i'm as upset as any 10+ year old tumblr user to see the degradation of ask culture. since i've been making my own games, i get people in my notes reblogging one game regularly—weekly, daily, sometimes multiple time a day—desperate for interaction that their followers simply won't give them, even as those same followers reblog the game from them. it's awful to see people crying out for connection only to be ignored by people who can obviously hear them. it makes me sad!!! and it's frustrating!!!
but at a certain point, we have to accept that yelling about how things were 10 years ago isn't going to change people's behavior. a vast majority of tumblr users simply do not send asks, don't intend to, and will reblog ask games without sending any questions no matter how much we insist it's impolite. it's time for a new approach—so to that end:
for everyone reading this, i give you permission and highly encourage you to copy and paste my ask games (any ask game tbh) into a blank document, fill out every single question for the OCs or WIPs of your choice, and post it. without getting a single ask from anyone, share it anyway. one question at a time, everything in one giant text post, whatever. there's a good chance people who are too shy to send asks will appreciate getting to learn about your characters and stories, and maybe even encourage them to ask you for more details. and even if they don't, maybe you'll build the confidence to post whatever you want about your characters, whenever you want.
Welcome to Writeblr Summerfest 2025, your month-long terminal of writing, games, and community vibes! Whether you're a frequent flyer or joining us for the first time, you're assured to have a great time!
This year’s theme is airport terminal. That means we'll be talking about missed connections, delayed departures, magical vending machines, romance over layovers, and weird announcements you definitely weren’t supposed to hear.
Here’s a quick rundown of the brand-new games you’ll get to play this month, all low-pressure, reblog-friendly, and designed to spark your creativity in hundreds of directions.
Boarding Call Bingo: Choose a bingo card and fill in the squares with microfiction or art! We’ve got four themed cards to choose from. Can you fill them all in?
Lost Luggage Challenge: Claim a mysterious suitcase with strange contents. You tell us who packed it, where it’s going, and what story it belongs to.
Destination Dash: A collaborative storytelling game where each writer adds a sentence or paragraph, but every addition must take place in a different location.
Overheard at the Terminal: We drop a strange overheard line, then you write the story it comes from.
Flight Connections: You’re given a fictional flight. Introduce a character who’s boarding, or missing, that flight.
The Gate Mix-Up Game: Each gate has a genre or mood, paired with something that's a complete opposite. Your job is to write something that fills both halves of the prompt.
Layover Prompts: Short prompts about what happens between flights. You can respond with fiction, poetry, or moodboards.
Plus, the normal Summerfest fare!
Use #WriteblrSummerfest2025 and the specific game tag (like #BoardingCallBingo or #LostLuggageChallenge) so we can find and reblog your work!
it's that time of year again where I try my best to assign WIP thoughts to my Spotify Wrapped songs!! Send me a number between 1-100 and I'll write a scene / write down some thoughts / link you a snippet that the song helped me imagine!!
THANKS FOR THE TAG, @author-a-holmes! I hope using an anthology isn’t cheating 😅
My Words: Angry, Beautiful, Careful, Forward, and Gently
The WIP: Tales of Dreams (this is my short story anthology I’m hoping to publish this summer 😅 It should be on its way to my proofreader this week but I’m on the stuggle bus trying to finish my revisions 🫣) The anthology includes four short stories/novelettes/novellas/whatever you wanna call them LOL, and some of them may be a familiar 👀
Angry (couldn’t find it??? So I chose “anger” as an alternative, which was also hard to find in 70k words???)
“They? No, you, Spence, it’s you,” I spat. I turned my back to him and started off down the pitted dirt driveway. Bitter anger sat like a lump in my throat, burning almost as much as the betrayal in my chest. If I didn’t keep walking, I was certain the rolling waves in my stomach would force me to double over—that is if the compulsion to punch Spencer didn’t consume me first.
“Ava, please,” Spencer begged, his desperate voice caught by the breeze, “I didn’t want to scare you.” (from Creature of Unknown Origin)
Beautiful
The waves hummed and lapped at the pilings of the aged dock. They rolled gently. Foam formed at the tips before they collapsed on the beach and crawled back towards the rest of the ocean’s body. He finally understood how something could be merciless and beautiful at the same time. He’d heard the stories told around town, of the ones who didn’t come home, of the ones who almost didn’t return, and of the ones who kept looking for that familiar sign, a flag or a sail or something. Some people never gave up. And some did. (from The Prisoner)
Careful
“I suppose we should get at least a few hours of sleep,” Anya said, staring up at the star-studded sky. “It will be dawn before we know it.”
“I’ll stand watch.” Rosalie raised her brow at Noah’s statement. Catching her look, he added, “You can never be too careful.”
