departmentq: shinobicyrus: thesaltofcarthage: whetstonefires: thetimetostrikeislater: thetimetostrikeislater: taken-aurally: marlinspirkhall: A Vulcan named Stork works at the Terran adoption agency. Parents always request that he be the one to deliver their child to them. It’s years before anyone explains it to him.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
tvheadfalls: tvheadfalls: hey you. indie creator. get rid of the corporate execs and the imaginary writers room in your brain. the cynical youtube reviewers and disney fans who want sanitized uwu gays probably are never even gonna be even slightly[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
dduane: longroadstonowhere: bookishdiplodocus: avelera: Pro-writing tip: if your story doesn’t need a number, don’t put a fucking number in it. Nothing, I mean nothing, activates reader pedantry like a number. I have seen it a thousand times in writing workshops.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
stevishabitat: rochenn: I think we should write more straight relationships with 2010s TV queerbait tactics. Let that man and that woman’s lives be horribly intertwined, let them take bullets for the other, let them be each other’s meaning but NO[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
digitulworld: just because someone is your favorite character doesnt mean theyd have the same moral alignment as you. wheatley from portal wouldnt say “my pronouns are he/him, thank you for asking!” hed say “what uhh. what does that mean. um.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
kyouka-supremacy: kyouka-supremacy: *Takes you by the shoulders* I ADORE character profiles and character trivia and likes and dislikes sections. I love knowing this ruthless, heartless, cruel man of a character has a childish dislike for mandarin oranges. I believe in[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
rixareth: As requested, I have examined my fondness for terrible characters, and I have concluded that I like them because they’re terrible and I’m not sorry.
My preference when it comes to fiction is to be following the protagonist not because I like them as a person– –but because I have desperate need to find out what the fuck is wrong with this twisted creature and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
jakeperalta: when reading fiction, is it important to you that the characters are likeable? yes, I want the characters to be likeable only occasionally (e.g. in certain genres) no, not important to me other/see results See Results I’m curious given[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
queerfables: glorious-spoon: i know we all laugh (mostly fondly) about the paper-thin plots in porn that only exist to make the sex happen, but i was reading some old stargate fic over the weekend, and i really think we’re sleeping[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
eastofthemoon: unassimilatedsoul: tyrantisterror: themodernmaccabee: autie-j: Bugs Bunny could have simply walked into Mordor. He would have shown up at the gates of Mordor in a disguise and been like “Evil volcano inspection unit” and flashed a fake ID badge to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
heyjudelaw: lizziemack: When I’m reading smut and the author breaks the flow of the story so that the characters can tell us that they have enthusiastic consent it feels exactly like when Dora the Explorer looks directly into the camera[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
wellthebardsdead: : whatsnewalycat: Made this for u 💝 Don’t hide this in the tags @voluptatiscausa Wrapping a nice and compact trauma processing pill in a sheet of slutty slutty cheese.
missmitchieg: wenellyb: lady-writes: princeofsparkles: netfliximab: real people being partially closeted or ambiguous about their own sexuality while making Gay Art is not queerbaiting Real people figuring out they’re queer through the process of making gay art is not queerbaiting either[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
gallusrostromegalus: changelingrain: unpretty: from time immemorial in cultures all over the world, storytellers have asked: what if there was a guy who kicked major ass? what if he kicked so much ass, every time someone stepped to him, he found[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
ao3commentoftheday: character-centric stories you can write in 1K or less where did they get that shirt they wear in that one scene? what is their typical morning routine? what song got stuck in their head when they were in the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
craycraybluejay: I also heavily resent the ever-present implication in mainstream media that at all touches on trauma that we cannot have any sympathy for Bad Victims. That it’s evil to write a sympathetic Bad Victim. Hell, that it’s bad to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
fipindustries: nuclear-wizard: bloomedwings: Ugh, was having a great time mocking my recently imprisoned rival when I noticed the camera positioning makes it so that I appear behind the bars, thus framing me as trapped in a metaphorical prison of the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
danshive: ALT I sometimes see people argue about one of these circles as though it were all three circles. Sometimes something can totally make sense in-universe, and fit with the themes of the story, the characters, etc… And you just[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
olderthannetfic: datamodel-of-disaster: olderthannetfic: – Isn’t it fun? And yes, both certain types of plots and a given writer tend to default to certain word counts. My natural word count (assuming I can force myself to finish something) is right around[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
starbuck: i say i like tragedies and everyone’s all like ‘why do you like sad stories? are you depressed?’ and never ‘how was the catharsis? was the catharsis fun?’
