Vectra

Artistic Writer

[creatingblackcharacters]

#Make Racists Scared Again 2026

[creatingblackcharacters]

Share if you want people to know they should be scared to be racist around you 👊🏾

[digitalkiddo]

If you're writing anything involving cons, scams, heists, or morally questionable characters who are very good at lying, here are some free resources I've been using for research. Saving you the "why is this in my search history" anxiety.

1. The FBI's Famous Cases & Criminals archive (fbi.gov/history/famous-cases) has detailed breakdowns of real fraud cases, Ponzi schemes, and confidence operations. The language they use is clinical and precise, which is perfect for getting the procedural details right.

2. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network publishes annual reports on the most common fraud tactics in the US. Great for understanding how modern scams actually work and what makes people fall for them.

3. The Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a free digital collection of forgery case studies. If your character forges documents or art, this is gold.

4. Court Listener (courtlistener.com) is a free legal database where you can read actual court transcripts from fraud trials. Want to know how a real con artist talks under oath? This is where you find out.

5. The Internet Archive's collection of old newspaper crime sections. Search for "confidence man" or "swindle" in papers from the 1920s through 1960s and you'll find incredible real stories that would feel too dramatic for fiction.

Bonus: The Psychology of Fraud section on the Association for Psychological Science website has accessible articles about why people trust, how deception works cognitively, and what makes someone a convincing liar. Essential reading if you want your con artist characters to feel psychologically real.

Reblog to save for later. Your WIP will thank you.

[luna-azzurra]

Ways to describe a Smile!! <3

[imstillalexcomic]

As a bit of levity, upon seeing the work in progress drawing of Agent Alex, Fran - @crazygnomenclature had this to say,

“🎵 Secret Aaaaagent Ma'am🎵”

Thank you, sometimes we need a bit of fun when discussing things that are extraordinarily not fun.

I'm Still Alex - Webtoon | Tapas | Linktree | Patreon

Sure, I’m technically allowed to work for the federal government… unless I was one of the trans people purged from the military… which was later ruled unconstitutional, so I suppose I could get that job… for now… but the damage to our transgender military personnel was already done; that ruling was far too late.

Beware the person who downplays what’s happening, and let’s go further, challenge them.  Yes, trans people are legally allowed to work government jobs, but when doing so requires them to be stripped of their life saving healthcare, are they really?

The messaging is clear: if you want to be part of the future that republicans are building, you must either strip yourself of your identity, or die.

Broken record as I am on this topic, it bears repeating:

Neutrality assists the oppressor.  If you’re part of a discussion where someone spouts this garbage and you don’t push back, you’ve given tacit approval to what they said.  If you remain friends with that person, you’re making the statement that bigotry is not a dealbreaker for you.

What kind of person do you want to be?  If transphobia, homophobia, racism, bigotry, etc. aren’t dealbreakers for you, are you that person?

History will remember.

[satyriconmp3]

admire folks who reblog posts which contradict eachother. exactly! keep em guessing

[catchymemes]

[zeta-finnish]

Hell yeah i do

[writingdose]

writers, instead of asking ai for help, you can always use your childhood trauma and repressed issues to help you with that fic

[vectrathebean]

Find interesting Surnames in your own ancestry. You can unlock hidden, centuries old goss this way. (I found out one of my ancestors had a beef so serious they lit a church on fire after they locked their enemies in, AFTER a betrayed truce). Wikipedia holds a lot of info and you can go down a rabbithole of things to inspire. Please, PLEASE give world building a shot. It's a whole nother hobby but they do go together so good. You can even look up Surnames and name meanings for any name you come across. Just be respectful about other cultures. :> I know this was meant for fanworks but I think this applies to original content too.

PS I used Ancestry because i'm interested in genealogy, but there are other potentially free resources. I think wikitree is one of them, but I may come back and edit some resources in later if there's interest.

[vectrathebean]

Just wanted to introduce BMO :>

[vectrathebean]

What happens when beauty fades? What shallow shell of a soul is left when you have carved away every piece that fit in the masterpiece that was you? Do you see the lines? Those are the cracks that were glued back together but the hollowness within breaks the veneer

[vectrathebean]

"Why does your love desert me in my hour of need?" He cried desperately. She leaned down, cupping his cheek with her palm as she gently guided her lips to his ear. "Twas a mirage. My love was never yours in the first place." She whispered. Her breath caressED his ear in a song of heartbreak for the last time.

[ariesrin]

Writing Tip: Basics of Grief

Grief is inconsistent. It's not logical. It doesn't follow rules and the one thing about grief is that everyone processes it differently.

