Now, More Than Ever, It's Important You Don't Let Current Events Dissuade You From Writing. We Have To

i see "men bad" jokes as very similar to suicide jokes. like making them every once in a while isn't the worst thing, but if you Keep making them constantly. it DOES shape how you start thinking and you WILL become a more unpleasant and bitter person and also make people around you uncomfortable. and sometimes you just gotta choose to not make or engage with certain jokes, even if they are amusing to you, because its just not who you wanna be

I love how on Tumblr, "media literacy" has become "Um, just because someone writes about this doesn't mean they're endorsing this. I hate all these media puritans ruining everything."

I'm sad to inform you that knowing when and whether an author is endorsing something, implying something, saying something, is also part of media literacy. Knowing when they are doing this and when they're not is part of media literacy. Assuming that no author has ever endorsed a bad thing is how you fall for proper gander. It's not media literacy to always assume that nobody ever has agreed with the morally reprehensible ideas in their work.

Sometimes, authors are endorsing something, and you need to be aware when that happens, and you also need to be aware when you're doing it as an author. All media isn't horny dubcon fanfic where you and the author know it's problematic IRL but you get off to it in the privacy of your brain. Sometimes very smart people can convince you of something that'll hurt others in the real world. Sometimes very dumb people will romanticize something without realizing they're doing it and you'll be caught up in it without realizing that you are.

Being aware of this is also media literacy. Being aware of the narrative tools used to affect your thinking is media literacy. Deciding on your own whether you agree with an author or not is media literacy. Enjoying characters doing bad things and allowing authors to create flawed or cruel characters for the sake of a story is perfectly fine, but it is not the same as being media literate. Being smug about how you never think an author has bad intentions tells me you're edgy, not that you're media literate. You can't use one rule to apply to all media. That's not how media literacy works. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Aheem heem. Anyway.

Happy Jewish American Heritage Month!!!

Writing Advice

Your writing is not dumb. Your writing is not pointless. Your writing is not bad, or cringe, or boring, or predictable, or not original enough. Don't let your inner critic ruin your masterpiece. You are most likely just overthinking due to how long you've been looking at your work, or something else is stressing you out. Take a break. Go for a walk, water your plants, spend some time with a loved one or pet, get something to eat, or take a nap. Do anything to give your brain a break, then go back to writing. Trust me, it helps. Don't lose faith in yourself, and DEFINITELY don't overwork yourself.

Happy writing!

Infernal Serenade Snippet - Mother's Day Edition

You know what? For Mother's day, shout out to Quentin's mom Iris. She was such a loving, queer friendly, and all around wonderful person. She helped Quentin become the wonderfully kind and tolerant person he is at the start of Infernal Serenade. Here's a little snippet of her from the first book, a memory of her sticking up for Quentin after he got into a fight with an ableist and homophobic peer in high school:

I still remember how my mother looked back then, hair cut though she was letting it grow out, with a business top and slacks. At the time, I had grown used to the sight, not realizing she would quit that job in only a month’s time.... ...I would have laughed at the loud, whiny voice coming from the other line if it wasn’t directed at her. From the entryway, I could only hear a few choice words and they certainly weren’t pretty. Still, she nodded along, looking as intimidated by it as a dog was to a tiny grasshopper. That is to say, not in the slightest... “With all due respect, Mrs. Bria, if your child wasn’t calling mine…let’s see, what did he say again? Right, he called him a loony and a faggot, [Quentin] probably wouldn’t feel the need to retaliate...But, if I’m going to talk to my son about it, the least you can do is talk to your son about the language he is deciding to use with his classmates...No Mrs. Bria, I don’t think it has anything to do with them being boys. Could you please just talk to him?”

Lol for real. They'd be little menaces, sucking the soul energy from the cows that can't shake them off. They'd leave the crops alone at least. Heck, they might be able to scare away wolves and foxes. Yes, those little puffballs can be that terrifying. They still wouldn't be great among farm animals though.

Thankfully, outside of a pet the crew get later on, they mostly just stay in Des' realm, frolicking amoung the roses.

I'm late, but happy worldbuilding wednesday! Any favorite animals who've created or modified for your story?

Thanks for the ask! Also late, haha.

I've created creatures inspired from various animals. Now... favorites? Hmm... Do dragons count? I only have: a anime typical half-jaguar oc; a raccoon skull in the design of a giant; dragons, dragon people, dragonborn, dragon inspired designs, original fantasy dragons, etc.

*None of the real life examples above appear in a WIP I'm currently working on.

My favorite animals are black jaguars, dogs, corvids, raccoons, cats and blue whales.

My top favorite fantastical creatures are: dragons (the broad, ineffable definition) and ponies.

