it's all downhill from here

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[fantastic-nonsense]

"It seemed to roar from thirty years of frustration, confusion, denial, love, yearning...yearning for what? An anchor. A harbor. A sense of safety. A sense of identity. Yes, I can relate. Yes, this is terrain I know well. I felt Batman rising from deep within." -"Finding Batman" by Kevin Conroy (from DC Pride 2022)

In memory of Kevin Conroy, I'm reposting his story in his own words. We were so lucky to have Kevin share a piece of his soul with us through playing Batman for over thirty years, and his loss is heartbreaking for an entire generation who grew up with him as our Batman. I'm incredibly grateful to have lived in a world where he got the opportunity to play that role for us for so long and in so many different productions. RIP to a good man, a legend, and one of the most iconic voice actors of all time.

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Anonymous asked:

Beginner writer here. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. ❤ i also struggle with insecurity a lot. Like, thinking about fic scenes with my fav characters or ships is fun, writing it down is fun. But after i publish it i feel like people actually don't like my writing, and i know my writing skill is mediocre at best. I like my fics, i actually reread them from time to time, but i only got comments that were like 'thanksfor writing for this ship/trope'. It might be just my anxiety speaking, but i still feel pretty bad about this. I hope this all makes sense, i'm sorry. I picked up writing as a hobby at the beginning of quarantine and online school, and now that we're back online i'll have more time to write, so i'd like ti becomebetter or something like that, my working pace is rather slow right now

insanitysilver answered:

Welcome to the wild and fun world of fanfic, Anon! I hope you enjoy your stay for as long as you’d like to linger here with us! And congratulations for starting a new endeavor during a global pandemic! Stress saps my creative juices, so I’m in awe of everyone who’s produced content this year at all.  

re: engagement

Let’s talk about fic engagement first. Realistically, most fics don’t do big numbers, and engagement is not indicative of quality. I have fics that have zero comments, and I have others that have hundreds. It’s about luck and fandom size mostly, but hey, that’s the internet for you. If you find yourself upset about comment quantity or quality, I’d recommend turning off email notifications for them. It’s natural to want external validation—we’re all human after all! But I’d be careful about putting too much weight on the opinions of strangers. If you had fun writing your fic, it’s already successfully fulfilled its purpose. Keep it focused on you and what you like about writing.

re: improving your Craft ™

And the fact that you only started writing less then a year ago and already have positive feedback is great! The most important part of honing any creative skill is learning how to keep it fun for you. The more fun it is, the more you’ll do it, the more you do it, the better you’ll get. After you finish every piece, I’d recommend making a note of the three times you had the most fun during the process. Maybe you liked writing dialogue for Character A, maybe you liked writing that fight scene, maybe you really enjoyed describing a vast, snowy landscape, or maybe you just had a lot of fun taking editing more slowly this time around. Try and incorporate the essence of some of those things into your next project.

Besides continuing to practice and have fun, some useful technical things for beginning writers to look into are: [knowing how to punctuate dialogue], [knowing when to break paragraphs], [knowing which tense] [and pov to use], [removing passive voice], and [removing filter words].

re: writing faster

First remember fanfic is a hobby, and you’re not getting paid, so don’t stress about updating. New chapters happen when they happen. As far as getting like, physically faster at writing, try word sprints if you haven’t. Nanowrimo is also great for learning how to just push out words even when you’re not feeling it. Personally, when I lower my standards for the first draft it goes much faster. I leave typos and half-finished sentences all over my word doc, and clean it all up in revisions. If I try to write and edit at the same time I work at a snail’s pace.

Best of luck and keep writing! You’ve got this!

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[hollyblueagate]

if you don’t know the difference between a hare and a rabbit you’ve never gazed into the cold wild eyes of a hare and known that if it could speak it would speak backwards

[gallusrostromegalus]

Jack Rabbits are North American Hares and they’re the WORST to encounter at night becuase:

• You all know how big a rabbit is.  Jack Rabbits and hares are much bigger. they’re the size of large cats or small dogs or just-walking-age children.
  