You can grieve the living, and you can grieve the dead. You might grieve an unrequited love that was never meant to be, or you might be grieving the death of a loved one.

People react in ways that might not make sense to others. Your character might cry over a misplaced object. They might feel 'fine' one moment, and then completely overwhelmed in the next moment. Small, unexpected things can trigger this. Your character is in public and briefly hears lyrics of their loved one's favourite song? This could easily trigger a meltdown.

Mundane things can become emotional. This means cooking meals or seeing a certain snack in the shop. Reaching for their phone and opening a specific conversation as if to text that one person by pure habit.

It shows up in behaviour. These are the physical affects that someone would see. Perhaps something a close friend or family member would only notice. Maybe the character looks more tired than normal, or has far more nightmares. Forgetfulness, withdrawal, or conversely, getting more attached to others. Does your character throw themselves into work to stay busy, or pick up random hobbies they thought they'd enjoy, but actually hate? Might they take up risky habits just to feel some other emotion again?

People around them act differently. Friends avoiding topics, people either trying to get closer to help, or even withdrawing from the relationship altogether.

There isn't a timeline. The event might not be something that your character gets over. It sticks with them. It builds or breaks their character. Setbacks and obstacles: This event might change the shape of their future completely. Do they get over it quickly? Do they seek help to process it? Do they power through and take this grief with them their entire life, or do they fall to the intensity?

Think about a time in any media you've consumed (webcomics, TV series, anime, films, books, etc...) where someone has lost something. This could be a lost love, a lost life, or even lost someone they thought they hated.

Grief doesn't have to apply to death.

[ao3commentoftheday]

Large Text and Rainbow Borders AO3 site skins (light and dark)

I discovered how to put gradients in borders and that was pretty much the whole idea behind this pair of skins.

As I was building them, I recalled the number of people who were sad that custom skins often don't work because they need the text to be larger, so I built these two to have the text set at 120% bigger than normal in the fic blurbs, the fic body, and the comments.

Light mode has some comments to help guide you if you want to modify this to suit your own needs.

You can find both skins, and instructions for how to apply them to your account, over here on github.

[novelbear]

what happens after they almost kiss?

a prompt list by @novelbear

✧ "hey..." "....hi."

✧ making eye contact and immediately ducking, hoping they didn't see you

✧ ^ (they did, but they're avoiding you too so nothing comes of it)

✧ everyone else in the friend group notices something is off between those two

✧ "so, where were we?"

✧ "we don't have to talk about it." "we have to talk about what happened yesterday." (they say at the same time.)

✧ nervous lip biting the moment you're alone with them again.

✧ "what happened last night was a mistake." "oh."

✧ trying to pretend like nothing happened at all

✧ one of them just getting completely ghosted

✧ continuously having small romantic moments (hands touching, bumping into each other, etc)

✧ lips immediately crashing into each other the second they see each other again

━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✧ ━━━━━━━━━━━━

snuggle up and enjoy expanded lists (+ more) on my ko-fi or patreon! 🐾

[toxickimi]

Hancock: Don’t worry, I've got a couple knives up my sleeve.

Danse: I think you mean cards.

Sole: He does not.

Hancock, pulling out knives: I do not.

[vectrathebean]

[vectrathebean]

Too many writing reposts, now time to fill my feed with hancock thirst traps. going back to my roots lmao

[ariesrin]

20 Ways Characters Show Longing Without Admitting It

Does your character have a desire for someone that's just out of reach?

Longing lingers in the pauses, in the almost-touches, in every moment that could have been something more. Let your reader understand just how your character can't confess what (or who) they want using these subtle ways.

Looking at them a moment too long before glancing away.

Re-reading old messages they (never) sent.

Memorising their routines without meaning to.

Smiling at something hours after it happened.

Taking the long way home just to pass by their favourite place.

Pausing before knocking on their door, hoping it’ll open first.

Imagining multiple scenarios of confessions (from either side).

Letting their fingers hover over a call button they never press.

Feeling their chest tighten when they see them with someone else.

Keeping small objects that remind them of the person.

Laughing softer when it’s their joke.

Asking mutual friends about them too casually.

Finding excuses to stay a bit longer.

Touching an empty seat beside them as if expecting company.

Taking photos of things "they'd like."

Replaying conversations, searching for meaning.

Holding back words that almost spill out.

Growing quieter when they say they're leaving.

Smiling at their name.

Watching them walk away with desperation in their eyes begging to join them.

Yearning for someone that you can't have is a heartbreaking experience, let the emotions bleed into your writing.