is-this-plural: is-this-plural: I see your logic, but your classic Crossed Signals style bodyswap still involves just one person being in your mind and body, even if it’s not you. It’s an interesting case – does plurality necessarily need to involve[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
unpretty: unpretty: unpretty: the first time you read a book by an author and it’s boat-centric you’re like, “oh, this is the boat episode of the police procedural” and then you get to the next and there’s more boats and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
mayskalih: Just a daily reminder that fiction is not a moral compass guide. It can be, but doesn’t have to every single time. Fiction doesn’t mean ‘I want this to happen to me or anyone else in real life’. Fiction[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
nikoisme: actually the fact that odysseus knew he’d be gone for 20 years makes the gears in my brain turn. You kiss your son goodbye knowing you will miss every milestone of his. He will be a grown man and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
homunculus-argument: More random tropes that I fucking love: Becoming the mask you wore. Like oh shit, this character who was sent to spy somewhere under a false identity suddenly realises they’ve started to genuinely become the person they claimed to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
hurricanelolita: hurricanelolita: gothic house is when there’s a container and it has some Horrors inside, and also the Past. hope this clears things up [opening my tupperware of mouldy chicken soup that i made three weeks ago] ah fuck gothic[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
steh-lar-uh-nuhs: deramin2: bemusedlybespectacled: transfaguette: it is crazy how “if this childrens show doesn’t kill their villain at the end it’s irredeemable media” became such a popular opinion here. like people were calling steven universe fascist apologia. and to be clear[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
“what if X character was a worthless loser, and this was the best their life ever got, but they still enjoyed it” is basically my writing’s thesis statement.
i just really enjoy fiction about mentally ill, emotionally twisted up criminals and obsessive losers finding bright spots of often fucked up joy in their nasty, grimy lives.
grimeclown: grimeclown: grimeclown: Masks are kind of hot actually A well-designed mask does more for making a character hot than any amount of cleavage It’s about SYMBOLOGY it’s about MYSTERY it’s about an ABSTRACTION OF SELF and most importantly it’s[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
oliver-queen-apologist: believe it or not some female characters don’t have to be mothers. some female characters shouldn’t be mothers. some female characters have a history of expressed disinterest in being mothers. some female characters would have to do a complete[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
supersoftly: ryuutchi: askinfresh: hadeantaiga: nope-the-weeb: hadeantaiga: I really think everyone needs to truly internalize this: Fictional characters are objects. They are not people. You cannot “objectify” them, because they have no personhood to be deprived of. They have no humanity[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
homunculus-argument: Fantasy story where one whole race of characters seems to consist 100% of villainous individuals, from lawful evil to chaotic evil, with very few and rare neutral individuals among them. Everyone assumes that their homeland – which is a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
detectivehole: detectivehole: detectivehole: what’s that one thing where they asked how ripely from alien was so realistic and believable as a female character in scifi for once and they were like “well we just took the dude from the original[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
counttwinkula: counttwinkula: hey did you know that uhh i. the monster’s body is a cultural body ii. the monster always escapes iii. the monster is the harbinger of category crisis iv. the monster dwells at the gates of difference v.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
brutaliakhoa: think about sibling-centered tragedies too hard and I turn into a mangy dog with rabies
cemeterything: an arrow has developed free will and changed course out of an overwhelming desire not to cause its intended target pain. an abomination before god and the natural laws that govern our universe, or a heartwarming story of true[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
