Reading A Book About Slavery In The Middle-ages, And As The Author Sorts Through Different Source Materials

being a writer is constantly google the definitions of words you already know the meanings of because your brain's always paranoid and telling you maybe you've been using them wrong your entire life

I can excuse misusing words in my daily life but my mlm slow-burn enemies to lovers smut has to be perfect

Unhealed Wounds Your Character Pretends Are Just “Personality Traits”

These are the things your character claims are just “how they are” but really, they’re bleeding all over everyone and calling it a vibe.

╰ They say they're "independent." Translation: They don’t trust anyone to stay. They learned early that needing people = disappointment. So now they call it “being self-sufficient” like it’s some shiny badge of honor. (Mostly to cover up how lonely they are.)

╰ They say they're "laid-back." Translation: They stopped believing their wants mattered. They'll eat anywhere. Do anything. Agree with everyone. Not because they're chill, but because the fight got beaten out of them a long time ago.

╰ They say they're "a perfectionist." Translation: They believe mistakes make them unlovable. Every typo. Every bad hair day. Every misstep feels like proof that they’re worthless. So they polish and polish and polish... until there’s nothing real left.

╰ They say they're "private." Translation: They’re terrified of being judged—or worse, pitied. Walls on walls on walls. They joke about being “mysterious” while desperately hoping no one gets close enough to see the mess behind the curtain.

╰ They say they're "ambitious." Translation: They think achieving enough will finally make the emptiness go away. If they can just get the promotion, the award, the validation—then maybe they’ll finally outrun the feeling that they’re fundamentally broken. (It never works.)

╰ They say they're "good at moving on." Translation: They’re world-class at repression. They’ll cut people out. Bury heartbreak. Pretend it never happened. And then wonder why they wake up at 3 a.m. feeling like they're suffocating.

╰ They say they're "logical." Translation: They’re terrified of their own feelings. Emotions? Messy. Dangerous. Uncontrollable. So they intellectualize everything to avoid feeling anything real. They call it rationality. (It's fear.)

╰ They say they're "loyal to a fault." Translation: They mistake abandonment for loyalty. They stay too long. Forgive too much. Invest in people who treat them like an afterthought, because they think walking away makes them "just as bad."

╰ They say they're "resilient." Translation: They don't know how to ask for help without feeling like a burden. They wear every bruise like a trophy. They survive things they should never have had to survive. And they call it strength. (But really? It's exhaustion wearing a cape.)

i know every bug. btw

as a reader, I LOVE a slow burn

as a writer, I hate them <3

as somebody with both songs on one playlist, yes actually!

you ever think about how the piña colada song and kate bush's babooshka are technically songs about the same topic but with incredibly different tones

i gotta remember this

just a heads up for all writers out there!

I was recently told AO3 is currently being plagued by bots that comment on people’s works and falsely claim their fics were AI generated. and I can see how vile and discouraging hearing that is for authors who put so much time, effort and dedication into creating their fics.

now listen to me, if you ever get a comment like this on your work, please please please please know that they’re most definitely bot who comments the same thing on dozens of people’s works at random without ever reading the works. at all. they just copy and paste the same script onto random fics, any fic they come across.

they’re bots with malicious intentions, and they most certainly want you to lose motivation and/or delete your works. DON’T GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT.

if you ever get a comment like this, just delete the comment and/or report it to AO3.

remember that their comments don’t mean your works look “AI generated”. it only means these bots come across your fic and leave the same copy and pasted comment on it like they do to other writers.

don’t let them make you question yourself. they’re nothing but spam bots. YOU are a writer and you are fucking awesome.

USERNAME LORE GIVE IT TO ME NOW YOU ALL

what awaits outside

twitter/ insta/bluesky/ store

@toffuf part 2!! (Hoping I did this tagging thing right)

Hello bugborg fandom! I present you with a short drabble.

Knowhere. 4 days after the abduction of Kevin Bacon.

“You knew.”

“What?”

“You knew the whole time, Nebula.” Mantis paused, deep in thought. Then finally, all those questions bubbled to the surface and formed one word. “How?”

Nebula was getting annoyed. “Again, knew what? I don't read minds, bug.”

“That Ego is my father.”

“Was,” Nebula corrected. Mantis flinched. Her antennae flickered a bit.

“I told you yesterday,” Mantis continued. “But I could sense…guilt. Remorse. Nervousness. You already knew.” 

Nebula stiffened. “It wasn't hard to guess. Ego didn't have a single other being living on his planet. He murdered all of his previous children and their mothers, makes sense he'd spare the most useful one.”

Mantis's eyes widened for a moment. “Yes, that was why he wanted to find Peter.”

“I'm not talking about Peter, grasshopper.”

“It's Mantis.”

“Let's just say that we've got one thing in common.”

“What is that?”

Something resembling a smile twitched on Nebula's lips. “We both had total dicks for fathers.”