#ask pause things

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Happy STS! What dish does your OC enjoy making? Even if they're bad or dislike cooking, what food or drink is an exception?

OH OH I have a project about two teenagers in a cooking competition so we'll talk about them!

Kandi (16) lives with her older brother (20) and even though he works full time they can often barely make ends meet and have to rely on food banks or friends, even with SNAP. So Kandi loves to make cheap things into something really tasty! She loves making curries because the ingredients are generally so cheap, especially if you buy a premixed spice blend. But like rice, chickpeas, canned tomatoes,potatoes. And it's delicious! She also LOVES to bake but doesn't often get to do much more than simple things like sugar cookies or brownies because they can only afford the basics, flour, sugar, margarine, etc. She is best known for her marshmallow stuffed double chocolate chip cookies. She is very attentive to dietary needs because one of her best friends keeps Kosher, so she likes to experiment with alternate ways of baking and cooking for various diets people might have.

Jack (16) lives with his moms and two sisters, one older, one younger. He and Kandi go to the same school. He LOVES making Italian desserts; one of his moms is Italian-American so one day he's going to get her recipes passed down to him with the hopes of one day taking over the family bakery. So he loves making Italian pastry! He lives in a heavily Polish neighborhood so he and his family do that too. :)

He loves working with his hands, so he likes things like kneading bread (everyone uses machines now, and he does too, but sometimes he just wants to use his hands) or rolling out pie dough or shaping cookies.

Then they both join the same cooking competition and have to battle it out against each other... what will happen to their friendship...

Thank you for the question!

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Happy Storyteller Saturday!

How do you answer the question "What kind of thing do you write?"

And a bonus ask: Have you ever given a sanitised or otherwise 'creative' answer because you knew the person asking wouldn't vibe with an accurate description?

ohhhh I love this question. I usually answer with whatever I'm currently working on, like "three teens go on a bank robbing spree to pay for their adopted father's cancer treatment" or "two twenty-somethings with ADHD solve a murder". Sometimes the little tagline I make up is interesting! but sometimes I have to dull it down a lot.

like with Get Loved, Idiot, it's about two guys who work in different offices in the same building meeting and getting closer and learning about each other. but also it's about kink and how it isn't always necessarily sexual, and working through trauma, and a demisexual man feeling attraction for the first time. but I can't say that if like, my aunt asks me what I'm writing about. so I sanitize it and it probably makes it seem boring but they've all still been very positive and supportive about it. :)

with people I don't know I just say 'slice of life romance' because that's what most of my stuff is when you boil it down to its bare components. they usually don't ask for more details, and that's okay. I actually have a very hard time talking about it with people face to face because a lot of people tried to discourage my writing when I was younger and so it's kind of a defensive, protective thing to say 'oh, well it's just xyz, you know,' and downplay it a lot because if they don't ask for details they can't shoot it down.

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Happy Storyteller Saturday!

As we reach the end of the year, what writing-related thing you did in 2025 are you most proud of? It could be something you published or posted, a draft you completed, a character you created, a line you loved, or anything else that you look at and think hell yeah, I did that 💜

hi! you know, I wasn't able to write much this year. I started writing two short stories but didn't finish either, and I didn't work on any of my stuff from last year. I started looking at an old document from 2003-2004 and picking at it to see if there's anything there but haven't gotten very very far with it. but I started doing free writing, recently, just opening a document and typing whatever words come into my head, whether it makes sense or not, whether it's a phrase or a single word.

I will not subject you to any of it but it's just literal stream of conscious with no filter or intentional shape. it's been really fun! it hasn't gotten me to anything substantial but it's been good for my creative brain and mental health in general to do it once a day (more if I want!)

apparently my stream of consciousness is really interested in cannibalism? because that seems to come up a LOT.

thank you, Winter, for continuing to tag me and send me asks even though don't always answer them. I know I haven't been around much but I'm hoping that will change with the new year :)

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the book sounds like Taína

yes!!!! that's it!! thank you so much Anon <333

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Happy STS! How has writing been going for you so far in 2025? 💜

HI WINTER HI

I have actually not written a single word of fiction yet this year, but I've been re-reading the projects I've put on hold and am mulling over them a little bit. it comes and goes like most things do, and since it's not my job it's okay if I need some down time