beaft: mist-the-wannabe-linguist: Dunno how to put it properly into words but lately I find myself thinking more about that particular innocence of fairy tales, for lack of better word. Where a traveller in the middle of a field comes across[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
catgirl-catboy: Non-infantilzing ways to help Aspec/Arospec people in fandom: (From, an ace thats tired of the way my sexuality is talked about.) put in the tags of your E rated fic if the smut is essential to the plot, or[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
warmblanketwhump: let’s talk about the phrase “chilled to the bone” because I don’t think we truly appreciate it as a society you see, it’s not just cold. it’s deep cold that sinks in so deeply that it’s soaked through muscle,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
katthegreekfangirl: angst with a happy ending is my favourite honestly like yes bitch give me emotional conflict but dont completely ruin my soul you know
kvothes: kvothes: poetry and musical theater get similar accusations leveled at them in terms of not being realistic, i.e. “no one fucking talks like that” or “people don’t randomly burst into song in real life” and sometimes i just want[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
alliluyevas: alliluyevas: “i hate love triangles” “i hate cheating” “stop writing about love triangles and cheating” people write about love triangles and cheating because complex emotions and romantic conflict are deeply compelling themes. get good. what if instead of writing[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
lgbtunis: lgbtunis: more modern viewers rly needs to learn the thousands years old tradition of “hes a cunt and a menace but i want to see what he does next” “I hope he dies. slowly and painfully (affectionate)” has been[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
thatdamnokie: i love you fairy tales i love you folklore i love you myths i love you stories as old as humanity itself i love you oral traditions i love you characters carried through time on my ancestors’ tongues i[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
thorodhinson: brella: important ship tropes: fake dating SECRET dating being locked in a room or trapped in a small space huDDLING FOR WARMTH BEING ON THE BRINK OF ADMITTING THEIR FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER BUT THEN GETTING INTERRUPTED finishing each[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
yearningheart: what forms of art, activism, and literature can speak authentically today?
isabellebissonrouthier: I LOVE IT WHEN ENDINGS CIRCLE BACK TO THE BEGINNING!!! I LOVE IT WHEN CHARACTERS MIRROR EACH OTHER!!!!! I LOVE IT WHEN CHARACTERS SEAL THEIR FATES IN THEIR FIRST SCENES!!!! I LOVE IT WHEN CHARACTERS’ GREATEST TRAITS ARE ALSO[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
crafty-butch: i think the most fun thing a character can be is a hypocrite. i wanna watch them tie themselves (and their principles) into knots rationalizing their behavior, or give up and embrace their hypocrisy. or, ideally, both
rookthebird: “redemption arcs are toxic, you shouldn’t try to fix someone!” actually it is so important to me that being in community and experiencing human connection can save people. thanks
annabelle–cane: sure, “I’m part of this marginalized group that I’m writing about” isn’t a get out of jail free card for all bigotry, but if someone says “I’m portraying an exact experience I’ve had, this literally happened to me” and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
ao3commentoftheday: character-centric stories you can write in 1K or less where did they get that shirt they wear in that one scene? what is their typical morning routine? what song got stuck in their head when they were in the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
catfoodsminmo: i love u characters who are victims who don’t show things in a way that’s appealing i love u characters whos trauma leaves them with anger issues, with violence issues, with issues with connection and trust and being truthful[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
gayhoediaz: “it sounds like you’re justifying their actions-“ i am. they’re a fictional character. i’m okay with anything they do all the time. hope this helps.