He didn’t give her the chance to respond before he was off stalking between the tents circled around the clearing and into the forest beyond. (from a new story, title to be revealed 😉)
Forward
I blinked. My gun vanished from my hands. For a second, all that existed was the slow beating of my heart against my chest. Surrounded by complete and total darkness, I whirled around. What happened? Where was everyone? What happened to the zombies, to Henry?
I took a step forward, reaching out into the blinding darkness. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. Tripping, my body seemed to free fall without even moving at all. (from The Light Keepers)
Gently
For a moment, they stood in silence, watching the ships gently bounce on the waves. Kai shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. He wasn’t certain if he should leave or remain as he was. Instead, he refocused on the sturdy ships and their plum-colored flags waving in the sea breeze. The docks were alive with people, though from his spot on the hill, he was given the impression of watching a mass of squirming ants carry off bits of a picnic. (from The Prisoner)
I’m gonna no pressure tag: @avrablake @akindofmagictoo @writingamongther0ses @ink-fireplace-coffee and anyone else who’s up for a find the word tag 💜 Your words are guilty, smile, warm, and peace.
I'm hopping onto an open tag on @winterandwords' post (here!) because it looked fun! All are pulled from Sunset Vol 1 & 2
📝 Find a line in your story that fits each of the parameters given by the person who tagged you, then give new lines for the people you tag
A line spoken quietly
"You tell Alex not to move a muscle and to take the slowest breaths he can. Tell him…tell him to plug his ears."
A line with a colour mentioned
Ahead of them, rising like mountains, were the sand dunes. Bone-white against the horizon but for narrow green caps, they looked as if the land was trying to mirror the rolling clouds.
A line beginning with a conjunction (so, and, but etc)
"So I need you to just eat that you fucked up."
A line spoken by your MC
(Alex) “Sure, and they really buried the lead on that whole cannibalism bit."
I'll no pressure tag @thatndginger @ceph-the-ghost-writer @space-writes and open tag!
Your lines:
A line about regret
A line of dialogue addressing someone by name
A line about hands
A line about laughing
If you're struggling with breathing life into your OC's, try this funny yet stupidly simple trick/writeblr tag game I just came up with. I call it the 'Roast Your OCS and Make It Into a Title' tag game. 🤣
So, we've all heard of fictional character archetypes and stereotypes that are often present in fiction, right? We all know it's not good to have shallow, surface level characters that have no complexity or nuance to their personalities, because real life humans contain multitudes, contradictions, and are in general very complicated beings.
Throw all that shit out for this exercise and toss it into the trash! 🗑️ In this tag game, we're gonna be reducing all our OC's to the most basic, mundane, stereotypical/archetypal renditions of themselves and making it Fit Into a Title!
Here's an example of my main character + his besties from my Science Fantasy WIP:
Cold and Stoic Pretty Boy Loaner With Social Anxiety and Unhealed Trauma Tries to Save His Sister
Disowned Goth Femme Fatale With Bitchy Yet Gentle Attitude Is Socially Neglected and Cries A Lot
Occasionally Serious Himbo City Boy Cop Tries and Fails to Fight Crime With Therapy and Rehabilitation
Snobby Know-It-All Imperial Man Who Somehow Has Both A Superiority and Inferiority Complex
Protective Amazonian Lesbian Sadist Who Will Absolutely Step On You and Ruin Your Life Forever
Gifted Slutty Bisexual Boy Genius Is Hiding a Dark Secret and Is Very Zesty (Rude) About It
For this tag game I'm gonna be tagging A LOT of people but mainly people who've interacted with me recently. Free to reblog if you see this on your dash, even if you're not tagged. I find this shit HILARIOUS and I would love to see what everyone manages to come up with! No pressure at all if you don't wanna participate, this is all just for fun. ❤️😊
If you want some extra help you can also look up character stereotypes/archetypes like I did. There's hundreds of blog posts about this topic but here's some helpful links so you can judge/roast your OC's to your heart's content:
Build familiar, yet unique characters through Archetypes
I’ve been in full editor/β-reader brain lately, and honestly? I love seeing the early chaos of someone’s story the raw character mess, the unhinged dialogue, the “I swear this will make sense later” plot threads.
So for fun, I’m offering something:
I’m beta-reading the first two chapters of people’s WIPs for free.
No pressure, I just really enjoy getting a peek into new worlds and giving helpful, gentle feedback.
If you’re working on a book right now and want:
- a fresh pair of eyes
- thoughts on pacing, clarity, or character voice
-someone who actually enjoys early-draft chaos
…drop a little about your WIP in the notes or reblog with your genre!
If it vibes, I’ll hop into your DMs.
Let’s make this a writerblr story-sharing moment.
Show me what you’re building.