I'm excited to get back to it once I've gotten something more concrete in mind, though! Right now it's kind of a murky stock, but I'm working on turning it into a beautiful consommé

thank you for checking in! I was away from tumblr for a week or so because of medical stuff (I'm fine, it just took some time to heal and it was exhausting lol) and this was a lovely message to come back to :D

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hey I rly admire ur ability and passion to write all these stories u write, especially featuring disabled and mentally ill characters and characters struggling with money and addiction etc.

have u ever thought it putting them all in an anthology kinda thing?

hi Anon!

wow, thank you so much! :D

I sort of have a few anthologies on wattpad, but they're all kind of... self fanfic? of play by post RPs I've been in with friends, so a lot of the characters are theirs, and a lot of it is quick scenes without context. if you want you can find them on wattpad though!

there's Sheraton Academy, stories about a bunch of teenage boys at boarding school

there's Sheraton Academy All Grown Up, about many of those same characters, as well as new people in their lives (partners, friends, children, coworkers, etc), after they've finished school and gone out into the world

and there's Three Wishes Hongnan and Selan, which are two countries in the world of the story of Three Wishes, mostly featuring characters who live in each of those countries. this one is based on the story of the Four Gods and was created by @z-bot!

as for other stuff, I have tried self publishing a couple of novels in the past, but because I have NO idea (or interest in) how to market, and really what I wanted was connection, not money, I ended up taking them down and just putting them up for free on ao3 and wattpad! I figure since on ao3 you an download fics as .epubs and .pdfs, I didn't really need to have them on amazon anymore, and people could just get them there!

and on ao3 I have a few series/stories linked together that all take place in the same world with the same characters (like The Most Beautiful Puzzle or Holding Our Hearts in Our Hands) that are all grouped together. I think this is what you were asking for? if I'm confused please don't be afraid to correct me!

I very much appreciate that you like my stories! I write about things that are very important to me so it always means a lot when someone likes or connects with them. thank you so much for sending this message, reading it last night was the cherry on top of a wonderful day :)

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Trick or Treat? 🦇

You're visiting the local autumn art fair, checking out the paintings, sculpture, textile art; everything you could possibly imagine is here! Occasionally something catches your eye and you pause your ambling to look, but you haven't found anything you want to buy yet.

Then you see a stall where someone is selling absolutely gorgeous handmade mugs. They're seasonally apt, in bright oranges and reds and yellows, with leaves and pumpkins and black cats painted on them.

You catch the attention of the... person behind the table and they turn toward you with a grin.

"Oh, hey!"

You offer a smile and ask if you can see one of the mugs behind them, the purple one lined with bat silhouettes. They smile, maybe a little mischievously, but you don't take notice until they hand it to you and you look inside. You jump and nearly drop it, because inside is a spider! But it's just made out of a little lump of clay. You frown at the mug, but can't help but smile a little when the person says, "I love that one. It's great for guests."

What a rude trick!

For your trick, I'd like you to post one (or more) songs that inspire you to write! It can be the writing process in general, or something more suited toward one of your projects, in progress or finished!

see how you can get your own tricks and treats here!

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Trick or treat!

It's Halloween night, and while it's dark, it's still relatively early. Trick or treaters come up to your door every now and then, but, unfortunately , not as many as you'd hoped. You have so much candy, and you don't know if you and your friends can (or, let's be real, should) eat it all on your own.

The streetlights are on, Halloween decorations covering the street on all sides.

It's been about thirty minutes, but finally, someone knocks on your door!

Excited, you jump up to answer. On the other side are three college-aged students holding a bowl of candy.

Well, you weren't expecting it, but you have plenty to share, so you're about to grab your own bowl when the woman in the front shoves the big plastic bowl at you.

"Take one!" she says.

Your brow furrows. "What?"

The taller of the two men behind her says, "What, would you rather have a trick?"

"I mean, we can do that instead, if you want," the shorter one says.

"Oh!" You take a piece of candy at random and say, still a little surprised, "Well, thank you!"

They grin at you and they all offer you a salute, and you watch after them as they go on to the next house.

What an odd, but delightful treat!

I did a little digging on your page and found your story The Bucket List from last year. Here is a moodboard for you!

see how you can get your own tricks and treats here!