Writer Thoughts - Tumblr Posts

💕Feedback, no matter how small, is always, ALWAYS welcome. Especially for writers like me, whose first language is not English.

Fanfiction Comments: Why Bother?

Genuine question: If ya’ll like a story, why not comment?

This question, born out of previous discussions and Discord chats, is one writers have been dealing with for a long time. Feedback/reblogs on art tends to be more common than on fics. Yet writers continue to beg for comments on stories. So what's stopping people?

Don't know what to say/an emoji/script feels too impersonal

Forgot to comment

Read everything and how do you pick out one part?

Rather give feedback personally

Feels like an expectation/I owe them

Send me a string of emojis? I love it. Send a single heart? I love it. Keyboard smash? I love it. Copy/paste a "thank you for writing"? I still love it. "I don't know what to comment or how to put my feelings into words." Then put that! That's a compliment! Can't think of anything to say, then "I don't know what to write but asgfdhgf I liked it." is fine!

Seriously, I don't care WHAT you put, because it shows me you cared enough to take a few second to show that love. I recognize and look for my regular commenters, even the ones who leave just a heart or "extra kudos".

Forgot to comment? Leave the fic open on your phone or get in the habit of dropping SOMETHING right as you finish. If you had time to make it through the last 100 words, you can probably tap an emoji. It's likely more of a habit to build up than anything.

Read it in one go and it's all a blur? "I read this all in one go and it's a blur, but I loved it!" We don't need specifics; just tell us you loved it on the chapter you stopped on. That in itself is a compliment because Hey! You loved it so much you had to keep reading!

Personal feedback? Well, I'll never say no to friends gushing about stories to me! And it might not be the same for everyone, but if you stop commenting on AO3 and only tell me personally...my assumption is you don't like it enough to say it publicly. I've spent many a time wondering why people stopped giving that support and what I should do better. If it's a friend, try asking them which they prefer! We can go back and reread (and do!) AO3 comments. Much harder on discord/dms/etc.

Owing authors? Look, we put a lot of time and work into writing and providing content for free. Hours of idea planning, actual writing, editing, catering to requests, etc. My partner once said I have a second job, writing, but I don't get paid. If you read and enjoyed something that someone put a lot of work into, it's nice to take a few seconds and tell them that.

You don't owe authors comments. They also don't owe you free writing. Sometimes, you forget there is an author at all when you're reading. But there is. A real person put out a story hoping you'd love it, or connect to it. You'd see yourself in the writing and feel less alone, or cheered up when you have a bad day.

Writing is art, and all we want to do is connect with you. Comments help bridge that gap.

I’m finally making a fic- about uh- oc x canon- do you have any tips on making one-

It depends on a lot of factors, such as whether we want to do a light-hearted or lore-based story, whether we want to have a canon hero or a supporting one…

But the most important thing for me is this: try to come up with things that will allow you to get closer to the original personality of the character. After all, you love them for the things you saw in their original lore: try to think like them and imagine the situation as much as your mind allows you to; if you can visualize the scene in your mind, it would be easier to narrate the place, the characters, and the feelings. Imagine how they look and feel. It would make everything easier.

And if it's your first time, try doing small chapters or concepts and play a bit with the story: is the narrator a stranger? A witness? Does he know everything or just a little bit? Or is the main character telling the story? Try to use your skills as a writer and give it freedom!

For example, my strength is a protagonist narrator: even if "The Emmerich's Curse" is told in third person, you can see an example of a protagonist narrator in "Look at me!❤️". And you can easily tell the difference.

And last but not least: Talk! Have lots of conversations with people! Let them know your lore. After all, writing and telling a story is the same exercise with a different "distribution" method!

Thanks for asking! If you want to talk or maybe need more advice, I would be happy to talk by DM or answer more questions!

(as always, this is a beautiful sketch made by @venomwalter_art)

Not that much, but yeah. I know that Hal has many boyfriends and girlfriends, but I love him in a unique, different way.

Me explaining to my F/O's fangirls how I'm his Number 1 fangirl AND girlfriend that knows everything about him and loves him the most and that we're meant to be together and no one else can take us apart

P.ro/c.omship DNI

hi Lina! :3

do you think that StrangeLove would have approved Lina for her son? Would they have a good in-law relationship?

I'm going to be very honest. I always ask myself this question, and I'm asked it from time to time, and it's always on my mind. Frankly, I feel that Strangelove cared so much for Hal that, like any mother, I think she would be happy with whoever Hal loved and who obviously loved him back.

Specifically, I think Strangelove would like Lina for several reasons: Aside from admiring and loving Hal, Lina has common interests in the field of AI development, with Strangelove being one of the pioneers; I think they would talk for hours. I can see them trying to develop something together. This is a very subtle spoiler, but I think on a physical level, Strangelove would find Lina's birthmark very curious. Probably (thinking about… how easily Strangelove sought physical contact with women) she would have touched the birthmark at some point, really trying to see if any segment resembled a constellation or part of the actual sky, and she would talk about the astronomical data associated with it. And yes… I have to say it. I think she might be flirting with her if she had a few too many drinks. Not on a level to seduce her as a partner, but I think it could be something like… almost not believing that Hal could get a "pretty" girl.