• They also like to hang out in gangs of a hlf dozen to over 30.
• and in the middle of backcountry dirt roads.
• perhaps they’re dustbathing
• or blood sacrifce
• I don’t know because when you come up the road at night because your dog has a tiny bladder and needs to go out at midnight and you have no yard so you’re walking him on the dirt road around your neighborhod because you might aw well get some stargazing in, and you come just over the ridge to see a coven of twenty jackrabbits in the middle of the road
• and
• they
• all
• stand
• up
• not just onto all fours like a proper prey animal
• No they get up on thier hind legs and don’t just sit but STAND like tiny rabbit-skinned toddlers, wobbing slightly as they stare directly at you eyes shining in your flashlight’s glow

• …Blood Red.
  
• And a chill goes through you on that warm july night because while they’re a puntable size and allegedly herbivores they’re standing and watching you just like people and you are vastly outnumbered.
• everyone freezes
• you’re considering your odds aganst roughly 200lbs of Suspiciously Humanoid Hare
• and they’re considering their odds against you
• the only sound in the never-ending high desert wind 
• somewhere in your peripheral vision you can see the streetlights but they seem awfully far away
• The nearest Jack Rabbit
• Blinks
• and takes a single shuffling step

• forward
• You area an overdevloped monkey and your prefrontal cortex is capable of some amazing feats but it runs very slowly compared to the reflexes of a rabbit and you’re frozen as you desperately scramble for the appropriate course of action, hands feeling thick and useless, mouth dry and feet imeasurably heavy there’s no way you’d outrun THESE, god there’s a rabies outbreak going around that shit’s not curable-
  
• The Dog
  
  
  
  
• L U N G E S
• It’s only the briefest of movements but the animal you’d picked out for his gangly legs and floppy ears and goofy smile is suddenly a dark shape of muscle and teeth and had flung himself at the horrible goblin rabbits faster than mere physics should dictate, appearing in the circle of the flashlight for only the briefest of moments before the jolt from the leash makes you stumble and the light falters
• The Jack Rabbits
  
  
  
  
• Scatter
• Vanishing into the faintly starlit sagebrush in as so many faint gray shapes that might be mistaken for the dustclouds they kick up
  
  
  
• Later, you sit on the couch disquieted
• and you wonder
• If the sight of the Jack Rabbits standing and studying you was frightening enough to make you yearn for the safety of the yellowed streetlights
• what must it be like from thier end?
• what terrifying creature 
• deliberately ties itself
• to something so horrible
  
• As a Dog?

[cherryistired]

@gallusrostromegalus that last bit gave me such a strong mental image I absolutely had to draw it

[gallusrostromegalus]

WELL HOLY SHIT.

CONGRATULATE, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GOING FOR.

is it ok if I print it out and stick it on the fridge?

[aethtalon]

[gallusrostromegalus]

HOLY FUCK THERE’S AN AUDIOPOST NOW.

I LOVE IT.

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[cafe-fotografia]

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[ipadbaby]

Obviously can’t find a lot for 60s/70s goth but been into a darker mod style recently

[dollsahoy]

Hello! Here is a picture of my Mom from around 1969

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[youneedsomeprompts]

How to write a kiss scene

requested by: anon
request: How do I write a good kiss scene? As how do I describe it? What details or words would make it good?

What goes into the writing of a kiss scene?

details to incorporate:

• the sensations in their stomach, their chest, and their knees
• the way their breathing changes shortly before the kiss
• the feeling of the other's hands
• the texture of the other's clothing
• the moment they realise they've reached the point of no return
• the feeling they're left with after the kiss

words to use...

