part of this new unstoppable ~ wave of the future ~ my AI addicted family members (all older than me!) keep ranting about.

"You have to learn how to use it or you'll be left behind!" my college professor uncle tells me, but when I talk about the mistakes AI makes (like the spell check thing), the cognitive studies done with all those "human brains negatively impacted" results, and the harm to critical thinking skills generative AI creates in real humans, he hems and haws.

[noco3n-com]

Summer sky and sunflowers.

[ruinmegently]

so i'm working on a project for the fellow mercs (and mercs + wash) lovers out there

few years back, me and my partner roleplayed a 130k word felix/locus story and tossed it up on ao3. we got 65k words into another one.

has anyone asked for more of these rp stories?

no.

am i about to drop 40 different unfinished and unedited mercs-centric aus, some tens of thousands of words long, on y'all?

yes.

[ruinmegently]

UPDATE ON THIS SHIT:

i'm essentially turning this

into this

so I can give you this

sidenote: if anyone knows a way to make discord let me copy a whole server channel in one fell swoop, i'd sell my soul for that info. disc only lets me copy in chunks right now so ive been crawling my way through that in manual piecemeal fashion

i told myself i wasn't gonna format this shit, but i'm a connaisseur of bites too big to chew 🫠

[luna-azzurra]

How to Emotionally Destroy Readers

✩ Gut-punches are about timing. You don't say “I love you” during the sunset. You say it in the middle of a burning building or right after they stab you.

✩ A single line of dialogue like “you were supposed to come back” hits harder than an entire page of poetic mourning.

✩ Don’t just break their hearts, break their sense of identity. Make them question who they are, what they stand for, and if it was ever worth it (That’s premium pain.)

✩ Let someone be forgiven… but not trusted again. That's the kind of heartbreak that lingers like smoke.

✩ Sometimes the most devastating line is the one they don’t say. Silence is a character too.

✩ Give them a moment of joy. Right before everything falls apart. Hope makes the fall hurt more.

✩ Someone saying “I forgive you” through tears? Powerful. Someone saying “I still love you but I can’t stay”? Absolutely soul-shattering.

✩ If they die, don’t describe the death. Describe the aftermath. The coat left hanging by the door. The mug still on the table. The dog waiting.

[snakebites-and-ink]

I've already said that my number one piece of writing advice is to read.

But my number two piece of advice is this: be deliberate.

Honestly this would fix so many pieces of bad writing advice. Don't forbid people from doing something, tell them to be conscious and deliberate about it. This could help stop people from falling into common mistakes without limiting their creativity. Black and white imperatives may stop a few annoying beginner habits, but ultimately they will restrict artistic expression.

Instead of "don't use epithets": "Know the effect epithets have and be deliberate about using them." Because yes, beginners often misuse them, but they can be useful when a character's name isn't known or when you want to reduce them to a particular trait they have.

Instead of "don't use 'said'" or "just use 'said'": "Be deliberate about your use of dialogue tags." Because sometimes you'll want "said" which fades into the background nicely, but sometimes you will need a more descriptive alternative to convey what a character is doing.

Instead of "don't use passive voice": "Be deliberate about when you use passive voice." Because using it when it's not needed can detract from your writing, but sometimes it can be useful to change the emphasis of a sentence or to portray a particular state of mind.

Instead of blindly following or ignorantly neglecting the rules of writing, familiarize yourself with them and their consequences so you can choose when and if breaking them would serve what you're trying to get across.

Your writing is yours. Take control of it.

It probably sounds like I'm preaching to the choir here because most of my mutuals are already great writers. But I'm hoping this will make it to the right people.

[luna-azzurra]

On Writing Romance

⊹ If their personalities don’t change the way they love, I don’t care. Show me the emotionally constipated gremlin trying to say “I love you” through soup or blood sacrifices.

⊹ Miscommunication tropes are only tolerable if it’s because both characters are awkward disaster goblins who panic and start lying for no reason.

⊹ Romance should amplify character arcs, not replace them. If they abandon their goals the moment someone is cute at them, that’s not love, that’s weak writing.

⊹ Let them fall in love slowly. Through shared snacks, petty arguments, silent glances, sarcastic encouragement, bandaging each other’s wounds. Love is built. Not summoned.

⊹ Consent is hot. Clear boundaries are hot. Flirting where both parties know what they’re doing and still get flustered is the hottest.

⊹I don’t want “he was dark and brooding.” I want “he was emotionally unavailable and bad at feelings but showed up anyway and said 'I’m trying.'”

⊹ If you're writing a friends-to-lovers arc, the moment they realize is not when they see each other in a pretty outfit. It’s when they see them being genuinely kind. Or brave. Or stupidly loyal.

⊹ Physical affection is great, but emotional pattern recognition is better. I want “I noticed you chew your sleeve when you’re scared” kind of intimacy.

⊹ Let one character love the other first and let them suffer. Let them burn quietly in the corner while the other obliviously sharpens their sword.

⊹ If they don’t have a little bit of “I hate how much I love you,” what are we even doing here?

⊹ Sometimes the romance arc is learning to love yourself first. Or breaking a pattern. Or finally understanding you’re worthy of love at all.

⊹ The best romance scenes are never just about the romance. They’re about trust, choice, timing, and all the things they’re afraid to say.

[homunculus-argument]

"New Yorkers bite more people than sharks annually" is an excellent example of how statistics can be misleading. Like yeah no shit, do you have any idea how rare it is to even encounter a shark in the wild? They're not exactly urban animals. I'm pretty damn sure that if sharks were living in big cities like pigeons, just strolling down the streets looking for food scraps, you'd see a lot more news stories about New Yorkers biting them.

[dionysiaproductions]

[liberalsarecool]

Free mass transit, paid family leave, childcare, and zero tuition or we disappear you into a foreign prison cell for a social media meme.

Your choice!

[wizardarchetypes]

i worked at a park with a famous cliff people do indeed keep falling off and one day someone said, "why don't you just close off the trail?" and i said, "we can't make people make good decisions. we also can't close the Outside."

[wizardarchetypes]

it's worth noting that to get to the cliff's edge to fall off in the first place, you have to climb over a fence with a sign on it that says "DANGER: IF YOU FALL OFF THE CLIFF, YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE!" and then (i'm not making this up) hike past a 6-foot tall marble monument dedicated to someone else who fell off the cliff.

[wizardarchetypes]

and for the record i genuinely still do very much think it's a tragedy any time someone falls off the cliff, regardless of the several very deliberate choices they have to make to get to the cliff. because people make mistakes and poor choices and that's not a moral failing punishable by death. it sucks. but likewise I'm so serious when I say we can't close the Outside. because what would we do? put up another fence???

[papa-abel]

(Reposting my old art due to accidentally deleting blog) Sorry for the quality - I couldn't find the original file RIP

[fluffmugger]

I don't care if this is real or not, i want this to be known as "having a rowling"

[thememedaddy]