(sketch made by @VenomWalter_art) I want to say something, but at the same time I want to be quiet...

Thinking a lot about asking for a commission for "Bellis Perennis"

🌼 the name dee ☀️

with daisies, sunlight, & sunny day vibes for anon!

☀️-🌼-☀️ / 🌼-☀️-🌼 / ☀️-🌼-☀️

He was supposed to be chubby (even overweight) but Shinkawa designed him to be skinny.

Honestly speaking, I headcanon that he becomes more chubby after MGS4. Because it's easier to get weight when your life is calmer.

otacon should have been chubby

I have to say it. At some point, I need a drawing of Hal and Lina being chubby. Both of them. Specially in their life after the events of the fic.

I need my own version: trying to make a good, well-conceived fic, trying to get better at it, studying English for over a year, to actually get no readers.

(I know I have some readers and I love you guys ♥. But sometimes the impostor syndrome kicks in)

So happy about this! Now I will have all my info, chapters, ideas, dusts and stars together!

I wanted to write a "bad ending" oneshot for the DD fic. I also take advantage to make it NSFW.

(what are you looking at, Hal?)

This is so true. In fact as hard as I try to make Hal the closest to his canon behavior, we can't forget that we didn't see him completely falling in love and having a girlfriend in the game.

So obviously, you could think that maybe he is OOC, but no one knows the truth. (Maybe Christopher Randolph as an Actor and as his actual VA... But he also likes to imagine the situation as we all do)

REMINDER!!

Your F/O absolutely would fucking do that. You may think it's out-of-character, but it's not. Your F/O is completely yours to fuck with and manipulate however you want because they WILL buy you flowers. They WILL be clingy as all hell. and they DO love you so so so much.

The face I put in when I read my old chapters and realized that I have to edit them because now I can write something better.

Now, what I would do? I have to finish the draft for "The Bad Ending", Finish the draft for "Saphire Hearted" new chapter, Finish the draft of "The Emmerich's curse" new chapter and I'm struggling to not write the Idol/Producer Au...

and then I think...

Why I could bother myself writing another fic, if no one reads me?

If people doesn't like ocxcanon.

then, I think that I made that things for me, for my happiness... but having people for sharing this happiness is also a nice thing...

sometimes I feel like I have to turn off my mind for a while...

Re writing my first chapters makes me think about how vulnerable Hal and also Lina could feel in those chapters they didn't know each other to actually feel confortable.

And I am building that sentiment of "trust" a bit slower.

And I have to admit: it Hurts.

Hurts to think how scared Hal could feel to try to put his trust in another person, once again. But at the same time, Hal has 37. He already have more experience, and is way more "tough".

"A kind of a warrior" as Chris told me.

He would struggle so hard to look composed, keep his mind running analyzing everything, and at the same time, being able to open his heart once more...

Damn!

Just imagining all this makes me feel so vulnerable too.

Lina would cry just by feeling him struggling before she tells him the truth.

Always have curiosity about Nastasha's book in Mgs universe. Because Raiden said that he read the book with the actual "Names" of "Snake" and "Otacon". And if you actually read it (in game, MGS2) It's just like that. With their names.

Also, When Karen Hojo talks about Big Shell, she also mentioned "The terrorist, Solid Snake" so... Can we say that "normal people" know about Snake, even if "In the Darkness of Shadow Moses" was settled to people like "Fiction" ?… Love to think about conspiracy theories from "normal people" in the MGS universe ♥

So Lina could actually known about him... by name.

Something has come to my mind again. Should I wrote a NSFW chapter on TEC?. I feel it's necessary to talk some stuff that I want to talk and isn't part of any of my two one shots I already made...

About me

I wanna say I’m not much of a writer, but it turns out the stories I imagine are one of the things I care the most about. So my goal is to write more and get those stories out. Maybe even become more of a writer.

Themes I obsess over:

time displacement, time travel, alternative realities, weird what if scenarios

personhood of beings unfathomable to us (androids, AI, space whales, Balmera, the lions, even the cosmic wolf)

shame and worthiness

the morality of violence in defense of self and others

relationships where the tension comes from people still figuring it how to love themselves and how to trust someone else with their fears

misunderstood relationships

vulnerable masculinity

trans and non-binary experiences, probably mostly projecting my own experiences tbh

men kissing, I’m just soft for it always

My writing Kryptonite:

funny characters (Coran, Hunk, Lance) despite adoring them

unexamined jealousy and relationships motivated by competition

letting time elapse in scene breaks, instead of trying to explain every moment

pets? doesn’t really apply when I write Kosmo as a supernatural being full of wisdom and mystery, but when I think of him as Keith’s dog he just vanishes from the scene because I forgot all about him. Handy to be able to blame it on teleportation, I guess. 

Favorite books are Time Traveler’s Wife, the Picture of Dorian Gray, To the Lighthouse, and The Ground Beneath Her Feet. I’m also weak for the Captive Prince trilogy. 

I eat fan fiction for breakfast, but I also like blackberries and waffles and a nice, strong cup of pour-over coffee.

A story should entertain the writer, too.

Stephen King (via writingdotcoffee)

Feelin seen

yall ever start writing and something so much darker than what u planned to write comes out and ur like ‘u ok in there’ to urself