• ... to describe the kiss:
• tentative
• tender
• hesitant
• quick
• soft
• gentle
• delicate
• languid
• feathery
• familiar
• exploring
• hungry
• heated
• fiery
• frantic
• impatient
• sloppy
• messy
• aggressive
• ... to describe how they feel about the kiss:
• nervous
• excited
• giddy
• anxious
• apprehensive
• ambiguous
• surprised
• reassured
• certain
• confident
• relieved
• eager
• greedy
• ... to show what the lips do:
• exploring each other
• brushing over each other
• locking
• devouring
• touching
• sealing
• pressing against each other
• capturing
• lapping
• tasting
• crushing together
• travelling (the other's body)
• trailing (down to the other's chin)
• grinning into the kiss
• caressing
• lingering
• ... to show how their body reacts:
• feeling warm all over
• buzzing
• humming
• pumping/palpitating heart
• clenching lungs
• joy bubbling up
• tingly stomach
• warm chest
• burning cheeks
• sweaty palms
• blood rushing through their veins
• ... to describe what their hands are doing:
• tangling in their lover's hair
• wrapping their arms around their lover's neck
• intertwining their fingers with their lover
• resting on their lover's hips
• pressing into their lover's shoulder blades
• cupping their lover's cheeks
• touching their lover's chin
• curling their arm around their lover's waist
• resting on their lover's shoulders
• grabbing their lover's collar
• sneaking up under their lover's shirt
• brushing over their lover's bare skin
• lightly squeezing their lover's butt

focus on:

• the sensations instead of what's physically happening. (the protagonists might very well not know themselves what is happening exactly, but they feel very precisely)

I hope this helps <3

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[genicecream]

cat’s back in town

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[captainkirkk]

I want to see characters being taken care of in an explicit and worshipful way. Home-cooked meals. Hair brushed and braided by gentle hands. Little gifts just because.

I want to read about characters who are not used to kindness being bombarded by acts of service. This trope works romantically and platonically. Give me found family and acts of service - all the ways a character is wrapped up in wordless, explicit care after years of cruelty and having no idea how to handle. I need it.

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Is there a sudden influx of bots going around right now? Like, more than usual? Because for the last week alone, every time I’ve blocked one of these accounts another one just pops up a few hours later.

It’s like fucking Hydra. You get rid of one & two more pop up in its place

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Avoiding Writing Toxic Relationships

[mmnwritingadvice]

- My biggest problem with YA is the glorification of toxic relationships. Especially since it is targeted at a younger group of people who often idolize said relationships. So here’s a guide for determining if your MC’s love interest is toxic, or just a normal flawed person. 

FIGHTING

-  To make a realistic relationship, your MC and their love interest are going to fight. They are (most likely) young and in a high stress situation. It would be completely realistic for them to fight. However, too often in YA, these fights are taken past an unforgivable line. Physical violence is where the line in crossed. They should not push, slap, kick, their partner. If it is lover’s to enemies, this is okay when they are enemies, as long as it stops once they’re in a relationship.

- This goes for girl love interests as well. I’ve seen countless books have the girl slap or kick her male love interest after a small mistake or to show she’s angry at him. Authors do it to show that she’s a “strong female character”. Don’t do that. It’s not something cute. When I was twelve and began reading The Mortal Instruments, I got to the scene where Clary slapped Jace and was confused about whether or not they were really supposed to be interested in each other. (There are several things with their entire relationship. It really is just toxic. I had to stop reading after the second book the first time around.)

- Have your characters be in the wrong! It doesn’t make them toxic, it makes them human and relatable. Have them snap at their love interests over hurt feelings or in a stressful situation. But have them apologize and do better. Not only does it help show the audience that they have a healthy relationship, it shows character development. A character should not be the same as they were at the beginning of the book. They need to learn something. This is a good place to start if you are at a loss. 

CONSENT

- What else makes YA couples toxic besides fighting? Consent. I’ve had to stop reading many YA books, because I was so put off by a lack of consent. I’ve seen authors frame forced kisses as romantic, even when the main protagonist was initially mad about it. (Sarah J. Maas books.) I’ve seen characters admit to s*xual assault and and it is framed as romantic because it’s framed as one character pining after the other. There always has to be consult. Characters don’t have to ask for everything, especially if they have an understanding with each other. Forcing things is different. Two best friends, or lovers, who don’t ask to hold hands, lay on top of each other, kiss, etc. (especially if it is common in their relationship) is completely different then knowing someone doesn’t like you and forcing yourself on them or admitting to them you don’t care about their boundaries. 

TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS

- Have toxic relationships in your stories. Condemn them and show they are bad. Show red flags for young audiences and warn them to stay away from similar people. Have your character grow and over come people who don’t really care about them. Don’t use “he/she had a troubled past and has trauma. Now their a badboy/girl in need of love” to excuse their toxic or controlling behavior.