infinitevariety: kingspacebar: bamsara: “youve already written that trope” yesss. i like it a lots. i will be writing it again. 1000 stories of the same trope over and over again for ten million years ”youve already drawn that character” yesss.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
chriscdcase95: rookthebird: “redemption arcs are toxic, you shouldn’t try to fix someone!” actually it is so important to me that being in community and experiencing human connection can save people. thanks
roguemonsterfucker: The beautiful thing about fantasy is… It’s fantasy. It doesn’t have to have any basis in reality and there are no rules. You want your were-bears to have knots? Fucking go for it! Whether real bears have knots doesn’t[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
jesticutioner: ncsasp: venort: reallybadblackoutpoems: imagination (1963) – harold ordway rugg “chekhovs cat / schrödingers razor / occams gun” Chekov’s Cat: if you see a cat in the first act, it will probably be relevant later. (example: Alien) Shrodinger’s razor: an[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
myfandomrealitea: Do you even understand that if there were no ‘bad guys’ and ‘bad choices’ and ‘icky things’ in media literally 99.99% of the music, movies, TV shows, books, ect that we have right now would not exist? All those[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
asymbina: andreaszchen: I had a very interesting discussion about theater and film the other day. My parents and I were talking about Little Shop of Horrors and, specifically, about the ending of the musical versus the ending of the (1986)[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
llsilvertail: vaspider: In defense of retellings & reimaginings I’m not going to respond to the post that sparked this, because honestly, I don’t really feel like getting in an argument, and because it’s only vaguely even about the particular story[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
puddingcatbeans: to be perfectly honest. i don’t care if it is cheesy or cliched or idealistic. i like stories where the core of it is about kindness, the warmth we can offer others and the gentleness we receive in return.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
thedupshadove: thedupshadove: what-even-is-thiss: what-even-is-thiss: what-even-is-thiss: what-even-is-thiss: You know the Grimm version of Snow White makes more sense than most versions if only because in that version Snow White was like 7 years old. Like imagine you find a 7 year[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
artemisthehuntress: live-from-flaturn: “But you already wrote that trope.”
animentality: Queer characters being messy and a lil evil and problematic and bad. Queer characters being broken and unhelpful and hindrances more than helps. Queer characters that are still beautiful and kind and trying their best despite their moral ambiguity.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
theartistichuman: I love you violence I love you descent into madness I love you transformations into an unrecognizable self I love you monsters who were human I love you questioning if I’ve changed or been like this all along I[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
passionpeachy-deactivated202312: passionpeachy-deactivated202312: passionpeachy-deactivated202312: The way people talk about villains in media as if Big Steven Universe is forcing every tv show and movie to redeem their villains “this show killed their villain in cold blood this is so groundbreaking in[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
failure-artist: in a way every story is a response to the stories the writer has heard before.
princesstokyomoon: i think social media giving people the ability to ask creators “what did these mean” or “what happened offscreen” or whatever other random questions they think of about any given piece of media, and then actually get Word of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
drchucktingle: today is great day to create something, to fill the void with a piece of yourself that wasnt there before and to push back against the darkness. you can create a song or painting or sandwich or a walk[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
thewriterandthestoryteller: spookydraws: maximum-overboner: if you ever doubt your writing, be it your themes, or the reason behind it, remember that h.g wells wrote war of the worlds both as a commentary on colonialism and the horrors it brings, and because[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
theminecraftbee: you ever accidentally create a recurring theme in your writing. you start putting together an outline for something you’ve never written before and get partway through planning, rearrange the pieces, and go “GODDAMMIT THIS IS ABOUT GRIEF AGAIN”? because[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
We have 60+ years of comic books exploring exactly how destructive to your health, emotional well-being and personal relationships trying to save the world is. Unfortunately we also have 60+ years of comic books exploring exactly what happens if you[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
I think it is really indicative of what our society considers virtuous that ‘you have been fighting for so long, why don’t you put down your sword and rest’ is so often used in fiction by the villain as a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
moonlarked: being a fan of a character is sometimes “look at how complex he is. he’s so intricate and his story is so tragic and he’s so much more complicated than people give him credit for” and sometimes it’s like[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
gailynovelry: gailynovelry: What they don’t tell you about storytelling is that it becomes an instinct over time. You learn how to kind of … intuitively chain events together over time. That doesn’t mean it’s a cakewalk, or that you never[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
telltaletypist: telltaletypist: i think eventually we’re all just gonna have to come to terms with the fact that it’s impossible to tell a story with any degree of subtlety or nuance without risking a portion of the audience taking the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
fluoresensitive: “A good story cannot function like a legal brief, which attempts to persuade and lead the reader down a narrow path suspended above the abyss of unreasonable. Rather, it must be more like an empty house, an open garden,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
yellowraincoat: currentlycryingaboutlancelot: obsessed where stories where it is like. the mistakes are unfixable and the worst thing that could happen happened and nothing can go back to how it was. but there was still love in this and love will[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
I am so dreadfully tired of all these “"antis”“ who think that it’s charming and noble to dictate to other people what stories they’re allowed to tell and how they are and are not allowed to play make believe. It’s[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…