#good luck!!!!

[pudding-the-clown]

Hey, man @harry-the-worst

I'm leaving okay? My knee hurts really bad and I think I should probably sleep early since I have...work tomorrow

I don't want to interrupt!!! So

When you see this, I'll be already home

Have a nice evening!!! Say thank you for the queen for inviting us okay?? You need to make a good impression :)

[gayeddies]

You've propagandised me into wanting to watch 911 but I lowkey want to find a "just the buckeddie bits" episode-list so I can speedrun through any unnecessary eps (if you have any advice I am all eared up)

omggg!!!!!!!!!!! like my honest recommendation is to watch the entire show because it's all sooo important, their story goes DEEP and is a big part of the shows entire ground. eddie isn't in s1 but s1 only has 10 episodes and can be watched in a day. i'd highly suggest you do that because this show is worth watching for besides buddie, even though i mainly watch for them.

otherwise, i know that @lover-of-mine has a buddie supercut out there somewhere, but their story is like... very long. it's just better to watch it all imo 😭🫶🏻

[m1smatched-starsigns]

Hi! You’re like my biggest inspiration for writing as I’m writing an aleheather fic myself LOL. Anyway, do you have any tips for writing as this is my first time writing a fic ever!

(I've tried responding to this ask THREE TIMES and it keeps getting DELETED!! Anyway, this is one of the most flattering compliments you can recieve as a writer, and I'm so touched that DWOHT has inspired you this way!)

I don't have any revolutionary writing advice, but I tried to think of the advice that has helped me out across my writing journey, or things that I've learned for myself along the way. This is all assuming you already have the concept and main plot figured out (if not then that is a different sort of response!), so starting from there:

— Download Grammarly if you haven't already. It's a free editing tool. It isn't correct one hundred percent of the time, but it does usually catch grammatical mistakes, typos, and even offer suggestions! I don't use a beta on any of my fics, so it's me and Grammarly against the world, and I find it very helpful! I wish it were a tool back when I first started writing fics ten years ago, lol.

— Since this is your first fic ever (!!!) I think the sense of accomplishment is very important. Idk what your idea is but if it can be a one-shot, I would recommend it, simply because that feeling will help push you to complete future fics. You need to know how good that feels, lol. If this idea simply doesn't suit a one-shot, then maybe try one in the near future!

— Multi-chap or not, a fic does not need to be 500k+ words to be good. When I first started writing, I confused the quality of the fic with the length of the fic, and now I think it's almost the opposite. So don't put pressure on yourself to hit a certain word count!

— A continuation of the last point, but don't drag out the story. Know the beginning and know the ending, and figure out how the characters get from one to the other. It doesn't necessarily have to be the quickest route, but don't give the characters fifty roadblocks either. For example, I get annoyed when the couple gets together only to break up five chapters later, only to get back together in the last chapter, for drama? There are certainly fics where a breakup is necessary for character development/plot purposes, but if it isn't necessary, then it just drags.

— Have some sort of outline. Start with the very beginning and the ending, and then flesh out the in between. It doesn't need to be a super detailed outline! Mine aren't. It's every major scene that I know I want to include and then over the course of a few days, I go back and add on to it: lines I really like, new scenes I want to include, small details I want to incorporate, and notes that I don't want to forget. No one is ever going to see the outline, so it can be as messy as you like!

— Okay, as important as the outline is, you can always change it. It's not like you're carving it into stone; if you decide a certain scene does not serve the story anymore, then delete it. If you want a completely different ending, then change it. If you're trying too hard to force something, try coming at it from a different angle. Even halfway through a story, the outline can always change!

— I like to write 2-3 chapters before I ever publish the first one. The main reason is that if I'm going to give up on a fic, it's going to be within those first few chapters. If I can write three chapters before publishing the first one, I'm more likely to push through the writer's block later down the road. It also gives me time to figure out the tone of the story and nail down the characterization; by chapter three I have a better handle on those things, and looking back at chapter one, there might need to be edits made, and obviously, it's best to make any edits before publishing a chapter.

— Don't force things. If you're writing a scene because you feel that you must include it for whatever reason - you don't have to. One of the best pieces of advice I ever read on the internet is that you can gloss over scenes. For example, I did not want to spend time writing Heather's reaction to finding out they would be dancing a cha-cha to 'I Wanna Be Famous' in chapter two, so I didn't! I dedicated exactly one line to what could have easily been a very lengthy scene. If I didn't want to write the entire photoshoot scene in chapter two, I could have just referenced it in passing (during the phone call with Courtney, she asks how the shoot went, and Heather says something like "ugh, awful, don't even ask", and the story keeps rolling).

— Try to be as intentional with scenes as possible. This is something I'm actively working on, but I'm trying to make sure that every scene I include moves the story forward somehow. I don't always succeed at this - sometimes I include a filler scene simply because I'm proud of it or I like the visual it creates - but too much fluff will end up weighing the story down, or bloating that word count.

— If you hit a writer's block, take a break. Go outside and take a walk, do something else creatively fulfilling, cook something. A change in scenery will do wonders! Try again in a day or two, and if it still feels like pulling teeth, then take another break. Clean out your closet. Go shopping. Call a friend and talk. Then try again. If you're still struggling with the scene, then consider coming at it from a different angle or deleting it from the fic entirely.

