This Is Why I Hang All My Clothes Up! I Forget About Half Of My Shirts And Never Wear Them If They're

This is why I hang all my clothes up! I forget about half of my shirts and never wear them if they're in a drawer, plus it helps me stay organized anyways

ADHD life hacks #41,279: Vegetable Management

source tweet: X

@neil-gaiman needs to hear about this!

I had the most bizzare dream last night. I was in a hotel/convention center of some sort, wandering around with some people. Probably characters from different shows, but I don’t remember who, just that at least one was very OOC…. 

We found a door that lead to a section that hadn’t been there before. The rooms were decorated more like someone’s apartment so we left. When we asked the staff said in an offhand manner, that it was a haunted area. So of course we went back and summoned the ghost. 

She was a very sweet old lady who hadn’t quite realized she was dead. Her whole reason for hanging around was that she was waiting for the next book in one of @neil-gaiman‘s series to come out. None of us had heard of it so we went to find him and ask about it. 

He looked very sad and said he had no intention of completing that series. It had been difficult to write and the motivation had left him a long time ago. He went with us to talk to the ghost since he felt so bad that she was hanging around for an impossibility. Once we got there, she looked so thrilled to be meet him. They had a long talk and he came up with a summary of what was going to happen. She gave him a hug and looked so peaceful as she disappeared.

This was a strong reminder to me as a fanfic writer that you never know how much your stories affect people or who may be waiting for an update. It always makes me sad when I go back to read a story and it’s been deleted. 

Also from what I have heard of Mr. Gaiman, this would absolutely be something he would do in heartbeat. I hope this isn’t upsetting to him. I know there are works I’m super behind on and at least I one I may not finish. @one-time-i-dreamt not a submission but something that I thought you might like?

Shoto Todoroki here. School's been very busy, but I'm here and ready for questions, comments, or concerns. Please don't hesitate to message me or send me an ask.

I wish you would write a fic where...

Send me an anymous (or not) summary of the fic you wish I would write. (maybe I will write a tidbit)

THE MISCONCEPTION ABOUT COMMENTING ON FIC

I’ve read all kinds of posts both from writers and readers lamenting about comments on fic. Authors are upset when they don’t get any, readers don’t know what kinds of comments to leave, etc. And it finally clicked in my brain why I think a lot of people don’t bother writing comments. 

And this is what it boils down to:

Writers do not want praise.  We just want to talk about our story. 

I can’t speak for everyone obviously - but I think the majority of writers don’t care so much for the “omg you’re a brilliant writer!!” comments as much as we just want to hear your thoughts on the story. Even if it’s just your thoughts as you’re reading of “oooh x happened! I can’t believe y said this! What’s going to happen now that z has happened?!” We literally just want to talk about what we’ve written like you would with a friend about a tv show. We’re not out here demanding praise like some entitled narcissist. 

While praising our writing skills or writing style is appreciated, it doesn’t need to be said on every fic and every chapter that you read. If you regularly comment on someone’s work that’s telling enough that you like our technique. Readers shouldn’t feel pressured to have to praise a writer’s abilities every time they want to comment. 

In the grand scheme of things, talking about the fic/chapter is actually more helpful to us writers instead of spewing praise. It’s the same with artwork. As nice as it is that people tell me “wow your art is so pretty!” it’s a LOT more useful to me to get comments like “I love their expressions!” or “the lighting on this is gorgeous!” because then I know WHAT people are liking about it. If no one ever comments on my backgrounds, I now know what to improve. If most people comment on liking the expressions, I now know the strong points of my art and can use it to my advantage to make even better art in the future. 

The same goes for fic. If multiple people tell me they liked a certain part of the story I now know that things similar to that are a hit. It’s feedback I can use to improve the story and give my readers more of what they want. Without that I have no idea what they like about the fic.

Talking with a writer about their story also gives them inspiration!! Nothing gets us more in the mood to work on a fic than to have people wanting to talk about it. A lot of times just talking about one of my fics with someone will give me that push to continue working on it. Getting a comment that just says “great chapter” or “you’re a great writer” doesn’t do much to motivate us to continue that particular fic. But if you talk about the story and the characters it gives us motivation to continue working on it, may even give us ideas for future chapters. I would hope that those of you with “comment anxiety” find this approach so much easier than trying to praise the writer every time you read.

So that fic the author hasn’t updated in forever that you’re dying to read? Talk to them about the fic and the elements of the story! It will make the writer want to talk to you about it and will get their mind thinking about it, hopefully inspiring them to continue where they left off. Fics that are left in silence are more likely to be abandoned or even deleted because nothing feels worse than putting your heart into a story to have no one say anything about it. 

TLDR; Writers do not want praise, we just want to talk with our readers about the story itself, and these are the kinds of comments that inspire us to keep writing more. 

It's the Holiday Season!

Holidays in the time of COVID are going to be. . .interesting. Wear ya mask! Be careful when going places that are indoors because that's where spread could be the highest. If you plan to visit family, be careful. Set boundaries, make sure you stay safe and they do as well.

And on that note, let's talk about fun stuff! Music! My family's Catholic, I'm not. My parents agree with me that the church has done some AWFUL shit, but we are big fans of Pope Francis. He's awesome. I love listening to Christmas music, it's one of my favorite genres of music. The classics to the modern stuff, Bing Crosby to the Barenaked Ladies. The Barenaked Ladies actually brings me to my next point!

So. My absolute FAVORITE song on their holiday album is Hanukkah Blessings. It's beautifully done, gorgeously sung, and the lyrics in Yiddish only make it better. I know, I know, I'm not Jewish. None of my family is. I don't go around preaching teachings from the Torah or appropriating Jewish culture. I have an appreciation for it. Hanukkah Blessings is a song that I just happen to love. People can enjoy music from other cultures. To all those who say that's a bad no-no, it's not like we're profiting off of it. And to all those confused about why the Barenaked Ladies have three Hanukkah songs on their holiday album-one of their members is Jewish. They wanted to honor that member and celebrate his religious holiday.

So, wrapping this shit up, be kind! Be understanding. Don't use another's culture and parade it as your own. Go ahead and play that Hanukkah song if you're Christian and enjoy it. Just don't try and profit off of it. The holiday season is a time for understanding, joy, and kindness. It's my favorite time of year. Christmas is my favorite holiday. Enjoy your holidays! Whether it's Kwanza, Hanukkah, Christmas, or some other winter holiday I'm forgetting.