"In a way, there are more mysteries than tragedies"

Kofi | Wattpad | AO3 | Writing Master List | Pillowfort | Bluesky

(Profile art by @floofyboi57)

Hi hi! I'm an aroace trans man in a system that loves to write horror mysteries. Though I dabble in other genres depending on what a story needs. My works typically include morally gray characters, strangely cute monsters, and dark content, so make sure you read the content warnings before engaging with them. Some themes you can expect are light in the deepest darkness, heroes being worse than the villain, weirdcore settings, humans as the true evil, religious trauma, finding queer acceptance, and so on. I also litter my works with trans, plural, and aroace themes.

Important notes:

Why did I make a new blog, outside of wanting a fresh start? To be honest, my notifications were so broken that it made the decision easy. I do recognize that, one day, I'll have to accept having an account for a long time just means things will break, but this is not that day!

Taglist and Tags

@aweirdshipp

If you like our work, please consider asking to be added to the taglist! This shows us people are interested in our writing, and can help ensure you're notified about writing updates. Feel free to clarify if you want to be tagged for things like a specific WIP, writing ramblings, snippets, or if you want to be notified when I need beta readers.

#ourwriting, #writingrambles, #writingsnippet, #wipupdates, #essiehobbies

Disclaimer

I will not follow you if you do not properly warn about or tag triggering content. I'd love to be moots with others, but I can not comfortably follow you if you are not properly tagging your posts. I am a strong pusher for properly tagging content so people can curate their own space.

An Optional BYF For Those Who Want It

This is a Litmus Test

Yep, let's talk about the whole "fiction effects reality" thing. When I use this phrase, what I am not saying is that violent media will make you violent, or that all stories should be squeaky clean with the purpose of teaching a moral. It's a recognition of how harmful feeding into stereotypes can be, and how certain framing contributes to the spread of harmful ideas. For example, a work that glorifies violence done by the military via painting the other side of a conflict as "pure evil". And let me be clear, a character glorifying their own actions is not the same as the creator glorifying their actions, nor are stories where everyone is evil or sucks encouraging bad behavior.

The takes, "writing about horrific things does not make you a bad person", and, "a creator framing a character's horrific behavior as justifiable, and others negative reactions towards it as unjustifiable, could be a red flag", in my opinion, can and should coexist. (Ex: B being painted as in the wrong for not seeing a trans individual as crazy, while A is painted as justified for doing so). I am against censorship and harassment, but I am not against thoughtful critiques or discussions about how we present certain ideas within our writing. Discouraging this makes it more difficult to discuss when harm is intended or accidentally done, and can be used to silence minorities when they ask for better representation. It also makes it harder to blow the whistle on bigots. Both the extremes that everyone who writes dark things condones them, and that no one who writes dark things ever condones them are not helpful. Which brings me to my main point.

TDLR: Framing is everything, and just because fiction isn't going to turn us into murder hobos, that doesn't mean it can't contribute to the spread of harmful ideas. Being against censorship does not have to mean being against thoughtful discussion or critique.

Your reaction to these paragraphs will let you know whether or not my writing is for you. I'm a neurodivergent who's addicted to nuance, and this shows in not only my stories, but also how I approach them. As I write them, I twist the struggles, perspectives, and experiences of the characters to end up with a complex web of considerations. There's nothing wrong with a story full of horrible people being horrible just for the sake of it, or a story full of violence just because, but those aren't the type of things I tend to write. I also often cover the perspectives of trauma victims and plural individuals to put out the representation I as one want to see.

If you dislike horror that takes an interest in examining and criticizing human behavior, this is definitely not the blog for you. But, if you think tackling questions such as how far the heroes can go before they become just as bad, or even worse, than the villain, themes of characters overcoming evil, characters like oddly soft demons, and settings like weirdcore societies meant to comment on American society, are interesting, then I think you'll enjoy my works.

TDLR: I write horror with a gushy center and with representation that is important to me.

I love this so much, they sound so sweet together.

It lives in my head rent free that Ari tells Edward no because he feels like things are too fast and it's scaring him. And Edward isn't angry, he isn't upset. He goes okay can we cuddle I loved it when you cuddled me. And Ari is like YES i would like to cuddle actually.

And like from then on Ari gets so much firmer and more articulate when he's upset and uncomfortable because Edward is there and Edward has his back and isn't going to be angry at him for asserting the things he needs.

Actually being a little guy? Nah. Little guy status is all you need. /lh

I'm late but happy world building wednesday! Any favorite animals who've created or modified for your story?

I'm late to answer, as always xD

I think the massive spiders in The Poison Complex, or maybe the radiation squirrels that are still really jumpy like they're not the size of rabbits and as fast as a cheetah. They still have little guy status. In my heart.

Ooo intriguing!

Happy storyteller saturday! What are you most looking forward to writing in your current WIP?

I think for Released, it's the moment Mallory loses it completely.

For Out of Sight and Mind, it's always going to be the moment Ari loses Edward.

For Neon Glow, it's probably the "oh shit, we're really in trouble now." moment.

Thanks for the ask! :D