— One piece of advice that really changed the way I write is this: if it is boring to write, then it will be boring to read. I don't believe this is true every single time, Lord knows I've suffered through scenes that readers loved, but I do generally find it to be true. Remember, fanfiction is an unpaid labor and you're doing it for fun, so don't write a bunch of stuff that you aren't even enjoying! Sometimes it is a necessary evil (every performance scene in DWOHT) but unless it is necessary, cut it. Otherwise, you'll burn out quickly.

— Read everything: newspapers, blogs, books, instructions on shampoo bottles. It's the most basic piece of writing advice, but it really is so helpful. You pick up words you've never heard before, pick up on sentence structuring, find styles of writing that scratch an itch in your brain. Treat your brain like a muscle and exercise it!

— Almost done! You'll never become a better basketball player if you don't practice; same logic here. Just do it! Staring at a blank Google Doc can be intimidating, but it's just one sentence after another, and eventually you'll find your rhythm. When I published my very first fic back in 2013, I truly thought I had a gift. I thought I was doing fanfiction.net a favor by posting there. I revisited that fic a year later and was so embarrassed that I scrubbed it from the internet, lol. But if I hadn't written that fic, and the second fic, and the third fic, and so on, I wouldn't be here now! I'm much more humble these days and certainly do not consider my contributions a gift, but I do have confidence in the quality of my writing, and I genuinely like my personal style! The point is, even your favorite published authors started exactly where you are right now, and if you keep writing, then there's no reason why your skill can't match theirs (or even surpass it - there are fanfic writers out there who put some published authors to shame!).

— Finally, have fun with it! I touched on this earlier, but it's worth repeating: don't take yourself so seriously that writing feels more like a chore than a hobby. Like I said, you're doing this in your spare time for free, so you'd better enjoy it!

I think those are my tips for just starting out! I hope it wasn't too overwhelming and that you find some of it useful! If you have more specific questions or want me to expound on a point, then send in another ask! And PLEASE let me know when you publish your fic!!!! There will never be enough Aleheather fics out there, and I'm very excited to read yours! ❤️

[reinafish]

i have a dentist appointment today i hope my doctor is proud of me ive been brushing more!!/

Gives you cavities/j

[elijah-terry]

I saw your tags

under my poll and high five – I have three WIPs as well (so far) (only 2 are KH, though, the third one is Yakuza). ^^"

Good luck with your writing! 💜

you get it!!! 😭 thank you!! you too!! & i hope i see your kh fics out there <3

[joffyworld]

I value your opinion SO much(but im too nervous to be off anon..) so!!! ....should I design the goat chubby square shape, or like. Reverse triangle? Either way, she has muscle🙏 js. Yk. Tryna decide how things fall on her lolz

Awww shucks, thank you Anon I'm honoured!!!!!

Hmmmm, Goat definitely gives muscle mommy vibes. I'd say it depends on the ✨vibe✨

Like, is your Goat super chaotic and just running around being a menace 24/7? Then I'd say a more rectangular and toned shape, but not like ridiculously curvy. Gods don't really need food so I feel like she'd just run on pure ass kicking, hella muscle but with a more athletic build for maneuvering and stuff, good for surviving a crusade knife fight.

Are they just a chill lil guy? I'd say for that a square but soft chubbiness would be perfect. You could make them huggable but also intimidating, kinda like a Tony Soprano. Big bear vibes. Also good for if they're SUPER muscly because getting ripped from standard survival shit like chopping wood and hunting is probably gonna make you a HEFTY weapon of muscle, not a little gym physique.

Depends on how you see the character really, but those are my two votes.

[intermundia]

hey so wait this is so cool. im also in love with obikin and im planning on studying classics in undergrad (your blog is like my own personal serendipity lol). got any tips/what's your fav thing you got out of your classics studies??

oh man enjoy!!! that's really exciting. looking back the thing i remember most fondly is actually the solitary hours i put in at the library preparing for class and doing reading to supplement the assigned readings. i enjoyed class too, discussion and developing bonds with your cohort is valuable, but there's nothing like pushing yourself to engage directly with primary and secondary sources.

i found there were just no shortcuts to mastering greek and latin. i don't know if you already have experience with the languages, but i didn't when i started, and it was one of the most difficult and rewarding things i've ever done. i promise all of the effort you put in early will pay off later, the more you memorize and internalize early on, the more sensitivity you have to understanding the original texts.

i'll say it's also valuable to read as many authors in different genres and periods as you can in translation to get a broad understanding and context for the things you study in class. professors can only ask so much and have a very targeted focus for class usually, so i got impatient with that. i think taking initiative and chasing your curiosity will lead you toward what you want to focus on in your degree.

i ended up doing my thesis on homer, but i loved the presocratics too, even though i didn't take a class on them specifically. there's nothing more beautiful to me than lyric poetry and the line between poetry and philosophy didn't really exist yet. if you view intellectual history as a long conversation, it's satisfying to track the discussion back all the way to see what everyone is responding to, you know?

you might end up interested in roman engineering though! or hellenistic art! the scope of what's available under the umbrella of classics is enormous, and it all reinforces itself, like the more you learn in one area, that light shines on others. i don't mean to be off-putting in any way, more like, if you are excited to chase after your interest, there is abundant space for you to grow as a scholar.